Nothing In This World (BWWM) ✅

Chapter Twenty Five

Swinging her purse around, she walked along the sidewalk with her head down as she watched her feet move one in front of the other. She didn't go directly home after the diner, she actually got lost in the crowd and had to go to a library to collect her thoughts. That was two hours ago. Now she just wanted to bathe and get started on dinner before Charles and Lance got home.

"Charlene!" Darla came running from across the street of Patty's house. "I was just askin around the neighborhood if anyone has seen you."

"Ah, I just went into Portland for a bit. Wanted to get out of the house. I should have left a note, I know." Darla brought Charlene into a hug which lasted for seconds longer than she'd like. "Did something happen?"

Darla's smile slowly faded. "You seem different. You okay? Did something happen to you?"

Charlene quickly disagreed. "No. I'm just going to go inside and help with dinner." She pointed towards the front door and Darla released her from her soft grasp. "See you in a bit?"

"Yeah. Just going to finish up talking to the girls."

Charlene took off speed walking to the house and made sure to close the door tightly behind her. The moment she hung her purse on the coat rack, she heard the kitchen dining room chair squeak.

"I'm home early." Lance turned to look at her as she stood still by the front door. "I couldn't follow you. I didn't know what people would think. I'm still trying to figure that all out." Charlene looked away from him and towards the basement door. "Can you sit down? I want to talk before Darla gets back."

"We have to get started on dinner. I know you and Charles are starving." She giggled to try and clear the thick air but Lance knew all too well that she was bothered. "I was thinking chicken, some green beans and-"

"Can you sit down?" His voice got a little sterner but Charlene continued on her way to the basement. "Charlene! Sit down now so I can-" She froze when his foot kicked the table. "There's something I have to tell you that I hadn't told you since it happened. It's important."

She straightened her posture while making her way back over to the dining area and sitting directly across from Lance. "Before you say anything. Do not raise your voice at me like that and do not get physical with my brothers furniture."

"Yeah, right. I apologize." He couldn't even look her in the eyes. Charlene continues to stare daggers at him. "Uhm... the woman at the diner is my boss's daughter." The two made eye contact immediately. "I met her on the way to lunch and an accident happened so I promised her coffee. When you left... we talked... and talked." Charlene's eyes began to drift away slowly. "And she said she'll be able to get me a better position."

"At what cost?" Charlene said dully.

"Huh?"

"At what cost? What do you have to do to get this position? Do you have to date her? Sleep with her?"

"No! What?! No!" Lance almost jumped out of his seat. "It's not... like that. It's more of a friendlier thing. I just need to attend this banquette with her. It's good for business."

"The shipyard was to pay bills, Lance. Not to make a career out of." Charlene chuckled to avoid from screaming. "Attend a banquette? Next she'll be clinging to your arm and prancing you around town. I've read these things before. I've seen how women get when they like you. Love you even!"

"I told her I was happily engaged to a woman I consider my wife and she said she understands. We need this if we're ever going to get out of that basement."

Charlene knew a couple things about life and one is that she didn't enjoy being left out of things. She also didn't want to take her chances being hung for living a life Lance thinks is better for them when it might be dangerous. The woman on the bus warned her about the north and she couldn't help but think it wasn't so different from the south.

"Go then. Pick and choose." Charlene got up from her seat and pushed in her chair. "Chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes are for dinner. Tell Darla I'm in the bath if she needs me."

The next morning, Lance was gone before the sun came up. Charlene figured he had to trade in more hours due to leaving work so early so she didn't question it. She had breakfast with Charles, Darla, and Ricky. She cleaned the kitchen, the basement, and the bathrooms. She played with Ricky until he was so tired he couldn't keep his head up. And she stood by Darla's side as she gossiped with the neighborhood wives about things only they would understand.

She also thought about the woman who Lance was buying coffee for and she wondered if he was going to see her today.

"Why don't you two come inside and try some of this pie Houston helped me make. I've been trying to get my husband in the kitchen for years." They followed patty into her pale blue panel home without question.

Charlene looked around to see that her home had a floral theme. The furniture looked so new it was as if the home was bought out of a magazine. She then smiled at the two small children sleeping on the couch with their homework sprawled out on the coffee table.

"Samuel and Yolanda are just like their father. Sleeping whenever they can."

The lemon pie had a few slices already cut out of it but it looked just as good as ever. Patty brought out two small plates and cut a sliver of pie for each of them. They then sat around the kitchen table and dug into to what tasted like heaven.

"This is really good!" Charlene's eyes widened at the taste. "It reminds me of my mama's pie she used to make on special days."

Patty rested a hand over her heart in awe. "Never asked how old you is, Charlene. You and that white man look extremely young."

Darla rubbed Ricky's back as he slept soundly in her arms. She knew she should answer before Charlene could even swallow her food and say something wrong. "Her birthday was a few days ago. Just turned seventeen actually. We had a big dinner and I made my best chocolate cake."

Charlene remembered that day all too well. She was miserable and she tried not to show it. "Lance is seventeen too."

"Are you in school or anything? Graduated?" Patty pried.

Darla looked at Charlene with a worried expression on her face. "Uh... we're working on that. You know she moved here to get away from the south. But Charlene and I went into town a while ago and looked into some classes she could take to get her GED. They told us to come back this Monday to sign her up."

Patty smiled widely. "That's good! Now y'all eat up. I don't want this pie to go to waste."

An hour passed and Charlene and Darla lost track of time. They both rushed out the house in a tangle of goodbyes to put Ricky down for a proper nap.

"Why did you lie?" Charlene asked as Darla dragged her across the street.

"Patty ain't nobody to tell serious business to. She'll tell the whole neighborhood and you'll be the dumb black girl with a white man. They already got so much to say about him living in our house." Once they made it inside the house, Darla rushed to put Ricky in bed and feel his pamper. "I know she's in there right now telling Linda how you done dropped out."

"But I did," Charlene admitted.

Darla frowned then went to a filing cabinet to pull out a piece of paper and an envelope. She then dug in her purse for a pen and placed it all on the dresser. "Write your mama. Charles told me to tell you last night but I was so tired I didn't think much of it. Then I had a dream about how worried my mama would be if she didn't know if I was dead or alive." She grabbed Charlene by her shoulder and pulled her over to the paper. "Charles will take it to the post office on his way to work."

"I- I don't know what to say. I think she can either hate me or be disappointed. I mean I just up and left her-"

"Say why."