Free Mama's Boy by Reshonda Tate Billingsley

this morning. The local media had been covering the case nonstop. Gloria had watched in horror as the reporter interviewed a Jasper resident named Mickey.
    â€œWhy are you out here protesting?” the reporter had asked.
    â€œ ’Cause that boy gunned down one of Jasper’s finest, who only wanted to protect and serve.” The man leaned over and spit out some of the snuff that was stuffed in his bottom lip. “And the good folks of Jasper are waiting on him to be brought in—dead or alive.”
    His words, and the way he’d peered into the camera with beady, evil eyes, let Gloria know that her son was in serious danger. If they had any hope of working this out, they needed to come together as a family.
    â€œWoman, are you gonna tell me where we’re going?” Elton said as they turned into Naomi’s neighborhood. He’d been griping since he’d gotten in the car and Gloria wanted so bad to tell him to just shut up and ride.
    She’d tossed and turned all night after her mother left. She’d prayed, then prayed some more before telling Elton. Well, she hadn’t told him—yet. She’d fixed him a hearty breakfast, complete with his favorites—smothered biscuits and sausage and hash browns. Then, when he’d finished, she told him to come with her and ask no questions. Of course, he’d been asking questions ever since.
    â€œYou know I got a million and one things to do.” He leaned out the window to survey their location. “And are you driving around in circles?” he said, noticing the 7-Eleven they’d passed five minutes ago. She had already stopped at a church member’s house to drop off something, then taken a back route to Naomi’s. Her stomach was in knots because she’d been worried about the police following her. But the short staff must’ve been taking its toll on the police force because for the past three days, there had been large gaps in between the time the marked units were parked outside their house. As soon as she’d seen the cop car pull off this morning, she’d grabbed Elton and instructed him to follow her.
    â€œI’m not trying to ride around with you while you run errands,” Elton said.
    Gloria glanced in her rearview mirror as she made a quick right turn.
    â€œWhere are you going and why do you keep looking in the rearview mirror?” Elton asked. He was definitely getting agitated.
    â€œI just want to make sure we’re not being followed,” she said.
    â€œOkay, Gloria, you need to tell me what in the world is going on,” he said, his voice firm. “Does this secret mission have anything to do with Jamal?”
    When she was absolutely sure no one was following her, Gloria turned down the back alley that Naomi had shown her.
    â€œCome on,” she said, stopping the car and parking.
    â€œI don’t like all of this Double-O spy stuff,” he huffed.
    â€œJust come on, Elton. Trust me.” She exited the car without giving him a chance to respond.
    He followed her up Naomi’s back walkway and stood looking around nervously as Gloria reached under a flowerpot and got a key.
    â€œWhy are you going into Naomi’s house? Where is she?”
    Gloria wanted to tell him to shut up, but she had never been disrespectful to her husband and she wasn’t going to start now.
    She pulled him inside and toward the back room, flipping on the main light in the hallway. He followed her but asked no more questions.
    She repeated the scene that Naomi had played out, moving the dresser and all of the clothes on the floor in the front of the closet door. She opened the door and whispered, “Jamal, it’s me.”
    â€œJamal!” Elton bellowed.
    Gloria motioned for him to keep his voice down. Jamal moved some clothes out of the way and peeked out, his eyes wide.
    â€œYou brought him?” Jamal cried. “I can’t believe you brought