by B. M. Hardin
The panties had to be old and maybe she’d forgotten to take them out. So, maybe they hadn’t had sex. After all, why had he asked me to come by his office after lunch with Chevey, if he knew Chanel would be there?
Maybe she’d just gone by unannounced. Maybe she hadn’t even saw him. He could’ve been busy or in a meeting or something. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t asked him to help her. Maybe.
Fixing the contents in her purse, I put everything back where it was, just before they came out of the store.
I was about to turn around, when her phone started to vibrate. I glanced at it. It said “Hubby”, with a picture of her husband, Jerome’s, face beside the number.
668-9344. 668-9344
I repeated the last seven digits of his number, until I saved them into my phone. I bet she would stop being a whore if her husband found out what she was doing.
Chanel stopped at the pump and Chevey got into the car. She looked at me, concerned. “You okay?” she asked me.
I nodded. “Yep.”
~***~
I’d been following Chanel, every single day.
She’d only met up with Dakota once, since I’d been trailing her, and I didn’t think that they’d had sex.
She’d gone by his office late one evening, and just as I was about to slit her tires, I saw her coming back out. She hadn’t even been inside for five minutes. I had to hide beside one of the other cars until she drove away. But that was the only time I’d seen her go to his office.
I’d seen her with her husband a few times.
I still had his phone number and every day, I was tempted to call him and tell him what I knew, but I never did. I think watching them somehow stopped me. From what I could see, he was head over heels in love with her. I don’t know why in the hell he loved her, but I could tell that he did and I guess a part of me didn’t want to turn him into me. I was stalking them, and stressed out enough for the both of us.
“What are you cooking tonight?” Dakota asked over the phone. I was sitting in the parking lot across the street from his job.
“For dinner? It’s not even lunch time yet.”
“I know.”
“Well, what do you want?”
“I’m in the mood for some fried chicken.”
“Okay. Will you be working late?”
“Nope.”
“Okay.”
After we hung up, I sat there for a while longer, and after realizing that I would need to go to the grocery store to get the chicken, I decided to leave.
Chanel’s house was on the way, so I decided to drive by, just to see if she was there.
I stopped at the corner.
I could see her and her husband outside. She always walked him out. From the slacks and button up, I could assume that he was going to work.
I couldn’t help but stare at him.
Jerome, Chanel’s husband, was tall, muscular and chocolate. He was the type of man that you just wanted to walk up to, and lick him for no damn reason. He had smooth, mouth-watering skin, and those broad shoulders of his were so inviting, that you couldn’t help but imagine the kind of damage he was capable of in the bedroom.
How in the hell had Chanel snagged him?
I watched them as they kissed goodbye. They kissed for a long time, as though they were never going to see each other again. I was angry. She still got to have a worry-free marriage, while every day, I had to feel like mine, at any point, could be taken away.
Finally, they came up for air, and he got into his car, and pulled off. As soon as he was out of sight, Chanel ran inside her house.
What is she up to?
With a car coming up behind me and making sure that she didn’t see me, I circled the block. By the time I came back around, Chanel was in her car and pulling out of her driveway. She headed up the street, and from a distance, I followed her.
I located Dakota as I drove. He was still at his office.
My phone started to ring. It was Chevey.
“Hey, where are you? I’m at our spot.”
“Shit. I forgot that our lunch was today.”
“Forgot? You never forget about our lunch. How long have we been doing this chick?”
It had completely slipped my mind. I was so busy trying to watch the Dakota and Chanel that I hardly ever thought about anything else.
“I know.”
“What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing. I’m on my way,” I said to her. I hung up with Chevey and just as I was about to turn off and let Chanel go on her merry little way, my heart skipped a beat once I saw her pull in at the abortion clinic.
“You gotta’ be fucking kidding me!”
She’s pregnant? By who? By her husband?
Or by mine?
Considering that she was at the abortion clinic, I could only assume that the baby was probably Dakota’s. Either that, or she was unsure.
Cheating was one thing, but getting the bitch pregnant was another!
At that moment, I realized that this whole thing had gone too far! Staying quiet about it all was the dumbest decision that I’d ever made! Yes, I’d been concerned of going back to nothing because of the prenup, but to hell with Dakota and his money! After all, I had his kids, so either way, whether voluntary or involuntary, Dakota was going to cut that CHECK! With what he made, his child’s support payments would be more than enough. Unless, he tried to fight me for custody or something, but Dakota wouldn’t do that. At least, I didn’t think that he would. But either way, I should’ve never kept quiet about what I knew. I was ashamed, embarrassed, that he would cheat on me with Chanel, but my pride should’ve been the least of my worries. Maybe if I’d said something a long time ago, maybe it all would’ve stopped. Maybe Dakota would’ve stopped cheating, and maybe Chanel wouldn’t be pregnant.
“Really Dakota? You lying, cheating, stupid son of a bitch! Like come on! Seriously!” I screamed as though Dakota could hear me. She had to think that the baby was his. It had to be a possibility.
How could he be so reckless?
My heart was racing as Chanel headed inside of the clinic. I should just go in there behind her. The scary part was if I caused a scene, and she changed her mind…then what? At least she was smart enough to get rid of it.
So, I just sat there, full of anger and refusing to cry. I couldn’t put my feelings into words, so I didn’t even try.
Wait. Is that…
The car pulling into the parking lot, caught my attention. It was Chanel’s husband. Jerome.
Wait a minute, what was he doing there?
I waited on him to get out of the car and when he didn’t, I figured that he’d probably been following her too.
Oh shit!
I sat in anticipation, waiting to see what would happen next. There was no way that he wasn’t going to walk in there and show his ass. He was a man. Surely, he was going to demand some answers. I needed him to do something. I needed him to do more than I could.
But to my surprise, he didn’t.
Instead, after sitting there for a while, finally, he just drove away.
Lord, he was stupid as hell too!
I was stuck.
Chevey called me over and over again, but I didn’t answer my phone. I just sat there, staring at the front door of the clinic. Waiting on Chanel to come out.
Finally, about an hour or so later, I saw her. I was too far to see the expression on her face, but I could see that she had her hand on her stomach.
I hated her! And I hated Dakota too!
This, all of this, was just too much.
Chanel hurriedly drove away, and I followed her for a few minutes. I located Dakota as I drove. He wasn’t at the office anymore. Actually, he wasn’t too far away from where I was at that very moment, so I called him.
Chanel stopped at a burger joint, and once I saw him waiting for her, I took the phone off of my ear and just hung up. I saw him glance at his phone as she walked towards him and they started to talk.
I didn’t even bother to stick around, I just kept driving, without glancing back at them. I didn’t cry. And once I started to chuckle hysterically, I knew right then and there that I’d officially snapped and there wasn’t a damn thing that anyone could do about it.
“Baby, are you sleep?” Dakota tapped me on my shoulder, later that night.
He’d come home on time, as thought he’d been at work all day, but I hadn’t done anything, after seeing Chanel at the clinic. I hadn’t cleaned the house, nor had I made the fried chicken that he’d asked for. And when I’d gone out to grab some chicken from the soul food place down the street from us, I dropped Dakota’s chicken in the parking lot, on purpose, rolled it around then put it back on his plate. He ate the shit out of it too.
“Baby, wake up and play with daddy,” Dakota shook me again and still, I pretended to be asleep. I felt him press up against me, so I started to act like I was sleep-talking.
“Oh, yes Jimmy. Kiss it right there, oh,” I moaned as though I was dreaming about my first love, Jimmy. Of course, Dakota knew all about him, and I knew that it would get under his skin.
“What the fuck? Yaya!” Dakota screamed my name.
I moaned and moved around as though I was still dreaming. “Oh Jimmy,” I moaned again. A few seconds later, and after cursing and mumbling under his breath, finally, I heard Dakota get out of bed and I rolled over to his side and angrily fell asleep.
********************
CHAPTER THREE
“Thou shall never put another woman before me!”
Birthday parties are the Devil!
It was finally my son’s birthday, and though I’d had everything planned for quite some time, I was still running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
And Dakota was no help at all!
For the most part, these days, I was disgusted by the very sight of him. There was no doubt in my mind that Chanel’s baby hadn’t been his. Otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten rid of it. And the fact that he would be so fucking careless was beyond me! As if cheating on me wasn’t already enough, he didn’t even have the decency to use protection, while screwing someone else’s wife!
I’d lost all respect for him and love…well…fuck love!
Whatever I felt for him, was fading and it was fading fast. Now, if he even looked at me like he wanted to bone, I didn’t hesitate to tell him no. He’d been begging for sex, for two weeks, and I’d been giving him one excuse after the other. Just the night before he’d gotten frustrated and asked me if I was screwing someone else.
The nerve of him!
And pissing him off even more, I refused to answer his question. He fussed and cursed all damn night, stomped around and slammed doors and I just looked at him, the whole time, silently and with a blank stare.
I’d already made up my mind.
Once the birthday party was over and done with, tonight, I planned to tell him that I was leaving his sorry ass.
I’d already moved some of the money from our joint savings account to a personal savings account that I’d opened the day after following Chanel to the abortion clinic. And what I’d taken wasn’t nearly enough for all that he’d done to me, but it was enough to make sure that I wouldn’t have to struggle. I’d taken it out of our savings, so he probably hadn’t even noticed it, since I was the one that paid all of our bills and expenses every month anyway.
I’d been meaning to take a look over that stupid ass prenuptial agreement that I signed, to see if there was anything in it that would work out in my favor, especially since he was the one who cheated, but at the end of the day…I was done!
But I wasn’t going away quietly. I’d been getting a little revenge in, whenever and wherever I could.
I’d spilled a whole glass of water on Dakota’s laptop while he was asleep, ruining some new program that he’d been working on for one of his client. I’d made it look as though he’d knocked the cup over so he blamed himself for losing the project. And that wasn’t even the worst of it.
One morning, I’d mixed a whole lot of laxative in with his cereal and milk, knowing that he had a big meeting. Well, needless to say, he never made it. He’d shitted on himself while driving and he’d had to turn around and come back home. He came through the front door, walking with his legs gapped open and all I could do was turn away and smile. He never made the meeting, from being on the toilet and the potential investors had to fly back to China. To this day, he still hadn’t been able to convince them to reschedule.
And I’d gotten Chanel fired from her job. Just so happens, her boss was a parent of one of my son D.J.’s classmates. I’d taken the invitations for his birthday party to school, and she was there picking up her son because of a fever. I read her badge, and instantly, I remembered Chevey stating that Chanel had a new sales job there.
So, I did a little talking and by the end of our conversation, and after offering her a small fee, she’d said that Chanel was a horrible employee anyway, and she fired her that same day. I knew this because later that day, Chevey stated that she was taking Chanel out to cheer her up because she lost her job.
What can I say?
Money talks. And bullshit…well, you know the rest. And I didn’t even have to mention the affair.
“Auntie Chev, is here!” I heard Chevey bellow, and I turned around. She approached me with gifts, and a handsome piece of meat on her arm.
We kissed each other on the cheek.
“And who do we have here?” I eyed him, tastily.
“This is Kenny. Kenny, this is my best friend Yaya. And her husband Dakota,” she said, pointing at my husband, who was walking up behind me.
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about Mrs. Yaya, the best friend,” he joked as he shook my hand and then he shook hands with Dakota.
“And where has she been hiding you?” I asked.
“In the bedroom,” he chuckled, as Chevey blushed.
“Sounds about right,” I smiled and Chevey placed her hands on her hips.
“Well, I’m here. What do you need me to do? Dakota, keep him company,” Chevey said, and Dakota reached Kenny a beer.
“Girl, he’s fine!” I squealed once we walked away.
“Yes, he is! And he’s so nice and sweet. And he’s so smart. Oh, and did I mention nasty?” She said, sticking out her tongue.
“Ohhh girl, you know I like them nasty,” I giggled.
“Yeah, I know you do.”
“Do you love him?” I questioned her. Chevey glanced at Kenny and then back at me.
“Yeah. I think so,” and with that, she and I laughed, and we got the party started.
A few hours went by, and after cutting the cake, I looked up for Dakota. I didn’t see him. I figured that he was somewhere hiding on the phone or something, so being a bitch, I went to find him.
He wasn’t in the living room, so I headed towards his home office. I could hear the whispers just as I approached the door.
“She’s my friend Dakota! And she’s my sister,” I heard Chevey say.
What?
“I swear to you, if you don’t stop this, right now, I’m going to tell her! And I told Chanel the same thing!”
Wait a minute. Wait one, damn, minute!
So, she knew? Chevey knew that Dakota was sleeping with Chanel? And she didn’t tell me?
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Look Chevey…”
“Look my ass, Dakota! If you don’t stop sleeping with her, I’m telling.”
“Chevey, you want to know the truth? Hell, I’m sure you’ve already put two and two together anyway. I only started sleeping with your sister because I can’t have you.”
My eyes grew wide.
What the fuck did he just say?
“I love you. How many times have I told you that? But you wouldn’t listen. Over the years, I just found myself falling for you. Your wit. Your beauty. You were always around. It was hard not to notice how amazing you are. And when you turne
d me down, I went for the next best thing. Your twin. Chanel. Y’all look just alike. When I’m with her, I imagine that she’s you. When I wish that I could touch you, I go touch her. Simple.”
I couldn’t breathe. I grabbed my stomach and covered my mouth to keep from throwing up.
“She’s my best friend Dakota. I love Yaya like a sister. There will never be anything between me and you. Do you hear me? I don’t care what you said or how you feel! And Chanel should be ashamed of herself. She’s a married woman. And if the both of you don’t stop, I promise you, on both of my god-kids, your sons, I will tell her.”
“We ain’t seeing each other like that anymore, anyway.”
“You heard what I said Dakota.”
“Remember that night? The night that we almost kissed? You can’t tell me that you didn’t feel it. I felt it Chevey. And I know you felt it too.”
“You mean the night that you tried to kiss me? And I didn’t feel shit! I would never do that to Yaya. I love her. And I thought you did too.”
“I do. I love her. I always will. But it’s just something about you. I tried to fight it, for years, but every time I see you…”
I heard footsteps, so I started to back away from the door. As soon as I was far enough away from it, I turned around and started running. I kept running until I found my keys and my purse and headed out the front door.
I didn’t care that it was my son’s birthday, or that I had a house full of people, I just had to get out of there!
Just as I backed out of the driveway, I saw Dakota’s mother standing there. She didn’t say anything. She just looked at me as I drove away.
I was crying harder than I ever had before.
My husband was in love with Chevey?
My best friend?
And she knew how he felt about her and didn’t tell me? She knew that he was sleeping with her sister and said nothing?
The only good thing about it all was that she’d turned him down. She was loyal to our friendship.