One Safe Place (36 page)

“Yeah, that's my line and I'm gonna have to work on that. Damn, EL'vis is gay, huh?”

“Yep. Velvet, how long have you been sober?”

“PB, ever since I found out that my son was growing inside me.”

“Eight years. I see I was right; you are a powerful woman.”

A
month later, the effort to pin down The Duck, the right-hand man to the former president, had hit all dead-ends. The team figured, the man directly connected to Gabrielle almost losing her life from an assassin's bullet was lying low to avoid any possible retaliation.

Gabrielle and The Duck and his conservative party had had a few run-ins and disagreements. He had treated her as if she were a token, and that didn't go over well with her. Gabrielle was not a die-hard, through-and-through-conservative on all issues, and that had brought friction to the Oval Office. When Psalms had directed Gabrielle to send a message to The Duck that she wanted to support fully all causes in an attempt to learn more about the attempt on her life, he'd responded that he appreciated hearing that and would get back to her soon. Psalms and the crew believed he had to know his boys were either dead or on the run, and that, at minimum, somebody was tracking them since they had not collected their money.

The plans had to be put on hold, but not forgotten. Psalms, EL'vis, and Suzy Q had grown cautious about sending a message to never attempt to come after Gabrielle.

Gabrielle's wounds were healing, and for the last two weeks, she'd
participated in an outpatient treatment program in Seattle to help with her drinking. It was a one-on-one setting, and Velvet supported her. Both women went to a meeting with the new psychiatrist.

Velvet did some soul searching, and in an effort to feel better about herself, she had joined Lois Mae in the gym. Getting Velvet to go to the gym was something Lois Mae had tried for years to do and until now, she had failed. Velvet's primary goal wasn't to lose weight; she wanted to feel more confident in her overall health, mentally and physically. She worked hard at putting a stop to the self-deprecating humor.

Watching her son work out daily with Psalms or Mintfurd, and over the last weeks with EL'vis, made her think she should be an example for him, and one day possibly be around to see his children. Last week, Velvet, Gabrielle, and Lois Mae worked out together in the gym on the second floor of the condo.

Gabrielle was a bit limited with her breast wounds. Her psychiatrist had suggested physical activity would help with her overall recovery. While sweating out the bad, she could start to feel better about what she put in her body.

• • •

A month later, under tight security, the two kids went to Tylowe and Meeah's house on Lake Washington and spent the weekend. The responsibility of caring for the kids gave Meeah and Tylowe joy that they had lacked in the last few years.

It also made them proud to see their grown girls living successful lives. Tylowe's daughter, Tyreene Pearlene Dandridge, was in the WNBA and married to Larentzo Sir John, who played in the NBA. The two had become the poster couple of professional sports in the media.

Meeah's daughter, Mia, had become a freelance photographer working with some of the best magazines in the world. Tylowe and Meeah gave both their girls a stable, maturing environment for them to flourish, and that was their joy when they came together.

Now with their girls gone, it took away a vital part of their lives that helped complete them, and affected them more than they understood. The empty house started to tear them apart. How quickly a sense of need could change people's perspective.

Even with security placed near Tylowe and Meeah's house, clearly the kids were still in danger. The problem was hard to figure out. In some ways, the solution was dangerous: let the enemy show its head before a coordinated response could be brought forward.

• • •

Psalms' efforts to find Evita seemed to be lost in the cracks of Seattle's sidewalks—but which crack? Her expensive car had been found and towed. Her coworker had said they had drinks, but that she was okay when she'd left. No phone calls. No signal Mintfurd could track. The last time a signal had pinged off a tower was in downtown Seattle on the Friday she was last seen. No credit card charges. No airline flights. Suzy Q flew into Atlanta to check her sometimes lover girlfriend out: she had not seen or heard from her.

Psalms tried to act as though he wasn't panicking, but he was constantly worried. Evita had disappeared before, sure, and for long periods in her life. Psalms was away living his life during some of these times, so he didn't know the reasons why or how. He had been around at times when she withdrew from daily life for weeks, but it had been years since she had done that. The search moved in to panic mode, but dead-ends were in every crack, above ground and below.

Mintfurd and Darcelle had spent time together twenty-four days out of thirty-one. The day before yesterday, Mintfurd had met Darcelle's daughter by accident—actually a setup. Mintfurd and Darcelle had agreed to meet at the mall, simply to see each other and to stop and talk. Darcelle wanted to see how her daughter would react to seeing her mother having a long conversation with a man. In some ways, it was also a test to see how her daughter would respond to seeing such a huge man talking to her mother. Mintfurd did tower over her, enough to block out the sun.

In a computer store in the mall, Darcelle and her daughter contemplated purchasing new laptops or tablets.

Darcelle asked a hulking man, who so happened to be walking by, what would be his opinion.

“Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but my daughter and I are shopping for either new laptops or tablets. Although I'm sure we'll be happy with either, what would you purchase?”

Darcelle's beautiful daughter, Diedra, craned her neck to look up at Mintfurd. Darcelle's anxiety that her daughter would have fear of such a huge man was mistaken: her daughter's reaction was the opposite.

“Hello, mister. Could you help us?” He smiled, and Darcelle's nervous shoulder tension relaxed. Mintfurd helped them pick out a laptop tablet combo to cover their computer needs, and they walked to the food court and had a terrific time. Unlike Psalms, Mintfurd was a natural with kids. At his size, he developed an approach of facial expressions and body posture early in life to disarm children.

Born and raised in Barstow, California, Mintfurd had eight brothers and sisters, and he was the baby. The largest, the smartest, the most athletic, and the one to leave what many called “the ghetto in the desert.”

Before he'd left to go to college, drug dealers had abducted a little Hispanic girl whose father owed money. The drug dealers had bragged and made no secret that they had the girl. They were trying to send a message to the townspeople that they controlled the area.

Despite, or maybe because of his size, Mintfurd was a chess player in thought and action. Through an elaborate plan one night, the drug dealers watching the house had ended up bound and gagged and asleep. Beepers and call message centers were the trend at the time. Mintfurd had deciphered their codes, and because he spoke perfect Spanish, including the street vernacular, he had sent messages to confuse the other drug dealers that were away from the house, sending them into police traps. Mintfurd had hacked the old DOS police computer. He had sent information to the FBI and police on where the drugs and the bad guys were. Finding their hideout, Mintfurd had piped sleeping gas into the house. With the drug dealers down and out cold, Mintfurd had found the little girl, sleepy but alive. She thought he was a giant coming to hurt her, but he took his time to relax the little girl, and to help her understand he was there to take her home. Mintfurd had taken all the money the drug dealers had on them, and the ten thousand dollars they'd had in the house. With the drug money, Mintfurd had helped the family move to northern California, and had put the fear of God in the dad to stay away from drug dealers and their ugly friends. The next day in the local news the headline was:

LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THE FBI ROUND UP DRUG DEALERS AND MAKE SUBSTANTIAL DRUG BUSTS

The news account failed to mention that the six men were found bound and gagged and sleeping.

S
ince the meeting at the mall, Darcelle and her daughter had eaten dinner twice at Mintfurd's home. The not-quite-yet couple cooked in the kitchen together, and the three of them sat at the dinner table. Darcelle and her daughter had never sat down at the dinner table with a man. It had her daughter asking if Mintfurd could come over to help her mommy cook again, and sit at the dinner table altogether, and say grace. That had never happened. Mintfurd took time to teach Diedra to say grace.

Today, Mintfurd and Darcelle were taking advantage of some alone time. They walked the Seward Park loop, after having dinner at Tylowe and Meeah's. It was constant amazement for Darcelle to see how well Mintfurd moved. He moved better than many average-sized men. A power walker herself and sometime 5K runner, Darcelle challenged Mintfurd to keep up with her going around the loop. It was now their second lap around the three-mile loop, and he was almost carrying her at the pace he set.

Seward Park in Seattle is the one place black couples will go out for a stroll and other park activities. Mintfurd and Darcelle passed and waved to people and enjoyed the beautiful water that surrounded the walking loop. He asked her to cut through the woods with its gradual trail incline to add to their workout.

He started to jog up the hill, and she couldn't keep up with him.
He made it to the crest of the incline and waited for her. When she finally arrived, she fell against his huge body, and he wrapped his arm around her. Her head height rested on his firm stomach. Her arms barely made it from side to side of him. He was warm, and despite the fact they had been moving for an hour, his scent was full of sweet, musky, male pheromones.

Her intake ignited certain senses in her body that felt like a high and glowed with warmth. Her body was responding to want. It had been such a long time. She pulled back and stared up at Mintfurd. Nervousness overtook her. They had not kissed other than pecks on the cheeks and a few brushes of lips. After twenty-four dates and days in each other's presence, not one hard, deep, lip-locking kiss. A month of long nightly phone conversations, and many daily mini phone chats, and the only bodily contact they shared were light hugs when they came together, or when they parted from each other.

Mintfurd reached for her hand and guided her forward. Her head was down; her body language expressed shyness, and a need for help, but she was not alone in her feelings.

“This is new for me, too, Darcelle. How to be romantic, and in the moment, I'm a rookie; help me,” he said teasingly.

“Pick me up, please,” she said.

“Love to.” He reached under her ass and lifted her as if she were a bushel of flowers. She worked her legs around him and locked her arms around his neck. She kissed his cheek and kept her face to the side of his. What she needed to say was that she couldn't look him in his eyes yet.

“Mintfurd, I have shared a lot with you. You know my family was different from most black people and I've been married twice. But I have only told you the surface about why I'm not with either one.”

“Shhh, hold up, Darcelle. We all have stories. I have one of my
own. Because of my size, I chose to accommodate my life with certain pleasures and I—”

“No, let me go first.” Darcelle kissed his cheek again.

Tall trees and a small forest surrounded them. Trails led up and down with hidden lookouts over the water. Mintfurd carried Darcelle with her arms wrapped around his neck. He walked a little over sixty feet off the trail and into a small clearing. It overlooked an old closed fish hatchery that used to release salmon and trout into Lake Washington. There was a tree stump and he sat down with her now sitting on his lap.

He reached for what looked like a car key fob and pressed on the keypad. He set a heat sensor that would give warning beeps if a human or large animal came closer than fifty feet to his location. As he finished, he wrapped his arms around Darcelle and held her tight as she nestled her chin on his shoulder.

She told him her story of Husband One who had chased every tail, or let every tail chase him, because he had sports celebrity status. She told of his sexual practices with her and how he had deprived her of a child, even though he was making babies elsewhere. Although it was difficult, she told him about Husband Two and his abnormal sexual practices. She left out the recent events that involved her asking Psalms for help. She had no idea that Mintfurd was a part of the fix.

“Mintfurd, I'm telling you all this, so you know I'm gullible and naïve. On the other side of this, I've been told my level of sexual acceptance, of free to be me, is on another level from most women. I'm not going around sleeping with a bunch of men. It has been six years. But, I'm busting at the seams for some sex. I'm busting at the seams for someone to be good to me and not take advantage of my needs no matter how strange they may be.

“I'm in need of love, and maybe you can't love me because I'm
too weird for your taste, but could you, would you, please come get in my bed or let me get in yours? I feel we can be good to each other. Where it leads from there—” She kissed the side of his face.

The sun had crested over Seward Park onto the other side, and they were now in the cool shade of tall trees. The lake turned bluer and calmer. While sitting-straddling Mintfurd, Darcelle noticed the arousal from his crotch area when she shared her past sexual situations. It sent stimulating excitement between her legs. She felt dampness and a tingling inside her panties, and her skin felt hot despite being in the shade.

“Darcelle, I'm sure women have all kinds of reasons why I couldn't be a viable lover for them, and because of that, I don't know the love of a woman. I have never been in love or given love, yet. My physical release has been with professional women I have paid to be with me. I have, for most of my adult life, paid for sex. I have ordered women like anyone would order a cheeseburger to be cooked without the secret sauce. I have placed orders most of the time for six women over six feet tall, with a lot of ass, and who are strong and flexible.”