Chocolate Goodies (12 page)

Elle laughed. “Okay, you’ve given me the politically correct answer. Now tell me the real deal.”

“I think he’s the one, Elle.”

“That’s great! Hey, do you remember when you couldn’t stand him because of all the hip-hop music coming from his center, and all the teens hanging around the place?”

“Just say it,” Coco said. “I was an idiot.”

“Well, at least you’ve come to your senses.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “If I hadn’t, I would’ve missed out on a wonderful man.”

“I am so blown away by what happened today,” Ransom said when they were on the way back to Los Angeles. “I really enjoyed hanging out with them. These
people are my brothers and sisters…all of them. Miss Amanda—she’s incredible. My mom always said that she was a nice woman. She was right.”

“Did they know each other?”

“I don’t think so,” Ransom said. “But apparently, my dad was very up front with both of them.”

“I think that’s admirable, but I’m not really surprised by this,” Coco said. “He really was a nice man.”

“I believe that. He just wasn’t in love with my mother, but she loved him. There was never another man for her.”

Coco remained silent.

“It’s okay. He was honest with her, so my mother knew what she was getting into. I don’t blame him for anything.”

They arrived at the house, got out of the car and went inside. Ransom sat down on the living room sofa beside her. “Thanks so much for going with me, Coco. If it hadn’t been for you I don’t think I would have gone.”

“I’m glad it worked out the way that it did,” she told him. “It’s what I was praying for.”

“Me, too,” Ransom acknowledged. “I hope I won’t scare you away when I say this, but I think you need to know something.”

She studied his lean, dark face. “Ransom, what is it?”

“I want to make lots of babies with you.”

The very air around her seemed electrified. “Define ‘lots of babies,’” she responded.

“Three or four.”

A wave of relief washed over her and she smiled. “I guess I can handle that, but you know that before
the baby making part, there needs to be a ring on my finger.”

He laughed. “You’re right about that. I don’t want to bring a child into this world without marriage. My mother worked hard until the day she died. She and my grandmother did the best they could for me, but I want my children to have both parents. This is one of the reasons I’m celibate—other than the fact that I’m a Christian. I didn’t want to risk an unplanned pregnancy.” Ransom’s eyes traveled her face. “Although I have to confess you have me rethinking my celibacy.”

“Stay strong,” she said with a short laugh.

“You make it hard on a brother, Coco.”

“Naw,” she responded. “I’m just a reminder that you’re human.”

“More like a reminder that I’m a man.”

“Baby, what can I do to ease your pain?” Ransom groaned.

Coco laughed.

T
he summer months passed quickly.

The new school year had started and Ransom already had two boys who’d managed to get themselves suspended during the first week of school.

Over the course of the summer, Ransom had spent a lot of time getting to know his siblings. He seemed really happy and that thrilled Coco. She was beyond grateful to be able to see him like this. She had begun taking her digital camera with her whenever they were all together. She wanted to capture those special times for Ransom.

He and Coco joined the rest of the family for the fall festival at the church Laine and Regis attended.

“You guys made it!” Elle exclaimed in delight when she spotted them. She gave them each a hug. At seven months pregnant, Elle was glowing and beautiful.

“Travaille has been looking for you,” she told
Ransom. “Oh, I have to tell you that Matt’s broken up over the fact that he’s no longer the center of his daughter’s universe.”

“He still is,” Ransom said. “He is all she really talks about.”

“Do you think that maybe you could tell him that?” Elle asked with a soft chuckle. “I’m tired of seeing him walking around looking like he’s lost his best friend.”

Ransom gave a slight nod. “I’d be more than happy to tell him. I wouldn’t dream of taking his place. Travaille loves her daddy, and believe me, he’s her world.”

When Elle went in search of her twin boys, Coco told Ransom, “You’re
my
world.”

“And you’re mine.”

Some of the children talked Ransom into going on rides with them.

Amusement park rides were not her thing, so Coco sat down beside Elle and Kaitlin whenever she wasn’t taking pictures.

“Have you and Ransom discussed taking your relationship to the next level?” Kaitlin asked.

“Next level…Are you talking sex or marriage?”

“Marriage.”

Coco shook her head. “Not really. Ransom and I know that we love each other. We’ve been together since April, and I’m not rushing anything. I would rather it happen naturally.”

“I’m glad Ransom came into our lives,” Kaitlin said. “I really like him and I’m glad he’s my brother.”

“I feel the same way,” Elle stated. “The children all adore him and he’s very good with them.”

Coco agreed. “That’s his passion.”

Kaitlin rubbed the round mound of her belly. Her baby wasn’t due for another three months. “Seems like Ransom’s teen center is doing very well. I read the article in the paper. They did an outstanding job.”

“Now with two centers open, he’s running himself ragged. He’s interviewing for a director for the Inglewood Center. Ransom’s being very picky and for good reason. He wants to bring in the right person for the teens.”

“I can certainly understand that,” Kaitlin declared.

Ransom walked over to where they were sitting. “Hey, beautiful,” he said to Coco.

She smiled up at him. “Hey yourself.”

“Are you having a good time?”

She nodded. “The best.”

“Why don’t we go find something to drink?” he suggested.

Coco rose to her feet. “I’ll follow you,”

They stayed at the festival for another hour before calling it a night. Ransom had some paperwork he needed to complete by morning. They located their family members and said their goodbyes.

“Ransom, I can’t tell you how much it thrills me to see you with your family like this,” Coco told him on the drive home. “I never tire of seeing you all together.”

“It’s an answer to my prayer, that’s for sure,” he told her. “I have you and my family—I don’t need anything else.”

“What’s this?” Ransom asked when Coco handed him a shiny black-and-white gift bag.

“You have to open it and see,” she responded with a chuckle.

He pulled out a gift-wrapped box, then ripped off the paper. “It’s a photo album.” He read the label. “Ransom Family Memories…sweetheart, this is nice.”

She opened it to the first page. “These are the photos I took when we went to Riverside, and the ones from Friday night at the festival. I want you to have memories from all of your Ransom family get-togethers.”

“I hadn’t realized you took so many the day we were in Riverside. This is great, Coco. Thank you.”

She pointed to a photograph. “Remember that one? That’s when you made your third three-pointer.”

He laughed. “Look at Ray’s face.”

Coco chuckled. “He was hoping you were going to make the shot. This was the winning basket.”

“Matt and Nyle made most of the points for their team. On our team, Ray’s and John’s shots weren’t hitting. We needed that one.”

“It was a good game.”

He agreed. “We’re getting together next weekend for a game.”

“That’s great,” Coco said, pleased that he and his brothers were bonding.

“I have to get back to work,” Ransom said. “I need to process some paperwork for the students coming in on Monday.”

“You can send one of them over here to perform community service for a couple of hours,” Coco offered. “Really?”

She nodded. “I’m sure you’ll send one over who isn’t a hardened criminal.”

“You’re right about that. Thanks, honey. There aren’t enough businesses signed up for the number of kids I get coming in each week.”

“A friend of mine owns the ice cream shop in the next block. I’ll give her a call and see if you can meet with her.”

“Sweetheart, that would be great,” Ransom said. “The more companies I can get to join us, the more opportunities for my students to see the types of jobs available to them. I’m hoping that something will spark a real interest in each of them.”

Coco picked up the phone and dialed. She talked with her friend for a few minutes, then hung up. “Brenda says she can see you now if you’d like to meet with her.”

Ransom stood up. “Perfect,” he said.

“Ricky, this is Miss Stanley,” Ransom said, making introductions. “You’ll come here for the next three days to do community service. She’ll have a list of tasks for you to complete over the course of two hours.”

“What I’m gon’ do in this place?” he asked, a frown on his face.

“Sweep the floors, clean the stockroom and restock the shelves for me,” Coco said. “It’s not hard work, but it’s time consuming.”

Ricky met her gaze. “I ain’t afraid of hard work, ma’am.”

Coco glanced at Ransom, who said, “That’s good to hear, Ricky. That’s what it takes to make it in this world.”

“Are you ready to get started?” she asked.

“Just point me to the broom closet and I’ll take it from there,” Ricky said.

There was something about his demeanor that was different from the other boys she’d encountered at the center. Maybe it was because this was their first meeting, or maybe he thought she was like some of the other adults he’d encountered—the ones who didn’t care or showed no interest in him as a person.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Ransom said.

He left the two of them alone. Coco was grateful that Bryan and Valencia were working with her.

Although Ricky didn’t seem to have much in the personality department, he swept the shop floor and did an excellent job of it. Next he swept the floor in the stockroom and cleaned the bathroom.

She broke into a smile when Valencia came out singing his praises.

Coco offered him a soda.

“Thank you,” he replied, accepting the cold drink. “Your place is nice. This is real nice.”

“It’s a dream come true for me,” she told him. “And it took a lot of hard work to get here.”

“I can believe that,” he said. “I’ma have my own business one day.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Coco said. “Ricky, it can happen for you just like it did for me.”

“You one of them Stanleys,” he responded. “You got a lot of money attached to your name. It ain’t like that for me.”

“What type of business would you like to have?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered with a shrug.

Something about Ricky bothered her, but Coco couldn’t put her finger on what. She decided to keep her eye on him for the duration of his time with her.

One of the other boys, who had gotten suspended along with Ricky, walked into the shop. He introduced himself. “My name is Marcus. I’ve been over there working with your brother. I feel like I’ve gained weight surrounded by so much chocolate.”

Coco smiled. “It does feel that way sometimes.”

He made conversation while they waited for Ransom or one of the other staff members to come get them.

“It’s right across the street,” Ricky was saying. “Why can’t we just walk back when we get finished? I don’t need no babysitter.”

“Man, chill…” Marcus told him. “They have certain rules and we got to follow them. We ain’t heard nothing but good things about D-Unit. Mr. Winters, he got our backs, so we can do this. Okay?”

Amused, Coco dropped her eyes, noting the custom basketball shoes Marcus was wearing. They were similar to the ones Daniel ordered.

How can he afford shoes like that?
she wondered.

Then she realized that not all of the teens that had been suspended lived in impoverished neighborhoods.

Ricky nodded.

I like Marcus,
she thought silently. Ricky was okay, but she didn’t quite trust him.

Coco didn’t say anything to Ransom about what she was feeling. She had no proof of anything and didn’t
want to be guilty of prejudging the teen. Besides, it was only two more days. She would just keep a close eye on him.

“R
ansom, there was another robbery last night not too far from here,” Coco told him. For the past week, robberies were being reported in the newspaper. They had started around the first of October.

He nodded. “I heard about it when I was coming to work this morning.”

“The news reporters are saying that it’s a gang.”

He met her gaze. “Do you think it’s some of my students?”

“How do you know it’s not?” she asked, thinking of Ricky. During the three days he’d worked in the shop, Coco had heard him on numerous occasions asking Valencia a lot of questions about the business, such as if it made a lot of money. He had been gone for a few weeks now, but she still thought he might be behind the robberies.

“Honey, it’s not my boys,” Ransom said.

“I didn’t want to say anything, but I think you should know. There was something about Ricky that bothered me.”

Ransom’s expression suddenly became guarded. “What?”

“I can’t really put my finger on it, but he just didn’t seem right. He kept asking Valencia if the store made a lot of money, if we had an alarm system. Stuff like that.”

Ransom folded his arms across his chest. “So you think he’s the one doing this?”

“He is a member of a gang,” Coco reminded him. “That was part of the reason he got suspended from school.”

“He’s a wannabe gang member,” Ransom said. “There’s a difference.”

“That would make him more dangerous, don’t you think?”

“Coco, the boy is back in school and doing well.”

“Why are you angry with me?” she asked.

“Because you’ve decided, with no evidence whatsoever, that Ricky is out committing robberies. You know what? I’m not going to send another boy over there.”

“Ransom, that’s not what I’m saying.”

“I’d like to think I’m a good judge of character, Coco. Do you honestly think that I’d send someone to you who could potentially cause you harm?”

“You don’t know these boys, Ransom,” Coco argued. “Not really.” She didn’t want to fight with him, but she needed to open his eyes. Some of the boys he had to deal with were nothing but trouble.

“I know them better than you do.”

“Ransom, you won’t be able to save them all. You only had Ricky for three days. Did you really think you could rehabilitate him in that short period of time?”

Valencia came through the front door and called out a greeting.

Ransom stepped down off the bar stool. “I need to get to the center.”

Coco glared at him.

He walked briskly toward the door.

They were supposed to have lunch together, but when she didn’t hear from him by noon, Coco walked over to the factory.

“What’s wrong, sis?” Michael asked.

“Ransom and I had a fight.”

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “He refuses to believe that those students of his could possibly revert back to their old ways.”

Michael looked puzzled. “Come again?”

“The string of robberies, Michael,” Coco said. “I really think it could be one of the boys from the center.”

“Why would you think that?” he asked.

“These boys are coming into our businesses, performing community service, but what else are they doing? They could be casing the place. Remember Ricky?” Michael nodded.

“That’s what I think he was doing. He was asking too many questions about my shop.”

“Sis, I don’t know about this. I think you may be
jumping to conclusions here. You weren’t robbed and Ricky only worked with you.”

She hadn’t really considered that point.

“Do you think that he and Marcus are doing this?” Michael asked. “They weren’t the only two in the program within the last month. How can you single out one boy?”

“I guess I hadn’t fully thought it through,” Coco said. “No wonder Ransom is so upset with me.” She rose to her feet. “I need to go over there to apologize.”

Coco hugged her brother, then rushed out of the building.

She released a short sigh of relief upon seeing Ransom’s SUV in the reserved parking space.

One of the staff members greeted her when she walked inside.

“Is Ransom busy? I’d like to talk to him,” she said.

“You can head straight back,” the man told her.

Coco knocked on the open door.

Ransom looked up.

“Can I come in?” she asked.

He nodded. “I don’t want to keep rehashing this, Coco.”

“We’re not,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “Ransom, I came over here to apologize to you. I admit that Ricky spooked me a little, but I had no right to just accuse him of committing a crime like that.”

“Ricky does have a criminal record,” he told her. “But the last couple of years, he’s either been walking the straight and narrow or he just hasn’t been caught.”

“Ricky only worked with me, so I guess he couldn’t have done this.”

“There’s always a possibility, Coco, but I just don’t think he’s the one doing this.”

“You don’t want to think the worse of them,” she said. “I understand that.”

“I wouldn’t send someone over there who—”

“Ransom, I know that,” Coco interjected, cutting him off. “I know that you’d protect me with your life.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About Ricky and the way I felt around him?” she shrugged. “I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t me being judgmental. But the truth is I just didn’t trust him.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She smiled. “So am I.”

Coco headed to the door. “I need to get back to the shop. See you later?”

“I have a meeting in Inglewood. I’ll be leaving here around four. I’ll catch up with you later on tonight.” Ransom got up and came around his desk. “I love you, Coco, and I would never place you in harm’s way.”

“I know that,” she told him.

He kissed her.

“I wish I could stay here in your arms, but my assistant manager is probably starving. I need to get back.”

“I’ll walk you over,” Ransom said.

“You get back to work,” Coco insisted. “I can make it back to the shop on my own. Oh, you still owe me lunch.”

“Can I make it up to you tomorrow?” he asked.

“Definitely.”

Coco walked back into her shop with a big smile on her face.

She relieved Valencia for lunch.

When her assistant manager returned, the two women restocked the shelves between waiting on customers for the rest of the afternoon.

Elle gave birth to a little girl on the fifth of November.

Coco was there with camera in hand to record the blessed event. “She’s gorgeous,” she told her exhausted friend.

“Thank you. She really is beautiful, isn’t she?”

Before Coco could utter a response, Elle had fallen asleep.

Ransom eased into the hospital room.

“She’s sleep,” Coco whispered. “She’s exhausted.”

He tiptoed out again, with Coco following behind him.

“Brennan is down at the nursery with the baby.”

“I’ll go down there in a few. What are you about to do?” Ransom asked.

“I need to get to the shop. I’m closing tonight.”

“So are you leaving now?” he inquired.

Coco nodded. “Yeah, I have to relieve Bryan for lunch. Valencia’s on vacation this week.”

“I’m going to hang around here for a little while. See if Elle wakes up anytime soon,” Ransom told her. “Then I have to go to Beverly Hills for a meeting. I probably won’t make it by the center today.”

She smiled. “I’m sure your staff has everything under control.”

“They do,” he said. “I only have one kid this week.”

“Wow. That’s a good thing, right?”

“I think so.”

She kissed him. “Well, I’ve got to get out of here. Tell everyone bye for me.”

“Have a good day, baby.”

“I’m going to do my best.”

By the time Coco made it to her car, it was raining.

That’s just great,
she thought. It had started out such a pretty day until the dark clouds settled in.

Rain poured down, creating puddles all over the parking lot. Using an old newspaper to shield her short hair, Coco stepped away from a puddle gathered on the corrugated black rubber mat just outside the door.

Running her fingers through rain-damp hair, she gazed upon row after row of shelves displaying gift baskets, candy treats and other products under the fluorescent lighting of the shop. There were a handful of browsers walking around, a couple of them holding bags of candy and other gift items.

Coco spied Bryan standing behind the counter talking to one of their customers. She waved to him on her way to the office in the rear of the shop. Coco quickly brushed her teeth and touched up her makeup before trying to salvage her hair. Then she went to work.

A customer burst through the front door just then, pausing briefly to shake the droplets from her raincoat. After propping her umbrella in a corner, she moved to peruse the items on sale.

Bryan walked briskly over to where she was standing and greeted the woman politely.

She glanced around and said, “I’ve never been in here before. The store is really nice.”

“Thank you,” he and Coco replied in unison.

“We have some samples of our products on the bar,” Coco told the woman. She bit back a smile when the customer zoomed in on the basket of goodies.

“Oh, my goodness,” she exclaimed. “This is delicious. I’ve got to get some.”

Bryan left the sales floor and walked behind the bar to further assist her. Coco could hear him explaining the process of how the candy was made and answering her other questions.

“What else can I get for you, Misty?” Coco heard him ask her. He made a few more suggestions while Coco went to assist another customer who’d just entered the store.

After the shoppers left, Bryan turned to Coco, saying, “It’s pouring down rain and customers are pouring in here today. What’s up with that?”

“I’ll take them any way I can get them,” she said with a chuckle. He was right, though. Usually when it was raining heavily like this, traffic was low, but not today.

They had two more customers walk in.

For the better part of the afternoon, Coco and Bryan stayed busy, until he clocked out shortly after four.

Coco had three customers between the time Bryan left and closing. Shortly before six o’clock, the door opened and three men walked into the shop with caps pulled low, covering most of their faces.

Coco felt a chill go down her spine. She had forgotten
to lock the door. Thank goodness she had given the deposit to Bryan when he left.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed,” she said as calmly as she could manage.

“Looks like you’re open to me,” the tallest of the trio said. “We just walked through the door.” He laughed.

I wish I’d installed a panic button under the bar like Michael suggested. What to do…what to do.

Coco tried to remain calm so that she could think.

“What would you like?” she asked, then instantly regretted it.

“All of your cash,” the man said, pulling out a gun and pointing it straight at her.

“Just do it, Miss Stanley,” the one near the door shouted.

He knows me. He’s one of the boys from the center.
Was it Ricky? She really couldn’t tell because the boy had made a conscious effort to disguise his voice.

“Shut up,” the one with the gun ordered. “Don’t you say nothing else.”

He sounded much older and was much bigger than the other two. Coco surmised that he was the leader in this scenario.

“I don’t keep a lot of cash in the store,” she told him.

The boy in the back moved closer and his shoes caught her eye. Coco felt a sense of dread.

Marcus.

“I’m not gonna say it again. Give me all of your cash.”

The door swung open and Coco caught a glimpse of
her brother, Benjamin and Jerome. Things went awry after that.

Coco screamed when she heard the gun go off.

She saw her brother falling and Benjamin wrestling with the man with the gun.

“Call the police!” Jerome shouted as he peered outside.

She glanced around the room, looking for Marcus, but he was gone, along with the other teen.

Jerome assisted Benjamin in subduing the leader facedown on the floor. Then Benjamin kicked the gun across the room.

Coco heard sirens in the distance and rushed over to where her brother was lying, cringing at the sight of so much blood. “Michael!”

“It’s just my arm,” he said. “He shot me in the arm.”

The shop was soon overflowing with paramedics and police.

Numbed from the shock of what had taken place, Coco rode to the hospital with her brother.

Jerome and Benjamin insisted on meeting her there.

“I called Mr. Winters,” Benjamin announced when they arrived. “He’s gonna come here. Everything gonna be fine.”

Ransom was the last person she wanted to see.

Ransom found Coco sitting in the lobby of the emergency room. He sat down beside her, saying, “I got here as soon as I could.”

“My brother was shot,” she said, without looking at him.

“Benjamin told me. I’m so sorry.”

Coco looked up at him then, her eyes cold. “You’re sorry? My brother could’ve been killed tonight and you’re sorry.”

He was thrown by the way she was treating him. Ransom assumed she was still in shock. “Look, I know that you’re upset. Did the doctor check you out?”

“I don’t need to see a doctor,” she snapped. “Ransom, I have every right to be angry. Remember how you told me that it wasn’t one of your boys? Well, you were wrong.”

“Ricky?”

She shook her head. “It was Marcus. When he came over to the shop, I noticed his custom Nikes and I wondered how he was able to afford such expensive shoes. Well, now I know. Only he isn’t very smart. He had them on tonight.”

Ransom’s hands balled into fists.

“I told you that you couldn’t save all of them. I moved to Brentwood to escape stuff like this.”

“Any time you run a retail business, you run the risk of being robbed, Coco.”

“That risk is even higher with your center being in the neighborhood.”

He looked as if she had stabbed him in the heart. “Where do you think these boys live, Coco? They attend schools in this area. They live around here.”