by Tina Martin
“Bri, I want you to go, okay.”
“Nope. I’m going to Atlanta with you.”
“You were all excited about going to Chicago and now you don’t want to go?”
“Nope.”
“Gabrielle, I know you want to go, so, sweetheart, I’m telling you to go. I want you to. Stop defying me.”
Gabrielle giggled. “Defying you?” she said through laughter.
Tyson laughed to. “Yeah. I want you to go.”
She sat up and looked at him. “You really don’t mind if I go?”
“Not at all. It’s only for Friday and Saturday. You’ll be back Sunday, and so will I. Then we’ll make love until we tear this bed all to pieces.”
Gabrielle grinned.
“So I want you to go...have a good time.”
“Thank you, Tyson,” she said excited. She took a kiss from his lips.
“Anything for my girl,” he replied. “Hey, guess who’s coming for a visit tomorrow.”
“Who?”
“My sister. She can’t wait to finally meet you.”
“Can’t wait to meet her...this is a nice surprise. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of surprises, you know Carmen is graduating in a month.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been thinking about what to get her.”
“What is she doing after high school?” Tyson inquired.
“Um...not sure, actually. She applied to some colleges only because the guidance counselor had asked her to, but—”
“She’s not going to college?”
“Are you kidding me? My dad can’t afford college for her.”
A smile touched his lips. “Do you want her to go to college?”
“I would like for her to, but—”
“Then it’s done.”
“Tyson...”
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
Gabrielle lifted her head from his chest and stared into his eyes.
“It’s done,” he said again.
“Just like that?”
“Yeah. Just like that. I told you...anything you want, all you have to do is ask and it’s yours.”
Gabrielle tried to hide a smile, but it came through anyway. “Thank you, Tyson.”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
Gabrielle strummed her fingertips up and down his back.
“We better get to sleep, baby, or when that alarm clock chimes, we’re not getting up.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” she said inhaling his scent. She kissed his chest and said, Goodnight, babe.”
“Goodnight, my love.”
Chapter 8
~ * ~
“She’s here, Bri. I’m going to go help her with her bags,” Tyson said. “Be right back.”
Gabrielle nervously stood at the door, waiting to meet her sister-in-law for the first time. She watched Tamera get out of a black Honda Accord, then wrap her arms around Tyson’s neck. Tamera was shorter than he was, about the same height as Gabrielle and she was thin and fit, looked to be a size ten or so with a medium brown complexion and cropped black hair.
Gabrielle watched as Tamera headed up the stairs. She wore a pair of white shorts, a sea-green tank top and white sandals. When she saw Gabrielle standing behind the screen door, she screamed with excitement, “Hey sis!”
She snatched the door open and squeezed Gabrielle into her grasp. “It’s so good to meet you.”
“You as well,” Gabrielle told her. “Come on in.”
“Wow. This is amazing. I finally have a sister,” Tamera said, excited. “Gosh, we have sooo much to talk about.”
Tyson came in with Tamera’s suitcase and said, “Tamera, I’m going to take this upstairs.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Gabrielle, have you had lunch?”
“No, and I’m starving.”
“Okay. Let’s see what Tyson has planned. Ty-son!” Tamera called out to him.
“Be right there,” he said, then came jogging downstairs. “So, you’ve met my lovely wife,” he said to his sister, throwing his arms around Gabrielle.
“Sure did. Now we want to know what your plans are today so we can have some girl time.”
“Already?” he said with a smirk on his face, looking at Gabrielle.
“Yep...you have her full time. I’m sure you don’t mind me stealing her for an hour or two. Or three.”
“Don’t mind at all,” Tyson said, “As long as my baby doesn’t mind.”
Gabrielle smiled. “I don’t.”
“Okay, sweetie. I have to go by the food house to get some desserts ready.”
“Right now?” Tamera asked.
“Yep.”
“Then Gabrielle and I are going to lunch. Come on, sis.” She took Gabrielle by the hand.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Tyson said. “You can’t just snatch her away from me without daddy gettin’ some love. Come here, Bri.”
Gabrielle smiled and walked over to Tyson. He took a long kiss from her lips and said, “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
“Call me if you need anything, ‘kay.”
“Oh, leave her alone, Tyson,” Tamera said. “She’ll be fine with me.”
Gabrielle laughed. “I’ll talk to you later, Tyson.”
“Okay, sweetie.”
* * *
Tamera took Gabrielle to a restaurant right around the corner – a place she used to frequent when she lived with Tyson for a while. Sitting here now brought back memories of her past, of being an abused wife. This little place is where she came up with a strategy to start her life over – to get out of The Outer Banks and move miles away to Charlotte.
Sitting across from Gabrielle, she said, “So...you’re the famous Gabrielle.”
Gabrielle smiled. “Don’t know about famous, but yes, I’m Gabrielle.”
“Tyson talks about you a lot, you know,” she said. Her eyes had gotten bigger when she said, lot.
“He does?”
“Oh, yes, girl...never seen my brother so crazy in love. Wait...I take that back...he was feelin’ Desiree for a while. I’m sure you heard the story.”
“Yeah. He told me.”
“But now, he has his diamond, so the past no longer matters,” she said watching Gabrielle reciprocate her smile.
After they ordered their food and drinks, Tamera said, “So what do you do?”
“For work?”
“Yeah.”
“Nothing right now. Well, I help out Padma here and there.”
“How is Padma, anyway? I haven’t seen my auntie in a minute.”
“She’s doing well...stays busy all the time.”
“Yeah...that’s Padma. I have to get over there and see her before I leave.”
“Definitely. She would love that. When are you leaving anyway?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Oh, just a short trip, huh?”
“Yeah. Just in and out...had to come see my new sister-in-law, and my big bro of course.”
“Well, if you want to see Padma, you’ll have to get over there sometime today because I’m going with her to Chicago tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Yep...she invited me to a restaurant expo.”
“Cool...have to see if I can get over there today, then.” Tamera took a sip of water. “So you like being married?”
“Yes...to Tyson.”
Tamera chuckled.
“Why are you laughing at me?” Gabrielle questioned.
Tamera shook her head. “I was laughing at the way you said that.”
“Oh.”
“I heard about what my idiot cousin did to you.”
“You did?”
“Sure did...Tyson mentioned it to me right after it happened...around the time you moved in with him.”
“Oh.”
“He knew I could relate...something similar happened to me and I ended up staying with Tyson for a while.”
“What happened to you?”
“I was in an abus
ive relationship...marriage actually.”
“What kind of things did he do to you?”
Tamera shook her head. “He would slap me if I said something he didn’t like...would hit me so hard, he’d leave the print of his hand across my face.”
“Oh my gosh.”
“Not only that, but he punched me in the face several times...gave me black eyes. He would hit me in the stomach like he was hitting a punching bag. Now that I think about it, that’s exactly what I was...his punching bag. I just hung around and didn’t say anything.”
“What made you say something?”
“Probably the same thing that made you say something about Dilvan. I was tired of being abused. I knew there was a better life out there for me and I couldn’t tolerate living in fear of a man who’s supposed to love me. So I told Tyson what was going on and jeez...he almost lost it. I’ve never seen my brother so furious, Gabrielle. He and he beat the crap out of my ex. Now, he’s in jail. I have a restraining order already in place so when he gets out, he can’t bother me.”
“Wow. Sounds like you’ve been through a lot.”
“Girl, you don’t know the half...”
The waitress set their plates in front of them. Keeping it simple, they both ordered cheeseburgers and fries.
Once the waitress walked away, Tamera continued, “And on top of that, my ex-husband was Dilvan’s homeboy.”
“What?” Gabrielle asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah,” Tamera said after she’d taken a bite of her sandwich. “He was one of Dilvan’s friends...another reason why Dilvan can’t stand Tyson to this day.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. Your ex-husband and Dilvan were friends.”
Tamera nodded and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Yeah. Good friends.”
“Hmm...that’s interesting. Since I’ve known them, there’s always been animosity between Tyson and Dilvan.”
“Yeah, because Mark, that was my ex-husband’s name, had been bragging to Dilvan about what he was doing to me. Dilvan hadn’t said a word about it to anyone. And he and Mark would go out all the time picking up women from clubs, sleeping around and doing all kinds of nonsense.” Tamera took a sip of water. “I had no idea Mark was like that when we met.”
“How was he then?”
“He was charming...nice...never hit me. Then one day, he flipped like it happened overnight, and he became this monster...guess he was tired of the nice guy front and started hitting me.”
“Jeez...that’s bad.”
“Yeah...I’m sure you know after putting up with Dilvan.”
Gabrielle nodded. “Yeah. It was bad. The things he did to me...” Gabrielle shook her head, then blinked quickly to stop her tears.
“What did he do to you?”
“Anything he wanted. But unlike Mark, Dilvan never punched me...his abuse was more mental than anything else, and he seemed to enjoy every minute of it.” Gabrielle took a sip of water and got her thoughts together. “But nothing hurt more than the miscarriages.”
“Miscarriages?”
“Yeah. I had one early on in the relationship and the second one the weekend Tyson rescued me.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
After a moment of silence, Gabrielle said, “It’s been torture to deal with because I feel like I’m responsible for not saving my babies.”
“No, Gabrielle. You can’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
“I know. I just feel bad about it.”
“I get it...I used to feel bad too, ‘til I realized that I have no control over another person’s feelings. Mark did what he did to me because he wanted to. I can’t be the blame for that.”
“Yeah. You’re right.”
“But enough about all this depressing stuff. We’ve endured it so there’s no use in dwelling on it, right?”
“Yep...got that right.”
“So how’s my brother treating you?”
A large, bright smile came to Gabrielle’s face.
“Look at you glowing,” Tamera commented. “Just the mention of Tyson has your face lit up.”
Gabrielle blushed. “Tyson is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me and...” She shook her head. “Words can’t describe how much I love your brother.”
“I’m glad. He’s so happy, Gabrielle. Mom told me he was beaming at the reception.”
“Yeah...so was I.”
“I wish I could’ve been there, but my work schedule is so messed up right now.”
“What do you do?”
“Well, I have two jobs actually. During the day, I’m a health inspector. At night, I’m a food blogger for Charlotte Magazine.”
“So you go around to restaurants, have a meal, then review them?”
“Yep, after I take a picture of the meal. I rate the presentation, flavor, ambience of the place, friendliness of the staff...it’s fun, but it can be challenging at the same time because I have to meet a monthly quota.”
“I bet.” Gabrielle thought it was interesting how Tamera and Tyson seemed to enjoy working in the food and beverage industry.
“So tell me about the proposal, the wedding and how everything went down.”
“Um...well, Tyson proposed in a rather short time frame. I mean, we started off as friends and then we were really into each other and everything, but we’d gotten into a small disagreement. Well, small for me but big for him.”
“What happened?”
“While I was living with Tyson, I went to see Dilvan and didn’t tell Tyson I was going. Tyson was pretty upset about it...didn’t understand why I would go to see the man who abused me. But in my defense, I only went so Dilvan could offer up his apology and so that I could make it clear to him that I had no intentions on getting back with him. That was all, but Tyson wasn’t trying to hear it. So we went out separate ways. I moved back home to Greenville, to my father’s home, and guess who showed up?”
“Aww...” Tamera said, covering her mouth with her hand. “So what did he do when he came there?”
“Well, he sure did a good job of sweeping my father off of his feet.”
Tamera laughed.
“He cooked a fancy dinner for us.”
“Of course.”
“Then he declared his love for me...said he wasn’t going to leave Greenville without me. A couple days later, we’re on a private beach in Rodanthe exchanging vows. Have you seen the pictures?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I’ll show you tonight.”
“Cool. I know my brother is making something good for dinner. He loves to cook.”
“He’s so good at it.”
“He is. When he first told me he wanted to be a pastry chef, I was like, really, Tyson? A pastry chef...”
Gabrielle giggled.
“But he stuck with it. After the Marines, he wanted to do something on the opposite end of the spectrum and culinary arts is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He studied in Paris, too.”
“Yeah, he told me.”
“And I’ll be doggone if the man can’t cook his behind off.”
Gabrielle nodded. “He’s very talented.”
“Does he still get up every morning to go jogging?”
“Yep.”
“He got you going with him, huh?”
“Every morning. I enjoy it though...gives us more time together.”
“Yeah. That’s true.”
Gabrielle took a sip of water. She wanted to ask Tamera so badly about Desiree again, but didn’t want Tamera to read too much into it.
“What’s on your mind, sis?” Tamera asked.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, spit it out already. I’m not going to tell Tyson anything we talked about.”
“Well, you had mentioned something about Desiree earlier and I know Tyson loved her—”
“Oh, let me tell you about that heffa.”
The women laughed together.
“Girl, she called herself trying
to be a player...telling Tyson that she loved him and was creeping behind his back with his best friend. So trifling...”
“So if I understand correctly, Desiree and Dennis were married?”
“Yeah, but that was short-lived. Dennis got killed in a robbery. Desiree tried to convince the police that Tyson had something to do with it and, don’t get me wrong, Tyson was one of the best sharp shooters the U.S. government has ever seen, but you can’t be in two places at one time. He was in Atlanta the weekend Dennis died.”
“Why would Desiree say those things about Tyson?”
“Because she was mad...thought her life with Dennis was going to be picture perfect, but what people sometimes fail to realize is, you really do reap what you sow.”
Gabrielle scratched her head. “It all just seems so strange.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just glad Tyson ended up with you instead of her. I’m sooo glad!”
“Well I am too.” Gabrielle laughed.
“Listen...I’m going to give you some advice about my brother.”
“Uh oh.”
“No, no, no...nothing bad. Tyson is a very responsible, stand-up guy. He just likes a lot of order. And he’ll go to the ends of the earth for you. He will. I know you look at him and see this big, buff, tough guy, but he’s so sweet. When we were teenagers, he was extremely protective of me...still is in a way. He told me the next man I dated had to pass his approval.”