Wrongful Accusations - Chapter 24
Shadows of the night
I did not sleep well that first night out of jail. Maybe it was because my mind had gotten used to my surroundings, which was not good. But they say humans can adapt to anything and that is what I had done subconsciously.
My already fitful sleep was interrupted by Michael Jackson singing “Never can say goodbye, no no no no I…” That was one of Jerry’s favorite songs and it was very fitting since I missed him so much. The crooning stopped and started several times before I realized it was my cell phone singing. I forgot that I had changed my ringtone the day before.
By the time I got to the phone, it had stopped ringing. Shannon's number was at the top of my missed calls list, so I called her right back.
“What’s going on Shannon? Your boy doesn’t have you occupied at 3 in the morning?”
“Pearce isn’t here, that’s why I’m calling you. I’m so scared.”
“What happened?”
“I looked out the window to check on my car, like I always do, to make sure it was still there or to see if all of my wheels were still on. There’s been a lot of car theft in my neighborhood lately. Plus, I was making sure there were no more dead bodies in front of my house.”
“Okay, so was the car still there?”
“No, it’s gone. I saw someone in a black SUV pulling my car down the street on a trailer.”
“You’ve been off work for a while; could it have been the repo man?”
“No, Pearce makes my car payments. It was someone stealing my car.”
“Did you call the police? There’s not much I can do. I don’t even know the first place to look.” The truth was that I didn’t want to get involved in any more of Shannon’s drama.
“I did call the police, and they are taking too long. I was whispering when I called because I was trying to make sure no one had broken into the house and was waiting to pounce on me. Maybe the police thought it was a prank call.”
I thought about the last 911 call I had made. “They usually send someone out to check on things anyway, just in case.”
“There’s something else, Sassy.”
“What else?” I asked impatiently.
“My laptop was in the car. The book I was writing, my blog posts I was working on, my poems, everything. What if they tap into my Twitter and Facebook accounts and post all kinds of crazy things to make me look bad? Then I’ll lose all of my friends and followers. What am I going to do, Sassy?”
I didn’t think any of that stuff was as important as her car being stolen but what did I know? “Did you have your writing saved someplace else? And maybe you can just change the passwords on all of your accounts; Mrs. Alma’s granddaughter would probably let you use her computer until you can get another one.”
“I think I did put some of my chapters on a jump drive that I keep on my key ring. But that’s only part of it. I’m sorry to be bugging you with all of this Sassy, but Mallory has practically fallen off the face of the earth, so I don’t have anyone else to talk to.”
Now that bit of information woke me all the way up. “When was the last time you talked to her?”
“A couple of weeks ago, we were making plans to attend a Christmas party held by some of my former co-workers. We were supposed to go shopping for outfits, but Mallory never showed up. She didn’t even call me and that is so unlike her.”
Now where had Mallory disappeared to? She had gone missing right before Hinniyah’s body showed up. But what would she have against Hinniyah?
I had suspected that she may have been in on the Muhammad’s crime ring, but I didn’t have anything to go on. At least I didn’t think I did but Mallory thought so because she had stolen my files when she and Shannon had cleaned up my apartment. I wondered if Hinniyah had threatened to expose Mallory, so she had to be stopped. They hadn’t snitched before, what was so different now? So many unanswered questions. I didn’t have my stairmaster so Aunt Essie’s treadmill had to do.
I continued to listen to Shannon carry on as I wandered to the room where the treadmill was. The room, which housed many exercise machines, was located next to Aunt Essie’s old bedroom. I didn’t have to worry about waking her up while I used my substitute thinking machine.
“Shannon, what do you know about the jobs that Mallory set Joshua up with?”
“Not much, I just know it had something to do with computers. He was very good with them. Joshua was the one who gave me the laptop. He said that he had built it himself.”
“Were there files on the computer when he gave it to you?”
“Yeah, but he told me some of them were very important so I shouldn’t open them. I think they had something to do with how the computer ran so I didn’t want to mess up anything. He would have gotten angry if I had broken it.”
“Were you and Joshua still together when he gave you the laptop?”
“No, it was a few months after we broke up. He said that it was my Mother’s Day present.”
“How nice, so you’ve had it for how long? 3 ½ years?”
“That’s about right.”
“Did Kadijah know you had it?”
“Not until I started my blog which of course was right after I got arrested. I hadn’t used it very much before that time.”
I was beginning to build up a sweat on the treadmill while my thoughts ran a mile a minute. Had the laptop belonged to Kadijah previously and Joshua got mad and took it from her. What kind of files were on the computer that someone, possibly Mallory, would want to steal a car just to get them?
“Oh, the police are here. Thanks so much for listening, Sassy.”
“No problem. Let me know what happens.”
I felt sorry for Shannon. Even though she had a decent guy now, her child’s father had been a computer-hacking adulterer. My Jerry had been almost perfect. I say almost because I had to deal with his mother, who hated me. She hated my name, she hated my red hair, and most of all she hated my career choice. At first, I thought it was just a thing that every mother goes through—the feeling that no woman is good enough for her little boy. But it was deeper than that.
I dreamed of my love that night, Jerry began caressing my back through my thin blouse. My positive response gave him the go-ahead to go further. When I felt his warm fingertips lift my blouse and caress my lower back, I got moist instantly. The further Jerry went up my spine I became both relaxed and excited.
“Let me help you take some of this stuff off before I end up ripping it off.”
I stood and allowed Jerry to remove both my blouse and my bra. He licked, sucked and nibbled the nipple of both of my DDDs. My breath caught in my throat, as I watched Jerry devour my breast as if he was a baby and hadn’t been fed for days.
“Lie on your stomach, I want to give you a massage.”
He went to the bedroom and returned with a bottle of oil. The strawberry scent filled the room as Jerry poured it into the palm of his hands. Jerry had massaged the oil into my back from my shoulders all the way down to the waistband of my jeans. And as he caressed he blew onto the oil making it warm my body and awaken my senses.
“Oh Jerry, it feels so good.”
Jerry continued to massage my back and then he lowered his face to the top of my spine and began to slowly lick down. I moaned with pleasure from the sensation of Jerry’s warm, wet tongue on my skin.
“Do you like that baby?”
“You know I do,” I answered breathlessly.
After a few more moments, Jerry pulled away from me and stood up. It took me a few minutes to regain my bearings but when I got up, I hugged him tightly and kissed him hungrily on the lips. As we broke our embrace, I brushed my hand across Jerry’s happy place. He closed his eyes slowly and let a smile spread across his handsome face. When he had enough of my teasing, he grabbed my hand and guided it where he wanted it to go. I began to stroke it immediately, even before freeing it from its restraints.
I enjoyed feeling it grow in my hand. Whenever we made eye contact, we would share a giggle like two kids sneaking to do something we had no business doing. I let his erection get to pressure-popping proportions before I let go.
“Come on, Mr. Sims. Let’s go finish this in the bedroom.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jerry said, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall behind him.
Then I was awakened from my fantasy by the ringing of the phone. I prayed for her sake it wasn’t Shannon. It was Mallory, see God does answer prayers.
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