ARMAND
Three hours earlier…
“Hey, Granny,” I said as my grandmother opened her arms, welcoming me into the same house she’d lived in since I could remember. I’d offered to buy her another one, but she loved the place, so instead, I paid it off for her.
“Hey, baby! You look so good!” she cooed, backing up and cradling my face in her hands.
“Thank you. So do you.”
“No I don’t,” she said with a chuckle. “I see you been staying out of trouble…”
“I been trying to.”
“Come on and sit down so we can talk.”
I took a seat on her floral sofa as she dropped into her recliner with an “Oomph!”
“You been feeling all right, Grandma? You keeping your sugar under control?” I asked.
“I been doing fine, baby. Just fine. I heard you been spending time with your little brothers and sister,” she responded.
“Yes, ma’am. They’re cute. Funny, too.”
“They are, they are.”
“You and my mom get along better now, huh? You be talking to her and stuff?”
“I do. She did good getting with Leland. He’s a wonderful man.”
I nodded.
Through a sigh she said, “Well, baby…the reason why I wanted to see you is because your other grandmother called me yesterday.”
I frowned. “What other grandmother?”
“Joy Daniels, Malcolm’s mother.”
My stomach dropped. “My father Malcolm?” I knew Joy, kind of, so I knew she was referring to my father, but still…what?
She nodded.
“What she want? I heard he was getting out the pen soon. He need some money or a place to stay? Well, I told his folks the last time they tried that, that the only thing I’ma give him is what he gave me—not shit other than his raggedy-ass last name.” The simple thought of that man and his grimy audacity had me ready to undo all the work I’d done over the past few months. My act-right was a centimeter from jumping out the window. To try and not wreck my grandmother’s house, I started rubbing my hands over the thighs of my sweats.
“He did get out about a week ago, but she wanted you to know he passed away a couple days later. Someone shot him and left him for dead. She identified him but said they’ll only release the body to his next of kin—you.”
The room began to spin, and my head started feeling light.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe, Daniels!
I managed to coach myself back from the edge, shifting my attention from where I’d been staring out her big picture window to her face, to see concern etched all over it.
“How’d she get your number?” I asked evenly.
“Uh…I used to go to church with one of her sisters. She gave it to her,” she supplied, appearing nervous.
I nodded slowly. “And you have her number?”
“It’s in my phone.”
“Can you call her for me?”
“Why don’t I just give you her number and—”
“No, ma’am. I don’t want her number. I just need you to call her for me…please.” My voice was low and soft. I swear I was trying not to fucking explode in my granny’s living room. I was really, really trying. God knows I was.
“Okay, baby,” she agreed. I left my seat as she dialed the number, was standing next to her when she said, “Hey, Joy. This is Diana. Boogie is here and he wants to speak with you.”
After she handed me the phone, I lifted it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Armand?” my other grandmother said, her voice familiar and irritating as shit to me.
“Yeah, this me.”
“Honey, did you hear about your father?”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I replied, “Mmhmm.”
“I went down to the place and identified him…my poor baby. It’s a damn shame how whoever shot him left him like an animal, like he wasn’t nothing.”
He wasn’t, I thought, but said, “My Granny Diana said you need me to do something?”
“Yes, baby…they say only the next of kin can claim the body. That’s you since you his only child. When can you go down there and do it? We need to lay him to rest. I know you’ll probably want to pay for the funeral, won’t you?”
“Hell no,” I bit out.
“What?”
“I said hell…no. Your son will rot in that morgue before I even consider claiming his sorry-ass, deadbeat-ass, abusive-ass, jailbird-ass body, and I will cut my right arm off before I pay for his funeral! Fuck him and fuck you! Fuck y’all whole damn family! Don’t ever ask me for shit again!”
I handed my shocked-into-silence grandmother her phone and left.