Piece Keeper (4 page)

He jumped as he heard banging at the front door.
Perhaps it’s the cab driver again, he thought as he made his way
back to her bedroom and into her closet once again. The banging
continued until he heard her yell that she was coming. He heard her
wet, bare feet smacking against the linoleum floor. With his ear
still pressed against the wall he heard the door lock unlatch and
the door open.

“Can I come in?” Black asked leaning against the
wall leading from the hall into her apartment.

Teresa stared in awe. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

“Talk to Morena… I mean Baby Love. That’s what you
call her right?”

“Teresa, I’m sorry. Can I come in….please?”

She stepped to the side and allowed him to come in.
She knew she should have run to put on some clothes yet she
remained wrapped only in a dry towel. After locking the door she
led him to the living room where they both had a seat on the
sofa.

“Teresa, I’m sorry.”

“You said that already.”

“Yeah…I said that already. I didn’t know Morena was
coming. I would have never—”

“Gotten caught right?”

“Be fair.”

“I am being fair. I was fair enough not to kick you
out when you came to see me in the hospital. I was fair enough when
I allowed you to give me a ride home from the hospital. I was fair
enough when you tried that slick nonsense with the flowers,
balloons, and clothes. And don’t say you weren’t trying to be
slick. I even was fair when you called that fake ass Selma Hayek
Baby Love.”

“I just wanted to do right by you.”

“Do right by me?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me, Black… why does it feel so wrong?

Black leaned back against the sofa, closed his eyes,
and placed his hand on his forehead. Teresa turned her back to him
crossing her arms across her chest. Several seconds passed before
Black opened his eyes and broke the silence. “This is not how I
pictured this in my head.”

With her back still to him and her legs crossed she
rolled her eyes. “Well things in life seldom turn out the way that
you picture them.”

“It shouldn’t be like this, Teresa. I mean… you
hurt, I hurt, and I….” Black paused. It was hurting him to get the
words out.

She turned to face him and she felt her mood soften
looking into his face. “You what?”

“Haven’t even given my friend a hug.”

Teresa didn’t want to but she smiled. She wanted to
stay angry. It was true they were friends. In fact they’d been
friends before they were lovers and she knew with all the ass
backwards, wrong things he’d done he still loved her and always
would even if they weren’t together. She slid closer to him and
wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back wrapping his
arms around her waist and pulling her close. He inhaled her scent
as he felt her kiss his neck. He pulled back bringing them eye to
eye. They gazed at one another before he went in for a kiss. Their
lips locked instinctively. She ran her hand across the back of his
head. Moans fell from their lips. Her chest heaved seductively as
she felt his strong hands roam across her flesh with familiarity.
His hands glided down her thighs and she slowly slid her legs open
as the towel fell to the floor. His hand began massaging her vagina
which moistened more and more with each touch. Unbeknownst to them,
James crept from the closet and peeked from around the corner to
ogle at the two lovers angrily.

Running her tongue down his neck Teresa nibbled at
Black’s Adams Apple. Feelings of lust, shame, fear, and guilt all
came flooding at the same time. It was like a head rush; too much
to bear. She withdrew from Black’s grasp with tears streaming from
her face and stood up. Quickly she retrieved the towel from the
floor and re-covered herself.

“What’s wrong?” Black asked with his testosterone
now at full peak.

She glared at his erection with disgust and rolled
her eyes. “Just go, Black.”

“Go? We need to talk about this.”

“Talk? We were doing a little more than
talking.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“Clearly.”

Black threw his hands in the air bringing them down
hard on his legs in frustration. “Here you go.”

Teresa’s mood switched to full blown anger. She
didn’t want to argue and she didn’t want to explain herself. Black
was making that harder and harder with each statement he made.

“Come on, Black. Just go.”

Black stood to his feet and shook his head in
disappointment. “Don’t you see I love you?”

“Keep it real, Black. You don’t know how to love me…
never did. I was raped. I need comforting…not sexing.”

He dropped his head, balled his fists in anger, and
stormed from her living room leaving her apartment in a heated
rage. James stood in the hall smiling. Stealing glimpses of Teresa
balled up on the couch crying he wanted to go to her and comfort
her. He turned, went back to her bedroom, and climbed out of her
window. Running across the parking lot with her robe blowing in the
wind he climbed into his car and peeled away from the building.

Chapter Five

Black stepped into the precinct where Teresa worked.
He was still upset about what had occurred the night before and was
looking to take it out on someone. Today James would fill that slot
perfectly. Posted against the wall in the back of the room he
surveyed the floor looking for the officer. The setting was not
unfamiliar to him. All police stations were the same in nature. He
imagined that if he were in a police station in Belgium it would be
pretty much the same. Cops and robbers, that’s what his father
called it. He was proud of Black and his accomplishments but he
thought it was a waste of time and money. A system that was
designed to never succeed, Black felt he could do more to help.
Maybe his father was right. He shook the thought from his mind and
zeroed in on James across the room. The unsuspecting man hadn’t
even noticed him. Black made his way towards him but was cut off
before he reached his desk.

“Can I help you?” the blonde haired, tanned
detective asked placing his hand on Black’s shoulder.

His eyes were still trained on James as he exited
the building. Now annoyed, Black turned and faced the officer that
had interrupted his mission. He put Black in the mind of Val
Kilmer. Not the Top Gun Val Kilmer, not even the Tombstone Val
Kilmer. The overweight, straight to video, B List actor Val Kilmer.
The look-alike stood face to face with Black. Black looked over at
the man’s hand on his shoulder. The officer got the point and
promptly removed his hand.

“Yes, I’m looking for the detectives in charge of
the Prince case,” Black stated.

“And you would be?”

Black flashed his badge. “A.D.A. Love. Can you get
the detectives that I’m asking for please?”

The detective cleared his throat and walked around
Black towards his desk. “I’m Detective Waeltz. I’m in charge of the
Prince case. I sent the files over to the D.A. already.”

“I read them. A little thin don’t you think?”

“What do you want me to say? I sent what she gave
me.”

“What I want you to do is do your job and do it
efficiently.”

“All I can tell you is what I put in the report. Ms.
Prince claims that she was sexually assaulted. She doesn’t give us
a who or a where. A call was placed that a half-naked woman who
looked beat up was lying in the street. When the responding officer
found her she had no memory of how she had gotten there or how long
she was there.”

“She claims she was assaulted?” Black asked,
forehead wrinkled.

“Right now it’s just a statement.”

“So you’re calling Ms. Prince a liar?”

“I’m not making any judgment calls at all. Only
going with what’s in front of me. Officially I can’t say anything.
Un-officially sounds like a case of date rape.”

“What the hell kind of detective are you?”

“Who the hell are you to come in here and question
how I run an investigation?”

“I’m the guy that’s going to crawl all up in your
ass until you get the results I want.”

“This isn’t Chicago, Mr. Love. We do things
differently here in Danville.”

“It’s District Attorney Love and I don’t give a damn
where we are. The law is the law.”

Detective Waeltz laughed. “You might think so
huh?”

“Excuse me?”

Chief Witherspoon ducked out of his office and
gestured with his hand for Black to come over. “Love! In my office
please if you don’t mind?”

Black looked Waeltz up and down before walking off
towards the chief’s office. By the time he stepped into the office
the chief was already sitting at his desk. A glass of water, a
bottle of brandy, and three Alka-Seltzer pills sat in front of
him.

“Close the door,” he demanded as he scooped the
pills from his desk and dropped them in the glass. The pills fizzed
and dissolved turning the water a murky looking color. He downed
the water then quickly poured a shot of the brandy into the same
glass and slammed it. “To wash my mouth out from the Alka-Seltzer,”
he said as he opened a drawer and placed the glass and alcohol
inside. “Have a seat Love.”

Black shook his head no. “I’m fine. What can I help
you with Chief?”

“Thought that I’d introduce myself.”

“Jason Wallace Witherspoon, Chief of Police for
Vermillion County,” Black stated. “Only son born to Jason Wallace
Witherspoon Senior and Jennifer Witherspoon. Born in New York,
moved to Danville at 15 years old where you attended high school
until graduation. Left for a number of years… fell off the grid.
Re-emerged two years later. Enlisted into the Army. Did a tour in
the Middle East during the Regan administration. Released for
dishonorable discharge, joined the academy, and got a job as a beat
cop with the Danville police department. Worked your way up the
ranks to Chief and here we are.”

Witherspoon reclined in his chair placing his hands
on his rotund belly. “Impressive. Just wanted you to know anything
you need my department is at your disposal. Teresa is family and in
Danville we take care of family.”

“Thank you, Chief,” Black said as he exited the
office.

***

Here she was dressed and ready to tackle her fears.
She was determined not to let what happened to her get the better
or her and become an anchor in her life. She was confused about a
lot of things and had no one to talk to about them. She couldn’t
call Black. He would either argue with her about them and their
unresolved issues or press her about who raped her. She still
hadn’t confessed about who had done this to her. That was another
thing; facing the chief and the other two officers at work. She
knew any other woman would had quit yet she felt in doing so she
gave them more power over her and she refused to be powerless to
such cowards.

She wanted to talk to James but after he acted so
jealous, and on top of that ignored her call when she needed help,
she was beginning to feel a friendship with him wasn’t worth
maintaining. She stood in the bathroom in her apartment staring
into the mirror. She was all cried out. She wanted to cry but
nothing would fall. She screamed until the hair on her neck stood
and her ears shrilled. She screamed until her voice began to ache.
She screamed until she laughed. It was the first genuine laugh that
she’d had since this entire ordeal began. She turned on the faucet
to the sink and let the water run underneath her hands. She
splashed the water on her face and turned the faucet off before
grabbing a towel and drying her face. Dropping her towel into the
sink she took one final look at herself in the mirror.

“Here we go,” she whispered as she marched down the
hall to her front door. Securing her purse on her shoulder she
unlocked the door and opened it. Standing on the other side of the
door was someone she did not want to talk to. Her eyes squinted
evilly as she bit into her bottom lip. “What can I do for you,
Morena?”

***

Officer Hunter and Officer Foster walked and talked
as they headed towards their separate squad cars. Pausing midway
through, they waited until a fellow officer had gone passed before
continuing.

“What are we going to do?” Hunter quipped in a
hushed tone.

“About what?” Foster asked innocently.

Hunter leaned in closer to her and whispered. “You
know… do about Teresa.”

She pushed him to the side and opened her car door.
“There is nothing to do.”

“You know she’s coming back to work. What if she
rats us out?”

“You’re paranoid. She’s not going to say anything
and if she does so what? We’re cops for Christ’s sake. Who are they
going to believe? Some emotional Black chick or three of Danville’s
finest?” She climbed into the car and closed the door.

Hunter stood staring at her feeling nervous about
the situation. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Trust me.” She started the car, put it in drive,
and pulled off.

He wanted to believe her but this was too important
to put in the hands of fate. He had to be sure she wouldn’t talk
and she wouldn’t if he had anything to do with it.

***

So here they were; the former fiancé and the new
fiancé face to face. Teresa was not pleased with it, yet here she
was playing hostess and making nice. In her head she couldn’t help
but hear the theme music from the movie the Magnificent Seven
during the scene where they had their infamous showdown. That damn
Black, she thought. Hell, double damn him. He was the reason the
song was in her head. She hated westerns but he loved them. They’d
watched them so much together that she knew the scenes word for
word. He was also the reason this woman felt she needed to confront
her about a man she didn’t even want. The awkwardness was apparent.
Teresa could read in the woman’s eyes that she wasn’t one hundred
percent sure about being there either.