Restoring Hope (23 page)

“Nic?” she whispered.

“Don’t,” he barked out, anger written all over his face.

“Don’t what?”

“I don’t want you to say anything.”

Nodding, watching his face as he stared at her, eyes blank and cold as they ran up and down her body. When his eyes came back to her own, the tears welled while she waited for his recriminations to start. He lowered his eyes to the sheet of paper and started reading out loud.

“Last Thursday police were called to the home of David G. Cummings, owner of Cumming's trucking. When they arrived, they found the body of Mr. Cummings on the kitchen floor, cause of death due to a knife wound inflicted by the deceased man’s wife, Jessica H. Cummings. Mrs. Cummings called 911 after an altercation that left her husband dead and Mrs. Cummings with two broken ribs, multiple contusions and a fractured wrist.

Both Mr. Cummings and his brother were under investigation for drug trafficking when his death occurred, and police have since informed the press that Mrs. Cummings was instrumental in acquiring evidence that is expected to lead to the arrest of her brother-in-law John D. Cummings.

Hospital records indicate that Mrs. Cummings has been treated multiple times over the past ten years for various injuries reported as accidents. One such incident ended the life of her unborn child in 2009. Medical officials refused to comment on whether or not any of the previous injuries were caused from abuse, but did say Mrs. Cummings is resting comfortably and is expected to make a full recovery. It is unknown if her involvement with the investigation caused her husband’s attack and police aren’t commenting at this time.”

“You killed your husband?” He asked with no emotion.

“Yes.”

“He and his brother are drug dealers and you stayed married to him for ten years?”

“Yes,” she replied. He didn’t want excuses he wanted the truth, and then he was done with her. She wouldn’t prolong his pain and her own. She would answer his questions and then let him walk out of her life.

“Are you really in danger?”

“Yes.”

“From John your dead husband or John the brother-in-law?” Nic asked sarcastically.

“My brother-in-law.”

“The paper says you had a history of abuse that you miscarried, that he beat you till you lost your son?” He seethed his hands balling into fists, “And yet you stayed married to him?”

“Yes.”

Nic said nothing for a moment trying to reconcile the angel in front of him with the woman from the article. She knew they sold drugs, and she stayed married to him. His gut rolled at the idea.

“Did you help them sell drugs to innocent children like my daughter?” he roared.

“NO!”

“But you knew and you stayed. Was it the money?” he asked with disgust.

“No,” Hope whispered, it was because she was weak, afraid, but it didn’t matter now.

“And the baby, your son? You never once told me about your loss. You consoled me, told me you didn’t know how I felt. Was any of that real? Was anything you’ve told me since we met the fuckin truth?” Nic shouted his rage building that he’d been this much a fool.

“Yes,” Hope replied but her voice broke. Now that he knew everything, and she saw it from his perspective, there was no doubt in her mind that he hated her.

“Any other lies you need to tell me?” Nic bit out, still no emotion on his face, only blank, cold resolution that the woman he’d cared about wasn’t who he thought she was and that nearly broke her.

“No,” she choked out still holding his eyes. She wouldn’t be a coward like she’d been for ten years.

“Nice to meet you finally, Mrs. Cummings. Welcome to New Orleans where fools and ghouls wander the streets.”

He moved suddenly, walked past her, and when he reached her door, he threw a punch at the wall, his hand going all the way through it and he thundered, “FUCK,” as he left Hope standing in the kitchen. She didn’t chase him, didn’t beg him to stay. He was done with her, and he deserved better than to have her causing a scene on his front lawn. With movements better suited to a zombie, she turned and closed the front door locking it and securing the chain.

Moving to the bedroom, she crawled into the bed with her clothes on, pulled the covers over her head and laid there until the sun rose, and the birds chirped announcing a new day had arrived, and still she didn’t move. Only when her bladder required it did Hope get up, and when she was finished, she crawled right back into the bed and pulled the covers back over her head. Sleep finally claimed her, though it wasn’t restful, it was filled with images of dark soulful eyes laughing, angry, hungry, but mostly they were blank. They were the eyes of a man who’d been lied to, cheated on and who’d buried a daughter he’d loved. They were the eyes of a man who was done.

Chapter Eighteen

It’s funny how a day can change the course of one’s life. The weight that had been hanging around Hope's neck for the past month was gone, but the emptiness she felt was far worse than any noose around her neck.

The sun’s bright rays shown through the blinds, lighting her room with a brightness she’d taken for granted until she opened her eyes, and for a moment watched as they skipped across the floor in a magical dance. She wanted to look at those rays as a symbol that her life would be brighter now, since she had nothing to hide, but her reality wasn’t as warm as those dancing sunbeams. A gray day with angry clouds would have better suited the mess she’d made of her life, of Nic’s life. Deciding she could lie there as a martyr would; feeling sorry for herself and the mess that she alone had brought down on her life, or, she could get up, clean up and do something to lessen Nic’s pain.

She should have trusted him to listen and understand what she had been through and why she hadn’t left, but she didn’t, and now she needed to accept the consequences of her actions. Nic had been honest with her, caring, understanding, and she still hadn’t let him see the real Hope. She was so damn selfish; she could barely look at herself. It was time to move on and leave Nic and those she cared about to their lives. Let them heal from her deception and move forward, while she tried to live with the guilt.

Trying to shake off her despair, Hope walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower, then moved to the closet and pulled out her bags to pack. She needed to call the train station, find out what states they went to and then decide a course of action. Picking up the brochure, she’d held onto when she first arrived, Hope scanned it for departure times. When the words blurred as tears welled in her eyes, she dropped the brochure and buried her face in her hands. For the first time since Nic walked out the door, she let sorrow consume her, and she fell to the floor as a guttural cry spilled from her throat. She cried for the pain she’d caused, the pain she’d endured, and the happiness she could have had if she’d just trusted Nic with her heart like he’d asked. She continued to lie on the floor as her sobs turned to hiccup’s, but still she couldn’t move. Exhaustion and mental fatigue set in eventually, and as the shower ran, Hope drifted off into blissful darkness.

“Why da’ food so slow?” Maman Rose hollered through the window to the kitchen.

“We short old woman, I cookin’ fast as I can,” Big Daddy shouted back. He didn’t have time to talk; he had plates backing up on him.

“Did dat’ no account Jasper not show?”

“
Non
, T-Hope,” he replied, worry etched on his face.

“Dere’ sometin’ I should know ‘bout?”

“She not call me old woman, I don’t know her everah’ move.”

“But you know sometin’ I see it in your face.”

Big Daddy threw his towel down, stalked across the kitchen to the window, and leaned in so only her ears would hear.

“She was gonna tell Nic last night of her trouble and she was worried he’d not forgive her for keepin’ da’ truth from him.”

“And you just now tell me dis’?” Rose shouted.

“I not loose in da’ lips, it her b’nez to tell!” he replied and then turned back to his station as he heard Rose shout behind him.

“I will feed Nic to da’ alligatah’ if he broke my girl I will.”

Big Daddy nodded he’d heard Rose and then added, “Stand in line, Rosie, Big Daddy get first crack.”

“
Cher
?” Hope opened her eyes to see Rose standing over her. Confused, she looked around and realized she was on the floor, and the shower was still running.

“
Cher
, you okay?”

She tried to take a deep breath and answer her, but it came out like sob, then the tears came again, and the next thing she knew she was in Rose’s arms as the big woman rocked her back and forth.

“You told Nic?” Hope nodded and held on to Rose as she replied, “Dat’ man gonna be da’ death of me he will.”

Rose moved Hope to the bed, had her sit, and then put her hands to Hope’s face telling her “He a stubborn man he is, but he a good man and he will get ovah’ what it is you done.”

“No, he won’t, I lied to him, and I kept important things from him, things he should have known before starting anything with me. He deserves better than that, and you know it.”

“And you don’t? . . . What you do dat' so bad, kill someone?” Hope blanched when she finished, and Rose’s eyes grew huge.

“Who you kill?” she whispered.

“My husband,” Hope whispered back.

“He lay his hand on you?”

“Yes.”

“More dan’ once?”

“Yes.”

“Den’ he got what he deserve. I’d kill him myself for laying a hand on my T-Hope I would.”

“There’s more than just that, Rose,” Hope continued and then stood from the bed, walked to the shower and turned it off. When she emerged from the bathroom, she took Rose’s hand and led her down the hall to the kitchen. When Hope saw the front door was still chained she asked Rose, “How did you get in?”

“Back door, Nic need a better lock, I broke-in in under two minutes I did.” Nodding her head, knowing she wouldn’t tell Nic anything, she found the article Nic had dropped and handed it to Rose.

She watched as Rose read the article, her face reacting to what she was reading. When Rose was finished, she laid it down on the counter and then drew Hope back into her arms and cried.

Hope stiffened in her arms, confused why she was crying. Hugging the woman back, she asked her “Why are you crying?” Rose pulled back, leveled wet eyes on Hope, and answered in disbelief.