Chapter 9
Friday morning, James was awakened to banging on the door.
“James, are you in there?”
He lazily sat up on the sofa. It took him a moment to figure out where he was. He looked around and wondered what he was doing in the living room. The banging on the door got louder.
“James, open up, man.”
He looked at the door and frowned. “Alex?”
“Yeah, man; open the door.”
James slowly stood and staggered to the door. He opened it and saw Alexander standing in the hallway. “What are you doing here?”
Alexander saw that James appeared to be lethargic and bewildered. “Man, what's up with you? Now I know why you didn't wanna carpool with me today. You weren't coming in to the precinct at all, were you? Do you know that it's eleven o'clock? Roll call was four hours ago. And why are you answering the door in your drawers?”
James looked down at his attire then looked at Alexander through sleepy eyes. “Man, I honestly don't know.”
“You look like crap.”
“I feel like it too. Come on in.”
James stepped aside and Alexander walked into the apartment. Alexander sat down on the sofa. James stood by the door with one hand on his waist and the other on his chin, looking up at the ceiling as though he was trying to figure out something.
Alexander followed James' gaze but didn't see anything. “What are you looking up there for?”
He looked at Alexander. “I was getting ready to do something, but I forgot what it was.”
Alexander saw that James was behaving erratically. “Are you high, partner?”
“Why would you ask me something like that?”
“Because you look high.”
James looked up at the ceiling again. “What was I getting ready to do?”
“How about get dressed and save your job? You're AWOL.”
“What time is it?”
Alexander looked at him like he was insane. “Didn't you hear me say that it's eleven
A.M
.?”
James looked at Alexander in shock. “It's eleven o'clock?”
Alexander got up and stood in front of James. “We're partners, man, and we've had each other's back for a long time. Talk to me. Why are you trippin'? Did you smoke a little something last night?”
“Alex, get out of my face. I must have jetlag or something.”
“Or something is more like it.”
James looked at the ceiling a third time. “I feel like I need to do something, but I don't know what it is.”
Alexander worked his hands like he was doing sign language and spoke. “You need to go to work. Get dressed and let's go.”
James left Alexander alone in the living room while he went to get dressed. Clearly James wasn't himself this morning. Alexander sat on the sofa again and glanced around James living room for drug paraphernalia. There had to be a reason James was acting abnormal.
An hour later, James and Alexander walked into the precinct and instead of going to his desk, Alexander went toward the stairs.
“Where are you going, Alex?” James asked.
“Downstairs to see if any of the marijuana is missing from evidence; 'cause you're trippin'.” Alexander continued his plight.
Before James could say anything else, Captain Murphy was in his face.
“Good morning, Cap,” James greeted.
“You mean afternoon, don't you, Detective?,” Captain Murphy asked, scanning James from his head to his shoes. “So, you decided to come to work, huh? Why weren't you at roll call this morning?”
“Well, see, what had happened was, uh, this morning, I mean last night, the storm knocked the power out and my alarm clock didn't ring.”
“What storm?”
“You know, the storm, that big storm, uh, ... it didn't storm in your neighborhood?”
“No, it didn't,” Captain Murphy answered looking deep into James' eyes.
“Oh.” James searched his brain for another convincing lie. “Well, uh, a squirrel or a raccoon or a possum or a cat, something got tangled up in the power lines outside my apartment. When that happens, the power goes out and then my alarm clock doesn't ring.”
Captain Murphy gave James a look to let him know he didn't believe either lie he had just told. Just then, a female officer called the Captain's name. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for her to wait a minute then brought his attention back to James. “You better be glad I'm in a hurry, Detective.”
“You have no idea how glad I am, sir.”
“Don't play with me, Bradley. I ain't in the mood. I'll have your badge.”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked at James' neck. “Where's your tie?”
James felt for a tie that wasn't there and could have kicked himself. “Uh, see, what had happened was, it was dark in my closet because someone ran into the light pole outside and knocked the power out and I couldn't findâ”
“Cut the crap, Bradley, and find that no good partner of yours and get over to the crime scene on Logo Street.”
Captain Murphy walked away and James let out a loud sigh just as Alexander was coming up the stairs from the evidence room.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” James asked him.
“Yeah, it's all there and you better be glad too.”
“What do you mean I better be glad?”
“You're on something, James, and I'm gonna find out what it is.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“I saw Cap walk up to you. What was he talkin' about?”
“The same thing he's always talking; a bunch of ying yang. Come on, we gotta get over to Logo Street.”
“Why?”
“Because someone's lying dead on it.”
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Early afternoon, Amaryllis stood at the counter at the Photo Mart. “Can this film be developed today?”
“Sure, it'll be ready after six
P.M
.,” answered the store clerk.
“Is that special still on, the one that allows you to make an eight by ten puzzle from any picture?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Great. I want the first photograph made into a puzzle.”
Back at the law firm, Amaryllis was sitting behind her desk when James and Alexander stepped off the elevator. James walked past Amaryllis without speaking, and headed straight into Michelle's office. She watched James shut the door behind him. She looked up at Alexander smiling at her.
Who is this clown?
she thought.
As if Alexander heard her thought, he extended his hand toward Amaryllis. “Hi, I'm Alexander Moore; James' partner.”
Amaryllis took his hand and shook it. “Hi, I'm Amaryllis. Michelle's sister.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you. Michelle mentioned that she had a sister and I've been wanting to meet you.”
Amaryllis was not impressed. Alexander's presence was irritating her. Because of him, she couldn't eavesdrop on Michelle and James' conversation. “Is that so?”
“Yes. And you are as beautiful as Michelle said you were.”
Tell me something I don't know.
“Thank you, Alexander.”
He smiled. “My friends call me Alex.”
“Thank you, Alexander. So, what's up with your partner?”
It didn't go over Alexander's head that Amaryllis repeated his full name. Evidently, she didn't want to be his friend. “What do you mean?”
“He walked right by me without speaking.”
“For some reason, James has been out of it today. Don't pay him any attention. If you asked him what his name was, he wouldn't be able to tell you.”
“Oh, well if you'll excuse me, I've got to get to the file room.”
Amaryllis stood and walked past Alexander. He waited for her to disappear from his view before he knocked on Michelle's door. He peeped his head in and saw James and Michelle sitting across from one another. “Is it safe to come in?”
Michelle looked at him and smiled. “Of course, Alex. Come on in,” she said.
He walked in and shut the door behind him. “I just met your sister and she's greatâbeautiful, too.”
James didn't say anything. He looked at Alexander as he came and sat next to him.
“So, you're digging my little sister, huh?” Michelle asked Alexander.
James thought to himself,
You're digging yourself into a grave.
“Yeah, she's cool. And she's even prettier than I pictured,” Alexander answered.
“Oh, yeah; Amaryllis is absolutely gorgeous,” Michelle stated.
Amaryllis may be beautiful on the outside, but to James, her inner person was very ugly. “You're the gorgeous one, Mickey,” he stated.
Alexander turned to James. “You've gotta admit they can pass for twins. A yellow beauty and a brown beauty.
Michelle chuckled. “Everyone tells us that. When I look in the mirror, I see Amaryllis' face.”
“She's got your smile, your hair, your face and you two are built exactly the same. You even have the same voice,” Alexander described.
James had come to visit with Michelle, not to sit and compare her with her evil sister. “Well, I don't see any resemblance at all.”
Alexander begged to differ. “Man, you're crazy. They're identical.”
James was getting madder by the moment. “They're not identical, Alex. They're years apart.” James spoke with authority and it caught both Michelle and Alexander's attention.
In the year they'd been dating, Michelle had never heard him speak in that tone. “Is something bothering you, sweetie?”
Before James could answer her, the telephone rang. By the fourth ring, Michelle pressed the intercom button. “Amaryllis, could you get that please?”
Alexander leaned forward. “She went to the file room.”
On the fifth ring, Michelle answered. “Price & Associates, Michelle speaking. Hey, Jodie; what's up, girl?”
While Michelle was talking on the telephone, Alexander glanced at James. “What's up with you, man? You've been trippin' all day.”
“Nothing,” James replied coldly.
Michelle was half listening to Jodie and half listening to James and Alexander. “Thanks, Jodie, I'll run it by James and get back to you.”
She hung up the telephone and looked across the desk at James. “You feel like celebrating a two-year-old's birthday this evening?”
James would rather spend his Friday evening the way he always didâin Michelle's den watching a football game with her asleep in his arms. “Whatever you wanna do, Mickey, I don't care.”
He was highly upset. Michelle knew it, and so did Alexander. Alexander saw the way Michelle was looking at his friend and knew that she wanted to question him about his mood. He excused himself from Michelle's office. “Uh, I'm gonna go to the bathroom.”
When Alexander closed the door behind him, Michelle saw that James had his eyes fixed on something across the office. “You wanna talk about it?,” she asked.
“What's to talk about?” he shrugged.
“Whatever's got you in this funky mood.”
He looked at her. “Mickey, I'm sorry. I was extremely late for work this morning and don't understand how.”
“You overslept?”
“I over, overslept. I missed roll call.”
“On the phone last night, you said that you were tired. It's normal to oversleep every now and then.”
“It's not just that. I feel kinda out of it. Like the day is passing me by and I can't catch up to it.”
“Well, you have been putting in a lot of hours lately. Why don't you cut back?”
“Maybe you're right. I haven't been getting enough sleep.”
“When was your last physical? Maybe it's time for a checkup.”
“It's been a while since I've seen my doctor. On Monday morning, I'll make an appointment.”
“Are you and Alex done for the day?”
James leaned back in his chair and unbuttoned his top button. “Yeah, we're on our way home.”
“When you get home, take two aspirin and go to bed. Call me in the morning.”
“What are you going to do tonight?”