Page 1 of Blind Spot
Chapter 1
Charlyse “Charly” Aurora Morr
TEN YEARS EARLIER
Iwas so excited about my new car that I found places to go, even if it was running errands for my mom or going to the gas station. It didn’t matter; I was on cloud nine. Although my parents were divorced, they had worked together to buy me a brand-new car for my sixteenth birthday. It was the best present I had ever received.
My dad had started teaching me how to drive at twelve, and I had only gotten better through the years. Whereas most of my friends had restrictions about not driving their friends around until after they had their license for a year, I didn’t have those same restrictions. My parents trusted me, and they knew that I was skilled at driving both on the streets and on the highways.
Despite my excitement about my new car over the last twenty-four hours, I did not look forward to going on this particular trip. Somehow, I had allowed one of my best friends, Tunisia Atkins, to talk me into doing what I was about to do.
A part of me knew that it was a bad idea, but the other side said that at least I would have it off my chest once and for all. I pulled up to the large, three-story brick home with theprofessionally landscaped lawn and prize-winning rosebushes and begonias.
Mrs. Garcia-Strong kept a beautiful and immaculate home, and Mr. Strong made sure that she had everything she needed to keep it that way. He also gave his boys everything their hearts desired, but he didn’t take any mess off them either.
They were great parents, and while my parents were wonderful, too, I often wished they had managed to survive divorce and keep loving each other even through the storms. After three years, I still hadn’t become accustomed to not having my dad in the house full-time or going to his place, and my mama not being in the kitchen cooking. I could tell that he was dating because there was evidence of another woman at his place, but whoever she was, she wasn’t allowed there when I was. For that, I was thankful to my dad.
I placed the car in park in the circular driveway and jogged up the steps. Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply for several long seconds and held it before I released it again. I glanced across the street at the house I had fallen in love with at eight years old and had to say goodbye only five years later.
When my parents divorced, they had to sell the house because they couldn’t keep it up without both of their incomes. While it wasn’t as large as the Garcia-Strong house, it was just as nice and much bigger than either of my current homes.
I turned back to the door and inhaled and exhaled repeatedly before I opened the door. The Garcia-Strong family viewed me as another one of their kids. I never had to knock from the moment that I met them eight years ago.
A loud TV blared from somewhere in the back of the house. The low hum of voices somewhere in the back made the house feel welcoming. The aromatic smell of a Cuban dish cooking in the kitchen wafted to my nose, and I made my way there. The Strongs’ middle child, Ramon, sat at the table eating hismother’s Fricase de pollo, while Gabriela Garcia-Strong was at the counter rolling out dough.
“Hola, bebé.” She greeted me cheerily with her cheek lifted for a kiss.
Ramon barely looked up from his plate to acknowledge me with a nod. Beside his plate was a book on economics. He was very studious, and he always had his nose in a book.
“Hi, Mama Gabi.” I greeted her with a kiss and a hug. She kissed my forehead as she gave me a sidearm hug.
“Did you enjoy your gift?” she asked.
Gabriela and her husband, Johnathan, had given me a gift basket with gold hoop earrings and a matching bangle, a Nastasia handbag and matching wallet, a Hello Kitty candle set, matching loungewear and slippers from the Shawni Palmer line, my favorite R&B singer, Shawni Palmer, and the newest perfume by R&B singer, Sienna.
“I loved it!” I exclaimed.
My parents had also thrown me a sweet sixteen party at an event hall, and all of my friends and family were there. Of course, the Garcia-Strong family came to represent, even Joaquin, the oldest brother, who was in his last year of college.
“Not as much as that new car, I bet.” Ramone finally spoke up as he carried his plate to the sink to rinse it.
“Oh, boy, hush. What kid wouldn’t love a car more?” his mother asked.
“I loved it, Mamá.”
“I know you did, baby. I smell the perfume on you now, and it smells lovely.”
“And I’m wearing the new earrings and bracelet,” I added, showing off the jewelry that she and her husband had purchased for me.
Her eyes twinkled with delight, and she smiled at me again. “He’s upstairs in his bedroom, honey,” she stated, referencing her youngest son, Dominic, whom I had come to visit.
“Thanks.” I ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. My steps slowed for the first time in history as I approached his bedroom. A rock sat in the pit of my stomach, and I felt slightly queasy.
I had to get it over with, so there was no use in procrastinating. I knocked and then opened the door when I heard him call out, “Come in.”
Stepping into the bedroom, my heart raced as it always did at the sight of my male best friend, Dominic Garcia-Strong. Only, the racing that it now did had nothing to do with my former excitement whenever he came around for bike rides, finding turtles in the creek, or battling each other on the latest video game.
No, my heart ran a different race and had a far faster speed than ever as I took in the sight before me. That rich, bronzed sepia-colored skin that hinted at his Cuban and African American heritage, dotted with droplets of water fresh from his shower, looked delectable. The perfectly toned body that displayed muscles from his chest down to his toned legs naturally flexed in a routine activity like drying his curly hair.
