Careful of the Company You Keep
Page 25
I took a nap and when I woke up around five, I headed to the store. I didn’t have any missed calls, so Kenny hadn’t even bothered to try and call me back. I was hurt beyond words. I obviously did not mean as much to him as I thought I had. That’s what I get for giving my heart to a mothafucka.
On my way back home, I reached for my phone and called Kayla. I just needed someone to just listen to me without passing judgment. Maybe she might throw in a scripture or two to help me come to terms with what was going on.
“Hello?”
“Hey, girl. Where you at?”
“I’m at Wal-Mart in the jewelry department talking to Reese about her wedding.”
I hit my brakes. “Is she still there?”
“Uh-huh, standing a few feet away.” Her voice was low so that she wouldn’t be overheard. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
I hit a U-turn. “Neither can I, but I’m glad you did. I’ll be there in a few.” I pushed my foot on the gas and went as fast as I thought I could get away with. A couple of weeks ago Kenny had shown me a picture of Reese, but nothing would be like seeing her in person.
Five minutes later I was jumping out of my car and making my way into Wal-Mart. I dialed Kayla back. “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. She said she was going over to the cosmetics department.”
“As ugly as everyone says she is, I doubt makeup can help.”
Kayla breathed heavily in the phone. I know she was regretting even telling me.
“What’s she wearing?”
“She’s wearing navy blue capris and a white sparkle T-shirt.”
I moved into the store and headed to the cosmetics department, scanning each aisle as fast as I could, looking both ways. I reached the end and was in the pet department. “I don’t see her.”
“She’s here unless she left.”
I started walking down the main aisle and moved past each of the checkout lanes hoping to see her.
“She can’t be too far. All she was talking about was her wedding and all of her arrangements. I wouldn’t have even told you, but she’s having a bridal shower and didn’t even bother inviting me. I thought she and I were friends.”
“I guess not. Or maybe she knows that I’m fucking her fiancé and that we are friends.”
“I doubt that. She would have confronted me. She’s like that. A whole lot of talk.”
I moved to the other side of the store where the groceries are and found Kayla and her daughter Asia in the bread aisle. I hung up my phone and moved over to her cart.
“Hey, Asia.” I gave her a hug. “How’s school?”
“Good,” she answered with a shy smile. She’s a pretty girl. Tall with pretty light brown skin and long jet-black hair. She’s only ten but looks every bit of thirteen.
I hugged her once more, then turned my attention to Kayla. “Where’s she at?” I mumbled so Asia wouldn’t know who we were talking about.
She shrugged. “She was just here. Maybe she left. She did talk about going to Tropical Liquors for a drink afterward.”
I huffed out a frustrated breath and reached for a loaf of bread. I was sure we could use some at home. I glanced over her shoulder and my eyes grew round. “Is that her over there?”
Kayla turned around and tried to act like she was grabbing a pack of bagels. “Yep, that’s her.”
Before she could stop me, I walked in Reese’s direction so I could get a closer look. She was standing in the meat department examining the lunch meat. As soon as I saw her pick up a pack of hot dogs, I started cracking up laughing. She turned and looked in my direction. Ugh was right. She looked like she’d had a hard life. She was close to fifty and looked every bit of it. She had big round eyes and high cheekbones that, like her breasts, were starting to sag. I moved closer and could tell that she once had severe acne because it left black spots and craters in her face. I wouldn’t call her skinny or fat, but she did have a tire around her middle section that you just couldn’t stuff in a pair of capri pants.
I moved over just so I would have a chance to see if she recognized me. Up close and personal. I reached over and grabbed a pack of bacon and looked up to find her staring at me.
“Aren’t you the writer, Caeramel?” Reese asked.
The shit I write I have to pen under a pseudonym. “Yep, that’s me,” I said, trying to be polite.
“I thought so. I read your last book Feignin’. It was really good.”
I couldn’t help but grin at the compliment. “Well, thanks. I have a new book coming out at Christmastime called A Delight Before Christmas.”
“I’ll have to grab a copy. Well, keep up the good work.” Her smile was genuine.
“Thanks,” I said and watched her head over to the milk.
As soon as she wasn’t looking, I turned and headed back down the bread aisle. Kayla’s eyes were wide as saucers. I know she was dying to know what the two of us were talking about. I didn’t want Reese to know we knew each other if the shit ever hit the fan, so I called Kayla on my phone and told her to meet me in the photo department. She must have run because she beat me there.
“Oh my God! What were the two of you talking about?”
I looked around to make sure Reese wasn’t around because people have a way of popping up on you. “She was complimenting me on my book.”
“Man, do you think she knows?”
I thought about it for a second, then shook my head. “Nope, or she doesn’t know that Renee Moore and Caeramel are the same person.”
“Maybe that’s it. She’s looking for Renee.” She started laughing. “Wouldn’t that be something when she finds out?”
I snapped my fingers. “No, come to think of it, she would know it was me because when I ignore those blocked calls, my voice mail picks up and it says Renee Moore loud and clear.”
“Then maybe it isn’t her calling you.”
“Maybe not.” If not, then who?
I reached for a roll of film. “Have you spoken to Nadine?”
Kayla nodded. “Briefly this morning. She’s still pretty pissed off about that whole thing.”
I nodded. Her feelings were quite understandable. “I’m gonna give her a call tomorrow.”
Asia looked like she was anxious to get home, and I was ready to get out of the store myself. I said good-bye and moved to the register to pay for my stuff. I saw Reese once more. She waved and headed to the door. I stood there trying to figure it out. If it wasn’t Reese and it wasn’t Leslie, then who could it be?
It wasn’t until that night after I had given up expecting a call from Kenny and had climbed under the covers that my cell phone vibrated. I grabbed it hoping it was him. It was a text message.
BITCH THIS IS UR LAST WARNING.
46
Danielle
As soon as I spotted Renee pulling into the parking lot, I grabbed my purse, hopped out of my SUV, and climbed in on the passenger’s side. Rhianna was coming through the speakers, and while listening to the song “Umbrella” I started to relax.
“Why am I picking you up in Walgreens parking lot?”
I dropped my eyes and pretended that I was looking for something in my purse. “Because I told Chance I was going over to my mother’s house.”
Renee gave me that look and I knew she was about to start running her damn mouth. Why can’t she just shut up sometimes?
“Danny, you’re a grown-ass woman messing with some jealous mothafucka. Girl, tell that fool you got a daddy at home.”
I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes. I don’t know what’s worse, Chance’s jealousy or Renee’s mouth. “Girl, sometimes it’s easier just to not even go there with him. Chance went through a lot with his last girlfriend. He was crazy about Jaclyn. She messed around on him so much he said he almost went crazy when he found out. Now it takes a lot for him to trust women.”
“Sounds like too much work to me.”
“I’ll admit that I’m starting to get tired of his insec
urities, but I’m hoping that he’ll start trusting me more and more.”
“Whatever,” Renee mumbled, obviously unconvinced.
I can see why it’s hard for her to understand. Renee has never had patience for anybody. With her you get one chance, and once you fuck that up there’s no turning back. I, on the other hand, know that we all make mistakes, some more than others, and I’ll have to admit that what I thought was cute has started to wear my damn nerves.
A couple of days after that incident at the restaurant, I met Kayla to look at flower arrangements. Chance called my phone every five minutes wanting to know what I was doing and who I was with, then he wanted to know when I was planning to be home. When I got home, I hopped in the shower and came back into the room in time to catch his crazy ass smelling my damn panties. When I asked, he said he wanted to make sure I hadn’t been fucking nobody. What the hell?
My friends seldom called anymore because he always answered the phone, and when they did he asked them too many damn questions. Anytime I went anywhere he wanted to go or insisted I take his SUV. I know the only reason was that he has OnStar and wants to be able to know my whereabouts. My friends think I’m crazy and I’m starting to agree. Yet every time I was ready to put his ass out of my house, Chance knew exactly what to do to make me forgive him. I couldn’t stay mad at him. He’s just too damn sexy, and the sex is something I don’t know if I can go without. Like I said before, I guess I’m a slave to his dick.
When Renee insisted that I ride down to Jefferson City with her to a get-together her cousin was having, I was tempted to say no just to keep from hearing his mouth. But since Chance had to work at the hospital tonight, I decided to go ahead and sneak out and be back before he returned.
“That bitch called me again last night.”
I swung around on the seat and stared at her pissed-off expression.
“What did Kenny have to say about it?”
Renee pursed her lips with displeasure. “He said it wasn’t Reese. That if she knew about me, he would know about it by now because she would be going off.”
“Whatever, I heard that she ain’t doing anything to jeopardize her wedding. She’s probably trying to wait until after they get married.”
“That’s what I told him, but he insists she would still say something.”
“Reese’s messing around her damn self, so there is no telling. Shit, she might not care that she’s sharing her hot dog,” I teased and we started laughing.
“Shit, if it ain’t Reese calling me then I don’t know who else it could be.”
“Who else are you screwing?”
She took her eyes off the road long enough to roll them at me. “Fuck you, Danny. I’m not messing with nobody else.”
Whatever, I love Renee, but her ass can be a straight ho when she wants to.
“Did I tell you I met Reese a couple of days ago?”
“You did?”
Renee nodded. “Kayla was at Wal-Mart and she told me Reese was there.”
“I can’t believe Kayla told you that.”
“Right, but she did, and you know I hurried over there so I could see her. That bitch is homely as hell.”
“I told you. Did she know who you were?”
Renee shook her head. “Nope. I wanted to see if she knew who I was. If she did she definitely played it off well. But I doubt she could do that much acting. She was asking me about my books and shit. I don’t think she’s the one who’s been calling me.”
“Damn, then who’s calling you?”
She pulled onto the interstate and shrugged one shoulder. “Shit, for all I know it might be yo ass calling me for letting Calvin lick my damn pussy,” she teased.
“Bitch, whatever.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that one even though that shit was still a sore subject with me. I’d been thinking about him a lot lately. “It might be Shemar’s gay ass.”
Renee suddenly looked over at me. “Girl, you might be right. John is still blowing up my phone. Shemar might be afraid he’s losing his man.”
I exploded with laughter and it felt good. The last few days I haven’t had a lot to laugh about.
“Why don’t you just see what it is that John wants?”
“I e-mailed him yesterday and told him not to bother trying to contact me again, any further contact should be through his lawyer, and that he needed to be getting one so we can get this divorce on the road. He never e-mailed me back.”
John was really a nice guy. Too bad he liked booty. “John’s hoping the two of you can work things out.”
“What-the-fuck-ever.”
The rest of the ride we talked about her son Quinton and Kenny’s daughter screwing in her house. Hell nah! But what does she expect? Quinton is a teenage boy and that’s just what they do. “Now think about it, Renee. When we were in high school, how many times did you sneak over to a brotha’s house while his mama was still at work?”
She thought about it for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Too many damn times!”
“Okay then.” We laughed and talked about the shit we used to do back in the day while we drove to her cousin’s house.
When we got there, cars lined both sides of the street.
“What did you say was going on today?”
“My cousin Clarice, her daughter just passed her bar exam so she’s having a celebration.”
I nodded. I knew mostly all of her family. Most of them were crazy so I was surprised to hear that someone had actually gone to law school.
We got out and moved up the driveway. We walked through the door and the house was filled with people. Music was pounding from the back of the house. Cigarette smoke flooded the air. All the way, I stopped and said hello to quite a few people that I knew from the neighborhood.
“Danielle, this is my cousin Clarice.”
I smiled over at the beautiful tall woman. “Wow! You don’t look old enough to have a daughter in law school.”
“Ooh, Nae-Nae! I like your friend already,” she said, completely flattered by my compliment. “The food’s in the back. Danielle, make yourself at home.”
I nodded and Renee grabbed two wine coolers from the refrigerator and we headed to the back where everyone was dancing. She introduced me to her cousin Jasmine, who looked barely out of high school, let alone law school. I congratulated her and she hugged me like we’ve been friends for years.
Two of Renee’s cousins were doing the soldier boy and I stood back and watched. Three drinks and two hours later, Renee and I were out there trying to do it our damn selves. I was having so much fun hanging out with her crazy-ass family.
Jasmine came over and whispered something in Renee’s ear. She nodded, then turned to me.
“Come on, I want you to meet someone.”
I hoped she wasn’t trying to hook me up with another one of her cousins. They had been sweating me since I arrived. Some of them were fine as hell, but I already had one man driving me crazy.
Renee moved through the large house and climbed the stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“Just follow me.”
I couldn’t help but be suspicious as I followed her down the hall to the last room on the left. Two of her teenage cousins were sitting on the floor watching television. One had a little boy on their lap. There was several little kids sleeping on a large king-size bed. They must be the designated babysitters while the grown folks partied.
Renee held out her hands. “Come here, Trenton.”
The little boy looked up and raised his hands in the air, and Renee lifted him off the floor and turned to face me. “This is Chance’s son.”
I gazed down at his darling little face and gasped. He looked just like Chance. I had no idea what his baby pictures looked like, but I had a strong feeling they looked just like Trenton. He had the same hazel eyes and curly good hair, and that small protruding nose was unmistakable. Renee was right. Trenton was Chance’s son.
A tall redbone woman stepped into t
he room and Trenton held out his arms. She took him in her arms, kissed his forehead, then turned to Renee.
“Whassup, Renee?”
“Hey Charlise. This is my girl Danielle.”
She looked my way and nodded an acknowledgment. “You the girl messing with Chance?”
“Yes.”
“You need to tell that bitch-ass nigga he needs to send me some money before I tell the courts where he works. I’m tired of playing games,” she said rather frankly, then rolled her eyes and moved out the room.
I looked over at Renee, ready to kill her. “I’m ready to go.” I turned down the hall and took the stairs two at a time. It was another few minutes before Renee came out. As soon as she opened the doors to her Lexus, I climbed in and waited until we were back on the highway before I spoke.
“Why the hell you didn’t tell me that before you took me all the way out there and embarrassed me?”
“I didn’t find out until yesterday. I was talking to my cousin Clarice and she was babysitting Trenton while her daughter and Charlise went to the mall. It wasn’t until then that I suddenly remembered why Chance looked so familiar to me. I had met him over at my aunt’s once back when he and Charlise was kicking it.”
“I can’t believe that shit.”
“I’m sorry but I knew if I told you, you wouldn’t believe it until you saw Trenton with your own eyes.” For once, Renee sounded sincere.
She was right. I wouldn’t have believed it. I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes and thought about all the lies he’d been telling me. Was I that desperate for a man that I would believe anything he said? I was starting to think so. There was no telling how many other secrets he was hiding.
“Someone’s been leaving me notes.”
Renee took her eyes off the road. “What kind of notes?”
“Be careful of the company you keep.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”