The Aftermath

by Shelia M. Goss

  Lovie stood up. “I’ve got you covered. I have one in the trunk of my car.”

  “I’m not going to even ask you why you’re riding around with a TracFone.”

  “It’s best you don’t,” he said before leaving out to get the phone.

  “I spoke with your dad today. He sends his love,” she shared with us.

  “I miss him so much,” Hope said.

  Mom squeezed in between us. She placed one arm around Hope and the other around me. “You girls are so strong. I’m proud of how you’re stepping in and doing whatever needs to be done to keep this family together.”

  “You’re our example,” I said.

  She kissed me on the cheek.

  Lovie walked back in holding the phone. “What’s the number?”

  Mom remained sitting between the two of us. She recited a number. Lovie dialed it and placed the call on speaker. An automatic voice stated, “The person you’re trying to call…”

  “That must be the wrong one. I wrote it down. I’ll be right back.” She got up and left the living room.

  Lovie said, “Charity, what’s up with you and Omar?”

  Hope cleared her throat. I gave her that “don’t say anything” look.

  “Omar and I are just fine. He treats me nice and that’s all I’m concerned with.”

  “I still have my reservations about him,” Lovie said.

  “Why? I don’t understand. He’s been helping. And although you haven’t told Mom or us, I heard about your place being ransacked. You called him about it, so you realize he’s trustworthy.”

  “And that needs to stay between us. Mom has no idea it happened,” Lovie said.

  Mom walked in on the tail end of our conversation. “Are y’all keeping secrets from me?”

  Hope intervened. “We were planning to take you out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, but somebody forgot to make the reservations.”

  Hope looked at me and then at Lovie.

  Lovie said, “Guilty. It’s my fault. You know with my schedule, I’ve gotten a little forgetful.”

  I played along with the charades. “But we can still go out.”

  “I’m not sure if I’m up to it.” She handed Lovie a piece of paper before sitting down.

  Mom was clearly in a slump because she loved to go out. Since the incident with dad she rarely went out.

  Lovie dialed the number. The call went to voicemail. “All I can do now is wait for the person to call back or try the number again later.”

  I said, “We’re all dressed for the occasion. Let’s at least go to Copeland’s or Longhorn Steakhouse.”

  “I’m not sure,” Mom pondered.

  Lovie pulled on her hand. “Come on, Mom. What’s something you always say?”

  Hope answered, “You can never keep a good woman down.”

  I said, “And we’re the Joneses. No matter what happens. Good or bad, we stick together.”

  Lovie added, “And we don’t hide our heads in the sand, so stand strong and tall and keep it moving.”

  Our mother laughed. “I need to stop giving you my pep talks. Y’all are using my words against me. Okay. Fine. Let me freshen up and we can go to Copeland’s. I haven’t had any oysters in a long time.”

  “Hope and I will ride together and you and Lovie can meet us there. I can call Omar to see if he wants to meet us there.”

  All eyes were on me. Mom said, “Dear, don’t. This is a family dinner. For now, I want to be with my three kids. Omar being there would make it a little awkward.”

  I honored her wishes. I sent Omar a quick text alerting him I was going to dinner with my family. Our date night would have to be postponed until another night.

  “So what did Omar say?” Hope asked.

  “Nothing. We’ll hook up later. He knows how important my family is to me,” I responded.

  I wondered why Hope thought Omar would have a problem with me hanging out with my family. I shrugged it off for the moment.

  CHAPTER 28

  Hope

  Charity pulled up in the full parking lot of Copeland’s at the same time Lovie did. We all walked inside together.

  “Table for four,” Mom told the greeter.

  “Right this way.” The greeter led us to a table near the center of the room.

  Mom asked, “Do you have another table? I would like something not so out in the open.”

  “Sure. Follow me,” the woman said.

  We followed her to a table that was to the left of us.

  We took a seat. She handed us each a menu. “Your waiter will be with you in a minute to get your drink orders.”

  “Did you see the way some people were looking at us when we walked in?” Mom asked.

  “No, I wasn’t paying them any attention,” I responded.

  “Mom, you’re being paranoid,” Lovie said.

  “I don’t think so. Ever since your dad got arrested, people have been acting funny with me.”

  “What’s one thing you’ve drilled into our heads growing up?” Charity asked.

  I responded for her. “If they are acting funny with you, they weren’t really your friends to start off with. So why care—”

  “Wait until you have kids and they start using your own words against you.”

  We all laughed.

  A waiter stopped by our table and took our drink orders.

  “I already know what I want. What about you all?” Mom asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I responded.

  “Let’s start off with an appetizer then,” Lovie said.

  The waiter took our drink and appetizer order.

  “I need to go to the ladies room. I’ll be right back,” I said.

  I got up and located the restroom. On my way back to my seat I heard a familiar voice call out, “Hope. Hope Jones.”

  I turned around and came face to face with a guy I’d had a serious crush on in high school. “Raymond. How are you?”

  Raymond walked up to me and gave me a tight hug. The woman he was with didn’t seem too happy. She frowned. “I’ve been asking about you, but no one seemed to have your new number.”

  “What’s your number? I’ll call you and you can lock it in.”

  I pulled out my cell phone. Raymond recited his number. I called it and he locked my number in. The woman he was standing with walked out the door.

  “I don’t think your date was too happy about that,” I said, looking in the direction of the door.

  “She’ll be all right. But hey, let me go. Hope, it was good seeing you. Don’t put me on your ‘don’t answer list’ because I will be calling.”

  “Do that. Maybe we can get together for coffee or something.”

  “I’ve moved back so we have a lot of catching up to do,” he said.

  His cell phone started ringing. He glanced down. “That’s my date. Call you later, Hope.” He hugged me. “Again, good seeing you.”

  “Good seeing you too.” I watched Raymond walk away before heading back to my table.

  “I see you ran into Raymond. How is he?” Mom asked.

  I sat down. “He’s fine.”

  Charity responded, “Yes, real fine.”

  Lovie grunted. “Look. I don’t want to hear y’all talk about men like they are pieces of meat.”

  “Why not, dear? Men do it about women all of the time,” Mom said with a grin covering her face.

  An hour later, we were all full from our meals. Mom said, “Kids, I don’t know what I would do without the three of you. You’ve helped me deal with this ordeal.”

  “Lexi, where have you been hiding?” one of Mom’s friends with an irritating voice sounding like a screeching cat said.

  Mom stood and greeted her with a hug and air kiss. “Darla, I’ve been around.”


  “We miss you at our monthly luncheons.”

  “I’m sure you have. You’ve missed me so much you haven’t bothered to call,” Mom noted.

  The smile on Darla’s face left. She started stuttering, “We… didn’t want to…intrude.”

  Mom sat back down. “Well, dear. As you can see, I’m out with my three lovely kids. You’re sort of intruding right now.”

  “I’m so sorry. Call me next week. Maybe we can do brunch,” Darla said before leaving.

  Mom said when she was sure Darla wasn’t in earshot, “And maybe not. Her and the rest of that crew are so fake. None of them have called to see how I was doing. I’m through with all of them. They all can kiss my—”

  “Mom,” Lovie interrupted.

  “Well, you know what... they can kiss my you know what,” she said, right before downing another glass of red wine.

  The rest of the night went by without anything dramatic happening. When we got home, Charity went to her room so she could talk to Omar in private. I went to my room because after eating such a huge meal, I was sleepy.

  I dressed for bed and got under the covers. My cell phone beeped, alerting me to a text message. It was Raymond.

  “Are you still up?” he asked.

  I typed my response: Yes

  A few seconds later, my phone rang. It was Raymond. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said.

  “Being that I’m single, no, you didn’t.”

  “Got the answer to one of my questions.” I could hear the joy in his voice.

  “Did you get rid of your date?”

  “For the record, she was just a date. She is not my girlfriend. I’m currently single as well.”

  “Oh, okay.” I had to admit I was happy to hear that. The old me wouldn’t have cared if he had a girlfriend or not. I usually went after who and what I wanted regardless. The new me, however, was trying to be different. I was trying to be considerate. If he’d told me that was his girlfriend, I would’ve respected their relationship. But since he’d confirmed she wasn’t, I considered forgetting about my hiatus from men. Seeing Raymond had stirred up some things in me that I’d thought died with Tyler.

  CHAPTER 29

  Lovie

  I had to lie about why I wanted to stay in my old room. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie because with everything going on, I felt more comfortable staying with Mom. I didn’t want her staying in that big two-story house by herself; especially after what had happened to my place.

  I walked through all of the rooms downstairs and double-checked to make sure the windows were secure and that the alarm was set. I didn’t expect to see Mom sitting at the kitchen counter sipping from a bottle of vodka.

  I took it away from her. “Mom, I’m worried about you. You know how you used to get on Dad about all of the drinking. Well, I think you’re drinking a little too much.”

  “I don’t have the strength to argue with you.” She got out of the chair and almost tumbled. I grabbed her before she could fall.

  “Come on. Let me help you back upstairs.”

  “Lovie, if Royce doesn’t come home, I don’t know what I will do. I miss him so much,” she slurred.

  “I know you do. We all miss him.”

  “I haven’t always been the perfect wife and your dad hasn’t always been the perfect husband, but we were perfect for each other. Why me? Why is this happening? Why? Why? Why?” she said over and over.

  “Mom, it could have happened to anyone. But we’re dealing with it. And Dad will be back home with us...with you before too long.” I tried to assure her, but I wasn’t so sure of it myself.

  By now, we were in her room. I led her to the bed. I turned down the comforter and gently gave her a shove so she fell on the bed.

  “I don’t know what I did to be blessed with a son like you. You’re always taking care of your mama.”

  “I always will,” I declared. “Now get under the covers and go to sleep. I’ll be in my room, if you need me.”

  “Give Mama a hug.”

  I gave her a hug. I could smell the alcohol. “Goodnight, Mom,” I said.

  “Goodnight, Lovie.”

  The moment her head hit the pillow she was out cold.

  I tiptoed out of the room and shut the door.

  I walked down the hallway to my former room. It still had a masculine look, decorated in dark green and dark brown. I eased out of my clothes until I was down to my boxers. I hopped on top of the bed and started texting some of my female friends. I wasn’t trying to be with anyone serious, but I needed a distraction.

  One was upset at me for not returning her calls. I told her goodnight quick; I wasn’t in the mood to argue. The other wanted me to know she had completely cleaned my apartment. I promised to treat her to a nice dinner. She’d already retrieved the money I had left for her in an envelope on the counter.

  Bored texting, I turned the light out and got under the covers. I drifted off to sleep. The phone rang. I reached for my cell phone. Nothing. I heard the ring again. It wasn’t my cell phone. It was the other phone. I located it and hit the On button.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Who is this?” the muffled voice asked from the other end.

  “You called my number. So who are you?”

  “Must be a wrong number,” the muffled voice responded.

  “Must be,” I stated.

  I looked at the caller ID on the screen. It came across Private. It didn’t dawn on me until I heard the clicking noise that it was probably the person I’d called earlier.

  I wish they hadn’t blocked their number when they called and I would have known for sure. My contact who knew about hacking wouldn’t be able to trace the private call. Besides, more than likely, since I was using a TracFone, the other caller was probably also using a TracFone. They were untraceable.

  Unbeknownst to Mom, I had a trunk of TracFones because some of my clients required the use of them. I was their accountant and their contact when they needed new phones. I lived a legitimate life but dealt with people who did some illegitimate things.

  I needed to be getting some sleep because tomorrow I had back- to-back funerals. I loved working with numbers...but people, not so much.

  CHAPTER 30

  Omar

  I loved watching Charity when she slept. There was still an innocence about her that I hadn’t found in other women I’d come to know over the years. She put on airs that she was hard-core, but I realized that underneath that exterior was a kind and sweet person.

  She was talented in so many ways. I was fortunate to have her as a part of my life. For the first time, I felt like I could truly be happy. My childhood wasn’t the happiest. My mother did the best she could for me. My father was in and out of my life. Our relationship had been rocky.

  My parents were never married. My father was considered a rolling stone. I’d heard he had other children out there. I didn’t know any of them so as far as I was concerned, I was an only child.

  Charity and her siblings didn’t always get along, but I noticed that in spite of their differences, they loved each other and came together during the times of a crisis. I wished I had that.

  Charity stirred under my arms. I squeezed her tighter. I got a whiff of her hair. She always smelled like strawberries—delicious.

  I closed my eyes. My phone rang. I tried to answer it before it woke Charity.

  “Hello,” I said.

  The voice on the other end said, “I need to see you.”

  “Now is not a good time.”

  “I’m outside.”

  “I have company,” I whispered. “Charity is here. So now is not a good time.”

  “When will be a good time?” the voice asked.

  “I’ll come by sometime tomorrow. I’ll call you.”

  “Don’t make it t
oo late. We really need to talk.”

  The caller hung up.

  Charity said, “Omar, don’t tell me that you have to go.”

  I placed my phone back on my nightstand and got back under the covers. “No, dear. It’s something that can wait until tomorrow. Go back to sleep.”

  We cuddled. She fell back to sleep. I closed my eyes, but sleep passed me by. That phone call kept me woke all night long.

  The next morning, Charity treated me to a home-cooked breakfast. Although I didn’t have much in my refrigerator, she was able to fix two omelets.

  “You can make magic out of nothing,” I said as I ate.

  “At least you had some eggs,” she said. “Otherwise, you, my dear, would have been buying us breakfast.”

  After we ate, I walked Charity to her car. “I’ll stop by later. Not sure of exactly what time, but I’ll call you.”

  “Tonight, I have a dinner party,” she stated.

  “All night?”

  “No, but I’m not sure of when I’ll be home.”

  I leaned down and kissed her on the lips before closing her door.

  I met up with my partner. We discussed a few cases. I created an excuse to work solo. I left the police station on a mission to find the person who had stopped by my place the night before.

  While at the light, Slim’s black customized Lincoln pulled up next to my SUV. He rolled down the passenger window. “What it do?” Slim asked.

  “Taking care of business,” I responded.

  The light changed green. A horn blew from a car behind us.

  “Make sure you do that,” Slim voiced, before letting his window back up.

  I continued toward my destination. After running into Charity at the hotel last week, I surveyed my surroundings more closely before entering. Ten minutes later, I was using the key I had and then entered.

  I followed the man to the living room area of the suite and sat down on the couch. The television was on, but the volume was all the way down. I picked up the remote and increased the volume. I wasn’t interested in watching comedy reruns. I turned the channel to a twenty-four-hour news channel.

  “So you went against my advice? You’re still messing with that Jones girl,” Dad said. He drank out of a bottle he had in a brown paper bag.