What's Blood Got to Do With It?

by Shelia E. Bell

“Don’t blame her. Carla was just as much in the dark as you and Annalisse.”

  “And don’t give me the chivalry act.”

  “I got caught up. It’s a long story, but I can’t talk about it now. I don’t have that much time left to spend with Caitlin. And she needs me. She needs to know her daddy’s here.” His voice sounded broken. It was like he was choking on his own words. But Adanya refused to allow herself to feel anything but contempt for him.

  Annalisse had a fiery, angry look. A look like Adanya had never seen. It was frightening.

  “So that’s how you explain it, huh? Why don’t you try saying that again.”

  “Saying what again?” Kenneth asked.

  Adanya nodded and Annalisse released a loud, curdling scream of rage filled curse words into the air.

  “Annalisse,” Kenneth cried out. “No, baby. No, Annalisse. Why, how could you do this, Adanya? His lash was venomous. “How could you? You’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”

  Annalisse snatched the phone out of Adanya’s hand. She continued yelling obscenities at him, while her hands stabbed aimlessly in the air.

  Adanya stepped back out of the range of Annalisse. She’d never witnessed her mother so angry. Blood filled her temples as she stiffened her body like she was going into a diabetic shock.

  “Mother,” she called out to Annalisse, hoping she would be able to stop her from destroying everything around her.

  Kenneth continued wailing in the background.

  “Mother,” Adanya yelled again. She took a step forward and with caution she walked toward her. Annalisse’s eyes were fiery red, snot dripped down her face and past her mouth. Adanya managed to pry the phone from her hands.

  “See what you’ve done,” she said when she got the phone back. “Are you satisfied?” She hit the flat of her hand against wall, then ended the call.

  “How could he do this? Why?” Annalisse fell to her knees and wept.

  Adanya stood motionless. She couldn’t hold back her tears. It pained her to see the hurt her father had caused. Maybe she shouldn’t have told her. Maybe she should have kept it all a secret. But then she would be no better than her father. No better than they were when they lied to her. No, Annalisse deserved to know the truth. Better hurt now than years down the line.

  She bent down next to her. “Mother, I’m so sorry.”

  Annalisse looked up and stared at Adanya like she was demon possessed. She started chuckling like a mad woman.

  “You’re not sorry. You’re glad all this happened.”

  “What?” Adanya stood upright. “Glad? How can you say that?”

  “Because you are. You wanted to hurt me. If you wanted to get back at me you succeeded. How long have you known about your father and his secret little family?”

  “Me? What are you talking about?” Her breath quickened. “I just found out a couple of days ago. I’m just as shocked as you.”

  “So shocked that you couldn’t wait to run over here and tell me, huh? So shocked that you used this to break me. Well, you won. I’m broken,” Annalisse screamed as she held on to the chair and pulled herself up. Without warning, she started swinging at Adanya. She pounded her over and over again.

  “Stop,” Adanya screamed and took off running toward the front door.

  Annalisse followed. “Get out. Get out. I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are. Get out of my houuuusse.”

  Adanya’s faced streamed with stinging tears. She ran out the door without closing it, without looking back. She could barely open the car door, she was shaking so. Once inside, she hit the locks, afraid that Annalisse might come charging out at her again. She fumbled with getting the keys into the ignition for several seconds before she finally got the key in the hole and flipped the switch, backed up, and then sped off down the street almost blinded by the crocodile tears falling down her face.

  “Oh, God. What have I done?”

  The phone jarred her from her thoughts of what had just happened. “Hel..hello.”

  “Hey, you all right?” It was Bleak.

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean, why? Because you sound like you’re out of it, that’s why. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine and dandy. Perfect. Hunky-dory.”

  “Hold up, I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’re not fine. Neither am I. Thanks to your father, we’re all messed up.”

  “No, it’s your stepfather, your sisters’ daddy, your momma’s husband.” Her temper rose with every response.

  “Okay, I get it. And I’m just as angry as you. But right now I have my mother, sisters and you to worry about.”

  “Oh, so you want me to believe you’re worried about me?” She sped on to the interstate. “How noble of you.”

  “You act like this is my fault. I’m not the one who lied. I’m not the imposter, Adanya.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “What are you trying to say?” The force of his seething reply threw her a little off guard.

  She paused. “I’m not trying to say anything. I said what I had to say. And the question remains. Are you sure you didn’t know about any of this? Now I see why you were so eager to get to know me. Pretending like you just happened to walk up on me. You’re just like him. I bet he taught you everything he knows. How to be a con artist just like him. How to go around masquerading, acting like you’re somebody other than who you are.”

  Click.

  “Hello? Hello?”

  Chapter 17

  “Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” Henry Winkler

  Bleak was fed up, furious, and frustrated. He couldn’t believe Adanya actually blamed him for her father’s double life. And to think that he purposely met her just to hurt her, was preposterous. He was not about to let her get away with falsely accusing him. Yeah, maybe he was supposed to turn the other cheek, but in this case before he turned it, he was going to confront her – face to face. He walked over to her flat. With every step he took he became more and more appalled that she would think he was anything like the man he once proudly called his stepfather. He was nothing like John Phillips, Kenneth Anniston, whoever he was.

  Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

  Bleak wasn’t going to stop until she answered. He couldn’t see inside her garage so maybe she wasn’t home when he talked to her. He stood outside the front of her place thinking about all the things she’d said about him.

  He could understand her being upset with John, but he wasn’t John. Bleak was just as disturbed by the chain of events as the rest of them. And his mother, his poor mother was trying hard to be strong for Caitlin and Cady, while dealing with the anger and pain that John had inflicted on their lives. Maybe Adanya could care less about his mother’s feelings, but he cared about them. He cared about his family just as much, if not more, than she cared about hers. Sure, in the end, he believed that God would turn things around for their good, but right now he didn’t see how that was going to happen and wasn’t sure when it would happen. But as bad as John had hurt their family, part of him was glad that everything had come out in the open.

  God had a way of bringing anything done in the dark into the full light. And he’d certainly revealed the dark secrets of his stepfather. Bleak placed both hands in his pockets and walked in tiny circles in front of Adanya’s door. He knocked again. This time he heard Snoopy barking.

  She must not be in there. He turned to leave and that’s when he saw her car coming toward him. “Man, is she going to run me down?” he yelled.

  Adanya drove past him and just as the garage door opened, she drove inside.

  Bleak jumped in front of the garage door as it began to close. “Adanya, we need to talk. And I’m not going anywhere until we do.”

  Adanya didn’t say a word. The garage door completely shut.

  Bleak huddled against her front door and started knocking again. This time he knocked even harder than the previous times. Snoopy barked even louder.

  �
�You don’t have to break my door down,” Adanya yelled when she opened the door.

  “I would have if you hadn’t opened it.” He didn’t wait for an invitation to come inside. He bolted past Adanya, ignoring her cold, penetrating stare.

  “No one invited you in,” she snapped.

  “Why do you think I had something to do with your father’s little shenanigans?” His voice sounded harsh and his ocean colored eyes looked dark and haunting. “Answer me.”

  “If the shoe fits, wear it,” she said, her temper rising again.

  “You are so full of yourself. I see why you’re alone and miserable.” “How dare you?”

  “How dare I what?” he shot back. “Tell the truth? Well, how dare you judge me when you don’t know anything about me. I’m not the one who hurt you, Adanya. I’m not the one who lied to you. I’m not your father.” His handsome, chiseled face twisted in anger.

  “Why did you come to my table all those months ago? Why did you insist on getting to know me? You must have known something. Don’t you think it’s more than a coincidence that my father just so happens to be your stepfather, Bleak? Come on, now. Let’s be real about this.”

  “Be real? You want to be real? Real is looking in the mirror, and seeing the person you really are. I wonder if you’d be happy with yourself. Or maybe, just maybe you’re more like your father than you think. Maybe you get off on seeing how much pain you can inflict on someone else.”

  Adanya slapped him before she could even think about it. She scared even herself. Never before had she hit anyone, especially in anger. She’d never had a fight with anyone all while growing up and now it took Bleak Blessinger to bring out the worst in her.

  “I’m sorry,” she countered as his hand flew up to his check and started rubbing it.

  “See, you’re more like him than you thought, huh, Adanya?”

  “Leave, Bleak. Right now,” she demanded.

  “I won’t leave,” he said. “I’m not leaving until I tell you how I feel. You want to blame somebody for what your father did, well blame him. I’m not the bad guy here, Adanya. I saw you that day in the deli and it was like something, some irresistible force pulled me to you. I’d been in that deli a thousand times, and I’ve never been tempted to flirt with any female in that place. But for some reason, I looked in your direction and my eyes zeroed in on you. I thought you were the most stunning woman I’d ever seen. I had to take a chance. And so I did. You rejected me that day, but I prayed that I would see you again one day. And I did.”

  Adanya looked away in shame.

  “No, don’t turn away from me. Look at me, Adanya. Listen to me.” His voice had softened. He extended his hand and placed it underneath her chin, lifting her head gently up to face him. “I hate what’s happened. I don’t know how to deal with it myself. I’ve been praying and praying. Praying for my little sister who’s fighting to regain her strength, fighting to get well. I’ve been praying for my mother. It’s breaking my heart to see her so hurt, Adanya. And then, I’ve been praying for you. Everything that’s happened to you in the past with your parents, and now this. I can’t begin to know what you’re feeling or how you’re feeling. I can only guess. And then I’ve been praying for us. I don’t want what your father has done to tear us apart.”

  “Bleak, we can’t be together any more. It won’t work.”

  “We can get through this. Somehow we can, I know it, Adanya. And if we lean on one another, and God, we can make it. Remember what the scripture says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Help me, Adanya. And let me help you.” His eyes had grown soft with sincerity.

  Adanya felt guilty and ashamed of how she’d treated Bleak. She hadn’t thought to put herself in his shoes. Bleak was right. It had been all about her. She had been selfish and heartless. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and traces of her resentment began to vanish.

  Bleak stepped in closer. Adanya did not move. He so wanted to break through the barrier she’d so expertly woven over her heart. Her father was a jerk, but she was just the opposite; she was a jewel in his eyes.

  He embraced her. She gave in to the uncontrollable, compulsive sobs that shook her. He held on to her. His body ached for her. He kissed her hair, and felt her heart beat against his.

  Adanya looked up, gazing into his piercing eyes. A shuddering, brief ripple passed through her. A knot formed in her throat. She tried to speak, wanted to speak, but no words came forth. She put her arms around his neck, and Bleak covered her mouth with his in a slow, deliberate, kiss.

  Adanya was shocked at her eager response and acceptance of his kiss. Her father, her deceitful, lying, cheating father had cautioned her time and time again about how men wanted nothing but to get what they wanted from a woman. She felt she had truly become wiser over the last few months. Before Bleak Blessinger, she had never thought about giving herself to any man, but as his demanding lips caressed hers, she could think of nothing else she wanted more than to give herself totally and completely to him.

  “We can’t do this.” He released her. “Not until things are settled in our families.”

  She suddenly felt ashamed, ashamed for her eager response to his touch, to his lips against hers. She remained quiet.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” he said like he could read her mind. “I want you, Adanya. I want to build something with you. I know we have a lot of drama, to say the least, going on, but if we can make it through this, I believe things can work.”

  “Do you really, Bleak?”

  “Yes. I do. Matter of fact, I’m banking on it.” He kissed her chin this time, and Adanya quivered at the tenderness of his lips.

  I believe too.

  Chapter 18

  “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman.” Proverbs 21:19 The Bible

  Kenneth Anniston didn’t waste time. Barreling into his garage, he threw the car into park. He had to see the extent of damage Adanya had caused. And why? Why, was she out to ruin his life? Ruin what he’d taken all these years to build?

  If God had forgiven him, why did she have to wreak havoc in his life? He had made a huge mistake ever thinking he could juggle two families at the same time. But it had been hard, no downright impossible for him to choose between Carla and Annalisse. Maybe the typical man would have just played around on the side with Carla, but he wasn’t the typical male. He was in love with both Carla and Annalisse.

  Now here he was, torn between two lovers and he didn’t know what he was going to do. Carla had given him two precious, beautiful daughters. He couldn’t turn his back on them or her. And as for Annalisse, she had stuck by him when he thought his whole world was about to crumble. Stuck by him when the unspeakable happened between him and Anaya. He owed her. She may not have birthed any children for him, and only God knew why because doctor after doctor told her there was no reason why she shouldn’t be able to get pregnant. And still it wasn’t too late for her to conceive, not really. She wasn’t even forty years old and women her age became pregnant every day, maybe Annalisse would too. But that wasn’t the issue right now. Right now he had to see if Adanya had permanently destroyed his marriage to Annalisse.

  “Annalisse,” he yelled as he ran inside the massive house. He took off in the direction of the winding stair case. “Annalisse,” he yelled again, as he set foot on the stairs.

  He hesitated when he saw a figure in the corner of his eye. He didn’t have a chance to make it pass the third step.

  “Ahhh.” The back of his thigh felt like it was on fire. Everything began to move in slow motion. His lower leg was being ripped off, or did it just feel like that? Kenneth couldn’t tell. His body fell backwards, his hands flew up, his mouth opened, but he heard nothing coming out of it.

  Annalisse. He saw her. Her eyes narrowed while his widened with alarm. Did she hear him? It looked like she was screaming. He saw the gun in her hand. Oh, God, she’s going to kill me. Don’t do it, Annalisse. Don’
t. Kill. Me.

  Blackness.

  Annalisse stood over Kenneth with the gun pointing directly at him. His eyes fluttered. With shaking hands, she lowered the .357.

  “Annalisse.” Kenneth gasped for breath. “Call 911.”

  Annalisse was frozen. She wanted to move but couldn’t. What had happened? Why was Kenneth lying in the floor? The dark, sticky looking, purple substance oozed from underneath the lower half of his body and on to her freshly stained concrete floors.

  Annalisse tilted her head from side to side, ever so slowly. She studied the purple goo that now looked like it was a deep red. How would she clean it? Get up, Kenneth. Move out the way.

  Annalisse ejected a blood curdling scream. “Oh, my God. What have I done? What have I done?” She started screaming like she’d suddenly come back to life, while running around in a circle, one hand still holding the heavy, black piece of metal. She looked at it and started screaming again.

  “Annalisse. Listen.” Kenneth’s mouth then his entire face contorted as he struggled to locate the place he’d been shot.

  She knelt down on her knees beside him. “Oh my, God. What have I done?”

  “Call, call, 9-1-1,” he stuttered just above a whisper, before he went unconscious.

  Annalisse released the gun. The sound of it landing on the concrete floor gave her cause to jump. Her hand flew up to her chest.

  “Kenneth,” she called over and over again as she tugged on his shirt. Next, like she’d been popped with a needle, she jumped up and ran to the nearest phone, in the kitchen. With slippery, bloody fingers she dialed 9-1-1.

  ◊

  Annalisse huddled in fear, shock, and remorse as she shook while dialing Kaye’s number. She had been transported to Jail East and placed in an open room full of other women. It reminded Annalisse of a smaller version of the now defunct Mid-south coliseum. A huge TV was mounted high up on the wall. Several pay phones lined the walls too, and there were picnic type metal benches sporadically placed in the room. A metal door separated them from the rest of the world.