Steven and I left the movie theatre, and we stood by his car discussing the next time we’d hook up. I couldn’t take any more time off from work, and the earliest time I could see him in the morning would be on Friday.
“Nah, I don’t want to wait that long,” he said. “It’s been awhile and I’m anxious. What about Monday or Tuesday after work? We can’t do my house, so you may have to settle for a hotel.”
“I’ll settle for it this time, especially since I’m so anxious for you too. Until then, be good and I’ll see you soon.”
We shared an intense kiss and Steven got into his car. He sped off and I slowly walked to my car. The closer I got to it, I noticed a long, deep scratch on the side. The scratch was wavy and it cut into my burgundy paint job. I looked around, but saw no one in sight. Yeah, I was frustrated that somebody had turned the tables on me, but who in the hell was it? The only person I could think of was Liz. She was the only one who had a reason to do something like this, and it pretty much made sense. I just couldn’t see her doing something this extreme, and even though she was no better than me, this kind of move did not fit her character. Just to be sure, I got inside my car and quickly called Steven.
“Say, baby. I’m sorry to bug you already, but where is Liz?”
“Why? I thought we just discussed this—”
“No, no…it’s nothing like that. Somebody scratched my car and they scratched it up pretty good.”
“What? I… I don’t know who could have done something so silly, but I know for a fact it wasn’t Liz. Trust me, if she had any idea about us, she would call me out immediately. Maybe somebody at the movie theatre did it to be funny.”
“Maybe so.”
“Call your insurance company and let them fix it. How much is your deductible?”
“Five hundred dollars.”
“I’ll take care of that for you. Just call and have it fixed.”
“Thank you. And if you notice any changes in Liz, please, please let me know.”
“I know my wife, and I assure you that she’s good. If anything changes, you know I’ll be in touch.”
I ended our call, hoping that someone at the movie theatre had nothing else better to do. My car was parked a bit crookedly, so maybe the person next to me got upset because they had a hard time squeezing in. I wasn’t sure, but I was definitely going to watch my back. I hadn’t asked Veronica about Liz’s behavior at work in a while, and I made a mental note to do so later.
I spoke to Veronica later that day, but she said that she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary with Liz. She said that Liz had already hired a new secretary, though, and another woman from a different department took over Claudette’s position. I’d even thought about her scratching up my car, but how would she know I was at the movie theatres this morning? And, if she saw me with Steven for one second, she would run like a bat out of hell to tell Liz.
“Are you sure?” I asked Veronica again. “Has she been in a good mood or bad one? She knows that the two of us hang together. Has she asked you anything about me?”
“No, she hasn’t. She’s really been nice, and to me, you know Liz has always been a nice person. Steven did come up here to take her to lunch this week, and they seemed as if everything was fine. She came back giddy as ever. As for me and Liz, you know the two of us have always gotten along well.”
I hated to ask, but I had to. “You’ve never said anything to her about me and Steven, have you? I hate to ask, but I am a little worried about what happened to my car. The more I think about it, that scratch was done by someone who was angry.”
“I swear to God that I haven’t said a word. I hope you don’t think I would put your business out there like that. After all that you’ve done for me, girl, I owe you big time. If Liz knows anything about you and Steven, she did not get it from me. I know her attitude would be way more off if she suspected her husband was cheating on her. I’m just not seeing it.”
“Steven said the same thing. I guess I’m worrying for nothing. It’s probably that old, stupid fool Drake trying to get me back for keying his car that day.”
“I forgot you told me about that. Maybe so. Why don’t you give him a call, just to see what’s up with him? If he sounds bitter, then you know what’s up.”
I didn’t think that was such a bad idea, so I called Drake. His number had been disconnected. I had no other way to reach him, so I sat for a minute thinking. I always appreciated Lance’s opinion, and wanted to know his thoughts. I walked across the hall and knocked on his door. I could hear music coming from inside, and when he opened the door, light smoke came out.
“What are you in here burning up?” I asked.
“I’m frying a couple pieces of chicken. Do you want some?”
“No, thank you,” I said, sitting on his couch.
I waited until he finished with his chicken to bother him about my issues. He finally came over to the couch to sit. The music was still so loud that I got up to turn it down.
“You know I’m mad at you,” he said, biting into the chicken.
“Why? What did I do?”
“You went on your vacation without me. I talked to Veronica and she told me about the good time y’all had.”
“Yeah, well, we did have a good time. At least I thought of you and brought you some things back, didn’t I? I’m sorry I didn’t ask you to go, but I didn’t think you’d want to go with us.”
“I’m over it. Besides, my funds are low and I couldn’t afford a vacation right now if my life depended on it.”
“I know how that is, but thanks to Steven for making it possible. The trip was so worth it, too.”
“I’m glad you had a good time.” He sipped from his glass, then bit into another piece of chicken like a pit bull, tearing at a piece of meat.
“Damn,” I laughed. “Is it that good?”
“Delicious,” he said, playfully putting the piece of chicken up to my mouth. “Here, take a bite.”
I pushed the chicken away. It looked too greasy for me, but the potatoes on his plate looked good.
“So, tell me about your vacation,” he said. “What did you do, other than fuck somebody?”
My mouth flew open. “Did Veronica tell you what I did? I can’t believe she told you!”
“She didn’t tell me nothing. You just did. I warned you about speaking before you think, and I was just playing with you when I said that.”
I pushed Lance’s shoulder. “I was just playing too, so there.”
“No, you weren’t. You know you let somebody get into those panties, and if that’s how you’re doing it, Ms. Jenkins, then go ahead and keep on doing you.”
I pouted. “Are you disappointed in me?”
Lance held his fingers close together. “Just a little. Not a lot, but a little.”
“Well, either way, the vacation was fun. We ate like pigs, we shopped, we danced, we went to Paradise Island, we saw the aquarium, we lay out in the sun, we took a lot of pictures, and, oh yeah, did I tell you we ate like pigs?”
“Sounds like fun.” Lance covered his mouth and belched. “Excuse me. Sorry about that, but you just don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Oh, yes, I do. Anyhow, I need to ask you something.”
“What? I’m listening.”
I told Lance about the incident that happened today, and updated him on my possible suspects. I had even thrown Korey in there, simply because I hadn’t spoken to him in quite some time and I didn’t know where his head was either.
Lance wasted no time canceling out everyone I had mentioned, with the exception of Liz.
“If you’re asking me who scratched your car, your answer is Liz.”
“Now, why would she do something stupid like that? I don’t have no beef with her.”
Lance cocked his head back. “Duh. In case you forgot, you’re fucking her husband. You may not have no beef with her, but she damn sure got beef with you. If you don’t think she knows about you and Steven, yo
u’re crazy. Most married women know about their husbands’ mistresses, trust me.”
“It’s not her,” I whined. “She’s just not that kind of woman, so it has to be someone else. If you knew her like I did, you would know that she would go to Steven first. She couldn’t care less about me, and it would be a total embarrassment for her to confront me about this.”
“That’s why she’s not. I would put some money on it that Liz knows about you and Steven, but she’s not saying anything.”
“Why wouldn’t she? When I caught Drake cheating on me, I took immediate action. Why wait for months and months to confront somebody? That doesn’t make sense. That’s why I know it’s not her.”
“Hey, you asked for my opinion and I told you. I could be wrong, but you know how y’all women do it.”
“I absolutely do. And women get on it, right away. Somebody else scratched my car, and when I find out who it was, their tail is mud.”
“Could it possibly be that you’re blowing this out of proportion? You got a few scratches on your car, and now you think somebody’s out to get you.”
“You think so, huh? Well, when you get finished licking your fingers, go outside and look at my car. Tell me what you think. I’ve scratched up plenty of cars in my day, and I can pretty much tell when there is anger behind those scratches or someone just doing it to be mean. I don’t think the latter is the case.”
Lance stepped over me and went outside for a few minutes. He came back, closing the door behind him. He sat on the couch, and without saying anything, he sipped from his glass.
“Ah,” he said, clearing his throat. “Now that quenched my thirst right there.”
I laughed and removed the glass from his hand. “Would you stop playing? You saw it, didn’t you? What do you think?”
“I already told you what I think. It’s Liz and that’s all there is to it.”
I cut my eyes at Lance. He didn’t know Liz like I did, but just to be sure, I was going to have lunch with Veronica on Monday. I was going to the office to pick her up, and hopefully I’d get a chance to see Liz face-to-face.
When Monday came, I stopped by my old job and went to the department where I used to work. I had already asked Veronica if Liz was there, and Veronica said that she was. Before going into her office to speak, I stood with Veronica at her cubicle.
“How has she been acting today?” I whispered.
“Normal. I don’t know why you’re even worried about it. I don’t care what Lance says, Liz doesn’t have a clue.”
“Wish me luck,” I said, heading to her office. The door was already open, but she was looking down at some papers in front of her. I knocked so she would look up. When she did, she didn’t even smile.
“Hello, Liz,” I said. “I came here to have lunch with Veronica, but I wanted to stop in to say hello.”
She removed her glasses and invited me into her of-fice. “Thanks for stopping in. I’m glad that you did. If you have a minute to spare, sit down, I want to talk to you about something.”
I was a little nervous, but if this bitch put her hands on me, it was going to be on. I sat in the chair in front of her.
“Listen,” she said, clenching her hands together. “I wanted to apologize to you about what happened here the day you got fired. I thought long and hard about that day, Chase, and I struggled with whether I made the right decision. You had always given me your best, and I know how difficult it was for you to deal with some of the things Claudette said to you. I spoke to some of the other supervisors about it, and a few of them told me that I shouldn’t have fired you.
“Let me be clear: I did not think it was right for you to involve yourself with Claudette’s fiancé, but you were correct when you said it was your personal business. It was, and again, I apologize for the decision I made that day. I hope that you can forgive me. It would truly mean a lot to me if you would at least consider it.”
I was really worried now, simply because I now knew somebody else was fucking with me. I had too many haters to really think about who, but I had to cross Liz off my list. “It’s no big deal, Liz. I found another job and I’ve moved on from this. As you said, you had to do what you felt was necessary that day. Claudette’s time was coming to an end anyway, and I’m just glad that you got a chance to see her for the person she really was.”
Liz chuckled. “It took me a while, but I did. I’d been under so much pressure from Mr. Aimes, and I couldn’t afford for him to keep coming down on my back. I’m glad you understand, and I really do wish you all the best. If you ever need to use me for a reference, please do.”
Liz stood up, and reached out to give me a hug. As we hugged, I felt a tad bit bad about what Steven and I were doing behind her back. Then again, sometimes it happened to the best of us. Too bad.
After I left Liz’s office, Veronica and I had lunch. She felt as if Claudette was the one who had scratched my car, and I, myself, felt it was time to pay her a visit.
Later that day, I followed Claudette and her man to his house. Since I figured she’d been keeping her eyes on me, I wanted to see what she’d been up to as well. They left her house, and parked in the parking lot of his apartment complex. I expected him to get out of the car and go about his business, but that didn’t happen. They sat in her car kissing for a while, and then she got out with him. Walking hand in hand to his door, I watched as they went inside. I’d thought about waiting until she came out, but there was no telling how long I’d be sitting. I had to come up with something fast, and put her on the spot so she’d admit to scratching my car.
I walked to her boyfriend’s door, and when I placed my ear on it, I could hear Claudette’s moans coming through the door. Luckily, her man was in no way attractive to me, ’cause if he was, it would be on. I’d thought about knocking, but there was always an easy way to maneuver a door. I used my ATM card, sliding it into the crack of the door, particularly in front of the lock. The card was thin enough to move the lock aside, and low and behold, the door popped open. I quietly widened the door, then closed it behind me. The bedroom was only several feet away, and as I tiptoed my way to it, I was so disturbed by what I saw inside.
Claudette was straddling her man’s lap, moving nothing but her shoulders and hair. She was causing all of this ruckus and wasn’t doing a damn thing. At least her man was trying to pump something into her, but even he had a look of frustration on his face. He was silent as ever and his eyes were closed. Obviously, he was thinking of someone else. I wanted to go and push that bitch aside, just to show her how to really ride a man. And after standing for another two minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. I removed my skirt, but left on my turquoise thong. My blouse stayed on too, and so did my high-heeled shoes, just in case I had to make a swift exit. A tiny silver hand pistol was inside my shirt pocket, just in case I needed it. I walked over to the bed, and as soon as I got on top of it, her man opened his eyes and Claudette snapped her head to the side.
“What in the fuck are you doing?” she spat with bugged eyes.
I gave her a hard shove, pushing her off her man’s lap. She fell off the bed, and slammed into the wall. Her man quickly sat up, stunned by my presence.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said, calmly straddling his lap. His eyes were focused between my legs, hoping, I assumed, that I would remove my thong. “But I came here to talk to Claudette about something. I just happened to see that her performance was severely lacking, and I wanted to show her how to prevent her man from seeking satisfaction from a coworker.” I rubbed his chest, and he didn’t say a word. Claudette started to get up from the floor, but I gave her a devious look. I removed the pistol from my shirt, placing it next to me.
“Just chill and relax for a minute.” I started to roll myself on top of her man, putting my hips and curvy backside into motion. “See, girl, you gotta stroke him like this. With every stroke, put an arch in your back to help with your rhythm. Don’t be all stiff, and if you need to lean back on your hands for
leverage, go ahead and do it. See,” I said, placing my hands behind me. My legs were wide open for her man to see between them. I kept moving my hips in a circular motion, and looked at Claudette with her mouth hanging wide open.
“Are you ready to try this now? He got a pretty big dick, but if a man’s dick keep flopping out of you while you’re on top of him doing this, you may want to find another one. I understand if you want to take it slow, but just don’t waste his time. He deserves to be inside of a woman who knows what she’s doing.” I looked at him. “Right?”
He slowly nodded, but still looked to be in disbelief. I got off his lap, and slapped my ass to make it jiggle. “If she doesn’t get her shit together, call me. There are plenty of women willing to do the right thing, and I’m one of them.” I picked up the gun next to me. It wasn’t loaded, but I figured it was needed in order for Claudette to tell me the truth. I aimed it at her.
“You can stand up now, and when you open your mouth, I want the truth.”
She slowly eased off the floor, but with attitude. Her twisted mouth was bound to get her smacked, and I hoped she knew that.
“Why did you mess with my car?” I asked.
Her neck was already starting to turn. “What are you talking about? I didn’t—”
I grabbed her by her hair, and shoved her onto the bed. I aimed the gun at her again, this time cocking it.
She panicked and scooted next to her man. He pushed her away. “Shit, you’d better move and tell her the truth. If not, I will.”
“So, so I scratched your car,” she said. “You know I’m still upset with you about Korey. What you did to me was wrong! Dead wrong!”
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