CHAPTER SIXDavid"Uncle Davey, pass it." Cathie says, bouncing on her little feet.I roll the ball to her, she grabs it and runs to her other toys scattered on the lawn. I was not much of a play partner, so she could be tired of me. She runs back to me with the ball and when she's so close, she throws it at me where I'm seated on the lawn. Then she runs off."What do you want to be, Cathie?" I yell after. She stops at the sound of her name."Do you want to be a fighter, a runner, a stripper…" I quickly hold my head as something lands on it. Julie just threw a toy at me from the porch. "Don't spoil my daughter."Cathie follows her mother's steps and starts pursuing me with something to throw at me and that has us running around the place in circles until I turn around and she clashes into my hands. She's giggling uncontrollably when I throw her onto my shoulder and carry her to sit where her mum is on the porch.A smack lands at my back before I completely lower myself to the stairs.
CHAPTER SEVENHelen.We organized a meet and greet. I have been sitting all day smiling, signing books and listening to my readers talk about their favorite characters. The residue of the joy and fulfillment I felt as I listened to them is still bouncing as a ball in my heart. They talked about the suspense, they connected with the journey of the main characters and their romance.Philip has been helpful. He has not felt like my boyfriend recently. He has been a bit distant, seeming like just my agent. Everything happening between us makes me so guilty. His worries could be understandable, but he should trust me to handle myself.Why would he? I don't even trust myself.One after the other, the same way questions I ask, in the same format I put it down. Today is not my best day. I would rather be soaking in a bubble bath than listening to people judge Evelyn's character in my book. She was my favorite. She chose not to love again and so what? She chose to be loyal both to her best fri
CHAPTER EIGHTDavidCheers fill the air as Martin scores once again. I wince and move back holding a long neck beer in hand. I'm experiencing a dull ache inside my head and this place only worsens my state. Martin flashes his eyes around and when he spots me, he smiles and returns to his snooker game. He dragged me here after he picked me from the rehabilitation program Helen got me into. I don't feel like myself tonight, not just because of the way my body feels presently, but everything. It is all happening to me and it seems like it's not me. I would have called it a dream if I never held a toothbrush that was for hygiene and at the same time a weapon with a blade at its end in prison. I would have called it a dream if I was not stripped to be searched and butt naked, I stooped and coughed. It just hits me that as I walk into places I wouldn't have before, that my life has changed. This was happening to me. I sat in a room filled with ex prison inmates and listened as they shared
CHAPTER NINEHelenThe sink is filled with used plates. I don't know why my cooking always has to be messy. Philip suggested I hire a cook since I can afford it without David's money. I have not considered that because even though I hate cooking, I can fix myself food. I just pick a day and make meals which I store in the freezer for a week. Sometimes it lasts more than a week because I buy take outs."Shit!" I curse as I innately put my finger in my mouth to calm the sting of the burn. This was the second time I was burning myself while forgetting I needed rags to bring out the pan from the oven. I walk to the tap and put my hand under the running water as I stare out through the window. This is usually the time David works on the lawn, when the sun makes the sweat at his back glisten. These days I watch him through the window and I can easily remember what he looked like naked. In my bed. My perverted mind recalls vividly as I watch him—The tightening of his core, the rigidity of h
CHAPTER TEN David I would have thought Mrs Smith was in a bad mood or she was giving me ex-convict treatment if I didn't know better. She was one of those people who showed hard love. "You want to be a child so Helen can spoon food into your mouth," she says, setting up the BP apparatus. Helen is sitting on another cushion. My gaze rests on her and she moves her eyes away. Helen gets to her feet, wiping her hands on her sweat pants. "I'll be in the other house, Incase you need me." She is looking at Mrs Smith, not me. "Oh no, darling," Mrs Smith says, strapping my arm with the rubber cuff. "I need you now." Helen nods and sits back with her eyes moving about the place. I can tell she would rather not be here. I feel bad that I'm taking her away from other engagements she could have, but for a chance to stare at my wife without being at the receiving end of her anger, I will be sick again. Mrs Smith gets done with checking my blood pressure and she gives me a stern look. "You're
CHAPTER ELEVENHelenPhilip does not want to hear me out. He is the judge and jury all in one. This is what we have become. From agents to friends, to fuck buddies, to fuck buddies demanding attention and commitment from one another. This is not working. I stop talking because all the while we have both been talking trying to top our voices. I told him I have nothing to do with David but he rather remains strong in his own convictions."It's crazy, Helen," he says, pushing the flower in his hands into my hands with a gift bag. "I was expecting so much from you when you are a woman who cheated on your husband with me.""Philip, what was that?" I ask, throwing the contents in my hand in his face. He dusts himself with his eyes on me and I stare back fuming and shaking with anger. Who was this man on my doorstep, what did I have with such a person, how did I get here?"You heard me, Helen. Your mother is a slut after all," Philp says with a smirk. I lunge forward, swinging my hand at him
CHAPTER TWELVE Helen The sprinklers on the lawn are on. I stay away from the window because I know who and what I would see if I look out. Julie sits on a stool in my kitchen staring at the garden in the back yard. I walk into the kitchen and pour some juice into her glass. She takes a sip of the drink and munches her pancake. "It tastes so good," she says, nodding with her mouth stuffed. With a smile, I take my plate of pancakes and the rest of the juice and walk to a table in the living room, urging her to follow me. She sits opposite me at the table with bar stools. With the way I called her, she must have felt something was wrong with me. Truly, something had been. Everything had been wrong till David came over last night. As I take a bite of my pancake, I wonder if I should tell Julie about last night— about Philip, about David. She might not grasp what was going on within me. Her eyes float to the window and then back to me. She points at the window. "So that's my brother wor
THIRTEENDavidUneasily I pace from one end of the room to another with the phone in my ear. I have just gone to our former house to pack up most of my files and there are litters of it all over the table, the cushions and to the ground."You keep asking me this question expecting me to suddenly realize who wants me dead. I don't know anyone that would want me dead," I say matter-of-factly, without leaving the irritation out of my voice.Parker, the private investigator working on my case, his silence from the other end of the phone annoys me further than his lack of results since I hired him. "Next time you call me, please have something," I say."Your wife," he says, his voice sounding disembodied. "You run a joint account with her, yes?"I fold one arm and nod already getting defensive before he drives home his point. "Well, doesn't she have something to gain from putting you away?""What will she gain from that?" I ask, rolling my eyes."Wealth ofcourse," he says. "So she can be w