Soul Food Pt. 05

"Denis?"

"Yeah."

"I know they might come on strong when we get there, but they only mean well and are very excited to meet you," Coraline spoke as she drove toward her parents' place. Seeing him nod that he understood as Denis stared out the window at the scenery whizzing by. "Denis, can I ask you something without upsetting you?"

"Sure," Denis answered, peering over at her.

"Is something wrong with your back? Did you get into an accident when you were little?" Coraline asked in a caring tone. What she had felt didn't feel normal.

"I don't want to talk about it," Denis uttered in a dark tone, returning to gaze out the window.

"Sweetheart, you know you can talk to me. Haven't I established that I'm not going to judge you?" Coraline spoke in a motherly tone as she reached across the console. A little shocked when Denis moved his arm out of her reach.

"I don't want to talk about it, alright, just drop it," Denis said bitterly.

"Okay, Denis, I didn't mean to make you upset. I was just concerned, is all," Coraline said, pondering just what had happened to her son to make him like this.

"Sorry, I just don't like talking about it," Denis replied in a distant tone.

"I can understand that," Coraline nodded, trying not to tear up. "I don't like talking about what your father did to me either, but you and I have spoken about it. Yet, do I not get the same courtesy?"

Denis glanced over to his birth mother, "I don't think you could handle it if I told you."

"Try me, Denis, you know you can talk to me. Share everything with me, and I'll never judge you," Coraline said, willing her son to open up to her.

"It's not about judging; it's about accepting what can never be changed," Denis said cryptically.

Coraline was fighting back her tears as they crossed into Oliver Springs. Her mind raced with questions. Wondering what could have been so traumatizing that her son refused to talk to her about it. That he would rather keep it in the dark than bring it out into the light so she could help him heal from it. Shifting in her seat, her grip tightened on her steering wheel. Knowing that this just meant one thing -- she had to catch him in an undressed state. She knew that was the only way he was going to talk to her about it.

"They're very nice people; you don't have to be nervous," Coraline uttered when she looked over at him as she cut her car off. Seeing something playing across her son's eyes. Wishing he would just let her in. To confine in her whatever was troubling him, she was his mother; after all, that was why she put him up for adoption in the first place along with the other reasons she had; because she knew at the age of fifteen, she wouldn't be able to give her son the care and love he would need. "Just take your time to get to know them; I promise you; they won't hurt you. They aren't one of the Bad ones," Coraline uttered, seeing how intensely he was staring at her when she used that reference of his. Her heart was breaking how stern his face looked when Denis simply nodded.

Denis blew out a breath in his mind when he walked around Coraline's car. Glancing over to her when she placed her arm on his shoulders when she got up to his side. Noting how the man he took as Teagan pulled the woman that stood to the left of him into him as they stood on their deck. Teagen had salt and pepper hair and had a slightly portly body, not that he would judge anyone on their appearance. The woman he took as his biological grandmother was a little heavy set with brown hair like his birth mother; however, unlike his birth mother, her eyes were brown, while Teagan had the same colored eyes as she did.

"Mom, Dad, I'd like for you to meet my son, your grandson, Denis. Denis, this is my father Teagen, and my mother Arely, your grandparents," Coraline said in a warm tone smiling at him when he stood two inches shorter than she did. Something else she couldn't understand when the man who raped her was over six feet tall. Noting how her mother hid her trembling lips behind her hand yet couldn't stop her eyes from tearing up.

"Hello, Denis, we're so very pleased to meet you," Teagan said, holding out his hand to him with a warm, grandfatherly smile on his lips. It wasn't lost on him how Denis looked at his hand before shaking it. "That's a good firm grip you got there," he nodded in approval before Denis shook his wife's hand. Wondering why it appeared to him that Denis was so guarded around them.

"Thank you, my father taught me," Denis said, wondering if his father's ears were burning at that moment.

"And we hope that they are safe back home; I know they probably are missing you right now," Arely said in a loving voice. "Shall we go in; I have a very nice dinner just waiting for us. I hope you like sweet potatoes," she uttered in a grandmotherly voice.

"You mean yams?" Denis asked, confused. His Nana and mother only ever called them that.

"Mmmhmm," Arely nodded.

"I do, especially Nana's."

"Oh? And how did she get you to eat yams?" Arely asked in a light tone as she led Denis and her daughter with Teagan bringing up the rear into their home.

"Fed a starving boy," Denis said factually.

"Was this when you met the McCarty's?" Arely asked, referencing the Thanksgiving they had found him eating out of their trash.

"Yes, ma'am," Denis answered politely.

"Well, I hope you like them with marshmallows," Arely said, smiling at her grandson from over her shoulder. "Coraline, come help me in the kitchen and let the boys get their male bonding in," she teased, smirking when her husband rolled his eyes at her.

"I want to show you something, Denis; I think you might like it," Teagan said, noting how his daughter nodded to Denis as if she knew something that they didn't.

"Okay," Denis spoke, turning his attention to him. Following after the man as he led him across their house.

"This is my man cave, as my wife likes to call it," Teagan said, welcoming Denis into it. Noting how his eyes ran around the room to the fish he had mounted, to the two bucks he had on the other wall. Moreover, it was what sat in the display case he knew would peg Denis' attention.

"Are those...?" Denis asked in awe as he pointed at the pair of Golden Gloves sitting behind the glass.

"They are," Teagan answered with a nod. "My father, your great-grandfather, won them when he was in the Navy. Coraline told me you're a boxer." Watching how Denis vehemently nodded his head. "I've never boxed before, but my father taught me to love the sport. I heard you're a featherweight champ."

"I am," Denis said with pride.

"Also heard you had a title fight not too long ago."

"Yeah, but it wasn't a long one," Denis sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, how come?" Teagan asked, offering Denis a seat in the other brown leather, rocking recliner that sat before the fifty-five inch hanging flat screen he uses to watch boxing matches and all his other sports games on.

"Knocked him out halfway through round one," Denis said factually as he took his seat.

"Really?!" Denis noted how excited the man was when he nodded.

"Was it just a knockout or a TKO?" Teagan asked, eager to hear all about his grandson's match.

"TKO."

"Hot damn, wish I could have seen that match," Teagan said, slapping his hand on the armrest of his chair. "So, what was it, a jab, a hook...?"

"Uppercut," Denis supplied.

"I bet your adoptive family was cheering loudly for you," Teagan said with a warm smile.

"They were," Denis said, keeping his dislike of the way they referred to his family like he didn't belong with them hidden from his face.

"So, have you thought about going for the Golden Gloves?" Teagan asked, wondering if he would like to watch the boxing match that's on Friday night.

"I don't know," ruffling his hair, "don't think I can qualify for that now that I have a title under my belt," Denis admitted. Looking towards the doorway when he heard someone approaching.

"Dad, Denis, dinner is ready; come eat," Coraline said, wondering why her son looked tense.

"Was dinner okay? You barely said anything during it unless asked something," Coraline stated once the doors of her car closed as they readied to return to her condo.

"It was fine," Denis spoke in a monotone voice, Noticing how the setting sun painted the sky in a deepening maroon color. Looking down when Coraline placed her hand over his.

"Denis, talk to me, tell me what's wrong? I want our time together to be filled with happiness and a lot of fond memories; I don't want you to think ill of this place, me, or your grandparents."

"Then stop calling my family, my adopted family; it's disrespectful; they are my family. Blood doesn't make us family; it's in here that it does!" Denis said heatedly, his fist striking his chest in a thump over his heart.

"Oh, yes, yes, I can see how that would upset you," Coraline mused, holding her chin between her thumb and index finger as she bowed her head.

Denis looked down when her right thumb began to lightly brush along the back of his hand. Wondering why she hadn't removed it yet.

"Denis, I'm sorry, I didn't know that was upsetting you. We didn't mean it in a derogatory light, just to distinguish between the two of us. You can understand that, can't you?" Coraline asked, peering over at her son as the waning sunlight bathed her face, causing it to make her soft green eyes to sparkle. "From now on, we'll refer to them as your family. Will that be alright with you?" she uttered in an apologetic voice. She would just have to take his nod as an answer. "Now, how about we stop for some ice cream on the way home?" Coraline spoke in a chipper voice, trying to lighten her son's mood.

"Is it good ice cream?" Denis asked, taking his seriousness for the cold treat from his mother. It could only be the best, anything else was just a waste, or that's what his mother told him when he was twelve, and he finally got the nerve to ask her about it when she was taking her time in savoring it.

"It's the best ice cream in Knoxville," Coraline stated with a warm, flirtatious smile.

******

"So Denis, how is it?" Coraline asked when they were halfway through their cones. She had her favorite dark chocolate coffee while Denis was enjoying his cookie-n-cream waffle cone. Wondering how his tongue would feel as she watched it moving along the cold, melting treat.

"Okay, this is good," Denis admitted. He had already texted a picture of it to their group chat. Telling his family, namely his mother and sister, that this had to be the second-best ice cream he's ever had. The first being when his father would pull out their ice cream maker. He was the only one brave enough to try his father's concoctions. Normally they were pretty tasty, even if they left a weird aftertaste. Still, it was his thinking that his father did such so the both of them could enjoy it together. Feeling his body responding at the picture that his mother and sister sent back of them pouting. Then another of his mother plumping out her lip when he told her what kind his birth mother was having. Dark chocolate and coffee were her favorite flavors. His mother just never had it in one ice cream flavor. When he asked to try Coraline's, she would only do so if she could taste his. He hid the look he had from her when his birth mother had this odd look on her face when her eyes never left his as she ran her tongue along his ice cream. He was thinking of spoons, not that. He was equally weirded out when she held hers out with this rather bashful demeanor. Her eyes glanced at him as he took a lick. It was a strange flavor he's had both types when his mother would share a bowl with him. So he knew she would love it. Biting the inside of his cheek when his mother made it feel like the end of the world when he told her how good it was.

"I never lie about ice cream," Coraline uttered, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. She had paid extra attention to the area where her son's tongue had touched. Wondering if he would lick her pretty little kitty like he had done to her ice cream if it was covered in whip cream. "So, Denis, I know there was a little friction on your first day, and I'm sorry about that. It was unintentional. Yet, today has been good, hasn't it?" she asked with hope in her voice.

"I'll give you that," Denis agreed, knowing it was nowhere near the worst day of his life had been like.

"Listen, I know Dad is picking you up in the morning. I really hope the two of you can get along. I don't know why you're so guarded; maybe you have a reason to be; I hope it isn't because you don't like your grandparents..."

"Don't know them well enough for that," Denis said before munching on his waffle cone.

"Can you at least tell me why you are?"

"I have my reasons for not trusting strangers," Denis said after a few minutes to think of a response to her question.

"Will..." Her voice died in her throat when Denis shook his head.

"Like I've told you, I don't like talking about it. I don't know you well enough to get into that," Denis said plainly.

"Denis, how can we form a relationship if you're constantly keeping me at arm's length?" Coraline asked, trying to break through that shell of his.

"Listen..." Inhaling the last of his cone in three bites, "I get what you're trying to do, yet the way I have lived has taught me the only one that's going to protect me is me. It took years for me to trust my family enough to open up to them. You can't ask me to just reveal my dark history to you when I've only talked to you over the phone for two months," Denis said, wiping his mouth with his napkin.

"Then why did you come here?"

"To see if your words match your actions," Denis stated factually.

"If they don't?"

"Then you won't hear from me again," Denis said in an absolute manner of voice, seeing how that shocked her to her core.

"You would really cut ties with me?!" Coraline gasped in horror.

"In a heartbeat," Denis nodded.

"But why?" Coraline asked; her need to understand was clear as day.

"Because I've been around enough two-faced liars to know when I'm being played."

Coraline's hand covered her mouth as her eyes quivered. Pondering what had happened to her son that caused him to be so distrustful of everyone around him, even the woman that gave birth to him. What had happened to her son that would cause him to have that hard-edged look that was staring at her? This only steeled her resolve to show her son she could be just like what the McCarty's were to him.

"Listen, I'm sorry if that upsets you, I am. You seem like a nice person, but so have a lot of other people I've had the unfortunate fate to know," Denis said, softening his tone when he noted how her eyes were glistening with tears.

"But you're giving me this chance to prove to you I am what I say I am?" Coraline asked for clarification, to which Denis simply nodded.

"My Nana says I should at least give you the benefit of the doubt," Denis said offhandedly.

"Then I'm going to prove to you that your Nana is wise," Coraline stated in a firm tone. She might not understand why he was so distrustful of strangers; nevertheless, that wasn't going to stop her from winning her son's trust. "Shall we head home?" she asked once she had finished off her own ice cream cone.

"Denis?" Her voice filled the cab of the elevator as they rode it up to her condo.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, you'll tell me when you're ready," Coraline said, shaking her head.

Denis was taken aback when she just hugged him out of nowhere. The moment her breasts pressed into him; flashes of his mother appeared in his mind. Recounting how they would press into him whenever she was on top of him as she leaned forward. Helen liked to kiss a lot whenever they were together. Not that he was complaining, he kind of missed feeling his mother's lips at that moment. His eyes shot wide when he felt himself getting hard. He could not let his birth mother feel that. He knew that would only freak her out, more so if she thought she was the one that caused it or the cause of why he was getting hard in the first place with the moans and mewing of his mother's sensuous voice playing out in his head.

"I'm going to work hard so you can trust me." Denis heard her whisper into his shoulder. Trying not to peer down at her orbs that were so close to his mouth he could taste them. "Come before the elevator takes us for another ride," Coraline spoke, taking hold of Denis' left hand and leading him towards her home. "Now, you go take a shower; Dad likes to be on time, so you shouldn't stay up too late," she said in a caring voice as she lightly rubbed her hands along his shoulders.

******

Coraline walked groggily out of her bedroom somewhere past midnight. What awoke her was some very odd noises coming from the other side of her condo. However, her fog of sleep quickly was banished when her son's voice filled the air. Her heart raced in fright at what he was saying. Her feet propelled her towards the guest bedroom when Denis uttered: 'Stop, stop, please stop! I'll be good, I swear!' Rushing into the bedroom without caring, she was only in a t-shirt with no bra or panties on. Flipping on the lamp beside the bed, a horror-filled gasp escaped her lips as her hands flew to her mouth as her eyes just couldn't look away at the numerous scars that marred his chest as her son thrashed about in his sleep. "What the hell happened to you?" Coraline asked aloud, trying not to tear up at the sight of what was done to her son. "Denis, Denis," she whispered softly as she laid a hand on his left shoulder. Jumping back when Denis instantly bolted up, his chest heaving from the nightmare he was having. "Oh, God!" Another horrific gasp emanated from her lips when the light of the lamp played along his back, showing her all the scars that dominated his skin to the point where she couldn't even see one inch of his back bare from those wicked signs of his torment.

Watching how Denis pulled up his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs while pressing his head against them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Denis spoke, his voice muffled by his legs.

"Baby, tell me, what happened?" Coraline asked, sinking down onto the bed and lightly touching his elbow. "Tell me why is it that your chest and back are so scarred when I can't even see an inch of skin that doesn't have something marring it," she said, praying that he would open up to her.

"Because for ten years, all I ever was, was a thing to them. Not worthy enough to be called a human being," Denis said, his muscles trembling as that ever-constant fear held sway over his body. "I was nothing more than a whipping post and a paycheck to them."

Coraline's hands flew to her mouth. That was not what the woman from the agency had told her when they talked about putting him up for adoption. Berating herself for ever trusting the system to see to the needs of her son. Wrapping him in a hug the best that she could in his position. Feeling her breasts pressing into his hands as she did. Knowing now what he had meant when he said those words to her when they had stopped for ice cream and why he was guarded around her parents. "Oh, my sweet, sweet boy," Coraline whispered into Denis' hair before placing a kiss on top of his head. "I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that. I should have never listened to those people. I should..." Sighing, knowing wishing for something wasn't going to change the past. It wasn't going to take the scars away; it wasn't going to take the fear away. Nothing could do that.

"When you get back from the lake, we'll sit down, and you can tell me every single thing that's happened to you. I don't care how gory it is. I want to know everything," Coraline said, running her hands down his back, showing him that his scars didn't scare her. That no matter how horrific his life was, she wasn't going anywhere! Not anymore! She wasn't about to let her son go ever again.