“Why are you looking so tense? Relax. Let me pour you a glass of champagne.” He moved toward the ice bucket.
“Greg, cut the crap! Tell me what it is you want so I can go. I've got more important things to do.”
He shook his head. “You sure know how to kill the moment.” He reached for an open bottle and filled two glasses, then carried one over to me. “Here, drink this.”
I took it from his hands and thought about throwing it in his face, but on second thought I needed something to calm my nerves before we got down to business. Just looking at his soft body made me nauseated.
He took a sip from his glass, then reached over for his pants and pulled out his wallet. “So how much is it going to beâtwo ... three hundred?”
“What?”
“Oh, come on. I know you dancers have sex all the time for money.”
I was totally shocked. I never expected him to pay me. “Do I look like a ho to you?”
He shrugged. “I figure the least I can do is compensate you for your time because I am certain it's going to be worth every dime.” He stared at me, licking his lips, and I felt violated all over again. I watched as he peeled off three one hundred-dollar bills and sat them on the nightstand. He then removed a wad of dollar bills and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
“All right. Go ahead and dance for me.”
I stood there frozen in disbelief that one man had so much power over me. What angered me the most was that he knew it. “I can't do this.”
“You can't or you won't?” He appeared tickled.
As much as I didn't want to lose my girls, there was no way I could allow this man to blackmail me into becoming his whore. “I won't. You can tell Anthony whatever you want.” I started for the door.
“Really?” he chuckled. “Then why don't I call him now and invite him over.”
I turned around and watched in horror as he reached for his cellular phone and dialed. He then put the phone on speaker. I heard the receptionist at their front desk answer.
“Richmond Investments, how may I help you?”
Greg looked at me with a wide grin on his face. “Suzan, sweetie, this is Greg. Is Anthony in the office?”
“Sure, one moment, Mr. Stevens. Let me connect you.”
Oh shit!
I hurried across the room, snatched the phone from his hand, and ended the call just as I heard Anthony come onto the line. Greg just sat there laughing and waving the stack of dollar bills. “You bastard,” I mumbled.
“Hey, I've been called a lot worse,” he said and waited for the show to begin.
Tears burned the backs of my eyes but I pushed them away. There was no way I was going to let him know I was that easily broken.
Never let 'em see you sweat
, my mother used to say. I reached for the top button on my blouse and unfastened it.
28
Robin
“Mama, when you coming home?”
Deena looked from me to Trey for help.
“Sweetie, I can't come home right now. But I'll be home soon. I promise,” she reassured him with a big smile. I hope she wasn't making a promise she couldn't keep. The last I checked, the sentence for murder was twenty to life.
“I miss you,” Kyle whined.
I saw her bottom lip quiver and something in me shifted. I dropped my head. The last thing I wanted was her to see any emotion.
“I miss you too, sweetie.”
She hugged him, and Trey reached over and ruffled his hair. “Don't worry, dude. Your mama will be home soon. In the meantime, you get to hang out with me and your auntie Robin.”
I hated to see his adorable face look so sad. “That's right. How about we go back to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow?”
“Yeahhh!” He started jumping up and down with excitement. Trey cupped a hand over his mouth, causing him to squeal even more.
“I'm going to take him to the bathroom and meet you out front when you're done. Dee, I'll see you next week.”
“Thanks, Trey.” She waved good-bye to Kyle and got choked up with emotion. Despite whatever had happened to my sister over the years, I could tell she really loved her son. At least that was a relief.
“How's he really doing?” she asked after they were gone.
I nodded. “He's doing good ... really ... you don't have to worry about him.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much for taking Kyle in. If you hadn't ... I don't know what I would have done. That boy is my whole world.”
“He's a sweet kid.”
“I hate that the two of you met under such circumstances, but it's not like I didn't try to get together before this.”
Once again she was sitting there pretending to be the victim in all of this. Here I was trying to be nice for Kyle's sakeâit was because of me she had gotten transferred to a facility where we no longer had to visit across a glass wallâand she fucked it all up by bringing up the past again. “C'mon off it. You know why.”
“I've been trying to apologize to you for years, and I'm sorry ... but I couldn't go back to that house. All the abuse, it was just too much! You have to understand that.”
I slumped back against the seat. “You weren't the only one being abused. That woman beat me even more after you left.”
“But
you
fought back. That's the difference. I never knew how to do that.”
“So because you were a coward, you left me? Do you know how many times I thought about running away, but I didn't? I figured despite how many times she popped me upside my head, at least we were together. Now
that
made it worth the abuse.”
Deena stared across the table and her bottom lip quivered. “He was raping me, Robin,” she cried.
“What ... what the hell are you talking about?”
“Her boyfriend ... Floyd ... he was raping me.”
I looked at her. “Why you lying?”
She brushed tears away from her eyes and continued. “I'm not lying. He used to climb in my bed at night.”
Oh my God. The one thing we had liked about staying at Ms. Ernestine's was that after years of sharing rooms with three or four other kids, at her house we finally had rooms of our own to decorate with pictures and posters of our favorite celebrities. But now she was telling me something that I just couldn't stomach.
“Did Ms. Ernestine know?”
Deena snorted rudely. “Oh yeah, she knew. She would knock on the door and tell him to hurry up before you heard anything.”
This was just too much. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. Mainly because deep down I knew what she was saying was true.
I remembered feeling weird around Floyd. I used to find him staring at me from across the room, and one time he had commented about how big my titties were getting and some man was going to love sucking on them. I thought he was giving me a compliment until one time when I was in the kitchen washing dishes, he came up behind me and I felt his dick against my butt. I remember to this day what he said to me.
“Damn, I bet that pussy's tight.”
I had a butcher knife in my hand and swung around so fast he fell back against the kitchen table. I leaned over him with the blade pointed at his dick.
“Rub against me again and I swear I'll kill you while you sleep.”
Floyd hurried out of the room, mumbling, “That bitch is crazy,” and never fucked with me again.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Deena gave a strangled laugh. “How would I look telling my younger sister that? Besides, Floyd promised he wouldn't touch you as long as I gave him what he wanted ... so I did, until I just couldn't take it anymore.”
I didn't know what to say. All those years I spent hating my sister for leaving me when she had been running away from a rapist.
“I tried telling the social worker what was going on in the house, but when you denied any abuse ... they said I was causing trouble and to leave it alone.”
I couldn't find words because I clearly didn't know what to say.
“I tried, Robin ... really I did. But after a while I gave up and just sent you letters instead, letting you know where I was.”
What the hell was she talking about? “Letters? I never got any letters.”
She shook head. “Ms. Ernestine must have taken them. Any time I tried to call, she hung up the phone on me. I just kept calling hoping one time you would answer.”
We sat there for the longest time just staring at each other thinking about the childhood we had lost and could never get back. But that girl sitting on the other side of the table was my sister, and all bullshit aside, I missed her.
“So what do we do now?” she finally said.
“We get you the hell outta here so that you can get back home with Kyle. Trey moved all of your stuff outta your apartment and is storing it for you.”
“He's a good man.”
“Mmm-hmm, he is.” I tried to sound nonchalant, but I guess I did a poor job and she saw something on my face.
She pointed an accusing finger at me. “Wait a minute. Is there some kinda love connection going on?”
I shrugged and tried to act like it was no big deal when in fact I was crazy about him. “We've been kickin' it. With Kyle we have to spend a lot of time together.”
“Don't try to blame it on my son. I can tell you're really feeling Trey.”
“I guess I am.” I giggled, and for the first time since I was sixteen, I heard my sister's animated laugh.
“I'm happy for you,” she replied, then glanced down at my wrist. “I see you still have the butterfly charm Mama gave us.”
I fingered the small piece of jewelry that dangled from a thin chain. The Christmas before her death, Mama had given us both matching jewelry sets. Over the years while being passed around, I lost the earrings, and the necklace broke during a fistfight, but I held on to the charm with everything I had because it was the only connection I had left to my mother. “Yeah, I need to replace the clasp on this bracelet before I lose it,” I said, smiling down at it with fond memories. “What about you? You still have yours?”
She shook her head, wearing a gloomy smile. “I did. But I lost my charm the night Mannie was murdered.”
29
Monica
“You are lying.”
I shook my head at Reyna, who was standing in front of the stove. “Nope. I'm not lying. Greg's been showing up every Tuesday for a private lap dance.”
We were in my kitchen. I had invited Reyna over so she could make her famous Ro-tel cheese dip and so we could spend a few moments of girlfriend time before Tremayne arrived for movie night. Between the club and Tremayne, I knew she felt like she was losing her best friend, and I didn't want her to feel that way. Reyna was so insecure. I guess she always had been, but I was too busy being Anthony's wife to notice, which I found crazy because up until recently I thought she was the most confident women I'd ever known.
“I can't believe this shit!” Reyna turned the fire off under the skillet, then came over and took a seat at the table across from me. “How come you didn't tell me?”
How the hell was I supposed to tell my best friend that some bastard was threatening me so he could do what he wanted? Even now I was too embarrassed to tell her I'd been meeting him in a hotel for the last two weeks. “I was too ashamed to say anything.”
“Damn, Monica. Do you think he's gonna tell Anthony?” she asked with a worried look.
I shook my head. “I don't think so.” I was at least certain that as long as I gave him what he wanted, my secret would be safe with him.
“That's fucked up! Maybe you should quit.”
“I can't afford to.” Trust me, I was more than ready to hang up my dancing shoes, but the money was just too good for me to let some bastard run me away from my job. Besides, I still had two kids to feed, a mortgage, and a car note. Until I graduated from nursing school and passed my boards, I needed my job.
Reyna tapped her pudgy little fingers against her lip. “Yes, but if he tells Anthony ...” She allowed her voice to trail off for dramatic effect. The outcome went unsaid.
“Either way I'm fucked,” I replied, biting my lip in frustration. “At least right now Anthony hasn't tried taking me back to court for a custody battle.” And I wanted to keep it that way.
Reyna rolled her eyes with disgust. “I still can't believe he tried to buy the girls' parental rights! I'm just saying ... what kind of man does something like that?”
“A man who is used to getting what he wants, that's who.” Ever since that incident at his office, I had been keeping our phone conversations brief and only allowing him to have the girls on his scheduled weekends unless it was a special event. I had even contacted an attorney for a free consultation, and she told me as long as I didn't give him any reason to contest the custody agreement, then I had nothing to worry about. That was a relief, although I had a lot of reason to worry.
When Anthony arrived and picked up the girls, he tried to be cordial. At least his Barbie wannabe had sense enough to stay her skinny ass in the car.
Reyna left for a Mary Kay party, and while I waited for Tremayne to come over I pulled out my school books and got to studying. I had a big test on Monday that was fifty percent of my grade, so I'd decided to take the night off and spend some time studying and with Tremayne. Saturdays were big money nights, and I tried not to think about how much money I was missing out on.
By the time Tremayne pulled into my driveway, I had memorized most of my notes and was feeling pretty good about my test.
“Hey, baby.” I opened the door and greeted him with my soft lips pressed to his. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. I felt so lucky to have that man in my life.
I stepped aside and escorted him into the foyer and took a moment to admire how well he was wearing a pair of jeans and a red polo shirt.
“Come on in, have a seat. I made us some snacks to eat while we watch the movie.” I held up the new release so Tremayne could share in my excitement. It was then I noticed that he wasn't smiling. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged it off, then moved into the living room over to the couch and took a seat. Mama ain't raised no dummy. I knew something was on his mind, but I had every intention of making sure the only thing he was thinking about was me.
I fixed us both some Ro-tel and chips, then we got comfortable on the couch. While I popped in the movie, Tremayne poured us both a glass of white wine. The evening was perfect.
“How was work last night?” Tremayne asked only seconds after the movie began.
Damn, I hope he wasn't planning on talking through the entire movie. We had plenty of time for that later. I didn't even bother to look away from the television screen when I answered. “It was busy as always.”
“Really?” He didn't sound convinced.
“Yes, really. Why you ask?” My belly did a flip-flop because I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what he was about to say, and his response confirmed it.
“Because I came by the hospital last night.”
I practically choked on a chip. “You did?”
“Yes, I did. I wanted to surprise you with a bouquet of flowers, but unfortunately no one in the ER knew who you were. The girl at the desk was even nice enough to look through the directory and told me something interesting. No one named Monica Houston works at the medical center.”
Ain't that a bitch.
I sat there with my mouth wide open. I was straight busted. My brain didn't work that fast, so I didn't know what to say.
“What the hell's going on, Monica?” Tremayne reached for the remote, pausing the movie, and the entire room went deathly quiet. I could tell by the serious look on his face that this was no joking matter.
“Okay ... I lied.”
He shook his head and looked totally confused. “Why? Why would you lie about working at the hospital?”
I looked down at my plate, over at the television, and out the window. Everywhere except at Tremayne. “Because I was ashamed to tell you the truth.”
“The truth? The truth about what?”
“About what I really do for a living.” Oh goodness, this was worse than I thought it would be.
His expression seemed to soften. “Baby ... what could be so bad that you couldn't tell me?”
I took a long breath. “My job. I didn't lie about working at the hospital. I lied about working in the ER.” I took a moment to catch my breath. I couldn't even look him in the eyes anymore, and prayed the Lord didn't strike me down for this one. “I work in housekeeping cleaning patient rooms.” I took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch cushions. Oh God, I couldn't believe I had let that lie fall from my lips. “I'm employed through a temporary service.”
I guess I must have looked pathetic because Tremayne draped his right arm across my shoulders. I released a deep sigh of relief for thinking fast on my feet. “You know how hard it is trying to raise two girls on minimum wage.”
“Hey, baby. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” Leaning over, he planted his sweet lips to my cheek and squeezed me tight. Damn, I didn't deserve this man. Genuine tears spilled from my eyes. I just wasn't used to anyone being this good to me.
“You know how embarrassed I would be if anyone found out I was scrubbing toilets?” I tried to laugh it off, but it was no use. A sob caught in my throat and I brushed the tears away. How in the world had I suddenly become such a liar?
“Hey, we all have to do what we gotta do. Would you believe I used to flip burgers while I was in college?”
“Yes, but I'm a grown-ass woman with two kids.” He had no idea how embarrassing it was being my age with almost nothing going for myself.
“It doesn't matter. You're going to school and trying to make a life for yourself. No one can fault you for that.” He cupped my chin and tilted my lips upward and kissed me with so much passion my toes curled.
“Thank you.” I was seconds away from bawling. Like I said, I don't deserve someone as good as him. “Can we watch the movie now?” I was more than ready to end this particular conversation and get back to the action flick, especially since I was feeling guilty as hell, but Tremayne wasn't ready to let it go.
“Listen, Monica ... I hope you realize by now I am an all-or-nothing man. When I have a woman, I'm committed to her.” He sighed and dragged a hand across his face and I waited, giving him time to collect his words. I'd never seen him look that serious before. “What I'm trying to say, Monica ... is that I love you and at some point when we both feel we're ready I want to make you, Liese, and Arissa a permanent part of my life.”
My heart was pounding so hard I couldn't even speak. He loved me. That fine, educated man loved me ... a woman with secrets and excess baggage. His words meant so much my hands started to shake.
“But we gotta be honest with each other. As your man I should be able to accept you for you, and you should be able to do the same. No secrets.”
“You're right,” I said, and it was the perfect time to be honest with him and tell him what I was doing. Only I couldn't.
“Do you need money? If you do, baby, all you have to do is ask.”
I cut him off. “I've got too much pride for that.”
“You're my woman. I'm supposed to help you.” He gave me a huge grin. “Now let's finish watching the movie, then I'm taking you to bed and show you how much you mean to me.” He lay back against the couch and I settled between his legs and rested my head on his chest and tried not to think about the lies that were starting to become second nature.