Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux Read online

  “You weren’t too sick to have company though,” Grey said walking to the kitchen to relieve some of the tension that had overcome her bedroom like a thick fog.

  “Well then, I guess we’ll have to stay in together and play catch up,” Emerald said sitting on the bed beside her. He was not about to leave Grey alone with Ivy for one minute after that.

  “You should plan to spend the night if you plan to get all the way caught up on what’s been going on here,” Ivy said softly as she crawled back into the bed and pulled the covers over her body. Patting the bed, she motioned for her brother. “Come watch television with me.”

  “Oh, I’m not leaving your side,” Emerald said kicking his shoes off and diving in her bed. It was good to be home. He could see perfectly that he had come at the most needed time. Ivy was in no shape to fight this battle alone, but he could add balance. And he would.

  Chapter Fifteen: Strategy

  Chapter 15

  STRATEGY

  “You should have been there the other day,” Emerald said whispering on the phone to his father. “I came in after Nicola, and Grey came in after me. I truly believe that if I had not been there, they would have tried to kill each other.”

  “Damn, I always miss the good stuff,” Madison said whirling around in his office chair like a mischievous child. He wouldn’t have cared if they had killed each other for what they were doing to his daughter. “So, how is Ivy?” He hated to think of his darling little girl losing her perfect shape and dealing with motherhood alone.

  “She seems to be fine…nothing to worry about. So, when are you coming this way?”

  “In another few months or so. I sent Ivy a little something to help her until I get there though.”

  “Care to send me anything?” Emerald asked jokingly. He had not yet told his father or anyone else except Ivy about his marriage to Kakeline.

  “You’re a grown-ass man with only your mouth to feed. I’m not sending you anything. Hell, you need to be trying to send me something. Speaking of which, you did pay your mother back that five hundred dollars, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Emerald said dismissing the beginning of another of his father’s tirades. “Look, remind me to tell you something after you get here. Not that I’ll likely forget.” He was bursting to tell Madison, but he didn’t want the spotlight to be taken from his little sister in her time or need.

  If no one knew that he and Kakeline were married, there was no reason to be upset about of lack of attention. However, if everyone knew and no one seemed to care, he feared it would sour the entire experience.

  “Why can’t you tell me, now?” Madison hoped Emerald had not gone and done something stupid.

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “Are you still on my phone talking long distance?” Sadie asked walking into the den where Emerald was sitting on the couch. This was his cue to cut the conversation short.

  “It’s Dad,” Emerald explained hoping it would cause a change in Sadie’s mood.

  “All the more reason to say goodbye. Ask him if he can read and if he can then email him.” She always got a kick out of insulting her ex-husband.

  “No, she didn’t just ask if I could read?” Madison asked hearing her remark. “If you weren’t my son, I’d tell you to tell her something.”

  “What did he say?” Sadie asked standing over Emerald cutting her eyes.

  “He said if…if you only knew how he loved you, you wouldn’t say those type of things.” Emerald wanted them back together as badly as Ivy did, but they were a lost cause.

  “Liar,” Madison said doodling on his notepad. “Tell her I said buzz off.”

  “Tell him, if he loved me so much, he would send for you and Key lime Pie permanently.” Pushing his feet off her coffee table, Sadie walked off. She couldn’t stand talking to both of the men in her life at the same time. They both were too much of an annoyance.

  “What’s with her?” Madison could sense an unusual tone in her voice.

  “Probably the change. Plus, I brought Kakeline home with me, and she thinks we’re shacking up. She gave her Ivy’s old room and insist that we come back and visit sometime again.”

  “You guys really need to get a hotel.”

  “Not you, too. Okay. I’ll look into today.” Emerald recalled his mother’s attitude. “Somehow I think things would be different if you were here.”

  “Somehow, I think they would be worse.” Receiving a message for another call holding, Madison ended their conversation. “Can we pick this up later?” He loved to talk with his son, but never seemed to find the time.

  “Yeah, we need to get out of here and take care of a few things anyway,” Emerald said standing up and stretching.

  “Just call me later collect, and tell your mother to cool out.”

  “You tell her,” Emerald said jokingly. No one told Sadie what to do.

  **

  Sadie simply couldn’t understand all the turmoil that had come into her family over the last few months. She had been praying and steadfast. She and Madison had sent the children to good schools. They had grown up in better social circles than most. They both had received a hand up in life and yet, here they were both spinning their wheels. Ivy was a single, pregnant college girl, and Emerald was shacking up in her house with an islander. She shook her head in despair and tried to fight back the tears. Somehow, she was sure that all of this was Madison’s fault in some way.

  Hearing the doorbell, Sadie walked into the foyer, where she found Ivy and Grey with several bags of clothes.

  “What a surprise,” Sadie said kissing her soon-to-be son-in-law on the cheek.

  “We’ve been out at the malls shopping,” Ivy said setting her bags down. “The bigger I get the more I need.”

  “Well you only have a few months to go, and then you’ll be back to your regular size,” Sadie said kissing her on the cheek.

  “Where are you going looking like GQ Smooth?” Grey asked noticing Emerald as he came out of the back room.

  “I’ve got a little job interview in an hour. I need to get moving now that I’m back home.” Emerald looked over at his mother.

  “Well, we’ve got always got a position open if you’re interested.” Grey knew that Emerald would appreciate the offer, plus this would give him the opportunity to win him over again. He saw how Emerald had warmed up to Nicola the other day at Ivy’s place. And the last thing he needed was her family thinking good of the Italian.

  “I’d be more than interested,” Emerald said setting his briefcase down. Maybe he needed to look no further. “When are you available to talk?

  “How about tomorrow afternoon? We can meet for lunch?

  “Sounds good to me,” Emerald said knowing what Grey had in mind. He had been around the block more than enough times to see that Grey was trying to win him over, but he wasn’t about to stop him.

  “Alright, I’ll call you later with the specifics,” Grey said grinning to himself as he caught a glimpse of the proud look on Sadie’s face. Nicola didn’t have a chance.

  “Thanks, baby,” Ivy said impressed with Grey’s kind gesture.

  * *

  Down at City Hall in the Mayor’s office, Nicola and Brooks sat with their team quietly as Mayor Henderson reviewed their report. Looking around the oval table, Nicola was extremely relieved to see that his nemesis, Grey, had not been invited or declined the invitation to attend.

  Focusing back on the meeting, Nicola squirmed in his seat as Mayor Henderson put down the report and buzzed the secretary for more coffee. There had been a dramatic increase of gang-related and drug-related arrests since the new Special Forces team had been developed. Under the team’s constant watching eye, the streets of Memphis were starting to rest easier at night. But Nicola questioned whether or not his team would be fairly judged considering his relationship with Ivy.

  “Well, men…” Mayor Henderson said nodding at the Director of the Police Department and old time friend. “These are the
kind of results that I am looking for in our police department.” He smiled reassuringly at Brooks and Nicola.

  Relieved the men exhaled. “Thank you, sir,” Nicola said trying to keep his composure.

  “So, my biggest question is are we ready for the next step?” Mayor Henderson asked pulling his seat away from oval table.

  “Absolutely,” Director Billings said looking at Brooks and Nicola. “We have the most capable men and women this department has to offer working on phase two as we speak.”

  “Well, then, I look forward to seeing the results on my next report and all over the news,” Mayor Henderson said standing up to take his leave. “Gentlemen, well done.” Shaking the director’s hand, Mayor Henderson looked over at Nicola for a brief moment. “As professionals, I’m glad to see that all of you are maintaining control of this situation. We must remember that we are first servants of the City of Memphis. All other things come second, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Nicola was glad that Mayor Henderson had given him some kind of indication of where he stood. If the mayor stayed impartial to the department and more importantly to his team, then the growing animosity between he and Grey would controllable. He simply could not afford for this thing with Ivy to affect his men or his ability to do his job.

  **

  After dropping Ivy off at her mother’s house, Grey headed to his four o’clock appointment on the other side of town. He hadn’t seen his old flame Tracy in nearly a year. After the pregnancy scare he had with her, she had become quite distant in their communication or maybe he was the distant one. It didn’t matter to him one way or the other.

  In Grey’s quest to find dirt on Nicola, however, he and Tracy had crossed paths again. It seemed that a nurse at Dr. Tracy’s abortion clinic could help him out tremendously. The doc had set up a cloak and dagger meeting at her house as a favor to him. And to his surprise, the woman wanted nothing in return for her cooperation. It seemed that her animosity for Nicola grew out of his inability to call the morning after. He laughed at the circumstances. Nothing was worse than a woman’s scorn, which is why he sought to keep his women happy at all times.

  Grey pulled up to her home with minutes to spare and was led to her office by the maid. He entered with a smile on his face. The two women sat on the couch drinking wine and talking under their breath. Tracy turned to him and smiled. She was a beautiful woman. Tall and statuesque. She bore a great resemblance to Ivy. Since the last time that he’d seen her, she had cut her hair off and sported a chic little do that brought out her prominent cheekbones and long swanlike neck. He liked that on her and planned to tell her later. But for now there was business to handle.

  Tracy stood up and leisurely went to him. He hugged her amicably and looked over at the nurse, who sat nervously awaiting his arrival.

  “So good to see you again, Grey,” Tracy said putting down her glass. “This is Amber. She’s the nurse in my office I spoke with you about over the phone.”

  “Yes. Amber, it is nice to meet you,” Grey said offering his hand.

  “Nice to meet you too,” she said in a soft, whispery voice.

  “Before we begin, let’s just make this clear that you never heard any of this information from us,” Tracy said with her hands on her hips.

  “You have my word on it,” Grey said crossing his heart. “And I think you’ve got enough on me to know that I’m good for my word.”

  Chapter Sixteen: Cornered

  Chapter 16

  CORNERED

  “So we’ve finally got enough on Caesar to bust his ass,” Brooks said grinning as he raised his arm weight. He had been dreaming of getting Caesar off of the streets and placing him under a jail cell since they began their campaign, but every time they got something they thought was solid, Caesar got away clean. This time, however, they had gone to extreme lengths to ensure that there would be no one to save him.

  “Yep, as soon as we get the information about the shipment,” Nicola said rejoicing in the thought as well.

  Looking at himself in the mirror, Brooks watched his muscles bulge as he lifted the sixty-five pound free weights. His wide long physique narrowed at the waist and expanded at the hips like a professional weight lifter. His dark brown skin seemed shinny and unblemished and his baldhead and coal black facial hair made him look strong and invincible. At least, he thought he was sexy. He smiled vainly at himself as he caught Nicola smirking at him.

  “What?” Brooks asked defensively.

  “You’re doing it again,” Nicola said gulping down his creatine shake.

  “Doing what?” Brooks already knew.

  “Gloating.” Nicola belched and laughed. He always caught Brooks staring at himself in the mirrors or doing “mirror checks” to make sure every stitch of clothing was in place. For him to be a cop, he was always very well dressed. It was the main reason that Nicola started to be more aware of the way he looked. Being best friends with a runway model was heavy on the ego.

  “Look, I’m a Psi man. We are pretty.” His confidence gleamed like the sweat on his forehead. “It wouldn’t matter if I was the garbage man, I would still look good.”

  Nicola laughed. “Well, you are full of shit.”

  “But I can back it up,” Brooks said turning his attention back to his workout.

  “I just don’t get what kind of man would want to call himself pretty.” Nicola had argued the point a hundred times before, but each time seemed valid.

  “A confident man. Someone, who knows that he is irresistible, but don’t worry. I don’t expect you to understand.”

  “Let me guess. It’s because I’m not pretty.” Nicola had heard this before.

  “Exactly.”

  “But the ladies like me. I believe the word they use is “sexy”.

  “Sexy is not the same thing as pretty. Cigarette smoke in a dark candlelit room can be sexy. Are you going to compare yourself to cigarette smoke?”

  “You know what I mean. Sexy is more masculine than pretty. I mean, when I think of a pretty man…”

  “I just think that you’re hatin’,” Brooks interjected returning to his weights. “But looking at me, who wouldn’t?” He grunted.

  “I need to check and see what type of paperwork I need to put in for the twins to be put on my insurance once they’re born.” Nicola said staring into space.

  “Whoa, where did that come from?” Brooks asked confused by the sudden change of conversation.

  “Well, the time is coming quickly. They’ll be here in less than three months. Just in case they are mine, they’re going to need insurance.”

  “You’re kidding right?” Brooks was fed up with Ivy being the most popular topic of conversation.

  “Kidding about what?” Before Nicola could even ask, he could look in his partner’s eyes and see that he was about to correct him for his concern. More and more lately Brooks had shown signs of jealousy for all of the time that he spent with Ivy and preparing for the twins.

  “Look man, we’ve been friends for a long time, and you know that I wouldn’t ever tell you anything wrong on purpose. Right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I’ve got to tell you. You’re setting your self up for a big fall with Ivy and these kids. First of all, you don’t know if there yours or not. Second of all, she’s still engaged to another man. Third, she is not your wife. You better move on and discover life after conception, or you’re not going to be able to handle it when she does the same.”

  “I’m not worried about Ivy. I was just thinking aloud.”

  “You think that because they’re twins, they could be yours?” Brooks looked concerned.

  “Don’t you think that’s a little too coincidental?”

  “I’ve seen something in you lately, man. You’re all wrapped up in this girl. Thank God it hasn’t affected your work, but your personal life is totally screwed over. You’ve been celibate for over a month now, every since you took that stupid vow on the track field. You’re becoming a hermit,
never going anywhere.” Brooks sighed. “What if Ivy really wants Grey? How are you going to recoup from that?”

  “I didn’t stop having sex because of Ivy. I stopped because of what happened with Ivy, and.” Nicola sat down on the bench. “And I needed more clarification in my life.”

  “Clarification my ass…you sound sprung to me; something I thought that you would never live to be.”

  “I’m not sprung,” Nicola said offended. “You wouldn’t understand though. You’ve been running like hell from responsibility. Look, as much as Trina does for you, you still fuck off on her.”

  “You of all people understand why.”

  “No, man. I don’t understand why. If I had a woman that cared as much for me as that girl cares for you, I’d be a lot more careful with her.”

  “You mean like you were careful with Ivy? Don’t fool yourself. You and I both know that before this one, you didn’t give a damn about woman. Shit. Just six months ago you weren’t ducking and dodging a serious relationship, too. Now you want to act like some kind of saint, because you think you have a chance with the one girl in the Memphis who sees straight through your ass.”

  “No one can see straight through me.”

  “You really want to believe that don’t you.” Brooks sighed. “You’re my boy, but I have to tell you that this is one race you aren’t going to win. She’s faster and stronger than you’ll ever be, and right now she’s just leading you two around on the same leash until she figures out which one of you she’s going to put to sleep. I just hate that I can’t save you, man. I’m telling you this isn’t going to turn out good for you.”

  “Don’t think that you’re going to get a rise out of me, Brooks. You’re not. Ivy and I have an understanding. I’m not there for her; I’m there for them. Nicola looked Brooks in the eye. “Believe me I know what I’m doing.”