Guilty of Love (36 page)

“
By all means, Mrs. Duffy,
do whatever it takes to make my baby happy.”

Once they were done with their
appointment, they met her mother for lunch. The discussion was
lively and food delicious, but after they finished, Addison prayed
for them. “You two still got time to come to Jesus.” Then she
hugged them.

Inwardly, Hallison cringed while
Malcolm hugged Addison back, whispering, “I’m not against prayer,
so please continue to pray for us.”

“
Don’t think I’m not, young
man. When I pray, I believe God.” She winked.

***

Cheney and Kami had settled into a
nightly routine and understanding. Kami would splash around in her
bubble bath. After she was in her pj’s that Parke bought her,
Cheney would read her funny bedtime stories, compliments of Mrs.
Beacon.

When Kami became frustrated, she would
pinch Cheney on her arm or legs. Learning was a slow process. If
Parke didn’t stop by, he would call nightly and speak to Kami,
assuring her he was still around.

Monday night around midnight, Cheney’s
phone startled her out of a restful sleep. She answered before the
ringing woke Kami. “Hello?”

“
This is Beverly Thom, the
on-call placement coordinator. I’ve got an emergency situation with
a brother and sister. They’re in a patrol car. Can you accept
them?”

Cheney’s head started spinning. “What
can you tell me about them?”

“
Sasha is an
eleven-year-old girl. She told police her stepfather fondled and
attempted to rape her. When her thirteen-year-old brother, Dre,
found out, he went ballistic, severely beating the stepdad with a
brick. Can you handle them?”

“
I’ll try.” Climbing out of
bed, Cheney quickly dressed and washed her face. Walking
downstairs, she peeked through her shutters every five
minutes.

At twelve-fifty, a police cruiser
parked in front of her home. Two officers got out and coaxed the
brother and sister to her door. As one officer introduced them, the
honey-colored girl wore the same frightened expression as Kami had
the first time. Her brother appeared to be older than thirteen. His
eyes held an angry, cold stare, his mouth stretched into a line of
defiance, and his arms folded in a challenge.

Cheney ushered the officers and the
children inside, thinking this was going to be a long night. She
hoped Kami would sleep straight through. Soon, Parke barged in the
door. On cue, Kami scooted down the stairs, rubbing her eyes before
racing toward him.

Scooping her up, he marched to Cheney.
“What’s going on? You okay?” he asked, almost breathless. She
nodded as he embraced her tightly, feeling his heart pound wildly
against her face. “I was doing my usual nightly drive-by before
heading home when I saw the police car and the lights on
and—”

The tall, gray-haired officer who
looked days from retiring, stepped forward and cleared his throat.
“You are?” authority was implied in two words.

Parke placed Kami on her feet despite
her protest, but kept his arm around Cheney. “I’m Parke Jamieson.
I’m the foster care parent assisting Miss Reynolds.”

The rookie officer’s eyes hinted there
was more to Parke’s story. “That name sounds familiar. Do you have
any outstanding warrants?”

“
Of course not, but I’m
sure you’ll check. You’ve probably seen my name listed somewhere as
a storyteller or as a broker.”

Rocking on his heels, the rookie
tilted his head, squinting. “Maybe.”

When the phone rang, Cheney didn’t
have to guess who was on the other end. After explaining to Mrs.
Beacon about her new arrivals and Parke’s presence, her neighbor
agreed not to change out of her skimpy night attire into something
more appropriate and come over. Cheney said good-bye and returned
to her unexpected guests.

Sasha hid behind her brother. Dre kept
his arms folded in a protective stance, daring anybody to touch
them. Cheney fought to keep her eyes open. She knew Sasha and Dre
had to be exhausted. She made a mental note to stock up on
different size pajamas for these emergency cases.

“
If everything is under
control, we’re leaving, but we’re a 9-1-1 call away,” the older cop
advised, casting a warning glance at Dre before walking out the
door. His young cadet followed, but not without lifting a brow to
confirm what his partner had said.

Parke reached out to touch the brother
and sister, but Sasha jumped back. Dre snarled like an attack dog,
allowing Cheney a glimpse of his aggressive behavior. Parke didn’t
back down. “It’s okay. Are you two hungry?”

“
I’ll go make coffee and
hot chocolate,” Cheney offered, dragging her bare feet across the
living room floor to the kitchen. It was going to be a very long
night.

By the time she returned with four
mugs on a tray, Kami was sound asleep in Parke’s arms. Dre and
Sasha were huddled together in the corner on the edge of her sofa.
She offered both hot chocolate. They accepted only after their
stomachs growled.

“
Dre and Sasha, I know it’s
been a very long evening. If you want to talk, then we can stay up
all night,” Cheney said, sipping her black coffee. “If you’re
sleepy, I have warm beds upstairs for you to try and get some rest.
If you want to cry, I’ll cry with you.” At least this time, her
guests came on a Friday night.

***

Parke sat back observing Cheney reach
out to the siblings. The training sessions they attended were
right. These two didn’t look like they were on the verge of
trusting anybody for the rest of their lifetime. Cheney was
patient. Parke was so proud of her. She had taken her role as a
foster parent seriously and was accepting some unpredictable
emergency cases
. She needs to rethink this, though. At least
traditional cases would knock at your door between nine and
five,
Parke thought
.

He was convinced Cheney didn’t miss
out by not having children of her own. Kids seeking temporary
shelter would benefit. After a long rebellious time, Sasha
eventually accepted Cheney’s embrace as they cried
together.

Parke stood and went into Cheney’s
kitchen to prepare everyone a snack. He returned to the living room
with a platter of food to feed about ten people. Since taking in
Kami, he kept Cheney’s pantry stocked for emergencies like
tonight.

Dre wasn’t shy as he alternated
between eating two ham-and-cheese sandwiches and pacing Cheney’s
hardwood floor. “I’ll never go back there. My mother can have that
nasty old man. Mama should’ve listened when Sasha told her the
first time,” he fussed, ripping meat from its sandwich. Getting
seasick from Dre’s movement, Parke joined him pacing and let him
talk until the boy ran out of steam.

“
If you or any other man
tries to touch my sister again, I’ll kill you.” Dre’s expression
and body language suggested he wasn’t bluffing.

“
What your stepfather did
is not the norm. You have a right to be angry. You did the right
thing to protect your sister, man,” Parke reassured the
teenager.

Dre looked shocked. “That’s not what
my mother said.”

Finally, Dre agreed to engage in a
man-to-man talk with Parke. His demand was his sister would remain
in his sight. After four hours of discussion and sniffing, Cheney
carried a sleepy Kami upstairs to bed with Dre and Sasha dragging
behind.

Parke knew he would have to go
purchase jeans, sweats, and other clothing for their new arrivals.
“I hate to go,” Parke uttered when Cheney returned. “I can sleep on
the couch in case you need me. I’m worried about leaving you alone
with Dre agitated.”

“
Didn’t you know I’m a new
millennium woman and I can handle anything?” Cheney attempted a
smirk.

“
Really?” Parke lifted his
brow. “Good, then you can handle me and all the love I have. You’re
my woman now, and I’m not letting you do this alone.”

Cheney relaxed her head against his
chest. He didn’t know if she was content with him being there or
too tired to stand. His fingers combed through her wavy hair with
gentle strokes.

“
I shook from the bottle
today.” Cheney bashfully looked at him.

“
And?”

“
It said you would prove
your love for me.”

“
I will.”

“
It’s not a question of me
handling your love. Do I deserve it?”

Parke placed soft kisses on Cheney’s
face. “Baby, I’m only going to say Larry’s name one last time. He
didn’t deserve you, your love, or your heart. ”

“
I wish I could forget
about Larry.”

“
Trust me, you will,” Parke
advised before leaving.

***

Parke couldn’t sleep. He would love to
have five minutes alone with Larry. “I could do damage in three.”
He frowned at his thoughts. He wasn’t a violent person, but he
wanted Cheney happy. He was also worried about her with the
late-night arrivals. He dialed her number. “How are you and your
house guests?”

“
Everybody’s sleeping,” she
whispered in a husky voice, “and I was dreaming about this warm,
good-looking, and good-smelling man, but you woke me up.”
Click.

That’s all he needed to know. Rolling
over, Parke drifted into sleep, smiling.

“
If you want to know how
everybody’s doing, then come over and find out,” Cheney warned
Parke after his third morning call. So about one in the afternoon,
he did just that. Mrs. Beacon had already introduced herself before
leaving for her Salsa class.

“
We had a setback last
night,” Cheney revealed as she greeted Parke at the
door.

“
Uh-oh. Who?” Parke asked,
groaning.

“
Kami. I think it was too
much excitement,” she whispered.

Juggling pizzas, cinnamon sticks, and
liters of sodas, Parke planted a hard kiss on Cheney’s lips as he
came inside. “Do I want to know?”

Kami bolted out of the kitchen,
heading straight for his legs. “Whoa.” He steadied himself. “That
girl is getting stronger every day,” he said, continuing toward her
kitchen.

Cheney bent down and scooped up the
little terror. “You can give him a hug once he puts the food down.
Okay?” Cheney nodded yes for Kami to mimic, and the child
did.

In the kitchen, Parke spoke to the
teenagers before strolling out with his arms stretched out to hug
Cheney. “Wait a minute, Kami. I need to hug Cheney first,
remember?” Their embrace was brief. “You look pretty.”

Cheney closed her eyes. “Thank
you.”

“
I love it when you wear
your hair down. It softens your already beautiful
features.”

“
Thank you, again,” she
said, blushing. Something she hadn’t done as much since the first
few months with Larry.

“
I love you,” he added,
then squatted for Kami to plant a juicy kiss on his
cheek.

“
Pizza.” Kami clapped her
hands. “Sodie.”

“
Ask Dre if he will pour
you a cup,” he said. Like an unwound toy, Kami took off. Alone,
Parke looked at her. “Okay, now tell me what happened last
night.”

Cheney rested her forehead against
his. “This morning I went into their room to check on Sasha. Poor
thing was crying in her sleep, so I lay down and gathered her to
me, holding and rocking her. Basically, I was just trying to
comfort her. We dozed off.”

They walked back into her living room,
ignoring Kami’s cries, Dre’s yelling, and Sasha’s whining as they
argued in the kitchen about which bottle of soda to
open.

“
Next thing we know, Kami’s
biting Sasha’s leg, yelling, ‘Cheney mine.’ Sasha screamed, and Dre
barged through the door ready for battle.”

“
We’re going to have to
talk to the counselor about her aggressive outbursts.” Relaxing his
frown, Parke massaged her cheek. “On a lighter note, if I had known
Dre was a one-man army, I would’ve gotten a good night’s sleep
instead of worrying.”

“
You’d leave protecting
your woman to a thirteen-year-old?”

“
A new millennium woman can
handle anything,” Parke reminded her.

She playfully latched on to his lips,
subjecting him to a stirring kiss when someone patted her leg and
tugged on Parke’s pants. They opened their eyes. It was Kami. “At
least she didn’t scratch or bite me,” Cheney whispered, then joined
the children in the kitchen while Parke went to his vehicle and
retrieved bags of clothes for the siblings. Soon enough, everyone
was stuffed with pizza.

“
Dre, Sasha, you can call
home, only if it won’t upset you,” Cheney offered, waiting for
their reaction. It didn’t take long.

Anger flashed across Dre’s once
content face. “Nah. Do I have to?”

Sasha’s eyes were riveted on her
brother. She remained silent.

“
No,” Parke answered,
gathering trash.

Collecting plates, Cheney loaded the
dishwasher. “Hey, why don’t you go next door? Grandma BB should be
back by now. Don’t tell her I let you two know that she was almost
arrested, wrestling for the last PlayStation at Target.” Cheney’s
mouth stretched into a slow grin. “I think she’s been practicing on
it.”