Stalker

by Brenda Hampton

  “Rough day at work?” he said, then came into my office.

  “That would be putting it mildly. Only two hours left and this sale will be over.”

  Brent laughed as he laid the flowers on my desk. “You forgot to get these off the floor the other night. I didn’t want them to die, so I gathered up some to bring to you.”

  “Awww, that’s so sweet of you. And I wouldn’t have forgotten them had you not occupied my mind with other things.”

  He came over to my side of the desk to give me a kiss. “For the record, you had my mind occupied too. Can’t stop thinking about what you put on me. If I wasn’t leaving to go out of town this evening, I would definitely invite you over for another meal.”

  I put a frown on my face. “Sorry to hear that you’ll be gone again. Where to now?”

  “Another teacher’s convention. I’ll be back in less than a week, hopefully sooner.”

  “What exactly am I supposed to do with myself while you’re away?”

  “I’m sure you’ll think of something to keep you busy. If not, you can always skype with me in the evenings. My schedule is pretty packed during the day.”

  “Well, skyping will just have to do. As for now, I need to take advantage of you while I can.”

  Brent welcomed the idea, and before he left my office, we toyed around with each other in another office in the far back. No sex, just teased each other. I gave him a juicy kiss before walking him to the door to exit.

  “Safe travels,” I said. “And thanks for the flowers.”

  “Anytime, baby. Stay sexy and I’ll see you soon.”

  I watched Brent as he opened the door to his car and sped off. When I returned to my office, one of my coworkers was standing by my desk, sniffing my flowers.

  “You, my dear, are so lucky. Not only do you have a good-looking man, but he’s super romantic too, isn’t he?”

  “Very much so. I’m definitely going to miss him for the next few days.”

  “At least you won’t be tied up in here. You’re only on the schedule for three days next week. That should give you a little time to relax and forget about those grumpy customers who wouldn’t know what the word respect means, even if it slaps them in the face.”

  All I could do was laugh. I was in such a good mood. I had Brent to thank for that.

  * * *

  Three hours later, I was finally at home. I expected Kendal to be there, but when I went to her room, she was gone. It was a Friday night. I figured she must’ve gotten into something with Tammi. I called Kendal’s cell phone, just to make sure everything was good. She didn’t answer so I left a message for her to call me back ASAP, and I sent a text message as well. I headed to my bedroom, slipped into my pajamas, then returned to the kitchen to pour a glass of wine. There wasn’t much to watch on TV, so I grabbed a book I’d been reading and stayed up for the next few hours reading. I was curious to know if Brent had made it to his destination, but just as I was getting ready to call him, Kendal called.

  “Where are you?” I asked. “It’s getting late, and you should have let me know where you would be.”

  “If you check your messages, maybe you’ll hear the one I left you. I told you I was at Tammi’s house. If you don’t mind, can I spend the night at her house?”

  I wanted to say no, but with all that had been going on with Kendal, she needed time away with friends to enjoy herself.

  “I don’t mind. Just be here by six o’clock tomorrow evening. I’m going to the Soulard Market in the morning to get some fruit and vegetables. I also need to stop at the grocery store. Do you want anything?”

  “Just some cherries and Fruit Loops. That’s it.”

  “Okay. Tell Tammi I said hello. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I ended my call with Kendal, then called Brent. I was totally shocked when a woman answered his phone.

  “I . . . I’m sorry, but I must have the wrong number. Is this, uh, Brent Carson’s phone?”

  The woman hung up on me. I sat up in bed with a twisted face while punching his number into my cell phone. This time, no one answered. I didn’t bother to leave a message, but I waited a few more minutes before calling again. There was still no answer, and by now, my blood was starting to boil. Who in the hell was that answering his phone? Did I have the wrong number? I surely didn’t think so, but there had to be some kind of explanation for this. Unfortunately for me, an explanation didn’t come until almost one o’clock in the morning. I was still wide awake, fuming inside because it had taken Brent this long to call me back.

  “This better be good,” I said in a snippy tone. “I can’t believe it took you until one in the morning to call back.”

  “I apologize, but I lost my phone earlier. Another one of the teachers found it and brought it to my room. I saw that you’d called, and I didn’t want to wait until morning to call you back.”

  It sounded like a good explanation, but why did the heifer hang up on me? Maybe she didn’t want Brent to know she had answered his phone.

  “Thanks for calling, but I’m going back to sleep now. I’m glad you got everything worked out with your phone because whoever answered it hung up on me.”

  “Her name was Deena. She told me someone had called, but she said my battery died and she didn’t get a chance to ask who you were. I’m just glad that I didn’t lose my phone. That would have been devastating because all of my contacts are in there. Not to mention those sexy pictures I have of you.”

  He was charming, but I wasn’t moved. I wasn’t sure if he sensed my attitude or not, but truthfully, I wasn’t in the mood to talk right now. I had been up for hours, concerned about why another woman had answered his phone. And even though his explanation sounded legit, it still didn’t help to calm me.

  “I can’t imagine losing my phone either, but things do happen. Meanwhile, I’ll give you a call tomorrow. I’m real sleepy, and I can’t stay up much longer.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. Get some rest and I’ll give you a holler tomorrow.”

  I replied, “Sure,” then ended the call.

  Something didn’t feel right about the phone incident. I didn’t think, or at least I hoped, that Brent wouldn’t lie to me. Thus far, he appeared to be a very honest man. The last time he was out of town, we had no issues whatsoever with his phone. I finally fell asleep, thinking that maybe it was just me.

  The following morning, I felt a little more upbeat. I went to the basement to work out on my treadmill, and after kicking up a sweat, I showered and put on some clothes. Keeping it simple, I had on a pair of tight-fitting, tan-colored capris and a pink ribbed tank shirt. My haircut looked as if I’d just left the beautician, and with little makeup on, I headed to the Soulard Market.

  As usual, the place was packed with Saturday morning shoppers who wanted to get real discounts on produce. I could barely find a place to park, but I finally lucked up on a parking spot that was several feet away from the door. As people browsed around and a band played jazz music outdoors, I waited in a short line to get a creamy ice-cream cone. A man in front of me claimed he had lost his money and didn’t have enough to pay. He held up the line, and the woman at the ice-cream stand wasn’t nice about it at all.

  “Sir, you’ve been up here three times already. Obviously, you don’t have any money, so would you mind moving aside so I can take care of the lady behind you?”

  The man pivoted to look at me. His light brown eyes got real wide, and he cracked a smile, showing his pearly white teeth. I assumed the man was homeless, and even though his beautiful wavy hair was dusty, I predicted that once upon a time, it probably looked good. His frame was pretty cut too, but the raggedy clothes kind of confirmed his status.

  “Listen,” he said with a scraggly voice. He cleared his throat to speak. “If you need me to do some work for you around your house, let me know. I can also wash your car or hold your grocery bags for you too. I’m a li’l short on change. I was just trying to get an ice-cream cone and a sandwich for later.”<
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  There were plenty of homeless people lurking around in downtown St. Louis, but nobody ever asked me for anything. I didn’t mind digging into my purse to help the man out. He was all smiles when I paid the lady for his cone.

  “Thank you,” he said. “You’re really a kind person. You fine too, and if I didn’t have a girlfriend, I would ask you out on a date.”

  I reached out to give the man ten dollars. “That’s for your sandwich later and thanks for the compliment. Your girlfriend is real lucky to have you. Be sure to tell her that too.”

  I walked away from the man, not even bothering to look back because I figured his eyes were glued to me, as were the eyes of an Italian man who held the door for me. He was cursed out by his wife for taking a double look.

  “What, you gon’ break your fucking neck or trip over something for gawking at that bitch? If so, let her pay your muthafucking bills. Let her cook for your ass and leave me the hell alone.”

  The man didn’t have much to say. I kept it moving in my strappy sandals and with my sunglasses shielding my eyes. I was on the inside of the market for a measly ten minutes when I saw someone who looked very familiar to me. I had hoped that it wasn’t him, but the closer I got, my thought was correct. It was Malik with his girlfriend. The only reason I assumed she was his girlfriend was due to his arm hanging over her shoulder and the two of them browsing the market while walking side by side. I attempted to move in another direction, but since Malik had picked up his pace, I suspected that he had already seen me. He had the nerve to call out my name, as if we had something to talk about. I wasn’t about to be fake with him, so as he headed my way with his dreads in a ponytail, along with a bright smile on his face, my expression remained flat.

  “I thought that was you,” he said with alcohol on his breath. He removed his arm from around his pint-sized, green-eyed, black chick with thick braids that hung several inches past her shoulders. I wasn’t going to confirm if she was cute or not—I really didn’t care. My eyes were fixed on him as he attempted to reach out and hug me. I backed away.

  “None of that, please. We don’t go there anymore, but since we happened to run into each other, why haven’t you called to see about your daughter? Why haven’t you made any attempts to help me take care of her? How dare you reach out to me for a hug, as if you and I don’t have a child that you took it upon yourself to abandon?”

  With an embarrassed look on his face, he stepped back to scratch his beard. “I haven’t abandoned anybody. You were the one who told me never to call you again. The last time I checked, you did sign those divorce papers, didn’t you?”

  He was the one person who could really get underneath my skin. I hated to be this way, but I had to let him know that everything between us wasn’t as good as he thought it was.

  “I surely did sign them, but what does that have to do with our daughter? What does that have to do with you paying child support? Answer that for me, because I would really like to know, Malik.”

  “You said you didn’t want child support, remember? My money was dirty, and you told me to shove it up my ass. So, your child support funds are in my ass. There’s a bunch of it in there too, so when you’re ready to come get it, just reach for it.”

  I wanted to punch him in his face. Malik was like an enemy to me. I hated him with a passion. Seeing him made my flesh crawl, and before I did anything stupid, I just turned to walk away from him.

  “Nice seeing you,” he shouted. “And tell our daughter to call me. I’ve been waiting for her to break away from you and call me.”

  I tried, but I just couldn’t walk away from that kind of noise. What in the hell did he mean by he was waiting for her to break away from me and call him? I rushed up to ask him about his snide remark that had me fuming.

  “Excuse me, fool, but Kendal will never break away from me and call you for anything. You are a low-life idiot, Malik, and you really need to get your reckless life together before it’s too late. I’m so thankful that I got rid of you. Kendal’s and my life has been—”

  “Has been in shambles since I left. I know all about her suspensions from school. Know all about how you’ve been treating her, and she even told me about that creep you’ve been with. Good luck with him, and good luck with trying to raise our daughter all by yourself. From what I hear, you’re a shitty mother who don’t know how to listen. That don’t surprise me because you were a shitty wife.”

  Malik laughed and had the audacity to grab his trick by the waist and walk away from me. My eyes searched my surroundings. I was looking for anything to go bust his damn head wide open. The only thing that snapped me out of my trance was the homeless man I had seen earlier. He put a clear box with a chocolate-coated strawberry in it in front of my face.

  “This is for the beautiful lady,” he said. “I bought it for my girlfriend, but I changed my mind. I wanted to give it to you.”

  “No, thanks,” I said with a tight face. “Give it to your girlfriend. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it.”

  I was so mad that I didn’t even thank the man. I stormed back to my car, and after I got inside, I looked at my phone to see if Brent had called. He hadn’t. That pissed me off even more, and knowing that Kendal had said something to Malik had sent me over the edge. She hadn’t said a word about that to me. I couldn’t wait to find out from her why she hadn’t told me and exactly what she’d said to him about me. The thoughts of it all made me sick. I hammered the horn with the palm of my hand, reflecting back to the good life I’d had, before Malik caused it all to fall apart. My mother and stepfather raised me right. They taught me good morals and values, and all I ever wanted was to marry a man who would be half as good as my stepfather was. I remembered all the love they showed me as a child, and throughout my entire childhood, I didn’t want for much. Then, Malik came along with his foolishness. He’d made a mess of my life. I sat thinking about a time when his drug-selling bullshit almost got all of us killed. I had already told him the marriage was done, but it wasn’t as if it ended right away.

  Kendal and I sat at the kitchen table, putting a puzzle together that had over 1,000 pieces. It was something we had been working on together, just to keep ourselves busy and try to do something fun as mother and daughter. I felt good about spending time with her, especially since Malik and I had been arguing all the time over his new occupation. Kendal had been in a very unstable environment, and I was delighted that Malik would soon be moving out and the divorce papers would be signed. She felt some kind of way about her father not being around anymore, but as we talked about it, she knew it was the right thing to do. She also knew that Malik was the one who had messed up our happy home, and no words could describe how disappointed I was in his failures to stand up and be a real man who took care of his family.

  “Mom, what are you doing?” Kendal asked as she noticed my attention divert elsewhere. I was in deep thought about my failed marriage to Malik that I hadn’t been helping her with the puzzle. I snapped out of my trance and smiled.

  “Forgive me,” I said. “I was just thinking about something that happened earlier.”

  We continued to put together the puzzle, and five minutes later, Malik came busting through the door as if someone was chasing him. I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but I noticed a large plastic bag in his hand that he had tucked underneath his shirt to hide. I got up from the table, following him into our bedroom at the end of a narrow hallway. He tried to be slick by tucking the bag underneath our mattress so I wouldn’t see it.

  “What are you hiding?” I asked with my hand on my hip. A scarf was tied around my head, and the silk pajama top I wore was at knee level.

  “I’m not hiding anything,” he said, pacing the room and wringing his hands together. “Why don’t you go back in the kitchen with Kendal? She’s calling you, isn’t she?”

  I folded my arms across my chest. Malik didn’t think I was that stupid, did he? In no way was Kendal calling for me. She probably had her hands shielding
her ears so she wouldn’t have to listen to what was about to go down.

  “First of all, I told you never to bring any of your drugs in this house, but obviously you refuse to listen to me. I also told you that if this is what you choose to do, that was fine. Just know that when you go down, Kendal and I aren’t going down with you. Lastly, I really wish you would hurry up and find you somewhere else to stay until the divorce is done. I don’t want to subject myself or our daughter to your mess, and you need to get whatever it is underneath that mattress right now, and get it the hell out of here.”

  Malik waved me off, as if my words didn’t mean a thing. “Calm down and stop speaking to me as if you’re my mother.” He walked over to the window and slightly moved the curtain aside. He peeked outside, as if he was looking for someone. I guess he didn’t see anyone because he turned his attention back to me. “Now, as I said before, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t put anything underneath the mattress—you must be seeing things.”

  To prove my point, I marched farther into the room and attempted to lift the mattress. Malik shoved me away, causing me to stumble backward. That made me charge at him full force. But he stopped me, again, when he raised his fist and dared me to get in his way. Malik had never put his hands on me before, but his threats angered me more. I challenged him, and before I knew it, we started to tussle. He twisted my arms behind my back, and I kicked his legs while yelling and screaming for him to release me. That’s when he did. But he pushed me back on the bed and rushed into another room to go get something that he claimed would silence me.

  After he left the room, I hopped off the bed and lifted the mattress. Sure enough, there it was. A healthy bag of marijuana that had to be worth a couple thousand dollars. I snatched it from underneath the bed, and just as I started to rip the package, Malik rushed back into the room. This time, a gun was in his hand. He aimed it at me, and with a devious look in his eyes, he demanded that I put the bag on the bed.