A Clean Up Man

by M. T. Pope

  “Are you okay with that?” I asked.

  “Yes, it’s in God’s hands and I can pray from home. I don’t have to be here every second when He is.”

  “Okay.” My mother was such a strong woman and her faith was unmovable. I was so proud of her at this very moment. “Well, let’s go. I will follow you home and stay with you until tomorrow.”

  When we got to her house I immediately took a shower and collapsed on my twin bed in my old room. She came in and tucked me in like I she did when I was a child. There was no place like home.

  I awoke late at night to the vibrating of my phone on the dresser next to me. I hopped up, threw my covers back, and snatched the phone off of the dresser.

  I looked at it for a second. The display read: UNKNOWN CALLER. I knew it was nobody but Jarrod.

  “Hello,” I answered, humbled.

  “How ya boy doing?” He laughed. “They probably are tossing his cookies up in the joint right about now.”

  Silence had engulfed me at the moment. What could I say? I was at his mercy. I didn’t want to upset him any more than he already was.

  “How’s my little mouse doing?” he asked me. “Do you regret ever getting involved with me? I bet you do. Your silence is speaking volumes right now.”

  I was looking at my door, hoping that my mother was sound asleep. I didn’t want her to walk in here and catch any of this conversation. How could I explain the sweat that was pouring down my back in an air-conditioned house? It wasn’t even that warm outside, but my mother loved to sleep in the cold. She said it made her sleep better. I was even shaking like a leaf and it wasn’t the air conditioning, for sure. Who am I dealing with? This dude is crazy. I never accounted for his actions to be like this, but then how could I? I was me and he was him. I couldn’t control him if I wanted to.

  “I’m sorry,” I said in a pleading voice.

  “I bet you are.” I could see him smiling maniacally on the other side of the phone. “Too bad I’m not finished.” Click. He hung up in my ear.

  I took the phone away from my ear and looked at it and prayed that he would call me back and say he changed his mind and that all was forgiven, but I wasn’t living in never-never land . . . This was real life. I silently prayed that my last card that I pulled out of my sleeve at the hospital would work.

  Chapter 34

  I Know

  I awoke the next morning to the smell of coffee, bacon, and eggs. I hadn’t smelled anything so appetizing in such a long time. My mother was known for her stellar breakfasts. I rustled around in my X-Men comforter with my feet hanging out over the edge of the bed. I was fighting to get a few more minutes of sleep, but all that was going on in my life kept my eyes ajar in anticipation and, again, the breakfast my mother was cooking wasn’t a bad start to a busy day.

  “Kraig, you awake?” My mother yelled up the stairs like she always did when I was living here as a child and teenager. She didn’t know that she was my alarm clock most of the time while living here.

  “Yes, I’m up!” I yelled as I put my feet firmly on the wood floor while I stretched my arms and wriggled my toes. I looked around and smiled at the room that was my life for such a long time. Everything was still as I left it. My small red thirteen-inch television and VCR stood on a small wooden dresser with a few of my favorite VHS tapes still sitting beside it.

  I put on my pants and shirt and went into the bathroom to wash my face. I was downstairs a few minutes later, sitting at the table with a heaping pile of scrambled cheese eggs and some nice crispy bacon. I could get used to this again, but I was on my own and I really loved it better than a hot meal. Besides, I could come over anytime and get this. It was the privilege of being an only child.

  “Ummmm . . . This is good, Ma.” I smiled while stuffing my face.

  “Anything for you, son.” She placed a cup of orange juice in front of me.

  I chowed on the food with thoughts of Carlos on the brain. I knew that I would be getting a call from Carla soon, so I needed to hurry and eat so I could go home, shower, and change my clothes.

  “Ma, I have to go home and get cleaned up, because I have to go and meet Carla and the lawyer today.” I pushed my almost finished plate from in front of me and pushed my chair back. I wiped my mouth with a paper towel from the table, got up, and grabbed another strip of bacon from the plate.

  “All right, baby.” She smiled as she sat in her seat and sipped her tea.

  I kissed her on the cheek and then walked toward the front door. I turned around when I was almost at the door and walked back into the kitchen, pulled my mother out of the chair, and gave her a nice big hug.

  “I love you, Ma. Let me know as soon as you get any information on Angie and I will do the same about Carlos.”

  “Okay, Kraig. I love you too and I sure will. Have a good day, son.”

  “I will and I know you will.” I kissed her one last time on the forehead and exited the house.

  I made it to my house within fifteen minutes and I was in the shower in less than five. I got out of the shower after about twenty minutes and as soon as I wrapped a bath sheet around my glistening, wet body, my phone started to ring. I rushed into my room and immediately picking up the phone without looking at the caller ID. It was Jarrod again.

  “Your buddy should have gotten bent over a couple more times in the shower this weekend. Don’t drop the soap.” Jarrod laughed into the phone. “He probably can take it as good as you by now.”

  I hung up the phone in his ear. I had no time for his taunting me.

  My phone rang again and I knew it was him, so I let it go straight to voice mail this time. I got dressed and called Carla to see if everything was set. She told me that I could meet her boss, Shawn Black, today as soon as I got down there.

  So I put on my best casual clothing and made my way down to his office. When I arrived at his office, Carla looked so professional and tidy. I could tell she took her job seriously.

  “Hello, Kraig.” She greeted me with a tight and warm hug.

  “Hey, Carla.” I kissed her on the cheek like the lady she was.

  “Mr. Black will be ready to speak to you in a few minutes. He’s with another client at the moment. Do you want some water, coffee, or juice?”

  “Juice will be fine.” I sat down on the red sofa and grabbed a Black Enterprise magazine off of the oval coffee table in front of me. I was thumbing through the magazine and looking at the fine and handsome businessmen who were photographed inside. I started to get an erection and the urge to jerk off hit me like a ton of bricks.

  “Here’s your juice.” Carla came back and broke me out of my lustful state. I was glad she did. I laid the magazine on my lap to hide my throbbing erection. I was ashamed of myself. Here I was in a lawyer’s office for my best friend and I was getting horny off of a business magazine. I felt even lower for that one.

  “Thank you.” I smiled, but I was full of shame.

  About twenty minutes later, Carla told me that the lawyer was ready to see me. I got out of the chair and walked toward the open door and was greeted halfway by Mr. Black.

  “How are you doing today, Kraig?” He spoke like were friends before today. He reached out his hand to shake mine. I noticed a ring on his hand as I shook it, which let me know he was married. He was fine, too; I mean gorgeous. But again, he was married.

  “Well, under the circumstances I could be better,” I answered truthfully.

  “Well, don’t worry about it. It’s already being taken care of as we speak. Have a seat and I will break down everything to you.”

  I did just that.

  He looked at me intensely before he spoke. “Carlos’s bail has already been set and I just called a bail bondsman who is a friend of mine. He will be out in a few hours. I just need to ask you a few questions.”

  “Okay.” I looked back at him with the same intensity that he did to me earlier. I didn’t feel like he was trying to intimidate me. I just felt like he was super serious about h
is job, and why shouldn’t he be?

  “I saw on Carlos’s record that he was arrested along with you when you both were eighteen.”

  “Yes, that’s true. We were just experimenting and got caught up in some mess.” I felt a little embarrassed as I spoke. I wasn’t proud of that moment in my life.

  “Okay, so neither of you have done anything illegal since then, correct?”

  I felt like he was trying to insinuate something, but I brushed it off, because this wasn’t a courtroom or on the stand. “No, we both promised each other and our parents that it was the first and last time anything like that would happen.” I spoke assuredly.

  “Okay.” He paused. “So do you know if he had any friends or enemies who would want to do something to harm him?”

  “No, I’m his only friend I know of. He has some associates, but he’s not really hanging out with anyone since he met Carla.”

  “Okay.” He paused shortly. “So no enemies?”

  “Nope,” I answered, not sure if he wanted me to.

  “This is going to be a tough one for me. He has no priors, with the exception of the incident from when you were eighteen. Seeing that it was marijuana and a second offense, he just might have to do some time in jail if we don’t get some type of evidence that speaks otherwise.”

  “Really?” I sat up in my chair. I wanted to confess my suspicions of Jarrod’s involvement, but I really didn’t have any proof. “How long?”

  “A year or two.” He looked at me firmly. “I’ll do all I can. Don’t worry about the fees. I do one to two cases a year pro bono and this will count as one.”

  Hearing that this was a freebie didn’t make me feel like I was winning. This stuff is just spiraling out of control. “Thanks,” was all I could muster up and it was a weak one at that. “Does Carla know?” I asked.

  “Not yet, I wanted to talk to you first and see what you brought to the table.”

  “Well, could you hold off telling her until something is definite?”

  “I’ll try.” He got out of the chair and walked around his desk to shake my hand again. “And if you can find out anything that will help Carlos out, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

  “I won’t,” I assured him.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” he called out just as I reached his door. “I know.”

  “Huh?” I looked at him, puzzled.

  “I know, and if you want to talk just give me a call.” He looked concerned, but I didn’t know what for. He didn’t know me from Adam.

  “Okay.” I walked out of his office, still confused. I walked to the elevator and waited until it came. The doors opened, but I didn’t get on. I couldn’t. Curiosity was getting the best of me so I turned around and went right back to his office. I needed to know what he supposedly “knew.”

  “Is everything okay, Kraig?” Carla asked with a concerned look on her face as I walked up toward Mr. Black’s office again.

  “Yes, I just needed to see Mr. Black about something I forgot.” I didn’t know why I just lied to Carla but I did.

  “Okay, hold on one second. Let me see if he is busy.” It had only been maybe a minute since I left his office. How could he be busy that fast? But, hey, I didn’t have a choice but to wait anyway.

  I sat down for all of a few seconds on the couch before Carla told me that I could go into his office.

  “So, you must have thought of something.” Mr. Black looked at me intently as I walked back into his office. “That’s why you are here, right?”

  “Well, no, actually. I wanted to see what you meant by saying that you know when I left your office a few minutes ago.”

  “Okay.” He leaned back in his chair a little and stared at me for a few seconds. I wondered what he was thinking about. Was he lusting after me and about to jump across his desk and throw some of that good wood I knew he had between his legs at me? I could only hope so.

  “Well, when I said I knew I meant that I know that you have some issues that you aren’t talking about. You have that same shiftiness in your eyes that I had when I was doing my mess. Plus, I’m a lawyer. I know liars and I get them off all of the time.”

  “So, let me get this right.” I paused while still looking at him in the eyes. Man to man. “You have me figured out because my eyes shifted a little when I talked? Come on, dude, really. You don’t know anything about me, except the fact that I have a marijuana charge on my record.” “Okay, so you staring at my dick when you walked into my office was what?”

  “I like dick . . . Is that a crime now?” I had an attitude now. I was salty to say the least.

  “No, but letting your friend go up river because of it is very low.” He sat up in his chair and looked at me in my eyes intently again.

  “You have no clue as to what I let Carlos go up river for.”

  “So you admit that you knew all about this situation and you let it happen.”

  Damn! How did I let that slip out? “Look, man, like I said before, you don’t know anything.” I couldn’t even look him in the eye after that.

  “Kraig, I’m not saying any of this to judge you. But just to give you a warning, I know from personal experience what secrets can do to families and friendships. You do not want to let whatever that is going on fester and boil over. Like the saying goes, ‘the truth will out’, Meaning the truth will come out eventually. It’s totally up to you to cut it off before you lose things and people precious to you. I am not telling you what to do, but I am giving you this warning from very, very personal experience. Secrets destroy lives and trust. Clean up your mess before it cleans you out of your friends and family.”

  “Are you finished?” I looked at him, trying not to break down in front of him. I still had to hold on to the front that I was putting up. I had to save face.

  “Yes,” was all that he said.

  “I appreciate the talk and I will consider all that you said.” I got up out of the chair and walked out of his office. I didn’t even say good-bye to him or Carla. He had struck a nerve and I didn’t know how to react to what he just said. One thing I did know was that he looked like he was on the verge of tears when he was speaking. It must have been very personal for him to talk to me like he did.

  On my way home, I called Carlos’s mom and told her the good news of Carlos getting out today. She was so excited and you could hear it in her voice. I left out the other things that I was told until I knew everything for sure.

  Chapter 35

  Lost and Found

  I went home to lie down for an hour or two. It was spring and things were springing up in my head. I got an instant headache when I got home. I was extremely disappointed in myself. How could I even call myself a best friend? I lay in my bed fully clothed. Tears ran down the side of my face. I was a wreck.

  It amazes me that as people we don’t get a clear understanding of ourselves or the situation we’re in until we are caught up in some drama that causes us to stop and take a look at ourselves.

  I was having that moment right now . . . they call it an epiphany. But I call it a checkup from the neck up. I had been straight acting like an ass for a long time and blaming it on other people. They did this or they did that. “I’m all alone” . . . Blah . . . blah . . . blah. I was sick of myself right now. I was the reason for my mess right now and now I had dragged other people into it and threatened their freedom and happiness. This is what happens when you say, “I got this,” and you really get what you think you have. I played God all of this time and now I wanted Him to come and clean up my mess. How dare I ask His help now after I put my hands on the situation and took it upon myself to fix it? I really lost my mind over the last few years. Now I had to go and find it while I tried to clean up my mess.

  The buzzing of my phone on my nightstand let me know that I had a text message. It was a message from Carla letting me know that Carlos would be out in about an hour. I texted her back and let her know that I would scoop up Carlos’s mom and then her so we could all meet him
when he got out.

  I picked up Carlos’s mom within fifteen minutes and shot downtown to scoop up Carla, and then headed straight over to the detention center to pick up Carlos. We waited outside for about twenty minutes before he walked out of the exit doors and toward the truck. Both Carlos’s mom and Carla hopped out of the truck and ran up to him. I got out of the truck and waited for them to finish their emotional moment. I was so glad to see him that I wanted to do the same thing that the ladies did, but I refrained.

  “Wassup, dude!” I spoke as I grabbed his hand and we embraced in a manly hug.

  “Nothing much, just made some license plates for a few hours, no biggie,” he joked. I smiled because his small stint behind bars didn’t change his jovial spirit.

  We all hopped in the truck and pulled off. We headed back to his mom’s house because I knew he wanted to take a real shower and lie in his own bed, or at least Carla’s, because the whole ride back to his mom’s house they were in the back like they were trying audition for the Hoover vacuum company. They were about to suck the skin off of each other’s faces.

  “Where are we going?” Carlos stopped necking to ask me.

  “To your house,” I answered.

  “I need to go see the lawyer. I got some information that needs to be told to him today.”

  I looked up at the rearview mirror to see a very serious look on his face.

  “Babe, it’s after five o’clock. He’s probably gone home,” Carla countered.

  “Baby, could you just try to see if he will see me?” His eyes pleaded with hers as we sat at a red light. When it turned green I safely pulled the car over to the side of the road while she made up her mind. Carlos’s mom just looked on in curiosity, but didn’t say a word. I guessed she was just glad to have her son freed.

  “Well, I’ll see.” She still looked a little hesitant about calling her boss after hours. From the conversation I had with him, he seemed like a guy who would go above and beyond to help someone out. I just hoped that inkling was true. She pulled out her cell phone and pushed a few buttons, and then placed her phone to her ear.