When Everything's Said & Done (25 page)

Startled, Brenda knocked over one of Laura’s ce
ramic figurines.

“And it looks like it’s going to be you that I play God on.” He went and stood in front of the kitchen door. Then he spread his arms wide.

Brenda stiffened. “If you’re so determined to take another life...I don’t know what I can do to stop you. All I know is, there’s so much sadness in my heart I’m not going to fight you. I’m not going to fight you at all. And maybe you’ll remember what I’m about to say.” She shook her head. “I’m in no position to fight you. I don’t have the strength.” Brenda looked at each one of them. “My husband died today because of this. All of this—” her arm circled “—is tied together. All this death, sadness and grief. When will it end?”

“Man, what you about to do?” One of the others spoke up. “This lady didn’t do nothin’ to us.”

“No, she didn’t,” T-Mac’s brother replied. “But her sister’s not here and before I leave, somebody’s going to get what I came to give. Somebody’s going to die because my brother’s dead.”

“But maybe she’s right. Maybe we just need to let it go, man. Three people are dead now. Death is everywhere.”

“I ain’t lettin’ nothin’ go. If you a coward and you want to walk out of here, go!” T-Mac’s brother pointed to the other man. “You, too, for that matter. Y’all just go right ahead. But I got to take care of this. I got to take care of it for T-Mac.”

Brenda turned her back and began to sing “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.”

“This is for the T,” T-Mac’s brother declared.

“Don’t you hurt my child!” Laura’s scream cut the air. She stood on one leg with her arm drawn back. A syringe was in her fist.

“Mama!” Brenda turned just as the front door burst open and several policemen entered the house. Nebia was behind them.

“Put your hands up. You three are under arrest,” one of the officers said.

“Nebia!” Laura dropped the syringe and leaned against the wall. “Thank God.”

Brenda rushed to her mother’s side.

“I saw them snooping around the side of the house when I was about to go inside my place,” Nebia said. “I knew they were going to try to get in here, so I called the police.”

“We had just received a phone call from Pastor Ben
son warning us that something like this might happen,” the head officer said.

The
police officers handcuffed the gang members. “And we heard the whole thing,” the officer in charge continued. “We know T-Mac killed Warren.” He jerked up on T-Mac’s brother’s handcuffs. “Now we got something that will keep you behind bars, and with you and your brother off the streets, maybe things will calm down in this neighborhood.”

Laura was very unsteady. She had not stood in years. “Hold on. Mama.” Brenda went for the wheelchair. She positioned it behind Laura, who collapsed into the seat.

“Take them out of here,” the main officer commanded. “Miss Nebia, we’ve got to take some police reports. You want to come outside? We’ll start with you.”

“All right,” Nebia said. She looked at Brenda and Laura.

“Thank you. All of you,” Brenda said as they started through the door.

“Yes. We can’t thank you enough,” Laura added, out of breath.

When the door closed behind them Brenda asked, “You okay, Mama?”

“I’m fine. You?”

“I’m all right.”

They stared at each other.

“You would have killed that man, wouldn’t you?” Brenda said.

“Yes, I would have.” Laura’s eyes took on a distant look. “I would have killed him dead without a sec
ond thought.”

Brenda’s face trembled. “All these years we’ve wasted.” She to
uched her mother’s shoulders. “I’m going to make it up to you, Mama.” Brenda paused. “You can move in with me if you like. But I don’t ever want us to be like we were again. ” She knelt down and placed her head in Laura’s lap.

“You don’t have to worry about that, child. It was more my fault than it ever was yours.” Laura stroked Brenda’s hair.

“Oh, Mama. Why does life have to be so hard? Why did we have to go through so much to come together?”

“Who knows, other than God? And who says God thinks like us? He’s the one that’s got the big picture.” Laura sniffed. “He took little Annie so early. But she never seemed to be of this earth anyway. And Warren, who only tried to do good because he never felt he fit anywhere. And Michael. Poor Michael. He loved this family so much it consumed him.”

“Now all of them are gone.” Brenda looked up at Laura. “Cora’s gone, too.”

“Yes. Cora’s gone.” Laura sighed. “But when you and I look at each other, we know no matter where Cora is, we’ll always be a family.”

Brenda nodded and laid her head in Laura’s lap again.

Nebia’s Story

There were sniffles all around the porch. Tears streamed down Erica’s face, and Cynthia wiped away the few that had fallen. Sheila simply sat with her eyes closed.

Nebia stopped rocking and looked at her hands.

“What happened to the Robinsons after that, Miss Nebia?” Sheila asked.

“Laura died when Brenda’s baby was six months old. And eventually Brenda and her little boy moved to Washington, D.C. It’s her property management company that takes care of this building and the other houses she and Michael owned.” Nebia looked off into the distance. “I understand that just about every year, they go to Africa. ”

“Brenda never asked you to go with them,” Erica said, looking disappointed, “as close as you were?”

“Who said she didn’t?” Nebia gave Erica a sideways look. “Traveling like that is not for me. And now, at my age—I’m one hundred and one—I’m too old to travel. But I’m too young for a tomb.”

Cynthia looked at Sheila, and Erica looked down.

“Did Cora ever come back?” Cynthia asked.

“No.” Nebia rose from her chair and walked to the door of her apartment.

“You knew she wasn’t coming back, didn’t you?” Erica asked with respect.

Nebia looked at her. “Yes, I knew. But after all these years there’s one thing that gives me comfort.”

“What is that?” Erica asked.

Nebia held up a solid fist. “When everything was said and done, in their hearts the Robinsons were like this. That’s what brings me peace.” She opened her door and disappeared inside.