by Jaye Diane
He double-parked in front of her building. There was never any parking at that time of the night/morning.
“Thanks, Lincoln.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. She jumped out of the car as quickly as she could and went around the parked car to the curb.
“Wait,” Lincoln called from behind her.
“What are you doing?” She asked, looking around. The nearest streetlight was out and the streets were dark and empty.
“I’m walking you in.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t.”
“You can’t leave your car out here. A nice car like that, in this neighborhood…is an easy target.”
“I don’t give a damn about the car,” Lincoln muttered, taking her hand. “I’m walking you in. What kind of asshole do you think I am?”
“What?” She exclaimed, more shocked than mad.
“Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and ushered her into the dim building.
Even though it was the middle of the night, she could hear music playing and the sounds of boisterous laughter. They began going up the stairs and she felt herself grow more and more nervous. Ever since her car had been targeted she expected something to happen in her building, specifically right on her floor near her apartment. He’d already slipped notes under her door. She wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to break in but she was glad to have heavy duty locks on the door and windows.
When they reached her floor, she took her keys out of her purse and led the way to the door. She unlocked the door and turned to Lincoln.
“I’m home safe,” She said with a wry smile. “Thanks to my knight in shining armor.”
He smiled too and leaned down to kiss her.
The feel of his firm but gentle lips against hers made her heart race and she found herself leaning against him, trying to get as close to him as she possibly could. She captured his tongue, caressing it again and again before she let it -and him- go. She wished she could drag him into her apartment for a quickie. But she just smiled and walked into her apartment.
“Goodnight, Emerald.”
“Goodnight.” She closed the door, locked it, and leaned against it. What a great night. She quivered just thinking about it. Being with Lincoln probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do but she deserved to have some fun after being abstinent for so long. And with all the stress of Marley bothering her, Lincoln was a welcome distraction.
Touching her lips still wet from his kiss, she hurried to bed to catch a couple more hours of sleep. Her body felt drained and worn and she fell asleep right away.
Emerald walked out of the police station a couple of days later, feeling dejected. They had no leads. All of the text messages had come from a disposable cell. There weren’t any witnesses or camera footage from when her tires had been slashed. She’d given over the notes that Marley had left but all they said was that they hadn’t been analyzed yet.
She couldn’t help feeling as if the police just didn’t care. She hoped she wouldn’t have any more incidents to report because she felt like she was wasting her time. Still, she knew Marley wasn’t done with her. She just had a bad feeling.
She got in her car and drove towards her father’s house. She always tried to see him and his wife, who she secretly referred to as stepmother number 3. Her father had been married to SM3 for almost two years. That was the longest that he’d let any woman hang around. Shawn Felton jumped from woman to woman. Emerald had lost track of how many girlfriends he’d had, and she was sure there were some that she didn’t even know about.
As a child, she’d first tried to latch on to a couple of his lady friends but she’d quickly learned not to bother. She now never made an effort to get to know any of them, except his wives. Samantha Webb was his fourth wife and had lasted the longest so far.
Emerald stopped at a store not far from her father’s house and bought herself a sandwich. She’d had a small breakfast that morning before doing her laundry and taking care of her grocery shopping. It was past lunch time and she was hungry.
Her father was no cook and SM3 was a horrible cook. Shawn often suffered from some kind of food poisoning or upset stomach because of the woman but still ate her cooking. Emerald had been a victim herself, once. But once was enough. She didn’t know why her father did it. Was it love or just laziness because he didn’t want to get his own meals?
She parked her Jeep in front of the house. It was a small, white one story house and Emerald smiled at the Santa poster that SM3 had put on the front door. She’d decorated for Christmas the year before as well. Emerald and Shawn tended to ignore Christmas decorations but in recent years they had given each other some Christmas gifts. As a child, she’d rarely gotten anything. They’d almost always been too poor for Christmas.
Emerald walked up the few stairs that led up to the porch and knocked on the door, shivering as a cold gust of air blasted her in the face.
“Emerald’s here!” Samantha called, smiling and tugging Emerald by the hand. Samantha was very petite and very round and had skin that was a shade or two darker than Emerald’s own milk chocolate complexion. She was beyond voluptuous and had very short curly hair. Emerald liked her enough. She just didn’t think she’d last very long.
The front door was in the living room and Emerald could see her father sitting on the couch as she hung up her coat. He stood up, remote control in hand, and walked over.
“Hi, baby,” He said, kissing her forehead. They were about the same height and even looked close in age. There were many times that her father had lied about his age to get younger women. Sometimes he’d even dated women that were Emerald’s age or younger.
“Hi, Daddy.” Emerald smiled at him. He tugged her ear then went back to the couch. He was still dressed in his uniform. He worked at Click’s, a home improvement store, and Emerald had called him much earlier to make sure of his hours that day. Even though she was okay with SM3, they didn’t need any time alone together.
“Excuse the mess,” Samantha said as she sat on the couch next to Shawn. “I overslept today and I didn’t get any cleaning done.”
“It’s okay.” Emerald had barely noticed that the house was a little cluttered. SM3 was a good housekeeper. She usually kept the house clean and food -nasty food but food nonetheless- on the table.
“Do you want something to eat, Emerald?” Samantha asked. “We just finished lunch not that long ago.”
“No thanks,” Emerald said and gestured to her bag. “I stopped for a sandwich.”
“Okay.” Samantha looked towards the TV.
“How’s your week been?” Her dad asked, a small smirk on his face. Emerald had told him months before that she’d never eat his wife’s cooking again. He’s just laughed.
“It was good,” Emerald said, thinking about Lincoln. They’d spent the last few nights together, taking turns going to each other’s homes, and then leaving in the middle of the night. If she counted their fling at the wedding, they’d been together for a week. But they’d already established a routine.
“How was yours, Daddy?”
“Good, good,” He grinned. “I finally got the promotion. Just in time for Christmas!”
“That’s great, Daddy,” Emerald said, genuinely happy for him. He’d been waiting on the promotion to store manager for months. Considering his shoddy work history, she was very proud of him.
He was nodding. “Starting Monday I’ll be working a lot more hours. That means a lot more money and hopefully me and Sam can move out of here.”
“I thought you liked this house,” Emerald murmured with a frown. Her father had begun renting the house shortly after Emerald had moved out on her own.
“I like it just fine.” Shawn said, nodding slowly. “But that doesn’t mean I want to stay here forever.”
“I want a change,” Samantha interjected. Emerald had thought SM3 was watching the TV so she was surprised that she had something to say. “We sometimes get mail for y
our father’s exes here. I want to get out. And I want to go to a nicer neighborhood.”
“This neighborhood is nice,” Emerald said, opening her bag to remove her sandwich. They lived in an okay neighborhood in Jersey City. In fact, Robyn’s house was probably only ten blocks away.
“Of course you think it’s nice,” Samantha said sweetly, patting Emerald’s hand. “You live in the ghetto.”
“That’s not why I think it’s nice,” Emerald said, not bothering to argue with the older woman. She did live in the most ghetto part of the city.
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” Shawn said, sparing Samantha a glance before looking back to his daughter. “I got a lot to prove in my new position first before I make plans.”
Emerald nodded and unwrapped her sandwich. She began eating it as her father told her what his new duties would be. Samantha would chime in once in awhile, saying how proud she was of him. Emerald was content to eat and listen to them chatter.
They started talking about Christmas, which had never been a big deal in Emerald’s life, and she was surprised to see her father get excited about it. They were going to have a few of Samantha’s family members over for Christmas dinner. Emerald thought it would be exciting, if only to see everyone eat Samantha’s cooking. She’d be sure to pack some snacks so that she wouldn’t be starved all day.
Christmas was the following week and before she left, Emerald asked them if they needed her to pick up anything. Samantha wrote a small list and Emerald took it with her, putting it into her wallet so she wouldn’t lose it.
She stopped at the salon to treat herself to a manicure and pedicure. It was packed and busy, typical for a Saturday, and as she waited, she turned her phone on. She ignored her message notification without reading it, figuring it was from Marley, and surfed the web. She hadn’t been on in days and her eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of her head when she read the comments that were beneath the picture of herself with baby Olivia.
Lincoln’s comment should have been innocent. He’d written: My two beautiful ladies xoxo. Grace, who knew very well that Emerald and Lincoln had begun a relationship, had written that morning: I just love when a man claims the women he cares about lol.
Emerald shook her head as she read a variety of messages from Robyn and Devin and other people. Grace had fanned the flames and had everyone speculating about Lincoln’s connection to Emerald.
That sneaky little bitch, Emerald thought, exiting her web browser and checking her messages. There was one from Marley, but there were several from Robyn and she immediately dialed her friend without reading them.
Robyn answered right away.
“I’ve been trying to call you all day!” Robyn complained.
“I had my phone off. Sorry.”
“You’ve been turning it off a lot lately. What’s with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Anyway, is there something you want to tell me about you and Linc? Devin and I were going crazy when we read-”
“No,” Devin cut her off in the background. “You were going crazy, babe.”
“Grace was just joking,” Emerald said quickly.
“I called her,” Robyn said. “She wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”
“Well…”
“What’s with the secrets, Emerald?” Robyn asked, her voice low.
“You’re supposed to be enjoying your honeymoon.” That was Emerald’s last ditch effort to get out of confessing. “You shouldn’t be focused on me!”
“Emmy! Quit it! Tell me what’s going on!”
It was no use, Emerald decided. To try to change the subject or to lie would just hurt her friend’s feelings and Robyn was the last person in the world that she’d ever want to hurt.
“Are you and Linc seeing each other?”
“Sort of,” Emerald admitted, wishing that Robyn was by herself. She felt extremely awkward about confessing to Robyn about sexing Lincoln, especially with his best friend right there. Devin and Lincoln had been friends longer than even she and Robyn had been. It was just weird all around.
“This is huge!” Robyn yelled. “I can’t believe it! I’m so happy for you! Wait,” Robyn said, suddenly going very quiet. “What does sort of mean?”
“Well…” How did she put it? With Devin listening in, she felt like she couldn’t say as much as she wanted to.
“Emmy, why are you acting so strangely?”
“I’m not!” Emerald denied loudly, making other customers turn to stare at her.
“So just tell me already.”
“We’re just fucking, okay?” Emerald admitted, peeved. “There’s no romantic secret, no secret love… We’re just screwing each other’s brains out until something better comes along.”
“Emerald Felton!” Robyn protested.
“Sorry,” Emerald said, instantly regretting her outburst. She had the attention of most of the people in the nearby area. “But it’s true,” She added with a whisper.
“Well that sucks,” Robyn whispered back.
“No, it doesn’t. I’m loving it. You know I’d been going through a serious dry spell. He’s just what I needed.” She forced a laugh, feeling that she’d let her friend down. But Robyn was so happy and in love that she wanted that for everyone else.
“If you say so,” Came Robyn’s quiet reply.
“What did Lincoln tell Devin?” Emerald was curious to know what Lincoln had said.
“They didn’t talk yet. Linc’s at some event for his job and he told Devin he’ll call him later.”
“Oh.” It shouldn’t bother her that she hadn’t known about his work event but it did.
“I can’t believe you’re just having a fling.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
“But that’s what it is.”
“So? You didn’t care when I had a one-night stand. Why should this matter?”
“First of all, the couple of one-night stands you had were years ago. That’s the kind of crap most people our age were doing. No, Devin, I never had one!” Robyn said to her husband, who’d murmured something in the background.
Emerald couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“And second of all, Linc is a great catch. I don’t want you two to just use each other. I want you to have what Devin and I have!”
“We don’t always get what we want,” Emerald said, seeing that the manicurist was waving her over. She stood up.
“Wait!” Robyn exclaimed, “Are you saying that you want a relationship with Linc? Like a serious one?”
“No,” Emerald denied. “I mean, people can’t always get what they want. Including you.”
“But-”
“I’ve gotta go, hon. I’m at the salon and I’m about to get my nails done.”
“But-”
“Love you!” In relief, Emerald hung up her phone. And after staring at it for a few seconds, she turned it off again.
“I knew you were seeing Emerald,” Allison said that night. They were in their parents’ living room, having just eaten dinner.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Linc demanded, watching his six-year old twin nieces, Sheila and Shelly, as they played each other in some girly video game. Everything was pink and there were ponies and hearts and rainbows.
“I saw what you wrote on Emerald’s post,” Allison said.
Before he could reply, his father entered the living room with a snifter of brandy in each hand. He handed one to Linc. Linc sat it on the coffee table without drinking any. Lawrence Thayer loved his after-dinner drink; it was his one indulgence.
Allison looked at him mischievously and he could already tell that she was up to no good. He shook his head at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.
“Here’s your tea,” Their mother said as she entered the living room with two steaming mugs of tea.
“Thanks, Mom.” Allison took the mug and blew on it.
“You’re welcome, dear,” Audrey Thayer replied happily. She was happie
st when playing hostess and she always had been. His mother had been very resistant to let him and Allison move away for college. She wanted to go on being the happy homemaker, cooking elaborate meals every day and taking care of her home and children.
Linc sipped his brandy and put it back down on the table. He’d had a long day. He couldn’t wait to climb into his bed and get some sleep. He’d had a luncheon to go to with his bosses and several coworkers that day and he’d given two presentations. He’d been up at the crack of dawn prepping for it in the office before the thing had actually begun. It had lasted for hours.
“So, Linc, refresh my memory,” Allison said in a sneaky tone that made Linc stiffen, “Have Mom and Dad ever met your girlfriend before?”
“Girlfriend!” His mother said loudly, a beautiful smile on her face.
“We didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” His dad said, looking surprised.
“I’m not,” Linc glared at his sister warningly. He hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about Emerald until there was a real relationship to talk about. His parents were old-fashioned. They wouldn’t be okay with a relationship based solely on sex.
“What on earth are you talking about, Allison?” His mother said, her smile disappearing as rapidly as it had formed.
Allison’s head was bent as she scrolled on her cell phone. Linc shook his head.
“If you’re talking about what Grace wrote today,” He said, “She was just teasing. You know how she is.”
“Look,” Allison said, showing her phone to her parents, “Look what he wrote.”
“So?” Lawrence asked after reading it.
“That lady in the picture is Emerald,” Allison said, “Linc’s girlfriend.”
“Is this true, honey?” His mother asked.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Linc said, glaring at his sister. What the hell did she think she was doing?
“I remember her,” Lawrence said, staring at the picture again. “She was Devin’s and Robyn’s maid-of-honor right?”