First and Ten

by Michel Prince

  “Still sleeping with clients I see,” Ramona with her poorly dyed hair said as she approached Dani and Marco.

  “I laid out crosses and garlic, how did you get in here?” Marco hissed at Ramona.

  “She does look a little scorched,” Dani pointed out as she batted her eyes innocently then waved her hand in front of her face. “Or is that her perfume. Ramona it’s a spritz, not a spray. Unless you’re fighting off mosquitos one little squirt will do you.”

  “Funny,” Ramona sneered and held a phone up to Dani’s face with a picture of Rome helping Candace out of his car with a second picture of him opening his front door for her. “Are you sure you’re not smelling your desperation? You were all over him last time he was here.”

  “What was the commission you got off my improvements to his outfit?”

  “My suggestions were better.”

  “Let’s agree to disagree. Yours were better for a wide receiver. Know your audience. Jerome is a running back. Quiet, hardworking, and doesn’t like showboating.”

  “And yet you’ve showboated him all over the damn place, haven’t you? Oh wait, that’s not you with him is it?” Ramona swiped across her screen a few more times. “Not you, not you, not…oh that one is you, but he’s not in it.”

  “How is Mason?” Dani countered, knowing Marco had given her all the dirt. Not only had Mason dumped Ramona, he was a conman who emptied her bank accounts in the process. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten close enough to Dani to find out who her father was or he’d probably would have stayed. Dani should have seen through him in the whirlwind romance where her clients awed him. “Still using your birth date as his own ATM code?” Ramona turned on her heel and headed back to the netherworld she came from. Marco gave Dani a golf clap, then brought out his treats for her clients.

  The day was draining on so many levels. Trying to keep her head up with each client giving her condolences for her troubles. They praised her for being strong and even called her an inspiration. Maybe she should have told them all the truth. That she was with Rome and Candace was a distant memory, but the picture Ramona showed her ate away at her resolve. New pictures were showing up with each client, even though they’d all been victims of Down and Dirty’s scandals at one time or another themselves. By four-thirty, Dani needed answers and she was going straight to the source.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rome sat across from Candace in his living room. His hand covered his eyes as he attempted to calm down enough to deal with her. It had been three days of tracking her down and using the damn photographer to do it. He’d been hoping to break his nose as well as a few other body parts to get the information. Now he’d spent an hour with her explaining the whys and not one of them made sense.

  “What part of your messed up brain makes you think that would ever be possible?” he asked when he felt his blood pressure was low enough to handle her response. Had she really told him she wanted to be back with him?

  “Please, Rome, I know that girl isn’t some Becky bitch and her daddy’s money is tempting, but we have a kid together.” Candace stood and stepped toward him only to have him hold up his hand to stop her.

  “Sit. Do not touch me, do not look at me, do not think about me. You’ve hid my child from me for years. Then give me a few hours with him. Was there ever another guy?”

  “At one point, but I didn’t like the way he treated DeMonte.”

  “Who? And how did he treat my son?”

  “Look, I thought about it. It would be better if DeMonte and I lived here.”

  “You are delusional if you think I’d ever let you back in my home.”

  “I’m here now, aren’t I?” she mused and held her left hand up to admire her ring. “You did buy me this, you know.”

  “Because you used DeMonte’s child support,” he figured. “Where is my son?”

  “Where I want him to be,” she challenged. “You’re not taking him from me. He’s mine.”

  “Don’t make me get child and family services involved in finding my son.”

  “They wouldn’t get involved,” Candace’s voice trembled as she frantically looked around the room. “I’m a good mother. I. Am. A. Good. Mother.”

  “I’ve been paying child support. That gives me rights.” The doorbell rang and Rome held back his smile.

  “What the hell is going on, Rome?” Candi asked as he got up and answered his door.

  Standing in a three-piece suit, Stanton Meeks extended his hand to Rome who shook it and let him in. The man met him height wise, but he had a brick like build to him as any good Chicagoan should.

  “I’ve got the paperwork you asked for and I’ve contacted Ms. Powell’s attorney. He said he’s more than happy to charge her weekend rates to get this whole thing settled.”

  “Oh hell no.” Candace stormed from the living room to the foyer right as her lawyer rang the doorbell. “I’m not getting charged for this shit. Rome and I can figure it out together. The way it should be.” Candace wrapped her arm around his waist and placed her hand on his chest. “Isn’t that right, baby.”

  “Bitch, if you don’t remove those claws from my body right now—” Rome stepped to the side and opened the door to find another suit standing there. “Please come in. We can go to my dining room and get this settled here and now.”

  “Ms. Powell,” the attorney said as he entered with a nod. “I was informed we’ve come to a resolution.”

  “Misinformed. Let’s go.” Candace clutched the man’s upper arm and started to lead him out of the house when Stanton stepped in.

  “Libel and slander carry heavy fines in Illinois. More than my client is paying you monthly.”

  “What charges?” her attorney asked, stopping her from dragging him from the house. He put his hands on her upper arms and looked at her as her head twitched from side to side. She’d been caught and she knew it. Rome was done playing games with her.

  “Let’s sit down and have a discussion,” Stanton offered and her attorney looked at his client, then followed Rome and Stanton into the dining room.

  “Alright, I’ll bite,” he said, not sitting. Instead, he chose to stand with his hands on the top of a chair.

  “Your client has not only insinuated mine had been unchaste, but that he was in fact engaged to her when said moral breech occurred.”

  “And?”

  “And, Mr. Puckett, she supplied false information to the media as well as setting up photo ops without my client’s permission.” Stanton took out a tablet and had the images pulled up for Mr. Puckett to review. “In addition, she filed claims with child and family stating he hadn’t fulfilled his parental duties when it came to support of his child. My client has every image and text she ever sent him, including the ones where she was out of state with an unknown man holding his child, saying and I quote, a real man will raise a child even if it’s not his own blood, end quote. She’s taunted and dangled this child in front of him for years, never once asking for support until recently. He complied immediately and even offered to pay back the state for the money used to support the child.”

  “This proves nothing. Slander is a hard case to prove.”

  “Libel’s easier, especially in the electronic age.”

  “You haven’t shown me malice.” The attorney’s brow furrowed.

  “Mr. Speed, up until a few days ago was in a relationship with a woman.”

  “Was,” Candace said with a satisfied laugh.

  “Malice is pretty obvious,” Stanton said. “My client wasn’t asking for full custody, but after we spoke to the photographer in question, it seems the only right course to take for the sake of the child.”

  “You’re never home,” Candace countered. “I’m his mother. He loves me, you can’t take him away from me. You want him full time you have to marry me.”

  “Where’s my son?” Jerome howled as he slammed his fist on the table. “You’re hiding him.”

  “For his own safety. Look at you,” she said with he
r hand outstretched. “You’ve got anger management problems.” When she reached for her phone Rome locked his hand around her wrist and they stared into each other’s eyes. She might have actually gotten the point because she swallowed hard.

  “Let her go,” Stanton advised. “Ms. Powell, if you need to make a phone call please wait until we are done.”

  “Oh, she wasn’t going to make a call,” Rome said. “Were you, Candi?”

  “You don’t know me.”

  “But I do, you have the camera on now, don’t you?”

  “So what if I do. What you goin’ do about it?”

  “Okay, let’s take a break,” Mr. Puckett said and Rome dropped Candi’s wrist. “Candace, give me the phone.”

  “Why, you ain’t never done anything with the stuff I gave you.”

  “What you gave me had no merit on the case. I told you that.” The attorney looked at Rome. “Is there a place where I can speak to my client in private?”

  “We’ll give you some privacy.” Stanton stood and pointed to the stairs. “How about you show me that third floor and I’ll try to give you some ideas?”

  “We sure we can trust them?” Rome asked as they walked out of the room. “She still has her phone.”

  “And her lawyer knows I know that. If she puts anything up or out she’s screwed. She’s been put on notice.”

  Stanton was ahead of him when Rome caught something that stopped his ascension.

  “When was the last time you took your meds?” Mr. Puckett asked.

  “I told you, I don’t like the way they make me feel.”

  “You can’t go on and off them as you please. You know that. The doctor said—”

  “The doctor isn’t the one seeing the world with a soft focus filter. I am.”

  “Come on, Rome,” Stanton said, but Rome held up his hand. “Whatever he’s saying to her we can’t use.”

  “But—”

  “I told you I don’t play dirty. You want that, I’ll leave.”

  Trudging up the stairs, Rome wished his mother had been a sneaky conniving person. It would make it easier for him, but she hadn’t been and the moral compass she had branded to his heart couldn’t be removed. He just prayed it didn’t cost him his son. Worse yet, if what he heard was correct, his son was in more danger than he thought.

  Misunderstandings happened in the best of circumstances. Dani knew that. She’d been finishing up her assignments so her graduation in a few weeks wouldn’t have an asterisk by it. When they first met, Rome told her he would be coming out of his dead period and working out constantly. She knew that. She’d accepted that they’d only have a few weeks of freedom. Even with that she’d limited their time more by making him a damn Tuesday Treat. Well that was stopping today. Today he was going to be her Saturday Satisfaction.

  “Becky,” Candace said as she whipped open Rome’s front door.

  “We both know that isn’t my name.” Dani crossed her arms.

  “Why are you here? I think Rome has been more than patient with your stalker ass. Be gone.”

  “What? I need to see Rome.”

  “Honey, I know your thirsty socialite ass is used to getting your way, but not this time. Not with my man.”

  “Your man?” Dani laughed, only to have Candace cross her arms and her diamond engagement ring caught the sunlight causing a flash in Dani’s eyes.

  “Yes, now be gone, Becky, you’re trip downtown is over.”

  Dani wanted to challenge the woman on the fact that Lincoln Park wasn’t downtown and far from the bad side of town. She may have been raised in the ‘burbs but she came from the South Shore. Being the spoiled kid going to private school made her a target in her neighborhood not some pretty, pretty princess who was worshiped from a far.

  “Where’s Rome?”

  “I’m answering his door, that should tell you everything you need to know about where he’s at and what he thinks of you. He hates confrontation when it comes to his women. Must be why you and I are becoming besties on the front step.”

  Dani wanted to challenge her. Shove her way into the house, but as soon as she stepped forward a flash went off behind her and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck rise. Not again. Tears muddied her vision as she tamped down any emotion she wanted to show. She wouldn’t call Rome again. It would be on him to contact her. Here she’d just spent the whole day defending him to her clients like a damn fool. Life coach. She’s the one who needed a damn life coach. Or at least someone to put her head on straight because somewhere in the last month she’d let a man into her heart and now she knew she wouldn’t make that mistake again.

  Steeling herself she turned, smiled for the asshole photographer, and walked down the steps to her car as if she could careless about being denied entry. He kept snapping as she got into her vehicle and he gave her a quizzical look. Yes, she is the daughter of a millionaire and drives a ten-year-old Civic. It could be worse. She could be like her brother who used public transport. Heading back home she had some serious thinking to do. Somehow, in a few days she’d gone from a secure relationship to discovering she had no idea what was going on. Maybe that was how it was in Rome’s world, but not hers.

  After parking her car, she was about to let down her garage door when she followed the light to her dad’s ’87 Malibu. He hadn’t tricked it out or shined it up for a trophy car. Nope, it was the same as it had been when he used to drop her off as a kid. The same as when he drove it in college. You don’t throw away anything that you can rely on in a pinch. His words of wisdom when he’d offered to sell it to her for fair market value. She opened the door and slid behind the wheel on the bench seat. Adjusting the rear view mirror, the backseat reflected back at her and she saw her brother in the middle with her sister and her flanking him.

  How had her sister found a way to fit in? Assumptions had been made about her since the start. Being nouveau riche, her mother was aware from her first formal function that they were being watched. Much like her father, her mother tried to learn everything about the world they were entering without asking for help. The help they’d found along the way was self-serving. With Rome, she thought she’d found someone who understood the two worlds she lived in.

  “Birdie,” her brother Jericho howled as he tapped on the top of the car and scared the ever living crap out of her. “You okay in there?”

  “Just hoping Dad has scotch guard because I’m pretty sure I just peed myself.”

  “Score, bonus points.”

  “What are you doing home?” she asked as she got out of the car and fell into a hug. Her brother had only a few inches on her since she was wearing four-inch heels. Trim, with just a little bit of muscular definition, it was his smile that had all the girls coming for him. Dark hair flopped to the side and came down to his ears, but thankfully didn’t cover his pale blue eyes. “Not that I’m mad, but last I heard you had an internship to do this summer.”

  “Yes, but the rent here is so much cheaper and the last thing I wanted to do was intern for sixty hours a week and work for eighty. Something about that math would have me admitted to a hospital for exhaustion and with how you and Tawny are, God knows how they’d spin it.”

  “I hate you and everything you stand for.”

  “Makes sense, but at least I’ll be here for your graduation.”

  “Happy claps.”

  “Please tell me the whole offensive line will be escorting Jerome Speed,” her brother said as they walked into the house.

  “I was planning on inviting one of them, but now I’m not sure and I doubt Jerome will be there.”

  “What? But you two are—”

  “More like were,” she corrected.

  “Still you were a couple.”

  “I don’t know what we were, but I think I’m going to make our mother’s day and take the cap off the guest list.”

  “Oh dear God say it isn’t so,” Jericho backed away from her. “A Bonnie Albright my kid did something awesome party. Oh ho
ly hell, think before you release the Kraken.”

  “What mythical creature is Birdie about to release?” their mother asked as she came into the room.

  “Dear Lord it’s loose,” Jericho laughed.

  “My kids are a laugh riot,” she replied then looked to Dani. “What’s he talking about?”

  “I think I want a no holds barred party. Big, annoying to the point that I’ll spend the whole time hiding in my room party.”

  “Hold in your excitement,” Bonnie mocked. “You want that I’ll do it, but what caused the change of heart?”

  “I need positive PR. I spent the whole damn day defending myself and I’m tired of it. I’ll send you my client list, then you hit everyone else.”

  A smile lit up her mother’s face and her brother shielded his eyes like a vampire fearing the sun. “Dear Lord the townsfolk. Did you think about the townsfolk before you released the beast?”

  “Why are you at my door?” Rome asked Candi as he came out of the bathroom.

  “You invited that photographer to come?” she snapped.

  “No, I told him to come down to my lawyer’s office on Monday for a deposition.”

  “Oh, then you’re fine that I sent him away.”

  “Yes, can you come back in the living room?”

  “I’m tired. I told you those pills make me sleepy.”

  “Then go up to DeMonte’s room and lie down,” he offered.

  “Why can’t I sleep in your bed?”

  Rome wasn’t sure how far gone Candace was mentally. He’d never had to deal with a person with schizophrenia and the media depicted it as a person hearing voices. Now the hills and valleys of their relationship made more sense. Answering this question could send her into some sort of tailspin or not.

  “My sheets haven’t been washed in a few days. I’ve been up at camp,” he said, suddenly treating her with kid gloves.

  “Okay.” She headed upstairs and he watched as he questioned so many parts of their relationship. He’d genuinely cared for Candace and if it hadn’t been for a breakdown she’d hidden from him they might still be together.