Different Degrees a Caleb Joyner Mystery

4 The Lady at the Mall

4 The Lady at the Mall

The Great Mall stands on property once owned by the Ford Motor Company, that produced various vehicles there, including the popular Mustang. The company closed the factory in 1983 leaving it vacant for many years until the idea for converting it to a shopping mall came to fruition.

“I have you know that I spent the rest of this morning in the E.R. You broke Allen’s wrist and seriously hurt Jeffrey’s eye,” the receptionist said as she sat down with a tray of Tandori chicken; curry lamb, rice and a diet Coke. I was eating a large salad.

“Only one?” I asked, eyeing her plate and wondering how she would be able to eat it all.

“What?”

“Only one eye? I poked both of them.” I added a wry smile as I said it.

She swore, adding even more reasons for me not to like her, then said, “You don’t feel one bit of remorse do you?”

“It wasn’t me who sent two big bruisers to beat up one guy was it? I think that you’re feeling guilty about it and want to blame me.” I told her, pointing my plastic fork accusingly at her as I did so.

“They weren’t supposed to beat you up, just scare you,” she explained then stuffed a large chunk of Tandori into her mouth.

“But I didn’t scare so they felt honor bound to hurt me a little. How much did you pay them?”

I watched as she took a drag on her diet Coke as if trying to wash down the chicken, similar to what a person does when rinsing out the garbage disposal. Then she said, “Nothing. They’re my cousins, cousins who are not only angry with you but with me as well!” She stabbed at me with her plastic knife then back at herself for emphasis.

“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t like hurting people, but it was me or them and I found when dealing with guys like that it’s better to put them down fast or in time they’ll take you. Now about Jason Toler, do you know where he is?”

“No!” she snorted in disgust. “And if I did I wouldn’t tell you! I hope that wife of his starves for what she put him through!”

“Did she do something to him?” I asked, taking a bite of my salad.

“She cheated on him!” she nearly yelled, her chubby face seemingly becoming larger. “He’s here working late every night and she’s out there messing with some young guy. Then she wants everything that he has. Things that he’s worked hard to get!”

“It’s California. She gets half of everything.” I said offhandedly.

“Oh, Jason would have been fine with half, but she wanted it all! And Jason wouldn’t fight her on it.” She stopped talking to take a bite of her Tandori chicken, and shoveled a few fork full’s of rice with it. Then sucked on her soda.

“You seem to know Jason Toler well,” I commented. She looked up sharply, giving me an icy stare, her normally plump cheeks even larger, packed with rice and chicken.

“It’s not like that!” she ejaculated, spewing rice at me. I pulled my salad closer, shielding it with my arm.

“What’s it like then? Were you guys just friends or something more?” I asked it as if it were normal for a single girl to go out with a married man.

“I don’t like the way you’re questioning me!” She stabbed at me with the knife again. “I’m not that kind of girl. He was going through hell and needed to talk to someone. So I listened. I’m a good listener.”

“Did he ever talk about leaving?”

“Oh, he’d say things like, ‘I wish I’d never met her’, or ‘maybe I should move and forget about her’.”

“Did he say where he’d move to?”

She waved her hand around her head as if irritated with a buzzing fly, and then said “A Caribbean Island, Mexico. He even said Africa, any place where she wasn’t.”

“I see. So you have no idea where he is and he hasn’t called you to say he’s fine?”

She swatted her hand at me as if I were the bug then answered, “No, we weren’t that close. He probably would have never even shared with me except I ran into him here.” She waved her hand at the food court. “I guess he had just come from court and needed to unload. I was available.”

“And you’re a good listener.” I added.

“Well, yeah. Don’t you think so?”