Love & Lies

by Kimberla Lawson Roby

  “Well, it’s not like she has a choice.”

  “Baby, can you ever forgive me?”

  “This is a hard one.”

  “I realize that, but don’t you think it’s time we leave the past exactly where it is and move on?”

  “It’s not that easy,” I said, but I had to admit that my conscience was getting the best of me. The reason: I still didn’t know who Marissa’s biological father was and this meant I didn’t have the right to judge Curtis or be angry with him. I didn’t have the right because I was just as guilty.

  But I would never tell him that.

  I wished I could and I actually sort of wanted to, but now that he might be having a baby with someone else, I didn’t see a reason to ruin my opportunity at securing the upper hand. Curtis was now in beg mode and probably willing to do whatever it took to make me happy, and I wanted to keep things that way.

  It was better to keep the focus on the terrible thing he’d done versus my own list of past transgressions.

  Better and also a lot easier for me.

  Chapter 24

  JANINE

  “Antonio showed up at your house on Sunday, today is Tuesday, and you didn’t bother calling me?” Charlotte said when I called her. I’d known she wasn’t going to be happy.

  “I didn’t want to bother you with this. It’s bad enough that I’m having to deal with all this craziness, let alone involving you.”

  “I am so upset with you,” she said. “I mean, you know how I feel about you and that I will do anything I can to help you. Anything, J.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did file for an order of protection and I had Carl come over to sit with me for a few hours after that.”

  “Carl? Carl who?”

  “Carl Wilson.”

  “From church?”

  “That’s him.”

  “How did that come about?”

  “I didn’t tell you this, but he was the locksmith I called the night Antonio was arrested.”

  “Okay…but what does that have to do with him coming to your rescue?”

  “See, that’s why I wasn’t planning to tell you about him.”

  “Well, actually, I’m fine with you seeing him. I like Carl and he’s certainly a much better man than that drug dealer you just got rid of.”

  “I was afraid to be home alone and I couldn’t think of another man I could call.”

  “So then I guess you know he and Greta got divorced?”

  “Yeah, he told me, but I hadn’t heard it before then.”

  “From what I understand, girlfriend was a real trip.”

  “It sounds like it, but Carl seems really nice.”

  “He is. At least, he’s always seemed like a decent person to me.”

  “That’s why I gave in and agreed to have dinner with him yesterday. And we’re doing it again tonight.”

  “Good for you.”

  “You never cease to amaze me.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I was sure you were going to rag on me about going out with someone I don’t know very well.”

  “Not at all. Like I said, Carl is a good person and I’ve never heard anything except great things about him.”

  “I hope that’s true, because even though I hate admitting it, I haven’t stopped thinking about him since Sunday.”

  “Maybe it’s love at first sight.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “I’m serious, because you never know.”

  “I won’t go that far, but I will say that we made a strong connection with each other.”

  “Next thing you know, you’ll be heading down the aisle,” Charlotte said, chuckling.

  “You crack me up. I doubt that, but even if that was a possibility, I can’t do anything until Antonio is locked up.”

  “I can’t believe he wants you to lie,” she said.

  I’d told Charlotte about what he wanted me to do so that his case could be dismissed, and even I was still astonished by his request.

  “He’s got issues.”

  “And some very serious ones at that.”

  “Hey, it’s almost eight, so I’d better get going,” I said, glancing at the time on my computer. I’d gotten to work an hour early so I could add a few items to my lesson plan, but now I only had about ten minutes to get upstairs to my classroom.

  “Well, make sure you call me when you get back in from dinner. You know I want to hear all the details, and then I need to tell you about the drama going on over here.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I’ll talk to you tonight because it’s definitely going to take a lot longer than a few minutes. Curtis and I have to take Marissa to the doctor this afternoon, but I’ll be home for the rest of the evening.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to keep me in all this suspense.”

  “Sorry. Just call me tonight. No matter what time.”

  “I will. And Charlotte?”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “Thank you for being my friend. I know I’ve said this before, but this morning I realized I don’t have any other woman I can confide in. I have a few acquaintances, but you’re the only person I can tell everything to. Sometimes I hesitate doing so because I don’t want you to think lowly of me when I’m making a potentially bad decision, but in the end, I know I can count on you to support me.”

  “I’ve always felt the same way about you, and that’s why I need to talk to you about what’s going on with Curtis and me.”

  “I should be home by ten.”

  “Sounds good, and you be careful because I don’t trust Antonio for as far as I can throw him.”

  “I will. Love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I sniffled and batted away tears. Charlotte really did mean a lot to me, and the more I thought about it, I realized she and my father were the only two people I truly loved and who loved me back unconditionally.

  I pulled on my blazer and picked up my pad folio, but then the phone rang.

  “Who was that strange-looking person I saw at your house last night?”

  “Antonio, I can’t talk to you, and the order of protection says that you can’t dial any of my numbers. Not home, not work, not my cell.”

  “What order of protection?”

  “The one I filed after you came to my house threatening me.”

  “I hope you didn’t.”

  “I did. So, please, I’m asking you again, just leave me alone.”

  “I will as soon as you go talk to one of those detectives.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I can’t.”

  “You’re really starting to piss me off, you know that?”

  “I have to go,” I said, and wondered why I kept holding conversations with him. But I knew why. I was terrified of him, and somehow I knew ignoring him completely was only going to make him angrier.

  “First you try to kick me out, then you have me locked up and now you’re seeing some zero you obviously were seeing while I was with you.”

  “I just met him a few days ago.”

  “No you didn’t.”

  “Antonio, what is it going to take for you to stop harassing me?”

  “For you to go down to that narcotics division and tell them what I told you to tell them.”

  “For the last time, I can’t.”

  “Bitch,” he said, and hung up.

  And I called the police again. I was now late for my class, but this was one time I honestly didn’t care one way or the other. I had a more pressing matter at hand that I had to take care of. I wasn’t sure calling the police was going to help me, but maybe if I reported Antonio every single time he violated the order, they would eventually find and arrest him again. I didn’t know where he was living but all I could hope was that they’d be able to locate him fairly quickly. I was hoping they would lock him up and that this time no one would bail him out before his trial.

/>   Chapter 25

  CHARLOTTE

  “Let me speak to Curtis,” Larry said. His tone was irate, but I smiled because I knew he had no idea he was wasting his time calling.

  “Curtis,” I yelled, and he picked up the phone. But I didn’t hang up because I wanted to hear everything he had to say.

  “Larry, Charlotte already told me about the jewelry and I really need that cross of mine back,” he said. “I need every single piece you took from here.”

  “You must be crazy. Your wife owes me seventeen hundred dollars and I’m not giving anything back until I get it.”

  “You’re as low as they come, Larry, you know that?”

  “All I want is my money.”

  “Okay, fine. But this is the deal. You tell me where you pawned our stuff, and then I’ll bring you the money.”

  “Don’t patronize me, Curtis. I’m not stupid and I don’t like it when you make it seem like I am.”

  “Then you tell me how this is going to work. Because all I want is what you stole from us, and then I want you to leave Mitchell for good.”

  “Leave? Then you must be planning to come off of a lot more than seventeen hundred.”

  “You’re unbelievable,” Curtis said, and clicked the phone.

  But Larry called again and we both picked up our extensions. Neither of us said anything but we didn’t have to.

  “Look, Curtis, man. I’m sorry. I lost my head for a minute, but if you want me to go, then I’m going to need a few more dollars for transportation, a place to live, and food. I’m going to need money to survive on.”

  “How much?”

  “Five thousand, and you’ll never have to hear from me again. I’ll even sign a contract or whatever you want me to.”

  “I can’t believe you’ve stooped to this level, Larry. I can’t believe you’ve allowed drugs to take over your life and that you don’t care about anybody.”

  “When can I get the money?” he said, sounding desperate.

  “Where are you?”

  “I’ll just meet you at your bank.”

  “What about our stuff?”

  “When I get the money, I’ll give you the pawnshop receipt,” he said, and I shook my head because Curtis knew him like a book. Although I was sure pawning expensive jewelry would be a given for any drug user.

  “Do you know where Bank of America is, the branch on First Street?”

  “Not exactly, but I don’t think I’m that far from there. Is it downtown?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What time?”

  “In about an hour.”

  “And Curtis, man. I’m really sorry and I promise I’ll make this up to you.”

  “Whatever,” Curtis said, and hung up.

  When we arrived at the bank, I didn’t see the car Larry had purchased but we still went inside the bank. We were actually about twenty minutes late, so I wondered if maybe Larry had already been here and then left, thinking we weren’t coming.

  There weren’t very many people in the teller line so we moved through it in a matter of minutes.

  “I’d like to withdraw five thousand dollars, please,” Curtis requested, and passed the teller a withdrawal slip along with his driver’s license.

  “Would you like a cashier’s check?”

  “No. Cash will be fine.”

  “For your safety, I’ll have to check your signature on file, but it won’t take more than a minute.”

  “Thank you,” Curtis said, looking at me, but neither of us said a word.

  We waited for the teller to return, and when she did, she counted each bill in front of us and then placed all of them in an envelope.

  “Can I help you with anything else?”

  “No, I think that’s it. And thanks again.”

  “You’re quite welcome,” she said, smiling, and we headed toward the entrance.

  I couldn’t help wondering if Larry would be in the parking lot this time, but when I saw his vehicle, my curiosity was satisfied, and I pointed him out to Curtis.

  “There he is over there,” I said.

  “Let’s get this over with,” he told me, and we walked toward him.

  Larry rolled down his window and reached his hand out.

  “Not so fast.”

  “I need to go,” he said, scoping his surroundings back and forth like a nervous junkie.

  “Where’s the receipt from that pawnshop?”

  “I have it right here.”

  “Then give it to me.”

  “Curtis, man, I hope you’re not up to no good.”

  “What are you talking about?” Curtis said, frowning.

  “For all I know, you might be trying to pull a fast one on me. You might be thinking you can snatch this receipt without giving me my money, but if I were you, I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Charlotte, let’s go,” Curtis said, and we turned away from him.

  “Okay, okay,” Larry hurried to say, and pulled out the receipt. “Here it is.”

  “You’re pitiful,” Curtis said, tossing the envelope at him.

  “Charlotte,” Larry said, “I’m sorry for any harm I caused you and I hope that some day you’ll be able to find it in your heart to forgive me.”

  I just looked at him and then we started toward our car.

  As soon as we did, though, three squad cars flew into the parking lot, their sirens screaming, and surrounded Larry’s buy-here-pay-here Mitsubishi.

  Still, we kept walking, but when I turned to look back at him being dragged from his car, I saw him staring at me. The worst part was that even though I knew I shouldn’t have, I sort of felt sorry for him because he looked so shocked and helpless. And shocked he should have been, because I knew he’d had no clue that Curtis had been setting him up the entire time.

  Last night, while we were getting ready for bed, Curtis had decided that he was going to stop Larry once and for all when it came to trying to steal from us. He’d decided that he would trick Larry into thinking all we wanted was the jewelry and in return we’d give him the five thousand dollars. And as Curtis had suspected, Larry had fallen for it without any questions, and this proved that he really was strung out and was willing to take any chance he had to in order to buy his next hit.

  “I need to give the arresting officer this receipt for evidence so they can go bring in the pawnshop owner to identify Larry. Then we’ll have to go downtown so you can give a statement about the knife he pulled on you.”

  “I’ll just wait here,” I said.

  When Curtis returned, we drove away, and I wondered what was going to happen to Larry. I sat wondering but it was obvious that Curtis couldn’t have cared less.

  After finishing up at the police department and picking up Marissa from school, we went straight to Dr. Mason’s office. Curtis and I were standing watching Marissa’s session through a window the same as I’d done last week.

  “Why does she keep smiling like that?” Curtis asked.

  “She did the same thing at her last visit. She fakes all the time.”

  “But she always seems like such a good child and like she’s always happy.”

  “That’s because she pretends like she’s your perfect little angel, but then when you leave, she turns into a monster.”

  “And the doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong with her?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I hear you have a big brother,” Dr. Mason said, and we both fell silent.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And I’ll bet you love him a lot, don’t you?”

  “Uh-huh. But sometimes I don’t. I mean yes…I mean no, I like him, but Miranda doesn’t, and sometimes she makes me say things I don’t want to say to him.”

  “Really? And who’s Miranda?” Dr. Mason said, and Curtis sat down in the seat behind him. I knew he was stunned. As was I, because even though I’d seen Marissa in action many times, this was my first time hearing her mention someone by the name of Miranda.

  “Miranda is the voice I
hear sometimes, and she doesn’t like Mommy either.”

  “Really? And why is that?”

  “I don’t know. I keep telling her that Mommy is a good person, but Miranda says she’s not.”

  “But you love Mommy, right?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What about your father?”

  “I love my daddy and Miranda loves him, too.”

  “Does she love anyone else?”

  “She loved Tracy but she says it’s all Mommy’s fault that Tracy went away.”

  “Who’s Tracy?”

  “She used to take care of our house.”

  “And who else does Miranda tell you she likes?”

  “Grandma and Grandpa.”

  “And do you like your grandparents, too?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What else does Miranda tell you?”

  “A lot of things.”

  “Do you think it would be okay if you tell me some of them?”

  “No,” Marissa said, and that smile she’d been wearing finally left her face. “I can’t talk to you anymore and I want my daddy.”

  “Did Miranda tell you not to talk to me?”

  “I want my daddy,” she said, louder. “Daddy,” she screamed, and Curtis and I rushed out of the room we were sitting in.

  Dr. Mason opened her door right away and Marissa ran out and jumped into Curtis’s arms.

  “Daddy, I don’t wanna come here anymore. Dr. Mason is a bad lady,” she said, looking back at her.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. Dr. Mason is only trying to help you.”

  “No she’s not. She wants to hurt us. She wants to hurt you and Mommy, too, so let’s go, Daddy.”

  “Marissa, honey,” I said, “it’s okay.”

  “I wanna go home,” she repeated. “Please, Daddy.”

  “First Mommy and I have to speak to Dr. Mason.”

  “We have a playroom right here, Marissa,” Dr. Mason said.

  “No.”

  “Marissa,” Curtis said, “you’re upsetting Daddy and we can’t leave until you let us talk to Dr. Mason for a few minutes.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’ll go play until you finish.”

  Her mood had changed again, and I was glad Dr. Mason was able to witness it.

  “I regret that I’m now beginning to lean more toward the idea that Marissa might have schizophrenia,” Dr. Mason told us once we were inside her office. “At first when she mentioned someone named Miranda, I thought she might have multiple personalities, but when she said that Miranda was a voice, I knew Marissa had given the voice she was referring to a name.”