9. Bronx’s Tale #3
She decided to warm herself up something to eat since she hadn’t eaten since lunch that day.
Her cell was left on the counter in the kitchen from earlier.
She remembered being so tired all she could do was lie down and go to sleep.
Bypassing her phone to heat her food in the microwave, she noticed she had a few recent notifications on her screen.
Once she put the timer on for two minutes, she went to check it.
Several local numbers popped up when she scrolled, and then a few from Rhema with a text minutes later telling her to call her.
The timer on the microwave went off, so she gathered her plate and sat at her island to eat.
After a quick prayer, Toni dug into her food, and her phone rang again.
This time it was one of the same numbers that appeared about twenty minutes ago.
“Hello.” She picked up.
“Good evening. This is nurse Fredricks at Prospect Pointe Memorial. I’m trying to reach Antonia Chambers.”
A slight frown furrowed her brows as Toni took a bite of her food.
“This is she.”
“Toni? Oh my God, you are listed as the emergency contact for a Onika Taylor-Chambers.” She recognized Rhema’s voice on the other line.
“Unfortunately. She’s my mother,” Toni said and sighed. “Wait… you’re calling from work?”
“Yes! I’m sorry, but your mother was in a terrible multivehicle collision, and she is here in critical condition.”
Although the news was shocking, Toni didn’t necessarily feel anything upon hearing it.
“Okay. What about her husband, Urso? Did anybody try to reach him?”
“Um, well, he was the driver of the car. He is currently in surgery. His daughter, Uma, was also in the vehicle. She is undergoing an emergency cesarean as we speak.”
“Oh, my God.” Now Toni was shook.
She didn’t fuck with Uma, but she wouldn’t wish this on her.
“We need you to come down here in case any important decisions need to be made as far as their status.”
“Great,” Toni muttered right before she shut her eyes and sighed. “Fine. I’ll be there in like forty-five minutes.”
“Okay,” Rhema said before hanging up.
She ended the call as Lotus sailed into the room with all the laundry folded in a fresh basket. Instantly, she read the tension on Toni’s face.
“What’s going on?”
“Ugh, that was Rhema calling from the hospital. Apparently, my mother, her husband, and my stepsister were in a car accident. She’s in critical condition, and they want me to come down there as her emergency contact.”
“Oh, shit,” Lotus muttered. “Well, I can stay with the kids if you need to go.”
Toni took a few more bites of her food and decided to carry her plate upstairs so she could get dressed.
“Thanks, Lo. I don’t know how long I’m going to be.”
“That’s fine. You know me and the kids are good. I’m going to get them ready for their baths and get our snack ready for their bedtime story.”
“Okay.”
Within twenty minutes, Toni was out the door.
The hospital was only fifteen minutes from her and Bull’s house anyway.
As she was leaving, Brenda stumbled up the walkway.
She’d parked crookedly in the driveway and everything.
In a two-piece summer Chanel set, she’d kicked off one of her heels and held it in her hand, nearly colliding with Toni on the cobblestone walkway.
“Hey, Brenda, what the hell?” All she inhaled was liquor and those Black cigarettes she smoked as she hung onto her to keep from falling. “Lord, you drove here like this?” Toni asked, helping her toward the house.
“I wanted to see my grandbabies,” she slurred.
“Well, they don’t need to see you like this. Come on. We need to get you something to eat and get you to bed.”
“No. You don’t understand.” Brenda stopped her on the stairs, holding both of Toni’s eyes.
Eyes glossy and bloodshot, Brenda licked her dry lips.
“I was a bad mother. My kids deserved better. You… you’re a good mother.
I like to come here and see you laughing and hugging and playing with your babies.
I didn’t get to do that. Braxton thought they would be soft,” she rambled.
“And Bull, Bull loves you so much! I’m happy for him but sad that Bronx is dead. Are you sad that he’s dead sometimes?”
Toni sighed. She was getting heavy. Using her key, she let them back into the foyer, and Lotus poked her head into the hallway from the kitchen. Immediately, her face wrinkled in confusion.
“Lotus!” Brenda sang with a wave of her arm.
“Hey, Brenda. How are you?”
“Loaded!” she declared, then fell over laughing. “I’m so sorry. Are the kids here? Are they sleeping?” She put her index finger to her lips. “Ssh.”
“No, they’re here. They are awake, but I think you need to go sleep this off. I don’t want them to see you like this,” Toni reasoned.
“Mmm, okay,” Brenda agreed.
“Okay. Come on.” Toni shot a look at Lotus and shook her head.
With empathy, Lotus returned to the kitchen with the kids.
Toni led Brenda down the hall to a guest room.
She hit the light switch at the door which flicked on each beside lamp as she walked her to the bed.
Flopping onto her side, Brenda drooled onto the covers, and Toni knelt to help her out of her other shoe.
She’d had her share of experience with Onika in this same state, so she was familiar with it.
She made sure to turn Brenda on her side the minute her breathing turned heavy, then went to grab her a bottle of water from the mini fridge in the corner and aspirin from the medicine cabinet.
She set everything up on the bedside table and turned the lights out for Brenda on her way out.
Lotus waddled from the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream in her hand, Jou Jou at her side holding a fresh bag of microwave popcorn, and Breeze snacking on a bag of Sour Patch Kids.
“She good?”
“Yeah. Just let her sleep it off. I’ll call you when I know something at the hospital.”
“Okay, say bye, Mama!” Lotus encouraged the kids.
“Bye, Mama!” Jou and Breeze squealed together.
“Mmm, nobody can say fine ain’t in those Andrews genes.” Shenai slid across from Bull at a table inside the bakery.
She’d already placed her order for pickup, and he eyed the dozen cupcakes in front of her as she settled in her seat.
Dumb thick, with hips that drew you to the wagon she toted behind her, Shenai obviously was well taken care of by somebody.
With a fresh set of nails, a wavy 50 inch bust down melted to perfection, and a natural beat, she grinned at Bull.
The open face golds in her mouth gleamed against her perfect teeth as she swiped her tongue across her lips.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you since you were fresh out of high school. You and your brother used to practically live in my mama’s restaurant.”
“Sorry to hear about her,” Bull acknowledged.
“She lived a long, full life,” Shenai countered. “I’m on my way to drop these cupcakes off for my grandbaby’s party at school tomorrow for her birthday. She’s turning six. So, what exactly is it that I can do for you?”
“How long was you fucking around with Bronx?”
“Now how you know we wasn’t just on the prayer line together?” Shenai quipped, curling her lips.
Bull gaped across the table, and she snickered.
“Don’t be looking at me like that. I know Jesus!”
“My brother been gone four years, Shenai. I need to know everything and everybody he dealt with before he died.”
“Okay, Mr. Serious.” She rolled her eyes.
“We fucked around for about a year. Bronx was cool people. Nigga had dope dick too for a YN.” Shenai sighed.
“We hung out at my place mainly. I cooked for him and made sure his laundry was done. He paid bills and car notes. Shit was cool. The week before he died, he asked about Mama’s restaurant and what I was doing with it.
It’s had been two years at the time. I still can’t bring myself to sell it. ”
Bull listened, trying to put himself in Bronx’s head. If he was already plotting on a place to move the paintings he damn sure did that ahead of time, and it was more than likely a solo mission. He wouldn’t want anybody privy to that information until it was time to move it.
“Anyway, he said he knew a realtor, and I could probably make a decent coin if I didn’t decide to do something with it myself. I was starting to consider it, so he said he would go over with an estimator and look at numbers. I gave him the key and lockbox code to get inside.”
Bull listened and stroked his beard before eyeing her again.
“Anybody else know about this?”
“Just me, Bronx, and the walls in my apartment. Everybody knew he was fucking with that bitch, Fancy, so we were keeping it discreet.”
“So did anything ever come of him going over to Ruby’s spot?”
Shenai shook her head, eyes suddenly filling with melancholy.
“Nope, he died before we could ever get the ball rolling, and I’ve just been letting the place sit.”
“I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me, Shenai.” Bull scooted off his seat, both hands on the table and pushed himself into a standing position. “How much those cupcakes cost?”
“Oh, for a dozen it’s like thirty dollars,” she told him.
Bull went into his pocket and retrieved a fifty-dollar bill from a wad of cash and placed it on the table for her.
“Consider them on me.”
“Thank you, sweetie. I’m a phone call away now. Consider me the head of the Prospect Pointe tree. All the tea starts with me.” She winked, and Bull simpered.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Bull exited the bakery and got a call from Toni on his way to the car.
“What’s up, baby?”
“Bull, I’m at the hospital.”
“What’s wrong?” Panic ignited in his chest.
“The kids are fine. So am I. Rhema called. My mother was in a car accident with Urso and his daughter, Uma. I’m listed as her emergency contact. I left the kids at home with Lotus, but I’m just sitting here until they come tell me something.”
“Aight.” Bull pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be there in like ten minutes.”