Best Dressed Lie (Keisha Jackson)

by Batiste, Kimberly

  “Call me tomorrow, Zan.”

  “I guess I’ll call you,” she said looking away from me. “You’re acting funny?”

  “Bye, Keisha.”

  “Bye,” I replied getting out of the car.

  The closer I got to the door, the more my stomach

  cramped. I was not in the mood for Randy and all of his drama. I put the key in the front door lock and before I could twist the doorknob, the door flew open.

  “Do you know what time it is?” He asked in rage, standing

  in the doorway shirtless.

  “Yep. I sure do,” I said, wishing I stayed out longer to avoid

  this argument.

  “Oh, you think it’s a game, Keisha? Huh?” he said,

  blocking me from coming into the house.

  “No Randy. Look, I’m tired and all I want to do is shower

  and go to bed. I have a busy work week coming up.” “Tired and shower?” he asked shadily. “Why are you so

  tired? Better yet, why do you want to take a shower this time

  of night? Any other day, you take your ass straight to bed.” “What’s up with the interrogation Randy?” I asked,

  shoving him out of my way.

  “You think I’m stupid or something,” he yelled, walking in

  behind me and slamming the door.

  “Yeah, that’s what I think,” I shouted, turning towards him.

  “You are stupid, insecure, and jealous!”

  “Why are you even here?” he asked, frowning.

  “I ask myself that question every day!”

  We were yelling and screaming at each other as if we

  were strangers. I never saw Randy this upset. He was acting

  weirder than usual and it was freaking me out!

  “Come here,” he snatched my arm, bringing us face to face.

  He was breathing so hard and sweat dripped off his body like

  a faucet running.

  “Keisha, I’m tired of the fighting; now either we’re going

  to have to trust each other or leave each other.”

  I did not get it. He was the one who was yelling at me

  because I came home an hour later than I said. Then he had

  the audacity to say, we need to trust each other? I was

  confused.

  “I think we should….”

  Before I could finish what I was about to say, he grabbed

  my face and started passionately kissing me; shoving his

  tongue down my throat. For the first time in a long time, he

  kissed me. I tried pushing away but his lips on mine felt so

  damn good. Randy and I argued so much, the affection was

  dead. It felt so good to feel him passionately touching me. “Baby, I’m sorry,” he whispered, gripping my ass. “I’m sorry too.”

  We were kissing and caressing each other’s bodies like

  wild animals.

  He slowly unbuttoned my shirt, looking me in the eye. He

  slipped my bra off, leaving my perky breast bouncing in front

  of him. His soft lips aggressively tugged and pinched my

  nipples. I moaned, rubbing the back of his head, “Randy, I love

  you baby.”

  He spoke softly in my ear, “I want to make love to you

  tonight baby.”

  I started kissing his neck, making my way down his chest

  to his navel. He slid his fingers through my hair, locking them,

  pushing my head down further.

  “Make me feel good tonight baby,” he whispered, looking

  down at me.

  I seductively looked into his eyes, while unbuttoning his

  pants, pulling them down slowly to his knees. As soon as his

  drawers dropped, the aroma of musk hit my nose.

  “Randy,” I screamed, interrupting the mood. “Go take a

  damn bath and shave that nappy ass pubic hair! It smells

  musty and I don’t want that shit scratching my face.” He tilted his head to the side and frowned, “What?” “You heard me loud and clear,” I pouted.

  “Are you serious, right now, Keisha?”

  “Yep.”

  He pulled his pants up with force and headed towards the

  shower.

  “You’d fuck up a wet dreamed,” he mumbled.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing, I’m going to take a shower.” He barged through

  the bathroom door, slamming shit around, mumbling under

  his breath. “Never get any pussy!” He knew not to say it loud

  enough for me to hear. The end results would be no pussy

  tonight.

  While Randy showered, I figured since we are in the sex

  mood, I’d spice it up a bit and put on some lingerie. I heard

  him turning off the shower after ten seconds. “I know he

  didn’t shower that quick,” I muttered.

  I hurried and slipped into my black shear gown with

  nothing underneath.

  I lit a couple of candles, turned some slow music on, and

  waited.

  “Hey,” he said seductively standing in the doorway naked

  and shaved.

  “What did you do? Shave and wiped that area only?” I

  asked, puckering my brow.

  “Yeah,” he said, smiling widely, showing all thirty-two

  teeth.

  Noticing his efforts to try to make things better, I started

  feeling a little guilty about my plans to catch him cheating on

  me. I wanted to try and camouflaged my sadness, so I knelt on

  the bed, making sure he saw my lingerie.

  “Make love to me,” I said softly. I slowly laid on my back,

  closed my eyes and waited for his lips to touch my body. I lay in that position for at least ten seconds and all of a

  sudden, I felt the mattress jiggle as he plopped on the bed. I

  cracked my eyes and glanced over at him. He was lying on his

  back with both hands behind his head. He crossed his feet,

  and then started humping in the air.

  “Unbelievable. You want me to perform oral sex on you?” I

  asked, giving him the side eye. I was furious.

  He inhale and exhaled before saying, “Just for a little

  while, baby,” he was smiling with his eyes closed.

  I grabbed my pillow and lay on my side with my back

  turned to him. “Goodnight, Randy.”

  “Baby, please. What did I do now?”

  “It’s not what you did, it’s what you never do,” I said

  angrily. “Do not touch me, and this conversation is over.” This was not the first night that ended without sex and

  probably not the last. He had the audacity to want oral sex, instead of making this a romantic night and making love to me. I came to the conclusion that the passion was gone and I

  wasted my good lingerie.

  “Baby…”

  “What Randy?” I said, aggravated.

  “I’m sorry, that I hurt you and I’m sorry that I’m not the

  man you needed me to be,” he whispered in my ear, caressing

  my breast. “I promise you, I’m going to do whatever it takes to

  make you happy. I miss us.”

  I heard this same speech before, which always led to an

  argument. All the shit we went through and all the rumors

  would likely get rehashed. I was not falling for this tonight.

  However, I was definitely wondering what he meant by saying

  he was sorry that he hurt me. There were always been rumors

  about him cheating, but I never actually proved it to be true. I

  was not going to ask. I wanted to leave it alone for tonight

  otherwise I’d never get any sleep. That question would

  absolutely turn into a fight. His apo
logy made me feel even

  guiltier about this plot to catch him cheating.

  I crept out of bed so I could text Kayla. I wanted to tell her

  never mind about the search for the numbers. I did not want

  Randy to see what I was up to, so I pretended I had to pee. “I hope you flushed the toilet and didn’t leave all that

  pubic hair floating in the bowl,” I said.

  The only response I got was a loud snore. He was lying on

  his back casket-ready; all I had to do was slide his body into a

  coffin.

  “Thank goodness he’s asleep,” I muttered.

  I grabbed my phone and noticed I had two missed calls

  and a text message from Kayla. Damn she fast! I know I’m

  going to regret this … I thought, but I must read it. I opened the message:

  Hey girl, the number was a pay-as-you-go phone, so I couldn’t get a name, but here is the number 777-2500 and unfortunately, it’s disconnected.

  Kayla

  “Damn it,” I mumbled. “Keisha,” Randy yelled, startling me. He was shouting my name as if he woke up from a bad dream.

  “I’m in the bathroom! Stop all that damn yelling, shit.”

  “Are you naked woman?” he said, seductively.

  I flushed the toilet, so he’d think I was actually using it. I could not help but wonder how in the hell he went from snoring to wide awake.

  “Randy, please go to sleep,” I said as I entered the room. I was irritated from the text and took my frustration out on him. “Okay, but don’t forget about my job’s family-day tomorrow at two o’clock. Please try to make it.”

  “Family-day?” I said, climbing into bed. He’d lost his damn mind if he thought I was interested in that bullshit.

  “Before you start tripping, I forgot about it myself,” he said,

  lying through his teeth. I couldn’t remember the last time I

  went to his job, let alone a family-day. He never invited

  me to anything they had at his job. He always complained

  about how negative his coworkers were and how he hated the fact that it was mandatory for him to be there. Randy never introduced me to any of his coworkers. He said that they were messy and jealous of him. He only introduced me to his select friends, which were all men. He tried so hard to convince me that the company picnic was ghetto and the food was nasty with flies everywhere. He knew I was a finicky eater, so he took advantage of that to spoil my appetite, resulting in me not going.

  “I’ll try to make it,” I said slurring my speech.

  “What do you mean, you’ll try?”

  “I told you last week that I have interviews in the morning, possibly all week depending on the outcome. Did you forget?”

  “No. I didn’t forget,” he said, rubbing my body. “I thought you were getting off early.”

  “I was but I have other priorities and your family-day was not one of them,” I said, pissed because he laid this last minute shit on me. He did not care about my plans; in fact, he never asked if I have any.

  “Dang, baby your body is so warm,” he said, provocatively, caressing me from behind. I knew exactly where he was going with this. I ignored him, turned my lamp off and lay on my side.

  “Keisha, can I put it in, just the tip?”

  “Randy, go to sleep!” I said, looking over my shoulder at him. “I have to be at work at seven o’clock in the morning and here it is almost one in the morning!”

  All he wanted to do was fuck me uninterestedly like a squirrel on crack. All the arguing and irrational thoughts of him cheating overpowered my desire to make love with him.

  He reached over me and switched the lamp back on, then he asked, “What if I just smell it?”

  I snapped and swung the covers up over me and said, “Goodnight, Randy.”

  “Well damn” he said, puckering his brow. “Good night to you to and I love you.”

  I did not respond. I pulled my bedding high over my head and wiggled into a comfortable position.

  “Damn. Can I get a response?” he said, hovering over me.

  I was annoyed and was ready for him to go to sleep and leave me alone.

  “Love you too, now go to sleep.”

  FOUR

  The next morning, I woke up alone in bed. All I heard was pots and pans clinking together, the sizzling sound of bacon frying and Randy humming Al Green’s I’m Still in Love With You. It was six thirty in the morning; and he never got out of bed this early. The aroma of food tickled my nostrils. I tossed and turned trying to fight the smell and his horrible humming, but I couldn’t resist. Finally, I dragged myself out of bed.

  “Randy,” I called out as I slipped into my pink silk robe. “I’m in here.” I was shocked when I walked into the kitchen. I had a dozen long stemmed red roses and breakfast waiting for me on the table.

  “Don’t ask any questions,” he said, puckering his lips for a kiss.

  I didn’t know what he dreamt about last night, but he was in a great mood. I didn’t know whether to be happy or wonder if he heard about the scheme I planned.

  I hesitated before kissing his lips. “Thank you.”

  The last time he cooked breakfast for me, Zan called my phone minutes later telling me she saw him the night before creeping out of a hotel parking lot. I didn’t believe her because he was in bed with me that night. When I asked him about it later, he confessed and said he snuck out of the house to have some drinks but denied being at a hotel. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. It was a long time coming.

  “Well, I’m happy to see that you’re trying to make things right between us.”

  I was definitely feeling bad about the entire plot I had going on. Moments like this, although few and far between, were the reason I couldn’t move on. It seemed like every time I got the courage to break away, his charm always swept me back in.

  The room was silent. You could hear the forks clinking against our plates as we ate.

  He cleared his throat and said, “What’s wrong? Why do you keep looking at your phone?” He sipped his coffee, not taking his eyes off me.

  “No reason. I’m trying to make sure I am not late for work. I have two candidates to interview for the front office receptionist position, and then I’m leaving for the rest of the day. Remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember. You’re talking about the two lightskinned girls, right?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

  I hesitated. “Yes. They resigned; wanted a job paying more money. I don’t recall introducing you to them,” I said, giving him the side eye.

  “Don’t start Keisha,” he said, pointing his finger in my face. “What do you mean ‘you don’t recall introducing them to me’? Every chance you got, you were showing me pictures of them with their men and bragging about how their men spoil them with flowers and this and that. Every time I went out for drinks, you were calling and telling me about how they saw me buying drinks at the club. What their trifling-asses forgot to tell you was how their broke asses begged me to buy them drinks.”

  From the tone of his voice, I knew that at any moment, our nice breakfast was about to turn into a fight. I wanted to enjoy the moment. He needed to understand that his actions were the reason I was insecure. He always got so defensive whenever I asked him anything regarding females.

  “Why are you getting so defensive?” I said. “I just asked a simple question. You’re taking this shit to another level…”

  He interrupted saying, “Will you be available tonight? I would love to take you out for dinner.” He was trying to diffuse the moment. He held my hand between his and squeezed lightly.

  I was speechless. He actually changed the subject to something positive by extending an invite for a date night. As mad as I was, I sucked in my pride and replied, “Sure, I don’t see a reason why I wouldn’t be available.”

  “Why can’t we have more days like this?” he said, kissing the back of my han
d.

  I hesitated with a forced smile. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  He stared into my eyes as if he was rehearsing for a soap opera role and whispered, “Seeing a smile on your face nourishes my soul. I never want to lose you Keisha.”

  I almost burst out laughing. I couldn’t think of anything else to do so I faked tears as I listened to the words coming out of his mouth. This was the first time in a long time he expressed his feelings. If I sat there nonchalant, he would never do it again.

  “Thank you Randy, that means a lot to me. There have to be some major changes from both of us. We need to communicate better and compromise. All I ever wanted from you was unconditional love and respect…”

  He interrupted, “…And I’ll give that to you. I promise. Open your heart for me again. Please, I’m begging.”

  I wanted to believe him badly. My heart wouldn’t let me. I cried for so many years. It was going to take more than a cooked breakfast and sweet words to convince me he was ready to change. “I’ll try,” I said, wiping my phony tears.

  “Thank you! Here’s to a new start,” he said, holding up his glass of orange juice towards me.

  Just as my glass clinked against his glass, I said loudly, “Before I cheers to that, I have a proposition.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Will you promise me that we will work on starting a family and you will help me out financially to find my sister?”

  “I promise,” he said, leaning in for a kiss.

  I grinned, looked him straight in the eye and responded, “Cheers.”

  I had thirty minutes to get to work. All of a sudden, he gave me the googly eyes. He thought he was getting between my thighs. “Babe,” he whined, rubbing my thighs under the table. “Can we do it right quick? Work on having the kids; please?”

  I jumped up from the table saying, “I’ll see you at the family-day picnic, Randy.” I kissed him on the forehead and headed towards the door.

  “Okay” he said, provoked. “Aye, where’s the lotion?”

  “Same place you left it last night,” I yelled.

  As soon as I stuck the key in the ignition, I wasn’t in the car five minutes, my phone started ringing. I glanced at the caller ID, and it read: Zan Calling.