Page 12

Eleven

“Angel!”

I clutched my chest underneath my heavy comforter with my eyes glued to the ceiling. I didn’t have to check my bed because underneath me was soaked. Embarrassment engulfed me as I laid as stiff as a statue covered as my father yelled my name over and over. Why the fuck does my room smell like him?

“Angel, if you don’t say something, I’m going to call the ambulance and get you some medical help. I’m no doctor, baby, but from where I stand…something just ain’t right.” My father rambled whenever his nerves was bad.

I slowly sat up and stopped myself from yawning or even attempting to stretch. I didn’t want to make any sudden movements while my father stood by the door, halfway inside of my room. Something halted me from moving fully into my new house. I had the keys and yet, I stayed another week at my parents’ house. Detavio kept forcing his way into my mental.

Every night he appeared in my dreams. When I woke up, I felt just how I did now. A mess; hot, horny, and highly bothered. I remembered each dream so vividly, I realized that I was in a mental battle with myself. I was disgusted with the mere fact of me dreaming about a man that I deemed as unhinged with no morals. The difference with this dream, was that I woke up smelling Detavio. His distinctive woodsy cologne mixed with tobacco invaded my nostrils.

I also woke up drenched, my legs felt stiff and sore like someone stretched my legs far beyond the norm. I knew that I had peed in the bed from how the covers stuck to my body. Something wasn’t right with me, just like my father had stated.

I blinked my eyes rapidly, as my heartrate accelerated. Was it real? I asked myself as I looked around my room in a panic. I inhaled deeply and his smell was strong.

“Angel?” My father called out to me.

I locked eyes with him and willed myself not to cry just because my anxiety and frustration was currently getting the best of me.

“Pa?” I searched his eyes for help.

I wanted him to ease my worries. Hopefully, I was just tripping out majorly.

“Yes, baby.” My father stepped further into the room.

I quickly held my hand up, stopping him, too paranoid for him to come all the way in. What if he is still in here hiding somewhere?

“Angel, you’re scaring me.”

My father dug into his pants pocket; he pulled out his cellphone. Next, he pulled his glasses down from the top of his bald head and adjusted them on the bridge of his long roman nose.

“Pa, what cologne do you have on?” I changed the subject to stop him from dialing 9-1-1.

“I don’t know, I kind of love it, though. Your ma went shopping the day before yesterday. Today is my first day testing it out, you like it?” He smiled genuinely.

I instantly calmed down and released the breath that I had been holding on to.

“Yea, Pa, I like it. It got my whole room smelling good.” I smiled.

I released a nervous laugh and sighed.

“I had a nightmare, Pa. Sorry for scaring you. I’m okay, just been overworking myself. I think that I’m going to focus on decorating the new house and getting moved in today or tomorrow,” I stated.

“I understand, baby girl. You got to take it easier on yourself. Your Ma and I gifted you a nice bed set. It’s already set up over at your house.”

“I see y’all already using the spare key that I gave you guys.” I joked.

I shifted a little in the bed until I was on my side to get a better view of my father. Although he was fifty-eight years old, he didn’t look a day over thirty-five. He was tall and lean. Once his hair line started to recede, he shamelessly went bald. My Pa was handsome with a full salt and pepper beard. His light complexion turned beat red whenever he was excited, mad, or even sad.

“You know we will never invade your privacy. It’s after two p.m., I wanted to help you out with moving some things over to your house before I have to head over to the office to go over a few things that I have lined up with my uhh, clients.” He finished his sentence quickly.

His eyes shifted from left to right before he refocused them on me. He was lying about something.

“I haven’t been to your office in a while, how has the construction sites been doing?” I asked.

I needed to pick more with my father, to try and see what all he really been up to.

“Oh…” He chuckled.

“It’s going really good, baby. I’ve been busy but it’s been worth it. My company has scored three multi-million-dollar contracts. I told your Ma that I plan on being hands on, traveling to oversee everything just to make sure everyone is doing their part right. Hopefully by the end of the year, me and Shelly can go on a long vacation for our anniversary.” He smiled.

“Oh, that would be good, Ma was telling me how you been busy a lot lately. Just how you get on me about over doing it, I hope you don’t over work yourself. You know, the doctor told you not to lift over thirty pounds. Your back is bad from the accident still plus the hip replacement you had to get.” I reminded him.

“I know, I don’t overdo it. I make the blueprints for whatever the workers construct. I’m not at the construction sites holding limber since my injuries. I do like to pop up and stay on site just to show them that I’m always somewhere close watching them.”

“I get it. Well, I’m going to get up and take care of my hygiene. I’ll be ready to go in about an hour.” I yawned, still feeling sleepy.

“Okay, so that means that you will be ready in two hours based upon how your hair looks,” he said as he closed the door.

I couldn’t hold in my fit of giggles. I touched the top of my head and shrieked. My scarf was off, and my hair was all over my damn head. I stretched then kicked the covers off, embracing the cold air hitting my naked body. I looked down at the huge wet spot and shivered. Something still felt off about that dream, it felt a little too damn real for my liking.

I thought I laid in a huge puddle of pee, but when I flipped the covers back I saw no faint color of yellow. The bed was soaked but there was no evident stain. Between my legs was sticky, that was enough evidence to prove to self that I had multiple orgasms while I was sleep. I stood from my bed and turned to get a better view of it by gazing over it.

I froze in place when I noticed my night gown and scarf on the floor next to my feet. I prayed that my mind had been playing tricks on me. I knew I wasn’t crazy. If I could remember my dreams so vividly and there was nothing wrong with my memory… I didn’t pull my night gown off in the middle of the night… Someone pulled the shit off and made me cum over and over.

Detavio, it was nobody but him. I lied to my father because I was trying to convince myself that it was his new cologne that invaded my nose when I woke up. All along it was Detavio. I spun in a circle feeling dizzy as my breathing picked up. I eyed every inch of my room in suspicion. I felt paranoid to the bone, and I wondered if his insane ass was somewhere hiding in my room.

What all did he do to me? It felt so fucking good. I shivered at the mere thought of him touching me in my sleep, while I dreamed about him and other women being able to have their way with me. I never denied the fact that I have always been attracted to a beautiful woman, down to a woman’s shape and the way their breasts and ass sat up.

I never wanted to date a woman, but I always wanted to at least fulfil my fantasy of exploring a woman. Did Detavio know that? Hell no! He couldn’t have known. He doesn’t even know me. Now, he had me tripping, majorly. Instead of me getting ready to call for help, I stood in the same spot squeezing my legs together, turned on about all of his sick and twisted antics.

If he was here, I would have to prove it without appearing crazy to my father or the police. The last words that he spoke to me was ‘let the games begin’; so, I guess the games had started, and unfortunately, I planned to play and win. I walked into my connected bathroom with an extra pep in my step. If he was watching or hiding somewhere in my room then I would give him a show.

When I walked into the bathroom there was a sticky note taped to the mirror, and an old newspaper with my father’s face in the center. I looked back at the sticky note and back down at the old newspaper with my father face plastered on it and decided to pick that up first with my hands shaking. In big bold letters, the headlines wrote out: Mayor of Arkville Found Not Guilty, Human Trafficking and Organ Trafficking Dropped.

I dropped the old newspaper and swallowed down hard. Who the hell was my father and what was he hiding from me and my mother? Through tear clouded eyes, I looked up at the note written in perfect cursive handwriting and frowned as I read the words…

“In the end, promises are just words.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?” I asked myself out loud.

I wanted answers, and I was going to get them either way it went, starting with my father.

I skipped hopping in the shower to quickly clean between my legs and brush my teeth. I threw on a long cotton gown then snatched the newspaper up and left out of my room in a hurry to search for my dad.

“Pa!” I called his name.

My parents’ six-bedroom, four-bathroom house was big enough to get partially lost inside of. I started downstairs searching for him, then checked upstairs. After minutes of searching, I became even more frustrated until I heard shouting coming from the backyard. I got my breathing under control and went to grab the handle to the sliding glass to slide it open.

Soon as the glass slid opened, my father turned on his heels with his phone in hand. It was evident that his face was beet red. He was arguing with someone, but who?

“Baby girl, what’s—” His words cut short when I held the newspaper up, clear as day for him to see.

I refused to step another inch from where I stood. I was sure that he could see his own face and the headline from where I was positioned.

“How? Angel, go inside so we can talk.” My father spat angrily.

His big bubble eyes roamed the backyard as if someone was nearby listening to us. He didn’t care about none of that when he was just outside screaming at the top of his lungs. I walked back inside of the kitchen then slammed the newspaper down on top of the island.

“Angel, why do you have that?” He shut the glass sliding door.

I couldn’t believe how my father’s entire demeaner flipped into something I never witnessed. That in itself hurt my feelings, his posture and aura screamed something unrecognizable.

“I don’t know why I have it, Pa. Care to tell me what this all about?” I asked as I squinted my eyes at him.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you. It’s buried in the past.” He spat, giving me his ass to kiss.

He cooly walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. He snatched a beer from the case and cracked it open.

“Does mom know?”

“My wife knows all about my past. I’m not discussing any of that with you, Angel. That is my business, and it will stay that way.” His voice raised.

“That’s fine, it just makes me wonder if you were truly guilty. I also wonder if it was Impurity Decebal that nearly killed you and not some damn motorcycle!” I yelled, getting pissed off.

My father was as stubborn as I was. I wouldn’t get the answers that I was looking for from him, so I switched gears and tried to press his buttons since he was already pissed that I had the newspaper.

“What the fuck did you just say?” He tilted his head to the side and took a step toward me.

“You heard me, so what is it! I am interviewing several women that have dealt with Impurity and Detavio! How will this all look when it comes out that my own father, the old and accused Mayor Willis, has had dealings in Arkville and went to fucking jail with serious accusations thrown at you!”

“Angel…listen to me and hear me clearly. You will drop all of whatever it is that you have going on with the Decebals! If you refuse to listen to me and do as I’m demanding of you…I will cut you off! You will not bring harm to this family.” He crushed the can with his hand and hurled it at the sliding glass.

I jumped and stumbled backward from the island. A sense of helplessness and confusion led me to deep questioning about my own identity. My father was someone else. In this moment, I didn’t know what kind of person he truly was. Determination sparked inside of me. I blinked back my tears and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the newspaper behind.

I knew who it came from, the only thing that I needed to do was find Detavio and get all the answers that I wanted to know.