Concrete Rose, page 24
CHAPTER 30
Here’s the thing Mr. Wyatt taught me ’bout gardening:
Flowers, fruits, and vegetables can grow anywhere, among anything. They were made for that. I mean c’mon, when God made that sh – stuff, I gotta stop cussing so much – when he made that stuff, he didn’t put them in garden plots. He put them out in the wild or whatever and gave them everything they needed to survive. I shouldn’t be surprised to see Mr. Wyatt’s roses blossoming before winter even over.
They catch my eye from the walkway as King drive down the street. They so pretty that I go over.
I unlock the gate and let myself in the Wyatts’ backyard. We put chicken wire around a lot of the plots weeks ago and packed them with pine needles to protect them till spring. We left the roses untouched. I expected them to be dead by now, but they got blooms as big as my palm.
I bend down for a closer look. “Dang. Y’all doing real good, huh? I might need to cut these canes. I think they dead. Y’all cool with that?”
Man, here I go, talking to the flowers like—
The Wyatts’ back door squeak open. “Dammit, boy!” Mr. Wyatt says, with a deep breath. “You oughta know you can’t sneak into folks’ yard this early in the morning! I thought you were a burglar.”
I look back over my shoulder. “What would a burglar steal from back here? Plants?”
“Who knows?” he says as he come down the steps. He pull his robe together tighter. “You’re lucky I didn’t have my pistol.”
“Whaaat? Deacon Wyatt pack heat?”
“Heaven yeah!”
I bust out laughing. This man really don’t cuss.
“What you doing in the garden this early?” he asks.
I turn back to the roses. “I was outside and noticed that these starting to bloom. Had to check them out myself.”
Mr. Wyatt grunt as he bend down beside me. “Oooh, these ol’ knees. What I tell you? Roses can bloom in the hardest conditions.”
“No doubt.” I run my finger along some of the petals. “I can prune them if you want. These canes don’t look good.”
He pull his head back a little. “You sound like you know what you’re doing.”
“I should by now, as much as you talk.”
“Yeah, I suppose. I’m surprised you were listening.” He check out the roses himself. “Looks like you’re right. These canes need to be snipped.”
“Because they won’t help them grow, right?”
“Mmm-hmm. It’s kinda like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go. Hey, hey! Look at me rapping again.”
I snort. “A’ight, MC Wyatt.”
“That’s got a nice ring to it.” He straighten up with another grunt. “The bride and I have been talking, Maverick. You’ve been a big help here in the garden and at the store. Jamal’s heading off to one of them four-year colleges soon, and I’ll need somebody to pick up the slack. What do you think about becoming a full-time employee?”
“For real?”
“Yeah. I know that the pay is nothing compared to what your li’l friends make out in the streets—”
“Fast money lead to a fast end.”
Mr. Wyatt raise his eyebrows. “You really have been listening. I thought it all went in one side of that big head and out the other.”
“Dang, Mr. Wyatt. You ain’t gotta diss me.”
“A little early-morning humor never hurt nobody. You can start full-time after you graduate. What do you say?”
I hold the back of my neck. “Um … I’m not graduating, Mr. Wyatt. I kinda flunked out.”
“What is flunked out?” he says. “Do you mean you dropped out?”
“Yeah. The other week, I found out I was flunking all my classes and would have to repeat the twelfth grade. That won’t work, so I stopped going to school.”
“I see,” he says. “Does Faye know?”
“No, sir, not yet,” I say, and he real quiet. “But I’m gon’ get my GED,” I add quickly. “The school counselor said they got classes downtown. I just gotta sign up for them.”
Ay, I told Seven I won’t let him down. Getting my GED is the first step.
“I see,” Mr. Wyatt says again, and I don’t know if he disappointed or what. He take a deep breath. “I tell you what. You go downtown this morning, sign up for those classes, then come to the store to start as a full-time employee.”
My eyes widen. “The job still mine?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he says. “I’m not the one you need to worry about. That title belongs to Faye.”
True.
He pat my shoulder. “Go do what you need to do, son. I expect you to come straight to work afterward. Don’t be—”
“Lollygagging around,” I finish for him. “Yes, sir, I know.”
“Since you’re listening so well, I oughta start reciting scripture so you can repeat that.”
Aw, damn. “Let’s stick with the work stuff for now, Mr. Wyatt.”
He chuckles. “That’s what you think. I ain’t done with you yet, boy,” he says, and climb his back steps.
I finally told Ma the truth about school.
Was she pissed? Hell yeah.
Did she go off on me? Fa’sho.
Did my lies make it worse? Oh yeah.
Am I glad Moe was there as a witness? You damn right. She probably saved my life.
Once I swore to Ma that I’d get my GED, she calmed down a little. She marched outta the house to work and barely said two words to me. I deserve it.
I get dressed to go downtown. Seven in his playpen in the living room, babbling to the Teletubbies on the TV. I don’t understand why li’l kids love them creepy-looking things.
The phone ring throughout the house. I grab the cordless off my nightstand. “Hello?”
“Hello!” the automated voice says. “You have a collect call from—”
“Adonis.”
I accept the charges. “Pops?”
“Mav Man?” he says. “I wasn’t sure anybody would be home. I got some calling time and figured I’d try. You … you good?”
That’s his way of asking if I went through with my plan.
“I’m good, Pops,” I say. “Nothing going on; nothing went on.”
He let out a deep breath. “Good.”
I sit on the side of my bed. “Hard for me to say that. I almost feel like I let the family down.”
“Nah, man. The family needs you,” he says. “I’m stuck here; Dre gone. You gotta stay around, you feel me? By any means.”
“I know,” I mumble as I pick at a thread on my comforter. That’s my main goal. It’s not really the kind Mr. Wyatt told me to have, but yeah. Thing is, I don’t see how I can accomplish that long as I’m a King Lord. “I think I want out the set, Pops.”
The line fall silent.
“That’s nothing against you or Dre or none of y’all,” I say. “I know this part of our blood. But this not the life – I don’t want my kids to—”
“Hey, hey. You don’t owe me an explanation,” he says. “Like I told you the other day, you’re becoming your own man. You don’t need my permission or approval.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pops take another deep breath. “On some real shit, son? There’s a lot of grown men in the game who don’t wanna be in it. They don’t have the guts to admit it like you do. They too caught up or too scared of what people will think. They end up accepting that they stuck.”
For a second, it sound like he describing himself.
“For you to admit that you want out? It means you’re thinking for yourself, like a man should,” he says. “They oughta start calling you Big Mav instead of Li’l Don.”
“Quit playing.” I laugh, as he do. “I’ll always be Li’l Don around here.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Pops says. “Do what you need to do, son. I love you. Regardless.”
I smile. “I love you, too, Pops.”
Signing up for GED classes wasn’t too bad. The lady at the school district office already had my info courtesy of Mr. Clayton. She put me in the class for “young people, nineteen and under.” Said it would be good for me to be with other kids.
That’s the first time in a while anybody called me a kid. I figure I got a couple more months of that, ’cause once you got two kids, you grown. I’ll enjoy it while I can.
The classes meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. The school district got some career development courses for young adults, too. I signed up for the landscaping class. I can earn a certificate when I get my GED, and it would allow me to professionally care for gardens. It’s something, I guess.
I caught the bus and came straight to the store like I told Mr. Wyatt I would. I run the cash register while he take a “break” across the street with Mr. Reuben and Mr. Lewis. The way he laughing, he ain’t concerned with this long line of customers I got over here.
I ring up Mrs. Rooks, and I don’t drop her eggs this time. Best believe she watch me real close to make sure I don’t. The li’l snot-nosed kids from the projects count their change out themselves, and when I ask why their behinds not in school, they ask why I’m not either. They got me there.
“Have a good day,” I call after the last customer around half an hour later. Ol’ girl talked my ear off, man. She showed me a picture of her sons and proudly told me she named them Dalvin and DeVante after the dudes in Jodeci. I looked at her funny. I can’t talk though. I named my son after a number.
As she walk out, Mr. Wyatt come back in. “Everything all right, Maverick?”
“Yes, sir,” I say, opening my bag of salt-n-vinegar chips. Now that I’m full-time, I get an employee discount. “I survived that afternoon rush. Didn’t think I would, huh?”
“Now, hold on, I didn’t say that.”
“C’mon, Mr. Wyatt. You know you were testing me. I ain’t stupid.”
“Okay, maybe it was a teeny-tiny test,” he says, with two of his fingers inches apart. “The fellas and I had a bet going. Cletus thought you’d be hollering for me two minutes in. I said five. Reuben said ten. We all lost.”
“Gah-lee! That’s what y’all get. Ain’t got no faith in a brother.”
“I’ll admit, you surprised me,” Mr. Wyatt says. “If I’m honest, I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long at the job. I thought you would’ve had your third strike by now.”
I can’t lie. I expected to get it, too.
But maybe it’s time I start surprising myself.
EPILOGUE
Lisa eat her barbecue at my kitchen table, smacking extra loud. “Dang! Mr. Reuben did this right! You sure you don’t want some, loser?” She wave a rib in front of me.
I lightly push it away. “Man, if you don’t go on somewhere. You won the bet, a’ight? You ain’t gotta rub it in my face.”
“Yes, I do actually. I don’t wanna say I told you so but…” She snort. “Who am I kidding? I. Told. You. So! Bam!”
Maaan. Lisa ain’t let up since Dr. Byrd told us we having a baby girl. I took her to Reuben’s to buy her prize, and she told everybody in the restaurant that I lost our bet. As we walked to my house, she told every neighbor we passed. Gloating for no reason.
I reach over and rub her belly. “Baby girl, please don’t come out acting like your momma.”
“Excuse you?” Lisa says.
“I’m playing, I’m playing. I hope our daughter is exactly like you.”
“Our daughter. Because guess what? I was ri-ight!” she sings.
I flip her Braves cap off of her head.
“Stopppp,” she whine, and quickly put it back over her ponytail. “You know I don’t have my hair done!”
I laugh and check on Seven in his high chair. He tearing up that mac and cheese I got for him. I sneak a li’l for myself. Ma says you ain’t a real parent till you eat your kid’s food. “You lucky I’m not a sore loser.”
“Ha! Since when? You sulked through the rest of the appointment.”
“I wasn’t sulking! I was surprised.”
Lisa twist her mouth. “Suuuure.”
“I was! I’m cool with a girl. I can do tea parties and baby dolls.”
“Hey, she could love sports. I used to throw my baby dolls like footballs in the backyard.” Lisa trace her finger along her ultrasound picture. “She’s so stinking cute.”
“Even with my big apple head?” I tease.
“Yep, although God help me during labor. I hope she has your eyelashes. And my eyes. I like my eyes. Is that conceited?”
She crack me up. “Nah, not at all. Our li’l girl gon’ be perfect, no matter what.”
“She will,” Lisa murmurs. She look away from the picture and pat the table. “All right, no more distractions. You asked me to help you study.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I sit at the table and open my GED prep book. “They foul for this quiz they giving us tomorrow. Class only been going on a week, dang.”
“You like it so far?” Lisa asks.
I shrug. “I like that it’s faster than a regular school day. My landscaping class real cool. I know more than anybody in that joint except the teacher.” I grin.
Lisa roll her eyes. “Lord help the teacher, then.”
“Forget you.” I laugh. “I like the classes mostly. I gotta get used to going to class at night though, and it’s weird not being around my homeboys.”
“Understandable,” Lisa says. “Have you told any of them what you told me?”
“That I want out the set? Not yet.” I run my hand over my durag. “I gotta work my nerve up to that, Lisa. It’s gon’ cost me. I already owe King that money.”
“Yeah,” she mumbles. I told her everything. She the only friend I got left. “It’ll work out.”
“Fa’sho. I’m gon’ make sure it do.”
Lisa get a small smile. “Look at you, believing in yourself.”
“Well, you know.” I pop my collar.
Lisa crack up.
“I’m home!” Ma call from the living room. She come down the hall, taking her heels off. “Whew! My feet say, ‘Yes, Lord.’ How was the appointment?”
What she really mean is, “What y’all having?”
“Lisa won the bet,” I say.
“Yes, yes! I knew it!” Ma hug Lisa at the table. “I was scared we’d have to deal with three Mavericks.”
What the— “Ma!”
Lisa laugh. “Nope, baby girl is coming to the rescue.”
“Hallelujah!” Ma rub Lisa’s belly. “Grandma already bought you some of the cutest outfits, Pooh Bear.”
“Dang, Ma. She ain’t out the womb yet. Let us give her a name before you give her a nickname.”
“Hush, Stinka Butt.”
“Oh my God. Stinka Butt?” Lisa says.
“Ma, you said you’d stop using that name! C’mon!”
“You’ll be all right.” Ma step around me to get to Seven. He buck in his high chair, reaching for her. Ma scoop him up. “Do y’all have a name picked out yet?”
“No, ma’am. We were gonna name her Andre if she were a boy,” Lisa says. “We could name her Andrea, I guess.”
“You could, but we already have an Andreanna in the family,” Ma says. “Baby girl should have her own name. Something that’ll tell her who she is.”
“We could name her after me.” I cheese. “Mavericka.”
“What?” Ma says, and Lisa go, “Oh, heck no!”
“Dre named his daughter after him!”
“Andreanna is cute,” Lisa says. “Mavericka is a mess.”
“The biggest mess,” Ma adds. “Sounds like a damn spice.”
How they gon’ gang up on me? “Y’all some haters.”
Ma hand Seven over to me. “Keep telling yourself that. I’m gonna go take a bubble bath and drink a little something-something to wind down from the day I had. Those folks at the hotel almost made me lose my mind.”
“You not going to your other job?” I ask.
“Nope, I’m taking tonight off. I’m actually thinking of quitting altogether. With Moe moving in and bringing in more money, things won’t be as tight.”
I feel bad, man. Me and my son are the main reasons things get tight in the first place. My money looking funny again since I’m not slinging. Ma and Moe shouldn’t have to help take care of us.
“One day, I’ll get my own spot, Ma. That’ll make it easier for you and Moe.”
Ma set her hand on her hip. “Who said you have to move out? We’re making it work, aren’t we?”
“My son is my responsibility. So is my daughter. I’m gon’ get on my own two feet and take care of them.”
Ma cup one of my cheeks. “Focus on getting that GED and that landscaping certificate. We’ll worry about the other stuff later.” She kiss that same cheek. “Dre would be proud of you.”
It don’t hurt as much to hear stuff like that no more. I can actually smile.
Ma grab a bottle of wine outta the fridge and take it toward her bedroom. “Night, y’all!”
“Don’t you need a glass?” I ask.
“Not after the day I had,” she calls. She close her bedroom door.
I shake my head. That wine gon’ have her knocked out.
I settle Seven in my lap. He watch Lisa every move as she eat. “Sooooo … where should we live?” I ask.
“What do you mean? You want some, Punkin?” Lisa put a little barbecue sauce on one of her fingers and hold it toward Seven. Boy grab it and put it in his mouth like it’s a rib.
“You heard me. I told Ma that I’m gon’ get us a place. I’m thinking we oughta get that mansion on a private island, with the elevators and the Bentleys.”
Lisa get a little more sauce on her finger and hold it toward Seven again. He open his mouth wide. She laughs. “Somebody likes barbecue. Who says we’ll be living together, Maverick?”
“I say so. I bet that one day, you’ll be Mrs. Carter.”
Lisa scoff. “Here you go, making bets. Didn’t you learn from the first one?”
“I got no doubt this time.”
“Umm, we’re not even a couple, sooo…” Lisa shrugs. “You have a ton of work to do to make that happen.”
“I’m up for the challenge. I got a plan.”
“Oh, really?”
Here’s the thing Mr. Wyatt taught me ’bout gardening:
Flowers, fruits, and vegetables can grow anywhere, among anything. They were made for that. I mean c’mon, when God made that sh – stuff, I gotta stop cussing so much – when he made that stuff, he didn’t put them in garden plots. He put them out in the wild or whatever and gave them everything they needed to survive. I shouldn’t be surprised to see Mr. Wyatt’s roses blossoming before winter even over.
They catch my eye from the walkway as King drive down the street. They so pretty that I go over.
I unlock the gate and let myself in the Wyatts’ backyard. We put chicken wire around a lot of the plots weeks ago and packed them with pine needles to protect them till spring. We left the roses untouched. I expected them to be dead by now, but they got blooms as big as my palm.
I bend down for a closer look. “Dang. Y’all doing real good, huh? I might need to cut these canes. I think they dead. Y’all cool with that?”
Man, here I go, talking to the flowers like—
The Wyatts’ back door squeak open. “Dammit, boy!” Mr. Wyatt says, with a deep breath. “You oughta know you can’t sneak into folks’ yard this early in the morning! I thought you were a burglar.”
I look back over my shoulder. “What would a burglar steal from back here? Plants?”
“Who knows?” he says as he come down the steps. He pull his robe together tighter. “You’re lucky I didn’t have my pistol.”
“Whaaat? Deacon Wyatt pack heat?”
“Heaven yeah!”
I bust out laughing. This man really don’t cuss.
“What you doing in the garden this early?” he asks.
I turn back to the roses. “I was outside and noticed that these starting to bloom. Had to check them out myself.”
Mr. Wyatt grunt as he bend down beside me. “Oooh, these ol’ knees. What I tell you? Roses can bloom in the hardest conditions.”
“No doubt.” I run my finger along some of the petals. “I can prune them if you want. These canes don’t look good.”
He pull his head back a little. “You sound like you know what you’re doing.”
“I should by now, as much as you talk.”
“Yeah, I suppose. I’m surprised you were listening.” He check out the roses himself. “Looks like you’re right. These canes need to be snipped.”
“Because they won’t help them grow, right?”
“Mmm-hmm. It’s kinda like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go. Hey, hey! Look at me rapping again.”
I snort. “A’ight, MC Wyatt.”
“That’s got a nice ring to it.” He straighten up with another grunt. “The bride and I have been talking, Maverick. You’ve been a big help here in the garden and at the store. Jamal’s heading off to one of them four-year colleges soon, and I’ll need somebody to pick up the slack. What do you think about becoming a full-time employee?”
“For real?”
“Yeah. I know that the pay is nothing compared to what your li’l friends make out in the streets—”
“Fast money lead to a fast end.”
Mr. Wyatt raise his eyebrows. “You really have been listening. I thought it all went in one side of that big head and out the other.”
“Dang, Mr. Wyatt. You ain’t gotta diss me.”
“A little early-morning humor never hurt nobody. You can start full-time after you graduate. What do you say?”
I hold the back of my neck. “Um … I’m not graduating, Mr. Wyatt. I kinda flunked out.”
“What is flunked out?” he says. “Do you mean you dropped out?”
“Yeah. The other week, I found out I was flunking all my classes and would have to repeat the twelfth grade. That won’t work, so I stopped going to school.”
“I see,” he says. “Does Faye know?”
“No, sir, not yet,” I say, and he real quiet. “But I’m gon’ get my GED,” I add quickly. “The school counselor said they got classes downtown. I just gotta sign up for them.”
Ay, I told Seven I won’t let him down. Getting my GED is the first step.
“I see,” Mr. Wyatt says again, and I don’t know if he disappointed or what. He take a deep breath. “I tell you what. You go downtown this morning, sign up for those classes, then come to the store to start as a full-time employee.”
My eyes widen. “The job still mine?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he says. “I’m not the one you need to worry about. That title belongs to Faye.”
True.
He pat my shoulder. “Go do what you need to do, son. I expect you to come straight to work afterward. Don’t be—”
“Lollygagging around,” I finish for him. “Yes, sir, I know.”
“Since you’re listening so well, I oughta start reciting scripture so you can repeat that.”
Aw, damn. “Let’s stick with the work stuff for now, Mr. Wyatt.”
He chuckles. “That’s what you think. I ain’t done with you yet, boy,” he says, and climb his back steps.
I finally told Ma the truth about school.
Was she pissed? Hell yeah.
Did she go off on me? Fa’sho.
Did my lies make it worse? Oh yeah.
Am I glad Moe was there as a witness? You damn right. She probably saved my life.
Once I swore to Ma that I’d get my GED, she calmed down a little. She marched outta the house to work and barely said two words to me. I deserve it.
I get dressed to go downtown. Seven in his playpen in the living room, babbling to the Teletubbies on the TV. I don’t understand why li’l kids love them creepy-looking things.
The phone ring throughout the house. I grab the cordless off my nightstand. “Hello?”
“Hello!” the automated voice says. “You have a collect call from—”
“Adonis.”
I accept the charges. “Pops?”
“Mav Man?” he says. “I wasn’t sure anybody would be home. I got some calling time and figured I’d try. You … you good?”
That’s his way of asking if I went through with my plan.
“I’m good, Pops,” I say. “Nothing going on; nothing went on.”
He let out a deep breath. “Good.”
I sit on the side of my bed. “Hard for me to say that. I almost feel like I let the family down.”
“Nah, man. The family needs you,” he says. “I’m stuck here; Dre gone. You gotta stay around, you feel me? By any means.”
“I know,” I mumble as I pick at a thread on my comforter. That’s my main goal. It’s not really the kind Mr. Wyatt told me to have, but yeah. Thing is, I don’t see how I can accomplish that long as I’m a King Lord. “I think I want out the set, Pops.”
The line fall silent.
“That’s nothing against you or Dre or none of y’all,” I say. “I know this part of our blood. But this not the life – I don’t want my kids to—”
“Hey, hey. You don’t owe me an explanation,” he says. “Like I told you the other day, you’re becoming your own man. You don’t need my permission or approval.”
“Yes, sir.”
Pops take another deep breath. “On some real shit, son? There’s a lot of grown men in the game who don’t wanna be in it. They don’t have the guts to admit it like you do. They too caught up or too scared of what people will think. They end up accepting that they stuck.”
For a second, it sound like he describing himself.
“For you to admit that you want out? It means you’re thinking for yourself, like a man should,” he says. “They oughta start calling you Big Mav instead of Li’l Don.”
“Quit playing.” I laugh, as he do. “I’ll always be Li’l Don around here.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Pops says. “Do what you need to do, son. I love you. Regardless.”
I smile. “I love you, too, Pops.”
Signing up for GED classes wasn’t too bad. The lady at the school district office already had my info courtesy of Mr. Clayton. She put me in the class for “young people, nineteen and under.” Said it would be good for me to be with other kids.
That’s the first time in a while anybody called me a kid. I figure I got a couple more months of that, ’cause once you got two kids, you grown. I’ll enjoy it while I can.
The classes meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. The school district got some career development courses for young adults, too. I signed up for the landscaping class. I can earn a certificate when I get my GED, and it would allow me to professionally care for gardens. It’s something, I guess.
I caught the bus and came straight to the store like I told Mr. Wyatt I would. I run the cash register while he take a “break” across the street with Mr. Reuben and Mr. Lewis. The way he laughing, he ain’t concerned with this long line of customers I got over here.
I ring up Mrs. Rooks, and I don’t drop her eggs this time. Best believe she watch me real close to make sure I don’t. The li’l snot-nosed kids from the projects count their change out themselves, and when I ask why their behinds not in school, they ask why I’m not either. They got me there.
“Have a good day,” I call after the last customer around half an hour later. Ol’ girl talked my ear off, man. She showed me a picture of her sons and proudly told me she named them Dalvin and DeVante after the dudes in Jodeci. I looked at her funny. I can’t talk though. I named my son after a number.
As she walk out, Mr. Wyatt come back in. “Everything all right, Maverick?”
“Yes, sir,” I say, opening my bag of salt-n-vinegar chips. Now that I’m full-time, I get an employee discount. “I survived that afternoon rush. Didn’t think I would, huh?”
“Now, hold on, I didn’t say that.”
“C’mon, Mr. Wyatt. You know you were testing me. I ain’t stupid.”
“Okay, maybe it was a teeny-tiny test,” he says, with two of his fingers inches apart. “The fellas and I had a bet going. Cletus thought you’d be hollering for me two minutes in. I said five. Reuben said ten. We all lost.”
“Gah-lee! That’s what y’all get. Ain’t got no faith in a brother.”
“I’ll admit, you surprised me,” Mr. Wyatt says. “If I’m honest, I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long at the job. I thought you would’ve had your third strike by now.”
I can’t lie. I expected to get it, too.
But maybe it’s time I start surprising myself.
EPILOGUE
Lisa eat her barbecue at my kitchen table, smacking extra loud. “Dang! Mr. Reuben did this right! You sure you don’t want some, loser?” She wave a rib in front of me.
I lightly push it away. “Man, if you don’t go on somewhere. You won the bet, a’ight? You ain’t gotta rub it in my face.”
“Yes, I do actually. I don’t wanna say I told you so but…” She snort. “Who am I kidding? I. Told. You. So! Bam!”
Maaan. Lisa ain’t let up since Dr. Byrd told us we having a baby girl. I took her to Reuben’s to buy her prize, and she told everybody in the restaurant that I lost our bet. As we walked to my house, she told every neighbor we passed. Gloating for no reason.
I reach over and rub her belly. “Baby girl, please don’t come out acting like your momma.”
“Excuse you?” Lisa says.
“I’m playing, I’m playing. I hope our daughter is exactly like you.”
“Our daughter. Because guess what? I was ri-ight!” she sings.
I flip her Braves cap off of her head.
“Stopppp,” she whine, and quickly put it back over her ponytail. “You know I don’t have my hair done!”
I laugh and check on Seven in his high chair. He tearing up that mac and cheese I got for him. I sneak a li’l for myself. Ma says you ain’t a real parent till you eat your kid’s food. “You lucky I’m not a sore loser.”
“Ha! Since when? You sulked through the rest of the appointment.”
“I wasn’t sulking! I was surprised.”
Lisa twist her mouth. “Suuuure.”
“I was! I’m cool with a girl. I can do tea parties and baby dolls.”
“Hey, she could love sports. I used to throw my baby dolls like footballs in the backyard.” Lisa trace her finger along her ultrasound picture. “She’s so stinking cute.”
“Even with my big apple head?” I tease.
“Yep, although God help me during labor. I hope she has your eyelashes. And my eyes. I like my eyes. Is that conceited?”
She crack me up. “Nah, not at all. Our li’l girl gon’ be perfect, no matter what.”
“She will,” Lisa murmurs. She look away from the picture and pat the table. “All right, no more distractions. You asked me to help you study.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I sit at the table and open my GED prep book. “They foul for this quiz they giving us tomorrow. Class only been going on a week, dang.”
“You like it so far?” Lisa asks.
I shrug. “I like that it’s faster than a regular school day. My landscaping class real cool. I know more than anybody in that joint except the teacher.” I grin.
Lisa roll her eyes. “Lord help the teacher, then.”
“Forget you.” I laugh. “I like the classes mostly. I gotta get used to going to class at night though, and it’s weird not being around my homeboys.”
“Understandable,” Lisa says. “Have you told any of them what you told me?”
“That I want out the set? Not yet.” I run my hand over my durag. “I gotta work my nerve up to that, Lisa. It’s gon’ cost me. I already owe King that money.”
“Yeah,” she mumbles. I told her everything. She the only friend I got left. “It’ll work out.”
“Fa’sho. I’m gon’ make sure it do.”
Lisa get a small smile. “Look at you, believing in yourself.”
“Well, you know.” I pop my collar.
Lisa crack up.
“I’m home!” Ma call from the living room. She come down the hall, taking her heels off. “Whew! My feet say, ‘Yes, Lord.’ How was the appointment?”
What she really mean is, “What y’all having?”
“Lisa won the bet,” I say.
“Yes, yes! I knew it!” Ma hug Lisa at the table. “I was scared we’d have to deal with three Mavericks.”
What the— “Ma!”
Lisa laugh. “Nope, baby girl is coming to the rescue.”
“Hallelujah!” Ma rub Lisa’s belly. “Grandma already bought you some of the cutest outfits, Pooh Bear.”
“Dang, Ma. She ain’t out the womb yet. Let us give her a name before you give her a nickname.”
“Hush, Stinka Butt.”
“Oh my God. Stinka Butt?” Lisa says.
“Ma, you said you’d stop using that name! C’mon!”
“You’ll be all right.” Ma step around me to get to Seven. He buck in his high chair, reaching for her. Ma scoop him up. “Do y’all have a name picked out yet?”
“No, ma’am. We were gonna name her Andre if she were a boy,” Lisa says. “We could name her Andrea, I guess.”
“You could, but we already have an Andreanna in the family,” Ma says. “Baby girl should have her own name. Something that’ll tell her who she is.”
“We could name her after me.” I cheese. “Mavericka.”
“What?” Ma says, and Lisa go, “Oh, heck no!”
“Dre named his daughter after him!”
“Andreanna is cute,” Lisa says. “Mavericka is a mess.”
“The biggest mess,” Ma adds. “Sounds like a damn spice.”
How they gon’ gang up on me? “Y’all some haters.”
Ma hand Seven over to me. “Keep telling yourself that. I’m gonna go take a bubble bath and drink a little something-something to wind down from the day I had. Those folks at the hotel almost made me lose my mind.”
“You not going to your other job?” I ask.
“Nope, I’m taking tonight off. I’m actually thinking of quitting altogether. With Moe moving in and bringing in more money, things won’t be as tight.”
I feel bad, man. Me and my son are the main reasons things get tight in the first place. My money looking funny again since I’m not slinging. Ma and Moe shouldn’t have to help take care of us.
“One day, I’ll get my own spot, Ma. That’ll make it easier for you and Moe.”
Ma set her hand on her hip. “Who said you have to move out? We’re making it work, aren’t we?”
“My son is my responsibility. So is my daughter. I’m gon’ get on my own two feet and take care of them.”
Ma cup one of my cheeks. “Focus on getting that GED and that landscaping certificate. We’ll worry about the other stuff later.” She kiss that same cheek. “Dre would be proud of you.”
It don’t hurt as much to hear stuff like that no more. I can actually smile.
Ma grab a bottle of wine outta the fridge and take it toward her bedroom. “Night, y’all!”
“Don’t you need a glass?” I ask.
“Not after the day I had,” she calls. She close her bedroom door.
I shake my head. That wine gon’ have her knocked out.
I settle Seven in my lap. He watch Lisa every move as she eat. “Sooooo … where should we live?” I ask.
“What do you mean? You want some, Punkin?” Lisa put a little barbecue sauce on one of her fingers and hold it toward Seven. Boy grab it and put it in his mouth like it’s a rib.
“You heard me. I told Ma that I’m gon’ get us a place. I’m thinking we oughta get that mansion on a private island, with the elevators and the Bentleys.”
Lisa get a little more sauce on her finger and hold it toward Seven again. He open his mouth wide. She laughs. “Somebody likes barbecue. Who says we’ll be living together, Maverick?”
“I say so. I bet that one day, you’ll be Mrs. Carter.”
Lisa scoff. “Here you go, making bets. Didn’t you learn from the first one?”
“I got no doubt this time.”
“Umm, we’re not even a couple, sooo…” Lisa shrugs. “You have a ton of work to do to make that happen.”
“I’m up for the challenge. I got a plan.”
“Oh, really?”
