"Natalie, who is Akoni James to you?", Carter leaned back to observe her reaction.
"Akoni?" Natalie was taken aback. "Akoni is my daughter's father. Why do you ask?".
"Mr. James's number is on your burner phone more than several times. I read the text messages between you two. All there was, was an address located in Calvert County. You did, however, text him, Thank You. From that moment on he called you repeatedly. Up until 1 am; the night Joseph was killed. Can you explain that?" Carter leered at her.
"Well, I told you. That's how Joseph knew I was leaving him. He went through the phone and saw the message. I never told Akoni when I was leaving Joseph. He was probably worried about me". Natalie stopped twirling the ring and glared back at Detective Carter.
"So, Mr. James knew of the abuse?" Carter never broke his gaze with her.
"Yes. I told Akoni." Natalie furrowed her brows at Carter and began twisting her ring again.
"Why would you tell Mr. James and not the authorities?" Carter folded his hands.
"Joseph would have killed me. He would have been detained for a short time and had gotten out quickly. He told me this himself because he was a lawyer. He told me he would find me. And I believed him. He told me, if I ever told, he would kill me and take my son. I trusted Akoni. I knew he would provide me shelter. And he did. I really had no choice but to tell him. He saw Joseph push me." Natalie looked up at Carter.
"When was this?" Carter asked
"About a couple of weeks ago. Akoni came over to speak to Joseph about something the two of them had planned. Joseph came home and saw Akoni walking out of the house." She had started to shake her foot and continued to twist the ring quickly around her finger. The thought of the beating Joseph gave her that day after Akoni left, began to bring about fear and agitation.
"When he saw Akoni, he began to argue with him. The two had gotten in each other's face. I tried to break them apart and Joseph pushed me to the ground. Akoni got angry. His boys had to hold him back. He was ready to fight Joseph". Natalie rubbed the throb in the back of her head. It had started to ache and spread.
"This is the incident your neighbor Mrs. Pritchard was referring to? " Carter asked
"Yes. Victoria is the one that tried to call the police." Natalie looked up at Carter, barely able to hold her head up.
"We didn't have a report of anyone coming out there. What happened?" Carter asked.
"That's because Joe told her not to call and that he would handle it."
"Natalie. How close are you and Mr. James?" Carter searched her face.
"We had a relationship a few years back but have been nothing but friends throughout the years." Natalie shifted herself in the chair. The throb was starting to spread.
"Is it possible that you and Mr. James could have been seeing each other?" Carter continued to search her face.
"No! " Akoni and I share a daughter and nothing else". Natalie's lips had formed in a tight line. Her head felt as though it was about to explode and she had begun to feel slightly dizzy. Carter's demeanor was no longer as pleasant as before. She was ready to leave.
"I have read his record. Akoni is no stranger to violence. He had an attempted murder charge about 17 years ago and a kingpin charge. He was also found in violation of probation with a possession charge of cocaine, a street value of $20,000. I remember him. What I don't understand, is why a man you haven't slept with or communicated with frequently, was ready to risk going back to jail on a possible assault charge? For him to do back uptime, for an old love that he saw pushed to the ground, is a little off-kilter". Carter leaned back again in the chair watching her.
"That's just who he is". Natalie managed to shrug. Her head had begun to erupt with pain. She started to sweat profusely.
"Natalie. Are you okay?" Carter got up from the chair and walked over to her.
"No. I have migraines. I don't have my medicine". She could feel the emptiness in her stomach push itself to her throat. "I need to use the bathroom. Could you show me where it is and contact my friend? He is should be sitting out front in the waiting room."
Carter helped her out of the chair and assisted her to the bathroom door down the hallway. He ran to the waiting room and saw Brant putting on lip gloss and putting it back in a gold makeup bag.
"Are you here with Natalie Randall?" Carter looked at the young man oddly.
"Why yes. I am." Brant smacked his newly glossed lips together.
"She's sick. She's in the bathroom down the hall." He watched Brant run down the hall and rubbed his bald head, confused by Brant's appearance.
"Natalie!" Brant yelled, flinging the bathroom door open. He found her in the third stall. He pushed open the door and saw Natalie slumped in the floor by the toilet.
"Dear God Natalie, are you ok?" He eased himself on the floor behind her. Natalie pointed her finger to her lips to silence Brant. Her head throbbed angrily at the shriek of his voice. She turned her head to answer him and felt the acid in her stomach rise to her throat. Brant pulled her hair back as she hurled into the commode. Pulling her hair with one hand, he rubbed her back with the other. As she bent down to throw up again, Brant felt something protruding from the back of her head.
"What in the Versace happened to your head, Natalie?" He pushed her thick curls to the side and gasped in horror at a large red bump near the nape of her scalp. "Fuck this. You're going to the hospital."
"No Brant. It's my migraine". Her voice echoed in the toilet bowl.
"Damn it, Natalie, this is not just a migraine. You have an egg in the back of your head." Brant whispered loudly.
"Oh, Brant you are such a drama qu--". Natalie's limbs went limp and her head bent further into the toilet. She had fainted. Brant pulled her head from the toilet and yelled for help.
________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, September 26, 2017, 12:23 pm
The fly hovered over Akoni's face, beating its wings rapidly. Provoked by hunger, it found a place to search for food outside of Akoni's ear. Elevating and lowering itself down, it buzzed loudly until it found a place to land. The slight tickle and hum roused Akoni out of his sleep. He slapped at the stealth flier while hitting himself in the face.
"Mutha Fucka!" he yelled. He missed the fly by a half an inch sending it to search for another food source behind the office desk. Akoni sat up and looked around at his surroundings. He had fallen asleep on a long green leather sofa inside of Bull's office upstairs. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and checked his pockets for his cell phone. He strolled through the call log and noticed 23 missed calls. He called Natalie's phone. There was no answer. He strolled through the text messages. He had 17 missed texts. One by one, he began to read the messages. As he read the messages, his eyes widened and he dropped the phone. He ran out of the office and began to call out for St. James. The bar was empty, except for Peaches, the bartender.
"Peaches, where's Unc?" Akoni took an elastic band out of his pocket and bundled his dreads in a large bun.
"Bull went out to the store. He has been gone for an hour". Peaches polished glass and set it on the table.
"You seen St. James?" Akoni asked.
Peaches nodded her head toward the bathroom near the pool table. "He's in there," she grinned.
Akoni walked over to the door.
"Yeah like that. Come on baby. I just paid yo' ass to suck my dick. You betta suck all of it. Don't be shy. Take it all in. Yeah. Ooh shit. Like that. There you go, you got it. Ooh shit. Don't stop. Yeah. Don't stop". St. James moaned.
"Saint! Akoni listened through the door. "Fuck. Saint!"
"Yeah. Hold up. Fuck. I'm about to cum. Don't stop. Ooh Shit. Don't stop. Fuuck!
"Come on Saint. Open the door." Akoni yelled.
Akoni stood back as the door slowly opened. St. James was zipping up his pants. A skinny white woman dressed in a halter top and jeans, got up out the floor wiping her mouth. She walked out of the bathroom smiling at Akoni. Akoni looked at her and frowned his face. He turned to St. James who was grinning from ear to ear.
"You a nasty mutha fucka," Akoni shook his head at St. James.
"And you know it cuzzin!" The fuck going on now?" St. James looked in the mirror and began washing his hands.
"Joseph is dead and Natalie is in the hospital. We gotta go to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda". Akoni leaned against the wall shaking his head in disbelief.
"What the fuck! Damn. Come on let's ride." St. James dried his hands and walked out of the bathroom. The two men headed out the door.
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