My Woman His Wife Saga

by Anna J.

  In the meantime, Monica, Jazz, and James were stuck on stupid, standing there staring at each other. I got up to go to the bathroom in an effort to avoid any unnecessary chaos. On my way to the back of the restaurant I was stopped by Tanya in the walkway by the kitchen.

  “Let me talk to you for a second.”

  I said nothing. I just followed her into the storage room so we could talk. I was nervous because I didn’t know what she was going to do. I didn’t remember seeing Monica’s name in the article, but I was assuming they were once lovers.

  “How long have you known Monica?” she asked as if she had a big secret.

  “About a year or so. Why?”

  “Honey, you are walking around with trouble, you hear me? Run while you can.”

  For some reason I trusted Tanya at the moment, and figured if we both put our heads together maybe we could get Monica’s ass back. I wasn’t sure what role Monica played in Tanya having to serve time, but I was sure it was all her fault. I’d also been sitting on the tape I’d taken from Monica’s for a couple of months, and I needed to share what I knew with someone. Maybe she could help me out.

  “Listen, is there a way we could meet up after business hours? I have a feeling we need to talk,” I said.

  “Here’s my home, cell, and restaurant number. Contact me as soon as you can. This is serious.” Tanya scribbled her info on the top page of her receipt book. I folded the paper and stuck it in my back pocket, careful to stick it all the way down so I wouldn’t lose the number. Some serious shit was about to pop off. I could feel it.

  I pretended I was drying my hands on my jeans when I walked out to the front. Jazz and James were seated at a table, and Monica was standing by the door waiting for me. Our food had been put into carryout containers, and our tea in sports bottles. I was hesitant to walk past Jazz and James, but I had no choice. It was the only way out the restaurant.

  As I walked, I kept my eyes on Monica, avoiding eye contact with Jazz and James. I was going to walk by without a word, but I couldn’t. In my mind I felt I owed Jasmine an apology, and now would be the perfect time, just in case the opportunity never presented itself again.

  “Jasmine, I don’t want to interrupt your meal, but I just have one thing to say.” I was an emotional mess at this point. I literally had to blink back tears as I stared into Jasmine’s angry face. I knew I had to make amends somehow.

  Jasmine’s entire face scrunched up like she had smelled something foul. Monica, I’m sure, was boring a damn hole in the side of my head, but I had to get it out. James just sat there and looked straight ahead, his hands tensing up into tight fists on the tabletop.

  “Sheila, what can you say? The damage is done.”

  “I know, and I just wanted you to know that I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry for all the confusion I caused.”

  “Listen,” James said abruptly. His eyes appeared to be shooting red flames, and it was clear he was trying to keep his composure. “My wife is pregnant and doesn’t need any extra stress. What’s done is done. Let’s not keep reliving the past.”

  My mouth dropped. I was at a complete loss for words. Jasmine was pregnant? Who would’ve guessed that? I turned to see the look on Monica’s face, but all I heard was the chime on the door as I saw her wobble quickly across the street. I apologized once more and rushed out the door, barely making it to Monica’s car.

  Monica said nothing the entire ride, and I offered her no condolences. All I could do was hope that Jazz would hear me out one day. I knew I should let it go, but I just couldn’t. I was indecisive about what I would do to get back at Monica, but I knew once I got a chance to talk to Tanya everything would be cool.

  Monica dropped me off at my car in a huff, barely letting me get out of the car and close the door before she pulled off. I had a plan forming in my head, and I couldn’t wait to get back to the restaurant. I had to beg my sister to watch my son a little while longer. Finally, she agreed to an extra hundred dollars and a platter from Tondalayah’s as payment for watching my son.

  Before I left the house I grabbed the tape I took from Monica’s, stuffed it in my bag, and made a beeline to the other side of town. I had some business to take care of that couldn’t wait until the end of the day.

  Sheila

  Stolen Secrets

  I pulled up to the restaurant about an hour later, my heart beating wildly. I had to count to ten and get my head together before I could get out of my car. Some serious shit was about to go down, and I had to be on point if it was going to go down right. When I walked into the restaurant James and Jazz were gone. That alleviated some of the stress. Tanya saw me when I walked in. I took a seat at the closest table before I ended up stretched out on the floor from an anxiety attack.

  “Tanya,” I said to her between breaths. I was really trying to keep my composure but it was killing me. “I know you said to come after closing hours, but I couldn’t wait that long. Is there a way we can go somewhere now to talk? I don’t think I can make it until the end of the day.”

  “Sure. I was just saying to my mate that I couldn’t wait that long either. Let me just get my stuff from the back and we can roll out. Smitty can handle everything here for the rest of the day.”

  I sat there attempting to get my head straight. I noticed that Tanya said her ‘mate,’ and I was curious to see if it would be another woman. A few minutes later she walked out with a beautiful woman next to her.

  This woman resembled Monica in so many ways it was scary. They had similar looks, and although their faces weren’t exactly the same, they could have easily been cousins. Her style of dress and the way she wore her hair was nearly identical to Monica’s. If I hadn’t just left Monica not too long ago, you couldn’t have told me she wasn’t standing before me. The only thing missing was the pregnant belly.

  “Sheila, this is my soul mate, Shaneka. Baby, this is Sheila, the woman I told you about earlier.”

  “Nice to meet you,” we said in unison, causing a slight smile to spread across our faces. That definitely relieved some of the tension between us. I was grateful. For the first time I felt like I was doing the right thing, and I couldn’t wait to get started.

  “Tanya, I’ll follow you guys. I hope you have a VCR at your house. We’ll need it.”

  The three of us left the restaurant and hastily went to my car. I couldn’t wait to get this shit out in the open . . . finally. A half hour later we pulled up to a beautiful house in Wyncote, a suburb of Philly. The neighborhood was so quiet I felt that if I breathed too loudly everyone would hear me. We got out of the car and headed toward a stunning peach and cream house that sat so far back off the street you had to drive up to get to the door.

  “Tanya, your house is beautiful,” I exclaimed. I had never in my life seen a community so tranquil. This could definitely be a place to raise my son.

  “Thanks to Monica. It was her hard-earned money that paid for it.”

  Something told me there was more behind that statement, but I didn’t question it. I knew we were about to get into some heavy shit and all would be discussed in a matter of time.

  The inside of her home was just as impeccable as the outside.

  We went straight to the back of the house and down a few steps to an entertainment room. I dug through my bag and nervously gave the tape to Shaneka. She and Tanya sat on the couch. I sat in the chair.

  You could cut the tension in the room with a knife as we patiently waited for the tape to rewind and start. I took one last deep breath as I watched the tape begin to play.

  I had never watched the tape, besides the parts that Monica had shown me, and I had no idea what I had missed. The tape opened with James and Monica in what appeared to be a hotel room.

  She had him blindfolded and tied to the bed, his dick standing straight up in the air like a thick, black pole. She rode him in positions I didn’t even know were possible. I found myself getting a little turned on by their actions, but I quickly checked myself. That was
n’t what I was there for.

  The first segment of the tape ended with Monica balancing her hands on his stomach, and stretching her legs out like a gymnast would on a balance beam. She then proceeded to push her body up and down with her arms, riding his dick until his ejaculation slid down the sides of his dick. The camera was zoomed in so close you could see his dick pulsate as his seed spilled from the head and into Monica’s eagerly awaiting womanhood. I was amazed at her skill.

  A scene with her, Jazz, and James followed. James was leaning against a dresser in a different hotel room stroking his dick while Monica and Jazz performed on the bed. Jazz looked a little hesitant at first, but after some coaching, she got into it. As the tape played I went from being amazed, to being upset, to not believing what the hell I was watching.

  She had the mayor of Washington, D.C. in all kinds of compromising positions. Tanya and Shaneka just sat there with their mouths wide open, not knowing what to say.

  A couple of scenes went by with people I didn’t recognize, and a few more of Jazz and James. My sister’s husband, Hill, popped up with a quick episode by the fireplace and a few other guys from the police force who I recognized from last year’s Christmas party were acting a fool on camera too. Monica must have a camera setup in every room of her house. I just sat there in awe, not believing what I saw.

  I almost lost my lunch when I saw Monica and Stenton on the tape. She had him handcuffed to the bed in the doggie style position, blind folded, and dressed in a maid’s outfit giving it to him from the back.

  After the tape was done, Shaneka got up and started pushing buttons on one of the many remotes that lay on the front case of the entertainment center. After about five minutes, two tapes popped out. She gave me one, and labeled the other before putting it away in a drawer by the bookcase. I knew at that moment that she had made a copy for herself, and I briefly wondered if I had done the right thing.

  I waited for them to get situated, because that was truly a lot to take in at one time. We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. I briefly flashed through my life over the past five years wondering why I always ended up in situations like this. The sound of Tanya’s voice interrupted my trip down memory lane as I came back to deal with the situation at hand.

  “Sheila, I just want to thank you for stepping forward with this matter. Knowing how Monica is, that took a lot of courage on your part, and I want you to know that as of this moment you have no need to fear her again. Trust me on that.”

  “I want to get my life back. I can’t live like this, constantly looking over my shoulders, wondering if she’s going to jump out of the damn bushes on me.”

  “Listen, when I first met Monica I fell for the bullshit, too. She was sexing me crazy and had me thinking that we could truly be together. Even after she killed my husband I knew she would be there for me, but she never came.”

  Tanya went on to tell me how Monica killed her husband and then convinced her to take the blame for it.

  “She looked possessed when she was pulling the trigger. Like she went back in time to another point in her life or something,” Tanya said with a spaced-out look on her face.

  We all talked for a little while, and then Shaneka brought it all together so it made sense. We had to get Monica back, but we would wait for the baby to be born. That way, we wouldn’t be imprisoned for harming a fetus and we could just handle our shit and not have to worry about an unborn child.

  “That sounds like a good plan, Shaneka, but what do we do right now?”

  “Now we go to see James and Jasmine. They need to know what kind of shit they were pulled into. Revenge should be sweet, and I’m sure they’d want a piece of it too.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I honestly think all they want is to move on and put their lives back together. I don’t think they would want in on it.” I tried to persuade them to think otherwise, simply because I wasn’t ready to face Jazz and James again, but it was apparent they weren’t trying to hear that.

  “Let’s at least show them the tape,” Shaneka argued back. It wasn’t until she told me about her beef with Monica and Rico that I understood what she was trying to do.

  “Okay, you guys can follow behind me. We might as well go and get it over with.”

  During the drive over I tried to envision how it would all go down. I mean, I was a lover, not a fighter, and I didn’t know if Jasmine could take seeing me twice in one day. I was on that tape giving her husband head. I didn’t exactly sleep with him, but that was damn close. I knew if it was me, I’d be ready to go on a head-smashing spree. On the flip side, I think she needed to know. James was wrong, there was no doubt about that, but even Jazz knew how persuasive Monica could be.

  When we got there I let Tanya ring the bell. If Jazz was going to swing, I didn’t want it to be on me. I knew she was going through a tough time, especially being pregnant. What were they going to do with another kid, and with Monica possibly carrying James’s child? I didn’t want to be there when that shit went down. When Jazz opened the door her face let us know she didn’t feel like the nonsense. I stayed in the back behind Shaneka while Tanya explained our reason for being there.

  “What tape are you talking about? Where did you get it from?” Jasmine had yet to open the door fully. I didn’t see James’s car, so I figured she would be apprehensive about letting us inside because she was home alone, but the last thing I would allow was for her to come to any harm.

  “I took it from Monica’s house the night she was taken to the hospital for a miscarriage,” I explained to Jazz. “I just wanted to have some proof of what she was doing.”

  Jazz looked at us like we were crazy, but she eventually let us in. The place looked different. I didn’t know how I would react to seeing her again, but I was glad she gave us this time to talk. Once we were all seated, I mustered up enough courage to finally say something to her.

  “Jazz, I know you don’t necessarily want to hear anything I have to tell you, but after you watch this tape, maybe we can discuss some things.”

  “Sheila, you know you hurt me the most. I understand that we weren’t close, but damn, you set me up in the worst way, and in my eyes that’s unforgivable.”

  “It wasn’t even my idea. I was trying to talk Monica out of it. She wouldn’t hear anything I had to say.”

  “That’s funny, because she blamed it all on you when she came here.”

  “Did she? Well, since when could her word be taken as the truth? She’s a manipulator. She’ll say whatever she needs to say to get you off her back.”

  “As true as that may be, it doesn’t excuse you.

  You knew what was going down, that’s why none of your shit was on your desk when you left for the day. I knew something was up, but I didn’t expect to come home to your raggedy ass on my kitchen table.”

  “Look, we’re not here for all that. Y’all can rehash the past once we’re gone. I just need you to look at this tape,” Tanya explained.

  Both of us looked at Tanya like she was crazy. I said nothing after that. Jazz got up, snatched the tape out of my hands, and popped it in the VCR. I just sat back and watched her face as she watched Monica in action. There was going to be some shit when it was over. I could feel it. All hell was about to break loose, and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t wait.

  Tanya

  Playing Catch Up: Through Tanya’s Eyes

  Seeing Monica on that tape brought back so many memories. At the time we were together I was in love with her, and I couldn’t see how mentally sick she was. I, too, was caught up in her web of lies and deceit, and for a brief time in my life I wanted to believe I was in love with her. She presented a stability that I couldn’t get at home, and I craved to live life on the other side of the fence. I soon found out that the grass wasn’t as green as I thought it was.

  I met her at an art demonstration down at CCP (the Community College of Philadelphia) during fashion week. She had a few pieces on display, and I was i
n awe of the detail displayed in her work. Before I knew the woman in the picture, I was intrigued. Her eyes drew you into the painting, having you believe that she could see into your soul, taking the breath out of your lungs.

  I was standing there in a trance staring at a painting of her lying on a chaise lounge the color of fall leaves. The fireplace strategically placed off in the corner of the painting looked lifelike. Her use of colors was impeccable. I must have zoned out because I didn’t realize she was standing next to me until she spoke. Her voice sounded like a rushing waterfall. I was hooked from day one.

  “My living room used to look like that just last year, but I went with a new color scheme for the New Year.”

  I turned toward the direction of the voice, surprised to see her face to face. She looked almost angelic . . . almost. There was a hint of mystery behind her eyes I couldn’t figure out at the time, but now I know it was nothing but the damn devil. If I knew then what I know now.

  “So, you’re the artist? It is truly a pleasure meeting you. I must tell you that your work is absolutely wonderful. I’ll be purchasing this one for my living room,” I said to her while shaking her hand. The skin of her palm felt like silk, and I could only imagine how her hands would feel on the rest of me.

  “Thank you so much. I appreciate the patronage.” She blushed, looking away for a brief moment before resuming eye contact. I smiled to myself and turned my attention back to the painting on the wall.

  “Listen, what are you doing after the demonstration? There’s a café down the street, a few doors away. Maybe we can chat over an espresso,” Monica invited.

  “That would be nice. I’ll meet you at the entrance when it’s all done.”

  “That’s fine, and don’t worry about paying for this painting. I’ll be sure that you get it before you go.”

  “You don’t have to do that. This painting costs five thousand dollars. I can’t let you pay for that.”