Page 22 of Where Is the Love

I texted Jess first thing Friday morning and went on with my day. I didn’t hear from her until she was about to head to a club that night. Patience wasn’t my strongest virtue, but I normally could wait for what I knew would be worth it. Waiting on Jess was proving to be hard as hell. I believed knowing where she was made it more difficult. Had she been at work or in Nome, it wouldn’t have been as hard. Knowing she was with Nate, someone she had feelings for, made things tense for me.

He was probably holding and kissing her the way I had just a little over a week ago. I wasn’t a jealous nigga, but the thought of that shit wasn’t doing good things for me. Jessica’s heart belonged to me. While she may have been confused about that shit, I could see it clearly. She’d gotten way too angry and hurt about what her dad did that kept us from being together. If she didn’t want me, that shouldn’t have upset her as much as it did.

I hadn’t texted her this morning because I assumed she probably got home late last night from the club. My entire mind was focused on her and what she could be doing, telling me to send a message anyway and that she would see it when she woke up. One thing I had never done was chase someone who didn’t seem to be on the same wave as me. While I knew Jessica was feeling me, I also knew she needed time.

As I attached the new gate I’d bought on the fence, a truck turned in my driveway. I wasn’t sure who it could be, because the only person that had just shown up here was Kenny Henderson. Ever since that day he’d helped me with the fence, he’d been checking in to see if I needed any more help. He was the one who suggested I got a new gate for this side of the fence.

When the white man got out of the truck, I stood and stared, waiting for him to get closer so I could see what he wanted. “Hello! Are you Mr. Phillip Lewis?”

“No. He’s deceased.”

“Oh. I apologize. So who assumes ownership of this property?”

“My mother, Helen Lewis.”

“Is she here?”

I had a feeling this was regarding those muthafuckas that had been bothering me about my father owing them money. They’d never brought any proof of that shit, and I refused to pay them just on their word. “Follow me.”

Mama was in the kitchen, preparing lunch. She’d promised to make us patty melts, and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into one. When we got to the back door, I turned to him and said, “Wait here.”

I closed the door and locked it as my mama turned to look at me. She frowned slightly. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a man outside that is asking for the property owner. What’s going on that you haven’t told me?”

She swallowed hard then walked toward the door without responding to me. This shit was on my nerves. I hated secrets, especially ones that would affect me in some way. I’d been putting in all this fucking work on this property for months, and it seemed somebody else may have had a legal right to it. That was what I was assuming from this situation. I hadn’t even heard what was going on, but just her silence was saying it all. It was something that was going to piss me all the way off.

She opened the door and invited the man inside. He thanked her for her hospitality then got to the point. “I didn’t realize that your name was on these documents as well. This is a promissory note you and your husband signed, basically putting the house up as collateral for a loan you took out with Mr. Jeffcoat in the amount of forty grand.”

My eyes widened.Forty fucking thousand dollars!That shit pissed me off beyond belief. They could have asked me for that money. I didn’t have forty grand I could just give to them, but I could have taken out a loan at the bank. I could have called my sister, Stacy, to see if she could put in some money to help. There were so many other options they could have taken besides borrowing money from some old white man that would take their fucking property.

I was steaming as the man showed her the documents. “We wanted to give you an opportunity to pay it off, before taking legal action. This document gives you thirty days to pay the amount in full before he submits paperwork to obtain this house and all twenty acres.”

I grabbed my keys and walked outside. I wasn’t going to leave until he left, but I couldn’t take hearing another word. I was too pissed. I’d put in over ten grand worth of work into this place, only for someone else to be able to stake claim to it. This was some bullshit! As I sat there waiting for him to come out of the house, I got a text message from Jessica. It was almost eleven o’clock. I guess she’d really slept in.

I opened her message.Hey, Brix. I’m back! I’ll be at the diner around noon. I hope to see you there.

That text sounded way too friendly. With the way I was feeling right now, I didn’t know if I even wanted to be around her. I could snap on anybody. I briefly closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I sent a response in the affirmative anyway.Okay. See you there.

When I saw that man coming out of the house and my mama standing in the door, watching him leave, I just stared at her. She let me spend all that money, knowing the house and property could be taken at any moment. I could still try to take out a loan, but that shit should have been told to me when I first got here. The gym account had plenty money in it, but that was for operational purposes. I didn’t like touching that money if it wasn’t for business expenses.

Because of all the money I’d spent, I was down to twenty grand in my personal account. I was so damn mad smoke had to be coming out of my ears. It was best I left to cool off. Otherwise, I’d probably curse my mama out. Had she told me, I could have been making payments on it and not have to come off all that money at once.

Once the man drove off, I backed out of the driveway as well, not bothering to go take a shower. I went straight to Jasper’s Liquor and got me a bottle of Jack Daniels and sat in the parking lot of the diner, waiting for Jessica to arrive. I took a swig as my phone rang. It was my mama. I couldn’t answer that shit right now. That was why I left. If I was able to talk like I had some sense right now, I would have just stayed there and talked.

After taking a second swig from the bottle, I saw Jessica and another lady getting out of her car. A couple of other cars pulled up on either side of her. I recognized her cousins, Nesha and Jakari. I wasn’t sure who the other man was that had gotten out of the other car. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Nobody in that restaurant deserved my attitude. I took one more swig, then screwed the bottle closed and got out.

When I made my way inside, I noticed they’d all gone to a far corner of the diner and were talking and laughing loudly. I didn’t make my way over immediately. I wasn’t that friendly around total strangers. Being that I wasn’t in a good mood, it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to even chill with them right now.

I went to the counter and ordered a piece of stuffed fried chicken. Today they had been stuffed with macaroni and cheese and greens. I couldn’t pass that up. I went to the fountain and got me a Root Beer cream soda. As I got a lid, I saw Jessica heading my way with a huge smile on her face. “Brix! Hey!”

“What’s up?” I asked.

Her smile faded as she asked, “You okay?”

“Naw, not really. Something came up, so I won’t be able to stay.”

“Something like what? You wanna talk about it?” She glanced back at her people then back at me. “We can get a different table.”

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