Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

Chapter 191

He could still hear her talking. It was as if her voice was coming through the walls. He pressed his head against the nursery wall. Her voice was on the other side. His heart pounding in his throat, he hammered the wall with his fists.

“Val!”

He heard her laugh. His eyes scanned the room until they fell on the closet door. He put his head against he door.

Her voice was coming from inside. She laughed again.

Mike opened the door and turned on the light.

Nothing. No Val.

He had painted this closet just last week. He knew every nook and cranny. He patted the walls and listened. He could still hear her talking to someone.

At the very back of the closet, he saw a small trap door. He had tried to open the door when he was painting but it had been nailed shut. He dropped to his knees. The nails were gone. He pulled on the door and the hinges creaked as it opened.

He crawled through the trap door to find five wooden stairs and an open area. It had the look of an elegant medical office of some kind. Valerie laughed.

“Val?”

“Mike! Come on up.”

He ran up the stairs to find Valerie covered in dust talking to the air.

“Mom wanted me to see this space,” Valerie said. “Isn’t it gorgeous? She thinks we could move up here or whatever. And look!”

Valerie pointed to a bookshelf.

“The books about the house! Jake’s been looking for these forever.” Valerie smiled as if she’d done something big. “Mom says you’re freaked out. Are you freaked out?”

“Honey, we’re having a baby tonight,” Mike said.

“I know!” Valerie said. “Right here.”

“What?” Mike asked.

“Mom says we won’t get out of the Castle and it’s better to have the baby here,” Valerie said. “Isn’t it neat?”

“What about ‘I want all the meds’ and ‘I like hospitals’?” Mike asked.

“That was before Mom came,” Valerie smiled. “Go get Delphie. She’ll explain everything.”

Mike gawked at her.

“Go on,” Valerie said. “I have a few hours so I thought I’d start making a clean space.”

“Val I really think,” Mike said.

“Mike do as I ask,” Valerie said. “Please.”

“Do not do that to me,” Mike said. “You promised.”

“Ok, sorry,” Valerie smiled.

Mike stalked down the stairs toward the trap door

“Oh, can you bring me some cleaning supplies? And the vacuum?” Valerie asked. “Oh and call the doctor. Mom thinks Delphie and Tanesha will be fine but it’s always good to have one around.”

“Why are we doing this?” Mike asked.

“Because they’re going to experiment on Jackie,” Valerie said. “Our baby.”

“And Blane?”

“It’s already worked out,” Valerie said. “Blane will get a catheter into his hepatic artery. I don’t know what that is, but that’s what will happen. He can get the cord blood here. His doctor is just realizing they want to experiment on our baby. He’s going to suggest it to Blane and Heather in the next hour and do the surgery tomorrow morning.”

“You’re sure?”

“Jill will have the twins here too,” Valerie said. “Mom says it was an expensive doctor’s office once. There were stairs out the back. Other babies have been born here. We’ll be fine. Just go get Delphie. She’ll tell you everything. Oh, and get Jake. He needs to build the stairs.”

He was almost in the closet when she yelled, “Bring the popcorn!”

Shaking his head, he went to find Delphie and Sam.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning — 5:25 A.M.

Jeraine woke with a start.

Tanesha wasn’t there. His heart squeezed with panic. She was gone and he was alone. A sharp pain shot through his head. He rotated to sitting and grabbed his head. How was he going to survive this day?

Hearing a noise, he hopped out of bed. He thought, ‘Maybe she’s in the kitchen.’ He ran out of the bedroom to look for her and saw the kids sprawled on the living room carpet. Relief washed through him.

Tanesha was with her girls last night. They were getting the space ready for Valerie to have her baby. The entire endeavor didn’t make sense to him but that hadn’t stopped him from playing a wild game of Cowboys and Indians with Charlie, Teddy, Sissy, and Nash last night. Aden had arrived midgame and took up the Cowboy call. Noelle documented the action with her sketch pad. He hadn’t had as much fun since… We’ll he wasn’t sure when.

He went into the kitchen to start coffee. Aden met him there.

“You’re sure you’re all right with the kids here?”Aden whispered.

“Sure,” Jeraine said.

“Sandy will be here to do school drop off,” Aden said. “The girlfriends are going to breakfast.”

“How…?” Jeraine asked.

“She called,” Aden said. “She said you need to check your phone. She said to remind you that your phone is in your nightstand drawer.”

“Oh great. Thanks.” Jeraine went into the bedroom to get his phone. He listened to Tanesha laugh at him for losing his phone again. Hearing the coffee maker beep, he went back into the kitchen.

“Don’t worry about breakfast for these guys,” Aden said. “Charlie makes it.”

“He does?”

“It’s one of his chores,” Aden said. “He’s good at it. Do you forget where you put down your phone?”

“Yeah,” Jeraine said. “I never carried one of these things until Tanesha came back.”

“You didn’t have a cell phone?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t have a cell phone. I had two – one for personal and one for business,” Jeraine said. “I said I didn’t carry one. I had people who had the honor of carrying my cell phones.”

Aden smirked.

“I know, it’s pretty ridiculous,” Jeraine said.

“Can I use your shower?” Aden asked. “I’ll wake up Charlie and he can use the one in my room.”

“Sure,” Jeraine said.

Aden went to wake Charlie and Jeraine got dressed. He was pulling on his pants when his phone rang. Thinking it was Tanesha, he answered on speaker phone.

“Hey,” Jeraine said. “I’m just getting dressed.”

“Mr. Wilson?” a man’s voice came over the speaker. “I’m looking for Jeraine Wilson.”

“Oh sorry,” Jeraine picked up the phone. He fumbled with the speaker and held it to his ear. “I thought you were my wife.”

“Not today,” the man laughed.

“How can I help you?” Jeraine asked.

“Mr. Wilson, this is Doctor Vilner,” the man said. “We met a few days ago?”

“Yes sir,” Jeraine said.

“I apologize for calling so early,” Dr. Vilner said. “I know your father and he’s usually up this early. Did I interrupt something?”

“No sir,” Jeraine said.

“We received the results of your brain scans,” the doctor said.

“All of them?” Jeraine asked.

“Yes, that’s why it took so long,” the doctor said. “I had to wait for the reports on the functional scans.”

“And?”

“I’m sorry to tell you but we’ve found areas of significant injury in your brain,” the doctor said. “I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible.”

Stunned, Jeraine sat down hard on the bed. Tanesha had only agreed to do the interview if he agreed to take all these tests. He did it to humor her. It never occurred to him that something was actually wrong.

“What does that mean?” Jeraine asked.

“I’d like you to come in and we can discuss your options,” the doctor said. “Right now, you need to know that you have an injury, mostly likely due to your drug use. It affects the way you process information and make decisions. This type of brain injury is not uncommon and also not a death sentence. Really, you’re lucky to find this out now when we can do something about it.”

“What do I need to do?”

“There are different treatment options to help regain brain function,” the doctor said. “With clean nutrition, exercise, treatment, and no drugs, a healthy young man such as yourself can recover from this type of damage in a year or maybe two. As long as you don’t take drugs, sleep, get good exercise, good nutrition, oh and keep your stress level low, you’ll be fine.”

“I’m supposed to start medical school next week,” Jeraine said.

“I’m sorry. You won’t be able to attend,” the doctor said. “You’ll have to ask if they can extend your admission. There’s no way your brain can handle the stress of school.”

“What do you mean?” Jeraine asked. “I’m smart enough.”

“Have you recently experienced panic while your brain locks up or repeats one thought over and over again?”

“Sure,” Since it had just happened, he felt like the doctor was watching him. He looked around. “My head hurts.”

“That’s what I mean. Your brain can’t handle school right now,” the doctor said. “Maybe in a year or so, but not right now. Call my office today and we’ll get you set up with treatment.”

“Thank you sir,” Jeraine said.

The doctor hung up the phone. Dazed, Jeraine set the phone on the bed. His entire plan revolved around going to medical school. He and Tanesha would be doctors together. Overcome by hopelessness, Jeraine stared off into space.

“What’s wrong?” Aden said as he came out of the bathroom. “Jeraine?”

With a towel wrapped around his middle, Aden touched Jeraine’s shoulder. Jeraine looked up at him.

“What’s happened?” Aden asked.

“The drugs… they messed up my brain,” Jeraine said. “I can’t go to school and Miss T, she…”

Jeraine shook his head.

“Tanesha what?”

“She…” Jeraine shook his head. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?” Aden asked.

“That’s it. My one chance is over,” Jeraine said. “We were going to go to school together. We were going to… and now? I can’t go and…”

“You need to speak with Tanesha,” Aden said.

“She’s with her girls,” Jeraine said. “She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Listen to me,” Aden said. “I’ve been where you are. I know you want to use.”

Jeraine nodded.

“How many days since you were high?”

Jeraine held up three fingers.

“You’re in a vulnerable spot,” Aden said. “Your body aches to be high. Now you’ve got a reason to do it.”

“Not like you needed one,” Charlie said from the doorway. “My Shi-dai is right. You need to talk to Tanesha.”

Jeraine looked from the boy to the man and shook his head.

“It’s over,” Jeraine said.

“If that’s what you want,” Aden said. Turning to Charlie, he asked, “Did you shower?”

“Nah, I just got up,” Charlie said.

“Go,” Aden said. “We’ll need you to stay with everyone until Jeraine gets back.”

“I’m not going to interrupt Tanesha’s girl time,” Jeraine said. “I’m just not going to do it.”

“Then you don’t really want to be married,” Aden said. “I need to get dressed.”

“He’s right,” Charlie said to Jeraine. “Can’t shit an addict like him. He’s heard everything.”

“This way,” Aden pushed Charlie from the doorway. “You can shower in the guest bedroom. We’ll leave this addict to either get ready and face his life or keep his excuses and his addiction.”

Jeraine scowled after him and went back to staring straight ahead. He felt a growing sense of overwhelm and futility. His eyes welled with tears.

“They’re right, you know,” Noelle walked across the room and sat with him on the bed. She took his hand in hers and held it. He turned to look at the girl. “If you want your life to be different, you have to do different things. I think it’s harder for us artists. We’re used to creating, making something. We don’t really understand that we make our life too. It’s easier for Daddy or Charlie because they use logic – I do this, I get this. But creative people, we don’t think like that.”

Taken back by the girl’s wisdom, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“So how do you do something new and scary?” Noelle shrugged. “I’ll tell you what I do. I think of it like a picture. Where would I start? What color would I use? Like being a girlfriend. I don’t know how to do that, so I think – what color would I use? I like pink but Teddy, he likes brown and tan.”

“Burnt orange.” The words surprised him. He hadn’t meant to speak.

“That’s exactly right,” Noelle said. “I like flowers and butterflies and fairies. Teddy like cars and martial arts and…”

“Dragons,” Jeraine smiled at the child.

“So what are you going to make today?” Noelle asked. “Drugs and girls or your real life? How would you write this song? How would you sing it?”

“Hey! Are you macking on my girl?” Teddy asked from the doorway.

“No man, I wouldn’t do that,” Jeraine said. “I’m married.”

“Hasn’t stopped you before,” Teddy sniffed.

“It’s okay,” Noelle stood up. “He knows what to do now.”

“Then he should go do it,” Teddy nodded his sincerity. Jeraine smiled.

“I fell for Miss T when I was your age,” Jeraine said.

“Good reminder,” Teddy said. “I’m not going to fuck up like you did.”

“I bet you won’t,” Jeraine said. “I bet you won’t.”

“Are you ready to go, Jeraine?” Aden asked. “Noelle what are you doing?”

“Going to shower Daddy,” Noelle hugged her father. “Good morning.”

“Teddy?” Aden asked.

“I’m making sure this dick doesn’t take Noelle…” Teddy started.

“Enough,” Aden said. “Go kick Charlie out of the shower.”

Teddy glared at Jeraine and left for the other guest bedroom.

“If you want to come with me, you have to come now,” Aden said. “I need to get to work.”

Jeraine stood from the bed.

“You’ll need a shirt,” Aden said. “It’s cool out.”

“Oh,” Jeraine looked down. “I was sitting on the bed with your daughter and no shirt and you didn’t beat the crap out of me? My jeans aren’t even buttoned.”

“Looks like Teddy had that covered,” Aden smiled. “I know my daughter. She might get behind or come in late but she does everything from a very pure place.”

Jeraine pulled on a long sleeved T-shirt.

“Pants?” Aden pointed to his jeans.

Jeraine buttoned his pants and followed Aden out of the penthouse. They took the elevator to the basement where they went to Aden’s SAAB. They were driving down Seventeenth Avenue when Jeraine looked at Aden.

“You really think Tanesha wants to know this stuff?” Jeraine asked. “She doesn’t want me to deal with it on my own.”

“I think she’s your wife,” Aden said. “That’s more than not screwing other women. It’s sharing your life. I haven’t been married long, and I’m no expert. I can just tell you there’s nothing like sharing my worries with Sandy. She has a way of making everything seem all right.”

Jeraine turned away.

“Better than telling your addiction,” Aden said. “My addiction only has one response.”

“Feed me,” Jeraine said.

“Exactly,” Aden pulled up in the alley behind the Castle.

“Where’s the papz?” Jeraine asked.

“Public thoroughfare,” Aden said. “There’s a video camera on the pole to make sure they don’t come back here.”

Jeraine looked up at the Denver Police video camera on the light pole behind the Castle.

“You can see Jake there?” Aden pointed to the back of the Castle.

Jacob was standing on a thin decking attached to the second floor of the house. There was a gorgeous unfinished spiral wooden stairwell up to the decking. Jacob was drinking a cup of coffee and looking at the project.

“The girlfriends are just inside,” Aden said. “He’ll let you in. You know the code?”

Jeraine nodded and moved to get out of the car.

“Good luck,” Aden said.

“Noelle, she’s…?” Jeraine started.

“No one knows,” Aden said. “At least I don’t. She seems to be hooked into a greater knowledge of the world. Did she help?”

Jeraine nodded.

“That will make her happy,” Aden said.

Jeraine got out of the car. Standing in the alley, he wavered. He could easily slip away. Tanesha would never know he was here. He looked down the alley where Aden had gone.

“Jer?” Tanesha opened the gate. She was out of breath as if she’d been running. She was wearing her pajamas and her hair was still wrapped in the straws that she slept in. “Jake said…”

She hugged him close.

“Did you come to tell me something?” Tanesha asked.

Jeraine nodded.

“Were you going to use instead?” Tanesha asked.

Jeraine nodded. Tanesha hugged him tight. When she pulled back, he saw tears in her eyes.

“Thanks for coming,” she smiled. “Come on. Sandy made some muffins.”

She took his hand and led him from the asphalt alley into the plush, blooming garden. The lush, green garden infused him with a sense of joy.

And he knew. This was one of those crystalline moments he’d never forget. Just one thing leading to the next leading to the next and on the other side was the life he wanted. He stopped walking near the vegetable gardens, pulled her to him, and kissed her hard.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I missed you last night,” she said.

“Really?” he stroked her face.

“Really,” Tanesha said. “Jake said sometimes you have to invite a person over the threshold of their new life. Are you in your new life?”

“Yeah, I am,” he smiled. “How’s Val?”

“It’s going to be hours,” Tanesha said.

“We’ll have time to talk?”

“Lots of time.”

Tanesha took his hand and they went inside.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning — 8:25 A.M.

“Any word?” Sandy asked.

She gave Heather a cup of vending machine coffee. Heather looked up and shook her head. Sandy sat down next to her in the surgery waiting room at Saint Joseph’s hospital.

“We spend a lot of time here,” Heather said.

“I was just thinking that,” Sandy smiled. “Maybe this is the start of something new. Val and Jill are going to have the babies at home. Blane will get well and…”

Sandy looked up to see Enrique, Blane’s ex-boyfriend, walk into the waiting room. He gave Heather a look of disgust and sat down with his back to her.

“What’s his problem?’ Sandy whispered.

“He’s been like that all morning,” Heather said. “He and that guy from Blane’s doctor’s office.”

“Rubén?” Sandy asked.

“Mmm,” Heather said. “I hear them whispering about me.”

Sandy hugged Heather.

“Is it taking long?” Sandy asked.

“He said it would be a long time in set up,” Heather shook her head. “They have to x-ray him while they do the surgery. I guess it takes a while to get everything going. They’ll be done soon.”

“Hi,” Ava came into the waiting room.

Heather and Sandy looked up at her.

“Seth told me you’d be here,” Ava said. “We…”

She pointed to her colleague, Nelson. He smiled at Heather.

“We wanted to see if there was anything we could do. We’re off today,” Ava sat down next to Heather. She leaned over. “I thought maybe you’d need someone to translate the doctor-speak. Plus…”

She tugged Nelson to sit down next to her.

“We brought pastries,” Ava nodded to Nelson.

“I heard they were going to be here,” Nelson said in a low voice. “Have they been dicks?”

Heather nodded.

“Sorry, we hoped we’d get here before the real dickery happened,” Ava said in a low voice.

“Why are they here?” Sandy whispered.

“Enrique thinks Blane is going to ask for him when he wakes up,” Nelson rolled his eyes. “He told everyone he’s going to put an end to Blane’s farce of a marriage today.”

“Rubén has a crush on Blane,” Ava said. “He thinks this will be his chance.”

“How do you know all of this?” Sandy whispered.

“My roommate,” Nelson said. “He’s one of Enrique’s current… friends. He gets home from the bars when I get home from work. He said it was all the talk last night.”

The women turned to give Enrique and Rubén the stink eye and ate their pastries.

“Mrs. Lipson?” A nurse came out of the back.

“I think you’re looking for us,” Enrique said. Enrique and Rubén stood up.

“I don’t know who you are,” the nurse said. “Mr. Lipson asked me to get his wife.”

“Ma’am,” Heather said.

“There you are,” the nurse walked around Enrique to Heather. “The procedure went really well. The doctor said he’s healthy which made it easy.”

“It seemed like it took a long time,” Heather said.

“We waited until he was out of the worst of the anesthesia to get you,” the nurse said. “The doctor likes to do that so you don’t see him drooling. He’s in recovery but you can go home after that.”

Heather glanced at Sandy. Sandy nudged her forward. Heather followed the nurse to see her husband.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies , Cascade, Cimarron, and Black Forest at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY 

Tuesday mid-day — 12:15 P.M.

Brighton, Colorado

Standing on the small hill in Brighton, Delphie looked up at the warm late August sky. From where she stood, she could see out over the home construction site to  Mountains on the horizon. She was standing on the site where Saint Jude had killed his first victim after hanging her in the horrible barn. Soon it would be a gorgeous gem of a park.

“Excuse me,” A small but beautiful woman touched Delphie’s arm. Her face held the washed out look of extreme grief. She spoke in her native language. “I’m sorry. Were you meditating?”

Delphie smiled at Ava’s best friend’s mother.

“You must speak English,” Beth’s father said in the same language.

“It’s all right,” Delphie smiled. “My mother spoke Slavic when I was a child. Was that Croatian? It’s similar.”

“Yes,” the man said. “You may speak English. She understands much but refuses to speak.”

“I was taking in the day,” Delphie said in English. “Oh look, it’s Amelie.”

Delphie waved to Amelie and Dale getting out of a car near by. They jogged up the slope toward the group of people gathering on the small hill.

“What happened to the…?” The woman gestured toward the fenced off dirt area.

“Jacob took the terrible pole barn down by hand,” Delphie said. “Have you met Jacob?”

“Yes,” Beth’s father said. “He has been very kind. Everyone…”

He gestured to the people gathering around them. The families of Saint Jude’s victims were joining Delphie today to celebrate the lives of their loved ones and the end of Saint Jude.

“But these people?” Beth’s mother gestured to the men and woman standing near where the pole barn had been. Ava hugged Beth’s father and then her mother. Her mother hugged Dale and her father shook his hand.

“They’re from the Museum of Nature and Science,” Delphie said.

“They’re scientists,” Ava said. “They’re going to dig up the barn to see if they can determine what happened here. Seth said they may be here for more than ten years working on everything that’s here.”

“Like they have done in Bosnia,” Beth’s father said. “Find the crimes. Find the criminals. That is very good.”

“Won’t they find the…” Beth’s mother looked at her husband.

“Zmaj,” Beth’s father visibly shook.

“No, he and his mate are gone,” Delphie smiled. “The women and children in my family destroyed them with their light.”

“And her babies,” Ava said.

Beth’s mother began to weep. Dale hugged her.

“He is our son now,” Beth’s father said. “We are glad to have him. Please forgive us. We miss our Beth so very much.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Delphie said. “I wanted everyone to get together here to see that they don’t suffer alone.”

“That Saint Jude was an evil man,” Beth’s father said.

“Without Beth, we never would have caught him,” Ava said.

“Yes,” Beth’s father said. He took a breath at his pain and then changed the topic. “We were told this is going to be a park?”

“Did you see the design?” Delphie took them to a 3-D model of the future park. “One of Jill’s teachers at the Art Institute came up with the design. The construction company is going to create it.”

“How did you get them to…?” Dale asked.

“After he got out of the hospital, he just wanted to do it,” Delphie shrugged.

“Delphie told him about a big blockage,” Ava whispered and gestured to her heart. Her eye’s spoke to the size of the block. “Widow maker.”

“He’s very generous,” Delphie said with a twinkle in her eye.

They laughed.

“What’s going to happen to the house?” Dale asked. “It’s really lovely. Huge.”

“I don’t remember,” Delphie said. “I mean, there’s a sold sign and I think someone told me, but I was making sure the park happened and…”

“She ignored me,” Sam up his arm over Delphie’s shoulder. “Sam Lipson.”

Beth’s parents shook his hand and introduced themselves.

“The house will be moved. I remember that,” Delphie smiled at Sam. “And the land will be the first part of the park. The City is deciding whether to build a rec center on part of it. But Sam bought all that land and this land so it would be a really nice park.”

“Don’t let her fool you,” Sam said. “She made this happen. Did she tell you about the people who lived in the mansion?”

Beth’s father shook his head.

“Why don’t you show them?” Sam said. “I’ll call the kids and see where they are.”

Delphie nodded and led Beth’s parents to the row of old graves.

“The original owners of the house died in the flu epidemic of 1918,” Delphie said. “One child got sick and by morning almost everyone was dead. It was a terrible tragedy. They were buried and forgotten here. I found them when we were here and Sam promised me he would take care of them. He bought those lovely grave markers and Jake set up the metal fence. The heirs even came up with a photo.”

Delphie took them to a plaque with the family’s photo on it and an explanation of their graves.

“So many children,” Beth’s mother put her hand on her heart. “Poor babies.”

“I was glad they weren’t moved,” Delphie said. “It was quite a fight, but in the end it all worked out. There will be baseball fields over there. A big playground for kids where the driveway is now. Soccer fields over in the corner. Even a couple of ponds for fish and birds. And the City is going to maintain the park.”

“Delphie is being modest,” Ava said. “Seth said she convinced the City to allow these people to rest in peace. She even went to the bank on her own and set up a fund to help maintain the park.”

“We will donate,” Beth’s father said. “Of course.”

Delphie smiled. Beth’s mother touched her arm.

“The statue?” Beth’s mother said in Croatian. “Amelie tells me my Beth’s name will be on a statue?”

“My friend Mike created the image,” Delphie said. “We took it to a sculptor who was able to translate it into… well, I’ll show you the pictures.”

Delphie took a photo album out of the pocket of her floral skirt. The original oil painting showed a running boy engrossed in catching a yellow butterfly just out of his grasp. His hands were above his head and his arms covered most of his face. His mouth was set in a wide grin.

“You can almost hear him giggle,” Ava pointed to his mouth. “Fabulous.”

“And the sculptor created these study models,”

Delphie showed a series of pictures of small wax statues of the child carved out of wax.

“The second one is the best,” Beth’s father said.

“I’m glad you said that,” Delphie said. “That’s the one we picked. The victims names will be carved around the stand. The final bronze statue will be installed behind where the back of the house is now. It will sit on the edge of the smaller pond. It should be truly lovely. We’ll have you back when it’s done.”

“So expensive,” Beth’s mother said.

“We had an anonymous donor pay for the statue,” Delphie smiled.

Ava mouthed “Seth” to Beth’s mother. Looking relieved, Beth’s mother nodded. Looking up, Delphie noticed that the area was filling with the families of the victims. The City of Brighton was having its own ceremony later on today.  But right now, they had gathered to celebrate the end of Saint Jude’s rampage against homeless children and the lives of his victims.

There was a noise near the mansion. Delphie looked down to see gravel fly as Jill’s SUV pulled into the driveway. Jeraine’s Cadillac Escalade followed Jill’s with Heather’s Subaru not far behind. The women and children laughing as they piled out of the cars. Jacob pulled up in a Lipson Construction SUV with Aden, Blane, Tres, Honey, and Tanesha’s father Rodney. Mike and Valerie, carrying Mr. Bilfry, got out of the back of Jeraine’s car.

Her family was here!

“Would you excuse me?” Delphie asked.

“Please,” Beth’s mother said. “My Beth… Amelie tells me you…”

“Beth is at peace,” Delphie said. “Such a beautiful, good soul, she’s at peace. You can rest assured that she is celebrated for all she was and she will be there when you are done here.”

Beth’s mother gave Delphie a watery smile and her husband led her toward where the other victim’s families were waiting. Delphie turned just in time to pick up Katy as she ran to her. Katy gave Delphie a Shasta Daisy and kissed her cheek.

“Sorry we’re late,”Sandysaid. “We were waiting for Sissy and…”

“Just got behind,” Jacob hugged Delphie. He offered to take Katy but Delphie shook her head.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Delphie said.

“Are you ready?” Sam asked.

Delphie nodded. Sam nodded to the Mayor’s aid. Delphie and Katy went up to the front where the victims’ families waited. When Delphie nodded, they let loose one hundred biodegradable white balloons in commemoration of the Saint Jude’s victims. The Mayor of Brighton led everyone in a moment of silence as the balloons floated into the sky.

Delphie watched them fly. Saint Jude was gone. The evil presence that had been here for time unknown was gone.

And somehow, she was still standing under the blue Colorado sky. She caught Sam’s eye and he smiled.

“Ms. Delphinium?” the Mayor looked at her.

“Let the celebration begin!” Delphie said.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday afternoon — 3:15 P.M.

“I still think we need ice cream,” Jeraine said.

“Then get some.” Tanesha raised her eyebrows in a challenge. She pushed the full cart one step forward in the long grocery line. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

Swallowing hard, Jeraine nodded. He kissed her cheek and went down the freezer aisle. They had offered to watch the kids when Valerie went into labor. Because the Castle was surrounded by paparazzi, they figured it was better to move the kids to their Penthouse. Heather was bringing Mack over tonight and Sandy’s kids were sleeping over. Jill would drop off Katy on her way to the hospital. That way, all of the adults were free to help out in whatever way they could. Sandy and Aden would play tag team babysitters with Tanesha and Jeraine.

Tanesha was excited to be able to help out and Jeraine seemed thrilled to be included. The only problem was that they had absolutely no food in the house. They stopped off at Safeway on their way back from Brighton. They had arrived at the same time as a couple of buses of elderly people from the nearby assisted living facilities. The checkout lines were now long and filled with curmudgeons. There was a long line of people to her left and her right.

Taking a step forward, Tanesha was close enough to the magazine rack to see the gossip magazine. Looking to see if Valerie was on any of the covers, her eyes flicked from one magazine to the next until she saw a picture of herself. She blinked. Why would there be a picture of her on those magazines? Her eyes flicked back to the magazine. She was standing on the sidewalk outside the penthouse wearing her running gear. Jeraine was stepping toward her. She remembered that day. It was… Sunday after their interview. In red block print over their heads, it said: “Miss T gives Mr. It a last chance” in smaller print it said: “Can this cheater change?” Tanesha scowled. She walked to the magazine rack and turned over the magazine.

“They’re right you know,” the elderly woman standing in line in front of her said. “That man will break your heart.”

“And what’s that to you?” Tanesha shook her head and went back to her basket.

“I’m just saying,” the woman in front of her continued. “He’s bad news. Now I know you don’t have a Mama and maybe you don’t know better…”

“Delores is right, Miss T,” the woman standing in line behind her said. “Once a cheater always a cheater. As far as you know, he off screwing some young thing right now.”

“In the grocery store?” Tanesha asked. “What? And using the bananas as a sex toy?”

“You don’t have to be foul, young lady.” An elderly man a few people behind in the line said. “You should listen to these ladies. Not all men are good. And you done found yourself a bad seed.”

“You mean to tell me that Dr. Bumpy’s boy is bad?” the woman behind him asked. “You better watch your mouth Malcolm or I’ll tell Nurse Dionne what you said about her son.”

“Well I think you’re a damned fool for taking him back,” a younger woman from the line to the right said. “I would’ve divorced him and taken everything I could get my hands on. Who’s crying now?”

“Mmmm-hmmm,” a knowing agreement came from the elderly woman standing around her.

“She’s right,” the woman in front of her said. “And you deserve every penny for your years of heartbreak.”

“And then some,” the woman behind her touched her shoulder. “It’s only a matter of time before that man breaks your heart again.”

“You know, they’re right,” a grey-haired woman from the line next to hers spoke up.

“So remind me…” Tanesha said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “How is my life any of your business? I don’t remember even a one of you stepping forward when Jer was in trouble in high school. Boys will be boys; that’s what everyone said. So you can shut your traps now.”

“I’m just saying…” the woman in front of her gave her a sour look and turned around.

“There he is,” a woman from a silent line of grocery shoppers two people over said. “Look at the grin on his face.”

“Mmm-hmm, I told you so,” the woman in line behind her said. “Screwing some young thing, right here.”

The shoppers heads nodded like bobble-head dolls. Tanesha groaned. Jeraine took in her face and the awkward silence. He set three containers of ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup in the cart.

“What’s going on?” he leaned in to say in her ear.

“The good folks of this Safeway would like to know if you were screwing some sweet young thing,” Tanesha said.

“When?”

“Just now,” she said.

“In the ice cream aisle?” Jeraine looked from face to face. No one would meet his eye. “Just now?”

He laughed and they stepped closer to the check out. A few minutes passed.

“Well?” the elderly man in her line asked. “Were you, son?”

“Hello Mr. Stone,” Jeraine said. “I didn’t see you there. How are you?”

“He’s fine,” the woman behind him said. “Answer the question.”

The people around them stared at Jeraine. Tanesha gave them each an evil look.

“What’s the question?” Jeraine asked.

“Were you screwing some young thing just now?” the young woman from the line next to them sneered.

“No,” Jeraine said. “I was getting ice cream.”

“Uh huh,” the woman in front of them looked him up and down before turning around in a huff.

“Why were you grinning?” Tanesha asked.

“Because I don’t know anything. I had to ask Mrs. Jennings…” He pointed to the ancient woman three lines over. She waved. “She helped me pick out something for the kids and showed me where to get chocolate syrup and whipped cream. I haven’t been in a grocery store since I was a kid.  Miss T’s teased me about just that the whole time we’ve been here. She thinks it’s funny.”

“Satisfied?” Tanesha glared at the people around them.

“I’m not,” a woman from the line to her left spoke up for the first time. “I used to babysit Miss T for Yvonne and Rodney. Tanesha, you probably don’t remember me but I’m Tawnie Johnson.”

“Vaguely,” Tanesha nodded.

“And she’s right,” Mrs. Johnson said. “I didn’t help when Miss T needed it, and I knew she needed it, so I have no right to say anything. But…”

“That’s not going to stop you,” Tanesha said.

“No it is not,” Mrs. Johnson said. “I want to know if you’re going to cheat and break her heart again.”

Jeraine looked at the old woman. He took in Tanesha’s sour look and the staring people around him. Putting his hands on his hips, he looked down at the floor. Tanesha slipped her hand onto his elbow.

“We knew this would happen,” Tanesha said in a low voice.

He looked at her then back around at the other people.

“The truth…” he started.

“Yeah, that would be nice for a change,” the woman in front of them said.

“I don’t know if I’ll cheat again and break Miss T’s heart,” Jeraine said. “I’m an addict. I have a problem. I can tell you that today, I woke up and wanted only to stand next to this woman, right here, for as long as I could. So I got up, went for a run, and, except for my excursion to the ice cream aisle, spent the entire day at her side. Now, I can tell you that for the last few months, I have wanted this very thing and only this very thing. But I can’t tell you about tomorrow.”

“Are you going to therapy, son?” an elderly woman from two lines over yelled.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jeraine said. “I have a personal therapist who I see at least once a week. Miss T and I go to therapy as well so we can work on things.”

“We’re on a break because we’re doing so well,” Tanesha said.

“But we can always go back,” Jeraine said.

“And why should we believe you?” The woman in front of them stepped forward  to set her groceries on the black conveyer belt.

“You can believe what you’d like,” Jeraine said. “But that’s my truth today.”

“Cheaters never change,” a voice yelled from somewhere in the back. The heads around them began their bobble-head impersonations.

“I can’t speak for cheaters,” Jeraine said. “I can only speak for myself and this moment. I’ve been a cheater and I’ve changed. Look at my life. A year ago, my father wasn’t speaking to me, my wife didn’t realize we were still married, my mother… I…”

Tanesha squeezed his arm to steady him. He smiled at her.

“Today, Miss T and I are back together and building a life together. I’m spending time with my parents. La Tonya had lunch with me yesterday. And I like it this way. I’m not saying I’m fixed; but I’m saying I want to change and so I am changing.”

“I believe in you, son,” Mr. Stone said. The woman behind him groaned.

“I believe in him too,” Tanesha smiled at Jeraine and he blushed.

She pointed the woman in front of her to the grocery clerk ready to check her groceries. The rush of putting their groceries on the belt and getting ready to pay took their attention. Jeraine was standing in front of the grocery clerk while Tanesha bagged their groceries in reusable bags. The clerk was passing Jeraine their receipt when she smiled.

“I saw your interview,” the clerk said. “I just wanted to say…”

Tanesha held her breath.

“Good luck,” the clerk nodded. “It takes a lot of courage to change your life. I’ve got ten years sober. My husband stayed with me. Talk about stubborn. It was hard, but we fought it together and…  it was worth it.”

“Thanks,” Jeraine said.

“I think you’ll be fine,” the clerk said.

“Me too,” Jeraine smiled, picked up the last bag of groceries, and followed Tanesha out of the store. They pushed the cart to his Expedition, loaded the groceries, and got in before he asked, “Anything you need to say?”

“When are you getting rid of this pimp mobile?” Tanesha asked.

“I meant about…”

“You made your money off those very people,” Tanesha said. “They feel like they know you through your music. After that interview, they feel like they have a stake in our lives. We’re going to have to either avoid contact with them all together or get used to it.Denver is a small town with a lot of mouthy nosey people. If we want to live here, we’re going to deal with that.”

“And you? Are you all right dealing with it?”

“I’ve been dealing with those nosey so and so’s all my life,” Tanesha said. “My Daddy was in prison for murdering some white girl. My Momma is a hooker. My Gran, well…. Let’s just say that I don’t care what anyone says.”

“Except Jill, Sandy, and Heather,” Jeraine said.

“My Gran, Dad, and maybe even you,” she smiled. “Sometimes.”

He smiled and started the car.

“What?”

“I’m just happy to be here with you,” he said.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 7:25 P.M.

Mike was in their small kitchen making popcorn when he heard Valerie say something. Knowing they were alone, he assumed she was on the phone. Her contractions were coming strong and fast. Bumpy had already stopped by to check on her. Valerie would do most of her labor at home and zip to the hospital to have the baby. They’d even worked out a way for her to get up the coal tunnel if she couldn’t walk. Delphie and Sam were downstairs waiting for his signal. She’d wanted to hang out on the couch and watch a movie.

He finished putting the last drops of butter on the popcorn and went out into their living area. Valerie wasn’t there.

“Val?”

Nothing. He could still hear her talking. He checked the bathroom, their bedroom, and the nursery he and Jill had decorated. Nothing.

He could still hear her talking.

“Val? I don’t know where you are,” Mike set the bowl of popcorn down on the changing table to listen.

He could still hear her talking. It was as if her voice was coming through the walls. He pressed his head against the nursery wall. Her voice was on the other side of this wall. His heart pounding in his throat, he hammered the wall with his fists.

“Val!”

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY NINE

Monday evening — 6:57 P.M. MDT

Ava came out of her and Seth’s bedroom to find Dale laying drop cloths on the wood stairwell. Need to get to work, Ava scooted down the stairs to the first floor.

“Thanks,” Dale said and began laying out a drop cloth.

Seeing he needed help, she trotted up the steps to help him lay out the fabric on the wood stairwell.

“If you get paint on my stairs, I will be very upset,” Maresol called up the stairwell.

“Yes ma’am,” Dale said. “I will do my best.”

“You do that,” Maresol smiled. “I’m very excited to give this place some color.”

Dale smiled at her. Ava helped him place the last drop cloth.

“See you tomorrow,” Maresol said and moved out the door.

“Are you sure you can do this?” Ava asked. “It seems pretty slick with the cloths.”

“I’ll be careful,” Dale said. “I’m hoping to get most of the hallway done while you’re at work this week.”

“Seth’s going to be home again this weekend,” Ava said. “I hope he likes the colors we picked.”

“Maresol picked the colors,” Dale said.

“Hey! I’m the lady of the house,” Ava smiled. “I approved them.”

Dale laughed.

“I just have time for dinner then I’m off to work,” Ava said.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Dale said.

Ava jogged into the kitchen where Maresol has set out her dinner. She was just sitting down at the kitchen bar when the doorbell rang.

“Can you get that?” Dale yelled.

“Got it,” Ava said.

She ran to the front door and peeked through the peep hole. She shook her head at what she saw and looked again.

“Who is it?” Dale asked. Seeing the look on her face, he walked toward the door.

“My Dad,” Ava whispered.

Dale’s face soured.

“You don’t have to answer it,” Dale’s words were punctuated by another ring of the bell.

“Let’s do it together,” Ava said.

She whipped open the antique wooden door and pressed open the glass security storm door.

“What can I do for you?” Ava asked.

“Amelie?” her father, Colorado State Attorney Aaron Alvin, stepped back from the door. “What are you doing here?”

“This is my home,” Ava said. “What can I do for you?”

Her father spied Dale and his face expressed the disdain he felt for her best friend Beth’s boyfriend.

“You live here with that free loader?” her father asked.

Ava closed the security storm door. She was closing the inner door when he spoke up.

“Wait,” her father said. “Just wait. I need to speak with O’Malley.”

“He’s not here,” Ava said. “He’s in LA.”

Her father opened the outer door.

“Why are you here?” her father asked.

“I live here,” Ava said. “Why are you here?”

“I need to speak with O’Malley,” her father repeated.

“Now that we’ve established why we are both here, I’m going back to my dinner,” Ava moved to close the door. Her father’s hand held the door open.

“Amelie really,” her father said. “Does it have to be like this?”

“There’s too much that’s happened,” Ava said. “You’ve done too many… awful things. Too much. And since you’re convinced that you’re right and won’t listen to reason, yes, it has to be like this. Now, O’Malley is not here. May I close the front door?”

He lifted his hand.

“Thank you,” Ava said.

She had almost closed the door when he said: “Your mother misses you.”

Ava rolled her eyes and scrunched up her face behind the door.

“You need to get on with your life,” he said.

Ava whipped open the door.

“I just created the first successful protocol for  the First Responder’s Toxin. Something no one, including the UN, the CDC, or even the Israelis were able to do,” Ava said. “I’m moving into a new lab in the new DPD building. My life and my career are moving at rapid pace. Is yours?”

“What are you talking about?” her father scowled. “You’re little police career is over now that O’Malley quit.”

“Come on,” Dale shifted Ava away from the door. “Thank you for coming by, Mr. Alvin. Seth is in Los Angeles. Do you need his number?”

“Get out of the way,” Ava’s father said. “I was speaking with my daughter.”

“I’ll take that as a no,” Dale said and shut the door.

“That man…” Ava was so angry she was shaking. “That man…”

Ava went from clenched fist furious to sobbing on Dale’s chest in an instant.

“B-B-B-Beth…” Ava said.

“I know,” Dale said. “Beth would say that he was doing his best. He doesn’t know any better and stuff like that. I miss her today too.”

The doorbell rang.

“Come on,” Dale said. “Let’s eat and get you leave out the back for work.”

“What about painting?” Ava worked to control the tears that dropped from her eyes.

“It will all get done,” Dale said. “That’s what O’Malley says. One way or another, everything eventually gets done.”

“We’re lucky our friends are so wise,” Ava said.

“Makes it harder when they’re gone.”

Ava nodded.

“Beth would say that we shouldn’t give too much time to this…”

“Crap,” Ava nodded.

“Let’s eat.”

Ava followed him into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~

Monday evening  — 8:57 P.M. MDT 

“There you are,” Tanesha said as she entered the den of the Penthouse. Jeraine was sitting on the couch watching a final version of their interview. “What are you doing?”

“We have last right of refusal on this interview,” Jeraine said. “It’s something the Schmidtys are known for putting in their contracts.”

“Contract?”

“Jammy had contracts prepared when Primetime said they wanted to catch us on Sunday,” Jeraine said.

“But my publicist is Jen,” Tanesha said. “She’s the one who called us after church.”

“Jammy worked with Jen,” Jeraine said. “Now we have to look at this to make sure it’s right.”

“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Tanesha sat on the couch next to him.

“Ok,” he said. “But let’s finish this then talk.”

Tanesha nodded.

“Jammy tagged a few places he wanted us to check,” Jeraine said. “I’ve been through it a couple times. The only place I’m stuck is here. Can you take a look?”

“Ok,” Tanesha said.

He clicked the remote control and the video began to run. She and Jeraine were sitting on the patio with City Park and the Denver skyline in the background.

“You know there are women who say they were… with Jeraine last night,” the host said. “Two women. They’ve posted some photos on Facebook. Have you seen them?”

Tanesha shook her head.

“How do you feel about that?”

“Feel?” Tanesha asked. “Confused.”

“Confused?”

“I’m never sure why a woman would brag about something like that,” Tanesha shrugged. “I mean, this man has a problem. Two years ago, he told the world he had a serious sex addiction. And still girls brag about screwing him. I mean, what would the world say to a crack dealer who sold drugs to Robert Downey, Jr.? Broke his sobriety? Would he or she be on the cover of magazines? The topic of programs?

“We minimize sex addiction,” the host said.

“We’re all ‘oooh it’s sex’ like we’re in Junior High,” Tanesha said. “Have some self respect. I mean seriously. If these girls were with Jer last night, they broke almost six months of sobriety. Plus, he left here saying he didn’t want to be with other women. When we found him, he said he hadn’t been with other women. So, these ladies got together with a guy who was too high to know what he was doing. Nice. I bet your Momma’s proud now.”

“So you don’t think he just told you one thing and did something else?”

“I look at people’s intentions,” Tanesha said. “I don’t believe that he intended to get high. I don’t believe that he intended to be with those… women, if he even was. In the last year, he’s worked hard to change his life. That means more to me than some grainy cell phone picture from the inside of a limo.”

Jeraine clicked the remote control to stop the video.

“What’s wrong with that?” Tanesha asked.

“A lot of people will say you’re a fool,” Jeraine said. “That I’m a dog who won’t change his ways.”

“You are a dog,” Tanesha smiled. “But I like dog training. Hey, I wanted to talk to you…”

“So you’re all right with this?”

“I don’t care,” Tanesha said. “Do you?”

“Not really,” Jeraine said.

“So why don’t we give Schmidty last right of refusal? He can take out what he wants to take out and we can live our life. I think that’s what you pay him for.”

Nodding, Jeraine picked up his cell phone and texted Schmidty. He turned to face Tanesha.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Jeraine asked.

“First, I wanted to thank you again for picking me up at school,” Tanesha said. “I was surprised when I saw my Dad’s truck and thrilled when you got out of the driver’s seat. Thanks.”

“Your Dad let us borrow the truck all week,” he said.

“For the tear out,” Tanesha said.

“Right,” he said.

“I also wanted to thank you for having everyone over tonight,” Tanesha said. “You had dinner ready when we got home and then wham, everyone was here. Jill and Katy, Jacob, Sandy and her tribe, Heather and Mack with Blane, Honey, MJ, Valerie, Mike, and Sam, your parents, and even my Dad and Gran and Delphie. I had a great time.”

“I wanted to celebrate your big day. Turned out, everyone had a big day,” Jeraine smiled. “Nice people. Well, except for Scully.”

“I saw you laughing with MJ,” Tanesha said.

“He’s still a wild man. Did you know he was in Special Forces and now he’s a Marine?” Jeraine shook his head. “And I can’t for the life of me believe he married his ‘sweet little Honeybee.’ He said, ‘You know Honey’ and gestured to her. My jaw dropped.”

“Jill was… uh… tentative about them living in the Castle,” Tanesha said. “I guess they were pretty volatile.”

Jeraine gave a vehement nod and Tanesha laughed.

“They’re crazy about each other now,” Tanesha said. “Baby on the way and everything.”

“It was great to see him,” Jeraine said. “We’re going for a run tomorrow morning. I feel like… I’m finally home. You know some nice people.”

“I know,” Tanesha said. “Pretty lucky, eh?”

Jeraine nodded.

“The barbecue was fabulous,” Tanesha said. “Did you make the marinade and sauce?”

“I did,” he said. “Aden mastered the grill though.”

“You were nice to let him do it,” Tanesha said. “He’s more comfortable when he has a way to participate.”

“Hey us guys have to stick together,” Jeraine smiled. “Jake and I are close to having our own secret handshake.”

Tanesha laughed.

“Hey, I saw you talking to Delphie.” When he didn’t respond, Tanesha let her statement linger.

Jeraine was silent.

“And?”

“That woman,” Jeraine shook his head.

“She’s a trip,” Tanesha said. “Anything you’d like to share?”

Jeraine took a deep breath, looked at Tanesha, and let out his breath. He shook his head.

“Well, I wanted to see…” Tanesha’s eyes scanned his face. “I wondered what you’d think if we stopped talking about the past.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that talking about the past just brings all of that garbage into today,” Tanesha said. “I get hurt all over again. I’m tired of being hurt by things that are over and done with.

“I mean, I had this amazing day. Our house remodel started. I walked out of eight hours of med school orientation that I’ve dreamed of all of my life to find you waiting for me. We came home and all of my friends and family were here. I ate great food, laughed, and hung out with my friends and their families, our family. And now I end the day sitting on the couch with you. I don’t think it gets better.”

Tanesha beamed and then shook her head.

“I don’t want to talk about the past,” she said. “Because today is pretty great.”

“What if something comes up?” he asked.

“If it’s relevant in the present, then I want to talk about it,” Tanesha said.

“Ok, I have something,” he said.

“Go ahead,” Tanesha said.

“You say that I tricked you into getting married,” Jeraine said. “And, I told you I needed to change my name…”

“To Jermaine…”

“I was going to meet you at Jill and scumbag Trevor’s wedding. Right?”

“You met me at Jill’s wedding,” she said. “And you had the license and asked the Judge to marry us when they were done. They were all excited about being married and stuff I felt manipulated into doing it too.”

He nodded.

“So?”

“Did you want to be married?” he asked.

“Oh Jer,” Tanesha sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I…”

“Sorry, I need to know,” he said.

She gave him a long look. Seeing that he needed an answer, she nodded.

“I wanted to be married to you,” Tanesha turned away from him and stared at the wall. “But I didn’t know that just eight hours before you’d screwed five girls and five more the day before and whatever other nonsense. I didn’t know you would do that whole ‘let’s enjoy the cheerleaders’ event on the football bus and then leave… and then leave… forever… a week later. I…”

She clenched her jaw to hold in her heart wrenching pain.

“I wanted a wedding dress and… nice shoes… and an engagement ring I could show off for a while,” Tanesha said. “I wanted my Gran to be there. Your parents… They’re like parents to me. I wanted flowers… and… a gospel choir singing Amazing Grace and… Well, mostly I wanted you – day in, day out, coming home, waking up to. I wanted you. You were my life, my soul, my every waking thought, my… everything.”

When she looked at him, he was crying.

“So did I want to marry you? Yes.”

He put his arms around her to touch the top of his head to her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

“I know,” she tipped his head up so he was looking at her. “I want to be right here, right now. You?”

He nodded.

“Then let’s just be here,” she said.

“What about all of that? How…” He shook his head as if to say even the words were more than he could make up for.

“Maybe the past doesn’t need to be made up for,” Tanesha said. “Maybe it just is – not good or bad or whatever. It’s all just stuff that happened.”

“But how…?”

“Let it go, Jer,” Tanesha said. “It’s over and done with. There’s nothing we can do to fix it except live right now.”

“Will you wear your ring?” He held up his left hand to show that he was wearing the gold band she’d bought him when she was sixteen years old.

“I have been this whole time,” Tanesha pointed to the gold band on her right hand. “I put it on this hand and never took it off.”

“May I?” he asked.

She nodded. He tugged the ring off her right hand and slipped it on her left ring finger. She smiled.

“It looks good there,” she said. “Like it belongs.”

He smiled. For a moment, they held each other.

“I love you,” he said in a low tone. “More than you’d ever know.”

She kissed him and they hugged again. Knowing she had to do something to get them back on track, she took a breath and moved back.

“Well, I do know what I want right now,” she said. He looked up at her. “More of that cake. Did you see Sandy and Blane commenting on how good it was? And they’re our pros! Did you really make it yourself?”

She got up and walked out of the room.

“You know what would be really good? Some tea,” Tanesha said. “You coming?”

Smiling, he followed her into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~

Monday night  — 9:57 P.M. MDT 

“How are you feeling?” Mike asked Valerie when she got into bed.

“Uncomfortable,” Valerie said. She lay down on her back with her belly. He put a hand on her protruding belly. “But I had a nice time tonight. What a great distraction to go over to Jeraine and Tanesha’s house.”

“I’m glad you said that because I wasn’t sure if you had a good time.”

“I thought it was fun,” Valerie said. “The penthouse was really nice. I haven’t been to the Pinnacle before. It was kind of like ‘imagine your life.’”

“Would you want to live there?”

“No,” Valerie said. “But it’s fun to look.”

“Delphie is sure you’ll have the baby this week,” Mike said. “Everyone’s geared up. Do you think it will happen?”

“I hope so,” Valerie said. “I’ve had a lot of contractions and…”

“And?”

“I keep thinking I see Mom,” Valerie said. “That’s what I was doing.”

“I thought you were cleaning the kitchen floor again,” Mike smiled.

“No, but that’s a good idea,” Valerie said.

He chuckled.

“What were you doing?” Mike asked.

“I was coming up from the kitchen and I thought I saw Mom,” Valerie said. “I went to where I saw her and… nothing. So I started up the stairs again and I swear she was at the top of the landing.”

“That’s weird,” Mike said.

“I went to ask Delphie,” Valerie said.

“And?”

“She just smiled and put her hand on the baby,” Valerie said. “It’s weird.”

“Sounds weird,” Mike said.

“I want Mom to be here so bad,” Valerie said. “I want her to be with me when I have the baby, to be a grandmother, and everything. I miss her so much right now. I wish she’d lived long enough to be here for this. She’d have wanted to be here.”

“I’m sure she wishes she was here now,” Mike said.

Valerie made some nondescript sound and pretended to go to sleep. Mike rolled over onto his side. He watched her face for a moment then fell sound asleep. Valerie opened her eyes when she knew he was asleep. She stared at the ceiling for a while.

“Is that really you, Mom?” Valerie whispered. “Or is it some kind of hormonal insanity? If it’s really you, can you give me some kind of a sign? Something only I would know?”

She waited for a moment and then looked around room. She hoped beyond hope that something would happened. But the nothing moved in the dim, quiet room. Turning over, she told herself she was imagining things and tried to get some sleep. A few hours later, a strong contraction woke her and Valerie opened her eyes. She was laying on her side facing away from Mike.

She was about to roll onto her back when she noticed a tattered stuffed white bunny with one missing button eye. Mr. Bilfry. She’d slept with the bunny every day of her life until she left for college. And even then, she slept with Mr. Bilfry every night she was home from school. She stroked the super soft pink inside of the bunny’s ear.

She’d left Mr. Bilfry at home when she’d gone to college. College wasn’t a safe place for such a precious and vital creature. But sadly, Mr. Bilfry disappeared when her mother and Delphie had moved to the Castle. Secretly, Valerie had searched through boxes to see if she could find him. She never had. Until now.

Mr. Bilfry had appeared right exactly when she needed him the most.

“Thanks Mom,” Valerie whispered and fell sound asleep.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Eight – interview

One day later

Monday morning  — 7:37 A.M. MDT

“We are not having this conversation,” Sandy slammed the back door of their SUV.

“But…” Noelle scooted in from the other side to sit next to Rachel’s car seat.

“We want to know,” Sissy moved to sit next to Charlie in the far back. “Why won’t you talk about dinner?”

“Because she’s pissed off,” Nash slammed the door and sat next to Noelle.

“Don’t say that word, Nash,” Sandy said.

“Which one?” Nash asked. “Because?”

Sandy gave him a dark look in the rearview mirror.

“Two dollars in the jar,” Noelle whispered.

“Seat belts?” Sandy turned around to check.

The kids held up their seat belts to show they were fastened. Nash took the money out of his pocket and tossed it toward the front seat. Shaking her head at him, Sandy started the SUV and pulled out of the Castle driveway.

“I hate this car,” Sandy said under her breath.

“Is that why you’re mad?” Nash asked.

“I’m mad because…” Sandy turned right on Seventeenth Avenue. Nash had the earliest and was their first drop off at the Park Hill School. “… oh never mind.”

“She’s mad because Addy’s dad is an asshole,” Charlie gave Nash two dollar bills and Nash threw them in the front seat. “He brought up stuff.”

“Stuff?” Noelle turned around to look at him.

“He interrogated me about my past,” Sandy said. “He said Charlie couldn’t see Addy unless I answered a few of his questions. He only asked so he could get his… rocks off.”

Stopped at the light at Josephine, Sandy dug in her purse and added a dollar to growing pile of money.

“What did Daddy do?” Noelle asked.

“Your Dad…” Sandy continued through the light. “Sissy, you sure you don’t want me to drop you here at East?”

“No, I want to go with everyone to drop off,” Sissy said. “I’ve never done it before and…”

“Just wanted to check.” Sandy drove past EastHigh School.

“Aden completely lost it,” Charlie said.

“Really?” Noelle’s eyes were big. “I’ve only seen him do that at Nuala.”

“That asshole started…”

“Mom!” Noelle said.

“You keep track, honey,” Sandy said.

“Okay,” Noelle said.

“Your Dad was mad and stopped him from asking questions about me. You know how he can be. He just said, ‘That’s enough.’ Then the asshole started ripping into his own daughter calling her a whore and a slut,” Sandy said. “Your Dad lost it. It wasn’t just me.”

“Seven dollars,” Noelle said.

“Whore and slut too,” Sissy said.

“Nine dollars,” Noelle said.

“Officially, I was quoting but let’s make it an even ten,” Sandy pulled up to the light at Colorado Boulevard and put ten dollar bill on the pile.

“What did you do, Charlie?” Sissy asked.

“I would have been p… really mad,” Nash said.

“What could I do? I met Addy on the streets a bunch of years ago. Her dad had kicked her out. He’s the reason she’s…” Charlie glanced from Noelle to Sissy. “…advanced for her age. He thinks it’s my fault. But Sandy’s right. Shi-dai lost his shit after he started saying stuff about Addy.”

“What did he do?” Noelle asked. “You said the s-word too.”

“We’re almost there, Charlie,” Sandy said. “Talk fast.”

“Shi-dai told him that his family wouldn’t be bullied,” Charlie passed two dollars forward. “Me too. As family.”

“Duh.” Nash shook his head at Charlie.

“Nash!” Sandy said.

He passed forward another dollar bill.

“Aden’s going to call our social worker today to see if there’s anything we can do for Addy.”

“Ok, Nash, there’s Teddy,” Sandy said. “Good luck today. Call me if you need anything. Love you!’

Teddy was standing near the front of the school waiting for Nash. Nash got out and Noelle followed him.

“Sissy can you get her back in the car?” Sandy asked.

“Noelle!” Sissy yelled.

“There goes my ear drum,” Sandy said.

Noelle got back in the car and they continued on to the Marlowe school.

“What happens now?” Noelle asked.

“I can’t go out with her anymore,” Charlie said.

“You’re not going to sneak around?” Sissy asked. “That’s what you guys used to do.”

“I don’t think I can get away with it,” Charlie said. “I don’t drive and they live in Westminster and…”

He shrugged.

“You promised you wouldn’t sneak around,” Sandy said.

“See, I promised I wouldn’t sneak around. That’s what I meant to say,” Charlie nodded to Sissy. “When do I get my driver’s permit?”

Noelle squealed and laughed. They pulled into a spot in the Marlowe School parking lot. Sandy was about to get out when Anjelika opened the back door.

“Good morning,” Jill’s mother said. “I can take beautiful Rachel. I know you’re in a hurry.”

“I hate to…” Sandy started.

Rachel cooed ‘hello’ to Anjelika.

“She’ll be fine,” Anjelika said. “Wish Tanesha good luck. I’m very excited for her.”

“Bye Mom,” Noelle leaned over to kiss Sandy and was out of the car. Sandy waited until they were across the lot before heading out onto Eighteenth Avenue back toward the Castle.

“What’s going on with Tanesha?” Charlie asked.

“The girls and I are taking her to her medical school orientation,”Sandy said. “That’s why I’m driving this boat. It fits her bicycle.”

“Fun,” Sissy clapped.

“She’s pretty excited and pretty scared,” Sandy said. “But mostly we want to hear how her interview went yesterday.”

“Diane Sawyer,” Charlie said.

“How did it go?” Sissy asked.

“That’s what I’m going to find out,” Sandy said. “Okay, Sis. You have your meds for the nurse? Your notes? You know where you’re supposed to go?”

“I’m all set,” Sissy said. “Jake took me through the school again last night so I’d know where my classes are and stuff. Lucky he has those keys.”

“Yes, keys,” Sandy said. “You’ll remember not to tell anyone about his… keys, right?”

“I won’t tell,” Sissy said. “And I won’t be lost. Love you.”

Sissy leaned over the seat to hug Sandy. She hugged Charlie.

“Good luck!” Sandy said.

“I have my phone,” Sissy said. “I’ll call if anything happens and I’ll see Charlie at four o’clock for basketball tryouts.”

Sandy and Charlie waved as Sissy walked into the entrance of East High.

“Are you ready for your first day?” Sandy asked.

“I’m all set,” Charlie said. “I have my own office room Aden and Jake set up for me on the first floor at the Castle. My computer and my books are there waiting for me. Delphie’s going to check in on me. Don’t worry Sandy. I can do this.”

Sandy stopped the big SUV in front of the Castle to drop him off.

“Anjelika will be here after work to check my stuff and sign me up for basketball,” Charlie said. “Love you.”

Charlie closed the door and waved through the window. Sandy smiled at him. She waited only a moment before Jill pulled up with Tanesha and Heather. Tanesha stuck her bicycle in the back of the SUV as the women got in.

“How was drop off?” Jill asked.

“Crazy,” Sandy said.

“What’s this stack of money?” Tanesha picked up the dollar bills from the passenger seat.

“Swear jar,” Sandy said.

“From one conversation?” Tanesha asked.

“At this rate, we can buy ski passes.”

“At this rate, you’ll have enough money to fly to the Alps,” Tanesha laughed.

Laughing, Sandy started the journey toward Tanesha’s new life.

~~~~~~~~

Monday morning  — 10:37 A.M. EDT
New York City

“Which clip do you want to use?” the editor for Primetime turned to look at their host.

“Let’s watch them both,” she said.

“This was my favorite,” the editor said. “I like how she’s not intimidated by you and how she ends it with talking about relating.”

He leaned over, pressed a button, and Tanesha’s image came on the screen.

“Um, what was the question?” Tanesha looked up from her tea cup and into the camera.

“You’re a smart, independent, attractive woman,” the host said. “Why would you stay in this abusive relationship?”

“In the first place,” Tanesha set her tea cup down. The camera closed in until it framed her face. “Jeraine isn’t abusive. At least not to me. I think if you talked to all of his women, you’d find he’s funny, smart, and great to be around. We have great conversations and laugh a lot.”

“Don’t you think…”

“But I agree with you that this addiction is abusive to both of us,” Tanesha said. “And for his part in it? The drinking and drugging to bring out his addiction? I have been injured by his choices. There were a few times in my life when I thought I’d never be able to take another breath because of something he did or didn’t do. He has hurt me. His addiction has hurt me even worse.”

“So why…?”

“I’m getting there,” Tanesha smiled. “Just like he did, I’ve made my choices along the way. Sometimes, I’ve waited for him. Sometimes, we’ve spent weeks together in absolute bliss. And there’ve been years I haven’t heard or thought of him at all.”

“You haven’t waited around for him.”

“I have,” Tanesha said. “But not always. I made choices for my life as it made sense to me at that place and time.”

“I guess the money…”

“I don’t have access to his money,” Tanesha said. “I didn’t even know we were still married until he was in rehab last time. I mean, he says I have access to his money but… That’s what I mean by choice. I chose to live free of his money. And it’s not like I’ve been knitting my chastity belt while he’s out hot dogging it. I’ve lived every day. I’ve loved, gone to college, had relationships, worked jobs, dated, and… Today, my choice is to see where this goes.”

“She gave me one last chance,” Jeraine’s voice came from the side. The camera zoomed out to show him standing by her chair. “At rehab this last time. I asked and she said she would try it one more time. But we both know this is our last round.”

“I guess the biggest thing for me,” Tanesha glanced at him and then back at the camera. “I didn’t sign on for a pleasure cruise or something out a teen romance novel. I signed up for a relationship – the good, the bad, the highs, the lows, the hard times and the joyful times. We relate. That’s what’s interesting to me.

“I mean people throw away relationships now because of stupid stuff like his Mom wasn’t nice to me or he doesn’t work as much as I do or I make more money or whatever. Toss him away. That kind of throw away relationship keeps people from the actual juice of love – the relating.”

Tanesha looked up. The camera angle caught her eyes in such a way that they looked almost amber. She smiled.

“He has problems,” Tanesha said. “I have problems. He’s not perfect, but I’m not either. That’s where the relating comes in. I get to really know him. He gets to really know me. That’s pretty great. So being in this relationship is my choice. Today.”

The camera faded out and the screen showed the tag line for the interview: “Miss T speaks to Diane Sawyer.”

“I see what you mean,” the host said.

~~~~~~~~

Monday mid-day  — 11:37 A.M. MDT
Denver, CO

“Okay Sissy, step on the scale for me, please,” the school nurse said.

“Do I have to?” Sissy’s voice went up with panic. “I didn’t realize I would be weighed in and I’m not ready and…”

The nurse touched Sissy’s arm.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Sandy Delgado’s sister, would you?” the nurse asked.

“Sandy?” Sissy beamed. “She’s like my mom and my sister all rolled up in one.”

“I went to school with her,” the nurse said. “She was a couple grades behind me at Machebeuf. I see her every once in a while when I want my hair to be really fancy.”

Sissy smiled.

“Does she still hang out with…”

“The girlfriends?” Without thinking, Sissy stepped on the scale. “Sure, they took Tanesha to her med school orientation day today. Did you know them too?”

“Heather and I went to the same church growing up,” the nurse moved the weights over on the scale.

“Tanesha’s dating that hunky Jeraine,” Sissy said. “We went to see him on Saturday.”

“Jeraine? He went here, to East.”

“So did Jake,” Sissy said. “We live with him. Jake Lipson.”

“He and Jeraine are like royalty here,” the nurse said. “You can get off.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Sissy asked.

“It makes you kind of a celebrity by association,” the nurse said.

“Oh, well, we live with Valerie Lipson too,” Sissy said. “She did my fingernails. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Very pretty,” the nurse said. “That’s some house you live in.”

“It’s huge,” Sissy said. “We can go a lot of days and not see anyone or see them all the time. It’s fun. I live in an apartment with Sandy and her husband Aden and their baby Rachel and my new sister Noelle and my new brother Nash and my old brother Charlie. It’s great.”

Smiling, the nurse held out a pill and a Dixiecup of water for Sissy. She took her pill.

“I’ll need to weigh you at least once a week. Can you do that?” the nurse asked.

“I can try,” Sissy said. “If I get too focused on my weight, I get sick again.”

“Let’s not focus on it that then,” the nurse said. “Let’s spend our time talking about your life at school. Deal?”

Sissy nodded

“I need to check your bandages.”

Sissy pulled up her top for the nurse to see. She touched each of them to check to see if they needed to be changed.

“It looks like you’re healing well,” the nurse said. “When does ballet practice start again?”

“As soon as I’m better,” Sissy said. “Today, we’re just doing leg exercises. Ivan, my teacher, wants me to learn how to run. I’m going out with Jake this evening so he can help me and Noelle. But I bet everyone will come. That’s usually what happens. Everyone decides to come. It’s more fun that way. We’re going to go slow so the boys will probably complain.”

“I’ll see you every day for your pill. Can I help in any other way?”

“I don’t think so,” Sissy said.

The nurse took Sissy’s hands.

“It seems like you have a really great life with lots of people who love you,” the nurse said. “Do you know that?”

“Sure,” Sissy nodded. “I still get crazy sometimes.”

“I think we’ll be good friends,” the nurse smiled.

“Okay,” Sissy said. “Bye.”

Sissy went out the door and onto her next class. When she left, the nurse picked up the phone.

“Sandy?” the nurse asked.

“How did it go, Ginny?” Sandy asked.

“You were right about weigh-ins,” Ginny the nurse said. “She doesn’t want to do it. But we got past it. I think she’s going to be fine.”

“Thanks Ginny,” Sandy said.  “I really appreciate you helping Sissy like this.”

“Don’t worry,” Ginny said. “She’s a bright girl with a lot of energy. I’m happy to help. See you tomorrow?”

“You bet,” Sandy clicked off her phone. One at a time, her family was transitioning into their next phase. She smiled and went back to her accounting.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon  — 2:37 P.M. EDT
New York City

“So that’s two votes for the clip I like,” the editor said. “Two for yours.”

“Show them again so we can decide,” the host said. “It’s getting late and we need to make a decision.

“Ok, here’s your favorite clip.”

The screen shifted to an image of Jeraine and Tanesha sitting on the couch.

“And is it different? Do you still obsess on sex and women?”

“No, it’s different,” he said. “Calmer, warmer, and there’s Tanesha.”

“How is that different?”

“How is sex with Tanesha different from the press of sex with all those other women?” Jeraine asked.

“Oh no. Uh huh,” Tanesha said. “You are not talking about our sex life on national television.”

“But…” Jeraine gestured to the host as if she was forcing him to answer the question.

“You know what will happen,” Tanesha said. “Your Grannie Louise will call my Gran and have the talk. ‘Now I know you did your best with that girl,’ Grannie Louise with say. ‘But that girl leads my sweet grandson away from righteousness. Did you see how she made him talk about physical intimacy on television?‘ And it always ends with ‘There’s only so much you can do with a hellion like that.’ And they’ll cluck and crow and then I’ll have to hear about it.”

Jeraine smiled as if she was daring him. She scowled at him. He looked back at the camera.

“Let’s say that there’s a playground,” Jeraine said. “You might have been to the same playground with lots of people – some you like a lot, some you don’t know well. You might swing high or play on the jungle gym until after dark or do something scary with these other people. But you only ever remember those amazing days at the playground with your best friend. It’s the same playground, same sand, same swings, but everything is better when you and your best friend are there together. That’s what I would say.”

“That’s very sweet,” the host said.

“And, you’re right Grannie Louise, Tanesha is a hellion. She gets me into all kinds of trouble.”

The clip faded into the show’s lead in.

“Why is that your favorite?” the producer asked the host.

“It shows how much they love each other,” the host said. “How deeply they know and understand each other. Their lives are intertwined.”

“Let’s go with that one,” the producer said. “Can we send Grannie Louise some flowers or something?”

“You fell for them too?” the host asked.

The producer nodded.

“We all did,” she said.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon  — 4:57 P.M. MDT

East High Gym

“Just one last question,” the East High basketball coach asked. “Why here? You could easily play at any school in DPS.”

“My sister’s going to East,” Charlie nodded to Sissy sitting in the stands.

“That’s your sister?” the captain of the Varsity team said.

“Sissy,” Charlie looked at the older boy. “Why?”

“Oh nothing,” the boy said.

“We live just a few blocks from here,” Charlie said. “It’s easy.”

“We haven’t had great luck with online students,” the basketball coach said. “Especially ones with drug problems.”

“Hey, I get there’s a risk. But I’ve been clean three months. I live close. And…” Charlie nodded to Jacob when he came in the gym with Nash, Noelle, and Teddy. “I’m a pretty good player.”

“You know Jake Lipson?” the basketball coach asked.

“We live with him,” Charlie said. “My sister and I live with our older sister, her husband and his kids. We all live at the Castle. I worked for Jake this summer at the construction company.”

“Good guy,” the basketball coach said. “Why are they here?”

“My sister, Sissy, is a ballerina,” Charlie said. “Her coach wants her to learn to run. Jake thought he could get the key to the field so we could practice. They’re waiting for me.”

The basketball coach looked at Charlie. Terrified he might not get on the team, Charlie gave the coach his most confident smile. The coach nodded to him and pointed to the varsity captain.

“So you have a practice schedule?” the varsity captain asked.

Charlie nodded.

“We have to check with the office or whatever to see if you can play varsity,” the varsity captain said. “You’re old enough, but since you’re just a freshman in school… It’s complicated but we’ll work it out.”

“Why did you ask about Sissy?” Charlie asked.

“My girl and her friends went to see Mr. It, you know Jeraine, on Saturday,” he said. “A few of the guys went to, you know…”

“Get with the girls,” Charlie said. “I was there.”

“I saw your sister dancing.” The boy straightened up until he was a couple inches taller than Charlie. “You got a problem with that?”

Charlie shook his head.

“You think she’s prejudice?” the boy asked.

“She likes Jeraine,” Charlie said. “I think he’s a jerk, but Sissy likes him.”

“He’s famous, rich.”

“He’s our friend Tanesha’s boyfriend,” Charlie said. “Don’t you have a girl?”

The basketball captain shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t fuck around with my sister,” Charlie said.

“Yeah, whatever,” the varsity captain said. “See you at practice.”

Charlie watched the boy walk off. He nodded to Sissy and left the gym.

“How did it go?” Sissy ran down the steps to him.

“I’m in,” Charlie beamed.

“Yea!” the kids cheered.

“Let’s celebrate with a run,” Jake said.

They followed him out of the gym.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY-SEVEN

Sunday early-morning — 2:42 A.M. MDT

While the kids were getting ready for bed, Sandy settled in to breastfeed Rachel on the couch of their apartment.Sandy looked up when Sissy started one of Jeraine’s songs. Noelle joined in. In a few minutes, they were laughing, singing, and dancing.

“You are getting ready for bed, aren’t you?”Aden said from his position in the doorway of the living room.

“Of course,” Sissy’s voice was high and excited.

“They’re just excited,”Sandysaid. “It was a fun night.”

He smiled at her. She winked at him. When Rachel made a sound, Sandy focused her attention on her baby.

“Can we come out?” Charlie asked. “You know, just for a minute… to talk?”

Aden glanced at Sandy and she shrugged in response.

“Sure,”Aden said.

“Yes!” Nash said. Nash and Teddy’s hands slapped in a high five.

“She’s breastfeeding,”Aden said.

The boys turned a little green.

“You’re such babies,” Sissy pushed past them in the hall. Noelle giggled. The girls sat on the couch next to Sandy.

“It’s not like you haven’t seen it before,” Charlie pushed the boys down the hall.

Aden set a soft fleece blanket over Sandy and Rachel. Nash sat on the ground with his back against the couch next to Sandy. Teddy sat on the floor next to Noelle’s feet. Noelle reached her hand out and he took it.

“Should we tell Rachel about our fun night?” Sandy asked.

“She didn’t get to go!” Noelle said.

“What was the most fun?” Sandy asked.

“Dancing,” Sissy said. “Definitely dancing.”

“You were really great,” Charlie said.

“Did you see all the boys?” Teddy asked.

“What boys?” Sissy asked. “Were boys making fun of me?”

“More like drooling,” Charlie said.

“In a good way, Sis,” Sandy said. “I have no doubt you were great.”

“She was beautiful,” Aden said.

“Oh? You think so?” Sissy smiled. “Thanks.”

“I thought you were amazing,” Noelle said. “We had so much fun. We got to sing and dance and…”

She smiled at Teddy and he beamed back at her.

“It was nice that Addy could come, Charlie,” Sandy said. “You haven’t seen much of her lately.”

“Her dad hates me,” Charlie said. “He wants you guys to go to dinner at their house to ‘discuss this relationship.’”

“Oh? When?” Aden asked.

“Tomorrow night,” Charlie said.

“You mean tonight,” Aden said. “Sunday night.”

“Tonight? Really?” Sandy asked.

“Sorry. I forgot,” Charlie said. “I said it was okay so she could come tonight. I checked the family schedule. You don’t have anything on it.”

“I was hoping to spend the night at home,” Sandy said. “I haven’t been home all week.”

“Sorry,” Charlie said. “He’s kind of a dick.”

“I got that,” Aden said.

Sandy looked up at him.

“I walked Addy to his car with Charlie,” Aden said. “I wanted to introduce myself. He wasn’t very cheery.”

“It was two in the morning,” Sandy said. “That’s pretty late for a kid to be out.”

“Sorry,” Charlie looked crushed. “You don’t have to go, but I can’t see her again until you talk to her parents.”

Aden looked at Sandy.

“It’s just a couple hours,” she smiled.

“Why don’t we take today off?” Aden asked. “We can sleep in and hang out all day.”

“School starts on Monday,” Sandy said.

“And Teddy goes home today,” Noelle said.

Sandy reached over to squeeze Teddy’s shoulder. He looked up at her.

“Dad’s coming about two with my sister and brother,” Teddy said. “I was hoping we could show them the gardens and bees and stuff. They were really excited. Dad says even Bestat, you know his girlfriend, wants to come to meet everyone.”

“Then it’s settled,” Aden said. “See, that’s easy. We’ll ask Zack and Bestat if they would like to hang out with you guys at dinner and we’ll go to dinner with Addy’s family. What time, Charlie?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Charlie said.

Squealing a laugh, Noelle threw a pillow at him. Rachel gave a little gurgle in response to her sister’s laugh.Adenpicked up Rachel to burp her.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Sandy ran a hand through Nash’s hair. “How was your night?”

Nash looked up at Sandy and then looked away.

“That bad?” Sandy asked.

“That good,” Charlie said.

“Melinda was there,” Sissy said. “They were holding hands. I saw them kiss.”

“I saw them kiss,” Noelle giggled. “More than once!”

“You don’t have to tell us,” Sandy said.

“But Rachel wants all the details!” Noelle giggled.

“Rules of dating – a gentleman never gossips about his date,” Nash said.

The kids fell over each other with laughter.

“Date?” Aden asked. “How did you manage a date tonight?”

Nash looked at him and smiled. Aden shook his head at Nash. He gave Rachel back to Sandy and sat on the arm of the couch.

“So you had fun?” Sandy asked.

Nash nodded.

“I’m glad,” Sandy said. “I wonder when we’ll be invited to Melinda’s parents’ house for dinner.”

“Oh yeah,” Nash said. “I forgot, that’s today for lunch. You don’t mind do you?”

“Really?”Sandyasked.

“No,” Nash laughed.

The kids laughed.Sandyruffled his hair.

“Do you think Miss Tanesha and Jeraine are going to… make it?” Noelle asked.

“No idea,” Sandy said. “They’ve already been down a long road.”

“I hope they do,” Sissy said.

“Me too,” Noelle said. “She really loves him.”

“He’s a tool,” Charlie said. “Worse than me. Why would you want that for Tanesha?”

“I don’t know,” Noelle said. “They’re meant to be together.”

“We’ll see,” Sandy said. “It’s time for bed guys. I know we had a fun night, but we all need to rest.”

“Come on,” Aden said.

He herded the kids toward their bedrooms. Sandy stayed on the couch with Rachel for few more minutes before getting up to say good-night. She went from room to room until she ended in her own. She settled Rachel in her bassinette and then slipped in bed beside Aden.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Not really. What did you have in mind?”

He rolled over to show her what he’d been thinking of all evening.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday early-morning — 2:42 A.M. MDT

“What did you think of Nelson?” Heather asked Blane when he pulled the car into their garage.

“Nelson?” Blane smiled at Heather. Getting out of the car, he went around to get Mack from his car seat. They walked in through their backyard to the house.

“So…?” Heather asked.

“Did you set me up with Nelson?” Blane asked.

“Maybe,” Heather smiled. “What did you think?”

“He’s nice, smart,” Blane said. “We realized that we’d met before. I guess he knew me when I was with Enrique.”

Heather took Mack from him and they went up the stairs toward their bedroom. He used the bathroom while she got Mack settled in his crib. She went into the bathroom and got ready for bed. When she came out, he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Why are you setting me up with men?” Blane asked.

“I want you to be happy,” Heather said.

“I’m very happy. You know that. Happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Blane said. “Is there something else…? I mean, do you want to change… us?”

“No,” Heather shook her head.

“Then what’s going on?”

Heather’s eyebrows pinched together. Her face was a mask of sorrow.

“What’s going on, Heather?”

“I know you had a horrible time with Enrique.” Heather’s words spilled out. “I want you to have a better experience, be in love and… I can’t stand the thought of you dying and not every having a chance to be really in love.”

Blane’s eyebrows shot straight up. His eyes traced her face.

“I can’t stand the thought of you dying and having everything life has to offer,” Heather said. “Are you mad? Please don’t be mad.”

Blane jumped to his feet to hug her.

“I can’t think of a more loving thing,” Blane said.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Heather whispered.

“Shhh,” he said. “I’m still here. We can still fight.”

“I won’t ever give up. Ever. Not until the last moment. Ever.”

“I won’t ever give up. You and Mack… you’ve made my life worth fighting for.”

“Delphie told me Val would have her baby next week,” Heather leaned back to look at him. “Wednesday.”

“I’ll fight to the end.”

“Me too.” She tucked her head into his chest. “Me too.”

~~~~~~~~

Sunday early-morning — 4:37 A.M. MDT

Tanesha rolled over to look at Jeraine.

“Whatcha thinkin’?” He asked.

“I’m wondering why you didn’t divorce me,” Tanesha said.

“I think the better question is why you didn’t divorce me,” Jeraine smiled and got out of bed. He went to the window and opened the curtains. “It’ll be light soon. I thought we could watch the sunrise then get some sleep.”

“Sounds good,” Tanesha said. “I’d like some…”

“Tea,” he said. “You know, I tried that tea of yours. It’s good. Mind if I make us both some?”

“Sounds nice,” she smiled at him.

She slipped out of bed when he left the room. Hearing him bang around in the kitchen, she went to the closet. In the bottom of one of her drawers, she pulled out seven gossip magazines. She folded them to the page she wanted him to see and laid them out in chronological order with the oldest one on the left and the latest one on the right. She stepped back to look at them. Shaking her head at herself, she went in to use the bathroom.

“What’s this?” Jeraine asked when she came out of the bathroom. He set a tray with a pot of tea, some of Delphie’s honey, and a couple cups on his bedside table. “When did you start saving gossip magazines?”

“This is a small selection of the women people thought you were going to marry,” Tanesha walked passed him to pour herself some tea.

Jeraine picked up the one on the left.

“Insiders say new comer Jeraine and his lady are planning an April wedding,” he read out loud. “What happened to this one? It looks… torn and wet.”

“Tried to flush it down the toilet,” Tanesha said.

“Of course you did.” He gave her a big smile and set the magazine down. “Lies. They only print lies.”

“Look at the date,” Tanesha said. “Look at the ring on her finger. If you missed it, there’s a bigger picture of the ring near the bottom of the page.”

Jeraine became very still. His eyes blinked at Tanesha as if he was trying to work out what she’d said.

“You’re upset,” he said.

“I need to know,” Tanesha said.

He nodded. He picked up a pair of boxer briefs from the pile of clothing on the floor and put them on. He pulled on a clean T-shirt and picked up the first magazine.

“Let’s see…” Jeraine said. “God, I don’t even remember her name.”

“You look happy,” Tanesha said.

He shook his head at her and looked at the photo again. Tanesha pointed to the date. His face went ashen. He swallowed hard.

“Our year anniversary,” Tanesha said. “You were leaving your fancy house in the early morning with some girl you’d spent the night with. The magazine said you gave her that ring. Did you?”

“I don’t remember,” he said. “Probably.”

“Why didn’t you just divorce me?” Tanesha asked.

“Why didn’t you divorce me?” he asked.

“Because you begged me to marry you,” Tanesha said. “You tricked me into doing it at Jill and Trevor’s wedding. You wanted to be married so bad; you could damn sure pay for a divorce.”

Jeraine nodded at her logic.

“And these?” he asked.

“All women you were supposed to marry,” Tanesha said. “Minus some. I didn’t keep track for a long time after the first one. I wasn’t… well.”

“When you were at Howard?”

“This,” Tanesha snatched the magazine from him. “This right here? This picture is the reason I graduated early and went to college right away. My girls didn’t think I was going to survive. They shipped me out  of Denver where everyone knew about you and me to some place where I could start over fresh. It was good for me to be away from here and you.”

“But I saw you when you were at Howard,” Jeraine said. “You came to see me sing.”

“You only thought you did,” Tanesha smiled. “I never went to a concert, answered a phone call, a letter, or… There was a girl who looked sort of like me. She took the tickets and went. She thought it was funny. No, Jeraine, I was free of you the entire time I was there. This girl, your perfect fiancé and her perfect diamond scratched out of this earth by some African child slave gave me the key.”

Tanesha dropped the magazine on the table.

“This is hard.” His voice was low and sad.

“I went to your rehab – twice – and listened to every single one of your exploits and transgressions,” Tanesha said. “You can at least answer a fucking question.”

“Why didn’t I divorce you?” Jeraine asked. “That’s the question?”

Tanesha nodded. He walked to the window to look out on the park.

“Were you going to marry any of these girls?” Tanesha asked.

He turned around to look at her. After a moment, he went to the table and looked at the magazines. He picked up the fourth magazine in and gave it to her. Tanesha looked down at the photo.

“That’s a nice slave diamond,” she said. “Pricey.”

“From the looks of it, I should have bought in bulk,” he said.

Tanesha looked at her own bare hand and at him.

“Yeah, like I’m going to buy a diamond some child slave scratched from the earth for you.” He turned away from her. “I’d never hear the end of it. You’re not that easy. You want something more than diamonds. God damn it, I wish I could just buy you some rock and…”

“So why didn’t you divorce me to marry…?” Tanesha looked at the magazine. “Do you remember this one’s name?”

“Annette,” Jeraine said.

“And how is sweet Annette?” Tanesha asked.

“How the hell would I know?” His voice cracked with frustration. He blew out a breath to stay calm. “Sorry. You deserve me to calmly and honestly answer your questions to the best of my ability. I promised I would do that when you said you’d give me one last chance.”

“So I’m the island of last resort? The one too dumb to dump you?”

“You’re the love of my life,” Jeraine said.

She gave him a skeptical look. She opened her mouth to ask the question again.

“Why didn’t I divorce you?” Jeraine asked. “I tried. I was going to have a fresh start with Annette. We were in the middle of making plans for a big wedding when my lawyer reminded me that I was married. Not like I forgot. I just… didn’t want… I don’t know. It’s like two worlds – my life with you and that other life. When I was in one, I had to forget this one.”

She nodded.

“You’ve been there?” Jeraine asked.

She nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “I never could figure out why you didn’t just get rid of me.”

“We’re not talking about me,” Tanesha said. “We’re talking about why you didn’t divorce me when you were going to marry the lovely Annette.”

He nodded.

“So why didn’t you?”

“I…”

“The more you hesitate, the more you need to tell the story,” Tanesha repeated what she’d heard his therapist tell him. “Did you talk about this in treatment?”

He shook his head.

“So why…?”

“Give me a second,” he said. “Can you just give me…”

“Sure.”

He poured himself a cup of tea and held the pot out to her. She let him fill her cup. Setting the tea pot down, he turned to look at her.

“I came to Denver with the papers,” he said. “All you had to do was sign them. All I had to do was file them. I went to your Gran’s and she said you were running a summer camp at City Park. I thought I’d come over, get you to sign them, and be back on a plane to New York. One, two, three.”

He shook his head.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I remember you coming to summer camp,” Tanesha said. “I don’t remember any papers.”

“I drove City Park and parked in the lot,” he said. “I walked around for a while before I found you. You had twenty little kids hanging on you. God, you were so beautiful. You were hot, sweaty, and your hair was all huge natural afro wild but God… just gorgeous. I watched for about a half hour, maybe more. I don’t think I’d been in one place for more than five minutes at a time for… years… probably. When you finally got the kids to play a game, I came up and…”

“I remember that!” Tanesha shook her head. “But you didn’t say anything about a divorce.”

“I forgot all about it. I laid my eyes on you and just forgot it,” he said. “We talked. You agreed to meet me for dinner after work. I went back to my rental car and drove off. I was almost downtown when I saw the papers.”

“And?”

“I started crying my eyes out,” he said. “I had no one… no one to call. My Dad was so mad at me. LaTonya wasn’t speaking to me. I called my mom. She came and… she sat with me while I cried. I don’t think she knew what was going on. She just knew I was upset.”

“Why were you so upset?”

“Because my life was jacked up,” Jeraine said. “Everything I ever wanted was playing with some kids in the park for minimum wage. I was there to get rid of you so I could… what? Live happily ever after? I felt so real, so right just standing there under the evergreen tree watching you with the kids. Then I go back to the car and… I… Anyway, you know what happened next.”

“What happened?” Tanesha shook her head.

“You already know! Mom got me to the Hyatt downtown. She thought I was going to kill myself. I might have but… She called you and you came and…,” he said. “You spent the next week with me. We didn’t leave the room for three days. ‘Til you had to work again.”

Tanesha nodded.

“When you went to work, I called Annette,” Jeraine said. “You know, I don’t think she gave a rat’s ass. She loved being in the spotlight, the paparazzi, the money, the food, the clothing, and every other thing; not me.”

“Oh shit,” Tanesha said. “Annette’s one of your…”

“Baby mamas,” Jeraine said. “Right. She told me she was pregnant on the phone. ‘Fuck you Jer. Now I don’t have to marry you. You’re going to pay, and pay well, for at least the next eighteen years.’”

“She looks really different now,” Tanesha peered at the photo. “Her nose and lips…”

Tanesha held her face still and folded over her ample bottom lip. He smiled.

“She’s had some work,” he said. “You should see her… assets.”

He held his hands a foot off his chest.

“You’re a pig,” Tanesha said.

“I am a pig,” he said.

“I met her when you were in rehab the first time. I didn’t recognize her as… this woman,” Tanesha peered at the photo again. “She’s… special.”

“She’s…” He shook his head.

“You were going to divorce me to marry her? Really?”

“I wanted to divorce me and have that other… life, be that other person.”

“Hmmm,” Tanesha’s eyes told him how crazy she thought he was. “And now?”

“I don’t know if I can do this, live this life… with you,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m not going to fall under the spell again, get all addicted again, but…”

He looked at her. Their eyes held in silent communication.

“Right now, this moment, I only want to be right here with you. Is that enough?”

She nodded.

“What do you want to do with these?” he pointed to the magazines. “You want a big diamond ring? Seven? Maybe a child slave to go with it?”

She picked up the magazines, tossed them in the trash, and went into the bathroom.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Getting ready for Mass,” she said.

“I thought we were going to watch the sunrise,” he said.

“I feel like going to Mass,” she said. “There’s one or two things I feel pretty grateful for. You?”

Without saying another word, he moved past her and into the shower.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies, Cascade, and Cimarron at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY-SIX

Saturday night — 9:35 P.M. MDT 

Tanesha stood just inside the entryway of The Church nightclub. Her ticket and VIP pass had given her entry to the club but not directions to where she was supposed to meet Jeraine or her girls. Her eyes scanned the crowded dance floor and the bars. She didn’t see her girls or Jeraine anywhere. She was turning to leave when she noticed a tall, muscular dark-skinned man walking toward her. Dressed as a bouncer, she recognized him as a Denver Police Officer and a friend of Seth’s.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the man’s gruff tone made her look more closely at him. “Your party is in the VIP lounge. But…”

He leaned in close to her.

“You sure you want to see that?”

Tanesha smiled. He wasn’t angry. He was worried.

“I’ve seen him worse,” Tanesha said. “This is a show.”

“You’re braver than me,” he said.

He held out his arm and she put her hand on his forearm. He led her through the dancing crowd on the first floor and up the stairs to the second floor. From the second floor, she could feel the entire building vibrate with the beat of Jeraine’s dance music. He led her through the second floor to a secluded section. She smiled when she noticed Blane behind the bar. He nodded his head to the left and her eyes wandered in that direction.

Sitting with Heather on his lap, Jeraine had one hand down Sandy’s top while Ava clung onto him from the left. His head lolled in Ava’s direction and his eyes were half closed. Even though she knew it was for show, Tanesha’s heart skipped a beat. She lost her footing in the stilettos  she’d borrowed from Valerie. Her police escort kept her from falling.

“Say the word and I’ll get you out of here,” he said in her ear. “Your papa gave my gangster of a baby brother his first real job. Got through to him and got him off the streets. He hasn’t been high or in prison for two years. Two years. No way, I’m going to let you down.”

Nodding, Tanesha smiled. When she looked back, she saw Jeraine’s eyes scanning the crowd. Still hooded, his eyes moved in practiced motions. He was used to the noise, lights, and fuss of this kind of crowd. She continued toward him. Catching her movement, he looked in her direction and smiled. It was just a flash of a smile, something automatic, but Tanesha knew in that moment that he saw her. She smiled.

“You can leave me here,” Tanesha pointed to a free table. “My friend Tres will be here in a moment.”

“I’m not supposed to leave you alone,” the police officer said.

“I’ll stay with her,” Aden said. “She can join us.”

Aden pointed to a table just behind Jeraine and his posse. Jacob and Tres sat waiting for her.

“That okay with you?” the police officer asked.

“Yes sir.” Tanesha kissed the police officer’s cheek. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“You need anything, you come find me,” he said. “I can’t take you home. My wife wouldn’t like that much. But I won’t let you down.”

The man gave her a slight nod and disappeared into the crowd. Feeling someone watching her, she looked over to see Jeraine’s eyes. He gave her a quick smile before returning to his charade. Tanesha followed Aden to the table and settled in.

“Do you think he’ll ever remove his hand from Sandy’s breast?”Aden said in her ear.

“Probably not,” Tanesha said. “Would you?”

Aden laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 10:12 P.M. MDT

Heather stood up off Jeraine’s lap.

“Ok, here we go,” Blane said. “You ready?”

Nelson nodded. Heather said a few words to Jeraine and pointed toward the bathroom. Jeraine said something sexy and she shook her head. He laughed. Sandy got up and Ava followed them. They made a thigh bearing, tight skirted, stiletto walk to the bathroom. Jeraine turned around to talk to his former manager and the other men at the table. They said something about the women and Jeraine gave them a sly smile.

Blane glanced at Tanesha. She looked like she was going to be sick. Aden got up from the table to meet the women at the bathroom. Jacob nodded at Blane. Tres leaned over to say something to Tanesha. She nodded.

Jeraine stretched. His former agent said something and Jeraine looked annoyed. He sneered at the man. The agent nodded to the larger man at the table. He got up and walked to the bar.

“I need another round,” the man said to Blane.

“Yes sir,” Blane said.

“Hey, can you add a couple Red Bulls?” he said. “They’re for Jeraine.”

Blane moved to pour the Red Bull into glasses.

“Nah,” the man said. “He only drinks out of cans. Thinks they’re safer.”

The man sniffed his disapproval. Blane pointed to Nelson and the man went over to order the Red Bull. Nelson bent down and took out two Red Bull cans from the marked section of the refrigerator. He opened the cans and set them on the counter. The man gave Nelson an assessing look then reached in his pocket and took out four glass ampoules filled with a light gold liquid. He broke off the top of two at a time and carefully poured them into the Red Bull.

“What you looking at?” the man sneered at Nelson.

Nelson shook his head.

“Here,” the man gave Nelson the broken glass ampoules. “Put dat in yo garbage and go about yo business. This ain’t got nothin’ to do wit’ you, gay boy.”

Nodding, Nelson took the broken glass from the man and made a show of putting it in his trash.

“Here’s the rest of your order,” Blane held up a tray of drinks.

Nelson slipped the ampoules into an evidence bag tucked next to his trash bin. The man set the Red Bull cans down on the tray.

“It’s on the house,” the man said.

“Of course, sir,” Blane gave him his most effeminate smiled.

Shaking his head, the man gave him a look of disgust, picked up the tray, and walked back to the table. He was half way to the table when Blane began to laugh.

“How can you laugh?” Nelson asked under his breath.

“I don’t need to take on his hate,” Blane said. “Look at the man? He’s intentionally giving someone illegal drugs without their knowledge and he thinks I’m disgusting?”

Blane laughed. Nelson shook his head at Blane. His phone vibrated.

“They got that on video,” Nelson said.

“Good,” Blane said.

Blane and Nelson watched the man return to the table. He passed out the drinks to the posse and the former agent, and then gave Jeraine a Red Bull can. As if to make sure he drank it, the man stood over Jeraine. He made a joke as if the man was going to sit on his lap but he didn’t back away. Jeraine looked at Blane and put the Red Bull to his lips. For some reason, everyone at the table looked away at the same moment and Jeraine set the Red Bull can down next to his left ankle.

Blane chuckled.

“What was that?” Nelson asked.

“My cousin Jake has a way of… catching people’s attention,” Blane said.

Dressed as a cocktail waitress, Fran from Ava’s lab swooped by the table to pick up empty glasses. Jeraine set the Red Bull can on her tray. She chatted with the men for a moment before checking on another table. Jeraine picked up the other Red Bull can.

Heather waved from over by the bathroom. Jeraine gestured toward the women, got up, and walked away from the table.

As he passed the bar, the Denver Police swooped in. After all the fuss and worry of the last few hours, the arrests were over very quickly.  Heather went to Blane and they hugged. Aden lifted Sandy from the ground in a hug and kiss. And Seth led Ava away from the mess.

After depositing the Red Bull can with Nelson, Jeraine ran across the VIP lounge to Tanesha. He held his hands out to her and pulled her from his chair. After a brief hug, Bumpy whistled and waved for Jeraine to come up. They began a slow journey through the watching crowd toward the stage. They ran into Jeraine’s handcuffed former agent on the way.

“How could you do this to me?” the former agent said to Jeraine. “I gave you everything!”

“I didn’t do nothing,” Jeraine said. “I was too drugged to plan something like this.”

“I did it to you,” Tanesha’s finger poked his chest. “You fucked with the wrong girl. You better think again before you come after me and the ones I love again.”

“Jeraine! She’s…”

“I told you over and over again, you don’t fuck with Miss T,” Jeraine said.

“Misty?” the former agent shook his head. “There is no Misty!”

“I’m Miss T,” Tanesha said.

Jeraine put his arm around her and led her away. They continued toward the stage. Once there, Bumpy leaned down to them.

“You need to say something,” Bumpy said. “These people paid a lot of money to be here. They’re pretty freaked out.”

Jeraine kissed Tanesha’s cheek and hopped up to the stage. Seth said something in his ear. He gave Seth a ‘really’ look. Seth nodded.

“Ok folks,” Jeraine said. “We have a few issues that needed to be resolved. The Denver Police are going to take some folks out of here. Let’s give them some room. In the meantime, my friend Seth here, my father Bumpy Wilson and their band are going to entertain you. But not for too long.”

“I just learned that the Denver Police are allowing us to put up a big screen on the outside so the folks in line can watch. The sound is going to be broadcast on the radio so everyone can listen. These guys are going to play while it’s getting set it up. If you have family or friends, especially the younger folks who can’t get in to the clubs, tell them to come on down. When this fuss is cleared up, we’re going to play until close. And trust me, with these guys around? You never know who’s going to show up to play with us.”

The crowd cheered.

“I, 2, 3, 4…” Seth said and the band began to play.

Jeraine jumped down from the stage to stand by Tanesha.

“You wanna call your little friend Sissy and Noelle?” he asked.

“I’ll call Jill,” Tanesha nodded. “They’re waiting for me to call.”

“How…?”

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Tanesha said.

“Let’s get something to eat before this starts,” he said. “I’m starving.”

“With the girls?” Tanesha pointed to where Heather, Blane, Sandy and Aden waited for her.

“Sure,” Jeraine smiled.

“You’re buying?” Tanesha asked.

“I’m buying,” Jeraine said.

Smiling, Tanesha followed him out of the club.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 11:12 P.M. MDT

“So why didn’t you let go of Sandy’s breast?” Aden asked.

They were standing at the entrance of Dazzle restaurant waiting for the women. They’d just eaten and Jeraine had to get back to the club. Jeraine smiled at Aden.

“That is a nice breast,” Jeraine needled Aden.

Aden shifted uncomfortably. He glanced at Blane. Shaking his head, Blane shrugged.

“It was leaking,” Sandy punched Jeraine in the chest and he stepped back from Aden. “It started leaking in the car. He was covering for the moisture.”

“Leaking?” Aden raised his eyebrows at Jeraine.

“Never touched or played foul with Miss T’s girls,” Jeraine said. “Never will. Even I’m not that stupid.”

Aden smiled.

“You?” Jeraine asked.

“Not a chance,” Aden said.

The men laughed.

“What are they laughing at?” Tanesha asked Sandy.

“You don’t want to know,” Sandy said.

Tanesha and Heather walked passed the men. Sandy joined her friends.

“Jill’s waiting for us outside,” Sandy said.

Without looking at the men, the women walked out of the restaurant.

“See what I mean,” Jeraine said. “They’ve been like that since they were ten.”

Blane and Aden’s heads turned to look at Jeraine. He shook his head.

“Never harm nor foul the girlfriends,” Jeraine said. “That rule has kept me alive all these years.”

“Wise man,“Aden laughed and patted Jeraine’s back

Laughing, the men followed the women out of the restaurant.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday early-morning — 1:42 A.M. MDT 

The concert was incredible. Every Denver band showed up to play. Many of Seth’s friends from the Denver Symphony arrived. The music was loud, boisterous, and playful. Jeraine acted as master MC while Seth took over as conductor. The musicians and singers were having such a great time playing together that the crowd couldn’t help but enjoy themselves. The clubs owner Regis Christou told anyone who would listen that this was the best night he’d had as a club owner.

Tanesha spent her time with her girls. They laughed, danced with each other, and occasionally with their men. When Charlie, Nash, Teddie, Noelle, and Sissy arrived with Valerie, the small pack of ignored men went to hang outside to give the women time together. It had been a long time, a three weddings, a few surgeries, and two children ago since the women had been out. They were enjoying this chance to be together.

But the night was winding down. They’d already called last call. Unfulfilled from the night of music, the crowd inside and outside of the club chanted “Promises, promises, promises.” They wanted Jeraine to sing the song he’d written for Tanesha. As if he hadn’t planned it all a long, he acquiesced to the demanding crowd. They gave a rousing cheer.

Jeraine jumped down, found Tanesha, and herded her up to the stage. Just before she took the stage, Jill pressed something into Tanesha’s hand. She held up a  white T-shirt that said, “I am Miss T” in red on the front with a picture of Tanesha on the back. Her girls put on shirts that said, “I’m with Miss T” with the same picture on the back.

“Put it on,” Jeraine said.

Tanesha pulled the shirt over her head.

“As you know, there is no Misty,” Jeraine said. “At least not one I’ve met.”

The crowd fell silent.

“I want to introduce you to Miss T,” Jeraine said. “Tanesha.”

The crowd roared to life. Tanesha thought she was going to die of embarrassment on the spot. Her eyes cast around for something solid and found her father standing next to the stage with Sam Lipson. He nodded to her. Empowered by his presence, she raised her hand in a wave and the crowd cheered.

“You’re going to hear that I wrote this song for a movie,” Jeraine said. “Which I did. You’re going to hear that the song was stolen from my email account, which it was. But don’t ever doubt who was on my mind when I wrote this song.”

Jeraine pointed to Seth and the sad violin began the soulful prelude. By the time Jeraine sang the first line of the song, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Everyone knew what it was like to not to be the person they wanted to be. Everyone knew what it was like to hurt someone they loved. Men pulled their women close. Women clung to each other. As if they were at a soul revival, people’s sorrow and regret welled up to filled the club.  Looking out over the crowd from her perch on the stage, Tanesha was awed by the power of Jeraine’s music. She was so overcome that she could only stare.

When the violin played its last sorrowful note, Jeraine fell to his knees in front of her. Tanesha shook her head at him.

“Get up,” she said.

“Marry me,” he said.

“You know I can’t do that,” Tanesha said.

“Awwww,” went through the crowd.

He grinned. Jumping to his feet, he hugged her.

“Folks, Miss T is right,” Jeraine said. “She can’t marry me.”

“Tell them why,” Tanesha said.

“She already did when we were kids,” Jeraine said.

The crowd erupted in cheers and Jeraine hugged her.

“Stay clean one year,” Tanesha said in his ear. “And I’ll marry you again.”

“Folks, Miss T just told me that in one year’s time she and I are going to do it again,” Jeraine said. “You hold onto your ticket stubs. We’ll have the reception right here in one year’s time. You’re invited.”

The crowd cheered.

“Good night!”

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at  Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

Chapter 185

Saturday night — 8:45 P.M. MDT

“What do you mean you gave Schmidty permission to sell my song to the movie studio?” Jeraine asked.

Tanesha didn’t like his tone and gave him a sour look. She got up from the dining table of the Penthouse suite at the Burnsley Hotel where they were eating pizza with his parents. Sandy met her at the door to the kitchen and they laughed their way in to the kitchen. Heather looked up from the sofa and went into the kitchen to join them.

“Why are they laughing?” Jeraine asked.

“Because you are a fool,” Bumpy said. “I love you son, but…”

Bumpy shook his head.

“What did I do?” Jeraine asked. “I d’nt do nothing.”

“The problem isn’t what you did.” Ava leaned over to pick up a slice of pizza. “The problem is what you don’t understand.”

“What don’t I understand?” Jeraine asked.

“Your song was leaked to the radio station,” Ava said. “Which renewed your contract with your record company and your agent. Right?”

“Right,” Jeraine said.

“What happens if the song belongs to the movie company?” Ava asked.

Jeraine gave Ava a blank look.

“Tanesha?” Jeraine called. She stuck her head out of the kitchen. “What is this police woman saying?”

Tanesha nodded toward Bumpy.

“I see what you mean,” Bumpy said. “But that’s not brain damage. That’s general moronity. Most people grow out of it when they’re twelve or thirteen.”

Everyone laughed.

“This is getting unfunny,” Jeraine said.

“The song was a present to me, right?” Tanesha asked.

Jeraine nodded.

“I gave your present to me to Schmidty,” Tanesha said.

“You see how popular it is,” Jeraine said. “We could have had a number one…”

“Let me finish. In return for the song, I bought your freedom. To me, that’s worth more than anything in the world.”

Jeraine’s face flushed, his eyes welled with tears, and he hopped to his feet. He wrapped himself around her.

“He does get there,” Dionne smiled at them.

As if to accentuate the moment, Jeraine’s cell phone rang.

“Ok, it’s them again,” Ava gave the phone to Jeraine. “Heather? Sandy? Everyone knows what we’re doing?”

The women nodded. Keeping an arm around Tanesha, Jeraine took the phone from Ava.

“Yeah?” he said into the phone. He nuzzled Tanesha’s neck and made a point of loudly kissing her.

“Jer?” his former agent said. “That you?”

“Mmm,” Jeraine said into Tanesha’s neck.

Heather giggled.

“Kinda busy,” Jeraine said.

“We’ve been worried about you,” his former agent said. “You disappeared at dinner.”

He tickled Sandy and she laughed.

“I found something else to do,” Jeraine said. “You guys are interesting but a little honey is a lot more…”

“Jer…” Ava said.

“How many women do you have there?” his former agent asked.

“He wants to know how many women are here,” Jeraine imitated his former agent’s voice perfectly. The women laughed. Tanesha hung up the phone.

They stared at the phone until it rang again.

“What?” Jeraine’s voice was slurred but angry.

“Where are you?” his former agent asked.

“I don’ know,” Jeraine put the phone against his chest. “Where are we?”

On cue, Heather and Sandy laughed.

“My house,” Ava said.

Jeraine smirked at her and put the phone to his ear.

“Capital Hill someplace,” Jeraine said.

“We’ll come get you,” his former agent said.

“Nah,” Jeraine said. “Dis party’s almost over. The Church’s just a couple blocks from here.”

Jeraine hung up the phone and turned it off.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“Bumpy goes,” Ava said. “Seth’s at the club setting up.”

Bumpy got up from the table, kissed Dionne, and left the suite.

“Now, we wait just long enough to make them nervous,” Ava said.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 8:45 P.M. MDT 

Sissy got up from the couch in Jill and Jacob’s attic loft. She looked at the boys playing video games. Setting her book down, she walked over to where Valerie and Noelle were painting their fingernails at the kitchen bar. Trying to be nonchalant, she picked up one color and another until she found a sheer pink. She’d never colored her fingernails and felt a little intimidated by the movie star and Noelle’s weekly ritual of fingernails and gossip.

“In your face,” Nash yelled at the video game

Charlie and Teddy cheered.

“If you find a color, I’ll help,” Valerie looked up at Sissy. Sissy blushed.

“She’s never painted her nails,” Noelle said.

“I wondered,” Valerie said. “Would you like to?”

“Seems kinda pricey,” Sissy repeated what her mother had drilled into her.

“Lucky for you, it’s all paid for,” Valerie said.

“Plus, I have a bunch of colors,” Noelle said. “You can use my colors and they won’t cost anything.”

Sissy looked at Noelle and Valerie.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Valerie nodded toward a chair next to her. “I’ll show you how.”

Sissy sat down and Valerie pulled out a stool next to her. There was a sound in the nursery; they looked up to see Jill coming out. Jill went to Katy’s room, listened at the door, then came over.

“How are the kids?” Valerie asked.

“Asleep,” Jill said. “Mack kept climbing out of his crib. Crazy kid. Blane usually takes him for a run to put him to sleep but he didn’t have time tonight.”

“But he’s asleep now?” Sissy made a movement as if she was going to check on him.

“He’s asleep,” Jill said. “Rachel too. After all their running around today, Katy and Paddie are out.”

Jill picked up a nail polish color and sat down next to Noelle. Sissy sat back down in her chair. Valerie took her hands and looked at them.

“You have nice hands, Sissy,” Valerie said. “Long fingers.”

“The nails never grow,” Sissy said.

“This will help,” Valerie said.

Valerie began filing Sissy’s nails with an emery board. Sissy waited until enough time passed so her next question seemed casual.

“Did you see Sandy when she left?” Sissy asked.

“I thought she was beautiful,” Noelle said.

“Aden looked like he was going to eat her whole,” Charlie walked over to the plate of chocolate chip cookies. He took a bite, and still chewing he said, “She was super hot.”

“Super duper hot,” Noelle nodded.

“Sandy’s always been the sexy one of us,” Jill said. “I thought she looked gorgeous tonight. What did you think, Sissy?”

“I probably won’t look like that,” Sissy said.

“I don’t,” Valerie said. “I’m not curvy at all.”

“I don’t think I’ll be curvy,” Noelle said. “Nuala isn’t. Is your Mom?”

“Kind of,” Sissy said.

Valerie set down the emery board to look at Sissy.

“Why are you asking about Sandy?” Valerie asked.

“Oh…” Sissy looked at the movie star. Blushing, she was going to make a joke but she felt oddly compelled to answer Valerie’s question. “If I keep going like this, I might get curvy too.”

Valerie squeezed Sissy’s hands.

“I think you’ll be very beautiful,” Jill said. “I knew your Mom when she’d just met your Dad. She was lovely. I think living without your Dad really changed her.”

“Hmm,” Sissy said.

“What are you worried about?” Valerie asked.

“I won’t be a ballerina because I’m too… big,” Sissy’s voice dropped. Her face became a mask of shame and sadness. “You know, up here.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Valerie said. “I was really scared that I wouldn’t ever be an actress because I wasn’t very big up here. Everyone I knew had plastic surgery. You can ask Mike. Every single person we knew was sliced and diced into a different body.”

“But you didn’t do it?” Sissy’s voice was filled with wonder.

“Nope,” Valerie said. “I wanted to. Bad. But when I was a kid, my Mom wouldn’t let me. She told me that looking like me would always be my best asset. She was right.”

“I don’t want to look like me,” Sissy said.

“Me too,” Noelle said.

Valerie glanced at Noelle then looked at Jill. The women’s eyes held in silent confirmation. Valerie gave Jill a little nod and she nodded in agreement.

“I think every woman feels some of that, Sis,” Jill said. “We’re sold this image of what a woman looks like but we come in all of these different sizes.”

“And go through all of these phases,” Valerie said. “I know you read the article in that magazine about how ‘fat’ I’ve become. Fat? Seriously? I’m pregnant. The doctor still thinks I’m too thin.”

Valerie shook her head.

“I worried that Jacob wouldn’t like my body because I had Katy and I have some loose skin,” Jill said. “He didn’t even notice.”

“Oh,” Sissy said.

“We should talk to Sandy about it. She’s felt a lot of pressure ever since she was little about her looks,” Jill said. “I mean, even Katy feels it and she’s four. This kind of pressure is a kind of slavery where we shackle ourselves.”

“With the help of the media,” Valerie said. “And, to be honest, people like me. I look amazing in the new film but that’s because I was thirty pounds underweight, wore these push up bras, make up, wigs, special clothing, perfect lighting and a billion takes.  I mean, it took almost two hours to just get dressed! If there was a hair out of place, four people ran to fix it.”

“That’s not real life,” Jill said.

“And who would do all of that every day?” Valerie shook her head. “I wouldn’t.”

“You don’t,” Noelle said.

“No I don’t,” Valerie said. “I hope to God I have better things to do with my time than worry about my hair!”

Valerie gave a little chuckle.

“Of course, I don’t worry about my hair because…”

“You have Sandy!” Noelle laughed.

“Right,” Valerie said. “Does this help at all?”

“I don’t want to be a slave,” Sissy nodded. “I want to be a prima ballerina. But that does mean I have to look a certain way.”

“But you, Sissy, you have to look a certain way,” Valerie’s hand cupped Sissy’s chin and gave it a little shake. “Not robo-Sissy.”

Noelle squealed with laughter at ‘robo-Sissy.’ The boys looked up from their game to see what was going on.

“Sissy wants to be a robot!” Noelle laughed.

“I want to be a ballerina!” Sissy said.

“Ballerina-robot!” Noelle laughed.

The girls collapsed into giggles. Shaking their heads, Valerie and Jill shared a look and laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 8:45 P.M. MDT

“Hey, I’m Blane Lipson.” He nodded to the young man behind the bar at the Church nightclub. “I think I’m supposed to join you?”

“Nelson,” Ava’s bodybuilding colleague held out his hand for Blane to shake. He lifted the bar pass-through. “Come on back. Have you tended bar before?”

“Sure,” Blane said. “You?”

“Never.” Nelson smiled at Blane.

“I guess that’s why I’m here,” Blane chuckled. “Why don’t you take the taps and bottles and I’ll take the mixed drinks.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Nelson said. “We need to create a chain of evidence. Seth wanted us to handle this so it didn’t get too big, but…”

“How did you get through college?” Blane looked around the small bar for supplies. “I thought everyone tended bar.”

“My parents,” Nelson said. “You?”

“Fresh out of parents.” Blane took a knife and started to make quick work of the limes. He made quick work of the limes. “I tended bar and cooked.”

“You have amazing knife skills,” Nelson said.

“Chef,” Blane said.

“I thought you were some construction guy,” Nelson said. “That’s what Ava said.”

“I was a Chef,” Blane said. “Won a couple awards. Now I work at Lipson Construction with Sam and Jake.”

“Why did you stop?” Nelson stood near Blane watching him set up the bar. “Cooking, I mean.”

Blane squinted at Nelson.

“Sorry, I’m nosey,” Nelson said.

“Why don’t you get the glasses down?” Blane said. “Can you pour beer?”

“Um…” Nelson said.

“Here,” Blane set the knife and fruit on the cutting board. He took down a glass and showed Nelson how to pour beer. “Now try a few.”

“But that’s wasting it,” Nelson said.

“I think they’d rather you waste it than give yourself away,” Blane said.

“Good point.”

Happy that he had something to do, Nelson practiced his pouring technique while Blane set up the bar. When he looked up, Blane had the bar ready to go.

“How did you get roped into this?” Nelson asked.

“My wife, Heather, is with Jeraine tonight,” Blane said. “One of her friends is with our baby, so I thought it might be fun.”

“Your wife?” Nelson asked. “But you’re…”

“You know, this conversation never ends very well,” Blane said. “Here are the facts, nosey man, I’m married to a woman and we have a child. I’m also gay. She’s straight. She knows I’m gay. I don’t date. She doesn’t date. Not because we can’t, but because we’re both looking for the right thing. As you can imagine, that’s hard to find. In the meantime, we’re very happy.”

Nelson nodded. Blane pointed to a man standing at the counter. Nelson poured him a beer and took his money. He walked Blane through the register. He gave the man the beer and even received a tip. Nelson smiled.

“I can do this,” Nelson said.

“Yes, you can,” Blane said. “Good job.”

Blane made a few drinks and Nelson continued to pour beer. They had worked steadily for a half hour when Nelson’s cell phone vibrated.

“Ok, his people are here,” Nelson said. “Do you see them?”

“Got it.”

Blane filled a large order for Jeraine’s former agent. Nodding, he stepped back when the agent left the bar and bumped into Nelson.

“For what it’s worth, I think what you have is kind of neat. I mean, it’s not normal, but it suits you,” Nelson said. “When you were talking I remembered that we’ve met before. Ava and I, our team, we were tested to see if we could help you out with a liver.”

“Thanks,” Blane said.

“Do you still need one?” Nelson asked.

Blane nodded.

“Sucks,” Nelson said.

“Just life,” Blane said.

“HIV too?”

Blane nodded.

“Me too,” Nelson said.

For the first time, Blane actually looked at Nelson. He was about Blane’s age, muscular, with an air of being nerdy smart. He looked familiar but something was missing.

“Glasses?”

“Lasik,” Nelson smiled.

“You’re a friend of Enrique’s.”

“Enrique doesn’t have friends,” Nelson said. “You know that better than anyone.”

Blane nodded.

“I always liked you,” Nelson said. “What he did was horrible. I didn’t know what to do and…”

“It’s over and for the best,” Blane said. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”

Nelson nodded. A woman came to the small bar and asked for a beer. Nelson went to help her. He could feel Blane watching him. Suddenly, the bar was crowed with people calling drinks. When Blane stepped forward to help the customers, the tension between them eased. When Nelson looked up, Blane smiled at him. They heard a cheer in the club at the same time Nelson’s phone vibrated.

“They’re here,” Nelson said.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 9:25 P.M. MDT

“I don’t know, Rodney,” Tanesha said. “I think you should take me home.”

Nodding, Rodney Smith watched the entrance of the Church. Tanesha knew him well enough to know that he was slow to respond. She waited. He sighed.

“I think you have to take a chance,” Rodney said. “You’re not fragile or weak. You’re the strongest and smartest person I’ve ever met.”

“Besides you?” Tanesha smiled.

“You’re tougher than me,” Rodney said.

They watched the people go in and out of the night club in silence.

“You should take me home,” Tanesha said.

“I will,” Rodney said. “If you answer me one question.”

“What?”

“Are you going to be a slave to the past? Or take a chance today?”

Tanesha watched all of the people milling around the night club. There were black people and white people, fat people and skinny, young people and old people. Certainly, the line around the block wasn’t any shorter. Tanesha looked down at her hands. Minutes passed into a half hour of silence. Tanesha sighed. Leaning over, she kissed Rodney’s cheek.

“Thanks Dad,” Tanesha said and stepped out of the car.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week…

~~~~~~~~CIMARRON, Denver Cereal Volume 4  will by here by January, 2012! ~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

Chapter 184

Saturday evening — 7:45 P.M.

“Tanesha?” Jeraine called from the door to the Penthouse.

He walked into the Penthouse.

“Tanesha?”

He was having dinner with the record executives when the restaurant ahd played the song, his song for Tanesha. The song was his present and his one hope to make up for everything that happened. The executives cheered each other and him for his “brilliant move” of leaking the song.

But he didn’t leak the song.

His eyes had shifted across the faces of the men he had thought were his friends until they’d settled on his ex-agent. The man’s face was a mask of arrogance and anger. This song automatically renewed Jeraine’s contract with the record company. The agent had made at least a hundred thousand by hacking his email.

And Jeraine was his slave again.

Jeraine excused himself from the table and slipped into the bathroom. He’d tried to call Tanesha. He’d tried to call Schmidty. He got only voicemail. When a crowd of men came in the bathroom, he slipped out and took a taxi home.

“Tanesha?”

Everywhere he looked, he saw signs that she’d moved out. He rubbed his forehead. Tanesha had left him. Again.

He couldn’t blame her. He’d leave him too.

He felt high. No, he felt really high. It was all he could do to keep from losing himself in the dozen or more half naked woman pressed upon him. But he hadn’t done a thing. “This too shall pass.” His Dad told him to repeat it in his head. And it worked. He hadn’t strayed even a little bit.

Not a kiss.

Not a feel, a rub, a squeeze…

And certainly not…

“Tanesha?”

Feeling dizzy, he stopped at the kitchen for a glass of water. Her tea was still here. That meant she was at her Gran’s house. Her Gran and Miss T drank the same tea. If Miss T left without her tea, she was at her Gran’s. He’d go there.

Smiling, he poured a glass of water and his head began to spin. The glass slipped from his hand and shattered in the sink. The palms of his hands caught on the edge of the stainless sink to keep him from falling face first into the jagged glass.

He remembered this feeling. His eyes blurred. His head felt woozy. Hearing footsteps, he tried to turn, slipped, and crumpled to the ground.

“Tanesha?”

“Not quite.”

As Jeraine’s eyes sagged, he saw a pair of blue jean clad legs walk toward him.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 7:45 P.M.

“I guess I don’t really understand it,” Tanesha said. “There are a billion and one people who would do anything to be famous.”

Setting her wine glass down, Tanesha looked around the dinner table. Her girls, Jill, Heather and Sandy were sitting with their men, Jacob, Blane and Aden. Valerie sat on Tanesha’s right with Mike on her other side. Jill’s grandfather, Otis, sat between Mike and Angelika. Sam sat at the head of the table with Delphie at his right. The kids had already lost patience with the adults’ extended dinner and went upstairs to play video games in Sandy and Aden’s apartment. Ava, Seth and Bumpy came in late so they squeezed in on the end across from her.

“True,” Bumpy said. “They can easily replace Jeraine with a younger model.”

“Why go through all of this?” Tanesha asked.

“It’s confusing,” Valerie said. “When I think of just me… I mean, I worked on the soap opera for a long time and even did a few movies, but I’m not anywhere near as famous as Jeraine. No I don’t mean famous, well I’m not as famous as Jeraine, but I mean…”

“Bankable,” Seth said. “Put in a small amount of money and get a lot of money back.”

“Right,” Otis, Jill’s grandfather, said. “Backing talent? Artists? Even painters? It’s like gambling. You have to spend money on a thousand to hit it big with one. And once one person hits big? You want to get every possible dime from that person to make up for the other thousand you lost money on.”

“I’m not anywhere near that level, “ Valerie held her hand out to Seth and Bumpy. “But these guys? Jeraine? They’re bankable.”

“Most people work until both the fans and the record company are done with them,” Bumpy said. “To leave in the middle? Doesn’t happen.”

“Jeraine was set to take a step up in his career,” Seth said. “But he decided to clean up his act. He was ready to walk away when he was set up for his fan’s suicide. After a couple years in prison, he could have come out on top. Would have happened, but I came along.”

“It’s hard to understand,” Valerie said. “Confusing. But he gave it all up to be with you, Tanesha.”

“And himself,” Seth said. “That time in solitary reminded him of who he was.”

“Even as a young child, Jer never wanted a big life,” Bumpy said. “All the boy cared about was his Momma, his sister, me, and eventually Tanesha. La Tonya? She wanted fancy clothes, a big car, and a nicer house. But Jeraine was happy where he was planted. I mean, he went a little nuts when he was a teenager…”

“Called himself Jermaine,” Delphie said.

“Jermaine,” Bumpy shook his head. “Like he was some Jackson. Now that’s crazy.”

“Everyone goes a little nuts when they’re a teenager,” Sam said.

“I didn’t,” Tanesha said.

“How could you?” Sandy asked. “You just had you.”

“And us,” Heather said.

Tanesha took Heather and Jill’s offered hands. Her eyes caught Sandy’s. She had her girls. Tanesha’s phone rang.

“Hey, I’ve got him,” Tres Sierra said. “He’s completely out. Passed out in the kitchen. His Mom’s here taking blood so they’ll have it. Isn’t his Dad a doctor?”

“He’s right here,” Tanesha said.

“You should have him come over,” Tres said. “I don’t like the way he looks.”

Tanesha nodded to Bumpy.

“You know,” Tres said. “I think Jill was right. I don’t think he screwed those women.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t smell like women,” Tres said. “You know what I mean.”

“Hrmpf,” Tanesha said. “We’ll see.”

“I thought you should know,” Tres said. “Anyway, I’ll be in touch. You’ll send his Dad?”

“I will,” Tanesha said. “Thanks.”

“You’d do it for me,” Tres said and hung up.

“You were right, Jacob,” Tanesha said. “He went to the Penthouse. Tres says he’s passed out. He asked if Bumpy could come look at him. I guess he doesn’t look good.”

Bumpy got up from his seat.

“With the prison time, he’s been clean almost a year,” Seth said. “They probably didn’t consider that.”

Bumpy nodded good-bye to everyone and left the Castle.

“Looks like everything’s in motion,” Jill gave a little clap.

“Come on, Ava, Heather, let’s get dressed,” Sandy said.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 6:45 P.M. PDT ( 7:45 P.M. MDT )

Hollywood, California

“Yes sir,” Schmidty said. “I realize it’s confusing.”

He gave the lawyer for Jeraine’s record company his best naïve smile. The lawyer for the movie studio had to look away to keep from laughing. Two of the film’s executive-producers leaned on the polished furniture. The third stood near the windows. The film’s Director sat next to Schmidty.

“But the bottom line is that the song doesn’t belong to Jeraine,” Schmidty said.

“Jeraine was hired by O’Malley to help him create a lead song for the film,” the movie studio lawyer said. “BumpyWilson, you know who he is?”

The lawyer for the record company scowled.

“You can hear his signature back beat on the song,” the lawyer for the music studio said.

“O’Malley belongs to me,” the Director said. “I won’t do a film without him.”

“We paid a fortune for him,” the Executive Producer leaning on the file cabinet behind Schmidty said.

“We paid three fortunes for him,” a strong New York accented voice came from the only woman in the room, the executive-producer standing by the windows. “If he died tomorrow, heaven forbid, he would already have been worth every penny.”

“Listen to the song! That’s my orchestra,” the Director said. “This song is brilliant. You better believe O’Malley’s worth every penny and then some.”

“Jeraine’s voice is on the song,” the lawyer for the studio said. “We contractually own his voice. The rest of this is… side business and royalty issues. We couldn’t be happier you’ve decided to use our song for your movie.”

“Jeraine’s voice is like frim fram sauce or shifafa,” Schmidty said. Seeing the lawyers confused face, he shook his head at his ignorance. “Look it up.”

“He means that Jeraine’s voice is a place holder for our actors,” the movie studio lawyer said. “Frim Fram Sauce was an unfinished song that Nat King Cole made famous. Frim Fram, shifafa, oss, and fey were rhyming words the song writer used to hold the place until he found better words. They needed a song to complete the album so the song was recorded. That’s what happened here.”

“Blame Jeraine,” the lawyer said. “The boy has no boundaries. Have you seen him with women? He leaked the song. Take up your beef with him. I’m not sure why this conversation involves us.”

“The Denver Police crime lab link the hacking of Jeraine Wilson’s email box to employees working in this building. Employees of this company,” the executive producer near the window said. “Denver Police are waiting for Jeraine to identify the men before they arrest them. You might want to call your colleagues in Denver so they have criminal representation.”

“Our people can be a little overzealous,” the lawyer for the record company said. “Especially prior to a live performance.”

“You asked how this conversation involves you,” Schmidty said. “Let’s be clear. Your company stole the movie studio’s property in order to re-sign my artist. You own my artists voice, but you don’t own his work.”

“I own his work,” the Director growled. “He works for me. And you stole from me!”

The corner of Schmidty’s mouth lifted. When he’d contacted the Director, he’d told him he would be able to pull this off. The Director had been a child actor. He understood exactly what Jeraine was going through. It wasn’t until this moment that the Director’s acting skills became apparent.

“I’d like to see those contracts,” the lawyer for the record company.

“I thought you’d say that,” Schmidty said. “Is electronic all right?”

The lawyer for the record company blinked at Schmidty. Schmidty gave him another sweet smile.

“Sure,” the lawyer for the record company said.

“Tell you what,” Schmidty opened his laptop. “How ‘bout I email them to you?”

“I still own Jeraine,” the lawyer for the record company said.

“Actually,” the movie studio lawyer said. “You obtained the song illegally…”

“My song,” the Director’s head jerked to look at the movie studio’s lawyer. He pointed at the lawyer for the record studio. “He stole MY SONG!”

“Yes,” the movie studio’s lawyer sounded like he was speaking to a child. “He did.”

“I own everything O’Malley creates,” the Director said. “Everything. That means I own everything Bumpy and Jeraine create.”

“Different contracts,” Schmidty said.

“We only care about what our talent creates,” the woman near the windows said. “And they created this song.”

“Which means your contract with Jeraine expired,” Schmidty said.

“We’d happily take you to court over this,” the executive-producer who hadn’t spoken yet said. “But it sounds like you’ll have plenty to do defending your employees.”

“They don’t take cyber crime lightly in Denver,” Schmidty said. “And this is a slam dunk – motive, opportunity, the whole nine.”

Schmidty sat a little straighter. Since he worked with Seth, he felt like he was 1:1000^th cop.

“We’ll file for copyright infringement, of course,” the movie studio lawyer said.

“At the very least!” the Director said. “We should file for emotional duress and…”

“What is it you’d like me to do?” the record company’s lawyer asked.

“Retract the song,” the movie studio’s lawyer said.

“Let people know there was some confusion and that the song is for our movie,” the executive-producer sitting behind Seth said.

“Officially release Jeraine from his contract,” Schmidty said.

“Or?”

“We’ll file for copyright infringement,” the movie studio’s lawyer said.

“Theft of intellectual property,” the executive producer near the windows said. “Harassment of our talent. We’ll request punitive damages for slowing production of the film due to your employees… what was the word he used?’

“Overzealous,” the executive producer sitting next to the door said.

“Yes, over-zealousness,” the woman’s harshN ew York accent accentuated every syllable.

“And emotional duress,” the Director said. “I spoke with O’Malley. He’s so upset about this he’s talking about needing time to recover.”

“We pay for the Orchestra and the space whether they work or not,” the executive producer said. “We’ll need reimbursement for that too.”

“We’ll consider it,” the record company’s lawyer said.

His voice was neutral but the tension in the room remained high. Standing, Schmidty held out his hand for the lawyer to shake. The lawyer just looked at his hand. Schmidty chuckled.

“We’ll see ourselves out,” the movie studio’s lawyer said.

They filed out of the office leaving the record studio’s lawyer at his desk. They were in the elevator before Schmidty started to laugh.

“Emotional duress?” Schmidty laughed.

“I’m sensitive,” the Director laughed.

Everyone laughed.

“I’ll tell you James Schmidt the Fifth,” the executive-producer from New York said. “You have balls of steel. I don’t think even your father could have pulled that off. Do you have the contracts?”

“I will,” Schmidty shook his head.

“We have our song, right?” the Director asked.

“If this works, it’s all yours,” Schmidty said.

The movie people clapped.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday night — 8:15 P.M. MDT

Lying naked in bed, Jeraine woke up with a start. His eyes scanned the room until he saw his mother sitting next to him on the bed. He tried to sit up.

“Slowly,” Dionne put her hand on his chest and pushed him back to the bed. “You’ve had a rough night.”

“Momma,” Jeraine said. “I’m still high.”

“You’re going to be for a while,” Bumpy towered over the bed.

“How Daddy?” Jeraine asked. “I didn’t do anything!”

“We think they gave you GHB in that Red Bull crap you’re forever drinking,” Bumpy said. “Or that’s what Seth said. We’re going to see if we can get some later on to test it.”

“G,” Jeraine said. “That’s why I black out.”

“Probably,” Bumpy said. “We’ll have to run some scans next week to see if you have brain damage. Miss T says you’re a little slow at processing new thoughts.”

“GHB, damn,” Jeraine said. “That’s why I want the women.”

“That and you’re a horny bastard,” Tanesha said.

“Miss T?” Jeraine looked at his mother for confirmation. “She’s here?”

Tanesha sat down on the bed across from Dionne. He rolled over to look at her. His hand stroked her face.

“I been lookin’ for you everywhere,” Jeraine said.

Tanesha smiled.

“Where are we?”

“You’re in a suite at the Burnsley,” Dionne said.

“We’ve pumped your stomach,” Bumpy said. “And did our best to clean you up. When did you get all those damned tattoos, son? You look like  prize Stock Show bull with everyone’s brand all up and down your backside.”

“Bumpy, leave the boy alone,” Dionne said.

“He looks like a fool,” Bumpy said.

“We’ll leave you,” Dionne said. “You have a half hour or so before you have to go.”

“Go where?” Jeraine said. “Momma, I feel like crap.”

“Doesn’t matter, son,” Bumpy said. “Your fans are waiting for you. They’ve been waiting all day.”

“Plus, we want to catch the guys that did this to you,” Tanesha nodded to him. “To us.”

“Come on, old man,” Dionne said. “Let’s let them have a little bit of a happy ending before the show starts.”

She kissed Jeraine’s cheek. Bumpy put his arm around her and they left the room.

“I looked everywhere for you,” Jeraine said.

“You passed out at the first place you looked,” Tanesha said.

“Yes, but only after I knew where you were,” Jeraine said. “You went to your Gran’s.”

Tanesha smiled.

“Who’s the good looking Mexican?” Jeraine asked.

“Tres,” Tanesha said.

“Damn, you should get with him,” Jeraine said.

“I’m in love with someone else,” Tanesha said.

“Anyone I know,” Jeraine said.

“I hope so.”

Jeraine pulled her to him and she laughed.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER 183

Saturday afternoon — 4:15 P.M.

“You seem happy today,” Sandy said.

Standing behind Sissy at a station in her salon, Sandy ran a comb through Sissy’s long hair. Noelle was sitting behind them with aluminum foils in her hair. Charlie sat at the station next to them with a cloud of warm, eucalyptus-drenched towels over his face. Teddy and Nash were playing video games while they waited their turn. Rachel was sound asleep in her crib in the back.

“I had a good day,” Sissy said. “Don’t tell anyone but it’s actually kind of nice not to be dancing all the time.”

Sandy smiled.

“You won’t tell will you? I don’t want them to think I’m not committed,” Sissy said. “It’s just nice to take a break.”

“Everyone needs a break now and then,” Sandy said. “What are we doing with your hair? A trim, for sure.”

Sandy held up an inch of the end of Sissy’s hair.

“How long has it been?” Sandy asked.

“Since the beginning of the summer,” Sissy said.

“What have you been doing to your hair?” Sandy asked.

“It’s the heat. Blow drying. Curling,” Sissy said. “That’s what you used to say.”

“The life of a ballerina is fraught with split ends,” Sandy said.

Sissy laughed.

“Anything else?” Sandy asked. “Something pretty for school?”

“What did Noelle get?” Sissy asked.

“Pink,” Sandy said. “Along the back. But you’re going to high school.”

“I want pink too,” Sissy said. “But not all of it.”

“Just underneath?” Sandy asked.

“So you can see it like a peppermint candy when I put it up in a bun,” Sissy said.

“What will Ivan say?” Sandy asked.

“I don’t know,” Sissy said. “Mrs. Anjelika is mad at Ivan. She doesn’t want me to dance with him anymore.”

“She told me,” Sandy said. “I wanted to ask you about it.”

“Why me?”

“Because it’s really up to you,” Sandy said. “It’s your career, your time, your dancing.”

“Oh,” Sissy said.

“Why don’t you think about it while we get your hair washed?” Sandy asked. Sandy nodded to her assistant. “Can you give her the deep conditioning treatment? Her hair is pretty dry.”

Sandy’s assistant took Sissy to the back to wash her hair and Sandy moved over to Charlie.

“How’s the soak going?” Sandy asked.

“Why does my face hurt?” Charlie asked.

“Dad was pretty hairy,” Sandy said. “I don’t know about Patty’s Dad but I bet he was too. You’re going to have a full beard in a few years.”

“But why does it hurt?”

“Just the hair going through the skin,” Sandy said. “The heat helps. Shaving helps. You’ll get through it.”

“Gives me pimples,” Charlie said. “I hate that.”

“You’re doing great,” Sandy said. “The products we’re using are helping. The treatments are helping. You can barely tell. What do we want to do with your hair?”

Charlie didn’t say anything.

“If you don’t say anything I’ll cut it all off.” Sandy flipped through his mop of shoulder length hair. Charlie didn’t say anything. “Ok, but don’t be mad later.”

Working fast, Sandy trimmed the sides down to his scalp to expose his rich chestnut hair color. She left the top front about two inches long and layered it back until it was close to his head. Looking up, she saw her assistant come back with Sissy. She nodded her assistant toward the station next to her.

“Wow,” Sissy said when she saw Charlie’s hair.

Unwilling to leave Charlie alone, Sandy pointed her assistant to the blonde highlights left over from Noelle’s hair. Sandy put the rest of the blonde dye through the top of Charlie’s head.

“Five minutes,” she said to her assistant.

“Got it,” the woman smiled.

Sandy squeezed Charlie’s shoulder and shifted toward Sissy. Charlie grabbed her hand and pointed. His friend Tink was walking toward the salon.

“Do you mind?” Charlie asked. “She’s looking for a job and her hair’s like a rat’s nest. She…”

“I’m glad she’s here,” Sandy said. “Noelle?”

Noelle looked up at her with gossip-magazine numbed eyes.

“Can you let Tink in?”

Noelle looked at the door.

“Now?” Sandy asked.

“Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something.” Noelle got up and jogged over to the door. ”You know the Valerie Lipson they talk about in this magazine isn’t anything like Mike’s wife. Do you think they’re the same person? Hi Tink.”

“They may as well be two different people! Those magazines are filled with lies that only stupid people and little girls believe,” Charlie said. “Hey Tink.”

“I’m not a little girl,” Noelle said. “I don’t believe them.”

“It’s okay?” Tink asked.

“Of course,” Sandy said. “Do you mind waiting?”

Tink shook her head.

“You can sit by me,” Noelle said. “Oooh! I like this song! Turn it up!”

Noelle ran over to turn up the music.

“I promised you…” Noelle and Sissy sang together, “I promised you…”

Sandy put her hands on Sissy’s shoulders.

“I can’t cut your hair if you wiggle,” Sandy said. To her assistant, she said, “I need the same pink for Sissy.”

“You bet,” her assistant smiled.

“Is this too much?” Sandy asked.

“I love family day,” her assistant said.

Smiling, Sandy started cutting Sissy’s hair. The song Noelle loved permeated the salon. A man crooned about making all these promises to the woman he loved and breaking every one of them. Sandy smiled at Noelle and Sissy’s teenage resonance with the songwriter’s pain. Then she heard:

“Jer? Whatcha doin’ out here?” in Tanesha’s voice. Stunned, she stopped cutting.

“Nothing,” the man said and the song was over.

Sandy walked over to the stereo and turned it down.

“What is that song?” Sandy asked.

“It’s a new song from Jeraine,” Sissy said. “You know Auntie Tanesha’s boyfriend?”

“I know who he is,” Sandy said.

“They’re saying it was leaked to the radio station,” Charlie said. “But he has a concert tonight. I heard it wasn’t sold out until they leaked it locally. Just another bs ploy to get attention.”

“Did you hear him at the radio station?” Noelle asked. “They asked him about the song and he said, ‘What new song?’ I don’t think he knew.”

“Yeah, if I was trying to pump my fame, I’d say the same thing,” Charlie said.

Angry, Sissy spun her chair toward Charlie and the argument began. Noelle and Sissy believed in poor Jeraine. Charlie thought he was a fame whore. Nash and Teddy came from the back to join in. Hearing her siblings voices, Rachel gave a rousing scream.

Sandy went to the back of the salon to get Rachel and her phone.  With Rachel crying in one arm, Sandy dialed Tanesha. Her phone clicked over to voice mail.

“I know you’re hiding out today,” Sandy said. “But you’ve got to hear this song. Someone’s trying to screw you. Love you, T. Call me back.”

Sandy heard the salon door close and the kids stop arguing. Peeking out, she saw Aden standing in the doorway. His presence put a quick end to their argument. She went out to give him Rachel and a kiss.

“Ok, Sis,” Sandy said. “Let’s get this done.”

For the next few hours, Sandy worked on the kids hair. She was just finishing Aden’s shave when she realized she hadn’t heard back from Tanesha. She checked her phone. Nothing.

Tanesha was out of touch. Sandy made a quick call to Heather who confirmed that Tanesha had turned off her phone today to avoid Jeraine. Heather agreed to go to Tanesha’s Gran’s house and to call Jill.

Something was definitely up and her dear friend Tanesha was smack dab in the middle of it.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday evening — 6:15 P.M.

“Why do you watch that trash?” Bumpy asked his wife, Dionne.

He stood behind the couch. Dionne looked up from the evening news.

“I’m waiting to see your son,” Dionne said. “Don’t be such an ass. You know you want to see him really do this – clean, sober, saying good-bye to all the toxic in his life.”

Bumpy scowled at her. She patted the couch next to her. He gave her a hard look. She patted the couch and he came around to sit down.

“There he is,” Dionne grabbed the remote control and turned up the volume.

“He’s high,” Bumpy got up from the couch. “He’s really high. And look at the women… I can’t watch this.”

“Don’t you dare go anywhere,” Dionne said. “You know what he said.”

“He’s an addict,” Bumpy said. “He’s back to the same old bullshit.”

“Do you really not remember what happened?” Dionne jumped up to stand in front of him. A small woman next to his massive frame, she gave no ground. “To us?”

“What are you talking about?” Bumpy’s voice was hard and dismissive.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Dionne said.

“That was different,” Bumpy said. “I wanted to get out of the life. I wanted to be with you and create this life. Haven’t I done that?”

“And what did the record company want?” Dionne asked.

Bumpy looked down at Dionne.

“And what happened?”

“We lost the baby,” Bumpy said.

“Why did I lose our son?” Dionne asked.

“Because of them,” Bumpy said. “I had to finish the last three months of my contract. We couldn’t afford to get out of it.”

“And?”

“I got high and…” Bumpy said.

“And?”

Bumpy looked away from her. She tugged on his shirt and he looked down at her.

“That was different,” Bumpy said.

“Why?” Dionne asked. “They slipped you hard drugs. They lied to me and told me you wanted to see me. And what happened?”

“You saw me with a bunch of women,” Bumpy said. “You got so upset that you lost the baby.”

“They blamed me when you wanted to change your life,” Dionne said. “They did everything to break us up.”

“That didn’t happen,” Bumpy said.

“It’s happening to your son right this very instant,” Dionne said. “Your living son will lose his life today if we don’t do something. The only thing he cares about is Tanesha. She’s the only thing that keeps him going. He will lose her today if we don’t do something.”

“Did you hear the song?” Bumpy asked.

“What song?” Dionne asked.

“Our son wrote a song he told me and Seth was for Tanesha,” Bumpy said. “We worked our butts off and…”

“It’s playing on the radio?” Dionne asked.

“He must have leaked it.”

“Oh grow up,” Dionne said. “You know exactly what happened. Someone stole it and now he’s high. Someone did this to our son specifically to destroy his life with Tanesha. You know that.”

He gave her a curt nod.

“What are you going to do about it?”

~~~~~~~~

Saturday evening — 6:35 P.M.

“I’ve been trying to get you for hours.” Seth gripped the phone as he limped back and forth across his living room. Bumpy sat on the couch watching Seth pass in front of him. Ava tried to get him to sit down, but he was too angry to stop pacing.

“Sorry about that,” Schmidty said. “I turned off my phone when we got to the airport.”

“How is Lizzie?” Seth asked.

“Tired,” Schmidty said. “We just got settled at the house. I think she’s relieved to be here. Thanks for suggesting it and making it available.”

“I’m glad things are working out,” Seth said. “Colin and Julie took Connor home right after you left. They’re in baby bliss.”

“I’m glad. I’ll tell Lizzie. She’ll be happy,” Schmidty said. “Listen, you called five times. I thought I’d call you rather than listen to the messages.”

“No problem,” Seth said.

“What’s up?” Schmidty asked.

“Remember that song Bumpy and I were helping Jeraine with?”

“The one for Tanesha?” Schmidty asked.

“That one,” Seth said. “It was leaked it to the radio station.”

“Oh shit,” Schmidty said.

“My buddy at DPD cyber crime says someone hacked Jeraine’s email box,” Seth said. “Said they worked on it for almost two days before they got in. They’ve been able to track the IP address, whatever that is.”

“Where?”

“Last management team. You know the one connected with the record company.”

“He’s sure?”

“He’s sure,” Seth said. “The song’s gone viral. Ava’s found three videos on YouTube.”

“Must be a great song,” Schmidty said.

“It’s very touching,” Seth said.

“I’ll call the lawyers.”

“I don’t mean to be an old fart,” Seth said. “But are you up for this? Should we call your Dad?”

“I live for this kind of thing, Seth,” Schmidty said. “Seriously. Great fun. It’s why I went to law school. Leave it to me.”

“You remember the studio…”

“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten that the studio owns everything you work on this month,” Schmidty said.

“I used the orchestra,” Seth said.

“That’s even better.”

“It is?”

“Leave it to me, Seth,” Schmidty said. “No one fucks with my artists.”

“No one fucks with your artists,” Seth repeated slowly.

“Don’t worry old man,” Schmidty chuckled. “Give me a couple hours. What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure,” Seth said.

“I have a couple messages from Bumpy,” Schmidty said. “Maybe you should talk to him.”

“He’s here,” Seth said.

“Any idea where Jeraine is now?”

“He’s having dinner with the record execs,” Seth said. “He’s due at the club in a couple hours. And Schmidty?”

“Yeah?”

“He’s high,” Seth said. “He told me this thing when he was in prison. I thought it was just an excuse, you know, an addict’s lie.”

“Anything we can use?”

“He told me that he’d tried to get clean a few times,” Seth said. “He’d clean up, stop using, stop the women, then bam as soon as he was touring again it would start again. I said something about being an addict or whatever. He said it wasn’t like that. He never remembered drinking or getting high. That’s what he said happened the night the girl died. He was black out high and had no memory of getting that way.”

“Yeah but if he was black out…”

“Trust me, Schmidty, when you wind up in a black out, you know the road you took to get there. You remember the starting the party,” Seth said. “He had no idea how he got so high. He said it happened a lot. He’d just suddenly be high. When he’s high, he wants women. That’s how he decided to get rid of his entourage. This stuff only happened when they were around.”

“And he’s high now?”

“He looks high,” Seth said.

“He’s high,” Bumpy yelled in the background.

“Any ideas how that happened?” Schmidty asked.

“A few.”

“Well, don’t do anything crazy,” Schmidty said. “I’ll be in touch.”

Schmidty clicked off the telephone call.

“So?” Bumpy asked.

“He says he’s going to take care of it,” Seth said.

“He’s a child,” Bumpy said.

“Let’s give him a chance,” Seth said. “Doesn’t Regis still own the Church?”

“Far as I know,” Bumpy said. “I’ll call him.”

“Schmidty said we shouldn’t do anything crazy,” Seth said.

“When has a Schmidty stopped us from being crazy?”

Seth laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday evening — 6:35 P.M.

“Yeah, Heather came by,” Tanesha said as she closed her Gran’s front door. “She and Blane are going to be at dinner.”

“You okay?” Tres Sierra asked.

“No,” Tanesha walked out to the street. “Did you see him on TV?”

“Yeah,” Tres said.

“He’s high,” Tanesha said. “God, Tres, he’s high! And the women clinging on him… I…”

“You want to meet at the Squire for a drink before we go to the Castle?”

“I think a drink will send me right over the edge,” Tanesha opened her car door and sat down.

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the Castle,” Tres said. “But we can get out anytime.”

“See you there.”

Tanesha clicked off the call and closed her car door. She had the desire to run back inside and hide under her covers like she had most of the day. Sighing, she started the car. The radio blared. She drove down her street toward Twenty-Third.

“Here it is,” the announcer said. “The song you’ve been lighting up our lines to hear. ‘I promised you,’ by our own Jeraine.”

Tanesha looked at the radio. Jeraine might be a drug addict, womanizer and a liar, but he was an amazing business man. He’d agreed not to release any music until his recording contract was complete. Tanesha was there when he and Jammy went over his contract. She saw Jeraine’s head nodding to Schmidty telling him to take a year off. He wanted the year off.

So what the hell was this song?

The song began with a sorrowful violin. The moaning was joined by a standup base beat and an orchestra picked up the beat.

“How can I make a promise to you?” Jeraine said. “When I’ve promised you the world and failed every time.”

For the next few minutes, Tanesha felt outside of time as she listened to Jeraine detail every promise he’d made and broken. Stopping at the light on Broadway and Seventeenth, she glanced at the car next to her. A woman was crying her eyes out. Feeling Tanesha’s eyes, she turned to look. The woman’s passenger window went down

“Jeraine?” the woman yelled.

Tanesha nodded.

“Breaks your heart,” she said.

The light changed and the woman raised a hand in a wave.

“Jer? Whatcha doin’ out here?”

Tanesha heard her own voice come from the radio.

“Nothing,” he said.

Her mind transported to the moment he’d recorded. She saw herself leaning against the doorframe of the den in the Penthouse. She’d been watching him for a while. He wore expensive headphones and was working on a song. She could see the music move on his mixing program. Humming this tune, he was looking at a picture his Mom had taken of them on his eighteenth birthday. When she’d asked her question, he closed his laptop and they’d gone to bed.

Tanesha blinked.

“That was the new song from our own Jeraine,” the radio announcer said. “We’re not saying who, but someone leaked the song exclusively to…”

Tanesha turned off the radio.

“You can fight this thing with me, on my side, instead of against me.” Jeraine’s words echoed in her mind.

“Are you willing to fight for his soul?” his mother’s words followed Jeraine’s.

Turning onto Race  Street from Colfax, she saw her girls waiting for her in the driveway. She pulled in and parked behind Tres’s car.

“How are you?” Heather hugged Tanesha tight.

“I just heard the song,” Tanesha said. “My song. The one he wrote for me. As a present just to me. My private apology is all over the world for strangers to hear.”

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry,” Sandy hugged her.

“No, they’re the one’s who’re going to be sorry,” Tanesha said.

Sandy stepped back to look at her.

“Those jerks messed with the wrong girl,” Tanesha said. “Will you help me?”

“Anything,” Jill said.

“It’s time to get even,” Tanesha said. “And get my man back.”

“We’re in,” Heather said. “What do we do?”

“I know just the thing,” Tanesha said.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.

Previous Chapters
Recap of what’s happened so far and character summary
Looking for the beginning? Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and EIGHTY-TWO

Saturday early morning – 2:45 A.M.

“Hey,” Jeraine said when Tanesha came out of the bathroom.

He was sitting on the edge of bed. He set his phone down when she came out. Naked, she gave him a smirk and put on her nightshirt. He kissed her.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Jeraine asked.

“Is this about the small dick thing?” Tanesha smiled. “Because that was a joke.”

“I know,” Jeraine said. “I meant at the club and, I guess, everything.”

“Didn’t it seem like I had a good time?” Tanesha asked.

He nodded.

“What’s got you all insecure all of the sudden?” Tanesha asked.

“I wanted to tell you something,” Jeraine said.

Tanesha sat down on the bed.

“Have you ever wanted something so bad that you feel like you’d do anything for it?” Jeraine asked.

“Sure,” Tanesha nodded.

“I felt that way about making it big with my music,” Jeraine said. “I didn’t want to be my Dad’s kind of star or Seth’s. I wanted to be big, huge even, successful, popular… And…”

“You got kind of stuck there,” Tanesha said.

“I didn’t realize I had already gone way past what I thought I wanted,” he said. “And lost everything I loved.”

“And now?”

“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I still want to be a star. I thought I’d be a star doctor or a star surgeon. But…”

“Music is your life,” Tanesha said.

Jeraine nodded. He reached out to take her hand.

“Is that okay?” he asked.

“I think we have to figure it out,” she smiled.

“There is a difference now.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I don’t only want to be a star now,” he said. “Being a star isn’t as important as having you in my life.”

“I’m glad,” she said. She touched his shoulder and got under the covers.

“What have you wanted so badly?” He shifted to look at her.

“Med school,” Tanesha rolled onto her side to look at him. “When I wasn’t able to go last year, I… It was hard.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling,” he said. “It’s like whatever you do, no matter how hard you try, your dream is still just out of reach. I felt that way about you.”

“Me?”

“You,” he said. “This time, these weeks, days, they’re like a dream come true for me. I dreamed and wished and wanted just this, just tonight – dinner, dancing with friends, making love with you and…”

Tanesha held her arms out and he fell into her embrace. They held each other for a moment.

“It’s about commitment,” he said. “I didn’t get it until this morning. If I want something, I have to commit to being and having the thing I want. That’s the way it really works.”

Tanesha kissed his forehead.

“I didn’t know that before,” he said.

“I know,” she said. “And now?”

He closed his eyes and she shook her head.

“Still can’t do it,” she said. “Even now when your dream has come true. I do not know why I waste my time.”

She moved to get up. He held her in place.

“No, that’s not it,” Jeraine said. “No. I was trying to think of how to say it.”

Watching his face, Tanesha fought with herself. Her instinct was to run away from this heart breaker as fast as possible. That was her part in this dance. They’d danced it a hundred and one times. But tonight, she saw something new on his face. She waited for him to find the words.

“I think I’ve always been committed to you, to us,” Jeraine said. “I remember like it’s in crystal – our first kiss, our first date, the first time we spent a whole night together. My commitment has always been to you but…”

“But…?”

“It made me anxious,” he said. “I didn’t know I could have you and… I thought…”

“It was one or the other,” Tanesha said.

He nodded.

“You put us, me, in the way of your dream,” she said.

He nodded.

“So you had to destroy us to have your dream,” she said.

He nodded.

“You’re a fool,” she said.

“I am?” he asked.

“Your dreams come from us, from this,” she gestured to him and to herself.

“It does?”

“Go look at those fancy records on the wall.”

Getting out of bed, she took his hand and led him out of their bedroom to the hallway. She flicked on the light. The light flashed on the gold and platinum albums and singles that lined both walls in the hallway.

“Look at the singles,” she said. He looked at her. “Go on.”

He didn’t move. She pushed him toward the wall.

“What am I looking at?” he asked.

“What are these songs about?” she nodded toward the wall.

He looked at her and looked at the wall.

“Just look at them,” she said. “I’m going to make some tea.”

Tanesha went into the kitchen. The tea pot was already warm from the cup she’d made when they got home. She took out a chamomile tea bag and her favorite mug. She had just poured the hot water when he appeared.

“They’re songs about you,” he said.

“About us,” she said.

“And?”

“We are your creative power,” Tanesha said.

Putting her tea up to her lips, she watched the thought work across his face.

“I’ve been fighting against myself, the source of my own strength,” he said.

“How many songs have you written since I’ve been staying here?” she asked.

“About thirty,” he said.

“That seems like a lot.” She wasn’t sure if it was the drugs that addled his brain or that he literally didn’t get it. He gave her a blank stare. “Is it normal for you to write so much?”

“No but I’m not…”

“And why aren’t you?”

His eyes blinked. He was silent so long she wondered if he was having a stroke.

“You do this to me,” he said.

“We have a power, a strength that we can only access through each other,” she said.

“Oh.”

“Imagine what you could do if you really committed here,” she said. “You think about it. I’m going to take a bath to wash some of this man off me.”

Carrying her tea, Tanesha walked around him to the bathroom. She filled the tub with the bubblegum bubbles Katy had given her for her birthday. She was just getting settled when he came in.

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m not as successful as I could be because I don’t have us.”

“Of course,” she said. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to learn to stop fighting my commitment to you and us,” he said. “I left a message for my therapist saying I want to talk about this so I don’t forget or chicken out.”

Tanesha nodded. Lost in thought, he stood by the side of the tub.

“Are you coming in?”

“You’ll just get more man on you,” he said.

“Maybe I just want some more of that power that comes through you,” Tanesha smiled.

Shaking his head at her, he joined her in the tub.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday early morning – 2:45 A.M.

“Finally,” Ava said when she saw Seth at the entrance to her lab. She ran to let him in. They hugged.

“I have a few things to finish,” Ava said.

“No problem.” Using one cane, Seth followed her to her lab bench. “Why is your door locked?”

Ava was cataloging a rack of test tubes in front of her.

“Too many visitors,” Nelson said.

“You had visitors in the lab?” Seth asked.

“No one likes the fact that the great Magic O’Malley quit.” Fran pulled her jacket on to leave. “They’re blaming our Ava.”

“They are?” Seth asked.

“The poor girl has been inundated with bitchy policemen whining about your resignation. The temp that’s taking Leslie’s place while she’s on maternity leave lasted an hour tonight.”

“Yeah but she didn’t like how we work,” Ava said. “With am emphasis on work.”

“And the stream of angry cops.” Ever the mother, Fran’s voice was scolding. “You should have thought it through O’Malley.”

“Fran,” Ava said.

“Well he should have,” Fran squeezed Ava’s shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

“These are ready for next shift.” Nelson gave Ava a test tube rack filled with samples.

“I’ll add them to mine,” Ava said.

Standing next to Ava, Nelson gave Seth a bright smile.

“Did you really quit?” Nelson asked. “Or did you do it as a power play to get them off your back?”

“What are the odds?” Seth asked.

“Twenty’ll get you fifty,” Nelson said.

“With what else?”

“You got a job offer in LA,” Nelson said. “Everybody’s talking about it. They made an arrest in that case you’re working on.

“They did?” Seth asked.

“You didn’t know?” Nelson smirked at the idea he knew something Seth didn’t.

“My daughter had her baby today,” Seth said. “I’ve been with her.”

“I forgot. Ava said something,” Nelson said. “Your daughter. She’s okay?”

“She’s doing well,” Seth said.

“New grandchild?”

“Colin Hargreaves and his wife adopted him,” Seth said. “Everyone is happy, healthy and well.”

“Good,” Nelson said.

“You were telling me,” Seth said. “The LAPD arrested the gal?”

“How’d you know?” Nelson asked. “That’s the kicker. The strangler is a woman, wife of the chief suspect. They matched her DNA after they brought her in. LA Weekly is saying you solved the case.”

“They had female DNA but they thought it was another victim,” Seth said. “That’s good work. I’ll have to give them a call.”

Nelson smiled at him.

“What?” Seth asked.

“So which is it?” Nelson asked.

“How much do you have riding on it?” Seth asked.

“We all put in ten bucks,” Nelson said. “Everyone but Ava. Bob put in her ten bucks.”

“And what does Ava say?”

“She says that O’Malley does whatever O’Malley wants to do,” Nelson said. “So?”

“I quit,” Seth said. “Ava’s right. I don’t do power plays and there’s too much celebrity drama at the LAPD.”

“Good,” Nelson said.

“That’s what the lab money is on?” Seth asked.

“Yes sir,” Bob’s booming voice came from the back of the lab. He came up carrying his briefcase. Bob shook Seth’s hand. “Nice to see you Seth.”

“See you tomorrow,” Nelson said.

Ava and Bob waved to Nelson.

“Today was bad?” Seth asked.

“Pretty rough,” Bob said. “And who are we going to call? The police? That would only bring more angry cops.”

“They say that I’m responsible for the end of luck at DPD,” Ava said.

“Magic O’Malley brought the DPD luck,” Bob said. “Let’s hope no one dies tonight. You’re going to walk Amelie out?”

Seth nodded.

“Nice to see you up and around Seth,” Bob said. “Few more days and I bet you won’t need that cane.”

Seth waved. Ava continued working.

“You’re mad,” he said.

“Mad’s not exactly the right word,” Ava said.

“Are you mad at me?” Seth asked.

“By association,” Ava said.

“You could quit too,” Seth said.

Turning, Ava gave Seth a strong dark look and went back to her test tubes.

“Yeah, bad idea,” Seth said. “What are we doing this weekend?”

“How’s Lizzie?” Ava asked.

“She’s good,” Seth said. “They think she’ll be well enough to go home tomorrow if she wants. Schmidty wants to take her to the beach house. If she gets out, they’ll go tomorrow. What would you like to do?”

Ava kept working.

“You are mad,” Seth said. “What can I do?”

“What are you going to do with yourself, Seth?” Ava asked. “And don’t tell me you’re going to stay at home. You won’t. You’ll either go on some cockamamie Seth-a-palooza music tour or…”

“I’m going to finish the movie,” Seth said. “I’m going to get better and I’m going to get married. That’s enough to fill up the rest of this year and some of next.”

Ava sniffed.

“To you, if you’re wondering,” Seth said. “And when all of that is done and we’ve celebrated and settled back in, I’ll see what’s next.”

Ava set the racks of test tubes in the refrigerator.

“I told you all of that when we talked a few days ago,” Seth said.

Ava got her purse and jacket.

“So why are you mad?” Seth asked.

“What am I supposed to do while you do all of this?” Ava asked.

“Pursue your dreams,” Seth said. “Work here or where ever you want to work. Grieve the loss of your best friend in the whole world. Play with our puppy Clara. That’s enough.”

Ava shook her head at him and went toward the door.

“So what’s wrong?” Seth asked.

“It’s not my fault you quit,” Ava said.

“No, it’s not,” Seth said.

“Will you tell the men that?” Ava asked.

“I don’t know what good it will do, but I will do what I can,” Seth said. “Anything I can do to make it better for you?”

“Dinner,” Ava said.

“Dinner is waiting for us at home.”

“Hot tub?” Ava asked.

“Done,” Seth said. “Anything else?”

Ava gave him a wry smile. Without saying another word, she left the lab. Smiling, he followed her out.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon — 2:15 P.M.

Tanesha looked up when the doorbell rang again. She watched one of Jeraine’s ‘people’ answer the door. The penthouse was filling with men who were there to help Jeraine get ready for his event. His hair had been cut. He’d had a facial and was sporting a fashionable beardlike line of growth along his chin. He was trying to decide whether to wear four hundred dollar jeans and a four thousand dollar shirt or a ten thousand dollar silk suit. She felt like she had a backstage ticket to the Miss America pageant. She’d even overheard a conversation about the best eyeliner for men with ‘dark complexions.’

He’d gone through this almost every single day of his former life. Reviewing his finances, he’d spent enough money on his face alone to build a couple schools inCentral America. He said it was necessary to ‘participate at this level of life.’ She thought it was dumb and excessive.

The people moved around the penthouse as if she wasn’t there. As far as they were concerned, they belonged and she was replaceable furniture. Tanesha scowled at the thought and went out onto the balcony over the park. She’d been out there an hour or so, when he arrived wearing the fancy jeans and expensive shirt. He had a gold chain around his neck, huge diamond earrings in his ears, and heavy diamond and gold bracelets on both wrists.

“We’re about to leave,” he sat down in the chair next to her. She ignored him. Leaning over to her, he said, “Ok, that whole drama was dumb.”

“You’re shirt cost more than my car,” Tanesha said.

“We should get you a better car,” he said.

She gave him an angry look and he laughed.

“One more night,” Jeraine said. “Then we figure out what’s next.”

Tanesha watched his face.

“I just have one more night of this, Miss T,” he said. “Tomorrow, we’ll go to church and have brunch with your friends. You have orientation for med school Monday and I have orientation on Friday. We start demo on our house Monday morning bright and early.”

Tanesha nodded.

“After tonight, we’ll get on with our lives,” he said.

“Are you going to bring all that trash here tonight?” Tanesha asked. “’Cuz I’ll stay at my Gran’s.”

“No,” Jeraine said. “I’m going to do a couple promotions for the radio station, have dinner with record people, and go to the event. I should be done by eleven. Midnight at the latest.”

“Are you bringing a bunch of skanks here?”

“Why would you even say that?” Jeraine asked.

Shaking her head, Tanesha rolled her eyes at him.

“Ok, fine,” he said. “I will be here at our penthouse by midnight, clean, sober and ready to get on with our life. What are you doing?”

“Tres and I are having dinner at the Castle,” Tanesha said. “Jill’s grandfather’s in town so they’re having everybody over. Tres and I might go to a movie later.”

“Are you bringing him back here when you’re done?”

Tanesha gave him a dark look and he laughed.

“Love you, Miss T,” Jeraine said. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

She stood to kiss and hug him. When he stepped away, she sat down. She listened while his ‘posse’ made their way out of the penthouse and, she hoped, out of her life. She stayed on the balcony for a few more minutes before going into the bedroom and packing a bag.

Her heart already knew what would happen tonight. Her eyes and mind didn’t want to see it. She gave this life one last look and went to her Gran’s house.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon — 4:15 P.M.

“You sure you want me to be there?” Ava said.

She and Seth were driving down Broadway toward the downtown Denver Police Headquarters.

“If you want to make sure no one blames you, you should be at the press conference,” Seth said. “Jeez, what’s that?”

Seth pointed to a line formed around the Church nightclub.

“They’re waiting to see Jeraine,” Ava said. “You’re sure we have tickets?”

“We have tickets,” Seth said. “That’s a lot of people.”

“The station’s been playing his music non-stop,” Ava flipped on the radio and ran the dial to the station. Seth groaned when the heavy base kicked in. Her hand moved to turn it off.

“Wait,” Seth said. “What’s that?”

“Jeraine’s new song,” Ava said. “Someone slipped it to someone at the radio station. Very hush, hush. Everyone says Jeraine can’t leave the life but… Isn’t that Tanesha’s voice at the end? You know where she says, ‘Jer? Whatcha doin’ out here?’ and he says ‘Nothing.’”

Seth sat listening to the song.

“I like the orchestra,” Ava said. “It sounds like something you’d write.”

“I need to make some calls,” Seth said.

The Denver Cereal will continue next week

~~~~~~~~

Denver Cereal is a serial fiction set in Denver, Colorado.
You can get your daily dose of Denver Cereal at DenverCereal.com
Chapters are posted on Saturdays on this blog.
Download your free electronic copy of The Denver Cereal, the beginning.
Signed copies of the books are only available at  Cook Street Store.
You can also find The Denver Cereal, Celia’s Puppies and Cascade at Amazon or your local bookseller.
Looking for electronic books? Go to the Cook Street Store or Smashwords.

Claudia Hall Christian is a novelist.