In the Life (29 page)

"I got ya," Mykel responded. Jackson's phone began to beep as he made his way to the counter with his selections. His battery was low.

"Look, my phone is about to die. I will call you later. Cool?" Jackson hung up the phone and paid for his clothes. He turned off his phone before putting it back in the holster he had clipped to his hip. By powering off his phone, he hoped to keep enough juice in his battery in case he needed it later. Unfortunately, by doing it, he missed an interesting phone call.

Chapter 11

The bitter cold whipped across Jackson's face. Winter in Chicago was not always kind. Jackson shivered in his large black bubble coat which was supposed to be keeping him warm. His strides became longer and faster as he walked home from the corner store. Once he made it to the front door, he couldn't get his keys out fast enough. His body craved warmth.

The first sound that Jackson heard when he stepped into his apartment was Alonzo's voice. Alonzo had been absent from the house for the past few days. Jackson thought at first that maybe he had been going to Sherrod's place a little more, but that didn't make sense. Sherrod had been staying with his grandmother ever since he had moved back to Chicago. So where had he been?

Alonzo was on his cell phone passing back and forth through the living room. He was laughing and joking with whomever he was chatting with. As soon as Alonzo saw Jackson enter the room, he hurried off the phone. He tried to do it nonchalantly, but it didn't work.

"Haven't seen you around here lately. What's been going on?" Jackson put down his bag and started to take off his coat and scarf.

"Yeah, I know. Didn't I tell you that I had a new job?" Alonzo already knew the answer to the question. It was stupid to ask. "I guess not."

"A new job?" Jackson sat down on the sofa. His suspicious eye stayed focus on Alonzo. "Where at?"

"Oh, at this club. You probably wouldn't have heard of it. It is just starting up, you know."

Alonzo strutted out of the room and towards the back. Jackson now knew something was going on for sure. Alonzo was hiding something. Should Jackson press the issue and ask more questions? It could be fun to watch Alonzo squirm as he tried to think up lie after lie. Jackson decided to just let it go, especially once he saw Alonzo grabbing for his coat.

"So where are you going now? I was hoping that maybe we could go to the movies or out to eat tonight. Just some quality time between roommates. We haven't done that in a while."

"That sounds great, but not today though. You work Thursday? Maybe we can go see that new Samuel L. Jackson movie."

"What Samuel L. Jackson movie?"

"Come on. He always has a movie out. The man films twelve movies a month," Alonzo joked as he walked past Jackson and headed to the door.

"Well, it's a plan. Thursday, you said?"

"Uh huh." Alonzo turned and answered Jackson with a smile before closing the door behind him.

"What was that all about?"

Jackson was beyond curious to know what was going on with his friend. Was it a matter that Sherrod should know about? Maybe it was about Sherrod? Jackson wanted to call him and do some snooping, but he knew he couldn't. It wasn't his business anyway. Alonzo was grown and he could do as he pleased. Jackson just hoped that Sherrod was not going to get hurt in the process.

Jackson went into his room and lay out on his bed. He had his own problems to worry about. Although he had not been feeling Tracy, he couldn't help but feel used. It was such a dirty feeling. Jackson had never been one for casual sex. The quick hit it and quit it had not been his style. To be honest, he had been guilty of just wanting to go out and get some, but who didn't need a quick fix when they were feeling horny and untouched.

The buzzer for the front door sounded. Jackson went to the door and found Sherrod standing there looking down. He did not seem himself. Jackson was going to tell him that Alonzo wasn't there, but he did not want Sherrod to leave. Something was obviously troubling him. Instead, he extended his arm forward and guided Sherrod into the apartment. Sherrod slowly sat on the sofa and put his head back. He looked up towards the ceiling as if he was looking start into the heavens. Maybe he was looking for some divine comfort.

"Alonzo is cheating on me," Sherrod said painfully still looking up at the ceiling. Jackson joined him on the couch.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I hadn't really seen him in the past few days so I came over here. I needed to get out the house, you know. My grandmother always has a laundry list of things she want me to do and it aggravates the hell out of me."

"Okay," Jackson replied eager to see where this conversation was going.

"I saw Alonzo leave out a minute ago. I called out to him, but I guess he didn't hear me. I was on the other side of the street. I saw him get into this dude's car."

"What did the dude look like? Maybe it was just a friend picking him up. Don't jump to conclusions. Did you see him do anything suspicious?"

"No." Sherrod finally looked at Jackson. "But I know what my gut tells me and something is going on. I can feel it."

"Like I said, don't jump to conclusions, dude. You are going to have yourself all wound up and stressed out for nothing."

"Maybe you are right." Sherrod let out a big sigh. "It's probably all in my head. I guess I just got used to seeing him all the time and being over here. That is probably what it is. Folk need their space. You can't always be up under somebody."

"You right," Jackson agreed.

"I just hope I get to see him before he leaves Thursday."

"Thursday? What are you talking about?" The statement caught Jackson off guard. Leaving? For where? Hadn't they just made plans to chill on that day?

"Alonzo said something about him getting this new internship. He is supposed to go to Indiana, I think, for something. Training, I guess."

"An internship? Did he tell you about having a new job?" Sherrod shook his head. Jackson sat back and thought for a minute. Jackson knew that Alonzo had been lying, but what was he covering up. He had just warned Sherrod about jumping the gun, but his mind couldn't help but wonder. That dude was up to no good. Jackson didn't voice his suspicions, but he knew to keep a closer eye on Alonzo.

Chapter 12

A coughing fit woke Jackson out of his slumber. He shot straight up in bed as he began to try to control the series of wretched, dry coughs. It had been like that all night. Jackson feared that he might be coming down with a cold. He could hear his mother scolding him over the phone if that was the case. She would go on and lecture him about bundling up properly before going out and eating the right foods with the right vitamins. After her thirty minute tirade, she would not offer any sympathy or remedies since he brought it all upon his own self.

Jackson kicked off the sheets that were on top of him. He was burning up. A nice glass of cold water would help his temperature as well as his now dry throat.

Jackson passed by Alonzo's room on the way to the kitchen. It was empty just like it had been the previous night. Yesterday was supposed to be the night that they hung out for a bit, but Jackson had not seen hide nor hair of Alonzo. Jackson had not even bothered to call his phone to see where he was at. He imagined that he would have only heard Alonzo's voicemail greeting anyway followed by a beep. And then, even if he did choose to leave a message, the phone call would not be returned.

Upon entering the kitchen, Jackson immediately located his favorite drinking glass. Under a few dirty plates and utensils, his hunter green cup was in the sink with the rest of the unwashed dishes. Why hadn't he washed dishes yesterday when he had nothing better to do? Jackson made a mental note to do it later. In the meantime, he fished out another cup from the cupboard which would make its way to the sink once he was done. With his cup of water in hand, Jackson leaned against the counter and drank all the liquid in two long gulps. He put the cup down and trudged his way back to his room.

Before he could make it out the kitchen, Jackson heard someone at the backdoor. He glanced over to the clock on the microwave and saw that it was 5:38 in the morning. Jackson's eyes then went right back towards the door to see Alonzo creeping in. Alonzo had not expected to see Jackson in the kitchen and let out a shriek of surprise.

"Oh my God!" Alonzo put his hand to his chest as he tried to regulate his breathing. His attempt to sneak into the house unnoticed had been foiled. "What are you doing up?"

"Getting some water," Jackson responded dryly. "The better question is what happened to you yesterday. Weren't we supposed to chill?"

"Didn't you get my text message?"

"What message?"

"The one I sent you yesterday. You probably didn't. My phone had been acting up all day. I need to take it back to the Sprint store because it is a piece of shit."

"So where were you?"

Alonzo came all the way into the house. He headed to his room with Jackson fast behind him. Jackson prepared himself to hear the lie of the century. He wondered if Alonzo knew exactly how bad of a liar he really was.

"Well, there I was on the way home when Craig calls me up crying. He is talking all this yada yada about him not feeling well so I rush over. I try to tell him that there is nothing wrong with him, but you know Craig. He is so overdramatic."

"Yeah, that Craig is a trip," Jackson said playing along.

"Anyway, he convinces me to go to the hospital with him and we spent all day and night waiting in that damn emergency room."

"Really? Oh man, that's rough." Since Alonzo was doing some acting telling this lie, Jackson tried to put a concern look on his face. In his mind, he was halfway applauding Alonzo for coming up with such a lie on the spot. Jackson had to admit that it was good. Too bad Jackson knew that Craig had left yesterday for a wedding in Miami.

"Jackson, I am telling you that those waiting rooms are no joke. We ain’t see a doctor until like two this morning."

"Well, let me call Craig now and see how he is doing."

"No!" Alonzo interjected. "You can't!"

"Huh? Why not?" Jackson tried not to crack a smile. It was so fun to see Alonzo squirm.

"Because… because…" Alonzo was not as quick with this lie, but one came to him. "…because Craig doesn't want anyone to know. You see, it was a rash that Craig had gone to the hospital for. I told him to just hit up the clinic in the morning, but he was panicking and shit. Don't tell him I told you though. He would be so embarrassed if he found out you knew. And don't tell anyone else either, okay?"

"I won't," Jackson replied. If only Craig knew what Alonzo was willing to say about him to cover his own ass.

"Good." Jackson was about to leave out Alonzo's room when Alonzo called him back. "Hey, you got a minute?"

"What's good?" Alonzo gestured for Jackson to take a seat. Something in Alonzo's demeanor had changed. Jackson knew some truth was about to come out.

"I called the landlord yesterday and I am breaking the lease."

"You're what!!!" Jackson stood back to his feet.

"I am moving out later this month. From what I understand, in order to do that we have to lose our deposit and pay some fee. Whatever the fee is, I will try to pay at least half of it, of course. I want to move back in with my dad so I can save some money."

"Huh?" Jackson was astounded by this bomb that Alonzo had dropped. And his delivery of the news was not helping matters. There was no discussion or tossing around ideas. Alonzo had made up his mind and leaving Jackson stuck between a rock and a hard place. "I aint trying to move back home so what am I gonna do?"

"Well, I am giving you a month," Alonzo said nonchalantly. "That should be enough time. Worst case scenario is that you go back home for like maybe a month or so; at least until your new place is ready. It would be cool."