Vexed 3, page 22
* * *
Aunt Jackie rushed to meet Zach in the hallway when she heard him enter the house. “Didn’t you get my message? There’s been a change of plans.”
“No, I didn’t get your message, but you’re right about the plan change. I’m not going to see Jay. I don’t wish anything bad on her, but you need to find another ride.”
“What happened, Zach?”
“Evidently, before Jay’s health took a turn for the worse, she started proceedings to have Jalen’s adoption changed, claiming she agreed to Jill and me taking custody of him while she was mentally incapable of making major decisions at the time. Long story short, a group of law students is helping her along with some advocate and a member of our family. I can’t wait to find out who it is. A possibility for an early release is her ultimate goal. Nothing will come of it because Jay is dying, but this crap makes my ass itch, Auntie!”
“Watch your mouth, Zach!”
Zach walked to the back of the house, and Aunt Jackie followed him. When they sat down in the den, he started scrolling through the faces of his family members in his head. Who would help Jay interfere with Jalen’s adoption? He couldn’t imagine who would want to help her do anything good or bad. Zach rubbed his temple against the headache he felt coming on.
“Hey, Oscar, come on out, man! I know you’re here. It’s time for us to meet!”
Aunt Jackie clutched the collar of her canary yellow T-shirt, lightly scraping the edges of her fingernails over her chest where her jaw had almost dropped. Zach had no idea why he’d done it. Maybe the devil made him. Shit, his evil red ass had already messed up his morning, so it was time to strike back at him by spreading a little humor around.
A moment later, Oscar walked into the den, and Zach stood up with his hand extended. The two strangers, who were aware of each other in a roundabout way, shook hands.
“I’m Oscar Wilson, Jackie’s fiancé. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“I’m Zachary King, Jackie’s nephew, but she raised me as her son. At last we meet. Have a seat, sir.”
It was quiet for a moment in the den. Aunt Jackie looked like she had seen Satan.
“How long have you known about me and Oscar, Zach?”
“Let’s stop playing games, Auntie. I knew about y’all, and y’all knew that I knew about y’all. You, Oscar, Wallace, and Patricia ain’t slick. I figured everything out a while ago, and I was just waiting for y’all to tell me. And you had your engagement ring on the other day I stopped by to give you that check.”
“Lord Jesus!” Aunt Jackie looked at her left hand.
“There were other hints here and there, too, but all of that is water under the bridge now. Welcome to the family, Oscar.”
“Thanks, Zach. I appreciate that. But just so you know, I don’t live here. I live with my daughter, son-in-law, and their three children in Ellenwood. However, as soon as Jackie and I get married, there’s a townhouse in a retirement village in Buckhead with our names on it.”
“Buckhead, you say? At least Wallace didn’t hook you up with no scrub, Auntie. I’ve got to thank him for that one.”
“And you don’t have to pay for our wedding, Zach.”
“Yes, I do. I owe my auntie that much and more. But please keep it simple, and don’t try to cash me out.”
“We won’t, son. I promise you. Jackie wants something small, short, and simple, and so do I.”
“Good.” Zach stroked his goatee and looked off into space. “Before we start planning the wedding, we’ve got to get past this situation with Jay.”
“She woke up this morning, Zach. The warden called and told me. She’s being transferred to the medical facility in Augusta as we speak. We can visit her there tomorrow. That was the change in plans I left you a message about.”
“Oscar will have to take you because I ain’t going, Aunt Jackie. Wallace can meet y’all there, but he won’t see me. Jay didn’t want me to visit her anyway, and you know it. So I’m not going to torture her with my presence on her deathbed like she’s torturing me now over Jalen. God and I have an understanding regarding me and my sister, and I’m going to honor it.”
“You may have to make a concession on the situation with Jay, Zach. She woke up this morning, like I said, and she started asking for Jalen. The warden said it’s the only word she’s said. And she’s repeating it over and over. She wants to see her baby before she dies.”
Zach stood up and started pacing the den and rubbing his goatee. “I don’t know about that. My little boy has had some emotional challenges since Zion’s allergic reaction. I don’t know how to explain Jay to him. He’s too young and fragile for this. Damn it!”
“Zach, Wallace and I will be there with Jackie and the boy. Your sister is too weak to say anything that’ll upset him. Let Jackie take Jalen to see Jay. I won’t let anything bad happen to him, and you know your dad won’t either.”
“I appreciate that, Wallace, but Jill, my wife, might buck against all of us. When it comes to Jalen, she’s the law.”
Zach’s phone chimed in his pocket. He took it out and sat down on the sofa again. “It’s an email from Kirk,” he mumbled, staring at the screen. “He sent the video that the mysterious family member submitted to the judge in support of Jay.”
“Oh, my God!” Aunt Jackie reached over and rubbed Zach’s shoulder. “Let’s see who it is, baby.”
“My name is Nahima Angelique Lawson-Morris, and I am the biological daughter of Jayla Simone King, an inmate of nine years at Leesworth Women’s Federal Corrections Facility. I have a baby brother named Jalen Gavin King. He was adopted by my maternal uncle, Zachary Sean King, and his wife, Jillian Bessette King. My mother wouldn’t be in prison today if it weren’t for the betrayal of my uncle and his wife, which is a bitter irony because they now are the legal parents of my baby brother. That is why I appeal to you, Your Honor, to consider amending Jalen’s adoption so that my mother will be allowed to have unsupervised visits with him and he can learn who she is upon her release. She’s his mother, who will protect him against my uncle, who has severe anger issues. No one knows that better than I do, because I have been a victim of his verbal and physical abuse. My uncle, Zachary King, brutally attacked me by choking me and slamming my head against the wall in the home of my legal parents, Charles and Venus Morris, recently. He cursed at me and threatened to kill me, stating . . .”
* * *
Jill kissed her husband’s cheek and rubbed his back, but he didn’t acknowledge her affection. He sat on the sofa in their great room with his fingers linked together in front of him, staring down at the floor. His tears were falling unchecked.
“Venus and Charles agreed to submit affidavits to the judge on your behalf to do away with the turmoil Nahima has caused. No one is going to take Jalen or our other two children away from us. Do not worry, Zachary.”
“Why would Nahima do some shit like that? She made me out to be a demon in that video.”
“We won’t know the entire story until after Venus and Charles speak with her when she returns home after school. All we know now is that Jay and Nahima have somehow been in contact.” Jill slid off the sofa and kneeled in front of her husband. She cupped his face between her palms. “Jalen will go with Aunt Jackie and her fiancé to Augusta to see Jay. Papa King will be there too. It is the right thing for us to do, Zachary. God will take care of our little boy. No harm will come to him. Yes, Jalen must go.”
Zach wrapped his arms around Jill and wept. His sobs and whimpers were loud and piercing, filling the great room. Zach cried because he was hurt and furious. He cried for Nahima because she was another victim in a long line of people Jay had used and abused, damn near destroying them. His tears were for Jalen, who would never know how blessed he was to have escaped the wickedness of the woman who had given birth to him. Maybe the child and his father, Gavin, were the only human beings Jay had ever truly loved, or maybe she never loved them at all.
Zach loved his sister, and he always had. That was the main reason he was crying. No matter how much love he had in his heart for her, she didn’t have any for him. The pain of knowing that Jay did not love him would haunt Zach beyond her death, but the love of his wife, their children, his aunt, his father, and the rest of his family would overcome all of his pain.
Chapter Thirty-eight
“Nahima, what the hell were you thinking?”
“I don’t know, Mom! I didn’t mean to hurt Uncle Zach! I had forgotten all about that stupid video! Oh, my God, I don’t want the judge to take Jalen away from Uncle Zach! I swear I’ll do anything!” Nahima fell on her knees. She wanted to die. Her world had crashed all around her. “Mom, please help me stop the judge and those law students from taking Jalen away!”
“Why did you do it, Nahima? Why did you reach out to Jay and betray the family?”
“I wanted to help Jay! That’s all. She told me how you all screwed her over and did her dirty! Mom, I didn’t know. Aaahhh, I didn’t know. I believed everything she told me. I . . . I believed her. How could I have been sooo stupid?”
Upset to the highest degree, Nahima was ashamed. She fell flat on her face onto the carpet. Her heart ached, and she felt like a fool. She had betrayed everyone who truly loved her, for Jay, who didn’t give a damn about her. She had hurt and disappointed everyone. Jay was so damn evil and wicked. She hadn’t even had the decency to tell Nahima she was terminally ill with a short time to live. She didn’t love her or want her. It was only Jalen she claimed to love, and she had used Nahima to do her dirt to Zach and Jill and everybody else to get close to the little boy.
“Nahima, get up, and talk to your father and me, baby.” Venus was on her knees crying and rubbing her child’s back as an emotional Charles stood above them. “Get up. I need to know everything from the beginning when you first emailed Jay.”
* * *
The next day, Zach drove his li’l dawg to Aunt Jackie’s house and put him in Oscar’s Escalade for a trip to Augusta to go and visit a dying woman he wouldn’t even remember six months from now. Jill had stayed at home in bed, leaving the responsibility solely to his father. Zach was at peace with the decision and believed Jalen would be fine because the hand of God was upon his young and innocent life, and no one could rise up against him.
Zach locked the door behind him and stripped down to nothing before he eased back into bed next to his wife. He gathered Jill in his arms and kissed her cheek. The last twenty-four hours had been extremely emotional for them, but they were determined to push their way through it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Jalen was excited. He thinks he’s going on a road trip like the cartoon movie. He’s got all of his snacks, juice boxes, action figures, iPad, and movies.”
“What about his activity books? Did you forget his activity books and markers?”
“Nope. I packed three activity books and a new box of markers. Daddy bought his baby boy a new Black Panther action figure, too.”
“That’s good.” Jill looked up at Zach. “I still can’t believe Nahima almost killed Zion.”
“She claimed she didn’t realize how serious allergies could be, but I don’t believe her because I told her myself.”
“And she stole money from Jalen’s bank, invited a stranger into our home, and sneaked to the prison to visit Jay.”
“Yeah, she confessed everything to Venus and Charles, and it nearly killed them. Shit, I’m still reeling from it. I’m just glad she turned that worthless pedophile motherfucker Santana Bridges in to the police. His ass is facing statutory rape charges and drug and auto theft charges. I hope some big, muscular dude with a fourteen-inch dick makes him his bitch tonight.”
“What’s going to happen to Nahima now?”
“It depends on Nahima. Once she completes in-patient treatment at the youth psychiatric center, I hope she’ll hook up with a good therapist and continue to put her life back together.”
“I will pray for her, but I don’t know if I will ever trust her again. I’m afraid for her to be around our children.”
“I am too.”
Zach squeezed Jill, and she snuggled closer to him. With treatment, Nahima had a chance that her mother never did. Jay had never confessed to any of her wrongdoings or taken responsibility for the messes she’d made. She had always played the victim and believed she was entitled to everything, like the world owed her something. At least Nahima had taken the first steps, acknowledging that she had a problem and admitting all the things she had done. Zach still loved her very much and prayed that she would make a full recovery someday.
* * *
“Hi. My name is Jalen.”
Jay looked at her son and cried tearlessly because her body was totally depleted of all fluids. She couldn’t speak or move. The medications numbed her entire body so she wouldn’t feel any pain. But her heart, the emotional part of it, throbbed with unyielding pain because she was dying and wouldn’t have a chance to know Jalen, and he would never know her. Jay was grateful that Aunt Jackie had brought him to visit her so she could see him before she died. She was also glad to see Wallace, who had prayed with her and told her he loved her. Once again, he apologized for killing her mother and leaving her and Zach to grow up without him.
Jalen touched Jay’s hand. “I hope you feel better, lady.” He turned around and looked up at Aunt Jackie. “I’m ready to go now.”
Epilogue
Four Months Later
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Zach dipped the beautiful bride low, brought her back up, and spun her around. The small group of wedding attendees at the beachfront ceremony clapped their hands and cheered wildly. Aunt Jackie wasn’t much of a dancer except for when she was in the spirit at church, but she was holding her own as she snapped her fingers and rocked to Shalamar’s “A Night to Remember.” Nahima had done an incredible job designing and creating her wedding dress. It was baby blue with short off-the-shoulder sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. Tiny cream beads and crystals had been hand sewn onto every inch of the lace bodice. The hem fell to rest at the middle of Aunt Jackie’s meaty kneecaps, but her chapel train, embellished with cream carnations made of tulle, gave the simple sheath elegance.
When the deejay shifted the music to Marvin Gaye crooning “Let’s Get It On,” Oscar appeared at Aunt Jackie’s side. Aunt Hattie Jean and Uncle Bubba, Orville and Faye, Dex and Ramona, and Venus and Charles joined the bride and groom on the dance floor of white sand. Jill walked up to Zach and tapped his shoulder, but she had to wait for her dance partner while Aunt Jackie whispered in his ear.
“Go now. Go on now, baby.”
Zach nodded and motioned for Zach Jr. When he ran over, his dad said, “Dance with your mom. Li’l dawg, Nahima, and I got something to do.”
Jill kissed her husband and then wrapped her arms around her son. They started swaying to the music. Zion ran over and started dancing too while Zach went in search of Jalen and Nahima.
“Li’l dawg and Nahima, we’ve got some business to take care of.”
Wallace and Patricia looked at Zach and nodded. Jalen and Nahima had been keeping them company at their table at the back of the white tent. Wallace reached under the table and handed Zach what he had come to get.
“Thanks, Dad.” He took Jalen by the hand and looked at Nahima. “Come on, pumpkin.”
Nahima smiled and shook her head. “No, Uncle Zach. I’m good. I have peace and joy in my heart, and I won’t let anyone or anything take it away. I’m fine right here with Papa and Grammy.”
Zach nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. “Cool. Let’s go for a walk on the beach, li’l dawg.”
“Okay, big dawg.” Jalen turned to the table. “Papa, Grammy, and Nahima, stay right here. I’ll be back. Then we’re all going to dance.”
“We’ll be right here, grandson.”
“Grammy is going to show you and Papa her moves,” Patricia promised with laughter.
Nahima laughed too and waved to her baby brother.
Zach and his baby boy left the tent and started walking down the shore. The tide was low, and the sun had just begun to slowly set over the crystal blue ocean. When Zach could barely hear the music, he rolled up the legs of his blue linen slacks. He lifted Jalen in his arms while holding the red urn in his hand and walked out into the water. Jalen didn’t say a word. He just watched his dad open the urn.
“When I empty this, um, stuff into the water, I want you to say, ‘Goodbye and be free.’ Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Zach turned the urn over, and the ashes floated in the breeze and scattered, eventually landing in the ocean.
“Goodbye! Be free!” Jalen looked up at Zach and smiled. “How was that, Daddy?”
“It was perfect just like you, son.”
Honey, Vexed 3
