C.A.K.E novel Chapter 15

“Karma, what the hell is your problem?” he asks, in a harsh whisper. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Karma glances over at Casper in the driver's seat. “I uh . . . I need to talk to you.”

“Can't this wait 'til morning?” There's a pause on his end. “I'm at home . . . with my wife.”

“This can't wait.” She sighs, skimming her hand over the simple black portfolio that's about to forever alter another four lives. “We're outside.”

“We?”

Casper takes the phone from her. “Open the door, little brother.”

“Casper?”

He hands the phone back to Karma.

“Cain . . .” She takes a deep breath. “He knows. Everything.”

“Now, did I ask you to share that bit of information with him?” Casper shoots her a look laced with enough venom to take down an elephant. “Hang up the damn phone.”

Casper exits the car, then walks around to the passenger side and helps Karma from the front seat. She stands beside his Bentley, unmoving. Her feet have become one with the paved driveway.

Seeing that she might need a little incentive to move her ass, Casper reminds her that he could have copies of these home videos on the desks of her boss and every last one of her colleagues. Her feet seem to recover their ability to walk in a matter of seconds. He follows her slow stride up the front steps of Cain's home.

Casper stands just behind Karma on the front porch of his little brother's house. The gaslight lanterns that decorate the garden flicker on, giving everything within a three-foot radius an eerie glow. A shudder runs through Karma when she hears voices on the other side of the double doors of the front entrance to Cain's home.

Seconds later, Cain's wife, Manali answers the door.

Her deep umber hair is brushed up into a messy bun. Dressed in a thin satin robe, lavender bra, and matching silk shorts, her fuller figure is a silken work of art. The caramel skin covering her petite frame sings against the delicate, pastel material. She pulls the garment closed over her more than adequate assets, as she greets her brother and sister-in-law.

“Casper, Karma . . . What are you doing here? Is something wrong?” Manali searches their faces.

Casper remains stone-faced, while Karma only has eyes for her feet.

Cain appears behind Manali and tries to usher her back into the house. He tugs on her arm, but she shrugs off his grip.

“Go back to bed, baby.” He kisses her forehead, which makes Casper's skin want to crawl off his body. “I can handle this.”

“What is there to handle?” she asks Cain. Then she directs her focus to Casper. “Did something happen to Mom and Dad?”

Manali's mind shoots to the one logical reason that would have anyone making an unannounced visit at this hour. Something must have happened to Charles and Leonora Callaghan.

She's close to her in-laws. Even refers to them as Mom and Dad. With her parents living across the country in California, the Callaghans are her surrogate mother and father. If any unfortunate event were to befall them, she'd be just as broken up about it as Casper and Cain would be.

Casper steps forward into the house. He shoots daggers at his brother, before placing his hands on Manali's arms. He smiles at her and gives her shoulders a reassuring caress.

He looks into her dark amber eyes and the concern dancing in their depths. Her lids are still heavy with the slumber that was interrupted by his and Karma's arrival. Casper almost reconsiders the pain he's about to lay at her feet.

“Everyone is fine. Mum and Dad are fine. How are my nieces?”

“They're good, Cash.” An uneasy smile accompanies her furrowed brow.

He ignores the question on her face and continues to inquire about the lives of his nieces. “Has Sophie started ballet yet?”

“Yeah, she and Jillie will both be in the Dance Premiere competition in two weeks.”

“Really?” Casper takes Manali's hands in his. “Let me know what time and place. Their uncle will be in the front row.”

“Of course, we will.” She nudges his side. “I know you didn't drive all the way over here, just to make small talk.”

“You're right. I didn't.” He glances back at Cain. “I just needed to have a word with my little brother. He and I have something very important to discuss.”

Cain taps his foot on the gleaming wood floor. “What do you want, Casper?”

Casper flashes one more smile at Manali, then pulls a sniffling Karma into the house by her arm. She's been standing frozen just outside the threshold, playing with the leather case that contains the evidence of her and Cain's infidelity.

Her lover's wife inquires into her welfare, but she pretends to be hard of hearing. Karma refuses to even meet Manali's stare.

“Karma, are you okay?” Manali asks, touching Karma's shoulder.

Hot tears begin to streak Karma's cheeks again. “I'm so sorry, Manali. I never intended for things to go this far.”

“Sorry for what?” Manali takes Karma's hand and wipes a tear from her cheek. Karma just shakes her head and lets her hand slip out of Ali's grasp. “Could somebody please tell me what's going on?”

“Cain, I am sure you know why we're here. So I'm going to let you explain the situation to your wife.” He takes a seat in one of the baroque chairs near the door, then props his right leg on his left. “And tell her the truth.”

Manali approaches her husband, with one of her thick brows raised. She folds her arms across her chest. “Cain?”

“There's nothing to tell, baby.” He gestures to Casper. “This motherfucker is drunk. And I don't know why Karma is letting him run wild.”

Cain shoots Karma a look, but she avoids his eyes. She's not prepared to make direct eye contact with either of them right now.

“Actually, brother.” The disdain in Casper's voice permeates the air, making it as toxic as a landfill. “I'm not drunk enough.” He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. His dark eyes zero in on Cain. “Tell Manali why I'm here . . . or I will.”

“Then spin your tale, goddammit,” Cain shouts at him. “I don't have shit to say.”

“Well . . .” Casper clasps his hands together and chuckles. “Sex, Lies, and videotape it is.”

Then he signals Karma to set up the laptop and cue the presentation. Karma does as he requests, though she's taking her sweet time doing so.

“Sometime tonight, Karma.” Casper gives her an exasperated sigh.

Karma glances back at the smirk that's become a permanent fixture on Casper's face. There's no sense in her delaying the inevitable.

The ultrabook powers up. And within seconds, the footage of her and Cain's tryst this afternoon appears. Karma leaves the laptop on the foyer table and backs as far into a corner as possible.

"What is this," Manali asks.

Casper nods to the screen. "Just watch."

Cain sees a captured version of himself approach Karma onscreen. His mouth hits the floor, as he watches his and Karma's usual greeting traveling further and further outside of the PG-13 ballpark. Realizing the severity of the shit storm Casper just dropped in his lap, he rushes over and slams the computer shut.

"Get the fuck out of my house, Casper," Cain demands.

Casper leaves his seat and steps into his brother's personal space.

"I will . . . Right after you answer one simple question for me." He stares down at him. His six-foot-three stature towers over Cain's much shorter build. "How long have you been fucking my wife?"

Casper's words send shockwaves through the room, causing a sudden state of paralysis to overtake everyone in their path. The weight of his question settles on their shoulders like a fine layer of grime on porcelain figurines.

"What?" Manali shakes her head, rattling the disheveled bun at her crown. It feels like the entire Atlantic ocean is swimming in her ears.

"I said get your drunk ass out of my house." Cain is shouting loud enough to wake the neighbors. He points Casper toward the door.

"Casper, what the hell are you talking about?" Manali touches Casper's arm.

"Manali, I'm sorry to do this in your home." Casper glances at Ali, before turning back to Cain. "But if he has the balls to sleep with my wife, in my bed. Then he should have the decency to admit it to my face."

Three pairs of eyes settle on Cain.

One pair is begging him for some way out of this nightmare. Pleading for a solution that will save them both from the consequences of their actions. Another is full of a mixture of rage and disappointment. And the last is still in disbelief, ready to release stinging tears down her cheeks.

Cain breaks. Every foul emotion within him comes to a head.

"A year." He looks at his flesh and blood in the eye. "I've been blowing your woman's back out for over a year now."

The room gets quiet enough to hear a cricket sneeze on the other side of the world.

Manali's pupils dilate. The tears that have been waiting for their curtain call make their debut, streaking her pretty face with the pain pooling from her heart. She covers her mouth with the hand that bears the gleaming symbol of the eight-year commitment she's shared with Cain. The same commitment which Cain has just violated.

Karma adopts a deer-in-headlights stare. She clasps her arms around herself, trying to combat the rawness brought on by the exposure of their lies. It leaves her feeling like she just fell off a bike and hit the pavement traveling ninety miles per hour, with nothing between her and the rough asphalt but her cocoa skin.

Casper just nods.

Then his right hook connects with his little brother's left cheek. Followed by a one-two combination to his gut and left flank. Cain doubles over, trying to shield his midsection from Casper's unyielding fists.

Then Cain gathers his wits and returns some of the heat being thrown at him. He lands a right to Casper's jaw, which staggers him. But not for long. Casper regains his stance and is ready to deliver another flurry of knuckles to Cain's face and body.

Seeing that Casper came to put in work, Cain resorts to a rather punk-ass move. He bends and angles his shoulder toward Casper. Cain propels himself forward and charges Casper. Cain pushes his brother's towering frame back into the foyer table with enough force to lift Casper off his feet.

The crystal vase of perennials that sat on the tabletop is displaced. The priceless heirloom hits the floor and shatters into an infinite number of pieces. Flowers litter the mahogany wood, creating a wilted mess of petals and stems, intermingled with the glittering shards of glass.

Casper grunts as his back meets the beveled edge of the wooden frame. A sharp pain radiates the length of his spine. It's like someone has shoved a dozen needles into each vertebra, striking the sensitive spinal cord underneath. He sucks in a breath of air through gritted teeth, trying to ride out the stimulus that's accosting his nerves.

Cain is still attached to Casper's torso, firing off blow after blow to his side. He's focusing his hits on one spot. The tactic is very effective. Casper's muscles are taking a beating.

Conscious of the damage Cain is causing, Casper musters the strength to lean up and bring his elbow down on Cain's neck. This halts Cain's lightning attack, allowing Casper to pull himself upright using the table's edge as leverage.

After a full sixty seconds of effort, Casper's feet touch the floor again. The stabs of pain in his side make the motion seem to last much longer.

His dress oxfords struggle to gain traction on the shards of broken crystal scattered across the polished hardwoods. Cain seizes this moment of unsteadiness to land another left to Casper's weakened flank.

Fueled by his growing rage, a surge of energy courses through Casper. He deflects Cain's successive attempts to strike him and wages a counter-attack. Cash locks his arm around Cain's neck and exerts as much pressure as he can summon on the coward's throat. With Cain's head lodged in the crook of his arm, Casper lands several devastating blows to his midsection.

Casper is laying waste to Cain's abdominals, when he feels a searing pain in his side, near his lower back.

Two rows of enamel-clad dentin sink into Casper's flesh, penetrating the fabric of his button-down like it's a flimsy sheet of paper. Cain's teeth tattoo their emblem on Casper's skin.

Thank God, Cain had his wisdom teeth pulled years ago. Otherwise, Casper would have four more teeth gnawing on him. It takes several seconds for Cash to realize that Cain is indeed biting him like a middle school girl in a playground fight. What grown man does that?

Casper chokes down the audible acknowledgment of the pain and strengthens his hold on Cain's neck. Cash feels the energy draining out of his brother, as his air supply is cut short. Cain slams his fist into Casper's stomach as hard as he can, trying to get him to break the hold on his vocal cords. But Casper doesn't flinch or loosen his grip. His abdominals just absorb the shock of the hit without complaint.

Sensing that he might be on the verge of losing consciousness, Cash lets go and shoves Cain away from him. Cash stands clutching his afflicted torso and keeps his eyes trained on the bitter man idling a few feet away from him. Cain glares back at him, still struggling to catch his breath.

Manali and Karma observe the standoff without objection to its impending escalation. They know that any sort of interference from either one of them would be ignored. This is the way disputes are settled when an overdose of testosterone is present. Even if the brothers killed each other, the two women would just have to stand back and admire their chalk outlines.

Cain makes yet another misguided decision and tries to take one more swing at Casper. His hit misses the mark, leaving him wide open for Casper to put an end to their altercation.

Cash's right fist lights up Cain's chin like a match to gasoline fumes. The blow sends Cain crashing to the floor. He lands in a crumpled heap at Casper's feet.

He kneels beside Cain and yanks him up by the collar of his white t-shirt. "You're my brother. My brother."

"No, Casper. I'm your cousin. I am an only child." Cain dabs at the blood seeping from his lip. "And until you showed up, I was my parents' pride and joy. But then the great and magnificent Casper pops over from merry old London. And you're all anyone can talk about . . . How smart Casper is . . . How funny Casper is . . . I just disappeared."

"Baby, this is bullshit." Cain approaches Manali and Casper.

"Get the fuck out of my house." The words leave her body like vomit. Ali chokes on each scrap of verbal barbed wire as it comes up. The edges of every syllable catch in her throat, ripping its fragile lining to shreds.

Manali feels her muscles protesting all of the activity that she just requested of them. The beginning effects of lactic acid fermentation fester in the complex tissues, stealing their ability to support her limbs. Casper places his arms around her, and she allows him to shoulder her weakened frame against his chest.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is my house." Cain plants his bare feet, embedding tiny pieces of glass in his soles. He grimaces but otherwise doesn't acknowledge the pain.

"Mommy?" A miniature voice disrupts their vile discourse.

The adults turn to find two little angels dressed in matching pink nightgowns standing on the spiral staircase. Jillian and Sophia, Cain and Manali's eight and six-year-old daughters. Jillian clutches her younger sister's hand in hers, as they walk down a couple more steps. They stare down at the chaotic scene with eyes clouded by heavy fatigue and childhood naivete.

Manali swipes her hands across her cheeks and faces her kids. "Jillie, Sophie. Go back to bed babies."

"Uncle Casper, Aunt Karma. What are you doing here?" Jillian regards Casper and Karma.

Casper takes it upon himself to answer. "Just paying your mom and dad a visit."

The two girls' eyes find their father's bleeding face. Tiny wrinkles form on their foreheads, distorting their still maturing features.

"Are you hurt, Daddy," Sophie asks.

Manali and Casper glance back at Cain.

"Daddy's fine. Do what your momma said." He gives them a weak smile, and waves for them to go back upstairs.

"I'll be up in a minute to tuck you back in." Manali offers her children a smile. The corners of her mouth twitch, fighting the genial gesture.

The two girls make a slow turn and head back up the stairs. Once they're out of sight, Manali speaks to Casper.

"Make sure he leaves my house." She manages to get out the request before her delicate composure dissolves.

"I will." Casper puts his arms around Ali. Then he places a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I'm sorry," he whispers in her ear.

"I know." She nods, fighting back more stinging tears. "But I'm not."

Manali and Casper release each other. She directs her steps toward the bedrooms of her confused children, without taking a second look at the man with whom she shared a bed not even an hour earlier.

Cash busies himself with packing up the laptop and portfolio. He zips up the carrying case and faces Judas one and two.

Not saying a word, he grabs a pair of Cain's yard shoes and a jacket from the coat closet. He tosses the items to his brother. Then he retrieves Cain's car keys from their designated hook by the front door. Cash identifies the three house keys, one each for the front and back entrances, and the door to the garage. Then he works them off the keychain, and tosses the rest of the keys to Cain.

Casper picks up his bag and holds the front door open for Karma and Cain. "Let's go."

Karma files out of the house without a word. Cain stays where he is, staring at Casper. They glare at each other in silence. After a few moments of tense stares, Cain makes the wise decision to walk his battered ass out the door.

Cash locks the door behind him and strolls to his car. He unlocks the driver side door of his Bentley and places his things in the passenger seat before slipping into the cockpit.

Casper watches in the rearview mirror as Cain gets into his own vehicle. He takes his eyes off Cain to look over at Karma, who is standing at his passenger side door. Her hand is poised on the door handle.

Cash lets down the window a sliver, just enough for her to hear him. "May I help you?"

"Open the door, Casper."

"Oh, no. He's your ride." He gestures back at Cain sitting in his Jaguar, struggling to slip on his shoes and hold the shirt to his bloody nose. "You prefer Cain's ride over mine anyway."

She tugs on the door handle. "Casper, open the door."

"No. I'm going home." He shrugs. "You no longer live there."

"What?" Her bottom lip begins to tremble.

"I figured since you spent so little time there in the first place, you wouldn't miss it."Casper smiles with every single one of his pristine white teeth. "I'm sure you two can find a nice hotel to spend the night. Pleasant evening to you."

Casper taps a button, and the window slides closed again with a pop of finality. He pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through a few new emails. As he relegates a slew of spam to his trash folder, he feels her eyes on him. Cash allows an email boasting a product that will bring an end to erectile dysfunction to borrow his attention. Karma stares at him another couple minutes, before slinking toward Cain's Jag.

He waits until his new two favorite enemies make their exit. Cash glances back at the house and catches a glimpse of Ali observing from the window. He waves to her. She waves back at him, then disappears behind the heavy curtains.

Casper pulls out of the driveway with a heavy heart. He didn't have to bring this fight to Manali's doorstep. But he couldn't sleep on it any longer. Couldn't ignore his wife coming home smelling fresher than a field of daisies at three in the morning. His breaking point had been breached, and all that frustration needed somewhere to go. Ali and his nieces were unavoidable collateral damage.

He drives back to his empty house, fighting the images of his wife's infidelity replaying in his head on a constant loop. To see her giving his brother that same look of satisfaction that she's been denying him, all but ripped out his battered and bruised heart.

His car is left to navigate itself. His mind is plodding its way through a private hell. It can't be bothered with mundane tasks like maneuvering a vehicle. Having been left to its own devices by its owner, the Bentley takes a detour that leads Casper past SoHo Sugar. The car comes to a stop outside the bakery.

He stares up at the storefront with its pastel and cheery facade. The gravity of the isolation that awaits him at home weighs down his lids. He rests his forehead against the steering wheel. A sigh escapes his lips, releasing with it every indignity he has ever suffered at Karma's hands.

Then he feels a far more welcome presence run her hand over his hair. She's here. Of course, she is. His mind's eye projects her likeness whenever his sanity is teetering on the edge.

He doesn't look up right away. He wants to relax in the comfort of her touch for a moment. When he's ready to let go of her, he gazes into Arden's bewitching brown eyes.

"What now," she asks. A faint smile rests on her lips.

He takes a deep breath and returns her serene look.

"I stop dreaming."