“Let go of me! I’m getting my child!” Her nails dug into his hands, slicing into his skin, and he let her go.
She snatched the door open while he inspected the angry red marks on his hand.
Carlton took off down the hall and caught her before she made it to little Carl’s playroom. He dragged her back down the stairs.
Latonya reached out and grabbed on to the railing on the way down. Her grip was so tight he had a difficult time pulling her down the stairs.
“I want you out of here. If you ever come within a mile of my son, you’ll live to regret it. I’ll have him out of the country faster than you could imagine. Stay away from us!” He grabbed her jacket and purse as he passed the sitting room, and when he threw her out the door, he threw them after her.
Momentarily stunned, she lifted herself from the ground.
“Goodbye, Latonya.” He slammed the door and leaned against it. His face wet, he realized tears were falling from his eyes.
Chapter 15
Latonya used her old key to enter her grandmother’s home. She didn’t know where else to go, what to do or whom to turn to. Touching her stomach, she hoped that her struggles with Carlton hadn’t done any harm to the baby. She would have a checkup as soon as possible. Right after she found herself a good lawyer. She didn’t intend to lose either one of her children.
As soon as she walked in the door, Cicely stepped in front of her.
“Girl, you almost got yourself hurt, walking in here like that. I didn’t know who that was jingling keys and coming in the house. What are you doing here?” Cicely asked.
“What are you doing here? You’re always here when you should be in school.” Latonya retorted.
“It’s spring break. So, I decided to grace my loving family with my presence. I was going to come see you tomorrow. I just got in a little while ago.”
“Hey, Peanut. What are you doing here? Where’s my great-grandbaby?” Gran walked down the hall into the entryway. “Well, come on in and close the door. You don’t look so good, Peanut. What’s wrong with you?”
Latonya followed them into the living room and sat down. “He kicked me out.”
“What? Who kicked you out? Carlton? Why would he do that? What happened?” Gran let loose a string of questions as she sat down on the sofa next to Latonya.
Cicely sat on the other side of her. “Where’s little Carl?”
“He wouldn’t let me take him.” Latonya wrapped her arms around herself as if that would help her hold it together.
“He can’t just take your child! We have to get a lawyer,” Cicely said, and she wrapped her arms around Latonya.
“I don’t understand, Peanut. Why would he kick you out and make you leave your baby?” Gran asked.
“He thinks I’m having an affair.”
“Why would he think that? You didn’t run around on that man, did you—” Gran’s face turned concerned and she clutched her heart.
Appalled, Latonya responded before Gran could finish her statement. “Gran! Of course I didn’t. Why would you think something like that?”
“Even if she did, that doesn’t give him any right to steal her child!” Cicely said.
“I didn’t. I had lunch with a colleague. That’s all.” Latonya took a deep breath. “Carlton’s grandfather told him some lies. Now Carlton believes I cheated.”
“Why would that man lie on you?” Gran asked.
Latonya had no idea why the old man despised her so much that he would tell an out-and-out lie on her. Even the reasons she could think to give didn’t seem like good enough ones to ruin someone’s life. “Because he hates me. He has always hated me. He thinks I’m a gold digger and he has issues with African-Americans.”
“Oh, Lord. I knew you shouldn’t have married in with those foreign folk.” Gran clutched her chest again and fanned her face with her other hand. “You should have married a boy from here and then you wouldn’t have to worry about this kind of thing.”
“Gran!” Cicely scolded. “That’s not an appropriate thing to say. Why are African-Americans always tripping when it comes to black folk from other places? We’re all black and we all can trace our roots back to Africa! The boat just dropped us off in different spots.”
“Well. That man doesn’t like African-Americans!” Gran defended herself. “Black folk from other places are always coming here and looking down their noses at black folk from here. They’re not better than us because they didn’t have to put up with the racism here and they have another home to go to.” Gran shook with anger. “Now we have to worry about him taking little Carl off someplace, back to their country. At least if he were from here we wouldn’t be worried about that.”
The thought that Carlton could very well take their child to the Bahamas and had enough money to make it difficult for her to ever see her child again placed real fear in Latonya’s heart. “I won’t let that happen.” She looked at her grandmother and her sister. “I know that you don’t have a lot of extra space, Gran but can I—”
“Don’t you insult me by asking can you stay here, Peanut. Of course you can stay here. This is your home,” Gran said forcefully.
“Thanks,” Latonya replied.
She spent the rest of the evening planning to get her child back.
The lawyer Latonya met with told her that it would be a difficult custody fight given the amount of money the Harringtons had, but he would do his best to get her baby back. The doctor assured her that she hadn’t done anything to damage the child she carried. She spent the week with Gran and Cicely, and it felt good knowing that she had their support.
Latonya had to force Cicely to go back to school and finish out the semester. By the time the week was up she’d convinced Cee Cee that there wasn’t anything she could really do, anyway. So Cicely got in the car that Carlton had purchased for her and made the drive back to Tallahassee.
After being gone a full week, Latonya missed little Carl fiercely. She knew that she would do whatever she could to get her child. But a part of her didn’t want to drag little Carl through a big custody battle over a misunderstanding. She knew that she owed it to herself and her children to at least try once more and get Carlton to see reason. She hoped that the days apart would give him time to calm down and he would at least be open to hear her out. She didn’t know if she could forgive him for throwing her out of the house. However, she knew she had to try.
When she reached the house that following Saturday afternoon she fully expected to find him playing in the back yard with their son like he did most Saturdays. Instead, she found the elder Harrington sitting there as if he were waiting for her.
Latonya’s eyes narrowed and she could feel bile rising in her throat just looking at him. “Why did you lie on me, old man?”
He turned. “I’ll have to get that Jillian to have someone come change the locks. What are you doing back here?”
