control of my entire body. Have I lost the love of my life?
“Don’t you dare say she’s… ”
No fucking way. I am not going to think it, let alone say it. Whatever it is, I know with all the love I have for Clove, it’s something that is going to break me beyond repair.
“Turner.”
Finally Zack speaks, softly. I don’t want soft. I don’t want all these eyes on me like they are about to tell me she’s gone, that I will never be able to hold her again, tell her how much I love her, miss her, need her.
My mother places her hand on my shoulder.
“Sit down, Turner.”
“I am not a goddamn child! Will someone please tell me what the fuck is happening here? Do you know where she is? Is she hurt? Fucking hell, where is she? Has that no good rotten motherfucking brother of mine done something to her?”
I sink into the chair that Martinez has just put behind me. My entire body is shaking. I feel the weight of the anxiety, rage, and sadness in this fucking room and I am suffocating.
“Turner, what the hell is wrong with you?” my mother yells from behind me. “I know you’re upset and worried; we all are, but I have kept my mouth shut for way too long now. That man you are calling names is my son just as much as you are. I will not stay in this room and listen to you carry on like this anymore.”
“What? You’re actually defending him now? He stole my wife! He took her from me.” I jab my finger into my chest. “I can’t believe this shit. She’s my life, Mother. MY LIFE.”
My father-in-law looks at me angrily.
“Turner, calm the hell down right now. We all love Clove and want her back here where she belongs, but for you to go off on your mother like this is not helping at all. This isn’t about any of us right now. This is about getting my daughter, your wife, and his sister, back here to every single one of us. After a year without seeing her I will not waste another minute in getting my daughter back. Now sit the hell down and listen, goddamn it.”
He’s right. Nothing matters right now except finding out what’s going on and if she is alive.
“She’s alive, Turner.”
Zack’s words force a rush of adrenaline through me. I’m harrowed yet relieved. Scared, yet lightened. I need to see my wife. I want my life back, with her. She calms me. We breathe together, laugh together, love together. I haven’t done any of that since the day I was taken away from her.
“Is she hurt?”
Tears suddenly sting my eyes, and I let them fall. They pour down my face as a tightness swells in my chest. Jesus, my wife is alive. She’s fucking alive! My soul mate. I feel as if someone has just put the key back into the lock of the room I have been trapped inside of for the past year.
The room has grown eerily quiet. I watch Zack, who is struggling to try to tell me something. Whatever it is he is having such a hard time trying to say, it can’t be good. I look around at the somber expressions on the faces around me, faces that should be showing elation at finally getting news of my wife, not the trepidation I’m seeing now. We should all be embracing each other, sprinting out of this building to get to her. What the hell is going on here?
“Zack, what the fuck are you keeping from me?”
My brother-in-law and I have a stare down.
“She’s fine, as far as we know. But…”
“But what, goddamn it?” I stand abruptly. “Just fucking say it! Whatever the hell it is, tell me!” I bellow.
“Clove had a baby. You have a daughter.”
“She what?” I say, trying to catch my breath. The thought of her having a baby with any other man besides me is too much. I can’t take it. No, she would never do this.
“There has to be a mistake, Zack. Your sister would never have a child with him. No fucking way. Not when she thinks I am dead. I refuse to believe this.”
Martinez places his hand on my shoulder.
“Turner, man. I know you have questions about your daughter and I’m the one with the answers. Zack just found out about the baby not even a minute before you walked in the door.”
My eyebrows rise a notch as