Page 10 of Back in Blood

“Eat.”

He didn’t respond to what I said. I had to force the food down my throat. Swallowing was hard. What if I really only had about three weeks left to live? It felt like I had to throw up. I downed the water, and Capri placed the handcuffs back on me. When he left the room, I laid back on the bed and sobbed. I wasn’t perfect by far, but I wasn’t a bad person. The turmoil that I’d been enduring lately wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair at all. The way I was suffering one would think I’d put some really fucked up energy out into the Universe. Life went from sugar to shit in a matter of hours.

Even with me being held captive, I couldn’t even say I really faulted Capri. Losing a child would make anyone lose their mind. I couldn’t imagine his pain. When I got off work the day he came to the ER, I googled the news article about the shooting, and I cried. All I had been doing lately was crying, but that was worthy of tears. It was an extremely sad and unfortunate situation, and I wished I didn’t know the man that took that child’s life. He didn’t do it on purpose, but his actions still weren’t excused.

The situation was hard on a lot of people. If I couldn’t pray, what could I do? It didn’t seem like God was listening to me, so why should I keep wasting my time talking to Him? My cries were going unheard. I felt abandoned and left on my own. I couldn’t even protect the child that I had created out of love. It was beyond me how life had gone so wrong so damn fast. God only knew what was going to happen. None of it was in my control. Sadly, I was just along for the clueless ride.

I dozed off. Capri came in after some time and brought me another bottle of water and an apple and orange. He also let me use the bathroom again. I wanted to take a shower, but I wasn’t going to ask him for anything. At least he was feeding me and for that, I had to be grateful. Three weeks trapped in his home seemed like a long time but if I was going to die after I had my baby, I knew three weeks would come around faster than it ever had before.

“Since both of your child’s parents will be dead, who will raise him?”

That seemed like an odd question. If Capri was concerned about my son’s well-being, he wouldn’t kill me. “My parents,” I whispered.

Capri gave a curt nod and placed the handcuffs back on me.

“I know I don’t have room to ask but when he’s born,” I choked back a sob. “If he’s alive, can I please have at least a day with him? Please? The doctor suggested that I abort my son, and Sintonio didn’t act like he cared one way or another. You taking us might not have the effect on him that you’re hoping for. His selfish ass is probably just glad it’s not him. Please don’t kill mebefore I get to hold my son.” I broke out into an uncontrollable sob, and that nigga simply left the room.

It was absurd to think Capri would have any compassion for me but damn. I didn’t pull the trigger! Swiping the tears off my cheeks, my sadness turned into anger. I was livid. My dumb ass went to college, obtained a job in my dream career, fell in love, got engaged, and got pregnant. For months, I’d been walking around on cloud nine. I did it the right way. God had blessed me with a good man, and I wasn’t out there still single at thirty-five or forty years old. My story had to have a happily ever after because it was going great so effortlessly. Day in and day out, I saw women come into the ER with bruises that were more than likely inflicted by their partner. I saw countless women crying and shocked while being given an STD diagnosis. I saw the drama on social media and heard horror stories from co-workers. Sintonio didn’t put his hands on me, he wasn’t verbally abusive and as far as I knew, he didn’t cheat on me. I was the star of my own fairy tale.

Without warning, I got knocked off that cloud so abruptly that it made my head spin. Since he did what he did, Sintonio was no longer the man that I fell in love with. Most days, he was snappy and irritable. I had no support from him during my pregnancy. Everything was about him and what he was going through. Him telling me that it wasn’t a good time to be going through anything emotional threw me for a loop. Here was a man that had once been so elated to be having a son. But since my son was more than likely going to be born with issues, it was all of a sudden as if he didn’t matter, and we didn’t need the burden of him.

Some things couldn’t be forgiven and that was one of them. The love that I had for Sintonio was quickly being replaced with disgust. There were days when he didn’t even ask me how I was doing. It hurt. It hurt real bad, but what could I do? Beghim to act right? Nah. I would never. After eating the fruit that Capri gave me, I sat with my back against the headboard. Pretty much my entire life flashed through my mind. Certain memories and pivotal moments in my life. Up until the shit show that had occurred over the last few months, my life had always been pretty decent. Being a nurse, I was around death almost every day. If there was one thing I knew, it was that we were all going to die. That still didn’t make the impending doom any easier to deal with. Capri was like the devil himself, and he held my future in his hands.

I wasn’t sure how long I stared at the ceiling and reminisced but eventually, I fell asleep. I woke with a start when I heard Capri opening the door. In his hands were some folded clothes, a brand-new toothbrush, some toothpaste, a washcloth, and soap along with a bottle of water.

“You can use the bathroom and freshen up. I’m going to bring you something to eat in a few. I have to leave for a bit. I’m going to treat you like a human being and leave you uncuffed, so you can freely go to the bathroom. I have cameras in every single room of this house. Don’t try anything stupid and make me have to come back because I swear you’ll regret it.” The darkness in his eyes and the venom in his warning sent a chill down my spine. Capri was a prime example of how bitter and angry life could make a person. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to wish all the bad in the world upon him but for some reason, I couldn’t. I nodded my understanding, and he took the cuffs off. Hell no, I didn’t want to die and leave my son behind for someone else to raise, but I still couldn’t label Capri all bad. He had promised not to hurt my child and for that, I was eternally grateful. He could have also left me in that bed to rot not feeding me or letting me use the bathroom. There was a miniscule ounce of compassion in there somewhere.

As I stood at the sink and washed up, I thought about how my parents, siblings, and friends had to be going crazy looking for me and fearing the worst. I hadn’t disclosed what Sintonio had done to anyone, and I knew damn well he didn’t volunteer the information. So, no one aside from him probably knew the real reason I’d been snatched. Sintonio had been walking around for weeks fearing the worst. He had to know that my kidnapping wasn’t random. I wanted to hope that guilt was eating his ass alive but with the selfishness that he’d shown me over the past few months, I couldn’t be so sure.

Being held captive had me appreciating little things like being able to use the bathroom and brushing my teeth. There was only so much I could do in the small bathroom, but I cleaned every inch of my body that I could reach and brushed my teeth. That made me feel a little better. I put on the panties that were folded neatly on top of the sweatpants. There was no bra, so I would have to let the girls hang. Since pregnancy, my B cups had enlarged to C cups. There was no deodorant or lotion either, but I guess I couldn’t expect him to pull out every stop to accommodate me.

I sat back on the bed and eyed my surroundings. There was a fully stocked bar. A huge television, pool table, and arcade games. Even when I was scared out of my mind, I noticed the nice home that Capri lived in. Before he lost his child, his life was probably something like a fairy tale too. One day, shit just changed, and he would never be the same because of it. The darkness in his orbs was intimidating for sure but it was also heartbreaking. Pregnancy hormones were something serious because there I was being held against my will and feeling empathy for the man that not only snatched me but assured me that he was going to kill me. Where they do that at?

Capri came back, and he had a wooden tray in his hands. On the tray was another bottle of water, a bowl of somethingthat looked like oatmeal, two pieces of toast, two hard boiled eggs, and an apple. Kind of looked like something they’d serve an inmate, but beggars couldn’t be choosy. It was on the tip of my tongue to say thank you, but the words wouldn’t come out. My baby began to move in my belly to the point where I could see my shirt moving. Usually, his movement made me happy but at that moment, I became sad. A lump formed in my throat as Capri placed the tray on the bed and walked back out of the room without uttering one word.

I eyed the food. It didn’t look appetizing, but I was hungry. After a few minutes of staring at the meal, I forced it down and drank the entire bottle of water. I carried the wooden tray over to the bar and walked back to the bed. Curling up in a ball, I faced the wall and closed my eyes. That was all I could do.

CHAPTER 7

CAPRI

I satin my driveway and smoked a blunt with my window cracked. Kidnapping Lisa hadn’t done a thing to make me feel better. I didn’t need confirmation that Sintonio was a bitch ass coward, but her words made me realize he was a little worse than I thought. I was sure that all expecting parents prayed for healthy children. In the event that the child wasn’t healthy, I would hope that the child would still be loved the same. Losing Caprice had turned me into a bitter savage but seeing Lisa cry and hearing her say her son might not make it, tugged at the tiny piece of heart that I didn’t know I had left. It damn near made me regret my decision. Especially when she said that Sintonio might not even care about me having her. That was one lame ass nigga.

Even if he wasn’t going crazy over Lisa being missing, I prayed that he was going crazy thinking that he was next. I wanted him stressed. I wanted him paranoid and looking over his shoulder. Lisa being missing had made it to the news. There was a picture of her abandoned car, purse, and her cell phone that had been tossed onto the ground. There were no leads and no suspects. The news anchor did say that Lisa’s family wasdistraught, and they wanted the pregnant woman to come home safe and unharmed.

I was torn, and I didn’t like that shit. Suddenly, the urge to kill her wasn’t as strong, and I was pissed at myself for deviating from the plan. There was no room in my life for softness. I despised feeling weak but even in my bitter state, I knew that letting Lisa live wouldn’t make me weak. I had just pressed the button to start my car engine when Robin pulled up in my driveway. With a kiss of my teeth, I flung the car door open and stepped out.

Robin emerged from her car with a timid expression on her face. I didn’t speak. The glower on my face had to let her know that I wasn’t in the mood, but her throat bounced as she swallowed hard, and she spoke anyway.

“I was wrong, Capri. There is no doubt about that. I love you so much. When it happened, I was angry but from the moment it was over, I regretted it. I knew if I told you the truth, you would leave me. But had I given birth and suspected she was Dolph’s I wouldn’t have let you get so attached to her. Caprice looked just like you. I knew she was yours, Capri. I made a mistake. It never should have happened. I regret it so much.”

I kissed my teeth. “I don’t appreciate you coming to my home uninvited wasting my time and your breath. There’s nothing you could ever say to make me forgive you. You’re dead to me. Stop coming to my crib,” I warned in a low venomous tone.

“Capri, you can be upset. You can even hate me, but denying me some of her things is wrong. I’m trying really hard to handle this among ourselves, but if I call the police, I’m sure they’ll say that I can get some of her things and the rest of mine.”

Before I could catch myself, I had taken a long stride and was up in Robin’s face. I gripped her neck and stared into her eyes as I slightly restricted her breathing. “Playing with me is the quickest way to lose your life. Rather than thanking Godthat you’re still alive, you choose to come over here where I’m minding my business and bother me. I’ll never tell you again,” my grip tightened. “If you don’t want your mother having to buy another black dress you’ll stay the fuck away from me,” I gritted before letting her neck go.

Tears filled Robin’s eyes as she rubbed the place where my hand had been. “No matter how you feel about me, she was my daughter too.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she walked back to her mother’s car. I was going to sell the one that I didn’t let her take from my home. I didn’t even have the desire to drive it myself.

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