5. Halo
Halo
The following morning
“ T hank you for doing this,” I said to Krissy when I opened the back passenger door for Brave. He slid inside, and I placed my purse on the seat alongside him.
“You know it’s not a problem at all,” she said before I shut the door and got into the passenger seat. “Did she ever say what she wanted to talk to you about?”
“No. I know it’s almost time for her to get out. I really hope they haven’t pushed her time back.”
“I hope not,” Krissy answered and pulled out of the parking lot.
I was ready for my mama to come home. She’d been gone damn near nine years. That was too much, if you asked me, for someone who didn’t even commit the fucking crime. To this day, I still don’t understand why Jeff didn’t tell the police that Ma didn’t have shit to do with what he did. He was pussy.
“Ma, I need a charger,” Brave spoke.
“How come you didn’t plug it up before you left the house?”
“It’s fine. I have one,” Krissy said and reached for her charger then handed it to Brave. I watched as Brave slipped his headphones over his head. Once I knew he wasn’t listening, I started talking.
“You remember the guy that I told you paid for the groceries?” I asked Krissy and waited for her facial expression.
“I just know you not messing with him.” She frowned.
“No. I ran into him at the stadium. Why this nigga owns the shit?”
“You lying.”
“Now you know I would never lie to you.”
“Damn. Maybe you should’ve talked to him then.”
“I am not trying to talk to him just because he got some money.”
“You know they always say that it’s better to cry in a mansion than a basement.” She tilted her head in my direction with a smirk.
“I’m not wasting my time.”
“Is he fine? I might need to go find him for myself.”
Fine? That wasn’t even the word to describe that man. He was one of God’s greatest creations.
“Is he?...” I pursed my lips.
“Don’t get mad if I snatch him up.”
“Mad for what? Have at it.”
Picking up my phone, I went to Facebook to scroll since we had a drive ahead of us to get to Tutwiler.
Krissy pulled into the parking lot and stopped in the first free space she saw. My heart banged against my ribcage, not knowing what I was about to walk into.
“You ready?” Krissy turned to me and asked.
“Yeah.”
Opening the door, my feet touched the ground. The sunrays beamed down against my skin. I rounded the front of the truck where Krissy was already waiting for me. Brave stepped up with his tablet in his hand.
“Leave it in the truck. You know you can’t take that in there with you,” I told him.
Brave doubled back to the truck and placed his tablet on the seat and shut the door. He dragged his feet back over to where we stood, and I nudged him in front of me. Rocks and sticks cracked underneath our feet as we strolled toward the entrance. He loved to visit my mama. Despite her being locked up, she still presented herself as a grandmother, and that woman didn’t play about him either.
Krissy grabbed the door and held it open for us. We went through the metal detector then up to the desk. I signed us in and took a seat in one of the chairs with everyone else who was waiting to visit their loved ones.
“Can I get some chips?” Brave looked up at me and asked.
“I don’t have any change on me, and I couldn’t bring my purse.”
“I have a couple dollars,” Krissy said and reached into her pocket.
She handed him the money and he said, “Thanks,” then got up and went over to the vending machine.
Brave slipped the money into the machine, pressed a button and stood back as his Doritos dropped. Leaning down, he stuck his hand inside the machine and pulled the chips out. On his way back to his seat, he popped the Doritos open and sat back down next to me.
People chattered all around us. Kids ran around playing in this room I’d grown accustomed to ever since Ma first got placed here. I tried my best to make sure I made it to see her at least twice a month. My heart always hurt every time I had to walk out that door without her. The part that hurt the most was when she couldn’t be there to see Brave be born.
Being out here without my mama was hard as hell. In the time she was gone, I struggled with a lot of everyday life, which was where I got the name Brave from in the first place. I had to be brave. I had to be strong, especially for the child I was bringing into the world alone. Without Krissy, I don’t know where I would be right now.
The door buzzed and everyone lifted to their feet. We formed a single-file line as they led us through the doors and out into the yard. I grabbed the first empty table I could find and we took a seat. Not long after, the inmates marched out the door. Ma was the last person to come out. A smile adorned her face when her eyes landed on us. People said that I looked just like her. The only difference was that she’d put on some weight while she was behind bars and had jet black hair that stopped in the center of her back. I must have gotten my hair color from my father.
Ma stopped at our table and Brave hopped to his feet. His arms went around her waist, and she kissed him on top of the head. “I missed you too,” she said.
After giving them their time to bond, I got up and pulled her in for an embrace. “Hey, Ma.”
“Hey, baby girl.” She pecked me on the cheek, and I went back to my seat.
“Hey, Ms. C,” Krissy spoke and waved.
“Hey, Kris. That hair ate. Isn’t that what you girls are saying these days?”
Krissy and I erupted in laughter. “Ma, just stop.”
“Your hair is nice, Krissy,” she replied, and the corners of her mouth curled upward into a smile.
“Thanks, Ms. C.”
Ma took a seat at the table alongside Krissy, facing me. “How you holding up?” I questioned her. That’s always been a question I asked whenever I talked to her. When Ma first got locked up, I wasn’t worried about her wellbeing behind bars. Ma was from the hood. She could throw hands with the best of the best and wasn’t afraid of anyone. She tried her hardest to keep us from going back there. I hated she got mixed up with Jeff. He always gave me a bad feeling.
“I’m doing okay. How’s everything going with you?”
“She met a guy,” Krissy blurted, and I cut my eyes at her. She shrugged with a smirk.
“You met a guy? How come you didn’t tell me that?”
“Because I didn’t really meet a guy. I just bumped into one a couple times and he flirted, but it’s nothing serious.”
“Why not? You don’t think it’s time to start talking to someone new? It’s been what… three years since… what’s his name?” She patted Krissy's messy ass on the arm, knowing she was gon’ answer the question.
“Nutt.” Saliva sprayed from her lips when she said that.
“He had the right name because he was a nut for real.”
“Can y’all just leave the past in the past.” I rolled my eyes. Just as any other young female, I had poor taste in men. I knew better and learned from my mistakes.
“You should’ve left him where he was at,” Ma said and cracked up. She was laughing so hard that she slapped her hand against the table.
“Anyway, I don’t have no man and don’t plan on getting one. Those men are a waste of time.” Turning to Brave, I said, “Go play with the other children.”
“But, Ma…”
“Go.” Huffing, he got up from the table and strolled over to where a group of children were playing on the playground. I turned my attention back to my mama. “I’m trying my best to hold it together out there.”
“Have you started looking into those night classes for your GED? I been sent you the information months ago.”
“I be trying, but there’s so much going on. Now football is added on top of that.”
“Stop making excuses, Halo. You can do whatever you put your mind to. You’ve been wasting your life on the unnecessary for far too long. Get back on your shit.”
“Yes, ma’am.” If I didn’t agree with her, she was just going to continue her rant. “I know this isn’t what you called me here for though.”
“It’s not.” Ma looked over at Krissy, and she quickly caught the hint.
“I’ll be over there with the kids,” Krissy said and got up from the table.
Ma waited ’til she was out of earshot and replied, “I have cancer.”