Shut Up & Listen - Chapter 76: Chapter 76

August 21
9:32 AM
[ices, 46]
[mommy]
Ices walked into the kitchen wearing a long flowy black sundress with flat brown sandals and slammed her cup on the counter beside her eldest son Jaleel, "Why you been so quiet?"
"I'm not."
"What is it? You sad about Black?" She asked, "You seen him? You know you can still go over there and chill with him."
He spooned his cereal, looking up at his mother. "I don't get what's different about this time? He didn't do anything any of us haven't done." He sighed, frustrated. He leaned back in his seat. "I just. I need a break, ma. I don't want to just keep going along with everything daddy say and do."
"Take one." She offered, "Take a long one. All the time you need."
"See, this is exactly wh—"
"I'm sorry. Jaji, talk to me. Okay, I'm your mother."
He looked up, head tipped to the side, silent.
"Jah." She said, encouraging him to speak his mind freely.
"He don't know what he's doing, ma. Black is different. Isn't that the whole reason behind him coming to live with us before? Now we're giving him back? He can't live there. With the woman his father left him for? Come on. It's not fair. And I know life isn't fair. Been hearing that shit my whole life. But this. This really isn't to Black or anyone else involved. Something doesn't feel right about abandoning him right now."
"That's how you feel?"
"That's how I feel."
"You feel like we're abandoning him?"
He nodded.
"That's fair. But it's not what's happening."
"Why can't I know what's happening?"
"Because it isn't solidified yet. I don't want to speak too soon."
"I'm scared for him." He admitted, sucking his teeth. He rubbed his eye slowly. "I feel like I failed him. I should've been there. I'm supposed to be there, every time. I wasn't this time or the last time. Now, I don't know where he is."
Ices' face fell. She moved closer to her son, "What?"
"Maverik called me. We've been looking everywhere for the past few days."
"Why didn't you call Mac?"
"You know why." He looked away not wanting to rehash his father's growing disappointment in him.
"He's fine." She assured him immediately, not wanting him to have to say anything to her husband about the situation adding fuel to an already brewing pot of lighter fluid. "Look at me. Your brother is fine. He'll come back when he's ready to." She pulled him in for a hug, "Come on, he's okay."
"We don't know that."
She exhaled, taking her wallet out of her oversized bag to find a small folded sheet of paper. She read it, 4994 Stoddard drive. "I gotta go. I will call you if I hear anything." She held his shoulders, looking him in the eye. She nodded and grabbed her Fendi bag and left the house. Driving fast, as she remembered Black handing her an address one day a while ago. He told her that if she can't find him to go there. She's never used the address or looked it up before but she always kept it in her wallet.
She pushed her Audi to the max, booking it down 75. Once she arrived, there was a car in the driveway. She pulled in behind it and got out, walking up the stairs. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for about thirty seconds then began banging on the door.
"Who's house is this?" She asked once the door was opened by Cole, a stranger to her.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Is this your house?"
"Um, are you looking for someone ma'am?"
"May I come in?"
"No?"
She huffed. "My name," she smiled patiently, "Is Ices King-James. Is my son here?"
"Who is your son?"
"Black."
"You're his mom?" He was shocked, "I'm so sorry. He isn't here."
"So this is your house and he is not here?" He nodded quickly. "So you just gone lie to my face?" She looked past him, "That painting on the wall behind you? Jerrell Gibbs, "Until Tomorrow." Worth $40k. I bought that at an auction two years ago for his twenty-second birthday. That's his most prized possession." Cole was shocked and had, he quickly realized that Ices was not to be played with and was indeed looking for the man who was, unbeknownst to her, standing right beside him. He opened the door all the way to reveal Lonnie standing behind it.
She looked him over from head to toe before reaching her arm out to grab his shoulder. He hugged her tight. "Your brother is worried so sick about you. You're lucky I saved that little piece of paper in my wallet because they been looking for you for days." She pushed them aside, walking into the home, giving herself a tour while the two young men trailed her. "If Jah ain't finally come clean, I wouldn't have even thought about this address. He always tryna do shit by himself." She added, looking into each room, appreciating the decor. "Don't nobody know where the hell you at."
"That's the purpose." He mumbled under his breath. Looking from his mother to Cole who was confused by the whole situation.
"This is nice." She complimented as she walked, ignoring her son's comments. She came back to the front and lightly snatched Lonnie's overgrown hair, "Who'wee let's go to the barbershop and get this head in order. You too. Get in the car." She pointed at Cole.
"Wait, Ma. Can we talk?"
"We can talk in the car baby. I got errands to run. Come on."
Lonnie rolled his eyes, "But we ain't even shower or nothing yet."
She turned around, pointing her finger towards her son, "How long you been up? Y'all just laying around in funk all day?" She frowned as if she suddenly could smell said funk, "If you were at home, you would've been up and ready for whatever the day brings three hours ago."
"I just barely been sleeping."
She had sympathy in her eyes but her face was of a Black mother, twisted up and squinted. "Twenty minutes." She looked at the both of them then headed to the kitchen. "I need a snack. What do you have?"
"Um, I don't know. Should be something in there."
"So, tell me about yourself Colin. Where you from?" She asked as the pulled out of the drive way. "You're the first of Black's friends I've met."
"That is not true." Lonnie scrunched his face.
She pursed her lips at her son knowing he doesn't have any friends. But, she didn't say anything not wanting to embarrass her introverted antisocial son.
"Well, I grew up here. I like to sing. I'm a musician, mostly piano."
"What?!" She yelled, amazed. Cole nodded. "So do you make music or do you just like do it as a hobby?"
"Yes ma'am. I just wrapped my first tour a little while ago."
"Damn. What's kind of music you do?"
"RnB."
"Black, put it on." She gave him her phone. "Is it on AppleMusic?"
He nodded, "Streaming everywhere."
She turned to her son who was looking through the albums on apple music. "What's your favorite song?" She asked him, "Put that on."
Lonnie sighed and scratched his head with his fingertips. Cole giggled under his breath in the backseat. He'd never considered that Lonnie might be listening to his music or that he had a favorite. When he heard the instrumental intro playing, he tensed up, cocking his neck to the side with a scrunched smirk/frown.
If you love me
Why don't you love me
Love me
The way I love you
"You wrote this?" She asked, interrupting the moment in awe.
"Yes ma'am."
She didn't, nor did anyone else, say anything until the song was over. As the next song began to play, Cole watched a stiff Lonnie in the front seat with a stoic face. "So that's your favorite?" He asked him but didn't get a response. The song, 'Shine On' played next, taking Ices' attention off of the two of them. She pulled into a barbershop lot and Lonnie got out leaving his mom and Cole alone in the Audi.
She turned the radio down to half of what it was on.  "Why does Adebanjo sound so familiar?"
"My pops. Cecil Adebanjo sr. was a politician. And, you might've come across Adjoa Adebanjo in CPS. She was the director."
She nodded, knowing but receiving confirmation. "I actually met both of them a few times. I didn't want to assume you were related but when I heard the name..."
"Yeah, I get that a lot. But, it is a very common name." Cole nodded.
"I was on a board with your mother once. Way back in the day. It was a philanthropic organization. That's actually how I found out we had mutual friends." She laughed. "Wow, she was an incredible woman." She sighed, And, I am truly sorry for your loss."
He nodded, "Thank you ma'am."
"You can just call me Ices. Or Ice." She let out a sigh, "Now that we know each other better." She adjusted the rearview mirror to see him in the backseat. "How much would it take for you to leave him. What would he have to do?"  She asked suggestively.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Y'all dating?" She asked curiously.
"No, I have a girlfriend."
She lifted her chin, "mmm, you're the friend." She pointed her long nailed finger and squinted her eyes, "I heard about you. Mixed reviews."
Cole giggled knowing how their family felt about him. While Jah hated he and Lonnie's relationship, he knew Mac would do anything for him."Which one do you believe?"
She shrugged, "It depends. What would it take for you to leave him? Or is it unconditional?"
He looked up, realizing the complexity of her question. It made him remember that he needed to find out what happened with him. Why he was at his loft and why Jah doesn't know where he is.
"Is there something that would make you leave him?" He asked her. "Or is it unconditional?"
She licked her teeth, squinting again. "Nothing could ever make me stop loving my son. But, that's not what he's used to. Even as long as he's been with us."
"Respectfully, that's not what I asked."
She was taken back. "Respectfully, that's my son. I took him in. I raised him. I knew who he was before I committed to that; committed myself to him. Nothing will ever change that. I'm a mother. But as an adult, I have encouraged him to grow from underneath his daddy's wing because he's growing out of that small spot. I can see it."
"Is that why he been lingering around? He just growing? Because it seems like something else."
"You're right. It is something else. Which is why I need to know that he isn't adding more temporary people to his life. He doesn't need that."
"I'm not temporary. I'm here until i'm not. Or until he's not. Or until he doesn't want me around no more which is usually what happens."
"Mm." She shortly nodded as her phone rang. Taking her airpods from her keys, she put one in, "Yes ma'am?" She answered. She shook her head. "Absolutely. I'm on my way, I had to check up on Alonso before I went out though, So I'm a little bit off schedule. If they arrive before I do, go ahead and give 'em the keys for me. But let me know."
"Okay. And, check on Makaveli's application please? I don't even know why he needed an application with all I have done for her, but formalities I guess." She complained. "Right? That's all I'm saying."
"Alright, honey. Yes ma'am. You too. Alright. Alright, in a minute."
"Miss Ices." He called, she turned, "What did you mean you knew who he was?"  He asked, curiously. While she spoke on the phone, he overthought her few words and added Dame's warnings from when he first found out they'd messed around. It unnerved him although he knew him in one aspect, he realized that in many, he actually didn't.
She didn't respond. Instead, she unlocked the doors because Lonnie was approaching the Dark Midnight Blue car. She smiled, "You look so handsome!" She complimented him as he sat in the passenger seat. "That was so fast too."
"Yeah, I decided to keep the length. Ain't it weird seeing me with long hair?"
"No, I like it." Cole shrugged, reaching up to touch it but then retracting his hand awkwardly before his hand made contact with the curls.
Lonnie looked back at him with a smile, "Almost as long as yours now."
Cole frowned, "Nah, mine is way longer." He pulled a curl and Lonnie watched it stretch down to his shoulder.
"The fuck?" He furrowed his brows while he still smiled, confused. He reached his hand back and tugged at one of Cole's curls in the front, pulling it down his face. "Yooo, that is insane." He commented in awe. "I ain't ever seen no shit like that."
"I gotta go take care of some paperwork for your brother, but I want to eat first. Y'all hungry?" She interrupted their curly conversation. The two of them nodded and Lonnie sat facing forwards. Cole was unintentionally still watching him from behind.
"How do y'all know each other?" Lonnie's mom asked the two.
He chipped up instantly, "We had a friend in common. Then, one day, I was ambushed at that friends house—"
"Oh, Cobe?" She interrupted, remembering the event.
He nodded, "Cole pulled up and they all left. He called daddy. I didn't know it then though. But a couple months later I finally met him. I wanted to thank him in person. We did not click right off. He hated me." Black laughed.
"I did not hate you. I hated what you did to my bro." Cole corrected him with an attitude.
"Anyway." He brushed him off, "We kept running into each other but we still never really spoke. Until one time I told him we would be friends. He didn't disagree."
"I didn't agree either."
"Yet, here we are." He talked back. "He called me one day and told me he think he knows my brother. When I showed up, I didn't expect to see Dame sitting there."
"Wow, that was you?" Ices asked, Cole shrugged.
"But, yeah. It just seems like he's always at the right place at the right time."
The car was quiet after that. Not awkwardly.
Cole was laying in Lonnie's lap on the couch in the Troy home. The older man was playing in his hair, still intrigued by the magic of his shrinkage. There was a movie on that neither of them was really watching and Lonnie grew tired of sitting in the heat of the living room. "Let me wash your hair." He offered randomly.
"You don't know nothing 'bout washing no hair."
"Then show me."
"You don't even have the right products. You not about to put some shea moisture in my head."
"What's wrong with Shea Moisture? Tha's the the good shit." Cole shook his head, "Fine, what do you need? Wanna go back to your place?"
"Hell no. My brother probably there. We can just go to the store. And i'll let you wash my hair if you let me wash this fucking carpet you got on your head." Cole teased.
Lonnie's mouth fell agape, "Carpet?"
"Not after i'm done with it." Cole said, running his hand over Lonnie's hair and hissing. "Fuck!" He shook his hand, " Gahdamn." He mumbled, checking his fingers for cuts. Lonnie smacked him across his back. "Ah!" Cole yelled, trying to get away from Lonnie who was now chasing him.
Cole found himself in the shower with Alonso about an hour later. The taller was sitting on a stool underneath the water while Cole stood behind him as he massaged his scalp. There was no music playing. The suds between Cole's fingers and Lonnies hair was the only sound aside from the water hitting the porcelain shower surfaces.
"So, you didn't tell me you listen to my music." Cole added to the nearly quiet atmosphere. "Was that really your favorite song?"
"I cry to that shit." Lonnie mumbled, "Don't tell nobody though."
"I won't." Cole replied, smiling to himself as he continued rubbing his friend's scalp with his fingertips. He pulled down the shower head and rinsed the suds from Lonnie's mini fro.
"We done?" He asked. Cole told him they weren't "Good, this is too relaxing." He chuckled, "I almost fell asleep on yo ass."
"Wait 'til you see how your hair feel when i'm done." Cole boasted, scooping a glob of conditioner onto his palm.
"You started something now." Lonnie hummed, basically melting into Cole's fingertips that were combing through his coils. "Mhm."
"You act like you never had yo hair washed."
"Shit, maybe not. Sho' don't feel like this when I do it."
Cole put a shower cap on Lonnie's head and turned off the water. He sat on the edge of the tub adjusting the cap to sit behind Lonnie's ears. Lonnie turned towards him. "Would it be weird if I got your name tatted?"
Cole smiled silently.
"I mean, I been thinking about it, and it don't even gotta be nothing crazy. Like, just right here," he pointed palmed his scar from Mohammed below his shoulder blade, "over the scar. It could just be your initials or something."
"But why?"
Lonnie scratched at his nape, "You know why."
"Yeah, but like..." Cole's ears grew hot as he spoke, a nervous energy settling over him.
Lonnie shook his head at his own suggestion after reading Cole's body language. "Nah, you're right."
"No, I mean like..." cole exhaled anxiously, "Like that's permanent."
Lonnie looked at him.
"I don't know if you know how much I want this. But, you said that I shouldn't get attached. This is the opposite of not getting attached."
Lonnie scoffed, "Yeah, I say a lotta shit."
"Really you don't. Which is why I take what you do say seriously."
Lonnie scratched the shower cap, causing a crunchy noise that caught Cole's attention.
Colin fingered the letters on his own bare chest.
"Something like that." Lonnie offered, reaching his fingers over, meeting Cole's. "What this say?"
"Jill, the love of my life." Cole mumbled.
"Y'all still talk?" Lonnie asked, curiously. Not remembering ever hearing the name before.
"It's weird. I don't want to. But we do. She showed up to the hospital when I was in a coma last month. She was there for me when nobody else was. Even after we broke up. I feel like even if I don't wan't to be, we're connected."
"So, it's true then." Lonnie concluded.
Cole shrugged, unsure.
"So, you regret having it?"
Cole shook his head, "no." and reached for his phone on the counter, setting a timer. "We got twenty minutes. What you wanna do?"
Lonnie smirked at the darker skinned man but was rejected.
"I'm not in the mood right now."
"You got me all relaxed. Why not?"
Cole shrugged. "I think imma head home after we done too."
Lonnie mumbled under his breath but Cole ignored him thinking if he wanted him to respond he should speak up.
"I gotta go to the studio tonight. I haven't been in almost a month. My manger been cutting me some slack; Cobe and the coma and what not. But, I'm ready to at least fuck around with some sound." He said, scrolling through his phone. He sighed, itching the inside of his ear.
"What?" Lonnie asked, sensing yet another shift.
He sucked his teeth. "My brothers coming tonight." He put his phone down on the sink and faced Lonnie who was still sitting on the stool in the tub. "You wanna meet them?"
Lonnie moved to the edge of the chair, getting closer to his young tender, kissing him in the lips. He pulled away only an inch to look into Cole's eyes but they were closed. He closed the gap with parted lips, grabbing the back if his head to hold them together as they kissed softly. Softly turned passionately as Lonnie soon moved from the chair to straddle Cole's lap. Cole kissed his neck, sucking and bitting while gripping Lonnie's cheeks. "Fuck me. Please." Lonnie mumbled into Cole's ear.