by Black, Anna
“Thank you,” she said beaming.
“My pleasure ... how did you sleep?” he asked and leaned over to kiss her. She smiled back at him and was pleased to see him cooking in her kitchen and serving her.
“I slept so well,” she said. “Why didn’t you wake me? It’s after one.”
“Well, you were sleeping so peacefully, so I ran out to the store and got some stuff to cook for you. And I remembered the pork situation, so I got turkey bacon and turkey sausage. I think it’s criminal to pass turkey off as sausage and bacon, but I’m gonna try it,” he said chuckling.
“You didn’t have to go through all that trouble.”
“It was no trouble at all, so get comfortable and I’ll be right back.” He returned to the kitchen and fixed their plates. He had found his way around the kitchen, and Janiece was duly impressed. Since she was a good cook, she had all the right appliances, like a griddle, waffle iron, rice cooker, deep fryer, and he managed to locate the griddle, turning out hot cakes that were perfect.
He served fresh strawberries and cantaloupe. Janiece said grace and dug in. She enjoyed her breakfast although it was almost two in the afternoon. Once they were done he insisted she sit while he cleared the table. Now, Janiece, being meticulous about her house and cleanliness, couldn’t control herself. She had to get her own kitchen back into her working condition.
By the time she finished cleaning the kitchen her way, Isaiah had dozed off on the sofa. Janiece watched him for a moment, and all of a sudden, he started jumping. Her smile faded when she saw him jerking. She wondered if she should wake him. The windows were open allowing a nice fall breeze to come in so she wondered why he was sweating. She walked closer to him and could hear him mumbling something, but she couldn’t make out the language he was speaking. She was scared to wake him, but she shook his shoulder anyway. Instantly, Isaiah jumped and grabbed her arm like he was getting ready to rip it out of the socket. His eyes were red and strange when he looked at her.
“Isaiah, let go! You’re hurting me,” she said for the third time, and he finally realized what she was saying and who she was and he let go. She backed away quickly once she was released.
“Janiece, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said immediately apologizing. She just looked at him trying to understand what had happened. “Janiece, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She was still standing on the other side of the room. “It’s just the dreams ... ever since I got back. I ... I ... I—just sometimes have these dreams ...” he said, and she started to relax. She walked over to him and sat beside him on the sofa.
“What dreams? What’s going on?”
“Iraq ... that place ... that place was…some of the things…I know this will pass,” he said trying to brush it off.
“Like what? What…tell me,” she asked curiously.
“No, baby no. It’s too much. You don’t wanna know what went on in that place. The horrible things that I’ve seen—I couldn’t tell you about that place. It’s—” he said not finishing, and she knew it may have been too much for her to handle.
“You were saying something that sounded funny, like another language.”
“Yeah, I know how to speak the language, not a lot, but that’s probably what you heard. My sister told me that too.”
“Have you talked to somebody?”
“Yes, the army gives us this standard post war exam and debriefing, but stuff like this just has to pass,” he said wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“But what if it doesn’t?” she asked with concern.
“Don’t worry, Janiece, it will,” he tried to assure her, but the look in his eyes frightened her.
“You scared me, Isaiah. It’s like you didn’t know who I was for a moment.”
“Baby, I’m sorry. That won’t happen again. I promise ... I promise. Believe me when I tell you. I will never hurt you, okay? I’ve been there four times in my career and this will pass, I promise, it always does,” he told her and gave her a smile. Janiece smiled back at him, but she was concerned. She advised him to go in her bedroom and lie down and get some more sleep, but he said he had to go over to his dad’s lot for a while and he would call her later. He asked her out again and, of course she agreed. He left, and she took a shower.
Afterward, she put on her comfy SpongeBob pants and a wife beater, and then went downstairs in the front to get her mail. She had a few bills and a card with no return address. She walked upstairs and went through a few of her bills first, and then she ripped open the card and almost died when she read it.
She grabbed the phone and called Janelle. The card was too unbelievable to read over the phone, so Janelle came over. When she walked in, Janiece handed her the card that read “Congratulations” on the front. Janelle didn’t see what the big deal was until she opened it and read.
You funky, fat bitch. All the hummers in the world won’t make you the first lady of his life. I told you once, and I’m not telling you again. Stay the fuck away from my husband. Don’t think because I live out in the burbs that I can’t get grimy. Now you broke-ass desperate piece of shit ho, stay away from Kerry Paxton. Your dick-sucking days with my man are over. Tell him to leave you alone, and you stay away from him.
You ain’t shit and he doesn’t want your two-cent ass. I shouldn’t have to mention that I’m the one with the five-karat piece of art on my finger. I’m the one that made him who he is today, and if you think for one minute that I’m going to let a fat-ass, low-budget, cubicle-sharing, pencil-pushing, broke-ass, underpaid, man-stealing bitch like you take him away, guess again.
I knew about that trip you and Kerry took to Las Vegas. Yea, didn’t think I knew, huh? So y’all can’t play me. Kerry is the one who’s going to get played. This is like a game of blackjack. I’m sure you know how that game goes. I’m sure you played it when you were off in Las Vegas sucking my husband’s dick unauthorized. I hope you realize when it’s time to leave the table. You’ve played for five years, and it’s time for you to get your fat ass up from the table and cut your losses, because I’ll be damn if you going to take my husband.
Take care and have a marvelous day, ho.
“Naw, niggah, naw … where does this ho live? It’s time to teach this bitch a lesson. She fucking with the wrong one,” Janelle said acting like she was hard in her Anne Taylor outfit, looking like she just stepped out of a Home and Garden magazine, all the while trying to act ghetto.
“No, Janelle, it ain’t that serious. She ain’t even worth the headache.”
“Well call K.P.; he gon’ have to do something about this psychotic bitch. This woman done sent a card to your house Jai, meaning she knows where you live. You may walk outside and catch a bullet one day.”
“Chile please, all she got is threats. You’re right, she knows where I live. If she wanted some, she’d come get some instead of sending this garbage in the mail,” she said, taking the card and tossing it on the coffee table.
“Jai, you gon’ tell me that you are not the least bit worried about this fool?”
“Nellie, if some woman was fucking Greg and you knew where she lived, what would you do?”
“Go and beat the snot outta that bitch.”
“Exactly … If Kimberly was so tough, I’da ran into her. I have been with K.P. for five years, and trust me, she knew. She wrote it right here,” she said pointing it out in the card. “For five years her ass ain’t ever wanted to ring my bell and open up a can. Now, all of a sudden when K.P. says he’s leaving she wanna act up. She doesn’t care about me fucking him. She just doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s leaving her snobbish ass for another woman. That woman is scared of being embarrassed, not of me.”
“Well, I suppose that makes sense, but still, little sister, you have to watch out.”
“I hear you, but I’m not afraid of her. If she was so tough, she would have been in my mailbox and not that card.” They both fell out laughing. Janiece wasn’t worried so much, but she was a little concerned ab
out her sanity.
She didn’t know how far a woman like Kimberly would go to keep her man. She had to call K.P. to see what she was dealing with. He knew Kimberly better than she did. Her sister left, but not before Janiece promised to change her locks immediately, because that crazy ho could have gotten her key from K.P.’s ring, made a copy—who knows.
Janelle also made her promise to allow her to install an alarm system. Janiece was a little hesitant about that. She didn’t want to go getting all worried and afraid of her own home because some crazy-ass wife was out to stop her from taking her man. She knew that Kimberly was mostly talk. Once she got a hold of K.P., she made him agree to meet her to discuss the situation. She didn’t want to meet him at her place though, incase Isaiah came back and he was so desperate to see her that he agreed.
Chapter Sixteen
“Kimberly, why did you do this to yourself, baby?” he asked her. He was standing in her hospital room nervous as hell. She had taken some sleeping pills and his son called him when he was on his way to meet Janiece at a coffee shop not too far from her house.
“Mommy won’t wake up,” his son said on the phone. K.P. told him to shake her hard and call her name. “I am Daddy, but she won’t wake up,” he said crying.
“Where’s Kayla?” he asked KJ, and he put her on the phone.
“Daddy, I’ve tried to wake Mommy, but she won’t get up. I don’t know what to do Daddy, she won’t wake up,” she said hysterically. “Daddy, please come home,” his daughter cried. Immediately, K.P. turned his truck around and headed back south on the highway. He was in such a panic he forgot to call Janiece. When he got home he dashed up the steps two at a time. Entering the master bedroom, he found his kids crying and still trying to wake Kimberly up. She was on the bed naked, and she was out.
He checked her pulse and was relieved to know she was still alive. He dialed 911 and tried to wake her. Quickly he searched the room looking for what she took and found a prescription bottle with her name on it that he didn’t even know she had.
“Oh no, Kim, baby, what did you do sweetheart?” He continued to shake her and talk to her, trying to make her open her eyes. “Baby, please don’t do this to us. The kids need you baby. Now open your eyes,” but she didn’t respond.
He sent the kids to their rooms and went and got her robe. He held her and cried until the ambulance arrived. Once they departed, he followed behind with the kids and called her parents to meet him at the hospital. He was praying, asking God to save her because he didn’t want her to die. Why would she pull this type of stunt? Kimberly couldn’t have loved him that much to do this to her children. They needed her more than she needed him. She loved her children. No way would she leave them like this, he thought to himself. Once they arrived at the hospital, Kimberly was rushed into the ER and K.P. and the kids were left in the waiting area.
“Is Mommy all right?” KJ asked him.
“She’s going to be fine. Don’t worry, son.”
“Are you leaving us too, Daddy? Mommy said you don’t want to be with us anymore. She said Ms. Janine is going to take you away from us,” Kayla said, getting Janiece’s name wrong.
“No baby, Daddy would never leave you guys. Don’t worry your pretty little head about what Mommy said. Everything is going to be fine, I promise.” He hoped he was right about that. He had no idea what was going to happen with Kimberly. He was scared himself of what would happen. He finally got the kids to calm down, and then Kimberly’s parents walked in with their housekeeper Kami. She got the kids and took them with her to Kimberly’s parents’ house.
The Grayson’s didn’t ask any questions because they could see that K.P. was in no shape to answer anything. Besides, he was waiting to hear from the doctor. They sat there a few minutes in silence, and finally the doctor came out to talk to them. He asked to speak with K.P. because he was her husband, and her parents understood. The doctor said she was fine, but he was going to keep her a couple days to keep an eye on her. He told K.P. that she would have to meet with the mental health physician who would determine when she could go home.
“Can I go in to see her now?” he asked.
The doctor said yes, but only one at a time. So Mr. and Mrs. Grayson advised K.P. to go in first. He followed the doctor and went in to see her. He sat in the chair by her bed and looked at her natural skin and her mangled hair. She’d probably die if she saw herself in the mirror, because she was always the jazzy never-catch-me-on-a-bad-day diva. Kimberly didn’t go to the local grocery store without makeup. He smiled at her looking so natural without all the makeup and fake lashes.
Kimberly smiled a weak smile when she opened her eyes and saw K.P. looking at her. He wanted to ask her a million questions, but he declined. She struggled to sit up because her stomach was sore after being pumped out. He helped her, and she tried to talk.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No, baby, don’t worry about it right now. Just rest.”
“Are you leaving me here by myself?”
“No, I’m going to stay here with you ’til they let you come home.”
“You’re going to stay here with me?” she repeated, and the tears started rolling. He wiped them, but he was angry that she had gone that far to try to keep him from leaving.
“Kim, we are going to be all right. Don’t worry, okay? I don’t want you to worry. Your parents are here, and they want to visit with you, too.”
“You called my parents?”
“Yes, I was horrified. I wasn’t sure what would happen to you. I had to call them.”
“Did you tell them what I did?”
“No, I told them that you took the wrong pills by accident, so they don’t know.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want them to know, K.P.,” she cried.
“Kim, the doctor talked to me in private. He didn’t talk to your parents. They don’t know. Now, I’m going to get your mom, because the doctor said only one at a time, okay?”
“Okay, but don’t leave, K.P., please don’t leave.”
“Baby, I’m not leaving. I’ll be right outside and when they are done, I’ll come back in.”
“All right,” she said, and K.P. went out so her mom could come in.
He went back out to the waiting room. Her dad didn’t say much, and K.P. was glad he didn’t. He went to the nurse’s station and filled out some papers for his wife to be admitted. When her parents were done, he walked them out. Then he moved his car from the area where he was and parked where visitors were supposed to park. When he got ready to get out, he noticed the KBanks Jeweler’s bag on the passenger-side floor and realized that Kayla must have put it on the floor when she got in the truck.
He took the black velvet box out of the bag and stuck it in the glove box. Before going back inside he called Janiece to tell her what was going on, but she didn’t answer. He left her a message that it was urgent that she call him. He went back into the hospital and asked what room they put his wife in. He heard his cell phone alert that he had no signal. That figures, he thought to himself. He got on the elevator. Why would Kimberly do something so crazy like try to commit suicide? He had a mind to take custody of his children from her. He vowed he’d never do that to her, but her suicide attempt changed everything.
He knew she was a good mother, but it was plain ole selfish of her just to decide to kill herself—unless she was just trying to scare him, he thought. She was a spoiled brat who always wanted things her way, and he would not have been surprised if she faked it.
When he got to her room he saw she wasn’t in her bed and figured she was in the bathroom. When she came out, he helped her back into her bed. She complained about her stomach being really sore, and he wanted to say, “That’s what you get for taking a bottle of sleeping pills,” but he didn’t.
“Why can’t I go home?” she asked.
“Because the doctor wants to evaluate you in the morning.”
“For what?” she snapped.
“For wh
at—Kimberly, you tried to kill yourself. Why do you think they want to evaluate you?”
“Well, I’m fine. I just need a comb and my makeup bag and to get out of this hideous gown.”
“Kim, what is wrong with you? You’re acting like you didn’t do anything. What you did or tried to do to yourself is a big deal. What were you thinking, and our babies were there Kim,” he said, angry and confused. He didn’t want to stress her out, but he had to know.
“I don’t know, okay!” she yelled. “I just wanted to stop the pain. I just wanted the pain to go away. I wanted to sleep and wake up with all the pain gone. I feel like I’m losing my mind and my life, Kerry. I just want to make this work. I just want our marriage to work,” she said and started to sob.
“And killing yourself was going to make our marriage work, Kim? Swallowing a bottle of pills was the answer? Kim, help me to understand. You could have been dead. Have you thought about that?”
“Would you even have cared, Kerry? That probably would have made you happy.”
“Kim, stop making this about me. What about Kayla and KJ? Have you thought about them?”
“I have, have you?”
“Yes, I have!” he yelled and quickly caught himself. He was in a hospital. He didn’t want to make things worse. The last thing he needed was for some shrink making him out to be the bad guy.
“Look, Kim, I think about my kids all the time. I don’t want to make them miserable by faking the funk. I don’t want my unhappiness to trickle down on them. I won’t be doing my kids a favor by staying where I’m not happy. Kayla and KJ will adjust, so don’t think I don’t think about my kids. You, on the other hand, didn’t think of them today when you swallowed those damn pills. You were going to leave them to be without a mother.”
“You’re leaving them to be without a father for some tramp,” she spat back at him.
“Stop it; I’m not going there with you, so let’s just end this right now.”