Social Distance: Book 2

By Mark McCalleb

Social Distance, book 2, picks up right after the events of book 1. Now that the Covid pandemic has affected the nation, Gary's job has closed down, and his wife has left him. To make matters worst, Gary met up with his ex-girlfriend, Crystal, and murdered her boyfriend, Hank, accidentally. Now the two of them are on the run. Will they survive in these city streets during the pandemic?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665751285

Mark McCalleb

Mark McCalleb was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, he did a lot of reading in school and was a huge fan of suspense and horror movies. These activities developed his passion for writing and a very creative imagination. Mark is also known amongst his peers as the best story-teller there is.

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Copyright © 2023 Mark McCalleb.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

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of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-5127-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-5129-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-5128-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023911274

Archway Publishing rev. date:  10/16/2023

CONTENTS

Fairmoor Liquors (I Feel Like A New Man Now) …

Gregory & Bertrice’s House (Do You Know This Man) …

Rita’s House (Y’all Need To Fix This) …

Coraline’s House (Burn Them) …

Dawn (Sitting in My Room) …

Spencer (You Better Have Some Good News For Me) …

Joe (Now You Sound Like Mom) …

Rachel’s House (All Hell Broke Loose) …

Coraline’s House - The Party (Why Do You Look So Sad) …

The Precinct (BINGO! That’s What I Need) …

Rita’s House (It’s Fine. Don’t Tell Me) …

Coraline’s House (Do You Know Something I Don’t) …

The Next Day: Alderwoman Clancy’s Office (Send Him In) …

Coraline’s House (We’re Going For A Ride) …

Charles & Rachel’s House (I Don’t Care) …

Rita’s House (I Guess You’re Right) …

Joe & Dawn (I Have To Go) …

The Precinct (Who Told You To Go There) …

The Morgue (Then That Makes Two Of Us) …

The Smith’s Residence (How Did It Come To This) …

Dawn (We Were Fine Until You Came) …

Spencer (My Wife Is Very Impatient) …

Fairmoor Liquors (This Is Not On You) ...

Gary (It’s A Long Story) …

6pm, Claire (That’s Enough For Today) …

Maxine (Ain’t That The Truth) …

Crystal (Yeah, It’s Her) …

Spencer (Honey, What’s Wrong) …

8pm, Gary (Where Are You) …

Gregory & Bertrice’s House (Tell Me That I’m Wrong) …

Spencer (I’m Just Resting My Eyes) …

Hospital (Why Not Now) ...

The Precinct (That Wasn’t Supposed To Happen) ...

The Precinct (They Were Just In Here) ...

The Hospital (I Have To Get Back Inside) ...

Corner of 59th (This Doesn’t Make Sense) ...

Sparkle and Dawn (He Wants To Talk To You Again) ...

The Precinct (Who’s Saying That) …

Crystal (We Need To Finish This) …

Hospital - The Next Day (Why Am I Arrested) …

Claire Clancy (You Don’t Have To Do This) ….

Dawn (I’ll Call You Back When I Leave) ….

Coraline (I Probably Need To Rest) …

Anna (Everything Is Not Okay) …

Vanessa (2pm. Maxine’s Departure) ……

Crystal, 5pm (I’m Coming To Get You) ...

Breaking News!!

Spencer (You’re Not Helping) …...

Sparkle and Vanessa (What Else Have You Heard About Me) ….

Hospital, 9pm (Are You Okay In There) ....

Spencer (We’re All Hurting At The Loss) ….

Joe (I’m In A Lot Of Trouble) …

Spencer (She Was Darker. And Very Pretty) ….

Gary (I Need You To Pick Me Up) ...

Spencer (No One’s Home) ….

Fairmoor Liquors (It’s Been A Rough Week Around Here) …

Meanwhile (I Found The Wife) …

Gary (8 blocks away) ...

Vanessa (I Didn’t Mean To Startle You) …

Meanwhile (Where Are You) ...

Two Blocks Over (Fine! Stay Here!) …

Two Blocks South (I Guess You Heard) ….

Four Streets East (How Much is this Call Worth, Player) ...

Dawn (I’ve Seen You Before) …

Vanessa (You Got My Attention) ...

Gary (They’re All Up The Block) ...

Spencer (What Do You See) ...

The Precinct (What Does It Mean) ...

Miles (She’s Fine) ...

Gary (Come Over Here With Us) ...

Morning After Conclusion…

Fairmoor (I Thought I Had More Time) ...

A Message from Your Favorite Author

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FAIRMOOR LIQUORS (I FEEL LIKE A NEW MAN NOW) …

Gary: Hey Clyde, thanks for falling through and cutting me up right quick! I feel like a new man now.

Clyde: Naw, thank you for letting me cut. I don’t know when they’ll allow me to open up the shop again. This Corona shit is real! It’s hurting my business. It ain’t easy making these house calls to cut some heads.

Gary: I can imagine. I definitely appreciate you though.

Clyde: You boys got hot dates tonight?

Joe: Going to chill with moms for a bit.

Clyde: I hear ya! Aight fellas, I’ll holla back.

Joe escorts Clyde out of the storeroom while Gary cleans up the hair on the floor. A couple of minutes later, Joe comes back.

Gary: What’s this place your mom wants us to come to?

Joe: We’re going to her new house. She has a private chef coming through to cook dinner, a bartender, and DJ.

Gary: Damn! What’s the occasion?

Joe: Us! All of us! So go home and put some real clothes on. It’s about to go down! And pick me up when you’re done.

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GREGORY & BERTRICE’S HOUSE

(DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN) …

Gregory: So what are you asking me Detective?

Spencer: So you’re saying that Crystal doesn’t come here periodically?

Gregory: That’s correct. She doesn’t come here at all if you need my answer to be clearer. What is it that she supposedly did?

Spencer pulls a photo from his envelope and hands it to Gregory.

Spencer: Do you know this man? (It was a mugshot of Hank).

Gregory: I do not. Who is he? Let me guess, Him and Crystal are a thing and they’re in some sort of trouble together somewhere, right?

Spencer: Well, he’s decreased now. And the last person to see him alive was Crystal.

Gregory looks at Bertrice and puts his head down.

Gregory: I’m sorry to hear that, Detective. I haven’t seen our daughter for a long while now.

Spencer: Does your daughter have any kids?

Bertrice: Yes, our granddaughter, but she’s not involved with her mother.

Spencer: Does the granddaughter reside here with you?

Gregory: Yes. My granddaughter doesn’t have anything to do with any of this, Detective.

Spencer: Understood. Here’s my card. If your daughter reaches out to you, please give me a call. We just need to ask her a few questions about what happened that night and thank you for your time. Spencer says as he walks toward the door.

As Spencer leaves out, his phone rings.

Det. Lance: Hey Spence. We found that perk that you were looking for.

Spencer: Mitch?

Det. Lance: Yeah. He turned up dead in an alley, two streets from the precinct with two shots in him. What’s weird is that he’s in the back of a police transport vehicle.

Spencer: Shit! I’m on my way!

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RITA’S HOUSE (Y’ALL NEED TO FIX THIS) …

The girls, CJ and GJ all walk into the house, feeling differently about life and ready to make some changes. Rita and Charles were both on the couches across from each other, sleeping. Rita still had her glass in her hand with wine in it, ready to spill out at any given moment. Maxine walked over and took the glass from her hand and laid Rita over to where she was lying down. Vanessa took the blanket off of the back of the couch and covered Rita with it. CJ carried GJ upstairs because he was asleep. Rachel walked over to Charles, who was snoring pretty loud, to wake him up. She tapped him on the head a few times until he opened his eyes.

Rachel: Hey! Wake your ass up! She said as she kept tapping.

Charles: I’m up! I’m up! Charles groaned as he sat up slowly, still in pain.

Maxine walked over to the kitchen and saw Rita’s empty wine bottle and the bottle of Captain Morgan with an empty glass next to it.

Maxine: I see you and momma were having yourselves a little party while we were gone, huh?

Rachel looks over at Charles.

Rachel: You know you’re not supposed to drink while you’re taking medication, right?

Charles: That’s not mine…. Gary was here.

Vanessa turned around and looked at Charles. Rachel and Maxine both looked at Vanessa.

Vanessa: Shit……he came to get GJ. I forgot all about it.

As Vanessa looked at Charles, he motioned his eyes up and down at her stomach. Vanessa quickly turned away, as the thought of Charles knowing right now meant that everybody, more so Rachel, was going to find out soon enough.

Rachel: Are you well enough to drive?

Charles: I should be okay.

Rachel: Good. You need to go home so I can talk to my sisters.

Charles sat there with a distant look on his face.

Charles: Are you……?

Rachel: I’ll be there…. trust me.

As Charles got up, CJ came down the stairs.

CJ: GJ’s sound asleep Aunt Vee.

Vanessa: That’s good. Thank you.

Rachel: CJ…. I need you to go home with your father right now.

CJ looked at his mother with an angry look. Rachel walked over to her son and put her hands on his cheeks.

Rachel: I just made amends with a man that I hated for all the right and wrong reasons. Baby, you’ve seen me at my highest and my lowest. But today……today it was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I don’t want you to ever have to carry that kind of weight with me and your father.

Rachel then turned to Charles.

Rachel: Y’all need to fix this! Cause I can’t do it anymore. She said as she walked over to the door and opened it.

Rachel: When I get home, I pray to God that y’all have resolved this issue. Now let’s go! Rachel says as she closes the door behind them.

Vanessa and Maxine sit on the couch. Rachel walks over to the two of them and sits in between them. The three of them stare at Rita sleeping on the couch.

Rachel: Max…. Thank you for convincing me to go with you today. I feel so refreshed right now. Rachel said as she started to tear up.

Maxine: We needed this! I just wish that we could have done this sooner. But we did it! That’s all that matters now!

Rachel: I’m going back over there tomorrow. I really miss him.

Rachel then turned her attention to Vanessa.

Rachel: Vee…. I believe that you have something to tell me.

Vanessa sat there with a heart as heavy as a ton. The tears started to pour down from her face.

Vanessa: Rachel…. I’m sorry……I’m so so sorry! You’re my sister and I love you. And if you don’t want to forgive me, I totally understand. But right now, I don’t want to lose you, and I don’t know what to do!

Maxine: Vee…. you and Charles really crossed the line.

Vanessa: I know, I know! I tried to stop this with him. I was just in a bad place with Gary, and I didn’t know what to do.

Rachel and Maxine sat and watched as Vanessa continued crying.

Rachel: It’s one thing to get past the two of you cheating. What I want to know….is when were you going to tell me that you were pregnant?

Maxine: WHAT?!!!!!!! Maxine screamed as she jumped up.

Maxine: YOU’RE PREGNANT BY CHARLES???? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!!! VEE…. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH……OH MY GOD!!!"

Suddenly, Rita starts to wake from all the noise.

Rita: Max?! Why are you screaming in my house? I already have a headache.

Maxine: Ma, you need to get up!

Maxine walks into the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water and some aspirins for Rita.

Maxine: Here Ma, take this! This shit is unfucking real right now!

Rita: MAX! Calm your ass down! What’s going on?!

Maxine: Vee is pregnant by Charles! Can you believe this shit?!

Rita looked over at Rachel, then looked at Vanessa, who had her face in a pillow crying. Then she glanced off at the wall. Rachel stares down her mother.

Rachel: You knew this already, didn’t you?

Rita took the aspirins. Then she started rubbing her hands on her legs.

Rita: I found out the other day at the hospital. Rita said with her head down. Then she looked up at Rachel.

Rita: Who told you?

Rachel: You all just did.

Rita, Maxine, and Vanessa all looked at Rachel in confusion.

Maxine: What do you mean?

Rachel: Vee’s cravings were obvious. I may not have had a great relationship with Gary throughout the years, but I do know how hard he fights when it comes to family, especially kids.

Rachel turned to Vanessa.

Rachel: When he stopped fighting for you, I knew something was off. I mean…. It’s obvious that you’re pregnant. We can all see that. Well, at least I can. I was starting to wonder if it was him or Charles. Maxine assumed it was Charles.

Rachel leaned over to Vanessa.

Rachel: AND YOU DIDN’T CORRECT HER!!

Rita slides up to the edge of the couch.

Rita: Rachel, listen to me….

Rachel: I’m done listening to you, Ma. The more you talk about this shit, the worse you’re going to make it!

Rachel stood up and walked towards the door.

Rachel: The funny thing about all of this is that I’m not even mad…. Not anymore.

Maxine: Rachel, wait……….

Maxine walks over to Rachel.

Rachel: I have something to say. And I need you here to hear it from me, okay? Please……just hear me out, okay?

Rachel looks at Maxine and sighs heavily. Maxine gives Rachel the puppy dog eyes.

Maxine: Pleeeeeaassssee!

Rachel: You’re a pain in my ass today, Max! You know that, right? You got two minutes.

Maxine: Thank you! Maxine says as she hugs Rachel.

She takes Rachel by the hand and leads her back to the couch. Maxine stands there and she looks back and forward at her mother and her sisters.

Maxine: I figured that these last few days here were going to be rough. I came up here…telling myself not to have any expectations from you all because of what had happened in the past. But when I got here, I expected everything from y’all. I wanted my family to be whole again. Well….at least pretend to be whole. I know I blindsided y’all with seeing daddy. Us being there with him was a dream that I always had as a little girl and to see that dream unfold…… (Maxine starts to cry) ....it was so beautiful! It was better than I had imagined. But rekindling with him wasn’t the only reason that I came up here. After I got here, I realized that I needed to rekindle with you all as well. I always figured that we were alright and that I had nothing to worry about. But I was wrong. We’re not alright.

Maxine takes a deep breath.

Maxine: I have a boyfriend back home in Texas. He proposed to me at his mother’s house, right before I got in the car to leave……. And I said yes!

Everyone sat there in silence, as if the energy left the room.

Maxine: And we want to get married this year. And he wants to meet my family. He begged me to come on this trip and I insisted that he wait to meet you. I hate that I was right about him not coming with me.

Rita stood up with her eyes cut at Maxine.

Rita: Oh….so you’re judging us now?

Rachel: Speak for yourself, Ma. She’s judging you!

Rachel walks over to Maxine and hugs her.

Rachel: Congratulations little sister! Like I said, I’ll always be here for you. Whatever and whenever! I’m pretty sure you have Dad’s blessings. And as fucked up as Vee is right now, I know she’s down for you too.

Vanessa stands up and walks over to Maxine. They both hug and cry uncontrollably. Then the three of them stare at Rita.

Rachel: You’re always talking about how you want to make things right with us, Ma. But you can’t seem to get past yourself. You got us all here and you still don’t know what to say.

Maxine reached her hand out to Rita.

Maxine: Maybe you don’t need to say anything, Ma. Just embrace us for a change.

Rita reached out her hand and Maxine pulled her into the circle of the three of them and they all just embraced each other.

Rachel: We love you, Ma.

Rita, with tears in her eyes, responded….

Rita: I love y’all too! This is all I ever wanted from you all. To be close to each other!

Maxine: I could stay like this forever!

Rachel: Okay, Max! Your two minutes are up!

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CORALINE’S HOUSE (BURN THEM) …

While Dawn had to run a quick errand, Coraline gives Crystal a quick tour of her house.

Crystal: This is a nice house, Ma!

Coraline: Thank you. Let me take you to the room where you’ll be sleeping tonight.

Crystal: Oh wow! I’m starting to feel like Cinderella. Or any of the princesses!

Coraline: Umm hmm. More like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman.

Crystal: Who?

Coraline: Nothing. Just…. come on.

Coraline walks into one of the rooms as Crystal stands by the door in amazement. Crystal came in and sat her bags down and walked around the room. She then eyeballed the odd shaped tub that sat across from the bed.

Coraline: It’s called a claw foot tub. Once you’re done soaking your body in it, and I mean soaking, I took the liberty of buying you some pregame apparel. It’s a couple of my favorite scented body lotions in here too. Coraline says as she shows her the bag.

Coraline: "I want you to put this on after your bath and meet