Love Won't Let Me Wait

by ROD HARLEY

  I was relieved they’d decided to stay at home. I had no desire to hang out with Michelle either. I felt uncomfortable knowing that I would have to break off our friendship when we got back to Charlotte. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy spending time with her, but I made up my mind in Josh’s office that I was going to get things right with Toya first thing upon my return to Charlotte. This last month away from her gave me a new appreciation for how much she means to me. It’s time for me to stop making excuses and commit to her before it’s too late.

  Josh took me to a small jazz club not far from his home. The quartet performing onstage was actually pretty good. They had a clean sound. The cat on the sax was clearly more talented than his band mates and was stealing the show. During the band’s break Josh and I walked into the restroom for some much needed bladder relief. I walked over to the urinal as Josh stepped up to the mirror and began to adjust his tie. Two guys were conversing with each other through the toilet stalls. Josh and I listened in.

  “She paid your rent last month?” The guy in the stall to the right asked in disbelief.

  “Hell, yeah,” his buddy in the adjourning stall answered back. “I told you her husband gots all kinda bread. She be buying me all kinda shit.”

  “Damn, I need to get me a married bitch,” his friend answered. “See if she’ll hook me up with one of her friends.” His friend laughed. Josh and I looked over at each other and smiled nostalgically remembering our playa days. Josh’s smile seemed a forced and uncomfortable. I guess hearing someone brag on the infidelities of a married woman made him uneasy. Could you blame him considering what he had learned about his wife? The guys kept on with their conversation.

  “Them married women be freaky as hell too. She do everything. Remember how I told you her husband be gone out of town all the time right?”

  “Yeah,” his friend answered.

  “Man, I be all up in the crib. All off in this motherfucker’s bed spending the night. They got a fat ass crib.”

  “Whaaaaaat. You crazy man, I would never try somebody like that. She would have to come to my apartment. I ain’t trying to get shot up if her husband came home early.” Josh and I smiled at each other again. Josh’s smile was orgasmic. He was enjoying the thought. I finished my business and walked over to the sink to wash my hands. Josh walked over to the urinal as the conversation continued.

  “Nah, it ain’t even like that. Her husband be gone for like weeks at a time. Like a couple of months back he went out of town for a week. I was up in there all week eating, getting drunk, and getting my freak on.” His friend started giggling.

  “She’s a freak huh?”

  “Hell, yeah! She be sucking my dick for like a hour. And she don’t spit shit out neither, she be tossing my salad and everything.”

  “Damn, you lucky motherfucker.” The dude let out a proud laugh just as the toilets flushed one after the other. They both walked out of the stalls and towards the door. The tall, slim, dark-skinned cat that was doing the bragging said what’s up to me as they passed by. I nodded in their direction. Josh flushed the urinal and walked over to the sink. As the two guys were exiting the bathroom the short, stocky cat asked the tall, slim dude.

  “What’s your girls name again?”

  “Staaacey,” he answered proudly. His friend laughed. Josh’s body stiffened. I could see the veins in his forehead protruding.

  “Stacey the freak,” his friend added as the bathroom door shut behind them.

  I looked over at Josh; his hands were gripping the sides of the sink. I frantically searched for words to offer my friend but nothing came to mind. Josh exhaled deeply and turned to face me. I shook my head and looked down at the floor. Josh’s hand slowly tightened into a fist. He started walking towards the bathroom door with a crazed look on his face. I stepped in front of him. He tried to push past me, but I grabbed him around the shoulders to restrain him.

  “Big man, listen, you don’t want to go out there and do something stupid,” I pleaded as I struggled to impede Josh’s march towards the door. Josh grabbed me by the arm and thrust me into the bathroom wall. He turned and started heading back towards the door. I reached out and grabbed his shoulder to pull him back, but he pulled away and kept on through the door.

  “Stay the fuck out of this, Kalem!” I could see that things were going to get ugly. I couldn’t allow Josh to do something stupid that could possibly get him thrown in jail. Judging from the size of the little skinny dude he was after there was a good possibility of somebody getting seriously messed up. I burst through the door after Josh. I tried pulling him back by the arm once more but again he tossed me aside. Now I’m not a small guy by any measure. But my two hundred pounds were having little effect in trying to restrain the two hundred eighty plus pound monster that was my enraged friend Josh.

  “Josh, come on man, let me talk to you for a minute. You don’t want to do this, Josh,” I pleaded as he continued to shrug me off. I kept jumping in front of him putting my hands in his chest trying to reason with him. Each time he would shove me aside and continue over towards the bar where Stacey’s lover was standing with his back turned.

  Heads began to snap around and stare at Josh and me. A couple of people started pointing at us and whispering and I noticed the bouncers moving towards us from the front entrance area. Josh was about ten feet away from the unsuspecting guy at the bar, when I charged at him and tackled him to the floor. We began tussling as Josh struggled to get up and get at the guy. Within seconds the bouncers were on top of us trying to separate us. They assumed Josh and I were fighting each other.

  One of the bouncers grabbed me in a full nelson and I offered no resistance. The other three struggled to grab a hold of Josh. He tossed two of them into the bar head first before being tackled by the third guy. Josh flipped him over and climbed on top of him. I thought Josh was going to punch him. I pulled away from the bouncer that was pulling me towards the door and started back towards Josh. Just as I was about to tackle him he stood up and threw his hands in the air in surrender. I stopped in my tracks and did the same.

  The bouncers grabbed us and started pushing us towards the door. Neither of us resisted. I looked back at Stacey’s lover at the bar. He was smiling excitedly and giving his friend dap. He kept gesturing as if throwing a punch. I heard him say to his friend. “Man, them cats was waddling up in here. Them motherfuckers was going at it.” He had no idea how close he had come to catching a serious beat down. Unaware that Josh was after him and that I had saved his ass from wearing one.

  The bouncers shoved Josh and me outside and shut the door in our faces. Josh kicked the door and began pacing back and forth. He would periodically glance up at the door as if expecting someone to exit through it. I stood frustrated staring at him in disbelief.

  “Man, what the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to get our asses thrown in jail?” Josh was huffing and puffing, both his hands still balled tightly into fists. “What the fuck are you going to do wait out here to kick the man’s ass? Shit, I don’t know why you’re mad at him; he’s not the one you’re married too. You need to be mad at your fucking wife!” Josh glared at me. He started moving towards me with his fist in fighting position. I stood my ground. “What, you want to fight me now? Fuck it, if that’s what you need to get you to calm the fuck down you can fight me!” I backed up a few paces and quickly slid out of my jacket. Josh hesitated as if pondering what I was saying. He seemed to be regaining his composure. He slowly unclenched his fist. He ran his hands over his head and threw his head back staring off into the night sky. I picked up my jacket and walked over to my friend. I placed my hand on his shoulder.

  “Josh, let’s go before someone calls the cops.” I led him towards his car parked in the back of the parking lot. As we were walking I looked down at my suit. It was wrinkled like a mug and had a small tear on the shoulder. Josh’s jacket was split straight down the middle of his back like the jacket used by Chris Farley in the movie Tommy Boy.

 
At the car Josh stood and briefly glanced over at the front door of the club before getting in. I was glad to be getting out of there without having to deal with the cops. The last thing I needed was to wind up in jail down in Georgia over Stacey’s trifling ass. Even after all the mess Josh had just put me through I felt lucky. I reclined my seat and closed my eyes. Damn, talk about some bullshit.

  Josh and I didn’t say a word to each other during the ten-minute ride to his house. When we pulled into his driveway he jumped out of the car and headed straight for the front door. I was slow to get out of the car. I opened the door but remained seated in the car reflecting on what had occurred at the club. I couldn’t play along with Josh any longer. If he wants to stay married to Stacey that’s his business, but we almost got into a fight tonight behind her infidelity. We could have gone to jail over her indiscretions. I was through with this sham. I exited the car and started towards the front door. I planned to grab my things and get the hell back to Charlotte.

  When I walked through the front door I heard voices I recognized as Josh’s and Stacey’s coming from the den. They were yelling up a storm. I took my time getting into the den. I had no plans to play mediator. As far as I was concerned anything Stacey got she would have fully deserved.

  Michelle was standing just outside the entrance to the den as I approached. I glanced at her and walked in. She followed behind me. Josh and Stacey were standing in front of the television going at it. I sat down on the arm of the sofa and leaned on the back, Michelle stood on the wall next to me.

  “Josh, now is not the time to discuss this, you’re embarrassing me. Can we please discuss this later,” she pleaded. Josh wasn’t having it.

  “Embarrassing you? I’m embarrassing you? Do you have any fucking idea what I had to listen to tonight? I’m embarrassing you? Fuck that shit; you’re going to give me some fucking answers right now!” Stacey looked over at me.

  “Kalem, will you please talk to Joshua. I can’t get him to listen to reason.” I gave her a look that communicated in no uncertain terms that she was on her own. I don’t have any help for you over here chick. As far as I’m concerned this should have happened a long time ago. When Stacey realized that I wasn’t about to bail her out she hissed and turned to Michelle. “Will you guys excuse Josh and I please. We have something we need to discuss.” She attempted to present herself as calm and rational, Josh as a raving madman, and by default her being responsible for maintaining some sort of sanity in the situation. Michelle got up and walked out of the den. I sat there defiantly. Kalem, will you excuse us please?” I glanced up at Josh.

  “He don’t need to go nowhere! He already knows what your ass has been up to.” Stacey offered a sheepish glance in my direction; her embarrassment was evident. I glared at her.

  “Okay. What do you want me to tell you, Josh? You think you know everything already anyway. What do you want me to say?”

  “I want to hear the fucking truth! Why, Stacey? How could you do this shit to me?” He was close to tears as he questioned her. Stacey glanced over at me.

  “Josh, I do not want to discuss this in front of Kalem and Michelle. Please, can we do this later when we’re alone?”

  “Fuck no! You should have thought about that shit when you were up in our home sucking another man’s dick.” Stacey gasped. Her face turned flush with embarrassment then anger.

  “Goddamnit, I am not going to sit here and listen to this shit in my home! You are not going to disrespect me like that in my home, in front of your friends!” Josh snapped. He glared at Stacey.

  “Your home?” This isn’t your fucking home, I paid for this shit! This is my fucking house, bitch!” When I heard Josh refer to Stacey as a bitch I knew he had lost it. I considered intervening but decided against it. Josh continued ranting as Stacey began backing away towards the exit. “I paid for this house and everything in this motherfucker! You haven’t bought shit since we got married! You don’t have a fucking job. I gave you everything you wanted and how do you repay me? You bring some fucking kid up in here and fuck him in our bed! And then you have the nerve to make declarations about getting disrespected in your home.” Stacey was shocked. Josh hadn’t disclosed just how much he knew about her little adventures. She nervously glanced at me and then back at Josh.

  Josh, baby, what are you talking about; I swear I didn’t bring anyone into our house. I would never disrespect our home like that.” She almost had me convinced and I knew she was lying. Josh hissed and shook his head. He whirled towards the television and pulled it off the wall. It crashed loudly to the floor the screen shattering to pieces. Stacey and I both jumped, startled by the sound of the breaking glass. Josh turned and calmly walked out of the den towards the stairs. Stacey stood frozen momentarily. I just sat on the arm of the sofa staring at the floor.

  Josh returned to the den about a minute later. He dropped a white envelope on the floor in front of Stacey. She looked over at me then at Josh before slowly bending over and picking it up. She opened it and pulled out what appeared to be a thick stack of photos. Her jaw dropped to the floor as Josh’s lips curled into a smirk.

  “Surprise bitch! You remember that satellite dish repairman that came by while I was out in San Diego. Well he’s really a private investigator.” He turned towards me still smirking. “I had him come by and install hidden surveillance cameras all over the house.” I smiled and nodded. Josh turned back to Stacey who was still standing staring at the photos. “You won’t believe the shit I caught on video these last two months.” Stacey faced Josh. She appeared as a child facing a parent and trying to sweet-talk their way out of a whipping.

  “Josh, baby, I’m so sorry, I swear I never meant for this to happen. Baby, just give me another chance. Please, sweetie, I swear I’ll never do anything like this again,” she begged. Josh stood staring at her like she was stupid and pathetic, which she was. He ran his hand over his goatee and exhaled.

  “Stacey.” He squinted his eyes and winced as if it was paining him to say it. “What you need to do right now is…go upstairs, get all your shit out of my bedroom, and get the fuck out of MY house.” Stacey stood with her mouth open as if unable to process what was being said.

  “Josh, baby plea-” he cut her off.

  “GET OUT!” Stacey turned and walked past me with her head down. I heard her climbing the stairs shortly after. Josh stood staring at the wall for a few minutes. I sat on the arm of the sofa with my arms folded. Josh sat down on the sofa next to me.

  “You alright, big man?” Josh nodded.

  “I’m cooler than a fan.” I laughed.

  “Your ass is slicker than a motherfucker. Hidden cameras! That’s some ol James Bond shit.” Josh managed a smile. It lasted less than a second.

  “I called up my cousin Troy, you know the private investigator, and told him to install the cameras right after I got back to San Diego for my meeting that Thursday after I saw them up in the bedroom.”

  “So you were planning this all along?”

  “Nah man, I meant everything I told you up until this point. I just figured I should get some evidence in case something happened and I changed my mind about the whole thing. We don’t have a prenuptial agreement and I’m not trying to lose my house and all the other things I’ve worked so hard to acquire to Stacey in a divorce. Especially not over some foul shit she did.” I nodded. “Listening to that dude bragging on what my wife did to him made me realize how much of a sucker she was making me out to be. That shit almost drove me crazy. I’m glad I covered my ass.”

  “Smart move, bruh. No way in hell she getting shit after you break out those pictures in court, especially since y’all don’t have any kids. You probably won’t even have to go to court. She’ll probably settle for whatever you offer her.” Josh had a bittersweet look on his face. It was obvious he still loved Stacey and divorce is not what he wanted. But that incident in the restroom at the club was all that he could take. I can’t even imagine the rage and hurt he felt listening to t
hat dude go on about how much of a freak his wife was. Tossing salads! I’m surprised he didn’t kill her ass up in here tonight.

  Josh and I remained in the den conversing for about an hour longer. When we emerged, Michelle was asleep on the sofa in the living room. We walked over to the bar and poured ourselves some Hennessy. A couple of minutes later I heard the front door open then slam shut. Josh took a huge gulp of his drink and closed his eyes. I got up and walked over to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder. Then I went over and scooped Michelle up off of the sofa and carried her upstairs to the guest bedroom.

  I planned to let Michelle know that we couldn’t see each other any longer on the way back to Charlotte, but once again I was let off the hook. It turns out that job Michelle was so excited about is out in Seattle. She was set to begin right away and had reservations to fly out there on Tuesday morning, two days after our return to Charlotte. She dropped the bomb on me before I had a chance to break my news to her. I felt relieved. I didn’t want to hurt Michelle’s feelings. Her being the one to back out of whatever it was we had going meant we could part as friends, no hard feelings.

  I pretended to be upset about her leaving. Actually I figured I would miss her a little. She turned out to be pretty cool. When I dropped her off in front of her apartment I wished her luck with the new job, gave her a hug, and turned to leave. She invited me up but I fought off the instant hard-on that accompanied her invitation and declined. I asked her to keep in touch. Just one of those things you say in parting. As badly as I wanted one last go with Michelle’s fine ass, I had something way more important to deal with. I had to get things right with Toya.

  Back at my apartment I found my familiar spot on the sofa and immediately called up Toya. My call found her continuing the cold shoulder, short answer, leave me the hell alone routine. I had to do some Keith Sweat begging to get her to agree to allow me to come over to her place and talk. I spent the whole ride out to her place trying to gather my thoughts and organize my presentation. I had the feeling it was going to take a major league sales job to convince Toya I was serious.