Page 113 of The Deadly Candies

“No. It’s time to go. It’s getting late, and I have to get them home before sunset.” Ely started toward the door. José jumped up and got in front of him. He put a hand to his chest. “Have a seat,” José said.

Ely blinked, confused, and then his eyes stretched. “Tell me you didn’t do it! Tell me! Fuck! I should never have brought them here!”

The patrons in the restaurant all turned and looked.

“Listen to me,” José whispered. This might be their goodbye. Let them have it. Fuck it man. Let ‘em have it, and she’ll be even more grateful to you. It’s what you want. For her to open her eyes. To see if it could never work? Right?”

Everyone sat silently in the diner, observing. Ely looked around and then back at José. He backed away, trapped. The damage was done. And he’d walked right into the trap.

* * *

Kathy couldn’t catchher breath. Carmelo had never been so determined with his passion before. She was pinned beneath him on the old booth seat. He was nearly trying to take her clothes off while touching her intimately and kissing.

“Slow down,” she pushed him back.

He blinked out of his lust-filled daze and looked into her eyes. They both stared at each other, panting. He lifted off her and stepped back, and Kathy saw his zipper was down. She was shocked. She sat up the booth that had no table and covered her breasts with her hand since the front of her shirt dress was open.

“The day of the wedding, we get married too,” Carmleo blushed and pulled up his zipper.

“Huh?” she blinked.

He nodded.

Kathy started to button the top part of her dress to cover the hickey he left near her breast. Her skirt went down. He had pushed it up to her waist, and his hand was in her panties. Her shy Romeo, who was too respectful and traumatized to even touch her below the waist in the basement, was changing. She could see a slight change to him. A hardening of him. And though she loved his devotion and desired him just as much as she had before, change scared her. She wanted sweet, innocent Carmelo always.

He paced away.

“I’ve worked it out.”

“Carmelo, we can’t?—”

He put up a hand. “José is dating a judge. After the celebration and party, Debbie and José will come back here for the honeymoon. Matteo and José have it arranged for them to have their own ceremony. José and his boyfriend will get married. And Matteo and Debbie will get married. José said his boyfriend will do it. Even bring marriage certificates to stamp.”

“Is that legal?”

“No, who cares. It is before the law and God.” Carmelo paused. “Then it will be our turn.”

“What?” Kathy said.

“You come too. Make up a reason. Let your father come and inspect this place. Do whatever. He can have a man outside all night, you know, I know how to hide. I’ll already be here, waiting.”

“Carmelo—”

“You get them to agree to let you and… that friend of yours, Ely, to come. Then we get married, too. Our own ceremony, too. Real vows, Kathy. The kind we can seal ourselves before God. Before…”

She blinked at him, knowing the rest of the sentence. “Before I have to go back?”

He paced even faster. “I can’t make it, so you can stay. You’re right. When Matteo and I started our plan to get even closer to my father, I learned that he has his eye on Harlem still, and he has his men regularly checking in on your father and seeing if you are back. This truce is shaky. We can’t do anything that risks your family. Not yet. But I am working on it. You believe me, right?”

“No,” Kathy looked down. “I don’t believe you can change any of this.”

Carmelo went to her. He got on his knees before her. “Oh yeah? Well, guess what. I told my Ma. I confessed it all to her. She knows.”

Kathy looked up again.

“She does, Kathy. And she’s learning to accept it. Matteo thought she’d go crazy, even do something crazy if she ever found out that we were in touch. She even knows that Debbie is pregnant. Don’t you see? This is possible. It’s hard, and it’s dangerous. And we can’t be kids about it anymore. We have to be smart. But the world is going to be different in time for us to be together.”

“If I go back to Mississippi, it will break my Mama’s heart. And my Pa wants me to…”

---