The Reunion Show

by Brenda Hampton

  Just to keep the peace, I joined her on the couch. Thankfully, she was all into watching Scandal and her snobby attitude had changed. The only time her eyes shifted in another direction was when a commercial came on.

  “It’s good, ain’t it?” she said.

  I shrugged, not really paying attention. I was working a crossword puzzle. “I guess, but I got other things on my mind right now.”

  “Other things like what?”

  Before I could answer, the phone in my pocket rang. I looked at Jada. Her eyes were locked with mine.

  “Things like, maybe I should let you answer this, especially since I suspect it’s for you,” I said.

  I removed the cell phone from my pocket, and obviously recognizing it, Jada sat speechless. I glanced at the number that flashed across the screen. It was Desa Rae’s number. That wasn’t the number I had hoped to see, but I hurried to answer before she hung up. Jada crossed her arms and pursed her lips.

  “I see that there’s about to be a scandal up in here,” she said.

  “What’s shakin’, ma?” I said to Desa Rae while keeping my eyes on Jada.

  “Roc? I…I didn’t know whose number this was. I saw that you called earlier, but Chassidy and I were at Monica’s house. I’m sorry I missed your call.”

  I wanted to continue my phone conversation with Desa Rae, but I had to make this quick. I didn’t want Jeff to see me on camera with the phone on, and I also didn’t want Jada to use this against me.

  “I hope y’all had a good time, but I can’t continue to holla at you on this phone. I’ll try to hit you up soon, but just tell me real quick that everything is good with you.”

  “Everything is fine with me, but I want you to hurry home. I miss you. I don’t know how much longer I can go without seeing my Rockster.”

  I couldn’t help but to smile. “Soon. I’ll be there soon, all right? For now, I gotta go. Give Chassidy some love for me and mega love to you too.”

  Desa Rae returned the love, and even though I felt good about our conversation, I didn’t feel good about the way Jada was staring at me. I placed the phone on the table and eased back on the couch.

  “Sorry for the interruption, but would you care to explain how that phone made it into this house?”

  Jada’s neck started to roll. “I’m not sure, Roc. Why don’t you tell me?”

  “Nah, I think you do know, especially since I heard you in the bathroom talkin’ to Chase. And I found that phone inside of your tennis shoe. I also saw a friend’s number that you’ve been callin’, and why are you callin’ Chase so much? Vice versa. And let’s not talk about the party you had last night. You know that you broke the rules, right? I’m afraid to tell you that you done fucked yourself, ma. Bad.”

  She ignored me and looked down at her feet. She then propped them on the table and wiggled her toes. “That lotion didn’t seem to help at all. I guess I’ll be gettin’ the pedicure sooner than I thought.”

  “I must agree with you on that because you ’bout to have plenty of free time on yo hands.”

  She snapped her head up and shot me a dirty look. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  I leaned forward and placed my elbows on my knees. “It means that your journey ends here. You’re done, Jada, because you didn’t follow the rules. Either you leave now or leave later when Jeff gets here. It makes me no difference, but either way, you got to get up out of here. Hell House is a wrap.”

  She squinted to glare at me. “I was startin’ to like you, Roc, but if you gon’ play me like this, I’m good. I’m not leavin’, so you may have to reach out to Jeff and tell him to get over here. Just because I had a phone in my shoe, it doesn’t mean that the phone belongs to me. As for the party, I was bored. Now what?”

  “I guess the phone belongs to a ghost, then. If that’s what you want me to believe, sorry, can’t do it. Jeff will determine if the party was a big deal or not. I say it was, but we’ll see.”

  She winced and then barked at me. “Snitch.”

  Eager to be done with this, I got up from the couch to go shoot Jeff an email. I wasn’t sure if he had witnessed what was going on, but my email implied that he needed to get here as soon as possible. I wasn’t trying to be no snitch or anything, but this was the only way for me to put closure to this challenge and get my ass home.

  After I got done sending Jeff the email, I turned around to look at Jada. She was filing her nails and was tuned in to the TV, still watching the rest of Scandal. I didn’t know why she wasn’t in the bedroom packing. If she thought that Jeff was going to save her ass, she had the rules of this game all fucked up.

  Not saying another word to her, I sat back on the couch and waited for Jeff to come. Jada had gotten up to pop some popcorn. Before she returned to the couch, she reached out to hand the popcorn bowl to me.

  “You want some,” she said. Her tone was sharp. I could tell she was pretending not to be mad, but she was.

  “Naw, I’m good. Eat up.”

  She tucked one of her legs underneath the other and sat down. She ignored me while chomping on the popcorn. Fifteen minutes later, we could hear the front door open. In came Jeff.

  Jada kept her eyes on the TV, and as she started laughing, she held up one finger. “Hold up y’all, wait a minute. This episode of Scandal is so damn good! These people be havin’ me crackin’ up. I love it when the Prez and Olivia get together. They start playin’ that dreadful music in the background. Sexy, but craaazy. And the endings always leave me holdin’ my breath.”

  Jada was tripping. I didn’t have time for games. She was doing her best to play them. I stepped up to Jeff, almost blocking the TV so Jada couldn’t see. She leaned over on the couch, squinting so she could watch the last few minutes.

  “We got a problem,” I said to Jeff. “I guess you got my email. There were some people in this house who weren’t supposed to be here, and you’ve seen this cell phone that ain’t supposed to be here either. Jada had it. As soon as you make the call, she needs to exit.”

  Jada rushed up from the couch and stood between me and Jeff. She turned to Jeff, but from the corner of her eye, she was trying to see next week’s episode of Scandal. Once the preview was over, she gave all of her attention to Jeff.

  “First off, Roc don’t know what he talkin’ about. That phone ain’t mine. It belongs to Chase. Pertain’ to the people who came to the house last night, I’m sorry about that, but I got bored. I was havin’ friend withdrawals.”

  I hurried to speak up. “Yeah, well, I’ve been havin’ withdrawals too, but deal with it like I have. And Chase’s phone or not, you’ve been usin’ it.”

  Jada swung around to face me. “Obviously, so have you. Weren’t you just speakin’ to Desa Rae?”

  Her eyes rolled and she turned back to Jeff.

  “Let’s not argue about this,” Jeff said, knowing that things were about to get heated. “I know exactly what’s been going on. Jada, you have played very unfairly.”

  Jada winced and held her nose with the tip of her finger. “Jeff, is that your breath smellin’ like that? Ugh, you must’ve gotten a hold to some overly active pus…cooda. Phew.” She fanned the space in front of her with her hand.

  Jeff was so embarrassed that he backed a few inches away from Jada. His breath was kind of foul, but I wasn’t about to call him out on it. I was trying to deal with this shit, but Jada kept trying to prolong her exit.

  “I had seafood earlier,” Jeff replied in his defense.

  Jada didn’t buy it. “You had more than seafood, but I’mma save my issues with yo breath for another day. For now, I guess you’re feelin’ what Roc is tellin’ you. You want me to go, right?”

  “I’m afraid so. With his vote, you have to leave. I also saw you with the phone too. I think you should go, unless you have a legitimate reason as to why you shouldn’t have to.”

  Jeff stared at Jada without a blink, seeming to give her an opportunity to think of a so-called legitimate reason. She snapped her
finger and then turned to me.

  “You know what? Stay right there, Roc, I’ll be right back. I may have a li’l somethin’ to explain my actions, so wait one doggone minute while I go get it.”

  Jada did the Cha-Cha on her way to the bedroom to get whatever she was talking about. I was beyond frustrated. Jeff looked aggravated too.

  “You can expect her to come up with something,” he said. “Especially since she’s this close to losing and she doesn’t want to leave. Before I forget,” Jeff extended his hand to me. “Congrats. This wasn’t easy, but you hung in there and won. Unfortunately for Jada, she’ll have to leave tonight.”

  Hearing the breaking news made me feel real good inside. I moved away from Jeff and chilled back on the couch. He also took a seat. We waited for Jada to return, which was about five minutes later.

  “Okay,” she said giddy as ever. She rushed into the kitchen with a large envelope in her hand. After pouring a glass of water, she hurried into the living room with it. She placed the glass of water on the table in front of me and then plopped down on the couch.

  “I figured you may need some water after this. And if your throat gets clogged, take some Drano. There’s some underneath the sink if you need it.”

  I sat still as I watched Jada pull out several pieces of paper from the envelope. I didn’t realize the papers were actually photos until she placed three of them on the table. To my surprise, two of the photos were of me having sex with Chase. The other one was a picture of me standing in the kitchen with my shorts dropped to my ankles. A wide grin was on my face, while Jada stood in front of me, observing my so-called crooked dick. There was no secret that I had been caught in the act, but what in the fuck happened to people not breaking the rules? No cameras were allowed—period. I hoped that Jeff called Jada out on this.

  “Listen,” Jada said, having my full attention. “You’re speechless and I guess you’re thinkin’ that we didn’t exactly play by the rules.” She turned to Jeff whose eyes were glued to the pictures. “Just so you know, me and Chase didn’t play by the rules, okay?” He didn’t respond, so Jada faced me again. “But here’s the deal, Roc. You tripped, fell, and bumped yo head, both of them, too many times. These pictures, and plenty more, will be handed to Desa Rae on a silver platter if you do not pack up yo shit and go. If you do, then I will shred all of this stuff. Desa Rae will never, ever know that her man—no, her fiancé—was up in here slangin’ dick. I don’t want things to get ugly between us, but realistically, what other options do either of us have?”

  I’m not gon’ lie, this had me fucked up. I had to take several sips of the water to clear my throat. I put the glass back on the table and licked my dry lips. The pictures were damaging enough, and rules or not, there wasn’t much I could do. If we were on my turf, I could have gotten my boys to handle this and wash this mess away in an instant. Jada and Chase would be done with. My mind was running a mile a minute as I tried to think of something to get out of this. I figured Chase was up to some no-good bullshit like this, but Jada being involved caught me off guard. By the time I realized she may have been cooking up something with Chase, it was too late. I tried to play it down like this didn’t sting, but no man wanted to be outsmarted by women.

  I held out my hands, pretending not to trip. “Aw, Jada, you can do better than this, can’t you? You think my woman gon’ trip off some pictures that I will deny? Just so you know, she won’t, and you can believe that. I’m real disappointed that this is how you’ve chosen to play your winnin’ hand.”

  “Well, see, my winnin’ hand only gets better. And if the pictures ain’t enough, maybe Desa Rae will believe me when I show her a video of you and Chase gettin’ y’all freak on. No woman in the world wants to see her man tackle another woman’s pussy like you did Chase’s. And I must say so myself, that you beat that shit up with every bit of your eleven—or is it twelve inches? Chase looked worn out, but not like your mouth did when you blew that smoke… Well, you know what you did. I ain’t even gotta say it.”

  At this point, I couldn’t hold back. I rushed up from the couch and jumped on top of Jada. The last time I used my fist to strike a woman was when my son’s mother, Vanessa, made me go there. Jada had taken me to that level, but as I tightened my fist, Jeff grabbed it.

  “No, Roc, no!” he shouted. “If she presses charges, you’ll be arrested!”

  I had to think fast. I was still on probation. Something like this could send me back to jail. I was so mad, though, and as Jada laid there with a smirk on her face, it took everything I had to walk away from this bitch.

  “Go ahead and do it,” she said. “I wish you would put your hands on me.”

  My chest heaved in and out. I took several deep breaths and then backed away from Jada. The pictures were still on the table, so I snatched them, ripping them to shreds.

  “I hope like hell that you recognize what you’ve gotten yourself into. I will fuckin’ kill you over this shit, ma. I mean that on everything that I own.”

  I threw the torn pictures at her, but all she did was sit up and shake her head. “Nicca, are you on that narcotic or what? I can’t believe you’re upset with me and you’re the one who fucked up. Your shit is messy, Roc. You ain’t got nobody to blame but yourself. Your threats don’t move me one bit, and trust me when I say you ain’t the only Negro with a pistol. Now, getting back to this competition. The last time I checked, the last person in this house is the winner. There can only be one of us, unless Jeff is goin’ to make me leave with you.”

  We both looked at Jeff. He appeared to be in thought. I damn sure didn’t want Jada to win. I was counting on him to make her leave too.

  “Jada should go,” he said without hesitation. “But she can only be voted out of here by you, Roc. I can’t make her leave because she broke the rules, only you can. It’s up to you. If you say she must go, then she has to go.”

  This was a bunch of bullshit. Jada knew damn well that I wasn’t going to vote her out of here, especially not with her sitting on more of those damaging pictures and possibly a video of me and Chase having sex. Only God knew what else. Jada placed her hand on the side of her face, tapping her fingers against it.

  “Tic-tock, tic-tock, the clock is tickin’. Roc, what you gon’ do? If it were me, I know what I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t risk the love of my life seein’ all this stuff, especially not for money. I’d wash my hands, pack up my shit, and be gone. But that’s just me. You decide how you want to handle this.”

  Truthfully, at this point, there wasn’t much that I could do but leave. I had to trust that no one would ever confront Desa Rae about this and that leaving here without putting my foot in Jada’s ass would be the right thing to do. I also had to accept that this was on me. Yeah, I’d been setup big time, but that’s what the hell I get for falling into the pussy trap. I sucked my teeth and released a deep breath.

  “I’m out. Done with this, and I expect to never see you or Chase again. Don’t come near me or else—”

  “Stop with the threats, Roc. As long as you leave, I’m good. I’ll keep all that I have in my possessive and no one will ever know what went down in here but us.”

  “Possession,” Jeff said, correcting Jada. She went ballistic on him.

  “Shut up, please. Let me get him the hell out of here and then we need to talk about my money.”

  Jeff appeared disgusted. He shook his head, got up, and walked away. I did too, but I stopped by the kitchen to holla at him.

  “I need my phone to call a ride,” I said. “You wouldn’t happen to have mine with you, would you?”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t. But feel free to use mine. Please don’t go far. I need you present for the reunion show.”

  “I’m not attendin’ the reunion show, so count me out. This whole thing got me fucked up. I don’t like how none of this shit went down.”

  “I understand that you’re upset, but you agreed to be in attendance for the reunion show, no matter what. I have it in wri
ting that I can sue you if you don’t show. You’ll owe me ten thousand in damages for not appearing. I don’t want to go there with you, Roc, so let me set you up in a hotel for the next day or so. Calm down and come back to do the show. After that, your life gets back to normal and you can put all of this behind you.”

  I was too pissed to reply. I knew damn well that I didn’t want to go home with all of this shit on my mind. Maybe chilling in a hotel room wasn’t a bad idea. I definitely had a few things that I wanted to confront that bitch, Chase, with.

  With that in mind, I packed my bags and allowed Jeff to hook me up with a cab and hotel accommodations. On my way out, I stopped by the living room to look at Jada who sat with a grin on her face.

  “Don’t be upset with me, sweetie,” she teased. “It was either you or me. I can honestly say that I’m delighted to be sittin’ here watchin’ you take your walk of shame. I’ll see you in a couple of days. By then, I may have my pedicure done that I was tellin’ you about. What you think?”

  I nodded and sucked my teeth as I glared at Jada. “I think you’re full of shit. If you happen to holla at Chase, be sure to tell her that I got somethin’ for her.”

  Jada put her hand close to her mouth. “Oooo, you gon’ give her some more? I’m sure she can’t wait to get it.”

  I heard a horn blow, knowing it was my taxi. After throwing up the deuces sign to Jeff, I left out the front door, only to hear Jada screaming “Yahoo” at the top of her lungs.

  I hadn’t gotten any sleep. All I did was toss and turn throughout the night, thinking about everything that had happened. I was glad that I was at The Marriott, though. I didn’t want Desa Rae to see me like this. Knowing her, she would question what was up with me. I was angry and upset with myself for allowing this shit to go down. My hands were tied and I didn’t know what to do. It had been a long time since I found myself in a fucked up situation like this. I didn’t know how far Jada and Chase would go with the stuff they were sitting on. I was a fool if I believed they wouldn’t do anything with it.