The Mark

by Kiki Swinson

  Quincy made small talk with me during the course of the drive to the restaurant. “Have you been able to get in contact with him?” he asked me.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “I know you don’t want to go to the cops, but they might be your best bet,” Trevor stated.

  “I told you that the cops won’t get involved because he and I have custody issues,” I lied once again. My best course of action for these guys was to act like I had no other recourse to get my baby back. And that they were the only ones who’d be able to help me. This tactic needed to be reiterated as much as possible.

  “Oh yeah, you did mention that,” Trevor agreed.

  Trevor said nothing else until we arrived at the restaurant. He seemed really excited about dining at this restaurant. Quincy did too. After we were shown our table, we ordered our food. While we sat around the table waiting for our meals, I searched the room, looking at everyone’s face to see if anyone looked familiar. Thankfully, I didn’t recognize anyone and vice versa. Trevor and Quincy had their eyes set on four women sitting at a table not too far from us. I could tell that they were much older women, but these guys didn’t care. “Instead of looking at them, why don’t you guys go over to their table and introduce yourselves?” I suggested.

  “Oh no, I’m not going to play myself,” Trevor spoke first.

  “What are you afraid of?” I asked.

  “He’s afraid of rejection,” Quincy blurted out.

  “No, I’m not. That’s what you are,” Trevor joked.

  “I’m not afraid of rejection,” Quincy said confidently.

  “Well, go over there and introduce yourself to them,” Trevor dared Quincy.

  “I’m not gonna go over there just to prove a point to you,” Quincy replied.

  “You two are so funny.” I smiled. It was kind of comical to see these two go back and forth about a group of women. This was my first time witnessing men being intimidated by gorgeous women. I mean, those four women were very successful-looking. They all possessed this air about them that they were no-nonsense and they were about their business. I take it that’s why these two college guys were too intimidated to approach them.

  Trevor and Quincy finally let each other off the hook concerning those women after we got our food. I had to admit that our meals were looking very tasty. I got the steamed red snapper with cabbage while Trevor and Quincy got oxtails with rice and peas. They dug into their food without saying grace. I said a silent prayer to bless my food, but I reminded God that I needed Him more than ever concerning my baby. I told Him how I needed Him to cover me and the guys when we went back to Huntersville. And after I told God how thankful I was for His grace and mercy, I ended my prayer.

  Unlike Quincy and Trevor, I couldn’t devour my food. My stomach was completely empty, but I really hadn’t had an appetite since everything went down. So in all, I ate a couple of spoonfuls of cabbage and a little bit of the fish. I was ready to go before Trevor and Quincy finished their food. “You’re not gonna eat the rest of your food?” Quincy wanted to know.

  “No, I’m done,” I told him.

  “Well, I’ll take it,” he said, and pulled the plate over to his side of the table. I sat there and watched him eat my food up right along with his. I watched in amazement while he fed his face. He had not a care in the world. Damn! I envied him. I figured after I got my baby back I could also go back to a life of peace and not have a care in the world.

  * * *

  On our way out of the restaurant, I made a detour to the bathroom and told them I’d meet them at the car. I had to pee really bad so I was kind of upset when I rushed into the bathroom and there was one person in front of me for a two-stall bathroom. “Is there something wrong with the other stall?” I asked.

  “Yes, it’s stopped up,” the black woman replied.

  “Shit!” I mumbled.

  “You can go in front of me if you like,” the lady offered.

  “Oh, thank you so much.”

  A few minutes later a full-figured woman exited the bathroom stall and held the door open for me to go inside. But the smell coming from it pushed me back a couple of feet. I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t going in there. Not now. Not later. So I turned around and made my way out of the bathroom.

  As soon as the door closed behind me I noticed that the men’s bathroom was right in front of me so I knocked on the door twice, asked if anyone was in there, and when I got no response, I went inside. Luckily for me, the men’s restroom was empty and it didn’t have a foul smell to it. It couldn’t get better than this. I rushed into the stall and squatted over the toilet. Immediately after I was done, I wiped myself with a little bit of tissue that was left on the roll and then got up and flushed the toilet. While I was exiting the bathroom stall, the bathroom door opened. “Someone’s in here,” I announced. But it was too late; the gentleman had already entered halfway into the bathroom. Our eyes connected instantly. Then I looked down at his police uniform. I swear I wanted to run out of there as fast as I could but I knew that wouldn’t be a very smart thing to do so I remained calm.

  “I’m sorry!” he said.

  “It’s okay. I’m on my way out anyway,” I told him as I walked over to the sink. My heart was racing uncontrollably. I felt my hands shaking too.

  “I take it the women’s restroom was occupied?” he asked as he stood there with the door open.

  “You’re absolutely right,” I replied, as I proceeded to wash my hands. I watched him closely through my peripheral vision. I watched his every move as he watched me.

  “You live around here?” he asked me.

  I immediately caught a lump in my throat. Was this a trick question? I didn’t know whether to lie or tell the truth. So I did what came naturally and that was a lie. “No, I’m not from around here,” I finally answered, avoiding eye contact with him.

  “So, where are you from?”

  I turned the water off in the sink, grabbed two paper towels from the dispenser next to the mirror, and said, “I’m from up north.”

  “What brings you here to Virginia?”

  I dried my hands and threw the paper towels into the trash next to the door. “I’m just passing through,” I told him as I approached the doorway.

  “Well, may you have safe travels to wherever you’re going,” he said, and then he stepped to the side so I could exit the bathroom.

  “Thank you, officer!” I replied, and left.

  * * *

  I tried to control my breathing on my way out of the restaurant, but it seemed like I couldn’t get it together. What were the odds of me walking into a freaking cop? Thank God he didn’t recognize me or else I’d be in handcuffs right now.

  Back at Trevor’s Jeep, the guys were talking to each other about the exams they had to take the following week. Trevor seemed stressed out while Quincy acted like he had his exam in the bag. “You guys ready to go?” I asked them after I opened the door and climbed into the backseat.

  “As ready as we will be,” Trevor commented, and started up the ignition.

  “So, which house are we going to?” Trevor wanted to know.

  “We’re going to the duplex on A Avenue,” I told him.

  * * *

  A Avenue was saturated with crackheads. Normally, when fiends wanted to get high, they’d buy their drugs and then leave. So seeing this type of foot traffic led me to believe that Matt’s spot had run out of drugs like it was predicted. None of Kanan’s dope boys were outside. I figured they were either inside bagging the dope up or they were waiting to get their supply.

  “Park right here at the corner,” I instructed Trevor. After he parked his Jeep, he turned off the motor without me even asking him to.

  “Why are all these people out here?” Quincy asked.

  “They’re looking for drugs,” I told him.

  “All of these people?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow! That’s a lot of people,” Quincy commented.

  “Th
at’s what happens when you’re either around the wrong crowd or something drastic happens to you and you let it destroy you,” I explained.

  “Do you know any of these people?” Trevor asked.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Lucky you,” Quincy said.

  “Who are they waiting for?” Trevor wanted to know.

  “The dope man,” I said.

  “She’s talking about a drug dealer,” Quincy added.

  “I knew what a dope man was,” Trevor replied sarcastically.

  “Shhhh, you two,” I said when I saw the front door of the duplex open. I wanted them both to be quiet so I could focus on what was about to happen.

  Moments later one of Kanan’s workers walked out on the front porch first while another one followed suit. And almost instantly the crowd of drug addicts swarmed them. “Yo, do you see that shit?” Trevor asked. He seemed amazed.

  “So I guess those guys would be the dope man, huh?” Quincy assumed.

  “Bingo,” I said.

  “So that’s a drug house?” Quincy asked.

  “That’s one name to call it,” I replied nonchalantly.

  “So your ex sells drugs?” Quincy’s questions continued.

  “He used to.”

  “But he hangs out with guys who do?” Quincy pressed the issue.

  “Shhh, be quiet,” I instructed him as I rolled down the back window. I saw the first guy motion his hands toward the drug addicts so I wanted to hear what he was saying. “Y’all gotta get the fuck back! Or we ain’t serving you,” he yelled.

  “Fuck!” I huffed as I banged my fist on the side of the back door.

  “What’s wrong?” Quincy asked.

  “Yeah, what happened?” Trevor wanted to know.

  “We’re too late,” I uttered, not even realizing what I was saying.

  “Too late for what?” Trevor asked.

  “Fuck!” I roared. I knew my window of opportunity had come and gone. If only we had gotten here sooner, I would’ve been able to see who dropped off the dope package to the morons and would’ve been able to follow them back to Matt. But no. We had to stop at a fucking restaurant first. Now I didn’t know when I was gonna be given a chance to find out where Matt was. This day could not have been more fucked up for me.

  Quincy turned around in his seat. “What’s wrong?” he asked with concern.

  “I found out that Matt was going to be here around this time but he wasn’t going to be here long. So I was hoping we’d catch him before he left and possibly follow him back to where my baby was,” I lied. I had to make up something. I couldn’t tell them that Matt was going to have someone drop off drugs to his spot and when they left we were going to follow them. That would not have gone well with them. So I did the second-best thing and that was to tell them something they’d believe.

  “Look, I believe you when you said that your ex was an asshole but wouldn’t it be easier if you go up to the house and tell one of them to tell you where he is?” Trevor suggested.

  “No, it wouldn’t, dummy! Everyone isn’t as civilized as you,” Quincy interjected.

  “Man, shut up! I’m only trying to help her figure this thing out,” Trevor tried to reason.

  “Look, I know you guys are trying to help, but will you just be quiet for a moment while I think this thing out?”

  “Yeah, butthead, you heard what she said, be quiet,” Quincy clowned Trevor.

  Trevor stuck his middle finger up at Quincy, and then he turned his attention back on the dope fiends hanging around the duplex. We all sat there in silence while the guys traded money for drugs. And once the drugs were in the drug addicts’ hands, they left the scene. Before we knew it, there was no more crowd. All of the drug addicts had disappeared. A few minutes later, so did the two guys who had the drugs.

  “How much money do you think those guys just made?” Quincy asked.

  “I’m thinking about maybe a thousand dollars,” Trevor guessed.

  “Nah, man, it had to be double that amount. There was a lot of people out there,” Quincy stated.

  “Yeah, you might be right,” Trevor replied, and then they both fell silent.

  About five minutes later, Trevor made an outlandish suggestion. “Look, I think one of us should go to the door and ask one of the guys where we can find Matt.”

  “No, that wouldn’t be a good idea,” I interjected.

  “Yeah, it sure wouldn’t. And speak for yourself,” Quincy commented.

  “Well, I think it would be. I mean, how else are you going to find her baby? Sitting outside in a car and watching the same house every day isn’t going to get you closer to finding your son,” Trevor explained.

  “I understand what you’re saying. But these guys aren’t the type you could just walk up to and ask questions. They aren’t friendly,” I explained to Trevor.

  “So what is your plan then? I mean, it seems like I’m the only one who’s speaking with some logic,” Trevor replied.

  “I think we should just wait,” I said flatly.

  “For how long?” Trevor asked me.

  “For however long it takes,” Quincy jumped to my defense.

  “I’m not going to sit out here for the rest of the night, especially since I have an eight o’clock class in the morning,” Trevor huffed.

  “Hey, Trevor, just give me a few more minutes of your time and then you can take me back to the hotel. Agreed?”

  “A’ight,” he said, and then the car went silent.

  Even though Trevor agreed to stick around for a few more minutes, he started getting a little antsy. He’d make little innuendos about how could someone could live or even a nap in this area. Then he started playing his music loud. Quincy and I both had to tell him to turn the volume down a few times. He was really getting on my nerves. But I held my tongue, to prevent me from screaming at him. And besides, I needed to stay out here as long as I possibly could. I figured if I left too soon, I’d miss another window of opportunity to find my baby boy.

  * * *

  During Trevor’s little tantrum, a couple of drug addicts walked by his Jeep after they scored some dope from one of Matt’s boys. They looked like they were in a hurry but that didn’t stop Trevor from getting their attention. He rolled down his window and said, “Could y’all ladies please tell me what y’all are doing out here?” Both of the women looked at each other and then they looked back at Trevor.

  “Whatcha mean what we doing out here? We live out here,” one of the women said as they continued to walk in the direction they were already going.

  “You sound like you’re proud of it,” he commented. Before he could say another word, Quincy grabbed his arm.

  “Man, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you even talking to those ladies? Can’t you see that they’re in a rush to go and get high?” Quincy pointed out. He seemed agitated too. But I was more aggravated than he was. Why was Trevor trying to bring attention to us? We weren’t out there to interview drug addicts. We were out there looking for Matt. That was it.

  Trevor laughed it off like it was some big joke. But I wasn’t buying it. He was being an asshole and Quincy made him aware of it. After they went back and forth for a few more minutes, Trevor finally closed his mouth.

  13

  MORE TRACES OF EVIDENCE

  All three of us sat in Trevor’s Jeep and we watched Matt’s boys for about thirty minutes as they ran in and out of the house selling drugs to the local drug addicts hand over foot. We even noticed a couple of the drug addicts trade stolen clothes and electronic equipment in exchange for drugs. But what caught my eye as well as Trevor’s and Quincy’s was when a woman walked up with two bags of Pampers. She handed both bags to one of the guys, and he handed her drugs as payment for them. My heart sunk into the pit of my stomach. “Did you see that?” Quincy asked.

  “Yes” was all I said because I really didn’t have any words. I was more shocked at how this was the third bag of Pampers I saw at this spot. This was no coin
cidence.

  “I betcha your baby is in that house,” Trevor blurted out.

  “No, he’s not. My ex wouldn’t have my baby in that type of environment. It would be too risky. And besides, he knows that this would be the first place I’d come look,” I reasoned.

  “Well, why did that guy just take two bags of diapers from that lady if there wasn’t a baby there?” Trevor tried to point out.

  “Listen, Trevor, that guy only traded dope for those Pampers because that’s what street hustlers do. They buy stuff if they need it. So in this case Matt probably told them to get some of the dope fiends to go out and boost some Pampers just so he wouldn’t be spotted doing it himself,” I replied.

  “I understand what you’re saying but I still say there’s a chance that your baby could be in there,” Trevor pressed.

  “Well, I’m telling you that he’s not,” I said, getting frustrated with this whole conversation.

  “Wanna put a wager on it?” Trevor suggested.

  “What? A wager? What are you talking about?” I questioned him, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

  “Yeah, Trevor, what are you talking about?” Quincy asked him.

  “Well, since I believe there’s a chance that her baby is in that house, I want to make a bet.”

  “How are we going to find out otherwise?” Quincy wanted to know.

  “Yeah, how are we going to find out if you’re right?” I chimed in. I really was curious to hear what this fool had to say.

  “Because I am going up to the house, knock on the door, and act like I’m looking for someone else. And by the time one of the guys tells me that I have the wrong address, I would have had enough time to listen for a baby’s cry.”

  “I don’t think that’ll be a good idea,” I disagreed. This fool was crazier than I thought. He had no fucking idea who these guys really were.

  “I think it is,” Quincy agreed with Trevor.

  “So what happens if he doesn’t hear my baby cry?” I asked.

  “Then I’ll just leave. We’ll just have to come up with another plan,” Trevor said.

  “Yeah, he’s right, Chantel. Because at least if he did that, then we wouldn’t have to waste any more time out here,” Quincy explained.