Snapped (Urban Renaissance)

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  “That’s good to know. But that little reunion is going to have to wait until we get back in town. I’m taking Cojo away for the weekend to celebrate.”

  For a second, my mother’s eyes clouded over, but they quickly cleared. “That’s nice, baby.”

  My heart soared ’cause she hadn’t called me baby with sincerity since I was six or seven. “You could do me a favor, though.”

  “What’s that?” She looked hopeful again.

  “Keep an eye on our mail. I’m expecting my redeployment orders, and I need to know if they come while we are away.”

  “How am I going to keep an eye on your mail or apartment when I’ve never ever been there?”

  That was a dig, but I knew she knew exactly where it was because she’d visited before and ’cause she gave the address to Gavin. “I’ll write down the address and leave an extra key so you can check the mail and leave it in the house. We will be home on Sunday.”

  “Okay, that’s the least I can do for all the damage I’ve done to our relationship over the years. I’ll call you if you get anything that comes from the military.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” My heart felt like it was about to bust. I hadn’t felt this good since Cojo told me she was pregnant.

  “How far along is Cojo?”

  “About four weeks.” I handed my mother the extra keys I had on my ring, and she placed them on the fireplace. I got lost in thought thinking about the cute little girl or the handsome son we were going to have.

  “Ain’t this special.” Gavin came out of the guest bedroom clapping his hands.

  Rage the likes of which I hadn’t felt since I kicked his ass came rushing back at me. I had no idea Gavin was crashing at my mother’s house. If I’d known, I would have never come over here. “What are you doing here?” I snarled.

  “Oh, no forgiveness for me?” Gavin was mocking me, letting me know that he had heard every word I had said to Gina.

  “Leave me alone, Gavin.”

  “What did I do?” He had this innocent look on his face, as if he’d never done any wrong, but I knew better . . . much better.

  “I got to go, Mom. I’ll invite you over once we get back.” I turned to leave. I needed to get out of here before I said or did something to that asshole brother of mine.

  She walked me to the door and we shared another hug. It felt good to be back in her good graces, and I had high hopes that she was going to get her life together.

  “Have a safe trip,” she said.

  “Yo, Merlin,” Gavin yelled.

  Part of me wanted to keep on walking without even acknowledging my brother, but I didn’t want my mother to know the extent of my animosity toward him. “What?”

  “You sure that kid is yours?” Gavin showed me his devilish grin.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  MERLIN MILLS

  How the hell did I forget that bastard was back in town? Shit, I thought he left! I was angry as hell and almost wrecked my car trying to get away from my mother’s house. I was very concerned about why Gavin was still here, which only led me to believe that he didn’t have any place left to go. However, this was going to ruin any chance of my mother and Cojo getting to know each other.

  Hell, Gavin would be in Mom’s ear all night trying to get her to hate Cojo again. I felt as if all my efforts today had been wasted. “I’m gonna fuck that bastard up! He has screwed up my life for the last time.” I banged a fist against the steering wheel as hot tears burned my eyes. Gavin brought back the doubt I felt about my child—that, more than anything else hurt me. Gone was the anger that I felt against my wife, but I had to know for certain that she was carrying my child and not Gavin’s.

  I drove around for at least an hour before I got my emotions under control. I was going to take my wife away for the weekend and leave these troubles behind. Regardless of who fathered the child, it would still be mine. Turning the car around, I headed home to my wife. With any luck, I could get a quickie in before we got on the road. I pulled out my cell phone and called Cojo.

  “Where are you?” she said.

  “I’m almost there, sweetheart. Are you all packed?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been done for hours. I was beginning to think something happened to you.”

  “I’ll explain everything when I get there. Do me a favor and pack the small cooler with ice and water, and grab a few snacks so we won’t have to stop but for gas and to go to the bathroom.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “You are going to have to wait and see, but make sure you packed some sweaters.”

  “Sweaters? It’s eighty degrees outside.”

  “Humor me.” I didn’t know if she would need them, but it would be better to be safe than sorry. Despite how I was feeling an hour ago, I still wanted to make this a memorable weekend for my wife.

  The drive was approximately two hours. It had begun to rain, and I had to slow down my speed considerably. We also had to make frequent stops because Cojo just couldn’t hold her water, but I didn’t mind. I was enjoying the quality time we were spending. She spent her time reading and wasn’t really paying attention to where we were going. When I pulled up to the cabin rental office, I could see the look of disdain on her face. I could tell she was not happy, and to be honest, I wasn’t either. This shack didn’t look anything like the cabins I had seen on the Internet.

  “Be right back.”

  She didn’t say a word. Hopefully, the cabin wouldn’t look as bad on the inside as it did on the outside. When I got back into the car, there was a chill in the air and it had nothing to do with the mountain air. I put the address to the cabin into our GPS system and turned the car around. Cojo had even cut off the radio and her book was closed on her lap. All of a sudden she was focused on our destination. I said a silent prayer.

  The cabin was about twenty-five miles from the rental location and farther up the mountains. I had never driven in the mountains before and was a little nervous, especially since it was still raining and starting to get dark.

  Finally, we found the road that led to the cabins. I had to drive slower because I didn’t want to run into any wild animals. I glanced over at Cojo. She was sitting up straight in her seat, peering into the approaching night. We traveled straight up; it was very scary. At one point, as we were going down again, the road narrowed to a single lane. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to back out to let another car pass.

  As the GPS announced that we’d arrived at our destination, I let out a heavy sigh. I was tired and the pressure to please had worn me out.

  “Merlin! Are you serious?” Cojo looked at the cabin in awe.

  “Yes, baby.”

  “We’re really going to stay here?”

  “Did you think I was going to make you sleep in a shack?” I handed her the key so she could check out the house while I unpacked the car. I had groceries and our suitcases in the back. I wanted to get everything inside before it got totally dark. She leapt out of the car and raced to the house.

  What the fuck was I thinking about? I am no mountain man. I am a city boy, I mused. As I looked up and saw the way Cojo was acting, all my fears went right out of my head. Her reaction was enough to make anything I had to go through worth it.

  “Sweetie, this place is to die for!” Cojo twirled around the living room, flapping her arms.

  “I’m glad you like it, honey.” I had just brought in all of our provisions, and I was tired as hell. I hadn’t even had a chance to look around at our surroundings. I flopped down on the first available chair and tried to catch my breath. I didn’t know what Cojo had put in her suitcase, but that bitch was heavy as hell.

  Cojo plopped down in my lap. “It’s got a pool table downstairs, a Jacuzzi; I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  She didn’t have to tell me all the amenities, but I let her go on and tell me. I was happy she was happy. Before I started dinner, I decided to light the fireplace. Although it was comfortable in the cabin, I thought the fire woul
d be more romantic.

  I had been fucking with the fire for a full fifteen minutes, and I was starting to lose my patience. This was just another reminder that I wasn’t a mountain man. I was also getting spooked because there were no curtains on the first floor of the cabin and all I could see outside was darkness. My imagination was running wild as I envisioned bears rushing the windows and glass doors.

  “Honey, take a break. Let me do this,” Cojo said as she patted me on the shoulder.

  I wasn’t annoyed at all that she volunteered to help me out. I was sick of that fucking fire and couldn’t care less whether we had one. “Go for it. I think the wood is wet. We should have brought one of those starter logs.” I got up off the floor and went into the kitchen to start dinner. I’d planned a surf-and-turf meal for my baby. Now that we were in the cabin and most of my duties were done, it was time to relax. I fixed myself a drink. “Babe, do you want a soda or something?” I knew not to offer her booze because of the baby. If she weren’t pregnant, I would have probably served her champagne. I looked into the living room to check on her since she didn’t answer, but she was laid out in front of the fireplace that was giving off this hearty blaze!

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” I could not help but laugh ’cause she had that fire lit in three minutes flat.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  GINA MEADOWS

  “What the hell was that all about?” I turned to Gavin when Merlin walked out the door. I knew that there was bad blood between the brothers and a lot of it was caused by me. I was not happy with the role that I played, but I never noticed it ’til tonight.

  “What?”

  “Don’t play dumb, boy.” I knew it would piss Gavin off that I called him a boy, but I didn’t care. Merlin came to me after all those years of neglect and told me he forgave me, and I’d be damned if I allowed my other so-called son to fuck that up.

  “I’m not playing dumb. I just asked Merlin if he was sure it was his kid. After all, he’s been away doing the patriotic thing, so it ain’t no telling who his wife was keeping company with. You told me she was a little slut.”

  “I was wrong about that. I didn’t even know her.”

  “So you lied on her? I’m ashamed of you for maligning Cojo’s character.” His tone was totally condescending.

  “What would you know about maligning someone’s character? Hell, I didn’t even know you knew that word, since you barely went to school.”

  He had me heated as no one else could do. As a child he was always a selfish bastard who had to have everything his way. Between him and Merlin, he had been the most difficult to raise.

  “I didn’t need school. I was also smarter than the average child.”

  “You were street smart. I’ll give you that, just like your daddy. Always talking somebody out of shit. But you still don’t have the skills to survive on your own, ’cause if you did, you wouldn’t be here shacked up with me.”

  “I’m just down on my luck. But if you had shown me half the love that you are willing to give my brother and his skank-ass, I’m sure I could come up.”

  His words hurt me more than his fists ever could. I was guilty of not showing them love, but was I that bad? I don’t think so. They had a roof over their heads and food in their mouths. Second of all, they were not my kids. I allowed them to call me mama, but I was not the biological mother of either of these kids.

  “Why are you directing all your anger at me? I’m not your mother!” I was mad now.

  “You were the only mother I knew.” Gavin was foaming at the mouth. All of his pent-up aggressions were coming forth, and I started to get scared thinking that he might do something to me.

  “You should talk to your father about that,” I said.

  “I would if I ever saw his ass.” He was pacing back and forth like a wild animal.

  “He will be here next week to close the deal on our new house.” I turned and went into my bedroom. Part of me wanted to warn Ronald that he was going to have to deal with Gavin when he got there, but the other part felt like Ronald had made his bed and now he had to lie in it.

  “Fine. Next week, what day and time?”

  “You know your father, he gets here when he gets here.”

  “Knowing my father, that’s a laugh.” He didn’t smile when he said it. “I don’t know that motherfucker any more than the man on the moon.”

  “You’re going to have to have that conversation with him, not me.”

  He turned and walked away. I thought he was about to go into his room when he turned back around. “New house?”

  Shit, I hadn’t meant to say anything about that to Gavin, at least not until I knew for sure it was going to happen. “Yeah, your father says he’s finally coming home.”

  “He’s moving back to Atlanta after sixteen years?”

  “Yes.” I figured if I kept my responses to one-word answers he would let up, but I was wrong.

  “So what, y’all going be this one big, happy family?” The sarcasm dripped from his mouth.

  “I hope so.” I tried to sound confident, but I’d been down this road before.

  “Am I part of that family?”

  I could sense the vulnerability in his voice, but I didn’t have an answer to his question since he was a grown-ass man, and Ronald felt like grown-ass men should live like grown-ass men. “You can discuss that with your father when he gets here.” I was ready to go get cleaned up and try to make myself presentable if Ronald actually showed up.

  “Why can’t I have that discussion with you? You’re the one who raised me, not him.”

  “That’s true, but when your father gets here, he will be the man in the house, not me.”

  “You just accepted Merlin back in your life. Why can’t you accept me?”

  There was no denying the pain he was feeling this time, but he didn’t melt my heart completely. I remembered all too well what he had been like growing up. He was a mean-spirited child, and it appeared he hadn’t changed much.

  “Why does it always come back to the same thing?”I was sick of all this rivalry between them. I accepted my part, but damn.

  “’Cause I can’t stand his pansy ass.” This time he did go into his room and slammed the door.

  I started to go after him and tell him that only I was allowed to slam doors in this house, but I decided not to press the issue. I grabbed my things from the sofa and went to take a shower. “I hope he stays his ass in his room until I get out of here.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  MERLIN MILLS

  After dinner, Cojo and I went downstairs to check out the hot tub. I hadn’t had a chance to check out the rest of the house since I was busy preparing dinner while she took a nap. The basement was just as impressive as the main floor. Unlike the main floor, which had shiny hardwood floors, this area was carpeted. “This is nice.”

  “I know, you should see the upstairs, too. These people thought of everything.”

  “I saw the pictures on the Internet, but it looks even better in person.”

  She turned to me and gave me a big kiss.

  “What was that for?”

  “For being you.”

  “Think you can work your magic on that fireplace while I crank up the hot tub?”

  “Sure. The instructions for the tub says it’s already on. All you have to do is take the top off.”

  “The instructions? Where did you see the instructions?”

  “There’s a book on the coffee table in the living room. They also have this picture book that inventories everything in the house, down to how many knives they have in the kitchen. It says if anything is missing or moved, we will be billed for it.”

  “Damn, that’s a good idea.”

  “I told you they thought of everything.” She knelt down to start the fire, and I went outside to the tub.

  “It’s creepy out here,” I yelled to Cojo.

  “Stop being a wuss.”

  I could tell she was joking so I didn’
t let it get to me, but it really was creepy. The area where the tub was had a light, but other than that, I couldn’t see a thing. The temperature had dropped, but it really wasn’t that bad. I laid our towels on the heated towel rack and took the cover off the tub. I tested the water with my arm, and it was definitely on. “Hey, babe, we’re good to go.”

  “Here I come.”

  I stripped down to my boxers and got into the tub. The warm water felt good. I looked up as my wife came out of the cabin naked as the day she was born. “You getting in naked?” Not that I minded. But, still, what if someone came by?

  “Of course, silly. Can’t nobody see me but you.” She had a point, but I wasn’t about to take off my boxers.

  If a bear came charging out of the woods, I would feel better having something covering my package. I just couldn’t see myself trying to defend us with my shit dangling in the wind.

  She climbed into the tub and settled between my legs. It felt like the water instantly heated up when she stepped into the tub, and my dick got hard as she leaned on me.

  “Stop poking me in my back.”

  “I can’t help it, babe. You have that effect on me.” I could tell she was smiling, and I couldn’t even see her face. The night was picture perfect.

  “The next time we come we will have the baby with us,” she said.

  “You like it that much to come back?”

  “Who wouldn’t? It has everything.”

  “Babe, remember when you asked where I was earlier?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly truthful with you. I stopped by my mother’s house.”

  Immediately Cojo tensed up in my arms. I pulled her closer to my chest. I expected her to say something, but she didn’t.

  I said, “Having this baby means the world to me. I had to share our news. I want so much more for our child than I had. I want our child to have a family.” I let my words settle in.

  Cojo was still tense and felt cold to the touch, even in the warm waters of the hot tub.