It took everything she had to make herself leave Jade and drive back to New Orleans. She grew more and more angry with each passing mile, vowing to not only get Jade home, but also annihilate Lonna Tassin in the process. Pulling up in front of Jasmine's house, their house now, she slammed out of the car and shoved her way into the house.
Hearing the front door slam shut, Jasmine ran out of the kitchen into the hall, all smiles, to greet April. Her good mood quickly deteriorated when she saw the look on April's face, and it was quickly replaced with fear.
"Did you fine Jade? Is she ok?" Jasmine reached out and to grab April's arm, but she pushed passed her. Ignoring Jasmine, April marched into the parlor and went straight for the liquor cabinet. Pouring herself a glass of bourbon, filling it almost to the top, she tried to calm down enough to tell Jasmine what happened. She tossed back almost half of it, and then slammed it down on the bar, liquid spilling onto her hand as it sloshed over the top.
Jasmine felt ice cold; fear like a dead weight in the pit of her stomach. Clearly, April's trip hadn't gone well and she was afraid to hear about it. Suspecting the worst, she started picturing Jade in the hospital, or worse, and couldn't stop the tears quietly spilling down her face.
April heard a soft sob and spun around to find Jasmine in tears. Rushing over, she wrapped her arms around Jasmine and held her close.
"Jade's alive and healthy. Don't worry."
Jasmine pulled away, brushing the tears from her eyes. "But not happy. You didn't say happy, or safe."
How did Jasmine get to know her so well in such a short time? Frowning, mad at herself for scaring Jasmine, she grabbed her hand and pulled her into the living room so they could sit down on the couch. She pulled Jasmine against her and told her everything.
When she finished, Jasmine leaped off the couch and tore out of the room. April rushed after her.
"Where are you going, Jasmine?" She followed her into the kitchen and saw her reach for the wall phone.
"Who are you calling?"
"The police. I want this bitch in handcuffs within the hour."
April yanked the phone out of Jasmine's hands. "If you call the police, Jade will be the bitch in handcuffs, not Tassin. Please, Jasmine, let's sit down and try to talk this over. Better yet, I'm calling your uncle and asking him to come over." April dialed as she spoke. As she listened to the phone ring, she faced Jasmine and held out a hand. Jasmine accepted it and she pulled her against her side, hugging her tight.
John answered on the fourth ring and April gave him a quick summary of her trip to Baton Rouge. John hung up, promising to be there within the next ten minutes. Keeping her arm around Jasmine, she walked them both back to the living room and sat down to wait for John. She and Jasmine didn't speak; Jasmine just sat, leaning against April while April kept her arms around her.
It wasn't long before she heard a car outside. She started to unravel herself from Jasmine to go answer the door, but barely made it up off the couch before John came striding into the room.
He sank into the nearest chair and April retook her place beside Jasmine, pulling her back into her arms. The three of them just stared at each other, lost in their own thoughts, none of them sure as to where to start.
John was the first to break the silence. "The ball's next week. It was always her favorite event of the year."
Jasmine jumped up. "She's not dead, damn it! She's an hour and a half away with that...that..." but she couldn't seem to finish. April reached up and tried to pull Jasmine back onto the couch, but Jasmine brushed her off and started pacing around the room, glaring at her uncle.
Watching, April decided she felt a little better seeing Jasmine mad, rather than tears. Jasmine fired up was a lot closer to normal than seeing her cry. She watched her pace for a while, John staring at the floor, and her mine raced, trying to find a solution to Jade's problem.
"What ball is that, John?" At this point, April was just trying to break some of the tension that seemed to be squeezing all the air out of the room.
"The Halloween costume ball at the social club. The club is one of the oldest in the country. Most of the prominent families of this city have belonged to it since before the Civil War. Every year, at Halloween, they throw a party that's kind of a cross between a costume party and the old fashioned ball's they used to have back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century."
"You mean women wearing dresses with corsets and guys in bad white wigs?"
John laughed. "Yes, something like that."
"How big of a social event is this ball?"
"Well, it's one of the most popular events in the city every year, and you can always count on the fact that the who's who of the city will attend. These days, the club sells tickets as a community fund raiser, and all the proceeds go to several select charities."
Jasmine was getting angry. What the hell was April doing making small talk about some stupid party?
"So, really, every important person in town attends, right? Politicians, the D.A., members of the city's wealthiest families, people like that?"
"Yes." John studied April's face and would swear he could see the wheels starting to turn. He remained silent, though, letting her work through her thoughts. He glanced over at Jasmine, who was staring at April looking as if she was ready to spit nails. He saw Jasmine start to cross the room, so he held out a hand, silently asking her to stop. Jasmine turned her glare on him, instead, but he held a finger to his lips and pointed at April. He saw Jasmine look back at April, noticed that she had caught on, and let out a quiet sigh, settling back in his chair.
The trick would be proving that Lonna had set Jade up. April had known people like Lonna her whole life. They were arrogant and self centered, more in love with themselves than anyone, or anything else, on the planet. Eventually, it made them stupid. Give a fool enough rope and sooner or later, he ends up hanging himself, or herself, as the case may be.
"I've got an idea," she announced.
##
That night she and Jasmine lay in bed, Jasmine asleep in her arms. She'd tried to get something started, thinking that making love might help Jasmine burn off some of her tension, but she just wasn't interested. She felt relieved when Jasmine had at least let her hold her. She was afraid Jasmine might have been too angry to let her, but that hadn't been the case, thank God.
She went over her plan again in her head. The three of them had stayed up late into the night, working out the kinks. So late, that John was spending the night in one of the many rooms. Jasmine had offered him one near their own room, but John had given her a knowing smile and headed for the other side of the house.
John seemed ok with the fact that she and Jasmine were a couple now, even happy about it, and that had been a relief too. Everything would change, though, if her plan failed. If she didn't get Jade home, safe, keep her out of prison, then April had no doubt that John's opinion of her would completely dissolve. She was afraid her and Jasmine wouldn't survive it either. That terrified her as much as thinking that she wouldn't be able to protect Jade, to get her away from Lonna.
Restless, she slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Jasmine. Tip toeing out of the room, she went back downstairs and poured herself another drink. She walked through the doors that opened out onto the wrap around porch and plunked down on the porch swing. Pushing with her foot, she slowly rocked back and forth, sipping on her glass of Jack and staring out across the expansive yard.
Jasmine woke up and instantly knew, without rolling over, that April was gone. A little panicky, she jumped out of bed and went down to the kitchen. Finding it empty, her sense of panic increased, afraid that April had left. Walking though the house, she saw the open French doors that led to the side porch. Getting closer to the doorway, she could hear the creak of the porch swing. Taking a hesitant step outside, she almost sighed with relief as she saw April on the swing.
Feeling someone approach, April looked up, yanking herself out of her trance, and smiled as she spotted Jasmine standing nervously at the edge of the swing. She patted the empty space beside her and Jasmine quickly took it, pulling her legs up under her and curling against her side. She wrapped her arm around Jasmine's shoulders and pulled her in close. The fact that Jasmine had come looking for her made her insanely happy, for some reason.
"I'm sorry," Jasmine whispered.
"For what?"
"For not being in the mood earlier."
She laughed. She couldn't help it. "Oh, angel, don't ever apologize to me for that. There's no need for it. Besides, if you feel like you have to, then we have a problem."
April looked down into Jasmine's face and those beautiful green eyes that she'd swear she could see sparkle, even here in the dark. Leaning over, she brushed her lips over Jasmine's.
"I should be apologizing. I screwed up today."
"How so?"
"By not throwing Jade over my shoulder and bringing her home."
"No! You did the right thing, the best thing. Jade was right. If you had brought her home, she would have been met by the police and dragged off to jail. Lonna wouldn't have wasted any time turning her in. No, you did the right thing, walking away. Now Lonna doesn't know that we know the whole truth, and we have room to take the proper steps, and do it right, not rushed."
April sucked in a breath, fighting back tears. Jasmine had no idea how much it helped to hear her say what she said. She felt Jasmine lay her arm over her stomach and pull her a little closer.
Jasmine could feel all the tension in April and knew there was something else wrong. "What is it?" she asked, tugging on April's body as she asked.
"I don't even know what this bitch looks like, yet I can't get the image out of my head of her with Jade. Of her..." April couldn't make herself finish.
Sitting up, Jasmine pulled the glass out of April's hand and set in on the porch. She wrapped both her arms around April and pulled her down against her, guiding April's head to rest on her chest as she stretched both of them out, so they were lying across the seat of the swing. She kissed the top of April's head.
"I know, cher, I know. I can't help but think the same things, but you're not to blame. No one's to blame except that...that...bitch, Lonna Tassin. And you and I, love, are going to see to it that she pays for it. With everything she's got and then some."
April heard the steel conviction in Jasmine's voice and felt reassured. Sinking into Jasmine, she closed her eyes. She tried to remember the last time somebody held her and promised her everything would be all right, and came up blank.
