DUBIOUS

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  “I understand. That is why I cut the tour short. I told her she would have to speak with you if she needed anything further.”

  “I appreciate that.” I was ready to hang up. I needed to figure out who was checking up on the business, but his chatter was preventing me from thinking.

  “You’re welcome, but that only made her mad. She started asking questions about you next … and that’s when the fat white woman came in acting like she owned the place.”

  Once again I was jolted into the conversation. All the pieces to the puzzle floated into place. “Sam, I need to see you right away. I’m on my way.”

  Clearly this was not the way he saw this conversation ending, but he had little choice in the matter since I was still the owner of the kennel. I hung up before he could reply. I called Sherman on his phone and asked him to come back and take me there. Luckily for me, he hadn’t made it all the way home, and he’d obviously heard the concern in my voice.

  I thought I was going to take my husband’s dirty secret to my grave. It was, however, apparent that this was not going to be the case. I was going to have to tell Sherman everything. I prayed that my confession wouldn’t destroy my relationship with him. It was a long shot, but that was a chance I was going to have to take because I could not handle this shit by myself. While I waited for him, I rehearsed what I would say to him.

  CHAPTER 39

  Felicia

  “Twice in one day. I must say that I’m honored,” Sherman said as he eased the BMW into the express lane of I-20.

  “Hold on to that feeling. What I’m about to share with you may change those feelings.”

  “This sounds serious.”

  “It is.” I looked deep into his eyes, silently praying that his feelings ran deep enough to stand by me.

  “It’s going to be okay, baby, whatever it is,” he said as if nothing I could say would bother him.

  “I hope so.”

  As he drove, he tried to get me to speak. I was so full of emotions, I just couldn’t. We arrived at the kennel and Sherman hurried around the car to open the door for me. He gave me a brief and comforting hug. After shutting my door, he grabbed my elbow and ushered me inside. Sam was at the front desk. He stood to greet us when we entered. His face was haggard as if he was worried. I went over to one of the two chairs in the waiting room and sat down. There was no way I was going to make a confession of this magnitude standing up. Sam took a seat opposite me and Sherman sat next to me.

  “Sam, first let me apologize for the late hour. This is my friend Sherman.”

  They shook hands. I was nervous as a cat in a room full of dogs. The irony of that thought almost made me laugh, but the weight in my heart prevented it. I was mad at Randy for dragging me into this shit in the first damn place.

  I pulled a photograph from my purse. It was a picture of the members of my law firm that I had grabbed before I had left the house. “Sam, do you recognize any of the people in this picture?” I held my breath. If he did not recognize anyone, I would apologize again for bothering him and leave without revealing my secret.

  “That’s you, right?” He pointed to my picture.

  I could have choked him right there on the spot. “Yes. Does anybody else look familiar?”

  He studied the picture. He looked up from the picture at Sherman as if he had expected him to be in the photo as well, but of course he wasn’t. Sherman shook his head. He was perched on the edge of his seat as if he was waiting for something to pop off. Sam didn’t say anything for a few more seconds. The silence was killing me. I was about to withdraw the picture and leave when he pointed out Frick and Frack, my coworkers. This was exactly what I was afraid of. Any hope of leaving this place with my secret intact had evaporated into thin air.

  “Shit.” I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes. I didn’t see Sherman take the picture from Sam. When I opened my eyes, he had it.

  Sherman said, “Isn’t that Ms. Williams and her assistant? What’s going on here?”

  My heart was beating fast. This was the moment that I had been dreading. I thought about leaving and telling Sherman in private, but I also owed Sam an explanation. Plus, I needed his help to form a course of action. I closed my eyes again and began to tell the story.

  “Here’s the Reader’s Digest version: I bought this place for my husband. He was trying to find his niche, and I was trying to be supportive. He traveled all over the world in search of the perfect dog. When he found it, he was so excited. In the beginning, he spent all of his time here. I could understand it because the business was new and he wanted to turn a profit immediately, so I didn’t complain about not seeing him for long periods of time. We stayed in touch by phone; and, every now and then, I would come here for dinner.” I paused to catch my breath. I was hoping one of them would interrupt me so I could have an excuse for not continuing, but they remained silent.

  I continued. “He finally found something he could do—and do well, and he was making money. When he did come home, he brought one of the dogs with him. I stood by him through all of that and only put my foot down about him allowing the dog to come into our bedroom. This went on for about two years. The whole time I didn’t say a word. The shit hit the fan when he asked me to take out a second mortgage on our home to finance an expansion of this place. I said no, and he gave me an ultimatum: either fork up the money or he was leaving me.”

  “Damn,” Sam and Sherman said in unison.

  I chuckled because that’s what I had said, too. “I called his bluff. Since he fought harder for his precious dogs than he did for our marriage, I kept this place.” I was afraid to look at Sherman. I could care less what Sam felt since I wasn’t fucking him. We sat in silence for several minutes.

  “But what does that have to do with those ladies from your job?” Sam looked puzzled.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure. I know there is a great deal of jealousy there. I believe they are snooping to find some dirt on me.”

  “Felicia, the business is sound. You are making money hand over fist. I told you when I called about the offers that I’ve been getting,” Sam said.

  “Yeah the business is sound, but it’s because the dogs are special. My husband trained these dogs to perform sexual acts with humans,” I said. I had gotten it off of my chest.

  “What the fuck?” Sherman spoke up and my worst fear was about to happen.

  I shook my head. “I didn’t know. I found out when I collected some boxes from his office a few weeks ago. The sick bastard taped it.”

  “Were those the boxes that you picked up from me?” Sam’s brow was raised.

  “Yeah, when I looked at them it made me sick to my stomach.”

  Sam nodded as if it all of a sudden made perfect sense. “So that’s why those people are willing to pay so much for the dogs.”

  “Exactly. I’ve been avoiding coming over here ever since I found out about it. Honestly, I don’t know what to do about it. Even though I had no knowledge of what was going on here, the business is still in my name. I can’t afford the scandal,” my voice was detached and all business. I’d yet to look over at Sherman, who was now standing in the middle of the floor. I could feel the burn coming from his eyes. “I didn’t know.”

  “Do you want this business?” Sherman spoke up for the second time.

  “No, I don’t. I never intended to keep it. I just didn’t want him to have it. I know it sounds selfish, but I devoted my life to that man and he threw it all away.” I raised my chin as I fought against the tears that threatened to come.

  Sherman came to me and wrapped me in his arms. I stiffened, not sure of how I should react to his embrace.

  Sherman said, “Then we sell it. First thing in the morning I want you to transfer ownership of the business in my name.”

  I struggled to get out of his arms. “What? Why would I do that?”

  “’Cause your friends are out for blood. I can take the heat whereas you can’t. That lily white firm of yours will turn o
n you quicker than shit can start stinkin’. Once the business is sold, I’ll give you the check. You can draw up any papers that you need to protect your interest, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “Wow, you have it all mapped out.” I studied him with hopeful eyes.

  He pulled me closer into his space. “Didn’t I tell you to trust me?”

  “Uh … can I buy it?” Sam asked.

  Sherman and I turned to Sam in shock. I’d forgotten he was even in the room. Needless to say, I was shocked at his offer. I turned to Sherman with a question in my eyes. Our relationship shifted at this moment.

  “Look, man,” Sherman said, “just ’cause we want this handled quickly doesn’t mean you can steal it. If you’re serious about your offer, you’re going to have to pay up just like the next guy.”

  “I understand.” Sam smiled. “I ain’t trying to get over on Felicia. She has been good to me. I’ve wanted to own my own business for some time, but the timing was never right. This feels right to me.” He motioned to our surroundings.

  “What about their training? Will that continue?” I said.

  Sam turned two shades darker. “Hell no! I ain’t no fucking freak!”

  This was the first time I’d ever heard Sam cuss. We all burst out laughing. He was human after all.

  Sherman put his arm around my waist. “All right then. Felicia will draw up the paperwork in the morning. If you could give me your offer sometime tomorrow, I’ll have my folks check to see if the price is acceptable. If you need help with the financing, I’m sure we can work something out.”

  “Thank you. I’ll have the offer to you tomorrow. I’m sure you will find it fair,” Sam said.

  “Fine.” Sherman pulled me to the door.

  He was taking matters in his own hands and I liked it. This was so different than in my marriage. Randy was clueless when to step in and when to shut the fuck up. I was waging an inner battle with myself, and it wasn’t easy to let go. I’d been in control for so long, so actually sharing control was uncharted waters for me.

  * * *

  Sherman opened the car door for me like a perfect gentleman. “I’ll take you to get your car, that way you don’t have to worry about getting a ride in the morning.”

  “Thank you.” I watched him as he walked around the car and climbed in the other side.

  “Do you want me to come back to your house?” he said when he plopped down in the driver’s seat.

  “No, it’s late. I know you have things to do.”

  “Felicia, don’t shut me out again. I told you I was in for the long haul.”

  “But don’t you understand, he was allowing those dogs to fuck him.” Tears flowed from my eyes. All the hurt and pain that I had been dealing with came crashing down.

  Sherman reached over and pulled me against his chest. “Baby, don’t cry. I can’t do shit about the past, but I can damn sure fix the future. Shit, I’m glad the nigga fucked up.”

  That remark caught me off guard. First I had wanted to get mad; but, come to think about it, if Randy hadn’t made me choose, I would still be stuck in that dead-ass relationship. Sherman was right.

  * * *

  By the time I got back to my car, I had a change of heart. Before I climbed out of his car, I reached over and nibbled on his bottom lip while rubbing the bulge of his dick. “How ’bout we start working on the future right now?”

  His answering smile was all I needed. A tremendous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Tonight, I would give Sherman my heart to hold; tomorrow, Frick and Frack would get my ass to kiss.

  CHAPTER 40

  Randy

  I was sitting on Kelvin’s sofa nursing a serious hangover when the phone rang. Its tone threatened to rip my brain straight out of my head. I snatched up the phone as quick as I could. The ringing had to stop. “Hello.”

  “Have you been watching the news?”

  “Felicia?” I thought the voice belonged to my ex-wife but the pitch was too shrill. I fought the urge to hang up.

  “You’re expecting someone else?”

  Damn, why did she have to go there? I wasn’t in the mood to have another bitch session. Instead of firing back a snapping retort, I lowered my voice to almost a whisper. This served to help the pounding in my head, but she wasn’t having it. Something had her riled the hell up. “No, I wasn’t. You just don’t sound like yourself.”

  “Whatever,” she responded, flipping me off as if my response wasn’t worthy of comment.

  “Have you been watching TV?”

  I didn’t care for the way she was talking to me. It was a serious struggle for me not to tell her it was none of her fucking business what I was doing, but I bit my tongue.

  “It’s on, but I haven’t been paying any attention to it.”

  “Figures.”

  “Why, what’s up?” I chose to ignore her flippant remark. I knew from past experience that arguing with Felicia was fruitless. She was a lawyer by trade and arguing was her specialty.

  “Turn on the news.”

  That was not a request. It was a demand. The painful throbbing I felt beating inside my head pulsed a little harder. Ever since our divorce, civil conversations with Felicia were next to impossible. She was constantly trying to provoke me into a fight with her brash tongue and sarcasm. She was either yelling at me—telling me what I should or shouldn’t do with my life—or crying about the mess I’d made of her life. She forgot that it was my life too.

  “Randy . . . Randy, did you hear what I said?”

  “Huh?” I said, slowly coming back from my unpleasant memories.

  “Turn it to the news channel, now.”

  I sat up on the sofa, cursing under my breath. I did not feel like going through this shit with her today. I pushed the button on the remote, changing the channel and turning up the sound.

  “Well?” she snapped at me again, dragging me from my thoughts.

  “What?” My blood was beginning to boil. Felicia was pushing the right combination of buttons to cause me to end this conversation.

  “Did you turn it to the news?”

  Since I had no idea what time it was, I didn’t know what channel I was supposed to be on. “What channel?”

  “It’s on all of them. They just said it again. What are you doing?” Again she started with the questions as if she were entitled to an answer.

  “I’m not doing a damn thing! Stop yelling at me.”

  “I wouldn’t have to yell at you if you were paying attention.”

  “I was paying attention, shit!” I edged closer to the edge of my seat. My head felt like it was about to pop right off my neck. All I really wanted to do was lay down for a while and forget about Felicia, my life, and this damn hangover. On the screen, flashing images of Michael Vick’s career were being exploited. So-called friends of his were testifying and haters who had never thrown a ball in their entire life suddenly had an opinion on where he went wrong. Personally, I was sick to death of hearing the many stories about the rise and fall of a black quarterback.

  The man had fucked up, plain and simple. It didn’t warrant the persecution he’d been getting from the media. I was surprised Felicia even knew who Michael Vick was and even more surprised that she would care about what was happening to him. “Don’t tell me you’re caught up in this Vick shit, too.”

  “Negro, please. I don’t give a rat’s ass about that shit. I’m talking about the four-year-old kid that was molested by his dog!”

  The room began to spin.

  The pounding in my head got worse. The phone slipped from my hand as I gripped the sofa cushion, trying to grasp the pieces of my life that were spinning before my eyes. Before it hit the floor, I could hear Felicia screaming through the phone but I could not reach it if I wanted to. The darkness swirled around me and sucked me into an abyss.

  CHAPTER 41

  Felicia

  I paced my living room while talking on the phone. “Talisa, sorry to call so late, but can you com
e into the office earlier tomorrow?”

  “Sure, what time?”

  “Say … seven?”

  “Yeah, what’s up?” she said.

  “I’ve had my fill of F&F; it’s time for some fucking payback.”

  “Alright then. It’s about damn time.”

  Sherman was smiling when I hung up the phone. I was waiting for him to fire off a bunch of questions about Randy, but he didn’t.

  “Why are you smiling?” I asked while shutting the news off, totally disgusted with Randy.

  “’Cause you look so sexy.”

  “Hey, stop that. We are supposed to be planning revenge.”

  “Oh, I’m planning alright.” He grinned again.

  I could have easily gotten caught up in his smile, which would lead to us being naked, but other pressing matters needed to be handled. Sensing my mood, his smile disappeared and he put on his game face.

  He said, “Tell me what you know about your coworkers.”

  “Anita was at the firm when I started. From what I heard, she had been with them for several years and couldn’t pass the Bar. We were both law clerks, although, I was waiting for the results of my test. I was promoted to associate one month later. She would smile and laugh to my face, I could tell she resented me.”

  “I know that type well,” he said as if he’d had a personal experience.

  “When I was going through the divorce, I took some time off work to get myself together. She would call asking if I needed her to come over and cook for me and shit. I guess she thought I was stupid or something, but I played her little game and smiled right back at her. There was no way in hell I would’ve allowed that bitch in my house. Hell, I don’t even know how she got my number since it’s unlisted.”

  “Sneaky bitches will find a way.”

  “You got that right. Anyway … when I got back to work, she’d made associate and tried to rub my nose in the shit. You should have seen her ass when the announcement was made that I had become partner. She thought they were going to let my ass go during my absence, and she did everything she could to sabotage me. But the shit backfired on her.”