BOMAW 10-12

by Mercedes Keyes

  "Aaah shit now. You mean I got to sniff somethin'? Aaah man, I'on know 'bout that." Mundo shook his head worried.

  Trying not to laugh anymore, Ben leaned up, clearing his throat, inhaling with the shake of his head trying to get serious. "Listen now, this is very important. There's varying stages of this, the best place for a first time, is in a car."

  "In a car? Why?"

  "Because of the heat, close confines and the fact that if she's not clean, it will come out in that car. Are you listening?"

  "Damn skippy I'm listenin', I got to hear this."

  "Okay, this is what dad says and its true. First thing, beware of girls that use a large amount of strong perfume. If the perfume gets to you before they're halfway in the room, avoid! They're trying to cover something up."

  "Okay, loud perfume that's chokin' the hell out yo'ass - skip over, she may be a nasty."

  "You got it. Next, you're in a car right?"

  "Right."

  "You gettin' all close, cool?"

  "Yep, gettin' all close, cool."

  "Okay, this is it, start taking deep breaths while you're kissing her neck, down her front."

  "Deep breaths?"

  "Yes, don't hyper ventilate! Just act like you're all turned on, you know, heavy patting and panting, but really, you're sniffing her over. You're sniffing it out ... that's the role of the dog, man, sniff it out, first."

  "Ain't that some shit! Jake told you this?"

  "Yep, all of us. Now listen, you must get her, to spread her thighs, to open up for you. If you're not hit yet, with a harsh odor, keep going, everything is okay."

  "Okay, so what's like a harsh odor, like what?"

  "Put it this way, when you get that scent of her, it should turn you on. It should make you hard as hell, hard as a fuckin' steel pipe. Its like a musky, natural scent that is slight on some women and stronger on others, but it should never put you off! It should not make your eyes water, should not wanna make you pinch your noise and run for your life."

  "Aaah hell naw! I'm stayin' a virgin if I got to go through all that!"

  Ben was laughing again, "Hey, its life! Its what you have to do to protect yourself! Now pay attention! This shit is important!"

  "I'm listenin', I'm listenin'!"

  "So there you are, her thighs are spread for you, you're turned on, she's smelling like a rose, so far so good. Time to get those fingers down in there, get in them folds of her, I mean really get it on you, your fingers that is. Now, this is crucial ... fingers are soaked, time to reach up with that same hand and bare a breast on the pretense of kissing it, sucking it. Face, mouth goes for the nipple, fingers are right there ... now ... sniff."

  "That's when you sniff?"

  "That's when you breath in deep. That's when you'll know for sure. If an offensive, foul order hits you then, play time is over."

  "Aaah hell yeah, I gotcha now. That's straight! I always wondered about that shit. Now what you do, if what you sniff ain't right?"

  "Then, you sit up quick and go, "What the fuck! What time is it?" All of a sudden, you just remembered that you have to be home, or somewhere NOW, that very moment for whatever reason you can think of. You push her aside, wipe your fingers off, by the way, keep "Handy Wipes" in your van, tucked under your front seat. Everything you do, should be done as if you're in a big hurry. Wipe up your hands, whatever ... get that car started, tell her, sorry, we gone have to do this another day! I have to get out of here! I have to get my ass home, and now! Bring in your mother! Something that you promised your mother, or that your mother asked you to do ... when you bring in your mother and you're panicking, it works! Mother is the hidden code word that will get you out of all kinds of situations like that. Trust me, I've had to use it more than a few times. So now, come on, let me hear it back."

  "Okay, okay, okay, keep a condom for my shit!"

  "Two condoms! Two for one go!"

  "Oh yeah, straight, two for one."

  "That's right, no condoms, sorry, no ass for you that day, take no fuckin' chances and what else?"

  "Avoid kissing in the mouth, 'cause ain't no tellin' where her mouth been."

  "Back up, what's the first sign, you missin' it."

  "Oh, okay, avoid loud perfume wearers, 'cause they trying to cover up a rotten, corroded, nasty, funky ass!"

  Ben roared and then sucked it back, covering his mouth again and nodding his head, he pointed at Mundo again, for next.

  "Get her ass in a closed vehicle, close confines, start sniffing the air like Deputy Dog, what the hell is that smell?!"

  Benjamin had to stay in the pillow and so from there, just pointed at him for the next tip.

  "The final sniff test! Get them thighs open, get them fingers in there, stir it up a lil'bit, then go for the titty. Hand at the titty, mouth at the titty... sniff!"

  Ben rose to ask, "And if it ain't smelling too right?"

  "What time is it!? Mama gone kill me! Oh lawd, mama gone set my ass on fire, I gots to go! I gots to go now!"

  "Yes! And you're the hell out of there!"

  "Yeah baby... hell, I'm ready now! Well ... lil'bit... now what you do if she pass the sniff test?"

  Ben collapsed on the bed with a groan.

  Chapter 227

  Camp Daniels

  "Morning Althea."

  "Mornin' Royce, how you doing this mornin'?" The fifty plus year old women asked; she'd been working in the Camp Daniel's police office as a secretary and dispatcher for the last twenty-five years, knew all there was to know about what was going on in their small town.

  "Can't complain much." Royce returned heading for the coffee table to make himself a cup. He was dressed in his uniform, hat under his arm, getting ready to head out on his normal routes when their chief stuck his head out of his office calling to him.

  "Officer Collier, wanna step in here for a minute please; 'fore you head out?"

  Right away, Royce was put on alert. Their chief always addressed them all by their first names unless he called them for official business or for disciplinary. "Sure, I'll be right there." He answered, stirring his coffee and grabbing a couple of Althea's homemade oatmeal cookies, they were the best ever. He wondered what this sudden meeting was about.

  In the chief's office he took a seat in front of his desk.

  "Let me ask you something Officer Collier, seein' as how word has it you've hooked up with one of our new citizens for a few weeks now. What'a'ya know about her husband?"

  Royce stared a moment unsure of what he was being asked. "I'm not sure what you mean? What are you getting at?"

  "You seein' Shanna Sykes?"

  "Shanna McPherson, yes."

  "Her name's Sykes, she's currently married to a John Sykes, that right?"

  "Well, yeah - they're getting a divorce."

  "I see. You know when about that's due?"

  "Real soon, I'm thinking sometime this week, can't be sure on the exact date, why?"

  Capt. Hurst, lifted two sheets that were trying to roll up and passed them for Royce to see. "Those came up on the fax this mornin'. Few minutes later, I got a call from the CPD, Columbus Police Department; seems that uh, his family - claims he's missin'."

  Royce unrolled the two sheets, one of them had a picture of John Sykes on the front of it and on the other, a list of his details, when he was last seen, the usual missing persons details. Taking a deep breath, Royce looked up at his chief, "Missing since when?"

  "They say they haven't seen nor heard from him since Memorial day weekend. His mama claims he had plans to come up here, see his wife. Try and get her back. Know anything about that?"

  Royce nodded, fighting the need to take a deep breath. His heart was hammering like mad, disturbing his breathing, but for the life of him, he would not let it show. Instead he nodded his head letting out a small amount of the nervous tension suddenly swollen from a rush of adrenaline as he answered, "Matter of fact I do. She was a nervous wreck when she heard that he was here. Not quite sure what happe
ned. She was expecting him to show up at her door, never did."

  "Why would she be nervous?"

  "Domestic violence. If you check his details back in Columbus, Ohio you'll find that she had a restraining order out on him. He was still trying to make contact with her despite that." He informed him, appearing to be cool and calm.

  "Domestic violence huh?" The chief asked sitting back in his chair, closely observing his officer.

  "Yeah." Royce returned.

  "How exactly, is it that she heard that he was here? Did he call her? Did he leave her a note? What?"

  "He'd been spotted by one of her neighbors, who basically told her, he'd seen someone near her property. A man that matched her husband's description."

  "A neighbor huh?"

  "Yeah, a neighbor."

  "Who?"

  "Who what? The neighbor?"

  "Yeah, who's the neighbor that saw him?"

  Royce sat back taking a deep breath finally, "Her brother's step-son."

  "McPherson? Shawn McPherson who just moved in here last year?"

  "Yes."

  "Now, that don't exactly add up to just ... a neighbor, now do it?"

  "Family then, a family member saw him."

  "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

  Royce shrugged, keeping eye contact.

  The chief sighed, shaking his head a moment, then asked, "Shawn McPherson's stepson?"

  "Yeah."

  "His name?"

  "Armundo Payne, everyone calls him Mundo, he saw him. Saw'im at the Subway/restaurant and then saw him again that night she was so upset. Seems he'd been sneaking around her property late at night."

  "I see. Then what?"

  "Nothing. Nothing ever came of it. She called me, upset, scared of him. I went to her, talked to her, calmed her down. That sort of thing."

  "You ever see'im?"

  "Just pictures. Ones that she showed me and now this one." He answered, keeping his head clear.

  "And this young man, what's his name again?"

  "Mundo."

  "Yes, this Mundo. He's sure that this man sneaking around her property, was her husband?"

  "He seemed to be."

  The chief nodded his head, leaning back and to the left with his elbow perched on the chair arm, his chin resting on his thumb, his index finger playing with his bottom lip as he sat thinking about what lay before him now. It was his turn to take a really deep breath.

  "Mind me, you and I, that is, goin' over there and talking with her? With him? This Mundo?"

  "Well, you can talk to her, but uh, Mundo isn't there, he's out of town. The entire family is."

  "Shawn McPherson's family?"

  "Yes, they're out of town."

  "He uh, married the black woman who bought that property a while back, is that right? Sylvia ... Sylvia ???" He snapped his fingers trying to jar his memory, "... help me out here, what's her last name?"

  "Was Payne ... yes, they're married now."

  "So its her son?"

  "Yes."

  "They own quite a bit of property now down that road, her on one side, him on the other. That include the land his sister's living on?"

  "Yes, yes it does."

  "I see. Well, you mind, us going by there, having a word with her?"

  Royce took another deep breath. "I suppose we could, if you think it'll help find him, frankly I don't... but-..."

  "Why don't you think it'll help?"

  "Because I've been with her, pretty much everyday if you must know. And uh, quite a few nights. If she'd seen him, heard from him, she would have told me. She was quite frightened of him."

  "I see ... well, just for the sake of covering all basis, let's go talk to her anyway. They're waiting on the other end to hear back from me on what I find out here."

  "Fine, let's."

  Royce stood, sipped his coffee following his chief, no longer interested in the oatmeal cookies. The coffee was hard enough to get down with his mind replaying that night over in his head. Shawn had been in a rage. Shawn determined to protect his sister at all cost. Shawn with a gun. Their father arriving on the scene later with more guns. Their guarded discussion on what to do should he show up again. 'Jesus Christ! Damn you John Sykes ... you show up again? Did you - you dumb asshole? Godalmighty, you took your dumb ass back there and got yourself killed?!' His mind raged.

  They were in the car now, buckling up with the chief thinking out loud some more, "Don't you find it a bit strange that a man would travel all that way, all those miles and not see the person he drove all that way to see?"

  "I suppose I do." Royce had no choice but to say.

  "Yeah, I find that strange as well. Thing is, he did go back to Ohio ... back home."

  "Oh yeah? If that's the case, why are we doing this?"

  "Loose ends, that's why."

  "But how do you know he went back there, someone must have seen him?"

  "They found his car."

  "His car?"

  "Yeah, seems some kids had stolen it. Thing is, they had the keys to the car. Were joy ridin' in it. Police went on a right chase after them, three young men, a young girl. Took them in and charged them with auto theft and questioned them about how they came to be in possession of the car and keys. They all claimed that the car was unlocked, and the keys were under the front end of the vehicle. So they took it for a ride."

  "That means that he went back to Ohio."

  "So it seems, still ... if you got a pretty decent vehicle, livin' in the city, what are the odds you gonna leave your car unlocked."

  "Who knows, people do it all the time don't they? Get in a hurry, forget to lock their car."

  "Yes, yes, it happens some times. But the kids had a set of keys."

  "Spares, under the front end, remember?"

  "Yeah, I guess. They swear up and down that they never saw a man, that they just took the car."

  "Well there you go, seems pretty pointless to bother her with this, I mean, he went back to Ohio. So if anything happened to him, it happened there."

  "Why is it bothering you so much, that we're going to question her?"

  "With all due respect sir, why do you think? She's gone through hell with him; she's put a restraining order out on him; what does that tell you? And, I'll be totally honest with you, I'm in love with her. I'm already making plans for her, for us. So naturally, I don't want her unduly bothered, upset."

  "Fair enough. But we still have to do, what we have to. I'll question her, and then when I'm satisfied, I can send my results back to Ohio. Right?"

  "I guess so sir, that would be about right." Royce felt like he was going to choke. He hoped and prayed she made no mention of her brother's involvement or else, shit was going to hit the fan. On the way there, he also prayed she wasn't home. Unfortunately, when they pulled up, not only was she there, but by the looks of it, her parents as well. They were all out front of her property, looking like they were on their way somewhere. All three stopped their progress to watch them pull onto the gravel drive.

  Royce wanted to groan out loud, but of course didn't. Right away, Bartholomew took on a stance of ready confrontation. His arms crossed over his chest, his legs astride, his eyes narrowed on them, waiting. Shanna and her mother came up alongside him. He said something out the side of his mouth to Shanna, but his lips had moved so slightly, he wasn't sure if he had said anything or not. Chief Hurst was the first to open his door and step out.

  "Good morning." He greeted.

  Taking a deep breath, Royce opened his own door, stepping out, greeting as well. "'Morning all."

  Bart looked from one to the other, not bothering to return their greeting, instead stated in his slow, contemplative drawl, voice deep and a bit intimidating, "We were just on our way out, what can we do for you?"

  "Well we see that, I'm Chief Derek Hurst, you know of course who this is." He indicated Royce.

  Bart looked to Royce, nodded, "Officer Collier, what is this all about?"

  "Mi
nd if I explain sir? And you are?"

  "Bartholomew Jacob McPherson." He introduced himself fully.

  "Mr. McPherson, well its mighty nice meetin' you. And the two ladies here?"

  "My wife, Gertrude Eleanora and our daughter, Shanna Eden."

  "Nice meetin' you all this mornin'. Since you're on your way out, I bes' cut to the chase. We're here to make an enquiry on a missin' person," He looked to Shanna then, "Mrs. Sykes, we received a fax this morning from the CPD, Columbus Police Department concerning your husband. Seems his family, has reported him missing."

  "Oh yeah, since when?" She answered calmly. She had been ready for this. Waiting for it in fact. She knew his family, knew that more than likely they would report him missing. Once more, she was faced with her decision, how what she'd done, was going to effect her entire family. This was about her life. Her brother's life. Their family and everything that they were about, as McPherson's. She never blinked, didn't look at Royce and was ready for whatever, come what may. Her father had told her, "Let me handle this." But there was only so much he could handle. Were she not to speak up and answer any questions asked her, it would look suspicious.

  "They say they haven't seen him since he left there this past memorial weekend."

  "I see." She returned, saying nothing more, staring at the Chief of police.

  "Does that concern you?"

  "Long as he doesn't come here messing with me, I don't care where he goes."

  "Or whether he goes missing?" The chief added, watching her.

  "You want me to be honest, or for the sake of pretty pictures, you want me to lie?"

  The chief stood a moment staring at her. For such a pretty, delicate looking little lady, she was surprisingly stern. "Guess under the circumstances, with him, I hear you have no pretty pictures."

  "No sir, I don't. So I'll be honest. I could give a damn if he ever shows his face again. He's the biggest error of my life. I have a divorce date with a judge that's going to fix that error for me. I get this strange feeling, he's pulling this just so he doesn't have to show up at court. Doesn't matter, I'll be there. This is one time, nothing he does will change things between us. I'm not taking him back, which is what he wishes, no way; I'm going through with our divorce."