Unmasking Charlotte (a Taboo Love series) (26 page)

Charlotte

Did that really just happen? I am completely mortified and so hurt by what he said. Never in a million years did I think that Calvin could be so cruel, I guess I’m wrong. I quickly try to pull myself together before causing more of a scene than we already have. Yolanda is hugging me, trying to soothe me. I’m shocked by her kindness. I thought for sure that she would take Calvin’s side.

I get myself under control and dry my face with a tissue that someone hands me. Yolanda is standing in front of me, her hands smoothing up and down my arms. I take a chance to look at her face, but she is smiling warmly at me. I must look confused because she lets out a little chuckle.

“Sweetheart, just because he’s my son, doesn’t mean that I agree with everything he says or does. I feel horrible about what he said and I have no excuses for his behavior. I will tell you that I did not raise him that way.”

“Maybe if he wasn’t dating a white chick he wouldn’t be having these problems,” I hear Carla mumble from where she is standing next to her father with her arms crossed over her chest.

Okay, a girl can only take so much abuse in one night. I let Calvin off easy because he completely caught me off guard, but this bitch right here is going down, metaphorically speaking, of course. Both Yolanda’s and Calvin Jr.’s heads whip around to stare at their daughter in shock.

“Carla!” Yolanda exclaims.

She just shrugs and sticks her nose up at me.

I extract myself from Yolanda’s comforting arms and go stand face to face with Carla. We are pretty much the same height. I put on the meanest, bitchiest, big girl panties I’ve got and let her have it.

“This ‘white chick’ is carrying your brother’s child. And no matter what, as the mother, I will say who can and can’t see the baby. You want to be Auntie Carla? You want to have anything to do with this pre
cious baby? Then you better check yourself because as of right now, you are on my shit list, and have lost your privileges to be a part of this baby’s life,” I hiss.

I can tell that I hit a nerve because her eyes widen a hint and her mouth opens to protest.

“Plus…” I say before she can speak. “I don’t give a shit about what you think about me, or what anybody thinks, actually. The only person that matters right now is my baby. So you can take your racist comments and elitist attitude, and shove them up your ass, you stuck up bitch.”

“Hey, what the hell is going on over here?” Nick’s deep voice asks, his tone saying that he is less than pleased.

“Nothing, Nick,” I say heatedly as I step away from Carla. “Where’s Delilah?”

“Dancing with her dad. Where’s Calvin?” he asks in return.

“Who the fuck cares?” I snap and stomp onto the dance floor where Delilah is laughing and dancing all silly with her dad.

She sees me coming and her smile fades fast. She excuses herself and comes to meet me. “Oh my god, what’s going on?” she asks in concern.

“Can we go up to the suite?” I sigh. I’m suddenly really tired, all this activity and emotional stress is taking its toll.

“Yes, of course,” she says without hesitation and starts to lead me away.

Yolanda meets up with us at the bottom of the stairs. “Charlie, may I come with you?”

She looks like hell and both of her children are acting like assholes - that’s gotta sting. I give her a small smile and hold my hand out for her. She’s been nothing but kind to me and I will not shut her out of my life because her son is a douchebag. She is the grandmother. She gives me a relieved smile and takes my hand.

Once locked away in the mock bridal suite, I tell my best friend what happened between Calvin and me, and then between Carla and me. I lie down on the bed when I’m finished, unable to fight the exhaustion anymore. I hear Yolanda tell a furious Delilah to go enjoy her wedding and that she will keep an eye on me. Delilah reluctantly agrees. The only thing I remember after that is Yolanda whispering how so very sorry she is.

When I wake, it’s to Delilah’s soft voice, her hands whipping around wildly as she is having a heated discussion with someone, but trying not to wake me. I rub my eyes and blink up at her. I look around to see that it’s a brooding Nick, standing by the end of the bed, arms crossed over his chest, bearing the brunt of her fury. Parker is sitting in a red velvet wingback chair in the corner, his elbows on his knees, hands covering his face, rubbing his forehead up and down. Guess I’m not the only one with a headache. Yolanda is nowhere to been seen.

“Where did Yolanda go?” I ask, still a bit drowsy from sleeping.

“She left a little bit ago. We’re the only ones left,” Delilah says from her seat on the bed next to me. She reaches over tentatively to touch my belly and I instinctively nod, giving her permission. I think she is doing it to relax us both. And remind me of what’s really important here.

“We’re gonna take you home,” Nick says.

“What? No way, it’s your wedding night, you’re supposed to go home and hump like bunnies,” I mutter, pushing myself up into a sitting position.

Delilah giggles while Nick lets out a snort. I can’t figure out what just happened until Delilah leans over and picks up my dress a little.

“Your big ass pregnant boob just popped out, flashing my husband. Get your shit together, lady,” LaLa tell me with a huge smile on her face.

“Whoops! Sorry!” I laugh, shrug, and then lift the top of my dress higher. “Anyway, I can get myself home just fine.”

“This is not up for debate, so don’t bother,” Nick says sternly, sending me a pointed look.

I growl. Dammit. He never backs down when he gives that look. Fucking lawyers.

Parker finally stands to join the conversation. He walks over to Nick and clasps him on the shoulder. “I got it, my man. Take your wife home and get your freak on. I will make sure Charlie makes it home safely.”

“Are you sure?” Nick asks him, as if I’m not even in the room or have a say in the matter.

Parker reassures him and they continue their conversation quietly and secretively. I hear a few words here and there, like “acting like an asshole” and “take care of it.” I smile briefly knowing that however shitty my life might be right now, I really do have the best friends a girl could ask for. Between the support they gave me at the parole hearing, and how they are standing behind me today, I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner.

As their conversations ends, I offer my two cents. “Where’s your dickhead best man?” I grumble as I get out of bed and start collecting my things.

“I think he’s locked himself away in his office,” Nick snarls. “Don’t you worry; I will have words with him.”

“Whatever,” I mumble, not caring one way or another.

I can raise this baby on my own, and I’m going to be a kick ass mom. He wants to be a deadbeat dad? Then that’s his prerogative. Have at it. I don’t fucking need him. I’ll get over the pain in my heart, and I’ll get over him. I will not let him break me. From my lips to god’s ears!

I really didn’t think not telling him about the rape was a deal breaker, guess I was wrong. It has nothing to do with anything anymore, so it shouldn’t matter. It’s in the past, where it needs to stay. And like I chose to get pregnant by my rapist. Please. Whatever, life goes on. Nobody knows that better than I do.

Chapter Twelve

Calvin

I hate this fucking pussy.
Here kitty kitty kitty. Come on, dude, cut a brother some slack, will ya? Here kitty kitty kitty. I wake up early this morning, before the sun comes up. Actually, I’m not sure that I even fell asleep last night. Not talking with Charlotte is absolutely killing me. I get my pathetic self moving and go to the gym so that I can kick the punching bag’s ass for a few hours, trying to get out my aggressions. The solitude sucks, but not knowing how Charlotte and the baby are is what’s doing me in.

Normally, I would just shower at the gym then head to the club, but I need to go home to feed my cat. Charlotte’s cat. Dammit! I need to feed Horse.

He still scares the shit out of me. I really think that he does it on purpose. I don’t want him near me, but he is constantly following me around and trying to get me to pet him. He climbs onto my lap when I sit on the couch, and when I’m sleeping, he comes and sleeps between my legs. He makes it impossible not to touch him. I have to touch him if I want him to move.

Horse finally greets me at the door after I call for him a few more times. He meows and winds himself around my legs as I walk to the kitchen to get him some food. I open a can of the nasty ass cat food that Charlotte feeds him and use a fork to scoop it out into his bowl on the floor. That shit smells disgusting. I hate it. After he digs in, I head for the bathroom where his litter box is. No doubt, it needs to be cleaned out. Fucker craps at least three times a day, and good god, it smells horrendous.

Sure enough, there are a couple of nice size turds sitting there, uncovered. Aren’t cats supposed to cover their shit? I grab a plastic bag that I keep under the sink for this purpose and the pooper scooper. I then scoop out the clumps of piss and shit. I catch a whiff of the poop and swallow back a gag. I press my forearm to my nose to try to block out the smell for a moment.

Just as I tie up the bag, I hear a soft meow behind me. Horse rubs against my leg before climbing into the litter box.

“Dude, seriously, I just cleaned that out,” I grunt. I shake my head when I realize that I’m talking to a damn cat.

Horse digs around a couple of times before popping a squat and taking a dump. The rancid smell fills the bathroom causing me to wretch, and I run out of the room before I puke. Oh god, I don’t know how much more of this cat I can take. Maybe I can get Little Bit to take the bastard.

A few minutes later, Horse finds me in the living room and twirls his little black body around my legs. “I don’t know why you like me so much because I hate you,” I mutter, bending over to give his little head a scratch.

I take a quick shower and head off to work, leaving a couple of treats on the floor for Horse. Spoiled pussy.

Calvin again…

Six days, eight hours, twenty-one minutes. That’s how long it’s been since I’ve spoken to Charlotte. Every moment of that time has been agony. Yet, I can’t find it in myself to apologize to her. She lied to me. Should I have said what I said? No. I can’t take it back now, either. I’m still angry that she never told me about her past. Everyone and their mother is pissed off at me right now. Monica barely gave me a head nod and a dirty look when I walked into the club a few days ago. Nick and Parker have been very short with me the few times that they actually answered their phones. And my parents, Jesus Christ, they have done everything in their power to make me feel like the worst son ever. That’s another thing that pisses me off, nobody is even trying to see it from my side of things. If this situation had been reversed, if I had kept something from Charlotte about my past, I have no doubt that she’d feel exactly how I feel right now.

I have a massive headache that will not go away.
I have some dick with nasty ass jailhouse tats on his face trying to push his way past Monica to get into the club. I try to calm him down, but shit, that cat has anger management issues, but left when I threaten to call the cops. Now, I’m sitting behind my desk, rubbing my temples when there is a knock on my door. I call out for them to come in without stopping the rubbing; it seems to be helping the pain in my head. I don’t even bother looking up when the door opens, figuring that it’s just Monica needing to tell me something.

“Ya know, I’m actually pretty pleased to see you looking like shit,” says Delilah as she shuts the door behind her and takes off her mask.

My head shoots up and I stare at her for a moment, a million and one things running through my head as to why she could be here. “What’s wrong? Is it Charlotte? Is it the baby?” I blurt out a bit frantically.

Delilah smiles softly and shakes her head. “That’s exactly the reaction I was hoping to get from you. Everything is fine, I just want to talk to you.”

I blow out a breath that I didn’t even know I was holding. I nod jerkily and motion for her to sit in the chair in front of my desk. She takes a seat, crossing her jean-clad legs. She looks super cute as always.

“Why haven’t you called Charlie?” she asks, cutting right to the chase.

I sigh, rubbing my face roughly in my hands. “I’m still mad at her, Little Bit. I feel like I deserve an apology, too.”

“I know, but someone has to take the first step, and you know it’s not going to be her,” she snorts.

I scoff. “Ain’t that the truth.”

“What are you so mad about…exactly?” she asks, tilting her head in curiosity.

I blink at her. “Seriously? She kept this huge secret from me! I thought we were open and honest with each other about everything. I thought that I knew everything about her!”

“Does what happened to her change the way you feel about her?”

“No, of course not,” I reply.

“What if you hadn’t found out until after the baby was born and you two were married? Would you have said what you said and walked away from her like you did?”

I open my mouth to answer but immediately snap it shut. I got nothing. Delilah is right. I hang my head. I’m such an asshole. I walked away from the love of my life and my beautiful baby because she didn’t share something about her past. Wow, I’m a complete douchebag.

“Calvin, you are never going to know everything about the person you’re with, I’m still learning new things about Nick every day. That’s
part of the fun of being in a relationship, being surprised to learn something new when you thought there couldn’t possibly be anything else. And Charlie was adamant after the parole hearing to move on with her life, to leave what happened to her in the past. She certainly didn’t want to relive it or let it define her. She wanted that piece of information to have nothing to do with your loving relationship, to corrupt the way you saw or treated her. Ironically, it did just that,” Delilah says gently.

“She still could have told me,” I whisper.

“Yeah, she could have, but she chose not to because she didn’t want you to pity her or possibly hold back with her in bed because you’d be afraid of her mental state.”

I nod, understanding what she is saying because yeah, I probably would have been that guy. I lift my gaze to meet hers. “How is she doing?”

Delilah shrugs. “She puts up a good front, but I know her better than that, and I can see that she’s heartbroken,” she says.

“I’m
such a fucking asshole.” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose, finding myself saying that a lot lately.

“You’re a
guy, so no shock there.” She chuckles.

I sneer at her, making her laugh a little harder. She stands and I follow. I go to her and give her a grateful hug. “Thanks, Little Bit.”

She pats my face and heads for the door.

“She’s gonna fight taking you back. I’m sure you know that, but she does love you and want you in her life. So don’t give up, okay?” she says.

“I won’t,” I assure her. She gives me one last smile before leaving and shutting the door behind her. I go back to my chair and sit down. Damn, I have a lot of groveling to do.