Soulful Strut (41 page)

“I still say let’s cool it for a while. Until
I find out just how bad things will get,” Monette added quickly
when he started to protest. “I really think it’s best for you,
Lenae and the rest of your family. Please.”

Jayson gazed into her eyes for a few moments,
then nodded. “Okay. You’ve got a few days. But take my calls or I’m
going to come over and check on you,” Jayson warned.

“Hardheaded.” Monette smiled, overjoyed that
he was so stubbornly in love with her.

Chapter 20

Monday dawned bright. Monette had ignored
clever digs from Yarva all during breakfast. Candi sat across from
Monette with her head down. She pushed the scrambled eggs around on
her plate with the fork, Tyeisha and Lenore exchanged glances. They
seemed to take turns glancing from Monette to Candi, as though
ready for trouble.

“Too bad about all your troubles, Monette,”
Yarva said around a mouthful of toast “Yeah, that’s real sad.”

“I’ll be okay.” Monette sipped coffee and did
not bother to look at her. Without looking, Monette knew Yarva wore
a smarmy expression.

“Heard that sweet community service gig blew
up in your face. Something about burglaries. Be careful your parole
officer don’t get wind of that. You don’t want her to think you’re
in on that,” Yarva went on.

“Why should she?” Monette said mildly.

“You just never know. Anything is possible.”
Yarva shrugged. “They got all those forensics now. Just a little
hair or the button off a shirt is all they need. Bam, a sista is on
her way back to prison.”

“Yep, all this modem crime detection is
amazing,” Monette replied in a composed tone. She gave Tyeisha a
smile of reassurance when the younger woman looked even more
anxious.

“Yeah.” Yarva chuckled.

“What the hell?” Candi snarled at her.

Yarva ignored Candi. “Like I said, you just
never know what they might find at them crime scenes.”

“You need to stop talkin’ sometimes,” Candi
warned as she glared at Yarva.

“I don’t know why you’re so on edge,” Yarva
replied. Then she gazed at Monette. “We’re doing okay, but somebody
else needs to worry.”

“Like Candi said, you like running your
mouth. Don’t you?” Monette stared hard at Yarva.

“When I got somethin’ to say. Yeah, I can be
a real chatterbox.” Yarva smirked at her.

“Remember all the stories you told us about
your big- time gangsta life? Always bragging about how you were
never arrested for some of your best-paying crimes.” Yarva’s smug
expression slipped a bit.“Not sure I do.”

“You know, I don’t agree with Candi after
all. I think it’s good that you talk a lot. I’ve learned so much
listening to you.” Monette grinned when Yarva’s expression changed.
“Always hooked up with some man to help you out. Usually married,
right?”

“What are you up to?” Yarva hissed. “You
don’t wanna screw with me. I can—”

Monette continued to smile. “See, a crime can
be like a fingerprint. Even thugs are creatures of habit, doing the
same thing over and over. You know; the old modus operandi. Why,
I’ll bet you can read a police report and tell who might have done
it, if you know how they worked in the past.”

Tyeisha and Lenore looked at each other. Then
both stared at Yarva. The other women at the table sat very still.
Candi glanced at Monette, then away. She rubbed her face with
jerky, nervous movements.

Lenore stared at Candi. “Yeah, like using
their friends to find out info so they can know layouts, about
security and stuff like that.”

“But they wouldn’t do that to a friend, huh?
Put her at risk for going back inside. Nah, only a low-down skank
would do that to her girl,” Tyeisha said, head tilted to one side
as she continued to look at Yarva.

“Cause if she did, then nobody would feel bad
snitchin’ on her,” Lenore added.

“Every woman for herself. Hell, yeah,”
Tyeisha added. The other women chimed in agreement.

“Screw y’all. I’m not up for fairy tales and
a bunch of ‘what-ifs.’ Have fun with your little girl group,
awright?” Yarva pushed away from the table so hard that the chair
legs screeched on the hardwood floor. She tossed a paper napkin
down on the table, and then walked off.

Monette followed her out. “Just a
minute.”

Yarva paused, then turned slowly to face her.
The swagger was gone. She fidgeted with her shirt as she spoke.
“Yeah, what?”

“Police reports are so interesting, ya know?
These twenty-first-century cops are very detail oriented. They
followed up on everything, even the janitorial outfit that cleans
up around there. Hey, don’t you and your boyfriend work for Super
Klean Janitorial Services? They have the contract at that shopping
center. Isn’t that a funny coincidence?” Monette gazed at her
steadily.

“I wouldn’t know. My crew don’t do that job,”
Yarva said.

“Still. Another thing about cops, they don’t
believe in coincidences.” Monette allowed her words to sink in.

“Whatever. Like I said, I’ve got things to
do.”

“I’m guessing there won’t be any more
break-ins at that shopping development. What do you think? I mean,
nobody wants to go back to prison,” Monette said quietly.

“Shh—” Yarva stopped when Monette’s
expression hardened. “Yeah. Whatever. Just stay outta my face.”

“Gladly. Have a nice day,” Monette tossed
back. She raced upstairs, grabbed her leather briefcase, and went
down again.

Candi waited for her at the front door. “I’ll
walk with you to the bus stop.”

“I don’t have time to talk, Candi.” Monette
passed her. When they were outside, Candi matched Monette’s fast
stride down the sidewalk.“I’ll make sure Yarva don’t carry out that
threat she made to say you were involved in those burglaries.”

“Maybe I’ll talk to the police first and tell
them my theory. What makes you think I’m going to put myself out
for you?” Monette stopped so abruptly that Candi kept going a few
steps before realizing it.

“Look, it was stupid. Yarva had this plan to
make extra money so we could start our own office cleaning
business. Her boyfriend got master keys made and they pawned the
stuff they stole.” Candi looked at the ground.

“I’m missing your part in the master scheme,”
Monette snapped. She put a hand to her ear as though listening.
“Huh, what did you say?”

“Kadeem sells hot stuff. You know, my new
man. I hooked her up with him, but that’s it, Monette. I didn’t
steal anything and I didn’t go with ’em. You gotta believe me,”
Candi blurted out

“Uh-huh.” Monette almost ran to the bus stop,
tottering on her pumps. She got there just in time. The bus was
only three blocks away. “I’m getting too old for three-inch
heels.”

“What are you going to do?” Candi yelled
after her.

“Start wearing comfortable shoes, for one
thing,” Monette said over her shoulder.

“But what about Yarva?” Candi panted when she
caught up with her again.

“Forget about Yarva, Candi. I handled her.”
Monette frowned and shook a finger in her face. “Matter of fact,
you need to stop always looking for somebody to follow, including
me. It’s your life. Take charge of it and quit looking for
excuses.”

***

Forty-five minutes later Monette got off the
bus and walked to the radio station. As expected, the place was
buzzing. Early morning on-air staff left for home as the next shift
for morning drive time came in. Monette prepared for her radio show
with a sense of anxiety. All the publicity she’d been getting meant
she was sure to get calls about her past. She’d assured Chaz once
more that she would try to diffuse anything that might hurt KTQL,
but Monette wasn’t sure she could deliver on her promise. She was
mentally composing a resignation letter when Nikki came in holding
a large travel mug.

“I hate Mondays. Hate, hate, hate.” Nikki
dropped her purse into one of her desk drawers.

“Hello to you, too. You’re a little bit of
sunshine this morning,” Monette quipped.

“Sorry. My weekend was too short and the
traffic too heavy. More of this and my attitude will improve.”
Nikki drank from the mug. “Thank you, Lord, for giving us the
coffee bean. Has our jumpy station manager been in here yet?”

“No. Why?” Monette gathered her notes
together and started to review them.

“He’s spent the last two staff meetings
talking about ratings and constantly going over the numbers. Chaz
is scared of any dip in those numbers he crunches every day. He’s
driving everybody nuts.” Nikki scowled as she sorted phone messages
already on her desk.

“You think the station is having problems
because of me?” Monette shook her head. “Like I don’t know the
answer.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that. We’re still doing
pretty good.” Nikki tossed the messages aside and sat on Monette’s
desk, swinging her legs. “Chaz worries about everything, down to
how much we spend on notepads. I wouldn’t sweat about those news
articles.”

Monette laughed. “I thought folks were too
busy reading news on the Internet and watching cable television to
bother with newspapers anymore. Damn, a sister can’t even count on
technology to help her out these days.”

“Uh, apparently you didn’t see that story on
Channel Two last night,” Nikki spoke gently and flinched as she
broke the news.

“No. Give me the highlights.”

“They talked about your past and how it must
have worked against the board recommending you for a pardon. But at
least it was just a few seconds, no more than a sound bite,” Nikki
added as though that made it better.

“Wonderful. Well, I used the press when I
needed them. Should have known that blade would cut both ways. Time
for me to go.” Monette headed for the studio.

“Have fun even if it is Monday,” Nikki
replied and let out a long sigh.

Irvin waved to her. “Morning. Your guest is
settled in. Got him some coffee.”

“Great. Thanks.”

Monette went through her interview with a
local community activist. “So you think that our political leaders
haven’t done all they can?”

“Definitely not,” the man replied. “Half the
time we have to go around them to get action. Sure, we can file
suits to get things done, but the legal system moves
slowly.”“Believe me, I know that firsthand.” Monette glanced up to
see Chaz standing outside, observing through the glass wall. She
smiled at him. “Let’s take some calls from the people.”

Some of the regulars called in to sound off.
The talk turned to politicians and corruption. Chaz rubbed his
hands together for a few minutes, then started to pace. Suddenly
Irvin tapped on the glass and mouthed something. He gestured at
Monette frantically. Finally he grabbed a notepad, wrote in short
jerky movements, and then held up the sheet.

“Winn Barron on line four,” she read out
loud. Monette’s throat went dry.

Chaz noticed Irvin and leaned forward to read
the note. His eyes stretched wide, and he started shaking his head.
When Monette ignored him, Chaz waved his arms wildly. She got up as
if going to the door. Instead she locked it. Her guest blinked at
her in confusion.

“Er, what is going on?”

“We’re about to enter the Twilight Zone, so
buckle up,” Monette said dryly. She took a deep breath, let it out,
and hit the button to open line four. “Hello caller, you’re
on.”

“This is Winn Arthur Barron.” His deep,
cultured, Southern voice held a slur.

Monette figured he’d probably already had a
liquid breakfast. Not even his arrogance could have pushed him this
far. “Good morning. You have a comment on our topic for today?”

“You mean the references to crooked public
officials. It’s easy to toss out accusations when you have a forum,
Ms. Victor. Even public officials will only take so much. Your
totally baseless allegations about me are a perfect example. I note
that the Pardon Board members didn’t buy your story,” Winn’s words
sliced through the speaker.

A crowd gathered around the sound room. Chaz
pushed through them on his way to Irvin’s studio. Seconds later the
two men faced each other. Irvin shrugged as Chaz gestured, then
paced around him. Monette ignored the commotion.

“But the governor approved my parole. And
more people who know the truth are willing to talk.” Monette forced
the words from her mouth. She hadn’t asked for this confrontation,
but she wasn’t going to run from it. A charged silence fell on the
crowd. Her guest leaned forward as though he wanted to make sure he
wouldn’t miss anything. “I’m going to ask the board to reconsider
its decision.”

Winn let out a laugh that dripped scorn.
“You’re living in a dream world. I know how the system works,
remember?”“Oh, yes. I remember how you worked the system and broke
the law,” Monette cracked back at him. Anger beat out her sense of
fear. “Don’t you forget that I got people to listen before. Two
more witnesses have come forward. They’ve got very interesting
stories to tell.”

“I’ve seen the quality of your witnesses.
More lies. They’re no better than you are, Monette. So don’t pin
your hopes on them just yet. I won’t sit by and let you slander my
name or hurt my family,” Winn barked. A loud click signaled he’d
hung up.

“Guess this is a good time to take a
commercial break.” Monette pointed to Irvin. He gaped at her for a
few seconds, as if dazed. Chaz jabbed a forefinger into Irvin’s
shoulder, and the producer blinked rapidly, and then worked the
controls. Music played as a woman talked about toothpaste and a
brighter smile. The station employees who had gathered to listen in
broke into applause. Monette unlocked the door to the studio just
as Chaz reached it.

“Wow.” Her guest grinned at her and pumped
her hand. “Thanks for having me on this show. You’ve got guts.”