Once Upon a Liar

by Elbie Dee

  Oh hey! I’ve been worried about you. And of course! When and where?

  I replied without hesitation, and looked up from my phone to notice my car at the back of a tow truck. The truck stopped when it passed the van, and reversed to let my car down into one of the garages of the shop. I looked back down at my phone, and continued my conversation with Merrisah.

  We texted for over an hour and agreed to meet up later on in the evening. Since my father was still in the shop, I just hoped I’d be able to make it in time for us to link. She said she had a babysitter, but I didn’t know her situation. I wasn’t aware if she could get a sitter another day as the worst case scenario, so I prayed my car would be eligible to drive.

  After my conversation with Merrisah ended, I had to come up with a plan how Brilese was going to find out about Bradson and I. My friendship with Merrisah would surely piss Brilese off, but there wasn’t a way I could think of that would allow Merrisah to inform Brilese. If anything, she’d bring it to her baby daddy’s attention which wouldn’t do any good. I laid my head back in the seat, and closed my eyes to envision a way. Finally, forty minutes later and I had a solution.

  Hey Dez. I need someone to talk to. I have a confession.

  Since Dezire and I had made mends, I knew she would listen to me. I loved Dezire dearly, but she was horrible at keeping secrets. She probably even told Brilese about the promise I asked her to keep about my feelings. Brilese was about to leave Bradson’s lying, cheating and deceitful ass alone, and I’d be able to get her to feel the same about me.

  Ok? Kind of busy right now. We can text though.

  Dezire texted back after ten minutes, and before I saw my dad walking out of the shop doors with my key in his hand. He hopped in the van before saying something about the battery and wires and that I was good to go. Thank goodness. Finally, my day got better.

  I pressed send on the message replying to Dezire, and kissed my daddy’s cheek before grabbing my purse and exiting the vehicle. I shut the passenger’s door, and walked over to his driver’s side where the mechanic parked my car. I had been so into my phone that I didn’t even notice it sitting there until my father pointed. All that mattered is that it was okay to drive, and just in time for my plan to take effect.

  What the FUCK is wrong with you!? [picture message]

  After I was in the driver’s seat of my car and started my ignition, I noticed the text notification from Dezire after I informed her that Bradson was in my pussy earlier that day. I quickly unlocked my screen and opened her message to see what image she had sent. My eyes widened, my blood began to boil, and steam blew from my ears as my body grew tense.

  “FUCKKK!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I gripped my steering wheel. There he was, on his knee… putting a fucking ring on my woman’s finger.

  14

  Brilese

  Three months later

  “Are you ready for the big day?” Dezire asked me after we checked into one of the rooms at The Hilton. Since both of us were employees, the hotel manager allowed us a room for free when he found out the occasion of the stay.

  “Yes!” I replied excitingly, before I poured a glass of champagne for the both of us, and toasted to my celebration.

  Three months had passed since Bradson proposed to me at The Pump House. I knew the moment we pulled up to the fancy, five star place that something was up. Honestly, I didn’t think it was a proposal since both Dezire, and my two children were joining us. I thought it was something extremely nice he was doing out of an appreciation for me. I figured somehow he asked Dezire to tag along as a thank you for her helping us with the children from time to time. I was so wrong.

  * * *

  Bradson got home around three thirty in the afternoon the Saturday he was supposed to be going to check on his car. When he walked in the house, he met me in the kitchen just as I pulled the marinated whole chicken from the fridge.

  “Baby, we’re going out to eat tonight. Save that for tomorrow night,” he whispered in my ear after he hugged me from the back, and kissed me on my cheek.

  “What? Okay. No cooking for me. Besides, it gives the chicken another day to soak in all the delicious flavors,” I replied and cut my eyes back toward him. I pulled the seran wrap from the cabinet to grip a fresh piece around the large bowl the chicken was in.

  I wasn’t opposing Bradson’s offer one bit! I had been cooking, working and cleaning for months since the last time we went out for dinner. Normally, I’d put on a nice pair of jeans and classy top, matched with a pair of Sperry’s or Clark’s to give myself a casual but classy look. Bradson told me he had to step out again to go and get a Redbox movie for when we got back home. Before he left for the second time, he told me it was best for me to dress to impress.

  I could feel the roses form upon my cheeks as he winked at me before he walked out of the door. Dress to impress? My heart skipped a beat as I thought about being with a faithful man again. He barely ever did things out of guilt, so I knew that wasn’t the case. After five years of so much bullshit, I was starting to see the rainbow he used to always tell me about when he was doing his dirty shit.

  “Karleiyah! Zirko!” I yelled to my kids from the kitchen, after I placed the bowl with the whole chicken back in the fridge. I repeated myself once more before the both of them heard me over their blaring television.

  “Yes?” Karleiyah replied, after they both rushed to meet me in the kitchen.

  “I need you both to put on church clothes. We’re going to some place nice,” I informed them. If I would have told them to dress to impress, I would have had to explain what that meant. Church clothes were the easier form of words when dealing with a now eight, and six year old.

  “Okay!” Karleiyah replied before grabbing her brother by his hand, and pulling him behind her to head back into their bedroom. She always has been a diva, and honestly, was extremely well at styling for her age. I knew I could count on her to get herself and her brother dressed in an outfit which was comparable, if not better than what I would have chosen for them to wear.

  After they were set with instructions, I walked into the hall and opened the linen closet to pull out a washcloth and towel. Once they were in my hands, I did a three-sixty turn and walked straight into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. After I rested the cloth and towel on top of the closed toilet seat, I stood straight which led me to stare at myself in the mirror.

  I looked flawless for a change. My skin was smooth, as it was masked with a soft glow. My eyes were no longer permanently swollen, from crying all day, everyday. My cheeks became full again, and weren’t so skinny that I could see the outline to my cheekbones anymore. Even my teeth were a brighter white, as opposed to the stained color from all of the chain smoking I used to do. Finally, I was happy. I was myself again, and didn’t have to force myself to smile.

  The happiness in my soul made me chuckle a little bit, before I took my eyes from the mirror and walked toward the tub to let the shower on. Once the temperature was good and steamy, I slid the curtains along the rod until the water was unable to escape. I slid my black, Adidas activewear shorts from my waistline, and inched my feet out once they dropped to my ankles. Wanting to make it in the water before the steam started settling, I latched onto the bottom of my white wife-beater and flung it to the floor. I slid my body in between the curtain and the wall of the shower, and let a deep breath release once the hot water began to make my skin tingle.

  I was finished with my shower in thirty minutes, which on a normal day it would take at least an hour. I was eager to see what was planned for the evening, so I washed up as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I was fully rinsed, and reached down to turn the lever to the water off. I snatched the curtain back, and lifted my leg before placing it on the floor mat and followed my other leg. I grabbed the towel off of the top of the toilet, and dried my body before letting my hair hang after I tilted my head forward. I removed the towel from around my waist, and tightly twirled my hair
before standing back up, and letting the towel rest in between my shoulder blades.

  “I’m running to my room! Don’t look!” I cracked the bathroom door open and shouted to my kids. I was in such a rush that I forgot to grab two towels; one for my hair and one for my body.

  I peeked my head out of the door and looked into the kids room to see if they were looking. I knew they heard my suggestion because they weren’t a peek within the doorway. I ran my naked ass out of the bathroom, and to the right until I reached my bedroom.

  I walked over to my closet after I closed the door, and pulled the skin tight, flow dress from the rod. The sunlight poked through the black fabric as I held it up in front of me. The spaghetti straps and v-neck cut screamed out the word sexy, but the knee length slit on the right side and loose waist made it whisper classy. It was the best of both worlds. I knew once I matched the dress with my Valentino Garavani sandal heels on that all eyes would be on me.

  I carefully laid the dress on top of my neatly pressed, blue flowered quilt before I opened the other closet six feet apart from the one with all of my dress clothes. I kneeled down and gripped the shoe box that was at the very bottom of the four box high column. After pulling the box from its place, I opened it and searched each shoe to make sure there weren’t any scuffs from where I danced my ass off at Karleiyah’s school dance. Just as I suspected, the heels looked brand new. I placed them at the bottom of my bed to line them with the dress to be sure they matched.

  “Perfect,” I whispered.

  I patted my body to be sure it was dried completely. After not feeling one drip of water on my body, I walked toward the bottom of the bed until I reached my dresser along the wall. I was feeling sexy and admirable, so I needed a good scent that fit with my attitude. I browsed through the twenty five lotion bottles and pulled the one I knew would fit best. Twilight Woods, by Bath & Body Works, had a seductive but feminine scent and I knew it would scream, fuck me.

  I bit my lip as I grabbed the lotion from the top of my dresser, and took a few steps back toward my bed. I sat my ass cheeks halfway off of the bed, and squeezed a palm size of lotion into my hand. From my neck on down, I began to moisturize every inch of my body… stopping every one-third to fill my palm with lotion again. I stood up from the bed and onto my two feet to finish the moisturization by rubbing the rest of what I held into the skin of each ass cheek.

  I waited about two minutes for the lotion to set in before grabbing my dress from the bed. I removed it from the hanger, and held it upside down so I could put my head through and pull it down over my body. It was a little bit tighter than what I remembered, but my couple pounds of weight gain allowed it to hug my body perfectly. Since I couldn’t wear any undergarments without having the prints show through the dress, I tightened each spaghetti strap. I walked over to the mirror sitting on the dresser to make sure my tits looked as good as they felt.

  “Oooh,” I said aloud. The fabric from the dress snatched around my waist, and allowed my tits to look a size fuller.

  Confident with my outfit, I walked back over toward the bed and took a seat before lifting one of the heels off of the floor. I placed my right leg over my left knee as I slid my foot into the shoe, and strapped the belt tightly around my ankle. After I was sure my foot wouldn’t slide, I let my right foot back down on the hardwood floor, and repeated the same motions with the other side.

  After standing up once both shoes were secure around my ankles, I stumbled before quickly catching my balance. It had been so long since I wore any type of leveled shoe, so I almost forgot that I couldn’t walk like I would with sneakers or sandals. Tightening my abdomen, and then walking one foot ahead of the other, I began to stride around the room until I was comfortable in them. I loved the way I felt on my feet, and cloud nine was an understatement.

  “Woah! Mommy!” Zirko exclaimed after I walked to the hallway from the bedroom, and he saw me from where he was coming around the corner from the kitchen.

  “Woah is right!” Karleiyah’s nosy self came rushing from her bedroom, and extended the compliments.

  “And you two look gorgeous!” I complimented them both. Karleiyah did an awesome job getting them ready. Zirko wore his cognac colored loafers, with a pair of black slacks and a belt which held the tucked in tan, white and black plaid shirt. My daughter dressed herself in her polyester soft pink dress that had three quarter sleeves with a belt wrapping around her torso. She decided to match her outfit with her Clark’s, and the gold necklace and bracelet I bought her which had her name engraved on a gold plate. She looked stunning, and my son looked like a gentleman; I was proud of the little fashionista I was raising.

  “I’ll do your hair when I’m done with mine,” I kneeled to Karleiyah’s height and informed her. She wasn’t quite ready to do her hair on her own yet, so she nodded to my offer. “And I’ll make yours look nice and smooth,” I continued, after I moved my body to be able to look Zirko in his eyes. He smiled, and I stood up straight before taking a few steps into the bathroom.

  Squatting down in front of the cabinet under the sink, I pulled both my hair dryer, and my curling iron from inside. After having each in my hand, I shut the cabinet and stood up to face the mirror. I unraveled both cords from around the items, and plugged both into the outlet on the wall directly to my right. I made sure the temperature was at the highest setting before I pressed the button to turn the hair dryer on. I leaned my head back, and motioned the dryer back and forth until my head was thoroughly dried.

  With twenty minutes of blow drying, the curling iron was at its maximum temperature by the time I was finished. I placed the dryer on the sink’s vanity, and began to create large curls in my long brown hair. Since I didn’t want the curls to be tight, I was finished with the style in twenty five minutes. I replaced the dryer’s place with the curling iron, allowing it time to cool. I wrapped the cord back around the dryer, and squatted again to put it back in its place inside of the cabinet.

  Once I stood facing the mirror again, I picked up the Rave hairspray sitting on the vanity, and sprayed my hair enough for the style to stick; too much would make my hair stiff, and I needed my hair to flow through the wind. After I finished my look off with a gold eyeshadow, mascara and a light pink gloss, I called for Karleiyah to join me in the bathroom.

  She brushed her hair constantly, so I never had to worry about knots. Her long black hair had a natural curl, so a little bit of gel and a soft brush to slick it back into a ponytail was all it needed. Zirko stood in the doorway watching us. OnceI was finished with her, I reached over and swept the soft brush across the top of Zirko’s low cut to make him feel included.

  Knock! Knock!

  “Coming!” I screamed, and nudged both kids out of the way so I could see who was at my house.

  “Hey babe!” Dezire said, as she stood on the last step after I opened the front door.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?” I asked, eager to hear her excuse. She was one of the few who knew I hated unexpected pop-ups.

  “Bradson knocked on my door, and asked me to bring you and the kids to meet him at the restaurant,” she cheesed as she informed me. He knew where she lived from the time I invited him there, but why would he go out of the way to do something like this?

  “Okay,” I replied confusingly. I opted out of asking why, and decided I would go with the flow.

  “And damn girl! You look hot!” Dezire complimented, after looking up and down at me three times.

  I thanked her for her words, and all four of us loaded her vehicle. I was quiet as we drove down the streets of Rock Hill. I stared out of the window the entire time, as sweat formed in my palm from gripping my gold clutch that sat in my lap. I was nervous, and excited all at the same time. I didn’t know what to expect, but when I saw our location from noticing my car in the parking lot of The Pump House, my anxiety flared and my heart began to beat rapidly.

  I pulled myself together, and we all got out of the car to go inside. We were met on the ot
her side of the entrance door with a young man I assumed to be the host. Dezire informed him that we were there to meet someone who had a reservation for five. The host nodded his head, and directed past a few two seaters, and around the corner where I saw Bradson standing in a tuxedo… holding a dozen of fresh roses in front of his wide smile.

  “Oh my gosh,” I whispered as I began to tear. I looked down at my kids who were staring back up at me. From their smiles and rose cheeks, I picked up on the feel of them being just as happy as me.

  I snapped myself out of shock, and led the way toward the table with Dezire and the kids following behind me. The most passionate kiss is what I planted on my man’s lips, after he reached the roses away from him until I accepted them. After the minute long kiss was done, I stared into his eyes and noticed him getting teary eyed.

  “You look sexy as fuck!” he whispered into my ear after bringing me into his arms, and as the kids were distracted by the concentration of them getting into their seats.

  I chuckled, and joined Bradson on his end of the table. Dezire was at the end, and the kids were on the opposite side of us. We laughed, we ate, and I drank three glasses of Cabernet Sovereign. We were having the best time of our life as a family. The kids were behaving exceptionally well, which made Bradson offer them dessert. When the waiter approached, he ordered them two slices of cheesecake. Dezire, Bradson and I all opted out of the sweets.

  The waiter walked away from the table after writing the order on his pad. Five minutes later, he approached the table, but with three desserts in his hand instead of two. He put one slice of cheesecake in front of each of the kids, and placed a Tiramisu in front of me. I tried telling him there was a mistake on the order, but he ignored me and walked away smiling instead. I looked around at the table and everyone was staring at me, smiling at the confused expression on my face.