by Tina Martin
She emerged from the car with a sense of relief already floating around her, yet as she ascended the steps to her parent’s front porch, she knew she was giving up a relationship with them in order to save the one she had with Harding. She drew in a breath before she turned the doorknob and said softly, “Here goes.”
Stepping inside the house, she called out, “Mom. Dad.”
“Savannah, dear,” her mother said. “We’re in the library.”
Savannah walked that way, her heart pounding with each step she took. Inside, she saw her father sitting in a black, antique chair studded with gold nail heads. Her mother sat opposite of him on the matching sofa. She had been reading a book. Her father, who had his legs crossed showing off a pair of Burberry socks, was hiding behind a wide-opened newspaper.
Savannah stood there for a moment taking it in. Is this how older married folks behaved – passing the time by silently reading in the same room with each other, or was it just her parents who lived a dull life with no passion? No sparks. It’s amazing they had any children at all…
“I didn’t expect you today, Savannah,” Dorthea said. “Is something the matter? Your father tells me you didn’t come to the office again today.”
“I didn’t. I had some personal business to attend to. More important business.”
Her mother gasped as if Savannah’s answer had annoyed her that much.
Alistair turned the page of the newspaper.
“More important?” Dorthea sneered. “What’s more important than your job, dear? You have clients, major clients, who depend on you every single day.”
“Your mother’s right,” Alistair said peeping around the newspaper. “And when you’re not there, it really puts a strain on the rest of the team.”
Blah, blah, blah… “I realize that, Father.”
“If you re-a-lize that, you would’ve been at work today,” Alistair said with a rough edge to his voice.
Savannah reeled inside. She didn’t know why or how she had managed to put up with her controlling parents for so long. “You know what…I was going to try to remain civil about this but you two make it so unbearingly impossible.”
Alistair lowered the newspaper and snatched his glasses from his eyes. “Excuse me, young lady.”
“I’ve been so busy, so wrapped up living this…this life you wanted me to live that I haven’t lived my life. You’ve dictated my every move and like a puppet, I went along with everything you wanted, neglecting what I wanted. I didn’t even want to be a lawyer. I only went to law school because you wanted me to.”
“You better be thankful. Look at your life,” Dorthea said.
“No. Mother. This is your life, not mine. I don’t have a life, at least not yet anyway.”
Dorthea rose up tall on the sofa and said, “Now, I don’t know what’s gotten into you child but you need to watch your mouth and your tone when you talk to me and your father. You will not speak to us in this manner after everything we’ve done for you. We gave you this life and now you’re what? Ungrateful? Really? You’re a thirty-two-year-old black woman. You live in a two-hundred thousand dollar condo and drive a foreign car. Do you know how many women there are out there who wished they had a taste of your success? Of your life?”
Savannah shook her head and then a smile came to her face. She knew what kind of smile it was. It was a smile of clarity, satisfaction and relief. The smile of someone who’d had a thick burden lifted off of their shoulders. The smile of someone who’d had enough. There was no anger inside of her. No resentment. She just wanted this to be over with. With the calmest voice she could muster, she said, “I’m not ungrateful. I appreciate everything you both have done for me or have tried to do for me. I’m just…just done living someone else’s life. I won’t do it anymore. I’m not going to allow you to blackmail me with money, with my job, my house—I see why you wanted everything in your name now. Unfortunately for you, I don’t care anymore. You can take it all and shove it.”
Dorthea rose to her feet. “What on earth has gotten into you, child? And what is that hideous piece of jewelry on your finger?”
Savannah held out her left hand and looked at the ring. She beamed with pride. “There’s nothing hideous about my ring. It’s a gift from the man who loves me. My husband.”
“Your what!”
“My husband. I’m married, Mom, and not to Dudley if that’s what you were thinking.”
Speechless and looking like she was about to faint, Dorthea fell back into her chair.
“Goodbye, Mom. Dad. I’ve packed up all my stuff and I’m heading out of town. You’ll have to hire somebody else to be a team player. I’m out.”
A visibly frustrated and angry Alistair tossed the newspaper to the floor and said, “If you walk out that door, young lady, you forfeit everything!”
Savannah looked back at him and said calmly, “I’m fine with that.” Then she grabbed the knob, exiting into a new life of freedom. Now, she had to get her man back.
Chapter 14
“All right. Everybody ready?” Harding asked.
“I am,” Mordecai said.
Amira and Zoya didn’t respond.
They’d all agreed to meet at Harding’s house since he lived the closest to Highway 64, the road they’d travel for nearly a hundred miles as they began the journey towards Asheville. Mordecai was riding with Harding. Zoya had insisted on driving and Amira was riding with her. They would be trailing Harding.
“Zoe, are you ready?” Harding asked after walking to her car, standing at the opened driver-side window.
“Yeah, and stop by the first fast food joint you come across. I’m hungry.”
“Me, too,” Amira said.
“All right. Got it. And try to keep up with me, girl,” he said as he walked back towards his dark blue Durango SUV.
“I’ll try. I’m not much into driving like a freakin’ maniac,” she yelled out the window.
Harding glanced back, donning a smile then kept on walking until he was at his jeep. He slipped inside. The engine was already running with the heat turned to a low setting. First thing in the morning, the temperature lingered in the forties.
After strapping his seatbelt securely, he shifted the car into the drive position and looked at Mordecai. “All right. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Mordecai glanced at him while sliding on a pair of dark sunglasses. “You seem excited.”
“I am. I think I’m more excited for you, Amira and Zoe than I am for myself.”
“Why’s that?”
Harding shrugged, looked both ways and proceeded with a right turn onto the highway. “Probably because I’ve met them before. You guys haven’t.”
Mordecai shifted in the seat finding a more comfortable position. “I had a feeling mom wasn’t going to go.”
“Yeah. I can’t blame her. If you felt like you were in a committed relationship with someone and you found out that, not only were they married, but also had children by that person, would you be eager to meet the children?”
“Not at all, bruh. Not at all.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Harding glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure Zoya was keeping up with him.
“Speaking of committed relationships, let’s talk about you and my sister-in-law…”
Harding’s face went slack. “How’d I know you were going to bring that up?”
Mordecai smirked and said, “I just don’t understand why it’s so easy for you to make the decision to end the marriage.”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“But when we talked the other day, you were so blasé about it which surprised me because I know how much you love Savannah.”
Harding quirked up his mouth. “What do you know about love, Mordecai? You haven’t been with a woman no longer than a month.”
He grinned. “Okay, okay. You got me there. I do, however, know when I see love.”
“I’m not talking about big butts and slim waists.�
� Harding chuckled.
“Me either. I’m talking the lovey-dovey, romantic stuff…like you share with Savannah. I can see it.”
Harding halfway rolled his eyes. “You can see it in other people’s lives, huh? You just refuse to experience it in your own life.”
“That’s because I’m not looking for it,” Mordecai said. “I think I’m more like dad in that respect. I like to hop around. No need to commit to one woman when they’re so many of ‘em available at my disposal.”
All Harding could do was shake his head as he checked the side mirror to switch lanes.
Mordecai adjusted his seat, moving it back, then stretched his legs out a little more. “But you…don’t get me started because I’m one hundred percent sure you told me you weren’t the settling down type.”
Harding grinned.
Mordecai continued, “You told me your work was your life, and you didn’t have time for no relationships. Next thing I know, you’re bringing Little Miss Priss around and now, you’re getting a divorce.”
“It’s—”
“Don’t say it’s complicated. Please don’t say it’s complicated. That’s a copout. Tell me what Savannah did that was so bad, you want to divorce her.”
“I told you—her parents got her by the throat…has her living a charmed life as long as she lives it the way they want her to live it. They’ve picked out the man they want her to marry and in case you’re not following, that man isn’t me. It was never me. It’s some dude named Dudley who comes from a wealthy family. They want her to marry him.”
“It doesn’t matter what they want.”
“Apparently it does. She works for their law firm and lives in a two-hundred-thousand-dollar condo. She’s up to make partner at the firm this year. Her life is pretty laid out for her.”
“And she chose all of that over you? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Uh…not exactly. The problem is, she hasn’t chosen me, period. I came along and interfered with her perfect little world and now, she doesn’t know which way to turn. She claims she loves me, but with her parents holding so much over her head, I don’t think love is enough to tear her away from the glitz and glamor.” Harding glanced at a blue road sign where he saw several fast food restaurants posted. “I’m going to get off on the next exit,” he told Mordecai. “Zoe said she was hungry.”
“She’s always hungry,” Mordecai quipped. “For her to be so skinny, she eats like a linebacker.”
“You’re one to talk.”
Mordecai laughed. “Hey, I work out. I need the extra protein.”
“Yeah. If you say so.”
Harding flicked on the right turn signal, then glanced in the rearview mirror at Zoya following closely behind him.
Chapter 15
“Oh, thank you, Jesus,” Zoya said, biting into a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit, breathing and moaning like the food gave her that much satisfaction.
Amira cracked a smile. “Do you and that biscuit need some privacy?”
“Shut up, Amira. You ain’t funny.”
Nearing the end of laughter, Amira asked, “Did you not eat last night?”
“I did eat. I had two smoked sausages, two rolls and a side of mac and cheese.”
“So, you’re extra hungry this morning because you overate last night?”
Zoya smiled, flicking on the left turn signal as she merged back onto the freeway. “Whatever, Amira. I’m just hungry. Let me eat and drive while you sit over there and be quiet.”
“Hey, I offered to drive. You didn’t want me to.”
“That’s because I value my life.”
Amira rolled her eyes and took a bite of a chicken biscuit. “What do you think they’re like?” she mumbled.
Zoya knew she was referring to Dante, Dimitrius and Desmond. “I don’t know. Harding paints a pretty good picture of them. I trust his judgment.”
“Yeah, but mom…”
“Keep in mind that mom is looking at the situation from the angle of a scorned woman.”
“Really?” Amira asked. “You think mom is scorned?”
Zoya took a sip of orange juice and returned it to the cup holder in the center console. “Of course she is. Wouldn’t you be?”
Amira shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Zoya asked, brows raised.
“Never given it much thought.”
Zoya glanced over at her sister then back to the road. “If you were in a relationship with a guy and he cheated on you and had like three babies by another woman, it wouldn’t bother you at all?”
“It would, definitely, and I wouldn’t have anything else to do with him. That’s for sure.”
“Then you should be able to see mom’s point of view. Dad cheated on her. Not only did he cheat…she had no idea he was married to someone else and had three children with the woman. So, yeah, mom’s a woman scorned.”
“I would think she’d still be curious about our half-brothers, though.”
“She is. She’s already looked into them. That’s how she knows how successful they are. That’s why she thinks they’re uppity and snooty. Her words. For her to actually see them and meet with them would open up old wounds for her. We didn’t have much of a relationship with dad, so his death didn’t affect us the same way it affected her.”
“That’s true. I hadn’t considered that angle.”
Zoya took another sip of juice and then grunted, “Ugh…I don’t know why Harding is trailing this semi.”
“He’s probably running his mouth. You know how it is whenever he and Mordecai get together.”
“Girl, can you imagine five of them? Five Champion men?” Zoya asked.
“Five brothers all together…no, I can’t imagine. I hope I’m somewhere with a cocktail trying to keep my sanity.”
The women laughed.
“Finally,” Zoya said when Harding put on his left signal and worked his way over to the fast lane. She followed. “I kinda feel bad for Harding and Savannah.”
“I do, too.”
Zoya glanced at Amira and returned her attention back to the road. “You were pretty rough on her the other night?”
“That’s only because I felt like she was trying to imply that my brother wasn’t good enough for her. Like, who do you think you are?”
“She was saying that it’s what her parents believed, not her.”
“Well, whatever the case, her parents didn’t know about the marriage because she didn’t tell them. That’s one-hundred percent her fault.”
“True, but we don’t know everything,” Zoya said. “What I do know is, Harding and Savannah are good together and I truly hope they can work this out.”
“Yeah. Guess time will tell.”
Chapter 16
Tired of sitting still, Mordecai shifted his body in his seat and tried to stretch his long legs as best as he could. “Ah, man. How much longer do we have to go?” he asked. They’d just gotten back on the road twenty minutes ago after stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. He was driving now, giving Harding time to rest.
“According to the GPS, about an hour and a half,” Harding said. He checked his phone. He had closed his business for the day and had to call and reschedule appointments on Thursday. Some of his clients hadn’t gotten back to him then, but he had a few voicemails from other clients now. What he didn’t have was any contact from Savannah. It would’ve been nice having her by his side on this journey so he could introduce her as his wife to his brothers. He knew the three of them were married and happily so, but marriage hadn’t quite worked out for him.
Mordecai glanced at Harding, then back at the road. “She hasn’t called yet, huh?”
“Who? Mom?”
“You know I wasn’t talking about mom. I’m talking about your wife.”
Harding blew a breath. “Why would she be calling me? She has a life.”
“Is that what you meant when you said she didn’t choose you?”
“Something
like that.”
“You’re being aloof about the whole thing.”
“Because it seems that it’s all you want to talk about since I made the mistake of confiding in you, man.”
“Mistake?”
“Yes. It was a mistake discussing my problems with you.”
Mordecai concealed a frown. “Why?”
“Because…you’re a woman hater.”
Mordecai laughed. “I don’t hate women. I love women.”
“Yeah. You just don’t love them enough to fall in love with one and settle down and be happy.”
“Maybe I would if I saw that my older brother had done it.”
“So, I’m tainting your view on love and marriage is what you’re saying?”
“Yes,” Mordecai said, laughing. “Yes, you are.” After taking a sip of the Pepsi he’d picked up back at the gas station, he said, “For real, though, man. Why don’t you want to work things out with Savannah? She’s a good woman.”
“I know that.”
“Then why? You marry her for a year and suddenly get cold feet? I thought cold feet came before marriage. Not after.”
“It’s not cold feet. It’s—” Harding sighed heavily.
“It’s…” Mordecai said gesturing, trying to get Harding to continue talking this time.
“It’s the fact that she has everything. She doesn’t need me. She wants me but she doesn’t need me if that makes any sense to you. I want a woman to need me. I want to feel valued, not like I’m some prop sitting around for her enjoyment knowing, at any given time, I could be replaced.”
“That’s a bunch of nonsense and you know it.”
“It’s not. She comes from money. Her family rubs shoulders with high rollers. Why do you think she didn’t tell them about me? Because she knows how disappointed her parents would be to learn she was married to me. I don’t pull in the same kind of figures as they do.”
“You own your own business, man. If that ain’t success, I don’t know what is.”
“Yeah, but it’s not good enough, not for her or her family.”