Chapter 27 Charisma
TWO WEEKS LATER
“Hello?”
“Where have you been?”
I sigh. “I needed to take some time out with everything going on. I’m sure you’ve seen the news, especially now that you’re in the center of it.”
“It’s convenient that you disappeared right before all this broke out, and now that I’m suspected in the ludicrous accusations of my wife’s murder, you conveniently reappear.”
“One thing has nothing to do with the other, Ben.”
“Are you sure? I’ve been looking for you for weeks now, and you finally appear. Tell me, Charisma. Was it you siccing your boyfriend on me that caused you to feel safe enough to come out of hiding?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He chuckles softly, and it raises the hair on my arms. In the past, I used to love how smooth and sexy he sounded when he chuckled. Now, I feel like I should run.
“I’m sure that you don’t. Either way, I’m just calling to send a message to your boyfriend. The way that I see it, you’re the easiest way to relay that message.”
“Whatever, Ben. You’re talking crazy.”
“Let him know that this isn’t over. He will pay for his crimes. When this is all over, I’ll personally place a bullet between his eyes.”
“Is it true, Ben?”
“Is what true?”
“Did you use me to get to Chrishon?”
He chuckles again.
“Even now, you refuse to call him the monster that he is. When you spoke of him in the past, you made him sound like some saint.”
“I never did that.”
“Yes, you did. I could tell from the way that you spoke of him that you still regarded him in a positive light and that your feelings for him were strong. Were you ever planning to be serious with me?”
“I think that’s a question you should ask yourself. You’re the one who came after me with illicit intentions.”
“Tell yourself whatever you need to sleep good at night, Charisma.”
“What do you want? Why are you reaching out to me?”
“I’ve told you. Relay the message to your boyfriend, and if I can’t get to him, I know the best way to bring him out into the open.
I’ll take the two people who mean the most to him.
It will be so easy for me to get to CJ. I don’t want anything to happen to him, but it is what it is.
I hope the three of you enjoy your happily for now, because it won’t last for long.
Tell CJ he might as well enjoy his daddy while he can because he’ll be gone soon.
You will wish that I was still in your life, Charisma.
It won’t be easy raising a deaf child alone. I have made so many things easy—”
“Don’t you dare threaten my child’s life or take credit for a single thing that I did for my child! I did not need your help then, and I don’t need it now.”
After I end the call, I notice that my hands are shaking.
I can’t believe that he threatened my baby that way.
Fuck that, I’m not protecting him. As soon as I see Chaos, I’ll let him know exactly what he said.
Ben took his life into his own hands the minute that he threatened my son.
I close my eyelids tight and press my lips together.
The doorbell rings and makes me jump. One glance in the mirror, and I can see that I’m clearly shaken. I blow a breath out through my nose. Stopping by the kitchen, I grab my favorite butcher knife and head to the door.
I pray that it’s Chaos at the door and no one else. I didn’t bother to look at the caller ID, because Chaos is supposed to be picking me up for a date tonight. Chrishanna is watching CJ, and I assumed that it was Chaos calling to say he was running late.
When I see his face in the peephole, relief washes over me. I pull the door open and throw myself into his arms. He wraps his strong arms around me, steadying me.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
I remain in his arms, unable to speak for a few moments. I inhale deeply and exhale slowly for several long seconds before I pull back.
“He called,” I explain, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Who? What’s this about?” he asks, removing the knife from my hand.
“Ben. He just called.”
Chaos’s look of concern morphs into anger. “What the fuck did he want?”
“He wanted to know where I’ve been and to tell me that you will pay for your sins.
He says that he’ll place a bullet between your eyes the minute he sees you and that if he can’t find you, he knows how to pull you out by getting the two people who means the most to you.
He threatened CJ’s life, Chaos. He said that he would hate to see anything happen to him. ” I sob.
He laughs and wipes my tears. “Is that right?”
“I don’t think that you should take it lightly.”
“Trust me, I don’t.”
“How the hell can you be laughing right now?”
“Because he doesn’t know who he just fucked with. His hours are numbered. You ready?”
“Ready? Are you sure you still want to go out?” I ask, staring up at him.
“I’m not about to let that nigga ruin our night, precious, and neither are you. We’ve been through a hell of a lot more than this, and we survived.”
“I don’t want to come back here alone tonight, Chaos.”
“You won’t, baby. You or CJ won’t be coming by here again at all, at least not until he’s taken care of.”
The way that he speaks those words sends a chill of fear down my spine. “Let me grab my things.”
“A’ight.”
He pulls his phone out and starts tapping on it as I go through the apartment and make sure that everything is turned off and locked up. I pack a couple of bags for CJ and me, and I grab my keys, phone, and purse.
“I haven’t done this since we were kids, believe it or not.”
“Me either. That’s why I wanted to bring you tonight.”
“Remember the first time your parents brought us here, and we were in the back of the truck hiding under the covers so your dad didn’t have to pay for us to get in?”
Chaos laughs. “Yeah, and Chrishanna’s bigheaded ass almost got us caught.”
“It wasn’t her fault that her allergies kicked in.”
“I’on know, Charisma. She didn’t start all that sneezing until we were in the line to pay to get in.”
I climb out of my seat and scoot over to his side, straddling him.
“What are you doing?” he asks, staring at me from underneath half-lidded eyes.
“Feeding you,” I reply, scooping some popcorn from the bucket and feeding it to him.
He opens his mouth and accepts the popcorn from my hand. He holds my hand firmly in place after the last kernel is in his mouth. I watch his sexy, full lips as he slowly chews the popcorn. When he finishes, he licks the butter from my fingers.
“That shit’s nice and all, but that ain’t what I wanna be eating right now.”
I roll my eyes and giggle. “Do you ever think about anything else?”
“All the time. It’s just that your pussy is also playing on a loop in my mind.”
“Is that right?”
“Mm-hmm. Let me show you.”
He slides his hand between us and slips it underneath my skirt. Long, thick fingers slide across my moistened lower lips as his lips cover mine. We kiss slowly with our eyes open, but his gaze isn’t on me. He is watching the movie screen the entire time.
I twerk in his lap, welcoming his penetrating fingers in my sex. It feels so good that I want to just recline and let him fuck me with his fingers until I cum.
Chaos pulls them free, breaks the kiss, and slips his fingers into his mouth.
The entire time, he’s still watching the movie.
When he finishes licking his fingers clean, he speaks.
“I knew that nigga was gon’ get caught slipping.
These damn movies are so predictable. She caught his ass clean in the neck. ”
“Huh?”
“The movie. I bought ya ass here to watch the movie.”
“I know, but . . .”
“But what?”
“You were making me feel so good. I thought you were into it.”
He chuckles. “I was. Told ya ass I can think about other shit while your pussy plays on a loop in my mind.” He slips his fingers back inside of me and scissors them.
I grip his shoulders tightly as I slowly lower and rise, enjoying the pleasure that he brings me.
It feels so good that I don’t want him to stop.
Chaos continues fingering me until I explode on his fingers, and the entire time, he’s kissing my neck, my lips, my jaw, and my breast. Yet, somehow, he manages to keep his eyes on the movie.
“You’re an excellent multitasker,” I mumble breathlessly as I collapse with my back against the steering wheel.
“Told ya,” he replies, sucking his fingers clean again.
I climb off him and return to my seat. I grab the popcorn and wrap my arms around it. When he reaches for it, I shove his hand away.
“What’s that about?”
“You’ve eaten. It’s my turn to be fed.”
“That’s how you gon’ act?”
“Mm-hmm. Besides, I don’t want your pussy fingers in my box of popcorn.”
“Girl, shut up before I whip this dick out and nut all over that popcorn.”
I slowly turn my gaze his way and narrow my eyes.
“What?”
“You’re a nasty ass, Chaos.”
“You love me though,” he replies, leaning over for a kiss. I give him exactly what he wants, savoring the taste of me on his lips and tongue.
“I do.”
He returns his attention to the movie, and he’s right; this is nostalgic. It reminds me of being kids with his parents at the drive-in movie theater too. I can’t wait to bring CJ here for the experience one day.
“Hey, why do you think he showed up now? We haven’t heard from him in all this time, and now he calls me.”
“I think he’s been watching and waiting. You’ve been in hiding. He probably saw when you came out.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t reach out to me.”
“He was probably waiting to see if I would come around, checking the scene. Who knows? Besides, he knows that his time is winding down. He might be thinking that your sensitive ass might offer up a plea for his life.”
“Are you going to kill him?”
“I ain’t gon’ lay a hand on that nigga.”
“Then what does that mean, pleading for his life?”
“Don’t worry about it. This moment right here is the last one you’ll ever have to worry about him again.”
“Oh.”
His answer doesn’t really satisfy me, because I know that there’s more to it than that, but I’ll leave it alone for now. I recall his earlier statement about not allowing him to ruin our night.