Over. (This. Is. Not. Over. #2) (24 page)

             
“You do know that she hasn’t bought anymore medicine right?” I had Rossi check in with her doctor who informed him that even though Laura lost her medicine in the fire, she hasn’t asked for a refill. Her pharmacy verified the same thing.

             
“So?”

             
“So, either she’s going to get her Lithium on the street, which can prove fatal for us if anyone finds out or she’s practically suicidal by now.”

             
And there is it.

             
I watch him stand straighter and look away, completely missing the ball Nat just passed to him. Laura’s running wild.

             
“Who’s helping you?” I ask him, as I lift my shirt up and wipe the sweat off my face. I hear someone whistle. Winnie’s ass is in the kitchen window. “When you’re not with her, who’s watching her? Right now, who has her?” He says nothing. “Dena.” He looks away again.

             
“Cadence, what the hell!” Nat screams. I look up and watch Jacob shoot for another three pointer. Score.             

             
“Take that bitches!” I hear Winnie scream.

             
“Game.” Jacob says. “Thank god.” He makes a slow walk back to the house, breathing like an asthmatic.

             
“Nat, where’s Dena?” I ask him as I turn to head back into Jacob Land.

“She took Evan to that chocolate shop on the Savannah Riverwalk early this morning. She just needed to get away, still stressed about Laura being missing.” Nat says with a shrug. “That’s her friend, you know, so she needs time to be alone and deal with this.”

“Absolutely.” She’s lying. Dena isn’t alone; she and Cadence have a new babysitting gig.

             
“Fuck Cadence.” I hear Lola say from somewhere in the house as Nat and I walk through the door.

Walking up the stairs
, I head to my room and straight for the shower, hearing my father screaming that the game is about to start. After I walk in my room, I close the door and look at the bed. Empty as hell. Red’s not answering my calls, her father basically told me to get lost and it’s too early to go to their house and settle this. I was hoping the report on Fox News, verifying that Red was divorced, would make her call me. Yeah right. I go my bedside table and look at my cell phone. No missed calls. She’s playing hardball.

I take my clothes off, leaving a trail
behind as I head to the bathroom to shower. I’ve got to come up with my next move. I’ve sent flowers to Red this morning. No call. I’ve had Fox News verify a phony divorce decree. No call. I’ve called Red’s phone and ask her out for breakfast this morning. No call. I turn the shower to the hottest setting I can stand, step in, pull the curtain close and try to think out my next plan of action. I can head to the house, endure looking at Jon’s smug ass and plead my case. I can send a courier there with a note to ask her to meet me for lunch. I can head to the house, tell her that I’ve had enough of this shit and demand she get over it. No, that may not be the best option. I’ll do option one. I’ll go to her house, endure Jon and–

“Malcolm.” I hear Lola say as she
yanks the shower curtain open.

“What’s going baby?” I say while I let the water run over my head.

“Oh shut the hell up. I need my phone turned back on, I’d like to call Danielle and settle this and no one is letting me use their phone and Jacob hid all the house phones.”

“No phones for you Lola until this is settled.”

“Give me a quarter.” She sticks her hand out.

“Why?”

“I’m going to a payphone.”

“Lola, this isn’t a joke.”

“I’m not laughing, Malcolm.”             

“Lola, m
y home insurance is investigating that fire. That means that they have hired independent contractors, contractors that I don’t know. Contractors that can’t be bought. When they discover that the fire was set purposely, and they will discover that, both you and Red will have viable motives. Are you watching the news? They’re already starting to go in on her and it’ll take them just a few more days until you and Cadence come into the picture. Then this shit will turn into a whodunit, which will excite the entire nation. That’s bad press for us and your father who will have no choice but to drop Blair and Associates as his legal firm and me as his Lead Counsel. I’m not letting you fuck this up for Red, the family, your father or me. The best thing for you and Red is to stay away from each other until the smoke clears. It’s not a time for you two to have a public blowup because believe me, when Red sees you, there’s no telling what she’ll do.”

“
Wait, back up. Why would
I
be in trouble?
I
didn’t start that fire.” She’s insulted that she would be considered among the likes of Red.

“When the security footage reveals that Cadence accompanied Laura into the house not once, but many times since the house was purchased and when the footage reveals their frequent sleepovers, you’re officially a suspect.”

“But I was in New York during the fire.”

“So was Red and she actually has an alibi … she was at a concert with five other people. Who were you with?” She says nothing. “And I’m willing to believe that you made sure your face was hidden the entire tim
e, so that no one would see you checking in or stealing Red’s bags. There’s no one to verify your face, to verify that they saw you. You have a motive and no alibi.”

“I saw you!”

“Says who?”

I grab some soap to lather.

“I swear, Cadence has ruined my entire fucking life.” She turns to leave.

“That he has.”

“Oh and by the way,” She turns back around, “Cadence was out all night. Laura is here somewhere, I know she is.”

“I do too.” And with that, she barges out of the bathroom and leaves me in peace.

After thirty minutes of showering, shaving, dressing and checking my phone (no, Red didn’t call), I head downstairs to hear my father and Nat shouting at the television. Walking into the living room, I check the score on the game and then head to the kitchen where Jacob is downing a Gatorade. Winnie is standing in front of him with her hands buried in his pants while kissing his chest through his shirt and Cadence is standing in front of a window, hands in his pockets, gazing outside. He’s in a deep mood. When Cadence hears me coming, he turns around with a look of exhaustion on his face. Yeah, I’ve been there bro. Now, I could make him suffer, but what would be the purpose? I’m thrilled that someone else has chosen to watch over Laura, I did it for ten years, I’m grateful for the break. So, I reach into my pocket, pull out a bottle of Lithium and toss it to him. Thirty days supply. I always kept extra pills around.

“Thank you.” He whispers with his eyes closed, clutching the pills to his heart. What a damn drama queen.

“Alright royal family!” I hear my mother scream out as she enters the house. “Is everyone here?”

“Dena’s not here.” Nat says.

“Okay, well make sure you call and tell her that we’re having after-dinner drinks tonight at Italiano’s with Danielle and her family! Let the festivities begin!”

And my heart has the nerve to beat faster, like I’m a schoolboy in love.
All that’s missing is my hand over it. This is what Red has done to me; she’s turned me into Cadence. She’s made me anxious just to catch one glimpse of her, just to watch her walk into my space so that she can look right through me. Just to steal five minutes away with her and talk in private. She’s made me seventeen again.

“Thank goodness!” Winnie screams out. “I haven’t seen
D since Friday, she hasn’t been returning my calls.”

“Who’s all coming?” I hear Lola
ask from the living room.

“Everyone … Attorney and Dr. Rouge, Danielle, her friends, the
ir kids …” Jon. Matt. Marlon. Great.

“Oh I can’t wait.” Lola sings out.

I don’t know why but at that moment, I decide to look at Jacob. Oh who am I kidding, I know why. Jasmine. The last time he saw Jasmine was at a sushi bar a few weeks back. She saw him from the window before she even walked in, I saw the two of them lock eyes. I also saw that she didn’t hold Marlon’s hand when they and their crew walked in. I walked up to her when she was coming back from the restroom but Jacob kept his distance, though they did exchange another look. She was shaken up after seeing him for a second time that night and even more nervous when I passed her a note to give to Red, who was sitting next to Jon. But they said nothing to each other and Jacob never even mentioned the incident. He did get exceptionally hammered that night though. But other than that, he let it all slide.

Jacob and Jasmine haven’t spoken since the day of his wedding, when I snuck out of the church with him, both
of us in our tuxedos, and went to Jasmine’s condo. He wanted to give her a pearl earring and necklace set he picked up from Tiffany’s the week before. I remember leaning against the wall in the hallway, my hands stuffed in my tuxedo pockets while Jacob made some light taps on her door. Jasmine slid her door open and Jacob stood there with the box in his hands, his bow tie undone. She was trying not to cry when he silently passed her the box. She took it without saying a word. And once the deed was done, he turned around and we left. One hour later, he was married to Winnie. But I’ll never forget that day; I’ll never forget what it meant for him to pass up Jasmine for Winnie. I’ll never forget how silent he was in the car ride back to the church. I’ll never forget how the priest had to ask him to repeat his ‘
I do
’ because it was barely audible. I’ll never forget how quiet he was at his reception. Jacob sober at his own wedding reception where there was an open bar? I still can’t believe it. I vowed to never turn into Jacob. I vowed to never put duty over desire, when it came to a woman. Don’t get me wrong, in my humble opinion, Jasmine is the
worst
possible match for Jacob but he’s always had a thing for her. Tonight he could possibly be talking to Jasmine for the first time in years. And, truth be told, he was a little too eager to claim Marlon, in the Four Seasons, as the one whose face he wanted to smash. In the end, it took three cops to drag Jacob off of him … and Marlon hadn’t a clue as to why. So I look at Jacob, to see what’s going on his brain.

But
Jacob’s already looking at me.

“Ooh!” Lola says from the living room. “We’re going to have so much fun!”

Danielle             

3:30 PM

“Oh boy!” Jasmine screams out as she drops her head back, a glass of Chardonnay in her hand. “Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm. Is that all we’re going to talk about this week?” Rena and I look at each other like she’s demented. Of course that’s all we’re going to talk about this week! That’s all the entire nation will be talking about this week.

We’re sitting at lunch right now, having girl time at Plantation Kitchen. I called us all together to talk about the recent news of that fake divorce decree Malcolm released. I’m feeling a little crummy about it. The problem is that everyone in the house is walking around pretending like it’s real. No one has mentioned the obvious: I was screwing Malcolm while I was married to Jon. And, to tell you the truth, I’m feeling self-conscious now. I had to get out of the house so I asked Jasmine, Rena and my mom to lunch. My mom declined, wanting to spend some alone time with my dad. So here the three of us sit right now, talking about the biggest tragedy of my life and Jasmine wants to know if we can do this without mentioning Malcolm’s name.

“Jasmine, what the hell is your deal with Malcolm.” Rena asks. Even she’s beginning to get pissed off with Jasmine’s anti-Malcolm sentiments.

“He’s so overrated.” Jasmine gives us a ‘screw’ face. “God, if he were black, he wouldn’t even be news. But since he’s decent looking and white and rich and connected and likes rap music,” she rolls her eyes, “all of a sudden he’s the second coming. He’s such a joke.” Okay, that does it!

“Tell us how you really feel Jasmine.”

“Jasmine, I’m starting to get offended by your attitude.” I say to her. “I mean, I never say
a thing
about Marlon so I don’t know why you would feel comfortable calling Malcolm a joke.”

“Well what could you say about Marlon?” She asks as she starts blinking in rapid succession.

“Oh let’s see,” I raise my fingers up to count the ways. “He’s a chump–”

“That’s enough Danielle, thank you.” Rena says.

“He dated Marla in college right after I took Jon from her.”

“Two reasons will be sufficient, thank you.”

“Obviously he can’t fight worth a lick, his face is all kinds of fucked up.”

“Danielle, enough.”

“My husband wouldn’t have had to get into that fight if it wasn’t for Malcolm!” Jasmine screams out.

“Malcolm or Jon? Because I do believe Jon arranged that massacre. Because that’s what happened. Malcolm, Jacob and Nat massacred their asses.” I say with a ‘top that shit’ face.

“Well, I don’t mean to butt in,” Rena says, “but Matt looks perfectly fine.”