Heard It All Before

by Michele Grant

  She lifted her head for a second. “Want that I should stop?”

  “Doncha dare,” I ground out as she started in again.

  “Sure I’m not still on restrictions?”

  “Jewel ... evil,” I hissed.

  “Just ... a ... little ... quid ... pro ... quo, ’tit chou,” she whispered in between licks. Girl had a mean streak a mile long. As if she sensed my thought, she sped up a little and added a tickling thing with her finger.

  “Yeah, uh-huh. Like that right there, baby.” I was getting into the rhythm when I could have sworn I heard a banging sound.

  She lifted her head again and I groaned. “Do ... NOT ... stop.” Not now! Damn, it was a banging sound. Like on the front door!

  “Do you hear that?” she asked me, sitting up and reaching for a robe.

  “Yeah, damn it all. Who the hell is it at three in the morning?” While she went downstairs, I opened the dresser drawer she had given me. My stuff was still in there. I pulled on some shorts and ran to follow her. That time of night, I would be opening the door. I stepped in front of her and looked out the peephole. “I’ll be damned—it’s the fly girl.”

  Jewel frowned at me. “Renee’s here? Now?” She reached around me, keyed in the alarm code, and opened the door.

  The fly girl didn’t look so fly. Her hair was all over the place, her makeup was streaking down her face, and her clothes didn’t match. She had on purple sweatpants, a bright red shirt, and green tennis shoes. Something had to be real wrong; fly girl didn’t step out the crib without matching from tip to toe.

  “Girl, what is it?” Jewel asked, and led her inside. I would have let her stand outside and spill the story. Wouldn’t you know that Renee’s damn crisis had to interrupt my reconciliation? I was just about to apologize the hell out of Jewel.

  Renee flung herself down on the sofa and started sobbing. Jewel exchanged a look with me before kneeling beside her. In time, she sat up and extended her hand to Jewel. “It’s gone, homegirl. Gone!”

  Jewel blinked up at her, not understanding. I got it in a heartbeat. Greg wised up and dumped her phony ass. And look at her, she was more concerned over losing that damn rock. She came up in here busting up my shit and said, “It’s gone.” Not he’s gone, but the damn ring. Jewel looked over at me, and we exchanged knowing glances. I shook my head and went upstairs. In my opinion, she got exactly what was coming to her perpetrating ass. Thought it best I didn’t stay down there and share my opinions.

  Renee—Sunday, February 5, 3:20 a.m.

  “Girl, I f’ed this up bad,” I told Jewellen.

  She sighed and sat down next to me. “Just tell me what happened.”

  My voice was raw from screaming and crying. Took a deep breath and broke it on down.

  “Beau and I went upstairs to one of the suites to have a drink.”

  “Renee!” Jewellen looked disappointed.

  “Don’t judge me, Jew-Ro.”

  She put her hands up. “Okay, okay.”

  I continued. “We just sitting there drinking champagne. I said it was delicious; he said it probably didn’t taste as good as me. I asked him if he wanted to find out, and one thing led to another.”

  “One thing led to another?! You invited him to—”

  “I know what I did, Jewellen.” I just couldn’t help myself. In retrospect, my timing could have been SO much better. “Anyway, I told him to lock the door but—”

  She gasped. “Wait a minute ... Greg walked in while Beau was—”

  “Yeah,” I cut her off. “He and Roni Mae walked in. Beau was naked and rock hard, just doing his thing. Girl, that boy ...” I shivered just thinking about Beau’s fine ass. Talented fine ass.

  “Renee, focus! Greg walked in with Roni Mae?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I don’t recall exactly, you know? Couldn’t have been good. He took my hand off Beau’s head, slid off the ring, and left.”

  “Did you go after him?”

  Okay, this part I felt bad about. I knew the right thing to do was to run after him, but I was in an awkward position and felt it was probably best that he cooled down for a minute. “I thought I’d give him time to cool off.”

  Jewellen looked at me like I was crazy. Then her eyes went wide. “Darnella Renee Nightingale, PLEASE do NOT tell me you finished what you were doing with Beau before going after your fiancé?!”

  When she put it like that, I felt shamed. I dropped my eyes.

  She sighed again, deeply this time. “So after that, what happened?”

  “After I, um, finished up in the suite, I went downstairs. Gregory wasn’t there, and Roni Mae was gone. I went home, but he wasn’t there. I just knew he’d be there waiting for me so we could fight it out. I called everywhere. He’s not answering his cell. I can’t find Roni Mae. I finally changed clothes and drove around looking for him. I can’t find him, girl. I can’t find him!” I started crying again.

  “Let me ask you one thing, Renee,” she said softly. “Was it worth it?”

  “If you are asking if it was good—”

  “Hell no, I’m not asking if it was good! I am asking you if getting done by Beauregard Montgomery was worth losing your marriage to Gregory Samson?”

  “Girl, please, did you not just crawl out of your sex sheets with the younger Montgomery?” I had to point it out.

  She hopped up. “Renee, Roman is my boyfriend. Neither of us hurt ANYBODY else by being together. Are you crazy or just delusional?”

  I hopped up too. “You supposed to be my girl. You supposed to have my back!”

  “I am—I do—but that also includes calling your ass on the carpet when you are wrong. I mean, you DO know you’re wrong, don’t you?”

  I hung my head. It was all starting to sink in. “I know, I know, but I can fix it. Greg loves me. It was just this one time. He’ll forgive me. It’ll be okay.”

  Jewel didn’t say anything, just looked at me all crooked.

  “What? Rome took your ass back!”

  Jewellen got angry. And Jewellen angry is no joke. “You have lost your mind! Why do you keep pulling Roman into your shit? Here’s the deal: You messed up. Bad. You landed the guy you always wanted to land, but you just couldn’t help yourself from wanting a little more. From being a little greedy. What’s bad is this: Everybody knew it. Everybody saw it. Everybody, including Greg, warned you. And you did it anyway. That boy probably did love you; he asked you to marry him. Did you even think about that tonight? He wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. You think Beau is gonna give you a ring?”

  She wasn’t helping. I was tired. My head hurt, and I just didn’t want to think anymore tonight. “Just help me get him back. Tell me what to do.”

  She shrugged. “I can’t imagine. I’m tapped out. I got nothing.”

  Now I was angry. “I come to you with the biggest problem I’ve ever faced in my life and this is what you got for me. You got nuthin’? Are you shitting me?”

  She shrugged again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what the protocol is for begging and groveling my fiancé to take me back after I slept with a guy he specifically told me not to sleep with. They didn’t teach this in my etiquette class.”

  “Oh, you got jokes. I’m in pain here. I’m losing my man, and you got jokes?!”

  She put her hands up. “I’m not joking. I don’t know what to tell you. If begging and groveling doesn’t work, I hope you can get your deposit back on the church and the caterer.”

  I felt like she was being bitchy for no reason. “Kiss my ass, Jewellen.”

  “Alrighty, then, on that note ... I was actually in the middle of something when you dropped by. I’m sorry about what happened. I’m here for you, but I honestly don’t know what to say right now.”

  Wait a minute—she was blowing me off for Roman? “You in such to hurry to lay under that ruffneck that you would send me back out in the street on the worst night of my life?!”

  “R
enee, before we say stuff we’re gonna regret, you should head on home. See if Greg returned any of your calls. I’m always here for you. But right now, you need to get your head right.” She walked toward the door.

  “That shit is cold, Jewellen. Thanks for your support.” I slammed out of the house. Climbing into my car, I checked my cell phone. No missed calls. It was five a.m. and I was alone.

  Jewel—Sunday, February 5, 5:03 a.m.

  I shut the door behind Renee and leaned back against it. God, I was tired. What a mess. I walked up the stairs and slid into bed beside Roman. Thank God he was here.

  “What time is it, baby?” he asked me. I had missed that voice.

  “About five; go on back to sleep.” I snuggled up next to him.

  Instead, he turned over to face me. “How’d it come down? Was it Beau?”

  So, he had known. “It was Renee but Beau helped. A lot.”

  He winced. “Caught with the pants down?”

  I nodded. “Red-handed, or in this case, red-tongued.”

  “Ouch! Not the oral! Greg walked right in on it?”

  “Him and Roni. Right on in.”

  “Whew, that had to hurt. Bad way to go down.”

  “No pun intended.”

  He reached his arm over and pulled me to him. “You got jokes.”

  “Yeah, apparently.” I sighed, snuggling into him as I reached for the phone. I punched in the number and waited.

  “Hello?” a wide-awake voice answered, just as I assumed.

  “He’s there, isn’t he, Roni?”

  Silence was my answer. Just as I thought.

  “I don’t have to tell you you’re just adding grease to the fire, salt to the wound? Renee just left here. She’s been looking everywhere for Greg. She’s real broken up.”

  At this, Roni spoke. “I don’t give a shit! I don’t wanna hear about her! She can keep looking. God, Jewellen, if you could’ve seen her laid out on that table.”

  I winced. “On a table.”

  Roman clucked his teeth and muttered underneath his breath beside me. He moved in closer so he could hear. I tilted the phone for him.

  She lowered her voice. “And didn’t even stop when we walked in. Skirt up all over her head—she hadn’t even undressed completely! How could she not have seen us? Even when he walked right up to them, you’d think she have tried to get up or ... or something!”

  “Just laid out there, huh?” The story was getting worse with each version.

  “That ain’t even the worst of it, girl. The worst thing was that she was torn between begging Greg to come back, screaming at me to help her, and asking Beau why he didn’t lock the door in the first place. She never got up. Never pulled that skirt all the way down.”

  Roman shook his head in disgust.

  I closed my eyes. “Uh-uh, girl, you’re lying.”

  “I kid you not. No remorse, girl, none at all.”

  “Well, how is he?”

  “In shock. Keeps talking about how he should’ve seen this coming and so forth. He’s all broke down, girl. Talking to himself and laughing, walking around in circles. Shaking like a leaf but he won’t cry.”

  Roman frowned and shook his head, making hand motions. I tried to interpret. “Girl, if he cries at all, it won’t be in front of you.”

  “Oh.”

  I went back to my original point. “So why’s he there, Roni? And how long is he staying?”

  “He couldn’t go back to Renee’s!”

  “He kept the lease on his old place, and all his furniture is there. Why didn’t he go there? And how long is he staying?”

  “He said that was the first place she’d look, and he doesn’t want to see her.”

  It was the first place she’d looked, but that wasn’t the point. “And how long is he staying?”

  “We talked about it, and he said just ’til he gets his head together.”

  Roman rolled his eyes.

  “Uh-huh. Well, I hope you know what you’re getting into.” The entire damn thing was foul.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is this—just today you told me you have feelings for that boy, and now there he is under your roof. Try to remember that he is a man scorned and on serious rebound. Also, you’ve got a good friend who is going to come looking to you for support. How do you think Renee is going to feel when she finds out Greg’s staying with you?”

  “I don’t owe Renee shit. I’m telling you, girl, if you could have seen her!”

  “Glad I didn’t, thanks anyway. The real issue here is that you’re pissed off that she did this to Greg. If she’d done this to someone else, you’d be laughing about it right now—admit it.”

  “Fine, I admit it. And as for the rest, thanks but I know what I’m doing.”

  This time I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’m out of it.”

  “Jewellen, you’re not gonna take sides, are you? Are you mad at me?” Roni asked.

  Roman tucked me in closer, and I laid my head on the pillow. “Girl, I’m not mad, but I am out of it. O-U-T of it.”

  “I take it you and the Roman god are back together? You haven’t sounded this chill in weeks.”

  “Bite your tongue, woman. I got along just fine without him.” I laughed when he pinched me. “We’re okay. You take care of yourself, and tell Greg to call if he needs anything.” Roman pinched me again ... I was feeling charitable.

  “We’ll be okay too. Later, girl.” She hung up.

  I switched off the phone and chucked it off the bed. I turned in Roman’s arms, and he wrapped me up.

  “So this is what you had on Renee, hmm?” I asked him.

  “I knew it was gonna happen, babe. I just didn’t want either of us involved. Just a matter of time.”

  “Water under the bridge now, I guess.” I snuggled in closer.

  “So ... got along fine without me, hmm?” He didn’t sound like he was joking.

  “Truthfully?” I leaned back to see his face.

  “Yeah, I need to know.”

  “Truthfully, I missed you like hell.”

  He grinned in the dark. “Good, we’re even. Chase missed you too; he thought he’d done something wrong.”

  I winced. “I thought something like that might happen. Let’s try not to get to this point again.”

  “I hear you. By the way, how’d you end up at that party?”

  I laughed. “Now that’s an interesting story involving Teddy Grahams, your mother, and the butcher’s counter.”

  “Sounds like a story I gotta hear.”

  “Believe it or not, it all started less than twenty-four hours ago... .”

  29

  Lay It on the Altar

  Renee—Sunday, March 5, 1:03 p.m.

  “You don’t have to confess your sins to me.”

  “Amen.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

  “Preach now.”

  “You can hurt me, mock me, talk about me to my face, and walk away!”

  “Um-hmm. Say it now!”

  “But you can’t walk away from the Lord.”

  “Sho’ nuff!”

  “Tell the truth!”

  “Talk to me!”

  Reverend Moss was off and running in fine form this morning. He was on a roll, and the congregation was right there with him. Today, the first time I had been back to church since the Loss of the Ring, what do you think he preaches on? Sin, guilt, and confession. Easter’s around the corner; why couldn’t he do a good rousing He Is Risen speech?

  Beau sat next to me, shifting uncomfortably on the pew. I glanced sideways at him and grinned. If I had to face the Lord head-on, at least I had my partner in crime with me. Beau moved in with me the day after Gregory came and moved his stuff out—Valentine’s Day of all days. It had been exactly a month and a day since The Loss, and I still hadn’t fully accepted it. The fallout had been incredible.

  My mother was hardly speaking to me. I reached out to Greg and tried to explain th
at it was one night, one stupid mistake, the champagne, but he wasn’t trying to hear it. He sent me an e-mail making it very clear that whatever we had was history. I found out that Greg had stayed over at Roni’s the night of The Loss, and I hadn’t spoken to her since. Beau and Roman just started speaking again last week, but Jewel was pissed that I let Beau move in. Well, what was I supposed to do? Sit around and mope alone? Work was tough since all my time was spent with Kat, and she has made it clear that she can’t stand me. My boss was thinking about switching me off the account, which was really a demotion in disguise.

  I was at a place where I needed some answers. Some direction. I knew what I did was wrong, but was it so major that my whole life had to be turned upside down? Who really suffered? Okay, I feel bad about Greg, but there he was, four rows up and one over, right next to Roni Mae, Tammy, Stacie, and Trick—all my friends. Looked like he was over it. Meanwhile, my life was still in chaos. Where did I go from here? And who did I go with? To think, a month and a half ago, I was planning my wedding, looking for houses, scheming a way to get a tennis bracelet to match my necklace out of Greggy ... Greg.

  Okay, Beau was a lot of fun and he could really, well ... I was in church, but you know what I’m trying to say. He was a nice, fun guy, and in the looks and body department, he was by far the closest thing to perfect I had ever seen, but for the long haul, what did that net me? I didn’t see him buying a house, having two kids, and telling me to stay home and give up work. If anything, Beau would be inclined to stay home while I kept working. And just the thought of having to start a whole new thing over with somebody from scratch made me cringe. I’d just gotten Greg to the point where he put the toilet seat down. Truthfully, I was about desperate with despair. I couldn’t believe I blew a good thing. I looked inside myself and still couldn’t see exactly when I turned the wrong corner. Was it Beau or was it something within me? All I knew was, Greg was gone, my relationships with friends and family were strained, the job was tense, and Beau was here. I came to church for answers, not a guilt trip. I was seriously thinking about getting up and walking out.