“Well sometimes grown ups get busy and forget to kiss one another, but that doesn’t mean that we are getting a divorce.”
“That is what happened to Janelle’s parents,” she explained, “When her parents stopped kissing they got a divorce because they didn’t love each other anymore.”
“That is not going to happen Mya.” I said and kissed her on the cheek again.
“But mommy, you didn’t answer the question.” She looked me in my eyes with innocence.
“What question?”
“Do you still love daddy?”
Trying to swallow the lie that was in my throat I answered, “Your daddy and I will always love each other and we will always love you.”
When Mya ran off to play I went into the office to pay bills online, when I viewed my Visa bill I was shocked at the three-thousand and eleven dollar balance that stared at me from the screen. At first I thought we had been a victim of credit card fraud until I started going over the charges on the account. The dinners, gifts and nights out that Tabitha and I were enjoying were all paid for with my Visa card not to mention the loan that I’d given her to help pay for her past due car payment. I’d never run the credit card bill up to this amount and if Mike found out about it he was going to flip. Quickly I transferred fifteen-hundred from my personal checking into the Visa account bringing the total down slightly, but I still had to make sure that Mike didn’t find out about the charges and I had to get the money that I loaned Tabitha back as soon as possible.
“Hey.” Mike said when he walked into the office, startling me.
“You scared me.” I breathed as I closed the page. “What’s up?”
He walked over and sat on the edge of the large wooden desk given to us by his father after we moved into the house, “What are you doing?”
“Paying some bills.”
“Would you like to go out tonight after Bible study?”
“That sounds nice, where would you like to go?”
“Mya wants Fritz’s Rootbeer and Malik wants Olive Garden again.” He sighed.
Disappointed that he wanted to go to dinner with the kids I said, “Not tonight, but you guys go ahead and have fun without me.”
“That is what we have been doing.” He fumed as he walked out of the room.
I didn’t feel like arguing with Mike tonight so I just let him and the kids leave and I called Tabitha when they were in the car.
“Hey sugar!” she yelled over the loud music playing in the background.
“Hey, where are you?” I asked.
Laughing she said, “Out and about, what’s going on?”
“I need to talk to you about that loan.”
“What; I’m sorry I can barely hear you the music is too loud.”
“I said that I need to talk to you about the money that I loaned you for your car payment!” I yelled into the phone.
“I still can’t hear you!” she yelled, “Send me a text message because the music is so loud in here.”
Then she hung up.
Even though I thought that she heard me, I sent her a text message:
Hey Tabitha I really need to talk to you about that money that I loaned you. Call me as soon as you can.
Fifteen minutes passed when I got the return text:
Let’s talk about it tomorrow TTFN!
As soon as I put my cellphone down it rang; it was Asteria and she was frantic.
“Asteria, calm down what is going on?”
“Jovanna and Justin’s house was broken into and she is staying at a hotel!”
“Do you know which hotel?”
“The Moonrise.”
“How did you find out?” I asked as I slipped on a pair of tennis shoes.
“Keith told me.” She answered, “Are you on your way?”
“Yes, I’ll meet you there.”
I rushed out of the door forgetting all about Tabitha for now because one of my best friends needed me.
When we got to the hotel, Jovanna was hesitant about opening the door until she saw that we weren’t going anywhere.
“What is going on?” Asteria exclaimed as she burst through the room, “Keith told me that your house was broken into and Justin was attacked.”
Jovanna and I both looked at Asteria funny when she said that Keith told her about the crime, but since he was married to her sister we didn’t think much about it.
“I don’t know what happened, one minute we were asleep in bed and the next Justin was fighting for his life and I was pointing a gun.” She answered as she lowered her small frame onto the bed.
“Did they catch the guy?” I asked with concern.
Jovanna shook her head, “No, but Justin kicked his ass.”
“Were you hurt?” Asteria asked rubbing our sobbing friend’s back.
Jovanna shook her head, “Justin’s face is bruised and battered though.”
“Why didn’t you call us when this happened?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to bother you with my problems.”
“We are your friends, closer than sisters and there is no problem that you have that we cannot come together and handle.” Asteria fussed, “There are no secrets between friends.”
“Thanks for being here for me.” She smiled with a worried look on her face.
“Where is Justin?” I asked.
“He went back to the house last night, but I wanted one more day to myself.”
“Are you afraid to go home?” Asteria asked.
“No I just needed some time to think.” Jovanna rose from the bed, walked to the mini bar and grabbed a small can of Pepsi.
Asteria and I looked at one another disturbed by her odd behavior.
“You know that you can always stay with Mike and I, we have the guest suite in the basement.” I offered.
“And you can always stay at my place, Latif can sleep with me, I just hope that you like The Backyardigans.”
Nervous laughter filled the room.
“Thanks guys, but honestly I am going to be fine; Justin is driving me crazy because he is worried about me, so I decided to stay here another night. It has been awhile since I’ve slept in bed alone and I hate to say it, but it feels good.” She laughed.
“Girl tell me about it!” I joined, “I love when Mike’s company sends him away for weekend conferences, and I finally get the T.V. the bed and the bathroom all to myself.”
“Well I don’t have that problem.” Asteria said.
“That is because you are wasting your time with Mr. Anonymous.” I said.
Asteria rolled her eyes.
My text alert chimed it was Mike:
Where are you?
I text back:
At the Moonrise with Jo and Asteria, I will be home in a few.
Mike text back:
Always an excuse.
I ignored his last text message.
“My house was a wreck the last time I was there. Justin said that he and Sam cleaned it up and replaced the front door with security locks and he even went the extra mile and installed a security camera above the front and back doors. I told him that it was unnecessary, but he insisted.”
“A real man protects his home.” I said.
“I’m just glad that you are alright, hopefully Justin gave that punk a good Bronx-style ass whooping so he will think twice about breaking into someone’s house again.” Asteria added, “Since you are alright I’m going to let you get some rest.”
“Yeah, I have to get home to Mike and the kids, but if you need anything you better call. No more secrets Jovanna.” I said as we embraced.
“Okay, thanks guys.” Jovanna said as she escorted us to the door.
I couldn’t help the feeling that my friend was hiding something from me, but that thought quickly left when my phone rang…it was Tabitha.
30
Asteria
Wednesdays were usually our slow days at the salon. So I was stunned when I walked in from having lunch with Santana and Jovanna by the
sounds of screaming coming from the salon. Rushing into the salon I saw Pandia wielding a pair of shears in one hand and a hot marcel iron in the other. Londyn was standing next to my sister trying to calm her down, Aaron was holding Keisha back.
“What in the hell is going on?” I yelled.
“This trifling bitch is fucking my husband!” Pandia said as she tried to run towards Keisha, but Londyn grabbed her arm.
“No, your husband was fucking me!” Keisha screamed back.
I quickly grabbed the hot marcel irons out of my sister’s hand being careful as not to burn myself with them. “Let’s calm down for a moment before someone gets hurt.”
Tears of anger streamed down Pandia’s face, “Fuck that Asteria, I swear that if I get my hands on that bitch I’m going to jail tonight because she rolling out of here in a body bag.”
“I’d like to see you try bitch. You are going to run out of here crying just as you are almost every other week. Shit bitch everyone here knows that Keith has been fucking around on you, but you are stuck on stupid.”
Secretly praying that she didn’t mention my name, I said to Aaron, “Get her out of here please.”
“I don’t need anyone to take me out of here, I’m a grown ass woman I’m going to walk out of here with my head held high, too bad I can’t say the same for everyone in here though.” She said cutting her false eyes in my direction.
“What is that supposed to mean bitch?” Pandia asked. “I hold my head up high every day because he married me bitch! A hoe like you will never have a ring around your finger.”
Shaking her head as she put her leather coat on Keisha said, “A ring don’t mean a thing because Keith was up in this all of the time and guess what he will be up in this every night after today too. Bitches like you kill me, thinking that because you roped a nigga into marrying you that he won’t stop being a man. Please, Keith has been cheating on you for a long time. Trust me I’m not the only one up in this salon that has had a taste of his shit!”
At that point I lost it, “Keisha get the fuck out of here now!” I screamed.
Aaron grabbed Keisha by her arm and led her out of the salon as Londyn held my sister back.
It was hard watching the tears stream down my twin’s face as we sat in my office and I felt that most of this was my fault. Had I not been afraid of Keisha telling her my secret I would have gotten rid of her before it even came to this.
“I can’t believe that bitch Asteria.” She sobbed, “She worked with me every day, and she brought her black ass in my salon knowing that she was fucking my husband.”
“Calm down sis, she is gone now.” I tried to reassure her, but the hurt was too deep for her.
“Scandalous bitch, now I have to go get tested because there is no telling what she has. I wish that you would’ve fired her ass Asteria.”
“I was trying to be fair, but I see what that got me.”
“In this world there isn’t shit to being fair; fuck being fair because hoes like that will trample all over you as soon as your back is turned. She better hope that I don’t run into her on the street because if I do her ass is mine and I don’t’ give a fuck about going to jail. I have money I can bond out!” Pandia punched the door.
“I didn’t know, but Londyn brought it to my attention how Keisha was getting chummy with Keith, but I wouldn’t have never thought that she would fuck him and vice versa.”
“Londyn knew and she didn’t tell me?” Pandia asked in amazement. “I thought that she was my friend.”
“It is not like that, Londyn came to me about how Keisha was acting towards Keith and I told her not to say anything to you and let me watch it for myself. I’m sorry but I didn’t want to add more stress to your life honey.”
My sister sat silently for a few moments, just staring at the picture of mom that was on the side wall. “She was beautiful.” She finally said.
Looking at the picture of our mother I smiled, “Yes she was.”
“I often wonder if she is proud of us.”
“I bet that she is proud of you. You always made her proud, whereas no matter what I did she seemed not to notice or even care.” I said wrapping my arms around my sister’s body.
“I feel so foolish; how can I face the other stylists after what just happened?”
“Easy, you are going to wipe your tears and walk out there with your head held high and if they don’t like it they can quit.”
“You are all I have Asteria and I love you.” She hugged me tight.
“I love you too.” I said in return trying to ignore the sickening feeling of guilt that was building in my stomach.
I invited Eric over for dinner the following night and it was good to see him and to finally have a man who actually wanted to spend time with me instead of just have sex with me on his terms. After dinner I put Latif down for bed then Eric and I sat on the couch enjoying a glass of wine and good conversation.
“So tell me why a lovely, educated and beautiful black woman such as yoursel single?”
“I don’t know, I guess that I haven’t found the right sexy, accomplished and kind black man to make me his yet.”
“Maybe you are looking in all of the wrong places.”
“Maybe I have been.”
“What is going on with Latif’s father, if I may ask?”
Sighing heavily thinking about Keith made me angry and resentful, “He decided to stay with the person that he promised his life to.” I answered trying to hide the hurt in my voice.
“I see.”
“It was hard, but it was also my fault. I knew better than getting involved with a married man in the first place. But you can’t help who your heart falls in love with.”
“I have been down that road one too many times myself so trust me I am not one to pass judgment.”
“I’ve learned my lesson and for now on I want my own man, someone who doesn’t have to run home to his wife, someone who can take me to dinner and the movies.”
Eric sat his glass of wine carefully on the table and looked at me deep in my eyes and said, “And you deserve that.” He leaned over covering my lips with his own and kissed me not with lust, but with passion and desire.
In three years Keith has been the only man that I have kissed and in those three years I haven’t felt this amount of passion and this is what I’ve been waiting for.
I ran my hand from his neck down to his chest, while Eric was not as cut as Keith, but his body was solid. From his chest I ran my hand down to his stomach but when I tried to go lower Eric grabbed my hand and stopped me.
“No, no baby I want to take this one step at a time. I want you so bad, but I want to make sure that we won’t waste each other’s time.”
Not knowing what to say I pulled back from him and just stared into his eyes, “Do you like basketball?” was all that I could manage.
Eric laughed, “Yes.”
“There is a game on right now; would you like to watch it with me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He smiled.
Taking him by the hand I led him up to my bedroom where we laid across the bed and watched the game. For the first time in a long time I felt like a girlfriend and not just a bottom bitch.
Tell him to leave NOW
It was 3:30 in the morning and Keith was texting me. Eric and I fell asleep watching the game, we both still had on our clothes. I got out of bed and walked into my bathroom to text Keith back.
No go home to your wife Keith
Keith:
Oh NOW you want me to go home to my wife?
Me:
Things have changed
Keith:
What has changed?
Me:
THINGS now go home I am tired of playing games
Keith:
Who is playing games?
Me:
You said that you were going to leave and that we were going to move to Seattle I was stupid for believing you.
Keith:
We
are you just have to give me some time.
Me:
You have wasted enough of my time
Keith:
Where is my son?
Me:
Asleep. Keith go home or to Keisha’s house and leave me alone.
Keith:
The mechanic must have given it to you good tonight
Smiling at how immature his mind was always stuck on sex, I text:
No sex involved unlike some who only want me for their own pleasure
Keith:
He is a punk and I should come and kick in your door
Me:
How would you explain that to your wife Keith?
Keith:
You let me handle her
Me:
LOL I have been hearing that for the past three years
Keith:
Tell him to leave so that I can handle you too
Me:
Good night
After hitting send I turned my phone off and got back in bed with Eric and a smile on my face.
31
Jovanna
“Why have you been so distant lately?” Justin asked as I put lotion on my legs after getting out of the shower.
Irritated by his constant questions I answered, “Justin I have already told you a million times that I haven’t been distant now could you quit with the questions.”
“I’m sorry but I am just concerned about you. You haven’t been yourself lately.”
“I just have a lot on my mind.”
Justin watched me put on my workout clothes; I told him that I was going out for a run and that I’d be home in an hour. I knew that by the time I made it home Justin would be already gone to work and that is just how I wanted it.
The cold air stung my lungs as I rounded the forth lap of my two mile run, since I’d been so busy planning the wedding and at work I haven’t had a lot of time to do what I loved best, running. I needed to run in order to think without constant questions from Justin; all I needed was the sounds of my own breathing, the pounding of my feet on the pavement and Lenny Kravitz blaring through my headphones. Running down Skinker I suddenly felt faint, trying to shake it off I picked up my pace and pounded harder and faster until I rounded the coner of Skinker onto Lindell suddenly losing my footing and tripped over my own feet, something that I have never done before. Failing at stopping my fall I went down hard, falling face-first on the jagged pavement. I called out in pain as my already cold knee hit the sidewalk; another runner took her headphones out of her ear she slowed her pace enough to ask me if I were alright.
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