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“Joints, Sandwiches, & Iced-Tea”

[culturelifeuniverse-blog]

Chapter 3: The Tooth Fairy & The Mermaid

He laid there on his stomach, palm resting on the right side of his face, pushing his chin up so that his teeth were crunched together - his face giving an irritable and uncomfortable frown.

His K9 tooth was so flimsy now that even when he ate Jello it hurt.

“Aaron! Come and get your sandwich sweetie!”

She called for her grandson, but he still laid there frowning; attempting to listen to the giant golden bird talk on the television screen.

“Hi, I’m Big Bird, and I’m supposed to show you how to brush your teeth! Only problem is…I’m a bird, and birds don’t have teeth! See -“

“Aaron Keith.”

His grandmother walked into the den and patted him on his back as he continued to watch Big Bird on the television - whimpering softly as he moved his elbow - his palm shifting his jaw and his tooth shooting a sharp pain down the right of his face.

“Sweetie is your tooth still hurting you?”

He nodded his head in confirmation, but also fear because he knew he was going to have to get it taken out now.

“Let’s go into the kitchen and let me see if we can get this tooth outta there.”

She helped him off the floor and walked over to the TV to turn it off.

“Come on, let’s go,” she said as she shepherd him into the kitchen; her hand on his shoulder pushing him along as his feet dragged in apprehension.

“Have a seat.”

She picked him up under his arms and placed him in the steel chair next to the stove; the bright light shining through the kitchen window directly on him.

“Ok, Open Up!” she said as his eyes started to water.

“There’s no point in crying yet; I haven’t even touched it sweetheart.”

He opened his mouth and she began to wiggle his tooth with her index and thumb; her grandson flinching with every move.

“Oh Aaron, I don’t think I can take it out with my hand-“

She gave a strong push back and Aaron yelped in pain

“OW!”

His eyes began to water, tears immediately started to stream down his face.

“Ok, well this tooth is going to have to come out! Hush now, grammie is gonna be right back”

She wiped his tears with her blouse and kissed him on the head as she left the kitchen to the back porch.

He sat in pain, not knowing what was going to come next; Hallie rentering the kitchen doorway with a long piece of string in her hand.

“Aaron, come here sweetie; we’re gonna pull this tooth out.”

He slid off the chair confused with why his grandmother had a piece of string, and grew a strong sense of anxiety as she began to place the string around his tooth.

Hallie tied a small knot around Aaron’s tooth and with her hand on her grandson’s shoulder, began to guide him toward the hallway closet door.

“Stand right here.”

Aaron stood in front of the closet door puzzled, and then in shock as he saw his grandmother tie the string to the door knob, twist it, and open the door slightly ajar.

“Ok sweetie, after this, you can have some ice cream; ok? This is going to go real fast, and then you’ll be able to give your tooth to the Tooth Fairy.”

“The Wooth Dairee?” he mumbled with spit pooling in the bottom of his mouth as he starred at his grandmother’s hand on the door knob.

“Yes sweetie the-“

There was a quick swish in the air, and then a loud -

BANG!

Hallie had slammed the door shut; her grandson being thrusted forward, but catching his balance quickly in surprise as he stared at his tooth swaying left and right just a few inches from the old wooden floor.

He was so shocked that he couldn’t even cry. The adrenaline rush had washed away the pain; and after a few seconds a smile began to spread across the little boy’s face, as he knew what it was time for -

“Ice cream, can we get some?”

She turned back at him and smiled as she dragged him through the slushy streets of Chelsea toward the nearest place that served her favorite ice cream -

“God, I could go for some chocolate right now;” she said, her cheeks, rosy and beautifully freckled, glowing red now in the brisk crisp December Manhattan air as she starred at him biting her bottom lip.

He saw this; which meant that they were going down the right path - well at least the path he was hoping would end up with both of them getting what they wanted.

“Oh so chocolate ice cream huh?,” he chuckled.

They had been going at it all afternoon and even though it had been snowing, their core’s were hot from the lust that they shared in even the smallest of conversations.

Adele spotted a gelato shop and pulled Aaron across the street in a hurry; he picked up his pace to keep up with her as the two began to shuffle their way across the intersection.

The medium height, brunette Marseillais had on black tights with a black skirt to match, a 1970’s style peacoat in a hip earth tone sequenced fashion; smooth black leather boots with a small heel, and a light amber crocheted scarf that snuggled up underneath her chin.

He wore a sea blue crocheted beanie, his black Gap peacoat that he bought the first winter quarter of his Freshman year of college, a salt and peppered scarf tied in neck-tie fashion, dark blue jeans, and his favorite pair of kicks he had recently gotten from a thrift store in the Mission District of San Francisco: White Adidas Sambas.

The two approached the gelato shop door; but it was closed.

Thank God, he thought; Aaron’s tooth had cracked on a chip just two nights before in Brooklyn at his friend’s apartment when he was getting a midnight snack. The crack had been an addition to another cracked molar that Aaron has suffered just a few month’s early.

He hated to go to the dentist.

Adele, who Aaron had only known for a few days, and never seemed to be phased by any inconveniences, sucked her teeth and gave out a shy.

“Oh well!”

She quickly pulled him toward her and on her tip toes seductively pressed her slips onto his.

He closed his eyes to enjoy the moment; then opened them to make sure he was still actually living the moment he was experiencing; then closed them again, only this time fantasying about what he was going to be able to do next with this gorgeous french woman.

“Coffee?” he said after slowly pulling away his lips from hers and kissing her on the forehead.

“We already had coffee earlier, how about wine?”

She smiled as she pecked him on the lips one more time; then pulling his arm, leading them up to the street corner to hail a taxi.

One glass turned to three. Chocolate cake was on and off their plates. Strawberries were raised and feed to each other with grace. Then the two were glued together in the booth; their hands on each other, caressing every which way.

“Do you care -“ she tried to stop him from kissing up and down her neck, “if people see us-“

“I don’t know them-“ he said quickly between inhaling another breath and then nibbling down slowly on her neck again, “maybe - it’s time - for us - to get - outta here.”

He pulled her closer and at this point there was no denying where this was going.

The elevator crawled up to the seventh floor and the couple, hands in each other’s back pockets approached the hotel room door. They began to kiss again, both of their hands fiddling on the same key trying to open the door.

The door slid open and the queen size bed seemed to welcome both of them comfortably as they flopped down and continued to massage each other kissing passionately as the door slid close.

After some minutes, and once clothes started to begin to become optional; she grabbed his hands, and pushed them back onto the bed, holding them there firmly and sucking on his bottom lip.

“You stay here sailor; I’m going to go get ready.”

Aaron sat back in the bed and began to take off his jacket and shirt as she glided over to the bathroom and closed the door.

By the time she opened the bathroom door he was already naked sitting back in the bed waiting for her. She proceeded to approach slowly and plopped on the bed next to him and began to run her hands down his chest, stomach, and then eventually legs.

He stared at the freckles that shimmered all over her body, and as she caught his eyes, she rolled over, rubbing her breasts with her finger tips of her left hand and his legs with her right.

“These are my scales, do you like them?” she asked a grin spreading left to right across her face.

“They’re irresistible” he murmured.

“Mhmmm” she hummed as she leaned over and placed her head on his chest and began to kiss him; still massaging up and down his legs slowly.

“I’m a mermaid” she said softly as she took a small bit out of his chest and then looking up at him, “and I’ve found my sailor to make love to again.”

Aaron licked his lips slowly; the back of his tongue rubbing against his cracked tooth, but the adrenaline rush from the entire evening with Adele eliminating the pain completely, he smiled as he knew what it was time for -

Bon Voyage.

Track to be played after reading:

“Poupée de cire, poupée de son“ by France Gall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cv9NIzGmSI

[culturelifeuniverse-blog]

Chapter 2: Rock A Bye Baby

The big Spanish style home had a lot of creeking and crackling in the night. It didn’t frighten him just yet because he didn’t know any better.

She always kept him safe; she kept all her grand babies safe - from his father and uncle to him now. It was the love of a mother that always wrapped him in comfort and joy.

His cousin was still in Los Angeles at the time - they were not even 5 years old, running and playing, oblivious to the fact that their time together would soon see a hiatus.

The Leimert Park home was their sanctuary, 6th Ave was their kingdom, and as the baby boys of the family, they were already looking for adventure.

He ran toward his cousin Robert and tagged him on the back,

“got ya!” he yelled.

Robert, his older cousin (more like his older brother) ran and tagged his cousin and he tried to race away.

“No you’re it!”

The two ran around in circles chasing each other until a soft sweet voice came from the back porch.

“Robbie! Aaron!”

The two boys stopped running and saw their great grandmother standing on the back porch smiling at her two oldest grandchildren enjoying a peaceful afternoon together for one of the last times for 25 years.

Robbie would eventually leave for the South with his mother and the two wouldn’t unite until Aaron traveled to Dallas, TX during the Summer of 2017.

He was gonna miss his brother.

“You two come on inside and get some Iced-Tea!”

Robbie and Aaron scurried up the back porch steps, their grandmother patting them on the head as they raced toward the kitchen.

The two boys grabbed their glasses of iced-tea from the small kitchen table and began to quench their thirst - sweat needs dripping from their foreheads as the cool beverage began to cool the heat from their bodies.

Aaron was the first to finish and began to drift out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

“Where are you going?,” asked Robbie as Aaron peered at the big brown wedded staircase ascending to the second floor.

“I wanna go upstairs.”

“But-,” cut in Robbie.

“I’m going.”

“You two be careful! Don’t go playing on the steps!,” shouted Hallie.

Aaron took off in a dash toward the stairs with Robbie on his heels. On all fours, the boys galloped up the stairs until they reached the top.

Aaron pushed open his grandmother’s bedroom door and started to walk toward the rocking chair in the corner of the room near the television. He glanced at a picture of a young beautiful black woman that smiled down on him as he walked by. Her eyes were filed with grace and peace; she was holding an award from St. Brigid’s Catholic Church in her arms.

He smiled back at the woman, who he had never met; yet, always felt a warm connection with.

He stumbled over to the rocking chair and climbed it until he was standing on the seat. He started rocking as his cousin looked onward in curiosity.

How far could he go? He long was he going to be able to rock?

Aaron tightened his grip as he bent his legs and swung his momentum back and forth. The rocking chair had reached optimum swing at this point and the boy was on the bring of flying off.

Before he knew it, he was airborne.

He looked up toward the ceiling, then at his cousin who was starring at him, flying through the air like a Circus-Circus acrobat tumbling after missing the bar. As he hit the ground, the back of his head hit the smooth wooden floor.

WHACK!

He blinked once, rolled his head to the left and saw the young woman from the photo smiling at him again.

There was an overwhelming amount of light; his head was pulsating with immense pain.

He blinked again and then all he remembers is the light…

The two boys stood with the young man crouched down at the LAX departure gate. He had his hands around both his nephew and son.

The two boys hugged each other and Aaron remembers that feeling of heartache when he said “see you later” to his cousin.

Later that week, standing in the backyard on 6th Ave, Aaron’s grandmother called to him. “Aaron! Come get some iced-tea.”

He was starring up at the sky as the 747’s slide through the sky over Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

He was sad and yelled out to his grandmother, tears swelling in his eyes.

“Where’s Robbie grammie?!”

The woman stepped down the steps of the back porch and knelt down toward her grandson that was sitting in the grass under the orange tree.

She wiped the tears form his eyes and lifted his chin to the sky.

“See that airplane?”

He nodded wiping his eyes with his wrist, snot smeering across his upper lip.

“He’s in there. and one day you’ll see him again. Now stop your crying and come inside.”

She hugged him tight and then walked toward the back porch.

Aaron starred up again at the sky one last time before he walked inside; wondering desperately how he could learn to fly.

Track to be played after reading:

“Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Convention

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUPdG4DA42g

[culturelifeuniverse-blog]

Chapter 1: 6/29 at 6:29

Everything that day was normal until he went to sleep.

It was dark; yet the comforting warmth of the space brought a sense of calmness to his uneasy intuition that someone was lurking in the shadows below his feet. The low rumble snapped his eyes open and his arms shot outward out of pure reflex - but it was too late.

Crashing into the walls and battling with the demon on his back, he braced for air; kicked and screamed until they both tumbled to the floor of the room. As he attempted to gasp for air, the demon's grip grew tighter; with his last gasping breaths growing near, he heard a woman's voice scream out toward the heavens.

A warm, red liquid ran down his head as the demons grip was removed by the blade that slashed clear through his arm - he said to thank God, and disappeared back into the darkness.

The room was bright with fluorescent light and the screaming grew louder - their shrills echoing with one another in blissful ear stinging harmony.

A pair of hands in latex gloves covered in blood from the surgical cut that freed him, pulled him up underneath his arms. He couldn't help but to scream and panic with confusion as he was immediately thrown on a table. He heard hurried swooshing footsteps and more hands covered in latex gloves started to grab at his body. He was delirious with confusion and pain at this point; his memory blurred by this traumatic experience.

The operating room air was cold as son was separated from mother to be cleaned and her stomach to be sewn back whole. It was her first birth, her first son born by emergency C section a few weeks before his much anticipated arrival date that Summer.

The date was Thursday June 29th, 1989 at 6:29 AM in Compton, California.

The doctor hurried back to the table where he began to sew the 23 year old young black woman's stomach together. The child's father giving a sigh of relief; family and friends calmly embracing each other as the chaos and interruption to that Summer morning had finally come to a close. The black 1987 6 Series BMW Coupe slide down the avenue and made a quick right onto the main boulevard as the two men sat in the front seat. They were discussing NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers a couple weeks prior and the conversation had reached the limits of a debate and into a pure shouting match.

"Nigga you gonna tell me The Lake Show is gonna come back from an ass whomping like that!? Bad Boys swepted they asses like they was some dust on yo grannie's porch. Ya feel me?! And aye! Where's that money homie?!"

"All I'm saying nigga is that was like 2 weeks ago, chill on all that -"

"Nigga how you gonna tell me to chill on my -" "Man, ain't no body trippin on that!"

He reached into the glove compartment and polished .38 caliber Smith & Wesson bounced up on the velvet lining as the coupe went through a dip speeding down the boulevard.

"Look watch the road my g!" "Shit it's just a dip nigga! Yo hand me my paper!"

The man in the passenger seat pulled the revolver out and sliding his back up the leather seat back, stuck the gun in the front of his pants. He then proceeded to take out a roll of bills held together by two rubber bands. He slide off the rubber bands and began to count,

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven - that's seven hundred dollars nigga; don't come back at me sayin' I owe you shit."

The driver snatched the money and put it in the center counsel. "A bet's a bet nigga, pay up and shut up."

"Yeah yeah, whateva," he turned and looked out the window; looking upon the streets with ambition. They had just finished selling their last of their weight and were looking to re up this morning.

"Aye dog, what time is it?" "About quarter to seven, you good?" He turned back and looked at the driver, "yo, where that joint at?"

Track to be played after reading:

“Wildflower” by Hank Crawford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC88dJ4KuFw