Gold Hill (6 page)

“
I’m glad you’re here,”
Delphie said.

“
Are you ready?” Sam
asked.

Delphie nodded. Sam nodded
to the Mayor’s aide. Delphie and Katy went up to the front where
the victims’ families waited. When Delphie nodded, they let loose
one hundred biodegradable white balloons in commemoration of the
Saint Jude’s victims. The Mayor of Brighton led everyone in a
moment of silence as the balloons floated into the sky.

Delphie watched them fly.
Saint Jude was gone. The evil presence that had been here for time
unknown was gone.

And somehow, she was still
standing under the blue Colorado sky. She caught Sam’s eye and he
smiled.

“
Ms. Delphinium?” the
Mayor looked at her.

“
Let the celebration
begin!” Delphie said.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 3:15
p.m.

“
I still think we need ice
cream,” Jeraine said.

“
Then get some.” Tanesha
raised her eyebrows in a challenge. She pushed the full cart one
step forward in the long grocery line. “I’ll be here when you get
back.”

Swallowing hard, Jeraine
nodded. He kissed her cheek and went down the freezer aisle. They
had offered to watch the kids when Valerie went into labor. Because
the Castle was surrounded by paparazzi, they figured it was better
to move the kids to their Penthouse. Heather was bringing Mack over
tonight and Sandy’s kids were sleeping over. Jill would drop off
Katy on her way to the hospital. That way, all of the adults were
free to help out in whatever way they could. Sandy and Aden would
play tag team babysitters with Tanesha and Jeraine.

Tanesha was excited to be
able to help out and Jeraine seemed thrilled to be included. The
only problem was that they had absolutely no food in the house.
They stopped off at Safeway on their way back from Brighton. They
had arrived at the same time as a couple of buses of elderly people
from the nearby assisted living facilities. The checkout lines were
now long and filled with curmudgeons. There was a long line of
people to her left and her right.

Taking a step forward,
Tanesha was close enough to the magazine rack to see the gossip
magazine. Looking to see if Valerie was on any of the covers, her
eyes flicked from one magazine to the next until she saw a picture
of herself. She blinked. Why in the world would there be a picture
of her on those magazines? Her eyes flicked back to the magazine.
She was standing on the sidewalk outside the penthouse wearing her
running gear. Jeraine was stepping toward her. She remembered that
day. It was . . . Sunday after their interview. In
red block print over their heads, it said: “Miss T gives Mr. It a
last chance” in smaller print it said: “Can this cheater change?”
Tanesha scowled. She walked to the magazine rack and turned over
the magazine.

“
They’re right you know,”
the elderly woman standing in line in front of her said. “That man
will break your heart.”

“
And what’s that to you?”
Tanesha shook her head and went back to her basket.

“
I’m just saying,” the
woman in front of her continued. “He’s bad news. Now I know you
don’t have a Mama and maybe you don’t know
better . . . ”

“
Delores is right, Miss
T,” the woman standing in line behind her said. “Once a cheater
always a cheater. As far as you know, he off screwing some young
thing right now.”

“
In the grocery store?”
Tanesha asked. “What? And using the bananas as a sex
toy?”

“
You don’t have to be
foul, young lady.” An elderly man a few people behind in the line
said. “You should listen to these ladies. Not all men are good. And
you done found yourself a bad seed.”

“
You mean to tell me that
Dr. Bumpy’s boy is bad?” the woman behind him asked. “You better
watch your mouth Malcolm or I’ll tell Nurse Dionne what you said
about her son.”

“
Well I think you’re a
damned fool for taking him back,” a younger woman from the line to
the right said. “I would’ve divorced him and taken everything I
could get my hands on. Who’s crying now?”

“
Mmmm-hmmm,” a knowing
agreement came from the elderly woman standing around
her.

“
She’s right,” the woman
in front of her said. “And you deserve every penny for your years
of heartbreak.”

“
And then some,” the woman
behind her touched her shoulder. “It’s only a matter of time before
that man breaks your heart again.”

“
You know, they’re right,”
a grey-haired woman from the line next to hers spoke up.

“
So remind
me . . . ” Tanesha said in a voice loud enough
for everyone to hear. “How is my life any of your business? I don’t
remember even a one of you stepping forward when Jer was in trouble
in high school. Boys will be boys; that’s what everyone said. So
you can shut your traps now.”

“
I’m just
saying . . . ” the woman in front of her gave
her a sour look and turned around.

“
There he is,” a woman
from a line of grocery shoppers two people over said. “Look at the
grin on his face.”

“
Mmm-hmm, I told you so,”
the woman in line behind her said. “Screwing some young thing,
right here.”

The shoppers’ heads moved
up and down like bobble-head dolls. Tanesha groaned. Jeraine took
in her face and the awkward silence. He put three containers of ice
cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup in the cart.

“
What’s going on?” he
leaned in to say in her ear.

“
The good folks of this
Safeway would like to know if you were screwing some sweet young
thing,” Tanesha said.

“
When?”

“
Just now,” she
said.

“
In the ice cream aisle?”
Jeraine looked from face to face. No one would meet his eye. “Just
now?”

He laughed and they stepped
closer to the check out. A few minutes passed.

“
Well?” the elderly man in
her line asked. “Were you, son?”

“
Hello Mr. Stone,” Jeraine
said. “I didn’t see you there. How are you?”

“
He’s fine,” the woman
behind him said. “Answer the question.”

The people around them
stared at Jeraine. Tanesha gave them each an evil look.

“
What’s the question?”
Jeraine asked.

“
Were you screwing some
young thing just now?” the young woman from the line next to them
sneered.

“
No,” Jeraine said. “I was
getting ice cream.”

“
Uh huh,” the woman in
front of them looked him up and down before turning around in a
huff.

“
Why were you grinning?”
Tanesha asked.

“
Because I don’t know
anything. I had to ask Mrs. Jennings . . . ” He
pointed to the ancient woman three lines over. She waved. “She
helped me pick out something for the kids and showed me where to
get chocolate syrup and whipped cream. I haven’t been in a grocery
store since I was a kid. Miss T’s teased me about just that the
whole time we’ve been here. She thinks it’s funny.”

“
Satisfied?” Tanesha
glared at the people around them.

“
I’m not,” a woman from
the line to her left spoke up for the first time. “I used to
babysit Miss T for Yvonne and Rodney. Tanesha, you probably don’t
remember me but I’m Tawnie Johnson.”

“
Vaguely,” Tanesha
nodded.

“
And she’s right,” Mrs.
Johnson said. “I didn’t help when Miss T needed it, and I knew she
needed it, so I have no right to say anything.
But . . . ”

“
That’s not going to stop
you,” Tanesha said.

“
No it is not,” Mrs.
Johnson said. “I want to know if you’re going to cheat and break
her heart again.”

Jeraine looked at the old
woman. He took in Tanesha’s sour look and the staring people around
him. Putting his hands on his hips, he looked down at the floor.
Tanesha slipped her hand onto his elbow.

“
We knew this would
happen,” Tanesha said in a low voice.

He looked at her then back
around at the other people.

“
The
truth . . . ” he started.

“
Yeah, that would be nice
for a change,” the woman in front of them said.

“
I don’t know if I’ll
cheat again and break Miss T’s heart,” Jeraine said. “I’m an
addict. I have a problem. I can tell you that today, I woke up and
wanted only to stand next to this woman, right here, for as long as
I could. So I got up, went for a run, and, except for my excursion
to the ice cream aisle, spent the entire day at her side. Now, I
can tell you that for the last few months, I have wanted this very
thing and only this very thing. But I can’t tell you about
tomorrow.”

“
Are you going to therapy,
son?” an elderly woman from two lines over yelled.

“
Yes, ma’am,” Jeraine
said. “I have a personal therapist who I see at least once a week.
Miss T and I go to therapy as well so we can work on
things.”

“
We’re on a break because
we’re doing so well,” Tanesha said.

“
But we can always go
back,” Jeraine said.

“
And why should we believe
you?” The woman in front of them stepped forward to set her
groceries on the black conveyer belt.

“
You can believe what
you’d like,” Jeraine said. “But that’s my truth today.”

“
Cheaters never change,” a
voice yelled from somewhere in the back. The heads around them
began their bobble-head impersonations.

“
I can’t speak for
cheaters,” Jeraine said. “I can only speak for myself and this
moment. I’ve been a cheater and I’ve changed. Look at my life. A
year ago, my father wasn’t speaking to me, my wife didn’t realize
we were still married, my mother . . .
I . . . ”

Tanesha squeezed his arm to
steady him. He smiled at her.

“
Today, Miss T and I are
back together and building a life together. I’m spending time with
my parents. La Tonya had lunch with me yesterday. And I like it
this way. I’m not saying I’m fixed; but I’m saying I want to change
and so I am changing.”

“
I believe in you, son,”
Mr. Stone said. The woman behind him groaned.

“
I believe in him too,”
Tanesha smiled at Jeraine and he blushed.

She pointed the woman in
front of her to the grocery clerk ready to check her groceries. The
rush of putting their groceries on the belt and getting ready to
pay took their attention. Jeraine was standing in front of the
grocery clerk while Tanesha bagged their groceries in reusable
bags. The clerk was passing Jeraine their receipt when she
smiled.

“
I saw your interview,”
the clerk said. “I just wanted to
say . . . ”

Tanesha held her
breath.

“
Good luck,” the clerk
nodded. “It takes a lot of courage to change your life. I’ve got
ten years sober. My husband stayed with me. Talk about stubborn. It
was hard, but we fought it together and . . . it was
worth it.”

“
Thanks,” Jeraine
said.

“
I think you’ll be fine,”
the clerk said.

“
Me too,” Jeraine smiled,
picked up the last bag of groceries, and followed Tanesha out of
the store. They pushed the cart to his Expedition, loaded the
groceries, and got in before he asked, “Anything you need to
say?”

“
When are you getting rid
of this pimp mobile?” Tanesha asked.

“
I meant
about . . . ”

“
You made your money off
those very people,” Tanesha said. “They feel like they know you
through your music. After that interview, they feel like they have
a stake in our lives. We’re going to have to either avoid contact
with them all together or get used to it. Denver is a small town
with a lot of mouthy nosey people. If we want to live here, we’re
going to deal with that.”

“
And you? Are you all
right dealing with it?”

“
I’ve been dealing with
those nosey so and so’s all my life,” Tanesha said. “My Daddy was
in prison for murdering some white girl. My Momma is a hooker. My
Gran, well . . . . Let’s just say that I don’t
care what anyone says.”

“
Except Jill, Sandy, and
Heather,” Jeraine said.

“
My Gran, Dad, and maybe
even you,” she smiled. “Sometimes.”

He smiled and started the
car.

“
What?”

“
I’m just happy to be here
with you,” he said.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 7:25
p.m.

Mike was in their small
kitchen making popcorn when he heard Valerie say something. Knowing
they were alone, he assumed she was on the phone. Her contractions
were coming strong and fast. Bumpy had already stopped by to check
on her. Valerie would do most of her labor at home and zip to the
hospital to have the baby. They’d even worked out a way for her to
get up the coal tunnel if she couldn’t walk. Delphie and Sam were
downstairs waiting for his signal. She’d wanted to hang out on the
couch and watch a movie.