Dangerous Ground

by Smith, Stephanie Jean

  “When do you have the time for all these projects?”

  “That’s not fair Xavier, what about the time you spend at the King Center. You’re more than a volunteer coach, I know for a fact that you personally sponsored day camp this year. Not to mention the counseling sessions for troubled teenagers on Wednesday nights. It’s not a matter of having the time, it’s a matter of making the time, and you know it.”

  “How did you know about the Wednesday night sessions?” Xavier said as he grabbed the box with the stereo equipment in it, and followed Loretta to her car.

  Loretta flashed Xavier another grin. “Xavier you keep forgetting that I’m the program director. We don’t allow just anyone to hold a class at the King Center. I had to make sure that you had the qualifications to become a counselor for the center. To be an effective program director, I have to be able to say that I support all of the programs that run at the King Center.

  When they got to Loretta’s car, she helped Xavier put the bags in the back seat and the trunk. “I’m surprised that you don’t lock your car up. You know that the King Center isn’t in the best neighborhood.”

  “I never lock my car doors, except for when I’m driving. Besides I have an ignition security key. If it’s not in the car, it won’t start.”

  “If someone wants to steal your car bad enough, there’s not much you can do to stop him.”

  “Xavier I’m having a fabulous day, and I’m not in the mood to argue about my car’s security system right now. Xavier and Loretta walked back to the classroom to collect the rest of Loretta’s teaching materials.

  “Do you bring this much stuff every Saturday morning?”

  “Every Saturday without fail.”

  “Have you ever thought of becoming a full time program director for the King Center?” Xavier watched Loretta’s eyes light up at the idea of working for the King Center full time.

  “I would like nothing better Xavier, but there isn’t enough money in the budget. Besides if Carter did offer me the job, the funds would have to come from somewhere. I refuse to let the children suffer or lose programs, so I can work at the King Center full time.”

  “Watching you this morning made me think of my mother. She had the same expression on her face when she taught school.”

  “Is your mother retired now?”

  “My mother died when I was twelve years old.”

  Loretta reached out and covered Xavier’s hands with her own. “I’m sorry Xavier, I didn’t know. You never talked about your mother before.”

  “It’s not something I like to discuss.”

  Loretta could feel the doors closing her out again. It was times like this that Loretta realized that she’ll never get to know the real Xavier. “If you ever want to tell me about it Xavier, I’m there for you. Loretta opened her car door and was in the process of getting in her car when Xavier put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. Loretta shut the car door and turned around to face Xavier

  For some reason, Xavier felt that his emotions were safe with Loretta. So he decided for the first time in his life that he could tell someone about his mother’s death.

  “When I was twelve, my mother was assaulted as she left her place of work one night. My father called to let her know he would be a little late picking her up. Instead of waiting for him, she decided to take the bus. As soon as my mother left the building someone jumped out in front of her and dragged her behind the building, where he brutally beat and raped her.

  My father arrived to see her attacker flee the scene; he was never caught. Mother died from her injuries two days after the attack. That’s a day I will never forget as long as I live. My father blamed himself for her death, and so did I. If he had gotten there a few minutes earlier, my mother would still be alive today. At least that’s what I believed at the time.” Xavier’s eyes never wavered from Loretta’s face as told her about his mother.

  Loretta gently rubbed his hands in a manner she thought was soothing. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love.”

  Xavier lifted his hand and wiped the tears from Loretta’s cheeks with his fingertips. “I heard you lost your parents a couple of years ago.”

  “They were on their way to Hawaii for vacation. According to the accident report, the plane they were on crashed due to technical difficulties. Can you believe that, we’re at the height of technology and planes are still crashing because of technical difficulties? You know what technical difficulties actually means?” Xavier shook his head, and Loretta proceeded to tell him. “It means, we don’t know what the hell happen, but were sorry about your loved ones.”

  He didn’t mean to drag up unpleasant memories for Loretta. “I’m sorry for bringing up my mother Loretta.”

  “You know what the worst part about my parents’ deaths? It left me all alone in the world.”

  “You’re not alone, you have Cookie, and you have me and all the children at the King Center. I never told anyone how my mother died, not even my ex-wife. You’re an important person in my life Loretta, and I feel as if I can tell you anything.” He lifted her right hand up to his mouth and gently kissed each finger.

  Loretta felt those kisses in the pit of her stomach. If he was trying to seduce her, and he was succeeding. “Did your father ever stop blaming himself for your mother’s death?” Loretta said as she pulled her hands free from Xavier’s embrace.

  “Dad eventually learned to live with it; I don’t think he ever stopped blaming himself. He did remarry three years later, and I hated my stepmother on sight. Dad decided that we needed a change of scenery, that’s when we left Michigan and moved to Omaha. I tried to make my stepmother’s life hell for having the audacity to try and replace my mother. My sister and brother fell in love with her, and after a while she wore me down until I finally accepted her.”

  “That’s understandable Xavier, I’m sure your stepmother knew what she was getting into. She must have loved your father to consider marrying a man with children.“

  “As close as I was to my brother and sister, they used to hate to see me come home from school. They knew that I would find a way to start an argument with my father or Josephine.”

  “Who’s the oldest, you or Vincent?”

  “I am one minute and five seconds older that Vincent. Our sister Gail is eight years younger. I used to get so angry with Vincent and Gail for accepting Josephine so soon after our mother died.”

  “That’s understandable; you were still a child, and grieving over the loss of your mother.”

  “I didn’t realize or care that I was tearing my family apart with my hatred for Josephine. I didn’t begin to settle down until I was sixteen years old. I begged my father and my stepmother for their forgiveness.”

  “What happen when you were sixteen that made you beg your parents for forgiveness?”

  “We were sitting in church early one Sunday morning, and the choir rose to sing. They sang my mother’s favorite hymnal, ‘Precious Lord’. Tears came to my eyes, and someone whispered to me that God couldn’t touch the heart of those who were filled with hate.”

  “To this day I believed that my mother was communicating with me. I was the instrument of hatred that was driving my family apart. Josephine could never replace my mother, but I came to love her for herself.”

  “I told you about my mother because that was a part of my life that made me the man I am today.” He clasped Loretta’s hand with his.

  Suddenly Loretta felt hot, and a little embarrassed. Xavier kissed the palm of Loretta’s hand and worked his way down to the inside of her wrist. A wave of desire overcame Loretta, she looked into Xavier’s eyes and Loretta knew that he was aware of what he was doing to her. They were standing in the King Center’s parking lot acting like a couple of teenagers.

  Xavier had been playing a dangerous game for the last five minutes. He saw that his manipulations had a serious affect on Loretta’s equilibrium. It wasn’t doing too much for his libido either.

  Loretta fel
t totally at ease in his company. She was rather disappointed to see their time together come to an end. Xavier opened the car door and held it open for her. When she was seated in the car, she rolled down her window. Xavier pulled out an oblong envelope from his jacket and handed it to Loretta.

  Loretta’s hands were shaking as she opened the envelope. Inside the envelope were two first class airplane tickets to Kansas City and reservations for two rooms at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

  “I’m going to Kansas City next weekend to accept an award from the National Athletic Commission. My weekend would be complete if you would join me.”

  Before Loretta could respond Xavier cut her off. “Now, I know that Kansas City is only three hours away, but I don’t feel like driving. Our plane leaves on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.” Xavier gave Loretta a sexy smile. “I was even able to procure tickets to see the Chiefs; they have a home game on Sunday.”

  Xavier stuck his head through the open window and kissed her softly on the mouth. “Miss Brown, will you spend your weekend with me in Kansas City. I promise you that nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen.” A couple of kids leaving the King Center saw Loretta and Xavier kissing, whistled as they passed Loretta’s car.

  Loretta was amused by the antics of the kids walking by. “Mr. Johnson,” Loretta said as she returned Xavier’s kiss. “You have yourself a date.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow, maybe we can have dinner or lunch.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Xavier watched Loretta drive away before he got into his own car and drove to his office. After the kiss Xavier and Loretta shared, he was going to have a hard time focusing on his meeting this afternoon.

  ***

  Dr. Lee examined his patient to check her bandages and to see if the swelling on her head had gone down. Ever since she arrived at Chicago Memorial Hospital three days ago he’d been dying of curiosity. He didn’t have a clue as to what his patient’s real name was, or if she had any family. A private nurse was brought in to look after the patient. Dr. Lee was the only person allowed in her room to evaluate her.

  All Dr. Lee knew for sure was that his patient was involved in the accident on Lake Shore Drive. There was no doubt in Dr. Lee’s mind that his patient was under protective custody. But in the end it wasn’t enough to keep her out of harm’s way.

  “Are you almost done in here?”

  Dr. Lee didn’t care for the agent in charge. He had the personality of a steamroller and body to match. “I’m almost done it’s seems that some of the swelling around her temples has gone down.”

  “Do you think she’ll survive?”

  Dr. Lee turned around to face the agent. “When she arrived at the hospital, I thought she was going to die that night. She’s breathing on her own now, and if she keeps progressing the way she does, she might come out of the coma.

  Special agent Terrence Williams escorted Dr. Lee to the door and came back to Eleanor’s bed. He picked up her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as if he could make her wake up by sheer will. “I’m sorry Eleanor, it’s my all my fault. I didn’t find out that Marcus Dupree was released from jail until it was too late.” He gently laid Eleanor’s hand back on the bed. Terrence left Eleanor’s room and nodded to the agent that would take his place. If it took him the rest of his life, he would find Marcus Dupree and make sure that he paid for all the suffering that Eleanor had to endure at his hands.

  Chapter 6

  When Loretta told Cookie about her weekend plans with Xavier, Cookie decided to take Loretta on a shopping spree. Loretta needed a new evening gown for the awards ceremony, so she went shopping with Cookie without a struggle.

  They shopped from three in the afternoon until nine that night. The worst mistake Loretta made was agreeing to go shopping with Cookie. Cookie followed Loretta from store to store telling her to buy something sexy.

  “You’ll be in Kansas City with a damn sexy man and he can’t be seen with someone who dresses like his grandmother. By the way did you remember to go to the drug store?”

  “I don’t need anything from the drugstore.”

  Cookie was so disappointed in Loretta. “For your own sake you should stop by the drug store and pick up a box of condoms.”

  Loretta was getting fed up with Cookie. “I won’t need them, so there’s no reason for me to buy them.” Loretta said between clinched teeth.

  “If I didn’t interrupt you and Xavier last Friday night, you two would have been lovers by now. You may not go to Kansas City with the intention of doing anything other than attending the awards ceremony; I’m willing to bet my house that Xavier is looking at this trip as a chance to get you into bed.”

  “Lately, the only thing you want to talk about is sex.”

  “It’s probably because I’m not getting any. Last week my doctor told me and John that we couldn’t engage in sex any longer.“

  “Can it really be that good Cookie?”

  “You mean you don’t know. When was the last time you had sex.”

  “Since my divorce from Alan.”

  Cookie couldn’t believe her ears. “You haven’t had sex for five years, and you wonder what’s wrong with me!”

  “I’ve never liked it. Alan would thrust himself into me for a couple of minutes then he would fall asleep.”

  “Loretta I’ve been your friend since kindergarten, and you’re just now telling me that you’ve never had an orgasm.”

  “Cookie you make it sound like the end of the world.”

  “It would be the end of my world. Look, if you know without a shadow of a doubt that nothing is going to happen between you and Xavier fine, don’t buy the condoms. However, if you think there is the slightest chance that you two might end up in bed together; don’t be too embarrassed to have condoms on hand.

  “Cookie you’re giving me a headache. I thought you said this shopping spree would be fun. Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret; I’m not having any fun!”

  “I lied I didn’t take you shopping so you could have fun. I wanted you to take some tasteful, shocking clothes that will set Xavier’s eyes on fire. Cookie produced an emerald evening gown for Loretta’s inspection. “You didn’t bring me here because you wanted to have fun; you brought me along with you because I have good taste and style.”

  “Really, you wouldn’t know it by looking at you,” Cookie had on a purple and lime green blouse with a red scarf wrapped around her head.

  Loretta did as she was told the evening gown fit her like a glove. For a second, she believed that the woman in the mirror had what it took to seduce a man.

  Cookie chose that moment to knock on the door. “Honey how does it look, come on out so I can see it.”

  Loretta opened the door and walked slowly out of the dressing room. “You have to get it, this dress is clearly the stuff seductions are made of. Of course, we’ll need to find you some shoes and a purse to match. Look out Mr. Johnson, you can kiss you single status good-bye.”

  Loretta stood there thinking she should have stuck to her original plan to wear one of the gowns she already owned. She had a whole week to shop, but she’d been so busy at the King Center this week that time just seemed to slip away.

  “Honey are you paying attention to me? I have another dress I think you’ll like.”

  Loretta accepted the dress from Cookie and went back into the dressing room. It was a two piece dress; the Jacket was a combination of lace and silk. She held up the other piece it looked like a slip without the shoulder straps. Loretta put it on and looked at herself in the mirror, in its own way the black two piece dress was more provocative than the emerald evening gown had been. The dress looked as if it had been tailor made for her.

  “How does it look? Don’t be shy come out so I can see it.”

  Loretta came out of the dressing room so that Cookie check her out. “I really like this one Cookie.”

  “Admit it, you’re really glad that you brought me along?”

  Loretta had to give it to
Cookie. She may wear loud bright colors, but everything she picked out for Loretta was classy and stylish. “Your right my faithful sister, everything you picked out for me was lovely.” They giggled like two little girls as Loretta purchased the dresses.

  The mall closed at ten o’clock, and that didn’t leave them much time to shop for shoes and matching handbags. They proceeded with their shopping spree as if they had all night.

  ***

  Chapter 7

  Friday night’s awards ceremony was the largest one that Loretta had ever attended. It was good to see people from all over the United States who shared a common goal in saving children from the streets. It was a historic moment to see Xavier accepted the achievement award on behalf of the King Center.

  “I am honored to accept this achievement award on behalf of the King Center. When I became the head coach for the King Center. I had a clear understanding of how children need us to show them the path to success. When I was growing up my parents were my heroes, but the children of today have to look elsewhere for their heroes.

  Most of these children don’t know their fathers, and they need to be shown that they have worth and that we care about their futures. The children at the King Center aren’t just a group of children I coach. They are children I would be proud to call my own.

  I used to think that getting involved meant opening up your checkbook. It’s more than just donating money; it’s about donating your time. It’s up to each, and every one of us to ensure that the children we coach and teach are living up to their full potential. If we don’t do it who will., Let’s make up our minds to give these children valuable memories and experiences that will last a lifetime. Thank you!”

  The speech Xavier gave was straight from his heart and brought tears to Loretta’s eyes. Loretta was so proud of Xavier and damned glad that he had agreed to coach for the King Center.

  When Xavier came back to the table, he was quiet and reserve. Again Loretta was seeing another side of him. Xavier wasn’t an easy man to know, he endured a lot of pain in his life. Loretta knew there were some things about him that she would never understand. She covered Xavier’s hand with her own.