They grabbed her stuff, a bag in each hand, and went downstairs. Curtis was sitting on the sofa like he didn’t have a care in the world. When he saw Joy, he jumped up and walked towards her.
“Joy, listen, I wanted to say I’m so sorry. I made the arrangements for the funerals. Your grandparents bought the whole family plots before they died. I gave your mother mine, so she could be buried next to your father,” he said, so she couldn’t stop him. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” he continued when she didn’t say anything.
“Why did my father hate you?”
“I don’t know if you need to hear this, but what difference does it make? When Barbara and Michael first got married, he caught us together. We were just kissing, but that was bad enough. I was drunk and didn’t know what I was doing. I tried to explain it to him but he wanted nothing else to do with me. He didn’t believe that nothing else happened. You were about three at the time.”
“So you don’t know anything about this?” she asked, showing him the paper.
He looked at it carefully, his mouth opening in disbelief. He sat down in a chair close to where they were standing. He appeared to be more shocked than she was.
“Where did you get this?”
“Does it matter? The date on it is from around the time I was three.”
“If you think I’m your father, then you’re wrong. I told you, I never slept with your mother before recently.”
“Maybe my father’s lawyer knows what’s going on,” she said, opening the front door and walking out, with Kevin behind her.
“Joy! Joy!” she heard her uncle call after her, but she didn’t stop.
She wanted to go to Kevin’s and drop her stuff so she could go talk to the lawyer. They didn’t notice the car following closely behind them from the moment they pulled out.
Chapter Nineteen
Back at Kevin’s, Joy couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer so she laid down. Her head felt much better but she still had some pain. When she woke up, it was time for her doctor’s appointment. Kevin had to stay at the shop, but he reluctantly let Joy use his car. She had to promise not to kill anyone or bang out. Her doctor’s appointment didn’t take long. He checked her stitches, which he said were healing nicely, and gave her more pain medication.
From a pay phone, she called her father’s lawyer. He told her to come right in. Once she reached his office, she had to wait half an hour while he finished a meeting. Joy exhaled, anxious to find out how much she was going to get. Just when she was starting to become impatient, the door opened and two men walked out and towards the elevator.
“Hi, you must be Joy. Come on in,” he said, offering his hand to her.
She took his hand and he shook it lightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Greco,” she said, looking into his beautiful green eyes. His skin was creamy and clear, his jet black hair curly and wavy. He had on a three-button black pinstripe suit that had to cost a grip. It fit him just right and turned Joy on. She imagined running her hands through his hair while he licked her pussy. She shook the thought out of her head quickly. She couldn’t believe how he turned her on.
“I want to start off by saying I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s such a terrible tragedy to have to go through,” he said once they were in his office.
“Thank you,” she replied, not knowing what else to say.
“You can have a seat,” he said, walking to his filing cabinet. “I assume you’re here about your parents’ will. Correct?” he said, all business.
“Yes.”
“Hmmm,” he said as he skimmed through the document.
“What is it?”
“Well, Joy, you’re not listed in your father’s will, and as far as I know, your mother didn’t have a will.” He frowned at the papers like he was surprised.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not listed as a beneficiary. I’m sorry.”
“Who’s listed, then?”
“I’m not really supposed to tell you. It says here that everything is to be donated to cancer research.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. The house will go up for sale as well.”
Everything blurred as Joy walked out the building. She drove back to Kevin’s apartment in a complete daze. When she got there, she at first couldn’t even tell Kevin what had happened.
“Joy, I don’t know what happened, but you can get through it. Don’t let it beat you.”
She looked up at him and thought how annoying he was being. She hated it when people tried to tell you to get over it. How the fuck do they know?
Kevin laid down beside her and she moved away from him. She didn’t want to be near him right now. All she could think about was how her life was screwed; she had nothing, not even a house. Her head began to throb so she popped a pill and closed her eyes to block all her problems.
Chapter Twenty
Living with Kevin turned out to be a nightmare for Joy, as she discovered his habits. He changed as soon as he realized she had nowhere to go. He wanted Joy to do everything, provide for his every need—cook every night plus clean the kitchen, pick his clothes up off the floor wherever he stepped out of them, clean the entire apartment on Saturdays. At first she was happy to do it because he let her stay, but after three weeks he became more and more demanding.
The day after her visit to the lawyer’s office, she explained to him what had happened with the will. Kevin did little to comfort her, feeling she was spoiled and lazy for counting on something she didn’t work for. He didn’t understand that she felt the shit she had endured for 18 years entitled her to the money. She couldn’t even live in her parents’ house if she wanted to. Now here she was, three weeks later, a high school dropout and a maid.
Kevin walked into the bedroom and looked at Joy, not saying a word as he continued on to the bathroom. When she heard the shower running, she sucked her teeth. Fifteen minutes later, he came out butt naked and still dripping wet. He motioned for Joy, which she interpreted as him wanting her to pick up his stuff, so she headed to the bathroom. As she walked by, he grabbed her arm and pulled her close, then started sucking on her neck. She moaned and tried to pull away. Holding her tighter, his tongue moved towards her ear. Her moans grew deeper. Gently, he pushed her back on the bed, where he yanked her pajamas off, moved her panties to the side and slid one finger into her wetness. He looked into her eyes, turned on by the pleasure written on her face.
He added a digit and Joy began to grind on his finger, moaning out loud. Kevin moved his fingers faster and began pulling off her thong with his other hand. Never stopping the motion, he ripped it off and began to lick her clit. With her back arched it became hard for her to breathe. He hummed, creating a vibrating sensation that sent Joy over the edge. She screamed as she came, grabbing his head and pushing it into her pussy.
She exhaled, her chest heaving up and down. He removed his fingers, licking the juices off. He smiled down at her and kissed her lips. Once her breathing slowed down, she tried to move away from him.
“No you don’t. Come here.”
“Stop, Kevin.”
“What do you mean,
stop
? I see how I’ma have to do you.”
He pulled her back to him, flipped her over and entered her with enough force to make her cry out. He pumped fast, grabbing a hand full of her hair. Her head jerked back and she screamed, begging Kevin to stop. He let go and began licking her back. That sent chills through her. He stroked harder; the friction felt so good that Joy couldn’t resist moaning out loud. She met him stroke for stroke, biting down on the pillow. Kevin pulled out and collapsed on top of her.
“What the fuck was that?” Joy yelled, sitting up.
“I don’t hear nothing. You tripping.”
“No, listen.”
At first Kevin didn’t hear anything and started to laugh at Joy’s paranoia. He stopped short and got off the bed, quickly pulling on some clothes. He then went to his closet, reached for the top shelf and stopped. “Shit, I forgot.” He went to the bedroom door and opened it. “It sounds like glass breaking. Stay here.” He moved into the living room to listen, before going down to the shop, where the noise sounded like it was coming from.
Joy got up and put her pajama pants back on, then stood at the top of the stairs. Kevin looked up and motioned for her to be quiet. She began to tiptoe down the stairs after Kevin, who she could no longer see. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard yelling. When she realized that it was Kevin, she sped up to see what was happening. She didn’t see them at first, but saw broken picture fames everywhere. She followed the yelling around the counter and saw Kevin on top of somebody, choking him. She looked closer and saw that it was Joey.
“Oh my God, Joey? Kevin, let him go.” She went to him and pulled on his arm.
Kevin continued to choke him, yelling out that he was going to kill him. Joey was scratching at his arms, his face bright red and his eyes glassy.
Outside, Joy heard brakes squeal. She looked up to see three police cars.
“Freeze! Take your hands off his neck and get down on the ground.”
Joy saw ten eyes staring down at Kevin, guns pointed. She watched Kevin remove his hands slowly and lie next to Joey. One of the cops came over and cuffed him, lifting him up and taking him to the squad car. She heard an ambulance coming. Still standing there, she watched two EMTs work to revive Joey, who was unconscious. They checked his pulse, plopped him on a stretcher and drove him to the hospital.
One of the cops came over to her. She watched as he approached, becoming more nervous with each step he took. He seemed young, about 25. He was white with curly brown hair.
Cute
, Joy thought.
“Ma’am, can you tell me what happened here?”
“Um, I don’t really know. I just came down to this mess and them fighting.”
“Do you know the guy who was attacked?”
“I’m sure that Kevin didn’t attack him. He was destroying the shop.”
“Kevin? Do you know his last name? How do you know it was the victim who did this? You said that you weren’t down here.” The officer wrote Kevin’s name in his notebook.
“I have nothing else to say.”
Joy walked out to the sidewalk. Kevin was sitting in the back of the police car. He looked in her direction, staring at her for a moment before looking away when the car pulled off. The look on Kevin’s face hurt Joy to her heart. Deep down she knew what the look meant.
Chapter Twenty-one
Joy cleaned up the glass as best she could. It still looked a mess, and the door lock was busted. Not knowing what else to do, she sat on the counter. She didn’t know any of Kevin’s family, so she couldn’t call any of them. She waited. After hours of sitting there, she went back upstairs, took a quick shower and got dressed. She had some money from selling her computer after she moved the rest of her stuff out of her parents’ house. She counted it—a little under $300 left. It wasn’t enough, but it was something. She looked in the White Pages for the nearest police station, grabbed Kevin’s car keys and left.
When she arrived, she parked and jumped out of the car. At the front desk, she was ignored for 20 minutes by some sloppy looking, bald black man.
“Excuse me, sir. Hello.”
Nothing. Joy wanted to cuss him out but knew that wouldn’t get her anywhere. She continued to stand there.
“Yes, ma’am, can I help you?” he said, finally acknowledging her.
“Yes, I’m here to find out about bail for Kevin Jacobs.”
“Okay,” he said, turning to his computer and hitting some keys. “He hasn’t been arraigned yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that he hasn’t been seen by the judge, or granted bail.” With that, he turned his back on her.