Read Online Up to No Good by Carl Weber - Free Book Online Page A

with him telling me to mind my own business. But this time, maybe because he was feeling sorry for me, he took my criticism like a man.
    “I can’t argue with you on that,” he told me. “She loved me more than I deserve. And I care about your mother, son. Your mother was, and is, a beautiful woman. But it takes a strong man to love a good woman.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “You have to be a risk-taker to be in love. Love always opens you up to being hurt, and there are some hurts you never get over.” I could tell by my dad’s tone that he knew how I felt. I didn’t think he’d ever been hurt the way Keisha had done to me—he was more likely to be the one cheating, not the one cheated on. But even if he’d never felt it himself, he definitely had sympathy for me. This wasn’t his usual cool and calm spiel, when he was giving advice he’d never take.
    For a while, we sat quietly, commiserating together, I guess.
    I thought about it, flipping back and forth the pros and cons of taking this step. In the end, I knew that I still had to see Keisha. I just had to.
    “I’m going over to Mark’s house.” I made up the lie to avoid any more lectures from Dad, but he was old school, and he’d already told the lies I was still dreaming up. I had to give him credit for staying out of it and letting me make my own decisions.
    “Yeah, all right. Whatever. You can lie to me all you want, but you can’t lie to yourself.” My father waved his hand in dismissal, shook his head, and walked toward the kitchen. He obviously knew I was headed to Keisha’s, but at least he didn’t try to stop me.

Jamie
9
    I slammed down the telephone, pissed off at Daddy for two reasons. Number one, he had one of his playthings over at the house, and number two, he hadn’t stopped Darnel from running over to Keisha’s house. He was so weak-minded, that brother of mine. Okay, maybe not exactly weak, but how about kindhearted? He was just too damn kindhearted and trusting.
    Darnel wasn’t like me or Daddy; we were naturally suspicious, and it took a while for us to trust anyone outside of our family circle. You can ask my boo, Louis, about that. It took us almost five months of being together before I felt like I could trust him with my heart. But Darnel, he always took everyone at face value, trusting their word to be their bond. He just couldn’t believe shit stank. And everyone from his friends to his fiancée took his kindness for weakness.
    “So, is everything okay?” Louis asked. He was sitting up in the bed, watching TV, probably waiting for me to finish my eleven o’clock call to Daddy. We hadn’t done anything in a couple of days, so I’m sure he was waiting up to get some. Shoot, I could use a little stress reduction myself, but only after I got this off my chest.“Daddy said Darnel’s gone over to Keisha’s.”
    Louis rubbed his forehead. “What the hell’s he thinking about?”
    “I don’t know. I think we’re going to have to find him a woman.”
    “Oh no, you don’t. We’re not going to find him anything. That’s you. I’m not in the matchmaking business,” he said seriously.
    “Oh, come on, baby.” I snuggled up next to him. “Don’t you want to see my brother happy?”
    “Of course I do. That’s why I’m staying the hell out of his personal life.” Before I could find the right thing to say, he changed the subject. “So what’s your pops up to?”
    “Would you believe he’s got some woman over at the house?”
    Louis chuckled. “I’m not surprised. Your pops always got someone over at the house.”
    I rolled my eyes at him something fierce. “That’s not funny, Louis.”
    “I’m not laughing, Jamie. But you need to cut your pops some slack. You’re grown. The man’s gotta have a life too.”
    “Yeah, well, he don’t need to waste his time on those gold diggers and whores. He’s too old for that. I got a good mind to go over there.”
    “What, you expect him to play bingo