S t o r I e s f r o m t h e h e a r t l a n d
Living j u s t e n o u g h for the city
We all used
too much
in my youth.
It was the 1980’s after all
And when disco came crashing down
Those who grew up
Walked away
The rest stayed
And died
And changed into the things
And the people
Those stories are made of
If you weren’t drinking
Too much
Which I was
You were drugging
This is the story of my wife’s best friend
And one of the most beautiful woman and people I know
It’s about Lola
But first let me set the tone for this tale
Which happens to be totally true
When the drug crack hit
Lula was one of the first causalities
First coke, then P dope then crack
I lost three good friends to crack and many more who survived it
But were some how changed
In any case
Crack Destroyed many parts of the country
But it was exceptionally brutal
In Newark New Jersey
And the surrounding towns
Lola started using in the 1070’s
Socially
But then came the 80’s
And Lola just kept on using
Until it consumed her
She finally just did a Kane from kung Fu
And walked……………… on
She went missing
I was a cop, so my wife sent me looking for her.
She had left her three kids and was lost in Newark
Newark used to be a place where people come to hide
And some times to die
Their were parts of Newark that even me
The Gran Pulbah
Couldn’t go into
Without a army
People knew this
Let’s just call it the
New jack city thing
Ok
Lola was out in the streets full time now
All of us lost track of her, we searched and searched, but she was underground in Newark New Jersey.
And if you don’t want to be found in a large city
It’s not too hard to hide
Lola was one of the most beautiful creatures, the good lord ever created. She was dark chocolate, like the night and was perfectly built with Tina tuner legs
She always wore a short cropped afro with good loop earrings
Like Benda sikes
She was Pam Grier and Nina Simone, All rolled up into one. She had a real husky voice and could sing with the depth and feeling of a holiday
We used to hit all the discos together Lola, My wife Pam and the rest of my entourage of like six lovely ladies’. Their was many a night that I had to almost fight to get some Bum away from Lola, But it was cool to be 19 year old armed with a big ego and a big gun and badge.
God could Lola dance
She was from Newark, but her family lived in Westfield
So she had the Newark mother wit and a Westfield NJ, Good education all rolled into one.
I can’t say enough to describe what a special person she was.
Anyway
After Lola ran away. To do her drugs.
Life wasn’t quite the same. Most of us had gotten married, brought houses
And settled down.
But let me tell you, No matter where my wife and I went
We always kept an eye peeled out for Lola
But By now the state had moved in, to take Lola’s three kids
But some thing real interesting happened
Lola's boyfriend who I can only describe as a cad. Stepped up
He was a ex pimp, a drug dealer and he abused woman
People places and things
But some thing happened to him after Lola left
He grew up and He stayed with her kids the whole time Lula was out there.
He then proceeded to love them raise them right and most of all as his own,
What a change in a person. This man that I couldn’t stand
This man that I had punched on a few occasions
Had turned into a righteous man
And a good father to boot
This act of giving changed him and brought him to god
Anyway years later
14 or there about
I was in a store in Elizabeth
My wife had died a year before, but I still often thought of Lula.
I was buying a soda in a store that I hadn’t stopped in
For years.
Something
Some thing
Made me look up
And I saw the most beautiful smile that I had seen in years
I looked up and saw Lola; she had that same beautiful face
Same stunning smile
We ran to each other, two chubby black people
Laughing and kissing and hugging and crying
In the middle of a store
As every one looked on
Who cares?
Thanks you Jesus
Lola
We used to dance together
She and I
Teddy Pendergrass, Stevie
David Bowie
You name it
Donna summer
Last dance
I feel love
Whew
Anyway
Lola lived just a short walk away from the store
So she pulled me along to go see some one
She lived right around the corner
And I followed her home
I met Kevin her now husband and deacon in the church
I saw the twin girls that I had held as a child
All grown up and pretty
And I saw that Lolas new baby just a year old
Kevin’s baby
And they were in love and so happy
I cried the tears of joy only a fat man can cry
Then she sat me down
In front of her kids
And told me what had happened to her
My wife had died a year before this meeting
And she took it very very hard
My wife never got to see Lula again
And she regretted to the day she died
Anyway
Grits and dance baby
But then she told me of how she got off drugs
Her face got serious
And her kids went to make coffee
He husband sat down
She told me that one rainy night
In the city of Newark
That she was out hooking and three drug dealers
In a fancy car picked her up
She was not height shaking tired
But needed some drugs
These three pigs
Drove here around in circles
For a hour laughing and drinking
And treating her like she wasn’t there
When she spoke she smacked the back of her head
And told her to shut up
My blood was boiling at this point
But her husband grabbed my hand
I realized that he was praying
Lula went on
They rode her round and around
Lula knew before she got in this car
That she was going to die
She got into this car to die
Every whore knew that prostitutes were being found dead
All over the place
But Lula
Didn’t care
She knew every thing
And didn’t care
She said that when you look for death
When you call out to it
It’s not hard to find
She said that she never felt so peaceful
Anyway
The guy behind her grabbed her by the coat
And put a knife up to her throat
They all began taunting her
Telling her they were going to kill her
In her head she was saying
You can’t get blood from a stone
You can’t kill what is already dead
Sun Tzu
No Newark whore
Anyway
It was winter and Lula had a big old leather coat on
A strong old coat
When I think of these men who poison
Communities I realize why I remained a cop so so long
Anyway
Suddenly
Lulu said that a little voice started strumming in her head
And it got louder and louder
First whispering
Then yelling out
Live
Live
You got to live
And then
She says the face of her mother
Then she saw the faces of each of her children
Saw her life
And what she had become
Live live
A mother love
Called out from a soul that she thought that she no longer had
She said that she sat up
And got a dose of super human strength
She actually tore the coat from the guys had
Pushed the knife from her throat
She said she almost broke the guy’s arm that was holding her
She then pulled a char lies angel
And opened the car door
And rolled out the door of the slow moving car
Live live
This was a battered woman
A crack head
Who never ate
Who never slept
Who just sold sex for money and crack
But she got live
Live
This is a woman who she couldn’t look in the mirror
Had no idea of what she looked like
Lula believes that crack is a master plan
Put out by the government
That the government gave crack to the city
To subdue it
Lula rolled from this car
And started screaming
And running
The guys in the car drove after her
Finally Lula came to a fenced in yard of a gas station
But she was too weak to climb over the fence
The guys in the car
Used the car to ram her
They struck her hitting her in the legs
But the fence gave in and although
She broke both legs
She lived
And people came out
And the cops came
And Lula went to rehab
And Lula found god that night
And returned home to her family
Found the bastard that she had left
Turned into one of the finest men a woman could have
He saved renewed and restored her family
All of her kids had been to good schools
And one of her daughters was even working at the united nations
Lula says her legs still hurt
And those Tina turner legs
Which she still likes to show
Have a few scars on them
She has pain went she says she loves
Because this pain reminds her every day
Of her life
And of her joy
By the time Lula was done with her story
Her husband was still holding my hand
But now he was praying
Praying
And her kids came around and we got in a circle
And we prayed together
Prayed for my wife who was dead
Prayed for the hard times we all had had
Prayed for the joy of discovery
Of God and each other
And then
And then
Her daughter went over to a music box
And she put on a song
And
You know what that song was
Donna summers Last dance
And Lula grabbed my hand
And these two old fat and happy Negroes
Danced
Danced away the pain
Danced up and joy
Called up ancestors to let them join
In and in the light of this love
And music w
We were cleansed
We were renewed
Kevin and I just looked at each other and laughed
I felt like it was a scene from the television show
Good times
We needed JJ to give us out benediction
Dynamite
I kissed every one and got ready to leave
Then I looked at Lula one more time
Yea she had put on weight
But she was never
Never more beautiful to me
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