Dead on Arrival

by Kiki Swinson

  “Like about one in the afternoon.”

  “I was there with him, so that’s about the right time,” I interjected.

  “How long did you guys stick around until you realized that he wasn’t going to show up?” Wise said as he looked at me and Reese. He looked at Reese’s expression and then he looked at mine.

  “Maybe thirty to forty minutes,” I answered.

  “Did you call to see why he never showed up?” Rose asked.

  “Of course I did. I called him over a dozen times, but it kept going to voicemail.”

  “Did you send him a text or leave him a voicemail message?” Wise chimed back in.

  “I don’t remember. But I think I did. I also stopped by his house. His wife was outside by her car. And when I asked her was he home, she told me no. I told her to let him know that I stopped by and she said okay.”

  “You said that you two work together. Did he show up to work yesterday?” Rose asked.

  “I didn’t go to work at all yesterday.”

  “And why not?” Wise asked.

  “Because I wasn’t feeling good.”

  “Did you call out of work?”

  “Of course I did.”

  “Why does it matter if he called in to work yesterday?” I wanted to know. I felt like that was an irrelevant question. Shit! Go out there and find the real fucking killer.

  “We’re just trying to establish a time line, ma’am,” Rose answered.

  “Yes, I understand that, but whether or not he called into work is reaching, don’t you think?”

  “That all depends on how you look at it,” Rose replied.

  “It’s okay, baby. I don’t have anything to hide.”

  “Is this it? Because he and I have some things we need to do,” I said, giving them a stern look. I wanted them to know that I knew my constitutional rights, so I could end any interview or home visit anytime I wanted to.

  Wise spoke. “We have just one more question.”

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “Detective Rose and I are aware of a human trafficking case that was just opened by US Customs agents, so my question to you is, aren’t you, Edward Cuffy, and a couple of other gentlemen currently being investigated because of it?”

  Before Reese could get a word out, I stood to my feet and said, “Okay, now it’s time for you guys to leave. We appreciate you stopping by. And if there’s anything else you may need in the future pertaining to Edward Cuffy’s murder, feel free to ask. But other than that, this interview is over.”

  Both of the detectives stood to their feet. And as they walked toward the front door, they handed Reese their business cards. “Thanks for stopping by, you guys,” Reese said as the men left.

  Immediately after they stepped onto the front porch, I walked in front of Reese and slammed the front door. Reese looked at me like I was crazy. “What’s wrong with you? You didn’t have to be nasty to them.”

  “Fuck them!” I roared as I walked away from the front door.

  “You could’ve handled that a better way, Dawn,” Reese said as he walked behind me.

  I started walking down the hallway toward the bedroom. “So, you were at Pork Chop’s gambling spot, huh?”

  Reese hesitated to answer my question, so I knew this conversation was about to be turned upside down. I stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to face him. He stood there with the dumbest expression he could muster up. “Did you take some of that money I had hidden away?” I asked him in the calmest way I knew how.

  “Yeah, but I’m gonna get it back.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me, Reese? Get out of my house right now!” I snapped. “Get out of here right now, you fucking loser!” I screamed, and pushed him backwards as hard as I could. He stumbled.

  “And go where?” he spat as he stood there before me.

  “I don’t care, Reese! Just get out of here!” I roared, and then I turned around and stormed down the hallway toward my bedroom. I heard Reese walking behind me but he wasn’t saying anything. When I got to the room I stood at the bedroom door as he entered. “Pack your shit right now and get the fuck out of here!” I continued. I wasn’t backing down. I was over it with this guy. He had made a fool of me for the last time.

  “Can we please talk about this?” he asked me as he stood at the foot of our bed.

  “There’s nothing to talk about. We are over our heads in debt. You gave me that money to pay our bills. Not to mention, you owed me eight hundred dollars for my fertility treatment.”

  “Why are you acting like I took all the money back? I only took a third of it.”

  “You are a grimy-ass nigga! You know that? And you wanna talk about it? Talk about it and say what? That you’re going back to the gambling spot tonight and that you’re gonna win all our money back? Bullshit! I’m so tired of your fucking lies, so I want you out of here. Now get your shit and go!” I was not backing down from Reese today. I was at my wit’s end with him. So, he’s gotta go. Get out of my face right now.

  “Dawn, I am so sorry!”

  “Get out, Reese! I have nothing else to say to you,” I barked, still standing at my bedroom door.

  After standing there for another minute and a half pleading with me, he finally got the message that I didn’t want him around. I watched him as he pulled a few shirts and pants from the walk-in closet, grabbed a travel bag, and started placing his clothes in there. When his packing was coming to a close, I walked out of the room and headed back down the hallway. I went straight to the front door so I could make sure that Reese was going to leave.

  I waited another few minutes before Reese joined me in the living room. He had his big travel bag thrown across his shoulders while he toted the medium one in his hand. “So, how long do you want me gone?” he asked.

  “Reese, I don’t want you coming back. I don’t want to be in this marriage anymore.”

  “So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m filing for divorce.”

  “Come on, Dawn, it hasn’t gotten that bad, has it?” He dropped both of his travel bags on the floor in front of him.

  “Reese, I am done with you and I don’t wanna be married to you anymore,” I told him, giving him the sincerest expression I could muster up. The small amount of respect I had for him was now gone. The mere sight of him disgusted me, so this was it. I was putting the nail in the coffin.

  Reese reached toward me like he wanted to embrace me, but I stepped back, preventing him from doing so. “Reese, don’t touch me. Just leave.”

  He finally got the hint that I didn’t want him anymore and picked his things up from the floor. To make this transition swift, I opened the front door for him so he could leave.

  “Baby, I love you so much! And if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I promise I will give up gambling and I will be a better husband to you,” he said. I guess this speech was his last-ditch effort to get me to change my mind. But I wasn’t listening to his bullshit! It was the same song and dance, and I’m over it. Over him and over all the shit that comes with him.

  “Leave, Reese,” I said with finality.

  “Will you at least think about it?” he wanted to know, his facial expression that of a man in dire need.

  “Reese, I’m not going to tell you again.” I raised my voice, hoping he’d take heed to my warning.

  “A’ight, I’ma leave. But I’m going to my grandma’s house if you need me.”

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  Reese finally walked out of the house, and when he did I closed the door and I locked it. Part of me was hurt because I really wanted our marriage to work. But at the same time, I couldn’t continue to allow that man to drag me through the mud. He had ruined everything I brought to this relationship. I had carried him so long, and the debt he had put me in was insane. I was embarrassed by the way my life had turned out because of him. My parents were right when they said that I needed to leave him when he started acting reckless. But no, I wa
nted to stick by my man and show him that I was a ride-or-die chick. Look where that got me. On a one-way trip down skid row. How stupid was I?

  37

  REESE

  How the hell did I get put out of my own house? Granted, I didn’t put the money down on it, and my name wasn’t on the loan, but I paid those fucking mortgage payments. So, do I still have the right to be there? What the fuck am I going to do now?

  I threw my two travel bags in my truck and drove out of there. During the drive to my grandmother’s house, all I could think about was if Dawn was really serious about divorcing me. She had never, ever talked about leaving me before, or divorcing me for that matter, so should I believe her? I swear, if she left me I would go fucking crazy. I knew I wouldn’t be the same. Dawn has always held me down, even in our rough times. To have her walk out of my life wouldn’t be something I could handle, especially with all this shit going on with the human trafficking investigation. I mean, what if I got locked up? Would Dawn come see me? Or make sure my commissary was always plentiful? I couldn’t live without that woman, so I had to figure this out.

  It didn’t take me long to get to my grandmother’s house. I called her phone as soon as I pulled up into her driveway. “Hey, Grandma, I’m outside,” I told her after she answered the phone.

  “Are you getting ready to come inside the house?” she asked me.

  “Yes, ma’am, I just wanted to let you know that I just pulled up and that I will be in the house any minute.”

  “Okay, baby, I’m in here,” she told me.

  I grabbed my belongings and headed inside the house. Like always, my grandmother was in her bedroom sitting in her lounge chair, watching TV. She smiled as soon as she saw me. “She put you out the house, huh?”

  I sighed heavily. “Yes, ma’am, she did.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “There’s not much to talk about. I think she’s gonna leave me,” I replied as I leaned against the wall in her bedroom.

  “Do you cheat on her?”

  “No. I got us in a lot of debt and she’s not happy about it.”

  “How much debt are you two in?”

  “A little over fifty thousand dollars.”

  “You have got to be joking, son. How did you do that?”

  “Credit card debt, mortgage payments, and other bills.”

  “Now I see why she wants to leave your butt. You can’t put that much strain on a woman, especially in these times. Folks are losing their jobs and their homes because they can’t afford to pay their bills anymore. You’re gonna have to clean your act up and do it fast.”

  “I think it’s too late for that.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because she said she’s gonna file for divorce.”

  “If I don’t know anything else, I know that that woman loves you. Give her a few days to cool down. She may come around. But if she doesn’t, God will give you the strength to get through this time.”

  “I hope so,” I said, trying to think positive.

  “Where are your things?”

  “I left them at the front door.”

  “Well, you can take your old room. But you’re gonna have to make your bed on your own. Grandma don’t make beds for grown folks anymore.”

  I cracked a half smile. “I really love her, Grandma.”

  “I know you do, son. But you’re gonna have to let God work this out for you.”

  “Sometimes God takes too long. And what if He doesn’t?”

  “Then it wasn’t meant to be.”

  “If it wasn’t meant to be, then why did we get married in the first place?”

  “Because you did it on your own. Who knows, she may not have been the woman that God had for you in the first place. Have you wondered why it’s been impossible for you two to have a child together? It’s probably not in God’s will.”

  I know my grandmother means well, but I wasn’t trying to hear anything she had to say. I wanted my wife back. I wanted to be home with her. Not here with my grandmother, listening to her tell me about how God’s will works. Now don’t get me wrong, I grew up going to church, so I believe in God. But sometimes it’s hard to talk to God and understand when He gives you answers. Sometimes I think that when I pray to Him I don’t get answers. So what am I supposed to do? Just sit back and not do anything? Not doing anything isn’t a part of my DNA. I guess that entitles me to do what I think is best for me.

  “Yeah, we’ll see,” I finally replied.

  “What’s going on down there where you work at? Is it really true that y’all found some dead Asian people in a few of those containers?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I replied nonchalantly, because I wasn’t in the mood to talk about what’s going on down at the terminal. I came here to get away from it.

  “Why were those people in there in the first place?” she inquired. My grandmother was an old woman from the South. Even if I told her why those Asian people were found dead, she still wouldn’t comprehend it. So I thought for a second and said, “They were poor and they didn’t have a place to live, so they crawled into those steel containers and their oxygen ran out and they died.”

  “Oh my, that’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s what everyone around the terminal is saying too.”

  “Well, I hear they are trying to get someone to take the fall for those people,” she continued.

  “Because that’s just how society works. When something goes wrong, someone always has to take the fall for it,” I explained to her. And it seemed like as soon as I finished my response she wanted to go deeper into that situation, so I changed the subject entirely. “Have you had lunch yet?” I asked her.

  “I just had a cup of coffee and a bagel. Why?”

  “Because I was gonna go out and get you some of that hot fried fish from your favorite spot.”

  My grandmother started smiling. “You sure know the way to my heart.”

  I smiled back. “That’s right,” I said. I walked toward her and gave her another kiss on her cheek. “Stay right here and I’ll be right back.”

  “And where am I gonna go?” She cracked a smile.

  “I don’t know. But you know you women sure know how to sneak off to places when you want to.”

  “That’s what I used to do in my younger days. I can’t do it now. Ole grandma sits in her house all day long and minds her own business. That’s my life,” she said and waved me off.

  Before I left the house, I took my travel bags into my old bedroom. I looked around the room and noticed that nothing in it had changed. She still had the full-size bed in there, along with the old dresser and mirror. The comforter, the sheets, and the pillows were all the same too. I remembered when I was a child sleeping in this room. The memories of having to be in this room all day because I was on punishment were very vivid. I also remembered hiding in here, underneath my bed, when my mother used to try to take me home with her. I didn’t want to be with her and her abusive boyfriend. Living with my grandmother was the best thing my grandmother could’ve ever done for me. I was able to sleep in a warm bed and eat hot meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At my mother’s small, rat-infested house, it was dark. Listening to her and her boyfriend fighting and not knowing if I was going to miss a meal for the day wasn’t what any child should have to endure. Seeing my mother locked up in jail was probably the best thing for the both of us. She never meant me any good. In fact, I believe that if she was still on the streets now, I wouldn’t be where I am today, great job security and married, even though both of those things are in jeopardy. I think I probably would’ve been in jail by now. Who knows, I could have been dead too. All my friends from my mother’s neighborhood are either dead or in prison serving ten and twenty years for selling drugs. I also had a homeboy I grew up with who is in prison, like my mother, for murder. So, my life could’ve easily mirrored their lives. Once again, I thanked my grandmother for everything she has done for me. She kept m
e from going to jail when I was growing up and now I needed to figure out how to keep myself from going to jail.

  38

  DAWN

  I can’t believe that I just put Reese out of the house. Was that the right thing to do? Was I overreacting? Should I have done it in a different way? Or should I have given him another chance?

  But now that I mulled over it more, I think I definitely made the right decision. Reese was going down a slippery slope and he was taking me with him. I mean, come on, why the fuck did he give me money and then take it back? What the fuck was going through his mind? I couldn’t keep living like this. My family had bailed me and him out of every situation we’d been in, and it wasn’t fair to them, so putting him out was the best thing I could do. Now I needed to call my mother for a second opinion.

  I called her cell phone and prayed that my dad didn’t answer it. I kept my fingers crossed until I heard her voice after the third ring. “Hello,” she said.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hi, baby, are you okay?”

  “Is Dad around?”

  “He’s outside in the garage. Would you like for me to get him?”

  “No. I called to talk to you. I just didn’t want Dad around listening.”

  “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “I just told Reese that I am filing for divorce, and I put him out of the house.”

  “Oh, darling, what happened?”

  “Mom, I’m just tired of trying to make this marriage work. Every time I move us one step forward, he’s always pulling us two steps backwards.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He gave me money to catch up on some bills, but as soon as I turned my back he went into our savings and took most of it back without telling me.”

  “What did he do with the money?”

  “He gambled it up.”

  “Oh, honey, I am so sorry to hear that.”

  Hearing my mother try to comfort me made me break down and cry. It seemed like I let the floodgates open. “Mom, I can’t figure out why he’s always screwing up things in our relationship.”

  “Well, baby, I can’t answer that question. But I always knew that when you were tired of his mess you were going to do what was best for you.”