Adam & Eve- a Tale of Obsession

by Shantel Davis

  How was the relationship he wanted going to work if he was going to keep secrets and snapped at me every time I asked him about something he considered personal? Instead of answering me outright, he grumbled something under his breath so low I couldn’t hear him. Speak louder, jackass, I thought but caught myself before I said it out loud.

  “I just don’t want to talk about them,” he said.

  “You’re being really extra. Why are you really mad, Adam?”

  “Just leave it alone, and eat, Eve,” he said, voiced strained.

  “No. Tell me.” I dropped my fork onto the plate. That got his attention.

  Straightening his back, he adverted his eyes. Since he was being a coward, I decided to answer for him. The truth was written all over him.

  “You’re still mad about me leaving? I thought we had solved our issues last night.”

  “We did,” he said then ran his hand down his face.

  “You’re mad, and it’s killing you holding it inside.”

  On some level, I realized he was trying not to piss me off or stress me out because of the baby, but inadvertently, he was doing both with his messed-up attitude.

  “Just say you’re mad so we can move on.”

  “You’re damn right I’m mad,” he exploded, banging his hand against the table. “You left me. You made plans to raise my child without me. That’s what happened, nothing will change that. Next fucking subject.”

  “Don’t next fucking subject me. Get it off your chest since it’s obvious you’ll sulk until you do.”

  “Sulking? I’m not sulking, I’m not a fucking child, Eve. You mind fucked me, and this is the end result. I’m not fucking sulking. I’m broken, and you broke me. Can you imagine how I felt to find out you were pregnant? Five months, Eve, and you didn’t try to contact me once. You never planned on telling me, did you?” He got right up in my face, demanding his answer.

  His anger warmed the space around us. I opened my mouth to lie, then closed it. Neither of my explanations for why I wasn’t going to tell him would make him any less angry. I couldn’t form the words, so I just shook my head.

  “I knew you weren’t. You’re fucking selfish,” he snarled.

  My head whiplashed back like he’d slapped me. I couldn’t believe he was accusing me of being selfish.

  “Stop pretending your selfishness isn’t the reason we’re here. You kidnapped—” I started but stopped myself. I was not raising my blood pressure rehashing the past. “If we can’t come to a mutual understanding and admit we’ve both made mistakes, I might as well leave. I still have enough of the money you gave me to rent a place until after the baby comes and then I can get a job. You don’t even have to be involved if you don’t want.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and waited for him to respond.

  Hurt flashed in his eyes. I ignored the feeling that came from it.

  “So, it’s just that easy? Take it or leave it?” His tone was somewhat calmer.

  “It has to be.” My voice was devoid of any emotions though all I was doing at that moment was feeling. Later when I was by myself, I would blame it on the hormones. “I’ve said sorry and promised I’d try. There isn’t anything more I can do.”

  “I could almost hat—” he cut off his declaration of hating me midsentence. He dragged his hand down his face. “I didn’t mean that. We’ll make it work.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that, or why there was a sudden ache in my chest, so I said nothing. He returned to his seat then we both sat, pretending to eat. Neither one of us confident that whatever we had, would work.

  A quote from a book I’d read a few months prior popped into my head suddenly: “You can pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone.”

  Coincidently it was from a book about a white man who drove a Black woman crazy. Pretending wouldn’t work, not for long. What happened when it all fell apart?

  T W E N T Y - S E V E N

  “Are you sure you know everything about her?”

  When my father popped up on campus, I was only slightly annoyed by his presence, because I expected him. Him mentioning Eve turned his unwanted visit into an unpleasant one. He leaned back in his chair with a smug and pleased expression on his face. His eyes locked with mine awaiting my reaction.

  I cocked my head to the side, studied him and wondered in what direction he was going with his questioning and would the end result be me having to kill him? Probably. He was ruthless, and I knew what length he’d go to remove Eve from my life. He wanted to have an image of the perfect family, and in his mind, Eve skewed that image.

  “I’m sure,” I answered simply then waited for him to elaborate.

  However, knowing my father, if he did know anything of importance about her, he’d keep it locked away until he had no other choice but to tell me or use it against me. Whichever came first. His face hardened at my answer. But he nodded his acceptance. He changed the subject.

  “What is it about her, son? For years she’s been your singular focus.”

  “She made me feel.”

  It was that simple. From day one my reaction to her had been visceral. For someone like me, that meant something.

  “That’s it? She made you feel?” He fell back against the chair, throwing his hands up. “That bullshit. In my time you didn’t worry about feelings. Black and white didn’t mix. You should be getting ready to give your mother grandkids and taking over my position. Not losing your head over a fucking black bitch. All nig—”

  Eve’s ringtone interrupted the vile shit my father was about to say, essentially saving his life. In nearly two months, Eve had never called me before. I knew it must have been something important. I kept my eyes on him as I answered immediately. He wore a devious smirk that I wanted to knock off his face. I recognized the fact that he was purposely trying to bait me, or either he was pleased with the fact that he had. Maybe he was testing just how dedicated to my relationship I was.

  “Please come home,” Eve said nervously then hung up.

  Everything outside of getting to her was forgotten. “I have to go.”

  I stood then grabbed my keys from the desk drawer before I headed for the door.

  My father grabbed my arm as I passed him. “At least let us meet her.” He narrowed his eyes and his tone dropped. “She’s about to have my grandchild, isn’t she? And we need to discuss my retirement and you taking your rightful place in the company.”

  I glared down at him. I wondered again what his angle was. Better yet, how had he known she was pregnant? I didn’t have time to dwell on either.

  “Fine,” I agreed, even though I had no attention of him meeting her or talking to him about either subject.

  I snatched away and jogged out to my car. I drove home without knowing if I’d followed any rules of traffic to get there. My heart was in my stomach.

  “Eve,” I called to her soon as I made it through the door.

  I half walked, half ran to the kitchen when she answered.

  “I cooked for you,” she greeted me when I rushed through the door.

  “What the fuck? You cooked? I thought something bad had happened,” I snapped at her and immediately regretted it.

  The hurt in her eyes was fleeting, but I still saw it. I felt like shit for causing it. Cooking was one of the things I’d told her would please me and she was putting forth an effort. I grabbed her and pulled her to me when she tried to push past me and storm out of the kitchen.

  I pulled her into an embrace. She stiffened. “I’m sorry,” I apologized sincerely, pressing a kiss against the pulse of her neck. “Can we start over?”

  “Nah, I’m good. I suddenly have a headache.” She twisted away, at least tried to.

  “I really am sorry. I got scared. You know I’m on edge about the baby.” I felt her body relax. “You’re beautiful though,” I complimented.

  She nodded then accepted my apology. She backed up and allowed the barley there silk robe she
was wearing over her lingerie drop to the floor. Underneath was a sheer baby doll dress. My breath caught.

  “I made my favorite since you’ve never told me yours.” She turned to grab the already prepared plates from the island.

  Before she could, I charged toward her. I watched her eyes get big. She gasped when I lifted her from the floor and set her on the counter.

  “Wait.” She pushed back on my chest. “What about dinner?”

  “Fuck dinner. It’s been months since I’ve touched you. I’ve been dreaming of tasting you again.”

  “Okay,” she whispered breathlessly then spread her legs.

  T W E N T Y - E I G H T

  Much later we’re lying in bed, sweaty, a tangled mess of limbs. For the first time in a long time I felt at peace, as much as I could in my current situation.

  “Marry me, Eve,” Adam blurted out, interrupting the quiet in the room.

  And just like that, the feeling of peace was gone.

  “No.”

  I rolled my eyes in the dark knowing he wouldn’t see it and bit my tongue to keep from telling him the thought of being his wife was terrifying. When he wanted to fuck me, he locked me in a room for days and I ended up pregnant. Now I lived with him. What in the hell would happen if I married him and wanted to leave?

  “Why not?” He rolled over onto his elbow and stared at the side of my face.

  I took my time turning to face him before answering. “Because marriage is for normal people who do normal people shit. Neither one of us are normal.”

  “My name will provide you protection, guarantee you and my child will never go without anything if something happens to me.”

  I shook my head, vehement about not doing it. “It sounds good, but it’s another trap, like the room down stairs. Your way of insuring I don’t leave.”

  “That’s bullshit. You will never leave me regardless if we’re married or not.”

  It was a warning which reminded me that he was nutcase. For the sake of my child, I was willing to deal with a little bit of crazy as long as he didn’t get too out of hand.

  “Can we talk about this another time?” I changed the subject by straddling him.

  “Wha- what are you doing?” he asked as if he didn’t already know.

  His dick was already a full participant in my getting him to shut up. I slid down onto it and made his frown dissipate. His face relaxed, but hardheaded as ever he managed to grit his final words between his teeth.

  “We will talk about this and marri—” I made sure he lost his train of thought when I flexed my pussy muscle around him. His hand gripped my hips. His nails digging into the meaty flesh. “This convers—”

  “Shhh. No more talking tonight.”

  I use my knees to push myself up then down. I repeated the motion until he no longer looked interested in talking about anything. His hands found my ass. My eyes lulled shut. He pushed up, filling me. Suddenly I had the craziest thought: If I had to spend the next eighteen years with a crazy man, at least it was one with some good sex.

  I stared at the screen, mesmerized by the sound of my baby’s heartbeat yet again. It was the third time hearing it, but each time I was no less awed by the experience. I tried to make out what each image was as the doctor pointed to where the important stuff like the lungs, heart, spine and penis were.

  “Did you hear that? He said penis. It’s a boy.”.

  I was so emotional I could barely get the words out of my mouth or tear my eyes away from the screen long enough to look at Adam. When I did, I rolled my eyes at him.

  Squeezing his hand, I drew his attention from the doctor. “You hear that?” I asked again. “It’s a boy.”

  “I already knew,” he said.

  I frowned at that. There was no need to ask how he knew. He knew everything. I guessed there was no need to wonder what the baby’s name would be, I thought bitterly. I knew that if I even thought it would be anything other than Adam Junior, the worst argument would occur.

  I lowered my voice then leaned in to whisper, “Stop glaring at the doctor like you want to kill him.”

  He forced a smile to his face that looked more like a grimace. “I told you to request a female doctor after the last visit. Watching him touch you agitates me.” Adam didn’t even pretend to whisper.

  The doctor laughed. “I could recommend you to a colleague.” The red-faced Danny DeVito look-a-like turned and faced us as he removed his gloves. “But I would like to stay on this late in the pregnancy.”

  “Yes, a female do—”.

  I cut Adam off, raising my hand. “No, you’re fine.” Then I cut my eyes at Adam “Cut that shit out,” I snapped.

  His hand tightened in mine. “Fine. Now can you leave while she gets dressed,” he in return snapped at the doctor.

  “That whole Neanderthal act is getting old,” I admonished when the doctor closed the door behind him. “Help me up.”

  Adam grabbed my arm then pulled me into sitting position. Then he pretty much proceeded to redress me. It took everything in me not to be annoyed, but it was how he’d been since I’d given him some, too helpful. He even helped me put my tennis shoes on, tied them, then walked me to the car like I was an invalid.

  “I have two classes. One at eleven and one at two. Then maybe we can go to the movies after.”

  Adam lifted my hand and kissed the knuckles as we drove toward the house. I didn’t even flinch or cringe at the show of affection. I was getting used to it.

  “Are you going to bitch about me adding too much butter to my popcorn this time?” I asked.

  I saw him cut his eyes at me. I laughed a genuine laugh. He hadn’t yet learned the lesson that he couldn’t force me to do anything that I didn’t want to. The rest of the drive home was made in comfortable silence. Every day with Adam was getting easier.

  The ringing of the doorbell jolted me awake. It didn’t register at first that it was the doorbell. In the few months I’d been living with Adam, there had been no visitors outside of the staff he employed, and they had keys.

  Groggily I glanced over at the clock and saw one-thirty in the afternoon which meant Adam was still in class and the staff would be gone. It was up to me to answer it.

  Should I? I thought.

  Adam had been telling me that his home was my home, and it had started to feel like home, but still what if it was his kinfolk? The bell sounded again, and curiosity overrode my doubts. Standing, I stretched, running my hand over my belly. I couldn’t believe how huge I had gotten when I still had a few weeks to go. The baby kicked as the bell rang for the third time.

  I wobbled out of the guestroom that had been turned into the master bedroom. Adam insisted I stop walking up the stairs, scared I’d fall after I’d almost done so a few weeks back. I cursed inwardly when I saw the eyes staring into the doorbell camera. Without ever meeting the man I knew it was Adam’s father. Adam was the spitting image of him, just the younger version. His familiar gray eyes looked less menacing.

  Now I had a decision to make. Should or shouldn’t I open the door? Adam had said his father didn’t like me. I also knew Adam had been ignoring invitations from his parents to meet me. At first, that bothered me. Would my son and I be hidden away in this house like some kind of secret? Then, after a bit of thought, I knew we wouldn’t be. Adam had no problem taking me out in public. He just never wanted to visit his parents.