A Man's Appetite (8 page)

              “One of those moments.”

Suddenly, Stanley walked into Luigi’s. As he prepared to scan the restaurant, Marla quickly put her head very low to her plate.

“You okay?”

              “No.”

“Well, that food must be incredible to you.”

Marla took a chance and looked up at the door, again. Stanley had taken a seat at the counter, where some people had left. Him and Jeffrey smiled and shook hands. Marla watched closely as Stanley went through the menu. The familiar woman came back, which was the same brunette from yesterday.

              “That’s where I know her”, Marla whispered to herself.

Tina felt as if she was being ignored by Marla and became annoyed. She pulled out her phone to check her messages. After a while, she looked at Marla.

“Well, looks like it’s about that time.”

              “Not yet”, replied Marla with her eyes deadlocked on Stanley and the brunette.”

Confused, Tina turned around and looked in the same direction. Jeffrey came to the table and laid the bill down with two ‘to-go’ containers.

“Dessert for you ladies. On the house.”

              “Jeffrey, you shouldn’t have.”

“My pleasure.”

                            “Seriously, you shouldn’t have. The last thing I need is another pound”, said Tina

“Stop it. You’re beautiful.”

                            “Thanks.”

              “Jeffrey, I’m going to pay with cash and you keep the change.”

“Thank you, love.”

              “And do me a favor…. I have to leave quietly.”

“Okay. Is everything alright?”

              “Yes. Sometimes, it is best if you go unseen.”

“Well, you can use our backdoor if need be.”

              “Great.”

Marla and Tina quickly stood to their feet as Marla leaned towards Jeffrey to whisper in his ear.

              “Have you seen those two before?”

“Who?”

              “The two that just came in…. right there?”

“Oh, yeah. Stan and Julie visit from time to time.”

              “Okay. Thanks for everything.”

“You got it, love.”

Marla and Tina left out the backdoor and headed back to work. What Marla had seen and heard was disturbing. She had a number of thoughts racing through her head as she drove back. Tina hadn’t said anything. A couple of times, she looked over at Marla and noticed a stressful look on her face. It also appeared as if Marla’s eyes were beginning to water. Tina, not being one to bite her tongue, couldn’t hold back.

“What was that?”

Marla didn’t say a word. She continued to look ahead and drive.

“I mean, if you can’t tell me, I understand. It’s your business. It just seemed odd. You were talking and having a good time and….”

              “Like you said, my business.”

“Understood.”

###

Angie was taking her lunch break and was walking into the business complex, where Jimmy was a security guard. She got a rush out of getting into other people’s business and would rather spy on people than eat a meal for lunch. As she walked toward the security desk, she realized Jimmy wasn’t there. Another security guard was working the post.

“Can I help you, ma’am”, asked the security guard.

              “Yes. Is Jimmy here, today?”

“No, ma’am. He was in a bad accident.”

              “What? Okay, thank you.”

Angie quickly walked out and pulled out her phone to text Marla.

[Angie: Rhonda tried to kill Jimmy]

              [Marla: Say what?]

[Angie: That’s what the co-worker said. He wasn’t at work.]

              [Marla: I’ll call Rhonda.]

[Angie: If you don’t get an answer, try the local jail.]

###

Rhonda was standing in the waiting room of the emergency department, leaning on the wall. She looked at her phone, which was still showing no signal. One of her co-workers, Rene stopped by to check on her, while on her break.

“Rhonda.”

              “Rene!”

They hugged each other tight.

“You making it?”

              “Yes. Just still in shock, a little.”

“Have you heard anything?”

              “No. I haven’t been able to go back there. I’ve been out here all morning. I wish I had my employee badge on me. I’d go back there myself.”

“Has anyone tried calling you?”

              “The signal is terrible in here. I was thinking about going outside and checking my phone.”

“Come on. I’ll go out there with you.”

As soon as they walked outside, Rhonda got a number of messages coming to her phone. The most recent message was from Marla that read [Are you okay???]. Rhonda decided to call Marla, first.

“Hello?”

              “Marla?”

“Rhonda, where are you?”

              “I’m at the hospital.”

“Is everything okay?”

              “Well, Jimmy was in a bad car accident this morning.”

“What? I wasn’t sure what was going on. I called the local jail and everywhere.”

              “Local jail? No, we’re here in emergency. I haven’t seen him, so I’m not sure of the condition.”

“Wow. Did you need anything?”

“No, thank you. I’m just more concerned with what is going on with Jimmy.”

“Okay. When you hear something, let me know.”

              “Okay.”

When Marla and Tina arrived back at work, Tina quickly got out without saying a word and headed directly for Angie’s office. Marla wanted to give Angie an update on what was going on, but decided to wait and let Tina have her time with Angie. Instead, Marla walked back to her department to check on her other two employees.

When Marla approached her area, the first person she noticed was Betty. Betty was busy sorting mail, but had dozed off to sleep at her desk. As Marla approached Betty’s desk, she noticed Betty tongue resting on her bottom lip as saliva began to form in the corners.

“Poor, Betty”, Marla said to herself.

“Mrs. Betty?”

Marla tried calling Betty’s name and lightly shaken her shoulder. Eventually, Betty awakened and realized where she was. Then, she noticed who was standing over her.

              “Mrs. Evans. Please, forgive me.”

“No need to apologize. Have you taken a break, Mrs. Betty?”

              “I don’t think so.”

“Okay. I think it’s a good time to do so. I’ll have Tony finish this up.”

              “Bless your heart.”

Betty slowly rose from her chair and hugged Marla, before leaving. Tony walked up to Marla, just as Betty was leaving.

“Just who I was looking for.”

              “How can I help you?”

“Tony, you’ve been on your feet a lot lately. Too much caffeine?”

              “No. I was in a bad incident, a few days back. Now, I’m starting to heal.”

“Whoa. Be careful out there. Well, Mrs. Betty is on a break. I need you to finish up the mail.”

              “Okay.”

Tony went to Betty’s desk and had a seat on the side of one of his butt cheeks that had the least pain.

Tina was still in Angie’s office, complaining yet again to Angie about Marla. Showing no concern at all, Angie played with her Pandora bracelet and partially listened.

“She must be a stone Gemini, because she got those up and down mood swings. I mean, one minute we having a good conversation. And the next, she’s totally ignoring me and off in her own world. Like, I’m not even there.”

              “Tina, you do have that effect on people.”

“What effect?”

              “Well, you have to tone it down some. Too much talking, complaining, crying, whining can throw a person off.”

“I don’t whine”, yelled Tina as her voice started to squeal.

              “Just be careful and limit your comments. Try to be more of a listener, at times.”

“I do listen. Remember, when I sat right here in your office and listened to your hurt and pain?”

“Tina that was one time, when my wedding was rudely derailed. So, don’t go there. Besides, you need to get to work. This isn’t counseling. Do it on your own time.”

Tina quickly jumped from her seat and left out, slamming the door behind her. The loud slam alerted everyone as they watched Tina return to her desk. At the same time, Angie was disturbed after Tina mentioned one of the most disastrous times in her life. Angie continued to play with her bracelet as she continued to replay that “dark” afternoon in her mind….

It was about five years ago, Angie was dating a guy, named Andrew. In her mind, she was in love. Although Angie may have been in love, Andrew was only in lust. Since Andrew was six years older than Angie, she thought she was on to something by having an older man. Their often ‘night outs’ led to Angie’s pregnancy. At the time, Angie was staying in a small condo. When they found out she was pregnant, Andrew decided to move her in.

Andrew had no problem with moving Angie in. To him, the move made for “instant sex”. Instead of calling and having to meet somewhere, go out to eat, and so forth, he could simply go home and it would be waiting for him. On the other hand, Angie felt they would be together forever. She was so sure that she eventually talked Andrew into marriage. Once Andrew agreed, Angie went to great lengths to prepare for their wedding. With little money, they planned to get married at the courthouse. Although it was going to be a courthouse wedding, Angie planned and prepared for it as if they had a church, a hall, a wedding planner, and the works!

While pregnant, Angie managed to get promoted to department supervisor. It was one afternoon that Angie went home early, because she was having stomach sickness. When Angie made it home, she found Andrew in the bed with two other women. Andrew felt he had to get it all out of his system. Angie was distraught and quickly moved out. She managed to find a relative that would allow her to stay at their place, until she could find her own.

Afterwards, Angie was heartbroken and went into deep depression. Her unhealthy eating and prescription pills to cope with depression led to a miscarriage. Along with infidelity, she had to deal with the loss of her first child. Over the next three years, Angie was receiving help from everyone, including Tina. Tina’s help came by way of drinking and partying. One of Angie’s cousins bought her a Pandora bracelet and the first charm, which had the word “love” on it.

Now, Angie’s bracelet had a total of 11 charms. Some of them, she bought herself and others, someone bought for her. Every one of them had a meaning. In a way, the bracelet helped ease her mind. It was a better option than taking pills or drinking.

“I talked to Rhonda.”

Being off in her own world again, Angie didn’t hear Marla walk into her office and was slightly startled.

“I’m sorry.”

              “No, you’re fine. You said, you talked to Rhonda.”

“Yes, not too long ago. I guess it wasn’t as bad as we thought. Jimmy was in a bad car accident.”

              “Wow. What is his condition?”

“Not sure. She is waiting to see.”

              “Well, I’m planning to stop by Reggie’s barber shop when I leave here.”

“Two in one day?”

              “You know me.”

###

              “Well, there was traumatic brain injury. We noticed damage of the frontal lobe. If there are any symptoms from this injury is left to be seen.”

“How is he, currently?”

              “His responses are a little slow, but it is good that he is responsive. By being hit on the driver’s side, the impact was much worse.”

“Will he be his normal self?”

              “Possible. If there are any symptoms….”

Marla walked into Jimmy’s emergency room.

              “….they might be temporary. Also, there could be memory loss.”

“But, there’s no way of knowing right now?”

              “No. We will continue to do tests. We will hold him for a while and find out if any additional damage exists and what effects they may have.”

“Okay.”

The doctor flashed a partial smile at Rhonda and Marla and walked out of the room.

“Marla?”

              “Hey, girl. How you feeling?”

“Tired, upset, bothered, you name it.”

              “You can’t stress over this, Rhonda. You have to be the strong one in this situation.”

“Yes. But, I feel like it is my fault.”

Rhonda lowered her voice.