Page 90 of Take Two

“I’ll get her something to eat, and I’ll drop you off. I don’t want any contact from you unless the test says I’m the father,” I warn her. I don’t say more, but they follow me to my truck. There’s no booster seat, so Holly sits in the back with Charlene.

“Why are you acting so cold? Is your girlfriend going to get mad when she finds out?” She cackles and I look at her in the mirror.

“My personal life is none of your business,” is all I say. I don’t know if she’s fishing for information, but I’m not going to give her any. She rolls her eyes and looks out the window. I take them to a restaurant on the outskirts of town where Holly orders enough food for a familyof six. I don’t complain. I just want her out of my car and hopefully out of my life.

After getting the food, I return to my truck. The little girl is sitting inside and she waves at me. I wave back. Holly is outside talking on the phone with her back to me.

“Yeah,” she says. “I’ve got it under control.” She turns and sees me and quickly hangs up the phone. I ignore her and walk to the driver’s side. When I get in, she’s holding her phone in my direction. Instead of sitting in the back, she sits in front. I make a note to get the car detailed before Violet arrives.

“Put your address here,” I hand her my phone and she types her address in the map app. I groan when I see it. It’s in North Birmingham, which is not the safest part of the city.

“What are you doing?” I ask a few minutes later. She has her phone out and is taking pictures. When I stop at a red light, she takes off her seatbelt, leans close to me, and snaps a picture of me. I knock the phone out of her hand just as the light turns green.

She doesn’t speak for the rest of the twenty-minute drive. The houses get smaller and more dilapidated the closer I get to her street. I finally take a right turn and drive to the end. Her house is small and white and needs to be painted. The front steps are also rotted, making it easy for a small child to fall through.

“Yeah, not everyone has a millionaire brother who can give them a restaurant and buy them a house,” she says as if her lot in life is my fault.

“How do you know so much about me? And my brother invested in the restaurant. He didn’t give it to me, and he has nothing to do with my house.” I put the car in park and wait for her to get out, grateful to be done with this for today. I look back and the kid has fallen asleep.

“Whatever,” she says. “Can you carry her? I’ll get the food.” I do as she asks. Charlene doesn’t wake up when I take off her seatbelt and pull her out of the backseat. Holly takes the food and runs ahead of me to the front door.

I was right. There’s a huge hole in one of the front steps. I go around it and slowly go up the five steps while holding the little girl. While Holly looks down at us, she takes out her phone and snaps several pictures.

“Just taking some pictures of my daughter and her daddy,” she says with an annoying laugh.

“We don’t know that yet,” I hiss. And I do a silent prayer that the test is negative because no part of me wants to deal with Holly for the next fifteen years, even though I feel bad that this little girl will be stuck with her as a mother.

She opens the door and throws her keys on a bookshelf that holds no books. The only thing on it is dust. The television is on full blast even though there is no one else here. The house looks way worse on the inside than it does on the outside.

There’s a gray carpet on the floor that I’m sure was once white. The vinyl walls are stained, and I’m convinced the strong smell of tobacco has something to do with that. There are four cats in the corner of the living room, where there’s a stained sectional that’s torn in the middle.

“You can put her down there.” She points at the dirty sectional, and I do as she says. There’s a cheap blanket hanging over the couch, and I drape it on her. I turn just as Holly picks up her phone to take more pictures. I snatch it from her, and despite her attempts to get it back, I delete all the pictures of me.

I toss the phone underneath the couch and walk out of the disgusting house to the sounds of her screaming expletives at me.

Forty-eight more hours. Hopefully by then, I’ll know that I’ll never have to see or speak to Holly again.

Chapter 49

Violet

I stuff a few more things in my suitcase and zip it. If I forget anything essential, I’ll have to buy it there. I’ve made arrangements for everything until Monday morning, which is when I’ll be going back to work. This unplanned trip is needed, and despite the short amount of time, the schedule is packed. I’ll get there late tonight, and tomorrow will be all about me andCharlie. His brother, Vickie, and the boys will be there tomorrow night, and Mary Leigh will be teaching me and Vickie how to make Charlie’s favorite meal.

There’s a loud knock on my door, and I run to open it.

“Dad,” I say breathless. “Let’s go.” I point to my suitcase, and he grabs it. After putting on a pair of comfortable flats, I grab my purse and follow him to the elevator. He insisted on driving me to the airport, even though I told him I could take a taxi or a ride share.

He’s not in Beauty today. He’s in a black Land Rover, and after putting my suitcase in the trunk, he opens the passenger door for me.

“I’m starving,” I say a couple of minutes later.

“Get something at the airport.” I could, but that’s usually fast food and crap. “So, what are you and Charlie doing?” he asks, surprising me.

“You mean this weekend? We’ll probably—"

“Not this weekend. Don’t be obtuse. How long do you think you can keep going back and forth? Your business will start to suffer, and so will his.”

“Dad, please,” I say waving him off. “We’ll figure it out.” I’ve thought about that every day since Charlie went back, but I don’t want to focus on the negatives today.

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