by Cachet
“Her bond is ten thousand, but they said that if I get a bondsman, she can get out with a thousand dollars.”
“Don’t worry about getting a bondsman,” he told her. “I’ll give you the whole ten.”
“No Kaleb, you don’t have to do that. The thousand is more than enough,” Dominique told him truthfully. “I don’t mind going through the bondsman. I just want to get her out of there.”
“I said I got you,” Kaleb insisted. “I’ll pay her bond, and I’m sure that Des will take care of getting her a good lawyer. You know my nigga all in love and shit,” he joked.
“I know he is. Shit, Peanut is too. They just be faking.” Dominique laughed. “You know what I just realized?”
“What?”
“That you never even asked me what she did to go to jail.”
“There was no need,” Kaleb divulged. “She’s your sister, and that’s all that matters.”
As soon as he said that, Dominique’s heart melted. Although she wanted to be happy, she couldn’t help but to feel a little sad. There she was talking to her friend, who was also the guy she was creeping with, and he didn’t hesitate to give her what she asked for, no matter what the reason was; while her fiancé just flat out told her no. Deondre didn’t care that although NiChia had violently beaten her best friend down, Shanice was the one who started. Even that didn’t matter. He should have just had her back just because.
“What am I going to do with you?” Dominique asked not just to him, but to herself as well.
“Hopefully, you can love me again,” Kaleb replied.
Dominique was about to say something in response, when she heard someone speaking in the background.
“Baby, I’m about to go shopping. I’ll be back in a few hours. I’ll call you when I’m on my way, so you can get dressed to go snorkeling,” a female voice spoke.
“Alright, be careful.” Kaleb yelled. “Hello.”
“Yeah,” Dominique answered in a dry tone.
“Now, what were you saying?”
“Nothing.”
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked when he noticed that it sounded as if she had an attitude.
Dominique smacked her lips. “Why you ain’t tell me that you were with her?”
“I didn’t think it mattered. Besides, I answered the phone for you when you called, so apparently you were more important,” Kaleb told her, not understanding what her issue was.
“Whatever Kaleb. Where are you anyway?”
“What?”
“I asked where you were. You can’t be here if you’re going snorkeling.”
Kaleb thought for a minute before he answered, “I’m in the Virgin Islands.”
Dominique snorted. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“What?”
Although she heard him, Dominique didn’t answer because she was too upset. It was no secret that Kaleb was involved with someone. He had told her all about his relationship with Tiera the day they met up at the park. Even though she and Kaleb were only friends at the time, Dominique still felt some kind of way after hearing about it. It was something about finding out that he was involved with someone else that got under her skin. Dominique knew that she was wrong for expecting Kaleb not to have moved on, even though she had. That still didn’t stop her from being mad.
Dominique felt something wet drop on her hand. When she lifted it up and wiped it across her face, she realized that she was crying. It was then that she accepted the fact that she cared way more than she put on. It killed her to know that Kaleb was off having fun with another woman. The mere thought of him touching someone else the way that he touched her only a few days prior, had her sick. The way he kissed her, the way he moaned her name when he was just about to cum. How could he profess to love me so much when he clearly loves her? Dominique couldn’t understand what Kaleb was trying to do. Is this all a fucking game?
“You know what, never mind. I’ll find another way to get the money,” she spoke.
“What? Why?” Kaleb was confused.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll find a way,” Dominique told him, not really knowing if she could.
“I don’t understand you, Nikki. It’s not like I lied to you. You knew all about Tiera from the very beginning, so why you tripping? I just don’t get it. You’re mad at me because I’m with my girl, when you got a man…better yet, a fiancé,” Kaleb scoffed. “I’ve tried to get you to leave him and be with me, but you always give me excuse after excuse. It’s like you want me to just sit around and wait until you make up your mind about who you want. Is that it?” he asked. “If not, what exactly is it that you want from me?”
“You want to know what it is that I want from you, Kaleb?”
“Yes, I do—”
“I want you to leave me the fuck alone and lose my number!” Dominique yelled, cutting him off. Before he got a chance to say another word, she disconnected the call and threw her phone into the passenger seat. “Ugh!” she screamed out in frustration.
The rims of her eyes continued to fill with tears and before she knew it, she was bawling. Her shoulders shook violently as she cried hard. Dominique knew that she didn’t really want what she had said to Kaleb, she was just mad. She was mad that he was with someone else. She was mad at how nonchalant he was about it and most of all, she was mad at herself for falling so hard for him once again. In the little time that they had been messing around, things had gotten hectic. She realized that she was playing a dangerous game, one that could destroy the family that meant so much to her. Dominique pulled down her visor and opened the attached mirror. When she saw that her eyes were red and puffy, she felt even worse. There she was crying over a man who was about to go snorkeling with another woman, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Get it together, bitch,” Dominique sniffled. “Get it together.”
After wiping the tears away from her face, she came to a conclusion. She was going to work on her relationship with Deondre. Dominique realized that while she was accusing him of cheating, she was doing the same thing. She wasn’t sure if he really was stepping out on her, or if it was her guilty mind that made her think that he was. Dominique was aware of what she had to do about her Kaleb situation. The only way that she could move on with her life was to let him go, no matter how bad it would hurt. The problem was it easier said than done.
Chapter Seventeen
Shanice examined her face for the hundredth time that day. It had been almost two weeks since her fight with NiChia, and her bruises were all healed, all except for her broken nose. It was still a little swollen and hurt like hell sometimes, but her doctor explained that that would all go back to normal in just a few more weeks. Shanice couldn’t wait until that happened because she was tired of worrying about it. She remembered the punch that caused her nose to break. The cracking sound was something that she would never forget. It hurt so bad, and there was so much blood. Just the thought of it caused Shanice to cringe. Her nose being broken was not even all of her injuries. She walked away from that fight with two black eyes, bruises on her face and back, as well as chunks of her hair pulled out. It was so bad that she was forced to give up her sew-ins and trade them in for a wig, for the time being.
Just thinking about the entire thing had Shanice mad all over again. She was glad that NiChia had gotten arrested and charged with attacking her the way she did. That’s exactly what the bitch deserved. Shanice was already going to go to the police station to press charges after the fight, so when the patrol car pulled into the parking lot, it actually saved her the gas, as well as the time. She laughed when she remembered how much of a show she put on in front of the officers. You would have thought that she was really afraid for her life. She did such a good job that she was giving a temporary restraining order against NiChia. She would have to stay at least a thousand feet away from her, wherever she was at. No more girls’ days I suppose, she snickered to herself. It wasn’t that she really liked them anyway and Dominique kn
ew that.
Dominique knew just how much she and NiChia hated each other, but she always found a way to try to get them together. It was like she liked to see them argue. Then once they got started, she would try to calm them both down, like that was what she really wanted. Their fight was just as much her fault as it was NiChia’s. She knew what kind of person her sister was. Shit, everyone around them knew, that’s why no one wanted to deal with her. It was no secret that NiChia was a ghetto, shit talking, live wire, who fought damn near everyone she came in contact with. She always used the excuse that she got it from her mother, but that was exactly what it was, an excuse. NiChia fought because it was what she liked to do. Unfortunately for her, this time she was going to pay because Shanice had no plans on letting her get away with what she did.
Shanice laughed when she thought about the stupid look on her face when the police officer placed the handcuffs on her. It was comical. She looked like a scared little girl, instead of the Billy Badass she thought she was minutes prior. She thought she was big shit while she was dragging her all around the parking lot by her hair because she had a bunch of spectators watching. Shanice thought about the fact that she had yet to run across the video of the fight and hoped like hell that whoever recorded it kept it to themselves. It was embarrassing to say the least, and she didn’t want anyone seeing it that didn’t have to. She wondered if it did come up, if it could be used as evidence to prosecute NiChia all the way. Since she plead not guilty and was out on bond, Shanice didn’t know how the case would end. She hoped that she would get jail time because that was exactly what she deserved.
“How is your nose feeling, Nicy?” her mother asked as she walked into her bedroom.
Even though Shanice had moved into her own apartment, she still had a place to sleep when she came over to visit her parents. Even London had her own room, which was filled with every single toy her little heart desired. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson loved to spoil their granddaughter, just as they’d spoiled Shanice. Although she was now grown, they still did everything they could to make sure that she didn’t want for anything. With her father, Omar, being a truck driver and away most of the time, he always tried to compensate his absence by giving his daughter everything she wanted and more. Her mother, Mya, who was an elementary school teacher, did the same. What neither of them didn’t realize was that they were creating a monster. They let Shanice get away with everything because in their eyes, she could do no wrong.
“It’s feeling a little better. The doctor said that it should be like new in a few weeks,” Shanice replied as she relayed her doctor’s message.
“Well, I know you’ll be glad. I still can’t believe that damn girl did you like that,” Mrs. Wilson said. When she got the call from her daughter telling her what happened, she was livid. She rushed to the hospital to check on her. “I’m just happy that the baby is alright.”
“Me too.” Shanice smiled, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I was so worried.”
Mrs. Wilson walked over to her daughter. “I know you were baby,” she told her, placing her hand on her shoulder. “Have you talked to Lamar yet?”
“Yeah, he’s glad that the baby is okay too, ma.”
“Baby, are we ever going to meet this guy?” her mother asked. “You guys have been together for almost four years, are expecting your second child, and your father and I still haven’t met him. Is there something you want to tell me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Why haven’t you brought him around to meet us yet?”
Shanice was getting annoyed. She was tired of her mother and everybody else asking her about her baby daddy. It was her business and not theirs. Even though her parents bought London everything and then some, she never asked them for anything for her child because Deondre took care of his daughter. He made sure that she had everything she needed, plus more. He may not be around daily, but he always did his part. Who London’s father was wasn’t any of her mother’s concern. She wanted to tell her that, but held her tongue because she knew better.
“Jesus ma, not this again,” Shanice sighed. “How come we have to have this conversation every time I come over here?”
“Because I want to know what the hell is going on, Shanice!” Mrs. Wilson raised her voice. She had never really yelled at her daughter before, so Shanice knew that she had to be mad, that and the fact that she called her by her full first name. “You come in here and tell me that you’re pregnant for the second time by some guy that I haven’t even met for the first time. Is this man married or something…is that why you are hiding him?”
“No ma, he’s not married.”
“Well, what is it? You are keeping him a secret for a reason, and I want to know what it is!” When her mother walked around and stood directly in front of her with her hands on her hips, Shanice knew she was serious. “I’m not leaving this room until you tell me something.”
“London—”
“She’s napping, so I got plenty of time.”
“It’s complicated.”
Mrs. Wilson reached back and pulled up Shanice’s vanity chair and took a seat.
“Well, un-complicate it.”
Taking a deep breath, Shanice couldn’t believe that she was about to finally tell her mother the truth. She started to make up a lie, but didn’t have the energy to do so. She was tired; tired of all of the secrecy, the lying, and sneaking around. Shanice knew that even after she told her mother her secret, nothing would change. Her mother may have liked Dominique, but she was her child and right or wrong, she always had her back.
“It’s Dre,” she whispered.
“Dre who?” her mother asked with her eyes almost popping out of her head. She knew that her daughter wasn’t talking about who she thought she was talking about.
“Deondre.”
“Oh my God, Shanice! No, not Nikki’s boyfriend,” Mrs. Wilson squealed. “Please tell me that that’s not who you’re talking about.” When Shanice dropped her head, she knew that was exactly who she was referring to.
“Is that why her sister fought you?”
“No, that had nothing to do with our fight.”
Mrs. Wilson raised her eyebrows before she asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes mother.”
“Why would you do that to your best friend?”
“I liked him first!” Shanice yelled. “I liked him since I was younger, and she knew that,” she lied. “She didn’t care, so why would I?”
“You may have liked him baby, but they had a child together.”
“I had one first,” Shanice pouted. She was mad that her mother was taking Dominique’s side. “London is older than DJ,” she said, trying to prove her point.
“Nicy, baby…”
Mrs. Wilson dropped her head in her hands. She was trying to wrap her head around what her daughter had just told her. All this time she and her husband thought that Shanice’s child’s father was some married man. Never in a million years did they think that it would have been someone who had been around for years. Deondre was like family to them, as was Dominique, so to hear that news was definitely a shocker. Mrs. Wilson continued to sit there quiet. She was trying to find the right words to say, but nothing came to her. She was disappointed in her daughter at that moment because Shanice knew better.
“I’m so lost right now,” she said honestly, “and I’m trying to figure out where I went wrong. Your father and I have tried our best to lead by example. We’ve been married since way before you were born. Us being together in the same household is all you know. Still, you end up being some man’s mistress.”
“I’m not his mistress.”
“What do you call it?” When Shanice didn’t say anything, she continued. “Exactly. You can say what you want out of your mouth, but that’s exactly what you are. You just told me that London was born first right?”
“Yeah,” Shanice replied.
“So, if that was the case, why didn’t he sett
le down and be with you? Why is he with Dominique?”
“I don’t know, ma,” she answered truthfully.
Shanice never really knew why Deondre had never left Dominique. When she would ask him about it, he would just skip over the question and move on to something else. Most of the time he would find a way to argue, and she would forget about it all together.
“It’s because he’s using you, baby.” Mrs. Wilson gave her daughter the truth. She was tired of sugar coating things for her. Today she would get a lesson; a lesson that she hoped her child would stick to. “You have two choices. Either he leaves her and be with you, or you leave him alone for good.”
“Ma-”
“Ma my ass!” she yelled. “I’ll be damned if my daughter continues to be some negro’s side piece. He put a ring on her finger, while you’re popping out his damn babies. He’s at home playing daddy to his son. What about London, Shanice?”
“London is well taking care of,” Shanice responded, taking up for Deondre. “He makes sure that she has everything she needs.”
“Besides a daddy,” her mother pointed out. “That baby doesn’t even know who her daddy is. She can’t because it would be too dangerous for her to know. Might mess up what y’all got going. Well, that is no longer happening, so you better give him an ultimatum.”
“You can’t tell me—”
“I can, and I will. Do it, or stay away from here,” Mrs. Wilson demanded. “We didn’t raise you this way, and I’m not going to stand by and allow you to keep playing the fool.”
Shanice didn’t say anything, as he mother got up and pushed her chair back in. She was confused by what had just happened. Her mother was telling her that either Deondre leaves Dominique and be with her, or she can’t be with him anymore. If she decided to continue to creep with him, her mother was basically washing her hands with her. As she watched her mother walk past her and out of her bedroom door without even looking back, she was torn. There was no doubt that she was serious about what she said. Shanice loved Deondre so much, but she also loved her parents. She couldn’t picture her life without either of them, but there was a decision to be made. Either she had to do what her mother had instructed, or cut them out of her life.