Two Tears in a Bucket (33 page)

Simone snatched Lavon from her high-paying government job in human resources and paid her handsomely to run the rapidly growing office. Melanie had fallen in love and married some geek she met in college. Though she lived miles and miles away, she hopped on a plane and put her marketing degree to work.

The threesome had brainstormed into the wee hours of the morning on how to make the company a huge success. Once the wheels were in motion, Simone had her attorney draw up papers making both Lavon and Melanie silent partners. Career-wise, Simone and her company were at the top of their game.

When the vibrating stopped, Simone powered off her cell and sat it back in the cup holder.

“
So Andre’s mad?” Jordan asked sheepishly, feeling she was to blame.

“
I don’t know.” Simone shrugged. “I guess I should’ve told him about the note card, but I really forgot, and I definitely didn’t think things would happen this fast. As far as Andre knows, your daddy’s home and I’m going to see him. Speaking of which,” Simone said as she pulled in front of Beatrice’s building. “We’re here.”

Simone wrapped her arm around Jordan, leading her to Beatrice’s apartment on the terrene level. “This is the day you’ve been waiting for,” Simone said as they stood before Beatrice’s door. “Knock.”

Jordan beamed from ear to ear. She took a deep breath. “Okay, okay,” she uttered and tapped on the door. “I hear somebody coming,” she whispered, listening intently to the squeaky floor on the opposite side.

Beatrice swung the door open and gasped at the sight of the granddaughter she hadn’t seen in years. “Oh my God,” she mumbled as tears of joys dropped from her eyes. She grabbed Jordan, smothering her in her embrace as she rocked from side to side. “You look just like I imagined.”

Simone watched the reunion and cleared her throat when it felt like Beatrice had rocked Jordan dizzy. “Umm,” she said playfully. “You're getting snot on my child.”

“
Come here, girl.” Beatrice chuckled. “Let me put some snot on you,” she said, nearly squeezing the life out of Simone. “Y’all get on in here and have a seat.”

Closing the door, she couldn’t take her eyes off of Jordan.

“
Boy, oh, boy. If you don’t look just like your daddy.”

“
You think so?” Simone questioned as she sat on the couch. For fifteen years, she’d heard Jordan was the vanilla version of her.

“
I see both of you. But Kevin’s image steals the show, mostly because she has his complexion.”

“
Grandma, can I see a picture of him?”

“
Yeah. I already pulled some out. They right here on the table.”

Beatrice sat on the end of the couch next to Jordan and passed her a handful of snapshots and an eight-by-ten picture in a frame. Jordan took the photos and studied them one by one.

“
Grandma,” she said, in awe of the eight-by-ten photograph of Kevin standing with a basketball at his side, absent of any expression, “can I have this one?”

“
Yeah, baby. That one’s yours. Can you see the resemblance?”

“
Yeah, I can,” Jordan mumbled.

“
Let me see.” Simone couldn’t help but smile as she stared at her old love from back in the day. She caught Beatrice watching her as she passed the picture back to Jordan.

“
What?” Simone said, feeling a little guilty.
Was I not supposed to look at the picture?

“
Simone, you look good, girl,” Beatrice complimented, nodding her head in approval. “I mean really good. I wish a certain fellow was here to see you for himself. His eyes would pop out his head. And to think you were supposed to be his wife.”

“
She was?” Jordan asked.

“
Mm-hmm. Your daddy put a ring on layaway for your mother and everything. I wonder what happened to his money,” Beatrice mumbled more to herself.

“
I didn’t know anything about a ring,” Simone said, surprised. “Too bad he cheated.”
And went to jail
, she thought.

“
Grandma, what time is my daddy supposed to call?”

Daddy?
Simone was shocked by Kevin’s instant title.
I’m Simone and he’s Daddy?
She’d automatically assumed Kevin would be Kevin, just like she’d been Simone.

“
It’s Friday, baby,” Beatrice said, patting Jordan’s knee. “He should be calling in a little bit.”

“
How’s Daddy doing?” Simone asked somewhat scornfully, but neither caught on to her disapproval.

Beatrice’s expression turned a little somber. Kevin’s incarceration had obviously taken an emotional toll on her.

“
You gotta remember he’s been in there a long time. Damn near sixteen years. He did manage to get his GED, which is good, and he’s become quite the poet.”

“
Really?” Simone chuckled. “Kevin Kennard, a poet?”

“
Yeah, I’m just worried about when he comes out. Society’s not gonna give a hoot about the shooting being an accident or that he went as the peacemaker. All they’re going to see is a murderer or convicted felon.”

“
Yeah, but it’s not gonna be tattooed on his head.”

“
No, but he’ll have to disclose it on his job applications. And heaven forbid he get caught up with a chickenhead. You know, one that if he so much as sneezes wrong, she’s threatening to call his parole officer.”

“
He’s too old to even consider messing with a chickenhead anyway.”

“
Yeah, but these are all the things that I have to look forward to. Anyway, I wanna take Jordan to see him this weekend. Felicia’s taking us tomorrow, but I gotta find a ride for Sunday. I may have to break down and drive those two hours myself.”

“
Grandma, is Felicia his girlfriend?”

“
No, no, no, sweetheart,” Beatrice said, shaking her head. “She’s like his best friend. So, Simone, it’s okay if Jordan goes?”

“
Of course,” Simone replied. “Remember, I’m not the one who kept her away.”

“
Yeah, we’re gonna have to have a heart-to-heart real soon, too.”

“
Most definitely.” Simone glanced down at her watch. It was late, and she had appointments starting first thing in the morning. “Well, I wish I could hang around and tell Mr. Kevin hello. I have a million questions for him, too.”

“
Well, what are you doing on Sunday?” Beatrice asked.

“
She’s not doing anything!” Jordan jumped in as if on cue. “Sundays are her off days. Simone, you can go with us to see my father!”

“
No, Jordan.” Simone frowned in protest as she stood to leave. “I don’t need to see your father. I just wanna talk to him.”

“
Actually, that’s not a bad idea, Simone. I’m sure he’d love to see you, and then we can all have our heart-to-heart, face to face.”

Simone pondered the idea.
I should go so I can ask him about those so-called custody papers.

“
Simone, please!” Jordan begged as she anxiously tapped her feet.

“
And it would prevent me from having to drive those two hours. Them highways scare me to death. That’s how I know I’m getting old.”

“
Okay,” Simone said with a simple shrug. “What time should I pick y’all up?”

● ● ●

Simone’s appointments had gone successfully, just as her mind told her they would. Though she was exhausted, her jittery nerves wouldn’t allow her to rest as she second-guessed going to see Kevin.

Why in the world did I agree to go?
she thought. Jordan was back where she should’ve been all along. The papers, if any, didn’t matter now.

Close to midnight, Simone headed downstairs to grab a few cookies. The alarm chimed as Andre walked in. His shift had ended at four.

“
Hey,” he said, strolling past the kitchen and heading up the steps. He hadn’t even looked Simone’s way.

“
I need to talk to you,” she said, following behind him with a napkin full of Oreos.

“
Oh God, Simone,” he whined, “don’t even start.”

“
What are you talking about? Don’t even start what?”

Inside their bedroom, Andre flopped on the bed and bent over to untie his shoes.

“
You have a lot of nerve,” Simone said as she climbed into bed.

Out of respect for the pieces left of her marriage, she had explained the note card she wrote to Beatrice when she came home and found Andre pacing the floor. She ended the argument before it could even begin. Yet, Andre seldom shared the reasons behind his questionable behavior. She’d left her plans to see Kevin out of her explanation because she doubted she’d even take the trip. Now, as she sat listening to the irritation in her husband’s voice, she figured,
why not go?
If for nothing more than a simple outing.

Licking the creamy vanilla icing off of one of the cookies, Simone said, “Kayla’s with Mae, and in the morning, I’m taking Jordan and her grandmother to see Kevin.”

“
What?” Andre spun around to face her. She ignored his glare. “I know I must be hearing things,” he said. “’Cause I could’ve sworn you said you were going to see your jailbird baby daddy.”

“
I did,” she added nonchalantly. “Those were my exact words.”

Andre chuckled sarcastically. “Yeah, well, I tell you what. You can go if you want, but I promise you won’t have to worry ’bout me no more, that’s for sure. I’ll be good as gone.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kevin lay in bed and allowed his tears to flow at their will as he relived the visit with Jordan over and over into the wee hours of the morning. Finally, he’d looked into her eyes and held her hands. He saw himself in his little beauty, but Simone’s image was just as present, knocking on his mental door. It had been by far the best day of his life, and in a matter of hours, he’d be able to hold her hands and take inventory of her again. This time, she’d be there with Simone.

After tossing and turning all night, Kevin was thankful when the morning rays from the sun glared through the dusty blinds of his cell, granting him permission to get up. He showered, dressed, and checked himself in the mirror over and over, ignoring the butterflies churning away in his stomach. He knew Simone had a million questions for him. However, before they launched their powwow, he had to take her hand and guide her back into time to. To the day their relationship fell apart over his stupidity. Simone was married now, and, according to Jordan, a big-time professional real estate agent with her own company. Kevin figured his apology and explanation wouldn’t mean squat now. Still, he had to let her know that nothing had happened between him and Rhonda, if for no other reason than to cut the tension and ease the flow of their conversation. They had bigger fish to fry, but Kevin wanted to fry them all.

“
Kennard,” the guard yelled over the intercom a little shy of eleven, “you have a visit.”

● ● ●

After picking them up, Simone navigated down the thoroughfare, listening halfheartedly to Jordan and Beatrice’s conversation. For the past two hours, her mind had been somewhere else, wondering if Andre would actually cash in on his threat to leave. It amazed her that he would leave over something as meaningless as her trip to see Kevin. Had he taken an interest into why she was taking the trip in the first place, Simone would’ve shared the alleged custody papers. Yet, Andre hadn’t asked, and Simone had called his bluff when she peeled from their bed at seven that morning. Deep down, she wished that Andre and all of his things would be gone when she got back. He was dust in the air that lacked purpose. With the expiration of her tenant’s lease thirty days away, Simone could move back into the home she’d bought years ago, slap a ‘For Sale’ sign in the lavish green yard of the monstrosity she shared with Andre, and tell her husband to kiss her ass, like she should’ve done a long time ago.

Yeah, be gone.
She smiled, liking the idea more and more. Her house had taken a beating after enduring three sets of tenants, but fixing it up would be fun. In no time, she could have it up to par.

“
Man, I can’t wait to see his face when he sees you,” Beatrice said as they headed down the walkway that connected the visiting center to the main building where Kevin and the other inmates waited.

Metal fencing nearly fifteen feet tall enclosed the seemingly never-ending compound. Tiny razors protruded along the circular barbed wire that topped the fence and dared the inmates to even think about climbing it.

“
So, is he behind a glass or something?” Simone asked.

“
Nope,” Jordan said as they entered the sweaty-smelling building. “He sits right in front of us. We can hug him and everything.”

Standing at the entrance of the visiting room, Beatrice said, “Go ahead, Jordan. Lead the way.”

Jordan stood on the tips of her toes, scanning the crowded room. “I don’t see him,” she said, until Kevin stood and waved his hands in the air. “Oh, there he go!” she said, marching over to her father.

“
Hey, beautiful.” He smiled, embracing Jordan. “I love you,” he said as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

“
I love you, too, Daddy.” Simone watched Jordan turn into a pile of mush.

“
Hey, boy!” Beatrice yelled, taking her turn. “I haven’t seen you two days in a row since your trial.”