by Mary Monroe
“Yes, you are in a good place. My mother and most of her friends have been shopping in your stores as far back as I can remember. But I want to put you in a better place. There are a lot of younger women, even teenagers, who fit into the big and tall category.”
“Tell me about it. My granddaughter Marie is only fourteen, and she wears a size twenty-eight. The sad thing about it is, the girl refuses to go on a diet, and most of her girlfriends are just as big as she is. They don’t even come into my stores. They would rather spend their allowances in stores that have to order certain items for them because they carry only smaller sizes.”
“Well, I’m sure your granddaughter and her friends would like to give you some business. However, almost every young girl I know would rather shop at the malls and those dollar stores.”
“Our prices are comparable.”
“But a lot of young females don’t know that. I am sure your granddaughter does not share that information with her friends. You know how kids are. When I was a kid, I assumed only women with money could afford your prices. I never saw any information regarding sales or anything else—not that I went around looking for it.” I chuckled. I cleared my throat, which still felt parched, and continued. “At the same time, everywhere I looked, there were ads, flyers, and in some cases, radio and TV commercials promoting the cheaper stores. My staff and I, we are a hands-on company when it comes to advertising.”
“Exactly what does that mean?”
Just as I was about to answer, Rachel pranced over and stopped in front of me. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, she was absolutely stunning. As a matter of fact, she was even more beautiful than she was when I first met her. One thing I knew for sure was that she would never walk around the house in a bathrobe, with her hair in curlers, in the middle of the day, the way Darla did.
“Hello, Seth,” Rachel said, looking from me to Sadie.
“Uh . . . uh, Sadie, this is an old friend,” I stuttered. “Rachel, this is Sadie West. I hope to do business with her.” I didn’t know what else to say or think. After all this time I hadn’t seen Rachel, and now I was seeing her twice in the same day—and she had followed me. This was not a good sign.
“Hello, Rachel.” Sadie offered a faint smile and a quick nod. “It’s nice to meet one of Seth’s friends.”
“Oh, I don’t know about me being one of Seth’s friends, ma’am.” Rachel snickered. “But it’s nice to meet you, too.” Then she turned to me and looked at me like she was about to bite my head off. “Seth, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d like to know when you’re going to pay me back some of the money you owe me.”
Sadie gasped. My jaw dropped.
“I beg your pardon?” I said. “What money would that be?”
“All the money you used to pay your bills with when we were together.” Rachel sniffed and looked directly into Sadie’s horrified eyes. “He was going to marry me until he found out there are a bunch of crazy folks in my family. But he didn’t dump me until I had helped him pay off his bills and get his business off the ground.” She narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. “If he’s trying to do business with you, lady, I advise you to run like hell. Not only is he a lying, cheating con man, but he’s also an asshole who cares only about himself. You wouldn’t believe some of the mean and nasty things he’s said about large women like you. He knows more fat jokes than anybody I know.”
I stood up immediately and grabbed Rachel by her arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I snapped. I had never been provoked enough to hit a woman before in my life. I didn’t even realize that I had balled my fist and was about to lunge at her. I would have if I had not looked around the restaurant and seen all the people staring at us.
As cool as a winter breeze, Rachel turned to Sadie and said, “Ma’am, I hope you don’t have any mentally challenged family members like I do. That’s the only reason Seth and I are no longer together. He can’t cope with mentally challenged people. If you don’t take my advice, you are crazy if you do business with him now! Especially now that you know he hates great big fat people like you.”
Two waiters rushed over. “Is there a problem, sir?” one asked, glaring at me, then at Rachel. “Is this woman bothering you?”
“No, there’s no problem!” I insisted, pulling Rachel toward the exit. “Sadie, excuse me for a few moments, please,” I said before I escorted Rachel out the door.
When we made it to the sidewalk, I led her down the block, cussing under my breath all the way. She was laughing and walking along with me, not even trying to pry my hand from around her arm. We stopped a few doors down from the restaurant. I released her and began to stab at her chest with my finger. “Bitch, if you ever come near me again, you are going to regret the day you ever laid eyes on me!” I warned.
“I already regret ever laying eyes on you, Seth,” she shot back.
“What the fuck do you want from me? Tell me how much money I owe you, and I will pay you if it’ll get you off my back!”
“I’ll tell you what. You keep the money you owe me. You’re going to need it.” She turned away and casually walked in the opposite direction. I stood in the same spot, watching until she turned the corner.
When I returned to the restaurant, Sadie West was gone. I called her office several times that afternoon, and each time her secretary told me she was not available.
Two days later, I finally received a call from Sadie. Unlike the other times we had talked by telephone, there was no warm greeting today. Her voice was very hard and abrupt. “Mr. Garrett, I’ve decided to decline your proposal. Thank you for your time. Good-bye and have a blessed day,” was all she said. She didn’t even give me a chance to explain things to her, but I had a feeling it would not have made any difference, anyway. I stared at the telephone in my hand for several minutes before I placed it back in its cradle.
Rachel had cost me the biggest account of my career, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Rachel, you are a bitch from hell,” I said, trying to imagine what I’d do to her if I could get close enough. “You better hope I never see you again.”
Chapter 54
Rachel
I WISH I COULD HAVE TAKEN A PICTURE OF THE LOOK ON SETH’S face back at that restaurant. I would have framed it. Once I got back to my car, I sat there and laughed for five minutes. I couldn’t imagine what that Sadie woman said to him after I left. She looked like a smart woman to me, and I hoped she was smart enough to take my advice.
I got back to my office an hour later than usual, but nobody noticed. I was in such a frisky mood, I went shopping after work. Because of the weight I had lost since Seth’s departure, I had purchased a lot of new clothes in a smaller size. I didn’t go out as much as I used to, so some of my new outfits were still hanging in my closet, with the price tags attached. Instead of buying more new clothes this time, I decided to get a few new things for my apartment.
After purchasing some new draperies, a new Crock-Pot, and new bed linens, I decided to treat myself to a kick-back dinner at Dino’s. I rarely went out to dinner alone, but I was not in the mood to deal with any of my friends. I felt like being alone today.
After my light spaghetti dinner and two glasses of wine, I went home. I had messages from Mama and Patrice. Mama, as usual, was calling to see how I was and to tell me the same mundane things about funerals and everything else going on back home.
Patrice told me in her message that she had picked up some barbecue sauce available only in Georgia that I had asked her to purchase for me during her stopover in Atlanta. She said she’d deliver it in a couple of hours.
I had no desire to talk to my mother, and since Patrice was coming over, I didn’t call her back, either. I decided to call up Uncle Albert. I hadn’t spoken to him in a few days, and I liked to keep him in the loop about what I was up to.
It was Kingston who answered the telephone. “Hello, Rachel. Al and I had begun to worry about you. We haven’t seen you in a wh
ile, and you haven’t called. Are you all right, honey?”
“I’m doing just fine, Kingston. Is my uncle home?”
“Yes, he is. But before I hand the phone to him, tell me what you’ve been up to lately.”
“I confronted Seth today,” I said proudly.
“You did what?” Kingston hollered.
“I told him what I thought about him.”
“Did you do it over the phone, or did you corner him somewhere?”
“I got in his face in a restaurant while he was having lunch with a potential client.”
“How did he take it?”
Right after I told Kingston everything that had transpired, he put Uncle Albert on the telephone.
“Girl, what did you say to Seth?” Uncle Albert asked in a loud, high-pitched voice. “I hope you didn’t do anything crazy enough for him to sic the cops on you.”
“I didn’t. I just told that punk what I thought of him, and I told that woman he was with what a crook and a con man he is. And I told her the real reason he broke off our engagement. I don’t think she’ll be doing business with him anytime soon.”
“My goodness! Baby, I know you’re still angry with him, and I don’t blame you one bit. But what you did today was a bold thing for you to do. Don’t you think that was a little too harsh?”
“Whose side are you on?”
“You know I’m in your corner, sweetie. I just don’t want you to do something that you’ll regret someday.”
“The only thing I’ll ever regret is getting involved with Seth Garrett. I wasn’t going to rest until I’d given him a piece of my mind!”
“It sounds like you gave him several pieces of your mind today. Oh well. He did ask for it, I guess. Straight men are such idiots! You would think that a man Seth’s age would know how to treat a woman by now. Maybe he’ll think twice before he hurts another woman the way he hurt you. Why don’t you come by the pad so Kingston can roll you a joint? I’m sure you could probably use one. His brother in Hawaii sent us some of that Maui Wowie weed.”
“You know I’ve never done drugs, and I don’t plan on starting now,” I said with a heavy sigh.
“Weed is not drugs, baby girl.” Uncle Albert laughed. “Well, come over and have a drink with us. I’ll cook you some collard greens, some corn bread, and deep-fried pork chops. Hold on a second. Kingston is saying something.” Uncle Albert mumbled something to his boyfriend, and when he came back on the line, he told me, “Kingston asked if you changed your mind about arranging for Seth to get a good ass whupping? It could be done tonight.”
“That’s tempting, but I’ll have to take a rain check. I’m tired, so I just want to relax tonight.”
“All right then. Call if you need us.”
All I could think about was my next move against Seth. I had no idea what I was going to do to him next. It had to be something that would spook the hell out of him, cause him a lot of misery, and maybe even send him to jail....
Patrice didn’t show up until almost 10:00 p.m. I had taken my bath and had slid into my nightgown by then. I was relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine when she knocked.
“I won’t come in,” she told me when I opened the door. “I’m tired, and I want to go straight home and unwind.” She was still in her flight attendant uniform.
“Thanks for picking up the sauce for me,” I told her as she handed me a huge bottle of mustard-based barbecue sauce.
“I would have bought more than one bottle, but this was the last one they had in stock. I’ll get you some more on my next stop in Atlanta.” Patrice gave me a concerned look. “Anything exciting happen while I was gone?”
“A little.”
“Well, if it has anything to do with Seth, I hope it’s something bad.”
“I ran into him and some woman today.”
“Oh? What did you say to him?”
I repeated everything I had told Uncle Albert and Kingston.
“Harrumph! If that had been me, I would have done a lot more than that. By the time I got through blessing him out, he would never smile again, unless he was smiling at me.” Patrice laughed. “Anyway, I’m glad you got that out of your system.”
“Now you can go after him. . . .”
“What?” Patrice shook her head and gave me a stunned look.
“Lucy told me you used to have the hots for Seth. And I know that’s why you’ve always resented me.”
“Look, I am not going to stand here and listen to this shit! I don’t want Seth, and I don’t like to hear that you and Lucy have been talking about me behind my back.”
“Forget it, Patrice. We’re done,” I said tiredly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go to bed.”
“I want to get home and do the same thing. Just give me my twelve dollars, and I’ll be on my way.”
“What twelve dollars?” I gulped.
“For the barbecue sauce,” she replied.
“No problem.” I rushed into the bedroom and returned with my wallet. I couldn’t count out twelve dollars fast enough and hand it to her. “Do I owe you for the other bottles you brought me those other times?”
“No.” Without another word, Patrice rushed back out the door to her Volvo.
Just as I was about to put my bottle of sauce on the kitchen shelf, I realized the seal had already been broken. My paranoia was in full-blown mode. I wondered if Patrice had put boogers or spit in the bottle. Nothing surprised me after what Seth had done to me. I emptied the bottle in my kitchen sink and then threw it into the trashbin under the sink that contained a few other recyclable items. It was at that moment that I decided to sever my relationship with Patrice the next time I saw or heard from her. And because Lucy had told me that Patrice had always been jealous of me, I realized she had never been my friend in the first place. I couldn’t believe some of the things she had said to me in the past, but her asking me to pay her for some barbecue sauce that she had volunteered to pick up for me was the last straw. As far as I was concerned, she had betrayed me. Just like Seth had . . .
After I finished my wine and checked my e-mail, I printed out an article about a recent local murder that I wanted to read later. The victim’s daughter was a former neighbor of mine. Just as I was about to slide it into the manila file folder with other articles I had printed, a folder in the same drawer caught my eye. It was the one that contained the copies of Seth’s 1999 tax documents. The same ones that he had made me tell all those lies on . . .
It felt like a very bright light clicked on in my head, and a brilliant idea came with it. Seth had committed income tax fraud! Why hadn’t I thought about getting some mileage out of that before? I asked myself. A person could even go to jail for committing such a crime. That was the main reason I always told the truth every year, when I filled out my own forms. For a smart man, Seth was as stupid and naive as hell! Obviously, he had not given much thought to his actions during the years he’d spent with me. In that folder I had enough incriminating evidence against him that I could fuck up his life as much as I wanted to.
I took my time composing a carefully worded letter to the IRS, and I left no stone unturned. I explained in great detail how Seth had written off thousands of dollars’ worth of expenses that he had not incurred for office supplies, long distance phone calls, and FedEx, and had taken numerous other itemized deductions to which he hadn’t been entitled. He had even claimed lavish meals that his clients had paid for. There were even a few that I had paid for! I included information about the bogus donations to various charities that he had claimed, and about his gambling wins and losses. I didn’t sign the letter, and I was not even sure it would get to the right person and be taken seriously. Normally, I would never have turned somebody in for a crime they’d committed unless it was particularly heinous, such as murder or child abuse. But there were exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. I knew it was a sneaky and mean thing to do, but that was what revenge was all about. However, I didn’t want any of my friends t
o know, because I didn’t want them to know just how obsessed I had become with torturing Seth.
I had no idea how the IRS handled cases that involved fraud. Even if they investigated Seth, I would have no way of knowing. But that didn’t matter to me.
I made a copy of the letter to keep in my file, and I put the original in my purse so I could mail it on my way to work the next morning.
Chapter 55
Seth
DARLA AND I OCCUPIED THE COUCH IN OUR COZY LIVING ROOM, but the same room would feel more like a tomb in a few moments. We were watching an old Denzel Washington movie on Channel Two. During a commercial break, I turned to her and casually dropped a major bombshell. “Baby, um, my son is coming to live with us.”
They said that the Devil came in many forms. One was the form of an angry black woman. Darla immediately got so enraged, her eyes looked like two black rocks that somebody had glued to her face. “What the hell do you mean, your son is coming to live with us?” she shrieked, with hot spit shooting out of her mouth onto my face. “Negro, have you lost your fucking mind? That boy belongs in a jungle!”
I didn’t know how I was able to keep my voice calm without the aid of a stiff drink, which I wished I had had before I’d said anything about Darnell. I wiped my face with the back of my hand. “Baby, the boy’s mama can’t control him. He’s involved with gangs, he’s not going to school, and he’s running wild in every other way.”
“And what are you supposed to do?”
“I have to at least try to turn him around. He’s my son, and I love him. I’ve always wanted to have him with me more, anyway. I told you that from the get-go.”
“What about Gayle? She’s just a toddler, and having a bad influence like Darnell in her life is not what she needs.”
“So what do you want me to do? Ignore my child when I might be the only hope he has?”
“All right! You do what you have to do!” Darla threw her arms up in the air, jumped up off the couch, and stormed out of the room, cussing.
