8. Keyoni
Keyoni
I was volun-told that I would be helping one of the rural jurisdictions for the week. Diamond Falls had mutual aid agreements that allowed some of the smaller police forces to use our resources and personnel.
I turned out to be the chosen one, along with Kaiser who returned to work midweek.
For five days, I was away from Diamond Falls, in the damn boondocks, which doubled as the perfect place to establish a drug operation.
There was nothing out there, except people manufacturing drugs. Kaiser had a time sniffing them out.
By Friday, I was ready to go home and sleep in my own bed. Being away was cool, but not when the person I wanted to spend time with was more than an hour away. I wanted to see Sage in person. FaceTime just wasn’t cutting it anymore.
She was still at work when I made it back to Diamond Falls.
Everyone at the clinic was working long hours to account for the staff voting to attend Saturday’s block party.
Sage didn’t know what it was but voted with the collective.
She asked about it when she called me later that night.
I was vague with my description, telling her the experience would be better than anything I told her about. We agreed to go together.
Jami picked Keturah up from school for me. It was my week again, but since I was late getting back into town, she agreed to do it for me, and had the nerve to send me a CashApp request for gas money.
I sent her enough to cover a gallon, three whole dollars.
“You should be ashamed of your damn self,” Jami said when I stepped in.
“So should you,” I scoffed. “Gas money? Really? To pick up your own daughter?”
Kaiser trailed in behind me, going to his normal spot next to a reclining chair.
“Times is hard.” She plopped down on the couch. “You could’ve at least rounded it up to five.”
“Where’s my daughter?”
“Upstairs.” She lifted her legs onto the cushion, pointing the remote toward the TV. “She went to get Erin so she could see the puppies.”
It was gonna be a minute.
I walked to the back to see the new additions. Big Girl seemed more interested in me than tending to her own puppies.
“Hey, girl.” I rubbed her head. “Feed your babies.” One was scooting around, whimpering, on the hunt for a nipple. Big Girl glanced up with sad eyes. “Don’t look at me. I can’t do it.”
Jami was tuned into a TV show when I returned.
Keturah still wasn’t back, so I sat down on the loveseat, allowing my phone to distract me until she came back down.
I got comfortable, lifting my leg as I lay back against the armrest. Not long after, I was distracted by a knock at the door. Jami didn’t move, so I did.
It was Sage.
She looked surprised to see me, greeting me with an awkward smile. “Hey.” She tried to glance around me, but my frame blocked her view. “Is Jami here?”
“I’m here,” Jami declared behind me. “You’d see me if Keyoni would move his big ass head out of the way.”
Sage’s girlish giggle softened the mood, but something still seemed off. I moved to the side, allowing Sage to enter and she brushed past me without further acknowledgement.
“I came to check on Big Girl,” Sage advised. “How’s she doing?”
“The same. She still don’t wanna take care of her puppies.” Jami tossed her head back. “She’s back there. You can go see her.”
“Thanks.”
When she was out of earshot, I asked Jami if she called Sage over. It wasn’t an issue, I just didn’t know they were cool like that, or at least getting there. Jami told me Sage had been stopping by every day on her own, checking on Big Girl and her three remaining pups.
“She even brought me some milk yesterday,” Jami revealed.
“That was nice.”
“I know, right? She’s sweet.” I glanced down the hallway where Sage disappeared as Jami continued. “I like her.”
“Me too,” slipped out.
“I know,” Jami said. “Anybody with eyes can see that.”
“I thought you were watching TV.”
“And now you’re trying to deflect.” Jami laughed as I started for the back room. “You must really like her…”
Her laugh grew louder the further I walked, fizzling out when I reached the back room.
The door was open and I saw Sage sitting next to Big Girl’s pool, talking too lowly to hear.
I walked in, catching her attention with my footsteps.
She looked over briefly, gave a half-smile, then returned her attention to the nursing puppies.
“She doesn’t want to feed them,” she said as I walked up. “That’s not a good sign.”
Sage had Big Girl on her side, caressing her short coat while her puppies pulled and sucked forcibly at her nipples.
“What do you suggest?”
She sighed as I stood over her and nodded toward her hand. “This. She’s on a schedule. Every two to three hours, Jami comes in here and does the same thing I’m doing now, basically making her nurse.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Jami said she can only get her to lay down for a few minutes, then she’s back up, refusing to acknowledge the puppies. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to move to bottle-feeding.”
Knowing the way Jami’s patience was set up, it was a long road for everybody if it came to that. But that was her issue. Big Girl was her dog.
Keturah popped into the room. “Hey, Dad.” She migrated past me to the puppies she claimed as her own. “Hey, Ms. Sage.”
Sage looked up and smiled. “Hey, Keturah.”
“Are they doing okay?” she questioned, kneeling next to Sage. “I was feeding that one the bottle before I went to school.” She pointed to the runt of the litter. “She’s my favorite.”
They started a conversation that had me on the outs. I glanced out of the door, looking for Keturah’s friend.
“Where’s Erin?”
“Oh, she couldn’t come down.” The runt released Big Girl’s nipple, falling into a relaxing milk coma. Keturah picked her up. “Her mom’s not home. She can’t leave the apartment.”
I nodded, watching my daughter desert our conversation for a baby talk session with the puppy. I stopped it as soon as it started.
“Don’t get comfortable.” Keturah looked up. “We’re about to go.”
“Can we stay a little bit longer?” Keturah whined.
“No.” I was ready to go home.
“But…” She thought about it before asking, “Can I stay then?”
“Discuss it with Jami.”
We tried not to deviate too much from our parenting schedule.
“Okay.” Keturah left the room, running with the puppy like her life depended on it.
I followed her out of the door, demanding that she walk. She finally slowed down when she reached her mother, eventually coming to a full stop.
“Hard-headed ass…”
“Leave her alone,” Sage said, standing. “She’s just excited.”
“Well…she needs to calm down.”
Sage glanced around me. “Where’s Kaiser?”
“In there with Jami.”
“How’s he doing?”
“See for yourself.”
She rolled her eyes, leading the way into the living room. Keturah was next to her mother on the couch, sporting a smile that took up most of her face.
“Mom said I can stay,” Keturah announced.
I figured she would. It meant Jami didn’t have to get up with the puppies every few hours.
“Was it even a question?” Jami quizzed. “Of course Keturah can stay. Anytime she wants.”
Knowing Jami, I expected a text requesting a day’s portion of the rent and electric bill. She was that petty.
“Sage,” I began. “You’re my witness. You heard her.”
“Heard what?”
I looked at her in disbelief. She broke character the longer I stared, breaking eye contact to bow her head and laugh. She knew exactly what I was talking about.
“My girl!” Jami leaned forward and they slapped hands. “I knew I liked you.”
Their unserious moment wasn’t worth watching. “I’m out of here.” I whistled. “Kaiser, let’s go.”
“I guess that’s my cue too.” Sage followed me to the door. “I got a busy day tomorrow.”
“Are you going to the block party?” Jami asked.
“I think so.” She looked at me to confirm. “Am I?”
“Yeah, we’re going. She ain’t never been to one.”
“Oh, really? Well…you’re in for a treat,” Jami advised. “I love block parties.”
“Hopefully I will too.”
I knew she would. D-Ville block parties were an entire experience.
SAGE
The streets were littered with people of all shades. I walked up and down the block with Keyoni as he pointed out the significance of the origin.
“This is basically the community coming together. No fighting. No issues. No nothing. Just community and fellowship.”
I nodded, listening to Keyoni while observing food vendors assisting their respective lines.
“Does the city pay for this?” I could only imagine the bill.
“Nah, DP covers the costs.”
My brows furrowed. “Really?”
“Yeah. Regardless of how you feel about ’em, they’re big on giving back.”
Keyoni spoke to just about everybody, making his rounds up and down the block. There were people huddled into groups and others just freely walking the streets. Most of the adults had drinks in hand with the same style of cup.
I pulled at Keyoni’s arm. “What’s everybody drinking?” He scanned the crowd for cups. “Probably one of Ms. Emma’s mixed drinks. You want one?”
Why not? “Sure.”
We walked back the other way, passing several families with young kids.
All ages were out, enjoying what could be described as a family celebration.
Because the way everyone interacted, you would’ve sworn they were all family.
It was a calm vibe, one I wasn’t used to, since my dysfunctional family couldn’t find a way to get along.
Anytime we were around each other, we argued over the silliest things, so it felt good to be around so many people without all the negativity.
Everybody who was there wanted to be there.
And their presence was appreciated. If just for a day, the focus was all things D-Ville.
The banner hanging from trees at the entrance praised the area, proving that today was a day for people to just be themselves and have fun—something I could attest to. I was enjoying myself.