by A'zayler
Fallon’s eyes went to the drawer but she didn’t say anything, she just looked. Alex could tell by her body movement that she was looking for the papers, but he acted as if he didn’t see her and kept grabbing clothes.
“I hope you don’t care that I didn’t put your stuff in here neatly. I figured you ain’t have time for that.” He looked at her as her eyes searched the empty top drawer.
“Umm,” she cleared her throat. “No, you’re good. That’s fine. I’ll fold them all up later.” She walked to the bag and bent down to look in it. “Did you get everything?” She thumbed through the bag casually, but Alex knew what she was doing.
He looked over his shoulder at her and nodded his head. “Yeah, I threw paper and everything up in there, girl. I didn’t know what you wanted or what you didn’t want, so I just threw everything in it.”
She sat back on her heels and sighed. “Oh okay. Like I said, that’s fine. I have to go through it all anyway. I’ll sort it out later.”
Fallon stood back up on her feet and walked out. Alex stilled his movement, but only for a minute, and then went back to gathering her things. They spent a little over two hours at Fallon’s house getting their stuff. Alex didn’t find anything else, but it most definitely wasn’t from a lack of effort. After stumbling upon all the other documents that had to hold some type of importance, he was on the lookout extra hard.
Once they loaded everything they’d packed into the back of Fallon’s car and Alex’s truck, they got gas and headed back to Columbus.
“This is so crazy, ain’t it?” Rain was looking out of the front window at Fallon’s car.
“What part?”
“Her having to sneak and leave her husband. What if marriage ain’t all it’s cracked up to be? I mean, look at the stuff these niggas be doing.”
Alex could understand where Rain was coming from. “Yeah, I used to think the same thing, but then again there’s niggas like Love in the Club who makes that shit different. He don’t be on that bullshit. All that nigga cares about is making your little baby ass happy. He good on all the rest. Damien and Drake some hoes. That’s all that is.”
“You’re right, but still. I be thinking about it sometimes. Trying to figure out where Dakota and I will be in a few years. I’m sure no marriage starts out bad, it just turns that way.”
“You think Love would do you like they do their women?”
Rain sat quiet for a minute before shaking her head no. “Not for real. I just don’t want to assume that and then end up looking crazy in the end.”
Alex sucked his teeth. “Girl, please. That nigga ain’t gon have you looking no kind of way but happy. Stop the madness.”
Rain laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do too. That’s all it’s been thus far. Ain’t nothing else about to change it.”
“We’ll see.”
“You know what, bitch? I hope we do see. And I hope while we seeing he’s somewhere fucking another hoe.”
His rude sarcasm had him and Rain in stiches as he drove the rest of the way home. They laughed and joked until they pulled up to an apartment complex called The Crossings once they got back into Columbus. Of course they helped her carry her things upstairs to her half empty apartment before leaving.
After Alex dropped Rain off, he kept it moving to his own place. He was tired and had done way more work than he’d planned on doing that day. Not to mention, he was itching to see what he’d discovered on the papers earlier. The only thing he knew was that the papers had something to do with an adoption.
He hadn’t had time to read the rest. Alex parked his truck into his parking space and went to his house. After closing and locking the door behind him, he went to take a shower. His bed felt so good to him immediately after. With the light off and snuggled beneath his covers with nothing but his bonnet and cellphone, he went to his gallery.
The pictures he’d taken earlier were right there and ready to be examined. Before reading, he used his thumb and one of his fingers to zoom the screen in. He read slowly until he’d finished the first page. Just as he got to the last line that needed to be filled in, his eyes bucked again.
This time for a totally different reason than they had before. Alex was so outdone he dropped his phone on the floor. He took a few deep breaths before picking it up again. He couldn’t wait to tell Summer about this shit. He stayed up for another few minutes reading over all of the documents. He needed to make sure he knew what he was talking about before he went off telling stuff.
The next evening couldn’t come fast enough. He got up, showered, and dressed because he needed to go see Summer. He’d thought about calling her and telling her about his findings, but he needed to see her face when he dropped this bomb. Summer was just like him, so he could only imagine what was going to come out of her mouth. Waiting for her to get off of work had been torture.
Alex drove slowly down the street toward Summer’s house and parked. They all had stayed right around the street from each other, until Rain’s townhouse had caught fire. Now just he and Summer were close. Love’s house wasn’t that far from theirs, but it wasn’t as close as Rain’s had been. His sandals clicked across the pavement as he headed for her stairs.
The watch on his arm let him know that she should be home by then, so he knocked on her door the moment he reached the top of the stairs. In nothing but a bra and a pair of tights, Summer opened the door for him. Alex walked in past her and took a seat in the living room.
“Put some clothes on, hoe. Don’t nobody want to look at your half naked ass.”
Summer plopped down on the sofa next to him. “Nigga, yes you do. You may be gay, but you see all this ass. That’s why you want me to cover it up. You ain’t slick.”
Alex turned his nose up. “You wish. Don’t nobody want you.”
Summer leaned over and kissed Alex’s face sloppily. “Yes, you do.”
He pushed her away before they started laughing. “Stop playing, girl. I got some serious shit we need to discuss.”
“Like what?”
“Okay, you know your sister dragged me down to Albany yesterday to help Fallon pack up her apartment.”
Summer nodded.
“Okay, well I was in charge of cleaning out Fallon’s drawers or whatever.” Alex rolled his eyes and waved his hand in the air in typical Alex fashion. “Don’t ask me why I was in charge of that shit, but anyway, I’m looking though the drawers and guess what I roll up on, bitch?”
Summer was on the edge of her seat in anticipation. “What?”
“Adoption papers, a birth certificate, and some AIDS papers, but that shit old.”
“Adoption papers?” Summer looked confused.
“Yes. Adoption papers for a Jazz Dewayne Love.”
Summer’s eyes bucked as she covered her mouth with one of her hands. “You lying.”
Alex shook his head.
Summer sat back on the sofa and looked around her living room for a minute before sitting back up and looking at Alex. “Hold on…so what you think this mean?”
“It means that damn baby ain’t Fallon’s. His birth certificate said his name was Lucas Ja’carlos Innis.”
“Oh my God. So he’s not Fallon’s son? But he looks so much like Love.” Summer sat back with disbelief written all over her face. “Something ain’t right, bitch. You probably looked at the wrong thing.”
Alex pulled his phone out of his purse and went to the picture before zooming in. “No, Summer Time, I know what I looked at. Don’t try me, bitch.”
Summer rolled her eyes at him and grabbed his phone. “Don’t be calling me that. That’s for my man only. Not your gay ass.”
Alex’s middle finger rotated in the air as he shot her a bird. “Just look at that picture then apologize.”
“Right here it says his birth mother was a Tacara Innis.”
“Umm huh, I know. Keep reading and get ready to say sorry. Talking ’bout I don’t know w
hat I’m talking about. Bitch, I’m a certified detective.” Alex leaned over and looked at his phone with her.
Their heads were resting against one another’s as they looked at the phone together. Summer was mumbling lowly as she read, when she screamed and dropped the phone.
“Dakota Ja’carlos Love… what the fuck, Alex?”
“Exactly! I did the same thing last night. I wanted to call and tell you last night, but I figured you were with your little man. Plus, I needed to see your face after this.” Alex looked at her and smiled.
“I don’t know what you’re smiling for. This is some crazy shit. How in the hell did Fallon end up with Dakota’s son when they haven’t spoken in years?”
“Apparently they have. She got the baby some kind of way.”
Summer sat up again and shook her head as she read the papers again. Her eyes scanned over the phone screen, trying to make sense of what they’d just read.
“What are we going to do? We can’t just bust her out because you had no business snooping in the first place, but this is something I think he needs to know.”
Alex stood from his spot on the sofa. “I don’t know. I’m leaving that part to you. I don’t want no parts of it. I have enough drama in my own life.”
They both looked at each other, stuck and lost on what their next move should be. Neither of them knew a way to get out of that. It was going to take some serious thought in order to smooth such a personal situation over without causing another fall out between the two.
Chapter 9: Anything Could Happen
Love walked to his truck and hit the locks. It had been a long night at work and he was ready to see his bed. They had been called out to three different fires and exhausted wasn’t even a strong enough word to describe his aching body. The soft cushions of his truck’s seats felt heavenly to his body. With a swish of his wrist, Love started his truck and headed home.
He looked out of the window as he drove down the street. It was a little after nine, so that meant he had a few hours to sleep before Fallon brought Jazz over. She was going out furniture shopping and to register him for school. Love was happy that she had finally decided to move down to Columbus. Now he could see them both more, maybe even build a stronger relationship.
The front end of his truck had just turned on his street when his phone began to ring. He didn’t recognize the number when he looked at the screen. It was unknown, but he answered anyway.
“Hello, Mr. Love, did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No. Who’s calling?”
“This is Detective Marshall. I was calling to see if maybe you and Rain could come down to talk to me for a moment. I’ve been spending time looking into the information that you all provided the other day, and I think it’s urgent that I share my findings.”
“Sure thing. We’ll be right down.”
Detective Marshall assured him that he would be waiting for their arrival before ending the call. As tired as Love was, sleep would just have to wait. He would much rather handle this situation with Rain and Damien’s foolish ass baby mama. He parked in his driveway and hopped out. He used his key to let himself in before walking up the stairs.
Rain was snuggled beneath the covers when he walked in. The fan was on and the lights were still off, so it was clear that she hadn’t been out of bed yet. The atmosphere of the room had him on the verge of hopping in the bed and closing his eyes, but they needed to take care of more important matters first.
Love kneeled on the side of bed she was on and shook her shoulder lightly. “Rain.”
He shook her a few more times while calling her name before she stirred and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times before closing her eyes again and falling right back to sleep. Love repeated the same thing he’d just done with the tapping of her arm and calling of her name, before she opened her eyes again.
“Get up, baby. Detective Marshall called and he says he needs to meet with us about Damien’s girl.”
Rain’s eyes opened that time and remained open. She rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling. She took a deep breath and threw the covers from her body. Love moved back so that she would have room to step out of bed and sat on the floor against the wall. He waited for Rain to get herself together enough for them to leave. Close to thirty minutes later, they were back out of the house and headed for the police station.
“Did he say what he found?”
“Nah, he just said it was urgent and that we should come down there.”
Rain slid her glasses on her face. “I hope it something good. Like they have an arrest warrant for her or something like that.”
“Me too. That way we ain’t got to worry about her crazy ass no more.” Love looked over at her and rested his hand on her thigh. “You know I’ve been thinking, maybe we should try for another little one.”
Rain looked at him. He could see her eyebrows scrunched together at the top of her glasses. “What makes you say that?”
“We wanted a baby then, I’m sure we want one now too. I mean I know I still do. Do you?”
Rain shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“What kind of answer is that? Either you do or you don’t. There really ain’t no in between.”
“I just don’t know. Sometimes I want to try again, but then I change my mind. Being that a baby isn’t really something you can change your mind about, I think we should wait until I’m completely sure.”
Love could already tell this conversation was about to take a direction he wasn’t in the mood for, so he turned the music up and continued driving. He was already tired. The smallest thing was sure to piss him off. He wasn’t a fan of taking his aggression out on Rain unless it was in the bedroom, so he chose to keep quiet instead.
By the time they got downtown to the police station they’d began talking again about something else so they were back on good terms. He helped her out of the car and held her hand as they walked into the building. They were seated in the waiting room before being called back to his office.
The two chairs in front of his desk weren’t very comfortable, but they had no intention of being there too long, so it didn’t really matter.
“Okay, after going over the things that you all told me, I had some of my people look into your attacker and it all happened exactly as you said. Her car, the red Charger that ran you off of the road, has been in a repair shop for the last few days for some work needed on the front end. That alone was enough to charge her. If we can get her to confess to us the way you say she confessed to you all, that would be perfect. As of now, she will be picked up and held without bond until her court date.” He smiled at Rain and Love.
Rain told him thank you over and over as Love stuck his hand across the desk for him to shake. He went over a few more things with the two of them before they left. Feeling a lot better than they had the last time they were down there, the two left. They walked to the truck hand in hand and left.
“I need to call Summer and tell her.” Rain pulled her phone out.
While she made her call, Love drove back to the house. He was still tired and needed a few hours of rest before he met Fallon to get Jazz. On the way, he stopped at Krystal’s to get Rain some food and continued home.
“I wonder if something is wrong with Summer.”
Love looked at Rain. “Why you say that?”
“She just sounded weird when I was telling her about Damien’s baby mama.”
“Maybe she’s tired or something.”
Rain nodded, but her face still held a hint of anguish. “Maybe.”
“You want to go check on her?”
She shook her head no and grabbed some fries from her bag. Well if she didn’t, then he wouldn’t make her.
“Where we going?” Rain looked at him as he drove past the turn to get to his house.
“I’m going to take you out for a little while. We both need a fucking break.”
“You ain’t lying. Where we going?”
“It d
on’t matter for real. We can grab some food, and get your toes and shit done. Whatever you want.”
Rain gave him a big smile as he drove down the street. He was glad to see her smile, but he had no clue where he was taking her. He tried to choose quickly between the mall and a restaurant, so he chose the mall. For a minute he almost regretted his decision once he realized he was still dressed in his navy blue jersey shorts and fire department shirt with his boots.
“Why you ain’t getting out?”
“I forgot I ain’t have on no clothes.”
Her eyes looked him over quickly before patting his arm. “You look fine.” She got out of the truck and met him at the back of it. “Besides, I’m sure all of your old hoes know that you been fine. They can see you off for one day.” Rain pushed his dreads out of his face. “To be for real, if I wasn’t with you, you probably would still have these girls going wild. That fire man get up is sexy as hell.” Rain walked away while she was talking.
Love blushed from her playful banter and followed her into the mall. When he’d caught up to her, she wrapped her arm around his as they walked. As always, it was packed with people. The mall wasn’t really his thing. In fact, he almost hated to go there because it was always so many people. If it wasn’t for his barbershop being inside, he probably would hardly go.
Not to mention the thousands of thirsty women and bad ass little kids that hung around every other store. Why parents let their kids out to roam around freely like they were grown was beyond him. Every corner they turned there was some group of little girls talking all loud, or a group of young boys with ugly haircuts.
“Come on babe, let’s go in JC Penny’s.” Rain pulled his arm and dragged him into the department store.
He stood close by while she looked around the various racks of clothing.
“Why you wanted to come in this old lady store?”
“This is not an old lady store. They have nice things.”
“This shit is ugly.”
Rain laughed him off and continued shopping. By the time she was ready to go to the dressing room, she had an arm full of clothing. She turned a few corners until she had found the small corner of the store where she could try on clothes. Love stood to the side, about to allow her some time to try her stuff on, but she grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind her.