22. Frederick
22
FREDERICK
T he two of us stare at each other for a moment before Rochelle goes racing into the building and up the stairs. I follow behind, wondering what the hell is going on.
“That dumb bitch called the cops again, didn’t she? Tell me the truth!”
We hear shouting in the hallway before we even reach their floor. Walken, Sigourney, and their grandmother are standing outside their apartment. Mimi points one long, fake fingernail at Rochelle when she appears in the hallway.
“You called the cops on my baby again, didn’t you?”
“No!” Rochelle’s eyes widen. “I wasn’t even here. Frederick and I were at dinner with his family.”
“What happened?” I ask, stepping forward to diffuse the tension.
“My poor baby got fired from the warehouse today. They said he can’t come into work high, but he ain’t high. It’s medicinal. When Caroline found out, she started in on him about how he can’t keep a job. That isn’t true! My boy works damned hard for this family and does whatever he can. She’s the one sitting on her ass.”
Terrance hasn’t kept a job longer than five weeks according to Rochelle, but I bite my tongue.
“He told her to leave him be. She wouldn’t shut up, and they started arguing. I don’t know what happened next because I went to lie down. All I know is that Caroline was shrieking about him hitting her, and Terrance was hollering that she’s the one who hit him first.”
Those poor kids. It has to be traumatizing to hear your parents fighting like that.
“Terrance hurt Mom!” Walken says, his fists shaking by his sides. “He hit her!”
“Mommy was yelling, it was really scary,” Sigourney adds. “Then the cops came.”
“They arrested Terrance and took Caroline away!” Mimi’s voice is getting louder. “Told her that she had to go with them and get into some kind of program. The kids are staying with me for the time being. I hope you’re happy,” she adds with a sneer. “You’ve torn this family apart.”
“I wasn’t even here,” Rochelle reiterates. “Terrance and Caroline are the ones tearing the family apart. I’m sorry you two had to see this,” she says, bending down to hug the children, who rush into her arms.
“You couldn’t wait to get rid of my son. You called the cops on him last time, too. You just want to break this family up!”
“Hey, that isn’t fair.” Rochelle stands up and puts her hands on her hips. “I didn’t call them that time either. They have a safe place to hang out with me, so they go there to get away from their father. He’s the one terrorizing everyone.”
“Don’t you talk about my son like that. You don’t know anything about him. My Terrance works hard for his family! If that dumb ho-bag weren’t drunk all the damned time, she could appreciate what she’s got instead of mouthing off to him at every chance!”
“Seems like the both of them could use a cooling off period then,” I say, slipping between them. “I don’t want to point fingers, but maybe this is for the best. Terrance can cool down and Caroline can get sober. Then things can start turning around for them.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, rich boy. Terrance needs to be here. You don’t know what’s best for them. Stay out of shit that doesn’t concern you.”
“Mimi, I’m just trying to keep the peace. There’s no need for that kind of language.”
“Shut up, just shut up! They took my baby, and he’s in jail! He’s going to have this on his record forever now!” Mimi is wailing now, carrying on so loudly that other neighbors have poked their heads out to see what’s going on.
Rochelle moves to protect the kids from their grandmother’s tirade, pushing them behind her. “Mimi, you need to calm down. You’re scaring the kids.”
“Don’t you talk to me, you dumb bitch! You’ve had it out for Terrance ever since you accused him of stealing your bike! You probably called the cops just to get back at him!” She takes another step forward, and I jump between them, unwilling to let her hurt Rochelle or the children.
“Step back, ma’am,” I say, my voice firm.
“Get the hell out of my way!” Mimi shoves her hands against me, though it does little more than cause me to shift back on my feet. I’ve got nearly a foot of height on her and fifty pounds.
“Don’t you touch him!” Rochelle darts forward, getting between us. “You’ve lost your damned mind, lady!”
“You listen to me!” Mimi says, pointing her finger into Rochelle’s face. “I know you don’t like my baby, but you’re not going to get away with this!”
“Get your finger out of my face,” Rochelle says through clenched teeth. When Mimi doesn’t move it, Rochelle pushes it away.
This is the wrong move, apparently, because Mimi swings her hand back and slaps Rochelle. Before I can stop them, the two women are facing off.
“Rochelle!” Sigourney yells.
Mimi makes a move to smack her again, but Rochelle pulls her own hand back and punches the woman square in the face.
The second it happens, time seems to slow down. Sigourney and Walken start crying, Rochelle’s eyes widen, and at that exact moment, one of the officers steps out of the apartment, witnessing the hit.
I leap between them to try to salvage things but it’s too late. The officer starts yelling and more officers appear, separating the two women.
“What happened here?” Officer Reynolds asks Mimi.
“That bitch punched me, arrest her!”
“She slapped Rochelle first,” Walken cries out. She whips around, glaring at him.
“Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s the truth,” Sigourney says, narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips. “Mimi hurt Miss Rochelle, and she was only defending herself.”
“Arrest her! Get that crazy woman away from me!”
“Sounds like both of you need to cool off. But you assaulted this woman and there are witnesses, so I’m going to have to arrest you,” she says to Rochelle. “It doesn’t matter who started it, it’s still assault.”
Both the children and I start speaking at once, trying to get the officer to see reason to no avail. Rochelle is placed in handcuffs and read her rights before being led away.
We follow them down the stairs and outside, where Rochelle is placed in the back of a squad car. Her eyes are downcast, her shoulders slumped. I want to reach out and grab her to protect her from this injustice, but I can’t do anything at this moment.
I stare at her as she starts to cry, and my heart breaks. “I’ll get you out of there,” I promise her. Her eyes meet mine for a brief moment before Sigourney and Walken crowd around me, clinging to me as we watch the squad car drive off.
“Kids! Get back inside!” Mimi orders. They both stare at her with twin looks of defiance on their faces.
“We’re not going back in there with you,” Sigourney says. “Me and Walken called the cops on Mommy and Terrance because he was hitting Mommy really hard and you didn’t stop them. You’re supposed to protect us but you didn’t!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mimi argues. “You’re kids. You don’t understand grown-up shit.”
“I can look after them for a few minutes. They might just need time to gather themselves.”
“Stay out of this before I have you arrested, too, dumbass.” Mimi points her finger at me. “Now get yourselves upstairs before I swat your behinds!”
The children start pulling away, but I can’t let her get the last word.
“Mimi?” I call out, giving the children each a quick side hug as they slowly start walking back to the building.
“What?”
“I’m the one who called the cops the other day. Rochelle was right. Your son is a deadbeat. If you can’t see that, you need to take a look in the mirror.”
Mimi looks like she wants to punch me herself, but she grabs the children by their arms instead, taking them inside.
Smart choice. She knows I’d have her arrested before she could even take a step towards me. What an unpleasant woman. The apple apparently doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I shake my head and hail a taxi. Right now, I need to get to Rochelle and bail her out. This whole thing has shown me a side of Rochelle that I’ve never seen. She was so strong, protecting the children and trying to defend her loved ones.
Like a mama bear, claws out and ferocious. Now it’s my turn to protect her and get her out of jail as soon as possible.