by La Jill Hunt
He kissed her and nearly ran out the door, leaving her sitting on the side of the bed. He returned two hours later and climbed into bed, wrapping his arms around Kayla as she slept.
29
“Hello.” The call was coming from Lynch Financial Group and Kayla knew it must either be a telemarketer or a wrong number.
“Can I speak to Kayla?”
“Yes, you may. Who’s calling?” Kayla indirectly corrected the unknown female caller. She was waiting on Roni to arrive so they could go to lunch with the rest of their girlfriends.
“Avis. Avis Coleman.” Kayla’s heart began to thump in her chest. She knew this day was coming, but she still was not prepared. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“This is she.”
“I need to ask you a few questions.” She could hear the ghetto attitude and New York accent in the woman’s voice and knew that it was not gonna be pretty. Craig had assured her that he and Avis were finished, but she still had her doubts.
“Go ahead. I am listening.”
“Are you and Craig fucking?” she asked. Kayla cringed at the crudeness of her question. She decided to attempt the intelligent way out.
“Craig and I are dating, if that’s what you want to know. As far as us having a sexual relationship, well, I feel that that’s none of your business, especially considering the fact that you two are no longer together.”
“None of my business! Bitch, have you lost your mind? That’s my husband. We may be taking a break right now, but we are still and always will be married. I just wanted to know for my own sake and my protection if you are fucking him, because I still am.”
“Well, thank you for being concerned enough about me to let me know that. I will take it all under advisement.” Kayla figured the dumb girl probably had no idea what the word “advisement” meant, and knew that her calmness was pissing her off even more.
“Let me give you a little more facts to take under ad . . . ad
. . . advisement, since you wanna be so gotdamn funny. Craig is my husband!”
“You already told me that twice,” Kayla said calmly.
“Listen to me, trick! I am his wife and I am the mother of his son. You will never be me. I have his seed. You may be his piece for right now, but I have his son. He will be taking care of me forever. You are nothing to him! I am everything!” she screamed. Kayla tried to remain calm and not let the worst of her come out, but this ghetto bitch had said the wrong thing.
“Guess what? He might have me be his ‘piece,’ as you call it, for a little longer than you think, my dear. You see, I would never want to be your funky, uneducated ass for nothing in this world. Not only do I have my own, but I got his seed too, boo. I am the mother of his daughter.” Kayla hung the phone up thinking, Let her think about that. When Roni came through the door Kayla was still fuming.
“You ready? What is wrong with you?” Roni looked at her friend who was so mad she was almost feverish.
“That stank ho Avis called me.” The phone rang and Kayla read the caller ID. “This is her again. She’s calling from her job. Hello.”
“I know you are a liar, bitch. You know Craig is out in the streets blowing up and you trying to take him for what he worth. I know your so-called daughter ain’t his. But you know what? You keep trying me and I am gonna really fuck you and your baby up.”
“Listen, I don’t take to threats too kindly, so let me warn you. Don’t let your mouth write a check your ass can’t cash. Don’t call my house again.” She hung the phone up and grabbed her purse. The phone began to ring again. “Let’s go before I have to get ugly.”
“You should let me talk to that bitch,” Roni said as she grabbed the diaper bag and the car seat. “Aunt Roni knows how to handle hers, right, Day?”
“Mommy knows how to handle her own, too!” Kayla slammed the door as they left.
After a wonderful lunch with her friends, Kayla returned to find that she had thirty-eight new calls on her caller ID and twelve new messages. She looked at the small screen of the phone and there were different numbers, but they all came from Lynch Financial Group.
“I don’t believe this. She called almost forty times and she left twelve messages.”
“No she didn’t. Play them on speakerphone so I can hear them,” Roni told her. Kayla played each message. They were all full of profanity and threats to her and Day. She told Kayla she knew where she lived and was gonna kill her. She even offered to meet Kayla somewhere so they could fight like “real women”.
“You really are crazy. Ain’t no nigga worth fighting over,” Kayla replied to Avis’ voice. But there was something else about the messages that bothered Roni.
“Kay, what does she mean about Craig making big money in the streets now?”
“I don’t know. She said something about that to me earlier. I thought she was talking about the raise he got at the restaurant.”
“I don’t think so. I betcha that nigga is hustling. You see, a woman like her ain’t gonna be sweating him like that if he just a cook. And you said she drives a Benz. Unless she’s a big time broker at Lynch, she wouldn’t be driving a Benz. He’s hustling.”
The phone rang again as Kayla was thinking about what her friend had just told her.
“It’s her again,” she told Roni.
“Let her leave another message,” Roni told her.
“I am, but in the meantime, I’m gonna get her ass.” Kayla called the phone company and got her number changed immediately. She found the toll-free number for Lynch Financial Group and called them. “Yes, I need to speak with Corporate Security, please. Thank you.”
“What are you doing?” Roni frowned.
“Outsmarting the dumb bitch. She is so stupid. Watch this. Hi, my name is Kayla Hopkins and I need to report harassment by one of your employees. Her name is Avis Coleman. Yes, well Mrs. Coleman has called my residence several times today from your company and even left threatening messages on my voice mail. As a matter of fact, hold one moment and I will play them for you.” Kayla clicked to the other line and dialed the voice mail number, playing the messages for the manager. “As you can see, these messages are time and date stamped, and if you compare that to Mrs. Coleman’s schedule, you will see that they were made on company time. Now, I am sure you are paying Mrs. Coleman to do something other than bother persons such as myself. I have contacted the authorities as well as my attorney, and you will be hearing from them soon. I am calling you to ask Mrs. Coleman as a courtesy to refrain from contacting me. Yes, that’s fine. Let me give you my new telephone number for them to call me. I had to go through the inconvenience of changing it due to this unfortunate circumstance. Yes.” Kayla gave him the number and he assured her that the company’s attorney would call her as soon as possible.
“Work it, girl. Be smarter than her!” Roni snapped her fingers at Kayla and she tried not to laugh.
“Thank you. And one more thing, can you let Mrs. Coleman know that it is a federal offense to use profanity over telephone lines in a threatening manner? The telephone company could prosecute her and have her home lines permanently disconnected. You have a wonderful day as well.” Kayla tossed her head back with laughter as she hung the phone up.
“A woman after my own heart. I trained you well.” Roni hugged her girlfriend. “One down, one to go.”
“What do you mean?” Kayla asked.
“We’re gonna find out if that brother is dealing. Come on. We’ll drop Day off at Tia’s.” Roni jumped into the car. They dropped Day and explained to Tia that they had some emergency business to take care of. Tia just shook her head and took the baby and the diaper bag.
“Where are we going now?” Kayla asked.
“To Toby’s. He’ll know someone that could tell us if Craig is hustling.”
30
Roni sped through the streets and pulled up behind Toby’s Lexus truck. They hopped out and walked to the front door, ringing the doorbell. They waited a few minutes but the
re was still no answer. “I know he’s here because he has to be at the club by eight. What time is it?”
“Six forty,” Kayla answered. “I thought you had a key anyway.”
“Not yet. ‘Yet’ being the operative word. He must be ’sleep.” Roni laid on the doorbell, ringing it five or six times in a row. They finally heard footsteps coming toward them. “About time.”
“Wha . . . Hey, what are y’all doing here?” Toby opened the door slightly, wearing some sweats and no shirt. Kayla tried not to stare at his muscular, chocolate body, but it was hard.
“Hey, sweetie. We came by because we need to talk to you. It’s an emergency.” She reached to open the door but Toby stopped her.
“I . . . I was uh, about to jump in the shower. Why don’t y’all meet me at the club?” he quickly suggested.
“I told you it’s an emergency. And why aren’t you answering your home phone? I tried to call on my way over here.”
“I was asleep. Look, I need to go get dressed. I’ll check y’all at the club.” He stood behind the slightly cracked door. A movement in the background caused Kayla to frown, but she didn’t know what it was. She was gonna find out, though. She looked again and realized it was a foot, without a shoe, dangling off the sofa.
“That’s cool. Come on, Ron. You know I gotta pick Day up in a little while. We’ll check you later, Toby.” She pulled at her girlfriend’s jacket and gave her the look. Roni didn’t know what was up and was about to go off on Toby, but she followed Kayla’s lead.
“A’ight, Kay. I’ll see you later, Ron. I love you.” He watched them get into Roni’s car and shut the door.
“What the hell was that? And why are you rushing me? You know Day is with Tia. She could stay there a month and she and Theo wouldn’t care.”
“Somebody’s in there, Ron. Pull behind that car over there and we’re gonna walk back and see who it is. Come on!”
Roni did as she was told and they crept back up to Toby’s house. Sure enough, as they peered through the front bay window, they could see Toby hugging that fat nasty Darla on the sofa. Kayla could not believe Toby. He was just as bad as the rest of the trifling, lying men. She turned to see her friend’s reaction and saw that Roni was not by her side. She quickly looked around and spotted her in the driveway next door, picking up a skateboard. Before she could react, Roni had tossed the board through the bay window, scaring Toby and Darla. They both screamed and ducked, not knowing what was happening. But Roni didn’t stop there. She found a brick and headed for Toby’s truck.
“Roni!” Kayla screamed. But the tears that were streaming down her face blinded Roni. She could see more hurt than anger in Roni’s eyes and Kayla knew that made her more dangerous. Roni had vowed never to be hurt by any man.
“Veronica! Stop right now. I mean it. Don’t make me stop you!” Toby ran after Roni but didn’t make it to her in time. The brick seemed to be floating in slow motion as it crashed through his rear window. Kayla grabbed Roni’s arm and dragged her to the car, rushing to get away from the now livid Toby. Kayla jumped behind the wheel and tried to think of where to go. They drove around in silence. Roni’s eyes glazed over with sadness. Kayla knew the only place to hide. She pulled behind the back of Jett Black. They knocked on the back door and Ms. Ernestine opened it, letting them in.
“Y’all must have really gotten into trouble. Coming through the back door.” She smiled at them, then policed Roni’s forlorn face. “What happened, baby? What’s wrong?”
Kayla followed mother and daughter into Ms. Ernestine’s decked out office and explained what had just transpired between Roni and Toby. Kayla thought Ms. Ernestine would be mad enough to kill Toby, but she just laughed.
“My baby is finally in love. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I am not in love with him,” Roni told her mother defiantly.
“Yes, you are. If you weren’t, then you would’ve cussed him out rather than vandalize his property. It’s nothing wrong with being in love, Roni. That’s not a bad thing.”
“I got played. I can’t believe I got played.” Roni began to cry again.
A knock at the door surprised them all.
“Ms. Ernestine, it’s a man named Toby out here to see you and he is fine,” the shampoo girl, Tameka, came and announced. Roni looked at her mother with a panicked look on her face. Ms. Ernestine touched her daughter’s arm and let her know it would be okay.
“He doesn’t know you’re here. I am not gonna let anything happen to you, you understand?”
“Yes.” Roni nodded at her mother. She sat behind the large desk and looked at Toby in the surveillance camera her mother had, displaying the center of the shop. Ernestine Jett kept watch over her shop even when she wasn’t seen.
“How you doing, Toby?” Her mother walked up and gave the handsome young man a hug. “What brings you all the way over here? And on a Friday night, too? Aren’t you supposed to be spinning records at Dominic’s?”
“Yes, ma’am. I came to see if you’ve seen or heard from Roni,” he asked her wearily.
“No, I’m sorry. I can’t say that I have. Something wrong?” she asked.
Toby looked around at the crowd of women and then mumbled, “Is there somewhere else we can talk? Somewhere private?”
“We can go in my office. Just give me a minute to clear some stuff up,” she said. “Be right back. And Meka, you can look but you’d better not touch.”
“What are you doing, Mama?” Roni hissed as her mother re-entered the office.
“Go in the bathroom and wait, both of you. Don’t make a sound,” she told them. Kayla and Roni went into the small bathroom adjoining the office and held their breath.
“I hope your mama knows what she’s doing,” Kayla whispered.
“Lord, help her to calm him down so he won’t call the cops,” Roni prayed aloud.
They listened as Ms. Ernestine and Toby came back into the office.
“Now, what’s going on, Toby? And why is my daughter missing all of a sudden?”
“She showed up at my house unexpectedly this evening and I was trying to help a friend of mine out. A female.”
“A friend?”
“Yes, ma’am. This friend of mine has some heavy issues going on right now and I was helping her deal with them. I told Roni I was kind of busy and thought she had left, but the next thing I know she busts my window with a skateboard and bricks my truck.” He dropped his head toward the floor.
“Are you sure it was just a friend? Roni has never been the jealous type. Did something else go on that you aren’t telling me?”
“No, I mean I will admit that the female and I do have some history, but I swear to you, Ms. Ernestine, I would never do anything to hurt or disrespect Roni. I love her with all my heart, and believe it or not, I have never been faithful to anyone until I met her. I know that she is my soul mate and I am not gonna risk losing her for nothing and nobody. I want to marry her. That is, if I have your blessing. But I have to apologize to her for earlier and get her to forgive me.”
“Let me get this straight. You were comforting a friend at your house and Roni got mad and broke your house window and your car window and you want to apologize and propose to her?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He looked at her like he was confused.
“Toby, are you sure nothing else happened?”
“I swear. The girl was upset because she found out she was pregnant and the father wants nothing to do with her. I was just being a shoulder for her to cry on.”
“And it’s not your baby?”
“Absolutely not. I haven’t been with anyone since I met Roni and we got together in July. I just need her to forgive me for not explaining and trying to be hush-hush about the whole situation.”
“I think she’ll understand. I will do what I can to find her for you. I believe that you love her, Toby, and as crazy as both of y’all are, I think you’re made for each other. She tears up your stuff and you want to apologize. I have
heard it all.”
“Thanks, Ms. Ernestine. I appreciate it.” Toby hugged her and left out.
“Girl, if you don’t get your behind out here and call that man. Lord, I finally got a wedding to plan!” She hugged Roni and Kayla. Both were still in shock from what Toby had just said.
“And Terrell calls me Drama Queen.” Kayla shook her head at her friend.
31
“Where have you been and where is my child?” Craig demanded as Kayla pulled up to her house.
“She’s at Tia’s. What is your problem?” Kayla flared at him.
“Goddamn Avis has been blowing up my pager and cell phone. She says you got her fired. What the hell is your problem? I told you to stay away from her.”
“First of all, I didn’t go looking for her, she came looking for me. She called my house harassing me and threatening me and Day.”
“Day? How the hell did she find out about Day?”
“I told her.”
“You did what? I know you didn’t. Don’t tell me that, Kayla. You told her? So basically what you did was give her a valid reason to take my ass to court for child support and alimony. I told you not to talk to her dumb ass.”
“Look, you two need to take that into the house. You don’t want your neighbors to call the cops,” Roni encouraged.
Kayla had forgotten that they were standing in her driveway like common folk. She quickly unlocked the door and went inside with Craig on her heels.
“I didn’t give her anything. I am not gonna walk around here like my child is some deep, dark secret to be denied. And her stupid behind would still have a job if she would’ve left me alone like I asked,” she yelled at him. His pager went off and he pulled it out and looked at it.
“I got a errand to run. I will deal with this shit later,” he mumbled.
“Before you go, let me ask you a question. What restaurant are you working at again?”
“What?”
“What is the name of the restaurant?” She looked him in his eye to see if he could lie to her face.