Nobody's Son, page 14
“Honey, it’s me, Semaj. First, let me just say that I am sorry. I have been acting like an idiot for weeks. I’ve been mean to you, and you didn’t deserve it. Please, please, forgive me. You are the best thing in my life, and you make me a better man. I’m on my way to Andrus for the day, but I’ll be back later tonight. Please call me as soon as you get this message. I love you.”
He hung up the phone and called Rip.
“Hey, man, how soon can we put an end to this ridiculousness?” he asked.
Rip sat down on his sofa and cradled the phone on his left shoulder. “You’ve got to give yourself at least forty-eight hours. If you rush in and supposedly find him today, it will look suspicious. I mean, especially after the way you broke down on television last night.”
Semaj smiled. “That wasn’t a breakdown, brother. It was a breakthrough. Finally, I am seeing everything clearly.”
“I’m glad to have the cousin I know and love back. Are you going to talk to Ellen today?”
“I wanted to, and I called her, but she didn’t answer. So I’m going to Andrus. I need to visit Pop Al’s grave.”
Leaning back on the sofa, Rip’s ears perked up. “What’s that all about? I mean, didn’t you stop by the cemetery when we were there a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah, but this is different. I need to,” Semaj paused. “I need to apologize to him.”
“Apologize? What do you need to apologize for?”
Searching inside of himself, Semaj tried to find the words to explain to Rip how he was feeling about his late grandfather. As he was growing up, he had a great relationship with his grandmother Nettie. She was in many ways his best friend, his confidante, and for all intents and purposes, his mother. Because he’d always known that Allison was dead, he didn’t long for her, and therefore, he was easily able to accept the maternal love of Grandma Nettie. His grandfather was a different story. He loved him, he respected him, he confided in him, but he never ever accepted him as his father. He was Grandpa, Pop Pop, Poppa, and Pop Al, but Semaj never allowed him to be his father. The fact that Pop Al did everything a father would do had been completely lost on him until he sat onstage listening to words of wisdom from the seventeen-year-old son of the man he’d kidnapped. He tried his best to articulate those feelings to Rip.
“So that’s why I want to go to the cemetery and let him know that I was wrong. It’s just like you said years ago. I had the best dad in the world, and I didn’t even realize it. Not only that, he knew that one day he’d be gone and I’d still need a father, so he gave me the gift of the Heavenly Father. He taught me to know and believe in God, the Father to the fatherless.”
Rip waited to respond as he realized that Semaj was crying on the other end of the line. Silently he allowed him to release his emotions.
“Trust me, Semaj. You don’t need to apologize. I mean, if you feel it’s something that you need to do for yourself, I fully support you. But I gotta tell ya, I don’t think it’s necessary. He was not only a good man, but he was very insightful. He understood.”
Wiping his tears on the back on his hand, Semaj nodded. “You’re probably right, man. Hold on a sec, I got a call coming in on the other line.” Semaj quickly clicked over. “Hello?”
“Semaj, it’s Ellen.”
His feelings of joy that she’d called him back quickly dissipated after he noticed the panic and fear in her voice. Sobbing between words she told him that Reggie had taken Aaliyah from their parents’ home the night before.
“Calm down, baby, you’re going to start hyperventilating. Take a deep breath and just slow down.”
Ellen inhaled and exhaled rapidly. “I know things have not been right with us, but we need you. You are the best at finding missing persons. Please, Semaj, will you help us?” she pleaded.
Her words let him know that she had not listened to his apology message, but Semaj didn’t care. He decided that he would explain everything in person.
“I’ll be right there,” he said.
He arrived at Ellen’s parents’ house a short time later after instructing Rip to go to the warehouse and check on their “guest.” He climbed the porch steps two at a time and rang the front doorbell.
Jenise rushed to the door and let him in. “Semaj, I’m so glad that you are here. I’ve never been as worried in my life as I am right now.”
Semaj greeted Ellen’s parents first, then walked over to give Ellen a hug and kiss. He was taken aback by her cool attitude toward him. Then he remembered that he had not yet apologized to her face to face. As much as he wanted to, he realized that the time was not right. Jenise commanded his complete attention. She stuck a photograph in his face.
“This is the most recent picture of Aaliyah that I have,” she said.
Tentatively, he took the picture from her. “I don’t think I really need a picture. I know my soon-to-be niece when I see her.” He glanced over at Ellen, who was sitting on the sofa by her parents, to check her reaction to his statement.
“That’s right. I’m sorry. I’m just a bundle of nerves right now. I guess I wasn’t thinking,” Jenise answered. She took the picture back. “Just tell me what you need from me.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and slowly led her over to a chair to sit down. Then he sat down next to her, took out a pad and pencil to begin taking notes, and started to speak. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to look at everyone.
“Mr. and Mrs. Winston, Ellen, Jenise,” he said, “I know that one of the main reasons that you called me was because I’m considered the authority in Atlanta on finding missing persons. I assure you that I’m going to do everything in my power to find Aaliyah, but if you’ll just bear with me a moment, there’s something I have to say before we get down to business.”
They all looked at him expectantly waiting for him to speak. The words came out quickly as Semaj bared his soul. He began by explaining to them all how he’d always felt inadequate for not having a father growing up. Next, he explained that a few weeks prior he’d found out the identity of his biological father with the help of Gwen. He apologized to Ellen and assured her that there was nothing going on between them. He admitted that he’d been acting like a different person and not focusing on his work or the things that were most important in his life.
Malcolm spoke up and asked him if he would tell them who his father was. Without hesitation he told them that it was Wayne James. He suddenly stopped explaining when he realized that he would implicate his cousin Rip if he also told them that they were responsible for Wayne’s disappearance. He reasoned that his involvement was a secret he’d have to hold on to for just a little while longer.
“Regardless of all that, I want everyone here to know that my focus right now is on finding Aaliyah and bringing her safely home.” He turned to look at Ellen. “We are getting married in a few months, and there’s no way we can do that without our flower girl, right, honey?” Nervously he waited for Ellen to respond.
Without giving him an answer, Ellen ran over and jumped into his arms covering him with kisses.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Semaj smiled.
Ellen returned to her seat, and Semaj turned to Jenise to get down to the business he knew best.
“Jenise, I need to get as much information from you as possible about Reggie. I need a list of his friends, his family, the places he likes to hang out. Anything that you can tell me will help in getting Aaliyah back quickly.”
“Reggie is secretive. I don’t know the names of any of his friends. His mother lives near Dunwoody. That’s where he works on his music. He has a studio in her basement. The police have already been there, and his brother said that they haven’t seen him for several days.”
Semaj scribbled notes onto his paper. “Give me the address. His family might not be telling the truth.”
“They are lying through their capped teeth,” Malcolm said. “He was driving his brother Jermaine’s car when he left here with Aaliyah.”
“What kind of car is it?” Semaj asked.
“It’s a 2004 Toyota Camry,” Jenise answered.
Semaj wrote down the make and model of the car. “Does it have any distinguishing marks or dents on it?”
Jenise thought for a few seconds. “The last time I saw it there was a dent on the back bumper. I doubt that Jermaine ever got it fixed because he already spent the money he got from the insurance company.”
“We’ve given all of this information to the police, and they still have not found her,” Deloris said suddenly. “I know you are good at what you do, Semaj, but this whole situation is tearing me apart. She could be screaming for help right now,” she cried.
“Reggie’s a wife-beating jerk, but he’s still Aaliyah’s father. I don’t think he’d hurt her,” Semaj told her.
Ellen looked over at Jenise, and she nodded her head giving her permission to tell Semaj everything. “The night that Jenise moved out, Reggie came home in a rage. He hit Jenise, and when Aaliyah tried to call for help, he attacked her too.”
That piece of information shocked Semaj. Ellen had confided in him early in their relationship about how abusive Reggie had been to her sister. The entire family had tried to convince her to leave, but she would never listen. However, the one bright spot that any of them saw in her marriage was her daughter Aaliyah. As far as any of them knew, Reggie was a good father, and his little girl adored him. He could not imagine what type of fear and rage had filled him to make him strike her. More than ever, the situation took on an overwhelming urgency for him.
“Don’t worry. We are going to find Aaliyah and get her back home. I promise.”
Semaj was doing his best to reassure them, but he feared that his words were falling on deaf ears. They knew how dangerous Reggie could be, and they all were worried sick.
When he was done collecting information, Ellen walked him to the front door. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
“Is there anything that we can do to help?” she asked.
“Pray,” Semaj said before turning to walk away.
During the next couple of days he used all of his resources to search for Reggie and Aaliyah. He went to pay a visit to Reggie’s mother, but she was not at home. Instead, his brother answered the door. The same as he’d lied to the police when they visited earlier that week he lied to Semaj. He assured him that neither his brother nor his niece was there.
“Eyewitnesses say that he was seen driving your car on the night he abducted Aaliyah. What do you know about that?”
Jermaine thought quickly and came up with a lie. “I told you I haven’t seen him in over a week. The last time I saw him, I let him take the car. He hasn’t been back here since.”
He felt confident in his lie because he’d parked the car out of sight.
Semaj fired off several more questions at Jermaine. When he left he was convinced that he was lying, but there was little that he could do about it. Although the Atlanta police had issued the Amber Alert, Semaj knew from experience that they were not making finding Aaliyah a priority. Parental abductions amounted to a large number of missing children, and unfortunately, they received less attention.
On a hunch, Semaj decided to knock on the door of the home next door and ask questions. The woman at the house didn’t have much information to give him, but Semaj gave her his business card and asked her to give him a call if she came up with anything.
That hunch was beginning to pay off two days later when Semaj received a phone call from the neighbor, Shelly.
“Hey, Mr. Matthews, I have some information that might help you find that little girl you’re looking for.”
Semaj was at his computer going through the comments section on one of Reggie’s online videos looking for clues as to where he might have gone.
“I’m glad you called,” he said. “What can you tell me?”
“Well, I didn’t see the little girl, myself, but my daughter did. When I got home from work today, she told me that she saw Aaliyah playing in the backyard this afternoon. She said that she walked over there and asked if they could play together, and then Aaliyah’s dad came out and got her and took her back inside.”
Filled with excitement Semaj could hardly contain himself. “Are you sure it was Aaliyah?” he asked.
“Yep, my daughter is sure. They played together almost every day last summer.”
Semaj thanked Shelly, then hung up the phone.
Chapter Sixteen
Reggie parked his brother’s car in front of one of the buildings in Sand Poole Manor and hopped out. “Aaliyah’s asleep. Just keep an eye on her until I get back,” he instructed his baby brother.
“Hurry up, man. We need to get out of Atlanta,” Jermaine answered. “Why don’t we just go back to the house?”
“We can’t go back to the house. You know Momma started tripping after she found out about that Amber Alert Jenise had put out. That’s crazy. How can you kidnap your own child? Then Momma started talking about turning me in. I can’t believe she threatened to call the police on her own flesh and blood. There’s no way I would ever go back there after how she treated me. So just chill until I get back.”
Reggie trotted through the parking lot into the breezeway, and then knocked on the apartment door of the first apartment on the left.
“Wassup, Reggie?” his friend DeAngelo asked.
“Hey, man, I need your help. I’m looking for a place to lie low for a while.”
DeAngelo stuck his head out the door and looked first to his left, then his right, and back to his left again. When he was positive that no one else was around, he invited Reggie into his apartment and closed the door.
“What’s going on with you? The word on the street is that you beat up Jenise and trashed your apartment. That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
Reggie was grateful that his reputation in the neighborhood was still intact. “Of course it doesn’t. I mean, we had a little fight, but Jenise has blown this mess way out of proportion. She’s staying over in Buckhead with her parents.”
DeAngelo reached for his remote control and pressed the button to pause the basketball game he’d been watching on television. “So if she went home, then why don’t you do the same?” he asked.
“That heffa has called the cops, and there’s a warrant out for my arrest. I went over to her parents’ house to talk to her about it and get her to drop the charges and things got out of hand. My mom is seriously tripping, and I just need a place to crash for a few days.” Reggie paused. “To be honest, I need a place where the cops won’t find me.”
DeAngelo shook his head. “That’s gonna be hard to find around here. Ever since Rip went legit, the city’s been on a quest to clean up this whole project. You know the cops drive through Sand Poole Manor every half hour. You can’t hide out here.”
Reggie looked around and rubbed his hands trying to think. He’d come to DeAngelo because prior to Rip’s sudden departure from the drug game, DeAngelo had been Rip’s right-hand man. After Rip testified, the DEA did a clean sweep of the projects, and everyone involved in his business dealings went to jail. Most of them were only given a few years jail time, but for a brief time, there was not one drug dealer left on the street. That is, except for DeAngelo. No one really knew why, but Rip had shown him complete loyalty, and his name was not brought up. He’d never been arrested or even questioned. He still lived in the same luxury apartment that he’d lived in while working for Rip. Reggie had never asked him how he made his money, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
“Look, man, I know you can help me. It doesn’t have to be here at Sand Poole, but you’ve got to have somewhere that you can let me hide out. I’m begging.”
DeAngelo picked up his remote again to restart the basketball game. “Why should I, Reggie? I mean, you are my boy and everything, but I just don’t like the sound of this whole situation.”
“What if I pay you? I don’t have any money on me right now, but as soon as all of this is over, I’m going to be signing a record deal. That’s why I can’t go to jail right now. My career is finally about to take off.”
DeAngelo was anxious to get back to his basketball game, and he was tired of dealing with Reggie. He didn’t believe his career was going anywhere, but if it did, he figured he could cash in on the investment.
“Fine, I don’t have an apartment, I do have a place where you can hide, but it’s pretty basic. There’s no running water or electricity. It’s just an old abandoned warehouse located way out in Alpharetta.”
“I’ll take it,” Reggie replied eagerly.
DeAngelo walked into his bedroom to retrieve the keys to the back door. He returned and gave them to Reggie. Then he sat down on his sofa and picked up a pen and piece of paper.
“Let me write down the address for you. It’s way off the beaten path,” he explained. “Do you know your way around that area?”
“My brother’s car has GPS. I’m sure we can find it.”
DeAngelo stopped writing and looked up at him. “Your brother is with you? I thought you were alone.”
“Um, no, I don’t have my own car so I borrowed his.” Reggie stopped talking and DeAngelo noticed that he looked guilty.
“Is that all?” he asked. “I feel like you aren’t telling me everything.”
“I’m telling you everything there is to know. I just need a place to hide for myself. He’s going back home after he drops me off,” he lied.
DeAngelo finished writing the address down on a piece of paper. He handed it along with the keys to Reggie, who read over the address, then turned to DeAngelo. “Are you sure this place is safe?” Reggie asked.
“I’m positive. Back in the day, Rip and I used this warehouse for storage. After, well, you know, everything went down, we were able to get our stash out, and the police never knew about it. To be honest, nobody knows about it but me and Rip. So when you finally leave, bring me back the keys. Then you need to forget that you were ever there. Do you understand that?” DeAngelo looked him straight in the eye.
“Yeah, man, I hear you.”
By the time Reggie got back to the car Aaliyah was awake and crying.
