“Oh girl you’re making me cry,” Carlisha exclaimed. I thought you were here to help relax me not having me bawling my eyes out. Come put some of that facial cream on me.” Carlisha pointed to the tube Debra had in her hand.
“All right madam. Your esthetician is at your service.” Debra stood and walked toward Carlisha.
“Okay I’m ready. But if my face turns purple you’re no longer going to my son’s godmother.”
Debra halted. “What did you say? You want me to be godmother?” She searched Carlisha’s face for the answer.
“Yes. Debra, would you do me the honor of being my son’s godmother?”
“Absolutely!” Debra exclaimed. “I would be honored.” She bent over and hugged Carlisha then she knelt down in front of Carlisha and placed her hand on her small bump. “You hear that young man, I’m gonna be your godmother.”
“Thank you Debra. Your friendship means the world to me.”
“Backatcha!”
Chapter 10
“What are your plans for Memorial Day?” Damian asked Carlisha while he stood next to the counter with his backpack draped over his left shoulder. He was one of few employees left to leave for the evening. Rachel and Pete were still in the back office.
“Oh nothing special, pretty much low key.” Carlisha closed out her register for the day.
“You say that all the time. You’re too young to not have a life Carlisha. Me and my girl are driving to Virginia Beach tomorrow. Why don’t you and your dude tag along. What’s his name – Roger I think? My friend can hook y’all up with a room at the hotel we’re staying at.”
“No thank you! Roger and I are history. I’m surprised you even remember his name.”
“Well he was the only dude I ever heard you talk about. Anyway, enjoy your weekend. I’ll see you next Tuesday.” Damian turned and walked out the door toward a car that just pulled up in front of the building.
One of the incentives of working for Pete at the printing company was having every other weekend off plus all major holidays.
“Thanks! You too!” Carlisha called after him.
Carlisha pulled the cash register out of the drawer and carried it to the back. She tapped on the office door before walking in.
“Here is the money left over in the drawer, everything is tallied up.” Carlisha walked over to Rachel’s new desk where she sat finishing up some work in QuickBooks. Pete was at his desk as well.
“Bring it over here so I can make a deposit before the bank closes this evening,” Pete said after he looked up to see Carlisha standing in the office.
Carlisha walked over and placed the cash drawer on Pete’s desk. “I hope you all have a great weekend and holiday.” She walked back toward the door.
“You too Carlisha.” Rachel closed out of the computer program she was working in. “Some friends and I are driving to New York, do you want to come? We have room.”
Pete wanted to ask Carlisha how she knew Debra ever since he saw them walk into the grocery store together, but he decided against it since he had cut off all non-business communication between them. He listened irritably, as Rachel and Carlisha chit-chatted, he hoped that they would leave before he made them. He took the money out of the register and checked to make sure everything added up properly as Carlisha stated – although he trusted that it was.
Carlisha turned and stood in the door frame of the office. “No thank you. I just want to stay home and relax.” Plus I’m pregnant and I don’t want to be running around exerting myself.
Suddenly Carlisha felt a hand cover her mouth with force. The look of terror on Rachel’s face immediately confirmed Carlisha’s fear of an attack. Pete looked up and sat frozen. There were two men, one black and one white and a short stout white girl that had broken into the shop, all looked like young teenage thugs. The black guy and the white girl were pointing handguns at them as the white guy that was covering Carlisha’s mouth forcefully pushed her into the office.
“Just give us the cash and no one will get hurt!” The black guy demanded. “Peaches, go grab that money over there,” the black guy pointed with his handgun to the money on Pete’s desk.
Carlisha trembled with fear as she inhaled the foul scent of her attacker’s hand. She wanted to bite him, kick him, but was fearful of the repercussion. Rachel sat quietly as tears slowly rolled down her face. Her heart was pounding rapidly with fear.
As the white girl walked toward Pete’s desk she slipped the gun in the band of her jeans so she could grab the money with both hands.
Unsuspected, Pete slowly moved his hand under his desk and reached for his gun. He quickly released it from its hiding place, reached up, pointed, clicked and shot the black guy in his shoulder, he fell back. The white girl fumbled, trying to reach for her gun again but Pete had his squared on her, fright washed over her cream face now.
“Give me your gun!” Pete demanded from her as he stood. The white guy that had his hand over Carlisha’s mouth released her and ran from the scene leaving both of his friends: one bleeding and crying on the floor for help, and the other about to wet her pants because of the hot gun that was now in her face.
Rachel got up quickly and grabbed the gun from the floor that was knocked out of the black guy’s hand when he was shot. Carlisha temporarily relieved to breathe some fresh air, darted to Rachel’s desk and picked up the phone to call the police as the white girl slowly handed her gun to Pete that towered over her. Pete held her gun in his hand, while his gun was still pointed at her. He moved back slowly and placed the gun on his desk.
“How old are you?” Pete demanded from his female attacker.
“Seventeen,” she answered, now crying.
The black guy on the floor bleeding profusely screamed several cuss words as the pain of his gunshot wound overtook his body. Carlisha and Rachel both wanted to throw-up from the sight of blood that drained from his body.
Pete wished he could finish him off, put the black guy out of his misery. Rid the world of one less bad apple. How dare he come in my establishment and try to rob me? And how the hell did these white fools get caught up in all this? Pete thought as he stared at the seventeen-year-old young thug in front of him begging for his mercy.
Within minutes they heard the sound of sirens. Carlisha and Rachel raced to the front of the store to escort the authorities into the office.
Chapter 11
After hours of questioning from the authorities and the fear of the attack that occurred just hours ago still affecting her nerves, Carlisha sat quietly in her car. She didn’t want to be alone at home. The guns, sound of gunshot, blood and the foul scent of the hand that was over her mouth possessed her thoughts. And the pain of not having someone to run to, someone to comfort her, someone to tell her that everything would be okay really irritated her. She had grown accustomed to her life alone, but moments like this really made her hate it!
Carlisha wiped the tears from her face as she stared at the house she was parked in front of. She was unsure of whether she should get out or not. But she had nowhere else to go.
She waited nervously on the front step after ringing the doorbell. It was ten-thirty at night and her pregnant body was exhausted. She desperately wanted to take a warm shower and go straight to sleep.
Pete looked toward the front door, alarmed at the fact that someone would be at his house that time of night. He rested his beer bottle on the coffee table and got up off the couch and walked toward the front door. This better not be Rachel. Pete looked through the peephole surprised to see Carlisha standing there, timid as a mouse. Why the hell did she come here? He ran his hand through his hair. I don’t have time to pretend to be daddy to her anymore. That ship sank when that bastard killed my wife. But as he looked through the peephole again the sadness in her eyes suddenly tugged on his heart. Pete unlocked the door and opened it.
“Good night Pete…ah Mr. Holmes,” Carlisha greeted timidly. No longer did she call him Pete in his presence. God please don’t let him
send me away. “I’m sorry I came over late, but…” Carlisha looked down at her feet in red flats pleading that Pete would have some sympathy for her. “Please, can I stay here tonight? I don’t want to be home – alone, after what happened.”
Pete stood silently as he listened to Carlisha. There was a time when she used to come over whenever she wanted. She and Moriah were always in the kitchen cooking up some new recipe they found from one of those cooking shows. Moriah really took a liking to Carlisha, she even started to refer to her as her daughter, especially since they weren’t able to have any children of their own. Pete enjoyed playing a father figure in Carlisha’s life too. But now that was history.
“Fine, but only tonight.” Pete opened the door wider and stepped aside so Carlisha could step in. She carried a small duffle bag with her, clothes she quickly retrieved from her place on her way over. “You know where the room is.” Pete closed then locked the door before he walked back to the living room to sit on the couch to finish his beer. Because of the incident tonight he figured he shouldn’t be too harsh by sending her away. Plus the guilt he’d been feeling over his desire for Debra made him feel that helping Carlisha tonight would make Moriah forgive him. Though he knew wanting forgiveness from his dead wife was foolish. But when you’ve been committed to one woman for so long, suddenly having desire for another felt so wrong.
“Thank you!” Carlisha said. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the house briefly from the foyer. Everything pretty much looked the same as she remembered. It sure felt as if Moriah would walk out of the kitchen in a few seconds to greet her. Carlisha had many wonderful memories in this house. It was the first house that felt like home to her. Now again she was a stranger in it. Carlisha turned to walk toward the steps.
“I’m sorry about what you’ve been through tonight,” Pete called out to her sincerely, after taking a sip of beer. Though I wished I had killed that lowlife.
“Me too!” Carlisha answered softly as she made her way up the stairs.
Chapter 12
The bright sunlight shining through the curtains helped arouse Carlisha from her peaceful sleep. She rolled to her back from sleeping on her side and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before slowly opening them. The brightly painted, sunflower yellow colored room was also welcoming to her sleepy eyes. She had slept many nights on that bed in that room. It used to be her bedroom room away from home. On the nightstand was still a picture of her, Moriah and Pete that was taken during Carlisha’s first Christmas in Maryland after she moved from Florida. Moriah had placed it on the nightstand. Carlisha had the same picture on the mantle at her apartment.
Carlisha noticed the time on the clock – eleven-thirty in the morning. She sat up quickly with surprise. Oh no, I hope Pete isn’t upset with me for sleeping so long. Carlisha threw her legs off the bed and stood up. She grabbed her duffle bag off the chair against the wall in the room and quickly changed into a pair of dark stretch jeans and coordinating dark blouse that would look fine with her red flats. She stuffed the duffle bag with her things then made her way to the bathroom and rearranged her braids to form a high bun, after she peed. Then she quickly finished up with her morning bathroom routine.
She quietly made her way down the steps carrying her purse and duffle bag. She wasn’t sure if Pete was home or not and, if he was, she didn’t want to disturb him. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she noticed Pete sitting on the couch, with a beer bottle in one hand and a remote in the other. It was as if he never left that spot last night. But Carlisha could tell that he did because instead of the polo shirt he had on last night, he was now casually wearing a light-blue striped dress shirt with a pair of dark jeans. She suddenly felt like a kid about to get in trouble for doing something wrong. It was so hard for her to read Pete’s demeanor since he changed. She took the last step, and slowly walked toward the walkway into the living room where Pete sat watching TV.
“Good morning. I’m sorry I slept late. But thank you for allowing me to spend the night.” She felt so uncomfortable being around him now, though she knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm her – at least she hoped not.
Pete nodded his head acknowledging her, before he took a sip of beer. That was his comfort now: sitting on the couch with a beer bottle in his hand watching sports or news about sports. That kept him from thinking about how many ways to kill a black man, to rid the world of the thing that turned his life into a nightmare. That shot he took last night injuring the black young thug brought him great satisfaction. Pete took another sip of beer in memory of him shooting the black guy lying on the floor bleeding and pleading for his life. That also reminded him that he would have to meet with the cleaning company to clean up the office after the police were done with their investigation.
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday after the holiday.” Carlisha started toward the front door.
“How do you know Debra?” Pete asked with his eyes still on the TV.
“She’s in a couple of my classes at school.” Carlisha stood frozen with her back to Pete. She wasn’t sure if he would pry more or if she should continue to leave.
“What is she majoring in?” Pete was really curious now. He wanted to know as much about Debra as possible. But he also didn’t want Carlisha to know how intrigued he was with Debra. Though he figured that would be tough, just his asking about her gave him away. He placed the beer bottle down on the coffee table, but still didn’t look toward Carlisha.
Carlisha turned and walked back to the walkway into the living room. “She’s a business major.” She knew Pete had a thing for Debra ever since they all bumped into each other at the grocery store. So she wasn’t surprised by his questions.
Pete wished Carlisha would divulge more instead of him having to ask numerous questions. He felt so juvenile. “Is she single?” Pete couldn’t believe he just asked her that. Would she think he was cheating on his wife too? But why should I care what she thinks? But he needed to know if his fantasies of Debra should continue, with hope at least that he would build up the courage to ask her out.
Carlisha gently loosed her hand from holding her duffle bag so it fell quickly on the floor next to her feet. “She’s divorced. Forty-two, no kids. She’s a really nice woman – we’re good friends.”
“Okay!” She’s single – good. Pete thought with a smile. He reached over and picked up his beer off the coffee table and took a gulp. The good news gave him even more of a reason to drink.
Carlisha picked up her duffle bag and turned to leave after he didn’t probe for more information. She was happy she was able to put a smile on Pete’s face, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him smile.
Chapter 13
Carlisha sat on her couch flipping the channels hoping to find something intriguing to watch. The sun was about to set for the night and she desperately wanted to call Pete and ask if she could sleep over again. She felt very uncomfortable being alone after the attempted robbery at work yesterday. Every strange sound made her jumpy. On her way home today she stopped at the department store and bought some door and window chimes, that she installed herself, just so she would feel safer in her apartment. But with night about to fall she was beginning to feel very uneasy.
She reached for her cellphone on the coffee table then strolled through her contacts. Debra – maybe she wouldn’t mind having a sleepover. Carlisha touched Debra’s number to call.
“Hi Debra, it’s Carlisha. How are you?”
“Hey Carlisha – I’m good. I’m actually in North Carolina right now, should be by my sister in an hour. What are your holiday plans?”
“Oh – I’m just staying in, nothing special.”
“Had I known, I would have invited you to drive with me. The beach is great here.”
“Well, maybe the next time you visit your sister. When will you be back?”
“Wednesday morning hopefully. I have to work that evening.”
“Okay. Be safe and have fun!”
> “Thanks!”
Carlisha pressed end on the phone. She was disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to escape her loneliness with the company of Debra. What was I thinking anyway – it’s a holiday weekend. Everyone is spending time with their family and loved ones. Carlisha scrolled through her cellphone contacts again. Roger. Carlisha stared down at his name and number illuminated on her phone. Her thumb anxiously danced over the contact. She pressed call and waited patiently with the phone to her ear as it rang.
“Carlisha – what is it now?” Roger asked irritably.
“Hey. Can you come over?” Carlisha asked sweetly, which she almost didn’t believe came out of her mouth. But she was desperate for company.
“Look Carlisha I’m not in the mood for any B.S. tonight. So you want me to come to chill or to talk some baby mess?”
Carlisha rolled her eyes in frustration. But she bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying something smart. “I just want us to chill – that’s all.”
“Okay cool. Let me take care of a few things and I’ll be there in thirty.”
“Okay – see you then.” Carlisha pressed end on the phone and stared at it, stunned that she actually called Roger to come and spend the night. She quickly placed the phone on the coffee table so she wouldn’t call him back and tell him to forget about it. She stood up and dashed to the bathroom so she could take a shower.
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