"Charles, uh hello," I say, entering the baby room. He is watching them sleep. What a creep!
"Oh hello Grace. Do you need anything?"
"Uh no, no. I just wanted to ask you something?" I say nervously.
"Oh, you sound serious."
"Yeah. I mean no, it's nothing serious."
"Grace pull yourself together!" Israel says and I give him a look.
"Okay then you can ask," Charles says, gesturing for me to sit on the armchair in front of him.
Here goes nothing!
"I just wanna know. How much do you love this family?"
Silence.
"We've got him now!" Asher says.
"Yeah, why's he so quiet?" Kenneth adds.
"Uh, wow! Where'd that question come from?" Charles asks. He looks a little puzzled.
"Just a question."
"Well, Grace, I love this family very much. I mean, why wouldn't I?"
"Ask him if he'd ever hurt us?" Israel says.
"You wouldn't hurt them right?"
"Of course, where are you going with this?"
"It's time, tell him," Kenneth says.
"I saw you," I say, looking him straight in the eye. No time for games.
"Saw... what?" He looks uneasy.
"This guy!" Israel shakes his head.
"You were with another woman Charles. I saw you."
"You must be mistaken Grace."
"I know what I saw. You were being a little too cozy with her. So tell me, what were you doing with her?" I demand.
"Uh, I don't know what you're...uh...talking about...."
"If he doesn't then why's he stuttering?" Asher asks.
"Why are you stuttering then?"
"Well you've just accused me of cheating. I'm in shock," he says.
"You shouldn't be. I know what I saw Charles."
"Technically you didn't see anything, you just heard from us so....." Asher says.
"Shut up!" Kenneth and Israel say in unison.
"You don't know what you saw," Charles says through gritted teeth. Okay he is starting to scare me now, but I have to press on and get a confession.
"We both know the truth."
"Grace, you have to be careful. We don't know, he could be dangerous," Israel says.
"This conversation is over. I won't let you speak to me like this in my house. You've done it twice today," Charles says, standing up.
"Well I won't let you treat Shamiso like this. It's not fair to her and the boys."
"That's it, get out!" He roars, making me flinch a little. But I stand my ground.
"You're just mad cause you know it's true. The truth will come out Charles!"
"Grace, I think you need to leave," Kenneth says, fear edged in his voice.
"I said get out," Charles repeats, his voice deeper now, more threatening. Is he going to hurt me?
YOU ARE READING
The Painting
General Fiction''Hey," I greet them. The scary looking one doesn't spare me a glance. The one with green eyes keeps talking, but the blue eyed one looks up at me for a second then back at his book. He sort of does a double take and his eyes widen as he looks back...
