Can't Be That Other Woman

by Ambria Davis

  “I’m didn’t say anything, Jae,” she said, placing the plate in front of me.

  “Where’s Dad?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “He was in the bathtub, last time I checked. I’ll go upstairs and get him for you,” she said, disappearing out of the kitchen.

  I sat there thinking about what had just happened. I didn’t expect my mother to be a fan of Bianca and I didn’t blame her. My brother and sister weren’t fans of hers neither. The only one who showed her a little respect was my father.

  About two and a half years ago, I caught Bianca cheating on me with a dude she worked with. The fucked up thing about it was that it happened in our house. She didn’t even have the decency to get a fucking hotel room or anything. She brought him in the home that we both shared and the shit fucked me up pretty bad. Had I not gone home that day, I probably wouldn’t have never found out about it. Of course, I kicked her ass to the curb, but that didn’t last long, because I really loved her. She was my heart, my soul and my life, so I took her back. Of course, my family thought that was a bad idea, but I didn’t care. It was my decision, my life and my choice. Unfortunately, things haven’t been the same since then, but we were working on it. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

  “Is it safe for me to come in here?” my brother asked, peeking his head into the kitchen.

  “Hell no, it’s not. Now bring your ass on so I can beat you with this broomstick,” my mother said, walking over to him, with the broom in her hand like before. I hadn’t even noticed when she got back in the kitchen.

  “Come on, Ma, you know I’m too old to be getting beat with a broom,” he said with his hands up.

  “Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that. As long as you’re on this earth and I’m your mother, you’ll never be too old for an ass whooping,” she said, popping him upside his head. “Now take a seat next to your brother, while I fix you a plate.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Ma, where is Tracy?” I asked her. I hadn’t seen or heard her anywhere in the house.

  “Child, she’s at the mall with her friends. You know that child is never home.”

  “Her ass better not be up to no good out there,” Omari said, with a sour expression on his face.

  “Unlike you and your brother, my daughter knows the home training I taught her. She especially knows not to go too long without talking to her mother,” she said, giving both Omari and myself the evil eye.

  “That’s because she still lives in the same house as you.”

  “Nah, that’s because she loves her mother,” she said, pretending to be offended. She placed Omari’s plate in front of him and took a seat at the table with us.

  “Ma, you know we love you, we just be busy, that’s all.”

  “I know, but you know y’all are my babies. I worry when I don’t hear from y’all in a few hours. So y’all should know better than ignoring me for more than twenty-four hours.” She started chastising us as if we were little boys.

  “We’re sorry, Ma, and we promised not to do it again,” I said, trying to make her stop talking about it.

  “Uh huh, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  For the next hour, my brother, my mother, and I sat around the table, chatting about what was going on in our lives. It was mostly about our business and a few other things. When my little sister showed up, it was like our little reunion. We pulled out a deck of cards and a few board games and got everything rolling. Once my farther heard all of the noise, he came down as well, and the party was in full swing.

  * * *

  Chapter 4

  Bianca

  I was beyond happy when Onijae said he didn't want to meet with me. It only made it easier for me to do what I had to do. What he didn't know was that I was actually not about to go shopping for me, well, at least not right now, I wasn't. I had other plans, which didn't include clothes or anything such thing else.

  Please allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Bianca Janae Harris, RN. I am one of the baddest bitches ever to grace the state of Texas. In my eyes there isn’t another bitch who can touch me. I work at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, where I was a head nurse. I drive a 2009 Bentley Continental GT, which I paid for myself, and live in a spacious five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom house. I don't need anyone to tell me that I’m the shit, because I already knew that. At twenty-five years old, I stood at an even five feet. I’m a redbone and a cute one at that. I sport a shoulder-length, honey blonde bob, which I kept laced in a thirty-inch weave that was always styled to perfection. My body was so perfect that one would think God himself made me. I have a perfect set of breasts that were plump and firm. My stomach is flat as a board and my ass is a nice size. It wasn't too big or too small, so I was thankful. I’m a high-end bitch, who likes the finer things in life. Whatever I want, I get, no, ifs, and's, or but's about it.

  My boyfriend, Onijae, was definitely one of a kind. We've been together for a total of eight years, and I was glad to be able to call him mine. I wanted nothing but to be able to call him my husband, but he wasn't going for that. To him, now was too soon to get married, but I beg to differ. I mean, we've been together for almost ten damn years, how was that too soon? I don't know what it was, but I was kind of feeling like he was distancing himself from me. I tried to pretend as if I wasn't noticing it, but I did. Things haven't been the same with us lately, and I'm wishing like hell that we could get back to our safe place. I'm not trying to lose my man. We've come too far to part ways now. I was going to do whatever it was in my power to keep my man and I had a great way to start things off.

  After getting off the phone with Onijae, I called up my sister, Candice. I had many things to do before Onijae was to come home tonight. I knew damn well that I couldn’t do it all by myself. Therefore, she was the perfect person to come in and help me with this situation. It also helps that she’s a party planner, so this was going to be right up her alley. This was going to be a day well spent.

  * * *

  An hour later, I pulled up to North Park Center shopping mall on a mission. I wasted no time finding a parking spot, grabbing my purse and getting out. I was already late and I knew more than likely that my sister was going to be mad as hell with me. I was practically running into the building; I didn’t need her to be bitching. This wasn’t my cup of tea, so I needed her for this.

  “It’s about time your ass got here, because I was just about to leave,” she yelled, the minute she saw me. I rolled my eyes, because I knew that this was only going to be the first of many complaints that I would be getting from her.

  “How long have you been here?” I asked, even though I really wasn’t trying to hear the answer, because I knew she would just try to complain some more.

  “For over an hour and some change, that’s why I was getting my ass up to leave.”

  “Candice, please don’t leave me. I need you to help me. I promise that I’m going to make it worth your while,” I said, begging her. She was lucky that I wanted to do something good for my man, because if I didn’t, her ass could’ve walked right out the fucking door for all I care.

  “Uh huh, you better. Now come on, because I’m going out tonight and I’m not trying to be up in here all day fooling with you,” she said, walking off.

  Instead of responding, I silently sent a prayer to the man upstairs, asking him for strength and patience. I know Candice was my big sister, but sometimes she acted like a bitch. She forever had this attitude as if somebody was to jump every time she said jump. That shit was a bad habit, but I never told her anything about it. Just by her attitude, I knew today was going to be one of those days.

  * * *

  Three hours, twelve stores, and twenty-something bags later, we were finally leaving the mall. I was exhausted, tired and in need of a good bath, but unfortunately for me, my night my just getting started and wasn’t about to end any time soon.

  After parting ways with my sister, with plans of hooking up w
ith her next week, I hopped in my car and headed to the grocery store. I needed to pick up a few things, before I made it home. Just thinking about all of the things that I had planned, I got excited. Onijae’s ass was going to be in for a good surprise, the minute he walked through the door. I hope that he likes it. Shit, I skipped a whole day of work to do something special for him, so his ass better like it or else I’ll be cursing his ass out.

  Pulling into the parking lot of the grocery store, I quickly found a spot, grabbed my purse and got out. I made sure to lock my door and turn on my alarm system, because I didn’t trust anybody in Dallas. All people around here do is steal and I couldn’t wait until we moved from around here.

  I was thankful that the store wasn’t packed today. Instead of playing around, I grabbed a basket and went about my business. Since I really didn’t have any time to spare, I headed straight for the vegetables. I grabbed a few carrots, some potatoes, and parsnips. Once I had that, I went to the meat department and grabbed a nice roast, before getting the rest of the things I would need to help me prepare the food. Since I really didn’t have time to stop anywhere else, I grabbed a bottle of red wine and a six-pack of Heineken to go with it.

  I was happy when I got home and didn’t see Onijae’s car. Since today was Saturday, I wasn’t expecting him to be home for another three to four hours. The timing would be perfect, because it would provide me with more than enough time to get everything cooked, and set up for tonight. Pulling into the garage, I happily bounced out of the car and proceeded to bring in all of the bags. It took me a few minutes to carry everything inside, but I did it.

  As soon as I had gotten myself together, I took all of the bags that I got from the grocery store and brought them into the kitchen. Without missing a beat, I washed my hands, rolled up my sleeves and began the task of cooking. I began cutting up the vegetables and potatoes first. When I was through, I seasoned them, placed them in the pot and sat them on the stove to simmer. Removing the roast from its pack, I placed it in the sink and washed it off, before I seasoned it and placed it in the pan and threw it in the oven. I would wait until everything was almost done to pop the rolls in the oven. Since I brought a cake from the store, I didn’t have to prepare dessert, but I did remove it from its box and place it in the glass cake stand that was on the table. I then set up the table, with candles. Once I had everything going, I grabbed the bags from the foyer and headed upstairs to get the bedroom ready.

  After remaking the bed and spreading candles throughout the room, I pulled out the two bags of roses and started a trail from the door to the bed. I then took the rose petals and made a heart in the middle of the bed. Once I was done, I grabbed the black box that contained the watch I’d just bought from Macy’s and placed it in the middle of the heart. Satisfied with the outcome, I headed back downstairs to check on the food. That shit had the whole house smelling good. After I placed the food on a low fire, I headed back upstairs to prepare myself for the night.

  * * *

  It was almost nine o’clock that night, when everything was finally done. I had Nicki Minaj’s “Feeling Myself”, blaring through the speakers of my phone and I can honestly say that I was indeed feeling myself right now. I stood in the mirror admiring the way I was looking. I was dressed in a bare-all Chantilly lace plunge teddy that I had gotten from Victoria’s Secret. On my feet, I had on a pair of black, patent leather, peep toe platform heels. I placed my hair into a ponytail, with some Chinese bangs. Since I was already pretty, I only applied little makeup to my face with some Black MAC lipstick.

  Picking up my phone and Bluetooth pill speaker, I began heading downstairs. I was placing the speaker on the table when my phone began ringing. Looking at the screen, I noticed that it was my sister calling. Rolling my eyes, I had a good mind to let her call roll to voicemail after the shit she put me through today. I don’t know how long it was going to take me to get over that shit, but her ass couldn’t get a damn thing from me anytime soon. Going against my better judgement, I answered anyway.

  “Hello,” I answered, with a bit of an attitude.

  “Bitch, you can lose the attitude, because you know I don’t give a shit no way,” she said unbothered. I should’ve known that the shit wasn’t going to faze her. She didn’t care about anything. She had a carefree attitude that most people hated, including me. If a bitch was mad at her, they were most definitely mad by themselves, because she didn’t let anything get to her. She was the type of chick, who would sit next to the bitch that she knew for sure didn’t like her and be like, “Hey girl,” because that’s the type of shit she does.

  “What you want, Candice?” I asked her.

  “I’m calling to see how everything is going. Onijae done came home yet?”

  “You think I would be answering the phone if he was?” I told her.

  “Point taken,” she said, laughing. “So how is everything? You did it just like I told you to, huh?”

  “Yes and everything is fine. If I wasn’t running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I’d send you a picture,” I said, pulling the string up out of my ass. That’s why I rarely wore shit like this.

  “No need to. If you did everything I told you to, I already know how it looks,” she boasted.

  “Ol’ cocky ass,” I told her, laughing. I was about to say something when I heard the garage door opening. “Oh bitch, I have to go. My man is home!”

  “Okay now, don’t go making any babies tonight, I’m too young to be an aunt,” she said, laughing.

  “Girl, shut your ass up. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “All right now, have fun and make sure you do everything I tell you to,” she said before I hung up on her. I don’t know why, but I was a ball of nerves. It was funny how I’ve been with this man for years and yet, I still get butterflies whenever he’s around.

  Quickly moving, I hurried up and scrolled to my music and chose R. Kelly’s 12 Play album, before I plugged the phone up to my speaker. I then grabbed the single rose, placed it in my mouth and sat down with my legs open. I couldn’t wait to see the expression on his face when he walked through the door. I hope he likes this, because I plan to do something good to him later on.

  * * *

  Chapter 5

  Onijae

  It was almost nine o’clock at night when I pulled up to my house. I had no intentions on staying over at my parents’ house that long, but once we started having fun, the time just flew by. In fact, if my parents didn’t have to wake up for church in the morning, we’d probably still be sitting at the table right now, clowning and having a good time. Shit, I almost didn’t want to leave, but I knew I had to come home to Bianca.

  After parking the car into the garage, I grabbed the plate that my father had sent over for her and got out. I noticed that the house was a bit dark, so most likely, she was probably in there sleeping. I hoped she won’t be too mad about me coming home late.

  Opening the door, I was momentarily frozen at the sight before me. Sitting on the table was a candlelight dinner, set for two. Even though I wasn’t hungry, whatever she had cooked smelled good as fuck. Placing the plate on a table in the hallway, I began walking into the kitchen. When I rounded the corner, I was stunned the moment my eyes landed on Bianca. She was sitting in a chair, at the kitchen table, with a single rose in her mouth and her legs wide open. She looked so different that I almost didn’t recognize her.

  “What’s all this about?” I asked her.

  “I just wanted to do something special for my man,” she said, getting up from the chair. She then walked over to me and handed me the rose. “I love you, Onijae.”

  “I love you too, baby,” I said, placing a kiss on her lips. Her lips tasted so good that I pulled her in to deepen the kiss.

  “Slow your roll. We’ll have enough time to do that later on. Come on and follow me,” she said, pulling back. Grabbing my hand, she let me over to a seat by the table. “You can sit down, while I go get your plate from the kitchen.”
She disappeared into the kitchen. I took a seat and waited for her to come back.

  A few minutes later, she returned with a plate in her hand and a bottle in another. She sat the plate and bottle in front of me and walked back into the kitchen. A few seconds later, she returned with a plate of her own and sat across from me. I couldn’t lie and say that I wasn’t stuck, because I was. I had no Idea why she was suddenly doing this for me. Maybe she felt what I was feeling these past few years. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who knew that there was a strain on our relationship, and maybe this was her attempt to try to fix it. Or maybe she’s trying to kill your ass, I thought.

  For the next few minutes, we sat there in silence while we ate. The sound of R. Kelly’s voice and the forks hitting against our plate, were the only noise in the room. To be honest, I hadn’t even taken as much as five bites out of my plate.

  “All right. Enough of this,” she said, pushing her plate away from her. “I know you’re confused as to why I’m even doing this, because I can see the look on your face. Not only that, but you’re barely eating your food. I’m guessing you think I did something to it, but I haven’t. I told you that I’m doing this, because I wanted to do something special. Onijae, things haven’t been the same between us since…well…since that thing happened, and all I want is for us at least to try to work it out. I mean you wouldn’t have taken me back if you didn’t love me and want to work it out, right?”

  “You don’t have to say anything, Onijae, at least try. I know I was the one who messed things up between us. I can’t tell you enough times, how sorry I am for doing so, but please don’t hold this over my head too long. I really am sorry and I want more than anything to be able to make this work, but I can’t be the only one trying. If you don’t want this to be any more, then tell me. I won’t be mad about it. Hurt, yes, but I’ll never be mad, because like I said, I brought this upon myself.”

  “Bianca, I love you and yes, I want to make things work with you, but it’s still hard for me to trust you. You don’t know how fucked up it was when I saw you having sex with that dude in our bed. That shit had broken me, it fucked me up and cause me lose any trust that I’ve ever had for you,” I said, looking up at her. I never really told her how I felt, but I guess right now was the perfect time to tell her. “It’s going to take us a while to get back to where we once were, but I’m willing to try. I don’t want you to go anywhere, because I love you more than life itself. You’re just going to have to give me the time to do so.”