D.S. the Messenger

by Raymond McClary

  “Good day to you as well sir.”

  The old man opened the glass door and left. The door locked behind him. Sage pulled the heavy drawer out and carried it over to the table. He sat down and lifted the lid. There was a note that read, “Enjoy my brother! P.” Under the note was ninety stacks of one hundred dollar bills at five thousand dollars per stack.

  “Perfect!” Sage says. He placed the money in a bag that was hidden beneath the money, put the note in his pocket, placed the drawer back into the vault and left the key. He walked out to his car and drove home.

  When Sage arrived home, he took the money inside and called out to Deva at the top of his lungs. “I’m in the bedroom baby!” Sage walked upstairs and into the bedroom with the bag of money. Deva was on the telephone with a client. Sage placed the bag on the floor and grabbed an overnight bag and began packing clothes. Once Deva noticed his actions, she immediately ended the conversation with her client and asked Sage, “How did it work out?”

  “I have enough to take care of everything. I need you to do something for me while I’m in and out of town.”

  “Sure, what do you need?”

  Sage stopped packing, picked up the bag of money and pulled a few stacks and tossed them into his bag. “I’m taking twenty grand and I need for you to contact the accountant, which handles the business account. If I deposited this money into any account, it will be reported or the account will be frozen by the bank.”

  “Well how much is it?”

  Sage looked at her and said, “Over four hundred thousand. Or maybe I need to open a safe deposit box.”

  “Ok, now you are really scaring me.”

  “Deva you’ve known me for being on the up and up, right?”

  “Yes baby but…”

  “But nothing Deva…My business is legitimate, my books are legit and we are a legitimate couple. This money from Perry is going to help set this straight. It just requires my time, along with this money, to do this and for you to be by my side in my decision while still remaining in the dark.” He grabbed her hand.

  “Sage, you are asking a lot from me. I mean take a minute to look at it from my perspective. You proposed to me, then tell me you have to leave town, then you bring over four hundred thousand dollars into our home. All of this in less than twenty-four hours!”

  “Look Deva, we’ve been together for over three years. You know my likes and dislikes, what makes me laugh and what makes me mad. My faults, my strengths, and my weaknesses and I know all about you. Now I’m not trying to have this one setback of another put a rip into what we’ve taken years to build. But I am caught in a dilemma. Will you do this for me?”

  Deva nods her head in agreement.

  “Good.” He looked down at her hands and said, “You look so beautiful with this ring on your finger Mrs. Mecan-to-be. I’m going to Boston and I should be back in a few days. This bag of money can sit in the closet for now. I’ll call you frequently to let you know that I’m doing fine and my location. Please don’t tell anyone what I’m doing.”

  Deva yelled, “I don’t know what you are doing!”

  “Good, that’s what you can tell anyone who does ask.” He laughed. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  They kissed. Sage grabbed his bag and left Deva looking at that bag of money.

  D.S. THE MISSION

  ϕϕϕ

  Sage gets into his car and looks at the first name in the book. Mrs. Aleady Voss. Sage opens up his laptop and downloads the directions to her home. Sage notices a cell phone number, work number and work address for her. I won’t call her, at least not this moment, he thought. He arrived in Boston in nine hours, due to traffic, and checked into a hotel that was five minutes from the woman’s house.

  The next morning, Sage drove to the corner street of Aleady’s house at 7:00 a.m., got out of the car and opened his hood and trunk. He removed a toolbox and his cell phone and programmed her number into his phone. He pretended that he was working on his car. An hour later a woman exited the home that Sage was watching. He immediately pressed the programmed number and looked at the woman as she walked to her car. When Aleady reached into her pocket and pulled her cell phone out to answer, Sage disconnected the call. He memorized her face and the vehicle Aleady was driving. He placed his tools in the trunk, and drove to her job, which was in a professional building. He stepped out of his car and walked to the entrance where he stood until he saw Aleady drive up to the parking lot. He watched Aleady gather her coffee and her things and got out of the car. As Aleady started towards the entrance he could feel his heartbeat increase. Sage took a deep breath and said, “Good morning Mrs. Voss.”

  “Good morning Mr….”

  “Mecan.”

  “Do I know you?” Aleady asked with a puzzled look.

  “No you do not but we have a mutual friend and I humbly request that we talk in private.”

  Aleady looked Sage over from head to toe and with a flirtatious look said, “Sure, follow me.”

  They walked down a hall, passed the security desk and stepped onto an elevator. On the elevator, Aleady says, “There is something about you. Though you say we’ve never met, I feel so strongly about you. I notice that your attire is tailor made. May I ask where you live?”

  “Sure, I live in Philadelphia.”

  “Hmmm, I have a special friend in Philly. Here’s my floor.” They exited the elevator and walked into her office. Aleady asked, “Would you like some coffee Mr. Mecan?”

  “No thank you. I need to get to the reason as to why I’m here, so you may want to sit down.”

  “No…I’ll stand.”

  “Okay, my brother Perry Strong is dead.” Aleady gasps.

  “He died from AIDS and out of the eight times you and Perry had sex, he may have attempted to infect you with H.I.V. I’m sorry.”

  Aleady stood there speechless. Sage was about to leave the office when Aleady asked, “He told you about our relationship?”

  “No he didn’t. Well not specifically.”

  “Then how the hell do you know?”

  “He indicated in his phone book along with the information to find you with.”

  Aleady cut him off. “He doesn’t have a brother! Your last name is, uh, Mecan. His is Strong! Is this some kind of a prank? You’ve got some fucking nerve coming here and telling me that I may have AIDS! I have a family! A husband who loves me! You think I would jeopardize all of this for sex?”

  “Mrs. Voss, Perry tore the condoms prior to….”

  “I don’t want to hear anymore Mr. Mecan! Get out! Get the hell out!” Sage placed his business card on her desk and as he walked out towards the elevator, Aleady went over to her desk and picked up the card and read it and ran after him and asks, “You’re Sage?”

  “Yes I am.”

  “Perry told me a lot about you Sage. I’m sorry for yelling at you, it’s just that I haven’t been feeling well lately and now you are telling me this…I’m afraid.” The elevator doors opened and Sage stepped inside. He looked into her eyes and saw her fear and had a loss for words as the elevator door closed.

  Sage left the building and scrambled for his car keys. Once he was inside, he floored the accelerator and left the business complex. On his way back to the hotel he pulled off onto the side of the road, and got out of the car. He walked to the passenger side, sat on the hood and looked towards the sky. “God, I don’t think I can do this! This is one task that is too heavy for me to carry on my shoulders! I need your guidance! I know I can’t do this without you! Please help me…Maybe this is not my battle to fight. Maybe I should have burned the phone book.” He grabbed the book from the car and removed the lighter from his coat. “Out of sight, out of mind.” Sage said as he flicked the lighter. Just as the flame caught, it began to rain and the fire went out. Sage looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was shining bright and it was just one cloud passing by. That spooked Sage. He got back into his car and drove to the hotel. Once he was in th
e room he called Deva who immediately answered. “Hello my king!”

  “Hello my queen. I just called because I wanted to hear your voice…Now that I’ve heard it, good bye.”

  “Sage Mecan you better not disconnect this call!”

  Chuckling, he says, “I’m just joking.”

  “Sage, are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m doing just fine…How about you?”

  “I’m fine. I was on my way to the office. I miss you.”

  “Deva, I’ve only been gone less than 24 hours…. But I miss you too. We sound pathetic don’t we?”

  “Umhmm.” She chuckles.

  “Baby I’m not going to hold you up. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Sage went to a deli, purchased a sandwich to eat and went back to the hotel room. He looked at the phone book to see where he was going to next. Maryland. Sage looked through the book and noticed that there were two other women in Boston. He realized that in order to do this effectively, without driving himself crazy, he would have to group these women by state, and cities within the state, and the best method of traveling without doubling back. Sage stretched back onto the bed and thought, God, I have been trying to downplay this dilemma, which is very serious. Please help me. He fell asleep.

  Sage dreamt that he saw what appeared to be angels. They were flying about five to six inches above a hard surface that Sage was standing on. He could not see it because of the haze that covered the area. However, what caught Sage’s attention was the angels’ feet. Their soles were four inches thick and dark brown. Sage was about to take a step toward the angels when he suddenly heard the words, THOU CHOOSETH! THOU KNOWETH! Sage awakened and stared at the ceiling. He pondered over the dream that he had just experienced. He felt different but could not figure out what had changed. Sage sat up, grabbed the address book along with the laptop and began to reorganize the places that he had to travel to from North to South and then West. Once he completed his task, he noticed that it was close to midnight. He looked at his computer and thought, Poland Detz, who is the president of an art gallery. He downloaded the directions. The other woman’s name is Elaine Cons. An RN, that works at an animal hospital on the south side of Boston. Not far from the art gallery. Mrs. Detz, I’ll see first and then I’ll see Mrs. Cons.

  Sage went into the bathroom and took a shower. Then he called Deva and talked with her for a few minutes before going back to bed. When he closed his eyes he immediately fell into a deep sleep. He dreamt of being in a room where a naked woman was laying across a love seat and said, “Come and give me my food baby, my body is hungry.” Her lips had stopped moving but words were still coming from her.

  Sage realized he was hearing her thoughts. He then heard a familiar male voice saying, “Tonight is a night we will never forget.”

  Sage turned around and said, “P!” Perry, also naked, was walking towards the woman. Holding his genitals, he said, “Dinner is ready and so is breakfast and lunch.”

  Sage yelled, “Yo P! Why are you trying to do this to her?” He tried to push Perry but his hand went through Perry’s image. “You can’t hear me!”

  He watched the woman perform oral sex on Perry while he was holding her head with one hand and a torn condom in the other. Sage tried to turn around to avoid watching, but he couldn’t move. Finally, Sage yelled, “I don’t want to see anymore!” and woke up with beads of sweat covering his face.

  He stumbled out of the bed and into the bathroom. He grabbed a hand towel, ran cold water over it and began to wipe his face. Sage looked at his reflection in the mirror and noticed that his eyes looked different. He thought to himself, maybe they appear different because I woke up so suddenly. After drinking a glass of water, Sage got back into bed and fell asleep.

  His next dream took him to a hallway. As he began to walk he heard voices and laughter. He came close to the end of the hall and approached a door where the voices were coming from. Sage attempted to turn the knob and push open the door, but instead walked right through it. Inside the room he saw a tiger in a cage that startled him when it roared while sleeping. And there he was, Perry, having sex with a woman, but not the same woman on the love seat. They were having sex in the doggie style position and her head was face down on the desk. Sage walked closer to get a better look at her and she was beautiful. She gripped the table and called out, “Give it to me daddy! Give it to me! Yes! Yes! Yes! Ahhhh!”

  Perry yelled, “I’m about to come!”

  “I want you to come in my mouth!” The woman pulled Perry’s tool out of her and placed it in her mouth where Perry released himself.

  Sage thought, “I’m going to throw up.”

  Perry says, “Baby you set a record. That’s three times tonight.”

  The woman says, “Yeah but you came in me everywhere and denied me my protein until this moment. Good thing my tubes are tied.”

  Sage throws up his hands and says, “Guess what lady? What are you going to do about your marriage and possibly your life when you find out you have been infected?” Perry walked into the bathroom as the woman put on her clothes and looked at her watch.

  Sage could hear her thoughts; I hope my hubby is tired tonight because my kitty needs to go into a deep cat nap for a few nights.

  Sage placed his hands on his face and said, “You are so clueless!” When he removed his hands from his face, he woke up in bed. He immediately sat up, looked around and remembered that he was in Boston. He thought, I know that these were no ordinary dreams. It was just too real. I felt as if I was getting an up close and personal experience of Perry’s life. I never dreamt about him before…Has God answered my call in my dream with the angels? I did choose those names and now I’m dreaming about them. Sage began to hyperventilate and paced back and forth across the room. He said to himself aloud. “All right I need…I need to calm down.” He sat down on the bed and rocked back and forth calmly. “I can’t…and will not lose it. If I begin to reflect too deeply, it may become more than what my scope can handle. I just want to tell these women what happened between them and Perry and be done with it…I’m not a prophet, a minister, or a savior. I’m just delivering a message…that’s it. I’m just a messenger. As long as I keep telling myself that, I can’t go wrong.”

  D.S. THE OBJECTIVE

  ϕϕϕ

  It was 9:20 a.m. when Sage awoke the following morning. He got up and went to use the bathroom and when he looked into the mirror he noticed his irises were darker than usual. Sage thought, Even though my eyes don’t hurt and my vision is perfect, I still need to see an eye doctor. He showered, got dressed and went to the diner for breakfast.

  After he paid for his breakfast, he called Deva. “Baby, you and I are going to have to talk.”

  “What’s wrong Sage?”

  “It’s nothing negative. Just that I threw this on you so fast about me having to leave, and I just want to let you know that I will make everything up to you.”

  “I know that you will. Now, you handle your situation between you, Perry and God. When the smoke clears, I will be waiting. Love you.”

  “I love you too Deva.”

  Sage turned off his cell phone, sat in his car and ate his food. When he finished, he drove forty-five minutes following the directions he downloaded from his laptop. The directions led him to a beautiful building that was made of dark tinted glass. Along the path leading to the building were tiles made of marble, which changed colors when looked at from different angles. Sage could hear jazz music playing as he approached the sliding glass doors. He walked inside into an open area where exquisite art was displayed everywhere. The abstract paintings and stained glass murals almost caused Sage to forget his purpose for being there. A woman approached him from behind and asked, “How do you like the artwork?”

  Sage turned and responded, “This art gallery is astonishing!” Sage’s eyes widened for a brief moment as he realized that it was Poland Detz, the woman from his first dream last night. Immediately, his expres
sion became very serious. “Miss, I hope you can assist me. I’m looking for Mrs. Poland Detz.”

  “Well you don’t have to look any further. You’ve just found her. And you are?”

  “I’m Sage Mecan. There is something I need to tell you but I think it would be inappropriate to talk to you out here with your potential customers around.”

  “Well, Mr. Mecan, can you tell me what this is in reference to?”

  “Sure…Perry Strong.”

  Expressionlessly, Poland eyed Sage from head to toe and said, “Follow me please.” They walked into an office and Sage quickly recognized that it was the room from his dream in which Perry and Poland were having sex.

  “You can call me Poland since you are a friend of Perry’s.” Poland lit a cigarette, sat on her desk, crossed her legs and brushed down her skirt. “How is Perry? I haven’t heard from him in a while. It’s unlike him not to call.”

  “Perry is dead Poland. During the fourteen times the two of you had sex, he may have successfully attempted to infect you with H.I.V.” Poland continued to smoke her cigarette and said, “He wore a condom.”

  “Yes, Poland, he did. But he tore all of them before using them.”

  “Mr. Mecan, are you here to extort money from me so that my husband doesn’t find out? Please tell me why you are here.” Poland smirked as she uncrossed her legs just enough for him to notice that Poland wasn’t wearing panties. He walked closer and sighed as he shook his head and said, “There isn’t anything you have that I want. I suggest that you and your husband get tested.” Sage glanced down at her wedding ring. Poland became nervous having Sage so close to her. And besides that, his eyes rattled her.

  “Why should I believe you? I mean you come in here with your creepy ass looking eyes to tell me out of the fourteen times Perry and I had sex, he may have given me AIDS on purpose? Get the fuck out of my office! Out of my building! Off my fucking property!

  To ensure her that it was not a hoax, he remembered one of her thoughts and said as he walked towards the door,