Season 1, Episode 12
Carlton POV
I locked my gaze on the pregnancy test, as if it were some green-eyed, blue-skinned monster.
Positive.
positive is a good word, but it depends on the situation, and this was not the situation in which I wanted to be positive.
Perhaps it wasn't hers. Some friends who were present chose to take the test. It was also impossible at the same moment.
I didn't let her make friends. Prior to Elena and my marriage. Children have come up in our discourse, and my responses have always been the same.
I don't want children—at least, that's what I told her. I told a different tale to Maria. I obviously told Maria I wanted to have all my kids with her, and we did go to work on that.
I already have a child, and when I discovered how difficult it was to raise this child, I told her that one child was sufficient.
I threw the test against the bathroom counter. I need something to drink. This is too much for me right now.
I put on a sweater and snuck out the door before she noticed me. I wasn't technically avoiding 'the talk,' because I knew we would have it.
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I drank at least a half-dozen vodkas on the rocks. I desired to be numb. I realize it was simply a pregnancy test, and what I saw might not have been accurate.
But my mind was working on something very different. My next child would suffer if I had another child on the way. I could sense it.
I don't have a job that allows me to care for two children. I can barely look after one. I can barely care for my wife.
We didn't go on that honeymoon because of a stupid office project. It was simply due to my inability to pay a fucking trip to Mexico.
"Rough night?"
When I heard Manuel's scratchy voice, I sighed. He was a wandering rat. If I'm not mistaken, he was a member of Juan's gangs—weird fellow.
He even dressed and looked strange. His skin was always clammy and oily, his hair was unkempt, and he smelled like spoiled sour cream.
"Not tonight." I warned. He is always saying something. I can see him sitting on the stool beside me through the corner of my eyes.
I looked around the half-empty bar for any more members of Juan's gang, but all I saw were a couple regulars. Juan Gang was not the kind to hang out in a bars anyway.
They were the VIP Club kind, spending money on things that a sad working man would not be able to afford in two years. I've never mentioned it to anyone, but I've always coveted Juan's life.
Most people rolled their eyes at what she did; I did, too, but it was all a ruse. I didn't want people to judge me because I admired my older sister.
She's got the girls, the money, the good looks...
"You're going to want to hear this, dude." He stated this while patting my shoulder. "What's the cost?" I inquired.
Manuel mostly talks—well snitches if you can do something for him in return.
He burst out laughing.
"Carlton, boy, I will always love you. You're always speaking my language, boy. Unlike the Spaniards." I could smell his heated breath as he spoke the last part close to my face.
Gosh.
I shoved him onto the stool again. He stinks like a fart and steals beer and cigarettes. Wasn't he also Spanish?
"Just give a man a hundred dollars and one of those you're drinking there," he remarked, looking at my drink.
"I'm sure what you have to say doesn't have a big impact. Manuel, I don't have any games to play. I already have a lot on my plate; I don't need you to add to it." I elaborated.
"My brother, are you sure you don't want to hear about Elena?" When I heard my wife's name, my ears perked up.
Elena—What? That's the last name I expected to fly out his mouth.
"What the fuck did you just say?" I growled as I scowled at him. I risked not taking him by the collar and drawing him closer because I couldn't stand the smell of him.
"Elena. I won't say anything else. Snitching does not come cheap." He stated. I grumbled, reaching into my pocket and pulling out five twenty dollars, which I placed in his palm; he didn't even count it and shoved the money into his pocket.
"Tell me right now," I demanded.
"Your sister fucks your wife. And I wouldn't be surprised if she gets knocked up." He burst out laughing.
"What!" This phony news surprised me.
"They had sex. When you gon kicking up Daisy, she was putting down a storm in the bedroom."
Everything in me wanted to swat him away as he grinned. "Give me back my money; I don't believe you." I grumbled.
"I knew you'd say that," he scoffed. "I have all the evidence." He turned his phone screen to face me, and there they were, my Elena and my sister kissing.
I took the phone from his grasp to have a better look. I'm curious if that was a photoshoot or something more unusual.
Manuel wasn't exactly a trustworthy individual, and he would do everything to obtain money. But this was true. Juan's hoodie is clearly visible in the photograph, the one I told Elena to burn.
My blood boils when I stare at the image for an extended period of time, as if things get clearer and clearer.
"If that girl gets Prego, you know who the daddy is." He stated this while taking his phone and leaving me at my seat, as if he hadn't just told me the most heartbreaking news.
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"I didn't notice you leave. Why—" I struck her across the face, and she collapsed on the ground, clutching her cheeks and looked at me, horrified.
But she wouldn't be in this situation if she wasn't slutting with my sister. She went to my sister, of all people.
"W-what did I do, Carl?" Her voice trembled. I grabbed her hair and forced her onto the sofa.
She screamed and tried to flee, but I grabbed her hair. "You fucking slut!"
"You fucking whore!"
"W-what—" she gulped, she clenched her stomach. My blood heated even more as I stared at it.
"You fucked my sister and have the audacity to get pregnant for her, you whore." I slapped her across the face.
"What? It's yours. I swear to God." She hiccupped in between sentences.
"ELENA, I SAW YOU!!! I SAW YOUR FILTHY MOUTH ON HERS!" I yelled. She made a shaky motion with her head. I made a fist with my hand and punched her in the stomach. She leaned down and coughed up saliva.
"It's yours." she squealed out crying. I growled and punched her in the stomach again. She screamed and fell to her knees. She began to move her body away, but I grabbed her and dragged her upstairs. I tossed her on the bed like the whore of trash she was.
"I need a hospital." She whimpered as she clutched her stomach. I checked to see whether she had started to bleed, but she hadn't. If she bleeds, she will lose the baby, which is exactly what I needed.
"Please." She implored, tears streaming down her cheeks. I opened a random drawer in search of a tie or something to tie her hands to the headboard.
I dug till my hands caught something, but it turned out to be Juan's hoodie.
"Didn't I tell you to burn this hoodie?" I yelled. "You are so fucking disrespectful." I stomp on the hoodie and throw it down on the floor.
I opened another drawer and discovered a pair of neckties.
I yanked my shirt off her filthy body, exposing her nakedness.
I took both of her hands and tied them together, then I tied the remaining length to the bed head.
"You just sit there and think about the nonsense you did. How dare you let a filthy criminal touch your body."
"She didn't, I swear." She sobbed. But I'd be a fool to believe her lying tongue. I saw the image.
"I'll take you to the hospital when you bleed that child out." I stomped out of the room, growling. I took a deep breath, trying not to cry. How could she possibly have cheated on me?
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