Who Do I Run To?

by Black, Anna

  She had her sitter on standby just in case she couldn’t make Kerry come and take them off her hands. She hesitantly dialed Janiece’s home number and got the answering machine. Since Kerry had neglected to respond to her ten messages she had left him on his cell phone, she figured he knew she was serious after she left a message on Janiece’s machine saying, “I know y’all are there probably laid up or some shit. I’ve been trying to talk to you for the last couple of days, and I don’t intend on spending my Saturday night cooped up in the house with your kids, so call me back, you jackass.”

  She attempted to call his cell phone again, but she knew it was useless. She wondered why she hadn’t talk to K.P. for three days. He called on Wednesday to talk to the kids, and she hadn’t heard from him since. She had a hot date with her man Rodney, millionaire and heir to his daddy’s empire, so she cared less what Kerry was really doing. She just wanted to be evil and didn’t want folks looking down on her for not being able to keep her man. Rodney was first class all the way, and as long as she served him up and made him feel like a king, he didn’t hold back on spoiling her.

  Rodney did all the things K.P. didn’t do. He was generous and not cheap like K.P., so he never shopped at JC Penny’s like her tight-ass husband. K.P. had the money, but always tried to control her spending. All the things that K.P. thought was superfluous she would just go to Mr. Rodney and he’d give it to her without question.

  Half of the things K.P. thought her daddy was buying her came from the generosity of her lover. She didn’t intend on cheating on K.P. with Rodney, but when she met him he was so charming. It was almost two years ago when she was at one of her father’s parties. Rodney was there with some young woman that looked like he had taken her out of a Mattel’s toy package because everything on her was utterly fake.

  Kimberly, always the center of attention, was a little bit jealous of this juvenile because all the men in the room were taking notice of her every move, so Kimberly’s mission was to find out who she was and who she was with so they could be dismissed from her daddy’s party. K.P. had already gotten out of the party with some lame excuse so she was solo. She was trying to catch one of the servers to get a glass of champagne, and Rodney stopped one of them for her. He took a champagne flute from the tray and handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she said taking it from him.

  “My pleasure,” he replied in a deep voice and instead of him walking away, he struck up a conversation. “So, do you know the host?” he asked her and took a sip of his drink.

  “Yes, I do, however, I wish I knew who the young lady in black is.”

  “Over there at the bar?” he said looking in that direction.

  “Yes,” Kimberly answered in an irritated tone.

  “Why? Is she making trouble?”

  “No, she’s just a little underdressed for such an occasion,” Kimberly said looking at her with an evil eye.

  “Yeah, you can say that. Her dress is a bit much, but you, my dear, are looking positively stunning,” he said looking at Kimberly with a smile.

  “Well, thank you. I guess we all didn’t get the invitation that said formal, not trashy,” she said and they snickered.

  “If she’s too inappropriate I can have my driver take her home,” the handsome stranger continued, and Kimberly’s jaw dropped.

  “I take it you know her?” she asked feeling embarrassed for talking about his date.

  “Yeah, that’s my date, and trust me, I did tell her formal attire. My driver picked her up first, and when I got into the limo, that is what she had on,” he said with an apologetic smile. His teeth were perfect and white. Kimberly looked at his fingernails and his shoes and knew she was talking to a quality man. She wanted to get to the core of what he did and what his worth was before she insisted he send little Barbie home.

  After finding out a few details and his status, she batted her eyes, slipped him a little note, and they found themselves in the coat closet. After the party, he gave her his card and told her to call him. When she got home and opened the garage to find K.P. not there, as usual, she pulled out her cell phone and Rodney’s card. She asked him if his naked girlfriend had been dropped off yet, and he said, “Pulling away from her driveway as we speak.”

  After that, he invited her to his home. She didn’t mention her marriage, nor did she mention she was the daughter of Mr. Grayson. When she made it out to his beautiful mansion, her eyes lit up at the sight of his estate.

  She pulled up to the gate and pressed the button. No one spoke, but the gate opened. She pulled into the circular driveway and parked her car. When she made it to the front door, a butler let her in and led her to the study. She looked around and imagined what it would be like if she lived in an extravagant and luxurious home like his, like her parents. She admired all the paintings and artwork and couldn’t resist touching the fabric on the drapes that covered the grand windows.

  The butler walked back in and snapped her out of her fantasy of being the madam of that miniature mansion to offer her something to drink. She asked for an apple martini, and he told her to make herself at home. Mr. Armstrong would be with her momentarily.

  Rodney came in a few moments later with her drink and joined her on the leather sofa. He didn’t ask her any questions; he just handed her the drink and took her feet in his hand and removed her shoes.

  “You have a beautiful home,” she said and he didn’t respond as if to say, “I already know.”

  It didn’t take her long to realize that he didn’t want to talk, so she sipped her martini while he massaged her feet and calves. Rodney was so smooth, by the time she finished her drink all she wore was a diamond necklace, earrings, and thigh highs. He gave a new meaning to oral sex because he had her shaking from the oral magic that he performed.

  She never experienced that type of pleasure with K.P., because K.P. barely looked at her. The times they did make love, it was routine. They did the same dull-ass positions that they started off in the beginning doing, and K.P. barely went down on her. He never asked her to go down on him either, so Rodney was definitely a person she had to make a return visit to. He was a man of highly refined, expert skills.

  Rodney had her on top of the desk in the study pumping her to ecstasy when his butler walked in on them. Kimberly jumped, but Rodney continued to fuck her as if nobody was in the room with them. “Rodney, baby, someone’s—” she tried to say, but he put his hand over her mouth and kept on doing his thing. The butler set a tray on the coffee table, and then walked out like nothing was going on.

  Kimberly felt confused and embarrassed at first, but Rodney’s dick was feeling so good she let it go. They went from the desk to the chair, from the chair back to the sofa. They walked naked through the foyer and up the spiral steps to his huge master suite. He laid Kimberly down and gave her some more, and her mind was totally gone. Once he finally collapsed, she realized it was after three in the morning, and she knew K.P. was home by then.

  “Rodney, I’m sorry, but I gotta go,” she said getting up from the bed.

  “Oh, so your husband got you on a curfew?” he asked, and she looked at him confused.

  “What’d you say?” she asked in astonishment.

  “Come on, Kimberly, I know you are married, and I know who your daddy is,” he told her, and she was shocked. She had never seen him before in her life, so how did he know all of this about her?

  “Come again, how do you know these things about me?”

  “Well, for one, I am Rodney Armstrong, Samuel Armstrong’s son,” he said, and Kimberly paused for a moment. The name Samuel Armstrong was familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “Come on, Kimberly, your memory can’t be that bad. Your dad and my dad used to play golf together when we were little. I went away to boarding school when we were fifteen,” he told her, and it was coming back. Her dad and Mr. Armstrong were still buddies, but why didn’t she remember his son Rodney?

  “Well, I know your fathe
r, but I definitely don’t remember you,” she said looking around for something to put on because her clothes were on the floor downstairs in the study.

  “I was at your wedding with my folks. I guess you wouldn’t have time to notice another man on your own wedding day,” he joked.

  “You know what? I do remember you. I remember when your dad brought you over to me, and he said that he thought you would be the lucky one to marry me,” she said with it all coming back to her now. She was so into K.P. she didn’t give Rodney a good glance when his daddy said that. She sat down on the bed next to him, because she felt awkward standing there naked.

  “Yep, that was me, and you barely made eye contact with me,” he said like, now who’s the man?

  “Well, Rodney, things aren’t that way anymore,” she said sadly.

  “I see,” he said and gently rubbed her back.

  “Since my secret’s out, I must go home,” she said standing.

  He got up and handed her a silk robe and walked her downstairs. “I’ve always had a crush on you, Kimberly,” he said and she looked up at him. Now she was able to recall that the two of them played together most of her childhood. She remembered how she was upset when his parents sent him away. She liked him when they were kids.

  “I know. I remember you were my first kiss,” she said looking at him. She didn’t know how or why she didn’t recognize him earlier. His daddy was a millionaire, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t doing too badly himself.

  “Yea, I had no clue what I was doing back then.”

  “Well, you sure know what you’re doing now,” she said with a shy smile.

  “Come on, let me walk you out,” he said and grabbed her hand. When they got to the door he kissed her softly. “I know you’re married, Kimmie, but I must see you again,” he said, and she hadn’t heard that in so long. That’s what her parents and her really close friends called her, and it brought back so many memories. Her heart skipped a beat to the sound of him calling her that name.

  “Rodney, let me call you, and we’ll see,” she said because she wasn’t sure if it would have been a good idea to start seeing him. He had it bad for her back then, but she was so popular, that she played with him. She knew he really like her and she used to take advantage of him, and now he was all grown up. No more braces, no more pimples, just sexy as he wanna be. His body was tight, and his tongue was a breath-taker.

  “Baby, you have my card, and you know where I am, and that I’ll be waiting to hear from you,” he said, and she walked away. She didn’t know what to feel when she got in the car. She drove home, letting her mind take her back to her childhood when they used to be in the pool together at her parents’ home. Her parents were not short of a few million, so she grew up living in luxury and had everything.

  When she fell in love with K.P., she didn’t expect him to turn out to be basically a cheapskate. K.P. made way more money than they spent. He had so much money invested, and it would piss her off that he didn’t want to spend ex amount on certain things.

  Like their house; they could have gotten a house twice as big, but no, he wanted to wait a few years after they made a certain amount of money before they could purchase the house she wanted. He fussed when she splurged a little on jewelry or designer brands, so all the things she wanted that he refused to get for her came from Rodney. Rodney didn’t tell her no; whatever she wanted, he just gave it to her.

  She just couldn’t make herself love him the way he loved her. She couldn’t help herself; she still loved K.P.. Even though she knew about Janiece, she still loved that man. She always got everything she wanted, and she never wanted people to know that her husband had a mistress. To know that he was leaving her for a broke-ass bitch like Janiece was so embarrassing.

  No matter how much Rodney had and could give her, money can’t buy you love. She enjoyed all the gifts and fancy things that Rodney had to offer her, but she wished he was K.P.. Now that things were over for them and he was leaving, she was getting more comfortable with Rodney. Not seeing him that week made her miss him for a change, and now she wanted to go out and K.P. was ignoring her.

  She called him again on Janiece’s house phone, and when she got the answering machine she said, “I’m on my way with your damn kids, and you better not leave.” Then she called the kids downstairs and hopped in her Jaguar and drove to 95th Street.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  As bold and brave as Kimberly was, she was feeling a little nervous as she pulled onto Janiece’s street. She saw K.P.’s truck and Janiece’s old, raggedy Honda parked outside. She parked and called K.P.’s cell phone again, and then Janiece’s house phone before she opened the door and got out. She told the kids to hold on a moment while she walked up the steps.

  She knocked, but no one answered. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Janiece’s home again and she could hear the phone ringing, but no one moved around in the condo. She stood there and listened, but there were no sounds coming from the inside.

  She looked out at the parking lot and wondered what was going on. Before she walked away, Isaiah came out of his sister’s condo and said hello and proceeded down the steps. When Kimberly started knocking again he stopped. “They’re not there.”

  “How do you know?” she asked, like, why are you in my business?

  “They’re in Florida,” he said giving her information on their whereabouts.

  “When did they leave to go to Florida?” she asked, now wanting to hear what he had to say.

  “I believe they left on Tuesday.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Yeah, who are you anyway? Maybe I could tell Janiece you were looking for her ...”

  “I’m Kimberly, her man’s wife,” she said smartly.

  “Ooookay, I guess I won’t be telling her you stopped by,” he said fretfully.

  “And why not …? You didn’t have a problem telling me that they were out of town. So you can tell them I stopped by; I don’t care,” she said and walked down the steps. She was mad as hell and wanted to scream. She got into her car and watched Isaiah get into his car. She waited until he pulled off, and then got back out of her vehicle. Determined, she walked over to Janiece’s car and keyed the word “bitch” on the trunk. When she got back into the car, her daughter asked her what she was doing and was promptly told to “stay outta grown folks’ business.”

  She pulled out her cell phone and called her sitter and asked her to come by in twenty minutes so she could dress in peace without the kids asking her a million-and-one questions. Seething, she drove back to her house feeling like she wanted to kill K.P. and Janiece. She was thinking of ways to actually kill them both and get away with it. Her kids were the reason why K.P. stayed as long as he did, so she was grateful to be blessed with them. Even though her motivation was to have a house full, he didn’t go for that. She wasn’t supposed to get pregnant with Kayla as soon as she did or KJ as soon as she did after Kayla was born.

  K.P. didn’t believe she was taking her pills, because she had lied to him about taking them when she had gotten pregnant with KJ, so he would use condoms with her. She thought it was absolutely ridiculous for her husband to be using condoms.

  Truthfully, since she had been seeing Rodney, she didn’t miss a day of taking her pills, because that was a definite no-no, to get pregnant by your lover. Rodney was so nasty and so good in bed he had her going home performing better with K.P. when they did connect. Although she and K.P. rarely made love, when they did, she showed him how she could get down.

  Rodney had her turned out sexually, but K.P. had her heart, and she knew loving a man was stronger than just fucking a man. She knew that two wrongs didn’t make it right, but what was she supposed to do all the lonely nights her husband was lying to her and not coming home?

  He would come home sometimes five or six hours later after work. The times she used to come in and K.P. was already home, he didn’t bother to ask her where she had been or what she was out doing,
so she knew he didn’t care if she was out doing her thing, because any concerned man would raise hell if he wife came in after three in the morning, saying she was at Chelsea’s or her parents’ house.

  The week he was supposed to be out of town on business when she knew he was in Las Vegas with Janiece she loved it because she got to spend every night with Rodney. Rodney showed her a wonderful time that week, with shopping, good eating, and awesome sex. When K.P. came home after being gone for a week, neither one of them made a move for each other. A normal married couple would be tearing each other apart after being away for a whole week, but not K.P. and Kimberly.

  She didn’t know why she wasn’t able to let K.P. go, because he was right; they were miserable, but that selfish pride and the fact that her parents had been married for thirty-six years and her grandparents for over fifty years before her granny passed meant something to her. She didn’t want to be the first Grayson to have a failed marriage. No one in the Grayson family divorced.

  What went on in their house stayed in their house, and if they had parties or went anywhere, no one would have looked at them to be less than perfect, and that is how she wanted her and K.P. to be.

  She still hadn’t told her father that K.P. wasn’t going to be returning to work. She had her parents thinking that they were just taking time off for themselves, and she had threatened her children’s behinds if they told Grandma or Grandpa that Daddy moved out. They lived by the same rule: “What goes on in our house stays in our house.” Why was she so embarrassed about K.P. leaving her she couldn’t understand, and she didn’t want to be that way.

  She pulled into her driveway and they all went inside. Going upstairs, she entered her walk-in closet and picked out a nice pair of slacks and a cassimere sweater. After a long, relaxing bath, she dressed slowly while she waited for Kami. She was trying not to think of K.P. while she rubbed lotion on her calves, but she couldn’t help but think back to when he used to massage her feet when she was pregnant with her babies.