Broken (Endurance)

by Thomas, April

  Releasing Makayla's hands, Tamarius stepped closer and raised her veil. Makayla was blushing as she looked into Tamarius' eyes then looked down. He softly lifted her chin and kissed her soft lips.

  Everyone cheered wildly. They turned to face the crowd of their family and friends.

  "I now introduce husband and wife!" Peter announced.

  The steel pan played as they made their way out of the church and into an awaiting limo.

  Tia, who had been Makayla's maid of honor, announced that a small reception would be held at the home of Fa and Coretta.

  The small reception was just perfect for Makayla and Tamarius. They enjoyed spending time with their close family and friends in Trinidad.

  Tamarius was locked in a conversation with one of Makayla's uncles and didn't want to be rude. He couldn't help but gaze on his wife who shined beautifully across the room. She still wore her wedding dress. They planned to leave soon for their honeymoon.

  Tamarius had insisted she stay in her dress. He wanted to be the one to take it off. He couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to be alone with his wife and people were starting to irritate him. However, being the gentlemen that he was, Tamarius made it through the evening.

  Fa gave a toast and the entire family prayed before Makayla and Tamarius left. It would be after Thanksgiving the next time they would see their family overseas again.

  Tamarius followed Makayla to her room. She was exhausted and was stretched out on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She still wore her wedding dress. Leaning over her, he kissed her cheek. "Finally, I have you all to myself," he whispered.

  "Can you let me out of this thing?" Makayla complained. "It's so tight around my stomach..."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize...," Tamarius said, thinking about her pregnancy.

  "It's okay, baby. It's my fault. I know I gained weight," Makayla replied.

  "You look perfect." He pulled off her shoes.

  "Whatever." Makayla smiled.

  Tamarius grabbed her hands and pulled her up to stand on her feet. He kissed her as he gently moved her hair aside, sliding her zipper down. Makayla sighed as the pressure around her stomach was released. "Does that feel better?" he whispered.

  Makayla smiled as she leaned her head on his chest. Thinking back to the hectic morning she’d had. "You know why I was late?"

  "Why?"

  "I couldn't fit my fat butt into this dress, which, by the way, my parents argued over for the past two days."

  "Why?"

  "Mom wanted it all white with simple crystals all over. Dad wanted all red with gold trim for good luck. Well after arguing for hours they both agreed that I'm no virgin and I'm gonna need all the luck I can get. So here you have a red, gold and white wedding dress."

  Tamarius laughed. "You look beautiful and you’re not fat."

  "You’re just saying that." Makayla smiled back.

  He pushed the dress down as he gently rubbed her back and waist. He kissed her neck as he whispered apologies to her for making her stay in the dress.

  Makayla smiled. She enjoyed his tender touch.

  Tamarius helped her step out of her dress, admiring her white lingerie.

  "That is staying on until we get to the hotel." He smiled.

  "Yeah. Dad was not about to get in that argument," Makayla laughed.

  Fresh Start

  Cressida placed her dinner plate on the coffee table at her condo. She sighed as she flopped down on her couch. Eating dinner alone and watching old reruns was not her idea of living the single life. She wanted to be with Maxwell, but fear crippled her. It’d been three weeks since he’d asked her to marry him and she could not understand what was holding her back. She leaned back as tears rolled down her cheek. She missed him and for the past three weeks she’d thrown herself into work.

  She was angry that she had to fake a relationship with Ronald. It was really becoming a problem as Blake became increasingly inquisitive about them as a couple. At times Cressida was sure he knew it was all an act.

  She had avoided Maxwell for two weeks. She was afraid to see him because she knew she would give into him. "What am I doing?" Cressida mumbled to herself. "Chasing away the man I'm in love with."

  There was a knock on her front door. Cressida looked at the time. It was minutes after nine and she was only wearing a short nightgown. She’d spoken to Maxwell just hours earlier and he seemed to be very busy working on a new project. The knock came again, this time louder.

  She grabbed a robe, yelling to whoever was behind the door that she was coming.

  Normally she would look before opening the door, but deep down she was convinced it was Maxwell. Cressida swung open the front door to the shocking sight of Blake Carter in a beige suit.

  "What are you doing here?"

  "Hello, Cressida. And how are you this evening?"

  "What...?"

  "Surprised?"

  "How did you know where I live?" Cressida was alarmed. She always kept her home address private. Only family and close friends knew where she lived.

  "Can I come in? It's kind of awkward talking to you in the corridor."

  "Hell no!" Cressida slammed the door only to have Blake shove his foot in the way and push it back open.

  Cressida stepped back. "What are you doing?"

  Without a word Blake entered and locked the door behind him. He approached Cressida as he removed his jacket. He grinned at her with evil eyes.

  Cressida scanned her apartment for available weapons. Her eyes caught sight of a steak knife next to her dinner plate. Blake followed her gaze and quickly reached for the knife.

  "A steak knife can be very dangerous," he growled.

  "Why are you here?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

  "Oh, you will find out soon enough."

  "Look, if you need money, I can get you whatever you need, but please just leave me alone," Cressida pleaded.

  "Money is the very least of my concerns," Blake said, smirking.

  He lunged at Cressida as she quickly ran away. She grabbed a book and threw it at him.

  Blake grinned as he came after her again, this time tackling her to the floor. Cressida fought him fiercely as he ripped away at her clothes.

  Suddenly she could feel his weight being pulled off of her. Maxwell stood over them. He had Blake by the neck as he began pounding his fist into him. Blood began to spill on Cressida's torn night gown.

  "Maxwell, don't kill him!" Cressida screamed, realizing Maxwell had no intention of stopping.

  Upon hearing Cressida, Maxwell gave Blake one more blow to the head then shoved him to the floor. Maxwell’s security guard had come up with him and now grabbed Blake and dragged his bloody body out of the condo.

  Maxwell looked down at Cressida. Taking a deep breath he reached down and helped her up. "Did he hurt you?"

  "No, how did you get here? How did you know?" Cressida was baffled.

  "Go pack your stuff, anything you may need, if it's important to you, pack it up now," Maxwell said, ignoring her question. He was too angry to have a normal conversation. He walked into her bathroom and was about to wash the blood off his hands when he heard a voice telling him to save that blood. "Cressida, do you have a sandwich bag?" he asked while he grabbed some swabs off the bathroom counter. He quickly swabbed up as much of Blake’s blood as possible.

  When Cressida entered the bathroom, the first thing to catch his eye was the drops of blood on her gown.

  "Come here, baby." He pulled her into the bathroom, his gaze fixed on her gown. Her robe had already been torn. Maxwell closed the bathroom door and gently pulled Cressida's night gown over her head. She quickly realized why when she saw the blood stains.

  "Maxwell, do you think he is guilty?" Cressida asked.

  "I spoke to my brother earlier this afternoon and he kind of made a suggestion about Blake. I spent the whole afternoon researching it and trying to wrap my brain around it. Blake Carter is a Chimera. His brother is inside of him."

>   Cressida stood there puzzled. She had only heard of a Chimera in Greek mythology. "You are going to have to explain this to me."

  "A chimera is basically twins, like joined twins, very well joined. There are different types. On some people you can see a line down their stomach. Then there are others who you just can't tell at all... like Blake."

  "Blake is his own twin if I understand you correctly, but how does that work when it comes to DNA?" Cressida asked,

  "The DNA they tested came from what bodily fluids?"

  "I can't remember right now. I can't think."

  "Not important. I just want to see what his blood reveals."

  "We can take it to the detectives. I think this will all make sense to them."

  Maxwell heard his name being called by the one of the men on his security team. "Stay here till I come back," he told Cressida as he rushed out.

  "Sir, we...." The bodyguard was scratching his head trying to put into words what he’d just experience. "Sir I… I don't know how, but we lost him. I put him in the back of the van and then he just v… vanished."

  "Okay, I think I know what happened," Maxwell said, realizing that Blake was a bigger problem than he’d thought.

  "We will be ready when you are. I'll be standing guard outside this door should you need me."

  "Good give me a few minutes," Maxwell replied.

  Maxwell opened the bathroom door. He took off his jacket and placed it over Cressida’s shoulders. She sat on the closed toilet seat, trembling and staring off into space.

  "Hey, everything is going to be okay," Maxwell said, rubbing her shoulders.

  "I was trying to avoid you," Cressida said under her breath.

  Maxwell knew where the conversation was heading. “Let’s not talk about it."

  "Maxwell, how do I know you will always want to be with me?"

  "Cressida, we've already spent most of our life together. Being with you... I can't even put into words. I love you. I would not have asked you if I didn't."

  "Why am I so scared of us?"

  "I can't answer that."

  "I don't want to get hurt or be disappointed."

  "I'm not here to bring you pain and disappointment. It’s not my intention, but I'm not perfect. My father may have raised a gentleman, but only God is perfect."

  "I know."

  Maxwell got down on one knee and he looked into her eyes. "Cressida Dash, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife for the rest of my natural life?"

  Cressida leaned forward and kissed Maxwell. "Yes."

  Maxwell picked her up, hugging and kissing her. "Soon you will be Mrs. Martinez."

  "I guess there will be three Mrs. Martinez under one roof," Cressida joked.

  "Three who is the th... Makayla?"

  "Yeah, I had to rush your brother's marriage papers today."

  "He didn't tell me anything about that," Maxwell said, putting Cressida down on the floor. "That’s great. It was bound to happen. They are made for each other. It's so funny how God works. For years I wanted to believe that my destiny was up to me, and what I decide, what I planned. It's still my choice, but the choices I made were the wrong ones. Good still came out of it, but when I finally let go and stopped trying to control everything and let God guide me, teach me to go with the flow of things, everything fell into place."

  "Do you think we are making a good decision?" Cressida asked.

  "What do you feel in here?" Maxwell placed his hand on her chest.

  Cressida could feel goose bumps rise all over her arms. Her heart felt like it was swelling and her cheeks softly tingled as a smile rose across her face.

  "What you’re feeling right now is how I feel about you. When I think of you, when I touch you, when we make love… I have never felt this way for any other woman."

  Maxwell held Cressida closer. "Get your things and let’s go home."

  Cressida was speechless as she walked away from Maxwell. She could feel the pores on the top of her head opening and her arms tingled with a warm loving energy. This was a completely new experience for her and it comforted her. She now knew she was doing the right thing and was in the right place.

  She quickly packed her bags, grabbing all the things she could not live without. Maxwell helped her, eager to get her as far away as possible from her father or Blake's reach.

  Cressida had to leave behind some memories with the hope that she would be able to retrieve them some time later. On her way out the door she grabbed a picture of her and her mother.

  "I will send someone to put everything in storage for you if you would like," Maxwell suggested.

  "No." Cressida realized what she needed most was already with her. "I want a fresh start. Everything I thought was my life before was a facade... it can all burn to the ground for all I care."

  Holiday Break

  The week before Thanksgiving Makayla and Tamarius landed on the private air strip of King Solomon's University. A limo was waiting to take them to a private vacation home hidden on the island. Tamarius was exhausted from traveling back and forth to various business meetings and needed a break. He was happy to be there a week earlier and happy to see his niece and nephews.

  The limo driver packed up all of their belongings and quickly drove them to their vacation cottage.

  It was an enchanting piece of heaven overlooking a private beach. The entry way had a handmade bamboo bench that doubled as storage for shoes. The floor was tiled with a bamboo floor design. The entry way dipped down into a sunken living room filled with beautiful and well maintained brown leather furniture. The home had three master bathrooms. The most lavish one had a his-and-hers split bathroom and closet design.

  Makayla walked all around the house admiring the art work and the beauty of it all. She found Tamarius in the kitchen pulling out frozen meat and planning dinner for that night. Makayla smiled as she entered the kitchen, scanning over what he was cooking. She jumped in and began pulling out needed pots and pans to cook in.

  "What are you doing?" he asked, smiling.

  "Helping you. Tamarius you should go relax. I can do this. You have been spoiling me. Let me do this for you."

  "I have an even better idea. Why don't we both relax and hire a chef. I can have one of the cooks come over from the cafeteria to cook for us while we relax."

  "But I like cooking."

  "So do I and we have the rest of our lives to do it."

  "Fine, I'm going to go work out then jump in the hot tub." Makayla walked away.

  "No!" Tamarius went into an instant panic. He quickly racked his brain for a good reason while Makayla looked back at him with a puzzled glare. "I… I just need you right now." Tamarius walked to her and pulled her into his arms.

  Makayla was stiff in his embrace.

  "The stress... I just want to relax with you. Let’s go hang out on the private beach and watch the waves come crashing in.

  "Yeah, babe, I miss you too, but I need to stay in shape. I have a photo shoot coming up."

  "Really? A shoot?" Tamarius ran his hand over his head. "But you look perfect."

  "Yeah, sure." Makayla stepped back and walked away.

  "Why don't we take a stroll and see Max and Mei?" he suggested.

  "Well, that doesn't seem bad. Yeah, I’d like that."

  "Let me just call the cook and dinner will be ready by the time we get back."

  "Okay"

  ***

  Max stood up from his seat in class, grabbed his books and headed for the door. He was happy to make it through another boring lecture. He looked at his watch. It was his turn to pick Uriel up from daycare. Mei had an extra Bible study class and would be exhausted by the time she got home.

  Max started to make his way to the nursery when he came across an unexpected sight. There was Samuel and Renee practically tasting the insides of each other's stomachs as they kissed. Max couldn't help but stare as if he were watching a seven car pile up in slow motion. He turned his head as they opened their eyes and took n
otice of him. He simply shook his head and kept on walking.

  "Did he see us or was I imagining that?" Renee giggled.

  "He saw us," Samuel agreed, feeling proud that his plan seemed to be working.

  "Now all we need to do is wait for Mei to get out of class and create a scene in front of her. Now remember, just act natural. We are seeing each other, so get that in your head," Samuel insisted.