Grand Opening 2 Read online

  “Don’t fuck me on this, Eddie. The minute you know something, pick up the damn phone.” He nodded his head, and I released him just as someone walked up behind me. Despite his paranoia, a broad smile came to Eddie’s face.

  “Here’s your two eggs and bacon. Izzy had to go, so I’ll be your server.”

  The waitress’s voice was familiar, but it couldn’t possibly be who I thought it was. Slim fingers placed a platter of eggs and bacon in front of me. My eyes traveled from the hand up to the face, and our eyes locked. The look on her face was a mixture of shock, horror, and utter surprise. I was certain my face wore the same expression, because I was definitely feeling the same way.

  “Lou.” She shook her head at me.

  I turned to Eddie, who was staring at her as if he’d just been shot by Cupid himself.

  “Who’s your friend, Lou?” Eddie asked, still grinning. All of a sudden, this motherfucker wasn’t paranoid at all.

  “She’s not my friend,” I said, turning back to her. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of Donna, my brother LC’s former fiancée, dressed in the same uniform that Izzy wore. A few years ago, she would not have been caught dead in a joint like this to eat, let alone to work.

  “What the hell is so funny?” Donna snapped. “And what are you doing here?”

  “Flying a damn plane. I’m an airline pilot. What does it look like I’m doing? I’m having something to eat. Now, can I get a refill on this coffee?” I lifted my cup, smirking as she snatched it from me. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You, the fancy, uppity, bourgeois broad who—”

  “Shut the fuck up, Lou.” Donna talked tough, but it was obvious she would rather be anywhere in the world at that moment than to be standing there in front of me. “Now, I’m not looking for trouble, because I need this job, but I’m not going to put up with your shit, either.”

  “I ain’t here for no trouble, sweetheart. I’m just here to eat, that’s all. Now, can I get that refill?” I laughed.

  Donna rolled her eyes at me and walked away without saying anything else.

  “That’s one sexy woman.” Eddie was still standing there, gawking at her ass as she walked away.

  “That’s one stuck-up bitch,” I replied then pointed at the door. “And you need to get the hell outta here and find out who’s got my momma. What am I paying you for?”

  “I’m on it,” he said, walking toward the door. Before he exited, he hesitated, trying to steal a final glance at Donna.

  I had to laugh. For someone usually so well informed, that poor guy had no idea what he was looking to get himself into.

  I dug into my food, and although I tried not to, I couldn’t help but check Donna out as she served other customers in the diner. I couldn’t wait to tell LC how far his first love had fallen. She had always been a pretty girl with her smooth, light skin and long hair. Now, she was a little thicker than I remembered, but Eddie was right. Donna was sexy. Truth be told, it was her uppity attitude that had always made her ugly in my eyes. And it was that attitude that had given LC fits while they were dating. Nothing he ever did or had was good enough, until her father, the big-time doctor, got caught up in Medicaid fraud and fled the country to avoid being prosecuted. He left Donna and her mother high and dry. LC was her saving grace, until my brother came to his senses and realized it wasn’t Donna he was in love with, it was Chippy. He actually left Donna standing at the altar.

  She glanced up and caught me staring at her, so I just shrugged, lifting my fingers to my lips as if I held an imaginary coffee cup. She once again rolled her eyes, but a few seconds later, she placed a fresh cup of coffee and a check on the table. I finished eating, placed cash on the table, and then left.

  I was about to get into my car when I heard my name being called.

  “Lou! Lou! Wait!”

  “What now?” I mumbled to myself. It was Donna, running out of the diner like I hadn’t paid my check. “Can I help you?”

  “I . . . uh . . . this is hard for me to say, but thank you.” She actually sounded humble.

  “For what?”

  “For the tip you left me.” She held up a twenty-dollar bill.

  “It was just a damn tip, Donna.”

  “It was four times more than the bill. I appreciate it.” She actually looked sincere.

  “It’s no big deal. You look like you could use it.” I stared at her face and saw exhaustion, and for some reason, I felt sorry for her. Despite her arrogance, this was not the life for her.

  “I can use it, and it was a big deal to me.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she added, “Lou, how is he?”

  Her eyes met mine, waiting in anticipation. I knew I shouldn’t even comment. I should have just left it alone, but like an imbecile, I told her, “He’s fine, Donna.”

  “He is?” She half smiled. “For real?”

  “Yeah, he’s good. But Donna, you need to leave it alone. Let it go.”

  “I know, but . . . I can’t. Lou, despite everything, I love him. I need to know that he’s okay.” She had fat tears brimming in her eyes at this point.

  “I told you, he’s fine.” I sighed, wishing I had just gotten in my car and left when I’d had the chance. Now the tears started spilling down her cheeks, and I felt stuck.

  “I believe you, but take my number just in case.” She reached in her pocket and took out a pad and pen. After scribbling some numbers, she folded the paper and tried to pass it to me. I resisted at first, until she said, “Please, Lou. Just take it. One day it might come in handy.”

  I took the paper from her trembling hand and put it into my back pocket then got into my car before she could say anything else. As I backed out of the parking space and pulled out of the lot, I looked into the rearview mirror and saw that she was still standing there, looking sad and defeated—but still sexy as hell, if I do say so myself.

  Chippy

  7

  “I ain’t never had my dick sucked by a pregnant woman before. How much that cost?” a drunk old fool asked as I walked through the crowded bar area of Big Shirley’s whorehouse, which was filled with scantily dressed women and half-drunken men. Every time I walked through those doors, the horrible memories of working for Big Sam made me cringe. Despite the new name and change of ownership, it would always be Big Sam’s to me, the place where I lost my soul and met my soulmate.

  I stared at the man with a devilish grin. “Same thing it cost to have your dick bitten off by a pregnant woman,” I snapped.

  He took a huge step back, giving me all the room I needed to pass by. Wobbling my swollen body to the back of the building to what used to be Sam’s office, I opened the door and was greeted by Lou, Larry, Levi, and Shirley, along with my girl Nee Nee. All were seated around a large table that took up almost the entire room. Everyone looked worn out, except for Levi. Miss Bettie’s abduction was putting the whole family through hell, and it was more than starting to show.

  “Where’s LC?” Lou asked as I walked in.

  “He’s outside waiting for someone,” I replied. Nee Nee patted the empty chair beside her, and I headed directly for it.

  “Who the fuck is he waiting for?” Larry barked in his typical nasty tone.

  “I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug. Larry had a way of talking at you instead of to you, but I never let that bother me, because he did it to everyone, not just me. “He said he’d be here in a minute. If you want him so bad, go on out there and get him.”

  Nee Nee waved her hand as she rolled her eyes at Larry. “Girl, please don’t pay him no mind. How you feeling?”

  “Tired as hell,” I replied, settling into the chair as well as my big belly would let me. “It’s been a good pregnancy, but I’m about ready to drop this load. I probably should have just stayed home.”

  “We all got shit we’d rather be doing, but your husband called this meeting, so your ass is gonna sit right here with the rest of us and suffer,” Larry grumbled. I swear I’d never met anyone else so orne
ry. I didn’t know how Nee Nee put up with him.

  “Don’t worry, Larry. I ain’t going nowhere unless I go into labor. Then I’m gonna make you deliver my baby. You ready?” I sat back in my chair and opened my legs wide, making everyone but Larry fall out of their seats with laughter.

  It was good to hear the family laugh again. Before Miss Bettie was taken, we used to laugh and play practical jokes on each other all the time.

  “You ain’t got enough money for me to be up between your nasty-ass legs, Chippy,” Larry countered, making it clear I’d definitely touched a nerve.

  “What the fuck did you just say to my wife?” LC’s voice came out of nowhere, and he wasn’t laughing. My husband had a way of always arriving just in the nick of time to come to my defense, although this time, I didn’t need it.

  “Mind your business, little brother. Your wife started this shit.” Larry’s voice boomed with irritation.

  “Well, I’m ending it.” LC stepped toward his older brother, and Larry did the same toward him. They stared at one another, each one waiting to see who would make the next move. The tension in the room thickened. A few weeks ago, this would have never happened, but lately it seemed like we were always sitting on a powder keg.

  “You can do that shit to Nee Nee and Shirley, but you’re not doing it to my wife. You need to learn some respect,” LC said, inches away from Larry’s face.

  “And you’re gonna teach it to me?” Larry damn near laughed, lifting his hand and pointing a finger, a telltale sign that things were about to escalate.

  “Doesn’t seem like anyone else is willing to.”

  “Do something!” Shirley gave Lou a shove, prompting him to jump in between his brothers, separating them with his hands.

  “Hey, hey, we ain’t come here for all this. Calm down, and everybody take a seat.” He turned toward LC. “Larry was just having some fun with Chippy, is all. We was all just having a few laughs. Isn’t that right, Chippy?”

  “Yes, that’s right. We was just playing, LC,” I said.

  But he didn’t budge, and neither did Larry.

  “I don’t see a damn thing funny, and I’m sick of him disrespecting you.” LC continued to stare Larry down until I gently reached out and touched his arm. Then his eyes met mine.

  “Please, sit down. You’re getting yourself all worked up for nothing.” I patted my belly, reminding him of everyting he had to lose, and his body softened a bit.

  “Okay, but nobody talks to my wife that way, not even my brother.” He glared at Larry as he stepped back and reached for an empty chair. Pulling it beside me, LC took a seat.

  Larry was being guided to his seat by Lou and Nee Nee. To my surprise, the look he gave me was somewhat apologetic—well, as apologetic as someone with his evil temperament could muster.

  Just as things seemed to have calmed down, there was a knock on the door. Little Momma, a friend and one of the house whores, poked her head in. “LC, there’s a man out here waiting on you.”

  LC snapped his fingers. “Damn, I completely forgot about him. Send him in.”

  Little Momma nodded, pulled her head back through the door, and a few seconds later, a tall white man wearing a suit and tie walked in. Something about the way he carried himself made me think he was ex-military.

  “Who is this?” Larry asked, “and why does everything about him scream cop?”

  “Maybe ’cause he is a cop. This is Captain Walker of the Georgia State Po—”

  “State Police! What the fuck!” Lou hollered before LC could finish his sentence. None of us were too big on police, so you could imagine the look of disapproval and concern on everyone’s faces. Sure, we interacted with them on a limited basis and paid them when we absolutely needed to, but we sure as hell didn’t make a habit of inviting them up in our midst.

  “You brought a cop here?” Shirley looked like she was about to shit her pants. “Why don’t you just haul me and my girls down to the city jail right now?”

  “Please. You think the cops don’t know what you do in here, Shirley? They don’t raid you because me and my brothers pay them not to,” LC replied. I could tell from his response that he didn’t give a shit how she felt. Shirley’s name may have been above the door, but it was really LC, Larry, and Lou who owned the place. “Now, Captain Walker came all the way down here with some information about Momma he thinks we should know, so let’s hear what the man has to say,”

  Of course you know that piqued everyone’s interest.

  “What kind of information?” Larry asked skeptically, his eyes not leaving the captain. “You know I don’t like or trust police, LC, and neither does Lou.”

  “I know, but he said it’s about Momma and it’s important, so would you shut up and listen?” LC turned to the captain and gestured for him to speak. “Go ahead, Captain Walker.”

  “Well, as you know, we’ve been investigating Mrs. Duncan’s disappearance for the past few weeks.”

  “Yeah, and for what we’re paying you, your ass should have found her by now,” Larry snapped at him.

  There was a slight twitch in his left eyebrow, but other than that, Walker maintained his composure and let Larry’s insult roll off his back. “You’re right. We haven’t found much, but today we found this and wanted to know if you could identify it.”

  The room fell completely silent as the captain emptied the contents of a paper bag onto the table. It looked like jumbled up, mud-soaked clothes.

  “What’s that?” I asked, dreading his answer.

  “That’s what remains of a dress we found out in Okefenokee Swamp,” the captain replied.

  “Looks like the gators got to it?” Larry asked, his voice more hesitant than I’d ever heard it.

  “You trying to say the gators got my momma?” LC’s question had a hint of fear in it.

  “Unfortunately, that’s what I came here to find out, Mr. Duncan.”

  He was full of shit. I could tell by the way he was shifting around that he was already sure those clothes belonged to Miss Bettie. He just didn’t want to say it out loud. I felt my hands begin to tremble.

  “Can any of you identify the dress?” he asked.

  “Oh my God, Larry!” Nee Nee shrieked, pointing at the hodgepodge of clothes. “Look at the material. That’s the apron your momma was wearing.”

  Larry leaned over, studying the cloth as he picked it up. He glanced over at LC and Lou, closing his eyes as he let the material slip from his fingers. “Fuck! She’s right. That is Momma’s apron. It’s got those ugly-ass ducks on it.”

  LC looked like he was in a trance. I took hold of his hands, which were now shaking, just like mine.

  “Were there any remains found with the body?” Lou asked. He seemed to be the only calm person in the room.

  “We did find what appears to be a colored woman’s arm about twenty feet from the clothing. We sent it to the lab to see what they could find.”

  “Is she dead? Do you think our momma is dead?” LC finally snapped out of his trance to ask.

  “If that’s her dress, then yes, Mr. Duncan, I believe your mother is dead.” His voice, although soft spoken, blared like a bull horn in my head.

  “Oh, no!” Nee Nee cried.

  “Dear God, she’s really gone. Miss Bettie is really gone,” Shirley mumbled.

  “M–M–M–Momma? G–g–g–gone?” Levi stuttered sadly. Shirley reached over and put her arms around her man’s shoulders. As big as he was, he seemed to shrink in that moment.

  “No, no!” Lou cried out as real tears ran down his face. He dropped his head on the table, muttering, “Momma can’t be gone. Not like this. Not like this.”

  LC

  8

  “My condolences. . . . Sorry for your loss.... She was a good woman.” The words pouring in from people at the service did little to comfort me.

  I hadn’t really been in favor of a big funeral, but Larry, a man of few words, had insisted and actually came out his cheap-ass pockets and paid for it.
It seemed like half of Waycross was at Momma’s funeral, which was a good thing, except for the fact that I knew one of them was probably the son-of-a-bitch who had thrown her into the swamp to be eaten by the gators.

  “Your momma would have appreciated this,” Shirley told Larry, placing a hand on his shoulder. He’d been sitting in a chair in the corner during the entire repast, sniffling back tears. I’d known that man all my life, but I’d never seem him cry like he did at that funeral. Seeing my brothers so emotional broke my heart, but I still couldn’t bring myself to cry. The fact that we were even having a funeral seemed surreal to me. I mean, how could she be dead? She’d just come home to us.

  “Yeah, well, she’s home now,” Chippy added. We had all gathered back at the farm after the funeral. The kids were outside playing with Levi, while everyone else was sitting in the living room. The mood was still somber. “Now she can finally rest.”

  “What if she ain’t dead? What if that ain’t her body the police gave us?” Lou said to no one in particular.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Larry snapped.

  “Lou, that was totally uncalled for.” Chippy frowned. “Even for you.”

  Lou persisted. “I’m just saying. What if she’s still alive? What if the cops are wrong?”

  “Man, give it a rest,” Larry said angirily.

  “Come on, Larry. You of all people know how these crackers can be.” There was no backing down in his voice.

  “Lou, don’t.” I sat up in my chair, shaking my head. “She’s gone, man.”

  “But what if she isn’t?” Lou sounded like he was pleading with me to make his wish reality.

  The more Lou tried to rationalize the possibility of her being alive, the crazier he sounded, and the more angry I became. Here I was, trying to accept that she was gone, and he just wouldn’t shut the fuck up with his conspiracy theories. Coming to terms with her death would be hard enough, and he was making it harder not just for me, but for everyone else. I had hoped that her memorial service would give all of us some closure, but here he was reopening the wound with his stupid false hope.