by BlaQue
I walked out into the foyer toward the front door to let the detectives out. I didn’t think it would be in my best interest to say anything else to them. I didn’t know what happened, and it would be stupid to say anything more to them without speaking to YaSheema and our attorney first. I had been through more than enough legal troubles in my past to know not to say too much.
I opened the front door wide and the two detectives took that as their queue to get the fuck out of my house. The male detective shook his head as if he were embarrassed that he had even come into my home for this madness. He handed me his card and apologized for taking up my time. I nodded and waited for his overgrown man-ish female counterpart to join him.
When she made it to the door, she smirked at me again. “Make sure that you have your niece and your wife contact us as soon as possible,” she said, glancing back into the sitting room where Pinky was sitting listening to every word she said. Then the detective handed me her card which I refused to take and she dropped it at my feet and walked out. I was so pissed off with her smug behavior that I slammed the front door so hard that all the pictures on the wall clanged on their hinges when the door slammed shut.
I took a deep breath and re-entered the sitting room where Pinky was still seated. She was staring at me with so much concern on her face that I couldn’t look at her. I was ashamed for what almost happened right before the police had broken up our good time. I had worked hard to change my life and be a good husband to my wife and now my dead ex was sitting in my living room.
“Neko, what are you gonna do about that? That bitch cop was practically accusing your niece of murder,” Pinky said finally speaking up.
“I’m gonna call my wife and make her bring YaSheema Nicole back home so we can clear this bullshit up. As for you…you cannot be here when my wife returns with my niece,” I said with more attitude than I intended to have. I snatched my phone off of the mantle and punched Rhina’s cell phone number in. The phone just rang. I hung up and called her again with no answer. After calling her four more times without getting any answer, I knew something was seriously wrong. Rhina practically kept that phone attached to her ear. Even when she was driving she had it hooked up through the stereo system speakers so she could use the phone hands free while driving.
I slammed the phone on the table out of frustration and fear for my family. Something was wrong and every bad feeling I had suppressed for the last seventeen years was making its way to the surface and threatening to break free.
“Neko, I didn’t come here to get in your way. I only came here to tell you that I’m alive. I wasn’t trying to ruin whatever it is you think you got with your wife. I only came here for my closure. I needed it. I have lived seventeen years dead on the inside and the only thing that kept me alive was the hope of finding you to tell you I love you,” Pinky said. She lowered her eyes and I know it took a lot for her to drive from D.C. to tell me that.
Pinky had never been the warm and fuzzy type and it was apparent that the last seventeen years had been hard on her and she had changed. She was no longer the person I knew years ago. I knew I felt something for her. I had never really stopped loving her, but that was in the past. I was married with my own family and it was time for her to let go of whatever feeling she harbored for me. I was determined to never let my father’s DNA that coursed through my veins to cause me any more pain. My father, Darnell, was a man-whore and I had almost slipped into his ways when I was younger. Hell, I almost slipped into them right before the cops showed up at my front door.
“Pinky, it’s good to see you, but I’m sure you know I got other things going on and I really don’t have time for this now. I need to find my wife and niece so we can clear up this misunderstanding,” I said, walking to the front door. I was hoping that she would get the hint and make her exit easy on both of us. I didn’t need any complications. When I got to the front door, Pinky wasn’t behind me. Instead, she was standing up in the sitting area with a grim look on her face.
“So, that’s it? You were two seconds from sexing me up before the cops came in and now you wanna be a family man? I ain’t never understood you, Neko. I honestly don’t know why I bothered giving a fuck then and I don’t know why I give a fuck now. I guess I was hoping that you lived these last seventeen years missing me the way I missed you,” she said with tears threatening to break free from her eyes.
This was definitely a different Pinky. She had never been the type to wear her emotions on her sleeve. Maybe I had dismissed her a little too harshly. I closed the front door and walked back into the sitting room and tried to make Pinky understand that I was a different man from the one that I was when she disappeared. What we had started before could never be finished. I could never betray Rhina. I walked over to Pinky and put my arms around her and held her tightly.
“Pink, I will always have love for you, girl. You were the first woman I ever loved. Things are different now. I am married and I built something special with Rhina and I could never leave her.”
“I know, Neko. I know. I just thought that if I came here, you would miss me as much as I missed you and we could start over,” she said, pushing her signature pink locs out of her face. The more I inspected Pinky, the more I realized I really loved this woman. She was different, but she was still familiar to me and I wanted her, but I didn’t want to hurt my wife. I was torn between doing what was right and doing what I knew my heart wanted me to do.
Pinky broke free from my embrace and wiped her tears away. “I guess it’s a good thing I came here when I did. You might need me. If your niece is in trouble, then maybe I could help. Neko, I think I saw your wife and niece when I was on my way into Atlanta. Your wife was at a Quick Trip gas station and your niece was with her. I didn’t know who they were until I saw the pictures on the wall in the hallway, but there was something eerily familiar about your niece when I saw her. I don’t know why I knew she was familiar to me then since I hadn’t seen her since…” her voice trailed off.
“That means they’re alright then,” I interjected. I scratched my head and another thought popped in my head.
“How did you find me, Pinky? After all these years, how did you know to come here and find me again?” I quizzed.
“I work for Howard University. I work in the admission’s department. I am in charge of your niece’s housing and when her paperwork came across my desk with your name on it, I dropped everything, left work and came straight here to find you.”
“Well, I might need your help. We need to pay her friends a visit so I can find out what happened that night she went to the club. I need to know why they would tell the cops they thought YaSheema would have something to do with that security guard’s death. Maybe Rhina will call me back by then. Either way, we need to find out as much as we can and then find my wife and YaSheema Nicole before the police catch up to them,” I suggested.
Pinky nodded her head and picked her bag up off the floor and dug around in it until she found her pink glock and checked to make sure it was ready for action in case she needed it. I couldn’t help but smile. Some things never changed and for some strange reason, I was happy that they hadn’t. Pinky may have aged a little bit, but she was still ready to make it do what it do if she had to; and for that I was grateful. She had always been a rider and lethal if she needed to be and somehow that comforted me in the craziest way. I guess the more things changed, the more they stayed the same; especially if you were a part of my life. I just hoped my past wasn’t repeating itself.
Chapter Fifteen
Uneasy
Dread
I hated everything about Mondays; especially now that I had to get up and work like a real person. This wasn’t for me and I knew it. If I looked back to when I was younger, I would have never thought I would be doing a real 9-5 job for the sake of saving my life.
Queen had already called me twice and told me that I had better have my ass up and ready to head to Howard to be briefed on what I was supposed to be d
oing my lectures on. The actual classes didn’t start until a week from today, but I had to meet the other department heads and staff. I honestly didn’t want to meet anyone and I damn sure didn’t want to leave the comfort of my bed and bottle. Fuck this work shit!
I got up and showered, hoping that I could wash the weed and liquor stench that was coming from my pores. I brushed my teeth, gargled, squeezed the last of my Visine in my eyes and headed out the door after wrestling with my tie for twenty minutes. I knew if I didn’t leave soon, Queen was going to have a lot to say about it and I didn’t feel like hearing her shit this morning, or any other morning for that matter.
I braved the D.C. traffic which was horrible. All the stop and go from Benning Road to Florida Avenue was enough to drive a sane nigga insane. The unnecessary trolley cars, which were a waste of the tax payer’s money, and the rude drivers were all annoying me. Considering I was on the brink of insanity already, the entire trip was a headache. When I pulled into the faculty parking lot of the university, I was ready to twist up a J and smoke just to calm me down; but then I remembered I left my weed at home so I wouldn’t be tempted.
I cursed at myself for not bringing my smoke with me and walked to the administrative offices where I was supposed to meet Ms. Grey. By the time I found her office, I was already twenty minutes late and I really didn’t give a fuck. She should have been glad that I showed up at all. If she gave me any attitude about my tardiness, I would gladly tell her to kiss my ass and walk right back out the door. To my surprise, Ms. Grey didn’t give me any attitude at all. She greeted me with a warm, sexy smile.
“Good morning, Mr. Evans. I’m so glad you accepted my offer. I was super excited when Queen told me you would be joining us. We can head up to the conference room where you will be introduced to the other staff. I’m sure you’ll love them. I’ve been here for the past eight years and I have enjoyed my time with them. You’ll also meet the admission’s director and your assistant who will be able to help you with anything you’ll need to get you started. Of course classes don’t start until next week, but we should be able to get you up to speed on things before then,” Ms. Grey said, handing me a binder.
She stood up and I immediately took notice of the midnight blue dress she was wearing that hugged her thick hips in all the right places. Ms. Grey was definitely a lot to look at. She may even be worth the trip every morning as long as she kept wearing shit like that to work. Maybe this work shit wouldn’t be so bad after all.
I stared at her a little too long and she caught me looking at her lustfully and she blushed. “Damn. I mean…excuse me for being late this morning, Mrs. Grey. The traffic was horrible on the way in,” I said, trying to make the obviously awkward moment easier.
“Miss Grey,” she said, correcting me, “Mr. Evans, and it’s really no problem at all. I just got in too. You ain’t gotta tell me about the traffic. I already know how it is getting to Georgia Avenue on a Monday morning. No one around here is on time,” she giggled and led the way out of her office and out into the hallway.
There were students coming and going trying to get their classes and tuition situated. Ms. Grey switched in front of me and greeted several people on our way to the conference room. We spent several hours being briefed on what was expected of us during the first few weeks of classes and they went through policies and school practices before we took a break for lunch. I was surprised that I managed to stay awake during the whole four-hour ordeal. I ain’t gonna’ lie, I did more watching of Ms. Grey than anything else. She was throwing glances my way and flashing me her killer smile; and I know that was the only thing keeping me even remotely alert.
When we were all filing out for our break, Ms. Grey was outside of the conference room waiting for me. “See, I told you it wasn’t gonna be so bad. Now for the best part of the day…lunch! Since it’s your first day, I thought I would treat you to lunch. Do you like Italian? There’s a little bistro around the corner that has the best pasta and they serve the best wine around,” she suggested, nudging me. At the sound of anything alcoholic, I was interested. She didn’t have to ask me twice. I nodded my head and let her lead the way.
Ms. Grey and I headed back to the administrative offices and passed by the admission’s office. Ms. Grey wanted to grab her purse and car keys. I waited in front of the admission’s desk where there was a line of students waiting to speak to someone about their housing assignments. That’s when I noticed her. I felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of me. Surely my mind had to be playing tricks on me.
At the head of the admissions and housing line there was a tall, shapely young woman with reddish-blondish hair and grey eyes waiting for keys to her dorm. Even after seventeen years of not being in my daughter’s life, I knew it was her. She looked just like her aunt and her mother. I had to be mistaken. I just had to be. The last time I checked, my daughter YaSheema Nicole was in Georgia with her uptight ass Uncle Neko. There was no way this young woman was my daughter. It just had to be a look-a-like.
I inched a little bit closer to the line where all of the students were waiting to be helped and hoped I could see a name on the form the young woman was filling out while the other woman was surfing through a box of keys.
“Ms. Evans, these are your keys and you only get one set. If you lose them, you will be required to pay a twenty dollar replacement fee for them. I suggest you get a duplicate made for emergencies,” I heard the woman at the admissions desk tell the young woman who I now knew was my daughter. I know there are thousands of people with the last name of Evans on the planet, but I am sure there aren’t that many who looked just like my dead girlfriend and my dead fiancée.
I watched in amazement as the woman I believed to be my daughter took the keys from the grumpy woman behind the desk and started off in the direction of the dorms. I wanted to call after her, but my lips felt like they were glued shut. I wanted to chase behind her and introduce myself, but my feet were planted in one spot on the floor. Even if I were to catch up to her, I still wouldn’t know what to do or say. What were the odds of my daughter coming back to D.C.? Would she even be willing to speak to me? After all, I had left her like she was nothing. She probably wouldn’t have anything to say to me and I couldn’t blame her.
I was deep in thought when Ms. Grey tapped me on my shoulder to let me know she was ready to go. “Are you ready to go, Mr. Evans?”
I must have looked totally blown because Ms. Grey stared at me with her intense, dark eyes. They were asking what was wrong, but she never actually let the words leave her lips. “Did you change your mind about lunch? If you aren’t feeling it we can postpone,” Ms. Grey suggested.
I hated to tell her that I had to bail on her, but I didn’t think lunch was a good idea anymore. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry and all I wanted was to be alone.
“Actually, I think I will have to postpone. I need to make a phone call. It can’t wait,” I said, fidgeting with my tie. It felt like the walls were closing in on me and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. “I’ve got some business to tend to. Maybe we can do lunch tomorrow. I’ll catch up to you during the second part of the briefing,” I said, backing away from her and out of the same doors I believed I had just seen my daughter leaving out of.
I hurried out of the school’s main doors and into the parking lot. My eyes scanned the entire lot for YaSheema Nicole, but she was nowhere to be found. I walked defeated to the employee lot and got inside my car.
“Fuck!” I yelled, punching the steering wheel. I was such a complete fuck up. I had the chance to possibly speak to my daughter again and I blew it. Cranking up the car, I decided I would have lunch after all. Maybe I would have a liquid lunch. I drove two blocks up Georgia Avenue and parked in front of the first liquor store on my side of the street. I definitely needed a drink if I was expected to make it through the rest of this day.
* * * * *
Two hours later
When I finally looked up, I noticed two hours had gone by. I curse
d under my breath and tried to get myself together. I had to finish this day and pretend I was enjoying it. Somehow I had managed to buy and consume two fifths of Remy Martin VSOP and now I was so drunk I could probably get everyone in the conference room drunk from the alcohol spewing from my pores. I never meant to drink that much. I was supposed to only have a drink or two; not have two whole bottles of brown liquor. I knew the rest of my day was going to be a challenge. I almost took my drunken ass home and deal with Queen and Crack when the time came. That’s what my head was saying, but my heart was telling me that I better not fuck this up or I could end up pissing off the only two people I had left in my corner.
I dug around in my glove box and found a bottle of cheap cologne I kept there in case the feds pulled me over while I was smoking. I did my best to cover up the smell of the booze. When I was about to exit the car so I wouldn’t be too late rejoining the others, my phone started to ring. When I looked at the number on the screen I rolled my eyes seeing Queen’s name flash across my phone. She was calling to check in on me. I almost let the call go to voicemail, but I knew that would have been a grave mistake. I answered and tried to sound as if I was sober; which I definitely wasn’t.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Dread…or should I say Mr. Evans. How are things going on your first day?” Queen asked.
“Everything is going fine, I guess. I’m actually headed back in from lunch to finish our briefing and I should be out of here at about four or five o’clock,” I responded, trying my very best to sound as sober as humanly possible. If Queen found out I was drunk that would be my ass.