Shadow of Death (4 page)

After the call, Natalie didn't know if she should be concerned or mad. Did he get into a car accident or had he been called to a crime scene and didn't have the decency to let her know what was happening? She was so deep in thought that the call from her best friend, Aneetra, scared her.

“Are you on your way to Lisa's?”

“No. Troy still hasn't gotten home yet.”

“Where is he? Is he on his way?”

“Girl, I don't know.” She explained the whole scenario to her friend, from her phone conversation with Troy earlier, to what she'd made for dinner, to getting the kids in their bed clothes and waiting on Troy to arrive.

“Well, you know I don't like going by myself. I'm coming over and waiting with you until he gets home.”

Between the two of them, Aneetra was the most extroverted, which is why Natalie found it so ironic that her friend had refused to attend meetings alone. Natalie had done so without Aneetra on several occasions and she tried to encourage her to do the same. “No. You should go,” she urged. “I don't want you to miss because of me.” Aneetra and her husband had recently reconciled after being separated for well over a year. Aneetra's feelings still fluctuated sometimes and Natalie knew she could use the encouragement and support of the other Wise Wives women.

“I'll see you in a few,” Aneetra said, ignoring Natalie's suggestion and hanging up.

Natalie snickered lightly before her mind quickly reverted back to Troy. In the past, Natalie would have been livid with him about not being home on time, but concern began to overshadow any possibility of anger. She turned to the local news channel, sighing in relief when there weren't any breaking reports about a fatal car crash.

What could be keeping him?
Assuming that perhaps it was a lead about an open case that had distracted her overly committed detective husband, Natalie decided she would cut him some slack. Things had been good between them lately and Troy had been doing everything possible to be there with the kids for her meetings. Sure, there were times he'd missed because of work, but unlike depicted in TV, there was no machine that could predict or prevent murder. Still, a courtesy call would have been nice and Natalie would be sure to tell Troy about himself later. Right now, she needed a Plan B if she had any chance of getting to the Wise Wives meeting before it was over. “Hey, Corrine, I need a huge favor.” She explained the situation to her daughter.

“Aw, Nat, I would, but I'm still at the office working on a new campaign.” Corrine was a marketing analyst for Victoria's Secret. Her job could be challenging at times, requiring out-of-town trips and long hours, but Corrine seemed to love it. She was young and, as far as Natalie knew, still single so she could keep up with the demands of her position. Corrine was also very helpful with the kids. Natalie didn't need her quite as much now that she wasn't working, but she knew how much Corrine loved her younger siblings, especially Nate. She wore a locket with his newborn picture in it. Whenever Corrine was able to lend a helping hand, she was always a godsend. “I feel bad that I can't watch them for you.”

“Honey, there's nothing for you to feel bad about. It's not the end of the world if I miss tonight's meeting.”

“Okay. Well, call me this weekend if you need me for anything else.”

“I might take you up on that offer the next time Ean and Ebony have one of their crying fits. They are cool now, but they showed out earlier. I'm no longer wishing that Calgon would come take me away.” Natalie laughed, expecting her daughter to do the same.

“Who's Calgon?”

She gave Corrine the same explanation she'd given Nate, this time adding information about the old commercial which featured the lady in the bath and the bubbles.

“Uh, yeah, okay. I'm gonna need you to stop with that joke. It's not working. You make yourself sound old.”

Sometimes Natalie felt every bit of thirty-nine and then some, trying to keep up with her three little ones. And the grays didn't help, which is why she'd decided to dye her hair. She'd also gotten the cartilage on her right ear re-pierced. It was something she'd done in her early twenties, but let it close because the healing process was too painful. She suffered through it this time, wondering if she had been going through some midlife crisis. These last couple of years had been like a roller-coaster ride. She didn't purposefully get pregnant, despite Troy's desire for more children. And when she did, she certainly hadn't expected twins. Considering that her father had been a twin, it shouldn't have come as any surprise, but it was more than she'd bargained for. And then there was the thing at work…

Becoming a full-time homemaker was far from her goal. Natalie had enjoyed her job as a financial analyst with Dennison Financial Solutions. She had been in charge of small business accounts that grossed less than $100,000 each year. Though there was the typical office drama, Natalie stayed away from it. She was cordial with everyone, but the only one she spent any time with was Aneetra, whom Natalie met at Dennison. Aneetra, who had been there for several years before Natalie began, was also well liked by the other employees and favored by their boss. Natalie was sure it was their boss's affinity for Aneetra that worked in her favor coupled with the lack of solid evidence that Natalie had done anything malicious that kept the company from doing a formal investigation. It was perhaps why Natalie was offered any type of severance. Overstressed from her work caseload, Natalie had brought some files home and logged into the Dennison portal. Somehow she accidentally deleted years' worth of electronic financial records that one of Dennison's clients needed for a court proceeding.

Natalie still didn't know how in the world she'd managed to not only delete the files, but also erase the backup copies as well. From the outside looking in, it appeared that Natalie was purposely trying to sabotage things. The only thing she could think of was that she'd somehow been careless in trying to balance home and work duties at the same time. Troy had been working late that night, and of course, Natalie felt his absence and inability to help care for their children consistently, contributed to her stress load and indirectly affected her job performance. In retrospect, she'd unfairly placed blame on him. In the end, losing her job worked out for her benefit as one well-known scripture in Romans stated,
“And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

The job thing didn't only work out for Natalie's good, but for the good of her entire family. Through that ordeal, her marriage was strengthened because she and Troy were forced to communicate openly and honestly with one another. They now had a level of intimacy that they'd never had before. All of her guards are down, no hesitation, no reservations… just pure, unadulterated trust.

Being forced to leave her job also benefited her children who now had more access to her time. The twins were with her all day every day, but she and Troy had decided to keep Nate in preschool on a part-time basis—Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until noon. They thought it would be good for him to have that structure since he'd be starting kindergarten in the fall. Nate was now home with her in the early afternoons on those days versus the times he would have been in aftercare until the evenings if she worked late. In addition, Natalie gained a whole new level of love and respect for motherhood, in general. To think that she, former miss fashion model wannabe, would find joy in the complex and yet very simple life of snotty noses, dirty diapers, and
Blues Clues
was nothing short of a miracle. She still wasn't crazy about the stretch marks that sprinkled over her abdomen and thighs, and she faithfully used cocoa butter, shea butter, and all kinds of other butters and creams in hopes that they would one day fade. Her bikini-wearing days were in the past, but Natalie couldn't imagine life without any of her children, including Corrine, who, thankfully, had been kind enough not to leave permanent pregnancy reminders on her body.
Ah, if only my skin had the elasticity in my
thirties as it did when I was thirteen.
She smiled. That was the model in her talking. Most days, the mommy in her saw those same scars as badges of honor.

Speaking of badges…her husband had better be utilizing his right then. That's the only excuse he'd have of not being home in time for her meeting!

A
neetra arrived a few minutes after 7:00 p.m. with a couple of Redbox movies in hand. “I figured if Troy doesn't come home, we'll need something to do.” She handed the movies to Natalie and walked into the living room to give hugs and kisses to her godchildren.

Nate loved “Aunt Nee Nee” to no end and proudly ran into her open arms. Ean's and Ebony's love had been conditional ever since Aneetra had done the big chop about six weeks ago. Her relaxed, shoulder-length hair was resting in a landfill somewhere and a new teeny-weenie Florida from
Good Times
'fro had taken its place. The twins perked up when they heard her voice, but the new look was still foreign to them so they briefly cried when she approached them.

“You got my babies so confused.” Natalie laughed and picked up Ebony who reached out to her. Ean followed suit.

“Whatever. They should be used to my hair by now. They didn't act crazy when you dyed yours.”

“The keyword is ‘dyed.' I didn't go from Goldilocks to nolocks overnight.”

Aneetra playfully stuck out her tongue and sat on the couch with Nate who told her about his day at school before reoccupying himself with Natalie's iPad and having “Aunt Nee Nee” play, too. Natalie observed the two of them with delight. She felt like she had her old friend back. Aneetra's happy-go-lucky personality was refreshing and something Natalie greatly missed during the time that Aneetra and Marcus had been separated. Natalie hadn't been sure if their marriage could be repaired after the damage that had been done to it, but she was glad that they'd worked through their issues. Aneetra had said that being a part of the Wise Wives ministry group helped her, which is why Natalie really wished Aneetra had gone without her. The meetings helped Natalie as well. Neither she nor Aneetra had gotten comfortable with the whole group-sharing thing and generally were non-talkative participants during the meetings. But, they were both good listeners and would discuss amongst themselves the things that they learned from the other women in the group.

Aneetra was eighteen years-plus into her marriage while Natalie and Troy were two weeks shy of their sixth anniversary happening early next month. Yet, there were things that both women learned from and taught each other. Natalie was proud to see that her friend had started to accept her fashion advice. When Aneetra cut all of her hair, Natalie wasn't feeling the new do. Aneetra, who had a darker skin tone close, but not quite the shade of Troy's, was only two years Natalie's senior, but always dressed much older. She was on the thicker side of the spectrum and Aneetra seemed self-conscious about her appearance. The original short hairstyle, combined with somebody's grandma's clothing, and the lack of consistent cosmetics and jewelry did not work in Aneetra's favor. It took Nate telling “Aunt Nee Nee” that she looked like a boy for her to spice up things a bit. Aneetra had a makeover party at her home a couple of weeks ago with her daughters, Natalie, Corrine, and a few women from church and Wise Wives. Since then, Aneetra's life—well, her appearance—had never been the same. Tonight, she was working that afro, along with a maxi dress, gold hoops, and shimmer lip gloss. Natalie would have chosen heeled sandals, or even wedges instead of flats, but at least Aneetra had chosen fashionable ones. Natalie didn't have to ask Aneetra if Marcus enjoyed her new look. They'd been together on several occasions when Aneetra cut out early because Marcus was home waiting on her; that had said it all.

Natalie again started thinking about her own husband whom she still had not heard from. By a quarter to eight, she was certain that he wasn't coming home. She simply wanted the assurance that he was okay. She'd tried calling him one more time. No luck. “It's unusual for him not to call or at least send a text when he knows I'm expecting him,” she expressed to Aneetra. “Something isn't right. I feel it.”

“You're feeling gas from those beans you made. Relax, Nat, I'm sure he's okay.” Aneetra didn't sound as confident as she was trying to make Natalie believe. Still, Natalie appreciated her friend being there, especially when all three of her youngins decided to go crazy at the same time.

It was Nate who had led the way to the Evans children's group meltdown. Whenever he was sleepy, he got excessively silly or whiny. Tonight he'd chosen the latter and it seemed like every big- brother bone in his body had vanished. It started when the twins finally warmed up to Aneetra. She'd stopped playing with him on the iPad and turned her attention to them. They both sat in her lap on the couch next to Nate. Ean, as any one-year-old would be, was fascinated by the jellied objects on Candy Crush and grabbed at the game. Nate fussed at him about being too young to play, and when Nate moved it out of Ean's reach, he somehow accidentally ended the game. As luck would have it, that was Nate's last life and it would be twenty-something minutes before he got another one. That whole scene went down in less than thirty seconds, but caused at least fifteen minutes' worth of chaos.

Nate had a fit; jumping and screaming as if someone had died. Not one to take kindly to temper-tantrums, Natalie wanted to pop his butt except she'd only be doing so because of her own emotional distress. She was a firm believer in spankings, however, it wasn't her first reaction to initial episodes of misbehavior though she couldn't swear that she'd always had that mindset. Her tolerance had increased now that she didn't have the stress of working eight hours a day and then coming home for her “second shift,” a term sociologists used to refer to the after-work responsibilities of wives and mothers.