by Shana Burton
“He probably never even loved me.” Kina felt numb. Her entire marriage was a lie. She had been beaten for nothing, degraded for nothing, ashamed for nothing. It was the price for believing in her husband.
“Kina, I can talk to our principal if you want. He needs to know what E’Bell’s been doing to you. We have campus police right here at the school. I can go with you if you want to file charges.”
Kina scooted out of the desk. “That won’t be necessary, Mrs. Evans. E’Bell needs this job, I’m not going to file charges.” She did, however, have every intention of filing for a divorce.
Kenny sat on his bed, clutching two pillows over his ears so he wouldn’t hear his parents arguing. The pillows muffled their words, but he could still hear them yelling. He knew he had to do something before his father got angry enough to hit his mother again. He threw the pillows down and ran to his parents’ bedroom.
“All this time!” screamed Kina. “All this time I let you blame me for everything that happened. You let me think it was my fault that you didn’t have your big football career, that it was my fault that you couldn’t go to college, that it was my fault that we had to live this way. All along you knew that it was all because of you, because you couldn’t read.”
“Shut up before I come over there and shut you up,” threatened E’Bell.
“Here you are, the big shot football player,” she said mockingly, “so tough that you have to beat on your wife in order to feel like a man.”
E’Bell walked up on her. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Kina dug her finger into his chest. “I’m talking to this ignorant, cowardly, pitiful excuse for a man named E’Bell Ricardo Battle! I let you take my hope and my self-esteem, but you won’t take another day of my life and happiness away.” Then she announced, “I’m leaving.”
A menacing scowl washed over E’Bell’s face. “You gon’ do what?”
“I’m taking my child, and we are getting as far away from you as we can.”
His eyes turned cold. “Kina, I’ll kill you. You know that?”
“You don’t scare me anymore, E’Bell. You can say and do whatever you want, but nothing’s going to stop me from leaving. If you’ve got to kill me, then fine. Either way, I’ll be free from you.”
E’Bell grabbed her by the arm and twisted it. “You think you better than me now, huh? You getting your little degree, so you think you better than somebody?”
Kina looked him dead in his eyes. “You’re doggone right!” She snatched her arm away from him. “It’s over, E’Bell,” she declared with finality.
E’Bell roared, “You ain’t going nowhere. You hear me?” he pushed Kina hard against the wall. She hit her head against one of the sconces, sending an excruciating pain through her entire body. Too groggy to stand, she slumped to the floor.
E’Bell kicked her in the stomach. “Talk bad now! Get up!”
Kina tried to stand and defend herself, but he smacked her back down. “You think you gon’ leave somebody? If you leave here, it’ll be in a hearse! Today will be the last day you ever take that tone with me!”
E’Bell punched Kina in the head. Her vision went blurry, but in her haze, Kenny appeared like an apparition, brandishing something in his hand. She couldn’t make out what it was. She did, however, make out E’Bell raising his fist in the air as he prepared to strike her.
“Stop it!” cried Kenny. “Leave her alone!”
Kina braced herself for the blow to her head that never came. Instead, she heard a loud crackling noise followed by blood spattering the living room wall. The last thing she heard was the thud of E’Bell’s gun hitting the ground as it slipped from Kenny’s hand. The last thing she saw before the room went dark was E’Bell’s body dropping to the floor.
Chapter 47
“No more stalling, no more games.”
—Lawson Kerry
Lawson opened the door and greeted Garrett with a smile. “Thanks for coming.”
“Well, you said Namon needed me, so I’m here.”
She let him in and closed the door. “Namon does need you. So do I.”
“Lawson,” Garrett sighed, “we’ve been here before. The fact is you were stalling about us getting married long before Mark even came in the picture. I have to accept that we’re not meant to be. Maybe you are better off marrying Namon’s dad.”
She shook her head. “Mark is not the one for me. You are.”
Garrett took off his jacket. “And how do you know that?”
“Mark can’t look at me the way you do and know what I’m feeling, what I’m thinking. We know what every sigh, every touch, every kiss means to the other one. I could never have that with Mark. I don’t even want to.”
“Then why would you let him think he had a chance with you?”
“I just needed more time, and it was the only way I could stall him. But that’s over now. Namon knows the truth, so no more stalling and no more games. I want to marry you, Garrett, if you’ll still have me. More than anything, I want to be your wife.”
Before Garrett could reply, the doorbell rang. Lawson opened the door and let Mark in.
“What’s he doing here?” asked Garrett as the two exchanged harsh glares.
Lawson escorted Mark to where Garrett stood. “He’s here because I asked him to come. Like it or not, we’re all stuck with each other. We all love and want what’s best for Namon, and what’s best for him is all three of us, one dysfunctional blended family.”
“For that to work, your boyfriend here is going to have to respect the fact that I’m Namon’s real father,” pointed out Mark.
“And, Mark, you’re going to have to respect the fact that Garrett has been a fantastic father to Namon. I’m not cutting him out of my son’s life to appease you.”
“How is Namon supposed to accept me as his father if this joker’s always hanging around?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. There’s no better time to start than now.” She called Namon out of his room.
“What’s going on?” asked Namon, entering the room.
Lawson brought him over to Mark. “Your father would like to spend some time with you today.”
“Do I have to?” whined Namon.
“Yes, you do. You can spare him a few minutes of your time. Go on, grab your coat.”
She addressed Mark. “There’s a football in the backyard. I guess that’s as good a place to start as any.” Namon snatched up his jacket and grudgingly headed out of the back door with Mark behind him.
Garrett waited until they closed the door behind them to speak. “I have to be honest with you, Lawson. I don’t know if I can do this. I was cool when Mark wasn’t around, and I could pretend that I was Namon’s father, but I can’t do that anymore.”
Lawson grabbed him by the collar and looked squarely into his eyes. “Do you love me?”
“Lawson—”
“Do . . . you . . . love . . . me?” she enunciated slowly.
He exhaled. “You know I do.”
“Do you believe that I’m the woman God created for you?”
“I did.... I do.”
“Do you still want to marry me and spend the rest of our lives together?”
Garrett exhaled and nodded.
“Then hold on to that”—she pulled him into an embrace—“and hold on to me.”
Namon and Mark tossed the football back and forth in silence until Mark raised a question.
“So, you like football, huh?” he asked Namon.
“Yeah, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.”
Mark threw the ball to him. “What position do you play?”
Namon stated, “QB,” and tossed it back.
“Like father, like son,” said Mark and chuckled.
“My mom said you used to play over in Germany.”
Mark nodded. “I did. I went over there right after college. The GFL is the German version of our NFL.”
“Who’d you play for?”
<
br /> “I played for the Berlin Eagles for a couple of years and played arena football after that. Then I hurt my knee and that kind of ended the football thing for me. Coaching is cool, though. I actually like it more than playing.”
“Did you make a lot of money when you were playing football?”
“I made a li’l something . . . and blew a lot of something!”
“You think I could play for the NFL?”
“Maybe. I thought I could, but you see where I ended up. I thank God that I had my degree to fall back on.” He walked over to Namon and put a hand on his shoulder. “Son, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to play in the league, but you should definitely have a Plan B. Always have a backup. Stay in school and get your education. That’s the one thing that no one can ever take from you.”
“That what my mama always tells me.”
“Your mother is a very smart woman. You should listen to her.”
“Why didn’t you guys ever get married?”
“That’s a tricky one,” answered Mark. “We were really young when we met, not much older than you are now. We didn’t know anything about love and marriage back then. I did ask her to marry me when I found out about you, though.”
“What did she say?”
“She said that she loves someone else.”
“She’s talking about Garrett. He’s her boyfriend, but they’re supposed to be getting married soon.”
“Yeah, she told me. How does he treat you?”
“Who, my dad?” asked Namon without thinking. “I mean, I know you’re my real dad.”
“No, Garrett’s been the one who’s been your real dad all this time, not me. Hopefully, in time, we can change all that.”
“He’s been really good to me and my mom.”
“I can tell. Hey, did your mom tell you that you have a little sister?”
“No.”
Mark pulled out his wallet and flashed a picture of his daughter. “Her name is Mariah. She’s six. She lives in North Carolina with her mother.”
“She’s pretty. It’s weird that I have a sister who I haven’t even met yet.”
“Well, she’ll be down here this summer. I’d love for you to come over and spend some time with her, get to know her.”
He nodded his head. “It might be cool to have a little sister to boss around.”
“It might be cool to have two dads, too,” added Mark. “What do you think about that?”
Namon turned the football around in his hands. “It might be all right. We can try, I guess.”
“Look, Namon, I know that I missed the first fourteen years of your life, and I know that we didn’t get off on the right start.” Mark stooped down. “But if you give me a chance, I promise to be the best father to you that I can be.”
“Well, you two seem to be getting along,” said Lawson with a smile as she and Garrett joined Namon and Mark in the backyard.
Namon grinned. “I’ve got a little sister.”
“Yeah, I know,” replied Lawson. “It looks like you’ve got an extra dad as well.”
Mark turned to Garrett. “So, I guess you’ll be sticking around.”
He nodded. “As long as this beautiful lady will have me.” Garrett kissed Lawson on the forehead.
Mark dug his foot in the ground. “Hey, man, I want to apologize for how I came at you earlier. I was trippin’ because I was jealous of your relationship with Lawson and my son, but that’s no reason to overstep like that. I’m sorry.”
Garrett extended his hand. “There are no hard feelings. Lawson and Namon are wonderful people. I can’t even say I blame you.”
Mark shook his hand. “And rest assured that you’re the only man Lawson wants. I pulled out all my best stuff, but she never took the bait. All she kept talking about was how much she loved you.”
Lawson smiled. “Thank you, Mark. It means a lot that you would say that.” Lawson’s phone rang. “Hello . . . What? Wait, slow down . . . Oh, no . . . I’ll be right there!” She hung up the phone.
“What’s wrong?” asked Garrett.
“We’ve got to go,” she informed him. “That was Kina’s neighbor. E’Bell’s been shot. We have to go to the hospital.”
“What about Kenny?” asked Namon, worried about his cousin. “Is he okay?”
“Sweetie, I don’t know. I just know that the ambulance is over there, and they’re on the way to the hospital.”
Garrett pulled out his car keys and tossed them to Namon. “Why don’t you go and unlock the doors for us.” Namon dashed out of sight. “Now, tell me what you were afraid to say in front of Namon, because I can see it in your eyes.”
Lawson shook her head. “All I know is that E’Bell was shot, and Kina’s been badly beaten. Right now, I don’t know if it looks good for either one of them.”
Chapter 48
“I’m not thinking about next year. Live for the moment . . .”
—Angel King
“You’re awake.” Angel set the tray down on the coffee table next to the living room sofa, where Theresa lay. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice tired and wispy. She yawned. “What time is it?”
“It’s a quarter past four.”
“Where are the girls?”
“Upstairs with Duke. They were giving him their Christmas lists when I last looked in on them. The holidays are just around the corner. Can you believe it?”
“Christmas?” Theresa coughed. “Seems like such a long way off. If I’m this tired and weak now, there’s no telling what I’ll be like a month from now. I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to put up a tree or go shopping for the girls.”
“You have plenty of time to worry about getting the house ready for Christmas. Don’t worry about that. Everybody is focused on taking care of you; nobody’s even thought about a Christmas tree. I haven’t put one up at my house in years.” Angel stopped short of telling her the reason was because Duke left her at Christmastime.
“The girls deserve to have Christmas,” said Theresa. “I want them to have a tree and to celebrate Christmas like we always do. I can’t let this illness get in the way of that, especially with Miley’s birthday coming up on Christmas Eve.”
“Miley and Morgan just want to see their mom feeling better. That’s all they really want for Christmas this year.”
“I used to make them gingersnap cookies,” recalled Theresa. “We’d eat some and use the rest for tree ornaments. Promise me—” She gasped for breath. “Promise me you’ll make gingersnap cookies with them this year.”
“I will,” vowed Angel.
Theresa closed her eyes, waiting for the spasm of pain to pass. “Angel, let’s not wait.”
“Wait on what?”
“The tree, the cookies, none of it. Call the girls and Duke down right now. I want to smell those cookies baking and hearing my daughters laughing and see that big beautiful tree all lit up.”
“You want to put up the tree? Don’t you think it’s a little soon for that? The girls haven’t even eaten all their Halloween candy.” Angel patted her hand. “I know you’re worried, but we have time. I promise.”
Theresa shook her head. “All we’re promised is right now. Please, Angel, help me to have one more Christmas with my family.”
Angel reassured her with a smile. “Okay, I’ll go get the girls and Duke.”
Theresa sat back and smiled as the house was soon buzzing with activity. Duke dragged the Christmas tree and ornaments from the attic, and the aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon from Angel’s cookies filtered into the living room from the kitchen.
Theresa sighed and lay back on the sofa. “Now it feels like Christmas.”
“Mommy, look.” Morgan brought a picture of herself that had been turned into a tree ornament. “This was me when I was a baby. See, Morgan’s First Christmas.”
“I remember that. Now my baby’s all grown up.” Theresa kissed her daughter’s brow. “We should take another picture to hang on th
e tree. Duke, where’s the camera?”
He dug the camera out of the armoire and called Angel into the room. Duke and the girls gathered around Theresa on the sofa while Angel snapped the picture.
“Be sure to hang it on the tree,” said Theresa. “I want the girls to always remember today.”
Angel nodded. “They will. I’ll make sure of it. And as soon as these cookies are done, I’ll print out the picture, and we’ll hang it on the tree.”
“Next year,” whispered Theresa, “they can take another picture with you.”
Angel squeezed Theresa’s hand. “I’m not thinking about next year. Live for the moment, remember?”
Theresa watched from the sofa as Angel, Miley, and Morgan decorated the tree with bells, bows, and gingersnap cookies. Duke sat attentively at his wife’s side.
Morgan pulled him by the arm. “Daddy, Angel is about to light the tree. Come on!”
Miley held her mother’s hand. “You can come too, Mommy.”
“Sweetie, Mommy needs to take a little nap first. I would love a kiss, though.” Both girls rushed into their mother’s arms. She hugged them, pouring all the love she had for them into that embrace. The gesture took the last bit of strength she had. “Now, you go on and help Angel. Mommy loves you so much.”
“We love you too, Mommy!” they said in unison as they skipped into the foyer where the tree stood in front of a bay window.
Angel approached them. “I wanted you to see the last ornament before we put it on the tree.” She handed Theresa the family picture they’d taken thirty minutes earlier.
“I don’t look half bad,” joked Theresa.
“You look beautiful,” said Angel. “Peaceful and happy.”
“I am happy.” Theresa’s eyes seemed to sink into dark pockets around their sockets. “It’s a happy, happy day.” She passed the picture back to Angel.
“I’m going to find a hook for this, and I’m going to take lots of pictures of the girls with the tree lit. And we’ll set the pictures all around you, so your family will always be smiling and close by.”
