Reckless Karma (Sinners & Saints #2) (19 page)

           
“No.
But I fear it’s bad.”

           
“Are
you good with digging further?”

           
“Yes.
That fear in his eyes was evident that if what Scarlett has on them gets out…
it will desiccate.”

           
“I
already told you to go to your grandmother. Maybe she knows. We need to find
out about the club and about the fact that August heard someone say that they
killed someone. Maybe it was Gabriel referring metaphorically to me or maybe…
God, maybe someone else did die.”

           
I
roll my eyes in frustration because I know she’s right. “Fine. I’ll go visit
the old bag.”

           
“She’s
family, Hugo.” Karlie’s tone is serious and somewhat personal. “Family is…
everything.”

           
“Yeah,
well sometimes blood doesn’t need to exist to create a unit of family.”

           
“Blood
is a funny thing. Kids don’t ask for the bloodlines they are born into.”

           
She
says it more to herself than to me and I wonder why all of a sudden she said
that.

           
We
hear the key turn at the front door and in walks Anika, Cody, and Juliet.

           
“What
are you doing here?” I ask her.

           
She
doesn’t answer. She steps aside and lets an older black woman walk in.

           
“Ma?”
Karlie stands up from her seat and so do I. “Ma, what are you doing here?”

           
“I
don’t know. Either to slap some sense in you or beat it into you.”

           
“I
had to do it, Karlie,” Anika says and before Karlie can react and before I can
ask what’s going on, a pair of kids with dirty blonde hair, light brown skin,
and blue eyes come running in with smiles. Bright smiles that show no fear, no
confusion, not like me as I watch them run towards Karlie and wrap their arms
around her waist.

           
“Mommy!”

Part 3

“I sustain myself with the love of
family.”

-Maya Angelou

12

JULIET

I
knew it had to be a kid. It’s always some illegitimate child when it comes to
secrets. But I never expected twins. A girl and a boy that are as beautiful and
as sweet as they can be.

           
They
cling onto Karlie and she does so onto to them. She has missed them just as
much as they’ve missed her. The coldness about her. Every brick she has molded
and created to build the wall has completely broke down and revealed the real
Karlie. Karlie, the mother.

           
“We
missed you, Mommy,” the boy says. His name is Oliver.

           
“I
missed you too baby,” Karlie says combing her fingers through his dirty blonde
curls that are as long as his sisters.

           
The
girl looks at Hugo. Her name is Suzanna. Her eyes squint at him, wondering who
he is. Possibly seeing a similarity between her and him.

           
“Who’s
that, Mommy?” she asks.

           
“I
can take a wild guess.” Ms. Dale looks Hugo up and down with her hands on her
hips.

           
“Ma,”
Karlie warns. “Um, guys, why don’t you go with miss Anya to the kitchen to eat
a huge bowl of rocky road and mint chocolate chip ice cream! Your favorite!”

           
“Yay!”
The kids are easily satisfied with the other option. They follow Anya, her
maid, to the kitchen and we all look to Hugo, who watches them until they are
out of view. His head slowly turns toward Karlie.

           
“I
had to do it,” Anika says.

           
“I
don’t know why you’re talking because clearly you are not my sister anymore,”
Karlie quickly talks over Anika.

           
“Hey!”
Their mum shuts them both down. “Don’t say that and don’t be dramatic. Anika
did right. You are out here acting out like a damn fool. You should have stayed
in Monaco with me and the kids. They missed you. You don’t know how many lies I
had to come up with every time they asked ‘Why isn’t Mommy with us?’”

           
“And
you don’t think I’ve missed them? I have missed them every second of every day.
They shouldn’t be here. Not for this. There is nothing here for them.”

           
“Except
the truth about where they come from.”

           
“And
where, pray tell, are they from?” Silence fills the room again once Hugo
speaks. “Can someone tell me… what is going on?”

           
“This,”
I say gesturing my hand towards the kitchen. “This is the real reason why your
dad has been paying her.”

           
“Basically
child support,” Cody adds and Ms. Dale scoffs.

           
“Child
support that isn’t even used.”

           
“Ma,
I don’t need anything from that man.” Karlie snaps.

           
“But
you couldn’t bother to tell me that I have long lost relatives?” Hugo
interrupts again.

           
“Hugo,
technically I’m not sure. I never got a paternity test.”

           
“Are
you serious?” Anika argues. “Anyone can see that Ollie and Suzie look just like
you and Gabriel.”

           
“Blonde
hair and blue eyes are also a resemblance to Chad too, Anika,” Karlie says back
and she has a point but come on.

           
“Yeah,
but Chad doesn’t have twin brothers like, who do you say, Gabriel?”

           
“You
really think Chad’s coked up genes are that strong?” Cody asks.

           
“You
should’ve told me,” Hugo says in a soft, scornful tone.

           
“No,
I shouldn’t have,” Karlie says and it brings the argument out of me.

           
“Yes,
you should’ve,” I say. “He had the right.”

           
“No,
he didn’t. They are my children.”

           
“And
they are my family!” Hugo yells and it causes everyone in the room except me to
jump. I’ve heard him yell like this before. He’s hurt. “And don’t you dare
bullshit me with the possibility of them being Chad’s or Noel’s for that
matter. They don’t look like Gabriel. They don’t look like me or August.” He
takes a deep breath. “They look like our mother.”

           
Karlie
opens her mouth to speak but Hugo isn’t finished.

           
“What
are their names? Their full names… this Ollie and Suzie, short for what?”

           
Karlie
is scared to answer. “Oliver… and Suzanna. Gabriel once said that if he had a
daughter he would want to name her after your mother.”

           
Hugo
nods and forces his clenched jaw open. “The hell with you.”

           
He
storms out. “Hugo!” I call out to him following in the hallway. “Hugo!”

           
My
feet come to a stop once he whips around in anger.

           
“I
asked you to stay out of it. I didn’t want to know this.”

           
“I
was just–”

           
“Just
being stubborn! This fucks things up! Don’t you understand?” He grabs me by my
arms. His grip is tight and the pain in his face hurts just as much. “You’ve
given me too much care for. I don’t need that. Not now.”

           
He
lets me go. Lets go of everything and leaves.

HUGO

Kids.
Fucking kids. I hate kids. Kids just had to be thrown into this situation.
Kids. Twins. Twin boy and girl. Suzanna… Suzie. Oliver… Ollie.

           
The
door opens and Kelly is here in sweats and self-pity.

           
“Still
wallowing in broken marriage.” I brush past her.

           
“You
are not wanted, Hugo.”

           
“Yet
you still let me up when the doorman informs you of my arrival.” I look around
before taking a seat on the couch. “Where is my father?”

           
“Beats
me. Work. Mistress. Take your pick.”

           
“Are
we friends again? Is this where you tell me all your problems with my father,
hoping we drink while complaining about him? Fall into bed together?”

           
“Yes.”
I am surprised by her boldness and so amused that a hint of laughter escapes
from my mouth.

           
“Well
as much as I enjoyed our time together, I’m afraid that I am a one woman man
now, although that one woman is eventually going to cause my death.”

           
“So
it is serious with her… and here I thought that maybe you had feelings for me
after that voicemail you left for me.”

           
“I
was upset. I did feel bad about what I did to you, but nothing was ever going
to get me to apologize except her. I was upset that she was angry at me and she
told me to apologize to you, so I did. I decided to tell you about how the
thought of my mother crosses my mind every day because really I was telling
her.”

           
The
hope in her eyes is faint now and with consideration she questions me.

           
“Is
something wrong?” she asks me. “You don’t look well. You look like you’ve been
crying.”

           
“Not
yet. I’ve been on the verge lately. On the verge of many things, I suppose.”

           
“Listen,
Hugo, if you need to talk… I can listen.”

           
Kelly
is so sweet. Beautiful and sweet and I would love to ruin it just to make
myself feel better. That is the first instinct I get when I look at her. That
is how dark my soul is and that is how everything has begun to shake me. I
think we’re like my mother, my brothers and I. We can’t handle too much emotion.
It can kill us. It’s already killed two – who says it won’t kill me
either?

           
“Kelly!”
My father comes in with surprisingly a bouquet of white and red roses. A
romantic gesture I have never seen him do with any woman. He actually has a
smile on his face. Until his eyes set on me.

           
“What’s
the occasion?” I ask.

           
“What
are you doing here?”

           
“Let
me guess. You really are working on your marriage, but still your dick leads
the way on your righteous path, so to clear the damage you bring flowers and
gifts to keep her from guessing?”

           
He
frowns as Kelly grabs the flowers from him.

           
“Kelly,
did you know that my father was a grandfather?” Kelly’s shock and my father’s
face discoloring are both satisfying.

           
“Put
those in water,” he tells her and she does without protest. He walks over to
the minibar and pours two glasses of Highland whiskey.
 
He sets a glass in front of me and
drinks his without breaking a sweat or looking me in the eye.

           
“They
look like Mom.” His body pauses. “They are beautiful… full of life and innocent
replicas of her. Her beauty mixed with Karlie’s is what makes them look like
they are made of gold. Or maybe that’s just the instant feeling you get when it
comes to family you knew nothing about. You look at them and automatically your
heart beats for them like no tomorrow.” I admit it and it is painful, but a
weight is lifted through that. “This whole time you knew.”

           
“She
never got them tested. They are probably not even Gabriel’s.”

           
“Yet
still you pay her. Money she never used except for charity, by the way.”

           
“I
didn’t need to take the chance. Gabriel’s mess was cleaned and that’s it.”

           
“Is
it Gabriel’s mess?” I ask him. “I don’t think you paid her because of your
desperate attempt at public sainthood. I think it’s because deep down you knew.
Deep down you knew she was carrying his kids and unbelievably I think you cared
for them before they were even born. And you knew that the only way to protect
them from our fucked up family was to send money and never acknowledge them.
You didn’t want to fuck them up too. Not like you fucked up us.”

           
“You
don’t know anything, Hugo. That’s always been your damn problem. You don’t know
anything about me… about your mother, Scarlett, Karlie Dale. You don’t know
anything.”

           
“Well,
why don’t you enlighten me?”

           
“Enlighten
you? Enlighten you about what? That every woman you have come across has betrayed
you? You’re still a little boy looking for a replacement for your mommy. You
think I didn’t love her? I did. I loved her. I really did, but your mother was
broken way before I got to her. There’s some enlightenment for you.”

           
“Maybe
you’re right.” I down the drink he made for me. Let the burn damage my lungs
and heal the vulnerable state. “Maybe you are right, but it still doesn’t
escape the fact that you are a lying, hypocritical son of a bitch… and to ever
say you are a man… is a true insult to God himself.”

           
I
grab the scotch and walk out. I get a taxi a block away – going where? I
have no idea.

KARLIE

           
The
closest I have to peace is moments like these. Moments where my kids and I lay
with one another in bed, watching TV or staring up at the ceiling or the stars
we watched back in Monaco. It’s the only peace I have left in this life. Still
my peace gets disruptive sometimes. My children are still a reminder of a dark
time; no matter how much love is mirrored in them, there is an equal amount of pain
in their faces that reflects on me.

           
“Mommy?”
Ollie, my adventurous, vibrant, and charming son says my name. The only name I
love. “Why did you leave us?” He has this scowl on his face when he asks and
Suzie lifts her head from my chest and sits up waiting for my answer.

           
“Mommy
had to go away to take care of some stuff and… I know I shouldn’t’ve left you,
but I just didn’t want you guys to be around certain things.”

           
“Like
bad things?” Suzie asks.

           
“Yep.”
They’re six and smart as they can be. Clearly getting their brains from me.