39
Dropping his cue stick, MJ scampered up the basement stairs to the kitchen. He picked up the ringing telephone on the fourth ring. “Hi, Mommy!”
“Hey, son. How’s my boy? Did you miss me?”
MJ quickly realized that the person on the other end wasn’t Tandi. “Daina! Hi. I thought you were my mother.”
“Well, aren’t I? I’m your godmother. That doesn’t count?”
“Yeah. Did you bring me a souvenir from Africa?”
“Kid, I better get a big hug and a kiss for what I brought you. It weighs more than I do and cost dearly to bring back.”
Excited, MJ jumped. “It’s big? What did you bring me?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“When am I gonna get it?”
“Whenever I get over there.”
“Come tonight. I can stay up late on Friday nights.”
“Lucky you,” Daina said. “Where’s your mother?”
“At Granddad’s house.”
“This late? Is he sick?”
“Uh-huh. He had a stroke.”
“My God. How bad is it?”
“He can’t walk.”
“Geez. What time is your mother coming home?”
“She don’t live here no more.”
“What? What do you mean, ‘She don’t live here no more?’”
“She don’t,” MJ said, lowering his voice. He glanced over at the open basement door.
“Is this just until your granddad gets better?”
“No. She’s getting us an apartment, and me and her are gonna live by ourselves. Daina, can me and my dad come and get my souvenir?”
“Michael Jared, wait a minute. I’m not getting this. Tandi doesn’t live with you and Jared anymore?”
“No. They separated.”
“What?”
“Mommy don’t like my dad no more.”
“Geez. I go away and my friends lose their ever-loving minds. Michael Jared, what’s your—”
“Everybody calls me MJ now.”
“Is that so? MJ, huh? Well, MJ, what else don’t I know? Are you still a kid or have you graduated college and gotten married since I’ve been gone?”
“How I’m gonna go to college and get married when I’m only eleven years old?”
“Hey, seems to me anything can happen,” Daina said. “Michael Jared, what’s the telephone number at your Granddad’s house?”
“If you’re gonna call Mommy, she’s not back yet.”
“Back from where?”
“She went to visit a friend. She said she’d call me when she got back. She hasn’t called yet.”
“Where’s your father?”
“He’s down in the basement. He’s teaching me to play pool. We got a new pool table. It’s real cool.”
“Tell your father that Herb and I . . . no, that I’ll be over there in forty-five minutes. We have to talk.”
“Are you gonna bring my souvenir?”
“Maybe. If there’s a big kiss in it for me.”
“A real big kiss.”
“Hang up the phone, little man. I’m on my way.”
Smiling broadly, MJ hurried back down to the basement. “Dad, Daina’s coming over, and she got me a big souvenir.”