Authors: Clever Black
“No doubt! No doubt Rolanda.”
“Okay! Okay! I know what we’re gonna do! Tomorrow we
going back to Vegas, but before we leave, let’s go on-line and
see if we can find a Mary Holland!” Rolanda stated excitedly as
the friends and family in Phoenix nodded their heads.
The search for Mary Holland produced two hundred and thirty-seven
names on MySpace. USA Search had a multitude of names as well, but
Calvin, who remembered how Mary looked, recognized no one on MySpace
and the numbers of names on USA Search were enormous and they had no
pictures. For the time being, MySpace, with nearly three hundred
names and photos, was the best hope.
Ben and Calvin sat down at the computer and began looking for Mary
Holland. Samantha used Katrina’s laptop and she, Henrietta and
Katrina began searching. JoAnne, Alicia and Dana went home to use
their computer as the Dee-Jays rested for the drive back to Vegas.
The following Monday, Rolanda Jones, Dominique Huntley, Tracey Fuller
and their friend, Brianna Stanford, entered Jazzy’s office.
Jazzy was the founding member of The Fantastic Four Show. She had
given thirty-seven year-olds Rolanda Jones, Tracey Sanchez, and
Dominique Huntley their start in the broadcasting back in September
of 1991 and the show had blossomed into one of the hottest radio
shows in the nation.
“Hey ladies, how was Arizona,” fifty-two year-old Jazzy
asked with a bright smile.
“Jasmine, we found out that Ben had another aunt—Sam had
a sister and she might’ve had two twins—we was thinking
we could—”
Jazzy looked at the women in confusion. “Hey! Hey! Hey! One at
a time! I got one set of ears over here!” she said as she
interrupted the three women. “Now, one at a time, please.”
“Okay,” Rolanda spoke. “During our trip to Phoenix,
Calvin, you know Calvin, right? Him and Dominique met back at Little
Woods when we was like eleven years old at the time. I remember the
first day they kissed and he—”
“Rolanda! Girl, you playin’.” Dominique said
through laughter. “Jazzy,” she then said, taking over for
her friend. “We learned that Sam Holland, remember Sam that was
married to your friend Gabriella?”
“Yes. I remember Gabriella and her husband Sam.” Jazzy
said from behind her desk as she crossed her legs and eyed the women
cautiously.
“Jazzy,” Dominique responded through a wide, optimistic
smile. “Sam Holland had a sister! We found that out down in
Phoenix and we were thinking we could do a special show you know? To
try and help Ben find his aunt that was looking for him back in the
day?”
“We can’t do that,” Jazzy said matter-of-factly as
she waved the girls off.
“Why?” Rolanda, Tracey and Dominique asked in a
heartbroken tone.
“This is not a seek and find outfit, ladies. As much as I would
love to help Ben in his endeavors? We just can’t open up the
lines up and search for anyone.”
“
She’s wrong! There has to be a way for her to do
this! She can do it if she wants to!”
Brianna said through
sign language.
“Don’t’ worry ‘bout it, Bri!” Tracey
said in a disgusted manner. “Gabriella was her friend back in
the day and now her
son
needs help and she not even willing?”
“Tracey!” Jasmine yelled as she stood up from her chair.
“You always get flip by the mouth with me! For the last time,
you disrespect me again and you are fired!”
“I don’t care, Jazzy! You always said you would
never
become Darius, but you do just what the people in Los Angeles tell
you
to do! You rule with an iron fist just like he tried to
do! Just this one thing for us, man! We would
never
ask you
for nothing like this unless it was really, really important and you
know it!” Tracey screamed as tears of anger flooded the wells
of her eyes.
Tracey was really pulling for Ben after learning all he had been
through in life after losing his parents so tragically. All of the
daughters were pulling for Ben, but they were now under the
assumption that they had placed their hopes in the hands of the wrong
person, albeit the only person, that could really help their
childhood friend at least have a chance of finding his family.
“Get out! All four of you! Get out!” Jazzy screamed as
she scooted from behind her desk and began ushering the women towards
her office doors.
The four left the room and Jazzy slammed the door and went and sat
behind her desk, but not before shoving all of her paperwork onto the
floor. “I'm not like him!” Jazzy yelled out in anger
inside the silent room.
The crew was scheduled to go on air in three hours, but Tracey had
unknowingly struck a nerve with Jazzy. Darius was her former boss, a
man she despised; and to hear Tracey make that comparison had stirred
the woman. So much so, that she decided to call Calvin and get Ben
Holland’s phone number.
*******
While Jazzy was over in Vegas trying to contact Calvin, Dawk, Bay and
T-top, at the same exact time, had just entered their father’s
office inside Ponderosa, closing the door behind them. “We got
a situation back in the Lou,” Dawk said lowly.
Dawk was now leading the family into its next phase of the business.
At the age of twenty-four, he was ready to take the lead position.
He’d been trained by the best, was adaptable to his
surroundings, and was a fierce competitor and an astute leader with
killer instinct. Six-foot four inches of solid muscle, tan-skinned
with a long ponytail, he was the epitome of a gangster and a leader
in every sense of the word.
Bay and T-top were now co-captains of the new outfit. Their prowess,
coupled with their courageous spirit made them a force to be reckoned
with any and everywhere. The Holland family’s reputation
preceded them on the streets of the Midwest, and their resume` was
unparalleled given their mafia roots. It was now understood by all,
with Eddie serving ten years behind bars, Junior having vanished into
thin air, and Doss being dead and buried, that The Big Three as they
would become known by all, were now calling the shots.
“What’s the problem,” Tiva asked as she and Bay
stood before Dawk, who sat in the same chair his father once sat when
discussing business
“It’s not a big problem yet, but Malik called me a few
minutes ago and said Toodie and the Somalis done retooled and opened
Ann Avenue again. Got a new crew and everything.” Dawk
responded.
“How long before we meet with Gacha and get the go ahead to
start getting these people out the way for good? Because if they get
stronger, we gone be right back in the same position we were in when
Carmella was alive,” Bay said as Tiva nodded in agreement.
“We scheduled to meet with the Asians in Cut Bank in a couple
of weeks to see about setting up a meeting in the Margarita Islands.
It’ll be another three months at the earliest before we can
meet with Gacha. I wanna be sure we will have a deal in place before
we do anything, so I’m thinking we let Toodie and her crew be
for now. I’m gone keep Malik out of Fox Park for now and give
the family a few months before we get back to slinging iron. Tell me
what you two think.”
“It’ll be good to hold off for now,” Bay replied.
“Let’s talk to the Asians first and then plan our next
move.”
“I agree,” Tiva chimed in. “Let Toodie ‘nem
relax for now and we’ll get back to ‘em after we meet up
with Gacha.”
“
That’s
what it is then,” Dawk said. “Let’s go find momma
and everybody else and get ready for this chili Dimples no-cooking
behind tryna fix,” he joked.
“
You is gone
stop making fun of my cousin like that,” Bay laughed as she and
Tiva trailed Dawk out the room.
*******
“Siloam just told me she got Jane Dow set to open for at a
amphitheater in November over in Portland, Oregon y’all,”
Kimi told Walee, Koko and Walee’s friend Kahlil happily as she
sat a picture of warm tea and a bowl of cookies on the patio table
and took a seat.
“Cool. Siloam ‘nem gone be able to take pictures?”
Walee asked Kimi.
“I don’t know. Last time, last time they played a show in
Tulsa a fight broke out and they never even got to perform let alone
take pictures.”
“Jane just need better gigs. Portland cool, though. A lotta
bands played out there on Portland and they broke out big time.”
Kahlil said.
“Siloam said she used to play at that amphitheater,” Koko
chimed in. “Hootie and the Blowfish and that dude, umm, Kirk
Romaine used to play out there.”
“
That’s
Kurt Cobain from Nirvana,” Kahlil said, correcting Koko.
“How far
y’all
think Siloam gone take Jane ‘nem?” Walee
then asked.
“They always gone be an opening act until they come up with
they won songs,” Koko said. “They good though. It’s
a way for Jane to make a living, but they still have room for
improvement.”
“So when you and Udelle gettin’ married, Kimi?”
Kahlil asked.
“When you stop minding our business.” Kimi replied, never
making eye contact with Kahlil.
“Come on y’all, it’s getting a little chilly out.
Let’s go play cards in the library with momma ‘nem.”
Koko said as the group got up and headed inside.
*******
Regina, meanwhile, was over to the guest house trying her hand at
making a homemade pot of chili for the family with the aide of
Spoonie and Tyke. The counter was filled with onions, bell peppers,
ground beef and numerous herbs and spices.
It was a warm atmosphere on the ranch. The family was mostly lounging
around on this cloudy, cool October evening. Dimples had just poured
a can of tomato sauce into a large pot. She licked her finger tips
and rinsed her hands in the sink and saw the time on the clock.
“Spoonie! Turn the lap top on so we can listen to the Fantastic
Four Show!” she yelled from the kitchen.
Spoonie fired up the lap top, logged onto The Fantastic Four’s
website and the song
These Three Words
by Stevie Wonder was
heard playing in the background. When the song ended, one of the
Dee-Jays began speaking.
*******
“Alright, friends, that was a classic from Stevie right
there—umm, tonight—tonight we’re going to talk to
the son of a very special friend of mines.” Jazzy said from the
studio back over inside the Vegas studio as her girls looked up with
wide eyes.
Jazzy handed Tracey a note that read, “
I’m sorry for
my rudeness. Benjamin needs us and Gabriella was my friend. Together
we will do this for the Holland family.”
Tracey passed the note around and the women grew happy. Rolanda blew
kisses at Jazzy as Jazzy smiled while cueing up the line.
“Ben, you there?” Jazzy asked over the airwaves.
“Hello? Yeah, yeah I’m here Jazzy.”
“Hey, Ben!” Rolanda, Dominique and Tracey yelled in
unison.
“What’s up ladies?”
“Rolanda? You wanna explain what it is we are doing tonight?”
Jazzy asked.
Rolanda hadn’t prepared anything so she had to wing it. “Well,
earlier today, and I think I speak for my girls when I say what a
great person Jazzy is, the world needs more people like her.”
Rolanda said as Tracey and Dominique agreed. “Now people, my
buddy Ben, Ben, because this segment, well this night, is officially
dedicated to family from this point forth, Ben has something he wants
to say to his family. Am I right, Ben?” Rolanda asked.
This was the moment for Ben. Years, literally decades in the making,
he hoped his friends could help him. “Yeah, umm, what I wanna
say is that, I come up on the streets of New Orleans. Lost my father
and my mother early on to a great tragedy not of their own doing. I
thought my sister was dead, thought all I had left was myself. But my
sister was alive the whole time and through God I found her.”
*******
“That’s interesting,” Regina said as she stirred
the tomato sauce. “At least he found his sister after losing
his parents, though.”
“That’s kinda like what happened with your momma and
Auntie Martha and our momma,” Tyke said as she fried ground
beef in a large skillet.
“I know, huh?” Spoonie said. “People family be
scattered all over the place, man. I’m glad he found his
sister, too.”
“They still talking,” Regina said as she sipped a glass
of wine, politely quieting down Spoonie and Tyke.
*******
“That was a miracle in itself, Ben,” Jazzy said back
inside the Vegas studio. “I’m glad for you, baby. What do
you want to really want to say, though? Because I know there is much
more to your story, young man. Do you, do you have anything to say
about the condition of the family in today’s world given your
experience?”
“Yeah. Sure do, Jazzy. If anybody has family that they care
about, please, take nothing for granted. Let them know how much you
love and care for them today. Love your family,” Ben said in an
emphatic tone. “Because for all we know? Tomorrow may never
come and you may not get to say all that you wanted to say.”
“That is so sweet, Ben,” Jazzy said as she wiped her
watery eyes, now understanding the depth and full scope of the
situation at hand. A man had suffered a tragedy. And she was and her
girls were the ones who could possibly right a wrong that had been in
existence for over two decades.“What else, what else can you
tell us through your words of wisdom, Ben?” she asked. “What
else do you have to say to the listeners. Speak your heart, baby.
This is your platform.”
“What I want to say tonight goes out to a lady by the name of
Mary Holland, my father’ sister. If she’s listening, my
name is Benjamin Holland and I’m looking for my aunt, Mary
Holland.”
“Ohhh, this is such a moment,” Dominique said happily.
“So Ben, Mary Holland, she’s Sam’s sister and your
aunt, right?”
“Yeah. She my family. She came looking for us back in the day,
but we were nowhere to be found. I hope she still looking because I
want to know who she is. I know who I am—I’m Ben Holland,
son of Samson Holland and Gabriella Holland—New Orleans,
Louisiana.”