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“Do what?” I glared.
“Hit me.” The way he spoke, it was as if he was asking me to kiss him, not hit him. I shook my head, not likin’ the way the convers
ation had turned.
“I’m not gonna hit you.” I folded my arms, still glaring.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” he said, a crooked smile on his face.
“You’re just like the rest,” I spat. “Cocky, arrogant, and a brute of a man.” In a flash Charlie was up and gripping me by the waist. He held me flush against his body so I could feel him throbbing against me. Secretly, I wondered if the throbbing I felt at my belly matched his heartbeat.
“I am cocky. I am arrogant. And I am a brute of a man, but I am not like the rest.” I ripped myself out of his hold, ready to argue, when he did something amazing. I watched as Charlie bent over and, with careful deliberation, lifted up one leg of his jeans. Silently he revealed that one of his legs was missing and in its place was a prosthetic.
* * *
I’d never seen a prosthetic before. It reminded me of a high-tech steel skeleton. It was as if all the useless stuff was stripped away and in its place remained the bare essentials needed to function. Raw power in an iron cage. I reached out to touch it, but pulled back when I realized what I was doin’.
“So?” I said, sittin’ back down on the bed. Charlie stayed standin’, his prosthetic visible. “All that proves is that you got hurt.”
“I showed you my deepest shame, Vera,” Charlie said, bendin’ back down to cover it up. “The least you could do is acknowledge how hard it was.”
I bit the inside of my lip, feelin’ bad. When he phrased it that way, it sounded terrible. I didn’t look at what he’d shared as shameful. He’d been hurt and continued on. That wasn’t shameful; if anythin’, it was admirable. Then again, I had a few skeletons in my closet I wouldn’t want people knowin’.
“Sorry,” I offered.
“Make it up to me,” Charlie said.
“Of course,” I said. “You can’t just take an apology like a normal person, can you?”
Charlie grinned. “I showed you mine.”
“What the fuck do you want?” I spat. “I used to be a cam girl. There.”
“I know that already.” Charlie sat down next to me. “I know most everything that is on record. It’s why I’m so good at my job.”
I scoffed. “So you know that I used to be engaged, then?”
“No.” The word came out as a low growl and I looked to see if Charlie was okay. His fists were curled so tight they were almost white and his gaze was fixed straight ahead.
“Yeah,” I continued. “Well I don’t really like to talk about it.”
“To Cruz Zeros?” Charlie asked, voice still dangerously low.
“Ha!” I laughed. “No, thank god, but this guy wasn’t much better. No…” I sighed, really wishin’ I didn’t have to tell the story. “You know, no one really knows this. I mean people know I was engaged, but they don’t know my feelins ‘bout it. I kept those locked tight.”
“I consider myself honored.” I looked at him sideways, not sure if he was bein’ sarcastic or not, but all I saw was sincerity. Charlie grasped my palm, my hand looking so small in his.
I exhaled, getting ready to tell my story. “Yeah, well, it goes like this. Mama was a real devout Catholic. She really loved me but, I mean, I could tell I was a big disappointment, seein’ as I didn’t go to church much and I slept around a lot. One day Hollis, my ex, comes along and we started gettin’ along fine and all. That is until we moved in together after he proposed. He started beatin’ me”—Charlie growled and I stopped for a moment before continuing—“and all that stuff. I was gonna call off the engagement but right around that time, Mama was diagnosed with cancer. My weddin’ was the only bright spot in her life. She loved it when I went to try on dresses and Hollis was never out of turn around her. Since she was dyin’ of cancer I didn’t want to burst her bubble or nothin’. She died about a week before the weddin’.” I laughed raggedly. “I was so relieved, because then I didn’t have to marry Hollis. I was so relieved I didn’t even mourn Mama. Then Cruz came into my life. I think he was my punishment. You know? My karma for wantin’ my mama to die.”
I looked up at Charlie, not sure what to expect. His eyes were murky, the emotion distant. I leaned in to get a better look and he followed. I could smell him all over, his scent enveloping me. I was so close to his lips I could practically taste him. The energy between us crackled.
Then, Charlie let go of my hand and severed the bond. Without another word, he left the room.
6
CHARLIE
I leaned against the doorframe, watching her, transfixed. She danced fluidly, her arms and legs moving like leaves in the wind. How did she have joy in her soul after so much darkness? She was like a white flower floating along a dark river, so completely detached from it all.
