Latrice those Mickey Mouse hats with their names embroidered on ’em. I promised,” she said.
“Wait till we get ready to leave, cuz that way you won’t have to carry ’em around with you all day. That’s one of the big mistakes people make when they come to Disneyland, and then when they go on Space Mountain and all the good rides, they gotta worry ’bout holdin’ on to a bag, worryin’ ’bout stuff fallin’ out,” I said as we walked toward Fantasyland.
“Okay, but don’t let me forget.”
“I promise,” I said, taking her hand.
We stayed from ten o’clock in the morning until eleven o’clock at night. The new Disney adventure, the old Disney adventure, the whole Disney adventure. I was glad when she finally got tired.
The freeway wasn’t crowded and the ride put her to sleep. She looked like a sleeping doll. I stopped the car in front of her house and she woke up, startled. I pulled her to me and kissed her lips. She kissed me back, but I started getting hot and my hands started traveling and she froze.
“Stoppit, Jamal,” she said softly, but I knew she meant it. She opened the car door and got out.
“You mad?” I asked, getting out to walk her to the door.
“I ain’t mad.”
The lights were all out in her house. She put her key in the lock of the rusting security door and turned around.
“Thank you, Jamal . . . for takin’ me to Disneyland. It was fun.”
“Yeah, it was.”
I got back in the car and locked the doors. I was in South L.A. and it was after midnight.
The porch light was on when I got home. I tiptoed in. The house was quiet like the night before Christmas.
I stripped down to my boxers and got between the sheets. I thought about Emako. I had almost stopped noticing the other honeys and I called her every night. Oh, hell, no. I’m in way too deep. I shook my head and closed my eyes. Sleep didn’t take its time finding me.
Eddie
Finally! I got my early acceptance from Arizona State. Now I was smiling all the time. I couldn’t wait to leave Los Angeles behind me. Sometimes it felt like this city was about to swallow me up whole like a hungry python.
Emako sat down beside me in the cafeteria.
“I got accepted at Arizona State,” I announced.
“Congratulations, Eddie! Arizona State, cool.”
“Yeah,” I said. “My parents are all proud. My dad put up a big sign in his market. I never heard the word mijo so much in my life before.”
“ Mijo ?”
“My son,” I translated.
“So you gonna come back and visit us?” she asked.
“Maybe.” She had a strange look in her eyes. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Someone put a knife in my brother Dante, but he ain’t dead.”
“Where is he?”
“Wayside.”
“My brother, Tomas, was there three years ago. Now he’s at Chino. He’s been shot and stabbed so many times that we stopped calling him the cat with nine lives and started calling him the cat with twenty-nine lives. He just keeps on living.”
“Karma,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “All he does is worry my mother. She hardly sleeps. I find her in the morning, curled up on the sofa, the TV on, rosary in her hands, tears in her eyes. Last time I saw him he had tracks on both arms . . . heroin, and I said, ‘Dude, you gonna get HIV.’ He looked like someone had stolen his soul. That was when I decided to try and forget him, but I can’t.”
“My mama keeps telling me that God’s gonna answer her prayers, but her hair is turnin’ white from worryin’,” Emako said. “Now he might get an early release. You know, time served. That’s all we need, Dante back up in the house, bringin’ us down.”
I reached for Emako’s hand. She took my hand and held it. Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she held them back and let go of my hand.
“Ain’t nuthin’,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied. She was strong like me. “It’s gonna be good, for me and you. In two years you’ll have your recording contract and be outta here
“Wait till we get ready to leave, cuz that way you won’t have to carry ’em around with you all day. That’s one of the big mistakes people make when they come to Disneyland, and then when they go on Space Mountain and all the good rides, they gotta worry ’bout holdin’ on to a bag, worryin’ ’bout stuff fallin’ out,” I said as we walked toward Fantasyland.
“Okay, but don’t let me forget.”
“I promise,” I said, taking her hand.
We stayed from ten o’clock in the morning until eleven o’clock at night. The new Disney adventure, the old Disney adventure, the whole Disney adventure. I was glad when she finally got tired.
The freeway wasn’t crowded and the ride put her to sleep. She looked like a sleeping doll. I stopped the car in front of her house and she woke up, startled. I pulled her to me and kissed her lips. She kissed me back, but I started getting hot and my hands started traveling and she froze.
“Stoppit, Jamal,” she said softly, but I knew she meant it. She opened the car door and got out.
“You mad?” I asked, getting out to walk her to the door.
“I ain’t mad.”
The lights were all out in her house. She put her key in the lock of the rusting security door and turned around.
“Thank you, Jamal . . . for takin’ me to Disneyland. It was fun.”
“Yeah, it was.”
I got back in the car and locked the doors. I was in South L.A. and it was after midnight.
The porch light was on when I got home. I tiptoed in. The house was quiet like the night before Christmas.
I stripped down to my boxers and got between the sheets. I thought about Emako. I had almost stopped noticing the other honeys and I called her every night. Oh, hell, no. I’m in way too deep. I shook my head and closed my eyes. Sleep didn’t take its time finding me.
Eddie
Finally! I got my early acceptance from Arizona State. Now I was smiling all the time. I couldn’t wait to leave Los Angeles behind me. Sometimes it felt like this city was about to swallow me up whole like a hungry python.
Emako sat down beside me in the cafeteria.
“I got accepted at Arizona State,” I announced.
“Congratulations, Eddie! Arizona State, cool.”
“Yeah,” I said. “My parents are all proud. My dad put up a big sign in his market. I never heard the word mijo so much in my life before.”
“ Mijo ?”
“My son,” I translated.
“So you gonna come back and visit us?” she asked.
“Maybe.” She had a strange look in her eyes. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Someone put a knife in my brother Dante, but he ain’t dead.”
“Where is he?”
“Wayside.”
“My brother, Tomas, was there three years ago. Now he’s at Chino. He’s been shot and stabbed so many times that we stopped calling him the cat with nine lives and started calling him the cat with twenty-nine lives. He just keeps on living.”
“Karma,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied. “All he does is worry my mother. She hardly sleeps. I find her in the morning, curled up on the sofa, the TV on, rosary in her hands, tears in her eyes. Last time I saw him he had tracks on both arms . . . heroin, and I said, ‘Dude, you gonna get HIV.’ He looked like someone had stolen his soul. That was when I decided to try and forget him, but I can’t.”
“My mama keeps telling me that God’s gonna answer her prayers, but her hair is turnin’ white from worryin’,” Emako said. “Now he might get an early release. You know, time served. That’s all we need, Dante back up in the house, bringin’ us down.”
I reached for Emako’s hand. She took my hand and held it. Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she held them back and let go of my hand.
“Ain’t nuthin’,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied. She was strong like me. “It’s gonna be good, for me and you. In two years you’ll have your recording contract and be outta here
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