Wrongful Accusations - Chapter 5, part 2
Friend of the accused
After that meeting with Mallory, I had to go back to my office to get on my Thinking Machine. I stretched just a little before getting on the StairMaster because I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be on it but I did want to have the strength to walk to my car.
As I climbed the imaginary mountain, I thought about my conversation with both Ms. Alma and Mallory. Abdul Bendele was an anti-social prick, and I had learned that Shannon was a creative fruit cake with an incestuous family background. I wondered how in the world Shannon and Joshua got together. I wondered what his history was but had no record of any family members. It’s as if the guy didn’t even exist before now. There was no way a 40-year-old man had been invisible all of his life. It’s possible that he changed his name, but from what? I needed Cole Slaw’s help to figure this out.
“Hey, Sassy, what’s up?”
“You’ve made a habit of checking the caller ID haven’t you?”
“I think I’ve been around you too long.”
“You’ve known me for 10 years, why are just now picking up my habits?”
“I don’t know. So, what’s up?”
“You wanna go somewhere for drinks?”
“I don’t care. Where do you want to go?”
“I discovered this spot downtown called the Happy Mexican. It’s on Second St. near the Civil Rights museum.”
“That’s cool. Why are you breathing hard? Are you and Jerry banging in your office?”
“No, I’m on my Thinking Machine, I mean StairMaster.”
“Thinking Machine? You are so cheesy. What time do you want to go to the Happy Monkey?”
“Happy Mexican. We can go at 6:30.”
“Okay, well let me get back to work.”
“Hey, Cole Slaw, I’m going to need you to help with the Heard/Bendele case.”
“Of course, have your files ready when I pick you up. You’ll be at your place right?”
“Yes. I’m going to have to find a new office that has a shower in it one day.”
“Or maybe you should take the StairMaster home instead of exercising in your office.”
“You know my apartment is the size of a closet, where in the world would I put it?”
“Yeah, I forgot, well let me get off this phone. I still have a few more things to attend to before we get to the Funky Monkey.”
“Happy Mexican! Girl, what is wrong with you?”
“Ah, nothing. See you in a few.” For the first time in 10 years, Cole Slaw hung up in my face and I had no idea why. She wasn’t even mad at me. I guess I’ll find out what’s bothering my friend soon enough.
I continued my workout for another five minutes before collapsing on the floor. As I lay there, looking at the ceiling, it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard anything from Shannon. How could she just sit at home and wait for me to give her a report? If it was me I would be on the phone every day asking about the status of the investigation and asking if I could do anything to help.
The phone was lying on the floor an arm’s length away, so I picked it up and dialed Shannon’s number.
“Hello.” She sounded a little too cheery for a woman accused of murder.
“Hey, Shannon, how are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Have you seen the newspapers? I’m on the front page of all the major papers in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.”
“Um, you sound happy about that,” this chick is dumb as a box of rocks.
“I am, I mean not because of the charges, but because of all of the free publicity. Did I tell you I was starting a blog? It’s called “Guilty until Proven Innocent”. I’m going to describe everything I’ve been going through since Joshua was killed.”
Now that’s what I’m talking about right there, why would a person want to put themselves through that kind of torture? To each his own. I wasn’t sure if this blog would be good for the case but I decided I would just wait and see what she posts on it.
“So when will this blog be up?”
“Probably by the end of the day, I don’t have much to do since I got fired…”
“Huh, you got fired, why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s not that big of a deal. As soon as you clear me and the court finds me innocent, I can ask for my job back. This is just like an extra-long vacation. I can just write all day and go to poetry venues at night. This is going to be so much fun. I’ve always wanted to be this free.”
She wouldn’t be free for long if I couldn’t figure out who murdered her child’s father. I didn’t want to kill her vibe so I kept that fact to myself.
“Shannon, I would like to come to your house sometime and just look around to see if something jumps out at me. Have the police determined where Joshua was killed?”
“They said that some of his blood was in my kitchen but it hasn’t been determined if he was cut up here or someplace else and just brought here later. The horrible person put him in my daddy’s bag,” she began to cry. I know that a person crying their eyes out was not a good thing, but at least it made me see that she had remorse, whether she did it or not.
“I’m sorry, Shannon, I didn’t mean to upset you. Would tomorrow morning be a good time to come by? Maybe after you’ve dropped Nedra off at school?”
“Yes, that would be fine. Whatever I can do to help you help me, just let me know. I just want all of this to be over.”
“It will be soon.” I hoped.