My Man's Best Friend II

by Tresser Henderson

  I began to kick, pound, and punch as hard as I could, hoping this trunk would open miraculously, releasing me. I thought back to how I got here and remembered I was in a club. I was so frustrated with Derrick and him not taking me back and having the audacity to get involved with another woman that I needed to get my mind off of him for a moment. I needed to loosen up and enjoy a night full of fun even if it consisted of me sitting at the bar and having a few drinks by myself. I thought about calling Jaquon but knew that was a lost cause since he was stuck so far up Ms. Goody Two Shoes’ behind now. He claimed he was faithful now. For a while I didn’t believe it, but so far I hadn’t heard or seen Jaquon stepping outside of the boundaries that would make Kea dump him again.

  So now everybody was happy except me. Kea had Jaquon and Derrick had his little trick. Realizing their happiness only made me sad.

  I went to the bar Essence and I had frequented on so many occasions. Just being in this place reminded me of her and I almost started to cry because I missed her so much. I needed her here. She was my only friend. What was I going to do now with no friends, no family, and no place to stay? I felt like life was screwing me again. Why did my life have to be so hard? Why couldn’t I be happy?

  I turned the wine glass up to my mouth when this attractive man approached me. In my nature I sized him up as having some money and was pleased at having an attractive, well-off man stepping to me again. It had been awhile since I had played this game. But my skills were still sharp as a tack, or so I thought. I remembered us talking and laughing but I didn’t remember too much after that.

  Was it this guy I met in the bar who had me? Did he spike my drink when I wasn’t looking only to drag me out of the club like I was intoxicated? Talk about irony. I used to be the one who drugged men to rob them but now the tables had been turned. I was now the victim.

  I wanted to cry. I wanted to give up on life and let whatever was going to happen to me happen. I was convincing myself that this was it. Whatever this man was going to do, I knew in the end he was going to kill me. I wept like I hadn’t before. Knowing your time was coming was one thing but knowing it was going to be at the hands of someone else was even worse. I didn’t know if he was going to shoot me, or stab me, or strangle me. All these demented forms of death recycled through my mind. Was he going to rape me? He could even torture me for days if he wanted to.

  Then Essence entered my mind. Did she feel just like I did in this moment, knowing it was the end for her? Did she give up like I wanted to now? An even better question could be, the person who had me, was it the same person who was responsible for murdering my best friend?

  I couldn’t give up like this. If this man was going to take me, he was going to have to fight me to the death because I wasn’t a punk. I sucked up my tears and began to scream. I punched and kicked and pushed as hard as I could.

  It must have been heaven giving me another chance because my last few kicks and pushes caused the trunk of the car to pop open. I couldn’t believe it. It was open. Fresh air entered, letting me know I was free. This was my opportunity to get away.

  I didn’t think twice before jumping to my freedom. Asphalt met my skin as I tumbled to the pavement. Pain shot through my body as I rolled but I didn’t care because I was free. I had gotten away.

  The car all of a sudden stopped. He must have figured out I had escaped. I saw the backup lights of the car appear, indicating he was about to back up. Was the perpetrator backing the car up to run me down now? I didn’t know. I couldn’t move because my legs felt like jelly. Was this my end? Did I escape only to get run down by a car?

  Chapter 40

  Derrick

  I was about to do something I didn’t want to do but knew it had to be handled. Out of everything I had been through in the past few months I never knew it would come down to this.

  I stood in the doorway, looking through the screen, hesitating to go in. I didn’t know if it was fear I was feeling or anger. I hoped it wasn’t anger because I had never been angry at my mother. This was the woman who brought me into this world, giving me life. But whose seed helped determine my existence?

  “Why are you just standing at the door like that, son? Come on in here,” Daddy said, entering the room.

  I guess in my hesitant state I didn’t realize they could see me standing here. I opened the door and entered.

  “What’s wrong with you, and why were you standing out there looking like some lost puppy?”

  “I got a lot on my mind, Pop.”

  “Well, son, you know I’m here if you need to talk.”

  “Right now I need to talk to Mama. Is she here?”

  “No, she had to go to the store and pick up something. She should be back any minute. You can sit down and wait, can’t you? It’s not often you and I just get some father-son time.”

  Father son-time, I thought.

  “Son, you know I’m not one to beat around the bush so, tell me, what’s got you so upset?” Pops asked, looking over his black-rimmed glasses at me.

  I wanted to chuckle. You would think by now he would get some glasses he could push up on his nose, but he kept these because they saved him some money.

  “Talk to me, son,” he pushed.

  “I found out yesterday Kea is not my sister.”

  “That’s great news right?” Pops asked.

  “It is, but the test also revealed that she was Mr. Hanks’s daughter.”

  “Oh I see. Which means you are not his son?”

  I nodded.

  “And now you are wondering who your real father is?”

  I nodded again, saying, “Pop, I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate everything you have done for me. You have been the best father but . . .”

  “But you want to know your true blood,” Pop said.

  “Yes. I feel lost in a sense. I mean, I have you and Mama, but who is this other man walking around who carries the same blood as I do, and why didn’t he love me like you did?”

  “Well, son, I can’t answer that question for you. All I know is that I love you. I see you as my own, as if my blood was running through you.”

  Water began to form in my eyes and I tried to hold it back. Pop’s words were so powerful right now. No, I wasn’t some young teenager finding out that the world he knew was not true, but I was this grown man who had a chance to live a great life. I was happy with the world I had months ago. But after one thing began to tumble, it seemed like everything around me tumbled with it. Now it was like the world I knew was a past dream. Everything I knew to be true was false to me now.

  “Son, don’t let this bring you down. Don’t let these skeletons ruin the wonderful blessings you have.”

  “Nothing feels wonderful anymore, Pop. As blessed as I know I should feel, I’m questioning God right now, asking Him why would He allow this to happen to me? Everything is wrecked. How could my life change so drastically?” I asked with a tear rolling down my cheek.

  “Son, I hate to say this, but you sitting here saying you asking God why you. Why not you? Why do you feel like no troubles should ever come your way? As hard as things may seem, the one thing I do ask of you is to not be angry with God, for He is good. You really shouldn’t be questioning Him, if you want to know my honest opinion, but you are human and we’ve all done it at some point in life.”

  “I’m hurting right now,” I said, looking at him solemnly.

  “I know you haven’t known much turmoil because your mother and I have tried to make your world as easy as possible for you. Doing that is bad in a way because you don’t know how to handle trouble when it does come your way. Unless you have walked in tragedy and mayhem, it’s hard to know how to come up from it.”

  Mama walked in with bags in her hand, cutting short the conversation me and Pop were having. I swiped at my tears and leaped to my feet to help her. “Let me get those for you, Mama.”

  She looked at me strangely. Her beaming face turned to confusion. She looked at Pop, asking, �
�Is everything okay?”

  I stood there holding the bags, and then I proceeded to walk to the kitchen. Pop motioned for Mama to follow me and she did.

  “Derrick, baby, what’s wrong?”

  I put the bags down on the table with my head hung low. She put her hand on my back and I turned to her. Without a second to reconsider, I blurted, “Who’s my father, Mama?”

  “Wha . . . What?” she asked, bewildered.

  “I want to know who my father is.”

  “Mr. Hanks is your—”

  “No, he’s not,” I said, cutting her off. “Kea and I took the test again and it was determined she was his child, not me.”

  Mother was dumbfounded. She stopped touching me, like my negative energy shocked her to step back from me. I could see her mind racing as past years flashed through her mind. “But . . . this . . . can’t be true.”

  “It is. I have the papers at home if you want to see them. To my surprise, in the midst of finding out what I wanted, I also learned he wasn’t my father, which got me to thinking who is? You told me Pop wasn’t my biological father.”

  “Derrick. I don’t believe this,” she said, grasping at her chest. She clinched her shirt like it was going to bring answers to her.

  “Believe it, Mama.”

  She stumbled over to the chair at the table and sat down, still stunned.

  I was wondering what was taking her so long to answer my question so I decided to ask her again. I needed to know this and the more time I allowed to lapse between these quiet moments was making me angrier.

  “Who is my father?”

  She looked up at me but turned abruptly, like she didn’t want to answer me.

  “Mama.”

  “Derrick, I can’t do this right now,” she said, sounding upset. Why was she upset? I was the one who didn’t know my heritage.

  “Mama, I’m not leaving until you tell me. I have the right to know my existence.”

  “Not today!” she belted.

  “Mama, I have never disrespected you—”

  “So don’t start now,” she retorted.

  “I want to know the truth. Who is my father?” I said louder.

  “And I said not today!”

  My anger rose to a level I knew would cross the lines of a son disrespecting his mother, and I couldn’t contain the beast that raged within me.

  “Tell me, Mother, who is my father?” I yelled.

  She turned and looked at me fearfully, but at the same time like she didn’t recognize the child standing before her. This wasn’t her sweet Derrick yelling at her. No, not Derrick who came by to see how she was doing and gave her money whenever she needed. No, this was the son who lost who he thought he knew weeks back. The Derrick before was sure of himself. The Derrick standing before her now was lost in a heap of lies.

  “If you don’t know, then say so. Is it that you can’t remember who you slept with? Did you sleep with that many men that you can’t recall which one helped in developing me?”

  “Enough,” Pop’s voice rang out from behind me. “You will not disrespect your mother like this.”

  “Then she should give me the answers I need.”

  “I don’t care if she never answers you, boy. You better not ever, as long as you living, yell at your mother again,” Pops said sternly.

  “You are not even my real father so how can you tell me? How can you know how I feel?” I blurted. The words left my mouth before my tongue could hold them back. I closed my eyes in regret as the look on the man who loved me my entire life showed more hurt than I had ever seen.

  Pop paused. If I didn’t know any better I could have sworn water started to develop in his eyes.

  “Son,” he still called me, regardless of my disregard of his status, downgrading him. “That is my wife and that is your mother. If you are not sure of anything else going on in your life, the one thing you are sure of is the woman sitting before you is the one who has been here for you always. She is the one who birthed you. She is the one who has raised you and she’s the one who’s loved you your entire life. And as long as I have breath in my body, I’m going to stand by her side. I will not have you or anybody else disrespect her in the manner you just did.”

  I knew Pop was right but I knew I deserved answers. And I wasn’t sure if I could talk to her until she was ready to give them to me. So I looked at the both of them: Pop with his wounded expression, and Mama with tears running down her face. I took in their emotions. But I had some emotions to deal with myself that I felt trumped theirs.

  “Are you going to tell me who my father is?” I asked Mama as calmly as I could.

  “Baby, I just can’t do this today.”

  With that I nodded. I looked at the both of them before brushing past Pop and leaving their home.

  Chapter 41

  Kea

  “Yes. Yes, Jaquon, I will marry you,” were the words I heard come out of my mouth, but I couldn’t believe I was saying them to him. Jaquon jumped to his feet and pulled me to him, lifting me up in his arms and twirling me around.

  “You have made me the happiest man ever,” he said with his face buried in my neck.

  Two proposals in less than a twenty-four-hour span. What was going on? What had I just done and why did I say yes to Jaquon and not Derrick? I confused myself. I thought all of this as Jaquon kissed on me with happiness, still twirling me around like I was some kid.

  Jaquon put me down and slipped the diamond on my left hand.

  I couldn’t stop trembling.

  He took my hand into his to steady my fingers and slipped the diamond on. “I can’t believe you said yes,” he said.

  “I can’t believe it either,” I found myself mumbling, but I said it loud enough for him to hear.

  “What?”

  “I’m just joking,” I said, playing it off.

  “I can’t wait until you become my wife, baby. Maybe we don’t have to wait. Maybe we can go to the justice of the peace and make it legal tomorrow.”

  “Are you serious?” I questioned.

  “Yes. Why not?”

  “Because you just asked me,” I said with my heart racing now, not wanting our marriage to come to pass so quickly. He had already caught me off guard with the proposal. Now he wanted to marry me immediately.

  “Who cares? We love each other.”

  “We don’t have witnesses or anything.”

  “Get Terry. Well, scratch that. Get your dad to come and witness it.”

  “We usually need more than just one witness.”

  “Then we’ll pick up a bum on our way,” Jaquon said.

  “A bum,” I said, giggling. He had truly lost it now if he thought I was going to let a bum help represent our union.

  He laughed and said, “I don’t care if it is the mailman, the butcher, the hooker standing on the corner, I want to be your husband. You have made me the happiest man ever.”

  “Jaquon, give me some time to let this sink in first. I haven’t had the ring on my finger five minutes yet. And besides I always wanted a big wedding. Not some guy in a robe downtown who couldn’t care less. I want it to be like our marriage is going to be. I want happy memories for us to cherish a lifetime to come.”

  “You really want a wedding?” he asked, looking at me meaningfully.

  “Yes. It’s every little girl’s dream.”

  “Well if it’s a wedding you want, then it’s a wedding we shall have.” Jaquon leaned down and kissed me. “Can we start the honeymoon now?” he asked, grabbing my butt.

  “Maybe we should wait until the wedding,” I suggested.

  “Wait to make love. Are you serious?”

  “Yes. You know, let the fire build between us. That way when we finally do it, it will be intense.”

  “Kea, I promise you whether it’s today or months from now, a brother is going to be intense,” he said, smiling.

  “You are crazy.”

  “Crazy about you,” he said, kissing me again. “Come on, bab
y. Let’s go to the room. It’s been awhile.”

  “Awhile to you is one day.”

  “I can’t help it if I want my woman every time I see her.”

  “So you are really serious about this?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m serious.”

  “Don’t think me becoming your wife is going to change the fact you still supposed to be faithful. I’m still going to demand respect and fidelity.”

  “And I’m going to give you that and more.”

  Jaquon did seem serious about this and had proven to me his dedication so far. Still, I did fear his words were just that: words. What if Derrick was right and this was all a ruse to get me back into his life? Then this would be the biggest mistake I would ever make. I truly did fear not choosing Derrick could be my downfall to a broken heart again.

  I looked at Jaquon, who was beaming, happy to have me as his fiancée. I hoped the ring wouldn’t make him think he had me for life, because I would divorce him at the drop of a dime if he cheated on me again.

  “Since you don’t want to give up the goods, let’s go celebrate. I want the world to see my future wife.”

  I agreed to his suggestion. I needed to get out of here and get some air and wonder why in the hell I had said yes to this proposal. And the one thing I couldn’t help but think was, what would Derrick think when he found out this news?

  Chapter 42

  Jaquon

  On our way out of the door, Sheila from across the hall came stepping out of her apartment too. As soon as I saw her, I wanted to push Kea back in the crib and wait for Sheila to get where she was going. But Sheila saw us, so I didn’t have a choice but to play this thing out.

  “Well hey, Kea,” she said like she hadn’t seen her in a long time.

  I swear she is so fake, I thought.

  “How you doing?” she asked, being noisy. For once she was dressed pretty casual in a pair of jeans, sneakers, and blouse, which hugged her tight.

  “I’m good,” Kea said.

  I shut the door behind me and locked it.

  “You two going out on the town?” Sheila asked.

  “Yes. We are celebrating,” Kea said.