Troublemaker (9 page)

She walked over to the window and smiled as she looked up at the sky. A big gray cloud that had been looming all morning suddenly burst open, producing a hard rain. The unexpected downpour sent an immediate chill through Alexandria's body. In that instant, all the happy optimism she'd just felt was gone, replaced with the uncomfortable knowledge that something bad, and maybe even dangerous, was lurking, waiting to happen.

Alexandria watched the rain puddle on the ground several stories below as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the sky. She knew this wasn't a quick passing storm, and that the rain would continue every day for the next two weeks until she and her family arrived in Nedine. “Grandma Allene, please guide me, and watch over us all.”

V
ictoria sat behind her desk and said a quick prayer of thanks as she watched the rain fall outside her office window. She'd just made three important phone calls, each ending in the result she'd wanted. Ted, Christian, and her uncle Maxx had all agreed to travel to Nedine next weekend. She'd simply explained to them that Alexandria had requested it on behalf of Grandma Allene, which was all that needed to be said to make her case. Although, clearly, no one in the family understood the extent of Alexandria's gift, including herself, they all knew it was real, and if going to Nedine was what Alexandria said they needed to do, they were going to be there.

When Alexandria had first told Victoria that Grandma Allene had contacted her and wanted the family to return to Nedine, Victoria had been cautious and a little afraid. She immediately associated a visit from Grandma Allene with trouble—a sign that something bad was on the way. But the more Victoria talked about the trip, the more it made her think about her current situation, and how a visit to her parents' beloved hometown might just be the answer to her problems.

Ever since her ill-fated attempt to clear the air with Ted and jumpstart the passion in her marriage last night, Victoria had been feeling at a loss about what was really going on with her husband, and more importantly, what she could do about it. But when Alexandria had told her that Grandma Allene had said traveling to Nedine would allow them to bury the past so new beginnings could start, she'd known that was a good sign.

In addition to what she felt the visit would offer her daughter, which was an opportunity to gain closure by releasing the last of her fears and pay final respects to her grandparents and their parents before them, Victoria's gut told her that Grandma Allene's words about burying the past and beginning anew held a special meaning for her life, too. Parker was the past, and what she planned to reignite with Ted represented a new chapter in their marriage as they entered the golden years of their lives.

She and Ted hadn't taken a vacation or even a quick weekend getaway together since she could remember, which was very unlike them. She knew they needed to escape from what had slowly become a dangerously mundane routine. “We need to find our way back to each other,” Victoria whispered to herself.

Once they were away from the stress and hectic grind of their everyday lives, the peaceful quiet of Nedine she hoped that being in the house her grandfather had built, which was full of love, would reignite the spark that had always kept her and Ted's marriage going.

Every time Victoria thought about the huge wedge she'd put in their relationship by nearly sleeping with Parker, all she could do was shake her head. She hadn't made many mistakes in their marriage, and she'd worked hard to be a good wife, but her transgression with Parker and the way it had all unfolded still haunted her today. And what was worst of all, Ted couldn't seem to let it go.

There were days when Victoria wished she'd never walked into The Cheesecake Factory all those years ago and spotted Parker, instantly falling for him. “If I'd only stayed home and made a sandwich,” she said, thinking about that night. But what was done was done, and she knew there was no way to change the hands of time. All she could do was deal with what was in front of her and move forward the best way she knew how.

As she thought about dealing with tough situations, her mind fell on Tyler. She'd wanted to meet him for coffee this morning, but his schedule was tight so they'd decided to have an early lunch. Victoria hadn't liked the tired sound in his voice and she'd known the problems in his home were taking a toll.

“Everybody's going through something,” Victoria said as she rose from behind her desk, grabbed her handbag and umbrella, and left to meet Tyler. She hoped that just as she was going to fix the problems in her marriage, that Tyler could repair the trouble in his home.

 

Victoria ate her soup and salad as Tyler stared at his untouched cheeseburger and French fries. Seeing him face-to-face made her even more concerned.

Tyler had always possessed a calm, carefree, and relaxed attitude that complemented his youthful good looks and spirit. As the years passed and his hair had started to gray, he had begun to look more distinguished, which had elevated him from cute to handsome. But over the last twelve months, Victoria had noticed that he'd begun to develop more lines across his forehead, and his eyes often looked heavy with worry.

As she studied Tyler's face more closely, she had no doubt that the idea of his sixteen-year-old son becoming a father had aged him a few more years, practically overnight. For a man who'd always had a healthy appetite, and would eat anything that was put in front of him, the fact that he hadn't taken a bite of his food was further proof to Victoria that her best friend was in bad shape.

Victoria took a sip of her sparkling water and then cleared her throat. “I can't pretend to know exactly how you feel right now. But I'm here to listen and help you in any way I can.”

“I don't know where I went wrong,” Tyler began. “I run one of the most successful at-risk youth programs in the state, and arguably the region. My curriculum modules for YFI are taught at nonprofits across the country. I lecture to groups at national conventions, and I give individual counseling to some of the roughest knuckleheads you can imagine. I can help prevent young men in the street from becoming teen fathers, but I can't keep my own son from going out and making babies up and down the East Coast.”

Victoria stopped eating her salad in mid-bite. “What do you mean, making babies up and down the East Coast? Does Chase have more than one girl pregnant?”

Tyler slowly nodded his head.

Now Victoria's food sat untouched just like Tyler's. She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Samantha doesn't know about this, does she?”

“Hell no! You know my wife. She'd hit the damn roof and show out so bad I'd have to give her a sedative.”

“How many girls has Chase gotten pregnant?”

“Three.”

“Lord have mercy, Jesus in heaven.”

“Well, let me clarify that. He got one girl pregnant last year, but she had a miscarriage. Then a few months later the other one had an abortion and told him about it after the fact. But this one's different. This girl is four months pregnant and her father called me the night after Chase broke the news to us because he wants to have a family meeting. I can't say that I blame him.”

Victoria shook her head. “How did you manage to keep Samantha from finding out about the others?”

“Chase confides in me more than he does his mother because he knows Sam's liable to say or do anything. Plus, I had a man-to-man talk with him when he started puberty. I told him that no matter how bad a situation gets or what kind of trouble he finds himself in, he better come to me and tell me because I'll kick his ass if I have to find out about it in the street.”

Victoria let out a deep breath but didn't say anything.

“Hey, don't knock it.”

“I'm not—I'm just thinking about what you said. It's tough to raise kids.”

“Who you tellin'. But I will say this, I've spared Sam from a lot of Chase's fuck-ups, and honestly, if she knew about half of them she would've probably escalated an already bad situation to another level. I love my wife, and I have to give her credit because she's really grown and matured over the years. But I'm also a realist, and trust me, I know how Sam is.”

“You're managing this situation the best way you know how.”

He nodded. “I'm just a man trying to keep my family together, but it doesn't look like I'm doing a good job of it right now.”

Victoria reached across the table and touched Tyler's hand. “You're doing all you can. Is it okay if I give you a piece of unsolicited advice?”

“Saying no has never stopped you,” he said with a smile.

“Take it from a person who's messed up in the past by withholding vital information from their spouse. No matter how much you think it will hurt Samantha, or how much you think she might hurt Chase, or make a situation worse, from now on you have to tell her about what's going on in your son's life. She's his mother, he's her baby, and she deserves to know. You two are a united front, but you'll fall and crumble if you don't stand together on everything, especially when it comes to your children.”

Tyler rubbed the stubble growing on his chin. “You're right.” He nodded. “From this point forward I'm gonna tell Sam everything, no matter what.”

“Good, that way you two can work things out together and you won't have the burden of carrying Chase's problems by yourself.”

“True.”

Victoria looked at his plate. “Tyler, I know you're struggling with this, but you've got to pull yourself together. You won't be any good to your family if you're not good to yourself, so please eat.”

Reluctantly, Tyler stuffed a few French fries into his mouth. “I'm gonna tell you something that I really hate to admit, and I've never shared with another living soul.”

“Okay.” Victoria braced herself because after his confession about Chase's multiple pregnancy scares she couldn't imagine what he was going to reveal next.

“I love Chase with all my heart. He's funny, smart, and he's a generally good-natured kid when he's not getting into trouble.” Tyler paused and then looked at Victoria with what appeared to be defeat. “But he's bad as hell and at the rate he's going, I think prison is in his future. I work with that population, I see it every day, and my son has all the signs.”

Victoria thought the same thing about her son, too, but she didn't know what to say so she just listened.

“From the time he was a little kid, he's been out of control, always breaking rules and getting into unnecessary trouble by doing stupid shit. I remember when he was seven years old I enrolled him in Cub Scouts because I thought it would help him build character and learn about teamwork. How about my son was sneaking
Playboy
magazines into the scout meetings.”

“Stop lyin'! At seven?”

“Yes. And when the troop leader told me about it, I confronted Chase and asked him where the hell did he get the magazines from, because I know they didn't come from our house. You wanna know what he told me?”

“I'm afraid to ask.”

“He said, ‘Don't worry about it, Dad. I got connections and I can hook you up, if you want me too.' ”

“Good Lord.”

“See, it's shit like that, that a seven-year-old shouldn't know anything about, that lets you know he's been a handful out the gate. You would think he was being raised in a brothel. And let's not even talk about the fact that he's been slipping out the house and going to parties since he was ten.”

Over the years Victoria had heard Samantha constantly voice her frustration with Chase, likening him to one of
Bébé's Kids
on steroids. But Victoria had never heard Tyler talk about his son with such disappointment and despair, and it made her heart ache for her best friend because she understood the anguish and stress a wayward child could cause.

She'd observed on her own what a little terror Chase could be when he was just a small child. There had been several occasions when Tyler and Samantha had asked her to babysit, and she remembered literally counting down the minutes until they came to pick him up. He'd been the kind of child who was always into something he had no business having an interest in. “Grown-folks business” as her mother used to call it. One time, Ted had outright threatened Chase.

CJ, on the other hand, had been a complete joy to be around, never once giving his parents or anyone else a moment of trouble. He'd always been a level-headed, mature, and responsible young man, and he'd tried unsuccessfully to help steer his younger brother in the right direction.

“Sometimes I just don't' get it,” Tyler said wearily. “We raised CJ and Chase under the same roof, never showing favoritism or differential treatment between the two. We let them know that we loved them equally. We gave both of them the same advantages, the same lectures about right and wrong, and the same unconditional love and support. CJ may not be my biological child, but he's my blood in every way, and he makes me proud to hold my head up and call him my son. But Chase . . .” Tyler sighed. “He has my direct DNA, from the shape of my head down to my body build. But we couldn't be more different, and he makes me want to hit the damn bottle.”

“I know what you mean. Look at my two. They're a prime example of everything you just said. Alexandria is one of the most honest, sincere, and naturally kind people you ever want to meet, and she always tries to do the right thing. But Christian,” she said, taking a deep breath, “you can't trust anything that comes out of his mouth. If his lips are moving that means he's lying.”

“You said it, not me.”

“Yes, I did. And I'll tell you something else since we're baring our souls about our children.” Victoria leaned forward and exhaled. “I think Christian's getting deeper and deeper into drugs.”

Tyler shook his head. “Damn. I hate to hear that. I knew he had some problems but I thought he'd gotten his act together. Isn't he going to Columbia this fall?”

“Yes, he is. And it's a miracle that he's been able to maintain such a great academic record, given the fact that he drank, smoked, snorted, and partied his way through Morehouse,” Victoria said with frustration. “And let's not talk about the women. I firmly believe he's one screw away from a paternity suit.”

“I tried talking to him a few months ago around spring break, and he assured me that he'd cut back on his drinking and he'd left the drugs alone.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “He lied.”