apprehensively. “Granted, she’s had episodes in the past but nothing lately.”
Henry lowered his eyes to the floor.
“Henry, nothing lately, right?”
“I guess not,” he replied. “I just have this gut feeling that this is the calm before the storm.”
Meredith got up and touched his hand. “Henry Pierce, you and I have been through hell together over the past two decades and we’ve always survived. We’ll survive this, too, whatever it is.”
Henry hugged Meredith snugly. “I love both of you so much. I just want us to have a happy family.”
“We do have a happy family, Henry.”
“If you say so, but—”
Meredith pulled away from his embrace and glared at him.
“But what?”
“I still plan to call someone on Monday. Just to see what they say.”
“Someone like who?”
Henry shrugged. “I guess I’ll start with the Health and Human Services Department. They should be able to recommend someone.”
Meredith rolled her eyes and slammed a pot down on the stove. She didn’t say another word.
Jonquinette tiptoed back upstairs without either one of them knowing she’d heard the entire conversation.
18
Thanksgiving Day, 1994
Three A.M.
Jude had waited until both Henry and Meredith were fast asleep before sneaking out of bed. She threw on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and a pair of raggedy sneakers and then eased her way out of the house into the garage. She winced when she pushed the button for the door to rise. It was a dicey move because there was a noisy vibration. Her room was directly over the garage and she always heard it but wasn’t sure whether it was audible in the master bedroom.
She waited for a minute to see if she heard any movement. There was nothing, so she unlocked Henry’s Lincoln Town Car and eased behind the wheel. She was elated that he always kept an extra set of keys in the kitchen drawer. It made things so much easier for her.
She put the car in reverse without starting the engine and coasted out the driveway onto the street where she turned it over. She grinned as she headed off into the darkness. “I’ll fix your ass but good,” she whispered.
Jude knew exactly where to go: a strip downtown that was heavily populated with strip clubs and prostitutes lining the sidewalk. She had two hundred dollars and some change; Jonquinette’s life savings. She hoped it would be enough.
One P.M.
Jude stayed up in the bedroom for most of the morning, pretending Jonquinette was studying computer science. But Jude didn’t give a fuck about computer science. She did like going into chat rooms, though; particularly those where people talked about sex and nothing but sex. One such room was called “Freaky Black People.” It was her personal favorite.
She’d had cyber sex with countless men, most of whom thought she was a twenty-five-year-old nurse from Raleigh, North Carolina, instead of a fifteen-year-old high school student. Stupid idiots, as far as she was concerned.
Even Jude was shocked that so many freaks were online Thanksgiving Day. She assumed they all had family plans but their addiction to chat rooms must have superseded them.
Jude was just bored stiff and waiting for the fireworks to initiate later that day. She still had a few hours before the festivities so she started teasing around with one of the men in the chat room who had the screen name “Slanging Dick.” His profile boasted that he could lick a woman’s belly button from the inside. Nasty bastard, Jude thought. Just my type of man.
Jude had yet to have actual intercourse but it was only a matter of time, as far as she was concerned. Jonquinette led such a lackluster life that there wasn’t a single boy she spent time around that interested her. The boys at school were all revolting. Plus they were just that: boys. Jude yearned for a man.
A few of the men online had tried to coax her into offline meetings. One of them almost had her, a smooth talker who went by “DreamLvr4U.” She was all
Henry lowered his eyes to the floor.
“Henry, nothing lately, right?”
“I guess not,” he replied. “I just have this gut feeling that this is the calm before the storm.”
Meredith got up and touched his hand. “Henry Pierce, you and I have been through hell together over the past two decades and we’ve always survived. We’ll survive this, too, whatever it is.”
Henry hugged Meredith snugly. “I love both of you so much. I just want us to have a happy family.”
“We do have a happy family, Henry.”
“If you say so, but—”
Meredith pulled away from his embrace and glared at him.
“But what?”
“I still plan to call someone on Monday. Just to see what they say.”
“Someone like who?”
Henry shrugged. “I guess I’ll start with the Health and Human Services Department. They should be able to recommend someone.”
Meredith rolled her eyes and slammed a pot down on the stove. She didn’t say another word.
Jonquinette tiptoed back upstairs without either one of them knowing she’d heard the entire conversation.
18
Thanksgiving Day, 1994
Three A.M.
Jude had waited until both Henry and Meredith were fast asleep before sneaking out of bed. She threw on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and a pair of raggedy sneakers and then eased her way out of the house into the garage. She winced when she pushed the button for the door to rise. It was a dicey move because there was a noisy vibration. Her room was directly over the garage and she always heard it but wasn’t sure whether it was audible in the master bedroom.
She waited for a minute to see if she heard any movement. There was nothing, so she unlocked Henry’s Lincoln Town Car and eased behind the wheel. She was elated that he always kept an extra set of keys in the kitchen drawer. It made things so much easier for her.
She put the car in reverse without starting the engine and coasted out the driveway onto the street where she turned it over. She grinned as she headed off into the darkness. “I’ll fix your ass but good,” she whispered.
Jude knew exactly where to go: a strip downtown that was heavily populated with strip clubs and prostitutes lining the sidewalk. She had two hundred dollars and some change; Jonquinette’s life savings. She hoped it would be enough.
One P.M.
Jude stayed up in the bedroom for most of the morning, pretending Jonquinette was studying computer science. But Jude didn’t give a fuck about computer science. She did like going into chat rooms, though; particularly those where people talked about sex and nothing but sex. One such room was called “Freaky Black People.” It was her personal favorite.
She’d had cyber sex with countless men, most of whom thought she was a twenty-five-year-old nurse from Raleigh, North Carolina, instead of a fifteen-year-old high school student. Stupid idiots, as far as she was concerned.
Even Jude was shocked that so many freaks were online Thanksgiving Day. She assumed they all had family plans but their addiction to chat rooms must have superseded them.
Jude was just bored stiff and waiting for the fireworks to initiate later that day. She still had a few hours before the festivities so she started teasing around with one of the men in the chat room who had the screen name “Slanging Dick.” His profile boasted that he could lick a woman’s belly button from the inside. Nasty bastard, Jude thought. Just my type of man.
Jude had yet to have actual intercourse but it was only a matter of time, as far as she was concerned. Jonquinette led such a lackluster life that there wasn’t a single boy she spent time around that interested her. The boys at school were all revolting. Plus they were just that: boys. Jude yearned for a man.
A few of the men online had tried to coax her into offline meetings. One of them almost had her, a smooth talker who went by “DreamLvr4U.” She was all
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