by Jerry Moore
“So where would you have gone if money hadn’t been part of the equation?”
“Probably to an Ivy League school.”
“Wow, your grades are that good?”
“I have some pretty ridiculous SAT scores, probably because I have an IQ of 196.”
“An IQ of 196? Isn’t anything over like 140 considered genius? You have some serious brain power!”
“Not so loud. I’ve already got enough people calling me a nerd or a geek. I don’t really need to give them any more ammunition. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. So you’re like super smart, right? Maybe you could help me with my homework sometime.”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about homework. I need help with this essay thing.”
“Really? But I thought you were a genius.”
“Sure, at computers, Math, Science, and stuff like that. I am a total retard when it comes to writing English papers.”
I suddenly had the same feeling that I had gotten during the History quiz. A thought came into my head right after the feeling, Invite Allison over. I looked up and saw Allison across the food court. She acted like she had just seen me. I waved her over. “Carl, do you mind if I invite my girlfriend over?”
Carl looked in Allison’s direction. “N-n-no, I don’t mind at all. She sort of looks like one of the cheerleaders at my old high school.”
What was with Allison always wanting to be a cheerleader? “You know, come to think of, someone told me that Allison used to be a cheerleader.”
Allison pulled up a chair to our table. “Lisa, I can’t believe you are sneaking around with another guy behind Jeff’s back. You remember what he did to the last guy he caught you with?”
I could see the panic in Carl’s eyes. “Relax Carl, she is just yanking your chain. We are not sneaking around and Jeff is too gentle to hurt anyone.”
Allison looked at me like I was crazy. “Are we talking about the same guy? Girl, you just don’t know.”
I blew her off. “Anyway Carl, this is Allison. Allison, this is Carl. We’re in English together. Carl was nice enough to make copies of his notes from the English class I missed.”
“So Carl, you must like English”, Allison said.
“Well, it’s like I was telling Lisa here. I need some help writing this essay that is due on Monday,” Carl said.
I wasn’t wild about doing anything that would give Carl the slightest hint that the two of us could be a romantic item. “The truth is that I am not exactly the world’s greatest at English either.”
“Carl, I wouldn’t mind helping out with your essay,” Allison said.
Carl looked surprised. “Really? You just met me.”
“Any friend of Lisa’s is a friend of mine,” Allison said.
“That would be great.” Carl took out his wallet. “Hey, do y’all want some dessert? I was going to grab a cherry fried pie. Y’all want one?”
Allison answered for both of us. “That would be so awesome. You’re so sweet to ask.”
I watched Carl walk away and then turned to Allison. “You sent him away didn’t you? You used that whole mind trick thing you do.”
Allison shrugged. “Yeah, but he gave in to my mental suggestion so easily that he must have already thinking about getting us some dessert.”
I tried to give her a stern look. “So why are you here? Are you following me?”
She held up her hands. “Don’t blame me. I am just following your boyfriend’s instructions. If it bothers you, take it up with Jeff.”
I intended to. “So why the sudden interest in Carl?”
She smiled. “I think he’s kind of cute and I bet he cleans up good. Get rid of the glasses, put him into some nice clothes and he might be a really nice looking guy.”
I was shocked. “Carl? He’s a total geek.”
“I kind of like geeks. They’re usually smart and not totally hung up on themselves. I will take a geek over a football player anytime”, Allison said.
“In that case, you are going to love Carl. He claims that his IQ is 196”, I told her.
She raised her eyebrows. “A genius, the ultimate geek. Sweet!”
I looked to make sure Carl was still in line. “I still don’t get it. I’ve heard more than one cute guy refer to you as hot. So why are you chasing a geek?”
She gave me a serious look, like she was trying to explain something to a small child. “Because I see guys differently than you do. How long is the typical hot guy going to keep his boyish good looks? Maybe ten or fifteen years? That’s just not that long when you are an immortal who never ages. Brains and personality last a heck of a lot longer than looks do.”
Now I got it. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it from your vantage point.”
As I watched Carl head back to the table with dessert, I could see what Allison saw in him. I also realized just how arrogant I had been to judge Carl solely on how he looked. Who was I to judge anyone?
With it being Friday, Jeff and I had a date that night. We went to dinner and a movie. The dinner was Mexican at a restaurant called On the Border. From there we headed to a movie. From what little I remember of the movie, it seemed like a romantic comedy.
It didn’t take long for the two of us to become lip locked in a full blown make out session. I explored Jeff’s mouth with my tongue, while I explored his rock hard body with my hands. Jeff’s tongue and hands did some exploring of their own. The movie was over way too soon. I wanted Jeff in a way that I had never wanted a man before.
As Jeff drove me home, I tried to think about anything else but my desire to be in Jeff’s arms all night long. “You know, I’ve got a little bone to pick with you.”
“Is this about the movie? Look, I know I got a little carried away and I apologize if I was a little too aggressive.”
I decided to tease him. “Baby, as far as I’m concerned, you weren’t aggressive enough.”
“If that’s not it, then what is it?”
“You had Allison follow me around today. Why, are you jealous of something?”
He pulled over to the side of the road. “No, I wanted you protected. I love you and couldn’t stand it if something ever happened to you.”
He used the ‘L’ word. “Did you just say that you loved me?”
He turned toward me. “Of course I love you.”
I turned away. “What if I’m not worthy of that love?”
“I don’t care about your past. I love you and hope that eventually you’ll feel the same way about me.”
“I do love you, more than you could know.”
He gently turned my head toward him with his hand. “Then why do you seem so sad?”
I felt the tears in my eyes. “Do you know that you and my father are the only two men ever to tell me that you loved me, when the goal wasn’t to get me into bed.”
He wiped a tear from my cheek. “I think you are giving me way too much credit. I have pretty impure thoughts about you constantly.”
“Maybe, but you and I both know that you don’t need to use the ‘L’ word to get me into bed. That’s why it means so much to me for you to say that you love me.” Jeff leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. I love the taste of his kisses.
Jeff finished driving me home. The two of us camped out on the couch. We stayed up late, snuggling and watching old movies. I finally fell asleep on his shoulder around three o’clock in the morning. I vaguely remember Jeff helping me get into my bed and kissing me goodnight.
I was predictably tired on Saturday morning. I overslept and was thirty minutes late to work at the library. Naturally, Jenny spent the entire ride to campus lecturing me about responsibility and some other stuff. I don’t know exactly what she said, since I basically quit listening to her. All I heard was “blah, blah, blah”.
I hadn’t come to work on Thursday or even tried to call in to say I wasn’t coming. Here it was Saturday morning and I was coming in late. I was
expecting anything from a stern lecture to being fired on the spot. Instead my boss, Bart Tucker, acted like everything was perfectly normal. I figured any normal employer would have ripped me a new one, and that would just be for starters.
If I had any doubts before, they were gone. Burt was definitely a marshal or at least someone taking orders from the marshals. Was anyone that I knew who they said they were? My whole life was nothing but smoke and mirrors. By the time I finally got home from work, I was beat. I flopped down on my bed. I needed a nap.
I was almost asleep when Jenny barged into my room. “We have company.”
I sat up. “What kind of company?”
“A police car just pulled up outside. It looks like it’s just a single officer, is there anything I need to know before we talk to him?”
I shook my head. “No, are you sure he’s coming to the door. Couldn’t he just be stopped to write something down or make a phone call on his cell phone?”
“When you’ve been doing this job as long as I have, you can tell these things. Come on, let’s get ready to answer the door,” Jenny said.
The doorbell rang and Jenny nodded that it was okay for me to answer it. I opened the door and saw my old buddy Corporal Romos standing there. “Corporal Romos, I didn’t think I would be seeing you again so soon.”
He gave me a nod. “Miss Wilson, I need to speak with you and your boyfriend. Is he here?”
Why would he want to speak with Jeff? “I haven’t seen my boyfriend all day. I just got home from work.”
Corporal Romos’ eyes were looking past me. “Would you mind if I checked the house myself?”
I didn’t see much point in saying no. “I guess you can check for yourself.”
Jenny stepped into his path as he walked in the front door. “Corporal, go ahead and check the house for her boyfriend. After that is done, I expect an explanation.”
Romos checked the house room by room with his hand on his nine millimeter Baretta the entire time. He never took it out of the holster but he was clearly ready for trouble. He ended up in the kitchen, the last room that he searched.
“Well, I think we are due an explanation as to why you’ve invaded our privacy, Corporal”, Jenny said.
I could feel the tension. “Maybe we could all have a seat in the living room.”
The three of us sat in the living room. Corporal Romos sat in the recliner while Jenny and I sat on the couch. I was a little nervous about the whole situation.
Jenny seemed equally nervous. “So, what is this about? What does it have to do with my niece and Jeff?”
“I’m sure you’re both aware of the situation with Brenda Robison. Your niece indicated that she believed that Brenda’s husband, Myron, had been abusing her”, Corporal Romos said.
I spoke up. “That’s what Brenda told me.”
Corporal Romos nodded. “That may be true. The problem is that she has refused to repeat that to anyone else. Consequently, we weren’t able to charge Mr. Robison with a crime.”
I was still angry about the politics of Brenda’s situation. “And I suppose the Robison’s had nothing to do with it?”
Anger briefly flashed in his eyes. “Young lady, you are in enough trouble without throwing around wild accusations.”
Jenny’s body tensed. “What are you talking about? Lisa had nothing to do with what happened to Brenda.”
Corporal Romos looked from Jenny back to me. “Can you tell me where you were last night, Lisa?”
“I went to dinner and a movie with Jeff. Then we came back here and watched TV until I fell asleep around three or so”, I said.
Corporal Romos raised his eyebrows. “So, your boyfriend spent the night?”
I glared at him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no he didn’t. We’re not like that.”
“I’m going to need the names of anyone besides your boyfriend, Jeff, that can verify your whereabouts last night between ten o’clock and midnight,” Corporal Romos said.
“Where is this headed? Maybe it would help if you told us exactly what you are fishing for,” Jenny said.
Corporal Romos rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll play along. Last night about eleven o’clock, Mr. Myron Robison was seen leaving a club with a woman. He was then brutally attacked and beaten. His injuries aren’t life threatening. However they are quite extensive and include cracked ribs, a fractured jaw, a broken nose, a broken wrist, and a dislocated knee. Obviously communication with him is limited to writing, as he can’t move his jaw to speak clearly.”
I gasped. “What happened?”
Corporal Romos gave me a blank stare. “Well, Mr. Robison says he left the club to help a young woman with a flat tire. Then, according to him, about six guys jumped him in the parking lot.”
“Wow, six guys. That must have been horrible. I hope you catch every single one of them,” Jenny said.
“See, here’s the problem. I’ve seen a bunch of guys who have been jumped by multiple assailants. They usually have bruises all over the place. Mr. Robison was not jumped by a group. Whoever did this was most likely a lone attacker and knew exactly what he was doing,” Corporal Romos said.
Jenny nodded. “I see why you might want to talk to Jeff.”
I looked at her like she was stupid. “Excuse me?”
“Miss Wilson, there aren’t very many people who have both the training to do what was done to Mr. Robison and an axe to grind,” Corporal Romos said.
This was crazy. “Jeff didn’t do this!”
Corporal Romos stood up. “Listen, the Robison’s are important people in this town. So, the detectives need you to come downtown and make a formal statement. You know, so it looks good.”
“You mean so they can interrogate her,” Jenny said.
Romos glared at her. “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Lady, you don’t want to interfere with an active police investigation.”
Jenny looked at him for a long second. “Corporal, I am going to reach down into my back pocket and remove my credentials, so don’t freak out and think I am reaching for a weapon.”
He looked puzzled while she removed her identification. “What credentials are you talking about?”
Jenny flipping open her black ID holder, revealing her badge and picture ID. “Corporal Ramos, I have been trying to do things the easy way. But since you want to take Lisa downtown, where the media has undoubtedly been tipped off, I have no choice but to officially notify you that I am a Deputy United States Marshal. Lisa isn’t my niece but rather an extremely high value witness and under my authority.”
He didn’t look like he was sure what to do. “We still have questions about last night.”
Jenny stood up. “Lisa is under surveillance anytime she sets foot outside this house. The marshal’s office can and will provide sworn statements that neither Lisa nor Jeff were anywhere near Mr. Robison last night.”
Corporal Romos left a little bit more dejected than he had planned to, I’m sure. He was on quite a roll, reading us the riot act. Too bad Jenny rained all over his parade by informing him that she was a marshal and he could just buzz off. Really, it was kind of awesome to watch. I had never seen a cop get told off before.
Chapter Eleven
I thought that after the police had been dealt with that I would see or hear from Jeff. That wasn’t the case all weekend. He didn’t come by and he didn’t call. I did try to call him, but his phone went straight to voicemail. I couldn’t get hold of Allison either. I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t contact me by conventional means but there was no trace of her in my head either. I wondered if there was some sort of range she had to be in to communicate with her mind.
Monday morning rolled around and I still had no idea what had really happened to Brenda’s husband and if it had anything to do with me. Jenny and I really hadn’t discussed what had happened with Corporal Romos. Still, I could tell that it bothered her that the police were now alerted to my presence in Lubbock. I had been around th
e mafia long enough to know that more people that knew something, the easier it was to find someone who would talk about it for money.
So, when I walked into my History class, I really wasn’t surprised that Jeff and Allison were both absent. I think I might be lying low too if I knew the police might want to talk to me. As soon as I took my seat, Dr. Greene walked by my desk and handed me a note. I didn’t want to open it with people around me. I tucked it into the back pocket of my jeans and tried to concentrate on class. Dr. Greene announced that our first test was next week but there would be a review session that night at his house. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go to anything without Jeff. I waited for Dr. Greene to give me some sort of signal that he wanted to speak to me about something. I assumed the note in my back pocket must have been the only sign I was going to get.
Once class was over, I started walking toward my English class. I opened up the note.
Please come see me during office hours today. My office hours are from 2-3 PM.
-Dr. Greene
Okay, so Dr. Greene did have something to talk to me about. I was becoming aware of the fact that I was devolving into a world where I was not only hiding from the mob, I was also hiding things from the marshals. For better or worse, I was committed to Jeff. I hoped that I wasn’t quickly approaching a point where I had to choose between the protection that Jenny provided and what I now realized was the love of my life.
I made it to English and was met with yet another surprise. Carl was sitting in his usual spot but I almost didn’t recognize him. The glasses were gone, he had perfect hair, and he was wearing dress slacks and an open collar dress shirt. It was like he was completely made over. Now, he even looked cute. He still wasn’t in Jeff’s league, but I had gone out with worse looking guys.
Since class was about to start, I didn’t have a chance to talk to Carl at length. I leaned over and whispered to him, “Wow.”
We handed in our essays and listened to a boring lecture on paragraph transition. I just couldn’t get over how much better Carl looked. I knew from what Carl had told me about his parents not having a lot of money, that he probably couldn’t have afforded his new look on his own. There was no doubt in my mind that Allison was involved.
