On the Other Side (28 page)

“I knew you were stalking me.”

Lester smiled genuinely. “You were so damn cute. With the bow legs and the short haircut and the sweatshirt with that hood pulled down over most of your head. You were trying so hard to look like a boy. I wanted to say to you then and there that no matter how much you cut your hair or wore teenage clothing, you would never, ever look like a boy. You are all woman, precious, and I'm so very glad you are.”

“You're so crazy.”

“Yeah, but you love it, don't you? Relax, Halle. Don't start hyperventilating.”

“What are you talking about?” Damita asked.

“It's just every time you hear anything even close to the word love, you get into running stance. I understand. You don't have to do or say anything you don't want to. Okay?”

Damita forced a smile. “Okay,” she agreed.

“Although, I wouldn't open that hall closet if I were you. Your wedding dress is in there.”

“What are you and Constance planning on? A shotgun wedding?”

“So what are you, a stark white girl or off-white?”

“At this point in my life, maybe any form of white would not be an option.”

“When we get married, you can wear any color dress you like.”

“You can, too,” Damita joked.

Lester nodded his head affirmatively. “I'm serious. You're going to be my wife.”

“Oh, you think so, huh?”

“I'm sure of it. You'll wear a white dress with a train and a veil, and I will wear a navy blue tuxedo.”

“What about Constance? Since I don't really know anyone besides you and your sister, and she happens to be your best friend, will Constance be the Best Man or the Maid of Honor?”

“She can be both. We'll get her one of those suits they use for comedy sketches.”

Damita looked at him like he was crazy. “Lester, what on earth are you talking about?”

“You know what I'm talking about. You've seen them. One half of the body is woman, from head to toe and the other half is all man. It's like a split suit.”

“Something tells me Constance would have something to say about that little get-up you're suggesting.”

“Maybe she would and maybe she wouldn't. By the way, you never answered my question about another round?”

“I must be losing my touch. Why do you think my hand has been on your rod for the last ten minutes?”

“I thought you were keeping it warm for me.”

“Is it warm enough now?” she asked.

“It's on fire, baby.”

Damita grabbed a condom, opened it and rolled it down over his throbbing staff. She mounted him and began riding him like a champion. Lester's breathing was shallow and Damita knew he was reaching the point of no return. She varied her motion and thought it might buy them both more time, but one involuntary squeeze of her muscles and Lester exploded with such intensity, he was sure they would never find the condom he was wearing, which was sure to be buried deep somewhere inside of her.

Lester laughed. “Did you hear our neighbors while we were going at it?” he asked.

“What?”

“They were knocking on the wall.”

Damita covered her face in embarrassment. “No way were they knocking on the wall!”

“Yes way! If they do it again I'm going to embarrass the hell out of them.”

“Oh no, Lester, don't do that, because if you embarrass them I will most definitely be embarrassed as well.”

“How do you figure? We were doing what comes natural and they tried to interrupt us by knocking on the wall. That sort of thing can be very distracting; knocking on a wall while a man is trying to satisfy his woman.”

Damita asked, “Is that so?”

“It most certainly is.”

“Well, maybe you should be a bit quieter?”

“You started it. You can't squeeze a man's manhood like that, between your lips and expect him to remain quiet. That shit was
too good to keep to myself. I had to share it with the rest of the building.”

“Don't forget I'm a wanted woman. We don't want someone calling the police on us.”

“That is so true.”

Later on Lester was making the sundaes he had talked about and came back to join Damita. Before he crossed the room, he could see she was far away in her thoughts.

“Where'd you go just now?” he asked.

She suddenly looked melancholy. “I was thinking about the fact that I don't know anything about what happened when I left. I have so many questions that can't be answered. Every now and then I go on the Internet and try to see if I can find anything at all, related to me or Neal's death or even anything referencing the Towers and me. There's nothing. You don't know how hard it is for me not to pick up the phone and call my mother and Carmella and even find out whether Wendy and Mr. Underhill are still alive. I'm in agony if I try to investigate and I'm in agony if I don't.”

Each time Damita took a breath or stopped talking, Lester gave her another spoonful of the sundae he had made. His action achieved the desired outcome. Although she was discussing something very painful, the introduction of the ice cream made her smile each time she took another spoonful.

“There are ways to figure certain things out without leaving you vulnerable.”

“What kind of ways?”

“There are a few. First, we could hire a private detective. You could call your mother or Carmella from a phone that could never be traced back to you or your location. Or, you could simply pick up the phone and tell them where you are and why you did what you did.”

“I couldn't do that. Then everyone would know it was me that killed Neal; they would at least suspect it.”

“You're probably right about that, so you have to be smart about all this. I know you're sick of cowering in the shadows, but think about Constance. She's done it for years and she managed to find her happiness by making a few sacrifices.”

“The difference, though, Lester, is she was able to make those sacrifices without having to sacrifice the closest person to her; you. I miss my mother so much sometimes, it hurts.”

“Then you should find some sort of a way to get in contact with her. From all the stories you told me about your mother, she sounds like a smart woman. Something tells me if you did call her, she'd know how to handle it.”

Damita smiled. “Yeah, my mother is a smart cookie. I should've taken her advice when she told me she didn't think Neal was right for me. She knew right away. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out.”

“Do you think your mother would like me?”

“I
know
she would like you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“My mother always talked about people being real. Sincerity was important to her. That was the one thing Neal didn't have. But, you my dear, are a different story altogether. You are loaded with all sorts of sincerity, honesty and integrity.”

“See, you almost had me there for a minute, until you mentioned integrity.”

“You do have integrity.”

“Do you know what I was thinking that night when we got off the bus in Seattle and you were walking toward the hotel? I told you I could help you, but what I was really thinking was if I played
my cards right, I would get a chance to spend the night under those nice crisp hotel room sheets with you.”

“I already knew that. That's what any man would have been thinking under those circumstances.”

Lester faked a pout. “I'm hurt. You've reduced me to being no better than any other horny toad in the street.”

“You're not, baby; you're
my
horny toad,” Damita said, kissing him on the forehead.

“Don't try to soften me up. Now I know what you
really
think of me.”

“Poor baby. What can I do to make you feel better?”

Lester moved the bowl of ice cream and moved Damita's head to face his staff, which was once again hard.

“You want to know what you can do to make me feel better? You can kiss
it
and make it all better.”

Damita didn't think she had ever met a man that was ready to go as quickly and as frequently as Lester. No sooner than they were lying in bed, enjoying the afterglow, he would rise to attention, again, and again, and again. She wasn't complaining, but she hoped she would continue to be able to keep up with him. In the meantime, she was enjoying the ride.

O
ver time, Damita fell into some pretty commonplace routines. She was surprised to find that she liked it. Her relationship with Constance had evolved into a great friendship and it didn't hurt that Constance's brother was completely in love with Damita. The job was going well and even though she had declined any and all promotions offered, she still received a raise after having worked there for a year.

She enjoyed her Friday nights with Constance and Lester. Sometimes her and Constance stayed at home and watched movies together or went to a movie or dinner. Other times Lester would tag along and they would go bowling or dancing. Saturday night was all Lester's. He often told her it was his favorite day of the week. No matter what was going on she made sure that Saturday was reserved for him. For the first time, she was able to learn about compromise in a relationship. It felt really good.

“What's cracking for tonight?” Lester asked one Friday night.

“Isn't tonight our bowling night?”

“That it is. I look forward to kicking some butt tonight. I hope you bring your A-game.”

“Consider it brought,” Damita said.

“Oh yeah, I love a challenge. It's on tonight!”

“Are you sure we're still talking about bowling?” Damita asked.

“Hell yeah. Oh. . .and that other stuff, too,” he said, laughing.

“I should have known.”

“I'm going to go hang out at Constance's house for a while. She called me today and I was busy at work and couldn't talk. She sounded like she was having a bad day. You can pick us up over there when you're ready.”

“No problem!”

When Damita arrived, Constance seemed out of sorts. She kept checking and rechecking the locks and the face Damita usually associated with being consistently pleasant and smiling, now had a pained expression.

“Constance, please come and sit down.”

Even after she sat down she continued to shift uncomfortably in her seat and glanced frequently toward the window.

“Lester should be here soon. He's coming to pick us up so we can go bowling,” Damita reminded Constance.

Constance looked fearful. “I don't think we should go tonight,” Constance said.

“Okay, Constance, tell me right now what's going on. I'm worried about you.”

“Damita, I think he's back.”

“What makes you think that? Why would he come back after all these years?”

“He's back to destroy my happiness.”

Damita tried her best to reassure her. “No, Constance. You're fine. He's not back. You're experiencing some anxiety, that's all. You've been working so hard lately at work. All you need is a vacation.”

“Wouldn't that be nice? I don't remember the last time I've been on a real vacation,” Constance said.

“Then, maybe we should plan one. I could use a vacation myself.”

“I've always been resentful that because of Neal I missed my trip to Jamaica. Why don't we go there? We could get some sun, do a little swimming, go to the spa. What do you think?”

“It sounds glorious.”

“Then, that's what we'll do.”

“Damita, you know the reason I never go on vacation?”

“No. Why?”

“I'm afraid of running into him or anyone that might know him. I feel protected here. I feel like the risk of running into him or someone who knows him is greatly reduced in Seattle. Now, a place like Jamaica, you never can tell.”

“I never thought about it that way. I can't imagine being in Jamaica having fun and running into my mother or Carmella, or even one of my former coworkers from Underhill. I would hate it if they found out I was alive that way.”

“I'm worried for different reasons. I'm afraid that if Jack finds me he
will
kill me. He vowed he would never give me up. Once he told me he would rather see me dead than to allow someone else to have me. The moment I heard those words, I knew life would never be normal for me ever again.”

“Open up, it's the police,” Lester said, joking around and knocking on the door.

“Stay there, Constance. I'll get it.” She opened the door and let him in. “Chill out tonight. Your sister thinks Jack may be back and she's freaking out.”

“She goes through this every couple of years. It lasts for a few days, then eventually, she comes down and everything goes back to normal.”

“I hope you're right.”

“You'll see. She'll be fine in a few days.”

•  •  •

Constance wasn't fine in a few days. With each passing day she became more and more fearful, until she refused to even go outside. Damita would call in for her but that would only last but so long. Eventually the job was going to get fed up and fire Constance. She knew how much Constance liked her job and she didn't want her to get fired. Damita decided to take another approach and at the very least consider the possibility that Constance was right and Jack had in fact returned. She decided she would talk to Constance in an effort to understand what she was seeing that no one else seemed to see.

Damita looked at Constance with concern. “Constance, why do you think he's back?”

“I come in and things have been changed and moved around. I went to work one day and there was a note on my computer that read
what do you think you're doing?
I asked everyone in the office and no one had left the note.”

“Constance, you know how catty those girls in the office are. They probably did it as sport. You got that promotion they all wanted. They want to unnerve you. Don't let them do it.”