Page 51 of Chemistry: The Chemist

“I’m no enemy. With time, you’ll discover I’m an ally. One you can be open, honest, and your entire self around. Whether it is today or ten months from now when your walls come crashing down, I’m here to listen. Yes, you’re a thrill but it’s deeper than that. Much deeper. You represent the darkness that surrounds my heart. That’s why I’m drawn to you. We’re inevitable, doesn’t matter the capacity.”

I tilted my head, slightly, attempting to reduce the discomfort. My throat was beginning to close. The car shrunk with each passing second. My heart ached. My head spun. My lungs tightened.

She hiked the volume on the stereo herself this time, drowning our thoughts. Thankful, I gripped the wheel and watched her place the blindfold over her eyes, accepting both of our fates without resistance. I made a promise to do the same. Just as that thought burdened me, another joined. I quickly lowered the volume, still focused on the road ahead.

“One more thing. Whatever nigga paying your bills right now, Eden, tell him to unpay them motherfuckers before his mother is forced to identify what’s left of him.”

Her jaws dropped. She wasn’t able to say a mumbling word before the music was up again. I’d attempted to handle her balance for the remainder of the year, but there wasn’t one. It had been paid up for some time. Instead of finishing the year’s payments, I needed her balance to reflect a year’s rent. Until then, there was a nigga’s life on the line.

THREE

What am I doing?

I should be calling this in.

I should be taking him in.

I hunt men like him for a living.

I am bound, by law, to report behavior as such.

So, why is it my walls that I want him inside of instead of a cell?

He killed a man for Christ’s sake.

Frustration budded, filling me with anxiousness. I wanted Chem far, very far inside of me to make me forget I had a duty to protect. I’d gone to school, worked my butt off, and graduated top of the academy. Yet, I was sitting in the passenger seat of a criminal who’d indirectly confessed to murdering a man an hour ago and threatening to end the life of another if the balance of my rent wasn’t restored.

Egypt. Please. I groaned inwardly, trying to ignore the pulsating of my center. It was agonizing.

“This way,” he demanded, his fingers wrapping around my arm as he guided me out of the car.

His touch set my body ablaze, cremating all the thoughts that sent me into a state of confusion. We made it up a set of stairs and into more warmth as I felt him hovering. Just as I moved to lift the blindfold, I was presented with another gift.

“Here.”

Thorny stems picked my fingers.

“Ow!”

Finally, I was able to see. He’d taken the blindfold off. The dead roses in my hand hadn't been what I was expecting. Baffled, I stared at the beautiful mess, still soft to the touch but visibly dying.

“Chem?”

“I bought them earlier. Apparently, the trunk is no place for pretty things,” he explained without remorse for the lifelessness in my hands.

Take the company’s card off file, I reminded myself. Though it was deemed untraceable, it might not be the case with him.

“I’ll do better next time, Eden.”

He took me by the hand, leading me deeper into the house. I should’ve run in the other direction, but naturally, I wanted to go wherever he was taking me. It didn’t matter how far. It didn’t matter how unforgiving. I was in too deep, already. There was no turning back now.

We entered the master suite. I remembered it clearly. I’d gripped the sheets, hit the headboard, and been stretched out across the entire mattress.

I’ve missed you, I admitted, admiring its massiveness.

The small, dark brown blanket that was on top of it, folded neatly, startled me. My heart dropped as my brows furrowed. Swallowing, I asked the question I was fearful of the answer to.

“Uh, Chem, do you have a child?”

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