CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and NINETY-FOUR
(part four)
Thursday early morning — 4:15 A.M.
Tanesha woke with a start. Jeraine wasn’t in bed. She mentally ran through the evening. All of the fuss and trouble of the afternoon had slipped away after seeing the work progress at their wonderful new home. They’d had a good time at the party. They’d laughed and danced. They’d come home and made love. She’d fallen asleep happy.
She looked at the clock. The white letters read 4:17. She’d gotten up around two to use the toilet. He’d been sound asleep. She reached to touch his side of the bed. It was still warm.
“Jer?”
She threw off the covers and went to look for him.
“Jer?”
He wasn’t in the bathroom. She went through the record hallway to the guest bedroom. He wasn’t in there or in the den.
“Jer?”
He wasn’t in the kitchen. She wondered what nonsense he was up to now. She went past the front door. The elevator was up on this floor, so it was unlikely that he’d left the loft. Hearing a noise, she turned in place.
She saw the back side of the sliding glass door move into her view.
“Jer?”
She ran down the hall, through the open sliding glass door, and out on to the balcony. Jeraine was standing next to the three foot high safety wall on the edge.
“Jer?”
He looked at her for a moment and climbed onto the wall.
“Jeraine Wilson,” Tanesha said. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Can’t do it, Miss T,” he said. “Everything I’ve worked for, every God damned thing, is gone. I worked all of my life and it’s gone. Singing lessons from the time I was three. Song writing practice after school and all summer, every summer.”
“But…” Her heart pounded against her ribs. Her stomach jumped into her throat. She gasped for breath.
“I’ve worked all of my life and it’s all gone,” he looked down at the street twenty floors below.
“Why are you like this?” Tanesha asked.
“Because this is who I am,” Jeraine said. “I’m a rich guy who wears four carat diamonds in my ears. I’m a guy who has any woman I want. I’m the guy who has money, lots of money. That’s who I am. Why can’t you accept me as I am?”
“No,” Tanesha shook her head. “That’s not you. You’re not that guy.”
“You’re wrong,” he said. “I am that guy! But now? Now, I’m the guy with brain damage. If you hadn’t made me quit the record company, everything would be fine. You ruined my life.”
Denver Cereal continues tomorrow…
