8. Vanya
VANYA
Falling asleep in Pearce’s house wasn’t easy.
The home was gorgeous. The place was spotless, and I’d never felt a more comfortable bed in my life.
But a rich, powerful man wanted me dead.
No matter how physically tired I was falling asleep in the house of my enemy’s son was challenging.
The exchange between them at the restaurant seemed very real.
A blind man could have noticed the tension between the two of them.
But they were father and son. What happened if they made up, and Pearce decided to go ahead and kill me the way he’d been hired to do.
Being in his home might not have been the smartest move but anywhere else, I was a sitting duck.
As much as I tried to fight it eventually, the battle was lost, and I drifted off to sleep.
When I opened my eyes rays of sun were peeking through the blinds.
I stretched and realized that I’d actually gotten some good sleep.
The drool on the pillow was one sign of that.
Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I looked at the screen and saw that it was after nine am.
I slept way later than I had intended to, but it wasn’t like I had anywhere to go.
My leg wasn’t completely healed anyway. Standing on my feet for more than fifteen or twenty minutes made an aching pain shoot through my thigh like lightening striking during a thunderstorm.
Just like using my arm too much did the same with my shoulder.
I was almost out of pain medication and made a mental note to pick something up from the store.
Could I go to the store? Would it be smart to be out in public by myself?
Pearce’s home was insanely gorgeous, but that still didn’t mean that I wanted to be a prisoner for weeks or even months.
Thinking that Kalim would ever decide that he didn’t mind me being alive was more than likely delusional on Pearce’s part.
I really didn’t see it happening, but he knew his father better than I did.
There was a light tap on my door. Clearing my throat I sat up. “Come in.”
The door eased open and when Pearce came into view my yoni throbbed. The resemblance between him and his father was almost scary, but Pearce was handsome. His looks aroused me while seeing his father’s face repulsed me. It was odd indeed.
“Hey. I need to run out for a few hours. You’re good here. When I leave, I’ll set the alarm from my phone. There’s food in the kitchen. You want me to bring you something back?”
“Um, maybe some Tylenol. I’m almost out of the medicine that the doctor prescribed me. And also um,” I bit my bottom lip. “Since I have a lot of time on my hands, I kind of wanted to braid my hair, but I need braiding hair.”
“Send me a picture of the hair that you want, and I’ll get it.”
“Thank you.”
Pearce closed the door, and I pushed out a sigh.
His sexy ass was really protecting me from his father because if it was a lie and he was going to kill me, why drag it out?
What would be the reason? He could have killed me last night.
I heard the alarm system activating. Easing out of bed, I went over to my suitcase and removed clothes for the day and items to take a shower with.
When I was dressed, I would call my mother and tell her that I was fine.
I needed to think of a reason to tell her as far as why I wasn’t at home.
She wanted to take care of me when I was discharged from the hospital, but I didn’t want to be at her house not knowing if Kalim was looking for me.
That man had turned my entire life upside down.
It was very easy to see why his own son disliked him.
There wasn’t much to like about Kalim from what I’d seen.
Pearce shocked me when he stuck to his word and gave me $50,000.
With that and the money I got from Kalim; I had enough to work with and really wanted to say forget the million.
Something was absolutely better than nothing.
I had an intense desire to look around the house, but I was sure he probably had cameras.
There was nothing wrong with seeing where I would be staying, but I just didn’t want it to look like I was snooping.
There was a television in my room, so I found something to watch.
Ten minutes into the show, my stomach growled.
Pearce had a muscular physique. The kind that made him look like he knew his way around the gym.
At dinner, he’d eaten steak and grilled shrimp.
Hopefully, there was more than protein bars and frozen meals in the fridge.
In the kitchen I found bread, sandwich meat, cheese, a variety of potato chips, Hot Pockets, eggs, sausage, grits, and a few other items. It was enough to make something shake.
I had just cracked two eggs when my phone vibrated.
Looking at the screen made me realize I’d never called my mother.
“Hey. How are you feeling today?”
I couldn’t tell my mother where I was and I for sure couldn’t tell her why I was there.
Knowing her she would want to come by and visit, and I’d have to think of something to tell her.
“I feel pretty good. Thinking about when I’m going to feel confident enough to drive to Florida and check things out there. ”
“You’re really serious about moving?” she was trying to hide it, but I could hear the disappointment in my mother’s tone. I was her only child, and she didn’t want me in another state. She’d get used to it, and I’d come visit. Or she could come visit me.
“Yeah, I just need a change of scenery. You might even like it. If you wanted, you could move down. Stay with me until you get your own place. Just throwing it out there.”
My mother chuckled. “You know I’m stuck in my ways. I’ve been in Diamond Cove my entire life. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself in another state.”
“Ummm live. Experience new things. Shoot, for a second or two, I thought about moving to Thailand or somewhere over there where the cost of living, food, and healthcare is cheap.”
“Girl, if you hate me just say that. You done went from living in another state to another country.”
“What?” I laughed shocked by my mother being so dramatic. She didn’t even own a passport, so getting her to come visit me in another country would be a waste of begging.
My mother released a sigh. “You know I always want you to do what’s best for you. If possibly living in another country will make you happy then don’t rule it out. I just want you happy.”
“I know.” The thought of her having to grieve me the same way my aunt was grieving her kids made my chest tight.
No mother should ever have to bury a child.
That shit was insane and cruel. I went from a sentimental moment with my mother to being furious with Kalim all over again.
There wasn’t anything wrong with moving but having to run and be worried about Kalim for the rest of my days wasn’t something I was looking forward to.
Prayerfully, whatever Pearce was saying would happen would.
Maybe Kalim would say fuck it and forget about it. Or just let it go rather.
“I’m still trying to figure everything out though. How have you been feeling? Have you been taking your medication?” I probed.
“Yes, mother, I’ve been taking my medication,” she chuckled. “I’ve been feeling pretty good these past few days. I just pray that it continues.”
When my mother was younger, there was more time in between her sickle cell episodes.
She might have a crisis that lasted a few hours or a few days, and then she wouldn’t have another one for five or six months.
As she got older, sometimes they came once a month.
I tried to do research and find ways that she could change her lifestyle and try to get a better hold of her health.
A few years back, my mother began to have breathing issues.
She was getting frequent respiratory infections.
It scared me so bad. I went grocery shopping for her and urged her to eat anti-inflammatory foods.
I bought her herbal tea and anything that I thought might help her.
My parents divorced when I was eight and two months after that, my father died in a freak work accident.
My mom was awarded a very nice amount of money that held us over until I was about sixteen.
She used the last of it to buy me a car for my birthday.
Even when she had his money, she was able to make it last so long because she always tried to hold a job.
Everything in her wanted to defy the odds and not let sickle cell have her life.
Even as a grown woman, I was scared of losing the only parent that I had left.
I didn’t want her stressed or worrying. That was the main reason that even when I was having financial issues, I paid her bills before paying my own.
I talked to my mother for over an hour before we got off the phone.
Before I knew it, Pearce was entering the home with a plastic bag filled with braiding hair and a large brown paper bag that contained takeout.
“Thank you,” I gave him a small smile as he passed me the bag of braiding hair.
“No problem. You hungry? I stopped by a soul food spot. I wasn’t sure what you eat, so I got a little of everything.” The aroma of the food awakened my senses and had my stomach growling.