Chapter XIV – Anthony Meets Tommy

In December of 2003 Eddie, all three boys and I moved to Tupelo, MS.  Anthony only had a couple of weeks left before he went to Camp Shelby and he wanted to spend them with us. I was very happy he decided to move with us so we could spend time together.

The second day we were in Tupelo Anthony walked up the street to a convenience store to get some cigarettes. About thirty minutes after he left he called me saying I needed to come get him because he’d been shot at. I had to calm him down in order to get him to tell me the whole story.  He said, “There were these two guys that went in the store and when they came out one of them was shooting at the other. I ducked behind a car to keep from getting shot and when the shooting was over the guy doing the shooting looked at me and said, ‘You didn’t see nothing!!!’ and I shook his head.”  From the tone of his voice I could tell he was pretty shaken up so I drove to the store and picked him up.  When I got there he told me the owner of the store pulled a shot gun out from behind the counter and ran them both off. He also showed me the car he hid behind. I didn’t know if this story was true or not because Anthony was bad about not telling the truth but by the fear in his voice I believe it really happened.

A couple of days after we moved Anthony came to me and said he wanted to know about his father.  He had a lot of questions but I couldn’t answer them.  I told him I had his father’s phone number and would give it to him if he wanted it.

I gave Anthony the phone number and for the first time ever he called his father.  They stayed on the phone for a very long time and before they hung up Anthony asked me if he could go see Tommy. The next day all three boys and I got in the car and headed to Newport. We were to meet Tommy for lunch at the Pizza Hut in town.

Anthony and Tommy were trying their best to have a conversation but Kevin and Brett kept disturbing them.  Finally Tommy gave both Kevin and Brett money to go play some arcade games and the juke box so Tommy and Anthony could have a peaceful conversation.

Before the day was over Anthony asked me if he could spend the weekend with Tommy and we all agreed that would be fine.  On Sunday morning Anthony called me to see if he could spend the week with Tommy.  I was so glad they were having a good time together so I told him that would be fine.  Anthony needed his father in his life more than anything in the world. I was so glad he got to spend time with his father before going to Camp Shelby. 

When I picked Anthony up from Tommy’s a week later he had so much to tell me.  He told me Tommy was introducing him to everyone as his son and he got to meet a lot of his relatives.  Not only was Tommy calling Anthony son but Anthony was calling Tommy Dad. Before we left, I took a picture of Anthony and Tommy together so he would have something to remember his father by. 

There was a little girl at the house where I picked Anthony up and he told me she was his half-sister.  This little girl was about six years old so I guess Tommy was still producing children.

Anthony also said he and Tommy played a lot of pool together and he showed me a pool stick Tommy gave him.  He was very proud of that pool stick and took very good care of it.

Tommy promised Anthony he would write to him and come see him while he was in Camp Shelby.  He also told him he would send him cigarettes.  Well needless to say Anthony was heart- broken when Tommy never wrote to him, sent him cigarettes, or came to visit him.  I felt so sorry for Anthony because he thought he and his father had a special relationship but Tommy proved to him that was not so. 

When Anthony got out of Camp Shelby he was very mad at Tommy for breaking his promises and said if he could find him he would kill him.  I felt so sorry for Anthony because now he was seeing the side of Tommy I had seen years ago. It broke my heart Anthony was so hurt by his father.  I just wanted to take him in my arms and hold him and rock him like you do a baby when it is hurt.