Daddy Issues

by Viv Love

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Blackshire. What brings you here today? I don’t usually accept last minute appointments, but Maria said that it seemed urgent. How may I help you?”

  “Hi, Vivian. You can call me Tosha. I’m only in town for a couple of days, and I wanted to be sure to see you while I’m here. I’m from

  Chicago, but I’ve heard so much about you and your services.”

  “That’s great. Chicago huh? Did you come to town just to see me? If so, do they not have counselors in Chicago?”

  “Well, yes and no. Yes, I came in town to see you. I also came to see my husband. His construction company has a contract here. Yes, we do have counselors in Chicago. However, those counselors don’t offer your services. My husband and I have been having issues for some time now. The issues have mainly been one-sided, and well… I’m tired of it. I’m sick of being his perfect little wife and secretary while he runs the streets fucking any woman who will give it up. I’ve fought for my marriage for years, and he’s continued to lie and cheat on me. I need you to help me fix my marriage. I want control of my marriage.”

  “I see. How did you hear about my services?”

  “I heard about you when I was at the nail salon back home. Someone gave me your card. I caught my husband looking at it, and he seemed nervous when I asked what he was doing and if he knew you. I initially assumed that you were another one of his women. Then, I thought he had plans to contact you to help us with our marriage. However, I learned through research that you don’t counsel men. That made me revisit the thought of you being a side woman, so I decided to surprise my husband with this trip to your city. Once I got here, I asked around about you, and I learned that you play no games with men. I’m still confused on why my husband acted strangely when he saw your card, but I’m more interested in your services and my healing. Can you help me?”

  “I see.”

  “You see? What do you see? Is that all you say? Never mind! I made a mistake coming here. This is a waste of time!”

  Tosha began to quickly gather her things to leave, but my words interrupted her and she sat back down.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked very calmly.

  “I don’t know what I’m sure of, but I know that I’m sick of his shit. Do you see these beautiful nails? His new bitch’s business partner did them. She almost choked on her tea when I mentioned little details about my husband. I found information about their shop in the emails that she and my husband shared. He created a fake account and a new name. My husband has been communicating with his new fling for some time, and they finally met up a couple of days ago. Part of me wanted to pop up and ruin their date, but the other part didn’t really want to see it. Therefore, I just let it happen… again… I let my husband woo another woman, while I sat back and did nothing.”

  I continued to listen as Tosha pitied herself for her horrible husband. While she spoke, I resisted the urge to vomit at the sad sight. There she was, a beautiful queen who allowed her no good ass husband to make her feel like a peasant. She continued on and on and on about her whore of a husband, and I imagined her in a sexy dominatrix outfit gaining power over her marriage. I envisioned her violating her husband with a piping hot glass dildo and a spiked paddle. I could see her being a woman of power with a bit a training. Although she ranted and raved about her marriage, she never shed one tear. That is what sealed the deal. That’s what made me accept her as a client.

  “And, even had the nerve to…”

  “Enough!” I interrupted her whining. “I can’t take another second of hearing you whine and complain. When are you leaving?”

  “Excuse me? If you want me out of your office, just say it,” she stammered.

  “No. I’m asking when you’re leaving Shreveport. I want to take you on a field trip. But, before we do, I’ll need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement. That’s IF you really want to find healing.”

  “I do. I do want healing, Vivian. I’m ready to heal. I’ll be here until Thursday. I have plans with my husband tonight, but I’m free tomorrow.”

  “Cancel your plans with him. Tell him that you aren’t feeling well.”

  “But, he’s supposed to stay with me tonight at the hotel.”

  “Tell him that you went to ER, and you’re contagious so he can’t stay with you tonight. Tell him it’s a 24-hour bug and you’ll be better tomorrow,” I said.

  “Wow, you’re quick on your feet. What if he tries to call me?”

  “If you plan to roll with me, I need you to start thinking like a queen. Tell me what you will tell him,” I said as I walked closely upon her.

  I wanted her to feel uncomfortable to ensure that she could think under pressure. I got close enough for my breath to touch the back of her neck as I spoke.

  “Tell me… what… you… will tell him,” I whispered seductively.

  “Um… Ahem… Um…” she stammered. “Um… I’ll um. I’ll be asleep. I’ll tell him that the meds knocked me out,” she finally said.

  “Great! I’m ready when you’re ready,” I said as I stood upright and walked to the door.

  Tosha squirmed in her seat for a moment, and then she gave me an embarrassed look as she grabbed her belongings and followed me out of the room. She’s going to be a lot of fun, I thought with a slight chuckle.

  Chapter 14

  Marissa

  After months of waiting for Tyrone to stay the night with me, the night has finally come. He said that one of his roommates is sick with a 24-hour bug, so he needed to crash at my place. I quickly agreed and even offered to cook dinner for him. Since we’re usually slow at the beginning of the week, I left the salon early and decided to check out the new organic grocery store that was recently built. I picked up some fresh asparagus, sushi, and organic potatoes. Then, I went over to the fresh meat market and had a couple of thick steaks freshly sliced for us. I wanted to make this special night.

  When I got home, I put the potatoes in the slow cooker and marinated the steaks for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, I made sure the house was spotless and smelling nice. I even installed my pole in my bedroom and practiced a few dance moves for later. I had been working on my upper body strength at the gym, so I climbing the pole wouldn’t be an issue. My doorbell rung just as I was removing the steaks from the fridge to allow them to get to room temperature. I wasn’t expecting Tyrone for another hour, so I didn’t know who it could be.

  “Just a minute!” I yelled as I walked to the living room and peeked out of the curtains.

  Cheyenne’s car was parked in the driveway, so I immediately opened the door.

  “Hey girl, what’s going on?” I asked as she barged her way past me.

  “Hey chick. I was just out enjoying the nice evening and decided to stop by. Damn, girl. Something smells good. What do you have going?”

  “Tyrone is coming by for dinner, and well… He’s sleeping over.”

  “What!? Wow. I see things are getting serious between y’all. So, when do I get to meet my friend-in-law? It’s only been what six months and shit,” Cheyenne joked.

  “Haha. It has not been six months. It’s only been three, and we all keep missing each other. He’s actually supposed to be here in an hour, but I’m gonna need you to be walking out the door as he’s walking in. Unless…”

  “Unless what? Nah, girl, I left that lifestyle back in my college days.”

  “Lifestyle? Girl, what the hell? Hell no! Not a threesome, bitch. I was thinking that you could invite Miguel over. Speaking of which… How did your date go?”

  “Oh, my bad,” she laughed. “It was perfect. He’s hella cool, and gorgeous as fuck. He actually only came in town for a day just to see me, and then he drove back home. I’ll see when he’ll be back this way.”

  “Oh bummer. Okay, well just let me know so we can plan ahead.”

  “What are you cooking? Something smells delicious. You have the house all clean and shit. You must plan to fuck that man all over the place.”

>   I laughed and high-fived her.

  “Who says I haven’t already fucked him everywhere, including that spot where you’re sitting.”

  Cheyenne quickly jumped up and playfully hit me with the pillow that she was snuggling.

  “You ole nasty heffa.”

  “Shut up. It’s my house. I can do what I want where I want,” I said and playfully stuck my tongue out at her. “Since you’re here, you need to help me with this meal. And, I need you to tell me how my lil routine looks.”

  “Routine? Damn bihh… You’re going all out. You must be expecting a ring or something.”

  “A ring? Hell no. I just like him. That’s all.”

  “Girl, that’s good. I haven’t seen you like this in a long time. Cool. I can help you with whatever you need. Time is winding down, so let’s get to it.”

  “Thanks, girl. That’s why I fuck with you. You always have my back,” I said as we turned on the music and began cooking a gourmet meal for my Tyrone.

  “So, how has everything been going between you two? You’re cooking and going all out. That must mean everything is on the up and up,” Cheyenne said as she loaded the dishwasher.

  “Girl, everything has been fine. At first, I had some suspicions about him, but I realized that I could be buggin’ based on past relationships. Just when I thought I should explore other options, he called and told me that he wanted to spend the night with me. This will be the first time that he actually stays all night with me. Usually, he has to leave early because of work. He said something about his roommate being sick, so he needed to crash with me. I quickly accepted his offer, and here we are.”

  “Suspicions? What kind of suspicions did you have? I thought he was cool,” she pried.

  “Well, he is cool. I just had a problem with him not staying all night with me. I wanted to believe he is married, but we spend so much time together. Plus, I can call him at any hour of the night. Like I said, I could have just been trippin. You know I have issues with men. Anyway, these steaks are going to be on point, honey,” I said in an attempt to change the subject.

  After the strange client that I encountered at the shop today, I wanted to run the scenario by Cheyenne. I didn’t plan to tell her that I thought it was Tyrone’s wife, but I did want to get her thoughts on the situation. However, she was excited about Miguel, and I didn’t want to ruin my evening with Tyrone. So I turned the radio up in the kitchen, and we bumped some Erykah Badu as we made sure everything was perfect my man. Apparently, we were having too much fun and lost track of time because our concert was interrupted by the doorbell.

  “Damn, time is flying. That has to be Tyrone. Cheyenne, get the door please! I need to go freshen up a bit,” I said as I ran down the hallway towards my bedroom.

  “Girl, what am I supposed to say to him?” she asked in a loud whisper.

  “I don’t know just ask him questions! I can’t let him see me looking all raggedy,” I replied as I slammed and locked my bedroom door.

  Chapter 15

  Cheyenne

  I turned the music down a bit and made my way to the front door. This is my chance to see if he’s as great as he seems, I thought as I looked out the curtains to see what type of car Tyrone was driving. At first glance, his truck looked identical to the truck Miguel was driving that night at the restaurant. However, I knew that couldn’t be possible since Miguel lives miles away. I shook that thought off and opened to door to welcome Tyrone inside the house. When I opened the door, I was instantly blown away by the person waiting to enter.

  “Um, Miguel? What are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

  “Cheyenne? Uh… Hi...” he stammered.

  “I didn’t know you two knew each other,” Marissa interrupted.

  “Riss, this is Miguel, but I’m not sure how he got your address,” I said.

  “No, that’s Tyrone. My Tyrone that I’ve been telling you about,” she said.

  We both looked at Tyrone, Miguel, or whoever he was, and he just stood there like a bump on a pickle.

  “Miguel, aren’t you going to say something? Is your name Tyrone? What are you doing here?”

  I asked question after question without giving him any time to answer.

  “Maybe I should just go,” he finally said.

  “No!” Marissa and I said at the same time.

  “You have some explaining to do. I bought all this shit to give you a nice evening, and you have the nerve to think you’re going to leave without explaining this fucked up situation to me!” Marissa yelled.

  “Yea, and I’m still trying to figure out why my Miguel answers to Tyrone. What the fuck is up? After all the shit I told you about niggas and how much y’all are full of shit, and you still pulled a fucking stunt on me. I thought we had some real shit going, but I knew that wasn’t so when your wife paid me a visit today,” she spat.

  “Wife?” I asked, feeling even more confused.

  “Yes, his wife! I knew your ass was married!” Marissa said as she began to punch Tyrone anywhere her hits landed. “How could you do this to me? You’re nothing but a two-timing, lying, mediocre sex, little dick ass bitch! How could you!?”

  “Wait! I can explain! Just hear me out!” he said as he dodged her blows.

  As much as I wanted to see Marissa continue to whoop his ass for both of us, I still wanted to hear what he could possibly have to say.

  “Riss, chill! Let’s hear this conniving motherfucker out.”

  “You better talk fast motherfucker, because I’m headed to get my little friend next,” she said, referring to the .25 that she keeps in her purse.

  We stepped aside and let him come into the living room. As he passed by us, he cut his eyes to make sure he wouldn’t be met with more blows. Marissa and I sat on the sofa together, and he took a seat on the loveseat.

  “Start by telling us your real name,” I said.

  “My name is Tyrone. I had no idea that you two even knew each other.”

  “Why did you tell me your name was Miguel?” I interrupted.

  “Because it’s my middle name,” he said.

  “So your name is Tyrone Miguel? You really expect me to believe that stupid shit?” I asked.

  “Okay, you’re right,” he admitted. “Look, Miguel is the name I always use on those dating websites. I was going to tell you my real name if things seemed like they could grow between us. I never meant to hurt you,” he said to me.

  “What about me, motherfucker?” Marissa said angrily. “Did you plan to hurt me? Huh? And, what’s up with you and your wife?”

  “No, I never meant to hurt you either. And, well, my wife and I are separated. That’s why I’m able to spend so much time with you. I didn’t think it counted since we aren’t together right now, that’s why I didn’t tell you about her,” he said.

  “I call bullshit,” I said.

  “He’s definitely lying. He’s not separated from his wife. They actually live in Chicago, and he’s working on a contract here in town. She told me that he has an apartment here. I just can’t seem to figure out how she ended up at our salon, though,” Marissa added.

  “Wow, so you’ve been lying to me this whole time?” I asked.

  “I trusted you! After all the shit I’ve been through, I trusted you!” Marissa cried.

  While I sat there trying to figure out how Tyrone’s wife knew about us and the salon, Marissa began frantically shuffling through her purse. Tyrone obviously knew what she was looking for because he was halfway to his truck by the time the first bullet went flying through the air.

  “Yea, you better run, you lying piece of shit!” she screamed as she continued to shoot at Tyrone’s truck.

  “Marissa! Calm down! You’re going to get us both in trouble!” I said.

  The sound of my voice interrupted her trance, and she abruptly stopped shooting. Her anger turned into tears, and she fell to her knees weeping. I didn’t know if I should cry from pain or anger. I wanted to hold her and cry with her, but that woul
d have been awkward since we’d be crying behind the same man. So I took the gun from her hands, placed it back in her purse, and went to the kitchen to turn off the food and the music. She no longer had a need for that.

  Chapter 16

  Tyrone

  This has been one hell of a day. My cheating ways finally caught up with me and almost costed me my life. First, my wife pops in town unannounced and makes plans for us to be together. Then, she suddenly catches a virus and can’t see or talk to me for twenty-four hours. Rather than push the issue, I made plans to see Marissa since it’s been over a week since our last visit. However, those plans turned into my new chick answering the door at my girlfriend’s house, and me running for my life as my girl unloads bullets at my ass. Luckily, she is a horrible shot, or else there would be some slow singing and flower bringing this Saturday with me as the main attraction.

  On top of all that, Marissa tells me that my wife paid her a visit today. That could explain why she suddenly no longer wanted to spend the evening with me. What I don’t understand is how she found them anyway. I’m usually very discreet with my shit, so I know I didn’t slip up. I’ll just have to feel with my wife out to see how much she knows. In fact, I need to give her a call just in case she’s with my two side or ex-side bitches as we speak. I pressed her name on the touch screen system in my truck. As the phone rung through the speakers, I continued to think about everything that had just transpired. I mean, what were the odds of any of this shit playing out the way it did. Tosha has a hard time hiding her anger, so I’ll be able to tell if something is wrong when I talk to her.

  After a few rings, her voicemail picked up. I opted out of leaving a message and hung up instead. I continued to drive around for a while as I replayed today’s events in my head. I knew I was wrong for dating friends, but it’s really not my fault. Hell, I didn’t even know they knew each other until it was too late. I was going to tell them when the time was right, but everything started moving so quickly in both relationships. Now, I have to figure out how to get back in good with both of them without getting myself killed. Until I figure that shit, I’m going to lay low from the construction site. I also need to figure out the real reason Tosha is in town. Something just doesn’t feel right.