“You found it.” I looked up, startled by the sound of a voice. To my chagrin, Antoinette was standing in front of me with a gun in her hand. She was about six feet away from me, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t miss. She had an angry look in her eyes which was so unlike her usual vapid stare. She also looked as if she hadn’t slept in days. It made me wonder how much self-control it had taken her to get through the days while worrying about this hidden evidence at night. I remembered the pepper spray my dad had bought me which was sitting at the bottom of my purse as we spoke. I should have taken it as it would have come in handy, but too late for that now. “You couldn’t just let it go, could you? Fucking bitch.” Antoinette kept the gun trained on me, and there wasn’t a tremor to her hand. “Where did that asshole hide the shit?”
“In the filing cabinet,” I said numbly, my mind starting to shut down. I fought off the sense of terror, desperately trying to remain cognizant. It would do me no good to freak the hell out even though that’s what I felt like doing.
“Do you know how fucking gross it was to sleep with him?” Antoinette demanded, her eyes hard. “That tub of lard rubbing all over my body.” She shivered in remembered disgust, but didn’t move the gun.
“Why did you date him?” I asked, risking a question. I got the sense that she wanted to talk, and I wasn’t about to stop her. Hell, I’d encourage her to tell me her life story if it would keep me alive a few minutes longer.
“He said he’d promote me if I slept with him,” Antoinette replied. “I needed the extra money. It costs tons to go to school these days, even the U.”
“How did you meet Phillip?” I asked, throwing caution to the wind. I had a hunch that she would rather talk about Phillip than Eddie, and boy was I right.
I decided to break into the park right now before it got dark out. I knew it would be better to go after dark, but I didn’t have the nerve. Besides, the security at the park was nonexistent, so I didn’t worry too much about being caught. I went upstairs to change into black jeans and a black t-shirt. I grabbed the thinnest pair of gloves I had for later. I’d be hot, but I would suffer for my art. Uh, I mean, the job. When I was appropriately attired, I grabbed my wallet, my picklocks, my gloves, my cell phone and left. In the car, I stuffed the wallet into the glove compartment and tucked the cell and picklocks into the pocket of my shirt. The gloves I placed on the seat besides me.
“How was your day?” My mother asked when I walked into the house. One look at my face, though, told her all she needed to know.
I dismissed the thoughts as I pulled on my head. I was ninety percent certain that Shannon was the culprit which meant I could relax. No one would be trying to off me today. I could walk freely among the children and not worry about anything more than getting food on my outfit. The darlings tended to have their hands full when they wanted to hug me and would through their arms around me ad nauseam without thinking to pass along their booty to their beaming parents first. Consequently, at the end of the day, I became a walking billboard for the park’s menu. I usually ended up smelling like I’d been dipped in a vat of hot oil, and it wasn’t pleasant. However, I was so ecstatic not to be the target of someone’s venom, I didn’t mind the thought of all those spoiled children ruining my day. Much.
“Welcome back, Bea. Long time, no see.” Antoinette greeted me with a smirk on her face, her usual expression. She fluttered her hand at me so I would notice the rock sitting on her finger. It was a large garnet and looked like it’d be a bitch to wear.
“My mother tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists three months after we buried Rachel. She waited until after I visited her so she could see me one last time. Fortunately, she cut them the wrong way—many people do, you know—and a neighbor dropped in to see how she was doing. The neighbor had a key and let herself in. When she found Mom, she rushed her to the hospital. They were able to save her, but just barely. That’s it for Ferguson history 101.” Rafe picked up his burger again and started eating. I had no idea what to say after such a revelation, so I didn’t say anything. On the one hand, I was sorry I had asked, but on the other, it was time. If we were going to be serious, then I had to know more about him. I was only sorry that his past was so unhappy. I thought of a question to ask, but I wasn’t sure if I should push it. Me being me, I did.
“How is he?” Mona asked my mother once we found her. Mona had a lead foot and we beat the others by at least five minutes.
Amidst her ranting and raving, the sound of sirens were heard. I couldn’t tell if they were coming from the phone or directly from outside, but it really didn’t matter. The cops were here which meant they’d put a stop to the insanity. Through my phone, I heard the voice of Detective Bradley shouting for Shannon to put down her weapon. Shannon screamed, but did not indicate whether or not she was going to comply. Her phone cut off, so hopefully the detectives had winged the bitch. I poked my head around the corner into the living room and was relieved when no shots flew by—or at my head. After ascertaining that she wasn’t shooting any longer, I glanced down and saw my father on the floor, slumped against the couch, holding his arm. Blood was flowing freely, and his face was white.