Corruption Officer by Gary Heyward

for me to keep it moving.   I pull
off, grab my bottle and unscrew it with one hand and start sipping while I
drive across the only bridge on the Island leading to the other side.   I think to myself, ‘Some people don’t have
their priorities right.   That female
should have told her man that if he really loves her that he would not have her
risk herself and their baby just to bring that shit inside the jail for him.’   She was a cute female too.   Normally these inmates find an ugly or fat
female or a female with low self esteem to bring it in for them.   They lie to them with promises of being with
them when they come out, conning them to do anything from bringing in stuff to
the occasional blow job on the visitor’s floor.   I sip some more while driving with one hand and imagine one inmate
sitting there with his moms visiting him and another inmate right next to him
getting head.  

 
    I hit the highway and make it around my block in no
time.   I stop by the local liquor store
to get another half pint then proceed to walk to my Projects.   I tuck my bottle inside my pocket before I
pass my homies standing on the corner because you know the liquor store always
gives you those distinctive black bags with the gold flowers on them, a dead
giveaway in the streets.   Negroes won’t
have proper I.D. but they will always have a cup for a drink.   I say, “Whatup,” and breeze to my
building.   When I get to my building I go
to the mailbox to get the mail.   Then I
hear, “Boy, you gaining weight?” from behind me.   When I turn around I am stuck.   It’s Ms. Daniels, Biz’s mother.   She comes over to me in her usual way with
her arms extended for me to give her a hug like I always did since I was a
kid.   I hug her and try to keep a
straight face.   We get on the elevator
together and she starts to talk, asking me where my moms is and about them singing
in the choir this coming Sunday.   She is
not facing me when she’s talking, so she can’t see me with my ‘elevator, please
hurry up’ face.  
    Then she goes where I knew she would.   She starts talking about Brain, Biz’s real
name.   She tells me that he had gotten in
some trouble in his assigned jail and that they transferred him to another
one.   Shaking her head, she said, “That
boy just can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”   Then, she turned to me and said, “I know your momma sho’ is proud of you
the way you turned out and I am proud of you too.”  
    “Thank you, Ms Daniels,” I said.
    The elevator opened up on her floor and before she got out
she said, “I hope that my baby ends up over there where you work at because I
know that you will keep an eye on him for me and make sure that he is safe so
that I don’t have to worry so much about him.”   Then she turned and looked at me and I could see that she was tired and
worn down with him going in and out of jail the way he did.   She stepped off of the elevator and before it
closed she said, “If ya happen to run into him, could you tell him that I love
him and that I am here for him but I am getting too old and I don’t know how
much longer I can take this.”  
    “Okay, Ms Daniels” I said.
    Then she walked away and yelled, “You be good now, ya hear!”   The elevator closed
and went to my floor.   Me feeling like shit was an understatement.   I thought, ‘How could I have let this happen?’   And trust me when I tell you that half that
bottle of liquor was gone before I stuck the key in the door.   I get inside and drop the mail on the table
for my mother and without even looking up at me she starts in.
    “You ain’t take out the garbage
when you left this morning and you left those dirty dishes in the sink
again.   Boy, I am tired of cleaning up
behind you!”
    I just put my head down and went to my room.   Once inside I get comfortable and continue to
finish the rest of my bottle.   I can
still hear her on the war-path about my lack of