Free Color of Deception by Khara Campbell

the process of giving birth and that she would have to wait. Debra’s heart sunk when they told her Carlisha was having her baby early. She immediately started to pray that the baby and Carlisha would be all right. She asked God for the baby not to have any complications and that all his organs were fully developed and that he was ready to thrive on his own outside his mother’s womb. But that was hours ago. Debra sat impatiently in the waiting area. None of the nurses or doctors would give her any more updates because she wasn’t related to Carlisha. She resisted the urge to go postal and barge her way into Carlisha’s room. Her instincts told her something was terribly wrong. The baby must have died. Oh God please comfort my friend! Debra prayed silently with her eyes closed and the back of head pressed against the wall while she sat in the chair with her hands clasps together tightly in her lap.
    “Hi. I don’t know who to ask for, but I’m next of kin for Carlisha Mitchell…” Debra heard a familiar voice. She opened her eyes slowly to see the back of a gentleman standing at the nurse’s station.
    “What is your name sir?” a nurse asked the man.
    Debra got up and walked toward them.
    “Peter Holmes.”
    “Pete, you’re Carlisha’s boss. Remember me, Debra?” Debra interrupted, thankful that perhaps she could get some answers on what was going on with Carlisha through Pete.
    “Yes!” Pete smiled brightly at the sight of Debra. Her face immediately eased some of the apprehension he had about the whole ordeal he was faced with. However the circumstances under which he was graced with her beautiful face didn’t please him at all.
    “I’ve been here for hours now since Carlisha called me and told me she was on her way to the hospital, but nobody is telling me what’s going on.”
    “Sir. Ah, I’ll have someone come out and speak with you shortly,” the nurse said sympathetically.
    “Okay,” Pete responded to the nurse solemnly. He didn’t want to have to deal with any of this. Now Debra stood in front of him desperate for some answers about what was going on with her friend. Pete swore a curse was placed on his life. He just lost his wife a little over a year ago now he was dealing with the death of a young woman he once saw as a daughter, even though he was nothing but a jackass to her since his wife’s death, the thought of that deepened his sorrow over Carlisha’s death.
    Pete didn’t know what to say to Debra. Her face was etched with worry and he wished he could replace it was joy – but not with the news he would have to share. He pulled her to the side. “Let’s sit over there.” He guided them to some vacant seats. The waiting area was eerily quiet, perhaps because it was so early in the morning; it was now three-fifteen.
    “Something happened to the baby – didn’t it?” Debra asked after she sat in a seat next to Pete.
    A lump clogged Pete’s throat which made it difficult for him to speak. A desire to kiss Debra briefly consumed his thoughts, he figured that would be the magic he needed to erase all the fog in his life and perhaps jumpstart his heart so that he could truly feel love and compassion again. But he brushed it away. “Carlisha died after giving birth to her son,” Pete informed her. He watched as Debra’s face instantly changed from worry to sorrow like a switch of a light. Tears welled up in her eyelids, then released like a flood down her face. He gently pulled her into his arms as she relieved her grief on his chest as she cried. Pete cried too as he gently caressed Debra’s red hair. He cried for his wife, he cried for Carlisha, he cried for the hate he still harbored in his heart for black people and he cried for his desire for Debra that made him afraid he may be losing his love for his dead wife.
     
    **KC**
     
    Rachel and her parents came to the hospital right after they received the call from Pete about what happened. It took Rachel’s parents a