Christmas in the Hood (5 page)

Grandma had recently been diagnosed with kidney disease, and she was undergoing dialysis three days a week, each session
lasting at least three hours. Some days she was in so much pain, she didn’t even want to get out of bed, but she never let it stop her.

“Looks like the old lady’s doing better than a lot of us. Maybe we all should start slinging dope,” the white detective joked, causing all the other cops milling around the apartment to laugh.

“What you talking about?” Gigi yelled. “That ain’t drug money. My grandma doesn’t sell drugs.”

The cops just laughed as they continued searching the apartment. After finding a couple more thousand dollars and a few ounces of marijuana that Andrew had hidden in the closet, the officers finished their search.

The police led them out of the building, one after the other. Gigi and Grandma hung their heads while Andrew scanned the crowd of onlookers with a smile on his face, knowing the arrest earned him stripes in the hood.

Everyone in the neighborhood, including most of Grandma’s friends, watched as the cops led them to the paddy wagon that was parked in front of the building.

Deep in her heart, Gigi had known this day would eventually come, having seen it in a dream, but she constantly pushed it out of her mind.

As soon as the trio arrived at the 40th Precinct, the arresting officers quickly put the family into separate holding rooms to interrogate them individually. But someone had a change of heart before they started the questioning, because after a few minutes an officer escorted Gigi into the room where her grandma was being held.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Gigi had to laugh to herself. These guys couldn’t be too bright interviewing them in the same room.

As she sat down, Gigi noticed her grandma didn’t look good at all. The older woman’s skin was clammy, and she seemed to be having a hard time breathing.

“Grandma, are you okay?” she asked, alarm filling her voice.

Her grandma nodded.

Gigi turned to the door, where the two detectives were just entering the room, and pleaded, “Please, we have to get her medicine. She’s sick…. She needs a kidney transplant. You gotta help her.”

The detectives ignored her and proceeded to question them. “My name’s Detective Goldson,” the white cop said before motioning toward the tall, dark-skinned guy, “and this is Detective Bettis. We’re with Narcotics.”

Pulling a chair out from the table, Goldson sat down directly across from Gigi’s grandma while his partner remained standing.

“You smoke?” he asked, removing a pack from the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

Grandma nodded.

The detective handed her a cigarette, held out a lighter, and flicked the flame. Grandma leaned forward and lit up; taking a long drag, she sat back.

He offered a cigarette to Gigi, but she refused. Lighting up a smoke of his own, the detective eyed the older woman sitting in front of him. “So who you selling crack for?” Detective Goldson asked,
leaning in toward the table. “We know somebody’s supplying you. Tell us who you work for, and we’ll go easy on you.”

Gigi opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, her grandma said, “The drugs no Gigi’s, and the drugs no mine.”

“According to our source, your grandson and granddaughter are selling,” the detective stated matter-of-factly, moving closer to the table. “But word is … they’re selling for you.”

Grandma raised her shaky hands palms up. “You can’t believe half of what you hear.”

“This has the Diaz brothers stamped all over it,” the black detective responded, crossing his muscular arms. “Give them up, and we’ll cut you and your family slack.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Grandma lied.

Both cops just stared at her for a moment. Finally one of them spoke up. “You sure that’s all you wanna tell us?”

Tapping her cigarette ash into the ashtray, Grandma nodded. Lola Lewis was not your typical grandmother. Fifty-five years old, she loved rocking the latest fashions, and she did whatever she needed to do to make sure her grandkids had the best that money could buy.

After questioning the older woman, the detectives left the room. Gigi started to speak, but her grandma quickly shook her head, indicating she should be quiet. She knew the cops kept the recorder running in the interrogation room in hopes of catching some idiot slipping.

Gigi sat there in silence, not believing how her grandma was taking up for her and Andrew. When she saw the other woman
lean over on the table, trying to catch her breath, Gigi panicked again.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Grandma didn’t say a word.

“Help,” Gigi yelled, running to the door and pounding on it. When the detectives finally returned a few minutes later, they noticed Ms. Lewis’s condition and had her escorted out of the room by another cop.

“Where you taking her?” Gigi asked, tears streaming down her face.

Neither detective bothered to respond as they led her back to the metal table in the center of the small room. Gigi stared out the window, which faced the street.

“So tell me, who does the crack belong to … your grandmother … Chico?” the white detective asked, his blue eyes searching her from the feet up.

Turning her attention to him, Gigi readjusted herself in the metal folding chair and then said, “What are you talking about? Grandma doesn’t sell drugs … and I didn’t know there was any in the house. I was just spending the night.”

The detective’s hardened eyes locked with hers. Undeterred, Gigi didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking away. Her stare only grew firmer.

“You’re lying. You live in that apartment. We’ve been watching you come and go for months. We’ve been watching your grandma, too. Word on the street is Grandma’s making crazy dough.”

“Fuck what the street say. I know that shit ain’t Grandma’s. First of all, she’s not stupid enough to sell drugs. If she knew drugs were in the house, she would’ve thrown them out. Second,
she’s too old. With her bad kidneys, she can barely get outta bed some days.”

Before they could respond, another officer came into the room and whispered something to one of the detectives. He looked at the officer in disgust before turning to Gigi. “Your cousin has admitted to everything. You’re free to go.”

Gigi wasn’t one bit surprised. Little did the detectives know the three family members had set a pact when Grandma first started selling crack: if the apartment ever got raided, Andrew would take the blame for the drugs since he lived with Grandma.

Being a minor, Andrew faced minimum jail time, if any, for his first offense. Grandma, on the other hand, was much too old and sickly to do any time, and Gigi was the pride and joy of the family, with her entire life ahead of her.

“Can I see my grandma?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said. “They just took her to the hospital. You better hurry. She didn’t look too good.”

*  *  *

By the time Gigi arrived at the emergency room, her grandma had already been seen by the doctors and was feeling much better. She looked over and smiled as Gigi entered the room.

“Grandma, are you okay?” she asked, hurrying over to hug the woman.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“So they’re gonna let you go home with me?” Gigi asked excitedly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Grandma shook her head. “They’re keeping me overnight for observation.”

Growing quiet, Gigi looked around, taking in the new environment.

Grandma patted her on the thigh reassuringly. “Stop worrying,” she said. “I’ll be outta here by tomorrow afternoon.”

“I’m not leaving you here all alone.” A part of Gigi felt reassured, but another part of her did not want to leave Grandma in the hospital by herself.

“Nonsense,” Grandma replied. “I’ll be fine. When you leave here, get some rest.”

“I should be telling you that.”

They stopped talking long enough for the nurse who had entered the room to check the various machines hooked up to Ms. Lewis. As soon as the white woman left, Gigi and Grandma resumed their conversation.

“What a curse it is to be poor.” She sighed as she looked deep into Gigi’s brown eyes.

Gigi stared back with a confused expression. “Grandma, we’re far from poor.”

“I’m sorry for getting you and Andrew mixed up in this mess. This no kinda life to live. I want a better tomorrow for y’all. That’s why you have to stay in school, get your degree. I want you to be better than me.”

“I know you want the best for me, Grandma,” Gigi replied. “I’m gonna be all I can be, trust me. But for now I’m gonna hold you down. That’s all there is to it.”

At that moment Gigi’s mother, Carmen, walked in, followed by her aunt Maria and uncle Tito. With her head held high, Carmen looked sharp in her formfitting business suit. She shot Gigi a stare that let her know Carmen was upset.

Laid back as ever, Uncle Tito planted a kiss on Gigi’s cheek. Sporting a five o’clock shadow, he was in need of a shave. “Hey, Ma,” he said, leaning in to kiss his mother. “You looking good.”

Too busy chasing high after high to care, Maria looked like she didn’t want to be there.

“Where’s Lulu?” Gigi asked, wondering where her younger sister could be.

“At work,” Carmen answered. “I tried to reach her but couldn’t get through.”

They all crowded around the older woman’s bed, making sure she was all right. After all the niceties were out of the way and Carmen realized her mother was fine, she let Grandma and Gigi have it about the drug arrest.

“Gigi, I told you before to move back home with me,” Carmen said, “but you wanted to stay with Grandma. Now you’ll have a record trailing you the rest of your life. You’re so much better than that.”

Gigi had already known her mother would fly through the roof once she’d heard the news and was well prepared for her nagging. That was Carmen. It didn’t matter that Grandma was sick, Carmen had to speak her mind.

“From the beginning I was against Grandma selling drugs outta the apartment,” Carmen continued with her rant.

Andrew’s mother, Maria, was in and out of jail so often she wasn’t too concerned about his arrest.

“Would you listen to Princess Di,” Maria snapped, shooting Carmen a nasty look, “the walking contradiction.”

Carmen turned around to glare at her younger sister. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, hands on her wide hips.

“You talking holier than thou, but your man’s a mule for the Colombians,” Maria replied. “What? You thought nobody knew, bitch?”

Even though Carmen didn’t approve of Grandma selling drugs, Carmen’s boyfriend, Guido, smuggled drugs from Colombia to the United States on commercial flights.

“Mind your business, you crackhead bitch,” Carmen shouted.

“Fuck you!” “Not here,” Uncle Tito said, stepping between his two sisters. “Have some respect for Ma.”

Both women seemed to hate each other. Maria envied her older sister because Carmen had her shit together, holding down a decent-paying job as a secretary.

Thanks to the loud argument, one of the nurses on duty politely asked the family to leave. Everyone said good-bye and left the older woman to her much-needed rest.

The next afternoon Ms. Lewis was back at home, going about her business like nothing had happened. Unfortunately for Andrew, he didn’t get out of jail for another two days. When he did get released, he headed right back out on the block that same night, trying to knock off a bundle.

Gigi hated to admit it, but her grandma’s decision to hustle had had a big impact on Andrew, and he took to hustling with a passion, even though she was against it.

Chapter Two

W
hen Gigi’s alarm sounded at eight o’clock, she woke up and hopped out of bed, more excited than if it was Christmas Day. Three days had passed since the raid, and the family was getting on with life.

After taking a quick shower and throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, Gigi headed down the long hallway, where she found Grandma in the kitchen making a hot breakfast.

“Good morning, Grandma,” she said, kissing her on the cheek. Not only did her grandkids call her Grandma, so did everybody else on the block.

“Hey, baby,” Grandma said, giving her a bright smile. “You ready to go shopping?”

Gigi couldn’t help but laugh. “Why you messing with me?” she said. “You know the cops took all our money.”

“I know … I know,” Grandma said, her Spanglish accent coming through, “but I still got my disability check. Hurry up … eat. You gonna need your energy.”

Grandma hadn’t worked since being diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of fifty. She depended on the disability check she received every month, but she knew how to stretch the money. Even after her own kids were all grown, she helped raise Gigi and Andrew.

“I don’t want you wasting money buying me clothes.”

“Hush,” Grandma said. “No argue with a sick old lady.” She was determined to make sure her grandkids got everything they wanted for Christmas.

Gigi grinned as she sat down to pancakes, sausages, and eggs. She had already taken a few bites when she looked at her grandmother. Despite the smile the older woman always wore, Gigi realized she wasn’t looking too good.

“How you feeling today?” Gigi asked.

“I’m fine,” Grandma said, settling down to a plate of wheat toast and tea.

Gigi stared at the food. “That’s all you’re eating?” she asked, knowing something was definitely wrong. “Grandma, you know I understand if you don’t wanna go shopping today.”

Before she could even get the words out, her grandmother was shaking her head. “We’re going,” she said. “I been waiting weeks for this.” She reached over and stole a piece of bacon off Gigi’s plate and popped it in her mouth, making a show of chewing it.

“You sure?” Gigi asked worriedly.

“Hurry up,” her grandma said, ignoring her question.

Gigi finished eating, all the while keeping an eye on Grandma, who seemed to feel better after she had eaten. Once the dishes were washed, they bundled up and were just about to head out the door when Andrew came out of his bedroom.

“Where you two headed?” he asked sleepily.