Keyshia and Clyde (13 page)

Chapter 22
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After having been on their feet over twenty-four hours, Keyshia and Clyde were in a deep sleep when they heard pounding on the door.

Clyde forced himself out of bed and walked to the door and yelled, “Who is it?”

“Wake your ass up and open the door!” It was Sonny, and he was the last person Clyde wanted to see at that point.

“It's me, too, Clyde. You ready to go see Mama?” Clyde closed his eyes because he'd totally forgotten about his monthly visit to see his mother. He opened the door and peered out.

Sonny instantly threw up his hands and said, “I told you this pussy-whipped-ass dude wouldn't be ready.”

Clyde wanted to protest but didn't have the strength to argue with Sonny at that moment. “Y'all can come in. I'll be ready in a second.”

Sonny declined and said, “Man, I'll be outside. Just hurry the fuck up!”

Ceasar decided to enter, and Clyde led him to the living room. Keyshia peeked out the bedroom and waved to Ceasar. He smiled and waved back to her and asked, “Keyshia, you gonna come with us so you can meet our mother?”

Keyshia looked at Clyde, who hadn't given it much thought. He asked her, “You wanna go?” Keyshia was flattered and said she would love to.

Keyshia and Clyde took a shower together to save some time and were dressed in a matter of minutes and out the door. When Sonny saw the three together, it was obvious that he was displeased with Keyshia being there. Ceasar picked up on it and said quickly as they piled into his vehicle, “Sonny, don't do that. She is Clyde's girl, and you respect her like she family, you hear me?”

Sonny gave him a dumb look and said, “I ain't even said nothing.”

“You better say hello.”

Sonny snickered, but he followed his big brother's command, gave Keyshia a slight smile, and said, “Hello . . .”

Ceasar quickly snapped, “Keyshia!”

Sonny followed suit and repeated, “Hello, Keyshia.”

“Hi, Sonny,” Keyshia said meekly.

Happy, Ceasar said, “Now let's go see Mama!”

•                   •                  •

When they arrived at the nursing home, Keyshia was nervous. Many girls who meet their boyfriend's mother for the first time have a good reason to feel butterflies in their stomach because their worst fear is that the mother won't approve of them. In Keyshia's case, Clyde's mother wouldn't know what or who she was anyway. But it was still a challenging event. When they walked into her room, she was sitting in a chair staring out the window just like Clyde had told her she would be. If you didn't know her, you would expect her to turn around any second and greet her visitors, but she didn't even flinch. She had long, luxurious black hair flowing down her back with beautiful gray streaks right in the middle. Her skin was almond brown and seemed untouched by age except for the slight wrinkles forming at her deep eyes.

Ceasar and Sonny walked directly up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “Hi, Mama.” They looked at Clyde and Keyshia, who both walked over to her and said hello and planted a soft kiss on her face. She barely moved.

At a closer view, Keyshia could see the hideous scar right under her right eye on the cheekbone where the boys' father must have shot her. Keyshia also noticed that Clyde would barely look at his mother. She squeezed his hand gently, and he smiled lightly.

They took a seat in the corner of the room and watched Ceasar carry on a conversation with his mother like she could understand him. She then watched Sonny pull up a chair next to her and do the same thing. After a few minutes, he got up and gestured to Clyde to talk to her. Keyshia could tell that Clyde didn't want to do it, but he did it to make everybody happy.

When he sat down, Ceasar came over and sat next to Keyshia, smiled, and said, “They say that when you talk to a person in an altered or comatose state, they can understand everything you say. They just can't respond, so we been doing this for years to let her know that she is loved and not alone.” They watched Clyde say a few words in her ear and get up and walk toward them. Ceasar looked at Keyshia, smiled, and said, “Why don't you go over there and introduce yourself.”

Keyshia looked at Ceasar and blushed. “I can't do that, she don't know me.”

Ceasar said reassuringly, “Girl, you are family. Now go over there and introduce yourself to your future mother-in-law.” He smiled at her and took her hand and led her over.

Before Keyshia sat down, she looked at all the brothers' faces. Even Sonny seemed not to mind her sitting down to have a conversation. She sat down slowly and didn't know what to say. Ceasar told her, “Just tell her how you feel about her son.” She nodded and scooted the chair to face her. She was nervous but spoke real low as she introduced herself.

“Hi, Mrs. Barker, I's name is Keyshia . . .” She closed her eyes and apologized for speaking broken English. “I mean, my name is Keyshia, and I . . . I'm your son Clyde's girlfriend.”

Keyshia paused and watched as the brothers left them alone. Still a little nervous, she continued, “You don't have to worry about me hurting your son, I would never do that.” She put her head down and said, “I know you his mammy and all and want ya son to always be happy, and I can do that, 'cause I really, really love that boy and would never do nothing ta hurt him. He tells me he love me back, and ma'am, I believe him, that's why I love him so.” Keyshia explained, “I's gonna be truthful with you, ma'am: We got ourself in some trouble, but we almost out of it. After we do what we got ta do, we plan on going back ta school and live right. I'm gonna guarantee you that. He tells me the other day how much he love you and wish you could hug him. I's tell him that one day you will come 'round and give him plenty hugs. So until then, I make sho' yo' son get plenty nuff of them hugs till you ready to give him some on your own.” She smiled and thought of something Clyde had said. “Your son taught me that the eyes don't lie, so I want you to see my eyes when I say this.” She lifted Mrs. Barker's head and looked her straight in the eyes and said with great intensity, “I love him so much, ma'am, that I would die fo' him!” As she stared at Clyde's mother, she could have sworn that she saw her nod her head like she was acknowledging her. She gave her a kiss on the cheek. Clyde walked back into the room and sat next to Keyshia as they all held one another's hands.

Outside the room, Ceasar and Sonny were in an intense argument. Sonny told Ceasar how much money Clyde owed Black Sam. Ceasar flipped out. “How in the world did you expect him to come up with that type of money, Sonny? Have you lost your mind?”

Sonny countered, “I offered to take care of it, but he refused and said that he could come up with the money. What else do you want from me, Ceasar?”

Ceasar said, “And you believed him? You believed he could come up with that kind of money without putting himself in harm's way?”

Sonny shrugged. “Clyde ain't no li'l boy no more. And he ain't as innocent as you think.”

Ceasar rolled his eyes and said, “What do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean.” Sonny gave him a knowing smile. “That li'l boy murked a nigga, that's what I'm saying!”

Ceasar turned his back on Sonny, refusing to accept the truth. “Well,” he said, “the man probably had it coming. I know Clyde—he ain't gonna just go around”—he lowered his voice—“killing people.”

Sonny agreed, “Yeah, you right. But the fact of the matter is he's a grown-ass man. I offered my help, he declined. Now what was I to do, C?”

Ceasar said, “Sonny, please, for me, make sure you see that nothing happens to Clyde.” Ceasar suddenly began to get choked up. “I won't be able to handle it if something happens to him, okay?” Never wanting to see his brother in pain, Sonny agreed.

After they kissed their mother good-bye, Ceasar suggested that they all go out to dinner at Amy Ruth's or Manna's in Harlem. Everyone agreed except Sonny, who had something to take care of, but he offered to drop them all off.

When they exited Sonny's truck, Sonny called out to Clyde, “Yo, Clyde, come here.”

Clyde walked over to Sonny. “What's up?”

Sonny countered, “Fuck you mean, what's up? How you doing with that thing?”

Clyde nodded and said, “I'm doing all right.”

Sonny smiled. “How much you got so far?”

Clyde, never the one to tell lefty what righty was doing, said, “Don't worry about it, as long as I come up with the money, right?”

Sonny looked at Clyde, said, “Yeah, right,” and took off.

When they finished eating and the check came, Ceasar reached for the bill and offered to pay, but Clyde wouldn't allow it. “No, Clyde, I got this.”

Clyde insisted, “No, Ceasar, for real, I got it.”

Ceasar simply said, “What you need to do is hold on to every dime to come up with that hundred and fifty thousand.”

Clyde was surprised that he knew how much he owed. “Who told you, Sonny?”

“Who do you think?” Clyde sat back in the chair and frowned. “What?” Ceasar said. “I shouldn't know what's going on with my li'l brother's life?” He looked around and asked, “Clyde, do you really expect to come up with that kind of money?”

Clyde just stared at him and said, “Can I be honest with you without you getting upset?”

Ceasar nodded. “Yes.”

Clyde was not satisfied. “No, say, ‘I promise I won't get pissed.' ”

Ceasar turned his head and took a breath. “I promise I won't get pissed.”

Clyde smiled and edged closer. “We already came up with a hundred and thirty thousand.”

Ceasar gasped and said rather loudly, “A hundred and thirty thousand!” He caught himself and looked around for a moment, then continued in a lower tone, “Clyde, where the hell you get that kind of money from?”

Clyde shrugged. “We earned it.”

Ceasar's voice began to rise. “Who's ‘we,' Clyde?”

Clyde reminded him, “You said you wouldn't get mad, C.”

Ceasar shook his head and repeated more calmly, “Who is ‘we'?”

“Me and Keyshia.”

Ceasar looked at Keyshia, who had her head down, embarrassed. “Oh, Lord.” Clyde looked toward Keyshia and gave her a quick smile. Ceasar turned and stared at the wall to gather his thoughts, then said, “Okay, I'm not gonna ask no more questions. Now if you really have the money, that means you need only twenty thousand dollars more to pay that Sam guy back, right?” Clyde nodded. “So here is what I'm gonna do, Clyde, I'm gonna give you the rest of the money.” Clyde was taken aback for a moment. He had no clue his brother had that kind of money available. “But you got to promise me, both of y'all, promise me . . .” He looked at them like an older brother should and said, “That y'all gonna stop doing what y'all doing from this moment on and stay out of trouble, okay?” Clyde looked at Keyshia, and they both agreed with a smile.

Satisfied, Ceasar looked at them both and shook his head. “You two were definitely meant to be together—Bonnie and Clyde, that's what y'all are.”

Clyde confided in his brother, “Listen, Ceasar, me and Keyshia will be going out of town soon, so can you do me a favor?”

“Yeah, both of y'all need a vacation, I'm sure. Where are y'all going?”

Keyshia answered, “Oh, we going down south and visit my family in South Carolina.”

Looking at Clyde closely, he asked, “Where else?” Keyshia looked at Ceasar and knew he knew something and didn't want to lie to him and remained silent.

“Clyde,” Ceasar repeated, “you know I know you. Any time you freeze up like that, it means you're holding back something. Where are you going?”

Clyde lifted his head and said, “I'm going upstate.” He paused and then said, “to see our father.”

Ceasar was taken by surprise and was speechless momentarily. He recouped quickly, deciding not to touch the subject. He cleared his throat and asked, “What is the favor?”

Clyde edged closer and said, “I need you to hold the money until I get back.”

Ceasar nodded and said, “I can put it in a safe deposit box on my job.” Clyde nodded.

Chapter 23
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That same evening, Keyshia and Clyde packed for their weeklong journey. They still had over ten thousand dollars in reserve, which would take care of all their expenses.

They decided to hit upstate to visit Clyde's father first and then head down south to see Keyshia's people. Clyde contacted a childhood friend of his named Miguel to help him rent a car.

Miguel had been Clyde's best friend since the seventh grade. He was a pretty boy who was half black and half Puerto Rican, with deep curly hair, and because the girls liked him, other boys would hate him and want to fight him. Though he fought back, he would always lose because of the number of guys that pounced upon him. One day during a fight or slaughter, he got help from an unlikely source, a quiet young boy named Clyde, and from that day on, Miguel no longer got jumped on because he now had backup, and they'd been best friends ever since. Clyde even got him a job working with Pops, but the work was too hard for Miguel and he didn't last two days before he quit. Miguel wasn't suited for hard work, he was more of a people person, and as they got older everybody knew and liked him. If anybody needed anything, “Mike” could make it happen. He always knew a friend who knew a friend to get the job done. Other than Sonny and Keyshia, Mike was the only person in the world who knew what Clyde did and was capable of doing. They were closer than friends, they were brothers indeed.

Before they left for the trip, each had to make one stop.

It seemed like a lifetime had passed since Keyshia last walked into the Wagner projects. When she got to her former building, she pulled the door and was surprised that it was locked and finally fixed for a change. Since she didn't have any keys, she waited until someone exited the building, which wasn't too long. When she stepped into the elevator, she smelled the stale acrid scent of dried urine. There was a time when she wouldn't have flinched from the smell, but she had been away for a few weeks and the smell was nauseating. She was relieved when she stepped off the elevator and took a deep breath to clear her lungs. She paused as she gave herself the once-over, ensuring that nothing was out of place, running her fingers through her long braids. Today, she wore an expensive blue Donna Karan suit, with a matching pair of high-heeled shoes, giving her a conservative, professional look. Above all, she wanted to prove to her aunt Ninny that she could survive without her, and most important, that she wasn't the greasy, grimy bitch that she always called her.

Her body tensed as she stood at the door. This was the moment she'd dreamed about ever since she was younger: how she would stand before her aunt a success and rub it in her face. She had the envelope full of money to give to her little cousins in her Fendi purse so she could watch their faces and tell them to buy whatever they wanted. Yes, she had something to prove, she thought. After all the horrible things she was called, after how she was told she would turn out, how she was told that nobody would want her because she was molested as a child—it was only right that she throw it in her aunt's face and prove her wrong. Today was the day of reckoning. She could hear movement inside the apartment—the boys playing, the scent of dinner being cooked—perfect timing, she thought.

Keyshia lifted her hand to knock on the door, but she stopped. She raised her hand again, same thing. She put her head down and reached inside and pulled out the two envelopes that had her cousins' names on them and slid them under the door. She stood up, smiled, and walked away.

Still unable to break old habits, Clyde listened for movement in the apartment before he entered, and as always, the house was as quite as a mouse. He walked to the kitchen and saw nobody was there. He walked toward Martha's room and tapped on the door before he opened it and saw no one was home. He breathed a sigh of relief because he was happy that he didn't have to go through the motions with Martha and could just put the money he had for her on the kitchen table and leave.

Clyde decided to go into his old room just to see if everything was still intact—it was. He sat on the end of the bed, and for some reason his former sanctuary seemed much smaller. He surveyed the room and smiled as he looked at the torn-out sports figures that he had taped all over the walls of his room. He looked on his dresser and saw a picture of him and his two brothers when they were much younger, smiling widely as they wore their Sunday-best outfits; they all seemed so close and innocent back then. Then he picked up another photo of his mother smiling bright and wide in her teenage years. She was so beautiful, Clyde thought. For a boy to live a lifetime and never know the feeling of a mother's love was unnatural. Unless proper attention is given, the boy's heart would turn into a stone. He'd never learn how to feel, he'd never learn how to give love, and he'd never learn how to receive love. He would always find that true love was elusive and hard to find and never realize that he need look in only one place—the place he never searched: within himself. Until he'd met Keyshia, Clyde never had a girlfriend, no one that he was even remotely interested in. But he was fortunate; he'd found a kindred soul. A one-in-a-billion match—someone who not only loved him for who he was, but someone whom he could actually love back. When something like that happens, there's no power on this great earth that can separate them. Not only would they live for each other, they would die for each other!

Clyde fell asleep cradling his mother's picture in his hand until Martha woke him.

“Clyde!” Martha said as she towered over him. Clyde popped up and blinked his eyes rapidly, not sure where he was at. “Clyde, baby, you home.”

Clyde stared up at Martha, realizing where he was, and stood up, kind of embarrassed that he'd fallen asleep. “I'm . . . I'm sorry,” he said as he straightened out the wrinkles on the bed.

“Boy, you ain't got nothing to be sorry about,” Martha cooed. “This is your home.”

Clyde gave her a light smile and nodded. They walked out of the room, and she quickly started complaining about money.

“I'm just coming back from the supermarket, and I could barely afford to buy something 'cause everything so expensive.”

When they got to the kitchen, Clyde helped her unpack the groceries and she started digging into him.

“I ain't seen you in God knows when, Clyde. Why you just up and left your auntie? You know I'm concerned about you,” she chided.

Clyde shrugged. “I don't know. I been kinda busy lately.”

“Too busy to even call to let me know how you doing? And who's this girl I hear you running 'round with? You ain't been with them no-good girls. Why start now? And what's this stuff about you getting yourself in trouble? Boy, you ain't doing right.” Her mouth was running a hundred miles an hour, and Clyde grew impatient. He couldn't stand when she threw the guilt trip on him, and he decided to cut it short.

“I'm sorry, Martha, but I'm in a little rush. I'm going out of town for a few days, and I promise I'll talk to you when I come back.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a roll of money and handed it to her. “That's a thousand dollars; I wanted to make sure you was okay.”

Martha's frown instantly turned into a smile. She gave him a hug and thanked him several times. “You know, you looking more and more like you mother every day. Yep, I remember it was just like yesterday, me and your mother dressing up for the weekend like twins.” She smiled and said, “See, nobody on earth could love your mother more than me, and nobody ever will, that's for sure. That's why I do what I did for you boys.” Clyde had heard this a million times before.

She walked him to the door and said, “Sonny comes 'round here all the time to check on me. Make sure I'm okay, to see if I need anything. You know they done took you off my budget and I ain't got much coming in?” Clyde wanted to tell her to get a job and stop complaining like Ceasar had said, but he could never tell her that, he thought. But it was the truth. It seemed that she thought they were in debt to her for life since she took them in as kids. But she'd received a good penny from the state and government to keep them, so they should be even like Ceasar always said. Martha was just plain greedy and strived to make them feel guilty every chance she got.

At the door, Clyde turned around to give her a quick kiss and bounce, but she stopped him. “Clyde, now you know it ain't none of my business, but I talks to Sonny and he said that he need your help with something, but you ain't willing to help him out.” Clyde was surprised to hear her mention this and frowned.

“Now you know I stay out of y'all business on what you do, but you should really think about helping him 'cause he your brother and you gots to stand by each other.” Clyde didn't say a word and just listened. Did she know exactly what Sonny had in mind? He was sure she knew what Sonny did for a living because of the amount of times she'd helped and defended Sonny over the years whenever he got himself in trouble.

“Just think about what I said, okay? And I see you when you get back.”

Clyde nodded and backed out of the door with a bad taste in his mouth.

The last place he stopped off before he went home was to see a brother from the neighborhood by the name of Jimmy. Jimmy was a local guy who practiced holistic healing with herbs and vitamins. People sometimes called him the mad scientist because he concocted various capsules that you could take for whatever ailed you. As always, Clyde caught him on 127th Street and Lenox at the outdoor flea market next to Sylvia's restaurant in the lot owned by Mr. Smalls, who sold hats, T-shirts, and other items to the tourists who came by the busload to eat in the restaurant.

“Jimmy!” Clyde yelled, and waved for him to come over. He was a smooth cat who seemed not to rush for anyone. He acknowledged Clyde with a nod and continued with his conversation.

He strutted over five minutes later and greeted Clyde like a lost brother with a hug and a bright smile. “Brother Clyde, long time no see.”

Clyde smiled and said, “Good to see you, Jimmy.”

“So what can I do for you, young brother?”

“Well, I need something special today and maybe you can help me.”

Jimmy smiled and said, “You know I got what you need. Lay it on me.”

“I need some pills that would take you out.”

“Sleeping pills?” He frowned.

“The permanent ones, and I need them in an hour.”