Chapter 5 Chaos
Charisma’s little ass thinks she’s slick. I can tell by her distracted answers that her mind is on something else. The only thing that can be is how she’s going to get away from me with my son. She got me fucked up if she thinks I’m about to let that happen.
I follow her up the back of the steps, taking in the smooth curve of her ass in the sundress that she’s wearing, and her shapely calves. Her hair has grown longer and her curves more rounded since I saw her last.
She was always a slim girl, but even with her weight gain, she’s still on the slim side.
I’m willing to bet she’s no more than a buck and a quarter.
She’s nine inches shorter than me with beautiful caramel-colored skin.
Her oval-shaped face is rounder than it used to be now that she’s picked up a little weight.
When she glances back at me over her shoulder after she rings the bell, I can see the fear in her upturned, russet-brown eyes.
She gives me a nervous smile, and that slight overbite underneath her full, heart-shaped lips tugs at my heart the way it always did.
Whenever she would smile at me like that, I would mush her little button nose in.
“When did you get that?” I ask as she presses the doorbell again.
“What?”
“That,” I reply, pointing at the cobra tattoo on her upper right arm.
She glances at it and places her hand over it. Clearing her throat, she replies, “Not long after you left.”
I had jokingly given her the nickname Venom back then.
I wanted her to become my old lady, but she wasn’t interested in anything to do with the MC.
She asked why I would call her that because it was a mean name rather than a term of endearment.
I told her that she was the sweetest person I ever met, but when crossed up, her ass could become as bitter and poisonous as venom.
The door finally opens, and a short, light-skinned woman with brownish-blonde dreads and wide hips smiles brightly at Charisma.
“Girl, where have you been? I’ve been calling you since last night.
You were supposed to be back by two, and then tonight, I see you on TV.
What happened? You’re all over the news as a person of interest in the assault and battery case of Emmanuel Tennison.
What the hell is going on? I had to call out of work today. ”
Damn, that was fast. If she just woke up with that nigga this evening and they already have her picture circulating on the nightly news, this smells like a setup.
Someone knew she was meeting with him, knew the assault would happen, and knew where her babysitter lived.
I didn’t like any of this shit, and I knew we had to dip before any other “coincidences” happened.
“It’s a long story, Ang, and I promise that I’ll tell you later. I’m so sorry that I didn’t make it back. I don’t have time to tell you now, but I have to get CJ and leave.”
I need to get her phone because I don’t have plans on her telling anyone shit until I figure out what’s going on, especially knowing my seed is involved. I’ll be damned if I risk his life. The world that I come from says trust no muthafucka, babysitters included.
“There are reporters outside of my building, Charisma. Lucky for him, he’s missed all the excitement,” she states, pointing at the little boy on the floor with his back to us.
“I know. Can you please not let anyone know that I’ve been by here if they ask? I’m sneaking back out again, but I need to keep a low profile for a while.”
“Yeah, girl. I got you. Lucky for you that you’ve got a work-from-home job. I hope these people aren’t tripping when I go back in tomorrow,” she states, sighing.
“I’ll pay you for the missed day of work,” I state, stepping up from behind Charisma who gasps, and Angelique leans sideways and smiles at me.
I had been standing on the opposite wall, hiding in the shadows, next to someone’s door across the hall from Angelique. I’ve caught them both off guard.
“Who is this?” Angelique asks, batting her eyelashes and smiling flirtatiously at me.
She is a bad chick, who on another day, I would have hollered at, should holler at since Charisma doesn’t have the time of day for me.
I’m just not interested in a woman at the moment.
The only thing that really captures my attention is the little jit playing with a toy motorcycle in the background.
He’s lying on his belly, facing away from us. I’m curious because most kids would immediately jump up and rush to their parents when they arrive, but he continues playing like we aren’t even here.
“This is Chaos, Geli. Chaos, this is Geli, or Angelique, my friend and babysitter.”
Angelique bites her bottom lip and extends her hand to me. With the way her tits jiggle in the low-cut, high cropped tee, I can see why she is called Geli, or more like jelly. I shake her hand but keep my gaze on Charisma as she moves into the room.
I watch as she kneels beside the little boy and taps his shoulder. He looks up, and his mouth opens wide. An odd sound comes out as he shrieks and jumps into her arms. It leaves me confused, especially when Charisma taps her lips and starts using her fingers to speak.
Fuck! She’s using American Sign Language.
“She’s using ASL. He’s deaf,” Angelique explains.
“Deaf or hard of hearing?”
“Sexy, hard of hearing is what you seem to be. I said deaf. I meant that in its totality. He has no functionality when it comes to hearing.”
“Good to know,” I mutter.
“Don’t go feeling sorry for either of them. They are both as happy as they can be. His little heart is full of so much love, and she’s grown a lot because of him.”
Despite Angelique’s words, my heart breaks for him and for Charisma.
I can’t help but wonder how difficult it has been for her.
I’m pissed as hell that I have missed out on his little life.
Yeah, I wasn’t here for her, but I didn’t know she was pregnant either.
She had known and never uttered a word. She could have told Priest and allowed me the option to be here when she was pregnant, at his birth, and in his life.
I have missed out on so much, and it was all her fault.
A little voice inside of my head keeps saying that she wasn’t the sole one responsible for me missing out, but I’m not ready to accept that.
I want to punish her in the worst way possible.
There is nothing that I can think of that can come close to being a sufficient punishment for her denying me the right to be present in his life, nothing short of death.
I watch as she grabs CJ by the hand, grabs his bag, and thanks Angelique again.
When they turn to face me full on, I’m shocked by the likeness.
Looking at this kid is like looking in the mirror.
Not a single part of him resembles Charisma; he’s all me.
I know that my mom must have pulled out my school pictures over the years and compared them to his little face a dozen times or more.
I regret not keeping in touch with my family, but I had to do it for their safety. Although the MC has had prospects looking out for them from time to time, my mom and sister never knew. If I had just said one word, it would have made all the difference. This is fucked up.
CJ watches me with a quizzical expression before he turns his gaze back to Charisma, and his hands fly in a flurry of movement.
Angelique presses her hand to her mouth and giggles.
“What are they saying?”
“Oh, he just asked his mother if you’re about to kidnap them. He says that you look like the dudes from Sons of Anarchy that JT watches, except you’re black.”
“Who’s JT?”
“Her boyfriend’s brother,” Angelique states with a smirk.
“Charisma, let’s go,” I demand as frustration grows inside of me.
“I’m coming,” she replies, rushing after me.
When we reach the bottom of the stairwell, I press my hand into her shoulder. “Stand right here, and I’ll go grab the truck. It won’t take me long. I’m not playing either, Charisma. Don’t fucking try to play me.”
“Okay. Okay,” she replies impatiently.
I glance at my son again, and I just want to hold him, ask him a million questions, and kiss his little face, but I must move at her pace.
I head through the woods as fast as I can to get to the other street. The entire time, I glance back every now and then to make sure they’re still there, until I can no longer see them. When I finally reach my truck, I don’t relax because I’m scared that she’ll be gone when I reach that street.
It takes less than a minute for me to make my way back to where I left them. As I loop around the block, I notice that she’s no longer in the spot that I left her, but I can see her moving to the opposite side from where I’m coming.
She’s heading down a side alley, and she’s carrying CJ in her arms. He’s on the smaller side to be four, but she still shouldn’t be carrying him.
I jump the curb and cross over the parking lot to get to where she is.
I jump out of the truck in a side alley, not shutting off the ignition, and corner her.
“Don’t make me turn ugly in front of him. Please don’t get fucked up, Charisma. I don’t want him to see that side of me, but girl, if you try to play me, it’ll be the last time you play anybody. Now get your scandalous ass in the truck.”
She huffs and rubs CJ’s back as he whimpers and buries his face in her neck. They climb into the back seat of my truck before I hop in and drive off.