Fixin’ Tyrone (28 page)

“I’m not a
dope fiend
. You know I’m not a dope fiend.”

“Maybe you’re in denial. I think you need to go to rehab.”

“You don’t go to rehab for using a drug
twice
. Didn’t you do some drugs when you was growing up? I know you smoked weed.”

“Weed was
all
I did, Crystal. You wanna get high, fine. Why can’t you get a pothead boyfriend like regular people?”

“I don’t want to get high.”

“You’re a liar.”

“Mia, please don’t start treating me like that.” Crystal’s face washed over with anguish. A lone tear snaked down her cheek.

“Do you plan on seeing that boy again?” Mia asked.

“No.”

“If I ever see him in my house again, I’m kicking you out with him.”

“Okay.”

“I mean it, Crystal.”

“Okay, Mia. I promise.”

* * *

Mia left her sister’s room with no answers and millions more questions. Her mind was racing, but her mental fatigue was surpassed by her physical exhaustion. She drifted away as soon as her head hit the pillow, and she slept heavily, glad this crazy-ass day was over.

SOUND REASONING

Mia went to work on Tuesday a little skeptical about Crystal and her boyfriend, but she felt powerless. If Crystal really wanted to see the boy, she would do so no matter how Mia felt. All Mia could do was give good advice, but there was a problem with that, too. No matter how sound her arguments were, it was still just big sister advice. Mia knew Crystal wouldn’t take things seriously until she bumped her head a few times.

Finding heroin in her own home was something Mia wouldn’t have expected in a million years. That Crystal would willingly snort that crap up her nose was almost unimaginable, but the world was changing. People looked at snorting and shooting as two different things nowadays. And it wasn’t just heroin: If you used a needle to get your cocaine fix, you were a junkie. But the rich guy at the club snorting cocaine off his fingernail had it going on.

When Mica’s father used heroin, Mia remembered it was almost a
cool
thing at the time. He always had money and was a clean and snazzy dresser. He used the drug every day, but no one, not even Mia, considered him a dope fiend.

The fact that Crystal was in love with a rapper made it worse. Within the hip-hop community, there was a subculture of thugs who did hard drugs on a regular basis. They popped pills, snorted white and brown, and sipped on promethazine mixed with cough syrup, calling it syrup.

Mia knew of these things, but she never thought this level of ignorance would come anywhere near her family. She kept them safe in a fairytale bubble of protection, but Crystal and her boyfriend popped that bubble. Mia hoped her sister was smart enough to let the boy go, but was it
only
Sydney she had to resist? Mia thought she’d notice it if her sister had sustained cravings, but how can you really know for sure?

When not thinking about Crystal, Mia spent a lot of time with Tyrone on her mind. She expected repeated calls from him throughout the day, but Tyrone did not call at all on Tuesday. He didn’t call Wednesday or Thursday, either. He usually saw the kids every weekend, so when Friday came Mia knew she would probably hear from the drug-pedaling ex-con. And he did not disappoint. Tyrone called during her lunch hour, but Mia didn’t return the call until the drive home.

“Hello?”

“Tyrone, this is Mia.”

“Hey. I thought you weren’t gonna call back.”

“What do you want?”

“You still mad at me?”

“Tyrone, I don’t even want to talk about that. If you want to go to prison, that’s your deal.”

“I don’t want to go to prison.”

“Hate to break it to ya, but that’s where you’re headed.”

“What about us?”

“There is no ‘
us’
, Tyrone. You’re a liar.”

“I’m not a liar, Mia. I’m sorry you saw what you saw, but that don’t mean we have to be through. I still want to be with you.”

“Tyrone, I manage the securities and loans for an investment firm. You sell crack. What the hell makes you think we should be together?”

“I love you, and I know you love me.”

“Well, love
does not
conquer all. I know that sounds good, but it’s not true. It’s bullshit.”

“So you sayin’ we can’t work it out?”

“Tyrone, I don’t even want to talk about it. If that’s what you called for, I gotta go.”

“I wanna see the kids this weekend,” he said. “That’s why I called. Is that all right, or I can’t see them either?”

“Mica’s not your daughter.”

“I know, but I want to see her, too. You already know how I feel about that.”

As much as she hated him right now, hearing that still made Mia’s heart light in her chest. “Where do you want to take them?”

“To Putt Putt. They got a lot of video games there, some gocarts. I never played golf, but we can do that too if they want to.”

“When are you talking about?”

“Tomorrow or Sunday. Are you gonna come, too?”

“Tomorrow’s fine,” Mia said.

“Are you gonna come?”

Up until the moment she saw him selling crack, Mia was actually okay with Tyrone having the kids by himself. “Yeah, I’ll go,” she said.

“Are we gonna talk, or are you gonna roll your eyes at me all day?”

“What difference does it make?”

“I wanna talk.”

“All right, fine. We’ll talk,” Mia said.

“What time should I be there?”

She told him to come at three and disconnected.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Mia went to Claire’s to get her hair trimmed. Mama Ernestine was there today. She wore a white blouse with beige pants and a wig she called the Condoleezza. Nancy was there, too, so Mia finally got her much-needed manicure. Everyone thought it was tragic she had to break up with Eric, but Mia had a new love story to tell that was just as juicy and twice as titillating.

Vasantha stood awestruck with her mouth ajar and Mia’s hair in hand. She couldn’t believe her classy client finally took her advice and gave it up to a thug.

“When he grabbed my booty, I knew it was all over,” Mia said.

“Did he grab it with both hands?” Vasantha asked.

“He
always
grabs it with both hands.” Mia grinned.

“They
gotta
grab mine with both hands,” Gayle said, and the ladies laughed.

“
Sooo
, what happened?” Vasantha asked. She wore denim Capris with a plaid blouse today.

Mia smiled. “Well, I took him back to my room, and . . .” She paused, wondering how much to divulge.

“And what, girl?” Gayle was almost bouncing with anticipation.

“He, um . . .” Just thinking about Tyrone’s head between her legs made Mia very excited. A bit of perspiration dotted her forehead.

Vasantha thumped her ear.

“Ouch!”

“Tell us!”

“Did you
thump
me?”

“Aw, shut up and spill it, Mia.” Gayle was supposed to be gluing tracks for a loudmouthed girl named Natiesha, but no tracks had been laid since Mia started talking. Natiesha didn’t notice. Everyone stared at Mia, waiting to hear what they already knew:
Thug niggas know how to lay it down
.

“Well, when we got to my room, he took my shorts off,” Mia continued. “Then he laid me down on the bed and stood over me. He took his shirt off and I think I passed out for a second.”

“What his chest look like?” Gayle asked.

Mia threw her head back. “
Oh, God
. I can’t even describe it. With no oils or anything, it was, it was stacked. He’s built like Roy Jones Jr., only bigger.”

Gayle closed her eyes and smiled.

“Oh,
wow
,” Vasantha said.

“You’re pulling my hair,” Mia told her.

“Sorry.”

“So, what happened?” Gayle wanted to know.

“What do you want? A play by play?”

About four women said “Yes!” in unison.

Mia grinned. “Well, he told me to take my shirt off, and I did, and he started doing something I
never expected
from Tyrone.”

“What?” Vasantha asked, but Gayle’s smile was wicked, like she already knew.

Mia looked up to Mama Ernestine at the register and felt a little embarrassed, although the old woman was just as enthralled as everyone else. “I can’t say,” Mia said.

Vasantha thumped her ear again. “You better tell us!”

“Girl, you better stop thump—”

“Did he
lick
you?” Gayle asked.

The whole room grew quiet.

Mia took a deep breath and blushed. Her eyes twinkled. She put a hand over her mouth and the salon erupted in laughter and cat calls.

“Was he good?” Vasantha asked when things died down.

“Oh, he was good,” Mia mused. “He was like a little dog down there. You know, like if you give a puppy your plate after dinner.”

“My God,” Gayle said.

“Then he came up and made love to me like he’d been waiting his
whole life
.”

“
Aww
,” Gayle said. “That’s sweet.”

“So, was he telling the truth about waiting for you?” Vasantha asked.

“Well, you know how I am,” Mia said. “I didn’t believe
anything
Tyrone had to say, especially about
that
. But when he laid me down it was like
ecstasy
. He was still going strong thee hours later . . .”

“
Three hours
?” Gayle repeated.

“Yes,
three full hours
,” Mia confirmed.

Vasantha shook her head. “That’s
beautiful
, girl. It’s like a fairytale love story: Big,
evil
guy gets out of prison. He falls in love with little, innocent you. And somehow you guys work it out and live happily every after.”

“Oh, I haven’t told about the
happily ever after
part yet,” Mia said. “The next day I go to work all happy and invigorated—”

“Walking pigeon-toed,” Gayle said.

“Nose wide-open!” Natiesha offered.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mia said. “So, I go out for lunch and there’s this jewelry store across the street. I’m still thinking about Tyrone, so I popped in for a second—”

“Don’t tell me you bought him something,” Gayle said.

“It was just a necklace.”

“Uhn, uhn. You ain’t never supposed to buy them a gift after good sex,” Gayle advised. “They’ll think they got you sprung.”

“It’s okay to buy him something,” Vasantha said.

“I do that sometimes,” Natiesha said.

“Anyway,” Mia went on. “I take him the necklace after work, and you won’t believe what I catch this Negro doing.”

“He was cheating on you!” Vasantha guessed. “I knew it!”

“You just said we lived happily ever after,” Mia reminded.

Gayle looked shocked. “Girl,
was
he cheating on you?”

“No,” Mia said. “
Worse
. I catch his dumb ass
on the cut selling dope
.”

“Oh my God,” Gayle said.

“What’d you do?” Vasantha asked.

“I threw the necklace at him and drove off,” Mia said. “I was so pissed I couldn’t see straight.”

“Damn, you be havin’ some serious man problems,” Natiesha noticed.

“Don’t I know it.”

“What’d you tell him?” Vasantha asked.

“I didn’t tell him anything. He tried to call, but I didn’t answer. I finally talked to him yesterday. He says he wants to see the kids. I told him he could, but nothing was going on with him and me.”

“You broke up with him?” Vasantha couldn’t believe it.

Mia couldn’t believe she was so shocked. “What’d you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know,” the Latina said. “But you break up with
everybody
.”

“You’re starting to sound like my sister.”

“I agree with Vasantha,” Gayle said, and that, too, was a shock. “You keep breaking up with these men every time something happens. If they’re making you so happy, how come you don’t ever try to work it out?”

“Um, he was
selling drugs
,” Mia said.