Chapter 9
Friday morning, James was awakened to banging on the door.
“James, are you in there?”
He lazily sat up on the sofa. It took him a moment to figure out where he was. He looked around and wondered what he was doing in the living room. The banging on the door got louder.
“James, open up, man.”
He looked at the door and frowned. “Alex?”
“Yeah, man; open the door.”
James slowly stood and staggered to the door. He opened it and saw Alexander standing in the hallway. “What are you doing here?”
Alexander saw that James appeared to be lethargic and bewildered. “Man, what’s up with you? Now I know why you didn’t wanna carpool with me today. You weren’t coming in to the precinct at all, were you? Do you know that it’s eleven o’clock? Roll call was four hours ago. And why are you answering the door in your drawers?”
James looked down at his attire then looked at Alexander through sleepy eyes. “Man, I honestly don’t know.”
“You look like crap.”
“I feel like it too. Come on in.”
James stepped aside and Alexander walked into the apartment. Alexander sat down on the sofa. James stood by the door with one hand on his waist and the other on his chin, looking up at the ceiling as though he was trying to figure out something.
Alexander followed James’ gaze but didn’t see anything. “What are you looking up there for?”
He looked at Alexander. “I was getting ready to do something, but I forgot what it was.”
Alexander saw that James was behaving erratically. “Are you high, partner?”
“Why would you ask me something like that?”
“Because you look high.”
James looked up at the ceiling again. “What was I getting ready to do?”
“How about get dressed and save your job? You’re AWOL.”
“What time is it?”
Alexander looked at him like he was insane. “Didn’t you hear me say that it’s eleven A.M.?”
James looked at Alexander in shock. “It’s eleven o’clock?”
Alexander got up and stood in front of James. “We’re partners, man, and we’ve had each other’s back for a long time. Talk to me. Why are you trippin’? Did you smoke a little something last night?”
“Alex, get out of my face. I must have jetlag or something.”
“Or something is more like it.”
James looked at the ceiling a third time. “I feel like I need to do something, but I don’t know what it is.”
Alexander worked his hands like he was doing sign language and spoke. “You need to go to work. Get dressed and let’s go.”
James left Alexander alone in the living room while he went to get dressed. Clearly James wasn’t himself this morning. Alexander sat on the sofa again and glanced around James living room for drug paraphernalia. There had to be a reason James was acting abnormal.
An hour later, James and Alexander walked into the precinct and instead of going to his desk, Alexander went toward the stairs.
“Where are you going, Alex?” James asked.
“Downstairs to see if any of the marijuana is missing from evidence; ’cause you’re trippin’.” Alexander continued his plight.
Before James could say anything else, Captain Murphy was in his face.
“Good morning, Cap,” James greeted.
“You mean afternoon, don’t you, Detective?,” Captain Murphy asked, scanning James from his head to his shoes. “So, you decided to come to work, huh? Why weren’t you at roll call this morning?”
“Well, see, what had happened was, uh, this morning, I mean last night, the storm knocked the power out and my alarm clock didn’t ring.”
“What storm?”
“You know, the storm, that big storm, uh, ... it didn’t storm in your neighborhood?”
“No, it didn’t,” Captain Murphy answered looking deep into James’ eyes.
“Oh.” James searched his brain for another convincing lie. “Well, uh, a squirrel or a raccoon or a possum or a cat, something got tangled up in the power lines outside my apartment. When that happens, the power goes out and then my alarm clock doesn’t ring.”
Captain Murphy gave James a look to let him know he didn’t believe either lie he had just told. Just then, a female officer called the Captain’s name. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for her to wait a minute then brought his attention back to James. “You better be glad I’m in a hurry, Detective.”
“You have no idea how glad I am, sir.”
“Don’t play with me, Bradley. I ain’t in the mood. I’ll have your badge.”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked at James’ neck. “Where’s your tie?”
James felt for a tie that wasn’t there and could have kicked himself. “Uh, see, what had happened was, it was dark in my closet because someone ran into the light pole outside and knocked the power out and I couldn’t find—”
“Cut the crap, Bradley, and find that no good partner of yours and get over to the crime scene on Logo Street.”
Captain Murphy walked away and James let out a loud sigh just as Alexander was coming up the stairs from the evidence room.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” James asked him.
“Yeah, it’s all there and you better be glad too.”
“What do you mean I better be glad?”
“You’re on something, James, and I’m gonna find out what it is.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“I saw Cap walk up to you. What was he talkin’ about?”
“The same thing he’s always talking; a bunch of ying yang. Come on, we gotta get over to Logo Street.”
“Why?”
“Because someone’s lying dead on it.”
Early afternoon, Amaryllis stood at the counter at the Photo Mart. “Can this film be developed today?”
“Sure, it’ll be ready after six P.M.,” answered the store clerk.
“Is that special still on, the one that allows you to make an eight by ten puzzle from any picture?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Great. I want the first photograph made into a puzzle.”
Back at the law firm, Amaryllis was sitting behind her desk when James and Alexander stepped off the elevator. James walked past Amaryllis without speaking, and headed straight into Michelle’s office. She watched James shut the door behind him. She looked up at Alexander smiling at her. Who is this clown? she thought.
As if Alexander heard her thought, he extended his hand toward Amaryllis. “Hi, I’m Alexander Moore; James’ partner.”
Amaryllis took his hand and shook it. “Hi, I’m Amaryllis. Michelle’s sister.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Michelle mentioned that she had a sister and I’ve been wanting to meet you.”
Amaryllis was not impressed. Alexander’s presence was irritating her. Because of him, she couldn’t eavesdrop on Michelle and James’ conversation. “Is that so?”
“Yes. And you are as beautiful as Michelle said you were.”
Tell me something I don’t know. “Thank you, Alexander.”
He smiled. “My friends call me Alex.”
“Thank you, Alexander. So, what’s up with your partner?”
It didn’t go over Alexander’s head that Amaryllis repeated his full name. Evidently, she didn’t want to be his friend. “What do you mean?”
“He walked right by me without speaking.”
“For some reason, James has been out of it today. Don’t pay him any attention. If you asked him what his name was, he wouldn’t be able to tell you.”
“Oh, well if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get to the file room.”
Amaryllis stood and walked past Alexander. He waited for her to disappear from his view before he knocked on Michelle’s door. He peeped his head in and saw James and Michelle sitting across from one another. “Is it safe to come in?”
Michelle looked at him and smiled. “Of course, Alex. Come on in,” she said.
He walked in and shut the door behind him. “I just met your sister and she’s great—beautiful, too.”
James didn’t say anything. He looked at Alexander as he came and sat next to him.
“So, you’re digging my little sister, huh?” Michelle asked Alexander.
James thought to himself, You’re digging yourself into a grave.
“Yeah, she’s cool. And she’s even prettier than I pictured,” Alexander answered.
“Oh, yeah; Amaryllis is absolutely gorgeous,” Michelle stated.
Amaryllis may be beautiful on the outside, but to James, her inner person was very ugly. “You’re the gorgeous one, Mickey,” he stated.
Alexander turned to James. “You’ve gotta admit they can pass for twins. A yellow beauty and a brown beauty.
Michelle chuckled. “Everyone tells us that. When I look in the mirror, I see Amaryllis’ face.”
“She’s got your smile, your hair, your face and you two are built exactly the same. You even have the same voice,” Alexander described.
James had come to visit with Michelle, not to sit and compare her with her evil sister. “Well, I don’t see any resemblance at all.”
Alexander begged to differ. “Man, you’re crazy. They’re identical.”
James was getting madder by the moment. “They’re not identical, Alex. They’re years apart.” James spoke with authority and it caught both Michelle and Alexander’s attention.
In the year they’d been dating, Michelle had never heard him speak in that tone. “Is something bothering you, sweetie?”
Before James could answer her, the telephone rang. By the fourth ring, Michelle pressed the intercom button. “Amaryllis, could you get that please?”
Alexander leaned forward. “She went to the file room.”
On the fifth ring, Michelle answered. “Price & Associates, Michelle speaking. Hey, Jodie; what’s up, girl?”
While Michelle was talking on the telephone, Alexander glanced at James. “What’s up with you, man? You’ve been trippin’ all day.”
“Nothing,” James replied coldly.
Michelle was half listening to Jodie and half listening to James and Alexander. “Thanks, Jodie, I’ll run it by James and get back to you.”
She hung up the telephone and looked across the desk at James. “You feel like celebrating a two-year-old’s birthday this evening?”
James would rather spend his Friday evening the way he always did—in Michelle’s den watching a football game with her asleep in his arms. “Whatever you wanna do, Mickey, I don’t care.”
He was highly upset. Michelle knew it, and so did Alexander. Alexander saw the way Michelle was looking at his friend and knew that she wanted to question him about his mood. He excused himself from Michelle’s office. “Uh, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”
When Alexander closed the door behind him, Michelle saw that James had his eyes fixed on something across the office. “You wanna talk about it?,” she asked.
“What’s to talk about?” he shrugged.
“Whatever’s got you in this funky mood.”
He looked at her. “Mickey, I’m sorry. I was extremely late for work this morning and don’t understand how.”
“You overslept?”
“I over, overslept. I missed roll call.”
“On the phone last night, you said that you were tired. It’s normal to oversleep every now and then.”
“It’s not just that. I feel kinda out of it. Like the day is passing me by and I can’t catch up to it.”
“Well, you have been putting in a lot of hours lately. Why don’t you cut back?”
“Maybe you’re right. I haven’t been getting enough sleep.”
“When was your last physical? Maybe it’s time for a checkup.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen my doctor. On Monday morning, I’ll make an appointment.”
“Are you and Alex done for the day?”
James leaned back in his chair and unbuttoned his top button. “Yeah, we’re on our way home.”
“When you get home, take two aspirin and go to bed. Call me in the morning.”
“What are you going to do tonight?”
“Well, that was Jodie who called. She invited us to Mya’s birthday party, so I’ll stop by there for a few hours.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Michelle loved spending time with James, but he was fatigued. She could see the tiredness in his face. “James, you need to rest.”
“I wanna be with you.”
Alexander knocked and poked his head in. “You ready, partner?”
“You go ahead, Alex. I’m hanging with my baby tonight.”
“All right, partner. See you on Monday morning. Have a good weekend, Michelle.”
He shut Michelle’s office door and headed for the elevator. As he waited for the doors to open, Amaryllis walked past him on her way to her desk.
“It was nice meeting you, Amyrella.”
She stopped dead in her tracks then turned to look at him. If it was something Amaryllis hated, it was having her name mispronounced or misspelled. As she made her point, her neck danced. “It’s Amaryllis; A-m-a-r-y-l-l-i-s. Write it down and make a note of it, okay? And for future reference, if you can’t remember how to pronounce my name right, I suggest you ask before you just let anything come out of your mouth.” She turned and walked to her desk and sat down.
The elevator doors opened and Alexander stepped onto it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I think you have a beautiful name”
Amaryllis looked at him like he was being a nuisance. “Why are you still here?”
On that note, Alexander pressed the DOWN button and the elevator doors closed.
Amaryllis realized that Alexander had left solo. That meant that James was still behind closed doors with Michelle. She went to Michelle’s door, pressed her ear against it and heard laughter.
“Oh, I almost forgot, I gotta show you this beautiful card that you and I got in the mail today,” Michelle said.
“You and I as in us?”
“Yep, it was delivered here by priority mail. I’ll read it to you.” Michelle showed James the front of the yellow card decorated with white lace.
“Very pretty, who’s it from?” he asked.
“I’ll read it and then you tell me who you think sent it, okay?”
“Okay.”
“The card reads as follows: Dear James and Michelle, you don’t know me, but my mommy has told me all about you. She said you both were kind, considerate, selfless and most of all, you are Christians. She said that a lot of the attributes she sees in her parents, she also sees them in both of you. She told me that Miss Michelle has played a very important part in making sure that God answered my parents’ prayers by sacrificing her favorite thing: chocolate. Mommy says that not only are Miss Michelle and Mr. James good people, they’re also good friends to have, and my daddy totally agrees with her. So, I have a very important question to ask the both of you. Think about it, because it’s really, really, really important. Will you be my godparents? I love you already, Baby Burton.”
Michelle looked at James who was mesmerized. “Well, do you know who the card is from?”
“Wow, Mickey, I’m blown away. Yeah, I know who it’s from. Chantal and Michael’s little bun in the oven.”
“Yep, you guessed it. The little bun wants an answer. So, what’s it gonna be? Do we accept?”
James smiled. “Are you kidding? How can we turn down this awesome responsibility? Of course, we accept.”
“Oh, James, I’m so happy you want this. I was praying you’d feel this way.”
“This will be good training for when God blesses us with our own little bun in the oven.”
“Honey, I can’t wait to become pregnant with your child. Just the thought of walking around with a part of you inside of me is exciting. Even when we’re apart, I’ll still have you with me.”
“You know what, Mickey? Having you in my life confirms that God is alive, real and in control of everything. And I know that He’s got favor on my life, because I’ve done some sinful things back in the day, but to know that He’s forgiven me and blessed me with you, puts joy in my spirit. I’m so happy that He allowed one of His angels in eternity to be made into flesh form and brought her into my life to become my wife.”
Listening outside of the door, Amaryllis wanted to scream. James was supposed to be saying these words to her, not Michelle. Why should her sister have all the good things in life? Michelle had her own business, her own house, plenty of money, beauty and brains, plus she was Daddy’s favorite. And to top it off, she had a man who practically worshipped her. It wasn’t fair.
Back inside Michelle’s office, Michelle stood and walked around the desk and sat in James’ lap. “Wow. What beautiful words.”
James saw tears streaming down her face. “Don’t get mushy on me. You know I can’t handle that.”
“I’m sorry, baby, I can’t help it. I didn’t know that love could be this wonderful. When you first approached me that night at church, love was written all over your face.
“And at that exact moment, I knew you were mine. I knew God couldn’t be so cruel that He’d allow you to walk into my life then walk out of it. Many nights, I dreamed of our future. We’d be sitting in a park, having a picnic or walking hand in hand on the beach or sitting in a restaurant staring into each other’s eyes over a candlelight dinner. God hasn’t created a word that expresses how much I love and adore you, James.”
“I thank you for courting me the way God commanded you to. I really wanted to wait for my wedding night to give my husband my special gift and often, I prayed for a man who’s loving, kind and patient, and look who I got. Not one time has sex been an issue with you and I’m so grateful for that. It’s your obedience to God that causes my happiness.”
Michelle wiped tears from her eyes. “I’m going to tell you something that you probably don’t know.” She placed James’ open palm on the center of her chest and looked into his eyes. “You literally hold my heart in the palm of your hand.” James’ face was just as wet as Michelle’s and she mocked him. “Don’t get mushy on me. You know I can’t handle that.”
“I’m outdone, Mickey. I don’t know what to say behind that.”
“Isn’t it good to know that we were made for each other?”
James stood up and brought Michelle to a standing position with him; then he held her hands, bowed his head and closed his eyes. “Father God, James and Michelle here. We thank you for what you’ve done for us. We bless your Holy name, Lord, and we honor your presence in our lives. For as long as we live, Lord, we’ll never be able to thank you enough for your loving kindness. And we pray, Lord, that as we embark on the next phase of our lives as husband and wife, that you will continue to keep your arms of grace and mercy all around us. We praise you, Lord, and we worship you. We thank you for your Holy Spirit that’s constantly guiding our footsteps. We love you and we reverence your name.”
Hearing James’ prayer ticked off Amaryllis so much that she didn’t know what to do. She walked back over to her desk and felt like tipping it over. She looked at the clock on the wall that read 5:50 P.M. The clerk said the pictures and puzzle would be ready at six o’clock. She grabbed her purse and keys, then walked to the elevator. She turned around and looked at Michelle’s closed door. “Pray all you want. I got something for y’all.”
When Amaryllis got home from the Photo Mart, she went directly upstairs to her bedroom and locked herself inside. She sat on the bed and opened the package. The two photos of her and James were very clear. She looked at a photograph of James lying naked on his living room sofa with his eyes closed and his hands caressing the breasts of a naked light skinned woman with long blond hair who straddled him. Her back was to the camera, but James’s face was fully exposed. The second photograph was of James in the same position with his eyes closed, but the woman was leaning forward. In this photo it wasn’t clear whether they were kissing or talking to one another.
Amaryllis unwrapped another package that revealed the first photo made into an eight by ten puzzle. She took the seven-piece puzzle apart, then started to put it back together again. Amaryllis decided to anonymously send one piece per week to Michelle leading up to her wedding. The very last piece of the puzzle would be mailed to Michelle two weeks before she was to walk down the center aisle. Amaryllis brought the last piece of the puzzle to her lips and kissed it. She looked at it and smiled at James’ face. Since she hadn’t been able to steal him away from Michelle, Amaryllis became angry with him and decided to ruin his life. A picture is worth a thousand words, Amaryllis wondered how many words James would come up with to get out of this mess she was about to place him in.