06. Coming Down
South
I stand on the side of the road, watching two cops go through my rental. They’re taking their sweet time with it so I’ve had about forty minutes to think about this.
I’ve been pulled over four times today. Three the day before. Never the same cops and never the same reason. Some of them look legitimately confused when they don’t find the supposed hidden drugs and threaten me anyway. My favorite was the stolen rental car one. Some are for speeding or ‘warnings’ because my stickers are out of date. They aren’t but whatever excuse you can get right?
Someone is fucking with me.
But who? The only people that know I’m here are Tera, her men, and Shade. He wouldn’t play this game, would he? I left him alone like he wanted.
Or is he regretting that and we’re playing something new?
Tera told me the four assholes had some pull with the local cops based on their boss, Mr. Matthias. That means Shade has the same contacts. Speaking of.
Me: I’m canceling tonight’s dinner.
Tera: It’s too early for this.
Me: I don’t know how many times I’m going to get pulled over so I’m canceling just in case they finally arrest me.
I don’t want her thinking I bailed out on her when they refuse me my one phone call.
“No phones,” the cop snaps and reaches for it.
I shrug, handing it over. The last thing I need is beef with the cops in town. Or is it more beef?
What game is this? And how do I play? I try not to have anything to do with cops so I’m out of my depth.
I can’t keep my excitement from building up again. My statue might be messing with me. Is he mad I’m not hovering? That isn’t logical though, no matter how much I want it to be true.
Everything has become boring and gray without his presence to perk me up. I should have broken down and taken his picture. It was a mistake to wait for a real expression before I took one. If I ask Tera to send me one she’ll have questions. And concerns.
At least I have a reason to avoid having dinner with Tera. Meeting her three boyfriends sounds like a seventh level of hell situation and I don’t want any part of it. Now that I’m not following Shade and she knows that I’m moving here it’s opened up my social calendar.
I’m not pleased about it. I’d rather go back to following my statue.
I hear my text tone go off a few times and then the phone rings, Tera’s ringtone. When I don’t answer it gets quiet.
Thirty minutes later the cops get called away on some emergency and give me a warning about smuggling drugs. I take it all in and check the car over. I’m not getting that deposit back, that’s for sure.
My phone is on the front seat where the cop tossed it and it starts ringing again.
“How long has this been going on?” Tera sounds furious, not bothering to wait for my greeting before she starts talking. This is new. Tera tries to deny anger as much as possible.
“Since yesterday.”
“How many times have you been pulled over?” Her tone has lowered threateningly but the natural high pitch makes that a lot less effective. We’ll work on it.
“Seven.”
She goes quiet and then whispers, “You’ve been letting people see you?”
“Why not?” I return blandly.
“Return the rental,” her reply is stern.
“Ok,” I frown at her tone.
“The assholes have come back and if they know you’ve been following Shade it will mean trouble. I’ve scrambled your name on everything you’ve done in town so you’re covered there.”
Meh. I’m not interested in playing games with them.
“Why the name scramble?” Tera is in super spy mode. That’s not good. It means this isn’t a game to her .
I’m just not sure why.
Did they get my warm welcome and I’m currently going through paybacks? If so, this is pathetic. I’m only mildly annoyed.
“I thought they’d be mean but this is too far.”
So they’re using their police contacts to harass me. Boo hoo. It seems wasteful when they could just pop my tires. They’re so plastic they can’t be bothered to get their hands dirty. Definitely not worth playing with.
Then Tera sucks in a sharp breath and moans, “Oh no.”
I hear the phone drop as she starts heaving. Before I can say anything, someone picks up the phone.
“Tera is ill. Stop calling .”
The cold, threatening male voice does nothing to me. Must be one of her men.
“What does she need?” I ask, looking for a grocery store to stop at.
There’s a silence where I think the guy has hung up, then he says, “Is this South?”
“Yes. What does she need?”
“It’s a stomach bug.”
I pull over and park in the first lot I can find. Tera has never gotten a stomach virus. Not once in the time I’ve known her. And I’ve known her for over ten years. Yeah, she’s having problems with food but all I can think is fuck that, she’s pregnant.
I trust my instincts too much to let the thought go. My mind latches onto it and gets stuck like it normally does.
“How long has she been throwing up?”
“Over a week.” The guy is starting to sound nervous.
“Doctor?”
“She has an appointment tomorrow,” I get as a cautious reply.
Fuck. What helped my mom when she had her youngest?
I start listing out all the things I can remember from that time in quick succession. “Ginger ale. Lemon drops. Suckers. Saltine crackers. Bread, no butter. Multivitamins. No caffeine.”
There’s silence and then a confused, “I’ll get it?”
“Good. Tell her not to call me until she's feeling better. This shit is not important and she doesn’t need the stress.”
“I will. I’m Asher by the way.”
“Good for you,” I hang up. Then I sit in silence to readjust my world view.
I’m not sure why I’m so positive that she’s pregnant but I’ll roll with it. Does she know? Do her boyfriends know? There’s three of them. What if they’re pissed? It’s not like she’ll lift my bans to punish them.
I need to get my shit now and get my ass back here just in case Tera needs me. No more obsessing over my statue. He told me to go and I want him to have everything he wants. That’s done.
The purchase went through on the house but she doesn’t know that the move in date got changed. So much for keeping it a surprise. It’s not like I care, but Tera likes surprises.
I’d rather she have the knowledge she has a place to crash when she needs it. Her reassured face is better than her happy face to me. She fakes being happy too well for it to be a win.
She wanted to go with me to pick up my stuff in a few weeks but that’s not happening now. We were supposed to discuss it at dinner with her guys, not that I expected them to allow her out of their sight. That decision is out of her hands and I’m not asking for permission.
I return my rental well within the speed limit and get pulled over two more times before I make it. Here’s hoping cabs don’t have the same bad luck with me as a passenger. Although that would be interesting.
I wonder if they can get a plane delayed? I guess I’ll find out soon enough.