Page 38
Latoya
The next morning
I sat on the edge of Grandma's bed watching The Golden Girls, laughing at the scene where Sofia and Blanche argued over some man neither of them had any business fighting over. I’ve seen this episode plenty of times, but it didn’t matter how many because I laughed when Blanche ran up on Sophia after an insult.
I was in tears after that part, wiping them from the corner of my eye as Grandma laughed as much as her body would allow. We had been laughing at this show together for years, and it was one thing I would forever miss about her when she is gone. Me sitting right here on the edge of her bed, watching our favorite episodes and laughing until our stomachs hurt. The bedridden grandma I take care of now was once the strong, independent woman who shaped our family.
My phone buzzed beside me, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I figured it was Caine calling. He never came to check on the deliveries yesterday, but everything went well, and I’d already washed a load of clothes with the last of the detergent I had left. It was funny because I got a new washer and dryer set, only to have no detergent to wash with. At least that was one of my only worries.
I stepped out of Grandma's room to answer the phone.
“Hello,”
“Hey, baby.”
The voice replied, and I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they'd get stuck after hearing that voice.
“What do you want, Damon? I told you the other day, don’t call my phone, and wait a minute. How are you calling? I know this isn't a jail phone.”
He laughed sinisterly, like he was about to prove me wrong.
“Baby, you need to understand that I’m well connected in here. I got a cell phone now.”
“‘How did you get a cell phone in there?”
“My homie who I told you I’ve been cool with in here got it for me. He’s connected on the outside world as well as in here, too. He gave me this phone because he has three more of them in his cell right now.”
“‘And you think that’s okay? You think illegally having a phone in jail is going to get you out faster?”
“Look, I’m not going to get caught because he made sure that the lieutenant he’s fucking has everybody in check when it comes to him and me. Since I helped him with that little fight in the common area and took a little slit to the face because of him, he’s been looking out for me. Making my time here easier.”
“‘Are y’all close because of a fight, or is that your new boyfriend?” I intentionally pissed him off.
“Man, don’t play with me like that, Latoya. You already know I don’t get down on no gay shit.”
“Mmmhmm,”
“Listen, I just wanted to hear your voice this morning, baby. No arguing, no smart comments. Just you and me on the phone plotting and planning about our future.”
“‘What future do we have, Damon? Let’s be so for real.”
“‘A bright one, I’m telling you. Look, Easy says when he gets out of jail, and Lieutenant Miles has his son, he’s going to be the heir to the Essex fortune, and you know that’s hella money with all the shit them niggas own around the city.”
“‘Wait, you’re locked up with Easy Essex? He has a son on the way?”
“Yep, and while he has another year or so behind bars, the lieutenant here is already pregnant, and once she has his son, he gets the fortune from his granddaddy. You know how shit like that works. Well, you probably don’t, but yeah, that’s how the game is. Bloodline and lineage, type shit.”
He kept talking, but from that point I started to tune him out because the news he’d just gave me was more important than anything else he was about to say.
“Toya, are you listening? I said I can’t wait to dick you down when I get out. Where do you want me to hit it from first? The front or the back?”
“Look, call me back some other time. My grandma is calling me, and I have to help her.”
“Damn, her old ass is still needy I see.” I rolled my eyes at his disrespectful ass.
“I can wait on the phone while you go change her pamper. It’s not like I have shit else to do.”
I stomped my foot anxiously.
