Breaking All My Rules

by Trice Hickman

  Erica admired the fact that Jerome was such a dedicated father and that he was very careful in everything regarding his son, and the fact that she was going to be the first woman he’d ever introduced to Jamel spoke volumes about where their relationship was headed. He’d assured her that Jamel would love her just as his parents did, but she worried about the big albatross hanging over them, which was his baby mama, Kelisha. Although Jerome didn’t speak much about his ex, Erica couldn’t help but feel the woman might be trouble down the road.

  “Don’t even worry about her,” Ashley had said. “Just concentrate on the happiness that you and Jerome have, and you’ll be fine.”

  Even though Ashley couldn’t manage her own personal dramas and was now balancing her feelings for two different men, Erica knew her friend always gave sound advice from the heart. Plus, Ashley had dealt with baby mamas in the past, so she knew what she was talking about.

  Erica sat a basket of bread on the table and then turned on the stereo to let Kem’s voice serenade the room. She was getting ready to call Jerome to make sure he was on his way when her doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting any Friday night guests, and she wondered who it could be. When she peeped through the hole and saw Claude standing on the other side of her door, she felt her stomach tighten. What the hell is he doing here?

  Erica’s first reaction was to let him stand outside in the cold until he went away. But then she knew that Jerome was on his way over, and she didn’t want Claude there when he arrived. She placed her hand on her hip and opened the door. “What do you want, and why are you popping up on my doorstep?”

  Claude smiled and smirked at the same time. “I see that hanging around with a certain element is beginning to rub off. Where has your graceful etiquette gone? Can I at least get a proper greeting?”

  “What do you want, Claude?”

  “Despite your caustic attitude, you look beautiful.”

  Erica removed her hand from her hip and folded her arms at her chest. The royal purple sweater dress that hugged her curves was one of Jerome’s favorite outfits on her, and she knew he’d love seeing her in it as they ate by candlelight, and she knew he’d love the fact that she was completely naked underneath. But right now she felt less than sexy in it, and she hated the fact that Claude could see her erect nipples standing at rapt attention, a sight that wasn’t meant for him.

  “My boyfriend is on his way over. You need to leave.”

  Claude didn’t flinch. “I can believe you’re serious about seeing this guy. I mean, c’mon, Erica. He’s a trashman, for Christ’s sake!”

  “And he’s also a good, honest, decent man.” Erica glowered at him and took a step forward. “Which is much more than I can say about you. I’m not sure what you came here for or what you’re up to, but I’m gonna end this little visit right now.”

  Claude threw up one hand in defeat, then raised the other to meet Erica’s folded arms. “Here. This is the purpose of my visit,” he said, handing her a flyer.

  Erica looked at the familiar 8½ x 11-inch paper and rolled her eyes. She didn’t move her hands to accept it, and now she was getting pissed. “You came here to give me one of Nelson’s campaign flyers?”

  “I’m canvassing the neighborhood. I’ve left them with every neighbor on your street.”

  “Canvassing at night?”

  “Anything to get the job done.”

  Erica was suspicious. She knew that Claude wasn’t a grassroots, door-to-door kind of guy. His political involvement was relegated to fancy dinners and swank fund-raisers, not boots-on-the-ground efforts. She knew something was up, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. “Okay, let’s cut the bullshit. I know you don’t have real feelings for me, so what is it that you’re really after?”

  Claude shook his head. “You’re beautiful, even when you’re angry.”

  “If you want to see angry, stick around five more minutes. When Jerome gets here, you’ll see real anger.” Erica glanced at her watch, praying that Jerome would be late, because she didn’t want a showdown at her front door.

  And apparently Claude didn’t, either. He stepped back and smiled. “You have every reason to be skeptical of my intentions. I didn’t know what a good thing I had until it was too late. I messed up royally,” he said, looking genuinely sincere. “But I know you and I are right for each other, Erica. We speak the same language, we like the same things, and we’re both ambitious. We were good together, and if you give me another chance, I’ll show you how great we can be. I’ve changed, and I’m ready now.”

  Claude’s snake oil tactics almost made her laugh, but she pulled back on the joviality when she saw Jerome’s truck coming down the street.

  Erica’s heart pounded rapidly against the wall of her chest when she saw Jerome double-park in front of her house and put on his flashing lights. Normally, he parked his truck in the garage around back, but she knew the minute he saw Claude standing at her door that he’d come charging up.

  “I told you to leave, and now it’s too late,” Erica hissed at Claude.

  Claude turned to face Jerome just as he was approaching. “I’m sure Candidate Stanford already has your vote,” he said, “but it never hurts to ask.” He held out the campaign flyer in Jerome’s direction. “You do vote, don’t you? But wait. Are convicted criminals allowed to vote in the District?”

  Jerome dismissed the flyer and looked past Claude. “Are you okay?” he asked Erica.

  “Yes. He was just leaving.”

  “Why are you coming over to my woman’s house when you know you’re not welcome?” Jerome asked in a steely voice, turning his attention to Claude.

  Claude stuck out his chest and glared at Jerome, looking as though he was ready to attack at any moment. Erica held her breath, not knowing what kind of physical confrontation might come next. She watched as Claude walked down her steps to where Jerome was standing.

  “Don’t ever question me about anything I do,” Claude growled.

  Jerome calmly smiled. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I wanna do.”

  “Typical gangster language.” Claude smirked and looked at Erica. “Think about what I said.” And with that, he breezed by Jerome, leaving him fuming at the foot of Erica’s steps.

  Chapter 43

  Jerome was so mad, he could have punched something, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything at the moment. He walked into Erica’s kitchen without saying a word and sat his overnight bag on the floor. “What did he say to you?”

  Erica blinked. “What?”

  “The muthafucka said, ‘Think about what I said.’ I want to know what he said to you, Erica.”

  She lowered her voice, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear her words. “Crazy talk about us getting back together. But, baby, I don’t know why he’s doing this. I haven’t encouraged him or given him the slightest indication that I want to be with him. He just started this out of nowhere.”

  Jerome leaned against the counter and looked at Erica. He wanted to believe that she was telling him the truth, but it still didn’t make sense to him why a man of Claude’s social and financial status would publicly hound a woman who didn’t want to be with him. He knew that men who possessed enormous egos like Claude would rather walk over hot coals than sweat a woman, especially if the woman had moved on to a new man.

  The sound of Erica’s voice broke his thoughts. “The next time Claude calls me or shows up at my door or initiates any kind of contact, I’m going to get the authorities involved. This is just too strange, and I don’t understand it.”

  Jerome nodded. “That’s a good idea, ’cause next time I might not be so calm. I was ready to fuck him up, and he knew it. But he also knew that a brothah like me can’t afford any trouble with the police. I ain’t about to get arrested in this neighborhood, no way, and that’s why his punk ass went off at the mouth the way he did.”

  “Speaking of trouble with the police,” Erica said, looking at Jerome through confused eyes, “what did h
e mean by that convicted criminal comment and you not being able to vote?”

  Jerome shook his head. “He’s obviously taken the time to check out my background, and that’s another reason I know something’s up with the dude.”

  “But you’ve never been convicted of a crime, right?”

  “No, baby. I’ve had arrests, but no convictions. He just said that bullshit to get a rise out of me.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense. Why is he doing this?”

  “The man wants you, and he’s doing some crazy shit to prove it.”

  “But like I said before, he doesn’t really want me back,” Erica protested. “I know Claude, and I know there’s something up his sleeve.”

  Jerome shook his head. “You know, I thought the same thing after my conversation with Kelisha this afternoon.” He could see the concern sitting between Erica’s knitted brow, so he quickly gave her a rundown of the tense meeting he’d had with his ex. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the two of them were conspiring.”

  “And you’re sure you haven’t given Kelisha any mixed signals that might make her think you wanted to rekindle things?” Erica asked.

  “Have you given Claude any?”

  Erica wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. “I’m sorry I sounded accusatory. I guess I know how you feel now. This is just bizarre.”

  “It is, but, baby, you’re the only woman for me.”

  “I love you, Jerome.”

  “I love you, too.” He kissed the top of her forehead and inhaled the sweet scent of her skin, which always managed to comfort him.

  “I guess this is a test, huh?”

  Jerome smiled. “It ain’t nothin’ but a thing. They’re gonna have to come harder than this to break us up. We’re solid. But still, I ain’t gonna sleep on either one of them.” He kissed her on the bridge of her nose, then on the center of her soft lips.

  “That’s right,” Erica agreed. “And I’m not going to let your ex or mine ruin our evening, especially since I spent the last two hours making us a romantic dinner. You hungry?”

  “I sure am. Everything smells good, too!”

  “All right. Let’s eat.”

  Jerome tugged at the hem of Erica’s purple dress, sliding it up the sides of her legs as he dropped to his knees in front of her. “I want to start with dessert.” He smiled with seduction. Slowly, he gently placed his mouth on her heated flesh. “This is the kind of sugar I like.”

  As Erica lay in bed, listening to the sound of Jerome’s soft snores, she took deep breaths of her own, trying to calm herself. She’d just awakened from a bad dream. She hadn’t experienced a nightmare in almost a month, but now the terrifying episodes had returned.

  Quietly, she slipped out of bed and went into her bathroom. She ran a cloth under the cool water and then applied it to her forehead. Although this nightmare hadn’t been nearly as severe as most of them usually were, it had been nonetheless frightening.

  She’d been chased down a long, winding hallway that didn’t seem to end. Then, finally, just as she’d seen the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, a hand reached out to grab her, pulling her back into the darkness. She hadn’t put up much of a struggle before she let the force overtake her. She had been prepared to rest in the black silence of an unknown world when she awoke in a sweat.

  She’d been glad that Jerome was knocked out in a deep, satisfied sleep; otherwise, she knew he would have been upset to see her in such a state and would probably have brought up the subject of therapy again.

  After Erica calmed herself, she slipped back under her warm sheets. As soon as she slid her body next to Jerome’s, he reached for her. He kissed her on the nape of her neck as she nestled in beside him.

  “You okay?” he asked in a half-asleep, half-awake voice.

  “Yes, I just had to use the bathroom. Go back to sleep,” she whispered.

  When she felt his warm breath caress her skin, her fear and anxiety slowly melted away. But deep inside, she wondered how long that sense of comfort and all the goodness they’d experienced together would last. And more important, she had a bad feeling about whatever both their conniving exes were really up to.

  Chapter 44

  Erica was excited, nervous, and anxious all at once. In a few hours her home would be flooded with a flurry of people and activity. It was Thanksgiving Day, and she was hosting a huge feast that would bring together the Stanford and Kimbrough clans and their friends. Erica knew this was an ambitious feat, but she thought there was no better time than the present to introduce the two families, which she was certain would eventually become one.

  Though it had only been three months since she and Jerome had started dating, they were confident in the fact that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Erica often laughed when she thought about the line Jerome frequently quoted from the song “The Light,” by one of his favorite musical artists, Common: “It don’t take a whole day to recognize sunshine.” She knew that was indeed a true sentiment, because it had taken her only a week to know that Jerome was special and less than two to fall in love with him.

  For the first month or two of their relationship, Erica had been waiting for the other shoe to fall—for something bad to happen—particularly given the strange behavior of Claude and Kelisha. But a few weeks ago half her worries had been laid to rest when she learned the real reason behind Claude’s insistent pursuit of her.

  One evening Claude had been volunteering for Nelson’s campaign, sending out e-mails to potential donors, seemingly doing all he could to help propel the Stanford campaign to victory. He’d also sent out an e-mail to his fellow partners at his firm, all but guaranteeing political influence for their company on government contracts because he was dating the future councilman’s sister. Not only was sending that blatantly untrue e-mail an unethical and stupid thing to do, but it proved to be a huge blunder, because he accidentally forwarded it to a potential donor, who in turn forwarded it directly to Nelson. After that, it was a wrap for Claude.

  Erica had been disgusted and relieved all at the same time, but ultimately, she was glad to finally put Claude’s nonsense behind her. It seemed as though she and Jerome had hurdled over every barrier that had come their way . . . except one, and that was Kelisha. Erica had known the woman was going to be trouble, but she’d had no idea how much, and the fact that Kelisha was resentful of the relationship she and Jamel had established only added more strife to the bothersome brew.

  Jamel loved Erica, just as Jerome had said he would. The two instantly bonded, as if she’d been mothering him his whole life. She helped him with his math homework whenever he ran into tough equations, and she talked to him about his “girlfriend issues” when he didn’t feel comfortable confiding in Jerome or Kelisha. In return, Jamel helped her on the weekends at Opulence, earning extra spending money by stocking shelves, cleaning the break room, and making sure the windows and hardwood floors were polished to a sparkling shine. Their relationship was smooth and easy, much like the one Erica shared with Jerome. But her relationship with mama bear was an entirely different animal.

  When she and Kelisha finally met last month at one of Jamel’s soccer games, Kelisha had made it clear that she didn’t want anything to do with Erica. She’d refused to even shake Erica’s hand when Jerome introduced them, and she’d nodded a terse “hello” only because Jamel had been standing next to them. Once he left to take his place on the field, Kelisha dismissed her completely. But at the end of the game they had to come together again, and that was when Kelisha took the opportunity to let Erica know exactly how she felt.

  Jamel’s team had won the game, and they were set to go to Pizzeria Uno afterward to celebrate.

  “I’m so proud of you, baby,” Kelisha said, giving Jamel a big hug.

  “Jamel, you were a star out there!” Erica enthusiastically cheered.

  “That’s my boy,” Jerome said, giving Jamel a customary brotherman d
ap.

  All seemed to be going well as Jerome and Jamel walked and talked side by side while they headed toward the parking lot, with Erica and Kelisha strolling a few paces behind. Erica saw this as her opportunity to break the hard sheet of ice that her man’s ex had formed.

  “You and Jerome have done a great job with Jamel. He’s a wonderful young man,” Erica complimented with a smile.

  Kelisha stared straight ahead and unleashed a quiet fury, which had apparently been simmering inside her for weeks. “Let’s get one thing straight from the jump,” she hissed in a low voice. “Just ’cause you the new woman in Jerome’s life, that don’t mean jack. Yeah, you the first one he’s introduced to his mama and daddy and Jamel, but that don’t mean nothin’. I’ve seen his women come and go, and I’ve outlasted them all. Believe me when I say that once you gon’, I’ll still be here, havin’ his back.”

  Erica controlled her anger and outrage as she spoke. “With all due respect, which you haven’t had the courtesy of giving me, I’m sorry you’re so bitter about the fact that Jerome and I are happy together. But like it or not, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You think you better than me just ’cause you talk all proper and you got money and a fancy degree. But let me tell you somethin’, Miss Thang,” Kelisha replied, rattling like a deadly snake. “I’m the one who had his baby and got his back, and it’s been that way since before you came along. He just fascinated by you, that’s all, and when it wears off, we’ll see whose bed he gon’ come runnin’ back to, just like he always do.”

  “Why are you so bitter? Just move on,” Erica said, her anger ratcheting up.

  Kelisha continued to stare straight ahead as she delivered her next set of biting words. “You the one who’s bitter and barren. You ain’t never had a man or a child of your own, and you ain’t about to now. You one of them women who got to go out and take somebody else’s.”