In My Rearview Mirror

by Suzetta Perkins

  Twenty-Two

  Winter jumped when she heard the door open that led from the garage into the kitchen. She forced her eyes open, having drifted off to sleep. Curled up in her lap was Evan, who was fast asleep. Winter didn’t want to wake him, but she was anxious to get downstairs to see her mother and baby Ian.

  Gently, Winter lifted Evan up and placed him in his crib. Before she was out of the room, she heard Margo call out her name.

  “Hey, Mom, I’m up here. How’s Ian? I’m on my way down.”

  When Winter entered the kitchen, Margo was emptying one arm of her purse, while holding Ian with the other. “He has a very bad ear infection,” Margo said, handing Ian to Winter. “Thank God that’s all it was. The nurse gave him some amoxicillin, and within minutes, Ian had calmed down. I’ve already gone to the drugstore to pick up his prescription. How’s Evan?”

  “He’s fast asleep.” Winter kissed Ian on the cheek. “Guess who stopped by the house looking for you?”

  Margo stopped what she was doing and turned around and looked at Winter, her face void of any expression and a hand on her hip. “Who?”

  Winter smiled and made Margo wait for the answer. “Guess.”

  “I don’t have time to play games with you, Winter. Tell me.”

  “Malik was here . . . and, without his wife. Can you believe that?”

  There was no emotion on Margo’s face. She stood and stared at Winter as if she was an aberration. And as quickly she thawed. “What did he want?” Margo snapped.

  “I will tell you this, Mother Dearest, he didn’t come to talk about his new wife. No, it was all about you and these twins. If it makes you feel any better, I sent his tail packing. But he did leave a message; please call him.”

  “Winter, you’re so dramatic and you don’t know what you’re talking about. Give me Ian. You can go on back to work now.”

  Winter smiled. “So, you’re trying to get rid of me so you can talk to Malik in private?”

  “Winter, I can still whip your butt. You need to get a life of your own—find you a nice young man to be with so you can stay out of my business.”

  “You forgot already that I have a date this evening with Dr. Wright’s son. I’m praying that it will blossom into a hot romance. We need some excitement in our lives—well, besides the excitement you and Ivy have got going.”

  “Out of this house now, girl.”

  “Okay, Mommy. Smooches.”

  “Winter, I love you. Have a good time this evening.”

  “Love you, too, Mom. Oh, I almost forgot.” Winter wagged her finger up and down at Margo. “Your husband wants you to call him. He has a mystery he needs you to solve. I would love to stay and see who you’re going to call first.” Winter laughed.

  “Out!”

  Twenty-Three

  Ivy paced the floors of the condo she shared with her husband, Malik. She’d been calling him for the past two hours with no luck. He had the audacity to shut off his phone so that all incoming calls went straight to voicemail. Why? He could be in an important meeting, Ivy thought, although there didn’t seem to be any hint of one as they discussed their calendars with each other that very morning.

  Picking up her purse, Ivy clutched it under her arm and set out to find Malik. She didn’t want to appear to be the nagging wife or even one that had to be in control of everything, although that was a thought. Ivy was genuinely concerned about Malik’s whereabouts since she’d been unable to reach him for most of the afternoon. Dressed in a purple, pink, and black floral chemise and four-inch leather pumps, Ivy headed out of the door.

  Pulling in front of Malik’s place of business, Ivy stepped out of her car and went inside. A few men were browsing, but there wasn’t any sign of Malik.

  “Hello, Mrs. Mason,” Reggie said as he rounded the bend. “You really brighten up this place.”

  Ivy smiled. “Thank you.” She patted Reggie on the shoulder, making sure that she got the most out of the rock on her ring finger. As if looking at her wedding ring reminded of her of why she was there, she pushed flattery aside and stated her case. “I’m looking for Malik. Have you seen him?”

  “He went out early this afternoon . . . on business. Told me that I could reach him by cell phone if I needed him.”

  “That’s only good if your cell phone is turned on.” Ivy let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve tried to reach him all afternoon, but his calls have all gone straight to voicemail.”

  “Have you tried calling campaign headquarters?” Reggie asked, knowing that Malik wasn’t there either.

  “No,” Ivy said. “Thanks. I’ll drive over there.” All of a sudden, Ivy grabbed her stomach. “Where’s your bathroom? My stomach feels queasy; it must be something I ate this morning.”

  “Right this way, Mrs. Mason. Are you going to be all right?”

  Ivy couldn’t talk. She nodded her head in the affirmative.

  • • •

  With her hands on her hips, Margo paced around the room trying to fix her mind on why Malik was so anxious to talk with her. She hadn’t spoken to him in almost a year and now, out of the blue, he wanted to have a conversation with her. Certainly, he didn’t think that the twins belonged to him. Just as Jefferson had said, Evan had a birthmark on his leg that resembled the one on his leg.

  Her mind continued to race. Maybe Malik was trying to make amends because he married her daughter without asking for her hand in marriage—that he had done it out of spite to get back at her for how they ended their relationship that wasn’t.

  Margo sighed. With both of the boys asleep, she moved to her purse and retrieved her BlackBerry. She held it in her hand and looked down at it as if it had the power to read her mind. She touched the TALK button but couldn’t bring herself to select his number from her call log . . . the number that would connect her to Malik and possibly open a can of worms that she wasn’t ready for. Instead, she pulled up Jefferson’s number on her touch screen, selected it, and waited while it dialed.

  Upon hearing Jefferson’s voice, her stomach rumbled, betraying her once calm demeanor for the nervous wreck she really was. There was something about that man’s voice that made her insides flutter like a teenage girl on a first date. And now, after she was nearing the end of her legal separation and on the road to her final divorce decree, here she was confused about what she was doing to her life.

  “Margo?” Jefferson called.

  “Hey, Jefferson, I’m returning your call. Winter said you needed to talk to me about some mystery . . . something or other. I didn’t really understand it. What’s up?”

  “First, how are you doing and how is Ian?”

  “I’m fine now. Ian had an ear infection. The doctor said they are common, but told me what to watch out for to keep him from getting them, if at all possible.”

  “Well, that’s good. They are too young to be enduring unnecessary pain.”

  “You called?” Margo interrupted, steering him from talking about the twins.

  “Yeah, yeah. Met this friend of yours . . . at least that’s what she said. I thought I knew all of your friends, but I don’t recall having met this one before.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Toni Gillette.”

  “Ohhhhhhhhhh, Ms. Toni, huh? What did she want?”

  “She said she wanted me to design a website for her and some other promotional stuff. She’s starting one of those political rag magazines.”

  “Toni is a piece of work. I met her when I was selling the house. She had just started at the real estate office I was working out of when I decided to leave. Asked a lot of questions about why I was moving . . . you know.”

  “No, I don’t know. Something about her tells me she’s up to something that I might not want to be a part of.”

  “The only problem you’ll have with Ms. Toni is keeping her at bay. I’d watch your back because I’ve heard she’s a man-eater. She’s probably already poised to hook her claws into you.”

  “Would you have a
problem with that?”

  “What do you want me to say, Jefferson? That I mind so your ego will be stroked?”

  “Of course not.” Jefferson cleared his throat and tried to hide a small laugh that threatened to expose him. “Anyway, I’m not looking to get with anybody. If the love of my life doesn’t want me, I’m no good for anyone else.”

  There was a long pause before Margo spoke again. Why was Jefferson doing this to her? In truth, she would always love him. It was the heartache that came along with being his wife—the infidelity that had her emotionally spent.

  “Are you still there?”

  “Yeah, I’m still here. I don’t know what else to tell you, Jefferson, but be careful. You are in the business to make money, but some money ain’t worth the headache that comes with it. But it’s ultimately your decision.”

  “True. I needed to get some background . . . history on Ms. Gillette since she seemed to be armed with information about my family when I knew nothing about her. I get that it’s her business to be in the know, but if I can set up her website and she can be the invisible client, I can work with that. I don’t need any drama, especially now that I’m working with Dr. Wright.”

  “Winter told me that she’s going out on a date with Dr. Wright’s son tonight.”

  “Oh, really? She didn’t mention it to me when we talked. However, she was eager to tell me that Malik stopped by the house.”

  “That child of ours is a busy body. It wasn’t her business to be sharing that kind of information with you.”

  “So, are you and Malik sneaking behind Ivy’s back?”

  “Damn, Jefferson. What kind of question is that? Malik is our daughter’s husband, and I would never stoop that low. I haven’t seen him in almost a year—probably the last time we both saw him in that restaurant where the fight broke out. Malik doesn’t mean a cotton-pickin’ thing to me.”

  “Hmph,” Jefferson retorted. “Well, as you said, it’s your business. But I don’t want to catch him sniffing around my sons.”

  “Hold it. Ian and Evan are my sons,” Margo hammered back.

  “Your sons have a biological father, and Evan’s birthmark is exactly like mine. Don’t deny me my sons, Margo. Please don’t do that. If you want to divorce me, I can’t do anything about that, but don’t deny me my sons. I’ve got to go.”

  “Okay.” And the line was dead.

  Twenty-Four

  Toni Gillette took a last sip of her drink and prepared to leave. Before she was able to hoist herself from her seat, her BlackBerry began to vibrate. She reached into her purse to retrieve the phone, and after looking at the name of the caller, her countenance changed from moody to very pleased.

  With a smile on her face, Toni answered on the third ring. “Well, hello. I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon.”

  “Well, after you left, I gave your proposal some thought, and I’ve decided that my firm will develop your site. If you’re not busy later on, I was hoping we could get together to discuss the terms of our pending business relationship.”

  “I like how you say . . . our pending business relationship, Mr. Myles, or Jefferson, if you don’t mind me calling you by your given name.”

  “Jefferson is fine, as I’ve already told you.”

  “I’m sitting at the Bonefish Grill off of Capitol Boulevard. If you’d like to join me, now would be a great time.”

  “All right, I’m on the way over. I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  Toni ended her call and smiled so hard that the smile almost became a permanent fixture on her face. The first phase of her plan was underway. That was the easy part because Toni already knew that she was a great journalist and with state elections in full swing, there probably wouldn’t be a shortage of stories to elevate her status. With the feds hot on former senator and once presidential hopeful, John Edwards’ case, she could chew off the fat from that story for some time.

  The second phase of her plan wasn’t as cut and dry. It included Jefferson Myles as her new eye candy—the new man in her life. He was attractive and a go-getter, and with Dr. Wright in his corner, Jefferson’s status could only go up in spite of the fact that he had done a short stint in prison. If Toni wanted him right away, she could rope him with her feminine lasso, but she didn’t want to scare him off. It had to be a gradual, subtle meeting of the minds and spirit that would eventually lead to intimacy.

  By no means was Toni innocent in the clever trap she was laying for Jefferson because when she played, she played hard and it was for keeps. She wanted this man. And thanks to the Internet and the Office of Vital Statistics, it appeared that Jefferson and Margo were close to receiving word that their divorce was final.

  • • •

  Ivy drove to Malik’s campaign headquarters, but the volunteers hadn’t seen him all day. Exhausted, she gave up and drove home, her mind wandering and allowing ill-conceived thoughts to seep in. “Where in the hell could he be?” Ivy said aloud as she plopped down onto the brown leather couch, which was going to be the first piece of furniture to be tossed out when they purchased their new home.

  Ivy continued to sit and tried to shake the terrible thoughts from her head. She pulled her cell from her purse and tried dialing Malik’s number once again. Her eyebrows arched, surprised that her call didn’t go straight to voicemail. She waited and on the fourth ring, she heard Malik’s voice.

  “Where have you been?” Ivy asked, her tone cool but with a hint of anger in her voice.

  “I’ve been out doing some campaigning,” Malik said noncommittally.

  “Well, I’ve called you all afternoon and all of your calls have gone to voicemail. I might have had an emergency.”

  “Did you?”

  “Don’t get smart, Malik. I looked like a fool today when I went by the store to look for you, and Reggie said that you were out but could be reached by cell, except that was next to impossible since you had your cell turned off. Not having any idea where you were certainly didn’t make my image as your wife, especially a future senator’s wife, look good.”

  “Trying to track me down like a bloodhound? Baby, we’ve got to set some parameters about you being possessive of my time. You have to understand I’ve been a single man a long time, and I’m not used to charting my every move for someone. I do hope you aren’t one of those wives.”

  “For your information, you’re a married man now. I will have you to know that I’m a very independent woman, and I don’t need a man to survive. However, I thought I had a husband who I could share anything with—my joys and pains or whatever. I was only worried when I couldn’t reach you. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m sorry that I called and interrupted your flow.”

  “Look, I’m sorry, Ivy. I’ve been out trying to raise some money for my campaign. I can’t win this senatorial race on my looks alone.” Malik laughed but stopped short when Ivy didn’t chime in. “I’m on the way home now, and you will have all of my attention. In fact, let me take you out to dinner. Was it something important that you needed to tell me?”

  Ivy sighed. She wasn’t happy about Malik’s dismissive attitude. This wasn’t what she bargained for. “We need to talk, but it can wait. I’ll be here when you get here.”

  “O-kay,” Malik said hesitantly. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Ivy responded without any real enthusiasm.

  Ivy ended the call and thought about the conversation with her husband. Something wasn’t right; she could feel it in her bones, like a sudden chill that had come out of nowhere. There wasn’t anything tangible or intangible that she could tie her feelings to, but her gut reflexes didn’t lie. Maybe it was because of the embryo nestled in her stomach that she had yet to share with her husband that made her jittery . . . made her question his sincerity. And maybe it was guilt because of how she came to marry Malik knowing full well her family’s sordid relationship with him the last year and a half—a time bomb waiting to explode. It was a
time like this that Ivy needed her mother. And she picked up her cell phone.

  Maybe, in some way or another, Ivy wanted what she thought her mother craved but couldn’t have because she was a married woman, although Ivy was fully aware that Malik’s desire for his mother was much stronger than any Margo had for him. And for the first time since Ivy had said I do, she had reservations.

  Now that she had the man, she didn’t feel the same wonderful tension that he elicited and had coursed through her body whenever Malik touched or looked at her with those dreamy eyes of his. It could be her pregnancy, like her menstrual cycle, that caused her to be irritable and out of kilter, although she wasn’t sure that was a good comparison.

  Ivy recalled how Malik once made her feel. Her body would tremble like a thousand crashing cymbals—the vibrations touching every nerve and pulse, sending out signals that made her want to lose her soul and satisfy all the erotic urges that were awakened. Making love to Malik was like a drug—so addictive that her body craved a fix on the regular. Nothing else seemed to matter except wrapping her body around his, while Malik took every liberty to satisfy the deep and superficial emotions Ivy’s body desired, taking her to the ends of the earth and back. There should’ve been a law against feeling that good, so much so that Ivy had to take care of her own needs if she couldn’t get a fix from Malik.

  Still holding the cell phone in her hand, Ivy hit her mother’s number on the touch screen. A thin veil of perspiration formed at her hairline as she anticipated her mother’s voice. On the third ring, just before Ivy decided to end the call, she heard her mother say hello.