“And do you really think he’s going to do that?”
“He’d better if he wants to continue working in my bar.”
This surprised Kevin. Although she hadn’t confided in many people about the bedside promise that she’d made to her mother, she had however confided in her lover.
“Really? You’d fire him, even though you made that promise to your mother?”
“Sweetie, I’m pretty sure that my mother would feel the exact same way if she knew Saffold was being such an ass. But it isn’t just for my mother,” Victoria said, smiling.
“Oh no?”
“Of course not silly. I love you and I’m not going to let my brother or anyone else ruin our relationship.”
That was all Kevin needed to hear. He knew that Victoria loved him, but he often wondered if she loved him enough to set her brother straight once and for all. Now he knew, and it warmed his heart to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was number one in her life. With love filling his heart and lust filling his loins, Kevin threw his arm around Victoria’s neck and pulled her mouth to his. They melted into each other and shared a powerfully sensual kiss. It lasted much longer than either of them intended. They were so engrossed in each other’s love, they never even noticed they were being watched. A heavy tap on the window quickly broke their embrace. When they looked outside, their eyes landed on the hardened face of a police officer. The officer snatched off a pair of cheap shades revealing cold, dark, eyes.
“Does this look like the Holiday Inn? The Hilton? The Motel Six?” the cop asked through the window. Kevin and Victoria quickly separated. Victoria fidgeted in her seat, while Kevin straightened himself out and lowered the window.
“Uh, hello, Officer. I apologize for what we were doing. We were just––”
“I know what the hell you were doing! And out here in a parking lot is not the place for it! Now get the hell out of here before I run both of you in for indecent exposure!”
“Indecent exposure?” Victoria shouted, while looking at herself.
Both she and Kevin were fully clothed, so she couldn’t understand the threat. Kevin cut his eyes at her. He wanted to avoid the problem that he was sure was coming. Slowly, he turned his head back toward the window and saw that the officer had ceased walking back to the patrol car and was coming back to his.
“So, you have a problem with something I said, little lady?” the officer asked.
“No, no problems,” Kevin quickly said, attempting to defuse the situation.
The officer continued to stare at Victoria for a few extra seconds before heading back to the police cruiser. Only when the officer got into the vehicle did Victoria have the nerve to speak again.
“This is horseshit! The only reason that cop harassed us is because a Black man was making out with a White woman!”
“Huh? How did you come to that conclusion?”
Victoria shrugged her shoulders. There was no real validity to her claim, and she knew it. It was just the disgusting look the officer gave them that caused her mind to matriculate that way.
“Damn, I guess that cop is going to wait until we leave,” Kevin said, after looking in the rearview mirror and seeing the cop sitting behind the wheel, staring daggers at them.
“Oh shit,” Victoria said, looking around.
“What’s wrong?”
“I left my purse in my office. I’ll be right back.”
Victoria got out of the car and made her way back to the rear entrance of the bar. From her vantage point, she could see her brother staggering out the front door. The two of them locked eyes briefly. Victoria smiled and rubbed her belly. As much of an ass as Saffold had been, she just couldn’t resist reminding him that she was about to have a child by a Black man. Saffold responded by waving his hand at her and spitting on the ground. A slight smile of satisfaction spread across her lips. After grabbing her purse, she was just about to leave back out when her shift manager called her name.
“What is it, Greg?”
“Sorry to bother you, boss lady, but we’re fresh out of tequila. Do you want me to go on a liquor run or do you want me to send Patricia?”
Victoria thought about his question for a few seconds, and quickly answered.
“You go. She should be able to hold it down until you get back.”
“Roger that,” Greg said as he turned and walked back toward the bar. In all actuality, Victoria wasn’t completely comfortable with Patricia watching over her place, but the last three times she was sent to the store to get something, she brought back the wrong product. So, she chose the lesser of two evils. Just before Victoria walked back to Kevin’s car, she stopped in the doorway and stared out. She smiled again while rubbing her stomach. Victoria had decided that today was the day she would tell Kevin that he was going to be a father. She was only six weeks pregnant, but it was enough to instill great joy in her heart. Although neither of them had seriously broached the subject of matrimony, they both knew that their relationship was trending in that direction.
“I think I’ll tell him tonight after we make love,” she whispered.
Victoria continued to rub her belly and smile as she made her way toward Kevin’s car. Once there, she opened the passenger’s side door and got in. She blushed as she looked down at the floor.
“You know, I’m really looking forward to tonight. I’m going to make it special for you, sweetie.”
Without turning her head to look at him, Victoria sat up and let her temple rest on Kevin’s shoulder. It was killing her to keep the pregnancy a secret from him. She took a deep breath and sighed. She hadn’t looked at him since she’d gotten in his car. A small giggle escaped from her mouth. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t hold out any longer. She had to tell him.
“Babe, there’s something I have to tell you, and I hope it brings you as much joy as it did me when I first found out.
Victoria was downright giddy. She could barely contain herself. She moved away from Kevin and sat back in her seat. Still smiling, she slowly turned to look into her lover’s eyes. The horrific sight before her caused her to scream at the top of her lungs. As Kevin’s head rested on the headrest, his open eyes stared at nothing. His throat had been slashed from ear to ear.
3
Bright lights hung from the rafters and shined down on the students of St. Joseph’s High School. The high school’s auditorium was packed as the young men and women got ready to reenact one of the most famous plays in American theatre history. The school’s janitorial staff had done an extraordinary job of getting the stage prepared. They had the hardwood floors shining like they were new and there wasn’t a piece of trash anywhere to be found on the red carpet. In addition to that, every piece of gum that had been stuck to the bottom of the seats had been removed. Smiles were in abundance as a little more than one hundred proud parents filed into the auditorium. None of their smiles, however, could come close to the man’s sitting in the front row with his son and neighbor.
The smile on Detective Franklin Stone’s face was so bright, that it could compete with the sun. His soul was filled with pride as he watched his daughter, Rhonda, perform on stage. For weeks, he’d been looking forward to the play in which she’d landed the lead role of Ruth Younger. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, also just happened to be one of his all-time favorites. The Lorraine Vivian Hansberry play, one of the most popular acts to ever grace the stage, had always given him a great sense of pride. He loved how it portrayed the strength of a typical African American family when they pulled together.
Franklin was so engrossed in her performance that his son Franklin Jr. felt he could take liberties messing around on his smart phone. His antics had gone unnoticed until a low snicker escaped his throat and alerted Sadie Malone.
Sadie Malone was a sixty three year-old widow who lived next door to the detective and his two kids. Because she got lonely at times, she was more than happy to lend an ear, as well as sage advice, to Franklin and sometimes even his kids. She
’d lived on the street longer than anyone. She’d seen a lot and she’d been through much more. Sadie loved kids but she and her late husband Al could never have any of their own. They adopted a teenager when they were in their forties, but it ended in disaster. Her name was Tanya and she ended up getting hooked on drugs and running away from home. Sadie had only seen her once since she left, at her husband’s funeral. Sadie tried to talk to her after the funeral, but Tanya left without giving her a chance.
Sadie didn’t know that Al had been abusing Tanya for years after they adopted her and that played a large part in her turning to drugs. Knowing how close Sadie and her husband were, Tanya chose not to tell her about the abuse.
“Frank Jr., put that doggone cell phone away and pay attention to your sister’s performance. You can play around on that thing anytime,” Sadie said, after elbowing him in the shoulder.
Sighing loudly, Frank Jr. turned his phone off and placed it in his pocket. With a twisted scowl on his face, he crossed his arms and glared up at the stage. It wasn’t that he wasn’t proud of his sister. He just wasn’t interested in any of the things that she was.
“Boy, don’t make me take that damn phone,” Frank Sr. said, cutting his eyes at his son.
A sharp pain shot through his arm also as Sadie elbowed him in the shoulder. Sadie hated profanity, and every time Frank used it, she would either pinch him or bash him on the shoulder.
“Will you please watch your mouth, Franklin?”
“Oh, sorry Sadie,” Frank said, smiling. Over the years, Frank had grown to care about Sadie very much. The status of their relationship could be described as aunt and nephew, although they didn’t share the same bloodline.
“Dad, how much longer is this play? This crap is boring,” Frank Jr. complained.
“Jr., what in the world is your problem?” his father asked.
“Nothing.”
Jr. slowly sank into his seat. He was itching to get home so that he could call a young lady who’d gained his interest.
She was one of the prettiest girls in his entire school. He’d told her that he would call her at eight o’clock. The last thing he wanted was to miss out on dating her because he couldn’t keep his promise. He thought about going to the bathroom and calling her from there, but two things prevented him from doing so. One, there was no way that he would have any kind of privacy there and two, Sadie and his father would see right through the pathetic attempt.
“Well, to answer your question, we have another thirty minutes before the play is over.”
“I wish both of you would be quiet. I can barely hear what’s going on up there,” Sadie said, giving them both the evil eye. Frank Sr. cracked a sly grin as he leaned over to his son.
“You’d better be cool unless you want to get beat up,” he whispered.
Detective Stone turned his attention back to the stage and continued to enjoy the play. When the final curtain closed, he was so impressed with his daughter’s performance that he nearly shed a tear.
“Dad, are your eyes watering?” Frank Jr. asked.
Detective Stone ignored his son as he continued to give his daughter, along with the rest of the teenage actors, a standing ovation. He was just as proud of her as he was his son during his boxing tournament.
“Oh brother. Can we go now?” Jr. asked. If they hurried, he could still get home in time to make his phone call.
“No. We have to wait on your sister. Boy, why are you in such a damn rush?” Detective Stone asked, drawing a hard pinch from Sadi.
He was starting to get annoyed with his son’s lack of support for his sister. He didn’t know what Jr.’s problem was, but he definitely wasn’t going to stand for it. Before Jr. could answer him, Rhonda came running up to her father with a large smile plastered on her face.
“Dad! Mrs. Turner said that was one of the best performances she’d ever seen. She said I was a natural.”
“She’s right, young lady. You are a natural,” Sadie said, as she twirled her forefinger around one of Rhonda’s curly black locks.
“You really think so?” Rhonda asked. She was so excited that she could barely contain herself.
“I know so,” Sadie said.
“Baby, I am so proud of you,” Detective Stone told her.
“Now that it’s over, can we––”
“Jr., if you say one more thing about leaving, I’m going to pull your tongue out of your mouth,” Detective Stone said through gritted teeth.
“You know Jr. I don’t recall Rhonda acting like this when she had to sit through two hours of your boxing tournament last month,” Sadie reminded him.
Jr. looked at his sister and instantly felt terrible. Sadie was right. Now that he thought about it, his sister had always supported him and now that she wanted and needed his support, he was acting like a first-class jerk. Besides, he thought they were about to leave anyway.
“Sorry sis,” he said, dropping his head.
“It’s all good big bro.”
“Now that that’s settled, I think we should all go out to eat to celebrate the fact that a star was born tonight,” Frank said.
Frank Jr.’s lips tightened, but he didn’t say anything.
“Stop it Daddy. I’m not a star. At least not yet,” Rhonda bragged.
“Well, you’re a star in my eyes, and I would be honored to take my little thespian out to dinner.”
After hugging his daughter tightly, Frank led everyone from the auditorium. He was still smiling when he got to his SUV. He opened the door for Sadie and instructed Jr. to do the same thing for his sister. Frank made it a point to instill chivalry in his son. He’d always treated his wife with the utmost respect and expected his son to do the same with not just with someone he was dating, but any female.
“Okay, young lady, where would you like to go to eat?”
Before Rhonda could answer her father’s question, his cell phone went off. The smile he’d had for the past couple of hours slowly began to disappear. Frank listened to the caller intently before speaking. When they were done, he simply sighed deeply and shook his head.
“Rhonda––”
“You don’t even have to say it Daddy. I already know.”
“I’m sorry baby.”
“It’s okay. We can go out some other time.”
Over the years, Frank Jr. and Rhonda had gotten used to the job snatching their father away during family gatherings. While Jr. had pretty much understood the scope of his father’s job, it took Rhonda a long time to stop getting angry at his sudden departures. She’d come a long way over the last two years in terms of realizing that her father’s job was one of the most important ones in the entire city.
“So, how many people died this time?” Sadie asked, a somber look on her face.
4
Detective Amber Davis pulled up to the curb in front of Frank’s house and cut the engine. She felt terrible about having to tear him away from his daughter’s play but under the circumstances she had no choice. Their boss, Captain Snyder, told her in no uncertain terms that she wanted them on the case. When told that it was Frank’s day off, Captain Snyder told Davis that she didn’t care and for the two of them to get to the crime scene ASAP. She was only a few minutes from Frank’s house when she received the call, so after calling him she knew that it would take at least ten minutes for him to get home from St. Joseph’s High School. While she waited for her partner to arrive, Amber figured that she’d facetime her son and see what he was up to. She dialed the number and was treated to the shock of her life. On the other end of the phone was not her son Ryan, but a half-naked young lady with tight braids and the body of a fully grown woman.
“Uh, is there a reason that you’re calling my man’s phone?” the young lady asked, rudely.
Amber silently stared at her phone for a minute before exploding.
“Excuse me? Who in the hell are you and where in the hell is my son?”
The young lady’s mouth fell completely open. In her jealous
mind, some other female was trying to contact her man. She’d only been seeing Ryan for a couple of weeks, but just like the rest of the young ladies he was involved with, his charm had cast a spell over them that was hard to break.
When Amber sent Ryan to live with his father, she felt that it was the right thing to do. Being a detective was so demanding that she couldn’t spend anywhere near the time with him that she needed to. For that reason, she sent him to his father, hoping that he would teach him how to be a man. But apparently, the only thing he was showing him was how to be a womanizer.
“Son? Oh my God, oh my God, I am so sorry, Mrs. Murphy.”
Before Amber could correct her about calling her the wrong last name, she heard her son screaming in the background.
“Hey! I know you didn’t just answer my damn phone.”
Amber looked on as her son stormed into the picture.
“Give me my phone,” he yelled, snatching the phone out of the young lady’s hand. When Ryan looked and saw who it was who’d facetimed him, he nearly passed out.
“Ryan, what the hell is going on over there? Where in the hell is your father?”
“Oh, uh hey Ma. Ain’t nothing going on.”
“Where. . . in the hell. . . is your father?”
“He went out to shoot pool with a couple of his friends.”
Amber reached up with one hand and rubbed her throbbing temple. She was starting to get a headache.
“Did he also tell you that you could have company while he was gone?”
“She was here when he left Ma, and he didn’t tell her that she had to leave, so I assumed that it was okay with him.”
“What? He lets you have company when he’s not at home?”
Knowing that telling his mother the truth would only make her angrier, Ryan chose just to shrug instead.
“Boy, I don’t care what your father said. Get rid of that slut, right now! And tell your father to call me when he gets in!”
Amber hung up on her son without saying another word. She wanted to choke the life out of her ex-husband for allowing her son to be so wild. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to compose herself. Her partner would be there any second and she had to put on her game face. She glanced in her rearview mirror just in time to see Frank pull into his driveway. She sat in her car and watched as he walked his next-door neighbor to her front door. She continued to stare at him as he made his way to her car. Franklin Stone was a fine specimen in her eyes, but there was no way that she would ever tell him that. The department strictly prohibited fraternization of any kind, and the last thing she wanted to have happen was to lose her job because she had a crush on her partner. Amber unlocked the passenger’s side door so her partner could join her.
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