Sepia and I walked hand in hand in the King of Prussia Mall the next day...It had been awhile since we had just spent a lazy Saturday together doing what she and most women loved doing best...Shopping.
"I know you don't like shopping , but I love you for coming along with me just because you know that I love it." said Sepia.
"I don't mind hanging out with you...You know that." I said.
"Yeah, but I know you're happiest when you're speeding through the streets with Kool Kat , Clerow and the
guys , tracking down some bad guy..." she said.
"Wellll..actually..I kind of like going to my job at the magazine everyday and coming home to you...I'm enjoying this lull for awhile." I said..
"Awwwww..." she said and held my arm a little tighter....
We sat down at one of the food courts and had some lunch....It was there out of the corner of my eye that I saw her first.....
Laura!!!
She veered over and saw me too! Our eyes seemed to meet from across the room...Her mouth opened up wide and she walked over to me...
"Kevin?? Kevin Morris?? Is that you?" she asked..
I smiled faintly and said nothing...Sepia didn't know what to think....Laura Como walked over to where we were sitting..I stood up...
"OH MY GODDDD...HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?" she asked.... as we embraced...
"It has been long...Look at you!!! How have you been ? " I said..
"Oh I've been doing okay....." she laughed...
"Laura...This is my wife, Joanne Morris...I call her Sepia." I said.
"YOUR WIFE?? Ohhhhhhhh...you got married Kevin...Ohhhhhh, I'm sooo happy for you...Soooo glad to meet you Joanne.." she said.
"Sepia." said my wife.
"Oh...okay..." she laughed uneasily....
''So Laura...Are you married?" I asked.
"Married to my work...I'm a Judge now...A Federal Judge...." she said.
"Ohh wow...isn't that something." I said.
"I was a U.S. Attorney with the Justice Department out in L.A. for awhile...until I became a judge and got the chance to work back here in my hometown." she said. "So how long have you two been married?" she asked.
"Four years...We just celebrated four years." said Sepia.
"That's soo nice..I'm so glad you found someone Kevin...you were always one of the good guys." she said.
There was an uneasy silence between us all....Then finally Laura said-
"Well,I'll let you guys get back to your lunch...it was nice seeing you again Kevin and so nice meeting your beautiful wife." she said as she waved and walked away.....
I watched her fade into the crowd and then I turned and faced Sepia who was smiling wryly...
"So...How long did you two date?" she asked.
"Huh?" I said.
"I know an ex when I see one..You two weren't just casual friends.." said my wife.
I smiled...how very intuitive she was... She could easily be just as good an investigator as I...
"We dated a little over a year and a half... I was really in love with her...but she was on the fast track..a faster track than I was." I said.
"Law school huh?" asked Sepia.
"Not only that...She was...she had been seeing somebody behind my back...I never knew who it was...but he had a nicer car than I did..More money too... I was going to ask her to marry me...She told me about the other guy...It broke my heart...I joined the Marines..I had to get away from here...My Dad and Mom had died by then...Gus had finished raising me....He's my godfather...I don't know if I ever told you that..."I said.
"No you didn't." she said.
I joined the Marines... I boxed , won the Marine Corps Middleweight championship...Got my college degree in Administration of Justice and pre-law...Worked as an investigator for NCIS and basically forgot about Laura. I ran into her in San-Diego once...but nothin came of it....Then I left the military, got another degree in journalism and moved back to Philly , where I got the job at Hype Magazine...My man, Sean Jackson helped me get it...The rest is as you say history...." I said.
"Oh Kevin...I never knew..." said Sepia...
"That's alright...I did okay...I met you....I did great...better than I ever expected." I said.
''Awwww...." she said and kissed me,long and passionately right there in the square.
II-
Hours later, We had driven from the mall back to the city...Sepia was laying up against me, almost asleep..
"Oh babe...How was Jewel?" she asked.
She was talking about the girl I picked up the day before......
"Oh..she's good...She's good...She's got a plan." I said.
Sepia gave me the side eye...
''A plan Kevin??? A plan that doesn't include dancing naked at some strip club or worse?" she asked.
"So you know huh?" I said.
"I have a few girlfriends left in Jersey City and West Orange...They've given me the 411 on her.." said Sepia.
I laughed...My wife was as good as me on any given day.
"She works for Melissa. Jemima" I said.
''Aunt" Jemima" asked Sepia...I did a double take....
"You know her?" I asked.
"She gets her hair done at Bernadette's...She has a nice house in Mayfair...She's got better girls than Big Chicken and Rollo workin all of North and West Philly and she owns the Palace of Love." said Sepia.
"Yup you got the whole story babe." I laughed...
"We gotta do something to get her out of that life." said Sepia...
"She's grown Sepia...She's not a little girl." I said.
"Yeah I know...but back in West Orange, Jewel was like a little sister." said Sepia...
I pulled over...Sepia and I got out and we walked toward her....
"Hey Kevin...Hey Sepia...Not the most opportune place to be meeting on a Saturday afternoon." she said.
"What's up Sissy?" I asked.
"We have a dead hooker, it looks like." she said...
I watched as they carted the body out of the alley...The badly beaten body was none other than Jewel Gardenor!!!!
"OH MY GODDDDDD!!!!!" screamed Sepia...
"You- You...Your wife knows her?" she asked asked.
"Yes..I know her...She just arrived in town yesterday...I gave her a ride ..Her name is Jewel Gardenor..She's from West Orange ,New Jersey..." I said.
She was dressed in a thong and a babydoll with lipstick smeared all over her face...
"Yeah , well she was working at the Palace of Love...guess her first night was a bust." said another detective.
Sissy and Sepia gave him the side eye...He shrugged his shoulders...
"I'm just sayin...Geez." he said and walked away...
I held my wife as she cried... The girl hadn't been in town 48 hours and she was dead already..Sepia and her hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to each other....
I owed it to my wife to find out who did this to Jewel....and I would.......I would!
(To Be Continued....)
1 comment:
Good Story!
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