Family of Lies (28 page)

T
HE NEXT MONTH WENT BY QUICKLY.
I
WAS GLAD
I
HADN’T HEARD
from Tim. But I was tempted to call him just to make sure he had nothing to report on Sarah or Vera. But the fact that he had not called me told me all I needed to know. I told myself that if either of them was guilty of anything, they would have slipped up by now.

Or so I thought.

I was in my office at the store relaxing after a three-martini lunch with my accountant. I had a meeting to attend in a few minutes and I was going to make sure it was a short one. I planned to leave the office early so I could pick up some flowers for my lovely bride and take her to a French restaurant in Sausalito that she liked so much. It was a Friday and I planned to spend the weekend doing as little as possible. I was in such a good mood, I was whistling. When my private line rang and I saw Tim’s name on the caller ID, I stopped whistling and answered the call immediately.

“Thank God I caught you,” Tim began.

“Tim . . . hey, buddy. Good to hear from you,” I greeted in a tentative tone of voice. “What’s up?” I unbuttoned the top buttons on my shirt, slid my hand inside, and placed it over my heart. It had already begun to thump like mad.

“Can we talk?” he asked. “Is this a convenient time for you?”

“I have a meeting to go to, but I can spare a few minutes.” I glanced at my Rolex. I was already late for the personnel meeting I had had my secretary schedule, but that was of no importance to me right now. Even though Tim and I were close friends, he usually didn’t call me up unless he had something important to talk to me about. Since I had retained him for his services, I knew that was the case. I had been dreading a call from him because I was afraid he would tell me something I didn’t want to hear. “I presume you have some information for me?” I asked with my heart beating about a mile a minute. I took my hand from my chest and balled it into a fist.

“Yes, but not much.”

I was relieved to hear him say that. “Oh? That’s good to hear.” My heart immediately slowed down and I was even more relieved.

“Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”

Shit! Just hearing him mention “bad news” got my heart to beating like hell again. “Tell me the good news first.”

“The good news is, I don’t have anything on your wife. She’s been a very good girl. Other than some serious shopping and some expensive lunches, that’s about all she’s been up to this past month. She made a few trips to City Hospital, and whatever goes on there is highly guarded. But I don’t think there’s anything to worry about there. I caught a glimpse of her physician, and I don’t think she’d get involved with a gnome like him.” Tim laughed.

“She spends a lot of her time and my money on plastic surgeries,” I chortled. “I know all about her frequent trips to various hospitals and clinics.”

“Hmmm. Two days after you and your son-in-law left for L.A., she checked into San Francisco General Hospital in the morning and checked out in the afternoon. Your daughter took her there and picked her up.” Tim paused and shuffled some papers.

“That’s the good news?”

“I’m not sure if it is or not. When she exited the hospital, she was in a wheelchair. Apparently she’d had another procedure performed.”

“Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been too serious. She would have told me about it. She probably had her titties tuned up again with
another
lift. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have released her the same day. Right?”

“Right.”

“Now what’s the bad news?”

“Your daughter made several trips to an address on Third Street this week.” Tim shuffled papers again. “The apartment—a dump I wouldn’t house a dog I didn’t like in—is leased to a Maggie Mae Thompson. According to the information I was able to obtain, this woman is quite the battle-ax, always in a dispute with her neighbors. Does her name mean anything to you?”

“Maggie . . . Thompson. Hmmm. You got me. I don’t know a woman by that name. She’s probably one of Sarah’s friends from back in the day. And she must be a pretty ferocious battle-ax if Sarah hasn’t brought her to the house like her other old friends.”

“Well, this Thompson woman is a lot older than Sarah, so it’s unlikely she’s a friend. But Thompson has a son the same age as your daughter.”

“Oh?”

“He’s the same security guard who works in your main store who assisted Sarah the day she lost her baby. Do you think she may be going there to see him?”

“Oh Lord, it’s Curtis! I knew it! I knew it in my heart! I think she’s fooling around with that boy!”

“I don’t know about that. Each time she visited this address since I got on the case, she knocked but no one answered the door. Either the gentleman in question refuses to see her, or he’s out and about more than most people.”

“He works the day shift at my main store, but he’s been off for a few days. Some elderly uncle or cousin or something in Detroit passed and Curtis and his mama had to go take care of the funeral and sort out his business.”

“That’s about all I have for you right now, my friend. Your wife is not fooling around. And I don’t have any concrete proof that your daughter is either. At least not at this time.”

“Let’s give it one more month. But I’d appreciate it if you check in with me on a weekly basis.”

“You got it, buddy.”

I was happy to hear that Vera was not cheating on me, not that I even remotely thought she was anyway. My main concern was Sarah. Especially since I knew she’d been back to Curtis’s residence.

I was already late for my meeting, so I didn’t think another few minutes would matter. I locked my office door and called the house. Vera answered. She promptly informed me that she was late for an appointment and was on the way out the door, so I only chatted with her long enough to tell her I needed to speak to Sarah. Sarah came on the line about a minute later.

“Yes, Daddy? What’s up?”

“I’d like to write up a little report to keep in my files about that incident that happened.”

“You mean about that jackass who made me lose my baby?”

“Yes.”

“That happened weeks ago! Why did you wait until now to write up a report? And what about the police report? Can’t you just get a copy of it from them?”

“I could but I’d rather get something directly from you. I’d also like to get a few words from Curtis.”

“You want me to come down to the store and dictate something to your secretary, or do you want me to throw something together on the computer here?”

“You can compose something for me at home. When and if Curtis comes back to work, I’ll get something from him then.”

Just as I expected, Sarah remained silent longer than she should have. I knew she was thinking about what I had just said about Curtis. To my surprise, she didn’t react to that.

“Oh. Okay, then. I’ll type up a few pages and have it ready when you get home this evening.”

“Thanks, baby. Like I said, I’ll get something from Curtis when and if he comes back.”

She took the bait this time and ran with it. “When and if he comes back? Where is he?” Sarah was sly, but she could not hide the curiosity and concern in her voice.

“He’s in Detroit with his mama. Some relative passed away. I think he told me it was his elderly uncle. He’s supposed to return to Frisco this evening. But before he left work the other day, he told me his mama is thinking about moving to Detroit to be closer to her family. If she goes, I wouldn’t be surprised if he packed up and followed her. He’s real close to his mama. . . .”

“Oh. That’s nice.” I was surprised that Sarah didn’t have more to say about Curtis possibly moving away. But I could still hear the curiosity and concern in her voice. “So Curtis might be moving to Detroit. Hmmm. Well, I’m sorry his uncle died.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too. Listen, sweetie, I have to run off to another meeting now. I’ll see you when I get home.” I called Tim back. “I want you to keep a real close eye on my daughter for the next few days,” I told him. “Starting tonight.”

Five days later, Tim called me again. “We need to talk!” he hollered into the telephone. His voice was so loud it sounded like he was standing right next to me.

“You’ve got something for me?” I had a dreadful feeling that he was really going to tell me something I didn’t want to hear this time, so I braced myself by taking a deep breath.

“Dude, I’m so sorry to tell you that I do.”

“Humph! My daughter is fooling around with my security guard, isn’t she?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Is she sleeping with him?”

“
Excessively
.” Tim let out such a disgusted snort you would have thought Sarah was his daughter. “She entered his apartment three nights ago while the mother was working a night shift at a warehouse in Alameda. She stayed for two hours. When she exited, he walked her to her car where they kissed very passionately before she got in and drove off. They got together last night at a motel near a truck stop where the rates are charged by the hour. The hookers do their business there with the truckers. Anyway, after they left the motel, they had a romp in the backseat of your daughter’s car parked in an isolated spot behind the Cow Palace.”

“OH, HELL NO!”

“Take it easy, dude. These things happen,” Tim said calmly.

“How can I take it easy after what you just told me? I can’t believe my ears!”

“Well, you’ll believe your eyes when I show you the pictures.”

“Pictures?” That word flew out of my mouth like a loose tooth. “You’ve even got pictures of her with Curtis? Well, when I confront her, she won’t wiggle her booty out of this one!”

“I have pictures of them going into the motel and coming out a couple of hours later. I took some really good shots of them in an adult toy shop two days ago. You wouldn’t believe the unique devices they purchased—made me blush and you know I’m not a prude.”

“Sarah didn’t see you in that place taking pictures of her?”

“Oh, I didn’t go inside. My associate steps in when we need close-ups. I remained a safe distance the whole time.”

“Oh Lord in heaven!” I had to stop talking long enough to catch my breath and rub my aching chest. I fanned my face for a few seconds, but I was still as hot as a six-shooter. “I suspected she had a crush on Curtis, and I’d even confronted her about it not too long ago—right in front of her husband and the rest of the family. She denied that anything was going on. I should have known she was screwing that man even back then. Well, I’m going to put a stop to it for good this time! I am not going to stand by and let my daughter ruin her life over a security guard! THAT NASTY HEIFER!”

“Dude, I’m not finished.”

“Oh? Is she giving that sucker my money too?”

“Not that I can tell. His pockets are obviously not very deep, but he manages to cover the motel rooms and he pays the check when they go out to eat. It doesn’t look like he’s after her money. At least not yet. But that’s not something you should be worrying about right now.” Tim paused and released a loud breath followed by a groan. “Let’s move on to your wife.”

“What about my wife?”

“Buddy, this is the part of my job I hate. Especially when the client is a close friend such as yourself.”

“Tim, what about my wife? Is she . . . did she
. . . Is she screwing around too
?” My head felt like it was going to explode. But I had not heard the worst yet.

Tim didn’t mince words or soften the blow. He hit me in the gut with a punch so brutal I thought I’d pass out on the spot. “Your wife’s lover is a twenty-two-year-old unemployed bartender and an ex-con. His name is Ricky Tate.”

I
WAS GLAD THAT
D
ADDY HAD TOLD ME WHERE
C
URTIS WAS.
I
T MADE
me feel so much better. Since I had not been able to reach him by telephone or catch him at home, I thought he was trying to avoid me. And I knew that even if I went to the store, he wouldn’t be able to talk to me. I didn’t know what was going on with him until now.

I had to call several airlines before I found the one he had booked his return flight on. He was scheduled to arrive around 6:00 p.m., but I gave him enough time to collect his luggage and get home. I called him up at eight.

I was so glad his mean mother didn’t answer the phone!

“Curtis, I’ve been worried to death about you. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for almost a whole week. I didn’t know what had happened until Daddy told me today about your uncle.”

“Baby, things happened so fast. When my aunt Nettie called and told us that my uncle Marvin had died, me and Mama had to hop on a plane that same night. I didn’t get a chance to get a message to you about me going to Detroit before we left. And I didn’t have your phone number with me or I would have called you before now. I had called up your daddy at the store and I told him what was going on. I’m surprised he didn’t tell you right away.”

“And why would he have done that? I have a feeling he suspects we’re fooling around and if that’s the case, he wouldn’t be telling me your business,” I said.

“He’s wrong,” Curtis said in a low voice.

“He’s wrong about what?”

“About us fooling around.”

“Oh? Are you telling me you don’t want to see me again after all?” I had been dumped by other men before and I had promptly recovered. But now that I was older and
risking my marriage
for a man, this was one time I knew I would not recover so quickly.

“Sarah, I’d see you every day of the week if I could. But the thing is, I’ve been thinking about us a lot lately. It bothers me that we have to sneak around. I’m not used to that. I’ve told you that already. I swear to God, girl, having a relationship with you is stressful.”

“I thought you cared about me!” I wailed.

“I do care about you and I’d love to see you again. But you’re married. I . . . I’ve never been involved with a married woman before.”

“So? You knew I was married that day we had lunch when you lured me to your apartment and fucked my brains out!”

“I was caught up in the moment—”

“You were caught up in my
ass
! And I was caught up in your ass! Is it . . . Are you seeing another woman? Is that the real reason you don’t want to see me now? I’m not buying this shit about me being married making you have second thoughts.”

“Sarah, I love you,” Curtis choked. “I knew you were married, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be with you that bad.”

We remained silent for almost a full minute. I was breathing through my mouth and from the loud snorting noises coming from Curtis’s end, it sounded like he was breathing through his mouth and his nose.

“I’m not involved with another woman at the moment. And I want to see you, too, baby. But while I was gone, I had a lot of time to think about some things. Things that I need to change in my life.”

“Some things? And one of those ‘things’ include me and you?”

“Sarah, if you were not already married, I’d ask you to marry me.”

His last statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t think a man who worked a dead-end job and lived with his mother thought about marriage that much. “You would?”

“Honest to God I would. I’ve been looking for a woman like you all my life. And now that I’ve found you, I don’t like sneaking around to be together and not being able to show you off to my friends.”

“Well, you know I don’t like sneaking around either. But what else can we do?”

“That’s up to you. You have to decide if you want to be with me or your husband!”

“Are you asking me to choose?” I gasped.

“Yes, I guess I am. I’m telling you, you need to choose who you want to be with. It’s either him or me. When you do that, let me know.”

“Uh, that might be real soon. I . . . I think Bo’s thinking about getting back with his ex.”

“You’ve told me that before. If you think that, why are you still with the dude? Why don’t you have it out with him and move on?”

“It’s not as easy as you think it is, baby. I’d be hurting my daddy as much as I’d be hurting Bo. I try to do things to make the people in my life happy.”

“Well, all this pressure and sneaking around is not making me happy and I’m sure it’s beginning to take a toll on you too.” Curtis paused. I was just about to speak again, but he cut me off. “Sarah, let me make myself real clear. Baby, you have to decide if you want to be Bo’s wife, your daddy’s little girl, or my woman. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you. I hear you loud and clear,” I pouted. “You know, it’s been quite a while since I saw you and I’d rather finish this conversation in person. Are you going to be home for a while? Is your mama there?”

“Yes, I’m going to be home for a while and no, my mama is not here. She didn’t even have time to unpack because she had to go back to work tonight. And she’s got to work a double shift to make up some of the time she took off. Do you want to come over here?”

“I’d like to do that, Curtis.”

“I have a hard time controlling myself when I’m alone with you, girl. You know what’s going to happen if you come over here. . . .”

“I know. Whatever happens, happens. Well, you know . . . and we’ll do whatever, ” I said with a submissive sigh. “I’ve missed the hell out of you. I want to . . .
I need you
.”

“Oh shit! What the hell—I need you, too, baby.”

I was in Curtis’s arms for three hours that night.

Bo barely crossed my mind when I was with Curtis. Lately, he barely crossed my mind even when I wasn’t with Curtis. And I wondered if Bo spent much time thinking about me and my feelings. Other than to have me scratch his back one night after he got out of the shower, Bo and I had barely touched each other since he’d returned from his trip to L.A. a month ago. From the way he avoided me when he was in the house and the short conversations we had when we did talk, I had a feeling something, or somebody else, was on his mind. And it was not hard for me to figure out who that somebody was: Gladys. It didn’t matter to me if he had made love to her in L.A. or not. Just knowing that he’d agreed to see her made him guilty as hell in my book. I didn’t want to stay with a man who wanted to be with another woman and I wasn’t going to! I had decided that I was going to take birth control pills again and I would stay on them until I left Bo. When I produced a grandchild for Daddy, it would be by Curtis.

Before I left Curtis’s place, I promised him I would tell Bo I wanted a divorce.

“Are you sure this is what you want, Sarah? You’re going to divorce Bo for me?” Curtis asked, his arm around my shoulder as he escorted me to my car.

“I’m sure,” I told him. “I can’t go on like this.”

When I got home, Daddy was in the living room sitting on the couch. And he was alone. The television was not on and he didn’t have a drink in his hand. This was very peculiar behavior for him. I had no idea what was going on.

Before I could speak, he cleared his throat and spoke first. “Where have you been, honey?” he asked, looking at his watch. “This time of night.”

“I went to the movies with a friend,” I said, standing in the doorway with my car keys still in my hand.

“Is that right? Which one?”

“Rhonda Porter.”

“I meant which movie?”

“Huh? Uh, Tyler Perry’s latest.” I looked around the room. “Why are you sitting down here by yourself?” I asked, diverting the attention away from me.

“I just wanted to be alone for a few minutes so I could think about a few things,” he mumbled. From the weary look on his face, I was afraid to hear what those few things were, so I decided not to ask.

“Oh. Where is everybody?”

“Everybody’s retired to their bedrooms. After all, it is after midnight. . . .”

“Yeah. And that’s where I’m going. If you don’t leave for work before I get up in the morning, I’ll see you at the breakfast table.”

“Yeah.” Daddy’s voice sounded almost like a growl.

I turned around when I got to the stairs. He was still looking at me, and with the oddest look on his face. But I wasn’t going to worry about that for now. I had other issues to attend to.

When I entered my bedroom, Bo was sitting on the side of the bed with a puppy-dog expression on his face. Well, there was no telling what kind of expression he was going to have on his face in a few minutes.

“I need to talk to you,” I told him as soon as I closed the door. Not only was I going to tell him that I knew his ex had met up with him in L.A., but I was also going to ask him for a divorce.

“I need to talk to you, too,” he told me, perking up. There was an amused look on his face now. He patted his lap and motioned for me to sit on it. But I didn’t. I plopped down onto a spot at the other end of the bed. “I’m not going to bite you,” he chuckled. I was glad to hear him laugh because after he heard what I had to say, it was going to be a long time before he laughed again.

“You might bite me when you hear what I have to say,” I warned.

“Oh? And why do you think that?” He no longer looked amused. Now he looked alarmed.

“I’d rather hear what you have to say first.”

Bo blew out some air and released words that irritated my ears like a torch. “I saw Gladys when I was in L.A.,” he confessed.

“I know. I’ve known all along.”

His mouth flew open, his eyes widened, and he looked thoroughly surprised. “You do? You knew all this time—a whole month—and you didn’t say anything? Who told you? That blabbermouth Cash?”

“Cash didn’t tell me. I, uh, I saw that letter she sent to you that you left in your jacket pocket. I called the hotel and they told me she had checked in.”

“I see.” Bo stared at the wall for a few moments.

“I bet you couldn’t wait to get to L.A. to fuck that bitch!” I accused. I was not just angry; I was also relieved. Bo’s infidelity was all I needed to justify mine.

“No, I didn’t!” He held up his hands and shook his head. “I swear to God I didn’t! We just talked! That’s all she wanted to do!”

“Then how come you didn’t tell me she sent that letter and that she came to L.A. just to ‘talk’ to you?”

“I was going to—”

“Oh yeah? When? You’ve had a whole month! Look, I know she’s been trying to get back with you! If you don’t care about her and don’t want to be bothered with her, why did you agree to meet up with her in L.A.?”

“I told you! She just wanted to talk!”

“Oh really? She just wanted to talk? She flew all the way from Houston to L.A. just to
talk
? Well, I’ve got news for you, brother. You are not that hot! And I am not that gullible. I don’t believe that bitch traveled that far just to talk, goddammit! I know you fucked her!”

“No, I didn’t! I did have a real long talk with Gladys. I made it clear to her that I have no desire to be with her again. And I begged—no, I
ordered—
her not to ever attempt to contact me again. I told her that if she called, I wouldn’t talk to her. And I told her if she sent any more letters, I’d return them to her unread. I swear to God I’m telling the truth!”

“You can sit here and swear all you want to. I don’t believe you.”

“Look, baby, I’ll call her right now and let her tell you herself!” Bo leaped up off the bed and shot across the floor to the dresser where he had left his cell phone. He grabbed it and turned it on. “She’ll tell you!”

“I don’t want to talk to that damn woman!” I hollered. I ran over to him and snatched the cell phone out of his hand and turned it off. “I don’t care at this point. All I care about is the fact that you lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie to you!”

“Well, since you didn’t tell me you were going to talk to her in person, that’s as good as lying.” I dropped his cell phone back onto the dresser and turned to walk away. Bo grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms. Before I knew what was going on, his lips were on mine.

As soon as he reared his head back, he said, “Sarah, I do love you. I don’t want to lose you and that’s all that really matters to me.” His embrace was so tight I could barely breathe. No matter how hard I tried to get loose, it did no good. He even tightened his grip to a point where I felt like we were part of the same body. “I’m not going to let Gladys
or anybody else
come between you and me!”

“It’s too late,” I managed. Those three words must have really had an impact on Bo because he released me so abruptly I almost fell to the floor.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” The look he gave me was enough to frighten the Devil. He narrowed his eyes, and his nostrils and jaws twitched. A purple vein stood out on the side of his neck like a snake. I would have been a fool to tell him I wanted a divorce while he was looking so scary.

“I, uh, we just have to work on a few things,” I said with a hollow grin. “That’s all.”

I was glad that I had taken a shower before I left Curtis’s apartment. When Bo pulled me to the bed and climbed on top of me, he couldn’t stop talking about how fresh I smelled.

Curtis and I had used condoms. And I had not had time to get my prescription for birth control pills refilled yet, so I was worried about getting pregnant by Bo tonight. I needed to put having a baby on the back burner for a while. Even if I did get pregnant by Bo now, I had made up my mind. I didn’t know if he had told me the truth about his meeting with his ex. But it didn’t matter if he had or not. I was still going to leave him. I realized now that I didn’t want to stay married to him no matter what. Had he been the right man for me in the first place, I would not have gotten involved with Curtis. I didn’t feel comfortable in Bo’s arms now. But until I left, I had to endure his “affection” and make the best of it....

To my surprise, Bo’s lovemaking tonight was better than it had been in months. But it was still too late.