Around the Way Girls 8

by Tina Brooks McKinney

  “What did you say to him?”

  “I said, fuck you. I’m not breaking the contract. If even tries, I will sue him for so much that even his great-great-grandchildren not even born yet will have the burden of paying off his accumulated debt.”

  “Damn right. Some people have got a nerve to say the remarks that come out of their mouths,” she commented.

  “Did you eat yet?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Do you want to make it a pizza night?”

  “Sure,” she agreed nodding.

  “Okay. What toppings do you want on your pizza?”

  “Are you up for trying ham and pineapple? The sweetness of the fruit and the saltiness of the ham give the pizza a different flavor.”

  “I will try something different,” I replied, dialing the number to reach Papa John’s pizza.

  “Mom has been telling the ladies at her church about the brownies. I’ve got six more orders for next week.”

  “That’s great,” I proclaimed.

  “You think the grocery chains will come knocking soon?”

  “I think so. We just need to stay focused and never give up on our dream.

  “Five orders finished and eleven more to go,” I mentioned.

  Now we were taking orders online. Within three to five business days, we could ship our brownies just about anywhere.

  Chapter 23

  “I need to see Detective Snyder,” I requested at the police station front desk, refusing to take no for an answer.

  “Let me see if he’s in today. In the meantime, please have a seat,” he instructed me.

  “Ms. Montague,” the detective greeted me.

  “It’s about time. May we talk in private?” I asked.

  “Of course we can. Please, follow me into my office.”

  “Did you have a nice vacation?” I inquired.

  “Yes, I sure did. I took my kids to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. My wife and I are divorced. When she does let me have them, I take advantage of the time. It’s unbelievable how much chocolate my munchkins can eat,” he said after we sat down, looking at a picture of his children.

  “You got cute kids,” I pointed out.

  “Thank you,” he acknowledged, smiling.

  “Snyder, you know why I’m here. Have there been any more leads?” I asked quickly, changing the subject.

  “Unfortunately, there haven’t been any more leads. Ms. Montague, I gave you my word. I’m not giving up on finding the killer,” he expressed.

  “Do you think the person who attempted to break in my house is related to my parents’ death?” I questioned.

  “It could be or it might have been a home invasion gone sour,” he answered.

  “I’m so frustrated. Rage is festering inside of me. This is hard. I’m sick of waiting,” I admitted.

  “Ms. Montague, I can’t give you a deadline. You have to be patient. I interviewed most of his colleagues. Do you think your father might have known something?” he inquired.

  “I don’t know,” I answered, shrugging my shoulders. “With your men patrolling my neighborhood, have they seen anything that could be possibly suspicious?”

  “No, you would have been the first person on my list to call.”

  “Glad to see you still have all my phone numbers. Please call me if the slightest thing develops,” I strongly urged.

  “I definitely will,” he agreed before I walked out of his office.

  Receiving an e-mail delivery confirmation from Amazon. com cheered me up. Since Greg had been so good to me, I ordered a Jimi Hendrix CD for him. It wasn’t cheap, being this particular one stopped being made by the manufacturer.

  Should I go to his job or should I wait for him to get home from work? I thought, driving down Lynnhaven Parkway. I had plenty of paperwork to catch up on and plenty of invoices to be looked over before I paid.

  Since it was in the direction I was heading to, I wanted to splurge a little on a manicure and pedicure. A year ago, splurging would have been six-hundred-dollar bedroom sheets from Nordstrom.

  After I was done at the nail salon, I made a pit stop to the house where I found the CD waiting for me in a box. When you live in a neighborhood where items are left at the door, it made me feel I had pretty good neighbors.

  Chapter 24

  Back at Colstice, many people gave me dirty looks, thankful my reign of an overpaid andnonworking employee was over. Some came up to me asking sincerely how I was doing and if the police case was leading to a possible suspect. I got asked that question the most. Every time, I had no choice but to tell that person, “no, there haven’t been anyone arrested.”

  “Hey, you,” I addressed Greg after knocking on the door and walking into his office.

  “Baby, hi, I didn’t expect you today,” he expressed with sweat starting to come down his face. He looked nervous and kept looking at his watch.

  “I wanted to surprise you,” I explained, pulling out the Jimi Hendricks CD he had been looking for.

  “You found it. I looked online for hours. Not to mention, I called so many music stores,” he replied, surprised.

  “I can find anything. It’s the thrill of the hunt I love so much,” I admitted, hugging him.

  “Thank you,” he laughed.

  “You’re welcome. What do you want for dinner?”

  “Hmm, I’m in the mood for Chinese,” he requested.

  “Will it be your place or mine, tonight?” I inquired.

  “Mine,” he confirmed with a soft kiss on the cheek.

  “See you then,” I giggled and left his office.

  Chapter 25

  I may not have known how to cook; but I perfected ordering take-out. Greg’s General Tso’s chicken with white rice and my chicken lo mein with fried rice had just arrived.

  Today, I accomplished setting up PayPal and being able to take all major credit cards from our clients. Not to mention, I finished six orders.

  After Greg closed the front door, he placed a medium-sized brown box at my feet.

  “What is it?” I inquired.

  “It’s what I didn’t want you to see when you came and saw me, today. Out of all days, you had to show at the office today, almost blowing my surprise for you,” he laughed.

  “I couldn’t wait to give you the CD.”

  “I know. By the way, I listened to it for the rest of the afternoon. Open it,” he ordered, getting back to the matter at hand. It was a white, fluffy doggy, just like the bichon frise I had before growing up.

  “Aah, she’s beautiful. What’s her name?” I cooed.

  “Jackie, you’re the rightful owner, now. The decision will be made by you.”

  “I’m going to call you Bella,” I replied to her.

  “You like her?” he asked.

  “I love her already. Thank you,” I responded, smiling.

  “Before you ask, she’s up to date on all of her shots. I got a water bowl, bed, and food in the car. Bella is only four weeks old,” he explained, handing me her necessary papers.

  “The food is ready.”

  “I smelled it as soon as I walked through the door.”

  “How does it taste?” I asked Greg after placing his food onto a plate.

  “It’s hitting the spot. Did you notice her collar? I hope it fits your taste,” he pointed out. The collar was my favorite color: gray. Hanging alongside of it was a two-karat princess-cut diamond ring.

  “Jackie, I love you. I want us to have good, wonderful, bad, and ugly times together. I want to grow old with you and make babies. Will you marry me?” Greg asked after slowly removing the ring from Bella’s collar.

  “Yes,” I proclaimed with a kiss. Greg went to the car and got Bella’s things so she could get acquainted with her new home.

  For the rest of the night, we ate, laughed, and talked. I couldn’t decide if I wanted a huge wedding or not. Greg told me I had full rein on the wedding. The honeymoon, on other hand, would be left totally up to him. I considered it a fair
deal and we shook hands on it.

  I couldn’t stop playing and holding Bella. She made me so happy. Greg even agreed to watch Dancing with the Stars with me. “This is your night,” he whispered into my ear.

  Later on that night, Greg and I went sleep with Bella in the middle of us on the bed.

  Chapter 26

  “Hello?” I answered the phone.

  “Hi, may I speak with Jackie Montague or Michelle Perez?”

  “This is Jackie. How may I help you?” I asked.

  “I don’t know if you remember me. My name is Valerie Stevens. We met at the mall a few months back.”

  “Yes, I do remember.” I nodded my head, crossing my fingers desperately, hoping she had good news for me.

  “I’m back at work,” she revealed.

  “How are your children doing?”

  “The baby is getting big. The toddlers are bad as ever,” she laughed.

  “So you’re still thinking about our delicious brownies?”

  “Yes, I ordered an assortment box for each of my clients. Well, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Food Lion are interested,” she explained.

  “That’s great,” I replied, jumping up and down. Bella was looking at me with a funny look in her eye.

  “The pricing may need to come down to fit each store clientele. Are you willing to do that?”

  “Of course we are,” I responded. Slow money and huge exposure is way better than no money.

  “I will be sending you the invoices and contracts. Congratulations. I have high expectations for Gabby’s brownies,” she declared.

  “Thank you so much,” I proclaimed and hung up the phone. Then I started texting Michelle’s phone. It was the quickest way to reach her. As I waited for her to call me back, I picked up Bella and we started pacing the floor together. I wished Michelle could have been here. If she didn’t call back within the hour, I was going to her job, knowing she would be on her break soon. Finally, after forty-two excruciating minutes, my cell phone rang.

  “Hey,” I greeted her.

  “Hi, I don’t have long to talk. The kids from the high school have added orders from the normal lunch rush,” she informed me.

  “Are you there?” I asked. The phone was losing the signal.

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Wal-Mart, Food Lion, and Kmart want our brownies into their stores,” I announced, jumping up and down again. Bella had started barking due to my excitement.

  “What?”

  “I repeat: Wal-Mart, Food Lion, and Kmart want our product.”

  “Is this is a joke?”

  “Hell no. We’ve made it big time. Valerie, the lady from the mall, called me.”

  “I remember her.”

  “She will be sending out invoices and contracts soon. Depending on their order quantity, we’ll need bigger mixers. What time do you get off?”

  “After I go to the bank and make the deposit. I want to be out of here by three o’clock.”

  “Okay, come to my house. We need to go shopping. The Bed Bath and Beyond is having a thirty percent off sale on Kitchen Aid mixers,” I encouraged.

  “As soon as I can break away, and may even leave earlier, I will be at your doorstep. I’m so excited. We finally made it,” Michelle confirmed.

  “Yes, we have arrived.” I nodded and hung up the phone. My next stop would be Chipotle for a spicy chicken salad and a steak burrito for Greg. Then, I was heading over to his house.

  Chapter 27

  On the way to Greg’s house, I called Mr. Emery to inform him about the extraordinary news. He was proud of us and wanted to order yet another box of assortment brownies. I was more than happy to oblige him. I pulled into Greg’s garage. The garage door led into the kitchen. I threw the food on top of the counter. I had to tell him the good news, first.

  “Greg,” I called out. He was nowhere to be found. I didn’t even bother to notice if his car was parked outside. Sometimes, he parked in the garage and other times he parked on the street. I searched every room. Finally, I found him in the upstairs television room along with another woman sucking his dick on the couch. She was buck naked. Greg only had on a pair of boxer shorts, which was down to his damn knees.

  “Greg, what the hell are you doing!” I cried out.

  “Jackie, is that you?” He could barely speak, probably because he was about to cum in her mouth.

  I put a damn stop to that happening. I grabbed the woman by the hair and spun her around. Then I punched her in the face.

  She quickly tried to grab her clothes. The only thing I let her have was her bra and panties. Before I knew it, she sped off in her car.

  I turned my attention back to Greg. “How could you do this to me? We’re supposed to be getting married.”

  “Jackie, Jackie,” he repeated in almost a sleepy-like state.

  “We’re over. The wedding is off. I thought your cheating ways were behind us. I guess not,” I declared.

  “Please, wait,” he begged. I wasted no time smacking him plenty of times in the face and kicking his dick. Believe me, I didn’t forget about his balls, either.

  Greg hurled over the couch in pain.

  I ran out of the house, barely able to breathe. This was one of the worst days in my life. If Greg wanted to be with other women, why did he ask for my hand in marriage? Cheating while married to me was a definite no-no. Now I knew why women killed their husbands because of infidelity.

  Resentment and hostility would take the place of the love I had for him.

  Chapter 28

  Four hours had passed before Michelle showed up at the door. In between that time, I cried and cried some more on my bed. I took a hot shower and cried in the bathroom as well. I had to get my emotions together. Dressing up in a cute top, jeans, and boots made me feel a little bit better. Besides, I didn’t want Greg’s ignorance to spoil the accomplishments of our brownies. I made it a point to discuss the events of the day at another time with Michelle.

  Chills continued to go down my spine every time Greg entered my thoughts. Right now, all I could feel was numbness.

  “Ready to go?” she asked me before hugging me. “I sure am equipped with my coupons. How many should we get?” she inquired.

  “I was thinking two. Plus, we could pick up some new pans and swing by Sam’s Club. I’m low on eggs.”

  “I’m slim on chocolate chips,” she added.

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “Besides trying to contain your excitement, what else did you do for the day?” she inquired.

  “I ran a few errands and took Bella to PetSmart for her very first class in dog obedience school.”

  “How did she do?” Michelle asked.

  “Terrible for her first day,” I explained, letting out a small laugh.

  “She’ll get better as times goes on. At least she’s not pooping and peeing in the house.”

  “I’m grateful for that. I make it a point to walk her as much as I can. It’s funny, because she has a tendency to poop in the same spot,” I explained, laughing.

  After dropping Michelle off and putting supplies away in the house, I didn’t feel like sitting at home crying over Greg again. I wanted to take a drive, not knowing where I would end up. Before letting out a sigh of disbelief of today’s revelation, I popped in a Mary J. Blige CD.

  Chapter 29

  “Jackie, what a pleasant surprise. Please come in,” Derrick welcomed me into his home. Since the last time I was here, he had done some major upgrades. The new hardwood floors were shiny as ever and the granite countertop was impeccable.

  “You made it a point to let me know your door was always open,” I replied, smiling.

  “I could never cancel on you. Beautiful as ever,” he replied, caressing my face.

  “Thanks. So how’s the life of the prominent district attorney?”

  “Hectic. I’m up for reelection. Would you care for a glass of wine?”

  “No thanks,” I quickly responded.

  “I have Sprite,
tea, or water in the fridge. Do you want that?”

  “I’m fine. Do you think you’ll win?”

  “Well, my opponent isn’t well liked. Along with your vote and the other gracious people of Virginia Beach, I will continue my crusade in protecting our streets.”

  “Enough said. What cases are you working on?” I asked, walking over to the brown leather couch and motioning for Derrick to sit down. I stood over him and started rubbing his shoulders. He paused for a moment before finally answering.

  “Damn, that feels good,” he assured.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll keep going. Now back to your major cases,” I reminded him. One of the things I liked about Derrick was that he was an excellent storyteller.

  “I’m working on a case where a guy lost his job. His house was in foreclosure. He killed his mother, wife, two daughters, one-year old son, and their family cat. He’s trying to play the insanity card but I’m not buying it.”

  “What are you pushing for?”

  “I’m rooting for the death penalty,” he confirmed as I walked over to the couch and faced him. I took off my clothes, revealing a canary-yellow bra and G-string panty set. I turned around for him to get a glimpse of my body and take off the condom I had pinned in between the G-string and my butt. He removed it from me and tore off the paper with his teeth.

  “Climb on,” he urged after putting condom on. With my back facing him, I glided down his dick and starting riding him.

  “You like?”

  “Keep it coming,” he insisted.

  I turned around to face him and slid down on his dick again. Derrick held on tight to my breasts as I rode him with such force. He loved every second of it. Before I knew it, he came. I didn’t break a sweat. He, on the other hand, was drenching wet.

  “I gotta go,” I informed while quickly putting my clothes back on.

  “You’re leaving so soon. It’s too bad you’re engaged.”

  “You knew?”

  “Jackie, word gets around. Congratulations, he’s a lucky man,” he confirmed. I started crying and ran out of the house. Once thinking about Greg, I couldn’t hold back the tears. All I wanted to do was go home, cuddle up with Bella, and go to bed.