When Saint Goes Marching In (22 page)

Raphael laughed along with Saint. “Remember that fight I got into over there?” He pointed to the corner. “To this day, I don’t know what that cat was talking about. He thought I was someone else. I stomped a mud hole in that bitch then you came out of nowhere and helped me finish that mothafucka off!”

“Man, these dudes over here, back then were constantly wilin’ out. People jackin’ you for your shoes, it was standard, man. Same shit, different day. I don’t even know how we are still alive after all the run-ins we had,” Saint grinned. They arrived at Raphael’s home. Saint followed behind him, up the steps. He could smell the tomato sauce wafting out of the partially cracked window. Saint smiled when he heard the muddled laughter of Raphael’s children and their feet running around as they screamed and chased one another. A little brown face with big ebony eyes peeked out the window.

“Saint is here!” Tasha screamed. “Look, Uncle Saint is here!” She ran from the door to grab her older brother and sister.

Raphael laughed as he opened the door. The long hallway was filled with the smell of incense, spaghetti sauce and cinnamon scented candles. Saint closed the door behind him. He was immediately bum-rushed by a ten, eleven and seven year old. Raphael laughed and walked back to his bedroom.

“How are my beasts?” Saint teased as he picked Tasha up in his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Uncle Saint!” she yelled loudly in his ear. “I got straight As! Raphael got a D though!” she laughed, showing a missing front tooth. Raphael Jr. wore a despondent look. He rocked on his heels and shot his little sister a look of disdain. Saint smiled and patted him on his head.

“What’s going on with those grades, man?” Saint asked raising his eyebrow.

“It’s English. I ain’t like English,” Raphael, Jr. said angrily.

“Little man, don’t try to act hard around me, and your entire response was incorrect. It’s, I
don’t
like English. You like rap music right?” Saint asked still smiling.

Raphael, Jr. nodded and looked up at him with admiration. Saint put Tasha back down.

“Well, rap artists use the English language. Without it, there would be no rap music and we wouldn’t understand them. It would just sound like gibberish. When they sit down and write those lyrics, that is the English language at work,” Saint explained as he pinched Patience’s cheek. She unleashed the full force of her adoring gaze on him.

 “Hey, little Mama!” he teased.

“Patience, let go of Uncle Saint,” Latrice chided as she wiped her hands on a folded paper towel and approached them. “We know what you’re up to, he’s like family, you silly girl.” Patience stomped away and sat down in front of the television.

Saint gave Latrice a big kiss on the cheek and hugged her. “It’s so good to see you.”

Latrice drew back and looked into his eyes.

“I know about what’s going on, I’m sorry about what happened. Saint, I’m praying for you and Xenia,” she whispered, her face full of concern.

Saint nodded, but said nothing. He was lost for words.

“Well, come on in and have a seat. Dinner will be ready in just a minute!” Latrice said cheerfully as she walked back to the kitchen. Saint sat down on the living room couch that he was quite familiar with. He put his red bag down next to him and looked at the television while Tasha approached him, wanting to sit on his lap. He sat her on his knee and watched The Wheel of Fortune.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors!” Saint called out.

Pat Sajak said three seconds later, “Yes, rock, paper, scissors!”

Patience, Tasha and Raphael, Jr. looked back at Saint and laughed.

“Uncle Saint how’d you know that?” Patience exclaimed.

“OK ya’ll, Patience and Raphael, whoever solves this next puzzle before the contestants do gets twenty dollars but you have to give five of it to Tasha,” Saint wagered.

Tasha smiled happily.

“I just told you I don’t like English! That’s not fair, Uncle Saint!” Raphael Jr. yelled angrily.

Saint burst out laughing. “Raphael, you better man up and try to solve this puzzle if you want the money. I don’t care about excuses. Excuses don’t help; just do what you need to do to come out on top.”

He thought about his own advice momentarily. He wasn’t sure how it fit into his own problems but it made him curious.

Patience looked intensely at the television screen, afraid to even blink.

“An ‘L!’” one of the contestants announced.

“Yes, there are two ‘L’s,” Pat Sajak said as Vanna White turned the white panels.

Tasha grinned.

“Walk on the Wild Side!” Raphael Jr. blurted.

The contestant said, “I’d like to solve the puzzle now, Walk on the Wild Side.”

Raphael, Jr. jumped up and danced in place. Saint laughed and looked over at Patience whose mouth was all twisted up. He pulled out his wallet and handed Raphael the twenty dollar bill. He then handed Tasha her own five dollar bill and asked Patience to come over and get a ten dollar bill.

“Patience, you tried, so you at least get a second prize.”

 Patience smiled and took it from his hand.

“Thank you, Saint,” she said as she happily walked away.

Latrice walked back into the family room. “Alright folks, dinner is ready. Come on in. Raphael is on the phone, he’ll be out in a second.”

When Raphael came out of his bedroom, he was still clutching his Blackberry.

“And that’s what I said, son! That’s my word! My word is bond! It’ll be there tomorrow!”

Raphael hit end on the call. Saint always told Raphael in the past that he sounded like the rapper DMX, it hit him again as he watched Raphael pace around while he tried to out-slick another slickster on the phone.

Saint pulled out a chair from the light oak dining room table and sat down. Beside him sat Raphael and Latrice while the children sat at the other end of the table. A big pot of flat noodle pasta, seasoned with oregano, seasoned salt and basil welcomed them. The home-made pasta sauce was set next to it, still steaming, along with a platter of garlic bread and a large wooden bowl of salad with Ranch dressing.

Latrice placed a plate of turkey meatballs on to the table, along with parmesan cheese.

“We know you don’t eat red meat, Saint, so I made sure to have the turkey meatballs instead tonight.”

“Thank you, Latrice, I appreciate that.”

Saint unwrapped his paper napkin and took out the silverware. He picked up his glass of iced tea and sipped it while the kids whispered amongst themselves and laughed.

His thoughts drifted to the last time he saw his sons and their mother at their dining room table, having dinner. He smiled sadly, recalling he and Xenia’s routine of making love when he’d arrive home, then dinner, followed many times by playtime with the kids or a family movie, just about every night.

He’d sit at the table and be yelled at by Xenia for rough housing with the children at the table. He wished he could hear her reprimanding him now; he so desperately wanted his family back.

Everyone finished their dinner and Saint got up and stretched.

“Thank you, Latrice. As always, you’re a great cook and I enjoyed dinner. I hate to eat and run, but I really just want to go and lie down.” He picked up his red bag and hugged her.

“You’re welcome Saint. I hope that we can come by and visit you and…visit you soon,” she corrected herself.

Saint noticed the slip and turned away. He bid the children goodbye – their touch bringing memories of his boys – and walked outside with Raphael, a smile pasted on his face.

“Hey man, let me drive you to your crib.” Raphael offered as he shoved his hands into his pocket.

“Stay with your family, tonight. They haven’t seen you all day. I’ll catch a cab,” Saint said.

“Saint!” Latrice called out, racing down the front steps. “Here, I wanted to make sure you ate something tomorrow.” She shoved a red-lidded Tupperware bowl of leftovers into his hands.

“Thank you, Latrice.”

“Hey, uh, Raphael, can I get a word with Saint in private? Will only take a second,” she asked.

Raphael looked his wife up and down suspiciously.

“I guess.”

He rolled his eyes and gave Saint a manly hug before he disappeared back into the house.

“Saint.” Latrice looked back at the front door of her home. “I know what you’re going through is hard. Marriages always have ups and downs. You don’t know the half of what I’ve had to deal with, with that man.” She smiled as she pointed to the open door.

“Oh, I think I do,” Saint laughed. “He loves you though.”

“I know, and I love him too. He is a good person, despite the challenges.” Latrice took another glance to the door. “I need to clear my conscience about something and there really is a reason I want to share this with you now. Saint, when you and I first met so long ago, I had been hoping you and I would get together.”

Saint winced and threw his head back in disbelief. “Latrice, really? You can’t be serious. Please don’t lay something like this on me right now.”

“No, no, let me finish, Saint,” Latrice insisted. “You just didn’t see me that way and I was happy afterward, because you introduced me to Raphael. A few years ago he and I were having marital issues. We were arguing all the time because as far as I was concerned, he wasn’t paying any attention to me. He was hanging with his boys who aren’t like you, they’re a bad influence. I tried to make him jealous by comparing the two of you but instead he just got mad. It backfired.”

Yes, I remember. Thanks for that, Latrice. I really appreciated Raphael confronting me, thinking I’d slept with his woman.
Saint frowned.

“He is the man for me and I’m so grateful to you for that,” she went on. “What I’m telling you is that sometimes bad things happen or we are disappointed that things didn’t turn out how we expected but we end up stronger and better off in the end. Saint, you and I wouldn’t have been compatible anyway. Regardless of my being attracted to you back then, we had nothing in common and your lifestyle, your line of work…there is no way I could’ve dealt with that. It takes a special woman, one that isn’t prone to jealousy or at least can keep it checked to handle what your life is like. It takes a special woman to go against everything she believed and thought her life would be like, to follow her heart and stand by the man she loves. It takes a special person, Saint, to know that her husband could be killed at any point in time, because of what he does for a living and what he believes in. She had your children, she stuck by your side through thick and thin, and right now, something bad has happened. You both are shrouded in darkness but I promise you, joy comes in the morning. God brought you two together because you and I both know, there isn’t another woman out there like her, who could be the way she is with you. You were made for her as well. I know you turned her world upside down, quickly, without any warning, but she buckled up her seatbelt and just went with it. Raphael was calling me non-stop telling me you’d lost your mind, that you were getting married to some chick you didn’t even know, his exact words, not mine.” Latrice’s lips turned upward and she ran a hand through her hair. “Xenia and I had time to talk when we’d visit you guys and let me tell you, Saint, that type of love and devotion doesn’t stop just because…well, because she found you in a compromising position.” Latrice blushed. “I could see how devoted she was to you, to her family. Even though she believes you were unfaithful, I know she still loves you and that is what probably hurts her the most.”

Saint continued to listen to Latrice. He appreciated her sharing her observations and thoughts, from a woman’s perspective. He looked down at the ground occasionally, processing her words, trying to find peace in the wisdom being shared, but it still eluded him.