He opened his front door and was immediately bombarded with the scent of incense. Jackie was draped across the sofa. Her long hair was brushed out and flowing over one arm. Her lips were painted mulberry red, and she was listening to mood music. Her red negligee revealed one bare arm.
He paused at the door and raised his eyebrows. "Jackie. I hope I am not interrupting anything."
"Oh, hi," Jackie said to him breezily. "I am unwinding, easing the tension of the day."
Taj grinned. "Okay, let me not interrupt."
"No," Jackie said, getting up, her sultry pout replaced with a plea. "Please stay. I need to talk. "
Taj sighed and sat down across from her. "I'm all ears."
"I think Natasha is wrong for you," Jackie said softly.
Taj shook his head. "I can't think why."
"She has a black belt in some strange Asian discipline. She'll break your neck if you two have an argument and nobody is around."
Jackie adjusted her negligee top to show more skin, looking at Taj while she did it. Seeing no visible softening of his eyes on her, she hissed her teeth. "You are so controlled. Unnaturally so."
Taj leaned back in his chair. "It's called dissociation. This one is mild detachment. One develops it over time, dealing with patients."
"Taj, I'm not a patient," Jackie said, frustrated with him. "You liked me one time. I could see it. Don't deny it. You were softening toward me. What caused this coldness?"
"For one crazy moment, well maybe a month, I thought about being with you." Taj shrugged. "I wouldn't have been human if I hadn't. You are really gorgeous and I am a healthy heterosexual male."
"Thanks," Jackie preened. "So what changed?"
"I love how you look, but I love Natasha, all of her, even when she's grumpy. I can't shake it; she's the one."
"But she is always away on some covert mission or the other," Jackie said pouting, "She thinks that her career is more important than your relationship. That, in my opinion, is a deal breaker."
Taj laughed. "Isn't that why you and Gareth divorced?"
"Yes," Jackie smirked, "but see, I learned my lesson. I am now more aware of what to do in a relationship. I am a far better option than Natasha right now because she hasn't learned that lesson yet."
The doorbell rang and Taj raised his eyebrows at Jackie. "Expecting somebody?"
Jackie shrugged. "No. You?"
Taj shook his head and got up. Jackie reclined on the sofa and smiled wickedly when she heard Natasha's voice at the front door.
"You left a message at the front desk of my building saying that you wanted to see me." Natasha hugged Taj. "That's so sweet. I thought you said you had a whole lot of paperwork and..." Her voice trailed off when she came into the living room and saw Jackie in lingerie, smiling benignly.
Taj had a perplexed look on his face.
"What is it, detective?" Jackie asked, purring, "You look shell-shocked." She arched her back seductively. "You really can't barge into our mutual dwelling without warning, you know. You just might interrupt something private."
Natasha sat down in the chair across from Jackie and chuckled. "Taj hates incense; reminds him of his mother's funeral. Aren't you tired of the staged seduction scenes? I am not as gullible as Kylie, you know. She told me the story of your little bid to get between her and Gareth."
Jackie sighed and got up. "It was worth a shot." She swung her hair back in frustration, "I am not really an evil villain, as everybody is making me out to be, you know, including that milk-mouthed Kylie."
Natasha chuckled, "I believe you."
Jackie snarled. "Don't sympathize with me. You have no idea how hard I worked to get Taj to give you up."
Natasha shook her head and watched as Jackie flounced to her room.
"You better marry her fast Taj, or you are fair game." Jackie looked at him soulfully and then slammed her door.
Taj sighed and sat down beside Natasha. "She's right." He felt in his pocket and took out the ring box he had been carrying around for days. He removed the ring. "Tash, I love you. Will you marry me?"
Natasha giggled. "Love you too, and of course I'll marry you."
She kissed him on the lips and then drew back and looked him in the eyes. "We are not going to be living here with Jackie, are we?"
Taj shook his head vehemently. "Oh, no. I will have to sort out something."
Chapter Eight
The weekend came too quickly for Arnella. She was just getting into the groove of school. Tracy called Arnella as soon as she stepped into Computer 101, her final class on Friday morning and her final class for the week. It was in the Information Science building.
"Arnella, you haven't gotten back to me about that party." Tracy was in her apartment filing her nails. "It's Saturday night you know. I have to give my friends some feedback today."
Arnella grimaced; she had completely forgotten about Tracy and her party. "I can't," Arnella said, taking her seat at a computer that was at the back. "I have stuff to do."
Truth was, she didn't want to hang out with Tracy, and she had her art to do. She was itching to finish a painting for Taj that she had started. She saw that he liked earth tones so she was doing an abstract for him for his office. It could double as an engagement present as well. He told her, at their session yesterday, that he had proposed to Natasha.
"Stuff?" Tracy asked, a sneer in her voice. What could be more important than hanging out with her? Everyday she was getting increasingly curious about Arnella. She realized that Arnella was drawing herself away from her, and that bothered her.
"Yup, stuff." Arnella turned on her computer. "I have to go; my teacher is here." Arnella hung up the phone, wishing she hadn't lied to Tracy. Her teacher was not there yet, but she was tired of Tracy.
She checked her email account and saw an email from a strange address with the caption "I know what you did at the party."
Her hands started to tremble and her heart started pounding in her chest. She didn't want to open it. She stared at the screen for so long that her eyes started to water.
"Hey," said an older lady who was sitting beside her. "You look like you know computers well. I am going to need some help to get through this class. I am hopeless. My name is Sadie. What's yours?"
Arnella cleared her throat and dragged her eyes from the screen. "Arnella." She smiled, or at least she hoped the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile because Sadie looked like a pleasant lady.
She put both hands in her lap and willed them to stop shaking. Then, taking a deep breath, she clicked on the mail. There was a message; it was brief and read, "Bad bad girl." Below it was a video clip. She knew that she shouldn't play the video clip in the class, but she was itching to see it nevertheless.
The teacher finally arrived ten minutes late, but when she spoke, Arnella didn't hear a word. She had the window open with the email, and she kept going back to it. From just looking at the message, she was breathing hard; she could hear it in her own ears. She felt like passing out from the fear of what was in that video. It had to be a clip from the party. Was it with her and those guys? Her left foot kept jumping, and she couldn't stop the involuntary action. She kept glancing at the clock, waiting for the hour-long class to be over. She almost sobbed in relief when class was over.
"Are you okay dear?" Sadie asked her, concerned. "You don't have asthma, do you?"
"No," Arnella said weakly. "I just don't feel too well."
"Want me to follow you to the school nurse, or to the Medical Center?" Sadie persisted.
"No, thanks," Arnella said weakly. "My cousin, Kylie, is a lecturer here; I am going to see her. She'll know what to do."
"Okay then." Sadie reluctantly left her and Arnella realized that her trembling hands were icy cold. Even the bulk sweater she had carried to wear in the lab was not doing anything for her cold extremities.
She was shivering. She looked at the mail again, then pressed the play button on the video. It was a picture of her in the swimming pool when she was
floating on the donut and calling to Alric; the video zoomed into her tongue ring. There was a song playing in the background. She almost released a sigh, but then the transitioned and she saw herself passionately kissing David. The video blacked out and the words “More to Come” flashed on the screen.
The tremor in her hand came back with a vengeance. She inhaled but couldn't get in enough breaths. Those hudlums had video taped her and had the nerve to send it to her. She sat in the lab with her hand over head for what seemed like hours. Students came in to use the lab; she could hear murmurings and sometimes the odd laugh or cough, but she couldn't move.
"Arnella," Gareth Beecher said above her head.
Arnella shook her head.
"I know it is you," Gareth said. "Why are you hiding around here?"
Arnella looked at him blearily. She had closed her eyes so tightly that when she opened them she had to let them adjust to the light.
Gareth was looking at her, concerned. "Come to my office now."
Arnella didn't want to move; maybe if she stayed still long enough he would go away, but Gareth was standing above her, not moving an inch. She got up reluctantly. She felt like an ancient grandmother who had the world on her shoulders. She double-checked to make sure that her mail account was closed and followed Gareth to his office.
When they reached his office, she saw Kylie sitting in his chair. She looked concerned when she saw Arnella.
"What's wrong, cuz?" Kylie asked, looking from Arnella to Gareth.
Gareth shrugged. "She was in the back of the computer lab whimpering."
Kylie got up, closed the office door, came over to Arnella, and hugged her. "It's okay, whatever it is."
Arnella shook her head. "I got an email." Her lips were trembling.
"From who?" Kylie asked, brushing away stray tendrils of hair from her face.
"I don't know," Arnella said. "It said 'bad bad girl. I know what you did at the party.'" She swallowed. "I was drugged a couple of weeks ago and three guys had sex with me. Apparently, they videotaped it. Now it seems as if somebody is toying with me."
Kylie gasped. "What!"
Gareth, who had just sat down in his chair, looked at Arnella with surprise. He and Kylie exchanged shocked looks.
"We have to tell the police," Kylie said without preamble. She took out her cell phone.
"No!" Arnella said, slumping into the chair nearest to her. "Please no. I just need to know who is sending the email."
"Who are the guys who did this to you?" Kylie asked urgently. "You have to tell us."
"They went to my high school and now they are up here," Arnella said, "I thought about telling the police too but the thing is, it's my word against their's."
She exhaled tremulously. "I can't believe this is happening to me. Well, maybe I can, I knew something bad was going to happen to me after I moved into Deidra's place. Good things just don't happen to me without bad things following on its heels to make me unhappy. I can never catch a break. Never!"
She bit her lip and then stood up shakily. "I have to go."
"Ah, honey don't go," Kylie said gently. "We need to talk about this."
"Is it possible these guys are the ones sending you the video?" Gareth asked, "Because that could be evidence. I mean, I could ask Jackie..."
"No Jackie," Kylie said fiercely. "We have our own family detective. Natasha and Taj are engaged; she's practically family. She's a police detective; we could talk to her about this. Don't you dare think you are alone in this, Nella."
Kylie hugged her tightly. "There has to be some justice in this for you."
Arnella got up. "Thanks guys for caring, but I am just going to go now."
Kylie nodded. "Want to come to church with me and Gareth tomorrow?"
"No." Arnella shook her head. "Vanley and Aunt Celeste already invited me. I am going to just chill tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay." Kylie watched her leave and then shook her head at Gareth. "Whoever is messing with Nella doesn't know that they're messing with the Bancroft family. When my Dad hears this he is going to flip."
*****
Alric sat around the church organ in the University Church for Sabbath worship. From his vantage point, he could see the whole church. The Bancrofts were sitting en masse to his right. He kept glancing over there to see if he could see Arnella. She had not come in with the rest of her family. He had been expecting her to be here today because her brother Vanley was doing his debut sermon. It was his first time speaking as an assistant pastor of the University Church. All the other Bancrofts were there to offer their support.
He wondered why Arnella was not there. Was she so totally against church that she didn't want to even attend once to give familial encouragement?
He looked across at Vanley, who was sitting in the preacher's chair. He didn't look nervous, or like he needed support. He looked like a man who had a message and was chomping at the bit to deliver it.
Alric's mind wandered back to Arnella. He almost missed the cue to start the music for the opening song "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God".
After the song, he wondered if Arnella was sick or something. That could be her reason for not attending. In class on Wednesday, she had been majorly subdued and she had hightailed it out of the class before he could say anything to her. She hadn't even looked at him. It had bothered him for the entire day.
He forcibly dragged his mind from Arnella and focused on the proceedings. It wasn't until the service was finished that he acknowledged to himself that he had not succeeded in keeping Arnella out of his mind.
Vanley had delivered a powerful sermon on prophecy and the signs of the times, but he had been staring at him and wondering how he could have a sibling that was so radically different from him—so troubled and unhappy. Vanley didn't seem as if he had any hang ups like that. He was a well-respected young pastor at the university. He was so upright and straitlaced that even his own father, a minister of religion for over thirty years, spoke fondly of him and respected him implicitly.
He almost bumped into Tracy when he left the platform where the organ was. She had been standing at the base of the steps and was smiling at him.
"Oh sorry, Tracy, didn't see you there." Alric smiled at her. "You look lovely today." He admired her in her blue suit and matching hat.
"Thank you," Tracy smiled. "How are you? I can't believe we live in the same apartment complex and I don't ever see you."
Alric smiled. "That's because I am a working student. Final year med school with one lab to teach affords me hardly time to sleep."
He headed toward the door where the platform party was lined up shaking the hands of the membership. Tracy shuffled behind him, trying to keep up in her high heels. He slowed down so that she could catch up.
"So where are you having lunch today?" She asked when she caught up with him.
Alric shrugged; he was thinking of having lunch with his parents, but a little part of him wanted to see if Arnella was all right.
"My parents, probably." Then the thought hit him. Arnella and Tracy were friends; maybe Tracy would know where Arnella was.
"By the way, have you seen Arnella today? I thought that with her brother preaching today she would have shown up for church."
Tracy stopped abruptly. The guy behind her almost walked into her. "What?" she asked, open-mouthed. "Vanley Bancroft is related to Arnella?"
Alric raised one eyebrow. "Yes. Are you sure you guys are friends? How come you didn't know this?"
"Well, I..." Tracy frowned, "but President Bancroft is Vanley's uncle."
Alric chuckled. "Yes."
"So Arnella is that closely related to them?"
Alric nodded.
Tracy covered her mouth. "I feel so foolish. I thought she was distantly related you know, like a third cousin or something. Arnella doesn't act as if they are closely related.
"Do you know where she's living?" Alric asked.
Tracy shrugged, "I am not sure, she said something about Buena Vi
sta."
Alric opened his eyes wide. "That's a nice place. I know where it is."
"It is?" Tracy asked faintly. Then she cleared her throat. "Why do you want to know where she lives?"
"I am a bit concerned about her," Alric said. "She didn't seem like herself in class on Wednesday, and she wasn't here for her brother's sermon. It was his first presentation."
"But you hate her," Tracy said, dismayed. She could care less about it being Vanley's first sermon. "You hate her, remember?" she said frantically.
"Keep your voice down," Alric whispered. They were standing near the door outside of foot traffic. The line toward the door was getting shorter as more people filed out. Some persons had looked around as Tracy blurted out the word ‘hate’.
"I don't hate her," Alric said uncomfortably, "I think she's unhappy, and I am concerned."
"Unhappy?" Tracy's eyes widened. "Arnella is always happy and carefree. Where'd you get that from?"
Alric frowned. Obviously, Tracy didn't know Arnella as well as she thought. He shrugged. "I am just concerned…basic concern. I am going to check up on her at Buena Vista."
"I am coming with you." Tracy declared staunchly. "She's my friend. I didn't know she was unhappy." The last bit was said in almost a pleased tone.
*****
Arnella had been in the basement painting when she heard the door buzzer going off. She wanted to ignore it but it could be somebody stopping by for Charlene. She looked down at her paint-spattered jeans shorts and her once white t-shirt and shrugged. She would just send whoever it was on their way when they found out that Charlene had gone to church.
She got up from her chair, stretched, and headed upstairs. She spoke into the intercom, "Charlene is not here."
"I came to see you, actually." Alric retorted.
Arnella closed her eyes and swallowed. "Arnella is not here either," she said gruffly. "She will be back on Monday."
"Ah, come on," Alric said, "I drove all the way up here to see you. By the way, Tracy is here with me. We were both concerned about you."
Arnella straightened up when she heard that Tracy was there. For a nanosecond, when her brain had skipped a process, she had liked the thought of Alric coming to see her. Thank God her brain was functioning again because she didn't want her mind thinking that she likes Alric.
Sense of Rumor (Mount Faith Series: Book 6) Page 7