Where the Streets Have No Name

Chapter 71

Carmen looked up with scared and remorseful eyes.

"I- I just wanted a little quiet... Edward, she cries all the time. I can't even hear myself think. I swear I was going to check on her-"

"Do you have any idea how many things could have gone wrong?" Edward cut her off, disregarding her haltingly formed explanation. "Ella could have been smothered, she could've-"

"No, no. I made sure there were no choking hazards in her crib. I even took out the pillow and the blanket. She would have been fine. Renate fed her before she left and I made sure she was dry and-"

"And that makes it okay to lock up our six-month old baby in a room and then turn a deaf ear by switching off the baby monitor? For heaven's sake, Carmen, that's negligence! Ella's a baby. Babies cry. That's normal.

"You don't have to clean her or feed her. Hell, you don't even have to hold her. Someone else does it for you.You couldn't even put up with her for an hour? Jesus!"

Carmen lowered her head, unable to look Edward in the eye, as her large tears of shame splattered into her lap.

"I would never hurt her, Edward. I love my daughter, I do. I know I'm not... Just because I'm struggling with... Just because I have some... problems, and not very good at caring for her, doesn't mean I don't care about Ella," Carmen said, wiping the tears with both hands and looking him in the eyes pleadingly.

"I needed to talk to you. I had to tell you something, but I couldn't... I just couldn't think straight with... with all the... with Ella in the background. I had to... I was going to turn on the monitor and check on her soon, I swear. I just needed a little more time," she added.

"Time for what?" Edward spat out the words with undisguised wrath. "Tell me, Carmen, what was so important that you couldn't tell me without locking Ella away? What could be so freakin' important that you needed pin-drop silence, huh? How you're the second coming since Walter Cronkite? How the world is tripping over its feet to have you grace the TV screen?

"Well, guess what? I don't give a rat's ass about any of that banal bullshit!"

Edward began to pace in agitation, not sparing a thought to how his words might affect Carmen.

"You know what I do care about, Carmen? I care about Ella. I care about my daughter. I care whether she's fed or not. Whether she's sick, whether she's clean. I care about her future and about her happiness. You know why? 'Cause someone has to and it sure as hell isn't you!" Edward pointed his finger at her as he uttered his final words.

Carmen gasped in shock. Edward had never spoken to her with such venom. He could see the pain on Carmen's face, but his heart didn't have room for pity. Not for her, not at that moment.

"H-how could you say that? I never wanted this. I d-didn't want any of this. Y-you made me-" Carmen protested through tears, but Edward didn't let her go too far.

"Don't you dare try and turn the table on me!" he snapped at her with force. Whatever guilt he usually carried on his shoulders for pressuring his wife into responsibilities she was ill-prepared to undertake had evaporated much earlier that evening. "Whatever I did, I did in good faith. I did what I believed was right. But you-" he pointed at her again as he took a few steps toward her "-you lied to me."

Thank you Lulabelle98, HeidiJoVT, and Dinx.