After All (20 page)

“
Shantae is right, Chelle.
You can't talk the man's kinfolk down and expect everything to be
fine between you. You gotta learn to curb that mouth of yours,”
Laree said.

“
What you're saying is I
have to grin and pretend. Even when I know his uncle is up to the
same old crooked tricks.”Michelle lowered her voice.

“
Who appointed you district
attorney? If the man is up to no good, he'll eventually pay for
it.” Shantae wiped her mouth daintily with a paper
napkin.

“
The bottom line is we're
poison for each other. Far as I'm concerned it's good riddance to
him and his crooked uncle. ”Michelle stuffed her mouth with
cornbread.

“
So you can live happily
ever after without Anthony? Girl, pu-leeze.” Laree shook her
head.

“
That's right. I've been
doing it.” Michelle swallowed only to load her mouth with
cabbage.

“
Yeah, sure. For the past
six years you didn't find any man good enough. Don't even tell me
about Dosu.” Shantae held up a hand when Michelle began to protest.
“You treat him more like a brother than anything else.”

“
Oh no. We're about to have
company.” Laree grimaced watching the three men
approach.

“
You ladies doin' all right
this evening?” The man in the gray jacket smiled. He made a show of
adjusting his sleeves revealing a gold watch and diamond
ring.

“
Okay,” Shantae mumbled. She
didn't look up from her plate.

“
We'd like to pick up the
check for you. Why don't you join us over in the lounge area. Such
lovely ladies should be pampered and complimented.” Gray jacket
gave Laree an exaggerated wink.

“
That's nice of you.” Laree
gave him a fleeting smile that faded as Michelle scowled at
her.

“
We have to be somewhere
soon. We can't stay.” Michelle spoke quickly.

“
I'm Fred Dorsey. You can
call me Freddy D. The D is for dynamite lover.” He leaned close to
Shantae. His friends hovered at his shoulder leering at them. “What
do you say, glorious Nubian queen? Why don't I give you a call so
we can get to know each other better.”

“
Sure, baby.” Shantae
scoured him with a contemptuous glance. “Just dial
1-800-GET-LOST.”

“
Be like that. It's your
loss.” His cocky grin evaporated. He and his pals sauntered back to
the bar with wounded dignity.

“
Men,” Michelle snarled
watching them.”See what I mean?”

“
You can't compare Anthony
to... that.” Laree looked at the men with a sour expression. They
were trying to pick up other ladies with no more
success.

“
For sure. And you know damn
well you miss the man.” Shantae shook a finger at
Michelle.

“
Why did you have to say
anything about his uncle? You could have let it pass and not hurt
Anthony's feelings,” Laree said.

“
It came out before I knew
it. But it's still how I feel,” Michelle grumbled.

“
Because you couldn't keep
quiet, you've both been miserable for the last three days.” Shantae
took a bite of fried catfish. “That's a cryin' shame.”

“
Yeah, I can see how upset
you are.” Michelle watched her take a long drink of
cola.

Shantae ignored her dig. “Cedric says
Anthony has been walking around with his chin on his chest. You
were wrong on this one. Call the man and apologize.”

“
She's right, Chelle.” Laree
folded her arms.

“
You her echo or something?”
Michelle put down her fork. “I guess I did say more than I should
have under the circumstances,” she grudgingly admitted.

“
Call him.” Shantae stared
at her and pointed Michelle’s cell phone at the same
time.

“
I’m not through eating,”
Michelle said.

“
Here you go.” Laree pulled
the cell phone from outside pocket of Michelle’s purse “Do
it.”

Michelle started to back out of
calling, but her friends shook their heads slowly and pointed at
the phone. She stood holding it for several seconds before
dialing.

***

Anthony eagerly accepted Michelle's
invitation to her apartment when she called him. After an awkward
fifteen minutes, they were in each other’s arms.

“
It was my fault. I don't
like how your uncle operates but I shouldn't make put him down to
you.” Michelle rested her head on Anthony's shoulder . “I didn't
stick to our agreement.”

“
And I should know better
than to get so defensive any time you criticize Uncle Ike.”Anthony
took a deep breath. “I know he's no angel.”

“
Anthony, He really hasn't
kept up repairs the way he should. It's not something I'm inventing
to get back at him.” Michelle peered up at him. She was nervous at
the effect her words would have on him.

“
Look, report what you see,
babe. Just don't be so quick to assume Uncle Ike has malicious
intent. He cuts corners to make a buck, but he's not a
crook.”

“
Maybe so,” Michelle said in
a weak voice. She felt torn.

There was no question of her duty to
get the facts. Yet she wanted to protect Anthony from the pain of
learning his Uncle's true nature. Though communicating was her job,
Michelle could not find the words to tell him she suspected Ike of
much more than skimping on repairs.

“
I'm just glad we got
through this.”

“
So am I.” Michelle rested
her head against his broad chest. She fought to silence the
troubling voice that told her worse would come.

“
I want you back in my life
to stay,” Anthony said, his voice soft yet fervent.

“
At least this time we
talked it out,” Michelle said.

“
Yeah, and we cut the time
lapse down from six years to four days.”Anthony laughed softly.”But
the best part of breaking up is making up.” Lifting her face, he
covered it with tiny kisses.

Michelle pulled away only to take his
hand and lead him to her bedroom. Somehow she would hold on to him,
Michelle swore to herself. She must find a way.

***

“
Congratulations! Weekend
co-anchor.” Gracie hugged her. “I knew it could happen.”

“
It hasn't happened yet. I'm
just filling in until they decide on Nancy's permanent
replacement.” Michelle wore a happy smile despite her
words.

“
You've got the inside
track. Don't worry, it'll become permanent soon.” Gracie placed a
cup of coffee in front of her.

“
It would be the best of all
possible worlds. I'm not ready to give up reporting. This way I can
do both.” Michelle leaned back and took a sip of coffee.

“
Still going after that
Housing Authority story?”

“
It's going to be good,
Gracie.” Michelle's eyes gleamed with the excitement. “The best
work I've done yet. I've got invoices on repairs that were never
done but paid for and great interviews with tenants. The big finish
will be an exclusive interview with Earl's friend from
HUD.”

“
When will you
start?”

“
Not until the first of next
month at least.”

“
That won't give them a very
Merry Christmas. What about Anthony?” Gracie peered at her over the
rim of her coffee mug.

“
He'll understand.” Michelle
felt little confidence in her words.

“
Sure about that? You didn't
speak to each other for years because of his uncle.”

“
Anthony loves his uncle,
but he doesn't approve of how he operates. He told me
so.”

“
Saying it is one thing. But
watching you trash his uncle on the news for the whole city to see
could put a serious strain on your relationship.”

“
What do you suggest I do?
Back off? I can't do that, Gracie. Not even for Anthony.” Michelle
sighed.

“
I'm not saying you should.
Maybe you could give the story to someone else.” Gracie looked
down.

“
Forget it! I've put in long
hours on this story. I'm not handing it to anybody on a silver
platter.”Michelle put her mug down with a loud thud.

“
I thought you'd say that.”
Gracie nodded at her and leaned forward. “Look hon, I've lost
friends and lovers when I refused to back off from stories. For a
while I seriously considered giving up this career and selling real
estate. But you know what? I found out that true friends stick by
you no matter what. As for the lovers, well let's just say I didn't
lose much.”

“
But what if Hal could get
hurt? What if it your marriage was on the line?” Michelle looked at
her closely.

“
I don't know. I'd like to
think I wouldn't compromise my principals or ethics and that Hal
wouldn't ask me to. But I just don't know.” She turned and began
writing.

Michelle stared morosely at the
computer monitor filled with words. This should be the best time of
her life. Not only was she working on the story that could
establish her as one of the best investigative reporters in this
region, but she had a shot at landing her dream job. Once she had
been so sure of her goal. For years thoughts of making Ike Batiste
pay for what he had done to her family had consumed her. Michelle
had watched as her father battled to restore his reputation and
business while Ike Batiste flourished. Her parents grew farther
apart until the contempt and bitterness became a thick wall between
them.

The reason journalism had attracted her
was the possibility of exposing men like Batiste. Though she worked
briefly at a small public access station in Dallas, Michelle had
every intention of finding her way back to Baton Rouge. And when
she got a chance at a job, even at a radio station, she did not
hesitate to come home. Until now Michelle had only done a couple of
stories that were mere nuisances to Batiste. But in this report she
had the means to tear him down. Revenge. She had always imagined
how thrilling it would be. Now she felt as though the story was a
grenade she held in her hand. The damage from the explosion could
take her and Anthony down, too.

A word on the screen caught her eye.
Hope. That's what Batiste, Charlotte Kinchen, and all those milking
the system were denying LaWanda and her children. No matter what
her original motives, backing away now would betray them. The image
of little Relondo playing near a broken electrical outlet jarred
her into action. Michelle began to edit the text of her first
report.

***

Dominic climbed into the passenger seat
of Buster's fancy black pick-up truck. He sank into the plush
upholstery and gazed around the large well appointed cab in
admiration.

“
Like it? Yeah, top of the
line.”Buster paused

before getting in to stamp dirt from
his boots. “We gonna make a stop over to the Housing Authority. We
do a little business with them, too. Fact, since you been doin' so
good, I may just let you start handlin' it.”

“
I appreciate what you've
done for me, Mr. Wilson.”

“
Call me Buster, son. Look
here, for the past three weeks you been the best employee I had
since I started this business. Keep this up and you gonna get
yourself promoted.” Buster clapped Dominic's knee.

“
Thanks.”Dominic beamed
proudly.”What exactly do we do for the Housing
Authority?”

“
We got a contract to do
some plumbing repairs for three projects. You know I was a master
plumber myself for years. I got two crews, four men, that I use.
Here we go.”

Buster parked along a crowded downtown
street and led the way to a four story brick building near the
complex that housed city government offices. He was greeted warmly
by several men dressed in city parish work uniforms as they entered
the large lobby of the building.

“
Hey, T'aneka. How's it
goin' sweet thing?”Buster perched on the secretary's
desk.

“
Fine, Mr. Wilson.” T'aneka
did not return his smile.

“
Now what I told you 'bout
that Mr. Wilson stuff. You call me Buster, baby.”Dropping his voice
he leaned over her typewriter.

“
Miz Kinchen stepped out for
a minute.” T'aneka pushed her chair back from the desk.

“
I'm gone look up old Lonnie
then if he's here.”Buster stood.

“
He just went back to his
office.” T'aneka began to type a letter.

“
Wait for me, Dominic. I'll
be back in a minute.”He winked at the young woman before swaggering
down the hall.

“
You work for him?” T'aneka
jabbed a thumb in the direction Buster had gone.

“
Almost a month now. How
long have you worked here?”

“
Well, I started when I was
still in high school. One of them programs to give kids summer
jobs, you know. Then when I graduated Miz Conrad, she was here
before Miz Kinchen, offered me a permanent job. It's okay.” T'aneka
tone lacked enthusiasm.

“
It's obvious you don't like
it that much.” Dominic sat in the metal chair closest to her
desk.