The Book of Joshua I - Trust (The Gems & Gents Series 2)

by Iris Bolling

  Rochelle sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Whew. The last time I saw you that pissed was when Larry Davis put the caterpillar down your blouse, and you were running around in circles flipping your shirt up and down trying to get it out.”

  Shelly smiled, remembering and nodded. “You started chasing me, trying to find out what was wrong.”

  “And you kept running around the school yard, screaming. Then I started screaming with you.” The two women laughed together.

  “Finally, you pulled my shirt over my head, and swatted the damn thing away. Until that day, I never thought you even knew some of the words you said to that boy. Hell, I didn’t know some of them. I’ll never forget the look on his face when Mrs. Blount pulled you off him after you beat his butt.”

  Rocy laughed as she looked out the window. “Damn right I whipped his butt. Nobody messes with my best friend and gets away with it.”

  “Whew, that was funny.” Shelly laughed.

  “Until we got suspended from school.” Rocy shook her head.

  “Yeah, but you got a butt whipping.” Shelly frowned at the memory.

  “It was worth it.”

  “It wasn’t that big of a deal and definitely not worth you getting into trouble.”

  “Yes, it was.” Rocy looked at her. “I saw how hurt you were then. It was the same look you had when we walked in that restaurant to find your husband all hugged up with his mistress.” She touched Shelly’s arm. “I saw the same look in your eyes the other night when you spoke to Senator Davenport.” She waited a moment. “Now, I know you have never met the man before. So...you want to tell me what that was all about?”

  Shelly glanced at her and turned her eyes back to the road as she put her signal on to enter Interstate 64 East. She exhaled, while contemplating how she would explain her actions. She took a quick glance at her friend. “Don’t judge me.”

  Rocy, raised an eyebrow. “Have I ever?”

  “You may after you hear this.” It was four in the morning and thankfully, traffic going towards downtown Richmond and towards the airport wasn’t heavy, for she knew how her friend Rocy, as she called her, was going to react. “Don’t laugh.”

  “I will not laugh at you. Come on, you know me better than that.”

  Shelly took another quick glance at her friend to judge her sincerity. “He’s my fantasy.” She kept her eyes on the road, fearing the look she might receive.

  “Fantasy?”

  Taking a deep breath, she sighed. “Whew. When I want to...you know, get off, the Senator is...was my visual.”

  Rocy sat there, staring at her friend with a blank look on her face. She turned and looked out of her side window, composed herself then turned back to Shelly. “Let me get this straight. When you get your rocks off, with whatever toy you have at your disposal, the person you visualize is the Senator, not Denzel, Idris, Babyface, or Hill Harper? Your fantasy lover is the Senator?”

  “You promised you wouldn’t laugh.”

  “I’m not laughing.” Rocy smirked. “I’m just surprised.” She chuckled, then looked over and saw Shelly’s deflated look. “Okay, I’m sorry. Hey, he’s a damn good looking guy. I can, I can...” she was nodding her head. “I can see that.” She shrugged her shoulders. “If it was me, I would go all out. Hell, if I’m going to fantasize, give me Boris Kodjoe or that brother from Jumping the Broom.”

  “Laz Alonso.”

  “Yes, both of them...at the same time. Now, that’s a fantasy.” She laughed. “Yep.” She thought about it a little more. “That...is definitely a true fantasy.”

  “Too light, I like intelligent, strong, dark men.”

  “Okay, I can see the attraction.” She paused. “So, when your fantasy lover didn’t respond to a situation, the way you wanted him to, you became disappointed in him--the real him, not the fantasy him, to a point where you damn near cursed the man out?”

  Shelly thought for a moment. “That sounds about right.”

  Rocy did all she could not to laugh out loud. Inside she was cracking up. “Honey, do you think you may have lost your grip on reality?”

  “No.” Shelly was adamant. “He should do the right thing and make a way for those children to attend that camp.” She was pounding the steering wheel. “I don’t care if he has to come out of his own packet to pay for them. Right is right,” she huffed.

  “Okay, okay, calm down. This is me, Rocy, you’re talking to.”

  “I am calm. I sat back and watched Marc do things I knew were wrong and never opened my mouth. I’m not making that mistake again.”

  Rochelle reached across the seat taking her friend’s hand. “Shelly, you can’t compare Senator Davenport to Marc Knight. You don’t even know the Senator, no matter how many fantasies you have about him. It’s just that, a fantasy. That prick, Marc, was your husband, who cheated on you. They are as different as day and night.” She released Shelly’s hand then sat back in her seat. “Besides, we all have that fantasy man that we put on an impossible pedestal. We make them so perfect in our minds, that no real man would ever be able to meet our expectations. You’ve put the Senator in a no-win situation.” She watched as Shelly processed her words. This woman was one of the most sensible, grounded people she knew. Yes, the ass of an ex-husband changed her ability to trust people, however, Royce Davenport was a decent man and one of the good guys working in Washington, D.C. Rocy couldn’t allow Shelly to continue to think this way about him.

  Shelly looked up, sheepishly, then began laughing herself. “I’ve lost touch with reality, huh?”

  “A tad bit,” Rocy smiled back. “Okay, a lot, but it’s okay. At least you picked a fine man to lose your mind over.” She hesitated. “Why fantasize about the man when you can have him.” She sat forward. “Remember how Momma Brown used to say you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar?”

  “Yeah, but who wants to catch bees?”

  “It’s a metaphor. The bee you want to catch is Senator Davenport.”

  “Girl, please, no.” Shelly shook her head. “Now that I’m back, let’s stick to reality.”

  “Why not, Shelly?” Rochelle was really getting excited about the thought. “You are the one always telling these kids to dream big. Well, a fantasy is just like a dream. Why not go for it?”

  “You can’t be serious. Have you seen his ex-wife?”

  “Yes, she’s not all that. Look Shelly, you are an intelligent, beautiful, full grown woman. You saw something in the Senator you liked, why dream about it. I say go for it. Get your grown and sexy on.” Rocy watched as her friend considered her words.

  Shelly shook her head. “No. After the other night, the man is not going to want to see me again...ever. I’m sure his sights would be on someone a lot younger than me.”

  Rocy gave her a sideways glare. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I look damn good and so do you.” She huffed, “Besides, I think you have a perfect opening. You could always call to invite him to dinner as a way of apologizing.” Allowing the thought to take root, Rochelle looked up at Shelly and asked, “Why settle for the fantasy when you can have the man?”

  Later that day, after her class had ended, Shelly took a moment to consider Rocy’s advice. Thoughts of the conversation came back to play in living color in her mind. She was thirty-five years old, had been married for five years to a certifiable ass, and divorced for eight years. There had been dates in between, but they either wanted someone to play the role of their mother, or wanted to have a harem of women chasing behind them. Shelly did not have time for either. What she wanted was a man she could have decent conversations with, who would not mind going out and dancing every so often, and someone who knew how to satisfy her sexual urges every now and then. As if reading her mind, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. It was Rocy.

  “Hey, I made it to class, and wish like hell, I had stayed in Virginia.”

  Shelly, smiled. “Hey, yourself. What happened in class?”

  “One of
my students mixed some chemicals and damn near burned down the building,” she laughed. “Now, I have the Dean on my ass about possible charges against the student for creating a bomb. I swear, I understand national security better than most, but we tend to take things too far. And here’s the kicker. The kid is trying to perfect a device to deactivate bombs. Do you know we have agencies trying to do that same thing, yet we are talking about suspending and charging this student? There is something wrong with this world.”

  “Is everyone okay? Was anyone hurt?”

  “No, we responded quickly, just a smoky building. We had to cancel classes for the rest of the day. We will be back in business tomorrow. Are you home yet?”

  “I’m pulling into the driveway now.”

  “Good, I have a phone number for you.”

  “A phone number.” She hesitated. “For who?”

  “Royce Davenport.”

  Shelly laughed. “You had time to find a number to Senator Davenport with all you just told me?” She turned the ignition off, and stepped out of the car.

  “See how far I will go for you. I had to promise his brother a date for his private number.”

  “Grayson? Oh, that’s a hardship.”

  Rochelle laughed. “I know that’s right, with his fine self. So, are you in the house yet?”

  “Wait a minute, I’m turning off the alarm.” She put her purse on the table in her kitchen and silenced the alarm. “There. Now, what do you expect me to do with the number?”

  “Call him.”

  “I can’t just call him out of the blue.”

  “Shelly, man up. You owe the man an apology. Write down this number.” She gave her the number. “Did you write it down, Shelly?”

  Shelly rolled her eyes upward. “I put it in my cell phone.”

  “Read it back to me.”

  “What? You don’t believe me?”

  “No. Read it back.”

  Shelly read the number back. “Satisfied.”

  “Yes. He is not in the office at the moment. So I suggest you make the call now and leave a message with his secretary. Her name is Kathy Paxton. She’s a sweetheart.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I just called. I started to leave the message for you, but I think you should do this. According to Grayson, the man is not seeing anyone. I’m sure he will appreciate a dinner not connected to the Washington who’s who.”

  Shelly sat down at her kitchen table and sighed. “I don’t know, Rocy. It’s been years since I’ve called a man about a date.”

  “This isn’t about a date. This is about an apology, which you do owe the man. If you happen to get a date out of it, that’s icing on the cake. Call him, now. Then call me back and tell me what happened.” Rocy hung up the telephone before Shelly could respond.

  Shelly looked at her cell, with the phone number glaring at her. She closed her eyes and pushed the button.

  “Senator Davenport’s office, Kathy Paxton speaking.”

  “Hello.” Shelly was surprised the call was picked up on the first ring. But then she remembered, this is his private line. “Yes, Mrs. Paxton. Umm, my name is Shelly Knight I would like to leave a message for Senator Davenport.”

  Kathy smiled. “Ms. Knight, Senator Davenport is available, if you hold I will connect you.”

  “Umm, no,” Shelly said surprised at the woman’s response. “I don’t want to disturb him.”

  “Not a problem, Ms. Knight. Hold please.”

  “No, no, no…” She shook the telephone when she realized the woman was no longer there. Just hang up. Just hang up, she kept saying as she walked circles around the table, putting the phone back up to her ear, then holding it away from her.

  “Royce Davenport.”

  She heard his voice on the other end of the phone and froze. He had a really smooth voice.

  “Hello?”

  “Yes.” She took a deep breath and rattled off her apology. “Senator Davenport, I’m sorry for interrupting your day but I need to apologize to you. I was wrong, very wrong to speak to you in the manner I did. Please accept my apology and again I sincerely apologize. Yes, that’s it. I’m sorry,” she spilled out.

  He recognized the voice from the word ‘hello’. Containing his smile was difficult. “Thank you.”

  He sounded strained. She lowered her head and exhaled. “That wasn’t very smooth at all was it?”

  “I think it was a good start.”

  She smiled, than exhaled. “That’s because you are a kind person, Senator. This is Shelly Knight, the woman who attacked you unmercifully on Saturday night in Richmond. I do apologize for interrupting your day. However, I really could not go another minute without apologizing for my actions.” There was silence on the other end. Did she say too much? Was he still there? “Hello.”

  “I’m still here. You have me at a bit of a disadvantage. I have a cancellation on tomorrow. Is it possible for us to meet around six at a location convenient for you?”

  Shelly opened her mouth then shut it. “Yes,” she slowly replied, shaking her head no.

  “Would you give the location to my secretary?”

  “Umm, all right.”

  “I look forward to the meeting.”

  “Okay,” she said puzzled. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m going to transfer you back to my secretary.”

  She stared at the telephone, wondering what in the hell just happened.

  “Hello, Ms. Knight?”

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Senator Davenport indicated you were to give me an address for a meeting?”

  “Yes, yes, umm.” She looked around the house then gave the woman her address. After disconnecting the call, Shelly fell into the chair at the kitchen table and sighed. “I have a date with Royce Davenport.” A warm smile surfaced. “I have a date with Royce Davenport.”

  He was going to have to have a few words with Kathy, Royce thought. Then kiss her. She knew he was at the White House in a meeting with the Chief of Staff. Putting the call through was inappropriate. After he reprimanded her, he would send her a bouquet of her favorite flowers. There was a smile deep down, even with the information the Chief of Staff was giving him about the declining state of affairs in Asmere.

  Chapter Nine

  Joshua landed his chopper ten miles on the outskirts of the capitol city of Asmere under the cover of night. LaVeré flew the chopper back to the palace for safe keeping until Joshua was ready to return to the United States. With the technology on the chopper, there was no way he would leave it anywhere in Asmere.

  Joshua and Akande walked the ten miles, sticking to the back roads leading to the palace. The country was a direct contrast to Emure. This country was poor. The lands were ravished. The homes they passed were no more than one room shacks with roofs falling in. As they walked closer to the capitol, the homes were in better shape, but still not great. The area was a little more populated, which caused Joshua to proceed cautiously. He checked constantly to ensure they had not been detected. One would think, with his mind occupied on keeping them alive, the sway of the woman’s hips in front of him would not affect him. Wrong. It did, damn near to distraction. He couldn’t figure out why. Women did not affect him the way this one was. Something in him needed to protect her and that was problematic. For now, she was an enemy. He needed to keep reminding himself of that as he continued to watch her. His head involuntarily moved from side to side with the sway of her hips as he followed her. She turned to look over her shoulder at him. His head stopped until she turned back. He then resumed scanning of the countryside and his head movement.

  It dawned on him, he had come to admire the way she was handling the situation. Not once did Akande complain about the journey. Most women would have. What concerned him was, he noticed the closer they got to the palace, the more tense she became. It was an odd reaction for someone returning home. Right now, he would not question her, he would let things play out.

  For t
he life of her Akande could not understand why the man behind her sent heat surges through her body. Every so often she would glance over her shoulder at him. It appeared he was looking elsewhere, but she knew different. She could feel his eyes every time he looked at her. There was an attraction between them. She had never experienced this with a man before, but she knew for certain it was something she could not afford. She had to fight it, at all costs.

  “It is hot. Why do you wear a suit to walk miles?”

  “You don’t like my suit?” She heard the amusement in his voice.

  “It is not a question of like. It is not practical.”

  “Practical,” he snarled. “Who in the hell wants practical? Practical is boring. I want bam, in your face excitement. Besides my suits let people know I’m ready to handle business. You shouldn’t diss the suit. This suit will provide your cute little behind with protection if there is trouble. Why are you looking at my suit anyway? I know,” he grinned, “A brother looks good, don’t I?”

  She abruptly stopped and turned to him. “That has nothing to do with it. This is a serious situation, yet you stand here with jokes and your careless way. We could be surrounded and killed at any moment.”

  He stared down at her. “Do you know your accent becomes more pronounced when you are angry? It’s kind of sexy.”

  She glared at him thinking, so was he. “Argh,” she huffed, turned and resumed walking as she mumbled, “Arrogant man. Of all the men in America, they sent you.” She stopped and turned back to him. “Are you the best they have to offer?”

  “Damn right I am,” he scowled down at her. “I got your little ass out the dungeon alive.” He held her glare and then walked off.”

  The palace was less than a mile away when they stopped for the last time. Joshua pulled Akande down by her arm. “Are you going to be safe walking from here to the entrance of the palace?”

  “This is my home. Of course I will be safe.”

  “Why do you look so worried?”

  She shot him a glance. “It is nothing. I am anxious to be home.”