by Sha Jones
Since nobody was willing to help me, I thought I’d do the unthinkable and go to Melanie’s house and search for clues that could bring her killer to justice. I was convinced that the person who killed her was the same person who was bothering me. When Michael left for work, I typed in Melanie’s address into my navigation and headed to her house in a rental car. While I was driving, I kept looking in my rearview mirror. I was trying to look for cars that I thought were following me. I knew I was taking a big chance. The police viewed me as a suspect so if they were at her house when I pulled up, I was in trouble. When I entered the subdivision, I drove slowly searching for her address. I finally saw her house. I didn’t want her neighbors to identify my car so I drove around looking for a secluded area to park my car. I found a playground and pulled into a parking spot. Luckily there were no children or anybody else that could spot me.
I power walked across the street to Melanie’s house. I walked around the back and trying to see if there was a window that was opened. Everything was locked. I tiptoed in the grass trying to look for clues but there was nothing. I then laughed. I’m losing my mind I sighed to myself as I turned around and walked away.
When I got to my car, I noticed that the door was unlocked, I honestly wasn’t sure if I forgot to lock it or not. I slowly opened the door and looked in the back seat before getting in the car. I couldn’t take this living in fear shit at all. When I pulled into the garage, I could see two detectives standing at my door. I got out of my car with the keys still in the ignition.
“Can I help you?” I asked as I walked over to them.
One of the detectives looked at me and said, “We would just like to ask you a few questions about Melanie Scott. It is standard procedure for us to question all of her family, friends and colleagues.”
‘Standard procedure my ass,’ I thought to myself.
“What exactly is it that you would like to know?” I asked with an attitude.
“Do you know anyone that would want to hurt her?”
I looked him straight between his eyes and said, “No. I don’t know anyone that she associated herself with. We only worked together. I didn’t deal with her or even talk to her outside of work.”
He looked at me like I was lying then he asked, “Well did you two get along?”
I could tell where the detective was going with this. I immediately cut the conversation short.
“Look, I’ve already told the cops that I don’t know anything. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going into my house.”
Ever since my car got keyed, I had been parking in the driveway hoping that I would catch the person doing it again, but this time I parked in the garage. I felt like the cops were becoming a problem for me now and the last thing I needed was them tearing up a damn rental car that’s in my name. I watched the detectives as they drove away.
Chapter 12
As soon as I made it inside, I pulled the gun out of my purse. I was glad they didn’t have search warrants because I didn’t have a license for a gun. I needed one immediately and I didn’t care if I was getting one illegally or not. All I cared about was protecting me. I was bored at home so I called Draya trying to see if she wanted to come over and keep me company. She answered on the first ring.
“Hello.” She sounded like she was busy but it still wouldn’t have hurt to see if she wanted to stop by.
“Hey girl, what are you doing? I wanted to know if you could come over. Michael still haven’t made it home and I don’t’ want to be alone,” I explained to her.
I felt kind of silly asking her to sit with me because I was too scared to be by myself.
Draya pause and replied, “I can’t. I have a date tonight.”
I was a little surprised because as far as I knew, she wasn’t seeing anybody.
“Wow, what’s his name?” I asked with a grin on my face.
“Well I would like to keep him a secret until I know he’s the right one,” she stated.
I didn’t press on. I was happy for her.
“Ok, call me when your date is over. I want all the details.”
When we got off the phone, I tried taking a nap. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but when I opened my eyes, it was dark in my room. I checked under my pillow and my gun was still there. I went downstairs to see if Michael was home. He was nowhere in sight, so I checked the garage and neither was his car. I looked at the time and it was 11 p.m. I was pissed. He knew damn well that he needed to be at home. If I would’ve known that he was going to be pulling this bullshit again, I could’ve kept my fucking job. He was the main one preaching about my safety. I turned on all of the lights in the house and cut the television on. I went to every window and made sure they were locked. I tried calling Michael again. This time he answered.
“What’s up?” I looked at my phone like I was confused.
He was talking to me like I was his damn homeboy and he answered so casually as if he wasn’t going to catch hell when he made it home.
“Umm where are you?” I asked impatiently.
“Tiff I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’m down the street.”
Before I could respond, he hung up in my face. I started to call back and curse his ass out, but I decided to wait until he got her.
An hour later Michael comes walking through the door; I was sitting in the living room with my arms folded.
“I thought you said you would be here in a few minutes.”
He ignored me and walked up the stairs. I could smell the liquor on him from a few feet away. I wasn’t having this shit tonight. I was tired of excusing his behavior. I followed behind him. I grabbed him and turned him around so I could examine him. I then looked him straight in the eyes and asked, “Michael are you cheating on me?”
He looked at me calmly said, “Tiffany, no I’m not cheating on you. You know I work late some nights. I don’t want to fight tonight.”
If I would’ve known that he was going to start doing this shit again, I could’ve stayed at Carl’s house. I didn’t believe my husband’s excuse, but facing the fact that he could possibly be cheating on me was too painful. I grabbed a pillow and blanket off of the bed. This time I was going to be the one sleeping on the couch tonight. I was officially unhappy and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be with Michael anymore. I mean if I had to put up with this type of behavior from him then I didn’t need to be here. It’s not like we have kids together. We could just go our separate ways. I wasn’t use to him acting this way. I had a feeling he was cheating, but I wasn’t completely convinced.
The next day was just like any other day. I cooked baked salmon, shrimp, rice and peas with carrots, but I didn’t eat any of it. I was too stressed to eat. I wasn’t sure about my weight but I was sure I had lost a few pounds. I left the food on the stove for Michael when he got home. If he was hungry, he could eat that, but I wasn’t going to go out of my way to make his plate. I wanted to be sleep or pretend to be sleep once he got home. While watching TV, it dawned on me that Draya didn’t call me so I decided to call her. It sounded like she was still asleep.
“Hello,” she answered in a tired voice.
“Hey I was calling to get all of the juicy details about your date night.”
She yawned and then responded, “it was really nice. He was such a gentleman.”
I couldn’t stop smiling. I was happy for her because she wasn’t really the dating type and she was a very beautiful woman.
“So did you give him some?” I asked as I laughed.
She paused and then replied, “Well we’ve been seeing each other for some months now, so yes I did give him some last night.”
I was a little shocked.
“Why haven’t you mentioned him to me? We talk about everything” I asked.
“Tiffany, I told you that I wanted to make sure he’s the right one before I reveal him. You know its bad luck to introduce a man before you get serious with him.”
Although I’ve never heard that shit before, I understood wher
e Draya was coming from. I just rolled my eyes and changed the subject.
“You know Michael brought his ass in the house past midnight.” I sighed.
Draya took a deep breath and said, “Tiff, I think you deserve better than what he’s giving you. I mean he’s not treating you right so why don’t you leave?”
I couldn’t believe she was saying that. She was always a listening ear but now she wanted me to leave him. I wasn’t really sure what she meant by leave so I asked, “What do you mean leave?”
Draya paused as if she was trying to figure out how to put her words together.
“I mean leave as in divorce.”
Her words were so cold, that I got chills. I was sick of Michael and a part of me did want to leave, but divorce sounded harsh. I mean I could deal with a separation because it would give us time to miss each other and figure things out. Divorce was like diving head first. Draya’s words were enough to drain me so I ended the conversation. My head starting hurting so I went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed some medicine then I heard my phone ringing. I rushed back to the living room and picked it up. It said unknown on the screen. I wanted to take my gun and shoot the damn phone. I answered and there was this heavy breathing in the phone.
I calmly said, “When I find you, I’m going to personally put a bullet in your fucking head,” and this time, I hung up first.
I wasn’t sure if I really meant what I said. I’ve never shot anyone and I never thought I would have to. Having a gun in my possession made me feel safer, but I was still unhappy. I didn’t even know who to trust anymore. It seemed like the only one I could turn to was Draya.
Chapter 13
As time went by, Melanie’s death got harder to deal with. I wanted her killer to be brought to justice. In a weird way, it would be closure for me. Just thinking about the way she was murdered made me sick to my stomach. If she felt like she was in danger, why did she call my husband? What could he have done to help her? Nothing as far as I was concerned because she should’ve went to the police instead. This whole thing was one big mystery to me. After I finished my meal, I lay on the couch and watched movies. My life was so boring now. I went from a successful lawyer with a successful marriage to a stay at home wife with a failing relationship.
Minutes later, I hear this knock at the door. At first I ignored the knocking and then it seemed to get louder. My gun was upstairs and I didn’t want to make too much movement. The doorbell then rang. I decided to go upstairs and get my gun. I slowly walked to the door and looked in the peephole and saw Draya standing there. I took a deep breath and opened the door. She looked down at the gun and looked at me.
“Girl is you crazy?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, I’m just paranoid now. You know I hate being home alone now,” I explained.
“Yeah, I can tell!” she replied sarcastically.
It wasn’t like her to just pop up at my house unannounced.
“Why didn’t you call me first?” I asked curiously.
“Well I knew you would be here. It’s not like you’re working anymore.”
I rolled my eyes at her.
“Yea thanks for reminding me,” I sighed.
I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine. I was excited to see Draya and I was relieved that someone was here with me so I didn’t have to be alone. We sat in the dining room and drank. Draya kept looking at her phone and smiling the whole time. I looked at her with a smile on my face.
“Why the hell are you smiling so hard?”
With her eyes still glued to her phone she replied, “Oh nothing.”
Shaking my head at her I just said, “Whatever.”
I wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to tell me about her love life. She was secretive, but I didn’t think she would hide her relationship from me. After hours of drinking, I was drunk and so was Draya. I couldn’t let her drive home like that so I offered my couch to her for the night.
“You should stay here until the morning or at least until you can sober up,” I advised.
A few minutes later, Michael walked through the door and sees me trying to pick Draya up and lay her on the couch. He puts his suitcase down and rushes over to help me. He picked lifted her up so easily and held her tight. I’m not sure if I was just drunk, but I started picturing him holding me in his arms the way he was holding her. It was weird seeing him hold another woman. Although, I knew there was nothing going on between the two of them, it still bothered me. ‘Was I that jealous or was I just not getting enough attention,’ I wondered to myself. Once Michael gently laid Draya on the couch, I put the empty wine bottles in the trash and went upstairs.
After I took a shower, I got in the bed and laid next to Michael. I rubbed his chest down to his stomach. Before I could reach his dick, he grabbed my hand and said, “Not tonight.”
I was horny and I was annoyed that he rejected me.
“What do you mean not tonight, why not?” I asked with an attitude.
He shook his head at me and rolled over. I was pissed off at him but I didn’t know if it was because I couldn’t get any or because he rejected me. I rolled over and put the covers over my head and drifted off to sleep. I kept hearing this moaning noise. It got so intense that it was becoming a reality. I opened my eyes and tried to follow the sound. It leads me downstairs. The sound kept getting louder. I stopped in my tracks and peeked into the kitchen. Draya was naked on top of my counter and Michael was eating her pussy. He was eating it like it was his last meal. She threw her head back and pushed his head deeper between her legs. She was licking her lips and rocking her hips.
Michael then picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He laid her on the kitchen floor and began fucking her. Each stroke was deeper and the deeper he went in, the louder her moans became. She was digging her nails into his back and sucking his neck. My husband didn’t even sex me the way he was sexing her. Draya finally opened her eyes and looked in my direction. She stared at me with a smile on her face while my husband was making love to her. Before I knew it, I jumped up and everything around me became pitch black. I looked around and realized that I was in bed this whole time. I look over and Michael was in bed snoring.
“Fuck, another dream,” I sighed to myself.
I went downstairs to see if Draya was still here. I tiptoed over to the couch and she was laying there sleeping peacefully. That’s when I realized that I was losing my damn mind. I don’t even understand why I would dream something like that. I rubbed my temples and walked back to my room. Before I lay down, I made sure the safety was still on the gun. I put it back under my pillow and went back to sleep. I opened my eyes again and saw Draya standing over me. My eyes got wide and I jumped. She scared the shit out of me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I wiped my eyes.
“Nothing I was on my way out the door and I wanted to let you know and thank you before I left.”
I put on my robe and walked her to her car. I hugged her like I was never going to see her again. She looked at me with her eyebrows raised.
“Are you okay Tiff?” I nodded my head
“Yes I’m fine. Call me and let me know you make it home.”
I watched her drive away and went back inside. The only thing that I kept thinking about was that damn dream. It seemed so real. I was actually turned on and maybe a threesome wouldn’t be so bad. I mean, that would get Michael’s attention and spice things up a bit. Draya was a sexy woman and since I knew her, I wouldn’t be so uncomfortable, but what if he actually enjoyed sex with her more than with me. I didn’t necessarily want to share him. I just wanted to show him that I was still exciting. I quickly blew the thought off.
Chapter 14
Over the next few days, all I did was stay home. I found myself doing things that I didn’t have time to do when I was working like cooking and cleaning. I really did miss work, but I just wasn’t ready to return until I felt safe enough. Since I had so much time on my hands now, I decided to shop
during the day while Michael was away. Draya was at work so I couldn’t call her to shop with me. So much time had passed and I was starting to miss Carl a lot. He hadn’t even tried to get in touch with me and the last time we actually seen each other was the night Michael and I went to the movies. I broke down and finally decided to call him. The dial tone seemed to go on forever. He finally answered.
“Hello,” he answered dryly.
“Hey how have you been?” I asked with hesitation.
“I’ve been pretty good, same old same old, just working and working out. How have you been?”
I sighed and replied, “I’ve been okay. Well not really. I kind of quit my job.”
I wanted to cry on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry to hear that Tiff,” he sighed.