Sempre (Sempre 1)

“Il tempo guarisce tutti i mali,” Carmine said, rubbing his chest where those words were inked on his flesh. “When I first got the tattoo, I didn’t believe it, but I do now. You can get over anything with enough time. I’m not sure how much it’s gonna take to work through this shit we have going on, but I have all the time in the world for you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and she closed her eyes as she hugged him. “If you didn’t believe it, why’d you get the tattoo?”

“It’s something my mom used to say.” He let out a curious laugh. “Reminds me of you and your random trivia. I don’t know why it took me so long to see the similarities. It should’ve been obvious that my mom had grown up like you.”

Haven pulled away from him. “What did you say?”

He cut his eyes to her. “Which part?”

“Your mama was like me? You mean a slave?”

He cringed at the word but nodded. “I thought you knew. You saw the diary.”

She shook her head. “I only read the piece of paper that fell out of it, Carmine.”

His eyes widened. “I thought you read the whole thing. Hell, I would’ve read it. I gave it to my father so I wouldn’t be tempted.”

“Dr. DeMarco knows?”

“Of course,” he said. “He’s known for years. It’s no coincidence you ended up here.”

All of a sudden, as she stood there in the kitchen, the fog lifted and everything became clear. The reason he bought her, the reason he was freeing her. Masters were supposed to take life away, yet he had done everything in his power to give her one instead . . . and he had done it all for the woman he loved.

That knowledge made it feel like the ground was moving.

* * *

Haven was in her room that afternoon when Carmine came in, clutching a large white envelope. “You have mail, tesoro.”

She eyed him warily as he sat on the edge of the bed, handing the mail to her. The return address was from North Carolina Community Colleges. “Is this . . . ?”

“Your test results.”

She stared at the envelope as she ran her finger along the seal.

“Are you gonna open it or what?”

The enthusiasm in Carmine’s voice frazzled her. It was the first time she had put herself out there, and the thought of failing scared her. “Can you do it for me?”

He shook his head. “You should do it.”

She carefully tore the flap and pulled out the paper. The actual scores meant nothing to her as she stared at the certificate attached to the transcript, the words HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY DIPLOMA etched along the top with a golden seal.

“I passed?” she asked, trying to hold back the excitement threatening to burst forth, but it was stronger than her. She threw herself at Carmine before he could get out a word, knocking him over. “I passed!”

“You did,” he said. “Can’t say I’m surprised. I knew you would.”

He kissed her slowly, softly, pure passion emanating from him. It was an innocent kiss, yet so much more. It was a kiss of redemption, of forgiveness and pride. It was a kiss that said no matter what may have happened in the past, there was still hope for the future.

Hope. It was a feeling she reveled in now, instead of cowering from as before. “Thank you for believing in me,” she whispered against his mouth.

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said, pulling back with a smile. “And don’t worry, because everything will work out. We’re one step closer. You can go to college now.”

“What about you? When are you going to test for college?”

“Soon,” he said. “I signed up before we went to California.”

“Are you excited?”