The CEO's Wife

Chapter 21

Searching 

Kirsnick Ball 

I didn't know where to start. We lived in a big city and there were a lot of places for her to hide. Honestly, I don't know if she even is hiding. Maybe she's running, she could be running from all this. The job, the house, the relationship, or maybe just from me. She probably never wanted anything like this. A house that was way too big for three people to live in, maids, not being able to drive herself places, and having to deal with an entire building of people wanting to know our business. She said she wanted me. She said she wanted this, but to change her life overnight the way she did was a lot for any person.

"So, you really don't have any idea where she could have gone?" I looked over at my father-in-law who was sitting there eating French fries like we were on a damn field trip.

"I told you that back at home," he said through a mouthful of food.

"I don't even know why I brought you with me." I told him.

"Well, what do you want me to do?" he asked. "If she's anything like me then there's nothing, we're gonna be able to do to find her."

"I don't get it," he said. "I don't understand why she would leave like this."

"I don't know why I did it," he said. "If it makes you feel any better, I feel bad that I didn't stop her."

We were sitting at a stop sign, and I looked over at him. He was eating his burger now, and I wanted to smack that damn sandwich out of his hand. He is sitting here eating like this is a damn lunch date.

"i don't think that you should worry too much." he said with his mouth full again. "she might come back."

"might?" I asked. "and what am I supposed to do? Go home and watch tv until she decides to come back."

"well-"

"please don't say nothin' stupid," I said.

"how you gonna know if it's stupid if you cutting me off?" he asked me.

"because 90% of what comes out of your mouth is stupid." he asked.

He rolled his eyes at me while he crumpled up his burger wrapper and threw it into the bag. He grabbed his cup from the console in between us and took a drink. He was being absolutely not help acting like the shit wasn't a big deal.

"are you going to actually help or should I just drop you home?" I asked him.

"i told you that we should both go home." he shot back. "you been riding around the city for hours and we aint seen here yet, and I swear it you ride passed larry's one more time imma get out and walk home."

"man, shut up. I told you twice already that I paid the man. You don't owe him no money." I said to him.

"I said what I said." he told me.

"You think I won't ride over there again?" I asked him.

"Why would you? Out of all places she aint gonna be there." he said. "You saved her from that. Larry's aint a place that you run back to for comfort when you get out."

"Comfort?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied with a shrug.

"So, you think-"

"I don't know what she thinkin!" he shouted. "I told you that. If it was me, I wouldn't be running away from what she got with you, but I can only speak from my experience. I left when things got hot. I'd come home and as long as I was able to lay around and do nothing then I was good. I didn't want to work, I didn't want to parent, and I know now that the shit aint right but after her mom left me I felt like I didn't have nothing to live for, not even my own kid."

"So, what the fuck am I doin nigga?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he replied with another shrug of his shoulders. I swear if this man shrugs his shoulders again. I don't know how but imma take em off his body. "she's grown up in this city her whole life. She aint never been nowhere. Never seen anything. It was just me her and my mama for most of her life."

He was just rambling. He's been talking about bullshit for the entire time that we've been sitting here. Just talking about himself and how his life was so hard after her mom left. I don't give a shit about how hard his life was and how it made him feel like shit when he could answer her questions about her mom. I just want him to stop talking.

"And after her mom-"

"Do you talk about anything else besides being left behind by her mama?" I asked him. "Damn you'd think she took your mind with her when she left. She's all you talk about,"

"she's almost all I think about," he replied simply.

"Well can you think about something else, like helping me figure out where Melody went?" I asked him.

"that's what I've been doing this whole time," he replied.

"By doing what exactly?" I told him. He leaned back against the door and shrugged his shoulders AGAIN. I couldn't do anything but take a deep breath.

"You know, I think you might have actually done her a favor." I said to him. "Growing up without you was probably way better than sitting here listening to you talk about her mom like she was a ghost,"

"You might be right," he replied. "She left me a broken man, up and left without even so much as a goodbye. Left her daughter behind like she was nothing." He turned and looked out the window for a second. "Be grateful,"

"For what?" I asked him.

"That she left you with just a broken heart and not a kid to look after," he said.

"You need therapy old man," I put the car and drive and started toward the only place I hadn't looked yet. Her old house.

"Where the hell we are going now?" her dad asked.

"Just please, for the rest of the ride, just shut the fuck up." I said to him.