The Joneses (12 page)

Jason placed his hand on my knee. “Haven't I always been good to you? Whatever you wanted, I made sure you had. Who has been keeping money in your pockets? Wasn't I the one you called when your dear ol' Dad cut off your credit cards?”

“Yes, Jason, you've been good to me. But, come on. What we've been doing is wrong.”

“You were an adult when our love affair started, so don't get it twisted.”

“Barely. I was eighteen when you took advantage of me.”

Jason laughed. “Dear, you came on to me first. I'd tried to ignore your advances, but I'm a man. You caught me at a weak moment.”

He was delusional. His recollection of things was way different than mine. I recalled the time we had our first sexual encounter. He'd financed a trip to Dallas for me and some friends. He conveniently was in the Dallas area at the same time. While my friends were busy doing their thing, he invited me up to his room. The next thing I knew, he'd given me a few drinks, and we were having sex.

Instead of being ashamed of what we had done, our relationship had continued off and on since. We were good at hiding our attraction to one another. At first, I was with him because of the admiration I'd always had for him, and I was able to live a childhood fantasy. The relationship then became more of a business transaction for me. Whenever we slept together, he was more generous to me with gifts and cash.

A part of me was ashamed of what I'd done. I came close to confessing our relationship the other night to Lovie and Charity, but was too embarrassed to bring it up.

“Jason, let's keep it real. If my dad ever found out you've been sleeping with me, he would kill you. And don't let my mom get a whiff of it. You would definitely be good as dead.”

Jason gripped my knee. “That's something you don't want to do. You forgot about the videos we made. If you tell, I will make sure they are uploaded on the Internet.” He chuckled. “With a body like yours, your videos would be an overnight hit.”

I hit his hand off my knee. “You're sick. I regret the day I ever let you touch me.”

Jason shifted his body and leaned over me. “Don't be that way.”

“No. I don't want to do this with you anymore.”

Jason kissed me. I bit his lip. He raised his hand to hit me, but stopped. “Ooh, Hope, you're pissing me off.”

I pushed myself up from under him and stood up. “I think you should leave.”

“I'm the one paying for this room. I'm not going anywhere.”

“Fine, then I'll leave.” I picked up my shoes and my handbag.

He blocked the doorway. I could feel his hot breath in my face. “Remember what I said. Keep this our little secret, or else.”

I couldn't leave the room fast enough.

S
lim was one of the luckiest men I knew. After only being in jail for a short period of time, he was back out on the streets. He wanted to meet with me so I could give him an update on how his finances were looking.

We met at the club like we normally do. This time, it was during the day and without his normal entourage.

“I'm glad I was smart enough to use you. The government seized the rest of my money, but thanks to you I'm still a rich man,” Slim said.

“That's what friends are for,” I responded.

“You were always the smartest in our class.”

“Thanks to you, I didn't have to worry about anyone trying to beat me up.”

We continued our trip down memory lane for a few minutes before returning to the present.

Slim took a puff of his cigar and blew out smoke. “Word on the street is that your Uncle Jason has been stealing money from some of his clients. One of them came to me. Out of respect for you, I wanted to talk to you about it.”

I looked Slim straight in the eyes. “Between you and me, ain't no love lost between the two of us. That's his business, not mine.”

“Word. Well, fam, you know we look after each other. Just wanted to clear it with you.”

Under normal circumstances, I would have tried to convince Slim to let it go. Not this time. His situation didn't have anything to do with me. I glanced at my watch. “Man, I'm supposed to meet my mom, so I'd better go. If I'm late, I'll have to hear her mouth.”

“Understood.” We gave each other a fist bump.

Thirty minutes later, I was sitting on the couch at my parents' house. My mom paced back and forth in front of the fireplace.

“Mom, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet if you don't stop. Come sit down, and tell me why you needed to see me.” I patted the couch next to me.

She stopped pacing. Her forehead wrinkled with stress. She blurted out, “It's Jason. He's going to be a big problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need you to promise me something.” She walked and sat next to me.

“I can't do that until you tell me what it is.”

“I need for you to promise me that what I am about to tell you will remain between the two of us. That means, don't repeat this to your sisters.” She paused. “And, definitely don't share this with Royce.”

There wasn't anything I wouldn't do for my mom, so I responded, “Sure, Mom. I promise. Now what is it?”

“Your Uncle Jason wants me to convince you to back off. He basically threatened to tell your father something if I didn't.”

“In other words, he's trying to blackmail you.”

“Exactly. I love Royce, and I won't let anything come between us. I do mean anything.”

“Looks like I need to pay dear old Uncle Jason a house call.”

“No. You need to stay away from him. I'm going to deal with him.”

“Mom, that's what you told me earlier. Now he's threatening
you. What does he have over you that could destroy your relationship with Dad?”

Her eyes shifted away. Her head drooped down. “I'm ashamed to say.”

“Please tell me it's not what I think it is.” I bit my bottom lip.

“It only happened once, but I regret it happened at all.”

I didn't know how to take this information. I couldn't believe my mom cheated on my dad. If my dad found out, it would kill him. I looked away. “How could you? Dad's given you everything.”

“Son, it was during a time your father and I were having problems. He was taking weekend trips. It would be days before I knew where he was. Jason, of course, was always around to offer a shoulder to cry on. One night, he made a pass at me. In my vulnerable state, I allowed things to get out of control.”

“But, that's no excuse.”

“You're right. There's no excuse for me allowing it to happen. You don't know how many times I've beat myself up about it.”

“Sleeping with your man's woman is a serious violation.” The veins in my forehead tensed up.

“I tried to tell your dad that Jason couldn't be trusted, but he wouldn't listen to me. So over the years, I've pushed the incident to the back of my mind and dealt with Jason because he's your dad's best friend.”

“I have one question. Did he lay his hands on you when you confronted him at his office the other day?”

“No, dear.” I could tell she was lying. She continued to say, “But he did threaten to expose what happened between us to your father.”

“Not on my watch he won't.” I got up and stormed toward the door.

My mom grabbed my arm, but I jerked it away. “Please, don't. Just leave it alone,” she begged.

“He's not going to get away with blackmailing you.”

“Lovie!” she shouted out as I rushed to my car.

It was still early, so Jason would still be at his office. I sat and waited in the parking lot until he came out of the building. I eased my car behind his and followed him home without him noticing me. I ignored my mom's phone calls and text messages.

I waited for him to go inside before parking my car behind his. I got out and rang his doorbell.

He opened the door. “Lovie, what are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

He opened the screen door. As soon as I got inside, I pulled back my arm and smacked him in the mouth with my fist. He wobbled and fell back. “That's for threatening my mom.” I hit him again in the face. “That's for stealing from my family.”

Blood dripped from his bottom lip onto the front of his suit. I let go of his collar, and he hit the floor. As I left out the front door, Jason yelled, “You and that ratchet mom of yours are going to pay for this.”

I shook my fist. It hurt a little bit, but the satisfaction of punching him eased the pain. The only thing that saved him from me putting a bullet between his beady eyes was the vision of my mom having to visit me behind bars.

L
ovie wouldn't answer his phone. I was beginning to worry. I decided to cook dinner to keep my mind occupied. Royce strolled in after eight o'clock. I ended up having to microwave his food.

He sat in his favorite chair in the den. He looked up at me with appreciative eyes as I handed him his plate. “Lexi, I appreciate you. I really do.”

“I know you do,” I responded.

“I'm serious. You take care of the house. You try to keep our family together. You make sure I have what I need.”

“I'm just doing what any good wife and mother would do.” I took a seat in the nearby chair.

“This issue with Jason and the money has me stressing out. I'm sorry I haven't been myself lately.”

“Don't worry about Jason. He'll get over it,” I tried to assure him.

“He feels I'm cheating him out of work.”

I laughed. “The gall of him. He's been cheating us out of money. I say turn him into the police and let them deal with him.”

“It's not that simple. Lovie doesn't have concrete proof yet. I want to make sure before I go around accusing anyone.” I rolled my eyes as I listened to Royce continue his praises. “Jason's been a good friend to me over the years, and I would hate to ruin his reputation because of speculation.”

I shifted in my seat so I could see Royce's face. “That's just it. Jason is not the friend you think he is. He's always been jealous of you, but for some reason you have this blind loyalty. You're loyal to him, but Jason's never been loyal to you.”

“I'm a pretty good judge of character. I would know if Jason wasn't the friend you claimed he's not. I don't know why you don't like him. He's done nothing but be nice to you and the kids.”

I shook my head in disbelief. Frustrated and confused about which direction to go in, I changed the subject. “I know this sounds morbid, but I'm glad business has picked up.”

“That's the thing about being in the funeral home business. Someone has to die in order to make money.”

“It's part of life, so we might as well benefit from it.”

“Lexi Marie Jones, you can be so cold.”

“I'm just saying. We are born. We live. We die. It's just a part of life.”

“You sound like my daddy.”

“He was a wise man.” I picked up a magazine and flipped idly through it.

“That he was.”

My cell phone rang. I glanced at it and saw Jason's number on the display. I hit the ignore button. Jason called back.

Royce said, “Whoever that is really wants to talk to you. Maybe you should answer.”

“It's nobody important. They can wait.”

Royce's cell phone rang. He looked at it. “Speaking of the devil. Guess who this is?”

I had a good suspicion I knew exactly who it was. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer. I prayed Jason would keep his big mouth shut.

Royce hung up the phone. “Jason's on his way over.”

I tried not to panic. “I thought tonight it would just be me and you. You know, so we could do what married couples do?”

“After he leaves, it'll be on. So I hope you took your vitamins today.” Royce winked his right eye.

I took the empty plate from Royce and went to wash dishes. By the time I was finished, I heard Royce letting Jason into the house. Their voices got lower and lower so that meant Royce was leading Jason into the living room.

I dried my hands off and walked toward the living room. Instead of going inside, I stood outside the door.

“Jason, I'm glad you reached out. I was hoping this ordeal wouldn't interfere with our friendship.”

“No, man. I just had a lot on my mind. I overreacted. Forgive me,” Jason responded.

“We cool as far as I'm concerned.”

“Good, because I would hate to lose your friendship over something as small as this.”

“I trust you. How long have we known each other?” Royce asked.

“Practically all of our lives.”

“Exactly. That's why a little misunderstanding is nothing. Blood brothers for life remember.”

I peeked inside. Jason nodded his head. “For life.”

I wanted to knock the smug look off Jason's face. I walked in. “Oh, Jason, you're here.” Jason looked like someone had beat me to the punch. His lip was bruised and swollen. “What happened to your lip?”

“As I was telling Royce when I got here, I got into a little altercation with someone, but I'm alright.”

“Maybe you should get that looked at.”

Royce cleared his throat. “Dear, do you mind getting something out of the medicine cabinet and doctoring on him?”

I blinked my eyes several times. “Actually, I do. I'm not a nurse. I'm sure he has insurance. There are several hospitals between his house and ours.”

“Lexi, you don't have to be so cruel.”

Jason said, “Man, that's okay. I'm fine. Let Lexi go do her thing and we can get back to talking.”

He wasn't going to get rid of me that easy. This was my house, and I wasn't going anywhere. I picked up a magazine off the coffee table and took a seat in one of the chairs. I leaned back, crossed my legs, and opened up the magazine as if I was really interested in what was going on in the world of entertainment.