by M. T. Pope
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I got up from the table because I was satisfied that I had gotten the info that I needed without cursing Angie out. I walked out of the kitchen and toward the front door. I was on the porch when Angie peeped out of the door.
“Kraig, speeding tickets are only giving to people who are speeding, they rarely are beaten. The only way they are beaten is when the officer who wrote the ticket doesn’t show up.”
“Okay,” I said as I walked down the steps.
“Just come to the courthouse with the check already written. Baltimore city cops always show up.” I looked back to see a smile on her face. I flipped her the finger and kept walking.
Chapter 12
Pawns
“Hello?” I had rolled over in my bed to pick up my phone. It was around twelve o’clock noon and I still was in the bed. It was a Saturday, so I knew that I would be sleeping in longer than I should. The person on the phone didn’t care about that though.
“When you coming back over? My wife will be gone again and my daughter is over my mom’s house for the week. I need to burn off some energy.” If you didn’t know by now, it was Mr. Wheelchair calling me like he had been doing too much lately. Every other day he was blowing up my phone. I had made this mistake of going back for seconds and now I was dealing with his obsession and mine. I really didn’t know how to get rid of him.
“You know that that is not going to happen. I told you that I was not looking for any commitments. You have a family and I made the mistake of getting involved with you.”
“Nah, man. That wasn’t a mistake . . . You wanted my dick. You wanted to suck the skin off of my dick. You wanted to take every inch of my meat into your ass, pound for muthafuckin’ pound. You know it and I know it. So stop pretending like you can fight it.”
I looked at my phone in disbelief. I knew dude wasn’t trying to read me. “No, dude, you got it twisted. You were just a job. That’s it and that’s all. The dick was a trip, now that’s the truth. Yeah, I liked the dick and yeah, I came back for seconds, but there will be no thirds. Lose my number or I will send this recorded conversation to her. Have a good day.” I hung up the phone, set it on my dresser, and lay back down in the bed. I didn’t record the conversation, I just told him that. I hated to have to use those types of tactics, but I made a mistake and I just corrected it.
I flipped on the television and watched some reruns of King of the Hill until I drifted off to sleep.
Again, I was awoken by the ringing of my phone.
“Hello.” My voice was groggy and dry.
“Damn, you must have busted like three nuts, because I called you like three times already.” Carlos tried to play me.
“Really?” I looked at the clock on the television and it read 3:15 P.M. I must have been exhausted. It was all of this drama going on in my life and work combined with it that made me sleep hard. I could say that I needed it though.
“Yeah, man, I have been calling you and texting you. I was trying to give you the info from the ticket so you I wouldn’t have to come out of the house today.”
“Right . . . right.” I sat up in my bed and rubbed my hand over my face and the stubble on cheeks. I need to shave. “Give me an hour to shower and fix myself something to eat and I will call you right back.”
“Cool . . . Don’t keep me waiting. I have a date in a couple of hours.”
“Okay, whatever, man . . . Tell your chickenhead to stay in the coop until you ready to pick her up.” I hung up the phone real quick and laughed to myself.
I went over to my HP laptop and turned it on, preparing myself for my personal mission/investigation on the guy who I thought was Jarrod.
Life is so funny. One minute you think you have moved on with your life and the hurt and pain that you masked so well, but the next minute something comes and floods your mind with your past.
Who are you, Kraig? Is this my destiny? Am I meant to be the me I am right now: a connoisseur of bedding married men? What would I have been if Jarrod hadn’t stolen my innocence? Jarrod . . . who are you?
Showered and shaved, I called Carlos, got the necessary information off of the ticket, and proceeded to lay the foundation for my plan.
I found the Web site that held all of the information for the ticket: the amount of the ticket, fees, judge, courthouse, and time. But most importantly I found out the name of the ticketing officer. Jarrod Sparks. Yep, that was his name. Well, his first name was right, but I wasn’t sure about the last name.
I went on to Google and typed in his name. Several “Find This Person” sites popped up and I picked the one that showed the most promise. I paid the fee so that I could get unlimited access to all his info. I searched through several “Jarrod Sparks” listings until I found the right one. They had all his information listed. His birthday, address, college info, e-mail accounts, and all. It even had some of his relatives on here who were linked to him. It made me wonder what type of stuff they had on me on here, but that was for another time. He was my focus right now.
I printed out several sheets of info and highlighted several things that stuck out to me.
Next, I logged on to my Facebook page and looked him up by the e-mail account he had listed. When I finally found him, I looked all through his profile. Surprisingly, he had nothing locked down. I could see everything on his page: his wall, photos, and friends. But what stuck out to me the most was his wife.
“Wowwwww.” I was in awe at the beauty that was his wife. I mean, she was gorgeous. I clicked on her page and scanned through her pictures. I noticed that she had several pictures of two children who looked just like Jarrod.
“He has kids, too.” I felt like the wind was punched out of me as I looked at the happy family they had. I felt cheated. Is this supposed to be my life?
Tears flowed from my eyes as I thought about all of the possible routes that my life could have taken.
“This muthafucka has my life,” I declared out loud. “They’re supposed to be my kids and my wife. This bitch stole my life.” I was really loud now. I got up out of my chair and paced the room for a few seconds. I picked up one of the pieces of paper I had printed and looked at his address. I wanted to go tell his wife everything. How he turned me out . . . How he felt me up on the side of the highway . . . How his mouth felt sucking my ass that night in college. I wanted him to be lost and turned out too. But, I calmed down and thought rationally. I knew I had to be smart about this. I had to move my chess pieces like a master.
I sat my butt back down at my computer and decided to friend his wife on Facebook. I figured this was the only way that I could get close to his wall and not draw any suspicion to myself. I made sure I changed my profile picture to just my company logo and sent a private message letting her know that I was not a spammer. I saw that she was a reader because we both had some of the same author friends in common. I hoped that was enough for her to approve me. I sent her another message telling her that I was thinking about starting a book club and thought that she might be interested in joining.
Minutes later she approved my friend request and sent me a message asking about the supposed book club, and she even asked me what kind of contract work I did. She was interested in getting some work done. I was more than ecstatic when she asked me to come over for an estimate. She said it was a surprise for her husband and it needed to be done in the next week because her husband would be away for two days, visiting a sick relative. I told her I would stop by for an estimate. She asked me to come by tomorrow so that I could see what needed to be done. I was more than happy. I just needed to play it cool and smart.
“So a house call it is.” I smiled and sat back in my chair. I’m going to start trouble from the inside out. He’s not going to know what hit him until it’s too late.
Part 2
Operation Love Me
Chapter 13
A Man’s Home
When I woke up the next day I was exhilarated
and hyper. I know what you are thinking. Why not just let it go? Why ruin his life? My conscience was asking the same questions you are asking. But my ego was saying, “Blah . . . Blah . . . Blah.” I was so tired of my conscience at this moment. I wanted to get even. I needed to. I wanted to show him that getting tricked out was not pretty. And from the episode on the highway the other day, I knew he was still up to his old tricks. So I felt like it was up to me to get some payback for his treachery and heartlessness for all of the men he turned out. I dressed in a khaki-colored Dickies pants and shirt set, just in case I needed to do some dirty work inspecting. When I hopped in my truck I popped in my Charlie Wilson CD and jammed my way around the 695 beltway until I got to my exit.
I pulled up to his house in Sparrows Point. I thought it was an odd place for a police officer to live, but I shrugged my shoulders and looked around the area where he lived. It was close to the water and some of the steel mill industry. His house was detached and it was a two-level brick house that looked like it was only a couple of years old. I wonder what she wants to be done. It can’t be anything serious. I put my phone on vibrate and got out of my truck. I was anxious to see how he lived. It was spring and normally the weather was light and breezy, but it was cold out here where he lived. I shivered a little as I got out of my truck.
“Damn, it’s cold out here.” I assumed it was because they lived near the water. “I should have put on my jacket.”
I walked to the back of my truck, and pulled my tool belt out of my storage bin in the back and put it on. I then opened the driver’s side door, reached over to the passenger side, and grabbed my jacket. I walked up to the white wooden, gated house that was well manicured, unlatched the lock, and walked into the yard. There was a flowerbed on both sides of the front of the house and solar lights lined the walkway up to the house. It was a pretty scene. It made me smile. I knew that this was a family house. It made me know that he took his family seriously; all the more reason to make my payback as painful as possible.
When I got to the door I put on a smile and rang the doorbell. I heard some laughter going on behind the door. It was probably his children playing.
“Hello, how can I help you?” She opened the door in a denim dress and a white T-shirt underneath, a loose ponytail, and slippers. She had the “house mom” look all over her face. That goofy and tired “but I have to raise these children right” face. The children that I just heard clung to her legs like they were monkeys on tree limbs: one boy and one girl. They looked like twins; they were the same height and complexion. They looked kempt. You know, fresh haircuts, clean faces, and coordinated cartoon outfits.
“Hi, I’m Kraig, we talked last night on Facebook.” I was still showing my winner smile.
“Oh, okay. Can I see your license and bonding identification?” she asked with an even smile on her face.
“Sure,” I said as I pulled out my wallet and displayed my card with the information.
“You can never be too careful with all those impostors running around on Facebook.” She inspected my card. “Can I see your personal identification too?”
“Sure . . . No problem.” I pulled that out of my wallet since it was already in my hand.
“My husband is a cop and he’s always preaching about fakes and phonies trying to get into people’s house and all of that. I’m just doing as I’m told.” He was in charge for sure.
“I understand.” I nodded my head. “He is all so right about that.” She didn’t even have a clue that her husband was one as well: a fake and a phony, that is. But she was about to be in for a rude awakening. Her husband was about to get snatched and she didn’t even know it. Sounds heartless, I know, but there are always innocent bystanders killed in war and life. She just happened to be one.
“Come on in.” She backed up and the children detached themselves and watched me carefully as I entered the house.
“Y’all go play in the living room and watch cartoons while Mommy gets you something to snack on.” She pointed toward a large, open area on my left side.
“Yes, Mommy.” They did as they were told. I looked around the house and admired how clean it was inside. Usually in a house with children there were toys all around and things of that nature, but not in this house. It was spotless. Everything had a place. Curtains coordinated with the carpet, walls, and furniture.
“Sir, could you give me a second while I fix them a quick snack? I was on my way to do that when you rang the doorbell.”
“No problem. Take all the time you need.” I smiled. It was perfect timing because it gave me a chance to take a small look around the living room. I dipped inside the quaint room and looked at all of the family pictures and things that decorated the wall and the mantle. There were pictures of Jarrod with his fraternity brothers with Morgan State University shirts on. I figured he must have transferred after he left Howard University. There were also pictures of him and his family, him and his wife’s wedding portrait, diplomas from college and the police academy, and various other accolades that dressed up this family room. He had achieved a lot in his short career as a police officer. I wasn’t impressed though. I knew it was all a lie. He was a liar and he faked his way to the top.
“Here you guys go.” She came in with two small plates filled with fruit and crackers. She pulled out two Sesame Street food trays and set them down in front of them as they sat on the couch in front of a large plasma television on the wall. I smiled and wondered what it would be like to have a wife and kids and a house like this. You know . . . a real family. Not this lie I was living. My heartbeat picked up as I thought about it and I became enraged all over again.
Payback, bitch! I thought as I looked at this sorry sack of shit in a picture all dressed up in his police uniform accepting some type of award.
“Eat up, you guys,” she said, scooting the trays as close to them as possible. “Mommy will be right back.”
“Your husband is very accomplished.” I so badly wanted to trash the picture and every picture on the wall with him in it. I wanted to do the house the same way. But the smile that was continually plastered on my face hid my disgust.
“Yes, he takes is job very seriously,” she boasted proudly. She was almost saying it with her chest as Kevin Hart would say.
“And that he should. Jobs are so hard to come by nowadays.”
“That is so true.” She verbally agreed wth my last statement. “Well, let me show you what I need to be done in the other room real quick. My husband will be home in about an hour and I need you to take measurements and be gone way before he gets here, because this is a surprise for him.”
“Yes, ma’am. Let’s get started.”
“Oh, please don’t call me ma’am. My name is Marcy.”
“Okay, Marcy. Let’s go.” She turned and started walking out of the room and I followed right behind her.
I walked out of her house with the plans for a surprise for her husband. She didn’t know that I was going to be giving her an even bigger surprise when I turned her husband out and sent him back home.
Chapter 14
Out in the Open
“You ready to go?” I looked over at Carlos, who had just hopped into my truck.
“I was born ready.” He smiled and buckled his seat belt.
“Yeah . . . okay.” I chuckled and pulled off toward our destination. The weather outside was great for what we were about to do. This was our weekend to hang out and have fun, just us two. We both agreed to go to Southern Maryland ATV Park in Budds Creek, Maryland. We had heard great things about it and it was a safe place to ride ATVs and dirt bikes. They had about 300 acres of land that you could ride on, so me and Carlos knew that we would try our best to cover as much of it as possible. It was about an hour past DC so we would have a lot of time to catch each other up on what was going on in both of our lives over the last week or two. He had been busy with work and a new girl I was going to grill him about on the ride down. I had been busy working, plotting, and pla
nning my next moves on Jarrod.
After leaving his house the other day I was a little angrier than I should have been. Being in his house and seeing his family made me think about the lack of family I had. I felt like he took away my option to even think about a wife and kids. It’s funny how life is: you think you’re over something and then, bam, you’re right back at it again. Running into Jarrod on the highway like that was kind of freaky and weird. He hadn’t moved far away, and all this time we were in the same city and I didn’t even know it, but why would I? I thought I would never see him again. But, as fate would have it, we did, and now I was plotting and planning. I guessed “what comes around must go around” was true. Karma had marked Jarrod and I was right in line to be the victor. I felt good.
“So what you been up to lately?” I asked as I merged into traffic on I-95 South. “You’ve been missing in action.”
“Yeah, I know.” He smiled brightly. “Just been taking it easy and slowing it down in my life. That last ticket I got has been on my mind. It made me think that I need to slow down on the road and in life. You know . . . maybe even settle down with that special one.”
“Really?” I was a little shocked. I had always known Carlos as a player, but with a heart. That was one thing that we had in common. We just didn’t talk about my “dates.”
“Why you say it like that? Like I’m not supposed to want to settle down.” He was smiling but I knew that it was a serious topic for him now.
“My bad. I knew that this day would come, I just didn’t know that it would come so soon. After the last chick, I didn’t think you would want to start anything new for a while.”
“You know what, you are right about that. I did think like that for a couple of days. But when I met this chick—I mean, Carla—it was like I changed my mind. She changed my mind. I am glad that she came along when she did. I can’t even explain it. She just . . . Man, she just is.”
