Do not judge my story by the chapter you walked in on. Unknown
Fancy curled up on the plush sofa in her and Hezekiah's bedroom to relax and go over the menu and program for the banquet, which was three days away. As for the banquet committee, Fancy understood that they would say that it was too late to make any drastic changes, but then again, if there was anything she saw that she didn't like or that was missing, she was going to make sure that the banquet committee made the changes regardless. She wanted everything to be perfect and was determined to make it so. Not only that, but for the first time since they moved to Memphis, Hezekiah's aunt was coming to town this weekend. She would see firsthand how the two of them had grown in the ministry. Their lives, much like their oldest son, Khalil, had been transformed only by the grace of God. No more illegal shenanigans. They were enjoying the fruits of their labor and God was truly rewarding them for their diligence and service.
The fact that his aunt called and told him that she was coming to Memphis this weekend filled Hezekiah with an extra dose of joy. Fancy was happy for him, too. She had always shown Fancy nothing but kindness ever since her and Hezekiah became a couple. The woman would be arriving tomorrow morning. Hezekiah and Fancy were going to pick her up from the airport. Fancy had already made sure that one of the guest bedrooms was fixed up perfectly for her stay. Fancy’s parents weren't going to be able to attend but they sent a special love offering for the occasion.
Hezekiah always said that his aunt was super nice. Growing up, he didn’t see her often, but when he did, she always came bearing gifts. When his father was gunned down in the streets near Cabrini Green projects, it was his aunt who came to be by his mother’s side. She made sure that Hezekiah and his older brother were fed and taken care of, allowing Hezekiah's mother time to grieve over her husband's death. Then when his mother died while he was in prison, Hezekiah didn't think he would ever be able to forgive himself for being locked away while his mother was at home dying. Again, his aunt helped him through the most difficult days of his grief. She came to see him almost every visiting day and encouraged him, talked to him, and soothed his hurting heart as much as she could through prison bars. She kept money on his books while he was locked up and sent him letters and books through the mail. She even offered to take care of Khalil and Xavier when Hezekiah and Fancy went to prison but Fancy's parents interceded and provided for the boys' care.
A light tap on the door roused Fancy. "Yes?" she answered softly.
"Mom, it's me."
“Oh, come on in.”
Her oldest son, Khalil, entered. "Hey, Mom."
"Hi, Khalil. You're home early aren’t you?" She picked up her cell phone and looked at the time.
"Yeah, I left church a little earlier than usual. I came to scoop up Xavier.”
“Oh, okay. Where are you two headed?”
“The bowling alley. We’re meeting a few friends from church and hanging out.”
“That’s nice. I wish you weren’t moving out,” Fancy said, quickly changing the subject. “I don’t understand why you feel that you need to do that,” she complained.
Khalil wasn’t in the frame of mind to hear his mother grumbling about his decision to cop his own crib. Ever since he told his parents that he had found an apartment and would be moving the week following Jubilee, his mom had been riding him about it. “Mom, I’ll be twenty-one in a couple of weeks. I have a great position at Holy Rock that I love and that pays me well. So why wouldn’t I want to move into my own spot? I’m a grown man.”
“Because, Khalil, you have all the freedom you need right here. One of the reasons your father and I decided to move into this big house was so you and Xavier would have plenty of space and we wouldn’t be on top of each other. Now you want to just up and move out?”
“Come on, you know it’s not like that. I mean, this will always be home. But this is yours and dad’s place.”
“You just want to bring some of those hot tail girls from Holy Rock to your place. I told you all they want is to hook up with the pastor’s son. They want the glory and the title of being your wife.” Fancy huffed. “You better think with more than what’s below your belt, son.”
“Hey, you ready to vamp, bruh?” Xavier appeared in the doorway.
“Yeah, I’m ready. Mom, we’ll talk later,” Khalil said, glad for his brother’s perfect timing. He walked over and stood above Fancy, leaned down, and kissed her on top of her hair.
“Y’all be careful out there,” Fancy said to her sons.
“See ya later, Mom,” Xavier said as he and Khalil turned and walked out of the room.
‡
“Thanks for being my alibi,” Xavier told his brother as they climbed in Khalil’s Lexus LC 500 coupe. The off-the-showroom floor candy apple red ride was an early birthday present from his father.
“No problem, but you know sooner or later you’re going to have to come clean about what’s going on with you. I’m your brother, your only brother at that. I’ve made my share of bad decisions, so I don’t think it’s much of anything you can tell me that would make me surprised or judgmental, you know?”
Xavier side glanced his brother as Khalil drove out of the driveway and pulled out into the street. “Yeah, I know, but it’s nothing to tell. I just wanna hang out with my friends sometimes. I’m almost grown, a senior in high school, but Mom still treats me like a kid. I have a car that she hardly ever lets me drive. And the handful of times that she does let me drive, I can’t be gone but a couple of hours. And Dad says nothing; he lets her get away with it. Mane, what’s up with that? I can’t wait until I graduate and turn eighteen next year.”
“You know how mom is so you’re just going to have to learn to deal with it for a little longer. I’ll be moving into my spot next week. You know you can always come hang out. Remember that.”
“Yeah, that’ll be cool. Thanks, bro.”
“I gotcha,” Khalil said.
Satisfied with his brother’s offer and feeling more at ease now that he was out of the house, Xavier put his earbuds in and started listening to his long playlist of songs on his iPhone.
Khalil drove out of their gated community and headed towards downtown. It took less than twenty minutes to arrive at Raymone's house located in Harbor Town. Khalil didn’t really know much about Raymone, except that he and Xavier were good friends and he attended Holy Rock Upper School, the same as Xavier. Xavier had plans to go to the movie later on and meet up with some more friends. Afterwards, Raymone was going to drop Xavier off at home. Hopefully, their parents would be asleep when he got there.
“Thanks, again,” Xavier told his brother when they made it to Raymone’s as he got out of the car.
“Text me if you need me to come back and scoop you up.”
“Sure thing,” Xavier told him as he turned to walk down the pathway leading to Raymone’s front door.
“Y’all be safe. You got protection on ya, right? These females can be treacherous out here,” Khalil said, sounding half-serious and half-joking.
“Always,” Xavier assured him and chuckled. Throwing up his right hand, he approached the front door and pushed the doorbell while Khalil drove off.