Tears / LH 19 Carnell~ " Ow. Ow. Ow. F*ck my miserable life, ow. " Patrick sucked his teeth. " That's what your a*s gets. This is the very reason you stayed away from alcohol in the first place. Because HANGOVERS SUCK! " He screamed the last part in my ear, and I wanted to punch him right in the mouth. Fortunately for him, he moved. " Seriously though! You shouldn't drink your problems away. I mean, as you can see, you did nothing but made them worse. " " Get out, " I groaned, with my face buried deep in a pillow. " You get out, " " I'm in my apartment! " " Then this is no way to treat a guest. " " Oh my G*d, Patrick. Don't you have a kid to care for? " " Noelle is at home. Actually, she's the one that said to check on you. " " Oh. Great. I'm alive, now get out. " " Have you spoken to Gabi? " " Yeah. " " Where is she? " " If I knew where she was, you wouldn't have to ask where she is. " " I'm not sure I like your attitude, " " Then pick yours up on the way out, " " Get up, and look at all these beer cans, Carnell. You don't even like it. So why drink it? " I sighed, and pushed myself up from the bed. " Yeah, that's it! Come on, you can do it. " I glared at him. " Seriously though. I'm not gonna be the one to sign you up for AA meetings, so you better quit while you're ahead. " " Whatever, " I dragged into the bathroom to take a shower and brush my teeth. After getting dressed, Patrick greeted me with coffee and an advil. I texted Gabi " goodmorning, " and laughed at her reply. -" Wow. A goodmorning text while its still morning. Good job. " " Can I call you ? " - " I'll call you in like 10 minutes, " " That's fine, " " What are you smiling about? " " Huh? Oh. Uh, Gabi. " " She coming back? " The smile fell from my face. " Not that I know of. But, she's okay. " " Well, that's good. So, you're coming with me right? " " To where? " " The little one misses you. He suggested we all went to Six Flags, " " Six Flags? Really? " " Yup. That advil should be kicking in soon, so the screaming shouldn't be all that bad. " " Can Gabi come? " " IF she'll come, then sure. But I doubt she will, " " I'll make her come if I have too. " He chuckled. " How many times has that worked for you in the past ? " " Shut up, Patrick. " " That's no way to talk to a big brother, now is it ? " " Ugh, " Gabrielle~ I looked passed a sleeping Analise and Roger while I started breakfast. Pulling eggs, strawberries, and pancake mix from the fridge and pantry, I sucked in a gulp of air and dialed Carnell's number. " Hello? Gabrielle? " " Goodmorning, " " Goodmorning. Uhh..what are you doing? " " Cooking breakfast, " " TELL GABI I SAID HI! " I laughed, and Carnell sighed. "Patrick said hi," "Hello Patrick." "Um, I was wondering if you'd come to Six Flags with Xavier, Patrick, and Noelle." "Six Flags? What could I do at Six Flags? You realize I'm 8 months pregnant, right?" "Yeah, I know. We don't have to do any of the rides. I just wanna see you Gabi..please?" I sighed, and scrambled four eggs. "Will Jorelys be making a surprise appearance?" "H*ll no." "Uh..sure. I guess I'll go... " My eyes flickered over to Analise. " I had to talk to you about something anyway. Is it cool if I bring a friend?" "Uh, a friend ? A friend like who? Just a friend. " " Gabi, please tell me you haven't moved on completely. You and I aren't even done yet, Gabi! " I rolled my eyes. "Carnell, stop. Now, if this is what the day is gonna be like then I'll just stay here. " "No. I'm sorry. What time do you want us to pick you up?" " I don't. What time do you want me to be there? " "As soon as possible. " "Okay. I'll meet you there. " "Okay. I'll see you soon. Gabi ?" " Yeah?" "I love you." "I love you too." I sighed, and put strawberries on top of pancakes and set them aside tall glasses of Apple juice. "Analise...." I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around the not-so-pregnant part of my torso. " Wake up, mama. Breakfast is ready. " She stretched in my arms, and her eyes flickered to life. "Breakfast?" She uttered, a little foggy still. " Yup. Breakfast is ready. " "Strawberries?" I giggled. " Yes. Lots of strawberries. Go brush your teeth and then cone down, okay? " " Kay, " She wiggled out of my arms and wobbled up the tall winding stairs. " You're gonna be an amazing mother, " I turned around quickly, shocked by the deep husky voice. " G*d, Roger! I thought you were still sleeping. " He smiled. " I'm sorry. Goodmorning, " " Goodmorning! Breakfast is on the table. " " Thanks. Wow, this looks great. " " Hey, do you work today? " " Yes ma'am. Why, what's up? " " Well, I'm going to Six Flags with my brother in law and his little son, and I wanted to take Analise with me. You know, if its okay with you. " " Six Flags? Sure. That's fine. " " One last thing though. Can you drop me and Analise off at my mothers house? I need to pick up my car and some more clothes. " " Sure. That's fine too. " " Thanks! " " These pancakes are perfection. " Analise ran down the stairs and sat next to Roger. " Goodmorning, daddy. " " Goodmorning beautiful. " " I'm gonna go pick out an outfit for her. She can get dressed at my mothers place. " " That's fine. After she's done, we'll be in the car. " " Where are we going? " she squeaked, cheeks full of strawberries. " Six Fl- " I cut Roger off, " It's a surprise! " " Oh. " he chuckled. " Right. A surprise! " " Yeah, so eat up and we can get to that surprise. " Trent~ " Mother, I'll be there in a few to pick up my car, okay? " " Okay, sure. Shall I send for breakfast? " " That's okay. I made breakfast already. " " Are you staying for awhile? " " No. I'm just gonna take a shower, then leave. I'm going out, " " So why not take a shower at Carnell's place? " " I don't live with him, Ma. It's a long story. But I'll be out all day, and probably won't be able to answer my phone, so.. " " Gabrielle? Where exactly are you going? " " Six Flags. " " Absolutely not. I forbid it. You are too pregnant to be frolicing around an amusement park for hours. " " Thank you mother. I'll be there soon. Bye, " I clenched my fist and punched a hole through the wall. " What the f*ck, Trent. What is wrong with you! " I ignored Jorelys and slammed my fist against the laptop. " F*CK! " I rushed to put on a shirt and sped out the apartment with my laptop in my hand. I found Rogers address and crept up the deep driveway. Gabrielle got in the front seat of his cab and he pulled off. I rolled my eyes and broke in through the backdoor. Sh*t, this place is huge. What am I supposed to do now? Gabrielle~ I teased my hair and put in earrings while waiting for Analise to get ready. " Can you tell me where we're going now? " she squeaked through the bathroom door. " No, I cannot. " " Why! I won't tell anyone. I promise! " " If I tell you, it won't be a secret. " " Ughhh... " she whined. " You almost ready? " " Yup! " she pushed through my bathroom door. " Aw, you look so pretty. Come here, " I sat her on the bed, and rubbed suncreen on her face, arms, legs, and back. " Can you put my hair up? " " Up? Like how? " " Like yours. " I looked into the mirror and at my messy bun. " Like this? " I pulled at the tips of her hair to make it wild. She smiled. " Yes! " " Okay, let's go. " We walked through the kitchen to leave my house. " Woah, " she breathed, stopping mid-fridge. " Look at all this food! " I smiled, and sat her on the counter. " Would you like a snack? " " Please?!!? " " What do you want? We have chips, cookies, fruit,- " " Cookies? Chocolate milk? STRAWBERRIES?! " I laughed. " You want all that? Fine. " I grabbed a pack of Chips Ahoy, strawberries, and a Yahoo and brought her to the car. Of course, my mother already had a car seat in the car. I rolled my eyes, and strapped Analise in. " Ma! " I yelled into my mothers house. " I'M LEAVING! " " Bye honey. Please, " she appeared over the banner. " Be careful, Gabrielle. Too much movement and you'll- " " Yes, ma. I know. Thank you. " " I love you ! " " Yeah, me too. Bye! " I shut the door before she could say anything and sighed in excitement as the engine purred to life. " Ready, mamas ? " " Yup! " Usually, it took about an hour and 45 minutes to get to Six Flags, but in my Lexus it took a little under an hour. When Analise saw the big billboard with the 6 flags on it, she flipped out. I took her hand in mine, paid my way in. Too no surprise, Carnell sat on one of the tall walls with his face buried in his hands. I stood in front of him. " Hey stranger. " His head popped up in shock just before he jumped off the wall and held me. " Gabi ..... " He breathed into my neck. " I missed you so much.. " He kissed me hungrily and I pulled away from him. " Not in front of her, " " Her? Who her? " " Me her! " Analise giggled and Carnell looked down confused. He bent down so they were face to face. " Who are you, sweetheart? " " Analise! " " Well hi Analise. I'm Carnell. " " Are you Ms. Gabi's boyfriend? " " Uh, yeah. I am. " He looked up to me and smiled. I rolled my eyes. " Where's Patrick ? " Carnell stood up and pointed towards the cotton candy stand. I smiled. Of course. " Gabi, " Carnell intertwined his fingers with mine, and pulled me towards the cotton candy stand. " Yeah? " " Baby, I miss you. " I sighed. " I miss you too. " " Come back...please? " " Carnell ... not now. Seriously. Let's have a good time. We can worry about us later. " " Uh, fine. " "Gabi! " Xavier hugged my legs, and Patrick kissed my cheek. " Who's this? " Noelle leaned down to Analise. " Guys, this is Analise. Analise, this is Xavier. You guys ready to do the rides? " " Yeah! " they both squealed. " Carnell, do you mind if we take the kids and let Noelle and Patrick do some of the roller coasters? I really have to talk to you. " " Sure. That's cool. " " Great. Patrick, we'll take the little ones. Go have fun, okay? " " You sure? " " Positive. Now go have fun. " The kids got strapped into a baby roller coaster, and Carnell and I sat on a bench. " You look great, " " Thank you. " " You know, it sucks not having you to wake up too. " " Yeah. Sleeping is hard for me too, but that's not what we're talking about. I need to tell you something. " " What? " " Well, first of all, when is the last time you spoke to Jorelys? " He rolled his eyes. " I haven't spoken to her. At all. " " She has a kid. " " Uh.... excuse me? " " Jorelys. She has a daughter. Analise..is her daughter. " " ... what?! How? " " Don't ask how I found out. That's a long story and doesn't matter. But, she's four. Jorelys had her right before she left to New York.. " " Gabi? Why are you telling me this? " " I thought you'd want to know. " " Wow... so, wait. What does that mean? " I sighed. " She went out with Analise's father for 6 years. She met you her sophomore year, right? " " Yeah. " " Okay. You got cheated with, Jorelys has a baby and I figured you'd want to know. " He chuckled, and squeezed his fist. " I knew she was familiar somehow. G*d, she looks just like her. " " She really does. " " So, okay. How'd you find her? " I smiled when Roger's face flashed through my mind. " Mutual relationships, coincidence, fate, whatever you want to call it. But Jorelys hasn't seen her since she left. " " Really? " " Really. I don't know, I just thought it was unfair for you to not know. " " Well....thanks for telling me, I guess. " His jaw was clenched tight, and his ears burned bright red. " Can we uh, talk about us now? " " What is there to talk about? " " Come home. We can be a family, and- " " Carnell, look. I f*cking adore, and love you with every part of me. But its not.....its not just me now. I have to think of what's best for me and the baby. I don't think us being TOGETHER would benefit that. I mean, we can be together. But just not....together. You get me? " " No, actually. I don't. " " We can be a couple. But for now, its best if we stay separate. Just until we get this whole baby situation situated. " " But... " " You can wait a month or so.. " " Or so? No, Gabrielle. I f*cking can't. You don't know what it feels like to fight so hard for someone then lose them out of nowhere. " Anger spiked. " You act like I left just because I felt like it. I had a good reason, Carnell. " " And I'm so sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you. " " No. " He sighed in frustration. " Sh*t, Gabi. Why do you have to make everything so difficult? " My jaw dropped. " Me? Making things difficult, are you crazy? " " No. I'm not crazy at all. " " So, you're saying this is all my fault, right? The reason we have to be separated is MY fault? You're such an a*shole. " " Thanks. That means a lot coming for the person that has the power to ruin me completely. " " You're a sh*t head. You know that? This isn't my fault. It's YOURS. I'm not the one going off in the night sucking face just because. This is the exact reason I didn't want to come today. I knew you wouldn't do anything but piss me off. " " I don't understand what you want from me. I said sorry countless times. " " And I forgave you! But J*sus, you make this so hard! When I'm not around you, you're all I want. But when I'm with you, I just- you make me so mad! " " I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. " He grabbed my hands, and I snatched them away from him. He pulled me closer, and I hit him in the chest while trying to push him away. " Gabrielle, stop hitting me! " he held my hands down to my sides, and kissed me softly. I cringed under him and eventually pulled away. " Are you calm now? " I snatched away from him, and started to walk towards the kids as the got off the ride. 11 hours. We were at Six Flags for 11 hours, and now each car was filled with a sleeping child. Still irritated from earlier, I sighed heavily as Carnell got in the passenger side of my car. " Yes? " " You know, I'm sure you're sick of hearing me beg and plead with you. So I won't do that anymore. But I will never stop telling you how much I love you, and care for you, and how I'll always be here for you and our baby. " " I know you love me. And I love you too. I just want what's best for us, even if it means we have to wait a little while. " " So, I guess that means you won't come spend the night with me? " " That's exactly what that means. " He shrugged. " I tried. At least let me drive you home, " " I'm a big girl. I can do it. But thank you. " " You sure? " " Positive. " He sighed. " Fine. I love you, " I leaned over and puckered my lips. He smiled, and pulled me into him. " Please be careful driving, Gabi. Please? " " I will. I promise. Bye baby, " " Bye, " he kissed my lips one last time before trailing off to Patrick's car. I put Analise in her bed and dragged to my room. My feet were beyond swollen and my head was pounding. After drawing a bath, I lit candles, blasted my headphones, and f*cking forced myself to relax. All of the fried dough I had earlier was trying to make a comeback. Carnell~ I laid across the bed and smiled at the way my night ended. I could almost feel her lips on mine. It was rather frustrating. Then irritation spiked me as I worked my way through my eighth beer and thought about Analise. Sh*t, she looked just like Jorelys. I shook my head. Jorelys. I rolled over her number in my phone. " Hello? " " Where you at? Come over. " " And how do you expect me to get there." " I'll come pick you up!" " I'm at a friends house. I couldn't take anymore of Trents sh*t." " Text me the address and be waiting." I hung up before she could answer and put my shoes back on. The ride back to my place was silent. Every now and then, I'd glance over at her. She completely let herself go. Her hair was falling out, her smile wasn't as bright and her skin was flaking from the drug intake. I sighed. Sad, really. She walked into my place and took a seat and just looked at me. " So? Are we gonna do this or what? " I raised my eyebrow. " Do what? " " Whaddya mean, 'do what' ? Do ME." I scoffed. " I didn't bring you here to have sex with me. " " So why the hell am I here?" "You cheated on me, Jorelys?" Her already pale skin went white. " W-what are you talking about? " I hiccuped and laughed in her face. " Don't play stupid with me. " She scrunched up her nose. " You're f*cking drunk. " " And you're a mother. " She stopped and looked dead at me. " Excuse me? " " You cheated on me, Jorelys! You had a baby too. I know all about your little tricks! " " You don't know what the f*ck you're talking about. " " I know exactly what I'm talking about! Isn't she c-cute? " I showed her a picture of Analise that I took earlier. Her hands flew to her mouth as she snatched the phone away from me. " Oh my ... where did you find this?! She's so...she's so beautiful..... " Tears crept over her finger tips. I snatched the phone back. " Why didn't you just tell me the truth? " "Where did you find her?!" She screamed. "Don't worry about that. Four years, Jorelys. Four years! We were together for four years and you couldn't tell me the truth." "It's none of your business!" She stood up and started hitting me. I held her arms down to her side. "It's all of my business! You don't think that would've been nice for me to know?" "No. I don't. It doesn't matter." She sat back down on the couch and cupped her face in her hands. "He probably hates me now.." " Who? " " Roger. " " Who the f*ck is Roger? " "The guy I cheated with." "YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH A GUY NAMED ROGER? Ain't that some bullsh*t. " She rolled her eyes. "Carnell, you're drunk." " Sooooo?" " Go to sleep. " " Why! " "It's 2am and you're drunk. " "So? " " Ugh. Now I have to stay here!" " No the hell you don't! Come on, I'll drive ya, " She snatched the keys out of my hands. " No. You're not driving anywhere. I'm surprised we made it here alive the first time." Trent~ G*d, she looked amazing. Naked, and covered with foam. Eyes closed, and completely unaware of her surroundings, she made this too easy. I crept behind her, and covered her face with a chloroform soaked rag. She thrashed around and tried to scream, but in minutes, the chemical seeped into her and she was out cold. Gabrielle, Payback is a b*tch. To Be Continued ~
