by B. M. Hardin
Did I really want to be his second option?
“What?”
He just sat there for a minute. I headed to the door and opened it. It wasn’t until then that he stood up.
“Serenity,” he started.
“What? Let me guess you made a mistake right? Or what, things weren’t as peachy as you thought they were going to be?”
“No. They aren’t. And yes. I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
He was still lying! Mistake my ass! She’s missing. That’s why you’re here! I didn’t say my thoughts aloud. Instead, I said something else.
“Well, I’m not your back-up plan! I’m not some option. I’m not some second-hand plan! I deserve better!”
“You’re right. You do. I was just trying to do the right thing for my child.”
“And now what huh? Why are you here? Isn’t it still all about your child?”
“No. She had an abortion.”
I acted surprised but all I could think about was really making sure that she didn’t have that baby. He believed it. Now I needed for that miscarriage to come through for a sista’!
“So now you want me back because she killed your baby?”
“Serenity, you can’t fault me for wanting to do the right thing. I didn’t want to hurt you. I was really planning to marry you before I found out that she was pregnant. I really do love you. I just had to make sure that I was doing what was best for my child’s interest. I just wanted to be a good dad. I just wanted to give him or her as much time as possible and the only way I saw that happening was by being with the child’s mother. You can’t fault me for that. You can fault me for lying to you all of those years, cheating on you, deceiving you, whatever. But you can’t fault me for that. I never had a dad. And I would never leave my child without one.”
Well, his explanation made me feel bad. But not really for him. For her. I guess I did have a heart after all. Had it been me, I would have wanted him to stand by me the same way. But I could give him a baby too. I was eating those fertility pills like candy, so my eggs were good and ready.
“If you just gave me a chance to make it up to you, I can show you. But I know you may never forgive me.”
“Yes I will.”
“What? You will?”
This was the moment. The moment that I’d been waiting for. And though I was having a change of heart the more and more I thought about the situation, this was the moment of truth. The moment that I found out if I had been the stupidest woman in the world to kidnap some pregnant lady to get my ex back, or if I’d actually pulled it all off and got what I wanted out of the deal.
“Yes. I will forgive you. Elroy. But we have to get married. Now. I’m not waiting a year or even months. We have to get married now. I have to know that you won’t just leave me and drop me like a bad habit. I have to know that things are completely over with her and I have to know that you are serious about us. I have to know that you are serious about everything and that you are going to be faithful. If you want to show me and if you want me to forgive you, we have to get married. We can fly somewhere exotic. Right now. And just get married on the beach somewhere.”
Elroy looked at me. Either he thought that I was just joking or either he really didn’t know if he wanted to marry me or not.
“I just got a new job and…”
“Don’t worry about that. I can handle that. How do you think you got the job in the first place Elroy? I pulled some strings. I made some calls. The man that hired you, Joe, is a friend of my brother Ricardo’s. I did the application for you and asked him to hire you because I knew that you needed work and because I love you,” that was only part true but he didn’t have to know that.
“Really? I knew that I didn’t remember doing an application for them. You are the one that got me the job? After what I did? After how I treated you? You did that for me?”
“Yes. What can I say? Still, after all of this, I love the hell out of you.”
He looked at me with adornment. He looked at me with appreciation but he didn’t say anything.
My phone started to vibrate and I wondered who it was. I wondered if it was the person that had been playing on my phone. The vibration caused guilt to creep back into my heart and I tried to shake it off, and impatiently waited for Elroy’s next words. Elroy stared at me for a little longer and then finally, he just dropped to his knees and pulled out my ring.
“I kept it that day that you threw it at me; just in case. But if you are serious about giving me another chance, us another chance, then fuck it! Let’s go for it! I apologize from the bottom of my heart and I promise. I’ll never hurt you again. I swear. So, Serenity, will you marry me? For real this time?”
I smiled. Really? It had worked? It’d really worked?
Ahh! This was all I ever wanted! He was giving me exactly what I wanted! But I didn’t feel as happy as I thought that I would. I was happy, but I wasn’t jumping up and down, screaming happy. I guess knowing that it was somewhat forced had something to do with that. But my feelings wouldn’t stop me from marrying him. Once we were married, all of this would be over and everything would go back to normal.
“Yes Elroy. I’ll marry you,” I smiled. “Everything will be forgiven. I don’t want to talk about Kera, or the baby, or your lies. It’s a clean slate. Let’s start over. Now, let’s go get married.”
Elroy stood up and hugged me. “Okay. Let’s go get married.”
“Head to your house, get your clothes packed and call a cab to take us to the airport. I’m going to get my stuff together and I’ll meet you there in thirty-minutes.”
“Okay. I love you Serenity.”
“Believe me. I love you too.”
Once Elroy pulled off, I had a bag packed in five minutes. I grabbed everything in my cabinet and fridge that could be eaten without cooking it and I rushed to my grandmother’s house. Seeing that the missed call was from yet another private number, it was time to get this show on the road so that I could get her the hell out of that basement! I wasn’t going to jail behind this. Whoever it was knew something, and I had to make a move before they decided to.
I’d been nervous about heading her way, but now that we were leaving to go get married, I didn’t have a choice but to at least take her something to eat. And as soon as we returned, I would let her go. Or maybe I would send Nate to set her free while I was gone. Yeah. I could text him as soon as Elroy and I tied the knot, leave the key for him, have him get her out of there, and it all could be handled before we were even back home. I had to get her out of there before someone tried to expose me.
Once I got to my grandmother’s house, I was in such a rush that I almost forgot to cover my face and I only remembered once I opened the basement door and the odor slapped me in my face like one of those backhanded slaps that you got for sassing off at your Big Mama, back in the day. Pinching my nose, I noticed that I had to go back to the car to get my mask. I’d left the basement door and the front door open and though it was faint, despite what I’d thought, I could hear her so I rushed back inside.
“Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!”
I frowned at the sight of her.
She was filthy. She smelled like week old bologna and so did everything else.
“Please. Let me go. I won’t tell. Just let me go. Please.”
Running out of time, I put the food where I knew that she could reach it.
“Please,” and then she started to sob. And I mean she cried from somewhere that was tired, and sad. She cried as though she was giving up hope. She cried so hard that her cries were starting to get to me.
“I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m pregnant. I stink. Please just let me go. Please,” she wept. She sounded like a small child that had gotten separated from her mom or something.
Ugh! I turned around without responding to her. This little heffa’ was softening me right on up! I was going to let her go anyway. Just let me get to the airport and get married first. She continued to bawl as
I texted Nate to see if he had time to meet me before I went to the airport but he’d said that he and his wife had gone out of town for a few days.
Damn. She was going to have to wait until I got back. But I had to say something to take her out of her misery. I had to say something to make her stop crying.
I deepened my voice as much as I could and attempted to talk like a man, even though she already knew that I was a woman. I was hoping that she hadn't caught on to my voice from last time.
“When I come back, it will almost be time for you to go,” I growled.
“Why am I here?”
“I’m not going to kill you,” I growled.
“Yes you are. I know you are.”
“No. I’m not going to kill you.”
She mumbled between crying and trying to catch her breath. I made my way up the stairs and I locked the door and stood with my back up against it.
I ripped the mask off of my face and I realized that I really did feel bad for all of this. Not just because I felt like I might be at risk of getting caught. But also because at the end of the day she was innocent.
What had I done?
Was I really this desperate?
I was a bitch; to the third power, minus the one, and plus two. But even I was surprised at how far I’d gone just to get Elroy back. Just to make him love me and not her.
Lost in my thoughts, my phone started to ring again. But this time, it was Elroy. Damn. I forgot that he was waiting on me.
I hurried out the door and drove towards Elroy’s house, feeling all sorts of confused. But by the time that I pulled up at Elroy’s house and saw the smile plastered on his face as he waited for me by the cab, I forgot about everything. I forgot about the mixed feelings, my emotions, the mysterious calls, and for a second, I forgot all about Kera too.
He was the only thing on my mind and wedding bells was the only thing that I could hear in my head. Finally, after all of this, finally…I was getting married!
~***~
Mexico was amazing! I mean it was absolutely amazing! It was so beautiful and the best thing of all way that I would always have the memory of vowing to love Elroy forever, on a beach, just before sunset, with a single beautiful flower in my hair and nothing but love in my heart.
But no matter how amazing it all was, I’d found it hard to keep my mind off of Kera. The never-ending private calls made it hard not to think about her. They just kept calling over and over and over. The whole time that we’d been gone! I hadn't answered any of the calls, but I knew that whoever it was, was still calling for a reason. Maybe they were looking for a way to blackmail me or something, but I wasn’t going to give them the chance to. I was letting Kera go, today, as soon as Elroy was out of the way.
“Home sweet home, Mrs. Ross,” Elroy chimed.
Mrs. Ross! Boy did that have a nice ring to it! I was married! I was really married! And despite what I’d had to do to get him to marry me, he did, and that was really all that mattered.
Besides, I really had a feeling that all the games and lies were behind him. Something just told me, that he was going to be the best husband that he could possibly be. And it wasn’t just because he was so good at talking, or from the things that he’d said. I could just tell that he had taken his vows seriously. He hadn't ever been married either, and it was as though with every word that he said, he realized how much he loved me. It was as though he couldn’t believe that after all that he’d done, I still wanted him to be with him and be his wife. I could feel it in my heart that he’d planned to spend the rest of his life making up to me and making me happy. Everything was going to be okay.
I’d thought more than enough about Kera and the baby situation, before and after we were married. Now that Elroy and I were officially husband and wife, the whole situation didn’t seem so bad. I just knew that I needed to get her out of the basement. Even if she was still pregnant, now, we could deal with it as husband and wife. I mean he was married to me now. What was he going to do…divorce me? Nope. I don’t think so!
I was a lawyer. That wasn’t going to go as well as he might hope that it would. And besides, I wasn’t signing nothing! He married me and he was sure as hell stuck with me! And I would make sure of that.
So, if she was still pregnant, for some odd reason, then I guess that I would put on my big girl panties and become step mama of the year. Hell that was the least that I could do after keeping her locked in a basement for almost a month.
“Come on. I have to carry you over the threshold,” Elroy said, picking me up off of my feet. I giggled and once we were inside he told me to get naked.
Yes! More sex!
Sex not only increased my chances of getting pregnant, but I knew that sex was going to knock him out for a few hours; especially once I turned into Lock Jaw Sally for about ten minutes and then he knew what time it was once I started to drive his magic-stick. Once I was done with him, he was going to be damn near dead! Elroy never could hang with me in that department, no matter how hard he tried to. I told him from the very beginning that my vagina had magic powers. She had her own little secret weapon. Hell, she needed to come with a warning label: Warning! Boy, this pussy just might put you in a coma!
I’m just saying; don’t blame me, blame my Mama! She didn’t have ten kids for nothing! But once we were through and once he was out like a light, I could make my way to Kera.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you more,” I chimed and kissed him, hard. He kissed me back and for the next hour or so, we rolled around, got all sweaty and stuff, cursed and screamed, and then finally we both exploded in unison.
I pretended as though I was going to take a nap with him but as soon as I heard Elroy snore, I got up.
My mind was racing. I had to figure out how I was going to do this. I showered, got dressed, and grabbed the sleeping, mixed with vodka medicine; well what was left of it. I hoped it was enough to make her sleep for a while so that I could get her back home.
Once I was outside, I called Nate. Briefly we talked about his son’s court date, and after lying and convincing him that I was ready, I told him what I wanted from him. He said that he was back in town too, but that he was handling something at the moment, so it would be about an hour or so before he could get to me, but that he would be there when he could. And seeing that I was getting an incoming call on my other line from a private number, again, I was praying that he hurried up! I was starting to get nervous, even worried, and I was regretting ever going to this extreme.
As I drove in her direction anyway, I clicked over.
“Hello?”
“You’re going to get caught.”
It sounded like a woman. But as I listened closely, it as though someone else was whispering in the background. As though they were telling her what to say.
“Who is this? How am I going to get caught? What are you talking about? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I waited for their response but they didn’t say anything else. They hung up instead.
I tried to think of who it could be and who would know what I’d done. If that’s what they were even talking about. As cautious as Big Nate was, I was sure that he hadn't told a soul about kidnapping Kera, especially since he was involved too. But somebody knew something. I wasn’t sure how they’d found out but somebody knew something. That’s why I had to hurry up and fix it!
Just because, and sort of as an unsaid apology, I stopped to get Kera a nice, big, juicy steak, a salad and a baked potato and something to drink. She was probably going to look at me like: Really, bitch? You kidnapped me! I don’t want a damn steak! I want to go home!
But hey, it was the least that I could do. I poured the sleeping medicine into the drink and mixed around. Hopefully it was enough.
No matter what, Elroy could never find out about this. Elroy could never know that I was capable of doing something like this. He thought that I was perfect. I was perfect all right…in a two steps past looney sort of way. And
I would do anything to keep this secret.
I pulled up at my grandmother’s house to see that a policeman was there. My heart dropped into the pit of my belly and I almost wanted to reverse and leave, but he saw me, stopped knocking on the front door and came towards my car. He waited for me to roll down my window.
Oh no! Oh no! Someone did know! Someone called the police! I was going to go jail! I was going to jail! Ugh, and I was going to have a mugshot!
“Hello ma’am. Is this your house?”
“It’s my grandmother’s. I’m looking to move me and my family here soon and came to check on it. Is there a problem?” My voice was trembling and I was starting to sweat.
“Someone reported a couple of teenagers hanging around here causing a lot of noise last night. Does anyone stay here?”
I shook my head. “No. It’s completely empty. It doesn’t even have furniture inside. Were they trying to break-in?”
“I don’t know. I checked around, but I didn’t see anything broken or anything that looked suspicious.”
He checked around? He didn’t hear anything? Right? No. He couldn’t hear her.
“Maybe you or your grandmother should invest in a security system or something. Have a good day ma’am,” he nodded his head and headed to his car.
I clutched my chest. Someone had called the police on purpose! I doubted that some random teenagers had been there the night before making some kind of noise. No! This was intentional! Someone was trying to get me caught! And I was sure that whoever it was that had tipped off the police, was also the person calling my phone. They were lucky that I didn’t know who they were, yet. But thinking of my client that hacked technology, I was going to find out! And they were going to be sorry!
But that was a sign. Had the policeman been able to hear her, if she screamed, my life would have been over. My career would have been ruined. My new marriage would have been over. And this would have been wasted time, energy, and money. I swear, what in the world was I thinking! Killing and making it look like an accident would have been so much easier. I’d done that pretty well the first time, without all of the worries or the headache. This had definitely been just too much of a hassle. Hell, she and I should have teamed up and killed Elroy or something. I’m sure she would have been just as angry as I was to have known the truth.
