Chapter 12: Daniel

“Thank you for coming over,” I hear Charlotte tell Karen, Eliana, and Carter as they go to the front entrance - leaving me in the kitchen. “Hold on - Carter, can you stay back?” I ask Carter, stepping out of the kitchen from behind the granite countertop of an island and face him. “Goodbye!” Karen and Eliana let out at the same time, with Eliana just a few seconds after Karen. Karen has short dirty blonde hair, light brown eyes, and was wearing a black sleeveless dress that had a ribbon around the waist that matched with her black flats. Eliana was wearing funky dress pants that had blue and white horizontal zig zags that went with her yellow orange blouse - blending well with her dark caramel-like skin tone and long wavy brown hair. Karen is three years younger than Charlotte and I, but is four years older than Carter, making Carter 16 years older than Eliana. “What is it?” Carter asked me after Eliana and Karen had exited through the blue glass-stained door. “I’m going to go in the pool,” Charlotte tells me after draping her hands on my right arm, letting me stare at her short dark brown hair and eyes before walking off to the bedroom to get her black swimsuit. “I need to speak with you,” I tell Carter before inviting him to sit on the grey leather sectional. He seemed like the feeling of guilt started to build up inside of him - because I needed to speak with him about Guinevere. 

“What about?” Carter asks me after sitting down on the long end of the sectional, which is closer to the entrance and fireplace than the window that faces and reveals our backyard where the sun would be setting over the hedge. “First off, before I say anything, I wanted to know how Erica and the kids are doing,” I told him, trying to make some small chat before I got to the burning question that was in my mind. “They’re actually doing really well. In fact, a while ago, Tyler started to wake Erica and I up in the morning by bursting into the room breaking out into song and dance,” Carter tells me, which I just can’t help but laugh at. I’ve seen Tyler at church, and there are times where he doesn’t seem like he would do something like that. “Was there something you actually wanted to talk about?” Carter eventually asks. He knows me well enough that when it comes to small talk, it eventually leads to the real reason for what I’ve wanted to talk about. “Yeah there was,” I tell him, getting the question back into my head that I wanted to ask him. “It’s a bit of a delicate question,” I tried to stop myself from asking the question I didn't want to ask. “You can ask me anything,” Carter tells me, seeming to be rather calm. He acts like married life works well for him. 

“It’s Guinevere,” I finally let out. I know that the last time I was going to talk to him about Guinevere was going to be at church when I asked was his intentions were with her, but ever since Levi mentioned that he might’ve taken advantage of her, I needed to have that conversation with him, no matter how much I may dread it in the end. “What about Guinevere?” I hear Carter ask after a long sigh and staring down at the tiffany blue rug that seemed to be catching dust bunnies under the glass table, wanting to hide those dark brown  eyes from me so that I couldn’t face him.  “Look, I need to make something clear here, I’m still pissed at what you did 3 months ago,” I tell Carter, trying to not trigger myself to remember the dreaded conversation we had back then. However, little did I know, bringing it up was the last thing I should’ve done, as Carter stood up, and in a fit of rage, decided to tell me off. “How many times do I have to tell you, I had no control over my actions then!” Standing up to face him, I couldn’t hold my emotions back and told him words that I want to take back. 

“I don’t care how many times you plead to me that you had no control over your actions. You hurt my daughter, and I did what I could to make you pay”.

“Oh please. A simple slap doesn’t hurt me,” Carter lets out with a rather snarky tone.

“Well it did get the message across,” I tell him, slowly muttering under my breath. “Why are you bringing this up again? I thought we decided to never speak of it again,” Carter asks, bringing his tone and volume back down so Charlotte can’t hear him.

 “Levi told Charlotte and I that you took advantage of her,” I finally let out - words I never thought I’d say towards Carter. Instead of an answer, Carter sat down on the sofa, I followed suit, and he hid his head in between his legs of dark jeans.

I thought he would tell me that I was wrong and that Levi interpreted the situation the wrong way, but instead Carter was acting like he was guilty of an act that he shouldn’t have done. “Just tell me the truth, friend to friend,” I tell Carter, trying to calm him down from the shallow breaths he was taking as tears slowly started to fall down that pale face of his from his dark brown eyes. “I didn’t take advantage of her,” Carter lets out with a rather shaky voice. He may say that he didn’t, but his actions and words are saying that he did. “Then what happened?” I asked him in a rather gentle tone so he couldn’t get mad at me. “I was rather drunk that night, so I didn’t have great control of my actions. But at one point in the middle of the night, I had to use the bathroom. And being the drunk man that I was, forgot to pull up my pants and underwear,” Carter tells me. Okay, I have to admit that even though it was a low moment for him, I can’t help but laugh a little at the thought of Carter forgetting to pull up his pants - a now 39 year old man. “Are you laughing at me?” Carter asks, standing up from the sectional and facing me with his tone of voice slowly filling up with anger. “I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing with you. Can you please sit down?” I ask him while trying not to reach his level of tone before he sat down again and took another long deep breath.

“How does that tie into Guinevere?” I finally asked him. I understand that as a drunk man we mess up and do things we’re not proud of, but he left me rather confused as to how the bathroom incident tied into Guinevere. “I was in Guinevere’s bathroom. After using it, I apparently forgot that my pants and underwear were down and I wanted to give her a good night’s kiss,” Carter tells me. Okay, that I can work with. “However, it was at that moment when Levi came into the room and questioned me,” Carter added on. I thought he was finished at first, but apparently wasn’t. “Thanks,” I tell him before he stands up again, with me standing up and facing him. “Does Erica know about it?” I thought I’d ask him. “No she doesn’t. But I’d highly suggest that you talk to Levi about it,” Carter tells me before walking past the bench of cubbies, grabbing his dark blue coat from the hook, and leaving the house. So I guess he didn’t take advantage of Guinevere, and Levi’s perspective just saw what he thought he wanted to see. Sitting back down on the sectional, Levi enters the living room from the hallway near the pool from the basement, pager in hand. “Was that Carter?” He asks me as he takes his grey hoodie off to reveal his dark brown hair hidden behind those blue eyes of his. “Yeah it was,” I tell Levi before he sits down where Carter was sitting. 

“Well? Did he admit to taking advantage of Guinevere?” Levi asks me as he places his hands on his black jeans that had the ripped hole at the knee. After taking a long sigh from bending my head back on the sectional, I finally told Levi the truth after placing my head upright, “He didn’t take advantage of her.” “What? But I don’t understand. He was on top of her,” Levi stuttered out in panic mode. “Levi, it's okay. It’s all a misunderstanding,” I tell him as I reach my hands out. We all make mistakes. As long as Levi hasn’t told anyone about this, hopefully we would be able to bury the hatchet and forget this entire debacle ever happened. “Then what was he doing to her?” Levi asks me after clutching onto his grey sleeves for arms with tears starting to stream down his face and lips trembling at the same time. “Apparently he was just giving her a good night’s kiss. They’re good friends,” I tell Levi. He may not want to hear that Guinevere and Carter are good friends, but it’s the truth. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” I finally tell him before standing up and walking back into the kitchen, only to open up the fridge to reveal a small sliver of apple pie that Charlotte made the other day. Grabbing the sliver, I put it on a silver glass plate, and with a fork in hand from the drawer below the sink, I sat down at the head of the island, only to see Levi stand up as I started to dig into it. “There’s something I need to tell you,” Levi started, before sitting down beside me on my right. “What is it?” I ask Levi with a mouthful of delicious dutch apple pie.

“Five months ago I talked to Anthony. I found out the reason why Guinevere broke up with him. She’s in love with someone else,” Levi tells me, making me pause and put my fork down. Waiting to swallow, I finally tell him, “That’s her business - not ours to know.” If Guinevere is in love with someone that’s her choice and not Levi, Charlotte, or even my own choice to make. Plus this is what she needs, she needs someone who she can talk to. However, one part of me knows that if I tell Charlotte she’ll be rooting for Maverick, who I just don’t see Guinevere ending up with. They tried it and it failed like a million glass splinters. However, Levi sees Guinevere ending up with Anthony, and I see her with Carter. 

I know I shouldn’t, but the fact they’re close friends makes me wonder if something is going on between the two of them. Carter may be 21 years older than her, but when it comes to love, age doesn’t define. I even wouldn’t care if he was in love with her and the fact that he gave her a good night’s kiss that night was because he wanted to show his affection towards Guinevere. I honestly don’t care anymore. “Levi - I’d leave it alone if I were you,” I tell him before picking up the fork and stabbing it into the last piece on my plate and stuffing it into my mouth. “I know. I just wanted to know why she did that,” Levi lets out with a rather shaky voice, before placing his elbows on the countertop in front of him. “Levi, we all wanted to know,” I tell him, reaching towards his pale left hand and grabbing it with my right. Even I wanted to know why she broke up with him - but when Charlotte told me that Anthony hit her, I knew it was all going to be a certain amount of time until she would pull the plug. “Dad?” Levi asks after waiting a little while. “What is it?” I ask after placing the plate in the sink that was on the right side of the stove. “There’s something I need to confess,” Levi tells me as if guilt was rising inside of him and he couldn’t take it anymore. 

“You can tell me anything,” I tell him as I place my hands on the countertop, facing him from the other side of the island. “I told Anthony that Carter could’ve taken advantage of Guinevere,” Levi eventually lets out with a rather controlled breath. 

“What?” I ask him, raising my voice. I had insisted that he didn’t tell anyone because it would ruin not just Guinevere’s reputation as a student, but also Carter’s reputation as a teacher while also making the school look bad. Now, Carter could easily get fired for something that he didn’t do - and Erica would not want to have that conversation with him, especially if she doesn’t know that he was in Guinevere’s bedroom. “Do you have any idea what you’ve caused?” I ask Levi, looking down at the countertop first and then him, forming my right hand into a fist with anger. 

How could he do something like that?

“Levi, you have no right to tell him,” I finally told him, making my words pierce him so he knew what pain he had caused. “Dad! I had no fucking choice!” Levi screamed out at me, bursting up from the stool, eventually sending his anger out towards me and sending the stool flying against the wall adjacent to the window looking out, watching the red cushion break off from the wooden legs as it came in contact, hearing the sound echoing around the entire house. “What’s going on here?” Charlotte yells out when she enters the room while damping her brown hair with a light blue towel and back into her clothes from earlier: v-neck black shirt and blue jeans. “Levi told Anthony that Carter took advantage of Guinevere,” I admit to Charlotte - seeing her face go from confused state of mind to an anger-filled red. “Levi, what the hell?” Charlotte had raised at him as he tried to pick up the pieces of the broken stool that was now on the ground to his left and in front of him. “Anthony had seemed so distraught that day, and so I thought it would help him if he knew why,” Levi tells Charlotte and I through the tears as his voice was breaking, after rubbing his nose with his left sleeve, but before breaking down and falling to his knees, tears rushing out his blue eyes as if it was never going to end, only to have Charlotte kneel down to his level and hold him as the tears were falling. 

I understood the feeling, I felt the same way. Guinevere was barely part of the family anymore - she started to act so distant from everyone, especially Grace, Maverick, and Erica. “Where’s Guinevere?” I finally asked Charlotte. “She’s in her room,” Charlotte tells me after she held onto Levi and stood up. It’s 9:45, and we had everyone over around 7:30, and she headed up there when Carter was talking about Erica - which was around 8:10. She’s never been in her room for longer than an hour when she’s awake. “But she’s never been in her room for longer than an hour,” I admit to Charlotte, having the last feeling that I should have creeped into my head. 

Up the stairs at the front entrance, I turn my left down the path towards the bedrooms past the faded glass wall overlooking the empty pool. Knocking on Guinevere’s door, I try to call out for her. 

But there’s no answer…

I knock again as Charlotte walks towards me.

…

No answer.

I knock one last time as Levi walks towards Charlotte and I. 

…

Nothing.

Bursting through the door, past the bed, and in the bathroom that was closest to the outside wall, I find Guinevere in the bathtub. She has the word “LOVE” written into her right arm, and I catch her just in time before the knife falls into the blood-colored water and we lose her forever. 

…