“Well, nice to meet you, Ike. Piece of advice, don’t let Buddy Lee let your granddaughter sit on the naked ground. My son got trichinosis like that. Well, I’m off to bingo. Y’all keep your eye on this little beauty. She here when I get back I just might have to steal her,” Margo said.
“Alright, have fun,” Buddy Lee said.
“I’d ask you to come with me but I’m afraid you’d be like your friend here and lose your shirt,” Margo said. She disappeared around the corner of her trailer. A few seconds later they heard her Volkswagen Bug start up and take off out of the trailer court. Ike thought the Bug’s engine sounded like an outboard motor.
“You and her friends?” Ike said. He raised his right eyebrow.
“She’s my neighbor. She’s a good woman. Not big on taking any shit,” Buddy Lee said.
“She like you.”
“What? No. We just neighbors,” Buddy Lee said.
“You think what you want, but I bet if you had taken her up on her offer, you’d be playing bingo right about now,” Ike said.
“Friends can go to bingo,” Buddy Lee said. Ike noticed his ears were turning a soft shade of crimson.
“Did you like the lady, Little Bit? I’m a little afraid of her,” Buddy Lee said. He bugged his eyes out and blew air between his lips. Arianna let out a high-pitched squeal.
Ike lowered his head and silently traced the fissures in the cinder blocks between his legs.
Look at what you’re missing. What you missed with her daddy, a voice in his head whispered. The worst thing was he knew the reason why he wouldn’t allow himself to get closer to her. For the first time since she had come to live with them, it made him ashamed. Ike wondered, How many chances does a man get to make the right decision before fate decides he doesn’t deserve another bite at the apple?
Mya stuck her head out the door.
“We need to talk,” she said. Ike and Buddy Lee and Arianna entered the trailer.
“She’ll make it,” Mya said. She was standing next to Buddy Lee’s table. Tangerine was lying on her side with her back toward them.
“She lost a lot of blood, but that wound in her arm is an in and out. I can’t be sure without an X-ray, but it doesn’t look like it shattered any of her bones. She might have some nerve damage, though. She wasn’t in shock. She just fainted. She going to need a place to rest, and somebody is going to have change that bandage and clean it. Now, do y’all wanna tell me who she is and how she got that hole in her arm?” Mya asked.
“She’s the girl Isiah and Derek were trying to help. We think her boyfriend was in this shit that got the boys killed. We went to talk to her about going to the cops,” Ike said. He thought, Or telling us who her boyfriend was so we can cut his fucking head off.
Buddy Lee picked up the explanation.
“Some boys found us and shot up her house. They shot her mama, too. We think they the same sons of bitches that killed the boys,” Buddy Lee said. Mya put her hands to her mouth and closed her eyes.
“Did she tell you anything?” Mya mumbled from behind her clasped hands. Ike shook his head. Mya pulled her hands away from her face.
“This poor child. We have to get her someplace safe where she can heal,” Mya said.
“I think I know somebody,” Ike said.
“Are they … an ally?” Mya asked.
“A what?” Ike said.
“An ally. Isiah told me…” She paused. “Isiah told me that was what you called someone who was LGBTQ-friendly,” Mya said.
“Let me guess, she secretly a lesbian?” Buddy Lee said. Mya looked over her shoulder at Tangerine’s prone form.
“Wrong letter,” Mya whispered. Ike frowned.
“What are you talking about, puddin?” Ike said. He hadn’t used that term of endearment in so long it surprised him. By the way Mya’s eyebrows arched, it surprised her, too. She rubbed her hands on her pants.
“Your friend is a transgender woman. Wherever you take her they need to be an ally. You don’t need to take her to somebody that’s gonna kick her out in the street if they find out,” Mya said. Ike sat down on the arm of Buddy Lee’s sofa. Buddy Lee put Arianna down. She ran to Mya and grabbed her grandmother’s leg.
“Wait, so she’s a he?” Buddy Lee asked in a low tone.
“No. She is a she who has not had gender-reassignment surgery yet,” Mya said. Buddy Lee sat next to Ike on the couch and dropped his head. He ran his hands through his hair.