Vexed 3, page 6
Dear Amanda,
This is Jayla King, the inmate at Leesworth suffering from renal failure, cirrhosis of the liver, and depression. I am reaching out to let you know that my daughter, Nahima Lawson-Morris, will be my resource person. She will do anything to help with my case. She is young, so she may need some assistance, like an advocate like you mentioned. If that isn’t possible, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Chapter Ten
“Nahima! Nahima! You came to bake cookies with me!” Jalen ran down the steps and leaped into his sister’s arms.
After making a perfect catch, she lifted his little body to her chest, closed her eyes, and squeezed him so damn tight that he shrieked and giggled. Nahima loved her little brother more than any other person in the universe. Shameful tears slid through her closed eyelids when she thought about how she had allowed her ill feelings for Uncle Zach and Jill to keep her from visiting Jalen for so many weeks. She quickly made a vow to never let anyone or anything come between her and her baby brother again.
Jalen placed a palm on each of Nahima’s cheeks and gazed into her tearful eyes. He flashed a snaggletoothed grin. “How come you’re crying? Am I too heavy?”
“No. You are perfect. I’m just happy to see you.” She kissed his pointy nose and smiled. “Where are your two front top teeth, li’l man?”
“Mommy pulled them out because they were wiggly and wobbly, and I couldn’t bite my food. I was a big boy, too. I didn’t even cry. I wouldn’t let Daddy pull my teeth because his hands are too big and strong. The tooth fairy came and left ten dollars under my pillow when I was sleeping. I put it in my Black Panther piggy bank.”
Nahima couldn’t help but laugh. Jalen’s smile was contagious, missing teeth and all. He was the cutest little boy ever, and she could listen to him talk all day long in his sweet, raspy voice. She just couldn’t stand to hear him call Jill his “mommy,” because she wasn’t. The sound of it irked the shit out of Nahima.
“What’s up, Nahima?” Zachary Jr. greeted his cousin as he made his way down the steps.
She placed Jalen on his feet and smiled at him with her hand extended for a fist bump. “Dude, you are getting tall. What’chu eating, yo?”
“I eat my veggies and lots of fruit, and I drink milk.”
“Where is Zion?”
“She’s upstairs in her room.” He turned around and yelled, “Hey, Z, get off the computer and come downstairs! Nahima is here!”
“I’ll go get her,” Jalen said before he broke out running like the Flash and dashed up the stairs.
Nahima walked toward the great room, and Zachary Jr. followed her. They sat down on the love seat together.
“So what’s up, Junior? What’chu been up to? You got a girlfriend?”
He looked toward the kitchen door with a sly smile on his face. “There’s this one girl at my school named Apple who likes me. We text all the time, but we’re just friends. My dad said I’m too young to have a girlfriend.”
Nahima rolled her eyes to the ceiling and twisted her lips in defiance of her uncle. Uggghhh! He’s always in somebody else’s business. He needs to worry about that Jamaican ho he married after he took her from Jay.
“I guess your dad’s right. You’re just eleven. Wait until you turn fifteen before you start dealing with the honeys, because love is complicated.”
“How do you know? Do you have a boyfriend?” Zach Jr.’s eyes ballooned while he waited for his cousin’s answer.
“I sure do, and he’s a lot older than me, so my parents and Uncle Zach don’t know about him. So don’t speak on it. Okay?”
“I won’t say anything to anybody. I know how to keep a secret, but Zion runs her mouth all the time. Dad said she can talk the milk out of a cow.” He laughed. “So what’s your dude’s name? I told you about Apple, so—”
“I need to let you all up in my business, huh?”
“Yeah, kinda.”
“Well, his name is Santana Bridges. His mom is Puerto Rican, and his dad is African American. He’s twenty-two and—”
“Whoa! Are you for real? Dude is really twenty-two?”
“Yeah. I told you he was older than me. What’s the problem?”
Zachary Jr. wasn’t smiling anymore. His serious expression made Nahima feel some type of way. She immediately regretted discussing her love life with her kid cousin. What the hell kinda shit had she been on? She’d definitely made a big mistake, but she had no one else she could talk to about Santana besides Yashia, and she hated him and always gave her major attitude whenever his name came up in their conversations.
“Hey, you ain’t gonna snitch on me, are you? Remember, you promised to keep it on lock.”
Zachary Jr. eyed Nahima with a somber look that made her feel dirty. “I won’t snitch, but I don’t think a teenage girl should date a twenty-two-year-old man. Why can’t he date a lady his own age?”
Before Nahima could give her cousin an answer, Jalen entered the great room and flopped down in her lap, giggling. “I brought Zion downstairs to you.”
Nahima and Zachary Jr. looked over their shoulders to find Zion smiling at them.
“What’s up, Z? Come give me a hug. It seems like I haven’t seen you in a thousand years. You get prettier and prettier every time I see you, li’l mama.” She opened her arms to her little cousin.
“I’m glad you came to spend the weekend with us,” Zion whispered, hugging Nahima. “I changed the color of my room and got some new pictures and stuff. I hope you’ll like it.”
“I know I will, pretty girl.”
* * *
“Man, it smells good in here!”
“We’re baking cookies, Daddy! That’s why it smells so good in Mommy’s kitchen.” Jalen smiled from his seat on top of the center island before he licked cookie dough from the wooden spoon in his hand.
Zach walked through the kitchen happier than he’d felt in a long time. Having Nahima in his home spending time with Jalen made his heart tap dance. His li’l dawg was on top of the world too, which gave him life. He and Jill were going to have one hell of a time getting his little ass to bed tonight. He didn’t want Nahima out of his sight. With or without Zion’s approval, Jalen would be an extra guest in her newly redecorated bedroom this weekend. Zach pinched his li’l dawg’s nose before he turned and placed a hand on Nahima’s shoulder.
“The aroma is making my mouth water, pumpkin. What kind of cookies are y’all baking?”
“Those are sugar cookies in the oven. We’re mixing peanut butter cookies now.”
“Humph,” Zach grunted as he opened a bottle of Heineken beer. “I didn’t know you were going to bake peanut butter cookies, pumpkin. Please be careful, and make sure you clean up good. Keep the sugar cookies totally separated from the peanut butter cookies, too.”
“No problem. But why do I have to keep the cookies separated?”
“Your cousin, Zion, is allergic to most nuts but especially peanuts. If she even touches something with peanuts in it, she breaks out with itchy hives and her tongue swells up, which makes it dangerously hard for her to breathe. It’s really scary. So please be extra careful, all right?”
“I promise to be careful, Uncle Zach. Trust me.”
“Okay, Daddy, I won’t let Zion eat any of my peanut butter cookies.”
“That’s my li’l dawg.”
Jalen giggled and gave his daddy a pound. “And you’re my great big dawg.”
* * *
“I’m so glad you and Nahima made up and she’s spending time with y’all this weekend, Zach.”
“I figured you’d be happy. You want to come over and let’s make it a mini, weekend family reunion? I’ll come and scoop you up.”
“Um . . . er . . . this won’t be a good weekend. Let’s do it another time. I’ve got some things to do, baby.”
“What kinds of things, Auntie?”
“Zachary Sean King, don’t you be asking me no questions! It ain’t none of your business what I gotta do! If I have to roll pennies, that’s my business! I’m grown! Goodbye!”
“Auntie? Auntie!” He flipped the phone over and looked at the blank screen as if the dial tone in his ear weren’t enough. “She hung up on me. What the hell?”
Zach laughed, leaning back in his designated chair that he called his throne, located in his basement man cave. It was a custom-built brown Italian leather deluxe recliner with a lower lumbar-roll feature, a heating system, a thermal cup holder, an electrical socket, and an extended leg rest. Physically, he was quite comfortable, but he had a brain pinch that had him feeling a bit uneasy on the mental side.
Aunt Jackie didn’t spend the night at Zach’s house often because he rarely asked her to. He saved his invitations for whenever he and Jill needed to get away from the kiddies for some “grown-folk time.” It had been a minute since Zach had taken wifey on a sexcation, which meant Aunt Jackie hadn’t crashed at King’s Kastle, the nickname he’d given his home, in a while. But this weekend was a special occasion. Nahima had decided to leave her stank-ass attitude at home and was at her uncle’s house baking cookies with her baby brother. Aunt Jackie should’ve been running over to Zach’s crib to see her, shouting hallelujah, but she wasn’t coming, and he wondered why the hell not.
Chapter Eleven
“Goodbye!” Aunt Jackie pressed the button to end the call and stuffed her cell phone inside the pocket of her apron as her heart raced.
Zach had ticked her off, questioning her about her weekend plans. Who the heck did he think he was? The last time she’d checked, she was still his aunt, the woman who had raised him and his sister, which gave her rank over him. Therefore, he had no right or business to ask her a doggone thing about her personal life.
After a quick glimpse in the mirror on her dresser, Aunt Jackie left her bedroom to check on dinner. The heavenly aroma of her famous stuffed Cornish hens met her before she even reached the kitchen. She smiled, knowing she had outdone herself on the special meal. Her turnip greens were scrumptious per usual. She had already done a little taste test. The baked seven-cheese mac and cheese she was known for all around her neighborhood and her church was in the warmer. That thing was the best kitchen gadget ever. It was a Christmas gift from Zach and Jill. In addition to the mac and cheese, the warmer also held the fried corn, candied yams, and black-eyed peas. The potato salad had been chilling in the refrigerator since last night. Dessert would be Aunt Jackie’s award-winning pecan pie and her mama’s whipping-cream pound cake. Both would taste mighty fine with the French vanilla ice cream she’d picked up from Kroger at the last minute. For sure, this was a feast fit for an African king.
Sneaking a peek at her beautiful golden brown Cornish hens, Aunt Jackie’s thoughts floated back to Zach. Maybe she’d acted a little too snippy toward him. He had only been trying to include her in the family fun going on at his house this weekend. She couldn’t deny he’d sounded excited. But that gave him no right to pry into her business or imply that her weekend plans weren’t important. If only he knew . . .
Aunt Jackie glanced down at her watch. Instantly, she caught a case of the bubble gut. It had been more years than she could count since she’d felt like this. But she liked it, sweaty palms, heart flutters, and all. Just because she was a chaste woman of a certain age, nobody could judge her for having natural feelings and enjoying life on her own terms. In fact, she deserved to have a little fun in her golden years. After all, she had made plenty of sacrifices and denied herself lots of pleasure for others, more specifically, Zach and Jay. Now it was time for her to spread her wings and soar.
“Jesus!” Aunt Jackie gasped when the doorbell rang, startling her.
Nervously, she untied her apron, removing it from her waist before placing it on the countertop. She took a deep breath and left the kitchen feeling excited with a hint of anxiety. As far as she was concerned, her solid size-sixteen frame looked good in the simple black jumpsuit with short cold-shoulder sleeves she’d ordered from Roaman’s online catalogue. If God hadn’t wanted her to be short and voluptuous, He wouldn’t have made her that way, she concluded as she got closer to her front door. Out of habit, she raked her fingers through her salt-and-pepper shoulder-length sister locks before she unlocked the door and opened it.
“Good evening, Jackie.”
The rich, bottom-bass timbre would be her undoing someday. God, help her. But at the moment, it just made her heart do a hallelujah dance and her cheeks flush. His cologne was the devil. Its woodsy-citrus scent made her weak in the knees, as if her arthritis weren’t enough.
“Good evening, Oscar. Come on in,” she half sang and half spoke as she stepped aside to allow him to enter the house.
“These are for you.” With a smile, he handed her a dozen long-stemmed pink roses wrapped in green cellophane.
“Awww, thank you, Oscar. They’re so pretty.” She accepted the flowers and inhaled their aroma. “And they smell like the Garden of Eden.”
“You’re welcome. A pretty woman deserves pretty flowers.” He leaned down and kissed her lips softly.
You better be glad I’m saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost, or I would probably jump your bones!
“Um, why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the dining room, Oscar? You know your way around the house. I’m going to find a vase for my pretty roses. I want them in the bedroom so I can smell them as I fall asleep every night as long as they live.”
“All right, but I’m going to stop by the bathroom to wash my hands first.”
“That’s fine,” Aunt Jackie said before she walked toward the den.
Oscar was a blessing from God. He was tall, handsome, and smart, he had his own money, and he loved the Lord with all his heart. The brother still had all of his original teeth, too, and he had huge hands and feet. The icing on the cake was that sexy bald head of his. Oscar’s dark complexion reminded Aunt Jackie of a brown M&M. And just like the popular candy pieces, he was sweet to her every day the good Lord gave them. What more could a mature Christian woman ask for? The retired high school principal had an old sista ready to go back to school to learn a few things.
Have mercy!
Aunt Jackie found an empty vase on the bookshelf in the den. She hurried to her bedroom with it and her roses in tow, where she went into the en suite bathroom and filled the vase halfway with water from the sink. Then she arranged the roses inside the oblong crystal vase before placing it on the nightstand on the left side of her bed. Aunt Jackie admired her flowers as a vision of the man who’d so graciously given them to her appeared in her mind’s eye. Dinner and quality time this evening would be the highlight of her weekend. And Zach wanted her to come over and hang out with him, Jill, their three children, and Nahima? Not tonight!
* * *
“I thought we were supposed to be sharing this cake, baby.” Oscar looked down at Jackie’s fork sitting unused on the table. “I already ate the pie and ice cream by myself. Now I need your help with this slice of cake so it won’t go to waste.”
Aunt Jackie followed his eyes to her clean fork. Sighing, she explained, “I had every intention to help you eat the cake, Oscar, but there’s no more room in my stomach. I shouldn’t have eaten that second helping of potato salad, huh?”
“Nah, I can’t blame you for that, honey. That was the most delicious potato salad I’ve ever tasted in my life. As a matter of fact, I hope you’ll put a healthy helping of it in my doggie bag if you don’t mind.”
“You know I will. I’ll even put the rest of this cake and a few more slices in as well.”
“Thank you, sugar.” Oscar placed his fork on the table and picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth. Eyeing his dinner date, he grinned like he had just struck oil in Saudi Arabia. “I thank God every day for allowing me to find you. Of course, I thank Him for Wallace, too, because he was the vessel God used to bring us together. You’re everything he told me you were and so much more.”
“I’m blessed to have you in my life too, Oscar. And I agree with you. God definitely used Wallace, of all people, to hook us two old crows together.” Aunt Jackie laughed. “It’s strange that Wallace King actually played Cupid for me.”
“Why is that so strange, Jackie? Is it because he was once your brother-in-law?”
“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons. The other one is hard for me to admit, but I might as well say it because God already knows my heart.”
Oscar lifted Aunt Jackie’s hand from the table and laced his long fingers through her much shorter, stubby ones. “Say it, sweetheart. You know you can tell me anything.”
“It’s just that I spent so many years harboring ill feelings in my heart for Wallace. I didn’t have it in me to hate him, but God knows I tried. I resented him so much that I wouldn’t even let Zach say the word ‘Daddy’ even when he was too young and innocent to understand what was going on all around him. My poor, sweet baby. All Zach knew was he missed his mommy and daddy. I was wrong to keep him from talking about Wallace, Oscar. I was dead wrong.”
“I would never judge you for the way you felt back then. Wallace killed your sister. It was a mistake, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. You were young and living a carefree life you’d planned for yourself, and then all of a sudden, you were the caretaker of two babies. Your world got turned upside down. I understand.”
“I thank God for bringing me and those two babies through our tragedy to the other side.”
“Amen. And I thank Him for restoring your relationship with Wallace. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have ever met.” Oscar lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of Aunt Jackie’s. “The moment I told Wallace I was leaving Raleigh to move to Atlanta so I could spend the rest of my years near my daughter and grandchildren, the first thing he said was, ‘I might need to set you up with my former sister-in-law, Jackie.’ I was a little skeptical initially, but then he showed me a picture of you, and I fell in love.”
