I stood there looking, then called Mitch. His voice mail clicked on, so I said, “Hey, Mitch, I’m here. Looking for you.”
I waited a few minutes. Still no Mitch. Maybe I should just catch a taxi, I told myself. As I turned to walk toward the stand, I heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, B, it looks like you need a ride.”
I turned. There, standing on the driver’s side of the car, was Jah. He was like a mirage. I wanted to run and hug and kiss his face, but I couldn’t move. It felt like I was standing in wet cement shoes.
“Jah!” I shouted as my voice broke.
“In the flesh.” He smiled and his eyes sparkled with the happiness that I was feeling. Jah’s hair was a mess and he wore disheveled workout clothes, but he looked good.
“What are you doing here?”
“I called Mitch, looking for you, and he told me he was heading out to pick you up. I told him I would do it.”
For a moment, I held my breath to keep from crying. I grinned in triumph. Finally, my feet decided to move me toward Jah and the car. We met at the back of the car and hugged each other tightly for seconds that turned into minutes. When I finally released him, he said, “Boi, do I have a lot to tell you.”
“I’m all ears.” Then I realized Jah still had the car. I gave him a quizzical look.
“I got to keep the car. Don’t you think I deserve it?”
“Jah, you deserve it and so much more.”
FORTY-FOUR
Later that evening Jah moved slowly into the kitchen as if he were wading through fog. His eyes were groggy and confused. I was cooking, and seeing him there momentarily startled me. As I patted down the turkey burgers I was grilling I stared at him for a moment longer than usual. I still couldn’t believe he was back here in my condo. There had been times when I wondered if I’d ever see him again. As the silence stretched out for a few more moments I finally said something.
“How did you sleep?”
“Okay. What time is it? How long was I asleep?”
“A little after seven and only for a couple of hours.”
“I must have been tired and I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“I hope you’re hungry.”
“Yeah, I could eat a little something.”
“Good.”
“What are you cooking? It smells good.”
“Turkey burgers and fries.”
“Good.”
Jah was wearing a white V-neck T-shirt and some black-and-white pajama bottoms. He looked like the young man that he was and not the beaten man that Seth and company tried to turn him into.
“Do you want something to drink?” I asked as I poured a can of Coke over a clink of ice cubes.
“I want some water but don’t worry, Bentley, I can get it myself. I don’t need a life of people waiting on me.” I wondered if this was my opening to talk about the life that Jah had just escaped, but I waited a few minutes to see if he was going to bring it up.
I took the turkey patties off the grill and placed them on a white plate covered with a paper towel. I could hear Jah opening the refrigerator and pulling open the crisper where I kept cold water.
When I looked at Jah he refused to meet my eyes and I suddenly noticed his tear-stained face.
“Jah, are you okay?” I moved close to him and put my arms around him.
“How could people treat other people like cattle, Bentley? What did I do to deserve Seth? Haven’t I been through enough? Why wouldn’t God give me my happy ending, or does he just hate me?”
“God doesn’t hate you, Jah, and your time is coming. Trust me.”
“I don’t know. I just want somebody to love me,” Jah said. Tears were streaming down his face and I guided him with my hand to the bar stools.
“Come on, sit down, Jah, and you know I love you.”
Jah sat at the bar and said, “I know you do, Bentley, and I’m sorry for not listening to you, but you know what I mean. Somebody I can spend my life with. A romantic life.”
“You just have to be patient and you’re going to have to deal with what happened to you the last couple of months.”
“Deal with it how? Right before they let me go, Seth and Sterling warned me that they would track me down and hurt me if I told anyone.”
“Don’t even mention those sick mutherfuckers, Jah. Don’t waste your breath. Their day is coming and it will be a huge payback,” I said, not really certain that anything would happen to a powerful man like Seth Sinclair, but that’s what I thought Jah needed to hear.
“I’m just glad he let me go. I mean, I was basically a prisoner in a high-rise condo. Not able to come and go as I pleased because of the huge bodyguards blocking every exit. Why would Seth think I was the kind of guy who would sleep with all his friends because he told me to? One of the first things I told him was how I had been saving myself for the first man I fell in love with.”
I placed my hand on Jah’s knees and they were shaking. I looked at his usually warm face and saw no signs of forgiveness. That was a good thing.
“Look, Jah, you’re handsome and fresh. But that’s all those guys saw. They didn’t see what I see and everybody with any sense who meets you sees. You are even more beautiful here,” I said as I beat on my chest.
“For real?”
“For real, for real,” I said, trying to elicit that trademark smile from Jah that I was used to. Just when it looked like I was going to get it I felt my phone vibrate in my pants. I pulled out my phone and said that it was Alex. I told Jah I needed to take the call and left the bar and walked toward the terrace.
“What’s going on?”
“Gosh, I’m glad you answer this phone. I got some bad news,” Alex said.
“What?”
“Do we have a client by the name of Gabriel? I think he might have worked that party you booked some time ago.”
“Yeah, I know Gabriel. What about him? What has he done now?” I asked, thinking about the last time I’d seen Gabriel and his bitchy ass on Lincoln Road. I braced myself for what Alex was about to tell me. If he’d done something to embarrass the agency I would make sure he never worked in Miami again.
“I just got a call from Miami University Hospital. They found one of our cards in his wallet. It seems as though he was beaten badly. He’s heavily sedated and they don’t think he’s going to make it. Your card was the only thing besides his driver’s license.”
“Are you serious?” I was now on the terrace wondering if the evening wind or what Alex was telling me was causing the chill on my naked arms.
“Dead serious. Do you know if he has any family? If he survives tonight the hospital said they might try to operate to save him, but they need to get in contact with next of kin or his employer. Right now they think that’s us.”
“I don’t remember him mentioning his family, but I can go down to the hospital and check on him,” I said. Before Alex could answer I got another call coming in. It was Warren. I told Alex I’d call her back shortly.
“Warren, what was your message about?” I asked.
“Where are you, dude?” There was a coldness in his voice I’d never heard before.
“I’m home. Where are you?”
“In your city and I need to see you. I want to make sure you don’t do something crazy to my bois in California.”
“What are you doing here, Warren, and why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?”
“I had a little business to take care of.” Again I heard that coldness combined with that over-the-top masculinity Warren always put out on display. Suddenly I felt a mix of rage and loathing churning inside of me. It finally dawned on me that the man I was in love with might be a cold-blooded murderer or a henchman for Seth and his crew.
With each phone call I was becoming a major part of a rapidly unfolding catastrophe.
“What kind of business you got here, Warren? Did you have some business earlier in the year in Chicago? Do you want a movie career that bad?” My voice gre
w louder and shriller and I saw Jah walking toward the terrace. I put my hand up, instructing him not to come out. I didn’t want him involved in this shit.
“What are you talking about, Bentley? Stop trippin’,” Warren said. Now his voice was strangely pitched and I knew I was right about his involvement in Wilson’s friend’s death and most likely in Gabriel’s beating.
“I’m not tripping and if I were you I’d get a good lawyer, Warren.”
“You won’t say anything, Bentley. They will lock me up for a long time and you don’t want that to happen to the man you love. Come on, Bentley, I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I’ll stop dating females and devote myself to showing you what a good lover I can be. I will beat that ass down three times a day. I might even let you try to do me.”
I looked out at the ocean; the waves looked like they were fighting against each other and every now and then I could have sworn I’d seen a shark. Maybe they were coming inland again, but this time I would be prepared.
My voice broke and I shouted into the phone, “Warren, the only thing I want you to do for me is never call me again!”
I then clicked off the phone and let the ocean of tears flood from my eyes.
It took about an hour for me to pull myself together. I was still very angry, but a glass of wine made me mellow. I told Jah what I thought was happening and the two of us held each other as we prayed for Gabriel’s full recovery. I called the hospital and they said he was still in intensive care and couldn’t have visitors unless they were next of kin. I got his doctor’s name and promised to call back later. Only when I thought about Gabriel did a little of my anger drain away.
I hit the speed dial on my phone and seconds later I heard Mitch’s voice on the line. I asked if his boat was available and when he said yes I told him what had happened and that I might need to disappear for a week or two. I knew Seth and Warren would be angrier than a dope boi’s pit bulls, but soon their focus would be on a defense that would keep them from being property of the state.
“Just tell me what you need me to do, Bentley. You can keep the boat for as long as you need. If you need a place to stay I have some friends who have a private island near the Bahamas. No one could find you there.”
“I will call you when I’m done. Thanks, Mitch. You’re a good friend.”
“And you’re a brave man, my friend. I’m so proud to know you.”
When I got off the phone I told Jah I needed him to take me somewhere.
“Where do you want to go, Bentley?”
“I need you to take me to the police station.”
Jah looked quizzically at me and then asked, “Bentley, are you sure you want to get involved with this? Seth can be ruthless. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, Jah, but I can’t let this slide. I have to take a stand and I need you to help me.”
“How can I help?”
“If the police want to question you about Seth and his crew you’ve got to tell them everything, even the stuff you don’t think is important. You and I can stop all the madness from happening to anyone else.”
“Whatever you say, Bentley.”
“That’s my boi,” I said as I gave Jah a big hug, squeezing him harder than I’d ever hugged any man other than my father.
When Jah and I walked out of the Miami police station I don’t think I ever felt prouder of two men. A mild drizzle fell, but it was clean and not like the heavy dirty rain from when we had arrived at the station three hours earlier.
“So, do you think they believe us?” Jah asked.
“We did what we could, Jah. We told the truth.”
“So, what do we do next?”
“I’m going for some time for myself. Would you like to join me?”
“That would be nice, but I need to get back to school and get my life back on track. I’ve got a lot to do if I’m going to be a lawyer and help kids like myself.”
“That’s good, Jah. I know you can do it.”
“For real?”
“For real, for real,” I said, laughing at Jah’s innocence. At least he hadn’t lost that totally.
“I’ll start out tomorrow like it’s the first day of my life,” Jah said, his voice vibrating with happiness.
“And so will I.”
As we reached Jah’s car I looked up and noticed the morning sunrise, and before we got in I looked over at Jah and admired his smile, lingering there for a few moments. Then I asked him a question.
“What’s that smile about, Jah?”
“I was thinking about all I have to look forward to.”
“Your future is as bright as that sun,” I said, noticing the sun once again.
“Thanks to you. Do you know how much your friendship and love mean to me?”
“I think I do.”
“I’ll show you with my new life.”
“I think I’ll start me a new life,” I said, smiling to myself and relaxing my body into the smooth leather of the passenger’s seat. Droplets of rain pattered on the windshield and I felt a yearning to stick my head out and enjoy the morning rain.
“Oh, yeah, and what you gonna do with this new life, sir?”
I looked directly into Jah’s eyes bright with excitement and then foolishly suddenly let down the window and stuck my head out and let the rain caress my face and shouted in a voice that sounded like I was singing, “I’m going to learn how to dance in the rain!”
Table of Contents
COVER
TITLE
COPYRIGHT
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
In My Father’s House Page 27