Happy New Year, Baby Read online

  Shani brought out the small photo album. “Voila. The Moore family in all their glory.”

  “Oh, she’s lovely. My main man Colin.” J.J. drank in the photos like a man taking a refreshing drink after being parched for a long time. “Brendon and Janine always did make a good-looking couple, didn’t they?”

  Shani glanced at the picture of the two sitting on her living room couch, Brendon’s arm draped around Janine. “Yeah, they do.” Shani bit her lip. Now?

  A full minute passed before he spoke. J.J. did not lift his head, but continued to gaze at the photo. “He’s not coming, is he?”

  “No, he’s not coming.” She put a hand over her mouth to stifle moan of sorrow. Her family, already left with a huge hole caused by the death of their parents, was slipping away it seemed.

  J.J. straightened one or two photos then closed the album with care. “I understand.”

  “Well I don’t.” Shani fumbled for the purse-sized pack of tissues she knew to always have on hand for these visits. “It’s enough that you’re locked up for what you did; Brendon is wrong to punish you this way.” She wiped tears from her eyes.

  “Shani, listen to me …”J.J. said taking her hand.

  “No, J.J. I won’t forgive him for deliberately hurting you.”

  J.J. held her hand for several minutes until the quiet sobs tapered off. A burly, black guard approached.

  “Everything all right here, ma’am? Y’all need anything?” He eyed them with concern.

  Shani, expecting some censure, feared for J.J. The compassion in the big man’s rugged face touched her. “I’m okay, sir. Really.” She sniffed.

  “Thanks, Officer Crawford. Come on now. Cut that out.” J.J.‘s voice was tight with emotion. “You’re being too hard on Brendon. Besides, what kind of role model am I for Colin? Brendon is trying to raise two kids in a world that’s got high mountains for black boys to climb.”

  “What kind of message does disowning his brother send to Colin and Kara?” Shani said with force.

  “Shani, I don’t think you realize how much I hurt him.” J.J. sighed. “When Daddy realized he was dying, he had a talk with Brendon. He was only nine years old, still he took that promise as seriously as any grown man. In Brendon’s mind he’s not only failed me, but Daddy.”

  Shani’s breath caught in her throat. “J.J., I never knew…”

  “All these years every mistake I made weighed on him like they were his, too. Brendon can’t face me, Shani. And it probably scares the hell out of him that he’ll repeat his failure with his own children.” J.J. took a deep breath.

  Shani gazed at him with new respect. “J.J., I’ve never heard you talk like this.”

  “You mean think about somebody other than me for longer than three seconds?” he said with a grin that almost recaptured his youthful fun-loving expression.

  “I’m embarrassed you had to tell me, a clinical social worker by training, what should have been obvious all along. You are one perceptive man.” Shani took his hands in both hers.

  “Shani, tell Brendon how much all he tried to do for me meant. Maybe I didn’t see it then, but now I do. The one thing that has made a difference is remembering all the ways he stood by me.” J.J. sat up with his shoulders back. “I’m going to earn back his trust, respect, and love. I’ll make you both proud of me.”

  Shani brushed his chestnut brown face with her fingertips. “You don’t need to earn our love, J.J. That’s something I can say for both of us.”

  For the first time since coming to the prison, Shani left with spirits higher than when she arrived. The crowning good news was J.J. felt sure he would be released on parole in January. The parole board would meet in another week to consider his request. Based on his good behavior, recommendations from several ministers and others, the chances were good he would be home before mid-February. She said a silent prayer of thanks. As she crossed the boundary line back into East Baton Rouge Parish, Shani swore again to build up the children’s programs at Mid-City Center. She thought of all the boys who had no one trying to lead them in a positive direction. But there were people ready to reach out. Shani thought of the men who spent time with young boys at Mid-City’s recreation rooms. And now she could look to Eric for help. The memory of him sent a thrill up her spine. How marvelous to know they would be fighting together against forces tearing the African-American community apart rather than each other. Thoughts of sharing Christmas with Eric planted a smile on her face.

  Everyone at the office marveled to see her breeze through several trying situations with uncharacteristic ease. Elaine shot sidelong glances at her when she thought Shani was too busy to notice. The secretary almost dropped the morning mail when she returned to find Shani humming “Jingle Bell Rock” and taping Christmas cards to her office door.

  “Look, Elaine. This one is my favorite,” Shani said waving a card with a large white dove in flight surrounded by embossed green and gold foil paper shaped to resemble ribbons. “Of course, this one with the little kids listening to a bedtime story is so cute.”

  “Yeah, it is.” Elaine scratched her head. “You feeling okay, Shani?”

  “Certainly, Elaine. Now it’s perfect.” Shani stood back to admire her handiwork. The colorful cards against the background of red, green, and gold wrapping paper did brighten up the place. Shani made one last minor adjustment before going to her desk, still humming.

  “Hi, Jesse.” Elaine’s beginning smile of greeting froze at the look on his face.

  As head of operations and maintenance, Jesse supervised janitorial staff. He also made sure the building was kept in good condition.

  “What’s wrong?” she dropped her voice. The short muscular man gave a grunt of vexation.

  “We gonna hafta fire Carlina Brown. I caught that woman loading some of the food from our kitchen into her trunk. Had the nerve to give me attitude when I told her about it.”

  Elaine screwed up her plump face. “Oh man! You’re coming in here to mess up her good mood. For the first time in months she hasn’t been snappish.”

  Jesse threw up his hands. “Hey, don’t blame me. She’s got to know this. I can’t fire nobody without telling her. I ain’t lookin’ forward to it neither.”

  “Hi, Jesse,” Shani called through the door. “Merry Christmas.”

  Jesse looked up at the ceiling. “Why did it have to be me first thing this mornin’?” he muttered in a low voice.

  “Hi, Shani. Merry Christmas. ‘Course you ain’t gone be so merry when I tell you what I have to tell you.”

  “He’s a damn lie!” a gruff voice yelled. Carlina, thin and wiry, marched past Elaine into Shani’s office.

  “What’s going on?” Shani glanced at Jesse then at Carlina.

  Carlina jabbed a finger at Jesse. “This no good dog is a liar, that’s what’s goin’ on. Them was bags Miz Craig told me I could have,” she shouted.

  “Lower your voice, Ms. Brown.” Shani closed her office door. “Now, Jesse—”

  “I been working ‘round here off an’ on for four years. He been on my case since I got here.” Carlina started blubbering. “It ain’t right, Miz Moore.”

  Shani handed her a wad of facial tissue. “Let me—”

  “You ain’t no good, Jesse. You know you wrong.” Carlina said, her voice muffled by the tissue. “Miz Moore, I need my job.”

  Jesse shot her a smoldering look of condemnation. “Last month I saw her puttin’ some liquid cleaner from the storeroom in a big bag. She saw me watching and put it back.”

  “That’s a da—” Carlina broke in.

  “Be quiet please.” Shani held up one hand. “Go on, Jesse.”

  “She tried to tell me she was goin’ to clean, even though it was five minutes before quittin’ time. Claimed she hadn’t noticed what time it was. I let her go with a warning to be sure all materials was put away before she left.”

  “What he doin’ spyin’ on people anyway? Musta been scared somebody was gonna see him do somethi
n’.” Carlina glared at him. “Betcha you search his house you find some center stuff.”

  “I don’t need to be no thief,” Jesse spat at her.

  “That’s enough,” Shani said in a commanding tone. She stood between them. “We can settle this. We’ll have Mrs. Craig confirms she gave Ms. Brown permission to take the food.”

  “Here she is now.” Jesse wore a look of satisfaction. “I asked her to come, too.”

  Lucille Craig, the short, round kitchen supervisor, came in still wearing a hair net and apron. “Mornin’, Miz Moore.” She nodded to the others. “What y’all need?”

  “Did you tell Ms. Brown she could have those bags Jesse saw her loading into her car?” Shani folded her arms.

  “Sure. She said she could use ‘em. No sense letting it go to waste.” Mrs. Craig shrugged and then frowned seeing Jesse’s expression. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing. We’ll talk later.” Shani meant to point out that helping employees in need was admirable, but should be done after consulting with her to avoid just such a misunderstanding. “Well that’s it then. Jesse, it seems Ms. Brown was not stealing the food.”

  “Told ya so.” Carlina gloated. Her eyes sparkled with malice. “Now I want him wrote up for startin’ this mess.”

  “How was I to know Miz Lucille gave her all that meat and stuff?” Jesse mumbled.

  “Meat and stuff? I ain’t gave her no meat. And what else you sayin’ she had in them bags?” Mrs. Craig’s question caused them all to freeze for a few seconds.

  Shani looked at Carlina, whose gaze darted around the room as though searching for an escape route. “Jesse, tell us exactly what was in the bags.”

  “Two canned hams, frozen chicken legs, three boxes of powdered milk …”

  Mrs. Craig placed both hands on her hips. “All I put in them bags was some vegetables. They from my uncle’s farm an’ we had more than we needed for the dinners. I brought ‘em intendin’ to share with some of the workers.”

  “Uh-huh! Just what I figured.” Jesse planted two meaty fists on his hips.

  Mrs. Craig faced Carlina with a glower. “You decided to get slick an’ pack them bags with other food. Come to think of it, food been dissappearin’ for three months now. Ever since you come back.”

  “Sure has, Miz Craig,” Jesse put in.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Craig.” Shani gestured for her to leave.

  “You welcome. Humph.” Mrs. Craig threw Carlina one last look of scorn before walking out.

  Shani faced Carlina. “Ms. Brown, you are terminated effective today. Elaine will prepare your last paycheck.” She opened the door and stared at Carlina.

  Carlina shot them both a venomous look before stomping out and down the hall.

  “Thank you, Miz Moore.” Jesse started to leave. “I hate this happened. By the way, that guy was over here a few days ago been wanderin’ around the halls. He’s in the library now I think.”

  Shani’s heart skipped a beat. She headed for the library full of anticipation. Her face must have shown obvious disappointment when she found Trumaine chatting with the librarian.

  “Sorry, just me,” he said. “I decided to take more time to fully investigate, I mean, explore all facets of the community center. To make sure all the work you’re doing here gets adequately presented in my report.” He flashed a winning smile.

  Shani shook his hand. “You’re welcome anytime, Mr. Delacrosse.”

  “Trumaine, please. Miss Zeno was telling me about your story hour for children. What a wonderful oasis in a desert of crime and immorality.” Trumaine shook in head.

  Shani felt a streak of irritation at the condescension in his tone. “There are hundreds of hard-working, church-going people in Easy Town. Being poor doesn’t equal moral deficiency.”

  “Of course, I didn’t mean all residents. But crime is rampant. And most households are headed by unmarried mothers who can’t get the fathers of their children to support them.” Trumaine held up a sheet of paper. “It’s here in the grant proposal your organization prepared.”

  He held a copy of the center’s application for a Ziegler grant established by the wealthy Louisiana family of the same name. Shani wanted to snatch it from his hand and hit him with it. Unlike Eric, the more she got to know Trumaine the less she liked him.

  “It’s wise to appreciate that a community is more than a compilation of statistics and graphs. You have to walk among people to really understand their plight.” Shani kept her voice calm. She even managed a smile.

  “Which is precisely why I came back for another visit,” he replied in a suave manner. “Well, I think that should about do it. Thank you so much for allowing me to impose, Miss Zeno. Goodbye Ms. Moore.”

  Shani grimaced at his back as he left. “What was he asking about exactly, Denise?”

  “What kind of special events we have here at the center, who my boss is, things like that. He was only in here a few minutes before you came, Shani.” Denise wandered off to help a teenager in the reference section.

  Shani walked back to her office slowly. Why was Trumaine snooping around? Something about Trumaine Delacrosse disturbed her. She had a feeling he was looking for dirt. Maybe she had been wrong to assume Eric would break from his conservative leanings. For the rest of the day she went over their previous conversations. She was still feeling wary when he picked her up for dinner.

  “Hello.” Eric pecked her cheek lightly. He was impeccable in a heavy wool sweater the color of burgundy wine, navy pants, and leather loafers the deep red color as his sweater. “Looks like we’re going to have cold weather for Christmas.”

  “Hi. Have a seat. I’ll be ready in a minute.” Shani went back to her bedroom.

  “In fact the weatherman says we’re going to have cold weather through New Year’s Day. Perfect for the holidays,” Eric called to her.

  After several minutes, Shani came back into the living room with her purse and sweater jacket. “Yes.”

  Eric stood and pulled her close. “It’s going to be a very special Christmas for a lot of reasons,” he murmured into her ear.

  “Will it?” Shani’s face was impassive.

  “Um-hum. And you’re most of them.” Eric nuzzled her neck with his lips.

  The faint brush of his mouth on her skin set tingles of desire through her. Yet the suspicions brought on by Trumaine’s visit to the center caused Shani to tense. “I’m really hungry. Let’s go.”

  Eric blinked in confusion. “Wait The temperature is pretty low in here, too. Have I done something wrong?”

  “No, it’s… Forget it. You ready?” Shani tried to move away, but Eric tightened his hold.

  “We’re not leaving this apartment until I get some answers. Now talk to me,” Eric said. The firm set of his jaw gave his handsome face stern look.

  “Your fact finding seems to be very meticulous, Trumaine Delacrosse made a second visit to Mid-City without letting me know he was in the building.” Shani bristled at being treated like an errant child. “More like he was digging for dirt.”

  Eric loosened his hold. “Honey, is that all?” He smiled.

  Shani grew even more incensed by what sounded like a patronizing note in his voice. Honey indeed! She put several feet between them. “All? Do you think this is some game I’m playing? Funding for programs that are critical to that community are under attack. Don’t imagine we haven’t been through this enough to know some of the tactics you’ve used.”

  Eric grew serious again. “Now wait a minute—”

  Shani pressed on as her angered gathered steam. “You take things we tell you, and turn it against us. Maybe I’ve been a bit naive.”

  Eric stood with his feet apart and arms folded over his broad chest. “Shani, you are—”

  “Trumaine knew exactly what to look for on his second visit, I’ll bet. He looks like a real budding spin doctor or should I say junior hatchet man?” Shani faced him full.

  Despite her words, Eric appeared calm. His vo
ice was even when he spoke. “Can I say something now?” When she said nothing, he walked to her. “I’m sorry Trumaine didn’t go by your office first, but your administrative assistant told him it would be okay.”

  “Elaine?” Shani was taken aback.

  “Yes, Elaine. She was sure you wouldn’t mind since you did tell us both we could visit to get information anytime.” Eric placed both hands on her shoulders. “Trumaine told me he missed a few details during the first tour.”

  “Oh.” Shani let her arms fall to her side. “I didn’t know.”

  “Let’s sit down for a second.” Eric pulled her over to the sofa. “It is very important that you believe what I’m about to say. We don’t agree on some issues, but that’s not news to you. If I ever oppose anything that involves Mid-City Community Development, Inc., you’ll be the first to know.” He wrapped a muscular arm around her.

  “Eric, I’m sorry I jumped to con—”

  He put a finger to her lips. “I’m not finished with you, woman.” His face was inches from hers. “What I feel for you is so strong it’s hard to put into words. And nothing is as important to me right now. I want, no, I need to have you in my life.”

  A heat wave started in Shani’s toes and traveled up taking full control of her body. Strong was an understatement. This feeling eclipsed anything she had felt before for a man. She felt giddy with desire, willing to risk all. Watching his full, delectable mouth hover ever closer mesmerized her. It took considerable effort to speak.

  “When I saw you the first time that day at the state capitol, I felt … so good being near you,” Shani said in a small voice. She struggled to put into words the strange magnetism he exercised over her.

  “Yes, so very good. And it’s been growing ever since,” Eric said.

  Eric’s touch was tender as he caressed her face. He kissed her long and hard. When they parted, both were breathless.

  Shani fell back against the large cushions. “My oh my.” She fanned herself.

  Eric puffed a few times. “Have mercy.”

  Shani’s eyes were aglitter when she looked at him. “There’s a great Chinese restaurant nearby. They deliver.”