by BM Hardin
*********************
Chapter SEVEN
“It’s a boy!”
The smile on Silas’s face was priceless.
I’d never seen him so happy.
The twinkle in his eyes reminded me of the last firework of a light show.
You know the big bad ass one. The big finale; the one that everyone waited for and the reason that everyone stuck around to the end just to see it.
That’s the look that was in Silas’s eyes, and to be totally honest, I was happy that I had contributed to making him so happy.
He was going to have a son.
What man didn’t want a son?
The rest of the doctor’s visit went well and we pretty much skipped out of the place hand and hand.
We decided to go look at a few things since we finally knew the sex of the baby.
Maybe it was too soon, but we didn’t care about that.
Our little prince was going to have the world.
We headed into a store and darn near went crazy.
We were picking out all kinds of things for the baby.
We were so happy despite everything that had happened.
Of course no one knew who was behind the hits and runs as of yet, but Silas was pulling every string he had to track them down.
But so far, no luck.
But we tried not to talk or think about it.
We’d moved out of the house so that I could feel safe.
We hadn’t sold it, nor had we done anything with it yet.
All of our stuff was still there and everything, except for clothes and things like that that we’d brought with us.
For the time being we were living in a condo that of course Silas mysteriously up and said that he owned but had failed to mention it.
He later had to explain that he owned all kinds of things; including portions of sports teams and things of that nature.
I told him that one day we were definitely going to have to have one long ass conversation where we laid every single thing that we’d ever done, been tied to, been connected with or whatever, out on the table.
Silas agreed.
We walked around the store and just as we turned the corner to check out strollers, my mouth dropped open.
It was Carmen.
And she was pregnant.
Carmen was pregnant?
Um, okay.
She saw us and immediately turned her back to us, but oh no, she wasn’t getting off that easy.
Maybe she was trying to stick to her word in regards to Silas, but screw that, I wanted to be nosey.
“Carmen, you’re pregnant?”
She turned around.
Silas spoke to her but she didn’t speak back.
Wow.
So, she was serious about keeping away.
Silas hadn’t mentioned her lately and every time I said something about her he said that he hadn’t heard from or spoken to her.
He never seemed disappointed or concerned, so I figured that maybe she really hadn’t reached out to him, and maybe he didn’t really even care.
Looking at Carmen’s belly, she looked to be around the same amount of months as I was.
She hadn’t said anything so I asked her another question.
“How far along are you?”
She just looked at me.
“She asked you a question,” Silas chimed and guess what, at the sound of his voice, the bitch spoke.
“I’m four months.”
What the hell!
What, so Silas had some kind of mind control over her or something?
“What are you having?”
“A boy,” Carmen said and before I could open my mouth to say another word, she left her cart full of clothes and headed out of the store.
Well, that was weird.
And who in the hell would get her pregnant?
I couldn’t help but wonder if it was Detective Wiley’s baby, and of course her health status crossed my mind.
Detective Wiley knew what was going on with Carmen and her health, so I found it weird that he would actually even go there, and get on that level with Carmen.
Not to mention that she had been with his friend and was the cause of his suicide.
Definitely a weird scenario.
I looked at Silas who was minding his own business, but I was definitely about to get all up in it.
“That baby ain’t yours is it?”
Silas looked at me as though he wanted to knock my head clean off of my shoulders.
“What kind of stupid ass question is that Envy huh? Stupid ass,” Silas bellowed and threw his wallet at me, just before he walked out the store.
What the hell just happened?
It was just a damn question.
And who in the hell was he talking to like that?
Embarrassed that the other pregnant ladies had seen Silas overact, I paid for the things that I currently had and headed out the door.
When Silas saw me, he got out of the car and took the bags from my hands.
He didn’t say anything and didn’t bother to give me any kind of eye contact.
So, he was really pissed off.
He was big mad huh?
But why though?
It wasn’t that big of a deal, especially if he didn’t have anything to do with Carmen’s pregnancy.
Or did he?
“I’m sorry. I was just asking.”
“Asking for what Envy? I don’t want Carmen. Why would you even ask me something like that? No, she is definitely not pregnant by me Envy if that’s what you wanted to hear,” Silas screamed.
He was really upset.
That’s all he had to say in the first place.
Wait a minute…was he jealous?
Was he feeling some kind of way because Carmen was pregnant?
I dared not ask him, but his behavior was definitely out of the normal and a little suspect.
We rode in silence the rest of the way home.
Hmm…
***
Christmas had come and gone, and I was spending time with Josephine before she said goodbye.
She had been so distant lately and I hadn’t really spoken to her much, but once I did, I wasn’t happy.
Though I was totally against it, and though I felt that the kids were going to be so confused, Josephine was moving away…to live near, with, or whatever, Sonni’s previous husband Mark.
She said that it had nothing to do with them and that it had everything to do with the kids.
She said her kids needed a father figure and Sonni’s kids needed a mother.
So she was taking the money, and running to him.
To be honest, I felt as though she just wanted to get away.
She just wanted a new beginning and I could definitely understand that.
She said that her and Mark weren’t going to have anything more than some weird ass co-parenting relationship.
After all, some of her kids were probably his anyway.
“Why don’t you and Silas pick up and move too. I mean life on the west coast is probably completely different and since you’ve been through quite a bit here, lately, why not? Just pick up and go. That’s what I’m doing. I’m just going to go. There’s no telling what’s in store for me there but I’m going to find out,” Josephine said as she took a sip of her tea.
I couldn’t believe that she’d had a change of heart, but I guess what went on with her destruction of a wedding and what happened to Grant had pushed her there.
Silas or Josephine never even mentioned Grant these days.
Josephine never said one word about him and since Silas had taken him somewhere safe, he’d made it clear that he didn’t want to be reminded of what had happened to his best friend.
But I hated that it had happened that way.
And now my sister was moving away from me.
“Don’t go,” I said to her.
She helped me with Horizon and I was about to have a son.
I didn’t have any friends.
I just had her and Silas.
“I have to go. Being in my house, and in this state, just reminds me of so many things, that I just want to forget. Talk to Silas. Maybe one day you guys will be ready for a change and join us,” Josephine said as she hugged me.
I wanted to cry but I didn’t.
It wasn’t fair.
Maybe I could talk Silas into moving away.
Hell, I was afraid to live in our house and I felt the same way that Josephine did about all of the things that had happened in the last few years.
Moving away just might be the cure.
But with Horizon being in her first year, I would have to let her finish out the school year.
I just couldn’t pull her out just like that.
She was still getting used to the process.
But summer was a few months away and the baby would be born and a few months by then, so maybe moving then was really something to consider.
Josephine talked for a few more minutes and then she was gone, and I was left to try to sort out my feelings.
Silas and Horizon were watching a movie in the bedroom, so I decided to take a bubble bath.
I was as big as a whale and standing up to shower just wasn’t an option these days.
Besides, I wanted to sit, relax, and think about my life and family.
Josephine and I had actually gone to visit our parents, as well as my sister Tia’s and my nephew’s, graves the other day.
She’d wanted to tell them that she wouldn’t be back to visit them for a while.
I’d just gone along because I really did miss them.
If they were all here, I couldn’t imagine how good life would have been.
My life would have definitely turned out a lot different.
Nolan and Grant briefly crossed my mind.
Grant’s situation was unfortunate, and even though Nolan had done something so horrible to me, I couldn’t help but think about whether or not he was still alive.
But I was sure that I would never know.
I’d brought my phone into the bathroom so that I could listen to the music saved to it, but just as I started to select a song, it started to ring.
Carmen.
Of course I still had her number.
And apparently she still had mine.
“What?”
“Can we talk? I need your help.”
What?
She needed my help?
Now I just had to hear this!
“Help for what Carmen?”
“Don’t say my name. Is Silas around you?”
Carmen actually sounded frightened, which threw me for a loop.
Could she really be in trouble?
Did she really need my help?
Did I really even care?
Ugh, I knew better than to get involved, and I definitely knew not to trust Carmen, but something in me told me that she knew some things that I needed to know.
So, I got out of the tub, and told Silas that I was going for a ride.
He questioned me, but I convinced him that Josephine leaving was heavy on my mind and that I just needed to ride and clear my head.
Finally, he understood.
I met Carmen at the same baby store that we’d seen each other last.
I figured that we would blend in and no one would be paying us much attention.
Carmen was already there when I walked in.
I approached her cautiously.
She was a lot bigger than I was and I was big!
She looked like she was about to pop.
“Silas is trying to kill me.”
What?
No greeting, no hey, no small talk or nothing.
Same ole’ Carmen.
But what did she mean that Silas was trying to kill her?
“How do you know that?”
Carmen looked at me strange.
“The only one who doesn’t really know Silas is you. I know him. And I know that he is trying to kill me.”
Carmen’s mouth was just so fly and the way that my hormones were set up these days, she didn’t want it.
She really didn’t want it.
“Why would he want to kill you Carmen?”
“Hell, why did he want to kill you?”
What?
What the hell was she talking about?
Silas wanted to kill me?
When?
Why?
“So, Silas tried to or wanted to kill me?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say it?”
Carmen was looking around the store like a crazy person. She was definitely watching her surroundings.
“Look. This is about me. Not you. He doesn’t want to kill you now so that’s all you need to worry about. He loves you. He wouldn’t hurt you. But he is trying to kill me,” Carmen spit out.
My mind was still trying to figure out why Silas would have wanted to kill me in the first place.
What had I done to him?
“Why Carmen? Why does he want to kill you?”
She looked at me.
“Because I’m pregnant by his brother.”
What?
What brother?
Huh?
“Silas has a brother? Here? In the states?”
“Yes. Silas’s real dad was American. His mother had an affair on her husband with an American man while she was here in the states. She was frowned upon, and even forbidden to ever contact him or return to America, but she was permitted to still have the child. Sure she told Silas the truth and once he came to the states, he searched for him, his real dad, but he had long passed away. But he did find a few siblings. Wiley, or Detective Wiley as you call him, is one of them. His half-brother on his father’s side.”
What in the world!
It just didn’t make any sense.
How in the hell…
Why in the hell…
What the hell!
Silas had siblings?
Detective Wiley was his brother?
I was so confused.
“I’m about to tell you something. The whole operation from the hotel was a set up. A plan for us all to get out without the investors, clients and sponsors knowing; without Silas’s family and the family that actually owned the hotel knowing. All tracks had to be covered from the original owners of the hotel and organizers of the thirteenth floor, and Silas’s family. So we came up with the perfect plan. Especially since no one knows about Silas and Wiley being brothers, it all worked out fine. Wiley really is a detective and so he had to follow protocol, build up the case, cause awareness, and of course, get you to follow the steps as though you were really doing something. It was all a part of the plan Envy. We all wanted out. Of course Silas wouldn’t dare see you behind bars, so you were to be used as the witness in return granted freedom because all of the other people have really faced criminal charges.”
Wait a minute now.
That damn Silas was something else I tell you.
Well, he tried to tell you partial truths, but not the whole truth, so it was still a lie in my eyes.
And he and the detective were brothers?
And the whole thing was set up?
Unbelievable!
“We were all just so tired of it. Silas, Grant and myself. Wiley was just brought in and paid handsomely to make everything look legit and flow smoothly. He faced bad financial troubles after his divorce. His wife was the one who had made the big bucks.”
Pregnancy getting the best of us, we made our way to some chairs and took a seat.
“I just would have never thought…I mean, I just don’t understand.”
“When is the last time that you got paid for thinking? You don’t get paid for thinking Envy. And you don’t have to understand it but the truth is the truth.”
“So you’re not sick? You don’t have HIV? And you didn’t sleep with Detective Wiley’s friend
and make him commit suicide?”
Carmen shook her head.
“Hell no. I’m just fine. Wiley went overboard with that whole story. Actually, his wife left him for his best friend. And then she left his best friend for his cousin; whom she had been sleeping with the whole time, and had given him HIV. And then he committed suicide. Talk about karma. I guess Wiley was just caught up in pretending. He lied. I’m assuming you might have asked or mentioned something that made him feel the need to go off the deep in with that whole story. He’d had to call Silas and inform him of the story, about me, so that Silas wasn’t caught off guard if you asked him or mentioned. It was all made up; the parts about me anyway. You’re not supposed to know any of this. But I don’t know what else to do. The only weakness that Silas has is you,” Carmen said.
I was flabbergasted.
These people were absolutely crazy!
They lied about every damn thing!
I was known to tell a little lie, here or there, but these folks had me beat.
Carmen didn’t even have HIV!
What!
Detective Wiley had been playing along the whole time.
Wow!
And oh Silas, well, I just wasn’t going to even go there at the moment.
“Wiley is my son’s father. And Silas found out. You see, Silas doesn’t love me, but he’s so used to me loving him that he’s uses it. He uses it to have control over me. He knows that I have always done anything that he says. Even after he done what he did to me, I couldn’t quite stop loving him, in my own, crazy little way that is. My love is a little different, which was always the problem, but still, he knew that whatever it was that had a stronghold on me, he could use it to control me.”
Interesting.
And I was pissed to maximum capacity, but I didn’t show it.
“Wiley and I were a mistake. It was a night that wasn’t supposed to happen, but once it did, it never stopped and I came up pregnant. Really, I was just doing it to do it. No feelings attached. I hadn’t spoken a word about it to Silas and I’d told him that I was going to let him get on with his life and move on, but neither Wiley nor I told him about us. We just weren’t going to say anything. That’s why I needed you not to tell him that you saw us being so friendly. Anyway, after he saw me here that day, pregnant, he came by. He wanted to know who the father was but I wouldn’t tell him. Being told no by me didn’t sit well with him. But I’d known that he would find a way to find out and he did. And he made sure that I knew that he knew. And I have been having strange things happen to me ever since. He’s trying to kill me. I know he is. And I need your help to stop him,” Carmen said.