Saved Folk in the House (11 page)

“What got me suspicious of Melvin is that after all that work was done on Jazz’s Web site, he canceled the contract. We never got a dime for all that work, and I couldn’t understand why. I finally talked to Jazz about it, and all he could tell me was his manager insisted that they go with somebody else. He said Melvin insisted that he concentrate on the music and let him do his job,” Raquie said.

“Really?”

“And get this. Jazz said that AIDS must be affecting Melvin’s mind.”

“AIDS?”

“Yep.”

“He has it?”

“That’s what Jazz said. Was he gay in college?”

“Girl, Malik would never have a gay roommate.”

“Are you sure?”

“Stop tripping me out.”

“When is the last time you talked to Malik? Do you know what he’s been up to all these years? Apparently, Melvin was popular in the gay world.”

“Raquie, girl, there is not a gay bone in Malik’s body.”

“I say we find out for sure. Can you handle it, with the baby and all?”

“Now I have to know.”

“How can we find him?”

“The last point of contact I had with him was when I found out I was pregnant with Zeke. That was twelve years ago.”

“I know Mamalexis had his contact information because he called all the time asking about Zeke, but you were so adamant about him not being in your lives we finally convinced him to go on with his,” Raquie said.

“Well, I have to know now. I’m going to see if I can find him.”

“Oh, now, if anybody will find him, you will. In the meantime, what shall we do about Melvin?”

“Let me find Malik first.”

“Cool. I won’t make a move until I hear from you.”

Zakia hung up, then called her mother.

“Ma, do you have a number for Malik?”

“Somewhere, why?”

“I have to get in contact with him.”

“Why? Is it Zeke? Has he been in an accident? Does he need blood?”

“No, Ma, nothing like that.”

“Then why do you need to contact him? You finally come to your senses after all this time that a boy should know his natural father?”

“Something like that. Can I get the number, please?”

“I’ll call you back. I have to look for it.”

“Thanks, Ma.”

Ten minutes later, Alexis called Zakia back.

“I have the number for you, and just so you’ll know, I have kept in contact with Malik over the years. The man was interested in his son, so I kept him up-to-date. I didn’t tell him your personal business, just that you were fine. He’s married with one daughter, and he still lives in Baltimore. I hope you can work it out so that Zeke can get to know his father. There was never a good time to bring this subject up, but since you’re calling him, maybe now is the time,” Alexis said.

Whew! I knew he wasn’t gay. He can’t be, with a wife and child,
Zakia thought.

“Thanks, Ma. Maybe you’re right.”

Zakia called and talked to Malik for the first time since she slammed the door in his face.

“Hello,” Malik answered.

“Hello, Malik. This is Zakia,” she said very professionally.

“Well, hello. How are you?” he responded, not hiding his excitement.

“Fine, and you?” she responded, still professionally.

“Fine. How’s my son?” he asked.

“Ezekiel is great.”

For a moment, Malik was silent. “Does he know about me?” he asked quietly.

“We haven’t talked about you, but maybe it’s time we did.”

“Past time. I want to meet him.”

“That can be arranged.”

“When?”

“Let me talk to him, and I’ll get back with you.”

“Great!”

“Ma told me you were married with a daughter.”

“Yeah, it finally hit me that I had blown it with you, so I moved on.”

“You ever tried the gay thing?”

“What? What did you say?”

“I think you heard me.”

“Heck no. Why would you ask me something like that? Wait a minute. Zeke isn’t gay, is he?”

“No! That’s not it at all.”

“Then where did that come from?”

“Okay. It’s a long story, and I may tell you more about it someday, but the bottom line is Raquie and I think Melvin Hickman, your old college roommate, is gay and has been stalking me on the Internet.”

“Oh wow!” Malik said, but not totally shocked, as Zakia had expected him to be.

“What? You sound like you know something about this. You better tell me. If it’s him, he has threatened Zeke, to turn him into a drag queen, and all sorts of sick stuff. What do you know about that pervert?”

“If he comes near my son, I will break him in half. Zakia, I had no idea. He kept it hidden all through college. All I knew was that he was a good athlete. He had a few women. He was just quiet and sensitive and serious about school, like you, so I had no reason to suspect anything like that. You know we continued to be roommates after we graduated. He was really there for me when you cut me out of your life. I really loved you, and that’s when he let me know that he was gay and that we should be together. I just about threw up on him. I went off and told him to stay away from me. That psycho blamed you for coming between him and me. How can you be friends with something as sick as that? I haven’t seen him since.”

Taking it all in, the picture was becoming clearer in Zakia’s mind.

“Well, Raquie has all the evidence that he is the one sending me the threatening e-mails. He doesn’t know that we know yet. I told her not to confront him until I talked to you. I’m glad I did. Now what are we going to do?”

“We are going to confront him. Where is he?”

“He’s in New York City, and Raquie said he has AIDS.”

“Awww man.” Malik paused. “Well, dang. What do you expect? We have to confront him.”

“When can you go to New York?” Zakia asked.

“Whenever.”

“Let me fill Raquie in and get back to you.”

“Okay. We’ll get it straightened out, then I can have a relationship with my son.”

Chapter Fifteen

Z
akia flew to New York the day before they were to confront Melvin. Malik was driving up the next morning. They were to meet at Raquie’s office.

Zakia and Raquie were there when Malik arrived. When he saw Zakia, he grabbed her and hugged her for a long time. She hugged him back, feeling nothing but warm and caring friendship coming from him.

“Congratulations,” Malik said, referring to her pregnancy.

“Thank you,” Zakia said.

“When are you due?”

“Soon, so we have to get this resolved,” she said.

Zakia and Raquie filled him in on the turn of events.

“When we called Melvin’s office to make sure he was in before we went over there, we were informed that he was in the hospital,” Raquie explained.

“Hospital?” Malik responded.

“Yeah. He has full-blown advanced AIDS,” Zakia said.

“Well, then we’ll confront him at the hospital,” Malik stated.

Zakia and Raquie looked at him, pleased that he wasn’t deterred. They were all in agreement that Melvin needed to be confronted. They all felt that he shouldn’t die thinking that he got away with something.

Malik, Zakia, and Raquie took a taxi to the hospital. When they entered Melvin’s room, he was alone, dozing.

“Melvin, wake up,” Malik said.

Melvin opened his eyes and saw Malik. He smiled.

“I knew you’d come. I knew you loved me,” he said.

“Oh heck no. It ain’t even like that, Melvin. Never was. I thought I made that clear the last time we talked.”

“Then why are you here?” Melvin asked.

“Hi, Melvin. Remember me?” Zakia asked, stepping into his view.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Hi, Melvin. How’s Jazz’s Web site going?” Raquie asked.

“What do you want?” Melvin asked, trying to maintain his composure.

“You’ve been stalking me on the Internet. You threatened my child, and I want to know why,” Zakia said.

“Why?” he asked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Save it, Melvin,” Malik said. “You don’t have to admit it. We just didn’t want you to die thinking you got away with anything. We know all about your gay lifestyle. Heck, we’re looking at it right now. You have no power. You think because you won’t admit it, that gives you some power? Are you trying to get in one last dig before you croak? Good thing you’re dying, or I would kill you for threatening my son. But looks like that’s already been taken care of, right, Melvin? How powerful are you feeling now?”

Melvin began to cry.

Malik was repulsed. “Come on, y’all. Let’s get out of here,” he said.

Raquie was ready to leave the pathetically depressing scene. They knew the truth when they got there, and his confession or denial wouldn’t change anything. She turned to leave with Malik.

Zakia was moved to tears herself. An overwhelming feeling of compassion came over her, leading her to minister to Melvin. She went closer to him.

Raquie and Malik turned to her.

“Come on, Z. He won’t admit it,” Raquie said.

Zakia ignored them. She had something to do before she left. Looking deep into Melvin’s weak eyes with love and compassion, she touched his soul.

“Melvin, whether you admit it or not, I forgive you. I’m sorry you’re sick. I don’t want you to die, but we all have to sometime. What I do want is for you to live better in your next life. It will be spent in heaven, or it will be spent in hell. This hell you are experiencing right now is nothing compared to the hell you will experience when you die. Melvin, in spite of everything, I want you to be saved so that you won’t have to experience any more hell. If you believe and if you want me to, I can pray that you will be set free from hell forever. How does that sound?”

Melvin nodded.

“Do you believe God is real and is everywhere, including in here with us right now?” she continued.

He nodded.

“Do you repent of your sins?”

He closed his eyes and nodded.

“Say it. I repent, Jesus,” Zakia instructed.

“I repent, Jesus,” Melvin obeyed with his eyes still closed.

“Do you believe that God sent His son, Jesus, who shed His blood and died on the cross for your sins?”

He nodded again.

“Do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that He’s alive today?”

Melvin continued to nod and cry.

“Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?”

He was crying uncontrollably as he continued to nod vigorously. Zakia held his hand and wiped his eyes with a tissue.

“Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you asking for forgiveness for Melvin. As he comes before You now, totally humbled and submitted to You, he accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Therefore, the precious shed blood of Jesus washes away all of his sins, and he has been set free. He is free from the enemy and will now spend eternity with You. We know You forgive him, Lord, and so do we, for You have instructed us to forgive those who trespass against us so that You can forgive us. Your mercies are new every morning, Lord, and we thank You for them. We pray Your grace and mercy, peace and understanding over Melvin right now. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.”

“Amen,” Melvin managed to get out.

Zakia gave him a big hug, and he hugged her back. She walked over to the door where Raquie and Malik were just standing, staring. She turned to Melvin and waved good-bye.

“Thank you,” he said.

She nodded and smiled at him.

As they left the room, they all heard him say, “I’m sorry.”

They were silent all the way back to Raquie’s office.

“Now, how wild was that?” Raquie asked, flopping down in her chair.

Zakia and Malik sat at the small conference table in her office.

“Finally. Closure,” Zakia said.

“Yeah. That must have been rough on you,” Malik said.

“A nightmare.”

“Well, now that you know that there is nothing gay going on in or around me, how’s my son?”

“Extremely blessed.”

“When can I meet him?”

“I’ll talk to him, then I’ll call you.”

“Thanks, Z.”

“It’s time.”

“Yes, it is. Man, what a day, what a day. I think I’m going to get me a room, hang out in the city tonight, and head back early in the morning,” Malik said.

“My flight isn’t out until the morning either,” Zakia said.

“Hey, cool, you guys. There are a few places you should check out while you’re here,” Raquie said.

“What a great way to end such an unpleasant ordeal,” Zakia said.

Zakia and Raquie met Malik at his hotel for dinner. They ate at a fine seafood restaurant in the hotel which featured a wonderful piano player. Zakia had been craving seafood and was not embarrassed to order two entrées, blaming her appetite on the baby. After dinner, she almost felt like she had on her first trip to the Sea Wharf. They had an enjoyable evening together, eating, listening to good music, and talking about everything.

“Want to go to a club?” Raquie asked.

“Do I look like I want to go to a club, sis?”

“Not you, Miss Christian,” Raquie said, looking at Malik.

“I must be getting old. This has been a long day, and I have to drive back in the morning, so I’ll pass, but thanks for the offer,” he said.

After the last set, Malik got up. “It has been truly a pleasure dining with you ladies this evening.”

“The pleasure was all ours,” Zakia said.

“I’ll be waiting on pins and needles for that call,” Malik reminded her.

Zakia just smiled. She wanted Zeke to get to know this man who had matured into a wonderful, responsible person. Malik walked them to the car, hugged each of them good night, and went back to his room.

“Yep, Raquie, it’s time for Zeke to get to know Malik,” Zakia said as she struggled to fasten her seat belt.

Although she had never allowed them to meet behind Zakia’s back, Alexis had told Zeke about his daddy. When they finally did talk, Malik and Zeke fell instantly in love with each other over the phone. Malik promised that if it was okay with his mother, he would pick him up after school on Friday and take him to Baltimore to meet his stepmother and half sister. Zeke was thrilled. Zakia agreed, and Malik did as he promised. Malik’s family, who attended a Word of Faith church, which thrilled Zakia, loved Zeke, and Zeke loved them. He was tickled pink to have a little sister, and five-year-old Bianca was thrilled to have a big brother. Zeke was developing into a wonderfully balanced young man.