Chapitre 2: Everyone has a price
Present day
Letisha Brown heard Raymond open the grille gate to go outside, but the pressure cooker was making a racket as usual. Today was stew peas day and it was his favorite meal. He was excited about the story he had been writing and he babbled constantly about the corruption he had unearthed. Letisha swore she had heard a motorcycle but it was quite unusual of Raymond not to be singing. There was an erie silence, even the neighbour's dog had been quiet for far too long. Letisha just knew something was wrong... with her hands filled with soap suds, she turned down the burner under the noisy pressure cooker. The scent of red peas and pigs tail permeated the air in the small kitchen. Letisha dragged her flip flops just the way Raymond hated. Butterflies flew sorties in stomach.
"Raymond?" Letisha called out nervously.
There was no answer.. the living room seemed to have grown longer because Letisha felt as if it was taking an eternity for her to reach the doorway. She hissed her teeth loudly when she realized the grille was left wide open. It was her pet peeve, toilet seats and external grilles must always be closed… but Raymond did it to annoy her most times.
Her eyes glimpsed something brown on the driveway... panic grew and produced fruit immediately. Letisha screamed.
"Raymond!" Letisha screamed.
"You drop?" She asked as she began to laugh... he was always clumsy, but the nervous laughter faded immediately as she saw the crimson liquid beside her loving husband of five years. A blood curdling scream erupted from Letisha's stomach. She knelt beside his body and shook him. His eyes were wide open staring into nothingness... a tear stained his left cheek.
Letisha screamed "Murda,murda."
It was then the neighbour's dog started to bark and the apartment complex came alive like an ants' nest that was disturbed. The quiet silence of the upper St Marine neighborhood was shattered by a howling black woman.
Two nights earlier in their bedroom.
Lestisha was reading her online free stories while Raymond was blabbering.
" Lettie, this story could be a career changer for me and us. My editor says after we verify the sources we will go live with my investigative report. The whole newsroom is excited. We have to bring down President Small. Every time I see his smug face in the media, I get irritated and angry that he projects a squeaky clean image and he is on the take fattening himself through the Ministry his campaign manager heads. I can't wait to see him in handcuffs Lettie," Raymond said with glee like a kid trapped in a candy store.
Raymond Brown, Lettisha cleared her throat.
"I think you should leave this one alone and find another job. I have a bad feeling about this. I keep dreaming of me in a white dress Raymond. My mother back home in Jantique, says it's not a good sign."
Letisha's face looked somber in the glow of her phone.
Raymond laughed.
"You and your dreams. It's modern days Lettie, St Barts is not Jantique. We are a peaceful society. Murders and certain crimes are unheard of here unlike Jantique,"
Raymond farted as the words left his handsome lips.
Lettisha pinched her nostrils.
"Raymond, why is your belly so rotten? I know I gave you dinner," Lettisha mumbled trying to save her breath.
"Sorry Lettie, I didn't eat lunch today. I swore I was being trailed by a motorcycle today when I went on the road, but I just thought it was a coincidence or mind over matter, " Raymond replied.
"Raymond I am warning you. Leave this thing alone. Why didn't you tell me about the bike?"
Raymond rolled over in their king sized bed and kissed Letisha on her forehead.
"For exactly the same reason. I don't want you to be worried. journalists are safe. The guy was probably just lost or something or was admiring my bumper sticker," Raymond replied chuckling. "You and your crazy dreams. I will be fine. I will become a famous reporter after this. We will have the money to buy a piece of land in the country-side and build our dream house and if I am lucky have two kids."
Letisha watched as Raymond grabbed her pillow that she called her boyfriend and threw it on the floor before ripping off his underpants… giggles, moans followed as the lights in the bedroom went dark.
Present Day
Lettisha stood transfixed. She felt numb (or blind/deaf) to the sights and sounds of the flashing lights of the police car. The white sheet that covered her husband was slowly becoming stained. She wanted the earth to open or a bolt of lightning to strike her so she could join him... but God had other ideas... the neighbour's milled about outside the yellow tape. Lettisha had repeated her version of the event six times already to four different policemen.
It had begun to border on being absurd the type of questions that they were asking.
If she was having any extra marital affairs or did anyone threaten your husband or was he involved in a gay relationship?
Lettisha wanted to scream, but everything in her was just numb, she could feel and see her husband lying beneath the sheet a few feet away while nimcompoops asked stupid questions… phones flashed and tongues wagged.
Lettisha began to scream.
"Murder, murder." Lestisha howled in pain at the top of her lungs.
She felt a sharp prick in her left arm... soon everything went dark.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone