The Man in 3B (21 page)

The elevator door opened and I heard, “Well, well, well.” It was Daryl. That chump had the nerve to look me up and down with this irritating smile on his face. “And where are you headed looking all spiffed up?”

“Man, that ain’t none of your business. I came to see my
wife.
” I didn’t want her anymore, but I still felt the need to remind this dude that Connie was mine. “Why? You got a problem with that?”

A puzzled expression crossed his face. I’m sure he could feel what I already knew: I was not the old Avery Mack and I was not to be fucked with. “Ex-wife, isn’t it?
Wife
is not exactly an accurate term for a man who filed for divorce.”

I was not about to back down. “Yeah, well, we ain’t divorced yet, which means she’s still my wife.”

“Your wife or not, Connie is my friend. We’re close like that, so don’t be coming around here upsetting her.” He looked me up and down again like he was waiting for me to jump. Was this dude trying to bait me into a fight?

I straightened up and puffed out my chest. “You may have all these people around here thinking you’re Mr. Big and Bad, but I don’t scare so easy. Until our divorce is finalized, Connie Mack is my wife and I’ll come see her anytime I want. Don’t let me have to tell you again.”

He sucked his teeth and said, “Or what?”

“Or else it’s gon’ be my last time saying it.” I pulled my suit jacket back, revealing the piece I kept tucked in my pants. “And then I’m done talking. You feel me?”

That slowed his roll for a second. No doubt I’d caught him by surprise. “You threatening me?”

“Like I said, I’m done talking.”

Things were getting pretty tense in that hallway. It felt like
we were only a few more insults away from an all-out fight. It was probably a good thing that Connie chose that moment to open her door.

“You ready?” she asked, stepping into the hall. Her eyes went from Daryl to me as I discreetly allowed my suit jacket to fall over the gun. “What’s going on out here?”

“Nothing. Just discussing a couple things,” Daryl said, still staring me down. Then he turned to Connie. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Connie said, but the expression on her face said she understood our “discussion” wasn’t exactly friendly.

She turned to me. “Avery, what are you doing here? And don’t give me that crap about coming to see your daughter like you did last time, because she lives on the first floor, not the third.”

I could see old boy snickering, and I wanted to pull out my gun and shoot him right there. Since I couldn’t do that, I did something else that I knew would piss him off.

“I came to talk to you, if you don’t mind,” I told Connie as I walked toward her. “Can we go inside?”

“Ah, where the hell do you think you’re going?” he asked, sounding like a whiny bitch. I was about to put his ass in his place, but Connie did that for me.

She raised her index finger. “Just give me a second with him, will you, hon?” Without waiting for his response, she stepped aside to allow me into her apartment. You know I had to give old boy a grin as I walked in and closed the door in his face.

“What did you need to talk to me about?” Connie asked.

I couldn’t help but notice that the way she folded her arms across her chest made her cleavage look even bigger. When I saw her the last time, I was a little shocked to see how good she was looking; now I was every bit of amazed. She was really trimming down in all the right places.

“I came to give you something.” I reached into my jacket, pulled out the envelope, and handed it to her. “It’s the rest of the money I promised you. Plus a little more.”

She pulled the money out of the envelope and shuffled through the bills. “Oh my God, Avery. How much is this?”

“It’s thirty grand. I wouldn’t put it in the bank all at one time or the government might make you pay taxes on it,” I said, chuckling at my own little joke.

“Avery Mack, where on God’s green earth did you get this kind of money?”

“I got promoted,” I told her. I hated to lie, but what was I gonna do, tell her I was an armed robber? Eventually I’d tell her I’d started a new business with Cain, but for right now I’d go with the planned lie. “You’re looking at the new operations manager over at Sam’s Long Island warehouse.”

She raised an eyebrow and squinted at me with skepticism. “And now you can tell me the rest of the story, because this is a lot of money practically overnight.”

“They gave me a nice chunk of change as a signing bonus.”

She gave me a look that said she thought my story was bullshit. “You expect me to believe Cheap Sam’s Furniture gave you a signing bonus and a promotion?”

“It’s true.” I handed her one of the business cards Cain had printed up, but she dropped it as she took it from my hand. She bent over to pick it up, and well, I must say she was looking pretty good.

“I have to give it to you, Connie. Your ass is looking good,” I said because I hoped it would distract her from asking any more questions—and because it was true. I gave her a confident smile, the kind that used to melt her in the old days, but I swear it wasn’t on purpose. It was more like a reflex. You know, when a man sees something sexy his body automatically responds. Hell, whether or not I was divorcing her, she was still a woman, and she was looking good.

The expression on her face was not one of pleasure or surprise, but more of disbelief. “Are you coming on to me?”

“Would that be so bad? After all, we are married, and I still love you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, you should have thought about that before you decided to walk out on me.”

“You might be right, but did you ever think about the fact that my leaving is what motivated you to lose the weight?”

Connie turned away, probably because she didn’t want me to see it on her face that I was right. “Anyway,” she said, “I’ve still got about twenty pounds to lose. It’s not coming off as fast as it did when I first started, but I’m getting there.”

“Well, I’d love to help you out there,” I said seductively, taking a step closer. She tried to step back, but the entryway was a tight space. There was nowhere for her to go. “I mean, think of the workouts we could have.” I felt myself getting hard, something that Connie’s body hadn’t done to me in a long time. I tried to tell myself it was just leftover adrenaline from our last robbery, but the truth was my soon-to-be ex-wife was turning me on.

“Losing weight is not only about exercise and working out,” she said, sounding nervous. “It’s also about eating right and—”

I cut her off with a kiss. It landed on her cheek but only because she turned her head. I had tried to kiss her lips. “As far as eating right, let me take you out to dinner. I hear that new joint over on Merrick Boulevard specializes in salads and all this organic stuff.”

“And since when do you eat organic food?” she asked, leaning her body away from me.

“Like I said, I’m trying to help you out. What do you think?”

“I think it’s too little too late, Avery. I appreciate the offer, but I got all the help I need right outside that door. Now, can you give me some space?” She placed her hands on my chest.

I felt my competitive spirit rise. “Connie, that guy ain’t doing nothing but using you. Trust me. I know guys like him. After he gets what he wants, he’ll be in the wind.”

She raised a hand to cut me off. “You don’t know a thing about him.”

“No, Connie, I know everything about him. It’s you who doesn’t know anything about him—or me, for that matter. I’m not the same
old Avery.” I pressed my weight against hers as I forced our lips to meet long enough to make sure she remembered. “And I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

I stepped back, and the expression on her face told me everything I needed to know. She now understood who and what I’d become.

I’d just put on my shoes and was about to head out the door when Pop walked in looking worn down. I hadn’t seen him much the past few days because he’d been doing a lot of overtime.

“Looks like you had a long day.”

“Yep, a very long day,” he said as he flopped down into his recliner. “You going somewhere?”

“Me and Daryl are going out for a couple of drinks.”

Now he didn’t only look tired, he looked irritated. Lately it seemed like he got a funny look on his face every time I mentioned Daryl’s name. I kind of understood it, I guess, because before Daryl came around, Pop and I used to spend much more time together.

“Sit down, son.”

I wanted to tell him I was in a rush, but his tone was pretty serious, so I sat down on the couch, hoping he would make it quick. I was supposed to be over at Daryl’s fifteen minutes ago.

“I ran into Clyde tonight,” he said, and then I knew this would not be a good conversation. Clyde was my father’s cop friend who worked at the local precinct.

When Daryl and I had run into Pop on the stoop the day I got picked up for gun possession, everything seemed fine. I mean, he wasn’t exactly friendly to Daryl, but he definitely didn’t know anything about my arrest, or else he would have flipped out. Enough time had passed since then that I thought I was in the clear. But now that he was mentioning Clyde, I was pretty sure Clyde must have somehow found out and told him about the gun.

I tried to play it off. “Oh, cool. How’s Clyde?” Inside, I was shaking like a leaf.

“What the hell were you thinking about, son?” Pop said, sounding disappointed.

“Pop, I—”

He blew up. “A gun? What the fuck were you doing with a gun?”

“Look, it was all a misunderstanding. Daryl took care of it anyway, so there’s nothin’ to worry about.” I said this casually, hoping it would calm him down, but that was a mistake. It only seemed to make him madder.

“Oh, Daryl took care of it, huh? Who the fuck is he to be taking care of my son?” His voice went up a few decibels. “From now on, I don’t want you hanging out with Daryl. That guy’s bad news.”

Before I even knew what I was doing, I jumped up from the couch and yelled at my father, “You’re not going to choose my friends! I’m a grown man!”

Now it was his turn to jump up. He got right in my face. “So you’re a man now?” He laughed. “Men take care of themselves. You couldn’t take care of a goldfish if I left the food on the counter.”

I shot back with, “Why don’t you just admit what this is about, Pop? You’re jealous ’cause I’m spending time with Daryl instead of you.”

He didn’t answer, but a look flashed across his face that told me I’d struck a nerve. I kept going. Maybe it was mean, but I couldn’t help myself. I was pissed that he wanted to keep me away from Daryl.

“You wanna know why I like spending time with him? Maybe it’s the fact that you keep treating me like a kid when I’m a man! That’s the difference between you and him. He treats me like a man.”

My father stood there momentarily, his chest heaving as he glared at me. I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or if he was trying to stop himself from beating the shit out of me. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and calm. “You know what, son? I’ve lived my entire life for you. I’ve only wanted what was best for you, but maybe I’ve gone about it the wrong way. So guess what? I’m done. It’s time you started making your own way.”

“And I’m supposed to be sad about that? That’s all I’ve ever wanted was for you to let me live my own life and make my own decisions.”

In spite of the attitude I was throwing at him, he remained calm. “Fine, and while you’re living your own life, maybe you should do it somewhere else, because as long as you live under my roof, you’re gonna abide by my rules. When can I expect your stuff to be out of here?”

The look he gave me was a challenge. He knew I didn’t have anywhere to go. He also knew I didn’t have a job. I’m sure he thought that threatening to kick me out would scare me, but he was wrong. I was not going to end my friendship with Daryl, no matter what he said.

“I don’t have an exact date,” I told him, “but trust me, it’s gonna be sooner than later.”

I stormed past him and marched out the front door, making sure it slammed behind me. Had I stayed in that house with him a minute longer, I might have packed my stuff up right then and there. I needed to cool off, and I damn sure needed a drink. I headed to Daryl’s.

Under his roof I have to live by his rules. Fuck his rules,
I thought as I knocked on Daryl’s door.

“Hey, Benny, come on in.” Daryl opened the door wearing his robe, probably so that it would be easier for me to take off his ankle bracelet before we left.

I walked inside in a huff. My adrenaline had kicked into high gear. I needed to relax before I exploded. “You got any beer, man?” I didn’t even wait for him to reply before I changed my mind. “As a matter of fact, scratch that. You still got that tequila?”

“Yeah, in the kitch—”

I was already in the kitchen before he finished, going through his cupboards in search of something that could take the edge off.

“Bingo!” I found what I was looking for. Opting for a small juice glass instead of a shot glass, I filled it halfway and chugged it down as I made my way back into the living room. Daryl was watching the game on TV. With a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other, I sat down on the couch.

“Dude, are you drinking that shit straight?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.” I downed a huge gulp that damn near burned a hole in my throat. “Yeah, it’s straight,” I said with a cough.

“Benny, that’s fucking tequila. What’s wrong with you?”

“My dad, that’s what’s fucking wrong.” I took another swallow, and it didn’t go down as hard this time. “I’m so sick of his ass. He doesn’t understand…”

Daryl got up and stood over me. “Look, man, I know it’s rough being a grown man living under your father’s roof, but he is your father and you gotta respect that. Some of us don’t have a dad, Benny.”

“I know, but he doesn’t get it. He’s stuck in the Stone Age, and he wants me to be there with him, but I can’t let him hold me back anymore.”

That made Daryl laugh. “Hold you back? He may put up some roadblocks, but the man’s not holding you back. He’s your father. He puts a roof over your head, food in your belly, clothes on your back. What’s he holding you back from? I wish someone would hold me back that way.”