Becoming Mrs. Right

by Sherri L. Lewis

  The next day, Gary slept late again, so they skipped church. After Sunday brunch, they went to a bunch of furniture stores. Shauntae didn’t want to buy anything, yet. She wanted to YouTube some interior decorating stuff first. It was fun just looking, though. It was crazy knowing she could pick out anything she wanted and she could bring it home simply by saying, “I like that one.” She didn’t know she could ever feel like that in her life.

  She could hear Sherice’s and her mama’s voices, You’d be crazy to mess this up. Don’t tell that man nothing. He don’t need to know the truth.

  Each time Gary pulled out his credit card, Shauntae agreed with them a little bit more. What was she thinking? Wasn’t this the life she always dreamed about, but never thought she could have?

  That night, after another one of Shauntae’s gourmet dinners, they made love again. Neither of them felt too bad about it since they were getting married the next morning. Gary had made her an appointment at Dr. Murray’s office, and then they were going straight to the justice of the peace from there. Then they were leaving for a few days in Asheville. Shauntae had never been nowhere but Atlanta and California so she was looking forward to it.

  Gary was real tired and was knocked out by ten o’clock. Shauntae slipped out of the bed and went downstairs with her cell phone. She wanted to tell her girls everything that was going on.

  She decided to call Candy first. She wasn’t ready for Sherice to diss her minivan. Candy answered on the first ring. She whispered, “Wassup, girl?”

  “Why you whispering?”

  “Hold on a second.” Candy was quiet for a minute. “Bobby is still here. He’s staying the night again. Girl, you was right. It was wonderful. I ain’t got no words to describe it. You were right about the difference between having sex and making love. And you was right again; he told me he loved me. He said he want us to be together. I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

  “Wow, Candy, wow! He said he loved you?”

  “Yeah. He want me to be his woman. He said he gon’ buy me a new bed because he can’t be sleeping in this old, knotty bed my grandmother used to sleep in. I got a man.”

  Shauntae was real happy for her girl, but in the back of her mind she was thinking that if she told Gary everything, she wouldn’t be able to stay at Candy’s if he put her out.

  “How are things with Gary since you been back?”

  “Oh, it’s been good. Got a doctor’s appointment and we’ll see the sex of the baby in the morning.”

  “Make sure you call me and tell me what you having. I gotta go. Bobby is calling me.”

  “A’ight. I’m real happy for you. Y’all have a good time.”

  Shauntae called Sherice next.

  “What’s up, heffa? How you living?”

  Shauntae had to laugh at Sherice’s crazy behind. “I’m good. Back in there with my man.”

  “How back in there? You in the pockets yet? I need a little money. My rent is due and I been low on sponsors lately. Can you help me out?”

  “I just got back. I ain’t got no credit card yet. And if I did, could I even put your rent on a credit card?”

  “You can’t get no access to cash?”

  “What I’m s’posed to say? ‘Gary, can you pay my girl’s rent?’ That ain’t gon’ work. You gotta give me more time, Sherice.”

  “I ain’t got no time. This fool talking ’bout putting me out in the next couple of days.”

  “Dang. I wish I could help you. All I got is fifty-nine dollars.”

  “What I’m s’posed to do with fifty-nine dollars? Never mind. I gotta make some phone calls. I’ll talk to you later.” Sherice hung up the phone.

  Shauntae was glad she didn’t tell Sherice about her new clothes and her minivan. Knowing Sherice, she’d want her to try to sell something to pay her rent.

  It was a good thing she didn’t tell Gary the truth. If he put her out, she wouldn’t have nowhere to go. And her little fifty-nine dollars wouldn’t take her very far.

  It looked like she was getting married in the morning.

  Thirty-two

  The next week was like a fairy tale. Shauntae felt like she was in the movie Pretty Woman and that she had been rescued by her knight on a white horse.

  The ultrasound was a emotional experience. She had got two ultrasounds with Brianna, but this was different. Unlike Devon, who sat with the ultrasound person and asked questions like Shauntae wasn’t even in the room, Gary sat next to her and held her hand. He kept kissing her face. They talked about the blobs they were seeing on the screen and laughed together when it seemed like the baby was waving at them.

  When the ultrasound person pointed to a blob that showed that Shauntae was right about the baby being a boy, Gary kissed her and then he started crying and talking about how happy he was that she was giving him a son. Shauntae couldn’t believe how happy he was about everything. And it made her happy about everything. She was actually starting to get happy about having this baby. She planned to watch all the YouTube videos she could so she could be the best mother possible.

  Dr. Murray said everything looked great with the baby. She said that Shauntae was twenty-two weeks pregnant and that her due date was around July third.

  Shauntae looked sharp at the justice of the peace in the beautiful, cream-colored maternity suit Gary had bought her. They said their “I do’s” real quick and then got in the car to head to Asheville for their honeymoon.

  When they got to the five-star hotel, Shauntae wondered how much money Gary had. She had never seen nothing like it before. It was fancy and rich feeling, like Gary’s house and the restaurants and stores he had been taking her to. Shauntae was getting a little bit more comfortable with that fancy-feeling stuff.

  The suite he got was more like a well-decorated apartment than a hotel room. It had a dining table and couches and chairs and a bed so comfortable Shauntae wanted to spend the whole honeymoon there. The hotel had a bunch of different restaurants that served fancy food. Instead of turning her nose up at it, Shauntae wanted to taste everything and then learn how to make the stuff she liked.

  Every morning, after wonderful nights of lovemaking, or snuggling in the bed together, they had a fancy breakfast, and then Shauntae went to the spa while Gary played golf. She didn’t even know he played golf.

  The spa had a special massage for pregnant women. And then they had a massage where they used some hot rocks and rubbed them all over her body. And then there was another where they used these special oils with different smells that left Shauntae feeling high.

  One day, she and Gary got a couple’s massage. He said he’d rather play golf than lie on a table with somebody rubbing him, but he had wanted to try it since Shauntae was hyping it up every day.

  A couple of days, they went into Asheville and there were cute stores everywhere. Gary kept buying her nice things that cost ridiculous prices. People with money lived in a whole different world. There were a couple of times that Shauntae told Gary that what he was buying for her wasn’t worth the ridiculous sky-high price he was paying, but he told her nothing was too good for her.

  They went to this special garden that was specially grown for people to come and see how pretty the flowers was. At first, Shauntae couldn’t understand what the big deal was about going to see some flowers. When she got there, she understood. She had never seen anything so beautiful in all her life. Gary kept talking about how much of an artist God is and Shauntae had to agree. The whole place looked like God had picked up a paintbrush and made something beautiful for His children to enjoy.

  The whole thing was too good to be true. Even though she felt bad, Shauntae was glad she hadn’t told Gary the truth. It was the best week of her whole life and no matter what happened, she had enjoyed it. People like her never even dreamed about stuff like that, let alone got to live it.

  Even with all the spa treatments, fancy meals, expensive gifts, and everything, what Shauntae loved the most was being in the bed with Gary every
night. It was the best sex—or best lovemaking—she ever had. But it was even better snuggling with him every night. His body was warm and felt strong and manly. A couple of times, she woke up in the middle of the night. When she felt the heat coming off his body and heard his breathing and felt the weight of his arm over her, she knew she was somebody’s wife—a feeling she thought she’d never have.

  On Friday evening when they got in bed, Gary said, “Maybe we’ll go home tomorrow. We haven’t been to church in forever. Wouldn’t that be the perfect end to our honeymoon week? To go worship the Lord together?”

  Shauntae tried to keep the panic out of her eyes. “Aw, honey. You’re not supposed to go to church while you celebrating your honeymoon. How ’bout we stay and have our own little personal church service right here?” She kissed him real deep, knowing it wouldn’t take much to change his mind.

  “Okay, baby. We’ll stay until Sunday night. But we have to go to church next Sunday. I don’t think I’ve ever been away from church this long.”

  “Okay. Next Sunday for sure.”

  They usually fell asleep together after some good loving, Gary’s body wrapped around hers, his hands holding on to her belly. That night, after his breathing changed, Shauntae was awake all by herself, trying to figure out what to do about church. She couldn’t risk running into Devon, Cassandra, and Brianna. Devon hadn’t called her back to say nothing about lifting the warrant.

  Gary rubbed his hands over her belly and kissed her in his sleep. Shauntae decided to go ahead and enjoy what little bit of her honeymoon she had left. She’d deal with Devon when she got back home.

  Thirty-three

  Shauntae and Gary got home late Sunday afternoon after spending their last luxurious day at the Grove Park Inn. After Gary left for work Monday morning, Shauntae stayed in the big king-sized bed in what was now their bedroom.

  She watched movies and lounged in bed half the day and then got up and cooked before Gary got home. She was happy to be in the kitchen again.

  The next day, she picked up Candy and brought her to the house. They spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking and talking. Even though Shauntae had called Candy from Asheville, Candy couldn’t believe Shauntae had got a new car, got married, and gone on a honeymoon since they last saw each other. Shauntae shared every detail of the whole trip.

  Candy had news of her own. Bobby was talking about their future together. They were deciding if she was gonna move in his house with him and his sons or if they was getting a new house. He wanted to fix up her grandmother’s house to rent out.

  Candy and Shauntae had the best time talking about their men and their plans and everything that was making them happy. The whole day, they kept saying, “Don’t tell Sherice.” Neither one of them felt like hearing her mouth or dealing with her rent situation.

  Shauntae didn’t talk to Sherice the whole week she was gone. No telling what she had done to pay her rent. Shauntae would tell her she was married and had gotten the car, but she didn’t want Sherice to know nothing about the shopping or her honeymoon. She was sure Sherice wouldn’t be happy for her like Candy was. Especially since she didn’t have nothing good going for herself.

  The Wednesday after they got back, Shauntae knew she needed to call Devon. Sunday was getting closer and closer and she had to figure out what to do about church. She practiced her most perfect English for about an hour before she finally called him.

  He sounded irritated when he picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Devon, it’s Shauntae.”

  “I know who it is. What do you want?”

  “I’m sorry. I know you’re at work; did I catch you at a bad time?”

  He let out a deep breath and then made his voice a little bit nicer. “No, it’s not a bad time. What do you want?”

  “Devon, I know that with our past and stuff, seeing my name on the phone probably doesn’t make you happy. I want to apologize for everything I ever did to make your life difficult and Brianna’s life difficult. I’m sorry. If I could go back and change everything, I would. But I can’t. All I can do is say I’m sorry and hope that you’ll forgive me.”

  “If you’re saying all this so I can lift the warrant—”

  “I’m not saying this so you’ll lift the warrant. I can understand why you would think that because I’ve done some really shady stuff in the past. I don’t expect you to believe that I changed overnight. I’m asking for a chance to prove that I’m different. Would you give me that chance?”

  There was a long silence on Devon’s end.

  Shauntae filled it by saying, “And you can please apologize to Cassandra for me for how I disrespected her every time I saw her? She seems like she’s real nice and she’s been good to my daughter even when . . . well, especially when I wasn’t there for her. Could you thank her for me? I would do it myself but I think she’d be more upset to hear from me than you are.”

  Devon was still silent.

  “Devon?”

  “I’m listening. Thinking. I still want to know why I should believe you’re going to be different.”

  “I got married this week. I’m having a baby in a few months. Devon, I messed things up so bad with Brianna. I gotta get it right this time. I can’t be treacherous and triflin’ all my life, can I?”

  Devon chuckled and it gave Shauntae some hope. “Yeah, I know I was treacherous and triflin’. And I’m sorry. So sorry. You have to believe me. And I’m not calling about the warrant. You said you would call me when you decided and I respect that. I need to ask you about something else.”

  “Here we go.”

  “Come on, you’re supposed to be giving me a chance.” She wanted to tell him about her honeymoon and her new car and new clothes and how rich Gary was so he wouldn’t have to worry about her wanting to get in his pockets. But then he would think she was still up to her old tricks. “The thing is . . . me and my husband go to the same church as you. Can you believe that? What are the chances, as big as Atlanta is? And, well, the first Sunday I came, I saw you, Brianna, and Cassandra and it scared me. I haven’t been back to church since. But I need to go back. I want to go back.”

  “Need to go back for him or for you?”

  “Both. For him, because it’s important that we go to church as a family. And for me, because I’m trying to figure God out. I can’t say I’m a Christian yet, but I want to be a better person and I know He’s my best chance at that.”

  After a pause, Devon said, “I understand not becoming a Christian right away and taking time to figure that out. I’ve done the same thing since me and Cassandra have been together.”

  Shauntae bit her lip. She was getting more hopeful.

  “But how will that work? Brianna goes to church there. If you saw her last time you came, you could see her again. I’m not sure she’s ready for that. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

  It was Shauntae’s turn to be silent. She finally said, “I understand. I don’t want to cause her any more pain than I already have. Thanks for listening. And once again, I’m sorry to you, Cassandra, and especially Brianna for all the pain I caused you all. Maybe not now, but hopefully one day, you’ll be able to forgive me. You take care, okay?”

  Devon chuckled. “That’s it? You’re not gonna cuss me out or scream and yell or tell me I’m ruining your life?”

  Shauntae laughed a little bit. “Like I told you, I’m different. When you give Brianna a hug tonight, sneak her one from me, okay? Take good care of her.” Shauntae hung up the phone.

  What was she gonna do? There was no way Gary was gonna not go to church this Sunday or any other Sunday. And there was no way she could explain why she couldn’t go without telling all her dirty secrets.

  She decided to pray. “God, me and you been doing real good lately. I know I ain’t done this completely right because I haven’t told him the truth. But I tried, God! You was there! You heard me trying to tell him and he wouldn’t let me. And, God, you know this was the best week of my
whole miserable life. I want to keep this life. I feel like you gave it to me. It ain’t like the devil would do nothing this nice for me.”

  Shauntae didn’t know if she was praying right. She didn’t sound holy and spiritual like Gary. All she could do was talk to God. “I need you to help me out, okay? I don’t know how to fix all this. If you help me, I promise, I’m going to become the good person I’m pretending to be. Please help me be a good person. And help me figure out how to get me and Gary back to church.”

  Shauntae thought for a minute and then said, “For real though, God, if you fix it to where I can go to church with my husband, then I’ll know that all the good stuff happening to me is from you and not the devil. And then we can talk about whether I could be a Christian or not. Okay, God?”

  Shauntae sat there on the couch for a minute. She didn’t know if God was supposed to answer her or if there was something else she was supposed to do. A few seconds later, her phone vibrated. It was a text from Devon.

  Me, Cassandra, and Brianna go to the second service. We use the back entrance, where children’s church is. If you and your husband go to early service and use the front entrance, and leave right after service, it could work. If you watch carefully, there should be no accidental run-ins. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this so please don’t make me regret giving you a chance.

  Shauntae screamed and dropped the phone. God answered her. She couldn’t believe He was actually listening to her and had answered her right away. So it was Him that was making all this good stuff happen in her life. Shauntae screamed again. So did that mean that God really loved her like everybody kept saying?

  The baby started turning flips in her stomach. Shauntae rubbed the spot where she felt him. “Sorry, li’l baby. Mama’s okay. She just excited.”