by U
David shook his head. “I’m telling you everything.”
“That was Dee,” Skip told them. “The mayor just spoke to the chief of police. Everyone is in on this search. The whole quarter is filled with cops. The rest are uptown sweeping the area where her car was found, and questioning this boy’s mother. Dee said my folks are coming unglued. I need to go back to Mama Rose’s.”
“Go on back,” David told them. “I’m going uptown. I’ll call you the second something breaks.”
Skip talked on the phone and Isaac listened to Skip’s end of the conversation as he assured his mother. “Everyone in New Orleans is looking for her. We have to believe she’s okay.
I’ll be there with you in a few minutes, Mom. Put Dee back on the phone.
Isaac watched him blush while telling Dee how much he appreciated having her in his life. He felt the knife twist in his heart. Why had he not said those things to Chelsea?
“The mayor was on the phone with the police,” Skip told Isaac after the call ended. “Dee is going to let him know what we just learned and call me back.”
Isaac drove cautiously through the morning traffic. He knew he and Skip were once in the same place when it came to relationships. He could see the change. “I was a little surprised that you and Dee got together.” Isaac commented. “You know how much Chelsea loves her.”
“I’m not planning to piss her off, if that’s what you mean. I’ve made my rounds out there, man. There’s nothing I need to prove, and nothing I want to do that would keep me single. I’m getting a place of my own, and when the time is right, I plan to ask Dee to marry me. You must be tired, man. Drop me at the restaurant and get some sleep. At least, get some rest.”
Isaac nodded, feeling emptier than before. “I’m happy for you and Dee, man.” He said as Skip was getting out of the vehicle. “I think I’ll go uptown for a while. Put my friend Frankie’s number in your phone in case you don’t get me on the cell.”
He spent the drive time in deep thought, first of his earlier relationship with Frankie and how much he still cared for her. He thought of the sincerity on Skip’s face when he spoke of his relationship with Dee. He had wanted to ask if Skip knew how Chelsea really felt about him, but didn’t want to add awkwardness to the already painful situation. His eyes stung from worry and fatigue, but the tears that filled them were for the woman he knew he loved more than he could find words to express.
He started across Canal Street, quickly turned and drove toward the river, parked and hurried to Boudreaux’ Jewelers. The stop did little to soothe his fear, but helped him prepare for Chelsea’s return. Driving the short distance to Frankie’s house, his heart warmed each time he touched his pocket.
Frankie opened the door wearing a knit dress that showed every curve of her body. Isaac noticed, but without desire.
“Hey. I was hoping you would stop by. I just made fresh coffee. Any news?”
He told her about their visit with Quincy.
“He was harassing her because of something that happened in eighth grade. Can you
believe that? How the hell did I let a lame bastard like him make me doubt my woman?”
“Sounds like a real creep. I pray she’s okay.”
“I refuse to think otherwise. I have to see her again, Frankie. I can’t go through life knowing I had two chances to have a dynamic woman at my side and blew it both times.”
“You’ll get your chance. You’re a hell of a sweet man, and Chelsea knows it. Tell her how you feel, ask her to marry you if that’s what you want to do. She loves you, too.”
“I hope you’re right, but I’m not certain?”
“I am.”
“I know women are supposed to be more intuitive than men, but how you be certain?”
“Because she told me.” She placed a coffee mug on the bar in front of him, leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“She told you when? You said you didn’t call Chelsea.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t.”
“Come on, Frankie. Don’t play with me. Not now.”
“You asked if I had called Chelsea and I told you no, which was the truth. You
didn’t ask if I had gone to see her.” She smiled.
“You went to see her? To talk about me? I can’t believe you did that. Why?
When?”
“Because I love you. Because I didn’t want to see you suffer. I want you to be
happy. Chelsea makes you happy. I went to her office yesterday.”
He shrugged. “That doesn’t sound like something a woman would do.”
“You mean a woman who also wants you? I taught you a lot about women’s
needs, but we do have feelings outside of the bedroom. My whole world has collapsed, and right now, having you back in my life would be the best thing I could hope for, but you’re in love with someone else. That would never work.”
“I’ll always love you. You know that.”
“I do. That’s why I want you to be happy. I asked Chelsea how she felt about you.
If she had said she didn’t love you, there would have been no need for me to tell her anything.
She’s been having the same feelings you have, but was afraid you wouldn’t want a serious relationship. I guess she would rather have part of you than none at all, so she just hoped that someday the two of you would end up on the same page.”
“She told you all of this?”
“She had to leave for court so we cut the conversation short, but yes, she did. She said she’s in love with you and would have accepted your proposal.”
Relief came with a sharp pain. “I’ve got to get her back, Frankie. It can’t end this way.”
Frankie rested her head on his shoulder. “You’ll get her back. I’m not much on
praying. I figure God has enough to deal with without worrying about my petty problems, but I’ve been praying on this. You deserve to be happy, and she surely doesn’t deserve what’s happened to her. Just remember what I said before. You may have to show some real
tenderness.”
He pulled the little black box from his pocket. “I stopped on the way here and
bought this. I think it’s elegant, just like Chelsea. I hope she likes it.”
Frankie stared at the dazzling diamond set in a simple band. “She’ll love it.”
They talked and she rubbed his shoulders until he nodded in the chair. When his
cell phone rang, he jumped upright. The look on his face left little doubt that the conversation was about Chelsea.
“They found her car. It’s parked three blocks from the loft,” he said on his way to the door. “I’ll call you later.”
* * * *
“Thank you for letting me come here to get my medicine, Ray.” Chelsea moved
from behind the dumpster in the alley across from her house. Red welts had practically covered her face and neck, sending Ray into an even greater panic. “They’re gone. Everyone has left.”
“You ain’t dyin or nothing, huh?”
“No, Ray. I’m not dying, but I could if this condition remains untreated. It only happens when I get really upset. I have medicine that makes it better. I do wish you would quit staring. It will go away before the day is over once I just get to my meds.”
He held his arm in front of her when she started to move. “Don’t try nothing.”
She kept talking. “You’re upset, too. I see how you’ve been holding your head. I’ll bet you get headaches when you’re really upset, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“I don’t see anyone around. I’m sure the police have been here, but they’re probably looking for us uptown. I’m sure they’ve visited your mother by now.”
“No-o-o.” He shook his head, and in doing, shook water from his eyes. “Momma will
make me move back home. I don’t want to move back home. I take my pills everyday, so I won’t have to move back home. She treats me like a retard.” His face was a mass of fr
ight.
“Did you take your pills today?”
“I have to eat first.”
“Okay. You have to eat and I have to get my allergy medicine. We’ve come this far. Let’s go to my place so I can get better, and then we’ll make sure you get your pills.”
“And then you’ll tell the police I made you sick, and I’ll go to jail.”
“Ray, you kidnapped me. Held me at gunpoint. You know you’ll have to pay for that.
I’ve told you I have a lot of clout with the authorities. I’ll tell them you didn’t hurt me, that you were ill and needed your meds. If you tell me why you did this, I’ll try and make a good case for you not going to jail. I’ll recommend you just need help with your headaches.”
She lightly touched his left hand. “I know you must be hungry. I’ll give you something to eat and something for your headache.”
“No! I don’t want your medicine. You’d probably give me poison so you can get
away. You don’t mean what you say.”
She pointed to her face. “Does this look like I’m trying to trick you? Listen to
me, RayRay. I have a disease and I have to take medication just like you do. I’m also in pain. My shoulder is aching, my head is throbbing. I’m afraid if I don’t put something on my wrists, I’ll get a really bad infection. I could die from it. Is that what you want?”
“I don’t care.”
“If you didn’t care you could have killed already.” She nodded. “You’ve got the gun.”
“You just like ev’body else. You think I’m crazy.” He grabbed his head. “I ain’t crazy. I just need my medication.”
“And so do I.” She raised her right hand to brush her hair back. “I want you to look at this scar here on the side of my head. Look at this. I had headaches just like you’re having when I was younger. I couldn’t drive a car. I would get so dizzy it was hard for me to stand up. I needed help, just like you do. The doctor cured that problem. Now, I take medication for this hives. I haven’t had a flair-up in a long time, but then, I’ve never had anyone holding a gun to my head.”
His sad face was compelling enough to entice comfort. “I’ll help you, Ray. That’s a promise. I’m not going to lie and tell you there won’t be consequences for the things you’ve done. That’s part of my job—to make sure crime victims are vindicated. To punish people for doing wrong.”
“You didn’t punish that woman for laughing at me.”
“Who laughed at you? You know I’ll find out, so make it easy on yourself and tell me now. The more I know, the more I’ll be able to help you.”
He stopped talking. She persisted. “Why do you hate me enough to take me from my
home and keep me tied up all night? Why are you doing this?”
His left hand curled into a fist. Tears ran from his eyes.
“If I understand you correctly, you’re saying a woman laughed when you tried to seduce her. She was very wrong for laughing, but that’s not a crime, RayRay. It just shows that some people are mean and thoughtless. I don’t want to see you go to jail. You have a problem, an illness, just like I had when I was young. I have one now. You can see that. I want you to get help. You haven’t eaten and you’re afraid to go inside a restaurant. Cops are all over the place now, and you can’t go back home, so you tell me what you think we should do.”
“I can think. I’m not stupid.”
“Ray, I don’t give a damn if you’re Einstein. You’re calling the shots. If you think I’m trying to manipulate you, then you tell me what we should do. Let me get my medicine and I’ll have my doctor treat your headaches. I’ll pay for it myself if I have to.”
She watched the lines of confusion deepen on his face and knew she had to keep
hammering, but not enough to cause him to go completely berserk.
“Tell me why you’re doing this, RayRay. What have I done to make you hate me
enough to hurt me this way?”
His chin remained on his chest.
“Are you doing this because some woman treated you badly? Laughed at you? Is that
what this is all about? Are you hurting me because someone hurt you? If you are, I’m sure you know that’s wrong.” She tried another angle. “You read the bible. You know God’s word, and I don’t have to tell you, He’s not pleased with you right now.”
“You don’t know nothing! The bible said an eye for an eye. If you hurt me, I can hurt you back. That’s in the bible. I read it.”
“And just what did I do to hurt you? I don’t even know you.”
“You want to hurt my brother. You and them others trying to put him jail and then I won’t have nobody to take care of me.”
“Is you last name Hamilton? Ray, is Curtis Hamilton your brother? Is that why you want to keep me away from the courtroom? You’ve got to tell me. I can’t help you if I don’t know why you’re doing this.”
“My name Ray Mickleson. My mommy’s name is Isabelle Mickleson. Curtis momma
name Mary Hamilton. My daddy…I can’t ‘splain it to you.”
“Well, regardless of how you’re related, this is only going to hurt Curtis more. Instead of being punished for beating Barbara Colbert, the court will charge him with conspiracy to my kidnapping. Do you know how serious kidnapping is, Ray? Holding someone hostage? On top of that, the doctors aren’t sure Barbara Colbert will live. If she doesn’t, the charges against Curtis will be upgraded to murder. He’ll spend most, if not all of his life in jail. Holding me will not keep that from happening. I’m not the only prosecutor at the DA’s office.”
He grabbed his head with both hands, pressing the pistol barrel into his temples.
“Are you having headaches, RayRay? Do you have medication to take for that?”
“I can’t get it now.” His eyes bulged then almost closed.
“Why don’t we go to my place? I don’t have your medication, but I do have pain pills that will help your headache. I could put a cold cloth on your head, or a warm cloth. I’m not sure which one would help, but we’ve got to do something.”
“No! You trying to trick me.”
“You kidnapped me from my house and kept me tied up all night. You hit me, yanked my arm damn near out of the socket, and caused my wrists to be cut from whatever you tied around them. You say an eye for an eye, well, tell me how this works, RayRay? You’re in deep shit for kidnapping me. If I take you in, I’ll get help for your headaches. If the cops catch you, they’ll probably end your headaches forever. They probably have the Feds in on this by now. They’ll blow your brains out, Ray. They’ll kill you dead. Bullets, just like the ones in your pistol, only larger, will rip through your body. Your head. Your chest. I’m not lying when I say I don’t want that to happen. Your brother beat a woman within an inch of her life. I can’t tell you that’s okay, because it isn’t. I’m sure you’re smart enough to know that.”
Tears ran from his eyes. “Curtis didn’t beat that woman. He just slapped her ‘cause he paid her money to be with me and she wouldn’t do it.”
“Is that why you and Curtis are so close? He takes you out to be with women? He pays women to be with you?”
“If I tell you, you’ll laugh just like she did.”
“Look at me, Ray. Please. I know I look a mess, but look into my eyes. You can tell a lot about a person by looking into their eyes.” She wanted to cry, but could not make the tears start.
“Just look at me, Ray.”
Ray lowered his hands, but only glanced at her briefly before dropping his head.
“I’m scared to look at you.”
“That’s okay. I’m sure I’m pretty scary looking right now, but I promise you I will not laugh. No matter what you tell me.”
“I’m twenty-one. I ain’t never been with a woman.” He looked up. “Go ‘head and laugh.”
“Oh, Ray.” Tears burned her swollen eyes. “No one should laugh at you for that. Did Barbara Colbert laugh because you’d never been with a woman?”
He nodded. “She took the money from Curtis ‘cause she thought she would be with him.
He brought her back behind the trees where I was and she started pulling at my clothes. I got scared and pushed her away. Curtis told her I was just shy ‘cause I never done that before. That’s when she started laughing. Said she didn’t need money bad enough to be with a retard who didn’t know what he was doing. I heard my momma say I was a retard. Kids call me that all the time. Curtis don’t say it. He the only one that treats me like a man.” His eyes finally met hers. “If you send him to jail, ain’t nobody will treat me right.”