Page 39 of Make Me Forget

We were in a family meeting about the town infrastructure. Since Uncle Storm resigned as mayor, Uncle WJ had removed all Henderson funding from Nome. It was to prove to people how powerful our wealth was and how much they needed us. The town didn’t make enough money to survive on its own. Taxes went to the county, and the town only got a small kickback from that.

“We are going to let it completely fall apart. That way, there will be no confusion about who running shit around here. None of us benefit from any of the city’s facilities or services. All our homes and businesses have their own water wells and aerobics systems. What exactly is the city of Nome doing for us? Shit. Let it fall. When we come in and take shit over, no one will be able to say a word about it. If they don’t like it, they can move. This will officially be Hendersonville,” Uncle WJ explained.

“Are we going to change the name?” Uncle Marcus asked.

“Naw. It’s gon’ always be Big City Nome. Nome ain’t done nothing to us. It was its janky ass citizens. It’s kind of like how people turn their back on God because of people at church. God ain’t do that. That muthafucka over there did it,” Uncle WJ said, causing everybody to laugh.

“I know that’s right, brother!” Aunt Jen cosigned.

“So, Storm, when we take this shit over, you and Marcus will be right back in there. Despite how much you get on my nerves, you were a good mayor. You saw to the needs of the people… surprisingly.”

“Mm hmm. Don’t be a hater, nigga. You know I’m the Gabriel of Big City Nome.”

“Oh Lord! Are you going to ever let that go? That was at least fourteen years ago that woman said that. She was obviously delusional. Well, I take that back. She probably really was seeing Gabriel. Yo’ ass was just close enough for her to touch,” Aunt Jen said.

Uncle Storm shot her the finger as Uncle Carter slid his arm around her. I slowly shook my head. My aunts and uncles were something else, and they wondered why we acted a fool at times. Just as I was wondering why I was even in the meeting, Uncle WJ continued.

“Now, I know some of you aren’t involved in the family business, because you’re off doing other amazing things. Jess, you killing it on the runway. KJ, Karima, Rylan, and Milana, y’all are tearing those rodeo circuits to shreds. However, when y’all aren’t doing your thing, we could use all the help we can get. The beginning of this process is going to be hard, but we’re Hendersons. We can handle that shit if we all pull together… like we always do.”

Everyone clapped and yelled out words of agreement. When we quieted down, we heard the door open to the family barn, and nearly everyone in attendance frowned. Our cousin Malachi stood from his seat and so did Philly, as several white people entered our meeting.

Uncle WJ walked toward them. “This is a private business meeting, and you are trespassing on our property.”

“You would rather this town fall apart, no one having clean water or properly functioning sewer systems, to protect your pride?”

Uncle Storm stood, and so did everyone else. “First of all, I’m glad to see that you know who was running this fucking town. However, you need to go to city hall and talk to those muthafuckas. They are the reason the Hendersons have pulled out financially. Where were you nearly ten months ago when Storm resigned because the people were giving him all kinds of problems about improvements he was making with his own money? Get the fuck out of here,” Uncle WJ said.

After he finished talking, Uncle Marcus pulled out his gun and cocked it. When I turned to my dad, I saw he had his gun pulled out as well. Shit. Even Grandpa had stood and walked over to Uncle WJ. He put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Either you can wait until the transition of power has happened or you can move. It won’t make us a bit of difference. We have money to do what we need to do until then. What about you? You heard my son. Get the fuck out of here.”

My eyebrows were lifted as I watched everything unfold. Uncle Marcus and my dad walked closer to them, and they held their hands up and backed out of the door. This shit was about to get real crazy around here. Once they walked out, Aunt Tiff went to the door and locked it. When she came back, Uncle WJ continued the meeting.

“We all gon’ have to be on guard around here. Y’all see how they coming. We stronger than that. I’ll get more cops to patrol the area more frequently. They don’t know who they fucking with. Fucking trailer trash muthafuckas.”

“You should have shot one of ’em,” Uncle Storm said to Uncle Marcus. “It’s way more Hendersons and friends of Hendersons around this bitch than it is of them. I can tell you one thing: They step foot on my property, they getting lit up.”

“Just make sure all your no-trespassing signs are visible on your properties. I know it’s visible on this one because people thought this was a place they could rent out. So there is a huge sign, letting them know this is private property as well. I hate it had to come to this, but those muthafuckas are at our mercy now. Like Pop said, they can either stay on board and be patient or move around.”

I hadn’t seen my family all fired up like this in a long ass time. All I knew was that I was ready for this shit to be over so I could get back to my baby. It had been two weeks since her run-in with her mother, and she had been progressing well. Between talking to Uncle WJ and Karima, her mental seemed to get better daily.

She’d started her community service hours at a place called Integrity. It was owned by Serita Gardner, the lady that had counseled Uncle WJ, Aunt Chrissy, Aunt Jen, Aunt Syn, and a few of my cousins. She was gracious enough to allow Cassie to work there and had even said she would be willing to offer her a position once she’d finished her community service.

Cassie was so damn happy about that she’d called me on her way home to tell me about it. She was still attending Lamar, but the summer session was about to be over. She said she would take the rest of the summer off to decide if she would continue in the fall. Thankfully, she didn’t lose her scholarship since it was only a misdemeanor charge. Plus, the circumstances around that charge were considered as well.

If the case with the vase hadn’t been dismissed, things would be a lot different. While what Cassie had done had caused the concussion, it was Mesani’s negligence that caused everything afterward. Had he followed the doctor’s orders, he wouldn’t have suffered the effects of it. It would have been mild, and he would have been back to normal a couple of weeks later.

Breaking me from my thoughts, my dad asked, “How long before you think everything will completely fall apart?”

“Honestly, I give it another two weeks. They are already way behind on maintenance. The company they outsource inspections to will be coming to evaluate things then, and I’m pretty sure they gon’ shut the shit down. Ain’t no telling what people drinking in that water. In less than a year without Henderson funding, they are struggling to keep up.”

Uncle WJ shook his head then rubbed his hand down his face. “It’s sad it had to come to this, but I know it was a race thing. These white folks can’t stand that a black family is running shit. Please, y’all, be diligent about locking your doors and paying attention to your surroundings. I don’t trust these folks, especially since the two gangstas pulled their guns.”

Uncle WJ smiled slightly, causing Grandpa to chuckle. Grandpa was up in age now, but not so long ago, he would have done the same thing.

“If there aren’t any more questions, we can go.”

“Not a question, but I wanted to let y’all know Yendi is pregnant.”

Everyone offered congratulatory hugs and handshakes. When I got to Jakari, I said, “Shiiiid, they better nail Nome down, because JJ already ’bout to take it off the map. Now y’all finna give him a partner in crime?”

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