Color of Deception (14 page)

Chapter 37

Debra walked into the print shop bright and early at eight in the morning. It was her first day there after putting in her two weeks’ notice at the grocery store. She took extra care in dressing this morning in black slacks, a red button down blouse and black flats. She kept her jewelry minimal with cubic zirconia studs, a silver necklace and a watch. She also kept her face natural with just a splash of lip gloss on her lips. She didn’t want to dress too conservative for her position at Minute Print nor did she want to be underdressed. But it definitely was steps up from wearing the boring uniform she had to wear as a cashier at the grocery store.

Pete had shown her around the place a couple days before, he also gave her brief training on what she would be doing when she took over the position Carlisha once filled. She walked over behind the counter and placed her purse in a drawer that was designated for her then locked it with a key Pete had also given her. She moved away from behind the counter and went about starting up the machines and making coffee as that was part of her new position.

“Good morning!” Pete greeted with a wide smile standing in the doorframe of the break room. Debra had her back to him making coffee. “You’re early,” he looked down at his wrist watch then back up at her as she turned to look at him.

“Of course, I have to make a good first impression then slack off after a month or so,” she tried to hold a straight face, but a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“Right” Pete laughed walking into the room. She joined in his laughter as she continued to fill the coffee maker with water. He wanted to kiss her so badly he ached. He was happy to see her laugh though, especially after the way Rachel had spoken to her a few days ago. He’d apologized profusely for Rachel’s behavior, but Debra just kept brushing him off. He really hoped that she was alright. Seeing her run out of his house that day broke his heart and he still had an earful for Rachel when she came into work this morning. “Well, I won’t tell the boss if you don’t,” he said standing just inches behind her. He was so close he could smell her jasmine fragranced perfume. She hadn’t spent the night over to care for Carl in days. Rachel and Leah had been doing so for a week while he worked long hours at the shop. He knew it had more to do with her avoiding him – them, and what they could have.

Debra stiffened at the nearness of Pete behind her. She’d been trying like crazy to get the images of them kissing on his couch out of her head, but the more she tried to store them in the deepest part of her mind, they always resurfaced to the forefront. She wanted him like she’d never wanted a man before – not even her ex-husband. But Rachel’s words that day cut her like a knife – which made her wonder if she was in fact unconsciously trying to move in on Pete and have that readymade family like Rachel had insinuated. She knew she wasn’t, but Rachel made her feel like some backstabbing gold-digger only interested in her own agenda. She had to stay clear from Pete, no matter how strong her feelings were for him. Were her feelings toward him just lust? She didn’t know and she sure as heck didn’t want to find out. That is why she hadn’t taken on duties of caring for Carl for a few days. She missed seeing his adorable chubby face, but being there meant being near Pete and she just wasn’t ready for dealing with the
feelings
she was developing for him.

“Yeah?” she said at almost a whisper. Her heart was beating so fast from his nearness she swear it would bust out of her chest.

“I’ve missed you,” he admitted, hesitantly placing his hands on her shoulders. She closed her eyes at his touch, at his words. He wanted to pull her full natural red hair away from the left side of her shoulder and place kisses along her neck, but he restrained himself. “Would you go out with me?” He stepped closer, closing the small gap between them. He groaned inwardly taking pleasure with the feel of her butt to his groin. Pete ran his hands up and down the side of her arms. She held the coffee pot nervously in her hand, trembling because of the warmth of his hands on her body.

Without thinking she muttered, “Yes.”

“What was that?” his voice was husky with desire. He swooped her hair from off her shoulder and placed kisses along her neck. He was already being bold just by asking her out, he figured he could take it all the way.

“Yes!” she said in a soft shout, losing self-control with each kiss he placed along her neck. Her eyes closed shut at the pleasure his lips ignited in her body.

Pete placed his hand on her chin and turned her face upward taking her breath away when he captured her mouth with an open mouth kiss. He thrust his tongue inside with her willingness and kissed her like his life depended on it. His free hand swung to the front of her resting on her stomach drawing her nearer to him which only intensified his hunger. His erection piercing her back. Debra felt her knees buckle. She’d never been kissed so passionately before in her life and she didn’t want it to end.

“Ehh, hmmm.”

Pete and Debra froze at the sound of someone in the room, the coffee pot fell from her wobbly hand, crashing to the floor. Pete caught her from slipping as well when she lost her balance looking toward their intruder at the door. They both struggled to catch their breath.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Damian said with a smile. “But you’ve got a call on line one,” he told to Pete.

Pete whispered into Debra’s ear, “Are you all right?” She nodded. “Don’t worry about the coffee pot, everyone will have Starbucks on me today,” he said with a smile.

Debra blushed as she steadied herself by holding on to the counter. She was still drunk from his kiss, she knew she would be riding on cloud nine all day, despite her fear of agreeing to go out with him on a date.

“Thanks Damian,” Pete said, walking toward the door. “I’ll get it in my office.” He didn’t care that he’d been caught, kissing Debra again. Nothing could ruin the high he was on from kissing her and her agreeing to go out on a date with him. He wondered though what Damian thought about the scene he just walked in on. The employees were loyal to Moriah, she treated them all like family. Also, since he repented to God for the growing hatred he’d developed towards blacks, his attitude toward his employees, black and white, since Moriah’s death, had done a complete shift. He realized the error of his ways and had developed a better relationship with
all
of
his
employees. After Pete apologized to them for cutting off all friendly ties he had with them the work environment was now more relaxed.

Damian followed Pete out of the room leaving a stunned Debra retrieving a broom to clean up the broken glass from the floor.

**KC**

“Okay, thanks for calling me with the results, bye.” Pete hung up the phone and placed it back in the cradle on his desk. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed loudly.

Rachel walked into the office and mumbled, “Good morning.” She dragged herself over to her desk, placing her purse in one of the empty drawers in the desk and loudly slamming it shut. “I can’t believe he has her working here,” she muttered under her breath. “Aunt Moriah must be rolling over in her grave.” Rachel knew Pete had hired Debra to work at the company, but she still was shocked to see her sitting behind the counter when she walked in this morning. She had gotten used to seeing Carlisha’s beautiful dark mocha face each day when she walked in, then there was a void, now Debra was sitting there.
Trying to move in on Carlisha’s territory too, I see.

Pete looked up when she entered. “Was that a good morning greeting?” he asked sarcastically leaning back in his chair still thinking about the paternity test results he just received.

“Good morning Uncle Pete,” Rachel said clearly, minus the cheer that was usually in her greetings. She pressed the button on the computer to start it up after she sat down.

Pete raised his eyebrow at her. “Am I going to have a problem with you today?”

She pouted and went into a tantrum, “I can’t believe you have her working here. This is you and Aunt Moriah’s company—”

“And nowhere in your outburst did I hear you mentioning your name as one of the owners. Therefore, you really don’t have the right to tell me who I can or cannot hire, or fire for that matter, and if you keep this up you may be the one terminated!”

She shut up, holding her bottom lip between her teeth to prevent herself from saying anything else and stared at the computer screen that was booting up. She knew he would make good on his threat if she uttered another word regarding her feelings about the matter.

“I’m really surprised by your attitude and behavior, Rachel. You, the person that has been doing all of the arm twisting about me going to church, you sure aren’t acting very
godly
. Wouldn’t you say so?” He sat up straighter, resting his forearms on his desk.

“I can’t hide the fact that I don’t approve with whatever it is going on between you two,” Rachel flicked her hand for emphasis. She typed in the password for the computer, purposely avoiding eye contact with her uncle. She knew he was right, but she didn’t care.
God will have to forgive me for my attitude
, she mused defiantly.
Debra’s not going to take Aunt Moriah’s place, especially not so soon.

“You had no problem with Debra before. So I suggest you get used to the idea of her being around.” He loved his niece and her parents, but he refused to have them dictate how he was supposed to live his life. If he wanted Debra in it, now or later, they’ll just have to deal with it.

“Before you two weren’t… never mind.” She shook her head trying to erase the memory of walking in on Pete and Debra kissing. “She was helping us take care of Carl now she’s moving in on Aunt Moriah’s territory.”

“Enough, Rachel!” Pete roared, causing her to flinch. He could care less if anybody else in the building heard him, Rachel and her attitude were really irritating him and he wanted her to get it together. He slammed his hand on the desk. “You act as if I didn’t love my wife! You, of all people, know how hard it was for me grieving Moriah’s death. So don’t sit there and talk to me as if I’m betraying my wife.” He looked at Rachel and saw that she was visibly shaken by his outburst. “Dammit Rachel!”

“I’m sorr…sorry…”

“I don’t want to have this conversation with you again and you better not give me a got-damn reason to bring it up!” He stood up and marched out of the office, he needed to go outside to get some fresh air to clear his head. He didn’t have time nor interest to deal with her ill feelings toward Debra. Making sure Carl was well taken care of mattered most.

Chapter 38

“There’s my favorite little guy,” Pete said to Carl after he walked into the living room. Carl was sitting in his activity chair touching as many knobs on the toy as possible watching it light up and make noises. Leah was sitting in a chair next to Carl knitting something Pete couldn’t make out. “Hi Leah. How was he today?” Pete knelt down in front of Carl, kissed his curly dark hair and watched as he became fascinated again by the “quack, quack” noise the toy made when he pressed the duck’s button. Carl giggled at the sound which brought a huge smile to both Pete and Leah’s faces as they watched.

“He’s always a good baby,” Leah beamed, moving her hands vigorously as she knit. “I don’t even remember Rachel being this well behaved when she was his age. That child cried nonstop to be held by someone, she always needed attention.”

“Speaking of which,” Pete stood up and sat on the couch near Carl still playing with his toy. “I need you to talk to Rachel about her feelings toward Debra.”

Leah stopped knitting and placed the items she was using in a bag that was near her feet. “Noah and I have tried talking to her, but she won’t budge on her opinion about Debra…and you.”

“Hmmm.” Pete stretched his feet out in front of him crossing them at the ankles.

“You know how much she loved Moriah. She considered her a second mother, she doesn’t even love my sisters, her other aunts, as much as she loved Moriah. You have to understand that it’s hard for her to see you with someone else.”

“And what do you think?” He really didn’t care, but he was curious to know.

Leah fidgeted pulling nonexistent lint from her blouse. “To be honest, I’m not very comfortable with the sudden turn in your relationship with her. She’s a great person and her willingness to assist in raising Carlisha’s son is great, but…” Her pale face reddened with her admission.

“I’ve heard enough!” Pete stopped her and got up. He walked into the kitchen. “You, Noah and Rachel mean a lot to me. You guys are the closest family I’ve got. And even more so you’re Moriah’s family first, but I need you all to respect whatever decision I decide to make with
my
life. Especially whatever is or isn’t going on between Debra and me.” He snatched open the fridge and pulled out bottled water, opting for it over a beer.

Leah followed him into the kitchen. “Pete you’ve got to understand that this is difficult for us seeing you with another woman, especially so soon…”

“And you think it’s been a piece of cake for me too, to even find myself strongly attracted to someone else other than Moriah?” He took the cap off the bottle and took a swig. He didn’t know why he was admitting this to her, but he was tired of having this conversation. He placed the water down after drinking. “It’s been hell Leah. HELL! I will always love Moriah till the day I die, but in order for me to move on with my life I had to realize that she’s not coming back no matter how much I will it to happen.” Pete turned and started to look through the pile of mail on the counter.

“I understand,” Leah responded with remorse. She held back the tears that were obviously stinging her eyes. “But…” she added hesitantly, “…why don’t you wait to pursue the feelings you’re developing for Debra.”

Pete wanted to explode. He held back the cuss words that wanted to spew from his tightly clenched mouth. He didn’t release the profanity due to the fact that Carl was only a few steps away, he didn’t want to disrespect his sister-in-law and he was really trying to be a better servant of the Lord. He fought like a lion on a prey not to say what was on the tip of his tongue.

“If you’re going to have a problem with the arrangement we have with you, Rachel and Debra coming over to look after Carl please let me know and we’ll come up with a better alternative if being around Debra will be a problem.” He ripped open a letter addressed to him with no return address. He was proud of himself for not going
off
and telling her to get out of his house. He was sick and tired of his in-laws telling him what he needed to do with his life and how he was supposed to grieve like there was some grieving etiquette he had to adhere to.

“Of course there won’t be a problem… out of me,” she quickly added the latter. “I hadn’t said anything earlier because even though I don’t agree with whatever it is that’s going on between you and Debra, I respect your decision,” she said, not hiding her dislike about the matter.

“Shit!” Pete stared down at the letter he held in his had forgetting to not use profanity.

“What is it?” Leah asked, alarmed by his outburst but also the grave expression on his face.

“Carl’s father is threatening to take him away from me if I don’t pay him five thousand dollars,” Pete looked up in disbelief.

“What?! Who is his father?”

“Roger Smith. I actually just got the paternity test results today which confirmed he’s Carl’s biological father. He told me he didn’t want anything to do with Carl, now this.” He slammed the letter down on the counter. “That son-of-a-bitch! I can’t believe he wants to extort money with threats of filing papers to legally take Carl away.”

“Oh my God, Pete. You can’t let him do that.” She turned to look at Carl still cheerfully playing.

“What choice do I have Leah, he’s Carl’s father. You and I both know that the courts will easily hand Carl over to his biological father. And I’m a white man raising a black boy, who do you think they will favor? Dammit!”

“But where was he for the past almost two months? You have been Carl’s father, plus you are his legal guardian because Carlisha never documented anything about who the father was. The color of your skin shouldn’t be an issue, your love should be!”

“This will kill any chances of me wanting to adopt him as my own.” Pete ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Frown lines marred his face as the reality of losing Carl ran though his mind. He swallowed a lump lodged in his throat.
I can’t afford to lose another person in my life.

“Just write him a check for five thousand dollars and be done with it,” Leah suggested sitting on a bar stool near the counter. Pete didn’t live lavishly, but his business was thriving and writing a check for five thousand dollars would be a drop in the bucket.

“He wants cash.” Pete looked over at Carl giggling. His heart lit up and he smiled softly despite the pain and fear he felt. “But how would I know if this would be the end of the extortion?” He turned back and looked at Leah.

“You can’t risk losing Carl, Pete. Just give him what he wants and that’ll be the end of it.”

“Let’s keep this between us for now. I don’t want Rachel and Debra worrying about this.”

“Okay.”

Pete wished it would be that simple, giving the money and being done with it. But losing Carl wasn’t an option. “I don’t know what pisses me off more. Roger using his son as a pawn or the real threat of us losing Carl.” He walked out of the kitchen and picked Carl up out of his activity seat. Leah stared after him unsure of what else to say. He held the chubby baby to his chest, kissing his dark curly hair.
God you can’t give him to me to help me heal and then have him taken away from me so quickly.
“I love you Carl. I’m so sorry for all the hate I had that prevented me from being there for your mother after my wife died. But I promise I will do everything I can to do right by you,” he whispered to the cooing baby.