The Mather Triad: Series Boxed Set (Chloe Mather Thrillers)

by Lawrence Kelter

  “Never thought about it? Diamond, I thought about you everyday. You know where I been? Working the cane fields down in Florida. That’s some hard-ass living, girl. I’ve been working my black butt to death just to save a little money. So don’t be so hard on old Blunt.”

  She averted her gaze as he boldly reached out and pushed a wisp of hair away from her eyes.

  “I see you be wearing your hair different. My, but you be looking fine, Diamond. Life been treating you good.”

  What would you know about the way life’s been treating me? Do I tell him or just walk away? “It was nice seeing you again. Take care of yourself, Blunt.” She turned, intending to walk away.

  “Damn, Diamond, why you got to be like that? That’s all you got for old Blunt?

  Be strong, Diamond. Be strong. Walk away. Run away. She hastened to create distance between them, hoping that her resolve would grow with each step she took.

  “I’m dying inside, Diamond. That all you got for your first love?”

  It was as if his words were a lasso that had dropped over her shoulders and settled around her waist—she felt her forward momentum slow, and then she stopped dead in her tracks and began to cry.

  Chapter 41

  “You don’t mind?”

  “No, Mama, you go and have yourself a good time.”

  “The fresh air did you good, child. You look much better.” Ella Sand opened the top dresser drawer and removed a cloth pouch filled with pennies. “I feel lucky tonight.”

  Diamond smiled. “You gonna be a big winner at bingo tonight, Mama. I can feel it.”

  “Lord willing.” She pushed the drawer closed. “I don’t want to keep the ladies waiting. You sure you’re okay by yourself tonight?”

  Diamond filled her lungs with air and nodded rapidly. “Have fun, Mama. I’ll be okay.”

  She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead. “Night, honey. Turn in early and get some rest if you can.”

  “Okay, Mama. We’ll see what Jo’Ell has in mind for me tonight.”

  “Don’t forget that you’re the boss.”

  “You’re kidding, right? That little boy don’t ever let me forget who’s the boss.”

  Chapter 42

  Jo’Ell was asleep on the floor, surrounded by the wooden blocks he had scattered to every corner of the living room. Diamond was on the floor as well with her back propped up against the sofa. She was exhausted from retrieving blocks and lacked the strength to pick up the ones Jo’Ell had thrown to the far corners of the room and under the couch. She watched her son sleep, snoring in his familiar way, a haunting wheezing noise she had somehow grown accustomed to. Her eyelids were heavy, almost closed when she heard a knock on the door. “Mama? You forget your keys?” She pried her weary body off the floor and walked slowly to the door. She yawned as she unlocked and opened it.

  It was Blunt. He lifted a six-pack to eyelevel and jiggled it. “What’s shakin’, girl?”

  She was so tired that she felt numb and was completely ambivalent about the surprise visit. Mentally, she was ready for her night’s rest and lacked the strength to be social. “Blunt, I know you just got back to town, but it’s real late.”

  “Let me in. We’ll sip the champagne of beers, put on some music, and bust a move.” He tap-danced in front of her, hoping to coax a smile. “When’d you get so old, girl?”

  “Since I became a mama,” she said in a drained voice.

  “Oh, that’s right, that’s right. Where my boy be at?” Blunt was upbeat and jubilant, still soaring from a cocaine buzz. “Can’t a daddy take a peek at his son?”

  She was still unsure why she had told him about his son. “Jo’Ell’s asleep. You better not wake him.”

  “No. No. I won’t wake him. I just want to see the little man.”

  “I’m warning you, he ain’t like most little boys.”

  “I know, on account of the abortion drugs and whatnot. I still want to see him.”

  “Take off your shoes. There’ll be hell to pay if he wakes up, and I ain’t kidding.”

  “I’ll just come in for a minute,” Blunt said as he slipped off his unlaced hi-top basketball shoes. He stepped past her and placed the six-pack on the floor as he entered the house. The little boy was asleep. His snoring sounded like wind whistling through a leaky old window. “Man, that’s some strange noise the little one be making.” Jo’Ell was lying on his side, facing away from him. He walked around the little boy to get a better look and flinched upon seeing him. “That’s my son? Why he look like a bat? His eyes are in the wrong place.”

  “I told you why.”

  “The doctors really fucked him up. I hope you got a lot. You sued them doctors, right?”

  “Right.”

  “How much you say you got?”

  “I didn’t.” She felt her lower lip stiffening and fought back her tears. “Maybe you should—”

  Blunt ripped a can of beer out of the plastic ring, popped the top, and swigged it all in one continuous motion. “Have a drink with me, girl.” He shook his head in a rattling motion. “Damn. I got me a little bat boy. You got at least a million, right?” He picked up a can and offered it to her. “Anything less and that doctor made a chump out of you.”

  “I don’t drink,” she said, refusing the beer. “The last time I did …”

  Blunt grinned broadly. He put his arms around her and began to sway. “I still remember that night, baby.” He smiled a bad boy smile. “You were on fire, girl. Best loving old Blunt ever had. It was like you were possessed.” He pulled her close. “C’mon, girl, dance with your man. Don’t you wanna feel like that again. You remember that night—I know you do.”

  It took all her strength to push away from him. “I think you better go, Blunt. I’m worn out.”

  “You sure, baby? I’ll put some spring back in your step.”

  “No. You have to go. My mama will be home any minute, and she’ll kill me if she finds you here.”

  “Your mama gonna kill you? Why you’re a grown woman with a baby. That old bitch can’t be telling you what to do.” He nuzzled her cheek. “C’mon, Diamond, you know you still want me.”

  “No I don’t. You fathered my son and ran away. I’ve done brought up Jo’Ell all by myself.” She loved Jo’Ell more than life, but his birth had brought her nothing but pain and hard work.

  “That’s your fault,” he accused. “You think I would’ve stayed put in Florida if I knew I had a son to take care of? You think I liked living by myself? I done missed out on my boy’s childhood cause of your selfish ass. You got a lot of nerve blaming me for that. Let your damn mama come home,” he snapped. “I’m not going anywhere!”

  Chapter 43

  A Kings County emergency services vehicle had already arrived by the time the police cruiser reached the scene. Officers Collins and Smith hurried from their car and past several curious neighbors as they raced up the front porch stairs into Diamond’s home.

  “What’s going on in there?” one of the neighbors asked but received no reply from either policeman.

  One of the emergency medical technicians was intervening between Diamond and Blunt while the other attended to Ella Sand. Jo’Ell was in Diamond’s arms, crying and hooting like an owl while his mother screamed, “Get out! Get out of my house!”

  “Now it’s my house, too,” Blunt shouted. “How you like that?”

  Ella was on the couch. She was moaning as the EMT took her blood pressure. Her rosary beads were clenched firmly in her hands while she prayed for God to intervene.

  “What’s going on in here?” Collins asked as he pushed in between Diamond and Blunt. “I’ve got this,” he said to the EMT.

  “What’s going on? This conniving bitch and her mother scheming to keep me away from my son,” Blunt alleged. “They’s hiding millions a dollars that belongs to me.”

  “Get him out of here!” Diamond cried. “He don’t belong here.”

  “All right. Now everyone just calm down,” Officer Smit
h said.

  “He’s a liar,” Diamond sniffled. “He don’t care first thing about my son.”

  “I said that I want everyone quiet,” Smith said with authority. He turned to Blunt. “You’re the child’s father?”

  “That’s right,” Blunt confirmed. “I got every right to be here.”

  Collins looked Blunt over from head to toe. “We’ll see about that,” he said in a skeptical voice.

  “Why do you want him out of the house?” Collins asked. “Did your husband harm you or the woman on the sofa? Did he harm your child?”

  “He ain’t my husband,” Diamond bawled.

  “He claims to be the child’s father. Is that true?” Smith asked.

  “I sure as hell am,” Blunt shouted. He glared at Diamond. “You say it ain’t so. I dare you. I goddamn dare you.”

  “He got no right, officer.” Diamond pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose. “He ain’t been round since the child was conceived.”

  Collins turned to the EMTs. “How’s she doing over there on the couch?”

  “She passed out,” one of the EMTs responded. “But she’ll be all right.”

  “Is she going to the hospital?” Collins asked.

  “I think so,” the EMT replied. “Her blood pressure is through the roof.”

  “I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Ella insisted. “You just get this punk out of my house and I’ll be right as can be, officer.”

  “Is this your home?” Smith asked Blunt.

  “I just moved in,” Blunt insisted. “This is my legal residence.”

  “You’re a liar. A damn liar.” Diamond looked weak. Jo’Ell’s screaming had built to an ear-shattering level.”

  “Ma’am, can you please try to quiet down your child?” Collins asked.

  Diamond shushed her son and tried to calm him down but was unsuccessful.

  “Give him to me,” Blunt insisted. “He wants his daddy—don’tcha, little man?”

  The two officers glanced at each other knowingly. “Come with me, sir,” Smith said to Blunt.

  “Why should I leave?” Blunt asked indignantly.

  “Sir, please step outside with me,” Smith repeated more forcefully.

  “Why?” Blunt asked angrily.

  “Because I asked you to.” Smith took Blunt by the arm and led him toward the doorway.

  Blunt shrugged him off. “Take your hands off me. I’m going. I’m going.”

  “Oh, thank God.” Ella sat up. “Thank you, officer. That man don’t live here. He ain’t laid eyes on that little boy before tonight.” She kissed her rosary beads. “Praise Jesus.”

  “But he is the child’s father?” Collins asked.

  Diamond nodded. “Only man I ever been with, but he ran away years ago. He didn’t even know he had a son. Only reason he’s back is ’cause he heard about the legal settlement.”

  “Legal settlement?” Collins asked.

  “My baby …” Diamond said, holding Jo’Ell so that Collins could see him plainly.

  Collins did his best not to react, but shock clearly registered on his face.

  “Medical malpractice,” Ella shouted. “The doctor said it would be dangerous for my daughter to have a baby, and then he made a mess of her abortion. Damn doctor should’ve lost his license, but no one cares about what happened to a poor black woman and her baby.”

  Collins looked at the EMT. “Are we going to the hospital or not?”

  “I’m not going to no damn hospital,” Ella insisted. “Was just the shock of seeing that punk-ass junkie in my house that got me so upset. I’ll be all right.”

  Collins turned to Diamond. “Look, ma’am, I can keep him out of here tonight, but I suggest you get a hold of your attorney and have him file a restraining order. If this man is the child’s biological father, he still has rights, despite the fact that he hasn’t been around.”

  Diamond’s mouth dropped. “You saying he can come back?”

  Collins replied in a somber voice. “No, ma’am, I’m not saying he’ll come back for his son, but he’ll definitely come back for the money.”

  Chapter 44

  Blunt’s true name had finally been revealed. Steven Dartmouth sat before the Kings County Circuit Court civil judge ready to argue that Walker “Blunt” Cleveland had no claim to the monies awarded the minor child Jo’Ell Sand. He had stacked the deck in his client’s favor by having Jo’Ell in attendance during the hearing. The child had a fresh crew cut, and as such the large suture scars on his skull were visible. That along with the child’s other facial deformities, the wide-spread eyes, broad bridge of the nose, and bulbous forehead played on the sympathies of any who beheld him, including the judge.

  Judge Kleinfelder studied the written complaint before him, slipped off his glasses, and focused on Stuart Bloom, Blunt’s attorney. “So, Mr. Bloom, your client has filed a fraud claim against the minor child, Jo’Ell Sand, and his mother, Diamond Sand. Why do you feel that Mr. Cleveland has been a victim of fraud?”

  Stuart Bloom was under forty years of age but was in the condition of a sixty-year-old man. He was grossly overweight and in poor physical health. He was bald except for a few strands of long brown hair, which he had combed over the top of his head. He was sweating profusely when he rose to answer the judge. “Your Honor, my client is the biological father of Jo’Ell Sand and therefore should have been notified of the legal action in which the child received monetary compensation of three point eight million dollars so that he could’ve participated in the decision making and administration of the settlement as well as the child’s care.”

  Dartmouth sprang to his feet. “Your Honor, this is a sham,” he contested hotly.

  Kleinfelder smirked. “Mr. Dartmouth, you’ve got something to say?”

  “Your Honor, Walker Cleveland has absolutely no standing in this matter. He claims to be the biological father of Jo’Ell Sand, a fact that has not been substantiated. Furthermore, he had not had any contact with the child or the child’s mother in almost four years. This is simply an attempt to extort money from an ill child with intensely special needs, a child who struggles to survive and will need special assistance for the rest of his life.”

  “Wait a minute,” Bloom fired back. “Are you contesting that my client is the child’s biological father?”

  “That is correct,” Dartmouth replied.

  “That’s some bull-shit,” Blunt said contemptuously. “I was her first. I popped the bitch’s cherry.” He turned to Diamond. “Tell the judge. Tell him I made a woman out of you.”

  Judge Kleinfelder peaked both of his eyebrows and turned to Bloom. “Um … Mr. Bloom, do you think you might tell your client to shut the hell up?” He turned to Blunt. “I don’t know where you think you are, sir, but one more off-color remark like that and I’ll have you removed from the courtroom. Do you understand?”

  Blunt’s expression was incredulous as he studied the judge’s face. “Serious?”

  “Yes,” the judge said. “I’m completely serious. This is a court of law, not the local tavern, and I won’t think twice about holding you in contempt if you open your big insensitive mouth again.” He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Now where were we?” He turned to the court reporter. “Read back the last exchange, please.”

  The court reporter lifted the stenotype spool and read, “Mr. Bloom: ‘Are you contesting that my client is the child’s biological father?’ Mr. Dartmouth: ‘That is correct.’”

  Jo’Ell began to hoot loudly.

  “Quiet down now, little boy.” Diamond was seated on the aisle. She reached into Jo’Ell’s stroller and retrieved a sippy cup filled with chocolate milk.

  Jo’Ell grew excited when he saw the cup and hooted even more loudly.

  “Can you keep your child quiet, ma’am?” Kleinfelder asked.

  “Oh yes, Your Honor,” Diamond replied respectfully and guided the mouthpiece between her son’s lips. “He’ll be quiet now, Your Honor. Sorry.”
>
  Kleinfelder huffed. “Now if there are no more interruptions …” He focused on the two attorneys. “Gentlemen, it would appear a paternity test is in order before we go any further. Are we agreed?”

  Bloom rose from his chair, exposing his big belly, which grinned through when his shirt pulled apart. “Absolutely, Your Honor. We concur.”

  Kleinfelder turned to Dartmouth. “Any objections, counselor?”

  Dartmouth stood and buttoned his suit jacket. He was tall and svelte with dense curly hair, a John Kennedy Jr. lookalike. “Your Honor, are we really going to waste the court’s time and money? Walker Cleveland was at best a one-night stand, a mistake a young girl made many years ago. Since then he has been absent from the lives of Diamond Sand, the single parent, and her son, Jo’Ell Sand.”

  Blunt jumped up, searing Bloom with his gaze. “What the fuck, man, you gonna stand there with your mouth shut, or you gonna defend me?”

  Kleinfelder banged his gavel. He turned toward the bailiff and pointed at Blunt. “Remove this man from my court.”

  “Nah. Nah. This is some cold shit.” He sneered at Kleinfelder. “You throwing me out? This nothin’ but a kangaroo court anyhow, chump.”

  The bailiff grabbed Blunt by the arm and led him down the aisle toward the rear of the courtroom.

  “Honky judge,” Blunt shouted. “You’re a bigot, a goddamn negro-hating bigot. I’ll have you brought up on charges. I’ll call the Reverend Al is what I’ll do.” He was still yelling and swearing as the bailiff struggled to drag him out of the courtroom.

  “Mr. Cleveland, you’re in contempt. Bailiff, lock him up.” Kleinfelder dropped his gavel on the podium, producing a loud thud. “Now that my record as a New York State judge has been impugned …” He took a sip of water and then directed his gaze at Dartmouth. “You may continue, counselor.”

  Dartmouth grinned. “Thank you, Your Honor … Diamond Sand received a settlement of just under three hundred thousand dollars for the pain and suffering she lived through during her pregnancy and the failed abortion attempt. She used that money to purchase a modest home for her, her mother, and her son. She is busy attending to Jo’Ell’s special needs twenty-four hours a day and is unable to work. She lives on state assistance. To date, the only monies dispensed from Jo’Ell’s custodial account have been for medical treatments and doctors.” He lifted a hefty folder off the table and weighed it in his hand. “Expense and disbursement records verifying same are available for the court’s review. As the court can recognize, Jo’Ell Sand is a special needs child, a victim of medical malpractice. Diamond Sand has proven herself a loving and dedicated mother who only has her child’s best interests at heart. The fraud complaint filed on behalf of Walker Cleveland is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to extort money from a mentally and physically needy child. Mr. Cleveland has been living in the state of Florida for the past three and a half years, cohabitating with a woman by the name of Livonia Jenkins. He has not had any contact with Diamond Sand or her son in all that time. Furthermore, my opponent, Mr. Bloom, has been censured by the bar as recently as last month for bringing forth frivolous lawsuits.”