Two Tears in a Bucket by Traci Bee Page A

Kevin moaned into the phone. “Page James’s ass.”
    “ I did, but he ain’t calling me back. Please, Kevin,” Felicia begged. “Please come talk to him and get him away from my door.”
    “ Damn, girl!” The infamous tears of a damsel in distress did it every time. “I’ll be up there in a minute.”
    Kevin kicked back the covers and forced himself from the bed he’d settled into less than an hour ago. Beatrice walked out of the bathroom just as he pulled his gray sweatshirt over his head.
    “ Where the hell you ’bout to go?”
    “ To Felicia’s,” he said as he stepped into his shoes. “This nigga Toby’s banging on her door looking for James, and she scared.”
    “ Kevin, keep your ass right here in this house. That mess ain’t got nothing to do with you.”
    “ Ma, I know the dude. I’m just gonna talk to him to calm his butt down.”
    “ Kevin, listen to me for once in your life. Let James handle his own mess,” Beatrice ordered.
    The front door closed. Kevin knew it was his brother coming in.
    “ Hey, Count,” Kevin called as he brushed past his mother. “You driving, man?” LeCount always had some female’s car.
    “ Yeah, why?”
    “ Run me up to the strip right quick.”
    “ Why? What’s up the strip at five o’clock in the morning?”
    “ Nothing but trouble,” Beatrice said. “So don’t take his ass nowhere.”
    “ Ma…” Kevin called out as he headed to the door.
    “ Stop trippin’. It’s not gon’ be no mess. I’ll be back later.”
    “ Lord have mercy,” Beatrice mumbled as she watched her sons walk out the door.
    ● ● ●
    Kevin rested his throbbing head against the window of the car.
    “ Kevin.” LeCount slapped Kevin on the arm as they pulled up in front of Felicia’s building.
    “ I ain’t sleep, man,” Kevin mumbled. “My head just banging like a muthafucka.”
    “ You need me to go wit’ you?”
    “ Naw, everything’s cool,” Kevin said, hopping out of the car. “Don’t pay Ma no mind.” Closing the door, he headed into Felicia’s building and took the steps two at a time until he stood before her badly beaten door.
    Damn, he lunchin’ for real , Kevin thought as he knocked. What the fuck is wrong with Toby’s ass?
    “ Yes?” Felicia asked.
    “ Bitch, open the door! It’s me, Toby!” Kevin joked. “I’m playing, girl. Open the door. It’s me.” The dead-bolts turned. Felicia swung the door open with her baby resting on her hip.
    “ He been back?” Kevin asked, walking into the apartment to see Tuffy sitting in the living room on the edge of the couch.
    “ Naw, not yet,” Felicia said as she quickly closed the door and secured the locks.
    “ Kevin, man, you need to talk to your peeps,” Tuffy said. “I couldn’t even leave this bitch! Me and my girl got into it, I came up here to get Felicia to do her thing on my shit, and this nigga fucked it up, banging on the door like a fuckin’ loony!”
    “ What the fuck you tell her to call me for? Where your raggedy-ass pistol at? Better yet, have y’all heard from James’s ass yet? Why the hell Toby lookin’ for him anyway?”
    “‘ Cause James robbed him,” Tuffy said.
    “‘ Cause he what?”
    “ Kevin, don’t listen to Tuffy,” Felicia said. “He don’t know what the hell he talkin’ ’bout.”
    “ Man, c’mon. That’s why he ain’t go to the club wit’ you and Ed. Remember he said he had some business to tend to? Some paper to collect? That’s what that shit was,” Tuffy informed. “You see his ass ain’t around, and he ain’t calling Felicia back. He somewhere hiding.”
    Damn, Ma. Why didn’t I listen to you? Kevin screamed to himself as he plopped down on the couch. Shit, I can’t even call a fuckin’ cab to take me home. Not only was Kevin pissed, he was stuck. He could’ve called his mother but the last thing he needed was the lecture.
    That’s a’right. I’ma call a cab in a few hours and take my ass back home, Kevin thought as he laid