They’re all shegged and coming for me, ’cause I acted feisty ’bout the Lord and light and suddenly seeing images inside the blinding beams.
That college festival before Christmas I went satta, telling the people: Look here and there inside. And, Jah’s children know the truth. Follow your soul.
So all the hackling here was sure my fault. I was a big bad fool calling: My people, my people, listen to the message.
Home from Myrtle Beach, Kaya and Angelina bang on my door. Too bad, they say if it’s inconvenient. They barge right in and say “how-do-you-do” to Ya-Ya, who’s here her first time visiting me, and stand there, arms folded, “Come on, get dressed, Trevor. Emergency meeting.”
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At Angelina’s, Brian’s already at the table, dazed and dreamy faced. Weed and Hailey. The earrings hit some spot she hadn’t discovered before. Brian mumbles, his face redder than red, while the ladies fuss, taking their seats.
I stand at the end. “Relax, relax.” Palms press flat on the table. “Won’t happen again. No soul-sweeping mania here. I vow it. Any message I feel so deep that I can’t keep quiet, I-and-I will put on stage, Awake toastin’ Bob Marley’s sacred songs.”
“All right.”
And, “Just take care of it, Trevor. No more road blocks.”
I promise and kiss the ladies on the cheek. Brian ducks his head. His feelings fill my mind like balloons leaking ideas. One time on top of Brian’s head, a balloon pops.
“Close your eyes so I can make it extra good.”
Brian’s outta there before me. Gone, so I can’t even see his back.
Before I step inside my cabin, Awake’s masterminds, Leon and Marvin are on the phone. But Ya-Ya nods, it’s fine, she’s making us dinner.
Leon says Alison at the Avalon wants us for Saturday nights, double sets, fat pay raises, no more Chewsdays. Marvin grabs the phone away. CD sales, he says, have spiked from the website. So he’s arranging string-up sessions at a recording studio. Leon grabs back the phone. What do I say to a tour?
“Can not do it.” Turns out Jazmine’s not interested and, of course, their sister Hailey’s out.
“And you know Zanz is staying in Jamaica.” I shouldn’t have said that, since nobody else knows it yet—not even Zanz. Gotta wait for information to develop outside. But Zanz really is gone. Come out with one, why not the rest? Leon and Marvin are anxious about Earle. He’s crucial. “Don’t worry. Earle’s definitely returning. Here to stay, in fact.” And, Jacob, who’s not moving to California, after all, will be here soon same as Royce who didn’t even go to Jamaica; he’s in the Keys. “They all have hard reasons.”
“Just so we’ve got you and Earle.”
Leon and Marvin don’t say, “Later,” or “Little more.” No good-bye, they just hang up.
Next morning, after I see Ya-Ya off, I bring Kaya and Angelina their coffee in bed as usual. Since my main news for them may cause friction, I ask—shy for some reason—if I can climb into bed with them, even though I do it every week without ever asking.
What happens next is strange, like I was possessed almost. My body’s playing tricks while they snuggle together under the duvet. Waves of illumination inside and outside me kinda collide, making a sound like faraway trumpets. “Mind if I-and-I take off me clothes?”
They look at each other and giggle. “Trevor,” Kaya says, “we thought you’d never ask.”
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