Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6

by Claudia Hall Christian

  “How many songs have you written since I’ve been staying here?” she asked.

  “About thirty,” he said.

  “That seems like a lot.” She wasn’t sure if it was the drugs that addled his brain or that he literally didn’t get it. He gave her a blank stare. “Is it normal for you to write so much?”

  “No but I’m not…”

  “And why aren’t you?”

  His eyes blinked. He was silent so long she wondered if he was having a stroke.

  “You do this to me,” he said.

  “We have a power, a strength that we can only access through each other,” she said.

  “Oh.”

  “Imagine what you could do if you really committed here, to us,” she said. “You think about it. I’m going to take a bath to wash some of this man off me.”

  Carrying her tea, Tanesha walked around him to the bathroom. She filled the tub with the bubblegum bubbles Katy had given her for her birthday. She was just getting settled when he came in.

  “You’re right,” he said. “I’m not as successful as I could be because I don’t have us.”

  “Of course,” she said. “What are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m going to learn to stop fighting my commitment to you and us,” he said. “I left a message for my therapist saying I want to talk about this so I don’t forget or chicken out.”

  Tanesha nodded. Lost in thought, he stood by the side of the tub.

  “Are you coming in?”

  “You’ll just get more man on you,” he said.

  “Maybe I just want some more of that power that comes through you,” Tanesha smiled.

  Shaking his head at her, he joined her in the tub.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday early morning – 2:45 A.M.

  “Finally,” Ava said when she saw Seth at the entrance to her lab. She ran to let him in. They hugged.

  “I have a few things to finish,” Ava said.

  “No problem.” Using one cane, Seth followed her to her lab bench. “Why is your door locked?”

  Ava was cataloging a rack of test tubes in front of her.

  “Too many visitors,” Nelson said.

  “You had visitors in the lab?” Seth asked.

  “No one likes the fact that the great Magic O’Malley quit.” Fran pulled her jacket on to leave. “They’re blaming our Ava.”

  “They are?” Seth asked.

  “The poor girl has been inundated with bitchy policemen whining about your resignation. The temp who’s taking Leslie’s place while she’s on maternity leave lasted an hour tonight.”

  “Yeah but she didn’t like how we work,” Ava said. “With am emphasis on work.”

  “And the stream of angry cops.” Ever the mother, Fran’s voice was blistering. “You should have thought it through O’Malley.”

  “Fran,” Ava said.

  “Well, he should have,” Fran squeezed Ava’s shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

  “These are ready for next shift.” Nelson gave Ava a test tube rack filled with samples.

  “I’ll add them to mine,” Ava said.

  Standing next to Ava, Nelson gave Seth a bright smile.

  “Did you really quit?” Nelson asked. “Or did you do it as a power play to get them off your back?”

  “What are the odds?” Seth asked.

  “Twenty’ll get you fifty,” Nelson said.

  “With what else?”

  “You got a job offer in LA,” Nelson said. “Everybody’s talking about it. They made an arrest in that case you’re working on.

  “They did?” Seth asked.

  “You didn’t know?” Nelson smirked at the thought that he knew something Seth didn’t.

  “My daughter had her baby today,” Seth said. “I’ve been with her.”

  “I forgot. Ava said something,” Nelson said. “Your daughter. She’s okay?”

  “She’s doing well,” Seth said.

  “New grandchild?”

  “Colin Hargreaves and his wife adopted him,” Seth said. “Everyone is happy, healthy, and well.”

  “Good,” Nelson said.

  “You were telling me,” Seth said. “The LAPD arrested the gal?”

  “How’d you know?” Nelson asked. “That’s the kicker. The strangler is a woman, wife of the chief suspect. They matched her DNA after they brought her in. LA Weekly is saying you solved the case.”

  “They had female DNA but they thought it was another victim,” Seth said. “That’s good work. I’ll have to give them a call.”

  Nelson smiled at him.

  “What?” Seth asked.

  “So which one is it?” Nelson asked.

  “How much do you have riding on it?” Seth asked.

  “We all put in ten bucks,” Nelson said. “Everyone but Ava. Bob put in her ten bucks.”

  “And what does Ava say?”

  “She says that O’Malley does whatever O’Malley wants to do,” Nelson said. “So?”

  “I quit,” Seth said. “Ava’s right. I don’t do power plays and there’s too much celebrity drama at the LAPD.”

  “Good,” Nelson said.

  “That’s what the lab money is on?” Seth asked.

  “Yes sir,” Bob’s booming voice came from the back of the lab. He came up carrying his briefcase. Bob shook Seth’s hand. “Nice to see you, Seth.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Nelson said.

  Ava and Bob waved to Nelson.

  “Today was bad?” Seth asked.

  “Pretty rough,” Bob said. “And who are we going to call? The police? That would only bring more angry cops.”

  “They say that I’m responsible for the end of luck at DPD,” Ava said.

  “Magic O’Malley brought the DPD luck,” Bob said. “Let’s hope no one dies tonight. You’re going to walk Amelie out?”

  Seth nodded.

  “Nice to see you up and around Seth,” Bob said. “Few more days and I bet you won’t need that cane.”

  Seth waved. Ava continued working.

  “You’re mad,” he said.

  “Mad’s not exactly the right word,” Ava said.

  “Are you mad at me?” Seth asked.

  “By association,” Ava said.

  “You could quit too,” Seth said.

  Turning, Ava gave Seth a strong dark look and went back to her test tubes.

  “Yeah, bad idea,” Seth said. “What are we doing this weekend?”

  “How’s Lizzie?” Ava asked.

  “She’s good,” Seth said. “They think she’ll be well enough to go home tomorrow, if she wants. Schmidty wants to take her to the beach house. If she gets out, they’ll go tomorrow. What would you like to do?”

  Ava kept working.

  “You are mad,” Seth said. “What can I do?”

  “What are you going to do with yourself, Seth?” Ava asked. “And don’t tell me you’re going to stay at home. You won’t. You’ll either go on some cockamamie Seth-a-palooza music tour or…”

  “I’m going to finish the movie,” Seth said. “I’m going to get better and I’m going to get married. That’s enough to fill up the rest of this year and some of next.”

  Ava sniffed.

  “To you, if you’re wondering,” Seth said. “And when all of that is done and we’ve celebrated and settled back in, I’ll see what’s next.”

  Ava set the racks of test tubes in the refrigerator.

  “I told you all of that when we talked a few days ago,” Seth said.

  Ava got her purse and jacket.

  “So why are you mad?” Seth asked.

  “What am I supposed to do while you do all this?” Ava asked.

  “Pursue your dreams,” Seth said. “Work here or wherever you want to work. Grieve the loss of your best friend in the whole world. Play with our puppy Clara. That’s enough.”

  Ava shook her head at him and went toward the door.

  “So what’s wrong?” Seth asked.

  “It’s n
ot my fault you quit,” Ava said.

  “No, it’s not,” Seth said.

  “Will you tell that to the men?” Ava asked.

  “I don’t know what good it will do, but I will do what I can,” Seth said. “Anything I can do to make it better for you?”

  “Dinner,” Ava said.

  “Dinner is waiting for us at home.”

  “Hot tub?” Ava asked.

  “Done,” Seth said. “Anything else?”

  Ava gave him a wry smile. Without saying another word, she left the lab. Smiling, he followed her out.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday afternoon—2:15 P.M.

  Tanesha looked up when the doorbell rang again. She watched one of Jeraine’s ‘people’ answer the door. The penthouse was filling with men who were there to help Jeraine get ready for his event. His hair had been cut. He’d had a facial and was sporting a fashionable beardlike line of growth along his chin. He was trying to decide whether to wear four hundred dollar jeans and a four thousand dollar shirt or a ten thousand dollar silk suit. She felt like she had a backstage ticket to the Miss America pageant. She’d even overheard a conversation about the best eyeliner for men with ‘dark complexions.’

  He’d gone through this almost every single day of his former life. Reviewing his finances, he’d spent enough money on his face alone to build a couple of schools in Central America. He said it was necessary to ‘participate at this level of life.’ She thought it was dumb and excessive.

  The people moved around the penthouse as if she wasn’t there. As far as they were concerned, they belonged and she was replaceable furniture. Tanesha scowled at the thought and went out onto the balcony over the park. She’d been out there an hour or so, when he arrived wearing the fancy jeans and expensive shirt. He had a gold chain around his neck, huge diamond earrings in his ears, and heavy diamond and gold bracelets on both wrists.

  “We’re about to leave,” he sat down in the chair next to her. She ignored him. Leaning over to her, he said, “Ok, that whole drama was dumb.”

  “Your shirt cost more than my car,” Tanesha said.

  “We should get you a better car,” he said.

  She gave him an angry look and he laughed.

  “One more night,” Jeraine said. “Then, we figure out what’s next.”

  Tanesha watched his face.

  “I just have one more night of this, Miss T,” he said. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to church and have brunch with your friends. You have orientation for med school on Monday and I have orientation on Friday. We start demo on our house Monday morning bright and early.”

  Tanesha nodded.

  “After tonight, we’ll get on with our lives,” he said.

  “Are you going to bring all that trash here tonight?” Tanesha asked. “’Cuz I’ll stay at my Gran’s.”

  “No,” Jeraine said. “I’m going to do a couple promotions for the radio station, have dinner with record people, and go to the event. I should be done by eleven. Midnight at the latest.”

  “Are you bringing a bunch of skanks here?”

  “Why would you even say that?” Jeraine asked.

  Shaking her head, Tanesha rolled her eyes at him.

  “Ok, fine,” he said. “I will be here at our penthouse by midnight, clean, sober and ready to get on with our life. What are you doing?”

  “Tres and I are having dinner at the Castle,” Tanesha said. “Jill’s grandfather is in town so they’re having everybody over. Tres and I might go to a movie later.”

  “Are you bringing him back here when you’re done?”

  Tanesha gave him a dark look and he laughed.

  “Love you, Miss T,” Jeraine said. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  She stood to kiss and hug him. When he stepped away, she sat down. She listened while his ‘posse’ made their way out of the penthouse and, she hoped, out of her life. She stayed on the balcony for a few more minutes before going into the bedroom and packing a bag.

  Her heart already knew what would happen tonight. Her eyes and mind didn’t want to see it. She gave this life one last look and went to her Gran’s house.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday afternoon—4:15 P.M.

  “You sure you want me to be there?” Ava said.

  She and Seth were driving down Broadway toward the downtown Denver Police Headquarters.

  “If you want to make sure no one blames you, you should be at the press conference,” Seth said. “Jeez, what’s that?”

  Seth pointed to a line formed around the Church nightclub.

  “They’re waiting to see Jeraine,” Ava said. “You’re sure we have tickets?”

  “We have tickets,” Seth said. “That’s a lot of people.”

  “The station’s been playing his music non-stop,” Ava flipped on the radio and ran the dial to the station. Seth groaned when the heavy base kicked in. Her hand moved to turn it off.

  “Wait,” Seth said. “What’s that?”

  “Jeraine’s new song,” Ava said. “Someone slipped it to someone at the radio station. Very hush, hush. Everyone says Jeraine can’t leave the life but… Isn’t that Tanesha’s voice at the end? You know where she says, ‘Jer? Whatcha doin’ out here?’ and he says ‘Nothing.’”

  Seth sat listening to the song.

  “I like the orchestra,” Ava said. “It sounds like something you’d write.”

  “I need to make some calls,” Seth said.

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY-THREE

  Escape

  Saturday afternoon—4:15 P.M.

  “You seem happy today,” Sandy said.

  Standing behind Sissy at a station in her salon, Sandy ran a comb through Sissy’s long hair. Noelle was sitting behind them with aluminum foils in her hair. Charlie sat at the station next to them with a cloud of warm, eucalyptus-drenched towels over his face. Teddy and Nash were playing video games while they waited for their turn. Rachel was sound asleep in her crib in the back.

  “I had a good day,” Sissy said. “Don’t tell anyone, but it’s actually kind of nice not to be dancing all the time.”

  Sandy smiled.

  “You won’t tell, will you? I don’t want them to think I’m not committed,” Sissy said. “It’s just nice to take a break.”

  “Everyone needs a break now and then,” Sandy said. “What are we doing with your hair? A trim, for sure.”

  Sandy held up an inch of the end of Sissy’s hair.

  “How long has it been?” Sandy asked.

  “Since the beginning of the summer,” Sissy said.

  “What have you been doing to your hair?” Sandy asked.

  “It’s the heat. Blow drying. Curling,” Sissy said. “That’s what you used to say.”

  “The life of a ballerina is fraught with split ends,” Sandy said.

  Sissy laughed.

  “Anything else?” Sandy asked. “Something pretty for school?”

  “What did Noelle get?” Sissy asked.

  “Pink,” Sandy said. “Along the back. But you’re going to high school.”

  “I want pink too,” Sissy said. “But not all of it.”

  “Just underneath?” Sandy asked.

  “So you can see it like a peppermint candy when I put it up in a bun,” Sissy said.

  “What will Ivan say?” Sandy asked.

  “I don’t know,” Sissy said. “Mrs. Anjelika is mad at Ivan. She doesn’t want me to dance with him anymore.”

  “She told me,” Sandy said. “I wanted to ask you about it.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because it’s really up to you,” Sandy said. “It’s your career, your time, your dancing.”

  “Oh,” Sissy said.

  “Why don’t you think about it while we get your hair washed?” Sandy asked. Sandy nodded to her assistant. “Can you give her the deep conditioning treatment? Her hair is pretty dry.”

  Sandy’s assistant took Sissy to the back to wash her hair and Sandy moved over to Charlie.
r />   “How’s the soak going?” Sandy asked.

  “Why does my face hurt?” Charlie asked.

  “Dad was pretty hairy,” Sandy said. “I don’t know about Patty’s Dad but I bet he was too. You’re going to have a full beard in a few years.”

  “But why does it hurt?”

  “Just the hair going through the skin,” Sandy said. “The heat helps. Shaving helps. You’ll get through it.”

  “Gives me pimples,” Charlie said. “I hate that.”

  “You’re doing great,” Sandy said. “The products we’re using are helping. The treatments are helping. You can barely tell. What do we want to do with your hair?”

  Charlie didn’t say anything.

  “If you don’t say anything I’ll cut it all off.” Sandy flipped through his mop of shoulder length hair. Charlie didn’t say anything. “Ok, but don’t be mad later.”

  Working fast, Sandy trimmed the sides down to his scalp to expose his rich chestnut hair color. She left the top front about two inches long and layered it back until it was close to his head. Looking up, she saw her assistant come back with Sissy. She nodded her assistant toward the station next to her.

  “Wow,” Sissy said when she saw Charlie’s hair.

  Unwilling to leave Charlie alone, Sandy pointed her assistant to the blonde highlights left over from Noelle’s hair. Sandy put the rest of the blonde dye through the top of Charlie’s head.

  “Five minutes,” she said to her assistant.

  “Got it,” the woman smiled.

  Sandy squeezed Charlie’s shoulder and shifted toward Sissy. Charlie grabbed her hand and pointed. His friend Tink was walking toward the salon.

  “Do you mind?” Charlie asked. “She’s looking for a job and her hair is like a rat’s nest. She…”

  “I’m glad she’s here,” Sandy said. “Noelle?”

  Noelle looked up at her with gossip-magazine numbed eyes.

  “Can you let Tink in?”

  Noelle looked at the door.

  “Now?” Sandy asked.

  “Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something.” Noelle got up and jogged over to the door. ”You know the Valerie Lipson they talk about in this magazine isn’t anything like Mike’s wife. Do you think they’re the same person? Hi Tink.”

  “They may as well be two different people! Those magazines are filled with lies that only stupid people and little girls believe,” Charlie said. “Hey Tink.”