Chapter 17
Ashley
Lie to Me
I was sitting in my office finishing up making notes from a session I had with the city family I was working with to get to root of some of their problems. I wasn’t a counselor per se. I was an in-between: a family’s free resource before professional therapy. The problems that these people faced were no different from the families who lived in the suburban area. They dealt with them differently though. It made me think about my past and some of the things that my family made it through. Both families were making strides in their relationships with each other but there was still a ways to go. I was going to recommend each of the family members seek individual counseling as soon as they finished their time with me. Each family got recommended to this agency through social services and they were allotted ten sessions in a three-month period. I had a caseload of about five at the moment. Most were being recommended to go on to professional counseling services.
I was tired after this long day. All I wanted to do was get something to eat and make my way home. I had a great weekend, spending it with Jasmine on Saturday and then with Troy on Sunday.
Troy and I took a trip to the Baltimore National Aquarium. It was a great way to get to be with each other and have a good time. We walked hand-in-hand and even took a few pictures of each other.
“Wow.” I shook my head in amazement as I gathered my things and made my exit from my office. I was never really the lovey-dovey type and here I was in a relationship and I was behaving myself.
I exited my office and said good-bye to a few other associates in the office and then left the building. I walked across the parking lot to my car with a smile on my face. As soon as I hopped in my car my phone began to ring. It was Jasmine.
“Hello,” I answered with my Bluetooth.
“Hey, girl, what are you doing?” she asked. She sounded happier than normal.
“I just got off of work,” I said as I started my car and then pulled out of my parking spot. “Why, what’s up?”
“I have some news for you,” she said with excitement.
“Girl, what?” I inquired with the same amount of excitement.
“I can’t tell you over the phone. This is some face-to-face news.”
“Okay, where we going to meet up at?” I asked.
“Meet me at our spot.”
“Okay, I’ll see you shortly,” I said and then hung up the call.
It didn’t take me long to get to where we were going to meet up. I parked my car and hopped out on a mission.
I walked through the doors of the Famous Dave’s in Owings Mills when the memories of my past floated into my mind. I met but didn’t meet the man who fathered me here in this restaurant so long ago. It was a very brief encounter, but I remembered it well. My mother and father said he was a real pistol. A bad boy to the core, but with a heart buried deep within. I encountered some of that same hotheadedness in some of my own endeavors. But look at me now. I had his blood in me, but it was only half of me. I was now tapping into the loving and passionate side about me.
“Hey, girl,” Jasmine called out as she saw me coming in and made her way from over in the waiting area to the left. I looked at her in her scrubs and remembered how unstable she was in high school. She was as wild as I was. I guessed it was true that you attract those like you. Look at us now, both stable ladies in life.
“Hey, Jazz.” I greeted her with a tight hug. We walked to the podium and were seated immediately. There weren’t many people here because it was a Monday. I was waiting for her to spill the news. I was bubbling with curiosity. “So, girl, what is this news you have for me?” I looked at her intently. We were interrupted by the waitress popping up at the table. It didn’t take me long to order what I wanted, because I always ordered the same thing. Jasmine, on the other hand, was taking a few minutes too long for me.
“Girl, hurry up so we can talk. The pigs in the back about to come back to life and get the hell out of here.” I laughed trying to hurry her up. She took the push and ordered her meal.
As soon as the waitress walked away I looked at her and waited.
“Okay, so you ready?” she said in a teasing manner.
“Jasmine.” I looked at her with a fake attitude.
“Okay.” She smiled hard. “I’m pregnant.”
“What!” I belted out louder than normal. I quickly covered my mouth, but it was too late. A few heads had already turned in our direction.
“I know right.” She continued to smile. “I’m still shocked about it too.”
“Shocked. Girl, I’m mystified.” I looked at her with curiosity. “Who and when?”
“Well, I can’t say anything about the ‘who’ because I haven’t told him yet. And we have been involved with each other for a while now. We have been getting very close over time and, well, now we are closer than ever.”
“Damn, Jazz, you’ve been holding out on me.” I smiled even though I was slightly disappointed that she kept this from me. It was her life so I had to respect her and her choices.
“I know. I was dying to tell you but I had to hold out until I was sure.” She gave me an apologetic look.
“Girl, it’s all right. I’m so excited for you.” I felt a tear threatening to fall. I quickly wiped it away. These tears and vulnerability were getting the best of me.
“I’m so happy that you are happy for me.” She started crying too. I couldn’t believe that we were two crying fools here in the middle of this restaurant.
“Jazz, are you going to go and tell your mom about this?” I inquired.
The look on her face was of pure shock. You would have thought I had said a bad word or something.
“I don’t know.” She looked away from me for a moment. Her mother had a lot of mental instability. She had taken her husband’s life right after we graduated from high school. Jasmine was a daddy’s girl. I knew it rocked her world, but she rarely talked about it. I couldn’t remember a time that I saw her cry about it. But maybe she was a private person with her emotions. “She might not even know who the hell I am.” She frowned up her face.
“Jazz, I think it would be a good chance to go see her. Maybe she would understand.” I tried my best to sound optimistic. Truth was, I was told that her mother was heavily medicated and most of the time she was in a drone-like state. At least that was what Jasmine told me.
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “It will be something that I have to think about.”
“I understand.” I nodded my head in agreement. “I can go with you if that will make you feel better?”
“Well, if I do decide to go then I will need someone to go with me.” She smiled. I was glad that she was even thinking about it.
Our food was delivered moments later. We ate and laughed and went over possible baby names for the baby growing in her belly.
Afterward we hugged and went our separate ways.
I hopped in my car and began my journey home. My phone began to ring and I answered, “Hello.”
“Ash, I need you to stop by the house as soon as possible. It’s important,” my mother requested and then hung up in my ear. Her tone wasn’t normal, so I pushed the pedal to the metal and got going.
Chapter 18
Alex
Backup
I walked into my office this fine Monday morning still a little drained from Saturday night. I didn’t even leave the house on Sunday. I was completely out of it. I couldn’t recall anything that happened after Jasmine told me that she saw my girl—and I used that term loosely because apparently she was loose—go into the men’s bathroom with another guy. I couldn’t say I was really shocked but that was a down low and dirty move, since she had given me some head before we left my house. I mean really talk about a busy broad. She definitely got the slob that knob VIP award.
Anyway, a brother still was dragging. You would have thought that I got some ass that night, too. I mean I woke up in my boxers on and my pants on the floor. I was baffled at the fact that I had some dried-up cum on my boxers and the inside of my thigh and my dick was as well. I remembered Jasmine helping me in the house and into my bedroom. I vaguely remembered her telling me she was going to undress me and leave, but after that it was all a blank for me.
“I have to stop drinking like that. I could’ve been fucked by a dude and never even knew about it.” I shook my head in disappointment.
It wasn’t long before I started my day and got some work done. I had to go over some contracts and get some calls in so I got a few clients some endorsements. I wanted to upgrade my car and possibly my living situation. I wasn’t strapped for money but I wanted to have a little more than I had at the moment. The more money they made the more I made and the agency as well.
A few hours later there was a knock on my door. “Come in,” I called out.
Lance came into my office with an even more sorrowful look than the last time he was in my office. He looked like he was at death’s door. I’d never seen him look so worn for wear. His clothes were mismatched and he had a nappy head. This brother surely didn’t know how to hide his problems.
“How’s it going?” I smiled as I reached my hand across my desk to shake his as he sat down. I knew the situation, but I didn’t want to add to his misery by going right in on it.
“Man, I might as well pack my shit up now and get on the next train to my momma’s house. This dude is going for the jugular with this extortion business. He wants three million dollars from me to keep quiet and he’s giving me three weeks to come up with it.”
I was speechless for a few moments. I was in the wrong business. I needed to be blackmailing a few folks to get ahead in this rat race called life. $3 million would set a brother up real nice right about now. I smiled unknowingly.
“Yo, Alex, what you smile for?” he asked with a confused look on his face. “This some real shit I’m in right now. I’m about to be ass out in a few. I need a solution to this mess. You talk to your father?” He scooted up in his chair and put both of his hands on the desk, waiting for an answer from me.
“I’m sorry about that. I was thinking about this weekend,” I lied. “I have not talked to my father about this yet, because I had another plan.”
“And what plan was that?” He looked at me with hope in his eyes.
“Well, I was going to call in a friend for a favor, but I can’t tell you anything about it. I want you to be knowledge-free if it should go awry.”
“So what am I supposed to do while you working this out?”
“I need you to go home, take a bath.” I looked at him and frowned, hinting at his present appearance. “And I need you to act as normal as you possibly can. You can’t let people see you frazzled, like the way you are looking right now.”
“I know, man.” He looked ashamed. “I didn’t know how to deal with this. I mean my wife is asking questions about why I am so quiet and the slightest noise rattles me. I mean, man, this is some serious shit. I am leaving this sex-crazy shit alone.”
“I truly hope so, because when you get out of this it will be a memory and feeling that should make you keep yourself in the house for good.”
“True that.” He nodded his head.
“Listen, I need you to forward me all of the texts and videos that dude sent you so I can get someone to analyze it for me. We are going to get you out of this mess for sure.” I smiled as hard as I could, hoping that he would retain some of the positive vibes I was sending his way.
“Well, I have to get busy on this and I need you to get busy on your part. I will call you with updates,” I said getting up and walking around my desk. I shook his hand and pulled him in for a slight embrace. It was to reassure him that I was on his side. I did have a hint of a plan in the back of my own mind on how to get paid out of this situation as well. I mean this was a service I was doing for him on the side. Why not get paid on the side as well?
I let fifteen minutes go by before I reached for my phone and dialed the number I was looking for. It was an old friend and I had not spoken to him in a few so right now was as good a time as ever.
The phone rang a few times before he picked up.
“Wassup, Wallace.” I leaned back in my chair. I smiled because the memories of the times we had in California flooded back into my mind. Some were good and some were not so good. But we made it through it all. We all were the better for all that we went through. “Long time no hear.” I laughed.
“Hey, wassup, Lex. How’s it going back there in Baltimore? You and Ashley staying out of trouble?” He laughed a little.
“Man, I can say that life is problem free right now,” I boasted.
“That’s good to hear. How are your parents and the rest of the crew?” he inquired.
“Wallace, they are all doing great. Everyone is doing wonderful.”
“So to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
I laughed before I answered, “I see you are still right to the point with things.”
“Well, it was the tone of your voice that gave you away.”
“Really?” I wondered.
“Yep.”
“Okay, here’s the problem. One of my clients ran into a problem and I need to get your assistance on it.”
“Cool, what you need?” he asked. I loved the fact that he didn’t interrogate me on the ins and outs of the matter. That was a friend for you.
“Well, I don’t have all the details yet, but as soon as I do I will get back up with you. I was calling you to give you a heads-up.”
“Great. I will be ready to help as best I can when I get the call. I have to take care of some business with the restaurant so I have to get off of this phone. Love you, young soldier. Until next time.”
“Until next time,” I said as I hung up the phone.
As weird as our relationship was in the beginning, you know, finding out about him and my biological father being lovers and the rest of the mess that we went through because of it, I was amazed that it all worked out and we remained friends to this day. He was actually one of my closest friends even though he lived clear across the country. He was only a phone call away. It was nice to have true friendship.
I made some more business calls and then sent the videos and text messages to a friend of mine to get them analyzed and then went to lunch.
My day went pretty smooth after lunch and now I was headed out of my office when my telephone began to vibrate. It was my father.
“Son, I need you home ASAP. I’ll explain when you get here.” He hung up abruptly. I tried not to wonder but I was baffled as I left my office, hopped in my car, and made my way to my parents’ house.