JEALOUSY IN DEATH

16.

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16. Desiree

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Bobo came back from school on Wednesday with just one thing on his mind; camping. They were currently sitting on the floor making paper planes and hurling them across the room.

"Do you want to come with us?"

"Camping?"

"Yes."

"Bobo, I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about but when your dad gets back from work, I'll ask him."

"Can't you call him to ask?"

"We don't want to disturb daddy at work now, do we?"

"I guess not."

"Good, let's make more planes then."

They made more paper planes and Desiree watched as Bobo wrote different words on the papers before hurling them. They were playing Angry Bird on Bobo's tablet when Lucas got back from work. Desiree looked up as Lucas entered the room while Bobo dumped the device and ran to his dad who picked him up. They left the room and Desiree went to the kitchen. It was too early to start dinner so she relaxed and fiddled with her phone while waiting for both father and son to join her.

Bobo came down with Lucas, and he was smiling. "Dee, we are going camping."

She smiled. "That's wonderful, where?"

"The backyard."

Desiree started laughing then stopped when Bobo didn't join in. "Are you serious? Isn't tomorrow a school day?"

He nodded. "I don't mind. I want it."

She looked at Lucas who was by the refrigerator drinking water. He shrugged when he caught her eyes.

"It's a simple camp. He likes adventure, so we put a tent in the backyard and do fun stuff."

"Really? That's cool." All she could think of was mosquitoes, Lucas couldn't really be considering doing it.

Bobo tugged at her hand. "Dee, will you join us? I want you to."

"I've never done this before, so I'll need you to teach me the fun stuff involved."

"Dad?"

"We'll get started in few minutes. I need to get all the essentials first, will you be helping daddy?"

"Sure."

"What should I do?" Desiree asked.

"You can get some food from the fridge. We like to eat grilled hotdogs, bananas with peanut butter and some biscuits."

"Is that all?"

"I'll get the rest. We'll need sheets and pillows also. You can help get those from the spare bedrooms."

Lucas and Bobo went towards the laundry room while Desiree got pillows and sheets from the spare room. She got food from the refrigerator and went outside. They joined her and soon started mounting the tent. Desiree had never gone camping and knew next to nothing about it, so she humbled herself and watched them work without trying to help. They finally got the tent secured and moved on to starting a camp fire. Lucas built a fire pit and arranged foldable chairs around it. Bobo was so excited about the whole thing that he was rambling and singing, she nodded when he told her about their past experiences.

Lucas went inside and came back with skillet, foil, a loaf of bread, corn on the cob and apples. They settled around the fire and Desiree watched as Lucas prepared something edible with what they had. Bobo helped him in grilling hotdogs and corns and the air was soon filled with the aroma of grilled food.

Lucas got her a plate for her food while he and Bobo ate straight from the skillet. Desiree ate the roasted corn first and tasted honey all over it. "This taste so good, hmm." She licked her fingers as she spoke. "Thank you, guys."

"You're welcome. I think Bobo came up with that recipe a long time ago," Lucas said smiling.

"I told dad to add honey to the corn and I liked it way more when he did."

"That's so smart of you."

"But when we added it to the pasghetti, it was yuck!"

"Honey in spaghetti? That doesn't sound right."

"Exactly!" Bobo said like he'd just made the most valid of all points.

Desiree nodded and ate sausage and bread with sauce dripping all over the sausage. "This is such a comfort food. I love it but if I keep doing this, I'll get so fat."

"You're not fat, Remi is fat."

"Who's Remi?"

"Mariah's sister. Dad, can I get a sister?"

Lucas shook his head and looked at Desiree. "Why does he make it sound like it's something I can get in the market or mall? I mean this is a whole new human we're talking about."

Desiree pitied him as he spoke. Single parenting hadn't been easy on her mom so she could imagine what it was doing to Lucas. "Who wants to play a game?"

Bobo jumped up. "Me, me, me!"

She draped a blanket over his shoulder before saying, "Okay. You have to tell us a story to win something."

"I know a story."

"A scary story?"

"Yes. You know a monkey?"

"I do."

"Okay. So the monkey went home and saw a big lion eating his baby." Desiree opened her mouth wide and Bobo laughed before continuing. "The monkey now said, lion what's this? Stoppit! Then the lion ran away but the monkey ran too and ate the lion."

"Are you serious? Bobo, I'm scared."

"Yes, but the lion did not die."

"The lion lived in the monkey's belly?"

"Yes."

"That's so scary."

"Then the lion now cut the belly and came out, but it was too late."

"So they both died?"

"Nope, the monkey went to the dog and he helped him."

Desiree clapped as Bobo finished. Lucas who had been silently listening to the story finally spoke, "Bobo tells the best scary stories. Are you scared?"

"I'm terrified."

Bobo stood from his chair and Desiree's eyes followed him as he went to whisper into his dad's ear. Desiree pretended not to hear him say, she's such a girl. He giggled with his dad and she shook her head as they bonded over her feigned dread.

The sky had turned so dark so Lucas placed the chairs aside and they laid down chest up on a blanket. Lucas passed her a little telescope to watch the stars while he shared one with his son. Desiree had no interest in constellations so while Bobo and Lucas were gushing over making out new stars, she was planning out her to-do-list for the following day.

She turned down the grilled banana infused with peanut butter and melted chocolate Bobo passed to her and got water instead. Lucas went to the house with Bobo on his shoulders. They said they wanted to go do men's business and when they got back Bobo was in his pajamas. She helped him spread mosquito repellent all over his exposed skin again and he went inside the tent with Lucas after giving her a goodnight hug. Desiree folded the blanket they had been lying on and sat on the chair.

Lucas came out of the tent and took the chair beside her. "Did you enjoy our camp?"

"It's not bad."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"There's no but actually."

"You know he really likes you? I wasn't sure I was going to get a nanny I was satisfied with especially with all these crazy stories about nannies circulating, but I'm glad we found you."

"Aww, Lucas. Thank you." The ice was thawing little by little and she was ecstatic. All she wanted was to take care of his kid as best as she possible could, and she was glad he saw her effort.

Lucas rolled a blunt, lit it and Desiree watched as he took a drag. "Is that for the pain?"

"What pain?"

"Your arm?"

Lucas robbed his scarred arm. "Oh, no, not at all. I smoke to relieve stress."

"Oh." She was overtly surprised that he smoked. Lucas passed her the blunt but she shook her head.

"You don't smoke?"

"Not really. It doesn't agree with me."

"What do you mean?"

"It increases my blood pressure."

"Are you kidding?"

She looked away and shook her head. "I'm not."

Lucas threw the blunt on the grass and used his shoe to kill the flame. "You can go in to sleep now. You can also go back to the guest house, you're not in any way obligated to do this."

"I promised Bobo I'd camp with him so that's what I'm going to do."

"Alright. But you could also go to the guestroom and sneak back in before he wakes. Sleeping on the grass isn't the fun Bobo made it seem," Lucas said and adjusted in his chair.

Desiree had a feeling he was trying to discourage her from joining them. She was starting to feel bad about his compliment. Maybe he'd finally taken her advice and learnt to sandwich a compliment in between the point he was getting across.

"If you don't want me here all you have to do is say the word."

"Look, I'm thinking about your welfare but if you'd rather sleep on a sleeping bag under a tent, by all means be my fucking guest."

Just when she thought the ice was thawing, she'd been happy few minutes ago that they were getting past the coldness. She guessed he was never going to give her a chance. He didn't know anything about her but he treated her with such resentment. It was infuriating.

Desiree stood from the chair and stood close to Lucas. "You know what? Screw you."

"What?"

"Screw you. I don't give a flying fuck if you fire me, but I've had enough."

"Really?" he asked like she hadn't just insulted him. He was treating her like one would treat a child throwing tantrums and that made her furious.

"Go to hell."

Desiree went into the tent and saw Bobo sleeping peacefully. She stretched beside him and tried to calm down. She'd done everything right, from learning how to cook healthy food to doing his son's laundry. What had she gotten in return? An ungrateful father that'd never cut her some slack. She was so tired of his attitude.

Desiree stopped tossing and turning when she heard Lucas enter the tent. She remained still and pretended to be asleep as he turned off the lamp and managed the little space by her side.