Chapter 19

 

Elsie

 

“Rachel, come on back inside, honey,” Lana says softly but with enough panic in her voice to make me listen to her. “It’s freezing out here.”

“Okay,” I say, stepping back inside. I’m already growing tired of her calling me Rachel and I just got here. Trevor has up and left me here all by myself after he clocked Dexter. Lana is floating around like she’s in denial – like nothing ever happened when we know what happened. Trevor darn near knocked his own father’s lights out. Dexter’s face is bloody (light skin folks simply can’t hide bruises) and he’s rubbing his nose as if he’s trying to determine if it’s broken.

Lana tries to give Dexter a towel, but he slaps it away and staggers down the hallway where he’d initially came from (and probably where he should’ve stayed). I think it’s safe to say I’m in panic mode. I don’t know these people and they don’t know me. Trevor obviously can’t stand his father if they can come to blows within moments of seeing each other. And Dexter is somewhat of a perv, trying to hit on me, calling me chocolate. Who walks around calling people different flavors based on their skin color? And then he looked me up and down, was staring so hard, I bet he knows what size bra I wear. I see why Trevor doesn’t like the man.

Since Dexter refused to use the towel after he got decked, Lana uses it to wipe up blood spatters like this is nothing out of the ordinary. She doesn’t look flushed, embarrassed or anything of the sort. She’s just cleaning up blood. I determine she must be in denial. Maybe that’s where she’s always been. Where she’s most comfortable.

After she cleans up the blood, Lana looks at me, smiles and asks, “Are you hungry?”

“No.”

“How about some hot chocolate? Would you like some hot chocolate?”

No, but I’m sure your husband does...

I chastise see myself for being so crude, then respond, “I’ll take some coffee.”

“Certainly. Come with me, dear.”

She has one of those old-style coffee makers, but the thing sure makes some hot fresh coffee. I sip, then glance up.

Sip.

Glance.

My goodness, this is awkward. I don’t know this lady. She’s sipping coffee, too, and not saying a word to me. Nothing. Okay, Elsie. Talk to the woman. Get out of your box and engage her in conversation. Trevor’s taught you how to do this, so do it.

I clear my throat in preparation to speak when she says, “You know it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We’re getting up to six inches the weatherman said.”

“Oh. Okay.” I drink more coffee as my anxiety builds. This is just great. Now, it’s going to snow and I could be stuck here? And where is Trevor?

“I’m sorry you had to witness that, Rachel. Some first impression, huh?”

“I’m not here to judge you or Dexter, Lana. I just wanted to meet you. Trevor thinks the world of you.”

“I think the world of him, too. He grew up to be such an amazing man, despite how his father is.”

“How is his father?”

She shrugs. “He’s a man. Men do men things as I’m sure you know already, but he’s a good provider. I’ve never had to work.”

Now, I’m starting to put the pieces together. Dexter is stepping out on Lana and she accepts it because he’s a good provider.

Ain’t enough money in the world…

Good provider or not – that doesn’t give a man the right to cheat on you. Of course, I feel it’s not my place to tell her this. She’s probably heard it plenty of times from Trevor.

“Why is Trevor so furious with his dad?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t say furious.”

“He bloodied his father’s nose. I think furious is pretty accurate for the way Trevor’s feeling right about now.”

Lana shook her head and sighed. “Rachel, this feud between them goes back a long time, but listen—we’re not going to let that spoil our good time. Tomorrow, I’m cooking a meal so delicious, it’ll make you forget everything that’s happened tonight.”

“Is that so?”

“It sure is. Now, I know you’re tired, so I’m not going to bombard you with questions, sugar. You can turn in whenever you like. I’m gonna go back here and see about Dexter. Have a good night.”

“Goodnight, Lana.”

As soon as she leaves the kitchen, I run upstairs to the room where she put my bag and purse, then dial Trevor’s number. He answers, “I’ll be there in a lil’ while, Elsie.”

“A lil’ while, Trevor?” I say in an angry whisper. “You nearly knocked your father’s nose off of his face and you run off and leave me here alone with your folks?”

He laughs.

“This isn’t funny,” I say, still whisper-yelling. “Get your butt back here!”

He’s still laughing. Now, I’m starting to think he’s a lil’ crazy, too. What does this man have me mixed up in?

“Stop laughing at me, Trevor. I’m serious.”

“Stop panicking, Ellie,” he says. “You act like you’ve never seen a fight before.”

“Not in real life. You hit the crap out of your father! I can’t stay here. I can’t stay here! I’m ‘bout to call Uber, Lyft, 9-1-1, Tyrone…somebody’s coming to pick me up. I can’t believe you left me here stranded.”

“Elsie, calm down. I’m right down the street. I’ll be to you in about ten minutes.”

“You better not be playing with me. My eyes already have a nervous twitch thanks to you.”

“Alright. Just calm your nerves. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

I hang up the phone with shaky hands feeling bamboozled. I don’t want to be in this house alone with his parents. His father is questionable and his mother is a black Stepford wife.

I get up from the bed, secure the lock on my door then text Karsheeda:

 

Karsheeda: Girl, you ain’t gonna believe this mess.

 

She messages me back right away.

 

Karsheeda: What happened, Iz?

Elsie: Can I call you?

 

She calls me instead of responding back. When I answer, she asks, “What’s going on? You there already?”

“Yes. I’m here alright. We arrived almost an hour ago. Trevor introduced me to his folks and his wannabe pimp daddy tries to make passes at me. The next thing I know, Trevor knocked the daylights out of him.”

Her gruff all-out, deep belly laugh makes me laugh.

“Trevor didn’t hit him with the one-two punch did he?” she laughs harder.

So do I. “Stop making me laugh, Sheeda. It ain’t funny.”

“My boy Trevor said he ain’t for play,” she says. “I like him. When y’all get back, you have to bring Floyd Mayweather by the office so I can meet him.”

“Oh, my gosh, Sheeda. You’re laughing and I’m panicking. Had I known his family was this screwed up, I’d stayed home.”

“Well, you’re there now, girlfriend. May as well make the best of it.”

The knock on my door startles me so bad, I actually feel a pain in my chest. “Karsheeda, somebody’s knocking at the door,” I whisper.

“It’s probably Floyd,” she says and starts laughing again.

I giggle, but I’m still on edge. “What if it’s not?”

“Girl, get off this phone and go handle your business. Call me later when everything settles down. I’m sure it will.”

“Yeah. Okay. I’m glad one of us is sure of something.”

“Bye, girl.”

“Bye.”

Tap! Tap! Tap!

More knocks.

I tiptoe to the door, touch the knob, internally chanting, please be Trevor. Please be Trevor. I open the door slowly. It’s Trevor. Thank God.

“I’m going to kill you,” I say, nudging him when he steps into the room. “What the heck was that, Trevor?”

“It was nothing. Just a small family dispute.”

“Small? That was small? Your mother was wiping blood off the floor and that was small?”

Trevor walks over to the bed, takes a seat and says, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“I mean, is this how you normally are? Violent. Running around knocking people out and stuff?”

“Will you stop it? I’m not a violent person, Ellie. I’m just protective of the people I love, and I can’t stand the dude, okay. I’m sorry if I scared you and I shouldn’t have left the way I did. I couldn’t breathe. I had to get out of there before I really did something to hurt the man.”

I sit beside him now, taking his right hand into mine. I study his dark red, bruised knuckles and rub my thumb over them. “You need to put ice on this.”

“No, I’m good.”

“Are you sure,” I ask looking at him. He still looks upset. “Trevor?” I say his name to get him to look at me. It’s the first time I’ve ever done such a thing but I feel I need to in this instance. I’m not at all nervous about looking into his eyes and I’m not focused on how attractive he is. Something is seriously wrong with this picture and I want to do whatever I can to help him fix it. “Are you sure you’re good?”

He turns away from me, thus answering my question. He’s not good. He’s upset, just as I suspected.

“You should probably go talk to him, Trevor. I know you don’t like him and clearly, he gets under your skin, but he’s still your father, and if your mother, bless her heart, finds the strength every day to forgive him, then I think you should at least try to get along with him.”

“Really? You think so, even after he called you chocolate?”

“Well, he ain’t lying,” I say, giggling. “I am chocolate.”

Trevor smiles.

“So, you’ll talk to him?”

“I guess so.”

“You may as well. I’m looking forward to having a good day with your folks tomorrow.”

“You mean with my mother. I’m sure my father is going to be busy chasing one of his hoes.”

“Really, Trevor?”

“It’s the truth.”

“That’s why you’re so angry with him, isn’t it, because he’s been cheating on your mother?”

He nodded.

“And you’ve tried talking to him about it before?”

“Many times, even as a teenager. I was in high school and had have to suffer through my mother crying her eyes out because the man she loves ain’t worth nothing. It’s why I never wanted to get married because I saw what it did to my mother—what it’s still doing to her. She’s gotten good at hiding it over the years and he’s gotten more careless. He hurts her and doesn’t care at all. What kind of man does that to a woman he’s supposed to love?”

I’m still rubbing his knuckles when I respond, “No man would do that to a woman he loves.” I look up at him to find his gaze settled on my lips. I shy away, release his hand and say, “Go talk to him.”

“I will.” He stands up and says, “Tomorrow will be better, Ellie.”

“I hope so.”

“Goodnight.”

I stand up, step in front of him and wrap my arms around him, embracing him with everything I have and with my face pressed against one of his pecks, I say, “Goodnight, Trevor.” And then he wraps his arms around me and squeezes. Oh, my goodness does he squeeze…

I’ve never been crushed in muscles before and I love this feeling. I have to literally bite my tongue to prevent myself from moaning and I feel so good with his arms around me, that suddenly, everything that happened tonight is forgiven. Everything. I’m calm in his arms. I trust that it’s a safe place and I know he’ll make an effort to make the rest of this visit enjoyable.

When we part, he looks at me, more specifically my lips and swipes the pad of his thumb across them. I close my eyes to contain the sensation of his touch, then I open them again when he cradles my face with his hands.

“I’m in the room next door,” he tells me. “You know that, right?”

“I do now.”

“If you need me for anything, don’t hesitate. Okay?”

“Okay, Trevor.”

With that, he releases me and exits the room and I return to bed, get comfortable beneath the covers and ponder over how I think my time with his family will be tomorrow. It has to be better than it was tonight. At least I hope so.