Chapter 4: A Brand New Day

Man, was I happy when I woke up the morning after our first night on James Cool. Moms had already left for work. Usually it was Romper Room around the house when she left for work. No sooner did I come from my room to engage Sonny in a rematch from the night before that I heard the most annoying ear piercing screech.

"Eh, eh, eh," the screech bellowed. "Eh, eh, eh." It was a female’s screech and it was coming from Sonny's room. I had to find out what was going on.
"Sonny!" I yelled as I jiggled the locked doorknob of Sonny's room. "What's going on in there?"

After a brief moments of tussling and a few 'baby, be quiets', Sonny came to his door, unlocked it, cracked it and politely told me to "burnout, you lil' motherfucka, go outside and play some catch or something."

"I ain't got no body to play catch with," I replied, trying to sneak-a-peek at one of Sonny's girlfriends.
"Play with yo' self, for all I care," Sonny suggested, "just get the hell outta here."
I was distraught. There we were in a brand new townhouse, I had no friends and my brother wouldn't play catch with me because he was banging some chick. "I'ma tell Moms," I warned, "and she gon' beat yo' butt."

"And I'ma beat yo' ass," Sonny said soon before the screeching began again. "Now scram, twerp."

I bugged out for a minute before I realized why I woke up happy in the first place. I had me a girlfriend and she was pretty brown sugar, baby. I grabbed my glove and baseball and made a mad dash for Gabriel's house.

"Who is it?" a grumpy sounded older female voice said from behind Gabriel's family door. "Who do you want?" the voice said after I introduced myself.

"Is Gabriel there?" I asked through the door.

"Yeah, she here, but she can't have no boy company, young man."

"Huh?"

"I said, she ain't allowed no boy company. So, go on away from here and wake up somebody else up."

I was saddened. The older lady had hurt my feelings. "How am I suppose to know she can't have no company?"
I screamed before kicking the door and high-tailing it on back to our place.

Much to my delight, when I got back around to our place I realized Moms had left two pancake and cheesy egg platters for Sonny and I. I smashed mines and I guess the adrenaline rush of being chased away from Gabriel's had me thinking unclearly because I smashed Sonny's platter as well.

Only after I finished the last syrup drenched pancake did I remember what happened to me the last time I ate one of Sonny's meal. I picked up the telephone and called my grandma. I would have called Moms, but she always told us to call Granny if we had a problem while she was at work. I called Granny often.

"Hello, Granny?" I said when my grandma answered the phone.

"Yeah, baby?"

"Granny, Sonny gon' get me."

"Why? What did you do to Sonny?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Now, come on baby, Granny know you done did something to make Sonny wanna get you."

"I mean, I ate his breakfast."

"Oh, baby, you know you ain't suppose to eat nobody's food but yourns. Now, you know I'on condone siblings fighting, but if Sonny taxes yo' backside then you deserve it today. Where Sonny at? Put him on the phone."

"I can't. He in his room with some girl."

"What? What some girl?

"I'on know. Some girl."

"Boy, you done done it now. You kids. I done told Virginia ya'll don't need to be there watching ya'll self. I'm on my way ova there."

I knew Sonny was going to be mad at me, but he had made me mad by putting me out of the house. Then that older lady didn't make it any better. I shouldn't have eaten Sonny's breakfast. I made my way back upstairs.

"Sonny," I cautioned, "Granny said she on her way over here."

"What?"

"You heard me. You betta get that girl outta here."

"You snitched on me twerp?" Sonny said after quickly escorting the girl out of the backdoor. "Nigga, you know
Pam came way over here from the Southside to spend the day with me. Skipped Operation Brightside and everything to come see me and you gon' snitch."

I broke to the bathroom and locked the door.

"Come outta there Cass and get this ass whupping," Sonny threatened. "Come on out. Granny ain't finna save you from this ass whupping, boy."

After a brief silence, I thought I was safe. I was going to come out of the bathroom, but I remembered Sonny had pulled that trick on me before. I decided to stay put unitl Granny got there.

"Bring yo' lil' ass on outta there," Sonny screamed after another moment of silence. He was now trying to break the bathroom door down. "I'ma beat yo' ass, boy."

It was close to noon when Granny finally arrived and I was relieved. In those couple of hours in the bathroom I got a chance to take a bath, brush my teeth six times and try on some of Sonny's deodorant and cologne. I even took Sonny's clippers to my head, putting a part on the left side of my head, right above the temple. It was kind of crooked, but I liked it. It was my first part and I thought I looked cool like Sonny looked whenever he put a part in his hair. I even took a nap.

"Come on outta that bathroom, baby," Granny said. "Come on nye. Granny tired and need to use that bathroom."

"Hey, Granny," I said, smiling as I opened the bathroom door. "How you.." Before I could finish, my grandma reached out and grabbed my collar.

"What have I told you 'bout lying on your brother?" she screamed. "Now, I'ma beat yo' ass." And with that, I took one of those classic grandmotherly beat-downs, complete with the 'gon and get something to wipe yo' face off' pep talk.

After the belt whipping, I retreated to my room and took refuge by climbing onto the rooftop outside my window. I wanted to daydream about Gabriel and the kiss on the cheek she'd given me.

It's one thing to sit on the roof late at night and a whole different subject in the middle of the day. The St. Louis heat is unforgiving on those late summer days and that day was no exception. No more than ten minutes on the roof, I realized I needed my favorite summer past-time; sunflower seeds and lemonade.

Pops had put me on to the concoction during one of his stories about traveling and playing in the minor leagues. "That's the key to get to the bigs, Cass," Pops would say. "You gotta enjoy every minute of it." I'd been hooked since nine.

The most pleasant of surprises greeted me when I returned to the rooftop. Two guys, probably around Sonny's age, were in the backyard getting set to play a game of cork ball. They each had a glove, two tennis balls and a cork bat. We'd played plenty of cork-ball over on Park Ave., but we preferred the League ball. We also had plenty of open space with Terry Park and the vacant lot at the beginning of the 3400 block of Park Ave. Over on James Cool, all the vacant lots had been redeveloped into town-homes and Chambers Park was too close to the Bluemeyer Housing Projects for JVL tenants to play ball in.

Watching the two guys warm up, it was obvious they were brothers. I didn't know if they notice me on the rooftop, but after a few seeds and a glass of Moms' finest, sweetest lemonade, I got an idea.

"How 'bout a game of three-man?" I yelled as the brothers' attention turned upward toward the rooftop.

They glanced at each other, smiled, and the older, taller one asked, "who is you?"

"My name Cassius," I answered. "Me and my brother Sonny just moved in the neighborhood."

"Aw yeah," the younger one said to his brother, "daddy 'nem said someone just moved on the side of us."

The configuration of our townhouse was a three-plex. It was our place, 2931 James Cool Papa Bell. Right next door at 2931 1/2 was Marlin and Cynthia's place and on the side of us were the two brothers and their family's place, 2929. Right across from them was Gabriel's family place at 2927. Gabriel' place and the brother's place formed a gangway that led to the backyard and front. Gabriel's family place was part of another three-plex.

"Can you hit?" the younger one continued.

"Sure," I said modestly, "I can hit."

"Well, come down and show us what you got."

I grabbed my glove for the second time that day, but I left the league ball in the house. I told Granny, who had stayed over after my beating to look after us, that I was going out back to play ball and was stopped dead in my tracks.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Granny cajoled. 'Cause if you asking me, it sure don't sound like it."

"Granny can I please go out back and play cork ball, please?"

"Now, that's more like it," she gushed, preaching to me about the sanctity of not lying on my brother.

"But, I didn't lie on him Granny, he did have some girl over here this morning."

"Well, Sonny said you lied on him 'cause he was going to beat you for eating his breakfast."

"That ain't even true, Granny. He didn't even know nothing about no breakfast."

"Hush, now boy, and go outside and play. Everybody know how you like to play make believe. Now get on outta here. Bye."