Dance on Your Knees Pt. 02

Tony's head was still spinning when he found himself in the Aitchel Municipal Airport, his suits and other clothing and shoes jammed into a large suitcase. Stephen was arguing with an agent of the airline over the exorbitant charges they wanted for the oversized suitcase.

'Hey, listen, need you to sign this form," Stephen said as the agent looped a tag around the handle of the suitcase.

"Huh?" Tony said.

"Yeah, yeah, this annulment. Says you ain't got no claim to..." Stephen said.

"I'll have my lawyer look at it," Tony said.

"What? Oh no, mother fucker, you ain't getting on no God damned plane you don't sign this," Stephen shrilled.

"He signs it under duress or coercion? It will be null and void," a young man smiled smugly at Stephen.

"What? Mother fucker who you?" Stephen demanded of the interloper.

"Adrien Duhurst; I'm this young man's attorney," Adrien Duhurst said, giving his card to Tony and to Stephen. "Sir, give me a dollar, give me your name."

"All I got is a twenty," Tony said and Adrien snatched it out of Tony's hand. "My name is Tony Lewis and..."

"Genevieve Barclay's husband? I've seen you on TV," Adrien smiled. "Let's take a look at this annulment, Mr. Lewis."

'Man, fuck all y'all, all I got to say," Stephen snarled, stomping away.

"As your attorney? I would suggest you burn this. It says you are to return all gifts exceeding one hundred dollars in value; I take it that Rolex was one of the gifts?" Adrien said, reading the form Stephen had provided.

"Hmm? Oh, oh yeah; got it in Las Vegas; a wedding present," Tony said, looking at the expensive watch ion his wrist.

"And those rings? That choker?" Adrien said.

"Uh huh," Tony agreed.

"Well, I wouldn't sign this. You are free to do whatever you want, but..." Adrien said, handing the sheets of legalese to Tony. "Now, we got about an hour before the plane leaves for Texas; talk to me. What's it like being married to that fine ass woman?"

Tony learned that Adrien was flying to Oakleaf, Texas, to see his brother or sister, meet his or her fiancé. Adrien whispered that the reports they had on David Challes, Avery's beau were not promising.

"So, I'm going try get her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement, just something to protect herself against anything that might pop up," Adrien shrugged. "But, knowing Avery? He, she, they, and whatever the politically correct crap is will probably tear it up."

Tony could not imagine being with a guy that claimed to be a girl. He imagined a fat, slovenly man with a five o'clock shadow in a miniskirt and tube top.

"Then again? What, couple months ago, bet you'd never imagined being married to a black woman," Tony reminded himself.

Adrien was flying Business class; Stephen had booked Tony into an economy seat. They shook hands and parted, searching for their seat.

At Judge Roberts Airport, Tony and Adrien again chatted as they walked down a maze of corridors toward baggage claim.

"Whee! There he is!" A very cute little blonde squealed and rushed toward Adrien.

Looking at the cute blonde in short pleated skirt and lacy blouse, Tony rethought his earlier position on marrying a transgender. He nodded to the scruffy looking man that waited a few paces away, assuming this to be the 'David Challes' the Duhurst family was concerned about. With a wave to his lawyer, Tony found his suitcase and lugged it toward a taxi.

"Know what? Shit, can't go home, can't go...take me to the Home Comfort Inn," Tony sighed, settling into the rear of the taxicab. "Fucking sick of motels, but..."

Gina's phone went to voice mail; Tony assumed she was at work. Tony called Missy's phone, laying back against a mound of foam rubber pillows.

"Hello?" Missy asked, suspicious.

"Hey, it, it's me. Tony," Tony said heavily.

"Tony? This, who's cell is this?" Missy asked.

"Mine; Genevieve bought me an IPhone," Tony said. "Shit, I don't even know what happened to my old one."

"No kidding. Kept going to voice mail. Last time I tried it, said voice mail was full," Missy said. "Where are you?"

"Home Comfort Inn; my car there?" Tony asked.

"I, I haven't seen your car since, um, since right before you married that, Tony? Really, you really married that bald headed chick?" Missy asked.

"That, is that your brother? You tell him he ain't got no home here," Todd yelled.

"Tell him he has no home anywhere else," Tony smirked.

The phone suddenly beeped; apparently their father had jerked the phone away from his sister and had ended the call. With a sigh, Tony turned on the television and fell asleep to the mindless chatter.

The next evening, sitting at the truck stop diner across the street from the Home Comfort Inn, Tony watched the television as it showed the local news. Rain was predicted for the next day. The Connelly Cougars were predicting a good football season; they had high hopes with their new head coach, Anthony Carrecci at the helm.

"Genevieve Barclay has been known for years for her hard-driving, powerhouse shows," the anchorwoman said as his wife's publicity photo showed on the screen behind the heavily made up blonde newscaster. "Which is why fans were understandably upset at last night's performance.

The scene changed to show a jittery, agitated looking Genevieve Barclay struggling to maintain the tempo with the rest of her very tight knit band. Her profanity laced tirade at her drummer had to be bleeped out and the rest of the band looked shocked.

"Ms. Barclay cut the concert short and refused to do any post-show interviews," the anchorwoman continued as more of the dismal performance played on the screen.

"What's going on?" Tony texted to his wife's cell phone.

There was no response. A quick text to Rene's cell received the simple 'IDK' from the man.

Tony finished his meal, paid for his dinner, leaving the waitress a generous tip and walked back to his motel room. Laying on the mound of pillows, Tony watched the national news, then watched the re-broadcast of the local news.

"You OK?" he sent to Genevieve's cell after watching her dismal performance again. That message was also ignored.

"Fuck! Can't, God damn, can't stand one more night in this suck ass motel," Tony thought as he struggled to get comfortable.

Looking at his cell phone, Tony saw he had twenty percent battery power. He also saw he had not received any responses from Genevieve. With a shrug, he tossed the cell phone onto the corner of the bed, turned on the movie selection and selected 'Interracial.' The first clip was of a beautiful black woman taking on three well-hung white men. After the three studs had fucked her face, her pussy and her ass for a few minutes, all three men pulled out of her holes and stroked their cocks, coating her smiling brown face and massive brown breasts with white semen.

"Shit! I come that much, I'd be dehydrated," Tony scoffed, then watched a petite Asian woman being roughly sodomized by an enormous black cock.

Stroking himself, Tony wondered what had become of Patty Amantogi, a beautiful half Japanese, half African American girl he'd gone to school with when they'd lived in Dan's Hollow, Texas. He had liked the petite girl, had found her to be funny and smart and friendly. But, he knew his father would have bullied and harassed the girl, so never acted on his feelings toward the girl.

"Let's see," Tony said and did a quick search on his phone.

There was nothing on any social media pages for the beautiful girl so Tony again threw the phone onto the far end of the bed. Laying back, he watched a beautiful blonde being fucked hard by a well-muscled black man.

Waking up, Tony saw more interracial pornography playing. With a groan, he switched the television off, staggered to the bathroom and did his business. Picking up his phone, he saw that it was dead, so plugged it into the charger. Then, still wearing yesterday's clothes, he staggered out of the motel room.

During his breakfast, Tony saw that Genevieve Barclay was once again on the news. He saw a few photographs of himself with his beautiful wife, saw a clip of her recent chaotic performance, then another head shot of Genevieve, bald head shiny, either from sweat or from the oil she smeared on it after her shower.

"It's so sad, ain't it?" the waitress said, placing his breakfast in front of him.

"Mm hmm," Tony said, watching as the meteorologist pointed to a map of the Oakleaf area.

Returning to his motel room, Tony looked at his phone and saw he had several messages. Many were from unknown phone numbers wanting a statement from him. While he listened to the latest message, his phone rang, displaying yet another unknown phone number.

Turning on the television again, Tony found a local station and saw the concert in Commonstead, New Jersey. Genevieve had just finished playing a very sloppy 'Stinging Strings' and was placing the PAM ceramic slide on the small table next to her amplifier. Staggering slightly, she bumped the table and one of the three slides sitting on the table rolled off of the table onto the stage.

"Oh holy fuck," Tony said, seeing Genevieve step onto the slide.

Her foot shot out and Genevieve fell backward. Normally, Genevieve would have been able to steady herself, but in her inebriated condition, she flailed her arms and struck the back of her head on the table.

"She, she's dead?" Tony gasped, feeling his breakfast rushing up as the screen gave the date of her birth and the date of her death.

Tony barely managed to reach the bathroom in time. He vomited heartily into the motel's tub, falling to his knees. While he purged his stomach's contents, his cell phone continued to ring.

Now tony understood the messages. Looking again, he saw a text from Rene, expressing his sincere sorrow. And a text from a Thaddeus that asked when they might expect him.

"Thaddeus, Thaddeus, oh! Oh, that, that's her butler or whatever," Tony remembered the very proper and very helpful servant that had laid out his clothing, had packed his suitcase.

"Thaddeus Norton; Mr. Lewis?" Thaddeus answered, his deep voice ringing in Tony's ear.

"Uh, yes, yes sir," Tony stammered.

"Very well, sir. And when may we expect your return, sir?" Thaddeus asked.

"I, uh, give me the address again," Tony requested. "Be a few minutes."

The Uber driver was really pumped up about the news of the local celebrity's death and had many theories about why Genevieve had died. She chattered non-stop from the Home Comfort Inn to the Simpson Lane address. Pulling up, Tony saw several news vans blocking the driveway.

"Thaddeus Norton," Thaddeus answered his phone when Tony called.

"Mr. Norton, how am I supposed to make it through all these vultures?" Tony asked.

"Hmm. I will send Ms. Franklin on a fool's errand," Thaddeus said. "Ms. Worth will huddle down in the rear seat; the news crews will follow them."

Wait, wait, that, is that Genevieve Barclay's house?" the Uber driver gasped just as a Mercedes-Benz pulled out of the garage.

"Mm hmm; I'm her husband," Tony said. "Well, I was her husband."

Just as Thaddeus had predicted, the news crews immediately gave chase. Tony tipped the driver an additional twenty dollar bill for the delay as he got out.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss, Mr. Lewis," Thaddeus said, opening the door for Tony.

"I'm sorry for your loss as well, Mr. Norton," Tony said, hugging the unresponsive man. "I mean, shit, you knew her a lot longer than I did."

"That is true, Mr. Lewis," Thaddeus agreed.

"That was fun," Ms. Franklin said, entering the house a few moments later.

"They wasn't happy when they seen it was just us," Ms. Worth agreed.

"Mr. Lewis is in need of some clean clothes," Thaddeus ordered, indicating the large suitcase.

"Yes sir, Mr. Norton," Ms. Worth said, rolling the suitcase toward the laundry room.

Through Thaddeus's assistance, Tony contacted Graham Puellar, Genevieve's attorney. Genevieve had left instructions with Mr. Puellar regarding what funeral arrangements should be made in the case of her untimely death.

"Sir? Mr. Lewis, uh, Stephen Snow did fax me a copy of a request to have your marriage annulled?" the attorney advised.

"I bet he did," Tony said. "Could you verify the signature?"

"I, hmm, let's see, hmm..." Graham Puellar said.

"And, is it notarized?" Tony asked.

"The signatures are close. Close, but..." Graham said doubtfully. "And yes, yes there is a notary's stamp...looks like she signed this on the date of her demise..."

"Bet you anything she didn't sign it," Tony suggested.

A few phone calls later, Graham Puellar was able to verify that the notary had not actually witnessed the signature of Genevieve Barclay. Furthermore, the paper had been presented to him after Genevieve had been pronounced dead.

"I told that man, I told him, anyone calls? I will not lie," the notary said.

"Mr. Graham? Sorry, Mr. Puellar? I'd like to press charges against Stephen Snow for attempted fraud," Tony said. "Attempting to file a fraudulent request for an annulment has got to be illegal."

"I'll call the Oakleaf D.A," Graham promised.

"Mr. Lewis, lunch is ready, sir," Thaddeus intoned.

"Thank you, Mr. Norton," Tony said.

Sitting at the table, enjoying Ms. Franklin's chicken salad sandwich on fresh baked Baggett, Tony realized he was now wealthy. Fortunately or unfortunately, Genevieve's death meant sales of her music would skyrocket. Sales of her merchandise would also see a marked increase.

"Mr. Lewis, I do believe you would be interested in the news, sir," Thaddeus said, reaching over and clicking a small television set on.

"This is bull (beep!) I get out? I'm coming after that punk ass mother (beep!) Hear me? Hear me Tony? I'm coming after your (beep!) ass, (beep!) bitch!"

Stephen Snow had more (beep!) comments to make as the police hustled him, hands cuffed behind his back toward a police cruiser. The newscaster stated that Stephen Snow had been detained at the Commonstead Municipal Airport just moments before boarding a flight to Oakleaf, Texas. Breathlessly, the newscaster informed the viewing audience that he was being charged with attempted fraud; the Oakleaf County District Attorney hinted there may be more charges to follow.

Through her, his attorney, Tony Lewis released a public statement expressing his deep sorrow at losing his beautiful wife at such a young age. Tony did request the media respect his wishes to mourn in private; of course the media ignored that request and continued to camp out in front of his home.

A restraining order, aided by the threats made on National television kept Stephen Snow from attending the memorial service and funeral of his client, Genevieve Barclay. At the memorial service, Tony saw Deanna and Ashanti Cahn, then remembered, Deanna did all of the social media for Genevieve Barclay.

He walked over toward them, but Ashanti pointedly turned her back on him and walked away. Deanna gave him a dark scowl and Tony nodded in understanding.

"I am truly sorry; I have no excuse for my inexcusable behavior," Tony said sincerely then turned and left Deanna and Ashanti alone.

Roberto Martinez was also absent from the memorial service and funeral; he was currently hiding out in a drug rehabilitation center in Upstate New York. The preliminary tox screen on Genevieve Barclay showed that the woman had a very nasty cocktail of cocaine and meth and excessive alcohol in her system. More than one person pointed the finger toward Roberto as her source for the illegal substances.

"You do look beautiful, Tony told Genevieve as she lay in a white casket with gold leaf designs painted on the lid.

"I'm sorry," Ashanti whispered. "I had no right to be ugly to you."

"I, I don't deserve any apology from you," Tony said. "I'm so, so sorry. I had the most beautiful...then I just got drunk and stupid and threw it all away. Ashanti, I am so sorry for hurting you."

"Friends?" Ashanti asked.

"Friends," Tony smiled softly.

Tony was shocked, pleasantly surprised at the number of big names in the guitar world and the blues world that showed up to pay their respects. He was also surprised, and very pleased at the number of young ladies that showed up to pay their respects to an icon. Several guitar picks and even a doll playing an electric guitar were placed inside of Genevieve's casket.

A month after her burial, Tony, through Mr. Puellar arranged to have Genevieve's musical gear auctioned off. The proceeds of the evening's event would be donated to Alliance Square Health Facility's Oncology ward and to Collier's Oncology Ward. Collier was the charity hospital in Lowridge, Texas.

Graham contacted Deanna and she agreed to relay the information. Connelly College agreed to host the event; publicity is always a good thing to have.

"Genevieve lost her mother to ovarian cancer," Tony said as he started the auction. "If we can help one mother spend one more day with her baby girl, spend one more moment telling her daughter that she loves her and is proud of her, we've truly accomplished something miraculous. We are asking you to dig deep into your hearts and into your wallets tonight."

"Ms. Barclay would have been proud of you, sir," Thaddeus said as Tony stepped off the stage.

"Thank you, Mr. Norton," Tony said and gave the unresponsive man a genuine hug.

As a grieving widower of a local celebrity, Tony found himself being invited to several events. Thaddeus advised Tony to hire a social secretary, someone who could negotiate the muck and mire, someone who could advise him on which events to attend and which events to skip.

"You know, I never wanted any of this," Tony snapped in frustration.

"I know, sir, but we are here to play the role God has assigned to us," Thaddeus said.

"You know, Mr. Norton, you, you're more of a father than my real dad," Tonyadmitted.

"Hmm? Kind of you to say, Mr. Lewis, but you're still paying me," Mr. Norton said, letting a little of his humor shine through.

Both London and Paris Jeffries, his social secretary and his executive assistant, as well as Thaddeus Norton advised Tony against showing up at any event with the same woman twice. After all, he was a grieving widower. Somehow, London or Paris found him attractive, eligible young women to drape on his arm for various events. All were very attractive, most were intelligent. Some were black, some were Latina, some were Asian; one or two were even white.

"I have an interview with who?" Tony asked Paris as she read his itinerary for the week ahead.

"The Zeno Anderson Report," Paris said. "Mr. Lewis, seriously? You don't know who they are?"

"No. Should I?" Tony asked.

In the large family room, Paris pulled up the large screen television's feed. She selected the previous week's episodes and left the room.

"Well?" London asked when Tony exited the family room an hour later.

"Either one of you girls have a tampon? I think it's my time of the month," Tony groaned. "Seriously? Why am I going on that show?"

"Because your wife was a favorite guest of theirs," Paris said.

"Then come help me find a few episodes with her on it," Tony asked, returning to the family room.

A few hours later, Thaddeus came into the room to announce that lunch was ready. For a long moment, the staid employee watched the television, watched the very alive, very warm and friendly Genevieve interacting with the two hostesses of the Zeno/Anderson Report. Turning, he saw his boss, tears streaming down his face.

"She was, she was just so beautiful, so alive," Tony choked out.

"Yes sir," Thaddeus agreed, feeling his eyes becoming moist. "Lunch, Mr. Lewis."

In the studio, Tony was introduced to Adrien Zeno, a very attractive brunette and Samantha Anderson, a striking strawberry blonde. While they chatted, crew members did light checks, sound checks. A beautiful young woman stepped up and looked at Tony's face critically.