Reclaiming What Is Mine

by Sheena Binkley

  I looked from him to Tonya, who looked annoyed.

  "Why would you ask me that? I'm picking you up from work, silly."

  "But I told you I had a ride home since I was working over."

  "You probably did, but remember? You left your phone in the car."

  He seemed to become even more nervous once I mentioned his phone. He leaned against Tonya's car and brought a hand to his face.

  "I need to speak to my husband alone," I told Tonya, staring at Dwight.

  "Is this going to take long, Dwight? We had plans," she said, smirking at me.

  She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that they'd been together. I turned, glaring at her and wondering what in the hell he thinking being with her. Well, obviously, he was thinking with his lower half instead of his upper.

  "Listen, I'm about to confront my husband for being the lying, cheating, bastard that he is. I'd rather not have an audience when I'm doing it. Trust me, he'll be coming with you really soon, because as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't have anywhere else he can go since he stays with his aunt. That's right, you'll be the one taking care of him, so good luck trying to establish anything with him, since he loves a woman doing all the damn work for him."

  Tonya laughed. "Trust me, I won't be anything like you, sweetheart," she replied, then turned to Dwight. "I'll be waiting while you talk to your wife." She laughed again.

  I was about to snatch her damn wig off of her head, but my anger wasn't towards her. Dwight was the one I was married to, so her ass wasn't even a factor.

  "Asia, please let me explain –"

  "There's nothing to explain! I can't believe you! Everything you've been saying to me has been a damn lie. What?! You thought you could continue stringing me along while you did whatever the hell you wanted?!"

  Dwight smirked. "This, coming from you, who has barely be at the house since you met Bryon."

  I looked at him like he was crazy, wondering what he was talking about. "In case you forgot, I work for him, so of course my time is spent in the office, unlike you, who is using your job as a place to go screw her nasty ass!"

  "I had to get it from somewhere since you weren't giving it to me."

  I chuckled. "Oh really?! You're an asshole."

  "I'm just speaking the truth. What did you want me to do? I love you Asia, but I have needs."

  "And what about my needs as a wife?! You didn't care about mine and whether I agreed with everything you decided to do. You took it upon yourself to move us to someone else's home and relied on me to find employment while you continue to work your half-assed job, not caring how it would affect me. In a marriage, everything should be equal, not one person doing everything, while the other just sits back and watches. I deserve better than that, Dwight!"

  "I agree, you do; but you can't blame all of this on me. I did what I could to keep you happy. Yes, times were rough, but you just checked out, so that's why I gave up, too."

  "I didn't check out. I was just tired of everything being one-sided. You don't know how it feels to be

  alone and wonder why someone you want to spend the rest of your life with doesn't want to

  do better. Why that person doesn't want to support the person they supposedly love."

  "I'm sorry, A, but maybe things have changed for us. I want things to work out, but maybe we

  need some time apart."

  This was not how the conversation was supposed to go. I was the one who was going to confront

  him and tell him we needed to be apart, but he had the last say.

  "Wait, what?" I asked.

  "You heard me. Maybe we should just take some time and figure out where things are going with

  us. If it's meant to be, we'll find our way back to each other; if not, then it wasn't meant for us

  to be together."

  I shook my head. "I can't believe you're doing this! You act like I'm the one who cheated when you're

  the one who's been doing it for months!"

  "I'm sorry, Asia, but I'm tired of fighting a battle that I'm not sure is worth fighting."

  I nodded. "You know what, you and that skanky hoe can go to hell. I'm done." I went to the car and

  opened a back door . I started throwing his things out onto the parking lot, and he ran over to pick them

  up.

  "What the hell are you doing?!"

  "I'm throwing out your shit that you left in the car! You didn't think you were going to keep this

  car, did you?! I'm the one who got this damn car!"

  I threw the remaining items out as a crowd formed, even causing a car to swerve before honking

  their horn.

  "You're fucking crazy!" Dwight yelled.

  "You haven't seen crazy, you asshole!"

  "Don't bother coming back to the house! I'll make sure and tell my aunt to call the police

  if you do come by!"

  "Oh, trust me, I have some choice words for her, too!"

  I opened the trunk, took his shoes, clothes, and other items out, and kicked them toward the street.

  Next thing I knew, someone grabbed me from behind, preventing me from doing anything else.

  "What the hell are you doing?!"

  I turned around and saw Bryon behind me. I looked over and saw Dwight, Tonya, and a crowd of

  people standing around , curious to see what was about to happen.

  Dwight raised his eyebrow, wondering what was going on as he looked from me to Bryon.

  "Let me go, Bryon."

  "No. You have done enough, Asia. Just let it go, okay?"

  I glared at Dwight again, who was picking up his things. He looked at me before getting in the car with

  Tonya.

  Bryon was stilling holding on to me until I pulled myself away from him.

  "Asia –"

  "Just leave me alone, please."

  "You shouldn't drive. Just tell me where you need to go, and I'll take you."

  "No, I need some time to think."

  I slowly walked to the driver's side and opened the door. I sat down and looked ahead,

  wondering what had just happened. It wasn't like me to go nuts and make a fool out of myself. I

  didn't like to make a scene. I tried to blink back my tears as I looked over to passenger's side.

  Bryon was standing there, which irritated me because I wanted him to leave.

  "Just go," I whispered, but he didn't move. Instead, he reached inside the open window, opened the

  door, and got in. He pulled me to him and let me cry on his shoulder. I didn't like being this emotional,

  but I'd just suffered a major blow. Not only was my husband cheating on me, he turned it around and

  blamed me for everything. I knew I'd made mistakes lately, but it didn't compare to what he'd been

  doing for years. I'd been the faithful and devoted wife who'd put up with everything he'd dished out .

  Maybe Dwight was right; maybe it was time for us to move on with our lives.

  Bryon

  I told her not to confront Dwight. I told her to give it some time before she talked to him. I knew

  something like this would happen. That she would go berserk, and he would twist things around

  like it was her who was the problem.

  I watched as she slept in my bed. She looked peaceful, but I knew she wasn't. She was

  hurting, which was killing me. I knew the choices she'd made recently weren't the best,

  but she didn't deserve what that asshole had done. I hit my fist against the arm of my

  chair, trying to decide if I should find Dwight and give him a good ass kicking. I was sure I

  could get someone from the force to track his ass down. But I couldn't do that. If I was going to

  take him down, I'd have to do it the right way, and I was more than determined to do so now.

  After I calmed Asia down, I called Jason to see if he could drive my car so I could drive

  hers back to my p
lace. I didn't want to leave it at Dwight's job in case he decided to

  vandalize it. Even though Jason wasn't thrilled about having to leave home, he was glad to help

  and even wanted to find Dwight and beat him down, too, but we both agreed that wouldn't

  solve anything.

  Asia began to stir, then she slowly sat up. She stared at me and rubbed her eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

  "Not that long. About two hours."

  She sighed and brought her knees to her chest. "I'm sorry."

  "For what?"

  "You were right. I shouldn't have gone there. It just brought up even more issues that I wasn't

  ready to face. How did you know I was there anyway?"

  "When I came to check on you and saw you weren't here, I had an idea you were there."

  "Not one of my proudest moments," she quipped with a smile.

  "Everyone has their breaking point. I think that with everything you've dealt with in your

  marriage, you became fed up when he tried to turn everything around on you. He should be glad

  you didn't do anything else other than throw his shit out."

  "Exactly."

  "What are you going to do now?"

  She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I could stay with my friend for awhile, but she just had a

  baby, so I don't want to burden her. I could go to my dad's, but I'm not sure that will go over

  well with his wife."

  "What about staying here?"

  Asia shook her head. "No. I think it would be best if I stay somewhere else right now."

  "No problem. What about your things?"

  "That's the thing. I don't know how I'm going to get them. Knowing Jordan, she probably had a

  field day, throwing my stuff out on the street."

  "I'm sure she hasn't done that."

  "Yet."

  "Do you want me to go to the house and get them?"

  She eyed me like I'd lost my mind. "That's definitely a bad idea. You saw the way Dwight was

  looking at us, like we have something going on."

  "We kind of do but not to the extent of him and Tonya."

  "Maybe so. But it's not a good idea for you to go. I'll see if my dad can help out."

  "Okay, but you can stay here as long as you want. If you'll feel more comfortable, you can stay in

  the guest room."

  "That's really sweet, but I think I'll ask my dad or my friend. Besides, I might be able to

  get my own place soon since I'm pulling in good money with my job."

  I smiled. "That you are."

  "And about the Austin trip, I really hope you're still going, because I need to get away."

  "I'll see what I can do," I replied with a wink.

  She smiled as I got up from the chair. I noticed she had a slight frown on her face.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "Where are you going?"

  "To the guest room. I figured you might need some time to yourself, and that chair is uncomfortable."

  "I was hoping you would stay in here with me."

  I didn't know if I wanted to. Even in her situation, she looked beautiful.

  I nodded and went back to sit in the chair, but Asia stopped me.

  "You can sleep in the bed with me. I won't bite," she promised.

  My dick jumped. I knew I shouldn't be thinking dirty thoughts right now, but she brought them up.

  "Besides," she continued. "It's your bed, and I don't want to put you out."

  "A –"

  "Come on, Bryon."

  I nodded and walked to the other side of the bed. She lay back and looked at the ceiling as I lay beside her. She turned to me then propped herself on her elbow to look at me.

  "You mentioned that you're a 'love them and leave them' type of man. Were you ever in love with any of the women you dated?"

  I lay on my side and looked at her. "I was once, and no, it wasn't with Courtney."

  She laughed.

  "It was actually back in high school. Her name was Rosanna Porter. She was the most popular girl in our class and could be with any guy she wanted. When I was in high school, I was popular, but I wasn't the one who girls flocked to."

  Asia raised an eyebrow then smiled. "Seriously? Could have fooled me."

  "I was in my awkward phase. Anyway, junior year, we had a class together, and she barely gave me the time of day. But one day, she came up and started talking to me. That was the most important day of my life because she spoke to me.

  "We exchanged numbers and started hanging out. Before I knew it, we were together, until I saw her with the captain of the football team at the movies. That definitely wasn't a good look."

  "I can imagine."

  "I really did care about her, but she's not the reason for my issues with love. After a string of hit-or- miss relationships, I figured it just wasn't meant for me to be in one, so I stayed away from them."

  "I think you missed out on actually being with someone and growing to love them."

  "Are you saying that you'll still give love a chance after what's happened?"

  "Yes. One bad experience isn't going to discourage me from being in love again. When I met Dwight, I wasn't going to give him a chance, but my intuition told me to. There was something about him I wanted to know more about. He was sweet and charming, and that's what made me fall in love with him. He was kind of my first everything, which is another reason I loved him so much."

  I looked at her, knowing that I had to be really careful with her, because I didn't want to hurt her even more than she already was.

  "Love is so fickle, because you don't know what to expect. But there is one thing I'm sure of: No matter how difficult things are now, I want to have that love that I've longed for. I might be going through heartache and pain right now, but I know it won't last forever," she told me.

  I smiled. "I like how you think."

  She lay on her back again and exhaled loudly.

  "Still thinking about what happened?" I asked.

  She nodded. "Sort of, but should I really be? We both knew how things were, so I shouldn't be surprised about the outcome."

  "It's still hard to believe that it happened, though."

  "Yeah, it is."

  "I have an idea. Why don't we do something tomorrow? Once you get everything straight with your living situation, you can meet me here, and I'll take you somewhere that'll take your mind off of everything."

  "I would really like to see you try and do that."

  I rubbed her shoulder. "Trust me, I will."

  She looked at me with a smile. "I'll take your word for it." I guess all of the day's events were catching up to her since she yawned.

  "Get some rest," I told her.

  She nodded, said good-night, then turned her back to me. I pulled her close, kissed the back of her neck, and wished her a goodnight. We lay together, listening to each other breathe, a perfect moment between us.

  Dwight

  I walked up to my aunt's home, looking around to make sure no one was following me. I

  opened the garage with the keypad, closed it then pulled out my key. I slowly walked in, hoping

  Aunt Jordan wasn't awake because I didn't want to hear any nagging about where I'd been. I

  figured that I'd suffered enough with Asia last night.

  I breathed a sigh of relief because she was still asleep in her room. I crept to mine and closed the door. I knew she'd have something to say once she woke up, but for now, I'd have some peace and quiet.

  Pulling out my phone, my lock screen photo of Asia and me at the park caught my eye. I sighed and went to the home screen. I knew our relationship was pretty much over after what I'd pulled with Tonya. I couldn't get the look Asia had on her face when she confronted me out of my head. That was one of the reasons I was trying to get my phone; I didn't want her to see the video of Tonya and me having sex. She'd told me she sent it to my phone earlier that day so I could remember "ou
r time together." I really did hurt Asia which made me sad and frustrated.

  Even though I did sort of want to be with Tonya, there was a reason why I did it. I had to hurt Asia in some way because I knew if she'd stayed with me, she would be a part of my mess with Tyrone and Warren. And that's something I didn't want. Instead of risking her being charged as an accessory, I had to do something to keep her away from me. Cheating was the best solution I could think of. That, and the fact that I really was in need of sex since she wasn't supplying it. Call me selfish, but I was going through withdrawals, and I hated it.

  As for Tonya, she knew we were nothing more than co-workers and the occasional screw, so what she'd done to Asia was uncalled for. I did set her straight once we were alone, and she quickly realized that nothing serious was happening between us. Now, I just wished Asia knew that as well.

  I looked around at her things in the room and sighed. I knew she would eventually come by to get them. I never thought our marriage would end, all because of my stupidity.

  I called Warren to let him know what was up, but he didn't really care. Warren was all about himself, so this was a perfect scenario for him; I wouldn't have to focus on anything but getting his and Tyrone's money.

  I went to the walk-in closet and looked through a couple of boxes until I found what I needed. I pulled out the box and placed it on the bed. I opened it and looked at the contents inside. Part of my job with Tyrone was to sell counterfeit documents. I glanced at the most recent one that I'd created and sighed. I wanted to make money, but this wasn't the way. If things weren't so complicated, I probably wouldn't have gone back into doing it, but both Warren and Tyrone had something on me that I couldn't erase. My life was so screwed up at the moment, and I made it even worse by destroying my marriage. But I would have done that anyway if Asia ever found out what I was doing.

  I heard a knock at the door, so I quickly put the lid on the box then shoved it into the closet. The door opened, and my aunt walked in. She wore a worried expression as she stood in the doorway.

  "You just came in? And where's Asia?"

  "I did, and she's at her dad's. She has to watch the house while he's was out of town," I lied.