On the Other Side (10 page)

“Are you sure? There have never been any secrets between us.”

“It's not really a secret. There's some stuff I need to tackle on my own before I share it with everyone else.”

“Will you be at Brandon's funeral?”

“Of course I will.”

“I'm so glad to hear that. I couldn't imagine the ABC Kids without their Dee. I still can't believe we lost Brandon. All that effort he put into staying fit and exercising, running every day, and he dies because some dirt bag put a knife in his back while he was running. I hope they find that bastard and put him under the fucking prison!”

“They will,” said Damita.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Carmella, karma is real. The person who hurt Brandon will get what they deserve, one way or another.”

“You really believe that, huh?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

“Damita, would you please do me a favor?”

“What is it?”

“You know your mother is like a mother to me as well and I can't stand to see her worry so much. When you hang up with me, please promise you'll call her.”

“I will, Carmella. She must be going crazy. Before I got married, my mother and I barely went a day without talking to one another.”

“Are you ever going to tell us what's going on?”

“Of course I will.”

After ending the phone call with Carmella, Damita did exactly as she had promised.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Damita, what's going on? Carmella and I have been calling you ever since Brandon was killed. I even came by the apartment. No one answered the door and when I came back with my keys, none of them worked. I was thinking about calling the police.”

“Mom, Neal and I are working through some stuff. It's best if we deal with it alone. Okay?”

“I can understand that, but why cut everyone off? We love you and we were so worried. I didn't know what to think.”

“Mom, it's complicated. But, I promise you I'll explain everything as soon as I work through all of this.”

“I knew marrying that man was a mistake. If things have gone sour already, maybe you should cut your losses and come home. Your room is still here waiting for you.”

Damita laughed.

“Well, I'm glad to hear you still have a sense of humor.”

“It's funny to me that, after all these years, I'm still your baby girl. After college, a career as an investment banker and now a
husband, you still have my pink and white room waiting for me to move back in.”

“I told you when you were a little girl, you're my baby and you will always be my baby. You'll see when you have your own kids.”

“That's
if
I have my own kids.”

“You will. You've got a lot of love in your heart, baby girl. You've been like that since you were small. A woman like you has to share that love.”

“Are you going to Brandon's funeral tomorrow?”

“Of course I am. That boy was like a son to me. I still remember you, Brandon and Carmella making a mess of my kitchen after you got home from school. I never told you this, but I always thought Brandon would be my son-in-law one day.”

Damita wondered what her mother would think if she told her what her suspicions were. She had enough difficulty wrapping her own head around it. More than anything, she wanted to tell her that she didn't know what to do. She was afraid to leave and afraid to stay. Throughout her entire life she had always gone to her mother with her problems, but this time she was concerned that if she made the wrong move, her mother could be harmed.

“I'll see you at the funeral tomorrow, Mom, okay?”

“Okay. Do you want to go together?”

“No. I've got some things I need to take care of, so I'll meet you there.”

“Are you coming alone?”

Damita laughed again. “That's real subtle, Mom. Is that your diplomatic way of asking if Neal is coming? To answer your question, no he is not.”

As Damita hung up the phone, her nurse entered the room.

“Mrs. Westman, I don't know if your doctor mentioned this, but if you cough or take deep breaths at least every hour, it will help
keep you from getting pneumonia. Pneumonia is a big threat with broken ribs. I have some ice here to reduce the swelling and some aspirin for the pain.”

“Thank you. Oh, by the way, Florence, please call me Damita.”

“Okay, Damita. Also, it may sound odd, but when you go to sleep tonight it will probably be best if you sleep on the injured side. It will allow you to take deeper breaths.”

“Florence, I wonder if you could help me with something else.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I have a funeral to go to tomorrow and I don't want everyone focusing on me and my injuries. Can you help me to look as close to normal as possible?”

“I can fix it so no one will even know you were in a car accident.”

Every time she heard the lie out loud, a
car accident,
she was reminded of what her life had become in such a short period of time.

“I would so appreciate that.”

The next morning Florence made good on her promise and with the help of makeup, a funeral-appropriate hat, a pair of gloves and pain-killers, Damita was able to pull it off. It would be difficult for most people to tell that she had been beaten and kicked and had her ribs and fingers broken a few days earlier. Damita's mother and her best friend were not most people.

“Thanks, Florence, you did a great job,” Damita said.

“No problem.

“Florence, there's one more thing.”

“What's that?”

“I expect to be a little worn out after the funeral today. You don't need to come in tomorrow, since I'll probably sleep well into the afternoon.”

“Are you sure? Mr. Westman was adamant that I not leave your side.”

“My husband doesn't know what a quick healer I am. So, please, don't bother coming in. It wouldn't make sense.”

“Okay.”

•  •  •

Karen and Carmella were sitting together when Damita arrived at the funeral. They had saved her a seat. It was packed. Damita looked around the room and was reminded of what a great guy Brandon was. One look at the number of people who had shown up to say goodbye was a clear indication of how loved he really was.

In the middle of the services, Karen suddenly turned to her and caressed her face. She whispered in Damita's ear. “Leave him, baby. I'm not prepared to say goodbye to you, too.”

Damita looked directly at her mother. As she cried, she hoped her makeup job wouldn't be ruined, and the full extent of her injuries revealed. “I will, Mom. I will. I simply need some time to figure some things out.”

“Don't take too long.”

When Damita got home from the funeral, she was surprised to find Carmella already there waiting for her.

“Carmella, what are you doing here?” Damita asked.

“You and I need to talk.”

“How on earth did you get here before me?”

“I was on a mission. My best friend needs me.”

“I'm okay. I'm fine.”

“Sure you are. I've got a story to tell you about something that happened to me a couple of days ago. You want to hear it?”

Damita did not respond.

“I have this detective friend. His name is Derrick. Derrick and I were coming back from having dinner and he started driving a little strange. He wasn't taking the usual route back to my place, so I asked him what was going on and he told me that we were being followed. I assumed it had something to do with him and his work, but he assured me that it had nothing to do with him. So, I of course, told him there was no way it had anything to do with me. Well, Derrick was able to get the plate number of the person following us. He ran the plates. Damita, the car was registered to Neal.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You don't seem all that surprised. Did you even know Neal had a car? You never mentioned to me that he had one.”

“I knew he had a car, but he usually keeps it parked in a garage downtown. He doesn't use it often.”

“Do you have any idea why Neal would be following Derrick and me?”

“I don't know, Carmella. I didn't know it when I married him, but Neal has a drug problem. He gets real paranoid at the drop of a hat. He's also very insecure about my friends. That might have something to do with it.”

“How insecure?” Carmella asked.

“What?”

“How insecure is he? The day of your wedding, I watched Neal watching you all night. When he wasn't watching you, he was watching Brandon. The look he had on his face was one of complete hatred. I couldn't figure it out. I kept thinking he's probably possessive and Brandon was such
a cutie,
and so charming. But, it was more than that. At one point Neal's jaws were clenched so tight I thought his teeth might shatter.”

“Carmella, what's the question?”

“Neal is your husband and you love him, but is there any chance at all that you might not know him as well as you think you do? Is there a chance he had anything to do with Brandon's death? I've gone over it in my mind again and again and it doesn't make any sense. At first I thought, hey, this is New York; crime happens every day. But, then after really thinking about it, I realized Brandon's death was way too random.

“Of all the people running in Central Park, why would they choose him? If it were a robbery, do you really think they would have chosen Brandon over all the other choices available? The demographics don't make sense. So, out of all those potentially wealthy white folks out there running, they decided to hit Brandon.
Not only that, the police aren't even sure it was a robbery. There didn't appear to be anything missing. The three of us knew each other's routine inside and out. Brandon never had that much cash on him, especially when he went running.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Come on, Damita. Do you think I'm stupid? I've known you since we were little bitty things, passing notes to the boys we liked in elementary school. In all the years I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen you wear so much makeup. What did he do to you?”

Damita finally let go and broke down and cried.

“He's abusive Carmella, physically and emotionally. In a short period of time, I've seen what he's capable of. I know what I need to do. I
am
going to leave him, eventually. I need to figure out how much of what he has told me is him using fear to control me and how much of it is the absolute truth.”

“Damita, I don't understand what difference it makes? Go to the police and report his ass. Get yourself an order of protection and get the fuck out of here. Part of it may be the drugs, but you and I both know most of it is who he is. I've dabbled in my fair share of substances, and they've never caused me to be violent. The things he's doing are part of his character. The drugs only lower his inhibitions.”

“You're the one who told me that you think Neal may have followed you and your date. If that's true, don't you think I need to tread very carefully?”

“I'm not afraid of Mr. Neal Westman. So, I hope you're not worried about me. I'll get some of my boys from the hood to tighten him up real quick.”

“Wow! You can take the girl out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the girl. And yes, after what you told me, I'm worried
about you. I wish I could say all of this is ludicrous and there is no possibility that it's true, but I can't and that's what frightens me. If my husband is going around following the people in my life, he's an even greater threat than your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, abusive husband.”

“So what's the plan? You know I'm down.”

“The plan, Ms. Carmella,
Super Sleuth
, Ortiz, is for you to keep a low profile and let me handle this. For some reason, Missy, you have gotten under my husband's skin big time. So, it's best that you and I limit our interactions. Do you believe he actually accused you, me and Brandon of having a ménage a trois?”

“So I'm supposed to stay away because he's a nut job?”

“I need to figure out what I need to do. Think about it, if he's following you, is it such a reach to think that he may be keeping an eye on my mother as well?”

“Do you really think he would do anything to hurt your mother? You need to go to the police.”

“There are so many reasons that could be a problem, not the least of which is with no proof, I won't even be able to get the police to listen to a word I'm saying.”

“Show them those bruises under all that makeup and they'll listen to you.”

“You don't really believe that, do you? How many stories have you heard of women with orders of protection that ended up six feet under?”

“I know one thing; it's not going to be you.”

“I hope you're right. Carmella, I never thought I'd be that girl that would end up with broken bones and bruises. I should have listened to you and my mother. I married Neal for all the wrong reasons and I got exactly what I wanted. I wanted a powerful man and I got that.”

“Don't get it twisted, sweetie. That husband of yours ain't powerful. He's another scared little boy, inside the body of a man. If not, he wouldn't be a coward that beats women. I noticed that you're moving a little slow and you haven't taken those gloves off. What bones are broken?”

Damita took off her gloves. “He broke two of my fingers and one of my ribs.”

“That bastard! Damita, say the word and I'll have somebody break his fucking legs!”

“That won't solve anything.”

“Yes, it will.”

“What will it solve?”

“It'll make me feel better. Where is that asshole anyway?”

“He checked himself into rehab.”

“How noble of him. So, this is the part of the program where he's remorseful and wants to save the marriage?”