Today, Carol didn’t wait for Wayne to get out of the truck and knock on the front door. She knocked on his. Wayne looked up from his daze when he saw her at his truck door.
“Did I scare you?” she said innocently.
“Nah, I was in another world,” Wayne said, opening his truck door.
“I talked to Marcus about Elizabeth. He’s going to take care of everything. She’s going to be all right,” she said, resting her hand on his shoulder.
“That’s wonderful,” Wayne said, forcing a smile on his face. As he turned to walk to the back of the truck, Carol let her hand slide down to the deep grove of his back before pulling it away. Wayne wished his father was here. Carol would never be so bold with him around. But today was Friday; his father would be at the Mosque all day.
Wayne pulled the lawnmower out of the back of his truck. “You’re in the way, Carol.”
“No, I’m not,” she said, reaching into the back of the pickup and grabbing a rake. “I’m giving you a hand today. See, I got my work clothes on.” She showcased her short shorts, and her button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
“I don’t know, Carol. It’s a lot of work, and it’s only eight-fifteen and the sun’s already beaming.”
“Please. I don’t have a problem with working hard, and I definitely don’t mind a good sweat.”
“If you insist.” Wayne grabbed the other rake. “We can start from the front and then work our way to the back.”
“Umm, I like the sound of that.”
Wayne’s face turned red as he pretended Carol’s sexual innuendo went over his head.
***
“Wooo,” Carol said, wiping her brow with her handkerchief. “I haven’t worked like this in years.”
Wayne turned off the hedge trimmers. “You can take a break if you want. We’ve been going at it for almost an hour.”
“Yes, a break is a good idea. Let’s go inside and get something cold to drink.”
“You go ahead. I’ll finish up out here.”
“Put those hedge cutters down and come and get something to drink.” It was evident she wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Wayne put the trimmers down and allowed her to lead the way. Wayne got the chance to get a long and hard look at her butt. Her behind was just a big and round as Tammy’s. He got a warm sensation in his groin as he watched how Carol put a little sway in her strut.
As they walked into the house, Wayne sighed as the air conditioner dried the sweat off him. He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down.
“That air feels good, huh?” Carol asked, as she stripped out of her button up shirt. She pulled the bottom of her tank top out of her shorts and fanned herself with it. Every time she lifted it, Wayne couldn’t help but stare at her taut stomach, and the silky, flat trail of wispy hairs that disappeared below her shorts.
I must be really losing it. Wayne felt himself stiffening.
She reached into the fridge and grabbed two bottles of Coke. “Marcus said he was coming over at ten to see you,” she said, as she sat down at the table and handed Wayne his soda. “What do y’all have to talk about?”
“He wants to give me an update on Elizabeth, I think?”
“How much did he want?”
“Huh?”
“I said, how much did he want?”
“What you mean?” Wayne said, as he put the bottle of soda to his lips.
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
Wayne focused on the soda bottle when he put it back on the table. “Ten thousand.”
Carol shook her head. “Just like his father. He was a cop, too, you know.”
“Was?”
“He’s dead.”
“I’m sorry about your husband.”
Carol flipped her hand at him. “He wasn’t my husband. I was fucking him behind my husband’s back, God rest his gentle soul. And there’s nothing to be sorry about when it comes to Marcus’s father. Those thugs got tired of him shaking them down. They lured him into an alley one night, and shot him thirty-two times.”
Her straight forwardness about her extramarital affair, and the death of a cop left Wayne speechless.
Carol slapped her hand on the table, causing him to jump. “Marcus will be here any second. So, I’m going to stop playing games. You know what I want, Wayne.” She looked down at his crotch and worked her way back up to staring him in the eyes. “You. Here. Next Saturday.”
“Carol—”
She put her finger to his lips. “After all is said and done, you’ll walk out of here a whole lot more experienced and with your ten thousand dollars.”
Wayne’s eyes widened.
“Yeah,” Carol said, “You got the money in your truck?”
Wayne nodded.
“Go get it.”
Wayne got up without saying another word, and headed for his truck.
What in the fuck did I get myself into? Wayne grabbed the tote bag off the passenger seat and headed back to the house.
Carol was waiting by the side door for him. She held her hand out for the bag. “Grab your stuff and leave,” she said, as she looked in the bag.
“Leave?”
“I’ll see you next Saturday. That is, if you want this back.” She held the bag up.
“Carol, I’m not leaving. Harris is expecting me to be here to give him this. I already feel uncomfortable doing this, but now you’re making things worse. The last thing I want to do is get on his bad side.”
“Baby, I’ll deal with my son.” Carol patted him on the cheek twice with an open hand. “And don’t worry about Marcus doing anything to you. Trust me, he doesn’t want to get on my bad side.”
The look in Carol’s eyes let Wayne know who really was in charge.
CHAPTER 17
Outside of Albany County Court, a small entourage awaited Elizabeth’s release.
“There she is,” Reese said, pointing and running to greet her.
Elizabeth’s eyes immediately filled with tears as Reese hugged her hard.
Reese refused to let her go. “God, girl, I’m so happy to see you.” Elizabeth cried on her shoulder. Liana, Nana, Jenna, Efran, and Wayne, one by one, gave her a hug and a kiss. When Taz opened his arms to give her a hug, Elizabeth ran into them and embraced him like a long lost lover, and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Taz.”
Everybody looked at Taz, while he laughed nervously, and shrugged.
“You actually thought LaKeisha wouldn’t tell me that you put money in her account to make sure I had food and cosmetics?”
“What?” Taz said, acting surprised. “I always look out for LaKeisha. If she looked out for you, she did that on her own.”
“LaKeisha also said you sold your car and some of your jewelry to help bail me out.”
“And you believed her?” Taz said, his face turning red. “You know you can’t believe that girl; she’s a crack head.”
“Stop it, Taz,” Elizabeth said, staring him in the eyes. “As much as you run the streets, you know you can’t lie for nothing.”
Taz put his head down. When he picked it back up, Wayne was looking at him with the you-know-you’re-rec-when-we’re-by-ourselves look.
“Girl, I know you want to get home, and take a hot shower, without having to worry about dropping the soap,” Reese said.
Everybody started laughing.
“You so stupid,” Jenna said.
Elizabeth kissed little Efran on the cheek. “He’s getting so big.”
“So, what’s going on with the case?” Reese asked. “They’re just going to drop it?”
“Whoa,” Wayne cut in. “She just got out, Reese. The last thing she wants to talk about is jail, courts, or anything related.”
“You’re right about that,” Elizabeth said. “Thank God it’s over. DA Watkins said she was dropping the case against me, and that’s all I needed to hear.”
“Let’s get you home, baby,” Nana said, putting her arm around Elizabeth�
��s waist. “I cooked you something real special.” Elizabeth followed her to Liana’s truck. Liana hung back a little.
“I just wanted to thank you for what you did,” Liana said to Wayne.
“Don’t thank me, she’s my friend, too. Just remember, this Harris thing stays between us.”
“No problem.”
“You hear anything from Indio’s cousin?”
“No, I don’t know what’s up with Rasheem.”
Wayne looked at his watch. “I have to go. I’m meeting Tammy at the Gateway diner for lunch.”
“Enjoy yourself,” Liana said in a tone that let Wayne know that she really didn’t mean it.
“I’ll see you around, I guess,” Wayne said.
“Yeah,” Liana said, nodding. “I guess.”
“Oookay.” Wayne stared at her like he had so much more to say.
“Oookay.” Liana stared back at him like she was eager to listen.
Wayne headed to his truck. He wanted to turn around so bad to see if Liana was looking at him, but he didn’t. When he hopped into his truck, he looked over at Taz, who was sitting on the passenger side, and started humming the Mr. Softie jingle.
“Fuck you,” Taz spat out.
“And here you were, talking all that smack about how you can’t stand Elizabeth with her stuck up ass.”
“You’re going to make me tell you something real foul,” Taz threatened. “So, drop it.”
“Drop it? Like how you dropped money in LaKeisha’s account to make sure Elizabeth was all right?”
“No drop it like you better be dropping something in Grandma Dynamite Saturday night,” Taz retorted.
“Ain’t happening.”
“The fuck you mean it ain’t happening? You get to wax that old ass and get your ten G’s back? You bugging. Well, I want my four G’s back.”
“What? You told me don’t worry about it.”
“That was before I knew you had a chance to get it back. You acting like you too good to fuck some seasoned pussy.”
“Seasoned pussy? I’ll get your money back to you. Don’t even worry about it.”
***
“So, everything work out?” Tammy asked, before biting into her sandwich.
“Yes, we met her at the court steps and welcomed her home.”
“That’s some crazy shit. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something like that would’ve happened to me.”
“You would’ve made bail and kicked Indio’s ass.”
“You damn right.” Tammy sipped on her juice, and then stared at him.
“What’s on your mind, Tammy?”
“You know what’s on my mind.”
Wayne sighed. “I told you I was going to think about it.”
“How long does it take for you to think about it?”
“We’re not talking about a weekend vacation or even a summer vacation. We’re talking six months. That’s half a year. When we leave, I’ll be twenty-seven, and when we get back, I’ll be twenty-eight.”
“And when we get back, I’ll be twenty-four, with half a mil in my account, and we can do whatever we want. You wouldn’t have to do any more landscaping.”
“No more landscaping?”
Tammy grabbed both of his hands. “No more, baby. This is it. The big break I’ve been waiting for. Let me take care of you.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me. I happen to like the landscaping business.”
“Well then, let me help you expand it. We can rent one of those big warehouses, and make it an office/garage for your trucks and supplies. You can lock down Albany, Schenectady, and Troy.”
“That’s a pretty big dream you got there,” Wayne said, taking a bite of his sandwich.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t dream big. You wouldn’t have your own business if you didn’t dream big.” Tammy looked at him, awaiting a response.
Wayne closed his eyes. “Something’s telling me I’m going to regret this.”
“I swear you won’t,” Tammy said, clutching his hand.
“And when are we supposed to be leaving?”
“In six weeks.” Tammy tensed up, waiting for Wayne’s answer.
“All right, I’ll let my father know and—”
Tammy grabbed both sides of his face, leaned across the table, and covered his face with kisses. “Yes, yes, yes, I knew you were going to say yes. I knew it.”
“Tammy,” Wayne said, in between her kisses. “You need to calm down. We’re in public.”
Tammy sat back in her seat and took a deep breath, as she looked around. “I’m calm,” she whispered. “I’m calm. Your dad’s going to be okay with this right?”
“Of course.”
***
“Hell motherfucking no!” Nevel said, as he stomped his foot for emphasis. “Six months? Way on the other side of the world? And I have to run this business on my own? What are you trying to do, force me back into the drug game?”
“Dad, it’s not that hard. I ran the business for years by myself.”
“You were young; I’m not. The only way we’re going to have a business when you get back is if you let me hire somebody before you go.”
“And who’s that someone?”
“Jerome and David.”
“That’s two people, and they both did time with you.”
“So, you discriminating?”
“Yeah, I’m discriminating. The first thing that comes up missing from one of those properties or the first one of them that gets broken into, they’re going to try and hold us responsible, because we got ex-cons on the payroll.”
“I’m an ex-con.”
“But you’re my father.”
“What’s that got to do with—”
“No! The answer is no. We can hire somebody, but it’s not going to be one of your homies you did time with.”
“You cold, son. And people want to know why a brother goes back to the game.”
“Spare me the guilt trip, Dad. As a matter of fact, I got the perfect person. What about the Muslim kid you introduced me to that one Friday when I went to the Mosque with you? He asked me for a summer job, back then.”
“You talking about Hameed? Short, stocky?”
“Yeah.”
Nevel shrugged. “He’s a good kid, and I know he’ll work, and he’s Muslim.”
“Well, talk to him; see if he wants to get down. We got a month and a half to show him the ropes.”
“You told Liana you’re going to Italy?”
“Why would I tell her?”
“I’m just asking. Six months is a long time.”
“Dad—”
Wayne’s cell phone rang, interrupting his train of thought. “Hello?”
“Wayne this is Reese.”
“What’s up?”
“Me and Elizabeth are at Jenna’s apartment. We need you to come over like right now.”
“What’s up?”
“We have a situation and we don’t know what to do.”
“What kind of situation?”
Reese whispered into the phone. “Elizabeth knows who killed Ron.”
***
Wayne walked into the apartment out of breath from running up all the stairs. Elizabeth stood up from the couch when she saw him, and walked to the window. Wayne watched as Jenna and Reese walked over to her, and each put a hand on one of her shoulders.
“What’s up, Elizabeth?” Wayne asked, walking toward them. Elizabeth shook her head.
“Tell him,” Jenna said to Elizabeth.
“This is crazy,” Elizabeth said. “I mean, you know how people talk. You don’t know what or who to believe. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything to Liana.”
“Say what?” Wayne asked, getting antsy. “Tell me what you heard.”
“There was this woman in the county jail. Her name was Janay, she’s a straight up crack head. The day she got moved to the cell block I was in, she walked up to me all happy to see me and what not. I had no ide
a who she was until she started naming all these people we both knew from back in the days. A few days later, she asked me if I knew Ron. I told her yeah I knew him. So, she got to talking about how she was there that night, on the corner, when that bitch ran him over.”
“Bitch?” Wayne was lost. “Who’s the bitch?”
***
Liana rubbed her eyes as she pulled up to Nana’s house. She brought her right fist to her chest and pulled on her elbow with her left hand, trying to stretch the tension out of her arm. After holding it for twenty seconds, she did it to her other arm before getting out and heading inside. She walked toward her bedroom, stripped, and put on a pair of sweats.
“Nana,” she called out, as she walked into the living room. Her mouth dropped when she saw Nana face down on the living room floor. Liana caught the reflection off the television screen of someone running straight for her. Before she had the chance to turn around, the assailant bashed her across the head with an iron pipe, knocking her out cold.
***
Way in the back of her mind, Liana heard a tearing sound. As she slowly drifted back to consciousness, she could also feel a throbbing pain on the side of her head. She felt a pair of hands on her, holding her upright. Then again she heard the tearing sound.
Her eyes fluttered. She tried to focus on something, anything to give her a clue as to what just happened. The tearing sound got louder, and was now accompanied with a voice.
“Slow, bitch. Real slow. You hear me?”
Liana could feel the person’s lips on her ear.
“I’m going to kill you reeeal slooow.”
Liana’s eyes popped open and focused on the hands duct taping her to one of the kitchen chairs.
“There we go,” the intruder said from behind Liana’s back. “All done. Comfy?”
“Nana!” Liana screamed out, remembering how she saw her last.
“Nana can’t save you.” Liana recognized the voice all too well. “Bridgette why are you doing this?”
“Why?” Bridgette walked in front of her. “Why?” Bridgette smacked her. “Why?” Bridgette started choking her. “You know why!”
Liana gasped for air when Bridgette released her grip from around her neck. “You’re crazy,” Liana said, still gasping for air.
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