Fixin’ Tyrone (29 page)

“You right,” Natiesha said. “You make too much money to be with some
hood nigga
. What’s gonna happen when you have an office party? Tyrone gon’ go up there with his Dickies and house shoes on?”

“Thank you,” Mia said.

“I don’t know,” Vasantha said. “If he loves you and your son, and he makes you happy, I think you should try to work it out. He’s probably just doing it ’cause he needs the money. You keep looking for this
perfect
man with nothing at all wrong with him.”

“Sometimes you gotta work with what you got,” Gayle agreed. “See, what you got right now is a
roughneck
. He’s like a piece of rock straight out the ground. You gotta clean him up and
refine him
. Add a little bit of this. Take out the impurities. When you get through, you can have him sparkling like a diamond. Ooh, that’s good. I’ma write a poem about that.”

Mia thought the whole salon was against her, but Natiesha was shaking her head with her lips poked out. “Girl, don’t believe that shit.
You can’t fix no man
. What you got now is what you gon’ have ten years from now.”

And
that
was exactly what Mia was waiting to hear. As confirmation, Mama Ernestine stopped her on the way out and reiterated those fateful words:

“Listen, child. Don’t be listening to those hot-tailed gals in there. You’re a successful woman, Mia, and you know what kind of man you want in your life. That dope dealer ain’t nothing but ba
d
news. Yo
u
kno
w
it. You gon’ make a fool out of yourself following some idiot around trying to change him. Yo
u
can’
t
fi
x
n
o
man. Don’t ever

forget that.”

And Mia wouldn’t.

She took solace in the matriarch’s words and left the beauty shop, as always, a fresh, vibrant, and confident woman.

THE REPRIEVE

When Mia got home, Crystal had the kids dressed and ready for their day out with Tyrone. Mia had to change clothes, so she gave them carrot sticks and celery to munch on in the interim. Mia put on khaki shorts with a blue camisole and a long-sleeved denim shirt.

She stopped in the bathroom on her way out and marveled at her hairstyle. Vasantha had terrible dating advice, but Mia would go crazy if she quit her job as a stylist.

Back in the living room, Mia found the kids a bit more excited than usual.

“Where’s my daddy taking us?” TC wanted to know.

“To a land of fun and adventure,” Mia said vaguely. “You’re guaranteed to have the time of your life.”

TC gave her a big grin.

“Are you and TC’s daddy getting married?” Mica asked.

Mia was taken aback. “No. Why would you say that?”

“Do you remember you said you were going to get married and I would have a new daddy?”

“I remember,” Mia said.

“You said I could pick him,” Mica reminded.

“Oh, I don’t remember that.”

“I do,” Mica said. “You said you wouldn’t marry anybody unless
I
liked them.”

“Okay. I remember now. Don’t tell me you’re picking
Tyrone
.”

“I like Tyrone,” Mica said. “He’s a good daddy.”

“Well, I’ll take your vote into consideration, honey, but I think
I
have to like the guy, too, if I’m going to marry him.”

“But you
do
like him,” Mica persisted.

“I think
you
like him,” Mia countered.

“You like him, too.”

“
You
like him more,” Mia said, eager to be through with the conversation.

“If you marry TC’s daddy, I’ll be good,” Mica promised.

“You’ll be good
that day
, or you’ll be good
forever
?” Mia asked.

“Forever,” Mica said, and she was so cute and innocent you almost believed her.

“Wow,” Mia said. “How can I turn that down?”

“So, you’re gonna do it?”

“I don’t think so, but we’ll see.”

The doorbell rang and TC jumped up to answer it. It was Tyrone, right on time as usual. He scooped up his son for a hug and watched Mia over TC’s shoulder. Today Tyrone had on baggy Fubus, but he had them pulled up to his waist. He had on a lime green Hilfiger golf shirt that was tucked in. He wore his Polo boots, and, yep, that was her chain. He wore it under his shirt, but you could still see part of it around his collar. It looked good on him, just as she knew it would. But then again, Tyrone looked good. He always did. He put his son down and embraced Mica with the same fondness.

“Where are we going?” TC asked.

“We’re going to Putt Putt,” Tyrone announced.

“I’ve been there,” TC said with a slight frown.

“Well, have y’all ever played miniature golf before?” Tyrone asked.

“Yes!”

“
Dang
! Well, uh, they got a batting cage, too. Have y’all ever been in a batting cage?”

“What’s a batting cage?” TC asked.

“Yeah! I knew it was
something
y’all ain’t did before!” Tyrone looked happier than the kids.

Mia got up and threw her purse over her shoulder. “Where’s your toothpick?” she asked Tyrone.

He looked at her with a shocked expression, then nervously down at the kids.

“What toothpick? I don’t have no toothpick. C’mon, y’all. Let’s go!” he headed for the door.

“What toothpick?” TC asked.

Tyrone looked at Mia again, still smiling. “Ain’t no toothpick,” he said.

“But I thought you liked to have a toothpick in your mouth,” Mia said, grinning now.

Tyrone rolled his eyes. “Naw, Mia. You got me confused with
somebody else
. C’mon, y’all!”

“You don’t like to chew on a toothpick and wear your pants on your butt?” Mia asked.

Tyrone blushed. His ears were as red as beets. Mica giggled.

“Mia. I don’t do that stuff,” Tyrone said. “Now, come on. We’re gonna be late.”

Mia let him off the hook. “Okay. I guess that
wasn’t
you. But if you won’t do it in front of the kids, then you shouldn’t do it at all, is all I’m saying.”

“Do what?” TC asked.

“Never mind,” Mia said. “I’ll be right back.” She went to Crystal’s room to see what her sister might be up to today. Crystal was on the computer updating her MySpace page.

“How’s it going?” Mia asked from her doorway.

“It’s cool. I took the kids to the library and got ’em ready just like you said. Everything went fine.”

“Why you being so defensive?”

“I’m not.”

“You doing okay?”

“Yes, Mia. Everything’s fine.”

“What about that boy? You seen him lately?”

“I haven’t seen him since you kicked him out of the house. You said you don’t want me to be with him, so I’m not.”

This was everything Mia wanted to hear, but she still felt uneasy. “What are you doing today?”

“I don’t know. I might go to the movies with Keyshia.” Keyshia was the only friend from school Crystal still kept up with.

“What’s Keyshia been up to?”

“She’s still in college. She’s engaged now, getting married in March.”

“Good,” Mia said. “You sure you’re doing okay?”

“I’m fine,” Crystal said. “Stop looking at me like that. You make me feel funny.”

Mia wanted to ask if she had any cravings for the big H, but decided not to. If Crystal really only tried the drug twice, there wouldn’t be any lingering effects. Asking about it would reveal how little faith Mia really had in her.

“All right, well, we’re gonna be gone most of the day. If you’re going to be out late, give me a call.”

“I won’t be out late,” Crystal said and turned back to her computer screen.

Mia went back to the living room still in a good mood, but there was a bundle of fret in the bottom of her stomach. No matter what reassurances were given, that feeling wasn’t going anywhere.

“All right,” she said. “Let’s go.”

* * *

They piled into her Lexus with Tyrone on the passenger side.

When he buckled his seat belt, he leaned over and said, “I’ma get you,” barely loud enough for Mia to hear.

She looked over at him, and he was smiling. Those lips were beautifully kissable, even if they were attached to a no-good liar. Mia smiled back at him.

“If you don’t want the kids to know about it, you shouldn’t do it at all,” she muttered, then put the car in reverse.

* * *

Putt Putt Golf and Games was virtual paradise for kids. For twenty dollars you got
eighty
tokens, and all of the games were configured to operate on just one token each. Tyrone, the big spender of ill-gotten gains, parted with forty dollars immediately. With eighty tokens apiece, he thought the kids would be busy enough for him to steal Mia away for a little time alone, but TC wasn’t having it. He had it in his head that this was his day to spend with Daddy. He grabbed Tyrone’s hand and jerked him away from Mia’s side.

“C’mon! Race against me!” He led his dad to a two-player game. Tyrone looked at Mia over his shoulder, and she shrugged and waved good bye. The adults’ conversation would have to wait.

A long time.

After TC’s race was done, Mica wanted Tyrone to pound the heads of moles as they emerged from their burrows. Then TC wanted to find out who was the better marksman. Then Mica wanted Tyrone to be Patrick as she raced on a virtual track as SpongeBob.

Two hours later Tyrone bought them pizza and sodas and they ate as a family. After lunch he took control of the entertainment.

“Hey, what do y’all wanna do after we eat?”

“You wanna race again?” TC asked through a mouthful of pepperoni.

“Naw. Y’all need to do something
by yourselves
so me and yo mama can talk.”

“Y’all gonna kiss?” Mica asked.

“No, we are not going to kiss,” Mia said.

“How about the go-carts?” Tyrone said. “You think you can beat your sister around the track?”

TC rolled his eyes. “I
know
I can.”

“No, you can’t,” Mica said, and the feud was on.

The charge for two laps around the track was $5 per rider. Tyrone gave the attendant enough for both kids to ride three times each.

Mia elbowed him. “They’re not going to want to ride that much,” she murmured. But she was wrong. The kids got strapped into their cars as happy as crack-heads on the first of the month. The only time they complained was when their cars stopped between races, but when the attendant told them they still had more rides, their smiles bounced back like springs.

Tyrone sat on a bench next to Mia. He had exactly fifteen minutes to win back his woman.

“You look real pretty today.”

She smirked. “You paid $30 just to tell me that? Oh wait, I forgot. It’s
dirty money
, so it doesn’t count.”

Tyrone shook his head. “You really got a problem with that, huh?”

Mia gave him a stupid look. “No. It’s my dream to have a boyfriend who sells crack. Didn’t you see how excited I was?”

Tyrone grinned. “So, I’m yo boyfriend?”

Mia rolled her eyes. “No. You
were
my boyfriend. But you couldn’t even make it twenty-four hours.”

“We can’t get back together?” he asked.

Mia straightened her face, making sure all traces of a smile were gone. “Tyrone, seriously, I can’t believe I even trusted you. It’s my fault, but I’m not making that mistake again.”

“Don’t say that. Why is everything so black and white with you?”

“Tyrone,
you’re a liar
. Everything you said to me was a lie.”

“I didn’t lie to you about wanting to be with you. I didn’t lie about treating Mica like my daughter. I didn’t lie about waiting for you, either. I been out of jail more than two months, but I only had sex that one time.”

“Is that all you think about?”

“No, Mia. I’m just saying how I didn’t lie about it.”

“What about the five hundred dollars? You told me you got that from your uncle.”

“Okay. I lied about that.”

“You lied about selling drugs this whole time.”

“I didn’t lie, baby. You never asked.”

Mia shook her head. “Don’t give me that bullshit. That’s a lie of omission. You lie so much, you don’t even have to open your mouth to do it.”