Tyrell (19 page)

When I get back to Bennett, Jasmine in the lobby on the pay phone. I try to get past her so I can get dressed for the dinner at Novisha house, but she hold her hand up to tell me to wait. Then she go on talking for another couple minutes like she don't got me waiting. But she do look real happy, and all she keep saying to the person on the phone is, “
Gracias, gracias.
”

She hang up the phone, run over to me, and throw her arms ‘round me. Then she start jumping up and down and her body is rubbing up against mines. It's like she trying to work me up or something. I mean, I hafta move away from her before she get my body going.

“What? What's up?”

“I got the job!” She smiling, all that metal shining and shit.

“That's cool,” I tell her.

“Now I'm gonna have my own money and everything.”

“What ‘bout Emiliano? He don't want you working, right?”

“No, not really, but what else can I do? Reyna left me here, and I don't know if she's gonna come back for me. And I can't
keep getting money from Emil if Reyna and him aren't together no more. It's not fair to him.”

Me and Jasmine walk up the stairs to the second floor. When I get to her room, I tell her I'ma come by later.

“Where you going?”

“Remember, we going to dinner at Novisha house.”

“Oh, yeah.” Her face fall a little, and all of a sudden she don't look as happy as she was, like, a minute ago.

“We ain't gonna be there too long.” Now she got me feeling bad for leaving her alone.

“That's okay. You don't have to rush back here for me. I have to study anyway.”

“On a Friday?”

“There's nothing else to do. And I'm gonna be working now, so, you know, I need to study when I get the chance.”

“When you start the job?”

“Tomorrow at two for training.”

“You still gonna be at the party, right?”

“Yeah. I get off at eight, so I'll come straight from work.”

“Okay, good. See you later.”

I get to my room in just enough time to get in the shower and change, but my moms is looking mad again. I don't know what for this time, and I don't really wanna ask neither. So I don't. I just start going through the garbage bag with the clean clothes to find something nice to wear.

But that don't stop my moms from talking to me. “You not gonna wanna hear what that bitch at the EAU told me today,” she say.

I look over at Troy, but he ain't listening to her curse. He watching cartoons on TV. And he already dressed too.

“What?” I ask her.

“She said they ain't gonna send us to no Tier II shelter ‘cause of my conviction. They still making me pay for something that happened years ago.”

“What they gonna do? Put us out in the streets or something?”

“No, they gonna transfer us to some kind of program that do job training for single mothers.”

“Where we s'posed to live at?”

“We gonna live there for eight weeks ‘til I finish the program. Then they s'posed to find us a apartment, and I'm gonna have to pay the rent myself.”

Man. What she telling me got me bugging. I ain't never thought they was really gonna throw us out the shelter system. I mean, the city put up with anybody that's homeless. All kinds of criminals and addicts and shit. Why they getting rid of us?

“And you ain't gonna believe the jobs they trying to train me for,” she say. “Shit like home health aide and hospital food service, like I'm gonna do any of that. Working like a fuckin' slave for minimum wage when I got a man that take care of me.”

For a second, I ain't sure who she talking ‘bout. My pops or me.

“I got me a husband,” she say. “I ain't no single mother.”

“You are for now,” I say. “'Til August.”

“Well, I ain't going to no program to learn how to wipe shit off old people asses. That ain't gonna happen.” Then she look at me again like she did the first day we got here. “You ain't gonna let your family go to no program like that, right?”

I don't wanna get in no argument with her again, not now when we s'posed to be at Novisha house by 7:00. So I just go,
“Nah. I'ma make enough money tomorrow to get us outta here, a'ight?”

“Yeah, okay. But even if you don't, you could always work with Cal and his brothers. Just ‘til your father get home.”

I ain't even gonna get into that with her now ‘cause she know I ain't lookin' to sell no weed. If I wanted to do that, I woulda been doing it by now. “You get the caseworker to fill out that form so Troy can go to the after-school program for free?”

“Yeah,” she say, but I can tell she still don't want him outta special ed. She too used to getting them SSI checks every month. ‘Cept for what I make at the subway station, that's all the money we get every month and she scared to give it up.

I get in the shower, and all I'm thinking ‘bout is this new program they wanna put her in. I gotta admit, working as a home health aide don't sound too good but, at the same time, it's ‘bout time she learned how to take care of herself when my pops ain't ‘round. ‘Cause the way things is going, he probably gonna get locked up again in a couple years. So it ain't gonna kill her to learn how to do something to pay the rent. She need to have a backup plan so we don't end up here. Next time.

On the train all the way to Novisha house, I'm telling my moms how to act when we get there. “You gotta tell Ms. Jenkins thank you for inviting us,” I say. I mean, yeah, most people would know this, but I ain't taking no chances. I don't want Ms. Jenkins thinking my moms is so ghetto she don't got no manners or nothing. “And tell her that her apartment look nice, ‘cause you know she always keep her place clean.”

She suck her teeth. “I know, Ty.”

“And thank her for all the food she been sending for us.”

My moms don't say nothin', but I can tell I'm getting on her nerves. She turn her body away from mines and start staring out the window. We on the 5 train, up past West Farms, and out the window the buildings is flying by. But in a way the train ain't going fast enough ‘cause I ain't seen Novisha since Wednesday, and I just wanna make sure me and her is cool.

“Watch me, Mommy,” Troy yell. He been swinging ‘round the metal pole in the middle of the car since we got on the train,
but my moms ain't told him to stop yet. I mean, no, there ain't nobody sitting near him or nothing, so he ain't bothering no one, but still, the boy do need some home training.

“Troy,” I tell him, “don't get your clothes dirty.”

“Okay,” he say, but he don't stop or slow down or nothing.

“Troy, I ain't gonna say it again.”

That get him to stop, but he mad at me now. He sit down on the other side of the car with his arms folded in front of him, and every couple seconds he give me his mean look, like that's s'posed to make me change my mind and let him act a fool. But that ain't gonna happen.

In the elevator of Novisha building, Troy point to the puddle of pee in the corner. “Look, Mommy.”

She look but don't hardly react.

“It's pee,” Troy say.

“And?”

For me and my moms, pee in the elevator ain't nothin' but a thing. But Troy don't remember when we used to live here in the projects. He a Pelham Parkway kid.

We get out on the seventh floor and knock on 7C. When Ms. Jenkins open her door, she smiling real big. Real big and real fake. I mean, she probably ain't got nothing against my moms, but they ain't friends or nothing. When we lived here at Bronxwood, they was just the kinda neighbors that be going hi and bye when they pass in the streets or at the store. That's it. I don't even know why Ms. Jenkins invited us for dinner when she ain't had to.

“Lisa,” Ms. Jenkins say to my moms, “I'm so glad you all could make it.”

She open the door wider so we could walk through, and when she ain't looking, I give my moms the head signal to remind her what she s'posed to say. “Thank you for inviting us, Bonelle,” she say. “It's about time we got together.”

The whole house feel real warm from the oven and, even from the front door, I can smell the food. My mouth start watering right away. Man, I can't wait to eat.

“Ty!” Novisha come over and give me the good girl hug. But even that is alright with me right ‘bout now. It's hard to explain, but she just fit so good against my body. Me and her is perfect together.

Troy run past us into the living room and go straight for the computer. “Can I play a game, Novisha?” he ask, sitting down in the chair.

Novisha let go of me and walk over to him. “I don't have any games on here,” she say, turning the computer on. “But we can go online and try to find something.” She kneel down on the floor next to him.

Meanwhile, my moms and Ms. Jenkins sit down on the couch, and I just stand there watching them. ‘Cause, to be honest, I can't really relax in this situation. I know my moms is gonna say something stupid and the whole dinner is gonna get fucked up. There ain't no doubt in my mind.

She start right away. “Bonelle, I can't believe you still got that big ol' console TV,” she say, laughing a little. “And them same ol' Jesus and Mary paintings and all this religious stuff all over the place. Girl, you need to change this living room already.”

Ms. Jenkins look ‘round. “I don't know,” she say. “I like
everything the way it is. It's my home.” But I can tell my moms got her thinking. She looking at her own place like she seeing it for the first time.

“Your apartment is real nice, Ms. Jenkins,” I tell her. “You don't gotta change nothing. I like them paintings too. They real nice.”

She smile. “See how wonderful your son is to me?” she say to my moms. “He's always welcome in this home.”

“Well, if he has his way, you gonna be his mother-in-law in a couple years,” my moms tell her. “Because my boy is serious about your daughter, let me tell you.”

“Oh, our kids are too young to be all that serious,” Ms. Jenkins say, but she look a little worried. “Right?”

“Well, with the way they been messing around, we better hope they do get married before Novisha end up pregnant.”

My moms start laughing, but she the only one. Novisha look at me scared, and I look at my moms mad, and Ms. Jenkins put her hand to her mouth and say, “Oh, Mother Mary!”

“Mom, that's not gonna happen!” Novisha say, standing up. “Tyrell isn't like that. We're not doing anything.”

Ms. Jenkins look at me and her eyes is like fire trying to burn the truth outta me or something. “Ms. Jenkins,” I say, “I respect your daughter, and me and her never did nothing but kiss. Honest. Don't listen to my moms. She don't understand that me and Novisha is in love and we gonna wait ‘til we get married.” Ms. Jenkins is still looking at me with them eyes, so I say real fast, “Married in the Catholic Church, of course.”

It take a while, but them eyes start to go back to the way they used to look, and Ms. Jenkins even start breathing regular again. “I know my daughter very well,” she tell my moms, and she smile
like she trying to keep the mood friendly. “She's a good girl who doesn't keep secrets from her mother.”

Ms. Jenkins don't believe none of what she saying and we all know it. My moms look up to the ceiling like she think Ms. Jenkins is a fool or something for thinking Novisha tell her moms everything. And me and Novisha know her moms don't really trust her ‘cause, if she did, she wouldn't be reading her diary all the time.

Novisha give me one last look, like, that was close, then she go back to the computer and Troy. I hear the computer dialing up to go online. “So how's school, Troy?” she ask, trying way too hard to get the conversation off me and her.

“Good. I'm gonna move to a new class on Monday. And I'm gonna stay in my old class too.”

“That sounds interesting.”

While Novisha and Troy talk and search online for a game, Ms. Jenkins try to talk to my moms, but they don't really got nothing to talk ‘bout. They don't got shit in common. So they start gossiping ‘bout some of the other people who live here in Bronxwood, like who husband left her, who man got locked up, all that kinda stuff. They don't got one good thing to say ‘bout no man. But that keep them busy for a while, and I get to relax a little bit ‘cause least they ain't talking ‘bout me and Novisha no more.

“Go set the table,” Ms. Jenkins tell Novisha after a while. “And set a place for your father.”

Novisha roll her eyes, but her moms don't see her.

“I'll help you,” I say, and me and her go in the kitchen.

Novisha look pissed. She whisper to me, “God, why does she always have to include him in everything? I'm getting tired of this already.”

“Chill,” I say, then I tell her the same thing my moms told me yesterday. “Maybe she need him. You know, she don't wanna be alone no more.”

“She's not alone. I'm with her.” She get the plates out the cabinet and hand them to me. Six plates at a table that's only really big enough for four. “She's pathetic. He's making her look like a fool.”

We set the table, but Ms. Jenkins and my moms stay in the living room. I can tell Ms. Jenkins is trying to wait for her ex-husband to show up ‘cause she keep looking up at the clock every couple minutes. But finally at 8:00 she say, “Well, we'd better get started. Let's eat.”

I go grab the computer chair while Novisha get the chair from her room. Me and her sit together while Ms. Jenkins start serving the food: fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas and rice, collard greens, and corn bread. Man. Novisha wasn't lying when she said her moms was going all out for us. The woman threw down.

When Ms. Jenkins finally sit down with us, she make us pray before we can eat. She thank God for getting us all together and ask God to find us a new place to live at. She real nice that way.

“I don't know where my husband is,” Ms. Jenkins say after she finish praying. The empty chair is right next to her. “He said he'd get here by seven thirty, but he probably got stuck in traffic.”

My moms suck her teeth. “If you want a man to eat dinner with every night, Bonelle, why you divorce him?”

Next to me, Novisha smile, but I wanna smack a muzzle over my moms mouth. She embarrassing the hell outta me.

And she don't stop talking neither. “Now I know your husband was doing his thing out there, but girl, you know how them
mens is. It's up to us to do what we gotta do to hold our family together, not get divorced the first chance we get.”

For the first time since I knew her, Ms. Jenkins look mad. And kinda shocked too. But she don't raise her voice or nothing. She just say real calm, “Well, Lisa, it's easy to put up with a man when he spends more time in prison than at home.”

Damn. Ms. Jenkins went there.

“I'm just saying, Bonelle, that I was surprised when you and Jimmy got divorced, being all Catholic and whatnot. I thought y'all wasn't even allowed to get divorced.” My moms shove a huge forkful of macaroni and cheese in her mouth like she trying to eat as much as she can before Ms. Jenkins throw us out or something.

I decide to stop this before there be collard greens and chicken flying ‘cross the table. “Everything taste delicious, Ms. Jenkins. You should open up your own restaurant, right, Troy?”

“Uh-huh.” He bite into a chicken leg with his mouth all greasy and shit.

“Well, thank you, boys. But make sure y'all save some room for the sweet potato pie. I made three of them.”

I look at my moms and she just acting like nothing happened. And me, I just wanna kill her for disrespecting Ms. Jenkins when all the woman do is help us. There ain't no excuse for it.

Through the rest of the dinner my moms and Ms. Jenkins don't hardly talk, and I'm glad. Then Novisha so-called father show up with a hundred excuses for why he late. Ms. Jenkins feed him and she don't even act upset with him. It's like she just glad he decided to show up at all.

When we finish eating, my moms lean back in her chair, all
full and shit, and light up a Newport right there at the table. I mean, I can't hardly believe what I'm looking at. She actin' like she in her own house, and she don't care that everybody looking at her like she out her mind or something.

“Um, Lisa,” Ms. Jenkins say. “We don't allow smoking in our home. I'm sorry.”

“Oh, shit,” my moms say. “I didn't know that.” She take the cigarette, get up, and leave the apartment with it.

All of us look at each other, but nobody know what to say. I know if me and Troy wasn't there they woulda all talked bad ‘bout my moms, but now they don't say nothing for a while.

Then Ms. Jenkins stand up and start picking up our plates. “Who's ready for dessert?”

“Me!” Troy say real loud. He even raise his hand like he at school. That get Ms. Jenkins to laugh and then we all start to laugh a little. By the time my moms come back inside, we all eating pie and talking like nothing happened.

After dessert, I thank Ms. Jenkins for everything. Then me, Novisha, and Troy go back in the living room while the three of them sit there drinking coffee. Course I'm trying to hear what my moms is saying. See how much she embarrassing herself. And me. But I can't hear nothing.

Novisha find some website with games that teach kids shit with cartoon animals and talking letters. Troy don't need no more help. He just take the mouse and get to work by his own self. So me and Novisha sit on the couch close, but not too close, and when nobody looking, I kiss her on the lips. “Ty,” she whisper. “My mom and dad are gonna see us.”

“Shh.” I kiss her again. I'm trying to get some tongue action
going, but she don't let me. Man, I wish there was some way to get her alone, but that ain't gonna happen today.

Novisha rub my head, trying to relax me the best she can with her parents right there. “I need to do some of these braids over.”

“Let's go to your room then.”

She look in the kitchen real quick and nobody look like they paying us no mind. So she go, “Okay.” We get up and head for her bedroom.

“Where y'all think you're going?” Mr. Jenkins ask us. Damn, we cold busted. And by her pops. “What, y'all trying to sneak away from us?”

“I wanna fix Ty's hair, that's all. We're gonna keep the door open, okay?”

Novisha don't wait for no answer. She just keep walking, but just as I'm ‘bout to go in her room, Ms. Jenkins say, “Tyrell, come get this chair. I don't want y'all to get on that bed.”

I go grab the desk chair from the kitchen and take it back to Novisha room. Then I sit and wait while she get the comb and the grease from the bathroom. This time I don't even look for the real journal on her desk ‘cause I know it's only gonna fuck with my head. And I ain't even get a chance to talk to her yet ‘bout that shit she wrote the other day.

While Novisha doing my hair, she ask me, “So, is there anything new? What have you been up to?”

“Nothing,” I say. Ain't no way I'ma tell her ‘bout the party ‘cause she gonna get all worried that I'ma get locked up and, truth is, that could happen. So, I'm like this: Why tell her something she don't need to know?