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Chapter 9
- Voice Within-

-Clover-

"So how's the whole being nice to Demarco thing going for you?"

I was still a little star strucked. I knew Cleon was married, he proudly sported a wedding band on his left ring finger but he never mentioned that his wife was a local celebrity.

Heidi Hargrieve! The news reporter from channel 7 news.

I had to low key pinch myself a couple times to make sure that this woman in front of me was the same one from the news this morning. When I got into the car when Cleon came to pick me up around two, I couldn't stop staring because I was so unsure.

Sure she introduced herself as Heidi, and she was wearing the same clothing from what I could remember as she was wearing this morning from her news casting. And when she'd catch me staring through the mirror it didn't seem to bother her as if she was use to the attention and knew what I was thinking. But she never confirmed my suspicions even though I was 90% positive at that point.

The cameras didn't lie when it came to Heidi's look, she was prefect in every physical way possible. Slim, tall and curvy in just the right places. Her naturally kinky hair was bone straight, grazing her lower back. Her teeth were pearly whites and she smelt of fresh apples and pears.

To go with such a prefect image, she had an upbeat, enthusiastic attitude to go with it. Ignoring my constant star struck stare and asking me questions about myself along the way to the store.

The only things she really knew about me was what Cleon and the other boys would tell her and apparently Mia, Patrick's wife was one of her closest friends and she had also passed on positive words about me.

Once we got to the market, I was the first one out the car. Taking in the new scenery and the fresh air of being outdoors, even if I was slightly cold due to the crisp Autumn air.

Heidi followed suit while Cleon simply turned the car off and didn't budge at all.

"I'll stay here, this..." he said gesturing towards the stores front entrance " is not my type of thing".

Heidi simply rolled her eyes, slamming her door closed and taking a black credit card which Cleon held out for her to take. Nosey me, didn't fail to realize that the card was in Demarcos name.

Demarco M. Fe...

And that's all I could make out before Heidi took the card and stored it in her purse.

"How long do you guys think you'll need?" Cleon asked, looked at the time on the dashboard that read 2:40pm.

Heidi shrugged, "As long we need" she said turning her back to him, completely ignoring the fact that he was hinting at us not to take too long.

I innocently smiled at Cleon before turning around to follow her.

She was feisty when she need to be. I like her.

As I quickly jogged to caught up, I had one thing on my mind.

Even thought Demarco blackmailed me into staying put. Cleon and the rest of the boys seemed to trust me enough not to run away or not to signal to other people that I've been kidnapped and was being held against my will.

Nola's life was worth too much for me to even chance it but still...

Anyways, going back to Heidi's question...

It was actually very easy to be nice to Demarco while he was sick. When I went upstairs this morning to give him his soup, he was sleeping so I left it on the nightstand and when I went back to his room before I left to go grocery shopping the cup of soup was empty and he was once again sleeping.

"So far taking care of Demarco hasn't been that bad yet. He sleeps a lot so that definitely plays out in my favor".

Heidi grabbed a cart, laughing at my response.

"At least it sounds like he's catching up on some much needed rest" she said as we both entered through the automatic doors. "So what exactly do we need to buy? You basically have no limit". She expected me to lead the way.

I looked at her confused.

Wasn't the whole point of her coming was to buy the stuff Demarco needed. She knew him better than I did. I don't know what he shops for, what he likes, what he may be allergic to or if he was even allergic to anything.

I was only 20, I was barely an adult let alone knew what to buy when going grocery shopping.

The only thing I knew to pick up for sure was cereal and milk.

"I don't know what to buy him" I admitted, not knowing weather to start in the freezer section or by the bakery.

"Demarcos not a picky eater so lets shop for you, let's go down every aisle and see what they have?" Heidi suggested.

It was a good idea and so, we went with it.

It took a little more than an hour for us to gather everything. By the end of our trip, we ended up with two carts worth of food.

We picked up a little bit of everything. Bread, sandwich products, pasta, steaks, ribs, chicken breast, fruits, veggies, a bag of rice, freshly skinned fish, gallons of water, juice, milk, cereal, a carton of eggs and the list goes on.

I paid no mind to the price, after all we were using Demarcos card anyways.

Cleon, was nice enough to help us load up the car and throughout the ride back to the house Heidi and I continued our conversation that we were having in the market about our individual college lives.

While I watched Cleon and Heidi hold hands. One thing was picking at my brain to ask.

I know I was young. I was most likely younger than all of them, including Oscar and Denziel whom I assumed were the youngest. Even so, I knew there wasn't a huge age gap when it came to the rest of them. And throughout my stay here I've noticed a pattern.

"Aren't you guys a little young to be married?"

They weren't the only couple I was suspicious about. Patrick and Mia were married with a baby on the way, and I knew Jordan was married by the wedding band he also sported on his finger. Jordan was also a father to two children, I know this because he'd constantly talk about how he had to go pick his daughters.

Heidi and Cleon looked over at eachother smiling. They didn't answer right away, probably contemplating about what exactly to say.

Even by the way they looked at one another, you could tell that they were madly in love.

Cleon spoke first, breaking the ice. "You're never too young to be in love and once you're in love marriage is easy".

I smiled at the pair, and leaned back in my seat to give them as much space and privacy as possible. They were having a moment and I didn't want to ruin it.

Love was hard to find, let alone finding love while you were young.

My oldest brother TJ was lucky enough to find love with his high school sweetheart. She was his first girlfriend and he was her first boyfriend. They got married three years ago, after seven years of being together and now have two sons, my nephews Josiah and Yospeh.

As far as I knew, TJ and Stacy barely fought. They were weirdly always on the same page on most things. They stole the trophy when it came to the type of love that I aspire to have. After my mom left our family all those years ago, and seeing a completely new side to my father, TJ and Stacy was my hope that true love still existed.

On the other hand, my other brother Drew hasn't had much luck in the relationship department. He was only four years older than I was so he was still young but I could tell he wanted it. He'd date occasionally, they'd have somewhat of a serious relationship. But after a couple of months of dating, they'd breakup for whatever reason and the cycle would continue.

The love birds finally broke apart once we got back to the house and luckily Denziel and Jordan were both there to help Cleon bring the bags in while Heidi and I unpacked everything.

Afterwards, all the boys went upstairs to go check on and chit chat with my patient. While they did that, Heidi and I stayed downstairs in the living room.

Heidi was such an open book. If I had a question she'd answer it in a heartbeat, no hesitations at all. I wanted to thread back to the topic of her relationship.

They all seemed like decent, level headed people, with the exception of Demarco of course. How was she okay with what Cleon did for a living, being the wife to a gang member couldn't be easy but she made it seem as if it was normal, like she didn't give it much thought. Even Mia, pregnant and all didn't seem to be at all bothered by any of it.

Before I could work the courage to pop the question, the boys all came down, ready to head out since it was getting pretty late.

I wasn't discouraged at all, something told me this wasn't the last time I'd see Heidi or Mia and eventually I'd be able to ask the question.

The boys filed out, Denziel and Jordan leaving in the same car while Cleon and Heidi stay back and lingered to wish me a goodnight and give me a mini peep talk to encourage me to be nice.

Before they could fully walk out the door, Heidi turned around and hugged me. I was stunned at first, I looked to Cleon with my mouth wide open and he just smiled to me and ruffled my hair, heading out the door leaving us alone.

I quickly recovered before she could pull away, and hugged her back. "Thank you for helping me today" I thanked her, squeezing her a little as to not make anything awkward.

"Not a problem, if you need anything don't be afraid to ask" she said breaking away, then walking outside to met Cleon at their car. I waved to the couple one last time before the car disappeared out the driveway and I was left staring at the pinkish, orange hue of a beautiful autumn sunset.

I didn't realize it right away but even after they all left, I was left smiling. Today felt weird.

I didn't feel like a prisoner, I met two girls that I actually really liked and God knows how hard it was for me to like other girls, let alone make girlfriends.

Being here was feeling a lot more voluntarily as it was against my will. Being here, I didn't have to worry about work, paying rent, eating, having warm water to shower, being robbed, or not having a comfortable bed to sleep in. In a way this was kind of like a mini paradise.

No matter how nice it was here, I had to leave. The fact was I was kidnapped, my life was threatened and so was the life of someone I loved. Just as quickly as all the nice stuff was given to me here it could be taken away.

The thought of death flashed across my mind and it had me wipe the smile off my face. Hopefully Cleon and the boys can get me out before Demarco decides there's no point in keeping me alive.

No matter how much I knew Demarco didn't deserve my kindness, or my help now that he was sick I had to think of the big picture which Cleon finally got me to see. There was no way I could leave without a scratch on my head if Demarco hated me so I had to be on my best behavior from here on out.

I went back to the kitchen to make sure everything was put away and all the plastic bags were stored underneath the sink. My stomach growled, telling me I was hungry but I decided to showered first so I could eat while I was cleaned up and go to bed afterwards.

It was 7:30pm when I climb into the shower and 8:01 once I got out. The sun was completely gone, and with the lights off downstairs it made it harder for me to navigate my way to the kitchen and find the light switch.

Before I could turn the lights on in the kitchen, I heard shuffling coming from the refrigerator. My sick patient wearing dark blue boxers and an oversized sweatshirt was rummaged through the refrigerators in the dark like a burglar in the night.

He only momentarily paused when I flicked on the light switch on.

"You shouldn't be down here" I stood at the entry of the kitchen waiting for him to turn around and face me but he didn't.

"I'm thirsty" he mumbled taking a bottle of water out the fridge.

I forgot that my patient would need water and food in order to recover. There goes my good care giving skills, but I couldn't completely blame myself. If I did care, then I'd be a much better caregiver.

Be nice Clover, be nice.

"I could make you tea, you shouldn't be drinking cold water" I told him, walking around the counter to put tap water into the tea kettle.

He didn't respond, he dragged himself to the stool at the counter and took a seat laying his head down on the counter top.

He was about to open the water bottle until I took it out his hands, and replaced the water bottle with a room temperature one.

He mumbled a 'thanks' as he drank half the bottle and laid his head back down on the counter closing his eyes.

While I waited for the water to boil, I tippy toed to grab the box of Cheerios from the top of the refrigerator and took the milk out the fridge. I made self the bowl of cereal that I was craving all day and sat on a stool, one down from where Demarco sat.

While he napped, I ate my cereal in peace. This whole being nice to Demarco thing was really working out, especially since he was so tired, he slept whenever his eyes closed.

I was mostly done with my cereal when the kettle started to whistle and woke Demarco up from his power nap.

I prepped the mug first, hanging the tea packet on the side and pouring a little bite of honey and lemon into the mix before pouring the hot water in.

When I turned to give him his tea, he was finishing off my cereal.

I was shocked, as he watched me, watch him finish my cereal. He had no care in the world as he ate after me. "If you were hungry you should've said so, I would've made you something".

He didn't answer right away, he tilted the edge of the bowl into his mouth as he drank the rest of the milk, then let out a burp.

"I wasn't that hungry" he said wipping his milk mustache and taking the mug out my hand. "Plus, I don't trust you to make me food. You might try poising me". He gave me a humor filled smile before taking a sip of the tea and instantly regretting it.

His tastebuds were no match for the scowling hot liquid.

This was a side I've never seen from him. He was being playful, with me, of all people.

The thought made me blush. I guess the meds really did get to his head and apparently it has also gotten to mines too.

Was I actually enjoying his company?

"You ate the soup I made you this morning. If I wanted to poison you, I would've done it already" I said matter of factly. I took the now empty cereal bowl to the sink as he looked at me just as shocked as I was a couple of seconds ago.

I debated on whether to get more cereal for myself but thought against it, I was tired and just wanted to go to bed.

"Wait, that was you?"

"I would've made something else but earlier that was the only food available".

Demarco shook his head, still slightly in shock. "The soup was fine, thank you" he said now lost in a daze.

We fell into a comfortable silence.

I finished washing my bowl and spoon and wiped down the counter and sink area. Demarco just sat there, playing with the tea bag in his cup and taking sips every now and then.

He looked exhausted and drained, I knew it was taking a lot out of him being down here for as along as he was. "Go to bed" I snapped him out of his dazed state. "Take your tea with you".

He nodded his head, hopping off the stool, wobbling a little before being able to balance on his two feet.

He left the kitchen first, getting a head start while I closed the lights behind us and followed behind him.

His room was the first room down the hall so it was only right that I made sure my patient got to his room safely.

"If you need anything you know where to find me" I called over his shoulder as he walked into his room and I pulled the door closed behind him before he could answer me.

I locked myself inside my own room, climbing into bed and pulled the sheets over my body.

Starring out the window until sleep could completely consume me. I started drifting when I heard the voice.

"You see, he isn't as bad as you thought he was".

I slightly jumped, the voice was one that sounded similar to my own but one that I've never heard before. It was like there was another presence inside my head, but just as quickly as I noticed it, it was gone.

"You're going crazy Clover. Look what being trapped in this house for so long is doing to me".

I rolled my eyes, at my own crazy thoughts. I was just tired and needed sleep just like my patient a couple doors down the hall from me.

I closed my eyes and sleep came fast.

—————
My birthday is in a couple of days so happy birthday to me 🥰

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please comment and vote if ya liked it! It will be much appreciated, also if you have a friend that you'd think would like this story, let them know about it!

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