Page 46 of Saving Grace

No, I wouldn’t be able to convince him. I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you, I'll do anything.” I needed to see my son, so if he wanted me to grovel I would. My son came before my pride.

The chair he was sitting in creaked under his weight as he stood. “You say you’ll do anything. Go upstairs take off your clothes and spread your legs and wait for me.”

I leaned forward in my chair, sure that I misheard what he said.

“Repeat that?”

“I’ll call the maid, you follow her to your room, take off your clothes, lay on the bed and spread your legs and wait for me,” he recited his instructions again, in such a tone that I couldn’t mistake his directions for anything but salaciously malicious.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and cocked my head.

“Sex, that’s what you want. You’re really going to do this. To me?”

He gave me an odd look.

“Yes to you. You’re the only person I’d put this much effort into. You’re the only person who can bring the best and worse out of me. The only person I'd allow to go against even one of my wishes. I’d have already killed anybody else that had taken what you took from me.”

I gave him a long silent stare. He was mad, insane really. I couldn’t believe this was what he thought make our situation better. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

“You know what? Fuck you Atticus.” I pushed myself up from the chair I’d been occupying. “You won’t keep me from seeing my child. A Black woman brought your pale ass into this shitty ass world and another will take you out of it if I have to, I put that on my granny.”

He waved me off. “Make your choice. Go upstairs or leave, but you won’t be seeing nor taking my son. Somebody nearly killed you both and you’re ready to go back out and let then try again? No.” he fired back.

I sucked in a breath, fighting back frustrated tears.

“You’ve been back in my life for less than a month and already I’m so fucking fed up with you.” I yelled at him through clenched teeth.

My face was so hot and tight I felt as if my head would explode.

He said nothing as I raged. He was a statue, face devoid of any emotion.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, trying to keep my son away from me?”

His silence was pissing me off even more than his fucked-up proposition.

Dropping my bag, I clenched then unclenched my hand at my side and widened my stance.

My anger had me ready to swing on one of the most dangerous men in Florida.

Atticus’ eyes dropped to my balled-up hands.

He frowned.

“You want to fight me?”

He didn't give me a chance to answer.

He threw his head back and laughed.

He continued laughing as he warned me. “We’re not children anymore. I’m not going to pretend to let you beat me up to make you feel better Grace. You wronged me, so it’s my way or no way. " He jabbed himself in the chest. His tone full of contempt.

I had wronged him? The fucking audacity. He was reason Marcus had found out who I really was. He was the reason I got my ass beat by Marcus. He was the reason Ralph had found me. He was the reason his grandfather had targeted me. But you know what? I wasn’t going to bring any of that up. Atticus was living the life of perpetual victim. In his head everybody was out to get him. When in reality, he was the catalyst for most of his problems. It wouldn't matter what I said though. I pursed my lips and let him continue to rant uninterrupted.

“And since you found the need to bring up your Grandmother. I‘ll tell you like she would tell you. “Jump if you feel froggy. I got a trick for you.” He chuckled. His thick southern accent had come back out of nowhere, reminding of who he had been. This was the boy who’d saved me. My best friend. First love. Father of my child.

Him sounding like his old self smoothed over the edges of my most of my anger but not enough to make me not want to hit him.

“You got a trick? You are threatening me?” I stared him down, sizing him up, as if I could actually go toe to toe with him.