Ladies Listen Up

by Darren Coleman

  As Jacob had sat recording a few grades in his book, Anna had walked in and closed his door. “What’s up?” he asked.

  As she moved closer he noticed the redness in her eyes. Anna plopped down at a desk in front of him, covered her face with her hands, and proceeded to burst into tears. “Mr. Marsh, my life is over.”

  Jacob looked around the room as if someone else could help him, but there was no one there and in a panic he tried to console her. “Listen, it can’t be that bad,” he said. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  She explained that one of her friends had lied on her and now her popularity was plummeting. Expertly, Jacob made light of the situation and assured her that things would blow over.

  After listening for a few moments, she’d smiled and told him thanks, before saying, “Well, at least I have band and you.”

  With that, Jacob swallowed and tried to figure out if Anna did indeed have a screw loose.

  Jacob was the band teacher at Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Greenbelt. The school was nestled in the middle of black suburbia in the nation’s wealthiest black county, Prince George’s.

  Of the fifteen schools in the county, Johnson was one of only two to be in the top ten academically in the state of Maryland. The grounds were immaculate, the sports teams were championship contenders year in and year out, and for both reasons, funding never seemed to be a problem. At his first teaching job out of college, working at an elementary school in the inner city, Jacob had learned how difficult it was to teach without the proper resources. Now that he was at Johnson, he was able to accomplish all of his goals. Though he was younger than all of the other music teachers at Johnson, he headed the music department and led the marching band as well. At Jacob’s command, Johnson High boasted one of the top high-school bands in the country, dominating tournament after tournament.

  The master’s degree he’d received from Norfolk State University in music had served him well and he loved his job. Now he needed a little help from Dean, his new protégé, to ensure that the Anna situation didn’t turn into a scandal.

  Jacob had seen it before, a few years back, and was determined to never let what had happened to Wade Collins, a math teacher who he’d been cool with, happen to him. Wade had thrown his whole career and his marriage away by getting into a full-fledged relationship with a track star that he coached. After receiving several full-scholarship offers to top universities, she sent word that she’d only consider colleges that would bring Wade on board to coach her. Eventually her family became concerned about his influence and sent her to counseling, where she admitted the affair. Wade left the school in handcuffs.

  Jacob couldn’t understand the nature of a brother who would go out like that. True, some of the teenage girls were blossoming into young women overnight, but he had always looked at them as babies trying to find their way, no matter how good their firm young bodies looked in their tight jeans. Anna was no different. She was definitely a cute girl, above-average intelligence, and as far as her body went, she was definitely blessed in that department as well. Based on the physical alone, she should have easily been one of the most sought-after girls in the school. It was becoming obvious to Jacob that there had to be some problem with her personality if she was having such a rough time keeping friends.

  One day, as Jacob headed out of the staff parking lot, he turned the music up in his Cadillac CTS. “Listen to that,” he said to Dean, his student teacher for the semester.

  “Who is it?” Dean asked loudly over the blaring music.

  “Mint Condition—they’re one of the best bands in the era after Earth, Wind & Fire.” Jason was crooning along with the music. “‘This feeling is strong and we know it, but we gotta seeeeeee past the moooment.’ Young man, they don’t make music like that anymore.” A guitar solo came and Jacob took both hands off of the wheel and played his air guitar along with the music. “That’s the shit right there.”

  Dean smiled and nodded. In his eyes, Jacob was the man. His skills as an instructor were unmatched. After going out to see him perform live with No Question, the R&B band he’d formed two years earlier just so he could have an outlet for his artistry, a couple of weeks earlier, Dean had wanted nothing other than to be just like him. Jacob was picking up on Dean’s admiration and it figured to play right into his plan.

  “Dean, can I tell you something off the record?”

  “Sure,” he said as the car pulled into the Wendy’s parking lot.

  “In life, sometimes you only get a few opportunities to do certain things. Because of that, you have to sometimes grab life by the balls and go for it, ya feel me? Sometimes just for the sake of having a good time, knowing that it might be your only chance ever to do it.”

  “Most definitely,” Dean shot back.

  “Well, have you ever done it?”

  “Done what?”

  “Jumped out there and just done something wild simply because you could?”

  Dean was silent. He wasn’t sure where his mentor was taking or leading him and didn’t want to give a stupid answer. “Kind of.”

  “Well, how did it make you feel?”

  Dean had no real answer because he couldn’t actually recall ever going for it. “Good, I guess.”

  Deciding to cut to the chase, Jacob began to speak like a father talking to a son. “Good, huh? Well, let me break something down for you.” Dean was staring into Jacob’s face as he rolled the window down. Jacob paused from his speech long enough to give the worker his and Dean’s order and then went on. “Listen, you’re going to be teaching probably for many years, and I got to be honest with you: Sooner or later you’re gonna be tempted.”

  “Tempted to…?” Dean asked, sounding truly puzzled.

  Jacob laughed. “Ya know. Get busy with one of the students.” He paused and put a straw into his drink. “Over the years some of the young ladies are bound to take a special interest in you. I know it for a fact. You remind me a lot of myself when I was in college, and I am having the same talk with you that my mentor teacher had with me over ten years ago.” He looked at his watch as he told the lie. They had fifteen minutes left for lunch. They could finish up in his car in the parking lot.

  “Really?” Dean sat back and took pride in the comment about him reminding Jacob of himself.

  “Hell yeah,” Jacob said, “and I’ll be honest with you. It’s now or never.” He caught Dean’s attention. “Once you graduate from college and get a job in this county or the next, your chance is over. You’ve got to pick one of these young ladies and bang her good enough to last an eternity.” Jacob almost laughed at himself for having said this.

  Dean almost choked on his chicken sandwich hearing it. “Say what?”

  “Yeah,” Jacob said. “I just wanted you to know that you have the green light as far as I’m concerned. Of course that’s strictly off the record and between you and me. But be my guest. I see the chemistry between you and what’s-her-face. It’s obvious she wants you bad.” Dean had no idea who he was talking about and said so. “C’mon, Dean. You mean to tell me that you can’t tell that Anna has a crush on you?”

  Dean smiled. “You think so?” He had noticed her hanging around a lot.

  “Hell yeah. Boy, she comes sniffing around all the time. Even when you’re not there she stops by and ask about you. But you can never tell her I said that. I could get in trouble for that.”

  “Oh no. I would never repeat that.”

  “Good. Now listen. You’ve got three months left before you finish up with me and you might as well enjoy them. I’ll even help you out with her. When she stops by today after school, I’ll ask her if she can give you a ride back to campus since your car is in the shop. I’ll tell her that I can’t do it today because of an appointment. You should be man enough to handle it from there, right?”

  Dean gave an approving nod. “No problem.”

  “All you gotta do is take her out, invite her back to your room, and maybe give her a little drink. From there,
she’ll be a little tipsy and so excited to be with a college guy that it should be like taking candy from a baby, ya know?”

  Dean was still nodding, now with a grin on his face.

  He seemed confident enough to make Jacob feel that it would be just a matter of time before he would be relieved of his problem. “Listen, there’s one more thing.”

  “Yeah?”

  “If everything works out, you can never tell her that I have any knowledge of what’s going on with you two. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  Jacob breathed easier as he climbed out of his car. They headed back into the building. In a few hours he would put Dean to the test and, hopefully, Anna to the curb.

  The day came to an end, and just as he planned, Anna walked into the band room. Jacob pulled her into the office and asked her if she could do him the favor of dropping Dean off at his room. “Anything for you, Mr. Marsh,” she replied.

  Jacob rushed home. He needed to clean his town house from top to bottom in case he got lucky after his date tonight with Kendra. He had been asking her out for two months. She sang with a band, from Baltimore, Heartfelt, which performed at Takoma Station from time to time. Kendra had a voice that sent chills up and down Jacob’s spine every time he heard her sing.

  She had agreed to make the forty-minute drive from Baltimore and have dinner with Jacob even though it was a weeknight, and he couldn’t have been more excited. His hype was a little inexplicable because Kendra wasn’t his usual type. She was talented and smart, but she was also hood. She’d grown up on Baltimore’s notorious Edmonson Avenue. Even though she was radiant, her edges were a little rough. She was the type to wear an evening gown with thick cornrows and it was nothing for her to throw on a pair of Air Force Ones and cargo pants. She often hid the beautiful body that she had. She’d been a standout ballplayer at Dunbar High and still kept in shape.

  She called for directions when she was just up the street from his crib. Jacob was already dressed and ready to impress. He had on a fresh pair of Paper Denim jeans on a crisp white button-up and a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers. He had stopped off to see his barber, Dee, on the way home to get tightened up and was now hopeful that he would look the part of Kendra’s dream date.

  “What’s up?” he said as he opened the front door to his town house.

  “Hey, Jake,” she said as she entered with a hug. “Is my car okay right there?”

  “It’s fine,” he shot back, looking her up and down. She had surprised him. She had on a tight pair of jeans that were tucked inside of her Gucci boots and she was rocking a light suede jacket along with her trademark cornrows. “You look beautiful, as always,” Jacob said. “Would you like a drink before we roll?”

  “Nah, I’m good, but I could stand to use your restroom right fast.”

  Jacob pointed to the door and walked to the closet to grab his jacket. Five minutes later they were on their way downtown to Kinkead’s for a seafood dinner. On the drive down, Jacob assured Kendra that the seafood would rival what she was used to in Baltimore. “We’ll see,” she shot back.

  As they were headed down 295 Kendra turned to Jacob and asked, “Did you have to make a reservation for this restaurant?”

  “No, why?”

  She smiled. “I don’t know. I don’t really have a taste for seafood tonight.”

  Thrown off a little by her statement, he still replied, “That’s cool. So what do you want? There’s another spot down near Adam’s Morgan that has some really good Mexican or—”

  She cut him off. “Nah,” she said as she turned to him and then smiled. “You know what I have a taste for?”

  “What?”

  “Some ribs from a carryout. Do you know where any good soul-food spots are? We could go grab some ribs and a bottle of wine, and go back to your spot. You have any DVDs?”

  “I did just pick up The Manchurian Candidate; I, Robot; and Collateral.”

  She laughed. “Denzel, Will, or Jamie Foxx—decisions, decisions. How about we watch them all? We could make it an all-nighter.”

  Jacob liked the sound of that and just like that he pressed the OnStar button on the steering wheel of his car. “This is OnStar,” the voice said through his speaker.

  “Yes, need the number to Levi’s Carryout in Mitchellville.”

  “Would you like us to connect you?”

  Jacob looked over at Kendra. “Do we wanna be connected?”

  “Oh, I think connecting is gonna be a good look for us.”

  They both laughed and placed their order.

  For the next couple of hours, Jacob said all the right things. He even did his best not to eat like a slob in front of Kendra. Ironically, she had had no problem letting him see the barbecue-sauce masterpiece that she’d painted on her own face. After the first bottle of wine, Kendra became really talkative and began to really open up to Jacob.

  They were seated in his basement with the fireplace burning, listening to music. They had temporarily abandoned the thought of watching a movie. “So, Jake, why is it you wanted to go out with me so bad?”

  “You gotta be playing. You’re beautiful.”

  “I’m average,” she said in a playful tone.

  “No, you’re beautiful and you’re talented. I just wanted to get to know you better.”

  “That’s it?” she asked. Jacob shrugged his shoulders. “Well, what do you want to know?”

  “What do you want to share?”

  Kendra paused for a moment. It appeared she was scanning her thoughts for a reply when she leaned toward Jacob and planted a kiss on his lips. “How’s that?”

  “That’s a good look.”

  She leaned in again and this time she opened her lips when they met his. Jacob couldn’t believe it. He had hoped for this, but had viewed this night as more of a setup for the next date. His plans weren’t the ones that mattered, though, as Kendra took over and climbed on top of him, straddling him cowgirl style.

  A smile slid across Jacob’s lips. He reached out to slide his hands up her shirt when his doorbell rang and startled him. “What the…” he said. Seconds later the chime came back to back to back.

  “Someone knows you’re home,” she said with a smirk, before adding, “I’ll be waiting,” and climbed off of him. “I hope it’s not your girlfriend.”

  “I don’t have one, thank you.”

  “So you said.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Jacob climbed up the steps and looked out the window of his living room. He didn’t see a car he recognized. The bell rang again, and peeping through the curtains, he could make out a woman’s body at his door. He came down the steps and opened the door.

  “Mr. Marsh,” she said in a troubled tone.

  “Anna, what are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?”

  She stared into his face and stuttered out, “I…told him…I…told him…noooo. He wouldn’t…stop.”

  “What? Who wouldn’t stop?”

  “Mr…. M-Marsh, he…heeee raped me. Dean raped me.”

  Jacob prided himself as being someone who could always come up with an answer when it counted most. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d bailed his friends out of tough situations. Now it was his back that was truly up against a wall and he was sweating bricks. He spent twenty minutes trying to calm Anna down in his living room in order to get a story out of her. Kendra had heard the young girl upstairs crying and had rushed up to check out the situation. Trying not to blow his chances with Kendra, he’d introduced Anna as his niece. Otherwise he had no explanation for why one of his students, especially a young female student, was popping up at his house at eleven o’clock at night.

  After she’d heard the word rape, it was all Jacob could do to keep Kendra from calling the police on Dean right then and there. Jacob assured her that he would take Anna to the hospital and told her that he wanted to speak to Anna alone. After she was convinced that it was family business, Kendra left, impressed by the obvious closeness between
Jacob and his niece.

  Jacob couldn’t believe his ears as Anna described the events of the evening. She had dropped Dean off at school and he’d promised to buy her dinner and to burn a copy of a John Legend CD for her if she could come by later. She said that out of boredom she’d agreed. Once they’d gotten to his place, he invited her up and told her that they could watch a movie or listen to some music.

  “I didn’t think anything of it, Mr. Marsh. But once we got to his room, he offered me some wine and I told him that I didn’t drink. Then he started acting a little agitated and it made me nervous, so I was about to leave, and when I put my coat on, he begged me not to go.”

  Jacob sat on the edge of the couch as he listened intently. Anna used Kleenex to wipe her eyes and nose occasionally as she went on. “I stayed and he put the Dave Chappelle DVD on. I was on the floor, chilling, and he was on the bed. Everything was all good, but after a couple episodes he just lost his mind and started trying to pull me up onto the bed. Then I tried to get up and leave and he wouldn’t let me.” Seconds later, she started crying again. Jacob was horrified and his mind was racing, but he tried to think rationally. He couldn’t believe that Dean had been so foolish. He was thinking that he was going to drive out to the campus and break the young man’s neck. Not only had he violated Anna, which Jacob found inexcusable, but he had jeopardized everything that Jacob had worked to build. He had blown a simple opportunity to rid Jacob of a problem.

  Now it was full-scale damage control.

  “Okay, listen. What do you want to do?” Jacob tried to sound calming.

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  “I got to tell you, Anna, I have no idea what to do either. Do you want to go to the police?” Jacob thought of Dean and what he would say once the authorities came to pick him up. He knew right then that he would deny all involvement except getting Anna to give Dean a ride home. Jacob’s record in the county had been impeccable up to this point. How could he have known that Dean would be a rapist? His intentions were only to distract Anna’s attention from him. He hadn’t asked for a crime to be committed against the young woman.