Fixin’ Tyrone (26 page)

Mia expected him to be playing basketball. She thought he might go to the park to run around the track. There were weights inside the center. Maybe he went in there to maintain his physique. But that wasn’t it.

When Mia spotted Tyrone, he was standing under a cluster of trees. If she didn’t know any better, Mia would swear he was selling drugs.

She parked next to the curb some twenty-five feet away and watched him for a full five minutes. Tyrone wore blue Dickey pants and a black tee shirt. His pants hung off his ass and a toothpick poked out of his mouth. He had two guys with him who looked like they were selling drugs, too. They may not have been, but if they weren’t, they certain got their clothes from Dope Boys R Us.

One of Tyrone’s friends was short and stocky. He wore Dickies that had been cut off to make long shorts. His pants sagged too, showing off the better half of his boxer shorts. He had no shirt on. The other guy was tall and slinky. He had on a wife-beater and baggy jeans. He had a huge belt buckle, but his pants were still falling down. The trio showed off more underwear than a Victoria’s Secret catalogue.

Mia’s fingers grew white around the steering wheel as she watched them. Her breath was hot. What she saw was obvious, but she tried to stick up for him. No one had dope in their hands, and no transactions had been made while she was there. Maybe they were just kicking it. Maybe the other two guys
were
drug dealers, but Tyrone just stopped by to say hi.

All those maybes fell through when a junkie approached the group.

But wait
.

Mia stopped herself from making rash judgments. Maybe the homeless-looking guy wasn’t a dope fiend. Maybe those soiled Levi’s weren’t the only pants he owned. Maybe he just got off work. Maybe he ripped his T-shirt on the job.

But all of those maybes fell threw when the dope fiend walked up to Tyrone. Not the short one or the scarecrow; the junkie walked right up to
Tyrone
. They had a short conversation, and then the junkie reached into his pocket and produced a handful of crumpled bills.

Mia almost left right then, but she had to know for sure. She had to see it for herself.

Tyrone reached into his pocket.

Mia’s heart stopped.

But Tyrone didn’t come out with a handful of rocks. He looked around first, for the police probably, and that’s when he saw Mia’s car parked on the curb. His face registered immediate shock. He brought his hand out of his pocket quickly, and it was empty. The dope fiend looked first to Tyrone’s empty hand, and then he followed Tyrone’s gaze to Mia’s car.

Tyrone fixed his face quickly. He walked to Mia with a fresh smile. The dope fiend tried to follow, but Tyrone turned and said something to make him stay there. By the time Tyrone leaned into Mia’s passenger window, she was already crying.

“Hey, uh, what you doing here?”

“I came to bring you that,” she said, and shot a thumb at the gift box on her passenger seat. But Tyrone didn’t take his eyes off her. His smile slipped, then went away entirely.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. A bold, purple hickey stood out on his neck, and Mia hated herself for putting it there.

She took a deep breath and let it out through her nose. “That guy’s waiting for you,” she said.

Tyrone looked back to the zombie, then faced Mia again. “He’s not waiting on me.”

“Oh, he’s not?” Mia said. “’Cause I was sitting here watching when he walked up, and it looked like you were about to deal drugs. He was about to give you some money. Don’t you want it?”

Tyrone didn’t look back again. His face washed over with grief and he forced an awkward smile. “He wasn’t finna give me no money, Mia. Wh—why you crying?”

“Oh, he wasn’t?” Mia leaned forward in her seat until she could see past Tyrone. “Hey!” she yelled at the bum. “He’s ready now!”

The addict’s face lit up and he started jogging to her car.

Tyrone turned to face him. “Get the hell away from here!”

The junkie stopped in his tracks with a stupid look on his face. He held out his money. “I—I got eight, man. I’ma get you the other two. I told you.”

“Get the hell away from me!” Tyrone barked.

The fiend wavered for a second, then one of Tyrone’s buddies hollered out to him.

“Say, school, I got you over here.” It was the short one with no shirt. The customer turned and staggered off in that direction.

Tyrone turned back to Mia, his face angry and pained. “It’s not what you think,” he said.

“I think you’re a liar,” Mia spat.

“Mia—”

“I think I’m
stupid
. How the hell did I let you do that to me again?”

“Wait—”

“I think you’re going back to the pen just like I knew you would. I think you played with my head and played with TC’s head and you never gave a damn about us!”

“That’s not true, Mia. I love you. I love
all
y’all. You know that.”

“That’s why you selling drugs—trying to leave us again, huh?”

“I’m not—”

“Stop lying!”

Tyrone sighed. His whole body seemed to deflate. He was on the verge of tears himself, but he admitted nothing.

“Take the box,” Mia said, but Tyrone wouldn’t even look at it.

“I don’t want it. Can we go somewhere and talk?”

“I don’t want to talk to you. Just take the present my
stupid ass
bought you so I can go.” The tears streamed down her face now.

“Mia—”

“
Take it or I’m throwing it out on the freeway!
”

“Mia, we—”

“Shut up!” She snatched up the box herself and threw it at Tyrone’s chest. It impacted and fell to the ground between him and the Lexus. He tried to open her passenger door, but found it locked. Mia sped away before he could reach inside to push the lever.

In her rearview mirror, she watched Tyrone walk to the middle of the street and look after her. Mia sped up, not caring about the speed limit. The harder she stomped on the gas pedal, the further away she got from his sorry ass. She never saw whether he picked up the necklace or not.

BAD TO WORSE

Mia pulled into her driveway and parked next to Crystal’s Tahoe. Her boyfriend Sydney had his sanded Cutlass parked on the street. Mia didn’t like the idea of him there at seven-thirty, but at least he had enough sense not to be in her driveway.

Mia sat in her car and cleaned herself up for a few minutes before going inside. If Mica saw her crying again, the girl would think her mother was an emotional train wreck.

Tyrone had already called. Mia didn’t answer it on the highway, but he left something on her voice mail. She listened to it now. It was short:

“Mia, give me a call. I know how you is. Don’t start trippin’.”

Mia erased the message before checking her features one last time in the rearview mirror. Crystal would probably know she’d been crying, but the kids weren’t so perceptive.

She went inside, and things quickly went from bad to worse.

From the living room, Mia could hear TC and Mica arguing in her daughter’s room. Crystal’s room was closer, so Mia went there first.

Crystal’s door was closed. Mia didn’t like that at all, but she remained calm. She knocked with two knuckles rather than pound with her fist.

“Crystal! You in there?”

“Huh?” Mia heard her sister call from inside.

“What are you doing?” she asked, but Mica started screaming at the same time: “
Stop hittin’ me
!”

Mia left Crystal’s doorway and marched to her daughter’s room. She was halfway down the hallway before it occurred to her that Crystal was in her bedroom with her boyfriend
and
the door was
locked
! But if TC put his hands on Mica, that came first. Mia stormed into her daughter’s room and found them arguing over the video game. TC had his own controller, but was trying to wrench Mica’s from her hands.

“
What are you doing
?”

TC jumped at the sound of his mother’s voice, and then immediately pleaded his case.

“Mama, she won’t go into that
cave
! We been on this part for
thirty minutes
. I keep trying to do it for her, but she won’t let me and she doesn’t know how to do it herself!” His face was a mask of frustration.

“You’re arguing over a
video game
?” Mia couldn’t stand these asinine spats.

“It’s
her
fault!” TC wailed. “We would have been done if—”

“Did you hit her?”

TC’s face registered confusion as he pondered whether he should lie or not.

“No,” he said cautiously.

“
Yes you did!
” Mica shouted. “He
did
hit me!”

“She wouldn’t give me the controller!
”

“Get up!” Mia said, but TC didn’t move quickly enough. She closed the distance between them and grabbed his arm roughly. “What did I tell you about hitting your sister?”

TC wailed and threw his hands to his backside to ward off the blow he knew was coming.

“Go to your room,” Mia shouted, steering him in that direction. “And don’t come out!”

TC let his guard down as he raced past her. Mia grabbed him again and delivered two openhanded smacks before he could react. He stumbled, then fell, but was up quickly. He ran down the hallway screaming, holding his burning buttocks.

Mia looked down at her daughter, who was probably not as innocent as she appeared to be. “Stay in your room,” she told her.

“But Mama, I didn’t d—”

“Talk back to me again!” Mia dared her, but Mica wanted no part.

Mia made it back into the hallway just in time to see Crystal’s boyfriend coming out of her room. The idiot was still buckling his pants. Mia stomped up to him with her tiny fists balled.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” They faced off like a ball player and an umpire. Sydney was taller and had a good fifty pounds on her, but he took a step back.

“I—I was jus—”

Mia stepped past him, shoving a little on the way by. Crystal sat on her bed wearing jogging pants and a tee shirt, but there was a pair of jeans on the floor. Crystal’s makeup was a little messed up, her hair slightly unkempt.

Mia wore a look of supreme confusion. “Are you serious?”

“We was just—”

The voice came from behind her. Mia spun to face him, revolted the idiot was still there.

“What are you doing? Get out of my house!”

Sydney hesitated. He tried to look over Mia’s shoulder, as if Crystal had a say in things.

Mia’s look now was incredulous. She moved her face to block Sydney’s gaze.

“What are you looking for?” she asked. “I said get out of my house!”

Sydney reluctantly complied. Mia followed him out, quick on his heels. The boy was moving so slowly that she wanted to shove him in the back a few times. She locked the door after him, then charged back into Crystal’s room. She closed the door behind herself, slamming it so hard the whole house shook.

Crystal was still on her bed. Mia stood over her and ground her teeth. Mia’s hand was over her mouth, her face twisted in pain and confusion.

“Are you serious?” she asked again. “You’re really doing this guy with my kids at home?”

Crystal lowered her head. She twirled the sheets with her finger.

This was literally the dumbest thing Mia had seen in a good five years, and that included Mica and TC’s antics. It was mind-blowing. It was finding out Santa wasn’t real, Mama was the Tooth Fairy, and that cute little bunny was really just stealing Easter from Jesus all at the same time.

Mia knew her sister would never study nuclear physics, but this level of stupidity was inexcusable, well past Crystal’s known level of ignorance.

“Do you have absolutely
no
control over your hormones?” Mia asked her.

“It just happened,” Crystal said softly.

“
Rain
just happens, Crystal!
Getting naked
takes active participation. Why did you have him in your room in the first place?”

“We was just looking at something on the computer, then—”

“You were supposed to be watching the kids!”

“I
was
watching them.”

“They were in there arguing!” Mia pointed a finger in her sister’s face. “I don’t want to see that boy over here
no more
.”

“But I don’t never have no time to see him,” Crystal whined.

“Don’t even start with that.”

“You’re always working late. I pick the kids up and keep ’em all day. It’s almost eight o’clock and you’re
just
now getting home. When am I supposed to have
my
life?”