Marriage Mayhem

by Samuel L. Hair

  When the Siordias arrived, Karen was not impressive to them. After the Siordias introduced themselves, Karen turned up her nose and then pointed to the crib where the baby was, and then seated herself at the computer. The entire while the Siordias were there, Karen ignored them and acted as if they were invisible and displayed no hospitality whatsoever.

  After picking up the baby, Mrs. Siordia realized that his Pamper was completely soaked and offered to change him. Karen tried defending herself.

  “The Pampers are upstairs in the bedroom on the right. I just changed him not too long ago, he must have just pissed again,” lied Karen.

  I wish these uppity bean-eating muthafuckas would hurry up and leave. The nerve of them to act like they’re so goddamn important.

  Since Karen was not courteous enough to offer him a glass of water, Mr. Siordia walked to the fridge to serve himself. Afterward, he seated himself at the dining room table.

  Before the Siordias arrived, Karen had been sorting through some old papers and letters, and had not realized that she had left her prison ID lying on the table where Mr. Siordia was sitting. Being the inquisitive man that he was, he spotted it and stared at it a few moments, and then sneakily slipped it into his shirt pocket. Karen was still pretending to be busy on the computer.

  At that moment Mrs. Siordia returned, smiling, holding the baby, but Mr. Siordia was furious and ready to leave.

  “Let’s go, Cecelia. We have a very busy day ahead of us,” said Mr. Siordia. They then gave the baby a kiss and said good-bye to Karen and Alexus.

  Karen slammed the door behind them.

  After leaving the residence, Mr. Siordia pulled the prison ID out of his pocket and showed it to his wife.

  “Oh, my God. My grandbaby is in the care of a prisoner.”

  “A prisoner is someone who’s in prison, Cecilia. She wouldn’t be considered a prisoner, but the fact of the matter is that she has been to prison, and this is our evidence. I’ll notify our lawyer right away about this. As I see it, we shouldn’t have a problem getting legal custody of our grandchild. I’m going to have our lawyer find out exactly what she went to prison for, and also have him dig up everything about her background. I bet this woman has enough dirt on her to open a cemetery,” said Mr. Siordia.

  The following day, Karen stumbled across her son, Marvin, while at a liquor store. She felt that now was as good of time as any to have a good, sensible, mother-to-son talk with him.

  “Hi, baby,” Karen said excitedly, and then embraced him with a long hug.

  “What’s up?” Marvin replied, emotionless.

  Seeing her triggered sudden thoughts of him being placed in a foster home, then being raised by his aunt, and then not being allowed to talk to or see his father. He then abruptly thought about the times he’d seen his mother smoke cocaine and act violently toward him. He thought about the many times he had witnessed different men enter his mother’s bedroom without speaking to him or even looking his way. Those thoughts generated Marvin’s sudden attitude.

  “You’ve gotten so tall, and so manly looking,” Karen said, examining her son.

  “Yeah, I guess,” replied Marvin, dryly.

  Then out of the blue Karen began lecturing him on right and wrong and the things he should be trying to do with his life.

  “Jewell told me that you’ve been selling dope and that you’ve joined a gang. I didn’t raise you like that, Marvin, and I—”

  “What the fuck are you talkin’ about!” snapped Marvin. “You didn’t raise me period, and I hope you don’t expect me to call you Mama! You were never a mother to me! You were too damn busy smoking crack and fucking every Tom, Dick, and Harry that offered you a fuckin’ hit! I hate you! I fucking hate you so much that I could beat your ass right this minute for sending me through the bullshit you sent me through!”

  Standing face-to-face with the woman he blamed for his unfortunate upbringing made Marvin want to go ballistic on her that very moment. For so long he had wanted to voice how he really felt to her about things, and even though this was not planned, it was the perfect time.

  The loud, harsh words coming from both of them had attracted a crowd of people that watched and listened, and even began giving their opinions about what was being said.

  “You got a lot of goddamn nerves!” yelled Marvin, standing eye to eye with his mother.

  “Boy, I’m still your mother regardless of what I did in the past, and you show me some respect and lower your damn voice, or I’m gonna—”

  “You’re gonna do what? You’re gonna whip me with an extension cord again! Or are you gonna throw a toaster at me again! Oh, I know, you’re gonna hit me with a baseball bat again, huh! I ain’t that little boy anymore that you used to treat so badly! You can’t make me stand in the corner with my nose touching the wall for hours and hours anymore! You can’t tell me to go inside the closet while you take a hit of crack anymore! I hate you! I fuckin’ hate you! You ain’t my mama, and you never was my mama! Why didn’t you let my father come and see me, and why didn’t you give me his phone number so I could call him, or why didn’t you tell me where he lived?” His fists were balled as he released tons of anger.

  At that moment, Stevie and Alexus got out of the car and ran inside the store. Marvin gave them an evil look.

  “And those bastards, I’ll bet they don’t even know who their real father is!”

  “I can’t believe that you have grown up to be so damn disrespectful, Marvin.”

  “You never taught me respect, so how in the hell do you expect me to respect you!”

  She felt so embarrassed and humiliated that she regretted ever seeing him. The crowd felt like they were watching a drama television program.

  Karen tried to switch conversations and to reason with Marvin. She attempted to explain what type of man his father really was, but Marvin did not believe her.

  “Because of you and your bullshit, I don’t have a fuckin’ father! The closest thing I had to a father figure was Uncle Bobby, and everyone knows that he’s a piece of shit. Now listen, bitch, don’t knock what I’m doing, I’m just doing what I gotta do to survive, and besides, you didn’t teach me any fuckin’ better! You were a prostitute, a crackhead, and a sorry example for a mother! I hope you die! I fuckin’ hate you, and hope you die!” he yelled furiously, not caring what people thought of him cursing his mother.

  Karen responded by quoting Bible scriptures.

  “A child is supposed to obey, love, and respect his parents. A child who disrespects his parents, days will be shortened.”

  “Every time you get out of jail you start reciting that Bible stuff, then a few weeks later you’re either back on crack or back on the streets selling pussy! You can’t tell me a goddamn thing, so don’t even try it. God knows that you’re a faker, and the whole family knows it too! You ain’t foolin’ nobody but your goddamn self! Now get the hell outta my face before I knock the shit outta you!” he yelled, pushing her aside. He then climbed into his car and sped off.

  Chapter 24

  After showering and changing clothes, Maria then placed an abrupt call to Jermaine’s house, wanting to hear Karen’s voice, but unluckily no one answered. She did not bother leaving a message simply because she was not sure that Karen was living with him. There’s one way to find out, Maria thought, smiling, as she dug through a box for a letter with Jermaine’s address on it.

  At 5:00 a.m. the following morning, Maria was parked a couple houses away from Jermaine’s residence in her mother’s car. She had stolen her mother’s keys out of her purse and hoped to be back before she awakened. She planned to call her father later and tell him that she needed another car.

  She waited impatiently, hoping that within a couple hours or so Jermaine would leave for work, and then she could reunite with Karen. Thinking about Karen’s touch, the way she licked her and kissed her, the way they made love to one another caused her to get wet between her legs. I’ll get her back if she’s here, Maria thought. I still
love her, and I know deep down inside she still loves me too. We’re going to get married and live happily ever after just like we planned.

  At 7:30 Maria observed Jermaine getting into his car. “That’s him,” she said out loud, staring at his picture.

  Sneakily, while in prison, Maria had intercepted several letters and pictures from the guard that were addressed to Karen while she was asleep so she knew exactly how he looked, and by her many conversations with Karen she knew what kind of vehicles he drove.

  After warming his vehicle a few minutes, Jermaine then drove off.

  “Yes!” whispered Maria.

  It seemed like it had been a hundred years since she had last seen, kissed, or made love to Karen. She felt that even though there had been a large gap between her prison release, her promises, and the present, that she was still capable of winning Karen’s confidence. All she needed was a few seconds, and then everything would fall back into place.

  She glanced at the envelope and then proceeded to the address. Parked in the circular driveway to the address was a Beamer, a Lexus truck, a 5.0 Mustang, and a 1957 convertible Chevrolet Impala. This has to be the right house, Maria thought. I remember her telling me that he has money, expensive taste, and that he doesn’t mind spending on something he really wants. From the looks of these cars, this definitely has to be his house.

  She rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for her lover to appear. A few seconds later, she knocked again and rang the doorbell simultaneously.

  “Who is it?” asked Karen, peeping through the peephole.

  “It’s me, Maria.” She was smiling and waving her hand into the peephole. She felt like she had just won the lottery.

  Karen opened the door with Stevie and Alexus at her side.

  “Hi, stranger,” greeted Karen, holding the door open.

  “I can explain, baby, I—” Maria felt that she owed Karen an immediate explanation.

  Stevie gave Maria a disapproving look, and then looked curiously at his mother. He was not accustomed to hearing another woman call his mother baby. Reading his expression, Karen quickly introduced them, and then suggested that Stevie go clean himself up and get ready for school, and that Alexus go upstairs and watch cartoons.

  Suddenly Jermaine Jr. started crying, but like always Karen ignored him and pretended that he did not exist.

  “That was pretty quick for you to be having a baby,” said Maria sarcastically, hoping to get a rapid, acceptable answer for the baby’s presence.

  “You’re in no position to be prying, Maria. You lied to me, misled me, made promises that you had no intentions of keeping. What really fucked me up was you swayed me away from my husband to deceive me, and like a fool I fell for it. Why? If all you wanted was a prison relationship, then that’s all you had to say in the beginning. I wouldn’t have had a problem with that at all, but you had to go and deceive me.”

  Maria touched Karen’s lips with her index finger.

  “Sheeeee,” Maria whispered. Then she boldly drew Karen near her and began French kissing her while caressing her. Then she began fingering her pussy and playing with her clitoris. Karen was so heated and so deeply into the pleasure that she didn’t care if Jermaine or her kids walked in on her. This was a feeling that no one else had ever given her but Maria.

  The baby’s cries suddenly got louder, irritating the hell out of Karen. Realizing she had to first deal with the baby in order to get some exceptional pleasure, Karen pulled away and suggested that Maria have a seat.

  “Stevie,” Karen yelled. “Give that brat his goddamn bottle before I strangle him!”

  “I’m brushing my teeth, Mama.”

  “Alexus, bring that boy’s bottle here so I can put some damn milk in it.”

  “Okay, Mommy,” replied Alexus. She was always grateful to be of help, especially when it came to assisting with the baby.

  An hour later Stevie had gone to school and Alexus had fallen asleep watching cartoons. The baby wasn’t asleep, but the good thing was that he was not crying.

  Karen and Maria had began kissing again and were both soon naked.

  “Out of curiosity, how did you know where to find me?” asked Karen, as Maria’s tongue began exploring her wet, hot pussy.

  “I’ll tell you later, not now, baby,” whispered Maria, aiming to please.

  Without getting out of rhythm, Karen eased up and grabbed a remote control and turned on the DVD player.

  “We had made plans to watch pornos while doing it,” said Karen, smiling.

  “Yes, you’re right, baby. Actually, we’ve made lots of plans,” Maria whispered, and then suddenly climbed on top and began rubbing her pussy against Karen’s. She prided herself on “what women want and exactly how they wanted it.”

  A few minutes into their sex session, Jermaine Jr. had began crying again.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Karen yelled. She despised him even more for screwing up her and her lover’s rhythm.

  “Damn, I wish his fuckin’ grandparents would keep him! He’s not my son, and I’ll never treat him like he is. I hate that crying brat,” she said.

  “Fuck him. I hope he cries till he dies,” replied Maria. Then she thoughtfully said, “You know, there are ways of getting rid of him.”

  They looked at one another, smiling, and then continued their lovemaking.

  The rendezvous between the secret lovers became quite frequent. Each day after Stevie left for school, Maria entered Jermaine’s home welcomed by Karen’s open arms.

  The encounters with Karen were extremely pleasurable and meaningful to Maria, but her mind was still not quite diverted from drugs. She had tricked her father into believing that she was off drugs and that she had completely cut loose all the bad company that she associated with.

  “I’m pleased by whatever makes you happy, Maria. All I really want is for you to leave the drugs alone so that you can excel in life. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and no one can make it to the top without determination and a positive mind,” is what her father had told her.

  The following day he bought her a convertible Saab.

  One weekend, Jermaine had suggested that he and Karen barbeque and invite over Jewell and her family.

  While Karen and Jewell were in the kitchen seasoning and grilling the meats and the kids were outside playing, Jermaine and Bobby were watching a Lakers game. Jermaine was sipping a wine cooler and Bobby was already on his second bottle of Seagram’s gin.

  Observing Jermaine’s home, Bobby began talking.

  “Man, you got it going on, Jermaine. I mean, if I were you, man, I wouldn’t even have a bitch living with me, especially a bitch like Karen. Man, you can have your choice of hoes, you know what I’m saying? I would have a different bitch over here every day, man. You’ve got a variety of nice cars, you got money, you’re smart, you own real estate and shit, man, ain’t no way in hell I would have a bitch living with me. To tell you the truth, homey, I don’t even see how you sleep with the bitch.”

  Realizing that Bobby was already getting drunk and could not hold his liquor, Jermaine did not comment on his statements.

  Karen and Jewell then suddenly appeared and seated themselves next to their husbands. The liquor caused Bobby to continue talking, and by now his speech was slurred.

  “Somebody’s gotta explain why I ain’t got shit! Hell, I’m a man, I was born right here in the United muthafuckin’ States, and I bleed and shit just like the next man, somebody gotta explain why I ain’t got shit!”

  “That’s easy,” Karen said. “It’s because you don’t want shit, and you are shit! I just don’t understand why you even married this sorry, raggedy, worthless man, Jewell,” replied Karen, after taking a sip of Martel.

  “Just like I can’t figure out what in the hell a man like Jermaine see in your stanky ass! The only thing I can figure out is that the nigga is hooked on the way you suck dick. Four of my homeboys told me that you suck a good dick, and I know that’s the only reason this nigga is h
olding on to you. Yeah, bitch, you made me go there, so take it like a true ho.”

  “Bobby!” yelled Jewell, hoping he would shut up. “Stop it!”

  “She started it. Me and Jermaine was just sittin’ here chillin’, and this slut just had to say somethin’.”

  “Fuck you, Bobby! You don’t have shit, you won’t ever have shit, and you’ll always be a piece of shit,” said Karen.

  “That’s all right. At least I don’t suck dick and eat pussy for a living. I’d rather be without, than to do the shit that you’ve done. Bitch, you got a bad history behind you, and to tell you the truth, I think you’re taking up space on earth and you’d be better off dead.”

  “Not again,” said Jermaine. “Can we all just get along and have a good, peaceful time today?”

  Karen would not be quiet.

  “Your mama is a bitch and she’d be better off dead, you ugly, piece-of-shit muthafucka!”

  “My mama, aw, you’ve fucked up now, bitch! I have told you about talking about my mama!” yelled Bobby. Then he stood and tried to grab Karen, but like a cowboy drawing his gun, Karen whipped out a box cutter from her pocket and cut Bobby twice across his chest before he even realized it.

  Seeing blood pour from her husband’s wounds, Jewell fearlessly grabbed Karen, causing her to drop the box cutter, and then began beating the hell out of her.

  “You cut my husband, bitch! He might be nothing to you, but he’s still the father of my kids, and he’s my fuckin’ husband!” said Jewell, while socking Karen in the eye and several times in the head. Then she put a choke hold on her.

  Jermaine stood bewildered for a few moments before moving to help Karen.

  “Nigga, if you touch my wife, I’m kickin’ your ass,” said Bobby, looking at his bloody shirt.

  Suddenly, Stevie and the other kids walked inside.

  “Let her go!” yelled Stevie. “Let my mama go, Auntie!”

  “Let that heffa go, baby. Get the kids together and let’s get the fuck outta here before I kill this bitch!” suggested Bobby. Seconds later, they were gone.