Rain Storm Page 6

  “Well, how mean do you think he’d be to you if he knew where you were?” Cynda handed Iona her coat, then took the key Keith gave her out of her purse and put it on the coffee table. “Let’s just say, he’s not someone either of us wants to see right now.” She opened the front door and left, dragging Iona behind her.

  “Where are we going, Mommy?”

  “Getting out of the way of two maniacs,” Cynda told her as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jasmine’s number. “Hey girl, do you have room for me and Iona.”

  “So it’s true,” Jasmine said on the other end of the phone.

  “What’s true? What are you talking about?”

  “Spoony just left. He said you stole something from him. My guess is you stole Iona,” Jasmine said.

  “I can’t steal my own child, Jasmine.” Spoony was truly crazy. She’d spotted him earlier that morning while she was out trying to earn enough money to feed and clothe her child. She high tailed it off that corner and made it back to Keith’s house where she thought she’d be safe. Enter maniac number two, Isaac.

  “Don’t tell me, girl. Tell that fool you hooked up with. He’s down the street at Cooper’s house waiting on you to show your face over here.”

  “Thanks, girl. I’ll check with you later.”

  Just as soon as Cynda hung up with Jasmine, her phone rang. It was Linda. “What do you want?” Cynda asked.

  “Where is Iona? Why did you keep her out all night?” Linda scolded.

  “She is my daughter, Linda.”

  “I know that, but you’ve never kept her out all night before.”

  “I’m just trying to keep my daughter safe from pedophiles like your husband.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Cynda flagged a cab down and she and Iona hopped in. “Ask your man.”

  “Look, Cynda, you’ve got this wrong. Spoony has never touched Iona,” Linda said.

  “No, he hasn’t touched her. He just wants to let other freaked-out weirdoes do it for him.”

  There was brief silence, and then Linda asked, “So, what are you going to do?”

  “Take us to the bus station, please,” Cynda told the cab driver, then to Linda she said, “We’re getting as far away from Spoony as possible, that’s what we’re going to do.”

  “Look, if you’re set on doing this, come to the house and I’ll give you some money. I don’t want Iona out there starving to death.”

  “Meet us at the bus station.”

  “You know I can’t leave the house before Spoony gets back.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Out looking for you.”

  “How do I know you won’t call and tell him that I’m on my way over there?”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  Cynda contemplated Linda’s offer but then thought better. “Keep your money, Linda. We don’t need you.” Cynda hung up. She then opened her purse and counted all the money she had, which was about four-hundred dollars; not hardly enough for her and Iona to escape from Spoony and Isaac. And what if she got the urge to get high? She didn’t want Iona to go hungry. And her clothes were still at Spoony’s. Reconsidering Linda’s offer, she thought about how she could really use the money after all. Not to mention she could get the money, pick up some of Iona’s clothes, and get out the way before Spoony came back home. She gave the cabbie Spoony’s address and sat back.

  When the cabbie pulled up in front of Satan’s house, Cynda got out and paid the driver.

  Iona stayed in the back seat, a frightened look on her face. “I don’t want to go in there, Mama.”

  Cynda saw the fear on her daughter’s face and turned back to the cab driver and asked, “Can you wait on me and let my daughter sit in the cab while I go inside?”

  He shook his head. “I wouldn’t wait on my mother in this neighborhood. You’re going to have to call another cab.”

  Iona repeated, “I don’t want to go in there.”

  “Get your kid, lady. I’ve got to go,” the cab driver told Cynda.

  “All right, all right,” she said to the cabbie and then turned to Iona again. “Get out of the car, girl. I don’t have all day.” Iona got out of the cab and she and Cynda walked to the house and knocked on the door.

  Linda opened the door. “I thought you weren’t coming?”

  “Can’t let you know all my moves,” Cynda told her. “You got the money?”

  “Wait a minute.” Linda went into her bedroom, when she came back out she handed Iona two-thousand dollars. “This is all I’ve got. I’d give you more if I had it.”

  Cynda took the money out of Iona’s hand and counted it. “Girl, you’re working way too cheap. After all the mess you’ve taken off that Negro, you should be a millionaire by now.”

  “Where will you go?” Linda asked, not acknowledging Cynda’s sarcastic remark. “Spoony and I will be worried sick.”

  “Oh yeah, he’s worried all right.” Cynda went to the kitchen, grabbed a trash bag, and then told Iona, “Go throw your clothes in this bag.”

  “Think about what you’re doing, Cynda. If you take her, Spoony will kill you.”

  Cynda turned and faced Linda with fire in her eyes. “You’ve got that right. That negro will have to kill me before he turns my daughter into a whore.”

  Linda backed away from Cynda. “Spoony would never do something like that to Iona. We love her.”

  “Wake up, Linda. Spoony has already told Iona what he plans to do to her. And we both know that you would just stand by and watch him do it.”

  “No, no. You’re wrong.”

  “If thinking that I am lying on Spoony helps you sleep at night, then so be it. Go on; get yourself a good night’s sleep. But I’m taking my daughter out of here today.”

  Iona ran back into the living room. “Mama, don’t yell at Aunt Linda,” she whined.

  Cynda grabbed her daughter’s arm and took her back to her bedroom. “Girl, we got to get out of here, and you worried about me yelling at that woman.”

  “But Aunt Linda is nice to me,” Iona said, holding the half filled trash bag.

  “That woman don’t care nothing about you, just like Spoony don’t care about you. You hear me, Iona.”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  “Now let’s finish getting your things so we can go.”

  They shoved some more of Iona’s things in the trash bag and then headed back toward the front door. But Cynda couldn’t resist one last verbal jab. She turned to Linda. “Tell Spoony to send me a bill for the money he lost by not putting my daughter on the street.”

  “Why don’t you tell me yourself,” Spoony said as he closed the front door behind him and walked into the living room.

  Cynda jumped, and then turned to face him. “We’re leaving, Spoony. You can’t stop us.”

  Iona started crying.

  “Hush, baby,” Cynda told her. “We’ll be out of here in a few minutes.”

  Spoony walked toward them. “What’s the matter, Iona? You don’t like it here no more?” he asked her.

  Iona continued to cry as she moved closer to Cynda.

  “So how much do you think I should bill you for my loss of income?” Spoony asked Cynda with venom in his eyes.

  “Tell her it’s not true, Spoony,” Linda said. “Tell her you would never do something like that to Iona.”

  He turned his glare on Linda. “Did I ask you to open your mouth?”

  Linda cowered. “No.”

  “These two belong to me. I’ll do what I want with them,” he told Linda before turning back to Cynda and putting his finger in her face. “How much should I bill you?”

  All the bravado Cynda had before Spoony walked through the door and breathed down her throat, eked out of her. “I-I--” she stammered.

  Spoony put his hand under his ear. “What? Speak up, Cynda. I can’t make out what you’re saying.”

  Cynda stepped back. “W-we’re leaving, Spoony.”

  Grabbing Cynda by her th
roat, Spoony backed her against the wall. Linda pulled Iona out of the way.

  “No, no. Don’t hurt my mommy!” Iona yelled as Linda pulled her by the arm to the back bedroom.

  Spoony smacked Cynda. “You think you’re just going to walk out of here with my property? You got another thought coming.”

  “You can’t have her,” Cynda said. “I won’t let you do this.” Cynda pushed at him, but his body was too rock solid to be moved. She looked around for something to hit him with and saw a glass lamp. She tried to reach out for it but Spoony began punching her in the face and pushing her downward. He kicked her several times and she rolled around on the floor trying to cover herself. “Stop, Spoony. Just let us go. Let me and my daughter go. Please.”

  He bent down and grabbed a handful of her long, black hair. Yanking her off the ground, he stood her in front of him and punched her in the face again. “I’ll let you go when you’re in a pine box and not before.”

  The punch sent Cynda reeling backward. She fell against the wall. Something in her snapped. Spoony wanted her dead. He wanted her in a pine box so her daughter could look down on her and hate her for not protecting her, just as she’d hated her mother. History would not repeat itself today! She leaped on Spoony. Stuck her claws into him and tried to peel the flesh off his bones.

  “Have you lost your mind?” he yelled as he pushed her to the ground and touched the blood spots on his face. “I’m gon’ kill you for that.”

  Cynda pulled herself up against the wall as Spoony advanced on her. Once again she eyed the lamp that sat on the table next to her. But Spoony was choking her before she could grab it. Thoughts of her mother’s dead body flittered through her mind; The mother she lost because of a man like Spoony. She’d sworn that she wouldn’t be like her mother but here she was, dying just like her.

  “S-stop.” She tried to pull his arms from around her neck, but her strength was waning. She could barely hear her own voice as she pleaded with him.

  “I told you. Didn’t I tell you I was going to kill you?” Spoony yelled as he continued choking her.

  Just like Mama. She lived and died just like Mama. Her vision was blurring. But somehow she managed to touch the lamp. She brought her hands down to the table and reached for it. Tears stung her eyes as she swung the lamp and then floated into darkness.

  8

  “Look, Isaac, there’s something else I need to tell you about Cynda,” Keith said as they turned onto Spoony’s street.

  “Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want to hear another word about that woman?” Isaac turned away from Keith to study the commotion going on around Spoony’s house.

  Keith couldn’t hold it in any longer and blurted out, “Cynda has a daughter.”

  “Why would the police and ambulance be surrounding Spoony’s house?” Isaac asked curiously. Then he turned back to Keith. “I thought you said you weren’t sleeping with her?”

  “I’m not, man. Her daughter is ten years old.”

  “Yeah, well good for her. Why are you telling me?”

  The door to Spoony’s house opened and the paramedics carried out a body bag. Isaac and Keith got out of the car. Soon after, the police brought Cynda out of the house in handcuffs. Keith ran to her.

  “What happened? What’s going on?” Keith asked frantically.

  The burly officer pushed him out of the way. “This is police business. You need to move.”

  Cynda’s eyes were glazed as she stumbled beside the officer.

  “Tell me what happened,” Keith yelled as Cynda was placed in the back seat of the police car.

  Through swollen lips Cynda answered matter-of-factly, “I couldn’t let him prostitute my baby.”

  The police slammed the door after putting Cynda in the back seat.

  “I’ll get you out of this, Cynda. You’ve just got to trust me,” he yelled as the police drove off.

  Keith felt ill. He blamed himself for everything. What if he’d done what God wanted and asked Cynda to marry him? Would this be happening? Would Cynda be on her way to prison? I’ll fix it, Lord.

  ***

  Isaac watched as Linda walked outside with a little girl clutching her arm. He then walked over to Linda. He had to find out if he had arrived too late to tell his old friend about a God that loved him no matter what? But the closer he got to Linda, the better view of the little girl he got. Then Keith’s words hit him. Cynda has a little girl. She’s ten.

  Isaac looked from Linda to the little girl, then he turned to Keith as his friend walked over to them. “What’s going on here?” Isaac asked, looking from Keith, to the child, then back to Keith again.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Keith pulled Isaac away from Iona and Linda. He then whispered, “I think Iona is your daughter. She looks just like you.”

  Isaac glared at his friend as he stepped back. “How long have you known this?”

  Keith held up his hands. “I swear, man, I just met Iona yesterday. I asked Cynda about who the father was, but she wouldn’t admit it.”

  Isaac walked back over to Linda. Her gaze was fixed on the paramedics as they lifted the body into their truck. “Is that Spoony?” Isaac asked.

  Without looking at him, Linda nodded.

  “Linda, I know this is a bad time, but I need to talk to you,” Isaac said.

  She looked at Isaac with dull un-telling eyes. “Now is as good a time as any. Don’t suppose things will get any better or worse for me.”

  Isaac followed Linda as she walked up the steps and back into her house. She acted as if she didn’t notice the turned over chairs and coffee table or the busted glass that lay in pieces on the floor. She asked Keith to sit with Iona in the living room while she took Isaac to the dining room.

  When they sat down, Linda simply said, “Iona is your daughter.” She picked up her pack of cigarettes off the table, put one in her mouth, and lit it. “I love that little girl. I wanted to keep her,” she told him while puffing on her cigarette. “But when I saw you standing outside I figured that God must have sent you here to get her.”

  They sat in silence. Isaac tried to put this nightmare together. Spoony, his old friend, was dead. Cynda had killed him, and Cynda had given birth to his baby but never told him. Now he would have to go home and tell his wife that he had fathered a child that was not hers. Nina was the best thing that had ever happened to him – but how much could she take from him?

  “Well,” Linda said as she stood up, “I think it’s about time you met your daughter.”

  Isaac numbly followed Linda as she walked into the living room. “Iona, honey, come here. I want to introduce you to somebody,” Linda said.

  Iona walked over and said, “I already know who he is.”

  “You do?” Linda asked. “How do you know?”

  “Uncle Spoony showed me a picture of him.” Her eyes got sad as she looked at Isaac. “He said you didn’t want me.”

  Isaac bent down and looked into his little girl’s eyes and wished he could tell her that Spoony was wrong. He wished that he was excited at the thought of being her father. But Lord, he wished Nina had birthed this child for him. “We’ll work through this. Okay?”

  Iona nodded. Isaac grabbed her hand and walked out of Spoony’s house with his daughter.

  ***

  “Ebony, your mom is here,” Donavan hollered from the porch.

  Nina and Ebony were in her office. Nina was going over a scene she was writing for her next book with Ebony. Nina turned away from her computer screen and looked at Ebony. “Are you ready for this?”

  Ebony leaned against the wall in Nina’s office and said, “I don’t know. I’m scared.”

  Nina stood, put her hand on Ebony’s shoulder and said, “Have a little faith.”

  Tears flowed down Ebony’s face as she hugged Nina. “I love you, Nina. I’m so glad I met you.”

  Nina started crying also. How she wished that Ebony was her child, but she had to face facts and play the hand she’d b
een dealt. Wiping her eyes, Nina said, “I love you too, honey. But no matter how much I love you, I guarantee, your mom loves you more. Come on, let’s go talk to her.”

  Slowly, they moved down the stairs to greet Ebony’s mom. Ebony stopped midway down the stairs as her mother’s profile came into view. She bit her lip. But Nina wouldn’t let her turn back. She nudged Ebony forward as she said, “Nobody is without sin, so nobody can throw stones at you. Remember that.”

  Ebony smiled and walked a bit faster. Her pudgy mother was standing in the entry way watching Ebony walk down the stairs. When Ebony was on the last step her mother ran to her and enveloped her in sweet love.

  “Oh, baby. We’ve missed you so much,” her mother said as she twirled Ebony around, then stepped back and looked at her child. “Are you all right? Nothing’s happened to you, has it?”

  Somberly Ebony told her, “A lot’s happened to me, Mama.”

  “It doesn’t matter, baby. You’ll be all right, even if we have to get you some therapy. I just need you home. That’s all I want.” She turned and faced Nina. She stuck out her hand. “I’m Gloria Jones. I guess you’ve figured out that I’m Ebony’s mother. Thank you so much for calling me.”

  Nina shook Gloria’s hand. “Yes. And you have a wonderful daughter. We enjoyed her company this past week.”

  Gloria beamed and looked back toward her daughter. “Ebony is wonderful, isn’t she? I’ve been going out of my mind every since she disappeared.”

  Nina invited Gloria to have a seat. “I think Ebony wants you to know a few things before you take her home.”

  There was a granite-white sofa and loveseat in the living room. The cherry maple entertainment center with a 48 inch plasma TV was against the wall facing the sofa. Ebony sat on the loveseat and put the multi-colored throw pillow in her lap, while her mother sat on the edge of the sofa. Ebony was so nervous that her hands were shaking. She put them in her lap and lowered her head as she said, “I’ve done some things since I left home, Mama.”

  “Things? What kind of things?” her mother asked.

  Ebony lowered her voice as she sunk back into her seat. “I’ve been selling my body.”

  “What?” Gloria jumped up and walked the length of the living room. She turned, then came back to stand in front of Nina and Ebony. “How could you have done something like this, Ebony? How?”