More Than A Four Letter Word (18 page)

When Patti Labelle walks on stage in a short
figure hugging black dress singing Lady Marmalade the crowd jumped
to its feet, including Clarissa. For the duration of the three hour
concert and Patti's numerous costume changes, Clarissa spends most
of her time on her feet dancing and singing. The show ended with
Patti singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

They didn't make it back to her parents' home
until late that evening. Clarissa's parents immediately went to
bed, and Junior joined Clarissa in the kitchen for a late night
snack of grilled cheese sandwiches. They were sitting for hours at
the kitchen table playing catch up.

"So how's Chicago treating you?"

"Great! I can see myself living there
permanently."

"Wow! I didn't think you could hack it in
Chicago, but you've proven repeatedly that you can handle any
situation. Do you have any regrets about canceling you wedding to
Lawrence?"

Clarissa could tell by the look in Junior's
eyes that he's beating around the bush. "I would never marry a
cheater. Frankly, I haven't been thinking much about Lawrence over
the last six months other than how much time I wasted on him. What
makes you ask?"

Junior avoided her gaze and finished the last
bite of his sandwich before chasing it down with the last of his
Coke. "I see Lawrence from time to time; his family does business
with the firm. I really think losing you may have changed him."

Clarissa sighed with annoyance. "Certainly
you're not pleading Lawrence's case. You forget Lawrence cheated on
me with numerous women, one of which our sister. I've forgiven him,
but he doesn't deserve my attention."

"Sis I don't mean any harm, the way you
canceled the wedding so fast makes me wonder how much you loved him
in the first place."

"So you're saying that if I really loved him,
I should have married him anyway?"

"No, Sis I'm just saying if you really loved
Lawrence it wouldn't have been so easy to cancel the wedding."

Junior's right; she canceled the wedding with
swift precision and without regrets. "My heart isn't broken Junior.
Lawrence didn't have the power to break my heart, but I genuinely
cared for him. I knew that Lawrence could never be the love of my
life, but how many people outside of Daddy and Mother actually
marry the love of their lives."

Junior's mood turned melancholy. "I think
Cynda may have found someone else."

More than shocked, it takes Clarissa a moment
to digest Junior's comment. Junior and Cynda have been together
since high school. "I don't think Cynda's the cheating type."

Junior snorted, "I bet you thought the same
thing about Lawrence."

Usually Junior is the most reasonable person,
but right now, he's acting like a complete an utter ass. "Tell me
why you think she's cheating on you."

He rubbed his hands down his face in
weariness. "We live in the same house Rissa, and I barely see her
anymore. I call her at work leaving messages, and she doesn't
return my calls right away."

She shakes her head in disbelief; Cynda is
the sweetest person she knows. Clarissa didn't believe for one
moment that she's cheating on Junior. She's always put Raymond
first, to the point where he acts like a petulant child when things
don't go his way. Sometimes he could be insensitive when it comes
to Cynda. "Cynda's working full time and she's studying for the bar
examine?"

Junior frowned at Clarissa, "What does that
have to do with anything?"

"Are you deliberately being obtuse? Remember
when you studied for the bar examine last year. You were damn near
impossible to be around, and I remember Cynda making excuses for
your awful behavior, making sure you were fed, and as I recall she
did all the cooking and cleaning. What are you doing to make things
easier for her around the house?" He gives her a stupefied look as
if he never considered that Cynda might be overwhelmed with her
job, studying for the bar, and still trying to take care of
him.

"Well Damn!"

"What?"

Junior gets out of his chair, grabs his keys
off the table, and gives Clarissa a hug. "I must be the biggest
jerk on the planet. It's a wonder Cynda hasn't kicked my teeth down
my throat by now. I've have to repair the damage to my relationship
before I find myself sleeping on the curb."

Clarissa followed him to the door. "You can
start by kissing her feet." Clarissa locked the door and headed up
to bed. Too wired to sleep, she pulled out her laptop and loaded up
Lacey Hamilton's virtual diary.

She loses all track of time as she reads
about Lacey's position with the EPA, her concerns about the
accuracy of one of her testers, and the new man in her life named
Michael. Lacey is an intelligent woman who finds love late in life,
well later than the other women in her family. Evidently, her
fiancé Michael, a younger man becomes more interested in her work
at the EPA than sex.

"That's the first clue Lacey. When a man's
more interested in talking about nothing, instead of having sex,
something is wrong."

After hours of reading about
Lacey's fledging engagement, she comes across an interesting
passage. It seems as though "GN" is the lead tester of the CEMS.
Lacey thought DN might be falsifying test results for several
companies in Chillicothe Missouri. Then the notes turn into code.
Clarissa studied the code; from what she could garner, the codes
were actually list of elements: HgS
_,
HgO, FeAsS,
OsO
_4,
Sb
₂
O
_3.
She recognized symbol for Mercury, but she didn't recognize
the codes for the other elements.

The first thing Clarissa did
is look up CEMS. The EPA uses the CEMS
, or
Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems to gauge exhaust
levels.
She looked up the other element
symbols. "Oh my god! Mercuric Sulfide, Mercuric Oxide Arsenic,
Antimony, and Osmium. All of them were poisonous and in large
amounts lethal. She typed up a quick email and sent it to Harland.
She may not know whom the lab assistant is, but the EPA should be
able to narrow it down based on the initials and the tests that
have taken place in Chillicothe, MO.

Clarissa's total concentration is so focused
on Lacey's diary that she didn't hear her mother enter the room.
The light tap on her shoulder almost makes her heart leap out of
her chest. "Mother! Oh my god you scared me to death. Is something
wrong?"

Henrietta couldn't control the laughter that
bubbled deep inside her. The look on Clarissa's face is priceless.
"Are going to church with us?"

Clarissa couldn't understand why her mother
is asking about church in the middle of the night. "Well I plan to
go to church."

"Do you want me to make you some breakfast
before we go? Your father has his heart set on waffles and bacon. I
don't know why he wants to eat all that pork when we're having ham
for dinner."

Clarissa still couldn't understand why her
mother keeps rambling on about breakfast until she sees the time on
her computer screen. Oh my goodness it was six-thirty in the
morning; she's has been reading Lacey's diary all through the
night. "Waffles sound good Mother. Do you want my help?"

Henrietta crossed arms and smiled at
Clarissa. "You've been up working all night on something. You used
to do that as a child. Sweetie your head would get caught in some
book and you wouldn't stop until you finished."

Clarissa smiled back at her mother, "I guess
some things just don't change. Are we going to the eight o'clock
service?"

"If you'd rather take a little nap we can go
to the later service."

"Oh no! If I make Daddy miss the early
morning service, he would never let me forget." Her mother turns to
leave, but Clarissa didn't want their moment as mother and daughter
to end. "Do you still want me to make the macaroni and cheese for
dinner?"

Henrietta turned to face Clarissa once again,
"I sure do baby cakes, and I expect you to make the sweet potatoes
too. Now hurry up and take your shower, I'll have your breakfast
ready for you when you come down."

"Thanks Mother! Happy Easter!"

"Happy Easter baby! It's good to have you
home."

Clarissa stared at the door her mother just
passed through. Aunt Helen is right discussing the past with her
mother has given her a sense of peace. Coming home didn't feel like
a necessary chore, but a slice of heaven. The next time she comes
home for a visit she would bring Julian and Micah. She has to
shower and pull her head out of her work. She often admitted to
herself that she could become so focused on a project that the
important things in life fall by the wayside. She would solve the
mystery leading up to Lacey's death, but for right now, she has to
focus on her family.

***

Chapter 14

A visit to Orlando isn't
complete without stopping by PioPio. Before Clarissa moved to
Chicago, she and Alison would eat at PioPio every Wednesday for
lunch. She turned onto International Drive thinking about
Chaufa Rice and Mango
Cheesecake on her mind. PioPio is always busy, so she wanted to get
the drop on the lunch crowd by arriving early.

Clarissa finds
a parking space at the edge of the lot. She is right in thinking
that PioPio would be filled to capacity. That didn't matter she
would wait in line, speak with the hostess, and snag the next
available seat. She stands in line a few minutes before Alison
comes and grabs her arm. They squealed and hugged each other,
oblivious to the stares from fellow diners

Clarissa
followed Alison to the back of the restaurant. "I'm so happy to see
you. How long have you been here?"

Alison hugged
Clarissa again before sitting down in the booth. "I've been here
about twenty minutes. Don't worry about looking at the menu I
already ordered for you."

Clarissa gave
Alison a look of uncertainty. "Really."

Alison sticks
out her lips, frowning at Clarissa. "Of course, how hard could it
be, you order the same thing every time you come here. Who can
forget Chaufa Rice and Mango Cheesecake?"

"Well, since
you have given the order correctly, I guess I forgive you for
ordering without me."

After they
settled down and their drinks arrived, Alison pushed for an update
on Clarissa's visit. "How long are you staying in
Orlando?"

"Actually, I
leave tomorrow, but you know I couldn't leave without seeing
you."

"Easter's a
busy holiday for the family. I'm glad you could make time for
lunch." Alison couldn't resist asking about Clarissa's mother and
sister. "So, how is everything on the home front? Are the females
in your family behaving themselves?"

"Things on the
home front are good. For the first time in my life, I've have peace
of sorts with Mother and Roberta."

Alison still
not convinced rolled her eyes. Cancer or not, Alison still
thinks Roberta needs a beat down. "I guess that's good news," she
says without much conviction.

Clarissa
understands Alison's doubt. She has witnessed years of Clarissa's
humiliation triggered by either Roberta or her mother. Clarissa
gently patted Alison's hand, "I'm satisfied, and I don't want to
revisit the past any longer."

Alison gives
Clarissa's hand a gentle squeeze. "Rissa I hope these congenial
feelings last, I really do."

"Now that all
of the family secrets are out in the open, everybody can breathe a
sigh of relief. Roberta is in remission, which is the best news
I've received all year. This time I think she's going to turn her
life around. That's not all; I visited my grandparents on
Saturday."

Alison nearly
chokes on her water. "You mean James Wilson's parents!"

"Yes!
A
li,
there were pictures of me
all over the house. My grandmother prayed for years that I would
come to their home. I'm so glad I did. I stayed the whole afternoon
learning about the other side of my family.

"Oh my goodness
Rissa. Why didn't you call me? You didn't have to go
alone."

"It's something
I wanted to do on my own. I can't describe to you the sense of
acceptance and love that my grandparents have given me. It's like
coming home."

"Did you tell
your parents?"

"I will,
eventually. I just want to enjoy the moment. I now understand how
adoptees feel. The yearning to know about where you come from. My
grandparents were apart of all momentous events in my life, and I
didn't even know of their existence. They attended all of my
graduations, and they even keep a scrapbook with newspaper
clippings and pictures. Clarissa becomes teary eyed as Alison
blotted her face trying to keep her tears from ruining her
makeup.

Their food
finally arrived, and Clarissa feels that a change of the topic is
in order. "On a lighter note, how are the wedding plans?" Clarissa
laughed when Alison crossed her eyes.

"Actually
hearing about your grandparents is more engrossing and less taxing
on my nerves. My mother and future mother-in-law are driving me
crazy, and Jonesy thinks the whole situation is
hilarious."

Clarissa
chuckled at Alison's exasperation. "Well is there anything you need
me to do?"

Alison shakes
her head in the negative; she didn't want anything to trigger
unpleasant memories of Clarissa's broken engagement. "All I need
for you to do is show up. The last thing I want to do is trouble
you with plans for my wedding."