The Canary (Completed)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15
***

"This is the only address I have for her. Can I come in?"

"No, you can't," Joe said as the muscle in his jaw twitched under the pressure of his clenched teeth.

Aside from the couple of recent phone calls from Jamie, it had been more than a year since he'd had any real contact with her or her family. Her mother's presence at his apartment angered him for more reasons than one. He'd recently learned that she knew the whole time the true paternity of Jamie's baby and that she'd help facilitate the relationship between Jamie and their former professor.

The thought further upset him, leaving him praying for the strength not to give the woman the verbal lashing that she truly deserved.

"What do you want, Debra?"

"It's Jamie. She's, she's-"

"Babe, is that Rai?" KenLeigh interrupted, walking up behind him.

"No," he said, turning to her. "It's an old friend. I'll be in in a minute, alright?"

"Is everything OK?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. Gimme a sec to handle this, OK?"

"Alright."

Joe kissed KenLEigh's cheek and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company," Debra said. "I'll leave."

"No, you're already here now. What about Jamie?"

Debra immediately broke down in tears and covered her face with her hands.

"Debra, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Jamie was found dead last week," she revealed through soft sobs.

"What?! How?! Wh-what happened?"

"She was sh-shot by her boyfriend. Drugs were involved."

"Oh God," Joe said, shaking his head, upset by her revelation. "Drugs? When did she start using?"

"As far as I know, right after the abortion. After you left, she hooked up with a rough crowd and things just started going downhill from there."

"Damn," Joe said with a loud sigh. "She called me a while back to talk to me, and I completely blew her off."

"Joe, she was so far gone. There was nothing that you could've done for her."

"Damn, I can't believe she's gone. I should've talked to her."

"Don't do that to yourself. Jamie was my daughter, but she was nothing but trouble after you two broke up."

"What's up, Mr. A?!" Joe and Debra heard from the parking lot.

"Rai, come on up, man!" Joe called down to him.

Dakarai made his way up the stairs and greeted Joe with a fist bump and Debra with a polite "hello."

"Your mom's inside."

"Alright," he said, walking into the apartment.

"Look, Joe, I know you've gotta get back. I just wanted to tell you that. There won't be a funeral. She'll be cremated."

"I'm really sorry to hear this, Debra. If you need anything, let me know, alright?"

"I will. Thank you."

Joe embraced Debra and bid her "goodbye." He watched her from the stoop until her car disappeared from the parking lot.

"Damn," he whispered to himself, shaking his head again.