Unable to hide her true feelings, Taryn pulled her robe tighter around her body, conscious that she only wore her bathing suit underneath.
“Get out. You are not welcome in this house.”
“Do you think it matters what you think? By the way, where are the kids? It’s been a while since I last saw them.”
“My children are none of your concern. I will give you until I count to five to leave, then I’m going to call the cops!”
“Still the drama queen, Taryn. Really, I would have thought you would have outgrown that mess years ago.”
Realizing what he was attempting to do, Taryn tried to pull herself together. Rising to his bait would only lead to the deterioration of the situation and play into his hands.
“What do you want, Nixon?”
“I want to talk.”
“So talk.”
“You need to check your tone of voice when you speak to me!”
Forgetting her resolve of only moments before, Taryn reacted to his words of censure. “What do I need to do that for? I’m talking to a piece of snake shit who barged into my home without an invitation, so you check your damn self!” As she watched for a reaction, Taryn was taken aback when Nixon rushed towards her, rage emanating from every angle of his body. For one second, she thought he was going to hit her, and drew back to shield herself from his raised hand, but the anticipated blow never came.
Instead, Nixon grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the lounge. His grip on her arm so painful, Taryn forced back a cry of pain. Flinging her inside the room, Nixon slammed the door behind them and stood facing her.
“Well what do ya know, it would seem you’re still the little ghetto girl from all those years ago. Well you may think you’ve arrived, Miss Thang, oh, excuse me, Mrs. Thang, but I’m here to tell you that you’re still project trash, still trying to reach above her station in life.”
“Is that it, is that all you’ve got?” Taryn laughed in his face. “Why don’t you stop embarrassing your fool self, and get the hell out of my house!”
“My, my, you certainly are feisty today, and you know how much I like a feisty woman.”
“Oh, I get it now. Is that why you came over here? Poor Nixon is the little woman not taking care of business the way you like it? Well too bad! You married her so deal with it. Coming over here talking shit. Get the hell out! If you need feisty so much go pay for it with your wife’s money. I know how to take care of my husband’s business!”
“Your husband! Baby, he may be your husband now, but we all know I had you first.”
Nixon’s words didn’t miss their mark. Although her rational mind knew Nixon’s only intent was to hurt her, she couldn’t ignore her feeling of shame. The remembrance that at one point in her life she had thought herself in love with this man sickened her.
She and Mason had been friends for a while when she had first met Nixon. While she knew Mason was attracted to her, probably even loved her, she had felt that there was something missing between them.
When she met Nixon she had immediately realized what the missing element was. Like most of her friends, she had thought that men like Mason were too straight, that they lacked an air of dangerous excitement.
She had started seeing Nixon almost as soon as she had met him. To her it didn’t matter that Mason and Nixon were cousins, she hadn’t made any promises to Mason. Taryn also didn’t tell him that she was seeing his older cousin. She had told herself that it was none of his business, she was an adult and could do whatever she pleased.
If she had respected Mason’s feelings more, and spoken to him about her relationship with Nixon, she would have found out that he was married. She would also have found out that he was a serial womanizer; that she was just one of many. If she had respected Mason’s feeling more, she wouldn’t be standing in this room with this man who was disrespecting her.
Wanting him to hurry up and say whatever was on his mind, Taryn decided to wait him out without further comment.
“What, no snappy comeback? To be honest, I’m disappointed in you.” Nixon said with a shake of his head.
“What do you want, Nixon?”
“Well seeing as how you’re offering. I wouldn’t say no to a blowjob. After I taught you, I have to say you took to that kind of work like you were born for it.”
“Yeah, thanks for that. But, honey, I’m so much better now that I’ve got a man that I don’t need a telescope to find his dick!”
Taryn knew Nixon liked to think of himself as a stud, and that insulting his size was a sure way to hit her mark. It worked but, not in the way she had intended. Seeing Nixon again rushing towards her, Taryn took a few hurried steps back. Her reaction to his sudden move caused her to brush against an ornament on a nearby table. The figurine rocked from side to side, the sound drawing her attention just as it crashed to the floor. Momentarily distracted by the sound of broken pottery, Taryn lost her balance and landed on the couch, sprawled, her robe opening to reveal her bathing suit.
Nixon wasted no time in throwing himself on top of her. Trapped, her hands between their bodies, his superior weight held her immobile beneath him. Forcing his legs between her own, Nixon slammed his lips against Taryn’s in a painful kiss. Somehow managing to release one hand, Taryn grabbed hold of his dick and twisted her hand as hard as she could.
Nixon arched his body in an attempt to get away from the pain she was inflicting, but Taryn held on. Drawing back his arm, Nixon delivered a stinging blow to her face that caused her to bite down on her tongue. Tasting the blood in her mouth but ignoring the pain, Taryn gave one last twist of her wrist even as she bucked his body away.
Seizing her opportunity, Taryn jumped to her feet and hurriedly put as much distance between them as she could. Grabbing a glass vase from a table, she upended the flowers and water onto the floor.
“I’m warning you for the last time. Get out of my house, you make my skin crawl.” Taryn watched Nixon’s every move, scared of what he might still do. Breaking eye contact with her, Nixon lowered his head for a moment, and Taryn could see the lids of his eyes move as they shifted from side to side. When he raised his head, his expression was filled with such malice she knew he was up to something. But he didn’t approach her. Rather he began to taunt her.
“You don’t have to worry, I changed my mind about wanting anything from you. You may have the face and the body, but you haven’t got much more going for you. By the way, have you told little Hope that I’m her real daddy?”
“Shut your filthy mouth. That little girl has nothing to do with you, and she never will!”
“Oh, she’s mine alright, and one day when you least expect it you’re going to have to admit it to her. When that happens I hope I’ll be right there, laughing my ass off at your expense.”
“Are you done? I seriously hope so because you are boring the hell outta me!”
“Oh, I’m done. You have a good day now, ya hear?” With a wink, Nixon turned and walked towards the door.
Keeping a firm grip on the vase, Taryn tracked his footsteps to the front door. Taryn only lowered her weapon when she was certain he couldn’t re-enter her home. Just as the feeling of relief began to wash over her, Taryn heard the scream of her little girl rend the air.
Unaware the glass vase slipped through her fingers, and Taryn turned and rushed through the house back towards where she had left the children. Her heart pumped so hard she thought it would burst from her chest.
How could she have forgotten that she had left her babies unsupervised for so long? Nixon’s unexpected arrival had somehow managed to push all thoughts of her children from her mind.
The sound of Hope’s cries were a beacon pulling her forward. As each step drew her closer, Taryn knew only disaster awaited her. Bursting into the pool area, her eyes went first towards a screaming Hope, fearing she had somehow hurt herself. Following the direction of her little girl’s glance, Taryn was confronted by the floating body of her son. Although her brai
n was having difficulty processing the sight before her, she didn’t break her mad rush to the pool and jumped in, robe and all.
Reaching for her son’s little body it was almost as though the fates were taunting her. As her hand reached for him, his body floated away, and all she came away with was a fistful of water that seeped through her desperate fingers.
Another desperate grab and Taryn at last had a hold on M.J’s foot. Treading water, she pulled him towards her, all the while a lament of, please God, let my baby be okay, please let him be okay ran through her mind. Reaching the side of the pool, Taryn held her son close to her body as she somehow managed to maneuver them both out of the water.
Distraught with fear that she was too late, Taryn began to deliver C.P.R. to his still frame. Coming up for air, she pumped his chest and looked over at her daughter. “Hope, you need to help Mommy. You’re a big girl, so you have to help Mommy. Remember I taught you how to call 911. Do it for me now, baby. I need you to help Mommy.”
Taryn was grateful that Hope had stopped screaming, but nothing she said to her daughter got her to move a muscle. Knowing this was a critical time, Taryn made the decision to leave M.J’s limp body long enough to grab the phone. Wedging it between her shoulder and her chin she waited for the emergency services to answer.
“This is 911, what is your emergency?”
**********
As her mother worked on the still form of her little brother, Hope could only stand by and watch. She knew something was very wrong, but her dazed young mind was unable to comprehend exactly what was unfolding before her.
He mother exhibited total calm, even as she pumped M.J’s chest and blew into his mouth, over and over again. Each of her downward compressions was accompanied by a splash of her tears.
Hope was transfixed on the path of her mother’s tears as they escaped her eyes, and travelled down her cheeks. Some stopped at the corner of her mouth before falling against M.J’s face while others hung on her chin before they too found their way to finally rest on her brother’s face. Hope could see that her mother’s mouth was moving, but try as she might she couldn’t hear her words. No matter what her mother did, M.J. didn’t move. Time passed, but Hope had no idea how long she stood there, eyes fixed on the tableau playing out before her.
As she continued to watch, it seemed to her that all of a sudden there were lots of people surrounding her mother and brother. She watched as her father rushed towards the crowd of people who all seemed to be speaking at the same time. She could see that he too was adding his voice to the ever-expanding throng, but she still couldn’t understand what anyone was saying.
Finally, she forced her way through the gathered crowd to watch as her father pulled her now openly sobbing mother away and held her in his arms. Following their eyes she saw someone place two metal instruments against her brother’s chest. Hope watched as his little body raised up off the hard ground, as though controlled by invisible strings. Again and again his body jerked only to flop against the unrelenting hardness of the tiles that surrounded the pool.
One of the men spoke to her parents. Hope watched as her mother’s eyes rolled back into her head and her body went slack. She watched as her father caught her mother up with strong arms, and held her close to his shaking body. The day her brother died was the day her parents stopped seeing her, and the day she began the journey to regain their attention.
Chapter 19
After the accident, Hope’s world changed. Her mother seemed to be always sleeping, and her father’s eyes were so sad each time she looked at him. She also noticed that below the sadness was another expression directed at her. An expression she was unable to decipher, but it made her uneasy.
The first twenty-four hours after M.J’s death the house was constantly filled with official looking people investigating the accident. When it was her time to speak to the police her father accompanied her.
Needing him, Hope wanted him close when the questions began. The police had sent two female detectives to speak to her. One stood silently by while the other did her best to put her at ease. It didn’t work. There was a hardness about the woman that wasn’t lost on Hope even at her young age. Nothing she did or said was unkind, she just carried an air of detachment that Hope didn’t understand.
Having spent the last fifteen years on the police force, Detective Amanda Elms was no stranger to death. The tragedy that had taken place in this home, she could tell at a glance would have dire repercussions for them all.
She had seen it all before. Sometimes the families who were struck by tragedy would band together to weather the bereavement, while others totally fell apart. This family fell into the latter category. It was already happening. By the way, the father was looking at the child, it seemed that he was directing some level of blame towards her for the accident. There was no doubt in detective Elms’s mind that what had happened to the child was an accident, extremely heart breaking, but an accident none the less.
“Hope, that’s a pretty name for a pretty girl.” The detective said starting the conversation.
At first Hope didn’t respond, she didn’t know how to. It wasn’t a question, and the look in the woman’s eyes was so distant she decided to fall back on good manners. “Thank you.”
“Do you know why we’re here, Hope?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Hope answered, darting a quick look in her father’s direction, only to find him watching her with the same look she had encountered for the first time that morning.
“Good, now I want you to tell me anything you saw or heard yesterday while you were by the pool with your brother. Do you think you can do that for me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Hope said, and then fell into silence, a feeling of dread washing over her. Somehow she knew that when she started talking, her story would further change how her family interacted. Another surreptitious look in her father’s direction solidified her feelings of disquiet.
“Okay, well why don’t you tell us what happened.” Hope heard something in the detective’s voice, maybe it was pity, she didn’t know. She was too young to decipher its meaning, and lowered her chin to her chest, reluctant to begin.
“It’s okay, Hope. All you need to do is tell us the truth about what happened yesterday.” Mason spoke for the first time, his soft voice a total contrast to the tension that flowed from him into the atmosphere touching them all with icy cold.
“I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” Were Hope’s first words to the waiting adults. “We were all in the pool, and someone came to the door. Mama got us out and locked the gate.
But she was gone for so long and M.J, started crying for his ball. I told him he had to wait, but he just kept crying. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I opened the gate so that I could get his ball.
I was just about to get into the pool to get M.J.’s ball when I heard Mama. She was shouting at someone. She sounded funny.”
The detective broke into Hope’s recollection to probe deeper into what she had heard, “What do you mean she sounded funny? Did she sound angry, scared? What did you think, Hope?”
“I don’t know, she just sounded funny!”
“For God’s sake, Hope, funny tells us nothing! Concentrate, how did your mother sound?”
“Mr. Richards, you’re not helping. Please leave the questions to me.” The detective came back at his outburst without hesitation, her displeasure at his interruption apparent in her tone and expression.
Turning back to Hope detective Elms attempted to mask her detachment in order to put Hope at ease.
Knowing she had to answer the question or risk annoying the adults even more, Hope started speaking in an attempt to tell them what she remembered. This time being careful not to use any words that would further put her on the spot with explanations she couldn’t give.
“I heard Mama, then I heard a crash. So I ran to the window. I saw... I saw...”
“What did you see, Hope?” Detective Elms broke
in again.
Swallowing hard, Hope felt an almost overwhelming reluctance to speak the words out loud. Somehow she knew, that by doing so, it would further solidify the change that had already begun growing within her once happy family.
“Mama was laying on the couch with Uncle Nixon. Mama had her hand on the front of his pants. Then he kinda jerked and then he got up. Then she got up. They were saying stuff to each other, but I couldn’t hear what. I wanted to know, so I climbed over the hedge, but I still couldn’t hear.”
Hope didn’t know why she told the lie. She had heard every single word that had passed between her mother and uncle, and she hated them because she now knew the truth of her birth.
“When I realized that I couldn’t hear and that Mama was okay, I went back to the pool. That’s when I saw, M.J. floating in the water. I guess that’s when I started screaming. The next thing I remember was when the yard was full of people standing over M.J.”
“Are you sure, Hope? Think real hard, do you remember anything else?” Detective Elms prompted.
“I told you, that’s it. That’s all I remember!”
“I know you did, but try real hard. It doesn’t matter how small you think it was, we want to hear about it.”
“That’s it. Daddy, I don’t remember anything else. I don’t!” Hope said, jumping from her seat and running to her father. She hated Uncle Nixon, and she secretly hoped he would get into enough trouble to get him out of their lives, and leave her family alone. She didn’t want him to be her father. She just couldn’t bear the thought of that man being her father, so she clung to the man she had known as Daddy throughout her short life.
Hope felt a firm finger beneath her chin, raising it up until her gaze met his. Her father was giving her a look that she didn’t quite understand. She trusted him, he wouldn’t lead her astray. So she tried to understand what he wanted her to do, to say.
The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) Page 14