Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (32 page)

“
Are you ready to fight
for his soul?”

“
What?” Surprised, Tanesha
fell back as if she’d been hit.

“
These people will stop at
nothing to have their money maker back,” Mrs. Wilson said. “You,
your friends, your family, you have to be prepared for them to come
after you with every weapon they have. They will tie Jer up in
court for years. They will humiliate you in the media. They will
pursue any money he makes elsewhere. If all that fails, they will
come after you.”

“
Me?”

“
You,” Mrs. Wilson
said.

“
What did they do to
you?”

“
Nothing I’d like to
share,” Mrs. Wilson said. “And I didn’t have the kind of… There’s
no way to say it delicately.”

“
You mean because my Mom’s
a prostitute and my Dad went to prison, I’m more
vulnerable?”

Mrs. Wilson nodded.

“
Jeez,” Tanesha said.
“What do I do? What did you do?”

“
We had enough money to
stay home for a few years,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Bumpy went to
medical school. We had the kids. There wasn’t anything to say about
us. They eventually went away. Bumpy didn’t play again until Jer
was three or four.”

“
I want to
move…”

“
Yes, move out of this
place as soon as possible,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Find some place
quiet. Go to school. Come home. No drama.”

Tanesha nodded.

“
Do you love my son?” Mrs.
Wilson asked.

“
That’s a loaded question
for me,” Tanesha said. “I love the person he wants to be. I love
the man I think he is, but all of this? I don’t love this house,
his actions in the last ten years, that music life and all that
comes with it. I don’t love that he has two kids he doesn’t know.
Or that people climb all over him. It’s crazy.”

Mrs. Wilson gave Tanesha a kind smile.

“
You remind me of myself,”
Mrs. Wilson said.

“
You’re a hero of mine,”
Tanesha said. “I’ve seen Jer… all over the country, here. I’ve seen
him high. I’ve seen him with other women. I…”

Tanesha shook her head.

“
He finally came home for
you,” Mrs. Wilson said. “That’s got to count for
something.”

“
But will he stay?”
Tanesha asked. “Or will the drugs and the life call him
back?”

“
Only time will tell,”
Mrs. Wilson said. “A lot of women would marry him, get pregnant,
and get half.”

“
I’m not a lot of women,”
Tanesha shrugged.

Mrs. Wilson smiled.

“
Do you know Valerie
Lipson?” Tanesha asked.

“
The movie star?” Mrs.
Wilson shook her head. “I knew her mother and Sam, of course, but
I’ve never met her.”

“
She’s had a tough time
with the press. I read the magazines for her so she knows what’s
being said,” Tanesha said. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe she has some
ideas.”

“
Good thinking,” Mrs.
Wilson said. “If you can keep the press at bay, you’re way
ahead.”

Tanesha nodded.

“
You asked what I did,”
Mrs. Wilson said. “No one knows this.”

“
I won’t tell anyone,”
Tanesha said.

“
I know,” Mrs. Wilson
collected her thoughts for a moment. “Bumpy and I got married about
three months before he quit the music life. We’d been around and
around and around all of this junk you’re talking about. He said he
wanted a different life. I felt like if I didn’t believe in the
person he could be, then he would never be that person.”

Tanesha watched Jeraine’s mother’s face.

“
Three months later, he
came home and never left,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Being married changed
him. Knowing I would take the risk to be with him changed him. We
had our official ceremony a few months later.”

“
I guess it’s not very
liberated,” Mrs. Wilson turned to look at Tanesha. She smiled. “But
every good man needs an even better woman to believe in
him.”

“
It’s the ‘believing in
him’ thing that’s hard,” Tanesha said.

“
You know what I think?”
Mrs. Wilson looked deep into Tanesha’s eyes. “I think you should
marry my son. The sooner the better.”

“
What?” Tanesha asked. “I
don’t even know if…”

“
What chance are you going
to have if you don’t take a leap of faith?” Mrs. Wilson asked.
“What chance is he going to have if you won’t take that leap of
faith?”

“
I couldn’t have said it
better myself,” Jeraine said.

Mrs. Wilson got to her feet and hugged her
son.

“
Oh Momma, I’m so
sorry.”

~~~~~~~~

Monday evening—5:35 P.M. PDT

“
What trouble can I get
into?” Seth asked.

He and Schmidty were standing next to the
limousine outside the Malibu Colony house.

“
I’m supposed to stay with
you every minute of every day,” Schmidty said.

“
And you have,” Seth said.
“You’re allowed a night off.”

“
Dad was really specific,”
Schmidty said. “Don’t leave O’Malley alone. If you do, he gets off
track and then you’re screwed.”

“
He was specific about the
woman and the food too,” Seth said. “Was he right?”

“
No but…”

“
Don’t worry,” Seth said.
“I’m going to go inside, eat some of the dinner that you ordered
and go to bed. What could be off track about that?”

“
Nothing but…”

“
You’re flying to Denver,”
Seth said. “Getting Lizzie and coming back. You’ll be back tomorrow
before I have to go to the studio again. You can watch over me all
day tomorrow.”

The young man looked away from him.

“
Lizzie’s just sitting
there,” Seth said. “She can just as easily sit here on the beach.
There’s plenty for her to do here, plenty of food, and it gives you
a chance to spend some actual time with her.”

“
You’re okay with me
spending time with your daughter?”

“
You’re on the damned
phone with her day and night,” Seth laughed. “Bring her here.
You’ll be happier. She’ll be happier. And I’ll finish up with this
movie.”

“
You promise not to go
anywhere?” Schmidty asked.

“
I promise to go inside
and not leave the house,” Seth said. “I’m not really getting around
great. There’s no booze or junk food or anything that would send me
down a forbidden path.”

“
Just the piano,” Schmidty
said. “You got that song from Jeraine.”

“
I did,” Seth said. “I’ll
finish it up in the next couple of days and send it back to him. He
knows I need a few days.”

“
You’ve done it
before?”

“
A lot,” Seth said. “Jer
has an idea. His Dad and I flesh it out. He puts another spin on it
and it’s a hit.”

“
You don’t get paid for
that work?”

“
I’m guessing you’ll work
all that out,” Seth said.

“
I’ll sign him tonight,”
Schmidty said. “I’ll work it out but…”

“
Go,” Seth
said.

“
What if you get into
trouble here?” Schmidty asked.

“
I’m capable of dialing
9-1-1,” Seth said. “Go.”

Schmidty nodded. He walked to the limousine.
Before he slipped in he said, “Thanks.”

Seth raised a hand in ‘good-bye’ as the
limousine pulled out. Leaning on his crutches, Seth waited less
than five minutes before an unmarked police sedan pulled into the
driveway. A mustached man about Seth’s age got out of the passenger
seat of the sedan. He held a thick file in his hand. The younger
driver was on the radio.

“
Any trouble?” the LAPD
detective asked.

Seth shook his head.

“
Good,” the LAPD detective
said. “Damn, it’s good to see you Magic.”

The men shook hands.

“
You too,” Seth said.
“Dinosaurs like us are falling everywhere.”

“
We’ve got to hang
together,” The detective nodded. They waited another minute before
the younger man got out of the driver’s seat and went to the trunk.
He took a box from the trunk and walked toward them.

“
Sorry,” the younger man
said. “Dispatch was a little unclear on why we were in
Malibu.”

“
A man’s got to eat,” the
older detective said.

“
It’s an honor to meet you
Detective O’Malley,” the younger man said. “When Hal told me we
were coming to see Magic O’Malley, I thought he was joking. But
here you are!”

“
I only have tonight.
Let’s see how far we get,” Seth nodded toward the house. “What do
you have for me?”

“
Nothing nice,” the older
detective said as the three men went into the house.

~~~~~~~~

Monday evening—8:35 P.M. MDT

An inexpensive rental car pulled up in front
of the Castle and Teddy got out of the back. Before he could say
‘good-bye,’ the car sped down Race Street. The boy watched the car
drive away. He looked so lost and alone that Delphie’s heart broke
for him.

“
Teddy!” Delphie
yelled.

Teddy spun toward her voice. Seeing her, he
waved.

“
I’ll go get everyone,”
Delphie said.

She turned to go inside.

“
Mrs. Delphie?” Teddy
asked. “Can you get the gate? I wasn’t here for this week’s new
code.”

Laughing at herself, Delphie trotted across
the driveway and let the boy in. She hugged him close. She felt
Teddy’s body shake with sorrow and confusion.

“
Don’t worry, Teddy,”
Delphie said. “You belong with us for a while longer.”

“
Teddy!” Charlie yelled
from the side door of the Castle. “Hey everyone! Teddy’s
here!”

Everyone who lived at the Castle came out to
greet him. Noelle ran across the driveway to him. He let go of
Delphie to hold her. Soon he was hugged and welcomed back into the
Castle life. Aden took his bag from him and shooed Charlie, Nash,
Noelle, and Sissy upstairs for bed. Teddy had changed into his
pajamas and was arguing with Charlie through the bathroom door when
Sandy caught up with him.

“
Are you all right?” Sandy
asked.

“
I am now. Thanks,” Teddy
gave her a sweet smile. He turned to pound on the bathroom door. “I
would be better if I could get into the bathroom.”

Chuckling, Sandy left him to the boys’
nightly struggle.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and SEVENTY-SIX

Dance

Tuesday morning—3:15 A.M.

After feeding Rachel, and checking on the
rest of the children, Sandy lay down next to Aden. Asleep, he
rolled over to hold her. Her black and white cat, Cleo, slipped
next to Sandy for some snuggle time. Cleo’s loud purr accentuated
Sandy’s warm, safe feeling. Rachel made a sound and Sandy put her
hand on her baby’s belly. All safe. All sound. Sandy closed her
eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

“
You poor dear,” Andy
Mendy said. “Raising a child is a lot of work.”

Five year old Sandy looked up when Andy took
her hand. As if she was watching a video, Sandy’s adult
consciousness let the dream unfold.

“
You can’t imagine what
she’s been like this week,” the woman she’d thought was her mother,
Patty, said. “She’s been dancing everywhere. Dancing! I have no
idea where she picked it up. They swear they don’t dance at
daycare. But she’s been a singing, wiggling, screaming banshee all
week.”

“
She’s a handful,” Andy
winked at the child and little Sandy tried not to giggle. “Thank
you for taking care of her this week.”

“
I would only do this
for…” Patty said.

The dream sequence stalled. Feeling a
presence near her, adult Sandy looked over her shoulder. Andy Mendy
took her hand.

“
She did it for money, for
power, for control, but mostly to vent her hatred,” Andy Mendy
said. “She used you to vent her hatred for me.”

“
I’m not sure it had that
much to do with you,” Sandy said. “She loves money and power and
hates love, joy, happiness, kindness…”

“
Yes.”

The dream began to play.

“…
you,” Patty said. “I
know how sick you are.”

“
Yes,” Andy gave Patty a
sweet smile. Adult Sandy knew the smile. She’d given plenty
herself. It was a ‘go away’ smile. She couldn’t help but
chuckle.

“
You sure you’ll be all
right this weekend?” Patty’s face shifted to some kind of false
concern.

“
We’ll be fine,” Andy
said. “We’ll see you Monday night?”

“
Sunday,” Patty said. “I’d
give you another day but …”

The dream paused.

“
She told Social Services
these incredible lies,” Andy turned to look adult Sandy in the
eyes. “I always thought she paid them off but I never found
proof.”

The dream continued.

“…
Social Services will
have a fit,” Patty said. “I know you’d hate to lose her all
together.”

Andy gave Patty a sweet smile.

“
Bye, bye Sandy,” Patty
kneeled down to five year old Sandy.