Let Me Say This, Again

by B. Swangin Webster

  “Matt? Matthew Perry is that you? What you doing hanging out in that building. Now you do know what goes on around here after dark. You better get on over here and give your auntie some suga.”

  Matthew walked quickly over to the only person that helped him five years ago. She was the only person that knew his pain.

  “Uh, hey Miss Houston. How are you doing? What are you doing out at this time of night?”

  “Chile couldn’t sleep. I feel a little antsy, and whenever I get that feeling, something bad is gonna happen.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t worry about it.” He said while walking her towards her building.

  “Well, you be careful.” She said as she stepped up on her stoop. Don’t go getting yourself into any trouble down here. You hear me? Let sleeping dogs lie. You go on home now. You hear?” She said as she walked into the door and let it close behind her.

  He watched as she continued down the hallway to her first floor apartment. He was lost in thought when the first blow hit him. He felt himself falling forward and before he could regain his composure, something hit the back of his leg that sent him sprawling towards the concrete sidewalk.

  He rolled away and grabbed the attacker’s ankle and pulled him down. He heard the body hit the pavement beside him and he had opened his pocket knife before falling. He drove the knife into the person’s leg and they let out a howl that would wake the dead. He felt another swing barely miss his head but he felt the air blow by his ear. He was just about to get up when he felt something hard against the side of his face and heard a pop. The immediate jolt of pain sent Matthew crashing back down to the concrete. He drew his gun and just as he was about to fire, he heard Mrs. Houston’s voice saying she had called the police. He heard the feet scrambling and heard them running away from the alley. He got up and leaned against the dumpster and ducked inside of the abandoned building. The police drove by with the search light pointed down the alleyway.

  He walked into his house with a massive headache and a huge lump on the side of his face. He tried to get past Lynette’s door before she woke up but it was too late. She didn’t say a word as she came out of her room, passing him in the hallway. He got to his room and laid back on his bed. His door opened and she walked in with a bag of ice and a disapproving look.

  “First of all, it’s none of my business what you went out here and did. All I know is I have only seen that look one other time before. I don’t want to know what happened, all I want to know is, is the other guy still living?” She said while handing him the ice.

  “For the time being.” He answered her without looking up.

  “What does that mean?” She said with her hands on her wide hips.

  “His best bet would be to stay in hiding because if I find him or his contacts.”

  Realization hit him and he jumped up and shouted that he needed to check on something while running past Lynette on his way out the door.

  He drove to his ex-wife’s house and banged on her door until she snatched it open.

  “What!” She said while blocking his path into the house and pulling her robe closed.

  “Are you and Tamia ok?”

  “Why?”

  “Just answer the fucking question.” He shouted as he walked towards the back.

  “Nigga, why you here looking busted up. What, you and your new girls ex get into it?” She laughed.

  “I can see you are as spiteful as ever.” He said as he turned and looked at her.

  “Well, if you can see that, than you can see I’m ok. Tamia is at a friend’s house and I have company. Good night.” she said as she held the door open and watched him walk out of it.

  She walked back towards her bedroom with a smile on her face. Galen was still butt naked in her bed, awaiting her return. She dropped her robe and climbed onto her bed. He pulled her down to him and kissed her much rougher than he had before.

  “Whoa, why you being so rough?” she asked as she pushed away from him.

  “Look, c’mon. You took long enough that I aint even in the mood anymore.”

  “Well, then maybe you need to bounce.” She said as she rolled completely away from him.

  “Oh hell no, I came here for one thing..”

  She cut him off, “well, now I aint in the mood. Get on!” she said with a wave of her hand.

  “Bitch! Who do you think you are talking to?” he said as he grabbed her by the hair and snatched her off of the bed.

  “Get your damn hands off of me!” she yelled while slapping his hands away.

  Before she said another word, she was falling into a heap on the floor with him standing over her.

  Chapter 28

  As he pulled up into Cheryl’s driveway he saw a tan colored Mercedes in the driveway. He pulled in behind the Mercedes and saw a woman who was a cross between Toni Braxton and Halle Berry, sitting in the passenger seat. Rebecca was standing at the door talking to Cheryl.

  “Look, now that you have delivered the news, you can go.” He heard Cheryl say as he walked up. He kissed her on the cheek and took the spot next to her.

  “What you need to do is tell your son and his girlfriend to apologize for what they did to Kevin.”

  “You’ve got some nerve.” Cheryl said, “I will not tell him such a thing. Maybe instead of defending him, you might want to see what he did to Kayla.”

  “I don’t care…” Rebecca started to say.

  “Well, that doesn’t surprise me. I’ll tell you this, you better be careful, or you will be next. Good night.” she said as she let Matthew by and shut the door.”

  “What happened?” Matthew started to say.

  “Maybe I should be asking you that.” She said while looking at the increasingly growing lump on the side of his head and the blood on his clothes.

  “I asked you first.” He said

  “Kayla came home in a cab after Kevin hit her in the mouth and apparently him and Donnell got into a fight and…well it’s just too much.” Cheryl said. “So are you going to tell me?” she said while looking at him.

  “Look, I had a little situation that I had to handle…”

  “With Kevin?”

  “No, look we will talk about it in the morning. It’s been one hell of a night.” he said as he walked to the stairs.

  “Are you ok?” Galen asked Sherrie

  “Get the hell out of my house! Ain’t no nigga ever put their fucking hands on me, and you are just a nigga I fuck occasional…you damn sure ain’t going to be doing it!”

  “Look it was an accident.”

  “I said get the fuck out. I don’t want to hear it! If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the cops.”

  Galen grabbed his shirt from the floor and stepped over her, hitting her in the shoulder with his foot.

  Sherrie got up and went into the bathroom and saw the bruise and swollen eye. She wasn’t prepared to tell Matthew what happened. She stepped into the shower and washed all traces of the man she knew as Malcolm away from her. She knew she should have pressed harder when she saw his driver’s license had a different name but figured it wasn’t the time to do it when she woke up on the floor.

  Chapter 29

  Cheryl hadn’t heard from Kevin, Kayla was barely talking to her and Matthew wouldn’t give her a straight answer as to what had happened to him a few nights ago. Her bed and breakfast was busier than usual. Summer was coming and people were either booking for their honeymoon or for a quick summer getaway.

  Walking in, she saw her employee behind the counter and asked her if she had any calls. When Brittany told her that her husband had called, Cheryl quickly reminded her that he was her ex-husband and asked what he wanted.

  “I am not sure. He said to call him at the hospital. He left his room number.”

  She quickly took the message and went into her office and shut the door. She called the hospital and was put through to his room.

  “Hello.”

  “Uh, hi. Is this Kevin Goldman’s room?”


  “Yes.”

  “Can I speak with him?”

  “Who’s calling?” the woman asked.

  “Cheryl.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Kevin. What is wrong? Why are you in the hospital?” she said into the phone.

  “Don’t act new. You knew damn well I was here.”

  “No I didn’t. Is this from when you and Matthew…”

  “It would take more than his dumb ass to put me here.”

  “I’m on my way.” She said as she dropped the phone into the receiver and grabbed her purse on the way out of the door. She told Brittany that she would return later.

  On her way to the elevators, she saw Rebecca holding hands with another woman. She pushed the button to head up to the second floor.

  “Kevin. What happened?” she said as she walked into his room.

  “Good afternoon. Are you Mrs. Goldman?” the nurse said as she finished wrapping the bandage around his mid-section.

  Kevin and Cheryl answered simultaneously, “No.”

  “I used to be.” Cheryl answered.

  “I traded up.” He said with a roll of his eyes.

  The nurse exchanged dirty looks with Kevin before turning her attention to Cheryl.

  “Well. I was just telling Mr. Goldman that he needed to stay a couple more days because his ribs are healing nicely, but his lung still has us concerned.”

  “His lung?”

  “Yes, the bruise he has is taking a little longer to heal and we really need to monitor him closely in case his lung collapses. We are hoping it doesn’t happen but if it does we would rather for him to already be here in the hospital.”

  “Like I told you before, if it hasn’t happened yet, it won’t.” Kevin said while sitting up.

  Cheryl spoke up, “But it could happen. Why not just stay here for one more day…”

  “I really don’t need you telling me shit!”

  “I’ll leave you two alone and I’ll be back to check on you in another hour, then we can decide.”

  “Kevin, why do you always have to be so mean? It’s for your own good, unless you want to be back in here longer if your lung collapses.”

  “Look, why the fuck are you here? I don’t recall asking you to come here. If this is about Kayla’s swollen lip, it will heal.”

  Another nurse walked in, “Don’t go upsetting my patient, you hear.” She said as she gave Kevin a wink.

  “It’s ok Theresa it’s just my ex-wife.”

  “Look I don’t care who it is, she better not upset you. You need your rest.” She said leaving as she pulled the door closed behind her.

  “I swear, you think you would learn.” She said as she put her purse down and walked to the window.

  “What the fuck did you say?” He said.

  “Kevin, why would you hit her like that? You better be glad…”

  “What? That bitch should be glad all I did was hit her in the mouth.”

  “Then how did you end up here.” She asked while folding her arms across her chest.

  “I was wondering when your dumb ass was going to ask me that. Kayla called Donnell…what the hell are you smiling about?” He said as he sat up in his bed.

  “I’m not smiling.” she started to say.

  “I will get the last laugh on his faggot ass. He is in jail because I pressed charges against him. Let’s see how he finishes school with a felony on his record.”

  “You’re serious? You had my son arrested…and you’re pressing charges. After all I have done for you, you are going to press charges against my son?”

  “You damn right! And what does that supposed to mean, all you have done for me?”

  “I mean, I never pressed charges against you…”

  “I didn’t tell you not too.” He said as he leaned back.

  “Really, you have nerve.” She said while walking towards his bed. “All of the times you hit me, I never once called the police on you and now because Donnell hit you a couple…”

  “What the fuck did you just say to me? You better be glad I’m still hooked up to this fucking IV or this bed would become yours.”

  “I’m just saying that because Donnell got a couple of good shots in on you, now you want to ruin his chance of graduating, just because you are what…um, embarrassed. That seems about right. Is that it, you are embarrassed that your gay son kicked your ass, seems like it is poetic justice if you ask me. He used to watch you beat me all the time so I guess you actually taught him a few things. Ha, Ha, Ha, it’s sad really. Tell you what, I’ll pay for his school my damn self.”

  “Good, and while you’re at it, start paying for Kayla’s private school. That bitch aint getting another dime out of me!”

  “Oh no you don’t! It’s in the divorce that you will pay for it, don’t make me take you to court.”

  “Get the fuck out of my room!”

  “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The nurse announced.

  “Gladly.” Cheryl said while snatching up her purse.

  “Don’t fucking come back either!” He yelled to her back.

  Chapter 30

  She picked up her keys, left Kayla a note and drove to the only place she knew people would understand.

  The receptionist gave her the clipboard with the forms and after answering the easy ones, the harder ones became more difficult to answer.

  “Mrs. Goldman?” She said.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m glad you came back.” She said with a smile.

  She returned her smile and completed the questionnaire and went to the desk to give it back to the receptionist.

  Linda came through the door again and asked Cheryl to follow her. She led Cheryl into a small corner office, barely big enough to hold her desk and chair, however she had a file cabinet situated behind the door, a chair behind her desk and a small microwave beside the extra chair.

  Linda sat down and took a sip from her coffee mug, “What made you come in today?”

  “Well, I… I decided that I needed to make changes.”

  “Does your husband know you are here?”

  “No. Actually we aren’t married anymore.”

  “Good for you.”

  “I guess.” She answered.

  “Why do you sound so unsure?”

  “Because the divorce has been final for almost three years, and he still has issues.”

  “What kind of issues?”

  “He still puts me down.”

  “Does he still hit you?”

  “Not really.”

  “The answer to that would be a yes or no.”

  “I guess.”

  “Mrs. Gold…I’m sorry, what is your name now.”

  “Ms. Bookman.”

  “Ms. Bookman, can you look at me, in the eye, and give me a yes or no answer. Does Mr. Goldman still hit you?”

  After a few seconds, she finally answered.

  “Yes.”

  “So, why does he still hit you?”

  “I guess I make him mad.”

  “By doing what?”

  “Well, Kayla, that’s our daughter, got picked up by the police and I should have known where she was.”

  “Did she tell you where she was going?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, she didn’t go there.”

  “Yes she did, but she also went somewhere else and was in DC past curfew.”

  “Did you know she was in DC?”

  “No. I would never have let her go.”

  “So tell me again, why he hit you. You just told me you knew she was supposed to be one place, but obviously she went somewhere else, didn’t tell you nor did she tell him, and he hit you because….”

  “Because I should have known.”

  “Did he know?”

  “No.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “About a month ago.” Cheryl answered while twisting her hands.

  “Has anything happened since then?”

  “No.�
��

  Cheryl let the lie hang in the air and then decided to press on. “The only reason I came here is because now this is affecting my kids.”

  “Correction, it has always affected your kids, it’s only now that you realize how much it has affected you kids.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? I am a damn good mother and I never let him touch them.”

  “I didn’t say that you were a bad mother. Funny you say you never let him touch them. Well what about the mental abuse?”

  “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea for me to come here. I think I should be going.” Cheryl grabbed her purse from the floor and stood up quickly.

  “Ms. Bookman, please take a seat. I didn’t mean to upset you. Let’s start again.” She said while rising and stepping in front of the door.

  “I need to go. It’s getting late and I need to get home to Kayla.”

  “Ok, I will let you go under one condition. That you return next week and we can talk a little more.” She said as she moved back behind her desk, picked up a pen and a notepad.

  “Maybe.” Cheryl said.

  “Ms. Bookman, please. I want your promise that you will come back to see me within the next couple of weeks.”

  “Ok.” Cheryl said, taking the note from Linda’s hand and stuffing it in her pocket.

  Matthew arrived at his ex-wife’s house and used the key to enter through the kitchen. She called and wanted to talk to him, yet she had the nerve not to answer the door. He knew she should be here since her car was in the driveway.

  He walked in and smelled cigarette smoke.

  “Sherrie, are you awake yet?” He yelled while staring into the almost empty refrigerator.

  “Damn, what time is it?” She said while walking into the kitchen while pulling her robe on.

  “You told me to come over around eight.” He said as he pulled the bottle of orange juice from the door.

  “I know what time I told you to come over, I didn’t ask you that.” She said as she rubbed the crust from the corner of her eye.

  “I guess you haven’t had your coffee yet.” He said while filling the carafe with water and putting four heaping scoops of Maxwell House in the filter. He took the creamer from the refrigerator and sat it on the counter. “Let me ask you something, what the hell happened to your mouth.”