Trickery & Envy (28 page)

“Ms. Fowler, are you okay?” Patricia asked calling from Vivian’s office.

“
Yes, I’m okay. What’s going on Patricia?” and Vivian shifted to sitting up. Darling and Darren moved to the end of the sofa.

“I hadn’t heard from you. Are you sure you’re okay Ms. Fowler?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. There just are some things I need to take care of.”

“I’m just concern
ed because I and two other stylists heard on the news that a woman was attacked and robbed in Olympia Fields yesterday and we know you live out that way. We hadn’t heard from you and we’re worried.”

“Thank
you for your concern. Actually I’ll be in tomorrow. Is everything okay there?”

Vivian
clutched her rob near the chest as if air was seeping through.

“
A man called asking to speak with you. He wanted to know if you were okay. I told him you weren’t available at the moment and he hung up. He called twice this morning.”

“If he calls again tell him the same thing. Did a number show up?”

“No, whoever it was called unknown. Ms. Fowler I know you like to keep your business to yourself, but should I be on the lookout for your brother prowling around?”

“My brother?” Vivian uttered with a
perplexed look. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” she said and with the feeling that Vernon had left her alone after she had an order of protection placed against him.

Someone knocked
hard on Vivian’s front door and it caused her heart to race.

“Patricia, stay on the line,”
Vivian whispered into her cell phone.

“Ms. Fowler
is you okay, Ms. Fowler,” Patricia called into the phone feeling something bad was going on.

Darling and Darren after the hard knocks to the door had taken off to the basement.

Vivian rose from the sofa and scared moved over to the window.

“Ms. Fowler,”
Patricia called into the phone again and then without hesitation reached into her smock jacket pocket for her cell phone and dialed 911. Patricia ended her call to the police and returned to her call to Vivian. “Ms. Fowler,” she said.

T
he two officers that knocked on the door observed someone peeping through the blinds.

“It’s the police, Ms. Fowler
. We need to ask you some questions.”

It
was apparent that Vivian was spooked by the knocks by the way her fingers vibrated against the blinds. Vivian let loose the blinds, blew out a gush of air, but was still nervous. Her right hand shook as she placed the cell phone back to her ear and said, “Patricia I’ll call you back,” and ended the call.

Vivian
re-wrapped her rob around her tighter before opening the door.

The pistol on her
cocktail table was quickly observed by the officers after they entered.

“I take it you have a permit for your weapon,” Officer Grayson
said.

“Yes, I have a permit.”

“If you don’t mind securing your weapon,” he said.

Vivian nod
ded and removed her weapon from the cocktail table and went to put it away.

“How can I help you
officers,” she said after returning and standing distant from them.

Officer Grayson s
tated, “We were told by the hospital that you were released. We apologize for not getting there before your release. We need to ask some questions about the night you were assaulted. Your condition at the time prohibited us from getting information we need to track down the perpetrators.”

Vivian t
ook a seat on her sofa. She then looked around for her poodles and not seeing either of them crossed her arms as a safeguard.

“
Do you recall how the perpetrators entered your home?”

Vivian
gazed toward her carpet. “I was on the phone when the doorbell rang. I thought it was more kids trick or treating, so I opened the door.”

“
Who were you talking to at the time on the phone?”

“Toni,
he’s a male friend of mine.”

“
What happened next?”

“I’m not sure it happened so fast. I opened the door
and was punched in the face. I may have been unconscious a minute. I’m not sure what happened after that, but I know at some point that I was sexually assaulted.”

“Do you recall
how many people entered your home or what any of the assailants was wearing?”

Vivian
shrugged her shoulders. “I believe the one that struck me had on some kind of superhero costume.”

“Did they speak
? Did you recognize the voice, if they were male or female?”

Vivian
started moving her head no then said, “Wait, I believe the one that hit me disguised his voice. A woman was with him. It’s strange because she sounded like a stylist I had to let go a couple months ago. Yes, I’m sure it was her.”

“What is the name of the stylist that you
terminated?” Officer Grayson asked, and then said, “Do you mind,” giving a nod to the sofa sleeper.

The office
r sat after an okay nod from Vivian then continued with his questioning.

Darren
came up from the basement and sat near the entrance to the living room. As if he was getting weary of strangers entering the house, he gave a soft bark at the officers.

“Darren, Darling,” Vivian said
a little surprised by the bark. It was rare her poodles barked.

Darren wiggled on into the room with a couple more soft barks at the
officers and quickly jumped up on the sofa and into Vivian’s lap.

“Tracie Allen
,” Vivian said finally answering Officer Grayson’s question about the name of the stylist she fired.

There was a few
taps to the door. “Hey,” the officer said to the other.

“We received a call to check things out at this address. Everything’s good,” the
officer asked.

“
Everything’s good. My partner and I are here for questioning.”

“
10-4, I’ll call it in everything’s good,” the officer said.

“That may have been my assistant that called. I was on the phone with her when you knocked on the door. She probably heard fear in my voice.”

“When was the last time you saw your brother, Vernon Fowler, Jr.?”

“Vernon?” Vivian
quizzed and not understanding why he would be connected. “What does he have to do with what happen?” she asked and still looking puzzled when she thought about Patricia suspecting her brother was involved.

“We have reason to believe the assault on you was
devised by him.”

Vivian wrap
ped her arms around her stomach suddenly feeling nausea. She then put her hand over her mouth and took off to the bathroom. Her abrupt sickness had nothing to do with her being pregnant. She threw up the toast and juice she had a little while ago. Hearing Vernon may have been behind the assault made her sick. Vivian flushed the toilet and moved over to the sink where she braced herself on the rim of it. “Vernon did this,” she told herself and turned on the cold water. She reached for her facecloth on a rack nearby and ran it under the water. She wrung the towel of water then placed it to her face a few seconds.

“
Are you okay?” Officer Grayson asked from the living room.

“
Yes, I’ll be right out.” Vivian placed the towel back on the rack then walked back to the living room.

“You were correct,”
Officer Grayson said. “Tracie Allen was one of the intruders. She turned herself in yesterday. She claimed she didn’t know that Vernon, her boyfriend, was going to assault you or have your home robbed.”

“Boyfriend
,” Vivian mumbled.

“
I take it that you weren’t aware that your brother and stylist were dating.”

“Absolutely no
t...I had no idea she knew him.”

Officer Grayson said,
“She also claimed that your brother made her come with him and said that it was going to be payback for you firing her. She stated that he was only coming here to get money you owed him and that his two friends were going to give them a ride home.”

Officer Grayson gave Vivian a minute to take in what he just told her.

“Was he caught, has he been arrested?” Vivian asked.

“
He’s been picked up for questioning. We do have the man that sexually assaulted you in custody.”

“Did Vernon set that up too?” Vivian asked looking in the direction of the cocktail table.

“We don’t have the answer to that. The man in custody, Richard Green, isn’t talking. There was another man involved that we’re searching for…a Reggie Morrow.”

Vivian look
ed as if she heard the name before.

“Do you know him
?” Officer Grayson asked and reacting to the expression on her face.

“
No, but I believe that’s the name one of the men called the other. He was upset that his name had been revealed.”

“Ms. Fowler
, we’re not going to take up anymore of your time. You’ll probably receive a call to come to the station and possibly indentify the perpetrators from a line up. Stay safe,” Officer Grayson said and rose to his feet.

As the
officers were leaving a man was walking up the walkway.

“There’s
someone approaching your home do you know this person?” Officer Grayson asked.

Vivian
shifted behind the officer to see who was coming to her home. “Yes, I know him,” she answered and blew out a little air relieved that it wasn’t Vernon.

“Is she okay
?” Charles asked.

“She’s fine. We were just her
e for questioning,” Officer Bradford responded.

Soon as the
officers started walking away Vivian locked her door.

“Hey Charles
, how’s Jennifer?” she said and she moved toward the sofa still thinking about how Vernon was involved.

“Not too good.
She was given some medication to help her sleep. Her gynecologist wants to see her once she’s over the flu. How are you doing? Have you eaten? I know you’ve been through a lot but you can’t forget about the one in the oven.”

Vivian
smiled something she hadn’t done in a couple of days.

“What did the police
want?” Charles asked.

“They wanted me to know
that Vernon was involved in the robbery and assault on me.”

“Your brother
, are you serious? How can you do something like that to a family member?” He shook his head in disbelief. “The O’Jays said that money will drive some people out of their mind. He has definitely lost his.”

“I’m scared, Charles,” Vivian
confessed and a few tears fell from her eyes. “I can’t believe he would do something like this.”

Charles went over and sat next to Vivian and cradled her in h
is arms.

“
We’re here. You’re going to bounce back from this both you and Jennifer. You guys are going through so much right now. You know if Jennifer wasn’t in the hospital she’d be right here by your side. Vivian I don’t want you here alone and neither would Jennifer. Listen to me. You may not be ready to see him, but you need him and he wants to be here. Call Toni, Vivian. Let him be here for you.”

“
Toni, you spoke to him.”

Charles stood
and slid his hands into his front pants pockets. “Yeah, we talked.”

Vivian
glided her hands over her stomach. “So you know he’s the father?”

“Vivian
...he knows it to?”

Vivian cover
ed her mouth a little shocked. “How did he find out? Did you guys tell him?”

“You don’t remember much about Halloween night
, do you?” he asked lowering his eyes at her. “Do you remember Toni being here?”

Vivian th
ought back. “I remember talking to him on the phone. I don’t remember telling him about the baby.”

“He was here Vivian. He was the one that alerted the police
and insisted they come here. He was listening to whatever was happening through his cell phone. That man loves you Vivian,” Charles told her. “You don’t have to know someone long to know you belong together.”

“What else do you know about Toni
?” Vivian softly asked.

“If you’re referring to what I think you’re talking about it’s irrelevant. I like the guy. He’s all man in my eyes and what I feel is a
good one. It doesn’t matter what me or anyone else might think about him.”

Charles
rose and started to head toward the door.

Vivian r
ose from the sofa and trailed him.