Better Days are Coming by Austin Mitchell - HTML preview

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Chapter Two

 

When they were back at work, Sonya was in deep thoughts

as she did her work. She knew that she had better keep away from the police. She had never gone to jail, but had several close brushes with the law.

When she reached home that evening she didn’t immediately start looking after dinner but sat thinking.

She remembered as a young teenager, seeing her mother

rushing out of the house and running down the road. One of her

husband’s sisters, Elaine, had just stabbed another woman. She later learned that they were fighting after the woman accused Elaine of trying to steal her husband. The woman had cursed Elaine, and told her to leave her man alone. Elaine had retaliated by stabbing her in her right shoulder.

She remembered an incident that happened when she was

still in high school. Her father was a marijuana farmer. One day a man accused him of stealing his marijuana and nearly severed his left hand.

She had few female friends as far as she could remember. She kept mostly male friends. She found women to be too difficult to deal with. Some of them could never keep a secret and if you had a lover along with your real man they would be the one revealing your secrets. She doubted if she would ever get married. She didn’t see herself being tied down with a husband and babies.

Both at primary and high school, some of her female

teachers had been afraid of her and had reported her to the principal for the simplest thing. As a result, she was repeatedly punished. She took her punishment in stride. While other children cried their eyes out she had no tears. No matter what the punishment was, she never shed a single tear. As a result, even her mother and other family members said that she was wicked.

She had beaten up several girls and a few boys in primary

school. She still remembered the names of the two girls she had beaten up in high school and the reasons she had done so. The fights had been over boys. Hugh Allman and she had been friends since Grade nine. Maxine Gray came to fight her for Hugh. She had given that girl a sound beating.

Marge Rodgers came to fight her over Fabian Davis. That girl, had also received a good beating. After that she changed boyfriends regularly and no girl came to fight her.

She remembered an incident with her sister, Marsha. Shortly

after leaving high school, Masha moved to Montego Bay to work in the hotel sector. Two years later she got a call from her. She and two sisters were in conflict over a guy. The two girls were planning to beat her up. She had gone down there to help out Marsha.

She was not at all impressed with Odel Ford. He was short, ugly and walked with a slight limp as a result of a motor vehicle accident in his youth. She thought that men must be short down there for women to be fighting over Odel. She wouldn’t be caught dead with a man with any form of disability.

However, Marsha told her that he had just passed some big banking examinations and was now driving a Pajero. He was one of the top guys at his bank and was earning top dollars. He had just paid down on a house in a new development just outside Montego Bay.

She had worn thick leather slippers that day. She had used it

to beat the two sisters. They had fled the scene after she started raining down blows on them.

She had scoffed at reports a month later that the two girls

were planning to sue her.

***

Friday night she attended a wake at Chester’s house in

Havendale. This was really a get together by his friends to celebrate his life and times. As far as she knew the set up and funeral were someway off as the autopsy on his body had not yet been done.

She got involved in several domino games. She only drank soup and kept away from any strong drinks. As far as she observed all the staffers were there as well as several hardware merchants. There were whispers around as to who had killed Chester but she kept her mouth shut. She went into the house, greeted Delta, her three daughters and son and other relatives and friends of Chester some of whom she knew.

***

That Monday when she reached home, she thought about Mickie again. Marsha had advised her to report the loss of her gun. In a way she missed her brother, Calvin. Calvin was an outside child. Her father was a teen when Calvin’s teenaged mother got pregnant for him. By the time he was seventeen years of age, Calvin was already a gunman, credited with several murders, kidnappings among other crimes. Three years ago, he had been cut down in a hail of police bullets.

If Calvin was around, she wouldn’t have to worry. Mickie would never dare take any steps with her. Calvin was always warning him to treat her right.

She went to bed, still worried about her missing gun. She wondered if the tears she was shedding was as a result of her getting softer.

Wednesday night she was watching some boxing on television when a car drove up to her gate and stopped. She wondered who it could be. Then there was a knock on the gate. She went outside. It was Mickie!

“What are you doing here, an were you all this time?”

“Can I come inside? I don’t want anybody to hear what I’m going to say to you.”

“We don’t have any secrets that anybody can’t hear about. I want to know where my gun is and why did you go into my account?”

She knew he had his gun on him. She decided to let him inside. She didn’t want any of the neighbors hearing anything they said to each other.

Immediately they were inside the house, she asked.

“What are you doing in Montego Bay?”

“I was down there on business. I heard about Chester’s

murder.”

“Did you take away my gun? Why did you go into my

account?”

He was sitting in a couch opposite her. She felt like running

into the kitchen and grabbing one of her knives or machetes to arm herself. She looked at the ice pick on a side table beside her.

“What happen to your gun?”

“You know what happened to it. When I woke up on Sunday

morning, it was missing. The next thing I knew is that my boss is shot dead.”

“And you believe that I was the one who killed him?”

“Of course, you killed him. So why did you run away to

Montego Bay?”

“I didn’t kill Chester. Maybe it was you who did it and is now

trying to pin the blame on me.”

Suddenly she drew the ice pick and rush at him. He sprang up and whipped out his gun.

“Stab me with that ice pick and I’ll be the last person you

stab.”

He came forward and twisted her wrist and took away the ice

pick.

“You dirty fucker. You took away my gun, killed Chester and

is probably trying to put the blame on me.”

“I didn’t kill Chester. Listen, I told Carlos to try and scare him.

I was only trying to protect you. I don’t know if he was the one who did it.”

“Did I tell you that I needed any protection? So where is

Carlos now? How much did you pay him?”

“You’re going to do the paying. It was you, he was

protecting.”

“I didn’t hire him to do anything. I hope you didn’t go

calling my name to him. I didn’t tell you that I wanted anybody to do anything to Chester.”

“You were just going to let him continue running your life forever?”

“I was getting on with my life. Listen, as I said, don’t try to get me mixed up in Chester’s murder. I’m innocent, I don’t know anything about his killing. As far as I’m concerned, you’re in this alone. All I want is my gun. You can have the money, you stole from my account. But everything is over between us.”

She remembered the bank giving her some stupid explanation as to how he managed to get into her account. She had written a letter to the manager of that particular branch and was awaiting a reply.

“So that’s how you want it? Look on the amount of things I’ve done for you and you just want to walk out on me like that.

“What do you want me to do? Imagine after you dropped me home Saturday night, you disappeared with my gun and cleaned out one of my accounts.”

Mickie looked at her.

“I’m going, but I’m warning you against putting out any hits on me.”

Sonya had to laugh.

“You’re completely useless to me. Why would I put out a hit on you?”

He stood up.

“I don’t have your gun, but I’ll see you around. I might just tell Carlos where you live.”

“What! You wouldn’t dare.”

But her words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as he simply walked out of the house and drove away.

She went back to watching television. She realized that she should have ended her on again off again relationship with him a long time ago. Several other guys had been after her and she wondered why she had stuck with him. He was a good lover, but maybe it was because he knew how to handle anybody she employed.

She felt hungry and went for a snack. As she had her supper she wondered what Mickie could have done with her gun. After he dropped her home, they had a few drinks before she ushered him out of the house. She wondered if he had put something in her drink. She had to find the gun. She was fearful that it could turn up as the weapon that was used to kill Chester.