Cassandra: A Short Story

by Amani

lie to me Jordan. You’re in fucking Jenkinsburg.”

  I looked at my phone and cursed. God I was tired of her ass. “Tracy how the hell do you know where I am?”

  “I pulled the GPS. I’m five minutes away and Jordan I swear if you at some bitch’s house…” I hung up the phone.

  I hurried and threw on my clothes as fast as I could. Sometimes, I swear I didn’t know why I dealt with the drama of Tracy. As I strapped my Rolex on my wrist I remembered why. I shoved my feet into my shoes and raced out the bedroom. Racing down the hallway I ran right into Nicole. She was standing there naked, holding a frying pan and a spatula. “Good morning baby, I made breakfast”.

  I smirked almost forgetting that Tracy was hot on my trail. She wasn’t the thickest woman, but what she lacked in cup size and ass, she more than made up for in tongue action. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her lips. “Damn baby. I really wish I could, but I got to head back into town. Can I get a rain check?”

  She popped me on the butt with a spatula, “you better.”

  I kissed her again before rushing towards the door. “I’ll call you,” I shouted over my shoulder. Before heading to my car I peeked around the corner. I didn’t see Tracy’s Lexus so I made a mad dash to my car and headed back to Atlanta. I smiled as thoughts of last night flooded my mind. It wasn’t Nicole’s body or looks that had attracted me to her, nor was it her slim waist. Rather, it was the Chanel clutch and Land Rover car key she carried. When I approached her at the bar all it took was a smile and a kiss on the hand to hook her.

  When I pulled up to my pops’ house he was sitting on the porch swing like always. I needed some more sleep before I went home and dealt with Tracy’s madness. “Hey pops, how are you doing?”

  He looked up from the newspaper he was reading. “Boy where you been? Tracy has been calling here all night looking for you.”

  I sat down on the swing next to him. “Pops, I’m not trying to deal with Tracy right now.”

  “So, I guess that means you were with some woman.”

  “How you figure that?”

  “Because I know my son. Boy, I keep trying to tell you, playing with people’s emotions is dangerous. Tracy is already crazy.”

  Tracy didn’t scary me. I knew how to deal with her. “Pops trust me, I know how to deal with Tracy. Besides, I like them crazy. They have the best.” I stopped mid-sentence when he stared at me sideways.

  “They have the best what?” I stared at my phone.

  I was saved when Sabrina came out of the house. Sabrina was the nursing student that rented a room from my pops. I thought it was a good idea that pops had her living with him. Now that he was getting up there in age, someone had to look after him. She walked out onto the porch and handed pops a glass of sweet tea and some pills. He took the tea, but pushed away the pills. “I’ll take them a little later.”

  She argued with him with her eyes. I sat back and watched what was going on. She must’ve lost the argument because she turned to go in the house. I grabbed her, “hey Sabrina when we are going to go out and do a little something?”

  “How is Tracy?”

  “Touché, Touché. Can I at least get a glass of sweet tea?”

  “Your hands are not broken.” She broke away from me.

  She went inside and closed the screen door behind her. “Boy, that’s a good girl, leave her alone. You don’t mean her no good.”

  “Just a little innocent flirting pops.”

  “Well, it’s all that innocent flirting that got you four kids by three different women.”

  I looked at him up and down. “Why are you so sensitive about her? You hitting that?”

  “Boy, did you forget that I’m your dad?”

  Just then all my kids came running out of the house, “daddy where you been?”

  “Why haven’t you come seen me?” I was at a loss for words. I wasn’t expecting to see them.

  My eldest son Jordan Jr. hopped on my lap. JJ was about to be seven and the only one of my kids that I couldn’t deny. The boy looked just like me. He was my carbon copy. He smiled at me revealing his missing two front teeth. My twins Skylar and Skyla were five. After two DNA test, I had no choice but to claim them. I didn’t trust that white woman at all. My youngest boy Jamie was three. Out of all my kids he was the one I saw the least. His mother was a mile and a half past crazy, so I tried to avoid her at all cost. She was good for a quick nut though. “Daddy, where you have been,” JJ asked me again.

  “Daddy had to go to the military.” Pops rolled his eyes. I hadn’t seen any of them since Christmas. It wasn’t anything to do with them, I have just been busy. “Why don’t you all go back in the house? Daddy will be in in a minute. Pops what are my kids doing here,” I asked when they were out of earshot.

  “Isis and Tina asked me to watch JJ and the twins while they went out last night. Then I just figured I would go ahead and call Victoria and ask her to bring Jamie.” He answered, staring back at the newspaper.

  “Pops, I’m tired, I don’t feel like being bothered with them.” He closed the newspaper. I could tell he was aggravated.

  “Have you ever thought that I might enjoy spending time with my grandkids? Besides, they need a male role model.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m in my kids’ lives.”

  “Who you trying to convince Jordan?”

  Tired of listening to his preaching and unwanted advice, I got up and went inside the house. My kids were sitting around the tv watching Arthur on PBS. I sat down on the couch, planning on taking a quick nap. Skyla got up and pulled a book out of her bag. “Daddy pawpaw was reading Harry Potter to us, can you read some too?” I almost said no until I realized Sabrina was in the kitchen listening.

  “Yeah baby girl, daddy will read to you.” She hopped on my lap with excitement. “JJ, turn off the tv.” He did and they all gathered around me as I opened the book to the marked page. “Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Odmen! Tweak!” They all laughed and I laughed too. See, I was a good father.

  Joseph

  I sat on the front porch and looked out onto the street. Most days you could find me right here on my porch swing. I loved sitting here. Some of the best memories I have of my late wife, Jessica, were sitting right here on this swing watching the boys play or staring up at the night sky. Since she died I haven’t even thought of remarrying. I’ve dated quite a few times, but I’ve never come close to loving another woman the way I loved my wife. God, how I missed that woman. But it wouldn’t be much longer though, just a matter of weeks, months at the most.

  Sabrina came out and sat next to me. She had a smile on her face. “What’s so amusing?”

  “Jordan is in there reading Harry Potter to the kids.”

  “Yeah, you can say he has his moments. Every now and again a good father will pounce out of him.” She tried to hand me those pills again.

  I pushed her hand away “I’m not taking those pills.”

  “Mr. Joseph, you need to take your pills.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they are going to help you live longer.”

  “Quality over quantity my dear. Those pills make me feel worse than the cancer. I can’t even play with my grandkids when I take them.”

  She gave up and put the pills back in the bottle. “Ok, fine. But can we at least tell your sons? I don’t like lying to them.” I motioned for her to lower her voice. Jordan has hearing better than any dog.

  “I will tell them, when the time is right.”

  She stared at me with her big eyes. “When? Let’s be honest Mr. Joseph you don’t have much time. And since you won’t take your medicine, you have even less time.”

  “Soon Sabrina. My boys are fragile, you can’t just spring stuff like this on them.”

  “You are one stubborn man.”

  She kissed my forehead, “you f
eel a little warm and clammy. I’ll go get the thermometer.” She got up and went back inside. I looked out onto the street. Today was not as cold as the last few days. It only snowed a little today. I saw the curtains move in the window across the street. I waved, knowing that Leslie was watching. “Nosey old woman.”

  Sabrina came back out with the thermometer. “Open wide,” she said. She placed the thermometer under my tongue. “Yep. You are definitely coming down with something. I get you some Theraflu and honey.”

  She walked back inside and Tracy’s black Lexus pulled up. She jumped out and raced up the porch. She looked a mess. Her mascara was running and her clothes were wrinkled like she had slept in them. “Is Jordan here?”

  “Yes.”

  She wiped her eyes, “good, because I’m going to hurt him.”

  Why was I always being dragged into their problems? They were going to have to do this somewhere else. Today was not the day, especially with my grandkids in the house. “Tracy calm down there are kids in there.”

  “I don’t care,” she said running past me into the house. I followed behind her as quickly as I could. In the living room, Jordan and the kids were on the couch asleep. Tracy pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. “My man is a good father.” It scared me how quickly she did that one eighty.

  Little Joe

  I was beyond glad when the second service had finally ended. There was still the night service, but I wouldn’t be in attendance. We were all sitting in pastor’s office. I was still recovering from last night. I was tired and my head was