“I don’get it neither. And they
hasn’called or tried to contact us.” Years
of waiting tables in exclusive
restaurants had given Daddy Peaceful
great tact, especially with white folks.
He could pretty much get what he
wanted out of them without seeming
to threaten them. They would just
open up to him. Now he knew he had
to get O’Page to open up about his
true origins. Maybe something in
O’Page’s past had reached out to hurt
them. “They wore blue baseball caps
with red eagles on the front.”
“Eagles?” O’Page’s yellow eyes narrowed.
“O’Page, you know I love you like a son.
You treat my daughter with respect and
you love my grandson as much as I do.
But O’Page, where do you come from?
Because you isn’no Irishman!”
“Is true, Daddy. I come from Reupeo.”
He lowered his face as if he had just
confessed something shameful about
himself. “When I get here in nineteen
eightyeight and see that most Reupeons
had join the ranks o thugs and criminals
I decide to split away and call myself
Irishman. Nobody really believe but
nobody probe neither.”
“What about Jasmine?”
12
“She knows. I had to tell her she would
have half Reupeon child.”
His daughter’s ability to keep this secret
from him impressed him, but hurt him
a little bit too. “So you think this could
be directed at you? Something you did
back in the old country?”
BRN-FALL-2012.indb 12
“Could be, Daddy.” His yellow eyes
hardened. “Considering what I did I
could a made enemies. But Reupeon
criminals have code. To get at me
would kidnap Samson alone and leave
Bloombloom.”
“But how you know they Reupeons?”
“The eagles. You remember I tell you
about eagles mating with wolfs. Wolfs
fighting with eagles. Is very popular
symbol in Reupeo. Sometimes eagles
sometimes wolves sometimes together.
Also several clans and gangs take this
one or that one for symbol. Let me
look at note again.” He held the note
carefully by one corner. “Looks like
receipt.” He stood up. Daddy Peaceful
marveled at the breadth of his
shoulders. “Well, we take it to police.”
Daddy Peaceful realized that he had
not thought once about notifying the
police since Cherie came home.
Colored folks don’think about no
police, not if they got something else
to think about. Something happens
you try to work that stuff out yourself.
Try to keep the police out of it. “If you
think so.”
“You know why, Daddy?” O’Page
adjusted his tool belt over his hips.
“If you don’t report they suspect you
did something bad to your own son.”
Daddy Peaceful stood up. The two
men went into the livingroom where
Jasmine had set up the computer and
printer then using photos she had
programmed into the hard drive had
created a flyer. She had also sent out a
report of the incident on the Net and
got back one reply. “Somebody saw
them stuck in traffic at ninetyfourth
and second. Two burly guys in warm
up suits with two screaming kids, a
girl with long black hair and a boy
with cornrows like Ladrille Ivoryson.
The boy looked like the men so they
thought they belonged together. Don’t
know how they saw into the limo.”
“We go to police now,” O’Page
announced. “You keep doing that, Jas.
One way or other, we find them and
get them back.” Daddy Peaceful
saw a gaze pass between his daughter
and O’Page, like each looked into the
other’s secret heart and saw the fear
and the love for the stolen little boy.
Nana-Lily reclined on the Ezee-Guy,
her eyes closed. “You going too,
Peaceful?”
“Thought I’d ride along. I guess we have
to. How you doing, Lily?”
“I’ll make it, Peaceful.”
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