On the Other Side (27 page)

Constance stopped her and gave Damita the 4-1-1.

“You know me but not that well. I wouldn't mention that you're staying with me and don't forget that you are Simone Ballister and not Damita Whitmore. If you get the job we'll sit down and make sure our stories coincide. Okay?”

“Okay?”

“Now, go get it,” Constance said.

Damita was hired on the spot. It wasn't investment banking, but it was an office job and she at least didn't have to wash dishes, which
was the only job she thought she'd be able to get when she first left New York. She was a word processor in an insurance company. The repetitive work was exactly what she needed. Sitting in front of the computer, typing information over and over again was all she thought she could handle at the moment. However, she was fully aware that she now had valid identification and was free to do something else, possibly even go back to her own line of work, eventually.

Damita was anxious to find her own apartment, so whenever any overtime was available, she worked late so that she would have enough money to move.

One night Lester was excited about the two of them going to a party together and when Damita called him to tell him she wouldn't be able to make it, he was very disappointed and was sarcastic and sullen for a day or two. Even though she knew that Lester and Neal were two completely different people, she was suddenly reminded of how manipulative Neal was. She couldn't believe that she had once again found herself involved with someone who was inflexible and more than a bit selfish. After the second day of Lester responding to her with one-word answers, Damita decided it was time to lay all her cards on the table.

“Lester, I've told you all about my ex and the kind of relationship we had. He would beat me and I would go back. He would beat me again and I would go back again. In the end I finally figured out that I wasn't just stupid and insecure. Neal was manipulative. He said the right things, pushed the right buttons, caused the events required to achieve
his
desired result. He didn't care if that meant hurting me physically or emotionally. I don't ever want to be in a relationship with someone who uses my feelings for them to manipulate me. That's not the kind of relationship I want. Nor
do I want to manipulate anyone else. Any relationship I have needs to be built on mutual love and respect, not games.”

“But, I'm good at games,” Lester said, finally loosening up.

“Games are fun, but every now and then you've got to put the games away and deal with real life. In the real world, two nights ago, I had to work late. I had good reason to work late. I want my own place to live. Constance has been wonderful, but I'm ready to have my own. When I was in New York I made plenty of money, but there were some pretty important things missing from my life. Since I've been here, I've learned that I can live on less, that material possessions don't make a life complete and I've learned that if I'm ever going to grow healthy, I've got to take responsibility for me. I can't let other people take care of me forever.”

“You're one of the most independent people I know. Hell, you're more independent than I am,” Lester said.

“I've paid my own way since I've been here but I want to be independent in other ways. I need to be. My time with Neal was hard and when I left, one of the bright spots was thinking about the time when I would be able to live in my very own apartment.”

“I get it. You don't have to explain. Constance was the same way when she finally got away from Jack.”

“So you get it then?” Damita asked.

“Yes, I get it. I'll tell you this, though you owe me a night out on the town.”

“Absolutely, say tomorrow night?”

“That works for me,” he said.

A
fter working at the insurance company for only six months,
Simone
was offered a promotion. Constance was happy for her, but there were some at the company that were jealous and couldn't understand how she could be promoted before them. Once again, Damita found herself repeating old patterns. She realized, what was happening now was no different than when she got the VP spot at Underhill and Kevin was annoyed. She started to question herself and even though she would have liked to take the position, she decided she would try something different this time. She went into the supervisor's office and, with the excuse of
personal reasons,
she turned down the position. Damita couldn't understand why even in a different location, her life was still playing itself out in the same old ways. What she did know was what Constance had said was true. She was in control of her own destiny. She could control how she responded to the events that occurred in her life.

Everyone at the insurance company was surprised when she turned down the promotion, but those that wanted the spot for themselves didn't question her decision. They were happy to once again have the potential to be chosen. In the end, Constance was the one promoted, even though she didn't want the position as much as the others.

Damita was happy with her choice and believed that another
reason her decision was the best one for her circumstances, was because she was not in a position to be noticed. Even though she was beginning to feel like she fit with her new life, the reality still existed that she was a woman on the run.

Although Damita had shared with Lester and Constance that she escaped from an abusive ex, she hadn't told them the full story. One night when she was watching television with Constance, she realized how much she felt like family to her. Damita had never been the sort of person that was comfortable with lying. She wanted both Constance and Lester to know who she really was, but especially Constance.

“Constance, did I ever tell you how I was able to escape from Neal?”

“No, but I figured you would when you were ready.”

“Once I tell you, I'm afraid you may want me to leave.”

“I doubt that very much.”

Damita told her the entire story; the abuse, the rapes and her escape from the Twin Towers. When Damita was done, Constance was speechless. Damita searched the expression on Constance's face to see if she really did want her to leave.

“Damn, Damita, your story makes mine look like an episode of
Sesame Street.”

Both Damita and Constance laughed.

“I'm afraid to tell Lester.”

“If you don't think you're ready, or you don't think he's ready, then don't tell him yet. Sometimes information needs to be spoon fed.”

“Constance, how on earth did you get to be so wise?”

“This is what happens when you're forced to grow up before your time.”

“That makes sense.”

Once back at work, Constance was enjoying her promotion and the extra money and Damita was pleased with her decision to not take the promotion. The fact that she had not been there as long as others felt she needed to be in order to be eligible for a promotion was more than enough reason for some people to make life difficult for the person they felt was getting in their way. She didn't want to be that person. All it took one was person to start snooping around and asking questions about where she came from or how she knew Constance and everything she had worked so hard to build could crumble.

The next night, Damita and Lester were going out. He loved to dance and he couldn't wait to show off his fancy footwork. He was in such a good mood she thought it was a perfect time to tell him her secrets. After speaking to Constance and feeling like a lead weight had been lifted from her psyche, she hoped talking to Lester, would help unburden her as well.

Damita discovered Lester wasn't exaggerating. He really was a good dancer. In fact, she had trouble keeping up. They danced the night away and when it was over they took a stroll. They decided they would head to Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill and get a view of downtown Seattle and The Space Needle. Telling Lester came so easily, she no longer had a question in her mind about whether or not she should tell him. One look at the Space Needle and she was able to figure out exactly
how
she would tell him.

“Do you know I worked in one of the most iconic buildings in the world?”

“Did you really? What building is that?”

“I guess you would call them buildings. I worked in the World Trade Center.”

“Wow! You're kidding. I know you're glad you weren't working there on nine-eleven.”

“I was,” she said quietly.

Lester recalled the first time he saw her; waiting for the bus to Seattle. It suddenly made so much sense.

“That's how you were able to escape. That's why you didn't want to use any of your identification or bring many of your things. They think you're dead, don't they?”

“Yes, they do. I don't know what that would mean if anyone ever figured it out, but whatever legal ramifications could arise from the sudden discovery that I didn't perish in the Towers on nine-eleven, is small potatoes compared to what would happen if anyone found out I killed my husband.”

Lester stared at Damita in disbelief. “You didn't kill anyone?” he said, chuckling.

“Unfortunately, I did.”

“Well, I already know he deserved it.”

“Thank you, Lester,” Damita said, hugging him.

“Thank you for what? I didn't do anything.”

“I was so afraid to tell you what I had done. I felt like such a terrible person, not telling you and Constance all this time. It felt so good to be honest after I told Constance, that I was able to work up the courage to tell you as well.”

“You told Constance before you told me. I am so hurt. You love her more than me,” he joked.

“Lester Jones, you are nutty as a fruitcake.”

“Hmmm, nutty; do you want to go get a sundae?”

“That sounds good!”

“Constance doesn't get any because she didn't tell me your secret.”

“Lester, honey, I told her last night. Stop being such a drama queen.”

“No, you didn't call me a queen? I'll show you queen,” he said, grabbing a handful of her ass.

Damita shrieked. “Lester, stop that! You're terrible.”

“You know you love it!”

“Yeah, I do,” Damita admitted.

“I tell you what; let's stop at the supermarket, get all the fixings for a kick ass sundae and take it back to my place. We can smear chocolate and caramel sauce all over each other and get our nasty parts stuck together. I'll even eat strawberries out of any place you'd like. How does that sound? You know you want to,” he teased.

“Let's go, nasty man,” Damita said.

The entire time they were in the supermarket, Lester was grabbing at her and squeezing her. There wasn't a part of her body that wasn't his personal playground. Damita loved it.

Once back at his place, Damita was once again reminded of how young Lester seemed. His place was decorated like he lived there with five other twenty-year-old frat boys.

There were banners hung all over the walls; pictures of half-naked girls in the bedroom. And instead of a bed and actual furniture, his bedroom was used more as a storage room than anything else. There were papers and broken electronics, musical instruments, and other items scattered throughout the room; so much so that Lester had taken to sleeping in the living room on a pull-out couch.

Once Damita went into his bathroom and it looked like Lester was growing science experiments in there, she decided to bring every cleaning product she could find to his place and clean the bathroom from top to bottom. When he told her she didn't have to do it, Damita explained that she could either clean his bathroom or
hold it
until she got back home.

“Why don't you let me decorate this place for you?” she asked when they got back from the supermarket.

“Many have tried, none have conquered,” he replied.

Damita grinned at Lester. “I'm not many. I'm the best, the greatest, the softest, the horniest, Damita Whitmore, also known as Simone Ballister, also known as Halle Berry.”

Damita approached him seductively and removed his jacket.

“Why, Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?” Lester said, quoting a line from the movie
The Graduate.

Damita nodded her head slowly, unbuttoned Lester's shirt and tossed it in a corner. She then kissed him with all she had.

“Whoa, Halle, what are you trying to do? Knock me off my feet?”

“Is it working?”

“I've still got my shoes on, but we're getting there.”

“Hmmm, that is exactly what I want to hear.”

Damita playfully shoved Lester onto the couch in the sitting position. She executed a seductive striptease and stood in front of him wearing a red thong and purple push-up bra.

Lester eyed Damita seductively. “Bring your sexy ass over here,” Lester said.

Damita kneeled down in front of Lester, forced his legs open wide and took his manhood out of his pants and popped it in her mouth. She sucked him without letting up until Lester begged her to stop for a moment while he removed what remained of his clothing. As soon as his blue boxers and his jeans were removed, Damita went to town on him again. She reached under one of the cushions on the couch and retrieved a ribbed Trojan and placed it on the seat of the couch. Damita was constantly impressed with Lester's stamina. If she let him, he could go for hours. Something told her this was going to be one of those nights.

“Ready for round four?” Lester said in the morning.

“Boy, what are you trying to do, fuck me bowlegged?”

“Well, considering you were already bowlegged when I met you, I don't think you should continue that line of questioning.”

“I am not bowlegged.”

“Are you kidding me? That's what made me want to stalk you while waiting for that bus to Seattle.”