The Men of CCD: Help Wanted

by Marie Rochelle

  “Baby, you’re the greatest. Even after my son threw a tantrum on you for no reason you’re concerned about his welfare. Damn, I love you.” Jim kissed her on the cheek and left her alone in the kitchen.

  Keira started cleaning up the kitchen and putting the ingredients for the chicken pot pie into the refrigerator praying that Trevor would be the one who told Jim about his black eye instead of her because she didn’t know how to break the news to Jim that someone was hitting his child.

  * * * *

  “I guess it‘s okay for me now to believe you and Jim are officially a couple?” Jenisha asked as she stood next to Keira watching Jim playing with Kevan, Evan and Trevor in the playroom off at the side from the living room.

  “Yes, we’re a couple and I’ve never been so happy in my life.” Keira grinned.

  “I knew the two of you would hit it off,” Charisma chimed in. “Dave was concerned Jim might not be able to open up after having such a horrible marriage, but I knew you were the woman who could do it.”

  “Stop bragging.” Dave laughed as he came up to his wife and kissed her on the cheek.

  “I thought the four of you were outside staring at the grill,” Jenisha said to her husband as Clinton grabbed a potato chip from the bowl on the table

  “We knew that our women were missing us, so we came in here to see you.” Hayward wrapped his arms around True.

  “I guess I can let you believe that’s the real reason you came back inside.” True placed her hands on top of her husband’s arm. “I checked on the babies and they’re sound asleep. I’m glad they’re sleeping better now.”

  “I need to stop hanging around all of you before the love bugs bites me,” Dante laughed as he joined in on the conversation with the people around him. “I’m not interested in walking down the aisle anytime soon.”

  “I remember being like you until I saw Charisma and after that all I could think about was babies and marriage. Ask Jim. He’s a step away from proposing to Keira.”

  “Don’t put Jim into something he hasn’t even mentioned to me. We’re dating, but the talk of marriage has never come up. I really believe Jim is against the whole marriage idea.” Keira had to correct the way everyone’s mind seemed to be going.

  “I’m willing to bet if you brought up getting married to Jim, he wouldn’t totally blow you off,” Dante said.

  At Dante’s statement, Keira begin to acknowledge her own needs and a surprising realization washed over her. She did want to get married to Jim. It seemed like when they first met they had disagreed about anything and everything, but their arguing was hiding something so much deeper and meaningful.

  Looking back, she knew she sensed Jim could be the man for her yet she’d fought it at every turn like he had. They were more like each other than either one of them ever wanted to admit back then.

  The more she thought about it the better she loved the idea of being married to Jim, but she quickly banished the thought from her mind. There’d be time for such thoughts later.

  “I’ll let everyone know when and if Jim asks me to marry him. Until then I’m just going to take each day as it comes.”

  “Okay, we’ll leave it alone.” True sighed. “However, when you need help picking out baby names let me know because I hate to brag, but I think I’m pretty good at it.”

  “True, stop messing with Keira. Give her time to get used to being with Jim instead of adding in babies,” Hayward gently scolded before Kevan ran across the room up to him.

  “Daddy, can Evan and I go outside to play?”

  “Do you promise to stay in the yard and not go into the street?”

  “Yes, we’ll stay in the yard,” Kevan promised and turned away running for the door. “Come on, Evan and Trevor!”

  “Keira, see all of the fun you have to look forward to,” Dante teased.

  “I see it.”

  Keira’s eyes swung over to Jim. She hadn’t let the idea of them having kids with Jim enter her mind in a long time. Jim had his hands full with Trevor. Would he even let the idea of having another child come into his thoughts?

  * * * *

  “Dad, can I go outside too?” Trevor asked the second Evan left him and ran after his big brother.

  “Sure, but be sure not to let Kevan and Evan go in the street,” Jim said. “They’re younger than you and I expect you to watch over them.”

  “I will.” Trevor turned away from Jim at the same time he reached out to pull the baseball cap up further on his son’s head so he could see better, but instead Jim accidentally knocked it off Trevor’s head.

  Jim noticed the bruise by his son’s eye the instant the baseball cap hit the floor. Anger he never felt before formed in the pit of his stomach and worked through his body drowning out the conversation from the other people going on around him. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t spotted it before, but he saw it now and Trevor was going to tell him how in the hell it got there.

  “Trevor, wait!” He touched his son on the arm to keep him from running outside. Cupping his son’s cheek in his hand, Jim turned the bruise towards the sunlight filtering through the living room curtains in Jenisha’s house.

  “Son, who put this on your face?” he questioned and then lowered his voice when Trevor jerked his head away and moved back.

  I need to calm down or I’ll make him too scared to tell me the truth..

  “I don’t want to tell you,” Trevor whispered. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Trevor, I’ll believe anything you tell me as long as it’s the truth. Now tell me who hit you.” It had been Kathy’s week to keep Trevor and if one her boyfriends placed a hand on his son they were going to get their ass kicked by him.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Trevor, tell me who hit you!” Jim yelled, growing more upset by the minute that he hadn’t been there to protect his son.

  The sound of his hollering drew everyone from the living room into the playroom. He hadn’t meant for them to get involved with this, but maybe one of the women could get Trevor to tell them the truth.

  “Jim, what is all of the noise about?” True asked concern etched on her pretty face as she looked back and forth between him and Trevor.

  “Look at his face,” Jim said pointing to the bruise. “Someone hit him and he won’t tell me who did it.”

  “Screaming at him won’t get you anywhere,” Jenisha told him as she squatted down and ran a finger across the bruise on his son’s cheek.

  He still couldn’t believe he was just now seeing this. How in the fuck did he allow Trevor to hide this with a baseball cap?

  “Trevor, can you please tell us who did this to you?” Charisma asked, softly. “You aren’t in any kind of trouble. This person is a horrible person for hitting you and we only want to know who it is. I know your daddy will promise not to let them around you again.”

  “Is that true? If I tell you who hit me you won’t let them around me again?” Trevor asked looking away from Jenisha and Charisma up at him.

  “Trevor, I promise that this low life won’t get a chance to ever be in the same room with you again.” Jim prayed his son would finally tell him who it was.

  Trevor glanced around the room and everyone before dropping his head and whispering, “It was Keira. She slapped me for not wanting to help her with the chicken pot pie for supper. You walked through the front door right after she had done it. Don’t you remember?”

  The silence in the room was deafening as everyone registered what Trevor just confessed to them. It was like all of the air had been sucked out of the room by a vacuum without anyone being prepared for it to occur. Everyone was trying to process the accusation that Trevor just tossed out there.

  The truth slammed down on Jim’s head like a ton of bricks. He did remember walking in on Keira bent down in front of Trevor touching the side of his face, but he hadn’t given it a thought. Now, his son was telling him that the woman he was in love with and was planning to propose to in a couple of day
s had struck him.

  “I didn’t touch Trevor,” Keira said rushing up to him at the same time Trevor stepped behind him.

  “You lying bitch!” Jim snapped. “Look, my son is terrified of you.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Charisma said, cutting in. “I’ve known Keira most of my life and she would never slap a child. There has to be a mistake.”

  “I don’t believe it either,” Jenisha butted in defending Keira too.

  “There isn’t a fucking mistake.” Jim moved closer to Keira. “I thought you were different from his mother, but I can see now that you’re worse.”

  “I’m not,” Keira denied, vehemently. “I love Trevor. I would never, and I mean never, hit him.” She wasn’t going to stand here and let Jim talk to her like this when she wasn’t the person who hit Trevor. She knew Jim’s son had issues with her dating his dad, but she never thought he would lie like this!

  “Are you calling my son a liar? Trevor wouldn’t lie about you hitting him! God, I kept getting on Kathy about having worthless characters around my son and I was the one who was placing Trevor in harm’s way. Kathy was a better judge of your character than I was. What a damn idiot I’ve been for these past two and a half months.”

  “Jim, I swear to you that Trevor isn’t telling you the truth.” Keira had to make Jim believe her. She would never hit a child.

  “Jim, I’m not saying that Trevor is lying, but something isn’t right here,” Dave said finally giving his opinion. “Charisma and I have left Dave Jr. with Keira several times and never been worried about anything happening.”

  “You’re the reason I’m in the living hell right now,” Jim shouted, focusing his angry on Dave.

  “What are you talking about?” Dave frowned.

  “If I hadn’t gone out with Keira as a favor to you because you wanted help with her, she wouldn’t have slapped my son.”

  “As a favor to you,” Keira said, looking back and forth between Jim and Dave. “What are the two of you talking about?”

  “Dave and everyone else in the room besides Dante had been so worried about you since the plane crash. They weren’t sure what was going on with you. So, Dave came to me and begged and I do mean he had to plead with me to do him a favor. He wanted me to keep an eye on you. At first, I was like no way, but after he kept pressing me I finally gave in and agreed to help him.”

  She took a quick sharp breath. Keira couldn’t believe what Jim was telling her. The only reason he ever dated her was a favor to Dave. None of those times they were together had meant anything to him. The shock of the discovery hit her full force.

  “Are you telling me instead of ordering a help wanted ad in the newspaper, my so-called friends pressured you into helping their ‘semi-crazy’ friend. Well…now I know what all of you think about me.” Keira looked at everyone in the room and then finally back at Jim. “But I’m not lying to you about Trevor. I didn’t touch him. Trevor thinks you’re going to get back with Kathy, but you can’t do that with me in your life. So, he had to find a way to get rid of me and he decided to lie about who really hit him.”

  As their eyes met, she felt numbness run through her at the coldness in Jim’s. “Sweetheart, if you’re trying to make me choose between my son and you, I want you to know that you will lose every single time and I MEAN every damn time. Do you understand me? Kathy may be an unfit mother, but you’re nothing more than a charity case I took on out of pity. You have replaced my ex-wife at the top of my most hated list. I can’t believe I was actually thinking about building a life with you. I’m so glad Trevor told me how you really were because I would have hated to get married to a lying…”

  “Stop right there. You aren’t going to call me a bitch again,” Keira hollered. “I haven’t done what Trevor is accusing me of and I know the truth will come out. However, when it does I don’t want your apology. Keep it to yourself. Hearing the words coming out of your mouth will mean nothing to me after this conversation. I’m through with you. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with you. My first impression of you was correct…you’re an arrogant son of a…” Keira stopped herself when she saw that Trevor was looking at her.

  “Don’t lose a night’s sleep worrying about if I’ll come knocking on your door because I won’t. I should have stayed away from you like I wanted. I thought the worst day of my life occurred when I married Kathy, but I was wrong. The worse day of my life started when I brought you into my son’s life.

  The slap came so quickly that Jim stumbled back from the impact. “There now you have something else to replace it,” Keira said in a choked voice. “This is strike three for you. Please forget that we ever knew each other because I know that I sure in hell will.” Rushing over to the chair, she snatched up her purse and ran towards the front door.

  “Keira, how are you doing to get home?” Charisma yelled as she moved to follow her best friend outside, but Dante stepped in front of her blocking her way.

  “Let me take her home. I think after the blow out here tonight I might be the only person she will let take her home.”

  “Okay, I believe you’re right.” Charisma touched Dante on the arm. “Can you make sure she’s okay and let her know that I’ll call her tomorrow? She’s my best friend in the world besides Jenisha. Keira was the one who told me to give Dave a chance. I was only trying to help her. I never thought it would turn out like this.”

  “I’ll do the best I can,” Dante said before he rushed after Keira.

  “How could you say those things to Keira?” Charisma screamed at Jim hitting him on the arm. “You know that Keira isn’t the type of slap a child.”

  “I’ve seen her slap someone before,” Jim said. He wasn’t going to let everyone in this room turn on his son. Trevor wasn’t a liar. If his son pointed out Keira as the person who hit him then he was telling him the truth.

  “Who has she hit?” Dave asked, jumping into the conversation.

  “You at the airport or have you forgotten?”

  “Keira was defending Charisma and she had every right to do so after what I said to her best friend. I got over that tap as soon as I got on the plane. It was a totally different situation and we both know it.”

  “Jim, I’m having a hard time believing this myself,” Hayward admitted.

  He was getting more displeased by minute. All of his supposed friends were calling Trevor a liar right in front of his face. They all saw his son standing there in the room with them. He wasn’t going to stay here and let this continue.

  “Come on Trevor. We’re leaving.” Touching his son on the back, Jim led him towards the front door. “I guess I wasn’t as close to all of you as I thought I was if you would take Keira’s word over my son’s.”

  “Jim, you need to stay so we can figure this out.” Dave was trying to be the level-headed person tonight. He had to calm things down before some things were said that couldn’t be taken back. “Let Trevor go outside and play with Kevan and Evan. You know how much he loves being around them.”

  “I think I need to get my son home. I’m too upset to talk to anyone else tonight. I’m not sure if I want to even be associated with any of you anymore after tonight.” Jim opened the front door and went out with his son slamming it shut behind him.

  * * * *

  “I can’t believe tonight took such a wrong turn. What in the world happened?” Jenisha asked walking around the room. “Jim and Keira were so happy when they walked in the door and now they hate each other. Jim didn’t even try to stop Dante from going after Keira.”

  “He believes that Keira hit Trevor. We all saw that bruise on his cheek,” Clinton said.

  “Do you think Keira truly slapped Trevor?” Hayward asked his brother.

  “No, I think Trevor is lying for some reason.”

  “Trevor has wanted his parents to get back together ever since the divorce and I believe he lied to get his father away from Keira just like she told us,” Dave pointed out. “Don’t most children of divorce dream about
being a real family again with both parents?”

  “Trevor knows he’s lying. How long do you think a seven-year-old can keep this secret to himself?” Charisma wondered out loud.

  “I’m more worried about how Jim is going to feel when he learns Trevor wasn’t telling the truth and how he’s going to get Keira back,” True said. “He said a lot of terrible things about her.”

  “Sadly, he may not be able to get close to Keira ever,” Charisma said. “I’ve known her longer than any of you and when my best friend makes up her mind it’s very hard to change. I think Jim made the biggest mistake of his life today.”

  “Maybe you’re wrong,” Dave said. “Jim needs Keira and vice versa. They are more than perfect for each other.”

  “I hope that I am, but I seriously doubt it,” Charisma said but the doubt in her voice was loud and clear in the room.

  “This day can’t get any worse,” True said.

  * * * *

  “Mommy! Help me!” Evan screamed from outside in front of his uncle’s house.

  All of the adults were replaying the events of the day in their minds when the childlike screams of Evan Campbell made all of them rush out of the front door to see what was wrong. True was the first one to reach her son in the middle of the street.

  “Evan, what’s wrong?” True asked. Looking around she noticed that Kevan was nowhere in sight. “Where’s your brother?”

  “I tried to stop the man from taking him, but he shoved me down and put Kevan in his car. I told Kevan to come back from the car, but he wanted to see the puppy,” Evan cried.

  Fear set in the hearts of everyone standing there as they listened to Evan. “What man? Who took your brother?” True screamed shaking Evan. “Tell me what happened!”

  Evan started to cry even harder as Hayward pulled his son away from True. “Son, where is your brother? Is he playing hide and seek like he used to? Remember we told the two of you that the game wasn’t funny.”