‘Hi, honey, are you OK?’ Darnell walked over to his wife and attempted to kiss her cheek. She pulled away and shot him a glare.
‘Don’t you dare honey me! Don’t kiss me. Just keep away from me! I am certainly not OK!’
‘What’s happened?’ Darnell threw up his hands in the air before tossing his files onto the table.
‘How could you?’ Jasmine stood up and slammed her fists into his chest. He fell back and his eyes widened. He felt like he was in a third round with Mike Tyson.
‘What have I done, woman?’ Darnell yelled.
‘You’re cheating on me! You’re sleeping with that whore from work!’
‘What?’ Darnell gasped. ‘Is that what she said? You can’t believe her! And I wouldn’t! She’s half my age for Christ’s sakes.’
‘Yeah, half your age and twice as attractive. I knew you were a pig, but I can’t believe you have done this to our family. I want you out of my house and out of my sight! I never want to see you again!’
Jasmine ran out of the room sobbing. Darnell sighed and sat down. He heard her feet thunder up the steps and the bedroom door slamming behind her. Three lone claps followed. He turned around and found his eldest, Thomas, in the doorway. He was dressed in a black t-shirt with a 3 Doors Down logo across the front. Despite the fact that it was approaching winter, he insisted on knee-length shorts displaying a fresh tattoo of a bulldog across his calf.
‘Well done, Dad,’ Thomas said with a smirk across his face.
‘Don’t you start, Thomas.’ Darnell shook his head. ‘Who let you in the house anyway?’
‘Mom invited us back home. Now, you heard the woman, get out. You’re not wanted here.’ Thomas walked across the kitchen and opened the door. ‘Come on, get out.’
Darnell lowered his head. He looked back towards the stairs, contemplating following up with Jasmine, but the damage had already been done. Whatever she’d been told, no matter how over-egged, he had hurt her and his family. He sighed, stood up and obeyed his wife’s wishes. He heard the door slam behind him as he stepped into his car.
Inside his vehicle, he wondered where to go and where he’d sleep. He drummed on the wheel as he contemplated the mess he’d fallen into and who had put him there. Vanessa Jamison had left his house moments before he arrived. What was she doing there? And what had she said to his wife? His hands began to shake and his eyes grew a fiery red.
‘That bitch has ruined my life.’
The Mercedes sped out of the driveway, almost tipping as it flew round the corner and raced over to his colleague’s house. Vanessa heard the screeching of the wheels before she saw the driver, and ran over to the window to see what the disruption was. The car swivelled onto the lawn, carving tracks into the flowerbeds. Petrified, she hid behind the curtains and watched a furious Darnell pace up the steps and hammer the door.
‘I know you’re in there, Vanessa! I need to speak to you!’
She tiptoed to the door and placed the chain across for her own protection. She opened the door gently until she felt the secure pull of the metal latch, preventing a furious Darnell from stepping in further than her porch.
‘Darnell, what’s wrong with you?’
‘Why are you ruining my life? You told Jasmine about us? I know we’d had our fall-outs but I can’t believe you’d stoop this low. She’s kicked me out! I have nowhere to live!’
‘No, Darnell, I didn’t, I promise!’
‘Oh save it, you evil bitch! Why else would you be sniffing around my house? Well you ruined my life, I’m going to ruin yours. Your career is everything to you. Well say goodbye to that when I tell the commander what you said today. I’m going to open the eyes of our department and beyond to the bigoted old trash we have to work with every day. I’m sure Daddy and Obama won’t be too happy when they hear that their sweet little Vanessa is a racist, will they now?’
‘Darnell, please! Can we talk about this?’
‘I’m done with you! This is over. Goodbye!’
Before she could protest further, Darnell stormed off to his car and reversed out of her garden, revealing the muddy trail he’d left behind. Vanessa opened the door and sat down on her porch steps, trying to catch her breath. As soon as she found her natural rhythm, she looked through her contacts and considered her next move to save the career she’d worked so hard to build from ending, just as it was truly starting.
*
The Starbucks on Stephenson Drive had never seen so much of one customer in just a day. Darnell Jackson was back and pumped as he downed his seventh coffee of the evening. He was agitated, but the staff weren’t surprised, he’d had enough caffeine to empty an Arabica field.
Across the street, a punky girl exited her apartment. Her pink spikey hair and flesh tunnels immediately caught the attention of the detective, who had stared endlessly at her door. Her black t-shirt was stamped with her personal brand: Radical. Multi-coloured plastic bands drooped around her wrists and a heavy leather jacket weighed over her shoulders with metal spikes poking out of the shoulder pads.
Darnell ran out of the coffee shop, leaving his half-empty cup behind.
