Pernicious (39 page)

         
He took the pen and, without reading the fine print, signed his name not once but six times, each time Perry flipped the page and pointed to the X.

         
And before he could return to the motel room where Rebecca waited patiently, a Latino woman wearing a surgeon’s smock stepped in front of him with a syringe in one hand and a plastic cup in the other.

                                     
Chapter 21

         
Baby Huey grabbed the fox by the neck, said, “You’re the fox and I think you’re trying to kill me!” and proceeded to stomp it unmercifully. To Derrick this cartoon was hilarious. To Tasha…well, she wasn’t even aware the television was on.

         
When she’d come home not an hour ago, she’d hugged Derrick, saying nothing whatsoever, for a long time.

         
Derrick sensed something was wrong; not a precocious
 
leap considering Tasha’s eyes were puffy and bloodshot red, hair frizzled with sweat.

         
“Daddy came by,” Derrick said as Baby Huey was hoisting the fox’s mangled body up a flagpole.

         
“When?” Tasha said dreamily.

         
“Today…with…” He paused, not sure if he should continue.

         
“With who?” Tasha said, and he noted the rising panic in her voice.

         
“So-some woman.”

         
Tasha sat up straight. “What did she want? What she say? Did she come inside?” Before he could respond, Tasha fired more questions. “What did she say? Did you talk to her?”

         
She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Do you hear me talking to you? What did she say?”

         
She was hurting him, and he decided to hurt back. “She said Daddy is living with her, and she wanted to know where were you.” Her grip loosen. “Asked me if I wanted to visit her big house.”

         
Through his mother’s hands, Derrick could feel her entire body shake. He regretted what he’d said and wished he could take it all back. She released him.

         
“I’m going to lie down,” she said, her voice hoarse.

         
Derrick watched her stagger to her room, her legs struggling with each step.

         
Derrick wasn’t certain but thought he heard screaming. He turned the television volume down and listened. Nothing. He turned up the volume louder than before, and for the first time in years, he stuck his thumb into his mouth and sucked noisily.

                                     
* * * * *

         
The following morning Tasha awoke to a white man standing at the foot of her bed. “Jesus!” she said, startled.

         
“Not hardly,” Bob said. Tasha reached for a sheet before realizing she was fully clothed. “Want some breakfast?” he asked. “I’ve got coffee and doughnuts.”

         
She sat up. “No, thanks. I just want you to tell me I was dreaming, a nightmare, and I’m not suspended from my job, and a succubus hasn’t married my ex-husband.”

         
“You want me to lie?”

         
“Yes. Please.”

         
“Go wash your face, okay. Then come have breakfast with me.”

         
She stood and stretched. “Did Derrick let you in?”

         
“No, I entered through a window. How’s he holding up?”

         
“I haven’t told him anything. Perry and Neal came by yesterday and Perry invited him to the hell house.”

         
“While you were here?”

         
“No, I wasn’t here.”

         
Bob sighed. “Thank God.”

         
A few minutes later, Bob sipped coffee at the kitchen table while Tasha leaned on the stove drinking Slim-Fast.

         
“I didn’t know you were on a diet.”

         
Tasha yawned. “Sort of.”

         
“Hey, we can diet together. They say dieting works best when you team up.”

         
“Lay it on me, Bob.”

         
“Pardon?”

         
“The bad news you come to tell me. It’s written all over your face.”

         
“Is it? Damn!” He got up, poured his coffee into the sink, got a beer out the fridge and drank it half empty.

         
“Craps! Is it that bad? Should I break out the scotch?”

         
“No, Tash.”

         
She covered her face with both hands. “Neal, he’s not dead, is he?”

         
“Uh-uh. Perry filed assault charges and a restraining order against you yesterday.”

         
He reached behind his back and tossed a newspaper onto the table. Tasha picked it up. Bob had highlighted an article with yellow Magic Marker.

         
OFFICER CHARGED WITH ASSAULT

         
She looked at Bob. “You’re here to arrest me?”

         
“Please, Tash. Captain Franklin asked Judge Ackers not to officially charge you until Internal Affairs complete their investigation. That’ll give us time for this thing to cool.”

         
“Guess I’ll need a lawyer.”

         
“That’s already been taken care of. Peter Rosenburg. The best defense lawyer in the state.”

         
“Bob, you know I can’t afford him. He’s too expensive.”

         
“Me and a few of the guys chipped in and hired him. He’ll probably call you today.”

         
“I can’t let you guys do that. I can’t, Bob. Thanks but no thanks.”

         
“It’s a done deal. Besides…” He paused, drank the last of his beer. “There’s more to it?”

         
“More?”

         
“Jill Boxer called me this morning. You know her, don’t you?”

         
Tasha shook her head.

         
“Tall, exceptionally attractive brunette. Her husband, Brad, works undercover in narcotics. She drives a Honda Accord like yours, same color and everything, except hers a newer model. You gotta know her. She knows you.”

         
“Bob, I don’t know her. Tell me before I go crazy.”

         
“Okay. Jill’s the Circuit Court Clerk over in Maumelle.” He went and got another beer out of the fridge.

         
“And?”

         
He emptied the can in one drink, burped, and tossed it into the trash container near the fridge. “Your ex and his new wife filed an emergency custody order this morning.”

         
“For Derrick?”

         
Bob nodded.

         
Tasha stared at him. She then seized a large bottle of maple syrup from the table and flung it toward the wall. It shattered, leaving an ugly brown stain.

         
“Nooooooo!” she screamed. “Nooooo!“ She grabbed a pot from the stove and prepared to throw it when Bob caught her.

         
“Calm down, Tash. Okay? Just calm down.”

         
“Momma?” Derrick said, appearing in the doorway. “Momma, what’s the matter?”

         
Tasha turned her face into Bob’s shoulder and whispered, “Get him out of here, please. I don’t want him to see me like this. Please get him out!”

         
“Son,” Bob said, “give your uncle Bob a minute with your mother.”

         
“You ain’t my uncle! You just work with my momma! You need to let her go before I call my daddy and he come bust your head!”

         
“Derrick,” Tasha said softly, “go to your room. Please.”

         
“Momma, why is he holding you like that?”

         
“Five…four…three…” Tasha counted. At two, Derrick disappeared.

         
Bob released her. “You okay?”

         
“Derrick and I, we’ve got to get out of here! We need to leave today! Right now!”

         
“Tash, you’re panicking.”

         
“For Pete’s sake, Bob, she’s after my son! She’s trying to take my son away from me!”

         
“Doesn’t mean she’ll get him. Jill said she would drag the case out as long as she could. Tash, you do have people on your side. You and I need to think of something. The hayseed from Dawson, does he have anything on Perry?”

         
Tasha slumped into a chair. “Not really. He suspects Perry of an assault, but he’s having trouble with the witnesses. She is not taking my son, Bob!”

         
“Your ex, what’s he like?”

         
“Neal. He’s not a bad person. He’s…”

         
“Weak?”

         
“Not exactly what I was thinking. I guess you could say that.”

         
“What if you got someone, an uncle or a brother, to lean on him a little, you know what I’m saying?”