Carlton watched the weeping woman. He felt sorry for Avery and all that she’d been through, but what she was dealing with now, this was his fault. Everything that had happened in his marriage, his relationship with Peyton, Breyonna, Liam, and now Avery was all his fault. Lord God forgive me, he said in his spirit. Avery being pregnant could cause every brick to come tumbling down in his life, but so could the other ghastly secret that ate away at his soul day by day, bit by bit.
Carlton reached down and extended his hand to Avery. It was like all of her energy and strength was spent as she weakly succumbed to his offer to help.
She stood up and he held her in his arms. “Believe me when I tell you that I’m sorry, Avery. I never meant for things to turn out this way.” He pushed her back and looked into her tear-filled eyes. “Listen, to me. You’re a survivor. Remember when I told you that when I used to counsel you. You will get through this.”
Avery looked back at him like she was in a daze. She said nothing, just watched Carlton.
“Everything happens for a reason. You know that. You hear me, Avery?”
Finally as tears continued to pour, Avery barely nodded in response to Carlton’s words.
“I want you to cry all you want but when you walk through the doors of your home, I want your tears to be gone. Dry your eyes and walk bravely into your house, Avery. Then I want you to go to your husband like you’re the happiest woman on planet earth. I want you to tell him that you’re having his child, Avery.” He lifted her chin up gently to make sure her eyes remained fixed on him. “Do it for me, Avery. Do it for the child you’re carrying. This is not my baby, Avery. You know that, don’t you? I’m having a baby with Meesha. You’re having a baby with Ryker.”
“This is Ryker’s baby,” Avery repeated in a comatose like voice.
Carlton used the back of his hand to wipe away her tears, then while holding her with one hand, he picked up her purse that she’d slung on the floor, straightened her thick, naturally curly hair which denoted her biracial heritage, and led her to the door. Before opening the door, he kissed her on the forehead one more time. “Now go home to your husband, Avery and tell him the good news.”
Chapter 15
“Miscommunication is endless.” JP Rattie
Meesha sat at the table and took in everything Peyton had told her. After taking the time to really listen to how the whole story with Liam, Carlton, Breyonna, and Peyton took place, Meesha believed everything Peyton explained.
She could only imagine if she had been in Peyton’s place and she saw an abused and neglected child whose mother didn’t want him or her. It broke Meesha’s heart to hear what Liam had experienced as a child.
“Do you think he remembers being abused and neglected?” Meesha asked Peyton after they had spent almost an hour talking about the boy and how Peyton ended up with him.
“I don’t think so. He wasn’t even two years old then. But when I first took him to live with me, things were different. He had a hard time adjusting. He kept crying for his mother.”
“After the way she mistreated him he still wanted his mother? Wow. Unbelievable.”
“Keep in mind, she was all he had. No matter how badly she treated him, at the end of the day, she was his mother, so when he came to live with me, it was rather difficult. I didn’t think he would ever stop crying and begging for her. Even though Breyonna had neglected him and someone, God knows who, maybe her, had beaten and abused him, he would still cry for hours for that woman. She had a sister but she wasn’t any better, that is if she really existed because during the time back then I never saw any signs of her. Breyonna used to tell me that her sister took care of Liam, but when I popped up over to her apartment out of concern for her and Liam, no one was there with the little boy. The apartment was empty, trashed, and wreaked of human excrement.”
“Oh, my God. That poor child.”
Breyonna appeared while I was there, and that’s when she told me her sister was supposed to be watching him. You know I told you that I knew Breyonna in college before all the drugs, and not once did I ever hear her mention having a sister. Come to think about it, I never heard her talk about her parents or anything. But the times I would see Liam, who by the way, she never called Liam. She always referred to him as that kid. Anyway, she didn’t feed him, didn’t keep him clean, nothing. She was too busy trying to find her next high.”
“Well, speaking of her family, do you know who claimed her body?”
“The body stayed in the morgue for almost three weeks without anyone claiming her, so I did what I thought was the moral thing to do, and paid for a casket and grave site for her to be laid at rest.”
Hearing how Peyton had intervened to save a little boy’s life endeared Meesha to Peyton. She felt terribly bad that she hadn’t taken time before now to hear what Peyton had been trying to tell her for the longest.
“I’m sorry that I prejudged you the way that I did,” Meesha told Peyton. “Me, of all people. I’m always preaching about forgiveness and treating people fairly, and look at how I treated you and falsely accused you.”
“It’s okay, Meesha. We’re all human. You didn’t know. I feel like it’s my fault for not sitting down to tell you the whole story.”
“How could you tell me when I wouldn’t listen? I was too busy thinking that you were messing around with my husband. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Girl, please. There is no need to be embarrassed. I’m sure if I had been in your shoes, I would have felt the same way.”
Meesha paused, took a bite of her vegetable curry with tofu, before she continued talking.
“And I never should have blamed you. I mean, Carlton should have confided in me. He could have easily told me about his suspicions about Liam being his son. He could have told me the whole story but he wanted to protect himself.”
“I guess because that wasn’t an easy thing to admit, Meesha. Carlton was doing drugs and wilding out back then.”
“Yes, and that’s still hard for me to accept. To know that my husband, a man of God was sleeping with another woman and doing drugs with her is something I’m still dealing with, Peyton. To be honest, it hurts so badly. After we sat down and he told me the story about him and Breyonna and the drugs, I’m telling you, I started to take the boys and head back to California.”
“You and Carlton are meant to be together. I don’t know why he was talking about wanting a divorce in the first place. Sometimes men can be so stupid, but then again, I try to see things from his perspective. Carlton would never want to tarnish your name or your reputation, and you should know that Meesha.” Peyton semi-scolded her.
“Yes, I do know that, but it was hard to accept. I love that man. You and the rest of the housewives know how devastated I was when he told me he wanted to end our marriage. And then he wouldn’t tell me why either? It was crazy.”
“Tell me about it,” Peyton remarked. “But all that’s in the past. And you have another baby inside of you, his seed. Girl, you can’t go anywhere.”
Meesha laughed. “You’re right about that,” she said and rubbed her growing belly.
“I’m happy for you and Carlton. I’m glad things are getting back on the right track. I know it’s not easy to forget what he did, but being the strong woman of God that you are, I’m confident that in time, you will.”
“I pray that I will too, Peyton. Now, tell me about the DNA test. Carlton said the results take a couple of weeks.”
“Yes, so I expect to hear something by the end of next week. I know Carlton is ready to learn the truth once and for all, and so am I.”
“I think we all are. How are Derek and Liam? Do you think they’ll be coming back home anytime soon?” Meesha asked with concern.
“I hope so. Please pray that they will. I need Liam to forgive me. Right now, he’s so angry with me, and to be honest, I don’t know why.”
“Yes, you do.”
“What do you mean?” Peyton asked.
“You said i
t earlier. No matter how bad of a mother Breyonna was to Liam, she’s his mother. He probably feels that you deprived him of knowing her, being around her, having a relationship with her.”
“I admit that I did, but you heard the way my child was living.”
“But he doesn’t remember that. I can believe that now because if he did, then he would understand as he grew up that you were the best thing that ever happened to him. God put you in the right place at the right time. And God knows Carlton wasn’t acting responsibly because as soon as that woman told him she had a child with him, he should have been trying to get that little boy.”
“Talk is cheap and you have to remember that Breyonna was a dope fiend, Meesha. Carlton never saw a child, never even saw Breyonna when she was pregnant. I honestly believe he thought she was lying, and I would have too.”
“Yeah, you’re right. See, you did it again,” Meesha said.
“Did what again?” Peyton asked, taking a swallow of her Perignon water.
“You made me see things like they really are. I’m praying that your family will be restored and that both Derek and Liam will find it in their hearts to forgive you, and that they will come back home where they belong.”
“I’m going to check myself into rehab as soon as the DNA test results come back.”
“Oh my, God. You are? Oh, Peyton, I’m so proud of you.” Meesha got up from her chair and went over to Peyton’s side of the table and hugged her.
“Thank you, Meesha.”
“God is so good. He answers prayers.” Meesha returned to her side of the table and sat back down.
“If I want my family back, I realize that I have to do some changing. I refused to admit for years that my drinking was out of control. Derek tried to tell me. Liam tried to tell me. You and the rest of the housewives tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen. But losing my family stirred something in me. I mean they didn’t leave until all of this stuff hit the news media about Breyonna, Carlton and me, but it was the catalyst that led to the uncovering of my drinking problem. I told Elsa to get rid of every trace of alcohol floating around in that house.”
“Now that’s a serious move right there,” Meesha said and smiled. “I’m not laughing at you, by any means, but I am smiling because I can’t believe what I missed while I was gone.”
This time Peyton smiled. “I told Derek my plans.”
“What did he say?”
“Not much. I don’t think he believes me, and I don’t blame him. How many times have I said I’m going to cut back on drinking or that I’m going to stop altogether, only to go right back to getting wasted.”
“You can do it, Peyton. I know that you can.”
“Well, at least he asked me out to dinner. Do you think that could be the start of us possibly getting back together?”
“Whaaat? Are you kidding me. Of course. I believe it’s a real good start. Dinner? Oh yeah. You know you got to be looking good.”
The ladies broke out in laughter.
“Real good,” Peyton added and they continued to laugh.
“Let’s hurry up and finish eating so we can go get you something special to wear for this dinner date.”
“I’m not going to argue with you on that.”
Chapter 16
“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull
of that which you truly love.” Rumi
Peyton didn’t fully understand why she was so nervous about having dinner with her husband, a man she’d been with for thirteen years, but she was. Looking in the mirror, she studied her size sixteen frame. Now that she had sworn off liquor maybe she wouldn’t have as hard a time losing the weight as she had in the past. But tonight wasn’t the night to worry about that. Tonight she just wanted to have a fun night out with her husband.
Peyton was pleased with the way things turned out between her and Meesha. They were back in a good space and Peyton hoped that they could remain good friends like they always were. One thing she didn’t want to tell Meesha and she didn’t, was that she didn’t think Carlton had asked for a divorce on account of Breyonna. Peyton believed something far deeper had been going on in Carlton’s life, and no one, at least none of the housewives knew what that was. But like her daddy used to say, secrets don’t stay hidden forever, they’re going to eventually come to the light. Peyton hoped that Meesha wasn’t around when the walls of deceit came tumbling down for Carlton.
The doorbell rang, followed by a knock, and then the door swung opened as Derek used his key to let himself in. He arrived promptly at eight o’clock, just like he said. He walked inside their home as Peyton approached the door.
“You look nice,” he told her.
“And so do you,” she replied. She thought he looked quite handsome in a pair of jeans with a solid blue shirt and a pair of black dress shoes. Peyton was dressed casually as well, with a new pair of jeans she’d purchased earlier after she and Meesha were done with lunch.
“I thought we’d go someplace where we could laugh, talk, have fun all while enjoying some good food,” Derek told his wife.
“Who do you think you’re fooling?” Peyton asked, placing one hand on her hip and laughing. “Come on, I’m ready.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked and turned around to head back out the front door. He waited until Peyton had stepped all the way outside before he locked the door. “Peyton, did you hear me. What are you talking about?” he asked again, still chuckling.
“What other place in the whole United States of America do you love to go to? When we go to Beverly Hills, you go there. When we go to Las Vegas, you go there, and I’m certain that if we ever go back to Singapore that you won’t leave that country until you’ve gone there. So cut it out.”
“Woman, what in the world are you talking about?” Derek continued to jokingly pressure Peyton.
“Let’s go eat. I only had a chef salad today and I’m hungry. So where is this place where we can laugh, talk, have fun all while enjoying some good food? Wherever could it be?” Peyton asked jokingly as they got in Derek’s car.
“We haven’t eaten at Y…”
“I knew it,” Peyton quipped.
“Knew what?”
“Come on, say it.”
“I was about to say that we haven’t eaten at Yum’s Seafood in a while,”
“You are such a liar. You know darn well the only place you want to go eat that begins with a Y is Yardbird Southern Table.”
“Ohhhh, so you want to go to Yardbird tonight, huh.” Derek laughed even harder than before. “That suits me just fine, ma lady.”
They exchanged light conversation on the drive to Miami where Yardbird was located. It had been some time since Peyton had gone out just for pure fun’s sake. She and Derek and some of their friends would sometimes meet up on the weekends to hang, but that stopped a few years ago. She didn’t know why, only that they no longer did.
The conversation shifted to Liam. “How’s our son?”
“He’s good. I think he’s about ready for us to come back home.”
Peyton’s eyebrows lifted, happy to hear that her only child was ready to come home. Just hearing Derek say that gave her even more reason to get her life in order. No matter what the outcome of the DNA results, she was going to rehab the following week after the results came back.
“Oh, thank you, God. So when are you bringing him back?”
“I don’t know about that. I said he wants to come home, but he’s still upset with you, Peyton. The kid feels betrayed and lied to. You should understand that.”
Peyton looked out the window as they drove along the scenic street lined with designer shops, fancy high priced cars passing, and people of all kinds walking up and down the busy street. Her countenance had changed in an instant from bright and happy to sad and disappointed.
“I’m trying, Derek, but I’m also trying to deal with and understand the reason you took him and left in the first place. It’s not what families do. You don’t just up an
d bale when a situation gets heated. You stay and try to work things out for the sake of keeping your family together.”
They arrived at the restaurant and the parking lot was packed. Derek circled around the block several times but each time he whipped back around to the restaurant there was no available parking. After about ten minutes of riding around, he finally happened upon a car pulling out of a street space. He pulled in behind him and scooped the parking space. It meant they had to walk about a half block to get to the restaurant, but the evening was crispy clear, and the temperature was just right with enough of a breeze to keep them comfortable and not sweaty and hot.
“You haven’t said anything about what I said,” Peyton addressed Derek as they made the trek to the restaurant.
“Just thinking about it.”
“What’s there to think about? You don’t agree? You’ve always believed in family. You love yours and you’ve always taken up for them whether right or wrong.”
“Liam and I didn’t leave you.”
“How can you say that? You left me as soon as things got heated; as soon as things hit the fan with Breyonna.”
Derek looked at his wife, paused, and then continued talking. “You’ve been drinking for years. You’re an alcoholic, Peyton. You think that the Breyonna incident is what tore our family apart?”
“Of course, I know things weren’t perfect in our marriage but you never moved out.”
“The situation with you, Bishop Porter, and Breyonna was just it for me. You hear me?”
They walked up to the doors of the restaurant. Derek opened the door for Peyton to allow her and a couple of people behind them to enter.
The Real Housewives of Adverse City 2 Page 9