by Stacy-Deanne
The people continued chatting.
“You claim you want justice for Presley too?” Khadija asked. “You do things your way and I’ll do things mine because one thing about me baby is I get results.”
Anderson exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You need to listen as much as you talk.”
“Oh trust me I’m listening and—”
“Hey!” Klein Osgood walked out with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and his slacks twisting between his chunky thighs. “Listen! Mayor Bordeaux called the cops.”
They ignored him and chanted louder.
“Brothers and sisters,” Klein said.
“Brothers and sisters?” Khadija laughed. “Now you remember whose side you on? What, the mayor sent his house Negro out here to quiet the yard niggas up?”
“Like we’d listen to you, Klein.” A woman laughed. “Uncle Tom ass.”
The crowd hooted, laughing.
Klein shifted from side to side, scowling. “That’s funny. Yeah call me an Uncle Tom because I got a job most of you couldn’t dream of having.”
“What’s that?” Khadija blew a kiss at him. “Kissing the mayor’s ass?”
Everyone laughed.
“Get out of here!” Klein pointed to the street. “That’s enough! We’re no longer playing games. Miss Moore, if you can do nothing but cause trouble then go back to Detroit. You guys have no right to be here.”
“It’s free speech, fool,” a man said.
“We have every right to be here.” Khadija got in Klein’s face. “And who’ll make us leave?”
Two police cars turned into the parking lot.
“All right, everyone.” The first deputy walked through the crowd, waving. “Wrap it up.”
The people booed, hissed and waved their signs at the officers.
“Let’s go,” the second officer commanded. “If you want to talk to the mayor make an appointment, but you can’t stand out here all day causing a ruckus.”
“A ruckus.” Khadija huffed, gathering her bag and keys. “You think this is the end?” She glared at Anderson and Klein. “It’s just beginning. You should be ashamed of yourself, Osgood. Your fiancée’ is Presley’s aunt.”
Klein clenched his teeth.
“Is Sonjay happy with her soon-to-be-husband protecting the mayor instead of her sister’s kid?” Khadija barked.
“As if you care about anything but publicity.” Klein’s fleshy, sausage lips trembled. “Channing doesn’t want Presley’s situation turned into some media frenzy but you ignore that.”
“What kind of mother is Channing anyway? Her daughter is the reason we’re here and she hasn’t lifted a finger. I don’t get you people.” Khadija tucked her bag under her arm. “Folks who don’t fight for nothing. I can’t understand that.”
“Just because we don’t fight the way you want us to doesn’t mean we don’t fight.” Klein pointed to the side of his fat head, his hair in a simple, close cut. “We fight with this.”
“Hm.” She rolled her eyes. “I guess some people can afford to fight with that. In my world it takes more than thinking to get anything done.”
“Miss Moore, please leave,” the first deputy said.
She bumped into the deputy as she passed. “This ain’t the last of us.”
CHAPTER THREE
Anderson put his arm around Klein’s stiff shoulders. “Can your old college pal get a hug, huh?”
“Hey, man.” Klein hugged Anderson, slapping his back. “I missed you, buddy.”
Anderson struggled not to gag from the funky smell radiating from Klein’s shirt. “Damn, you’re rank.”
“Please.” Klein stuck his head in the air, tugging on his collar. “That’s my cologne. Fierce by Abercrombie and Fitch.”
“Ugh. Smells like foot fungus.”
“Sonjay loves it.” Klein sniffed under his arms. “Says it makes me smell like a real man.”
“She must be in love if she says that.”
Klein rolled his big, round eyes upward and grinned. “It sure is nice to see you again, Andy.”
“Please don’t call me that.” He fidgeted. “I left ‘Andy’ in college.”
“Sorry, Anderson,” Klein mocked, making a face. “How long has it been since we’ve seen each other?”
“The last time I visited you was when I came here for your momma’s funeral.”
“Damn, that was two thousand and twelve. It doesn’t seem that long.”
“Wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t ignore my emails.”
“It’s not like that. I’m a big man in this town so I stay busy.”
“I’m proud of you.” Anderson swatted Klein’s ebony-brown cheek. “Look at you. The mayor’s chief of staff. In college, you hated politics.”
“Well, things change.” Klein wiped sweat off his forehead. “Why the hell we standing out here frying? Come in. I want to introduce you to Mayor Bordeaux.”
Anderson followed him up the steep stairs and into a huge hall with an endless ceiling. The cool air from the air conditioning whipped across Anderson’s face.
“God, that feels good.” He rubbed his short, dirty-blond hair, which lay neat in a tight cut that people said complimented his tapered features. “How do you make it in this heat?”
Klein stomped through the halls with his head in the air and an echo in every step. “What do you think?” He pointed to plagues and pictures of Thompsonville politicians that hung on each wall they passed.
“Impressive.” Anderson stayed on Klein’s heels as they ran up the stairs, and through a shiny hallway. “You sure you’re not mad about why I’m here?”
“I’m always glad to see my boy.”
“But, you don’t want me to write the story on Presley. Surprised you’re not more involved.”
“It’s best for me to keep my distance with the whole thing.” Klein stopped at an elevator between two vending machines. “I love Presley but politics is a different world. Sometimes you gotta keep your mouth shut to get by.”
“Even when it involves family?”
“I want to change things, and the only way I can do that is by becoming powerful and politics can help me achieve that.” Klein grabbed Anderson’s shoulders. “Working for Mayor Bordeaux can open so many doors for me. He’s making a run for governor.”
“For real?”
“Yeah and he wants to run for Senate or Congress one day. If I play my cards right, he’ll take me with him and the entire world is my oyster.”
A blonde woman greeted them as she passed.
“I’m doing this for Sonjay as much as myself,” Klein said. “She’s always dreamed of being on the arm of someone important.” He sighed. “I wanna show her she didn’t make a mistake when she picked me. I want her to be proud she’s going to be my wife.”
“I’m sure she is, man. I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Sometimes I look at her and I can’t believe she’s mine.” A glazed look came over Klein’s face. “She’s so beautiful. She could have any man in the world and she chose me. I ain’t the best-looking thing in the world.”
“Watch it.” Anderson pointed at him. “Don’t start that beating yourself up stuff. Sonjay should be glad she has you.”
“Check this out.” Klein took out his wallet and showed Anderson a picture of himself and a gorgeous black woman with light-brown skin. Her cinnamon hair stopped at her jawline, styled in a wavy bob that brought out her chiseled nose and valentine-shaped lips.
“Wow.” Anderson stared at the picture. “She is something.”
“Hands down Sonjay’s the finest woman in Thompsonville. Now you see how blessed I’ve been.” Klein pulled the photo back and put away his wallet. “On my way to a great career and I got a beautiful woman. I feel like I can do anything.”
“Sonjay’s gorgeous. Is Channing as pretty as her sister?”
“They’re both fine as hell even their momma.” Klein cackled, nudging Anderson. “But Channing won’t be happy when
she finds out why you’re here. She’s opposed to any media getting anywhere near Presley. She doesn’t want this to turn into another Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown.”
“But her daughter is lying in a coma and the man who hit her is walking around free. If it were me I’d want her story everywhere so it would put pressure on the police to do something. I want to give her a chance to share her daughter’s story. She can’t object help.”
“Klein!” A short, pudgy Hispanic woman with a straggly, cheap wig on, waddled toward them. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Did you hear the news?”
“Don’t tell me you guys screwed something up and I have to keep Bordeaux off your asses.”
“No it’s about Dex Reinhardt.” The woman examined Anderson. “Hello, Mr. Abraham.” She held out her hand. “I’m Londa Herrera.”
“Nice to meet you, Londa.”
“Klein told us you were coming. How are you enjoying Thompsonville so far?”
Klein butted in, “What’s this about Dex?”
“Brace yourself.” Londa touched Klein’s arm. “Dex is taking over Lancaster’s defense.”
“What?”
“The other attorney couldn’t take the heat. He was getting hate mail and threats. He also felt like Lancaster wouldn’t get a fair trial and pulled out. So Dex took it.”
“You can’t be serious.” Klein rubbed the rolls on the back of his neck. “Dex wouldn’t do that.”
“Everyone’s talking about it,” Londa said. “How could he take this case when he’s so close to the Mills family?”
“I don’t know.” Klein walked away.
Anderson smiled at Londa and caught up with him. “Who’s Dex Reinhardt?”
“He’s supposed to be my friend.” Klein huffed. “Not anymore.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Sonjay Mills flung open the glass door and flounced inside the law office.
“Hold on, Miss Mills,” Dex’s secretary said from her seat. “I have to announce you before you—”
“It’s too late.” Sonjay barged into Dex’s office and shut the door.
Dex sat behind his cherry-walnut desk covered with hand-carved designs, typing on his computer. “If I’d made a bet I’d have won it.”
“What are you talking about?”
He straightened his 6’2 body and hooked his long fingers together. “I take it you heard the news?”
“How can you do this? Is it to send me some kind of message?”
He stroked the stubble that covered the bottom of his oblong-shaped face. “And what message would I need to send you?”
She stepped back as his usual aroma, a mixture of coffee, hair gel and Calvin Klein’s Eternity hit her, pulverizing her senses.
He peering at her with those crystal-blue eyes.
“You can’t take the Lancaster case.”
“I’ve already taken it.” He shook his head, gel holding his short, brown hair in place. “Shouldn’t you be teaching your class?”
“It’s lunch time now answer me.” She slammed her purse on the desk. “Why are you taking this case?”
“Lancaster’s attorney quit and I’m the best defense attorney in town. If anyone can win it, it’ll be me. What else do you want me to say?”
“You’re doing this to get my attention and to force me to do what you want.”
“Sonjay, it might surprise you but not everything in my life revolves around you.” He pressed his thin lips together. “This isn’t about us.”
“How can you defend that asshole?”
“What Lancaster did was despicable but my job is to make sure I get a person a fair trial.” Redness eased through his tan cheeks. “No one else in this town will take the case.”
“Because he’s guilty. That bastard ran over my niece and she’s fighting for her life. How could you do this, Dex? And Klein is your best friend?”
“Don’t pull that card on me, Sonny.” A growl corroded his words. “You’re the last one to be talking about loyalty to Klein after what you’ve been doing behind his back.”
“What ‘we’ve’ been doing behind his back.”
“Exactly.”
She took a deep breath. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Sleep with me?” He raised a brown eyebrow. “You’ve said this a hundred times and always ended up back in my bed.”
“I mean it now.”
“You said you meant it before.”
She looked him in the eyes. “I don’t want to be anywhere near you if you’re on this case.”
“What we say doesn’t matter, Sonny.” He walked from behind the desk in his pressed shirt and creased slacks. “Because no matter how hard we try, we can’t stop how we feel about each other.”
“I can.” She closed her eyes. “I have to stop it, Dex. We both have to.”
“We belong together, Sonjay.” He wrapped his strong arm around her curves and she wished his hands were permanently attached to her. “It would be so much easier if this was just an affair but we love each other. It’s been over a year since we started this, and my feelings for you grow stronger every day.”
She tried to leave, but he held her against him. “Let me go.”
“I’ve missed you so much.” His mouth was so close that his breath hit her face. “I can’t keep sharing you with Klein. I’m the one you want and you need to face that and tell him.”
“Let go.” She tried to push him away, but he held her even closer. “Dex, please.”
“Please what, huh?”
She got wet wondering why the hell they were talking instead of fucking since they do it so well.
“I’m not letting you go. Not until you make a choice.”
“Don’t do this.” She looked at the door while praying he’d steal a kiss. “What if your secretary comes in?”
“I don’t care.” He held her tighter. “She knows what’s going on. You think others can’t tell how we feel about each other?”
“Dex.” She flattened her hand against his chest, his muscles rippling underneath her touch. “You don’t understand how this tortures me.”
“I don’t see you as the one being tortured here.”
“It is torture for me.” She fought tears. “It’s killing me to want you like I do.”
He loosened his grip.
“I hate hurting you and lying to Klein.” She sobbed. “I feel like the worst person in the world sometimes. How do you think it feels to want you and not be able to stop wanting you? I hate going places with Klein and seeing your face, wanting you and wondering if he can tell. I hate walking around town and avoiding eye contact because someone might notice how much I love you.”
He let go of her and lowered his arms.
“It’s so hard, Dex.” She cried in her palms. “I wish I didn’t want you. Why do things work out this way? I want to be with Klein. Why can’t I love him the way I love you?”
He leaned back on the desk with an expression as if someone struck him across the face.
“Yes, I want you.” She stomped her foot. “I love you! You got the power. Is that what you want to hear?”
He reached for her.
“No.” She slapped his hand. “I can’t keep going through this. It’s tearing me apart.”
“I can’t lose you.”
“You don’t have me.”
“That’s not true. Klein might have your body every night but I have your heart. You can’t change that.”
“I’ll be strong.” She balled fists. “I’ll fight it.”
“Good job you’re doing so far. You even came here today because you wanted to see me. You could’ve told me off on the phone.”
“That’s true.” She dropped her head. “I want to see you every second of the day. Even when Klein’s inside me all I think of is you.”
Dex tightened his lips, his pronounced jaws jutting. “If you think I’m gonna let you marry another man, then you’re insane.”
“Why you think you have a say is beyond me
.”
“I won’t stand for this anymore. Break it off with Klein today!”
“I’m not hurting him. He’s been too good to me.”
“What about how I feel about you, huh?” He got in her face. “What about how I lie in bed every night with my heart ripped out because you don’t have the balls to tell the truth? You could stop the torture for both of us if you tell Klein what’s going on.”
“No!” She swung her hand in his face. “He can never find out about us. It would kill him, Dex.”
“Do you think of that when I’m making love to you?” He swallowed with his lips curled. “Because it doesn’t seem like it.”
“I think about it every time we’re together.” She went to the door and turned back around. “If you can’t understand that, then you don’t know me like I thought you did.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Channing Mills rose from the chair in front of her daughter’s ICU hospital room as Klein approached with a tall, lanky white man with short, dirty-blond hair. He looked as if a gust of wind would wipe him away.
“Hey.” Klein hugged Channing, his stinky cologne gagging her. “How are you?”
“I’d be better if you’d throw that nasty cologne away.” She always managed a joke as a defense mechanism but nothing rescued her from the pain of her daughter lying in ICU.
“Channing Mills.” Klein grabbed her hand. “This is Anderson Abraham. My best bud from Boston.”
Moisture settled on Anderson’s narrow forehead.
“You’re the reporter?”
He had to be at least 6’2. His strong jawline contorted as his pencil-thin lips displayed a warm smile. “How are you?” He put his hand out, smelling of Jergens lotion.
She didn’t take it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Mills.” He moved closer to her, batting his beady brown eyes.
It gave her a chance to see the tiny freckles that dotted his pale face.
“Uh...” Anderson kept his hand out, glancing at Klein. “I’m so sorry about your daughter. I’ve been following the case.”