Single Ladies 2

by Blake Karrington

  “No,” Tammy answered quickly.

  “Do you still love him?” he asked, lifting her chin up so he could look into her eyes when she answered the question.

  Tammy didn’t hesitate to respond with a “No.”

  “Well, it shouldn’t fuckin’ matter to you who he’s sleeping with,” Darious shot back.

  His cousin’s words about the relationship between women and their baby daddies flooded his thoughts. It made him want to probe a little deeper.

  “Let me ask you something, Tammy, and if you love me the way you say you do, then tell me the truth,” Darious said, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

  “What happened when ya baby daddy came up to your dressing room on the day of our wedding?”

  Tammy’s face had busted written all over it, but there was no way in hell she was about to tell him the truth about what happened. That was something Tammy vowed that she would take to the grave with her, and she hoped that Chris and Lisa would do the same. She quickly got her lie together and made sure her facial expression displayed nothing but the look of truthfulness.

  “When Chris came to my dressing room, he asked me if I was sure about marrying you. He told me that there will never be a chance for me and him to get back together if I went through with it,” she lied with a straight face.

  Darious couldn’t tell if she was lying or telling the truth. “And what did you tell him?” he asked.

  “Nothing. I walked down the aisle and married the man that I was supposed to be with,” she said, even mustering up a couple of pitiful tears.

  Darious was still a little confused, and even if it was the truth, he still felt betrayed because she never told him about it. He sank his head into his hands, trying to figure out a solution for all of this. Only one thing came to mind, and it was probably the best thing that Tammy could do.

  “I want you to listen to me, Tammy, and this is not up for negotiation. Leave ya baby daddy alone. If it ain’t about the kids, you shouldn’t have nothing else to say to him. I don’t give a fuck about who he’s screwing or what he’s doing, and neither should you. If you care anything about this marriage, you’ll do what I tell you to do,” he said, looking over at her. “Are we clear?”

  Tammy nodded, but that wasn’t enough for him. “I wanna hear you say it.”

  Tammy wiped the tears from her face and cleared her throat. “If it ain’t about the kids, I’m not worried about what Chris got going on.”

  All Tammy had was her word, and Darious was going to hold her to every letter of it. At the same time, he was going to be more on point from now on, knowing that Tammy wasn’t as truthful as he thought.

  Chapter 20

  Kim paced back and forth in her hotel room talking to Falisha’s lawyer and going over the motion she had prepared. It challenged the traffic stop that started everything. No violations occurred to stop the car in the first place, and though this was the only thing that Kim could come up with, her chances of winning this in a suppression hearing was high. But she knew that it would all come down to how well the motion was argued.

  “A’ight, make sure you get up early, because your hearing is at 9:00 sharp. I’m going to go with you, so your lawyer don’t fuck this up,” she told Falisha as she walked over to the window.

  “Thanks, Kim, you’re a lifesaver,” Falisha said. “And I been meaning to talk to you about something. The whole—”

  “Falisha, you don’t have to explain yourself. That shit is water under the bridge. At the end of the day, I still love you like a sister.” Kim spoke genuinely, and Falisha knew that it was coming from the heart.

  They had been through so much, and not just the whole Lamar experience. They’d known each other from as far back as they could remember, and growing up together from toddlers had only strengthened their bond. Elementary school, middle school, and high school were some trying times as youth, but they always stuck together. All of them stuck together, Kim, Tammy, Falisha, and Lisa, so it was going to take a lot to break that structure down.

  Little did they know, today was going to be the day that all the love they had for each other would be tested. Today might even be the day when all the walls of friendship collapsed. It was a sure thing that if they could make it through today, they would be able to make it through anything.

  * * *

  “Let’s go. Push it out,” Nate’s weightlifting coach yelled as he bench-pressed 275 pounds for the tenth rep.

  Nate and Lisa hadn’t really spoken much since they had come home from Disney World two days ago. The lack of communication fell on both of them since both needed some time to think and reevaluate their respective situations. For Nate, the whole ordeal was stressful, loving somebody who he felt really didn’t fully love him back. The gym was the only place where he found comfort, and it was also a good way for him to relieve his tension.

  “Good workout today,” the trainer concluded, giving Nate a fist bump.

  As Nate began to gather his things and put them into his gym bag, a shadow appeared in his peripheral, causing him to look over. Lisa was standing there looking down on him with a smile on her face. She looked good too, rocking a pair of blue jeans, a white tee, and some cute sandals. Her hair looked like she’d just come from the stylist, and she seemed to have a nice glow to her.

  “Hey,” they spoke at the same time.

  “What’s going on? Is everything all right?” Nate asked with a hint of concern on his face.

  “Yeah, everything’s good. I guess I just wanted to see you.”

  There was no doubt that Lisa had missed him, but it was obvious that things had changed since she turned down his proposal. Over the past couple of days, she fought with herself about how she had let her love for Ralphy take over her life. He was a great husband, and Lisa’s infidelities were the ultimate reason why he was now dead. Coming to terms with that had been the hardest thing she had to do, but it was necessary if she wanted to move on.

  “I think I’m . . .” Lisa paused, then corrected herself. “I know I’m ready,” she said, walking over to where he was sitting on the bench. “Whether or not you believe me, I really do wanna marry you,” she spoke.

  “You don’t have to do this, Lisa. I understand—”

  “See, that’s one of the many reasons why I love you so much,” she said, cutting him off.

  Lisa didn’t care who was in the gym or if they were watching her.

  She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a male diamond wedding band. “I know this isn’t the traditional way of doing things,” she said, getting down on both of her knees between his legs. “Will you be my husband?” she asked, wiping the single tear that fell down her cheek.

  A few people in the gym turned their attention to Nate and Lisa.

  Nate was speechless, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he had to maintain his manly image in front of his peers, he would have shed a tear himself. Marrying Lisa was the only thing he wanted to do. The only thing he’d thought about from the first day he laid eyes on her.

  “Yeah, I would love to be your husband,” Nate said with a big smile on his face as he leaned in to kiss her.

  The people looking on began to clap and congratulate them. Nate never thought in a million years that Lisa would do something like this, but he was glad that she did. It was a long, hard road ahead for them, and it would be full of obstacles, but in their minds, it was well worth the travel. This was only the beginning.

  * * *

  Chris was the first person to pull up to Ms. D’s house. As he was parking, Lamar came out of his front door. Lamar was still unaware of the fact that Chris and Falisha were messing around. Shockingly, the word hadn’t gotten to him via the gossip lines. Being the man that he was, Chris was going to speak to Lamar personally to let him know what was going on. He didn’t know how Lamar was going to act, but just in case it got out of hand, he was ready for a little scuffle.

  “Aye, yo, L, I need to holla at you about something, brah,”
Chris yelled when he got out of his car.

  “Damn, homie, I didn’t even know that was you,” Lamar said, walking over and giving Chris a fist bump while he checked out the Impala.

  “Yo, so check this out,” Chris said, inconspicuously sizing Lamar up.

  A car coming down the block caught both of their attention, and to Lamar’s surprise, it was Kim. She had Falisha in the car with her, and he wondered what they could be up to together.

  “Damn, can we holla about that a li’l later?” Lamar asked Chris as he watched Kim get out of the car.

  Chris didn’t want to press the issue, so for now, he was going to leave it alone.

  “A’ight, homie, we can hit the bar later,” he responded.

  Lamar didn’t even speak to Falisha when she and Kim got out of the car. He was fixed on Kim looking sexy as ever, wearing a pair of hip-hugger capris, a belly shirt, and some sandals.

  “Did you say anything to him?” Falisha asked Chris when she walked up to him.

  Lamar had stopped Kim a nice distance away, so he wasn’t able to hear the conversation between Chris and Falisha.

  “Nah, I didn’t tell him yet. We gon’ hit the bar later on. I’ll explain it to him then.”

  Falisha so desperately wanted to kiss Chris as he stood there looking handsome. But she refrained from doing it. Instead, she turned and started walking toward Ms. D’s house.

  Chris walked behind her, thinking about how much he wanted to do the same. Them not coming out yet to the crew was really putting a damper on Chris being able to show public affection to his girl.

  * * *

  “So, is that official?” Lamar asked, looking down at the engagement ring on Kim’s finger. “It’s really that deep?”

  Before Kim came back to Charlotte, she debated with herself about wearing the ring. She didn’t want to seem like she was throwing it in Lamar’s face. But she decided that if she was serious about marrying Brian, she needed to embrace it.

  “Yeah, he’s a good guy,” she said, looking down at the ring with a smile on her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you . . .”

  Kim couldn’t get out the rest of what she wanted to say before Lamar walked off on her. He was in his feelings and really had nothing else to say. She inhaled, then exhaled deeply as she looked into the sky. By the time she looked down the street, he had disappeared into Ms. D’s house. Kim shook her head, knowing that it was going to be a long day.

  * * *

  Lisa and Nate arrived at the house, and not too far behind them was Tammy and Darious, who was skeptical about coming to the dinner. If it wasn’t for the extreme circumstances concerning Ms. D’s health, they wouldn’t have come. It seemed that as soon as they walked through the door, everyone became silent. Lisa was the first person to get up from the couch to hug and greet Tammy and Darious.

  Tammy’s coat wasn’t off for two seconds before Ms. D yelled out from the kitchen, telling the girls to come and help her with the food. They all did, leaving the men in the living room. Lamar and Nate spoke to Darious, but Chris just gave him a nod of the head. After that, things got awkward. No one was interested in talking, as they were only there for Ms. D.

  “A’ight, y’all, the table is ready,” Lisa announced.

  Within a few minutes, the many pans of food, along with a bottle of Grey Goose, sat in the middle of the table.

  Standing around the table was Ms. D at the head, Kim, Chris, Falisha, Lisa with Nate standing behind her, Tammy with Darious standing behind her, and then Lamar, who was on the other side of Ms. D, right across from Kim.

  Ms. D looked around the room at all the somber faces. Most of them were like her children, and she could tell that something was wrong. It was so quiet, you could hear a mouse piss on cotton.

  “Yeah, it’s nice and thick up in here. You can cut it with a butter knife,” she said, referring to the tension in the air. “Yeah, I think we need to say grace. Lord knows we’re gonna need it,” she said interlocking her hands and bowing her head.

  Chris was Muslim, so he got up and excused himself, then came back at the conclusion of the prayer.

  Usually people couldn’t wait to dig into Ms. D’s cooking, but for obvious reasons, no one wanted to eat right away, except, of course, Lisa, who was currently drama free and probably the only person with good news.

  “I’m engaged!” she yelled, stopping in the middle of fixing her plate to show off her ring.

  “Me too!” Kim chimed in, flashing her ring as well.

  Everyone congratulated them. Ms. D, Tammy, and Falisha all said how happy they were for both of them. This was a huge step for Lisa, one that nobody thought was possible, and for Kim to go off and want to marry somebody from Philly was also a shock to most. The joy of those two announcements lasted every bit of five minutes before the room went right back to dead silence. The tension was back and in high gear this time.

  Ms. D had enough. She felt like her dinner was already ruined, so now it was time to find out what the hell was going on. She tossed her fork onto her plate, wiped her mouth, then sat back in her chair.

  “All right, so what in the hell is going on?” she asked, looking around the room.

  No one was in a rush to answer her, so she called on the person who she knew wouldn’t have a problem with getting the party started.

  “Falisha, what in the hell did yo’ ass do now?” Ms. D asked, knowing that she had something to do with it.

  “Ms. D, I didn’t do anything,” Falisha chuckled. “Why every time something happens you think I’m involved?”

  “’Cause it’s you who always doin’ something,” Tammy mumbled under her breath, but not low enough for Falisha not to hear her.

  Falisha stopped laughing. “You got something you wanna say?” she asked, putting Tammy on the spot.

  The more Tammy looked over at her and Chris sitting next to each other like nothing was going on, the more upset she became. She knew that Darious was going to be mad at her, but she just had to speak her mind.

  “So how long have y’all two been fucking?” Tammy asked, shocking everyone at the table.

  Lamar had a puzzled look on his face as he cut his eyes over at Falisha and Chris. Darious tried to put out the flames, telling Tammy that they were leaving, but it was too late. The fire was lit, and there was no turning back.

  “You sure you wanna do this, Tammy?” Chris asked, trying to give her a way out.

  Tammy wasn’t thinking straight. She let her feelings and emotions get the best of her. “Dumb bitch. You heard what I said,” Tammy shot back.

  Falisha didn’t like to be talked down to, nor was she fond of being called out of her name. She looked over at Chris for his approval, to which he simply shrugged as if he didn’t care anymore.

  “I started fucking Chris about a week after the last time he fucked you,” Falisha said, getting everyone’s attention.

  Even Chris was a little shocked that she went that far, but again, he really didn’t care.

  “And when was that?” Darious interrupted.

  “Yeah, when da fuck was that?” Lamar also cut in.

  Falisha looked over at Chris for his approval again. He gave her the nod to go ahead.

  “Falisha, don’t do this,” Lisa pleaded, seeing that things had gone too far.

  Falisha wanted to take it to the max, however. “The last time Chris fucked Tammy was on the day of your wedding,” Falisha said, looking into Darious’s eyes.

  “Oh shit,” Kim mumbled.

  “Damn,” Lisa said, putting her head down.

  Darious looked down at Tammy for an answer. He was expecting her to put up some type of protest, but she didn’t. His heart sank into his stomach.

  “Is that true?” Darious kneeled down and asked Tammy, trying to get her to look him in his eyes.

  When she turned to face him, she finally understood what she had done. Tears flowed down her cheeks, which was confirmation to Darious. Everyone sat there in shock. As Darious rose back up,
rage, hurt, and anger caused him to backhand the shit out of her.

  Tammy and the chair flipped over on to the ground.

  Chris immediately jumped up from the table. “I’ll give you that one,” Chris warned Darious.

  Tammy was still the mother of his kids, so a beat down was out of the question. Chris went over to help her up, but before he could grab her hand, Darious rushed him, throwing a two-piece combination.

  Chris slipped it, then scooped Darious off his feet and took him to the ground. He mounted Darious, then hit him with multiple blows to the face like he was a UFC fighter.

  Kim, Lisa, and Falisha yelled for Chris to stop.

  Tammy was knocked out cold on the ground, counting sheep, and Nate sat there and enjoyed the fight, all the while holding Lisa back.

  Ms. D didn’t move from her seat. She just watched as the drama unfolded. Lamar, who was hot under the collar about Chris fucking Falisha, thought that he would sneak Chris while he was occupied beating Darious’s face in. Lamar got in a couple of punches before Chris rolled off of Darious. He whipped out a compact .45 automatic from his pocket and pointed it at Lamar’s face, silencing the entire room. Everyone thought that he was about to shoot Lamar, including Lamar himself.

  Ms. D slammed her hand down on the table, getting everyone’s attention. “That’s enough, Chris. It’s over,” she spoke in a stern voice. “What did I just say?” she yelled when he didn’t lower the gun.

  Chris gave Lamar the evil eye before lowering the gun and putting it into his back pocket. He looked down at Tammy, who was just waking up, and then at Darious, who had managed to get to his feet.

  “Do anybody else got a problem wit’ Falisha being my girl?” Chris yelled, looking around the room. “Speak!” he yelled again, holding his hands up.

  Nobody in the room said a word, and even if they wanted to, they still wouldn’t have said anything to Chris’s crazy ass.

  “You can keep dat bitch,” Lamar said, walking past Chris and leaving the house.