Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (41 page)

“
Got it,” Jeraine said.
“And I’m doing my best.”

“
This is her house,” Jacob
said.

“
Everything I have is
hers,” Jeraine cleared his throat. “I always wanted her to come
home.”

“
You’re still talking?”
Tanesha walked in from the backyard.

Jeraine and Jacob looked at her.

“
Let me clear this up,”
Tanesha said. “His dick is bigger than yours, Jeraine.”

“
How would you know?”
Jeraine asked.

“
Joystick Jake has a
reputation.” Tanesha laughed. “Pay the man so we can get on with
it.”

“
Get on with what?”
Jeraine asked.

“
We’re going to clear the
dark funk out of this place,” Tanesha said. “Rodney’s coming to
help. Delphie was just telling us how to do it.”

“
If you’re going to live
here, you have to help,” Jill gave him a laughing smile.

“
Otherwise, the good
energy will reject you,” Tanesha said.

“
And my small dick?”
Jeraine asked.

“
That’s it,” Tanesha
looked him up and down before laughing.

“
You have to own the
house, before we can clean it,” Delphie said. “Jake doesn’t really
care if you buy it or not. He got it for Tanesha. But in order to
make it yours, you need to make the commitment to own
it.”

“
What is she talking
about?” Jeraine asked.

“
Commitment,” Jacob said.
“Can you commit to this house?”

“
I don’t know what that
means,” Jeraine looked at Jacob, then at Tanesha. Panic rose
through his core. He rubbed his lips together to keep from saying
something he knew Tanesha would think was crazy. His eyes sought a
way out of the small kitchen. “What are you asking?”

Jill stood in front of him. She put her
hands on his chest and looked up at him. Offended by her touch, he
grabbed her hands and looked down at her.

“
Listen to your soul,” she
said.

His eyes locked with hers. Thoughts and
images flashed through his mind. After a few moments, he took a
breath and she stepped back. Tanesha took her arm. Jill gave her an
‘it’s done’ nod.

“
How much did you say it
was?” Jeraine asked.

“
It was listed for
seventy-five thousand; fifty was their bottom line,” Jacob said. “I
got it for thirty-five.”

“
Do you want a check or
can I wire the money to you?” Jeraine asked.

“
If we make it what you
want, we’re talking about putting at least another hundred thousand
into the house,” Jacob said. “Is that doable?”

“
Sure,” Jeraine said.
“You’ll bill me when we’re done or as we go.”

“
You’ll be over market for
this house and this neighborhood,” Jacob said.

“
But you think I can get
that music studio in the basement,” Jeraine said.

“
Music studio?” Tanesha
asked. “What?”

“
I didn’t tell you?”
Jeraine asked. “The basement is perfect for a studio. Come on. I’ll
show you.”

Jeraine opened the basement door and jogged
down the steps. Jacob followed him.

“
What did you do?” Tanesha
whispered.

“
He was stuck wanting to
be famous,” Jill whispered. “I just caught him up to the
present.”

“
And
commitment?”

“
He wanted so badly to be
successful, he couldn’t commit to his life for the fear that his
success would get in the way,” Jill said. “Like I said he was
stuck.”

“
Are you going to whisper
up there forever or come and see?” Jeraine yelled from the
basement.

“
This is a good thing?”
Tanesha whispered.

Jill nodded. Tanesha squeezed her arm.

“
You girls go on,” Delphie
said. “I’ll set up here.”

Tanesha was on the basement stair landing
when she heard Jeraine say the words she’d longed for:

“
This is a great
house.”

Smiling, she went to hear about his music
studio.

~~~~~~~~

Friday afternoon – 1:45 P.M.

Charlie swallowed hard. He was sitting in
the administrative office of Denver Online High School. He had just
finished his last assessment test and they were running his scores
right now. If everything went well, he would meet with an advocate
to plan his attack at finishing high school. He looked at Sandy,
who was sitting across the waiting room. She gave him a soft smile
and a nod. Sandy thought it was all going to be all right.

He glanced at Teddy, Noelle and Nash.
Sitting squashed together on the couch, they were playing Angry
Birds on Nash’s iPhone. Everyone was supposed to come to his
meeting with the advocate, but Sissy had to talk to the
psychiatrist, La Tonya, they’d met last night. Anjelika was
supposed to bring her when she was done. Aden was speaking with the
school administrator about getting Charlie a try out for Basketball
at East High School.

Everything depended on how he did on these
last tests.

He’d worked hard this summer. When he
started, he worked hard so he could stay with Sandy and Aden. He
did not want to go back on the streets. No way. No how. Plus, he
made an agreement with Nash and Teddy. After a while, he found he
actually liked his time with Anjelika.

He didn’t want to disappoint Anjelika by not
getting into school.

His anxiety surprised him. Charlie Delgado
had always been too cool to care about school. He was the Pan who
did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. And he never wanted to
go to school. He couldn’t figure out why he cared so much now.

He just did.

“
Charlie?” a friendly
looking woman asked.

“
I’m Charlie,” he
said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sissy
and Anjelika enter the waiting room.

“
You’re all set,” the
woman said.

“
Yea!” Sissy ran in the
room to hug him. She grunted with pain when he squeezed her. Nash
and Teddy high fived each other and went to congratulate him.
Noelle hugged him around the waist. Anjelika put her hands on his
face, nodded, and smiled. He collapsed into Sandy’s arms. Aden
patted him on the back.

“
Are you ready to get
started?” the woman asked.

“
I’m ready,” Charlie
said.

~~~~~~~~

Friday evening – 7:45 P.M.

Giggling, Katy ran as fast as she could.
Paddie caught up to her and ran ahead. She followed him through the
first floor of his Auntie Alex’s big house. Katy didn’t know why
all these adults were here or why she’d been left here. She only
knew she got to play with Paddie.

Paddie’s Auntie Samantha caught him and his
funny named Irish Uncle caught her.

“
Have you two been
eating
my
cookies?” the Irish Uncle asked.

Katy and Paddie shook their heads.

“
Why are your faces
covered in powdered sugar?” Auntie Samantha asked.

“
Our faces always look
like this,” Paddie said.

Katy gave her most sincere nod.

“
Is that the truth,
Pádraig?” the Irish Uncle asked.

“
I’m Paddie,” Paddie
pointed to his chest. “Not that other name.”

“
Well, if that’s the case,
then you can have all the cookies you want,” the Irish Uncle
laughed.

Katy and Paddie squealed. The adults put
them down and Paddie took off toward the kitchen. Katy followed.
Once in the kitchen, Paddie grabbed another cookie and ran into the
living room. Katy took a cookie and followed him. He was scooped up
by his Auntie Alex.

“
Your brother is almost
here,” she said to Paddie. “Aren’t you excited?”

With his mouth full of cookie, Paddie
nodded.

“
Alex?” Paddie’s
grandmother asked from the other room. “Can you bring Paddie? We
need to get him dressed for pictures.”

Paddie gave Katy a panicked look as he
disappeared into the other room. Katy smiled. They were going to
make him wear something horrible like an itchy sweater or something
fancy to meet his new brother.

All of the adults were so busy worrying
about Paddie’s new brother that they ignored her. That was all
right with Katy. Seeing someone she wanted to talk to, she went
over to the couch. She made the person sitting next to him feel
like they had to pee. When that guy got up, she sat down.

“
Hello Katy,” Paddie’s
Grandfather said. “How are you tonight?”

“
Good,” Katy
said.

“
Where’s Paddie?” Paddie’s
Grandfather said.

“
He has to wear an itchy
sweater or something,” Katy said.

Paddie’s Grandfather laughed.

“
We’re pretty excited to
have a new member of the family,” Paddie’s Grandfather
said.

“
I’m going to have a
little brothers,” Katy said. “I’m pretty excited about
that.”

“
I bet,” Paddie’s
Grandfather said. “Paddie will have a new brother
tonight.”

Katy smiled. They sat watching the people
laugh and talk for a few minutes.

“
Well, I should probably
go find Paddie,” Paddie’s Grandfather moved to get up.

“
Um, I came over to talk
to you,” Katy smiled to encourage him to talk to her.

“
What can I do?” Paddie’s
Grandfather asked.

“
It’s about Paddie,” Katy
said. “He’s not ever going to be a good soldier. He’s too soft
inside.”

“
He’s absolutely
fearless,” Paddie’s Grandfather said. “I think…”

“
That’s because of me,”
Katy said. “I keep him out of danger.”

Paddie’s Grandfather turned to look at
her.

“
Paddie will go to war to
make you happy,” Katy said. “But he will die inside doing it. He’s
like your brother Cedric.”

“
Cedric,” Paddie’s
Grandfather said his brother’s name very slowly. “How…?”

“
Paddie can stay home
instead,” Katy said. “He can be a teacher like his Mommy or a
scientist or…”

Katy shook her head.

“
But not a soldier,” Katy
said. “You were going to decide soon, weren’t you?”

“
He’s four. It’s time for
him to separate from his mother,” Paddie’s Grandfather said. “I
thought he could…”

“
He can’t,” Katy said. “It
would hurt him, on the inside, hurt him bad.”

“
But…?” Paddie’s
Grandfather started.

“
Katy! Katy! Katy!” Paddie
yelled from the edge of the room. In a forest of adult legs, she
couldn’t see him.

“
I have to go,” Katy waved
to Paddie’s Grandfather and ran toward Paddie’s voice.

Patrick Hargreaves watched the small girl
thread her way through the adults. He heard Paddie laugh when she
got there. Feeling someone near him, he looked up to see Delphie
sit down.

“
Unnerving, isn’t she?”
Delphie asked.

“
How old is she?” Patrick
asked.

“
She’ll be five in
December,” Delphie said.

“
Do her… capacities make
her so…”

“
Grown up?” Delphie
smiled. “Some. She’s also been through an awful lot. She’s aged
beyond her years. Her mother is adamant that she have a childhood,
but some things can’t be made up. Katy is part child, part
grandmother. A
true
oracle. What did she say?”

“
She told me Paddie would
never be a good soldier,” Patrick said. Defending his position, he
added, “But how would she know? She’s a child and Paddie is
absolutely fearless.”

“
That’s because Katy makes
sure he’s never hurt,” Delphie said.

“
That’s what she said,”
Patrick said. “She said Paddie was like Cedric and…”

“
Your brother came back
from Vietnam as a changed man,” Delphie said. “He killed himself,
didn’t he?”

“
Cedric.” Patrick felt the
overwhelming sense of sorrow and failure he felt every time he
thought of his brother. “He couldn’t handle the… and…”

“
You found him,” Delphie
said.

“
He disappeared. I looked
everywhere and…” Patrick shook his head at the image of his
brother’s dead body. “Is she right?”

“
I’ve never known Katy to
be wrong,” Delphie said. “She knows Paddie better than anyone else
in the world. She loves him completely. She’d know.”

“
Is he gay?” Patrick
asked.

“
Was Cedric?”

“
No but…”

“
You of all people know
that softness and gayness have nothing to do with each
other.”

“
Sure but… what good does
it do to baby him?”

“
Isn’t that what your
father said about Cedric?” Delphie gave Patrick a strong
look.

Stunned, Patrick’s stared at her.

“
He’s here!” Paddie’s Aunt
Alex yelled.

The adults cheered.

“
Raise a glass to welcome
Connor Maxwell Alexander Hargreaves!” Paddie’s Uncle Max
said.

“
Welcome Connor Alexander
Matthew Hargreaves,” Alex said.