“Zelphur” — Episode #4

8

After saying goodnight to Clarissa, and having my fill of water from the water fountain, I returned to my office. Settling down in my swivel chair I swung around to face the computer. The door was still slightly open. I focused in on the data entries on the screen. I wonder what’s taking Reynaldo and Michael so long to get back, I thought as I rubbed my eyes. I blinked hard to overcome the sleepiness, but … I felt her hands softly on my shoulders — gently massaging them. “That’s it. Just relax, Zelphur. It’s been a long night, but I can end it well for you.”

Whose soothing voice was that?

In my semiconscious state, I was not fully aware as to what was taking place. I felt my shoulders and neck muscles begin to relax. This relaxation extended down to my arms and chest area. It felt good.

“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil.”

The massage felt good — something I could have used a long time ago.

“But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold of hell.”

“Just relax, Zelphur. I feel your tension going away already,” she said softly blowing her warm breath into my ears and on my neck.

“Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.”

She ran her hands over my chest as she whispered, “I’ve been waiting for this time, too. The doors are locked, so we have some time to ourselves. We can get this over in no time. No one will ever know.”

“Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

With her left hand she had unzipped her skirt causing it to fall to the ground. She proceeded to unbutton her blouse while simultaneously attempting to loosen my tie.

“What!” I said suddenly awaking out of what I thought was a dream only to see Deanna St. Clair standing before me. “How? What? Where did you come from?”

“Like what you see?”

“With her much fair speech she [tried to] cause him to yield.”

“I can show you more,” she said pulling on the second to last button of her blouse.

“With the flattering of her lips she [almost] forced him.”

“What is going on here?” I cried out leaning as far back in my seat as I could.

“You and I are going on. Come on, no one will ever know,” Deanna said reaching out to me.

“With an impudent face she [tried to] kiss him.”

“Shall a man be brought to a piece of bread by means of a whorish woman? Lust not after her beauty, neither let her take thee with her eyelids.”

“Whoa!” I said, raising my right arm to block her. “Back off, lady.” I swiftly slid out of my chair. I struggled to break loose of the hold she had on my arm. As I broke free of her grasp my shirt sleeve tore.

“Why should thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?”

I backed away from her and out the door. Shall I give in to this woman and sin against God who has watched over me and protected me?

“Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger.”

“Oh, no!” I said out loud in answer to my own question. With rapid strides, I headed on out the door slamming it behind me and jumped into my car, and headed for home. It was not until I was safely in my bedroom that I realized I had left my jacket at the bank building. Oh, man! I thought.

9

I called Mr. Costello as early as I could on Sunday morning. Mrs. Costello informed me that her husband was still away and would not return until that Tuesday. I left a message with her to let him know I had left the banking office before all the figures were tallied up and for Mr. Costello to return my call for an explanation as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Deanna St. Clair was busy covering her tracks beginning that Saturday night.

When Michael and Raynaldo returned with the food they were surprised to find two police officers inside the building talking with Deanna.

“What is going on?” they both asked looking from the police officers to Deanna. “And what are you doing here? What happened to you?” they asked Deanna. Deanna’s hair was disheveled and buttons were missing from her torn blouse. Her stockings were also torn. Her shoes were not on her feet. “Where is Zelphur?”

“Zelphur did it! He planned it. He called me as soon as you both left and told me he needed help with something and for me to come right away. I knew he could not be trusted,” she told them hysterically.

“What? Zelphur?” Michael and Raynaldo said with disbelief. “I mean, exactly what happened?” Michael asked setting the Chinese food down on the table.

Deanna started to cry.

“Ms. St. Clair called 9–1–1 about five minutes ago saying she had been assaulted by one of her co-workers,” the tall portly police officer, Officer Dominguez, said. “She told us you two had gone to the store to pick up something and Zelphur, your manager, asked her to come by to help him finish some work and he assaulted her.”

Raynaldo and Michael looked at each other.

Deanna regained her composure long enough to add to what Officer Dominguez told Michael and Raynaldo. “No sooner had I gotten here and was in his office, he locked the front door to the building and his office door as well … he started to approach me saying he had been wanting to get to know me better and he was glad for this time alone. I told him not to try anything, but … but … he said … no one will ever know … and … and … he took advantage of me … he forced himself on me.” Deanna broke down in tears again. “I screamed and tried my best to fight him off … but … He left so fast … he forgot to take his jacket,” she said pointing to the jacket. Her hand was trembling.

“We’ll have to take the jacket down to the station as evidence,” the other officer who identified himself as Officer McCloud said. “Ms. St. Clair says she is thinking about filing charges.”

Michael and Raynaldo exchanged glances.

“We advised her if she is going to file charges to go down to the hospital immediately and have a semen sample taken along with a written doctor’s report to take to court with her,” Officer McCloud continued. “That will be her strongest and only compelling evidence in court, especially since there were no witnesses to what took place here.”

“Well, you are my witnesses … you see how I look,” Deanna said quietly.

“Do you want us to accompany you to the hospital?” Michael asked Deanna.

“Thanks, but no … I’ll call my sister and have her meet me down there,” Deanna said dabbing at her mascara-blotched eyes.

“Well, if there is nothing else we can do for you,” Officer Dominguez said, as he scribbled on his notepad, “we’ll go ahead and file a report. Based on the information you’ve given to us, they will pick him up, but they will not hold him if you do not supply strong enough evidence to keep him in jail, because it will be a ‘he says she says’ argument. We’ll take the jacket with us. Let me go outside and get a bag from the patrol car to place it in.”

Deanna nodded as she rested her head in the palm of her hands.

While Officer Dominguez went to get the evidence bag, Officer McCloud repeated what Deanna had shared with them. “So, Ms. St.Clair, Zelphur Wilkinson works here as assistant manager at the Community Bank where Mr. Ivan Costello is manager. You say he lives in the St. Eves Neighborhood Community off Benedict’s Drive?”

Deanna nodded. “Yes, that’s in the affluent part of town.” she said with a sniffle and a sob.

Raynaldo and Michael wondered how Deanna knew so much about Zelphur.

After the officers left, Deanna excused herself to go to the restroom. “Let me wash my face and try to look decent before I go to the hospital. Do you think I need to change my clothes?” she asked looking down at her torn blouse.

Raynaldo and Michael shrugged their shoulders.

While escorting Deanna to her car, Raynaldo asked, “Are you sure you do not want us to come with you to the hospital?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m going to call my sister to meet me down there. I’ll feel more comfortable with her around.”

“What do you think?” Raynaldo asked Michael after safely seeing Deanna off.

“I think she’s lying,” Michael replied. “She made that up. I don’t know exactly what happened, but something does not sound right. We should have called in our food order before we left, then we would not have taken so long.”

“Yeah. So much for wanting Chinese food ten o’clock at night,” Raynaldo said.

“Oh, don’t blame yourself. We had no idea this would happen,” Michael replied, “Whatever the case, I don’t believe we’ve heard the end of it. I don’t believe Zelphur called her at all.”

…………………

Deanna drove out the bank’s parking lot with a smug smile on her face. She prided herself in how well she played the victim. She was convinced she had Raynaldo and Michael on her side, and after seeing her appearance, the two officers had no choice but to believe her.

“I have something for you, Zelphur Wilkinson,” she said to herself as she let herself into her apartment. She smiled as she picked up her phone. She made two calls before turning in for the night.

10

Mr. Costello returned my phone call 8:30 Monday morning. I related to him all that took place over the weekend. “I figured I’d let you know up front, sir, before word gets around.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Zelphur. I’ll look into it as soon as I return,” Mr. Costello assured. “If nothing happens, I should be back in the office tomorrow before lunch.”

Throughout the work day some of my co-workers kept throwing glances in my direction and whispers ceased whenever I walked out my office into the lobby area. Deanna avoided me like the plague. She should have been doing that all along.

After Deanna went on her lunch break, Michael and Raynaldo came into my office to find out what took place Saturday night. I told them exactly what took place. They, in turn, related to me what had ensued after I had left.

“So you mean to tell us she was hiding in here all along? But where?” Michael said raising his eyebrows.

Raynaldo grimaced. “She’s treacherous. I’m sure she had a plan up her sleeve to get rid of me and Michael.”

“As I think about it more,” Zelphur continued, “when I was talking with my sister over the phone, I stopped by the water fountain for a drink, I thought I heard coughing — even though it seemed kind of loud, it sounded kind of muffled. I did not think anything of it as I thought it may have come from my uncle or one of my other siblings in the background.”

“She must have been hiding in the ladies room … a likely place,” Raynaldo said.

I had not said anything to the family about the incident, yet. That evening, I told Uncle Jeb. “I don’t know if she’ll file charges, but I just want you to be aware of what took place. Do you think I should tell the others?”

“Mmm. Not yet. Let’s just wait and see what happens,” Uncle Jeb said.

On Tuesday around 1:00 after returning from my lunch break, two men from the sheriff’s office were waiting for me. One had an envelope. It contained a warrant for my arrest: I was charged with rape. The officers allowed me to make a phone call to Uncle Jeb.

“Could you please make sure that the children get in safely from school? And I hate to put this on you, but could you please explain to them what happened?”

“Think nothing of it, Zelphur. I’ll take care of it,” Uncle Jeb said. “And I’ll just move on in here until this blows over. Don’t lose hope, son. Remember, God is seeing all this.”

“Thank you, Uncle Jeb. If you need any extra help, don’t hesitate to ask Mister Bixley from next door,” I said.

Mr. Costello was making his way through the lobby to his office as the officers were accompanying me out my office. He asked to have a word with us after telling them who he was.

“This man is innocent,” Mr. Costello said to the officers after they stated their reason for picking me up, and after hearing my side of the story.

“Whether he’s innocent or not is not for us to decide,” one of the officers said. “We’re just doing our job.”

“What will take place now?” Mr. Costello asked.

“Can’t say exactly. But they’ll probably hold him in jail until the day of his trial. It’s hard to say as court cases are backed-up,” the other officer said.

“If this goes to trial, just make sure he has a good lawyer. Of course, it’s his word against the victim’s word. If he’s telling the truth, he can only hope to come out on top,” the first officer said to Mr. Costello.

“Can’t you take him in without the handcuffs? He won’t cause any problems. It’s a bit embarrassing being treated as a common criminal,” Mr. Costello said.

“He’s cooperated with us fully; but we have to follow procedures,” the first officer said. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, Zelphur; we’ll get you out,” Mr. Costello assured him.

I gave my car keys, watch, and other belongings to Mr. Costello before the officers escorted me out. “My Uncle will be coming by to pick them up. I already spoke with him.”

As I walked out with the officers I kept my eyes looking straight ahead. Deanna St. Clair had conveniently positioned herself by the table close to the entrance, pretending to refill the slots with the deposit and withdrawal slips, and brochures about the bank. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her lips curl into a devilish smirk as she tilted her head to the left. I did not acknowledge her.

Mr. Costello had a meeting with Michael and Raynaldo to hear their version of what had happened that weekend. He encouraged them not to discuss the incident with anyone.

“It might be too late. Deanna has already told some of the workers. She has been carrying on a whispering spree since yesterday. I don’t think they believe her anyway,” Michael said. “She’s also tried to talk with me more about it, but I told her it was none of my business.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Mr. Costello,” Raynaldo said, “but ever since Zelphur started working here, Deanna has been flirting with him, throwing personal statements at him, and trying to get into his personal life. If what Deanna is saying is true, she brought it on herself. And that’s a big if.”

Mr. Costello also met with Deanna who, while putting on another of her dramatic acting scenes, repeated the same story she had told Michael and Raynaldo. “Mr. Costello, he left so fast after what he had done, fearing Michael and Raynaldo’s return, that he left his jacket.”

“Where is his jacket now?” Mr. Costello asked.

“I turned it over to the police. They took it as evidence. And I went to the hospital to get examined so I have the paperwork also. I have filed charges.”

Mr. Costello raised his eyebrows. He shared with her what Michael and Raynaldo shared with him (keeping their names anonymous), about her flirting with Zelphur which she vehemently denied. “I just try to be friendly to everyone here; he took it the wrong way.”

Even though Mr. Costello did not believe any of Deanna’s words, he gave her the benefit of the doubt. “Well, the court will decide especially with your producing a report from the doctor. You can take the rest of the week off. I’m sure this has been a stressful time for you.”