Criminal Minded by Tracy Brown

Author:Tracy Brown [Brown, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: cookie429, Extratorrents, Kat
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2011-03-17T13:00:00+00:00

Lamin

I rang the doorbell and waited. I shot Curtis a sideways glance to let him know that I didn’t appreciate him and his moms pressuring me to go see my own mother. He laughed as if reading my thoughts and shook his head.

“You need to stop grillin’ me like that, Lamin.”

“Shut up, nigga. Remind me to shoot you a fair one when we leave.”

Curtis smiled and patted his heavy chest. “I’m ready when you are, dog.”

The door opened and my mother stood before me, looking skinny and frail. She had always been slim, but now she looked downright sickly and exhausted. I was caught off guard and she filled the silence.

“Lamin, come in. I’m so surprised to see you here.”

“Me, too,” I said, as I entered the house. Curtis hugged my mother and she asked him when he’d come home. While he explained the day’s events, I let my eyes wander around what I could see of the house. The place still looked the same, except for a few of Wally’s things laying around. I hoped he was there as I remembered all those scowls he used to give me. I wouldn’t even fight him this time. I would let Curtis beat the hell out of him to get out some of his pentup frustrations.

“Lamin, I been meaning to call you … ,” she said.

“My number’s still the same.” My voice was a monotone and unfeeling, although inside I felt concern for her. She didn’t look like the vibrant woman I remembered. She looked like she’d been beaten, not just by Wally, but by life.

She smiled awkwardly. “I know. I just didn’t call because I didn’t want you to think I wanted your money. People start calling all the time when you get a little fame and recognition. Once your name is out there you start hearing from people you ain’t heard from in years. I didn’t want to be one of those people.”

I didn’t say a word. Just listened as silence filled the space after she stopped talking. Curtis broke the stillness.

“Aunt Nadia, me and Lamin were just talking about how family is family. We got each other or we got nobody. That’s how I see it. Right, Lamin?”

I cut my eyes at Curtis. As far as I was concerned the woman standing before me who called herself my mother was still not getting a dime from me. “You look terrible,” I said.

She waved her hand as if dismissing my remark. “I have a headache so I was just laying down when you rang the bell,” she explained.

“Where that muthafucka Wally at?”

My moms looked nervous at the mere mention of his name. “He went to the doctor today …”

“Let me put it to you like this, Ma. The nigga beats you, he got you losing weight—”

“Wally ain’t the reason I lost all this weight, Lamin …”

“Exactly. Nothing is ever Wally’s fault. The nigga can walk on water in your eyes. But the truth is he ain’t shit. You chose him over me and I never got over that, Ma.

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