“That’s what’s up,” I told him.
“Y’all open y’all club yet?” I asked him.
“No, we’re not opening a club. We’re leasing one of our buildings out to a club owner. The club is his, but the building is ours,” he replied. He was so cute. I could picture myself leaving Troy’s broke ass for him. At least I probably wouldn’t have to work. I know he had money from the way he dressed and the cars he drove.
“Is the club open yet? Maybe we can go check it out one day,” I flirted.
“It’s not open yet, but it should be in a few months. He’s doing a grand opening. I’ll let you know when,” he said as he left out.
I couldn’t stop smiling after that. If everything went right, Troy would be a distant memory. I deserved somebody who was going to appreciate me and not take advantage of my kind heart. I thought Troy was that someone. He turned out to be a drug-addicted dog. Maybe he needed to stay in jail. At least he would be able to detox and get some of that dope out of his system. My ringing phone snapped me out of my daydream. I looked down and saw that it was Cherika calling me. “Hello,” I signed into the phone. I was not in the mood to be a part of her “I miss Dre” pity party.
“Hey girl,” she spoke sounding like a wounded puppy.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked as if I didn’t know.
“Going crazy, as usual. What you doing later?” she asked.
“Working,” I simply replied.
“Oh. I was going by your auntie’s house. Her and your grandma wants to talk to me and Dre about all this foolishness,” she said.
“What foolishness? Y’all separated. What’s to talk about?” I asked, getting disgusted. She was doing too much to get Dre to come back to her.
“I don’t know. Hopefully they can talk some sense into his stupid ass,” she said sounding hopeful. “Dre is not listening to nothing they have to say. His mind seems to be made up,” I replied.
“You don’t know that. He might listen to your grandma,” she replied with an attitude.
“Girl let him be and find you somebody else. He’s not the only man in the world,” I snapped. I was already tired of having this conversation with her.
“I know that, but he’s the only man I married. I don’t want another man. I want my husband,” she said putting emphasis on the word husband.
“Well girl I have to go. I hope everything work out for you. Good Luck,” I said before hanging up. She was going to need a lot of luck to get Dre back home. I hope she had a rabbit’s foot and a four-leaf clover somewhere. She was definitely going to need it.
Chapter 14: CHERIKA
I hate to call Keanna sometimes. She make me think she’s in on the shit sometimes. In the beginning, it was she who told me any and every thing that happened with Dre and Alexus. At first, it didn’t bother me because I was so used to Dre cheating. It was Keanna who made me realize that their relationship was more than his normal flings. So much was happening so fast and I didn’t know who to trust anymore.
I still couldn’t figure out who gave Dre a copy of a DNA test that was done on Troy and Drew. For some reason, I suspected Keanna of doing that too. Over the last few months, her attitude towards me changed. I wondered if she somehow found out about me and Troy. She had lots of opportunities to test her man and my son since she was around them both so much. That was the only scenario that made sense to me. I was stressed to the max dealing with all of the problems I was having.
I was on my way to drop my kids off at my mother’s house. I had about two hours before I had to be at my mother-in-law’s house so I wanted to talk to my mom for a minute. My mother and I didn’t talk very often. I loved her to death, but she was always on me about one thing or the other. My mother, Brenda was a very spiritual woman. Whenever she talked to anyone, she would always take it back to the Bible. She believed in God’s word and everything that it said. My sisters and I rarely missed a Sunday going to church when we were younger.
As we got older, we went our own way and did our own thing. My mama always told us that we had so many problems because we strayed away from the church. If I thought going to church would bring my husband back home, I would be there right now. Dre meant that much to me. It had been over four months since he left and the only time I saw him was when he came to pick up the kids. He answered his phone when I called, but if it wasn’t about our kids, he would hang up on me. He still treated Drew like he was his very own even after two paternity tests proved that he wasn’t. That only made me love him more.
I knew there was a possibility that Drew could have been Troy’s, but I was praying that he was Dre’s. Troy and I had been sleeping together while Dre was locked up. It started out with him helping me make extra money by selling weed. After a few weeks of hanging out with each other, one night, it just happened. It was never supposed to go as far as it did. It was understood that I would never leave Dre and I didn’t want to hurt Keanna either.
Troy was the one who introduced me to drugs. We would snort coke and have sex at his house when Keanna was at work. I thought that was a secret that I would take to my grave with me, but my past came back to haunt me. As many times as I had forgiven Dre in the past, he couldn’t forgive me this one time. He moved on with Alexus like I never existed.
To make matters worse, he was flaunting her in the streets like she had his last name. I was so tired of people telling me they saw them together. My sisters and all of my friends would call me all times of the day and night if they saw them out somewhere. I couldn’t sleep most nights and my appetite was nonexistent. My weight dropped by at least thirty poundssince the day he walked out on me. I know that I was partly to blame for Dre leaving, but he was at fault just as much.
“Ma!” I yelled as we walked into my mother’s house.
“I’m in the den,” she yelled back. My kids took off running towards the den to greet their grandmother.
“Go upstairs and put y’all stuff in the bedroom. I got some ice cream cups in the freezer,” my mama told my kids. I sat down on the sofa next to her and she started in on me.
“Why are you losing so much weight, Cherika? That can’t be healthy,” my mother said in a concerned voice.
“I’m stressing ma. I got a lot going on with me right now,” I replied.
“Baby you need to pray. You can’t turn anything around without HIS help,” she said pointing to the sky. I knew this was coming. That’s why I didn’t come over here as much as she wanted me to.
“I know that, Ma,” I said in a defeated tone.
“You can’t put nothing or nobody before God Cherika. I always tell you that. I know you love your husband, but you can’t make him love you back. You can’t love him more than you love yourself.”
I knew she was right, but I wasn’t trying to hear that.
“He loves me, we’re just having problems right now,” I said.
“Cherika, Dre has been gone for a few months and it doesn’t seem like he’s coming back. He asked you for a divorce more than once and from what I’m hearing, he’s running around town with that lil girl you always fighting with.” My mother always managed to make me feel lower than I did before.
She continued “And what’s this I’m hearing about him taking a DNA test on Drew?” I knew this would come up eventually. My sisters couldn’t keep their mouths closed for nothing.
“Drew is not his, OK? Can we please not talk about this anymore?” I pleaded. I was ready to run back to my car and go anywhere, but here.
“So who is Drew’s father Cherika?” My mother just would not give up.
“That’s not important ma. Dre is the only father he knows and that’s the only father he’ll ever know.”
“So is that the excuse he gave for leaving you and my grandbabies? Or did he just want to be with that other girl?” My mother was relentless, but that was the million-dollar question-a question that I didn’t have an answer to.
“He didn’t leave me to be with her,” I said, trying
to convince myself as well as my mother. It hurt too much to even think about him and Alexus being together.
“Well if that’s who he wants to be with, let her have him. Give him his divorce. You can’t hold on to someone who keeps letting go,” she said.
“I’m not giving him a divorce. We’ll get past this just like we got past everything else. I refuse to lose my husband behind this foolishness. “ I yelled. I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but I was tired of people telling me to leave my husband. Nobody knew what I was going through.
“You already lost him,” my mother said, bringing tears to my eyes. I couldn’t stay here a minute longer. I grabbed my purse and walked to the front door.
“I’m only trying to help Cherika. You’re losing yourself behind a man and I hate to see what this is doing to you.” I left after my mother’s last statement. I hated how she could see right through me. She was the only person, other than Dre, who could bring out my emotional side. I was always cool on the outside, but I was a wreck on the inside. I’m all alone with nobody to talk to.
I sat outside my mother-in-law’s house trying to regain my composure. I had been crying since I left my mother’s house. The puffiness in my eyes was evidence of that, so I waited until I looked like my usual happy self before getting out of my car. I was praying for everything to work out like we planned it to. Dre’s grandmother was the one who put this all together. She wanted to talk some sense into Dre without Alexus being around. He seemed to bring her everywhere he went.
His grandmother, Ms. Shirley, specifically asked him to come alone. She wanted Dre’s dad to come, but he refused. I guess he already chose whose side he was on. Obviously, it wasn’t mine. I really hadn’t seen too much of him since his party a few months ago. He wouldn’t say much to me when I did see him so I guess he was another player for team Alexus.
“Hey everybody,” I spoke as I came through the front door.
Dre’s mother, grandmother and his sisters were all sitting in the living room and two of his aunts and a few of his cousins were in the dining room. I was so happy that they were all here. I know that Dre’s family had mad love for me. I was the one who held him down and had his back, no matter what. When he was locked up, they couldn’t really do much for him. I made sure he was alright, no matter the sacrifice. That had to count for something.
“He should be on his way over here right now,” Dre’s mom, Leslie announced.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with my son. He acts like he losing his mind,” she said sounding frustrated.
“We about to get his mind right,” his grandmother said. I hoped she was right. I was at the end of my rope trying to get my marriage back on track.
We all sat around laughing and talking when Dre finally arrived with Eric in tow. They came through the front door and paused when they saw all of us in the living room.
“What’s up?” Dre said to his grandmother.
“You said you wanted to talk to me. I didn’t know the whole family was gon’ be here.”
“Well I asked everybody to come over here. We all want to talk to you,” she replied.
“What is this supposed to be an intervention or something?” he asked while he and Eric laughed. “You can call it what you want, but this is no laughing matter,” Ms. Shirley replied sternly. Dre and Eric stopped laughing and sat down on the sofa.
“What’s going on with you, boy? You running around with that lil girl like you don’t have a wife and kids at home.” Ms. Shirley got right to the point.
“This girl has been here for you when nobody else was. Even when you cheated and went to jail every other week, she never left your side.”
Dre looked at me with pity in his eyes. Maybe her words were hitting their mark. I desperately needed him to understand how serious this was to me.
“You have a good wife Dre. Both of y’all have made mistakes, but it’s not too late to fix them,” his mother chimed in.
I know she was referring to Drew not being his son. I already told Dre’s family everything. I figured if I wanted them to help me, I had to put it all on the table. They didn’t like it, but they assured me that they had my back. In their eyes, Dre had done far worse.
“I understand everything that y’all saying, but this goes beyond what y’all see,” Dre finally spoke up. He looked at me and continued,
“I love you, but not the way a husband is supposed to love a wife. This marriage has been over for a while and we both know it. I can’t even stay faithful for longer than a week. I was wrong for staying as long as I did knowing how I felt.” I was crushed, but I still wasn’t giving up.
“We were fine until you started messing with that bitch. Everything went downhill from there. You just used the situation with Drew as an excuse to leave and be with her,” I yelled.
“Keanna told me about you and her a long time ago.” I didn’t care that I was giving up my source of info. She was on some other shit lately anyway.
“Keanna?” Dre asked while laughing. “Who you think hooked me up with her? I didn’t even know Alexus before I went to her party,” he replied.
I was pissed beyond belief. The main one, who claimed to be on my side, was the source of all my pain.
“So Keanna’s messy ass hooked you up with her, but turns around and tells Cherika everything about y’all?” Dre’s aunt asked.
“Exactly,” I replied.
“How do you think I knew everywhere you went?”
“That’s why she hasn’t been coming around lately,” Dre’s sister Erica said.
“How did y’all expect the girl to react? You not only slept with her man, but you had a baby by the nigga too,” Dre said looking at me. I really didn’t care about Keanna at this point. She would get hers soon enough. We were here to discuss me and Dre’s marriage so that’s what I wanted to do.
“Look Dre, I don’t care about all of that. We need to come to an understanding about us. Maybe we can go to counseling or something,” I suggested.
“First thing you need to do is let that lil girl go about her business,” Ms. Shirley said. “Alexus!” Dre yelled.
“What?” his mom replied.
“Her name is Alexus. Not bitch, not lil girl, it’s Alexus or Lex.” He looked like he was ready to go off on somebody.
“Wow. Really Dre? We’re having a discussion about us and you worried about what people are calling her?” I asked my husband.
“I think both of you need to sit down and talk to somebody. My pastor does marriage counseling all the time. As long as you both agree to go, I can set it up for you,” Dre’s aunt said. That was perfect. I was ready to go whenever he wanted to meet with us.
“I definitely want to go,” I quickly replied.
“What about you Dre?” she asked while looking at my husband.
“I don’t want to go counseling,” he replied as my heart stopped beating.
He looked at me as he spoke. “You know we talked about this already. Like I told you before, I appreciate you for everything you did for me. I’ll make sure you and my kids don’t want for nothing, but I’m not happy being married. Just sign the papers and we can both move on.”
I couldn’t hold my tears at bay any longer. My world was ending right before my eyes. I felt pains in my chest as I struggled to catch my breath. My mother-in-law rushed to my side and held me as I cried like never before.
“Dre, you’re wrong for this shit. That young bitch is gonna do you the same way. Just wait and see,” his mother spat angrily.
He lowered his head, but didn’t respond. That’s when I saw it. He had a tattoo with her name in huge red colored letters on his neck. It felt like I was having an outer body experience as I jumped up from the sofa and attacked Dre like the scorned woman I was. I punched, kicked, and scratched every part of his body that I came in contact with. It took Eric a while before he was able to pull me off of his brother.
“You got that bitch’s name tattooed on your neck! Nigga, fuck you!” I scream
ed and cried as Eric led me away from him.
Dre got up and fixed his clothes like it was no big deal. I knew right then what I had to do. He would need me before I needed him. I would make sure of that.
“Let’s go, Eric,” Dre said as he walked to the door.
“You’re wrong for that one, Dre. How you get her name tattooed on you like that? You forgot you’re married?” Erica asked.
“Erica, mind your fucking business. Don’t worry about what I do. I’m a grown ass man and I’m tired of telling y’all that,” Dre yelled.
“Eric, I’m gone,” he said as he walked out of the door.
Eric let me go and followed behind him. I dropped down to the floor, crumpled in a fetal position. The pain I was feeling was like nothing that I’ve experienced before. Dre not being a part of my life was never in my plans. For the past eight and a half years, he was all I knew.
He was the first man to take care of me financially and emotionally. I couldn’t figure out where we went wrong. I did everything I thought I was supposed to do. I gave him his first child and the son that he always wanted. Sex was never an issue since I gave it to him whenever and wherever he wanted it. He only cheated because he was a dog. I tried not to give him any reason to roam, but he did anyway.
It only got worse when he started seeing Alexus. Before then, he would never stay out all night. He went out of his way to make sure I never caught him with another chick. When he got with her, he just didn’t care anymore. My mother’s words were ringing in my ears. She was right. I did love Dre more than I loved myself. The sad part was I didn’t know any other way. But as she used to say, this too shall pass. D’Andre Mack was about to feel my wrath.
Chapter 15: ALEXUS
“Let me go, Dre!” I screamed as he pulled me back into the room by my shirt.
Dre was back on his bullshit and I was sick of it. We had been arguing all morning about me wanting to go to the mall with Jada. He had a problem whenever I wanted to go somewhere and it always ended with us fighting.
Her So Called Husband Page 8