by Falicia Love
Larry changed the subject when he realized that Travis wasn’t happy with the questions he was asking.
“What do you want to do today?” he asked Travis.
“Can we go to the park and ride the rides?” Travis asked, perking up once again.
“We can do whatever you want, son, but Daddy has a quick stop to make before we go, so eat up. I’ll be right back, okay? I’m not going far. I’ll be over there by that window, okay?” Larry said as he pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket.
“Okay, Daddy,” Travis replied.
Larry dialed the number on the paper as he walked toward the window. “Hello, may I speak with Debra Fuller, please?”
“May I ask who’s calling?” the lady on the other end asked.
Larry didn’t respond immediately. He was trapped in thought about Farrah. He actually cared for her, but he couldn’t let the guys know that a ghetto chick had stolen his heart. They clowned him enough about her, and he had gained his respect by being heartless and ruthless.
“Hello, sir? Are you there?” the woman spoke again.
“Uh, yes, I’m Larry Bigelow,” he answered.
“One moment, please,” she said as she placed him on hold.
Larry decided to do as Thad had suggested. He was going to go for custody of Travis. He wouldn’t let his feelings for Farrah distract his mission in life, which was being respected in the dope boy lifestyle. He wasn’t soft and wasn’t going to lie down now.
* * *
Jeryca and Thad hung out most of the day. It was Tuesday, and Thad didn’t have any plans. He had to try to figure out a way to gain a little of Jeryca’s trust back. Since he had picked her up, she seemed stronger mentally and wasn’t being manipulated by his accusations of losing money because of her. He didn’t know what it was about her that had him fucked up. He felt she owed him, and he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he got every ounce of her dignity.
Jeryca, on the other hand, was determined to make Thad give her what she wanted and treat her how she deserved to be treated. Yeah, she had been fucked up for a moment, but now she was in control, and Thad was going to treat her like a queen.
“Thad, can you please get me a bottle of water?” she asked seductively.
“Yeah, I can do that,” he said.
“Unopened, if you don’t mind,” she stated, letting him know she didn’t trust him.
Thad started to tell her to get her ass out of his fucking house. She had called him to pick her up, and he wasn’t going to continue to take her attitude. The look he gave her let her know that she was going too far.
“If you don’t trust me, Jeryca, why be here?” he asked solemnly.
“I-I didn’t mean anything by it,” Jeryca stammered.
“I hope not, ’cause I can take you back where I picked you up at,” he snorted.
Jeryca didn’t say a word. She dropped her head and lay back on the bed. Thad walked out of the room and got her the water, and ran into Toby and Chris on his way back to the room.
“You really bought her back here?” Toby asked.
“Yeah, where else was I going to take her?” Thad whispered as he ushered the two into the office from the hall.
“Man, you know you are crazy, don’t you? She is going to bring real heat down on us. I feel it,” Toby murmured.
“I got this under control. Damn. Trust me, okay?” Thad replied.
“Wasn’t it you who told me and Larry to get rid of our problems. But you’re holding on to yours, man,” Chris said.
“Look,” Thad started, “this is different.”
“How so?” Chris asked.
“I ain’t got time to explain, but I know what I’m doing. Now excuse me,” Thad said as he walked out of the room and back to where Jeryca was.
“I see trouble brewing,” Toby whispered to Chris.
“Yeah, me too,” Chris said, shaking his head.
* * *
Wednesday morning, Dana walked into work feeling lost and confused. She was tired and hurting, but she couldn’t let that stop her. After she got to her desk, one of her bosses, John Dresher, walked in.
“Dana, I need you to pull up the Galveston case file and do some research on two separate case laws. I need two good ones where the case law will show that, without a doubt, our client should get every bit of the five hundred thousand dollars we are suing for.”
“Okay, I’m on it, Mr. Dresher,” Dana replied.
At that moment, Mr. Dresher looked at Dana and asked, “What’s wrong? Look up at me please, Ms. Crisp.”
Dana looked up slowly, trying to tilt her head at an angle, hoping he would miss the dark black-and-blue circle around her eye.
“I’m okay, sir! I will get right to it,” she answered quickly.
“You aren’t all right, Dana. What’s wrong with your face?” he asked as he advanced on her to get a closer look.
“Well, sir, it’s kind of a long story, and I just really don’t want to get into it right now. I mean no disrespect at all, sir, and I do appreciate your concern,” she said with a weak smile that also reflected a busted lip.
“I’ll let it slide, but you know if you need to talk, you can come to my office,” he said.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll remember that,” Dana replied as she stood to go to the cabinet to pull the case file.
After John left, Dana threw herself into her work until lunchtime. When she shut down her computer, she walked out of the office to grab a bite of lunch. When she walked into the lobby area, she noticed the three main partners looking at her strangely.
“Damn, Mr. Dresher can’t hold water,” she whispered to herself.
Dana went to Luigi’s, an Italian restaurant that was within walking distance of her job. She needed the exercise and the fresh air to clear her mind. She thought about everything that had occurred over the last few days and still couldn’t understand why or how things went so haywire. Dana was seated for about ten minutes when her cell began to ring.
“What’s up, Brit?” Dana ate and talked to Brittany through her entire break. She had proven to be a great friend.
An hour later, Dana walked back into the office and was greeted by two police officers.
“Dana Crisp?” The first officer asked.
“Yes, I’m Dana,” she answered, looking around, embarrassed by the scene that was taking place.
“I’m Detective Rone, and this is my partner, Detective Harris, and we need to talk with you about one Ms. Jeryca Mebane. We were told that you had information on her disappearance.”
“Follow me into my office, please,” she replied.
As they walked to the office, Dana noticed the disapproving stares she was getting, and she understood why. This should never have taken place at her job.
Once they were inside, Dana sat down and started without offering either man a seat. “Listen, I don’t appreciate you coming here to my job, and like I told Ms. Mebane, Thad Royster is who you all need to be talking to. Jeryca made the decision to go back to that drug-dealing loser, not me. Now please leave!”
“Ma’am, we do apologize for showing up here, but we were told that you wouldn’t be returning to your residence, and we’d be able to get you here,” Detective Rone explained.
“Is that right? Well, I’ve answered all your questions, so again, I ask that you kindly leave, sir,” Dana retorted.
“Have a good day, ma’am,” both detectives said before leaving the office.
“What a fucking week!” Dana said as she rubbed her forehead.
Dana finished her day without any other distractions. After she clocked out for the day, she headed home to again try to get some understanding of her week.
* * *
Thad was heading out of the house early Thursday morning to go meet with Toby and Chris. He was going to drop Jeryca off at the hair salon while he handled his business. As he walked to his truck, a black car swooped up behind it, blocking him in. He immediately grabbed at his side for his
gun, but as the two men who were in the car got out, they were holding badges.
“Mr. Thad Royster?” one of the men asked.
“Yes, I’m Mr. Royster, and who are you?” Thad asked, frowning.
“I’m Detective Rone, and this is my partner, Detective Harris. We are looking for a Jeryca Mebane. A Dana Crisp told us that you may know something about her disappearance,” he explained.
“Is that right?” Thad asked.
“Yes, sir, anything that you can tell us will be greatly appreciated.” As the officer was talking, he was looking around and inspecting Thad’s house and vehicle, which didn’t go unnoticed by Thad.
“Well, you can ask Jeryca where she been yourself. She will be out here in a few seconds,” Thad replied.
“Oh, really? Well, that would be great. We can close this case and move on if she is here,” Detective Rone said.
While they waited, Detective Harris asked, “What do you do for a living? With this nice truck and lovely home here, you got to be making big bucks.”
Thad didn’t respond right away. He knew that they were prying, and Dana was probably the cause of it. Thad was going to nip that in the bud as soon as he possibly could.
“Well, I own a saucing company. We make barbecue sauce, hot wing sauce, chili, and seasonings.”
“Sounds interesting,” Detective Harris replied. Before he could inquire further, Jeryca walked out of the house toward the three men.
“Ms. Jeryca Mebane?” Detective Rone asked.
“Yes, I’m Jeryca,” she answered.
“May we have a word with you, please? Just step over here, behind the car,” he instructed as he pointed to the back of their car.
“Yes, what do you want?” Jeryca asked, but not before she glanced at Thad, causing Detective Harris to also look over at him.
“Is there something wrong, Ms. Mebane? Would you like to go somewhere else?” he asked her as he looked back at her.
“Oh, no, I’m good. Again, what do you want?” she asked.
“Well, your mother reported you missing, and we were placed on the case,” Detective Pone replied.
“Well, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine,” she stated.
“Yes we can see that, but do you have any identification?” Detective Harris asked.
As Jeryca pulled her ID out and presented it to the detectives, Thad walked over to his truck and got in. He sat in the driver’s seat, angry at the fact that Dana had just messed up his and Toby’s plans, ’cause he was sure he would be seeing those detectives again.
After Jeryca finished talking to the detectives, they called her mother to inform her that they had found Jeryca, and that she was fine. She asked to speak to Jeryca, but Jeryca declined. She got into the truck with Thad and waited for the detectives to pull off so they could leave.
“Jeryca, I can’t believe that bitch sent twelve to my crib. That ho knows what the fuck I do. Y’all some trifling heffas, I swear!” he yelled as he dialed Toby’s number.
Jeryca looked over at him, frowning. Why the fuck was he yelling at her, and who the fuck was he calling a heffa?
“Aye, man, listen: call Chris and tell him to call Orlando and tell him we might have to reschedule the pickup for the guns and weed ’cause Dana done sent the fucking police to my house looking for this bitch,” Thad yelled into the phone. As he continued to explain to Toby what happened, Jeryca listened very intently to what was being said as she looked out the window. She wasn’t going to let Thad run her off until she got a cut from the plan she had just learned that he was putting together. As they pulled up to Min’s Hair Salon, Jeryca waited as Thad pulled out a hundred dollar bill from his wallet.
“Brenda will pick you up and take you back to the house when you’re finished,” he said, not looking at her. Jeryca was about to get out of the truck when Thad’s cell phone rang, and a familiar picture of a female popped up on his phone. After she got out, she walked slowly into the salon.
“What the fuck was Stephanie calling Thad for, and why did he hide it from me, and where did he get that picture of her from?” she wondered aloud.
Chapter Eight
Jeryca couldn’t get over the thought of Stephanie calling Thad and Thad hiding it from her. How did she get his number anyway? If it were innocent, Thad would’ve talked to Stephanie in front of her. Jeryca had gotten her hair done in an up-style bob, which took only an hour to finish. After she called Brenda, she sat outside on a bench and watched a handsome man get out of a red Dodge Challenger.
As he walked past her, his eyes lingered on her a few seconds longer than usual, which told Jeryca that he was interested. She gave him one of her most dazzling smiles and said hello. He stopped, complimented her hair, and they talked for a few moments. Jeryca got his phone number and planned on calling him. As soon as he walked into Kinfolk clothing store, Brenda pulled up seconds later. They drove toward the house, and Jeryca was once again wondering what was going on between Thad and Stephanie.
“Brenda, have you seen Thad with any other women while I was gone?”
Brenda liked Jeryca and wanted to tell her the truth, but she knew who paid her salary. “No, I haven’t, but you know I don’t sit around here too often. Why you ask, sissy?” she replied.
“I’ve just been hearing shit from different people. Girl, I know he playing me, but I’m going to win when all this is said and done,” Jeryca muttered. Brenda looked over at Jeryca and saw a determined woman sitting next to her. She was certain that Thad had a problem brewing on his hands.
* * *
Larry got the call from Chris that their meeting with Orlando might have to be rescheduled, and he was okay with that. He got Travis dressed and called Keith to see if he wanted to ride with him. Keith was his number one partner, and they hadn’t really hung out much lately. When he pulled up to Keith’s apartment, he was already outside waiting.
“Trav, my man!” Keith said as he got in the car, giving Travis a small pound.
“Hey, Uncle Keith,” Travis said excitedly.
“Where your father taking us early this morning?” Keith asked.
“I don’t know, Uncle Kevin. He won’t tell me.”
“Well, I guess we ’bout to see, li’l man.” Keith laughed.
They drove about ten minutes and then pulled into a large parking lot. Keith frowned and looked at Larry when he realized where they were.
“Dude, are you really going to see an attorney?” he asked.
“What’s an attorney?” Travis asked.
“Uh, it’s nothing for you to ask about, son,” Larry said, giving Keith a wicked side eye. As they got out of the car, Larry looked at a still frowning Keith.
“Man, I will explain everything later.”
“I just hope you don’t regret what you doing,” Keith whispered.
“I’m just going to talk to them, man,” Larry explained.
“I hear you!” Keith sighed, shaking his head. They walked into the building and a tall, older woman approached them.
“May I help you, gentlemen?”
Larry walked forward. “Yes, I’m here to see Debra Fuller.”
“And do you have an appointment, sir?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I do. My name is Larry Bigelow.”
As the woman picked up the phone on her desk to let Debra know her eleven o’clock appointment was there, Larry’s cell phone began to ring.
“Oh my God. It’s damn Farrah. She would call at this fucking time,” he muttered to Keith.
“Hello,” he whispered into the phone.
“Hey, Larry, can I speak to my li’l man, please?” Farrah asked.
“I’m kind of in the middle of something and he isn’t—” he started, about to tell her that Travis wasn’t with him, but before he could say anything, Travis ran up to him.
“Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Keith said that Mommy is on the phone. Can I talk to her?”
Larry looked at Keith with a serious frown, but he gave in to his son’s requ
est.
“Here, talk to her while I’m handling my business.”
“Hey, Mommy!” Travis said as he walked to the chair next to Keith.
“Hey, baby, how are you doing? Mommy miss you,” she said quietly.
A crease formed in Travis’s forehead, which didn’t go unnoticed by Keith.
“Mommy, why you sound so sad?” he asked her.
“No reason really, baby. I just miss you. Are you having a good time with your father?” she asked.
“Yes, we been so many places, Mommy. We at a torneys office now,” he replied.
“You’re where?” Farrah asked to make sure she understood him.
“At a torneys office,” he repeated.
“I thought that was what you said. Where is your father now?” she asked.
“He is in the office with the lady, Mommy,” he answered.
“Tell him to call me when he comes out. Okay, baby?”
“Okay, Mommy,” he replied.
“I love you, son,” Farrah said.
“I love you too.”
* * *
Farrah slammed the phone down after talking with Travis. Was Larry really going to seek custody? She didn’t have any money to get an attorney, and the one person that had offered to help her was the same person that she and Stephanie had jumped on and really shitted on. Farrah didn’t know what she was going to do, but she wasn’t going to lose her son, and she wasn’t going to wait on Larry to tell her he was seeking custody. She needed time to figure shit out, and she knew in her heart that she didn’t have long to work it out.
* * *
Larry couldn’t keep his eyes off Debra. She was intelligent, beautiful, and employed. When he walked into her office, he couldn’t help but watch her hips sway from side to side. His ears tingled when she spoke. He, in fact, told her she had an angelic voice. She smiled, but she continued with business. He took in her beauty as she read her disclosure to him. As she attempted to hand Larry some forms that he needed to sign, she caught him staring at her, smiling.
“Mr. Bigelow, is something wrong? Are you having second thoughts?”
Larry started to make a bogus excuse, but decided to tell her the truth. “Honestly, Ms. Lady, I’m just admiring your beauty. Are you single and would you ever consider dating a client?”