Chapter 2 #2
I tried my luck by turning the knob, just to see if the door was unlocked, and it was.
I sucked my teeth while shaking my head because it felt like every time that I came over here, I had to get on my grandma about freely leaving her door unlocked.
She acted like she didn’t live smack dab in the fuckin hood, and that niggas wouldn’t just run up in her shit and try to rob her.
Whenever I would get on her about that, she swears that everyone knows her around these parts, and that no one would ever run into her house, and try to cause harm on her.
I went ahead, and locked the door behind me, and I walked through the house, stopping in the kitchen.
To the left of me, it was the living room area, and there were about ten women, including my grandma, that were all out of their seats, and they were doing a line dance.
All of them were in their own little world, having no clue what the fuck was happening around them.
They were all doing the boots on the ground dance, with their back facing me, but the second they turned around, and made eye contact with me, all dancing stopped, they each clutched onto their imaginary pearls, as if they’d just gotten the shock of a lifetime, but once they saw that it was me, each of their eyes relaxed.
“Tank, you scared the hell out of me, boy! I didn’t know that you were coming over here!” my grandma fussed, removing herself from the line dance that was going on, and she walked over to me.
She came over wearing a custom green, orange, and white University of Miami shirt, that had a picture of her, and Rico in the front, broadcasting that she was his grandmother.
She paired the shirt with white capris, and because she was in the house, her house slippers were on her feet.
My grandmother was a very beautiful woman, and she was aging so gracefully.
She thought that her ass was still young, so she had the knotless braids in her hair that a lot of women wear these days, but they weren’t long, going down to her ass or anything like that.
They stopped just a little bit before her shoulders, and judging from how neat they were, you could tell that she’d just got them done.
There was a smile on her face as she approached me. It was evident that she was happy I was here. She’d called me earlier today, telling me about the event that was going on at her house, but I turned it down because I knew that today’s plans were to get Dionne out the house.
“What’s up ma?” I asked, reaching my arms out, pulling her into a hug. Her arms wrapped around my waist too, and before we pulled away from each other, I kissed her on her forehead.
“Nothing. Did you watching the game. Rico played so good tonight. I’m so proud of my grandson.
I didn’t know you were coming. I thought that you were going to be tied up,” she went on, and the entire time that she was talking to me, my eyes weren’t on her because I was too busy looking outside through the patio doors, trying to get a glimpse of who was all out there.
I took my eyes off the glass doors for a second, so that I could look back down at her.
“I watched it. He did his big one tonight. Ima hit him up later. Who all out there?” I asked her. There was a look in her eyes, as if she was trying to read me.
She was squinting, while looking at me with confused eyes, basically trying to figure out just what the hell was going on with me.
“Everybody for the most part. What’s going on, Tavion?” she asked, calling me by my government name.
“Nothing. Let me go out there, and speak,” was all that I had, keeping it short with her.
I walked away, going for the patio doors, and there was loud music out here that was playing. My eyes scanned the large backyard area, until they eventually landed on my dad.
He was up out of his seat, with a clear, plastic cup in his hands, and you could see the leftover brown liquor that was inside.
With the music that was playing, he was two stepping to the sound, all the while, yelling, and screaming, off key to the music.
As if I didn’t come over here on bullshit, I walked through the backyard, where I could hear family calling my name, trying to get my attention, and speaking to me.
I paid them no mind, as I walked over to my dad, found an empty bottle of Patron that was sitting down on the table, and the second I made it to him, I swung the bottle, clocking that nigga upside the head with it, instantly making him stumble back, falling on his ass, and you could hear the loud outburst from everyone behind me, shocked behind what they’d just saw me do.
I knew that it wasn’t going to be long before they tried to get me off him, so I blacked out quickly, and I started beating the fuck out of this nigga.
My eyes had turned black, it felt like everything around me was black, as I was on top of him, using just my bare hands, sending blows his way.
I could hear shit on his face cracking, due to the power of the punches that I was landing against him.
Just like I thought, it wasn’t long before I felt hands pull me from on top of this nigga.
“Chill the fuck out, Tank!” that was my uncle Roy. He had my right arm, and one of my grandma’s neighbors, Mr. Clint, had my left arm. I was seething.
My pops lay down on the grass, and he was barely conscious. There was so much blood that was dripping from his face, that he looked unrecognizable.
“Let me go! Let me the fuck go! I ain’t going to touch him. Let me go!” I barked, trying to shake my way out of their hold.
They must have believed me because they both let me go, so I quickly walked over to him, pulled my phone out, and that picture of a picture that I’d taken at Dionne’s house, I showed it to him.
I put it in his face, so that he could see it.
His eyes were swelling up, with blood coming from out of them, so I’m sure his vision was blurry, making it hard for him to see the image.
“You saw her before?” I barked, wanting to know.
“F…. Fuck you! Nigga, I can’t see shit!” he slurred, drunk out of his fuckin mind.
“Tank, whatever that nigga did, you going to have to ask him about that shit in the morning. He been drinking since before he got over here. He’s fucked up.
What you’re doing right now is pointless.
I don’t know what this nigga did, but you going to have to ask him tomorrow when he sobors up,” my uncle Leon called out.
I took my eyes off my dad, and I looked over at my uncle Leon, who was still standing there with Mr. Clint, my uncle Roy, and my grandma had come over too. I didn’t even see when she’d come outside.
Everyone was out here, and jaws were still dropped to the floor, and eyes were still big like saucers because of what I had just done.
I wanted to get the truth from this nigga, but I knew with the state that he was in right now from all that drinking, that I wouldn’t get any answers. I was pissed, as I stuck my phone back in my pocket, stood up, and I walked away.
Instead of walking back through the house, I went for the backyard gate, going to just open that, and lead myself out to the front of the house.
“Tavion, wait! You better wait for me, boy!” my grandma snapped from behind me.
As much as I wanted to leave her ass right there, I turned around, with my nostrils flaring, and I was looking down at her, breathing heavy.
My eyes went past her, so that I could look out into the distance, where my dad was still laid out on the grass, and you could hear him moaning, while hollering out for someone to pour him another cup.
He was drunk out of his mind, probably having no kind of understanding as to what was happening around him, which is why I was glad that I listened to my uncle Roy, and didn’t try to finish handling my business with him because it would have been pointless.
“What’s going on?” my grandma asked, standing in front of me, and she had her arms crossed.
“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it. Let me head home, so I can calm the fuck down,” I voiced, ready to walk away from her, but she was quick with rushing to get to the gate, blocking it, not going to allow me to leave out.
“I’m not about to let you rush off while you’re in this angry state. I’m also not about to let you leave without knowing what’s wrong with you. Let’s go in the front,” she said, turning around, so that she could unlock the gate, and then she opened it.
She stepped out first, and I followed behind her. I was the one to close the gate behind us, and I allowed her to lead the way, while I walked behind her, and before I knew it, we were on the sidewalk, walking away from her home, and away from the loud music that was still playing in her backyard.
“You gotta tell me what’s going on, or else I won’t understand you right now. What happened?” she asked, now that we were in front of my car.
I was posted up in front of it, almost as if I was sitting on top of it. My grandma was standing in front of me, and her arms were still folded. There was a no bullshit kind of look on her face, and I could tell that she wasn’t going to allow me to leave until she had answers.
I went ahead, and picked my hand up, rubbing it down my face, and I released a deep sigh.