Faking Reality

by Zaria Garrison

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Danita pulled a black glove on her left hand and then repeated it for the right hand as she prepared to attend Tia Kitt’s funeral. While she and Tia had not grown close, Danita’s heart ached for Brandon. She knew firsthand what it felt like to lose a spouse under mysterious circumstances. Over the past several days, she did her best to offer him support and comfort and was pleasantly surprised that the whole cast of Revelations had rallied around him.

  The police had found Tia’s rotting body in the trunk of the limousine that had been stolen from the cast party five days prior to the funeral. The police were not sure, but several of the clues found in the limousine pointed to Julian Washington being responsible. After dusting the car for fingerprints, they found one thumb print that had been confirmed as Julian’s. Their next step was to question the driver who had been carjacked. After looking over the pictures that the police provided, he felt that Julian looked familiar, but he was unable to swear that he was the same person who’d knocked him out. Without any other evidence, the police were reluctant to issue a warrant for Julian’s arrest. Instead, they put out a search for him as a person of interest, in the hopes that he’d come forward to clear his name. So far, that had not happened.

  Danita could not get over the fact that he seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. After several hours of questions by the police, Anderson decided that he did not want to be implicated in any crime; therefore, he finally stopped telling the cover story and admitted that he had no idea where Julian was. He had not heard from him since before the finale party and he assured the police that he would contact them if he did.

  Philippe pulled up to the mortuary and let Danita out in front. She was wearing a simple A-line black dress, with two-inch heeled black pumps, black gloves, and a black hat with a small veil. It was the same outfit she’d worn to her husband Ben’s funeral. As she entered the doors, she was surprised to see Ben’s alleged mistress standing among the crowd of spectators outside the mortuary. Danita assumed she was either nosy or a fan of the show, but neither mattered to her at that moment. The size of the crowd inside surprised Danita, as she’d been told that this would be a private service. Then she remembered how many siblings, nieces, and nephews that Brandon had and realized that they were the mass of people that she saw.

  She walked over to Yolanda Snow, feeling grateful to see a familiar face. “Hello, Yolanda, how are you?” she asked.

  “Um . . . Hello, Danita,” she answered.

  Danita noticed that Yolanda’s eyes were red from crying. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you and Tia were so close,” she said.

  “It’s not that. I mean, I liked Tia. It’s just that I can’t shake the feeling that it was supposed to be me lying in that box. Julian intended to kill me, and Tia somehow got in the way,” she cried.

  “Have the police named him as a suspect?”

  “Not yet, but I’m positive that he’s responsible. I just hope they find him soon.”

  Danita put her hand on Yolanda’s shoulder. “Stop worrying. If Julian is responsible, I’m sure he’s miles away from here.”

  “I guess you’re right. I feel so bad for her, though. What kind of animal kills a pregnant woman?”

  Danita leaned in and lowered her voice. “You mean you haven’t heard?”

  “Heard what?”

  “Brandon told me that Tia wasn’t really pregnant. The police found some type of padding in the car, and then the autopsy confirmed it. There was no baby.”

  Yolanda eyes bugged out in surprise. “No, I had not heard that. I’m really ashamed, but I haven’t been around Brandon much at all. Jimmy has spoken with him, but I feel so guilty about Tia’s death that I’ve just been avoiding him.”

  “Isn’t Jimmy coming to the funeral?”

  “Yes, he had to finish up some business at the church first. He’s meeting me here.”

  “Let’s go find a seat before Brandon’s family takes up the whole place. We’ll save a spot for him,” Danita suggested.

  They entered the chapel and found three seats on the same row as Zack and Charlene Morton. They waved politely, then took their seats. In silence, they watched as Brandon entered with his mother on his left and his father on his right. Each of them held on to his arms as if they believed he would topple over if they let go. Although they were positive his heart was shattered into tiny pieces, he showed no emotion. There were no tears or loud outbursts. He simply looked straight ahead as they led him to the front and helped him into a pew. They were followed by the rest of Brandon’s family. Danita thought it was odd and sad that none of the mourners was related to Tia. After the family was seated, Jimmy entered and found them just as the choir finished singing “We’ll Understand It Better By and By.” Quietly, he slipped into his seat.

  Brandon’s associate minister began the service by reading a scripture that was familiar to them all from John 11:25–26.

  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

  During the service, he spoke of God’s ultimate plan for eternal life. He advised those who had accepted Christ to grieve with the hope that one day they’d see Tia again, while admonishing those who were lost to get right before it was too late.

  Following the services, they were all invited to attend the repast that was being held in the gymnasium of Brandon’s church. Danita was chatting with Charlene Morton as they waited for the caterers to bring their food to the table. She looked in the direction of the door and once again she saw her late husband’s alleged mistress. This time the woman managed to get past security and was barreling across the gymnasium, headed straight for Danita. “I need to talk to you. It’s important,” she said.

  Danita was so stunned she didn’t know how to respond. “What . . . What could you possibly need to speak to me about?”

  “They lied, and they double-crossed me. When I went to court, I thought they was gonna take you for every dollar that you got. I ain’t know they was gonna try to take yo’ kids. We needs to talk,” she said.

  Danita cringed as the woman who had spoken so eloquently in court was now standing in front of her butchering the English language. She was also creating a scene as she stood in the middle of the room in a bright yellow sundress and sandals. It was as if she believed it was the middle of the summer instead of the end of November. “Fine, let’s see if we can find a room where we can speak in private,” she finally said.

  Danita followed the woman into the ladies’ lounge, where they found a woman standing at the sink washing her hands. They stood staring at each other without speaking until the woman exited the bathroom.

  “First of all, let me say that I ain’t the kind of woman you think I am. I wasn’t having no affair with your husband. As a matter of fact, I barely knew the man. I’m a single mother, and I got kids to feed. I just want you to understand that,” the mistress said.

  “I knew it. I knew Ben would never cheat on me. Why did you lie in court? I don’t understand.”

  “Miss Joy made me do it. She was my supervisor at the cleaning company where I worked. One night she caught me taking a nap on the job. I just knew I was done, but she said she’d make a deal with me. She told me that she needed me to come in court and pretend to be your husband’s mistress. I ain’t wanna do it, cuz like I said, I’m not that kind of woman. But she threatened to have me fired if I didn’t go along with it. And she told me that once the case was settled, she would give me some extra money, you know, for my trouble.”

  “You said they double-crossed you. What did you mean by that?”

  “That no good heffa, Joy, fired me anyway. Two days after we was in court, she called me in the office and let me go. She said it was because of cutbacks, but I know better. So I asked her when was they gonna get the settlement money because they won the case. I figured I could really use it because I was ou
t of a job. That’s when I found out that they didn’t ask for no money from you.”

  Danita nodded. “That’s right. Is that why you’re here? Did you plan on asking me for money?”

  “No. Just hear me out. Like I said, I’m a single mother, and I got kids to feed. I heard they was trying to have you declared unfit so they could get yo’ kids. That’s just trifling. You done lost yo’ husband; you need to be with yo’ kids.”

  “Right, as long as I pay you for the information?” Danita eyed her suspiciously.

  “No. To be honest, it’s not like that. I think it’s wrong that they trying to do this to you, and I wanna help. That’s my word from one single mother to another. I’ll go back to the court and tell the judge the truth, and if you see fit to pay me for that, then I’d appreciate it cuz it’s hard not having a job. But I’m not trying to sell you information. I just wanna help.”

  Danita smiled. “Well, let’s start by you telling me your name. I’m sorry I wasn’t really listening when you gave it in court.”

  “It’s Gretchen Jenkins. I know it’s strange to see a black woman named Gretchen, but I was born in Germany while my daddy was in the Air Force.”

  Charlene Morton entered the bathroom and interrupted them. “Is everything okay in here?” she asked cautiously.

  “It’s great,” Danita answered. She turned to Gretchen. “Are you hungry? I know they’ve got tons of food out there. Won’t you join us for dinner, and then we’ll finish our talk.”

  Gretchen nodded her head.

  She followed Charlene out of the bathroom. Danita stood back for a few moments. “Thank you, God,” she said before following them out.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  When she returned home that evening, Yolanda went upstairs and knocked on Priscilla’s bedroom door. “Come in,” she heard her say.

  “Can we talk?” Yolanda asked through the half-opened door.

  Priscilla sat up on her bed and grabbed the remote for her TV and clicked it off. “Sure. Come on in.”

  Yolanda took a seat on the bed beside Priscilla. “I think I owe you an apology,” she said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I was hoping you’d make this easy on me, but I guess I deserve the attitude. I’m sorry about what happened last week in the mall. I got caught up in the frenzy, and I’m really sorry that I forgot all about you. Will you forgive me?”

  “I will if you tell me the truth about something.”

  “I’ve always told you guys the truth. What do you want to know?”

  Priscilla looked directly into her eyes. “Did you really have an affair with Mr. Washington? I mean, the clip of you kissing him is all over YouTube. You and Dad said it was edited, but it looked real to me.”

  “The truth is the kiss was real, but he kissed me. I pushed him away immediately. What you saw on television was edited. He made it look as if we were kissing for a long period of time, and that’s not true. He wanted your father to believe that we were having an affair, and then he intended to kidnap me.”

  “But he got Mrs. Kitts instead, right?”

  “That’s what your father and I believe, but the police are still working on the case.”

  Priscilla nodded her head. “Momlanda, how do you know if you’re being stalked? I mean, do they just follow you around?”

  “Has someone been following you?”

  “It’s not about me.” Priscilla hesitated. “It’s Lavette. She broke up with Nehemiah last year, but he won’t let go.”

  “What has he done?”

  “He calls her all the time. Sometimes if we’re at the movies or out to eat, he’ll show up out of nowhere. One time he told her he’d kill her if she didn’t take him back, but then he said he was just playing around.”

  “Honey, listen to me. Lavette needs to have her mother call the police. I want you to call her today and tell her that,” Yolanda said. Her voice was filled with urgency.

  Priscilla shook her head. “He’s just annoying, not dangerous.”

  “I know it may seem like that now, but she has to do something before things get out of hand. I used to believe that Julian was not dangerous. Even when he was sending me text messages saying that he would kill me, I didn’t believe it. I’m sorry now that I didn’t take him seriously.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to her later. Oh yeah, and I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have left you at the mall like that. I was just so mad.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about anything like that again. The show is over, and after a while, people will stop recognizing me when we go out. But even if they do, I promise that I won’t act crazy like that again.”

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Mr. Carter called while you were out. He said that he needed to talk to you guys about the show. He said something about a ‘special.’”

  Yolanda was livid. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Anderson had not attended Tia’s funeral, she could not believe he had been making phone calls about the show. She left Priscilla’s room and went down to the family room to tell Jimmy. He was on the phone when she walked in, so she took a seat and waited.

  “That was Anderson on the phone,” he said after hanging up. “He wants the cast to get together to film a special Christmas show.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. I know that you told him that there’s no way that we’d be involved.”

  “Actually, I didn’t say that. I mean, that was my first reaction, until he explained to me what he wants to do.”

  “Jimmy, I’m shocked. You are the one who’s been against being on television from the beginning.”

  “I know, but this is different. He wants it to be a tribute show honoring Tia’s life. He plans to invite each member of the cast to gather and offer our memories of her. He’s also having the production team put together a montage of clips of her from the show.”

  “Honey, I don’t mean to sound uncaring, but who in the cast even has any memories of Tia? She was always so standoffish. Besides, if they edit her footage the way that they did mine, it won’t be a tribute, it will be another massacre.”

  Jimmy sighed. “That’s not gonna happen. He also told me that the police have officially named Julian as a suspect in Tia’s murder. They’ve issued a warrant for his arrest. I think Anderson is trying to distance himself from Julian and this crime as much as possible.”

  “Thank God. Do they have any idea where he is?”

  “No, but they have some leads. Julian owned a cabin in Virginia, and they believe that’s where the murder took place. They’ve also questioned his family in Greenburg, but they say that they haven’t seen him or heard from him. He’s apparently on the run.”

  “I remember that cabin. It was so far back up in the woods, the squirrels needed scooters to get there. I always hated that place. Julian called it romantic, but to me, it was just creepy,” Yolanda said, shuddering.

  “Well, I told Anderson that we’d consider doing the show, but only if Brandon agrees. I won’t do anything that’s going to put him through any more grief or pain.”

  “Honey, Danita told me today that Tia had been lying about being pregnant. She said the autopsy confirmed that there was never a baby.”

  “Yeah, Brandon told me about that. It was difficult for him to lose Tia, but finding out she’d been lying to him for months about the baby just devastated him. I mean, how can he grieve for her when he’s so angry about what she did?”

  “I think we should do the show,” Yolanda said.

  “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me,” Jimmy smirked.

  “No, you don’t understand. This time, it’s not about me getting in front of the camera and trying to be the star of the show. I can’t help but to feel somewhat responsible for what happened to Tia.”

  “I’ve told you before, you can’t blame yourself. Julian is a crazy man, and he’s the only one responsible for this crime.”

  “Jimmy, last night I had a horrible dream.”

  He looked at her with con
cern. “You tossed and turned all night. I’m surprised that you slept at all.”

  “After the dream I was so shaken up that I couldn’t . . . I was too afraid to go back to sleep. It was so real.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I dreamed that Julian came back for me. He told me that he was sorry for what happened to Tia, but that I was next. He said, ‘I love you to death.’ Then he shot me. It was so real that I felt a burning in my chest, like a bullet was searing through my flesh. I fell, and I just kept falling and falling and falling until I woke up.”

  Jimmy pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, honey. It was just a dream.”

  “I know, but he’s still out there somewhere. I’m so sorry that I let my desire to be famous bring so much pain into our lives. Tia didn’t deserve to die because of my ambition.”

  “That’s not why she died,” he assured her.

  “I was just upstairs talking to Priscilla, and she has a friend who’s being stalked by an ex-boyfriend, but she’s not taking it seriously. I didn’t take it seriously either, and I can only imagine the many women out there who don’t. Even when I did call the police on Julian, they were really nonchalant about it.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “We need to do this show and bring some attention to the crime of stalking. We need to let those young women out there who are getting the late-night phone calls and text messages know that they need to take these threats seriously. Even if Brandon doesn’t want to do the show, we need to talk him into it.”

  “Honey, aren’t you forgetting that Julian was verbally and physically abusive to you as well? That was probably a sign of what was to come.”

  “No, that’s my point. We need to point out the signs of an abuser and possible stalker. Jimmy, you are always talking about how you want your church to minister to those with real-life issues. This is as real as it gets. We’ve got to do this show for every scared woman out there, but most of all, so that Tia’s death is not in vain.”