Read Online Fixin’ Tyrone by Keith Thomas Walker - Free Book Online Page A

then heard a voice that sent a little tremor down the small of her back. And Crystal was right. His voice was a lot deeper.
    “Hello? Mia?”
    “Hi, Tyrone. Welcome back.”
    “ Man , it feels good to be back. How you been doing, Mia?”
    “Fine.”
    “I called you today,” he said, “talked to TC.”
    “Yeah. Crystal told me.”
    “He sounds good,” Tyrone said. “Like he’s doing good. He sounds smart, too. You raised him right, I can tell.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Are you home yet? I want to come see y’all.”
    “I’ll be home in five minutes,” Mia said. “You can come see TC .”
    “I wanna see you too, Mia.”
    “Tyrone, I told you—”
    “Yeah, I got your letter. I still wanna see you, though. Is that all right?”
    “I’m almost home,” Mia said. “It’ll take you about twenty minutes, so you can leave now if you want.”
    “All right. I’m on my way. I can’t wait to see y’all. Mica, too. I miss you,” Tyrone said.
    “All right, we’ll see you when you get there.” Mia disconnected with an odd feeling in her gut. She was nervous, but she didn’t know why. She called Eric just so she could talk about something different.
    “Hello?”
    “Eric, this is Mia.”
    “Hey. Thanks for calling back. What are you doing? You’re off work.”
    “Yeah. I’m on my way home.”
    “Cool. So, uh, were you taking me up on my offer? You wanna have dinner tonight?”
    “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about what you said. I feel stupid. I mean, if everything you’ve told me is true, I’m an idiot.”
    “No, you’re not. That girl is convincing. If I were in your situation, I probably would have believed her, too. What time can you get out?”
    “Probably not until seven-thirty.”
    “That’s great. Do you want to go to T’afia?”
    “No. I don’t feel like getting dressed up. There’s a Chile’s close to me on Altamesa.”
    “That’s cool. Can I pick you up?”
    “No,” Mia said. “I’ll meet you there.”
    “When are you going to let me pick you up, like a traditional date?” Eric wondered.
    “I don’t know,” Mia said. “Bring those pictures and we’ll go from there.”
    “You want me to bring the pictures?” he asked. “I thought you believed me.”
    “Do you not want to bring the pictures?”
    “It’s not a problem, it’s just—”
    “You’re making me wonder if this dinner is a good idea,” Mia said.
    “Don’t say that. I’ll bring the pictures. Everything’s cool. Seven-thirty, right?”
    “I’ll call you if something changes.”
    “Okay. I look forward to seeing you.”
    “Bye, Eric.” Mia hung up and drove the rest of the way home in silence. She wondered if she shouldn’t postpone one or both of her scheduled encounters, but figured it was best to get them over with—the Eric situation in particular. She couldn’t go one more day without getting to the bottom of that one.

CHAPTER 6
    DADDY’S HOME
     
    When she got home, TC met her at the front door.
    “Mama, I talked to my daddy today!”
    “Yeah, I heard. I talked to him, too.”
    “Is he coming?” The boy was so anxious. Mia smiled down at him. Out of his school clothes, TC wore denim shorts, a white T-shirt and leather sandals. He was getting taller. He didn’t look so big this time last year. Mia checked her watch.
    “Yes, he’s coming. Should be here in about ten minutes.”
    “Cool!” TC spun, his legs already pumping, but Mia grabbed the back of his T-shirt and halted his forward progress.
    “Where are you going?”
    “I’m gonna tell Mica!”
    “No, I’ll tell Mica,” Mia said. “Where’s Crystal?”
    “In her room, on the computer.”
    “You go tell your aunt, and I’ll talk to your sister.”
    “Okay!” TC yelled and sprinted off in that direction. Mia went to her daughter’s room and found Mica lying on the floor on her stomach. She had a video game controller in her hands, and her eyes were riveted to the television screen no more than five feet away. Mia sat