The next morning, JoJo prepared for school while I made blueberry pancakes, sausages and tea for breakfast. When she was done preparing, she spared a minute to join me on the table where I was already having my breakfast. She started off by shoving the food hurriedly into her mouth but soon as I gave her that don't-you-dare look, she slowed down and ate at a gentler pace.
'We need to get you a car. It would be a lot quicker and easier to go for classes from home that way." I mentioned.
JoJo and I have had the conversation of her going to school from home as soon as she got accepted into the college she applied for. The same college I started off with before I dropped out in my second year.
She sipped from her mug and shook her head in objection.
'Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Kenz. My bicycle is still pretty reliable and intact."
'You are not a high-schooler anymore, JoJo. You're a college student. You have to look expensive and classy."
JoJo chuckled and I smiled in turn.
'Yeah, but bicycles aren't all that bad."
In a minute, JoJo cleared her dish and wasted no time to sling her backpack over her shoulder.
'I'm off." She doesn't wait for a response and leaves the apartment, shutting the door behind her, leaving the smell of her calming lavender cologne behind.
After she leaves, I slouch my weight carelessly on the chair.
'Fuck. It's quite hard playing responsible adult in the presence of these teenagers."
As soon as I was sure she had left completely, I didn't waste the slightest time to open my email and a smile quirked up my lips at the sight of the first mail that popped up.
There was a message from a woman who called herself clearly. Apparently, she was having suspicions of her husband cheating and asking if I was interested in taking the offer to spy on him and report back to her.
Hell, yeah, I'm interested!
Without wasting any more time, I typed out her contact from the mail into my phone and dialed the caller. She picked at the first ring. She must have been sitting around her phone all morning, waiting for my call. I could imagine the disappointment on her face if it didn't turn out to be me. These kinds of women were my biggest clients. Just a tease of their desperation would get her sending hundreds and thousands of dollars.
'Hi." She said without wasting any more time. Her voice sounded anxious and nervous. I could tell from years of experience. She didn't sound as old as I had presumed. Probably a woman in her mid-twenties. I wondered how young hot bloods would let love and everything romance bother them at this phase of life. Why not date countless men and make cool money off them? The commitment and issues that come with relationships and marriage was something I could never see myself getting involved in.
I might as well remain celibate for the rest of my life.
I adjusted my posture on my seat and shrugged my shoulders. Clearing my throat briefly, I put my fake confidence into practice.
'Am I speaking with Kelly Washington?" I thickened my voice, hearing the strangeness of my middle-aged fake self, ring in my ears.
If you gotta play a part, then you also gotta act it right.
'Yes. Yes." She sighed now, as if trying to put herself in check. 'The Coquette?"
I nodded as if she could see me. 'Yes, Kelly." I paid careful attention to my overly nice gentle tone that portrayed a kind of care that was never there. 'First of all, Kelly, I want you to take a slow, steady deep breath. Can you do that for me?"
I could envision the woman nodding her head.
'Yes."
'Good. Now, breathe in and out. Do this three times."
I waited impatiently as she took in her breath carefully. She had better be quick.
When she let out a deep exhale, I knew she was done.
'That was great, Kelly. Now, tell me how you are feeling."
She paused for a few minutes, collecting her thoughts. Probably too broken to put them in order.
'Sad, depressed, nervous." Her voice was shaky and frightened. And I wished I could lynch this asshole for putting a young woman through all of these. What then was the meaning of love if there was so much pain, sorrow and depression?
'What makes you think he's cheating?"
She sighed again.
'He is cheating. I know it, I just do."
'Why are you so sure? I mean, you can be mistaken."
'I saw a sex chat of my husband with another woman on his phone. Last week, I found a red panty that smelled of sperms in his car." The sudden sharpness of her voice caused me to jerk a bit. That was vivid and graphic.
She paused for a second and lowered her tone. 'I've done all that a wife could do for her husband. I quit my job just so that I could be at home and welcome him when he comes through that door from work. I tried every sexual position he wanted in bed, even if they caused me pain and discomfort just because I loved him. My friends say I made the mistake of marrying him at an early age. Knowing they could probably be right breaks me. Now, would you still call my suspicions a mistake?"
I feel my tongue hanging halfway in my mouth, trying to say something that didn't come out. After what seemed like a minute of silence between us, I sighed. The sighing is contagious it seems.
'We can't be sure you are right until this is proven." I replied and heard her scoff at the other end of the line. 'Which is why you reached out to me, isn't it? I mean, if you were so sure you were right, you wouldn't be talking to me right now. What was the whole point of it anyway?"
She remained mute for a moment and then I heard the stifled whimpers.
'Help me. Please. I'll give anything. Just help me. I need to know the truth. I deserve to know the truth."
The idea of money clouded the compassion I was beginning to feel for this woman and I smiled a satisfactory smile.
Here we go. I put on my professional demeanor again.
'All right, Kelly. I will help you. I will send you a mail that contains my pricing and my bank details. If you are still interested in pushing on with this, send me all the necessary information I need to know about your husband and be prepared to receive the result in a few days' time."
When the call finally ended, I forwarded the information to her email.
Dear God, please let her say yes. You know how much I need this money.
I strode to my room and headed straight for my small desk where my pastel-colored journal lay. I had barely used it except to make money budgets for every new month.
I scrunch my nose at the bills and utilities scheduled for the next month. There were groceries, rent and utilities, JoJo's tuition fee for the school year and all of that stuff. The amount totaled surpassed the money I had at hand now.
God knows I would be fucking heartbroken if Kelly turned down my service now.
I growl in frustration and fling my weight to the bed I shared with my sister, letting the journal slip off my grips and land with a thud on the bare floors. I face the ceiling and sprawl carelessly on the bed. This was never the life I would have chosen for me and JoJo. Running from the orphanage home with my sister at age 14 and fending off the streets were just the beginning of our misery. Bypassing child welfare was another hassle and quitting college was another story. Sometimes, I feel our story would never change. I could never have been Cinderella or one of those girls who get saved at the peak of their lives. But JoJo will be and I will see to it.
Little did I know that this day was the day everything would change.
My dreams, my faith…
And my perspective towards love.