What's Done In the Dark

by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

  I considered what she was saying. No, that clerk had seemed adamant. “I don’t know,” I finally said. “I just want to know who it is. I want to look her in the eye. I want to ask her about his last minutes. What did he do? What did he say? Did he talk about how much he hated me?”

  “Steven didn’t hate you,” Charlene said, slipping onto the edge of my bed. “But it’s understandable how you’re feeling.”

  We sat in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. Mine kept spinning over and over again about who could have crept up to his room that night.

  Charlene said, “Has that Sabrina girl found out anything else?”

  “Let me call her,” I replied. “Hand me my phone.”

  She reached on my nightstand and handed the phone to me before heading toward the door.

  “I’m going to go take the boys over to Rodney’s house this morning. He wants them to stay with him a couple of weeks. I told him I’d talk to you about it. But I think it’s a good idea. I’m leaving in a few days, and Mama is no good right now. A few weeks will give you time to get your head together.”

  Rodney had a son Stevie’s age, so they spent a lot of time together, and his wife made no secret of how much she adored the twins, so I had no doubt my children would be well taken care of.

  “That is a good idea,” I said.

  “Good, he said he’s going to enroll Stevie in the camp he’s teaching this summer.”

  “Camp!” I said. “I forgot all about Tahiry’s camp.” My daughter was scheduled to go to cheer camp next week, and I hadn’t done a single thing to prepare her.

  “Don’t worry, your girl is good for something. Felise is taking her shopping today. Tahiry called her because she was worried that you wouldn’t want her to go.”

  “No, she needs to go. But I haven’t gotten her anything that she’s supposed to have.”

  “Look, you know Felise’ll get her whatever she needs. I’ll take the boys out of your hair. You call Sabrina or do whatever you need to get some closure.”

  “Thank you so much. My purse is on the dresser. My Visa card is in my wallet. Can you go by the mall first and pick up Stevie some shorts? He’s growing so fast and I’d been meaning to buy him some new clothes. Then you can take the boys to that new Marble Slab ice cream store before you head over to Rodney’s.”

  “Oooh, the mall. Can I go in and buy me something?”

  “You can buy you whatever you like—within reason,” I added, forcing a smile. I was just grateful that she was picking up some of the slack, and I knew I was slacking with my kids.

  My sister blew me a kiss on her way out. I picked up the phone and called Sabrina. Her voice mail picked up.

  “Hey, Sabrina. It’s Paula Wright. I was just wondering if you found out anything—” I hesitated. “If you have any idea on who the woman he was with could be, let me know, okay? Thanks a lot. And Sabrina, you have no idea how much of a help you’ve been to me.”

  I hung up the phone and prayed that she called me back soon. I wanted closure, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get it until I learned who the woman was who had been with my husband on his last night on earth.

  35

  Felise

  WE NEEDED THIS TIME. AS I watched Tahiry across from me, devouring her ice cream, I couldn’t help but smile.

  Liz was supposed to be with us but decided at the last minute to stay home and finish her history project. That was my daughter, the brainiac. Her partner had bailed on her, and she was determined to pick up the slack so she could get an A. At first, I was nervous about being alone with Tahiry, but I told myself that was just the guilt.

  I’d picked up everything Tahiry needed for camp. Now we were sitting in the food court at the mall, eating Marble Slab ice cream.

  “Thank you for everything, Nana,” she said.

  I patted her hand. “It’s my pleasure, sweetie. I know the past few weeks have been extremely difficult for you. But you’ve been so strong.”

  She gave me a sad smile. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “Of course, you can tell me anything.”

  She looked down at her ice cream, toyed with a minute, then said, “I used to wish my mom and dad would get a divorce.”

  “What?” I said. What had Paula been telling her daughter?

  “They still want to look at me like I’m a little girl, but I’m not. I know when someone is unhappy, and the two of them, they were in no way happy.”

  Wow. Everything inside me wanted to press her, ask her more questions. But I didn’t believe in putting children in grown folks’ business.

  A slow tear trickled down her cheek. “How could I wish that for my own parents?”

  “It’s nothing wrong with how you felt. You just wanted them both to be happy.”

  “I love my mom. But she is the most miserable person. Dad tried everything in the world to make her happy, but nothing worked. I used to think she hated us.”

  “Tahiry,” I said as she hunched her shoulders, “I know she doesn’t. I saw this lady on TV one time say, ‘If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.’ That’s us.”

  Sitting there with my goddaughter, I was relieved I could be there for her when her mother couldn’t. At least I could give Tahiry some sense of normalcy, some place of refuge.

  Will she love you when she finds out the truth?

  I don’t know where that voice came from, but it caught me off guard and I quickly shook the thought away.

  “Nana, what’s wrong?”

  “Wh-what’s wrong?” I said, struggling to draw a breath. “Oh, nothing. Entirely, absolutely, nothing at all.”

  “Let’s change the subject,” she announced. “I don’t want to be sad today.”

  I smiled and Tahiry and I made small talk and it seemed like old times. I was truly enjoying our conversation. So much about her reminded me of Steven, from the way she ate with her ice cream (eating from the center out), to the corny way she laughed. A part of me wondered if that’s why I was enjoying her company so much. But then, I knew that I always enjoyed being around my goddaughter. And right about now, she needed me as much as I needed her.

  “ ’Hiry!”

  Both of us turned toward the tiny voice yelling in our direction. Our eyes widened in surprise as Marcus and Mason came racing over.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Tahiry asked, picking Marcus up and swinging him around.

  “Auntie Charlene brought us for ice cream.” Mason pointed across the food court at Charlene who was waiting in line at the Marble Slab Creamery. She was texting on her phone and hadn’t even noticed that the boys had darted off.

  “Boys you shouldn’t run away from your aunt,” I told them. Just as I said something, Charlene looked up, noticed they were gone, then frantically turned to Stevie, who was standing behind her engrossed in his handheld video game.

  Fear filled her face as her eyes darted around the food court.

  “Charlene,” I called, waving at her.

  She looked in my direction and relief filled her face when she spotted the boys.

  “Oh, my goodness,” she said, hurrying over to us.

  “Wow, you’re sure in the losing kids business,” I said. I was joking, but the look on her face told me that she didn’t find anything funny.

  “I didn’t lose them. They ran off,” she snapped.

  “That’s because we saw ‘Hiry,” Mason said as Tahiry set his twin down next to him.

  “Well, don’t do that again, boys. You could’ve given your aunt Charlene a heart attack.” I tussled Mason’s curly hair.

  Charlene grabbed their hands. “Come on, let’s get this ice cream.”

  “How’s Paula?” I asked before she walked off. “She was asleep when I picked Tahiry up.”

  Charlene stopped and glared at me. “She’s fine, no thanks to you.”

  Her tone caught Tahiry and me by surprise.

  “Tahiry, why don’t you watch your brothers while I talk to your aunt real quick,�
�� I said, flashing a smile to let all of them know everything was fine.

  Charlene didn’t let go of their hands.

  “Just for a minute,” I said. I motioned for Charlene to step to the side, which she eventually did.

  “Is everything okay with us?” I asked her. I was sure I knew the reason for her attitude—she was salty about me not being there for Paula like I should have been. But I needed Charlene on my side, not working against me.

  She huffed. “Look, the boys just have my nerves frazzled. I don’t know what I was thinking, bringing them to the mall. I’m not cut out for this kid stuff.”

  I gave her a reassuring smile. “You’re doing a fantastic job.”

  “Yeah, losing kids,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “But we all would still be lost without you.” I took a deep breath. “I know I haven’t been there for your sister, but it’s just so hard.” I don’t know why I felt the need to justify my actions with Charlene. Maybe there was part of me that wanted her to make Paula understand my absence.

  She actually seemed to relax. “I know. I’m sorry. I know this is hard on everyone.”

  “I’m just trying to help Tahiry cope.”

  “And I know Paula appreciates that.”

  “So, we’re cool?”

  She nodded and shrugged at the same time. “Yeah, we’re cool.”

  It didn’t feel like we were cool, but I knew I needed her on my side now.

  “Are we still gonna get ice cream?” Mason said once we walked back over to them.

  “I shouldn’t get y’all’s little bad behinds anything, running off like that,” Charlene said and the twins immediately began whining. “Oh, chill out, I’m gonna get it.” She waved goodbye to us as they dragged her back over to the ice cream shop.

  “Here,” Tahiry said, handing me my cell phone after they were gone. “Somebody named Sabrina called you.”

  My heart dropped. “You answered my phone?”

  “It was ringing,” she said, like it was no big deal. “I told her you were busy.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said get unbusy and call her back. She was really rude. You need to teach your friends some manners.”

  I managed a smile. “I need to teach little girls from answering my phone.”

  “I was trying to help you out.”

  I let the conversation drop but as soon as I dropped Tahiry off, I was going to call Sabrina, see what she wanted and do whatever I needed to do to shut this situation down.

  36

  Felise

  I COULDN’T BELIEVE I WAS back here again. I was sitting in the back of the Four Seasons restaurant, praying that no one saw me. I think Sabrina liked torturing me by making me come here. Of course, she was late, which only gave me more time to ponder how in the world my life had come to this. I couldn’t believe that I was caught up in a blackmail scheme.

  After I dropped Tahiry off yesterday, I’d called Sabrina. This time, she’d answered like she was irritated that I’d taken so long to get back with her. Then she’d told me to meet her here. Of course, my initial reaction was to tell her absolutely not. When I told her that grand was a one-time payment, I meant it. Then she’d responded by sending me more of the video and I knew I didn’t have a choice, so here I was.

  Sabrina finally sashayed in like she wasn’t thirty minutes late, then eased in the chair across from me.

  “What’s up, ol’ buddy?” she said.

  I so did not have time to play games with her. “What do you want from me, Sabrina? You know I don’t have any money.”

  “Mmmm, I beg to differ,” she said, removing her shades and setting them on the table. “You have a nice house, a nice job. Your hubby makes beaucoup money, and you’re a resourceful woman. Anything you don’t have, I know you can figure out how to get.”

  “Again, what do you want?” I said. “Didn’t we settle everything the other day?”

  “You know, I really appreciate the thousand dollars that you gave me, but that was before I knew about this.” She held up a jump drive she’d pulled from her pocket. “I mean, this changes things drastically, don’t you think? And it got me to thinking, how much is someone’s life really worth? You know, if someone wanted to keep their life from spiraling out of control, would they pay a million dollars? I know I would. So I got to thinking of the gold mine that I was holding.” She fingered the jump drive.

  “I don’t have a million dollars.”

  “I know that, silly. I mean, I was there when you found out your parents had let their life insurance policies lapse so you and your sisters got nothing.”

  I couldn’t believe she would bring that up, but I merely said, “So, if you know that, why am I here?”

  “Well, you may not have a million dollars, but you aren’t poor either.”

  “I can’t do this with you for the rest of my life.”

  “Oh, you won’t have to,” she replied callously, “because here’s how this is going to play out. You’re going to give me enough money to go away. I’m going to move to Los Angeles and become an actress.”

  “Really, Sabrina? You’re thirty-five years old, and you’re going to become an actress?”

  “Gabrielle Union is forty years old and getting all kinds of big offers. So is Angelina Jolie.”

  I was about to point out the obvious, but then it dawned on me, I didn’t need to be discouraging her from trying to go after her dream in LA. I needed to be encouraging that any way I could.

  “You’re right. You have the total package to make that work.”

  She smiled like she knew I was BS-ing her. “But the way I see it, me and the whole starving artist thing—that doesn’t work too well. So, I was thinking that you could give me seed money. Look at it as an investment into my career.”

  “Again, I don’t have that kind of money.”

  “And again, I’m sure you can figure out a way to get it.”

  “I can’t.” I was not going to let her continue to blackmail me. And that little clip she’d sent me could be explained away.

  “Did you not see the video I sent?”

  I tried to play it cool, even though I was anything but. “Yeah, I saw it, and it looks like two innocent friends having a drink. Yes, Paula may be a little mad that I didn’t tell her I was there, but she’ll get over it.” I hope I sounded more confident than I felt.

  Sabrina gave a sly smile. “Will she, huh? Wonder if she’ll get over this.” She propped open her phone and pressed some keys, and then turned the phone around to face me. My mouth fell open as the video played of Steven looking nervously around as he went to the elevator. A few seconds later, I followed behind him. Then the image switched to a hallway: Steven went in a room, and seconds later, I went in the same room.

  Sabrina pressed stop. “Now unfortunately, I don’t have video inside the room, so I don’t really know what went on. I’m sure you could convince Paula that you all just sat and talked about old times. I’m sure she’d buy that, right?” I was speechless as I stared at her. “Shall I keep going, because I do have the part where you leave the room in a panic the next morning—but Steven doesn’t.”

  My eyes filled with tears at that terrible memory, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry. “How much?” I asked. “Because I know that’s what this all boils down to with you.”

  “Twenty-five thousand,” she said without hesitation. She held up a finger before I could say anything. “And before you balk, I think I’m being quite generous. My good buddy in security—he thinks I’m trying to catch my cheating boyfriend—gave me this digital file. Now, I could give it to the cops.”

  “I-I didn’t kill him,” I stammered.

  “Don’t tell me. Tell the cops. And your husband. And Paula,” she said matter-of-factly. “I mean, I’m not sure what kind of time you can get for leaving a dead body, but I’m sure you don’t want the hassle of an investigation and all. So that’s why I’m coming to you first. The
way I see it, you need to be thanking me.”

  “This is extortion,” I said.

  She handed me the phone. “Call the cops, then.”

  “I don’t have that kind of money,” I said again, my voice cracking this time.

  “Well”—she cocked her head to the side—“guess I’ll have to see if Paula does. I’m sure Steven left her a hefty insurance policy. Wonder how much she’ll pay for the tape. Probably more than twenty-five Gs, you think? Especially since she just called me to see if I’d found out anything. I haven’t had a chance to call her back yet, but maybe I’ll call her as soon as I leave here.”

  “I. Don’t. Have. That. Kind. Of. Money,” I repeated.

  She lost her smile and turned serious. “Get it, or this little video here—there’s a send capability. I’ll be sending it to the cops. To the media. To your little sorority sisters. Your friends. Paula. Your husband. Your child—by the way, did I tell you I’m following her on Instagram now? Wouldn’t her friends get a kick out of this?”

  I fought back the lump in my throat. “I can’t get my hands on that kind of money.” My mind raced. We did have money in Liz’s college fund. But I couldn’t mess with that, could I? “Look,” I said, already thinking that I could pick up extra shifts. “I can make payments. I get paid every two weeks. I can give you a thousand dollars a month.”

  She waved away my words. “Girl, ain’t nobody got time for that. This isn’t a two-year finance plan.”

  “Sabrina, please,” I pleaded.

  She paused, then broke out in a huge grin again. “You know what, since we go back, I’m going to be nice and give you three days to get my money. But look at it this way.” She stood. “Once I get it, I’m gone and I won’t bother you again. I’m a woman of my word. A woman of integrity.” She slid her sunglasses on. “Of course, that’s something that you wouldn’t know anything about. Talk to you in three days, ta-ta.”

  37

  Paula

  I WAS GOING THROUGH SOME of Steven’s paperwork when I noticed the date. July 13. I couldn’t believe our anniversary was coming up. As I checked the calendar, I remembered that our anniversary was a week after another special date.