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  He stood up and headed to the showers on the other side of the locker room and Jacob followed the mammoth-size brother. When he reached the last locker he pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and opened the lock. He pulled a small backpack and looked around as if he was being watched by the FBI.

  “Here we go,” Willie said. He sat on a bench and pulled out a bottle of Seagram’s gin and two Styrofoam cups, and began to pour. He handed Jacob a cup and said, “Listen, if this is too strong, I have some orange juice.”

  Wanting to get the full effect of the alcohol, Jacob replied, “Nope, I’m okay.” Then he surprised Willie once again by taking the cup straight to the head and turning it up until he downed a full shot.

  “My, man.” The big fellow laughed deep and hard. “You better pace yourself if you want to make it to lunchtime.”

  “I got this,” Jacob shot back. “Hit me again.”

  His second cup was filled a third of the way. Jacob took small sips. As he began to feel the effects Willie looked at his watch and then moved swiftly over to the showers. He turned on the shower and in a matter of moments steam began to rise. Willie walked back over to the bag and grabbed a film capsule from inside and popped the lid. He pulled out a joint and lifted it to Jacob. “Grade A, the sticky, my bruh.”

  Eyebrows raised, Jacob couldn’t believe that his crazy ass was about to smoke reefer inside of the gym. “Man, are you serious?”

  “Yeah, man. I smoke in the shower. The steam kills the smell and keeps it from getting in your clothes. Plus the smoke doesn’t irritate your eyes, so they won’t get red or puffy.” Jacob stared in disbelief. Willie went on: “You ever smelled weed on me before?”

  “Nah, I can’t say that I have.”

  “Well, I get high every day, sometimes twice a day, right here. So what you wanna do? You know I wouldn’t let you get in trouble.”

  Jacob wasn’t really into smoking, but he recalled the stress he was under and thought what the hell. Maybe he’d get fired and the whole problem would disappear. The only problem was that his reputation would be ruined. He watched his drinking partner head to the shower, and against his own better judgment, he followed.

  They stood in the rear of the shower, passing the weed back and forth. Three minutes and the joint was done. Jacob stepped out of the shower feeling buzzed, high, and ready to take on the world, or at least the students.

  “Thanks, man, I really appreciate it,” he said to Willie.

  “Don’t worry about it. Anytime,” Willie said, voice a couple octaves lower. “Hold on, before you step.” He held up a finger as he looked through his bag once more. He pulled out a can of spray. Willie rolled up on Jacob and sprayed his upper body with a body spray. It smelled like something a woman would wear.

  “What’s this?”

  “Body spray, from Bath & Body Works. It smells good, huh?”

  Jacob nodded. It did. Reminded him of pears and apples. “It’s nice.”

  “Oh yeah, women love it on a man. You’ll see.”

  Jacob thought Willie’s comment over for a second. As much as people talked about his size, no one had ever said he was funky. “Peace, I’m out,” Jacob said, slurring his speech. Willie tossed him a pack of spearmint Life Savers, which he caught and popped open with the quickness before bopping out of the room.

  As Jacob moved back toward his room he thought about how relaxed he felt. In fact, the more he walked, the less he thought, period. Everything was suddenly all good.

  He breezed through first period, putting on a film and having the kids write. He had forgotten that he had scheduled a test, but not one student reminded him.

  When second period came around he was still mellow from the liquor, but still sharp enough to recall the rock coming through his window. When Anna came through the door he gave her a look that displayed his anger until she’d taken a seat. Her face frowned up and she looked as if she wanted to say something to him.

  Then Elise came in, and when he looked at her, he recalled everything that had happened over the weekend, especially the sexual encounter she’d invaded. She offered a smile without showing any teeth and Jacob had a hard time not taking it as sexy.

  He remembered the test. “Elise, can you pass these out for me?”

  Without a word, she got out of her seat and moved toward him. It was a cool morning and Jacob took notice of the fact that Elise had on a sweater that kept riding up on her belly button. He also noticed that she had a ring in her belly button. Then his eyes scanned over her entire body. She had on a tight pair of Seven jeans, and as she began to move up and down the aisles he likened her ass to a heart-shaped box of chocolates. “Damn,” he said.

  The students all looked up in surprise. It was at that moment that he realized that he had spoken out loud. “Excuse me, class. I poked myself.” They went back to work and heads went down, all except Anna, who’d watch his eyes filled with lust as he’d spoken. She knew exactly what had caused the outburst. When Jacob’s eyes met hers, it was his turn to get the nasty look.

  Each time he looked up from his papers, Jacob caught Anna staring at him. She was blowing his high, so finally he waved to her and called her over to him.

  She stood up and walked over to him. “Yes?”

  In a hushed tone he said, “Is there a problem? Every time I look up, your eyes are on me.”

  “No, there’s no problem.”

  Jacob scratched his cheek and thought about the rock. He wanted to say, Bitch, why are you stalking me, then? But he knew he couldn’t call her out without some proof. So he just stared at her for a second. He looked into her eyes. It might have been the first time he’d ever looked her in the eyes.

  He felt an energy coming from her that he couldn’t really put his finger on. The way her face went so easily from any expression of joy into an anguished look told him that she was pained but resilient. Even so, she was pretty, though probably nowhere near as pretty as she would be when she finally blossomed into adulthood. With the girlish charm she possessed, Anna never seemed aware of her assets.

  In spite of it all, she was acting out and Jacob felt that she was trying to reach him. Whether it was the weed, the liquor, or both, he was reading something from her finally that he hadn’t been able to read before. She was definitely crying out for help. That had to be why she had thrown the rock, and why she had shown up at his door that night.

  As far as the e-mails went, Jacob summed it up as one simple thing. In addition to all that he suspected he knew, she was also probably oversexed and definitely wicked.

  Once she went back to her seat and finished the test, Jacob checked his e-mails. Like clockwork, another message from mocha2munch, but he waited to read it. When he dismissed the class he saw Anna whispering in Elise’s ear, probably telling what she knew of his earlier gaze. But the one key thing that was different today was that Jacob didn’t give a fuck.

  A few minutes after class was dismissed, Elise walked back into the classroom and Jacob didn’t notice her standing there. It was his planning period and he had planned to make a few phone calls. But before he could get to the calls, his eyes had been glued to his monitor reading his latest e-mails. He noticed another one from his admirer. It proved to be just as sexually charged as the previous one, and because of it, Jacob had made a tent out of his pants.

  Jacob,

  The time is almost here. I can tell that you’re longing for what I’m going to give you so willingly. You need to stop looking for love in all the wrong places. I was trying to be patient until the perfect time, but I can tell you can’t wait. You need me now. You need my warm body next to yours at night. You need to smell it before you go to sleep at night. You need my hot, tight pussy wrapped around your dick. I can’t wait to feel you inside me. I want you to fuck me like you’ve never fucked anyone before. Then I want you to sing to me like you sang to that bitch.

  I know she’s fucking you, but I’ll fuck you better. She can watch if you want. If she does she’d probably g
o out of her mind watching the way I swallow you up, and when you fuck me from behind it would be over, that’s my spot. I’m a screamer and a creamer.

  Almost time,

  [email protected]

  By the time Jacob finished reading the e-mail, he needed to adjust himself in his underwear. The messages had gotten progressively more explicit each time. Elise watched as he reached into his pants and grabbed his dick. He didn’t play with it, only shifted it so it wouldn’t press against his zipper.

  Showing a part of her personality Jacob had never seen before, Elise cracked a joke. “Am I disturbing something here, Mr. Marsh?”

  Jacob jumped and turned quickly. In a scramble he turned off his monitor and said, “What are you doing in here sneaking up on me like that…aren’t you supposed to be in class?” He was rambling and embarrassed, wondering how much she’d seen. Then he realized that she must have seen his hands in his pants or she wouldn’t have made the comment.

  “I’m not sneaking up on you, Mr. Marsh. I need to speak to you. I actually have an early departure today. I have a doctor’s appointment. But I felt like I should come past here and talk to you before I leave. It’s kind of awkward but important. I really didn’t have anyone to talk to, so I began talking to Anna about my life. I mean, I really let her into my world, which I’ve always kept private, and in return she opened up and shared some things with me. To keep it real with you, Mr. Marsh…she’s told me some things that sort of have me confused and worried. Some of them are about you.”

  Jacob’s face showed concern. “What sort of things?”

  “Too many to rush through, and I really don’t think this is the place. But listen, I work at a hair salon up in College Park. I get off tonight at around six or six-thirty. If you’re free you could meet me at the Starbucks. It’s in the same shopping center as the Home Depot.”

  “I know where it is.”

  “So how about seven?” Jacob didn’t respond. “Here, call me if you can’t make it. This is my cell.” Elise handed him a card. It had her name on it and said All Things Braids by Elise on it.

  “So you do hair, huh?”

  “A girl has got to pay the bills somehow.”

  “Bills?” Jacob said sarcastically. He was thinking that the young girl had no idea what bills were.

  “So I’ll see you later.” Jacob was silent and she asked, “Are you okay, Mr. Marsh?”

  “Yeah…” He cleared his throat and continued. “I’m fine.”

  Her face showed a hint of suspicion. “Well, if I ain’t know any better, I’da thought you was high or something. You seem a bit off today,” she said, giggling, and headed for the door. When she reached it she turned back. “I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”

  Jacob’s eyes went down to the card. He placed it in his pocket and then he thought about some of the possibilities of Anna and Elise’s conversation. His stomach began to grumble and he put his hands over his face. Three minutes later, he was asleep, drooling out of the corner of his mouth onto his desk calendar.

  15

  Who Knows Where This Could Go?

  The intercom buzzed. Mrs. Holiday, the school secretary, said, “Mr. Christian, can you take a phone call? It’s an emergency—your brother.” I was just finishing up my reading groups but hurried from the circle of children when I heard her.

  “Kids, I’ll be right back,” I said in a rush. My brother seldom called my job, so to hear he had an emergency scared me. I immediately thought of my parents. They both lived alone, had been divorced for twenty years, and both suffered from high blood pressure.

  I moved briskly up the hallway toward the teachers’ lounge. “Hey, what’s up?” I said, barely getting the phone to my mouth before I got the words out.

  “Listen,” Lee said. I could tell he was panicked. “If Nicole calls you or comes to your job…”

  “Why would she come to my—”

  “Diego, be quiet. I need you to listen. If she comes to your job before I get there, or calls you, I need you to tell her that I stayed at your place last night.”

  I didn’t understand at all. “Lee, what’s going on?”

  “I don’t have time to explain. But I need to come by to get your keys and I may need to crash at your place on the couch for a night or two.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “And another thing…” He paused. “Never mind. Just leave the keys in the office for me if you could. I’ll be at your place when you get there after school.”

  “Okay.”

  I was about to head out of the lounge when the intercom buzzer went off. Again it was Mrs. Holiday. “Mr. Christian? Are you in the lounge?”

  I hit the call button. “Yes, I was headed back to my room right now.”

  “Well, you have another call on eighty-five.”

  “Okay.” I picked up the line and said, “Hello.”

  “Well, sir, I can say that it hasn’t been easy tracking you down.”

  I was ready for Nicole’s overbearing attitude. She had it twisted if she thought she was going to berate me the way she did my brother. “Listen, I’m in the middle of teaching and I have to get back to work. What do you need?”

  “Excuse me. Do I have the right person? The man I met would surely have more manners than this.”

  I didn’t recognize the voice. “Who is this?”

  “This is Jonetta. Jonetta Cleveland. We met at the Black Caucus event.”

  I immediately felt embarrassed by the way I’d spoken to her. “Oh wow, I’m sorry. I thought you were my sister-in-law. I am really sorry about that.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. I didn’t mean to disturb you on your job. I tried you on your cell phone, but it was disconnected—nonworking or something.”

  I thought about my changing the number after the Kenard and Erin situation. “Yeah, I have a new one. But how’s everything with you?”

  I could hear her smiling through the line as she replied, “Oh, Diego, everything is absolutely fabulous. Stellar, in fact. I have some really great news.”

  “I’d love to hear it, but can I call you back on my lunch break?”

  “Absolutely. Take my number. Be sure to call me back because I have something to propose to you.”

  Propose, I thought. I was hoping she hadn’t left her husband when I heard that. “Will do.”

  Thirty minutes later I was leaving the school for my lunch break. As I pulled out of the lot I saw my brother’s car stopped on the corner and there were two police cars behind him, lights flashing. I immediately pulled over and saw that he was no longer in the vehicle. When I looked closer and saw the guns drawn, I put my car in park and jumped out. “Officer,” I yelled. “I’m a schoolteacher at that school right there. That’s my brother.”

  I was greeted with “Put your hands up. Don’t move. Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”

  In shock, I threw my hands in the air. “I teach right here at Ridgewood. I teach second grade.”

  “Shut your mouth,” the officer said. “Slowly turn around and put your hands on the vehicle.”

  Two officers ran up beside me. In a matter of seconds, three more squad cars pulled up. “Lee, you all right over there?”

  I felt a firm grip land on the back of my neck. Next, my head was forcefully slammed down to the hood of my car. “Shut your mouth.” They began rummaging through my pockets and then my hands were placed in string restraints.

  “What’s going on, Officer?”

  Things were quiet for a minute and then a fourth car pulled up. It was unmarked. The officers helped a man out of the backseat and then stood my brother up. They whispered something into the man’s ear and he shook his head. Then I heard one of the officers ask, “Are you certain?”

  The man shook his head no and said, “There’s no way that’s him. He’s much too tall and not dark enough.”

  The officer whispered again and then turned to Lee and said, “State your name, sir, then your address and the make and model of your veh
icle.”

  My brother seemed shaken and said, “My name is Lee Christian, I live at—”

  The man interjected again. “No, that’s not him. Sounds nothing like him.” Five minutes later, after checking IDs and taking information, the police officers had the nerve to apologize before releasing us.

  “Mr. Christian, the person we’re attempting to apprehend is a very dangerous sociopath and we know he’s armed. This person just robbed the Bank of Maryland across the street and we believe he’s in, or was just in, the vicinity. We really apologize for the rigid behavior, but we have to be very aggressive in our efforts to catch him. He was seen fleeing in the direction of this neighborhood. We believe that he might be parking his car near here and fleeing the scene of the crimes on foot.”

  He then handed me a business card and continued: “If you see any suspicious vehicles parked in this neighborhood, please, don’t hesitate to call.”

  I looked over at Lee, who was dusting his clothes off after being pinned on the ground. “I don’t believe this crap,” he mumbled. The two officers who remained looked over at him like he was crazy.

  I nodded and tucked away the card. When they pulled off I walked over to Lee. His lip was swollen and bleeding and his eye looked as if he’d been hit with a bag of nickels. “Whoa,” I said when I took a closer look. “Man, they beat the hell out of you. Did you resist arrest?”

  He wiped his mouth. “Just let me get the keys.”

  “I think you need to go to the hospital. Get your face checked out.”

  “I’m fine. I just need some rest.”

  As I was about to hand him the keys I heard tires screeching to a halt and right behind me was his wife, Nicole. She jumped out of her car as if she was on a warpath. “Is this what you do, huh, Lee? Run out on your wife with the first problem?”

  “The first problem? Are you kidding me?”