From Sinner to Saint Read online

  Jasmine could read the rage in Trina’s face. She decided it was best to leave the matter with Antonyo for a time when his mother was not around. Silently she turned and left the porch.

  “Antonyo, come in the house now,” Trina yelled after Jasmine retreated.

  The second her son entered the house and closed the door, Trina gave him a quick shot to his mouth with her fist. She took out her frustrations with Jasmine on Antonyo using one punch.

  “I told you I was going to kick your tail if I had to deal with that girl, didn’t I?” Trina spat.

  Antonyo knew better than to answer the question, being that it was rhetorical. He just held his stinging jaw and listened to his mother rant.

  “I’m telling you right here and now, Antonyo, you better stop running around thinking you can just play with these girls and use them to get what you want. I am not going to have this kind of mess around my house every time I turn around. All these knuckleheaded girls that call here for you think you really care about them. Jasmine is not the only crazy girl in this world. Mark my words; if you keep treating females the way you do, it is going to come back and haunt you.” Trina picked up a book of daily devotions she’d begun reading about a month ago, and flipped back a few pages. “I just read about this same principle in this book. The scripture says in Galatians 6:7–8, ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.’ So you see? You better get it together, Antonyo, because sooner or later you are going to have to pay for your behavior if you don’t turn it around. Now get out of my house and go to school.”

  As Antonyo walked to school, he thought about what his mother said, concentrating hard on her words. Then he remembered the actions of the other three girls he kept company with. Neither Tianda, Kelly, nor Monique had a problem with him on any level. Each realized that he was not dating either one of them exclusively. They were all content to get whatever time he allowed them to have. He then reconciled that his mother was old fashioned and unaware of what she was talking about. From now on, he would make sure to keep his business away from her to avoid having to hear her preach to him.

  After school that day, Antonyo planned to stop by Treecie’s house before going home. During lunch, Kelly had informed him that she purchased a brand new pair of Timberland boots for him and she wanted to bring them by. Normally he would have Kelly over to his home, but since his mom was currently tripping, he figured he needed to give her time to cool down. He and Kelly agreed, instead, to meet at his aunt’s.

  Antonyo told Kelly to meet him at 4:30 P.M., giving himself plenty of time to call Monique and get assistance with his English homework since it was now only 3:15. However, as he approached the house, he found Jasmine sitting on the porch, presumably waiting on him. Dreading having to deal with her, his first thought was to turn around before she noticed him. The thought of missing out on his new boots quickly changed his mind. He decided it was best that he just ignore her and go straight into the house.

  Antonyo walked to the steps and tried to continue up without uttering a word to the stalking lunatic.

  “I know you don’t think you gon’ walk in that house and act like you don’t see me. I ain’t standing for that kind of disrespect, boy.” Both she and her voice rose as she spoke the last sentence.

  This was the first time since he’d started seeing Jasmine that she made reference to him being younger and/or less mature than her. Her calling him “boy” stung his ego just a bit. He had to retaliate.

  “Oh, I’m a boy now? I guess that would make me kind of like your son, since you were taking such good care of me, huh, trick?”

  “Screw you, Tony!”

  “You did that too, so I guess that would make you some kind of child molester or statutory rapist also, right?”

  Antonyo thought his retorts to be hysterical. He responded by laughing in her face. Jasmine thought his reply to be hurtful. She responded by hurting him the only way she knew how. She slapped the crap out of him. Trina had instilled in Antonyo from the time he was a small boy to never hit a woman, even in self-defense. Heeding his mother’s teaching, Antonyo just stood there stunned, holding his stinging cheek.

  “Laugh at that, punk!” Jasmine screamed.

  Treecie heard the commotion from inside the house and came to investigate.

  “I know you ain’t bring your raggedy tail over to my house after you had the nerve to threaten my nephew and disrespect my sister.” Trina had called Treecie that morning after her fight with Jasmine and Antonyo to give her the 411.

  “Treecie, your nephew and your sister disrespected me. Antonyo thought he could get away with using me, and your sister came all out of pocket and threatened me. So how you gon’ take their side?”

  “Stupid girl, please! That’s my blood you messing with. You just some hoochie my nephew done dissed and dismissed. You best be up and away from my house now before I lodge my foot in the crack of your behind.”

  For the second time in the same day, Jasmine had been outnumbered in her attempts to convince and strong-arm Antonyo into re-entering her life. Her earlier threats were simply a weak effort to mask that very fact. She actually had not spoken to any guys about having him beaten up. She just wanted to be his girlfriend again. Jasmine figured she could scare him back into their previous relationship.

  Now, even with her limited education, she could see that Antonyo had lost all respect for her. Without respect, he could never actually love her. He had everyone in his corner and she stood all alone. She felt more unworthy at that very moment than any time in her entire life. What was the point of finishing school and getting a decent education when she was such a pathetic person?

  Jasmine stared at Treecie and Antonyo one final time, then silently turned tail and left the house. Antonyo, in his arrogant and uncaring manner, called after the defeated girl with a final barb.

  “Ain’t nothing in this life free, baby. You got to pay to play. The minute you started coming up short with the money, you were dismissed. I just wanted to wait until I had you properly replaced before I gave you the official boot,” he said to her.

  And that was the way the burgeoning hardhearted lady’s man ended his first official entry into the world of being a heartbreaker. Suddenly, however, the words his mother read from her book this morning surfaced in his mind.

  Chapter 4

  Trina sat straight up in bed, startled by a surreal dream. While the dream was strange in nature, it was far from being unpleasant. As a matter of fact, as she lay back down and stared at the ceiling, processing as much of her night vision as she could remember, Trina actually felt something akin to peace.

  It had been several years since Trina began sporadically reading the worn Bible given to her by her former co-worker. She had finished the entire book of Proverbs and read all of the Psalms as Ms. Louise suggested. She would also read from different sections on her own, and she would sometimes go home and study from the sections referenced in the few services she attended while visiting various churches. Over the years, she had purchased several daily devotional books and other sources of scripture reading. She was working diligently on engraving God’s Word in her heart.

  Last night’s dream brought back to memory the sermon she heard this past Sunday while visiting the church of a co-worker. Pastor Mitchell of The New Trinity Praise, Worship & Learning Center preached on letting go of the past in order to move forward and into the things God has in store. He spoke about each person being born with a purpose, distinctly created for that person by God. Pastor Mitchell’s referenced text came from Jeremiah 29:11–14 and Philippians 3: 13–14.

  In her dream last night, Trina recalled Pastor Mitchell’s especially pretty wife speaking with her. Mrs. Mitchell told her that God specifically had a purpose for her life, but in order to walk in the fullness of life, she had to let go of t
he mistakes she had made in her past. She said that she had to put behind her the hurt she had experienced with the failed relationships with Antonyo’s father and other men she had been involved with over the years. She had to release the distress of growing up poor without the proper supervision of her own parents.

  “Trina, when you decided to get off welfare, get your G.E.D., and find better employment to support yourself and your son, that was the God in you rising up to take hold of a part of the abundant life that Jesus came in order for each of us to have. As long as you keep your hand in the hand of God, your latter days will be greater than your former,” Mrs. Mitchell said in a soft, maternal tone.

  During her dream, Trina wondered how Mrs. Mitchell had known all those things about her, since she had never met the woman before that time in Sunday service. But now that she was fully awake, Trina realized that her sleep had been invaded by an angel of God, the One who knew everything about her.

  Now a senior in high school, seventeen-year-old Antonyo was more the ladies’ man than ever. He was even more handsome, more charming, more persuasive, more experienced and . . . more promiscuous. He had never had a job, yet he owned a decent car, purchased with money he received from various girls at one time or another.

  For the past three years, he had been in and out of more flings and relationships than some men twice his age. Now, as a result of his dating status, he faced what some would call a serious issue; however, Antonyo simply viewed it as a minor annoyance.

  The senior prom was two weeks away, and he was currently involved with three different females, leaving him with the dilemma of choosing only one of these girls to be his prom date. Two of the girls were his schoolmates at Redford High School. The other he knew through his cousin, Taraija.

  Brittany was a junior, and Taylor was a senior. Both girls realized they were involved with the same guy, and neither was seemingly bothered by it. Yet, they refused to attend the prom with him as a trio.

  Kayla, Taraija’s best friend, was a sophomore, and the two girls attended Mackenzie High school together. Taraija and Kayla met about a year ago, when Kayla moved next door to Taraija and her dad. Antonyo met Kayla while visiting his cousin.

  Taraija and Antonyo had always been the closest of the four first cousins. When Aunt Treecie lost custody of his cousin and she moved away from the neighborhood, Antonyo was crushed. He made it his business, though, to visit Taraija as often as possible. Antonyo saw his cousin more often than her own mother.

  Of the three young women currently keeping company with Antonyo, he had to admit he liked Kayla most. They had been going together for five months. While the other two girls were aware of each other, neither of them knew about Kayla, nor she about them. Kayla assumed that Antonyo belonged to her alone. The fifteen-year-old beauty was totally captivated by the smooth antics of her best friend’s cousin, so much so that she gave him her virginity three months after they started dating.

  Being that Taraija and Kayla were best friends, Antonyo also neglected to let his cousin know that he was seeing anyone other than her girl. The two usually never kept secrets, but Antonyo figured that under the circumstances, his duplicity would hurt his cousin as well as Kayla.

  Antonyo sat in the kitchen with his mother having breakfast while pondering his small prom date quandary. Trina could see the stress in her son’s face and questioned its existence.

  “What’s bugging you, Antonyo?” Trina asked.

  “Nothing much, Mama. I’m just trying to decide on who to take to my senior prom. Not anything for you to worry about.”

  Antonyo knew his mother had a problem with his playboy-style behavior. She had become increasingly more vocal in expressing her displeasure since she started going to church occasionally. Therefore, he regretted telling her his problem the moment it left his mouth. The last thing he needed was to hear one of her sermons. However, Trina’s response surprised him.

  “Well, which one of your four hundred girlfriends do you like the best?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Ha-ha, Mama. There are actually only three to choose from.” Antonyo made a guttural sound then shook his head. Again he immediately hated that he had opened his mouth.

  Trina laughed at her son. She knew why he was reacting this way, but she decided she would genuinely try to give him some helpful advice with his predicament.

  “Okay, baby. Like I said before, which one of these lovely young ladies do you like best?” she asked sarcastically, and they both shared a laugh.

  “I like Kayla the best. She’s Taraija’s best friend. She’s also only fifteen and attends a different school.” He almost told his mother that she didn’t have a job, so she could not help him pay for anything, but he stopped himself in time this go-round. “Taylor is a senior and we have two classes together. Brittany is a junior who I share no classes with, but she also attends Redford.”

  “Boy, you mean to tell me that Taylor and Brittany both go to school with you?”

  Antonyo gave his mother a lopsided glance. He was about to start begging her not to harass him, but Trina relinquished first.

  She threw her hands in the air and said, “I’m sorry. I’m not going to criticize. I just want to help.”

  Antonyo looked at his mom skeptically, but decided to give her a chance. “Thanks, Ma.”

  “Here’s my advice, I say take Taylor. She’s a senior, and this will probably be her last opportunity to go the prom. Brittany and Kayla will have other chances. They probably won’t be going with you, since I have yet to meet a girl that has lasted more than three months, but there will be other chances for them.” Trina tried to stay away from the sarcasm, but she just couldn’t help herself.

  Antonyo ignored his mother’s mockery, but not her advice. He decided she was right. He would take Taylor to the prom. Besides, she had the most money anyway.

  Three days before the senior prom, Antonyo visited Kayla at her home. The two of them were in the basement watching music videos on television and doing some heavy duty petting in between songs.

  Kayla, having been a virgin when she and Antonyo started having sex, was still pretty inexperienced. She often found it hard to respond to his advances because she was always so nervous about getting pregnant. The two of them never discussed birth control. Yet, she loved Antonyo. She wanted to please him, so she went along with his program each and every time he wanted her. Kayla knew there were plenty of other girls who would be more than willing to do whatever it took to get their hands on Antonyo.

  Without warning, Taraija came running into the basement to hang out with Kayla and her favorite cousin, interrupting their current make-out session and preventing Kayla from having to go all the way with Antonyo this time.

  The moment Antonyo heard her at the top of the stairs, he stopped his advances on Kayla and did his best to give the appearance that they were only watching television.

  “Hey, lovebirds,” Taraija sang as she sat on the sofa next to the couple.

  Kayla, grateful for the interruption, gave her friend a welcome reply. “Hey, best girlfriend.”

  Antonyo simply grunted his response. He was unappreciative of the intrusion.

  “So, girl, why didn’t you let me help you pick out your dress for the prom? I can’t believe you haven’t said a word about going,” Taraija said as she slapped Kayla’s thigh in mock anger.

  What in the heck did Taraija just say? Antonyo thought as he nearly passed out on the sofa after hearing his cousin’s question. How in the world did she find out about him attending the prom? He figured he would wait to hear more of the conversation between the two females before he offered any explanations or excuses.

  “What are you talking about, Tee? I’m not going to the prom, and neither is Antonyo. He got in trouble for cussing out his English teacher. The principal told him the prom was off limits as part of his discipline,” Kayla explained.

  “But I just got off the phone with my brother Darnell. He said that he and Antonyo were sharing a
limousine. My mother and Aunt Trina are paying for it.”

  Sweat began to pour profusely from Antonyo’s armpits. He knew he had to come up with a believable lie to cover what Taraija told Kayla, and he had to do it quick. Both women were probably about to get very upset with him.

  “What is she talking about, Tony?” Kayla asked. She looked both confused and saddened by the information she just learned.

  “Darnell was probably so caught up in bragging about the limo to Tee, he forgot I wouldn’t be able to go. He is right, though. My mother is still going to help Aunt Treecie pay for the car. She didn’t want him to miss out just because I messed up.”

  Antonyo knew the lie was weak, but he was counting on Kayla to be weaker. Up until now, she had believed whatever he told her, no matter how stupid it sounded.

  “See, girl. You know I would not have been preparing for my first prom without your help,” Kayla replied without the least bit of doubt in her voice. Antonyo released the breath he had been holding since he uttered his last syllable.

  Taraija was not as easily fooled as her lovestruck friend, however. She had known her cousin all of her life, and they were very close. She knew he was playing Kayla, and she was not happy about it in the least. Taraija, being well aware of her cousin’s doggish behavior, stupidly believed Antonyo when he told her that he was only dating her girl, and his lie made her angry. Taraija also felt badly for her friend because she knew Kayla had given her all to him.

  Antonyo knew his cousin as well as she knew him, and right now he was totally alert to Taraija’s disappointment. He sat for a second debating whether or not he should tell Tee the truth and swear her to secrecy, or keep up his current pretense. It only took him a moment to decide that he would leave things the way they were and just hope that his cousin’s loyalty would lie with her blood.