Page 55 of On Everything 2
"Three hundred thousand dollars plus a bench in her honor? My family supposed to sleep on a bench if times get hard because you scared of the area your old church is in. Make that shit make sense. Grandma, I will give you three hundred grand if you need the money."
"Jehovah, what the pastor is trying to say is that the city is becoming even more dangerous than in the past. Carl being murdered in cold blood is showing us all that, and we are all scared of what bad could happen next. Carl was supposed to help stop the crime in the city once elected mayor. Now that hope is out of the door. I'm honestly scared myself being in this big house alone."
"Grandma, Carl was not murdered because of a random crime, I'm sure. We don't know why he got killed. You about togive it all up because of that? He came over here to play with you, Grandma."
"No one is playing me, and I haven't signed any paperwork yet. Pastor still has to get the other neighbors to agree, anyway, before anything is squared away. I have time to think."
"Not to cut you off, but we have an accepted offer from Mr. Frank next door already."
"Man, Mr. Frank doesn't even know that he is Mr. Frank half of the time. It seems to me like you are taking advantage of old people and masking it behind religion. Where the fuck all this money you offering coming from anyway?"
"Ironically, Carl's murder. My brother and I shared life insurance policies on one another. I always promised him that if he left here before I did, I would do something good with the money. If everything goes right, there will be a bench in front of the church honoring Carl, your grandmother, Mr. Frank, and the Russles."
"Nah, fuck that."
I shook my head."
"Grandma, I'm not letting you do this so you two niggas can get up out of here."
Pastor Davis stood to his feet, adjusting his suit with a conniving smile on his face. The gold tooth over one of his fang teeth probably smells like spoiled milk hidden behind all this cheap ass cologne he has on.
"You know, Jehovah, your father was disrespectful to me this same way, and where I don't want to offend your grandmother, I will say that I do think God cut his life short at a young age, because of the disrespect."
"Hov, baby, don't."
My grandma saw the look in my eyes instantly, but there wasn't shit she could do. I pushed him all the way into the wall, choking his bitch ass while watching the life slowly seep from his eyes.
"Jehovah, you stop it now!"
"Nigga, my daddy didn't give a fuck, and I don't either. I'll kill you, go home and pack my bags for hell nigga."
"Jehovah, let him go!"
My grandma tugged at my arm before I let the collar of his tacky ass suit go, only because of her.
"Now, you and your sidekick get the fuck out of my grandma's house."
Pastor Davis got up and ran out of the house with the deacon behind him on his tail. I reached down to help my grandmother pick up the shit on her floor, but she wasn't having it.
"I got it, Jehovah!" She snatched the frame from my hand.
"Look, I'm sorry, Grandma, but he disrespected my father, and you know that shit is not going to fly."
"Jehovah, you have to quit letting people have control over you. Words can't do anything to your health or wellbeing, so let things go sometimes! Your father was a hot head, too, but you are becoming much worse. The pastor Jehovah? How am I supposed to show my face at church now?"
"At least I didn't kill him. Grandma, he's trying to take advantage of you."
She grabbed me up by my shirt, pulling me down closer to her level. No matter how weak she was, I would always be weaker when it came to her.
"No one can take advantage of me because I am not crazy! Now get out of here, and the next time I see you, come in here acting like you got some sense!"
"Alright, I hear you."
"I know you hear me, but do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand, Grandma. I'm sorry."
She finally released my shirt, and I left through the front door. As soon as my foot hit the front porch, I could see pastor Davis burning off from the street in his new Cadillac SUV. I can tell he was going to be a problem, and one that I will have to get rid of.
