Love After War

by Cheris Hodges

  “I’m asking if you had anything to do with these charges against your brother. Did you set him up?”

  “What if I did?”

  Dana eyed him incredulously. “I don’t believe you. How can you be so underhanded? Did you think about his family and how this would affect them?”

  “Do you honestly think I cared about that at the time? I’m not going to apologize for how angry I was watching this family pretend they were the damned Cosbys when I knew the truth. I wanted the world to know and I had to engage in some underhanded tactics—then I was going to do it.”

  “When are you going to make it right, Adrian? At the end of the day, that’s your brother. He’s as much of a victim of your father’s lies as you are.”

  He pounded his thighs and shook his head. “I’m sure Elliot didn’t tell his mother to have an abortion. I’m sure he never went to sleep wishing the man he thought was his father would spend time with him. So don’t tell me that he’s a victim. Don’t tell me that he knows what I went through because neither he nor Solomon will ever understand.”

  “And your answer to that is to ruin their lives? What will that change? And if making their lives hell is how you deal with things when you’re hurting, then how can you expect us to have a future?”

  He dropped his head and released a heavy sigh. “How many times do I have to tell you that this doesn’t have anything to do with you?”

  “That’s a lie. It has everything to do with me and us. You said you staged that ruse two years ago to keep me away from this. What happens when something else doesn’t go your way? Do I get to be collateral damage again?”

  “Dana . . .”

  “Don’t Dana me! Answer me.”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “The truth. I want you to tell me the truth.”

  “Fine, I hate them. All of them. I don’t give a damn about Elliot dying. I don’t care if the company crumbles or if Richmond goes to jail. Happy? I’m not a good guy in this situation.”

  Dana inhaled sharply. “So, anger is what you go with?”

  Adrian chewed the inside of his cheek. “I don’t want to go there all the time, but this is a lifetime of hurt. My mother—”

  “Would be ashamed of you. The woman I knew wouldn’t want you seeking revenge and you should be ashamed.” She stomped off from him, dashing back to her brownstone.

  Standing on the street, Adrian was pissed—at himself. Why had he opened his big mouth, and why had he confessed his sins to Dana? He’d known she wouldn’t be behind him and his revenge plot; that’s why he’d tried to shield her from this. Something about being in the city, surrounded by what he now knew was his mother’s legacy, made him angrier. But Dana was right—how much longer could he hold on to the anger?

  Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he decided to call Solomon and get more details about their father’s condition.

  “Solomon Crawford.”

  “Hey, listen, I’m in Park Slope. How do I get to Mount Sinai?”

  “Did you fly here for Dad?” Solomon asked, his voice expressing his surprise.

  “No, I was here when you called earlier.”

  “And it just slipped your mind to tell me that? Dad needs a bone marrow transplant. Richmond knew this and was tested last month. He’s not a match. I’m waiting on the results from my test and hoping there’s a match on the registry. But now that you’re here. Maybe you could get tested and see if you’re a match.”

  “When you called earlier, you were going to ask me to get tested for that man? Are you serious?”

  “You have every right to hate him, but are you so black-hearted that you won’t even get tested?”

  “If I am, then I take after the old man,” he snapped.

  “Cut the crap. If you didn’t give a damn, I doubt you’d be calling me to find out how to get to him. Give me the address where you are and I’ll have a car come get you.”

  There was a huge part of him that wanted to tell Solomon what pocket of hell he could send that car to, but he rattled off Dana’s address and headed back to the brownstone. He had no idea if he’d be welcomed inside, so he did the New York thing and sat on the stoop.

  About ten minutes passed and the front door opened. Dana, now dressed in a pair of distressed jeans and a Van Halen tank top, walked out onto the stoop.

  “Were you going to sit out here all night?” she asked as she sat down beside him.

  “No.” He reached for her hand, but Dana didn’t take his. “I thought about what you said.”

  “And?”

  “I called Solomon. He’s sending a car so that I can go see Elliot.”

  Dana nodded and accepted his hand. “Is that so?”

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “I’m not going to pretend that I’ve had some sort of epiphany and I suddenly want to have this deep relationship with him and all is forgiven.”

  “I didn’t think so,” she said. “But I’m glad you changed your mind somewhat.”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Obviously Richmond knew of his father’s illness and he was tested to see if he could donate bone marrow.”

  “Is he a match and can’t come back to New York because of the charges you’re behind?”

  “No,” Adrian said. “He’s not a match. Solomon is waiting for the results of his tests and I guess the next thing is for me to get tested.”

  Dana pushed her locks behind her ear. “Are you going to do it?”

  Before he could respond, a black Lincoln Town Car pulled up to the curb. “Will you come with me?” he asked as he rose to his feet.

  “Yes. Let me grab my purse and keys,” she said, and stood up.

  Adrian drew her into his arms and kissed her gently on the lips. “Thank you,” he replied. He turned to the driver and told him they’d be ready in a moment. Seconds later, Dana was locking up the brownstone and hopping into the car with Adrian. They rode in silence. Dana wished she knew what was going on in Adrian’s mind. She wondered if he would really get tested. Moreover, she wondered if he held the key to saving his father’s life, would he use it?

  Adrian had the same thoughts as Dana. He would’ve given anything to save his mother, even if it was for one more day. Doing the same for his sperm donor? He couldn’t say that he was enthusiastic about being his savior.

  “Are you all right?” Dana asked as the car crawled to a stop at a traffic light.

  “I’m fine,” he said quietly. “I wonder how sick this man really is?”

  “If he’s in the hospital, I imagine that he’s pretty sick.”

  “Or,” he said, clearing his throat, “he’s trying to take the heat off what’s going on with his sons by pretending.”

  Dana dropped her head. “You can’t seriously believe that.”

  He shrugged. “What can I say? His track record isn’t the best when it comes to honesty.”

  Dana couldn’t argue that fact, but she hated that Adrian was so cynical. She simply touched his hand and kept silent. The last thing she wanted was to have another argument with him. Dana needed to believe that Adrian wouldn’t give in to the darkness inside him.

  When they arrived at the hospital, there were a few news trucks parked in the hospital’s main lot and twenty photographers milling around the front entrance. Adrian swore under his breath.

  “This is just what I need,” he muttered.

  “Sir,” the driver said. “Mr. Crawford gave me instructions on how to avoid the media circus.”

  “Good,” Dana said when she noticed Adrian’s attention was still focused on the media at the front of the hospital.

  The driver circled the hospital and the pulled onto a side street. They sat in the car while the driver exited and walked over to a building that resembled a hotel. “Amazing, the rich don’t even have the same kind of hospitals that the rest of us have to deal with,” Adrian mumbled. “What is this place?”

  “Eleven West. I guess this is one way for Elliot to avoid the
media snapping pictures.”

  The driver opened the door and told Dana and Adrian that everything was all clear. “Mr. Crawford’s waiting for you to take you inside.”

  “Thanks,” Adrian said to the driver once he and Dana exited the car.

  Solomon ushered his brother inside and gave Dana a quizzical look. “Who is she and why is she here?” he asked.

  Adrian flashed a frosty look at his brother. “She’s the reason I’m here, so I’d advise you to watch your tone.”

  “Guys,” Dana said. “This isn’t the time or the place. I can wait in the waiting room or go take a walk.”

  “A walk?” Solomon said. “So you can lead the paparazzi directly to us?”

  “She wouldn’t do that,” Adrian said with attitude in his voice. “And she isn’t going anywhere.”

  Dana saw Kandace, Solomon’s wife, approaching them. “Solomon,” she called out. “The lab results are back.”

  “Is the technician still in Dad’s room? He needs to run another test if—”

  Kandace placed her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “You’re going to be a match,” she said, then shot Adrian a contemptuous glance. “What is he doing here?”

  “Just in case,” Solomon said.

  “And he has some explaining to do before he dies,” Adrian snapped, then stomped down the hall as if he knew which suite he was going to. Solomon caught up with him. Kandace turned to Dana with a suspicious gaze.

  “What?” Dana asked.

  “I hope you don’t have some kind of game or role in what’s been happening to my family as of late.”

  “I’m here for Adrian. I don’t care about your family—I care about him,” Dana shot back.

  “But what does he care about? I know he’s Solomon’s brother, but I don’t trust him and I know he has something to do with the craziness that was going on in Los Angeles.”

  Dana wanted to say something, but she kept silent. It was Adrian’s mess to confess. “Let’s just be there for them. All of that other stuff isn’t important right now.”

  Kandace nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”

  Adrian stood at the foot of Elliot’s bed. The old man was sleeping, hooked up to IVs and oxygen. His mind flashed back to the last moments he spent at his mother’s bedside. A wave of sadness washed over him. Despite knowing the cruel things his father said about him before he was born, seeing him this way made him feel very sad. Even a little hurt. The technician and a doctor walked into the room, causing Adrian to glance away from Elliot.

  The solemn look on the faces of the health professionals took Adrian back to the days when he waited to hear about his mother’s condition and how every time someone walked into her hospital room the news was all bad.

  “Mr. Crawford,” the doctor said in a hushed tone. “I’m sorry, but you’re not a viable candidate for the bone marrow transplant.”

  Solomon chewed his bottom lip. “What’s the next step?”

  “You said there was another family member. We can do the blood test as soon as that person is available.”

  Solomon nodded toward Adrian. “That’s him.”

  Adrian looked up and saw the technician coming his way. “Sir, are you ready to take the blood test?”

  He locked eyes with Solomon, part of him wondering when in the hell he’d agreed to this, then nodded.

  “Let’s go,” he said, and followed the technician out of the room. As they walked down the hall, Adrian wondered if he’d get to have that last conversation with his father. Would Elliot apologize for missing out on his entire life?

  “Are you all right?” the technician asked.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been asking you a question for the last five minutes and you’re zoned out.”

  “What’s the question?”

  “How are you related to the patient?”

  Adrian cleared his throat and said, “I’m his son.”

  The woman brought her hand to her mouth, then muttered, “Oh. Well, the lab is right through here.”

  Adrian followed her into the tiny room and took a seat in a small chair. The technician handed him a red rubber ball. “Make a fist,” she said.

  He closed his hand around the ball and shut his eyes. Adrian forced himself not to ask questions like: What if he was a match for his father? Would he go through with the procedure? What was exactly wrong with Elliot? Here he was sitting in a chair to get his blood drawn and he hadn’t even asked why.

  “We’re all done,” the woman said.

  Adrian had been so deep in his thoughts that he hadn’t felt the prick of the needle. As the technician placed a gauze bandage on his arm, she smiled at him.

  “You look a lot better in person than on TV,” she said. “I hope things work out.”

  Adrian rose to his feet. “Thanks.” Leaving the room, he sought Dana out. He needed to leave. Before he found his woman, Solomon stopped him.

  “Thank you for doing this. I know it can’t be easy.”

  “It isn’t. What’s wrong with him?”

  “Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He’s been on a drug treatment, but it’s not working.”

  “And he kept this from you?” Adrian shook his head.

  “Keeping secrets seems to be his specialty.”

  “Do you think him coming to LA was because he knew the end was near?” Adrian asked as he and Solomon headed back to their father’s suite.

  Solomon shrugged. “I don’t know what he was thinking. Maybe he was trying to connect with you. Maybe he was trying to give my mother a post-mortem middle finger.”

  “Or that finger could’ve been aimed at my mother.”

  “No doubt about it, he was—is—a son of a bitch.”

  Adrian looked in the room and saw a motionless Elliot Crawford in his bed. He felt like a child and fought the urge to ask Solomon what growing up with their father was like. Solomon followed his brother’s gaze. “Listen,” Solomon began, “what he did, we can’t change. But we’re family and we should probably get to know each other.”

  “Before you say that, I have a confession to make,” Adrian said.

  Solomon faced him. “What?”

  Adrian cleared his throat and folded his arms across his chest. “I wanted to destroy you all. Him, you, Richmond. My mother suffered a lot and kept a record of it in her diary. When she died and I read it, all I could think about was this silver-spoon life you and Richmond had while my mother and I lived in exile.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I set Richmond up with the hooker, fed the protesters the story about the call girl’s arrest and Richmond’s skate on the charges. I set up your fight with Heather Williams in my club—”

  Solomon hauled off and punched Adrian in the face just as Dana and Kandace approached the men with cups of coffee.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Dana asked, rushing to Adrian’s side.

  Chapter 19

  Dana looked from Solomon to Adrian as Kandace struggled to hold her husband back.

  “I deserved that,” Adrian replied while holding his bloody nose.

  “You deserve more than that, you punk mother—your beef is with him!” Solomon nodded toward Elliot’s suite. “But you chose to put my marriage in jeopardy. Now my brother is facing jail because of your bitch ass.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kandace asked, dropping her hand from Solomon’s arm.

  “Everything that’s happened in LA.” Solomon flung his finger at Adrian. “He’s been behind it.”

  Dana felt proud of Adrian, happy that he’d told the truth, but brother or not, if Solomon touched him again, she was going to jump in.

  “Leave him alone,” Dana said. “Do you know how hard it is for him to be here right now and to get tested to see if he can save a man who never gave a damn about him?” Dana looked at Kandace. “And if he tried to ruin your marriage, it looks like it didn’t work.”

  “You should stay out of this,” Solomon admonished.

>   Adrian shrugged Dana’s touch off and stood face-to-face with his brother. “Don’t you dare talk to her like that.”

  “Oh, you can disrespect my marriage and I’m supposed to give a—”

  “Solomon!” Kandace exclaimed. A nurse and security guard rushed toward the group.

  “Excuse me, but you all are going to have to take this outside or be quiet,” the nurse said. “This isn’t some street corner in the Bronx.” She looked at the blood on Adrian’s face and shirt. “Sir, do you need medical attention?”

  “No,” Adrian said as he glanced at the security guard, who had his hand on top of his weapon.

  “Babe, let’s go,” Dana whispered. He nodded and they started down the hall, ignoring Solomon’s ranting. Dana looked over her shoulder and saw his wife offering him calming words as they walked into Elliot’s suite. Turning her attention to Adrian, she wrapped her arm around his waist.

  “Despite that fight back there, I’m glad you told him the truth.”

  Adrian ran his finger across his nose. “I guess it’s a fact, the truth hurts.”

  Dana dug a tissue out of her purse and wiped the remaining bit of blood from his face. “Are you sure you don’t want to get your nose looked at?”

  “Nah, I’ve had a bloody nose before. I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

  “I hope it is. Don’t you think you’re a little old to be a brawler?”

  Adrian shrugged. “I’m sure Richmond is going to want his shot when he returns to New York.”

  Dana felt warm on the inside. Adrian was actually making long-term plans to stay in the city. They walked out of the main entrance, forgetting to look for the media. Immediately it was a decision they regretted. A group of photographers bum-rushed them, snapping pictures and yelling out questions.

  “Is Elliot Crawford dead?”

  “Are you the reason he’s in the hospital?”

  “Were you here to take a DNA test to prove Elliot Crawford is your father?”

  “What happened to your face?”

  “Is it true that you and Solomon Crawford were fighting over the Crawford family fortune?”

  Dana held her purse up as they pushed through the crush of cameras and bodies. A few of the paparazzi gave chase, and Adrian, who was used to controlling what pictures were released and not being on the other side of this stampede, stopped.