Can't get enough Page 12

  Natalie closed the book and began to cry. She put the book under the mattress and lay in the bed. She was facing the wall crying. Natalie had to tell him. She looked at the wall when the door opened. She heard keys and the bed move. Natalie turned and looked into Leon face. He looked at her and did not like what he saw. He touched her face as tears fell.

  “What is wrong?”

  Before she could speak, there were a knock on the door.

  “Natalie tell me?” he said

  “Com on man, the party will start in a few minutes.” said an unknown voice

  “Wait a damn minute.” yelled Leon as he turned back to Natalie, “Tell me.”

  She smiled at him. “I guess it is hormones. One minute I am crying the next I am happy.” she said as she touched his face

  “Are you sure?”

  She kissed him, “You have the jeep running.”

  He looked at her confused, “Yes and a few friends wanted to throw a party for us at the beach. We don’t have to go. We can stay and I could make you feel better.” he said as he kissed her lips

  “You already have.” she said touching his lips, “Let’s go.”

  12

  Natalie sat on the bed while he got dressed. He held out his hand and she took it. They walked out. Natalie did not look at Charles. She greeted Leon’s friends and walked out with them. They went to the beach to a bon fire. Natalie sat between her husband legs as he talked. They told of stories of him in his school days and his ex girlfriends.

  “Speaking of ex’s” said his friend JB

  The crowd turned and looked at a woman in a little bikini and wrap around skirt. She had long braids and green eyes. She hugged Leon and kissed his cheek as she squeezed his butt. Then she sat across from Leon touching her breasts and smiling at him. She spoke to everyone but kept her eyes on Julian.

  “Julian it is good to see you.”

  “Nice to see you too, Tasha.” he said solemnly

  Natalie looked at her with fire in her eyes, “Yes it is nice to see you Tasha. How have you been?” asked Natalie

  Everyone got quiet as Natalie was speaking.

  “I have been fabulous. How have you been?” she asked still smiling at Julian

  The other couples did not say anything but watched the match. Natalie felt his hand on her neck caressing her.

  “I have been fabulous as well. I married Julian and we are expecting our first child.” she said very calm, “I am trying to stop a bad habit my husband says I have.”

  “What is that?” asked Tasha as she pushed her braids back

  “I have a nasty habit of kicking the hell out of fake bitches.” she said smiling

  The crowd covered their mouth and snickered. Leon did not say anything but looked at Tasha with a stern look. Tasha saw all eyes on her then she smiled.

  She looked at Natalie, “That is a bad habit.” she said looking at her watch, “Nice seeing you all. I have an early day tomorrow.” she said

  “I know you do.” said Natalie as she watched her leave

  The crowd laughed. Leon touched her ear.

  JB yelled, “Game, point and match goes to Natalie De Leon.”

  The crowd went wild. Leon kissed her head.

  “You are very sexy right now.” he said against her ear

  She kissed him. “Later”

  They enjoyed the day and night of his friends and food. They all showed how much they loved and missed him. The men went for more wood as the women sat around the fire.

  Carol a short dark skin woman sat next to Natalie, “We are impressed with you. Julian did not bring the other one around. I meet her in town and I could have smacked him in the head for that one.”

  Natalie laughed. She liked Carol right away.

  “How long have you known Julian?”

  “We used to play together. Julian, Claire, JB and I were inseparable. We played from sun up to sun down. Julian was the quiet one.” she said

  Natalie looked at her.

  “Yes your husband was quiet and shy. Then he found out that girls were made for something else than punching. He became this popular guy in school then he became this loner after Claire died.” she said looking at him playing around with JB, “He is back to himself again.” she said looking at Natalie

  Natalie fell in love with him all over again. The party continued to early morning. Natalie looked at the sky as they drove back to the house. Natalie went to the bathroom and covered the area with a dark towel. She used the bathroom in peace. She went into her room and got in the bed. She waited for Leon. He came in and held her. She fell asleep.

  The next day Natalie got up and went to use the bathroom and saw the towel missing. She put a new one up and took a shower and put on her sundress. Charles walked out of his room looking at her angrily. She saw in his face that he knew she had found the holes. She went to her room and put on her shoes. She needed to get out of here. She met Leon as he came in the door.

  “I am going to Aunt Rose’s house. I will be back.” she said as she kissed him.

  Natalie walked out the house feeling evil eyes on her.

  Leon was sitting watching TV when Natalie came in from visiting his aunt. She sat next to him and kissed him. He smiled as they watched TV. Natalie fell asleep. Her dreams were pleasant. She felt something moving up her leg and under her dress touching her sacred place. She felt hands on her breasts. She smiled at Leon’s touch as she moaned. She opened her eyes expecting to see Leon but she looked at Charles. She slapped him. He smiled and kissed her while he touched her breast again. Natalie punched him. He fell back into his chair, smiling at her. Natalie left the house. She walked to Leon’s favorite place. She sat on the ground and she cried. She stayed there watching the waterfall.

  Leon called to his Aunt house looking for Natalie.

  “No she is not here.” she said feeling nervous, “What happened?” she asked

  Leon paced the floor, “I went to the store for dinner. Dad said he grabbed a drink from the freeze and drunk it. Natalie saw him drinking her drink. She got angry and walked out.”

  Aunt Rose closed her eyes and thought ‘Not again’.

  “Julian, find her.” she said anxiously.

  The sun had begun to descend in the sky. She heard her name being called. She did not say anything. Leon saw her and ran to her. He hugged her and kissed her forehead.

  “Natalie, I was worried about you. What happened?” he said looking at her, “Dad said you got upset about him drinking you drink.”

  She looked at him angrily, “That bastard would say that.”

  “Whoa Natalie, that is my father you are talking about? It was just a drink, no need to be upset.” he said

  “He is not a father, he is a bastard.” she said watching the waterfall

  “I am going to let that go because you are pregnant.” he said trying to stay calm, “You are not thinking clearly.”

  “Thinking clearly?” she yelled at him, “I did not want to tell you this because it would hurt you but your father is a sick bastard. He put his hands up my dress and between my legs. He also touched my breasts as I slept. I slapped him and he kissed me. Not a kiss on the cheek, I mean full on mouth and tongue kiss.” she said looking at him

  “No, Natalie you must have had a bad dream. My dad would not do that.” he said unbelieving

  “Bad dream? Just like Claire?”

  Leon jumped in her face and stood over her, “You do not know anything about Claire. Leave her name out of it. Stop making up things that you do not know anything about.” he said as he turned red

  Natalie took a breath as she stood shaken before her husband. For the first time, she was scared of him. He saw the look on her face and was scared himself.

  “Leon, remember how you felt when you knew about Marcus and what he had done. You knew I would protect him at all cost. You let me find out for myself. You will have to do the same. I will not stay at that house. Send my things to your aunt’s house.” she said as she began
to walk through the path then she turned around, “Look under your bed and finally see what your sister had to deal with.” then she walked away

  Leon watched her leave. He was confused and angry. He screamed and went back to the house. He slammed the door. His father was not in the living room. He looked in his room and he was not there. He went to his room and looked under the mattress. He saw the book. He touched it and felt the pain again. He opened it and began reading it. He sat hard on the floor when he read July4 entry.

  ‘I hate dad. Julian went to his friend house to spend the night. I begged him to stay but he said he can’t. It was JB’s party. I did not sleep that night. I heard mom leave. I asked mom to stay but she said she had to go. Julian or mom never saw the fear in my eyes. I was alone. I wore two pair of pants and Julian long sleeve shirts. Dad came in and sat on the bed looking at me. I was scared. We fought for a few minutes then he held me down. He put his fingers inside of me and kissed me like the nights before. I cried for him to stop. I cried for mom or Julian to save me. I cried because he was my dad and he was doing this to me. I just laid there as he kissed and played with me. Some reason Julian came home. Dad left my room. Julian knocked on my door because he heard me crying. He came in and saw blood on my bed. He picked me up and helped me to the bathroom. He waited outside while I washed up. I could feel dad looking at me in the bathroom. I got dressed and opened the door. I could see that Julian suspected something but was not sure what to think. Julian told me to sleep in his bed and he would sleep on the floor. My big brother if only he had not gone then dad would not have killed me inside.’

  Leon began to cry as he remembered that night. He read the last entry and his whole world was destroyed. He went out into the shed and got a sledge hammer. He went into his sister’s room and hit the walls. He found the holes. He went into the bathroom and did the same. He found the holes. He began hitting all the walls. He sat on the floor thinking of his sister. There were a knock on the door. Aunt Rose came in and closed the door. She sat on the floor next to him.

  “Are you all right?” she asked touching his legs

  “Did you know?” he asked with tears streaming down his face not looking at her

  “The day Claire ran away. I sensed something. I confronted him and he denied it, saying she is using drugs with her boyfriend Tim. I did not believe it. I went looking for her. One night I found her on the corner selling her body for her next hit. I tried to grab her but she screamed, kicked me and ran away. I tried to follow her but she was gone. I looked for her everyday, you would think on a small island she would be easy to find. I began to lose hope.” she said, “I kept the girls away from him. I made sure no little girls were around him. I was successful until Thanksgiving. I saw how he looked at Teri and at Natalie. I made sure Teri was always with me and Natalie was always with you. When you came here, I could not get to you fast enough. Every time I came here you and Natalie were gone. I was able to relax.”

  “He watched them in the bathroom.” he said becoming angry again, “He watched my wife as she showered and changed.”

  “Julian, do not do anything that will keep you away from her. She is carrying your child and she needs you. Your child needs you.” she said, “She is upset and asking for cookies and ice cream. I told her I would get it for her but I had to stop here first.”

  He smiled, “That is her first weakness.”

  “No you are her weakness.” she said as she took the hammer, “Get your things and I will bring her back her husband and cookies and ice cream.”

  Leon stood up and took his suit case and Natalie’s suit case. He put his sister’s diary in his bag and left the house he had loved.

  Natalie looked at TV while she waited for Aunt Rose. She went to the kitchen for something to drink. Natalie heard the door opened and she walked to the front. Leon stood there looking broken and tired. Natalie went to him and touched his face.

  “I am sorry.” she said

  He sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands and began to cry. She stood in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her and cried. She held his head close to her and let him cry. He finally calm down. Aunt Rose gave him a drink and he sipped it. She sat in front of him. She pulled out an envelope and gave it to him.

  “They found this in her purse. It is addressed to you.” said Aunt Rose

  Natalie sat beside him as he opened the envelope. He began to read:

  ‘Dear Julian;

  I am writing you to tell you a few things. One I am so proud of you when you won first place in track. I was cheering the most. You looked like a Greek God as the crowd carried you off the field. I am also proud of you graduating. It was a little harder getting into that place without being notice, but I had to see my big brother graduate. You looked just like mom. She would have been proud of you.

  I miss her so much. I miss you. I have no one to protect me out here on the streets like you. These streets take a lot out of a person. I have grown up a lot. You would not recognize me. I thought you had seen me when you and JB were walking to the club. I hid behind a building until you were gone. I started thinking of you pulling my hair, making fun of my wedding to Prince or fighting with me. I miss my big brother. Remember the day at the beach when we were seven or eight and we had a swimming race. Mom said that we looked like fishes. We began to splash mom and she started throwing us around. We were so happy then.

  I want to tell you that no matter what happens, “I got you covered.” That was mom’s favorite saying. I will always find you and watch over you. I have to go but maybe one day, I will get cleaned from these streets and meet your wife and kids. I hope by then you would have forgiven me for what has happened. I miss you so much and I love you very much. Claire’

  He cried. Natalie held him. Aunt Rose left them alone. Leon calmed down and leaned back on the sofa and looked at her.

  “I am sorry about everything.” he said touching her face

  “I was more concern with you, what happened?”

  “I read the book and I found the holes. I made some holes of my own before Aunt Rose came over.”

  Natalie kissed him, “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” he said, “Let’s go home” he said leaning his head on her

  She kissed his head, “Let’s go home.”

  13

  Natalie was glad to be home. She walked through the door taken off her shoes. She went to her room and lay on her bed. She rolled around on the bed. Leon walked in and watched her. He smiled.

  “I missed you, bed.” she said with her eyes closed, “I am never leaving you again.” she said as she kissed it.

  She saw Leon standing there with a half smile on his face. She motioned for him to come here. He walked to the bed as she looked up at him.

  “Sit and let’s talk.”

  Leon sat and he looked at his hands.

  “Leon, please talk to me. You haven’t said anything since the graveyard.” she said touching his chin

  “I do not feel like talking. I am just tired.” he said kissing her forehead as he went to take a shower

  Natalie watched him cut her off. She went in and sat on the toilet as he showered.

  “You are withdrawing from me. I do not like that.” she said as he cut off the water

  He stepped out and dried off. He wrapped a towel around his waist. He went to put on his shorts. He sat on the bed looking out the window. Natalie felt helpless.

  “If you want to withdraw from me go ahead. I do not need this.” she said as she left the room

  Natalie went to the spare bedroom and slammed the door. She lay in the bed and closed her eyes. She was in there for about ten minutes when she felt the bed moved. He slid in beside her and held her.

  “I am sorry.” he said solemnly, “I feel like I let Claire down. I should have been there for her. I should have protected her. She was my little sister. I was busy doing my thing and not paying attention to her.”

  Natalie looked at him “Leon, you we
re young. What could you have done? You were there when it counted. You made her feel safe and secure when she was with you. She loved you very much. You gave her peace to know you have made it away from that place. You have made her proud by producing little fishes.” said Natalie smiling

  Leon laughed then he began to cry, “I miss her.”

  “Oh baby,” she said holding him

  They held each other not saying a word. Leon listen to Natalie’s heart beat as he fell asleep.

  Leon’s dreams for the past week had been nightmares. He dreamed that he had a little girl and he started to do the things his dad did. Leon would wake up sweaty. He would go to the den and watch sports until he fell asleep.

  Natalie watched her husband become something she did not recognize. He did not touch her like he used to. He did not make love to her in weeks. She wanted her husband back. She called Olivia and Quincy to come over. They came over. Leon stayed in his room. Natalie started to cry as Olivia held her. Quincy went into talk to Leon.