by Cachet
“Yes, I told you I have to get home.” Dominique made her way over to her purse, and picked up her phone. Her heart dropped once she unlocked it. There were eighteen missed calls from Deondre, four from her grandmother, and five voicemails. “Shit!” Dominique said, going to visual voicemail. Please God, don’t let anything be wrong with my son.
“Calm down-” Kaleb started, but she lifted her finger, letting him know that she needed a minute. Tapping the first message, she put her phone to her ear and listened.
MESSAGE 1: “Hello?” Silence. “Nikki, are you there?” Click.
MESSAGE 2: “Nikki… pick up the phone, it’s important. I need you, baby.” Click
MESSAGE 3: Man, I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, but you need to either pick up or call me back ASAP. Shit is important right now! I’m losing my mind over here.
MESSAGE 4: (crying) What the fuck, man! This is how you gone play me right now? I’m calling you ‘cause some shit went down with Dwight and here you go sending me to voicemail because you out here doing some fuck shit! Keep doing whatever it is that you doing. Fuck you, for real. You ain’t even gotta call me back. I’m cool on yo’ ass!” Click
MESSAGE 5: Hey baby, this your grandma. Dre has been calling here back to back since the wee hours of the morning looking for you. Something happened with his uncle, Dwight, and from what I’ve been told, he didn’t make it. Don’t worry about DJ because he’s with me. Dre’s mother dropped him off a few hours ago. I hope everything is okay with you. I’ve never had to call you this many times. Call me when you get this message, baby. Grandma loves you.
Dominique exited out of her voicemail and went to her call log. She tapped Deondre’s name and put the phone to her ear. As she waited for him to answer, she bit down on her bottom lip. She was nervous and didn’t know what to expect when he answered. It rang three times before she heard a click. The sound let her know that Deondre had sent her to the voicemail. Dominique stood in the middle of the floor and called a few more times, only to receive the same result. On her fifth call, she decided that she was going to just leave a voicemail, letting him know just how sorry she was. Just when she thought the call was about to roll over, she heard the sound of Deondre’s voice.
“What the fuck you want?”
“Dre, I’m sorry,” Dominique started. “My phone was on vibrate and I didn’t hear it going off. I’m on my way home right now, to be there for you. I’m sorry to hear about Dwight. Do you need me to meet you somewhere—”
“I don’t need you to do shit,” he told her coldly. “Stay where the fuck you at, because I know you’re not at your grandmother’s house. Just leave me the fuck alone, Nikki!”
“I’m with Peanut.” Dominique lied, “Plus, I said I was sorry for not hearing my phone—”
“Did you hear me, bitch? I asked you to leave me the fuck alone!”
“Dre! Dre!” she yelled before she realized that he had already hung up.
Dominique stared at her cell in complete shock. Her knees immediately felt weak. She grabbed a hold onto the arm of the couch, so that she wouldn’t crumble to the floor. What the hell have I done? Leaning over, she tried her best to catch her breath, but it was hard. She knew he would be upset, but never so much that he would call her out her name. Even then, she understood why he did. Deondre had always been there when she needed him, but when he needed her the most, she was nowhere to be found. She had left him to deal with the death of his uncle on his own. Dominique couldn’t even imagine how bad Deondre felt. He was extremely close to his uncle, even closer than he was with his father, and he was a mess when he died. Not only that, but he knew that she hadn’t stayed at Franny’s house. It was more than likely because his mother had dropped DJ off there. Dominique was sure her messy ass asked about her whereabouts while she was there; especially when she didn’t see her car parked out front. How could I have been so stupid? If I would have taken my ass home, I would have been there for him.
“Is everything okay?” Kaleb asked when he saw the saddened look on her face.
“Dre’s uncle died early this morning,” she told him flatly.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I gotta go.” Dominique grabbed her purse off the table and headed towards the door.
“I know you’re in a rush, but drive safe and call me once you get there, so I know you made it!” Kaleb called out after her.
Dominique was in the process of sliding on her shoes when she stopped in her tracks. She turned around slowly. When she was facing him, she brought her eyes up and looked him dead in his. She was mad that she had fucked up and was looking for someone to blame. Since Kaleb was the only person there at the time, she decided that he would do.
“If you had woken me up like you promised, instead of acting like fucking Aunt Jemima in the damn kitchen, I probably could have been there for him.”
“Wait, are you blaming me for this?” Kaleb questioned in shock. “You can’t be serious right now.
“I’m dead ass. It’s your fault. I told you I had to go home last night, but you just had to have me stay here!”
“Look, just go ahead on home. I’m not about to argue with you over some dumb shit.” Kaleb waved her off. “Just close my door behind you.” He told her, making his way into the kitchen.
Kaleb snatched open the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade off of one of the bottom rack. After twisting off the top, he leaned his head back and took a large gulp. Once his thirst was quenched, he put the cap back on and slammed the bottle against the counter. Kaleb was hot as fish grease and Dominique didn’t know it, but she really had him fucked up for real. She wasn’t going to lay her guilt trip on him. He did nothing wrong. Kaleb knew he didn’t make her spend the night. Yeah, he may have persuaded her a little bit after he got out of the shower, but she was free to go whenever she felt like it. She was the one who decided to stay the night. Now that her ass was in hot water, she was looking for someone to blame. Although she didn’t know it, Kaleb heard the entire conversation she had with her dude. He heard the way he called her out her name and saw how Dominique reacted afterwards. The fact that she continued to call out to him even after he called her a bitch, let Kaleb know that Dominique was cool with her situation. In Kaleb’s mind, no matter how angry you get, you should never disrespect your woman and mother of your child.
The sound of footsteps could be heard on the tiled floor. Kaleb gritted his teeth when he realized that she was walking around his house with her shoes on. Dominique knew how he felt about that, and the fact that she was doing it anyway made him ready for her to go.
“Don’t fucking walk away from me!” Dominique yelled from behind him.
She was upset that he had told her to get out. While she was mad about spending the night and waking up later than expected, deep down she knew that it was she who was to blame. With Deondre being mad at her, she had to take her frustrations out on someone. She was only planning to yell at Kaleb and tell him that they needed to take a break. Never in a million years did she expect him to flip on her.
“What do you want?” Kaleb asked, turning around. “What the fuck do you want from me? I told you that you can leave, yet you’re still here wanting to fight. Can’t you see that don’t want to argue with you? Don’t you have some place to be? Go to your nigga and console him. Didn’t his uncle just die? Get the fuck outta here, man, with this dumb ass shit!” He yelled letting his anger get the best of him.
Dominique stared at him as if he were a stranger. The guy standing across from her was not the Kaleb that she knew. “You can kiss my ass,” was all she could say. With tears running down her face, she thought about all that she had sacrificed to be with him.
He shrugged his shoulders. “You know what, so be it. I don’t want to fight with you, Nikki. Take yo’ ass home where you wanna be. I don’t have to deal with this shit.”
“I don’t either!” she yelled.
“Well, why the fuck are you still here then? Just leave!” Ka
leb roared. “Take your ass back to the door and walk out of it.”
“Now, you want me to leave. Last night you were begging me to stay,” Dominique snorted.
“Well, I fucked up,” Kaleb admitted. “You’re right, I should have let you take yo’ ass on home last night. In fact, I should have never even asked you to come yesterday. Ain’t no pussy worth all this.” He knew he was hitting below the belt, but he didn’t care. She had hurt his feelings repeatedly, and now it was her turn to see what it felt like.
Dominique stared at him with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe that he had just said something like that to her. “What is wrong with you, Kaleb? What have I ever done to you?”
“Are you kidding me right now, Nikki?”
“No, I want to know why you’re so angry?”
“You wanna know why I’m so angry?” He paused, “I’m angry because of you. You play games all the fucking time and expect me to just be cool with it. Do you ever stop to think about how I feel?” When Kaleb saw Dominique drop her eyes, he continued. “I know you don’t because you’re so fucking selfish. All you care about is Dominique. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters… fuck everybody else.” Turning away, he leaned his head back and tried to stop his eyes from watering. Kaleb was usually a pretty strong dude, but it was something about Dominique that always broke him down.
“I’ve told you time and time again that I wanted to be with you and only you, but apparently you don’t want that. No, you’d rather be indecisive as fuck. One day you want me, and the next you want him. You wanna keep yo’ nigga and have me on the side and available when it suits you.” He laughed. “I lost my girl chasing after yo’ ass, and I’m man enough to admit that I fucked up. I pushed her away because I was too busy trying to make sure that you were happy. So, it’s killing me to see you sitting here in my face talking mad shit because I asked you to spend the night, after not seeing you for weeks.” Tears fell from Kaleb’s eyes, but he didn’t care. He was on a roll, and whether she knew it or not, Dominique was going to feel him. “You blaming me because he’s mad at you. Take responsibility for your own damn actions and quit looking for someone to point your finger at. Did I ever call and dog you out when Tiera left me? No, I didn’t, because I knew that it was me who had fucked up. It wasn’t like I could anyway because yo’ ass wouldn’t answer the phone.”
Taking a deep breath, Kaleb decided to wrap it up. He was upset, drained, and ready to get her out of his house. “It’s clear that I love you so much more than you love me because you rarely put any effort into this shit.” He pointed between the two of them. “You only call or deal with me when you’re mad at yo’ nigga and I’m tired of it.” Kaleb felt kind of bad when he saw that Dominique was crying. The love that he had for her almost caused him to reach out and embrace her body, but he stopped himself. “Save your tears, Nikki. That shit ain’t going to work this time.” Looking away, Kaleb ran his hands across his face. “Just leave.” He turned around to face the counter before he waved her off. “Go home to that nigga. Don’t worry about me; I’m going to be alright.”
Dominique stood there feeling lost. She didn’t know what to do. It killed her to hear just how bad she’d made Kaleb feel. To know that the pain that he showed when he spoke to her stemmed from her selfishness ate her up in side. Never did she stop to think about the fact that while she was off living her life at home with Deondre, Kaleb was miserable. Why didn’t he tell me all this sooner? While Dominique wondered what would have happened if he had spoken up before that day, she didn’t really know if it would have made a difference. Her mind was so stuck on keeping her family together, that everything else took a back seat.
She continued to stand in the same spot, hoping that Kaleb would turn back around and look at her. Acknowledge that she was still there. Tell her that he still loved her and understood that things were complicated. Dominique didn’t get any of that though because the next words out of his mouth let her know that what they had was over.
“You just make sure you don’t dial my number because after this, we ain’t got nothing else to talk about. I’m done with this bullshit, Nikki. Get the fuck outta my house.”
Chapter 12
Shanice rolled over on her side. Her head sunk comfortably into the memory foam pillow. With the drapes pulled closed, keeping the early morning sun out, she wasn’t really sure what time it was. All she knew was that she felt well rested and refreshed. Shanice smiled. A sleeping Marcus laid merely inches away from her. Shanice’s heart warmed at the very sight of him. Never had she felt so drawn to someone that she wasn’t sleeping with. With her being pregnant with another man’s child, she and Marcus agreed that they would abstain from sex until after the baby was born. That is another thing that shocked her about Marcus; he was so patient with her that it was ridiculous. Shanice wasn’t sure where the thing between them was headed, but she was all on board. She continued to look at him. The thick-feathered comforter was pulled high on his body. The only thing that could be seen were his nose and eyes. He didn’t snore, so only his heavy breathing could be heard. Apparently, Marcus must have felt her watching him because he started to stir, and not long after, his eyes fluttered open.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yep.” Shanice smiled again. “Like a baby.”
It was her first time sleeping at his apartment. At first, they had decided that they were going to stay at her house, but Shanice changed her mind when she thought about the possibility of Deondre popping up like he did not long ago. Before then, it had been weeks since he had showed up at her house, and Shanice was starting to breathe easy. She thought that Deondre had finally come to grips that what they had was over. His phone calls had all but stopped, and she didn’t have to peep out of her door before she left any more. That was until he showed up banging on her door two weeks ago.
Shanice and Marcus had come from a dinner and a movie date, and he had just dropped her back off at home. It hadn’t even been ten minutes before she heard the sound of someone banging on her front door. When Shanice looked out of the window and saw that it was Deondre, she was glad that he hadn’t showed up minutes prior because she knew that shit would have gone down between her baby daddy and her new guy friend. That was something that she did not have time for. She and Marcus were just getting on track after the phone conversation where she revealed everything about herself, including the fact that she had not only slept with, but also had children, by her best friend’s man. While he advised her to come clean with Dominique about her deception, he never once judged her. Shanice was glad that he didn’t, and since that moment, she had been trying her best to keep her past relationship from ruining things with Marcus before they actually had a real chance to start.
It just so happened that she and Marcus were on the phone when Deondre showed up. After hearing the nervousness in her voice, Marcus offered to turn around and come back to her house. Shanice started to have him do just that, but changed her mind when she looked out of the window and saw the expression on Deondre’s face. It was a look of pure agony. There was pain in his eyes that had Shanice afraid to find out what it was that he wanted. Silently, she prayed that there was nothing wrong with Dominique or DJ. While Shanice had betrayed her best friend in the worse way, she would be distraught if something were to happen to either her or her Godson. Deciding to hear Deondre out, she walked down the stairs. With the phone still pushed against her ear, she pulled back the small curtain that covered the window on the door. It was then that she saw that Deondre was actually crying.
After making sure the chain lock was in place, Shanice cracked the door. “What going on, Dre?” Shanice asked, peeking out.
“Can I come in?” he asked, looking at her through the crack. When Deondre noticed that she was reluctant, he spoke again. “Look, Dwight just got killed, and I don’t know who else to talk to.” He paused, “Please.”
Shanice sighed. The old her wanted to
slam the door in his face and tell him to go home to Dominique, but the new her knew that she should at least be his listening ear. Shanice remembered how fond of his uncle Deondre was. He talked about Dwight all the time, and even though Shanice had never had a chance to meet him, he seemed like a good dude. He had to be to take Deondre in and raise him as his own after he father got locked up. From what Deondre had told her, he never had to worry about anything when he was younger, and the same went on as he grew up. His uncle made sure that when Deondre went away to college, all he had to focus on was school and that was pretty much what he did. Once Dwight found out that his nephew had been signed with the New Orleans Saints, he was ecstatic and looking forward to cheering him on at his games.
“Mark?”
“Yeah, go ahead and handle your business,” Mark told her. “Just call me if you need me, alright?”
“Will do,” Shanice replied, as she closed the door and removed the latch. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed, beautiful. You got this.”
“I do. I’ll talk to you later,” Shanice told him before she disconnected the call. At the same time, she stepped back and allowed Deondre to enter her home.
They ended up talking for a few hours. Well, Deondre talked while Shanice listened. He cried like a baby when he spoke about receiving the call in the middle of the night that his uncle had been shot. Before he was actually able to make it to the hospital to see him, Deondre received another call from his mother letting him know that Dwight had passed away from his injuries. By the time Deondre made it to the hospital, they had moved him, so Deondre didn’t even get a chance to see him one last time. From what the police said, two masked men broke in while he was lying in bed with his girlfriend watching television. After pistol-whipping Dwight, they demanded he show them where the money was. They thought with him being such a successful business man, that he must have had some money around the house. What they didn’t know was that there wasn’t any inside the house because Dwight had it all in the bank, where it accumulated interest.