CHAPTER EIGHT
As Stuart, with Chris behind him, began hurrying across the street, he was certain that the driver of that SUV either didn’t see that little car at all, or saw it completely and plowed into it anyway. But either way, it was the SUV driver’s fault.
By the time he and Chris made it up to the crash, Tabby was already out of her vehicle and surveying her damage. But their attention was distracted by the SUV driver, who jumped out with so much attitude and fire that those who didn’t witness the crash would have assumed she was the real victim.
But Tabby had a different reaction to that driver. Because as soon as she saw that it was that same white girl that she caught in bed with Darius three weeks ago, she was certain that crash was no accident. She would bet every dime she made that day that that girl did that shit on purpose.
But when Stuart turned his attention away from the SUV driver and back to the driver of the car, he had his own reaction. It was the eyes. He remembered those huge, glassy, vivid eyes that had every emotion imaginable inside of them. But where on earth had he seen them before?
And that was when it hit him! It was the last time he was in Larkin, two years ago, and he and his friends were at Argyles.
She was that waitress Jennifer treated so shabbily that he felt compelled to apologize to her and give her a large tip.
He didn’t necessarily remember how she looked.
Beyond those eyes, he didn’t remember any of her features specifically.
But what he did remember was that feeling that he was in the presence of somebody very special that she invoked in him. She was that girl. He remembered her.
And just like back in that restaurant when Jennifer tore into her over simply doing her job, she had that same look of bewilderment now.
She seemed so out of her element that he could just feel her discombobulation.
Even as she stood there in her nice shorts and tucked-in jersey, and in her red-and-white sandals, she looked like a kid who hadn’t long ago learned how to drive and was amazed that such a serious wreck could happen to her.
It was as if she was just trying to mind her own business while the rest of the world kept bothering her, and running rings around her to the point of boxing her in, making it impossible for her to move, or live, or even breathe.
The only name he could think for it was innocence.
Not the virgin kind of innocence, but the ways of the world kind of innocence. She wore her heart in her eyes.
But Chris leaned against him and whispered. “Another person of color,” he said. “Better watch out. There’s bound to be violence when one of them is involved.”
Stuart leaned away from him with a shocked looked on his face. “Really? The color of her skin is all it takes for violence to break out? Are you serious? Because you sound like a fool. You do realize that, right?”
It was obvious that Chris didn’t realize any such thing.
He looked at Stuart as if he was the fool.
As if surely he should have thought like he thought.
But even when Stuart was a kid in Larkin, he thought no such way.
He had plenty of friends of all colors. And he loved it.
That was why he shook his head at the ignorance of an educated accountant.
It was people like Chris who gave even more credence to the belief that leaving Larkin thirty years ago was the best move he’d ever made.
He had no time for senseless hate. None.
Stuart quickly forgot about Chris and returned his attention to the young waitress.
And the large white girl that had jumped from behind the wheel of that SUV, and the large black girl that had jumped from the passenger seat.
They both surveyed the damage too, and then both of those big girls began hurrying over to Tabby.
One of them, the white girl, was thumping her hand around in the air as she walked. “That’s that hoe!” she was saying as loud as she could. “That’s that motherfucking hoe!”
But Tabby was equally upset. “Why did you run into me? What’s wrong with you? You could have killed me!”
“Then I would have killed you, bitch,” the white girl shot back. “Don’t nobody care about your ass. Talking about what’s wrong with me. You’re what’s wrong with me, bitch! That’s what’s wrong with me. You! So kiss my big, fat white ass!”
Her black partner laughed, as did those that had congregated around the scene of the crash. But Stuart wasn’t laughing at all. He was staring at Tabby. He could see that she was genuinely confused.
“But why did you run into me like that though? You saw me parked here. You had to have seen me parked here. Why did you do it?”
“Your ass know why I did it. Stop playing dumb.”
“You sure she’s playing?” the black girl said with a laugh, and those standing around laughed too.
Tabby was accustomed to people denigrating her as if her feelings meant nothing at all, so she ignored them. “Why did you purposely run into my car like that? That’s all I wanna know.”
They could hear police sirens in the distance as the white girl pointed her meaty finger in Tabby’s face. “You better leave my man alone. You wanna know what’s going on? That’s what’s going on, bitch. And that’s all I got to say to your ass.”
Stuart wasn’t surprised that the young waitress would have a boyfriend, but he was surprised that she would have a boyfriend that found the other girl attractive. That girl and the waitress were polar opposites. At least from what he saw.
And Tabby was frowning by the mere suggestion of it. “Are you talking about Darius?”
“Girl bye with the bullshit. You know I’m talking about Darius.”
Tabby looked as though the very thought of that man disgusted her. “I don’t want no Darius. We broke up the day I caught him in bed with you. You must be on dope if you think I want that lying cheater.”
“Then why he’s been blowing up your phone for the past three weeks if you don’t want him?” That bigger girl pulled out her phone, waving it around, as if she had receipts. “You denying he called you?”
“He called me plenty times. But I didn’t answer not one time.” Tabby frowned. “I don’t want him.”
“He said you want him though. He said you won’t leave him alone.”
“That is so not true!”
“It is true,” the girl said. “It is true, you bitch!” she said angrily as she grabbed Tabby by her hair and tried to sling her to the ground.
Stuart anger flared when he saw that big girl grab that waitress. He hurried to assist Tabby just as the police car pulled up.
But Tabby didn’t need any assistance. She didn’t just stand there let that girl grab her hair and sling her around.
Tabby grabbed that girl’s hair and was slinging her too.
And was kicking her and hitting her with all she had.
And they both fell to the ground. But the white girl was twice Tabby’s size.
She flipped Tabby onto her back, and got on top of her.
By the time Stuart was able to grab that big girl off of Tabby and throw her aside, the girl’s big friend was trying to hit on Tabby too. But the policeman threw her aside. “That’s enough!” the cop yelled with authority. “I mean it now. That’s enough!”
Stuart helped Tabby to her feet. “Are you alright?” he asked her.
“Yes, I’m okay,” Tabby said. But when he was able to stand her all the way upright, and she looked her big, soft eyes into his eyes, his heart sank. She looked even more vulnerable, even sadder, than he remembered. As if her life didn’t improve at all after he met her.
When Tabby looked into that sea of blue called Stuart’s eyes, she, too, felt a jolt.
Because she suddenly remembered him too.
How could she forget the man that gave her a five-thousand-dollar tip?
It was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for her in her entire life.
Before or since. It was unforgettable. Which made him unforgettable too.
But when she heard that girl lying to the officer about what happened, Tabby quickly looked away from Stuart and back at her nemesis. And she began telling her side of the story.
But the cop didn’t want to hear it. He separated the parties involved and moved the two big girls aside.
But he listened to their retelling of what happened first. Tabby was forced to stand there and wait.
Stuart didn’t like that he got their version first, but he knew that was standard procedure for cops.
Even the small crowd began to disperse as if the show was over now.
Including Chris. “You’re coming, Stu?” he asked him from further back.
But Stuart didn’t even hear him. He could see that the waitress was still distressed. “You’ll get your turn,” he assured her.
“I know but it’s just that . . .”
“They’re lying.”
“Yes! But he’ll believe’em, watch what I tell you.” Then she looked at him again. “Thanks for getting her off of me.”
“My pleasure,” he said with a smile. Which made her smile too. And which made him realize something he hadn’t thought before. “You remember me, don’t you?”
She nodded. “You gave me the biggest tip I ever had. How could I forget?”
“It’s all about money, is it?”
She continued to smile. “Isn’t it always?”
He laughed. And nodded. “Yes, it is. That’s a fact.” Then they both continued to watch the officer as Chris stood back and watched them. It was as if he couldn’t believe Stuart would be striking up a conversation with her of all people.
But being around her was the most relaxing Stuart felt since he arrived in town. “Still working at Argyles?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “Nope. I left there almost two years ago.”
“Oh really? Why?” He was shocked that he asked her that question. He usually didn’t care enough to probe into anybody else’s business.
“The recession hit. They cut my hours down to little of nothing. I had to find different work.”
“Such as?”
“I’m a rideshare driver.”
Stuart saw her look at her car with pain in her eyes when she made that declaration. She wasn’t going to be doing anymore ridesharing in that ride, he thought.
Then the officer finally came over as the two big ladies began getting back into their wrecked SUV.
When it started up, the officer directed the white girl to slowly drive it forward.
She did. He gave her a sheet with an incident report number, and then they began driving away. Which shocked Stuart and Tabby.
“You’re letting her leave?” Stuart asked.
The officer looked at him as if he was out of line for asking such a question. Then he looked at Tabby. “Okay, let’s go,” he said as he turned her around and grabbed her wrists.
“What are you doing?” Stuart asked in disbelief.
“She ran into me,” Tabby said in disbelief too. “She ran into me!”
“That’s not what I heard,” said the officer. “You also put your hands on her and she’s pressing charges.”
“What?” Stuart was floored. “Officer, my name is Stuart Jacobs. I witnessed this entire affair. The driver of that SUV backed into this young lady’s car, and then she started a fight with her once she got out of her SUV. This young lady is not at fault.”
“You stay out of this,” the officer warned him as he put handcuffs on a terrified Tabby. “If she’s innocent, we’ll sought it out downtown. But she’s coming with me,” he said as he cuffed her and slung her toward his police car.
“But I didn’t do anything wrong, Officer,” Tabby was saying as he jerked her by the arm.
“Did you not hear me?” Stuart yelled at the officer, hurrying with them. “That white girl started the fight. This young lady was defending herself. Did you not hear me?”
The officer gave him a nasty look. “Back off or you’ll be joining her. Did you not hear me?”
Stuart could not believe it as the officer took a still protesting Tabby and put her in the backseat of his patrol car. Chris walked up beside Stuart. “Can you believe this?” Stuart asked frustratingly. “He’s arresting the wrong person!”
“Maybe he is. Maybe he’s not.”
Stuart looked at Chris. “What’s that supposed to mean? You saw what happened.”
“But I didn’t see what happened before that. Maybe she hit that lady’s SUV first. I don’t know and you don’t either. My advice? Just stay out of it.”
Stuart should not have been surprised. Larkin was always a hotbed of ignorance. Then he thought about it. “What about cameras?”
“What about’em?”
Stuart looked across the street at Chris’s office. He saw the camera. “You have a camera. Wouldn’t you have footage that can show what really happened?”
“You think they care?”
“Chris, I asked you a question.”
“I got a camera, yes. But it ain’t working,” he said.
Stuart knew he was lying. He just knew it.
“Look, Stu, this ain’t no New York City. This is Ohio. We do things differently here. You said you wanted to meet with the realtor and get out of town. I suggest you do that and let the police do their job. Besides,” Chris added, “don’t you have your enough of your own business to worry about?”
It was the first indication Stuart had that Chris knew about the hostile takeover of his corporation. Stuart stared at him.
“I’m just saying,” Chris said. “Mister I Don’t Get Involved. I suggest you don’t get involved. That’s all I’m saying.”
He wasn’t wrong. Stuart had far too much on his plate to even consider getting involved in somebody else’s drama. Way too much.
Chris extended his hand. “Nice seeing you again, Stuart.”
Stuart looked at that fat hand, and then he looked at Chris, and he walked back across the street, got into his Porsche, and drove away.
It was still true: his plate was full. But he still remembered that terror he saw on that young lady’s face.
And how unfair it was that the cop wouldn’t even take a statement from her.
They discarded her just like Jennifer tried to discard her two years ago in that restaurant.
They discarded her the same way that same town discarded Stuart when he was a kid. It was a haunting feeling.
So much so that instead of heading to meet with the realtor and then getting out of Dodge the way he had planned it all along, he flipped a U-turn near the end of Grant Street and headed straight for the Larkin, Ohio Police Department.
He’d only gotten involved twice in his recent memory.
And both times involved the same person.