by Cydney Rax
He got out of his truck, along with Jerry, one of his employees.
“Hola,” Rashad said, addressing a small crowd. “Habla usted inglés? English speaking only. I need two men.”
He was immediately swarmed by ten workers who were jostling each other, ready to jump through the open door of Rashad’s van.
“Hold up. Stop! I only need two. What’s your name?” Rashad asked the guys. They simply stared at him.
“No. Go! English only. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”
Ajalon quietly approached Rashad. He was wearing some steel-toed boots and was dressed like he was ready to work. He forced himself through the circle of men.
“What up, man? I’m Cornell Cantu. I need day work. I can do inside or outside jobs. I’m young and healthy. And I speak perfect English and some Spanish—” He started to say that he was fluent in Italian, too, but he remembered Nicole’s warning during one of their walks at the park: Whatever you do, don’t refer to yourself as Ajalon. He knows that name. I don’t want any trouble. The second you give me trouble, your ass gots to get the hell out of Texas.
Cornell was Ajalon’s middle name. And luckily for him, he had two driver’s licenses, one with his complete legal name, and one which a clerk messed up and thought his middle name was his first name. He never corrected her. Both had addresses in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
Rashad asked, “Do you know OSHA regulations?”
Ajalon nodded. He made a mental note to ask Nicole about that.
“And what size you wear?” Ajalon gave him his sizes.
“Today’s your lucky day, Cornell. Get in,” Rashad told him. They shook hands. Then Rashad walked over to the crowd of men. He hammered them with several questions until he found an older gentleman who swore his English was perfect.
“Please hire me, sir. I got a family. They’re my motivation. I do a good job for you.”
“C’mon, man.”
Rashad and the man walked back to the van.
“Cornell, meet Enrique.”
“I’m Henry for short,” the guy said as he crawled into his seat. He had beady eyes and a big nose the shape of an eagle’s beak.
Ajalon was no nonsense. “You may call me Cornell.”
Soon they were on their way. During the trip Rashad described the type of work the men would be doing. “We will be tearing down drywall, other basic demos, taking down cabinets, wood paneling and painting.”
“Aw that’s easy. I can do all that,” Henry said as he took a long drag on his cigarette.
“It’s hard work. I should have told you this up front, but it pays eleven an hour. And if you do a good job, I’ll be back tomorrow, same time, same place. Is that a deal?”
“Sounds good to me,” Ajalon told him. “How long does this job last?”
“Two to three weeks.”
“When do we get paid?” Henry asked.
“By the day.”
“Good. I can handle that. Just as long as you are honest and pay me for the work I do,” Henry said.
“If you honestly do the work, I promise that you’ll get paid. Just stay out of trouble.”
The men were driven to the work spot, a two-story mansion located in the Galleria area. Rashad let them out of the vehicle along with Jerry. “Whatever he tells you to do, do it. He’s my eyes and ears. I’ll be back to pick you all up later today.”
Jerry supplied the guys with uniforms and they were shown all the materials and tools that they’d be using.
The men worked hard and finally took a break for lunch.
Jerry offered to go pick up sandwiches and drinks for them.
“This lunch run will take fifteen minutes,” he said. “Your break will last for about twenty minutes after I get back.” Jerry had to walk a couple of blocks to a restaurant and he didn’t mind. He wanted privacy and he knew they’d probably appreciate the same.
As soon as Jerry left, Ajalon started exploring the house. The home had the tallest cathedral ceilings he’d ever seen.
“I feel like I’m in a damn library or something. Look at all this space.”
“Ahh,” said Henry. “This is nothing. I’ve worked in houses much bigger and more expensive than this. It’s all right.”
Ajalon ignored Henry and continued inspecting every room. He noticed the pricy fixtures in the kitchen and bathrooms. “An athlete must live here. This spot gotta be worth one mil easy.”
Henry enviously looked at the top-of-the-line kitchen appliances.
“Cornell, the boss man must really trust us,” Henry said with a wry grin.
“He has no reason not to trust us. I’m here to work. I hope you are, too.” Ajalon left the man looking stupid as he went to the bathroom. He saw all sorts of raw materials lying around the place. But he didn’t care. Being tempted to steal wasn’t one of his vices. He had a plan and he was sticking to it.
All that morning, Ajalon wished he could speak to Nicole, but he knew it was too risky. She’d already warned him that Jerry wasn’t to be trusted.
“Don’t talk to him any more than you have to. He is sneaky as hell. So watch your back.”
Ajalon listened and agreed to Nicole’s instructions. But now he was starting to miss her. He picked up his cell phone and started to call her. Then he had another idea.
He used the bathroom and went to find Henry, who was puffing on his third cigarette. He flicked the ashes in the sink and didn’t bother to rinse them down the drain.
“Hey, you think you should clean up after yourself, dude?”
“This ain’t my house. I ain’t gotta do shit.”
“Whatever,” Ajalon said as he gave Henry another steely look.
“Hey, man. I need to make a personal call but I can’t get a signal on my phone in this place. You got a cell I can try to use?”
“I don’t hand over my phone to strangers.”
“What? We’re stuck here if you haven’t noticed. It’s not like I can run outside and jump in my car.”
“It’s not like you can’t run outta here and race away on those young, strong legs you got, either.”
Henry was on the older side, so he was probably one of those guys who always felt he was in competition with the younger workers.
“Whatever, man.”
“But you can try using the phone they have here. There’s one upstairs. The landline is working.”
Ajalon swiftly ran up the spiral staircase of the gorgeous mansion. He walked around and recalled that he had seen a phone installed in the wall of the master bathroom. The bathroom had a huge tub, two walk-in showers, a sauna, and double sinks. It was bigger than Nicole’s entire house.
Ajalon opened a cabinet door and picked up the phone.
He heard a dial tone.
He glanced at his cell phone and then punched in Nicole’s number.
She didn’t pick up. He decided not to leave a message.
After a while he heard a commotion downstairs. He went on down and saw Jerry handing Henry a white paper sack.
“Hey man, where were you? What’s upstairs that you had to go up there?”
“Nothing.” Ajalon shrugged. “I needed to use a working phone. No big deal.”
Jerry stared at him, then handed him his sack of fried chicken wings.
“Y’all got ten minutes, then it’s back to work.”
“But you said we had twenty,” Ajalon protested.
“And now I’m saying ten,” Jerry snapped.
“Yes, sir,” Henry told him. “Ten minutes only.”
By the end of the third day at the mansion, Ajalon was used to his routine. At the urging of Nicole, he searched the Internet on his cell and learned quite a bit about OSHA regulations; he was quick and accurate with his work.
After completing their work for the day, they waited in front of the house for their ride back to Home Depot. But this time, instead of Rashad coming to get them, another dude whom Ajalon didn’t know picked them up.
U
sually they got paid as soon as they got back in the van after their shift ended. But the guy sitting in the driver’s seat said nothing as he drove them back to the parking lot.
“Where’s boss man?” Henry finally asked.
“He ain’t here.”
“I can see that,” Henry said as he retrieved a fresh cigarette.
“You want one, Cornell?”
“Nah, I don’t smoke.”
When they reached the Home Depot parking lot, the driver pulled to the side and popped the locks. The men waited in the van. The motor was still running and the driver said nothing. Henry, who was about five feet three, crawled over Ajalon to sit behind the guy.
“Hey, thanks for the ride, but you got something for us?”
“I ain’t got nothing for you. You’ll have to see the boss man tomorrow.”
“Hey,” Jerry said. Although he was a salaried employee, he was always looking out for Rashad’s best interests. “What’s up with that?”
“You heard me. If they wanna get paid, come back tomorrow. Now get the fuck out.”
Henry picked up his cell phone and tried to make a call. The man reached back and slapped the phone out of Henry’s hand.
Livid, Henry popped the driver on the back of his head with a closed fist. “We ain’t leaving this truck till we get our fucking money.”
The man protected his head as Henry slugged him again. When the man still wouldn’t pay up, Henry pressed a lit cigarette against the man’s neck. Tiny particles of his hair and skin began burning. The smell was unpleasant, like smoked pork. The startled man jerked and screamed, then bolted toward the door, trying to get out of the van. Jerry pressed the button and locked him inside.
“Where’s our money?” Henry screamed.
The driver emptied his pockets and threw almost three hundred and fifty dollars in the back seat.
Jerry exploded. “You were going to steal from the boss?”
“Rashad owes me.”
“Then you needed to bring that up with him and not take the money from these workers.”
“Fuck them and you, Jerry. You owe me five dollars your damned self.”
Ajalon picked up the money off the seat, then he and the other men got out of the van. They watched the disgruntled man drive away.
“He’s history,” Jerry said. “That piece of shit will never work for Rashad again.”
Ajalon counted up the cash and gave everyone their pay.
Jerry shook both their hands. “Thanks for handling that. You two are pretty cool. See you in the morning.”
The next time Ajalon and Henry saw Rashad, he offered them more work.
“Next job is a big one. And I got you, Cornell. Jerry told me what happened. And don’t let that dude scare you. He was on his way out anyway. I caught him stealing from one of the work sites. And I tested him by giving him some cash and seeing if he’d pick y’all up and pay you your money. I wasn’t worried about no four hundred dollars. And I don’t let people work for me who I don’t trust. Don’t forget that, you hear?”
“We hear you,” Ajalon told him. With that he made plans to keep coming back to work for the man who held the key to giving him everything he planned to have.
Chapter 17
Stormy Weather
Kiara was adjusting to her new life. She finally went through every square inch of her house and unloaded each item that reminded her of the past. Eddison suggested she give Rashad’s things to the Salvation Army, but Kiara packed his belongings into some garbage bags and gladly drove away to the nearest dump. Eddison couldn’t help but laugh and beam at her with pride. She then recovered all of her ex-husband’s books and sold them at Half Price Books. She only made fifty dollars out of the deal, but it was enough to buy tickets to the State Fair of Texas for herself, Myles, Eddison, and the baby. It was held in the Dallas area. They woke up that Saturday morning in late September and drove up I-45 in a rented SUV. The road was clear and the weather felt perfect.
She sat back in her seat and sighed with contentment.
“What are you smiling about?” Eddison asked as he glanced at her profile.
“Happiness, babe. I never dreamt I could be this happy.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
“Jazz did well at her recent check-up. I’ve lost all my baby weight. Got rid of all that trash.” She giggled.
“I didn’t want to say anything, but now that you’ve gotten rid of items that you should have dumped a while ago, your mind is going to be a lot clearer. You will be able to see the things that you were blinded to before.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because it took me years to get to that point after Nina passed. So actually you are doing better than me.”
“That sounds impossible, too, Eddy.”
“But it’s not. I am learning you and I can see the pep back in your step. You are becoming a more complete woman.”
The sweet words he spoke to her made her desire him in ways that she knew she could do nothing about. They were going to drive up to Dallas and stay at a Marriott one night, then head back home the following afternoon. The kids were in tow so love-making was out of the question.
“Hmm, I have you to thank for the good things that have happened. I mean, look at you. You are stepping up. I thought you would have changed your mind, but you didn’t.”
“I told you,” he said. “You don’t listen to me.”
“I plan to listen to you from now on.”
They arrived in Dallas hours later and were immediately struck by all the sights and sounds. They had fun exploring one pavilion after another. They munched on turkey legs and funnel cakes, played games, showed Jazz things she’d never seen before, and let Myles explain to them all the fascinating details about the animals that were housed at the farmyard exhibit.
Kiara thought it hilarious that he became an expert at a place he’d only just discovered.
“See that baby calf? He’s only a few hours old, yet I think he weighs more than me. And that exhibit over there is where the chicks are going to hatch when they peck through the egg. And they are very curious and will wobble around, eat some food, then they’ll close their eyes, lean over, and fall asleep with their feet up in the air.”
“Sounds like someone I know,” Kiara teased Myles.
“Yes, that sounds just like you, Mommy.”
They all laughed and continued to let Myles act as their tour guide.
Life certainly was good. Kiara’s family felt complete and she no longer cared if anyone gossiped about her or their judgment. It’s what her family thought of her that counted.
* * *
At the beginning of the next week, Rashad was pleased with his work and decided to promote Cornell by increasing his responsibilities and upping his salary twenty dollars per day. During the last week in September, Rashad explained to his crew that he had to go on a trip that would keep him out of the city for ten hours. By then Ajalon had been in Texas for exactly two months. Life was going good. But he still wasn’t where he ultimately wanted to be.
That Tuesday night after his shift ended, Ajalon’s adventurous side motivated him. Instead of waiting for Nicole to show up at Arthur Storey Park like he usually did, he decided to catch the bus to her house.
It was twilight by the time he arrived on her doorstep. He rang the bell and was shocked when an attractive woman answered.
“Hello, may I help you?” The woman was holding Emmy in her arms and softly singing to her.
“Aww, Emmy. Such a pretty little girl,” he said. “Is the child’s mother or father home?”
“Um, who are you?”
“You must be the nanny. I don’t remember ever meeting you. I’m a friend of the family.”
“Your name?”
“Call me Cornell.”
“Like the university?”
“Like the rapper Nelly.”
“Oh! Well, neither she nor her husband is here.”
His ey
es clouded. “Excuse me? Did you say her husband?”
“That’s what she calls him. I think. I’m not sure. Just forget it.”
“I see. Um excuse me, miss, but is it all right with you if I come in and wait?”
“I am not allowed to let strangers in the house while my employers are gone.” She started to close the door in his face, but he reached out and stopped the door from shutting all the way.
“I understand your concern. The parents are very good to put you in charge of their child while they’re not here. What’s your name again?”
“Um, I am Miss Nadia.”
“Nadia. That’s a pretty name for a very pretty lady.”
Ajalon hoped that Nadia was a sucker for a compliment. It looked like it as she began to relax and soak up his attention.
The sound of thunder ripped through the air. At sixteen weeks of age, Emmy was able to let out a healthy, piercing scream. Nadia grew worried as she peered up at the darkening sky. “I think it’s about to storm.”
“Are you all right? You look very afraid, Nadia.”
“I hate thunder.”
Lightning suddenly brightened up the sky. More thunder boomed. The atmosphere felt very static.
“Oh, my Lord,” Nadia said. “The ground is shaking like we’re in an earthquake.”
“If you want, I will stay with you. There’s nothing to be afraid of as long as you close this front door and think happy thoughts.” Ajalon slickly slid inside the doorway but wouldn’t go any farther.
“I will wait inside until this storm passes over. I’m sure it won’t take long. Maybe the man and his wife will be back soon?”
“Oh, no. Mr. Eason is gone for the entire evening. I am waiting on his wife to return from buying groceries. She doesn’t like to shop and try to look after her daughter at the same time. Sometimes I go with her, but tonight the baby was fussy. So she said she’d make a quick grocery run and would be back soon.”