The Point Guardian

by Liza Brown

  “For questioning?”

  “You know what I mean. Evidence.” I laughed at my stupidity.

  “I’ll get you a new ball. We’ll print our names neatly for you.”

  I smacked him on the arm and snuggled into him.

  “I wonder if he notified Max.” I dialed Max’s number.

  “Mae, you are really pissing me off!” he said after the fourth ring.

  I sighed and put him on speaker so Elsu could hear Max’s voice. “What did I do now?” I asked.

  “I went to check on you at work and Bonnie said you ran off to Detroit with Elsu. What happened to pride in your work?”

  “I take it you haven’t heard from Detective Graven,” I said.

  “No, I’ve been in court all day. Some of us work for a living, Mae.” I wanted to punch him.

  “Well, maybe when I tell you why I escaped with Elsu, you’ll give me a little slack! You know you’re kind of being an asshole, right?”

  “I’ve been called worse.”

  “They found a camera in my bedroom last night, and five more since then, Max. My apologies for freaking out. My apologies for having a boyfriend who cares enough about me to come and take me away from all of that for the day!” I started talking with my hands and the ice fell out of the washcloth. Elsu scooped it up and took it to the bathroom and returned. He snuggled beside me and laid his head on my stomach. I ran my fingers through his hair as he drew circles on my legs.

  “Where were they, Mae?”

  I quickly listed their locations.

  “Goddammit, Mae! How long have they been there?”

  “Since Monday sometime. We think.”

  “You think?”

  I quickly gave him the assumed outline.

  “Now tell me you’re still pissed at me.”

  “You can’t keep running away every time something goes wrong. You have to deal with work, or close the shop.”

  “Like hell, Max. Bonnie and Steve are perfectly capable, I’ve got interviews next week for her replacement and the other positions. Chill,” I said.

  “Her last day is next Friday, Mae! Today is Thursday. You’re going to hire someone and train them in less than a week?”

  “Leave me alone,” when I heard it put that way, I realized how screwed I was. I just didn’t want to admit it. Especially not to Max. “I can move some of the interviews to this Saturday. Bonnie scanned and emailed me all of the résumés. I can call them when I get a chance.”

  “You have an answer for everything, don’t you, Mae?”

  “I have to go, Max.”

  “Goodbye, Mae and enjoy your time at the game.”

  “I’ll talk to you later, Max.” We hung up and I looked at Elsu who was laying on the bed with his head propped up by his hand.

  He leaned over and kissed me. “How did you turn out so normal and nice?” he asked.

  “You haven’t known me long enough,” I said.

  “No? What don’t I know?” he asked.

  I stared into his golden brown eyes. They glowed beneath his brow and made me melt. “I can be a bitch if you mess with my nephews. They stay the night at my place a lot. Holy hell! What if…?”

  “Stop, we need to find out when they went in. There’s no sense in getting angry if there’s nothing to get angry about.”

  “But this jackass might have pictures of them. They’ve stayed for weekends a number of times. They use the bathroom. Mitchy sleeps with me and Brandon gets the spare bed.”

  “Well, I sure hope this guy doesn’t have pictures of them or he’s going to have a whole team of basketball players on him.”

  “They’re my everything, Elsu. I love those boys so much.”

  “I’ve never met someone who took being an aunt so seriously. You said you’re not nice. That’s pretty nice.”

  “I love kids. Since my mom pretty much drilled it into my head my entire life that I shouldn’t dirty the gene pool with my spawn, I’ve had to live vicariously through Max and Gina’s kids.”

  “You don’t believe that, right? The stuff your mom said?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I honestly used to. Especially after Bart. Then this unbelievably awesome guy came along and keeps telling me he thinks I’m more than that. I want to believe him, but it’s really hard to unlearn what you’ve been fed all your life.”

  “That guy sounds like a pretty smart fellow. I’d listen to him if I were you.”

  “I plan to,” I smiled and leaned over for another kiss.

  I looked at my watch and saw it was nearly four. “What time do you have to go back?”

  “The bus gets here at five, do you want to go down and get a bite to eat?” he asked.

  “Sure,” I said as I sat up quickly and the room spun. I grabbed my head and looked at Elsu.

  “You ok?” he asked as he sat down beside me.

  “I just sat up too fast,” I said as I leaned down to grab my shoes and caught myself before I landed on the floor.

  “Don’t be a martyr, Mae. Let me get the team doc.” He stepped to the door between our rooms, told Millard where he was going, and exited the room. Millard came in and looked at me.

  “You don’t want to mess around with head injuries, Mae. You could have a concussion.”

  The room door opened and a man I recognized from the two games I had been to stepped in with Elsu, carrying a duffel bag with a big red cross on it. “Whoa! That’s a knot!” he said as he pulled up a chair and sat in front of me.

  “That’s what I hear,” I smiled. “I’m fine, just had a little head rush from sitting up too fast.”

  The doctor pulled a flashlight from his bag and shined it into my eyes. He had me look at him from different angles, closing one eye and then the other. “Well, other than a headache, I think you’re going to be ok. Just refrain from sleeping for a few hours. Ok?”

  I nodded. Now that he mentioned it, sleep did have a certain charm to it.

  He dug in his bag and handed me a new bottle of ibuprofen. “Take these every four hours or until the pain isn’t too horrible.”

  I agreed and thanked him. Elsu thanked him as well and showed him to the door.

  “I guess I’ve been discharged,” I said as I finally got my shoes and socks on.

  “You need sandals,” he said as I stood up and grabbed my coat and purse.

  “Yes, because sandals in Detroit in November would work out really well,” I kidded.

  “Yeah, I guess not. I just want to see those feet.”

  “Win your game and you can see my feet after.” I giggled.

  “Now that’s an incentive I can get behind,” he said as we headed toward the elevator.

  “Hey! Wait up!” we turned around and saw a number of Elsu’s teammates coming up behind us. “Going for dinner?” asked Brent.

  “Yep,” said Elsu as he pushed the down button.

  There were five players plus Millard, Elsu, and I waiting for the door to open. I started to sweat at the thought of getting in with everyone. I grabbed onto Elsu’s arm and held on for dear life as I bit the bullet and stepped in. I wrapped my arms around Elsu’s waist and held my breath as the car started to descend. “You ok?” he asked.

  “No, not really,” I said as I squeezed my eyes shut.

  “This is from the apartment, isn’t it?” he asked.

  I nodded my head blindly as I felt the car come to a bumpy stop and I screamed. Everyone in the elevator turned suddenly and looked at me as I tried to recover from embarrassing myself. “You ok?” asked Casper who I realized for the first time was standing next to me. He looked down at me and smiled the sweet smile that I had agreed to go to the dinner with the previous week. Not the evil smirk that had attacked me after.

  I tried to smile, but I’m sure it came across as a mix between a grin and a silent scream of terror. He eyed me curiously, then walked out ahead of us without waiting for an answer. I was grateful to have Elsu standing next to me or I might have had to actually talk to Casper.
/>
  Elsu and I walked hand-in-hand to the hotel restaurant and sat at one of the tables that held some other members from the team. Brent was to my right, Elsu was to my left, and Millard was on the other side of him. I looked around the room and realized I was the only non-official team person present.

  “Are you the only one with a girl here?” I whispered.

  “Yeah, this is a pink game for everyone. I was able to get you and Millard tickets with a little luck and some pulling of strings.”

  “I don’t have to go to the game, I can just stay in my room and watch it on TV,” I said. “I don’t want anyone to think I think I’m special.”

  “You’re fine, don’t worry about it. No one is upset with you. I told Brent, Saul, and Peter about the camera. I haven’t told them the new stuff, obviously. But they know why you’re here. If anyone has a problem, they can come to one of us.”

  “Yeah, we’ll lay the smack down!” said Brent, who I hadn’t realized was listening. I smiled at him and looked down at my menu. “So what’s the new stuff?” he asked.

  I looked at him and sighed. “They found five more cameras after the original one,” I said.

  “Shit,” he said. “Sounds like a stalker, Mae. You need to be careful.” He seemed genuinely concerned.

  “I will,” I said as I smiled and looked at Elsu.

  “Did you just say there were five cameras in your apartment, Mae?” asked Saul from across the table.

  I nodded. “Six in all.”

  “Shit!” he said. It seemed to be the going reply.

  “What kind of sick bastard does that?” asked Peter.

  “I have my suspicions,” I said.

  “Who?” asked Brent.

  “Bart.”

  “That asshole that showed up at my house last week when Mae was there and gave her a hard time. He’s the one that put the security in our Escalades,” said Elsu to his teammates.

  “Oh! Yeah! I remember you saying something about him. He’s your stalker?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I think. I don’t know.”

  “He never struck me as such an asshole,” said Brent.

  “Well he struck me. Many times.”

  The table fell quiet and I realized I had probably over-shared. But I wanted them to know that Bart was not the saint everyone was sure he was.

  Luckily, I was saved by the waitress who took our orders and I sat back to take in the day. My phone beeped letting me know I had a text and I froze. I pulled my phone from my purse and found a message from the stranger.

  I DON’T ASK MUCH OF YOU, MAE. I SAID DON’T TELL YOUR BOYFRIEND. THE FACT THAT YOU’VE RUN OFF WITH HIM TELLS ME HE KNOWS. NOW I’M ANGRY. YOU’RE NOT GOING TO LIKE ME WHEN I’M ANGRY, MAE.

  Immediately following was a picture message showing me standing naked in front of the mirror in the bathroom. This one didn’t have any asparagus. I slammed the phone down before Elsu saw it.

  “Shit,” I said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “The stranger sent me another picture,” I said. “He’s trying to blackmail me. He’s mad that I ran off with you today and he’s assuming I told you. I’m afraid he’s going to try something.”

  “Let me see the picture,” he said.

  “No,” I said as I took the phone and went to toss it in my purse.

  Elsu intercepted my move and took the phone from my hand. “I want to see what he’s got on you.”

  I watched frozen in place as he pulled the text up. He didn’t study it like I thought he would, he just scrolled through the messages.

  “What pisses me off the most is this bastard has seen my girlfriend naked and I haven’t even had a chance to,” he whispered to me.

  “Yet,” I smiled.

  “Yet?”

  “Yeah, some day.” The smile that spread across his face was priceless. “Besides, how do you think that makes me feel?” I asked. I visibly shivered at the thought. Elsu wrapped his warm arm around my shoulders and kissed my forehead.

  “We’ll get through this, Mae. I’m here for you, know that,” he said just for my ears.

  I smiled and nodded. I kept asking myself if he was even real.

  After dinner, the team and coaches left on the bus and Millard and I took a taxi to the Little Caesar’s Arena, the home of the Pistons. Elsu’s string-pulling had gotten us VIP seating similar to home. Only this time we were in the third row. The seats were tiered so I could see over the people in front of us.

  “So how does this compare to home?” I asked Millard as we settled in.

  “I don’t know. I never got to sit down here for a Pistons game before,” he said. “I usually got a nosebleed seat at the door.”

  “So this is always a pink game?” I asked.

  “Not always, but he has some friends who live up here who he always gave his seats to.”

  “So he kicked friends out for me?” I asked.

  “No, even friends wouldn’t have had these seats, Mae. I don’t know what he did to get these, but I have a feeling he owes someone something big. This is the home opener for them, it’s always huge. VIP are snatched up by the home team first.”

  I nodded, worried I’d put a target on Elsu. “I hope no one is mad I got their seats.”

  “Don’t worry, you’re fine,” he said. I wasn’t convinced.

  “Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me,” a familiar voice stabbed my ears before I saw its source. Saraya was sashaying her way down the row we sat in. She came to the empty seat beside me and sat down.

  I turned immediately to Millard. He shrugged his shoulders.

  “What the hell are you two doing here?” she said to us over my shoulder.

  I turned to look at her and glared. “I could ask you the same question, Saraya,” I said.

  “Well, I know a guy who got me this seat. I had to pay a buttload to get it, but it’s worth it to see my man.”

  “Your man?” I asked.

  “See Mae, here’s the thing. Before you came along, I never really appreciated basketball. Now I’ve been to a few games and have decided it’s rather entertaining. You better not get too comfortable, babe. I’m coming back for my man.”

  “Like hell you are,” I said a little too loudly. The people in front of us turned around to look. I smiled and blushed.

  “I can switch you seats,” said Millard.

  “Let’s see how this goes for now,” I knew he was happy with his seat because the person on his other side was someone he had met before and had been talking to.

  It was only 6 o’clock, the pre-game would start in about forty-five minutes. “I’m going to run to the gift shop. I want to get something for my nephews.”

  “From the Pistons?” he asked.

  “Just a little something to let them know I was thinking of them, that’s all.” I turned to look behind me and then at Millard. “I’ll be ok to go alone, right? No one here knows who I am.”

  “Mae, you need to realize there is a really good chance that most of the people here have at least seen your picture. Even though you’re not with the Pistons, your picture has been on SportsCenter. Any sports fan worth his weight in beer and popcorn has seen your picture. That doesn’t mean you’re not safe, it just means people may recognize you. I can come with you.”

  “No, I want to do this by myself. I’ll text you if I need help.” I stood nervously and straightened out my shirt.

  “Seriously? You’re wearing one of his shirts?” I turned to look at Saraya.

  “I sure am. It’s called supporting my man. And Saraya, you don’t know shit about me. It would probably be in your best interest to keep that pie hole of yours shut tonight.” I turned and walked down the aisle.

  When I got to the entrance to the gift shop I quickly decided that maybe going by myself had been a mistake. The shop was packed with Piston fans. I noticed that the cashier line was near the door and the items I wanted to purchase weren’t far from where I stood.

  I quickly stepped in and g
rabbed my purchases then started to head to the register. “Excuse me, Mae? Mae Rogers?” asked a woman who was standing with two young children beside her.

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “My husband and I just LOVE you!” said the woman as she shook my hand. “Can I get your picture with my girls?”

  “How do you know who I am?” I asked.

  The woman leaned in so her children wouldn’t hear her. “I saw your picture online with Elsu. You are so much cuter with him than that Saraya was. Oh, and the way you ate that asparagus was hilarious!”

  I blushed and buried my head in my hand. “That night will haunt me forever!”

  “Don’t sweat it, dear. You’ll be fine! Do you know who I am?”

  I looked at her again and had no clue. “No, I’m sorry I don’t.”

  She shook my hand again. “I’m Tom Parker’s wife.”

  “Oh, Tom Parker.” My confusion was obvious.

  “He plays for the Pistons.”

  “Oh! It’s nice to meet you!” I smiled. I had no clue who she or her husband were.

  “These are my girls. Tamia and Jillian. Girls, say hello to Mae. She’s Elsu Benjamin’s girlfriend.”

  The girls were probably in their teens and they both smiled huge when they realized who I was. “We think Elsu is hot!” Tamia blushed.

  I put my hand on her shoulder and leaned in. “Let me tell you a secret. I do too.”

  The two girls giggled.

  “Julia and Mae? Together?” asked a man who came to stand beside us. “This is gold!”

  “What?” I asked him.

  “You two are probably talking some smack about your men, huh?” giggled the middle-aged, balding man.

  “No…”

  “Just ignore him,” said Julia. “They assume since our husbands play on opposing teams that we have to be enemies. I think new girlfriends need to be welcomed into this world. It’s not like any other.”

  “I appreciate that. I’m new to it all. A little over a week ago I was just a single girl. Now I’ve been thrown into this whole weird existence.”

  “I understand completely. When I first started dating Tom I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had a contract to sign just to be his girlfriend and this list of things I couldn’t do. It was a lot to get used to. But you probably know all about that now.”