53
Glover
Early Friday morning, Lionel drove me to LAX. Uncle Robert and his family were in from Virginia. Lionel had rented a minivan for Uncle Rob and them to use during their stay. He figured they would like the extra space and might want to do some sightseeing while in California. Uncle Rob’s wife wasn’t going to let him get out of here without hitting the tourist stops.
I saw them as they waited for us in passenger pickup. My uncle was, with the exception of his beer gut, just as I remembered him. I spotted him right away, due to the Hampton University T-shirt he sported. I remembered that he used to do maintenance work there and still had mad love for the school. His wife, Tasha, stood at his side, her braids sticking out from her denim baseball cap. She talked to him while holding the children’s hands. She and the kids wore T-shirts and shorts, but the shirts were obviously purchased here. The women, Tasha and her daughter, Tandy, wore Lakers T-shirts, but the little boy, Randy, wore a red Clippers tee. Yikes. He was only three, so I could excuse it. Either he liked the colors, or they’d run out of his size in Lakers gear.
Listening to my uncle and his family during the ride to my apartment brought so many memories rushing back from my trips to Virginia. This was my first time meeting Tasha, but she felt like family right off. She was funny as hell, with a real down-to-earth manner about her. She and Charmaine would make for an interesting wedding.
We planned on letting the family unwind first at my apartment, since the dinner/rehearsal was later that evening, but they were ready to go. Uncle Rob and them wanted to eat at Roscoe’s, so we headed there after unloading their luggage at my place.
I had more to take care of before the rehearsal, so we left the van with them for the rest of the day. I had a map of the area, with some directions to different attractions programmed into the GPS for them, but Tasha was one step ahead of me. She had a highlighted map with every place she wanted to see. We took some pictures with them for Tasha’s photo album then left in my Civic.
“That was so sweet of you to rent the van for them,” I said to Lionel with an appreciative smile as we drove off. I leaned over and gave him a kiss as he pretended to blush.
“Nothing to it, baby. I’m glad some of your family could make it. After all, they’re going to be my family, too, in a couple of days.”
“Yep, one big, happy family,” I said, tongue-in-cheek, knowing the two worlds would never cross, except in a Hollywood production.
The rehearsal dinner took place at Lionel’s parents’ home that night. My uncle and his family followed Lionel and me over there. I watched the reaction of Uncle Rob and them in the rearview mirror as we drove through the gate. I smiled, as I had the same reaction my first time.
Iris escorted us to the enormous glass-walled room in the rear. She didn’t exit back up the hallway this time. Instead, she disappeared amongst the extra servants that were on hand for the night. The other members of the wedding party were already in attendance: Lionel’s sister, Sarabeth; his cousins, Jacob and Jazelle; his coworker, Derek; Leu, his friend from Stanford; and Esai, this Dominican brother who was Lionel’s childhood friend. Of course, my girls Mona and Charmaine were in the house, lighting it up with their presence.
It was different seeing the large space filled with people, tables, and food. Even with everything in here, there was still enough room to hold the wedding in this place. Once she had everyone’s attention, Adele coordinated a brief run-through/rehearsal of what was to be expected on the island. The wedding party would take the boat out to Catalina tomorrow for a walk-through at the inn, and then spend the night there. The guests and other family would be ferried in for the ceremony on Sunday.
Following the dinner, the obligatory mingling took place. Chatter, emotion, and piano melodies overflowed throughout the Dunning home. Lionel introduced me to his buddies, but I left them shortly so they could play catch-up and indulge in male bonding. Adele had a group in her clutches, standing at its center on one end of the room. Goodwin, ever the smart one, had stepped out to smoke one of his Cuban cigars. Uncle Rob and Tasha were still seated, as the kids wanted more to eat, so I decided to hang out with them later. I went by the glass wall, trying to peer out into the night, when I was tapped on the shoulder. My friends had located me.
“I done died and gone to heaven, y’all. You think your mother-in-law would give us a tour of the rest of the place?” Charmaine asked.
“Probably not. She’s busy right now doing her thang before her audience.”
“She’s right, Glover. This is sweet. My father’s place down the street is nothing to sneeze at, but the square footage here is colossal,” Mona chimed in, lifting her glass up in an imaginary toast to the residence itself. “Enough about the house. How are you managing tonight?”
“I’m doing all right,” I answered as we lightly touched fists. “Don’t know how I’d be if you two weren’t here.”
“We got your back as always, G-love,” Charmaine assured me.
“I know. Part of me still wants to run out of here, y’know. I guess it’s time for the jitters.”
“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t get the jitters. Now, someone like me couldn’t be caught having jitters.”
“Brrrrrrrrr, Mona the ice queen,” Charmaine teased while looking cross-eyed at her.
“Keep up that shit and your eyes are going to stick just like that,” Mona replied as she playfully shoved Charmaine. “Seriously, though, you are going to make a beautiful bride and an incredible wife, and we are both sooo happy for you.”
“Thanks, you two. For everything.”
As I smiled, I looked out the glass and into the darkness, broken up by tiny little dots of city lights. I picked one spot of light and focused on it. I closed my eyes and let my mind take me there.
54
Max
It was Friday evening before it set in that I’d been wearing the same clothes since Wednesday. A simple whiff under my arms was all it took as I unlocked my apartment door. I’d stayed at the hospital with Uncle Mo and Aunt Lucy until they chased me out of there. A shower and some sleep were what my exhausted body and mind needed. Jay wasn’t out of the woods completely, but was much better than when he’d been carted into the joint. With no feeling in his legs still, we were praying for a change. I wasn’t sure if I could look at him straight again after his admission, but that didn’t matter just then. Jay’s health was more important than any hurt or anger that lingered in my heart.
I’d called Samir from the hospital, filling him in on the news, both good and bad, that had come up all in one day. He told me to take off whatever time I needed and to let him know how Jay was progressing. He’d offered to check with his former friends from the hood about the guy who did this, but I declined. Jay just wanted to put this behind him. As far as my interview, he congratulated me on that, joking about training me too well. Samir was always more optimistic about my future than I was. It was time I shared that optimism and generated a healthy dose of it myself.
After prying my clothes off me, I immersed myself in some soap and water. The hot shower helped release the knotted muscles in my back, reminding me that sleeping in hospital chairs was something I didn’t want to master. As the steam filled the bathroom, it was time to get some sleep before I wound up making a bed of the bathtub. I staggered out of the shower, toweled off, and carried my weary body to the bed.
I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Clothes would have to wait.
Instead of the peaceful embrace I expected, my mind wouldn’t shut off. It raced; it darted; it erupted, attempting to process everything from its whirlwind tour of interviews, gunshots, revelations, and betrayals. As I tossed and turned, images of Oakland, Concord, Los Angeles, and Lake Charles blended together in peculiar patterns. Jay stood over me, screaming in pain one moment and laughing the next. Suddenly, I was in the hospital bed. Instead of Jay, I was the one paralyzed, unable to move or do anything about what I was witnessing.
Lionel and Glover were at the foot of the bed, a minister standing before them as they kissed. I tried to get out of the bed to stop them, but crashed onto the hard floor. My legs wouldn’t work. I cursed at them to stop, but Lionel kept kissing her, only stopping to look down at me and smile. Glover looked my way too, but wouldn’t say anything. Just a sorrowful gaze in my direction before resuming her business with Lionel. I tried to drag myself toward them but couldn’t. The world slowed with every crawl I tried to make with my arms.
Then I felt a sharp pain. Somebody’s foot stomped on my hand. My eyes traveled up to see the foot’s owner.
I looked up to see Mr. Thomas, my barber from Lake Charles. Although yelling at me, I couldn’t understand a word he said at first. His words became clearer the more I concentrated. “Didn’t I say to run, not walk?” he asked, referring to our conversation about Denessa back in his shop.
Denessa, my ex. Betrayal. Now gone.
Glover had been put in my life now, but I had neither run nor walked to her. I’d gone away ... thanks to Jay.
And myself.
Lionel and Glover were still kissing passionately. I’d forgotten the pain from Mr. Thomas stepping on my hand. As I concentrated on Glover, she began to flicker and fade. In and out, like a snowy image on an old black and white TV, or that creepy girl from
The Ring
.
I looked at Mr. Thomas again and he nodded at me. Understanding what he meant, I reached up to grasp the bed railing. He disappeared as soon as I touched the bare metal. I began to pull myself up. I still couldn’t feel my legs, almost slipping to the floor again, but something changed. I was standing now.
I began to move, step by step, as feeling returned to my legs. Glover was still fading in and out, but now her image was a lot blurrier. It got worse the more my slow movements toward them increased. As I finally began to run, it was as if they were further away, always the same distance apart from me, no matter how hard I tried. I now couldn’t make out Glover’s image at all as she continued to kiss him.
Finally, I made progress. As I got closer, I prepared to leap at them.
Then I did it, launched myself in the air, sailing toward them like some shit from
The Matrix
, when suddenly, Glover’s image cleared up; but it wasn’t her anymore. Lionel was still there, but he was kissing this new person now.
The phone awakened me in mid-leap. I don’t know how I heard it. I lay there naked, across the bed, blinking my eyes. Such an odd dream.
The phone rang a few more times before I got my bearings and sat up. I didn’t know how long I had been asleep.
“Hello?”
“Max, you okay, baby?”
“Um, yeah. I’m fine, Momma. Just getting some sleep,” I said between yawns. “Been at the hospital since Wednesday. Jay’s doing better, though.”
“Your Uncle Maurice told me. He called me from the hospital a little while ago. That was nice of you to stay and look after your cousin. I raised you right. He said how tired you were, so I wanted to make sure you made it back okay.”
“Yeah, I made it, Momma. Thanks for checking on me.”
“I’m your momma, boy. I’m supposed to do that.”
I threw on a pair of boxers, trying to write off my nightmare as a product of a sleep-deprived mind. The answering machine showed two messages on it. I decided to check them before falling back asleep. The first message was from Aunt Lucy. She must have called me twice, as I had heard the first one while in Concord. The second message was left on Wednesday also. I was rubbing my eyes when I heard Glover’s voice: “Max, it’s me.”
Twenty minutes later, I was speeding my Corolla down San Vicente to Glover’s apartment. I tried calling her home number before running out of my apartment, but it had been disconnected, with no new number. I cursed at myself for not having memorized her cell number, deleting it from my phone after the dinner at Uncle Mo’s. Even if I had it, she probably wasn’t answering.
Glover’s car was gone from her parking lot, but that didn’t stop me from pounding on her door until my knuckles hurt. She was out there somewhere. I just didn’t know if I was going to have enough time to do or say anything to her.
55
Glover
The hum of the motor and the subtle rocking of the boat didn’t help my hangover. I sat motionless, with my legs up on the bench and my back resting against Lionel’s shoulder. Those of us in the wedding party were going over to the inn on the island. Adele had gone over via helicopter at the crack of dawn. I didn’t know where she found the energy. That was one thing I could admire about her; that and the fact that she gave birth to such a fine man as Lionel.
Uncle Rob was seated down the bench from me. He found out the boat ride was going to take over an hour, and was in dreamland five minutes into the trip. At least there were no bugs around this morning to collect in his open mouth. Charmaine was playing on the upper decks with Uncle Rob and Tasha’s kids. She was going to make a good mother one day. Free to explore, Tasha was out by the railing taking pictures of the channel and the shore. Earlier, she’d taken a bad picture of me, over my objections. She was family, so I excused it—as long as it didn’t wind up on MySpace. Besides, I could always get her to delete the photo later in exchange for some more Roscoe’s or Harold & Belle’s.
“I’m having trouble keeping my hands off you, baby,” Lionel said in my ear as he rested his head against mine.
I adjusted my hat and playfully replied, “Baby, this pre-wedding abstinence must be kicking your ass, huh?”
“Yep. Bad idea. I don’t care if Jay-Z and Be-yoncé did this before theirs. I’m ready to break you in half.”
Tasha woke up Uncle Rob prior to docking, and then the kids jumped in his lap. Mona came over from where she’d been hiding and stood over us.
“Your big day is almost here, Ms. McDaniel. Yours too, Mr. Dunning,” Mona said with her attention focused on him. “Treat my girl right. Okay?” she demanded, her eyes refusing to blink.
“Of course, Mona. Would you think otherwise?” Lionel asked, returning the same stare.
The strange little interchange between Mona and Lionel was interrupted by the boat’s docking announcement. Once ashore, we spilled out into the island’s town of Avalon. Our bags and accessories were being delivered straight to the inn, and Uncle Rob went with them. He had to have a last minute adjustment made on his tux, as the sleeves were too short. “Girl, this is Saks Fifth Avenue. I may never wear this stuff again, so I want to be looking right,” he’d commented before leaving us.
Lionel and Leu mumbled golf lingo to themselves as they discussed the courses on the island they wanted to hit. We had time for sightseeing before the walk-through at the inn, so I excused Lionel to give the links a look-see with Leu. Esai left with the two of them. Derek, Lionel’s coworker, decided to shop for souvenirs for his wife. Lionel’s best man, Jacob, who appeared to be smitten with Mona, lingered for a while before following the other three to the golf course. Jazelle, Jacob’s twin sister, was sleepy from her Aunt Adele’s party the night before, so she gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek before excusing herself for a catnap.
That left me with Mona, Charmaine, Tasha and the kids, and Lionel’s sister. I never really got to know Sarabeth during my relationship with Lionel. She’d spent most of her time abroad, flying in for holidays. Just as Lionel shared his dad’s complexion, Sarabeth shared her complexion with her mom. She was an exotic beauty with an almond complexion and deep, penetrating eyes. She wore her black hair long and straight, just like her build. Sarabeth was not one of many words, except with those people she was close to. I felt I would never be in that category, so I didn’t let it get to me. My thoughts about her mom, the matriarch of the family, didn’t help the situation, though.
As our group walked along, I tried to break the ice with my future sister-in-law.
“What have you been doing in Europe, Sarabeth?” I asked harmlessly.
“A little of this, a little of that. You know, one can never be too rooted in any one place or thing. So much class and culture out there,” she answered, the silent insinuation about her current surroundings heard loud and clear.
“I wouldn’t know. Never been there.”
“
Oh
? That’s right. I had forgotten. Lionel told me that before. You work at the
unemployment
office, right?”
“Employment Development Department is the actual name of the place.”
“Riiight,” the bitch said with a dismissive grin. Like mother, like daughter, except the mother knew restraint. “So, are you quitting there before or after you go to Greece?”
“I don’t know if I am quitting. And it’s Africa we’re going to, not Greece.”
“Yes. Silly me. Lionel told me about that change of plans. My mother was quite upset.”
“Lionel tells you a lot, huh?”
Sarabeth stopped in mid-step. “Glover, my brother tells me everything, even while an ocean away.” Her body language, as well as her eyes, reaffirmed that remark. I knew what she meant. And I knew where I stood.
Sarabeth took that moment to dismiss herself under the pretext of wanting to be fresh for the walk-through. She gave a parting smile to all of us, then headed through the crowd to the inn.
“Bitch act like she got a worm up her ass,” came from someone’s mouth. I immediately looked to Charmaine, who was dumbfounded. She hadn’t said it. Someone else had stolen her thunder. It was Tasha. She fit in with Mona, Charmaine, and me to a tee. The three of us erupted in laughter as we welcomed her to the three chicas plus one.
Our walk-through took place on time up the canyon from the inn. The orchestra was there a day early, assisting the grounds crew with assembly of their stand. The doves were already on the island as well. It looked like it wanted to rain, but we were lucky so far. The chance of rain was less for the wedding day.
Lionel stood in the front by the cliff overlooking the bay, while the coordinator called out instructions. Lionel’s dad walked his mother up first. They took their places in the first row of chairs. Next came Jacob, walking up the main aisle holding Mona’s hand. Charmaine and I both giggled, as we knew Jacob was going to either have a heart attack or bust a nut from being so close to Mona. Charmaine went next with Esai. It was only rehearsal, but Charmaine worked it down the aisle. I was glad music wasn’t playing. Leu was preparing to walk next, and took Sarabeth’s hand. She glared at me for a brief second before they began their walk. The coordinator ran around positioning people on their marks and pausing the mock procession.
As Derek and Jazelle got into position to begin their walk, I lined up nervously alongside Uncle Rob. My stomach was doing backflips. Uncle Rob saw my change and calmly held my hand.
“Thank you, niece.”
“For what?”
“For allowing me and my family into your life.” Uncle Rob nodded toward the family. Tasha, Tandy, and Randy, seated in one of the back rows near us, were waving up a storm.
I smiled at Uncle Rob and said, “I owe you.” My stomach had calmed, as it was our turn to walk up.