The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (7 page)

Derrick gave Charge the once over. “Who are you?”

Charge scoffed and didn't answer the question. “Get the fuck outta here, man.”

Despite the fact that Charge could probably crush Derrick with one hand, Derrick didn't back down. “Just back the fuck off. I’m trying to talk to my woman here!”

The rage that passed over Charge’s face was terrifying to Kathryn. She watched the cords in his arms tighten and bulge as he gripped the handles of the grocery bags. Kathryn was glad that he had his hands full. At least Derrick might get a running start.

Charge hissed, “You lost out, my brotha. She’s
my
girl now.” Hearing him say that sent shivers through her entire body.

Derrick said nothing in response to Charge’s claim of her. Charge stared at him pointedly in quiet confrontation before sharply turning. “Let’s go,” he said to Kathryn.

Charge’s movement reanimated Derrick. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Charge by the arm. “Hey, wait!”

Suddenly, Kathryn heard a huge POP. It sounded like a giant, sharp slap. No, more like a loud shock—the kind of sound a plug makes when it burns out due to a short. Derrick yelled, and Kathryn turned in time to see him recoiling in pain, clutching his hand to his chest. She picked up a faint scent of electricity in the air. Charge said nothing; instead, he just glowered at Derrick. A look of panic crossed Derrick’s face, and he turned and ran down the sidewalk. Charge watched him go, and a smirk played at the corners of his mouth. Finally, he turned to Kathryn. “Let’s go.” She stood confused for a moment before following him inside.

Once in the kitchen, they put away with groceries without speaking. Kathryn didn't know what to say. The refrigerator door opened and closed in uncomfortable silence. Napkins went into the panty. Spices went into the cabinet. They were done, and Kathryn tucked the empty bags away for future use. Finally, since it seemed as though Charge was not going to bring it up, she asked, “What
was
that?”

Charge’s eyes averted her gaze. “What was what?”

Kathryn leaned up against the sink and sighed. She asked again softly, “What was that thing you did to Derrick?”

Charge turned to look at her. He stepped forward and lifted his large hand to her face. His warm, brown eyes looked questioningly into hers, as if he were looking for something. The expression on his face was one of trepidation, concern, and almost nervousness. He bent down and kissed her lips tenderly. He then pulled back, and his mouth moved as if to speak. Kathryn waited breathlessly to hear what he was going to say.

“I realized something today.”

Kathryn was confused. That statement in no way answered the question she had asked, but she decided to pursue this line of conversation anyway.

“What did you realize?”

He stepped into her again, pressing his body gently up against hers. “This is probably going to sound crazy because we haven’t known each other that long.”

“What?”

“You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. I am attracted to everything about you—your beauty, your intelligence, your sense of humor, your body.” He placed one hand on her hip and pulled her even closer. Kathryn gasped quietly with pleasure. Charge laughed. “I’m even crazily attracted to the fact that you smoke, drink, and cuss like a sailor.” Kathryn couldn't help but to laugh herself. She knew what her faults were, and she had many.

“So, I say all of that to say . . .” he paused. Kathryn searched his face for what might come next. He sighed. “Look, I don’t want to scare you, but . . .” His gaze darted around the kitchen before coming to rest again on her face. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Kathryn was shocked. She didn’t know where Charge was going with the conversation, but this wasn’t it. “W-what?” she stammered.

A smile spread across Charge’s face. He bent down and spoke slowly into her ear. “I. Am. Falling. In. Love. With. You.”

Kathryn couldn’t speak. Her heart raced, partly with joy and partly with panic. She had never felt so intensely about anyone her entire life. She knew that she loved him. But, she was afraid. She was afraid to say it because it would make her vulnerable, and it would make her feel even closer to him, and it would make it even more unbearable when she would have to break up with him in a few months after she let her guard down, slipped up, and froze him. Or worse yet, if she disappeared in front of him. How could she ever explain that? At the rate this relationship was going, the end might be sooner than expected. She was already almost too comfortable. She hadn’t slipped up yet, but she knew that she would. And when that happened, he would know what she was and would run away screaming, probably telling Susan and anyone else who would listen. She would then lose her job, be declared a dangerous individual or worse, mentally ill, and would be locked up in an institution. Her life would be over.

But yet, he was almost worth it. She looked at his flawless face. Her life had been full of so much loss and so much loneliness until a few weeks ago. Could she ever really go back to that? Perhaps she could risk being declared a menace to the public if only she could spend a few more weeks feeling the way she did right now. The next few seconds lasted an eternity, as Kathryn thought about the choice she was going to make. She then closed her eyes and made the bravest decision of her life. “I’m falling in love with you, too.”

Charge tenderly looked down at her, kissed her passionately, swept her up in his strong arms, and carried her to the bedroom. For the first time, the sex was tender, heartbreaking, and soul-satisfying. As the strange, static sensation poured over her body as she neared orgasm, she knew that it was worth it. Her life might be over in a few months, but at least she could say that she truly lived.

***

Susan arrived just as Kathryn was taking the lasagna out of the oven. They exchanged hugs and Kathryn took the Martha Stewart-style cake out of her hands.

“My god, girl,” Kathryn teased. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Susan shrugged. “What can I say? It’s just a little something I whipped up.”

Kathryn felt high throughout the entire dinner. She was enjoying good food, good wine, and great conversation with the two most important people in her life. She felt intoxicated, and it wasn’t just from drinking too much wine; although, that did help.

“So tell me again what happened?” Susan ate another forkful of cake. Kathryn had briefly told Susan over the phone about the incident with Derrick. She had left out, however, the weird stuff.

“Oh, god.” Kathryn rolled her eyes. “Can you believe that asshole showed up?”

Charge jumped in. “What I can’t believe is that you used to go out with that asshole!”

“That’s what I tried to tell her.” Susan punctuated her sentence with her utensil.

Kathryn felt ganged up on. “Okay. Okay. Yes, I made a mistake.” She joked, “Despite my attempts to prove otherwise, I am not perfect.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Susan retorted.

“Hey. No comments necessary from the peanut gallery.” Kathryn took another sip from her rapidly disappearing, third glass of wine. “Anyway, so yeah, he shows up and is all like ‘I’m so sorry, baby,’ and
I’m
thinking, You asshole. That bitch threw you out, and now you think you can come back over here? You’re fucking crazy. And you have the nerve to try to step to me when you clearly see that I’m standing here with my new man who is
such
an upgrade over you that it’s not even funny?” Charge laughed. He seemed to be enjoying Kathryn’s colorful retelling of the incident.

Susan leaned in across the table. “So then what happened?”

“Then, he made a serious mistake,” Charge said. Susan raised her eyebrows. He continued, “He called her
his
woman.”

Susan’s eyes grew wide. “Oooo. What did you do?”

“Then,” Kathryn resumed control of the tale, “Charge got
so
mad. I could see it all over his face. I thought he was going to
kill
him.”

“Oh, I thought about it.” Charge finished his glass; it was his third, or possibly his fourth.

“I know. I could tell.” Kathryn said. Charge reached over and grabbed the almost empty third bottle of wine on the table. He refilled everyone’s glasses. Kathryn continued. “Charge was all, ‘She’s
my
woman. Back the fuck off!’” Kathryn took another drink. “It was very sexy.” She winked at him.

Susan looked at her, expecting more. “And that was it?”

Kathryn shrugged lightly. “Um, yeah, basically. Then Charge . . um . . .” she stumbled, not knowing what to say, “. . . scared him off.”

Susan smirked at him. “And how, exactly, did you do that?”

Charge smirked back, took another drink, and said, “I have my ways.”

Everyone around the table grew silent. Kathryn became uneasy. She changed the subject. “This cake is great, Susan. How did you get it so moist?”

She thought she noticed Susan and Charge exchanging a glace, but with her head swimming with wine, she couldn’t be sure. Susan then turned her attention back to her. “A couple of tricks—room temperature eggs, real butter softened to room temperature, no over mixing. Would you like another piece?”

“Yes, please.” Kathryn was relieved with the dessert conversation.

“I’ll get it for you.” Charge got up to reach for the cake that was on the counter behind them. In doing so, his arm swept Kathryn’s almost-full glass of wine completely off the table.

Kathryn gasped, and everything in the kitchen stopped. Susan had a frozen look of shock on her face, her eyes glued to the spot where the glass used to be. Her mouth was open as if she were about to say something. Charge was in a half raised position, getting ready to exit his seat. He had begun to look over his shoulder at the glass that was now suspended diagonally in the air about two inches off the edge of the table. The red wine leapt from the glass like a crimson fountain; Kathryn would have taken a moment to admire the beauty of its form if she hadn’t been so panicked. She quickly plucked the glass out of the air and placed it back on the table away from Charge’s elbow. After checking to make sure that it was out of reach, she unfroze the room.

“Watch out!” Susan shouted. Her warning was immediately followed by silence as a confused look crossed her face.

Charge was now looking at a wine glass that was no longer there. Instead, it was sitting upright on the table again, almost a foot away from where it was a moment ago. A light splash of wine was on the floor, which Kathryn quickly rose to wipe away with her napkin. Charge looked a little less confused than Susan, but he was also at a loss for words.

“Wow, that was close.” Kathryn went into panic recovery mode as she furiously wiped away at the now-clean floor.

“What happened?” Charge asked.

Kathryn stumbled over her words. “You . . . um . . . knocked the glass o-over.” She laughed nervously. “It’s a good thing that I caught it.” Change looked at her skeptically. Kathryn began to sweat. “It-it’s a good thing I have good reflexes. Maybe next time I’ll actually beat you in basketball.” Beads of perspiration formed on her forehead and upper lip. She had to get out of there. “Excuse me,” she said weakly and headed to the bathroom.

She slammed the bathroom door a little too hard behind her and gripped her stomach. She really did think that she was going to throw up this time. She fell to the floor kneeling over the toilet, staring at faint reflection in the still water.
My god. What did I just do?
She strained to try to hear what was going on in the kitchen. Unfortunately, her almost one hundred year old building had thick walls, and she could hear nothing. After several minutes, she realized that her food was going to stay down. She slowly stood up and splashed cold water on her face. A knock on the door startled her.

“Kathryn?” Charge’s voice called out to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Give me a couple of minutes.” She brushed her teeth for good measure to settle her stomach.
I have to get both of them to go home now. I’ll tell them I’m sick.
Actually, that won’t be hard to believe
, she dried her face off with a towel,
because it is true
. She took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. Susan and Charge were talking quietly in the kitchen. “Um, listen,” she said softly from the kitchen door. She was almost afraid to enter for fear that something else might happen. “I hate to break up the party, but I’m really not feeling well.” They both looked at her without saying anything. Their faces displayed no emotion. “So, um, I’m going to have to kick you out. Sorry.”

Charge and Susan looked at each other. They seemed to come to a joint decision. “Come here, baby.” Charge reached out his hand and beckoned Kathryn to her seat. “We need to talk.”

Kathryn didn’t want to talk. Not right now. She remained standing. “Now is not really a good time,” she insisted. “Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“Actually,” Susan said rather brightly. “Now is the
perfect
time.”

Chapter Eight

Charge and Susan finally coaxed Kathryn to sit down. Her stomach flipped uneasily, and the kitchen felt uncomfortably warm. Kathryn couldn't imagine what they had to tell her, but she wished that they would quickly get it over with so that she could finish her glass of wine, and theirs as well, and go pass out in the bedroom.