Behind the Shadows of Deception- Chapter 10
Heather awoke to the loud pounding at her brother’s door. She was about to go back to sleep until she realized JC was not home to answer his own door.
“Go away.” Heather murmured, taking her time getting from her room to downstairs. She snatched the door open and the body that was leaning on it fell through.
Heather rolled her eyes, “Hi Chris.” She helped him up from the floor.
“What are you doing here?"
“Babysitting the house. JC’s not here."
“Man! Where did he go?"
“To a friends. Close the door.” Walking away, Heather laughed as Chris grumbled behind her. JC had specifically told her not to tell any of guys where he went, especially Chris. He also said something about jealousy.
“What friend? Justin? Come on tell me.” He followed her into the kitchen.
“If it was Justin I would’ve told you already."
“Right.” Chris agreed, “Then it must be a female.” He grinned.
“Not saying.” It was difficult to keep a straight face with Chris and his stupid grin, but she managed.
“Heather! JC didn’t really tell you not to tell me did he?"
“Yes, he did. And the guys too. You know how JC is about his privacy."
Pounding the countertop with his fist, Chris couldn’t deny it. JC enjoyed his privacy, which is why he lived in this big house all by himself. “I’ll find out."
“How are you going to do that?” Heather chuckled.
“I-I’ll call him. Yup. Give me your phone."
“Why can’t you use your own phone?"
“Because he won’t answer it if my number shows up, duh!”
Heather watched him surprised. He was smart to think of that at least. JC said he would answer his phone only if she called, but it had to be for emergencies only. Heather gave him the phone. “What are you gonna to tell him? It has to be an emergency."
“Oh? Well I’ll tell him that you’ll starved to death if he doesn’t come home and stock up on some groceries."
Heather laughed. “Okay.” JC wouldn’t go for that one.
Chris dialed the number and JC answered on the second ring calling him Heather. “Not Heather. It’s Chris.” Click.
Chris pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it."
“What?"
“That jerk hung up on me.” He sulked while Heather laughed loudly.
“I’m going to call back.” He was so determined. She wasn’t going to tell him that JC had given her Mya’s number too just in case.
“Go ahead."
Recognizing that as a dare, he hit the redial button. “I’m waiting for him to pick up.” After it rung six times, they both heard a shout through the reciever.
“What!”
“What are you doing?” Chris said the first thing that came to mind.
“What the-” He couldn’t believe Chris was calling him for this, “Eating my breakfast.” He had fixed himself some toast while Mya was still asleep.
“We want to eat too, but you ain’t got no damn food in your fridge."
“Wait, why are you over there?"
“Heather needed some company."
Before JC could respond he heard a, “No I did not”, on the other end and Chris scolding her for saying so. He knew the real reason why Chris had called him. He was curious as to where he had gone. However, JC had no intentions of telling him and it seemed like Heather didn’t either. At least she was good for something, he thought.
“So where’d you go?"
“To a friends.” He answered, using the same line he told Heather to use.
After he mentioned it, Mya happened to be making her way downstairs. She walked to her fridge while holding a telephone conversation of her own.
Chris grunted. “You two are just alike. What’s so bad about your friend that you can’t tell me who it is?"
“Nothing’s bad.” A smirk formed on his face as he watched her bent form in pajama drawstring shorts and a tank top while retrieving an item from the refrigerator. “It’s all good." At that moment, Mya screamed, dropped the phone and turned to him with her eyes wide and chest heaving from shock.
“What was that?"
“Nothing. Chris I’ll call you back.” He slipped his cell in the pocket of his sweatpants.
Remembering that she was on the phone too, Mya picked it up and was about to tell Evette that she would call her back, but all she heard was the dial tone. “It must’ve clicked off when I dropped it.” She placed it on the counter.
JC nodded. “I’m sorry I scared you."
“I forgot you were here.” Mya sat at the counter across from him. She eyed the toast on his plate, “Is this for me?"
“You can have it."
“Thanks.” Mya bit into the bread and grimaced at the burnt taste of it. “You can make a top notch drink but not a slice of toast?” She raised her brow, amused.
“Hey?” He shrugged, “I only had to throw that stuff into a blender. Not much skills required on my part."
“True. Well I have some leftovers that I got last night but didn’t get a chance to eat because we were supposed to go out."
“We had a change of plans."
“Yeah. You still up for the shooting range with me right?"
“Do I have choice?” She was eyeing him, daring him to decline the invitation.
“No.” Mya smirked.
“Thought not.” He tossed out the toast while she went back to the fridge. Seconds later, they were startled by a knock on the door. It sounded more like someone was trying to break the door off its hinges.
“I’ll get that."
“You’re not worried about fans being at your door?"
She shook her head, “I’m not as big as you are. I don’t have to worry about that.” She said over her shoulder.
“Girl, you okay?” Eve pushed past her.
“I’m cool.” Mya followed her into the living room.
“Oh? Then why did you hang up on me? Had me and my baby rushing over here in our pajamas."
She’d just recognized Keshaun in his SpongeBob pajamas sleeping against Evette’s shoulder. “My bad. JC was here and I forgot so when I saw him in my kitchen it scared the hell out of me."
“I guess the date went well if y’all ended up back here.” Eve smirked.
“Get your mind out the toilet. Besides we didn’t get to go out."
“Damn you didn’t even make it out the house!”
Mya shook her head, “ Okay, I set myself up for that one."
“Yeah. You did.” Eve laughed. “So what happened?"
“Well at the last minute his younger sister showed up, deciding to stay with him for three weeks after moving out of her apartment. So we changed our plans. He decided he would go to the shooting range with me instead.
“He left his sister at his house by herself? That’s family for you."
“She didn’t mind. He gave her my number just in case."
“So how did you convince him to go?"
“I didn’t have to convince him.” Mya smiled, “So you want to meet him?"
“Yeah, so I can ask him about that hickey you had on your neck two weeks ago."
Mya rolled her eyes, before she could be stopped, Evette made her way into the kitchen.
“Hi JC. I’m Evette, Eve for short and this little man is Keshaun, my son and Mya’s Godson."
JC looked up from his plate and nodded. Unfortunately, he had put food in his mouth just as she had entered the kitchen. He swallowed the food quickly. “Hi Eve."
She watched him with a critical, “Hey JC, can I ask you something?"
“Eve,” Mya warned."
“Um,” He swallowed another lump in his throat. “Sure. I guess."
Eve turned towards Mya. “Mya why don’t you take Rambo outside or something? Oh and can you lay Shaun down, he’s getting heavy."
Mya rolled her eyes. It seemed as if she did this every time Eve made a comment.She reluctantly agreed to Evette’s suggestion and retrieved Shaun who cuddled against her shoulder. “Behave.” Mya warned again before exiting."
Following Mya’s departure, JC felt somewhat on edge with Eve’s gaze fixed on him, assessing him. She looked determined to find something out about him. But what? A secret? Did she know something about him?
Fearing the worse, JC shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Yet, he offered Evette a seat across from him to mask his anxiety. She quickly accepted.
“What did you want to ask me?” Since his voice was solid enough to appear calm, he could probably deny whatever rumor she threw at him.
“It was just something that me and my friends assumed, but Mya doesn’t believe it.” Eve smiled.
JC nearly broke out into sweat. It seemed like she was aware of his deception, yet she was smiling, laughing almost. Why would she look happy if she knew her friend was being lied to? He expected her to jump out of her chair, get in his face, and demand that he tell Mya the truth.
Even though he never anticipated an argument or even an ass whooping the first time he would meet one of Mya’s friends, he knew it would be well deserved if it happened.
“You okay?” When he slowly nodded, Eve continued, “Well, we were actually teasing her about a mark on her neck? I said it was hickey, but she opposed.” Eve chuckled, smirking at him.
JC’s eye widened. Eve didn’t know a damn thing about the journal. And here he was ready to piss in his pants. He never felt so relieved. From his expression, Eve figured that he was to blame for the mark, so she asked him to admit it.
“What?"
“You heard me. Admit that you gave Mya that hickey after getting her drunk with one of your homemade drinks."
“No.” Why would he admit to that? He didn’t get Mya drunk. She wasn’t even really drunk. Was she? She just passed out and couldn’t remember much the next morning. Is that so hard to believe?
JC didn’t know he said that aloud until Eve repeated it back to him and laughed.
“That’s what she said you told her. And that she felt out her chair too?"
“She did. Honest.” He claimed with a straight face despite her sly grin. “And she started acting crazy.”
“Yeah right. Just tell me did you put it there?"
He thought about lying for a moment, but he had already lied enough. Yet, if he told Eve, surely she would tell Mya. Well, that would be one thing she would know the truth about.
“Yes.” He finally replied. “But how it got there was not my fault."
“Okay. If you don’t want me to tell Mya I won’t."
“You’ll do that."
“Yeah. I mean, it’s obvious that you were scared to death about telling me. Besides if I tell it might mess up whatever plan you got going.” JC watched her lips curl at the corners. "But if this shit comes back on me, you're on you're own."
It took one simple conversation for her to recognize that he had a crush on Mya. Just like his sister. And she was going to help him...somewhat. He could definitely find a new friend in Evette.
Seconds later, Mya came downstairs dressed in her favorite attire; a pair of fitted jeans and a graphic tee. A now awake and energized, Shaun followed behind her.
“Ya’ll ready to hit the range?"
“Yup.” Eve and JC jumped up. “Let me go get dress.” Before he left, Eve winked at him.
“So…” Mya drew her attention, “How did the meeting go?"
“Good. He’s cool.” Mya could tell by her smile that she was holding something back, “I’m going to get dress too. Can I borrow something out of your closet?"
“Anything but my jeans. I love my jeans."
“Okay. Thanks.” She ran upstairs.
Mya looked at Shaun, “What is your mommy up to?"
Shaun shrugged, “Mommy said to stay outta gro-grown folks bizness."