XVII.
•|chancellor|•
"Bill, bill, another bill. Oh hey look it's a magazine!" I said to myself as I flipped through the mail I had just fetched from the mail box. I leaned against my truck and shook my head slowly.
The tips from the restaurant can barely cover half of these bills and I refuse not to dip my hand in the 10 thousand dollars my father left. I don't want to give him another reason for getting rid of Janice. Where ever she goes, I go.
"Hey..." I turned my head to find Danny walking towards me with her hands in her pockets. I waved at her and continued to flip through the mail.
"You're frowning. Why?" She asked. I looked at her to see if she was serious or not. It's hard to believe anything she says anymore. I mean she did lie to me and kept something that was clearly important, away from me.
"Stress, bills, school, everything..." I admitted, sighing heavily.
It was silent for a while, but I wasn't really expecting her to say anything. She never does.
"Hey, stop. I told you, you can get through this. Wecan get through this." She finally said.
"We?" I asked, laughing dryly. "If I knew any better I'd say you've changed."
"I did change. I know I used to only think of myself, but now I know better."
I pressed my lips together. "So are you going to tell them?"
She looked down and shook her head, no. "My mom kicked me out of the house."
I frowned. "Why would she do that?"
"The...um...doctors called her last night and told her that I was pregnant, which I don't understand. Why would they call weeks after the incident had already happened? After all those tests, I'm pretty sure they saw something out of the ordinary. It just doesn't add up." She spoke, her voice cracking."
I sighed, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "Can you come inside, there's something I have to tell you?"
We walked inside and sat at the dinner table.
"Danny, one of the nurses came to me that night and told me that you were pregnant. I asked her to do me a favor and keep it confidential between just you and I, but I'm guessing the information got into the wrong hands." I explained, truthfully. I had known since that night, and that was one thing that had been boiling my anger. The fact that she hadn't told me that she was already pregnant by that bastard made me want to kill him even more. I could never get away with it though, it's too risky.
She was silent, until she started to mewl with her hands over her face. Before long I began to comfort her.
Deep down I was still angry with her but even deeper in my heart I was still slowly falling in love with her each day that passed.
No random possessive blonde girl could keep me away from her. No matter how much I wanted to hate her for the things she said and the things she didn't do, I still thought about her everyday, every hour, and every second since the day we both walked away.
She might not feel the same, and most people might think I'm crazy, but I can't live without her. I won'tever live without her.
"Shhhh" I said lowly into her ear as we lay in my bed. She was curled up under me and her low sobs still hadn't subsided. I stroked her hair, which was still straight from Friday night. She looked at me, red-eyed and tears staining her glowing mocha skin.
"Why are you comforting me?" She asked, confusion filled her expression.
I placed a loose stand of hair behind her ear. "Because, I really like you and I care about you a lot."
"Even after the things I said."
I kissed her forehead. "Yes, even after all those things you said. I'll always care for you, Chocolate Gumdrop."
"This is way too sappy." She stated seriously, with a slight smile.
"Come on, can we have at least one movie moment." I smirked.
"Shut up, Chance."
"So are you done being a bitch, or what?" I joked, yet I was serious.
"I was not a bitch." She gasped.
I laughed lowly. "Oh, yes you were. You were the biggest bitch, ever."
"Was not."
"Was too."
"Nuh uh" she protested.
"Mmhmm"
She leaned back onto the bed. "But seriously, I need a place to crash."
"Well, you can't crash here." I said, only half-joking.
"Why not? You have more than enough rooms."
"I know, but we're moving out." I sighed. "Remember like a month ago I told my father had come back."
"Oh, yeah. Damn, I totally forgot. Have you found an apartment yet?" She asked.
"I'm still sixteen, and it's going to be a while before I hit seventeen. So I honestly don't have anywhere to go."
She nodded her head but didn't speak for a while. Then there was silence. A nice comfortable silence that never seemed to bother neither of us.
"We can always just runaway." She suggested.
"Runaway?" I turned my head towards her. "Where the hell are we going to go?"
"To Daniel's." She answered effortlessly. "Wait a minute!"
"Oh, God." I muttered.
"I bet he can get you an apartment and he has like two houses. Why didn't you think of that earlier?"
Okay, that was a really good idea.
I shrugged. "He's probably busy with military stuff. Let's not forget the seven girlfriends he has. I don't want to get in the way."
She punched my arm. "Stop being a punk. Had me your phone."
I rolled my eyes. "No"
"Dude, come on. Hand me your phone.I just want to call my brother."
I handed her the phone, sighing deeply. "I don't approve of this."
"Oh, hush you punk." She giggled, tapping away on the screen of my phone. "What's your password?"
"Your birthday." I mumbled, not wanting to admit to my own sad sappiness.
"Aw, you're so cute. Gimme kiss." She puckered her lips. I mushed her face softly.
"Just call the guy already." I chuckled. .
"Fine, asshole." She said as she held the phone to her ear.
I didn't pay much attention after she answered the phone, because my mind began to wonder.
Sitting in my bed with her, laughing and holding real conversations gave me a little bit of my own sanity back. I honestly don't see the reason we fell off before. Everything seems so stupid now. The yelling, the names, the accusations, it all seems so meaningless, so stupid. My feelings are still in the place I left them, still floating around in my heart.
I just want to hold her and tell her that everything's fine. I just wanna kiss her, soft and subtle, everywhere. I want to run my fingers through her hair, on down to her waist. I want to feel her tense up against me, I want to feel her heartbeat. I want to feel her everything.
"Chance...are you there?" She waved her hand in my face. I looked at her and my want increased as our eyes met. "You okay?"
I looked down, heat rushing to my face. "Yeah, I'm good. What did he say?"
"Okay..." She furrowed her brows, "but Daniel said that he would be more than happy to help you find an apartment. He even said you can move into one of his houses if you need somewhere to go right now."
I sighed and rubbed my face. "Uhh, sweetheart, I don't know."
"Come on, Chance." She whined. I shook my head.
She grabbed my arm. "Bae, please?"
I laughed and looked at her. "Bae?"
She started singing way off key. "You my baaaaeeeeeee."
"No, stop. You can't sing." I laughed.
She pouted. "I can to. Watch me."
I looked at her. "On with it then."
"Alright, alright. Gosh." She grinned. "Okay here we go."
I rested my head on my hands, still waiting for her to start.
"My anaconda don't. My anaconda don't. My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun."
I burst into laughter. "That is not singing."
She hit me with a pillow. "Hater, I have the voice of an angel."
"You pronounced 'dying cat' wrong, Babe." I joked.
"Hater." She laughed. "But seriously Daniel wants us to go to dinner at his house tonight, too. He has a new girlfriend. He even invited Roni and Johnathan."
"I can't make it."
She frowned. "Why not?"
"My dad's coming today. He wants me to meet his wife and kids."
"Aw, you want me to stay."
"No!" I blurted out.
She held her hands up. "Fine, I get it."
"No, it's not like that. It's just that my dad is like a huge racist prick, who is too arrogant to see that color doesn't make you any less human than any white man in the world."
"So I take it that you guys don't have a good history."
"Nope, not since Chassity died."
"You're sister?" She asked.
I nodded. "After that he would fuss at my mom and tell her that she was whore and that she was worth nothing. I guess she couldn't bare the weight of everything. She told me, a few days before she died, that the world would be a better place without her in it. That my dad would be a better person without her being a burden on him.
" I told her that wasn't true. I tried to steer her away from it all, but it was too late. Before long she stopped talking. She didn't peep a word to me, my dad, she didn't even answer her phone. I was the only one left to care for the newborn child my sister had just delivered. I didn't know not the first thing to do, but we've made it. My dad was almost never around, but the bills stayed paid. The lights never shut off. Water was always running. Stove still heated up whenever I had to cook.
"Then the day came, the day that she jumped from the window. I had just came home from school. That was also the day your mother offered to help me with the baby. She was concerned about my mom too, but could never get her to talk. I remember walking into the house, screaming her name. For some reason I knew something was wrong. The house was too quiet even for her when she never talked. I remember walking into the back yard, finding her sprawled out on the grass, but there was no blood. I remember checking her pulse and feeling nothing. I remember the panick in my chest, the burn in my eyes as tears spilled onto my face.
" I still remember it all, and that's the main thing I've been trying to forget."
"Aw, it sounds like the whole thing still gets to you."
"It does." I responded lowly. I never told anyone that. I never wanted to talk about it, but now that I said it I feel a little better.
A few hours passed as we sat and watched a movie. It was nice to have someone around. Janice had awoken from her nap once Danny had decided she wanted me to drop her off at Daniel's.
"Wait. Okay, you said your mother found out about your pregnancy? So who does she think that father is?" I asked her once we were on the rode. I don't even get how I hadn't realized that before.
She cursed under her breathe. "I knew I left something out. She thinks you and I had sex or something."
I sighed, holding back the words I wanted to say, not wishing to have an argument in front of Janice.
"You are going to go back when she cools off, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's what I planned to do."
"Good, cause you didnt have a choice in he first place." I smirked.
"What?" She sassed.
"Girl, don't act like you ain't know I wore the pants in his thing."
"Whatever. We aren't even a couple." She scoffed.
"Oh, yes we are. Thought you knew." I joked.
"Nah, what about that girl from the party? What is it that she called you, boyfriend? Right?" She pushed my shoulder playfully.
"Hey, you didn't even have to bring that up. I already told you I ain't know that bitch. Why you trippin?" I joked, trying to act like Daniel when one of his chicks call upset and wondering why he didn't text them back.
"Black ain't good on you, white boy." She joked.
"Danny?"
"Yeah" she responded her laughter calming.
"Do you think I'll ever be able to say..." I paused, "the 'N word'?" I asked in a hushed tone.
She gave me a side glance and pursed her lips. "Shut up, Chance."
"Fine, I guess I'll never be a Tyrone." I joked. She laughed and frowned in confusion.
"You're so stupid." She giggled.
"Stupid for you, my love."
"Stop." She sighed and laughed.
"See we're perfectly fine. Why were we fighting?" I smirked and stopped at the red light.
"Because we're both buttholes. Mostly me." She said lowly.
"Can't argue with that one."
She punched my arm. "Oh, hush."
We arrived at Daniel's house and I dropped her off. Daniel eventually talked us into to staying for dinner which didn't end very well. Roni and Daniel kept trying to talk over one another. Then, Roni accidentally, on purpose, elbowed Daniel's girlfriend in the eye. Becky made a joke which ended with her and Daniel's girl getting into a scruffle, that I had to breakup.
It was a long night. Danny really didn't want to stay at Daniel's house while his girlfriend was there, but she understood that it would be a bad idea to come home with me, being that my dad and his family were probably moving their things in.
How do you move into a house someone is already living in?
I pulled into the drive way of the house that no longer belonged to me. A car was parked in my spot. I parked near the sidewalk and thanked God the Danny kept Janice at Daniel's. Depending on how my father's visit would go, I'd be heading back over there with all my things on the back of my truck. I just have to prepare myself for the worse.
I opened the door of the house which was unlocked. The television was no longer on and boxes filled the foyer, while some sat on the steps of the stairs. I just stood there and took in the whole sight. It's just hard to believe this was happen.
The man I had grew up with my entire life. The man that probably changed my fucking diaper, was putting me out my own home just because of something no one could control nor change. Why is he holding this grudge? Does he know what really happened? Shit. I don't know what really happened.
"You must be Chancellor." I heard a female voice say. I looked in the direction it came from, meeting eyes with a young blonde woman in her later thirties or early forties. She wore a bright collared shirt creased satin white pants. She looked like a suburban housewife, my father's favorite.
"Yeah." I spoke lowly, having no interest in this woman who thinks she can just come in and fill holes. She can't replace the memoties I've had in this house. She can't possibly understand anything. I can't be angry with her though. She didnt know any better.
She hadn't seen the real monster my father could be.
"I'm Jessica." She extended her arm, looking for a handshake that I wasn't going to give to her. I stared at her hand, a hand that has probably never worked a day in its life outside of eeeping and washing dishes.
After she saw that I wasn't going to shake her hand, she played it off and wipe it in her pants.
"Brandon! Your son is here!" She called from where she stood. I heard someone coming down the stairs and so enough Brandon DuBose walked into the foyer where I stood. Looking at him was like looking in the mirror since we favored a lot.
"Hello, Chancellor." He smiled. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and prepared myself for attack. He never smiles and now all of a sudden he's all Casper the Friendly Ghost, smiling and what not.
"Hey, Brandon." I dragged. I can't call him Dad. He's not a Dad.
"Jessica, darling will you go check on the kids for me. Amelia said she was having some trouble taking those posters down." He said to her.
Did he just say Amelia?
"So, Chance. Did you do what we discussed?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes. "I told you before I'm not leaving Janice just to be apart of your little sadistic fairytale."
"Why do you have to be so difficult, eh? It's just a little worthless piece of shit. You can throw it away, give it away. You'll do better without it on your shoulders."
My blood boiled and heat rushed through my body as he spat those words at me. That had to be the most insensitive thing I ever heard.
"Janice is not an it. She's a human being just like you and I. She breathes air just like us both, the same air. Don't disrespect her."
"Or what? You can't do anything to me. What you're doing is wrong and God will punish you? Running around with those heathens. Those apes. They're destructive. They destroyed your sister and that little demon child is gonna destroy you." He fussed.
I clinched my fist tightly. "Don't you dare bring God into this. You know I don't believe in that bullshit. The only destructive people there is are people like you. You destroyed our family and now you're going to destroy this one. You're nothing but a snake in the grass, the devil in disguise. I see right through you."
He scoffed. "Did you come up with all that on your own?"
I flared my nose and clinched my fist tighter.
"Yeah, so all your shit is behind you. You now have permission to get the fuck out of my house."
I wanted so badly to just punch him, to show him pain. I reluctantly grabbed all my belongings and put them on the back of my truck. I didn't need him. I could make it on my own.
I got in my truck and made my way to Daniel's house. Too much has happened in this little time period and I'm basically hanging on by a piece of dental floss.
Halfway there my phone starts to ring. I knew it was Danny from the ringtone I set for her number.
"Yes?" I answered.
"Chance." She whispered.
"Why are you whispering?" I frowned turning down my radio so I could hear what she was saying.
"Can you just hurry here please?" She sniffles.
"Are you crying?"
"Just get here, okay? Fast." The other line went dead.
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Vote, Comment, Share, and Read. My baby girl Janice in the M/M. She's so adorable.