Get Somebody New (35 page)

When Tony saw
the pictures of Curtis, he completely lost his composure. I thought his actions
at the hospital were over the top, but they weren’t anything compared to what
he did then. Tony literally morphed into the Tasmanian devil right before our
eyes. He was spinning around, cursing, spitting, and muttering unintelligible
gibberish. He picked up the little porcelain figurines that adorned the tables
and threw them across the room against the walls. Jazz was caught completely
off guard when Tony punched him in his left jaw. The impact knocked Jazz off
the sofa. Tony then pinned Jazz to the floor.

“What the
hell is wrong with you?” Jazz asked.

Gloria tried
to intervene by grabbing Tony and trying to pull him off of Jazz. Tony turned
and shoved her causing her to stumble backwards. I acted quickly and caught her
from behind to stop the fall. Jazz turned into a totally different person at
that very moment. His breathing changed, his eyes became bloodshot, and veins
stood out all over his arms and neck.

“I’m gonna
kick your ass for pushing my moms. You’ve bullied people for years. You forced
me into the drug game when you knew I didn’t want to do that. You threatened me
when I tried to quit. Mom just learned it’s easier to avoid you or stay quiet
but that’s over.”

Jazz flipped
Tony’s body forward and sent him crashing into the opposite wall.

“I know
you’ve been running your mouth. I’m gonna beat some respect into you.”

“I didn’t say
anything about what you think I did!”

“Tony what is
your problem? Leave him alone.”

“This is
between me and him Glo.”

Tony grabbed
the photo book and started snatching out all the pictures of Curtis.

“I don’t ever
want to hear that bastard’s name mentioned in this house again.”

“Tony what
has gotten into you?”

“His guilt is
eating at him.” Jazz fumed.

“Shut your
mouth boy. You say one more word and I swear I will kill you where you stand.”

“What’s he
talking about?” Gloria asked.

“Since he
won’t tell you Mama, I will. He’s the one who shot Curtis.”

“What?”      

“I was there,
I saw him do it.”

“You’re
dead!” Tony said as he left the room.

“Jazz we’d
better get out of here.” I suggested.

“I’m not
going anywhere. I ain’t running from him no more.”

“Tony shot
Curtis?” Gloria asked.

“Yeah ma. He
took me over there and said he was gonna show me how to take my respect. Curtis
begged him not to do it. He kissed his forehead and then just shot him in the
chest.”

As soon as
Jazz finished his sentence, his father was standing within a few feet of him
with a double barrel sawed off shotgun drawn. Jazz reacted quickly by knocking
the gun upward and punching Tony in the ribs. The gun went off and shot a large
hole in the ceiling. Jazz snatched the gun out of his father’s hands.

“Why did you
do it? Why did you shoot him?” Jazz demanded.

His father
looked at him in silence.

“I am not
talking about this and I don’t want to hear the subject ever again.”

“All I’ve
ever tried to do was please you. It’s because Zeke loves me that you’re not
doing time. You better be damn glad you didn’t kill him because only death
would have kept me from strangling you with my bare hands. I don’t care who
knows, what anyone thinks, or what anyone has to say about my life. I’m the
luckiest man in the world to have him. I am not ashamed of him, or my love for
him.”

“You think
you have life all figured out huh? Do you think people are still going to
support your music if they know that?”

“Nobody is
gonna set conditions on how I live my life. I don’t even want the support of
those who withhold it because of who I love. If I can’t stand on my talent and
hard work then I don’t need it.”

“Zeke I hope
you don’t think we’re a family of savages.” Gloria remarked.

“No I don’t
really have any bad feelings toward Mr. Hardaway. People act out sometimes
because it’s the only way they know how to react. I couldn’t care less whether
he liked me or not. I just wish he wouldn’t push Jazz away.”

“I can’t
believe you’ve been lying to me all these years Tony.  You promised me you
would not do anything to Curtis. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for
that.” Gloria said.

“Gloria you
have to understand he was a threat and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing
you.”

“The fact
that I married you should have told you something.”

Jazz and I
went home after that tense meeting with his folks. Another facet to his
character was revealed. He was silent on the ride home. Once inside, he still
remained silent. I could tell something was on his mind but he wasn’t ready or
didn’t know how to let it out. He stood staring out of the living room window.
Totally emotionally drained, I went straight to the bedroom, stripped to my
underwear, and laid down.

Jazz appeared
at the door and stared at me. Suddenly he emitted a bone-chilling wail and
started crying uncontrollably. I sat on the side of the bed not sure what to
do. He’d been holding it in for some time so I didn’t know if I should let him
get it out or console him. He staggered over to me, fell to his knees, and
placed his head in my lap and cried.

“I just want
him to love me Zeke. All I ever wanted was my dad Zeke. He’s never gonna
change.”

“He will come
around. I have no doubt in my mind that once he thinks about it; he will have
to respect you. Not only have you stood up to him, but also you have stood up
to the whole world and defended yourself and us. That’s a BIG step.”

“Thank you
for doing what I needed so bad.”

“What’s
that?”

“Loving me.
Even after I did what I promised I’d never do…. hurt you.”

“Jazz you
never have to thank me for that. Man I live and breathe you. Loving you is what
I needed too.”

I lay back in
bed and opened my arms to Jazz. He placed his head on my chest and I put my
arms around him. Nothing in the world could top the feeling of holding him at that
moment. Exposing his vulnerability to me took our relationship to a new
plateau. He trusted me…….completely.

Nadiah

Anthony and I
agreed that we could not keep going the way we were. We decided to go to marriage
counseling. As we deconstructed the issues between us, it made me reflect on
how I had been going through life mistreating people. That was a wakeup sign
that it needed to stop. I committed to making some changes since it was obvious
that Elias was not going to tolerate the way I was acting.

“Nadiah we
have got to do better. If we can’t then we need to just call it quits.” He said
to me.

“I am willing
to work on my attitude and temper. You are right we have got to do better. It’s
the second marriage for both of us. You would think that we’d have learned
enough from past mistakes to make it perfect this time.”

Anthony
seemed to have turned over a new leaf. The new and improved version was one I
could definitely deal with. I hadn’t even thought about Ingrid for weeks, which
meant something. In an effort to make amends for all of the hurt I’d caused
over the years, I decided to reach out to Sheree and my mom. It had been a
while since I’d seen them, since the jail visit, which was a disaster. It was imperative
that I placed myself in a calm mindset. Both Sheree and Mom have ways of
pushing my buttons to make me go off. I had to make sure not to react just in
case they decided to try me.

As I pulled
into the driveway, I saw my mom outside in the yard.

“Hey mom
you’re looking good.”

“Nadiah what
are you doing here? Don’t you bring any mess in my house. I ain’t got the
patience child, not today.”

“No I didn’t
come to start anything. I want to apologize to you. I know I’ve been a handful
over the years. I’ve been looking over my life, the decisions I’ve made, how
many people I’ve hurt and I decided no good will come to me if I keep it up. I
guess I’ve been unhappy for so long and I just took it out on everyone around
me.”     

“I accept
your apology. I may not have done everything right, but I did the best I could.
We have our clashes but you are still my daughter and I love you.”

“I love you
too mom. Where is Sheree?”

“Oh she’s in
the house with those bad ass kids of hers. That little terror Maynard got in my
flowerbed and was pulling my roses off the bush. He only got a chance to get
four of them before I caught him. I beat his little ass good too. He gonna hate
to see a rose bush from now on.”

“Good!
Somebody needed to beat his butt. Sheree’s delusional behind says she believes
in talking to them and using time-out. You can’t raise a little black child
like white folks raise theirs. That talking to them crap is the very reason you
see them on TV every week complaining that their child is whipping their ass and
begging somebody to send them to boot camp. I’ll go in here and talk to her for
a while.”

“Well, well,
well, look what the cat drug in.” Sheree said as I walked in.

“Good to see
you too.”

“So what do
you want? I know it can’t be good.”

“Sheree I
didn’t come to trip out on anyone. I came to try to call a truce and salvage my
relationship with my family, which includes you. I know you are probably mad at
me and I understand that. All I want to say is that I am sorry for everything.”

“Oh my God,
hell has officially frozen over. I’ve never heard an apology from you.”

“I’ve had a
wakeup call. I am looking at my life and trying to change things.”

“You are my
sister so I already forgave you. If your apology is on the up and up then I
accept. I apologize too for my part; I know I haven’t always been the nicest
person to you either.”

It was as if
a huge weight had been lifted off of me. I felt so light and free. Since I was
on the introspective trip that day, I decided to swing by Ingrid’s on the way
home. When I got there I actually debated whether or not I should knock or turn
back around and go home. I tapped softly on the door while making up my mind.
Ingrid answered a few seconds later wearing the silk bathrobe I’d given her for
Valentine’s Day. At that moment, it dawned on me that it was getting close to
that time of year again.

“Oh um hey
umm Nadiah, wh-wha-wha-what are you doing here?”

“I just left
my mom’s and I stopped to say “hello” since I haven’t talked to you in a
minute.”

“This is just
kinda bad timing.”

“Sure, I
understand. I will talk to you another time.”

After
pressing through the awkwardness of a short conversation through a door crack,
I decided it was time to go home.

When I turned
the key in the ignition, I realized that the revolving door between Ingrid and
I was no longer open. She’d moved on. There would be no more going back when I
felt like it, or got bored. The chapter called Ingrid was officially closed.

Jazz

  When I
took Zeke to meet my moms it turned into a disaster. I’d planned to be gone
before my pops got there. I promised myself if I ever got out of that Marlena
dilemma, I was gonna do shit differently. The first step was introducing the
most important people in my life to each other.  When my pops flipped I
was too angry to give a damn. I said to myself “That’s it! I ain’t ever gonna
back down again”. After all that bullshit went down, I decided to put
everything out in the open and put an end to it for good.

Once Zeke and
I got home, I had Curtis come over. I also assured him I was gonna deal with
Tony myself. Although I was just getting to know Curtis, the bond was instant.
He and Zeke hit it off great. After we’d all gone to bed, there was a knock at
the door about 2 in the morning. When I answered the door my mother was
standing  in the pouring rain crying. Her eyes were swollen and she had a
red mark on the side of her face.

“Ma, what
happened?”

“Tony and I
had an argument about Curtis. He slapped me. Then he said he was going to kill
Curtis as soon as he found him. He has lost his mind and I am not going back.”

“I’m
definitely gonna handle him now, I gotta. Nobody is gonna put his hands on my
momma and not get dealt with. He just made the mistake of a lifetime.”

Curtis walked
in to see what was going on.

“Gloria?”

“Curtis? What
are you doing here?”

“Come here.
Did that bastard hit you?”

“Yes. He also
threatened your life.”

“Don’t you
worry about that. Jazz and I have been in contact since I visited him in jail.
I told him everything Gloria. I thought it was Tony looking for me at first,
but when I found out it was Jazz, I went to him. Glo there was no way I could
sit there and lie to him. It was haunting to see him sitting there looking at
me with my own eyes.”

Flashback

Curtis had
been on my mind constantly when I was in jail. I kept seeing the image of my
dad shooting him over and over. It was eating away at me so bad I couldn’t
sleep at night. I gave Randall all the information I knew and asked him to locate
Curtis for me because I wanted to send him a letter. Randall had an address for
me about 2 days later. I got a visit after a couple of days after sending a
letter. When I walked into the room, I saw a man sitting there who looked
familiar to me but not like the way I remembered Curtis.

“You’re here
to see me? You look familiar but I’m not sure who you are.”

“I’m here
because I was told that you were looking for me.”

“Looking for
you? Nah, I did ask my lawyer to locate a guy named Curtis for me though.”

He didn’t
respond right away. He looked down at the ground for a long moment and then
looked back at me as his eyes filled with tears. He grabbed my hand and placed
it to his chest. He didn’t have to say anything. I knew exactly what it meant.