The Joneses (16 page)

Charity's phone rang. “It's the devil.”

“Yeah. He called me, too.”

Charity pulled me into a hug. I lay on her shoulder and cried.

I
t felt good to be able to restore the company's money. The sense of pride I felt from giving my father back what he'd lost was bittersweet. After dinner last night, I showed him the proof he wanted to see. The look of despair in my father's eyes when he came face-to-face with his friend's betrayal made me want to strangle Jason with my bare hands.

I drove around all night before deciding to go home. I'd planned to confront Jason, but at his office. I tried to be patient as I sat in front of the receptionist's desk.

She glanced at me. “He should be through with his phone call in just a moment, and then I'll let him know you're here.”

“No problem. I have a little time.” I picked up one of the magazines and thumbed through it.

The receptionist called out, “Mr. Jones, he'll see you now.”

“Thank you.” I placed the magazine on the chair and went inside Jason's office.

My mouth flew open in shock. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

My dad sat in one of the seats across from Jason. “I needed to talk to Jason face-to-face in a neutral zone.”

“Great minds think alike.” I sat in the chair next to my father.

Jason tapped on his desk. “I see what this is. You trying to double team me. Well, you got your money. What more do you want from me?”

My dad responded, “I want to know why. You're the closest thing to a brother I have. Man, if you were strapped for cash, I would have given it to you.”

“Like I wanted a handout from you.”

“No, you would rather steal from him.” I hit my fist on his desk.

“Look here son, you better watch your tone with me,” Jason said.

“You have to earn respect to get respect. The moment I realized you were stealing from us is the day I lost all respect for you.”

“Royce, you better keep him under control, because I've had it up to here.” Jason held his hand high off the desk.

In a low, calm voice, my dad repeated himself. “Why, Jason? And then we'll both be out of your hair.”

“Because I could. You should never give that type of control of your finances to anyone.” Jason looked at me. “And that even includes your son.” He emphasized the word son.

I could tell my dad hadn't slept. “But me, of all people? We've been through some things. I was there when you lost your folks. You were there when I lost mine. Damn, man, you're my kids' godfather.”

“I didn't set out to steal from you, but I did it once and you didn't notice. So, each time, I took a little more and more—”

I interrupted him. “Until you drained us dry.”

“Hey, I did leave y'all with something. You weren't completely broke. You still had money to live on.” Jason didn't sound like he had any remorse.

My dad jumped out of his chair and over the desk. He grabbed Jason by the collar. I could see the veins popping out from my dad's forehead. “I don't ever want to see you again. If you see me first, walk in the opposite direction.”

He pushed Jason a little as he released his collar. Jason fell back
and coughed. “I understand you're angry, but that wasn't called for.”

“You're lucky that's all I did. The only reason why you're not in jail is because Lovie made a deal with you, and one thing about a Jones, we are men of our word.”

“But are you sure he's a Jones?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” My dad looked down at Jason and asked.

“Mama's Baby, Daddy's Maybe.”

My dad pushed the items on Jason's desk at him and stormed out.

I stood up. “You heard my dad. Stay away from my family.”

Jason laughed. “You'll be back, son. You'll be back.”

“I'm not your son, so stop calling me that.” I turned and walked away.

Jason sang, “Mama's Baby, Daddy's Maybe.” He sang that over and over.

His receptionist wasn't at the desk or I'm sure she would have called Security on us with all of the noise coming out of Jason's office.

I don't know why I didn't recognize my Dad's car when I first arrived, but it was parked near the front entrance. I tapped on the window. He rolled it down. “You okay?” I asked him.

“The truth is, no. I have a funeral to do today, and my heart just isn't in it.”

“What all needs to be done? I can do it as long as it doesn't require me to handle the body.”

“No, some of the workers will handle that. You just need to make sure everything goes smoothly. Be there to comfort the family. You've seen me do it. You know what to do.”

“I got it. I always got your back. You see that now, don't you, Dad?”

He looked up at me with love in his eyes. “Lovie, I know. Sorry
I've given you a hard time. I just wanted to make you tough and able to stand on your own. Not depend on the family so much for your needs like your sisters do.”

“I know, and I appreciate that. You better go before I lose some cool points because I'm getting all mushy.”

We both laughed. After he'd pulled off, I sat in my car for a few minutes. The realization that I was about to facilitate my first funeral solo set in. What had I gotten myself into?

L
ife for the Joneses was getting back on track. I couldn't wait to get back to my normal routine of shopping and hanging out at the country club. I missed frequenting my favorite boutiques. “Mrs. Jones is back in action,” I said out loud, as I eased out of the bed.

A day of shopping required a nice, casual outfit. I stared at the clothes that were color coordinated in my huge walk-in closet and found the perfect outfit. The teal pant outfit still had the tags on it.

Twenty minutes later, I was slipping on the clothes and primping in the mirror. I saw a few gray strands trying to peek out around my edges. I made a mental note to make a hair appointment with my hairdresser Tameka, so she could get rid of them with a bottle of jet-black hair dye.

“My keys, where are my keys?” I dumped the contents of my purse on the bed. Still no keys.

“Are you looking for these?” Royce stood in the doorway dangling my car keys in his hands.

I jumped. “Royce, you scared me.”

He handed me the keys. “We need to talk.”

“I got a busy day. Can it wait until later?”

“No, it can't.”

I didn't like the tone of his voice. “What is it? I thought you would be at work. Is it one of the kids? What's going on?” I asked question after question.

“You can say that. Come with me.”

I followed Royce to the living room. He went straight to the bar and poured two glasses of bourbon. He handed one to me.

“I'll pass,” I said.

“Suit yourself.” Royce carried both glasses with him. He sat one on the coffee table and held the other one while seated in his chair. He looked up at me. “You may want to sit down for this.”

“Royce, you're scaring me.”

I took a seat on the couch. I rubbed my hand through my hair. He gulped down the first glass of bourbon, placed it on the coffee table, and then picked up the other glass. “I paid a visit to Jason. I came this close…” He held out his fingers as if measuring. “From choking the shit out of him.”

“What happened?” Royce rarely cursed, so he had me on edge.

“I grabbed him by the collar and told him what was on my mind. Before I could leave, he dropped a bombshell on me. I tried to ignore it, but I can't get his words out of my head.”

“Well…what did he say?” I stuttered.

“ ‘Mama's Baby, Daddy's Maybe.' Do you know what he means by that?”

“What? What?” I immediately got on the defensive. “How am I supposed to know? I can't explain the words of a crazy man.”

“You sure you don't have anything to tell me?”

“Royce, you must have had more than those two glasses of bourbon. You're sounding a little drunk to me.” I stared at Royce. I attempted to control my eyes from blinking more than usual. I clasped my hands to hide my sweaty palms.

“You wouldn't be lying to me, now would you?”

I couldn't look Royce in the eyes. I didn't want him to see the truth. I jumped off the couch. “You are not going to take out the
situation with Jason out on me. I'm going shopping, and I'm using the bank card. Do you have a problem with that?”

Royce backed down. He slouched down in his seat. “No. After all I've allowed him to put our family through, you deserve a shopping spree. Just don't go overboard.”

“I won't.” I leaned down and kissed him. “Baby, we got through the money woes, and we'll get through this.”

Royce gripped my hand. “You don't know how hard this is. I loved him like a brother. I trusted him with my life.”

I kneeled down in front of him. “Baby, you have me. You have the kids. We're going to get through this together.”

Shopping could wait. My husband needed me. I went upstairs and used my best aromatherapy bath gel to make Royce a hot, bubble bath. I led him into the bathroom and helped ease him out of his clothes. I didn't bother to take off my designer outfit. I didn't care about it getting wet. I picked up the sponge and gave Royce a sponge bath. He exhaled and released the tension from his body.

Seeing Royce in this vulnerable state tugged at my heart. I wouldn't dare confess to him about the one-night stand with Jason. The idea that Lovie may not be his would devastate him. That's one secret I planned to take to my grave.

T
he last few hours were all a blur to me. I remembered coming home. I remembered confronting Lexi about Jason's accusations. I remembered the feel of her hands over my body as she washed the tension away, but I don't remember how my life ended up like this. Where did I go wrong? When did I turn a blind eye to things going on around me?

Part of me knew Lexi wasn't being completely honest with me, but the other part of me wanted to let sleeping dogs lie. Jason had taken enough from me. I wouldn't allow him to take away anything else.

I squeezed Lexi tight as she snuggled her body closer to me. She must really have been concerned about me because even after I encouraged her to go on a shopping spree, she stayed to make sure I was fine. I wasn't about to let anything destroy this bond between me and the woman I loved.

My stomach growled.

Lexi shifted her body. “I guess I better find us something for dinner.”

“No. Tonight, I'm treating you. Why don't we both get dressed and go out?”

“I can't recall the last time we've gone out to dinner.” Lexi seemed to perk up.

“It's been awhile. Put on something sexy.” I patted her on the butt.

“Do that again, and we won't make it out of the bedroom.” Lexi smiled at me.

Lexi and I both loved Italian food, so we went to our favorite Italian restaurant. The low lighting added a romantic ambiance. It felt good to be out enjoying each other's company over dinner.

“Don't look, but there's Jackie and her husband,” Lexi said.

“Be nice,” I responded.

Jackie and Greg Grayson approached our table. I had to admit that Jackie was a beautiful woman. Of course, I wouldn't say it to Lexi. In my opinion, Jackie was a little too young for Greg. Greg kept a tight rein on her while he continued to play the field.

“Good to see you two out. We were beginning to wonder if the rumors were true,” Greg said.

“You can't always believe what you hear,” I responded.

“True. People talk about me all of the time.” Greg looked at me and then at Jackie.

Jackie, in an irritating, high-pitched voice, said, “People are always trying to tell me something about Greg, but I don't believe them. They are just haters. Women will tell you anything to get next to your man.” She placed her hand on his chest.

I looked at Lexi. She smiled and tilted her head.

The waiter walked up to the table. “Would you like two more chairs?”

Greg said, “No, we were leaving. I just wanted to come speak to my friend.”

The waiter left us alone.

“Greg, it was good seeing you.”

Lexi and I watched them walk away. When we were sure they were outside of earshot, we laughed.

Lexi said, “They are so busy worrying about the state of our
relationship, they need to be concerned about what's going on in their household.”

“You got that right. The Joneses are solid.” I smiled. I meant every word I said. “Contrary to what they are showing to the public, they are on a shaky foundation.”

Lexi leaned on the table. “Do tell. Hubby, you've been holding out on me.”

“Well, I'm not one to gossip, so you didn't hear this from me.” I laughed, and continued. “Greg has a baby on the way.”

“No!” Lexi seemed surprised. “Please tell me that's not so. Jackie said Greg's been telling her he had a vasectomy and didn't want any more kids.”

“Greg told me himself. And no, Jackie is not the baby's mama.”

“Oh my goodness.” Lexi took a sip of her wine. “I would like to be a fly on the wall when Jackie finds out.”

I couldn't help but laugh out loud again. Here I was gossiping about other people with my wife. I had to admit, it felt good to talk about other folk's problems. Lord knows, we'd seen more than our share.

Lexi and I ended the night with a night cap and a night of lovemaking. She could still make my toes curl and make me howl at the moon like a wolf.

“Baby, you still got it,” I said, as I looked up into her eyes.

“You best believe it,” she responded, as she straddled me.