Society Wives

by Renee Flagler

  “Andy.”

  Instead of responding he looked over at her.

  “I want you to be around more. No more coming and going as you please without at least letting me know where you are. That’s not fair to me.”

  “Anything else, Ryan?” he said sarcastically.

  “Yes.” Anderson turned to face her. “I just want you to know that I’m fed up with the way things have been. If things don’t change. I’ll…I’m going to have to…”

  “What, Ryan?”

  “Leave…” Ryan was proud of her audaciousness—scared, but proud.

  Anderson studied her. She became uncomfortable under his gaze. Then he reached for her, pulled her close and kissed her. That same spark that ignited between them on the steps months back had returned.

  Ryan kissed him back. Anderson crawled on top of her and squeezed her small breasts in his hands, pulled up her shirt, and took her nipples in his mouth.

  Ryan felt like she had gained some power. She tugged at his belt, unzipped his pants, released his erection and massaged it. Then, wiggling free from under him, she knelt down in front of him on the couch and took his rigidness into her mouth, stroking him until he called out her name. She rose just before he reached his peak and sat facing him. He guided himself inside and with the power she felt, she matched him thrust for thrust until his face twisted in sweet agony and he released himself, grunting in staccato. He kept pumping until Ryan’s muscles twitched and she cried out in ecstasy.

  Even in her pleasurable exhaustion, she felt like she had gained some ground again and wondered if her firmness was a turn on for him. She also knew that if she said she would leave, she’d have to actually be willing to do it in order for Anderson to become a true believer.

  Chapter 37

  Vonnie

  Vonnie didn’t know whether to be scared or angry. She hadn’t seen nor heard from Mike since she left to go to dinner with the girls the evening before. Dialing his number once again and praying that he would answer, Vonnie walked circles around herself. Now the calls were going straight to voicemail.

  “Mike!” she yelled. “At least call me!” she screamed as if he could possibly hear her.

  One the verge of tears, Vonnie went to her room and threw herself on the bed. This wasn’t like Mike at all. He’d never just disappear this way. Vonnie’s mind was a frenzy of wild thoughts. She prayed to keep herself sane.

  “Lord, please don’t let my husband be dead. I don’t know what I would do without him. And if he isn’t dead, forgive me for trying to kill him when he finally walks through that door!”

  Vonnie’s cell phone rang and she dived over the bed to retrieve it from the nightstand. “Hello!” she said, hoping it was Mike and then realized she hadn’t even bothered to look to see who was calling. It was a wrong number and Vonnie felt like tossing the phone across the room.

  Vonnie imagined Mike stranded along the side of the road, hurt, unable to get to his cell phone to call for help. For a moment she thought about getting into her car and riding around to see if she could find him. Maybe he had been car jacked and the thugs took everything, his wallet, cell phone, car, and all of his money. Then she thought that he would have walked somewhere and called for help and would be home by now.

  Then she imagined him lying asleep next to another woman, intoxicated by a night of wild sex, which made him forget his wife, the time and his wits. Then Vonnie thought, what if he was with another woman? Would that mean the end of them? Did he love her? He couldn’t love her if he was reckless enough to spend the entire night with her without even trying to cover up his philandering ways. Would she be willing to leave? They had so much history and he had never been unfaithful before. Should she give him a second chance? She couldn’t turn off her love for him like a light switch.

  Vonnie grumbled, filling the room with the sounds of her frustrations. She was running out of possibilities. Each thought made her heart pump a little faster.

  “Okay, girl,” she said to herself. “Get it together. Something had to happen.” Vonnie looked around the bed and picked up her phone. She couldn’t recall him telling her where he was going so she wasn’t sure who or where to call first. She decided to start with his friends and make her way to his family. She dialed Pearson’s number so she could speak to Niles. There was no answer. Vonnie knew he couldn’t have been with Anderson because he was out of town. Sage was her only option. She dialed Nadalia. No answer again.

  Vonnie ran back to her room to get her iPad. She looked up the numbers to all of the hospitals in the area and called each of them. None of them had Michael Howard in their care. She even tried calling 911 to see if they received any reports for fatal accidents in Nassau and had to bite her tongue to keep from cursing the operator, for not having answers to her ambiguous questions. Vonnie knew she was reaching, but her desperation drove her to the edge of insanity.

  Mike’s family would be her last resort. Since she didn’t have any of their telephone numbers, Vonnie grabbed her purse and ran to the kitchen to get her car keys. She knew where his aunt and cousins lived. They weren’t exactly close, but Vonnie didn’t care. Nor did she care about the gossiping that would be sure to follow her visit because she needed to find her husband. She prayed that she’d find him alive.

  Vonnie made it to the Grand Central Parkway when her phone rang. It was one her sister, Nadine’s friends.

  “Hey, Trisha! What’s up?” Vonnie answered wondering why she was calling. Please don’t let something be wrong with Nadine. “Is everything okay?”

  “That’s what I called to ask you.”

  “Huh! What do you mean?”

  “Mike and Andrew are here.”

  “Here, where? Your job!” Vonnie almost slammed on the brakes right in the middle of the parkway. Trisha worked at Queens Courts as a Correction Officer.

  “Mike came to bail Andrew out!”

  Vonnie felt her insides grow warm with the slow heat of anger. Mike was alive, which was great, but what was he doing bailing his career-criminal brother out of jail when they had huge financial problems at home?

  “No! Both of them are in the cell!”

  Vonnie felt a tight squeeze in her chest. “Jail.” She was barely audible. Her breathing made it difficult to speak for several moments.

  “Vonnie! Are you still there?”

  Vonnie was still trying to catch her breath and now tears fell as she imagined Mike in a dank cell alongside real criminals.

  “Vonnie!” Trisha called her again.

  “What…what happened?” What could Mike have possibly done to be sent to jail?”

  “I’m about to get the full story. I just got on duty. I called you as soon as I saw them.”

  “Did you call Nadine?”

  “Don’t you worry, baby girl. You’re the first call I made. No one will hear this from me.”

  “Thank you, Trish. I’m on my way.” Vonnie picked up her speed.

  “If you come now there’s not much you can do besides sit and wait for him to be arraigned.”

  “I can’t see him?”

  “No! Go home and try to relax. I’ll keep you posted and when it’s close to the time for him to be arraigned, I’ll call you to come.”

  Vonnie groaned. “There’s absolutely no way I can see him?”

  “Sorry, hon. No can do.”

  “Okay. I’ll go somewhere and grab a bite to eat. Any idea how long it could take?”

  “Anytime from now to practically midnight and that’s if he even gets arraigned today. It can be anytime from now to Monday morning, depending on how crowded it is.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I’m afraid so. If he has a decent lawyer, there’s a chance he’ll push to get him arraigned sooner but there are no guarantees.”

  Vonnie remained silent, not knowing what to say.

  “Listen, Vonnie. Try to chill out for a while. Let me go in and find out as much as I can and I will call you back. That way, you’ll have a
better idea of what to do.”

  “Okay,” Vonnie said. Her entire spirit had deflated. She felt like she had been run over by a truck and hadn’t slept for days.

  “I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  Vonnie got off the parkway at the next exit and headed to the diner with all the blue decorations on the corner of Francis Lewis and Horace Harding Expressway. She didn’t have an appetite, so she sat and nursed a few cups of tea waiting for Trisha’s call. When her phone rang, she grabbed it with trembling hands. It slipped from her grasp, bobbing in the air a few times before she caught a hold of it and answered.

  “Trish!” Vonnie sounded as if she were out of breath.

  “Okay, hon. This is what happened. Mike and Andrew were pulled over last night, but were arrested because they found a gun and more than three hundred and fifty thousand dollars cash inside of the car.”

  Vonnie’s heart felt like it stopped, and then plummeted into the pit of her stomach. Her bottom lip trembled. Tears pooled in her eyes.

  “What?” Vonnie thought about all of their financial problems and dropped her head back against the head rest. She recalled Mike telling her that he would take care of everything. It must have been much worse than he admitted. Mike was taking desperate measures. Trisha was talking, but Vonnie only heard bits and pieces of what she was saying.

  “This sounds crazy and so unlike Mike. But Andrew, that’s another story.” When Trisha mentioned Andrew, Vonnie paid attention. “Apparently the police have been watching him, but he’s always managed to elude them because he doesn’t come out much. Both of their lawyers are here and are pushing to get them in front of the judge ASAP so chances are, they will both be arraigned sometime this evening or possibly tonight.”

  “Thanks, Trisha.” Vonnie’s voice was small. She wiped her tears. “I’m heading over there now.”

  “Okay, but you may have to wait a while.”

  “I don’t care. See you soon.” She tossed a twenty dollar bill on the table, covering her few cups a tea and a hefty tip.

  Vonnie was happy that her husband was alive, but her heart pounded rapidly at the thought of him sitting in a dank cell. He probably felt a little more comfortable with Andrew being with him. She wondered why they had been stopped, but then thought about the fact that in Jamaica, Queens, there wasn’t much a black man had to do to be arrested.

  Suddenly she was angry at Mike all over again. What stupid thing had he done to end up in jail? How dare Mike place them in such a predicament? What if he was convicted and sent to prison for a long time? What would happen to them? Their life? Their home? Noelle? What would the wives think?

  Chapter 38

  Pearson

  When Niles walked out of the room, Pearson rolled over and watched him leave. She was thankful, but felt horrible for him having to babysit her the way he did. Although she had barely been able to lift her head from the pillow the entire day and was probably dehydrated because of all of the throwing up she’d done, yet she craved another drink. She didn’t want to think about her mother dying. She didn’t want to anticipate how that loss would make her feel.

  Pearson wrestled all Niles’ efforts to make her better, refusing the water he tried to force her to drink and pushing away the soup he’d made for her from scratch. She even rejected the BLT he tried to feed her piece by piece, which was her favorite.

  Pearson reached under her bed and felt for the flask she had hidden there. When she couldn’t reach it with her hands, she leaned farther until her head was nearly touching the floor.

  “Looking for this?”

  Pearson jumped up, whipping her head in Niles’ direction. Her breath caught as he stood near the end of the bed dangling her flask. She hadn’t even heard him enter the room. Niles shook his head. Ashamed, Pearson looked away and gnawed on her bottom lip.

  Niles took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed. Neither of them spoke and Pearson could feel the heaviness of what both of them wanted to say.

  After a while, Niles got up and repositioned himself next to her. Pearson turned her back to him so he wouldn’t see her tears if she started crying. She knew when she caused him pain and hated being the source because she never knew how to soothe him.

  Niles slid behind her and spooned her, wrapping his arms around her tight. Pearson’s tears came despite her efforts to keep them at bay. She sniffled quietly as if she could succeed in not alerting Niles to the fact that she was crying. Niles held her tighter.

  “Pearse,” he whispered softly. She cleared her throat, but didn’t respond. “I can’t say I know exactly what you are going through. I can only imagine how much it hurts.” He paused, apparently waiting for some acknowledgement. Pearson remained quiet. “It hurts me to see you in pain, but I cannot—I will not stand by and watch you drink yourself to death.”

  Pearson’s body shook as the tears rushed her. The lump in her throat made it hard to swallow. Niles turned her over and let her cry into his brawny shoulder. Pearson sobbed until her eyes dried out. The release took some of the weight off her, but she still desired the numbing that affects that liquor afforded her.

  “I need you to promise me something,” Niles said.

  “What?” Pearson looked into his eyes.

  “Promise me you will keep letting me in.” Pearson shook her head. “Don’t shut me out. And for your sake, chill out on all the drinking before you get to a point when you can’t turn back.”

  “Niles, I—”

  “Don’t!” Niles gently placed his finger to her mouth. Pearson looked away. “Okay.” She turned back to him.

  He wiped away her tears with his thumb and then kissed her eyes. Pearson folded her arms around him and squeezed him tight. She’d do anything for him, including slowing down on her drinking even if it meant having to face her pains head on. With him she could do it or at least she felt like it could be possible.

  “Okay!” Niles said, his tone sounding lighter. “I have plans for us tonight. I figured both of us needed to do something to get our minds off all the stuff that’s been going on.”

  “What’s that?” Pearson smiled. It was small, but she was making an effort to pull herself out of her slump. She glanced at the clock and then glanced up quickly. “Aren’t you supposed to be gone by now? You have a gig in Chicago tonight.”

  “I cancelled.”

  “Why?”

  Niles looked at her as if the answer should have been obvious. “Did you really think I was going to leave you here the way you were?”

  Pearson turned away at first. “Well, where are we going?” She didn’t bother trying to convince Niles that she would be fine without him. Once his mind was made up that was it.

  “We are going to a comedy show.” Niles got up from the bed and stood proud and reached for Pearson. “Remember how we used to always go to comedy shows when we first got together?”

  Pearson took his hand and stood with him. “Yes. I remember following our favorite comedians around to all of their performances. That was fun.”

  “Tonight should be fun.” Niles pulled her into his arms.

  “Yes. That would be nice.”

  “Wait right here.” Niles disappeared and came back with a large box. “I picked this up after I got the tickets to the show.”

  Pearson scrunched her brows. “What’s this?”

  “Open it,” Niles coaxed.

  “That’s why I disappeared earlier.” Pearson dropped the box on the bed and ripped it open. Inside there was a black dress and a brand new pair of boots. “Thanks, baby.” She kissed Niles and felt like the passion that had taken a back seat in her recent turmoil could possibly return.

  Niles held his hand out to Pearson once again. She rolled her eyes playfully and took it. Leading her to the kitchen, he pointed at one of the stools behind the kitchen island where she sat while he prepared a bowl of soup and watched her eat. After that, they got ready for their night out on the town.

/>   Hanging with Niles helped tremendously. Pearson loved how he entertained her with his silly antics. She threw her head back and laughed at his re-enactments of scenes from the comedy show.

  “Niles!” she said with a naughty smile. “You are a fool!”

  Niles laughed with her as he mimicked a funny gesture from one of their favorite comedians.

  Pearson was bent over. “Stop!” I can’t take anymore.” She put her hand on her chest and tried to stop laughing, then suddenly clenched her knees together. “Ahhh. I have to pee!” Pearson ran in the direction of the powder room, giggling all the way.

  She stumbled a bit along the way and thought about the fact that she’d only drank wine during the show, except the few shots of cognac she slipped in when she went off to the bathroom and when Niles left to bring the car around.

  She enjoyed the burn of the potent amber spirit created as it slid down her throat. She popped dinner mints after each shot to mask the scent.

  Niles’ attention had been trained on her the entire night. Pearson melted each time she looked up and noticed him stealing adoring glances. He ran his fingers along her cheek and took her by the hand, giving her loving squeezes.

  When they got home, Niles spun her around taking her in.

  “Um! You know you can give any twenty-something woman a run for her money.” He looked her up and down and smiled, admiring her figure.

  “Thank you,” Pearson said, trying to get her footing. The spinning made her dizzy.

  Niles loosened the cufflinks on his shirt and placed them on the dresser. Stepping out of his shoes, he slid them against the wall. The entire time, his eyes were on Pearson as she undressed, trying to keep steady.

  Pearson didn’t want to disappoint Niles, but she was getting sleepy. She felt the stirring in her stomach from the mix of wine and cognac and prayed she wouldn’t have to vomit. The liquor made the night funnier, more enjoyable, but now it was hitting her. Pearson was slipping into that familiar place that she usually yearned for, but tonight she didn’t want to be taken under. She didn’t want her memory to fail her.