Destination D (23 page)

“It's ALL good I hope.”

Tony nodded. “Yes, ma'am.”

“Well, well, well, Mr. Rickey Mavers, how are you these days?” Dee said in a chilling tone.

“I've been good,” Rickey retorted.

“Wow! The two of you know each other?” Tony was stunned.

“Yes,” they both answered regrettably.

“But, it's been a while since we've seen each other,” Rickey snarled.

“Not long enough,” Dee snarled back and eyed him up and down.

As Tracey watched their bantering in disbelief, she decided to intervene and hopefully smooth things over. “I told Auntie Dee that we had found each other,” Tracey said nervously.

“So, where have you been Rickey, all these 17 years?” Dee asked firmly.

Tony grinned as he watched the flares between them start to ignite. He caught himself before he laughed out loud. Tracey's Aunt Dee was not holding anything back. She was saying everything he wished he could say and he loved every minute of it.

“I've been handling my business,” Rickey answered back in a brash tone. “I can see that I can't say the same thing about you though ‘cuz you
still
up in everybody else's business,” he mumbled. He immediately went over to Tracey and kissed and hugged her one more time as Dee tried to gain her composure.

“Did you say something?” Dee quipped.

“It was nothing.”

“Yeah, that's just like
you,
nothing,” Dee scoffed.

Rickey disdainfully eyeballed Dee from head to toe. “Don't you have a flight or something you should be trying to catch?”

Dee glanced at her watch and then looked at him piercingly between the eyes. “No.”

“Ah hem…” Tracey interrupted. “Well, I do,” she announced as she pulled Dee toward her. “Hey, go easy on him, Auntie Dee. He's not who you think he is, okay?”

“Hmph! Since when?”

Tracey's tone became firm. She pulled Dee a couple of steps away from her father so he couldn't hear. “Aunt Dee, he's my dad. I know you know about my dad and mama's history, but I promise you that there is more to the story.”

“R-e-a-l-l-y? And I suppose he told you that, huh?”

Tracey inhaled deeply and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Aunt Dee and I believe him. Listen, you've got to stop treating him like he's got some type of disease. I'm spending more time trying to keep you two from going off on each other than spending time with Tony—who, by the way, is just sitting over there waiting this drama out. Look at him.”

“Yes, I see him, but I'm not concerned with Tony's feelings right now. I'm concerned about you. You know your mother used to believe your father's words too, and you see where that got her, right?”

“Aunt Dee! Please, just stop it!”

Dee threw her hands up. “I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for that to come out like that. It's just that I remember when you were born. I know your parents were kids themselves. But your father was not there for you or Amanda when he should have been. Your mother has done an excellent job in raising you, and I don't want him to come into your life and
undo
any of it.”

“He won't. You'll see.”

“Well, I'm not holding my breath.”

Tracey looked up at Dee with sad eyes. “This is exactly why I didn't want to tell Mama. But, I didn't expect you—of all people—to react like this.”

“Tracey, you haven't even told me the whole story about you and your father. How did you find him? Why has he been MIA all of these years?”

“Well, I've tried to but…”

Dee folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. “Okay, tell me now, then.”

Tracey peeked at her cell phone's clock and knew there was not enough time before her flight to tell Dee everything.

“I see, now you've gotta go, right?”

“I'm afraid so. Oh, Aunt Dee,” she said as she grabbed her neck and hugged her. “I'm so sorry things have turned out this way.”

Dee started feeling a little ashamed of her reaction toward Rickey. “I promise to be on my best behavior,” she said, as she placed her arm around Tracey's shoulder and walked toward Tony and Rickey. They were both seated at separate ends of a bench with their backs to each other. Neither one of them shared a word between them. As Dee and Tracey got closer, they both stood up.

“Hey, Tony, I'm going to leave the two of you alone to say your goodbyes, man. You don't need me hanging around here,” Rickey said, waiting for Dee to make one of her smart comments.

Dee remained silent and Tony was caught off guard by his gesture and Dee's unexpected surrender.

“Thanks, Mr. Mavers,” Tony said.

“Oh, Daddy.” Tracey smiled as she hugged him. He released her and backed away to give the two of them some privacy.

“Be good, and call me when you land, okay?”

“I will. Bye, Auntie Dee.”

“Bye, darlin'. Tony, it was good to meet you. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“It was nice to meet you, too. I will and thank you,” he said, as he watched Dee and Rickey part in different directions.

“Well, I guess this is it. It's just you and me now, finally.” He breathed in a sigh of relief. “You know I love you, Tracey.”

“I love you too, Tony. And no matter what, I'm going to work to keep this relationship.”

“Me too,” he said as he bent down and kissed her on the mouth. He held her close as if he could stop her from slipping away. He was still thinking about Rickey's sudden appearance in her life and was tempted to ask her about it again, but decided this was not the right time. All that mattered was that Tracey was in his arms at this moment. He kissed her again before she walked through security.

Suddenly, a loud voice bolted through the crowd. “Tracey! Wait!”

“Mama?”

“Yes, baby, here, you forgot your carry-on.”

“Oh, my, I must have left it on the kitchen table.”

“You did,” Amanda said breathlessly.

“Oh, Mama you're so out of breath.”

“I know,” she said, panting harder. “I just wanted to make sure you got it. I figured you would still be out here talking to Tony.”

“I was just about to go through security. I'm glad you caught me. Aren't you supposed to be at work?”

“I called and told Bill what happened. I'm on my way after I leave here.” Tracey looked up at Tony with a concerned look on her face. Her mother was in no condition to run through the airport like that.

“Listen, Tracey, go on. You don't want to miss your flight. I'll sit here with your mother while she catches her breath.”

Amanda patted his back. “Thank you, Tony. Bye, baby.” Amanda kissed her on the forehead.

Tracey's eyes pleaded with Tony not to let her mother in on her secret. He winked to let her know that her secret was safe. He and Amanda watched her finally make her way through the security checkpoint.

Twenty minutes had passed before Amanda finally caught her breath. “I'm okay, Tony. Really.”

“How about I buy you a bottle of water?”

“That's okay. I'll be fine. You can go on now. Thank you.”

“Okay, well, at least let me walk you back to your car.”

Amanda smiled at Tony. He was such an honest and respectful young man. She was relieved that she could trust him with her daughter. “Your parents did a good job in raising you, Tony.”

“I'll be sure and tell them you said that. They'll appreciate the compliment.”

As they headed toward the exit, the crowd in the airport thickened. The security lines were now backed up creating snake lines outside of the airport.

“It looks like Tracey made it here right before the security meltdown.”

“Thank God for that. I would have been a nervous wreck if this had happened to her. I'm sure this will be on the news tonight.”

Dee checked the flight departures and saw that her flight was going to be delayed. She spotted Rickey and decided it was time for her to speak with him face-to-face without flinging insults.

“Hey, Rickey.”

“Oh, no, not you again. What do you want to accuse me of this time? Besides, I thought you had a flight to catch.”

“It's been delayed.”

“Just my luck.”

“If you have some time, I'd like to speak with you.”

Rickey looked at his watch. “I don't know if that is such a good idea. You know, airport security has been heightened around here, and I'm not interested in being assaulted today.”

“Funny, Rickey.”

“Excuse me, Dee, but I've just spotted Tracey's boyfriend and I need to have a quick word with him.”

“I'll go with you.”

“Suit yourself. Hey, Tony! Over here!” he called as he made his way through the thickening crowd.

“Mr. Mavers, hey, I thought you were gone.” Tony tried to remain as calm as possible as he watched Amanda nearing the exit.

As Amanda came closer to the door, she turned around to look for Tony. When she spotted him, she blinked hard. Her eyes were playing tricks on her. When she realized she wasn't hallucinating, her face felt like it was on fire and her feet became paralyzed. The crowd kept moving until it pushed Tony, Rickey, and Dee right in front of her. Everyone's worst nightmare had come to pass, and Tracey had escaped it all.

Not Just Peanuts

A
s Pam pulled her car into the parking lot, she couldn't help but notice that Amanda's old parking spot was occupied. She slowed down and wheeled in closer.

“Well, I'll just be damned,” she said as she eyed the personalized tag, Shipman 1. “Well, well, well. Look who's here.” Pam pressed down hard on the accelerator and sped into a parking spot four spaces down from Amanda's. Sitting behind the steering wheel, she took a few deep breaths before grabbing her briefcase and stepping out of the car. She talked to herself as she walked briskly toward her office building and into the elevator. “Pam, no matter what happens, you've got to be the one to maintain control.” Just before the elevator reached the fiftieth floor, Pam pulled back her shoulders, smoothed out her tailored pantsuit, and stepped out of the elevator doors.

“Good morning, Carol Ann,” Pam said as she breezed by, barely giving her an opportunity to respond.

Pam's first stop was her office, where she turned on her computer and checked her e-mails. Next, she proceeded to Bill's office and knocked sternly.

“It's open.”

Pam walked in on what looked like a cozy rendezvous between Bill and Pete. They were seated at his conference table, drinking coffee, and there was a third cup across from them.

Pete spoke first. “Pam, hello.”

“Hello,” Pam said dryly. “Where is she?”

“Who?” Bill asked.

“Amanda.”
As if you didn't know.

“She's not here,” Pete answered back.

“I just saw her car in the parking lot.”

“Her boyfriend, Melvin, stopped by briefly to drop some of her things off. You must have just missed each another.”

“Why is Melvin dropping some of her things off ?”

“She had an emergency this morning,” Bill replied.

“That's not what I'm talking about and I think you know that. Why is she having her things dropped off if she is no longer employed here? Additionally, I have already expressed to both of you that I wanted to speak with her.”

“And we've arranged that,” Pete added.

“Really? So, when am
I
going to be able to meet with her?”

“She'll be working as Bill's chief paralegal starting next week. She'll be in at 8:00 a.m. and you can set up a meeting with her then.”

“Oh, I see. So you hired her back with a promotion, and you've refused to make me a partner?”

“Listen, Pam, let's not end up like we did last time, all right? We can discuss your issues calmly and rationally. With all of us in here as you requested.”

“I think we've discussed it enough.” Her tone was strangely mysterious and obviously made the men uncomfortable—and she was enjoying every minute of it. “If I wasn't clear before, then I definitely am now.” She grinned then walked over to the door. “This isn't over, gentlemen. Not by a long shot!”

Grab Your Oxygen Mask

A
manda felt like her air was cut off. “Amanda?” The sexy, silky voice echoed as Amanda looked up at him, feeling an eerie sense of
déjà vu.
“Rickey?” She looked into his raisin-colored eyes and at his smooth mocha skin, which looked as flawless and youthful as the day she'd first me him in high school. She looked at Dee and Tony in bewilderment.

“Dee? Tony? I don't understand.”

Shit!
Tony thought as he looked up and saw that he was caught right in the middle of the crossfire between Tracey's mama, new daddy, and now the Auntie.

“Yeah, it's me,” he said, almost as blown away as Amanda. “How have you been?” Rickey laughed nervously.

“Why are the three of you here? And together?” she said, pointing her finger at them.

Tony was stunned. He wanted to say something, but nothing would come out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Rickey was trying to figure out what to say to her. Dee was speechless, too.

“Are any of you going to answer me? Dee?”

“I just ran into everyone on my way to work, Amanda. Go ahead. Ask them.”

Without blinking, Amanda stared straight at Dee. “Why do I get the feeling that there is more to this than you are telling me?”

Dee shrugged her shoulders and started staring at the floor, and Amanda immediately knew there was more to this story. “Tony, let's start with you.”

“Hey, let's leave Tony out of this, okay?” Dee insisted. “Why don't you just go on home, son? Ms. Shipman and I—”

“Tony, you're not leaving until I get an explanation,” Amanda demanded.

“Amanda, I'll handle it,” Rickey intervened.

Tony's head was bouncing back and forth between the two of them like a ping-pong ball. He didn't know who to answer first.

“What in God's name is there for you to handle, Rickey?” Amanda said, doing her best to avoid making a scene at the airport.

“Amanda, please. Just let the boy go.”

“He's right,” Dee chimed in, surprising herself that she was siding with Rickey.

Amanda nodded and looked at Tony shamefully.

He felt like Judas, the disciple, who betrayed Jesus. He knew she would never feel the same way about him again. She threw her hand up for him to leave.

“Ms. Shipman,” Tony spoke cautiously. “I hope when you find out what happened you'll see that I really wanted you know the
truth.
I'm sorry.”

“What in the world is going on here? How come everybody seems to know what's going on except me?” she shouted.

“Go on, Tony, please. I'll handle it from here,” Rickey said.

Tony looked at Amanda one last time, hoping to see some sign of forgiveness in her eyes before he left. Unfortunately, there was none.

“Well?” Amanda looked at Rickey, impatiently tapping her foot. “And you, Dee! Are you flying in or flying out? When I last saw you, you told me you practiced law during the week.”

Dee had to think fast. She had already forgotten that she had told Amanda that lie at the restaurant. “Ah, this is my off week, so I'm flying.”

“I can see that.” Amanda answered mockingly.

Dee knew by the sound of her tone that she was not convinced.

Rickey placed his hand on Amanda's shoulder. “Hey, if you would just calm down a moment, I can explain.”

Amanda pulled her sweater taut around her breasts and jerked away from him. She didn't know if she felt more anger or nervousness. “I'm waiting.” She paused. “How do you and Tony know each other?

And how are you involved in all of this, Dee?”

Rickey knew that he had to come clean with Amanda. He didn't like the fact that she looked at him like she was waiting for a lie to come out his mouth, but under the circumstances, he understood her position.

“The long and short of it is that Tony brought Tracey to the airport and I met her here. Dee was here already. She just happened to run into us.” He exhaled as he waited for her reaction.

Amanda thought that her ears were playing tricks on her. She shook her head swiftly to make sure she heard him right. “You've been here to see who?” Amanda looked straight at him, daring him to repeat his sentence.

“This is really awkward, Amanda.”

“I'll say it is ! You've never been in contact with Tracey before. So why now?”

“That's the same thing I've been asking Tracey ever since she told me,” Dee blurted out.

“That's because you've never allowed me to be a part of her life!” Rickey spat.

“Oh, no! Hold it just one minute, here, Dee. Do you mean to tell me that Tracey told YOU and not ME that she has been seeing him?” Dee looked nervously at her watch. “Are you going to find the answer in that watch of yours? Dee, what do you have to say for yourself ?”

Dee started breathing heavily. “I didn't want to be the one to tell you this. I had hoped that Tracey would. She's been calling me lately, and she told me that she's been seeing Rickey, but we never got around to the details.”

Rickey threw his hands up innocently as Amanda followed her eyes toward him. Amanda's eyes were set on Dee's mouth. It was moving, but she couldn't believe what was coming out of it.

“I still don't know the entire story,” Dee said innocently. “But, I did insist that she tell you because I did not want what happened with you and Pam to happen to us.”

Amanda thought quietly to herself for a moment. Dee was probably telling the truth. Tracey had been acting so distant lately that it made sense that she would reach out to Dee. Dee had always been there for Tracey and for her too, even before all of this
Pam Shenanigans
started.

“Okay,” Amanda said slowly. “I believe you.”

“Good, because right now I was going to have to make a decision if I was going to have to stand here and argue to defend myself, or leave you mad so I can make my flight.”

Amanda laughed to herself. “Go to work.”

“Thank you. I will.”

“But you ain't goin' nowhere, Mister!” she said, pointing her finger in Rickey's face.

It had been years since Dee had heard Amanda talk like that. She didn't know she still had it in her to go off on him. She looked at Rickey and whispered, “That's my cue to go. Good luck cuz you are certainly in for the beat down of your life,” she warned as she rushed toward the security checkpoint.

“Bye,” Rickey mumbled. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and his head was down like a schoolboy who was waiting for a disciplinary meeting in the principal's office.

Amanda was so close to slapping Rickey that she had to step away from him. “You are really something.”

“C'mon, Amanda, what do you want me to say?”

“How can you stand there in front of Dee and say that I didn't want you to be a part of Tracey's life when year after year, month after month, I've written you letters and you sent them all back to me.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I never once got any letter from you.”

“Don't you curse at me, Rickey Mavers. I'm not one of your groupies you can disrespect.”

“Is there a problem here, folks?” An undercover police officer dressed in street clothing came up to them. He pulled out his badge and showed it to them. Rickey spotted his large gun and immediately lowered his voice.

“Good morning, officer,” Rickey said, a little embarrassed.

“Mornin',” he nodded. “You two don't seem like you're having such a good one today. I've been watching you for the past fifteen minutes, and your discussion is looking like it's getting pretty intense, so I'm going to have to ask you to take this outside of the airport grounds.”

“Yes, sir. I'm sorry for the outburst. We're about to wrap this up, because I do have a flight to catch in about two hours, if that's okay.”

The officer nodded and gave him a warning look.

“I apologize too, officer. Thank you,” Amanda said as she looked up at Rickey and rolled her eyes. She thought about how she had kept every single letter that she had ever written to him in a box on the top shelf of her closet. She didn't know why she kept sending him more letters since he'd returned all of them. And the even bigger unanswered question was why she still had them.

The officer kept a close eye on the two of them as Rickey pulled Amanda by her arm and led her through the doorway. “This conversation is not over. You do know that, don't you?” he said firmly.

“Let go of me,” she whispered loudly in his ear.

“I will, when we get outside, okay? I don't feel like getting arrested today by Bubba.” He smiled at the officer as he escorted her out.

“Don't you have a flight to catch?”

“I'll cancel it, Amanda.”

“Now, that's a switch. You'd cancel something for me?”

“Listen, there's obviously a seventeen-year disconnect here and we need to get it straightened out. Can we go somewhere for coffee?'

“No, I have to go into the office today for a meeting.”

“So how about you meet me for dinner later this evening?”

Amanda looked at him with contempt. She was so incensed at his pretense of innocence in all this. She didn't understand why he felt like he had to lie about not responding to her letters.

“Dinner after seventeen years? You've got to be joking.”

“Why? Would Melvin mind?”

“Melvin? How did you know about—”

Rickey was silent as he watched her get more worked up by the minute. He still knew how to throw a bone at her and watch her chew on it and spit it back at him. She had not changed since they were in high school, and even though she was mad as hell at him, she was still appealing.

“Don't you dare bring him into this mess. You're not good enough to even say his name out loud.”

“Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Look, you got me going here, okay? That wasn't fair. I know it. But you said it yourself. It's been seventeen years. I've changed a lot in those years, and I think we need to discuss this, especially since I'm going to continue to have a relationship with our daughter.”

Amanda couldn't take any more of his arrogance. She pulled her hand back as far as she could and slapped him hard across his face. “You obviously have had too many passes hit you in your head. The answer is no!”

Rickey rubbed the side of his face and tightly grabbed hold of Amanda's wrist. She looked in his eyes, but the display of anger she'd expected was nonexistent. What she saw was the high school sweetheart she'd fallen in love with so many years ago. She saw the hurt look on his face and tried to gain her composure while he spoke to her in a low voice.

“All right, I probably deserved that. But Amanda, if you won't do it for me, do it for Tracey. In a few more months she will be eighteen, and she will legally be able to make her own decisions.”

Amanda thought for a moment about what Rickey was saying. Her mind raced with a series of questions. She felt her composure eroding as she began to think about what a conceited jerk he was. He was planning on having a relationship with Tracey with or without her permission. The nerve of him to try and take away her baby. She wouldn't let it happen.

“You know, Rickey, you're right. On second thought, I will have dinner with you.”

“Really, that's great,” Rickey said with a great amount of relief in his voice. “We can settle all of this then.”

She faked a sincere smile. She wasn't going to settle anything.

“How about that Italian restaurant, Veni Vidi Vici, in Midtown?”

“Okay, that's fine,” she said, trying her best to sound believable. “I'll meet you there around 6:30.”

“Thanks, Amanda. I'll see you then.”