Love's Deadly Masquerade

by The Author- Yani

  “Maintenance…” she thought to herself. “They’re cleaning the offices and probably haven’t finished mine,” she told herself. But when she opened the door and saw the way her office had been tossed as though someone was in there looking for something, her heart felt as though it would jump from her chest. She stepped inside and looked around with her mouth hanging open. Something inside of her told her to get the hell out of there. Just as she was backing up to run from the office and back to her car so she could dial 9-1-1, she felt a strong hand go over her mouth and another hand go around her throat. She cried out against his hand which muffled her.

  “Shhhh,” a male voice said. “Don’t fight me, don’t scream. Otherwise, I’ll snap your fucking neck like a twig,” he threatened.

  Marcella whimpered feeling scared out of her mind. She told herself to remain calm and do whatever he required her to do to make it home alive.

  Eric moved his hand from her mouth and his other hand from her throat. “I just have one question; where’s Vanessa?” he asked.

  Marcella played dumb. “Who?”

  “Bitch, don’t play with me. You don’t even want to know how creative these hands can be.”

  “I swear I don’t know anyone by that name,” Marcella lied.

  Eric shook his head. He then pulled a ten inch knife from out of his jacket pocket and put the tip of the blade to Marcella’s throat. Her eyes became wide as her breathing became exacerbated from her fear of what he could do next. Her fear excited Eric and he stood closer to Marcella so she could feel his erection. She grimaced, squirming a little bit and feeling disgusted, only stopping when she felt Eric place the tip of the blade into her throat a little more.

  “Please… please God don’t hurt me,” she begged.

  “That all depends on you, Marcella. Where is Vanessa?” he asked again.

  Marcella’s eyes looked around the room as she wondered how this bastard knew her name. She decided to ask him. “How do you know my name?”

  “That’s the least of your worries. I’m only going to ask you one more time. Where the fuck is Vanessa?” Eric asked in a slower, menacing tone.

  It then dawned on Marcella that her attacker was the ex-boyfriend of Vanessa. “Eric? Listen, you don’t have to do this. Just let me…”

  Marcella’s words were cut off when Eric grabbed her by her throat and turned her around aggressively causing Marcella to yelp. Her feet back peddled as Eric pushed her backwards. She had never seen that look of evil in a man’s eyes before and she felt more terrified than anything in the world.

  “You bitches always insist on learning the hard way,” Eric grimaced before shoving his blade into Marcella’s stomach. She grabbed the knife as a look of pain, horror and anguish washed over her face. Eric smiled at her, always loving the way a woman’s eyes became glossy when they were in pain or gasping for breath. He pushed the knife in deeper with a jerk. Marcella looked passed him as the pain quickly began to subside and she began to feel light as though she were about to slip into a sweet slumber.

  “Tavi, baby? When did you get here? That dress is so beautiful on you. You look amazing.” Marcella could hear herself saying that in her head though the words weren’t being vocalized. She reached her hand out to the hand that was extended to her. When their fingers intertwined, Marcella felt whole again, a feeling she hadn’t felt in ten years. She smiled at Tavi as she was pulled closer to her, and Tavi smiled back…”

  “Octavia…” Marcella mumbled before her eyes fluttered and began to close. Her head leaned back slowly as though she had fallen asleep. But like the heartless bastard he was, Eric tossed her to the floor like a ragdoll.

  “Who the fuck is Octavia?” he asked the empty room.

  “Never mind the small stuff, Ricky. The point is you shoulda been keeping these dames in line from jump street and you wouldn’t have this problem on ya hands. You got to find this gal and learn her good and hard, but slow so she knows better’n to step outta ‘er place again. This never woulda happened had you not been such a lil’ pussy and learned from when I tried to teach you about these no good whores starting with ya momma.”

  Eric grimaced. He beat himself in the head with his fists hating the sound of his father’s voice. Nothing he ever did satisfied him even when he did his best. If what he did wasn’t something his father would have done or it wasn’t done the way his father told him to do it, it got him an ass whipping. He saw himself as a child bent over in between his father’s strong thighs as he rained down fiery blows from his thick, black leather belt. Eric could still hear the whistling sound the belt made as it sailed through the air before connecting with his bare back or ass.

  “No!” Eric bellowed. “No, no, no, no, no, NO!!” he said again and again before sliding to the floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees hugging them to his chest as he rocked himself back and forth. He rocked and rocked and rocked until the sound of his father’s voice disappeared and the visual memory of his father whipping him mercilessly as a young boy disappeared as well.

  Eric got to his feet and looked down at Marcella’s lifeless body. A small part of him felt remorseful as he thought how much Marcella resembled his mother and the way she would lie motionless on the kitchen, living room and sometimes, bathroom floor after taking a beating from his father. He looked away from her.

  “I’m sorry…” he murmured, and then quickly and quietly left the office.

  17

  Vanessa lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about Arianna. She dabbed the corners of her eyes with a tissue, hurting tremendously over the loss of her best friend. She thought back to their last conversation and how brief it was, grateful that she told Arianna that she loved her one last time. For some reason, her mind wandered to Derek and how he comforted her after she’d learned of Arianna’s murder. The manner in which he whispered in her ear to soothe her and stroked the back of her head as she laid on his shoulder gave her butterflies. Not meaning to, she found herself blushing. She hadn’t had that feeling since the very beginning of her relationship with Eric, before everything went to hell.

  Vanessa shook her head trying to clear the last thought she had of Derek. She’d just gotten through with a terrible relationship and the last thing she needed to be thinking about was another man, especially while she was pregnant… or so she told herself. Nevertheless, the butterflies continued to flutter in her stomach at the mere thought of him.

  The following days, she began going to the kitchen area to fix herself breakfast, going the same time she went when she initially came in contact with Derek, hoping that she would run into him again so she could have the chance to be more cordial with him. But day after day had passed and he was nowhere to be found. She was tempted to ask a young lady that she’d recently befriended after Arianna was murdered if she had seen him around, but she didn’t want to seem obvious.

  “Or like a stalker,” the voice in her head said. She jumped as it sounded more like Eric than the usual voice she heard. “Bitch, that nigga ain’t thinking about your tired ass. What can you give him besides a baby that belongs to another nigga other than some pussy? And your shit never really was that great. You’re black as shit, stupid as fuck and don’t have shit going for yourself. Stop trying to find a fill-in-pop and go sit your ugly-ass down somewhere and stay out the fucking way.”

  Vanessa was in the middle of stirring a pot of grits when she heard those words in her head. Her self-esteem quickly came crashing down. Eric always knew exactly what to say to her to knock her down a peg or two. Her eyes teared up as those words echoed in her head. She blinked them away and continued stirring her grits. She was feening for a cup of coffee but knew the caffeine wasn’t good for her pregnancy, so she opted for a glass of orange juice instead. Just as she was pouring herself a glass, Derek came into the kitchen area. Vanessa suddenly became overwhelmed with nervousness and spilled the orange juice on the counter.

  “Here, let me help you with that,” Derek offered polite
ly. He grabbed a few paper towels and began to wipe the juice from the counter. The smell of his cologne danced her way and teased her nostrils. She had never came across a man who smelled so good that the mere scent of him took her breath away.

  “How are you today?” Derek asked her as he put on a pot of coffee.

  “I’m good, thank you. And yourself?” Vanessa replied politely as she began to stir her grits a little more.

  Derek was shocked that she said that much to him. “I’m well, thank you.” They fell silent for a moment while Derek made his coffee and Vanessa began to place her food on her plate. He took a sip from his mug. “You enjoy the rest of your day,” he said with a smile.

  Vanessa’s heart began to race not anticipating he would be leaving so quickly. “I’m sorry, would you like something to eat?” she asked quickly. She then looked away hoping he didn’t hear the desperation in her voice.

  “Yeah, you damn sure did sound desperate. I see you still insist on learning the hard way,” the voice in her head said again. It took every ounce of self-control that she had to keep from saying “shut up” out loud.

  Derek paused for a brief moment. He was only planning on having his coffee for breakfast but was never one to turn down a meal. Especially one that smelled as good as what Vanessa was cooking.

  “What are you having?” he asked her.

  “Um… nothing fancy, just some grits, scrambled cheese eggs, a couple slices of ham and some crescent rolls. But if you don’t eat pork, I think there’s some turkey sausages in here…” she said quickly, turning back to the refrigerator to check for them.

  “No, no it’s fine. I don’t eat pork but you don’t have to fix a substitution. Thanks for offering.”

  Vanessa struggled to keep from blushing but failed miserably. Derek caught her and smiled to himself. He stopped her as she was about to reach in the cabinet to get another plate and cup to fix him something to eat.

  “How about you have a seat and let me take care of that,” he said to her before pulling out her chair. Vanessa thanked him and had a seat. Derek fixed his plate and sat across from her at the table. Vanessa was taken aback when she saw him bow his head and say his grace. She couldn’t remember the last time she had done that before a meal. With Eric, if he even allowed her to eat with him, he normally just dove right into his plate without thanking her let alone God.

  Derek put a spoonful of the grits in his mouth along with some of the scrambled cheese eggs. “Unh girl! Wooo, now this is some good cooking. Man, I haven’t had eggs and grits this good since I lived with my momma!” he said with a smile. Vanessa chuckled.

  “She didn’t cook for you after you moved out?” Vanessa inquired as she ate some of her food.

  Derek cocked his head to the side and then shook it. “Well, she didn’t get the chance to, really. She passed away about a year after I left.”

  “Oh… I’m sorry to hear that,” Vanessa replied solemnly.

  “It’s okay, I mean it was hard on me because it was so sudden. Here one day and gone the next, you know? But it taught me not to take life for granted and not to take people for granted. I would tell myself all the time I was going to go see her tomorrow, next week, the day after that and I just kept letting things distract me. Things that didn’t even matter like kicking it with this homie or going to dinner with this girl or going to this event. The biggest mistake people make is thinking that tomorrow will be here for us to do all of the things that we could be or should be doing today. We take today for granted as though it’s trivial. Losing my mom taught me that nothing is trivial.”

  They fell silent for a moment as Derek’s words weighed in on Vanessa. She thought of all the times she said she would call Arianna before she left Eric. All of the times that she said she would make plans to hang with her closest friend. Now she wouldn’t be able to. She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall as she stirred her food in her plate with her fork, no longer hungry. Derek noticed the look of sadness on her face.

  “I’m sorry, I did mean to get all doom and gloom on you knowing you just experienced a loss of your own.”

  Vanessa forced a smile. “It’s okay. Death is a part of life,” she replied quietly.

  Derek noticed there was a fly soaring near her shoulder and tried to shoo it away causing Vanessa to jump as though she was expecting to be slapped or punched. He pulled his hand away and stared at her for a moment. Feeling embarrassed, she excused herself from the kitchen and went to the bathroom.

  He knew that she had been abused hence why she was at the facility. But he suspected her situation was much more unique than some of the others. He could tell that she was very young which made him pity her, knowing that depending on how severe the abuse was, she may never trust another man again or feel safe in a relationship with one.

  At the risk of succumbing to the hero complex, Derek yearned to get to know her more with the hopes that he could show her that all men aren’t monsters and there are still some around who honor, protect and love their women. He didn’t expect anything from her, but if he could at least be a good friend to her to help mend her heart and heal her spirit, that would be good enough for him.

  He tried to wait for her to return from the bathroom so they could exchange numbers but saw that it was very close to time for him to clock in and he didn’t want to be late. He then suspected that maybe she was trying to wait him out because she felt uncomfortable around him. He quickly cleared their dishes and washed everything up for her. He then walked back to her room and slipped a note under her door thanking her for breakfast with his phone number on the bottom.

  When Vanessa was sure that Derek was gone, she left the bathroom and made her way back to the kitchen to dump her breakfast and wash the dishes that she used. She was shocked to see that it had already been done for her and hoped that it hadn’t been by a supervisor who was annoyed with the mess that was left behind. She returned to her room and saw the note left by Derek. Her first reaction was to ball the paper up and throw it in the trash but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

  The loud speaker came on. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention? At this time we are asking for those who are at the facility to please report to the courtyard for an emergency meeting.”

  Vanessa stuffed the note that Derek left her in her yoga pants pocket and made her way over to the courtyard.

  “Do you know what this is about?” a young lady named Sally asked Vanessa in the hallway.

  “My guess is as good as yours,” Vanessa replied. She then noticed that Vera and one of the counselors were hugging each other crying.

  “What is going on?” Sally asked after noticing the two women hugging and crying as well.

  There were about twenty people at the facility at the time the emergency meeting was called. They stood in the courtyard all wondering what was going on and what happened. Vanessa noticed Derek was staring at her and her face flushed. She was glad when Vera came to the center of the courtyard to address the crowd.

  “Good morning everyone. I know you’re all wondering why I had you come out here so suddenly. I wanted to speak to as many of you at once rather than relay the same message to you individually,” Vera started. She searched the faces of the crowd until she found Vanessa before she continued. “I wanted to let you all know that “Sistahs on the Move” has suffered a terrible and tremendous loss. Our founder, the woman who was like a mother to us all, who saved many of us and helped give us a second chance in life was found late last night…” Vera broke off unable to compose herself any longer. The silence in the courtyard was deafening as many of the people stared at her in disbelief. “Marcella Jackson was found late last night in her office. She had been stabbed. Her office was ransacked. We don’t know who her killer is or what he or she was looking for, but we have to assume that whoever it was, they are looking for someone that passed through our program. Therefore, security at this facility will be beefed up. Unless you are a student or have a full time j
ob, until you receive housing, no one is to travel anywhere alone. You are to take at least one buddy with you anytime you leave this facility. I know many of you became close with Marcella when you sought help from her. Counseling sessions can be set up and we will conduct a prayer circle this evening at 7pm…” Vera looked at Vanessa again before turning away from the crowd and heading back inside of the facility.

  Vanessa was numb. She was positive Eric was behind this. “Which means you better run like hell because he’s coming for your ass and God help anyone in his way,” she heard the voice say in her head.

  “First Arianna, now Ms. Marcella…” Vanessa whispered.

  “You say something?” Sally asked.

  Vanessa shook her head, “No… I just can’t believe someone would want to hurt Ms. Marcella. That’s crazy!”

  “Shit, it’ll be just our luck if some dumb ass called her ex-husband or ex-boyfriend on some lonely shit and now his ass is coming after anybody that helped her,” Sally said in a low voice.

  Vanessa had no response because Sally was spot on. Apart of her hoped that Marcella’s murder had been something very random. But deep down inside, she knew that it was Eric. That one phone call she made caused at least two deaths and she was feeling extremely guilty and every bit responsible as if she had been the one who committed the crimes herself.

  “I’m going to head back to my room. Stop by later if you want to chat,” Vanessa replied as she gave Sally a hug. She moved through the crowd to head back to her room when Derek stopped her.