The Other Side of Divine (16 page)

“Yeah, okay. But still, we respect other people's space and property, and for now, that room is his and you shouldn't be just going in there without his permission. So we'll wait. And I suppose that means you can do your homework now since the DVD is no longer on the agenda.”

Jasmine stomped away.

“I know you'd better not be walking away like that,” Miss Crowe said. “We don't walk away with attitudes when an adult tells us something to do that we disagree with. Understand?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Now, where's my beautiful little Jazzy smile?”

Jasmine looked at Miss Crowe, smiled, then burst out laughing when Miss Crowe came over and hugged and tickled her.

—Psalm 55:11

 

 

 

G
abrielle came in the house, glad to be home. She could smell the food cooking in the kitchen and allowed her nose to lead her.

“This smells so good!” Gabrielle said to Miss Crowe.

“Thank you,” Miss Crowe said. “And your timing could
not
have been better. Everything is ready and you
know
how I love for folks to eat while it's hot.”

“I'm starving and truly ready to eat. I skipped lunch today to make up for the time I cut short yesterday when I came home earlier than planned,” Gabrielle said.

“Sorry about that,” Miss Crowe said as she turned off the eye with the candied yams. The cinnamon and nutmeg truly made the house smell like a home. “I guess I kind of jumped the gun yesterday evening.”

“No, you didn't. You were right to call me like you did. Who knows what really would have happened had I not come in and interrupted? I know my father
said
he wasn't falling for any of it, but I'm not totally convinced. It's possible he said what he did to me and Zachary because he wanted to throw us off the trail. Where is he, by the way?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Miss Crowe took the yeast rolls out of the oven and rolled butter on top of them.

“Is he here at all?” Gabrielle asked as she picked up one of the rolls and, realizing just how hot they were, just as quickly dropped it back onto the pan.

Miss Crowe ripped loose a paper towel and picked up the roll Gabrielle had tried picking up. She placed it on a saucer and handed the saucer and paper towel to Gabrielle. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Gabrielle smiled like a little girl. “So is my father here in the house?”

“He left right after you did this morning. I haven't seen nor heard from him since.”

“Hmmm, that's kind of odd. Usually he tells me when he has someplace to go and even then, most times, he's back before I get home, for sure.” Gabrielle pulled a piece of the roll off—the steam rising into the air as though a spirit had been freed.

“I didn't ask him where he was going. He's grown and can come and go as he pleases as far as I'm concerned.”

“If I know you, you were just happy he was gone,” Gabrielle said, then put the cooled-down piece of her roll in her mouth.

“You know me: I live and let live. If you don't bother me and mine, I won't bother you and yours. But if you're foolish enough to mess with me or mine, you need to sleep with one eye open and one eye closed because I'm coming for you.”

Gabrielle chuckled. “Miss Crowe, you know good and well you're not going to hurt anybody. You just be trying to talk like you're big and bad.”

“Ask your aunt Cee-Cee how much I just be talking,” Miss Crowe said as she walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. “I'm tired. But I got a lot done today.”

“Speaking of Aunt Cee-Cee, you think maybe that's where my father went? I mean, I was a bit hard in telling him I didn't want her over here again. Maybe he went to see her. I do know he seemed really concerned about Jesse.”

“That young man is definitely on something, and whatever it is, is not good. And I'm going to tell you, if he rings the doorbell and you're not here, he won't be stepping foot in
this
house,” Miss Crowe said. “Not with me and Jasmine here.”

“Well, I suppose Daddy will be back when he gets back.” Gabrielle pulled another piece of the roll off, able to hold it in her hand now that it had cooled. “So is Jasmine in her room? No, wait! Let me guess. She's in the den watching her newest favorite DVD,
Finding Nemo
.”

“She would be if the DVD player was in there and the DVD wasn't missing,” Miss Crowe said.

“What do you mean ‘if the DVD player was in there and the DVD wasn't missing'?” Gabrielle sat down at the table next to Miss Crowe.

“The DVD player is missing. At first I thought you might have taken it to your room, but Jasmine checked—”

“I didn't take it,” Gabrielle said.

“That's what I was about to say. And you know
I
don't have it,” Miss Crowe said.

“So where do you think it is?” Gabrielle asked.

“I don't have a clue. Jasmine thinks maybe your father has it in his room—”

“I doubt that. He would have asked—at least I would think he would,” Gabrielle said.

“My sentiments exactly.” Miss Crowe rubbed her leg.

Gabrielle looked down as she did it. “Is your leg bothering you?”

“Not really. I guess it's a habit I have when there's something I have to say and it pains me to have to say it,” Miss Crowe said.

“Okay. Let's have it.”

“You remember that twenty dollars I asked you to get for me the other day?”

“Yeah. I ended up forgetting to give it to you that night and gave it to you yesterday morning before I left for work,” Gabrielle said.

“Right. And then I took it in the den and put it in my wallet in my purse. Well, it's not there. And before you ask, I'm certain I put it in my wallet in the place where I always put all my dollar bills. I'm not crazy. I'm not getting senile. I'm sure I put it in my wallet in my purse that was in the den.”

“So it's likely my father may have taken your twenty dollars
and
the DVD player.” Gabrielle shook her head with obvious disappointment of her conclusion. “I was
so
hoping he was being sincere about having changed. I'm sorry, Miss Crowe. I'll replace your money. Did you notice anything else missing from your purse? Credit cards . . . your license, anything like that?”

“You know, I didn't even think about checking any of those things. The only reason I realized the money was gone was because Jasmine wanted something from the ice-cream man.”

“Oh, no,” Gabrielle said. “Don't tell me they've already started their run?”

“You know you can hear that sound all the way on the other street. It's like the Pied Piper charming the children out onto the streets and the money out of our pockets. Did you know a chocolate candy-covered vanilla whatchamacallit cost two dollars and seventy-five cents these days?”

Gabrielle laughed. “Well, we both know it's the experience the kids are paying for. Plus the ice-cream man still has to buy gas. And gas ain't cheap.”

“Yes, I know. And don't you dare worry about that twenty dollars. But I do need to check my other things. I used my credit card night before last when Jasmine and I were ordering some stuff for the wedding.”

“The way you and Jasmine are ordering stuff, we can have
three
weddings with stuff left over,” Gabrielle said.

Miss Crowe got up and went to her room where she'd put her purse. She came back down to the kitchen. “Everything seems to be there. Just the twenty dollars is missing.”

Gabrielle went up to Jasmine's room to check on her. Jasmine was still upset about her DVD. She'd taken it over to her friend Jade's house a few times. But it had definitely been in the player yesterday so she was certain it was in the player now.

Gabrielle told Jasmine to come on down for supper. As they descended the staircase, the front door opened.

Bennie looked troubled. “Oh, hello, Gabrielle. I didn't know you were home already.”

“Trying to beat me here, were you?” Gabrielle asked. “Jasmine, go and help Miss Crowe in the kitchen, will you?” Jasmine nodded, hugging Bennie as she went. Gabrielle turned her attention back to Bennie. “So were you trying to beat me home?”

“Not really. I just finished up some business today.” He started sniffing into the air. “Something smells mighty good around here. That friend of yours, Esther Crowe, knows she can burn in the kitchen. That woman can throw down.”

“Daddy, did you happen to take the DVD player out of the den, possibly to your room last night?” Gabrielle asked as unac-cusingly as possible.

“DVD player? Honey chile, I wouldn't know a DVD player if it came and bit me on the foot.”

“You've seen it. We play movies on it. It's that thin black box in the den.”

“I've seen the movies, sure enough. But if you asked me to put a disc in and get it going, I'd look at you like you'd just told me to translate Russian,” Bennie said.

“So you didn't take it to your room?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Perhaps it was Chef Esther Mae. That woman knows she can put her foot in some food. Did you check with her?”

“Of course, I checked with Miss Crowe.”

“Well, you don't have to get testy about it,” Bennie said. “I was just asking.”

“Daddy, I'm going to ask you something and I need for you to tell me the truth. Did you go in Miss Crowe's purse and take twenty dollars out of her wallet?”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Hold on, hold on. I don't go in women's purses now. You can accuse me of many things, but the cardinal rule clearly states that a man never—I don't care if the woman tells him to do it—he never goes in her purse for
nothing
. If she wants something from her purse, you bring the whole purse to her and let her get it herself.”

“But if you were stealing from it, you'd have to go in it, wouldn't you?”

He frowned. “You think I stole money out of her purse?”

“I don't know. I'm asking. She said she asked Jasmine and Jasmine didn't take it. I didn't since I was the one who brought it to her. The only person left is you.”

“And naturally, since I'm the ex-con, it had to have been me.”

“That's not what I'm saying, Daddy. The DVD player is gone as is the twenty dollars, and ironically, you've been gone all day today. So where did you go?”

He nodded. “I'm telling you that I didn't steal anything: not from Miss Crowe, not from you, not from this house, not from anybody, not ever.”

“Then where were you today?”

He released a loud sigh. “If you must know, I got a call for a temp job and they let me start today.”

“A temp job, huh? Where is this job? Doing what?”

Tears filled his eyes. “You don't believe me. After everything I've tried to show you since I arrived here and you don't believe me.”

“I want to believe you, Daddy; I do. I'm just scared that if I let myself go and fully trust you, you're going to let me down.” Gabrielle was crying now. “It's been hard trying to pick up the pieces you left me with.”

“But you're strong,” Bennie said. “You've more than proven that. What would have crushed others merely brought out the true fragrance of who you really are. And that fragrance fills a room when you enter it.
I
messed up.
I
was wrong.” Bennie wiped his eyes. “Nevertheless, look what God has birthed out of both our pain. I'm trying to walk the right path now. I told you I don't want to do anything to hamper the progress we've made over these past three months.”

He went to Gabrielle and hugged her. “I didn't do it. Please . . . please, I need to know that you believe me. Tell me that you believe me.”

Gabrielle pulled away from his attempt at a fatherly embrace. Miss Crowe was standing in the foyer now with her hands clasped together as though she was praying. For what, Gabrielle wasn't sure.

Gabrielle looked up at her father; his face worn, (far older looking than his actual age of only forty-eight) from the years incarcerated life had taken on him. His eyes spoke to her. She saw deep into them, past his soul, that he really did love her, and he really was sorry for all the pain he'd caused. She saw that much.

“I believe you,” she finally said a little above a whisper. “I believe you.”

The phone rang.

“I'll get it,” Miss Crowe said, exiting the area as Bennie grabbed Gabrielle and broke down completely.

He was sobbing heavily now. As he knelt down, he was crying and began lifting his hands as he thanked God. Gabrielle couldn't help herself; she knelt down alongside her father and the two of them were praising God together. Miss Crowe eventually came back and joined them along with Jasmine. They were on their knees, all four of them, giving God praise.

The doorbell rang. Miss Crowe struggled to her feet and answered the door. It was the police.

—Proverbs 13:21

 

 

 

“I
'm sorry to bother you at this obvious dinner hour, but we're looking for Gabrielle Mercedes,” one of the police officers said.

Gabrielle heard her name and made her way up and over to the door. When she saw the police, she glanced back at her father, who was making his way to a standing position with a little help from Jasmine.

“I'm Gabrielle Mercedes. How may I help you?”

The other officer with a badge that said HOLMES stepped forward. “We'd like to come in for a minute if you don't mind.”

“What's this about?” Gabrielle asked. Miss Crowe stepped up to stand closer to Gabrielle, demonstrating a unified front. Jasmine was now there under Gabrielle, who instantly placed her hand on top of her head to make her be still.

“We were wondering if this is yours.” Officer Holmes held up a DVD.

“My
Finding Nemo!
” Jasmine said with pure joy in her voice. “Where did you find it?”

“So, this
is
your DVD?” the other officer asked.

“Yes, it is,” Gabrielle said, taking the DVD and looking at it. “That's the label I put on it in case my daughter happened to forgot it somewhere. Where did you find it?”

“May we come in?”

Gabrielle opened the door wider to allow them both to pass.

Officer Holmes nodded to Bennie, who nodded back. “Evening, sir.”

“Evening, officer,” Bennie said, then bowed his head again.

“Miss Mercedes or is it misses?”

“It's miss,” Gabrielle said.

“For now. In a few more months it will be Mrs. Morgan,” Jasmine said. “Mrs. Gabrielle Mercedes Morgan.”

“Jasmine!” Gabrielle said with a playful roll of her eyes. “I'm sure these nice officers don't care about any of that.”

“Well, I care!” Jasmine said as she twisted from side to side.

“We won't hold you long, miss,” said the other officer whose name tag read P
HILLIPS
. “We received a call from a pawn shop about the sale of some questionable items. You know there's a law that pawn shops can only buy things from folks they know are not stolen, which is not always easy to ascertain, for sure.”

“But in your case,” Officer Holmes said, “there was this DVD inside of a DVD player someone was attempting to sell with your name, phone number, and address on it. Were you aware that your DVD player was missing or did you intend for it to be sold to a pawn shop?”

“We noticed it was gone today when I went to go look at
Finding Nemo
,” Jasmine said.

“So it
was
stolen?” Officer Phillips said. “Is that what you're telling me?” He was looking at Gabrielle for an answer at this point.

Gabrielle had to think quickly. If she said yes and it turned out her father had taken it and sold it, they would surely arrest him on the spot. She knew the pawn shop kept a record of people who sold them a particular item. But if she believed her father didn't steal it, she could comfortably say it had been stolen and know that her father wouldn't be in trouble. She thought about looking at him to see if he was attempting to give her some kind of signal, but if she did, it would be relaying to him that she wasn't sure he hadn't stolen it.

“Yes,” Gabrielle said. “It was stolen.”

Gabrielle heard Miss Crowe release a sigh that sounded like relief.

Officer Holmes nodded a few times. “Have you noted any other items missing from your home?”

“Not right off the bat. But then, it appears we weren't robbed in a conventional way. Our robber seems to have just taken a few items in hopes of them not being noticed,” Gabrielle said.

“Like?” Officer Phillips asked.

“Like Miss Crowe's twenty dollars,” Gabrielle said.

Miss Crowe waved it away. “Not something I would call the police and report, that's for sure.”

“Well, Miss Mercedes,” Officer Holmes said. “We will have your DVD player down at the station as soon as we wrap up the investigation on this case, first being to arrest the perpetrator. Your DVD player wasn't the only thing brought in by this apparent thief. Fortunately for us, you had this DVD in the player with your name on it assisting us in catching him red handed. And I have a feeling the haul he brought in today will turn up a lot of other stolen property, hopefully things reported.”

“So we can keep my DVD?” Jasmine asked Officer Holmes.

“Yeah,” Officer Holmes said. “We're going to process the DVD player for evidence, but I have a feeling you'll be getting that back in a few days as he'll likely cut a deal and plead guilty. We have your contact information. We'll call you if we need anything more. But hopefully, it'll be for you to come down to the station and claim your stolen property.”

“Well, thankfully, we have another DVD player here,” Gabrielle said. “But this
Finding Nemo
DVD would have made me have to go out and purchase another one if you hadn't located it.”

“Do you mind telling us who the suspect is?” Miss Crowe said.

“He hasn't been formally charged as yet,” Officer Phillips said.

“The reason we'd like to know is because we believe it has to be someone we know. We'd just like to protect ourselves,” Miss Crowe said. “You understand?”

“Yeah. I do. I can't tell you
on
the record, but off the record, it looks to be one Jesse Murphy. Does that name ring a bell?”

It was only then that Gabrielle looked over at her father. She saw him shaking his head, then holding it down in what appeared to be total dejection.