by Rita Ewing
“Have you forgotten we have a deal, Allen?”
“Of course not. But I don’t know what I can do now. If Nona–”
“If Nona doesn’t get out of Harlem, I’m going to reveal everything about the drugs and Todd’s death. Brickhouse will be closed anyway.”
He was a grown man, built like a contestant for Mr. Olympia. But right now all Allen wanted to do was sit in the middle of his floor and cry. Or die. It really didn’t matter which to him.
“Reverend Watkins, I don’t know what I can do. I used everything I had–”
“Well, it wasn’t enough.” His speech was suddenly clearer. “I should have known not to send a boy to do a man’s job.” He paused. “Be at my office at eight in the morning. I have a plan.”
Allen wanted to protest. He wanted to tell the reverend to drop dead. But as he opened his mouth to utter those words, the images returned in his mind: The police rushing Brickhouse. Nona in handcuffs. Kelly screaming.
“Allen, did you hear me?”
“I’ll be there.”
“I know you will.”
Allen stared at his phone for a few minutes before he clicked “end.” Still naked, he fell onto his bed and lay on his back. He closed his eyes, folded his hands across his stomach, and imagined himself dead. But not even that would help Nona.
He sat up, opened his nightstand drawer, and slipped three pills into his palm. He’d never taken that many at once, and he couldn’t wait for the peace to fill him. He swallowed the drugs and returned to his position. As the steroids streamed into his blood, new visions filled him. Of the days before his pain started, before he had returned to the drugs. Before he had ruined his best friend.
Soon, unconsciousness relieved him, and on the night that he was sure he’d never close his eyes, he slept.
twenty–one
Nona wiped the perspiration that still rolled down her neck and took a deep breath. That had been a great workout. She’d returned to her classes and her own training with a new vigor. She couldn’t remember a better time in her life. After five sessions, Dr. Rutherford said that Kelly was making superior progress. And Brickhouse was here to stay.
The only issue facing her now was her friends. She’d called all of them, wanting to see if they wanted to chip in and put together a Thanksgiving gala. But Leila was still distant, Toni was still missing in action–Nona couldn’t even find her in the gym–and Anna said she wasn’t in the mood for any holiday festivities. Even Allen had passed on her idea to spend Thanksgiving together. He was the biggest surprise of all. She didn’t understand it. She was sure her news last week about Reverend Watkins would have made Allen relax, return to normal. But he seemed even more listless and distracted. She’d even had to cover two of his personal training sessions over the weekend, and that had never happened before.
Well, now that Brickhouse’s zoning was resolved, she could put more of her attention to her friends.
As she passed her assistant’s desk, Sarah said, “Nona, you have a call. It’s Derrick Carter.”
Nona smiled, surprised at how good it made her feel to hear his name. “I’ll take it in my office.”
A few seconds later, she lifted her phone. “Derrick, good to hear from you.”
“Good speaking to you as well. How’s Kelly?”
She smiled. “She’s well. Thanks for asking.”
“Great.” His tone turned somber. “Nona, do you have time to meet with me this evening?”
“Sure, is something wrong?”
“There is something we need to discuss.”
“Sounds serious. What’s wrong?”
“I’d rather do this face-to-face.”
“Okay, why don’t we have dinner?” The words came out before she had a chance to think about it.
She cringed at his long silence. What was I thinking? she asked herself.
“Dinner?” he repeated as if it were a foreign word.
She wanted to slap herself.
He said, “I was just thinking about having you come to my office.”
She wanted to slap him.
“But dinner would be great,” he finally agreed.
She could hear his smile, and she exhaled. “We can eat here at my restaurant.”
“Let me take a raincheck on that, because tonight we need to meet far away from Brickhouse.”
She frowned. “This is beginning to sound quite serious, Derrick.”
“It is, Nona.”
“Now I’m really concerned. What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you everything tonight.”
By the time she hung up, she knew where they were meeting and what time, but nothing else. She tried to imagine what news he could have, but then she shook her head. She wasn’t going to sit and imagine the worst. Everything bad was behind her. Whatever news Derrick had, she’d handle. She’d beaten Reverend Watkins, and that was close to winning a match with the devil. If she could do that, she could do anything.
She smiled. “Bring it on, Mr. Carter. I’m ready for whatever you have.” She stood and headed toward the locker room for a shower.
Nona was pleased that Derrick had chosen the Sugar Hill Bistro. Not only was this one of her favorite restaurants, but she was pleased that Derrick Carter was a man who recognized that some of the city’s best eateries were in Harlem.
Derrick held her velvet-covered chair out for her as she sat. “I think you’ll like the food here,” he said. “This is one of my favorite places.”
She smiled. “I’ve been here a few times.” She placed her napkin on her lap as the tuxedoed waiter filled their crystal water glasses.
When the waiter stepped away, Derrick said, “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”
“Of course, business is top priority.”
He smiled. “Yes, business is number one.”
Beyond the Armani suit, beyond the Versace Man cologne, she saw something new today. His brown eyes seemed to dance when he smiled. Through the light of the candle that rested in the middle of their table, his eyes glowed, and it made her wonder why he wasn’t married.
“I do have some good news,” she said. “I’m out of danger with the Harlem Empowerment Office. Brickhouse is going to remain in place.”
His smile widened, and he lifted his water. “Congratulations.” He tapped his glass against hers. “You’ve had quite a few successes over the last few weeks, haven’t you?”
If you only knew, she thought. Kelly, Brickhouse–life was going well. “The past few months have been challenging, but I’ve come out on top. I’m certainly blessed.”
“That you are.”
When he paused, Nona wondered what he saw when he looked at her.
“I enjoyed the wrap party,” he said, leaving her wondering.
“The entire day was good. You did a great job. I still can’t believe all the people you got to attend.”
“I’m still surprised Toni Lee wasn’t there since the two of you are such good friends.”
Everything that had made her happy in the minutes before was gone. The compartments where she’d hidden the memories of that awful Derrick Carter opened and poured out all that she’d forgotten. And she remembered. This was a man she almost hated. How could she forget that? And how could he even form his lips to say Toni’s name to her?
“Maybe she didn’t attend because she knew you’d be there,” she said. “Especially after the way you treated her.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “Nona, my relationship with Toni is really none of your business.”
She took a sip of water, drowning the words she wanted to say.
He continued, “But since I was the one who brought up her name, I want you to know something.”
She put her glass down. “Let’s get back to business, Mr. Carter. We’re not here to discuss you and Toni.”
He bristled when she addressed him formally. “I know why we’re here.”
The waiter interrupted them. “Are you ready to order?”
>
They scanned the menus, but the appetite that Nona had brought with her was gone. Still, they had business to finish, and she ordered the catfish salad, while Derrick asked for filet mignon–medium rare–and Caribbean potatoes.
The waiter had taken only a few steps away when Derrick said, “I’m sure you believe you know everything about me and Toni. But you only know it from the way she tells it.” He paused. “Did you know that Toni and I broke up before I knew she was pregnant?”
Nona shifted in her seat. This was private ground, and she didn’t want to discuss her friend, not with this man. But it was Derrick who kept her silent. As he spoke, his eyes, which had flickered with delight just minutes before, were filled with sadness. And misery slumped his shoulders.
“But once I found out about the child, I made it clear to Toni that I would be there for her and the baby, always.”
Nona tried to keep her surprise inside. All she’d known was that her friend was pregnant and Derrick Carter was nowhere to be found. Toni had never told her anything more.
He continued, “But even though I made that commitment to Toni, she had an abortion. Without my knowledge.” He paused, letting his words set with Nona.
She stayed still.
“I called Toni for weeks,” he continued. “When she finally called me back and told me that she’d gotten rid of the baby–” He stopped, and his voice became softer. “I was shocked and I was devastated because the one thing I’ve always wanted to be is a father.”
The candle on their table flickered wildly, then slowly went out.
Nona wanted to reach across the table and take his hand. She had never heard such sadness in a man.
“I don’t know, Nona. Maybe Toni and I would have married, maybe not. With what I’ve learned about her, whatever we had never would have lasted anyway. But the one thing I would have been was a good father.”
Nona swallowed.
“I’m almost forty, extremely successful by most standards. But I’d give it all up to be …”
In that moment, she remembered his times with Kelly. His patience, his concern, the ease with which he spoke to her and encouraged her.
“Derrick, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
He looked at her for a moment, then lifted his shoulders, sat up straight, and took a deep breath. “There’s no need to feel sorry for me. I have a life that I’m grateful for. And who knows–maybe there’s still a plan for me to have a family.”
She nodded.
“Anyway …"He paused and cleared his throat. “Like you said, we’re not here to discuss this.” He stopped when the waiter returned, and as Nona looked at Derrick’s plate, she wished she had a mound of the spicy mashed potatoes in front of her. Her appetite had returned.
After he said grace, they chatted about Kelly, but a few minutes later, Derrick put his fork down.
“I hate to be the one to bring this to you, but this time at least I caught it early,” he said.
She stabbed at a catfish slice. “What’s going on?”
“You know we worked frantically last weekend to get the video edited and ready for production to get last-minute distribution for the holidays.”
“I know. I received my copy last Tuesday. I have my master locked in my safe.”
“Really? Well, someone is already making unauthorized copies of your video.”
She dropped her fork. “What?”
“Because of the problems we had with the last video, I had my tech guys put a plan in place. This time, I only made two formatted discs of the video–you have one and I have the other.”
“Okay.”
“I programmed both of the discs so that if either were being copied, my computer would be alerted.”
“How did you do that?”
He waved his hand in the air. “It’s a complicated process, if you don’t understand programs. Suffice it to say, I know copies are being made.”
She picked up her fork again. “Well, Derrick, it has to be your disc or some problem with the program you installed. My disc is locked up.”
“Not only am I sure it’s yours because the computer knows which disc is being copied, but I can even tell you the date and time when it was done.”
Her fork slipped from her hand and onto the floor with Derrick’s words. This wasn’t possible. There were only two people who had access to the main safe where she kept the disc–she and Allen.
The waiter rushed over and handed Nona a new fork, but she put it down, knowing she wouldn’t eat any more tonight.
“I don’t understand,” she said, more to herself than to him.
Without a word, Derrick lifted a page from his briefcase and handed it to her. He looked as if he felt sorry for her. “I wanted to let you know as soon as possible because these bootleg videos could really affect our holiday sales.”
On the page he gave her was the time and date that the disc had been copied. It was three nights ago–Friday. She’d been home, having dinner with Kelly, helping her daughter practice her lines as Lady Macbeth. She remembered how she had basked in that time, knowing that her life had turned around, knowing that it would all be easy from this point.
She tucked the paper into her purse and stared at her salad.
“Nona, I’m sorry. Maybe I should have told you this after we finished eating.”
“No, I had to know.” She paused. “Derrick, would you mind if I left now? I really want to get to the bottom of this.”
“But it’s after eight. I don’t know what you can do tonight, except check to see if the disc is still missing.”
She shivered–imagining her disc being passed from one bootlegger to the next–possibly traveling across the country already. She slipped her purse strap onto her shoulder. “I’ll check on the disc in the morning, but I know I won’t be good company anymore tonight.”
He nodded and motioned for the waiter.
“No, please stay,” Nona said. “I don’t want to ruin your dinner.”
He shook his head. “I need to get home too. And my dinner is already ruined if my dinner partner is not here with me.”
Nona tried to smile, but her head was filled with confusion. Someone was making copies of her video. Someone she knew. Someone she trusted.
As Derrick paid the bill, she tried to imagine all the reasons Allen would make copies of her video. Without her knowing.
By the time Derrick stood and she followed, she was sure–there was no way Allen was involved.
Still, there was someone out there–who knew her, who had access to her safe, who had betrayed her.
Outside, she wrapped her cape tighter around her shoulders. But it wasn’t the night air that filled her with chills.
“Will you call me and let me know what you find out?” Derrick asked.
She nodded. “I don’t know whether to be sad or angry.”
“Don’t decide until you find out what’s going on. No need to waste hours wallowing in the wrong emotion.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his words. “That’s good advice.”
“And I promise I’ll be sufficiently outraged along with you when we figure out what’s going on.”
“Thank you.” She almost chuckled.
Ray eased Nona’s Escalade to the curb, and Derrick walked her to the SUV.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, helping her inside. Before he closed the door, he added, “I had a good time tonight, Nona. Even if we wasted a couple of minutes because you tried to get on my case.”
“That’s not what I meant to do.”
He smiled. “Yes, it was. For a few minutes there, when I was talking about Toni, you couldn’t decide if I should live or if I should die.”
As they laughed, neither noticed the limousine that pulled up behind the Escalade.
Derrick said, “But I’m glad you’ve decided that I should live.”
“It was an easy decision, Mr. Carter.”
He paused. “I think you’re a very special lady.” H
e leaned forward and kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger against her skin.
No one saw the woman when she stepped from the car, then paused and stared at them.
It took Toni a moment to recognize Derrick and Nona. She watched as Derrick kissed Nona, then she rushed back to her car.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she said to her driver. “Take me home.”
When her Town Car eased around the SUV, Toni strained to catch a glimpse of her friend. And at the same time, she fought to keep the tears from her eyes.
Leila paced the length of the hotel room. The robe that accompanied the satin teddy she wore fluttered at the top of her thighs. She looked at the clock. It was almost nine. Her lover was two hours late. She picked up her cell phone again, but before she could punch in his number, the lock on the hotel room door clicked.
He had stepped inside but hadn’t closed the door when she yelled, “Where have you been?”
He let the door close and stared at her. “If you don’t lower your voice, I’m out of here.”
She glared at him.
“I mean it, Leila. I’ve had it.”
She exhaled. “It’s just that we were supposed to get together two hours ago.”
His expression said, So what.
“I was worried,” she said, softening her quivering voice. She sucked in her stomach and sauntered toward him, allowing the robe to flow behind her. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t want to fight. It’s been weeks since we’ve been together. I’ve missed you.” She pressed her lips against his.
He leaned back. “I don’t know why you’re dressed like that. I told you we were only going to talk.”
She pouted, poking out her lips the way he had told her he liked. “But I want you so badly.” She kissed his neck. “And I know you want me.” She pressed against him. “I can feel you,” she panted.
He grabbed her wrists and pushed her away, making her stumble backward onto the bed. “I told you, Leila, it’s over between us.”
“But I don’t understand. We have such a wonderful relationship.”
“We used to have a good thing, but you ruined that by talking about marriage.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“And now you’re stalking me. Like some damn obsessed fanatic.”