Authors: Kassanna
She pulled the paper free and opened it.
In small spidery writing Dante was making his intentions clear. Her body chilled, making her shiver. She inhaled and her breath froze in her chest as she deciphered her soon-to-be ex-husband’s ranting.
You think you can get rid of me so easily, wife? I had to leave for a minute and you forget you’re married? But I am back—and believe me when I tell you I am not going down without taking you with me. It’s apparent you forgot the lessons I tried to impart on you. I gave you the best of me and you threw it back in my face pining over that fuck-up Jethro. You coveted a man who didn’t even stick around to help care for his baby. I am going to remind you of your mistakes, so this bullshit doesn’t happen again, starting with the bastard you tried to pawn off as my child. I’m back and when I disappear again, I’m taking Chase with me. He needs a stronger parent than you obviously are.
Chills rippled along her limbs and made her skin pimple in goose bumps.
Chase.
Dante was threating to take her son.
She clutched the note in her fist and quickly dug through her purse for her keys. Her hands shook as she rifled through her things. Silacious took several breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
First, she needed to make sure her child was all right. Her fingers grazed her cell phone and she latched on to it, tugging it free and tapping the screen to call Ms. Sadie. She swallowed her fear as she waited for the old woman to answer.
“Hello.” Andy’s clear tone flows through the line.
That’s right, Andy was there. He wouldn’t allow anything to happen to Ms. Sadie or Chase while he was there. “Andy, hi, is Chase around…umm, my son?” Slowly she exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“Yeah, we just sat down to lunch. Hold on and I’ll get him.” All she heard was muffled voices.
“Mama?” Her kid sounded confused.
She’d never called for him before. Her trust in Ms. Sadie didn’t give her reason to check up on him. “Hey baby, I got some good tips, so I was wondering if you wanted pizza for dinner?”
Slowly she relaxed her grip and tried to slow her rampaging heart. Silacious stuffed the thin sheet of notepaper into her jeans pocket.
“Yes, ma’am.” Chase’s enthusiasm was clear. “Can we have the one with pineapple on it?”
“We sure can. I’ll pick it up on the way home.” She spun in a circle, scanning the area. Other than an old sedan down the road, no one stirred. Calmer, she searched her purse and yanked her keys from its depths. She unlocked her car door and dropped into the driver’s seat. “Don’t leave Ms. Sadie’s yard, okay?”
He groaned.
“I mean it.” She kept her tone stern. Dante could be anywhere and as much as she believed Jethro would protect her little family, her ex-lover had no clue what he was dealing with.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Silacious disconnected the call and sighed.
Dante had been gone for a few months, and she’d prayed he’d never return. His reappearance meant nothing but trouble, and the last thing she wanted to do was cause problems for the people who helped her.
After her arrest, Ms. Sadie used the property she lived on to arrange bail. The older woman also allowed her to stay at the house while she cleared up the legal matters and found a job. Temporarily sleeping in Jethro’s untouched room was surreal while Chase found all the things Jethro left behind like the model cars fascinating. Eventually all charges were dropped and Children’s Services permanently returned Chase to her. The weeks she spent only allowed visitation with her son felt like years, and she made her mind up right then she wouldn’t lose her child again.
Jethro’s grandmother even gave her the deposit she used to move to a house a couple blocks away. Friends and family came together to help her move, reminding her to be careful since no one was able to locate Dante.
Her worst nightmare had come true. Dante was back.
The detective assigned to her case had placed a
be-on-the-lookout
order on Dante, but she suspected they weren’t actively searching for him since he had been gone for a little over four months. Some people still questioned if she was an abuse victim.
Silacious slumped in her seat. She needed to alert the police that Dante was in the area.
The parish was divided with half the residents thinking she was making up stories. That Dante Smith—local math teacher and high school football coach—couldn’t do the things she’d accused him of. Women stepped up to defend him, spouting qualities that made him sound like a saint.
She wondered just how many of those women he’d had affairs with. She knew he cheated, but she learned early not to ask questions or the beatings would be worse.
Others in the community defended her. Pictures of her brutalized body were leaked to the local newspaper which displayed them in all her grainy black-and-white photo glory. The incident was a mess that was handled badly by everyone involved from the start. And Dante was lost in the melee. There was no one she could truly turn to for help. She was alone in her fight to protect herself and her child.
Jethro would help you.
Her thoughts took a turn in a direction she wasn’t prepared to immediately explore. All those years ago, he left without a word, but he’d pulled away from her months before that. She was confused, pregnant, and the only person that showed any concern was Dante. How many times had she banged on Jethro’s door trying to speak to him, begging him to talk to her?
She drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the local pizza restaurant. The hum of the air conditioner was the white noise that filled the vehicle’s interior. She hadn’t been able to keep some of the ugliness in life from her child and the guilt of that gave her too many sleepless nights. Sometimes when she looked at him she could see a maturity in his gaze that he shouldn’t have. Her son was forced to grow up quickly.
Chase had witnessed her at her lowest, beaten down mentally and physically. She wasn’t sure how to fix what he saw, to give him the life he deserved.
The counselor they were seeing encouraged open communication, but her secrets were big ones. She couldn’t drop a bomb on her kid like the one she harbored. But every time they went to a counseling session, Chase refused to talk about what happened to them.
Silacious parked in front of the pizza parlor. There was no way she could keep hiding such an obvious truth.
Jethro and Chase were mirror images of one another, and her former lover wasn’t stupid. Where Jethro was light, her son was slightly darker. They shared a straight nose and angular jaw. Genetics was amazing—they had the same shade of blond hair. And where Jethro’s curls had been cut and tamed, Chase’s unruly strands seemed to dance in the breeze coming off the bayou. Both had slim builds whereas Jethro’s had filled out over the years. Side by side she could see what her son would look like in the future.
Was it possible that seeing Chase every day and knowing he was the spitting image of his father was what drove Dante over the edge? Why hadn’t she noticed how much her son favored Jethro sooner? Could the beatings and abuse have been her fault? Jethro would put everything together.
Silacious closed her eyes and laid her head on the steering wheel. Her demons were free and she had no idea how to corral them.
Chapter Three
Sunlight glinted on wisps of Silacious’s hair, making the dark strands appear amber in the bright rays. Once upon a time, he’d loved wrapping the soft tresses around his fingers, caressing the tiny curls at her nape. She was the perfect mix of woman, a true Creole.
Dante closed his eyes and rubbed his moist palms against his jean-encased legs. They would lie in bed and he would stare at her as she slept. Late at night he would run his hands along the gentle curves of her body and thank God she was his. There was no woman more beautiful than his Silacious.
He tried to ignore that she would sometimes pull away from his touch or how she would disregard his advances when he initiated their lovemaking. In his frustration, he would take what she didn’t readily offer.
Dante grunted. It was Silacious’ fault that he had to resort to violence to get her attention.
He won; against all odds, he was the better man who walked off with the prize. Jethro, the golden boy who could do no wrong, had left town without even a whimper. The fucker didn’t even try to fight for Silacious. Fooling them had been easy. A few well-placed words to eat at their emotions, cast a little doubt about Jethro’s and Silacious’ relationship and the white boy folded in on himself. He didn’t even speak to her. Instead, the idiot tucked tail and hauled ass out of town like the pussy Dante knew the ol’ white boy was.
Dante chuckled. Jethro gave up easier than he’d expected. If Silacious had been his woman then, he would have fought like hell to keep her. He opened his eyes; who was he kidding? He
did
fight to get her. And he used all means available to him.
From the moment he saw her in high school, he’d silently stalked her, watching and waiting for an opportunity to introduce himself. That was how he discovered Jethro. Between classes, she would meet with some dorky, slim fella. His world came to a standstill when he watched the two kiss at lunch. He knew what he had to do and the beginnings of a plan formed. It had to be implemented in stages or everything he worked for would crumble.
First thing on his agenda had been to become friends with Jethro Andersen. That had been the hard part, for a few reasons. The Cajun, although friendly, was cautious and every time he had to laugh at one of the white boy’s stupid jokes made him sick to the stomach. Once he was in, though, he made it a point to be everywhere he thought the couple would be. Somehow he had to get Silacious to notice him, learn to lean on him, and be the shoulder she needed when the problems with Jethro started.
It took a while, but there were issues in their relationship and he was the one that caused them. Fast forward some years and he was back to being on the outside of Silacious’ inner circle, desperately seeking a way into her good graces. All he’d ever wanted was what was best for her. Sometimes she really didn’t have a clue and that was when he had to intervene. Nothing new when it came to the opposite sex; women were made from the rib of men. They needed leadership, someone to rein them in when they got too emotional. His wife needed him now more than ever.
Dante shifted in his seat. Parked at the mouth of the lane, no one noticed him. For a moment, he thought Silacious saw him when she paused in his direction that afternoon. The woman he tried so hard to please was too busy trying to get the attention of her old lover. He saw the way she stared at his old buddy at the airport. She watched Jethro like he was a T-bone steak and she was a starving dog. Jealousy made his gut roil.
Why didn’t he see her whorish tendencies for what they were? She didn’t start to behave this way until she resumed her visits to the old woman—Jethro’s grandmother. It was the damn nosy-ass biddy’s fault.
He’d drilled it into Silacious’ head that Jethro didn’t want her, but his ex-friend’s grandmother was always there, talking to his wife. He’d forbidden Silacious to see the old LaRue bitch. He’d never gotten along with her from the beginning when Jethro introduced them. She’d treated him with disdain, and would stare at him through cloudy irises, as if she was comparing him to some invisible being and found him to be lacking. Dante hated to be in Sadie LaRue’s presence, and her home had been the only place Jethro and Silacious could go where he wouldn’t follow.
The ancient bitch must have convinced Jethro to come back. Dante formed a fist so tight his blunt nails bit into his palm. If the bastard hadn’t returned, he could have talked Silacious into taking him back.
After their last fight, he realized he’d gone too far. His wife was angry and she would need time to cool off. There was no way she would listen to him with the police, nosy neighbors, and God knows who else was involved.
Their personal business shouldn’t have drawn so much attention, and it wouldn’t have if their neighbor Jackson had minded his own business and stayed in his house. Dante pounded his fist against the steering wheel. Instead, he was forced to flee the area.
Luckily for him, a bus was pulling to a stop. Immediately he jumped on to get away from the situation, even though he had no clue where the bus was going. Police cars had sped past him. Their sirens could be heard for miles, long after the lights faded down the road.
When he couldn’t hear them anymore, he disembarked and walked a few miles before catching a cab to the bank. There he cleaned out their savings and checking accounts leaving Silacious exactly eleven dollars and twenty-one cents combined in both. She needed to be punished for her insolence, but being a generous man he at least wanted to make sure she could buy dinner for the night.
With a few thousand dollars in his pocket, he returned to his taxi and made route to the airport to catch the first flight out of New Orleans. That was to Miami, and it was the perfect place to hide. He hung out on South Beach and was having the time of his life until the money ran out. He’d even met another woman who moved him in with her.
Houma, Louisiana, Silacious, and the trouble she’d caused him were hundreds of miles away and life was good. Until his new lady started nagging him. He didn’t want to find a job, since that would require him to use his social security number. He wasn’t sure just what Silacious had told the authorities; she could be spiteful. His new girlfriend pissed him off with her smart mouth. After all, he already had a wife; he didn’t need the bullshit.
One night she went too far with her comments and he backhanded her. The next day, the cunt’s brothers woke him up, stuffed him into a car and drove him to a sugar cane field, where they beat him badly. He woke up in the hospital and when he could finally see straight, the nurse handed him a note, telling him to leave town.
It was then that he realized he needed to come home. He missed Silacious.
There were so many wrongs to set right. Maybe Jethro coming back to Houma was a good thing. He only wanted his wife back, and gave less than a damn about her boy. His life with Silacious would go much smoother without the child in it. Jethro could take his son back with him to wherever the hell he came from.
Once Silacious knew how badly Dante needed her, she wouldn’t have any choice but to forgive him. He needed to come up with a plan B. It was time to reclaim his wife.
Come on, you are good at thinking on the fly.
****
Andy sat at the kitchen table, gazing at the child across from him. Close up like he was, he couldn’t deny the similarities they shared and the kid had a healthy appetite for his Memaw’s cooking. Once he recovered from the initial shock of peering at an almost carbon copy of himself, he’d find Silacious for answers to the questions filling his mind. After spotting the boy playing in the reeds, Ms. Sadie corralled the child and urged him through the front door, leaving Jethro to follow in their wake.
He broke off a piece of his biscuit and swiped it through gravy on his plate before popping it into his mouth. Unsure of how to start a conversation, the silence was oppressive in the room. Chase didn’t lift his head, keeping his gaze on the plate before him.
“I got grits but those are for dinner…I guess I could spare a bit.” Memaw sighed and pushed up from the table.
“I’m not really hungry.” Andy peered over at her.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” She hobbled over to the ancient stove and picked up a serving spoon. “Chase?”
“No, thank you, Ms. Sadie.” Chase glanced in her direction. “Can I play outside?”
“What did your mama say?”
“Stay close, she’s on her way home,” Chase mumbled.
“Go on, baby, but stay in the yard…” Memaw gave a quick nod of her head.
Chase scooted his chair back and the legs scraped the floor. “Yes, ma’am.” He bolted for the back door.
“It’s your favorite shrimp and grits,” she hollered at the boy’s back as the screen door slammed in place. Sadie rounded on him, swinging the ladle to and fro in the air. “What the hell is you thinking? That chile is all manner of confused, and you staring at him like he got two heads ain’t helping matters. Get your ass out there and go talk to your son.”
His son.
Excitement skittered through him. He was a father. His happiness dimmed. Chase had no clue who he was. If he wasn’t careful, he could disrupt the boy’s life after all the years, and so many lies.
“Stop working your mouth like a guppy out of water. Go to Chase.
Talk
to him. The chile got more sense than most adults.” Memaw spun around and stirred a pot on the stove. “His common sense probably come through my bloodline.”
He’d been dismissed. Andy rose heavily from the table.
How the hell was he supposed to start a conversation with a kid he didn’t know?
“Hi, this might come as a shock but the man you’ve known all your life as your dad isn’t…I am,” Andy mumbled as he exited the house.
The kid stood on the shore of the bayou, a hefty stick clutched in his hand.
“Gator gonna git you, standing there like a tasty meal ready to be pulled under.” Andy called out as he approached the kid.
“Gators been long gone from here. Too many people,” Chase shouted over his shoulder.
“Boy, the animals don’t leave. They lurk and if a bigger one than you come around, you dinner.” Andy stopped next to the child.
Chase gazed up at him. “Ms. Sadie says you use to hunt ’em?” Curiosity filled his eyes before they went blank and he slowly blinked.
“I needed a job and it was better than flipping burgers.” Andy shrugged. “That and I made good money in a short time. Your mother helped me, but that is another story.”
“They don’t scare me.” Chase puffed out his chest. “I’ve faced real monsters.”
“Burgers or gators?” He tried to make light of conversation. His son had baggage he couldn’t begin to understand. Andy hesitated, inching closer. “Memaw has been telling about how you protected your mama from your daddy.”
“That’s not my dad.” Chase shook his head.
“Okay.” He was at a loss for words. He’d been gone for years, and in all that time, Dante had put his kid through hell. Andy had to breathe through the anger burning through him. “Listen.”
“No.” Chase walked away from him.
Andy trotted up next to him. “No what?”
“I know who you are,” the kid growled. “Mama keeps your picture hidden in an old wallet and sometimes I catch her staring at it and crying. You’re the reason Dante likes to beat on her.”
Revelations were a bitch. Andy grasped Chase’s arm to stop him. Memaw was right; his son was smarter than the average child. How did he explain that he didn’t know?
He swallowed the words he was about to utter. There were no excuses for what he did. When Silacious tried to talk to him, his pride was hurt and he refused to listen. Now he wished he had. Andy uttered the only words that felt right. “I’m sorry.”
Chase twisted in his direction and peered up at him. “Why didn’t you want me? Dante said you left because you never wanted me, but you didn’t even stick around to get to know me.” His eyes were glossy with unshed tears as he choked the words past thin lips. “I tried to be good, so Dante wouldn’t hate me, too.” His last words were uttered in a whisper.
Andy snatched Chase up to him, wrapping his arms around him in a bear hug to hold him tight. “I’m here now and there is nothing—and no one—who can make me leave.” He spoke against his son’s soft curls. “All I want is a chance, Chase, I promise. Not another man will ever lay their hands on you or your mama.”
He’d sworn to serve and protect the public, but all he wanted to do was kill the son of a bitch that started the lies and spread the bullshit. Good or bad, it was time to hear the truth and there was only one person left who could tell it. Silacious at least owed him that.
They had made their mistakes. It was time to own up to them.