Homecoming Weekend (20 page)

Diamond laughed, but quickly turned serious. “I'm worried about Janea,” she said. “She's a great person. Her family is great and has been good to me. She actually wants to have this baby. But she also knows this is not the time for it, too. So, she's totally torn. And it's driving her crazy.”

“Well, how far along is she?” Venita asked.

“Almost two months,” Diamond answered.

“Who is she talking to for counseling?”

“No one. Well, me.”

“No offense, niece, but that's not the best route,” Venita said. “She hasn't talked to her parents?”

“No way,” Diamond said. “They are nice people. They are in town now for homecoming, in fact. They all are out at dinner. But her father would lose his mind. And her mother, too. Her father is in politics, a city councilman in Fairfax or something. Her mom is the Dean of Women at a small school up there in Northern Virginia. So, appearances matter.”

“Well, that might be true to them, but the reality is that she's
their daughter and she should feel free enough to talk to them about something so serious,” Venita said. “Has she spoken to any adult at all about this?”

“As far as I know, she's only told me about it,” Diamond said.

“Well, I'm here, Diamond,” Venita said. “I don't know what I would tell her, but she needs to speak to someone older than you to get some perspective. I would be glad to sit down with her and at least encourage her to speak to her parents about it. They might surprise her.

“And what about her boyfriend? Does he know?”

“She hasn't told him yet because she wants to be clear about what she should do,” Diamond said. “She thinks he'd want her to have an abortion. She wants to figure it all out first.”

“That's a lot to figure and maybe he could help her come to a decision,” Venita said. “But I'll tell her that when—or if—I get to talk to her.”

“Well, I'll suggest that she talk to you,” Diamond said. “I won't tell her that I already told you. I'll tell her that you are a cool old person and that maybe she should talk to you.”

“You really think I'm ‘cool'?”

“I do,” Diamond said. “But that's a little off-subject, don't you think?”

“Wait. Did you say ‘cool
old
person'?”

“Auntie,” Diamond whined.

The women laughed.

“I would like to be there with Sky if you talk to her, okay?” Diamond said.

Venita took a deep breath. “Sure. Okay. That's fine.”

When they got into the car, Venita hit Diamond with some surprising news.

“I was going to wait to tell you this tomorrow, at breakfast,”
Venita said. “I don't know why I picked breakfast over dinner. I think it was because you learn something like this at the start of the day, you have the rest of your day to digest it and by the time you're ready for bed, you can sleep.

“And also—”

“Aunt Venita,” Diamond interrupted, exasperated. “What is it?”

“Well, I got a call two days ago from your dad,” she said.

“And?”

“And he's getting out early on good behavior,” Venita said.

“What? When?” Diamond wanted to know.

“Well, it looks like he'll be coming home next Thursday,” Venita told her. Tears immediately welled up in Diamond's eyes.

“I know,” Venita said, and then she started crying. “It's been a long time. He's so proud of you. You and your mom are his world.”

“I don't know what to think, auntie,” Diamond said. “I have seen my friends have their parents visit them and be able to go home for breaks and spend time with them. I haven't had that and sometimes I'm sad about it and sometimes I'm mad about it.

“Mommy is amazing. She stays positive, even as the disease has taken away her ability to walk and, really, take care of herself. Still, she's my biggest cheerleader. I think she stays so positive to keep me up. But she doesn't know that when I'm home and go to my room, I always cry my eyes out. I hate seeing my mother like that. It doesn't seem fair.”

“It is horrible,” Venita said. “Your mom and I get along like sisters and when this started to happen—what?—nine, ten years ago, I couldn't believe M.S. was so awful. Your mom is a fighter, very competitive. Did you know she played basketball in high school? And could have played in college if she wanted to?

“I knew she was going to fight it. When I read up on M.S., I got so scared. There really is nothing that can be done to stop
what it does to the muscle functions. Ultimately, it just takes over.”

“I couldn't be my mother,” Diamond said. “I'm not as strong as she is. I would have given up. It's too much.”

“You wait until you have kids,” Venita said. “You're the reason she continues to fight. She wants to see you blossom like that Diamond in the rough they talked about when they named you ‘Diamond.' That's what keeps her going. And I think, too, that she wants to see my brother come home and feel him hug her. I know people who say they don't believe in love at first sight or even in everlasting love.

“All I do when I hear that is point to your mom and dad. They met at a Prince concert—have you heard the story?”

“Only a hundred times,” Diamond said. “But I love it every time.”

“Me, too, because it was real. They both had on purple,” Venita recalled. “It rained that night. Your dad's shirt was a deep purple and so was your mom's top. Most people wore a lighter purple, including me. When they saw each other, my brother said—I was standing right there—‘that's a nice shade of purple on you.'

“Saundra looked him up and down. ‘You, too,' she said. Raheem then said to her, ‘We should be together.' Your mom said, ‘Excuse me?' But she was smiling. I was with Raheem and she was with a girlfriend. I ended up giving her my seat and they watched Prince together.

“I got the raw end of that deal big time. She watched Prince with him about twenty rows from the front—and found the love of her life. I sat with her mean, smelly girlfriend on the second deck. But the way it turned out, I didn't mind. I got a great sister-in-law. I never saw Raheem taken by a woman like that. I am a huge Prince fan—but I had to help out my brother. I knew he was in love.”

Diamond smiled at the story—again.

“Diamond,” Venita said, her voice turning serious, “have you gotten over your dad being locked up and away from you for the last seven years?”

“I'm glad he's getting out,” she said. “I wish it didn't happen. I thought I knew my father.”

“You did know him, honey,” Venita said. “But he loves your mom so much, he couldn't handle watching her get more and more sick. He turned to drinking. And when he couldn't provide for you, for you to go to that prestigious camp, well, he felt he had to do something.”

“When I think about that, it makes me feel like it's my fault that he turned to robbing someone just for me,” Diamond said. “I really wanted to go to that camp and I kept talking about it and talking about it. It made him feel like he had to get that money for me.”

“He's my brother and I love him to death,” Venita said, “but that was no one's fault but his own. He wasn't raised to take from others. He took an extreme turn—his heart might have been in the right place, but his head was way out of bounds—and he had to pay for it. That's why he didn't even go to trial. He faced up to his crime and it helped his sentence. He had a gun, which means he could have gotten twelve to fifteen years if found guilty in a trial.”

“It's been hard for me because people ask, ‘What do your parents do?' and I have a hard time answering,” Diamond said. “It's been very awkward. I have told them, ‘My dad fixes cars.' That's what I remember, what I hold on to—seeing him slide from under a car, all sweaty and greasy, but still wanting me to hug and kiss him. He would say, ‘This dirt has nothing to do with your sugar.' What's life going to be like for him? He's a felon. He can't get a job.”

“Life is going to be much better because he'll be able to spend time with you, come visit you here next homecoming,” Venita said. “And he'll be able to be with Saundra. That's what matters most. But he'll have a job waiting for him. Two of his buddies who learned everything they knew from him opened shops. They're actually competing to get him to work at their place. So, he will be able to step back in and earn a living, which is really important to someone who has been away for seven years. He's going to have to go to school to catch up, but he's so determined that won't be a problem.

“But how you respond to him will be critical, Diamond. You are the second love of his life. He's going to need you to embrace him as your dad. If your mom could, she would. So it's just you who can really be that person to hold him up as he gets adjusted. Knowing his daughter loves him and is not bitter will make everything go so much better.”

“Well, Aunt Venita, I love my daddy. Nothing can change that,” Diamond said. “I was worried at first because he wouldn't let me come to visit him—just that one time. He writes me and I write him back and send him photos. But he wouldn't let me visit him or send me pictures. He said he didn't want me to have images of him in there.”

She wiped her face and took a deep breath.

“I'm getting my daddy back,” she said. She looked out of the car window in no direction in particular. And then the tears flowed, like a waterfall. And Venita hugged her.

Mary and Rodney, Kwame and Tranise

B
y the time they finished off another round of drinks at The Broadway, Mary and Rodney were back in college mode.

“Tranise, we're going to leave and get something to eat,” Mary said.

“Yeah, I bet something to eat,” Tranise said sarcastically. “Have fun. I'll leave with Charlene.”

“Actually, I was hoping we could go do something private,” Kwame said.

“Something like what?” Tranise wanted to know.

“I haven't figured it out yet,” he said. “Maybe we could go down to the Waterside Mall and sit outside by the water. Maybe we could go back to my place—I live in Ghent Village—and listen to some music.”

Tranise laughed. “See, this is where your age shows up,” she said. “Listen to some music? That's the oldest—and weakest—line in the book.”

Before Kwame could respond, Rodney jumped in.

“We're going to be seeing you fine people later,” he said. He hugged Tranise and shook Kwame's hand. “Good luck, partner,” he said, and they were gone.

“I'm with Charlene, so even if I wanted to do something, I couldn't leave her,” Tranise said.

“You women are funny,” Kwame said. “Charlene is over there having a ball. You think she's worried about where you go?”

“Uh, yes, I do,” Tranise said.

“Listen, if you don't want to go, just say that,” Kwame said. He was smiling but he was serious. “You don't have to use your girl as an excuse.”

“Look, she's coming over here now,” Tranise said. “Watch . . . ‘Charlene, you ready to go?'”

“Well, can I talk to you for a minute?” Charlene said. She had been dancing with Tyrell Mingus, a former football player who looked like he gave up the game for burgers. He, like Charlene, could have stood to lose a few dozen pounds. But he was a handsome guy who always had a thing for Charlene in college.

Last time they saw each other, which was two years earlier at homecoming, Tyrell misplaced Charlene's phone number and was angry that he did. Seeing her at the party was all the opportunity he needed; he was not going to blow it.

“Girl, I think I'm going to leave with Tyrell,” Charlene said. “He lives in Portsmouth and said he wanted to take me over there to that other day party or to his house. Seems to me like I should go. But what do you think?”

“Charlene, you know it doesn't matter what I think,” Tranise said.

“No, it does matter,” Charlene insisted.

“Well, just like Mary, I think you should go with Ty,” Tranise said. “He was a nice guy in college. As long as you feel comfortable and safe, then go have fun.”

Tranise and Charlene hugged. “You going to the jazz concert or the all-black party or the Best of Friends reception or . . . what?” Tranise asked.

“If I'm as lucky as I hope, I'll be seeing you in the morning,” Charlene said. “Besides, Mary has the car.”

“Damn. That's right. Okay. I guess I should say, ‘Have fun,'” Tranise said. Then she turned to Kwame, who smiled at her.

“Well, I guess going down to Waterside won't be so bad for a while,” Tranise said. “But I'm going to the all-black party later at the Holiday Inn off Newtown Road.”

“Wow,” Kwame said. “How ironic. Me, too. I guess I can be your ride—if you want—since Mary has the car.”

“Well, let's see how this goes first,” she responded. She was all right with Kwame taking her to the event, but only if he understood they were not going together, that she would be free to mingle with her former classmates. She did not know that Kwame had the same ideas.

In the car, Tranise called Mary, who answered, but only briefly.

“So what's the plan for later?” Tranise said. “Or is there a plan?”

“I think your plan and my plan might be different,” Mary said, and then she laughed. “I'm probably not going to make it to the party.”

“But a lot of people will be there,” Tranise said.

“I know. But they'll all be at the tailgate and at the game,” Mary said. “So I'm going to catch up with folks then.”

Tranise could hear Rodney in the background. “Well, I've got to run,” Mary said. “Have fun and call me in the morning.”

Mary disconnected the call and immediately contacted Charlene, who was en route to Tyrell's home. “Well, you go right ahead, girl,” Mary said. “Tell Tyrell hello for me. I'm in the room with Rodney. So, I'll see you in the morning?”