Friends Forever Or Not 2 The Betrayal Continues

Chapter 5

After leaving Juniper’s apartment, Americus, Cristiano, Tanesha, and Courtney went to the Breakfast Republic for breakfast. Americus orders the shrimp & grits, strawberry mascarpone French toast. Cristiano is having the crab & crawfish cake benedicts and pancakes. Tanesha’s eating the breakfast jambalaya and house potatoes, but she’s also eating Courtney’s California breakfast burrito, applewood smoked bacon, and shrimp & ricotta frittata omelet. Courtney and Tanesha are drinking coffee. Whereas Cristiano didn’t want Americus to feel left out, so he’s drinking milk and orange juice with her.

Tanesha’s telling how Yara was still trying to lie about Daxter being Dexter’s son. She bet she won’t put those words in her mouth again. She laughs when she says Americus broke Yara’s right arm and leg, then told her cousin her name and where to find her. Juniper looked as if she were about to cry when Americus was talking to her.

Courtney laughs, “The police show up at the studio and will have to call SWAT to gain entry. Nobody in their right mind will open the gate for them. Not if they value their job.”

Cristiano is wiping powdered sugar off Americus's mouth. If Yara doesn't want another visit from my wife, she shouldn't call the police. I know my wife, so I'm pretty sure she warned that woman what would happen if she has to came back."

Americus says she knows Yara is slow-minded, but the lesson she taught her —she's sure she wouldn’t want to repeat the class.

Tanesha laughs. “Yara said nope, she had graduated.”

Cristiano was looking at Courtney becasue he had gotten quiet. He noticed that he seemed to have a lot on his mind earlier and tried to play it off. “Hey, man, if you have already reserved a plane, cancel it. We can all fly to Flagstaff together tomorrow. What time do you want to leave?"

"Man, you all don't have to go." Courtney looks at him, shaking his head.

Cristiano is drinking his milk; he put the glass on the table. "We know we don't have to. We want to. Did you really think we would let you two go there alone? Now, what time do you want to leave? It's almost a three-hour flight."

"Ten, thanks," Courtney picks up his cup of coffee, feeling relieved for some reason.

"We're family. You don't have to thank me." Cristiano picks up Americus' untouched orange juice."Drink a little. It's good for you."

Americus leaned closer to him, and Cristiano put the glass to her mouth. Americus drinks a little of it and rubs her stomach. “This is sitting well.”

"We'll be back." Cristiano takes her hand, walking toward the hallway that leads to the ladies' room. He cracks the door. "Is anyone in here?" Cristiano looks around the restaurant. "My wife is pregnant and I don't let her be alone when she's sick." He and Americus enter the bathroom.

"I should be used to those two by now." Courtney chuckled, looking at the restaurant at some customers staring at the hallway. He chuckled.

Tanesha sipping her coffee, thinking, "You haven't seen anything yet."

****

Yesterday, Jewel met with the attorney whom Americus hired. Now she’s looking at more houses for her and Rod to view when he arrives. She still hasn’t figured out how to tell him a secret that she hasn’t told anyone. Jewel is thinking that maybe she should pretend as if she finds out later. Jewel is brought out of her thoughts when her phone beeps. It’s Rod telling her he'll be there tomorrow night and not to make any plans.

She’s thinking about Dexter’s funeral, which she didn’t get an invitation to. It was like she was expecting. Jewel is under the impression that now that Dexter is dead, Kaleigh shouldn’t be mad at her anymore. She decides to call Kaleigh and ask how she's doing.

As soon as Kaleigh answers the phone, she says, "b***h, why are you calling me? Call me again and you'll be sorry, Stupid ass cunt." The phone goes dead.

Jewel stares at the phone. "She called me a cunt. When did she start using that word? That wasn't my cousin." He phones, rings, she frowns when she sees it's her father. Jewel doesn't answer it because she's sure he must have heard from the attorney. She knew Xander was calling her to talk her out of taking him to court. That is the last thing she'll do, Jewel wants revenge on him, her steo mother, and his bastard child.

****

Pernell is in his office, not being productive. He can't get Kaleigh off his mind. Stevie and Terrance thought Pernell would attend Dexter's funeral because he was Dexter's boss. Pernall said no, he wouldn't attend Dexter's funeral for several reasons. The main reason he's not going is that he's in love with Kaleigh, and that would be disrespectful. Also, he didn't receive an invitation. He was glad that Kaleigh decided on invitations. Who knows who would attend the service to throw her affair with Dexter in Kaleigh's face?

Someone knocks on the door, Pernell said, "Come in." He looks up to see two nurses walking into his office. They want to know if the hospital has received any invitations to Doctor Bale's funeral.

Pernell tells them no, they haven't, and reminds them about the announcement that his funeral was for family and close friends only. He knows for sure they aren't related to Dexter or his wife. If they were invited and they went to the funeral to be messy, he would have had to fire them.

Both women shook their heads. One of the women says, "They only wanted to go to give their condolences."

"I hope you know I don't believe that crap. Get out of my office and get to work. Condolences, yeah right." He taps his desk. Pernall had seen a video with Dexter. They're are two of the nurses' lunch s*x encounters in his office. Pernell can't believe how bold they are to attend Dexter's funeral. involved with him. "Damn hypocrites." He's looking at them walking into the door."Stop. I'm glad you two came. I was planning to call you in here right before your shift ended. But since you're here, I might as well go it now. Today will be you're last day. I don't want to embarrass you. I'll say that what you were doing in Doctor Bales's office has come to light and is availalbe on video. Don't ask for a reference. Do I need to say more?" Pernell looks at each one for a few seconds.

"No, sir, they say in unison and leave his office. They had no idea there was a camera in Dexter's. Now they're wondering who else has seen them.

"If they didn't want anyone to know, they shouldn't have done it." He mumbles, looking at his cell phone, thinking about calling Kaleigh. "Nope, don't do it. Pernell, you have to give her time to grieve. Dexter was an asshole, but she loved him once, or she still loves him." Pernell's phone rings. It's Terrance asking him if he wanted to join him for lunch or him and Stevie for dinner. He tells Terrance dinner because he has some meetings and needs to stay busy. If not, he might crash a funeral. Then Kaleigh would be upset. That only means Americus, Tanesha, and Zulyeka would beat his ass.

Terrance laughs, "beat you ass. No, they would kill you since you're at the funeral home, they can hide you under Dexter."

"That sounds about right." Pernell sees a file on his desk with Dexter's name on it. "I'll call you back. " He says as he picks the file up. It's from Human Resources and contains Dexter's insurance and benefits. He looks at the two-million-dollar life insurance policy. "s**t, Kaleigh and the kids need this money. It's not as if she's poor, but she needs this for the children. Kaleigh could always put it in the kids' trust fund. Damn it, what am I going to do? This is a f****d up situation. But I'll think of something."