BOMAW 10-12

by Mercedes Keyes

  "Give it up, I'll eat'em cold!"

  "Now you know doggone well, you can wait a minute for me to warm'em up. While we waitin', what's wrong?"

  "Me just trippin' that's all, no big deal."

  "Okay, then what you trippin' about?"

  "Sheila, I love you with all my heart, but this time, it's just one of them things, I have to keep to myself. If I could tell you, I would, but I can't."

  "I know I be in folks business and talkin' shit about stuff, but when it comes to the crunch of the serious shit, you know damn well, I can be trusted, don't you?"

  Sylvia nodded, "I know, but still I have to keep this one. Hang on, I need to call my husband, let him know where I am, he hasn't heard from me in a few hours and I don't want him to start-..."

  Sheila's phone started ringing. They looked at each other, and Sheila burst into a big grin, "Now who could that be?" She went to the phone and took a gamble, answering, "Hey Shawn."

  "Hey, how'd you know it was me? Ah, caller ID?"

  Sheila chuckled into the phone, the kitchen one didn't have caller id, only the living-room phone did, "Well of course caller id, how else would I know, and before you ask, yes - your wife is here, she was just about to call you, here." She passed the phone over before he could say another word.

  "I was just about to call you."

  "Sylvia!? What are you doing in Chicago?"

  "I drove here, Shawn."

  "I know that, but - see? This is why right here, I don't let you go when you're in that kind of mood. Come on now, don't do this."

  "Shawn, I'm not doing anything, I'll be home tonight, promise."

  "Sylvia, you shouldn't be up and down the road in your condition, what if you faint, get sick, anything could happen. Are you gonna be doing this every time we get into a big fight?"

  "I don't know, I don't think so."

  "You don't think so?"

  "I'm fine, I'll be home tonight, I'll call you before I set off."

  "So you're going to end the phone call, just like that?"

  "I love you, I'll see you tonight, goodbye." She clicked the phone off.

  Sheila sat her heated up rib-tips before her, shaking her head, "You somethin' else, you know that?"

  "I did not come here, to sit before you, having a long and drawn out discussion with him, I'll talk to him when I get home."

  "Gurl, I can see it already, you gone put that man through hell."

  "Yeah, but what you don't see, is the hell that man be puttin' me through."

  "Well no I won't know would I, because you won't tell me."

  "I'm scared to tell you Sheila, it's not a little bitty thing."

  "As long as you and I have been friends, and as I said, you know me, I think you know you-..."

  "Sheila he's killed someone and the police are investigating him." She interrupted her to blurt before she lost her nerve.

  Sheila sat with her mouth caught open in mid-sentence, then closed it, eyes wide, leaning forward towards Sylvia as she began hungrily attacking the rib tips, mainly because, they were delicious, and she was hungry. She'd gotten through five of them, was crunching on the grizzle when Sheila finally spoke.

  "Who he kill?"

  Sylvia licked her lips, and her finger tips, "This barbecue sauce good girl!"

  "Damn that barbecue sauce, tell me something I don't know, like - who - he - kill!?"

  Sylvia sucked her teeth a few times, licking the sauce off of her thumbs saying, "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but - Shanna's husband, who used to beat her up, ten times worse than Armundo ever did me, is missing."

  "Well that don't mean Shawn did it!"

  "Mundo saw him, memorial weekend after you all left, at Shanna's sneaking behind her Jeep. He told Shawn, who freaked out, and - to make a long story short, after that, the guy has never been seen or heard from again. His family is looking for him."

  "Wooo shit! You think he did it?"

  "Remember that night I called you, all upset after you all left?"

  "Oh yeah! Hell yeah I remember, oh girl - you think he did it? He tell you he did it?"

  "Nope, he won't tell me anything."

  "So what, you scared of him now?"

  "No, of course not, not at all. But - if he did it, and they find out he did it, he's off to prison."

  Sheila sat back, "Damn, yo'ass sho' now how t'pick'em!"

  "Oh thank you Sheila!" Sylvia went back to eating more of the rib tips.

  "Well shit, ain't nothing to be done about it now, if he gone, he gone. Any sorry ass coward that would beat a woman, ten times - ten times worse than Armundo used to do you, don't need to live! Shit!"

  "She's miscarried twice, been in the hospital with broken bones-..."

  "Damn!"

  "Yeah, hardcore stuff and when Shawn found out, you should have seen him trippin' Sheila."

  "Hell yeah, he gone be trippin' - that's his baby sister!"

  "She had a restraining order out on him, filed for divorce, moved from where they lived back to Wisconsin, and he followed her there still."

  "Well hell, what else you supposed to do - but pop his ass?! Some people out there don't understand - and ain't nothing you can do to make they ass understand! Prisons are overcrowded for just that goddamn reason! If they'd been able to listen to some damn body, they ass would be free! So now, hardworking tax payers, got to house, cloth, educate, feed and psychoanalyze they ass - when some of them, don't need shit else, but some well placed led in they ass! Shit, good for, Shawn!"

  "Well while you cheering on my husband's side, make sure you tell the law, to back off and leave him alone, because Sheila thanks he done did well."

  "Shit, all he need is a good goddamn alibi, if he got that, they ain't got nothin'! They find a body?"

  "I don't know, Sheila, I don't think so, after all, he still missin'."

  "Regardless of that shit, Shawn m'man, hell - he one of these men that take care of goddamn business, that's all. Besides, you don't know for sure, if that's what he did, if he ain't confessin', leave it the hell alone."

  "That's easy for you to say, shit - the damn police ain't at your door, questionin' you, your son, your husband. I'm sorry, the shit has me just a bit, stressed out."

  "You gone have to find a way to get around this shit girlfriend, that is your man - and the deed is done - if that is, he did the deed. Better start listenin' to Tammy Wynette's ass, stand by your man." Sheila sighed, "What else is there for you to do?"

  Sylvia was quiet, a moment, rubbing her stomach, feeling Jesse James moving around, she sat back immediately, "Look Sheila." He was getting big enough to actually make her stomach move and shift with his actions in the womb.

  Sheila reached over, to look and touch. Sylvia stomach was in full motion, "Them rib tips, his lil'hungry ass want some more!" They laughed and relaxed as they'd done so many times before. Sylvia looked at her friend, and said, "Come to Wisconsin Sheila, I miss you, I know Vivian miss you - oh and gurl-..." She then slapped her hand over her mouth, with her eyes big.

  "What!? What was you fixin'ta say?!" Sheila demanded, knowing that look well.

  Sylvia shook her head, hand still over her mouth.

  "Don't play wit' me! Do not play wit' me! What was you finna' say? You might as well say it now, 'cause you ain't leavin' this house until you spill some shit! Especially, if it's about our girl, Vivian! So come on, out with it."

  Sylvia lowered her hand, eyes big, "I think - Shanna thinks - Shawn thinks - Vivian pregnant."

  Sheila leapt to her feet, did a stomp dance, "You lyin'! She bet not be and everybody know but me! I'mo strangle her ass as soon as she have it! How you know? You sure, or you guessin'?"

  "Jake been on her like white on rice, she cryin' and emotional a lot Shanna said, she super sleepy all of a sudden and she due next week Tuesday, but Shanna say it ain't gonna happen because Jake be on it, all the time, 'cause it ain't no secret and he don't treat it like one - she say, they be at it in that back room gurl - gettin' i
t on like ain't no tomorrow!"

  "Yeah, he done knocked her ass up! And she ain't called me and told me it might be or nothin'! You better keep me up on what's going on - you hear me?"

  "You would know if you would get your husband to move up there!"

  "It's not that I don't want to, it's Dennis, he gotta have work you know, ya'll can't house, feed and cloth us just to have us near."

  "I would if I could Sheila. We'll have that bed and breakfast going soon, and Shawn's studio will be up - that could be a job for you, working for him."

  Sheila laughed, "Shawn don't want my crazy ass as his receptionist, shit! Naw, that ain't gonna help our situation, but hey, we gone be driving up there, just like you drove down here."

  "I guess," Sylvia murmured, leaning back over her bowl to eat some more rib tips, and after a moment, she licked her fingers again, slowly, put her elbow on the table, hand over her eyes, "I'm so scared Sheila, I'm so scared - I love him so much, I don't wanna lose him, I don't wanna lose him. I cussed his ass out so bad today,..." She started crying, "Oh it was bad Sheila, I told him, he was - was trifilin' - called him a nigga and said I don't need yo'ass!" She sniffed.

  Sheila laughed, "Don't cry, how you gone cuss him out and then say you don't wanna lose him? Yo' crazy butt, you call him a nigga, what he say?" She grinned.

  "It ain't funny Sheila, I tol'em he wasn't no better than Armundo sorry ass."

  "You didn't mean it."

  Sylvia sniffed, thought about it, "Yeah I meant it - but - I do love him, and - even though, I wish I never met him, I can't live without him now, Sheila, if they - find that man, and he dead, they gone take my husband to jail, what am I gonna do? The need I have for that man, reach me waaay down deep in my soul, Sheila - I can't get my life back, to the way it was, before him, I can't."

  "Damn! I know what you mean though, that's how I feel about Dennis."

  They sat a moment, thinking about it, for Sheila to speak up, "What ever it is you have to do, that's what you have to do, when it comes to a good man, that means fighting to the death for that man, you hear me? To the death! Here... wipe your eyes, I hate seeing you like this. You gone have to take it, one day at a time, and make the best of everyday with that man, because let's face it, if Shanna's husband was as bad as you say, he deserved whatever it is he got."

  Sylvia blew her nose into the napkins Sheila passed her, "He gonna drive me crazy Sheila."

  "No he ain't, you can handle him. If you could handle Armundo all them years, shit - Shawn is a walk in the park. You made of strong stuff my sista'. The Lord never lays on you, more than you can handle, so - you are obviously suited up for this one. Besides, that man, whatever he may be, love him some Sylvia - don't he?"

  Sylvia smiled, nodded, "Yeah, I think he does."

  "You think? No no no, when a man takes in your grown ass babies and loves them the way he does, it means only one thing, he is consumed with every portion of your being, including the children that have come from your body. Shawn McPherson loves - him some Sylvia, shit - he ain't even tryin' to hide it, never did. You'll be all right, you just gone have to deal and stand by his side, and fight to the death for him, which also mean, lying! Fuck it, shit - this your life, he your man, that's all there is to that. Because this time, you got one that's worth all the drama, oh yes you do."

  Chapter 294

  Shawn sat in his office at the studio, leaning on his desk, both elbows propped up, hands gripping the top of his head. He was worried. He wasn't stupid, in a small way that he took as a sign, his wife had taken off on him again. No, she hadn't left him, but something inside of her, compelled her to take off, get away, distance herself from him. The realization of that, was eating him up inside. The words that came from her mouth earlier, came from fear, frustration and worst of all, preparation. She was mentally, psychologically preparing herself to live without him, he wasn't stupid, he understood that. The effects of living with him, his deeds, his way, his aggressive nature, was slowly coming between them. No matter how much she wanted to be strong and stand beside him, it was getting to her, already. Shawn sat in his woebegone position for a long time, with all happening around him on his mind. He'd come too far, he'd worked too hard, and wanted too deeply all that he had, to let anything jeopardize it; that included himself. He thought about his son, the one on the way - his Jesse James. He ached to hold him one day - the idea of him being taken away from him, whether by Sylvia leaving him, or - by being taken away, to prison - was working his guts at just the thought of it all. Yet, the way he was, the things that shot his adrenaline through the ceiling, the things that brought him fear, that made him protective to the point of actually acting out what he felt was the solution to a problem - was deeply ingrained, programmed within him. First by his father, second by Jesse James Douglas and last by his own doing while in Europe for his 'special training in the arts of defence'. Now, as a result of it all, he was an instant reactionary. His mind did not worry over the consequences until after the deed was done, and that - the latter had not been so, until Sylvia, until the success of her conceiving his Jesse James.

  The current status quo between his wife and himself worried him so, that he gave no reaction to the receipt slips left on his desk that he now had telephone, internet broadband, and TV cable connections - via; Deidre. Basically speaking, due to her, he was now live.

  He sat now, staring at his telephone, sighing, he slowly reached for it. Picking it up, he stared at the dial buttons on the cordless phone. Leaning to the side, reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out his wallet, dropping it open on the desk, looking at the cards slots, he spotted the one he wanted. Slipping it from the leather suede slot, he stared at the name, qualifications and number.

  Chad Withering - Confidential, Experienced, Integrative

  Anger Management -Stress Management - Anxiety

  All Aspects Of Counselling, Past Life Therapy

  Call Now! - 608-222-8080 - Don't wait - until it's too late

  Shawn dialled the number, part of him hoping for an answering machine so that he could hang up. Sure enough, an answering machine, yet - he couldn't get himself to hang up, it was too important to hang up. At the end of the message, at the beep, he cleared his voice and said, "Shawn McPherson, I need to talk to someone, you - my mobile is, 0349-888-6808." He hung up. Took a deep breath, looked around the room, and wanted to cry. His wife was already taking steps to one day walk away from him, he could feel it, and the feeling was scaring him, nothing, none of the things that surrounded him, meant anything, without Sylvia. She was the one crucial center beating heart of his world, to lose her, was like cutting the heart out of it all. He took another deep breath, and focused on getting his studio together now that all was hooked up. In a way, he was glad the kids were all gone, because he didn't want company right now, he just wanted time to try and get himself together; the studio together. He began by getting all of his digital works together to place on his website that he'd be working on, setting them up. All of his best works, photographs, paintings, book covers, web sites. He called the phone company to have a yellow pages ad placed, wishing to date it to start running in their next release. He knew the house would be done by then. He started combing the internet looking for website ideas for his own, and came across a layout with a Great Pyrenees Mountain dog on it, which immediately sparked his memory towards looking for a dog or two. It was while combing the AKC site that his mobile rang. He answered it immediately.

  "Shawn here."

  "Chad Withering here, how you doing?"

  "Hmmm, ah - well - I ah - need to talk to someone, I don't know what your schedule is like, but-..."

  "What's your day like today, Shawn? Or would you rather I called you, Mr. McPherson?"

  "Shawn, please."

  "Okay, Shawn, what's your day like today? I have two open slots from cancellations - I can give you one, or - longer by condensing them?"

  Shawn was quiet, thinking about it, he looked at the clock on his
desk, it was almost two in the afternoon, "What time are those slots?"

  "I have one at three-thirty and another at five, you can have one, or both, it's up to your need."

  Shawn went quiet again, "See you in an hour and a half?"

  "You coming to my office, or, you want me to come to you?"

  "You'll - you'll do that?"

  "Yes, I do that. Some people don't feel comfortable in an office environment, they feel more comfortable at home, I'm here to help - sometimes that means going out. It's good for me too, to get out and about, see how they live, what they're up against."

  "Yeah, I wouldn't mind that, you - coming here."

  "Mind if I'm casual?"

  Shawn smiled, "I'd actually, prefer it, that's fine with me."

  "Okay, your address?"

  Shawn gave him their address and directions there, advising him on the work being done around their home. Chad Withering copied it down and promised to be there on time.

  Shawn felt better having phoned him, and making the appointment that afternoon. For the time being, he focused on the reference list the AKC gave for breeders of various dogs. It took him a while to go through the list, visiting their websites and writing down the numbers of them that seemed most promising. When he was done, he had a list of five. Three for Great Pyrenees, and two for CainCorso Vero types. He spent the next few moments with each, interviewing them, asking hard questions that they must be able to answer before he was even willing to come out and see their dogs. It didn't matter to him that they'd come recommended by AKC, in the end, he ended up with one that satisfied him concerning the Pyrenees and nothing for the CainCorso - he would keep looking until he was satisfied, then saw an ad for a book on getting the best knowledge on the dogs and how to pick them, breeders and the animal. He ordered it. And made a note to speak with Deidre later about the man she recommended who had Pyrenees' breeds.

  At three-twenty, there was a knock on the office door.

  Shawn was quick to go answer it, Chad Withering, Shawn smiled happy to see him, "You made it, no trouble finding the place?"