Defenseless (15 page)

“It's a wonder why that dog never turns on you. She hardly ever eats,” Sharon commented, shaking her head.

Bridget shrugged her shoulders as if she wanted to avoid the subject.

“Where should I put my things?” Sonya said, regarding the bags of clothes they had just bought at Bridget's favorite department store.

“I'll show you.” Bridget sprang up from the floor and led Sonya up the stairs to the guest room.

The room was small but charming, with its pastel floral designs. “You're right across the hall from my bedroom.” Bridget smiled. “We'll share the bathroom. It's the room at the end of the hallway.” Bridget continued showing her the upstairs. “And that's Daddy's bedroom.”

Sonya stared at the closed door that was at the opposite end of the hallway. She wondered what Dwayne's room looked like—but of course she wouldn't dare satisfy her curiosity, not in front of Bridget, anyway.

Sharon called them from downstairs, and Bridget motioned for her to follow.

“I'm going to run and pick us up some movies and popcorn. Maybe we can have an old-fashioned slumber party tonight. Hopefully that will relieve some tension around here,” Sharon said, picking up her purse.

“Great!” Bridget agreed.

Sonya relaxed. They were doing their best to make her feel at home, and she knew it. “Is there anything I can do?” she offered.

“No, I think I have everything under control. I'll be back in about an hour. I also have to pick up my bags and bring them over, so I'll be ready to leave tomorrow after Dwayne comes home. Sonya, you get some more rest.” Sharon turned to Bridget. “How are you doing?”

“Better, now that I know he'll be home tomorrow.”

Sharon kissed her niece's forehead. “I'll be back in an hour.” She waved to Sonya and slipped out the door.

Bridget turned to Sonya. “Are you tired?”

“No.” She eyed her cautiously.

“Good. Let's go try on the outfits we bought!”

Sonya laughed as she allowed the young girl to lead her back up the stairs.

 

Sonya, Bridget and Sharon reached for the last Kleenex simultaneously. They were near the end of the four-hour epic
Gone with the Wind.

“This is so sad,” Bridget whispered, capturing the last tissue.

“This is my all-time favorite move,” Sharon sniffled.

“Mine, too,” Sonya agreed.

“Where is he going?” Bridget asked as Rhett Butler headed for the door.

“She realized what she had too late,” Sharon whispered.

The three women held their breath as they waited for Rhett Butler to deliver his signature line.

“He's going to leave her like that?” Bridget asked, shocked.

“Shh,” both Sharon and Sonya instructed Bridget.

Not another word was uttered as Scarlet looked into the camera and envisioned what tomorrow would bring. The credits were rolling when Sharon stood and turned on the lights in the living room.

“That was a great movie.” Bridget blew her nose. “I thought it was going to be a lame movie, but it turned out to be awesome.”

“Sonya, I didn't think you liked romance movies,” Sharon commented.

“I just know the difference between reality and fantasy. I'll take Hollywood's fantasy over reality anytime.”

“Well, I think I'm going to go to bed. I'll take Dwayne's room,” Sharon said, yawning.

“Oh, no, you don't. Both of you are helping me clean up this mess. Daddy comes home tomorrow, and I won't have him think I've neglected my chores.”

Sharon gave Sonya an amused look. “Okay, we'll help.”

Sharon stood and took the two bowls of half-eaten popcorn into the kitchen.

Sonya picked up the pillows from the floor and went to rewind the videotape in the VCR. When she selected the appropriate button, she noticed a picture of a beautiful woman smiling in a wooden-framed picture.

She had a friendly smile, Sonya observed, picking up the frame. She didn't know that Bridget stood behind her until she spoke.

“That's my mother,” she boasted proudly.

“She's beautiful,” Sonya commented, swallowing a lump in her throat.

“Daddy says that I take after her, but I think I look like him,” Bridget said, continuing to look at the picture behind Sonya.

“I definitely see a strong resemblance between you and your mother, but you have your father's eyes.” Sonya placed the frame back.

Both women studied the angelic image in the picture frame.

“I wish I could remember her,” Bridget finally said.

Sonya turned curious eyes toward Bridget. Bridget gave her a half smile. “She died when I was a baby.”

“I'm sorry,” Sonya said, reaching to push a loose curl from Bridget's face.

“It's okay. It was a long time ago.”

“What are you ladies in here chatting about?” Sharon asked, entering the room.

“Nothing,” both Sonya and Bridget answered in unison. They looked at each other and gave friendly smiles.

“Let's finish getting this mess cleaned up,” Sonya said, turning her attention back to the living room.

 

The next evening, Dwayne entered the house, happy to be home.

“Daddy!” Bridget yelled from the top of the stairs and flew into her father's arms, nearly knocking him over. Dwayne held his daughter tightly. Buffy was next to greet him at the door.

“Hello, girl.” Dwayne knelt down to pet the dog.

Dwayne felt the room charge with energy the moment Sonya walked into the room. “Hello,” he greeted, unaware of his voice deepening.

“Welcome home.”

Dwayne felt his heart pound wildly at the sight of her dressed in a short white sundress. Her hair hung in loose curls past her shoulders. He saw where she tried to hide a bruise on her left cheek with makeup, but there was still a purple shadow.

“Are you going to stand in this hallway all day, or are you going in?” Sharon scolded, pushing Dwayne farther into the house.

Dwayne felt the pain in his leg vanish somewhat. He knew by the silence that the women were holding their breath as he walked to a nearby chair. When he sat, everyone beamed with pride.

“We've fixed you a welcome-home dinner,” Bridget said.

“We?”

“Sonya and I. You're going to love it!”

Dwayne smiled. For the first time, he noticed Bridget wore the exact outfit Sonya wore. Apparently they were becoming fast friends. He was also relieved that there hadn't been any further incidents. Sonya was safe here, and even more shocking, she hadn't put up much of a fuss about it.

“Do you need any help in the kitchen?” Sharon asked, walking behind the two women.

When the doorbell rang, Dwayne stopped Sharon from answering it. “I'll get it. You go help in the kitchen. I'm hungry enough to eat a horse.” Sharon laughed as she went into the kitchen.

Dwayne made it to the door, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg. “Ah, Anthony. Come in.”

“I think I have something,” Anthony said angrily.

“What did you get?” Dwayne asked, stepping aside to allow him entrance.

“I sneaked into Walters Intercorp to do some investigating of my own. I looked to see if I could find something that perhaps the police had missed.”

Anthony had Dwayne's full attention. “And what did you find?”

Anthony took a deep breath and pulled out a small plastic bag. “I discovered it in the stairwell.”

Dwayne took the plastic bag and unwrapped it. What he saw made him catch his breath. “I don't believe it.”

“I
believe this belongs to you.”

“Oh, Sharon, you found it!” Sonya said, taking the gold chain from her.

“Tina found it on the accounting floor.”

Sonya nodded at the memory of them hiding under a desk. “Tell them I'm grateful.”

Bridget gathered plates from the cabinet while rapping along to her favorite rap song. Sonya smiled at her teenage antics. She found Bridget to be a treasure. In the past two days together, she was beginning to think that Bridget's carefree ways were rubbing off on her.

“I swear that child is going to go deaf listening to that CD player blaring in her ears. Bridget!”

“‘What's up, what's up, what's up with the Bankhead bounce, shortie!'” Bridget sang at the top of her lungs.

“Bridget!” Sharon continued to shout. Sonya tried not to laugh.

Bridget snatched off the headset. “Did you say something, Aunt Sharon?”

“How on earth can you listen to that music so loud?”

Bridget frowned. “This is the jam, Auntie.”

Sharon shook her head. “I don't know what you kids are listening to today with that rap stuff. Now back in my day, we had music.”

Sonya nodded, agreeing with her. “Groups like Earth, Wind and Fire, The Commodores, Michael Jackson.”

“I listen to Michael,” Bridget defended.

“Yeah, but not with songs like ‘Off the Wall' or ‘Rock With You.'” Sharon and Sonya jumped up as if on cue and began singing their rendition of Michael's classic.

“Oh, I know,” Sonya interrupted with an idea of her own.

“‘She's a bad Mamma Jamma—'” Sharon joined in, singing at the top of her lungs.

Dwayne entered the kitchen, holding his ears. “What are you women doing in here?”

“Aunt Sharon and Sonya are trying to convince me that the music they grew up listening to is supposedly better than today's music.”

“I thought you were strangling a cat in here,” Dwayne joked. Bridget laughed. “But of course the best music was in the mid-seventies, something your aunt knows little about. Songs like ‘For the Love of Money.'” Dwayne began to sing.

Sonya was surprised by Dwayne's voice.
He has a wonderful singing voice.

“And the love ballads are still classics,” Dwayne added. “Songs like ‘Killing Me Softly.'”

Sonya quickly joined in singing with Dwayne. Startled looks passed between Sharon and Bridget. Sonya turned toward Dwayne while singing her part. His laughing eyes gave her the courage to sway to the tune playing in her head. She was having fun.

Dwayne took his turn, leaning gently into her. He had no idea that his seductive voice was causing goose bumps to spread across Sonya's body. They finished the song with their bodies only inches apart. Sonya felt the throbbing energy pulse from him.

Sharon and Bridget clapped loudly. Bridget put her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

“You have quite a voice, Sonya,” he complimented.

“Thank you. May I pay you the same compliment?”

“Well, I was impressed,” Sharon teased.

“Is that yours?” Bridget asked, pointing to Sonya's gold coin around her neck.

“Yes, it is. My sister gave it to me on my last birthday. Do you want to see it?”

Bridget nodded and walked closer to get a better view. “It's gorgeous. Where did she get it?”

“She didn't tell me. She knows that I love coins, so she got this for me.”

“You do? I love collecting!” Bridget said, clutching her arm. Sonya laughed at her excitement. “Do you want to see my collection?”

“I'd love to—”

“After dinner,” Sharon interrupted. Bridget frowned but proceeded to finish setting the table.

Sonya helped but kept noticing the worried look on Dwayne's face. A couple of times, it seemed as though he wanted to say something but decided against it.

After dinner, Sharon called a taxi to go to the airport. She had turned down Dwayne's offer to drive, claiming she wanted him to rest. When Bridget offered to drive, she claimed that his heart couldn't endure her driving.

For the next hour, Sonya enjoyed looking through Bridget's vast coin collection. “I can't believe you actually love coin collecting,” Bridget said, handing Sonya another Aztec coin.

“I don't collect them. I just find them intriguing. This one's pretty,” Sonya said, picking up one of her coins.

“Oh, my boyfriend got me that one.”

“Boyfriend?” Sonya asked teasingly.

“Well, he's kinda my boyfriend, but don't tell Daddy.”

“Your father doesn't approve of him?”

Bridget leaned back on her bed. “My father believes I'm too young to have a boyfriend.”

“And what do you think?”

Bridget shrugged her shoulders. “All my friends date.”

Sonya shook her head. “That's not what I asked you. What do you think about having a boyfriend at your age? Don't think about what your friends are doing. They're probably going along with the crowd, too.”

“I don't think that I'm too young. Women in earlier times were getting married at thirteen.”

“Ah, you like history.”

Bridget nodded her head as if she hadn't realized she enjoyed the subject.

“But that still doesn't answer the question. Women in those times didn't have a choice. You do.”

Bridget looked at Sonya strangely. “I like boys.”

“More than yourself?”

“I don't understand.”

“Tell me—what do you want out of life?”

Bridget sighed. “I don't think I'm up for another ‘What do you want to be?' speech.”

“Do you want to talk about it after you're grown and wondering where you went wrong?” Sonya covered Bridget's hand with hers. “Just remember, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Bridget was silent for a moment. “I want to do something dealing with coins.”

“Have you gone to the library to see what career options there are in that field?” When Bridget shook her head, Sonya said, “Then I suggest we do that first thing Monday.”

Bridget smiled. “You don't think that it's a stupid career choice?”

“It doesn't matter what I think. You have to find gratification within yourself. Worry about men and marriage later—I'm sure it will come in time.”

Dwayne smiled beside his daughter's closed door. He was grateful Sonya could do what he couldn't. He had tried to explain self-love to Bridget. Maybe what Bridget needed was another woman to talk to. He also saw a change in Sonya. She seemed more relaxed around Bridget.

He recalled her singing along with him in the kitchen and laughed quietly to himself. There was a playful side to her. That was the side he wished to see more of. He left the women alone and went back downstairs. Sonya and Bridget returned and washed the dishes together. That was an amazing feat. Bridget didn't like doing chores, but around Sonya, he noticed, she didn't seem to mind.

Dwayne turned down the lights and played his favorite jazz station. He wanted to relax, and jazz had a way of doing that for him. He pulled the small plastic bag from his pocket and stared at it. What was he going to do now?

“Daddy?” Bridget appeared from around the corner.

“Oh, come on in, Bridget.”

Bridget walked in slowly. “I want to ask a favor.”

“I can tell. What can I do for my favorite daughter?”

“I'm your only daughter,” Bridget said simply.

“So you are. What can I do for you?”

“I know that this is your homecoming, and that I'm on restriction, but I was hoping that I could go over to Sylvia's house. She leaves tomorrow to go to her grandparents' house in Tennessee for the summer.”

Dwayne smiled. “Okay, I'll let you go this time.”

Bridget threw her arms around her father and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Dwayne shook his head as he watched his daughter race out of the living room. Within minutes, she had a small bag packed.

“I'll be back first thing in the morning. Sylvia's flight is at eight o'clock.”

Dwayne nodded his head and waved to his daughter. He felt good for giving in to her this time.

 

“Dwayne?” Sonya asked, peering around the corner. “There you are. Mind if I join you?”

Dwayne grinned. “Of course I don't mind. Please have a seat.” He watched her move slowly to the recliner chair across from him.

“I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything. I can't begin to tell you how guilty I feel about everything that I've put you through. I mean, putting your sister in danger, and then your car accident. And still you invite me into your house. You have a beautiful home and a wonderful daughter.”

“Thank you. She seems to like you.”

“I like her.”

“You mustn't feel guilty for anything. It's not your fault that any of this happened. You're as much a victim as the rest of us.”

Sonya wiped away a stray tear. “I can't stay here forever, Dwayne. Eventually I'll have to come out of hiding and get on with my life.”

Dwayne squeezed the plastic bag tighter.
Should I tell her who may be responsible for this?
“Will you give me the chance to find out who's doing all of this?”

She shook her head. “You're a lawyer, not a superhero, remember?”

“So you heard that, did you?”

“Who didn't? You could hear her halfway down the hallway.” Sonya's face grew serious. “Are you involved with Carmen?”

Dwayne lifted a startled brow. “Do I dare hope there's jealousy in your voice?” Sonya squared her shoulders, and Dwayne held up his hands in surrender. “No.”

“Oh,” was her soft response.

“You sound disappointed.”

“Does she know that?”

“Know what?” he looked at her, confused.

“Nothing. I don't know why I brought it up.” She stood to leave, but Dwayne stood also.

“Don't leave,” his voice pleaded.

Sonya felt her legs tremble beneath her. She didn't know why she cared whether or not this man slept with his secretary. When she turned back to him, she felt a deep longing stir within her. He had a way of looking at her that made her feel as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world. She couldn't turn away now if she wanted to.

She watched, hypnotized, as Dwayne walked closer to her. He closed the distance between them. “I'm glad you brought it up.” His hand reached out to stroke her cheek tenderly.

His touch was doing wondrous things to her body as she moved closer. His breath caressed her face. Her head felt dizzy as he leaned closer. His hands laced through her loose curls as he cradled her head closer. His lips touched hers softly at first, in a tantalizing butterfly kiss. If there was a token of resistance, it faded beneath his gentle persuasion. She felt herself losing all sense of reality, yet her senses seemed infinitely sharper. Sparks ignited within her causing her to return the kiss with as much fever and passion as he gave.

“I waited so long for this,” Dwayne whispered against her ear. A wave of pleasure rippled across her skin. She wanted to get closer. She tugged at the tiny buttons of his shirt but sent most of them sprawling across the floor.

His lips brushed across her earlobe, turning her passion into an inferno. Her hands glided across the hard contours of his chest, enjoying the feel of his firm muscles. When her hand paused above his heart, she felt it beating as fast as her own.

Sonya's breath locked in her throat as his mouth skimmed hot and open along her neck. She tilted her head higher, allowing him to rain kisses across her throat. She trembled and moaned in irrepressible hunger. She couldn't think and wasn't sure that she wanted to. She didn't want to stop the blissful rapture that threatened to leave her paralyzed.

The sensual assault of his lips made her feel wanton, made her skin tingle with the hot flush of desire. She closed her eyes helplessly, her body trembling. Dwayne's fiery lips caused her to whisper his name repeatedly until his mouth silenced her words.

She had discovered the taste of heaven. The devastating effect of his embrace was like nothing she had ever experienced. Her entire body tingled with anticipation, her skin sizzled from his touch. His fragrance wrapped itself around her senses, and she lost herself to the feel and taste of him. She laced her slender arms around his neck and brought his head even closer.

Dwayne slid both straps of her dress down her shoulders, then bent lower to trail kisses along her shoulder, setting fires that nearly consumed her.