Tandi fell back onto the bed. “Damn you, Daina.” She should not have let Daina talk her into going out to dinner with Jared. She told herself it was for MJ’s sake. It was important that she keep a line of communication open since MJ was living with him—temporarily. They had to be, at the very least, cordial. But, as much as Tandi hated to admit it, she was looking forward to seeing Jared, and not just for MJ’s sake. After all those years of comparing Jared with the Brent of her dreams and then comparing the Brent of her reality with the Jared she gave up, she saw that Jared had been the better man and the better father all along. And if she were to be honest with herself, for a very long time, Jared had been the better lover.
Everything had been fine between her and Jared up until she found out about his affair. That’s when he seemed to have forgotten about her. That’s when she couldn’t help but wonder if the other woman was on his mind. That’s when she began to doubt herself—her attractiveness and her worth to Jared who never understood that. At least not while they were still together. Daina swore that he did now. Did it really matter anymore? This was why she explained to Daina that she wasn’t going out with Jared with the intention of getting back with him. She was going out with him out of curiosity. She wanted to know how it would feel to be out with him again, which was why she didn’t know what to put on her body to make herself feel attractive, yet not predatory.
Buzzz!
Tandi’s heart raced as she sprang off the bed. She looked at the alarm clock. If that was Jared, he was early—twenty minutes early to be exact. She wasn’t ready. Her makeup wasn’t done and her hair was messed up from laying back on the bed. She quickly pulled her robe on over her clothes.
Buzzz!
She went to the top of the stairs. “Carline!”
Carline was already on her way to the door. “I’ll get it.”
“Thank you.” If that was Jared, she wasn’t the only anxious one. She started looking for her comb.
“Tandi, it’s a friend of yours, Evonne Fulton.”
Tandi couldn’t believe the audacity of the woman. She had not seen or spoken to Evonne since Daina returned, and she had no intention of speaking to her tonight of all nights.
“Carline, would you tell—”
Evonne suddenly appeared alongside Carline. “Hey, girl, it’s Friday night. I thought you and I could do some hanging. We haven’t done that in a while.”
Carline slipped away.
Tandi was floored by Evonne’s facade of cheeriness, which obviously belied the deceit in her heart. It was no wonder she had been so fooled by Evonne’s lies.
“Come on, Tandi. Don’t just stand there. Go get dressed.” Evonne started up the stairs. “I feel like partying. We’re going into Manhattan tonight. Queens is too dead.”
You have a whole lot of nerve! Tandi told herself. Be cool.
“What’s wrong with you?” Evonne asked, still climbing the stairs.
Stay cool. “Evonne, you should’ve called before coming over.”
“I did call. In fact, I’ve been calling, but you’re never home.”
Tandi cringed as Evonne came closer. If Evonne made it all the way up into the bedroom, she might get too comfortable, and Tandi certainly didn’t want that. She started down the stairs, meeting Evonne halfway.
Stay cool. “I have other plans for tonight, and I’m running late. I’ll walk you back down.”
“Well. I guess I’m being put out,” Evonne said as she pivoted on the step and started back down. Walking ahead of Tandi, Evonne did not go to the front door, but into the living room.
Stay cool. Tandi stayed out in the hall. “Evonne, I have to finish getting dressed.”
“Where’s your date taking you?”
Tandi held her robe close to her body. “Did I say anything about a date?”
“Oh, it’s a date, all right. I see those red heels.” Evonne started lowering herself to sit.
Stay cool. “Don’t sit.”
Stopping halfway down, Evonne arched her brows. “You’re kidding, right?”
Stay cool. “I don’t have time.”
Evonne sat anyway. “Damn, I’m not staying long. Why are you acting so funny?”
Tandi was losing it. She was at the breaking point. Her breath was coming in short, shallow gasps. She wanted to blast Evonne about all the lies she told, but not in Sporty’s house, and certainly not in earshot of his bedroom. She closed her eyes.
“Evonne, I need for you to leave—now.”
“Are you upset with me about something?”
Tandi hugged her robe to her body as her foot went to tapping.
“Well, say something. Did I do something to you I don’t know about?”
“You have a whole lot of damn nerve.”
“What? What did I do? I—”
“Cut it out! You know, I was hoping you’d take a big-ass clue and leave, but since you didn’t, let me clue you in to what I know.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Tandi balled up her fist. “Stop bullshitting me, Evonne!”
“Honest to God, Tandi. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tandi charged into the living room. “You pathetic liar!”
Gasping, Evonne brought her hand to her heart. “What am I lying about? I’ve told you the truth about everything that happened with Jared.”
“Liar! You’ve lied about everything. You’ve lied about being my friend, you’ve lied about Jared.”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Liar! You hovered around me like a hungry-ass vulture waiting for the opportunity to pounce on my husband, for how long? Years?”
“That’s not true!” Evonne suddenly stood. “I told you what happened between me and Jared was an accident. If Jared said anything else, he’s the liar.”
“No, Evonne, you’re the liar. You lied your way . . .”
“I did not!”
“. . . into my bed because you’ve always wanted Jared . . .”
“That’s a lie!”
“. . . and maybe even the life I had with him.”
“That’s a lie! I never—”
“Don’t waste your breath or my time, Evonne. Just get the hell out!”
“I think Jared is the one who cheated on you, not just with me, but with other women.”
Tandi glanced down the hall toward Sporty’s bedroom. The door was ajar.
“Evonne,” Tandi said, lowering her voice, “I know every lie you told Jared before you went out to the bar, every lie you told while you were at the bar, and every lie you told after you screwed Jared.”
“Wrong again. Jared screwed me. Whatever he told you to the contrary is a lie. He’s trying to—”
“Shut up!” Tandi screamed, forgetting about Sporty.
Evonne froze.
“What you told Jared about me was calculated to make him want to get drunk so he’d be so wasted he wouldn’t know you had slithered into his bed.”
“You’re way off. Think about it. Jared wants you back. Don’t you think he’d make up lies about me to make himself look good?”
“Did Jared lie about you coming back over there a second time begging to get with him?”
Evonne put her hands on her hips indignantly. “Yes the hell he did! I never went back over there.”
“Are you calling my son a liar?”
“Well . . . well, I—”
“I my ass! I asked my son. He told me about how you tried to finagle your way into going to the movies with them.”
“That’s not true. He misunderstood me, and so did Jared. I did go over there one time to see what I could do to help you and Jared settle your differences, but I—”
“Liar!”
“Stop calling me a liar! Tandi, you’re my best friend. I wouldn’t go after Jared. He’s lying to you.”
Tandi marched to the front door. “Not according to my son and Daina.” She opened the door.
Evonne stayed put. “Oh, now this all make
s sense. Daina is behind this.”
“No, Daina pulled my coattail.” Tandi held the door open.
Evonne was not leaving. “So you believe her over me?”
“I’d believe Clinton over you.” Tandi caught a glimpse of Carline pulling her head back into Sporty’s room. “Leave, Evonne.”
“So, you’re gonna throw our friendship away just like that?”
Tandi couldn’t believe Evonne was that psychotic. “You know what my aunt used to say about friendship? She said, ‘Some friendships are like autumn leaves. Their colors change, they fall by the wayside, they get ugly, and eventually they disappear into the earth.’ Do you understand that, Evonne? You changed, you got ugly, and I want you to disappear. So please, go.”
Evonne shook her head. “No, I’m not gonna let you blame me because you couldn’t hold on to your man.”
“Just leave, Evonne! Get out,” Tandi said, pointing out the door.
Evonne strolled to the door but she didn’t step outside. “He didn’t want you, he wanted me.”
“Oh, did he tell you that when he told you he’d file a restraining order against you if you kept bothering him?”
Evonne glared bullets at Tandi. “I hate you.”
“It’s good to know we have the same feelings for each other, so get the hell out.”
Evonne still wasn’t ready to leave. “You’re so full of yourself. You were always throwing what you had up in my face, showing off your jewelry, your house, your car, your man. And then you had the nerve to whine and complain about everything he didn’t do for you.”
Evonne’s contempt washed over Tandi like a freezing rain. “That’s right, Evonne, show your true face. Let me see who you really are.”
“I’m really someone who can’t stand the sight of you. You don’t know how many times I wanted to smash you in the face.”
“Perhaps you should’ve, then you wouldn’t’ve had to pretend all these years to be my friend when what you really wanted, you couldn’t have.”
“Bitch, if I really wanted your husband, I would have had him. And if he was mine, I would have treated him a whole lot better than you did. You can believe that. I would not have sat on my fat ass and whined like a helpless bitch.”
“I’ve been one too many of your damn bitches. You can go to hell. But let me tell you about this whining fat ass of mine. Jared is taking it out tonight. He’s my date, and if I want him to be, he’ll be my man—again. Now get the hell out!”
“Fu—”
Tandi snatched Evonne! She yanked her around! She shoved her hard out the door and immediately slammed the door behind her.
Defiant, Evonne pushed back against the door but the slam lock held it strong. “Bitch, your man fucked me! He couldn’t even get it up for you!”
Tandi put her shoulder against the door and double bolted it. “Yeah, but he had to be tore down drunk to get it up for you.”
“Bitch!” Evonne shouted through the door. “You’re nothing! You can kiss my ass.”
Breathing hard, Tandi stood staring at the door, not believing what had just happened. She clasped her shaking hands together tightly. Hearing how Evonne felt about her secondhand had hurt, but hearing it firsthand was worse by far. Had Evonne always hated her, even from the beginning of their so-called friendship? If not from the beginning, when did she start? Did it start when she stupidly spilled her guts about the sweet pleasure of Jared’s lovemaking or when she complained about him no longer making love to her? Had she been bragging when she talked about her life or had Evonne, in her own jealous mind, perceived it that way? In her ignorance, she thought she had been simply sharing her life with a friend just as that so-called friend shared hers. Had she been so naive that she hadn’t even suspected she had been keeping company with the enemy? How had that happened? Had she herself been so needy that she closed her eyes to Evonne’s deception so that she could say she had someone besides Daina to call friend? The question was, why had she allowed herself for years to wallow in self-doubt and pity that she would even need anyone at all to make her feel like she mattered?
Buzzz!
Tandi stepped back from the door. If Evonne was still out there, she was going to kick her ass. She peeked out through the blinds.
“Oh, God.” It was Jared. She wasn’t ready and now she didn’t know if she was up to going out with him at all.
“May I get the door?”
She whirled around and found herself face-to-face with Carline.
“Why don’t you go up and finish dressing. I’ll have your guest wait in the living room.”
“It’s my husband, but I don’t think I can—”
“Of course you can. Go on, finish dressing,” Carline nudged Tandi away from the door. I think you’ll enjoy a night out. Stay as long as you like. I’ll stay with Mr. Belson.”
“Are you sure?” Tandi asked, wondering what Carline thought of the argument she’d obviously overheard.
Buzzz!
“Go on.”
Tandi touched her hair. She hadn’t combed it yet. “Give me a minute to get up the stairs.” She ran off down the hall.
Carline watched Tandi race off, her robe flying behind her. She waited until she heard Tandi run up the stairs before she opened the door.
Expecting to see Tandi, Jared had been about to present the dozen red roses to Carline.
“Good evening, Mr. Crawford,” Carline said.
“Good evening. You are?”
“Carline. Mr. Belson’s home health aide. Mrs. Crawford will be down in ten minutes. Come in.”
Jared stepped warily inside the house he had not been in in more than ten years. The last time he was there, he and Sporty Belson had almost come to blows over Sporty calling him a second-rate ambulance chaser. That day Jared swore he would never step foot in there again. Boy, did circumstances have a way of making one eat one’s words.
“May I get you something to drink?” Carline asked.
“No thanks.” Jared went on into the living room. He didn’t sit as he looked around the room. Nothing had changed, but it didn’t smell as old and as stale as MJ had described.
“Can I put the flowers in a vase for you?”
“No. I’d like to hand them to my wife.”
“That’s nice. Would you like to sit down?”
“Please, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
Nodding, Carline left Jared and went back to her charge.
Upstairs, Tandi had stripped the black skirt and shell off and had pulled on the short, tight-fitting, low-cut, spaghetti-strapped black dress she had bought to wear out with Brent but never did. She kicked off her red heels and slipped on a pair of vampy, black high-heeled sandals. Evonne didn’t know with whom she was messing. Up against her, Evonne didn’t have a chance with Jared. As before, Tandi’s full-length mirror told her she was hot. The fire was coming from her aura and not from the color of her dress. Tonight, anything that touched her that wasn’t sanctioned was going to get burned. The only thing missing was the black shawl she’d bought to wear with her dress, and that was in one of her two suitcases in the attic. Fortunately, the finished attic was on the same floor a door away.
Tandi hurried into the attic. She went straight to the pullman-sized suitcase sitting alongside the old dining room chair she had sat in months ago, reminiscing about the games of hide-and-seek she and Glynn used to play in there when Sporty wasn’t home. Opening the suitcase right away, she took the black fringed shawl from its protective plastic bag. Quickly rezipping her suitcase, she hurried out of the attic and had turned off the light when her mind told her that she had seen something that was out of place. Something that was different. She switched the light back on and scanned the attic until her eyes came to rest on the steamer trunk. The padlock was on the floor. The trunk was wide open.
“Oh, my God.” Tandi went to the trunk. It was empty.
“Tandi!” Carline called. “Tandi, your husband is waiting for you.”
48
<
br /> Seething out in her car, Evonne kept pounding on her steering wheel, unable to stop hurting her hand, but it was the only thing she could do to keep from screaming like a woman who had lost her ever-loving mind. Like a fool she had sat and watched Jared, looking finer than she had ever seen him before, carry an armful of roses into the house for Tandi. It had sickened her. She had almost thrown up. Those roses should have been for her. She was the one who loved him. She was the one who could make him happy, not that malcontent who would never be satisfied.
Tandi had turned on her. She couldn’t believe it. Tandi was supposed to be her best friend. It wasn’t fair. Jared lied. She hated them both. No, not Jared. Tandi. She hated Tandi.
Unable to drive away, Evonne waited for Jared and Tandi to come outside. She watched as Jared chivalrously held his car door open for Tandi like she was a queen. It should have been her. Even now, Tandi wasn’t appreciating Jared—she wasn’t smiling. Her face was cold, just like her. She thought she hated Tandi before, but seeing the smug, cold look on her face, she absolutely despised her.
She watched Jared and Tandi drive off, neither giving a thought to her, neither thinking about how they had hurt her.
“I hope you both drop dead!”
Evonne’s hand ached horribly. Yet, ignoring her pain, she put the car in gear and peeled off. She didn’t need Tandi, she didn’t need Jared. She hated them both. The hell with them. She was better than both of them.
49
The blood-red roses paled next to the rich mocha glow of Tandi’s skin when she slipped her shawl off her shoulders. She smelled of Oriental Musk, her favorite body splash. To Jared, Tandi looked as good as she smelled. She had lost a little weight but the loss had been in all the right places—her smaller waist made her hips seem even broader as they curved down into her shapely thighs. She was wearing that black dress like it was painted on her body. God, she was beautiful. He had known all along that she was, but it had been a long time since he was struck by her beauty and that was his own fault—he had stopped noticing. Tonight, however, he was. He would never make that mistake again.
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