The Ringo Effect

By E O Elliott

For thirty-five years, as her adoring husband builds a successful business empire, Dahlia Ringo lives the well-appointed life of a proud and pampered wife. She wears designer fashions, enjoys lavish vacations and entertains in comfortable sophistication while raising their three children in one of Chicago’s most exclusive neighborhoods. But when her husband dies suddenly, ugly secrets are revealed. Secrets that can destroy the life that Dahlia has so carefully created for herself and her family. A life of elegance and distinction. A life she has no intentions of letting go.

A quick and fast-paced read from start to finish, THE RINGO EFFECT is perfect for the beach, an airplane flight, or a quiet evening at home when your brain craves more than binge-watching another series or scrolling through social media sites. Sometimes you just want to read a good story! And we’ve got one just for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: E O Elliott
• Release date: Mar 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005694104

E O Elliott

Growing up in Chicago, surrounded by a family of dapper men and stylish women, Edwina’s heart has always belonged to the world of fashion and art. It never occurred to her to do anything else and an extensive career in advertising, illustration and design developed. She kept an on-going journal of her adventures as a retail art director, shooting with models Cindy Crawford, Uma Thurmond, Jennifer Beals and Halle Berry. After moving to Atlanta, GA, she wrote short stories for her own amusement while creating advertising and marketing campaigns for the Alliance Theater Co. with award-winning Artistic Director Kenny Leon and playwrights Elton John & Tim Rice, August Wilson, Janece Shaffer and Debbie Allen. For years she waited for the one big project that would bring it all together—fashion, art, and storytelling—before realizing, finally, that she would have to create the projects herself. And that's what she's been doing ever since. Writing, illustrating and self-publishing her own stories to share.

Book preview

The Ringo Effect

Copyright 2022 E. O. Elliott

Published by E. O. Elliott at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with others, please consider giving it as a gift by purchasing additional copies for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Acknowledgements

I thank my very first best friend, my cousin Valeria Domino Harrell for reading The Ringo Effect, taking the time to edit it with care and sensitivity and going to the mat with me until it all made sense. Thanks Cuz!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17 (Epilogue)

About the Author

Let's Connect!

Chapter 1

Richard Ringo’s tuxedo-clad corpse lies in a coffin of creamy satin and fine mahogany. His white tie, pearl-studded buttons and matching pearl cufflinks glow under the soft lights of the Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church. His once meaty hands are folded together and placed delicately upon his torso. A platinum Rolex watch peeks out from under his right cuff. His thick gold wedding band glistens.

Rev. Jackson L. Cartwright is standing at the podium surrounded by dozens of wreaths and floral arrangements. In a luxurious purple robe reserved for special occasions, he dabs at beads of sweat that gather on his forehead as he speaks of Richard’s successful businesses on East 76th Street.

He opened the Ringo Food Mart over twenty-five years ago. You remember? Then he added the Ringo Wash and Fluff, the Ringo Wharf fish market and my personal favorite, Ringo Sweets. Who hasn’t bought a birthday cake from Ringo Sweets—the best bakery in all of Chicago? Can I get an amen!

The congregation echoes with a resounding Amen! But many in the packed pews click their tongues and duck their heads to hide their snickering. Rev. Cartwright’s obvious omission of Ringo Wines and Spirits got passed no one. It should have been the first store he mentioned, as many times throughout the years that he’s been spotted tipping in and sliding out with a brown paper bag tucked under his arm.

Dahlia Ringo, Richard’s wife of thirty-five years, is seated on the front pew. Flanked by two of their three children, she wears an exquisite black Chanel dress. Her semi-transparent veil falls over a wide-brimmed Dior hat. She is stunning. Her long slender legs are sleek and fashionably bare and her feet, encased in high-heeled Manolo Blahniks, are crossed at the ankles and tucked beneath the pew. She can’t control their shaking. A Fendi handbag rests in her lap along with her youngest daughter’s right hand and her son’s left.

The reverend continues. But Richard Ringo’s greatest achievement, of which he was most proud, was his marriage to Dahlia, their three children, Davinia, Richard, Jr., and Maya, and his grandson, his namesake, Richard III. Little Tre. No man was prouder of his family than Richard Ringo. He knew from where his blessings flowed.

Amen! the church responded.

After the funeral service the attendees follow the limousine carrying Dahlia and her family in a slow 50-car processional down Cottage Grove Avenue to the Oak Woods Cemetery on 67th Street. The afternoon is clear and sunny as Richard Ringo’s casket is lowered into their family plot. Maya’s heart wrenching sobs grow louder and louder. Dahlia struggles to console her and not fall apart herself.

Come on now baby. You’ll make yourself sick.

At twenty, Maya is their youngest. She was Richard’s favorite. He would introduce her to his friends as the last button on Jacob’s coat.

It is a surprise to everyone that Smitty's, a family style restaurant on Stony Island Avenue, is hosting the repast. But the idea of inviting guests back to their home was too much for Dahlia. The neighborhoods most social social butterfly, she couldn't bring herself to take on this gathering. It made her chest hurt to even think about it.

As guests dine on the usual fare—fried chicken, catfish, roast beef and a variety of sides, Dahlia moves from table to table with grace and ease, thanking everyone for coming.

Oh darling, you don’t have to thank us, Janet Gaines, her longtime neighbor rises from her chair and puts her arms around Dahlia. You know how much we loved Richard.

Her husband Frank takes Dahlia’s hand. We love you too, honey, he says. You call us if you need anything. You promise?

I promise, Dahlia says, gently untangling herself from the couple. She has a long night ahead of her with lots of hugs and wet kisses to come.

As president of the JPBSS—the Jefferson Park Business and Social Sector, many are here out of respect for her. But she expects a lot of bullshit along with the tearful condolences. Not everyone in this room loves her.

She walks pass her best friend Penelope who reaches out and squeezes her forearm. She doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t have to. Dahlia and Penelope, Dee and Penny, have been best friends since high school. Just her touch is all Dahlia needs to get through one of the worse nights of her life.

There is a tug at Dahlia’s dress. It’s four-year-old Tre. Her grandson. She looks down at the little boy and sees tears in his big brown eyes.

What is it, Tre? she takes his hand and sits down at an empty table. She pulls him to her. What’s wrong?

Is it true, Glammie? he asks. If Grampie is just dead can he still remember me?

Well damn. They had been using phrases like sleeping with the angels and gone to be with God to help wrap his little mind around never seeing his grandfather again. What heartless bastard could have told him that his Grampie is just dead?

Dahlia’s eyes rest on Davinia. Sitting two tables away, her eldest daughter bats long fake eyelashes at her with deliberate innocence but sheer devilment is written all over her face.

Yes sweetheart, Dahlia gathers the little boy in her arms. Your Grampie will always remember you. And love you forever and ever.

In the driveway of the stately Ringo home on Bennett Avenue, their limo driver offers his condolences once again. Dahlia, Davinia, Maya, RJ, his wife Clarice and little Tre exit the car and enter the darkened house in silence. They climb the stairs and retreat to their bedrooms on the second and third floors.

Dahlia removes her veil and the magnificent hat and places it in a hatbox on the bench at the foot of their king size bed. She runs a hand over her short cap of silvery hair and exhales with a loud groan of exhaustion. Slipping out of her heels, she pads across the room barefoot to a small bar set up near a cozy window alcove. She and Richard sat there on many evenings talking over their day and making plans for the future.

Flipping on a small lamp, she pours a generous amount of Hennessy Black into a crystal tumbler and removes her diamond and emerald choker, dropping it on the heavy glass-topped surface of her dressing table. She makes a mental note to return it to the wall safe in her closet tomorrow and then she chuckles, closing her eyes to savor a memory. Richard would chastise her about leaving jewelry lying around the house. She can still hear him.

One would think you don’t care about it, he’d say.

What? she’d ask about a sapphire bracelet