Tanie asked, “You know what we should do?”
“Go to Atlanta?”
Tanie laughed a little and said, “No, we’re definitely not going to Atlanta in the state you’re in right now. I was thinking instead, I can invite some friends over. We can play cards.”
I thought she was going to give me an idea on how to handle Alex or Pritchard. I remarked disappointed, “I’m not in the mood for playing cards.”
“I was thinking it would get your mind off your problems.”
“That won’t do it.”
We sat down on the sofa. Tanie said, “It’ll be okay, Angela.”
“We’ll see.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
We decided to watch television. There wasn’t anything else to do. After thirty minutes, I nodded off to sleep. A knock at the door woke me up and Tanie jumped out of her seat and rushed to the door. Without even asking who it was, she opened the door. I was surprised to see Janea walk in. Janea was sharp in her black squared toed high heel shoes, blue jeans, and a red shirt that was tight around her chest area, but hung loose below the breast line. Roscoe stepped in the door behind her, and he was wearing an ivory cotton shirt with blue jeans. He had on a beanie, which I didn’t quite understand why, but he looked nice nonetheless.
Roscoe looked around from where he stood near the door, almost like he was inspecting her apartment. I decided to speak only when spoken to and no more than that.
Janea disappeared to the back of the apartment. What was she doing?
“What’s up, T?” Roscoe asked as he swaggered around the living room.
“Roscoe,” Tanie said in a sobering voice.
“Anyone else in here?” He asked.
Tanie answered, “No.”
He found the chair more to his liking of sitting, and he planted himself smoothly. He sat with a slight lean. Tanie remained standing facing him from the other side of the coffee table. Without a doubt, Roscoe had command of the room. It wasn’t even his home, and he had the utmost respect and attention.
Janea came back into the living room and said to Roscoe, “It’s empty.”
Roscoe said, “You had a visitor yesterday.”
“The Sheriff came by.” Tanie’s tone was more serious. Tanie was a little nip from downing almost two wine coolers, but that didn’t affect how she reacted with Roscoe. She handed him the Sheriff’s business card.
“Sheriff Oscar Smithe. Why he come by to see you?” He asked dryly as he held the card in front of his face.
“He was here to speak with Angela.”
What was Tanie trying to do? Get me in trouble? Roscoe asked me, “Why did he come by to see you, Angela?”
“He gave his condolences for the death of my sister, and he told me how she died.”
He nodded glaring at me. He asked, “That’s the only reason he came by?”
Tanie answered, “Yes.”
“Did he ask about...the business?”
Tanie answered, “No.”
Roscoe passed the business card to Janea. He asked her, “He came by your apartment yesterday, and you called me today. Why did you wait?”
“I apologize for not calling you sooner, Roscoe. I didn’t think his visit was a problem.” Tanie was visibly scared. I could feel it.
He nodded. He relaxed more and said, “I guess the nature of his visit wouldn’t be a problem.” Roscoe turned his attention to me and said, “I’m sorry to hear about your sister. Here is a gift to help you out.” Janea handed me a thick brown envelope.
I hesitated, not thinking of what he said. Tanie cleared her throat, and at that moment, I reached out to take it. I said, “Thank you.”
Roscoe turned to leave with Janea close behind him.
I opened the envelope to find a $1,000 dollars inside and two sets of car keys. I showed Tanie, and we went over to the door and swung it open to find a blue 4 door car parked outside. Tanie had the better car, but I thought my car was awesome anyway. I had my own car now! I was so glad, and then there was the money! I never had that much at one time ever, and I thought I was rich.
Tanie and I looked around the car and got inside. I started the engine, and it was quiet. It didn’t knock or sputter or anything. I didn’t drive it anywhere, but I sat in the driver’s seat pretending like I was going somewhere. The stereo was playing on a local R&B radio station, and I turned up the volume. Tanie was singing along, and so was I. After that short moment of excitement, Tanie and I went back inside giggling like two silly school girls.
We sat down on the sofa together, and I started counting and recounting the money. Yesterday was an awful day, but this day was a great day. And Roscoe, of all people, made it better.
I asked Tanie “Is he serious? Is he for real?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Tanie remarked.
“Is this money a gift? I can have it?”
“It’s yours, but you know what the car is for. He didn’t give it to you, just to give it to you. You understand it’s for the job.”
“Yea, I understand about the car. Is he always this generous when it comes to cash?”
“Hell no,” Tanie chuckled a little. “He is really cool when you’ve lost someone in your family, but any other time, you can’t get too much more out of him.”
“Why did you tell him the cop? I thought at first you were trying to get me in trouble.”
“I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble, Angela. Sheriff Smithe is an outsider. He’s new to this town, and he doesn’t know the deal here. Roscoe would have thought we were hiding something or up to something if we didn’t tell him, and I didn’t want any misunderstandings.”
That made sense.
Tanie added, “While he was here, you should have asked him to pay for the funeral.”
“You think he would have?”
“Yea, he would, but you would have to pay him back.”
“No, I don’t want to owe him any more than the monthly rent.”
“How are you going to pay for the funeral?”
“I’m not. I’m going to let the funeral home deal with it however they want.”
Tanie leaned back in her seat and repeated, “You should ask him to pay for the funeral, Angela.”
I remarked, “I’ll tell Pritchard, and Pritchard can ask him for the money. Then he can owe him instead of me.”
“You’ll be able to pay Roscoe back in a couple of months, probably sooner than that.”
“I’m not going to do it, Tanie, and I don’t want to hear any more about it. I’ll leave if you keep on.”
Tanie threw up her hands quickly and said, “Fine. I’ll shut my mouth about it.”
What a life I was having. I just wanted everything in my life to go right for once.
MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2009
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
I had a new sense of meaning. My preparation for the day started with a hot shower, which included washing my hair. Once out of the shower, I blew dry and hot curled it. It had been a while since I looked halfway decent, and today was going to be the exception. I found some comfortable clothes in Tanie’s guest bedroom closet, and I left. She was sleeping in from drinking too much yesterday and I didn’t want to disturb her. I figured I would see her later in the day.
I started my car, looking over the dials and green glowing displays behind the steering wheel. The gas tank was full, the battery was on green, the engine was quiet and ran smooth, and I was happy. Maybe, Tanie was right. I should have quit working at the nursing home a long time ago. I could be just like Tanie, having my own place, my own car, my own life. I drove to the apartment thinking there was going to be people still visiting. That would be bad because I was about to make an overhaul. People did not need to be there to see the immediate changes I planned on making.
I parked and got out of my car looking around to see who was out early that Monday morning. Most people were gone to work, and there were a couple of older people sitting on their porches taking in the cool fresh
air. I strolled up to the door and went inside only to find the apartment had plastic red cups all over the place. On the television, on the floor, in the corners, beside the walls, and some even tipped over on the sofa. It looked more like there was a party instead of people giving Pritchard condolences.
The hallway just past the living room had a couple of liquor bottles against the walls. Cups were on the floor down the hallway, as well. My door was closed, but Andrea’s door was cracked open. I peeked in the kitchen first to see if Pritchard was there, and he was. The coffee pot was brewing, and he was getting out a cup and inspecting it to see if it was clean enough to drink out of.
I stepped into kitchen. He had on a t-shirt and long pants with house shoes. He looked so comfortable in my apartment. Pritchard scratched his head as he prepared the cup of coffee. He put a little sugar and milk in the cup, and he slowly poured the coffee trying not to spill a drop on the counter.
I let him take a single sip before I asked him, “Did you have a party here last night?”
He turned around surprised to see me. He asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I live here.”
“Pritchard,” a woman sung from Andrea’s room.
I looked at him, and he looked at me. He rushed around me to go to the hallway, where he was met by the woman.
I asked, “Who is that?”
The woman smiled at me and said, “Angela, honey, you don’t remember me. My name is...”
“Where in the hell did she sleep last night?” I asked in a calm manner. I know he didn’t sleep with some other woman in my sister’s bed in my apartment!
“I guess it’s time for me to go.” She said as she tried to back away.
“Wait a minute.” I said, and she stopped. I asked her, “Have you two been seeing each other for a while?”
She looked at Pritchard seeking his approval on whether or not to tell me the truth. He looked down at the floor without giving her an answer. She sounded condescending like I was a two year old, “Pritchard and I are friends.”
Of course, the tone of voice set me on fire. I said, “Okay, this is what’s going to happen. Starting today this is my apartment. I pay the rent here. I pay most of the utilities. That means you, Pritchard, got to go, and I mean right now.”
“Now, wait a minute…” Pritchard faced me and bucked up.
I faced him. I wasn’t backing down. I said, “My sister just died, and you’re sleeping around with another woman in her bed. You gots to go! You and your whore are not welcomed here.”
“What the hell she just called me?” The woman yelled at Pritchard. I guess she thought he was going to take up for him. She didn’t know him. He always ran away from conflict.
I said to her, “He doesn’t have to repeat it. You heard what I said.”
The woman’s lips moved, but she couldn’t speak. She rushed into the bedroom to get her things, and Pritchard and I stared at one another. He never said a word as the woman frantically got her things together. She ran into Pritchard in the hallway before she rushed out the front door.
“Get out.” I said in a calm voice. My ears were beginning to burn. He wasn’t moving fast enough.
He said defeated, “I got no place to go.”
“That’s not my problem.”
Pritchard went to the bedroom, and I heard him getting his stuff together. He went to the bathroom to get his hygiene items. He was slamming cabinets and closets, and I heard some cussing, too. I didn’t care. I went out onto the back porch and waited for him to leave. Pritchard had a small night bag and a suitcase. He glanced around the kitchen, caught me looking at him through the back door window, and he stormed out the front door. I hope to NEVER see him again!
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
After I heard Pritchard’s car leave the parking lot, I walked to the next set of apartments behind mine. I went to the last apartment door, and I knocked on it. The curtains to the living room were pulled back, and I saw one single eye ball peering out at me. It was too funny. I smiled a cute smile and waved, and immediately the curtains fell back in place and the front door came open.
Milton was tucking in his blue plaid shirt into his belted blue jeans, and he quickly wiped his face with his hands before speaking, “Hey, Angela.”
“Hey, Milton, what are you doing?” I kept my friendly smile and tried to pose a little. He noticed.
“Uh, watching my favorite game show. It’s pretty good. You want to watch it with me?”
“No, not really,” I answered. “I came by to ask for your help. Can I drag you away from your favorite game show?”
It must not have been too much of his favorite game show because he closed the door and stood on the porch.
“Walk with me, Milton.” He walked beside me as I spoke. “My apartment is a total mess, and I need help straightening it up. I have to throw out some things, too, and I can’t do it by myself.”
“I’ll help you, Angela.”
“It might take all day, Milton.”
“I would like to be with you all day, Angela.”
My intention wasn’t to lead him on, but I do whatever it takes to get that apartment straightened out. We started in the living room by picking up all the empty liquor bottles and plastic cups and putting them in a huge garbage bag I found under the kitchen sink. We moved all the furniture out of the living room to the large dumpster. It was easy work. Once the living room was empty, I began to feel better. The room felt lighter.
The next room was the kitchen, and it was much more difficult. Milton and I went through every cabinet and every drawer, and we threw out empty bottles of alcohol that Andrea had hidden away. I didn’t understand why she hid the empty bottles. I could only shake my head at this whole ridiculous idea. I was almost ashamed going through the cabinets and finding dirty dishes and nasty glasses, but Milton didn’t even seem to mind or pay attention. If he ran across something that was nasty, he didn’t even make a face of disgust. He simply tossed it in the garbage like it was of no consequence and kept on working. I kept the kitchen table and chairs and the deep freezer. Most of the dishes were tossed and all of the food was tossed. I washed the pots and pans by hands and let them set on the counter to dry on a paper towel.
We cleaned up the cups from the hallway as we proceeded to Andrea’s room. Milton and I took the mattress and box spring off the bed and put it beside the dumpster outside. I didn’t bother to take off the sheets. Pritchard, my mother, my sister, and now that woman spent time in that bed. If I could burn it, I would. No amount of washing was going to make that stuff any better. I cleaned out all of Andrea’s clothes from the closet and her chest of drawers. I found liquor bottles stuffed in the chest of drawers and in the bottom of the closet. A couple of the bottles were never opened. I kept them.
I asked Milton to help me take Olivia’s bed to the dumpster, too. Definitely wasn’t keeping that thing.
We took a break on the front porch. There were some people around, but they wouldn’t come near the apartment. Some were searching the garbage that I put out. None of that stuff was useable. It stunk of alcohol and sweat. At least, they weren’t coming near my apartment. I guess they got my message loud and clear when I shot them the middle finger the last time I was here. Milton offered to fix us lunch, and I accepted. I was starving sitting there on the porch.
As I sat waiting on Milton to come back with food, I saw Miss Carolyn drive up. She got out of the car with Lori Anna in tow. Miss Carolyn bent over to give her a kiss, and Lori Anna ran off to play with a couple of girls that were waiting for her. I tried not to stare. I felt if I stared at her I would get her attention. I wanted to run back inside, lock the doors, and hide in my room but I didn’t want to look stupid.
I began looking in the other direction at no one. All I saw was the other end of the apartments, followed by the road that lead to the other apartments around back, a cement ground that use to be a part of the basketball courts and then the woods. I wasn’t going to look anywhe
re else until I heard her door close and I was sure she was gone.
“Angela.” I heard her say.
Immediately, I stood nearly slipping off the top step. I wasn’t going to disrespect this woman considering her loss. We had a past, though. She didn’t like me because her son dated me, and she figured I wasn’t any good for him. She had no idea how bad I really was.
“How you doing, Miss Carolyn?” I asked.
“I’m okay today. Sometimes days can be bad. I’m sure you understand.”
I smiled as a reply.
Miss Carolyn said, “I wanted to give my condolences to you. I’m very sorry about your sister.”
I could tell she truly meant what she said and I remarked, “Thank you, and the same to you. I’m sorry about Jason.” I felt weird saying that.
“Thank you. I’m glad I saw you today. I was hoping another day wouldn’t pass without me speaking to you.” All of a sudden she seemed uncomfortable. There was more she wanted to say, but she withdrew her next words. Miss Carolyn cleared her throat and said, “Well, I better get going.”
“Sure.” I remarked backing away. Good, this was ending. No drawn out conversation, no questions to be asked.
She went back to her apartment without looking in my direction again.
Milton arrived with two sandwiches, chips, and sodas. The food looked pretty good. We went inside to eat at the kitchen table to get away from the flies that was trying to help themselves. We sat silently eating.
Afterwards, we returned back to Andrea’s room and continued cleaning it out. We took out the broken chest of drawers. That thing was raggedy to the core, and I was glad to get rid of it. Broken handles, wood chipped and water stained. The mirror was cracked from one corner to the other, and one of the legs was missing which made it wobbly. After wrestling with it through the bedroom door, the hallway, and the front door, we were pretty much done.
The Ex Killer Series Page 25
