by D L Jones
“What did he do? Catch Chauncy cheating? Catch YOU cheating?” Lisa said.
“Well it's more to the story than that.” Rebecca responded.
“You had a thing for Tre? He had a thing for you?” Lisa asks.
“Girl, hell no, it’s nothing like that.” Rebecca said.
Rebecca grabs a bottle of water and opens it. She takes a sip. She thought about how she would normally be having wine but due to the recent news, she had to leave the alcohol alone.
“Ok, I’ll start from the very beginning. I know, this is a story I should’ve told you long ago. We’ve been friends long enough.” Rebecca said.
“Ok, the beginning sounds good.” Lisa said.
“Well… I met Chauncy my freshman year in college, it was my second day there. I was walking around campus trying to get familiar with things. My first day was horrible. My parents didn’t know if they were going to be able to afford tuition, so I was thinking I would be going to a local community college. Because of that thought, I never did the whole orientation or college visit thing when all those things were going on for new students. My first day was really the first day I walked the campus, but I had classes. I fumbled through that day, not knowing where I was going.
My parents found out about a program at my Dad’s job that helped with school cost. That program could be used for the employee and the employee’s children. I was lucky. That helped a lot and afforded me my shot at the school I wanted to go to.
On my second day, I’m walking around trying to get the layout of the campus. Going over the locations of all my classes. I stumbled on a small café. I went to the main cafeteria the day before, I thought that was the only one. I was excited to see this smaller café. I go inside and order a shake. I have a seat by the window and enjoy that shake while looking over my course load. By the time I left, it was dark out and I was nervous about walking alone. I go outside and there were 2 guys, Chauncy and Tracy, they offered to walk me back to my dorm. They both had on an orange vest, said they were part of the student welcoming committee. They said their job were to help freshman feel safe and walk them home once it gets dark. So, I let them walk me home.” Rebecca said
“Girl you fell for that? We were gullible as freshmen weren’t we. I won’t laugh, I fell for similar things when I was in college as well.” Lisa said laughing.
“Yea, I fell for it. later I found out that there was no such committee.
Anyway, Chauncy was nice, and we hit it off instantly. I was glad to meet him, it made my college years some of the best times of my life. We were together from then on. We moved in together in my sophomore year. He was a year ahead of me, but it took him 5 years to graduate. We still graduated at the same time.
Chauncy proposed to me in my Junior year. I said yes. The plan, we would have a wedding after graduation and start our life together.
A few weeks into our engagement, Tre asked us if it would be ok if he could document everything we did as a couple. Tre interned at Offlong Pharmaceuticals the summer before. He wanted to work there after graduation. He majored in biology and wanted to be some type of scientist. One of the things they told him, he needed to do something in school to stand out, something to catch their attention. Something like that would help his chances. He figured something long term like documenting college sweethearts on the road to marriage after graduation would make the cut. Chauncy and I agreed. He started following us around, not a lot, but he went on dates with us and just hung out with us, always recording.
6 months before graduation. Tre threw a party for Chauncy. He called it a pre-bachelor party. Chauncy, Tre and a few other friends were there. One of Chauncy’s friends was from DC so they all flew there for the weekend to have this party.
I didn’t know this at the time, but there were a few girls from school that also went. Chauncy claimed that he didn’t know they were going, he thought it was just the fella’s. The first night there, one of the girls was really hitting on Chauncy. This girl was someone I saw around campus every day, smiling in my face, I thought we were cool. She got alone with Chauncy and tried hard to get with him. That first night, Chauncy kept turning her down. I thought that’s my man when I saw that”
“Wait a minute, what do you mean you saw that?” Lisa interrupted.
“Tre documented everything, he had this all on video, so I was able to see with my own eyes what happened.
The next night, she was at it again. This time Chauncy was drunk, and he was a lot more open to her flirting. Before you know it, he slept with her… several times.” Rebecca said.
“Really?” Lisa said
“Yes, then after that weekend, that bitch still smiled in my face every time I saw her. Of course, I didn’t know anything happened, or that she was even there.” Rebecca said.
“How did Chauncy act after all of this?” Lisa asks.
“I didn’t notice this at the time, but Chauncy was weird after that weekend. He seemed like he was avoiding Tre, not answering his phone when he called and even telling me to tell him he’s not here when Tre stopped by. That lasted for a couple weeks then they were back hanging out like they were before.
After a couple weeks, Chauncy admitted to me about what happened that weekend.” Rebecca said.
“Did you ever find out why? What happened between Chauncy and Tre?” Lisa asks.
“Chauncy said it was Tre’s fault, what happened. He always said that he made the decision, so he takes full responsibility, but he blames the situation on Tre. To be honest, he didn’t even have to come clean about this whole situation. The only person who knew about this situation was Chauncy, Tre and the girl he slept with. Tre wasn’t going to tell. The girl transferred out of our school a few weeks after this all went down so there was no way to find out from her. None of the other guys that were there knew about the situation. If he never came clean and kept this to himself, I probably still wouldn’t know to this day...” Rebecca said.
“Except you saw a video…” Lisa added.
“Yea… that too.
But he did tell me. It took forever but eventually we got past it. It was a rough 3 to 4 months” Rebecca said.
“He slept with her, how was it someone else’s fault.” Lisa said.
“ok, let me finish…” Rebecca interrupted.
“So finally, Tre finished up his report. He turned it in as his thesis. Along with his written report, he also submitted a video documentary from the footage he recorded. His professors were so excited about this, he was featured in the local newspaper. He got a letter of recommendation and eventually he got the position at Offlong that he wanted.
So, we all graduated, the wedding plans were kicked into full gear. Chauncy and I had things planned out. Chauncy was going to work at an electronics store. His dream was to open an electronics store and sell stereo equipment. Simple dreams I know… but it was his dream. It is working out for him now so he must’ve knew something.
I got a job at a local newspaper, the same one that featured Tre about his thesis. I majored in computer science, I wanted to be a graphic designer. I was an assistant formatter at the newspaper. At the time I thought that was my foot in the door to what I wanted to do.
We had an apartment that was nicer than the one from college. We were past Chauncy’s slip-up and things were moving forward in our lives… like we planned.
At work, I always noticed some weird conversations whenever I brought up my wedding plans and Chauncy. I didn’t think anything at the time. I figured they all just thought we were too young to be getting married. One day, one of my coworkers asked me about the documentary. I hadn’t seen it, no one had, or so I thought. I knew the newspaper had written an article, but I didn’t know they had seen it. The article focused on Tre’s accomplishments at school and what the professors said about him. I guess it never occurred to me that there was anything interesting in that documentary worth watching. I honestly couldn’t understand why Tre got so much press from it all. In my mind, I just k
new the thing that happened between me and Chauncy was private and he didn’t mention that in the documentary.
I asked Tre if I could see his Documentary. He was hesitant, but eventually he agreed to show it. Then things got blown out of proportion. He held a big event to show the documentary, invited the whole graduating class. The school even let him show it at the conference center.
We watched the whole documentary in front of friends and everyone we knew, almost our whole graduating class was there. It was focused completely on Chauncy sleeping around and us arguing. The question posed at the beginning of the documentary was something like can the perfect couple recover from the perfect betrayal? It showed Chauncy giving into the flirting and everything. That’s how I knew how it went down and who the person was Chauncy slept with. It was so embarrassing, we were over this situation and here we are weeks before our wedding I am watching this.
In the end, I found out that Tre did set it up. He paid that girl to try to sleep with Chauncy. He said that our live was too boring and wouldn’t be that thing that would stand out, like Offlong told him he needed. He did it to create drama, to make his thesis more compelling. He told her to keep trying till it happens. With a little help from a spiked drink Tre gave Chauncy that second night, it only her took 2 days to sleep with my man.
I found out the reason she left school was because once she agreed to do that for Tre, and succeeded, she couldn’t face anyone. Once she found out that Tre was documenting all of this, she dropped out of school.” Rebecca said.
“So Chauncy knows about all of this?” Lisa asks.
“Yes, he found out everything the same time I did. He and Tre had a huge falling out and they haven’t really spoken since. He was still the best man at the wedding, all of this went down too close to the day to change things.” Rebeca said.
RING
Rebecca’s phone rings and they both jump, startled. She looks at it and see its Tre.
“Hello?”
“Hi, I was checking to see if you are ok…” Said Tre.
“I’m fine. I went to Lisa’s house. Have you seen Chauncy yet?” Rebecca said.
“Yes. He came home minutes after you left. I didn’t go inside cause he looked to be really drunk. Looks like he trashed the place looking for you.” Tre said.
Rebecca starts crying…
“I really messed things up. How am I going to fix this?” She said then hung up the phone.
“Just give him a few days to calm down. Things will work out” Lisa said as she rubbed her back.
After Tre was sure that Chauncy wasn’t coming back, he went into his house to take a look around. The place was trashed. Tre sits on the sofa and puts his head in his hands.
“This is fucked up” Tre said to himself.
He pulls out his phone and makes a call.
“Man, this has gotten out of hand.” Said Tre
“Tracy, Listen to me… You need to figure something out.” Michael said.
“I know, I know…” Tre responded.
“Pull yourself together. Find a solution.” Michael said.
“Ok you’re right. I got this.” Tre said as he hangs up the phone.
Tre takes a deep breath then walks out of the house. He gets into his car and drives off.
Chauncy pulls into the parking lot of the HD shop. A few hours have gone by and he has sobered a little. He is still furious. He gets out of the car and opens the trunk,
“What are you doing here Mr Peters?” Said Rodney.
“What are YOU doing here?” Chauncy said with a surprised look on his face.
Chauncy’s surprised look quickly turned into anger. He shoots Rodney a look that causes him to be careful with his words.
“Remember Sir… I was doing security for the store?” Rodney answered.
“I need you to do something for me. I think I’m about to do something bad.” Chauncy said.
“Mr. Peters…?” Rodney replied.
“Here are a set of keys. This is the key to the garage where we used to do radio installs. If you get a call from me tonight… or sometimes in the next few days, use this key to get into that garage. I’ll fill you in on the rest if needed.” Chauncy explained.
Rodney takes the keys and goes back into the store.
Chauncy starts walking towards the Gym. It looks like no one is inside. It is late in the evening so the gym itself is closed. Only employees and Jeff should be in there… if anyone.
Chauncy gets a little angrier with every step. He eventually gets to the point where he is boiling about the situation. He’s huffing air out of his nose and mouth like a bull as he marched to the gym. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a Hypo Vial. He jams it into his thigh and squeezes the chemical into his leg.
The vial he has now is from Tre’s new batch. The effect is a little different than he remembers. He feels a sharp pain go down the side of his leg. Crippling pain that causes him to fall to his knees. He screams then looks up. His eyes are bloodshot red with bursted blood vessels. His nose starts bleeding. He feels that warm feeling that usually occurs when the drug is starting to kick in. He slowly walks towards the gym… Then runs.
“Muscle Man!!! You in there?” Chauncy yells as he enters the Gym.
Chauncy takes off into a quick sprint and charges through the plate-glass window. Jeff Sees him coming and prepares for a fight, he knew this day was coming.
Chauncy runs towards Jeff at top speed. With one hand, casually grabbed a bar with about 200 pounds of weight off the bench as he passes. Jeff’s eyes grow. He is shocked and start to back up.
Chauncy swings the 200-pound barbell like a baseball bat. It almost takes of Jeff’s head. But he misses.
Jeff ducks out of the way and runs down the hall.
Chauncy chases him. Catches up to him in what looks like 2 or 3 steps and punches him in the back. That punch causes Jeff to fall to his knees. Chauncy then kicks Jeff, and he goes tumbling down a flight of stairs.
Chauncy leaps in the air at the top of the stairs and fell to the bottom, landing on his feet. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Jeff charges him. Jeff lifted Chauncy off the ground and was running, trying to rush Chauncy into the wall. Chauncy reaches up and grab an overhead railing to stop the momentum. He then lifts his legs and Jeff into the air. Crashing Jeff into the ceiling then letting him fall to the ground. Chauncy then let go of the overhead beam and drops, landing on Jeff. He starts beating Jeff viciously, swinging left and right, smashing his face with his fist. Blood is flying everywhere. Jeff goes unconscious but Chauncy continues swinging.
“FREEZE CHAUNCY! GET OFF THAT MAN!” someone yells.
Chauncy looks back to see Officer Ford, Officer Ryan and several other police officers. They all had their guns drawn and were very serious. Chauncy stands up and face them.
“What the fuck do you think those piece of shit 9s going to do to me?” Chauncy yells.
He slowly walks towards Officer ford. She is trembling.
“STAND DOWN CHAUNCY>>>I MEAN IT!” said Officer Ford.
Chauncy looks at Officer Ryan for a second. He smiles a little then takes off in a sprint to the outside of the gym. A few shots were fired, they bounced off his arm and leg, not piercing the skin. The police follow suite but Chauncy is running at a speed that they can’t maintain.
A few blocks later, Chauncy stops running and laughs. He then looks in a different direction and starts walking. He hears a voice.
“I know what you are thinking… you need to spend the night in jail.” Tre said.
Chauncy looks at Tre with a crazed look in his eyes.
“Oh… Tre… Have you had a shot too?” Chauncy said.
“You want to find out?” Tre responded.
Chauncy charges at Tre. Tre quickly takes Chancy to the ground. He holds him down and injects him with a vial, the vial from the black box.
“It’s a Tranq… sort-of like the Anti-Hypo.” Tre said.
“Now you just lay here and sleep it off. Wh
en you wake up, you will be in jail. I’ll come see you there.” Tre said.
Tre stands and walks away. Chauncy tries to grab him but falls to the ground, eventually passing out.
The police show up a few minutes later. They put Chauncy, still unconscious, in handcuffs and in the back of the police car. After everything was cleaned up, Jeff taken to the hospital and Chauncy to jail. Tre decided to do to check on Rebecca.
After arriving at Lisa’s house, Tre sits in front. He gives her a call and tell her to get her stuff and come out. His plan was to take her to a hotel till things blow over. After seeing Chauncy attacking Jeff, Tre felt it would be best to put Rebecca somewhere that Chauncy can't find her. Chauncy knows where Lisa lives.
While waiting for Rebecca, he gives Michael a call.
“Mike. Things has really gotten out of hand. That tranquilizer you gave me really helped. Chauncy will be spending the night or more in the city jail.” Tre said.
“In all other situations, this would be just what is needed. But there is something I just found out.” Michael said.
“What’s that.” Asked Tre.
A friend of ours is also in that jail… unrelated to us of course.” Michael said.
“Who?” Tre asks.
Rebecca leaves out of the house and to Tre’s car.
“I gotta go, I’ll catch up later.” Tre said as he hung up the call.
“Ok, I’m ready… are you going to explain what is going on?” Rebecca said.
“Chauncy lost it. Attacked your… donor… put him in the hospital.” Tre said.
“Chauncy? He did that?” Rebecca said surprised.
“Yes. He’ll spend a night or 2 in jail. But for the meantime, we need to keep you away from him.” Tre said.
Tre backs the car out of the driveway then drives down the street.
Chapter 18
Chauncy wakes up to find himself lying on a bench. He looks around, not knowing where he is, or what happened. He sits up on the edge of the bench and looks to his left to see another bench, there are a few men sitting. One man had on a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head. He had his head leaning forward as if he was asleep. Another man sat nervously next to him, bouncing his knees. Chauncy noticed the tracks on his arm.