by K, S
Marcus was quiet for a few moments before he spoke. “Remember I told you about the woman who tried to commit suicide the first day you and I met at the conference in downtown Vegas?"
"Yes."
"She’s the one."
Aleesha's mouth slowly stretched open. "Her?"
"Yep."
Realization dawned like a rising sunset and slowly illuminated Aleesha's face as she put two and two together. “The one you went to the hospital to see about.”
Aleesha’s mind went back over three years ago when she’d first met Marcus at a medical conference she’d attended here in Las Vegas. The two of them had been instantly attracted to one another and had snuck away for lunch and a tour of Marcus’ city. Later that evening, Marcus had brought Aleesha back to her hotel. The sexual tension between them practically sizzled. They made plans to meet up later to attend the dinner for the participants of the medical conference, but they both knew it was a foregone conclusion they’d end up having sex.
But Marcus never showed up, nor did he attend the rest of the conference. Aleesha chalked it up to a bad experience and flew back to Atlanta. About a year later, she met and became engaged to Amir Montgomery. When Jerra and Keisha surprised her with a Vegas bachelorette party, she and Marcus amazingly ran into each other again and this time, nothing could keep them away from each other. Later that night, Marcus explained to Aleesha that the reason why he hadn’t come back all those years ago was because an ex-girlfriend had tried to commit suicide because he’d broken up with her. He felt compelled to go the hospital and stay by her side until it was deemed she was not in danger. They both silently wondered if things would’ve turned out differently for them if he’d come back to the hotel that night.
However, with Aleesha being engaged to another man, it was a moot point. After she returned home, Aleesha was determined to put the amazing night in Vegas with Marcus behind her and proceed with the wedding to Amir, but when one of his jump offs confronted her about sleeping with him while Aleesha was in Vegas, Aleesha broke off the engagement. Months later, Marcus found out and flew to Atlanta to find her and they’d been together ever since.
Marcus stared off into the distance as he, too, thought about that time. “After the sleeping pill incident, she took some time off, but everyone knows she still wants to pursue a relationship even though it’s no secret I’m seeing someone.”
He paused and thoughtfully studied the amber colored liquid in his glass. “That’s how I know this whole thing wasn’t her idea. She and I have been over for years. If she’d wanted to make trouble, she would’ve done it a long time ago. Plus, she doesn’t have the nerve to do something like this on her own. Melanie is the one behind this.”
Bringing the glass to his mouth, he threw back the rest of the whiskey. “That bitch does not know who she’s fucking with,” Marcus said more to himself than the two women.
Aleesha shivered at the look in his eyes. This was a side of him she’d never seen before. “Is there anything I can do?”
Marcus shook his head. “No. Don’t worry baby. Everything will work out. Look, I’ll be back. I need to get out of here for a little while.” Without giving her a chance to reply, he gave her a quick kiss then left.
Aleesha turned stricken eyes Keisha’s way. "What have I done?"
The next few days passed in a blur. Jerra and the baby had been home almost a week, and everyone was at the Monroe house eating and having a good time. With the women inside talking while little DJ slept, Marcus, Darrell and Dominick sat outside on the patio drinking beers. Marcus was giving them an update on the progress of the investigation, which seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace.
“Funny how they’re so quick to suspend me just on the word of those two, but take their time when it comes to proving my innocence.”
“Man, I know it has to be hard. Try not to let it get you down. Stay positive, bruh. It’ll work out,” Dominick said.
“How am I supposed to do that, huh Dom? This is my fucking career they’re playing around with. Being a doctor is all I ever wanted to do. The way you, me, and Darrell grew up, this wasn’t supposed to be how our lives turned out. According to statistics, we should either be dead or in jail. These two bitches tryin’ to ruin me. One of them because her pride is hurt, and the other because I won‘t give her any dick?!”
Darrell was quiet as he listened to his best friend. Then he said in a low voice. “You know what Marcus. When I found out how that punk ass stepfather of Jerra‘s had hurt her, I could’ve killed him with my own two hands if the police hadn’t been at her house. And to make matters worse, they practically gave him a slap on the wrist for raping my baby when she was just a kid, then trying to terrorize her and rape her again when he found her. Eight years. That‘s all that muthafucka was sentenced to,” Darrell snorted as he took another sip of his beer. His expression grew pensive as his thoughts carried him a million miles away. “Too bad he ‘accidentally on purpose’ cut his throat while shaving. That was real careless of him. Jerra never said anything, but I know she was frightened to death of what would happen when he got out. He found her once and she was terrified he’d be able to find her again.”
Coming back to the present, Darrell looked from Dominick to Marcus with eyes a dark shade of gray and cold as lead. “But now she knows she doesn’t have to worry about that. I made sure of it. By no means am I saying you need to go to those extremes. The circumstances are completely different, but there are ways of dealing with shit like this. If justice isn’t being fair, sometimes you have to help it along.”
Marcus stood up and took a few steps, quiet as he stared out into the night. Yes, he understood what Darrell was saying, had thought about it himself actually, but he didn’t want to go there. He wholeheartedly supported Darrell's method of payback when it came to Earl. Hell, if it had been Aleesha those things had happened to, he would’ve done the exact same thing.
Melanie had seriously misread him. Most people did. All they saw when they looked at him was a professional black man whose image fit perfectly with what everyone thought a doctor should be. But she’d made the mistake of letting his credentials fool her.
He might be a well-respected physician who excelled in his chosen field, but Melanie and Paula had it twisted. Underneath the doctor’s coat, he bore the scars of the hard-assed youth who’d practically grown up on the mean streets of Philly before he and Darrell up and moved to Vegas - and he’d be damned if he let them take away what he’d worked so hard to achieve. Being a physician was more than just his career. It was also the way he paid homage to his father who’d also been a doctor. As he had told Melanie at the hospital on the night he’d been suspended – she’d just made the worst mistake she could have ever made.
Marcus turned to answer Darrell. “Not yet, D. I‘ll handle this my way. Paula's the weakest link in this little equation of theirs. I take her down the rest of their plan will fall like a stack of cards. And I know just how I'm gonna do it...”
Chapter 8
Hours later after everyone had gone home and Jerra and his son were fast asleep, Darrell sat outside on his deck letting his mind ponder things he hadn’t allowed to seep through in a long time. This entire thing with Marcus was bullshit! Why couldn’t they just live a normal life like other people without all the fucking drama? He, Marcus, and Dominick had paid their dues – tenfold. When would this shit end?
Unable to stop the nightmare of his past from awakening, Darrell remembered the first day this thing called life decided to take a dump on him and leave him floating in its stink to either sink or swim…
Seven year old Darrell sat on the bed as he watched his mother pack the few second hand clothes he owned and stuff them into a beaten and scratched up suitcase. He silently blinked up at her as she moved around the room and opened drawers.
Tina Monroe avoided the unwavering stare of her young son until she simply couldn’t avoid it any longer. He’d always been an intense little boy almost from the d
ay he was born: it was as if he saw too much.
“Lil D, stop looking at me like that. You understand what Mommy told you, right?” Darrell nodded but continued to stare. “It won’t be forever.” Tina told the lie without even thinking. “This is for the best until your mama is able to get herself together. I’ll come back for you in about a month - two tops.”
Again Tina looked everywhere but at her son. She had no intention of coming back to get him from the orphanage once she dropped him off. She got pregnant at sixteen and never got a chance to live her life. While her friends were out partying and having fun, she’d been stuck at home changing diapers and dealing with a screaming baby.
But all that was about to change, Rodney was gonna take her away from all that. He’d told her so. But having a kid was the deal breaker. He told her he wasn’t gonna be any little bastard’s substitute daddy. She’d have to make a choice. Either him - or the kid.
Tina closed Darrell’s suitcase shut with a resounding snap! Choice made.
Glancing around to make sure she had everything, Tina finally looked at her son, and for a moment her heart softened. He was such a gorgeous child. Everyone said so. Tina ran a hand over his mop of black, bouncy curls. Except for his piercing gray eyes, which he'd gotten from her, he looked just like his father - the no good bastard.
Darrell’s father was an older married man who had been sleeping with Tina since she was barely fifteen. He was extremely handsome and unbelievably sexy. Tina had known exactly what she was doing when she'd gone after him, had recognized the power she wielded over men since the tender age of thirteen. She’d had childish fantasies of him leaving his wife and marrying her. However, the day she told him she was pregnant he tossed accusations her way and told her there was no way the baby could be his. The last thing he told her to do before he walked out of her life for good was to get rid of it...and she would have too if she’d had the money to do it.
The way Tina saw it, she deserved this. She deserved to have some fun. It wasn’t too late to start living her life. She was still young and beautiful. She was going to live out her dream of becoming a super model and finally have some fun! Nothing and nobody was going to stop her - including her own child.
An hour later, Darrell stood holding the nun’s hand as he watched his mother leave without a backwards glance and get into the car with Rodney. Not one tear ran down his face, but inside, he was screaming out for her to come back. Tina hadn’t been a very good mother, but she was all he had, all he’d ever known. The nun, who’d introduced herself as Sister Theresa, closed the door firmly behind Tina and led him to the boy‘s dorm.
“Darrell, this is your home now. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be. I will go over all the rules with you one by one. You will have chores that you will be expected to complete. A child is never too young to learn responsibility. Disobedience will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely….”
As Darrell listened to the nun go over the list of rules and regulations, he knew…deep down inside…that his mother had lied to him. She wasn’t coming back in a month. Nor two. She was never coming back for him.
Ever.
He’d been at the orphanage for two years when he first met Marcus. Darrell learned that Marcus’ parents had been killed in a car accident a couple of years ago, so he didn’t have any family either, except for a younger sister who’d been adopted by another family. From the first day, they clicked, and decided they would be each other’s family.
The two only became closer as the years passed. By the time they were in their teens, both had grown up to be tall, good looking boys with muscular physiques thanks to their love of exercise. Darrell’s caramel coloring and shock of black curls made heads turn wherever he went, and Marcus’ frame was like a chocolate lover’s addiction. There was no shortage of female attention for either, and they both took full advantage whenever they could.
Marcus’ calm personality was a perfect foil for Darrell’s impetuous nature. Many times, he found himself in as much trouble as Darrell because he refused to rat his friend out; he was his brother’s keeper. When they discovered the orphanage planned on transferring Darrell off to a home that was more of a facility for troubled youths, the two of them made their escape. The day Darrell was to be taken away, the nuns couldn’t find him anywhere, and soon after, Marcus disappeared as well.
At that point, as far as St. Joseph’s was concerned, they were no longer the orphanage’s responsibility. Marcus and Darrell hopped a bus that would take them out into a cold world they knew nothing about. Darrell tried to look at it as an unknown adventure, but being the planner he was Marcus was a bit apprehensive.
“You sure you want to do this Marcus? It’s not too late for you to go back.”
Marcus looked at Darrell. Behind the arrogant bravado, he knew Darrell was just as scared as he was. “Nah. No turnin’ back. I’m my brotha’s keeper, right?”
The two boys fast became men on the streets of Philly. Many a nights, they hadn’t even known where they would lay their head or how they’d get their next meal, but somehow they’d survived. Four year later, Marcus suggested they get the hell out of Philly and go somewhere exciting like Las Vegas. Darrell was more than cool with the idea, so plans were made to do just that.
The day they were scheduled to leave, Darrell told Marcus he needed to make a stop first. Marcus gave him a look full of curiosity, but followed his directions. Soon, they were in what looked to be a quiet, middle class neighborhood, one which was a far cry from the crime ridden one where their rat infested apartment had been located.
“Pull over right here.”
Marcus parked in a spot in front of an attractive house that Darrell was staring at. “Who lives here?” Darrell didn’t answer, just continued to look out the window.
Marcus grinned. “Has the white picket fence and everything, huh? Think it comes with a dog and 2.5 kids?”
Darrell laughed, but there wasn’t a trace of amusement in his tone. “Yeah. The perfect family. I‘ll be right back.”
Before Marcus could question him further, Darrell got out the car and walked up to the front door. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell and waited.
Moments later, a little girl answered the door and stared at Darrell with big, gray eyes. Her hair was pulled back in two thick braids that reached the tops of her shoulders, and she looked to be around seven or eight years old - the same age he’d been when his mother dropped him off at the orphanage as if she were donating a sack of clothes she’d outgrown. When the little girl gave him a snaggle-toothed grin, Darrell’s lips turned up in a smile.
“Hello,” she waved.
“Hi.”
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Darrell. And let me guess. You’re Gabriel…”
The girl’s eyes got big and her smile widened. “How did you know that?”
Darrell laughed and shrugged. “Lucky guess.”
“Everyone calls me Gabby.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Gabby. Is your mother home?”
“Gab, who’s at the door?”
Hearing the woman's voice Darrell's body stiffened. When she appeared behind the little girl, he was taken back eleven years ago to the last time he’d seen her. The woman froze and stared in horror as if she were seeing a ghost.
Noticing the weird look on her mother’s face, Gabby stared up at her. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”
The woman’s eyes went over Darrell’s features as she pulled the little girl back. Although indifferent on the outside, inside Darrell was the same little scared boy he’d been when she’d left him behind. As much as he’d tried to forget, he couldn’t help but wonder if she ever thought about him in all these years.
“Guess you know who I am, huh?”
“This is Darrell, Mommy. And guess what? He knows my name.” Unaware of the tension, Gabby grinned up at her mother. Hearing her daughter’s voice, Tina tried to compose herself.
“Honey, the cookies have cooled off now. Why don’t you go and grab a couple and Mommy will be right there.”
“Okay! Do you want some cookies, Darrell? I helped Mommy make them myself.”
“No!” Tina practically screamed the word as she moved a confused Gabriel out of the way. Hearing the panic in her voice, Darrell’s eyes turned a cold, wintry gray. “I’ll be there in just a minute, honey. Go on.”
“Alright,” Gabby said slowly. “Bye Darrell.”
Darrell managed to pull eyes full of contempt away from Tina and smile at his little sister. “Goodbye, Gabby. It was nice meeting you.”
After she ran back to the kitchen, Tina stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind her. She looked over Darrell’s shoulder and saw Marcus watching them from the car parked in front of her house. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
Darrell quietly laughed and shook his head. “You haven’t seen me in over eleven years and the first thing you ask me is ‘how did I find you?’” His lip curled up in a sneer meant to insult. “Figures.”
“Darrell, I….”
Darrell knew she was uncomfortable, but he’d be damned if he made things easier for her. Tina was silent for several moments before she quietly said, “You look so much like your father.”
“I wouldn’t know who I looked like, would I?”
Hearing the bitterness in his voice, Tina‘s eyes pleaded with him. “Darrell. I hoped you’d understand as you got older. I did what I thought was best.”
“What you thought was best?! You abandoned me like I was a little puppy you’d grown tired of playing with.”
“I was young and far from ready to be a mother. I shouldn’t have even….” Her mouth clamped shut as she realized what she’d been about to say.
Darrell’s eyes narrowed. “You shouldn't have what? You shouldn’t have even had me? Is that what you were gonna say? You should’ve gotten rid of me?”
Standing there looking at the woman who had occupied his thoughts every single day of his life, he felt something die inside of him. All it would’ve taken was the tiniest of indications from her that she loved him to make him forgive her. No matter how much he despised her, a small part of him had always hoped she’d welcome him with open arms, that she’d want to make up for all the lost years. That she’d want to be his mother.
