Obsession and Revenge

By T.E. Henry

Crystallie’s innocent life was changed overnight. She’d realized that the people she trusted the most could not be trusted at all! She is propelled into a quest for revenge. Along her journey, she is faced with the choice of love or the conquest of vengeance.

Riveting!

“It was better that way, better to be seen as weak. If only they knew, in the last few days, she had turned her weakness into numbness, her stupidity into resolve, and her anger into revenge. With each passing moment, she was closer to something she yearned for more than food, more than money, more than sleep. Revenge was her only heart’s desire.”

Emotionally charged!

“Though Luis brought her immense happiness, that happiness was straddled to an overwhelming sadness. For until she had her full and complete revenge, she knew she would never be completely happy with him . . . ‘When I am at the end of this long road that I am on, I will find you, even at the risk of you turning me away.’ With that, she turned and walked away. She knew she was walking away from a real chance at happiness, but she needed to stay the course. It was unfortunate her need for revenge was stronger than her need for love.”

Compelling!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984553416

T.E. Henry

Who is T.E Henry? I am a Jamerican, that is a Jamaican American. There are parts of both cultures that has influenced my writing. I can very honestly say the intense sexual side of my writing has definitely been influenced by my Jamaican culture; while the openness to express and share these intensely sexual characters with the world is influenced by my American culture which allows for freedom of expression. I wrote my first compilation of love poems at age sixteen. Yet what did I know of love at that age, not much. Now in the middle of my journey, in this adventure called life, I write from what life has thought me. Who am I, a woman, a sexual being, a goddess, who writes for other goddesses.

Book preview

Chapter 1

On her twenty-first birthday Crystallie was neither happy nor sad but stuck in limbo of an uncertain place in-between. She was now considered to be a fully-grown woman. Yet as she sat looking at the marvelous meal that had been specially prepared, she felt no more different than the girl she was at sixteen. Then, as now, she had no friends at her table to celebrate her birthday, her mother was still lost to her and she felt unsure of her place in the world she lived. For many years her mother had been kidnapped in the abyss of alcohol and drug addiction, for this reason she was lost to Crystallie. Yet, the overwhelming gloom her soul could not escape was fear for what the morning would bring. Her sixteenth birthday had only been the beginning, for each birthday since she had awakened to find remnants of her sleep walking. So sad it was that as the years passed she grew to hate her birthdays.

Crystallie! Child! Can you hear me?!

Yes mam…I was just…

I saw what you were just doing, off into your own world again, chastised Nora, the housekeeper. Your poor momma went through a great deal of bother to have your special dishes prepared for you today so try to be happy child.

Crystallie glanced over at her mother who smiled a weak brief smile and went back to pushing her food around her plate. She conceded that her mother’s unhappy face mirrored the unhappiness she was enduring inside.

You look how I feel, Crystallie sarcastically said. She knew her mother was intoxicated from either alcohol or drugs and would therefore not comprehend the joke; as was her usual condition. This made Crystallie feel consumed with sadness and depression and for that she utterly resented her mother.

Excuse me? Mrs. Tyler questioned her daughter’s statement.

Nothing mother.

Her mother lowered her head once more. She had aged drastically in the years since her husband’s death. Her soft glowing caramel skin looked haggard with dark spots, her hair had also begun to fall out. She had lost a tremendous amount of weight, so much so she looked like a skeleton in a coat of flesh. She never smiled, barely ate, unfortunately drank and seemed to take an overwhelming amount of prescription drugs. Her mother seemed to be perpetually mourning the death of her husband and mother and had forgotten Crystallie was still alive for her to love.

I am not a child any longer Nora, today I am twenty-one more than a woman. She looked at the loyal housekeeper who had not taken the opportunity to remove her look of disapproval. It is finally legal for me to drink.

Crystallie wore a beautiful yellow couture gown, that exposed her slender shoulders. Long jet-black, straight, shinny hair flowed passed her shoulders to the middle of her back. She attributed the length and fullness of her hair to having been born to a Native American father and an African American mother. The mixture, though uncommon, had created beauty beyond compare. She had inherited her mothers’ cool caramel brown skin and her fathers’ long black hair and full thick eye burs and lashes. Both her parents were petite and slender, so that Crystallie had always been a petite slender child. Her mixed Native American and African American traits fashioned her singular look. She was absolutely exotic, with an extremely strong jawline, softened by full pouty lips. Wherever she went people gawked at her beauty. A beauty she had never flaunted or even acknowledged. As a child, teenager, and a young adult she had viewed herself as average. She had never seen anything different or special about herself and certainly not her physical appearance.

She had had her first drink the night of her sixtieth birthday and had been allowed to drink on each birthday ever since. There had been other times as well, times when the feeling of being so utterly alone had been too much and she had found solace in the bottle, as her mother did. She knew her mother was always too drunk or high to notice and if the housekeeper did she had never mentioned it. She looked at her housekeeper who had become more like a grandmother than a caregiver. Nora was Fifty-eight years old, the same age her grandmother would have been. She was half Latino and half black and was taller and fatter than anyone Crystallie had ever known. Crystallie loved every bit of her and had on many occasions fallen asleep to the comforting and protective warmth of her overly stout body.

I am Twenty-one now, she repeated.

Yes child, I heard you the first time, Nora harshly replied.

And it is time you stopped calling me child, with that comment she looked at her mother, whom she hoped would say something so please bring more wine. She raised her chin higher, she expected a fight from the old woman and was ready to rebuttal; instead, the old woman turned and obeyed.

Yes Miss. More wine, right away young miss.

Crystallie watched as the old woman walked away. She knew within minutes Nora’s daughter, would appear with a bottle of wine. She also knew she had no intention of drinking any. Nora’s daughter, Christine, had been hired on as a maid four years earlier. Prior to that she had never lived in the mansion, she had only visited during holidays. Crystallie had always wondered why. There was certainly enough room. As a child she had on multiple occasions questioned Nora about it and was always given the same answer, ‘she was with family.’ As time marched on, Christine visiting but not living in the mansion had become standard operation procedure, that was how it was and nothing more. It was never expected that she would also come to work at the mansion. However, when it did turn out that way Crystallie had been delighted. She would finally have a sister, someone close to her own age to talk to, or so she had hoped.

At the time Crystallie was a senior in high school and was wrapped up in the daily trials and tribulations it. She had soon realized she and the girl looked to be around the same age. Due to her lack of friends, she had attempted to befriend Christine but the girl, who hardly spoke, didn’t return the friendship. In-fact Crystallie could not help but feel awfully uncomfortable whenever she and Christine were in the same room. She did not know why. Christine also seemed to look down at her, hated her. Still, she admired the girl and hoped for a friendship. As her mother was, Christine was taller than average, unlike her mother, she was slender and looked more Latino than black. Crystallie had always thought she was beautiful.

Crystallie wondered why the young girl was taking so long to bring in the wine. Once again Crystallie looked over at her momma. She wished desperately to speak with her and share her thoughts. Yet even now as she observed her, she seemed to have aged. She looked tired and sleepy, too much wine, too much anti-depressants too many pain pills. Her mother was in a constant lethargic state of addiction to drugs and alcohol. Crystallie felt very much alone in the mansion…in the world. Still she attempted to speak to her mother.

Mother.

Mrs. Tyler sat up and stared blankly at her only child. She was almost unaware of where she was and what was occurring. She straightened her napkin over her lap gathered herself.

Yes child.

Crystallie knew she had to be careful and chose her words carefully. Have you noticed anything strange about Christine?

Mrs. Tyler desperately searched her mind but could not place a face with the name. Who?

Nora’s daughter.

Oh. Mrs. Tyler placed the first morsel of Crystallie birthday dinner into her mouth. She would use the time to chew slowly and try to search her memory for anything strange she may have noticed about Christine. She could not remember anything at all about the girl. In truth her memory of late was not dependable.

No. But if you have noticed something please feel free to share.

Crystallie considered herself carefully. Though she had gut feelings that something was wrong she had no evidence to confirm those feelings. Gut feelings are not proof, she whispered. What was that dear? Mrs. Tyler asked.

Nothing momma, only I was saying, no I think maybe I don’t.

Maybe you don’t what?

Mother please try to, Crystallie threw her napkin onto the table she felt utterly frustrated and alone, try to stay somewhat coherent. We were talking about Chris…

Christine entered the room with a tray. On it there were two wine glasses already filled with wine and the open bottle next to them. She placed the tray on the table next to Mrs. Tyler. Crystallie noticed that Christine had done something new to her hair and decided to use it as a point of conversation.

Momma do you like what Christine has done to her hair? The question was more rhetorical than anything else. She wanted her mother to take a long look at the girl in hopes it would drag back a memory or stir some kind of emotion. But, her mother had looked swiftly and had shaken her head. In one fluid motion she had reached for her wine glass and had poured the contents down her throat. Christine had very promptly left the room. It was useless Crystallie thought. She had no one, she was all alone. She had never had success at making small talk with the girl who seemed to flee from her presence as fast as she could. In addition, her mother slept most of her days away and Nora worked long hard hours to keep the house running smoothly. She was indeed alone in the world.

Though she had ordered the wine be brought in, Crystallie had no intention of drinking any of it; her instincts, or that nagging feeling in her gut told her not to touch one drop of the damn thing. A year and a day ago, the day after her twentieth birthday she had sworn never to drink again after awakening to find not only had she had a hangover she had also been sleep walking. She had had a splitting headache and had spent most of the day in bed. While she slept she had had nightmare or dreams, she had not yet decided. Her dreams were of one person Kevin. She had found it peculiar that she was having dreams about a boy she hadn’t seen since high school and especially one she had had little corresponding with while in high school. Her dreams had felt more like memories. Kevin had touched her naked body, kissed her softly on her lips and had spoken loving words into her ears. Words that were now planted into her consciousness; he’d whispered that he’d loved her his entire life and was devoted to her and her alone. She knew this was an outrageous dream. She had not seen Kevin since their high school graduation. The dreams made her feel even more lonely and alone, swaying her to yearn for human contact. They served as additional confirmation that there was nothing special about her, for she had to dream up a friend to love her. Her dreams soon felt more like nightmares and thus she had sworn never to drink again. She had miraculously been able to stop drinking on her own and had been sober for nine months, two weeks, and six days.

Kevin Marsh, she knew, must have gone off to a prestigious college somewhere and was making his mark on the world as only he could. She remembered him to be tall and extremely skinny, with ice blue eyes and very pale white skin. He had been extremely smart and was intelligent about almost any topic. She knew this only because she had been able to overhear many heated intellectual debates he had had with his friends. She had never spoken to him during their high school years, but somehow distinctly remembered him always lurking nearby, always watching her. The silly high school girls had made jokes and had titled them the odd couple. She had never asked him to stop lurking or to stop watching, his constant presence had filled her with a strange sense of being loved by someone, though in an unhealthy way. She had accepted his obsession, welcomed it. So much so that Kevin’s presence near her was as constant as her shadow, she had convinced herself that he was not watching her he was watching over her. Kevin had been tall and pale and looked quite sickly. He was the wealthiest kid in school and came from very old money. There had also been a very crude snobbish air about him, which had probably been what kept Crystallie and most others at bay. These were her strongest memories of Kevin. But her dreams of late had seemed so much like memories that she had sworn never to drink again.

Minutes later both Nora and Christine reappeared in the dining room. They both appeared to be startled to see her there. Strange she thought, and again the hair on the back of her neck stiffened as it had many times over the years, and again her gut instincts said something was wrong. She watched as both women stood anxious and whispering to each other.

Is something the matter Nora?

No young miss.

Crystallie saw the old woman’s nervously glance toward her mother, who was slumped over the dining table her loud snores bellowing through the room. She also did not miss Nora’s nervous glance at her still full wine glass.

I-we, she stumbled her words, something Crystallie had never witness before for the old woman had always been quick witted. What I mean to say…hmmm…say is, will you be needing anything else? The question did not seem genuinely asked.

I will ring the bell if I do. She looked over at her momma. Poor mother has exhausted herself again. Maybe you could get her off to bed while I finish my meal.

Yes miss.

Holding her arms, the ladies all but dragged her mother out the dining room. It was a scene that she had witness far too many times over the years. Her mother didn’t eat enough, took too many pills and drank an unhealthy amount each day. Most of her days were spent asleep in bed, in a sitting chair or on a sofa. Crystallie looked at her glass of wine. Most importantly, she recalled how Nora had seemed annoyed that the glass was still full. She wondered if Nora was hoping for an early night. Had she expected her to get as drunk as her mother and end up crawling up to bed early as well? Sadly, Crystallie knew that must have been the sequence of events on previous drunken birthdays. She felt ashamed of that realization. She had had her first drink that faithful night of her sixteenth birthday and had had many drunken nights since. The worse was the night of her previous birthday. She had awoken in such horrible pain, it had felt as though her entire body had been split into half. For that reason, she had decided not to drink anymore birthdays away. She suspected Nora had expected to find her drunk and ready for bed. If she needed time off why hadn’t she simply said, Crystallie wondered.

As if in a daze, she moved by instinct and poured the glass of wine back into the wine bottle. Smiling mischievously, she laid her head onto the table making sure to slump her body over as her mother’s body had been forty minutes earlier slumped. Her plan was to eaves drop. She would pretend to be passed out as her mother was and would listen in on what the housekeeper and the maid were up to. Her gut told her they were up to no good. She hoped she wasn’t being paranoid because she loved and adored Nora. As she sat there with her head on the table and her body slumped she felt quite clever and wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. She was there for a while and was beginning to lose patience when she finally heard footsteps coming back towards the dining room.

Christine was first to reappear. Her breathing was labored, as though she had ran back down to the dinner room. She harshly nudged Crystallie’s shoulder several times. Crystallie didn’t make a sound, she remained on the table and was as still as a statue. She allowed her to nudge her as many more times as she needed in order to confirm that she was indeed passed out.

Stupid bitch! Snapped Christine.

As the words made their final exit from Christine’s mouth, to her ears, Crystallie felt her heart begin to race. She had been right all along, Christine did hate her. Alarm bells hastened her heart, her initial instinct was to jump up and confront the girl but something inside her pleaded with her to stay still and wait to hear what Christine’s mother would have to say. Moments later Nora entered the room.

She finally drank the wine? Nora asked. Her voice was as cold as iced.

Yeah. Stupid bitch. We should have had them upstairs an hour ago.

Calm down Christine.

I just hate how she always messes everything up. She is so selfish and self-centered. If she had left for college as she was supposed to we would have had the mother change her will and killed her by now and would have gotten her out of the way!

Crystallie’s heart pounded in her chest. She did not know where she was finding the strength to stay as still as she was. But she knew she needed answers. There had been many sleepless nights. Nights she had laid in her bed consumed by such intense feelings of alarm yet had felt so alone with no one to turn to; she had cried herself to sleep. For years she had felt something was wrong, for years she had needed answers. Yet, as the answers came she fought back devastating tears.

She listened as Nora suddenly slapped Christine across her face. Calm the fuck down! The old lady had cursed. She had never heard her curse before. I told you we will get what we deserve. Now grab her arm, I will help you get her upstairs, you will have to dress her yourself this time because I need to come back down here and clean this up.

This time, what did she mean by this time! Alarm raked through Crystallie’s body. There had been other times! Had there been other times? She needed to know. Thus, she kept her body slumped and allowed herself to be pulled off her chair. Her heart was pounding so fast, she felt so scared and nervous her breathe caught in her throat.

If the bitch had drunk the wine as she was supposed to you wouldn’t have to clean up the dining room all on your own!

If you don’t fucking calm down you are going to cause us to lose out on ten thousand dollars. Kevin will be here soon, we have to get her ready.

Crystallie’s mind was racing. Kevin was not away at college and he was somehow involved in this. But how? Why? Her thoughts were frantic. Again, her breath became lost in the back of her throat, this time it caused her to erupt into a coughing fit. She thought for sure the gig was up and she would be found out.

Damn! The bitch looks like she is about to vomit!" Christine screamed.

If she does, just hope she vomits before you get her ready or you will have to start all over. Why didn’t she drink the wine when her mother had, she is always messing things up. Child I have already warned you to shut up! Nora Snapped. Look, she stopped coughing. You focus on what you need to do so we can get paid.

Chapter 2

Crystallie had no idea what was about to happen. She thought about running away. She would make a run for it as soon as she was alone. She suddenly felt sick; her nerves were getting the better of her. She felt as though she was about to pass out. Yet somehow, as she was being dragged up to her bedroom, she found the strength to pull herself together. Anger began to kick in. She became