#My52 “Captive Heart, Part VII”

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#My52 – Week 21

Word Prompt – breakfast

Word Count – 1161

Reading Time – 2 mins, 16 secs

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“Man, this is some straight up bull.”

Prentiss paced around the sofa where his brother sat slumped over.

“You know Yvonne is behind this. Have the cops even questioned her?”

Mark sat up, dragging his hands down his face and through his dreads. “It’s 3 a.m., dude, and it hasn’t been an hour since they finished with me. I’m sure they haven’t knocked on her door yet.”

“What the hell are they waiting for? An invitation to tea? They should have picked her up the second you gave them her name.”

When he got no response, Prentiss plopped own on the sofa next to Mark. “You look like hell.”

“Damn. Thanks, man. Love you too.”

“You know what I mean. I’m sorry for blowing up at you. It just pisses me off to see you go through shit like this when you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“It’s definitely not the weekend I planned.”

“I know, right? It was cool getting away to chill with Mom and Pop-… oh, damn! Mom and Pop. What are you going to tell them?”

“Nothing yet.”

“Huh uh. You know how upset they’ll be if you don’t call them right away.”

“And tell them what? That ten years of my life has been destroyed and the woman carrying my child is responsible?”

He rose from the sofa and walked over to the patio doors, staring out into the darkness. “I don’t know of anyone who could hate me this much. Yvonne is angry I said no to marriage, and yes, she knew I’d be out of town,” he turned to his brother, “but this is extreme for even her.”

“Stop it.”

“Stop what –”

“She hasn’t been questioned yet and you’re already absolving her of guilt.”

“I’m not- ”

“You are! I get it, man. You still care about her. Maybe even love her. She’s held your heart captive since we were kids. But the Mark I spent the last few days with had found direction and was making plans. Hold on to that guy.”

“I hear you and you’re right.”

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and turned back to the darkness of the night.

“It’s just coming to terms with everything being gone. My furniture, clothes, artwork… nothing was spared.”

“What are you going to do?”

“It’s not like I have options. Detective Lewis said they’d be done with my place no later than Monday morning. I have to get an adjuster in to file a claim, get the place cleaned up… and start over.”

“Damn. This is just messed up.”

“I couldn’t agree more, but I appreciate my big brother taking me in until I get it all figured out.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m serious.”

“What was I supposed to do? Let you stay in some hotel with five dollar bottled water and ten dollar peanuts? Not gonna happen. Mi casa, es tu casa.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Stop thanking me. Now I can blame you for eating all the creamsicles.”

“I hate those things.”

Prentiss waggled his eyebrows. “That’s beside the point.”

Mark smiled for the first time since he’d arrived.

“That’s more like it! Now, c’mon.”

“I know I’ll regret asking, but where are we going in the middle of the night?”

“We’re both too agitated to sleep so you’re buying me breakfast.”

He had no appetite, but Mark was grateful for the distraction… and his brother.

 

He was sick of lists.

There was a list of damages for the police department, another for his insurance claim and HOA, and still a shopping list for his immediate personal needs.

Going over the project list for the rebuild one more time, Mark hit send on the email tab. Now it was Bailey’s problem.

He sat back in the chair, the weight of the week bearing down on him. Yvonne had returned none of his calls or texts and his recent conversation with Detective Lewis only added fuel to the fire.

“The partial prints the crime scene unit pulled weren’t enough to match any prints on file.”

“So, what are you saying, Detective?”

“We have no leads… ”

“Great. Just great.”

“… but we keep the investigation going. Try another canvas of your building and neighborhood.”

“Why bother? My neighbor was out and no one else heard anything.”

“You’d be surprised at what people remember after we’ve questioned them that’s helped us solve cases.”

“Detective, are you sure positive – ”

“Mr. Kelly, we’ve confirmed everything twice. Ms. Bellgoode was at her parents’ in San Diego from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.”

“Pretty convenient.”

“Agreed, not to mention the young lady is far too arrogant and condescending for my tastes, but I have no choice but to look for other leads.”

“Of which you have none.”

“True. But let me ask you again. You seriously believe your girlfriend is capable of something like this?”

Mark sighed. “Until a few weeks ago, I would have said no. But things went sour fast and I saw a different side of her, or maybe it was there all along and I just refused to see it. And she’s not my girlfriend anymore.”

“But the baby?”

“Still not sure about that. She said she was pregnant, but I’ve seen no confirmation.”

“Domestic issues turn ugly fast but I hope you’re wrong if you are going to be a father.”

Mark wasn’t optimistic about the future. The insurance adjuster had said what Detective Lewis left out.

“I see this two or three times a month, unfortunately. Homes are broken into all the time. Thieves are looking for items they can turn into quick cash.” He looked down at his portable workstation. “They took nothing from your place, but destroyed everything. This wasn’t random… this was personal.”

He’d been with Yvonne over five years and had dated no one else in over six. He hung out with his brother or guys from his work crew. His closest friend from college lived over seven hours away. There was no one else in his immediate personal life. If it wasn’t Yvonne, who did this to him?

Mark shoved his tablet into his backpack, locked up the work shack and headed for the parking lot.

He’d told his crew he might join him at Dessie’s for a beer, but now all he wanted to do was get back to his brother’s place and try to rest his weary mind. When had his life become such a shit-storm?

Mark’s brain had other plans, however, racking up a to-do list for the weekend ahead. Furniture store, bedding and linen, dishes-

His heart sank as he approached his Tahoe.

Stunned, he walked around the vehicle then turned in circles taking in the empty parking lot.

No security cameras, and construction fencing blocking all view from the street.

A perfect place and opportunity for someone to slash his tires and smash out his windows.

Clenching his fists, Mark’s body shook with contempt and rage for the anonymous attacker… who was stalking him.

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Someone is turning Mark’s life upside down and the police say it isn’t Yvonne. Is there someone else with a grudge against Mark Kelly?

To be continued…

 

Part IPart II   |  Part IIIPart IV  |  Part V  |  Part VI  |

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©2019 Felicia Denise, All Rights Reserved

 

Song Lyric Sunday | “Rapper’s Delight” – Sugarhill Gang

Song Lyric Sunday banner

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time and author Jim Adams from A Unique Title For Me is our current guest host. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “Cool/Groovy/Hip/Nifty/Radical/Swell.”

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When you hear the opening lines of “I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie, to the hip hip hop and you don’t stop…” you don’t have to be a Boomer or old head to recognize  Rapper’s Delight, the first commercially successful hip-hop single. It is, and will continue to be, one of the most influential songs in hip-hop. Its beat, which samples the bass from Chic’s Good Times, has been sampled countless times, and many of the song’s phrases have become ingrained in hip-hop culture.

Rapper’s Delight would have been the first rap record to be certified gold (more than 500,000 copies sold), but label head Joe Robinson wouldn’t pay for an RIAA membership; instead he made his own plaques and gave them to artists. Dan Charnas quotes him in his book, The Big Payback:

Why should I pay two percent of my gross profits just to send an accountant to look at my books?

Though not the first rap gold record, it is reported to be the best-selling 12-inch single of all-time by Hip Hop journalist Jeff Chang in his book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.

FUN FACTS

  • Grandmaster Caz, who wrote many of Big Bank Hank’s rhymes didn’t get a dime (or any type of credit) for the song’s success at the time.
  • Rapper’s Delight peaked at number 36 in January 1980 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, number 4 on the U.S. Hot Soul Singles chart in December 1979, number 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart in January 1980, number 1 on the Dutch Top 40, and number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
  • The Sugar Hill Gang appeared on the syndicated Soap Factory Disco Show in late 1979, and their performance later became the song’s official music video. The group’s performance on the Palisades Park-based program demonstrates the significant overlap between early hip hop and disco of the late 1970s.

I was still in my teens when Rapper’s Delight topped charts and was the go-to dance favorite in the clubs and at every house party. Each generation does its own thing and rap/hip hop have changed, but as this cut celebrates it fortieth anniversary this year, it’s still a “party ova’ here” whenever it’s played.

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection for Nesie’s Place!

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Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

Rapper’s Delight

Compiled from Genius Lyrics, Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube.
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