Chapter sixteen
Gianna
I couldn’t believe Jonas had the nerve to follow us to the hotel. What was his damn problem? I mean, we weren’t even a couple for him to be acting this way! Why wasn’t he at home with his pregnant wife? Running around town chasing after me and my boyfriend was just insane!
Dimitri was scared that Jonas was becoming unhinged or something. At first, I thought he was blowing things out of proportion. Now, I was starting to wonder if maybe he had the right idea. Maybe something was off with Professor Jonas Alexander.
All I could do was thank God that finals were Wednesday, and I wouldn’t have to see him for the summer. Hell, I probably wouldn’t see him again anymore, especially since I wouldn’t be in any classes that he taught. All I needed to do was get through the next few days.
After Dimitri left and went to back to New Orleans, I was left thinking about our weekend of lovemaking.
Dimitri had put two big hickeys on my neck, so I was a little nervous about walking into Professor Alexander’s classroom.
I didn’t know how he would react to seeing them, but I couldn’t concern myself with that.
All I wanted to do was take my final exam and be done with that man.
I took my exams on Tuesday and was very confident about what the end results would be. I knew for a fact that I had aced those two finals. I had studied for them, but not that hard because I already knew everything pertaining to what was on the tests.
Tuesday evening, I was studying for my exams that I had to take the next day when there was a knock on my door. I wouldn’t have answered except the knocks seemed so frantic. So, I walked over to the door and opened it.
“Girl, they found her body!” Rozenette said as her and Tamika rushed into my room.
I could hear everyone buzzing about a body being found in a river. I shut the door and turned to my friends.
“What’s going on?”
“You haven’t been watching the news?” Tamika asked.
“No, I’ve been studying for my exams.”
“You remember that pregnant student that went missing?” Rozenette asked.
“Yea.”
“They found her body in the Trinity River!” Tamika shrieked as she turned her phone to show me the story.
As I read the story, my mouth dropped. It said that the body of a pregnant female was found by two fishermen in the Trinity River.
Her ankles were bound by rope, and she appeared to have been in the water for a while.
They were transporting the body to the morgue for an autopsy.
The name of the female was being withheld pending family notification.
Even though they didn’t say who she was, I already knew in my mind that it was the missing girl who went to see Jonas that day.
“I knew she was dead!” Rozenette claimed.
“I knew too!” Tamika cosigned.
“They didn’t identify her yet…”
“We don’t need them to identify her to know that’s the girl whose been missing all this time!” Rozenette pointed out.
“And I bet your baby daddy did it!” Tamika spoke as she stared at Rozenette.
“I don’t think so. I mean, he’s crazy but he ain’t that crazy!” Rozenette denied.
“Maybe he is, and he hides it well,” Tamika reasoned. “There are a lot of crazy people in this world, and we never know they are insane until they get caught doing shit!”
“I don’t believe he would go that far with anybody.” Rozenette shook her head from side to side.
As the two of them went back and forth, all I could think about was Jonas’ attitude over last weekend. I had heard enough from them though. Don’t get me wrong, I was shaken by the news that had been brought to my attention, but I had finals to study for.
It was important for me to pass these exams because I needed to graduate in December.
My grandmother would be rolling over in her grave if she knew everything that I had done with that man.
Thank God she wasn’t alive to witness the embarrassment he caused me at her funeral.
I owed it to her to make sure I do everything in my power to pass my classes with flying colors, but I couldn’t do that if I didn’t study.
“I’m sorry y’all, but I have to study and y’all should be doing the same.”
“Who can study now?” Rozenette shrieked.
“Me! I promised my grandmother that I would do my best and that’s what I’m gonna do. With that being said, y’all got to go,” I said as I pushed them towards the door.
“Wow! Really? You throwing us out?” Rozenette asked.
“Yep. I gotta study y’all,” I said.
“Okay. We’ll go but pay attention to your phone or TV in case they update the information on that girl… even though we all know it’s the student whose been missing,” Tamika said.
“I’ll wait for the positive ID instead of jumping to conclusions,” I said.
“Girl please! Everybody knows it’s that missing student! The whole dorm is talking about it! You’re the only one buried in books right now!” Rozenette declared.
“Well, we’ll get out of your way,” Tamika said as they headed out.
They were right about not being able to study. After they dropped that bomb in my lap, all I could do was read the comments on social media about the body being found.
‘Sending prayers for Tanya’s family!’
‘The news never said it, but we all know that Tanya was murdered by the n*gga who got her pregnant! I can’t wait for the police to arrest his triflin’ ass!’
‘Sending prayers for Tanya!’
‘Heartbroken by the news! R.I.P. Tanya!’
Everybody was so sure that it was the girl who busted in Jonas’ office that day, and I was starting to believe it too.
I hoped that Jonas had nothing to do with that girl’s disappearance because if he did, that meant he had a side to him that I didn’t know anything about.
It scared me to think that Jonas might be responsible.
I managed to get some studying done. I hoped it was enough to help me pass.
Walking into Professor Alexander’s classroom on Wednesday had me nervous.
I was happy that Rozenette and Tamika were with me even though they added to my anxiety.
We were still waiting for the medical examiner to release the identity of the body, but Rozenette and Tamika were a hundred percent sure that it was Tanya.
Tamika was also certain that Jonas was responsible for the girl’s death.
Judging from his appearance and demeanor, I’d have to say that something was definitely off with him.
He wasn’t dressed as professionally as he usually was, and he looked like he had missed his barber shop appointment this past week.
As we sat down in our respective seats, we watched as the time ticked away.
Finally, at 10:15, professor started to pass out the exams. “Take one and pass it down. Turn the test upside down until I tell you to start. When you’re done, put the test on my desk and you can leave class. Good luck on your finals!”
After he was done passing out the tests, he walked back to the front and told us to start. All I wanted was to finish quickly and be out. I could feel his eyes on me as I answered the questions on the test. It literally took me twenty minutes to answer all fifty questions.
When I was done, I stood up and approached professor’s desk. I placed my test upside down on the desk and walked out. I shut the door but before I could walk away, I heard Jonas’ voice behind me.
“You really thought you was gon just walk up in my class with those big ass passion marks on your neck and I wasn’t gonna say nothing! What kind of shit is that, Gianna? I thought we had something special!”
“Are you seriously doing this right now? In front of all these students?” I hissed angrily. Without waiting for him to answer, I turned and walked away.
I had one more final and then I could pack my things and head home. I wasn’t going to leave until Friday, but if I finished my last test in time, I could start packing. I just wanted to get as far away from campus as I could.
I still had some time left before my next class, so I decided to go to the university bookstore to sell my books back. By the time I was done, it was time for my next class, so I made my way there. It didn’t take me long to finish that exam either because I was prepared.
What I wasn’t but should have been prepared for was finding out that the body in the river was Tanya Reynolds.
In the back of my mind, I knew it was her but admitting that my suspicions were right would also mean that Professor Alexander might be the one who killed her.
The news reports said she died by strangulation, so that meant he looked her in the eyes and choked the life out of her.
How could anyone do something so cruel? Whoever killed Tanya had it out for her personally. It had to be her baby’s father who did it, but there was no proof that Professor Alexander was the father or that they were sleeping together. As soon as I got back to my room, I started packing my things.
I just wanted to make sure that I had all my things ready to go so I could leave school for summer break without any incidents.
I wasn’t sure what Jonas had in mind, but I hoped he stayed as far away from me as possible.
My phone rang around five o’clock from an unknown caller.
I almost didn’t answer, but since I thought it might be someone from the university calling, I picked up.
“Hello,” I answered, skepticism clear in my voice.
“Gianna, I need to see you,” Jonas said.
“Oh no! I am not about to play this game with you!” I argued. “I’m going home tomorrow, so whatever you think…”
“If you don’t meet me tonight, I promise you will not pass this final exam!” he threatened.
“Wow! Are you serious?” I cried.
One thing I wouldn’t play with was my grades. I had busted my ass to pass his class, and I had studied hard for my final exam. For him to threaten me with a failing grade had tears brimming from my eyes. I quickly brushed them away and focused my attention on the matter at hand.
“Fuckin’ right, I’m serious! You can’t just play with people’s emotions and feelings like that!”
The sound of his voice had me frightened. More frightened than I had ever been if I had to be honest.
“Well, if you do that, you will leave me no choice but to go to the police and tell them about my suspicions,” I fired back.
“What suspicions?” he asked.
“That pregnant girl Tanya, the one who barged into your office that day I was in there…” I paused to see if he would say anything.
“What about her?”
“I think you killed her,” I said.
“HA! That’s absurd!” he scoffed.
“Is it? She was angry when she came to see you.”
“The police already questioned me about Tanya.”
“Do they know that y’all were arguing that day?”
“We weren’t arguing!” he denied.
“I heard y’all outside of your office just like I heard you and your wife arguing before that. You can’t seem to get along with any of the women in your life. Anyway, how much you wanna bet the police question you again once I tell them about the argument I overheard?”
“We weren’t even arguing!”
“Yes, you were!”
Of course, I hadn’t heard anything they were speaking of once I walked out.
I was bluffing with some information that I had gathered from his situation with Rozenette.
She said he didn’t want to step up and claim their child, and the only reason she hadn’t shouted about it from the rooftop was because he had made her sign a non-disclosure agreement.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I had no reason to be arguing with Tanya because she was no longer in my class…”
“No, but she was your baby mama, and you didn’t want to claim her kid as yours!” I fired.
He was quiet for so long, I thought he had hung up the phone. I knew that I was on to something now because he was quiet as hell.
“Yea, that’s what I thought! Leave me alone Professor!” I snapped before I hung up the phone.
After I hung up, I waited to see if he was going to call back, but he didn’t. I breathed a sigh of relief because I believed that I had finally gotten him off my ass. I went back to packing my stuff. I called Dimitri around 6:45 since he got off at six.
“Hey babe,” he greeted with enthusiasm.
It always made me smile when he sounded so happy to hear from me. “Hey there. How was your day?”
“It was good. How was yours? How did your finals go?”
“They went great! I know I aced them all!” I said with confidence.
“I knew you would. You are super smart babe!”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“So, how was Professor Cuckoo today?” he asked as he chuckled.
“We didn’t speak at all today,” I lied. “I just walked in, took my test, turned it in and walked out.”
“And he didn’t try to speak to you?”
“Well, we were in a room full of other students, babe.”
“Bae we were in a parking lot full of people at the hotel, and he still made a scene. It doesn’t seem like he cares who’s around anymore,” Dimitri argued.
“I know he acted the fool with himself that day, but I think he understands now that we are done,” I reasoned.
“Does he really babe?” I exhaled deeply as he continued his line of questioning.
“Look, I’m not trying to upset you. I’m sure you’ve been stressed out enough due to final exams. I just want you to know that the dude I saw at the hotel is not the same dude who came to the funeral.
That nigga, I could have reasoned with. This one, this one is insane, so you need to be careful. ”
“By the end of the day tomorrow, I will be back in your arms,” I said.
“What time do you think you’ll be getting on the road?” he asked.
“I’m gonna go put some of my things in the car when we get off the phone. That way I won’t have to tug it all down there in the morning.”
“Okay, maybe you should get someone to help you.”
“Why? I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own things by myself,” I said.
“I’m not saying that you are incapable. I’m just saying maybe someone should help you just in case…”
“In case what? In case Jonas comes near my dorm?”
“Yes! That man is dangerous, and you need to take it more seriously!” he argued.
“He knows not to come around here! He’s too scared that someone will see him, so don’t worry.”
He exhaled deeply and said, “Okay. Just know that if you aren’t here by tomorrow night, I’m coming out there to look for you.”
“I will be there, bae. I promise.”
“Okay. I’ll see you when you get here. Safe travels.”
“Thanks babe.”
We ended the call, and I began to get some of my things together to take to my car. Once I was done, I started bringing some of the crates downstairs. The first two trips went off without a hitch. The last trip, however, didn’t go so well.
As I was putting my things in the trunk, I felt something cover my face and found it hard for me to breathe. It didn’t take long before I was knocked out…