Chapter Three
“You did what?” he asks.
I look at Caleb sheepishly and feel my cheeks flush with heat. I had him over for dinner a few days after telling my mother about my fake fiancé. Justin is sitting in my lap, squirming around. He looks up at me with those stunning eyes of his.
“Go play, mama?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
I give him a smile and set him on the floor, watching him toddle off to play with his toys. I hear him go into the living room and start to pull out his Legos. I cringe at the sound of hundreds of pieces of plastic cascading down on the hardwood floor.
“Yeah, you're going to want to watch where you step,” I say. “Stepping on those things hurts like a bitch. Trust me on that.”
He takes a sip of his beer and sets the glass back down on the table. “So, you and I are engaged, huh?”
I laugh and roll my eyes. “Yeah, sorry about that,” I say. “She put me on the spot and I didn't know what else to say.”
He shrugs, still chuckling. “I can think of worse things.”
“Yeah, like having to deal with my mother.”
Caleb is still chuckling to himself when he gets up and starts to clear the table and I wave him off.
“Leave it,” I say. “I'll get to those later.”
He shakes his head. “You cook, I clean,” I say. “That's the deal. That's always been the deal. You just sit down, relax, and enjoy your beer.”
I smile and shake my head. “You know, when we get married and all, I expect this little arrangement to continue,” I say. “That little ring legally makes you my maid.”
“Yeah, you wish.”
I step into the kitchen and sit on the counter, holding my beer. It doesn't take him long to finish up the dishes and when he does, he leans against the counter next to me and plucks the bottle from my hand, and takes a long swallow.
“So, how was work today?”
He shrugs. “Nothing real exciting,” he replies. “I don't have any appearances scheduled for the next week, so I drew up a couple of wills for people.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
“It was riveting.”
I look at the clock and see that it's eight. Time to put Justin to bed, so I hop down off the counter and walk into the living room. I smile when I see that he's already cleaned up most of his toys – though experience has taught me that in the middle of the night, I'm going to find the one Lego brick he missed.
“Bed time, sweetheart,” I say. “Go brush your teeth.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
He scurries down the hallway, making me smile. Watching my little boy grow up is one of the biggest joys of my life. And it makes all of the shit I had to endure in my life all worth it. Sensing his presence behind me, I turn around and find Caleb leaning against the archway that separates the kitchen area from the living room. I snag the bottle of beer and take a swallow of it.
“He's a good kid,” Caleb says. “And he's lucky to have such a great mom.”
“I'm lucky to have such a great kid,” I say and punch him playfully in the arm. “And such great friends in my life.”
A shadow passes across his face. But like a fish just below the surface of the water, it's there one moment and gone the next – as if it had never been there to begin with. I look at him curiously.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he replies. “Of course. Just thinking about a case coming up.”
I nod slowly. “Okay,” I say. “I'm going to go put the little man to bed, so I'll be right back.”
“I'll be here,” he says and flashes me that million-watt smile of his.
I head down the hallway to say goodnight and tuck Justin in. After our nightly ritual, I turn on his nightlight and smile. His steady breathing tells me that he's already out cold, so I close the door gently behind me and head back down to the living room.
Dropping down onto the couch, Caleb hands me a fresh beer. He's watching the highlights of the day's games on ESPN. And as I sit there beside him, I laugh to myself.
“What?” he asks, turning to me.
“I was just thinking about how much we actually seem like an old married couple sitting here.”
He smiles and nods his head. “Yeah, I guess we do.”
We watch for a few more minutes while talking about the minutiae of our days. It's one thing I really enjoyed about hanging out with Caleb – we can talk about the smallest, most insignificant details of life with each other and never grow bored. It's a great quality to have in a friend – a quality I found all too seldom growing up. Needless to say, I never had a lot of friends as a kid. Mostly because I couldn't deal with the petty, selfish bullshit that came with adolescence.
I jump when there's a knock at the door and turn to Caleb.
“What are you looking at me for? Not my house, it's not my booty calls stopping by,” he grins.
“Booty calls, right,” I say. “Because I've got 'em lined up around the block.”
“Who knows what you do when I'm not around.”
I glance at my watch and see that it's coming up on nine. Kind of late for kids selling newspapers or candy. The knock sounds again, this time a little louder and forceful. Getting up off the couch, I walk over to the door and look out the peephole – and see nothing but darkness. I've been on the landlord for the last month about getting the lights outside fixed and he always says he'll get around to it – and never does.
Sighing, I open the door and immediately feel my heart drop into my shoes. “What in the hell are you doing here?” I ask, my voice tight with tension. “How in the hell did you even find me?”
I hear Caleb get up off the couch and feel his presence behind me – it's a reassuring presence that I take comfort in.
“Did you really think you could hide from me?” he says. “Hide my kid from me?”
Standing on the porch is none other than my ex – Glenn McSwain. I'm shocked to see him standing there. Mostly because he was supposed to be in prison for another year and a half. He looks the same as the last day I saw him – tall, muscular, thick goatee, and a shaved head. He looks every bit the member of the biker gang I remember him to be.
“How are you out?” I asked. “I thought you –”
“Early parole,” he says. “Overcrowding. Lucky me, huh? Now, you gonna let me in?”
My eyes are wide and I feel adrenaline surging through my body. I'm terrified of Glenn – mostly because I know what he's capable of. He's capable of doing terrible things – the bruises have all healed, but I've still got a few scars that prove it.
When I was with him, I lived in a constant state of terror. He has a bad temper and when he's set off, he can be downright vicious. I stand rooted to my spot, terrified, unable to move. I thought that by moving across the country, I'd be free of Glenn. That I'd never have to see him again. That I'd never have to live in that kind of fear ever again.
But there he is, standing on my doorstep.
“H – how did you find us?” I ask, my voice coming out a meek little whisper.
“Doesn't matter,” he replies. “I found you. That's all that matters. Now, we can be a family again. So, let me in.”
I hear Caleb take a step forward behind me and it breaks the paralysis that gripped me. He's still out of Glenn's sight and I want to keep it that way.
“N – no, Glenn,” I say, trying to put some steel behind my words. “I'm not going to let you in. And we're not going to be a family. We're over. We've been over.”
“Baby, come on,” he says, giving me a smile that used to melt my heart – used to. “Don't be like that. I made a few mistakes but I'm a new man. Give me a chance.”
I shake my head. “You need to go, Glenn,” I say. “Now.”
His eyes narrow, his jaw sets, and his face darkens – all warning signs of an impending explosion I got to know well when I was with him. Like a storm gathering strength, when he finally let loose, I usually ended up with bruises somewhere on my body – but never anywhere anybody could see them. He was usually smart about that.
“You don't get it, Veronica,” he says, his voice low and menacing. “I'm out now. We're gonna to be together – you, me, and Justin. We're gonna be a family again. Just like old times.”
“No, we're not, Glenn –”
The cracking of him punching the wall beside the door made me jump and as if it was an automatic response, tears welled in my eyes and my body started to tremble.
“Let me in this goddamn apartment, Veronica,” he spits. “You ain't gonna keep me from my boy.”
“Actually,” Caleb says, suddenly stepping up beside me in the doorway. “She can keep him from you – given that you're a convicted felon and all –”
Glenn's face grows even darker and the air of tension that surrounds us already, is suddenly filled with an anticipation of violence. Caleb doesn't know what Glenn is capable of. Doesn't know of the terrible things he's done. The last thing I want is for Caleb to get hurt.
“Who the fuck are you?” Glenn snaps.
Caleb takes another step forward – intentionally putting himself between me and Glenn. I want to grab him, pull him back, get him out of harm's way. Knowing Glenn, the way I do, I'm reasonably sure he's got a gun on him and is just looking for an excuse to hurt somebody. That's who he is. Who he's always been. He enjoys inflicting pain on people.
“An attorney,” Caleb says, his voice firm and strong. “And I can tell you that your criminal background will make it hard for you to ever get custody of Justin –”
“Who fuckin' asked you?” Glenn snapped.
Caleb shrugs. “I like to hand out legal advice pro bono from time to time.”
“This don't concern you –”
Caleb slips his phone out of his pocket and smirks. “Actually, as an officer of the court, it kind of does,” he says. “Because I'm pretty sure that one of the terms of your parole was that you're not allowed to leave the state you were incarcerated in.”
Glen looks at him with absolute fury in his eyes – but remains silent. I can see his hand twitching and I know that he wants to pull the gun I'm sure he's carrying. Caleb simply stands there, completely unafraid of Glenn – if anything, looking amused by him.
“Did you get permission from your parole officer to travel across the country?” Caleb asks.
“Fuck you,” Glenn snaps.
“I'll take that witty retort as a no,” Caleb says and holds up his phone. “Tell you what, Glenn. You leave now and I won't call the police and let them know there's a fugitive standing here in front of me. Because I'd be willing to bet that if you get collared violating your parole, you're going to do some more time.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Leave now, and never come back,” Caleb says calmly. “You forget about Veronica and you forget about Justin. They're done with you. For good.”
Glenn stares at him and I can tell he's debating with himself about what to do. Caleb punches in the number for 911 and shows it to Glenn to spur his decision. After a long moment – one in which I swear, I didn't breathe – Glenn turns and walks away without another word.
I fear though, that this won't be the last I'm going to see of him.
Caleb closes the door and locks it. Turning around, he pulls me into a tight embrace and just holds me. The physical contact seemed to break down the emotional dam within me and I began to shake and tremble as I sobbed uncontrollably into his chest.
Guiding me to the couch, Caleb sits me down and holds me, stroking my hair, and telling me that everything is going to be okay.
I'm not so sure he's right.