The Doctor Is In Read online

  She walked up and down the aisles, pretending to be looking for something. Joshua saw her, and thinking she was just another customer, he approached her from behind. He admired her shapely backside, her long hair, and her high heels that made her look like a hooker.

  “Say, baby, can I help you with something?” he asked.

  Voncile swung around. Joshua’s face fell flat and he stumbled backward a few inches. “Baby girl, is that you? Please tell me that ain’t you in them hooker shoes.”

  Voncile smacked on gum and cocked her head back with a frown. “Old man, you need to back the hell away from me, because I do not know you.”

  Joshua started having flashbacks of the last time he’d seen his daughter. It was a day that had stayed with him for years. Ever since that day, his life had been speeding downhill. He could never quite get on his feet, and trouble seemed to follow him everywhere. He had been shot, robbed, and beat down by three niggas he owed some money to. He had turned to drugs after killing his wife, and his habit almost cost him his life when he was shot in the leg. Needless to say, it had been rough for Joshua, but he was happy about working again. What was missing was a good woman. He’d had many years to think about his fuckups with Sabrina, and thus far, he hadn’t found anyone to replace her. All he found were crackheads like he was, and prostitutes who were willing to give him the goodies for a little bit of change.

  “I . . . I apologize for bothering you,” Joshua said to his daughter. He knew it was her, but maybe she didn’t recognize him. “I thought you were someone else.” More than anything, he was ashamed of himself. As he watched Voncile walk out the door, he told his boss that he wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home.

  “No problem, man. Just be sure to clock out,” his boss said.

  “I will, and I promise to be back tomorrow. Just need to go lay my head down for a while and get some rest.”

  Joshua clocked out and left the hardware store, limping to his car in the midday heat brought about by a blazing sun. He couldn’t wait to get into his car to turn on the air conditioner. But when he got inside, there was no relief.

  Voncile was in the backseat with a sharp blade in her hand. He didn’t have a chance to utter one word before she sliced his throat, just as he had done to her mother. Then she pushed him forward and stabbed him several times in the back.

  “Guess what, Dad?” she said. “You lose; I win.”

  Voncile jumped out of the car and bolted from the scene. Unfortunately for Joshua, there were no witnesses to the crime, which was over in less than a minute. Just like they hadn’t bothered to search for Sabrina’s killer, the police didn’t care enough about this drug addict’s death to search for his murderer either. Voncile got away with murder that day, and it made her feel invincible.

  Pulling her thoughts back to the present, Voncile splashed water on her face and washed her hands to get rid of some of the blood. She was still on edge as she realized the mess that she now had to clean up in the living room.

  She returned the scene of her horrific crime. Omar’s body was lying in a pool of crimson blood. Getting right to work, she lifted his arm and started tugging. It was quite a struggle, but she managed to drag him all the way to the basement door. Knowing that she couldn’t lift him, she used all of her strength to shove him down the stairs. His body bumped into the walls, broke several pieces of the railing, and then landed on the cold concrete floor.

  Voncile rushed downstairs to move the body further into the basement. Maybe Raine would like some company, she thought with an evil laugh.

  Raine was lying in the middle of the floor, flat on her back. Voncile turned on the bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, causing Raine to lift her head to see what had come crashing down the steps. Her eyes grew wide as she saw Voncile dragging Omar into the small space with her.

  Raine started screaming, but it was muffled by the gag that Voncile kept tight around her mouth. Now, however, Voncile was getting a perverse pleasure from the whole situation. She felt powerful and in control. She was enjoying Raine’s terror, and she loosened the gag around her mouth so she could taunt her.

  “Go ahead and scream. Ain’t no one gonna hear you down here.” She glanced at Omar’s bashed-in head. “And he sure isn’t coming to your rescue anytime soon.”

  “Is that Omar? What did you do to him?” Raine asked in a small, terrified voice.

  “This is what happens to people who try to screw me over.”

  Raine started crying. “Voncile, please. I don’t want to be in here with him. I will do whatever you want me to do, but please don’t leave me in here like this. I’m so sorry for upsetting you. I promise you that I’ll never do it again.”

  Voncile waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t fret. Omar won’t be in here for long, and trust me when I say he will not bother you. I have plans for him, but first I need to make sure my jigsaw is still working.”

  Raine made a gagging sound, like she was about to throw up.

  Voncile laughed. “Oh, calm down. How else do you think I’m going to get his body out of here? You saw how hard it was to move his big ass. Of course, I could always just set him on fire. . . .”

  Raine’s eyes were wide with fear. To Voncile, witnessing her victim’s fear felt almost as good as an orgasm.

  “Oh, calm down,” she said, still teasing her like a cat would tease a trapped mouse.

  “I won’t make you watch. Put your big-girl panties on and stand up,” she told Raine.

  Raine stood up on shaky legs, waiting for Voncile to direct her next move.

  As she had done at least four or five times a day, Voncile checked to make sure the rope on Raine’s wrists was still tight. Then, just to inflict some more damage, she gagged Raine’s mouth by stuffing it with one of Omar’s bloody socks. She shoved Raine toward the steps, daring her to run off again.

  “Let’s try this again,” Voncile said. “You’re going back to your room and this time, you’d better act as if you appreciate luxury living.”

  Raine nodded, signaling that she did. While Voncile held a tight grip on Raine’s arm, they climbed the stairs all the way to the second floor, where Voncile put Raine back in the guest room. No matter how small the windowless room was, it was much better than being in that damp and muggy cellar.

  Voncile sat Raine in the corner then removed the sock from her mouth. “Aw, you look terrible,” she said, looking at Raine’s swollen eyes. “Get some sleep. I’ll bring you something to eat for breakfast in the morning.”

  “Thank you,” Raine said in a very weak voice.

  Voncile left the room feeling energized, ready to tackle the rest of her cleanup.

  Chapter 11

  On Monday, Kasen strutted into the office feeling more upbeat than he had been the week before. Sex with Voncile had definitely relieved some of his tension, and even though Omar was pissed at him for sleeping with her, he knew his friend couldn’t stay mad forever. He would call him later and apologize, and things would go back to normal. They had never let a chick come between them before. Unfortunately, as soon as he saw Voncile, his good mood was ruined.

  “You know your boy is trippin’ right now, right?” She started in on Kasen as soon as he walked in the door.

  He stopped in front of her desk, taken aback by her aggressive tone. “Good morning to you, too, Voncile,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Uh-uh. You don’t get to shut me down like that. Not after what Omar did to me.”

  Kasen put down his briefcase and leaned against her desk, prepared to listen. “What did he do?”

  “I don’t know how that so-called friend of yours got my number, but Omar called me early Sunday morning, talking about why wouldn’t I go on a date with him. He called me every nasty name in the book. Bitch, whore . . . you name it, he called me one. Said I didn’t have to worry about him coming around the office anymore because he didn’t want to be around a ho who had sex with his friend.”

  Kasen didn’t
know what to say. He just stared at her with his eyes wide open, revealing his guilty conscience.

  “My question to you, Kasen, is why did you tell him about us? It really makes me look bad.”

  Kasen felt horrible. What he thought was innocent shit-talking between two friends had turned into a giant mess. What the hell was wrong with Omar? Why would he call Voncile, and more so, why would he call her all those vile names? Something was up with his friend, and he would get to the bottom of it, but for the time being, he owed Voncile an apology.

  Kasen looked at Voncile like a sad puppy, trying to defend his actions. “I’m sorry that he came to you with such nonsense, and it was wrong for me to discuss our intimate moments with him. I made a big mistake, and I don’t blame you for being upset with me.”

  “Thank you for the apology,” she said, and Kasen could have sworn she was fighting to suppress a smile.

  “Would you like me to have him call you and apologize?” he asked.

  She answered in a hurry. “Oh, no. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll be happy if I never have to see him again.”

  “Done,” he said. “I will make sure he never comes around here again while you’re at work.”

  “Thank you,” she said, letting her smile break through this time.

  Since Voncile had forgiven Kasen, he felt one hundred again. He strolled into his office and settled in behind his desk to get ready for his day. Before his first patient arrived, he reached for his phone to call Omar, leaving a message when the voice mail picked up.

  “Omar, man, I don’t know what is up with you, but that shit you pulled with Voncile was uncalled for. I have never seen you go off on a chick like that before, so I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume there’s something else going on that has you messed up. Whatever it is, Omar, you need to get yourself together. In the meantime, don’t bring yourself around here to my office. She don’t want to see you, and I don’t blame her. Matter of fact, I think I need a little time to cool off too. Until you’re ready to talk to me man to man without flying off the handle, don’t bother to call me back.”

  Kasen ended the call with no regrets for what he’d said. Omar was out of line. His friend had some serious growing up to do.

  * * *

  Things got better for Kasen later in the day, when one of his patients, Mr. Davidson, sat across the desk from Kasen with a wide smile on his face and declared that everything between him and his wife was great. Kasen’s advice had changed his world around, and his wife was now giving him the special attention he needed.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you again,” he said. “It’s been on and poppin’ in my house. My wife has truly stepped it up.”

  Kasen smiled. This was the reason he loved his job, being able to help people change their situations.

  “I followed your advice to the letter, Doc, and that was all it took. You are my new hero,” Mr. Davidson said with a laugh.

  “I’m here to help,” Kasen said humbly.

  “Well, I appreciate that, but I guess I won’t be needing your services now that me and my wife worked things out,” Mr. Davidson answered as he stood up and extended his hand to Kasen.

  “I totally understand, and I wish you and your wife the best,” Kasen said as he shook the man’s hand.

  Kasen watched Mr. Davidson exit his office with plenty of pep in his step. He wished all of his patients had the same results, and even though most of them did, there were some who took years to come to grips with their situations. His mind wandered to his newest patient, Patrice Davenport. He hadn’t heard back from her yet, and he wondered how her situation was unfolding. He was tempted to call and check on her, but knew it was best to let a person make the decision themselves to ask for help. If they felt forced to come to therapy, they generally weren’t very successful. He hoped she would call sometime soon.

  Kasen stepped out of his office.

  “Hey, Voncile. You want to go to lunch with me?” he asked.

  She looked up from the papers on her desk and noticed his expression. “Well, don’t you look happy,” she said. “You must have had a good session.”

  “Sure did,” he answered. “And now I’m ready to go out and celebrate for a few. Or at least go to lunch. You interested?”

  “Oh, trust me, I’m always interested,” she said flirtatiously. All traces of her earlier anger were gone, and Kasen was relieved about that.

  Suddenly, his eyes traveled to her neckline, and a puzzled expression came across his face.

  “Uh, that’s a nice necklace,” he said, his voice sounding tight.

  Her hand went to her neck, clutching the pearl strand that hung there. “Oh, thanks. This old thing came from my grandmother. She loved pearl necklaces, and she gave it to me two weeks before she passed away. I can’t remember the last time I wore it. For some reason, I was thinking about her this morning and decided to put it on.”

  “Well, it’s a nice necklace. You should wear it more often.” For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was not right. Then he realized what his problem was. The necklace reminded him of one that Raine used to wear all the time. He shook his head to clear his mind of Raine. Plenty of women wore pearl necklaces; he couldn’t trip every time he saw someone wearing one. He just needed a little more time to get Raine out of his system, he thought.

  “Thank you. Maybe I will wear it more often,” Voncile said. She stood up from her desk. “Now what about that lunch?”

  He held out his arm for her, and she placed her hand on it as he led her out of the office.

  They went to a nearby pizza joint that had some of the best sausage and pepperoni pizza. Both of them were relaxed as they enjoyed their time together, getting to know each other as more than just work colleagues. Kasen entertained Voncile with stories about some of the things he had gotten in trouble for in high school. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would do anything bad, but when Voncile learned that Kasen had put a rat in the principal’s shoes, she was tickled pink.

  “My parents were so pissed at me,” Kasen said. “I got suspended in my senior year, and I almost wasn’t able to graduate. Fortunately, after a little begging and pleading and a whole lot of community service work, I was in there.”

  Voncile laughed. “I think the worst thing I ever did in high school was bump somebody too hard in the hallway. I never got in trouble, because I hung with the quiet and nerdy girls that people didn’t want to be around,” she lied.

  “Most nerds in high school are not the same people today,” Kasen said.

  “Who you tellin’?” she joked.

  “I mean, look at you,” Kasen continued. “You’re beautiful, intelligent, funny, and sexy as hell. I know I haven’t gone into great detail about some of the things that I’ve been going through lately, but I want to thank you for being so kind and understanding, especially about what I told Omar. I hope you can forgive me.” Kasen actually surprised himself by heaping so many compliments on Voncile, but he had to admit it felt good to be flirting with another woman instead of indulging in a pity party about Raine.

  Voncile blushed, looking deep into his eyes. “Of course I forgive you. I don’t hold grudges, Kasen, and I’m sure you meant no harm. Omar is the one who got ugly when he didn’t have to. Personally, I think he’s very jealous of you. I never told you this, but when he stops by the office, he always speaks ill of you. He has said many negative things about you that made me wonder how you could ever consider him a friend.”

  Kasen leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. He was surprised to hear Omar was not the person he thought he was, but he didn’t want to dwell in the negative at the moment. He was enjoying his lunch with Voncile, who was becoming more beautiful by the minute in his eyes. “I’m sure he has said a lot about me, but I don’t want to hear about it right now. Remember, I came out to celebrate Mr. Davidson’s success today.”

  Voncile lifted her glass of water for a toast. “To Mr. Davidso
n, then.”

  Kasen clinked his glass against hers.

  * * *

  They returned to the office a little after two o’clock, and Kasen went right back to his desk.

  A short while later, Voncile stuck her head in and said, “I hate to have to tell you this, but Omar called and left a message.”

  “He did? What did he say?” Kasen asked, hoping his friend was ready to apologize for his bad behavior.

  “It wasn’t good,” Voncile answered.

  “Well, what did he say?”

  She sighed. “If you really must know, he called me another whore and called you a sucker. Told you to kiss his ass.”

  “What!” Kasen jumped up from his desk as if he wanted to go hear the message for himself.

  “I deleted the message. Figured that you wouldn’t want to hear it,” Voncile said quickly, stopping him in his tracks.

  Kasen shook his head with disgust. He couldn’t believe that their friendship had gone down the drain so quickly, although a part of him knew his friend was a mess and always suspected that things could turn ugly before Omar got his shit together.

  “Maybe that’s a good thing,” Kasen said, shaking his head. “If he happens to come here, be sure to come and get me. I don’t want to call the police on him, but I will if things get out of hand.”

  “I will,” Voncile said.

  Acting on an impulse, Kasen walked quickly over to her and put his hand under her chin. “Meanwhile,” he said, “I’ve been dying to do this all day.”

  Kasen placed his finger on Voncile’s chin, turning her head to face him as he leaned in to kiss her. They savored the moment as the heat rose between them.

  Obviously Voncile was on the same page as him, because suddenly she became the aggressive one. She unzipped Kasen’s slacks, lowering them to his ankles. Her pussy was ready to receive him, but she needed something tasty in her mouth. She dropped to her knees, making his dick disappear. The feel of his mushroom head massaging her throat made her high. Her eyes were closed; jaws were sucked in real tight. Kasen could barely contain himself. He was in a daze, thinking about how Voncile had quickly stepped up to the mic and delivered a masterful performance. With his back against the wall, his eyes were shut too. He raked his fingers through her hair, grabbing it tight when she sped up the pace.