Saturday
7:38AM
Ms. Loins walked into the Evans’ home, holding Michael Junior by the hand. She closed the door and sat her purse and keys on the table.
“Is mom here”, Junior asked Ms. Loins.
“Yes. She’s probably still asleep dear.”
Junior took off running towards his parents’ bedroom.
“Junior let her sleep dear.”
Junior never looked back. Ms. Loins shook her head and prepared to get the house in order. Junior rushed towards Marla’s side of the bed. He grabbed onto the comforter to pull himself up onto the bed. As he made it to the top, his left knee rested on Marla, waking her up. Marla managed to open one of her eyes as she struggled to focus on who was on top of her.
“Junior?”
“I’m here, mom.”
“Yes, baby.”
“It’s birthday, mom.”
“Oh. You are so right. Happy birthday, baby. How old are you?”
Junior proudly held up three fingers, on one hand.
“That’s right. And, what is that?”
“Three.”
“Yes. How did you get here?”
“Loins.”
“Well, let momma get up, so she can say hello to Ms. Loins.”
Junior jumped off the bed, as Marla got from under the sheets, had a long stretch, and put on her robe. They both walked into the family room, holding each other’s hand. Ms. Loins was busy cleaning off the end tables.
“Good morning, Ms. Loins.”
“Good Morning. Looks like you all had a good time.”
“Very much. As a matter of fact, we had a lot of food left over and you are more than welcome to have some.”
“Thank you. Will do.”
“Is my baby hungry”, asked Marla, while looking down at Junior.
Junior nodded in agreement. They both turned around and headed for the kitchen, while still holding hands.
“Oh. Mrs. Evans?”
“Yes?”
“You or someone drop this note in the couch”, said Ms. Loins as she handed her the folded paper.
“Ok. Thank you.”
Confused, Marla unfolded the paper to see what was on it. “If you are able to get away, Call Me!” with a heart at the end.
“You said you found it in this couch”, asked Marla, pointing at the sectional.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Where at, in the couch?”
“It was like in the crack, between the seat and the back.”
“Yes, but what part of the sectional.”
“Gosh, I don’t know. Maybe the middle.”
“Mom, no food”, asked Junior.
“Ok, baby.”
Marla continued toward the kitchen, distraught. She reached for the box of cereal and filled Junior’s bowl.
“Mom, no milk?”
“Oh.”
“Mom, no spoon?”
“Oh. Sorry, baby.”
After handing Junior a spoon, Marla went to her bedroom to retrieve her cell phone. She quietly entered, attempting to not wake Michael. She unhooked her phone from its charger and crept back out. She decided to go out on the patio. Before going to the patio, she stopped and checked on Junior. Junior was still having his way with the cereal. She slid open the patio door and a sudden rush of morning breeze hit her ankles, causing her to hold her robe tighter as she sat down to text Diane.
[Marla: Di]
Time goes by….
[Marla: Di!!!]
[Diane: U send me another text n I’m burning ya house down!]
[Marla: Shut up! You need to be up, cleanin or sumthin]
[Diane: What do u want?]
[Marla: Loins found a msg on a piece of paper in the couch. I think it’s from a woman]
[Diane: U shot mike???]
[Marla: Stop playing. I don’t know who it’s for. Everybody was on the couch]
Time goes by….
[Marla: What u think?]
Almost an half of hour goes by and Diane walks onto the patio, where Marla is sitting.
“Di. I thought you went back off to sleep.”
“Let me see the paper”, demanded Diane.
“I’m worried it might be for Michael.”
“It doesn’t have a name.”
“Duh, I know.”
“That means it can be from anybody. If anything it’s for that young freak.”
“Tony?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we’ll see. I’m going to confront him on Monday, so we can clear the air.”
All of a sudden, Michael walked onto the patio. Diane quickly crumbled the paper and threw it in her purse.
“Everything alright out here”, asked Michael.
“Yes. Good”, said Marla, startled.
“How’s everything on the job, Michael”, asked Diane.
“Just fine. Why you ask?”
“Di, you need to go home and check on your kids”, Marla interrupted.
“Ok”, replied Diane, never taking her eyes off Michael.
“Did I miss something?”
Diane left the patio, walking closely to Michael as she walked by trying to get a scent.
“Everything okay”, Michael asked Marla.
“Time of the month.”
“Oh.”
The afternoon passed by and Marla and Michael were prepared for Junior’s birthday party. They pulled up to Joey’s Big Wheel, with Junior in tow. Joey’s Big Wheel was packed as usual. For some years, Joey’s Big Wheel has been the hot spot for children’s birthdays. With limited places for kids to play and celebrate birthdays, it was easy for Joey’s to become a staple for children. Outside was the logo of a toddler, wearing the trademark jean overalls and red ball cap while pushing a huge wheel. When they entered, kids were frantically running around with no concern for who was around them. Along with the wild jungle atmosphere, there was a mixture of kids crying and yelling. As they approached Junior’s designated table, Michael noticed a few toddlers from their old neighborhood with their parents, along with Diane and her family, Rhonda, Stephanie, and Angie.
“Wow. Hi, everybody”, said Michael.
“Hi”, they all said at once.
“You ladies must be making this a weekend thing?”
“Something like that”, replied Diane.
“Michael, honey you’re asking too many questions. Set those gifts down and check on the pizzas…. Hello, everyone.”
Once Michael walked away, Marla went around hugging everyone attending Junior’s party. Junior had already disappeared to play with the other kids. Marla eventually made it over to Diane to have a seat. Angie, who was sitting across from Marla and Diane, leaned forward.
“So, what’s going on”, whispered Angie.
“A little too much”, said Marla.
“Ok, crew. About 5 more minutes and the pizzas will be ready”, said Michael as he walked toward the party.
“So, you haven’t told them”, asked Diane.
“No. That’s why we’re all here.”
“Well, we need to sit somewhere else.”
Marla scanned the room and noticed a table, two tables behind them, which was vacant.
“Let’s go to the table, right there.”
All the women rose up from the table and walked over to the vacant table, close by.
“What’s wrong”, asked Stanley.
“Just girl talk”, replied Diane.
Michael leaned over to Stanley.
“Man, those women have been acting funny, ever since this morning.”
“Well, you know women.”
“Yeah, they told me it was that time of the month. But, it seems like that time comes around every week.”
“Who you telling?”
They both burst out in laughter. The ladies look back at Michael and Stanley as they sit down at the vacant table.
“Girl, I just don’t know”, said Diane.
“Just make sure all your senses are alert”, responded Marla.
“Hold on a second. What’s going on”, asked Stephanie.
“Well, I don’t know if you and Angie remember what we saw when we entered the family room.”
“What did Jimmy do this time”, asked Rhonda.
“Well, I’m not saying its Jimmy.”
“Actually, we don’t know who it is.”
“Somebody spilt something”, asked Angie.
“No… My housekeeper was going through the family room, cleaning…. Next thing I know, she hands me a folded note that was in the couch.”
Diane started digging in her purse.
“I open the note and it says something about call me later love.”
Diane found the crumbled paper and handed it to Stephanie. Stephanie started reading to herself as Angie looked over her shoulder, “If you are able to get away, Call Me!” Stephanie tossed the paper on the table, looked straight ahead, and stared off into space.
“Ain’t this about something”, said Angie.
Junior showed up, standing next to Marla.
“Mom.”
Marla jumped in her chair, not knowing someone was next to her.
“Yes, baby?”
“I need coins to play.”
“Ask your daddy. He’ll get them for you.”
Junior rushed over to Michael, as the ladies gathered in a circle.
“This is why I’m single. A man ain’t no good”, said Angie.
“Well, the question is still in the air”, said Marla.
“Who do we kill first”, asked Angie
“No…. Diane give me the note, so I can put it away. The question is who it belongs to.”
“Then, we can do the killing. Because, let me find out Jimmy got a woman on the side…. I’m going HAM!”
“Not so loud, Rhonda… We don’t want to make it obvious.”
“True. It’s like Marla said. We can’t let it be known, because then they’ll cover their tracks.”
“Right, Diane. Now, we need to be on the lookout.”
“Well, how do we do that? As soon as they notice us acting different, they are going to suspect something”, said Angie.
“Well, we can help one another…. We can assign each other to each other’s man.”
“Like spying?”
“Just like spying…. We each will keep an eye out for what the guy is doing…. Where does he go after work…? What is he doing on the weekend…?”
“Who he sleeping with”, said Angie.
“Okay…. Diane, we’ll switch up. It is easier for us to follow each other’s husband, because we know each of them very well. Plus, it won’t seem unusual if we happen to run into one another.”
“OK.”
“Rhonda and Stephanie, you two don’t know one another. But, that isn’t a problem. Just get each other up to speed and go from there. Plus, with me and Diane helping each other, it will help narrow down who it is. Angie, you can fill-in as need be.”
“I’m nervous” said Diane.
“Girl, please. I’m excited. I don’t get this much excitement often”, said Angie
“Di, don’t worry. They don’t know, so what is the worst that can happen?”
“Well, it’s not getting caught. It’s just discovering something you don’t want to see.”
“Well, it’s a hard pill to swallow.”
“That’s why I’m killing as soon as I find out”, informed Rhonda.
“You need a drink, baby”, said Angie
“Okay, ladies. Let’s head back to our table…. Stephanie and Rhonda, you two exchange numbers and I’ll stay in touch with everyone.”
As the women head back to their party, all of them had mischievous smiles on their faces. Michael leaned over to Stanley again.
“You see what I’m talking about? Now, they all smiles.”
“Yeah, that is odd…. and crazy.”
After the party, Marla and Michael were on their way home. Junior was worn out from the party and knocked out in his car seat.
“Michael, what do you do on your job?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I can’t know about your job?”
“Well, you’ve never asked me before, so I’m just curious.”
“Well, that’s one of the reasons I asked…. I don’t know.”
“Well baby, my work is mainly on the field handling construction. It varies from skyscrapers to local parks…. Since I supervise, my hands don’t get as dirty as they use to. You have to start from somewhere, but now I am in a much easier position.”
“Interesting.”
“I’m flattered. You’ve never ask me before. I almost feel special”, smiled Michael.
“Quit it…. Are there any women in your line of work?”
“I’m sure there probably is, but I haven’t seen any…. The most I see is a woman as the secretary.”
“How often do you have to deal with her?.... I mean being the supervisor, is there a lot of communication with the secretary?”
“Very little. I rarely see her honestly.”
Marla pulls out her cell phone and begins to text Diane.
[Marla: Michael seems clean]
“Our current secretary is a sweet girl though…. It’s funny you asked. I may not see her a lot, but when I do we’ll get to talking for hours…. A very sweet young lady.”
[Marla: I take that back. Now he’s praising the secretary.]
[Diane: I’ll make a note of it.]
[Diane: Do u have a name?]
“What’s your secretary name?.... I mean, does she have a unique name?”
“No, it’s pretty basic, Olivia.”
“Yes. That is a basic name.”
[Marla: Olivia]
[Diane: Ok]
Once Marla and Michael make it home and put Junior to bed, they go to bed themselves. Marla turns and acts as if she is asleep. Once she notices that Michael has gone off to sleep, she reaches for her cell phone on the night stand.
[Marla: Di?]
[Diane: What?]
[Marla: Anything about Stanley?]
[Diane: His firm has women galore, so I guess you just pick and choose.]
“Stanley works for an accounting firm. With so many women amongst his staff, this will take some work. Not only that, what would be my excuse for being at an accounting firm??? This is going to take some work.”