If I Were Your Boyfriend (32 page)

t's been two days since the fire. My dad was injured pretty badly in the blaze but he'd recover although it was going to take time. He suffered from smoke inhalation and some burns. Smoke from the fire contained poison gases that were hot enough to irritate his throat and airways, which have caused him to have breathing problems. He also sustained burns to his hands and arms, but luckily his wounds would heal with time, treatment and some surgery. The fire department said that it appeared the fire was caused from faulty wiring in a ceiling fan. I was happy to learn that my dad was going to recover from his injuries, although the road to full strength wasn't going to be a short one. When he finally became fully alert and aware, we talked about what had happened.

  "The movie I was watching had gone off," he said. I was sitting next to his hospital bed. He had breathing tubes in his nose and his arms and hands were completely wrapped in white bandages so infection wouldn't settle in. "When the movie went off, I decided to wire up the ceiling fan. I didn't trip the circuit breaker like I should've and I accidentally electrocuted myself. The power of the shock not only burned me but it knocked me out and sparked a fire."

  "Thankfully the house security system triggered phone calls to the police and fire departments when the smoke alarms tripped. The fire department got there fast enough to pull you out," I said.

  "God, this hurts like hell," he said. I felt bad because there was nothing I could do to make him feel better.

  "The house," he asked, "how badly is it damaged?"

  "Some windows had to be smashed out. There are black stains around the building and the family room is pretty charred. Most of the damage is smoke-and-waterrelated. The house smells like a chimney." My dad began coughing uncontrollably. Once he stopped, he looked me in the eye.

  "I need you to take care of business for me," he said.

  "What do you need me to do?" I asked.

  "You need to contact the insurance company and my job," he said. "Let them know what has happened. The insurance company will send out an adjuster and provide money for clothes and other necessities." My dad began coughing wildly once again.

  "Don't talk anymore," I said. "I'll take care of everything. I've already boarded up the windows. I got the plywood from our neighbors. It's going to be okay."

  "Well, look at what you've done to yourself." My mom walked into the room, hovered over my dad and began filling up the room with attitude and spitefulness.

  "I hope you don't think that I'm going to take care of you now, because I'm not. And don't even think you're going to come live with me while you're recovering." She laughed at him and then opened her purse and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. She spun the wheel of her lighter a few times until the flame jumped up. She then lit her cigarette. The smoke filled the room and my dad began coughing once again.

  "What's the matter? Is my smoke bothering you?" She expelled a long trail of smoke from her lips and blew it in his face.

  "Would you please put that out?" I asked her through gritted teeth.

  "What for? This smoke isn't hurting him." She fanned the smoke away with her hand.

  "You're not supposed to smoke in a hospital!" I raised my voice at her. "Hello! Does that make any sense to you?"

  "Watch your tone of voice with me, boy. I'm your mother whether you like me or not!" She took another drag from her cigarette and blew a long cord of smoke in my face. "I'm the only thing you've got left."

  "No, you mean, he's the only thing you've got left. You're as evil as ever," my dad said to her.

  "What about your insurance?" she asked my dad. She didn't care about what he'd just said to her. "You do know how to milk the insurance company for all of the money you can get, don't you?"

  "Leave," my father said as he began coughing again. "Get out!"

  "Make me." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and blew more smoke in his direction.

  "This is ridiculous," I said, and pressed the button for the nurse. A few moments later the nurse walked into the room.

  "Hey, what are you doing?" the nurse snapped at my mom. She was a full-figured woman who looked as if she didn't play around when it came to the health of patients under her care.

  "Nurse, can you make her put out her cigarette?" I pleaded.

  "Are you crazy?" the nurse snapped at my mother. "You don't come into a hospital room and smoke around sick people!"

  "I can do what I want to, honey." My mom continued to smoke, ignoring her.

  "You've got three seconds to put that cigarette out." The nurse folded her arms across her chest and took an authoritative stance.

  "And if I don't?" My mother blew smoke toward the nurse.

  "Oh, it's like that?" The nurse walked over to the nightstand situated next to my father's bed and picked up the telephone. "I've got something for you. You've picked the wrong nurse to mess with." She dialed a number and requested security to come up to my father's room.

  "I know my smoking really isn't bothering him," my mother said to the nurse as she took one final drag before extinguishing the cigarette. The security guards suddenly appeared in the doorway.

  "She needs to be escorted out of this room," the nurse said to the two men.

  "I've put the damned thing out! Why do I still have to leave?" my mom snapped.

  "Guys, please escort her off the property," the nurse said.

  "Sure," said one of the guards. My mother hissed and cursed as she left the room with the guards and the nurse close behind.

  "I know this is a really bad time to bring this up but I can't live with her," I said. My dad began coughing again and I could see pain carved in his face. I felt bad for mentioning my problem to him.

  "I'll do what I have to do to get along with her, okay?" He nodded his head. At that moment I saw him press a button so that some pain medicine could be released and pumped into his bloodstream. It wasn't long before the drugs made him drowsy.

  I did everything my dad needed me to do. I contacted his job, as well as the insurance company. Cards and flowers from his friends and coworkers began arriving and a few of his coworkers came by to see him. On Wednesday, three days after the fire, an insurance adjuster came out to the house and did an estimate on the damages and began the process of getting a contractor to come and repair the house. The adjuster also placed a sizable amount of recovery money into my dad's bank account. My dad gave me his account information and password so that I could make sure that the bills got paid. As soon as my mother learned that I had access to his account, she began working on me to get a cut of the money. I wasn't about to start giving her money, though, no matter what tactic she used.

  I didn't go to school for one full week. However, Friday I finally caught up with Keysha after school. She was walking down the sidewalk, headed toward the football stadium. There was a game going on between our school and our crosstown rival.

  "Yo, Keysha," I shouted out as I waited for traffic to clear so that I could cross the street. "Wait up."

  "Wesley, where have you been?" she shouted at me as I rushed across several lanes to get to her. Once I reached her, I tried to embrace her but she placed her hand on my chest and stopped me.

  "What?" I asked. "I'm happy to see you. Aren't you happy to see me?"

  "Wesley, I have been walking around in circles worried sick about you. You didn't call me to let me know what's been going on with you."

  "Girl, don't even do this to me." I tossed up my hands. "I've been through too much these past few days to deal with an attitude."

  "What? Like I haven't been going through stuff?"

  I got the impression that she wasn't as happy to see me as I was to see her.

  "You know what. I don't have time to be out here fighting. I'll holla at you later." I turned to cross to the other side.

  "Wesley, wait a minute." Keysha came up to me from behind and hugged me. "I'm sorry. I just didn't know what was going on. I wanted to be there for you but I didn't know how."

  "You're here for me now, right?" I asked.

  "Of course I am. How is your dad doing?" she asked.

  "He's going to make it," I answered. "It's going to take some time but I'm glad I didn't lose him."

  "Well, I'm happy to hear that he's expected to make a full recovery," she said as she pressed her cheek into my back. "I've missed you."

  "I've missed you too." I unlatched her fingers and turned to face her. I caressed the side of her cheek for a moment.

  "That feels nice," she admitted. "You had me so worried."

  "I didn't mean to make you worry. It just hasn't been easy dealing with my mom and all of my dad's business."

  "Yeah, what was up with your mom at the hospital?"

  "I told you, Keysha, my mother is real a whack job. I'm amazed that I'm as sane as I am." I looked away toward the football field because I heard the sound of a whistle and the roar of the crowd.

  "Did you want to go to the game?" I asked.

  "Not really. I'd rather be with you," she answered.

  "Come on, walk with me," I said as I took her hand into my own. We walked back to my burned-out house. I wanted Keysha to see some of the damage so I opened the door and we went inside.

  "Oh, it smells all charred out in here." She gagged a little.

  "We can go back out if you want to," I quickly said.

  "No, I'm okay. I just have to get used to the smell."

  "Follow me into the basement and I'll show you where it started." I led Keysha through the living room and into the kitchen. I grabbed a flashlight off of the countertop and then opened the door that led down to the basement. I hit the switch for the flashlight so that we could see.

  "Oh, the smell is really strong down here," she complained.

  "I know. This is where it began." I flashed the light toward the ceiling so that she could see the melted ceiling fan.

  "What's that humming noise I hear?" she asked. I illuminated a dark corner of the room.

  "That's the sump pump that the contractors are using to pump out all of the water from the fire hoses. Come on, let's go upstairs. It doesn't smell so smoky up there." I walked Keysha upstairs to my bedroom and opened up my room window so that fresh air could circulate. Keysha sat down on the edge of my bed and I sat down next to her.

  "So, what's been going on with you?" I asked.

  "Well, besides being worried about you I almost got into a fight with Liz Lloyd. You won't believe this, but she went around and spread a rumor that I burned down your house."

  "You're kidding me?" I was completely blown away by what she was saying.

  "I wish I were. Everyone at school thinks I'm some sort of psycho. Even Miss Haskey heard about it and asked me if I did it."

  "Man, someone has to give that girl a dose of her own medicine," I said.

  "Oh, and then your friend Ed Daley came up to me, talking crazy. He—"

  I cut Keysha off midsentence by kissing her. "I've been wanting to do that for a couple of days now," I admitted to her.

  "Whew," she said. "Okay, let's just slow it down a little bit."

  "I'm cool. I'm not trying to go there like that. At least not yet anyway."

  "Well, good. That makes me feel better," she said. "I picked up your homework so you wouldn't fall behind. I even did a few assignments for you."

  "Really, you did that for me?" I asked, feeling rather special.

  "Yeah, I didn't want you to fall behind. I know how easy it is to do when you have other stuff going on."

  "See, that's why I like you. You truly and honestly look out for me."

  "Of course I do. You're my boo."

  "And you're my boo," I said.