Firestone (21 page)

“
Can you get my boys into
the Marlowe School?”

“
Do they want to go
there?” Jill asked.

“
Sandy said she thought
that Noelle would be able to stay there,” Megan said. “They’re
expanding the grade with the new school. Noelle’s only a little
older than Ryan. And let’s face it, Ryan’s a weird kid.”

“
He’s wonderful,” Jill
said.

“
He’s an exact copy of
Mike,” Megan said.

Jill nodded.

“
Who, it turns out, is an
exact copy of our father,” Megan said. “Eerie eyes and
all.”

Jill winced.

“
That makes him a weird
boy,” Megan said. “I’d rather he went somewhere that loved his
weirdness.”

“
Jake will get them in,”
Jill said. “The best way to make sure you’re in is to help with the
remodel, if we ever get the building
moved . . .”

Megan nodded. Jill shrugged.

“
That will happen sooner
or later,” Jill said.

“
I want to take care of
your babies,” Megan said.

Jill smiled at her assertive voice, and
Megan grinned.

“
You need the help,” Megan
said.

“
I do need the help,” Jill
said. “I just feel . . . guilty. I feel so guilty
for always burdening you with my . . .
problems.”

“
I’m your sister,” Megan
said. “You are my problem.”

Jill laughed.

“
Think of it this way,”
Megan said. “We miss Katy now that she’s in school and Jacob’s here
and everyone who loves her is right here to spend time with her.
This is our chance to get to know the boys before their lives take
off.”

“
That’s nice of you,
but . . .”

“
We used the money you
gave us for Katy to pay the mortgage,” Megan said. “We can use the
help again.”

“
You’re just saying that,”
Jill said.

“
Okay, I’m just saying
that,” Megan said. “But my offer stands. I want to do this. I can
help.”

“
Thanks,” Jill said.
Through watery eyes, Jill repeated, “Thanks.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday evening — 7:22 p.m.

“
He seems warm,” Tanesha
said.

After dinner at Yvonne’s house, Jabari had
climbed up into her lap and fallen asleep. She and Jeraine had
lingered over dinner while Jabari slept.

“
Let me see,” Yvonne said.
She slipped her hand onto the boy’s face. “Gosh, he does seem
hot.”

“
I’ll get the
thermometer.” Rodney got up from the table.

“
He didn’t seem right
after he saw his mother,” Yvonne said. She paced around behind
Tanesha’s chair. “That woman . . .”

Yvonne gave Jeraine a hard look and kept
pacing.

“
I’m not supposed to tell
you what happened with his mother,” Yvonne said. “But I will tell
you that you should have been more careful about who had your
children, Jeraine.”

“
Agreed,” Jeraine
said.

“
Oh, I don’t know,”
Tanesha said. “He’s pretty great. She might be a mess,
but . . . You can’t argue with such a great
kid.”

Jabari gave a little moan.

“
All that stress, all this
hassle for a woman who . . .” Yvonne
sniffed.

Rodney came back into the dining room. He
gave Yvonne an “Are you okay?” look.

“
No, I’m not okay,” Yvonne
said. “Baby-Jabari is sick. How can I be okay?”

Tanesha grinned at her mother. Rodney gave
Yvonne a quick nod before handing Tanesha the ear thermometer.

“
I’ll do it,” Yvonne
said.

They rolled Jabari’s head so his ear was
exposed, and Yvonne took his temperature. Jabari whimpered, but
didn’t wake up.

“
It’s a hundred and two,”
Yvonne said. “What do we do?”

“
We need to call my dad,”
Jeraine said.

“
We can’t call Bumpy,
Jer,” Rodney said. “They aren’t allowed to see Jabari. Only us,
you, and his mother.”

“
We can’t risk breaking
any agreement or we might lose him,” Yvonne said. “I don’t want to
lose him.”

“
We can still call his
dad,” Tanesha said. “That’s not him
seeing
Jabari. That’s just him
talking on the phone.”

Rodney took out his cellphone and called
Bumpy.

“
Do we have the authority
to get him to treatment?” Tanesha asked.

“
I don’t think so,”
Jeraine said. “We’d have to have full custody.”

“
So we have to call his
mother?” Tanesha asked.

“
I don’t know,” Jeraine
said. “I think so.”

“
Call his lawyer,” Tanesha
said.

Jeraine nodded and made the call. Rodney
gestured for Yvonne to take Jabari’s temperature again.

“
It’s still going up,”
Yvonne said.

“
Is that a rash?” Tanesha
gestured to redness around his cheeks and nose. “Or just the
heat?”

Yvonne put her cool hand on the boy’s
cheek.

“
We need to get him to the
hospital,” Rodney said. “Bumpy said there’s a provision for
emergencies. The hospital will take care of him.”

Tanesha stood up with him.

“
We have to take him.”
Rodney held his arms out for the boy. “You can’t come.”

Tanesha felt as if her heart were being torn
in half. She looked at her father with desperation.

“
First step of being a
parent is to do what the child needs,” Rodney said. “Even if it
tears you apart.”

Tanesha gave Jabari to Rodney. Jabari
started screaming the moment he was out of her arms.

“
Drive fast,” Tanesha
said.

“
Come on, Jabari,” Rodney
said. “Let’s get you some help.”

Yvonne looked at Tanesha for a moment.

“
I’ll call Abi,” Yvonne
said. “She’ll know what to do.”

Tanesha wrapped her arms around herself. Her
mother touched Tanesha’s arm and ran out of the house. Tanesha
stood in the hallway until long after she heard her father’s car
pull away. Jeraine came up behind her and put his arms around her.
She turned around into his arms.

“
You really love him,”
Jeraine said.

“
He’s wonderful,” Tanesha
said.

“
I love him too,” Jeraine
said.

“
What did the lawyer say?”
Tanesha asked.

“
He said what your father
said,” Jeraine said. “Your parents have physical custody of him.
They have to take care of him.”

“
Even from the hospital?”
Tanesha asked. “We can’t even wait for him?”

Jeraine nodded.

“
There’s something else,”
Jeraine said.

“
What?”

“
The lawyer has to call
Annette,” Jeraine said.

“
You mean The Annette Show
is going to show up at the hospital?” Tanesha asked.

Jeraine nodded.

“
Then we
are
going to be there.”
Tanesha nodded. She stepped back from Jeraine and wiped her eyes.
“I’m calling Jill and . . .”

Tanesha gasped when she realized what
Jeraine was saying.

“
I can’t be there?”
Tanesha asked.

Jeraine nodded.

“
Then you better drive
fast, Jeraine Wilson,” Tanesha said. “You get your ass to that
hospital before that witch takes over the place.”

Jeraine hugged her tight. Letting go, he
walked out of the house. She listened to his car drive away.
Hearing a sound, Tanesha looked up.

“
Sorry,” Akeem said. “I
didn’t mean to disturb you. I heard Rodney’s car, and I thought I’d
come clean up. Your mom likes the house clean, especially when
she’s upset.”

“
Did you
see . . .” Tanesha gestured to the room around
her.

“
I heard,” Akeem said.
“And I’m sorry.”

Tanesha nodded.

“
If it’s any consolation,”
Akeem started to clear the table, “I was like Jabari.”

Tanesha shook her head, she didn’t know what
he meant. Tanesha helped him clear the table.

“
My mother was crazy,”
Akeem said. “My father was a drug dealer. He loved me, but there
wasn’t no way no one was going to give him custody.
Um . . .”

“
No one was going to give
him custody,” Tanesha corrected, because Akeem had asked her
to.

“
Thanks,” Akeem said. “No
one wanted to give my father custody. I broke my leg when I was
with him once. Fell out of a tree we were climbing. You’d think the
world had come to an end. No one had the authority to take me. It
was . . . just a mess. I had my first drugs then,
kept taking them because of . . .”

He gestured to his heart where his pain
lived. She nodded in understanding. They went into the kitchen,
where they started working on dishes.

“
You know what I think?”
Akeem asked.

“
What do you think?”
Tanesha asked.

“
I think Jabari is pretty
lucky,” Akeem said. “My dad was killed in a knife fight when I was
ten. Nobody gave a crap about me after he was gone. Not a single
soul cared if I lived or died until I met Rodney. Jabari has all
these people who love him — even me. He ain’t gonna be no unloved,
throwaway kid.”

She didn’t bother to correct his
language.

“
If his mother gets him
back . . .” Tanesha didn’t finish that
thought.

“
We’re not going to let
that happen,” Akeem said.

“
Doesn’t seem like there’s
much we can do,” Tanesha said.

“
We can pray,” Akeem said.
“Doesn’t matter what God you pray to or how you do it. It makes a
difference, even if just to make you feel better.”

Tanesha nodded, and they started the dishes.
They washed dishes and cleaned the dining room.

“
Thanks,” Tanesha said
when they were done.

“
It’s how I pay rent,”
Akeem said. “I’m grateful every day for Rodney. It’s the least I
can do.”

“
For telling me your
story,” Tanesha said.

Akeem nodded.

“
I want you to know that
you’re not unloved anymore,” Tanesha said. “For what it’s worth,
you’re a part of our family now.”

“
Thanks.” Akeem smiled.
“Can I drive you home?”

“
I’ll call one of my
girls,” Tanesha said. “They’ll want to know everything
anyway.”

“
I’ll take Mr.
Chesterfield for his nightly constitutional,” Akeem said. “If
you’re still here when I get back, I can always take you
then.”

“
Thanks, Akeem,” Tanesha
said.

He left through the kitchen door. Tanesha
nodded toward the door and called Heather.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday evening — 9:15 p.m.

“
Sorry I’m late,” Ava said
as she came into Seth’s piano room. She waited for him to stop
playing before saying anything else. “Nelson wants to try out being
a foster parent. They have a temporary placement that they think
will be perfect, so he had to get approved fast. We’ve all been
there cleaning and making sure everything’s perfect. They’re coming
tomorrow to inspect his house.”

“
This wouldn’t by any
chance be for Tink’s brother, would it?” Seth asked.

“
How’d you know?” Ava
asked.

“
I am the great O’Malley,”
Seth said. He pulled her onto his lap. She laughed and kissed him.
“Sandy told me he needed a placement. Do you think he’s doing this
to impress Blane?”

“
I don’t know,” Ava said.
“He says he’s doing it to try it out, but I think that’s a ‘trying
it out to see if I could deal with living with Blane.’ But don’t
quote me. I didn’t find out about it until I was coming back from
the gym. You got my message though, didn’t you?”

“
I did.” Seth
nodded.

He kissed her again.

“
What happened with Raz
and Colin?” Ava asked.

“
Oh,
Raz . . .” Seth said. “I don’t know what he was
before he was an agent, and I’ll probably never find
out.”

“
But . . .?”

“
If I was a betting man,
I’d bet he was a homicide detective,” Seth said. “At least he
should have been. He’s very good. We went through the information
twice. He insisted on calling in the FBI agent-in-charge of the
rape cases. They were . . .”

“
Blown away?” Ava
asked.

“
Worried,” Seth
said.

“
That’s the weird thing,”
Ava said. “You’re cops and you’re worried.”

“
There’s a lot of damage
Red Bear can do,” Seth said. “Raz reminded me that the worst thing
he can actually do is release a bunch of stuff with Sandy in
it.”

“
Or something awful on
Andy,” Ava said.

“
We’re kind of held
hostage,” Seth said.

“
Because you haven’t found
where he’s running the operation?” Ava asked.

“
Mostly, yes,” Seth said.
“We don’t have a direct connection to Patty, Charlie and Sissy’s
mother. We found the storage area where Andy kept everything, and
where some of the computers are,
but . . .”