The Golden Lie

by B. M. Hardin

  I’d found myself trying to do everything just right to help Dakota see why he loved me. I was dressing extra-sexy, and being extra-nasty in the bedroom, hoping that he remembered why he’d chosen me in the first place.

  I also found myself locating him every five minutes, when he wasn’t around me. So far, he hadn’t been back to that house, but then again, I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was that I was driving myself damn near crazy and keeping it all to myself was only making the situation worse.

  “I’ve just been a little busy.”

  Chevey shrugged and started to look at the menu.

  I stared at her. I wanted to say something to her. I wanted to ask her if she knew about the affair. I wanted to vent to her and tell her how angry I was that my husband was cheating on me with her sister…but I didn’t.

  “I saw Chanel the other day.”

  “Oh. I haven’t seen her in about a week.”

  “She was with some guy,” I lied. I knew Chevey like the back of my hand, and I wanted to see if she had any idea about what was going on, without stating what I already knew.

  “Chanel? With another man? Other than her husband?”

  Oh, yeah, did I mention that Chanel was married too?

  Yep. She’d gotten married about two or three years ago. Of course, I wasn’t invited to the wedding, but I’d seen pictures. She’d looked happy on her wedding day, but Chanel had always had a loose booty, so I knew that she wasn’t going to be faithful to him forever. I just didn’t know that the man that she cheated on him with, would be mine.

  “It wasn’t her husband Jerome.”

  Chevey looked surprised. “Girl, what did he look like?”

  Dakota. But I didn’t say my thoughts aloud.

  “Hmm, tall, dark, kind of stocky,” I said, describing the opposite of husband. Dakota was tall, but he was light-skinned, and skinny.

  “Honey, I don’t know who that is. She hasn’t said anything to me about another man. She got that new sales job, so she’s always going on these little trips nowadays. Just the other week she was gone for about three days. I hope she ain’t stepping out on Jerome. He’s a damn good man,” she said.

  Yeah, I thought mine was too.

  “Yeah. Right.”

  “Excuse me? Chile, what’s wrong with you?” Chevey slightly giggled and then snapped at the waitress. I shook my head just as she started to place her order.

  As she talked, I continued to study her.

  I knew her and just by her demeanor and the tone of her voice, I was sure that she wasn’t hiding anything from me and that she was in the dark about the affair. She’d always been a bucket of nerves, and if she knew something like that, she would be struggling to hide it.

  I was actually relieved because though I was sure that her loyalty would be to her sister in the situation, I would’ve been pissed off if she’d known about them and hadn’t told me.

  “Order a drink. You look like you need one,” Chevey joked, as I ordered my food. She was right. I did. So, I ordered two.

  I forced myself to enjoy the rest of my lunch with Chevey. Once we parted ways, I took a little drive to the house where I’d seen Dakota with Chanel.

  I parked across the street from the house, just to sit and stare at it. It was a cute little house, in a nice neighborhood. No one was home; at least there wasn’t a car in the driveway, and to be honest, it looked as though no one lived there.

  Whose house is this?

  Picking up my phone, I typed in the address.

  It’s been said that a woman on the hunt for answers, was better at finding information than the C.I.A. And after a few minutes of searching, I sat there, staring at my phone in disbelief.

  My husband, Dakota Leon Ramsey, was listed as the owner of the house.

  He bought another house? Without telling me?

  One of his closest friends was a hot-shot real-estate agent, in our area, so I already knew that he’d probably been the one to sell it to him, but why wouldn’t Dakota tell me about it?

  Unexpectedly, I felt nauseous. I felt like maybe something bigger was going on around me and I just hadn’t been able to see it.

  Was Dakota preparing to leave me?

  Did he not love me anymore?

  I checked our bank accounts. I still had access to all of them and no extreme amounts of money were missing.

  Then how had he paid for this house?

  Maybe he had a secret bank account that I didn’t know about. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised. Dakota’s lies and secrets were piling up, fast, and I was starting to wonder if I ever really knew him at all. He’d never been the type to lie. Or maybe he just hadn’t been the type to get caught.

  I thought about what I would do if he left me.

  I didn’t have a job. I didn’t finish college. I’d put everything on hold to help him pursue his goals and dreams.

  I’d grown up fast, and with much of nothing. I’d had to fight for everything that I had or take hand-me-downs, until I turned sixteen and got my first job. And even then, with a Mama like mine, life was still a struggle. But now, life was good. We had plenty of money, and we didn’t want for anything. I guess I never thought about what life would be like if it was all, suddenly, taken away.

  A part of me wanted to panic, but the other part of me was ready for war. If he thought that he was going to leave me, he’d better think again! And even if he did, he damn sure wasn’t going to leave me broke…even though I’d signed a prenuptial agreement. I’d wanted him to know that I was there for love and not for the success that we both knew that he was going to have, so I’d signed the papers. And now, I wondered if that had been a mistake.

  I finally found the strength to drive away from the house and I rushed home to wait for the boys to get home from school.

  Dakota’s Mama, Mrs. Tilda, picked them up every day for us, since the school was right across the street from her house. Personally, I could do without seeing my mother-in-law five days a week, at the least, but the boys were crazy about her.

  I tidied up in a hurry, to keep from hearing her sarcastic comments about my cleaning. She’d been a maid, back in the day, for years, and nothing was ever clean enough to her. And though my body and my hands were moving fast, my mind seemed to be in slow motion as I continued to think about my life and husband.

  We met while I was still in college.

  I only had a year left. I had come from food stamps, public housing and I had a drunk for a mother. I was a little prettier than most, so all my life, I found myself fighting out of jealousy, and hate, but I didn’t let that stop me. I was determined to be something. So, when I beat all of the odds, and graduated from high school, I enrolled into college. I received financial aid, but I also worked two jobs, nights and weekends, and went to school during the day.

  One night, while I worked at the bar, Dakota came in. He’d walked right up to the bar and asked for a drink. He’d just been turned down from his dream job and he figured that he could just drink the disappointment away.

  But I didn’t let him. I talked to him. I made him laugh. I reminded him that he was in control of his own happiness and that no one could change his destiny. I encouraged him to follow his dreams and start his own thing.

  Surprisingly, he listened.

  I think we fell in love with each other that night, though neither of us wanted to admit it. And before he left, he asked me out on a date, and the rest is history.

  We dated briefly, and right before he opened his own business, we got married. His lawyer suggested the prenup, and though Dakota told me that I hadn’t had to sign it, I hadn’t listened to him. I loved him. And I wanted him to know it. Anyway, I decided to put my degree on hold and help Dakota however I could. I was beside him every step of the way, always in the loop. And for years, we were like partners; even though the company was all his, and he’d started it with his savings, still, I felt as though it was mine too. And then---I got pregnant. Apparently, the baby bump changed his
view of me. He wanted me to stay at home more. He wanted me to relax and not be so hands-on. And just like that, I was stuck being the housewife that I’d never wanted to be.

  “Mama! Where are you?” I heard Dakota Jr. scream. Our boys, D.J. and Daylen were six and seven. They were spitting images of their father and they acted just like him too. I couldn’t help but wonder how they would feel if things between me and Dakota fell apart.

  They both came into the kitchen, hugged me, threw their things on the kitchen table and then disappeared.

  I heard the slow footsteps of Dakota’s mother and then finally, she showed her face. For the most part, we had a decent relationship. She was just old and set in her ways and she always had an answer for everything.

  “Something smells good.”

  “Yeah. I’m making Dakota’s favorite tonight.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  I hadn’t really expected the question. I knew why I was making it, but I didn’t want to tell her.

  “Just because.”

  “Just because what?”

  I shrugged. After stirring the pot, I picked up the phone to call my husband. He didn’t answer. I called his office phone, but he didn’t answer that phone either. I glanced at the time. It was only 4 o’clock, so I tried his office phone again. Still, no answer.

  Instantly, I thought the worse and before I could stop myself, I located his cell phone.

  “No! No! No!” I accidentally, said aloud. After two whole weeks---he was back at his secret house.

  Was he with Chanel?

  I called him again. And after he didn’t answer for the seventh time, I slammed the phone down in the center of the island.

  “Ugh,” I moaned in frustration as I focused on catching my breath. I was trying so hard not to cry, but I couldn’t help it.

  “He’s cheating on you. Isn’t he?”

  For a moment, I’d forgotten that Dakota’s mother was there. Hastily, I shook my head no.

  “Yes. He is. You don’t have to lie to me. I figured it out a long time ago.”

  I looked up at her. Strangely, she smiled.

  “You can always tell. He’s just like his father,” she grunted.

  I sniffled and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. “His father cheated?”

  She nodded.

  “What did you do?”

  She smiled. “Doesn’t matter. Does Dakota know that you know?”

  I shook my head no.

  “If I were you, I would keep it that way. The ball is in your court. You could do whatever you want to do, and he wouldn’t see it coming. You were dumb enough to sign that little prenup, so be smart enough to keep your mouth shut and come up with a plan, that benefits you.”

  I was surprised to hear her say that. It almost sounded like she was trying to help me.

  “I love my son, God knows I do, but he was raised better than this. He was raised to be better than his father. If there’s one thing that I can’t stand, it’s a liar and a cheater. And if I don’t know anything else, I know that cheater’s never win. Somehow, someway, they always lose.”

  I stared at her and waited on her to continue talking, but when she didn’t speak, I asked her a question.

  “So, what do I do?

  She stood up from the stool that she’d rested on. “Anything you want to do.”

  What kind of answer was that?

  “What did you do? To Dakota’s father? When he cheated, what did you do?”

  She headed towards the kitchen door entrance. She glanced back at me. The wrinkles around her mouth curled up into a tiny smirk. “I killed him,” was all she said, and then she turned and walked away.

  Wait a minute…what?

  Later that evening, Dakota came home and immediately started to lie to me.

  “I accidentally left my phone at the office and went out with a client for a while. We ended up having drinks, and time got away from me,” he said. He looked at me and the spread of food that was still sitting on the dining room table, cold. “Oh baby, I didn’t know that you were doing all of this. I’m sorry.”

  I took a sip of my drink. For the past four hours, I’d located him over 100 times. He’d been at that house until about thirty minutes ago.

  “Do you love me Dakota?”

  He exhaled and sat down his briefcase. “What? Baby, come on now. Of course, I love you. More than anything in this world. Don’t be silly.”

  “Are you still in love with me?”

  “Yes. Why are you asking me this Yaya?”

  “It just feels like something is wrong. Like you don’t love me anymore,” I became emotional on purpose. I was hurting and I wanted him to know it, even if I refused to tell him why.

  “Oh baby, I just get stressed at work. Deadlines have me all out of focus, but I promise you, I love you. I will always love you. Only you. And I’m sorry about tonight. I was working. I promise. I was just working,” he said and he kissed my tears. He hugged me and I laid my head on his chest. Immediately, the tears stopped flowing once I knew that he couldn’t see my face.

  His Mama was right. I needed to be smart, and I needed to get a plan.

  Dakota continued to talk, but nothing that he was saying really mattered. He’d just been caught in one lie, too many; but by the time that I was done with him, he would never lie, to anyone…

  Again!

  *******************

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Thou Shall not commit adultery…EVER!”

  Just the bitch that I’ve been waiting to see!

  I watched Chanel head up the steps and turn the knob to Chevey’s front door.

  She walked in, looked at me, but she didn’t bother to speak.

  Keep your cool, Yaya.

  Pretending that I didn’t know about the affair with Dakota, also meant that I couldn’t flip out on Chanel. God knows, I wanted to beat the slut out of her, but I sat there and acted as though I was unbothered.

  “Chevey, I need you to ride with me right quick.”

  “For what? And I can’t. Yaya and I are about to go shopping for D.J.’s birthday.”

  Chanel huffed. “But it’s important. And she can pick up balloons and shit by herself, can’t she?”

  I stood up. I almost lunged at her, but I gripped my purse and steadied my balance. I looked at Chanel with pure disgust, from top to bottom. She stared back at me as though she was waiting for me to respond.

  “It’s fine Chevey. Go with your sister,” I mumbled.

  They both looked at me confused.

  “Really?” Chevey questioned.

  “Yes. Go. I’ll call you later. Oh, and by the way, Chanel, your toes are hanging over the top of your sandals. In case you didn’t know.” And with that, I rushed out of Chevey’s house with her laughing and calling my name behind me.

  As I got inside of my car, I exhaled and convinced myself that I’d done the right thing. I told myself that now just wasn’t the time. That was by far, one of the hardest things that I’d ever had to do. But in due time, Chanel was going to get exactly what she deserved.

  And that was a promise.

  By the time that I arrived at the store, I’d changed my mind about going inside. My son’s birthday was still a little while away, and I’d only been going shopping so early, just to get out of the house and have something to do, other than obsessing over Dakota and Chanel all day. But now that I was there, and probably because Chevey wasn’t with me, I didn’t feel like shopping anymore.

  So, I just sat there.

  For a while, I simply entertained my thoughts. I tried to recall every little thing that I knew about Chanel. I tried to figure out how I could ruin her life, the same way that she was ruining mine. There had to be something that I could do to her, before I figured out exactly what to do about my marriage. I just couldn’t let her get away with this.

  A couple walked in front of my car and stole my focus. They were smiling and holding hands. She looked at him as if he was everything to her, a
nd I could tell by the look on his face, that he was in love. I envied them and immediately I wondered how long it would be before he messed it all up. It was just a matter of time.

  Hmm…

  Not really thinking things through, I figured that I might as well save this lady the heartache and trouble, so I drove up to the happy couple and rolled down my window.

  “Oh, so this is the “infamous girl-friend”, huh?” I said to the random man. He looked at me as though I was crazy. “Honey, you should do a better job with pleasing him. Maybe then, I wouldn’t have to do it! Don’t be scared to suck a little something! He really likes the way that I do it. Anyway, babe, call me when you’re done. I’ll be at home waiting for you,” I blurted at him with a wink, and then I sped off, just as she slapped the confused look right off his face.

  I was going straight to Hell!

  But whether she knew it or not, I’d just done her a favor. It was only a matter of time before he found someone else, traded her in for a newer version, or cheated on her for no reason at all. In a way, I was something like her ghetto guardian angel. She just didn’t know it yet.

  I ignored my ringing phone as I drove home. Once I finally pulled into my driveway, I checked my messages. Chevey left a message asking me to call her. And Dakota left a message saying that he was working late.

  Yeah. I bet. I located him, just to see if he was still at the office. He was. I then texted Chevey, just to see if she was still with Chanel. I exhaled when she responded yes. Still, I was sure that later, Chanel and Dakota, had plans to meet up.

  For the most part, I’d been successful at faking the funk. There were those times when Dakota would touch me, that I would cringe; and then I would have to play it off and tell him that I was just giving him a hard time and then I would just give him whatever it was that he wanted, and he would forget about the whole thing.

  And then there were other times that I just wanted to blurt out what I knew and just walk out, but whenever I got the urge, he would say or do something that would change my mind. As far as I knew, he didn’t suspect that I knew anything, but I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up. And I damn sure couldn’t just let Dakota and Chanel continue to sleep together.