Savory Deceits (31 page)

“I’m so glad you made that decision.” She said hugging me tight.

32

~CHRIS~

I used the spare key that I kept in my glove compartment to let myself into my apartment. My nose felt swollen and tender, and the cut above my eyebrow stung. I was lucky Hopkins answered his phone when I had called, or else I would still be in jail. I had tried to get a hold of Nena, but her phone seemed to be off. I twisted my neck side to side, making my way towards my bedroom. When I opened the door, I was surprise to find Nena, soundly sleeping in my bed, wearing my shirt. Smiling, I crept towards the bed, and then I leaned over, to kiss her forehead. She stirred, and her eyelids fluttered.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” I whispered in her ear. Then slowly, she opened her eyes, as I stood over her smiling.

“Chris!” She exclaimed, scrambling to her knees, and throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, grateful that she was here waiting for me, and not at home, with Tony. Her being here, made it all worth it.

“I’m okay baby.” I said, kissing the side of her neck.

“I was so worried! My phone died, I lost my charger, and when I tried to find out where you were, I couldn’t…” she started to explain.

“Shhh, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’m here now.” I said, rubbing her back.

“I’m sorry. I should have left when you told me to, and all of this could have been avoided.” She continued to apologize. Then I pushed out of her arms, and cupped her face with my hands.

“Listen to me. I’m okay. Don’t worry about it. I’m good.” I said, kissing her on the lips. When she pressed her lips harder against mine, I flinched. Then she stopped, to look at me again, and saw the bruise on my nose. “I’m okay. I just need some ice.” I said, stepping back to remove my jacket. She sat back on her legs, and watched me.

“So what did they say? Are they charging you with anything?” She asked me. I sat next to her on the bed to remove my boots.

“No. Thanks to you, I’ve been released without charge. They told me what you said about him attacking me, so they let me go.” I explained, standing up to unbutton my jeans.

“You’re welcome, I guess. What exactly did happen anyway? When I came out, you two were already going at it.” She said, looking at me.

“He just walked in, and started swinging.” I replied, now standing in nothing but my boxers. Nena closed her eyes, and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry.” She apologized again.

“Don’t be.” I said, pulling her up to me, on her knees. “I’m just glad that you’re here.” I said, and bent down to kiss her again. After brushing my lips against hers, I broke the kiss, and touched my forehead with hers, looking into her eyes. “Now, I’m going to go take a shower. Want to join me?” I offered. She responded by pulling off my shirt, revealing that she wore nothing underneath. Then she pulled down my boxers, and I stepped out of them, crawling onto the bed, pushing her back down on it. While sitting in jail, all I could think of was this moment right here. With Nena in my arms, complaisant to my love for her, I savored the taste of her lips. Then slow and steady, her moans came with every stroke of my shaft, and I fought the immediate urge to expel my seeds into her. I needed to hold out just a little bit longer, to enjoy the feeling of finally having attained, the woman of my dreams. Letting the anticipation of dispensation build, everything seemed to move in slow motion, as I watched her bite her lip, and give in to my control. I left no part of her body untouched, and she cried out reaching her peak. Then suddenly, like a level 5 earthquake, she shuddered beneath me. When her body finally stopped convulsing, I picked her up, and carried her to the bathroom.

~TONY~

              “You have a court date next month, on the sixteenth.” An officer said to me, as I signed my release papers. “If he forfeits his hearing, you lose your bail money.” The officer said, turning to Alana.

              “Oh, he won’t. I’ll see to that.” She replied, glancing at me.

              “All right that’s it.” The officer said, taking the signed papers from me. “You’re free to go. Stay out of trouble, and have a happy Thanksgiving.” The officer said again, before leaving us. Then, I turned to Alana, and gave her a hug. I was so grateful that she came.

              “Thank you so much.” I said to her.

              “You’re welcome. Are you okay?” She asked, looking at me. I was sure I had a few scrapes and bruises on my face.

              “Yeah I just want to get the hell up out of here.” I said, grabbing the plastic bag on the counter that contained my belongings. Alana drove me home, and once we arrived at my condominium, I remained in her car. I could not figure out whom I hated most; Chris for betraying me, or Nena for defending him.

              “Are you sure you want to be here? I mean, you’re welcome to stay at my place if you’d like, until things settle down.” Alana offered.

              “Nah, I’m good, thanks. I will be all right. Chris knows better than to show his face here again, and Nena’s most likely with him right now anyway.” I replied bitterly, when I noticed that her car was gone. Alana sat back in her seat, studying me, seemingly worried.

              “It’s Thanksgiving, and you shouldn’t be alone. Why don’t you come by my place later, and have dinner with me? I’m cooking.” She sounded hopeful. As messed up as my life was right now, I welcomed the distraction.

              “All right, that’d be cool. Want me to call, before coming?” I asked her. She nodded, and smiled. “Okay, well I guess I’ll see you later then. Thanks again.” I said, before exiting the car. Then she touched my shoulder.

              “It was nothing. See you later.” She replied. Alana sat in her car, and watched me go inside, before driving away.

33

~NAIMA~

              I picked up my phone, and hit SEND, under Nena’s picture. Since making the decision to keep my baby, I wanted to make amends with my sister. With Christmas just a week away, now was the best time to let her know, she was going to be an auntie. Having Nena’s support would help a lot. Though I still harbored some resentment towards her, however, I missed her.

              “Hello?” She answered after four rings. I paused before speaking.

              “Hey girl,” I finally said.

              “Hey, Nai! How are you?” She sounded excited.

              “I’m good, how about yourself?” I asked, feeling a bit pretentious talking to her again. It has been a couple months, since we last spoke to one another, yet the tension was still a little thick, even over the phone.

              “I’m all right.” She responded. Again, there was another long pause, before I spoke.

              “Look, the reason I called is because…” I began.

              “You don’t need a reason to call, Nai. Never have, and never will. I’m just happy that you did.” Nena said softly. My eyes glistened with tears. Although she really hurt me, I still loved her dearly.

“Thanks… for understanding.” I said, letting the tears fall. I heard her sniffles as well.

“I miss you so much, Nai.” She said.

“I miss you too.” I replied.

“There’s so much I want to say, and so much I want to share with you, Nai. A lot has happened since we… you know.” She said. I nodded to myself, and thought about how to tell her. However, something inside me held off on it.

“Yeah, I know same here. You just don’t know.” I said, looking down at my semi-protruding belly.

“We should get together and catch up!” She suggested all excited. “Unless,” she continued, “you’re not up for it, or ready for that yet, which I’d totally understand.” She quickly recanted.

“No, no. I’m up for it. Actually, that is why I called. I was hoping we could get together and… talk.” I said, still a bit apprehensive.

“Sure, that’d be great! My final semester won’t start till January, so I can fly up there over the next couple days or so!” She said hopeful.

“Cool.” I said, smiling at how childlike Nena sounded, all giddy with excitement. After all, I was glad that the awkwardness between us was dissipating.

“And since Christmas is around the corner, we can go shopping for gifts together, like we used to!” She said excitedly. I smiled, and then shook my head.

“All right girl, slow your roll, one thing at a time. We’ll talk first, and see how that goes. There’s still a lot that needs to be resolved between us.” I reminded her.

“I know, and you’re right. I was getting a little ahead of myself. I just miss you, Nai.” She admitted, and I felt bad, because she was really trying to earn my forgiveness.

“I know. We’ll talk about it when you get here, okay?” I assured her.

“Okay.” She agreed. There was another long pause.

“Look, I have to go. Call me when you confirm everything with your flight, so I can meet you at the airport.” I said.

“All right, will do. Thanks Nai. Love you.” She said.

“Yeah. Me too.” I replied, and hit the END button.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Starr asked me, as soon as I put my phone down. I nodded, and then shook my head. “What?” Starr asked.

“It’s just that…I don’t know. Hearing her voice just pissed me off all over again. Maybe it was a bad idea calling her. I really thought I was ready to talk to her, but…” I stopped, and shook my head again.

“I understand hon. She’s your sister, and she hurt you in the worse possible way,” Starr began. “So it’s normal to feel a bit hesitant towards her. Even so, you have to realize that blood is thicker than water. She needs you, just as much as you need her. Do not let that S.O.B. ruin the bond you two had. You are about to bring a child into this world, and trust me, you are going to want to share that with your sister. Do not hold on to your anger, because it will destroy your relationship. Chris is out of your lives, so it is time to move on. She gave you what you needed, which was your space, so now, give her what she needs, which is your forgiveness.” Starr preached, and I sighed, shaking my head.

“I know, and you’re right. It is very hard to forgive someone you love so much, that has hurt you so badly, but you are right. I need to get over it, and let it go. She has apologized, at least a million times, and I believe she is sorry. There should be no reason why I can’t forgive her.” I reasoned. Starr smiled.

“You’ll see chica. Pretty soon, you two will look back on this, and laugh.” She said smiling. Then, I raised my brows at her. “Okay, well maybe not that soon.” She corrected herself.

~CHRIS~

“What got you all smiley?” I asked, when I came home. Nena was in my kitchen, chopping up tomatoes, smiling from ear to ear. I loved seeing her beautiful face every day.

“Hey you,” she said, walking up to give me a kiss. Afterwards, she turned her attention back to the tomatoes. “Nai called me.” She said, picking up a handful of diced tomatoes, and then dropping them into the pot of boiling tomato sauce, sitting on the stove. Then she glanced up at me, to gage my reaction, no doubt. With a straight face, I crossed my arms, and leaned against the refrigerator door.

“Okay. What happened?” I asked her. Nena went back to the cutting board, and started chopping up onions.

“Well, she wants us to get together, and talk this whole thing out. I think she wants to put this whole mess behind us, so we can move on and be like we were, before all this happened, you know.” Nena explained. I did not like how she referred to our relationship as ‘this’ and ‘mess’, but I held my tongue, and waited to hear what else they talked about. Therefore, “Mm Hmm,” was all I could muster for now. “So anyway, I’m flying out there in a couple days and…” She began to say. Now, I had to open my mouth.

“A couple of days? That soon? When will you be back? Will you get back before Christmas?” I asked all at once. I definitely did not like the idea of her being so far away from me. We have been living together, since my brief stint in jail, and it was nice having her here with me every day.

“I’m only going to be there for a few days, and I’ll be back before Christmas, so relax babe.” She said, smiling at me. “And besides, I’m hoping that Nai will come back with me, so we can all spend Christmas together.” She said hopeful. Nena must have lost her damn mind, I thought.

“What?” I said wanting to make sure, that I heard her correctly. There is no way that she just said that.

“I think it would be nice for all of us to spend the holidays together, like we used to.” She repeated. I could not believe she was serious.

“Babe, you sure you’re not getting a little ahead of yourself?” I said, trying to ease her back into reality. Nena stopped, to look at me.

“What do you mean?” She asked me. Then, with her hand on her hip, she turned to face me, and I knew that I had better choose my words carefully. I did not want to piss her off, but she was being a tad bit delusional.