Gold Hill (23 page)

“
Why not?” Seth asked.
“You still call me Stoner.”

The men laughed.

“
It would be quite a
feather in your cap to get Magic O’Malley back on the force,” Ava
said.

Munch’s eyes reviewed her
face before nodding.

“
What do you say?” the
soon-to-be Denver Police Chief asked.

“
I’ll consider it,” Seth
said.

“
It’s a good offer, Seth,”
the soon-to-be Denver Police Chief said. “You can do what you like
– solve puzzles and write music – and we’ll take care of the
details. You care about salary?”

“
I should get at least the
pittance I was getting,” Seth said.

“
Why do you
care?”

“
Sandy manages all of his
money,” Ava said. “He only has his salary to spend.”

“
I guess I don’t have to
ask you if you’re sober,” Munch said.

“
You don’t,” Seth said.
“You?”

“
Very funny,” the
soon-to-be Denver Police Chief said. “I’m going to follow through
on this.”

“
I’ll think about it,”
Seth said.

“
I won’t start until
November,” the soon-to-be Denver Police Chief said.

“
I probably won’t be able
to pass the physical until then,” Seth said.

“
Should I call old
Schmidty?”

“
I have a new Schmidty,”
Seth said. “Son. But yes, he’ll take care of the
details.”

The soon-to-be Denver
Police Chief’s eyes reviewed Seth for a moment. He
nodded.

“
Nice to see you, but
don’t ever call me ‘son.’” The soon-to-be Denver Police Chief stood
up.

“
Then get the hell off my
Daddy’s property,” Seth laughed.

Without saying another
word, the soon-to-be Denver Police Chief walked out the back
gate.

“
What do you think?” Ava
asked.

“
I think I better get
ready,” Seth slowly moved to standing.

“
About the
job?”

“
I think it’s a good
offer,” Seth shrugged and they walked toward the house. “How’s
Lizzie?”

“
Jammy said she’s
nervous,” Ava said. “They are on their way here.”

“
It’s a big deal,” Seth
smiled. “She’s very brave for going to Connor’s
christening.”

“
She’s your daughter,” Ava
said. “What did you do about her mother?”

“
Doesn’t know about it,”
Seth said. “Colin and Julie adopted Connor. He’s their baby
now.”

“
And Lizzie?”

“
She’s going to be his
Godmother,” Seth said. “It was Julie’s idea. She says that Connor
came to them from God through Lizzie. She will always be his
Godmother.”

Nodding, Ava opened the
sliding door and they went into the house.

“
Where did all those music
people go?”

“
Aspen for Sunday,” Seth
said. “Then the ladies go home. Miss them?”

“
Not at all,” Ava said.
“They weren’t here when I got home last night and I was
glad.”

“
Me too,” Seth
nodded.

“
Come on, old man,” Ava
said. “Let’s get you showered.”

He watched Ava’s rear shift
side to side as she trotted through the house and up the stairs.
Grinning, he followed.

~~~~~~~~

Monday early morning —
2:15 a.m.

Tanesha looked down Colfax
before opening the door to Pete’s Kitchen.

“
Sit anywhere you want,”
the woman behind the cash register said.

Tanesha glanced at her and
went to her usual booth in the back. She slipped in.

“
What can I get you, hon?”
the waitress asked.

“
Coffee, water,” Tanesha
said.

“
You got it,” the waitress
said.

In a few minutes, the
waitress returned with a cup of coffee and a glass of water.
Tanesha gave her a quick smile then turned her attention to the
dark liquid in front of her. She never drank coffee. She didn’t
like it. But this morning, it just seemed to fit her
mood.

“
Oh good, you ordered
coffee,” Heather grabbed the cup as she scooted into the booth.
“Caffeinated.”

“
How?” Tanesha
asked.

“
You can’t have
caffeinated coffee,” Jill pushed the cup back to Tanesha. Her belly
was so big that they had to shift the table to help her get in.
“Why did you order coffee?”

“
Seemed like the right
thing to do,” Tanesha said.

“
For a med student,” Sandy
stood at the end of the table. “Scoot over.”

Tanesha scooted over and
Sandy sat down. For a moment, the women didn’t say
anything.

“
How did you know I’d be
here?” Tanesha asked.

“
Jill told us,” Heather
said.

“
You used to come in at
this time when I worked nights,” Jill said.

“
The year I worked four
jobs,” Tanesha said.

“
I get the coffee!” Sandy
grabbed the cup from Tanesha and began fixing it with cream and
sugar. The waitress came up to chat with Jill. While the other
women waited, Jill and the waitress chatted back and forth until
Jill placed their order.

“
Why are we here in the
wee hours of the morning?” Heather asked.

“
I
just . . . ” Tanesha looked at Jill and Jill
smiled.

The waitress came back with
decaffeinated coffee for Jill and Heather, an iced tea for Tanesha,
and cinnamon rolls for them to share. The women fell silent while
they doctored their drinks and took bites of the giant cinnamon
rolls.

“
Do you ever wish things
hadn’t changed?” Tanesha asked. “I mean it sounds stupid,
but . . . ”

“
I do,” Sandy
said.

Heather nodded.

“
I sometimes wish the
awful past was the horrible present,” Jill said. “You know how much
I love my life, Jacob, Katy, the Castle, everything, but
sometimes . . . ”

“
I miss the old days,”
Tanesha said. “Everything was terrible. I was exhausted and
unhappy. But . . . ”

“
I always knew who I was,”
Sandy gave a sad smile.

“
I always knew who I was,”
Tanesha repeated.

“
Who the hell is this girl
who’s going to med school in a few hours?” Heather
asked.

“
Who’s the girl who works
at Simply Moore, world famous makeup studio?” Tanesha asked
Heather.

“
Is the well loved, well
taken care of college student about to have twins?” Sandy
asked.

“
Who is the mother
of
five
children?” Jill asked Sandy.

“
No really, who has
five children
?” Tanesha
asked.

The women laughed and ate
their cinnamon rolls.

“
It’s not like I want to
go back there or that I’m ungrateful,” Tanesha said. “I’m so
grateful for everything I have now.”

“
I don’t want to go back
there,” Heather said.

“
Uh huh,” Jill shook her
head.

“
Who in her right mind has
five children?” Sandy asked and they laughed. They fell silent for
a moment when the waitress came to refill their cups.

“
It’s a lot of change,
great change, but still change,” Jill said. “I feel like I don’t
know who I am or what to do or . . . At least when
Trevor was beating on me, I knew who I was and now, I have to make
it up as I go along. I spend most of my days faking like I know
what I’m doing.”

Tanesha nodded.

“
One thing I know for
sure,” Heather said. “I love you guys more now then before. I’m
excited to be here with you. No matter what change comes our way.
We handle it all together.”

“
The one thing that hasn’t
changed is us,” Sandy said. “Thank God.”

Tanesha reached out to grab
Sandy and Heather’s hand. Sandy took Jill’s hand and Jill held
Heather’s hand. Their eyes looked back and forth between each
other.

“
Thank God,” Heather said
finally.

“
In a few hours, we’ll be
going to medical school on Tanesha’s shoulders,” Jill
said.

“
I can’t wait,” Heather
said.

Tanesha glanced from face
to smiling face and nodded.

“
I can’t wait either,”
Tanesha said.

Chapter Two Hundred and
Two
Get crackin’

Monday morning — 6:40
a.m.

As the RTD No. 20 bus
approached their stop, Jeraine grabbed Tanesha’s sleeve and pulled
her to him.

“
I love you,” he said. “I
wish with all my heart I could be there with you today, but I’ll be
here when you get home.”

He gave her a hard kiss and
for a moment, she held on tight. When he pushed her back, she
nodded.

“
Go on,” he said. “Your
future’s that way.”

He pointed to the open bus
doors. Tanesha picked up her book bag and stepped on the
bus.

“
That Jeraine?” the bus
driver asked.

Tanesha nodded and showed
him her bus pass.

“
You Miss T?”

“
Tanesha,” she nodded. The
bus driver’s eyes scanned her face and he gave her a big toothy
grin.

“
Where we going, Miss
Tanesha?” the bus driver asked.

“
The medical school,”
Tanesha said.

“
Well,” the bus driver
closed the door to the bus, “let’s get you to your
future.”

Tanesha slipped into a
forward facing seat near the middle of the bus. She waved to
Jeraine as the bus pulled away. Dazed by her own anxiety, Tanesha
stared at the scenery passing outside her window.

She was terrified that
after all this time and fuss, she couldn’t do it. She might not be
smart enough to be a doctor. Rodney had told her last night that
smarts didn’t matter; she would work hard and she would achieve.
God knows, Tanesha knew how to work hard. She leaned back into the
seat and took out her travel cup of tea. Closing her eyes, she let
the calm, familiarity of her tea ground her.

She didn’t look up when the
bus pulled to a stop and continued forward again. Instead, she let
her mind review the already full morning. After cinnamon rolls with
the girls, she’d come home to find Jeraine awake and waiting for
her. They’d laughed and loved and laughed some more. Caught in her
own joy, she felt more than saw two people sit behind
her.

“
Anyway, I
told
you I’m going over
right after this,” a loud woman’s voice pierced Tanesha’s
calm.

“
You think he’s going to
see you,” a second woman’s voice said.

“
Jeraine?” the first woman
asked. Tanesha jerked at the sound of his name. “He always wants to
see this body. You know how he is, big, black, and always ready to
roll.”

“
Yeah, but he said he
didn’t do any girls last time.”

“
Just a lie to keep the
little woman happy,” the first woman said. “You know he wants me.
You’ve seen him have me.”

Tanesha’s blood began to
pound in her ears. She had to bite her lip to keep from
vomiting.

“
More than once,” the
second woman laughed.

“
You know what I love?”
the first woman said. “I love those little tattoos he has next to
his manhood.”

“
The Angel and Demon?” the
second woman asked. “I like to put my mouth on those.”

“
Mmm-hmm,” the first woman
said. “That ain’t all I like to put my mouth on.”

Tanesha reached up to pull
the bus stop.

“
You got that right,” the
second woman said.

“
Big, black, and always
ready to go,” the first woman continued. “That man really knows how
to please a girl. He can’t do the freaky stuff with the boring,
old, nappy haired
wife
.”

“
Have you seen her? She’s
nothing but skin and bone.”

“
He likes me plump and
juicy. When we’re together, it’s pure magic, black
magic.”

“
Fireworks. I know, honey,
I’ve been there myself.”

The bus pulled to the next
stop and Tanesha threw herself off the bus. Overwhelmed with shame
and rage, Tanesha ran down the street away from the bus. She ran
until the pain in her heart released. Stopping dead in her tracks,
she fell to her knees and sobbed.

She should have known. She
should have known.

“
You should have known
what?” a man’s voice came from above her.

“
Leave me alone,” Tanesha
said.

Tanesha felt the man kneel
down to her. Peeking out between her fingers, Tanesha saw Mike,
Jill’s brother.

“
Come on, Tanesha,” Mike
said. “I know it hurts like hell, but you’ll be late to
class.”