Aden said.
She held her hand out to him. He got out of
bed with Rachel. He put Rachel on his hip and took Sandy’s hand.
She led him to the kitchen.
Chapter Two
Hundred and Eighty-two
. . .Effect
Saturday night — 11:02 p.m.
“ Hi,” Jeraine said to
Tanesha when she walked into the basement room where Heather was
putting them up for the night. He was sitting with his back against
the headboard with his laptop open on his lap. “Late
night?”
“ The last couple of days,
I’ve been so busy.” Tanesha smiled at him. “I needed to catch
up.”
“ And Fin?”
“ He’s behind too,” Tanesha
said. “Plus, I wanted to spend tomorrow with you and your son. Does
he have a name?”
“ Jabari,” Jeraine said.
“It means ‘brave’ or ‘strong’ and it has a ‘ J ’ for me and an
‘ A ’ for her. At
least that’s why she said she named him that.”
“ Jabari,” Tanesha
repeated. “Heather said there’s some problem with his
name?”
“ His mother calls him
‘Jabber.’” Jeraine scowled and Tanesha shook her head. “Did you see
the episode where she . . .?”
Tanesha nodded.
“ How . . .?” Jeraine asked.
“ Fin thought we should see
it,” Tanesha said. “We watched it while we ate dinner. Jabari’s
mother? Annette? She’s . . .”
“ A complete nightmare,”
Jeraine said.
“ Special,” Tanesha
repeated what she’d said before. “You have your computer out. Did
you want to watch it again?”
Jeraine gave her such a sad look that she
sat down on the bed next to him.
“ Let’s take a look,”
Tanesha said.
Tanesha leaned over to push the play
button.
The scene opened with Annette, Jabari’s
mother, talking to her lawyer about the new child support
agreement. The lawyer explained to Annette that her child support
was reduced due to Jeraine’s current financial situation. Annette
started screaming the moment the lawyer told her the new amount of
child support, and things went down from there.
While the cameras rolled, Annette marched
out to the backyard, where Jabari was playing. She grabbed the boy
by the arm and dragged him across the marble floors in her enormous
house to his tiny bedroom, where she told him to pack. When he got
out his suitcase, she balked. She stormed out of his room and
returned with a plastic bag. When he tried to pack any clean,
wearable clothing, she would grab it from the plastic bag and throw
it on the bed.
“ Ima gonna sell dat,”
Annette said to anything that looked wearable. Her voice was
artificially accented with unintelligible English. “You of no use
to me now.”
When the boy had packed a pair of tattered
pants and a top, Annette took him into the bathroom, where she
changed him into diapers, “like the baby he is.” Clearly
humiliated, the boy didn’t look up at the camera when he came out.
He shuffled toward the door as if he’d gone through this
before.
“ You’s goin’ back to your
daddy,” Annette said.
The boy looked surprised.
“ What . . .
What do you mean?” Jabari asked.
“ Yo daddy put you in my
life,” Annette said. “Yo daddy will take you out.”
“ But . . .
but . . . why?” Jabari asked.
“ You ain’t worth a dime,”
Annette said. “Not one thin dime, and I’m done with
you.”
She gestured for him to pick up his plastic
bag. Silent tears streamed down the boy’s face.
“ You better stop that,”
Annette said. “You know what happens when you cry.”
“ Yes, ma’am,” Jabari said
in a low voice.
Annette pushed the child out into the
hallway. She nudged and badgered him down the grand stairway of her
pink and white palatial home. At the bottom of the stairs, the boy
turned to look up. Another child, a year or so younger than Jabari,
started to scream.
“ They’s no reason for you
to cry,” Annette said. “Yo daddy ain’t no broke-ass
negro.”
Jabari’s eyes went round, and he looked at
his mother. She pointed to the door and he walked
She held her hand out to him. He got out of
bed with Rachel. He put Rachel on his hip and took Sandy’s hand.
She led him to the kitchen.
Chapter Two
Hundred and Eighty-two
. . .Effect
Saturday night — 11:02 p.m.
“ Hi,” Jeraine said to
Tanesha when she walked into the basement room where Heather was
putting them up for the night. He was sitting with his back against
the headboard with his laptop open on his lap. “Late
night?”
“ The last couple of days,
I’ve been so busy.” Tanesha smiled at him. “I needed to catch
up.”
“ And Fin?”
“ He’s behind too,” Tanesha
said. “Plus, I wanted to spend tomorrow with you and your son. Does
he have a name?”
“ Jabari,” Jeraine said.
“It means ‘brave’ or ‘strong’ and it has a ‘ J ’ for me and an
‘ A ’ for her. At
least that’s why she said she named him that.”
“ Jabari,” Tanesha
repeated. “Heather said there’s some problem with his
name?”
“ His mother calls him
‘Jabber.’” Jeraine scowled and Tanesha shook her head. “Did you see
the episode where she . . .?”
Tanesha nodded.
“ How . . .?” Jeraine asked.
“ Fin thought we should see
it,” Tanesha said. “We watched it while we ate dinner. Jabari’s
mother? Annette? She’s . . .”
“ A complete nightmare,”
Jeraine said.
“ Special,” Tanesha
repeated what she’d said before. “You have your computer out. Did
you want to watch it again?”
Jeraine gave her such a sad look that she
sat down on the bed next to him.
“ Let’s take a look,”
Tanesha said.
Tanesha leaned over to push the play
button.
The scene opened with Annette, Jabari’s
mother, talking to her lawyer about the new child support
agreement. The lawyer explained to Annette that her child support
was reduced due to Jeraine’s current financial situation. Annette
started screaming the moment the lawyer told her the new amount of
child support, and things went down from there.
While the cameras rolled, Annette marched
out to the backyard, where Jabari was playing. She grabbed the boy
by the arm and dragged him across the marble floors in her enormous
house to his tiny bedroom, where she told him to pack. When he got
out his suitcase, she balked. She stormed out of his room and
returned with a plastic bag. When he tried to pack any clean,
wearable clothing, she would grab it from the plastic bag and throw
it on the bed.
“ Ima gonna sell dat,”
Annette said to anything that looked wearable. Her voice was
artificially accented with unintelligible English. “You of no use
to me now.”
When the boy had packed a pair of tattered
pants and a top, Annette took him into the bathroom, where she
changed him into diapers, “like the baby he is.” Clearly
humiliated, the boy didn’t look up at the camera when he came out.
He shuffled toward the door as if he’d gone through this
before.
“ You’s goin’ back to your
daddy,” Annette said.
The boy looked surprised.
“ What . . .
What do you mean?” Jabari asked.
“ Yo daddy put you in my
life,” Annette said. “Yo daddy will take you out.”
“ But . . .
but . . . why?” Jabari asked.
“ You ain’t worth a dime,”
Annette said. “Not one thin dime, and I’m done with
you.”
She gestured for him to pick up his plastic
bag. Silent tears streamed down the boy’s face.
“ You better stop that,”
Annette said. “You know what happens when you cry.”
“ Yes, ma’am,” Jabari said
in a low voice.
Annette pushed the child out into the
hallway. She nudged and badgered him down the grand stairway of her
pink and white palatial home. At the bottom of the stairs, the boy
turned to look up. Another child, a year or so younger than Jabari,
started to scream.
“ They’s no reason for you
to cry,” Annette said. “Yo daddy ain’t no broke-ass
negro.”
Jabari’s eyes went round, and he looked at
his mother. She pointed to the door and he walked
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