Thursday, February 21, 2019

SEASON 1 PART 24


 [SUMMARY OF THE LAST FEW DAYS]

Quincy has been on his job for about a week and is glad to be bringing home a paycheck. Abram is back in San Francisco, however he's determined to get in for Halloween. It was determined that Phil would be in town over the weekend and he'd return Sunday. Deja has finally finished her cookbook and is releasing the book on Halloween.


DATE [10/27/17] APPROXIMATELY 4:00 PM

"Taylor, Kyla, Crystal! Get down here!" Kima yelled as she prepared to go through the ground rules.
 "Your aunt Clara will here in about an hour, here are some guidelines"
1.No boys at the house while we are gone
2.No parties
3.Don't stay up all night
4.Do not give your aunt a hard time. I better hear about how y'all getting into any shit while we're out
5.No late night phone calls
6.I've got enough food in the fridge to last y'all the weekend. There will be no late night trips to McDonalds. Do NOT ask

"MOM!" Kyla exclaimed. "We get it!"
"Okay....I love y'all, the numbers are on the table. Call us if you need us"
"Bae! C'mon"
Jameson headed to the door as he escorted her out. "They're good kids. Y'all call us if you need us"
"Kyla, no dates"

After watching them leave, Taylor went for the TV, while Kyla and Crystal went to their bedrooms. To help the time pass by, Taylor decided to watch an black and white TV show. It was still around 3:00 pm where her cousin was so it would be about 6 or 7 pm her time before she got to talk to him.

On the road, Jameson and Kima had to get through the Baton Rouge traffic, especially at the I-10/1-12 split.  "4 days of relaxation" she said as she flipped through the radio stations in the vehicle. "I'm looking forward to it too, just need to get through this mess" Jameson responded. "Where you wanna go first?"

"Isle of Capri" Kima responded. "I tend to have good luck there"

"Don't forget we got points at L'auberge, I wanna go to that Buffet"
"Oh we will. Definitely want to go there, walk to the Golden Nugget, Delta Downs, and We might be able to hit up the Coushatta if we're lucky. Your uncle lives there right?"
"Yeah my uncle Pete lives out there. He's in Oberlin."

At this point, they had made it past the split, so there was a little over two hours before they arrived at their destination. They booked a hotel in Sulphur, which wasn't far from the L'auberge/Golden Nugget complex via the I-210 exit or a straight shot down I-10 to get to Westlake if they wanted to go to the Isle of Capri. 

Back in Los Angeles,  Deja was on a break towards the end of her school day preparing for the release of her book. She had already spoken with local bookstores around the area about selling and the price that the book would be. At the moment, she was posting a promo encouraging people to buy the book. She also sent a group text to her sisters to share the word about the release as well as the book signing which would be the day after Halloween. She postponed the signing so that she could focus on having a gathering for the kids as she normally did that day. 

Releasing the cookbook was a challenge. Finding the right recipes as well as getting permission from her Aunts to share the recipes she grew up with during her visits down in the Bayou state. She figured she could sell the books for $11. She also desired to have it on Amazon to download at a lower rate if her signing went well. She had a flashback to her first year making a chocolate sheet cake with her aunt Anna, remembering the cinnamon that was added to the cake, kind of giving off the taste of fresh gingerbread and how she wanted to be able to share these recipes with her children. It was the perfect finish for a dinner consisting of fried chicken, navy beans, and cornbread. This cake was always a hit at gatherings, picnics, and the like. Thinking about that, she knew she wanted to include this recipe in the book. As she prepared to teach her class for the day, she reflected on the visit down south over the summer and what it meant to her. She questioned why she had not been down there since her oldest two were three years old. She received a text regarding an urgent matter asking if she could talk to her after she left school.

"Sure, same coffee shop we met at last time?"
Yvonne agreed, as she begin reviewing the records that her Aunt left her when she passed.

As school came close to an end, Malachi’s teacher allowed her students to go outside for the remainder of the day.

"That test kicked my ass" Malachi said to his classmate.

"Same here" he responded "Coldon"

"Malachi" he responded as he reached out to shake Coldon's hand.

"I'm Nathaniel's cousin."
"Oh my God, nice to meet you. I'll have to let him know that I met you."
Any class with him?
"Three"
"You're in my next class too. P.E."
"Sweet"
"My twin sister is here too. I have two classes with her."
 He took out his book to start reading, when Coldon said "I hear you know alot about these stories"
 "Mom is an English Teacher with a background in History. I couldn't avoid it" 
"Speaking of" Malachi said as approached them.

MALACHI-We were just talking about you
NATE-Good I hope
MALACHI-Why would I have anything bad
NATE-So I see you met my buddy. You won't get better than this kid
COLDON-Really?
NATE-No lie, doesn't have a mean bone in his body

Nate then suggested that they take a walk. "You free this weekend?" Nate asked.

MALACHI-Not this weekend but next." Malachi said. "Gotta help my mom with something this weekend.

NATE-Next weekend. Wanna see a movie?

MALACHI-Sure.

COLDON-Sweet, I'll keep you posted.

They chatted until the bell ring, where Malachi met Aundrea in front of the school building to walk across the street.

"Mom left us money for ice cream" She said, suggested that they walk to the nearby malt shop. "Cool" said Nate "you two can just ride home w/ us"

"Okay, not gonna argue" Malachi said.

At the malt shop, Aundrea broke the ice about an incident at school.

AUNDREA-Did you hear about what happened to Carson?
NATE-No, he okay?
AUNDREA-He found himself sandwiched in the middle of two trucks.
MALACHI-What?
AUNDREA-His was out with his cousin who was driving when some dumbass came on the side of him. Carson was standing on the side of the truck when this stupid ass decided to make a fool of himself.
NATE-But what's the relation, why would he............
AUNDREA-Apparently, there was a situation with Carson's cousin and this guy, and he initially wanted to threaten him, scare him. I don't know but he drove close enough to lift Carson in the air, he spun mid air a few times. Jacked the guy's truck up.
MALACHI-When did this happen?
COLDON-And how did you know about it?
AUNDREA-Well...........
MALACHI-Reliable references. I don't even know how she gets them.

Malachi figured that he'd chat with him tonight and ask him about this. After all, he had a free weekend. No homework due as he had completed during a study hour. He finished a reading for a quiz. This weekend, he would see how Taylor was doing back in Baton Rouge.Then he would help his mom get ready for Tuesday's event. When he arrived home, Quincy and QJ were on the sofa.

"Hey. Where'd y'all go"
"Oh we just stopped for ice cream after school. Nate's mom just dropped us off."
 "That's nice. You doing anything tonight?"
 "I didn't have any plans"
 "Okay. I figured we could go get something to eat to night"
 "Working man now" Malachi joked.  "Just let me know when you're ready"
 "Okay. I'm gonna get online for a bit"

 [ONLINE CHAT]
TAYLOR-Hey
MALACHI-Hey
TAYLOR-How was your day?
MALACHI-It was okay. Just got home. What's happening back in Louisiana?
TAYLOR-Parents are not home. My aunt is watching us for the weekend. Did you hear that Ian could be coming down for the spring?
MALACHI-Nope, for what? Who would he be staying with?
TAYLOR-Uncle Pete I think
MALACHI-We'll meet them over the summer. We're supposed to be meeting our Sacramento relatives over the Holidays.
TAYLOR-Take plenty of pictures for me. 
MALACHI-I'll try. I'm sorry to cut the conversation short. I've gotta take a shower. We're getting ready to go out to eat. I'll resume later.
TAYLOR-TTYL

"Does he know?" Kyla asked.
"Know what?" Taylor responded
"About his grandmother"
"No. I haven't said anything"
"Good. Dad told us not to."
"Trust me, I wanna spill it so bad. This is crazy."

Kyla went to the kitchen to grab a snack while she talked about how the news got to her. "Dad was just sitting in here watching TV when I passed by. He was looking at a scrapbook when he told me. He didn't seem that upset about it. Some would be upset to find out so late, but........"

After she fixed a snack, she went to her room and decided to locate an outfit.  "What you gettin into tonight?" Crystal asked, "You heard what mama said. No dates"

"It's not a date. It's a study session. Camille's picking me up. Going to Barnes and Noble. I'll probably be home late. Barnes stays open pretty late"

"I'm just gonna sit here and watch movies."

In SWLA, Jameson and Kima checked into their hotel. They were staying at the Wingate in Sulphur on Arena Road.  After carrying the luggage to the room, they sat down for a moment. They took off their shoes and planned out their night. "Isle of Capri tonight?"

"Works for me" Jameson said. He really did not want to go to Vinton tonight, it got quite dark out there once the sun went down and he wasn't comfortable driving down that part of Hwy 90 so when it was dark. "How about Delta Down's tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Then  Lauberge and Golden Nugget Sunday. Coushatta on Monday!"

"Sounds like you've already got this trip mapped out"

Once their clothes were unpacked, Kima decided to call the kids to see how they were doing.

CRYSTAL-Hello?
KIMA-Hey sweet pea. We made it. Just got to our hotel a little while ago. What yall doing overthere?
CRYSTAL-Nothin.
KIMA-Have a good day at school?
CRYSTAL-Yes ma'am. Minus the math test that did me in. I’m nervous about the results.
KIMA-What about your sisters?
CRYSTAL-Taylor's in her room right now and Kyla is getting ready to go to Barnes and Noble to Study.
KIMA-Okay....so nothing crazy going on
Crystal-Like what?
CRYSTAL-We're gonna watch movies on Netflix. Pop some popcorn and fall asleep in front of the TV. Hey Taylor's right here, wanna talk?
KIMA-Yeah, put her on.
TAYLOR-Hey mom
KIMA-Hey
TAYLOR-Y'all have a good ride?
KIMA-Yeah, kind of rough at the split but once we passed that, we made it okay. What's on your agenda for tonight?
TAYLOR-Nothing much. Talked with my cousin earlier and that's about it. Is it okay if I have some frends over tomorrow? Just two girls.
KIMA-I'd rather meet the parents first. Maybe we can all meet at the mall or something.
TAYLOR-Okay, fair enough
KIMA-Did you guys eat yet?
TAYLOR-Not yet but I can warm some of the pasta you made. We good. Y'all have a good time.

Upon ending the conversation, Kima made a quick run to the bathroom before they hit Interstate 10 to go to Westlake. When they arrived to the casino, Jameson decided to hit the penny machines while Kima went straight for the table games. "I'll have my phone on if you need me" Kima said. "Don't lose all your money in one game." Jameson responded . Kima normally lucked out at Isle of Capri, and she typically did pretty well at the table games. Their last gambling was probably at the beginning of the summer. They had casino's in Baton Rouge, but they were not as nice as the ones in the Lake Area. Even Delta Downs was nicer than the casino in downtown Baton Rouge and it's slot machines only. She didn't gamble often, however with a bonus she received at work, she thought it would be nice to test her luck. Jameson was more reserved at the casino. He generally stuck to machines. He started off at a penny machine where he put $5 in. He won $50. He cashed out and took a short break, ordering a drink from one of the cocktail waitresses. He sipped on his beverage for a while before moving to one of the more expensive machines, where he won $100. After taking his win, he located his wife, who was about an hour into the game before she managed to win $500.

JAMESON-"So how's it going on your end?"
KIMA-"I'm pretty hot right now. I got over $500"
JAMESON-"Already?"
JAMESON-"Okay let's get the hell outa here, cash out before you start losing it"
KIMA-"Let's go to the casino bar, you play those machines, drinks are typically on the house"
JAMESON-"Yea and their usually low wage"

They played for a while. Eventually leaving for the night shortly after 8:30 pm. They decided to head back to Sulphur and ate at Chili's. "Don't wanna overdo it tonight, going to eat at a Buffet tomorrow"

"Oh yeah! That seafood buffet has been on my mind for the last couple of days" Jameson said as he looked at the menu.

KIMA-"You gonna see your uncles while your here?"

JAMESON-"Yeah, gonna pass by Uncle Pete when we go to Kinder and Uncle Mark. He lives in Sulphur"

KIMA-"Does he know you're in town?"

JAMESON-"No, I'll call him tomorrow"

They looked at the menu for about fifteen minutes before the server by the name of Aaron came to take their order.

KIMA-"I'll have the grilled chicken sandwhich"
JAMESON-"I'll take these fajitas"
AARON-Drinks?"
JAMESON-"Dr. Pepper"
KIMA-"Mango Tea"
AARON"Ok, I'll get that right in for y'all. Would y'all like some chips and salsa while you wait?"
JAMESON-"Sure. Thank you"

Back in Baton Rouge, Taylor had warmed something to eat while Crystal was snacking on chocolate. Kyla had been at the bookstore. Family Feud kept them occupied long enough to keep them from looking at the phone. It was one of those nights where they had no plans, no one to see, and couldn't think of anywhere they wanted to go.

"So, what do you know about our cousin so far?" Crystal asked
"He has a twin sister and a younger brother" Taylor responded. "He's a bookworm. He runs track for his school and his mom is a high school teacher. He journals and he's looking forward to coming down next summer."

She wasn't off base. Malachi was more enthusiastic about  getting acquainted with his family than his siblings were. Eventually he'd wish to publish these entries regarding his Louisiana adventure. It would be the longest time that he would spend away from his parents, on the plus side, He would have his sister with him to navigate this along with Ian [at least for the first couple of weeks]. Somewhat full from dinner, he retreated to his room when his mom came in.

MALACHI-"So your last weekend until your book"
DEJA-"One down and hopefully more to go."
MALACHI-"How's the other one?"
DEJA-"It's going, a while in the making"
DEJA-"Tomorrow, we'll be dropping these boxes off to bookstores around the city. We're gonna keep a couple for the signing. I pray people come"
DEJA-"Can I just say I appreciate you giving up your Saturday to help me with this?"
MALACHI-"No problem mom"

When she left, he put in a pair of earbuds and let music take over his mind for most of the night. He had did his assignments for the week so he had a free week so he wasn't sure what to do w/ him self. He took his earbuds off and asked Deja if he could review the cookbook. Just take a glimpse. "Sure, make sure your hands are clean though, don't wanna mess it up"

"You've never made this one for us" he said, looking at the chocolate sheet cake.

"It's a good cake. The frosting hardens once it's baked. The cake taste almost like gingerbread when done due to the cinnamon. Your, great aunt used to make this when she smothered chicken."

"Can we have it one day?"

"In the near future, yes. She would serve it with homemade ice cream. The type of ice cream that one would make in one of those old ice cream machines. Had a distinctive taste to it."

In the background was an episode of cake wars, to which Malachi eventually begin fighting sleep. "I'm gonna hit the bed. I'll see you in the A.M."

"Good night"

Within an hour, she was fighting sleep off herself. The following morning, at around 10:00 am, they begin to getting the books in stores to be on the shelf by next week.

"Ian's gonna keep you company. Faye and the kids are coming out to the signing"

"Nice. Have you told any of your colleagues?"

"I have actually".

"You gonna have food? You know people wanna have something to eat when they come to these things"

"It's not gonna be a long event,  plus it's at a coffeeshop with food and hot beverages. We've got one more stop. I just have to go by the pharmacy and pick up some Tylenol. You father picked up some pizza."

After lunch, Malachi retreated to his room and allowed his food to go down and decided to have some neighborhood friends over for a driveway basketball game, while Deja took a nap. Junior and Aundrea were down the street while Quincy was watching a game on TV. Wanting a drink, he took a cup of sprite and added crown royal to the beverage. They played for two hours straight before raiding Malachi's house for cold drinks.

"Damn!" Quincy exclaimed as they came in, "It's a good think I went grocery shopping the other day." It wasn't the first time that he had his kitchen raided.  He was glad that they hadn't decided to hijack the TV like what had been done in the past. Once they headed back outside to resume the game, Quincy begin to season the chicken that he had taken out earlier for supper. The plan was to eat supper early and then meet Phil at a sports bar to watch a game. "Damn I need friends" he said as he went and got the flour. It was true, he didn't have a lot of friends in LA. He didn't really know his coworkers that well and with the exception of a military buddy, most of his male friends were his wife's in-laws. He almost thought of creating a profile but what male can create a profile or post on a profile looking for male friends without someone distorting it?

The time came when the kid's game ended and they rode their bikes home. "Gotta do this again sometime" Malachi said as he shook hands. He went back in and took a shower. After drying off he slipped on a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt and got online to chat w/ Taylor.

MALACHI-Hey.
TAYLOR-Hey!
MALACHI-Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday, after getting home, I crashed.
TAYLOR-No big.
MALACHI-Parent's still out of town?
TAYLOR-Yep, gambling trip. They lose money, win a little bit. SWLA has several casinos. Between SWLA and Biloxi (MS), you could collectively call those south's version of Las Vegas.
MALACHI-lol, wow.
MALACHI-What'd you do today?
TAYLOR-Well our aunt is babysitting, so I watched movies with her much of the day.
MALACHI-I've been running errands with my mom, she's getting ready for a book signing on Halloween of all days.
TAYLOR-Cool deal.
MALACHI-A cookbook.
TAYLOR-That's what I've heart. Dad, mentioned it briefly. He talks back and fourth w/ her. Hey can I send you something by email real quick?
MALACHI-Sure
TAYLOR-It'll come from my alternate email, once you receive it, delete this conversation IMMEDIATELY!
MALACHI-Is everything okay?
TAYLOR-Yes, but you may want to take a look at this.
MALACHI-Okay....

Malachi deleted the conversation before logging off and surfed the web for about 20 minutes before receiving the email from Taylor. With that, he logged off and went outside.

"Oh Damn!"

He went back in as he normally would, not knowing what to think at the moment and retreated to his room. He grabbed the phone and called Carson. "Man, I heard about your incident"

"Oh yeah, homeboy's gonna pay. What's crazy is he had only been driving for a couple of weeks before making a complete ass out of himself"
"Your mom gonna press charges?"
"Don't know. Just out of the blue. Still don't know what it was about" 
 "You haven't told her?"
 "I didn't have much of a choice seeing how jacked up Erik's car truck was"
"Man, he could've killed you"
"I know. I'm hoping they don't take this shit to court. I already had to write a report on what happened"
"Any witnesses?"
"Mall cop."
"What about you? How's the middle school life treating you?"
"Okay."
"Anyone giving you a hard time?"
"Ummm....not right now. One jerk in my science class though. Just not nice."
"You?"
"Going okay, my English teacher is a real B though."
"Oh boy..."
 "What else is new?"
"Helping mom with her book signing. She's having one Tuesday. She wrote a cookbook. Met some cousins that I had no idea existed and crazy thing is they live right in Long Beach and got to connect with an old friend"
"Juan?"
"Yep"
"Oh and I found out today that I'll be spending much of my summer down in Louisiana. Long story. We'll have to exchange emails. Can I call you back. My mom needs to use the phone."
"Sure man. Talk later." 

"Mom I'm off the phone"

 "We'll be eating in 15 minutes" Quincy said as Malachi walked to the kitchen for a glass of water"
"Okay"

When Deja got on the phone with Yvonne, the continued the conversation from the coffeeshop. 

"This just changes the course of my memoir. Hold on let me go outside real quick so the kids don't hear this"

Once she was outside, she resumed her conversation.

"How the hell do I put it nicely that the guy that I thought was my cousin is really my brother? That my mom had a child that she gave away and that she large a major fact from the family? Does Jameson  know?"

"I didn't get that impression"

"You can't tell mom you know about this right now. Let's just think about this for a minute. Pray on it. Drink on it. Whatever you do, do not confront her with this right now. Eventually she'll know that the two of us know."

Little did they know that Jameson knew this. Anna confessed when she was on her death bed, an hour before she was on her death bed. While digging through a box of her things, he found a letter that Anna had left him hoping that he would read it at some point.  

"Where are you w/ the memoir anyway?"

"Stagnant. I almost just wanna ixnay the project."

"I hear ya. This'll be a good way to introduce chapter 3"

"Stop playin, I can't right now"

"Y'all still going get Abram"

"Yeah, we're gonna pick him up tomorrow. Again, do NOT bring this up to mama right now."

"I'll wait until after my night. I'm not messing that up. I'll talk with you later."

She stood outside for a moment, experiencing the same emotions that she felt when she Yvonne initially broke the news about what was in the records that their aunt Anna left her. She questioned the actions of her mother, but she couldn't think of a decent explanation. Was Jameson the product of an affair? Was she raped? After she stood outside slightly longer, she grabbed a wine cooler before going back inside and resuming her evening. 

TO BE CONTINUED WITH PART 25





















 
 

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