Page 10 of Cove City: Volume II
I was embarrassed. I should have ignored her. My eyes landed back on Flex, who now held sympathy in her eyes.
“Beast!”she called out. “Beast, let him go,” she told him.
He released me, then kicked the side of my ribs. My mother ran up to me trying to help me up and I shoved her ass off of me. Seeing her like this made me angry. She had been part of the reason my life was the way it was. Her feet shuffled back, almost tripping. Once she caught her balance, she looked at me. The son she once knew was long gone, just as the mother I once knew had never arrived. She scratched at her arm as she backed up to the sidewalk and disappeared down the street.
Flex walked over to me. “You didn’t have to do all that. She’s your mother?” she asked.
“Nah, just some fucked up lady who used her washed up pussy as a holding cell.”
“Look, I didn’t mean for Beast to do that to you. My bad. You still want to smoke?”
I dusted myself off. “Yeah, you got a spot?”
“Yeah. Come on.”
Right then, I knew I had her. What Flex thought was about to be a chill session was about to be my hiding spot. The goal now was to keep my cool so I wouldn’t have another person turn their back on me.
BEST
I pulled out my archives to dive into the articles I had written about Naheem’s father. I remember there was so much going on back then that it was hard to keep up. Although I wasn’t in the business of bringing up old memories, it was something about the way Naheem was acting that made me curious, like I had missed something. I heard the door open and close, and I knew it was Pierre. He came around the corner looking pitiful.
“You talk to her?” he asked.
I hated it when I disappointed my kids, but I hadn’t had any luck with Tuesday. Lying to him wouldn’t do any justice. I shook my head no. I could see him wearing his heart on his sleeve, and as bad as I wanted to comfort him, this was one situation he would have to fix on his own.
“I called her, but she wouldn’t say anything to me. I- I fucked up and I don’t know how to fix it, Ma, I don’t know.”
My heart broke into a million pieces. I knew Tuesday was upset, and whatever that reason was, I needed to know if it was valid. So, I was about to do something I had never done before: pry. “What happened?”
Pierre walked over and plopped on the couch. “Quinton!” he yelled.
Just as I thought.“The nigga violated big time ma. I,” he paused. “I walked into my house and the nigga was on top of her. I tried killing his ass, but not only that, she- she saw me and Sasha and—”
“You were fooling around with Sasha? I thought she had a new guy.”
He threw his hands up before snapping his head my way. Pierre Harmon, my baby, had tears in his eyes. “She does. We,”he sucked up his cries that wanted to spill. “The baby. We were talking about the baby and Ma, I think Quinton is why she lost the baby,” he broke down.
The weight of the world was sitting on his shoulders, and it had become visible. Pierre has always been the one to keep his demeanor in check, but today was different. My hand slowly caressed his back to comfort him. It reminded me of Naheem and me when we parted ways, the feeling of loneliness, lost in the twilight zone of love, and unable to escape it. The difference between my son and me is that the person who stole my heart didn’t keep it, but the person who stole his was holding it hostage. Tuesday needed to come back because he needed her, and I’m sure she needed him.
I snatched my keys from the table. “Where are you going?” Pierre asked.
As much as I didn’t want to, there were people I needed to see. I had to put on my cape because my baby needed me. I had to become supermom, despite how I felt, I had to be fearless, ready for war, and become a shield for my child. I headed toward the door when my doorbell rang. Now I was curious because there must have been a type of alert that I had been off work. All of these appearances were becoming immense. I swung the door open to a bouquet. They were the most beautiful flower arrangements I had seen, handpicked, and gently placed in the smoked glass vase. “Delivery for Best?” the gentleman said.
Before I could grab the flowers, Pierre snatched them from the guy. “Who the fuck sending you flowers?”
The idea of his finding out about Naheem and me this way wasn’t how I wanted it to happen. Although Tuesday knew my secret, I knew she wouldn’t share it because her concerns were bigger than what Naheem and I had over the decades. “Watch your mouth. I let you slide with Tuesday, but you're doing a little too much.”
“Hell, I’m not doing enough. Who are these from?” he asked again as he peeked through the flowers looking for a card. I hurried and grabbed the vase out of his hand.
I set it down near the door, grabbed Pierre by his shirt, and tugged him toward the door, “Out!” I shouted.
He and I both left the house. I knew Pierre was on the hunt for Quinton, and once he found him, there was no telling what he would do. I’d much rather he be in jail than dead because that was still family. I needed to find my sister; she needed to release Quinton, who has been harboring things since she turned her back on him.
***
“Best! I’m so happy to see you here. Things have been in such a disarray today. Thomas has—”
I brushed past George as I went over toward Tuesday’s desk. George was so close up behind me that I could barely navigate around the space. “George, how long have I worked here?”
