In Between Lies (22 page)

She stepped out of the shower and dried herself off. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she barely recognized herself. Her eyes, once glowing and sparkling, were deep set and black, her skin, tarnished with hate, and her mouth was turned up ready to growl at the first person that came her way or tried to offer her comfort. Comfort was not what she wanted. She wanted revenge.

Kevin let himself in
Savannah
’s house and found her asleep in her living room floor. She was laying on the plush rug, wrapped in a thick comforter.  She looked so peaceful. So much so that he didn’t want to disturb her. One miserable person was enough. He positioned himself next to her, wrapped his arm around her waist and laid there with her. Her scent was not only intoxicating but soothing at the same time. He needed her comfort more than anything else right now.

Arson, he thought. It had to be Naomi. He’d thought and assumed that she’d moved on since he hadn’t heard from her or seen her in the past few days. So he happily went on his way, without giving her a second thought. When
Savannah
had called him, he was thrilled and felt exonerated of any wrong doings with Naomi. She was going to forgive him and give him another chance. That was all he wanted. Another chance. 

If Naomi stooped to arson, no telling what else she would do to disturb their new found bliss.

Thinking of his burnt home and precious belongings, Kevin realized that they weren’t as precious as
Savannah
was to him and he would gladly trade the tarnished pieces to be with her. His life long journey as an anchor, a news caster, celebrity, and Meteorologist, meant nothing next to her.

He drifted off to sleep beside her only to be awakened by the shrill sound of the phone and loud knocking at her front door.

“
Savannah
! Wake up!” the voice screamed out. “
Savannah
!”

Savannah
woke up in a dazed and light headed state and realized that Kevin was there. “Who is that banging on the door like that? What time is it?” She hadn’t realized that she had fallen asleep on the floor.

Kevin was the first to get up. He opened the door and Jazzy streaked past him so quickly, he didn’t get a chance to speak to her, let alone ask her what the problem was.

“Richard,” Jazzy said. “He’s in the hospital, girl.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know what the problem is but it is serious.”

“Serious?” That was all
Savannah
could say. “Let me get dressed. Hold on a minute. I will be right back.”

Kevin followed her upstairs, leaving Jazzy to wait for them.

“I’m coming with you,” Kevin said.

“What about your house? Is it ok? Did it get badly damaged? Shouldn’t you be there?”
Savannah
couldn’t stop with the questions. She reached for a pair of faded blue jeans and a sweater, a pair of beat up socks and tennis shoes. She had the traditional soccer mom look, and didn’t care.

“The house is …still there and will be there when I return,” Kevin said. I hope, he thought.

Speeding to the hospital, all
Savannah
could think of was what could possibly be wrong with Richard. He is a strong, healthy man still in the prime of his life. She hoped it wasn’t life threatening, prayed it wasn’t. She held Kevin’s hand tightly as they approached the glass door entrance.

Following the nurse aide to the room where he lay seemed to take forever. They wound through what seemed like a labyrinth, a maze of connecting hallways until they finally came to his room. 

Richard laid there, a heap of bandaged flesh. His head was wrapped in a white cheesecloth like bandage, exposing one eye and his mouth. The bandaging continued down to his waist and on his left arm.

“My God!”
Savannah
screamed. “What happened to you?”

“Kevin….Naomi…I tried to reason with her, but she got hysterical,” was all he could say, then drifted off to sleep.

“He’s been sedated for pain,” a nurse said as she entered the room.  She checked his vitals and advised them that visiting hours were just about over, but since they just got there, she would allow them to stay over an additional 15 minutes.

“Nurse, what happened?”
Savannah
asked.

“Multiple stab wounds. I’m sorry. Does he have any other family that needs to be notified of his stay here?” she asked.

“I will let them know.”
Savannah
grabbed Richard’s hands while a tear escaped her eyes.

Kevin stood back, alone in his own thoughts.

“She did this to him? Why him? He didn’t do anything to her. He liked her.”
Savannah
muttered.

They spent the remaining time they had in silence while they watched Richard sleep.

“I can’t let that bitch get away with this. She is literally sick!”
Savannah
spouted once she got back into the car. “I mean, that bitch is crazy! What is she trying to prove? I should have let Jazzy whip her ass a while ago!”

Kevin sat silent in the drivers seat, a dark cloud forming over his head.

“Look, if she is gong to cause all these problems because of you and me, then I think we should cool off for a minute. You need to handle your business. Whatever that is. What did you ever see in her?”

Kevin didn’t answer because now he was wondering the same thing. He knew she was off, but not like this.  He swerved and made a u-turn in the middle of the road.

“Whatever you did to her, it made her crazy!”

“She was already crazy!” Kevin responded. “I just didn’t know how crazy she could be.”

“Where are we going?”
Savannah
asked.

“To finish this madness once and for all. Hell, for all we know she could be plotting something on us this very minute.”

Chapter 17

             
Satisfied that she left her mark on both Kevin and
Savannah
, Naomi continued to pack her belongings. It was time to leave town now. She didn’t want to be implicated with an attempted murder charge. But if Richard would have stayed in his place and left her alone, he wouldn’t be where he was now. That was entirely his own fault. No one told him to follow her around and spy on her.

             
She’d just finish showering when he knocked on her door. Opening it, she saw him standing there holding a severely burned gas canister and her left shoe.

             
“We need to talk,” Richard said as he pushed past her. “What the hell is going on and why did I see you crawling out of Kevin’s house just moments before it went up in a blaze?”  He took a seat on her couch and waited for an explanation.

             
Naomi stood there, wide eyed, looking like a deer caught in the car headlights. “I have no idea what you are talking about. And if you don’t mind…” she waved her hands down her towel clad body. “I was in the middle of taking a shower.”

             
Dismissing what she said, Richard got up and saw himself into the kitchen and into the refrigerator. He grabbed a beer. “What the hell is going on?” he asked again.

             
Naomi followed him into the kitchen. “I will tell you after I get dressed. Wait here,” she said as she tightened her towel around her and walked to her bedroom to get dressed.

             
Richard waited a total of 20 minutes for her to return. She hadn’t so he went to her room and found her still packing. “Where are you going? What are you doing?”

             
“I’m leaving this place. There is no room for me here anymore. I need to get away.”

             
“Why? And you still didn’t answer my question…what were you doing in that house?”

             
Naomi still didn’t answer.

             
“Answer me!” Richard yelled.

             
“You ain’t my man! I don’t owe you shit! Now get the fuck outta my house!”

             
Richard looked at her in shock. What looked back at him was not the Naomi that he knew. Not the Naomi that he thought he was falling for. He had no idea who this person was nor what happened to the real Naomi. Or maybe this was the real Naomi and he was so blinded by her beautiful face, body, and freaky ways.

             
“I said get out!” she screamed. Tears were now flowing. 

He didn’t move. He glanced at the phone then back at her. She flew into him and shoved him down the hallway.

Richard did what he could to try to restrain her from hitting him  and hurting herself in the process.

             
She gave him one last push and he went flying into the kitchen. Naomi grabbed the blade that was sitting on the counter top and jabbed violently at him. Making continuous contact with his flesh, he was unable to stop her full forward attack. The only thing left to do while he still had his strength and blood running through his veins was knock her out.

             
Richard took three cold, hard punches at her in the face, chest, and stomach and down she went.  He mustered  what strength he had left and made it to his car then drove himself to the hospital. He picked up is cell phone and pushed redial. It dialed Jazzy’s number since she was the last person he’d talked to.

             
Pulling up at his home, Kevin told
Savannah
to stay put. She watched him as he disappeared through his front door. The fire, now long extinguished, badly damaged the back of the house, leaving almost nothing but the foundation in some places. There was no doubt in her mind that Naomi was behind everything. Shocked at the amount of damage,
Savannah
found it hard to fight back the anger she now held toward Naomi. That coupled with the fact that she’d tried to do some serious damage to Richard was enough to make her insanely upset.

             
Kevin reappeared in the doorway. He walked back to the car, quickly pushing an object into his inside jacket pocket. He put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. “I’m taking you home,” he said.

             
“Where are you going? What are you about to do?”
Savannah
asked.

             
“I’m handling the business at hand,” he replied.

             
“Ok then, but I’m coming with you.”

             
“No, you are going home,” Kevin insisted.

             
“Look, we are supposed to be in this together right? Well, I appreciate the fact that you want to keep me safe, but look what that trick did to your house and my best friend! I can’t just stand by and let her walk away like that. Let the police handle it now.”

             
Kevin stopped the car. “I need you to trust me on this…please. I feel responsible for all of this. You are innocent and pure, Richard was innocent. I want to keep it that way.”

             
Reaching her home, he opened the car door and let  her out. “I will be back shortly, baby.”

             
He kissed her hard and long, got back in the car and left.

             
“Where are you?” he asked. “I need to see you.” Kevin barked into his cell phone.

             
“What for, Kevin? You got what you wanted,” Naomi responded. “You wanted it this way. You want to hurt me, well I wanted to show you what hurting felt like.”

             
“Why Richard?”

             
“The nosey bastard couldn’t keep his nose out of my business, so he got what he deserved. I didn’t want to hurt him but he left me no choice.”

             
Naomi’s thoughts and her world had revolved around Kevin for so long that she didn’t know the difference between what was real and was wasn’t. Her vision had a tunneled view, and at the end of that tunnel was Kevin. All she knew was that she had wanted him and would stop at nothing to have him. It never dawned on her that he would dump her again.  She’d been there, offered all she had to him.

His brushing her off left her empty and void of feelings, logical thoughts and a hardened heart. She couldn’t come up for air any longer. She was suffocating in pain, self pity, hatred, and spite. Lashing out at him and the ones around him helped her to feel a little better, but that still wasn’t enough. She ached for him as if he were the only man in the world for her. Never mind the fact that Richard did care for her before she sliced him up. He didn’t count in her eyes. Her warped self worth and sense of being came from Kevin.