When Saint Goes Marching In (29 page)

Xenia
was quiet for a minute while she reflected. “Right, but to drug him? Yeah, right! You don’t hear of any women doing that to guys, especially to Saint. They’d probably be afraid he’d beat their ass once he gained consciousness. I know I would be!” Xenia said sarcastically. “Saint is making that shit up and he would never be so stupid as to put his drink down somewhere like he said. He is the most paranoid person I’ve ever known. He always thinks someone is trying to invade his privacy and he should be cautious, especially after getting shot, so I know he wouldn’t leave no damn drink on a bar table!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Stacey sighed. “This is one time I don’t like being right, Xenia, please believe me. I mean, he is the father of your children now. You two have so much invested in each other. It still is kind of hard for me to believe that the man could do something like this to you. He seemed totally devoted and head over heels for you. I guess people really don’t change after all.”

The conversation continued. Ted shook his head in disbelief and waited outside of the door until it was completely over.

I’ve got to think of a plan to get his information.

As he looked down, wondering how he was going to do it, he spotted a small package sitting outside of the door. He picked it up and quickly ripped the sticker off the front of it, then ran back to the front lobby, took an ink pen off of the reception desk and wrote Saint’s home address on it. As he approached the door again, Xenia was coming out.

“Shit!” she gasped. She put her head down and smiled, shaking it. “You scared me.”

She locked the door behind her.

“I’m sorry ma’am. I was running late but I have a package here for a Mister Saint Aknaten.”

“Must be the divorce papers,” she murmured, then said, “Yes, that’s my husband,” in a louder tone. “Where’s the paper for me to sign?”

“I was in such a hurry ma’am, I left everything in the car. I just wanted to drop it off to him and this address was listed as a second point of contact. He wasn’t home but I was told I had to deliver this today. He needs to sign this personally.”

Her expression suddenly changed. She frowned and fisted her hands. “You know what, you make sure he gets those,” she spat. “Let me give you his hotel information. He is out of town. They’ll need to be mailed out of state.”

“No problem, ma’am. We have people all over the country that can handle that for us. He should get it first thing in the morning.”

“Good.”

She dug in her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here you go, make sure he gets it as soon as possible,” she urged.
“His ass wasn’t even going to be home to sign off on this shit. I’ll make sure he is available.
She reached back inside her purse and handed Ted a tip.

Ted shoved it into his pocket, feeling guilty but knowing he had to continue to play the role.

“Thank you ma’am, I will take care of this immediately.”

Ted looked at the address as he quickly made his way toward the elevator doors.

Denver
Colorado
?
It must be another white boy conference.

He made it down to the main building first floor, took out his cell phone and called his grandfather. “Granddad, I’m ‘bout to go on a road trip.”

* * *

Saint sat in the hotel room and looked at his laptop files. Sorting through each of them, he found the document he was looking for – “Men’s Conference in Louisiana.”

He read to himself, going over the documents carefully and devising a plan as to what topics he’d cover. He read the agenda and jotted down notes on the side. After two hours worth of reading and deliberating on his hotel bed, he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. As the clock struck eleven, he yawned and happily accepted the rare treat of actually feeling sleepy. He closed his eyes and drifted away into odd dreams and periods of nothing but blackness. A few hours later, there was a soft knock at his door.

Saint stirred in the bed, the sheets wrapped snugly around his long body.

I must be dreaming.

The knock came again. Saint opened his eyes and peered at the clock on the hotel nightstand.
Three AM – damn!
He sat straight up in the bed, his eyes narrowed as he inhaled the air. He couldn’t smell anything; it couldn’t be Stanley.
I’d know that stench a mile away.

Saint grabbed his gun from under the pillow and hid it behind his back as he slid off the bed wearing only his silk pajama pants and approached the door barefoot.

He looked out the peephole. The man who stood in the hotel hallway, his back to him, was nervously shifting on his feet. Long locks dropped down to the middle of his back.

“Ted?” Saint yelled out, his deep voice reverberating through the closed door. He snatched the door open and looked Ted in his eye. “How in the hell did you know where I was and what are you doing here?” he asked angrily.

Ted looked at him uncertainly, his eyes wide, shame marked on his face.

“Get your ass in here!” Saint barked, and yanked Ted inside by his jacket collar. He slammed the hotel room door so hard it shook the walls. Ted stared at the gun and swallowed hard.

“Ted, this better be earth shattering because you…”

“You called me a few weeks ago,” Ted interrupted. “I needed to speak to you, face to face, man to man.”

“How in the world did you even find out where I was? My own boss doesn’t know where the hell I am, and that’s on purpose!” Saint snatched the laptop off his bed and put it away.

“Your wife,” Ted answered. “I needed to know where you were, so I told her I had an important package for you.”

“And she gave you the information, just like that? She knows I’m here for something important and confidential. Thanks, Xenia. It’s official, she truly hates my guts.” Saint felt his mood slipping, getting darker. “She doesn’t even know you. You could have been a hit man coming to get me. So much for loyalty.” He shook his head in disbelief, the last remnants of sleep now completely gone. “What do you need, Ted? I really need to try and get some shut eye. I have to be up and out of here in a few hours.” Exasperated, Saint lie back down across the bed, his hand across his bare chest.

“I wanted to thank you for calling me to warn me again, a few months ago. You’ve saved my life now three times. I needed to tell you to your face, Saint. My wife is pregnant with our first child, our little girl, and if I’m dead, no one will be around to protect them. Those guys did come after me, just like you said, but luckily I was prepared. The second time it was about money. That’s the part I didn’t tell you but you knew it somehow. I owed him over ten grand and he put so much interest on it, it swelled to twenty thousand by the time a year had passed. He was going to kill me and he meant business and then all of a sudden, ten thousand dollars showed up for me right in the nick of time. I know you sent it, Saint. I have no idea why you keep bailing me out when I tried to kill you and your wife, but I’m grateful.” Ted’s voice shook as he spoke.

Saint exhaled a breath. “Yes Ted, I know you are. You didn’t need to come all this way to tell me that, but it’s fine. Now would you please leave?”

“No,” Ted said as he shoved his hands in his pocket.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Saint sat up. He was getting annoyed.

“I owe you and I came to deliver. So, you name it. Tell me what I can do. I will never be able to fully pay you back but I need to start somewhere,” Ted shrugged as he pushed his hands in his jean pockets.

Saint shook his head. “Ted, I don’t help people to get something in return. I knew that you didn’t really want to kill me and Xenia; you were practically still a child back then and you didn’t know what you were doing. The sad part is that there are men, much older than you, with that same mentality and their development is seriously arrested. Trust and believe, if I felt you were a danger to myself or society, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now…because you’d be unable to.”

Ted nodded. “Exactly, and that’s why I’m here.” Ted approached Saint’s bed. “Not to get into your mix, but I’m sorry about you and Xenia. I know how much you love her.”

“What? So now Xenia is telling everyone our personal business, even strangers?” Saint frowned. “I told her where I was because she has my children and needs to know these things. But now I don’t even think I can do that anymore. She has put me in danger and even our private matters are out for display. This is…”

“No, not like that. She was talking to someone on the phone and I overheard it,” Ted explained.

Saint calmed down. “Oh.”

“You got set up,” Ted said. “I got peeps that can take care of the female, if you need that.”

“I’m sure you do, Ted, but if I wanted her taken care of, I would’ve done it myself. Her ass isn’t worth going after because the damage is done now. Don’t you think I’ve already fantasized about makin’ her pay for this shit? She knows what she did and she isn’t going to try to fix this by fessing up. If she thinks that I need her help to make this right, she’ll actually make it worse just to spite me. She got what she wanted and now she’s done.” Saint shrugged. “She knows I’m not going back to her so she settled for what was behind door number two, second prize strikes again.”

“Second prize?” Ted asked.

Saint shook his head. “Never mind.”

“How are you so sure though? If she could drug you, screw you, call your wife on your own cell phone and invite her out to see it then walk away like ain’t shit happen, you don’t really know what she is capable of,” Ted suggested.

Saint nodded. “Yeah, you’d think, but I actually know Payton very well so none of this is a surprise. She is very text book. She moves to a pattern and doesn’t deviate. I know why she is the way she is and I know she is a sore loser. I also know that once she is paid off, once she feels revenge has been exacted, she moves on. I can’t waste my time on her; I need to focus on my mar…I have no marriage anymore, what am I talking about?” Saint closed his eyes and rubbed his face.

Ted exhaled and looked at the ground then over at the mini-refrigerator. “I thought you’d be in a better hotel than this,” he joked.

Saint shrugged. “It’s OK. I needed this one because it’s close to the business I need to handle.”

“Well, let me help you! Tell me what you’re working on. I don’t care if it is another white boy conference, I’ll assist you.” Ted offered.

“No Ted, this is different and it isn’t anything anyone can tag team on. I have to do it on my own, but thank you for the offer and with that, let me open the door so I can help you leave.” Saint stood up and jogged to the hotel door.

Ted was made to leave. “I
will
pay you back, Saint, whether you want me to or not. Everyone needs help sometimes, even someone like you.” He offered a salute and walked back out to the hotel hallway as Saint softly closed the door behind him.

Saint looked at the clock. He had some time left. Yawning, he climbed back under the covers.

OK Stanley, what do you have planned for us today?
Saint thought as he drifted to sleep.
Is today the day I break your neck?

* * *