Chapter Three
1372 Words
Woodrow’s tone was surprisingly calm yet firm. “Not until you tell me what you want with her. You can’t just bang into my house and take my granddaughter without any explanation.”
Nathaniel was hesitant for a moment before he spoke. “It’s none of your business. Roland, get the girl!”
“Yes, sir,” Roland responded.
“You will do no such thing, young man.” Woodrow stopped Roland in his tracks. It was obvious that Roland was tied between Nathaniel and Woodrow’s different commands. “What is the matter, Nathaniel? What do you want with Kimberly?” he pressed his friend for answers. “You haven’t been taking my calls for days and now you show up in my house trying to take my granddaughter away without any explanation. What is going on?”
“What are you standing there for, Roland? Move!” Nathaniel commanded.
Woodrow on the other hand was not ready to back down.
Sarah, who stood by the corner watching the scene in front of her, was scared that something might happen and interfered.
“Stop! Please both of you calm down.” She said, her voice cracked. “You both are going to hurt yourselves.”
Woodrow’s grasp on his cane tightened, but he adhered to his daughter’s warning.
“Please, Sir. Sanchez, what has Kimberly done?” Sarah pleaded, barely able to contain the fear in her heart.
“Your daughter had something to do with Matteo’s disappearance.” He said, his tone flowed with a valley of anger. “I gave her twenty-four hours to bring him back and she didn’t.”
Woodrow’s anger boiled over.
“How dare you accuse my Kimberly of such a thing?”
Sarah’s anger was evident as well but she did her best to speak calmly. “Sir, what gives you the notion to accuse my daughter?”
Before Nathaniel could respond, Woodrow shouted on a note of finality. “My granddaughter had nothing to do with that young man, Nathaniel! I know it!”
The room fell silent. The tension in the room was almost suffocating.
“Your granddaughter better provide Matteo, Woodrow,” Nathaniel said, his voice low with dangerous threat. “Or else it’s not going to end well for your family.”
With that, he took his leave, Roland trailing behind him.
Kimberly’s gentle steps stole both Sarah and Woodrow’s attention, her heart heavy with anger after what she had just witnessed between the friends.
“Grandpa….” she said, and kept quiet, not sure how to placate the situation.
Sarah helped Woodrow to sit on the couch and remained silent for a moment before she spoke to Kimberly.
“The ruckus must have woken you up.”
Kimberly nodded.
“That ruckus was Nathaniel, claiming that you had something to do with Matteo’s disappearance.” Woodrow’s tone was understandably angry but novel to Kimberly.
In all her life, she had never heard Woodrow raise his voice, not even when she did something out of character. Nathaniel had gone too far with his accusations.
Sarah and Woodrow both exchange glances, silently confirming their thoughts.
“Kimberly,” Sarah’s tone was hesitant. “Did you have anything to do with Matteo’s disappearance?"
Kimberly was taken aback by her mother’s question. Pain and disappointment suddenly buried the anger that was building up in her. ‘How could they think of me like that? Don’t they trust me?’ She thought.
Sarah immediately regretted her words and tried to backtrack. “Honey……”
“Yes,” Kimberly interrupted her before she could complete her statement, “Yes I had something to do with it.”
Sarah’s face paled, while Woodrow’s hardened expression fell into disappointment. Before any of them could recover, Kimberly walked out, too pained to hold the hot tears clouding her sight.
An uncomfortable silence stretched between Sarah and Woodrow as they processed the situation. They never thought Kimberly would do such a thing.
“This is all my fault.” Woodrow broke the silence, his tone was a mix of pain and regret. “I shouldn’t have forced her into a marriage with someone she barely knew.”
Sarah turned to Woodrow, still trying to recover from her shock. “Don’t say that dad.” Said she. “It might have been a small misunderstanding.”
Woodrow shook his head slowly, a pang of guilt consuming him.
‘It’s left for me to save my family. If I don’t interfere, Nathaniel might go out of control.’ He thought to himself.
“I have to make this right.” He said quietly as he slowly got on his feet with his cane as a support, his fragile heart was tightened as his shaky steps carried him into his study, ignoring Sarah’s disapproval.
Locking the door behind him, he fished out his phone from his pocket and quickly dialed a number. Once the call picked up, he spoke. “Hello, Espanol. Meet me at our regular spot.”
***
Tears ran down freely from Kimberly’s cheeks as she ran out of the house. It was like the whole world was against her.
Although it hurts that Nathaniel blamed her for something she knew nothing about, it was even more painful that her family, the people who were supposed to be there for her, would think of her like that.
Her heart ached with pain. She needed someone to talk to, someone she felt at least she could trust.
Fishing out her phone from her pocket, she dialed the first number that came to her mind. After a few rings, a deep voice spoke from the other end of the line.
“Kimberly, I wasn’t…….”
“Bryan,” Kimberly burst into tears, interrupting him.
“Kimberly, is everything alright?” Bryan asked, his tone heavy with concern.
“No,” she admitted. “I…I…. need to talk to someone.” her voice was hoarse as her body shook with sobs.
“It’s okay, Kimberly,” he said, “Just tell me where you are, and I’ll come to you.”
“I’m at Grandpa Woodrow’s.” she managed, wiping her face with her palm.
“I’m on my way.” He said before the line went dead.
After the call went dead, a wave of guilt washed over her as she realized what she was doing. Bryan used to be the love of her life before she broke up with him so she could fulfill Woodrow’s wishes to get married to his best friend’s grandson.
She wondered if he was going to trust her, or if he was going to hate her more if she told him.
Taking a deep breath, she took a seat on a bench at the corner, trying to steady herself.
After a couple of minutes, A taxi halted in front of her and a brunette unfolded himself out of the car, his face lined with concern as he approached her.
“Kimberly, are you okay?” he said,
She shook her head, collapsing on him, the familiar warmth emanating from his body pushed away the unease settling within her.
“What’s going on, Kim?” he asked calmly, his hands holding onto her waist. “Does it have anything to do with…. him?” his voice edged with anger when he said, ‘him’.
Kimberly shook her head. “No, Mom and grandpa,” she sniffed. “I thought I could trust them, but I was wrong.”
“What?” Bryan asked, confused. “What do you mean?”
“They think I had something to do with Matteo’s disappearance.” She replied with a heavy heart.
“Are you serious? How could they?” he said angrily.
“No one trusts me, Bryan, I don’t know what to do. I’m scared.” Her embrace on Bryan tightened.
“Hey, I’m here and I trust you.” He reassured her.
Kimberly nodded. “Thank you,”
“Don’t worry Kimberly, I’m here.” He gently used his thumb to wipe her tear-stained face as her sobs relaxed.
Meanwhile, by the corner of the road, a car was parked by the corner observing both of them.
“Perfect.”
- Writer
