Intuition

I awoke to the smell of Hot Coffee and sizzling Bacon.....Somebody was in my kitchen cooking...but it wasn't my wife Sepia...She was lying next to me in bed... She was waking up too...

We both woke up and walked downstairs...and there was Ann in our kitchen cooking away...

"So you two finally woke up huh?" she said and laughed...

"Baby what you doin...you didn't have to cook?" said Sepia.

"I can't just stay here with you good people and do nothing...I plan to earn my keep." she said with a smile..

She had prepared  Bananna Pancakes, Bacon, Hash Browns...and hot coffee... I was impressed.

"I got up and went out and bought some groceries this morning." she said.

"Did you get a newspaper?" I joked...then pointed at her and laughed..

"Kevin...Kevin...Kevin..Always the jokester" she laughed ,pointing back at me...

Just then the doorbell rung!

It was Walter "Kool Kat" Jones!!!

"Hey man." I said. I was a little confused at this early Saturday morning visit!  So was my wife, Sepia.

"I smelled the good food coming from your window this morning and I thought I'd investigate." he said with all smiles...

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Ann was all smiles too!

"Really Walter?" said Sepia, giving him the side eye.

"Oh knock it off Walter." said Ann...

Sepia and I turned our heads towards Ann...

"I met Walter at the grocery store this morning when I went out and we struck up a conversation...I told him I was staying here and he said that Kevin and Sepia were friends of his...So I told him to stop by for breakfast." said Ann sheepishly.

Kool Kat smiled sheepishly himself....

Sepia frowned at first...then took out an extra plate, set of utensils and a tumbler for coffee... Kool Kat sat down...I smiled broadly and just shook my head...

"Annie here is a very friendly woman." said Kool Kat.

"Yes ,I see" said Sepia giving Ann the side eye...

II-

Kool Kat , who unlike me , didn't rely on ipads or kindles much for news had a newspaper with him...Splashed across the front page was the photo of a Black woman, a little older than most of us...The woman who was found shot to death in the ladies restroom at the airport yesterday!!! As we ate..I glanced at the story.

Apparently the woman was under suspicion of embezzlement from a major firm in San-Francisco....They say that she and possibly others had taken close to one million dollars!  The money is still missing , the story said...

"You know anything about this?  This woman was on your flight from San-Fran?" I said looking at Ann...

''Why would I know anything about that?" she answered, cool as a cucumber...

"You recall seeing her on your flight?" I asked.

"No....How you know she was on my flight? I'm sure there was more than one flight coming from San-Francisco to Philly yesterday." she said.

"Yeah, you right...It's just that this was going on right around the time we was coming to pick you up...I thought you might have saw something ." I said.

"Come on lover , give it a rest...You're not on the case this morning." laughed my wife Sepia.

Kool Kat smiled between bites of food..

"I didn't tell you Ann...Me and Kev, we kinda like Private eyes..We solve crime on our spare time." he said.

I laughed out loud...Ann looked confused at first....Then thinking what he said was a joke, she reluctantly pointed at both of us and laughed.

"I was wondering if uh...on Monday Morning..One of you nice gentlemen could take me to the bank..a good bank..." she asked.

"Uh yeah, sure...I'm working Monday, but I can drop you off." I said.

"Nonsense Kev...Go on to work..I'll stop by and pick her up." said Kool Kat.

"How is Chelsea doing now of days?" asked Sepia ,smiling wryly...

Kool Kat turned and looked innocently at Sepia...I smiled broadly...Ann looked at me and smiled too..She was no dummy, she knew the deal.

"Oh she fine..I seen her a few nights ago." said Kool Kat.

"That your girlfriend?" asked Ann.

"She's uh a close friend , yes." said Kool Kat.

''With Benefits huh?"asked Ann.

"Uh yeah." said Kool Kat smiling devilishly...


"I don't care...You can still take me to the bank Monday." she said.

Kool Kat and I both smiled... Sepia sat stone faced...


III-

That night, Sepia, Ann and I joined Sean and Sheila Jackson, Robert Foxworth and Bonita and Clerow and Corabeth at Josie's...The place was packed and Symphony Sam's All Star orchestra had the crowd jumping...

Ann was as usual...the life of the party...Laughing and talking and joking with everybody...including Gus..

''Kev, you got a live one....I like her!" he laughed.

Sepia was strangely quiet.....She nudged me on the shoulder...

"Lover, let's go outside...get some air." she said.

"Okay." I said and followed her outside...

Once outside...Sepia looked at me...

"Kev, something about Ann isn't right." she said.

"Aww Sepia...are you uptight about that flirting between her and Kool Kat?" I asked.

"You know how he is." I added.

"Aww no...nooo, this has nothing to do with Walter." she said.

"Well what does it have to do with?" I asked.

"Ann said that there was several flights coming to Philly from San Francisco yesterday right?  There was only two...I checked with the Airport...One was a midnight flight and the other was the one she was on...She said she didn't recall seeing that woman..The one that got killed...She had to...They were on the same flight...And unless she rode in first class , they were in the same section." said Sepia.

"Yeah, so what?  If she didn't know the woman, why would she notice her out of all the other people that board a plane at any given time?" I asked.

"Yeah...I guess you're right...but there's something else..." said Sepia.

''What else?" I asked..amused at my wife...I'm usually the one who is suspicious.

''That ratty suitcase she is carrying...It doesn't match anything she had.." she said.
''She never lets it out of her sight...wouldn't let you carry it." continued my wife.

"Yeah ,I did think that was odd." I said.

"It has 'MM' monogrammed on it.." she said.

"Yeah..Maybe she borrowed it from somebody." I said.

"Borrowed a peice of luggage for a one way trip?" she asked.

"Heyyyy you sound like you want to take my job....I'm the investigator." I laughed.

"I just have a funny feelin about Ann...Call it woman's intuition.  Somethin just doesn't feel right....She told me that her and Roy got a divorce." she said.

"You don't believe it?" I asked.

"I don't know...I'm just wondering, that's all." she said.

I kissed her forehead and walked back inside... Anne and some guy were slow dragging in the middle of the floor...Other couples were dancing..but she and this guy were close to asking for a room... Bonita Foxworth and Sheila Jackson were giving each other that look that women give each other when they see another woman going a little overboard...I smiled...but in the back of my mind..I wondered about what Sepia had told me..

(To Be Continued..)