Saint And Sinners (24 page)

“So now you own a bank
and
a credit agency?”

“Of course…someone has to.” Saint chuckled. “Anyway, my mother-in-law should be here
soon. She has the kids and is bringing them tomorrow. We wanted to get their rooms
at least half way set up first, you know, so they’d have an actual bed to sleep in.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. That was awfully nice of her.”

“Yeah, it was. We were going to bring them, but she volunteered, so…” He shrugged.
“We figured why not? Plus, she said she wanted to visit New York again. She hasn’t
been here since she was in her twenties. Porsche is coming down with her, too. There
isn’t any way she could handle all three of them during travel by herself.” Saint
grinned.

“You sound more New-Yorker already,” Jagger teased. “Oh, it’s my turn, hold on. Yeah,
let me get a mean, green banana machine, please… Yeah, the one with kale, banana and
green apple…thanks.”

“Oh, you on your healthcare kick again, huh? Those green smoothies are the bomb! I
gotta make sure we have a smoothie and juice bar here, too… I’m spoiled now. I went
to this one damn place, man, tryna get some, thinking it would be up to par. Man,
the stuff tasted like a shit soufflé.” Jagger burst out laughing on the other end.

“This is the only reason I come to work,” Jagger joked as he slurped nosily through
a straw.

Saint heard the big man’s footsteps against the floor, the surrounding voices growing
quieter and quieter as he no doubt made his way back to the elevator. “You okay?”
The strong, sucking noise came to an abrupt halt when the unmistakable sounds of Jagger
punching in his code to get to his floor came through.

“I feel a bit out of sorts I suppose.” Saint sighed as he glanced towards the vast
bay window, devoid of window treatments as of yet. A few people walked the sidewalks,
their steps quick and urgent, their faces full of determination. “Today is bittersweet.
When you and Lawrence get here, I want to take you around.”

“I’d imagine it is a bit emotional for you, Boss. I’d like to see where you grew up
and all of that. I’ve been looking at houses online, so has Lawrence.”

“Good, just keep in mind what I told you both about some areas. My real estate agent
is ready for you.”

“Yeah, Traci has her eye on this brownstone in Brooklyn, so we’ll see. Can you believe
Donna actually
wants
to move there?” Jagger clucked. “That was an unexpected turn of events, wouldn’t
you say?”

“Yeah, it worked out well, didn’t it?” Saint was distracted by Xenia shuffling towards
him, tossing a large, white garbage bag down by his feet. “Hold up, Jagger.” Raising
an eyebrow, he pushed the phone away from his ear and covered the receiver with his
palm. “Baby, what are you doing? What’s this?”

“This is yours,” she huffed, out of breath, her hands on her hips. A small sprinkling
of sweat beads lined her exposed hairline. “It’s a bunch of laundry that had been
in the dryer on the day of the move. I didn’t have any more time to get it packed
up, so I just tossed it in here.”

Saint peered cautiously in the bag, as if a serpent may be inside, catching several
pairs of socks, white tank tops, and jeans. Xenia had gotten into the spirit of practical
jokes as of late, but this time, he’d be prepared. He soon discovered the woman was
telling the truth.

“Why didn’t you just have the guys put it in our bedroom?” he asked.

“Because I wasn’t even sure you were keeping these. You said you wanted to drop some
things off at the free store…didn’t know if you were just washing them first.” She
turned away from him, her eyes now focused on the scenes playing outside the window.
“Mama called, she’ll be here tomorrow around two.” Then, before Saint could say much
more, Xenia disappeared, leaving the bag at his feet. She appeared distracted, lost
in a world of thoughts. He made a mental note to get her alone soon, have a little
chat.

“Hey Jagger, sorry about that. Well, I don’t have much else to say…” He ran his hand
over his face, exhaustion making him contemplate a quick catnap, right then and there.

“Alright.” Jagger slurped loudly through the straw. “Oh, one more thing. Remember
how you said the city called you, pulled you in?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I know you thought it was just lip service from me, especially after the three
of us got into it in the conference room a while back, but not only do I support you,
I believe you now.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Well, I’m feeling it, too. It’s you though, man, you’ve got to do it, but I know
I’m supposed to be there with you. I know it in my heart, no doubts. What I don’t
like is that if you need me there, how I am picking it up now? It means we are going
to get into some serious shit, something is about to go down. Regardless, I’ll be
there…and together, we’ll take care of business. I won’t let you down.”

“Thank you so much, Jagger.” Saint ran his hand anxiously over his knee, the words
giving comfort and apprehension, all at once. “That really means a lot.”

They’d now had two conversations in which the man vowed his support. That surely had
to mean something, and whatever it meant, it worried Saint something awful.

Is this going to be so bad that… never mind.

“Well, I’m in my office now and will be here for most of the day. Call me if you need
anything, okay?”

“I will, thanks.” Saint disconnected the call, exhaled and pushed the plastic bag
open a bit further. There, in the middle of it, was one of Isis’ shirts. He reached
down and clutched it, running his thumb over the teal and hot pink material. He smiled
ever so slightly, and then a bit more as he continued to feel the thin cotton between
the grasp of his fingers, missing the little girl so much. In that moment, he felt
compelled to carve out some special ‘father-daughter’ time for her once she arrived.

I’ll take her to the park…on the Ferris wheel. I can take her to the Metropolitan
Children’s Museum of Art, too…just me and her. That might be too grown for her though…
I’ll take Dakarai there instead. Yeah… We can end the day at the toy store and ice
cream parlor. Or maybe, she can finally have the city ice cream truck experience that
I used to live for as a kid. Yeah…just me and my little princess.

Bringing the shirt up to his face, he sniffed it, now feeling pissed that her natural
scent had been washed away and replaced with the sweet fragrance of liquid fabric
softener.

“Damn…” he muttered as he gripped the shirt a bit tighter, balling it up in his palm.
He stifled a yawn. “How can I be so happy yet so unsettled at the same time?”

*

One thing was
for goddamn sure—Hassani and Dakarai were bad as hell. Pam shot the little one with
the shaved sides and flapping black ponytail a look…the kind that she as their grandmother
knew instilled the fear of the Lord about to bring His wrath amongst them. Dakarai
was a sneaky kind of breed; the little trickster had been at it again. The boy pitched
her a devious smile, one that reminded her of his father…or maybe it was Xenia. Regardless,
she loved them more than life itself, and as she sat cradled with Isis on her lap,
she understood that she was witnessing some scheming and plotting, the kind little
children planned to surely carry out. She observed the two boys sitting across from
her talking, whispering to one another as if they were in a damn secret club, occasionally
looking in her direction and treating her like some intruder they needed to keep at
bay.

Ain’t this some bull… I’mma need to have a chit chat with my daughter…

Something was going on with the eldest one—her beating heart, her tortured soul, the
eldest of the tiny clan, Prince Hassani. He was her first grandson; she recalled the
beautiful day he was born, as if it were yesterday. She knew his personality in and
out, but she’d seen things…outlandish things, as of late.

I ain’t drank no wine, beer, nothing. I ain’t smoked no weed in weeks. I saw what
I saw!

Yet, she waivered back and forth, grappling with the concept, trying desperately to
figure things out. For the past year or so, Hassani had had an odd way about him,
and it seemed to be getting worse. Initially she thought it due to him growing older.
After all, he was at an awkward time in his life. But then, she’d witnessed him in
a fit of rage, one she’d never seen a boy his age administer. It seemed as if he were
exploding from the inside out, as if the Incredible Hulk had crawled inside the eight
year old to make him tear the world apart and do some serious damage to the closest
person within reach, rendering them a victim before they even saw him coming. And
then, she witnessed it. The boy’s dark brown eyes, beautiful and mysterious since
the day he was born, had turned blood red, looking every inch like the Devil had bled
right into the irises. It had happened so quickly, so fleetingly, that by the time
she tried to stare at him a little more, got right in his face, the eyes had gone
back to their original color.

She’d never forget how he looked up at her, as if he were confused, struggling. Then,
he’d grabbed her tightly around her waist and buried his head in her gut, his dark,
silky curls bunching against her pink and white-checkered shirt.

The boy was grappling with something, and she wanted to know what the hell it was.
She’d pulled him aside and got down on his level, grunting all the way as she fell
to her creaking knees. Placing her hands lovingly on his shoulders, she’d made him
look at her right in the eye. Pushing her fears aside that she may see his cerise
irises again, she was soothed to witness no such thing. However, his heart was beating
so fast, she could almost hear it. Matter of fact…she did. What a strange wonder,
a surreal and unnatural moment, but…he was her grandbaby. Hassani was sweet, intelligent
and funny—and now, he was changing.

“Are you mad about moving?” she asked him. He shook his head, but she wasn’t buying
it. Hassani never liked to express irritation or discomfort. He always acted like
a little soldier, as if he were Saint’s predecessor in some way. The boy had a right
to be livid, though. Hell, she was mad about it, too. Saint and Xenia were taking
her life away from her, and she’d told them so after they made their little relocation
announcement. By the same token, they had a right to live and set up shop wherever
they deemed fit. Pam understood no man should live for others, but she
did
live for those grandbabies. She spent hours a week with them, sometimes entire days…
The adjustment would prove almost unbearable.

Hence why she volunteered to have her daughter and son-in-law let the little ones
stay there, just a bit longer. She needed them all to herself. She needed her grandbabies
huddled around her, giving her the love only they could administer. And now, here
she sat—Isis half asleep against her bosom, Dakarai’s shifty-eyed self glaring suspiciously
around the place as they waited for their plane, and Hassani clutching one of those
damn electronic games like the deeply desired distraction that it was. Porsche was
getting them a bite to eat at one of the nearby overpriced chain airport eateries,
so Pam simply sighed and waited impatiently. She crossed her swollen ankles, listened
to the announcements and indulged in occasional people watching. But she had to turn
back to Hassani, for the little boy, the one that was becoming a man a tiny bit at
a time, was staring daggers at her now.

He look so much like his Daddy now, it ain’t even funny…

She flicked her finger at him, dying for a cigarette, but resisted.

“Boy, what is it?” she barked, causing Isis to stir against her.

Hassani slowly looked away, as if he thought better of it. Then, he placed his game
aside and leaned forward to stare down at his blue Nikes. His skinny legs fell open
as he wiggled his feet back and forth, suspended in his own contemplations.

“You miss your mama? We’ll see her in a minute,” she assured.

“I miss ’er, but that’s not what’s on my mind,” he said in a low, almost imperceptible,
voice.

“Well? What is it?”

“Grandma, you ever feel like, you know, you ain’t got no proof or nothing, but you
feel like you might get in trouble?”

“What do you mean? Have you done somethin’ you had no business doing, boy?” she snapped.

“No, at least, I don’t think so.” He looked up at her. “I feel like Daddy really had
to move to New York, just like he told me.”

“Yes, he said he needed to do it for business, Hassani. He gotta grow the business.
Your daddy works hard,” she explained, trying to give more comfort and be more understanding
of the situation her damn self. Hassani nodded, though it didn’t seem genuine. She
wasn’t convinced he understood what she was saying at all.

“I’m going to miss my friends, my house, ’specially you, Grandma… everything and everybody.
I don’t want to move but…I’m not mad about it no more.” He shrugged. “I figure this
will be my life one day too, like, one day, I’ll have to do the same stuff he doin’.”