As The Negro Turns (Part 6)

“In your bedroom dog?” Keith said as he finished pouring me a vodka and orange juice.

“Yes! Can you believe that sh*t? I mean, who does that? Here I am thinking I am having some type of bad dream, and this chick is sitting in my bedroom with her legs crossed smoking a jack.”

Keith poured himself some cognac and sat at his dining room table with me.

“I just can’t believe that man. I know Sheila is crazy, but man, I didn’t think she was doing it like that.” Keith said while sipping his drink.

“Yeah well she is…” I said abruptly. “Also, are you going to finally tell me how you got involved with Sheila?”

Keith got up from the table and went into the kitchen.

“Keith? Don’t ignore me dude.”

Keith reappeared from the kitchen, and sat back at the table. He just stared at me as he took another sip of his drink.

“Keith?” I said cautiously.

Keith took one more sip of his drink before he started to speak.

“I was at a party. I had gone to this lounge with my boy Dave. You remember Dave right?”

I simply nodded as Keith continued.

“Well we were at the party kickin’ it with a few honies but there was this one woman, one that stood above the rest. I remember how elegant she seemed. Flawless. She had such a swagger about her that was leaps and bounds above all the other women in there. “

I watched my brother as it seemed he was taking a delightful trip down memory lane. That was soon to end as I saw his facial expressions beginning to change.

“So here and I talked. I was doing some drinking but nothing more than usual. However, somehow, it seemed I had a little too much. I can remember getting in Dave’s car and him dropping me home. “

Keith suddenly stopped and stared off.

“Okay?” I said inquisitively.

“Well, the next morning I woke up with a nasty hangover. I thought I was alone until…”

“Until what?” I asked.

Keith took another sip of his cognac and answered “Until I heard the shower cut on.”

I was frozen. I cannot believe that she had gotten us both the exact same way. So much so, that it is way too much to be coincidental." Keith continued explaining.

“So when I went to investigate, I found Sheila in my shower. Seems as if she and I had spent the night together, but I certainly didn’t remember the incident.”

“Did you know that was…” I asked.

“I had no clue! So imagine my surprise the first time that she takes me home to meet her parents and I see Sheila. So after that, Sheila told me that unless I do what she tells me to do, she would tell Janice about the incident in detail.”

“You think we were drugged Keith? I mean, we have similar stories and I too don’t remember being with her. I woke up in the same fashion you did.”

“It’s a possibility man. All I know, is I want this woman gone from my life.”

I took a final sip of my vodka and OJ, grabbed my keys, and jumped up from the table.

“Where are you going?” Keith asked.

“To someone who I think can help remove this woman from both of our lives. It’s time we got on the offensive my brother. I will hit you up later and let you know what I find out.”

I quickly left my brother’s apartment, jumped in my car, and headed downtown to the police station.

I had made a call to the station to see if Maurice was on duty. I had arranged to meet him when I got there. Pulling up to the station, I happened to see Maurice standing outside talking with another officer. I got out the car as Maurice smiled and greeted me.

“What’s up J-Money? What’s good with you family? Hey Dozier, this is my man from college. Boy, we did so many things dude that we should have never graduated.” Maurice said pointing to me and laughing.

“Mo! Long time no see man. Yeah, I must say, I don’t know how we made it out man, but we did. Is it possible that I could have a word with you for a minute?”

“Sure man. Hey Dozier, I will get up with you later.” Maurice said.

We walked over to my car and took a seat on my hood.

“So what’s on your mind Jay?” Maurice asked.

“Well Mo here is the issue….”

I proceeded to tell Maurice and the whole situation about Sheila and what was going down between her, my brother, and I. Maurice told me that it wasn’t a problem and that I should give him as much of a run down on Sheila’s information as I could. I gave him all I knew about her, her daughter and her husband. Maurice assured me that he would look into it and get back to me as soon as he found something.

I left the police station feeling better now that I had someone on the right side of the law on my team. I am just upset that I didn’t think of Maurice before now. I proceeded to drive home and then figured I should call Pam since I haven’t talked to her in a while. I called but got her answering machine. Pam is so old school. I mean really, who still has an answering machine instead of voicemail. I decided not to leave a message and just call her back later.

I finally arrived home and was so glad to be there. First thing was first however, I did a thorough inspection of my entire apartment. I definitely don’t need any pop ups, surprises, or disturbances today. I just want to have a normal ending to a fairly normal day.

I made myself some dinner, got me a nice glass of Riesling, and relaxed to smooth sounds of Maxwell coming out of the Bose system in my living room. I picked up my cell phone and decided to try Pam again and again, no answer. This time I decided to leave a message.

“Hey baby it’s me, I haven’t talked to you in a day or two so I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were ok. I miss you and want to see you soon. Call me back when you get this message. Ok, I love you. Bye.”

I continued eating my dinner and sipping on my wine. As it began to get late, I decided that it was time to turn in and get ready for tomorrow. I even opted to take a bath to relax my muscles instead of my normal shower.

The bath was so warm and felt so good that I started dozing off. The only thing that woke me up was that I could hear my phone ringing. I got out of the tub, dried myself off, and went into the bedroom to get my phone. I had just missed the call. I checked my phone to see who it was. It was Pam.
I laid down on my bed with my towel wrapped around me and called Pam back. The phone just rang.

“Now she just called me. Where did she go that fast?” I said frustrated.

Again, I got her answering machine.

“Hey baby, I just saw you called. Where did….” I said as I was cut off due to someone picking up the phone.

“Pam!” I said excited.

“Awww I’m sorry, Pam isn’t here right now.”

“Who is this?” I asked curiously.

“Why don’t you take a guess?” The voice said seductively.

I was infuriated immediately and yet, worried about Pam at the same time.

“Why are you there?” I asked.

“Tisk, Tisk, Tisk. You still have not learned any manners my dear Jaden. Where is my hello?” She asked.

“Hello.” I replied.

“Hello. How are you?” Sheila asked.

“I’m fine.” I said through clinched teeth.

There was a silence on the phone.

“Hello?” I said.

“What? Are you not going to ask me how I am doing?”

“I don’t have time for these f***ing games Sheila! Where is Pam?” I screamed

“Yessssssss. That is what I like. I like your passion, your true expression of your feelings. Why have you been holding out on me?” She asked.

“Where is Pam? Sheila, I swear on everything good, if you….”

“If I what? Say it; I dare you to say it. If I what Jaden?” Sheila said angrily.

I sighed and tried to compose myself.

“I just want to know where Pam is and if she is ok.”

“Oh now you want to talk like you have some f***ing sense huh? Well let me tell you this, how ok Pam is will solely determine how you act now wont it? Now like I said, Pam isn’t here right now however when she returns, I will be sure to tell her you called.” Pam said.

“Sheila! Stop with all these games. What do you want from me?” I screamed.

“You have a great day now. Oh, and put some clothes on. Bye Bye now.” Sheila said as she hung up the phone.

I threw the phone across the room and it shattered against the wall. I jumped off the bed, threw on some clothes, ran into the living room, grabbed my keys, and rushed out of the apartment to head over to Pam’s.