Patting her husband’s knee, Katherine tried to console him. “We will still get there, Sam. We’ve got all of our savings and once we sell the house, we can buy us a small place near Calvin... you and Calvin can go fishing like y’all used to and I can babysit our granddaughter.”
“I should have talked to you about this in the first place, now I feel so foolish.” His head went low again. “All these years of trying to be an upstanding citizen in our community, and I get us run out of town.”
Angel felt for the man. She couldn’t let him take all the burden on his shoulders, so she said, “It’s not your fault that Demetrius’ dad is so greedy that he’s willing to kill rather than pay his debts.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into Don. He’s always been a hard man. But he paid up whenever I won the numbers” Shaking his head he added, “If Leo hadn’t gotten himself arrested, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Because I would have put my bet in with him.”
“I don’t like that way of thinking, Sam. You’ve got to stop all this gambling and I mean it this time. No more, you hear me?”
“After what happened to Danny and his wife, and how sick I’ve been over it all week. Worried that somebody might come and kill you over a bet I made... you got it, dear. I’m done gambling.”
They drove for about fifty miles then pulled into a gas station just before the Cincinnati exit. Angel got out and went to the ladies room. When she came back to the SUV she took a diaper out of her bag and changed DeMarcus.
Coach Johnson kept looking towards that exit; then when Angel got back in and just sat behind the wheel he said, “Don’t you think we need to keep moving?”
“Oh, I’m sorry for not communicating what we’re doing. Demetrius asked me to meet him at this location. He should be here in a few, I’m sure of it.”
“I know you’re helping us and all, dear. But I don’t think it’s wise for us to be left here like sitting ducks,” Katherine complained.
“Trust me,” Angel began. “If Demetrius says he’s going to do something, then it’s getting done. He hasn’t failed me yet.”
“What if he got on the plane and went to the Bahamas instead of risking his neck any further to help us? I’ve known Demetrius a long time, and he has never defied his father. He’s always done what Don told him to, even when it wasn’t in his best interest.”
“He defied him when he rescued me,” Angel said. “I don’t want to discuss all the particulars because it’s too embarrassing. But his father wasn’t happy about Demetrius’ choice to help me rather than do exactly what he had been told.
“And,” Angel continued, “I don’t think you realize how much Demetrius respects and cares for you, Mr. Johnson. He could never stand idly by and let his father hurt you.”
“I used to think Demetrius’ baseball skills was going to be his ticket out of this town and away from his father. But after he broke his ankle, he just gave up.”
“He seems to love the game so much. I would have thought he’d keep trying once his ankle healed. I wonder why he didn’t,” Angel mused.
“It was all Don’s fault. I told him that Demetrius could still get a scholarship to college because his numbers were that good. I said, ‘let him heal and then bring him back’. But the man wouldn’t hear of it. Told me that Demetrius would never be on that baseball diamond again.” Coach just shook his head.
“Maybe Angel came into his life at the right time. And now that he has a son, it’s time for Demetrius to realize that he needs to change his life.”
Angel gave a half smile as she said, “Maybe... I hope so.” She couldn’t bring herself to admit that DeMarcus wasn’t Demetrius’ son. She didn’t want this couple, who loved so deeply to know what a fool she had been. And as they kept sitting there waiting on Demetrius, she realized that her mother would want to know about DeMarcus’s father. How could she tell her that she’d left home to shack up with a strip club owner, who dealt drugs to his customers and tried to pimp her out. How could she tell her sweet mother that DeMarcus’s father was a heartless man like that?
Just as the shame of the situation was about to overtake her and cause her to rethink this visit with her mother, DeMarcus got fidgety in his seat, as he pointed at something outside and said, “Daddy.”
Angel’s head swiveled around, ‘please God,’ she silently prayed. ‘Let it be Demetrius’. A silver SUV had just parked next to them. As Angel glanced over with panic in her eyes, she saw that Demetrius was in the driver’s seat. Once again he had proven that she could trust him. He hadn’t hopped on that plane and left her behind. He got out and then Angel got out and ran to him. She jumped into his arms and sprinkled kisses all over his face.
Laughing, he asked, “What’s all of this for?”
“Demetrius Shepherd, you are a man of your word and I love you for that.”
Twelve
They took all of the bags out of his SUV and put them in the one he had rented. Angel was confused as to why this had to be done, so she asked, “If I’m going to follow you, why do we need to take our stuff out of your SUV?”
“You and DeMarcus will ride with us. I’m going to leave my SUV here.”
“But if you leave it here, somebody might steal it or something,” Angel said.
“And if we take it, my father might be able to find us that much faster.” He opened the door for her. “Let’s go.”
Once the women and the baby were in the car, Coach Johnson caught Demetrius by the shoulder and said, “I’m sorry for the way I treated you the other day. I shouldn’t have assumed that you knew what your father was up to.”
“I’m glad you spoke up,” Demetrius told him, and then added, “Look, the real truth is, I don’t know if my father is sending someone after you tonight. But if he is, I couldn’t live with myself if I just let you die.”
“Don isn’t going to like this,” Coach warned.
That was the understatement of the century, but Demetrius wasn’t going to dwell on it. “You told me that you wanted to move south, do you know where you want to go?”
“Columbia, South Carolina,” Coach said without giving it a second thought. My son lives there. And with all that’s happened, it would do my wife some good to be around the boy and that new grand baby of ours.”
“Okay, so we’ll drop you there, then I’m taking Angel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to see her people. I think we’ll stay in the South for a week or two. Give my father a little time to cool off.”
“What if he pressures you for my location? I don’t want anything to happen to my family.”
Demetrius put an arm on Coach Johnson’s shoulder. “You were good to me when I was a kid. I’ll never forget you, Coach... and I’d never tell my father anything about your son. So, don’t worry. He won’t find you.”
They took the back roads out of Ohio into West Virginia. By the time they reached Virginia they were dead tired, so they checked into a hotel. Once Angel, Demetrius and DeMarcus were alone in their room and getting ready for bed, she told him, “I need to talk to you.”
Demetrius was carrying DeMarcus on his back. He put him down. “What’s up?”
She sat down next to DeMarcus and she said, “I’m kind of embarrassed about this. But Katherine assumed that Mar-Mar is your son, and I didn’t correct her.”
Demetrius gave her a look that said ‘who cares’.
“The thing is, I need a favor from you. And I know that I have no right to ask this, especially since I didn’t want you to have anything to do with DeMarcus when we first came to your house.”
“Just tell me what you need, Angel. After what you did for me today, I’ll move heaven and earth to make you happy.”
She smiled at him. He was becoming her hero; she just didn’t want to overstep her boundaries and mess up everything. But yet and still, she had to ask. “I told you that I come from a broken home because my father cheated on my mother. But what I didn’t tell you is that my father is a preacher.”
“He’s what? I thought you said the guy was no good?”
“He’s not.” Angel’s mouth tightened as she said, “But that doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that despite what my father did, my family is super conservative. It would break my mother’s heart to know who DeMarcus’s father is.”
Lowering her head in shame, she added, “I don’t want them to know anything that I’ve been through, so I’m asking that you pretend that DeMarcus is your son and that we are in love.”
He lifted her head with his index finger. When she was looking him in the eye, he said, “We are in love... and DeMarcus already calls me daddy, so I doubt it would be hard to convince them of that.”
“So you’ll do it?”
He nodded.
Angel wrapped her arms around him. “You are too good to me. Thank you so much.”
After the hug, he looked at her for a moment and then said, “Dang girl, why didn’t you tell me that your daddy was a preacher. You got me headed to North Carolina not even knowing what I’m about to run into.”
“We won’t be running into my daddy. I’m not trying to see him. I’m going straight to my mother’s little house when we get in town, and that’s it.”
~~~~
Al was nervous. He’d just received a 911 call from Don and he didn’t want to call him back. The fight had ended badly for Ali. It had been like watching a dead man walking. Al had to close his eyes several times, as he couldn’t even stand to watch it from his 13-inch television.
And just as he and Don had planned, once the fight was over, he put a smile on his face, a glock in his right hand and knocked on Coach Johnson’s door. In order to get inside, Al was going to tell him that he was there to pay up. Ali had just lost and naturally, Coach would be awaiting his winnings. But no one answered the door.
Al went back to his car and waited and waited, thinking that the Johnson’s were out for the evening and would be returning home soon. But then he noticed that Coach’s green Buick was parked on the street and hadn’t moved from the spot he saw it in yesterday.
Snow had started falling and Al was running low on gas, so he couldn’t keep the car running for much longer in order to keep the heat on. He got back out of his car and tried a side window. But all the windows were locked. As he peered into each window however, he didn’t notice any movement. Puzzled by this, he knocked on a neighbor’s door. Someone peeped out the window but didn’t open the door. Al really didn’t expect them to open the door. It was dark outside and they lived in the hood. So, he spoke through the window as he pointed toward Coach’s house. “I’m trying to find Coach Johnson, but he hasn’t been home. Have you seen him?”
The woman responded, “He left,” and then closed the curtains.
Al was getting annoyed and when he got annoyed, bad things happened. He took a deep breath and banged on the window. A man came to the window this time, he was angry and brandishing a pistol. He barked, “You want to die tonight?”
Al held up his hands and backed off their porch. “Just looking for Coach Johnson, that’s all.”
As the snow started falling on Al’s head, he realized that he’d just made a bigger mess that he would have to clean up. Because when people realized that the Johnson’s were missing, this couple would also remember that he stopped by asking for them. Guess the angry man and his woman would have to die too, Al decided as he crossed the street to his car.
He was just about to get in the car when he noticed a man sitting on his porch fiddling around with a snow blower. “Hey,” Al called out to him. “Have you seen Coach Johnson?”
The man looked up, he pointed towards Johnson’s house as he said, “They packed up and hightailed it out of here earlier today.”
“But his car is still parked over there.”
The man glanced at Johnson’s car as he said, “They didn’t use his car. Some lady picked them up. They drove off in one of them Ford Broncos. And that thing was a beauty, it was black with the oversized tires and rims that sparkled.”
He asked the man. “Did that lady have a baby with her?”
The man thought for a second and then bobbed his head. “Sure did.”
Al’s beeper went off. It was Don again and wasn’t no way he could ignore the beep this time. He drove to a phone booth and called the number in his beeper.
When the line was picked up, Don said, “Is that you, Al?”
“It’s me.” He tried to laugh it off. “Why you keep blowing up my beeper... thought you would be enjoying that tropical island with your new lady.”
Don didn’t have time for small talk. “Where is Demetrius? Didn’t I ask you to get him here?”
“I drove him to the airport myself. But the kid had to stop and buy some barbecue skins for the plane ride.”
“What? Demetrius don’t eat no skins. He can’t stand that stuff.”
“Well, that’s what he told me. But I swear to you, Don. I dropped him off at the airport in enough time to make his flight.”
“What about the girl?”
“She decided to stay here because they couldn’t find a babysitter.”
Don sucked in his teeth. But then quickly got down to another matter. “Ali lost, can you believe it... I just hope I haven’t lost too much money because I’ve already lined up our next project, but we’re going to need a ton of loot to get in on it.”
Al knew that Don was looking for reassurance that Coach had been taken care of, and he could see his bonus slipping through his fingers as he said, “We got a problem over here.”
“Yeah, what sort of problem?” Don asked.
“You see, I went to visit a sick friend. But when I arrived at his house, he was gone.”
“Gone... what do you mean, gone? Don’t you know your friend’s schedule?”
“That’s just it,” Al said, “I’ve been over this way for a week straight. Everything stayed the same. Only today is different... and the neighbor told me...”
“You talked to the neighbor? What are you a freakin’ idiot? I mean really, did your mommy dress you this morning?” Don exploded.
“I know I shouldn’t be talking to these people, Don. But I’ve got extenuating circumstances going on.”
“Like what?”
“Like... somebody drove Sam and his wife out of here in a black Ford Bronco.”
“Demetrius drives a Bronco,” Don said.
“Exactly.” Al had gotten played. He could accept that. But now, Don was going to have to do something about his kid once and for all.
“You think Demetrius has something to do with this?”
“You said he didn’t make it to the Bahamas, and I took him to the airport myself. And now this man describes Demetrius’ Bronco down to the rims. He also told me that a woman with a kid picked the Johnson’s up.”
“I’ll kill him,” Don exploded again. “Drive over to his house and see if he’s got them over there.”
Al did as he was told. The first thing he noticed when he pulled up to Demetrius’ house was that the Bronco was gone. He got out of his car and knocked on the door. But of course, there was no answer. Al ran back over the scene in the house when he’d picked Demetrius up that morning. The two of them were angry one moment, consoling one another the next and then like a faucet they switched back to being angry.
If it hadn’t been Don Shepherd’s kid, Al would have recognized the set up and acted right then and there. He called Don back and told him what he’d found.
There was silence on the phone, then Don said, “So my son has gone rogue, huh?”
“It appears that way. Demetrius spent a lot of time with Coach Johnson when he was growing up. Maybe he feels he owes Coach his loyalty.”
“Demetrius is my son,” Don barked. “His loyalty belongs to me... to the family.”
“What do you want me to do?” Al asked waiting on his orders.
“I want you to find them. I’m going to show Demetrius who his daddy really is, and then I guarantee that boy will
never choose anyone over his family again.”
Thirteen
Al and his crew went through the Johnson’s home looking for anything that might give a clue as to where they had ran off to. The bedrooms were ransacked, as if they had packed in a hurry and decided to leave what they didn’t want on the floor.
“Hey Al, come check this out,” one of his henchmen said.
Al was in the kitchen making himself a turkey sandwich. He put the mustard back in the refrigerator and headed to the living room while eating his sandwich.
The man handed him an envelope and said, “This was laying by the front door. I think they dropped it on their way out.”
Al opened the envelope and found the picture of a cute little baby girl, and a letter that had been sent from their son. He looked at the front of the envelope and then smiled... he had an address. He called Don because he had two things to report.
When Don picked up the phone, the first thing Al said was, “The Bronco is parked at a gas station just outside of Cincinnati.”
“How long has it been there?”
“A few hours.”
Don let out one explicative after another. Then he said, “I should set that truck on fire to teach him a lesson.”
“Say the word and I’ll have it torched tonight. But I’ve got something else. We just found an address for Coach Johnson’s son.”
“Where does he live?” Don asked.
“Columbia, South Carolina.”
“Alright then, have a couple of our guys pay him a visit.”
“Don’t you want me to go check on this myself?” Al asked.
But Don said, “No, not yet. I want you to sit tight. I’m flying back tonight. My son isn’t going to spit in my face like this and just ride off into the sunset. So, I expect you to have some answers when I get there. Understand?”
“Yeah boss, I got it.” Al hung up the phone without saying anything else, but he was boiling on the inside. The boss’s kid goes rouge and suddenly it’s his fault. Don is the one who brought him into the business... should have let that boy go to college or something. Because he didn’t look forward to hunting down the son of Don Shepherd.
Family Business Page 9
