The Set-up

Thaddeus showed up unannounced at Heavenlee’s place one evening just missing Donte by minutes.

“Looks like I’m going to have to handle this myself,” Thaddeus said as he walked into her house without being invited in. She wasn’t moving fast enough in getting him the information about Donte that he sought.

“Handle what?” she asked although she already knew the answer.

He gave her A don’t play with me, girl look.

“You know what the hell I’m talking about,” he said and made himself a drink.

Scared for Donte’s safety she said. “I think I might have something for you.”

He sat down and stared at her.

“Well, what is it?” he asked impatiently.

“Donte is related to the Allencourt family—”

“I knew it,” he interrupted. “The resemblance is too strong to ignore.” He narrowed his eyes. “Is he in touch with that side of the family?”

“I don’t think so,” she lied.

“That might be a good thing,” he thought out loud. “Blackmail has always worked for me,” he said with a smile. He was right about the blackmail; he’d made six figures involving sex scandals with high-profile married men and some of his girls at the club.

“Don’t hurt him,” Heavenlee said and regretted it.

Thaddeus stood up. “Why? don’t tell me you got feelings for that pretty boy?”

“No, of course not,” she said. “But, he is a nice guy and…”

“Don’t worry; he’s not really the one I’m after anyway. I want something from the Allencourt family and he may be the one to get it for me.”

* * *

“Hey, girl,” Heavenlee said when she called Quisha the following day. “I spoke to that jackass, Thaddeus; he wants to use Donte to get to the Allencourt family.”

“Really?” Quisha said.

“Yes,” Heavenlee replied. “We have to find a way to set him up. He has to be stopped.”

“I’ll talk to Chad about this. He’s friends with the police in his area,” Quisha said.

“Of course he is,” Heavenlee remarked.

“Yeah, I know. That’s how they roll,” Quisha said. “I’ll get back to you. I’m busy packing.”

“Packing?” Where are you going?” Heavenlee asked.

“I didn’t tell you? Chad asked me to move in with him. He really wants to be married to me. And you know what else? I haven’t even told him.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re preg—”

Quisha laughed. “Yes.”

“Oh-my-god! I’m so happy for you,” Heavenlee exclaimed.

“Please don’t tell anyone. Give me a chance to tell Chad first,” Quisha said.

“Of course,” Heavenlee said. “How do you think he will handle the news?” Heavenlee asked.

“I don’t know,” Quisha admitted.

When Quisha got off the phone she was putting the last of her things in a box. Chad had offered to pay a moving company to help her pack up her things, but she declined. She looked about the empty apartment and thought—just a little over two years earlier she was proud to have this loft and the expensive furniture she had purchased for it. Then a thought came to her. Her mother never got the chance to see it.

It was just as well. Her mother was still ornery and not quick to hand out accolades for her children, especially her. Now that she was a wife and soon-to-be-mother, she needed her own mother.

Life hadn’t happen the way she’d planned but a lot of people would say she got lucky. She was at the right place at the right time, but there was more to it. She and Chad had genuinely bonded and fallen in love. Before she left her apartment she called her mother.

“Hi, baby. How’s life treating you up there?” her mother asked.

“Fine, Mama,” Quisha said. “Mama, I got something to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I’m married and I’m about to have a baby,” Quisha said.

“When did you get married?”

“About ten months ago.”

“And you didn’t bother to call and tell me?” Her mother sounded hurt.

“Well, it wasn’t supposed to happen. It just happened,” Quisha responded.

“And the pregnancy just happened too?” her mother said.

“Yes, actually. None of this was expected nor planned.”

“Pregnancies usually aren’t, but the marriage wasn’t planned?”

“No, it wasn’t. Maybe one day I will get to tell you all about it,” Quisha said.

“So, when are you coming to visit me and your brother and sisters? They miss you—or are you too good for us now?” her mother half teased. “Tell me more about this man you married? What’s his name, and, he didn’t want to meet your family first?” her mother continued suspicious of Chad.

“Mama, it’s complicated. His name is Chad and I promise to tell you all about it. I’ll come visit in two weeks,” Quisha said.

“You’d better,” her mother said and they ended the call.

With one last look, Quisha looked at the empty apartment and sighed. She closed the door and headed for the elevator.

* * *

As she drove to her new home, Chad called her.

“Hi, Babe,” he said. She hadn’t seen him in a few days because he was out of town on a business trip. She wondered if moving in with him was a good idea.

At least when she didn’t live with him she couldn’t keep tabs on him, and she preferred it that way. But he insisted that they move in and give the marriage a real chance.

“Hi,” she said back.

“I won’t be home when you get there. I missed my flight so settle in and I’ll see you later this evening,”

Quisha said, “Ok,” but was quiet.

“Everything alright?” Chad asked.

“I still have nightmares about what happened the night of the robbery,” she said.

“I understand. I installed better security measures after what happened,” Chad said then added, “No one will break into my—our house again.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked.

“I had surveillance cameras installed that go directly to the police station and I paid to have security canvas the area on a more frequent basis. But, you know what?” He said.

“What?” Quisha asked.

“I plan to set up that Thaddeus guy. I work hard for what I have and some punk wants to rip me off,” Chad said mad.

* * *

The set-up

A week earlier, Chad had set the plan in motion to set Thaddeus up.

“So, how are you going to do this?” Bryan asked Chad when they met for a late breakfast the previous Saturday.

“I’m pretty tight with Gibson,” Chad said.

“Gibson?” Bryan reiterated.

“You remember. Jason Gibson he’s a police officer. I went to school with him,”

“Oh yeah, vaguely,” Bryan responded.

“He’s going to look into that criminal’s records and see what he can come up with. I’m waiting on his call,” Chad said.

“You know he probably has minions who do the work for him. I doubt this guy gets his own hands dirty,”

“I know,” Chad said thoughtfully.

* * *

Present

Chad and Quisha ended their call when Quisha pulled into the driveway. With Chad not being home, it gave her a chance to put things in their places without comments from him.

Quisha looked at all of her belongings in the living room of her new home. She’d hoped that she would have most of her unpacking done by the time he got home. She’d planned a nice dinner for him so she could break the news of her pregnancy to him.

And she hoped that he would be happy about it—Chad was her husband of almost a year and she had no idea what his favorite food was. As she thought back over their dates and what they’d ordered, her phone rang. It was Heavenlee.

“Hey, girl, what are you doing?” she asked into the phone.

“Oh, just settling into my new digs,” Quisha said.

“You seriously lucked out with that one,” Heavenlee said regarding Chad.

“I did. But, you know what? I really love him,” Quisha said sincerely.

“That’s good,” Heavenlee responded.

The ladies spoke well into the evening when Quisha realized it was past the time Chad should have been home.

“I better get off,” Quisha said. “Chad should have been home an hour ago even with the delayed flight,” she said and told Heavenlee “good night” so she could call Chad. No answer.

By midnight she was concerned and called again. No answer, which was highly unusual even with his busy schedule she was always a priority, at least that is what he told her. She managed to fall asleep anyway. By three ‘o’clock he finally called back.

“Hello,” she said, groggy from sleep.

“Sorry, baby,” he said. “Did I wake you?”

“What do you think?” she said, annoyed and heard an unmistakable woman’s giggle in the background.

“Where are you and who are you with?” she asked. Then felt funny about it.

“How about it’s none of your business,” he responded trying to be funny. She could tell he was drunk and his smart remark sent her into a rage.

“You asked me to move in with you. So it is my business. I’m your wife and pregnant with your child—” suddenly everything was deafeningly silent.

“What?” she heard him say.

She didn’t even know what came out of her mouth after that except for a few choice words—she hung up before he could respond. That was not how she wanted to lovingly tell her husband that he was about to be a father.