Eunice

A rare night out for the three of us... Both my wife, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her niece Beverly West had wrapped up big cases...

Beverly, a manslaughter trial..

 and Olivia, another case for yet another union...This time, the Garment Workers Union....They had ruled in her favor and Beverly had gotten her client a full acquittal...

Neither case was weird or necessarily news worthy stuff...But both cases kept me, Donnie Ray Alexander, Private Investigator and Olivia's husband...working and paid all of our bills...

So tonight we were in Mabel Jenkin's Soul food joint enjoying her delicious southern cuisine...

I especially liked eating here because Mabel and her sisters, Corabeth, Anita and Victoria were like me, transplants from New Orleans who had made Philadelphia their home...When I did my other gig, which was playing Trumpet at Josie's...I often ordered ahead.....and it was nothing for my wife, Olivia and Bev to call me and ask me to bring them a platter too...

My car sometimes smelled like Fried Chicken, Fried Fish, Collard or Mustard Greens, Candied Yams and Potato salad..

So on this afternoon, the three of us awaited as Baby Phat , the waitress brought us our hot steamy plates of food...

''Oh Thank you Baby Phat....That's what I'm talkin bout." said Bev....

"You want some hot sauce Bev?" she asked..

''Would you? Thanks doll."said Beverly...

"Donnie Ray...We forgot to order drinks..." said Olivia...

''You mean you forgot...I ordered Cokes for me and you and a Cherry Coke for shortcake.."I said smiling..

''You remembered...you think of everything."said Olivia ,who leaned over and kissed me..

Beverly smiled...

"You'll have to take a rain check on my kiss D.R....I'm too hungry..." she said chowing down....

The three of us ate silently...proof that we were hungry.....Beverly and her Aunt Olivia spent all day in court talking..They had no conversation left...I perfectly understood...

Livy and I planned to go home, take our shoes off and relax tonight...I was too tired for sex...Well maybe not that, depending on what she was wearing under her clothes...

We didn't know if Beverly was going out or not...

At any rate ..We anticipated a few quiet days until the next case came up......

Little did we know...That was about to happen tonight.

II-

An Elderly Black woman was dining also...Like us..she was just finishing up her meal...She had finished eating and had paid her check when she spied us...She got up and walked over to our table..

"Hello....I'm Velma...Velma Harris...You don't remember me...But we met once...We met a couple of times...You're Olivia....You're that lawyer lady who lives across the street from my friend Eunice...Eunice Taylor..."she said, smiling..

Olivia thought a moment and then said...

"OHHH YESSSS!..YESSS!! I remember you...When I first bought my duplex...You and Ms. Eunice came over and welcomed me to the neighborhood...I remember..."said my wife...

''And this is your niece..You introduced her to us..." she said looking at Beverly...

''I remember you...Ms. Eunice lives across the street from us.."said Beverly....

''And this is my husband, Donnie Ray Alexander..."said Olivia ,pointing to me..

''Pleased to meet you mam." I said.

"Ohhh this is your husband...I thought he was just renting a room there...So you're married..Well good for you." she said.

"We've been married for a year and a half now.."said Olivia...

"That's nice....I never married..."she said.

''Awwwww..you uh have any children?" asked Olivia..

''No..No children...Uh the reason why I come over here.....I uh didn't mean to disturb your meal.."she said.

"Oh no mam, we were just finishing up.." I said.

"Well it's about Eunice..I haven't heard from her in three days and that's just not like her...She calls me every day sharp at 8:00 am to make sure I'm awake...We meet at Sam Mother's place for Breakfast at 9:00 am sharp,sometimes a little later...We go for our walk at the track over by the school, then we have lunch either at Sam Mothers or here..We then go to the library where our book club meets and then we have dinner here at Mabels...It's Wednesday and the last time I heard from Eunice was Sunday after church!." she said.

"You guys are best friends huh?  You do everything together." I said.

''Eunice and me are like sisters...maybe even closer." said Velma Harris..

"Like me and my Auntay." said Beverly, smiling..

''She is a cutey pie..Your niece Ms. Olivia?  She could pass for your younger sister..." said Ms. Harris.

 "We get that a lot.."laughed Olivia..

"I'm just concerned ....I haven't heard from her in three days and she told me that you have a key to her apartment...She thinks the world of you Ms. Olivia...I have a key to her place too, but I seemed to have misplaced it.." She said.

''Sure..We are on our way home..We can let you in..."said Olivia..

"I sure hope nothing has happened to her." she said..

''I hope not either mam...We'll check in on her..Our car is outside.."I said.

''So is mine...I'm still drivin...Eunice stopped drivin a few years ago. I drove her round to pick up groceries..We drove to Rehobeth Beach in Deleware for Memorial Day...We was plannin to drive to Atlantic City together for the fourth of July." she said.

''Wow! You two are close." said Beverly...smiling.

III-

We drove to our office...Olivia fetched the keys and the four of us opened the apartment door...

Bev and I walked around ......The sink was full of dishes....There was a cup of cold coffee on the table..and a Newspaper from Monday....It was Wednesday afternoon...

''D.R...it looks like she was here and got up to go somewhere...Like the corner store or something."said Beverly.

I didn't want to get anybody upset..but it looked like she had left in a hurry ....Plus...the last time she had been seen was Sunday afternoon...It was Wednesday....Where was she? I mused...

Olivia and Ms. Harris went in the bedroom...The bed was un made..Olivia felt the bed..It was cold..The bed hadn't been slept in, not in days..

She went in the bathroom...A toothbrush was in the sink..it still had toothpaste on it...

"This isn't her...She would never leave her  place and not wash the dishes or leave the bed unmade..She has that damn heat on though...That's why I never moved in..She kept this place too damn hot..Chile...It's June and she got the heat on..." laughed Ms. Harris..

Olivia smiled and looked at Velma Harris...

''You two called each other every morning at 8:00 am sharp...You met for breakfast everyday, had lunch together, was in a book club , had dinner together and vacationed together....And you had the keys to her apartment....You didn't move in because she keeps this place too hot....You two were more than just friends weren't you?" she asked, giving Ms. Harris the side eye....

By now Beverly and I had entered the room..

Ms. Harris looked at Olivia and smiled..

''Eunice told me you was a sharp one.." she said... She paused..."Eunice and I met in Jr. High...We were 15 or 16 years old...We were the best of friends...but soon we both knew it was more than that...We knew we were in love....Everybody in our school and our neighborhood knew it..That was almost 60 years ago...Neither you nor your husband or your cutey pie little niece were a thought then...It was hard enough being Black in America...Let alone being Black and Gay.....Her daddy was a Baptist Minister..When he found out..He wasn't having it...They moved out of North Philly to Southwest Philly and then to North Jersey...It broke my heart..but I understood.. Eunice and I tried to keep in touch....but it was hard...We didn't have Facebook and Twitter like you young folks have today...She got married years later....and I was invited, but I couldn't go....She had a son and a daughter....They both are married and have one child a piece...They've been here to visit...Her son and his family live in L.A.  and her daughter and her family live in D.C.  They never had a clue about me and Eunice's relationship...Just thought we was good friends..They always called me Auntie V.."she said laughing.

''What about her husband...What happened to him?" I asked.

"They seperated years ago...It was amicable....She was there with him when he passed away about six or seven years ago...That's when she moved back here to Philadelphia and I was living near by and we took up with each other again....When you get our age..It's just good to have company...Things is different now...People like us can get married, can walk out in the open, hold hands, what not...Eunice and me.We never did that....We never could..." she said.

"Ms. Velma...Does she have any other family here in town? A sibling, niece, nephew?" asked Beverly...

"No...She was just like me...An Only child..That's why we drifted to each other in school...We both had that in common."said Velma Harris..

"So how about you Ms. Harris...Did you ever marry? Was there anybody else in your life?" asked Olivia..

"No...Eunice was the love of my life...My one true love...I taught school in the Philadelphia School System for 35 years...and taught four years at Community after I retired...I tried to date a few guys ,but it never worked out...I just lived alone until my Eunice came back.." she said.

''Ms. Harris..I'm an Investigator for this law firm...I'll look around and see what I can find...Was she on any medication? Do you think dementia or something like that might have set in?" I asked.

''No...Eunice was as fit as a fiddle." she said.

I looked around at a photo of her...I picked it up...

"This looks recent...I'll look around." I said.

''Give us your phone number...We'll call you Ms. Harris.." said Olivia..

"How much will this cost me?...I'm on a fixed income baby"  said Ms. Harris..

''We couldn't charge you...You just go on home and we'll see what we can find." said Olivia.

"Oh thank you all...Thank you so much..I just want to know that she's alright." said Velma Harris.

IV-

Beverly and Josie called the Medical Examiner's office the next day and faxed them a photo of Eunice Taylor...

No one fitting that description was there...

 ''Well that means she's alive at least." said Olivia.

I made a phone call and that ended all of that hope..I hung my head...

"Donnie Ray...What is it?" asked Olivia.

''She was at the hospital for the past four days...She walked there Sunday night,complaining of a severe headache and a numbness in her arm...She apparently had a massive stroke..."I said.

''Oh My God!"said Olivia and Beverly in unison...

''She lapsed into a coma...They didn't know who she was all this time...She had no ID on her and was speaking incoherently...She just died Livy...about an hour ago..." I said.

''Oh My God!  Call Ms. Harris.."said Olivia...

I called Ms. Harris...but couldn't get an answer...

"Let's go get her.." said Beverly...

Olivia,Beverly and Josie got in my car and we drove to Ms. Harris's apartment..

We saw the Medical Examiner's office wheeling a body out of the building....We saw Dr. Hazel Hunter- Baylor...

''Liv, Donnie Ray, Bev..What are you guys doing here?" she asked..

"We came to see Ms. Velma Harris.."said Olivia...

''You know the deceased then."said Hazel.

''Deceased?" said Beverly..

''Yeah..poor thing..She lived by herself....Died of a heart attack this morning.."said Hazel...

I opened the body bag...It was her...Velma Harris...We had just been talking to her a day ago and she was dead....As dead as her lover ,who she had been searching for..

Olivia and Beverly burst into tears...They held each other tightly and weeped profusely...Josie tried to console them...

I stared at Velma Harris's lifeless corpse...

I shook my head...

"Was she family? A client?" asked Hazel...

"Ughhhhhhhhhh...Long story Haze.."I said...

EPILOUGE-

Eunice Taylor's Son and Daughter and their families came to Philadelphia...She was funeralized and buried next to her husband.....Olivia paid for Velma Harris's funeral....No family came forth to claim her remains...She is buried in the same cemetary as Eunice...Just a few feet from her...

That night after the funeral, Olivia and I sat in our bedroom..

She looked at me...

''Well...They're finally together, for eternity in the great here after..."said Olivia..

"Yeah, ironic that they died the same day...Velma never found Eunice...That's kind of sad." I said.

"I think they found each other...just when they needed to." said Olivia..


"Perhaps you're right Livy...Maybe they found each other after all." I said.



LOVE WINS!