Thinking about all of this, yet again, I felt like a fool. First Evelyn, now Paula. I was starting to feel as if Cedric dying wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.
“Mama, I know what you're over there thinking, but you may want to speed it up so that we can get to the hospital. Going twenty miles an hour, we'll never get there.”
“All of a sudden, I feel as if there is no rush. I hate to say this, but Cedric had this coming. I don't wish him bad, but you must understand how betrayed I feel. And his receptionist hasn't been the only woman. I just found out that he's been screwing Evelyn too.”
Jacoby sat quiet. He looked straight ahead then lowered his head to look at his lap.
I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. “Please tell me that you didn't know about that too. Did you know that he'd been seeing Evelyn?”
There was a crisp silence for a few seconds then Jacoby spoke up. “Yes, I knew. Found out awhile back. I confronted her about her actions too, but she didn't see things my way. I wanted to tell you but, as your son, I didn't want to see you hurt. I felt relieved about the divorce, but you kept pushing to make things work. Then there was a part of me that wanted things to work out, too, because our family means everything to me.”
I felt horrible inside. I understood how Jacoby felt, but no words could express how disgusted I was about the whole thing. Everybody had been keeping secrets from me, including my other friend, Trina, and now my own son. Something inside of me wanted to turn this car around, park it somewhere, and get the hell out of dodge.
“If you knew about Cedric's affair with Evelyn, I wish you would have said something. I always had my suspicions too, but it seems as if everyone wanted me to make a complete fool of myself. When I kept defending Cedric, all you had to do was tell me what he'd been up to.”
“I did tell you.” Jacoby raised his voice. “But you wouldn't listen, remember? I may not have been specific about Evelyn, but I told you Cedric was no good. I told you he'd been with other women, but all you did was yell at me. You told me that I was the one who needed to get my act together.”
Jacoby shut me up with the quickness. He had mentioned Cedric's cheating ways to me before, but I chose to believe him and take his word that he wasn't cheating. I apologized to Jacoby. After that, I kept my mouth shut until we got to the hospital. Meanwhile, my thoughts about Cedric weren't good.
The hospital's emergency room was jam-packed. Two young men had been shot, and their families were all over the place, having a fit and praying to God for Him to save them. A child with a broken arm stood next to his mother in tears, and as she did her best to comfort him, a man in a wheelchair rolled in complaining about chest pains. I had already asked the nurse behind the counter where Cedric was, but all she said was for me to have a seat. When I pushed, she got antsy.
“Ma'am, all I can say right now is they're working on him. Please have a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly.”
“Shortly as in a few minutes or a few hours? That's my husband back there. I would really like to know how he's doing.”
I could see the young woman's eye twitch. “I repeat, the doctor will be with you shortly. There is nothing else that I can say right now.”
I rolled my eyes and walked away. Jacoby walked next to me, and we both took seats in the waiting area. Even with a leather jacket on, I was cold. I had gotten all of my hair cut off earlier, and the short cut that I sported surely didn't keep my head warm. Jacoby kept looking at my hair, but he didn't say anything about it. I felt like a bad mother for putting him through so much. It wasn't until I reflected on all that we'd been through these last few months when I realized how much of a burden my marriage had been on our son. First, for Jacoby to learn that Cedric really wasn't his father was enough. Then for him to run around after Cedric's women, asking them to stay out of our lives, that had to be hurtful for him. All he wanted was a stable family, yet what we provided was a dysfunctional mess.
I reached over for his hand and held it with mine. “If Cedric survives this, I don't know where we go from here. But, I want you to let me handle this from now on. I know you feel as if I've been weak, and that's why you've taken things into your own hands. But I got this, trust me. Get back to your life as a teenager and try to have some fun. I don't want you to worry so much about me and Cedric, becauseâ”
“I worry, because no matter what, the two of you are still my parents. I know Cedric isn't my biological father, but he has taken good care of me and you too. He has a high sex drive, and I do believe that your lies contributed to some of this as well. But none of us are perfect, Mama. If I forgive you, I have to forgive him too.”
I swallowed and blinked to wash away my tears. “Thank you,” was all I could say.
On the inside, I was too angry to forgive Cedric right now. I was too angry about what he had put us through. Yes, he'd provided for his family, but that was what he was supposed to do. I didn't share any more of my thoughts with Jacoby. And as I'd said before, I would handle this.
Jacoby got up to get a soda from the soda machine. He also said he needed to return his girlfriend, Adrianne's, phone call. He walked away to go call her, so I reached for my cell phone to check my messages. I had five messages from Trina. She wanted to know where I was, and she sent several text messages, asking for me to call her back. I really didn't want to be bothered, but I sent her a text, telling her that I was at the hospital waiting to find out Cedric's condition. The second I put the phone back into my pocket, I saw two of the officers from earlier enter through the sliding glass doors. I turned my head, but the one I had spoken to earlier had already spotted me. He wasted no time coming up to me.
“Do you have a few minutes to talk?” he said, scratching his bald head that was full of dents.
I sighed and got up from the chair. Before walking away, I looked around for Jacoby and saw him standing next to the bathroom, talking on his cell phone.
“This will only take a few minutes,” the officer said.
I followed him into the hallway, in no mood to be questioned. Didn't they find out everything they needed to know from Rich, Jacoby, and the killer herself? This officer was barking up the wrong tree, and he had racist pig written all over that red, puffy face of his.
I eased my hands into my pockets and leaned against the wall. My blank expression alerted him that I didn't want to be bothered. “What is it that you want to ask me?” I said to the officer.
He pulled out a notepad and scanned his eyes up and down to look at it. “Are you and your husband separated or divorced?”
“Right now, I don't know what we are. But you may want to ask him that question if, or when, he comes out of this.”
“I'm asking you. Some of my sources say that the two of you are separated, and that you were angry because your husband filed for a divorce.”
My face twisted. “Of course I was angry. But are you implying that I had something to do with what happened?”
“I'm not implying anything. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this, that's all.”
“If you want to get to the bottom of this, go talk to that hoochie who was in the back seat of the police car. She can probably tell you more than I can, and please don't stop there. My husband has been screwing around with several women, so it wouldn't surprise me if they all conspired to do away with him.”
“Well, that's why I'm here. Did you pay Paula Daniels to kill your husband? I mean, she doesn't seem like the kind of woman who could pull off something like this alone.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Why couldn't you see her doing it? Because she's a white woman, and they don't do things like that? You would like to believe that I paid her to kill my husband, but if I wanted to do so, you best believe that I would've picked up the doggone gun and shot him myself. You're wasting your time, Officer. Going this route will get you nowhere with me.”
He ignored me and kept on with the questions. “Where were you today? Do you have an alibi? And just to let you know, we will be checking your phone records. If there are any conversations between you and Miss Daniels, we'll be in touch.”
“I'm not going to answer another question from you. If you want to question me further, you will do so in front of my attorney. Meanwhile, stop showing sympathy for murderers. No matter what color they are, do what you must to keep them behind bars. If not, you're the one who has to live with it, not me. Thank you, Officer. Have a nice day.”
I walked away with a mean mug on my face. How dare he go there with me? I figured he wanted someone else to go down for this, other than Miss Prissy whom he obviously felt sorry for. The more I thought about this, the more my anger took over. It got worse when I saw Trina come through the door, searching for me. I cut my eyes and moved in another direction. It wasn't long before she caught up with me down the hallway.
“Stop this, Kayla, and tell me what's going on. Did you attempt to kill Cedric?”
I turned to her and snapped. “Hell, no, I didn't, but I can think of a whole lot of people I wouldn't mind shanking right now. What do you want, Trina? Why do you keep bothering me?”
“If you didn't attempt to kill Cedric then who did?”
“It's none of your business, and if you think I did it then keep on believing that.”
“Look, you don't have to get an attitude about it. I asked you that because Jacoby told me you killed him.”
“Jacoby was mistaken. Now, tell me again why you're here?”
“I'm here because I'm your friend and you need my support. I get that you're still upset about the conversation that took place at my place earlier, but, at least, now you know the truth.”
I pursed my lips and shook my head from side to side. I couldn't help the sarcasm. “Yeah, I do. And I'm so grateful to you for telling me everything. After keeping their little secret and protecting their feelings, thank you, Trina, for all that you've done. As for you being here for me, no, you're here because Keith is still in this hospital from being stabbed by your lover, Lexi. I'm sure you can't wait to get by his side, so don't go pretending to be such a supportive friend of mine, please. I wouldn't call it a friendship, would you?”
Trina narrowed her eyes and muffled her lips. I could tell she was trying to prevent herself from going there with me.
“I saw Keith earlier, so I didn't come back here to be with him. And I'm not going to argue with you about this friendship thingy; been there, done that. When you're ready to talk, call me. I'm here for you, like I've always been. Yes, I've made some mistakes, and I should have told you about Evelyn and Cedric. But I had my reasons for not going there. Reasons that you may or may not understand.”
I wasn't the kind of woman to keep up a lot of drama, especially in a public place, but Trina needed to hear me loud and clear. “You mean, reasons that I will never understand. Now, get out of my face, Trina. I'm so done with this right now. You and Evelyn, both, can go to hell.”
“I'm too blessed to go there, but do yourself a favor and get a grip. This attitude thing ain't you, and I must say that you don't wear it well. I won't share my reasons for not telling you about your cheating husband and backstabbing friend, but I will tell you this. They have a child on the way, so be prepared for Evelyn to go after Cedric's cash. I don't know if he'll make it or not, but whatever you do, tell her that he's dead. With her believing that he is, that may change the game, if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, I'll keep my distance, yet pray that everything will work out for you.”
Trina walked away, leaving me stunned yet again. A baby? It didn't even dawn on me that the baby Evelyn was carrying was Cedric's. I thought it was her ex-boyfriend, Marc's, child. I mean, really? If I'd had a gun, I would have gone back there and made sure Cedric was dead. My anger turned into hate. I just couldn't stay there any longer.
Jacoby was still on his cell phone, talking to Adrianne. When I walked up to him, he told her to hold.
“What did the officer say?” he asked.
“Nothing important. But, uh, if you don't mind, I need to get out of here. I'm not feeling well, and being here is making me sick.”
Jacoby frowned. “What about Cedric, Mama? Don't you care about him? Don't you want to know if he'll survive? I know you're upset about all of this, but he's your husband andâ”
“And I'm his wife,” I shouted. “I am his fucking wife and that bastard cheated on me, got another woman pregnant, and had the audacity to buy another one a house! To hell with Cedric, Jacoby! If you want to stay here, please do. As for me, I'm going home! I need to get the hell out of here and go home!”
Jacoby wiped away sprinkles of my spit that landed on his face. He slowly lifted his phone and told Adrianne he'd call her back. “Then go,” he said to me. “Adrianne is on her way up here. I'll call you later to keep you posted on Cedric.”
“Don't bother,” I said, looking around at the many people staring at me as if I was crazy. It definitely wasn't my intention to put my business out there like this. I was totally embarrassed. “I'm sorry about this, but I . . . I can't do this.”
I tearfully walked away and left the hospital. While inside of my car, I rested my forehead on the steering wheel and broke down. Tears wouldn't stop falling. I held my chest, wishing that the pain inside would go away.
Why me?
I thought.
Why did all of this bad news hit me like this in one day?
I felt as if I'd lost everything. Other than Cedric, there was another person to blame. Evelyn. I had to go see her, just to look her in the eyes and give her a piece of my mind.