Chapter 16 Theresa
The afternoon’s air had clung to me, and the heaviness mirrored what I felt. “You took my husband away from me.” I didn’t mean it. It came out in the heat of the moment. Now those were words I couldn’t take back.
The look, the hurt and pain that washed over Courtland’s face was etched in my mind. It left me breathless as the pipes of his truck rushed away from the community.
I leaned against the side of my car holding my chest.
I still remember that awful, dreadful day.
I was nursing a two-month-old Maleek on the night of Andre’s fight.
“Don’t forget your bottle.” I pointed to the dresser as Andre was about to pass it.
“That’s why I married you,” he complimented, kissing my lips and rushing off, almost forgetting the water bottle on the way out.
I giggled as I rocked Maleek.
He grabbed him and kissed him before handing him back to me. “See you in a little bit, Leek.”
“Alright, Ma.” Courtland rushed into the room.
I side-eyed him. “Is your homework finished?”
“Yeah.”
“It better be, otherwise he’ll be staying home,” Andre said, coming back into the room.
“Yeah, Ma. I got this.” Courtland groaned.
“Alright now. I’m taking your word for it.”
“Come on, Court,” Andre called out.
“Gotta go, Ma.” He made a dash for it before kissing the side of my head. “See you Maleek.” He pinched his cheek.
“Love y’all!” Courtland yelled out.
Maleek giggled then whined after realizing Courtland was leaving. For him to be small, he understood when his brother wasn’t around. And when Courtland got home, he’d sit and play with him, feed and watch him while I did things around the house. He was such a good brother.
They rushed out the door.
After getting Maleek down for bed, I ate and cleaned.
Sometime later, Andre’s manager stopped by.
I thought nothing of it.
Back then, I trusted him more than I should.
The house was quiet except the television being on for background noise. But there was this feeling that I couldn’t shake. Like the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The phone rang off the hook followed by knocks on my door. It woke Maleek up. Everything happened at lightspeed. When I opened the door for my sister Melinda, the weariness on her face scared me.
She took Maleek from me.
“Theresa, have a seat.” She sat down, cradling the baby.
My heart trampled in beats. She’d only said a couple words, but they held weight.
“Naw now, Linda. What’s going on? It’s late.”
She heavily exhaled with a sigh. “I know it is, but you really need to sit.”
Just then, my phone rang.
Both our heads went in its direction.
“Let me get that.” I started for the kitchen.
“Theresa, Andre’s gone!” she blurted, stopping me in my tracks.
My heart slammed into my chest, then stopped beating.
“What?” I retorted, slowly turning around.
She slowly shook her head. “Andre’s gone.”
“Gone to the gym, yes. I know. He had a match tonight. Wait… you were there.”
“Andre and Court was involved in something outback of the gym…” she explained.
That’s when I noticed the blood on her shirt then her hands.
This wasn’t a joke, but it wasn’t registering.
“Linda, what you mean? They were just home. I just saw them, Linda,” I rationalized.
“Theresa, I gotta get you down to the hospital. Courtland needs you.”
I jumped to my feet.
“Linda, stop. That can’t be.”
“Theresa, I’m not lying. Andre’s dead. I don’t know the condition of Court, but we gotta go.”
Her words took the life from me as the world halted. I couldn’t fathom any of it. Motion pictures of my husband and son right before they left the house registered with me. That’s all I remembered. Nothing else. None of it made sense. No way my husband, no way any of this happened.
Something out of my peripheral caught my attention. I blinked out my memory, wiping tears. Maleek stood in the doorway, anger seeping from his skin.
“Ma, why would you say that shit to Court?” he chastised, bass in his voice. “He didn’t have nothing to do with Daddy’s death.”
“I…” I stuttered, looking up at him. I swallowed hard, but the blob wouldn’t go down easy. He was right, but the words were out there. Courtland didn’t take his father from me.
The baby of the two was defending his oldest against me. That seems to be the story of our lives these days. Now wearing Courtland’s weight on his shoulders.
“I didn’t mean it,” I whispered, staring down at the ground.
“You’re such a damn hypocrite. You go at Court like the baddest woman on the planet then when he leaves, you stay in reflection like you have feelings.
What about how he feels? He’s been trying to reconcile, make it right– something he had no control over, and you still treat him like wrong. What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“I’m still your goddamn mom, Maleek.”
“Yeah, well sometimes I wished you wasn’t. I wanna go stay with Court.” His words punched me in the gut as he went into the house with his words lingering in the air.
“As long as I live, you’ll be right here with me,” I retorted, letting him know that despite how he felt, there’s no leaving.