Scandals

by Sasha Campbell

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” I was at least certain that as long as I gave him what he wanted, my secret would be safe with him.

  “That’s fucked up! Maybe you should quit.”

  “I can’t afford to.” Trust me, I was more than ready to hang up my dancing shoes, but the money was just too good for me to let some bastard run me away from my job. Besides, I still had two kids to feed, a mortgage, and a car note. Until I graduated from nursing school and passed my boards, I needed my job.

  Reyna tapped her pudgy little fingers against her lip. “Yes, but if he tells Anthony ...” She allowed her voice to trail off for dramatic effect. The outcome went unsaid.

  “Either way I’m fucked,” I replied, biting my lip in frustration. “At least right now Anthony hasn’t tried taking me back to court for a custody battle.” And I wanted to keep it that way.

  Reyna rolled her eyes with disgust. “I still can’t believe he tried to buy the girls’ parental rights! I’m just saying ... what kind of man does something like that?”

  “A man who is used to getting what he wants, that’s who.” Ever since that incident at his office, I had been keeping our phone conversations brief and only allowing him to have the girls on his scheduled weekends unless it was a special event. I had even contacted an attorney for a free consultation, and she told me as long as I didn’t give him any reason to contest the custody agreement, then I had nothing to worry about. That was a relief, although I had a lot of reason to worry.

  When Anthony arrived and picked up the girls, he tried to be cordial. At least his Barbie wannabe had sense enough to stay her skinny ass in the car.

  Reyna left for a Mary Kay party, and while I waited for Tremayne to come over I pulled out my school books and got to studying. I had a big test on Monday that was fifty percent of my grade, so I’d decided to take the night off and spend some time studying and with Tremayne. Saturdays were big money nights, and I tried not to think about how much money I was missing out on.

  By the time Tremayne pulled into my driveway, I had memorized most of my notes and was feeling pretty good about my test.

  “Hey, baby.” I opened the door and greeted him with my soft lips pressed to his. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. I felt so lucky to have that man in my life.

  I stepped aside and escorted him into the foyer and took a moment to admire how well he was wearing a pair of jeans and a red polo shirt.

  “Come on in, have a seat. I made us some snacks to eat while we watch the movie.” I held up the new release so Tremayne could share in my excitement. It was then I noticed that he wasn’t smiling. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He shrugged it off, then moved into the living room over to the couch and took a seat. Mama ain’t raised no dummy. I knew something was on his mind, but I had every intention of making sure the only thing he was thinking about was me.

  I fixed us both some Ro-tel and chips, then we got comfortable on the couch. While I popped in the movie, Tremayne poured us both a glass of white wine. The evening was perfect.

  “How was work last night?” Tremayne asked only seconds after the movie began.

  Damn, I hope he wasn’t planning on talking through the entire movie. We had plenty of time for that later. I didn’t even bother to look away from the television screen when I answered. “It was busy as always.”

  “Really?” He didn’t sound convinced.

  “Yes, really. Why you ask?” My belly did a flip-flop because I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say, and his response confirmed it.

  “Because I came by the hospital last night.”

  I practically choked on a chip. “You did?”

  “Yes, I did. I wanted to surprise you with a bouquet of flowers, but unfortunately no one in the ER knew who you were. The girl at the desk was even nice enough to look through the directory and told me something interesting. No one named Monica Houston works at the medical center.”

  Ain’t that a bitch.

  I sat there with my mouth wide open. I was straight busted. My brain didn’t work that fast, so I didn’t know what to say.

  “What the hell’s going on, Monica?” Tremayne reached for the remote, pausing the movie, and the entire room went deathly quiet. I could tell by the serious look on his face that this was no joking matter.

  “Okay ... I lied.”

  He shook his head and looked totally confused. “Why? Why would you lie about working at the hospital?”

  I looked down at my plate, over at the television, and out the window. Everywhere except at Tremayne. “Because I was ashamed to tell you the truth.”

  “The truth? The truth about what?”

  “About what I really do for a living.” Oh goodness, this was worse than I thought it would be.

  His expression seemed to soften. “Baby ... what could be so bad that you couldn’t tell me?”

  I took a long breath. “My job. I didn’t lie about working at the hospital. I lied about working in the ER.” I took a moment to catch my breath. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes anymore, and prayed the Lord didn’t strike me down for this one. “I work in housekeeping cleaning patient rooms.” I took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch cushions. Oh God, I couldn’t believe I had let that lie fall from my lips. “I’m employed through a temporary service.”

  I guess I must have looked pathetic because Tremayne draped his right arm across my shoulders. I released a deep sigh of relief for thinking fast on my feet. “You know how hard it is trying to raise two girls on minimum wage.”

  “Hey, baby. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” Leaning over, he planted his sweet lips to my cheek and squeezed me tight. Damn, I didn’t deserve this man. Genuine tears spilled from my eyes. I just wasn’t used to anyone being this good to me.

  “You know how embarrassed I would be if anyone found out I was scrubbing toilets?” I tried to laugh it off, but it was no use. A sob caught in my throat and I brushed the tears away. How in the world had I suddenly become such a liar?

  “Hey, we all have to do what we gotta do. Would you believe I used to flip burgers while I was in college?”

  “Yes, but I’m a grown-ass woman with two kids.” He had no idea how embarrassing it was being my age with almost nothing going for myself.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re going to school and trying to make a life for yourself. No one can fault you for that.” He cupped my chin and tilted my lips upward and kissed me with so much passion my toes curled.

  “Thank you.” I was seconds away from bawling. Like I said, I don’t deserve someone as good as him. “Can we watch the movie now?” I was more than ready to end this particular conversation and get back to the action flick, especially since I was feeling guilty as hell, but Tremayne wasn’t ready to let it go.

  “Listen, Monica ... I hope you realize by now I am an all-or-nothing man. When I have a woman, I’m committed to her.” He sighed and dragged a hand across his face and I waited, giving him time to collect his words. I’d never seen him look that serious before. “What I’m trying to say, Monica ... is that I love you and at some point when we both feel we’re ready I want to make you, Liese, and Arissa a permanent part of my life.”

  My heart was pounding so hard I couldn’t even speak. He loved me. That fine, educated man loved me ... a woman with secrets and excess baggage. His words meant so much my hands started to shake.

  “But we gotta be honest with each other. As your man I should be able to accept you for you, and you should be able to do the same. No secrets.”

  “You’re right,” I said, and it was the perfect time to be honest with him and tell him what I was doing. Only I couldn’t.

  “Do you need money? If you do, baby, all you have to do is ask.”

  I cut him off. “I’ve got too much pride for that.”

  “You’re my woman. I’m supposed to help you.” He gave me a huge grin. “Now let’s finish watch
ing the movie, then I’m taking you to bed and show you how much you mean to me.” He lay back against the couch and I settled between his legs and rested my head on his chest and tried not to think about the lies that were starting to become second nature.

  30

  Robin

  I had just finished giving a dude a lap dance and was strutting across the club in nothing but a pink G-string, titties and ass bouncing. This was half-price night and the brothas had flooded the club. Just in case they hadn’t received the memo, I wanted to make sure they all saw what I had to offer.

  Dudes started hollering trying to get a sistah’s attention and I grinned and added a little extra umph to my sway. I was almost to the dressing room when I spotted Halo sitting at a small table. Any other time I would have gone the long way to avoid him, but I had important matters to deal with, like finding out how to get my sister out of this mess.

  “There’s my treasure chest. Yo, come holla at me a second.” He signaled with his hand for me to move closer. I faked like he was bothering me and sucked my teeth in disgust.

  “Damn, Robin, give a nigga a break.”

  I dragged my feet over to where he was sitting. As soon as I was close enough he snaked out an arm and pulled me against him.

  “Halo, what do you want?” I said through gritted teeth.

  “I wanna know who that nigga was you were tryna make me jealous with?” He actually sounded upset.

  “Jealous? How the hell was I trying to make you jealous when I didn’t even know you were coming there?” Goodness, men could be so stupid at times.

  “If you were tryna hurt a brotha you succeeded, no doubt,” he whined. “Robin ... I miss you. Why won’t you let a nigga prove it to you?” He stared at me with those green puppy-dog eyes of his. It didn’t make any sense for a man to look that good. Thank goodness I already knew behind those fine qualities was a fuckin’ lunatic. If I wanted information, I needed to play this shit right, because one thing I could say about Halo, he wasn’t stupid. If all of a sudden I acted like I was interested in him, he would know something was up.

  “C’mon, Halo. Why don’t you just give it up?”

  “ ’Cause I can’t. I miss that good-ass pussy you got,” he said with a grin.

  I allowed myself to smile just a little. “Yeah, my shit is the bomb.”

  He hugged me close, laughing. “I know, that’s why I want you back in my life. C’mon, can’t you just give a brotha a chance to prove he’s changed?”

  I sighed. “You just not gonna give up, are you?”

  “Not when I want something as bad as I want you.”

  Ever since I had visited Deena in jail, all I could think about was what she had told me. Floyd raping her for God knows how long. After all she had gone through, there was no way I could stay mad. All my fight and anger was now pointed at finding out who had framed my sister, and that meant getting close to Halo again. I knew it was just a matter of time before the truth was revealed.

  I acted like I was giving his suggestion some consideration when in reality I had already made up my mind and knew I was going to see him again. I had to, but it was going to be on my terms and just long enough to find out what I needed. But I had to play it safe, otherwise I would have to deal with a lot more than just Halo’s fist.

  “How about we try being friends? Wait ... let me finish. Let’s start with being friends and see where things lead.”

  Halo clearly didn’t agree, but he didn’t argue either. I gave him a look that said either that or nothing and he finally lowered his shoulders and grinned. “Yeah ... a’ight. I’ll take what I can get for now.”

  I grinned. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  “How about dinner on Sunday?”

  I had planned to spend the evening at Trey’s place curled up on the couch, watching a new DVD release, but helping Deena was just too important to pass up the opportunity.

  “Okay, but dinner only.”

  “How about we let it do what it do?”

  I could see the look in his eyes. He thought he was going to dip into my treasure chest. Well, he was in for a few surprises. “Cool. Call me tomorrow.” I then wiggled out of his grasp before he could try to kiss me, and made it back to the dressing room. The whole time I kept wondering if maybe I was making a big mistake.

  31

  Monica

  “For a second there I thought maybe you weren’t working tonight.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I turned around and found Greg sitting at a small table close to the stage with a beer in his hand. It took everything I had not to ask security to escort his ass out of the building. What the hell was he doing at Scandalous on a Saturday night?

  All of a sudden my head began to hurt. It was bad enough he was still showing up at the club every Tuesday like clockwork for a private dance that felt more like being violated. Not to mention I was still meeting him at the hotel on Wednesdays. He even had the nerve to request the same room every time and was now calling it our love nest. I wanted to refuse but I couldn’t, because so far he had been a man of his word and hadn’t said anything to Anthony.

  Reluctantly I walked over to him with a hand propped at my hip. “Greg, when are we going to stop playing this game?” My voice was cold and serious. I was far beyond annoyed.

  “Well let’s see ... Hmm ... probably not until I’ve had my fill of you, and as good as you feel that’s a long time coming.” He chuckled, then boldly reached out and pulled me close until I was standing between his legs. I leaned back as far as I could, but it didn’t stop him from kissing the side of my neck and whispering in my ear, “Have I told you how good you taste? Next week I plan on tasting that sweet pussy.”

  Men at the club grabbed and touched me all the time, but it was different when Greg did it. As soon as I felt his clammy wet lips, I flinched. “Would you please let me go!” I gave him one hard push, putting some distance between us.

  He shook his head wearing a nauseating smirk. “I don’t know why you keep playing this game with me when you know you can’t win.”

  I was so tired of him hanging the custody of my girls over my head. It had to stop. I couldn’t keep having sex with this man and letting him use my body at his own discretion. I was starting to have a hard time performing for Tremayne because I felt so used by the time he tried to touch me. Not to mention the guilt was starting to take its toll. I sighed unhappily. “Don’t you have any compassion? Goodness! All I’m trying to do is raise my girls and graduate nursing school.”

  “Which is why I always tip you generously. I know it’s hard out here for a single parent, so I’m trying to do everything I can to help you. You wash my hands and I wash yours. I think that’s a fair enough trade, don’t you think?” Greg gave me this look like my response really mattered. As far as I was concerned, the sick fuck could kiss my ass. “How about my lap dance? Did you know it’s the highlight of my week?”

  Did he know that every week I imagined plunging a knife through his heart? “I was just getting ready to change for my next set. Why don’t you have a seat? I’ll be right back.”

  “And I’ll be right here waiting.”

  I did an exaggerated eye roll and hurried back into the dressing room. I don’t know what I was going to do with Greg. I couldn’t think straight and had barely scored a B on my last test. My irritation was even starting to rub off at home with the girls. And when Tremayne tried to make love to me last night, I pretty much told him I had a headache. As much as I didn’t want to lose custody of my girls, something had to give because I couldn’t keep living like this.

  I was slamming my locker shut when Treasure stepped into the locker room. I eyed the Wilma Flintstone costume she was wearing.

  She gave my face a once-over, then asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

  I wasn’t sure how much I could say without getting myself into trouble. But I didn’t know where else to turn. All I knew was I needed help. “Did you see that guy I was just
talking to?” She nodded. “He’s a friend of my ex-husband who’s been blackmailing me.” I then told her everything, I guess because unlike Reyna, Treasure wasn’t one to judge me. She understood.

  “Deja ... Deja ... Deja.” She wagged a perfectly manicured fingernail in my face and actually looked disappointed. “Girl, you shoulda come to me a long time ago. I coulda already gotten rid of his ass.”

  “You can?” I was so excited, I hugged her. “Treasure, you’re a lifesaver! How are you going to do that?” I didn’t want to get ahead of myself.

  “All you need to do is turn the table on his ass,” she replied like it was really that easy.

  “How can I do that?” One thing I loved about Treasure was that she knew how to handle her job. I really needed to start taking notes.

  “Think about it. I learned to find out everything you can about your clients because you never know when you might need to use that bit of information.” She looked me straight in the eye. “What do you know about him?”

  I leaned against the lockers with my arms crossed. I had to think about that one for a minute because Greg Stevens started working at Richmond Investments right around the time Anthony and I were separating.

  I pressed my trembling lips together, then exhaled. “I know he’s married to this rich chick whose father is the dean of medicine at the University of Richmond.”

  She snapped her fingers. “Bingo! There you go. You know more than enough. C’mon.”

  I was totally confused but that didn’t stop me from following her into the dressing room, where her eyes scanned the area.

  “Tequila! C’mere a minute,” she called.

  A pretty white girl stopped brushing her hair and without hesitation strutted her long legs over to see what she needed. I loved the way when Treasure spoke, girls just jumped to attention.

  “Yeah, girl, what’s up?”

  “Remember that time we helped Ginger out?”

  “Hell yeah, I remember,” Tequila said with a mischievous grin.

  “Well, Deja’s got the same problem.” I swiveled my head back and forth between them as Treasure started chattering away, telling her only what she needed to know.