This Can't be Life (20 page)

“That’s not right. Someone should have been there for you, to protect you,” Stacey said, through his sobs that surprised both me and Simone. We didn’t know where this was coming from.

“Why don’t we just go to Sunday dinner? Your grandfather invited you anyway,” I suggested coyly, as I rubbed Stacey’s back, trying to console him.

“I don’t want to see those people,” Simone said.

“Shit, we not goin’ to visit. We goin’ to serve that bitch a plate of raw embarrassment. We goin’ and that’s the end of it,” Stacey spewed. I could see his mind going. He was thinking and concocting, and I couldn’t wait to hear what he was planning. As the wheels started turning in our heads and the enormity of what we planned on doing tomorrow settled in, there was no turning back.

Deon

After talking to Byron over dinner last night, I couldn’t wait to get on the plane and get the hell out of LA. The only thing that made me feel a little relief was knowing that I’d be in ATL chillin’ with my family in few a hours.

“Mister Bradford, can I get you anything to drink?” my flight attendant asked.

“Yeah, I’ll have a bottle of Pellegrino, please,” I was definitely disturbed by what Byron had told me. My instincts are usually better than that. Having that girl at my house, and chillin’ with her like I was, could’ve really gotten me caught up in some mess that would have cost me a lot or took me forever to get out of.

I pulled my cell phone out of my jacket pocket and began deleting each and every number that had her name attached to it. The home number went first, then the cell, then the salon. I got carried away and erased about 10 other numbers of girls that I had no need to keep in touch with.

I sipped my water and waited for take off. I was tired, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep, especially with all this crap on my mind. I speed dialed my parents’ number and waited for someone to pick up.

“Hey, Pops. I’m on the plane; we’re about to take off, so I’ll be there around 4:00 your time.”

“We’ll definitely be here when you make it to the house. Is everything okay? You sound like something is bothering you.”

“Yeah, I’ll be all right. Just a lot of things on my mind. We’ll talk when I get there. Love you, Pops.”

“Love you, too, son. And your mom said that she loves you also. See you in a few hours.” I turned the power off on my cell phone and dropped it into my jacket pocket as I felt the small, private plane slowly taxiing down the runway. I tried to keep my mind off of Simone, but something just kept helping her creep back into my mind.

“Excuse me, miss. Can you bring me a shot of Courvoisier, please?” I needed something stronger than water to get me through this flight. At the rate I was going, in about an hour I’d be pacing back and forth throughout the length of the plane.

I was so relieved when I finally made it to my parents’ house and put my key in the door.

“Mom, Pops? I’m home! You’re favorite son is home!” I yelled through the house and got no response. I could smell the barbecue on the grill and couldn’t wait to take a bite. I knew exactly where they were—in the backyard. I dropped my bags in the hallway and went straight to the back where I knew I’d find my father at the grill and my mother standing next to him giving orders like he didn’t teach
her
how to barbecue. I slowly tiptoed up to them from behind and kissed my mom on the cheek.

“Boy, I’d pop you up side your head if I wasn’t so happy to see you,” she said, laughing and embracing me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, Moms. Pops, what’s up? Getting it ready for your number one son or what?” I embraced him.

“Number two you mean, right?” I turned to see my younger brother, smiling and hanging from the window of his second floor bedroom.

“Naw, you heard me right. Number one, not two. I came first. You came second. Now get down here and show me some love. Unless you’re scared I might challenge you to a one-on-one?”

“I’ll show his butt some one-on-one if he doesn’t clean up that room, I’ll tell you that,” I heard my mother say, walking into the house with a platter of barbecued ribs, chicken wings, and hot links.

“Well, guess I can’t beat you in a one-on-one today, Deon. Sorry!” My little brother Jason said, pretending to be disappointed as he ducked his head back into his bedroom.

“Deon, go tell your brother to be ready to eat in an hour and that I want that room cleaned by the time he struts his butt down those stairs.”

“All right, Mom,” I replied, walking into the kitchen to give her another hug and kiss.

“Oh, and I talked to Tonya, too. She’ll be here in another 30 minutes or so to have dinner with us. Just thought I’d tell you in case you didn’t get a chance to tell her that you were coming,” my mother stated, matter-of-factly.

“Good looking out, Mom, ‘cause you know she wouldn’t have come if I would’ve asked,” I replied, leaning against the center island in the kitchen.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into that girl. She cut all of her hair off. It’s shorter than that Halle Berry girl’s hair was.”

“What? She cut her hair off? Wow, she didn’t tell me that. But, it’s not like we’ve been talking much lately anyway.” I walked back over to her to give her another quick peck on the cheek before heading to my bedroom to unpack my bags and rest a little before dinner.

“And, Deon, tell your little brother that it’s okay to be affectionate like you. That boy hasn’t given me a kiss in about a month and I just can’t stand it,” she said, sighing.

“Don’t worry, Mom. He’s just going through that puberty thing.” I picked up my bags from the hallway and began walking up the stairs. On my way up, I could hear my mother in the kitchen talking to herself like she sometimes did.

“Puberty, my butt! Deon didn’t stop showing his mommy love, so why should he? Lord, give me strength to deal with that hard headed boy.”

Simone

        I sat in the passenger
seat and Stacey sat in the back as Talise drove us to my grandparents’ house in Manhattan Beach. There was a lot of tension in the air and nervous energy flowing throughout the car, but my mind was made up.

“You guys, do you really think we should do this?” Talise asked, exiting the freeway less than a couple of miles from our destination.

“Hell yeah, we should!” Stacey and I said at the same time. We were on the same page.

We pulled up to my grandparents’ estate and parked in front of the house. I noticed my mother’s flashy, canary yellow SL500 parked in the circular driveway. If my uncle is here, everyone that I needed to talk to was in that house. We were all silent as we walked to the front door. I tried the knob but it was locked, so I rang the doorbell and waited.

“Simone, what are you doing here?” My mother asked, rudely, after opening the door to the palatial estate. She stood in front of the door like she wasn’t going to invite us in.

“Grandpa told me to come by,” I said, as I shoved past her and into the house with Talise and Stacey on my heels.

“Simone! I’m so glad you made it. What happened to you at the reunion yesterday? I was looking for you and your mother told me you guys had left,” my grandfather said, walking toward us after we’d entered the home.

“Grandpa, something came up, so I had to leave,” I answered, as we stood awkwardly in the middle of the foyer.

“Who’s at the door, honey?” I heard my grandmother’s voice before we even saw her face. “What in the world are you guys doing here?” she asked, as she walked over to where we stood with my uncle and his wife right behind her.

“Don’t you ask my granddaughter what she is doing here in my house! She doesn’t need a reason to be over here,” he admonished matter-of-factly, ignoring the nasty look my grandmother gave him.

“Daniel, you remember Simone, don’t you?” My grandfather put an arm around my shoulders. I immediately tensed at the sight of him. I felt like I was going to vomit.

“Of course, I remember my niecey,” he said, approaching me with his arms outstretched for a hug.

“Don’t come near me!” I seethed in a low growl, trembling with emotion. Everyone in the room froze. It was time to let the cat out of the bag!

“Don’t you ever come near me, you sick bastard! I remember what you did to me. When I saw you at the reunion, I remembered how you raped me over and over. I was just a little girl! I remember how you hurt me and threatened me every time my mother left the house! I remember, and I don’t want to, but I do. So, don’t come walking up to me like you didn’t take my childhood!” I yelled, shaking with anger. Tears streamed down my face as everyone in the room, minus us, stood there with their mouths hung open.

“Daniel, tell us that she is lying! Tell me that she is lying! Don’t just stand here with your mouth open. Defend yourself if you didn’t do these things!” My uncle’s wife yelled, surprising us all. But still, he said nothing. “Tell me you didn’t do this!” She yelled, now pounding on his chest. “You fucking liar. You bastard! You molested that other little girl, too…and I believed you! I believed you couldn’t do something like this and now, I see! I’ve been blind…I supported you and stood behind you. I didn’t believe that you could do something like this. And you got off…and you raped that girl!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as tears spewed from her eyes.

“No, no, I didn’t do these things. I didn’t do it!” he said, as his wife ran out of the room with him right behind her.

“Of course you didn’t, Daniel! What on earth are you talking about, Simone? Don’t you come in my parents’ house with this bullshit!” my mother yelled, while my grandparents stood there in disbelief.

“Don’t you tell me what’s bullshit! What’s bullshit is the fact that you didn’t protect me. What’s bullshit is that you left me alone with this man even when I begged you not to. What’s bullshit is that you never cared about me. You never gave a shit about me and I didn’t deserve that! I was just a little girl. What kind of family is this? What type of people are you?” I cried. My pain was almost physical it hurt so badly.

“You conniving, lying bitch! You’ve always been a little liar! You always wanted everything to be about you,” my mother yelled, seething with anger. “Even when you were younger, with your aunts, uncles, and even more so, with your father! When he was around, all you did was sit up in his face like a little whore. Sitting in his lap like I couldn’t take care of my own husband. You were always trying to compete with me for the affections of your father and always expecting gifts. That’s why he is dead now, out trying to make money to buy you lavish gifts.” I couldn’t believe this bitch was blaming me for my father’s death. Tears burned down my cheeks as she spewed more and more venom with each word she spoke. “And now,
this
? You come to my parents’ house with
this
? You should be happy that I kept you after your father died. Simone, you are not my child,” she stated maniacally. “You didn’t come from
my
womb
. You don’t have
Dubois blood
. A child from me would never have turned out the way you have. You come from some whore that your father slept with. Some young, stupid, dope bitch that didn’t even want you. I adopted you because your father wanted me to. Only to make your father happy.” She finished and stood with her back against the wall and her hands on her hips, looking proud.

“Marie, what in the world are you talking…,” my grandfather began before I interrupted.

“What in the fuck are you saying to me?” I screamed.