Trouble in the White House

by Brenda Hampton

  And guess who had gone house hunting with them? Joshua. He probably had no idea what had been going on. Obviously, Ina had sent him here before everything had gone down. I didn’t even have to question her motive. Just like all the others, Ina had been paid big money to do this. The fact that she was willing to destroy Joshua’s life and reputation made me angry. But knowing what she had done to Stephen, this bitch was going to pay. It mattered not that she was Joshua’s mother.

  Just when I thought I had mostly everything figured out, Levi showed up to join the party. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were witnessing. Stephen was going to be devastated by this news, and I wanted to get all the facts before breaking it down to him. Levi was probably the only person Stephen trusted; they had grown up together and everything. What a doggone shame—some friends weren’t worth a damn. Levi would regret his involvement. I would make sure of that.

  Since Ina’s boyfriend, Theo, was the weakest link, I decided to go after him first. I had seen him flirting with several Mexican women while Ina wasn’t looking, so I used a woman I’d met last week, Sofia, to lure him to where I wanted him to be. That was to my room, where I intended to pump him for information. I had to know more details about this little plan of theirs, and I was sure that fool would talk.

  With my sundress on, a sombrero on my head, and dark sunglasses, I was getting ready to leave my room. I wanted to see how well things were progressing with Sofia and Theo. But the ringing of my cell phone stopped me. I snatched the phone from the table and saw that the number was Michelle’s. I had other things to deal with right now, so whatever she wanted to discuss had to be put off for another day.

  “Hello,” I said in a sharp tone.

  “He knows, Teresa,” she said softly. “He saw your number on my cell phone and your address in my notebook.”

  Awww, what a shame, I thought. I hated stupid tricks who couldn’t follow through with the plan because they were supposedly in love. All I wanted her to do was make sure Stephen divorced Raynetta. Apparently, her snatch couldn’t seal the deal. How dare she call me with this nonsense about a notebook and her cell phone?

  “Who is this? I’m not sure what you’re talking about. You obviously have the wrong number.”

  I hit the END button on my phone and moved on to what was really important.

  I left my room and headed to the beach. There were hundreds of people relaxing on the beach. The blue water was a beautiful sight, and I had never seen so many palm trees. Since my trip was all-inclusive, I grabbed a coconut drink before sitting on a comfortable lounging chair beneath a large thatched umbrella. Ina, Theo, Levi, and another woman, whom I assumed was his girlfriend, were several feet away from me. I could see what they were up to. I wasn’t sure where Joshua was; I assumed he was still in Ina’s room. He stayed in the room quite often. That was a good thing, especially since I needed him to be alone when we made our getaway.

  Dressed in a two-piece bikini, Ina ran into the water and splashed it all over herself. Theo followed, and as they playfully splashed water on each other, they laughed. I was sick to my stomach because my son was in the Oval Office, trying to figure all of this out and catching hell from everywhere. If I could’ve pulled out my gun and blown all of them away, I certainly would have done it. The best thing I could do was let Stephen handle them—this time. He would want to do so; I didn’t want to steal that opportunity away from him.

  As Ina and Theo played around like kids who didn’t have a care in the world, Levi sat on a lounging chair, looking like a big, fat black whale that had washed up on the beach. There were too many sexy bodies traveling up and down on the beach; he should have known better than to let himself loose like that. Miss Ina thought she had it going on too; she had definitely taken enough pictures of herself. Unquestionably, she had a nice figure, but that sure didn’t stop Theo from turning his head to glance at other women. He’d been engaging in small talk with Sofia whenever the coast was clear, and the second he saw her standing by a bar area that was surrounded by many people, he left Ina in the water and eased his way over to Sofia.

  Ina started talking with the other chick in their group. From the corner of my eye, I witnessed Sofia work her magic. Along with her sexy Spanish accent, she used her body to talk to Theo. I saw her slip the room key to him, and then I knew I was in business. A few minutes later, Sofia made eye contact with me and winked. I finished my drink before going back to the hotel to meet her in my room.

  “He said he was going to slip away,” Sofia said with a smile when I met up with her in my room. “In about ten . . . fifteen minutes, he should be here.”

  We stepped into the bathroom so that Theo would not see us when he entered the room. She held out her hand. That was when I gave her three hundred dollars. She looked at the money, then at me.

  “You said five hundred. I would like five hundred,” she insisted.

  “I don’t have the other two on me right now. And after the deal is done, you will get the rest of your money, okay?”

  I didn’t believe in paying people in full until the work was finished. That was why Michelle wouldn’t get another dime from me until Stephen divorced Raynetta. I couldn’t believe she had gone and messed things up. Now I had something else to fight with him about when I returned to Washington.

  While we were in the bathroom, Sofia and I heard Theo enter the room. He called out to her.

  “Sofia, where are you? Are you in here?”

  I looked at her, then nodded.

  “Yes, sweetheart, I am,” she responded. “I’m in the bathroom, getting ready for you. Why don’t you take your clothes off and relax on the bed? I’m coming.”

  Sofia smiled; so did I. Her smile, however, vanished when I reached between two towels to retrieve a gun. She put up her hands as she backed away from me.

  “You’re fine,” I whispered. “You’ve done a good job. This is not for you.”

  She looked relieved but was in a hurry to exit the bathroom. We both walked out at the same time, and right to our left, Theo was lying naked on the bed. His pearly whites were on display, until he saw the gun in my hand, which was now aimed at him.

  “Thanks again, Sofia. You may go,” I said.

  She took one glance at Theo’s package. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

  “I know,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s a good thing you didn’t waste your time with nothing that little. What a shame, especially for a man out there vigorously promoting it.”

  Sofia snickered, then hurried to the door. She turned before exiting. “Don’t forget about the rest of my money. I want it, okay?”

  This bitch was working my nerves over two hundred dollars. “Why don’t you go somewhere and prepare some damn tacos, nachos, or something? I said I would catch up with you later, didn’t I? Damn.”

  She cut her eyes at me before leaving. I turned my attention back to Theo, who kept eyeing the gun, as if he was about to jump up and try to take it from me.

  “You really need to get those thoughts of taking this gun away from me out of your head. That’s not going to happen, and one move, Theo, just one tiny move, will end your life. If you cooperate, you have my word that you will leave here a free man. Got it?”

  Theo slowly nodded; his eyes shifted back to me. I began to question him about everything, and as I had predicted, he snitched. The identity of the head honcho in charge came as no surprise to me. It was Mr. Christopher McNeil.

  “Someone working for him reached out to Ina, made her an offer she couldn’t refuse,” he revealed. “The money will set us up for life, and she knows that Joshua won’t ever have to worry about anything. You must know how difficult it is to walk away from five million dollars. We were willing to do whatever, and if that meant some people had to suffer a little, hey, whatever.”

  I shaped my lips like an O. “Oh, five million dollars is a lot of money to walk away from. You are so right, but understand that I don’t like to see my son suffer. I don’t appreciate
people who smile in his face, then stab him in the back. And more than anything, I myself don’t like to be made a fool of. This was a real clever plan, but unfortunately, somebody has to pay for all of the damage that’s been done. For starters, I think it should be you. And since that thing between your legs is so useless as is, maybe the doctors will be able to repair it and add a few inches.”

  Theo attempted to dive off the bed, but he was too late. I fired off one bullet, which hit the target I was aiming for. I had never heard a man scream so loudly, and as he rolled on the floor, swaying back and forth, with his hand cuffing his manhood, I grabbed the one bag I had and got the hell out of there. I hurried to Ina’s room, hoping and praying that Joshua was still there. After several urgent knocks on the door, he answered, with a frown on his face. When he saw me, he cocked his head back.

  “Grandma?” he questioned. I guess he didn’t recognize me with the ruby-red lipstick and the dark shades on. “Is that you?”

  I was so happy to see him up close. Tears were in my eyes, but this was not the time for me to break down and get emotional. Instead, I spoke in a panic.

  “Yes, baby, it’s me. Go get your passport and any important documents you need to get out of here. We have to go now. Your mother and them told me to come get you. They’re already at the airport, waiting for us.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “I’ll explain it all to you when we get to the airport. Do as I just told you, before things turn chaotic. Again, we need to go.”

  Joshua seemed a little reluctant, but at the end of the day, he trusted me. He took several minutes to gather his things, and when he came back to the door, I grabbed his hand and pulled him along until we reached the exit doors. A cab was already waiting to take us to the airport, and on the drive there, Joshua kept questioning me.

  “Shhh,” I said, eyeing the taxi driver, as if he was somehow involved in what we were running away from. “Not one word. I’ll explain soon.”

  Joshua remained silent, and as soon as we got to the airport, I purchased our plane tickets and we went through customs.

  “Where is my mother?” he asked. “Do you see her . . . anyone?”

  Looking around, I pretended to be searching for them. “No, I don’t, but let me check on something. Go sit down over there and don’t move. There is a chance that they may be gone already.”

  Joshua scratched his head but did as he was told. I quickly ran off to the restroom and found a pawn who would say exactly what I wanted her to say. Money, trust me, could pay for anything.

  Slightly out of breath, I plopped down in the seat next to Joshua. I fanned myself with my hand and then pulled out my cell phone, as if I was about to call Ina. “Let me see if I can reach her. Do you have your phone?”

  “No,” he said. “I left everything at the hotel, because you said we needed to go.”

  That was good, just in case Ina tried to call him. I didn’t know how far behind us they were, but the plane needed to depart, like, now. Unfortunately, we had a layover before arriving in Washington. There weren’t any nonstop flights available at this time.

  “Doggone it,” I said, looking at my phone. “Where is your mother and them at?”

  Just then, the Mexican woman I had met in the restroom came up to us. “Miss Jefferson?” she said with a thick accent.

  “Yes, that would be me. Who are you?”

  “My name is Anna. Your daughter-in-law told me to let you know that she couldn’t wait for you guys and that they had to go. She said that she would see you later in Washington. She also told me to tell you, Joshua . . .” The woman’s eyes shifted to Joshua. “You are Joshua, right?”

  Joshua nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”

  “Well, she . . . your mother told me to tell you to go with your grandmother. You’re safe with her, and your father . . . no, I mean your mother will see you when you get to Washington.”

  I quickly spoke up, just in case this stuttering, slow-talking fool messed up again. This was why I never paid people until the job was finished. People always screwed up. Too bad I had already given her the money. “Okay,” I said. “Thank you very much. We were wondering if they’d left already.”

  “Yes. They . . . the mother, Levi, and . . . uh, well, they departed a couple of hours ago.”

  I shooed that dummy away. “We got it, girl. Thank you.”

  Joshua sat there with a confused look on his face as she walked away. I was sure that none of this made sense to him. And unfortunately, I made up the biggest lie about Levi getting into a heated argument and killing a member of some Mexican drug cartel. Claimed that they were after us, and it was best for us to get out of there before we got killed. The reason why we were on our way to Washington was that the government wanted to know some vital information that the cartel member had shared with Levi before he was killed. I wasn’t sure if Joshua was on board with what I’d said or not, but after all that had been going on, it very well could make sense.

  “Things have been so crazy lately,” he said. “My mama took me out of school, told me I needed to come here, and then I find out we’re moving here. Now we have to go to Washington, D.C. I’m so mad, Grandma, and I don’t want to move to Mexico, even though the house she’s thinking about purchasing is real nice. But things are moving too fast. My head is spinning, and I don’t know what is really going on.”

  I touched his hand, held it in mine. “I know it’s crazy, but soon, Joshua, soon you will understand it all.”

  President of the United States,

  Stephen C. Jefferson

  I was in a meeting with several congressional leaders who had come to me earlier, asking what they could do to help turn things around. The only reason they were probably making an attempt to do so was that they were all way behind in the polls in their particular states. I was willing to listen and get as many people on board with me as I could. But as we discussed items on my agenda, we were interrupted by chaos that had erupted outside the Oval Office. Within a matter of seconds, my mother burst through the door and closed it behind her.

  “You need to remind Mr. Freckle Face to keep his hands to himself and tell him who I am.” She looked around the room at everyone staring at her. I assumed they were thinking what I was, which was that she was simply out of her mind.

  “I don’t mean to break up the party,” she continued, “but I need to speak to my son about something very important. Is there any way that you all can reschedule and come back at another time?”

  With a twisted face, I answered for everyone in the room. “No, they will not come back at another time. You need to leave, Mama. Whatever is so important must wait.”

  She appeared disappointed by my response, and before I knew it, right before my very eyes, my mother threw a tantrum. She lifted her hands in the air and then started pounding everything in her sight—from the tables to my desk to the sofas on which people sat. She marched around, pounding on things, acting a complete fool. In fear, two of the congressional leaders started gathering their things to go. And after she fell to the floor and kicked and screamed loudly, as if someone was killing her, it didn’t take long for everyone to jump up from their seats and jet.

  “Maybe another time, Mr. President,” one senator said. “I think you may need to deal with this.”

  “Ah,” my mother cried out like a possessed demon, while holding her chest. “Ooh, no, ah!”

  I had never witnessed anything like this; it was quite a show. Back to the mental institution she would go. I didn’t have time for her foolishness, and to say I was embarrassed would be an understatement. I was embarrassed as hell!

  After the last senator left, I headed over to my desk to call the Secret Service. Obviously, the agent near my office couldn’t handle her, but Lenny would be able to. If Levi was here, I would’ve called him. This never would have happened on his watch—never.

  As I started to press the button on the phone with my finger, my mother jumped to her feet, raked her
layered hair, then straightened her clothes. She appeared to be a new person, just like that.

  “Put the phone down and listen to me, Stephen.” She spoke sternly. “I’m sorry I had to do that, but it was the only way to get them out of here and get your attention.”

  I put the phone down, only because there was something in her eyes that said this was a serious matter. She began to tell me about Ina, Theo, and Levi’s trip to Mexico. I wanted so badly not to believe her, but so much of what she said added up. I was so stunned by the breaking news that I had to drop back in my chair. Anger crept on my face, as enough harm had been done to damage me. I had tried so hard to do right, had tried to give others an opportunity to do the same. This was un-fucking-believable, and the only good thing that I held on to was the fact that Joshua was still alive. I just hoped he would be enough to keep me from going insane and doing things that no man, especially the president, should ever do. Yes, I had already done a lot. But there were many presidents who had done so much more to protect our country, as well as themselves.

  As I sat there, stone-faced, plotting my next move, my mother walked to the door and opened it. She was gone for a few minutes, and when she returned, Joshua was behind her. He wore a black hoodie, which covered his head. He was much taller than I had expected, quite thin too. More nervous than I had ever been, I slowly stood, with my eyes locked on him. I almost couldn’t catch my breath and was barely able to stand.

  “Take your hood off,” my mother said to Joshua.

  He did so, and as I stared at him, he stared back at me.

  “Hel . . . hello, Mr. President. Wow,” he said, appearing stunned. “I never imagined that I would have a chance to meet you, and my grandmother never mentioned that the two of you were close friends. This is one of the best days of my life, I swear. When I tell my friends about this, they’re never going to believe me. That is, unless you allow me to take a picture with you. May I please just have one picture?”