Claiming Carter

by W. S. Greer

  Kelvin nodded to himself. “Yeah, I know you are dying to see it. I’ll see if I can get a hook up and set up an exclusive screening for just the four of us.”

  “Damn. You can do that?” I asked as I swallowed a piece of asparagus.

  “I’m sure it can’t be that hard.”

  “Why can’t we just go to a normal showing?”

  Kelvin paused between chews, staring down at his plate briefly. “I mean, we could. I just think it’d be better if we avoided those crowds and long lines, but we can go to a regular showing if you want.”

  “Babe, I know how you are when it comes to our privacy, and I totally understand that. But, you’ve been really insistent on making sure that we stay inside, or if we do go out, you make sure that nobody sees us. Is everything alright? Is there something going on that I don’t know about? Just be upfront with me.”

  Kelvin stopped chewing and gave me a blank stare. It was like he was having some sort of internal fight within himself, and he seemed confused and frustrated.

  “What is it, babe?” I asked again.

  “Nothing,” Kelvin said softly. “I’m just still feeling a little overprotective after the whole Tim thing. I know it was a couple of months ago, but I just don’t want to have to live through a repeat of that night.”

  “Tim is gone, baby. We don’t have to worry about him ever again. It’s okay if we just live our lives however we want to. There isn’t anybody out there who is trying to hurt us.”

  Kelvin let out a loud sigh and leaned back in his chair. He had a look of defeat spread across his face and I suddenly felt uneasy. I could see it in his face that he wanted to tell me something very badly, but it was like there was a wall up that he couldn’t get over.

  “What’s wrong, Kelvin?” I asked again, this time more forcefully. “I can tell that there is something wrong, and it’s bothering me that you’re not telling me.”

  Kelvin sighed loudly again. “There is something that I have to tell you, but let’s just finish dinner first, okay?”

  It was quite a struggle, but somehow I managed to finish my food without asking the question that was screaming loudly in my mind. Kelvin didn’t say much either, so when we finished our food and put our dishes away, I eagerly followed him into the living room and sat on the couch next to him. He tapped a button on a remote and the fireplace lit up. The bright lights of the Chicago night life were shining in through the gigantic window, and my nerves were on full alert. When we finally settled down, the look on my face told Kelvin that I was beyond tired of waiting, so he finally spoke up.

  “Okay,” he said nervously. “I know I’ve kept you waiting all night for me to say something, and I apologize if I’ve had you stressed out. It’s just that I needed time to gather my thoughts and figure out the best way to tell you this, and I realized that there really is no best way. But, I think it’s important that you understand that things are going to change after this, and all I hope is that they change for the better.”

  I scrunched my forehead in confusion. I had no idea where this was going and the uncertainty was making me increasingly apprehensive. “Okay, I don’t know where this is going, babe, but you are scaring me. Please just tell me what is going on.”

  “I know it’s been strange lately, and I know I have acted very unlike myself, especially tonight, but I want you to know that there is a reason. A reason that I have been dying to tell you about, but I didn’t want to scare you away. It’s been killing me inside worrying about it. I just don’t want to lose you.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, baby. Please just tell me.”

  Kelvin put his head down and covered his face with his hands. He was so emotional about the whole thing, and I felt bad for him, but I was dying to know the truth.

  “What, Kelvin!” I said louder than I intended to.

  Kelvin slowly raised his head and stared at me. When our eyes locked, I noticed that he had tears in his eyes, and suddenly I felt my own tears fighting their way to the surface. He wiped his eyes forcefully and took a deep breath. Then, he finally spoke.

  “I should have told you this a long time ago,” he said sheepishly. “I know this changes things, but you have to know that … I’m in love with you, Lilliana Hayes. I love you.”

  My eyes bulged in my head as the tears finally broke through and rolled down my face. My heart was pounding and I couldn’t hold back the smile on my face as I covered my mouth with my hand.

  “Oh my god!” I exclaimed. “That’s what you’ve wanted to tell me? You thought I would leave you because of that?”

  Kelvin put his head down once again, as if embarrassed. “Yeah. I just … I don’t know.”

  I reached out and put my hand under his chin, lifting his face until our eyes met.

  “I would never leave you because of something like that. Do you want to know why?” I asked as my tears became steady streams running down my face and dripping off of my chin.

  “Why?” Kelvin answered.

  “Because I love you too,” I replied. “I love you, Kelvin Carter Jr.”

  “Oh my gosh! I am so happy for you!”

  The entire Applebee’s restaurant seemed to stop in their tracks to turn and stare at us. Lexy had been overcome by her excitement and couldn’t control her volume after I told her that Kelvin and I admitted our love for each other. It was a sudden addition to our already flourishing relationship, and I felt like this only solidified my belief that our relationship was meant to be. Three months after breaking it off with Tim, I’d moved on and was happily in love with a much better man who gave me everything I wanted, including the best sex I’d ever had. What more could a girl ask for?

  “I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am of you, Lil,” Lexy continued. “For a moment there, I was worried about you.”

  I took another sip of my second Cosmo, and frowned at Lexy. “Worried about me for what?”

  “For a minute, I thought you were going to fall for Tim’s bullshit and go running back to him. I really did. I saw how he was trying to play you. But, you did good. You toughed it out, and waited for the right guy to come in and sweep you off of your feet just like I told you he would. You hung in there.”

  “Well, I couldn’t have done it without you. If ever there was a moment that I did think about going back to Tim, you were right there to tell me better. You had my back when I needed it most, and gave me motivation. You were my partner in this whole thing, for the entire time. You are a great best friend, Lex.”

  “Aww, don’t make me cry,” Lexy joked. “I just want to see you happy. A good relationship is hard to come by, you know. Finding a good man who is worth a damn is no walk in the park. You know that from all that time you spent fucking with booty-faced Tim.”

  I let out a hearty laugh and slammed my empty cup on the bar. “You are a mess, Lexy.”

  “I’m serious! Tim had a booty face and he wasn’t worth all of the trouble and heartache that he caused you. You deserve better, sweetie, and I’m glad that you found better in Kelvin.”

  “Thanks, Lex. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. But not as much as you love Kelvin Carter Jr.!” Lexy said loudly, drawing the attention of the table behind us. The alcohol was starting to show its effects on both of us. “Hey, remember when we thought that he was in the mob?” Lexy exploded into laughter once again.

  I couldn’t help but laugh with her. At this point, the thought of Kelvin being a mob boss was plain ridiculous and wasn’t worth giving any attention to. I now knew that he was a business man, who frequently attended to business in the Red Chip casino, and reading too far into that just wasn’t worth it. I needed to focus on how we could make our relationship stronger, and not on how to kill myself with paranoia.

  “How could I forget that craziness?” I replied with a chuckle. “Should have known better than to listen to Tim in the first place.”

  “You got that right. That little shithead was about to ruin a good thing before it even ha
d a chance to get started. Little bastard. Little nerdy bastard. Little ugly, nerdy bastard.”

  Just as I was putting my hand to my mouth to hide my laughing at Lexy’s craziness, a tall, white man with a bald head came and sat down next to me at the bar, wearing black pants, and a black t-shirt. He had to have been about six-four, and he had tattoos covering his arms and neck, and little dots tattooed on his hands. My eyes immediately honed in on the dots. There were six of them—three on each hand—and I found myself wondering what they meant, because it was obvious that they were put there to be recognized by others.

  As I stared down at the man’s abrasive knuckles, I felt his eyes digging into me. When I looked up, my suspicions were confirmed as we immediately locked eyes. The look on his face sent a very unfamiliar chill down my spine.

  “Hello,” the man said, still staring me directly in the eyes. “How are you doing tonight?”

  The man had a strong accent of some kind, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “I’m fine. How are you?” I replied, immediately regretting my response.

  “Very well, thank you,” he said. “I don’t mean to interrupt you and your friend, but did you say …”

  “Well, then don’t interrupt!” Lexy barked from behind me. I turned around to find her leaned over in her seat, staring at the man with bulging eyes. It was like she was trying to make herself look insane, and it was actually pretty convincing. “You might as well skip on out of here, Cojack. This woman right here is madly in love with a very handsome man by the name of Kelvin Carter Jr., so please don’t waste her precious time by trying your old, mack daddy pickup lines on her. She’s not interested, sir. Move along.”

  The man didn’t look the least bit amused, and unlike most men, he obviously wasn’t intimidated by Lexy’s hardcore attitude. He seemed to be in thought for a second, then his expression softened and he smiled insolently. “My apologies, ma’am. Wouldn’t want to make Kelvin Carter Jr. upset, now would we? Who knows what he might do.”

  There was something about the way he said Kelvin’s name that really stood out to me. It was like I could hear the hatred attached to Kelvin’s name when the creepy man spat it out like it made him sick. His arrogant smile had disappeared just as fast as it had come, and he glared at me as he rose from his seat to leave.

  I watched him walk towards the exit to the bar, and when he reached the door, another man was standing there waiting for him. This man was also wearing all black, and was littered with tattoos, and he stared at me as his friend approached. This wasn’t a look of desire. He stared at me with a look of anger and disgust, and I felt nervous butterflies in my stomach as the two men turned around and walked out together.

  “I got your back, Lil. Cojack won’t be back anytime soon,” Lexy chuckled. “He’s lucky Kelvin wasn’t here to see him hitting on you.”

  “I’m not sure if he was hitting on me,” I replied in confusion. “That was weird.”

  “Well, guys who look like Cojack are weird. It would take, like, a hundred of those guys to make one Kelvin—and that’s lowballing.”

  “Speak of the devil!” I chirped as Kelvin came sauntering through the door. I was excited to see him—especially after the creepiness that had just ensued—and I smiled as I noticed other women in the restaurant staring at him as he walked in. One woman had stopped herself just before putting her forkful of salad in her mouth, and it was like she was frozen with her fork in front of her face. Another woman tapped her friend on the shoulder aggressively, demanding that she look over her shoulder to watch Kelvin walk by. When he reached our spot at the bar, the women glared at me as if I’d done something wrong, and I proudly winked at them as I leaned in to kiss my boyfriend.

  “Hi, baby,” Kelvin said as he took his seat next to me.

  “Hey,” I answered.

  “Hi, Kelvin!” Lexy interrupted loudly.

  “What’s up, Lexy? Nice to see you again.”

  “Nice to see you too. Nice shoes, but enough about that, how does it feel to be in love?” Lexy squeaked, her excitement getting the best of her.

  Kelvin smiled bashfully. “It’s great,” he answered. “You know Mike is outside waiting for you, right? I saw him sitting in your car.”

  “Oh, I know. He can wait. I just want another second to look at the two lovebirds. You guys are too cute.”

  “Oh, geez, Lex. You’re killing me,” I said with a smile. “Don’t be mean to your husband. We all have to get going if we’re going to make it to the movie. I’ve waited a long time to watch Catching Fire, and I won’t wait another day. So, let’s go ahead and go.”

  “Fine,” Lexy replied. “I’ll just stare at you two while we are in the theater then.”

  We all shared a laugh as we rose from out seats at the bar. Lexy paid our tab and we all started towards the exit. I made sure to grab Kelvin’s hand as we weaved our way through the tables, passing all of the women who were lusting after him. It wasn’t in my nature to show off or brag, but a day after saying we loved each other, I ready for the whole world to know that he was mine, and I was his.

  When we got outside, I gave Lexy a small hug and told her I would see her at the theater in a few minutes, and laughed as she walked backwards to her car, staring at me and Kelvin with an idiotic look on her face.

  “That girl is a mess,” I said as Kelvin and I turned around and began walking towards his beautiful Camaro. He seemed to favor the Camaro a lot lately, and I appreciated the lack of wind blowing in my face and hair.

  When we reached the car, Kelvin stepped in front of me to open my door as he always did, but as he was reaching for the handle, someone spoke up from behind us.

  “Now that is a nice car!” the voice said.

  Kelvin whipped his head around to see who it was, and I saw his demeanor instantly change. The look on his face scared me, so I turned around to see for myself.

  The man was wearing an all back suit, with a black undershirt and no tie. He was about six-feet tall, with a very strong jawline and distinct cheek bones. The wrinkles in his face and the gray in his well-groomed hair suggested he was probably in his late fifties, and his blue eyes were piercing as he stared at Kelvin menacingly. Directly behind him were the two men who were glaring at me in the restaurant.

  “So, you put the motorcycle away,” the man said, gesturing towards the Camaro. When he lifted his hand to point, I immediately noticed the tattoos on his hands and wrists that he was struggling to hide with his sleeve. “A little more inconspicuous with the car, but not so much. You Carters always have to have a little flash.”

  Kelvin didn’t say a word, he just stared at the three men. The look on his face was the same look I’d seen on the night he beat the crap out of Tim in my house.

  Suddenly, the man’s eyes turned to me, and he gave me soft smile. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Kelvin?” The man reached out like he wanted me to shake his hand, but Kelvin placed his arm in front of me so that I couldn’t. “I take that as a no. Now that’s just offensive, but we both know you don’t care about who you offend. Isn’t that right?”

  “This isn’t the time,” Kelvin snapped.

  “No? Why not? Because your family isn’t around to do your dirty work? Can you not take care of business on your own? I guess you’re only capable of putting hits on people from afar.”

  “This isn’t the time, Ivan,” Kelvin barked once again as he grew more and more tense.

  “Was it the time when you ordered to have Abram shot as he left the movies with his friend? Was that the time? Because that is the only time I can think of.”

  My heart rate sped up rapidly and I suddenly felt overwhelmingly hot. Had he just said what I thought he said? Kelvin ordered someone to be shot? Kelvin put a hit on someone? So it was true? Kelvin actually was in the mob? I had too many questions floating around in my head, but all I could do was watch as the intense scene unfolded in front of me.

  “At least Abram lived. I can’t say the same for my br
other,” Kelvin snipped. The look on his face seemed to be bordering on rage.

  “Ah, yes,” Ivan replied. “That’s what it all comes back to, doesn’t it? You wanting revenge for your brother’s death. I can understand that. And since you took his place at the table, your first job was to order a hit on my son to exact your revenge. I get it. You wanted to impress The Family by avenging your brother. I understand, Junior. I get it.”

  Kelvin didn’t respond at all, so Ivan took a step closer and leaned in, stopping only inches from Kelvin’s face. Kelvin didn’t budge.

  “Let me make something very clear to you,” Ivan said. “The days of hiding from me are over. Run back and tell Kelvin Sr. that I found you, and I will find him too. You can keep switching vehicles, but eventually, the past always catches up to you.”

  Ivan turned on his heel and started walking away, with the two men following closely behind him. The two men walked to a black SUV and climbed in. Ivan walked over to a separate vehicle that he’d driven himself. As he opened the door to the black Mercedes, he stopped before climbing inside.

  “Oh, and you should thank your beautiful lady friend,” he said, gesturing towards me. “She’s the only reason you didn’t die today.”

  The ride back to Kelvin’s penthouse was unbearably quiet. We hadn’t said a word to each other since we’d left the Applebee’s parking lot. I’d called Lexy and told her that I was feeling sick all of a sudden, and that Kelvin and I wouldn’t be able to make the movie that I’d been dying to see. She immediately chalked it up to me being pregnant, and struggled to decide if she was going to be happy or upset. When she heard the seriousness in my voice, she stopped kidding around and realized that something was wrong, and she began questioning me, but I told her I really did feel sick and not to worry. It was partially true. After hearing that Kelvin had put a hit on Ivan’s son, I really was feeling sick.

  The elevator ride up to the penthouse wasn’t any better than the car ride to the Red Chip. I could feel Kelvin looking at me, wondering what I was thinking, but he didn’t want to ask me anything. I was glad, because I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t know what to say. So, when he looked at me, I immediately looked away.