Dirty Little Secrets (5 page)

“Hello.”

“Hi, Tyler, are you asleep?” the familiar voice asked.

“No, I’m still up, Chad. How are you?” When Chad and I first broke up, he would call me once a day to see if we could work
things out. Then it became once a week. Finally the calls stopped altogether, so it was surprising to hear his voice.

“I’m doing good. I was calling to make sure you were doing okay.”

“I’m fine; why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I spoke to Chandler today, and she told me she heard you were seeing her boyfriend.” My mouth dropped. When I broke
up with Chad he knew I was seeing someone else, but I never told him who he was. For Chandler to go running to my ex was beyond
pathetic.

“Why in the hell would Chandler call and tell you that?”

“Tyler, Chandler and I are still friends, and she wanted to know if you and I were still seeing each other.”

“What did you tell her?”.

“The truth—that it was over between us, although I wish it wasn’t. Tyler, you don’t need to be with a guy who already has
a girlfriend. You deserve so much more than that. I still love you, and I know you must still care about me, too.”

“Chad, I do care about you, I always will, but not in a romantic way. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the
truth. I hope you understand.”

“I do. But, Tyler, be careful. Whoever this guy is, he seems like bad news.”

“I will. Thanks for your concern, Chad.”

I couldn’t believe that Chandler called Chad, getting him involved in my personal business. What was more mind-boggling was
that someone as beautiful as Chandler Thompson was
sweating a sophomore about her socalled man. Although I loved spending time with Trey, this was becoming way too complicated.
The last thing I wanted was a whole bunch of girlfriend drama. I’ve never liked drama, and to this day I still don’t. I run
from unwanted drama.

After I could no longer duck Chandler in school, we had one last conversation. Well, it was more like she talked and I listened.
After cornering me at my locker, she said bitterly, “I know you’re fucking Trey, but now he’s all yours. I refuse to share
my man with some snotty Lolita who doesn’t know how to keep her legs closed.” With a devilish grin spread across her flawless
face, she added, “By the way, I told Trey how old you really are. Tootles, bitch.” As she turned her back to walk away, she
tossed her long black hair in my face and sashayed down the hallway like she owned the place.

When I got home, Trey called and asked if he could come over to talk. I wasn’t in the mood but agreed. The first question
he asked as we sat on my bed was, “Why didn’t you tell me how old you were?”

“Because you didn’t ask.”

“I assumed that since you were at a college function you were at least legal.”

“I will be in a few months, but if you don’t want to wait I totally understand.” But I wanted to be with Trey now. Throughout
this whole episode with Chandler we hadn’t been intimate, and seeing him looking so sexy, I definitely wanted our relationship
to continue.

“Well, what do you want to do?” he asked, sounding the same way I felt.

“It’s up to you.” When he reached over and began kissing me and rubbing his hand on my breast, I knew it meant the waiting
wasn’t necessary. Luckily my parents weren’t home, because Trey and I immediately started catching up on lost time. From that
day forward Trey and I were boyfriend and girlfriend.

In the beginning everything was new and exciting. I had never been with a guy like Trey before. He came into my life at a
point when school, my friends, and my life in general were boring to me. He was like a head rush, and it was very addictive.
We were glued at the hip. Most days I would hang out with him on the Clark Atlanta campus. Although I had only a learner’s
permit, my parents had gotten me a car, and I would drive myself to and from school. Whenever possible, I skipped classes
to be with Trey. Hanging with him was more interesting than anything they were teaching me at school. To this day I still
wonder how I was able to make decent grades and graduate. I even dropped out of the drama club. Although I still dreamed of
being an actress someday, meeting four days a week for rehearsals interfered with my blossoming relationship with Trey.

On the rare occasion when Mother had time for me, we went to the Ritz-Carlton for Sunday brunch. Ever since I found out Daddy
was physically abusive toward Mother, our relationship had been strained and we rarely talked about what was going on in each
other’s life. “So how’s Chad doing?” Mother asked, unaware we had broken up a couple of months earlier.

“Chad and I aren’t together anymore.”

“Oh, you’ll be back together. Did you have a little spat?”

“No, actually, I have a new boyfriend.”

Mother looked at me suspiciously. “New boyfriend? I haven’t met him. Does he go to your school?”

“Actually he attends Clark University,” I said, all perky because
I was proud to have a college boyfriend. Plus there was no need to lie and tell her he went to one of the local high schools.
Mother knew the parents of just about all the students that she felt came from respectable families.

“He’s in college.” She paused. “Isn’t that a little old for you?”

I lied and said he was only a freshman and had just turned eighteen.

“Would you like to see a picture of him?” Trey had given me a college calendar, for which he had posed for the month of April.
I had it in my tote bag and was anxious to get Mother’s reaction.

“Sure, honey,” she said nonchalantly. I reached in my tote bag, pulled out the calendar, and flipped to Trey’s picture. Mother’s
mouth dropped, and I knew she wasn’t pleased. Trey was wearing a cream linen suit that complemented his light reddish skin,
and he had a gun tucked inside his pants. I got a kick watching Mother’s expression. I was proud to tell Mother this pretty
boy was my new boyfriend. But she liked to have died.

“He is nothing but the devil, and you need to stay away from him,” she said, fear in her voice. Of course, instead making
me afraid, her reaction added to my excitement, and I wanted to be with Trey more than ever. After getting Mother riled up
over my personal life, I decided to take the conversation in a different direction.

“Mother, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, dear. What is it?” she said, reading her paper.

“Where is my father?”

“Honey, I told you he had to go to San Francisco on business,” Mother said, not taking her eyes off the paper.

“I’m talking about my real father, my biological one.”

Mother put the paper down and looked at me. “Now why would you ask me where he is? Who cares? Haven’t you had a
wonderful life? Michael has been a fantastic father to you,” she said, sounding upset.

“Yes, he has, but he still isn’t my real father. Why hasn’t my real daddy, Carter, ever come back for Ella and me? Doesn’t
he want to know how we are?”

“No! Carter doesn’t care about you or Ella. I didn’t want to tell you this, Tyler, but I reached out to your father, and he
told me he had moved on and didn’t want anything to do with you or your sister.”

“
What?
But why? When I was little he was so sweet to me.”

“You’re not little anymore, and he doesn’t want to be bothered. Honey, I’m sorry to be so cruel, but you have to get this
fantasy about how wonderful your father is out of your head. He has always been irresponsible and never wanted to provide
a good life for you and your sister. Michael is your father and always will be.”

Mother’s words crushed me. The only thing that had given me some solace was my belief that my real father had never come back
for us because he didn’t know where we were. To learn that he had turned his back on Ella and me was devastating. I couldn’t
help but feel that something must be wrong with me if my own father didn’t want me.

Just as I grabbed my denim jacket and purse and got ready to head out to meet Lisa at the mall, the phone rang. “Hello,” I
said in a rushed voice.

“Hi, Tyler, are you busy?” I was surprised to hear Chad’s voice. We hadn’t spoken in over a month.

“No, how have you been?”

“Great. Just trying to get everything in order for college. I was
actually calling to see if you would still go to the senior prom with me.” He rushed the question as if he knew I was on my
way out the door. “I know we’re not together anymore, but I don’t have anyone to go with.”

“Oh, Chad, please, any girl would die to be your date for the prom.”

“Yeah, maybe, but they wouldn’t be you. Tyler, I’d really love it if you’d come, as friends of course.”

“I would love to go.” Although that wasn’t exactly true.

“Wonderful. It’s next Saturday, and I’ll pick you up around seven.” Chad quickly hung up, as if he thought I might change
my mind. But I had no intention of doing that. I was looking forward to getting all dolled up and buying a new dress, but
more than that I felt a sense of obligation to attend the event with Chad. I couldn’t erase the sad look in his eyes the day
I told him our relationship was over. I could’ve been more sensitive, and I hoped that attending the prom with him would ease
my stillguilty conscience. I decided not to tell Trey, because he would be less than thrilled if he knew I was going on a
date with my ex-boyfriend.

Mother was delighted to hear I was going to the prom with Chad. We went to Neiman Marcus to pick out a dress. As I tried on
a beautiful white lace dress that hugged my curves in all the right places and dipped in the front, giving me an enticing
cleavage, Mother beamed. “That’s the one. You look beautiful, my little princess.” Mother hadn’t called me that in a long
time, and it brought chills to know she still felt that way.

“Darling, I’m ecstatic you’re getting back with Chad; he is a wonderful young man.”

“Mother, Chad and I aren’t back together. I only agreed to go to the prom with him; nothing more, nothing less.”

“I just assumed you were over your fixation with that Trey character and were now thinking about your future.”

“Mother, I’m only fifteen; I have plenty of time to think about my future.”

“Time flies sooner than you think. If I’d planned ahead, I would’ve never wasted all those years with your father. Don’t make
the same mistake I did. Chad is a great catch. He is either going to be a professional football player or an attorney, so
you know he will be a wonderful provider. He comes from an excellent family, and he’s a very handsome young man. Tyler, you
would be a fool not to stick it out with him. If you want to have meaningless dalliances with that Trey character, so be it,
but by no means take him or the relationship seriously.”

As Mother paid for my dress, I thought about what she’d said. Maybe I should stick it out with Chad. He was a wonderful guy
and my first love. Trey was fun, but I wasn’t sure if he was the type of guy I could be with on a long-term basis. Chad was
boring, but he was also going off to college in a couple of months so I wouldn’t have to deal with him on an everyday basis.
I could always see Trey on the side.

When Mother and I got back from shopping, we noticed an unfamiliar car parked in front of one of the garages. Daddy was out
of town and Ella was away at college, so we couldn’t imagine who it could be. Mother pulled up beside the vehicle, but no
one was inside. “Are you expecting a visitor, Tyler?”

“No. I don’t know whose car that is.”

“Maybe it’s one of those door-to-door salespeople. Don’t they have laws against such harassment?” Mother said, annoyed that
she might have to talk to a stranger. We gathered our bags and made our way to the front door. The tall man in a suit was
standing with his back turned to us. “I told you it was one of those
salespeople,” Mother said, exasperated. “Whatever you’re selling, we’re not buying, sir, so please excuse yourself.”

“I’m not selling anything. I came to pay my family a visit.” I dropped the bags that were in my hand when the man faced us.
He was ten years older, but his eyes were still the same.

“What the hell are you doing here, Evan?” Mother screamed. “I want you off this property right now or I’ll call the police!”

“That won’t be necessary. Don’t I have a right to see my father?” Evan directed his question toward me, and I put my head
down, not wanting to see his face. I couldn’t believe Evan was standing at our doorstep as if he hadn’t tried to rob me of
my innocence ten years earlier.

“Your father isn’t here, and if he was, I doubt he would want to see your face. Remember, he is the one who disowned you,”
Mother said.

“How can I forget?” he said in an unremorseful tone. “I’m sure that must please you, Maria. Now you and your two little princesses
can keep my father’s money all to yourself.” Even with Evan’s model-perfect, chiseled face and smooth coffee-colored skin,
there was no escaping the evilness that his eyes possessed. He had the same lean, muscular build of his father, but for all
of his physical attributes, underneath lived a monster.

“Is that what this is about? You want money?” Mother said, visibly upset.

“I’m blood; if anyone deserves his money, it’s me. Not some money-hungry woman and her two bratty daughters,” Evan said smugly.

“You bastard,” I said, furious. “The reason you don’t have your father’s money is because you tried to molest a little girl.
You almost destroyed my life. I still have nightmares. I can’t believe you have the audacity to show up here after what you
did.
You belong in jail—or better yet, dead—for what you put me through.”

“Tyler, relax. It’s okay.” Mother was trying to calm me down, but it wasn’t working.

“No, it’s not okay! I prayed I would never have to see your despicable face again, but here you are. Looking like the same
evil snake you were ten years ago. You haven’t changed. You’re still the sick prick you’ve always been.”

“Evan, get in your car and never come back here again. When Michael finds out you were here, he’ll be furious, and you better
hope he doesn’t come looking for you to finish what I stopped.” Mother was holding her cell phone, prepared to dial 911.