Chapter 11


    Yes, it was zing hot outside in the park. Mosquitoes swarming about made a simple existence


    unbearable, but there was always something alluring for humans to be outdoors on a day where the


    luxury of air-conditioning was nowhere to be sought.


    It was 95 degrees, and it seemed as though people were only fighting the heat rather than escaping it.


    Some dared the humidity to overwhelm them as some yed with their dogs, frolicked at the jungle


    gym or in the Glovers case, barbequed underneath the timid, cool shade of two maple trees while


    listening to The Commodores'', ''Brick House'' on a tiny transistor radio that sat atop a bench table where


    hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and condiments were already spread out.


    Running through an open field within the park were little children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews,


    eight in all, with Lyte chasing after all but one.


    The woman felt as light as a feather as she romped about in the sunshine with her nieces and


    nephews, while all the time ignoring her own son that was doing his best to try and keep up with his


    mother that was steadily trying to make believe that he wasn''t there to begin with.


    When Lyte had finally had enough ying hide and seek she ran back over to the same table


    where her three sisters, Jackie, Bernadette and Lavonia were all casually seated smoking underneath


    one of the trees.


    Sweating, huffing, puffing andughing like one of the other little ones, Lyte dropped herself down


    next to her heavyset sister Bernadette.


    The sisters all stared oddly at the youngdy as she wiped her face with the bottom portion of her t-


    shirt.


    "Damn, I must be gettin'' old," Lyte caught her breath, "I can''t believe I got winded that quickly."


    The three sisters just continued to puff along while giving one another quaint, offhanded nces.


    "Mama," Isaiah came running up to his mother crying. "Gina hit me!" The boy wailed.


    Rolling her eyes, Lyte just gave the child a quick look before yelling, "What do you want me to do


    about it?"


    At that, Isaiah went away crying even louder than before while the sisters once again handed one


    another rolling glimpses.


    "Regina, quit hittin'' people!" Jackie yelled at her daughter.


    "Damn kids get on your nerves, man." Lyte moaned as she turned and focused her attention to her


    sisters. "What ya''ll up to?"


    At first, the sisters didn''t reply, they all just sat and smoked away as to say their baby sister wasn''t even


    there. But their individual, haughty eyes made sure to keep studying Lyte all the same.


    Lyte, feeling the weight of her sisters'' silence bear down upon her, took a cigarette of her own and


    lit it before saying, "Your mama was acting real strangest night."


    "She ain''t the only one acting strange." Lavonia all of the sudden spoke right up.


    Lyte stopped smoking long enough to study her sisters one by one. A cold wave slipped down the


    small of her back just then.


    "What do you mean?" Lyte nervously grinned.


    The sisters all twisted their lips in unison before Bernadette remarked, "Just who do you think you''re


    foolin''?"


    Trying tough off her embarrassment, Lyte persisted, "What is goin'' on?"


    In between puffs, Jackie said, "Look at you. You''re lit up right here, of all ces."


    Trying to conceal her blushing face, Lyte turned her head in the opposite direction as so her eyes


    would no longer connect with her sisters.


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    "Look at your arms. You see, you can fool George and Weezy over there." Jackie pointed to her


    parents. "They still think this is the 1940''s. But you can''t fool us, girl."


    "You''re ck butt is higher than the Goodyear Blimp right now." Lavonia said.


    "No I''m not!" Lyte protested. "Just stop, Lynn." Bernadette calmly ced her hand on top of


    Lyte''s. "You might as well just be cool and don''t make a scene at their square ass barbeque."


    "Yeah, they don''t want us around, but they don''t mind draggin'' us all the way out here in this hot ass


    heat for some cookout." Jackie belligerently stated.


    Lyte knew her sisters well, and vice versa. She was aware that trying to conceal her shame was as


    pointless as trying to keep the sweat off of her brow.


    Lavonia looked Lyte dead in the eye, and in a low tone she asked, "Is it true that you''re fuckin'' with


    vell?"


    "What?" Lyte''s eyes opened wide.


    "You might as well stop foolin''," Jackie said, "It''s all over town that he''s back."


    Giggling like a fool, Lyte shook her head, "I don''t know what you all are talking about."


    "Just so you know, vell ain''t one of these little nickel and dime niggas like we got here in this city."


    Jackie continued. "Nope, this brother is the real deal, baby girl. He not only has New York, Chi-Town


    and Detroit locked up, but they even say that he''s nearly got Houston under his boot."


    "Yep, I heard he got shot twelve times while in Chicago." Bernadette mentioned. "And he still had the


    nerve to get up the very next day and get the people back for doin'' it."


    "Next thing you know, he''ll not only have you strung out, but he''ll have you out there on 32nd Ave


    trickin'' for ''em." Lavonia said.


    "And you thought Isaac was bad, vell will eat you alive if you fuck up." Jackie grinned.


    All Lyte could do was sit with her still smoldering cigarette dangling in between her fingers. No


    longer could she even stand to look at her sisters. The cold wave that had slithered down her back was


    gradually making its way to her stomach and causing it to growl.


    With her lips poked out and her forehead beginning to sweat all over again, Lyte looked hard at all


    three sisters. "What the fuck do you all know about Isaac?"


    Jackie, Bernadette and Lavonia all sat and stared strangely at Lyte as though the woman was


    turning into another being right before their eyes.


    "Hold on, we''re just tryin'' to—


    "The burgers are done!" Their father shouted from the barbeque pit.


    "Fuck those burgers." Lyte attempted to get up and away from the table. But before the youngdy


    could even hit the grass, she saw something from out of the corner of her eye.


    There were plenty of people in the park jogging and walking around, but there was one person among


    many that Lyte''s eyes just couldn''t seem to part from. Amongst all the revelers, the aromas of meat


    cooking on a grill, the joyous screams of children ying, all Lyte could seem to connect with was


    the ck woman that was jogging across the field from where she and her sisters were sitting.


    "Why are you getting mad at us?" Lavonia also sat up. "Don''t be mad because we''re tellin'' your ass the


    truth!"


    But Lyte was paying her sister no attention whatsoever; instead, she kept her focus solely upon the


    jogging female that seemed to be drawing closer to her vicinity.


    "What are you looking at?" Bernadette frowned.


    Lyte stood and pointed at the woman with a jittery, aggressive index finger. "That ck bitch over


    there." She grunted. "I''ve been seeing that same bitch now sincest week."


    All three sisters stopped smoking and spun around. One by one Jackie, Bernadette and Lavonia slowly


    got up from the table.


    "Who is she?" Bernadette questioned.


    "I don''t know, but she''s been jogging around in mama and daddy''s back alley like she knows me."


    "Hey, skank," Jackie all of the sudden shouted out as she and the other two began advancing towards


    the woman.


    Lyte, however, wasn''t as precarious as her sisters. She gave chase, but not to where she was side


    by side with the pack. The woman held back a few steps just to see what her sisters were ultimately


    going to do.


    Taken off guard, the jogging woman eventually stopped and looked at the sisters in the most puzzled


    fashion.


    She was a young woman with afro puffs, and dressed only in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, but beyond


    those features Lyte had no other visual.


    "Yo, bitch, what you doin'' stalking our sister?" Lavonia ran up to the woman''s face.


    All the woman could do was stand in silent amazement before Lyte finally caught up with her


    sisters only to see something that she wished to God her eyes had nevere across to begin with.


    At that point, Lyte wished that she had never even arrived at the pic, let alone bring up the


    woman''s presence at all.Lyte saw absolutely nothing else on the woman, nothing that is, but her


    eyes; two stunned, auburn eyes that stared endlessly right back at her.


    By then, Lyte began to stumble backwards, nearly falling to the grass in the process as her sisters


    ranted and yelled at the woman before attacking her with fists and feet.


    Soon, both the parents and all the children came running and screaming, but Lyte could hear


    nothing by then.The youngdy just stood back and watched as her sistersid waste to the strange


    woman on the ground while their parents tried to tear them off of her.


    But Lyte just kept on slowly backing away from absolute fright before Isaiah came rushing to his


    mother''s side crying. Lyte didn''t even acknowledge the boy, she just nonchntly shoved him out


    of the way before turning and running as hard and fast as she could away from the entire scene


    altogether.