by Dynah Zale
***
“Can you take me back to the day Sawyer was killed?” Garrett asked.
Kiel looked over at the Lord who nodded his head in approval. Suddenly the scene switched back to Sawyer walking out the church so focused on his Blackberry that he bumped into an elderly lady. The screen spotlighted a close up shot of Sawyer purchasing a diamond Gucci watch from the Saks Fifth Avenue website on his Blackberry.
"This is why he was so happy." Garrett said.
"He was so focused on his greed that he ended up dying for it." Kiel added
***
The evidence was overwhelming. There was no denying that Sawyer was stealing from him. The reality hit Garrett like a sledgehammer. The news left him in a state of shock. He took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. The one man he trusted deceived him. Mrs. Tilly could see the impact this was having on the councilman. “It’s obvious you weren’t aware of what was going on. If you like, I can call the police and open up an investigation. That way the bank can insure your loss up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That may not be all of the money, but at least it’s something.”
Garrett took another deep breath. He was getting dizzy. All he could think about was Crystal Cousins. If he went back to her and told her he couldn’t get the money, she was going to go ahead with the law suit. His career was going to up in smoke. It had always been his dream to become mayor and restore Camden to its prominence, but it looked like he was never going to get a chance to do that.
“Is there anything else you would like me to do for you?” Mrs. Tilly really wanted to help Garrett in any way she could.
“No, ma’am. Thank you.” He got up to leave contemplating whether or not he should drop out of the race and save himself the humiliation of being forced out.
“Councilman, how is Blair doing?” Mrs. Tilly asked. “Is he adjusting well with you and your wife?”
“He is doing quite well, thanks for asking.” The mention of Blair’s name reminded Garrett of his Trust Fund. He sat back down. “Mrs. Tilly do you think I could withdraw that money from out of Blair’s trust account. I mean I usually wouldn’t do anything like this, but I really do need that money.”
The woman gave him a mischievous look. “She tapped in a couple numbers and bought up Blair’s trust fund. “Well, he definitely has enough in there to fulfill your request, but when you set up this account, You made it a requirement for two signatures for any withdrawals. You and your wife’s.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Garrett pulled out his cell phone, called Mecca and asked her to meet him at the bank. It didn’t take her long to get there.
“What’s going on?” Garrett met her outside. “Why did you want me to meet you at the bank?”
"Sawyer was stealing money from me."
Mecca sucked her teeth. "I knew this was gonna happen."
“Listen, I can’t explain everything to you right now, but I am in need of a huge sum of money.”
“I hope you didn’t call me down here to take out another loan against the house because we’re already in debt up to our ears and—”
“No. No. No. I need your signature in order to make a withdrawal from Blair’s trust fund.”
“What? Blair’s Trust Fund? That’s stealing.” Mecca didn’t want to cause a scene so she screamed at him through clenched teeth. “Reneé, set up that trust fund for Blair, not for your campaign.”
“I promise. I’ll replace it. I desperately need that money.” Garrett was practically begging her.
“For what?”
“I can’t explain that either, but I wouldn’t even consider doing this if it weren’t important.”
“You’re using that boy just like Raquel did.” Mecca accused him.
“No, I am not.” Garrett tried to reason with her without yelling. “What I’m doing is giving that kid a future. If I don’t get into office, I can’t make his life better.” He pulled her close to him. “I promise I’ll replace every dime of his money. With interest.”
In the end Mecca relented.
***
“Mecca didn’t want to do it, but her love for you clouded her judgment.” Kiel informed Garrett.
“I know she didn’t. I pushed her into it.”
“Her guardian angel tried to convince her not to do it, but against her better judgment she put her trust in you and signed for the withdrawal.”
“That is one of the few times I ever recall Mecca putting her trust in man and not in Me.” The Lord said. “Until this day passed, Mecca never regretted anything she ever did in her lifetime.” Even when Mecca was disobedient, the love God had for her was overwhelming. “In her heart, she knew that taking money that didn’t belong to her was stealing, and every night she cried for forgiveness. I forgave her, but that guilt lay heavily on her heart.”
“I never knew that.” Garrett was surprised. He thought he knew everything about Mecca. He had no idea that day bothered her so much.
“She never wanted you to know.”
Chapter 51
“He looks great!” This was Garrett’s first visit to the hospital in six weeks. “He lost a tremendous amount of weight.” Garrett approved of his son’s new lean and physically fit appearance. Blair had slimmed down to one hundred and thirty pounds.
“Yes, your SON has progressed well while here.”
Instead of responding to her sarcastic remark Garrett checked the time on his Cartier watch. “Dr. French, I’m a busy man. Why don’t we talk about Blair’s progress so I can get out of here?”
“Garrett Dunn you are a callous heartless man.” Dr. French’s alter ego emerged revealing her nasty side. She could no longer hold her tongue. She had to tell him how she really felt about him. “Six weeks ago you left here and not once have I heard from you. You never called to check in on your son’s progress. You didn’t stop by to see if there was anything he needed and you never returned any of my calls. That boy cried himself to sleep for three weeks straight because all he wanted was his father. Eventually he stopped asking for you. Now you want me to package Blair up like a happy meal and pass him through the drive-thru window. I’m sorry but your son means more to me than that.”
“I apologize.” The remorse Garrett expressed was insincere. “Did my absence impact his rehabilitation?”
“No, but I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that we were able to correct any behavior that you pointed out as abnormal.” Dr. French went over and pulled out a few progress reports counselors filled out about Blair. “It has been documented that he no longer likes the color fuchsia. His favorite color is now blue. He prefers football over ballet and instead of sitting at a sewing machine your son will most likely be swinging a golf club.”
“Golf?” Garrett laughed. “You guys are good, now I can take my son out to play eighteen holes.” Happy, he smiled brightly. “So you were able to cure him.”
“I don’t know if I would say we cured him. Let’s just say your son has been reprogrammed to like more masculine things.”
The doctor further explained the therapy treatments that were performed on Blair. “Blair has been conditioned to associate all things feminine – dolls, the color fuchsia, sewing – to negative hurtful things. So now, he likes every kind of sport: basketball, football, golf.”
She handed him a file full of papers. “I need your signature on this stack of papers.”
“Does he know I’m here?” Garrett pulled a pen out his suit pocket.
“No. I wasn’t sure if you were really going to show up. So I decided not to say anything until you were actually here.” Dr. French turned her lips up in a disapproving manner. “You know I am bound by an oath to protect the privacy of all my patients, but something Blair said during one of our therapy sessions disturbed me so much that I feel the need to share with you what he said.”
Oblivious to what she was going to say, Garrett concentrated on the release forms. “Blair believes that you don’t like him.”
“That’s
nonsense.” Garrett thought her concerns were unfounded and trivial.
“The worst part is I believe he’s right.”
“I love my son. He just happened to show up during an inconvenient time in my life. Trust me. If I would have found out about him in November, after the election, things would be totally different.”
“You don’t have to explain to me Councilman. I understand that you don’t like who Blair is? You don’t like his ways and you want him to be the son you always imagined he would be.”
“I’m not ashamed to tell you that I want a son that acts how a son should act.”
Garrett looked out the huge bay window in Dr. French’s office. He couldn’t believe how serene this place felt. The nurses were like servants who brought their patients dinner and beverages out on the hospital lawn.
“Who’s that Blair is speaking with?” Dr. French walked over to the window and looked out into the campus lawn. “That’s another patient. He and Blair have grown quite close. They’ve been watching baseballs games together. Talking about sports.”
“What about the snake?” Garrett nodded towards the twelve foot albino snake wrapped around the man’s shoulders and neck.
“Oh yes, that’s our resident python. His name is Jericho.” They watched as Blair handled the snake in his hands. “Blair loves that snake. There have often been times after therapy that the only way I could get a smile out of him was by allowing him to have Jericho.”
A nurse came in with the last of the paper work. “Okay, all you have to do is sign the last of these papers and you are free to go. He may seem a bit distant at first, but he’ll come around. I’m sure this whole experience has been a shock to him but I think he’ll adjust fine.
Chapter 52
The ride home was a quiet one. Garrett kept small talk to a minimum, but it didn’t matter because Blair wasn’t very responsive to him. When they pulled up to the house Garrett turned to Blair. “I didn’t tell Mecca where you were. I thought it would be best if we kept this between us. I don’t think she would understand.” Blair’s long face and sad eyes made Garrett feel a bit guilty.
***
“Another lie.” God pointed out. “You’ve made this kid keep your secrets and tell lies for you. How can you justify this kind of behavior?”
Garrett was silent.
“He can’t.” Kiel replied.
“You do understand that you will be held accountable for the secrets that Blair kept for you. You are his father and My law states you are to honor thy mother and thy father.”
“Another sin.” Garrett sighed. The longer he talked with God, the more narrow his chances of getting through those pearly gates became.
***
They entered the house; when Mecca saw Blair, she screamed with joy, knocking Garrett over to get to him. She hugged him so tightly that tears rolled down her face. She kept rubbing his face, “Are you all right?” Blair nodded his head. “I’ve missed you.” When she said that, Blair looked into her face and he could see the sincerity in her eyes.
Blair thought to himself. Thank you Lord for sending someone who cares. “I’ve missed you, too.”
Mecca sat him down at the kitchen table. “Look at how much weight you lost.” She pulled him into the kitchen. “Come on, let me fix you something to eat.”
“Imani!” Mecca shouted. “She’s going to be so excited to see you.” Imani came to the top of the stairs hugging her favorite doll. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw her cousin who she now knew was really her brother. She dropped her doll and ran to him.
Mecca watched them for a moment and for the first time she noticed how withdrawn Blair was acting. He wasn’t the same lively talkative boy that had left here six weeks ago. She sat a plate piled with food down in front of him, but he wouldn’t touch it. “Blair is everything all right.” She stroked his head.
Blair bowed his head. “Can I be excused?”
Mecca looked to her husband and then back at Blair, “Of course.” Blair slowly gathered his duffle bag and climbed the stairs to his bedroom.
“What’s wrong with Blair?” Imani asked her mother.
Mecca turned to Garrett for an answer. Garrett didn’t want to worry them so he acted like they were imagining things. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The boy seems fine to me?”
“I don’t think so. There is something strange about the way he’s acting.” Mecca replied.
He turned to Mecca and grabbed her arms. “You worry too much. The boy is fine. He’s just been away for a while; give him a chance to get readjusted to being home. I’m going to the office. Don’t wait up.”
Garrett left and Mecca told Imani to go upstairs to her room. Then Mecca went to Blair’s room. His bedroom door was closed. She stood outside his door for five minutes contemplating her next move before knocking. She heard a meek response telling her to enter.
When she walked in, she found Blair lying face down on his bed.
“May I sit with you?” Mecca sat on the edge of his bed. “Blair, I just want to make sure everything is all right with you.” Blair was silent. “You know you can tell me anything.” Blair sat up and looked in her eyes. He had tears in his eyes. Then he laid his head on Mecca’s lap and sobbed uncontrollably. She didn’t know why he was crying, but she rubbed his back to reassure him that everything was going to be all right.
Blair fell asleep in her lap. Mecca left his room questioning the real reason behind those tears. Something happened to him while he was away and the only person who could address her concerns besides Garrett was Raquel. Mecca placed a call to their elderly neighbor and asked could she keep an eye on the children while she ran out for an hour?
Mecca made a beeline straight to Raquel’s doorstep. She knocked softly on the front door waiting only two seconds before knocking again, but this time much harder. When Raquel finally staggered to the door, the first thing Mecca smelled was the foul scent of booze.
“Oh no she didn’t!” Raquel roared. “I know this uppity chick ain’t knocking at my front door.” Mecca was not intimidated by Raquel’s ghetto persona. She may have been more sophisticated and educated, but she also grew up on the streets of Camden and she knew how to rumble with the best of them.
Mecca pushed her way through the door. “Raquel, I’m just as surprised to see myself here as you are, but this is about Blair.” Expressionless, Raquel waited for her to say what she had to say. “Garrett said Blair had been visiting with some of your relatives from down south, and now that he’s back home I feel—”
“Relatives! We ain’t got no relatives down south?” Raquel said.
“Are you sure, because Garrett told me that some of Reneé’s family wanted Blair for the summer and that’s where he’s been for the past six weeks.”
“I don’t know what your lying husband has been telling you, but nobody from our side of the family has seen Blair. Now get out my house before I call the cops on you.”
Mecca left Raquel’s home with her suspicions confirmed. Garrett was not only lying to her, but he was also hiding something from her. Now she was more determined than ever to learn the truth about Blair’s six-week disappearance.
Chapter 53
It was the first day of school and Blair vowed to start the new school year off right by doing things differently. This time, he was determined to put one hundred percent effort into making lots of friends and trying to blend in with the crowd instead of standing out.
When he and Mecca went shopping for school clothes, everything he picked out were things he had seen the rappers wear in their videos. He cut his hair down low and his dad allowed him to get three different pairs of crisp clean white sneakers.
Blair’s makeover gave him a renewed confidence. He now walked with a bop and held his head up high. On the outside he looked like a brand new person while on the inside he was still reeling from various insecurities.
The first thing he did that morning was tell his dad and Mecca that he didn
’t need them to drive him to school. He wanted to walk. Since he had dropped fifty pounds he realized walking to and from school was a good way to maintain his weight.
It only took Blair twenty minutes to walk to school. When he reached the school’s northeast corridor entrance he saw a bunch of kids that were in his class the year before. Convinced he would make a bunch of friends, Blair smiled and waved at them hoping they would invite him to come hang out with them. Then the crowd separated and that’s when he saw that kidDontayéfrom the swim club. Blair remembered the dayDontayé made fun of him at the pool.
“Hey!”Dontayé called out to him. “Aren’t you that kid Blair from last year? You were in Mr. Weaver’s class with us. I remember when your dad came in and pulled you out of class. He accused Mr. Weaver of being a child molester.”
Embarrassed, Blair dropped his head down. Confidence poured out of him like a funnel and gathered at his feet.
“Mr. Weaver was fired because of your dad. We should beat you up because of that. Mr. Weaver was a good teacher.”Dontayéran over and made circleslike a buzzard. “What happened to you?” He tugged at Blair’s shirt. “You look different. Last year you looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.”
Blair thought his new look would help, not hurt his chance to make new friends. He now realized he was wrong.
“Your parents must’ve made you go to a fat farm over the summer ‘cause you lost a lot of weight.” Dontayé laughed.
The reality of starting an exciting new school year disintegrated from his thoughts. He was no longer looking forward to seeing new faces and making new friends. All he wanted to do was go home. Dontayé made Blair feel out of place and unwanted. Blair turned his back on their wise cracks and dragged his feet to homeroom class.
Blair entered the classroom with his head hanging down hoping no one would notice him, but that was hard when he heardDontayé yell out, “Look who just walked in?”
Blair looked up to find the entire class looking at him. Humiliated, he wished he were invisible. This was turning out to be the worst day.