Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (24 page)

“Did you feel that way about me?” Ivy loved to hear her father talk about when she and Emerald were kids.

“Oh yeah.” There was a brief silence. “Emerald stole my heart and you stole my soul. I don’t believe I was ever the same after that. I loved…love you guys.” He never had a problem expressing himself to his only daughter; it was only with his son that he struggled.

“We love you, too,” she said sensing his loneliness. She always could.

“So, tell me about this man I have to kill. Who is this cop? Shaft in training?” It was time to get the information his ex-wife wouldn’t give him.
“No, he’s not exactly
Shaft
in training. Truthfully, I don’t know a lot about his character. He’s responsible from what I can tell and honest. He seems to have no problem with confrontation.” She tried to find words to describe him truthfully.

“Wait, something sounds funny. You sound funny like when you’re failing to tell me something really important.”

“Like what, Madison?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“He’s not military, which I know is one of your prerequisites of a perfect man.”

“Is he educated?”

“Yes. He has his MBA.”

“Where’s he from?”

“Miami.”

“What is he doing up here?”

“He came here in college to play football.”

“What’s his last name? Any children? Ever been married?”

“Agosto. No. And no.”

“Agosto?” Madison scratched his head. “Is he a Caucasian?” He hadn’t heard anything else.

“Yeah. Well his father is Italian and his mother is Irish.”

“That’s what I said, White.”

“Whatever. Don’t tell me you’re prejudice, Madison.”

“Far from it. I’m just a little shocked.” He didn’t want to admit that he had some color issues, at least not now.

“Shocked. Whatever happened to freedom of choice? Please, you actually are going to sit here and tell me that you’ve never been with a white woman?”

“What I do is my business, and I’m a Brigadier General in the United States Marine Corp, so of course I believe in freedom… the freedom to pick any woman in the world besides my daughter.”

“You know, I always pegged you wrong. I figured that white women were right up your alley. I mean, Mom is high yellow; the woman you saw after the divorce was high yellow. I just figured you liked women with a
fair
complexion.”

“Well, all of my girlfriends from college and high school were extremely light complexioned women, but I guess it was a coincidence.” His daughter was much too observant.

“Or maybe you were just brain washed. They say that black men back then only dated light skin women. It was a sign of status.” She could hear his aggravation even in his silence.

“Bull. My biggest crush was on the blackest thing at TSU.” Madison laughed. “That was back in the day. You tiny boppers don’t know anything about that.”

“Madison, do you really care that he’s white?”

“Nope. Some of my best friends are white.” Madison laughed. “But I do care about what his intensions are towards you.”

“I don’t know what his intensions are. So far, he’s been understanding, but who’s to say that won’t change.”

“I know, and you should keep that attitude about both of them.” He worried for her now. “Regardless of what they do, I’ll be there soon. You won’t have to go through this alone. I promise, princess.”

Chapter Twelve: Kitty Kat

Chapter 12

KITTY KAT

“So, is the wedding still on?”
Mayor Henderson asked driving his golf ball across the Southwind golf course. It had been nearly a month and a half since he and Grey’s last conversation about the wedding and Ivy’s pregnancy. He was starting to become nervous.

“Yeah, that I know of, it is.” Grey teed up and took swing. Making contact, he watch the small ball soar through the air. “As soon as the baby gets here, we’ll get married.” He watched the ball land in satisfaction.

“What if the baby happens to belong to the cop?” his father asked with concern for the future of the family. He knew that he had inquired more than once, but he had to make sure that his son was sure of his decision.

“Then it does. I just can’t afford to loose Ivy at this point. And I know this sounds crazy, but I don’t know if I don’t want to loose her because I love her, or if it’s because I can’t stand to see her with someone else.” Wiping the sweat from his brow, Grey looked across the course. “I just never thought that life could become so complicated in such a short period of time. I’m loosing myself, because I’m loosing her.”

“I know that it’s a hard pill to swallow, but what you’re feeling is natural, son. You could be a father soon, or a stepfather…” Mayor Henderson shook his head. “This is not exactly how I pictured you starting a family.”

“Me either. This is some messy shit that I’ve gotten myself into.”

“Yeah. I agree with you on that. But even still, you need to keep this under wraps. Don’t let the public know we have a
family issue
. They really eat this stuff up. And you could possibly suffer at the polls on Election Day.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not about to let this leak out.” Grey understood politics more than he understood anything else in his life. “And Ivy’s been tight-lipped about it, too. She’s very embarrassed, of course.”

“Of course…” Mayor Henderson rolled his eyes. “Did you meet with the other young man like I told you to?”

“Yeah, over a month ago.” Grey hesitated. “You know him.”

“I know him?” Mayor Henderson’s interest peeked.

“He’s your lead guy on the NARC-TACT team.”

“Agosto?” Surely, it couldn’t be him.

“Yep, that’s the bastard.” Leaning on the golf club, Grey looked at his watch. “I had lunch with him at the Piatza Club the other day,
per your request
. When I saw him come through the door, I almost fell out of my fucking seat. I couldn’t believe it. You know, I never even knew that she looked at other men, especially other races. He’s a problem for me, and he knows it.”

“This entire situation is a problem. Did she know that you two knew each other?” Mayor Henderson could not grasp the understanding behind Ivy’s choice.

Grey looked over at his father awkwardly. “Does it matter?”

“I just wonder if it is possible that Ivy found out about your little indiscretions and took it upon herself to get you where it would hurt.”

“She would never intentionally get pregnant, though. It wouldn’t have even mattered to me if it has just been a one-night stand, but most days I feel like it’s something else between those two. But no…I don’t think that there was any sinister plot behind it. It was just a coincidence.”

“Or karma.” Mayor Henderson smirked. “Everything in life has a way of making a full circle, boy. Let that be a lesson to you.”

“Whatever.” Grey didn’t feel like hearing one is his father’s lessons on life. “What do you know about this guy? I mean, I’m trying to gather dirt on him as we speak, but if you know some people on the force that could dish some dirt or some angle that I use just in case, it would be helpful.”

“Well, we had an issue with a drug dealer that was peddling meth in the East Memphis school district a few years back. Nicola helped nip the bud in that entire operation in less than two months. It was some pretty heavy cop work, but he pulled it off. Actually, it made the Memphis political machine look stronger during our initial
No Drugs
campaign. Come to think of it, he’s had a lock on the drug problem since he came into that division. So you will have a hard time trying to find dirt, especially since you’re not a cop.”

“I’m glad to know that you approve of him,” Grey added frustrated.

“No, son. I don’t approve of your situation, but I know the young man. And considering that he is a high profile officer, this could get really hairy. Did you all come to some type of quiet agreement.”

“Yeah. We both will keep this as quiet as possible until the baby arrives. Then, if he is the father, all hell will come out. I gotta tell you, he’s been a real pain in my ass.”

“I’m sure,” his father said sympathetically. He was sure that it would be better to revisit the subject at a later date to give Grey sometime to get used to everything. “So, I know that I’m prying, but I have to ask.” Grey’s father put his club back in the bag and took a sip of his bottled water. “What are you doing for sex these days?” He knew of his son’s promiscuous ways, and wondered had they subsided under the present circumstances.

“I hadn’t had time for it, truthfully. Right after Valentine’s day, I met this girl name Felicia. Man, she was bad.” Grey sighed. “I just couldn’t bring myself to do it though.”

“Did she offer, or did you?” Mayor Henderson knew that it was all in the details.
“She offered. She was standing there in a pink teddy at her place just begging it. But I couldn’t do it.” Grey put his nine-iron away. “I started thinking about Ivy and the baby. Suddenly, she didn’t look so good, and I remembered that I forgot to pick up the carpet cleaner for my den.” He sighed.

“Maybe you are ready to get married?” Grey’s father questioned his earlier doubts.

“That’s what I said. Needless to say that Felicia was pissed. She accused me of being gay and escorted me out of her place. I was sick to my stomach. Normally, I would have turned her everywhere but loose.”

“That’s a good thing, boy. Sex is not what makes life worth living; love is.”

“Yeah, well sex keeps you from firing your secretary, because she got saved and started wearing long skirts and turtlenecks instead of short skirts and tank tops.”

“You fired Angie?”

“Yeah. I didn’t tell her that I was firing her because of that. She thinks it’s because she mixed up the Banckman file with the Ezarer file and sent the wrong information to both offices causing us to nearly loose both accounts. But it was because she wouldn’t show me any leg anymore.”

“I thought I raised you better than that.” Mayor Henderson laughed. “She did have some good looking legs though.”

“Yeah, I know. I replaced her with this little vixen named Carol,” Grey said as an obvious afterthought. “But anyway, about Ivy, I don’t feel right asking her to put out.”

“Don’t worry. She’ll tell you whether or not she’s up to it, but more than likely as she gets farther in the pregnancy, she’ll want it more than you will.”

Grey laughed. “She was a freak before she got pregnant. I can only imagine what she’ll be like now.”

Mayor Henderson’s grin turned to a scowl. “Seems like to me the both of you would have your fill of sex considering the situation.” Grey’s father shook his head in dismay. His wife should have taken the boy to church more.

* *

Near dusk, Grey pulled into his driveway. Instantly, he thought of Ivy. He hadn’t talk to her all day. He dropped his golf bag at the front door and headed to his office. Checking his answering machine, he was relieved there was no pressing business to address. He sat down on his couch and admired the setting sun bowing out gracefully behind a colorful hue of blue skies and white clouds in the horizon.

It had been an absolutely beautiful day of golfing.
There has to be something I can do tonight to compliment such a nice afternoon
, Grey thought to himself. He leaned back against his couch and exhaled. The Waterford crystal clock ticked in the distance as the sun finally set. For a while, he sat quietly staring at the ceiling and basking in the silence of his home.
Think. Think.
Then finally, after some time in the dark, The Black Tie came to mind.

Grey dialed Ivy in hopes that she was occupied for the evening. He could never really enjoy his time away when she was hoping to spend the evening with him. It always made him feel the need to rush through his plans.

“Hey, you,” Ivy said sounding preoccupied.

“Hey. Look what are you doing this evening?”

“Umm, I’m going to the movies with Trina and a couple of girls from school.”

“Good. I had plans for later, and I just wanted to make sure that you were straight.”

“I’m good,” Ivy said glad that he had considered her. “Where are you going?”

“Out to see some old friends.” There was no need to elaborate. She would never understand, and he didn’t’ feel like lying.

“Oh...okay. Well, call me on my cell when you get back.”

“You know I will,” he said content with their very short but productive conversation. Hanging up the phone, he jumped up. He had about two hours to shower, eat and get to the club before Kit came on stage.

Grey had intentionally poured his heart out earlier with his father. He had to make his father feel better about the upcoming election and his appetite for women. The truth was that he had torn Felicia apart and left her apartment in time to meet Ivy for dinner. Yep, there was no stopping him now that he knew that Ivy had played ball.

* *

The Black Tie was packed as usual with all the most elite men in Memphis. The old New Orleans-themed strip club was known exclusively for its Creole women, Cajun food, jazz band, private Champaign rooms, gaudy chandeliers and never-ending scented candles that danced on old Victorian style candelabras burning dimly throughout the building.

Some still in their business suits, the men sat in anticipation of Masquerade. She was the headliner at the club known for her beautiful short and voluptuous body. Every man in the room had grown to adore her and some had even had the pleasure of being with her. In that, Grey was no exception.

Giving his coat to the hostess at the front door, Grey was escorted to his normal booth where he ordered a small shot of scotch. Kit would surely recognize him. She always did. He didn’t have to do anything special. He would just make eye contact with her and hold up his glass to salute her. Shortly after the show, she would come by to say hello, and they would retire back to his place, where she would give him her famous full body massage among other things.