Free Up to No Good by Carl Weber Page A

Louis.
    Louis had told me about his childhood, so different from mine. He was raised in an orphanage in Iowa, and he had no family to speak of. He seemed to be like Adam—as if he just came into the world with no father or mother, and he didn’t need anyone except me. I loved him for his devotion to me, but it was also a point of contention between us, because he found it impossible to understand how I could love my father so much. We had already had several confrontations over Louis feeling that I was too into my family, which meant he took second place in my world. He would never understand, I decided, and it wasn’t worth the fight.
    We sat there, staring at each other, trying to avoid an argument. Luckily for me, Louis’s cell rang before our tense silence escalated into angry words. But that didn’t stop me from catching an attitude when I glanced at the clock and realized how late it was.
    “Who the hell is calling you at this time of night?”
    Louis just gave me a blank look, like I was stupid to even be acting suspicious, but I didn’t care. I ’d learned many things from my father, including never assume that your mate isn’t cheating. As much as I loved myfather, I knew he was a womanizer, and he had made fools of half the women in Queens, a good number of them married to husbands who had no clue. My motto had become “Ask the right questions now so you don’t have to pack your bags later.”
    Louis knew that I had this jealous streak in me, so he answered my question to avoid another fight. “I don’t know. Probably work.”
    His answer made me even more skeptical. Louis worked as a manager at a used-car dealership on Hillside Avenue, so he constantly got calls about problems, but never at this time of night. Something told me this wasn’t a work call. I watched him walk over to his dresser and pick up his cell phone, and I wondered if he would have the nerve to take the call in front of me.
    “Hello.”
    I was satisfied that it couldn’t be anything to worry about, because he didn’t make a move to leave the room when he answered. I leaned back against the pillows and relaxed for a moment, but my relief was short-lived. He listened intently for a few seconds, then said, “I understand. Friday’s fine,” then disappeared into the bathroom, where he finished his call.
    He wasn’t in there long, but by the time he came out, I was ready to pounce. “So, who was that?” I asked before he could even get back into bed.
    “Oh, that was work. They want me to go outta town on Friday.”
    I felt my stomach clench. I was sure he was lying. His job never sent him out of town.
    “To where?” I asked coldly.
    “Somewhere in Pennsylvania. I’m supposed to go to a dealer auction and look for this BMW my boss promised a customer.”
    Why was he trying to play me? He was about to make me flip on him.
    “So, that was your boss?” I made no effort to hide the skepticism in my voice. I got out of bed and started to walk toward his dresser, where he’d placed his phone. “And he wants you to go to Pennsylvania Friday?”
    “Yeah, why? You don’t believe me?”
    I picked up his phone and hit the necessary keys to find the last call received. “Hell no, I don’t believe you.” I fully expected him to jump out of bed and try to stop me, but I was close enough to the bathroom to make a quick dash. Before he had a chance to pull the covers back, I ’d have the door locked, talking to whatever hooker had just called him.
    “Boo, you don’t have to do this. I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go,” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
    Oh, so he thinks this is funny, huh?
I could feel my blood pressure rise at least five points. Damn, I really thought he was different than other men.
    “Stop lying, Louis, and tell me who was on the phone,” I said as I hit the TALK button to redial the last number.
    He sat up in bed and folded his arms. “Guess we’re going to find out.” He was trying