Soulmates Dissipate

by Mary B. Morrison

  “What was so important that you had to mail it on the way to the airport?” Candice asked. She handed Jada a chilled glass of Dom.

  “Let’s toast to new beginnings,”Jada said.

  “I’ll definitely toast to that,” Candice said. They elegantly tipped their glasses.

  “What’s the first thing you want to do when we get to Honolulu?” Candice asked.

  “Put on my bikini and lie out on Waikiki beach all day. Then I want to go to the best luau on the island and party until my feet start a boycott.”

  “Girl, you’re trying to do it all in one day. Save something to do tomorrow,” Candice said. She sipped on the coconut rum with fruit juice the flight attendant had given her.

  “Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. So I’m living each day of the rest of my life to the fullest,” Jada proclaimed.” I have done my research and there’s a lot to do the rest of the week. In fact, we probably won’t have time to do it all. We’re going to the Polynesian Culture Center, the Kodak Show, Pearl Harbor, the Dole Factory, the Bishop Museum, and you can’t go to Hawaii and not go deep-sea diving, scuba diving, and snorkeling. The only thing I won’t do is ride in one of those helicopters. I’m not feeling that adventurous.”

  “Well, now that you’ve planned everything, I’ll just hang on for the ride.” Candice held on to the arms of her seat.

  “Hold on tight, girl!” Jada rocked from side to side.” I never could understand how anyone could take a vacation and not take time to appreciate the sites.” Jada reclined her seat, put on her headphones, and turned on her CD player. The CD Wellington made with the songs from the concert was her favorite. But she’d stopped listening to it months ago. Whenever she heard any of those songs, it brought back painful memories.

  On the day of the wedding, Wellington was still confused and unsure. At least Melanie had left the night before and had stayed with his mother. Wellington started to call his best man, Walter. Then he changed his mind. Why bother, he wouldn’t understand. No one—especially Walter—would understand that he still loved Diamond.

  Wellington walked upstairs to his bedroom and picked up the envelope the postman had delivered earlier. He stood in front of his full-length mirror and talked to himself.

  “Should I open it or not?” Wellington stared at the letter.” If she still wants to marry me, then what would I say to Melanie and my mother? I couldn’t possibly disappoint them.” Wellington rubbed his head.” If she’s found someone else, I’ll be hurt. What if she needs me and I ignore her plea?”

  Wellington sat on the side of the bed and opened the letter. Jada’s fragrances were immediately released. He deeply inhaled her once more. Then he removed the letter from the envelope and read it.

  “Dear Wellington …” He could hear Jada’s voice and smell her perfumes. A tear rolled down his face but he refused to outwardly break down and cry. Wellington took a deep breath and continued. He read the letter three times, went downstairs, and placed it in his briefcase.

  Wellington sat at his desk and gazed into the darkness of his life. The past year flashed before his eyes. Somehow the day that was supposed to be the happiest of his life had turned into a nightmare from which he could not seem to awaken.

  Chapter 17

  Monday morning came too soon for Jada. Along with it, her migraine headaches returned. They reminded her of the man she was trying so hard to forget. Would Wellington read the letter? She concluded that it didn’t really matter. He was a married man now. She was determined not to let it get her down again. Jada swallowed two prescribed tablets, held her head as high as she could, and waltzed into the office.

  “Good morning, Karen,” Jada said.

  “My, don’t we look refreshed,” Karen said.

  “Thanks. That’s what a vacation in Hawaii can do for you too,” Jada said, as if she were auditioning for a commercial.” How’s everything around here?”

  “It’s been quiet, since you and Melanie were out at the same time.”

  “Good morning, all,” Melanie said.” Ms. Living ston, you looked wonderful at the wedding, darling.” Melanie strutted by Jada as if she weren’t there.

  Karen avoided eye contact with Jada and fumbled through her in-basket. Jada walked into her office and closed the door. Jada turned on her computer and typed her resignation letter within ten minutes. She knew she had to leave Sensations before she ended up needing a pen pal to write letters to from prison.

  Jada handed the letter to Karen.” Karen, would you please give this letter to Mr. Murphy.”

  “Are you feeling all right?” Karen asked.

  “No, but I will be as soon as I get the hell away from this place. I quit.”

  “But you can’t just quit,” said Karen.

  “I’ll send for my things.” Jada looked at the clock on Karen’s desk. Not even seven o’clock yet.

  Once outside, Jada’s headache disappeared. She called her mother.” Hi, Mama. I’ve got great news!”

  “Oh, baby. What’s your great news?”

  “I just quit my job at Sensations Communications and I’m moving to Los Angeles to start my own business.”

  “Well, baby, I know you haven’t been happy lately. But do you think quitting your job and moving so far away is the right decision?”

  “Mama, you could get to Los Angeles in less than an hour,” explained Jada.” And yes, I’m sure I made the right decision. I know I don’t have to worry about you because Mr. Hamilton is taking great care of you. I have to do this, Mama. I just have to get away from here.” Jada crossed her fingers that her mother would understand.

  “I always want you to be happy, and right now I know you’re not, so I think you should move to L.A. Robert and I can take Shelly and Brandon to Disneyland this summer. Before I forget, Jazzmyne wants you to call her. I’ve got to go now. Robert is waiting to take me to breakfast.”

  “Okay, Mama. I’ll talk with you later. I love you.”

  “I love you too, baby. And don’t forget to call Jazzmyne.”

  Jada didn’t delay. She speed-dialed Jazzmyne’s work number from her cellular.

  “Hello, this is Jazzmyne.”

  “Hi, Jazzmyne, this is Jada. Mama said you wanted me to call.”

  “Yes, I really needed to talk to you about my visit at Wellington’s, but I decided to wait until you returned from vacation,” said Jazzmyne. There was discomfort in Jazzmyne’s voice.” How was your vacation?”

  “Candice and I had enough fun for ten people!” Jada said and laughed. She reflected on how they had teased all the military men with their G-string swimwear.

  “It’s so good to hear you laugh again,” said Jazzmyne.” I mean really laugh.”

  “It feels good,” said Jada.” Now what about your visit?”

  “You’ve seen the photos of Wellington’s mothers?”Jazzmyne asked.

  “Yes.”

  Jazzmyne inhaled deeply.” Well, his biological mother is also my mother.”

  Jada’s chin hit the flap on her phone.” Are you serious? Are yoü sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  “Did you tell Wellington?”

  “No, and please don’t mention it to him.”

  “Other than the fact that we’re not speaking anyway, I promise I won’t tell.”

  “I even asked him if he wanted me to assist him with finding his biological parents. Of course that was before I saw the picture.”

  “So you have the same father too?” Jazzmyne had her really curious about Wellington’s background.

  “No. Are you sitting down?” Jazzmyne asked.

  “No. Why?” Jada was standing outside her car.

  “You may want to.”

  “Okay, I’m sitting.” Jada opened the car door and sat behind the wheel.

  “Wellington said he doesn’t know his father, but I do. My father’s last name is Jones. His dad’s last name is Thompson.”

  “Oh, shit!”Jada accidentally pressed against her horn. She jumpe
d.

  “It gets worse,” Jazzmyne said.” Our mother, Katherine, told me the story before she died. She said she wanted to clear her conscience although she had promised not to tell a soul. I’m just piecing it all together because she always referred to Cynthia as Cyn Baby. Cynthia and Katherine are sisters. Their grandfather raped Cynthia when she was twelve. She became pregnant so Cynthia performed her own abortion. That’s why she can’t have children.” Jada gasped and covered her mouth.” Wellington’s father, Keith, is still somewhat of a player. He slept with Cynthia, Katherine, and Melanie’s mom. It’s pretty scary when you think about it. They all grew up in a small town in Mississippi.”

  “Stop right there. This is getting too freaky. What if Wellington and Melanie are brother and sister?”

  “I’ll get to that part. When my mother got pregnant, she couldn’t tell my father because it wasn’t his child. He was due to return from his two-year tour of duty in Japan. So, Cyn Baby agreed to take her child at birth as long as she could name him. My mother gave Cyn Baby an old photo of when she turned sweet sixteen. She wanted Wellington to have it. She looked very different by the time Wellington was born, so they figured Cynthia’s husband, Chris, would never figure it out. Men seldom pay attention to details like women do.”

  Jada’s ear was stuck to the phone from perspiration. She hurried to dry it off.” So what about Melanie’s mom?”

  “Well, let’s hope for the kid’s sake that Wellington and Melanie are not related. My mom said Susan swore she didn’t marry her husband because he had the same last name. Each of the women desperately wanted Wellington’s dad. So he played them to his advantage. Eventually, Katherine and Keith moved to Oakland. Cyn Baby followed them. Susan moved to D.C. because she wanted to get as far away from them as she could. Wellington’s father lives right here in Oakland. Just think, Uncle Wellington is truly Uncle Wellington,” said Jazzmyne.

  “Are you going to tell the kids?”

  “I don’t know. I just needed to tell somebody.”

  Jada empathized with Jazzmyne before she told her the news.” I want to tell you before you hear it from Mama. I quit my job today, and I’m moving to Los Angeles with Candice.”

  “Oh, no! How am I going to sort through this mess? Even though Mother told me, I never planned to search for my brother. Now, that I’ve found him—”

  “I’m just not happy here.” After she’d listened to Jazzmyne, Jada was convinced relocating was in her best interest.” And since I’m responsible for my own happiness, I’m taking control of my life and moving on. But I’ll always be there for you.”

  Jazzmyne heaved.” I’m happy if you’re happy. Is Candice still sending for Leslie when she gets out?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Well, tell her if she needs me to pick up Leslie or let her stay with me for a while, just let me know.”

  “What are you going to do about Wellington?” Jada asked for her own selfish reasons.” Will you tell him?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ll have to pray on this one.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make the right decision. I’ll see you at church Sunday?”

  “Yes, you will,” Jazzmyne said.

  “If you need someone to listen, call me. We can get together. I have lots of time.”

  “Can you afford to take two months off?”

  “I can afford to take two years off,” Jada responded.” My daddy took excellent care of us before and after he passed away. Two weeks after the funeral, we met with our financial advisor and diversified our financial resources. Daddy would say a girl named Diamond and a woman named Ruby should never be broke. But he would have done the same if our names were Stella and Ella,” Jada said and laughed.

  “Does Wellington know you’re investment literate?” asked Jazzmyne.

  “No. I didn’t ask him about his money and he never questioned me about mine. Daddy said a woman should always have enough money to leave a relationship that’s not working. There’s enough miserable people living together because they cannot afford to live apart and he never wanted me to live in a situation where I was unhappy.”

  “Your father was a wise man. I could have benefited from his advice. Maybe it would have saved me from years of Franklin’s abuse. I’m going to let you go and we’ll definitely get together and talk soon. Jada, do not mention a single word of this to Wellington.”

  Chapter 18

  Melanie was excited about the wedding and the honeymoon. She had a captivated audience of employees in her office during lunchtime soaking up the intimate details.” I really wish I could have invited all of you to the wedding, but there were so many people I had to limit our number of guests,” Melanie explained.” I did bring each of you a personalized gift bag with party favors and a CD with our wedding photo on the cover. The CD has all of our wedding songs and a special intro of Wellington and me exchanging our wedding vows.”

  As the women opened their gift bags, Melanie continued.” I brought the wedding pictures and some of the photos from our honeymoon in Paris. Everything was so perfect. I really don’t know where to begin …”

  Wellington was at home engaged in a telephone conversation with his fraternity brother, Deon.

  “Man, I apologize for not being able to make it to the wedding but Gina and the baby both had the flu. That’s why we had to cancel at the last minute. I hope you received our gift before the wedding. I shipped it overnight.”

  “Man, we had presents everywhere,” Wellington said as he stretched across his chaise longue.” I’m sure we received it. Melanie’s already planned a gift opening celebration over the Christmas holiday, so we can show everyone the pictures from the wedding and the honeymoon. She’s going to show the wedding video on the big screen TV and play the special CD she had made. The exchange of our wedding vows is the intro and we’ve selected songs from the reception like the one played during the bride and groom dance. To tell the truth, I can’t remember any of the songs. Our wedding photo is on the front and a photo of the bridal party with our parents is on the back cover.” Wellington paused. His hand grazed over his chest hairs.” Melanie reminds me too much of my mother. She plans everything we do down to the smallest detail and I just do the same thing my father does with my mom. I just show up present and accounted for.”

  “Man, I’ve listened to you ramble, but you haven’t mentioned how it feels to be a married man,” Deon said.

  ‘That’s because I’m not sure.” Wellington clicked channels constantly, but didn’t pay much atten tion to what was on.” Everything is like a blur to me. It seems like one day I was engaged to Jada and the next day I was married to Melanie.”

  “Yeah. What happened between you and Jada? You always had excitement in your voice when you spoke about her. What’s up?”

  Wellington rubbed his head.” It’s hard to explain and even harder for me to understand when I reflect back. It seems like it all started with the ménage à trois. Actually, it started before that. It was one of those situations where the little head dominated. Sex with Melanie was better than I had expected. So we did it a few times.” Wellington walked to the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and returned to his chaise.

  “Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that the three of you did the wild thang?” Deon’s voice escalated so high, Wellington moved the phone away from his ear.

  “Yeah, but everything seemed all right. No one was uptight about it afterwards,” said Wellington.” Next thing I knew Melanie was pregnant. Then Jada started acting different and I saw a side of her that I’d never seen before. Then our boy Walter called and said he saw Jada at the bar with this man. That made me question whether or not she was being faithful. I didn’t say anything to her, but I’m not stupid. I know Jada still talks with Mr. NBA. Melanie said they went out a few weeks ago. At the same time, I had Melanie here cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We started bonding, and before I knew it, everyone was encouraging me to marry her. Man, does any of this shit make s
ense to you?”

  “Man, hell no! That shit doesn’t make any sense. What kind of question is that?” Deon asked.

  Wellington hoped someone would understand his position.” How do you feel about Gina?”

  “Gina is the only woman for me, man. I love that woman so much. When I think about straying, I think about life without Gina. The choice is simple. She’s my lover, my wife, and my best friend rolled into one. Gina is my soulmate. I can’t imagine what life would be like without her.”

  “I knew Wellington was the man for me the first time I laid eyes on him,” Melanie said.” I just had to show him how to consider his options. Look at this picture.” Melanie pointed. “This is my maid of honor, who also happens to be my twin sister Stephanie. This is my mother and these are Wellington’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. These are the snapshots of our suite in Paris where our first child was conceived.” Melanie posed and smiled.

  ‘You’re pregnant already?” Karen asked. Everyone looked at Melanie and waited for a response.

  “Sure. I didn’t see any point in waiting.”

  “So how do you know you conceived in Paris?” asked Karen.

  “It really doesn’t matter where it happened,” said Melanie. She gave Karen a sharp look.” It makes for a more interesting story to say I conceived my firstborn child on my honeymoon in the City of Love. Actually, I hope we have twins.”

  “Doesn’t it skip a generation?” Karen questioned.

  Melanie closed the album.” Usually, but I’ve also been taking a fertility drug so we’ll be fortunate if it is only two. I don’t plan to be pregnant again so I thought I’d get it all over with the first time around. Wellington has lots of money so we can afford to pay someone to stay home with the children. I have no intentions on being a full-time mother. I have too many other obligations. My career and organizational involvements alone keep me busy enough. I just want to love and mother my children. Someone else can change diapers, feed them, and take them to the park during the day. I could actually be the poster mom for the new millennium.” Melanie laughed and ran her fingers through her hair.