When Hell Freezes Over (19 page)

Winston shoved his hand into his pockets and said, “Weeeell! Look who decided to finally come home!”

MaLeah, dressed in her lavender Bratz outfit, saw her uncle and danced and yelled, “Uncie Key!”

Keaton dropped his bag and picked her up into his arms. He kissed her and asked, “Have you been a good girl, Shorty?”

Winston interrupted by asking, “My question is, was Uncle Keaton a good boy while he was away?”

Frowning, Keaton said, “Don't start, Winston. Where's Arnelle?”

“She just left. So, did you have a good time with the good doctor in Mississippi?”

Keaton sat MaLeah down. “Yeah, I had a good time. She has a very nice family.”

Winston stared at Keaton, but he wouldn't make eye contact with him. Instead, he continued to play with MaLeah's ponytails.

Leaning against the wall, Winston asked, “So, when did you guys get back?”

Before he realized what Winston was doing, he answered, “Last night.”

As soon as he said it, it dawned on him that Winston had tricked him. The last thing he wanted to do was open the door for Winston Carter III, attorney-at-law, to put him on the witness stand.

He folded his arms. “Last night, huh?”

Finally making eye contact, Keaton frowned. “Yeah, last night.”

Keaton took MaLeah by the hand and led her into the family room. He sat down and clicked on the TV. MaLeah crawled up into his lap and started watching TV with him. Winston followed them into the room and sat down in the chair. He continued to study Keaton's mood as he watched his daughter feed him her animal crackers.

Without looking away from the TV, Keaton asked, “Are you going into the office today?”

Still studying him, Winston answered, “Nah, I'm going to work from home since I don't have any court cases today.”

Looking around, Keaton asked, “Where's Fredrick?”

“He's upstairs asleep,” Winston answered, still staring at him. Without warning, he leaned forward and whispered, “You hit it, didn't you, Keaton?”

Keaton laughed out loud and nervously replied, “What did you just ask me?”

MaLeah turned to her daddy. “Who did Uncie Key hit, Daddy?”

Waving her off, he said, “MaLeah, go play. I'm talking to your uncle.”

She turned to Keaton and asked, “Did you hit somebody, Uncie Key?” He laughed, kissed her, and said, “No, Shorty, I didn't hit anyone. Your daddy's being silly.” He looked over at Winston. “I can't believe you sometimes, Winston.”

Ignoring Keaton's obvious disgust, he smiled and asked, “Well, did you?”

Perturbed with Winston's continued prying, Keaton answered, “That's none of your business, Bro. You take things too far sometimes.”

Winston leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. With a sarcastic grin he said, “Sorry, Bro, but when did you start getting so sensitive about me asking you about your sexual conquests? It's never been a problem with any of the others,” Winston reminded him.

Keaton stood up. “It doesn't matter. I'm tired and I'm not up for your games today.”

Winston smiled, knowing he had struck a nerve with his dear brother-in-law. “Look, Keaton, I'm not trying to get under your skin. I'm not asking you anything I don't normally ask you after your dates.”

Keaton walked toward the hallway. “Whatever, Winston. Look, I'll holler at you later. I'm going upstairs to unpack. Are we still practicing this evening?”

Winston took a sip of his coffee and said, “Five o'clock straight up.”

“Okay. I'll see you in a little bit. I'm going to lie down for a minute.”

MaLeah stood up, looking from her daddy over to her uncle. She didn't know which one she wanted to hang with. She hadn't seen Keaton in a few days and sort of wanted to hang with him. But it was her daddy who had just bought her the new Barbie Doll townhouse with accessories and was going to be home all day.

Keaton looked down at her. “You wanna take a nap with me, Shorty?”

“No, Uncie Key! I wanna play with Daddy and my new dollhouse.”

“Go on and play with your little doll, you little traitor. Give me a hug, and you better not come up to my room waking me up either.”

“K!”

Keaton left the room and Winston sat back, analyzing their brief conversation. He knew the answer to his question the moment Keaton snapped at him. In his heart, he knew he had won the bet and with time, he'd verify it just to be sure. He and Arnelle would be enjoying their new summer home in Florida sooner than expected.

Upstairs, Keaton sat on the bed in disbelief. He couldn't believe what had happened to him since arriving in Philly. His vow of eternal bachelorhood was beginning to crumble right before his eyes. He sighed and picked up his cell phone and dialed his best friend, Gerald. As he waited for him to answer, he smiled and reminisced about the previous night's activities.

“Well, it's about damn time you called. I was beginning to think you had moved to Philly permanently!” Gerald yelled at him.

“Damn! I hate that caller ID. You can't even surprise people anymore and, to answer your other question, no, I haven't moved here permanently. Forget about that right now. I need to talk to you about something.”

“What's up, Dogg?”

Keaton stood and paced the floor. He took a breath and said, “You're not going to believe this but I've fallen in love with someone up here.”

There was brief silence on the telephone before Gerald asked, “Excuse me?”

“I know! I can't believe it either. Her name is Meridan and she's…She's perfect.”

“Get the hell out of here! Are you for real, man?”

Keaton sat down in the chair and put his head in his hand.

“Yeah, and she's everything I could ever want in a woman. Guess what?”

“What?”

“She was a former All-American point guard in college and played in the WNBA briefly. She turned down an extended contract, so she could go to medical school. You have to see her, Gerald. She's stunning.”

Gerald was silent again on the other end of the telephone. He couldn't believe his ears. His best friend and former teammate sounded like he was on his way to the altar. He cleared his throat and asked, “Have you already told her how you feel about her?”

“Yeah, and I mean it. I'm serious, Gerald. She's perfect. You should see how she handles the rock on the court. Talk about poetry in motion.”

“You're sprung, aren't you?”

“Like a mutha! The thing is… I don't mind because I'm not letting her get away.”

Laughing, Gerald said, “Damn! I never thought I'd hear you say anything like this.”

Keaton said, “Laugh all you want to. This is the real thing. Unfortunately, this is going to cause me to lose a bet with my brother-in-law, but she's worth every penny.”

“In that case, I can't wait to meet her.”

Keaton grinned. “I can't wait to introduce you to her. You'll see.”

“I'm happy for you, Keaton. When are you coming home?”

“Soon, but I have to get my relationship set with Meridan first. Have you been by my restaurant lately?”

“I was there last night. They're doing a good job running the place without you. All your employees need raises,” he joked.

Laughing, Keaton said, “Whatever! I'll holler at you later. Thanks for keeping an eye out on my place.”

“No problem. Take care of yourself and hurry back. I haven't played a decent game of ball since you left. Oh! Someone asked about you.”

Knowing exactly who he was talking about, he warned, “I don't want to hear it. She's history and that's the way I'm going to keep it.”

 

I
t was only lunchtime and Meridan had seen three children with strep throat and two more with ear infections. After checking with her receptionist, she found out she had several more children to examine after lunch. She entered her office and took off her stethoscope. She smiled and thought she would call Nichole. She didn't call Keaton every hour like she promised, but she did call to assure him she was fine.

As she dialed Nichole, she thumbed through a magazine and came across some wedding gowns. She sighed, knowing she probably would never get to wear one.

“Contract Department, this is Nichole.”

“Hey, girl!”

“Heeeeey!! When did you get back?”

Closing the magazine, she answered, “Last night.”

Nichole twirled around in her chair. “So, how did your dad like Mr. Tall, Dark and So Fine?”

Laughing, Meridan said, “Can you believe he already knew him? So did the rest of the males in my family. Nikki, Keaton used to play pro ball with the San Antonio Spurs.”

“How did you miss that one, Dee?”

“He said he was going to tell me, but he wanted to surprise me since I shocked him about UT.”

“That's great. So, how are you two getting along? You guys have been hanging pretty tight lately. I feel sort of left out.”

Solemnly, Meridan said, “Now you know you're my girl. Please don't say that.”

Nichole smiled. “I really am happy for you, Dee.”

“Thanks, Nikki.”

Laughing mischievously, Nichole asked, “So have you guys done the nasty yet?”

“Nikki!”

“Don't Nikki me. Well, have you? You sound a little different, Dee. All it'll take is one look in your eyes and I'll know for sure.”

“Girl, you're stupid, but check this out. Guess who called me?”

Nichole curiously asked, “Who?”

“Sam,” Meridan said with her voice cracking.

Nichole stood. “Are you serious? That fool has a lot of nerve, calling you. Dee, you didn't get spooked, did you?”

“I've been spooked ever since that mess happened, Nikki. Sam told us payback was going to be hell and I believe it.”

Nichole sat back down and said, “I know, but I showed that idiot that I don't play. Sam had better not start any shit!”

“Don't forget you're on the hit list, too.”

They were both quiet for a minute, then Meridan admitted, “Keaton was at my house when Sam called. I freaked out so bad, Nikki. He knows something's wrong. You know I've never been a good liar.”

“Wait, he was at your house? Hold up! There's something you're not telling me, Dee!”

Meridan sighed. “Can't we talk seriously for one second?”

“We are talking seriously, but you're leaving out all the good parts,” Nichole came back at Meridan. “Look, Dee, I'm not afraid of Sam, and you shouldn't be either. Mind games; that's all it is. You should go ahead and tell Keaton what happened, so if that idiot does come at you, he can be prepared to handle it.”

A soft voice followed. “I love him, Nikki. I don't want to run him away.”

“What did he say?”

Meridan rubbed her forehead. “He saw the scar and asked how it happened. I told him I didn't want to talk about it.”

Trying to comfort her, Nikki said, “I'm sure he loves you, too.”

“He said he did,” Meridan added.

Smiling, Nichole asked, “Then I assume there are no more cobwebs?”

“No more cobwebs, Nikki.”

In a serious tone, Nichole firmly said, “Good. Tell him the truth as soon as possible. Don't mess this up with Keaton. I like him, Dee. That should tell you something.”

Meridan laughed. “It tells me you are the best friend a woman could have. I love you, Nikki.”

“I love you, too,” she responded. “Now get back to work and forget about Sam.”

“I'll try. I'll call you later.”

“Bye.”

They hung up and went back to their daily work.

Across town, Sam tucked the .9mm inside the waistband of the prison-issued jeans before stepping out of the dark alley. It was so easy to purchase a gun on the street. Jail had hardened any ounce of goodness left. Revenge was the only thing that consumed the attacker's heart and it would be revenge that would free this soul.