Keep It Movin' (9 page)

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Authors: L. Divine

BOOK: Keep It Movin'
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“Yeah, that's one of my favorite movies.” He looks at me cross, like he didn't know that already.
“Rah, you home?” his mother yells through the front door. What's she doing here? I know it's technically her house, but she's never home and it isn't good when she is.
“Yeah, we're back here,” he says, taking a seat on the futon next to us.
“Oh, isn't this cozy,” she says sarcastically. Rah's mother has never cared much for me and I can't stand her ass. She reminds me way too much of both Sandy and Trish. That's why I can't understand how Rah could pick those broads to deal with.
“Mom, what is it?”
“I need a sack. Kevin wants to smoke.” What the hell? Please tell me his own mother isn't a client. That's just too trifling for me.
“Mom, not now. I'm busy.”
“What, playing house? Jayd sweetie, don't get too comfortable. That baby ain't yours and neither is my son,” she says with the venom of a rattlesnake on her tongue.
“Mom, not now.” Rah's jaw tightens and so does his mother's. They look a lot alike in the face, but Rah has his father's large build.
“Come on, Rah. He's in the car waiting and we want to smoke before I go on stage. Hook me up.” Rah reluctantly gets up and goes back to his room, leaving me alone with this broad. We stare at each other and keep our silence, or so I think.
“Rahima, you thirsty, mommy?” I say, picking her up and putting her in my lap to take a sip from the water bottle sitting on the table.
“Don't get too attached, Jayd. I'm warning you,” she says, taking a sip out of the plastic cup in her hand. I can smell the hard liquor from here. “Consider it my gift to you.” I look up at her and something tells me to listen to her warning, even if it is coming from a hateful place. Her voice gives me goose bumps. Rahima takes the water bottle from my hands and downs the drink. She then looks up at me and smiles big, ready for more food, and I'm happy to indulge the little princess.
“I'd think you'd be happy I'm nice to your granddaughter,” I say, but I should know better than to give his mother any credit. She barely watches after her own children. She's probably never spent a day with her grandbaby. Mama would have a fit if she couldn't see me on a regular basis, and as she would put it, babies are a blessing not a burden.
“You can be nice to her all you want,” Carla says, tugging at her too-tight and too-short mini skirt. Her halter top hardly covers her flat breasts but even I admit the rest of her body is fierce. I guess working at a strip club all week keeps her in shape. “Just remember what I said.”
“Why do you care?” I don't mean to be rude but she's never had too much to say to me before now. I continue to focus on Rahima, who's now rubbing her tired eyes and chewing simultaneously. She'll be knocked out soon with a full tummy. What a life this little girl has.
“I don't, not really. But you know Sandy's just teasing my son with that little girl. I know the game, sweetie. And if you think you, Rah, and that baby are going to be one big happy family you're more delusional than I thought you were.” Carla takes another sip from her cup and looks over her shoulder. What's taking Rah so long? He knows this woman works my nerves.
“Who said anything like that?” Rahima takes the plastic fork from me and starts feeding herself as well as she can with her tiny hands. I guess I'm not moving fast enough for her. “She's a sweet little girl and I happen to like kids.”
“Tell me you don't have dreams about that little baby being yours.” After a moment of silence, I look up at Carla, who hasn't stopped staring at me for a moment. I guess she's waiting for an answer and I'm not in the mood for her at all.
“For your information, I'm still a virgin, so it's not even possible for me and Rah to have a baby.” Maybe that'll shut her up.
“You think you're slick, trying to be all sweet and shit. Bitches always win, honey. Always.” So much for wishful thinking. I now see she'll never shut up about this.
“I'm not trying to be or do anything but feed the baby so she can get a good night's sleep. Isn't this actually more your job than mine?”
“Yeah, so you should ask yourself why you're volunteering to do it when I'm not.” She got me there. Even my mom warned me about getting too close to Rahima. “Would you be here if that little baby wasn't?” That sounded too familiar, but not from my own memories. I'll have to remember to ask Mama about that one tomorrow when I see her at Netta's shop.
“Here. Bye,” Rah says, throwing the small plastic bag at his now happy mother, and not a moment too soon. She can really work a nerve.
“Bye,” she says, and walks out as quickly as she walked in and I'm glad she's finally gone. At least now we can relax and enjoy the movie before falling asleep, because she just drained us all. But I am happy to be here. And whether or not Rahima's the bigger reason is of no consequence to me. I like her and her daddy and I don't see anything wrong with that. This is the most joy I've felt all day and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
5
Sweet Tooth
“Who got they own flow/
Who ain't looking for/
Who sugar no more.”
—CHRISSETTE MICHELE
 
 
 
“I
love you, Jayd. Why can't you see that?” Jeremy asks, holding on to me as I stand suspended in midair. I should be falling into the abyss below, but I'm not. Instead, I'm secure in Jeremy's hands yet I still have the impulse to run.
“Jeremy, I can't stay. You're in danger.” Before I can finish my thought, Rah appears out of nowhere wearing the same suit my great-grandfather wore in my daydream with Mama. What the hell?
“Back up, fool. Jayd's my girl,” Rah says, snatching my free hand and pulling me toward him. I feel like I'm in a tug of war. “We belong together. Tell this punk to step off, Jayd, before someone gets hurt.” Jeremy, unmoved by Rah's threats, holds my other hand tighter and pulls me hard in his direction.
“You're hurting me,” I say to both of them. “For real, let me go.” Neither of them honors my request and I stay in the middle, being pulled back and forth between the two of them. My arms feel like they're going to snap out of their sockets. I can hear a baby crying in the background, momentarily distracting me from my uncomfortable situation. It sounds like Rahima. I turn around looking for her, but I can't see where the sound is coming from.
“Jayd, hold on to the rope,” my mom says, appearing in my dream. “Whatever you do, don't let go. You are all you can depend on to stay up.” Just then, both boys let me go and I begin to fall.
“Jayd, hold on,” my mom shouts, but I can't see a thing. I'm falling and gaining speed the farther I drop. I don't see a rope anywhere, but I'm not scared. On the way down I notice I have Rahima wrapped on my back like our ancestors carried their babies. I look back at her and she's now sound asleep. She trusts me to keep her safe and that's exactly what I intend to do.
“Give me my baby,” Sandy shouts from the bottom of the pit. Finally the rope appears above my head but now I'm falling so fast that I can't catch it. Sandy's at the bottom with a huge catcher's mitt on her right hand and she's socking it like a professional baseball player.
“I got this one,” Sandy says. I look around the bottom of the pit and see it's in the shape of a diamond, like a baseball field. What kind of game is this, where I'm the ball? I see Laura, Misty, Nellie, and Tania in the outfield, also with mitts on, but it's Sandy who's going to get me caught up. I can't stop myself from falling right into her arms.
“No!” I yell. I reach harder for the rope and barely touch it with the tip of my fingers. With Rahima on my back I have to work hard to do something that normally would have been easy.
“If you let Rahima go you'll get farther and then you can go back for her, Jayd.” My mom's right but I can't let her go. I struggle to reach for the rope but it's no use. I'm now falling through clouds and soon I'll be within Sandy's reach.
“Jayd,” Rah calls out to me from the top of the abyss. I can see now that he's the one who threw me the rope. Jeremy looks over Rah's shoulder but they're both completely helpless. I look back at Rahima, who's now wide awake and looking down at her mother. She starts to cry and I try to comfort her by patting her back, but it's no use. We look at each other and realize there's nothing I can do to save her.
Before I land in Sandy's hands, she steps aside and lets me crash. The moment my stomach hits the ground the change in my pockets falls out and the other girls swoop in to scoop it up. I'm paralyzed from the waist down, but luckily Rahima's fine. Sandy smiles as she steps over me, staring down at my crippled body. She snatches Rahima from my back and disappears.
“Jayd, I trusted you,” Rah yells down at me. As I glance up I can see the disappointment written all over Rah's face and even worse, Jeremy has the same look.
 
“Stuntin' is a habit, put it in da air.”
David Banner's ringtone wakes me up from my nightmarish dream just in time. I never want to think about losing Rahima again. I pick up the phone and flip it open without looking at the Caller ID.
“Hello.”
“Good morning, Jayd. How was your Christmas?” What time is it? If Jeremy's calling me I know it must be late. I look around Rah's den and notice that he and Rahima are nowhere to be found. I hope her daddy's got her because to let my dream tell it, I certainly don't.
“It was cool,” I say, groggily coming to consciousness. I'm not sure what time it is but it feels late to me. I want to get at least five hours of work in at the shop today, so I'd better get a move on. “I got a car,” I say, unenthusiastically revealing the most important gift of all, or so I think. Just then I notice a small, wrapped box on the coffee table with the words “Happy Kwanza” written across the thin paper. I sit up and reach for the gift like I reached for the rope in my dream. Sometimes I wish I could forget my dreams once I wake up, but no chance of that happening anytime soon: one of the many blessings of being born with a caul over my face.
“A car? Well I guess you did have a merry Christmas after all.” Jeremy's first car was a classic Mustang that's been in his family for generations and his next one is likely to be a brand new BMW. I would be excited too if that were the case, but not for me.
“Not really, but like I said, it was cool. What's up with you?” I stand up and stretch my right arm above my head, ready to get on with this day. There's money to be made and I'm letting it slip from my hands the longer I sit and chill.
“Well, my parents are going skiing for a couple of days and I just wanted to know if you wanted to come over tonight for pizza and a movie. Nothing fancy, and I'll be good, I promise.”
“Promises, promises,” I say. I hear the front door open and know it's time to go. Rah will know instantly by my body language that it's Jeremy on the phone and I'm not in the mood to argue, especially not with an unclaimed gift on the table.
“Is that an affirmative answer, Miss Jackson?” Jeremy asks, making me smile early in my day. And after my disturbing dream I need some comic relief.
“Sure, why not,” I say, kicking the fleece socks off my feet and under my bag on the floor. It should be a good moneymaking day with all of the sisters needing repair to their holiday hairdos. Between now and the six days until New Year's I should make some pretty decent cash. That's all the motivation I need to get up and out.
“Well, don't sound so enthusiastic about it,” he says, a bit insulted by my response.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I had a long day and my car is busted and I just got it. So, I'll still need a ride tonight.”
“Not a problem, Lady J. I'm always happy to be your escort.” Jeremy's so sweet, sometimes I feel bad for not wanting to be his girlfriend again. Rah walks into the studio with Rahima in one arm and her sippy cup in his free hand. He looks at me and I know I have to go. I don't want to start our morning off on the wrong foot.
“I'll hit you later,” I say, rushing off the phone.
“Alright. Don't work too hard,” Jeremy says before hanging up. Damn, that was close.
“Good morning,” Rah says, kissing me on the cheek. I open my arms to take Rahima, who'd rather walk around this morning from the way she just jumped out of her daddy's arms and hit the ground running.
“Oh, so it's like that,” I say to her. She smiles big and runs up to me, hugging me tightly before running off in the other direction toward her toy blocks across the room. Rah looks at his daughter and smiles.
“You see that? She's already got skills. Wait until I get her out on the court. She's going to ball all over those fools,” he says, balling up a piece of paper and tossing it up in the air like a basketball for Rahima to catch the rebound, which she does.
“Wow, I see skills are hereditary.” As if I don't know about inheriting gifts. We look at each other and smile at Rahima's excitement from catching the paper ball. I wish everything in life were so easy. I'm still disturbed from the dream I just awoke from but I'm not ready to talk about it yet, especially not with Rah.
“Did you see your Kwanza gift?” Rah passes me the small box I noticed a few minutes ago.
“I didn't know it was for me.” I take the box from him and open it to find a brand new cell phone inside. “How did you know I needed this?”
“I didn't really. I just figured it's time for you to get an upgrade.” This is why Rah's my boy for life. He can always anticipate what I need right when I need it.
“Oh Rah, I love it. Thank you,” I say, hugging him tightly before taking my gift out of the box. This is better than my car.
“You're welcome,” he says, picking up Rahima and walking back into the kitchen. It's a pink Razor, just what I wanted. I follow them out of the studio and take a picture of them both to save on my phone. Rah walks over, looks at the photo and smiles.
“Nice picture, huh?” Before answering, he passes the baby to me and takes my phone, repeating my action.
“Now that's a nice picture to me.” Before we can relish in the sweetness of the moment any longer the doorbell rings and someone starts knocking loudly. It must be Sandy, here to pick up their daughter. No one else would be that rude this early in the day.
“Damn, she's early,” Rah says, reluctantly leaving the kitchen to answer the door.
“What the hell took you so long to answer? My nigga's in the car waiting for us. We're on our way back to Pomona,” she says without so much as a hello. “And what is that bitch doing holding my baby?” Why is she calling me by her nickname, especially in front of her daughter? “Here baby, look what mommy brought you,” she says, snatching an upset Rahima from my arms and giving her a lollipop for breakfast.
“Why do you have to be so rude, Sandy? We were just about to feed her a real breakfast instead of that crap you're always giving her,” Rah says, standing next to me.
“Whatever. Where's her bag and car seat? We have to go,” she says, unwrapping the candy and stuffing it in her daughter's mouth. Her daughter reluctantly takes it but she looks like she still wants to cry. Sandy's a poster model for unfit parenting if there ever was one.
“You're an hour early. I'm not rushing,” Rah says, taking Rahima away from her mother before heading to the back to get her stuff and leaving me and his prodigal baby-mama alone. What the hell? He should know better than that. Sandy props herself against the kitchen counter, crossing one high heel over the other.
“So, are you two having fun playing house with my baby?” Sandy looks like a hooker on a good day and a slut on a bad one. What did Rah ever see in her? What did I ever see in her? After all, she was my friend first.
“Rahima's his daughter too, or did you forget that magical night under the bleachers three years ago when he was my man?”
“Shut the hell up, Jayd. That's always been your problem: too much talking and not enough doing. Men like action, or haven't you noticed?” she says, shifting her weight from one stiletto to the other while crossing her arms over her large breasts. At least she's got some meat on her bones, unlike Trish.
“Apparently not, because I'm still here and you're not.”
“I'll always be here. Remember, I have his baby, Jayd. You couldn't get rid of me if you wanted to, and I know you're not giving him any because that's what Trish is for, or have you conveniently forgotten about her?” If this trick keeps talking to me out the side of her face I'm going to have to slap it back in place.
“I'm not worried about either one of y'all. And unlike the two of you, I have better things to do with my time than run after a dude with my legs wide open.” Sandy shoots me an evil look but she can't say shit. She's knows I'm right. I walk past her and into the kitchen to start breakfast. From the looks of his groceries Rah's making grits, eggs, toast, and turkey bacon. I'll get started on the grits now because I know he's real particular about how he likes his eggs scrambled.
“This little sweet act you've got going on will only get you so far, Jayd,” Sandy says, following me around the kitchen. “To keep a man you'll eventually have to take off that chastity belt you're wearing and let a nigga in.” She sounds just like Rah's mom. No wonder he's oddly attracted to her.
“Sandy, if I want your advice I'll ask for it.” I'm trying to keep a cool head but this trick is making it very hard. Rah left me alone last night with his mom and now this morning with Sandy. Does he want me to slap one of these broads or what?
“No you won't, but you should take it. Trust, Jayd. The way to get to Rah can't be found on that stove.”

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