by T A Ford
“Really!”
“Yea, you and me.”
“Yes! Oh yes! Oh, my goodness. Wait. Rodney’s coming home.”
“We’ll take him with us.”
“Really?”
“I’m ready Dina. We’re going to tell them all. Together.”
“Okay,” she said and hugged him. “I’m ready too.”
Chapter Fifteen
Lies to Truth
“What time were we supposed to be there?” he asked again.
“An hour ago,” Dina chuckled.
He glanced over at her, and she peeked back. “Sorry babe. My fault,” he said.
“It’s okay. I enjoyed it,” she said.
“Yea, but I’ve kept you in bed for two days,” he chuckled.
“We showered and ate. Watched movies, made love and you painted my toenails. I would say this is the best Thanksgiving break I’ve ever had.”
“Is that so?”
“I do have a question,” she asked.
“What?”
“What do you do on the computer so late at night?”
He glanced over at her.
“Work,” he replied.
“Doesn’t look like work to me. Looks like you were playing some kind of card game,” she said.
“Oh? That. Yeah, that was just some silly game a friend told me about. Nothing to worry over.”
“I’m not worried. Sometimes I wake up and you’re not there. You’re on that laptop downstairs. I’m glad you kept it out of bed with us. I don’t like it when you’re distracted.”
“Is that so? Have I been distracted?”
“Not lately,” she said. “Oh, turn here!”
He made the turn as instructed. The residential community was quite cozy. The houses weren’t too big, as many were in Atlanta. They were arranged to give each resident a yard and fencing if they wanted.
“There it is, the second one on the left.”
There were cars in the driveway, so he found parking on the street. Cue wasn’t hesitant about the meeting. He’d already spoken to Rodney to tell him that he wasn’t his sister’s therapist. And when his friend came back to town he’d explain the relationship. Dealing with the ethics of it would be harder in his professional capacity. There were so many consequences to his actions that he tried not to think on it.
He got out of the car and went around to the passenger door. He opened it for her and was impressed at how lovely his lady looked. He especially loved when she wore knee-high boots and skinny jeans. She had the shapeliest hips, backside and thighs. Her sweater was a cool mint green and she had a very dainty headband with the same color gems pushing her hair from her face.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you. And you look handsome.”
He closed the door and took her hand. They went up the steps to the home and Cue had to swallow his nerves. They were soon greeted at the door by a laughing man. Inside music played. It was a very lively Thanksgiving. The people gathered in the foyer greeted them. It was Maura who he met last as they made their way inside. And the moment he looked into her eyes he remembered her. She had been in the car when Rodney picked him up from the airport once. They’d definitely met before.
“Hi, you must be Cue?” she extended her hand.
“Hi, yea, nice to meet you,” he said.
“You guys are late. I told you seven. Hello beautiful,” Maura said and kissed Dina.
“Sorry, we uhm, got delayed,” Dina blushed and lowered her gaze.
“How is the new job?” Maura asked.
“I haven’t started. They are running my background and criminal checks. I haven’t told them anything about what happened at my other job though. So, I should come back clean.”
Maura frowned. She looked at Cue and then back at Dina for an explanation. When she received none she smiled. “Are you hungry? That’s the real question.”
“Yes!” Dina said. “We both are!”
“Well come on in then. There’s plenty to eat.” Maura led the way. Cue and Dina were introduced to her family members, who were all gathered watching the football game. The table had a few seats open.
“Have a seat. I’ll fix your food because you’re my booooy-ff-ff-riieen-nd,” Dina teased.
He winked and sat down at the table. Although he was the only white man in the room, the others didn’t seem to notice. Most spoke or went on with their feasting without glancing his way.
“W’sup, brother, I’m Craig,” a man said, sitting down at the table unexpectedly.
“Hi, I’m Cue.”
“Really? That’s your name?” Craig asked.
“Not the one I was born with,” he said.
Craig laughed. “We got a card game going out on the deck. Tony is about to be cashed out. You wanna join?”
“What game? Spades?” Cue asked. He’d been to enough family functions with black Americans to know the card game was a favorite choice.
“Spades? Fuck no. We’re playing poker. You can CashApp the money to the banker. Get dealt in after you finish eating. You got to pay to play. You with me?”
Cue smiled. “Yes. I can handle it.”
“Shoo! Go away, he’s not here for you and Brandon’s card hustle!” Maura said. She returned to the table with Dina. Craig winked and left the conversation as Dina sat down next to him with her plate and his. Maura sat across from them.
“I’ve heard so much about you. You look familiar. Have we met before?” she asked.
Cue nearly choked on his food. In that moment, he knew she knew who he was. And he wasn’t sure what her play was by mentioning it in such a way.
“No. You couldn’t have. He’s from Massachusetts,” Dina said as she ate. He glanced to Dina and then Maura. The smile didn’t leave Maura’s face. She stared directly at him for a moment, then she turned her attention to Dina. “Well eat up, and then join us in the den. Cue, be careful with my cousins and that poker game. They prey on new guys.”
“I’ve been warned,” he said.
“No, you haven’t,” she said. “But we will see what you are. Real or fake.”
Dina looked up to the comment and frowned. Maura winked at her and then left them to eating. She glanced to Cue. “She’s sweet, but she says the weirdest things some times. That was rude to imply you are fake. You are never fake.”
“I think she’s protective of you.”
“Yea. Maybe. I never had a sister. Maura was the only girlfriend that Rodney brought around that was genuinely nice to me. She became a play sister. I should keep in touch with her more.”
Cue ate his food, listening to Dina’s version of things. His lady loved to speak whatever was on her mind, and her train of thought traveled many tracks. Every now and then he’d glance up to see Maura watching him. One time in particular she had two other women at her side. They all glared at him. The gig was up. If Dina had told her about their affair and his being her doctor, he could only imagine what they thought of him. If Maura didn’t blow his cover, there had to be a reason. And before the night was over he would have to face her and hear it.
“Hey man, you in?” Craig asked.
“In for what?” Dina asked.
“A card game? Is that okay?” he asked her. Cue itched to join them. She smiled and nodded, not understanding what kind of card game it was.
“I don’t want to stay long though. Okay?” she asked. “Too many people staring at us.”
He agreed. He got up from the table and followed Craig to the upper patio deck. There were heat lamps around the seats, so he felt more than comfortable.
“My man Cue is here to join the game fellas.”
“Welcome,” one guy said, moving his cigar over to the other side of his jaw. The men nodded in his direction.
“Tyrone is the banker. To get in you’ll need to CashApp him three racks.”
“That’s the first hand. We go deeper the longer your survive the game,” another man said as he blew a cloud of smoke through
his nostrils.
“Do I get a cigar?” Cue asked.
“And some of the best Hennessy we got,” Craig laughed.
“It’s the only Hennessy we got,” another joked.
Cue removed his phone and sent the money. He got a pour and cigar. He leaned back and checked for Dina. She was seated at the table still eating, but she had company. Maura eyes met with his and he nodded at her. She rolled her eyes and continued to question Dina.
He was dealt in.
“DINA?”
“Yes?”
“Did Rodney change his number?” Maura asked.
“Nooooooo,” Dina sang with a sheepish smile. “He said you lied. He said you blocked him. He said he missed you.”
Maura laughed. “No he didn’t. You told him you saw me?”
Dina nodded. “Yep. Sorry for the lie. It’s just a small one. He didn’t say he missed you. I just could tell by his reaction when I told him about you.”
“Oh, so what else did he say?”
“I told you. He said you blocked him.”
“Did he?” she smiled. “Are you okay sweetie? I mean, you were so upset the other day.”
“Oh! I came home and did what you said. Talked to Doc. He brought me flowers. So sweet. My first time ever getting flowers.”
“That is sweet.”
“I love him so much,” Dina said and looked back at the men playing cards. She blew him a kiss when he glanced up. “Maybe one day we’ll get married. Have mixed-up kids. I’ll have to go off my medicine though. But I’m so much better now. I might not need it.”
Maura stared at her for a long time. “Why don’t you come in the room with me and the girls? We’re watching Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
“No, I still feel weird around them. I say something stupid and they look at me funny.”
“Nonsense. They all love you. Come on. You are the sunshine in any room,” Maura said. She tried to pick up her plate but Maura stopped her. “Leave that behind—Debbie will clean it up.”
“Okay,” she said. “Okay.”
THE GAME WENT ON FOR three hours. Family members were starting to leave. And the boys weren’t as friendly as before. They might have pegged him for a chump because of his lack of familiarity, but poker was his sport. And he knew the game better than most men. The pot was eighteen thousand. He laid down his cards and claimed it all.
“What the fuck!” Craig snarled. “Man, you fucking kidding me? You was holding aces?”
Cue smirked.
“Who the fuck is this motherfucker Craig?” Tyrone demanded to know.
“Alright boys. Be nice,” Maura said. “Pay the man Ty.”
“What? This shit ain’t over,” the one named Tyrone who was the banker barked back.
“Pay him!” Maura said. “He and I need to talk.”
“Well I’ll have to break it up. I can’t cashapp that much in one sitting.”
“I take installments,” he said.
“Fuck installment payments. What you trying to say my guy? We on credit? Fuck you. I got his money in the safe, Maura. Let me get it.” Tyrone said.
The men all exchanged looks. They gave him a murderous look that he knew was serious. For whatever reason, the men feared Maura more than their thirst for redemption. Tyrone let go a string of curses as he kissed Maura and left.
There was no greater high for Cue than winning. He had to fight the struggle to keep from smiling. It was clear to Cue who the man was who had replaced Rodney in her life.
“Cue can you come with me?” she asked.
“Sure, is Dina ready?”
“She’s with my sisters. She’s said more than once to them that she’s ready to go. I thought you and I should talk before you leave.”
Cue got up from the table. “Nice meeting you fellas.”
“Fuck you man,” one of the losers said. Cue shrugged. He felt no fear about the threatening mumbles he heard from the men. His gambling habit dated all the way back to real gangsters who put guns to his head and Rodney’s when neither of them could pay their debts. It was the thrill of taking the money and the danger of getting caught without it that fanned the flames of his addiction. Maura led him to an office off the living room.
He went inside. Maura closed the door.
“Can you sit, please,” she asked.
“I rather stand. I know my time’s limited here.”
“Who the hell are you? And what the hell are you and Rodney doing to that sweet girl!”
“Doing to her?”
“She thinks you’re a doctor. You’re playing games with her, and Rodney is involved? What the hell is going on? I want answers now, or I’ll go back out there and tell Tyrone and my cousin Craig what me and my sisters think you’re doing.”
“I am a doctor.” He reached back to his wallet and pulled out his medical call. He handed it over to her. “Rodney and I went to Harvard together. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
“Rodney didn’t graduate from Harvard,” Maura frowned.
“Yes, but Dina doesn’t know that. We were in school together when he was there.”
“I remember his stories about Harvard. When you came to town he told me about a guy name Clinton. They gave you that name Cue because of your pool game, right? Cueball. That’s what they called you. And the betting got you and Rodney into some serious trouble.”
“I became a doctor afterwards. A psychiatrist. I work out of Emory Hospital. When I moved to Atlanta he told me his sister was getting worse. She was threatening to kill herself. She refused to get professional help. He wanted me to get close to her to get her help.”
“Wait. Wait a damn minute. You telling me that Rodney wanted you to sleep with her to get her on meds?”
“No. No. He doesn’t know we’re.... this close,” Cue sighed. “I convinced her to let me bring her into therapy as a friend. Then Rodney had to leave the country and he asked me to keep an eye on her. I did. That brought us closer. Too close. Before I knew it I was in love with her.”
“Dina? Before you knew it you were in love with a troubled young woman like Dina?” she said with disgust.
“There’s nothing wrong with Dina.”
“She’s autistic!”
“No. She isn’t. She has Asperger’s and that makes her—”
“Same thing. She has been mentally disturbed for years.”
“I’m in love with her. I moved her to another doctor to make sure there was no conflict of interest. I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
“Oh? So Rodney knows that his little plan to get his sister medicated by his weirdo college friend has turned into a love story? And he’s okay with that?”
“Not exactly. That’s why I came tonight. I’m planning to tell him.”
“You damn right you will. But first you tell her. Tell Dina the truth!”
“I can’t.”
“That’s right. You can’t. Because if you do that poor girl is going to have a serious breakdown. I saw her the other day when you lost your temper. You’re playing games with her sanity. It’s vile.”
“That’s bullshit. We had a disagreement. It happens. You told her it was normal.”
“Oh please. I don’t know what this is, but it isn’t normal. It sure as hell isn’t ethical!” she threw his medical card at him. “Get out. Before I change my mind and hurt Dina by telling her what kind of monster you really are.”
“She’s strong, she’s healthy and I’m taking care of her.”
“She’s not healthy. She’s fixated on you the same way she was fixated on Rodney. You made her dependent on you. What happens when she isn’t what you want any more? Huh? What happens to her then? You think those pills you give her will be enough? No. You don’t, do you? You know what you’ve done, and you’re just trying to cover your ass.”
Before he could explain himself, she walked out of her office.
“Hey baby? What’s wrong?” Tyrone said. He stood at the door with an envelope of money.
Tyrone glared at Cue. He handed him the envelope. “Get the fuck out,” he said.
Cue wiped his hand down his face. He picked up his medical card and shoved the envelope of cash in his back pocket. The shame and guilt were like a hot poker to his heart. Dina looked worried. When she saw him she smiled. “I was looking for you? Where did you go?”
“Nowhere. You ready?”
“Yes! I want to go home,” she frowned. “I’ve been waiting for you to finish your game. Bye Maura, we leaving,” she said and went straight for the door. Maura followed them out and she handed Dina the food she packed for her to take with her. Maura barely said a word to him.
They left with Dina singing along with the radio. All he could think of was Maura’s words. No matter how he worked through his deception and reasoned away his actions, he had put Dina’s health in jeopardy by lying to her. He had to find a way to fix it, and that meant he had to tell his friend Rodney the truth.
“BABE, I’M STILL HUNGRY,” Tyrone said.
“There’s food in the microwave I left for you,” Maura replied. She took her phone with her and went back to her office. She made sure to close the door and lock it. It had been months since she spoke to Rodney. She had vowed she would never again let him drag her to that dark pitiful state he left her in when she broke things off. Tyrone wasn’t all that much better, but at least she felt respect and trust in their love. Something she never had with Rodney.
“You can do this. You should do this. For Dina.” She exhaled deeply and then unblocked his number from her phone.
The phone next to his bed buzzed. Rodney opened his eyes and then closed them. Whoever called, he wasn’t interested enough to wake for. Sheila, however, was a light sleeper.
“Rodney, your phone!”
“Mmm,” he moaned. He reached for it without looking. He looked at the number and frowned. He sat up in bed.
“What? Who is it?” Sheila asked.
“Go back to sleep,” he said and tossed the covers aside.
“Rodney?”
He ignored her.
“Hello?” he answered and went into the bathroom.