Page 50 of Mr. Calloway

A smile eased on my face because this was the woman I knew. Maybe I had underestimated her. “I knew you would change your mind.”

Still with no love in her eyes, she reached into her purse and handed me an envelope.

“Cyn, what the hell is this?”

“It’s your portion for the house. Clark, this house now belongs to our great-grandkids. Hope, Peace, and Savior.”

“Cynthia, I know goddamn?—”

“You know what, Clark?” she shouted. “You have destroyed every goddamn thing you’ve touched. You are an evil man, one I should have—” She paused as she started to cry, “—never been with. You took June from Grace. You lied, leaving him in that house knowing how Matthew was. You’ve cheated countless times, and you killed my baby. Clark, there is no forgiving you.”

I moved forward, and she stepped back. “History isn’t enough to save what’s been broken for years. I’m leaving, and if your things are not cleared out by tomorrow, they will do it for you.”

Something in me changed, something that screamed don’t let her go. Who would I turn to when I needed to talk about things? Who would I turn to when I needed a problem solved? Cyn was truly turning her back on a marriage that had lasted over thirty years. There was no out in this marriage. I couldn’t let her just walk away; not only did she know too much, but she had my heart somewhere in there.

“I gave you my life, and you give me your ass to kiss?” I pointed.

Her eyes closed tightly as the tears streamed down her face. “Clark, you do not love me. You love the idea of what I can be for you. You walk around with clean hands while others are dirtier than the ground they walk on. You’re evil, soulless, and everything about that screams death.”

I began to scoff before it turned into a sinister laugh. My face morphed into that of a monster, while my inner workings melted into that of a man struck by fear.

“You-you sound like my mother, Cyn, and you know how I feel about her,” I stuttered.

She nodded. “I know, and that’s why you hate him. You hate him because he isn’t like us, weak and ready to bend at your request. You hate him because you cannot control him, just like you could not control Grace. He’s going to kill you, Clark, and if you knew what was best for you, you’d get the hell out of dodge.”

My hand wrapped around the back of her neck as I pulled her in. “One last dance, please, sweetheart?”

She tried pulling back, but I pulled her ass closer. “No, shh, just dance. Thirty years and I can’t dance with my wife before she walks away from me?” I said as I slowly began to rock side to side.

“Clark, you’re hurting me!” she shouted.

I ignored her screams as I continued to move across the foyer floor. My hand slowly eased up her back around her neck.

Squeeze.

“You betrayed me, Cyn,” I gritted.

Her hand began clawing at mine. Her eyes grew wide as she struggled to breathe. This reminded me of my first kill. The look of her life flashing before her eyes, the look of words she regretted saying, the tears of sympathy. I squeezed tighter.

“I am in control, and not you or that fucking Tyrant will change it.” I shook her so hard that I heard a light snap.

She sucked in a gasp, and as that last tear rolled down her face, one rolled down mine because the one person who promised they would love me until death loved me until she was backed into a corner.

I released Cyn’s lifeless body and stepped over her, thumbing the single tear that had betrayed me. It would be the last time I’d shed one.

The one thing Cyn was right about was control. I was God, and if the Tyrant couldn’t understand, then he, too, was doomed.

Zaria

The kiss on my sweet Savior’s face made me happy. He ended up being in the hospital longer than we anticipated, and that worried me. I felt like my baby wasn’t getting better. Maybe Dr. Carter was wrong about her findings, and Savior was sicker than we thought. The idea of him never coming home made me sick, and June, well, he was losing his mind just as much, if not more. If it were up to him, he would buy out the entire floor and turn it into our home. Luckily, I was the mediator for it all.

While I waited for Dr. Carter to come into the room with what I hoped would be good news, I checked my phone and saw a text from Yana. She decided to cancel Love’s party because of everything that was going on with June and Savior being in the hospital. I sent a quick reply telling her to still have the party. We needed some form of normalcy, and although it was for my niece, some type of family event was needed to kill the brewing darkness we had been going through.

When I exited the text thread, I realized the last message I sent to Navi had gone unanswered. After the holidays, I hadn’t heard from or seen my sister. Even though we weren’t close, it would have been nice to know she was okay. Instead of sending another text, I called, but it went straight to voicemail. Refusingto call my mother, I made a mental note to talk to Yana about it. I knew with everything that happened with Preach and that little shit with Bishop, Navi was hurt. She probably hated Yana and me for not giving up our relationships to follow her.

The room door opened to Dr. Carter. She came in right on time before my mind took a trip of its own. I stepped over to Savior’s bed.

“Hello, Mrs. Calloway,” she greeted me.