“I can’t believe you never know who I am when I call you, Antonyo. This is Lynn.”
“What’s up, Lynn? I’m going to have to call you back because I’m on the other line.”
“Who you talking to, and why can’t they call you back?” Lynn asked with attitude.
“Lynn, you know the rules. Ask no questions, you get no lies. Now, you can either hang up politely and I’ll call you back, or I’m going to hang up on you and not deal with you and your attitude anymore.”
“You better make sure you call me back, Tony. Bye.”
Antonyo hoped their conversation ended that way, because he had learned to never make a threat he was not prepared to carry out; therefore, he would never appear to be weak. Lynn spent money on Antonyo like money had little more value than tap water. He would hate to have to kick her to the curb. He reconnected the call with Clarke. “Sorry, Clarke.”
“It’s cool. So, can we hook up today?”
“Sure. Give me a chance to shower and change and I’ll pick you up in about an hour.” They both agreed to the time and disconnected the call.
Antonyo liked Clarke Tyler even though she did not have the financial wherewithal to do things for him. Somehow, there always managed to be one in his stable that he cared for. Clarke was a struggling student attending school on full academic scholarship. She was the oldest of six children, all born to a single mom. Clarke worked part time as a cashier in the neighborhood grocery store to help her mother make ends meet.
Lynne Trevelle, on the other hand, was the spoiled rotten twenty-two-year-old daughter of a white mother employed as an obstetrician, and a black father who was a high school principal. She graduated college with a pre-law degree, but was not doing anything at the current time toward going on to law school. As she put it, she was taking time out for herself. Lynn was bossy and controlling with most people; however, Antonyo refused to take nonsense from her, and this is what she liked most about him.
Lynn’s personality traits included being high strung, overly emotional, frantic, and paranoid: in short, a drama queen. Clarke was mild mannered, soft spoken, fun-loving and stable. Lynn was rich. Clarke was broke. The character of the other three women he dealt with fell somewhere between these two.
The other women in his crew included Katrina, a twenty-one-year-old administrative assistant, Charleyna (Shar-lay-na), a twenty-three-year-old department store manager and part-time student, and Timber, a twenty-year-old cashier who worked for the same department store chain as Charleyna, but at a different location.
Antonyo had amassed a respectable savings nest egg as a result of his salary and the money he saved from having the women in his life pay his car note, insurance, and the rent his mother assessed him. There were also many extra perks, such as clothes, jewelry, and extravagant nights on the town that the lovely damsels in his life provided.
Antonyo dressed and left the house to pick up Clarke. On the drive to her house, he began to think about his mother and why she resolved to waste good brain power meditating about Sheldon today. Years had passed since he last thought about his father, and never had he considered Sheldon responsible for his having no desire to settle down with any one woman.
Sheldon was a punk when Antonyo was a child. Sheldon had been a punk since Antonyo had become an adult, and more than likely, Sheldon was going to be a punk for the rest of both of their lives. Sheldon could teach him nothing about being a man, other than how to do it differently than Sheldon had done it.
Antonyo concluded long ago that if Sheldon cared so little as to never try to contact him, then forget him. He was better off living his life without his dad. His mother had given his father far more credit than he deserved. Antonyo lived the way Antonyo lived because Antonyo was happy living this way. Period!
Antonyo felt that Trina had been bugging a lot lately. Today, talking about this Sheldon crap, and before then and at every given opportunity, she seemed to be telling him about how his life lacked a true and intimate relationship with God. She’d been talking about how God had changed her life for a few years now.
Sure, he believed in God just as much as any of the other folks he knew. Antonyo understood creation, thanks to Trina, and gave God His due for it. He recognized that God was all powerful and able to do all things. God could heal the sick, feed the hungry, and take care of the poor. What he did not understand were all the rules God had that seemed to eradicate the possibility of having any fun. As a young man, Antonyo assumed he had plenty of time before he had to slow down and allow God to have His way in his life. But for now, he was going to live his life the way a young man should be able to—carefree.
Antonyo arrived at Clarke’s, and the two spent the afternoon just as planned. Their day together was perfect, as had been all other dates the couple shared. Well, almost perfect anyway. The only exception came as a result of Lynn constantly ringing Antonyo’s cell phone. He went from answering the first time and informing her he would contact her later, to putting the phone on vibrate during the second, third, and fourth call, to turning it off altogether. The girl’s relentlessness had defied Antonyo’s understanding. This was unusual behavior, even for Lynn’s demanding demeanor.
Clarke never let on that the nuisance bothered her one bit. No matter what happened, she was simply content to be in Antonyo’s presence. Clarke understood he dated other females, and though she was less than thrilled, she appreciated his honesty, accepted his standards, and rolled with the situation. Clarke could only hope that one day he would come to feel about her the way she felt about him and then realize she was all the woman he needed.
After Antonyo dropped Clarke at home, he returned Lynn’s call, anxious to know the urgency behind her blowing up his cell phone. The four voice mail messages were all uninformative.
“Lynn, what is your problem today? Why were you calling me like a maniac this afternoon and then not bother leaving me a decent message?” he yelled.
“Oh, calm down, boo. I missed you, that’s all. Nothing more. Nothing less,” she replied nonchalantly.
This girl is truly nuts, Antonyo thought to himself. He also contemplated that perhaps the potential headaches connected with continuing to date this whacky chick would far outweigh the financial benefits associated with an ongoing involvement. Lynn was a spoiled rotten brat, and Antonyo was truly tiring of having to deal with her childish and psychotic behavior.
“So, what you doing now, stud man?” Lynn asked playfully.
“Nothing that has anything to do with you, crazy woman. Look, Lynn, I am going out tonight, and I do not want to hear from you. If you can refrain from ringing my phone, I will call you tomorrow when I get off work. If you call me even once, I promise you will never see my face again.”
“Tomorrow is Sunday, Tony. You have to work on a Sunday?” Lynn asked humbly.
“I am a supervisor, Lynn, and the company is open seven days a week, therefore, I have to work some weekends.”
“Okay. I’ll be good. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she replied in a sing-song voice then hung up.
Antonyo shook his head as he hung up the phone and drove home to prepare for his evening date. He intended on forgetting about crazy Lynn and concentrating on having a nice, peaceful evening with Timber; however, peace was not to be found immediately. The moment he walked into the house, Trina was on the attack.
“Antonyo, some crazy girl named Lynn called my house seven times since you left. Seven times. Do you hear me? I have told you I am not going to deal with these stupid girlfriends of yours disrupting my peace. Now, before you leave this house tonight, you will call the phone company and make an appointment to have your own phone line installed, and you will pay to have my phone number changed so I never have to hear from those tramps again.” Trina stomped away from Antonyo and headed toward her bedroom, never bothering to give him a chance to respond.
After his mother’s verbal berating, Antonyo again considered getting rid of Lynn for good. Were the perks really
worth the hassles? He thought about his car note, insurance, rent, and fully stocked closest. His answer was an affirmative yes!
Chapter 14
In the passing months, Clarke’s unwavering infatuation grew to full-blown love. She and Antonyo spent an average of three to four days a week together, and with each short-lived moment, Clarke allowed her heart to be totally opened to a man she knew belonged to her only when he was in her presence. Antonyo vowed himself to no one woman, including her—at least not yet.
The indifference Clarke used to feel about Antonyo’s other lovers had now transformed and manifested itself into pain and jealousy. In the beginning, she had little trouble grinning and bearing what she knew to be so; however, lately, the past month or so in particular, Clarke found herself irritable and very unhappy at the mere thought of Antonyo in the company of the other witches in his life. And those, too, had changed since the two started dating. At the start, he was involved with females named Timber, Lynn, Charleyna, and Katrina. Of that original brood, only Lynn and Timber remained, as far as Clarke’s minor investigating revealed.
One evening, Clarke decided to snoop through his cell phone while he showered in the motel bathroom they were in. By each of the women’s names in his cell phone’s address book, Antonyo listed his relationship to the female. Of all the names there, Timber, Lynn, and herself were the only ones listed as “a boo,” and by each of their acronyms were stars: one by Timber’s name, two by Lynn’s, and three by her own.
Clarke was ecstatic over the fact that she had starred higher than the other two women, and hoped the trophy marks were indicative of his feelings and not just sexual performance. She decided that she would take a chance and find out by writing down Lynn and Timber’s phone numbers and giving each lady a call.
The following day, Clarke called Timber first. After spending about ten minutes on the phone with her, she assessed that Timber seemed content to stay in the background and play stable mate. Their conversation revealed that Timber was not a one-man type of woman. Antonyo was only one of a few guys she dated. When their talk time concluded, Clarke felt absolutely no threat from this woman, which made the goal of getting her out of the picture for good quite achievable.
Lynn Trevelle, however, proved to pose a far greater threat to having Clarke’s mission of being Antonyo’s one and only executed. During the phone conversation these two women shared, Lynn’s vocal demeanor revealed a demanding, controlling, spoiled and possessed woman, while not necessarily expressing the characteristics of a woman in love. Yet, Clarke still knew that getting her out of Antonyo’s life would be far more difficult because Lynn was used to getting her way. Losing at anything was not an option for a woman like Lynn.
“Hello, may I please speak with Lynn?”
“Who is this?” Lynn responded with attitude.
“My name is Clarke. I’m a friend of Tony’s.”
“So! Why are you calling me?”
“My purpose for calling, for lack of a better reason I guess, would be curiosity. I just want to know the true nature of your relationship with Tony.”
Clarke felt silly asking questions she knew she had no right to ask, but for her, the situation had reached a critical point. She loved Antonyo, and she needed to know, for one thing, what her chances were of getting him all to herself; and two, what she had to do to improve her odds. Giving Antonyo up was not an option she would even remotely consider.
“What do you mean by ‘the true nature of our relationship?’ Are you writing his biography or something?” Lynn questioned.
Clarke’s youth, inexperience in love, and perpetually smooth conversation with Timber left her unprepared to handle the smug, nasty disposition of Lynn. Yet she was even less prepared to let go of Antonyo, so she bit the bullet and pressed on.
“I’m sorry if I seem intrusive, Lynn. I don’t mean to come across as aggressive or confrontational. It’s just that I have been seeing Tony for four months. I would really like the opportunity at an exclusive, monogamous relationship with him. ”
“You have got some nerve, little Ms. Clarke. Tony has spoken about you, so don’t think that you informing me about your involvement in his life is going to upset me enough to stop seeing him. If one of us has got to go, trust me when I say it is you he will bid a fond farewell to. Tony is like my puppet, Clarke. I pull strings and he dances. I am beautiful. I am educated. I am mature. I’ve got plenty of money, and I don’t mind sharing it with my boo, so recognize your place, little girl, and stay in it.” Lynn ended the call with a departing laugh filled with scorn.
Clarke replayed her conversation with Lynn and became concerned, but not despondent. Her resolve to make a life with Antonyo remained strong. There had to be options available that would cause either Antonyo to dump Lynn or vice-versa. Clarke was intelligent, crafty even, and resilient where Antonyo was concerned.
Since realizing she had fallen in love with him, she suffered the heartache over and over of watching him leave her arms, her bed even, to crawl into those of other women; yet somehow, she had remained steadfast and calm, never once letting her emotions get the best of her or her predicament.
Patience and planning were her strategies to win the fight. Soon enough her weapons of warfare would reveal themselves.
Antonyo sat quietly, nursing a headache as he listened to Trina preach to him about the glory of the Lord and the benefits of establishing a relationship with Jesus.
“Antonyo, I know all of this sounds foreign and boring to you. I am doing my best to put this in layman’s or sinner’s terms for you. The easiest way to make you understand is to tell you what a change in my own life having a relationship with God has made. A testimony, if you will.
“I never before thought I could own my own home, until I started attending church. I had relegated myself to the simple belief that I was the daughter of a woman who had no value for her own life. Therefore, my life had no value, no real joy. Before I met God on His terms, Antonyo, I merely existed. I was raising you, loving you and my sister, but my life had no real purpose. All I am asking you to do is to just come to church with me a few times. See if you hear something, see something, or feel something that makes you want to give God a try. God already knows you, Antonyo, and He loves you right where you are, just as you are.”
Antonyo was definitely not anti-God. He even noticed the positive differences in his mom’s life. His problem with her was her belief that he was unhappy and merely existing, when nothing could be further from the truth. Antonyo’s life held much satisfaction for him. Why fix something that wasn’t broken?
“Ma, I hear you and I am so happy for you. I will even agree to go to church with you sometime soon. It’s not that I don’t believe in God or that I am running from Him. I am just currently cool with my own life. So, if nothing else, I can go to church with you to thank Him for that.”
Trina started to protest further, but quickly decided against it. She chose to revel in the victory of at least getting her only child to agree to attend church with her eventually.
“I’m holding you to that, Antonyo,” she said as she smiled and left him to himself.
Trina’s leaving came at the perfect time, too, because just as she made her exit, his phone rang. His caller ID revealed that Lynn was on the line. He did not need to hear his mom’s mouth or see her roll her eyes as he spoke on the phone with one of his women.
“What’s up, girrrll?” Antonyo answered.
“What’s up? What’s up? I will most certainly tell you what’s up, Tony. What’s up is I don’t appreciate you giving my phone number to your hoochie girlfriends. That is exactly what’s up!” Lynn yelled.
Forever the drama queen, Antonyo thought. “What are you ranting about now, Lynn?”
“That little wench Clarke called me today, talking all out the side of her neck. What was that about, Tony? Why did you give her my phone number?”
“Whoa, Lynn! Stop accusing me of giving her your phone number, because I did no
such thing. I don’t know how Clarke got your phone number, if she even called you at all.”
“Well, whoa back at you, Tony! Are you calling me a liar? I know you ain’t calling me a liar, because I have no reason to lie to you, Tony; especially not about one of your skanky, low-class females. That wench called just like I said.”
Antonyo found himself becoming irritated by the harsh adjectives Lynn used to describe Clarke. Surprised by his desire to lash out at Lynn and defend Clarke, Antonyo relaxed his grip on the phone and calmed himself, remembering that while he was quite fond of Clarke, Lynn was the main caboose car on his gravy train. Clarke was a broke passenger, hitching a complimentary ride. He only continued to hang out with Clarke because she was very smart and very pretty. She worked harder than both Timber and Lynn to make him feel good on a level that had little to do with sex and absolutely nothing to do with monetary benefits.
“Okay, Lynn. What did Clarke say?” Antonyo asked with a calm that totally betrayed his actual feelings.
“Like I said, she came all out of pocket. She was rude and aggressive, and the gist of the conversation was that I should leave you alone because you are her man. The youngster did everything but threaten me,” Lynn yelled.
Antonyo knew Lynn exaggerated her version of Clarke’s call at the very least. After hearing Lynn give her account, Antonyo again began to doubt if Clarke even made the call; however, he determined that he definitely needed to get to the bottom of the situation.
“Look, Lynn. If Clarke called you—”
“What! Are you still saying you don’t believe me, Tony?”
“Let me finish, Lynn!” Antonyo now raised his own voice, frustrated by Lynn’s annoying persistence. “If Clarke made the call, I will definitely deal with her and make sure it never happens again. On the other hand, if she tells me she never phoned you, I am through with you, Lynn. I am tired of dealing with your drama. Do you understand?”
“Oh! So if she called me she will simply be reprimanded, but if I lied about her calling me, I’m going to get kicked to the curb, correct? Don’t even bother answering that question, Antonyo, because I’m not worried. I am not lying. And that witch better not tell you otherwise,” Lynn screamed. Then she slammed the phone in Antonyo’s ear.
From Sinner to Saint Page 13