by Kylie Parker
“How are you feeling?” she asked and cautiously approached my bed.
“Depends”, I answered “Are we talking about my leg or my feelings?”
“Come on David you know I had to do that”.
“You had t?”
“I couldn’t just watch you kill the father of my baby”, she answered.
I wanted to throw something at her and if there was something close by I would have.
“Are you serious right now Sarah?’ I asked “You shot me in the leg so that he could escape”.
“You had a gun on him”.
“Well, so did he”.
“I had to”.
“No you didn’t have to”, I answered vexed “it was a choice you made and you decided to let him go. He ran off to God knows where Sarah because of you. I have always known you are smart my sister but that right ether was a pretty damn move”.
“Marrying Marisol was a pretty damn move too David but you don’t hear me giving you hell about it”, she answered back.
“But my dear Marisol is not a fugitive wanted by the FBI, your lover Robbie is. Do you understand the gravity of this situation? You may have let your lover go, ‘father of your kid’ as you put it but you have also endangered your entire career”.
“He told me he has a plan”.
“Stop!” I barked with my hand raised in midair for dramatic effect “don’t you dare tell me you believed that fool”.
She bit her lower lip in reaction to my harsh words but I simply did not care at that time. I was in a hospital bed; high on what I highly suspected was morphine instead of putting a fugitive behind bars.
“You only wanted to catch him for the sake of your resume so that you could get a promotion at work”.
“I don’t see anything wrong with that”, I barked back “It is a lot better than getting pregnant with a fugitive, shooting your brother in the leg and letting the son of a bitch go”.
“Fuck David! Would you please cut me some slack?”
“No Sarah I will not, you forgot your oath when you let him run off. You got blinded by love and that led you to make a poor decision. But when it affects the well being of others Sarah, love ain got nothing to do with it”.
“About that”, she stammered “I need our stories to collaborate”.
“What do you mean?”
“I may have given a different story to the agents who got to the scene”.
I couldn’t believe my sister; the pregnancy hormones must have been playing a lot of tricks on her. She was till covering for that criminal ass boyfriend of hers.
“So you want me to lie?”
“Not really”, she stammered again “You only need to tell them that he pulled his gun on you when I approached the scene so that our stories would coincide”.
I wanted to slap her across the face and knock some sense into her after that. I wanted to wipe that love fog that was clouding her judgment but I could also use her weakness to my advantage.
“Tell you what, I will tell the FBI whatever you want me to say under one condition”.
“What’s that?”
“You turn your boyfriend in”.
“But I have no idea where he currently is”, she argued.
“Not now, but you will”, I answered “I am sure he will call you”.
“What makes you so sure?”
“You chose him over your blood brother, I am sure that is enough motivation”.
The place looked like a scene from a telemundo soap opera, as soon as I had finished saying these words Marisol walked back in with one of the agents who had showed up at the scene after Robbie ran away.
“Look who I ran into?” Marisol said I could already see her batting her eyes and making inappropriate gestures with the man when she walked into the room. My wife acted fast. That I knew for a fact.
“David”, the agent walked in and shook my hand “you look well...”
“I feel good too”, I lied “The meds had started wearing off and I could feel a slight pain travel up my leg. I however managed to form a smile on my mouth as I looked at him.
“How are you doing Fred?” I asked and settled back on my bed. Marisol was by my side in a minute; she pressed the adjustable button of my bed and helped me up.
“Hey there Sarah”, Fred turned her attention to my Judas sister who stood silently giving mean ‘are we good’ kind of look.
“Hey Fred”.
“I hope to see you back at work soon”, Fed went on “We have missed you at the office.”
She managed to let out a plastic smile, one that I knew all too well about. Fred then turned his attention to me and I had an idea of what he was going to say. I braced myself for the questions and noticed Sarah’s look my way.
“So David. I trust you already know why I am here”, he said.
“I can guess”, I answered and drew in a lungful of air. I hated the smell of drugs and antiseptic that filled the hospital room it reminded me that I was not well.
“I would like to know exactly what happened the night we found you shot in the leg”.
“It was a bullet graze”, Sarah chipped in.
“You should know”.
“”Is there something I am missing here?” Fred asked as he looked at both of us with questioning eyes.
“Sibling rivalry”, I answered so as not to arouse his suspicion of us the more.
“Alright let’s get to it shall we? So that I could let you have your much deserved rest”.
“Alright”, I answered. Marisol was standing next to my bedside, teary eyed and looking like the dutiful wife she was not.
“Can you briefly tell me what led you to the crime scene that night?’
“I had been investigating the fugitive for quite some time”, he started “I was not sure if it was indeed him and decided to trail him in order to get concrete evidence”.
Sarah had her palms intertwined in front of her as she gave me a queer look half threatening and half begging me not to say anything that might incriminate her. For a brief moment we had our own secret language through eye contact where I was sure beyond words that she wanted me to lie. When she raised her eyebrows and gave me a pitiful look I knew that was a sign of surrender and with that decided to comply.
“I had called back up in advance when I realized that he was planning to flee and I also informed Sarah about his whereabouts who had also been helping me with the case briefly”.
“So did the two of you get into a fight before he pulled the trigger?”
“Verbally”, I answered “I wanted to confront him first get him to admit to the guilt before arresting me but he was step ahead of me and held a gun to me instead”.
“How did it so happen that you only got out with a graze?”
“Sarah walked in on the scene and distracted him, this gave me the opportunity to disarm him but I was unlucky and instead got a bullet graze on my leg”.
“I am so sorry to hear that”.
“Occupational hazard I guess”.
“Is there anything else you would like to add that may be useful to the case?”
I tilted my head to the left, of course there were details that I needed to give to the police about the case but I also needed my leverage with Sarah.
“I will be sure to let you know if I remember anything”, I answered and let out a playful smile “I mean I am high on pain meds”.
“I understand”, he answered with a smile; I will let you have some rest”.
He then turned his attention to Marisol before saying “You have such a beautiful wife David”.
“Thank you”.
He waved at Sarah before swinging the door open and stepping out into the hospital’s hallway. I looked back at Sarah when I was sure he was a good distance from the door and threw her an ugly look.
“What?” she asked in protest.
“You know what? You made me lie to Fred. I hope by now you understand the gravity of the situation that you have placed both of us
in”.
“David, I am sorry I am going to make this right”.
“You are damn right you are, I will make sure you make this right, even if it is the last thing I do”.
Marisol had never seen me that vexed, to her I was always the husband who she could insult and manipulate.
“I have to go” Sarah said I could tell she had tears in her eyes but didn’t bother paying much attention to her. I would easily be swayed by it.
“That was such a great turn on”, Marisol pointed out and placed a hand over mine. She had a look in her eye that I had only seen on very few occasions since we got married. It was the look of admiration brought by being impressed by something I had said or done.
“I feel naughty”, he said and got to her feet. She locked the door after peeping into the hallway and walked back to my bed.
“Are you serious Marisol, I am hurt”. I protested but the thought of having sex in the hospital ward sounded thrilling.
“I thought it was only a graze”.
I let out a naughty smile as she bend over to kiss my lips before carefully mounting on my bed. These were the moments I lived for; this was the simple reason why I was still married to Marisol. She was not perfect but when things were good between us, they were really good. I let her take charge and hoped the next storm in our marriage would not make an appearance any time soon.
36
Sarah
The call came through in the middle of the night after I had dozed off in my apartment. The place felt strange, I had been living with Robbie for the past few weeks and rarely showed up in my own apartment. I sat up and looked at my cell phone; it was an international number which was quiet strange.
“Hello”.
“Sarah”.
My heart skipped two beats at a time as I recognized Robbie’s voice. I was grateful he was alive but was also mad at how he had planned on abandoning me with our unborn child. I had a million and one questions for him but decided to start with the most important one.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes I am fine”.
I drew in a sharp breath and was grateful for this fact, David’s words played in my head as I waited to hear what Robbie will say next.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
“You need to come where I am”.
“And where is that?”
“Mexico”.
I had a feeling Robbie would ask me to make that choice, “Robbie do you know what you are asking of me?”
“Yes”.
“I don’t think you do”, I answered acidly “You are asking me to give up my career, my life and come be with you. So are we going to be the little fugitive happy family along with our unborn baby?”
“Sarah, I can take good care of you and you know that”.
“Yes but at what expense? I don’t want to live a life of hiding and I certainly do not want that for my baby either”.
“Sarah, what have you built for yourself back in the States that you cannot up and leave?”
These words jabbed me and tagged at my heart strings, I not only felt insulted and offended but also felt almost useless. There it was in black and white, there was no grey area in his statement. Robbie did not think much of my carrier David was right.
“Hello, are you still there?”
“Yes I am here”, I answered almost immediately not wanting him to detect the sudden change of tone in my voice.
“Sarah, I need you to say the word”, he went on sounding like a used car salesman “Say the words and I will put everything in order for you, you will be out of the states in a few hours. You do not need to carry anything my love”.
“Could you give me time to think about it?”
“How much time?”
“I don’t know Robbie, this is all too much”, I answered “Everything is all happening at the same damn time”.
“Well, I hate to break it to you my dear but time is not a luxury we can afford right now”, he answered “I will have to disappear from the grid in a week’s time”.
Robbie was being really insensitive; I could not make such a decision on very limited time I had an unborn child to think about. I bit my lower lip and asked him the question I had been avoiding to put forth the whole time.
“Robbie, what about us?”
“What about us love?”
“What happens if I choose not to come with you? What happens to us?” I paused for dramatic effect and for the words to really sink into his head “What about our family? Are you going to let me raise this baby by myself?”
I could tell he was having a hard time giving me answer but when he spoke I made my final decision.
“Sarah, listen to me”, he started “At this stage, you still have options, the pregnancy can still be terminated and you can still go on with your life”.
“Without you?”
“I wish there was something I could do Sarah but that is what I can offer right now given the circumstances. I really wish I could”.
Listening to his tone of voice was disturbing, I was not sure if he was pleading with me or trying to manipulate me into running off into the sunset with him.
“Can I call you same time tomorrow?”
“Yes”, I replied and listened to the line go dead and with it any hope of ever having a future with Robbie as well.
37
Sarah
Mexico was a very different state from what I was used to. As soon as I placed foot on Mexican soil, I shut my eyes and thought about what lay ahead. I couldn’t back out now; I had to go through with the plan. I walked out of the plane and looked straight ahead into the sea of people gathered at the airport.
Their earth red complexion was beautiful in person, not like I had seen on the TV a few times. I walked on and true to his word, spotted my name on one cardboard being held up by a man I did not recognize. With all that had been going on I hadn’t expected him to come meet me once I landed.
“Sally Stephens”, the man greeted and displayed a few stained teeth when he smiled.
“Yes, that’s me”.
“Welcome to Mexico”, he went on to say with excitement in his voice. He had a heavy Mexican accent that was almost hilarious. I smiled at him as he helped me with my bags; I hadn’t carried much just what I thought I needed.
“Right this way ma’am”, he said.
I followed him to a car that had been parked on the parking lot and got into the backseat. The humid in Mexico was definitely different from what I was used to and the sun was shining down on me burning its rays on my skin straight through my sun screen. It made me feel like God had a spotlight on me for what I was about to do.
“How was your flight?” he went on to ask as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the main road.
“It was alright, I slept all the way”.
“Make sure to try all the Mexican food you can”, he hesitated before asking “Are you here on vacation?”
I was not sure how to reply to him but he looked and sounded harmless anyway.
“Maybe”.
I answered with a naughty smile playing on my lips. He went on to drive without asking anymore questions, he must have gotten the hint, I was not in the mood for an interrogation.
After driving for about half an hour and letting me take in the richness of culture that Mexico had, we took a different turn and drove along an affluent neighborhood. The big stylish mansions with humongous compounds gave this fact away. I settled well in my seat and took in my surroundings; Robbie sure knew how to survive. Even in hiding he could not give up his stylish and high maintenance lifestyle.
The car drove straight to the driveway and I waited for the driver to get the door for me. He had assumed a more serious face now not like the chatty Cathy he had been from the airport.
“Enjoy your stay ma’am”, he said before getting back into the driver’s seat and driving off. I watched him leave before turning on my heel and heading to the mansion. My heart beat with
every step as I walked toward it and wondered how he looked like, it felt like forever.
“Sarah my love”.
I held my breath as I took in his appearance; I had indeed missed the bastard. Mexico agreed with him, he had a tan and had let his hair loose unlike how he would like styling it back at the states.
“Robbie”, I managed to say between my tight lips.
My first instinct was to turn and head back, it still felt like a mistake. He had a smile painted on his face, obviously very happy to see me as he took a few steps towards me.
We stood there staring at each other before I instinctively landed a hot slap across his face. He took two steps back and staggered from the weight of it but it also wiped that smug smile from his face and made me feel good.
“I deserved that”, he said as he placed a hand across his left cheek. He then moved closer and wrapped me in his arms before pulling back and giving me a long passionate kiss that made me feel weak in the knees. The fool still had an electric effect on me.
“I missed you”, I said with a sincere tone.
“I missed you too my love”.
He took my hand and we walked hand in hand toward the mansion. I was filled with a feeling of excitement and fear, holding his hand as we walked gave me a sense of belonging.
Our love bliss that was brought about by the reunion was however cut short when a man with a metal detector stopped us on the entrance of the mansion.
“Come on Ricardo, she’s alright”.
“Policy Robbie”.
I stiffened when I saw what he had in his hand, “I am pregnant, you are not supposed to search me with that, it could interfere with the baby’s development”.
The man stared at me not wanting to believe what I w s telling him but a bit hesitant to carry out his firm hand.
“Do you want me to give birth to a baby with two heads?” I asked acidly.
He stood aside and let us through with Robbie giggling as we walked on. He had his arm around my waist now and I could already tell what was going on in his head.
