The Devil Is a Lie (18 page)

“G
randma, this money was supposed to make everything better, but it’s caused only headaches.”

Nina hated griping to her grandmother again, but when she came to visit, Nina hadn’t been able to hide her distress.

“I tried to tell you, baby. I’ve been poor all my life, but I’ve had something no amount of money could buy—happiness. Man didn’t give me my happiness and man can’t take it away.” She finished drying her hands on a dish towel. “It’s like money brings out the worst in people; they lose all good sense.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” A full twenty-four hours had passed since she’d heard from Rick. He’d sent her a text that said he was going somewhere to clear his head, then he’d turned off his cell phone.

“Have you prayed on it?” her grandmother asked.

Nina smiled. Prayer was her grandmother’s answer to everything. She didn’t take her grandmother’s advice last time, though, because she was too caught up in her problems. “Pray for what, Grandma?”

“Peace,” she said calmly. “Everything that’s good
to
you ain’t good
for
you. And everybody think they wanna be rich, but as you young people say: more money, more problems.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Nina sighed heavily. “If I didn’t know Rick any better, I’d swear that he’s only after the money. I mean, I know better than that, but it’s like the money turned him into someone else.”

“Hmph, that’s what it does.” She squinted at Nina. “But let me be clear with you that I don’t need your money.”

“I know you don’t, Grandma. That’s why I love giving it to you the most.”

“Mmm-hmmm, whatever you say,” her grandmother said as she busied herself straightening the canned goods in the kitchen cabinet.

“And don’t just put your money up in a shoe box or something. Take a trip,” Nina chastised.

“Hmph,” her grandmother grumbled. “I ain’t getting on an airplane for them terrorists to blow me up.”

“Grandma,” Nina protested, “you have a better chance of dying on the way to the store than in an airplane.”

“Mmm-hmmm. If Osama gon’ get me, he’s gon’ have to get me at the red light.”

Nina laughed. As usual, her grandmother had lifted her spirits.

“Oh, I meant to ask,” her grandmother said, “how’s Hattie?”

“She’s better. I talked to Todd this morning, and although she can’t get up and move, she’s fully awake and already feeling a little better.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Her grandmother turned to face her. “So you checking in with Todd every day now?”

Nina got up and kissed her grandmother on the cheek. “I was just checking on Grams. That’s it.”

“Mmm-hmmm. And I own part of the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Nina wasn’t listening to any more of this. “Bye, Grandma. I gotta go. I’m meeting Michelle for lunch and I need to run by my house to pick up this book for her.”

“If it’s some of that freaky stuff by Zane,” she said calmly, “tell Michelle to let me read it when she finishes.”

“Grandma! What you know about Zane?”

“Shoot, I could teach her a thing or two. She ought to interview me for her next book.” Her grandmother wiggled her hips.

“Ewww. And on that note, good-bye, Grandma.” She kissed her grandmother and made her way back to her house. She was feeling a little better and she called Rick again, hoping that he’d answer. He didn’t.

Nina pumped up the gospel radio station and sang along to “Never Would Have Made It,” one of her most favorite songs. She had just pulled into her driveway and was heading up the walk when she noticed two men getting out of a sedan in front of her house.

She paused, not sure if she should wait or take off running into her house. Both of them looked like they could star in the black version of the
Sopranos
. The light-skinned one was short but stocky, and the darker one, while a lot thinner, looked like he could crush someone with one squeeze. They both wore black leather jackets, even though it was eighty degrees outside.

“Um, may I help you?” Nina said apprehensively. With a hand fumbling around in her purse, she tried to discreetly position the Mace she had started carrying since Roscoe attacked her.

“Yo, we looking for Rick,” the tall one said.

Nina’s eyes darted back and forth between them. “He’s not here,” she replied. “And you are?”

“His friends,” the short one said.

Nina had met plenty of his friends, and she’d never seen either of these men.

“Well, who should I tell him stopped by?”

The tall one exchanged a glance with the short one, almost like he didn’t believe Nina.

The short one spoke. “Tell him L.J. and Slick stopped by. We, um, we got a lead on some property he was looking at.”

“For his gym?” Nina asked excitedly. If Rick could get his gym, maybe their problems would be solved.

“Yeah, um, that’s right, for his gym,” Slick said.

“Do you know when he’ll be back?” L.J. added.

Nina shook her head. “I don’t. But I’ll be sure to tell him you stopped by.”

The short one flashed a smile—the tall one didn’t bother—
before the two of them made their way back to their car. Just as they got in, the back window rolled down, revealing Dior. She blew Nina a kiss as the car took off.

Nina sent Rick a text, hoping that as soon as he did turn his phone on, he’d get the 911 message about Dior, L.J. and Slick, and would call her.

Less than ten minutes later, her phone rang.

“Nina?”

“Rick? Where are you? That woman came to our house.”

“What woman?” His voice sounded hurried, like he wanted to get off the phone.

“Dior, the woman that drove up when we were looking at your land. She was with two characters named Slick and L.J.” She waited for Rick to say something. When he didn’t, she said, “Todd, what’s going on? Why is this woman showing up at our house?”

He was silent, then said, “Todd? I’m not Todd.”

Nina grimaced. “I didn’t mean…”

“You said what you meant.”

“Rick, I’m sorry.” Nina sighed. She braced herself for him to start going off.

“I never meant for it to get like this,” he said instead. “I just wanted us to have a good life.”

Nina was taken aback by his response. “And we will,” she replied. “We got enough money to realize all our dreams. Come home, and let’s get us back on track.”

“Okay, but um, what did L.J. say?”

“Something about having a lead on some property. Rick, tell
me what’s going on. Those guys looked shady. Is this about the investment stuff?”

“Yeah, but I told you, I’m not dealing with them. Matter of fact, I’ll call them and let them know right now.”

Nina released a sigh of relief. “Okay, babe, then come home. Let’s work this out. I’m supposed to go meet Michelle, but I’ll call her and cancel. I’ll wait right here on you.”

“No, go on with Michelle. How long will you be gone?”

“Well, I’m meeting her at Star Furniture to help her pick out a bedroom set, then we were going to eat. But really, I can cancel.”

“No,” he said, a little too forcefully. “Go hang out with your girl. Give me ’til tomorrow, okay? I wanted to get away, so I drove up to Austin to stay with Phil,” he said, referring to a childhood friend. “I’ll come home tomorrow, okay?”

Nina closed her eyes. He was probably still upset that she called him Todd. “Okay, be careful.”

“I will. And, Nina, I love you. No matter what, always know that I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she replied. She hung up the phone and stared at the receiver a long while. Why had Rick asked about what that creep L.J. said? She couldn’t avoid the feeling that Rick wouldn’t be taking care of the problem. It sounded like he was running away from it.

T
he heavenly smell of waffles greeted them at the door. Nina inhaled, closed her eyes, and smiled. She hadn’t really been able to focus on shopping, but after two hours, they finally found the perfect bedroom set for Michelle. Nina even saw a few items she planned to go back later and buy for herself.

“Man, I can’t wait to dig into some chicken and waffles, heavy on the calories,” Nina said.

Michelle grinned. “Me and you both.” They had just made it to the infamous Breakfast Klub before the place closed.

“Two orders of chicken and waffles, coming right up,” the cashier said.

“Hey, Marcus,” Nina said, waving to the owner of the
restaurant. They met several years ago when she and his wife took some real estate classes together.

Nina handed the cashier her credit card.

“Wow, you’re actually gracing us with your presence,” Marcus joked to Nina as he walked up behind the cashier. He looked his usual cheery self in his Black Power T-shirt, jeans, bald head, and tousled beard. “How are you?” he asked Michelle.

“I’m good,” she replied.

He turned back to Nina. “I saw you all over the news. I thought you’d be having your breakfast catered these days.”

Nina smiled. “No, you know no matter what, I will always come to the Breakfast Klub.”

“Well, I appreciate that.”

Nina noticed the cashier was frowning at the cash register screen. She looked at Nina. “I’m sorry, your card was declined,” she whispered.

The smile quickly dropped off Nina’s face. “Excuse me?”

“Your card was rejected. Do you have another form of payment?” she whispered again.

“There’s something wrong with your machine,” Nina replied. “Can you run the card again because that’s my debit card.” She looked at Michelle and exchanged an uneasy laugh. “If ever in my life my card doesn’t need to be rejected, it’s now.”

“Yeah, it must be something with the machine,” Michelle agreed.

The cashier ran the card through again, and this time she signaled to Marcus. He walked over to the register, then ran the card himself. “Hmph,” he said. “It’s still coming up declined.”

“I got it,” Michelle said, stepping forward. “It must be some type of bank error.” She whipped out her Visa card and handed it to the cashier. The purchase went through in seconds.

Nina was beyond embarrassed. The people in line behind her were looking at her like she was a thief. She wanted to scream, “I just won the lottery. I’m not broke!” Instead, she quietly made her way over to a table.

“Girl, let it go,” Michelle said as she sat down across from Nina.

“No way,” Nina said, beyond upset. “I just can’t believe my card was declined. I’m going to give the people at the bank a piece of my mind.” She whipped out her cell phone, punched in the number to her bank, and followed the prompts to check the balance on her account.

“Your available balance is twenty-four dollars and sixty-three cents,” the automated voice said.

Nina sat back in her chair, stunned. She pressed zero to speak with a customer service representative.

“Hello, Bank of Texas. This is Amy. How may I help you?” the perky customer service representative said.

“Yes, my name is Nina Lawson. I’d like to talk with someone regarding my account, because obviously there’s something wrong with your system.”

“No problem, Ms. Lawson. I can help you with that. But if I may please first verify some information for security purposes. May I have your Social Security number and your mother’s maiden name?”

Nina rattled off the information and waited with bated
breath.
There is nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong. Just calm down
, she kept telling herself.

“Yes, Ms. Lawson. I have your account right here. How may I help you?”

“What is my balance?” Nina quickly asked.

“Your balance is twenty-four dollars and sixty-three cents,” Amy said.

“Okay, let me back up. Are you sure you have the right account? My name is Nina Lawson. I—”

“Yes, ma’am. Account number three-two-zero-nine-seven-one-five-nine-zero?”

“Yes, but—”

“Your balance is twenty-four dollars and sixty-three cents,” the representative repeated.

“My balance can’t possibly be twenty-four dollars. I just deposited over four million dollars!” Nina screamed. Several people in the restaurant turned to stare at her, but she didn’t care.

“Yes, ma’am, we see that you did make a substantial deposit last week.”

“Then you can see how there’s no way all my money can be gone!”

Michelle reached for her arm, trying to get her to lower her voice.

“Let me see what the problem is,” Amy said.

“The problem is something is wrong with your system!” Nina snapped.

“Yes, here’s where the confusion is. You had an over-the-
counter withdrawal this morning for three million, eight hundred thousand dollars.”

Every ounce of breath escaped Nina’s body. It was as if time were standing still. “I haven’t been to the bank,” she croaked, finally finding her voice.

“It appears the withdrawal was done by the joint owner of your account, Mr. Rick Henderson. It was a cash withdrawal. Mr. Henderson said you all were taking the money to another bank. I see here that we did try to give you a courtesy call at home.”

“I’ve been out all day!” Nina said in a panic.

“We are so sorry you weren’t happy with the Bank of Texas. In the fut—”

Nina cut her off. “Please tell me you’re lying!”

Amy sounded offended. “No, ma’am, here at the Bank of Texas, we don’t lie when it comes to our customers’ money.”

“How could he possibly withdraw nearly four million dollars? Why would you all let him have that?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Please don’t raise your voice at me,” Amy sternly said. “As an authorized signer, Mr. Henderson can withdraw anything he likes.”

“Okay,” Nina said, trying to calm herself. This woman wasn’t at fault. Nina had been the idiot who put a man who wasn’t her husband on her account. “I’m sorry for yelling. There’s a reasonable explanation. I know there is.”

“Wonderful. I hope you work it out. Is there anything else I can do for you, Ms. Lawson?”

Nina didn’t respond as she slammed the phone shut and grabbed her purse.

“What’s going on?” Michelle asked.

“Let’s go,” Nina snapped, jumping up and heading toward the door. She had forgotten all about their food.

“Will you please tell me what’s going on?” Michelle asked as they neared the car.

Nina was so upset, she couldn’t even find her keys. “Rick took all my money,” she said, frantically searching for her keys.

“What?”

“He took it. All of it.” Nina struggled to breathe.

“Oh, my God.” Michelle watched as Nina tried unsuccessfully to open her car door.

“Here, let me drive you,” Michelle said, taking the keys. “You know Rick. He’s not a thief. There has to be a reasonable explanation,” Michelle said, once they were in the car.

“What reasonable explanation could he have for taking nearly four million dollars out of the bank and not saying anything?”

“I don’t know. But just calm down until you can find out.”

Nina fought back the lump in her throat. “Just take me home, please.”

Michelle didn’t say anything else as she sped toward Nina’s house. Nina barely gave the car time to stop before she was barreling out the door and up the sidewalk. “Rick!” she yelled as she approached the front door.

She opened the door and ran inside. She didn’t see him but she continued to call his name. “Rick!” she said, going up the stairs two at a time.

Michelle was right behind her. Nina got to the bedroom
door and stopped in her tracks. Every drawer in the dresser was open. Rick’s side was empty. Only wire hangers hung on his side of the closet. His pile of shoes was gone. Rick had evidently left in a hurry.

Nina had to steady herself against the wall. What was even more evident was a feeling in her gut telling her he was never coming back.