Sweet Taboo

“She’s going to be in the house any minute. I don’t think there will be any way for us to get out. We’ll have to hide and hope the police get here in time. Gotta go.” I ended the call, wishing my leggings had a pocket.

As I rushed up the steps, I dropped another text to DeSean: It’s Camilla. Then I stuck the phone in my bra. Keeping it classy. I sighed.

There was no need to keep the phone in hand, since I didn’t expect a response. After all, he was probably driving and was so far away that there was a good chance I’d be dead before he arrived. I couldn’t count on anyone. This was me versus Camilla, and I had to protect Keyon. She was clearly unbalanced. I raced up the stairs and, determined to buy as much time as I could, I started shutting all the bedroom doors as quietly as possible, hoping it might throw her off. First my door, then DeSean’s, and when I reached Keyon’s room, I gently picked him up and held him close. Think. Think. Think.

In my arms, the little boy stirred. “T?” I knew he wondered what was going on.

“I need you to be quiet.” I held a finger to my lips.

His eyes widened. “We play hide?”

I inhaled sharply and nodded. I should’ve thought of that. “Yes. We hide.” Then I carried him out of the room, shutting the door behind us. I listened a moment, wondering about Camilla’s location. It sounded like she was still struggling in the laundry room. I flicked the switches at the top of the stairs, turning off the few lights I’d left on the main floor and the second story landing.

In the dark, I made my way toward the bonus room, shutting the last two bedroom doors along the way. From the sounds downstairs, I’d done it just in time. I could hear her steps on the hardwoods.

“You can’t hide!” Camilla called out.

“Mommy?” Keyon asked before I thought to silence him.

I froze, hoping she hadn’t heard him, but instead I realized she was about to run up the stairs.

“Mommy’s coming!” She laughed gleefully.

This wasn’t going well at all.

Without further hesitation, I raced inside the dark bonus room and since I was unfamiliar with the space, I crawled across the floor to the wall so I could feel for the door. Keyon was holding tightly to my neck, his legs wrapped around my waist. I could hear Camilla on the landing. She was far too close as my fingers grazed the handle. I latched on, yanked the door open, and snuck inside with Keyon.

“I need you to be super quiet,” I whispered.

“We hide, T?” He rubbed his sleepy eyes.

“Yes. Shhh!”

I knew where the light switch was and I needed it for just a moment. I’d seen there were boxes up here last time we hid in the attic. Maybe there was a way I could tie the doorknob shut. I started rifling through the first box. Christmas ornaments weren’t going to save us. Garland was way too delicate. The next box held Halloween. We were going through enough horror right now. I pushed that box aside as quietly as possible. In the third box, I hit pay dirt. There were camping supplies which included bungee cords. With Keyon still clinging to me, I wrapped a cord around the door handle, hooking it to itself and then tried to find something to attach it to. I twisted around in my spot and my hair ended up caught in an exposed nail. With a grimace, I yanked it off and hooked the bungee cord, hoping this would slow her down.

Almost immediately she was pulling on the door unsuccessfully. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath while Keyon looked up at me. Knowing I had to be strong for him was the only thing holding me together. What was taking so long? Where were the police? It was a Wednesday night. How much criminal activity could be happening in Charlotte right now?

“Come out or I’ll shoot,” Camilla threatened in a low voice.

“I’m pretty sure if I come out, you’ll shoot anyway. So, I’ll take my chances in here, thanks,” I grumbled.

Still, I moved further away from the door with Keyon. We ended up at the edge of the subfloor when the first shot came through the door. He looked up at me and his lower lip began to tremble. His eyes watered. And he wailed.

“You’re scaring your son,” I snapped as I held him to my chest and covered his ears.

“I don’t care. I never wanted him. I wanted DeSean!” Camilla retorted.

My heart ached for this kid. We had to get out of here, had to get away from this psycho. I took a deep breath. There was only one hope at this moment.

“We’re going to hide in a new place,” I whispered in Keyon’s ear as I tried to remove the wood cover to open the scuttle hole into the garage. When it was clear, I leaned down and peeked inside the garage. The light was on, the garage door was still stuck open, and everything was silent. “Sit here. I’ll go through first and then you climb into my arms. Got it?”

He nodded sadly, his body still wracked with sobs.

I dropped through the hole and landed on the top storage shelf in the garage. Then I held my hands up to him as promised. With Keyon in my arms, I made my way down the tiered shelves. We’d just landed on the garage floor when I heard Camilla rushing down the steps.

Moving to the garage door, I whispered, “Crawl under and I’ll be right behind you.”

I watched him make it and had managed to get on my belly when I felt the gun on the back of my head.