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crazy. Tanesha
closed her eyes as scenes from Yvonne’s drug days flashed before
her eyes.
    The cab pulled to a stop in front of Atlanta
General. A herd of reporters and cameras were focused on the front
of the hospital. Tanesha groaned.
    “ Y’all trying to avoid
them reporters?” the cab driver asked.
    “ Is that possible?”
Tanesha asked.
    “ My sister works here,”
the cab driver said. “I can take you to the employee
entrance.”
    “ That would be lovely,”
Yvonne said.
    Tanesha was so surprised that she gawked at
her mother. Yvonne winked at Tanesha.
    “ I’ll call my sister,” the
driver said. “She’ll meet you at the entrance.”
    “ Why are you helping us?”
Tanesha asked.
    The driver looked at her in the rearview
mirror and started driving. He placed a call to his sister before
looking at Tanesha again.
    “ You Miss T?” the cab
driver asked.
    “ My father calls me that,”
Tanesha said.
    “ That’s what I thought,”
the cab driver said. “You going to take that boy home?”
    “ We’re here for Jabari,”
Yvonne said.
    “ And you’ll keep him from
that horrible woman?” the cab driver asked.
    Tanesha scowled at the question, but Yvonne
nodded.
    “ That boy deserves a lot
more than that woman for a mother,” the cab driver said. “We saw
the show where she put the boy on a plane
and . . .”
    The cab driver shook his head and sucked at
his teeth. Tanesha glanced at her mother. Yvonne was grinning.
    “ What?” Tanesha
asked.
    “ We make friends
everywhere,” Yvonne said.
    The cab slowed at the corner and the door
opened. A man who had the muscles and blond bowl cut of the cartoon
character He-Man stepped into the cab.
    “ Hey!” Tanesha
said.
    “ He’s with us.” Yvonne
scooted over to make room for him.
    “ Mom!” Tanesha
said.
    “ I was assigned to guard
you,” He-Man said. “Trece said to tell you that he couldn’t be
here.”
    The cab driver took a driveway near the
back.
    “ You don’t think you need
it, Tanesha?” He-Man nodded toward the band of reporters waiting to
get scoops at the employee entrance.
    “ What’s going on?” Tanesha
asked.
    “ Someone needed some
publicity,” He-Man said.
    “ Annette,” Tanesha said
under her breath.
    “ We hide the misdeeds of
man with salacious misdirection,” He-Man said.
    “ Churchill?” Tanesha
asked.
    “ My uncle Chet,” He-Man
grinned. “He was a magician.”
    The cab pulled to a stop by the door.
    “ This is the best I can
do,” the cab driver said. “My sister’s waiting just
inside.”
    He-Man paid the driver and got out of the
cab. He helped Yvonne and Tanesha out of the cab and covered them
with his enormous jacket. Tucked under He-Man’s arms, they scurried
past the yelling reporters and through the employee entrance of the
hospital. The cab driver’s sister let them inside.
    “ You Miss T?” the cab
driver’s sister asked.
    “ Tanesha,” she said. “This
is my mother, Yvonne.”
    Tanesha looked at the bodyguard.
    “ This is He-Man,” Tanesha
said. The large man laughed. “He’s with us.”
    “ Good,” the woman said.
“I’m Kareen. I’m Jabari’s nurse.”
    “ You are?” Yvonne asked.
“What a lucky coincidence.”
    Tanesha gave Yvonne a strong look. She had
the sneaking suspicion that Yvonne had made all of this happen. But
Yvonne just gave her a sweet smile.
    “ How is the child?” Yvonne
asked.
    “ Did you bring the custody
papers?” the nurse asked.
    “ I have them,” Tanesha
said. “The last orders from the judge in Denver, but I
thought . . .”
    “ They look legal to me,”
Kareen said. “Come on. Your boy is waiting for you.”
    With that, Kareen turned in place and went
to an employee elevator. They took the elevator up to the tenth
floor and got off. From the elevator landing, they could hear
people talking all at once.
    “ Shit,” Kareen said. “Stay
here.”
    Kareen went to the nurses’ station and
called hospital security. While they watched