Upgrade U (18 page)

I’m more than just an option …
I took a chance with my heart …

—D
RAKE
, “F
IND
Y
OUR
L
OVE”

“Y
o, you cannot talk about the secret bat cave, a’ight?”

Zaire said as we lay across his couch, studying for midterms.

“I’m just saying that it’s tight.”

“You live in a dorm room with two girls and you’re complaining that my studio apartment is tight?”

“And hot.”

“It’s N’awlins, bey-be, what you expect?”

“Not much, just an air conditioner.”

“I got your air conditioner.” Zaire rolled over and started tickling me.

I cracked up laughing. “All right, all right.”

“Now are you gon’ talk about my spot again?”

“No.” I laughed until I cried. “No.”

“A’ight.” He stopped tickling me and stood up from the couch. He tossed his textbooks into his backpack and said, “Enough studying for now. Besides, I don’t know about
you, but I already know I’ma kill my midterms. So I’m good.”

I had to laugh. “So what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying it: if you don’t master that chart you gon’ have problems. Fa’real.”

“You are so whack, to say something like that. Just because I needed you to help me with studying chemistry doesn’t mean you’re going to get a better grade than me. And besides science is not exactly my thing.”

“I know, it’s English, which is why I don’t know why you won’t change your major.”

“And do what, teach?”

“You can do more than teaching, but what’s wrong with being a teacher?”

“Boy, please.”

“Teaching is a beautiful thing. My mother was a teacher.”

“She was?” I said, surprised, mainly because Zaire never really talked about his mother. “Tell me about her.”

Zaire sat down next to me and started to smile. “She used to teach third grade at a school in the Seventh Ward.”

“Did she like it?”

“She loved it.”

“What kind of person was she?”

“She was funny, and you could talk to her about anything, but she didn’t take any mess.”

I laughed. “Sounds like my mother. What do you miss most about your mom?” I asked him.

“I miss hearing her voice and having her kiss me good night.” I didn’t know what to say to that, so I let him continue talking. “Seven, you have no idea what it is to one day have a family who prayed together, hung out together, laughed all the time, to the next day—the very next day
most of your family being dead and the ones left are spread out in places they have never been: Texas, Atlanta, Utah, New York. Yo, most of us, at least from my family, we didn’t venture too far from the Big Easy.”

“Why not?”

“No money, Love. But mostly because we loved our city. To be from New Orleans or N’awlins, bey-be, is to be from a place so rooted in who you are, so entrenched in your heart that to leave here and to live somewhere else—and especially if it wasn’t your choice—is hell.”

“So when the city had to be evacuated, where did you stay?”

“In Utah.”

“Utah?” I frowned. “Really?”

“Yep, Utah.” He nodded his head for confirmation. “Yo, Utah is a beautiful state, filled with orange mountains, but it ain’t for me. My grandmother was so depressed living there she was sick. We went from living in our own home in the only place we knew to living someplace we knew nothing about.”

“How long did you stay there?”

“About six months or so, then we were allowed to come back to New Orleans. Only to find the home we’d known all of our lives was now a pile of sticks and boards, and broken windows.”

“That had to be hard.”

“You don’t know the half of it. We stayed in a FEMA trailer for at least two and a half, three years, and my grandmother was steadily getting sick. No one knew why and then one day she was in the hospital from an asthma attack and it comes across the news that the FEMA trailers were made with formaldehyde.”

“What?!”

“Yep, so now I’m sixteen, it’s nobody and it’s no other man in my family but me. I need my grandmother, otherwise who I’ma have? My family is dead. We weren’t rich and we didn’t have any money. The house we owned was nothing, so the way I saw things I had to do what I had to do.”

“Which was what?”

He paused. “I had to get a job.”

“Doing what?”

He paused again. “Construction. And after a while I saved enough money to have my grandmother’s house rebuilt and she was able to move back home.”

“Wow …” I said, at a loss for words. “It’s hard to imagine you going through that.”

“Well, I did, but I’m straight now.”

“Are you?” I stared at him long and hard.

“I’m getting there.” A moment of silence lingered between us and then he said, “Now come on, get up and let’s go get something to eat.”

I wanted to talk more about his journey, but it was obvious that he didn’t, so when all else failed I said something funny. “All we do is eat. Why are you always feeding me?” I looked at him suspiciously.

“So I guess the movie we caught a few nights back, the bowling, shooting pool, and er’thing else we do doesn’t count, ‘cause you’re too busy counting how many times I feed you. A’ight, so we won’t eat.”

“Maybe you won’t eat, but you gon’ feed me.” I chuckled.

Zaire smiled, reached for my hand, and pulled me toward him. “You know what I dig the most about you?”

“That I’m cute.”

“You a’ight, but you don’t look better than me,” he teased.

“Whatever.”

“Nah, for real, what I’m feeling the most is that we’re really friends along with me being your man. Like we really, really chill and I’m feeling that. You’re different.” He looked at me and our gazes locked.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.” He twirled me around, as if we were making a dance move. “You gon’ mess around and I’ma give up everything for you.”

“Everything like what?” I smiled.

“Like everything.” He held me tightly.

“You love me, don’t you?” I gave him a peck on the lips.

“Yeah, too much.” He slapped me on the behind. “Now let’s go, ‘cause I’m starvin’.”

“Oh,” I said as we walked toward the door, “that’s why we’re always eating, because you’re always hungry.” I cracked up laughing as we stepped outside of the apartment building he lived in. “Let’s go to the Gumbo Pot, Zaire, and we can walk there,” I said.

“A’ight—”

“Yo, hey man,” came from practically nowhere. Zaire and I looked up and it was a tall and extremely skinny man, who scratched the sides of his neck so hard it looked as if he were peeling his skin off. His lips were cracked and chapped. “Yo man,” he said to Zaire. “Can I speak to you for a minute?”

Zaire stood stunned, and for the first time since we’d been together the veins on the side of his neck jumped.

“Yo, homie, pot’nah, my man, please I need to see ya
for a minute.” The man stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a palm full of coins. “Let me talk to you for a minute, playboy.”

Zaire turned to me. “Stand there and don’t move.” Don’t ask me why, but suddenly I was scared.

Zaire walked over to the guy, shot him a cold and hard look, and said, “If you ever in your life approach me crazy again, it will be a problem. Now my advice to you is to get the hell on. You understand me?”

The man didn’t answer—he just simply took off running.

“What was that about?” I asked Zaire once the man was out of sight.

“Nothing,” he said, but I could tell his nothing meant something.

“You told me you wouldn’t lie to me,” I reminded him.

“And I haven’t lied to you. Now are you ready?”

“Zaire—”

“Seven, would you trust me? Damn.”

I swallowed. “I never said I didn’t trust you. I just want to know what’s going on? You can tell me anything.”

He paused and stared at me. “Seven,” Zaire said, “it’s cool, a’ight? Now, I’d like something to eat. Are you hungry or are you going back to the dorm?”

A large part of me wanted to bark at him, “I don’t have to stay here and kick it with you.” But I didn’t and mostly because I could tell that whatever just happened here was bothering Zaire a lot more than it bothered me. “Sure,” I said, “let’s eat.”

Thought I’d never fall in love,
And then there was you …

—T
REY
S
ONGZ
, “A
LREADY
T
AKEN”

“I
haven’t eaten in two days.” Khya held her stomach.

“And why not?” Shae looked at her as if she were crazy.

“Because I’ve been waiting on Maw-Maw’s Thanksgiving dinner, ya heardz me?”

“No,” Shae said, “what I hear is an ambulance being called any minute because you have passed out.”

“Funny you were eating all day, yesterday, Khya.” Courtney pounded on the wall. “I could’ve sworn that shrimp po-boy was a meal. And if I’m not mistaken, didn’t you have a donut this morning?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be eating chicken butts by now?” Khya spat. “Oh, wait, I forgot you missed your plane, because you were too busy in my business! You should be a private eye. You would put that job to sleep.”

“You think so, Khya?”

“Yup, I’m ‘bout to update my page and put that as my status.”

“Word?” Courtney said, and I could hear him smiling. “So you really believe in me, huh?”

“Oh … my … God …” I shook my head and said, “Please stop giving him career advice; you know he takes it to heart. Now, Zaire and Chaz are downstairs waiting for us, so come on.”

“Sure wish I had somewhere to spend Thanksgiving dinner,” Courtney moaned. “But don’t nobody care about Courtney!”

“Courtney, just come on!” I barked. “Goodness. But I’ma tell you right now, you better be on your best behavior.”

“I’m always well behaved.”

“Awl, get it now! Hot Boyz,” Courtney sang, as we approached Zaire’s truck, “baby, you got what I want, ‘cause you be drivin’ Lexus jeeps and F-150 trucks. We straight up rollin’ in here!” he screamed. “Hey’yay, Zaire!” Courtney slid into the backseat, looked out the window at Shae and Khya, and started throwing up gang signs. “Don’t hate, ‘cause I’m styling. Don’t hate.”

“Could you chill wit’ all that?” Zaire said to Courtney.

“Opps, two snaps up and a fruit loop, let me fall back, ‘cause you look like you gun toting. And the Big Easy is the murder capital, so I’m not trying to piss anybody off down here. Okay?” Courtney slapped the back of his hand and said, “Bad Courtney, bad-bad.”

God must hate me.

Zaire’s eyes clearly burned a hole through me while Courtney performed in the backseat; and it didn’t help any that Courtney was dressed in a tiger cat suit and a feather bandanna.

This was obviously the reason why Shae rode with Chaz and Khya.

“He didn’t have anywhere else to go,” I mumbled to Zaire. “I couldn’t just leave him.”

“You owe me big time. Huge,” Zaire said as we started to ride.

“Here you go, Zaire.” Courtney handed him a CD. “Slide this in.”

Zaire cut me the evil eye as he slid in Courtney’s CD and suddenly Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable” filled the air.

“Can you turn that up?” Courtney said.

This is going to be a long ride.

By the time we got to Big-Maw’s house, the ride with Courtney felt like it took an hour as opposed to twenty minutes.

We parked in front of Big-Maw’s house, and once we were out of the truck Courtney whispered to me, “Seven, what in da hell is this?” His eyes scanned the block. “You done brought me over here to Iraq. Have Mercy.”

“Would you shut up?” I said, tight-lipped.

“I’m just saying,” Courtney continued to whisper, “I have a right to my opinion! What would you think if every other house was on the ground? I’m officially scared now, you could’ve left me on campus. I had freeze-dried turkey sandwiches.”

I didn’t even respond to him. I simply walked away.

“I’m so glad y’all came!” Big-Maw met us at the door. “Grandson, you brought home the whole crew, didn’t you? Well, I just love it.”

“Hey’yay! I’m Courtney.” Courtney walked up to Big-Maw and gave her a hug. He looked over at Ling and said, “Look at you, all United Nations up in here.”

Should I smack him now or later?

“And I’m Khya!” Khya hugged Big-Maw. “And you look just like this guy I knew named Jamil’s grandmother.”

“Well, I hope she was a nice lady.”

“She was.” Khya smiled. “And you know ever since Seven told us she ate your food—although she didn’t tell us right away and technically Zaire told me, and I told Shae—but anyway, ever since I heard about how well you cooked I’ve been dying to be a guest at your table.”

“Well,” Big-Maw said, “you are welcome anytime.” She looked at Chaz. “I take it this is the young lady you were telling me about?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Chaz said as he kissed Big-Maw on the cheek.

She looked back at Khya and smiled. “Cute, very cute. And I can tell by her accent, she’s from New Orleans. A homegirl, I like that.”

“Big-Maw,” I said, “you are so cool.”

“There’s my girl.” She smiled at me. “Welcome back, granddaughter-in-law.” She winked at Zaire. “It’s beautiful to see you again.”

“Thank you,” I said. “This is my best friend, Shae.”

“Hi, Shae,” Big-Maw said and then turned to her husband. “And everybody this is my husband, Ling.”

“Seven,” Courtney whispered to me, “is that Jackie Chan?”

OMG …

We all walked into the house and Big-Maw had completely outdone herself. The dining-room table was covered with all sorts of food: turkey, dressing, ham, gumbo, catfish, rice, greens, macaroni and cheese, yams, potato
salad, and pretty much every kind of dessert you can think of.

“I hope everybody came hungry,” she said.

“Sho’ did.” Khya smiled.

“I did too,” Courtney volunteered. “That’s why I have on this spandex cat suit so it can expand.”

Just shoot me.

“Okay, everybody,” Big-Maw said, “let’s gather around and hold hands.”

We each complied and I stood between Zaire and Shae. Zaire held my hand tightly.

“Dear Lord,” Big-Maw said, “we thank You for filling this house once again with love, friends, and good spirits. We thank You for allowing us to come home again. Thank You for giving Grandson the strength to not only go to school but to work long hours at his job, in order to help me see New Orleans and my neighborhood again. I don’t know what me and Ling would do without him. And I thank You for the special young lady he’s brought here today. She has placed a smile on his face that I haven’t seen since his mother was alive.

“Thank You for Ling, Lord. Thank You for all the chil’ren that are here at the table this day. Watch over them, guide them, and let them know that no one shall come before You. We ask You to bless the food we are about to receive and have a special blessing upon it. This we pray in Your son Jesus’s name. Amen.”

“Amen,” we all said, as we turned to each other and exchanged hugs.

We sat down and as we passed the food around the table, the room filled with chatter and laughter. Khya and
Courtney didn’t argue. Big-Maw and Ling—at my request—shared their love story, and Zaire must’ve whispered to me about how grateful he was to have me in his life at least a thousand times.

I was convinced that life couldn’t get any sweeter than this.

An hour after dinner was done, it was late and time to leave.

“I hate to see y’all go,” Big-Maw said.

“We do too,” I said. “But thank you so much for having us.”

“You sure you don’t want to take any food with you guys?”

Courtney grunted. “Well, now that you mentioned it—”

“No, m’am,” I said. “Everyone had enough.”

“I don’t appreciate you cutting me off, Seven,” Courtney mumbled, but I ignored him.

“Okay,” Big-Maw said, as we each hugged and kissed her on our way out. “I hope to see you all again soon!”

She waved to us as Zaire started to drive.

“I tell you what,” Courtney said, “if I had on a pair of pants I’d unbuckle ‘em. ‘Cause that forth piece of sweet potato pie is sitting right on top of my stomach. I need y’all to hurry up. I think I need to use the bathroom.”

“You are so gross,” I said in disgust.

“Seven, why are you all in my Kool-Aid trying to figure out if it’s sugar-free?” Courtney spat.

“Courtney”—I turned my head toward him—“nothing you have is sugar-free, believe me.”

“Hey,” Zaire said, cutting across our exchange. “Do you two have your seatbelts on?”

“Yeah, why?” I turned back around and noticed that traffic had slowed down.

“There’s a police checkpoint up ahead, and I just want to make sure everything is straight,” Zaire said, pointing toward a sign that read please have your license and registration ready.

“Do they stop every car?” I asked.

“Nah, only every third car.”

I arched my brow. “Well, they just let Chaz and the car in front of him ride by, so it looks as if tag you’re it.”

Zaire slowed down and pulled the truck to the side of the road. “License and registration, please,” the approaching officer said.

“Here you go, officer.” Zaire handed his information.

“I’ll be right back,” the officer said, returning to his cruiser.

Don’t ask me why the intensity in Zaire’s face caused my heart to race.

“Step out the vehicle please,” the officer said as he returned to Zaire’s truck.

“What?” Zaire blinked.

“What do they mean, ‘step out of the vehicle’?” I asked, confused.

“Ma’am,” another officer, who’d just walked to the passenger side of the truck said, “you need to step out of the vehicle.” He looked at Courtney and said, “You too, sir.”

“Oh Jesus, please don’t shoot,” Courtney said nervously. “ ‘Cause I’m getting out. I don’t know what they’re hesitating for, but, officer, the last crime I committed, I was seven and stole a bag of Ranch Doritos. My mother made me take them back and I had to stand before the church and confess. So I have served my time.”

“Sir, step out of the vehicle,” the officer said. “Slowly.”

“Oh, Lawd, I’m going down.” Courtney opened the door and immediately fell to the ground. “Two snaps up and a fruit loop, I need my mama.”

The officer looked back at me. “You have to get out of the car.”

“Why?” I asked, completely in shock.

“Your boyfriend was driving on a suspended license. So I need you to step out of the vehicle and sit over here.” He pointed to the curb. My mind raced, but I managed to comply as quickly as I could. I looked over at Zaire and he was handcuffed on the side of the truck. An officer read him his rights and another searched the truck.

I was scared, nervous, and I felt lost … and just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, the officer searched the truck and pulled out four bags of weed clamped between two rubber bands. “Now everybody’s under arrest,” he said.

I was frozen. Utterly frozen and all I could see was Josiah’s face the day he tried to warn me. One officer grabbed me and another grabbed Courtney.

“They didn’t do anything!” Zaire screamed. “Officer, it’s mine. I promise you it’s mine. It’s my truck and my drugs. Please, listen to me.”

Tears flooded my face, and when I looked at Courtney he was completely passed out.

I had never felt anything as cold as a pair of metal handcuffs, and at this moment I knew that my life had ended. “You have the right to remain silent …” were the last words I remembered hearing.

This was a dream. It had to be, because I didn’t remember being brought to the police station; all I remembered
was being handcuffed to a wooden bench and connected to a crying Courtney, who wouldn’t shut up and told everyone who passed by his life story.

After an hour of sitting on the wrong side of the law, the officer who arrested me walked over to us and said, “We’re letting you go. Call your parents, call your friends, just call someone to come and get you.”

“I’ll walk home,” Courtney said. “Just let me go.”

“However you get there is fine with me,” the officer said. “All I know is that I don’t want to see you again. And you two better realize how fortunate you are, because I could’ve booked you.” He uncuffed us. “Now leave.”

I was in another world completely. This all happened so quickly that I wasn’t sure what was going on. Courtney must’ve called Shae and Khya because somehow they showed up along with Chaz to pick us up. I was quiet the whole ride, and when we got back to the dorm I climbed into my bed, slid the covers over my head, and cried, until I couldn’t cry anymore.