Somebody Else's Man

by Daaimah S. Poole

  Immediately, he grabbed me around my waist and said, “Good night? Whoa, you can’t do that and then get in your car. You starting things. You must be coming home with me.” I did feel a ball of energy between my legs and Dre’s offer was very tempting. But I couldn’t. Nope, for all I knew he had a wife or a girlfriend stashed somewhere.

  “No, I have things to do at home. But maybe another time,” I said as I got all the way in my car. Dre leaned in and kissed me on my cheek. I started my car and pulled my seat belt over myself.

  “You think you might want to go to this play with me Friday?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  “All right, be safe, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  I accepted Dre’s invitation to go to the play Almost Yesterday. I read about it online at work. It was about an African-American family in the 1980s, during the Reagan era. All the reviews were good and it seemed very interesting. I couldn’t wait to see Dre, or it. He never really saw me dolled up and I wanted him to see my girlie side. I bought a paradise-blue-and-black belted-waist dress. As I slipped on my dress my phone began to ring. I didn’t answer it, but then it rang again. It was Reshaun. I really didn’t have time to take her call, but I did anyway.

  “Reshaun, hey girl.”

  “Why haven’t you been calling me?” Reshaun sounded a little pissed.

  “Because, I’ve been busy at work and I have a little friend.”

  “You got a friend? That’s good. I was worried about you after this Malcolm nonsense. Yes! I am so happy. What’s his name? What he do?” she asked all in one breath.

  “Calm down, let’s not get excited. I’ve only been out with him twice. So I promise I’m going to tell you all about him. But right now I’m in the middle of getting dressed.”

  “You better call me and give me all the details.”

  “I will.”

  I was dressed and ready to go and so excited. If Ernest and Lolo were sitting on the sofa I would have danced out the door. I was counting down the minutes before I would get to see Dondre Hill again. I was at t minus fifteen minutes. I pulled out of my parking space, turned on my Beyoncé CD, and raced toward the expressway. I heard my phone and I turned the radio down.

  It was Dre! “Hi!” I said, not bothering to put up any guards. I let him hear the happiness I was feeling.

  “Nicole, you not going to be mad at me if I cancel, are you?”

  Cancel, why did he have to cancel? Noooooo! “You need to cancel? Okay, I guess.” I wanted to hide my disappointment, but it snuck out in my tone.

  “Yeah, my kids’ mom just dropped my children off on me unexpected, and I can’t find anyone to watch them. But I’m going to make a few phone calls. I’m going to see if I can find someone to watch them. I’m going to call you back. Okay?”

  I wanted to yell at him for canceling on me. But if I did that, I would come off as a crazy chick. Or I could tell him how cute I looked and he was missing out on all my sexiness. Or I could have said, Don’t call me until your kids are grown, because I don’t have the time to deal with this foolishness. But I didn’t say any of that. All I got out was a faint, “Sure, no problem.”

  “Don’t be upset with me.”

  “I’m not,” I said as I ended the call. Are there any men left in the world who don’t have a baby mom? I don’t know why I thought Dre would be any different. Men are all the same. And why was he being honest all the time? Honesty is not the new black. I would have preferred if he just would have stood me up. Don’t call me and tell me you are stuck with your children.

  Once home, I took my clothes off and flopped on the bed. Oh, well, I guess instead of going out I’d get to catch up on my sleep. Yeah. Sleep sounded like a great idea. I snuggled under my covers and turned the television and TiVo box on. I watched a recorded episode of The Tyra Banks Show until I nodded off.

  As soon as I was comfortable and content with staying in the house, Dre called back and said he found a sitter for his children and asked if I still wanted to go out. The play was over and I was not moving from the comfort of my bed.

  “No, I took my clothes off. I’m staying in.”

  “Put your clothes on and I’ll come pick you up.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t feel like it,” I said with an attitude. Fuck you, I thought.

  “You are a little spoiled, huh?”

  “No, but I’m not for your games.”

  “Games? I told you I had my children. You tripping, you acting kind of crazy.”

  “Whatever. Don’t call me crazy. I’m not crazy, I just have very low tolerance for people who aren’t considerate.”

  “All right. Yeah…well, I’ll keep that in mind. Good night.”

  “Bye.” There was no way I was going to re-dress for him. I’d see him when I see him. After I hung up I realized two things. One, I was being too available too soon and two, I was starting to like Dre too much.

  Monday morning at work, I was dragging around with the Monday morning blues. I had my resume out everywhere, and so far I hadn’t gotten any callbacks. I was trying my best to just work it out, but each day it became harder. A lot of people were on a hiring freeze. I had to buy a Monster Energy drink every day before I went to work. That was the only thing that was able to keep me up and keep me sane and energized. I’d been working a fifty-to-sixty-hour week. I missed my thirty-five hour, extended-lunch-break work week. Most days, I couldn’t even go out to lunch anymore. My diet now consisted of Oodles of Noodles, mixed nuts, and microwave popcorn out of the vending machine. I longed for the days when I could come in late and then just sit around doing a bunch of nothing. I understand that nobody really likes their job. People work to make money. But imagine hating every second of your day. I found no joy in what I did anymore. Kathy was always walking around the damn hotel with her clipboard, writing shit. I felt like I had a camera watching me and they even had me on call now. Yup, that meant any problems that happen at the hotel, they can call me. I felt like I should get off work at five and that’s it. I’d be damned if they called my phone in the middle of the night and I answered. But other than that, I decided I was going to do the best job I could. If that was not good enough, then fuck it. If something didn’t give, I was liable to go postal up in this hotel.

  My phone ringing took me away momentarily from thinking about the crazy day I had at work. A smile crept on my face when I realized it was Dre. His call had come right on time.

  “Where are you?” he asked.

  “Home—I just got off of work.”

  “I miss you. Come see me.”

  “No,” I said. Just because I was happy to hear from him didn’t mean that he deserved to have his way.

  “Why?”

  “Because you stood me up the other night.”

  “Don’t be like that. I called you right back. Come and see me.”

  “Maybe we can go out another night. I’m not coming to your house. I don’t want to sit in your house. What I look like?”

  “We can go out another night. I’m a little tired, and I just want to see you.”

  “No. I know what you up to,” I said, very blasé.

  “Nah, it’s not even like that. I miss you.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “What if I beg you?”

  “I’m still going to say no.”

  “You don’t want to see me even a little bit?”

  I looked around my lonely, cluttered bedroom. My wanting to do something superceded my not wanting to see him. I needed to get out and have some fun. “Okay, I’ll come over.”

  “You spending the night?”

  “Now you are pushing it,” I said. Little did he know I was already packing my bag.

  I called Dre once I reached his cul de sac. He came to the door and motioned me toward his house. I parked in his driveway and entered. Dre’s townhouse was basic, but nice. He had two brown leather sofas parallel to each other against each wall and a reg
ular television in the corner by a big window with beige curtains. Everything was neat and calm, unlike him and his busy lifestyle.

  “Take off your jacket.” He came up behind me and whispered in my ear, “I missed you.” He took my jacket off of me and hung it up in his closet. John Legend was playing on his iPod dock station.

  “So, how long have you been living here?”

  “A little under a year. I had tenants in here, but when their lease was up I moved in after I broke up with my ex.”

  “Who got married?” I asked as I noticed pictures on his mantle above his fake fireplace. There was a picture of him and his daughter at a wedding, and of him and his son at a football game.

  “My sister, April, she lives in Maryland. My daughter was the flower girl.”

  “What’s your children’s names?”

  “My daughter’s name is Sabria and my boy’s name is Mikel. Sabria’s three and Mikel is five.”

  “It smells like you made real food tonight. What you cook?” I asked, smelling the aroma that wafted into the living room.

  “Pizza pretzels.”

  “What is a pizza pretzel?”

  “It’s a soft pretzel, and you put tomato sauce, a little oregano, and cheese on it. You never had one?”

  “No.”

  “Me and my sisters love it. That was our snack until my mom came home from work, every day after school.”

  “You always talking about your sisters and cooking and eating. They must be fat. All y’all seemed to do was make up food recipes and eat junk food.”

  “What? My sisters are in good shape. I’m going to tell them you was talking about them.”

  “Whatever, why don’t you eat real food? You always eating junk, like a kid.”

  “I don’t know. Something wrong with that?”

  “No, it’s just I know your teeth must be rotten and you going to have diabetes soon.”

  “No, I don’t have any cavities. Look at my teeth.” He stretched his lips into a big grin. “See, my teeth are prettier than yours.”

  “No, they not,” I said as I glanced at his perfect pink gums and porcelain white teeth.

  “Come on, I was upstairs,” he said as he turned the lights off downstairs and I followed him up the steps. I looked into his extra rooms. He had an office and rooms for his children. The girl room had purple and pink pastel colors and the boy room was red and black.

  The first thing I noticed in Dre’s room was his black, four-poster iron bed that sat up high. Loose change, business cards, and receipts covered his big oak double dresser. A large oval mirror was hanging above it. His closet had rows of boots, shoes, and sneakers. Dre’s television was a forty-something-inch screen mounted on the wall. After I looked around some, I sat on his bed. “This is comfortable. What kind of mattress is this?”

  “I have memory foam cushions underneath. Sometimes I come home, and my body be aching. I need this.” Dre fell back and stretched out, folding his arms behind his head and leaning on a pillow. I took my shoes off and scooted back next to him. We watched a little television as he smothered me in his arms and spoiled my neck and cheeks with kisses. I felt so good. So good, like I was supposed to rest my head next to his warm body each night. I was about to fall asleep in his arms, but his constant flicking through channels wouldn’t allow it. Then something came over me. I felt a little scared. So scared I got up and asked him where his bathroom was. I didn’t even have to go. I went into the bathroom and sighed. I didn’t know if I was getting in too fast. I don’t know what was wrong with me. But I just kept feeling like maybe I was moving too fast. Why was he so available and why did he want to spend so much time with me? He was so unlike Malcolm that it scared me. I kept thinking, why was he being so nice to me and what were his intentions? I stayed in the bathroom so long, Dre knocked on the door and asked was I okay. Damn it. Now he probably thinks I’m in his bathroom making it smell bad. I hurried up and came out the bathroom. I sat at the end of the bed, still feeling a little confused.

  “Why you sitting there? You going to sit there all night?”

  “No, I’m just relaxing.”

  “So, what’s up, why you still acting so distant?”

  I shrugged, unable to think of a good answer.

  “Come back over here with me.”

  I scooted back again, and he rolled me over and began to kiss me, and a moment later we were both lying naked next to each other, our bodies about to connect to form one. Dre’s strong arms just grasped my entire body, from head to toe. I didn’t make any movement—his mere presence inside of me sent my pussy walls haywire. But then he began moving and I almost couldn’t take it. He held his hand under my back and tilted me to the side so our bodies formed a slight arch. I lifted my leg slightly as he bit my neck and stroked my insides in every direction. After we were done, my body and mind were in another place until my ringing phone interrupted. I took his sheet and wrapped my body and searched for my phone. It was ringing louder and louder, and I couldn’t find it anywhere in my bag.

  “Your boyfriend keep calling you?” Dre asked as he looked over my shoulder as I answered my phone. I shushed him.

  “No, it’s my mom. She wants to make sure I’m okay. She is about twenty years late, but she is trying.” I pushed the green button on my phone.

  “Nicole, are you okay?”

  “Hey, Mom, I’m okay. Yes. Okay. Talk to you in the morning.”

  “Are you coming home tonight? Because if you are I’m going to leave the lights on for you.”

  “No, Mom, I won’t be home. Don’t leave the lights on.”

  “Well, be safe, use a condom, and I love you.”

  “Mom, please. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” I placed my phone in my bag and returned to Dre’s bed.

  CHAPTER 14

  I had been hanging out with Dre for a few weeks and I was enjoying every moment of it. So far, so good. There was a big difference in dating a single man and a married man. It was actually kind of strange. I wasn’t used to being with a man who can give me all of his time. Another plus was that we didn’t have to hide our feelings or constantly be on the creep. We could hold hands in public. I could call his phone and he would pick up, no matter what time it was. And it seemed like he really just wanted to spend time with me, and I loved it. And besides the attention, we got along so well as friends. Just talking about our lives growing up, family, just life. I told him about my dad and even about Tia suing my mom and our whole big fight. I really liked him. Though he was not perfect. He was always running late and always had to run and help somebody. His family was always going through something—he said it is the oldest-child burden he has. His family really relied on him, more than necessary, but that is not a bad thing.

  My job was still in limbo. I felt like I had no one to talk to about it. I didn’t want to tell my mom and I couldn’t tell Dre that I might be jobless. I don’t think any man would be excited to find out that his new girlfriend is unemployed. Especially since he said his ex couldn’t keep a job. That is not sexy and would be a turn-off to any man.

  Me and Maritza were in the back office telling jokes and reminiscing about the good-old days, when our job was sweet. I saw Kathy coming so I told Maritza to hurry up and act like she was doing some work. A guest came in and he pulled out his credit card and then asked to be checked in. I began searching for his reservation as Maritza looked to see what rooms we had available for an early arrival.

  “I show that you are staying with us for one night, sir. You’re staying in a nonsmoking room with double beds?”

  “That is correct.”

  I smiled politely and then swiped his credit card and returned it to him. “You’re going to be staying in room 417. Please enjoy your stay and join us tomorrow for a complimentary continental breakfast from six a.m. to nine a.m. And would you like a wake-up call, sir?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  “What time?”

  “Seven a.m. Thank you so very much.” He seemed
impressed by my professionalism and courtesy. So I continued, and said, “Thank you for staying with us and enjoy the rest of your day, sir.”

  Kathy wrote something down. I had to at least act like I wanted my job, even though I felt like I was acting like a yes woman.

  It was Friday and TGIF. I needed a break. Though Ernest’s cancer scare had changed some of Lolo’s ways, it was impossible for her to change completely. She was still buying up everything on the shopping networks. I handed her the boxes that were left inside the screen door.

  “Oh, what do we have here?” she exclaimed excitedly. She pulled out this amethyst bracelet and chain.

  “This is nice,” she said as she held it up and admired it. But as soon as she got a good look at the bracelet, she opened another box. “These are what I’ve been waiting for…my mother-of-pearls. They’ve been on back order for the longest. Aren’t they beautiful?” she said, holding them up to the light to get a good view of the pearls’ iridescent color.

  All I could do was shake my head. I didn’t have time to lecture her—I had a date with Dre and I had to get ready.

  Dre told me to meet him at one of his rental properties at seven. It was now seven twenty-five and I was still waiting for him. The movie was beginning in another ten minutes. We definitely were about to miss it, I thought as I looked down at my cell phone. I called his phone again and he said he was around the corner. That was a lie. Ten more minutes went by. I was getting mad. Then a few seconds later, I saw gleaming headlights behind me. I shut my car off and grabbed my handbag and began to get out the car.

  “What you doing? We taking your car,” he said. Who told him I felt like driving? And he had a lot of nerve trying to call the shots, being that he was late. I sighed. “You got an attitude? I’m sorry. I’m letting my brother take my car.”

  “You always doing too much,” I complained.