Torn Apart (African American Romance)

by Cristina Grenier

  “Well, I have thought about that and I need to be honest with you. I have gotten reacquainted with someone at the church and I think that for this new chapter in my life that she may be able to live up better to the new saved me. Plus, you have a lot going on in your life-I don’t want to hold you back.”

  Rhonda could not believe that he had the nerve to say these things and be so smug about it. She thought she was content with things ending but she wasn’t expecting it to go down like this. This felt too much like betrayal to Rhonda and it was now all coming out.

  “Oh really? Well, good for you pastor,“ Rhonda said as she slowly got up with the intent of playing it cool but her emotions would not let that continue. “I wish your punk ass and your new pussy, oops I mean old pussy, a happy future together.” Rhonda kept a calm tone that even surprised her. She turned around and tried to remain calm in her walk because her heart was broken and the tears were fighting her to come falling out of her eyes but she refused to let David see them. David expected her to react in such an irrational manner like most of the females that he dealt with; this would have made him feel better about ending things but her calmness, although sprinkled with some colorful words, made him question whether or not he was making a big mistake. In addition David was quite turned on by this sexy, confident side of Rhonda that he was seeing coming from her now. He started to call out to her but by that point Rhonda was to her car starting it up and getting ready to leave his life, and he was not sure if that’s what he wanted after all.

  Rhonda drove off with tears streaming down her face to the point where she could barely see. She pulled over in the next block to get herself together and decide where she was going. She couldn’t go to her parents’ house looking like this so she sat in the car for another 15 minutes before she decided to drive the 10 minutes to the apartment complex that Dana had recently moved into. After high school graduation, Dana had decided to stay in town to continue working her high school job and start community college. When Rhonda would come home during her visits she would usually connect with her. Rhonda saw Dana’s white car in the parking lot outside of her building so she parked and ran up the stairs leading to her apartment. Dana knocked on her friend’s door for about two minutes and was about to turn around and leave when she heard the door open. Dana was wrapped up in her bathrobe with an anxious look on her face. A male voice was shouting from the distance telling Dana to hurry up.

  “Oh Dana, I’m sorry—I see this isn’t a good time. I just needed to talk but we can talk later,” Rhonda said as she tried not to look Dana in the face and rush off.

  “Rhonda, have you been crying?” Dana stepped out grabbing Rhonda by the arm.

  Rhonda slowly turned around and broke down. “David and I just broke up. He’s going to stay here and become a preacher. It’s ok though, things haven’t been the same in a while anyway, but this still caught me off guard. Dana, seriously, I’ll be fine. Go back to your company or doing whatever you were doing. I should have called first anyway. I’ll call you tomorrow ok?”

  Rhonda took off back down the stairs, got in her car and started driving. She felt embarrassed for intruding on Dana and decided she would just go home, pack up her things and head back to campus tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow. Her parents ended up not being at home when she got there; they had left a note saying they were out to dinner with friends. Rhonda rushed to her room and grabbed all of her things to take to the car. Luckily she had not been there long enough to unpack her overnight back. She left her parents a note saying she had to go back because she had decided to take an extra shift for work, and then she got on the highway heading back to school. Rhonda felt as if it was time for her to move forward and not look back. Sure, this was her hometown but she did not want to ever see David or hear anything about him ever again. With him taking on the role he was taking Rhonda knew that in no time David would be the talk of their small town; he always had been to a certain degree because of his father and the church. The only people there for her anymore were her parents. After interrupting Dana, she realized that they weren’t little girls anymore who now had their own lives and issues and it was time for Rhonda to rely on herself. Yes, Rhonda was sad right now but she knew that she would bounce back from this. David had been her crutch at the school since she had been there, but now it was time for Rhonda to stand up on her own and make things happen.

  Three Years Later

  “Oh God, David…yea!” Tina screamed at the top of her lungs as she rode him like the stallion that she always thought David was as far back as high school. Sweat glistened off her thin yet toned, dark chocolate body as David stared up at her scream obscenities as her tiny boobs bounced wildly as she bucked him. Tina had definitely become more sexually adventurous since their old days back in high school as horny teenagers but David was now starting to get a bit drained from her urgency and dependency on being pleased every other day. It was becoming a bit much for his already hectic schedule, and not to mention the lifestyle he was now trying to live out as the pastor at his father’s church.

  “Come on daddy, I’m almost there,” Tina continued as she grabbed her head and did her best impersonation of a porno star while staring down at David who did not look the least bit interested in being there anymore. He couldn’t hold out anymore, and as David grabbed her ass cheeks he climaxed. He didn’t care if Tina had come or not; he was ready for this session to end so he could begin another one across town.

  Tina toppled on top of him from exhaustion and began deeply tonguing him. She had been back in David’s life since he returned home from college and decided to take over the reins from his father as being the spiritual leader at the church. Tina was thrilled when she heard he would be returning to town, and especially when he started hearing that him and Rhonda was no longer a pair. She was surprised that their so-called relationship had lasted as long as it did. Tina had known David was only chasing Rhonda because she represented this innocent, virginal girl that he wanted to deflower. She was surprised that they continued to be an item into college but now David had come around and realized he wanted a real experienced woman that he once had in Tina. It actually did not take much for Tina to come around, considering her dating options were very slim in their hometown. She had decided to stay and attend the local community college while taking on a job at the bank. It was then that she got back into the church and when the announcement was made that David would be returning Tina could not contain herself. She had been in a volatile relationship that she know needed to end, but she held on because Tina felt that she did not have any other options—David was her option now. Her goal was now to make sure she became the next first lady; Tina knew he would come around sooner rather than later.

  “So baby, what are we going to do with the rest of our Friday evening?” Tina asked as she rubbed his chest

  “Yea, I’m going to have to make it up to you-I have a meeting in about an hour and need to prepare for Sunday,” David said hoping that was all that needed to be said to get out of Tina’s grip this time.

  “David, you promised!”

  “No I didn’t, but like I said, I just have things to do Tina. That’s just the way my life is so you need to figure out if this is something you can handle.”

  David sat up trying to get up from under her grasp. She just stared as David picked his clothes up from the floor and went into Tina’s bathroom to get dressed.

  “Baby, I know that being a pastor you will stay busy,” Tina whined loud enough for David to hear through the bathroom door. “And yes, I can handle it, I just wish we could get more time together now before things get more hectic for you, that’s all.”

  This conversation wasn’t going quite like David imagined. He was hoping Tina would just give up and not want to be bothered but she was being pathetic and this was making it easier for him to just say what was on his mind.

  “Look Tina, it was good while it lasted but lets call this what it was,” David said as he came out
the bathroom fully dressed.

  “Was?” Tina stood up still naked and hoping to use her body, as she always had, to get his attention. Her being naked did not have any effect on him one bit.

  “Yes Tina, was—this is over. All this was in the first place was just sex. That’s all our relationships have ever been and quite honestly I don’t know why you thought it was any different this time.”

  “You bastard! How dare you—you’ve been telling the congregation that you have been wanting to find a first lady since you came back to the church; making it seem like I was the one you were considering marriage with!” Tina shouted as she started swinging at him being unsuccessful at getting a hit in. David had a grip on her arms holding her tight until she calmed down.

  “Tina, not once did I ever say I wanted to marry you. We aren’t even a couple so how could you think that was the next step when we hadn’t even discussed what we were? I’m sorry about the miscommunication but you and I are just not going to happen.”

  Tina pulled away from David’s grip and grabbed a shirt out her drawer to throw on. She was in disbelief about how David had not changed and was still acting like the bored teenager he was in high school.

  “I can’t believe this shit! You are going to be sorry. I can’t believe I allowed you to do this to me again. Must be some new bitch you have in your life like the last time. Speaking of which, how is your little whore? I hear she’s big shit now since she left your tired ass alone. And being in the big city too, I bet she’s getting much better dick than she did with you; more to compare you to now.”

  That set David off in a heartbeat, which is what Tina was trying to do. David grabbed her and pushed her back on the bed, “Tina, if you know what’s best for you, you would shut the fuck up right now.”

  Instead of being frightened by him grabbing her, Tina became turned on. She grabbed David’s face going for a deep kiss until he pushed her away.

  “Stop, please quit making a fool of yourself. You are a piece of work,” he finally said before getting up to leave the bedroom.

  “You know you want this,” Tina jumped up lifting up her shirt to try to show him what he would be missing if he walked out on her again.

  “No Tina, I don’t—already had it and now its over. You need to accept that.”

  David gave her one last look and walked out the door in just enough time before he heard the shatter of glass on the other side; whatever it was, she had just missed him by seconds.

  As he got in his car parked outside Tina’s apartment complex, he thought back to Rhonda and the comments that Tina had made. He knew that Tina was just reacting to what just went down but it bothered him knowing that Rhonda could be doing so well without him in her life and possibly living it up with some other guy. That was supposed to have been him in Rhonda’s life but he made the mistake of letting his ego, immaturity and pussy get in the way and messing up his relationship. Since Rhonda, David had not came close to finding anyone that came close to what she they had. His mother and father even asked about her periodically in the hopes that they would reunite. His parents, especially David’s father, was against Tina being back in his life in any kind of way. Tina was the woman that David had called himself leaving Rhonda for but he should have known from the beginning that it would turn into a train wreck of a relationship and it surely did. It did not help that David had started messing around with someone else from the church shortly after he moved back home. As a matter of fact, he needed to get moving because she was expecting him far across town. David was on a roll with getting rid of negativity and undesirables today so maybe she was next on the list too.

  Rhonda felt his eyes on her as she was leaving the ballroom of the hotel after deciding it was time to call it a night. She had a wonderful time with her coworkers at the annual Christmas party that was being held at the grandiose hotel this year. She and Ken Clay had been flirting with one another for months at work but she had been in a short-lived relationship that she saw from the beginning was not going anywhere. Although she thought Ken was a cool guy from what she witnessed in passing at work and at office gatherings and events, Rhonda was hesitant to start up anything with someone that she worked with but Ken was coming on very strong. This was very obvious to her since word had gotten around the office that she was single again. Rhonda knew her friend LaVerne was to blame for this; that girl had been trying to fix Rhonda up with Ken from the very beginning when he started working for the agency six months before. Ken worked at a different office but came to their location at least once a week for meetings. Rhonda and LaVerne started at the agency almost a year ago on the exact same day, to be exact. From the time they both walked into that agency and greeted each other, they were the best of friends from that day forward. It was not like Rhonda had too many people she could refer to as true friends so LaVerne filled a void in her life.

  After everything that had went down with Rhonda and David’s relationship, and the fact that he had become like one of the so-called future leaders in her hometown, she did not make her way back to her hometown that often. When she did, Rhonda would drive in and out before anyone noticed and that was only to see her family. She still kept in touch with Sherry who had moved south to attend a predominantly black college and never returned. Rhonda also did not like putting Sherry in the middle of what her and David had went through because she did not want to cause any type of friction between them. After Rhonda shared the news with Sherry about them breaking up, failing to give much detail, in typical Sherry fashion she read right through Rhonda’s tone on the telephone. “Fuck him! He’s just opening the door for the right man to come along and sweep you off of your feet. He’s my cousin Rhonda and I love him but you’re my best friend and I love you too. I know your heart; I can’t say that he’s ever let me in enough to know his.” They never discussed David again, although Rhonda was sure that Sherry probably knew what was going on with his life since they broke up, but she refused to ever ask or bring up his name to her.

  Rhonda and Dana had grown apart, like many do after high school. Although they still communicated occasionally once Rhonda went to join David at college, it seemed the communication slowed down more when Rhonda and David ended. Things were strange after the night she went to Dana’s apartment to vent to her friend about her and David’s breakup. Dana had called Rhonda that next day to talk to her about what happened with David, and Rhonda explained the whole conversation in detail to Dana. Just like that evening when she stopped by Dana’s, Rhonda thought her friend could give her some clarity during this conversation as a friend and a member of his church; Dana had been a member of Rev. Barnes church since childhood. Instead, though, Dana seemed to encourage their splitting up and implied that she agreed that Rhonda was not the woman that David needed in his life at that particular time because of her distance being away at college and wanting to pursue her career goals. Rhonda felt as if Dana was saying that David needed a woman who was willing to stay at home and do nothing while David was the breadwinner. They went back and forth about this until the conversation took a turn for the worst and ended with Rhonda cursing Dana out for being so judgmental and not being a true friend. It seemed that once David stepped into this new position of power many people she was once close to, in addition to others she knew from around the way, just fell under his influence and had him on a pedestal because of taking over for his father. What they did not seem to notice or care about was how David hurt the people that had supported him and been there for him while he was being prepared to step into that position; Rhonda had been one of his biggest supporters up to that point. She would have even supported him taking over for his father if David had been man enough to share the news with her but he chose not to.

  LaVerne was also from her hometown, but like Rhonda, she had moved her and her young son to the city to make the kind of healthy life that she had been unsuccessful in doing back home. Although Rhonda and LaVerne did not run with the same circles back in their younger days,
they both had painful pasts that was connected to people and their time back home so they were glad to have moved beyond that. In this big city, it was ironic that they would end up working in the same downtown agency and find out they had both came from the same small town they once called home.

  LaVerne had left the party about an hour earlier because she needed to get home to her son but she had teased Rhonda all evening long about how Ken had been watching her and asking about Rhonda all evening. Rhonda told LaVerne that she was not interested in anyone who was too scared to come up to her and speak for himself—this was not high school and they were not kids so time out for that type of behavior. Why did Rhonda say that? As LaVerne headed out the ballroom to leave, Rhonda saw her go over to Ken and whisper something in his ear which led him to turn to look at Rhonda. “Oh shit! I am so going to kick her ass!” Rhonda said to no one in particular as she quickly turned around to avoid Ken’s look and act as if she was not the least bit interested.

  As soon as LaVerne gave him that advice and left, Ken headed toward one of the bar areas that was setup in the ballroom to order Rhonda a glass of white wine, one of her favorite drinks as LaVerne had mentioned, and make his move.

  “So are you enjoying yourself this evening, Ms. Downing?” Ken asked loud enough for Rhonda to turn around to face him. He handed her the wine glass.

  “Thank you, and yes I have been enjoying myself immensely. So is that what LaVerne was whispering to you—that I liked to drink so you could try to get me tipsy?!” Rhonda asked jokingly looking him straight into his light brown eyes as she took a sip of the wine.