Brickhouse

by Rita Ewing

  Nona cocked her head. It was odd. Both Anna and Toni had uttered the same words to her in the last week.

  Leila continued, “I wanted you to hear this news from me.” She paused. “Shawn and I have split up. We’re separated for now, but I’m pretty sure we’re headed toward a divorce.”

  “Oh, no. Leila, I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s been coming for a long time.”

  Nona thought about how similar Leila’s words were to Anna’s, and she knew that soon Anna could very well be sitting next to her in this same place speaking similar words about her and Anthony. What was going on with her friends?

  “Separations are always difficult, I know,” Leila continued. “And it hasn’t been easy on the kids. But it really is for the best.”

  Nona nodded.

  “This last year has been hard on me. First, trying to live up to something that I thought Shawn wanted, when in actuality, he didn’t want me in any way, shape, or form.”

  “Leila, I’m sure that’s not true.”

  “No, it is,” she said. “There’s no need for polite words. I need to focus on what’s true. If I had been doing that all along, I wouldn’t have gotten caught up …” She paused and shuddered. “I lost myself. I did so many things …” She took a breath. “Anyway, I’m past all of that. And I’m ready to move forward as the new and improved Leila Lomax.”

  “If this makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.” Nona hugged her. “You know, if there is anything that I can do–”

  “I know. Listen, are you going to the hospital? I’m on my way over there.”

  “Great. We can ride together. Let me just get these papers together for Sarah.”

  They both looked up when they heard the knock on the door.

  “I hope that’s not some well-meaning member wanting to talk about Allen,” Nona whispered. “I’ve been trying to avoid the masses.”

  “Do you want me to get rid of whoever it is?” Leila asked.

  Nona nodded. “Sarah must not be at her desk.”

  Leila stood, opened the door, and smiled. “Well, if it isn’t the impeccable Mr. Carter.”

  “Oh, is that who I am?” He chuckled as he stepped inside. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No, we were just having a little girl talk,” Leila said, but his attention was already on Nona.

  “How are you?” he asked her.

  “Okay. I did the press release. I was going to call the publicist this afternoon.”

  “I can do that for you.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I want to.”

  Leila stood at the door with her arms folded and watched the exchange. It was all business, but there was something more inside the words they spoke. “Ah, Nona, I’m going to go now …”

  “Okay, Leila,” Nona said, barely looking away from Derrick. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Leila waited for a moment before she turned to the door.

  Before she closed the door behind her, Leila heard Nona say, “I feel like I’m your new full-time job, Derrick.”

  “Well, it’s a position I’ll gladly accept.”

  Leila smiled. With all the negativity that seemed to be around them, maybe this was Nona’s harvest. And she couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.

  As Leila hurried to her car, she couldn’t help smiling. She had walked into Nona’s office filled with the sadness of Allen and her crumbling marriage. But Nona had brought a little joy to her day.

  She had spoken to Toni last night and had been surprised when Toni mentioned Nona and Derrick.

  “There is something going on between those two, Leila. Mark this date on your calendar and remember.”

  She had been skeptical, chalking Toni’s words up to her actor’s imagination. Leila didn’t know anyone who disliked Derrick Carter more than Nona Simms. But from what she’d just seen in that office, obviously those feelings were in Nona’s faraway past.

  Leila was happy. They could all use a little cheer. Toni sounded as if she was having her own challenges, and Anna …

  Every time Leila thought of her other best friend, she shuddered. How could she have done that to her? How could she have slept with her best friend’s husband?

  Leila opened the door to her car and slipped inside. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and said a long prayer. There was so much regret that she harbored in her heart. It sickened her that she could ever do what she’d done to a friend. Where was her loyalty? She knew the pain of adultery and the hours of hurt she’d had to endure thinking about Shawn’s infidelity. How could she do this to Anna?

  And what was worse was that even though she knew what kind of man Anna was married to, there was nothing that she could do. She could never tell her. She could only pray that one day, Anna would find out–in another way–who Anthony Leone really was.

  But on the other side of regret, Leila was grateful for two things–that she had accepted that her affair with Anthony was over and that no one had found out about that onesided romance.

  Leila shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts, and started her car. She didn’t want to think about her sins anymore. There was someone more important who needed her and her prayers right now. She turned from the Brickhouse parking lot and headed toward Harlem Hospital.

  Nona pulled the sheet up to Allen’s chin. His chest barely moved. But at least the green lines on the monitors continued to indicate that her friend was alive.

  She stared at his face and again wondered what the last weeks had been like for him. “If only I’d known, Allen,” she whispered. “We could have gotten through this together.”

  She continued to stare, wanting to see him blink or to see a muscle in his face twitch. But there was nothing.

  Nona sighed and sank into the chair at the side of the bed. She was so tired, but refused to give in to the exhaustion. Allen needed her, Kelly needed her, Brickhouse needed her. She would find a way to balance them all.

  She glanced at Allen again, before she closed her eyes, but she would rest only for a moment. She would go home in just a little while.

  She felt peaceful, she felt calm; the space she was in was serene.

  “Nona, Nona.”

  She tried to force her eyelids apart, but they stayed closed.

  And then she saw him.

  “Allen.” She smiled. “You’re better.”

  He returned her smile and sat up in the bed. “I am now.”

  “I am so glad. I was worried.”

  “There’s nothing for you to worry about.” He took her hand. “I have to tell you something. I’m so sorry, Nona.”

  “For what?”

  “For hurting you. For giving Reverend Watkins room to try to destroy you.” He paused. “And for using drugs again.”

  “It’s all right, Allen.” She squeezed his hand. “Dr. Sawyer explained it all to me. I know you weren’t abusing again, not really.”

  “Still…”

  She put her fingers to his lips, stopping him. “I understand what happened. You were trying to protect me from Watkins and you were trying to stop your pain. None of it matters, because I forgive you.”

  “Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear.” He looked away, but when he turned back to her, his eyes were sad. “I’ve always loved you, Nona. You and Kelly. You were the only family I had, and I wanted to take care of you and protect you for the rest of your life.”

  “You can still do that, Allen, now that you’re well.”

  “I’m well, Nona, but not in the way you think.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Just know that I will always love you.”

  And then he was gone.

  “Allen, Allen,” she called.

  “Ms. Simms, Ms. Simms.” Someone was shouting her name.

  Nona opened her eyes. It took a moment for her to focus. The small hospital room was packed with doctors, barking orders to the nurses.


  “Ms. Simms, you have to wait outside,” a woman who was standing over her said.

  “What… what’s going on?”

  “We’re losing him,” she heard one of the doctors yell.

  “Allen?” she whispered before the nurse escorted her out of the room.

  “What’s going on?” Nona asked again, straining her neck to look around the nurse.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Simms,” the nurse started, “but you’ll have to wait out here,” she said before she turned away and returned to Allen’s room.

  Nona stood, close to the door, wanting to rush back inside, but knowing it was best for Allen if she just waited.

  What happened? I was just talking to him. It was wonderful. He was well; we were both at peace. Her thoughts paused. Had she really been talking to him? Nona closed her eyes and tried to remember the conversation. It was so real. She opened her eyes and looked at her right hand; he had held her as he spoke.

  Was I dreaming?

  Just know that I will always love you.

  She remembered his last words before more doctors rushed inside the room. “Please, Allen,” she whispered. “Fight. You’ve got to stay alive.”

  Then another thought filled her, and as tears burned her eyes, she said, “I will always love you too, Allen. May God bless you and keep you.”

  Read on to see Leila, the New York Knicks wife in Brickhouse, make contact with her two friends, Rita Ewing and Crystal McCrary Anthony, the co-authors of Homecourt Advantage (Rita’s first novel) and two women who were once New York Knicks wives and lived to tell about it!

  Get a peep at the never-before-printed epilogue to the original manuscript of Homecourt Advantage, which reveals a very different ending from the one published in the finished book–an ending where Casey leaves her husband, Brent!

  “Damn, damn, damn!” Leila winced.

  She remembered the character Florida from the ghetto sitcom Good Times. Damn if she didn’t feel as miserable as that woman always appeared on that damn show every damn day.

  Even as a small child, Leila knew the popular character from her parents’ favorite TV show was one unhappy woman. Leila counted the blessings that came from her own charmed existence on a regular basis. Unfortunately, a lot of bullshit came hand-in-hand with the fairy-tale life. Particularly a husband who couldn’t seem to keep his dick in his pants!

  Leila knew her game was just as bad. She was pissed off at the hand she had been dealt, yet deeply ashamed at the foul hand she herself played. It had come down to one affair after another. She had to talk to someone!

  She rummaged through her nightstand and grabbed her BlackBerry two-way pager. Using her thumbs to key in information, Leila sighed with relief when the names scrolled across the unit’s small screen.

  She plopped on the side of her bed and let herself fall backward into the soft pillows. A slow smile spread across Leila’s face, stretching from one three-carat diamond stud to the other. She was so glad she had kept the numbers. They had all been so close back in the day when their men were all members of the Knicks.

  Basketball fans at the games had jokingly referred to the trio as the Knicks Chicks, the real Dream Team. Rita Ewing and Crystal Anthony were her girls! Leila missed her friends dearly.

  “That’s it,” she thought, swiping at a fat tear as if a fly had just landed on her face. She would call both of them today.

  Leila remembered the day when Rita and Crystal had invited her out to dinner. They had something private they wanted to share with her. Leila had been shocked when Rita pulled the neatly typed manuscript of Homecourt Advantage out of her bag and pushed it across the table with a flourish.

  “Bam!” Rita had declared, giggling in her silly way.

  “We want you to read this for us, Leila,” Crystal explained. “We want your opinion before we submit it to our editor.”

  Leila had been terribly flattered that Crystal and Rita valued not only her opinion, but her editing skills as well.

  Damn if those two hadn’t been like prophets telling their story! Homecourt Advantage was the Nostradamus of the National Basketball Association!

  It had been their secret until her friends turned authors came clean, and all of New York started talking about the now infamous roman à clef about the New York Knicks basketball team. Yup, even Leila knew who the gay Knicks player was. There was no lying going on in that book, that was for sure.

  Leila remembered the Homecourt Advantage storyline only too well. Hell, she might as well have been one of the main characters in the book. She was still living the part.

  Leila just wished, as she had many times since the book had been published, that her friends had not decided at the last minute to change the ending of the book. She knew the real deal, the true story, what happens in real life.

  That was why she desperately needed to talk to Rita and Crystal. They would understand what she was going through with Shawn. They would know why she felt it was time to leave her husband. Leila knew her baller girlfriends would understand. They could relate to things that even her best friend Nona would never comprehend.

  For the very same reasons that Crystal and Rita had Casey leave her husband Brent’s tired ass in Homecourt Advantage’s original storyline, Leila was about to leave her own husband. She remembered the original story like it was yesterday …

  Epilogue

  From the original manuscript of Homecourt Advantage

  Casey stared at the beautiful Kosta Boda vase sitting in the middle of her living room coffee table. Sunlight poured through the double French doors that opened onto a small private bluestone courtyard. The light created the effect of a dazzling myriad of colors swirling through the interior of the vase. Casey sank down onto a large brown suede floor pillow and read Alexis’s letter for the second time.

  It was difficult for Casey to believe that Coach’s wife, Alexis, had written the letter. Obviously, there was a side to Alexis O’Neil that she had never revealed to anyone affiliated with the New York Flyers. Casey looked up at the vase and gazed at it for what seemed like an eternity. She had always considered herself to be a good judge of character, but she realized now that not even she had been able to see through Alexis’s tough exterior.

  As the sun began to set, Casey walked around the room lighting one scented candle after another. She then tuned in her stereo to her favorite jazz station and let the music course through her. The bare walls in her newly refurbished SoHo loft were already covered with her favorite pieces of art. It was ironic, Casey thought, that she had found her new place through the relocation program offered to the NBA players and their families.

  She walked into the kitchen to arrange the Thai food she had had a local restaurant cater for her housewarming party that evening. Her friends would be arriving shortly, and Casey was anxious for them to see her new place. She loved her two-story loft with its soaring ceilings and its brick walls. Most importantly, Casey enjoyed her newfound independence and relished the freedom that came with living by herself.

  “I don’t believe it… Trina!” Dawn exclaimed. “Is that M.A.C. lipstick you’re wearing?”

  “Yeah, girl.” Trina said, laughing. “I figured I could use a new look. It’s not too dark on me, is it?”

  “No! It’s perfect,” Dawn answered. “It’s hard to go wrong with any M.A.C. product.”

  Casey thought that the changes Trina had made to herself on the outside as well as the inside were amazing. Not only had she started eating healthier, she had gotten a stylish short cropped haircut that showed off her glowing ebony skin and deep-set brown eyes. Casey happily realized that the biggest difference in Trina was reflected in her self-esteem.

  Casey had welcomed all her friends: Trina, Lorraine, Remy, and Dawn, one by one, to her housewarming party. Casey laughed with her friends, enjoying the camaraderie of the group. They were all sitting on the floor on huge pillows thrown around a low mosaic tile table Casey had recently purchased at an estate auction. Several authentic Thai d
ishes were spread on the table in hand-painted clay dishes. Though Casey had gotten together with all of them at various times over the past summer, the five women had not all been in the same room since the season.

  Casey had filed for divorce back in July, only two weeks after the season had ended. Although Brent had tearfully sworn that he had changed and even wanted to renew their marriage vows, for Casey, it was simply a case of too much, too little, too late. When she explained her feelings to Brent, she had never before felt such clarity of mind about a decision.

  All Casey wanted was a place of her own that had no haunting memories of her life as Brent Rogers’s wife. Her new Village retreat was just what the doctor ordered, especially for those cozy evenings she spent with Jason Ennis, the new man in her life.

  “Come on, Casey, we want the truth,” Trina demanded, smiling at Casey.

  “Why bother with your own place? How come you just didn’t move in with Jason when he asked you to?” Trina wanted answers.

  “Trina!” Lorraine said, appearing shocked by what she had just heard.

  “Casey can’t just up and move in with a man, they’re not even married, for goodness’ sake.” Lorraine’s hand had slowly moved up to caress the small platinum cross she wore on a chain.

  The women all started to laugh, but Casey was quick to explain.

  “You all know how crazy I am about Jason, and even though I’ve never felt this way about a guy before, I’m not ready to jump into another serious relationship right away. I plan to take my time, enjoy life, and live one day at a time to the fullest.” Casey had never been more sure of herself.

  Dawn nodded her head in agreement with Casey. “That sounds similar to what Michael and I are doing.”

  “What do you mean? Aren’t you supposed to be tying the knot soon?” Trina asked.

  “As long as you keep the Lord in your lives, He will show you both the way. There’s no need to rush it yourselves.” Lorraine smiled at Dawn.

  “You’re right, there’s no rush here.” Dawn said, shaking her head and taking a sip of her wine. “I think Michael and I will get married one day, but for now we’re taking our time. Right now we’re just having fun learning about ourselves and growing together.