One good reason, p.27
One Good Reason, page 27
“Thought you’d fucking see it my way.” Placing a hard kiss on my lips, he let my face go and held the door open for me. I guess he meant it when he said he wasn’t going to play about me either.
Because we were in such a rush to get down here, I hadn’t had the chance to reserve a hotel room. I would do that later; my first stop once we crossed into town was by my mama house. When we pulled up and neither vehicle was parked out front, I drove to Willearl house.
When I whipped down the dirt road that led to his house, I could vaguely make out two bodies sitting on the front porch. The sun had begun to set, but to us country folk, that ain’t matter.
We would sit outside on the porch well into the night. Rolling my car to a stop, I threw it in park and got out.
“Tali, that’s you?” he asked and placed his hand over his eyes to get a good look.
“Yes sir,” I confirmed. “Uncle Willearl, you seen my Mama?”
“Her and Mama came by here earlier. When they left, she said she was going to sit by Louise house. Everything alright?”
“Yes sir, it is. I came to see Gema. I been calling her since yo’ sister snatched her up out of my house.”
“Litha said you couldn’t talk to Mama or you was gon’ go to jail.”
“She lied Willearl. I done told y’all stop listening to her so much. All she do is tell damn lies. My attorney said nowhere in the paperwork does it prevent me from being around Gema. She just can’t be at the house until the investigation is complete.”
“That got damn Litha. It don’t make no sense how evil she is,” he fussed. I couldn’t do anything but shake my head. Willearl was standing on the porch in a pair of dusty black jeans that he had cut up to shorts, a dingy white t-shirt, and a pair of those God awful Hey Dudes. In his hand was his favorite Yeti cup that I’m almost positive was filled to the brim with some moonshine or something.
Meanwhile, Bonnie was sitting beside him in her dusty housecoat and hair all matted to her damn scalp. The sight of the two of them would’ve disgusted me had I not been fucking used to it.
“Aight Willearl. I’m bout to run by Louise and see if I can catch her over there.”
“How long ya’ gon’ be down here Tali?” he asked.
“For a couple of hours,” I lied just in case he tried to get on the phone with my mama and tell her I was staying in town. Her ass was so unpredictable, she probably would’ve packed up her and Gema shit and dipped out of town.
The second I was seated back in the car, I laid my head against the headrest.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry you gotta see all of this.” I waved my hand around the junky yard.
“It’s nothing.” Law shrugged.
He was saying that now, just wait until he saw the hotel I was planning on staying in. This small ass town didn’t have much to offer. The closest thing we had to luxury was the Home 2 Suite off the highway.
Louise stayed ten minutes from Willearl, so it took no time for me to pull up to her house. I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when I spotted my mama car in the driveway. Throwing my car in park, I unfastened my seat belt. “You coming in or staying out here?”
“Gema here?”
“Yeah. That’s my Mama car right there.” I nodded toward the black Mercedes in the driveway.
“Then I’m getting out.”
Reaching for the latch, I opened the door and stepped out. Law trailed behind me as I made my way up to the front door. Instead of knocking, I pushed that bitch open, cause let’s face it, we didn’t lock doors around here. We were surrounded by family so the last thing we was worried about was somebody causing any harm.
“Tali!” Gema squealed when I walked in the door.
“Hey, my baby,” I gushed and ran over to her to. After pulling back from the hug, I checked her out from head to toe. At least they had sense enough to have her looking decent. Somebody had combed her salt and pepper hair up into a bun.
Gema had on one of those jogging suits that she loved and a fresh pair of gray and white New Balance sneakers on her feet. “They been taking good care of you?” I asked as sat down beside her on the worn sofa.
“They been doing aight,” she huffed and rolled her eyes.
“Do I need to call the law on you?” my mama rasped after stepping into the living room where we were with her hound dog following close behind her. “And who the fuck you done brought to my sister house?” she spat while looking Law up and down.
“Shut up Litha!” Gema scoffed. “Law baby, you can have a seat. I know it might not be much, but it’ll hold you.” She nodded toward the chair sitting beside us.
“You not gone stand up and give me my hug?” Law teased. Ignoring the daggers my mama was shooting at him, he walked over to Gema and helped her up from the couch. “We sure have missed you around the house,” he let her know.
“I miss y’all too.”
“Everything been good?” he asked, after helping her back down.
“Ummhmm. That one over there ain’t gave me no candy since I been here. Tali, you gon’ go to the Walmarts and get me some.”
“Yeah, Gema… I’ll get you some.” I laughed.
“That’s why her sugar been running so high now. She don’t need all that candy,” my mama hissed.
“Girl, you don’t know what fu—”
“Howard!” Law bleated. Had he not stepped in, I was getting ready to give her a piece of my mind.
“Anyway… Gema, yeah I’ll bring you some tomorrow.”
“You staying?” Gema asked, the way her eyes lit up, I could tell she was hoping I said yes.
“Yes baby. I’mma stay for a few days so I can spend some time with you. We came straight here after my meeting with my lawyer,” I said loud enough for my mama to hear me. “I gotta go get us a room, we ain’t too long came back in town so after I’ve gotten some sleep, I’mma come pick you up and take you to get something to eat.”
“You ain’t taking her nowhere.”
Furrowing my brows, I stared at her through the slits of my eyes. “Girl.” I chuckled. “The best thing for you to do is leave me alone. I’ll be to your house as soon as I get up tomorrow. Have my Grandma dressed, Jalitha, or I’mma give you a reason to call the law.”
Gema patted me on the hand. “Don’t do it, Tali. I’ll be ready to get picked up tomorrow. Call Betty Jo so she can be there in case she tries anything.”
“Believe me, I don’t need anybody. The judge gave me all the permission I need. She can play with me if she wants. Anyway, I gotta run by the bank and grab those papers out the safe deposit box but we will be here right after that.”
“That’s fine with me. I’ll be ready.”
“Alright baby. Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I kissed her cheek before standing. Spinning toward my mama, I held my hand out. “Give me that phone.”
Clicking her tongue against her teeth she lied, “I’on got it. We left it at the house.”
“I want it tomorrow. You didn’t buy it nor do you pay the bill on it. You can’t control shit when it comes to something I pay.”
After Law said his goodbyes to Gema, we left out the house. The ride to town was quiet. So quiet I was starting to get uncomfortable. I knew Law wanted to say something and only refrained out of respect for me. He probably thought I would end up crying but it was actually the opposite. I felt relieved, almost like that pressure in my chest had eased up and I could breathe better. God was really on my mama side cause had I walked in and the outcome been different, I was whooping everybody ass that was in the house. Now that I had put my eyes on Gema, I could finally get a good night’s rest.
CHAPTER 27
Lawton
“Not the Plaza, huh?” Talitha joked.
“It’s got a bed and hot water. That’s all I need love,” I shared.
She had been quiet since we left from by her people house. The way she released a deep breath when we got back in the car from visiting Gema, I could tell she was relieved. I myself was scared of what I was going to walk into. The way she talked about her folks, I didn’t know if I needed to come in guns blazing or what. Speaking of guns, I’d tucked mine in the back of my joggers before we left Atlanta and now that we were inside of the hotel, I felt secure enough to put it down.
Reaching my hand under the Nike hoodie, I pulled it out and placed it on the nightstand next to my wallet and phone.
“You had that on you the whole time?” Talitha quizzed.
“Hell yeah. I don’t visit unknown places without it. Especially without Baker being by my side.”
“You lucky I didn’t know you had it. I would’ve used it to clock the shit out of my Mama.” She laughed and tossed her body down on the bed. Grabbing a pillow, she put it over her face and let out a muffle scream.
When she pulled it down, she said, “I’ve been holding that in since we got here.”
Kneeling, I untied her sneakers and tossed them to the side before pulling her socks off. “Your aunt, the one who house we just left. What’s her deal?” I asked and sat beside her on the bed. Grabbing her by the legs, I swung her around and draped her legs over my lap so I could massage her feet.
“She’s a follower. Bitch ain’t got much of a mind of her own. Stupid ass let my Mama convince her to divorce her husband and she been miserable ever since.”
“Divorce her husband?”
“Ummh...” Talitha hummed, closing her eyes she clarified. “He was the pastor at the church here in town. She found out he was sleeping with his assistant. She let Jalitha get in her head about the rumors swirling around town. Mmmm,” she moaned and bit her lip when I applied pressure to the middle of her foot.
“Finish your story.” I chuckled.
“I am. Sssss… That feels so good,” she cooed then recovered. “But yeah, Jalitha was all in her ear telling her how he wasn’t shit and she didn’t want to be the towns spectacle, so she filed for a divorce. Whole time my Mama husband a pedophile and got kids he don’t even see off in Cordele.”
“Oh really?”
“Yep. My Mama the type that don’t want nobody to have more than her. She only married Joe Lee cause he had money. It couldn’t be cause of his looks. He fat, got bad skin, and black as hell. She was in it for the money.”
“These small ass towns have the most drama.”
“Law, you ain’t seen or heard the damn worst. Just wait until you meet Betty Jo aka Jill Scott.”
“The fuck!” I chortled. “Now, why you call that lady Jill Scott?”
“Don’t get me wrong… I fuck with Betty Jo but the bitch all into that holistic shit, walking around here talking ‘bout peace, peace. Wearing them fucking crystals and shit around her neck. And I mean whatever floats your boat, but bitch be for real. You was raised in the same house I was raised in, and Gema and Papa Joe raised us to believe in the Bible and not all of that other shit.”
“I learned a long time ago you’ve gotta let people have their vices and move the way that’s most comfortable for them.”
“I hear ya’. Just know my family is something else. You are surely in for a treat.” She laughed.
“You ready to shower?”
“I am but I need to find something for us to eat.”
Her mentioning food had my ass remembering we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast this morning. “You go shower, I’ll see what I can find.”
“It won’t be much, but I’ll eat whatever you settle on.”
“Okay.” Releasing her feet, I leaned over and sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. Talitha moaned and tried to climb into my lap. “Get yo’ ass up and go shower.”
“You lucky I’m tired anyway.” She laughed. Sliding out of my lap, Talitha stood in front of me and undressed. If today had been a better day, I wouldn’t have a problem taking her down. However, I knew what she really needed was for me to be there. Today had been emotional and I felt like tomorrow would have the exact same outcome.
Once she was done with her little strip show, she sauntered into the bathroom. While she showered, I scoured the internet in search of something that looked appealing enough to eat for the night.
“Love,” I called out when my phone chimed from Uber Eats alerting me that they were pulling up.
“Huh?”
“You gotta let me up. The food is here.”
“Okay,” she sighed. When she sat up, she had the cutest little mug on her face. Just like I thought, her ass was exhausted. After she finished her shower, she got dressed and climbed into my lap. She had been sitting here the entire time with her head laid on my chest half sleep.
Halfway through my search for food, Supreme called to check in. I’d spent majority of Talitha’s shower on the phone with him. I ended up hitting the shower before placing the order, giving her plenty of time to fall asleep. Tapping her on the leg, I slid her out of my lap and stood. “Give me a second.” After swiping the room key off the counter, I left the room.
Once the bag of food was in my hand, I tipped the driver and headed back upstairs. Slipping the card out of my pocket, I waved it across the lock and pushed the door opened.
Reaching her arms out of the cover Talitha yawned and stretched. “I can smell the food through the bag.”
“You’re hungry and that’s my fault. I should’ve made sure you ate something before we jumped on the road.”
“I was in a hurry so I probably wouldn’t have been able to eat anything.”
“Come on.” Placing the bag down on the table, I pulled out the contents and laid everything out.
“Why didn’t you get me steak?” she pouted, looking over at my plate.
“I specifically asked if you wanted steak or fish, and you said fish.”
“I didn’t know it was going to look that good,” she lied and picked up her plasticware.
I took a seat at the table and pushed my takeout container over to her so she could get a piece of my food. For someone who didn’t like medium rare steak, she ate it enough.
“Gema said if a man shares his food with you that means he loves you.” She smirked while cutting into my steak.
“Gema is full of analogies, I see.”
“Yep,” she popped. I watched her fork the piece of meat in her mouth and groan. “This is so good,” she sang and did a little dance in her seat.
After she passed the plate back, I sparked up a conversation. “Tell me more about your family.”
“Who you wanna hear about now?” She laughed.
“Doesn’t matter. What was the dynamic like with you and your grandfather? I see how close you and Gema are. What was it like when he was alive?”
“The three of us were the ultimate trio.” She giggled. “Papa Joe was the best father a girl could ever ask for. He never missed anything. He worked at a plant most of my life, well until he retired, but even with the early mornings and late nights, he made sure he attended every event.
I remember I was the eighth-grade prom queen. Papa Joe took me to Macy’s in Atlanta to go find the perfect dress. Gema couldn’t take me cause she had to work. We spent all day in Atlanta, he and I did. He took me to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner and took me for ice cream afterwards.
He did all of that and in the back of his mind, he just knew I was going to ask my daddy to be my escort. My absent father who was never around. The same father that didn’t hesitate to sign over his rights so Gema and Papa Joe could take me in.” She laughed. “Yeah... No, I remember we had hopped back on the highway and was headed back home. I looked over at him and asked why he didn’t get something to wear for himself and his response was ‘I didn’t know you wanted me to go.’ I’m like… Papa Joe who else would I ask?”
“Did you ever have a relationship with your biological father?”
“Hell no. When my Mama got pregnant, his ass was married. He didn’t want anything to do with me cause he didn’t wanna lose his family. That’s why it was so easy for him to give me away.”
“That’s tragic.”
“His absence wasn’t felt. Papa Joe was my daddy and that was all that mattered to me. When I won homecoming queen, he escorted me on the field. All of my important moments… he was there for them.”
“What about your mom?”
“In the beginning, she was the best mommy ever. We used to do everything together. Hell, I don’t know when Joe Lee came around but as far back as I can remember, he was there. We had pictures with him from when I was a baby, so I guess he’d been there from the beginning.
Up until he touched me, Joe Lee and I never had any issues. He used to take me to the park to play. We traveled as a unit and everything. When the switch up happened, Gema said Joe Lee brain was poisoned and that’s what made him do those things.”
“Poisoned how?”
“Joe Lee got bipolar disorder.”
“’Oh…” I hummed. “Wow… Yeah I wouldn’t have known that.”
“Nobody does. He takes medicine for it. So yeah, Gema said his mind was poisoned and that caused him to flip the way he did.”
“I don’t think that’s one of the characteristics of bipolar disorder, Talitha.”
“I know that,” she tittered. “Another one of Gema’s analogies. Joe Lee just rotten at the core. His mental condition has nothing to do with him sneaking into my bedroom at night, putting his hands on me. His ass had been around me for years, ain’t no telling how long he’d been watching me.” She shrugged.
“Your uncle that lives out of town?”
“Meat? What about him?”
“Why isn’t he more involved?”
“The fat muthafucka don’t come home. Lowkey, I think he’s embarrassed of all of this.” Her hand waved through the air. “Meat act like he had a bad life. Gema and Papa Joe worked they ass off to provide all of us with stability. Granted they might not have had much but they made do with what they did have. Meat went off to college and never looked back.”
“Your family is uh–” I paused to try and figure out how I wanted to put it without unintentionally offending her.
