The Donor: When Conception Meets Deception (26 page)

“You did something far worse Chase.”

“Jenae, I love you.”

“And I
hate
you. I hate you. I hate you!” Jenae paces back and forth on the rough concrete. Her arms flailing and her tears flowing. ”You destroyed us. You humiliated me. You hurt me. You ripped my heart out. You-You-I just-Aaah-Aaah.” Jenae bawls and hyperventilates. “You know what? I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t talk. I can’t breathe. Keep whatever is left in that house. Keep it all. I can't stand the sight of you. I can’t stand the smell of you. I can't stand the taste of you.”

HACH-TUCH-SPIT

Jenae spits in his face. The wet glob oozes down like a slug. She stands with hands trembling and body shivering in the warm spring air. Shauntelle rushes to her aid. She smoothes her palm over her sister’s wet cheeks and kisses her forehead.

“Shhhh. It’s okay. You gonna be alright. I got you. Come on sis. Let's go,” Shauntelle braces the crying Jenae on her shoulder and ushers her into the minivan.

"Wait. Please. Jenae. Baby I’m so sorry,” Chase runs to the passenger door, still wincing from his sore tongue. Shauntelle slides into the driver seat and rolls the power windows up in Chase’s face. A distraught Jenae buries her face in her palms; the van drives off. It reaches the street corner but waits at the stop sign. Chase’s heart jumps as the van suddenly reverses and slows in front of him. Jenae leans out of the window; Chase smiles. She flings a perfect strike—
CLINK
—
CLUNK
. A piece of metal
ricochets off Chase’s forehead and lands on the pavement. Chase looks down to see Jenae’s diamond engagement ring in a pile of poop. Shauntelle leers at Chase and shifts the van’s gears. It zooms forward. The vehicle slows at the stop sign; the yellow blinker flashes, and makes a right turn. Jenae, the love of his life, is gone. Chase trembles as the black exhaust from the tailpipe dissipates. He has little time to brood however.

“Hmmm, now would you look at that. That is literally a poetic pile of shit,” a voice says. It belongs to a well dressed middle aged man. He’s leaning over the mound of manure, peering with one eye, like a pop-up street philosopher. Chase sniffles, wipes the salty tears from his blurry eyes. The stranger comes into focus.

“Frank? Attorney LaRocca? What—what are you doing here? You followed me?” Chase says.

“Followed you? Oh no, no. I’ve been sitting in that black Audi over there. I got here as your girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend now I presume, was moving her stuff out.”

“This day can’t get any crazier. Now I have a corporate lawyer stalking me,” Chase balls up his fists and lunges at the attorney. “Look motherfu—“

“Whoa, whoa, relax Chase. I’m not stalking you.” Frank holds up his palms and steps back. “Remember in the restroom I told you that you should go home? That was because I was expecting this call,” Frank says as he holds up a cell phone.

“A call?” Chase says, relaxing his hands.

“I wanted to prep you when we were in the restroom but your mind wasn’t quite right. I didn’t know your girlfriend was going to be here. That was, whoohoo quite the scene,” he says with a chuckle. Chase fires a screw-faced glare. “Uh right. Sorry. I wasn’t laughing to be laughing. It was more of a…hey…small chuckle kind of…uh…never mind…here, you need to take this call.”

“I’m not interested Frank. I’ve had enough surprises today. I know the bastard that did this to me. I’m going inside my house to figure out how I’m going to find and destroy him.” Chase walks towards the brownstone. A voice shouts from the speaker phone in Frank’s palm.

“Chase, get back here.”

Chase halts at hearing the familiar voice from the phone.

“Bam? Wait that can’t be—”

“Yeah, it’s me boy. Take the damn phone.”

Chase is confused as to how this is possible. Frank hands it to him. He puts the phone to his ear.

“Hey, all I see is your earwax. I’m on video,” Bam says.

Chase looks perplexed. He cups the phone in both palms and extends his arms.

“Bam? How are you on video chat? You got out that quick?” Chase says.

“Out? Does it look like I’m out?” Bam pans the camera around. It is the same grey room Chase was in three months ago. Even the barrier that secludes Bam from the rest of the visitors is there. “I’m Bam Hickson. Why are you so surprised that I can be on video from in here? But I didn’t call you so you could see my pretty face. We have other matters don’t we?”

“Hell yes we have
other matters
. Starting with that asshole son of yours.” Chase’s voice rises. “Bam, I don’t know what Eugene told you, but he lied. He didn’t go away like he promised. He just laid low. Until now. Today he sent letters—”

“Chase,” Bam says.

“Sent them to the school, Devantay’s group home—”

“Chase.”

“And the worst thing Bam. The worst thing. This snake. This, this fucking weasel. He goes and sends one to Jenae’s job. My fiancée’s job Bam!”

“Chase, you’re not listening,” Bam says.

“We gotta get this dude. Where is he? I need your help finding him. I want to know where he is right now.”

“Chase stop pacing back and forth you’re making me dizzy. Eugene is right here.”

Chase stops.

“Here? What do you mean? He’s there visiting you right now?”

“Chase, where’s Frank? Frank, Frank can you hear me?” Bam says.

“Yeah Bam I’m right here,” Frank hollers from a maple tree he’s been leaning against.

“Wait a sec that reminds me,” Chase says. “How in the world do the two of you know each other? Bam, this guy is a lawyer. He was in Dean Ganges’ office when she showed me the envelope.”

“Chase calm down. First of all, what did I always tell you about conducting business?”

Chase shrugs.

“Look around. Where are you?” Bam says. Chase does as asked. He sees the couple in the brownstone next door acting as if they are talking amongst themselves. He sees Mrs. Mahone across the street, broom back in hand. He has an
Aha
moment.

“Of course. I wasn’t thinking. I’m outside putting my business in the street,” Chase says into the phone screen.

“Exactly,” Bam says. Frank gestures for Chase to walk up the stoop. Chase does so and Frank follows him inside. Chase enters the living room and hesitates by the leather sofa. The clear visual of Jenae’s absence punches him in the mid-section. Paintings, sculptures, knick-knacks from trips abroad are all gone. But now is not the time to sulk. Chase leans the phone against the spine of a book on the mantle as if it were a painting he was placing on an easel. Bam’s bald head and full red freckled jowls fill the smartphone’s screen.

“Okay that’s better. Hmmm, nice place you got. Anyway, listen up because I don’t have much time. Eugene is here at Jesup. I had Frank put me in touch with him and I made him turn himself in.”

“Turn himself in? For what?” Chase asks.

“Eugene got cases Chase. Extortion crap, nothing like me. He ain’t quite big time, but he was sloppy down here before he caught up to you in New York. We dropped dime on him and then Frank pulled some strings to get his extradition to Georgia expedited a couple of months ago. I made him cop a plea, and I called in a favor with a judge to have him serve his time in Jesup. I need that boy near me. I realized that after
your
mess. He won’t be here for too long. But it should be long enough for me to straighten him out like I should have. Frank hooked it up nice. He’s good with shit like that. He’s the best Italian-Jew lawyer in the business. Ain’t that right Frankie?”

“And you’re the craziest biracial, mulatto, octaroon, ethnic mutt I’ve ever met,” Frank says looking into the camera. The two men start laughing.

“Bam, what the hell? What are you two? Besties?” Chase says.

“Let’s just say we go way back. I owe Bam my life. Literally,” Frank says.

“Same here,” Bam replies.

“Okay, whatever with this middle aged buddy flick. I’ll be on the next flight down there Bam,” Chase says.

“No, you won’t,” Bam says.

“Bam, Eugene destroyed my life. He lied to
you
. You should be just as upset about this as I am.”

“Chase.”

“You know how you get when people betray you? When they lie to you.”

“Chase.”

“He sent packages to everyone that matters to me. Why is this even a debate?”

“Chase, Eugene didn’t send the packages
I
did,” Bam says.

"Eugene needs to pay for what he—wait—huh? What? Wuh-Wuh-What did you just say?"

"Sit down Chase."

Frank walks over and grabs the phone from the mantle. He places a hand on Chase's shoulder and ushers him to the couch. He props the smartphone on the coffee table in front of him.

“You look a little shell-shocked. Yes, Chase. I was the one that sent the packages. Technically, I had Frank send them.”

“I don’t under—How could—-But why would you—?”

“I’ll get to that Chase. Frank's law firm has been under contract with the university for years. It's how we got you in as a grad student and how you got to be a full tenured professor so quickly. Hell, one of Frank’s dummy corporations owns the house you’ve been living in all this time. It’s been nice only having had to pay utilities on a million dollar Brooklyn brownstone all these years hasn’t it?"

“Gee, thanks," Chase says rolling his eyes at Frank.

“Look, Chase. Don't act like an ingrate," Bam says. "Understand your situation. You are a convicted child molester."

Chase flinches.

”I know you got a raw deal. But I didn’t meet you until you got inside. Your case was already settled. It was high profile in the area too, so there were no strings I could pull. And that’s assuming I could’ve done anything anyway. The best me and Frank could do was to set you up right, for when you got out. I got you a new identity, and I set you up in Brooklyn because Frank had the right connections up there for you to have a fresh start. A new life.”

"But Bam if you did all that to create a new life for me why would you destroy it? You did exactly what Eugene threatened to do. You exposed me.”

“It’s simple Chase. I needed to kill you. You needed to die."

Chase screws up his face and looks at Frank. Frank shrugs.

"What the hell does that mean Bam?" Chase says.

“Tevarus was a tall, athletic, gifted high school senior. Both on the field and in the classroom. But when it came to street smarts? Kid you were young and dumb. You walked down D block smelling like innocence.”

“I
was
innocent,” Chase says.

“I meant a different kind of innocent. The kind that’s like perfume to these monsters in here. I seen young boys like you come in, get turned out, ripped apart, broken, and didn't think much of it. I mean…I ain't Superman and I didn't get to be on top of the game by taking pity on every stray pup.”

“Bam, we gotta cut this short. Warden’s about to do a sweep,” whispers a guard in Bam’s ear.

“Alright I gotta make this quick. I saw something in you. You had a light, Chase. And I could see that you
really
shouldn't be in the joint. So I started asking around. Had my people look into your case and that confirmed it for me. They sent you to a place with some real bad dudes. Murderers, sadistic Jeffrey Dahmer white boy types, rapists that ain’t finished raping yet. You reminded me of what I could have been, maybe should have been to Eugene. Shit, I think the only time I ever hugged that little son of a bitch was when he was born. Anyway, you spend enough time locked up, alone with your thoughts, you start to realize you got some fucked up shit inside you. I guess you got lucky. You showed up right when I was having…I don’t know…a
moment
. So I took you under my wing.”

"How does that translate into you blowing up my world Bam?"

"I had issues with Eugene and I looked at you as a replacement. Kept you square. A straight shooter. You were a good kid. So I did what I do best. Hooked you up with a new identity. That type of thing is what got me locked up in this place. Anyway, you were my way of making up for not being who I should have been I guess."

"So what does that have to do with
me
having to die? I still don't understand."

“Eugene finding you, and blackmailing you, meant someone else could do it to.
Tevarus
would always be hovering over you. And that’s leverage that someone could use. And leverage leaves you vulnerable. Someone could eventually connect the dots back to Frank and myself. And I can’t have that. Not even for you. So I took away that power."

"That wasn't your decision to make. This is
my
life Bam," Chase yells.

"But that's just it Chase. It wasn't your life it was
my
life. I created Chase. You are Tevarus. So I killed Chase Archibald. Now Tevarus Huxley can live.”

“That’s fucked up Bam. You promised me that you would fix this,” Chase says. His eyes looking like rose water.

“I did fix it. One day you’ll see that.”

"
This
is fixing things? Destroying my life is
fixing
things?"

“How did things really unravel for you Chase? Was it because you were living your truth or because you were living a lie?"

Chase slaps his palms on his head. His mind refuses to accept the possibility that there is some truth in Bam's words.

"Listen to me very carefully Chase. You're a smart, ambitious man. I didn’t create that. That’s what’s always been inside of you. But I've done all that I can do for you. It's time for you to live. Frank will go over the details but you don't have to worry about anyone coming after you anymore. Not the university, and not the group home. We're taking care of all of that as we speak. Now, I can’t fix the part with your lady but I do hope you can work it out with her. You’ll have to move out of the house, find yourself a job, and figure out your life. Frank took care of your new Tevarus documents to get you started at least. All legit…mostly. Driver’s license, passport, new bank accounts, all that. Even started you off with five figures. Won’t last you forever but it gives you a leg up. Time to fly on your own. One more thing. This is the last you’ll see of me.”