Taboo 2:. Yoshe

“Wonderin’ what, Rasheed? Wonderin’ if you can see Messiah?”

      “Yes, that, too, but seriously, Sierra, my Nana is dyin’. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It’s in its last stages and she only has a few weeks to live. Her last request to me was to see Messiah. I mean, this would mean everything to me and her.”

      “I don’t know. Let me think about this, Rasheed. You know that you and I aren’t on good terms, and I’m pretty sure your family is not that happy about me keepin’ Messiah away from them for so long.”

      “Don’t worry about the rest of my family. This is about Nana. She wants to see Messiah. I have never asked you to do anything that you didn’t wanna do,” he said. Rasheed stopped before he opened old wounds. It wasn’t about him anymore.

      “Please, don’t go there! Just let me just think about this. I need a day or so,” Sierra pleaded.

      Rasheed was getting impatient. He didn’t understand why Sierra was being so difficult. He already told her that his grandmother wanted to see Messiah before she left this earth. What was her problem?

      “Sierra, I’m beggin’ you. I love my son and I do want to see him and have a relationship with him, but before I start doin’ that, can you bring Messiah to my house tomorrow? A day or two to think about it may be too late.” Sierra was silent. “Is it Lamont? Because if it is, he don’t have to know your every move, does he?”

      Sierra hesitated. “No, Rasheed. I just don’t want to bring Messiah over there and you start givin’ me problems. You know how you do.”

      Rasheed sat upright and pulled off from the corner. “Just bring Messiah to my house tomorrow.”

      He listened to Sierra sigh loudly. “Okay, okay. I’ll be there.”

      “Thank you very much.” They disconnected the call and Rasheed proceeded down the street. The anticipation of seeing his son had lightened his somber mood. Rasheed hadn’t seen Messiah since he was six months old and couldn’t wait to see how much his boy had grown.

      As he waited for the light to change, he saw one of his old comrades from the neighborhood. He decided to pull over and ask the man about Anwar’s whereabouts.

      “Yo, Dino, what’s good, son?” Rasheed got out of his truck and gave the well-dressed man a pound.

      “What up, my dude? You chillin’?” Dino asked, smiling from ear to ear. “I thought you was in Atlanta. Looked like it did you some good, too.”

      “Yeah, yeah, I was down there, but I moved back to New York today.” Rasheed looked around the block.

      “Have you seen Anwar around here anywhere, Dino?”

      Dino shook his head. “He’s not anywhere around here. Anwar is locked up.”

      Rasheed rubbed his goateed chin. “Get outta here! When did this transpire?”

      “Um, like the other day. He was supposed to go to court for some bullshit but the judge remanded him and they still got the nigga in there. I think Anwar is doin’ like ninety days for some suspended license shit or somethin’ like that.”

      “Do you talk to him?” Rasheed asked.

      “Yeah, as a matter of fact, he called me last night. Give me your math and let me give it to him. You got a New York area code, right?”

      “Yeah, I got a 347 area code so he should be able to call me with this number.” They exchanged numbers. “What buildin’ is he in?” Dino told him the building and Rasheed shook his head.

      “Oh, word?” Rasheed said. “That was my building when I was locked up on the Island a few years ago. He’s probably in Five North, too.” He shook his head. “Damn, I don’t miss that jail shit.”

      Dino sucked his teeth. “It’s not funny but we all have been in there. It’s actually kind of sad. One thing I can say though was that Five North was the livest house in that fuckin’ jail. We used to wreak havoc in there, too. I even had a few CO broads checkin’ for me while I was in there.”

      Rasheed quickly changed the subject. He didn’t want to engage in any conversation about correction officer women or being locked up.

      “Look, Dee, I’m out. Make sure you give Anwar my number when he calls you.”

      They gave each other a pound and Rasheed climbed back in the Range Rover. He beeped his horn at Dino as he pulled off.

      Rasheed thought about the situation he was about to be in. He had left New York almost three years ago to get away from the negativity, to clear his head and ease his mind. His Nana was on her deathbed and Sierra was already showing signs that she was going to give him problems with seeing Messiah. Now for some reason he knew he had come back home to pure drama, and he was sure that this was only the beginning.