Copyright ©2020 by Creole Gaudet. All rights reserved.
No part of this chronicle may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system – except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper – without permission in writing from the publisher, Creole Gaudet.
Tyler released. “I’ve never seen a man apologize like that. Not one in your position.”
“My position?”
“With all your power.”
I faked. “I see your point.”
“Pimps and players; most are never wrong. They see it as a sign of weakness. I think that a man who can admit his mistakes is the stronger man.
“That shows character, courage, and fearlessness. Your confidence, Andre… It’s all over you. Girls feed off that. You’ll have as many as you want.”
I looked to Sway. “Come on… Uh, let’s let Tyler get comfortable. You want to take a ride or something?”
“A ride? Oh! A ride… Sure, let’s do that.”
I could feel the warmth from Tyler’s peepers, beaming my profile. I turned to her. “We’d ask you to come, but we only have the Corvette…for now. You’re pretty tall.”
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
She smiled, panning the room. “Where can I put my things?”
“Wherever you like… I’m not sure if Sway has had a chance to tell you, but Monday, we’re all moving to our new place. There’s plenty of closet space… Are you going to be around until then?”
“If you’ll have me… I pretty much stay to myself, though. I won’t be in the way.”
“I’m sure it’ll all work out. Can we bring you anything back, Tyler?”
“Bubble gum.” She opened her purse, reaching in, searching.
“Bubble gum…?”
“I’m out.” She pulled a stack of singles, counting. “Dubble Bubble, but if they don’t have that, Trident or Extra will do.”
“Keep your cash. It’s on me… Has to be bubble gum, right?”
“Yes, please.”
DRIVING – 2:47 a.m.
“I’m going to just come out and say it, Sway. I don’t give a fuck what you think either.”
“I already know…”
“That bitch is intimidating. Her fucking presence… I can’t explain it. Like, what fucking planet is she from?”
“Now you see what I was talking about.”
“But what good is she to us? How does that help our family?”
“White men love her, Andre. They stand in line to get dances. Her rate in the VIP is crazy! She can get whatever she asks.”
“Then how is she still living with her grandmother? Couldn’t she get her own place?”
“In time… But she’s young and hasn’t established herself yet.”
“Right. We barely got into ours.”
“Nah, with Julianna falling all over you and wanting to fuck, she would have found a way if you’d walked in off the street.”
I grinned. “That woman does not like me.”
Sway, laughed, poking my shoulder. “I should have slapped that bitch.”
SEVEN ELEVEN – RIVERSIDE AND ROYAL LANE – 2:59 a.m.
We’d gotten some snacks. A bag of Doritos and a Coke for me. Sway had some peanuts and an iced tea. For Tyler, we’d loaded up on Dubble Bubble. A separate sack with twelve packages.
At checkout, I’d also given the attendant an extra twenty for gas on pump two. Sway stood out with me as I topped off the tank. I looked to her. “The gazebo is right up the way. You want to hang out a little longer? It’ll give Tyler more time to herself.”
“I know. I was hoping you’d ask.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“It’s your special place, Daddy. I would never intrude or invite myself.”
“It’s our special place now…”
Sway looked past me, over my shoulder. “Are you carrying? Don’t turn around. I think it’s the cops.”
“I’m clean…” The small SUV appeared from my periphery, parking into a slot in front of the entrance. “That’s just Las Colinas Patrol. They’re cool… They pretty much drive around just watching.”
We entered, closing both doors, and fastened our seat belts. I started the engine. “I’ve yet to see any of them even get out of their vehicles.”
“I was about to piss myself. I thought they were coming right for us.”
“I’m used to it. Over time, you adjust… You learn to blend, not draw attention.”
GAZEBO – 3:11 a.m.
We’d brought our snacks with us. Sway made a little picnic, laying everything out on the bench. “So what is the story with Tyler and her grandmother? Why don’t they get along? Did something happen?”
“The way she told it to me was that her grandmother didn’t like who she’d become after she went away to college. That she was too radical.”
“I think I see where this is going. Did she go to an HBCU?”
“Yeah.”
“And her grandmother has a slave mentality… Into the church, depending on Jesus to come down from heaven and heal the world of oppression and racism.”
“That’s fucking exactly what she said!”
“Where are her parents?”
“They were killed on vacation when Tyler was a baby. Like a small plane crash on an island or something. They were well off and left everything to Tyler in their will.”
“Her grandmother was in charge of everything?”
“Yes. Tyler had hundreds of thousands of dollars and a huge college fund for when she graduated high school…”
“Had? Her grandmother…”
“Fucked over all her shit, Andre! Tyler didn’t even know until she visited her paternal grandparents in D.C. a couple of weeks ago. They’d told her that they’d hoped that she would have gone to Harvard or Yale.
“She explained to them that she’d gotten offers but not enough to cover all her expenses.”
“So Tyler didn’t know she had money, and her grandparents didn’t know the money was messed up?”
“Right!”
“Fuck! What did the old bitch do with it?”
“Tyler said that when she’d confronted her, that her grandmother started jumping up and down, speaking in tongues, and dropped to her knees with her hands raised to the air, screaming, crying, and calling on Jesus.”
“No, Sway… The church?!”
Creole Gaudet
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