Aftermath (47 page)

Aware of that, Celia had arranged to have Baron brought to the New Jersey home. Misa was ecstatic when she entered the huge living room and found Baron seated in his wheelchair smiling at her.

She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He smiled and returned the embrace, flattered that she was so clearly happy to see him.

“You act like you missed me or something,” Baron joked.

Misa climbed into his lap as he sat in his wheelchair. “Thank you, Baron,” she said. “Thank you so much for everything you did.”

He looked away, shyly, as she heaped him with praise.

“You didn't have to help me out the way you did—paying my bail, paying my lawyer, giving Camille money … I don't know how I can ever thank you enough.”

Baron loved the way her eyes danced when she spoke. “I wasn't always good to you,” he said. “Helping you out this time was the least I could do.”

The smile on her face as she looked at him now made up for all the times he had made her cry and Baron realized she made him feel like such a man, even as he sat there crippled. He hugged her, grateful he had been given a second chance at life. He planned to make the most of it this time.

Celia smiled from the doorway and left the two of them alone together. She saw that Camille and her crew had gathered out on the patio, enjoying the warm sunny day. So, Celia joined Lily in the kitchen for a cup of coffee. She poured a steaming cup and then sat across from Lily as she watched Camille, Toya, and Dominique chatting outside.

“Looks like Baron and Misa are getting close,” Lily said, smiling at Celia.

“I noticed that,” Celia agreed. “I like Misa. I think she's a smart young lady with a lot of courage and just the right amount of diva.”

Lily laughed. She did think her youngest child was the stronger of the two.

“Baron has done a lot of soul-searching lately,” Celia shared. She thought back to the conversation she'd had with him about the things he'd done in his past. “He has a lot of blood on his hands,” Celia said, locking eyes with Lily. “And it's going to be a long road to redemption for him. But, he has acknowledged his mistakes, and that's half the battle. The other half is forgiving himself.” She smiled at Lily. “And he's getting there,” she said.

The two of them gazed out the window for a few moments, watching Camille enjoying some down time with her friends.

“Camille is absolutely glowing,” Celia observed.

Lily smiled and nodded. “Yes, she is.” She glanced knowingly at Celia. “And I think Frankie sees it, too.”

Celia raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I noticed Frankie watching Camille over the past few days, when he thinks that nobody's looking at him.” She peeked toward the window to make sure that Camille wasn't listening. Confident that her daughter was occupied with her friends, Lily spoke freely. “He's looking like he's having second thoughts about leaving his wife. But it's too late now. The paperwork is already filed, the ink is dry, and Camille should keep on moving if you ask me.”

Celia sipped from her mug. “You know it's never that simple when you love a man, Lily.”

Lily rolled her eyes and stirred her coffee briskly. “Love, my ass! Frankie left her with nothing—”

“I know what he did,” Celia said, crossing her legs and looking at Camille's mother. “Frankie made a lot of mistakes and I will not sit here and defend him.”

Lily slanted her eyes at Celia. “I know you love that boy like he's your son.”

Celia nodded. “I do. Frankie's not a bad person. He just handled this situation very badly. And hearing about his childhood makes me understand him just a little bit more.” Celia fanned her hand dismissively. “Anyway, like I said, I'm not here to make excuses for him. And I happen to agree with you. Camille should leave him. She should raise her baby and be as happy as she can without him. But…” Celia leaned forward toward Lily as if she were a teenager telling a secret to her girlfriend. Lily had to chuckle despite herself.
“She loves him!”
Celia whispered. She smiled and thought back to how that felt. “You remember what it was like when you were a young girl and you just
loved
a young man.”

Lily had to admit that she did know that feeling. Young love had resulted in her bearing two children and struggling to raise them alone in the projects. She didn't want that or anything close to that for her daughters.

“Camille is probably very emotional right now, pregnant and going through a divorce. I'm sure that her hormones are wreaking havoc on her. Let her do what feels right to her right now. When the baby comes and Frankie has to figure out how to juggle fatherhood and Gillian's spoiled ass, things will change. Camille will be in a better position to decide what's best for her.”

Lily looked like she wanted to agree but was still not convinced. “Frankie thinks he can bounce in and out of her life and Camille deserves more than that.”

“She sure does,” Celia agreed. She glanced out the window and watched Camille looking lovely as ever in a pastel green maternity dress swaying back and forth on the swing. “She deserves a whole lot more than that.”

*   *   *

“I'm in love.”

Toya said those three words and stunned both Camille and Dominique speechless.

She looked at her friends and at their shocked expressions and shook her head. “Don't act like that. It's not that surprising.”

“Wait,” Camille said, clutching her belly in mock labor pain. “You're in love with whom?”

Dominique was on the edge of her seat. “Please don't tell me…”

Toya smiled at her friends, shook her hair in the breeze, and said proudly, “I'm in love with Russell.”

Camille burst out laughing, her eyes filling with tears of hysteria. Dominique threw her hands up in the air as if surrendering.

“The gremlin?” she demanded.

Toya shook her head in shame. She had called him so many horrible names before she stopped fighting what she was feeling.

“Wait,” Dominique said again. “You're sitting here telling us that you're in
love
with Russell?”

“Yes,” Toya answered.

“The same Russell that you said was a beast?”

“She called him Shrek so many times I thought it was his real name,” Camille chimed in.

“She said he had teeth like Chiclets!”

“All right!” Toya exclaimed, laughing along with her friends at some of the things she had said as she described Russell. “Yes! That's him.” She fluttered her eyelashes and shrugged. “I love him.”

“Whew!” Dominique exclaimed, trying to catch her breath after laughing for so long. She took a deep breath and blew it out as Camille fanned herself in the warm spring sunshine.

“When did you realize that you love him?” Camille asked, happy to hear her usually crusty friend being soft and pink.

Toya smiled again. “The entire time my mother was here, I couldn't stop thinking about him. Jameson was calling me. Alvin, too. I had plenty of opportunities to go out and I chose not to. I sat home night after night with Sweets and I watched his car come and go out my living room window.”

Dominique was amazed. “You watched him?”

Toya nodded. “I watched him leave for work in the morning, watched him come home with groceries. All I could think about was how he made me laugh and how intelligent he was. He didn't judge me when I had a little too much to drink. He fed me. I had such a good time with him.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Camille said, teasingly. “And he grabbed you by the throat and fucked you when you got home. That has a lot to do with how you feel about him!”

Dominique and Toya cracked up.

“True,” Toya admitted. Her eyes drifted skyward whimsically. “The way he fucks me!”

“Shhh!” Camille hissed. “My mother and Miss Celia are in there!”

The ladies giggled and chastised Toya for her loud mouth.

“I'm happy for you,” Dominique said. “Finally, you found somebody who can handle you!”

“Amen!” Camille said.

“So what if he's not too cute? I know a whole bunch of cute guys with ugly ways.” Dominique winked knowingly.

“Thanks,” Toya said. She wasn't sure whether Russell would stand the test of time. But, for now, she was willing to try to turn a new page and stop judging a book by its cover.

“How about you, miss?” Dominique asked, nudging Camille playfully. “What was all that at court today about?” Dominique put on a sultry face and lowered her voice seductively as she imitated Camille. “ ‘I enjoyed our breakfast together…' ”

Toya laughed but Camille blushed slightly, punching Dominique playfully in her arm.

“Frankie surprised me and came by the house this morning with breakfast. It was early. The sun hadn't even come up yet.”

“How did he know you'd be up?” Dominique asked.

“They were married forever. I'm sure he knows her habits,” Toya reminded her.

“He just showed up,” Camille said. “He seemed like he needed to talk about the baby, about what his brother did.” Camille briefly filled her friends in on what Frankie had said. She braced herself for their remarks and said, “He kissed me before he left.”

Toya stared at Camille in silence and Dominique's mouth hung open in disbelief.

“Camille…” Toya started.

“I know,” Camille said, holding her hands up defensively. “I know.” She sighed. “But I would be lying if I said that I didn't love him.”

Toya rolled her eyes and Dominique shook her head. “Just because you love him doesn't mean you have to be with him,” Dominique said. “Frankie really hurt you.”

“He did,” Camille admitted. “And I'm still angry. But when he kissed me, I just…” Searching for the words, she shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

“Let me ask you this,” Toya said. “If he came crawling back tonight, bags in hand, and tore up the divorce papers … would you take him back?”

Camille thought about it. She felt the baby move within her belly as if urging her to answer honestly. “Yeah,” she said, her voice low and somewhat ashamed. “I'm not proud of it. But I would take him back.”

Toya shook her head. “I don't understand that kind of love.”

Dominique didn't either—at least not anymore. “It doesn't pay,” she said. “Loving a man like that, forgiving him, ignoring his faults and trusting him with your heart…” She shook her head. “Dangerous business.”

“You're so wise,” Toya said, only half joking. “You sound so different from the wide-eyed dumb bitch you were last year.”

Dominique laughed at the backhanded compliment. “Thanks. A lot has changed in the past few months.”

Camille and Toya both nodded. Everything had changed.

*   *   *

Misa had just
finished describing Teresa's closing arguments in court that day.

“It sounds like your lawyer did her thing. The jury can't find you guilty.”

“From your mouth to God's ears,” Misa said again. It had become one of her favorite phrases.

Baron smirked a little. “Did they really call me a hoodlum in court the other day?”

Misa nodded. “They called me worse,” she offered as a consolation. She chuckled and looked at Baron, smiling. “What a couple of fuckups we are, huh?”

Baron laughed. The two of them had indeed managed to change their families' lives forever without truly meaning to.

Misa's cell phone rang and she fished it out of her bag. Seeing Louis's number flash across the screen, she lost her breath momentarily, worrying that something might be wrong with Shane. Anxiously, she answered it.

“Mommy?”

Misa's hands began to shake and Baron sat forward in his chair, concerned.

“Sh-Shane?”

“Hi, Mommy,” Shane spoke into the phone, his voice conveying his excitement upon hearing his mother's voice. “Daddy said I could call you.”

Misa didn't even realize that she was crying tears of joy as she gripped the phone. Maybe Louis wasn't such a rat bastard after all.

“Shane, I miss you,” she said. “Mommy misses you so much.”

“I miss you, too, Mommy. Where are you?”

Misa laughed, still shocked that she was having a phone conversation with her son. “I'm in New Jersey, baby.”

“Ohhh,” Shane said, as if he knew exactly where New Jersey was. “Is Aunt Tamille with you?”

Misa smiled. “Yes, she is. She's outside with her friends.”

“Tell Aunt Tamille I said hi.” Shane burped loudly then and said, “ 'Scuse me.”

Misa laughed and Shane did, too. She had never felt happier than she did at that moment, giggling on the phone with her son.

“I'm coming to get you soon,” she said. “Mommy's gonna come and get you and give you a big kiss.”

“I love you, Mommy,” he said.

Misa closed her eyes and pictured his sweet face. “I love you, too, Shane.” She held the phone to her ear even after Shane hung up, the sound of his precious voice echoing in her mind.

*   *   *

Frankie stared at
Gillian's lips as she spoke. The two of them were sitting in Silver Lake Park, a warm breeze blowing softly around them as they sat on a bench. Frankie thought Gillian was such a beautiful woman. He was spellbound, listening to what she was saying. In fact he was hanging on her every word.

“I feel like you're not giving us a real chance to be a couple, Frankie. You're already shutting me out and we're still supposed to be in the honeymoon phase.” Gillian was disappointed. She and Frankie had been so drawn together in the beginning. It had been hard for them to keep their hands off each other, and when he finally walked away from his marriage their hunger had finally been satisfied. They had been passionate, affectionate, honest, and uninhibited with one another. These days, she was finding Frankie so aloof, finding their relationship so typical of what most couples were about. She and Frankie had always been different, never typical.