Huey had driven up in front of a nice mansion and turned off his engine. He opened his car door and stepped out of his car to observe James's mansion.
It didn't look like any ordinary mansion you would regularly see. For the profession, he's in and his age you would think that he would have a Neoclassical Mansion, but instead, he had a mansion that looked as if it was a big castle.
Hued didn't want to lie and say it doesn't look nice. It's not the type of style he'd go with but it was nice.
Huey closed the car door and started heading up the stairs to Jame's front door. Almost every step he took he could feel the pressure adding and the tension expanding.
Was he ready for this?
Did he really want to face his wife's killer?
Does James know the real reason why he's here?
How would their conversation go?
Has he changed throughout the years?
Does he even remember Jazmine?
All these questions kept going through Huey's head as he had gotten closer to the front door. When he finally made it, he had to take a deep breath. He didn't know how long it took for him to ring that doorbell.
He extended his finger out and finally pushed the button. He could hear it ring throughout the whole house as it echoed. Then there were footsteps approaching the door. The harder they got the closer he knew James was close.
"Here goes nothing!" Huey mumbled as he heard the door unlock.
The door opens to reveal Dr. James Anderson who still looked the same after 30 years. The only thing that changed was a few strings of his hair color. It was brown but you could still see some grey.
His body shape even stayed the same size. He didn't gain any fat but he did gain a little muscle.
"Huey long time no see!" James excitedly spoke.
James started looking Huey up and down and couldn't help but smile.
"Man, they don't lie...black really doesn't crack," James complimented.
"Yeah, uh same for you," Huey awkwardly spoke.
"No, my wrinkles are starting to come in. You can't fight off old age forever," James laughed.
"Yeah," Huey mumbled.
After James calmed down he had stepped aside. "Come in!" he welcomed.
Huey thought about it and he didn't want to enter but he needed to. Huey walked into James' house and James closed the door behind him.
Huey took a quick look around his house to see it looked very luxurious inside. He could see his reflection on the floors, the stairs were nice along with the rails that curved to the top, and it had a nice masculine scent.
"So what brings you out here in Missouri?" James asked heading to the living room.
"Missouri?" Huey questioned, confused.
"Yes, Missouri, that's where we're at," James said finding it a bit odd.
"Right...I came out here for traveling and I heard from my wife that you lived in the area. So, I thought I should visit before I left back home," Huey lied.
"Is that right," James said entering the living room along with Huey.
"You can take a seat anywhere," James said taking a seat in one of his chairs and Huey just sat on the couch. He thought it was more respectful since he didn't live here. The chair was always the house owner's seat.
There were four chairs and two couches but he still felt he should sit on the couch.
"So how's retirement treating you?" James asked as Huey slightly cocked his eye.
"It's been alright! I'm a little bored but I'm having more time to go out and travel and get more involved in my family's life than be surrounded by work 24/7," Huey explained.
"Must be nice! I don't know when I'm going to retire. I'm not sure if I'm ready yet," James said a little envious.
"You haven't retired yet?" Huey asked a bit shocked.
"No, I haven't retired yet. I should have retired a long time ago when I made a name for myself but I couldn't yet get out of the profession," James explained rubbing the back of his head.
"Is that so," Huey mumbled.
"Yeah! So did you find Missouri interesting? I know they have a couple of places for tourists around here," James asked.
"I found it interesting. It was nice walking through the woods to get a good view of the landscape," Huey lied.
"Is that right?" James mumbled.
"So, what really made you want to come to see me?" James asked not buying anything Huey was saying.
"Just to catch up with an old friend," Huey partially lied.
"You mean an old friend you rarely talked to and only exchanged a couple of words with at special events," James simplified.
"Yeah," Huey sighed.
"So Freeman, what really made you come out here to Missouri? I can already tell you I get very few visitors because I don't tell people my address," James asked once again.
"Okay, look here Anderson, I came out here to talk to you," Huey said.
"About what? I haven't been involved in anything so what could you possibly want to talk about?" James asked.
"Jazmine!" Huey answered as James's eyes widened.
"Your daughter Jazmine?" James asked to clarify as he corrected his facial expression.
"No, I'm talking about Jazmine DuBois. The girl who had big curly strawberry blond hair, worked alongside you when she became a nurse, and the one that left me," Huey clarified.
"Oh, that Jazmine! Did you ever find her?" James asked sounding concerned as Huey glared at him.
"It's been 30 years. I thought you had given up on that when you moved on and got married," James said.
"I tried to put it in the past, but I've come to find out that Jazmine died 30 years ago," Huey revealed.
"Jazmine died?" James asked, acting shocked.
"Yes, Jazmine died 30 years ago, but she died because she had AIDS," Huey sternly spoke.
"AIDS? I never thought that would catch up to her," James said, once again acting shocked.
"Catch up to her? What do you mean catch up to her?" Huey questioned, confused.
"What I mean is, around the time I was working with Jazmine, there was a rumor going around the hospital that she was whore," James exposed.
"A whore?" Huey questioned.
"Yes, you didn't hear from me, but apparently she was selling herself for sex," James said as Huey rolled his eyes.
"Really?" Huey asked.
"Yes!" James answered.
"Were you also having sex with her behind my back?" Huey sternly asked.
"Excuse me?" James said a bit taken back.
"You heard," Huey sternly spoke glaring at James.
"Huey, I don't know what you're trying to get at here but I never had sex with Jazmine, especially behind your back," James said denying it.
"Bullshit! I got in contact with Ebony and she told me what happened between you and Jazmine. Including Jazmine being pregnant with my kid and your kid, her getting AIDS from you, you taking full custody of your son, refusing to give Jazmine the cure, and you can't deny anything because I have footage of you kissing and touching Jazmine," Huey spat out.
James looked shocked at first, but then that shockful face soon turned into an evil smirk.
"It took you that long to find out the truth," James smirked.
"So you're admitting to having sex with Jazmine?" Huey asked.
"Yes, I'm admitting to it! But it still doesn't explain why you're here," James admitted.
"I'm here because I want to know everything that went on between you and Jazmine," Huey angrily spoke.
"Everything, like what?" James asked with his tone changing.
"You know what I want to know! I want to know what attracted you to Jazmine, how you guys ended up sleeping together, and why you felt the need to give her AIDS, I also want to know all the encounters you had with Jazmine after she left, why you were spying on her, and why you lied to me?" Huey exclaimed.
"Wow...that's a lot of questions," James said.
"I'm still surprised you're hung up on this," James said a little in disbelief.
"Why wouldn't I be? You're the main person who knew I loved Jazmine and you're one of the only people who had seen how broken I was when she left," Huey sternly spoke.
I was once again at the bar, drunk and depressed. It was another sleepless night for me. I never made a scene or a fool of myself whenever I was drunk, as most people do. I simply would stay to myself and be very quiet.
The bartender slid another drink to me and I just took small sips. I don't think he could tell I was drunk because I was being very quiet. I had my head down and was trying my best not to cry. If I cried I would look bad in front of everybody.
Before I came here, I was putting up filers downtown and also passing them out to people. I had seen many folks balling them up, throwing them in the trash, writing on them, and even ripping them up in front of me.
It was just another unsuccessful day in finding Jazmine. It seemed as if people didn't care!
Even her own parents weren't doing anything about it. Tom and Sarah weren't trying to find Jazmine. They didn't print out over hundred copies and drove miles to other states to go put them up.
Tom didn't even use his sources and ask the police department to track down Jazmine. He just went on about his day as if nothing happened. He and Sarah were upset with me about the situation but I thought they would at least try and find her, but they didn't even do that.
My family and our friends tried to help find Jazmine. They printed Jazmine's picture and put up filers around the area and even told the police about her so they could keep in mind to look out for her.
My Grandad, Aunt Cookie, Riley, Cindy, Caesar, Hiro, and Ming were all unsuccessful in trying to find Jazmine.
I kept asking myself almost every day where could Jazmine possibly be at. I knew she couldn't have gotten far. Jazmine couldn't have had enough money to travel far away.
I sensed somebody had sat next to the barstool I was at and just ignored them.
"Can I get a glass of red wine," I heard the person I order?
"Coming right up," I heard the bartender say before going to get it ready.
I was curious to see who sat next to me and I was surprised to see it was Dr. James Andersson, a doctor Jazmine worked with at the hospital.
"Anderson?" I questioned, alerting him.
Anderson looked to my side and looked me up and down.
"Freeman?" he said looking closely.
"Yeah, what are you doing here?" I asked a bit shocked. I couldn't imagine a guy like him in a place like this.
"I just wanted to end the night with a drink before I headed home. This was the closest bar I could find near my job," he explained.
"Oh okay," I said. The bartender brought Anderson his red wine: "Thanks!"
Anderson started to take small sips of his drink and taste it a little bit. "Hmm not bad," he mumbled.
"So, what are you doing here Freeman?" he asked as I sighed.
"I'm here to ease away the stress," I admitted.
"From what, work?" he asked.
"Surprisingly, no! I'm sure you heard about Jazmine leaving and I've been putting up filers around cities and states trying to find her," I sadly spoke.
"I've heard...I'm sorry about what happened...that must be hard to take in," Anderson generally apologized.
"Yeah...it is!" I said with my voice cracking. I felt tears start to slide down my cheeks and drop on the counter.
"Do you know why she left?" Anderson asked.
"No, I don't know why she left. This came out of nowhere. She made it seems as if nothing wrong was going on between the two of us," I said shaking my head.
"Well have you two been arguing, sexually frustrated, insecure, or stressed out?" Andeson asked catching me off guard.
Why would he ask me a question like that?
"I don't know! We argue but it's never anything serious. We haven't had sex in I don't know how long. She's always been insecure about her looks and body but I never showed any attention to other girls. The only thing I can fully agree with is bills. We've both been overworking ourselves so we could save up money for school," I explained.
"I see..." Anderson lowly spoke.
"I just don't know what to do now. I'm starting to think she doesn't want to come home. Maybe it's actually over between the two of us," I said giving up on hope.
It was quiet between the two of us until Anderson had come up with an idea.
"You know what would be good for you?" Anderson said trying to suggest something for me.
"What?" I asked un-enthusiastically interested.
"You should try putting yourself out there," he suggested.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, confused.
"What I mean is you need to get laid," he clarified.
"What?" I lowly questioned.
"Think about it, you're sexually frustrated and stressed the fuck out. My suggestion as a doctor is to have sex. It'll most likely make you feel better," he explained.
"But I would be cheating on Jazmine if I go and have sex with another girl," I said a little uneasy about the idea.
"How would you be cheating if she left you?" he rhetorically questioned. "Huey, it's been two months, she's not coming back. It's best to move on from her and have a fresh start," Anderson suggested.
"She's most likely already having sex with somebody else," he said which made my blood boil.
I glared at my drink and balled my fist up. The thought of Jazmine sleeping with someone else didn't sit right with me. But there was a possibility that she could have been sleeping with somebody.
She specifically implied on the note she wanted to live her life out. Maybe living her life was her moving on from me and on to somebody else.
It broke my heart to think about her being happy with someone else other than me.
Maybe Anderson was right! Maybe I needed to have sex to cool my nerves down. If Jazmine was moving on then I should have a right to move on, right?
I mean she did cancel our marriage license so it would have to be over between us.
"I guess you're right," I said as he smirked.
"Just have you a couple of drinks so you can get loose," he said as I looked down at my drink. I gulped my whole glass of liquor and burped a little when I was done.
Anderson started to look around and then he tapped me on the shoulder.
"Freeman," he said as I looked at him. He was directing his head in a certain direction and I looked to see where he was directing it.
There was a mixed girl at the end of the bar and she had black curly hair. Instead of it being up like Jazmine's hair it was down. She had light brown skin and dark brown eyes. She kept staring at me and giving me seductive looks.
"I think she's into you Freeman," Anderson said smirking.
"You should take her home tonight. It'll be easier since she's already interested and in your preference," he said as I got up from my seat. I was about to pull my wallet out until Anderson stopped me.
"Don't worry I got the bill. You just go have fun tonight," he assured.
"Thanks," I said before I left.
That night I had taken the girl home and had heated sex with her in my and Jazmine's bed. I didn't know her name but she was easier to fuck because she looked a little like Jazmine.
When I woke up the next morning I felt a little better, but it was only temporary. I felt like shit within an hour and she woke up wanting to go another round.
I had to pretend like I had work so she could leave. I ended up leaving and going to work early but it was worth it because I didn't want to stay at home.
I couldn't bear to look at my and Jazmine's bed because I felt as if I had cheated on her. I know she had left and we probably weren't together but it still didn't feel right. I knew if she had seen me she would have been disappointed.
I had regretted taking Anderson's advice last night.
"And the worst part about it is that you knew all along what happened to her," Huey sternly spoke.
"Freeman, I think I did you a favor that night," James nonchalantly spoke.
"No, you didn't! That was one of the most painful mistakes I made and you knew it," Huey disagreed.
"Question?" James asked, "Why after all these years you still want to know what happened? You have the life every man could dream of. You made a name for yourself in your profession, you have a highly paid business and organization, you started a family, traveled the world, and you retired at middle age. What could you possibly be suffering from now that you had to reflect back on the past?" James exclaimed.
"I'm suffering because I can't find peace. I feel as if I wronged so many people because life didn't go as planned for me," Huey said.
"How did life go unplanned for you? You achieved almost everything, what more could you want?" James sternly asked.
"I wanted a future with Jazmine but you ruined that," Huey spoke scowling at James.
"I didn't ruin Jazmine's future, she ruined her own future," James disagreed.
"No, you ruined Jazmine's future! You didn't only give her AIDS but you also broke her," Huey sternly spoke.
"Okay, and why do you care so much? It happened 30 years ago it's in the past," James asked.
"I care because this not only affected me but also my family. You lied and tricked me into believing Jazmine didn't love me anymore. I want to know because I deserve to know. You owe me that much Anderson" Huey exclaimed as Anderson smirked.
"Okay, I'll tell you, Freeman, but you might want to prepare yourself! I'm not a sensitive storyteller," James warned.
Thank you for reading!