Dead on Arrival

by Kiki Swinson

  “What do you mean you can’t go? I’m supposed to be at the appointment in the next forty-five minutes,” she said, sounding disappointed.

  “Mom, I’m sorry. But something came up, so I can’t go to your doctor’s appointment.”

  “But you promised.”

  “Mom, I know I did, but . . .”

  Reese said, “Take her. I’ll drop you off at the house so you can get your car. That way I can go and take care of some stuff on my own.”

  “Is that Reese in the background?” my mom asked.

  “Yes, Mommy, it’s him.”

  “Is he the reason why you can’t take me to my doctor’s appointment?”

  “No, Mommy, he’s not the reason,” I said, and then I paused. “Look, I’ll be at your house in twenty minutes.” I rubbed my right hand across my eyes.

  “Are you sure? Because I’ll ask your father to do it. Now I’m sure he’ll do it, but he’s gonna really be upset because I’m asking at the last minute.”

  “Mommy, don’t worry about it. I’m on my way,” I assured her.

  “All right, well, I’ll be waiting.”

  “Okay. See you in a few minutes.”

  When Reese dropped me off at the house, I gave him a kiss and got out of his car. I headed straight to my car. Reese sped back off down the road. I’m sure that he was going to pay Edward a visit, I was just not sure how it would end.

  It only took me ten minutes to get to my mother’s house. I beeped the car horn so she could come outside and get in the car, but my car horn fell on deaf ears. Calling her cell phone was my next option, so I went with it and thankfully it worked. “Mom, I’m outside, so come on before we be late,” I told her.

  “Okay, I’m on my way outside now,” she replied.

  I heard some rustling noises and then her phone went silent. She appeared at the front door less than a minute later, and what do you know, my father was on her heels. He got to the car first and opened the passenger door. “Have you heard about the immigrants?”

  “Dad, I work there. So of course, I heard about it. Everyone at the terminal is talking about it.”

  “Honey, move out of the way so I can get in the car,” my mom said to my dad as she pulled him back from the door and got inside.

  “You know they’re saying that some of the guys on the night crew are involved?” my dad continued, but in an indirect way. He was basically telling me what was going on, hoping that I would add what information I knew.

  “I heard that too.” I was really short.

  “Reese works the night shift, right?”

  “Dad, what kind of question is that? You already know that Reese works night shift,” I replied. I was getting kind of annoyed by his manipulating tactics.

  “Honey, leave her alone. We gotta get going before I be late for my appointment,” my mother interjected. It seemed like she was more ready to go than I was.

  “Oh, stop it, Bonnie, your doctor’s office is three blocks away. You’ll get there in plenty of time,” my father replied sarcastically.

  “You know what, Dad? Mom’s right. We gotta get out of here.”

  “All right, I’ll leave this alone for right now, but when you bring your mother back home, I want you to come in the house so we can talk.”

  “All right, Dad, I’ll see you when I get back,” I told him, even though I had no intention of seeing him, period. After I dropped my mother off, I was going straight home so I could help my husband deal with the bullshit issues he’s got. Spouses are supposed to stick together, no matter the cost.

  27

  REESE

  Edward lived in a ranch-style house in Norfolk, off Military Highway. He told me he bought his wife their house back in the late seventies for thirty-two grand and now it’s paid off. The outside of the house looks generic. But when you enter his home, this man has all new living room and bedroom furniture, top-of-the line kitchen appliances, granite countertops, hardwood floors, flat-screen TVs, and a high-tech security system. Believe me, if anything new comes from overseas in those metal containers, Edward is going to be the first one to get it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

  I pulled up curbside to his home and I didn’t see his truck, but I saw his wife’s car parked in the driveway. I also saw movement from the front seat of the car in my peripheral vision. When I turned my focus in that direction, Edward’s wife peered over the roof of her car. “How you doing?” I yelled from my car window.

  “I’m fine. Now how can I help you?” the Mrs. Weezy look-alike from the TV series The Jeffersons replied.

  “I’m looking for your husband. Is he home?”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?”

  “No, I don’t. But if you give me your name I will let him know that you stopped by.”

  “I’m Reese. I’ve come to a couple of cookouts you guys had.” I tried to jog her memory. But it didn’t work.

  “Okay, Reese, I will let him know that you stopped by,” she said.

  And just like that, she grabbed the few bags she was retrieving from the car when I first pulled up and walked into her house and closed her front door.

  “Fucking bitch!” I mumbled under my breath. I mean, she didn’t have to be so nasty. I hadn’t done shit to her old ass. Edward was probably fucking around on her so she’s taking it out on everybody around her. Oh well, old lady, get over it.

  While I drove away from Edward’s house, I decided to call Brian to see if he had heard from Ed. He answered my call on the second ring. “What’s up?” He got straight to the point. He sounded aggravated too.

  “Heard from Ed?”

  “Not since earlier. Why?”

  “Because he was supposed to meet me at Pop’s Diner so he could pay me the rest of my money.”

  “Call ’im.”

  “I’ve tried that. His cell phone keeps going straight to voicemail.”

  “Maybe he’s at the terminal in a blind and his calls aren’t going through,” Brian offered.

  “Trust me, he’s not at work. With all the agents running around there, Ed may not show up to work for another week.”

  “He’s not scared of those agents.”

  “Well, he should be, because shit is about to hit the fan.”

  “You think Customs is going to come fucking with us behind a boatload of refugees from a third-world country?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Ed says that he’s got a contact person in the Customs office, so we don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Brian, that’s some bullshit and you know it. Let me ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “Did he give you the rest of your money?”

  “No. He said he’s going to give it to his Customs contact so they can destroy any evidence that would implicate us in their investigation.”

  “Nigga, you need to wake up!”

  “Look, Reese, I don’t know what you got going on with Ed. But I’m good on my end. So, let me get off this phone. I gotta get ready so I can head to the terminal.”

  “You might not want to do that,” I warned him.

  Brian chuckled. “Man, I am not letting nobody scare me from showing up to work. I’ve got money to make.”

  “A’ight, well, you go ahead, dummy. Don’t call me when port police lock your ass up!” I said, and then I abruptly ended my call with that fool.

  I couldn’t believe the conversation I just had with Brian. If he thought that Edward was going to save him then he was sadly mistaken. But what really worked me up was how Brian believed that Edward was going to give his cut of the money to a so-called contact at the Customs office. I wondered if Ed sold that bullshit-ass ticket to Todd and Gene. I guess the only way I was going to find out was if I reached out to those niggas.

  I looked into the contacts in my cell phone and found Gene’s number first, so I called him. His phone rang seven times, but he didn’t answer it. So of course, I called it again,
and this time it rang five times and then it went to voicemail. Now the first thing that came to my mind was that either Edward or Brian had told him not to take calls from me. If that was in fact true, then I hoped all three of those niggas burn in hell. Not taking calls from me would be some immature shit. And the thought of it made me sick to my stomach. I hoped that I was not jumping to conclusions. But in the end, everything would be revealed in its own time.

  I thought about going back home to clear my head. But something inside me convinced me to reach out to Todd, so I did. Fortunately for me, he answered on the first ring. It was a big relief to hear his voice. “Hello,” he said.

  “Hey, Todd, this is Reese. Got a minute?”

  “Absolutely. Do you know I’ve been trying to get your new number all morning?”

  “Who did you ask?”

  “I tried to get Brian and Edward, but they said that they didn’t have it.”

  “Are you fucking wit’ me?” I asked him. What he was saying wasn’t making sense to me.

  “No, I’m not. When Edward called me and told me that Customs found the two containers and that some of the people inside were dead, that fucked me up. So, I was like we all need to get together and try to come up with a plan of attack before the agents get a chance to talk to us one by one. But Ed totally disagreed. He said that I shouldn’t worry about being implicated because I didn’t get my hands dirty.”

  “What did he mean by that?”

  “He basically said that since I didn’t help to bring those containers down from the ship this time around, and didn’t help catch the Asians that got out, I don’t deserve the rest of the money.”

  “Oh, that’s the grimy-ass shit!”

  “Yeah, it is. But you best believe that I am going to make sure that he doesn’t get away with this shit!” Todd said.

  “I’m wit’ you on that. I almost cursed that nigga out. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to meet me at this food place so he could give me the rest of my money. But the motherfucker never showed up. Yo, I promise you, as soon as I see that nigga, I’m gonna fuck him up.”

  “Whatcha think we should do?”

  “Todd, I swear if I had the answer, bro, I would give it to you right now.”

  “Are you going in to work this evening?”

  “Nah. I’ve already called out.”

  “Well, I’m gonna go in.”

  “You sure that’s a smart thing to do? You know Customs agents are going to be interviewing everybody that worked last night.”

  “Remember, Edward said that I didn’t have direct contact with the containers last night, so I don’t have to worry about falling into the investigators’ trap. And besides that, I think he is going to show up to work, so I wanna be front and center when I run into him.”

  “Well, you be careful. And again, if you see that nigga, call me ASAP.”

  “Roger that,” Todd said, and then we ended the call.

  After talking to Todd, I felt like I had accomplished something. Not only did I get more information than I had before, I finally got the feeling that somebody was on my side and that they would fight as hard as I would. Now all I needed to do was get the rest of my money from this nigga so I could pay off my bookies and use the final portion to retain an attorney. I hope I found the right attorney, because if I didn’t I was gonna be riding up shit creek without a paddle.

  28

  DAWN

  My mother talked me to death about Reese and what was going on down at the terminal, all the way to her doctor’s office and while we waited in the lobby for her name to be called. There was another elderly woman sitting in the waiting area. She was with her husband. He sat in his chair pretending to be asleep, but that didn’t stop his wife from running her mouth. And when they called his wife’s name, he wouldn’t move out of that chair. “Charles, let’s go, they’re calling my name,” she told him after she stood up.

  With his eyes still closed and head tilted backwards on the headrest, he said, “Well, go ahead. I’m gonna sit right here until you’re finished.” And he did not budge.

  I laughed because what he displayed was typical behavior from a man. I also laughed because he kind of reminded me of Reese. Just wanted to sit around and not do much when it concerned me. But if someone called him to come gamble or help rip off a container full of laptop computers, he was there.

  Before the lady disappeared into one of the examination rooms, I couldn’t help but recognize how lonely she looked. I would bet every dime I had that she wasn’t happy. I didn’t wanna be like that. I wanted to be happy, but the question was, would Reese stop putting himself first and put me in that seat?

  Six minutes into our wait time, my mama struck up another conversation about Reese. I instantly became annoyed, but I knew that she was worried about something happening to me if Reese got arrested and lost his job. “Your father thinks Reese is behind that human trafficking scheme,” she started off.

  “Mommy, I really don’t feel like talking about that right now.”

  “Why don’t you wanna talk about it? Talking is a way of therapy.”

  “I’m not interested in getting therapy right now.”

  “Then what are you interested in?”

  “I’m interested in making sure you see your doctor and go home,” I replied sarcastically.

  “Dawn, let’s not be pessimistic. You know your dad and I are worried about you, especially after finding out what’s going on down at the terminal.”

  “What’s going on down at the terminal has nothing to do with Reese.”

  “Did he tell you that?”

  “Of course he did.”

  “So I guess that means that you thought he had something to do with it too?”

  I looked at my mother like she had just lost her damn mind. She just threw a trick question at me and I didn’t even see it coming. I now see that my dad’s skepticism had been wearing off on her. “What kind of question is that?” I asked her, but at the same time I was trying to come up with a plausible answer.

  “You know your father has a lot of friends down at the terminal. If he wants to know something, those friends jump to the occasion.”

  “That’s because they have no freaking life.”

  “I don’t know if I agree with you there, but I do know that when something goes on down at NIT, your father knows about it before the port police find out about it.”

  “Good for Daddy,” I replied sarcastically.

  “So, does Reese know who’s involved with the scandal?”

  “If he does, he didn’t tell me,” I lied. I couldn’t let on that I knew anything about what was going on.

  “Well, all of it is a shame. I just can’t figure out why people will climb into a metal box like that for twenty to thirty days at a time. Can you imagine how hot it was, and how bad that thing smelled?”

  “I’m trying not to,” I replied without looking at her. I pretended like I was looking for something in my purse.

  “Well, I sure feel sorry for those people that died. They probably starved to death or died of dehydration and a heat stroke.”

  “They probably did,” I continued, as if I wasn’t interested in continuing this conversation.

  “I asked your father what’s gonna happen to the longshoremen after the agents find out who they are. And he said that they’re going to jail for sure,” my mother said, as she continued to ramble on. I swear, I was two seconds from telling her to shut the fuck up already. I didn’t bring her to her doctor’s appointment so we could talk about this fucking human trafficking investigation. I only brought her here because I promised her that I’d do so. Anything outside of that was extra shit that I didn’t sign up for.

  Thankfully the nurse called her to come back to one of the examination rooms, because if I had to sit and listen to her talk about what my father said, I was going to lose my fucking mind.

  Back in the examination room, the physician greeted us, took my mother’s blood pressure, and then
he went through all the formalities concerning my mother’s health issues. We sat with the doctor all of seven minutes, and then he sent us on our way. I was quite happy that this visit didn’t take as long as I thought it would. “That visit went by fast,” I commented as my mother and I exited the main door of the office building.

  “Oh no, that’s nothing new. He always gets me in and out, that’s why he’s been my doctor for so long.”

  “I don’t blame you,” I said as I escorted her to my car. “So, what are we doing now?” I asked as I opened the car door for her.

  “I need to prepare lunch for your father, so take me back home,” she instructed me.

  I sighed heavily. “As you wish.”

  Surprisingly, the drive back to my parents’ house wasn’t as stressful as it was when I first picked my mother up. On the way there, she and I talked about our new president, Donald Trump, global warming, and we even talked about all the reality shows that are on television.

  “Do you watch that TV show Mary Mary?” my mother asked.

  “Yeah, sometimes, why?”

  “I think the show is really nice. It’s a far cry from that other mess on TV—young girls fighting each other and sleeping around with each other’s husbands.”

  “They say drama sells,” I commented.

  “I hear your father say all the time that all money isn’t good money.”

  I burst into laughter. “Ma, listen to you sounding all hip and stuff.”

  She smiled at me. “Honey, I’m just telling you how it is. I may be old, but I’ve got plenty of sense,” she concluded.

  When my mother and I arrived back at her house, she begged me to come inside to get a slice of her German chocolate cake. “No, Mommy, I’m good. I had a slice of key lime pie earlier.”

  “Well, come inside and get a piece to take home with you. Get a slice for Reese too. You know your father and I won’t be able to eat all of that cake,” she insisted.

  “Can you tell me why you baked it in the first place?” I wondered aloud as we sat in the car, parked in the driveway of her house.

  “Because it’s your father’s favorite cake. But you know if he eats it all, his sugar levels could go up,” she explained. I swear, she was trying with all her might to get me in her house. But I knew it was a setup. She knew my father was waiting for me to bring her back home so he could grill me about everything going on down at the terminal. He knew I knew what was going on behind the scenes. But he also knew that it didn’t matter what he said, that I was not going to sell Reese out.