BEAST (29 page)

Alma scowled. “Christopher is poor white trash just like the rest of us. Don’t think just because he works for the government that he ain’t come from the same stock.” Alma got up and walked in a lazy way down the porch stairs. Ashleigh followed.

“Now wait a minute-”

Alma began walking away from the house and Ashleigh knew what she was doing
; she was luring them away from the rest of the family
.
Alma
wanted to get her away from her Mother and Father so that she could
finally get whatever bug she had out of her crawl
. Ashleigh was all for it.

“
No y
ou wait a minute,”
Alma said almost casually, “because I know
you think you going to run through Chris’s money, use him up and when he’s broke just drop him.” Alma looked at her with complete dislike. “But I guarantee that won’t happen. I’m going to be that little bee buzzing in his ear telling him every wrong move I see you make.” And now that they were far enough away from the house that no one was likely to see them
,
Alma
turned to face her, rudely pointing her finger at her.

“Coming up in here wearing your fancy clothes and your fancy shoes and talking all high-
siddity
, calling him Christopher when we all call him Chris.
You might
got
them fooled but I know your type. Pretty girls like you always trying to get their hands on an officer’s money-”

Ashleigh covered her mouth. Did Alma just call her pretty? “God, I thought you were just prejudiced. But you think I’m with Christopher for his money…?”

Alma scowled. “I never said I wasn’t prejudiced…well truth is I don’t give a damn if you’re black. You high class, I can see that. You ain’t never had to get down on your hands and knees and pull weeds out the garden because if you didn’t and the weeds took over then you wouldn’t have
no
vegetables to eat at dinner.”

“Alma!” Ashleigh said. “I make damn near hundred thousand a year. I don’t need Christopher’s money! And I call him Christopher because that’s the way he introduced himself to me. Truth is
,
there are nights when I’m calling him Chris
and honey and baby and whatever else I want
…over and over.” Alma’s mouth snapped closed.

“AND for your information I worked damn hard to get where I am. I graduated with two degrees and have a whopping college loan to pay back to prove it. I got turned down for jobs that white people less qualified got. I trained my own replacement once! And yeah, I never had to grow the food I had to eat, but every bit of money I make is mine to do whatever the hell I want to do with it! If I want to spend two hundred dollars at the salon every other week or buy five thousand dollar
Manolo
Blahniks
then I will!”

Alma gave her a long look before turning and continuing to walk. She stopped after a moment when she saw that Ashleigh wasn’t following. “Well we better get to the convenient store if we want to convince everybody that we just went off to buy snacks and not to scratch each other’s eyes out.” She waited for Ashleigh to catch up.

Ashleigh was still breathing hard. She looked at Christopher’s sister
, completely thrown off by the flip flop
. “So you like me now that you know I don’t need your brother’s money?”

“I never said I liked you.” Alma said. “I never said I didn’t, either. I just thought…a girl like you would be a gold digger.”

“Girl’s like me?
Black girls?”

“No,” she scowled, “girls that have to look so perfect.”
Ashleigh saw her lip twitch as if she wanted to smile. “But I kinda liked you when I saw you carrying that cute pink Juicy Couture purse. I’ll like you even more if you stay with my brother at least through Christmas so that I might get a half-way decent gift out of him.” Ashleigh did intend to be with Christopher at Christmas and Alma was getting a lump of coal…but it might be sitting in a pink Juicy Couture purse. Ashleigh smiled to herself
but
Alma stopped walking
, her face very
serious.

“I might have been wrong about you. Okay…I have been wrong about you. You love him. You can’t fake that look. Coming around here wasn’t some attempt to
ingratiate
yourself
into my parent’s life like I thought it was.” Ashleigh’s brow jumped up.

“You figured all that out and you still called me out?”

“I just wanted to hear you say one thing.”

“What? That I have my own money?”

“Exactly.”

Ashleigh paused before they entered the little corner store. “I’m not going to take your shit. You’re not going to boss me around.
If you don’t want to like me than fine.
But I’m not going anywhere.
You’re going to have to deal with me for a very long time.
”

Doubt crossed Alma’s face. She opened her mouth and closed it.
“I have
a four
hundred and twenty-five dollar leather
Louboutin
purse.” She twisted her fingers in distress. “I couldn’t tell anybody. Nobody would understand.
My family can’t see why I’d pay that much for ‘things’. I mean, what’s wrong with wanting to get my nails and hair done?! I don’t have to be a fashion model! But so what if I spend
my
money on things that
I
like?
”

Ashleigh took another look at the woman.
Jealous?
Alma had been jealous of her?
Her heart softened.
“Alma, you have to do what it takes to make you feel good about yourself. You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone about that.”

Alma nodded. “But…I don’t have anybody that I can…do those things with…”
She blushed
red and looked so expectant that Ashleigh
further warmed up to her.

“
L
ouboutin
?
For under six hundred?
How?”

“QVC.”

“Then it’s not a knock-off…Can I see it?”

“Can I see your
Manolo
Blahniks
?”

“Are you crazy
?
! I couldn’t afford them.” She raised her brow. “But I do have a pair of blue satin
Louboutin
stilettos.”

“And they have the red sole?”

“Of course.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I look in your closet?”

Ashleigh grinned. “Yes.
You give me time to get reacquainted with my sweetie than we’ll have an all-girls night out…well one of the girls has a penis but-“ She waved her hands at that.

Alma just chuckled.

When Ashleigh got home that night she called Lance and Kendra on 3-way and retracted every negative word that she’d ever said about Alma.

“Oh and don’t expect me in tomorrow. I’m going to stay home and wait for my baby to get here.”

“Thank god
this
two months is over.” Kendra said. “I didn’t think I’d survive your moping.”

She shrugged. “Sorry if my despair annoyed you.” She grinned suddenly. “Yep,
gonna
be busy tomorrow, and tomorrow night and the morning after-”

“TMI!”
Lance said.

CHAPTER 9

Ashleigh kept watching the clock. She’d dressed in a new outfit knowing that it was ridiculous. Christopher didn’t care about stuff like that. But she just wanted to look good for him. She’d gotten waxed on Friday, and her hair and nails done at the earliest possible appointment Monday morning.

She kept her eye on her cell phone hoping that he wouldn’t call while she was under the dryer. She dashed back to his house and Maggie jumped down from the back of the couch to beg for a rubbing. She squatted down and rubbed the feline from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

“Won’t be much longer and you can get your rub down from your Daddy.”

At three o’clock Ashleigh had kicked out of her shoes and was pacing anxiously. She called his cell phone and got the same message she always got; The number you have dialed is no longer in service…She knew that for security purposes he had to give up the government issued blackberry but still she tried anyways.

At five o’clock Mrs. Jameson called.

“Is he home?”

“No Ma’am.” Ashleigh’s brow was creased. “Does he sometime get home this late?”

“Well…not normally but maybe because he’s on a different mission…”

Ashleigh felt her throat getting tight. It was a repeat of how she’d felt being trapped in the elevators all of those long months ago. She felt suddenly sick.

“I’ll call you when I hear something.” She said distantly.

“I’ll do the same.” They said their goodbyes and Ashleigh rushed to the bathroom and threw up.

That night Ashleigh lay in Christopher’s big bed staring at the ceiling. It was almost one am. Christopher hadn’t come home and he hadn’t called.

~***~

Ashleigh prepared for work with a purpose the next morning. She didn’t bother with her morning smoothie and didn’t dress for her normal work-out or pack a bag containing her change of clothing. She drove to work and once she had entered the doors she flashed her access badge which allowed her to bypass being scanned.

“I need to speak to someone with
The Department of Homeland Security
.” It was still too early for the average person to show up as it was barely seven am. The only people in the lobby manning the doors were security people. The
security guards
looked unsure but Ashleigh noted that one man stepped forward. He was dressed in a nice dark suit and seemed in his late forties or early fifties.

“Yes Ma’am? Is there a problem?”

“You’re with
Homeland Security
?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“I need to speak to Commander Bruce Koepke.”

The man’s brow went up slightly, almost suspiciously. “Follow me, please. He led her to a secured room. It was set up like a doctor’s office with a receptionist area enclosed behind glass--but no receptionist. He offered her a seat.

“Your name, please?”
Ashleigh gave her name and he politely told her that he would be just a few moments.

A few moments turned into ten but she was patient because as soon as she spoke to Christopher’s commander she would know if he was okay.

The man returned to the room. “Miss Dalton, you were involved in an incident in the subbasement gym?” Ashleigh’s brow gathered again but before she could answer he answered for her. “It wasn’t really a question. There is an
incident report
. You collapsed during a workout. You were taken to the nurse’s station and then released to two of your co-workers. Is that correct?”

“Well, yes, but I wasn’t here due to that incident. You see I’m dating one of the Commander’s men. His name is Lt. Christopher Jameson. They went out on a mission and were due back yesterday but he didn’t come back. I’m worried and I needed someone to tell me if…if there’s been a problem.”

The man watched her a while longer before answering. “I’ll see what I can find out for you Miss Dalton. Is there a number where I can reach you?”

She felt as if she was being given the heave-ho.
Reluctantly
she gave him her cell number. “You’ll call me the moment you find out something?”