Indigo Summer (13 page)

“This is our daughter, Indigo,” Mama announced to them.

“Yes, I've seen her around,” Marcus's stepmother said. “Hi, I'm Gloria.”

She smiled, and I was glad to know her name so I could stop calling her Marcus's stepmother.

“It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Carter,” I said and smiled at Gloria.

“Oh, you can just call me Gloria, baby,” she said.

“Okay.”

“And this here is Rufus Carter,” Daddy announced. “Say hello, Indi.”

“Hello,” I said softly.

“Indi, you're much prettier than Marcus described you,” Rufus said in his baritone, and laughed that deep, strong laugh that had shaken me out of my sleep just a few minutes earlier.

Had Marcus already talked about me to his dad? How embarrassing. Marcus never ceased to amaze me.

I'd seen Mr. Carter millions of times, all laid out underneath his truck, covered in oil and grease from head to toe. I had to admit, he cleaned up well. He reached out his hand and insisted on a handshake. He nearly yanked my arm out of its socket.

“Where's Nana?” I asked.

“I think she's in the kitchen, baby. She and Marcus have been hanging out together,” Daddy said. “Go on in there and say hello to him. He's been waiting for you to wake up.”

“It was very nice to meet you both,” I said to them.

“You, too, Indi,” Gloria said. “Don't be a stranger. Come over any time you want to.”

“Thank you.”

I made my way to the kitchen, where I found Nana and Marcus sitting at the kitchen table, a chessboard between them, and tall mouthwatering glasses of red Kool-Aid sitting there.

“How many of those have you had, Nana?” I asked in my motherly voice, referring to the Kool-Aid.

“This is my first glass, Indi, I swear,” she said, taking a drink. “Right Marcus?”

“Right. Her first glass,” he mumbled, never taking his eyes off of the chessboard.

“Indi is my sugar monitor and my blood pressure monitor. I have diabetes and high blood pressure, and she makes sure I stay on track,” Nana explained to Marcus.

“Oh, I see,” he said, and moved one of his chess pieces across the board. “What's up, Indi?” He finally looked up.

“What's up, Marcus?”

“Nana just took all my money, and I'm trying to win it back.”

“Y'all are playing for money?” I asked, and that's when I noticed the stacks of dollar bills next to the chessboard. I couldn't believe they were gambling and on a Sunday, too.

“That'll teach him to mess with an old woman,” Nana said.

“You mean, a beautiful older woman.” Marcus grinned as he complimented my grandmother.

“Don't be trying to distract me, boy, with your compliments,” Nana said and moved one of her chess pieces. “It almost worked, too.”

“You are a beautiful woman, Nana,” Marcus said. “You and Indi have the same flawless skin. Beautiful black women.”

“You hear that, Indi? He thinks we have flawless skin.”

“Nana, is dinner ready? Can I eat?” I asked, ignoring the whole exchange between the two of them.

“Waiting for the macaroni and cheese to brown. Then we can all eat together,” she said. “Open that oven and see if it's done.”

I did as Nana asked. Opened the oven and checked the macaroni and cheese. It had browned nicely.

“I think it's done, Nana.” She barely heard because she was so wrapped up with Marcus.

“Take it out, baby,” she said. “And go tell the others that dinner is ready.”

I placed oven mitts on my hands. Took the casserole dish out of the oven and placed it on top of the stove. Eyeballed Marcus as I made my way into the family room.

“Dinner's ready,” I announced. They barely heard me over the music and loud conversations.

I silently wished this night would end soon, but it was just beginning as we sat at the table, said grace and broke bread together.

 

“How did you all end up on the south side of town anyway?” Daddy asked Mr. Carter at the dinner table.

“Well, you see, Gloria's mother lives over this way. And she's not in the best of health. Gloria wanted to be closer so she could take better care of her.”

“That's real nice.” Mama smiled at Gloria. “I wish I had spent more time with my mother before she passed. But Mama Summer here has been just like a mother to me.”

Mama and Nana shared a smile.

I barely remembered Grandmother Aida. I was four when cancer took her away. Nana had been my only grandmother for as long as I could remember.

“I told Rufus that I wanted to be able to go with Mama to her doctor's appointments and be near just in case something happened. Living in Stone Mountain, we seemed so far away,” Gloria said.

“That's when she weaseled me into having us a house built.” Rufus laughed and elbowed my father. “These women can bat their eyes and get pretty much anything they want.”

The two of them roared with laughter.

“So you're having a house built?” My mother zeroed in on that comment.

“Well, we were. There was a problem with the builders and the subcontractors, and…” Gloria said.

“And in the meantime, we'd already placed our house on the market, and it sold within two weeks' time,” Rufus added.

“We didn't expect it to sell that fast,” Gloria said. “So I asked Rufus…I said baby, don't you have a property on that side of town that we could move into temporarily? At least until our house is finished.” She took a bite of her fried chicken leg and waved it in the air. After her whole speech about how bad fried foods were, she didn't waste any time loading two pieces onto her plate. “Of course, there was nothing available.”

“There never is when you need it,” Mama said. “So how did you end up in the house next door?”

“It's the funniest thing. You are gonna crack up,” Gloria said, and everyone waited patiently for the rest of the story. Rufus seemed restless at that point.

“Let's talk about something else,” he said. “We can't just take over the dinner conversation with our boring story of how we ended up here. The good part is, we moved here, we've met our wonderful neighbors and new friends, and we'll all live happily ever after.”

That wasn't enough for me. I wanted to hear the rest of the story of how they ended up in Jade's house, and Gloria was anxious to tell it, so she continued.

“Rufus, I'm telling this story,” she said. “Now as I was saying. The woman who used to live next door to you all…”

“Barbara?” Mama said.

“Yes, Barbara,” Gloria said. “After her and her husband split up, she had a little trouble paying her rent. I mean this woman was late consistently every single month, and sometimes she didn't even have it all. Always had some excuse for Rufus. So, I told him, baby look, we are trying to run a business here. If she can't afford to live in the property, then she needs to move. We offered to move her into a smaller, more affordable house, but she insisted that she was moving to New Jersey somewhere. And my husband—” she reached for his hand and caressed it “—being the big old softy that he is, has such a soft spot for his tenants. Always bending over backwards to help them, letting them slide on the rent. We can't run a successful business that way, letting people get over on us. He didn't have the heart to kick them out, but I told him…look, Rufus…you need to ask her to leave or I will…”

“So it's true,” I whispered. “Angie was right. You really did kick them out on the street.”

“Gloria, I told you it wasn't a good time,” Rufus said. “Let me explain….”

“No need to explain, Rufus. Your wife explained it quite well,” Mama said. She was just as hurt as I was. Barbara had been her friend, too. In fact Jade's family had been just like family to us all.

“You have ruined my life!” I said. “Jade was my best friend, and you're the reason why she's gone.”

Tears trickled down my cheek. I lost control, and before I knew it I was up from the table and running for my room. Someone called my name, I wasn't sure if it was Mama or Nana, but I kept on moving, slamming my door behind me. My heart was aching and I didn't know how to make it stop. All I kept remembering was Gloria's lips saying, “Rufus, you need to ask her to leave, or I will…” I wanted to wrap my fingers around her bony neck and squeeze it until she stopped breathing. I wanted to steal Gloria's life just the way she'd stolen mine.

I knew it was a mistake for Marcus and his mixed-up family to come for dinner in the first place.

Marcus

I
would give anything for Indi to understand that I had nothing to do with her friend Jade moving away. I wanted to tell her that I didn't even want to move to College Park in the first place. I was perfectly happy living in Stone Mountain where I had friends at school and a girlfriend who I actually liked. It was all Gloria's idea to move, and Pop had just fallen into another one of her traps. I wanted Indi to know all of that, but she wouldn't open her window no matter how many Skittles I threw. My chances of salvaging our friendship were definitely shot.

Pop had made amends with Indi's parents, and they'd even forgiven Gloria as she'd gone over and apologized profusely. My father and Mr. Summer had watched the basketball game together just two nights ago, and we were even invited over for Christmas dinner. But Indigo just wasn't as forgiving as her parents. She wouldn't even look my way when I saw her at school, just rolled her eyes and kept on moving. She was hurt. Her best friend had been needlessly taken away and she needed to blame someone. But she didn't understand that I wasn't the one to blame.

“Give her a little time,” Nana Summer had said when I saw her resting on the porch one morning before school. “She's a little stubborn.”

I did just that. Tried to give Indi a little time. Waited for her to come around, but she never did.

 

Christmas Eve, and the mall was a madhouse, filled with people trying to finish up their last-minute shopping. I stopped by the jewelry store and picked up the bracelet I had been eyeballing for Sasha. After Indi stopped speaking to me, I latched onto Sasha and held on for dear life. She had filled the void that I had hoped Indigo Summer would fill. Despite the fact that she was Quincy's girl. I knew it was just a matter of time before he played himself, and she would've been mine. But this whole incident with Gloria and Indi's best friend, Jade, had robbed me of my chances forever. Gloria was definitely not on my good list.

I dropped by Sears and picked up Pop a new toolbox, with a bunch of shiny new wrenches and screwdrivers inside. Picked up Gloria a colorful scarf, just so I could say I bought her something. My heart wasn't in it, and no thought had gone into either. But at least I got her something. I grabbed Beverly a wool sweater that I'd spotted on sale at JC Penney's. The saleswoman was nice enough to help me pick it out. That was a gift that I'd put thought into. I had even saved up enough money to get Justin that new Madden he wanted from the video store. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he opened that one. And after much searching and although Indi wasn't speaking to me, I had even managed to pick her up the perfect gift. I had planned on giving it to her, even if she slammed the door in my face. Too much effort had gone into it for me not to at least try. Maybe I'd just leave it on the front porch or give it to Nana to make sure she got it.

 

I'd had Justin's Madden game and Beverly's sweater both wrapped in colorful paper at the mall, tied with a beautiful bow and everything. When I pulled into their driveway, the curtains were drawn and it looked as if they were gone. I didn't have a chance to call before I popped up, but I was sure Beverly wouldn't mind. She loved when I visited Justin. I hopped out of my Jeep and trekked to the front door, rang the bell. No answer. I tapped lightly on the door. Still, no answer.

“They not home.” Justin's friend Kevin flew past on his dirt bike.

“You know where they are?” I asked, as he slowed and then popped a wheelie in the middle of the street.

“The ambulance took Justin to the hospital again,” he said, and then took off down the block before I had a chance to ask any more questions.

I remembered the route to the hospital and took off toward it at full speed, almost running the stop sign at the end of the block. I wondered if Beverly was alone. She shouldn't have to deal with this all by herself. I said a little prayer as I parked in the visitor's parking area and rushed through the automatic doors. Sasha's face was the first one that I zoomed in on when I searched the waiting area. She rushed over to me. Her face held a look that was foreign, solemn. Something was wrong.

“What's up?”

“He had a stroke, Marcus,” she said. She just blurted it out without warning.

“What?” I asked.

“He had a stroke.” She repeated it.

“How could he have a stroke? He's only ten years old,” I asked. Strokes and heart attacks only happened to old people, I thought.

“I don't know how it happened, but he did. I just happened to be walking past and saw the ambulance lifting Justin into the back. Miss Beverly was all alone and I asked her if she wanted me to ride with her. She said yes.” Sasha was talking so fast, I had time to zero out and then zero back into what she was saying.

“Where's Miss Beverly now?” I asked. I had to find her. I needed some answers.

“She's back there,” Sasha said. “With Justin. She's probably doing the paperwork or something.”

“I have to find her,” I said and headed toward the rooms where they stored patients temporarily.

“You can't go back there,” Sasha said.

“I need to see Justin. Talk to him.”

“You can't talk to him, Marcus,” she said.

“Why not?” I stopped and looked her square in the eyes.

“He's dead, Marcus,” she said. “He didn't survive the stroke.”

It was as if time stood still. I wasn't sure if she said what I thought she did. I was either hearing things or she didn't know what she was talking about. Justin couldn't be dead. I'd just tutored him in math two days ago. My body felt numb. Part of me wanted her to repeat what she said so that I could be sure of it. The other part of me didn't want to hear those words again.

The moment I saw Beverly's face, I knew that Sasha was telling the truth. Her eyes were puffy and red and an older woman was helping her walk. Her legs were like jelly as the older woman helped her to a nearby chair. She cried harder once she sat down, and my heart skipped a few beats as it pounded so rapidly. I could feel the pounding in my throat as I made my way over to Beverly. She glanced up and tried to regain her composure for my sake, but it was useless. She couldn't.

“He's gone, Marcus.” She shook her head from side to side. “My baby's gone.”

I sat in the chair next to her, fighting the tears with all my might. I wrapped my arms around Beverly and she dropped her head onto my shoulder.

“My baby's gone,” she kept blurting out, over and over again.

It was becoming almost impossible to contain my own tears, but I needed to be strong for her. I glanced over at Sasha, who was in tears, too. Everybody was in tears and I was struggling just to keep it together.