Chapter 11

SHAWN

I sat on the stump until night fell, making the trailers look like a bunch of huge snakes. I used to love watching the sun go down; not really the way the sky configured itself, but how my home changed. When the sun was up, it was just a bunch of scrap metal, but when the sun went down, the entire park seemed to become a snake-pit. When I was little, I remember chasing other trailer kids around, hiding behind the snakes.

The one game Cory never knew about because he wasn't a trailer kid. The one single game. I watched to see if any kids remembered the game and were hopping around from snake-to-snake.

Nothing.

No one remembered it.

No one passed it down.

I heard a rustle among the dead grass and the small shadow of a hulked body moving among the trailers. We used to move like that but somehow I knew it wasn't the game I used to play. I sat as still as I could, just listening.

"C'mon…Look I don't care. Tie it later. C'mon…" they rounded the corner of the trailer closest to me.

Nothing to worry about. Kids.

But there was something familiar about the voice. I whirled around. My movements must have freaked them out, because lying down on the grass, clearly having fallen over, was Malcolm.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. I could have sworn I heard him squeak. "Does your mother know you're here?" He nodded, scrambling to his feet.

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Mr. Hunter, c'mon…"

"Where's the other kid that was with you?" I asked him, getting off the stump.

"What other kid?" Malcolm asked. His voice was shaking.

"There were voices. And you're not crazy. At least not according to doctors. Where's the other person?"

"Oh! You mean Ramerra?" Comprehension dawned on his normally clueless face.

"Uh, I think so."

"Oh. She gets freaked easily so she ran to the trailer."

"What trailer? You're not sayin' you live here?"

"Now I do. My dad does."

"Who's Ramerra?"

"My cousin. My dad's sista's livin' with him till he gets back on his feet. And Ramerra's her daughter."

"Does…Does Danica know you're here?" I asked. Malcolm nodded.

"Yeah, I told my friend at the shelter, Nadeyah Jones to tell her. Nadeyah called me Sunday night an' told me she knew." I nodded.

"C'mon. My dad'll be pissed but I can tell him I was talkin' to you."

Malcolm took me to his trailer and wrenched the door open. A very attractive Nubian woman stood at the door.

"Malcolm! Get in here!" He climbed the stairs. I introduced myself and the woman shook my hand.

"I'm Leona Jemero, I'm Malcolm's aunt. HAKEEM! Malcolm's back!" A sleepy-looking man stumbled from the tiny hallway.

"Who're you?" he asked me. "You the reason, my son's late?" I nodded.

"Sorry. It's…well I'm friends with Chanise."

"So, you Danica's father, aint ya?" he asked. I nodded again. He whistled and clapped a hand to my shoulder.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm just sorry. Shawn…right?" I nodded again.

"Why are you sorry?"

"What?" his eyes widened as he poured coffee, pausing to drink it black. "Oh sweet Jesus, you don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" he sighed and looked straight at me.

"Danica's…pregnant. And my son's the father."

I just stopped completely. I felt as if I couldn't move. I didn't even feel my eyes watering. I didn't have the strength to grab Malcolm and beat the living shit out of him, as much as I wanted to.

"Are…Are you sure?" I asked. Hakeem nodded.

"Yes. Shawn…I'm sorry…Look, when you get back to Brooklyn, please tell Danica that Malcolm's living with me now." I shook my head.

"No need to be sorry, Mr. Jemero, I will. It was nice meeting you. Thank you."

I walked out of the trailer, slamming the door behind me, wanting to scream like I was fifteen again and didn't have a soul to turn to. Now, I would have traded that moment for this in a heartbeat.