“Even a child would have been more creative,” Kimberly said, hands on hips. “I want it to be beautiful and luxurious.”
“Speaking of children.” Marcus looked around. “Where are those little hell-raising munchkins of yours?”
“At church.”
Kimberly had known Marcus for a while through friends he had decorated for, but hadn’t really spent time with him until she moved into her new home. The few times they’d been together, he was getting increasingly personal with his questions. He was fabulous with a capital F and reminded her of the best parts of her life as a model in New York. The life she’d had before she met and married Michael Chase and entered the world of unreasonable expectations and unheard-of snobbery. Besides, she needed a friend. She was all alone now.
“They are with my husband,” she finished.
He looked down at his watch, the only thing shinier than the silver-sequined top he was wearing. “They must love them some Jesus to still be there at this hour.”
Kimberly looked down at her watch too. It was getting late in the afternoon. She didn’t want to worry because he had the boys, but Michael was so unpredictable of late. Not really of late. He’d been this way for the last six months. Ever since the incident they never talked about, the one where he blamed her for almost killing his mother, Janet, even though she was never really near death.
Although she had fantasized about the death of the woman who had treated her like trash from the first moment she met her, Kimberly never really intended for Janet to end up in the hospital. No one would have been good enough for her precious Prince Michael, but certainly not a piece of nothing from nowhere with no family, education, or social status who showed up pregnant and completely oblivious. And Janet had reminded her of that every day; made much easier by the fact that Michael insisted they live at Chase Mansion.
Kimberly had had her fill. The emotional, verbal, psychological torture was too much to take and this was saying something considering the childhood she had had. Growing up poor with an alcoholic mother, an absent and mostly in-jail father, and a gang-banging brother who was shot to death in the alley behind a strip club, Kimberly had withstood a lot. She had run away and been pimped out at fifteen. After two years on the streets, she found her way into modeling, realizing that her exceptional beauty could be good for more than a cheap blow job.
Michael had accepted her past because he loved her so much, but he warned her that his family wouldn’t, and when he found out she was pregnant, he told her they would have to get married because of who he was. He would also have to erase her past. Kimberly should have known what she was getting into when a man as incredible as Michael was too scared to tell his parents the truth.
But she wasn’t the only one with a secret. Janet had one, a much smaller one, but to a woman obsessed with perfection who presented herself as the paragon of virtue, a small secret could be bigger than a bomb. Kimberly thought she could bring Janet’s French ex-lover, Paul Devereaux, back to L.A. to reveal, and hopefully rekindle, the affair they had while Janet was engaged to Steven, while threatening to expose the abortion Janet had as a result of the lurid summer getaway in Paris.
And it was working. Steven had walked in on Janet kissing Paul and he’d left her. Janet was falling apart and Kimberly had her where she wanted her. She just hadn’t counted on the old hag being so much of a drug addict that she was taking uppers and downers together. One bad drug interaction, washed down with a bottle of champagne, led to a trip to the hospital and Kimberly’s plan went down the tubes.
Being the genius she was, Janet spun everything in her favor. Instead of being the lying, deceitful bitch she truly was, she became the victim of her regretful past dredged up by the evil, low-class daughter-in-law who showed her true ghetto character and almost killed the matriarch of the untouchable Chase family. She played it beautifully.
At her lowest, Kimberly feared losing Michael. He turned colder than the Arctic to her; shut her off, threatened to divorce her, take the boys away, and make her pay. Ultimately, things settled down and Kimberly could once again count on his love for her, their incredible sexual chemistry, and their boys to keep them together.
But nothing had been the same since.
“Gavea, baby,” Marcus said. “That’s what you . . . Kimberly?”
Kimberly broke from her trance. “I’m sorry, what?”
Marcus walked over to her as if he were a runway model. It was the way he walked everywhere. “You gonna break that phone you keep squeezing it so hard.”
Kimberly looked at the phone in her hand. “Michael should have been home by now.”
Marcus made a smacking sound with his lips as he rolled his eyes. “Who is he with, baby girl?”
“No,” Kimberly was quick to say. “He’s not with a woman. He has the boys with him.”
“Are you sure?” Marcus asked, looking her up and down. “You don’t look so sure.”
She wasn’t anymore. Michael was a young, rich, handsome man with a penchant for wrongdoing and Kimberly understood what that meant. Before Janet’s incident, she thought he might have been unfaithful to her, pretty sure of it, but he gave no indication. He was loving, always attentive, and came home at night. Their sex life was still mind-blowing, but she wasn’t a fool. However, without any proof, Kimberly refused to live with worry.
But since they had been forced to leave Chase Mansion and find a place of their own, it was as if Michael no longer felt the need to appear above suspicion. She realized it was living in the same house with the father he worshipped and constantly sought to impress that made Michael want to be the perfect husband. Since leaving, he spent more time away from home than ever and felt less and less need to explain himself about it.
“He’s probably just at the mansion,” Kimberly said. She pressed the speed dial for Michael’s cell phone. “Don’t try to get me riled up. I know my husband. You don’t.”
“True,” Marcus said, flipping his head back so his shoulder-length braids would fling in the air. “However, my living is made working with women like you.”
“Women like me?” Kimberly hung up as soon as she got his voice mail.
“Wives of rich men,” he answered. “I know your looks, Mrs. Chase.”
“You’re being too forward,” Kimberly admonished, phone at her side. “Now get back to pool talk.”
After rolling his eyes, Marcus said, “I was suggesting Gavea Stone tile to replace . . . whatever this crunchy mess is we are standing on. It will complement the desert-tan concrete and cultured stone along the edges.”
“Sounds good.” Kimberly’s mind wasn’t at all on the pool. Michael was never without his cell phone.
She was a complete outsider now, although she always had been. Upon showing up in View Park, Kimberly was made aware she didn’t belong in the world of the upper crust, but she had Michael on her side and she had the only Chase babies. Michael’s sister Leigh was kind and of course Carter was cool because he was so close to Michael, but that was it. Steven acted as if she wasn’t even there most of the time and Haley treated her as if she’d never seen her before.
She had grown used to that, but even that was all over now. Everyone in the Chase family hated her, even the angelic Leigh, despite being herself a victim of Janet’s obsessive control her entire life. Carter, being as close as he was to Michael, was polite, but no longer friendly. The only friend she really had was Carter’s fiancée, Avery, who had left town.
She was never invited to family events anymore, just Michael and the twins. She missed Leigh’s and Carter’s birthdays, Steven and Janet’s anniversary party, several charity events held at the mansion, and other special occasions she had enjoyed in the past.
Michael never suggested she come or offered to stand up for her in case anyone gave her a hard time. And in order to get back in his father’s good graces to make up for what his wife had done, he spent more time than ever at work and at Chase Mansion. It was as if he still lived the
re.
“We also need to resurface the pool with a quartz finish,” Marcus said, seeming almost giddy over his own idea. “It will be brilliant, Kimberly. You’ll be entertaining your ass off out here.”
Kimberly laughed. “Entertaining who? No one ever comes over here.”
Marcus frowned, confused. “Do you want to get personal or not?”
“I don’t . . . . Just ignore me.”
“It’s hard to, Ms. Head-to-toe-Gucci-looking fierce, but if it’s the family thing, no matter. You still have the husband, the money, and the munchkins.”
And she would fight to the death to keep it all. “Do whatever you want. Just make it beautiful. It’s March now. I want it ready by the time it gets warm.”
“Let me get some samples for the furniture out here. I’m thinking azul and coral.”
As Marcus cat-walked away, Kimberly hurried to press the speed dial for Chase Mansion before she could change her mind. She knew it was stupid to call that house, but she wanted to make sure Michael hadn’t left the children there and gone running off with . . . whatever.
“Hello, Kimberly.” Janet Chase felt a sliver of delight run through her the second she saw the caller ID.
Kimberly felt sick to her stomach at the sound of her mother-in-law’s voice. “Is Michael there?”
“Always consistent with the manners,” Janet said. “I’m doing well, thank you. Of course that isn’t what you want to hear. And how are you?”
Janet didn’t need an answer to that question. She knew Kimberly was miserable and nothing made her happier. Six months ago, she had let old emotions encourage her to let her guard down and Kimberly took advantage. She had faltered and could have done irreparable damage to the family’s reputation and her marriage. But she recovered as Janet Chase always did. In the end, she got her husband back and got rid of her prescription drug addiction. No, she couldn’t sink into the gutter like Kimberly, but she was a better woman, and the better woman always won.
Kimberly was not a Chase by blood, but she had forgotten that. She would always be secondary, expendable. The family was on Janet’s side and Kimberly was a foregone conclusion. Yes, it was disappointing that Michael hadn’t left her, but Janet could see that eventuality with every passing day. She was hearing and seeing things, and she could clearly tell that Kimberly’s hold on Michael was dwindling. And with a little help from her, their marriage was soon to follow suit.
“Is he there or not?” Kimberly asked.
Janet took her time as she admonished the flower delivery person to place this week’s set of roses on top of the grand piano in the great room. “He must not be answering his cell.”
“Janet, I swear if you don’t—”
“You’re not in a position to make threats, little girl.” Janet waited for the hired help to leave the room. “It isn’t my fault he won’t take your calls.”
“Janet!” Kimberly was ready to hang up, just imagining the smirk on Janet’s face.
“He left here hours ago,” Janet answered. “And if you want to know more, ask him.”
“Where did he say he was going?” Kimberly asked. “Are the boys with him?”
“Yes, they are. His entire family is with him. At least everyone that counts.”
“That was a little weak even for you,” Kimberly said. “Not feeling very creative today, I guess. Well, drug addicts can’t be fresh every day.”
Janet smiled as her husband appeared in the archway from the foyer. Steven Chase looked handsome as usual, having changed out of his church suit and into a pair of khaki pants and a white polo.
“Anything else, dear?” she asked.
“Yes.” Kimberly winked at Marcus, who had just returned. “Go to hell, bitch!”
“Likewise.” Janet slowly hung up the phone even though Kimberly had hung up before she could even respond.
“Who was that?” Steven asked as he approached.
“The catering company calling about tonight.”
“Are we still on?”
“Of course.” Janet met her husband halfway and wrapped her arms around him. Leaning up to kiss him, she took a second to bask in his power and presence.
He looked much younger than fifty-four, despite the white temples. His dark skin only made his strong face more powerful and his lean body more masculine. She never tired of looking at him.
They had recently celebrated their thirty-first anniversary with a lavish party at the Peninsula Hotel, followed by a two-week Mediterranean cruise on the Queen Mary 2. The romance that had been missing from their lives was rekindled and Janet never felt more confident about their marriage or her family’s unity.
She couldn’t have said the same thing six months ago. Her oldest daughter had cut her out of her life, her youngest daughter had threatened to do the same, and Steven had walked in on her kissing another man. For the first time in their life together, he had walked out on her. Janet had been ready to do whatever it took to get him back, while fighting off all the gold-digging hounds ready to steal him away, but her hospitalization made it all unnecessary. Thinking he would lose her, Steven realized how much he loved her and hadn’t left her side since. He even joined her for a month as she recovered in South Africa to work on their issues.
Kimberly had failed and Janet was stronger than ever. It was all just a matter of time.
“I know I’m ’sposed to use the condoms, but . . .”
Despite her own heavy heart, twenty-seven-year-old Leigh Chase placed her hand on the shoulder of the fifteen-year-old-girl, sitting on the edge of the patient’s bed. “Sonia, it’s going to be okay.”
“My mom wouldn’t let me take birth control pills,” Sonia said, before smacking the gum that was making her mouth purple. She was tugging at one of her braids with one hand, while wiping her tears with the other. “Even though you talked to her, Dr. Chase, she said no.”
“Did you go to the clinic I referred you to?” Leigh asked, her mind trying to figure out how she could save this baby. “They can give you the pills.”
Leigh didn’t like encouraging young women to go against their parents’ wishes, but Sonia wasn’t just any young woman. Last year, her nineteen-year-old boyfriend had given her HIV. Her father didn’t exist and her mother seemed merely annoyed at the inconvenience of knowing.
Sonia shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the floor. “I was getting around to it, but I wasn’t really doing anything. You know, because of the HIV.”
“Your HIV status isn’t the only reason why you decided it was good to abstain from sex right now.” Leigh reached for her clipboard, taking notes on all the medication Sonia would need. Expensive medication.
“Things just happen,” Sonia said. “You know how it is when you’re partying and—”
“Who is the father of your baby?” Leigh tried to check her own frustration. The last thing the child needed now was another person yelling at her.
She remembered the names Sonia’s mother called her when she finally came down to the Hope Clinic for Leigh to explain what HIV meant for Sonia. A whore, a slut, a dyke were some of the nicer names. Sonia looked as if she’d heard them all, only a few steps from not giving a damn about herself anyway.
Leigh started Hope Clinic in South Central L.A. for children with HIV and AIDS after returning from a year in Africa with the Peace Corps. She wanted to make a difference and some days she did. Most days were like this one, where all the explanations and offers fell on deaf ears. No lessons learned. Now there was a baby coming and Leigh desperately needed Sonia to care.
“I’m not . . . sure.” Sonia held her hand to her bare stomach. “But I’m keeping it. Unless you tell me I shouldn’t.”
“That has to be your decision,” Leigh said. “If you go to the family planning center, they can explain this to you.”
“They’ll just tell me to get rid of it,” Sonia said with a dismissive tone. “But you’re honest, Dr. Chase. You’ll tell me the truth.”
“I’ll tell
you the facts.” Leigh smiled, taking a seat across from the table. “First, you have to tell whoever this guy is that you are HIV-positive.”
Sonia shook her head vigorously. “He would kill me. He hasn’t even called me since that night. No way in hell . . .”
“Tell me who he is and I’ll have the clinic track him down and send him a note.” Leigh saw Sonia’s continued reluctance. “I won’t use your name. I’ll just tell him it’s come to our attention that one of your partners has the virus and he should be checked. Sonia, it’s your obligation.”
“Fine!” She folded her arms across her chest and pouted, reminding the world that she was still just a baby herself. “I gotta ask around. I don’t know who he is exactly, but I know who he runs with. I just need to know . . . is my baby gonna die?”
“It doesn’t have to,” Leigh said. “But that’s up to you.”
“I think I want it,” she said uncertainly. “I mean, it’s not what I wanted, but . . . it’s mine, right? I can have it and I can love it like a real mom should.”
“Babies need more than love,” Leigh said. “Especially right now. That baby needs a whole lot more than your love.”
Sonia’s worried expression was trying to change to a smile. “I just think I want it. So what do I have to do?”
“There are a lot of advances in medicine today.” Leigh handed Sonia a brochure on HIV and pregnancy. “If we do this right, there is a less than two percent chance your baby will be HIV-positive.”
Sonia’s eyes widened and her lips formed an unbelieving smile. “Are you . . . really?”
Leigh nodded. “There is a combination of medications you’ll have to start taking immediately. You might have to deliver via C-section and—”
“What is that? C-section?”
“It’s when the doctor takes the baby out of your uterus through a surgical procedure instead of a regular, vaginal birth.” Leigh could see Sonia wasn’t too excited about this. “But that’s for later and it might not be necessary. What’s most important is that you will have to take these drugs several times a day for the duration of the pregnancy.”
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