Arts
Identity Reveal
Detective Richardson leaned back in his Lazy Boy and stared at the ceiling fan directly over his head in his study. He took a long drag off his cigar, blowing the smoke out slowly as he thought about his encounter with Ms. Shelia at the station. He chuckled to himself as he remembered her remark in regard to Smooth being a “son of a bitch.”
She was a woman who didn’t mind saying exactly what was on her mind. he liked that kind of woman. A woman who wasn’t imitated by his badge, blackness, and stature in height. And to top it off she was a black beauty too. But forget that! I don’t have time for any woman right now. Richardson took another long drag off his cigar, watching the tip of it glow red. That’s what Shelia was, red hot!
Hot and Heavy
Jimmy Brown got out of the shower and wrapped a large yellow bath towel around his fat waist. He avoided looking at his image in the mirror. Once he had been young, handsome, slim and a “ladies’ man.” That was when he was in the army. He didn’t recall when he had stopped taking care of his health and body. It happened slowly, gradually, without warning. He believed it began sometime after his wife had divorced him and taken his only child out of the state. Cutting all ties, he had with them. He knew it was his fault that she left him and didn’t blame her one bit.
Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla" is the biopic inspired by Priscilla's 1985 memoir, 'Elvis and Me,' focusing on Priscilla's perspective of her relationship with Elvis, which is sometimes suffocating. Coppola's film is the opposite of what Baz Luhrmann aimed to portray in "Elvis" (2022).
Coppola likely relates to her own experiences living in the shadows of a powerful and successful man—her father, Francis Ford Coppola—drawing parallels to Priscilla's journey toward independence.
Priscilla Beaulieu is an innocent teenager when she meets the heartthrob Elvis Presley in Germany, far from his rock-and-roll kingdom. What begins as a starstruck crush, fueled by shared homesickness, evolves into a complicated love affair, revealing the unseen vulnerabilities of a cultural icon. Their relationship progresses from the initial fairytale excitement to a whirlwind marriage, and the film poignantly depicts their life together.
Something’s Wrong
After school let out that day, Jean, Annie, and I walked home together. During the day, I kept my ears open in the lunchroom and bathroom, but I didn’t hear nothing about Smooth’s death, so I was hoping that one of them had, especially Jean our social butterfly. Annie had and started talking about it before I could figure out a way to get the ball rolling.
“Did you hear about Smooth? They found his body in the alleyway behind IGA a couple days ago.” Annie said.
“No, I ain’t heard nothing, who told you about it?’ I asked.
“No one in particular, I heard it in the lunchroom, you know how people talk.”
“Yeah, I know, but do they know what they’re talking about?” Jean cracked.
“Well, they said he was shot three times in the chest, and his body was laying there for two days before it was found.”
“Three shots! It wasn’t that many!” Jean slipped up. Big mouth!
“What Jean, what did you hear?” Annie stopped walking and asked her excitedly.
“Not much, they was talking about it in the lunch line. Didn’t hear it all, said it was more than one shot, that’s all.”
Somethings Wrong
After school let out that day, Jean, Annie, and I walked home together. During the day, I kept my ears open in the lunchroom and bathroom, but I didn’t hear nothing about Smooth’s death, so I was hoping that one of them had, especially Jean our social butterfly. Annie had and started talking about it before I could figure out a way to get the ball rolling.
“Did you hear about Smooth? They found his body in the alleyway behind IGA a couple days ago.” Annie said.
“No, I ain’t heard nothing, who told you about it?’ I asked.
“No one in particular, I heard it in the lunchroom, you know how people talk.”
“Yeah, I know, but do they know what they’re talking about?” Jean cracked.
“Well, they said he was shot three times in the chest, and his body was laying there for two days before it was found.”
“Three shots! It wasn’t that many!” Jean slipped up. Big mouth!
“What Jean, what did you hear?” Annie stopped walking and asked her excitedly.
“Not much, they was talking about it in the lunch line. Didn’t hear it all, said it was more than one shot, that’s all.”
Detective Richardson
Shelia sat in the chair at the police station smoking a Kool cigarette. She appeared on the outside to be cool, but inside she was shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm. Detective Richardson watched her from outside the room in the two-way mirror. He was tall and thin, black as coal and handsome. Each time Shelia took a puff off her cigarette, he took a hit off his cigar. He raked his ebony eyes from her head to her heels.
Her brown hair was cut in a short pageboy that framed her oval shaped face, covering her dimples as she held her head down. Her skin was the color of a ripe peach with black flashing eyes that darted around the room like a doe caught in the headlights of a fast-approaching car. It was the only sign that resembled fear. The rest of her one-hundred-and-thirty-pound body was strong as steel. Her beautiful legs were crossed, and her right foot swung back and forth, but not at a fast-moving pace, but a slow deliberate one. She wore a black leather jacket, black mini skirt, red blouse, and black heels. He correctly guessed her age to be between thirty-five and forty.
Don’t Tell
On the way to East High School, we stopped to pick up Annie at her house on Long Street. She used to live in an apartment in Poindexter Village, now she lived a few doors down from the Reverend Phale D. Hale, Sr. family. Another famous family on the East Side and in the state. Rev. Hale had been the President of the NAACP and was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. I thought it was cool that he lived in my neighborhood. It showed where his heart was, with his people.
Annie was glad to see us, well, me at least. Jean didn’t particularly like Annie and made sure we both knew it. She wasn’t outright mean, but she insulted Annie every chance she got. Like the time when Annie got a new haircut. I thought it was cute, but Jean told her she looked like a black orphan Annie from the movie. When Annie and I entered the lunchroom that day Jean started singing “the sun will come out tomorrow” and everybody laughed and those that knew the song started singing with her. I was mad, but Annie wasn’t. She started singing it too.
Chapter 7
Jimmy
Shelia was cleaning up the mess that her daughters had left on the kitchen table. They always ran off in a hurry after eating leaving her with the clean-up details. Shelia’s heart was heavy today. The load was so heavy that with each heartbeat she felt as if her insides would drop through her uterus and plunged towards the gravity that called it, pulled it, and demanded it to drop. Drop into its hungry lap of fear. Shelia was scared.
Shelia wasn’t a woman that scared easily. In fact, Shelia could be very scary herself, according to the neighbors who tried to stay on her good side and not complain about the loud R & B and pop music that her girls sometimes played during the day, or the loud jazz music that Shelia played during the night. It wasn’t that Shelia was aloof or appeared to be mean, it was just the way she carried herself, with confidence and strength. When Shelia walked she stood tall, back straight with a slight wiggle to her hips.
I was half asleep. The covers were pulled tightly over my head. My body was balled up in the fetal position and I was sucking my thumb. Something I still did when sleeping. A fly buzzed over my head, the sound woke me up completely.
“Sara. Sara. Sara!” Jean was yelling.
I felt the covers being pulled off my head. I grabbed onto the blanket and tried to keep it from coming off any further, but Jean had a good grip on it and was pulling me as well as the blanket onto the floor.
“Get up girl. It’s time to get ready for school, don’t you hear momma calling us?”
I was half asleep. The covers were pulled tightly over my head. My body was balled up in the fetal position and I was sucking my thumb. Something I still did when sleeping. A fly buzzed over my head, the sound woke me up completely.
“Sara. Sara. Sara!” Jean was yelling.
I felt the covers being pulled off my head. I grabbed onto the blanket and tried to keep it from coming off any further, but Jean had a good grip on it and was pulling me as well as the blanket onto the floor.
“Get up girl. It’s time to get ready for school, don’t you hear momma calling us?”