Blind Man’s Bluff
Gene Lembrick
Copyright © 2014 Gene Lembrick
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1503189783
ISBN 13: 9781503189782
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my family, Alice & Gene Lembrick, Sr. My sisters Brenda, Sonya, Vera and Debbie. Kenneth Minyard. My sons Malik, Tariq & Akil Lembrick. Dawn Clark, Verna & Bobby Gibson, Sr. My cousins Bobby Gibson, Maury Gibson, Ngina Gibson Jayjuan McMillian. John Floyd (great art work cuz). Christi Jones, Gina Lembrick, Kelvin Jones, Stacy Johnson, Eddie West, Pamela Johnson, Edwin West, Deborah Floyd, Michael Abrams, William Floyd, Chris Floyd, Talita Williams, Celestine McGowan, Vanessa Baynes Kenisha Floyd, Katrina Floyd, Yolanda Lembrick Hayes, Chalmers Lembrick, Serita Lembrick, Matthew Harris, Lisa Lembrick, Sayon Lembrick, the Lembrick family in New Jersey. R.I.P. Maurice Floyd.
I would like to thank my close friends, friends and acquaintances who at some point showed me support. Maria Johnson, Vincent Collins, Marilyn Lopez, Yrma Di Benigno, Ida Ruiz, Tim Reliford, Terrell ‘D.J. K.B.’ Davis, Ariel Hodgson, Bayyinah Lyons, Myhang Phan, Janelle Love, Mercedes Rosales, Dale Perry, Daryl Perry, Gina Zitman, Mary Kaido, Cori Cummings-Wright, Karina Klain, Maria Soto-Zawilinski, Frank Collins, Michelle Brenes, Ronda Peters, Brandi Gamble, Dominique King, Jennifer Alers, Michael Martin, Jessica Rosado, Lisa Richards, Al Palmer, Nancy Del Valle, George Duhart, Kim Hawkins, Ira Smith, Earlester Monroe, Kim Harrison, Lenora Smith, Drake ‘D.J. Drake’ Hughey, Malinda Diaz-Amaro, Erskin Ahmad Campbell, Ivelisse Yadira, Kenny Turnbull, Lisa Malone-Wiggins, Greg ‘Big Daddy’ Martin, Tianna Martinez, Gary Ridley, Walter Stanley, Pernell Edwards, Kerrie March, David Duhart, Michelle Nanfito, Ray Massa, Tereza Perez, Brenda Viera, Robert Briatico, Iris Marin, Carrie Hammons, Santos Garcet, Laura Wiley, Amy Beaulieu, Jeffrey Barnes, Brian Rembish, Melissa Gonzalez, Genella Milner, Jared Rodriguez, Erving Johnson, Pam Christie, Olga Ross, Ricky Rodriquez, Denise Edwards, Mann Lark, Charline Almeida, April Burts, Lucius Miles, Cecilia Caraballo, Scott Salius, Cassandra Dipini, Jeffrey Adgers Tulloch-Reid, Maria Angie Espinosa, Ray ‘D.J. Chill’ Moore, Pauline Hillson, Cindy Martinez, Jason Yasin Davis, Maria Cruz, Dan Leske, Laurie Ormes Hernandez, Charles Hillios, Tehmeena Afzal, Orlando Saavedra, Angela Bolden, Michael Thibodeau, LaTrenda Nikki Miles, Larry Coyle, Veronica Lindsey, Raphael Sanchez, Jozii Ruiz, Mark Murry, Karen Martucci, Jade Martinez, Alberto Cortes, Crystal Perry, Edwin Cay, Amy Johnson, Charvonne Smith, Anthony Lilley, Rachael Riche, Camille Swift-Drayton, Robert S. Griffin, Cassandra Swift, Carlos Santiago, Deahna Eiland, Dee Taylor Bonnick, Kevin DeGray, Carlos Rodriquez, Aimee Armstrong, Hena Daniels, Herbert Perriman, Daryl Cook, Wayne Corriveau, Noemi Feliciano-Pacheco, Paul Germano, Nicole Collins, Robert Lee, Takiyah Daniels, Johnny Benites, Ed Corl, Linda Ruiz, Luis Baena, Juan Baena, Paulette Hill-Williams, David Czeremcha, Ken Smith, Fortis Maheras, Tanya Hampton Dawkins, Donny Wiggins, Rosa Lopez, Verneta Veri Sharp, Lamont Thornton, Rosie Sanchez, Connie Atkins, Ronald Black, Tracy Thornton, Clarence Butler, Leroy Gay, Deena Mosley, Carlos Desousa, Ana Bee Lopez, Billy Strickland, MaelisaLeah Quiniones, Rodney Rakestrau, Ann James, Jeff Davis, Julie Patterson, Dennis Gallagher, Fred DeRota, Harold Kerr, Mark Frink, Glenn Bryant, Thomas Chris Allen, Matilda Barrett, Thomas Barrett, Denise Cameron, Marc Lucier, Maurellis Powell, Yesenia Figueroa, James Hickman, Maria Trabal, Tonja Harris, Kimberlee Godines, Janet Lissette, Thomas Browne, Guillermo Burgos, Jason Hall, Kelly Luna, Olivia Dickey, Rodrick Boudreaux, Sharon Jones, Reina DeLeon, Lisa Richardson, Jeffrey Emanuel, Tammie Simmons, Lisa Lewis, Stacey Smith, Eric ‘D.J. Bigg Mann’ Hollis & HOT 93.7, Arshenna Hines, Valerie Devries, Hector Sanchez, Noelle Mendez, Elsa Peralta, Michael Cauley, Inez Lola Johnson, Karon Holter, Dana Kaye, Edith Byrd, Mick Miller, Triana Velez, Richard Kubetin, Candice Mize, Ray Sawyer, Jennifer Trowbridge, Sebastian Mangiafico, Tracy Hartshorn Robinson, Gigi Delgado, Bruce Trowbridge, Leonell McCann, Arthur Whitehead, Esther Renteria, Sachel Cunningham-Hairston, Hubert Branch, Monica Vazquez, Mary Kenneth, Stacey Moore, Karen Logan-Davis, Marisol Olique, Alyssa Natale, John Tierpack, Santi Rivera, Belle Toro, Tony Hayes, Gabbie A. Burney, Grace Doppelmayr, Rhonda Hickey, Monique Brown, Mark Rogoza, Regina Jones, Angel Medina, Jessica Mays, Marsha Patrice, Leah Renee, Konstatinos Kyparidis, Kimalee Williams, Brenda Ryder, Lou Reyes, Mary Ashley, Zonvi Smith, Melissa D. McDonald, Mike Stubbs, Lesley Payne, Kabrini Ganier, Robert Palmer, Kendra Quinn-Ward, Amy Palmer, Jason Squires, Kristan Samperi Mangiafico, Susan Kirwin, Val Strong Jarrell, William Sowell, Lydia Rostkowski, Robert Taylor, Melody Woolfolk, Wendy Leak, April Major, Theresa Barker, Wilbur Strozier, Mikesheka Baltimore, Tara Harris, Erie Johnson, Michelle Nikki Gibson, Deirdre Chambers, Angelica Lollar, Freddie Cook, Milon Coachman, Amy Cabrera, Joseph Goudreault, Edwin Fierer, Shay ‘Blayze’ Sevimli, Kelly Houghtaling, Shaunda Hale, Todd Vining, Tracy Jones, Mark Brunton, Karl ‘Kurt’ McKinney, John Patz, Sylvester Toney, Jennifer Del Valle, Clifford Madison, William Googe, Sheila Watkins Nelson, Kim Snow, Anthony Marshall, Deloris Blanchard-Samuda, Iris Griselle Olivo, Eddie Linares, Paula Manning, Patrick Velie, Danielle Collier, Michael Davis, Teresa Pacheco, James Gillus, Simone Powell, Jose Diaz, Tina Martin, Michael Daley, Margo Griffin, Greg McDaniel, Hector Concepcion, Lissette Martinez, Lesley Payne, Keith Hightower, Deviji Wilkins, Zondra Singleton, Malcolm Champ Freeman Jr., Willie Vega, Dewitt Panton, Ray Smith, Joe Blair, Larrie Jones, Ieasha Wyche, Constance Perrier, Thomas Hunt, Vanessa Ramos, Ron Morrissette, Seniqua Pettiford, Vearneail Woods, Luis Olivera, Robert Briatico, Jim Acciardo, Brenda Quinones, Edward Heller, Gloria V. Velez, Bernie Loubier, Jessica Santiago, Dan Harrington, Clarence Nunnally, Jeff Ment, Lisa McKean, Brian Harrington, James Peracchio, Cassandra Rogala, Suly Perez, Mario Vinci, Shari Specland, Orlando Riggs, Elizabeth Berrios, Michael McCants, Richard Reyes, Tamara Pantoja, James Wilkins, Shellie Paskins, Patrick Hill, Cynthia Cureton Deck-keep rocking the classics. Maurice Green, Carol Chapdelaine, Andre King, Howard Lane, Eddie Ramos, Uriah Chambers, Angela Cleveland, Jocko Sharon, Maria Maggee Febo, Patrick Riggs, Rene Reliford, Rahsaan Battle, Jenna Henderson, Jeffrey Thomas, Roger Gomes, Edward Maldonado, Peter Murphy, Kimberly Weir, William Murphy, Connecticut Department of Corrections, the staff of MacDougall-Walker CI. Kelly McBride, Scott Novak & Angel Ruiz-thanks for taking me down memory lane with your help with D.O.C. staff names. My home, Hartford, Connecticut. Kailey Marsh-thanks for your priceless advice. Massage Envy-Liz, Ariel, Angie, Kathleen, Harrison, Melissa, Sapphire, Jordan, Kelsey, Mariah, Kelly, Alfonso, Barbara, Beki, Ben, Brittney, Cassidy, Chrissy, Dan, Danni, Diana, Gina, Jessa, Joanne, Justin, Karen, Kim, Maria, Mike, Rebecca, Rose, Rupesh, Sam, Sara, Cheryl, Kayla, Melissa, Moriah, Roseanne, Keely, Nicole, Dale & Anthony. CCMT-Dan, Amy, Andrea, Ethan, Heather, Jennifer, Priya, Valeri, Tim, Naim, Anna, Jenn, Leigh Ann, Joy, AgGi, Essence, Janet, Zena, Nikki Arel, Don Chevalier, Danielle O’Connell, Dr. Jason Belejack, Sandra Cook, Cailin Lawler, Peter Trahan, Monique Trahan, Stacey Carew, Nancy Smeeth and thank you to the countless others. Gawet Sewer-your advice got this story in motion, thank you. Matthew LaMothe-your business knowledge that you shared with me was invaluable, thank you. R.I.P. Vicki Bridgewater-Davis, Thomas Lemoine, Arthur W. Smith, Irene Kotiadis, Kevin Williams, Robert Forgette, Bruce Mauldin, Sandry Ramos-Morales.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
The Game
Dr. Gavin Buckley
Jade opens up
Hailey Peterson, Six Years Later
Detective Cooper David
Washington High School
The Locker Room
Austin Lee
Hartford Police Department
The Reservoir
Ross
i
Hanging out
Riley Klein
Hernandez Home
It’s in the Stars
Washington vs. Jefferson
In the Huddle
The Flower
Korey Moore
Hello, Connecticut, I’m Rossi
Adriano and Rosa
Milan
Rosa Hails Ronaldo Zaprini
Superstitions
The Slumber Party
New York City
Caroll Rodgers
Scott Samson
Brandon’s Choice
School Dance
It all comes together
Epilogue: Jade Reflects
Illustration by John Floyd, Jr.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Alice and Gene Lembrick, Sr.
I’m the luckiest person on earth to have you two as my parents. I wouldn’t have accomplished anything without your encouragement and guidance. I could never repay you for what you’ve done for my sisters and me. However, I’ll share your wisdom with my sons as I already do. Mom, thank you for giving dad a shot when he drove by you as you walked down the street over fifty years ago. If not, I wouldn’t be here today.
Blind Man’s Bluff
By Gene Lembrick
Prologue
It’s an oddly warm night for late October in southern New England. For the past hour, Detective Cooper David has been driving around with his windows down, allowing the fall breeze to flow throughout his vehicle as he looks for Jade Hughes. He has a suspicion that leads him to believe that Jade Hughes may know or even be the Rossi killer. He has pieced together four murders that he’s tied to this one psychopath, but she’s a teenager. He questions himself. He has enough circumstantial evidence on Jade to at least bring her in for questioning. He has been to every popular teenager spot he’s targeted. The last spot is the one he’s heading to, the reservoir. Detective David is driving along the gravel trail leading up to the parking area of the reservoir. The surrounding trees hide all of the parking area until it finally appears. David arrives and sees the person he thinks is the Rossi killer walking toward a parked car. Jumping out of the car, he shouts, “Freeze! Police!” With his weapon drawn, Detective David reaches for his cuffs on his belt. Suddenly, he’s surprised by someone walking up from behind him. Detective David fires two shots.
The Game
It’s two thousand and four, right in the middle of the summer, on Morningside Road in the suburban town of East Hartford, Connecticut. East Hartford is just minutes outside of the capital city of Hartford. This afternoon’s temperature is near 85 on this July day; all the neighborhood children, it seems are outside playing on the quiet street. There are ten children in all playing together with an even mix of boys and girls. The children are seven and eight years old.
One of the older girls says, “Let’s play Blind Man’s Bluff!”
One of the boys says, “What’s Blind Man’s Bluff?”
The girl asks, “Do any of you know how to play the game?”
Her friends shake their heads no.
The little lady says, “I’ll be right back.”
She runs over toward two adult males conversing next to a car parked in a driveway of a house.
“Daddy,” she says, “do you have a blindfold of some type?”
“A blindfold?”
“Yes, it’s for a game we’re playing.”
“Excuse me for a moment,” says the man to his friend.
He goes into the house and then soon returns with a bandana.
“Here,” he says.
“Thank you, Daddy,” says the girl, taking the forest green colored cloth. “Would it be okay if we all go over to the school yard to play?”
The neighborhood’s elementary school is directly across the street from the girl’s home.
“Sure.” Her father walks all the children across the street.
“I want all of you to stay in front of the school and not go on to the other side of the building,” he instructs them. “Stay in clear sight, understand?”
All the children say, yes, sir. The father of the young leader goes back across the street to continue his conversation.
Now the girl says, “Okay, here are the rules of the game. One at a time the person we all say is ‘it’ will wear this blindfold and try to find someone else with it on. Once you’re tagged by the blind folded person, they will become ‘it,’” she says.
“The name of the game is to not get caught.
Does everyone understand?” she asks as she looks directly into the eyes of all her playmates. All the children agree to the rules.
“Good.”
The girl then goes on to touch the nearest person to her, a little girl with red hair. “Tag! You're it,” says the leader.
The child is in shock to be the first person tagged. However, she is happy to play along.
The leader ties the blindfold around her head and eyes, spins her around three times. The game has begun.
The children wander around and away from the girl designated as it. Some go hide behind nearby trees, some hide at the corner of the building; all the while giggling while playing this game.
A few minutes earlier on the opposite side of the building, two drifters wander into the neighborhood, Jimmy and his girlfriend Hailey.
“Right here is a good spot, Hailey, nice and quiet!”
“Hurry the hell up, Jimmy!”
“Who you think you talking to? You’re on my schedule!”
• • •
Jimmy and Hailey…Flashback
Jimmy and Hailey are addicts to the core. Their preferred drug is methamphetamine, Crystal Meth. However, they don’t turn their noses up at any other illegal drugs they can obtain. Jimmy is only twenty-five years old but looks like he’s in his 40s. His handsome features have vanished. Hailey comes from a prominent wealthy family whom everyone in the town of Avon, Connecticut, knows. Her father is one of the best shoulder and neck surgeons around. Her mother is a well-respected pediatrician. Hailey’s parents met thirty years ago while they were both doing residencies at a local hospital. Hailey is the eldest of three. Her addiction began shortly after high school. She didn’t have a clue as to what she’d do once she was done with school. She couldn’t picture herself committing to a college for four or more years of her life. The pressure was heavy on her, with parents so distinguished. Hailey looked for relief from the pressure. Even though Hailey didn’t care for school, she was very book smart. She came up with a scheme to use her parents’ prescription pads to obtain some medication to relax her; Oxycodone was her obvious choice. She would write out her prescriptions and take them to different pharmacies in and around Avon; for months, her parents were blind to the missing sheets from their prescription pads. Jimmy, who is a few years older than Hailey, felt that luck had come his way when Hailey announced her scheme. Jimmy had an under-the-table job working construction. The pay was great, but since it was tax free pay, he had no health insurance. One day while on the job, Jimmy dropped a tool-box on his foot. The pain was the worst he’d ever felt in his life. Since he could move his toes, he knew that he hadn’t broken his foot, but the pain felt as if he had. He never went to a doctor; he never went to the hospital or walk-in clinic. He treated his foot with ice and rest on his own. Hailey told Jimmy that she could help him, and this was the beginning of their addiction. One of the pharmacies that had filled a prescription previously for Jimmy didn’t feel comfortable filling out a second one so quickly. The pharmacist called Dr. Peterson, Hailey’s mother, to voice concern.
“Hello, this is Dr. Peterson,” said Hailey’s mother.
“Hi, Dr. Peterson, this is Albert, the pharmacist for CVS.”
“What can I do for you, Albert?”
“Well, doctor, I have conc
erns about one of your patients, Jimmy White.”
“Jimmy White? I know him; however, he isn’t one of my patients.”
“Well, Doctor, he’s come into this pharmacy twice now with a prescription note written out by you or someone in your office for him for Oxycodone. Since it’s a strong medication, we don’t fill it out within a short period of time. This young man was in this pharmacy barely a week ago.”
“My God, please tell me that you didn’t fill it.”
“Unfortunately, we did once, but he’s here now waiting for refill.”
“Stall him. My husband and I will be right down!”
After waiting about 10 minutes, Jimmy felt uncomfortable and decided to leave. He didn’t like how the pharmacist kept looking at him. After several months, Hailey and Jimmy were exposed. Jimmy’s addiction needed something to replace the Oxycodone, which led him to try Crystal Meth. Hailey’s parent unsuccessfully tried several times to get her into rehab, but nothing worked in part because Hailey didn’t give her all into making it work. Once she and Jimmy reconnected after a brief separation, she began to smoke the Crystal Meth with him. Her parents felt they needed to protect their younger children from their adult drug addict daughter. They wiped their hands clean of her.
• • •
The Attack…Present Day
Jimmy takes his hit first, and his hallucinations begin. He then passes the pipe over to Hailey. As Hailey is getting her high, Jimmy sees the blindfolded red-haired girl. He grabs her and covers her mouth to block her screams. The child is frightened; her friends run toward the junkie couple, shouting, “Let her go!”
“Get out of here, you bastards!”
“You heard him,” says Hailey, “get the hell out of here!”
As the little girl takes off her blindfold, she sees her friends running away. They are running toward the two men who are still outside talking across the street from the school.
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