by Amarie Avant
“I know I could have called when I got back.” This was the part that he hated. Looking at the stream of water, he admitted, “I’d assumed I’d been gone too long. You were in love with Chris when I left…” and I asked an old friend about you when I came back to town. They told me you still belonged to Chris…
Now she stood in front of him. Pushing up as high as she was able to reach on her tippy toes, Raven stroked his face. This wasn’t the time for words. Her mouth locked onto his.
His strong arms wrapped around her waist, allowing the kiss to deepen.
“Nothing on earth can come between us again, Liam.”
He nodded, needing to believe it was true. Nothing on earth but his own doing.
CHAPTER 12
When Raven got home, Grandpa Otis sat in the living room watching a basketball game. He had to be concentrating, because the clatter coming from the kitchen was ear-shattering. Looking back and forth from the kitchen door to Grandpa, she wondered what was going on.
“Hey, Re,” Otis said, tossing more potato chips into his mouth, not taking his eyes off the television.
“Hi, Grandpa…uhhh… What’s wrong with Granny?” How can you tolerate this ruckus? A slight ache was blossoming at her temple.
“What’s wrong with me? Yes, Otis, what is wrong with me!” Annette walked through the swinging kitchen door with red-rimmed eyes. She twisted a towel in her hands so tightly, her knuckles were gray.
“Annette,” Otis huffed. He looked at his granddaughter, then at his wife, then back at the TV. “I made a mistake.” Face void of expression he rose, clicking the power button on the remote. Tossing it back onto the couch, he ambled up the stairs.
“Granny, what’s wrong?” Raven asked, on the verge of tears when Annette started crying. The scene unraveling before her was foreign. They never fought.
“It’s your grandfather’s business. Ask him.” Annette spun around and stalked back into the kitchen.
Raven stood in the center of the living room, alone. The wheels of her mind spun.
~~~
“I think my grandpa is cheating.” Raven looked at the grass as she walked to Alvin’s house with Liam. Once more, they were on a mission to resolve Alvin’s place in her life. She was unable to force the tense scene from last night out of her head, no matter how hard she tried.
“They’re old. Besides, Otis loves Granny. Why would he cheat?”
Raven felt like a child as he guided her up the steps of the house and made sure she saw the hole in the porch. He knocked on the door.
Seconds later, Alvin opened the door. “Hey, my mom told me y’all came by a few weeks ago. What’s up?”
“Can we come in? We’ve got a personal matter to talk about,” Liam said.
“Come on in. Want a soda pop or something to drink?”
They nodded, taking seats on the tattered sofa. Alvin rummaged around in the kitchen, coming back with two plastic cups with ice and two cans of soda. He sat across from them on a rocking chair. “So what’s up?” He rocked slowly, making a creaking sound.
“How close were you to my mother?” Raven asked, not sure how to phrase her questions. Her eyes were zeroed in on his. Not that she wanted to seem like one of those intense private investigators, but only the truth would do.
“Well,” Alvin began, “we ran in the same crowd.”
She reflected over Alvin’s response. “Okay, ummm…”
“Are you Raven’s father?” Liam blurted out.
The creaking stopped. Alvin stammered, “No–no. We were good friends, but not like that.” He started tapping his nail-bitten fingers on dusty old jeans.
Raven took a sip of her soda. This conversation wasn’t going the way she had anticipated. “Do you know who my father might be?” She fidgeted with her fingers. Were Chris and the other gossipers right? Was my mom a ho?
“I have to get to work. I can’t help y’all.” Alvin stood quickly, causing the rocking chair to teeter back and forth. He went to the door, opening it.
“Alvin, can’t you just give us a name? You know something.” Liam stood before Alvin. Both men were over six feet tall. Alvin’s eyes shifted around, whereas Liam’s were dead on.
“Come on, Liam.” Raven tugged his arm, not wanting him to start a confrontation in the man’s home. After a few seconds, he strolled past Alvin.
~~~
“C’mon, Raven. Give me a smile.” Liam made a funny face as they got to his Chevelle parked in front of her house. “Do you still want to go to my parents’ house for dinner?”
She had agreed to go with him after church. As hard as she tried, a frown was set on her face. Alvin had always been cheerful, never complained about taking care of a sick, blind mother, or that he had to take a two-hour bus ride to a minimum wage job in Brinton when his car would stall. The Alvin she knew placed others before himself. How could he act so mysterious? Nobody wants to be my father…
“No,” she finally answered. “I promised to go.” It took a minute, but a weak smile formed on her face. Underneath, a heavy heart weighed her down. She smoothed the pleated skirt she had worn to church, knowing that dinners at the Lemaître house were either semiformal or overblown events that Liam used to complain about. But she had never been invited.
~~~
A glossy wood table dominated the center of the dining room. The twenty mauve paisley custom-made chairs were upholstered to match the drapes. It was set for three, but there was enough food for a village.
“What’s with all this food?” Liam asked his dad as he walked into the dining room with Raven.
Elise was nowhere in sight, and for that, Raven was grateful. She’d be delighted if the woman never came downstairs.
At the head of the table, Jonathan stood. “This is all your mother’s doing.” He shook his son’s hand, then gave Raven a quick hug.
“Your mother thought it would be a late–or early—Thanksgiving-style dinner, given that you rarely come home for the holidays.”
Jonathan reclaimed his seat.
Elise entered the dining room, wearing a violet silk, chiffon dress. Twirling her index finger around long pearls, the tall blonde glided over to Liam for a hug.
“My dear, you should have told me you brought a guest.” Elise floated toward Raven, who stood up quickly. Stifling the desire to roll her eyes, Raven let herself be hugged–exaggeratedly embraced–by the thin woman.
“You’ve gotten so…” Elise’s green eyes widened as she searched for the right words. “Tall.”
Is she serious? Raven was barely five-two, hadn’t grown since middle school. Besides, they’d passed by each other a few weeks ago. Throughout dinner, Elise jabbered, giving them a glimpse of her lighter side. A side that was beyond joyful, bordering on eerie. Raven chewed slowly, wondering if she should let her guard down.
As she ate, Liam’s left hand moved from the table top. He leisurely took a sip of wine with his other hand. When his large hand landed in Raven’s lap, sparks of energy soared from her core to her toes and to her hair follicles. It took a second for her heart to beat, as the warmth of his hand seeped into the fabric of her skirt. Then his hand crept between her thighs.
“Are you crazy?” Her lips barely moved, voice in a hushed whisper. With her sensitivity heightened, she felt the air as it fizzled past her just parted lips. She also felt Elise’s eyes glower through her with a questioning gaze, although the Ice Queen smiled and carried on the conversation.
“Maybe a little,” Liam’s lips just about scoured her earlobe, oblivious of his mother’s fakery. His father seemed oblivious of any stimuli that didn’t hold a pleasing aroma.
Liam’s cell phone vibrated in his slacks. He pulled it out. Raven peeped over to see the phone number and name, Gabby. First, who was this Gabby? Second, the forbidden action was sorely needed.
Her heart ached as he stood up. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
Raven’s forehead crinkled as she watched him leave. A feeling sunk to the pi
t of her abdomen. The sensation was worse than she’d ever felt, all of Chris’s flirtations never made her feel this way. Why is he leaving me here, with his parents to talk with another chick? She made a mental note of the name, would not forget it.
“What are your plans after high school, Raven?” Elise’s richly feminine voice brought Raven back to reality.
“I think I’ll take a few classes at Brinton College,” Raven said, then took a bite of mashed potatoes. Her gold-trimmed plate still had almost all the food she put on it twenty minutes ago. She wasn’t really hungry after the scene with Alvin. Now, she wanted to know why Liam had to exit the room to speak to Gabby.
“Brinton has a university?” Elise’s eyebrows came together. “Oh, the junior college? What type of classes?”
“Yes, Mrs. Delacroix Lemaître, the junior college.” She tried to take the bite out of her voice for the woman who preferred, no, required, the acknowledgement of both of her last names. “I’m not sure what I want to do. I’ll take some general classes, weigh my options.”
“There are scholarships available for people like you.” Elise took a sip of white wine. Her emerald eyes sparkled, speaking volumes of the old adage when the cat is away, the mouse will reign.
“People like me? What type of people like me? There are scholarships for all sorts of people. What are you referring to?” She leaned forward. Say what you mean to say, lady!
“Uh, Elise means the scholarship for students in a church choir,” Jonathan interjected. His words did nothing to smooth over the tension looming in the room. None of the women looked in his direction.
“I meant a couple of things–how are your grades? Of course, there are scholarships for smart students, and there are scholarships for idiots! There are scholarships for poor students.” She frowned in disgust. Shrugging, she looked in Raven’s eyes. “There are scholarships for all sorts of people. You pick, one or more apply.”
“Elise!” Jonathan said sharply.
The Ice Queen grinned and sat back.
“Excuse me and my poor, unloved self.” Raven pushed back on the heavy chair, allowing it to resound against the marbled floor, and stalked off to the front door.
I really don’t mind strangling this woman.
~~~
“Elise, we’re not going to get through to him like that. We have to convince him that Raven is–”
“We!” Elise interjected. “No, no, Jonathan. This is your fault. If you–” Elise stopped talking mid-sentence as two servants opened the French double doors and Liam entered into the dining room.
“Where’s Raven?” Liam took a seat at the table.
“She left,” Elise retorted.
“What?” Liam got up and started walking to the French doors of the dining room.
“This is not how we are supposed to resolve our issues,” Jonathan exclaimed for a second time. “Elise, you were out of line! Son–stop right now.”
Liam never stopped walking. For a moment, Jonathan was stunned.
“Stop!” Jonathan stood up, composing himself. “Or I’ll cancel your monthly allowance! I’ll use scare tactics if I have to. Your mother and I have something to tell you.”
Liam turned at the entry. “Do it. I don’t need your money. As a matter of fact, cancel what Mom sends me, too!”
“What does your mother send you?” Jonathan was baffled, didn’t mean to let his son have the upper hand, but he’d been caught off guard.
“She sends me a lot more than you do. Every month…just to stay away.”
Elise snorted.
Jonathan was beginning to hate Pierre Delacroix. It was as if Pierre was his father also. Was he really the man of a house, a house he didn’t even own? Every time he and Elise got into a fight, Pierre was in the middle. “I guess that’s what transpires when you covet a billionaire’s money,” Jonathan admonished himself aloud.
Liam shook his head. It took a few years to comprehend the innuendo as a child, but these days, his father fully expressed how much he loathed Elise’s father. That was no concern to him. As he walked away, Liam said over his shoulder, “As a matter of fact, times what I owe the both of you by all the years I’ve stayed away, and I’ll have a check sent to you.”
“How will you live?” Elise sputtered on her wine.
Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Money is the catalyst for your every thought, isn’t it Elise?”
“Mom, Dad.” Liam stopped at the double doors. “You two can commence with the arguments once I’ve left. Just an FYI, I don’t need anything from the either of you. So expect a check, a severance check of sorts, to compensate you for your parental duties. Shawn’s father is an investment banker. I’m already a millionaire.” His chest was puffed up as he left them.
“We taught him the art of callousness.” Jonathan sank into the velvety cushion, yet his body was tense. He hadn’t meant to use money to force his son to listen. Everybody in the family was throwing money at the boy’s feet, himself included. This was like one of his court cases. The defense attorney had withheld information, but this wasn’t illegal.
“How can you sit there so composed? Our son hates us,” he sneered as his wife took a bite of a baby carrot.
“Liam is a Delacroix. He’ll get over it. Besides, you said he's growing callous. I hardly noticed.” She took a deep breath. “Insensitivity will make Liam more efficient in his future duties.”
“Jonathan Junior,” he interjected, not one to call his son by a middle name. “Our son’s determined to see Raven Shaw!”
“Well, if he’s anything like you, then he’ll have a good time with la salope–the bitch–and move on. We just have to make sure Pierre doesn’t find out about it.” Elise stood sharply, tossing her linen napkin onto her plate. Going off in French, stiletto heels that echoed off the marble floor, as she left Jonathan to his own nightmares of failing as a father.
~~~
A sense of urgency overcame him as Liam surveyed the grounds for Raven. The tennis and basketball courts were empty. Did she leave?
He needed a golf cart just to canvass the west portion of the land. He could breathe again when he noticed long black hair swaying in the wind. She was in the rose garden. The cobblestone path that led there was covered by a rambling archway of roses. In the center of the garden was a three-tier water fountain. He found Raven seated on a wrought-iron bench.
“I’m ready to go when you are.” Raven gazed at blue jays, chirping in the water.
“I apologize for my mom.” Liam took a seat next to her.
Raven stared at her twiddling fingers. The emotion had been extracted from her voice as she said, “Your mother hates me. Always has, always will.”
“Elise doesn’t hate you. She just doesn’t…know you.” They’d known each other since being toddlers, so the excuse was weak at best. He smiled and caressed her cheek. Since they'd made love at the historical Paris-inspired museum, Raven had been rich with life. What had his mom said? Elise cannot mention too much about my future duties…or at least Liam assumed as much.
When Raven didn’t respond to his touch, he took her hands in his. The only way he knew to comfort her would be through kisses. He chose not to go that route as he looked into jaded eyes.
Slipping her hand from his, Raven whispered, “What we’re doing now… This isn’t going to work.”
The words suffocated him. The way out smothered him. Leaving her was inevitable in order to become the legacy his grandfather Pierre sought.
Raven and Grand-père Pierre. She’d been his obsession. The years Liam spent in France gave him another ally. The latter was blood, family. There’d be no disappointing Pierre.
“Look, Liam we should either just be friends or…”
Liam didn’t let Raven finish the sentence. Hell no, they weren’t meant to be just friends. Taking her face in his hands, he rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs and kissed her lips. To his pleasure, her tongue twined around him, just as eager. His hand clasped her cheek, deepening the kiss.
God, he could fuck her right here and now.
He pulled away. “I have something that may brighten your day.”
Raven smiled. “What?”
Liam pulled a plastic lunch bag out of his pocket. Inside it was an Afro pick.
“Look, even when you were a baby, people loved your thick, curly hair, being half Creole and all. But you’re not that ethnic…” Raven chuckled.
Smiling, Liam shook his head. “I know Alvin said he wasn’t your dad. I’m not convinced he was telling the truth.”
“But you just can’t go stealing from people.”
“It’s a plastic hair pick. He’s had the same hairstyle since the ’80s. If he wants his Afro not to be all lopsided, then he better go get a new one. I’m going to take this to a friend, Gabby, to have it checked for DNA.”
“Oh,” was her soft reply.
The friend Liam referred to was a graduate from Brinton Academy a year earlier. Gabby Chow was a class ahead of him. They fooled around a few times after football games, and always did favors for each other. Liam was certain that she would have the right connections to test Alvin and Raven’s DNA for a possible match.
“We’ll see if he’s your father. Either way, he’s keeping a secret about something.” Liam would part the Atlantic if it meant helping Raven find answers. Knowing had to bring her joy. Right?
CHAPTER 13
“Your grandfather suffers from pneumonia brought on by a weak immune system. He’s been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. In simple terms, his blood cells are working overtime.” The oncologist spoke softly, but the news just kept getting worse. Every word was accompanied with white noise, and seemed so very far away. “Because Otis has pneumonia, he’s a high-risk patient and needs a bone marrow transplant–where he will need stem cells from a genetically similar donor.”
Liam was Raven’s rock when the waves were crashing to the shore in her life. Though numbness consumed Raven, she leaned into him as he rubbed her back. How would I have managed if Liam never came back into my life?