Rome was patient with Estelle, because he knew she was just trying to protect them from returning to suicide watch. He would often come over and spend time talking with them just as he had done with Charlotte during his trial period. He cared about all of them and focused his efforts and attention on them as if they were his own wife and children. Charlotte was thrilled and of course she was extremely grateful to have a real man, who was consistent with his feelings, attitude and mood. He was a good-looking man that could cook, clean, and take control when a man should. Initially she would quiz him on is background and his living situation, which he never had much to say or elaborate on. The gist of his life outside of hers was he stayed with his mother because she was old and obviously needed to be cared for, which was right around the time that he needed to move out and leave his girlfriend that had “gone-wild” alone. She was someone who he loved and cared for, that met some new friends that turned her out. She went from being happy with their love, to feeling the need for space and individuality overnight.
During the time that Adele and Estelle were adjusting to their new lives, they experienced pain and dealt with it in their own ways. They were fraternal twins who looked the complete opposite of each other. Adele was taller with meat on her bones. She was one of those girls who a nasty man would claim that he thought she was a grown-up. Meanwhile, Estelle was shorter and petite in size. She was still shapely, but had more of an athletic build. Their differences did not stop with their looks. Estelle became rebellious and ornery while Adele became quiet and withdrawn.
Rome was exactly what Charlotte needed to hold on to the last piece of sanity that she was left with. She tried her best to explain to them that she and their father were not going to be able to salvage their marriage like they hoped to before and that it was not because of anything that any of them had done. She attempted to explain to them that some relationships were never meant to be and that often people choose someone for what they want them to be, instead of who they really are. If she had understood that at the time, she would have never entered in a relationship that was ultimately unhealthy for them all. Charlotte went on to say, “The Bible condemns spouse abuse by demanding a lifestyle of love and compassion, which rules out the violence in the home. Whether abuse is mental, physical, or verbal, abuse does not fit with the Christian lifestyle. No member of the home has a right to hurt other family members.”
If a husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church, he will not consider abusing his wife.( Ephesians 5:25)
Adele seemed to take it in and hopefully understand the wisdom her mother had uttered from her lips. It made her feel somewhat better to know why their space would be extended indefinitely. No one ever told her why they had to race out of the house that evening like mad men and re-create the demolition derby scene in the alley, so she assumed Daddy had hurt Mom again. She assumed that “Stell” would tell her, but she never did. She would only respond to her inquiries with the phrase “bullshit.” She needed to do a lot of thinking and watch people to determine who they really were, instead of who they pretended or had potential to be, like Mom said.
Stell heard what her mother said, but refused to listen. She was angry with the coward that had emerged in place of her mother. Stell became enraged with the “lick our wounds and move on like good Christians” option. She was excited to see the backbone grow out of her mom’s back when she went on her revenge rampage, before they left the house, but felt it could have been done with a little more vindictiveness. Her mother had the chance to right everything that once went wrong, but was choosing not to, by allowing Dad to get away with murder. Stell vowed to never be so weak. She was fortunate to have some of her father’s boldness and temper in her blood. This way her backbone would always protrude for all to see.
Chapter 4
It was eleven o’clock in the morning, and Charlotte’s phone rang like clockwork for the umpteenth time. It seemed to be almost weekly where her phone would ring a few hours after she had sent the girls to school with some more news. This time it was Ms. Deidra Green, the sexy gym teacher at Harper High School, calling in her complaints about Estelle. Charlotte was in no mood for this woman, who she despised because of her inability to dress and act like an adult who taught teenage children. She allowed the kids to call her Deidra instead of Ms. Green and dressed in short shorts with low cut, short- sleeve girl tees during the summer and form- fitting leggings with long- sleeve form- fitting tops in the winter. Deidra must’ve been calling because she felt that her daughter might be too much competition for her with the boys in her gym class.
Charlotte answered the phone with a weary hello. Deidra assuming that Charlotte was the only person, who would answer the phone, went straight into her accusations. She said that her iPhone was missing and her daughter, Estelle had taken it. She rambled on about how she was sitting on the bench, sexting with this dude as the students ran around the track for their fitness segment. She stopped and put the phone down when she was interrupted by one of the chunky girls falling out on the track in the middle of the lap. She concluded her story saying that only Estelle was left on the bench with the phone in view of the fact that she said that she had cramps and couldn’t do the run.
Charlotte wanted to think that she knew what her children would and would not do, but at that point, she couldn’t be sure anymore. She had to treat the situation like she would if it was a stranger.
She asked Deidra, “What did Estelle say when you asked her about it?” Deidra responded bluntly that she didn’t ask her, because class was over when she went back to the bench to get it and Estelle had gone. She wanted Charlotte to find her and return her phone back to her. She assured her that it would be fine if she was unable to retrieve the phone and chose to replace it with a new iphone5 instead. Charlotte was pissed for multiple reasons at this point. She was angry with her for the tactless approach she used and two for her audacity to ask for an upgraded phone from an assumption! With all of the dudes calling it, surely one of them is paying for its insurance.
Charlotte had taken as much of this phone call as her stomach would allow. She told Deidra that she would talk to her daughter when she got home about it and disconnected the line. Thank goodness Charlotte worked in a small book shop that didn’t require much attention or work from her, because at this point, she didn’t have much to offer so she turned on her blue-tooth and called Rome. They were only three months in and he knew her so well. He answered her morning phone call with concern in his voice. He knew something was wrong since it was a tad too early for a midday rendezvous. She was falling so hard for this man and prayed that it would not end in disaster for she was aware that she had fallen for this man. He had worked his mojo on her and she now belonged to him.
Rome said, “Good morning Sunshine. What’s wrong with my baby?” She smiled uncontrollably in response to his voice. Instantly she started to feel better and things didn’t seem so bad anymore. She hesitated to tell him and mess up the smile that had wafted across her face, but it was too late. He had already begun to listen attentively. He was already concerned. She repeated to him the conversation that she just had with Deidra. In response, he let out a low breath and said, “Well, until she can prove it or not, we do not have to worry about it, but worse- case scenario, we must continue to talk to the girls about right and wrong and the repercussions that come with stealing. They are old enough to be held accountable for their own actions and can carry jail time for them that will follow them for years to come. If anything more comes of this, I can be with you at the school if you are summoned and would like my physical support.”
She was so busy hanging onto what he said, “We needed to do” that, she almost missed the incoming call coming in on the other line. The caller id said that it was the school calling back, she told Rome to hold, while she conferenced him in for an update on the drama. It was Deidra again telling her that she got her phone back, but didn’t sound like she was about to apologize next, nor did she soun
d like that was going to be the end of it, yet she paused after her announcement. She was such a drama queen. Deidra finally resumed talking after her long pause to confirm that she found it in a nearby trashcan, when she kept calling it. She paused again.
Charlotte was tired of the dramatics, especially since she got the phone back, so she piped up impatiently, “Deidra I am glad that you found your phone. However, as promised, I will still talk to my daughter and ask her if she saw who took your phone and threw it there, when she comes home. Thank you for following up with me. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
At that moment, Deidra realized she needed to speak up and spit out what she really wanted to say, because Charlotte was on the verge of hanging up on her. She replied, “No need for the investigation, I know Estelle was in possession of my phone. I’ve already called the police and made a formal report against her. She is being held at the police station now, so you will have to pick her up from there and then come to the school for her formal expulsion paperwork.”
Boom! She got Charlotte’s attention better that way than the pauses did. Apparently, Charlotte wasn’t into suspense movies or books, Deidra thought. Charlotte came back immediately with an arsenal of questions for her to answer. Rome was bound by third party silence, so he had to text his questions to her to relay to Deidra to answer, but it was all too much. Deidra was a trifling bitch and relished in the position she now held and took the opportunity, to say her wrap up speech and end the call. She told Charlotte that after she had gotten her phone back, she was going through it to look for any damage or traces that the thief had left, when she found a couple of pictures and a video of Estelle dancing seductively in the girls’ shower room mirror. Dancing in the nude and fondling her-self in a few of them. The fact that she stole the phone was one crime and the pornography was another. The police had to be called and charges were made. Any questions more, she would have to contact the police at the 8th District police station, then she apologized for having to be the bearer of bad news and said goodbye.
Charlotte couldn’t remember if she said goodbye or not. She had already tuned out Deidra’s voice. All of the blood had left her hand and her thumb must have hit the end button when she sat the phone down right before she collapsed into the chair. The room was swirling all around her and she was feeling so hot all of a sudden. She couldn’t breathe and her vision was getting blurry. When the puppeteer holding the strings to her head let go, her head snapped down onto the back of the chair as she slumped down into it. The blue- tooth fell off when her head lost control. If Rome was on the phone, it didn’t matter, there was no strength left in her body to talk back. She was overcome with a total body failure. Anything that could go wrong was going wrong at that very moment.
Chapter 5
At the time the call came in, Rome was at home addressing some problems of his own, but as always, the best way to put your problems aside, is to focus on someone else’s. Charlotte needed him more than anything now. There was no need to call her back. There was nothing to talk about, he was on the phone and had all of the information that he needed. It was time to jump into action. He was on the Eisenhower in ten minutes to make his transfer to the Dan Ryan, in hopes to get to Charlotte in the next fifteen minutes. Rome knew that time was of the essence, so he debated with himself at every stoplight and pedestrian crossing, if he should be contacting 911 to go ahead of him to attend to Charlotte until he got there.
He fought the urge over and over again, but eventually decided not to. Throughout the time that he’s watched her and listened to her, she never mentioned having any problems with heart disease or heart failure before, not even in her bloodline. He decided that she was just overwhelmed with all of the events that she had been keeping in. He diagnosed her in his head as having an anxiety attack and she just needed to calm herself. Anyone would short-circuit with the burdens that she felt she needed to carry alone.
Rome was no doctor and had not been near anyone’s medical school. The closest he had been to the sick, were the times that he took his mother to her doctor’s appointments. He learned a great deal, since she seemed to suffer from more and more ailments, as she grew older. The most important thing that he learned was to listen. Listening provided him with more insight than investigations and experiments ever would. As he drove his Ford Explorer at 75 mph to get to Charlotte, he prayed inwardly that he was right. He loved her and if making the wrong decision would cause her or those girls any more pain, he would never be able to live with himself!
Rome pulled up to “The Books-Go-Round” bookstore then quickly burst into the store, to see that he was wrong about Charlotte’s condition. She was bleeding from her mouth as well! He screamed her name as he ran up to her to get a better assessment of her situation, grabbing his cellular phone to call in the cavalry for back up. Upon a closer assessment, he began to put a blanket around her and rub her hand, then arm as he slowly became aware of the blood’s origin. It appeared that she was not bleeding profusely; she had bitten her tongue when she passed out and her head jerked uncontrollably on her fall. She was coming around and starting to moan as she came to. Rome rubbed her feverishly, as he became more and more excited with every moan she emitted as she became conscious.
He held her, rubbed her and rocked her as she regained consciousness again and began to moan in agony from the returning reminder of the phone call that she last had. He continued to reassure her that it everything would be all right, as he massaged her to calm her and remind her that they were both in it together. He promised to never leave them. The moment, they got Estelle home and were all- together, they would immediately plan a mini-vacation on the weekend. They all were in dire need of one and they were going to have it regardless of what their finances were. Rome’s use of the words we, our and us, seemed to start instantly healing her when he spoke. Then he whispered a biblical verse over her as he continued to hold her in his arms.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19)
First, the possession words and now the confirmation that he knows God and loves Him too, was all of the medicine that she needed. All of her cares had seemed to instantly vanish. She felt almost 100%, except for the blood in her mouth and the wetness in her panties, that didn’t seem to subside. She got up with his help to lock the door and head to the restroom, where Rome followed her, refusing to let her out of his sight. As she rinsed the blood out of her mouth and the water became clear again, he made the mistake of whispering, “It’s going to be okay, baby, I promise. We are in this together.”
She whirled around and thrust her injured tongue into his mouth for his healing words to heal her tongue. He had been going through his own issues earlier and needed her too, so he responded aggressively. He took her right there in the restroom. He pulled her 36 C’s out of her blouse with one hand, while the other was pulling her pants down and hiking her up onto the sink. He was hungry for this woman more than just physically. He needed her love, her compassion, and her problems. He wanted everything that came with her, so that he could be everything that she needed, which would make her just what he wanted and craved.
With his home life, this was a welcome out of this world. Once he touched her, he refused to let go, like a baby on a changing table- always keeping at least one hand on it at all times, no matter what happens. When his hand left her nipples, his mouth
replaced it. As he sucked her nipples like a hungry newborn looking for milk, she unbuttoned his shirt and pants. She found what she was looking for: the stopper to plug the leak that was gushing from her vagina. It was the perfect size. It would fit in with ease, but first she knew not to get her hopes up, so she needed to inspect it and run some tests to see if it was right for her. So she grabbed it and felt it throb in her hands, it even seemed to grow another inch with her touch. She made a tight grip around it and went up and down its shaft to inspect it like a medical professional would, looking for bumps or any inconsistencies. As she probed- so did Rome. He stopped his left hand from finishing her breast exam and moved it to her vagina to start her pelvic exam.
Like Thing from “The Addams Family,” it first found her clit and rubbed it and played with it to make sure that it was alert, and then after it passed the test, the opening seemed to invite him in, where he went in to check the lining and banging on walls to see if it was any room in the tight space for company. He found that it was so tight in there, that the anticipation encouraged more growth and excitement from him. Their inspections seemed to have the same effect on them both, for she gave him the sign that he passed the test by producing that milk that he was looking for, out of her vagina, instead. The inspection process felt like it had gone on forever, since it was so detailed and complete, but in all actuality, the two of them knew what to look for and were only going through the motions.
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