Fixin’ Tyrone (38 page)

Tyrone was very excited. He gave her a big hug. Unfortunately Mia had to cut the embrace short when her cell phone rang. She dug it from her purse and got a little fretful when she saw the number in the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mia.” It was Mr. Manitou. “I thought you were going to call me. I gave you time to do so on your own, but it’s been so long . . .”

Mia looked into Tyrone’s eyes, and he waited patiently.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I have a boyfriend now.”

Mr. Manitou sighed. “But I thought would get an opportunity when you said you were single.”

Mia knew she was making a choice between a hardworking millionaire and a thug who might not make it in the long run, but she had to follow her heart.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Manitou. I can’t talk to you anymore.”

He sighed again. “Fine, Mia. I will not attempt again.”

“That’s cool,” she said and hung up. She looked back to Tyrone, and he wasn’t jealous at all.

“
Anyway
, I think I’m going to be at the top of my class when I graduate,” he said.

“I knew you could do it.”

“Nobody ever had this much faith in me. I wanted to thank you, so I got you this.” He let go of her and pulled a jewelry box from his front pocket.

Mia was surprised, but not necessarily pleased with the gift. “I thought you were supposed to be saving money. They’re going to send you bills when you graduate.”

“I know. Don’t worry. It didn’t cost that much.”

Mia reluctantly accepted the box. Inside was a gold necklace. It was thin, and of too little quality to garnish any real praise for the item alone, but it was the thought that counted. Her eyes watered.

“Tyrone, I don’t expect you to get me any gifts. It’s gonna be hard for a while. I already know that.”

“I know,” Tyrone said, “but I found a way to get the money. I used to eat at Wendy’s every day for lunch. But I took a sandwich from home for the last three weeks and saved up the money. I’m still putting $50 in the bank every Friday. I’m not messing with that at all.”

“You ate bologna just so you could give me this?”

“I’d eat bologna the rest of my life to make you happy,” he said, and Mia gave him some real good loving that evening. She even let him spend the night.

* * *

The first year of The Plan went well. Tyrone went to school five days a week. He got out at noon and went straight to his uncle’s shop, where he replaced alternators and rotated tires until six. He went home and studied every night. At school he was always fresh and excited, eager to wow his peers with his superior automotive skills. He didn’t make all A’s as promised, but he did remain at the top of his class. And he remained the teacher’s favorite.

When bragging about his schooling, Mia once made the mistake of calling Tyrone a teacher’s pet one day. His face wrinkled up like she called him a
punk
.

“I ain’t no
teacher’s pet
. I just help sometimes. The teacher says I’m his
special helper
.”

Mia thought that
still
sounded like he was a teacher’s pet, even more so, but she didn’t say anything else.

The only downside to Tyrone’s growth was that he couldn’t get a better job while in school. He averaged two applications a week for a while, but whenever it came time for the interview, that same question was always his downfall.

Have you ever been convicted of a felony? If so, explain.

But Mia didn’t see this as a serious problem. “Once you get your license from ATI, you’ll find a garage that will hire you despite your felony. If they know how good you are, and know you’ve made serious changes since getting out, things will be different.”

Tyrone didn’t like it much, but at least his uncle’s shop was steady work. He put his $50 in every Friday and resolved to bide his time until graduation.

And even with school and his job, Tyrone still came by to kick it with the kids every weekend. On Saturday afternoons, Tyrone took TC and Mica to free venues like the library and the park. He saved $15 from his pay so they could go to McDonald’s afterwards.

Sunday nights was usually time for Tyrone and Mia to be alone. Tyrone couldn’t afford to take her very many places, but just being in each other’s company was usually enough. Mia paid the few times they went out to eat or to the movies, but Tyrone didn’t like that. So they went to the arboretum a lot, and romantic walks through the park became a mainstay. More than anything else, they rented movies and cuddled on the sofa.

And not to be outdone by Tyrone’s achievements, Crystal signed up for five classes her first fall back from rehab. She eventually dropped two and got a D in one of the remaining three, but Mia was still proud of her.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she told her one afternoon.

“You corny,” Crystal said.

* * *

Two months before Tyrone’s graduation, Mia got the shock of her life when she decided to surprise her man with a visit after work. The situation was pretty similar to the first time she left the office in search of him: At lunch she bought him a pair of diamond earrings, but when she got to his house, Tyrone’s mother said he wasn’t home.

“I think he at the rec,” the old woman said, causing a solid knot to form in Mia’s stomach. Something told her to just go home, but they were too far in the game for that nonsense. She headed to Sycamore Park doing sixty mph. When she got there and saw Tyrone standing under a tree with three other hoodlums, Mia didn’t sit behind the wheel and cry like last time. She got out and stomped up to him with a taste for war. But when Tyrone turned and saw her, he didn’t appear frightful at all. He actually started laughing.

“Mia, I already know what you’re thinking.”

“You damned right you know what I’m thinking! What the hell are you doing over here?” Mia was quite a sight, standing there with her little fists balled up, wearing a sport coat and slacks.

“I’m just kicking it with my friends,” Tyrone said, still laughing. “Say, y’all, she thinks I’m still selling dope. Tell her the truth.”

“Oh, is this yo woman?” one of the thugs asked. “Hey, ma’am, Tyrone has told us a lot about you. You a good woman. You got some friends like you?”

“Watch out,” Tyrone said, when he saw that Mia was still upset. “For real, y’all. Tell her I’m not selling dope. She not gonna believe me.”

A skinny creep with too many teeth stepped forward. “Miss, ma’am, my name is Beenie.” He put a hand over his chest. “I can tell you, with all honesty, yo man is not selling dope. He just came by to visit. I been knowing Tyrone since the fifth grade. He a good dude.”

“For real, Mia,” Tyrone said, still smiling. He pulled his pockets completely out. There was no dope, money, or even lint. “I just came to say what’s up to my niggas. I ain’t selling dope. You should see the look on your face.”

Mia felt her body physically cooling as the rage wafted from her. “You were about to get beat up,” she said.

“I know.” Tyrone put an arm around her and they walked back to her car. “You came running up like the laws.”

Mia shook her head. “Tyrone, I’m serious. If I had seen you selling drugs . . .”

“Mia,” he grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards him, “I don’t sell drugs no more. That day you told me to stop, I stopped. I’m not gonna lie to you. Don’t ever think I’m lying to you.”

“I believe you,” she said. “I’m sorry I accused you.”

“It’s cool.”

“I came to bring you this,” she said, producing a jewelry box she’d almost crushed in her fist.

Tyrone took the gift, opened it, and suddenly he was the one with emotional trauma. He looked like he was witnessing the birth of his son. “Mia, these . . . these look
real
.”

“Of course they’re real.”

He shook his head. “I can’t . . . I don’t deserve this.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause I ain’t got no money. I can’t buy you nothing nice.”

“It’s okay,” Mia said. “You’ll get there.”

But he still almost didn’t take them. Mia had to tell him they were an early graduation gift to get him to accept. He sat in her car and put them on, and they somehow made him more handsome than ever.

* * *

Tyrone’s graduation for ATI was a happening event. Many of the students at the trade school had no greater ambitions past their automotive certificate, so the commencement exercises resembled that of a very small high school. They wore gowns, hats with tassels, slacks and slippery shoes, the whole nine yards.

When Tyrone marched across the stage, Mia, TC, and Mica stood up and cheered like he was being presented with the Nobel Prize. Mia frowned when Crystal rose slowly and clapped lethargically. She gave her sister an elbow.

“What’s wrong?
Jealous
?”

“I’m not jealous. It’s just a trade school.”

“Yeah, but he did it in
one year
,” Mia said. “How long have you been in school? You’d better clap for my man.”

So Crystal did.

After the celebration, they took Tyrone out for a nice dinner. Dressed in slacks and a button-down, Mia thought Tyrone had never looked better. She’d never been so proud, but they still had another graduation to look forward to in a couple of years. Mia knew this was just the beginning of the praise Tyrone would garner.

After the dinner, Mia took him to his mother’s house where one of two graduation surprises awaited him. When Tyrone saw the 2003 Impala sitting in his mother’s driveway, he thought a relative was visiting. Mia pulled to a stop on the curb and beamed at her man.

“I’m proud of you,” she said.

He grinned like the Cheshire cat.

“I’m proud of you, too, Daddy,” TC called from the back seat.

“Me, too,” Mica said.

Mia turned and gave Crystal a look, and suddenly lil’ sis had a little praise as well.

“Yeah. We’re all proud of you,
Tyrone.
”

He laughed. “All right. Thanks. All of y’all. I guess I’ll see you later,” he said to Mia, but she put a hand on his arm and stopped him from leaving.

“I’ve got something to confess,” she said. “Do you remember those earrings I bought you?”

Tyrone was wearing them. “Of course I do.”

“Well, that wasn’t really your gift,” she said. “Look in the glove compartment.”

Mia’s glove compartment was notoriously neat. There was only one thing in there out of place. Tyron removed a set of keys with a red ribbon on them, but he didn’t get it. He looked up at Mia rather than the car in his mother’s driveway.

“What’s this for?”

She nodded towards the Impala.

Tyrone looked at it, then back to Mia, then he looked at the car again. When his gaze fell on Mia a second time, his mouth was open and his eyes were big like half dollars.

“Quit playin’.”

“It’s yours, baby.”

“Mia. I know you didn’t.”

She shrugged. “Come on. Let’s take a look at it.” They got out of her Lexus, and Tyrone went directly to his woman, wrapping her up in the biggest bear hug she’d ever experienced. He lifted her into the air and twirled.

“Mia! I can’t believe you did this. Oh, my God! I love you!”

“Please don’t drop me!”

“I’m not.” He put her down and stared into her eyes. “I can’t believe this. How did you, why?” He shook his head. “Mia, I don’t deserve this.”

“There’s another surprise,” she said.

He was stupefied. He couldn’t even fix his mouth to ask what it was.

“Look at your keychain,” she said.

He did. There were three keys on the ring. Two were for the car. One was a house key. When he looked up at Mia again, she was smiling.

“Yes. That’s
my
house key. I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s time for us to take it a step forward.” She thought this would usher at least as much excitement as the car, but Tyrone looked like he was being deflated. His arms fell to his sides and his face went slack.

“Mia,” was all he could get out.

“Don’t tell me you don’t want to come.”

“Of course I want to come.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think I deserve any of this. I feel like I’m gonna let you down.”

“You just graduated, Tyrone. You make me more proud every day.”

“But what if I can’t—”

“You will,” she said.

“But what if they don’t—”

“They will,” Mia promised.

He came forward and held her close. “I’ma make you proud of me,” he said.

“You already have, Tyrone. You already have.”

* * *

Tyrone moving in was not as big an adjustment as Mia thought it would be. The kids already loved him and were excited about the new venture. No one even had to change their schedules very much. Tyrone still got off work at six o’clock, and everyone was already home by then.