Barber Shop Ink: Always Blue in Memphis

by Penny Blush

What was my involvement?

  Where was the money?

  Where was Donavan?

  How much did I know?

  How could I not know?

  My mind was spinning. I thought back over everything, and nothing seemed out of place. The only thing that had changed was the way the books were balanced since the company went public. Before the float, I would balance the books before sending them off to Donavan to review and then he would send them to the accountant. But now the process was being entirely handled by a bookkeeper.

  The whole time I was being questioned I kept thinking that this was a mistake; it couldn't be true Donavan wouldn't do this to his staff, his clients, and his investors. Donavan wouldn't do this to me!

  I was certain that it was all a big misunderstanding that was until the Agents started to lay out the evidence. The evidence was so overwhelming, and it tore my heart to shreds to think that Donavan thought that little of his salon, his staff, of me!

  After what seemed like a week but was more likely hours, the lead agent finished questioning me. Agent in Charge Daniels advised that I was not a suspect and that there was no evidence that I was involved in Donavan's underhanded dealings in any way.

  When I asked why they had put me through the interrogation making me feel like a criminal, the response was, "I’m just following procedure, Ma’am.”

  Numb, exhausted, angry at Donavan along with suffering major disappointment due to the lack of hot Feds, I robotically trailed behind the agent as it was my turn to be escorted to the locker room to gather my personal belongings. Walking down the hall leading to the locker room the day crashed into me, and I realised that on top of everything else that had transpired, I no longer had a job. I was officially unemployed. Trudging after the agent, I felt like I was getting escorted to my doom. I morphed from being shocked and saddened by what had happened, to blood-boilingly angry at Donavan, and more than a little pissed about being out of a job!

  I reached out and touched the dog tags that my brother gave me, as I normally did when I could feel the negative closing in on me. Borrowing Davan's strength and summoning the power of positive thoughts, I tried to find the silver lining in this shit storm. Okay so, I may be out of a job, but I could deal! I have an excellent reputation. I have loyal clients. I'll be fine! Things happen for a reason. I might not be able to see the reason now, but there will be one. Good things will come from this.

  I’ll be fine!

  I’ll be fine!

  I’ll be fine! I chanted to myself.

  Yeah. Not so much.

  My equipment, all my scissors, blades, and brushes remained seized as evidence. The only thing I had been allowed to take with me was my handbag.

  “Your personal effects will be returned at the end of the investigation, date to be determined,” I was told by the cookie cutter standard issue non-Seeley Booth Fed.

  I started to protest attempting to explain that they just weren’t scissors and razors they were precision instruments that cost a small fortune and probably way more than his bland suit.

  "Your personal effects will be returned at the end of the investigation. Date to be determined," he repeated not even batting an eyelid at my outburst and clothing insult.

  Chapter 4 Hedge

  I was so unbelievably pissed with everything that had happened, but I was trying to process and attempting to deal as I walked the short distance home. I lived a twenty-minute walk away from the salon and walked to and from work as often as I could. I loved walking through the city that I had made my home, and it always helped to re-centre me, clear my head, providing clarity. By the time I walked through the door of my beautiful sun filled apartment I was feeling a little better about things. The walk had reinvigorated my reserves of positivity.

  So, I've lost my job; it could be worse!

  I have my health, I'm happy, and will find another job. Maybe this is the universe's way of telling me that I'm in need a holiday and a new job and that some form of challenging adventure was missing in my life. Channelling Frank Sinatra, I started humming ‘That’s Life’. Listening to the lyrics, I thought that’s right, it’s not a big deal, surviving the downs are all a part of life as much as enjoying the ups are. Things happened for a reason, and I just need to clear my head so that I could see clearly and figure out what that reason is. Dropping my handbag on the couch, I decided I needed to go for a run, running always helped me figure things out.

  Changing into my running gear, I started singing along with Frank. Feeling inspired by the song’s lyrics I grabbed my apartment key and my phone, locking the door. On the steps of the apartment building, I lifted my face to the sun taking a deep breath of the warm city air. With my confident smile in place, I put in my ear-buds, queued up my playlist and jogged off up the street, determined to keep running until my thoughts were clear and all the negative energy had dissipated for good.

  I headed to the park in the centre of the city; it was my favourite place to run no matter what the season. There is a lake in the middle of the park that was filled with ducks during the warmer months and ice-skaters in the winter. The path around the lake is lined with deciduous trees that provided shade from the heat of the summer and would allow the sun to warm your skin in the cold. As my feet rhythmically pounded the pavement, I started to see a plan. On my third lap of the lake, I felt better about things, and there were three things that I knew for certain.

  One: I had absolutely nothing to do with insider trading. I had no idea what Donavan had planned to do. If I did, I would have done everything humanly possible to stop him. This nightmare was all Donavan's fault. His greed, his belief that he was not going to get caught was what caused this mess.

  Two: We are finished. Our friendship of over five years was over, and that too was Donavan's fault. He effectively torpedoed all love and trust that I had for him. It wouldn't matter if he got down on his knees and begged for forgiveness, you break my trust you will never get it back. We are finished.

  Three: I was going to kick his ass when I got my hands on him. I was so unbelievably angry, hurt and devastated that Donavan would just disregard our friendship like it was a used gum wrapper, worthless, garbage, nothing. If Donavan ever came near me again, he would limp away, bruised, battered and nutless.

  The lake, the run, the fresh air had me thinking clearly. Only good can come from this. I'll be alright. I have industry connections, loyal clients, and a good reputation. I'll give myself a day to have a pity-party, wallow in the crappiness of the situation and then in the morning, at the dawning of a new day I would commence Operation New Beginning. I would put the word out that my fabulous self is available and let the bidding war begin!

  Forty-five minutes and a few kilometres’ later, things were looking up; everything happens for a reason! I was so excited at the possibilities. The world was my oyster, and I was now free to do anything I wanted to. Here's to new beginnings, better things are coming my way!

  Nooopppe!

  Karma - that nasty bitch decided right then to pull back, swing and kick me right in the lady balls.

  *~*~*~* Hit Two *~*~*~*

  Jogging back to the block my apartment was on; my feet slammed to a halt. My whole body shuddered as I came to a sudden complete stop. I stood frozen, my jaw dropped, and my heart fell into my stomach.

  There in front of a large crowd being contained by police tape was my apartment building with smoke billowing out of the top of it and emergency services everywhere.

  “Oh-My-God!” I cried out shocked by the sight of all the flames, smoke and water hoses. “Holy Shit!”

  ‘It’s okay’ I thought, my heart jumping into my throat as I walked blindly closer to the chaos. It could be okay. Everything could be fine; my apartment is on the other side of the building. It looks like the fire is on the other end of the building which would put my apartment away from the flames.

  It's going to be okay. It's going to be alright. It's not as bad as it looks. I thought walking closer to the
police tape. It's going to be okay, but man, my apartment is going to smell like smoke, and it is going to be such a pain in the ass to clean.

  Oh well, ‘That’s Life’, everything happens for a reason!

  It will give me an excuse to start my spring cleaning early. De-cluttering my apartment and my life would give me a chance to get rid of things that I had been holding on to because I couldn't let go. It's going to be okay.

  I tried to get closer to see if I could find out what was going on but was stopped by a police officer.

  “Sorry Ma’am you can’t get any closer - it’s not safe.”

  “I, I live here. In that building in 3B, what’s going on? What happened? Is everyone okay? When will I be able to get back in?” I rapid fired questions at the officer as I started mentally preparing a list of everything I would have to do to clean and de-smoke-ify my apartment.

  “Sorry Ma’am but you won’t be getting in, the building is fully involved,” the officer replied apologetically.

  “What?!” I asked, the pitch of my voice rising with my level of panic. “What does that mean, fully involved?”

  "Ma'am, the whole building is alight," he replied, pointing to my apartment block. "It's a catastrophic fire. The building is to be condemned. It will have to come down. By the time the boys have put the fire out there'll be nothing left.” As if to punctuate his point, part of the building collapsed, right on cue.

  After providing my information to the Police and Fire marshals a sweet and caring deputy dropped me off at Thomas’s place. Walking up the stairs of the apartment complex, I looked at my key ring that also held a spare key to Thomas's apartment. I sent a mental shout-out to the universe for looking out for me. This way I could let myself in and start forgetting about today or start getting unbelievably drunk, probably both. Grateful that I was safe and that no-one had been hurt in the fire, although feeling slightly numb from all that had happened today; once again I started thinking about making my way through my list.

  It’s fine!

  I’ll be okay!

  Everything happens for a reason!

  There was no use complaining or crying about what happened as it won't change it. Yes, I was devastated all my belongings had been destroyed on the same day that Donavan had screwed us all over, but I refused to let it settle in me. It is what it is, and nothing is going to change what happened, it's best just to accept it and move on.

  No, no this is a good thing, I thought giving myself a mental pep talk. Yes, it sucks that I had only just paid off my apartment, and everything I owned was in there, including my ID and my car and bike were in the garage. I’m alive and no one was hurt during the fire or putting it out, it could have been worse, much worse.

  Smiling, I decided that this would be a good thing, this way I can start from scratch. I’m sure there were plenty of unnecessary possessions in my apartment. It’s like a cleansing of the soul, getting rid of all unnecessary baggage. I was so glad that I had been so persistent when I made Jaxon take a thumb drive with copies of all my photos and important documents, just in case of an emergency. I didn't trust the ‘cloud' there had been too many reports of people's web-storage cache's getting hacked and the information being sold or used to extort money out of people who didn't want their personal information made public. I would be completely heartbroken if I lost all photographic evidence of my Parents and Davan.

  The more I thought, the more I decided that this was meant to happen it was all part of a greater plan. I wasn't homeless and alone, I had Thomas. Thomas would take me in, caring boyfriend that he is. It will be a test run for us living together. We had discussed moving in together but never made any solid plans, always going back and forth about where we would live, never deciding, so the universe decided for us.

  Okay, Universe, I hear you; everything is going to work out.

  The clock on my phone let me know it was four o’clock in the afternoon. Thomas wouldn’t be home until well after seven o’clock so I would have the apartment to myself for a few hours. I would take a shower, borrow some of Thomas’s clothes, have something to eat and then hopefully sleep for a while before Thomas came home and I could explain my awful day in the reassuring comfort of his arms.

  With my plan set in place, I let myself into the apartment. In the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of water and leant against the island bench making another mental list of everything I would have to do to get my life back in order. New ID, new bank cards, lodge an insurance claim, purchase clothes and essentials. As my list grew in my head, I walked towards the study looking for a notepad and pen when I heard the shower running.

  “Thomas is that you? Oh, my God, I'm so glad that you're home. I have had the most God-awful day. Honestly, you have no idea,” I called out.

  Pushing the bathroom door open, I slammed to a halt and gasped. I could not believe my eyes. I felt like I was going to be sick, for there in the shower was my loving, caring heterosexual boyfriend, balls deep in my fucktard of a boss, Donavan.

  *~*~*~* There it was, motherfucking Hit Three! *~*~*~*

  Time seemed to stop as I took in the spectacle in front of me.

  OH-MY-GOD!

  What the actual fuck! What the hell is going on? I couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. I stood there frozen in shock watching my boyfriend fuck my best friend.

  "This is not happening? How can this be happening? Seriously what the hell, is up with this motherfucking shit fight-of-a-day?” I whispered to myself.

  A strange calm came over me, and in a split-second, I somehow managed to process every conceivable emotion. I rushed through being shocked, confused, and devastated. I barrelled my way through being mortified, disappointed and saddened until I finally bulldozed my way through heartbreak, disgust and then I finally reached the white-hot supernova level of rage that left me feeling bizarrely calm.

  Well isn’t this just the cherry on the fucked-up-Sundae that the universe just served up to me!

  “Boy’s please,” I said sounding mildly bored, “don’t stop on my account.”

  At my voice, they looked up, but they didn't stop, they just looked me right in the eye and kept going. I’ve never been in this position before, but I would have thought that if you had just been caught by your girlfriend fucking someone else you would stop. That’s what happened in the movies; there would be shocked gasping, bodies separating as if hit by lightning, scrambling for clothing, the offending partner rushing to apologise and explain. Once again Hollywood has given me unreal expectations of life. Obviously, they were going to go on about their business, well then so was I.

  Shrugging a shoulder, I walked to the vanity to retrieve the toothbrush and a few other toiletries that I kept here for the rare occasions that I stayed over. I didn't have a lot of stuff at Thomas's home; we typically stayed at my apartment. Most days I would walk to work, but if Thomas stayed over he would drive me to work, he said I worked too hard, and he didn't want me to have to get up any earlier. Isn't he sweet?

  Jackass!

  Collecting all my toiletries in the vanity sink, I turned to face the shower. Donavan had never given any indication before that he was gay. Yes, he was a male hairdresser and was a little more ‘colourful' than most men, but the whole time I had known him, he had only ever been with women and Thomas well, he was MY BOYFRIEND!

  "Donavan, getting ready for jail I see," I quipped as Thomas kept jackhammering away. "I could totally see you being someone's bitch."

  Water falling, grunting and skin slapping was their reply.

  “So, I’m guessing this has been going on for a while?” I asked Donavan, waving my hand back and forth between the two of them. “I mean it’s not like you were just walking around my boyfriend’s apartment naked and then shocked at seeing a naked man in his home, Thomas tripped, and his dick landed in your ass accidentally, now is it?"

  Donavan smirked at my crassness, not giving a shit about being discovered in a compromising position with my boyfriend.


  “Donavan, you, smug bastard, you’re going down,” tilting my head in question, I added, “or have you already?”

  They still hadn’t stopped! They just kept staring at me. They just kept on fucking! Shaking my head, I looked around the bathroom, making sure that I hadn’t left anything and wondered why I wasn’t apocalyptically angry? Why wasn’t I screaming and yelling? Why wasn’t I clawing their eyes out? Why would they not stop fucking!

  I mean it’s just common courtesy. You get caught by your girlfriend mid-fuck with someone else, I don’t care if you’re fucking a guy or a girl, the least you can do is stop fucking. You DO NOT continue to fuck while said girlfriend collects her meagre belongings from around your home. Especially, after discovering that she has had such a crap-tastic day!

  Also, quick question: Where the hell, was all this stamina when we were having sex? Maybe I just didn’t have the right equipment?

  I shook my head pulling myself out of my thoughts, “I’m calling the Feds by the way. I guess it was a good thing that I couldn’t get to the bank to get the cheque for my franchise. Hey Donavan, otherwise, I would be penniless along with being jobless and homeless. I cannot believe that you would fuck me over like this. Donavan, you shit!” I spat.

  “What. Do. You. Mean. Feds. Oh, GOD! Baby, you feel fantastic." He moaned.

  Can someone please tell me why I am still standing here watching Thomas spank Donavan while fucking him like a demon?

  I went to leave then Thomas remembered that I was still in the room. “What. Do. You. Mean. You’re homeless?” Thomas gruntingly asked, each word punctuated with a powerful thrust of his hips. Well, it’s good to know that he’s capable of multitasking and that he was listening at least.

  “Well Thomas, you, gigantic douche canoe,” I said calmly, putting my hands on my hips. “My day has been an unmitigated disaster, thanks for asking. It started with me being fired by the fucking Feds! While I was right in the middle of Jo-Jo's Balayage, which I didn't get to finish, and it would have looked astounding BTDubs. And why you ask? Because this crutch-stain,” I shouted waving my hand at Donavan, “decided that he didn’t have enough fucking money and felt the need to rip people off!”