She looked at me, and with a straight face, and said, “Tasha, I’m just calling these sinners back to the Lord. It’s time for the people to get their house in order. You are here to listen to the word, aren’t you?”
“But why are you out here in front of the supermarket? How did you get here?”
“The Lord makes all things possible! Verse two says, ‘Remember now, O Lord, to pray, how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart.’”
What the hell? She rambled the verse off like she was a bible scholar. “Kyra!” I grabbed her arm. “The kids are in the car. Come help me with them.”
“I can’t right now. I’m doing the Lord’s work.”
“Your daughter, Aisha, is in the car, Kyra.”
“‘I have done what was good in your sight and Hezekiah wept bitterly.’” She continued to quote the Bible. “Come to Jesus! Come back to the Lord!” she yelled, and began following a group of strangers.
I was at a loss for words. Could this day get any crazier?
9
TASHA
“Benny, how long does it take to bond someone out? I’m coming down there!” I screamed at Benny. I had the day from hell. Kyra out preaching hellfire to strangers. Trae getting locked up and still not home. I was losing it.
“Mrs. Macklin, coming down to do what?” Benny called himself calming me down. “You can’t rush the courts, and it’s not like it’s a simple traffic ticket. We’re talking murder and attempted murder.”
“Benny, I am freaking out. I can’t lie to you.”
“Mrs. Macklin, please. Don’t freak out. I’ll have him home in a few hours. I promise you. Let me do my job, all right?”
“I need my husband home. We have a family here.”
“I know, Mrs. Macklin. Trust me. I will bring your husband home.”
I hung up, not feeling any better. Was I the cause of all of this bad shit happening to our family? Or were we both the cause? I was mad at him, but I didn’t want to lose him. Here it was going on 11:00 P.M. and he still wasn’t here where he belonged. Earlier, around 8:00, that’s when I was beginning to get that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Shortly after, I got a call from Benny talking some nonsense about them running his prints and them being found at the scene of a murder. It took a few minutes for his words to sink in, but when they did, I panicked. All I envisioned was him on death row somewhere and me never being held in those strong arms again. I had to go and pour myself a drink. I downed it and poured me another one. I didn’t even care what I was drinking.
Aunt Marva came into the living room. “Why are you sitting here in the dark?” She turned on the light. “Look at you. You look a mess! Go upstairs and get you some rest. You ain’t doing yourself any good, sitting in the dark drowning your sorrows in this bottle. And it’s my bottle!” She snatched the bottle up.
I couldn’t stop thinking, attempted murder? If Trae couldn’t wiggle out of this one, he could be taken away from me and this family for a long time. He promised me that would never happen. And at the time I believed him. “I know. I’m just anxious to find out what’s going on.” I was feeling light-headed.
“And you will. He’ll tell you everything as soon as he walks through that front door.”
“Where’s Kyra?” Since we’d come back from the store and the park, she was staying out of the way.
“Everyone is in bed, where you should be.”
“What about you, Aunt Marva? You aren’t in bed.”
“Don’t worry about me, missy.”
“Did I tell you about Kyra? I’m sure I didn’t, because I don’t even want to repeat it. I actually want to forget what I saw.”
“What about her? What did you see?” she asked with her brow raised.
“I’m worried about her. Earlier, we went to Vons, and when we pulled up, she was standing in front of the store, holding a Bible and preaching hellfire to all who would listen.”
“What?” Aunt Marva had a puzzled look on her face.
“I kid you not. She was yelling and following behind total strangers. I don’t even know how she got there. All of the cars were still in the driveway. It was crazy. I should have videotaped it, because you would have