The Center (Houdini and Nurse_K)

Elsa heard the commotion at the front door that second night. She'd been trying to sleep in the bed, but it worried her that Carlos wasn't home yet. She was wearing that same t-shirt of Carlos' and panties, but you couldn't see them since the t-shirt was so long on her. She sat up and listened, hearing Carlos' familiar say, "Get in there baby," and her heart sank. Who else could be baby except Erica? She had a feeling he'd made things up with her after he stopped making off handed comments about how she was a bitch.

She slipped out of the bed and creeped over to Gui, who was sleeping thanks to a feeding she gave him about an hour previous. She walked out into the hallway and then started down the stairs, seeing the door open and a skinny shape next to a larger shape. She knew immediately who those two shapes were.

"Carlos?" she called out timidly.
 
Carlos rubbed his eyes in surprise when he heard someone coming down the steps. "Oh, shit," he gasped, looking at Erica when it all came back to him. He wasn't about to kick Erica out this time, though. He’d been looking forward to this all night. He folded his bare arms over his sleeveless t-shirt and glared over at Elsa on the steps. "Go back upstairs, sugar," he told her somewhat forcefully, a little bit of a slur in his speech. "I just got somethin' to do here. I'ma stay down here and not bother you."
 
Elsa's brows furrowed and she started to get angry. "Something to do here? Yeah, you mean Erica?" she spat out as she looked over and glared at the drunk girl who could barely stand up. "Guess that means you don't need me anymore." she said through gritted teeth as she glared at him. "I'll leave then." she stomped back up the stairs, more than a little hurt that he would bring that skinny slut into his house when he knew Elsa was there. She knew he fucked other women, and that part she didn't care so much about, she didn't love Carlos, she barely even liked him. But while she was in the house? That was wrong.
 
"Just go back to bed," he shouted emphatically. "You ain't goin' nowhere," he said for emphasis. "I'm just watchin' some TV down here with a friend, okay? he shouted up the steps A moment later, he plopped down on the couch with Erica, and did in fact flip on the TV. Erica didn't seem to mind the drama that was going on either, as long as she had Carlos for the time being. She was a little more wasted than he was, being that she didn't hold her alcohol nearly as well as him. Carlos began leaning over and letting his hands wander around Erica, but keeping an eye over toward the steps at the same time. He had enough of his faculties with him to know that he didn't want his son going out the door.
 
Elsa slammed the door to the bedroom as loudly as she could, just for emphasis. She wanted to leave, but midnight wasn't a good time to pick. She would have to steal Carlos' car, which wouldn't be good either, and she'd have to maneuver her way out of the ghetto, which she definitely couldn't do since they were in the Boricua and not the white trash ghetto she'd lived in for most of her life. Gui started to cry when she slammed the door so she picked him up and held him in the bed, rocking him back and forth for awhile. She was extremely upset by this. Elsa began to formulate a plan as to how she would leave. She'd need to do it during the day when he wasn't home. And she'd need someone to drive her....she could only think of one person.
 
Carlos gradually started to give his full attention to Erica when it became apparent that Elsa wasn't going to defy him and leave with his baby. After a while, running their hands under each other's clothes wasn't enough, and they undressed each other, culminating with some wild sex on the couch. Erica's screams echoed out loudly through the house as he fucked and spanked her for a good hour.

"You a fuckin' whore," he muttered to her once they were finished. "No go home like a whore supposed to when she finished puttin' out." Erica laughed empty-headedly, unsure whether she should take this seriously, but wandered out onto the street after getting dressed. Afterward, Carlos stumbled up to bed, falling in next to Elsa, and pulling up the pillow under his head as if this was normal.
 
Elsa's anger grew and grew and grew as she heard what was going on downstairs. Carlos didn't even have the courtesy of of keeping his stupid bitch quiet. When Carlos got into the bed and fell in right next to her she immediately moved away from him. She tried to sleep in the bed, just on the edge like she had before but she couldn't handle it. After about a half an hour when she thought that Carlos was asleep she got out of the bed and picked up Gui. She left the bedroom and brought him downstairs. There was a smaller day crib down there and she put him in that.

She stared at the couch where she knew they'd fucked and then sat in the worn out comfy chair next to it. The fabric was cold so she knew they hadn't touched it. She curled herself up there and gradually fell asleep, but the quality of her sleep was shitty.
 
Carlos stirred awake long after daybreak, noticing that Elsa was nowhere in sight. His first thought was that she was just awake already, as he noticed that Gui was also missing. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard any of Gui's crying at all throughout the night, which was commonplace every few hours at least. She couldn't have possibly left him, could she? Hopping of bed, he went down the steps in just his boxers, making a decent amount of noise as he pounded down the carpeted stairs. "Hey," he called out to Elsa as she slept on his worn out living room chair, rays of sun splashing across her face from the sun peeking in around the pulled curtains. "What's going on?" he demanded to know, shaking her by the arm as she seemed to be in a restful sleep.
 
Elsa was rudely awakened when she felt someone shaking her arm. She opened her eyes groggily at first but then she saw it was Carlos. She immediately frowned at him and yanked her arm away from him. She rubbed it softly, there was going to be a bruise there. Carlos was strong and he almost always left a mark when he grabbed her like that, playful or otherwise. "I didn't want to sleep next to you after you fucked that slut," she said bitterly. She turned her head and glanced at the couch which she'd told herself she'd never sit on again. "This was my best alternative," she said, motioning to the chair.
 
"Whoa, whoa," Carlos objected when Elsa mentioned his escapaes of the previous night. "You my woman, baby. You the mother of my child." He knew what happened last night, and he knew Elsa knew it. There was no way to explain it away. The only thing he could do was assert his well-established authority. "You can't get on me 'cause of somethin' I did when I got a little drunk. You was fuckin' that guard when I was in jail. So we even," Carlos said firmly. He headed towards the kitchen, considering the matter settled as he opened the fridge and poured himself a glass of orange juice.
 
His woman? His woman? She didn't feel like his woman. If he wanted to fuck Erica then she was going to be the only woman he fucked because Elsa wasn't going to let his cock anywhere near her after it'd been in another woman. "Whatever," Elsa said after he walked away. She got up off of the chair and went over to check on the baby. "Then Erica's gonna be the only one you're fucking, unless you decide to get some other skinny bitches."
 
Carlos did not like being talked to like that. Did Elsa have a point? Yes, but she still was starting to assert herself too much, he thought. "What?" he shouted, slamming his glass of orange juice down, spraying some onto the table. He stormed back over to her, and grabbed her by the shoulder once she finished with the baby, spinning her to face him and shaking her whole body by both shoulders. "I let you live with me, and that's how you talk to me?" he asked angrily. "I don't remember deciding that you gonna make the rules around here now, bitch," he spat, calling her by the dirty name she used for Erica. "You understand?" he shouted, gripping her tightly as he stared her in the eyes. "I'll have you whenever I decide to."
 
"What are you gonna do, Carlos?" she seethed back at him, just as pissed off as he was. "Beat me? Go ahead. Beat me. Slap the shit out of me, give me a black eye. It's not like you haven't done that to me before." she grabbed onto his arms that he was using to shake her with and tried to pry his hands off of her. "Maybe I'll just leave. You don't want me living with you, then fine. I'll move out. Let me go and I'll get out of your way so you can have all the bitches you want in here."
 
"Fuck no," Carlos spat, not in answer to any of her particular questions, but more in general disagreement with Elsa. Struggling with her as she tried to pry his hands off her, he finally let go of her. Reaching back, he slapped her across the face with an open hand, grunting once his strong hand met its target. It wasn't his hardest, but it was forceful. Immediately afterwards, he shoved her backward, causing her to fall back into the couch he had sex with Erica on. "You stayin' here," he seethed. "With me. You and my son. I can't stand you today, though, the way you a jealous bitch for no reason. I'm gettin' dressed and goin' out.". He couldn't stand the way she taunted him. From his standpoint, she asked for it, and she got it.
 
Her neck twisted to the side painfully when he slapped her. She hadn't even regained composure from the slap when he shoved her into the floor against the couch. She landed hard, her ass making a loud thump as she hit the floor. "You expect me to stay here all god damn day by myself? I haven't been out since I had Gui, and you go out every day all day." she stayed on the ground though, not in the mood to get up and fight with him more. "You keep leaving and you're gonna come home one day and find nobody here."
 
Carlos was halfway up the steps by the time Elsa cried out at him again. He dressed and was back down in about three minutes, only slightly less angry. "I never said you couldn't leave the house. You never said you wanted to," he shot back as he came back down, picking up where he left off. "Just don't leave for real, okay? That won't be good for anyone."

He went back to the kitchen again, pouring some fresh juice and buttering a piece of bread to take with him. "Maybe if you in a better mood, I'll have my sister come watch Gui, an we can go out tonight," he suggested, most of his anger gone, as he headed for the door.
 
As if there was anywhere for Elsa to go. She wasn't familiar with this part of the ghetto and she only spoke minimal Spanish. The Spanish she knew was pretty good, but it was obvious from her appearance that she was not an hermana. She just stared at Carlos as he marched through the house and then out the door. She was really getting sick of him. She waited about ten minutes after he was gone and then went over to the phone. She stared at it, picked it up, started dialing Brendan's number...and then stopped.

She wasn't ready for that yet. She didn't know what going out with Carlos would be like (and lord knows she didn't have any good clothes, she hadn't been out to buy any), but she thought she should give him one last chance.
 
Carlos' anger dissipated as he went about his day. He had a brief dispute with a counterpart visiting from another part of town over whose turf a certain neighborhood was, but there really wasn't much other activity happening. He thought about their fight, and although he would find her if she tried to leave with his baby, he realized that would be a huge headache. Besides, there was a little something more that didn't want her to go. He couldn't identify it, but he liked having her around. So in the early afternoon, he called it a day and told his lackeys he was heading out. He made a stop on the way home, buying Elsa a long, flowing red skirt that he thought might be nice for some dancing. His kind of dancing, at least, although he hadn't practiced in a couple of years. It would at least make up for the last night's events, he imagined as he came back in the front door, glancing to both sides for a sight of Elsa.
 
Gui seemed to be unhappy that entire day. Elsa did everything she could to soothe him, but he wouldn't have it. She fed him, changed him, bathed him, cuddled him, but all he did was whimper and cry all day. He was exhausting her. After about four hours of him fussing Elsa finally fell asleep in that same chair that she'd slept in the night before, Gui resting on her chest. That seemed to do the trick and within minutes he was asleep too. They slept like that for the rest of the time Carlos was away. Elsa only woke when she heard the front door open. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Carlos there. She didn't really know what to say to him, so she decided on talking about the baby. "Shhh," she whispered, "He's been fussy all day,"
 
Carlos was starting to learn how these things worked. If the baby had a hard time falling asleep, you never did anything that might wake it once it finally dozed off. He usualy didn't like being told what to do, but if it was for his son, he didn't mind at all. So he nodded at Elsa and knelt on the floor next to them, stroking Gui's little head. "I'ma take you out to a nice place I used to go to," he whispered. "They got good food and dancing," he added, pulling out the red skirt. "I got this for you to wear," he said as he showed her, still keeping his voice down. "My sister'll be here in like two hours."

He hand't told her, but Carlos had been known as quite the character when he first came to this country as a teenager. As a young man, he was universally respected in his neighborhood as a ladies man, and a superb dancer. He planned to show her his social skills tonight, though.
 
Elsa had to admit that Carlos looked cute kneeling on the floor and stroking the baby's head. He seemed completely normal in every way. He wasn't ominously tall, his eyes weren't dark with anger or his breath stank with alcohol. He was just normal, a father being loving towards his son. And it was nice to see. Her eyes widened a little bit at the sight of the long red skirt. "Dancing? You mean...Spanish dancing?" her cheeks flushed a little as she whispered, "I don't know how to Spanish dance," she knew it had a real name, Salsa or Cha Cha or whatever, but she didn't know anything about it.
 
Carlos liked it that Elsa seemed flustered at the idea of Salsa dancing with him. "Yeah, of course, mama. We gonna do some Spanish dancing. I used to do it all the time," he told her, a grin coming over his face. "But don't worry, I'll show you what you gotta do." He saw in her eyes that although she was a little fearful, she'd be willing to give it a try. He wasn't sure why he wanted to do this; he really hadn't cared much for dance the last few years. But there was something about a relationship that was different from others that made him want to dance, and despite their problems, Elsa was one of those girls. Different than the others. "So, why don't you start gettin' ready. I'll hold Gui a while."
 
Despite herself, she giggled a little at the prospect of Salsa dancing with Carlos in some Spanish club somewhere. "Okay," she said a little bashfully. She leaned forward and held the baby out to him, resting him gently against Carlos' chest. "He's like laying against my chest. He'll probably like that with you too," she patted her little baby's head once and then slid off of the chair. She looked at Carlos for a moment, a smile still lingering on her face. She took the skirt from him and then hopped upstairs.

She got in the shower and took a quick one, toweling her hair like crazy so that it would dry. Then she dug around in the few clothes she had. She finally pulled out a white tank top and put it on. She pulled on the flowing red skirt and was only half satisfied. She didn't really have any good tops to wear though, so this would have to do. She went into the bathroom and put what make up she had on, but she certainly wasn't ghettofied like she could have been. She never liked the ghetto style. She hopped back down the stairs but then paused at the bottom, suddenly a little nervous.
 
Carlos took Gui out of her arms as gingerly as possible, and sat back on the same chair, holding his son's body up close to his chest. As Elsa did whatever she needed to do upstairs, he realized that this was the longest he'd ever held his son at one sitting. He didn't really mind it. In fact, maybe he'd have to make a point of holding Gui more often, he thought. The baby slept for a few more minutes, but then he sensed that he wasn't with mommy anymore, and began crying softly, before it escalated into an all-out wailing. He didn't seem to recognize the man holding him the same way he did his mother.

"Hey, sugar," Carlos said in greeting to Elsa, followed by a half-chuckle. "I like it, you don't look so bad," he said with a nod, trying to rock Gui back into a calmer state. "You better take him again, though. He crying like crazy." After handing off the baby, Carlos ran upstairs and showered, too. Afterward, he put on a black silk shirt and a pair of thin white pants, adding a gold chain and a soft feeling white cap tilted to the side on his head. Just as he headed back down after spraying himself with some aftershave, there was a knock on the door. It was his sister, who'd already came by once to see the baby earlier in the week. She had five kids herself, so he wasn't too worried about leaving Gui with her. He imagined that Elsa wouldn't mind, either. "Ready to go, mama?" he smiled to Elsa after he got his sister situated.
 
Elsa smiled when he told her she didn't look bad. She hoped not. Her breasts barely fit in her bra, being at least a size bigger with all the milk she held. The tank top was tight on her now too since she was a little juicier than she'd been when she bought it. She took Gui back and began whispering sweet nothings in his ear. He wailed for a few moments more but then it softened, eventually dying out entirely. Elsa had formed an extremely tight bond with her baby. It was as if they needed each other. She was a little wary about going out with Carlos and leaving Gui here, but she knew she was going to have to do it eventually.

Elsa liked Carlos sister. She was friendly and extremely motherly. She felt safe leaving her child here with her. But before they left Elsa leaned over and whispered in her ear, "If anyone comes over here, anyone, don't let them hold Gui okay? I'm still a protective mama like that," and his sister nodded and promised she wouldn't let anyone but herself touch the baby. Then Elsa turned to Carlos and nodded, "Yeah, I think so." she looked him up and down and couldn't help but smile. Carlos knew how to look suave.
 
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