A BCW* CASE GETS CLOSED AND TWO OLD FRIENDS REUNITE BY CHANCE CHAPTER EIGHT
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And by the way, it means we need to be there for our neighbor's sons and daughters. (Applause.) We need to go back to the time, back to the day when we parents saw somebody, saw some kid fooling around and -- it wasn't your child, but they'll whup you anyway. (Laughter and applause.) Or at least they'll tell your parents -- the parents will. You know..(Applause)- President Barack Obama at the NAACP 100th Anniversary
Saying good-bye to BCW is a happy thing, but it's not something you want to do twice. For someone like Alicia this good-bye could open up all kinds of doors. The showdown was coming. It was going to be either "get out of jail free. Pass Go. Collect two hundred dollars" or "Hector's going to jail, He won't pass Go and neither of you gets the two hundred dollars."
Louie Xhaxhka was an old friend of Alicia's but neither one knew of the other's whereabouts when for months Louie shaped up at the taxi garage and drove past Alicia's home and her job at the diner. Louie had got into a philosophical or scientific or political and ideological dispute with W. Jones while they both stood in line waiting to give Einstein their money (there aren't credit card slips yet. In those days taxis were still all cash) .
The argument was about Entropy and The State of The World. Xhaxahka held that the universe, or at least the part of the spectrum of reality we are inhabiting, is on the precipice of an Entropic Collapse and that the best evidence of this was that Sarah Palin is ahead of Barack Obama in the popularity polls.
Jones agreed that the Palin phenomenon was negative, but opined that Entropy is "a damned slave religion." According to Jones the minds of human beings coupled with their ability to use and create tools by virtue of their opposing thumbs and ability to use language, symbols and abstract thought were given by God. These hard-won evolutionary gifts had already allowed things that had been impossible to become reality and that this was only the beginning. Science says that our ancestors once were chains of chemicals. Aren't we more than that now? Besides, Entropy is just an optical illusion brought about by refraction of capitalist reality and light.
Xhaxahka countered that everything ends, everything dies. He gave the example of the copied and recopied photocopy. The first few replicas look the same to the naked eye. After that each generation gets fuzzier and fuzzier until one has a photocopy of an indistinguishable blob. "Copy machines aren't gods" humphed Billy. He'd been holding this line, waiting for the chance to say it.
They adjourned to the sidewalk. Jones steered the disputation towards The Greek's Luncheonette and Diner - Best Burgers In Town.
Alicia didn't know if she should laugh, cry or put on her poker face when Louie walked into the diner with Billy. Louie was very glad to see Alicia for the old times and to tell her that he had heard that the Big Mishpucha was back in business and probably looking for help. The thing would be to find Big Lou before he found other help. That is if Alicia was looking for a job.
Louie's universe had just formed some kind of an arc. Louie had had close professional ties with Alicia a few years back. Close enough that most straight men would envy Ugly Louie.
W. Jeremiah Jones, aka Billy rubbed his eyes in disbelief when Louie asked Alicia when she finished work and when she told him to hang out. She'd be off at three that afternoon till five when she'd go back for the supper rush. Louie could crash at her place till then. "Here's the keys. Sleep on the sofa but get up and let me in when I knock on the door." There was a lot of catching up to do. Louie was going to be a puzzle piece in the life of Shameka Jefferson Alicia's best friend, babysitter and girlfriend sister when there's trouble. Alicia told Billy that Louie was rooming next door to her over in the projects at her best girlfriend's house and that he should go with him. The two men left The Greek's that morning newly minted fast friends.
Shameka had been more than happy to have found the envelope with the money taped onto her refrigerator and gladder that Louie was a respectful roomer and maybe a decent guy. The only bad news being that Louie sleeps in the daytime. He can't watch Latoya when mommy falls apart and takes two sleeping pills. Alicia still does that. (I mean she watches LaToya)
Well, Alicia put the kids in front of the TV in Hector's room. Latoya is big enough to tell you what happened:
"When mommy came home from the welfare office she looked sad but she didn't cry. Really she came to Alicia's house to visit me. Alicia works in the morning until night time at The Greek's and now that my mommy isn't feeling good Alicia doesn't leave Hector at our house any more. She asked the weird looking skinny guy to watch us but he doesn't really watch us. He sleeps on the sofa in the living room in Alicia's house. Hector and me stay in Hector's room and watch cartoon videos and shows about science on TV. Alicia leaves food like peanut butter sandwiches, and chicken and rice and juice for us in the little refrigerator she has in Hector's room that she leaves when she goes to work. Mommy says I have to stay at Alicia's until she starts to feel a little bit better or until school starts. I want my mother to feel better and I want to stay at our house but it's okay for me to stay at Alicia's house with Hector and Alicia and the weird white guy with the buck teeth and broken nose whose name is Louie and who sleeps in the living room in the daytime.
"And if anyone knocks on the door not to answer it but to turn off the television and be quiet.
"I don't know why I felt like eating toast but I did so me and Hector took his chair into the kitchen and Hector stood on the chair and got some bread from the top of the refrigerator. I put four pieces of bread into the oven and turned on the oven and closed it. We went back to Hector's room and turned back on the television.
"We forgot about the toast until I smelled smoke. Louie was already in the kitchen and we watched him turn off the oven and then he threw water on the burnt up toast and started running around the house opening up all the windows to let out the smoke when we heard loud knocks on the door.
"Almost all the ladies who live on our floor were outside the door and some of them were yelling. The quiet lady was there. She's a big time nosey body. She doesn't even live on our floor and I don't know how many times she came to our door and knocked and told mama to be quiet when we were not making any noise anyway.
"Lucky thing Louie sleeps in his clothes because he went outside into the hallway and told all the ladies 'it's okay I accidentally burnt some toast. There is no fire so don't call 9-1-1 and come inside and see for yourself.` And that he's sorry that he burnt up the toast in the oven and that he got everyone so scared of a fire. Some of the ladies came inside and looked at the covers on the sofa because they wanted to know where this white guy sleeps and they saw that there was no fire and I guess nobody called 9-1-1 because no firemen or polices came to the house. And BCW didn't come to the house that day.
"That night mom whupped my ass good but only with her hands. Alicia yelled at Hector real loud and told him he is lucky they have a BCW case or he would get his ass whupped too. We both cried and promised not to do it again."
Next day was time for Alicia to get her shit together. Prime Hector, dress him clean bathed and neatly creased a half an hour before the workers come.
Air the place out with every fan and aerosol can that happens to be on hand; put up Jesus and Mary paintings from Sears wash behind little Hector's ears, get cards of Hector's vaccination and the album of Hector's summer vacation. Here's some very happy news- Hector has no scrape or bruise.
Five straight clean piss tests; bombed the place, no sign of pests.
Stocked the place with meats and veggies raisins and whole wheat spaghetti's; clear the air, fluff the chair get Ugly Louie Out Of There!
We won! We passed! We did it!! We're free! BCW's shadow's passed; no angry been raped orphans shoving things up Hector's ass!
Alicia had not forgotten the ass whupping that she owed Hector for almost starting a fire. He got it.
*BCW (Bureau of Child Welfare) is what CPS once was named in NYC. In spite of two reincarnations, the same outfit still has that name on the street.
*BCW (Bureau of Child Welfare) is what CPS once was named in NYC. In spite of two reincarnations, the same outfit still has that name on the street.