Soldier Boy

I had come to terms with the secluded lifestyle I lived, and had even gotten comfortable with Sasha being around; the more I kept her around, the more information I'd gathered. In close proximity while I sat on the sofa beside the window I'd heard the neighbor across the street. I had yet to meet anyone and at times I had in fact wanted to socialize but Vondre' thought it was best I didn't out of consideration for the child. I'd heard the woman across the street greet him after he had parked the truck he'd bought and got out, I often wondered what had become of the blue sedan--- when I asked he just said it was getting fixed. Upon seeing the woman I knew he was her type but dismissed the thought that had surfaced. She too, like Sheretta was a few years older than my baby brother and was definitely his type. However, truth be told, Sheretta had the nigga on a leash.

There was a shopping center close by I had considered walking to one evening, I had yet to see the day when I would feel comfortable with driving. Since the accident I had been so afraid to drive and it had taken me almost a year to get back inside of a vehicle. Many days had passed before I could even realized what had occurred and each time I'd seen Ashley's family out and about a conflict would always transpire. I hadn't tried to substitute our friendship with Jessica, I just needed---I, mean we were close and she would have loved Jessica too! But that's neither her nor there, Jessica was my friend now and that's just the way it was, Ashley would have just had to deal with it.

The seasons had changed and Christmas approached. From the window Sasha had watched the neighbors decorate their yards and homes, the look on her face was heartbreaking. As Vondre' had insisted we stayed inside the home and hadn't gone outside in the 5 months we'd been there. I also needed a breath of fresh air so I suggested we went out for a while, her face lit up.

Noticing her hair was growing out quickly I'd planned to cut it when we'd come back inside. Bigger than she was when she'd come, she definitely hadn't looked the same as she had at first and was very much so unrecognizable wearing boy attire. We'd put on coats and gone into the large fenced in backyard, I looked around while breathing in the cold air knowing Vondre' would blow a fuse if he came while we were out. I'd told Sasha not to mention we'd gone out if she ever wanted to again. Often, things would remind of her mother, like the hammock in the neighbor's back yard. I'd pried the now 5 year old for as much information I could get but got the most vital when she volunteered to give it. I'd known about the arguments between Sandra and Franklin---also I'd known Sandra had a medical issue of some sort, it just hadn't been mentioned. I wanted to know where Dre' had taken her body and lately Franklin had become convinced that she was dead for the public. They'd even had search parties and cadaver dogs looking for her for miles, it hadn't been successful. It gave them hope— but gave me the Willies!

What had he done with the bitch?

The anger was becoming evident each time he appeared on TV and Jessica was rubbing me the wrong was being gullible! We needed to talk! She'd interviewed him not once, but three times! I'd downloaded different text apps and called the number the child had dialed. I'd known that Sandra's phone had been recovered from the car, the detectives had returned to Franklin, but months prior the girl had dialed the number from my Samsung.

"How many people know about this Vondre'?" I'd asked and he assured me it had only between Franklin and him— and his boss.

I had called the number the child had dialed---he answered, I remained quiet and heard fear in his voice as he kept saying hello. He hung up, I called right back from the Michigan number. Why was her phone still even active? I could smell his rich bullshit through the speaker when I had called back and knew why he'd kept the phone on, she was only missing---right?

As I thought about the trifling bastard while standing in the back yard Sasha ran around enjoying the cold air. It smelled a lot like Christmas but damn sure hadn't felt like it and the leaves had accumulated destroying the once beautiful lawn. I didn't even have a tree and thought about how much I'd loved the home Darius and I shared. Until Nevaeh's murder, I hadn't even known where his new house was. It was even bigger than the home on Argyle. I had turned it down---the children and I moved into the 3 bedroom apartment and I quit my job to be able to afford it. He could not win.

"Sandra, if this is u---please come home, Sasha, I miss y'all! I'm not angry! This is eating me ali--"

Call ended. I uninstalled the app...

I knew our time outside was limited and as I called out to Taylor, he ignored me. I'd gone stepping across the yard but had gotten only halfway to where Sasha stood and heard a male's voice---"So someone DOES live there! Wow, finally we meet!"

I looked toward the backyard where the hammock hung at the man standing in a t-shirt and jeans with no jacket on in the 40 degree weather. Pretending to not see him I walked closer toward the boy child in an attempt to get him inside---again he yelled out, "SORRY ABOUT THE LEAVES!"

"Can't u hear me!" I'd asked the child who was becoming rebellious! I reached for her, she snatched away and sat on the cold ground defiantly. I picked her up and walked toward the patio door while she kicked and screamed! I just didn't know anymore! My brother had put me in a fucked up predicament and I reminded him each time I saw him!

"Got a feisty one!" The neighbor yelled while laughing.

"Let her play!"

HER?

"SHUT UP!"

"WHOA, JUST SPEAKING! I'M LAMEEK! I JUST MOVED IN LAST MONTH!"

I kept walking with the kicking child exhausted from lack of rest, each time I closed my eyes I saw Nevaeh's chocolate face.

"Well I don't see a ring, guess u are naturally unfriendly. She's an only child, I can tell!"

I'd gone inside and scolded the girl.

Then the tantrum transpired, I'd restrained her and rocked her to sleep. She'd awakened when Vondre' had come in and as always ran and gave him a hug. He'd brought her toys and snacks, again. While telling him about the cute blouse Jessica had worn that day he interrupted me to say Darius had called him to see why I hadn't called for the boys in months and I would lose my rights. I knew my 10 and 7 year old still grieved their sister even though they had a new one, but also I couldn't bring them around Sasha! SO WHY WOULD I CALL FOR THEM! I couldn't even see my own children because of the child and would lose my rights sooner or later!

Dre' handed me more money, more than ever before---"Put this up."

There had been another one.

Jessica would tell me who.

Something just wasn't right about disappearance of Sandra Warner---in most murder for hire plots orchestrated by the husband, they wanted the body to be found for insurance purposes, right?

Right.

Was Franklin angry since it hadn't been found? He was clueless...his debts had to have been piling up. I'd known he was a suspect and had been on his P's and Q's but had passed the polygraph test---he honestly hadn't known where Sandra was.

Hmmmm---

Hadn't he paid first? He had to have had.

As Dre' walked back to the truck for the drink carrier and burger bags LaMeek's voice could be heard.

Nooooo.....

"Neighbor!! I'm LaMeek, I live next door."

"What's good..."

"Chillin; good to see one of us over here man, that's all."

I looked through the curtain at the 6 footer and wondered what he did for a living to be so in shape while Sasha asked where Daddy Dre' went. He had returned after talking to LaMeek briefly and handed me a stack of papers. I laid them down wondering if he was still with Sheretta but could tell something was heavy on his mind, there had definitely been another one. He'd come in and gone to the bedroom to the mattress on the floor and had not come out but vomited the rest of the evening while Sasha stood at the door confused.

The many questions about her parents were become annoying and I had my own depression to deal with, I couldn't deal with her's also. I wondered what would happen if I returned her but was attached, she was mine as my brother had said. Even though Dre' provided, it all meant nothing, I wanted my family back---since the day he'd shown up at the door everything had been destroyed; but I loved him and I promised Mama.

He would remain in the room 3 days, on Saturday he'd emerged.

I'd decided to go outside to breathe. While sitting in the patio chair I heard the neighbor come out. Quickly he'd appeared at the fence in navy blue sweats and a gray Marvel T-Shirt, did he not get cold?"

"Is your boyfriend there?"

My boyfriend? Who Dre'?

"Um, my brother? He's asleep!"

"Oh sorry---"

He turned away.

For a brief moment I watched him, did he live alone? I wondered.

I'd gone back inside to find Vondre' standing at the end of the hallway, beard shadowing his face; the clothes he'd come in wearing 3 days before were wrinkled with cat faces as Grandma would describe it. I was prepared to explain why I'd gone out.

"Well--I didn't know if u were breathing or not!"

I was happy he was stirring around, but I knew.

This life wasn't for him.

She'd been abducted also and the mainstream story had taken attention away from Sandra Warner's disappearance.

What seemed strange this time was she had no husband.

He'd gone into the bathroom and brushed his teeth omitting the shower. He entered into my bedroom where Sasha slept and I'd taken it he'd kissed her before coming hug me. "I'll be back Sunday," he said.

Sunday? It was only Tuesday! Being alone was killing me, of course I had the girl but I had been secluded nearly 2 years already! After the children were taken I hadn't wanted to socialize! How could I watch women interacting with their families when Darius had destroyed mine! I'd given him everything, I remembered when he didn't have a pot to piss in. Now since my career had crumbled he was Mr. Big shot and LaMona had done waaay more than I could have ever done, well her father Mayor Thomas had. He was on the other side now but would soon come running back---mark my word.

Dre' had gone---I knew he would return after I heard his phone vibrating on the counter about 30 minutes after he'd gone. I had even gone to the window and looked outside to make sure he'd left. Several times the thought had occurred to go through his phone but decided to respect his privacy, I remembered how Darius would go through mine.

LaMeek waved as he got out of the car parked beside the curb, hurriedly I closed the curtain. While walking toward the hall, the doorbell rang. I stopped in my tracks as I heard Sasha stirring around, the plastic crunched as she climbed down from the high bed.

"Nannie?

I looked back at her in the hall as the doorbell rang again while dismissing the thought to open the door but saw LaMeek's silhouette darken the window. I'd told Sasha to go back in the room! What was he doing, I wanted to shoot him! I knew Vondre would come back and see him there, I would have some explaining to do!

He'd seen my movement and refused to leave!

"NANNIE! IS DADDY DRE---"

"SSSHHHHH!"

Doorbell...

I snatched open the door "WHAT!"

"Oh, um---is your plumbing acting up?"

"WHAT!"

"Plumbing?"

"NO!"

"Guy in the truck, will he be back soon---?"

Sasha had come from the room and stood behind me asking for cartoons, I slammed the door in his face and turned away from the door. I looked at the hardheaded girl like I used to look at my own children before she decided to go back to the room screaming without an answer.

After turning on the cartoons I'd gone back to catch the 6:00 news for more coverage about the missing woman, Hillary Gilbert a former alder woman. Divorced mother of two. Her children had appeared on the segment while Taedra Flemming reported live. I hated her and her fashion, yellow bitch! I wanted Jessica! Hillary's son Lance spoke, he appeared to be around my age but I wondered who wanted her dead! I'd gone to my newly created social site account—-well Samantha's, and searched for him and his sister Tianna, she pleaded for her mother's return in a long post and was due any day. There were pictures of their mother on their profiles and my brother was being paid to destroy lives! Like mine had been!

I couldn't help but wonder while looking at how happy they both seemed only days after she'd gone missing.

Dre's phone vibrated on the countertop where he'd laid it.

Had he even known where he'd left it? I decided it may have been a good idea to call Sheretta and tell her to tell him I had it. I'd gone in the kitchen to take out the roast before looking at the one that had been left in the sink two days prior and frowned at the new pot set with flowers my brother had bought. I walked across the raw rice on the linoleum with sock feet and stuck them in the slippers before picking up the meat heading toward the patio door. The child was hungry, I was sure and so was I but I considered the 40 pounds I'd gained since we'd been in the home. The bathroom scale read 205 and my 5'5 height was not proportionate to the weight---I felt like a seal also my hair hadn't been taken care of in months. Often I'd looked at the old photos of me before Darius and remembered Jacob Chisolm.

He'd just fallen off the face of the earth.

I'd gone outside and saw LaMeek's legs sticking out from under the house and kept walking to toss the roast.

Before I could make it back to the patio door he'd gotten up from the cold ground with a light shining from his hard hat, his motion lights had come on when I exited the home.

"FOUND THE PROBLEM! GREASE IN THE KITCHEN DRAIN!"

SO!

I kept walking.

"No wonder u are not married!"

My black ass turned fire red, but kept walking.

Even though Vondre' had said don't order food, just call him and he would bring it---I had ordered plenty that had been delivered and destroyed the containers which was the reason I'd gained the weight. I needed to feed the child and the roast was frozen, so I ordered pizza. He could not keep me secluded because of his actions. As December settled in I'd become extremely depressed and battled with my conscience daily to not turn my brother in.

He was so full of hate but loved me, I knew he did---

As I had, he'd been to several replacement homes, the first was after his foster mother had committed suicide when he was 12.

I'd only found out during my search for him after I turned 18, but there was only so much information I could get---from 15 to 18 he'd lived with Mr. Jeter in another Parish.

Going into the kitchen I saw Sheretta's name across his phone screen and hesitated to answer but I did, I figured he was looking for his own phone but called from hers.

"Hello?"

"Vonda--hey, where Dre'?"

"Gone."

She paused as if I lied.

"Well tell him he can come get all his shit! I'm not doing this with him no more! He been gone 4 days, and why isn't he answering his own phone!? Tell him I'M PREGNANT since he can't answer!?"

Pregnant?

"Yea, ok."

"Yea ok?"

Call ended.

I'd gone into Dre's bedroom after I'd put the rest of the pizza in the garbage disposal and spotted the weed. I needed something.

I searched for something to roll it in, even though I hadn't known how I'd planned to figure it out. I found nothing. I needed something to ease my mind. Killer's didn't get away with multiple murders unless they were skilled and also who did he work for!? Grabbing the weed while it fell from the small piece of plastic to the floor I exited the room and went for his phone.

I scrolled the messages until I saw work and pressed send.

Someone answered after the first ring---unexpectedly, an older man.

Quietly I held the phone, and he had too.

Who was he?

The number belonged to a cell phone and not a landline, and the man who answered was well advanced in age. I heard a second voice in the background, it was almost 10 p.m. and I'd called someone.

"Cleve--Honey, your flight's scheduled."

Cleve?

He abruptly ended the call. I wondered where I'd heard Cleve was and also where was he going? Did my brother still have the job?

I hoped not.

Two weeks had passed and there hadn't been any disappearances since the man who was last seen fishing, a retired attorney from Ridge Glen. They'd dragged the shallow pond when he hadn't turned up and found nothing. I watched the 9:00 news religiously in the mornings and was glad the Sandra Warner case was dying down. I looked at the dress Jessica wore and imagined being 40 pounds smaller.

She covered a story about illegal deer hunting but announced the next segment hosted by Sky Minnifield, who would be interviewing Mayoral candidate Cleveland Haynes. First interview lost to Bernie Thomas the previous month.

I stood from the couch, I needed to breathe! I'd run out of the front door in time to see LaMeek in uniform loading his car.

"Being deployed! See ya in a few months!"

Who knew he would have to eventually testify on my behalf.