***
The ringing of the telephone cheated Elizabeth out of much needed sleep. She turned over in bed and glared at it. “Somebody better be dead!” she growled, reaching for the receiver. Then again, at one in the morning, if someone were dead, she could do nothing about it. So she turned back over in bed and as her shoulder-length hair swished across her mocha-chocolate face, she resolved to let the answering machine pick up the call.
The salutation seemed a bit long this morning, and the beep was a tad loud. But the noise that bellowed from that little box on her night table was the most annoying of all. “Hi Liz, it’s your big brother. You’ve been so heavy on my mind that I couldn’t get to sleep… Where are you?”
“Lying right here listening to you, bonehead!” she shouted at the answering machine.
“Well, call me when you get in. Let’s do lunch or something, okay kiddo?” He hung up.
“Not if I can help it,” Elizabeth grabbed Kenneth’s pillow and covered her face. Ever since Michael became a minister he was always preaching, always telling her that she was a sinner. The way he talked one would think she was a complete heathen who never set foot in a church building a day in her life. Didn’t she take her kids to church almost every Sunday? Didn’t she sing in the choir and lead most of the songs? Hadn’t her pastor told her that he was glad she was a member of his church? As far as Elizabeth was concerned, she was all right, and there was no way she was going to lunch with Michael to have him tell her everything she was doing wrong. Hmmph, no way! Mister Holier-than-thou could just find someone else to preach to!
The phone rang again. Elizabeth sank deeper into her bed and screamed, “Why me?” The answering machine picked that one up also.
“It’s one in the morning, Elizabeth,” a sultry woman’s voice announced. “Do you know where your husband is?”
As the line went dead, Elizabeth looked over at Kenneth’s side of the bed. It was empty.
***
“He’s out there!” Nina screamed. She ran the entire two blocks from Joe’s Carryout. A gallon of two-percent milk was on the hood of the car, which was still in the grocer’s parking lot. “I saw him! He followed me.”
Marguerite Barrow quickly opened the screen door and peeped around the corner. It was so dark she could barely see past her porch. The street was quiet and full of inactivity. That was one thing for which she could praise God. The neighborhood dope pushers must have checked in early tonight. “There’s nobody out here.” Marguerite grabbed Nina’s shoulders and turned her around to face the emptiness of the night. “See, you’re safe, baby. Nobody’s following you.”
Marguerite’s comforting voice was not enough to reassure Nina. She fell down at Marguerite’s thin ankles and wrapped her arms around her as if her life depended on the tightness of her grip. “He’s going to kill me, Marguerite. He thinks I betrayed him. He said that nobody gets away with what I did to him.” His exact words were more along the lines of, I believe in an eye for an eye, Nina. You aborted my baby – you gon’ wish you were aborted.
“You’re here now, Nina. You’re safe - stop worrying. Lord Jesus, give me the strength to help this child,” Marguerite prayed as she lifted Nina’s limp body from the ground. Marguerite had been Nina’s caregiver and protector for several weeks now. “Come on in here and sit down.”
Nina dragged her frail, shaken body over to the couch as Marguerite closed the door and sat down in the chair opposite her. Watching as Nina stared off into space, she asked, “Can I get something for you, honey?”
Nina jumped. A quick death is too good for baby killers like you, Nina. When I’m done, you gon’ be the feature story on Unsolved Mysteries. “No, nothing.”
Marguerite’s eyes misted over as she watched this young woman battle her demons. She clasped her hands together and asked, “So, did you have any luck finding a job today?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Don’t give up, Nina. I know you’ll find something soon.”
Nina looked up this time. A pained smile crossed her face. Her voice was whisper soft. “Yes, ma’am. Thanks for letting me use your car. I’ll get it back here in the morning. I promise.”
“Don’t worry about the car. I’ll go get it myself.” Marguerite rose and walked into the kitchen mumbling something about washing the dinner dishes. Just as she entered the kitchen, Nina heard her say, “I just wish that child could find some peace.”
But peace was inconceivable to Nina as she sat on the couch rocking back and forth. Scared to die, yet at the age of twenty-five she could only think of one reason to keep on living. Life is really funny, she thought. A few years ago she was just three-quarters shy of graduating from Wilberforce University, with a degree in Journalism. She was going to become a world-famous novelist. And out of nowhere, in stepped Isaac Walker.
Sweet-talking, million-dollar Isaac. He had it all, or so Nina thought, and he promised her the world. Only trouble was, she didn’t find out until later that it was his world he was promising. His world, with his rules and his game board. Isaac always had the checkmate, while the rest of the players stood around as pawns, waiting to be plucked out of the game.
In the beginning, he took special care of her. Dressing her in designer clothes, expensive purses and Italian leather shoes. He even took her to nice restaurants; Not like those college bums she dated. They loved to talk about their future payday while having it their way at every Burger King within walking distance. Nina was sick to death of the “I have a dream” brothers she had been dating. That was one reason she fell so quickly for Isaac. The first time she saw him he was wearing a cream-colored Armani suit that hung on his body like it was made strictly for his frame – and what a frame. Make a sistah wanna SCREAM!
Nina and some of her friends decided to leave the college scene and check out a party on the West side. She had worn her black leather jumpsuit that fit like a second skin and accentuated the curves of her voluptuous boom-boom bootie. The two-inch heel on her black leather knee high boots added extra depth to her five-foot frame. The strobe lights moved over her olive skin as she stepped into the crowded room. The men and women turned to stare as her hazel eyes glistened in the light. Her friends headed toward the dance floor. Nina sat at the bar and ordered a Long Island Iced Tea. Cigar smoke assaulted her nostrils as King Puff seated next to her blew cancer into the air.
Mr. Armani inched his way toward her. His diamond bedecked hands glittered in the air as he sauntered. His suit jacket curved nicely over his muscles.
“Mmmh, mmh, mh,” she said while running her French manicured fingers through her short-layered hair, Nina turned slightly in his direction to put out the welcome mat. His pace quickened, and before long, he stood looking down at her.
Honey oozed out of his chocolate-coated mouth as he asked, “Have you been waiting long?”
She looked into those deep chestnut eyes. Eyes that seemed to read her every thought and intent. Lord, have mercy. “Waiting for what?”
“A man. Someone to take care of you, like you deserve.”
Although a little too bold for Nina’s taste, he spoke just the right words to appease her vanity. Most guys never seemed very appreciative. She deserved better. Yeah, she thought, I have been waiting a long time. “So are you here to rescue me?”
“Why don’t we get to know each other a little better first.” He pulled up a seat next to her. “Then we’ll see if you’re worth rescuing.” He flashed a dimpled smile.
Nina thought that smile of his must have driven countless women wild. And she was no different.
“If only I had known then what I know now,” she said as she sat lightly rubbing her belly, tears rolling down the side of her face. “What are we going to do? How am I going to take care of you?”
She rocked back and forth, trying to come up with an answer. When none came, she put her head in her hands. “If only I hadn’t let myself get so caught up.”
“Hush child,” Marguerite said, walking back int
o the room. “No since wishing yesterday back when tomorrow has enough pain of its own.”
After the Rain Page 15
