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Chapter 1: ALEXUS
“Ahhhh!” I screamed loudly as my hair felt like it was being pulled from my scalp through the driver’s side window of the car.
I had just pulled up to the gas station about a minute ago before someone reached through the window and was trying to pull me out of it.
Dre had just walked into the store to pay for our gas. I was hoping he would look out of the store’s window to see what was happening and intervene. My heart was beating a mile a minute. Not because I was scared, but because it all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to react or even see who was behind the attack.
This last year has been the worst year of my life. I’ve been in so many fights that I’ve lost count. Tired was not even the word to describe my feelings. I was trying to twist my body at an angle so I could look out of the corner of my eye to see who was giving me the headache of my life when I spotted Dre sprinting our way.
“The fuck is you doing?” he yelled as I felt the death grip on my hair release.
I immediately pulled my hair back in place and hopped out of the car only to come face to face with his wife yet again. To say I was pissed was an understatement. This was the second run in she and I had this week. She somehow shows up everywhere I go even if I’m not with her so-called husband.
She was screaming in Dre’s face. “You always claim you not fucking her, but y’all are together every time I roll up on you!”
“Man, go home and stop making a fool of yourself out here in front of all these people. You must want somebody to call the law on ya ass or something,” Dre said.
Until he said that, I hadn’t noticed that a crowd of people had formed to watch the free show that we were giving. I was still feeling some kind of way about that bitch pulling my hair so I was ready for whatever. At only twenty-one years old, I never imagined that my life would hold this much drama.
Before I met D’Andre Mack two years ago, I was a carefree nineteen year old who worried about nothing but going to college. My best friend, Jada, and I went to our friend Keanna’s graduation party and that’s when I met Dre, Keanna’s first cousin. We clicked immediately and spent a lot of time together. He even took me to Miami for my twentieth birthday.
Imagine my surprise when, eight months into the relationship, I found out that he not only had a girl, but was actually married with four kids! I knew he had someone, but I never thought he was married. He spent nights at my house and we went away for days at a time. He would sometimes leave out of the room to talk on his phone so I knew somebody was in the picture.
I was so hurt that he kept it from me, but I was even more hurt to know that Keanna didn’t feel the need to tell me either. She gave me some lame ass excuse about it not being her business, yet she was the one that introduced us.
I tried staying away from Dre and I succeeded for almost a month. The fact that he called me all day apologizing didn’t help me get over him either. I had almost been with him for a year by then. My feelings were involved and I was in deeper than I wanted to be. I gave in and continued to be his side chick. I hated that term, but that’s exactly what I was. I knew that I could probably have any man I wanted, but I chose to stay with somebody else’s husband. I had so much going for myself and any man would be proud to call me his own.
I’m five-four and a hundred and thirty pounds. I had a bad ass shape and a pretty face to match. I was in my second semester of college studying to become a Physical Therapist Assistant. I wasn’t shy, but I didn’t get around as much as most girls my age.
Before him, I had only been with one other person sexually and that was my ex-boyfriend Malik. I was in love and I didn’t know if I would ever come down from this high Dre had me on. My siblings and my mom hated him, but it wasn’t enough to tear me away from him.
Dre made me a priority. He spent as much time with me as he spent with his wife and sometimes more. I didn’t expect anyone to understand, but I was grown and made my own decisions.
“Since when you did you start letting this bitch drive your car, Dee?” Cherika yelled, snapping me back to the present.
I was ready to go to war with her ghetto ass so I had to say something. “That’s the last bitch I’m gon’ be tonight. Be mad with the nigga you married to,” I said.
That was all her ghetto ass needed to hear. She ran full force at me, but this time I was prepared. I jumped back as she attempted to hit me in the face and countered with a punch that landed on the side of her face. She went crazy and we went into an all-out catfight.
I took all of my anger and aggravation out on her and quickly got the best of her in the fight. For every lick she threw, I threw two more. I was tired of doing this shit. It was getting old. Dre tried pulling us apart to no avail. then he picked his wife up which gave me the opportunity to get a hard lick to her face that split her lip and had blood pouring from it like water.
“Really Dre? How you grab me and let your bitch keep hitting me?” she cried.
“Man chill. Somebody probably already called the police. Get in the car, Lex!” Dre yelled to me.
I refused to move. I wanted to make sure he didn’t let that ho go and she tried to swing again.
“Alexus, please just get in the car!” Dre yelled again.
I decided to listen this time. I knew when he said my full name like that he was pissed.
“She’s not getting in that car. Let that bitch find a ride. You really doing me like this, Dee? Really? Is that bitch that important to you? Is she more important than me and your kids?” Cherika cried.
I got in the car and rolled the window halfway up so we wouldn’t have a repeat of what happened earlier. I also wanted to hear what lie he was going to come up with this time. I listened as she cried and he tried to explain his way out of everything.
“It’s not even like that, Cherika. I’m not trying to leave that girl out here so you can call your people to get at her. That’s not happening,” Dre said.
Did he just call me that girl, I said to myself. I know this nigga is not trying to play me. I continued to listen and thinking about what I wanted to tell him when he got back in the car. I’m done. I refuse to keep fighting over something that isn’t rightfully mine to begin with. She was going to get her happy home and I was determined to help her get it by leaving his ass alone.
“Just let me bring her home and we can talk when I get back,” Dre said.
“No. You haven’t been home in two days Dee. You think I believe that shit? Let me follow you then. I won’t get out the car. I just want to make sure you telling the truth this time,” she said.
This bitch must really be crazy if she thinks she’s going anywhere near my house. I couldn’t wait to hear his reply.
“What? I’m not taking you to that girl’s house. You buggin’ for real,” he said.
I swear if he called me that girl one more time I was getting out of this damn car. This time I was getting out to fight his ass and not his wife.
“I already know where the bitch live and I know that’s where you been for the last two days. I’m not stupid so stop telling me you’re not fucking her when I know you are. Everybody know you’re fucking her so just tell the truth! You keep getting caught with the same chick, Dre.”
“Man, I’m about to bounce. I’m not doing this with you right now. I’ll see you at home in a few,” Dre said.
I had the door locked so I reached over and opened the passenger side door for him since I was still in the driver’s seat. As soon as Dre let her go, she ran to my side of the car and tried to open the door. Once she realized t
he door was locked, she became enraged and starting kicking the door and screaming. Dre hopped in on the passenger side just as she stuck her hand in through the partially opened window. This time I was prepared so I moved away so she couldn’t grab my hair again.
“Cherika, chill. Damn! You always want some drama. I’m not trying to go jail for no bullshit!” Dre yelled.
Either she didn’t hear him or she didn’t care as she continued to try and grab at me.
“Pull off, Alexus,” Dre said.
“What!” I yelled surprised at what he had just told me to do.I couldn’t believe what he wanted me to do to his own wife. “I can’t do that with her hand halfway through the window.”
“I told her stupid ass to chill and go home so that’s on her. She’ll let go once the car starts moving. Pull off!” he yelled again.
Reluctantly, I put the car in drive and proceeded to slowly pull away hoping that she would take the hint and move away from the car. Unfortunately, this only pissed her off more and she started banging on the glass trying to break it. At Dre’s urging, I increased the speed slightly dragging his wife along in the process. Just as I was about to stop in a panic, she let go giving me the green light to press harder on the gas.
I looked over at Dre as he continued to play on his phone like he didn’t have a care in the world. I began to question myself and this entire relationship. How can I be so in love with a man who treats his own wife the way he does? When would he start to treat me the same way? This was starting to be too much for me. Now is as good a time as any to let him know how I feel.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I stated calmly.
It kind of upset me when he kept playing with the phone and didn’t reply. I know he was trying to ignore me so I kept talking, hoping to piss him off just as much as I was.
“I’m tired of fighting with your wife and her family every week. I’m sick of her following us every time we go somewhere. And I’m damn sure tired of sharing a man when I know I can get one of my own. You want us both, but yet you want me to be with only you. There are too many niggas out here trying to get at me, but I keep being faithful to a nigga that already got a wife. I think I need to take some of them up on their offers to wife me,” I rambled.
I knew this would get his attention. He stopped playing on his phone and told me to pull into another gas station that we were approaching. We weren’t able to get gas at the previous station because his crazy ass wife showed up. This time we both exited the car to pay for the gas to make sure nothing else happened.
Once Dre paid for the gas, we walked back to the car as he informed me that he would drive the rest of the way. I happily handed over his keys, slid in the seat, and slammed the passenger door. He got into the car when he was done, but he didn’t move or speak. I could feel him staring at me, but I refused to acknowledge it. I was nervous, but I would never show it.
Before I could say anything, Dre grabbed me by my collar forcing me closer to him as he stared at me through anger-filled eyes.
“If you ever threaten me with a nigga again, I promise you won’t like what I’ll do to you. Try it and watch you and that nigga get buried. You got me fucked up,” Dre said through clenched teeth.
He stared at me a while longer before releasing my shirt and speeding off from the station. I could see the veins popping out of his forehead so I knew he was really mad. Silent tears crept down my face. I knew he would make good on his promise if it ever came down to it. My fear of him is what stopped me from being with someone else.
Dre had a reputation for making his enemies disappear. At only twenty-six years old, he was known to have an extensive record. He had been to jail several times, but never for murder. That alone let me know that he knew what he was doing and he knew how to do it well. The police could never arrest him for selling drugs because he never touched it. His cousin Keanna told me they always got him on some conspiracy or racketeering charges.
He swore that he gave up the drug game, but I doubt he makes the kind of money that he does just by owning two barbershops and two beauty salons. I also know that he owns the house that he and his wife share and he recently purchased a newly built condo in a very prominent area of uptown New Orleans for us. We would usually rent a room when we wanted to chill, but Dre wanted us to have a place of our own. He wanted us to be able to come and go as we pleased and he wanted a place to keep clothes and personal things.
I never stay there alone. If doesn’t come through, my best friend Jada and I would sleep there or I would go to one of my brothers’ or sisters’ houses. I wondered if this was the place that his wife claimed to know about. I wasn’t sure, but I would definitely have to be more careful.
“Baby you hear me?” Dre said snapping me from my thoughts.
“Oh so now I’m baby?” I said. “I was that girl when you were talking to your wife a minute ago.”
I was fuming mad and I needed to get away from this nigga before I said something else that I would regret.
“I’m not going to the condo. Take me to my sister’s house,” I told him.
I wasn’t trying to give up no ass to him and I knew that’s what would have happened if I went to our spot.
“That’s what you mad about?” he had the nerve to ask me.
Was this nigga serious? Just a minute ago, he was threatening me, but I didn’t bring that back up.
“No. I’m not mad about nothing. I promised my sister that I would watch her kids for her,” I lied.
“Yeah alright,” he replied.
I didn’t care if he knew I was lying or not. I just wanted to be by myself. I needed to talk to my bestie and cry on her shoulder for a while.
I sent Jada a text just as Dre was pulling up to my sister’s apartment. I tried to hurry out of the car, but he stopped me.
“I’m sorry for what happened with Cherika and for grabbing you like I did. I meant what I said, but I shouldn’t have ruffed you up like that.”
I was still upset, but his apology softened me up a little. Dre got out of the car and came around to open my door for me. Once I got out, he pulled me into him and whispered, “I love you Lex,” as he held onto me. I didn’t respond, but the feeling was definitely mutual.
Dre and I walked to my sister’s door hand and hand.
“I’m giving you your space tonight since I know you feeling some kind of way about everything that happened, but we’re staying at the spot tomorrow.”
Before I could answer my sister, Ayanna, snatched the front door open to see who was outside. She couldn’t stand Dre so she frowned up and rolled her eyes once she saw that it was him. When Ayanna closed the door, Dre and I hugged for a while before I pulled away to go inside. He pulled me back and stuck his tongue into my mouth forcing me to open my mouth for him. When I pulled away this time, I hurried through the front door before I changed my mind and left with him anyway. My sister looked at me and rolled her eyes before speaking.
“I don’t know why you don’t leave his dog ass alone. He ain’t never leaving his wife.”
I didn’t even respond. I was used to her hating on Dre and I really thought she was jealous. She had three kids by three different men and none of them stayed with her for more than six months. They didn’t even take care of their kids. I was determined to be the opposite of what she was. She talked all that shit, but the money I got from Dre helped her kids stay fresh because she damn sure couldn’t afford to do it workingpart time at Target.
This was the reason I never told her anything. She was too negative. I walked down the hall to my niece’s room and plopped down on the floor to call Jada to come and get me. I wasn’t in the mood for my sister’s bitching so I was giving her my ass to kiss just as soon as my ride pulled up.
Chapter 2: D’ANDRE
I know Lex was lying when she said she had to babysit, but I didn’t push the issue like I usually do. I know my baby girl was mad, but I swear I didn’t know Cherika’s crazy ass was following me. She must have follow
ed me to our spot when I went to pick Alexus up earlier. It didn’t matter if she knew where it was. The security was tight and she would never find our condo unless somebody showed her exactly where it was. All of the properties looked the same and it was hard to tell one from the other.
She had to be following us for a while before she made her move. We had been to the movies and out to eat before we even stopped at the gas station. Why did she wait so long to confront us? That didn’t make much sense to me.
Cherika and I had been married for six years, but we had been together for eight. We’ve known each other all our lives, but we decided to take it a step further when I was eighteen and she was twenty-one. Now I’m twenty-six, she’s twenty-nine, and we have four kids together. Well at least I think we do. Baby number four was in question. She claimed to be so faithful when I was locked up, butKeanna put me down on some of the foul shit she did.
Cherika was the type of chick that was down for whatever especially when it came to me. I was in and out of jail for most of our relationship and she held me down each and every time, but whenever I got out, I did the same stupid shit. I cheated on her every time I had the chance. She always took me back and held me down. That was until I went back for a probation violation the last time. I was given six months and I just knew she wasn’t going anywhere during that short period of time, but I was dead wrong.
For the first month, she didn’t come see me and she refused to put anything on my books. I had to call everybody in her family just to try and talk to her. I had finally convinced her to come see me and she laid it all out on the table for me. She said she was done unless I put a ring on it. I couldn’t believe she had given me an ultimatum. I just knew her hating ass sisters had got in her head. We had never even talked about marriage before then.
I couldn’t depend on my family since they all depended on me to take care of them. I was stuck and the only way out was to do the marriage thing, which we ended up doing from behind bars a month later. Just like that, Cherika was back to her old self again. She kept my books full and never missed a visit. The only problem was that marriage didn’t mean as much to me as it meant to her. I was still the same D-Mack I was before I married her. I still kept a bitch or two on the side and I came and went as I pleased. I always got caught with my pants down, but it never stopped me. I would give up whoever I got caught with and play the role of the good husband for a while until I met somebody else that I just had to slide up in. This was the first time I fucked around and fell in love with one of my sidepieces.
Her So Called Husband Page 1