Her So Called Husband

by Chenell Parker

  I pulled up to Cherika’s house and saw her standing on the porch with her hands on her hips. I could tell that she wanted some drama, but I wasn’t about to give it to her. I got out of the car, picked Drew up and proceeded to bring him into the house, with my other kids following close behind. I started walking up the stairs to put them back to bed when Cherika started with the questions.

  “Where you going that’s so important that you had to wake them up at this time of the morning?” she asked in her usual ghetto tone.

  “Mind your fucking business,” was all I said as I walked past her. I went to put Drew in her bed since he was still scared to sleep alone.

  “He’s going to get Alexus,” my daughter said from behind us.

  I couldn’t get mad that she said it, especially since she was only repeating what I had told her. Cherika went crazy when she heard that.

  “So you mean to tell me you got my kids out here at two in the fucking morning so you can run behind that stank bitch!” she yelled.

  I didn’t even answer her. She was trying to piss me off, but little did she know somebody had already beaten her to it. My phone started ringing and again, I assumed it was Alexus calling so I picked up without even looking at the screen.

  “Yeah!” I yelled into my phone.

  “Man where you at?” Eric said sounding upset.

  “I just dropped my kids off home. Why, what’s up?” I replied.

  I listened as he told me about seeing Alexus with some nigga at the same club that Keanna told me about. He ended up having words with him before they left. To say I was heated was an understatement. She was running around with another nigga like I didn’t exist. The shit was embarrassing enough, but for my people to call and tell me about it was a slap to my face.

  “Yeah I heard. Keanna told me that y’all was on Manhattan, but where at on Manhattan?” I asked my brother.

  Once he gave me the information I needed, I hung up and told him that I was on my way.

  “Nigga you a sad ass excuse for a man. You’re choosing that hoe over your children now!” Cherika screamed.

  I continued to ignore her. I was just about to leave out of the room when she jumped in front of the door blocking it so I couldn’t go.

  “Move Cherika. I’m not in the mood for your foolishness,” I said in a calm voice.

  “Fuck that!” she yelled pushing me backwards.

  “I’m tired of you putting everybody else before us.” This girl was crazy for real.

  “Who is us?” I yelled back at her.

  “What part of we’re not together don’t you understand? And you better keep your fucking hands off of me.”

  I had a cake baking for that ass and I couldn’t wait until it was done. She was about to get an eye opener any day now.

  “What did I do so wrong to you? I did any and everything you wanted. I did things that I didn’t even want to do for you,” she cried.

  Her tears didn’t move me then and they damn sure didn’t move me now. She did what she did because she wanted to.

  “Look, I don’t have time for this pity party you throwing yourself. I got moves to make,” I said as I tried to walk past her.

  I was almost out of the bedroom door when that crazy bitch threw an ashtray and hit me in the back of my head. I was seeing stars for a few seconds and I felt a little light headed. I touched the back of my head where she hit me and looked at the dark red blood that covered my hand. She ran in the bathroom and tried to lock the door, but I was too quick for her.

  I blocked the door with my foot and grabbed her by the back of her shirt. She immediately started kicking and screaming, but that still didn’t stop me. I picked her up and slammed her to the floor before hitting her with a closed fist.

  “Help me, somebody help me!” she screamed to the top of her lungs.

  I didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for her. This all could have been avoided if she would have let me leave when I wanted to. She managed to grab a hold of one of my legs, causing me to fall. When I fell, she was able to crawl to the nightstand and grab the mace that she always kept there. There was no way in hell that was about to go down.

  I jumped up before she was able to position it in my direction. I grabbed her wrist and twisted it until she dropped the can on the floor. I kicked it away from her as I held her hands to her side.

  “Cherika, chill! I’m trying not to knock your ass out!” I yelled out of breath. This was the reason why I didn’t come over here too often.

  “Let me go!” she cried. “Nigga, you punched me in my face!”

  She was acting like she didn’t just bust my head open with a damn ashtray. I did feel bad, but she started the shit.

  “I’m about to let you go, but you better not try to hit me anymore,” I told her.

  She didn’t respond so I let her go and walked to the door. I looked back and saw her curled up on the floor crying. I hated to leave her in the position she was in, but I had more important moves to make.

  I jumped in my truck and sped off towards the bridge. Alexus was about to see a side of me that she never knew existed.

  My mind briefly drifted back to Cherika. I had done some major damage to her self-esteem and it was going to be a challenge for another man to restore it. If I never doubted anything in life, it wasn’t her love for me. I knew I had her heart, but it wasn’t my heart’s desire. Yet, the one who had my heart wanted to give hers to someone else. It was true that karma was a bitch who had everybody’s name and address. It hurt like hell to know that she was paying me a visit right now.

  I came to a stop at a red light five minutes away from my destination. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t see the police car behind me. When the light turned green, I pressed on the gas and continued to my destination. Unfortunately I didn’t get very far before he turned his sirens on and started tailing me. I tried switching lanes like I normally did hoping he would pass me by, but he switched lanes right along with me. Having no other choice, I pulled over into the gas station and waited for him to come to me. He sat in his car until two other cruisers pulled up, then he got out. I didn’t know what the hell he stopped me for, but I was about to find out.

  “Step out of the car for me please,” the officer said as he approached my car.

  “What’s the problem sir?” I asked in my most sincere voice.

  “Just step out of the car please,” he repeated in a no nonsense tone. I wasn’t trying to give them no reason to kill my black ass so I did as I was told.

  “We got a call about a domestic dispute and your license plate matches the one given to us by the victim,” another officer said. I couldn’t believe this shit. That bitch Cherika sent the law after me. Cherika and I fought like wild animals during the entire course of our relationship, but not one time did she ever get the police involved.

  “Turn around and put your hands on the car,” the officer told me. I did as I was told, while the officer began to frisk me.

  “You got anything on your person or in your car that we should know about?”

  “Naw, I’m clean.”

  “I got something here,” the officer who searched my car yelled.

  I knew I was fucked when I saw him come up with my gun. The gun was clean and the paperwork was in Erica’s name. The problem was that I was on probation so I shouldn’t have had it in the first place. There was no doubt in my mind that I was about to be taking a ride. I was handcuffed and put in the back of the car. My phone was ringing off the hook, but that was the least of my problems.

  “Excuse me sir. Can I just call my brother and let him know what’s going on so he can come get my car and my wallet, please?” I asked the only black officer out there.

  I was hoping he would have some kind of compassion and help me out. He didn’t answer at first, but after a while, he came over to the car with my phone in his hand.

  “I can’t uncuff you, but give me the number and I’ll let you talk on the speaker phone,” he said.
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  I was grateful for that much because he didn’t have to do it. He dialed Eric’s number for me and he picked up on the first ring. He told me that he and Keanna weren’t far from where I was and he would be there shortly. I thought about Alexus once again. I guess ole boy won this round since there was nothing that I could do. I prepared my mind to go back to a place where I swore I would never go again; jail.

  Chapter 23: CHERIKA

  “Hello,” I said answering my phone. I really didn’t feel like talking to anyone, but I know my mama would be on her way over if I didn’t answer.

  “Hey baby. How you feeling?” she asked in her usual concerned tone. I felt like shit, but I would never tell her that.

  “I’m good ma. I’m feeling much better,” I lied.

  “You don’t sound like you’re feeling better. Have you eaten anything?” she said. My mother was the one person who could see right through me without even trying.

  “I haven’t eaten yet, but I’m probably going to order a pizza,” I replied.

  That was another lie. I hadn’t eaten anything for the past two days and I didn’t have any plans on eating today. Once again, I was depressed and all alone. My mom and my sister’s had my kids because I was in no shape to care for them. They didn’t want them to see me in the condition I was in.

  “Cherika, you need to come over here with me and your sisters. You should be with family at a time like this. Or we can come and spend a few days over there if you want us to. I know these babies miss you and their house,” My mama said.

  I missed my kids to death, but it wasn’t much that I could do for them right now. I stayed in the bed or on the sofa most of the day. It wouldn’t be fair to them to be inside all day while I moped around feeling sorry for myself.

  “It’s quiet in there. where are my kids?” I asked changing the subject.

  “Charde took them to the store,” she replied.

  We both held the phone without speaking for a while. I know my mother was only trying to help, but I had to figure my own way out of the mess that I created.

  “Well, I’ll let you go, but if you change your mind about coming over, just give me a call,” she said before disconnecting our call.

  I was so happy that she didn’t push the issue like she would normally do. I just wanted to be left alone with my thoughts.

  It had been three days since Dre got locked up. I only wanted to teach him a lesson for putting his hands on me, but I never intended to press charges against him. It never dawned on me that he might have had a gun on him. Now he was being held for a probation violation. That was never a part of the plan and I regretted the decision I made to get the police involved. I was just so hurt when Dre left that night and my emotions were all over the place.

  I was hurt that he always chose Alexus over me and our kids. I was the one who held him down each and every time he went to jail. I was the one who he gave birth to his kids. And I was the only one whose hand he took in marriage. Even after all of that, Alexus always seemed to reap the benefits of my hard labor. It was fucked up that he could leave me for cheating on him when she was doing the exact same thing. I saw it with my own eyes, but he didn’t care. No matter how much I tried to deny it, she truly had my husband’s heart and the pain was too much to bear. As crazy as it sounded, I was happy that he was in jail for one reason only; Alexus couldn’t have him either.

  Dre’s entire family was mad with me for sending him to jail. I really wanted to talk to him so that I could apologize for what I did and let him know that I would be dropping the charges. I tried calling Eric and his sisters, but none of them wanted to talk to me. His mother told me to give everybody some time to come around, but I doubted that they ever would. It was no surprise that his dad flat out told me not to call his phone again. I was never one of his favorites anyway.

  They never even tried to consider how I might be feeling at the moment. I’d been bending over backwards to please Dre since day one and everything I did was to make him happy. I knew that he wasn’t the marrying type, but none of that mattered to me. I thought if I did everything right he would change.

  When I saw that he was getting bored with our marriage, I offered to let him bring other women into our bedroom. That was the beginning of the end of our marriage. Soon after that is when Alexus came into the picture and the rest was history.

  I got up from my spot on the sofa and decided to go through the mail that was piling up on the floor while I waited. I was hoping that Dre would at least write to let me know what was going on with him, but he never did. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror when I stood up and I was a complete mess. My hair was matted on top of my head like a beehive and my right eye was black and slightly swollen from when Dre hit me the other day. I shuffled through some junk mail until I came upon a letter that was addressed to both me and Dre.

  I jumped when I heard the timer go off in my bathroom. I was nervous, but I was ready to get it over with. I walked into the bathroom, opening the letter that I had just discovered in my mail. I dropped down to the floor in tears as I read the contents of the letter. Dre had made a fool of me once again. Here I was with a positive pregnancy test in one hand and divorce papers in the other.

  To Be Continued

  Acknowledgements

  First, I want to give thanks to the almighty God. I have been blessed with many talents and I am so very thankful for them all.

  To my children, Lil Terrence and Kiara, both of you are the reason I work as hard as I do on and off the clock. The love I have for you cannot be measured.

  To my mother, Rhette Parker, words will never be able to describe how thankful and blessed I am to have you in my life. I can never remember a time that you were not there for your kids and grandkids and I love you to death for it.

  My father, the late Lionel Parker, I wish you were here to see all that your girls have accomplished. Your memories will be with us forverer.

  To my sisters, Racquel, Lynell and Trina Parker, who keep me laughing no matter how my day is going. I love y’all so much even if I don’t say it every day.

  My grandpa, Jeff Stirgus, who has been like a second father to me since I can remember, we are truly blessed to have you in our lives.

  My aunts, Susan and Serita, who are the best aunts a girl could ever ask for.

  My cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Friends (It’s too many of them to name) who I don’t see every day, but it feels like it when we get together. Your support means the world to me and I cherish it.

  My co-workers/friends, Trina J., Mattie, Kelly, Latrice, Danielle, TaGermanie, Roderick, Amy and Michelle, who were there encouraging me every step of the way. The support from you all was so amazing and I can’t thank you enough.

  A special thanks to my girl, QuoVadis (Quo), who wore so many hats, it was hard to keep up. I appreciate all the time and energy you put into being a proofreader, photographer, make-up artist, Etc., even if you did want to kill me at times J

  A special thanks to Torica Tymes (who is a sweetheart by the way) for believing in me enough to welcome me into the Write House Family.

  To Cole Hart who answered any questions I had and provided some much needed advice and feedback. To Tiece and the entire Write House/TBRS Family for making me feel welcomed from day one.

  A special shout out goes to the very talented stylists at So Xclusive Hair Studio.

  Last, but not least, a big thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of this book. Your support is greatly appreciated and I hope you enjoy.

  I hope I didn’t forget anyone, but if I did, charge to my head and not my heart because it was not intentional.

  Copyright Notice

  Her So-Called Husband

  Copyright 2014 by Chenell Parker

  Published by Write House Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 
; This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to the real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Main Menu

  Chapter 1: ALEXUS

  Chapter 2: D’ANDRE

  Chapter 3: CHERIKA

  Chapter 4: KEANNA

  Chapter 5:ALEXUS

  Chapter 6: D’ANDRE

  Chapter 7: ALEXUS

  Chapter 8: CHERIKA

  Chapter 9: KEANNA

  Chapter 10: D’ANDRE

  Chapter 11:ALEXUS

  Chapter 12: D’Andre

  Chapter 13: KEANNA

  Chapter 14: CHERIKA

  Chapter 15: ALEXUS

  Chapter 16: D’ANDRE

  Chapter 16: ALEXUS

  Chapter 18: CHERIKA

  Chapter 19: KEANNA

  Chapter 20: ALEXUS

  Chapter 21: KEANNA

  Chapter 22: D’ANDRE

  Chapter 23: CHERIKA

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright Notice