The “Hey, babe,” from Natalie and the “What’s up, Troy?” from Corrine was followed by the thrilled cry of “Daa-dee!” from Nate who immediately ran and jumped into his arms, causing Troy to nearly drop the case file he had on all the murders. It felt good to have his li’l man in his arms—especially after spending the night questioning and interviewing Freeman and other witnesses. Worst of all, he’d spoken with Sarah Matthews’ grieving parents. Though he’d been trained to deliver news without getting emotionally involved, his heart still went out to the families of the victims.
In the past, Troy had always been able to do his job without being consciously aware at how the pain of others tugged at his own heart. Not that he was callous. He definitely cared, but he was able to handle the emotional aspects of his job by doing one of his three favorite activities: basketball, playing Xbox, or exercising. Since meeting and falling in love with Natalie, he had really gone soft. And after the birth of his son, he’d gotten even softer. When he looked into the eyes of Sarah Matthews’ parents and saw the depth of their pain, he was more determined than ever to stop Freeman or whomever from hurting anyone else in Columbus. What if it had been his only child? What if it had been Nate?
Troy gave Nate a harder than normal squeeze as Natalie kissed Troy on the cheek while grabbing the files from his hands and laying them on the island. Nate immediately threw up his fists. “Let’s fight,” he said as he started playfully punching Troy, saying “boom” with every thrust that successfully landed. Troy, who had been dead tired, suddenly found the energy to participate in this activity.
“Ouch!” Troy pretended to shriek while Nate laughed. Troy sat him down and the two of them playfully went at it. Troy had to get on his knees to even the playing field so Nate could feel like he got a good hit in. When Nate delivered the final blow, Troy toppled over on the granite floor in defeat. “Okay, you won, son. Daddy is no match for Nate the Great.”
“Yay!” Nate threw up his arms in victory and ran around Troy shouting, “I float like a butt-fly and sting like a bee.”
Natalie, Corrine, and Troy all laughed. Nate was a precocious child. A few days shy of his third birthday, he spoke well compared to other small children his age, but whenever he tried to say Muhammad Ali’s signature line faster than his lips moved, it always came out as “butt-fly” instead of “butterfly.” Part of Troy thought his son did it on purpose to get the laughs. He sometimes showed off a little “all eyes on me” mentality like his mama.
“Nate, why don’t you show Daddy what Sissy bought you?” Natalie suggested.
“ ’Kay. Be right back.” He strutted away proudly as if he really had won an actual fight.
Troy got off the floor and joined Corrine at the table just as Natalie brought him a cup of orange juice.
“Rough night?” she asked.
“Very.” Though it wasn’t unusual for Troy to talk about his work with his wife, he was careful not to share too many details to not jeopardize any of his cases, and he definitely didn’t talk in front of anyone else. “What did you and Nate do last night?”
“Nothing much, I took him to Chuck E. Cheese’s and then we went back to my place and watched movies. I was dozing off because he wore me out.”
Troy chuckled. “I bet. That boy has a lot of energy.”
“You think?” Dressed in a plain white T-shirt, blue-jean shorts and flip-flops, Corrine’s hair was pulled back into a very simple ponytail. No makeup or jewelry, except the locket she always wore with Nate’s newborn picture. Yawning at least three times since Troy had been home, she looked like she could use a nap.
“Look, Daddy!” Nate ran back in with a model airplane, making noises and swerving it in the air.
“Wow. That’s nice, li’l man.”
“Sissy go bye-bye tomorrow and her said I can’t fly in ’da big plane wif her, but I can fly ’dis one.”
“That was nice of Sissy, wasn’t it?”
“Yep! Her always nice to me,” Nate said smugly, continuing to occupy himself with his plane. He flew it all around the kitchen before buzzing back into the living room.
“Um, Corrine, you do realize his birthday isn’t until Wednesday and he’s not having his party until next weekend, right?”
“And your point would be?” Her words sounded sarcastic, but her expression was soft.
Natalie amusingly shook her head. “She spoils that boy to no end.”
Corrine stuck out her tongue. “Chill, Natalie. That’s what big sisters are for.”
Moments like this were priceless to Troy. He saw the pure joy in Natalie’s face whenever she and her daughter were together. He saw it in both of them. They had an atypical mother-daughter relationship. In fact, they were more like sisters, being only thirteen years apart. And though the two had only met when Corrine was eighteen, if Troy didn’t know their story, he would swear they’d known each other all their lives. He truly admired his wife for all she’d been through and her ability to overcome. She was beautiful, both inside and out. Natalie was tall with dark, long, silky hair and a honey-brown complexion. Corrine was a younger, lighter-skinned version of her mother. Their mutual love for one another was also evident.
“Sissy, come ’ere!” Nate called from the living room. Corrine wasted no time going to see about him. When he said jump, she did—a habit that would sometimes get Nate in trouble with his parents when he tried to be demanding with them as well.
“You look like crap,” Natalie blurted.
“I feel like it. I doubt I’ll feel any better until we can catch this creep. Each time it gets harder to notify the families. Mrs. Matthews cried so hard that she had to be rushed to the hospital. Her husband said she has a bad heart and I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but this might do her in. It’s incredibly frustrating to have so many victims and not a single lead.”
Natalie gently cupped his hands with hers. Her skin was so soft. Troy relaxed a bit. “You will get him, babe. I’m sure of it. I hope you plan to get some rest before going through those files you have over there.” She nodded toward the island.
“If I don’t, will I be punished later?” He pulled her from the chair over to him. She straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her long dark hair fell into his face, her lips inches away from his.
“If you do, it will only guarantee you’ll have enough energy later to handle me because I intend to be a very bad girl.” Instead of going for his lips, Natalie leaned to the side and kissed his neck. Troy had begun to imagine helping her out of her V-neck, short-sleeved shirt, and capris. One of the things he’d feared before they married was that she’d let herself go—part of the horror stories he’d heard from other husbands about how their wives took increasingly less care in their appearance as the years went by. Thinking back, Troy should have known that Natalie was too vain for that. You can take the girl out of the modeling world, but you can’t take the model out of the girl. True to her style, she had on high-heeled, open-toe sandals that attractively displayed her red painted toenails. He found the sparkling ring on her middle toe very sexy. He would have her leave all of that on while everything else came off. Troy’s body began to react to his daydream. He grunted passionately as she made her way from his neck to his ear and finally to his lips. Wide-eyed, they kissed as his hands tightened around her body and hers around his neck. He saw the desire for him in her eyes. They’d managed to communicate without saying a single word. Suddenly, her look changed from passion to…embarrassment?
“Yuck!”
Troy turned around and saw his son run out of the kitchen back into the living room. He’d seen them kiss before. This was for sure another one of his theatrics.
Corrine looked like she wanted to gag. “For real? Y’all are getting all freaky when Nate and I were in the next room? Um, ever thought about going to your room?”
“Yeah, I thought about it,” Troy said aloud. Corrine rolled her eyes and followed Nate. Troy grinned slyly at his wife. “Want to go upstairs
for a while and work on our baby project?”
Her body stiffened. She was obviously getting as impatient with the process as he was. “Naw. I’m sure Corrine is ready to get going. We’ll finish this another time.” She got up, taking his hand and headed toward the living room.
He stopped her for a second, kissed her lightly. “I love you.” There was a time when he feared saying that at all and now he wondered if he said it too much.
If he did, Natalie didn’t seem to mind. She smiled. “I love you, too, babe.” And they headed to the living room, dropping hands before entering.
CHAPTER 6: NOTHING TO ADD
Natalie sat in Aneetra’s living room flipping through a magazine while waiting for her friend to get ready. She liked Aneetra’s house. Sitting smack dab in the middle of a cul-de-sac, with three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, two bathrooms, and a basement, it seemed a perfect fit for Aneetra, her husband, and their two girls. The living room had such a warm and inviting feel. Natalie would have added a third contrasting color to the navy blue and tan scheme, but it worked and was a true match to Aneetra’s simplistic style.
Sometimes Natalie wondered if she and Troy had made a wise decision by building a large four-bedroom home. It was starting to feel overly spacious, especially now that Troy was pushing for another child. They’d built it with the intentions of having at least two children, but seeing how much time and energy Nate took up, Natalie was having second thoughts and she didn’t know how to tell Troy that she hadn’t stopped taking birth control.
“Are we taking Cu-tee or my car?” Aneetra yelled out to Natalie from her bedroom.
The license plate on Natalie’s car read “QT PIE,” but instead of simply saying “your car,” Aneetra always referred to it as “Cu-tee.” Natalie had had that plate ever since she got her first car. At the time, it went well with her model-like mentality. Now, in her late thirties with a stable career as a financial analyst and a mother, wife, and devout Christian, she didn’t really think the license plate fit so well. “Cu-tee” was no longer a spotless little sports sedan as was her custom before Nate. Over the years, the plate had transferred from car to car and now sat comfortably on what she called her “tweener” because it was a cross between a sedan and SUV. It was also filled with Nate’s toys and crumbs of whatever he ate while riding in the backseat. “Let’s take mine since Nate’s car seat is already in there.” She hoped the backseat wasn’t too bad. She’d meant to sweep it out.
“Cool,” Aneetra said, coming around the corner putting her earrings on. The two of them met about six years ago when Natalie first started at Dennison Financial Solutions. Aneetra befriended her immediately, but it took some time for Natalie to warm up to her. Now they were “besties” no doubt. It didn’t matter that they worked together all week; hanging out today came as naturally as anything else.
Natalie loved Aneetra. She’d been a true friend to her even during those early days of their friendship when Natalie thought she was annoying. She hadn’t wanted, needed, or embraced Aneetra’s friendship at first. Thank God Aneetra never gave up on her. She was the type of person whom Natalie could share anything with and not feel like she would be looked down upon. Aneetra didn’t know all her business, but Natalie had spilled enough about her not-so-perfect past that if Aneetra was the type to hold her mistakes against her, she could have done so without hesitating. “Girl, we have to do something about your hair!” Natalie eyed her friend cautiously. “I may have gotten out of modeling, but not fashion. How are you going to have on a fly sundress and then rock a big bun?”
Tall like Natalie, Aneetra was heavier in the hips with a slight mommy belly she opted to cover up rather than work to get rid of. Aneetra wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous by society’s standards, but to Natalie, she was absolutely beautiful. Aneetra was only thirty-nine, but sometimes she dressed like she was a decade or so older. The olive green sundress was one of her more tasteful styles and complemented her dark brown skin. Whereas Natalie would have worn heels, Aneetra opted for decorated flats. They were cute, though. Aneetra looked great from the forehead down. That bun added several years to her appearance.
“Girl, it’s too hot out for me to wear my hair down. I don’t see how you’re doing it.”
“You know I’ll pull my hair back in a ponytail in a minute. You don’t have to wear it down; just not in a bun. Or at least wear bangs because that’s not cute.”
Aneetra chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Why do I need to be concerned with being cute? My man won’t be back in town until late tonight. I trust that after being gone for a month, my bun will be the last thing he’s thinking about.”
“Please don’t let that brotha come home to that hairstyle. You know military men like to fantasize about what their wives will be wearing when they get back. I’m sure the picture he has of you doesn’t include you looking like you borrowed a hairstyle from someone named Mamie.”
“Ha! Be quiet. I’ll fix it up special for him tonight, but I am not worried about looking cute right now so you, miss diva, will be left with an image of me and my bun.” Aneetra stuck out her tongue before calling for her girls and Nate to come from the play room so they could go.
“Aunt Nee Nee, Lauren hit me,” Nate quickly complained.
“No, I did not!” objected twelve-year-old Lauren. Her chubby cheeks flared with anger.
“Yes, you did!” said eight-year-old Ashley, whose physique was completely opposite of her older sister’s. Little miniature versions of Aneetra, both girls had their hair platted in corn rows. Thankfully Aneetra had enough sense not to give them buns!
“I know Lauren better not have put her hands on anyone or else she’s going to find herself in big trouble.”
“He hit me first,” Lauren argued, storming past her mom and out the front door, but not before calling both Nate and Ashley “crybabies.”
“You better adjust your attitude before I do it for you!” Aneetra shook her head in disbelief. “That girl is getting a mouth on her. It’s something about the sixth grade. Kids go in innocent and come out crazy.”
“Come here, Nate.” Natalie doubted his complete innocence. He trudged over, looking like a puppy that had peed on brand new carpet. “Why’d you hit Lauren?”
“Her hit me, too.”
“Why did you hit her?”
“Her not share her candy wif me,” he explained as though it was a reasonable justification.
“Lauren, if you have candy, give this baby some right this second!” Aneetra yelled.
“No,” Natalie objected. “He’s not going to hit people to get what he wants.”
“But she shouldn’t be eating it in front of him. She knows better.”
“And so does he.”
“Don’t be too hard on that baby. Lauren is much older than him. She should’ve set a better example.” Aneetra brushed loose strains of Ashley’s hair back in place.
As Nate’s godmother, Aneetra was no better at babying him than Corrine. Natalie gave him the look and made him sit down next to her. “Mommy, I sorry.”
“Aww…Aunt Nee Nee is going to buy her baby some candy when we go out.”
“Me, too, Mommy?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” she said to Ashley.
Natalie was unmoved. She was used to Nate’s run-of-the-mill apologies. “You need to go out there and apologize to Lauren.”
“Okay. You come wif me.” He hopped off the couch and grabbed Ashley’s arm.
As they walked by Aneetra, she reached out to Nate. “Can Aunt Nee Nee have a hug and kiss?” He nodded yes. She picked him up. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, but I not like your hair!”
Natalie fell out laughing and Aneetra couldn’t stop from doing so herself. She put Nate down and stared amusingly at Natalie. “I guess I should rethink this do, huh?”
• • •
Several hours and a few hundred dollars later, Natalie and company were seated in the food court at Polaris—the largest indoor s
hopping mall in Ohio. Aneetra was reading a magazine, while Lauren sighed every so often to indicate her boredom—she was still grumpy from being yelled at earlier—Ashley and Nate were in their own world playing a game on Natalie’s iPad. Natalie flipped through her iPhone, looking at show times. It was difficult finding something to suit all the kids, especially with the age difference between Nate and Lauren. Nate had asked to see the new Spider-Man movie, but she was glad it wouldn’t be in theaters until next month. Hopefully, Troy could stop working long enough to take Nate to see it because Natalie wasn’t very interested in the newest version that did not have Tobey Maguire as lead.
“Every day doctors are finding a new link to cancer. It’s no wonder with all the chemicals they put in food nowadays.”
Ever since her mother died, Natalie had been very active during Breast Cancer Awareness month. She liked participating in various fundraising walks whenever possible. Though it had been over six years since her mom’s passing, Natalie still missed her greatly. It hurt to know that Nate would never know her. “I think it’s over for the movies unless you want to split up.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. It’s not like—”
“Aneetra!” Both she and Natalie looked up to see Lynn walking toward them.
“Auntie Lynn!” exclaimed Lauren, running up to hug her mother’s friend, followed by Ashley. Nate simply stared at the unfamiliar woman.
“Hey, girl, what’s going on?” said Aneetra.
“Nothing. I came out here to look for stuff for our cruise next month. I can’t wait until we get our girl time together. I started to call and ask if you wanted to meet me, but I had to show a house earlier and didn’t know how long it would take. Oh, hey, Natalie.” Lynn spoke as if she noticed for the first time Natalie was there.
Natalie’s greeting was also dry. She wasn’t sure why they didn’t exactly gel. Lynn had actually helped Natalie sell her mom’s house after she’d died. She’d been real cool then, but the more they’d been around each other, the less they clicked. She was fair-skinned with coarse reddish-brown hair and freckles—a feature that few African Americans have—but she was very pretty. She seemed to know it though. Maybe that’s what Natalie didn’t like—that Lynn reminded her of how she used to carry herself.
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