A Special Relationship (38 page)

 
Gloria, his crippled ex-wife, was standing
, standing
at the drain board pouring
herself
a glass of water.
 
Robert looked around, for her wheelchair, and didn’t see it.
 

 
“Gloria?” he said, astounded.

 
Gloria turned around so fast that her glass flew from her hand.
 
She was easily mortified.
 
“Robert,” she said, her voice shaking, “I thought you said, what
are you
doing here?”
 
She immediately began looking around for her wheelchair.

 
“What you say, babe?” another voice, a male’s voice, said as he entered into the kitchen wearing, of all things, one of Robert’s bathrobes.
 
When the male saw Robert, he stopped in tracks.

 
“Robert?” he said,
himself
astounded.

 
Robert shook his head.
 
What a fool he’d been.
 
“If it ain’t good ol’ Paul Hathaway.”

 
“It’s not what you think,” Gloria quickly interjected.
 
“He came over just tonight, to see you.
 
He wanted to know if you’d heard from me, isn’t that right, Paul?
 
So he came by.
 
I was so shocked to see him that I flew from my wheelchair. I just stood up.
 
The shock did it, Robert.
 
It made me stand up.
 
And now I can walk!
 
Can believe it? It’s a miracle, Robert!”

 
Robert looked at his ex-wife, at her pathetic attempt to justify the unjustifiable.
 
And his skin crawled.
 
“So what, Paul, couldn’t take care of her?
 
Needed my money?
 
Is that the scheme?”

 
Paul Hathaway shook his head.
 
“Wasn’t my idea, I assure you.
 
When I lost my license to practice medicine—”

 
“Ah,” Robert smiling, understanding.
 
“Now we’re talking.
 
Now we’re getting somewhere.
 
You lost your ability to generate income.
 
What was it, fraud?”

 
“Don’t tell him anything,” Gloria said bitterly.
 
Then she looked at Robert.
 
“You owe me.”

 
Robert nearly lost it.
 
“I owe
you
?”

 
“You didn’t give me anything in the divorce!”

 
“You didn’t want anything!
 
You just wanted Paul, remember?
 
Well you’ve got him.
 
Him and his immorality.
 
His and his disbarment.
 
A blind man could have seen what he was about.”

 
“Forget you, Robert!” Paul yelled.

 
“Who hatched this scheme?” Robert asked him.
 
“You?
 
Gloria?
 
Ashley?”

 
Gloria smiled.
 
“All three of us,” she said.
 
“And you fell right for it.
 
Dumped that black girlfriend of yours like a bad habit and waited on me hand and foot.
 
I loved seeing you grovel!”

 
Robert stared at her.
 
She was evil personified.
 
“Get out,” he said calmly.

 
“This is my home, too.
 
This should be my home too.”

 
“Get out,” he said again, calmly.

 
“Come on, Glo,” Paul said.
 
“Get packed.
 
We don’t want any confusion.”

 
“But what about what’s mine?” Gloria said angrily.
 
“I have nothing and he has everything.
 
What about me!”

 
“You
either pack your bags and
get out.
 
Or I will be throwing you out.
 
Now which is it?”

 
Gloria’s anger grew.
 
“Who do you think you are?
 
Paul, you can’t let him talk to me that way.”

 
Paul sighed.
 
“Just get packed, okay?
 
It didn’t work.
 
So let’s move on.”

 
Gloria looked at Robert.
 
“I hate you,” she said.

 
“Good,” Robert replied.
 
“I would have been very concerned to not be hated by somebody like you.”

 
Gloria couldn’t believe his insolence.
 
She wanted to lash back, but she couldn’t find the words to say.
 
She just hurried out of the kitchen.

 
“And take that wheelchair with you, too!” Robert yelled as Paul hurried behind Gloria.

 
Robert went out on his patio and sat down.
 
Just a few weeks ago he had been happy sitting right out there with the woman he loved and who loved him unconditionally.
 
And he blew it.
 
Just like that.
 
And for what?
 
For a whore in a wheelchair.
 
For the devil incarnate!
 
He ran his hands through his hair and then leaned his head back.
 
What a fool, he thought.

TWENTY-SIX

The next night, after Gloria and Paul and all of their failed schemes had flown back to Maryland, Robert found himself driving around Jacksonville.
 
From downtown, where the Dyson headquarters building stood, to the Eastside where Carrie was now living, all the way across the Matthews bridge and into Arlington, to Simms nightclub.
 
He knew it was over with Carrie, he knew she would be out of her mind to give a dog like him a second chance, but that was exactly what he was praying for.
 
A second chance.
 
Praying like he’d never prayed before that Carrie Banks, the love of his life, didn’t hate him too.

 
As soon as he drove onto Justina Road, he saw activity on the back side of the nightclub.
 
Immediately he spotted Carrie, her sister Popena or Mona or whatever that woman’s name was, and the same muscular man he had seen at the apartment the night before.
 
They appeared to be in an argument, a mild one at first, it seemed, until muscle man pushed Carrie.

 
Robert’s heart raced as he flew into the half empty backside parking lot and jumped from his Escalade.
 
“What’s going on here?” he asked as he moved swiftly toward Carrie.

 
“Robert, it’s all right,” Carrie said, moving toward him.

 
“That man just pushed you,” Robert yelled, “don’t tell me it’s all right!”

 
“This ain’t got
nothing
to do with you,” Mona yelled.

 
“I know that’s right!”
 
Dooney, the muscle man, echoed.

 
“Stay out of this, Popena,” Carrie warned, but Robert wasn’t backing down, either.

 
“Is there a problem here?” he asked, addressing his question specifically to Dooney.
            
“Somebody better get this white man out of my face!” Dooney yelled, his finger pointing in the air as if he’d had it up to here with everybody.
 

 
“Just get back into the club, Carrie,” Mona said and grabbed Carrie by the arm, but Carrie jerked away from her.

 
“I told you I wasn’t stripping for nobody,” she said.

 
“Stripping?” Robert said.
 
“Carrie, let’s get out of here.”

 
“She ain’t getting out of no-where,” Dooney said.
 
“You’d better be the one getting up from ‘round here!”

 
Robert looked at Carrie.
 
“Carrie, please come with me.
 
This place isn’t for you.”

 
“It ain’t for her?” Dooney asked with a laugh.
 
“Oh, it’s too low class for her?”

 
“That’s what he’s saying,” Mona agreed.

 
“It’s too black for her?”

 
“Let’s go, Carrie,” Robert said again, ignoring Dooney, which only angered him more.

 
“She ain’t going no-where.
 
That girl gonna earn them dollars for me tonight.
 
I been
letting her ride too long.”
 
Then Dooney looked at Robert.
 
“But as for you, Mister Big Shot White Man,” he said, reaching into his pocket, “you the only somebody gonna be getting away from here.”
 

 
He pulled a gun.
 

 
As soon as he did, Carrie screamed, Robert pulled Carrie behind him and Dooney pulled the trigger, hitting Robert not once, but three consecutive, fast as lightening times.
 

 
“NO!” Carrie yelled as Robert lurched forward, and then fell over.
 

 
“Dooney, what have you done!” Mona said and she and Dooney immediately began looking around.
 
Carrie ran to Robert, and fell down at what seemed like his lifeless body, as tears rolled from her eyes.
 
She couldn’t believe it.
 
In all her life, she’d never seen anything so unbelievable.

 
“We got to get out of here,” Dooney said and began hurrying for the car.
 
“Grab that sister of yours!”

 
Mona quickly went to Carrie and began pulling her away from Robert.
 
“We’ve got to go,” she said nervously.
 

 
“Robert,” Carrie said painfully, tearfully, as she snatched away from Carrie.

 
Mona left her and ran toward the car.

 
“What you doing?” Dooney yelled at her.
 
“Get that bitch!
 
She ain’t takin’ me down with that big mouth of hers!”