Chapter 14
Chyanne
“So you and Van, huh? Never thought I’d see him with a woman with a kid,” Nicole muses as we finish up shopping. It’s been nice to get out and have some time away.
“So I’ve heard,” I tell her.
“I’m serious. He was dead set on not having kids.”
“That’s what he said too. He wasn’t sure about it before, but he said he’s changed his mind,” I tell her as I pick up another sleeper for the baby and look at it.
“That’s cute,” she says, nodding toward the little baseball bats on the sleeves. “I’m glad he changed his mind. He’s a good guy, and I know he’ll be good to you two.”
“I’m not looking for him to replace Derrick as a father. I’m happy to raise this baby by myself.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” That voice sends a chill down my spine as I look over my shoulder and see Derrick standing behind me.
“What the hell do you want?” Nicole snaps at him. He looks out of it. Not like himself. His eyes are wild as he glances between the two of us. No. Something isn’t right.
“What I’ve always wanted. Her,” he says, nodding toward me. I shake my head slowly as I set the sleeper back on the shelf and turn to leave the store. Derrick follows behind me until we’re both out of the store, and then I feel something hard press into my back as I swallow hard.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking back what’s mine,” he says. “Get rid of Nicole, or I’ll kill her.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I hiss at him as Nicole comes to stand next to me.
“What’s going on?”
“You need to go, Nicole. Derrick is going to take me to work.”
“No. I’m taking you. Derrick isn’t doing shit,” she snaps.
“Nic, please. Thank Van for me, okay?” I’m begging her with my eyes and my tone. I’m begging her to step away from us because I don’t know what Derrick will do, and I don’t want her to get hurt.
“What the fuck, Chy?” she asks, stepping closer to me. That’s when she sees it. He flashes her the gun as she slowly shakes her head. “Don’t do this, Derrick. Please, she’s pregnant.”
“You think I don’t know that? It’s my kid!” He snaps at her but keeps his tone low so he doesn’t grab anyone’s attention.
“Don’t do this, Derrick.”
“Walk away, Nicole. I’m warning you one time only.”
“Please, Derrick,” I beg him myself.
“You just walk. Shut up and walk.” I do as I’m told, my eyes finding Nicole’s as I go. She looks panicked and almost like she wants to scream. I don’t blame her. I feel the same, but I don’t want him doing anything stupid either. I keep my eyes ahead of me and go where he leads me.
We’re out of the store and heading toward his car, where he ushers me into the driver’s seat. He climbs in the back and keeps the gun trained on me as he orders me to drive.
I pull out of the parking lot and follow his directions. We aren’t going to the apartment we once shared because it’s not this way. So, where the hell is he taking me?
“I have appointments I can’t miss, Derrick.”
“You’ll be fine. Shut up and drive.” A chill runs down my spine as I keep driving in the direction that he told me. Finally, he had me pull over into a small, run-down neighborhood and into a driveway.
“Get out,” he orders. I turn the car off and climb out, praying to god he doesn’t keep me here. I don’t know what he wants. I don’t know what he’s doing this for. “Inside,” he says as he shoves the door open and ushers me inside. I step in, and I’m almost shocked at what I see. The place is set up nicely. Not as shitty as I thought it would be. He leads me through the living room and down the hall into a bedroom that is also set up nicely. There’s a bed, a crib, everything you would need for a baby and my stomach turns at seeing this.
“What’s all this?”
“You think I wouldn’t set up a room for my baby?” he asks, sounding shocked I’d even ask.
“You did all this?”
“I did. I knew the baby was going to need a place to sleep near us,” he says. He’s delusional. He has to be. I left him. I left him because he’s abusive, and now he’s done this? He has to be crazy. Just as I think it, he starts pacing the room. Is he on drugs? Is that what this is? His eyes are wild as he looks anywhere except me. He walks over near the bed and motions for me to follow. I walk over and sit on the edge as I feel something click around my ankle. Now I panic.
“What the hell is that?” I cry out as he stands and grins at me.
“I can’t have you running on me,” he says.
“You can’t do this, Derrick. I’m pregnant,” I remind him.
“I know. That’s why I need to keep you here,” he tells me. I don’t know what to do. What the hell do I do now?
“You can’t keep me chained to the bed,” I argue. “I have appointments,” I repeat.
“It’s taken care of. I have it all taken care of, Chyanne. You left me. You shouldn’t have left me,” he growls before he slaps me across the face. My head snaps to the side, pain shooting through my face. He can’t do this to me. He just can’t.
“What do you want from me?” I cry as pain shoots through my cheek.
“You don’t get it, do you? If I can’t have you, no one else can. This is the best I can come up with until the baby gets here,” he replies manically. He’s crazy. He has to be.
“You can’t do this, Derrick. Please don’t do this,” I beg him. It does no good. He ignores me as he goes back to pacing the room. I shove myself up off the bed and drag the chain along behind me.
“Derrick, please. Think about this,” I plead with him as I follow behind him through the room. He stops and turns to face me, gripping my face in his hands.
“I have thought about this. A lot, actually. You left me, Chyanne, and that isn’t acceptable. You’re carrying my baby, and you belong with me,” he roars in my face. I try to take a step back but he doesn’t let me. He keeps his hands on my face, gripping it tightly as he looks into my eyes.
“This isn’t the way, Derrick,” I try to plead with him, but it does no good. He doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t want to hear me. He shakes his head, a sick smirk crossing his face.
“This is the only way. You wouldn’t have come back. Your little boyfriend made that clear,” he tells me.
“He isn’t my boyfriend, Derrick. We can talk about this.”
“Talk about what? You coming home? You’re home, baby! No one is going to look for you here,” he tells me. My heart beats a little faster inside my chest as I realize he’s right. No one is going to find me here. I’m going to have to figure out a way to get out of here. I can’t live like this. I can’t let my baby be born into this. The harder he squeezes my face, the more I know he’s leaving marks.
“You’re hurting me.”
“Oh, I plan on hurting you, Chyanne. I plan on hurting you so much more for leaving me.”
“Please,” I beg, trying to keep the tears from falling from my eyes. Derrick can’t do this. He can’t do this to me and this baby.
“There’s no please, Chyanne. You’re not going anywhere until you have that baby. You think I care about you? No, baby. It’s that baby I want. Not you. I don’t give a fuck about you anymore.” He isn’t making sense. That’s not what he said earlier. He said if he couldn’t have me, no one would. He has to be on something. He’s not acting right.
“You don’t want me?” I ask him, trying to defuse his anger.
“No. I don’t need you, Chyanne. All I need you for is this baby,” he says, lowering one of his hands to my stomach. Internally, I cringe. I don’t want him touching me. I don’t want him near me or my baby.
“This baby needs me, Derrick. I’m his mother,” I tell him. His eyes come to meet mine, a slight smile curling his lips.
“It’s a boy?” Fuck. I didn’t want him to know that. I didn’t want to tell him and now I did.
“It’s a boy.”
“I’m having a son,” he murmurs in awe as he drops to his knees in front of me. His hands come to rest on my stomach before he presses a kiss to my bump. I want to vomit. I want to scream, but I know none of that will do me any good.
“I’m having a son.”