by Jessica M.
“It was one time bae. I promise you.” He went to reach for me again, but I raised my hand with as much force as I could, bringing it down, connecting it to his face slapping his taste buds from his mouth.
After delivering a mean slap to Don’s face, I ran out of the house, up the street to my car, hopping in, starting it up, pulling out with so much speed that I saw dust in my rearview mirror. My vision was blurry with tears and my chest hurt so badly. I knew I was on the brink of a panic attack and I tried my damndest to talk myself out of it.
Breathe Kash!
You got this!
Relax!
Count to ten!
1-2-3 this shit not working!
It’s not working!!!!
All the things I had learned in therapy weren’t helping me at all.
Trying to slow the car down, it was like it was floating on its own. When I put my foot on the brake to slow down for the curb that was nearing, I lost all control and everything went dark.
Karmen
“Ok, so you don’t have any detail? You know I hate last-minute shit.” I giggled, sitting up on the side of my bed.
Getting an early morning call from my personal assistant Ginger about a potential client, I listened to the time and place the person wanted to meet. Last-minute business was never my thing and everyone who dealt with me knew that, so whoever this was demanding my business and needing help immediately had better be glad my husband agreed to come back home last night and work on us, or I would be sending Ginger back to him or her with a nasty message for her ass.
“Yea, I know boss, but she said it was a last-minute business party and she needed someone with your expertise to do it. I told her I’d see what we could do, but that it was very unlikely that you would agree to it since it was so last minute.” Ginger was in panic mode.
I hired Ginger about a year ago when I realized I was in over my head. I was in charge of my finances, scheduling, and everything else that came along with my business until I almost had a mental breakdown for all the work I had to do. It was then my mother suggested I hire a personal assistant. My mother affiliated with a lot of people being the first lady of a church. I mean, she was required to attend meetings, brunches, and whatever else my father would sign her up for, and she remembered another first lady who had a daughter straight out of college who was looking for work and recommended her to me. Once I met Ginger, it was downhill. I loved everything about her. She was reliable, honest, trustworthy, but most of all, she studied me. I think Ginger knew me better than I knew myself. And that’s the kind of person that made a great personal assistant.
“Calm down, Gin. It’s all good. Contact them and tell them I’ll be there in an hour. If Don hadn’t come back home, the bitch would be left hanging.” I smirked.
“What? Oh my god, boss lady, that’s great! Now that everything is all good, I can tell you that you have been a total bitch these last few months.” She giggled and I did the same. There were very few that knew my personal business, but I had no choice but to tell Ginger because she had to pick up the slack on the work end when Don and I were having issues.
“Wow! Really Ginger?” I snickered.
“Oh yes, you were terrible, but I still love you. Well, get dressed and let me contact the lady and tell her you will be at the location in one hour. I’ll text you the address. Her name is Mrs. Reynolds.”
“Ok, gotcha. Thanks for everything Ginger, and I’m sorry boo.” Hanging up before waiting for a response, I eased out of bed to go and handle my hygiene.
Last night with Don was great. He stayed here with me all night. No, we didn’t have sex, but he slept in our bed with me and cuddled with me all night. Damn, I missed his touch. I almost loss my man, but I bet that shit wouldn’t happen again. I could tell that Don was a bit standoffish, and who could blame him? He didn’t trust me, and why would he? I was hell on wheels during the course of my marriage so I fully understood his skepticism. He wasn’t sure if what I said was to get him back or if I really had changed.
I accepted his doubt but I’d prove to him that here with me and our baby was the best choice he could make. I was not losing my husband. I needed him. Hell, we needed him. I glided my hand over my flat belly thinking I was about to be a mother. Soon, my stomach would be growing, showing the world that I was carrying another life. Smiling as I brushed my teeth, I never knew I’d feel this way about carrying a child. If I did, I would have never fought Don on having his children years ago. I always felt like once we became parents we would lose ourselves, but it was actually the moment I found out I was carrying a life inside of me that changed my life. Changed my thought process. Changed how I felt about my marriage.
Finishing up my hygiene, I hopped in the shower making it quick. I was a stickler for first impressions so being late wasn’t an option. Hurrying to wash my most important places, I turned the shower off, hopped out, dried off, and quickly applied my Warm Vanilla Sugar Body cream from Bath and Body Works.
Snatching a black knee-length pencil skirt with a red blouse off the hanger, I threw them both on. Searching my closet for my favorite black red-bottom heels, I took them out the box and slipped my feet inside to complete my look. Simple, yet professional. Professionalism was important in my eyes. You could have the best of whatever you were selling, but if you had a bad attitude and no professionalism, your product didn’t mean a damn thing to me.
Using my fine-tooth comb, I combed my bone-straight weave with the part down the middle until it was as smooth as I liked it. Applying only a small amount of eye shadow and lip gloss to my lips, I grabbed my phone, purse, and briefcase that held my color schemes and other fashion necessities inside.
Locking up my house, I exited to the garage to get in my car. Once inside, I checked my phone for the location that Ginger sent to me. Thank God it was only nine minutes away, which really meant six to me. Deciding to send Don a text about my whereabouts, I sent him a quick message about my meeting. I knew he had some things to do for work as he explained before leaving the house this morning, but I was hoping he and I could meet for lunch.
Hey, meeting a potential last-minute client but I was hoping we could meet for lunch if you were free. Hitting send, I started my ride and backed out as my garage door lifted up.
Before I left the driveway good there was a tone signifying I had a text. Checking my message at the next stop sign, I smiled seeing the word Bae with a million hearts across my screen.
I hadn’t felt like this about Don in a long time. It was like we had just met, even though I’d been with him my entire adult life.
Hey, sounds good. I have some things to do at the office, plus I need to find time to bring my things back to the house, but I should be available around one. How are you feeling?
Seeing him being concerned about how I was feeling had me cheesing on the way to meet this client. Don could say all he wanted to that this baby wouldn’t make us closer, but as you could see, he was already doing things he usually didn’t do. Waiting until I got to my destination to respond, I swooped into the address that Ginger had sent to me, but the place seemed vacant. Taking one last look at the address, I was in the right place, but the place didn’t seem occupied at all. Being that there was a black Mercedes parked out front, I hurriedly texted Don back letting him know one was perfect for me and that I would call him about where we would meet as soon as I was done. Tossing my phone inside my purse, I then grabbed my taser from the console and held a firm grip on it. I usually left Nina at home for break-ins, but my taser was my second baby if someone ever tried to pop off.
Stepping out of my car, I gripped my purse with one hand and held tight to my taser with the other. Reaching the glass door, I peeped inside but no one was there. Trying my luck with the handle, it was open, so I stepped inside.
As soon as I stepped in, there seated at a dingy ass wood table off to the side was Marlo Wells and her bitch of a daughter, Marlene Wells Reynolds. It didn’t click at all when Ginger said the client was a Mrs. Rey
nolds. Marlene was Marlo and Maddox’s daughter who currently was married to a wealthy, old ass white man in New York City. She and I attended school together but when she left town, she pretty much stayed gone.
Slipping my taser inside my purse, I folded my arms across my chest and sucked my teeth. I didn’t have time for this bullshit!
“You’ve got to be kidding me. So, you call your daughter here like she’s going to do something to me? I hope you have my money for my time that you’re wasting.” I focused in on Marlo.
“Let me tell you something, you high class prostitute.” Marlene took slow strides in my direction as her scary ass mother looked on.
I watched her moves closely because if she attempted to put her hands on me, that bitch was about to look like a piece of extra crispy fried chicken from KFC.
“Call me all the names you like, but your father is the issue, not me. I’ve stopped all contact with him until I choose to deal with his ass again.” My hand was inside my purse itching for this bitch to give me a reason to clamp this taser to her skinny ass side.
“No hoe! You’re the issue!” She pointed her long manicured nail in my face.
“Marlene, I beat your ass a few times when we were in school. Please don’t make me mop your ass with this dirty floor. Marlo, get your daughter before I not only take your husband’s money, but I’ll sue your ass for stalking. Now, how do you think that congregation of old people like Mrs. Betty, Mr. Ralph, and Mrs. Perkins will feel about the pastor paying for private time with me? Shit, I have nothing to lose. My parents never ran me then and they don’t run me now, so I could give two fucks if you plan to tell them. But YOU, my dear, have the most to lose. Those old people will not come back if they get just a tiny inkling that Maddox is a hoe. Tell your little guard dog to back the fuck off before I air this bitch out! You don’t want that sweetheart.” I kept my eyes trained on Marlo as her daughter’s breathing became labored. Oh, she was mad as hell, but I didn’t give a damn. I prayed I didn’t have to fight this bitch since I was pregnant, but if she wanted to take it there, then we could.
“I told you this was a bad idea,” Marlo murmured.
“You need to listen to your mama honey.” I grinned, turning on my heels walking right back out of the door I had walked in only minutes ago.
Getting in my car, I couldn’t help but laugh at Marlo and Marlene. They had some damn nerve trying to scare me off. Shaking my head, I eased out of the parking lot headed to my office to look over some files. My phone rang and I snatched it up from the seat realizing it was Kash. I was happy to see her calling because I had no idea what was going on with her. She and I definitely had to sit down and talk real soon. She wasn’t acting like herself at all. She was distant, getting high all the time, and hanging with this Meesha chick a little too often for my liking. I was her sister so she should be under me, not some chick who was a bad influence. Then I thought back to how she acted when I announced my pregnancy and that Don would be returning home. Maybe it was me, but I didn’t get the feeling she was happy for me. Perhaps I was reading too much into it, but we for sure needed to sit down and figure out what was going on.
“Hey sis,” I answered, but there was a long pause.
“Hello, Kash?” I waited for her to respond, but still there was nothing.
“Ummmm, no ma’am, this is Patricia Sherwood and I’m a nurse at Spartanburg Medical Center.”
“What? Is my sister ok?” I became anxious.
“Ma’am, can you get here please, as soon as you can?”
Ending the call, there was nothing else to say. I needed to get to my sister.
Making a U-turn in the middle of the road, my hands were shaking out of control and tears streamed down my face.
Was my sister dead or alive?
I was supposed to be taking care of her. What would my parents think? They trusted me to take care of her.
Don! I had to call Don. I needed him with me.
With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone struggling to find his contact. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey what’s up? You done already?”
“I-ummm-meet me at the hospital,” was all I managed to get out.
I could hear the panic in his voice. “What? Are you and the baby ok?”
“It’s Kash. She’s hurt.”
“What? What happened to Kash?”
“I don’t know, just get to Spartanburg Medical.”
“Calm down baby. I’m on my way.”
The line went dead and my mind went wild thinking something bad had happened to my baby sister.
Marlene Wells Reynolds
“Let’s go Ma.” I snatched my purse and keys from the nasty table where my mother sat.
“Are you upset with me Marlene?” she questioned, grabbing her things following me out of the door and to my car.
My father left me this run-down place to open up a business, but when I met my husband who was twenty-five years my senior and was already rich, there was no need for me to stay in little ol’ Spartanburg and open up a damn thing. The only thing Ross Reynolds required of me was to stay pretty, spend his money, open my legs at his request, and open my mouth at his command, so if it worked for him it sure as hell worked for me.
I was beyond pissed that my mother got me involved in her and my father’s bullshit. I mean, I knew eventually my father would be caught red-handed with his hard-on in his hands, but I never thought it would be with that hoe Karmen Howard. Karmen made me sick. She had always been a thorn in my side since I was a kid. We always had classes together for as long as I could remember and she was forever bullying me and whoever else she could. One thing she told the truth about was no one, and I mean no one, ran her bougie ass. Her parents couldn’t do shit with her. She had a mind of her own and Karmen never cared who she hurt to get what she wanted.
Her parents weren’t rich, but they were well off; therefore, she and her sister Kashae always sported the latest of everything. I’d admit, I was jealous, but most kids were of the famous Howard sisters, as they were often referred to. But the way Karmen set out to be a bitch was just terrible. She would always take someone’s money, knock their books out of their hands and watch them pick them up, or she had no problem extending her foot when someone walked by. She got a kick out of humiliating people. And now here she was doing the same damn thing to my mother.
Indeed, it was without a doubt my father’s fault for messing with Karmen and my mother’s for putting up with it. My father’s old ass knew better, but he just got off on younger women. Oh, you thought Karmen was the first? Nope! My daddy was a hoe and my mother has known it her entire married life. So, I had no clue why she constantly chose to put up with his ass. If my mother only grew a back bone, she’d be hell. It was sad she didn’t realize that with everything she knew about my father, she could destroy his ass. And I wish that she would, but she loved my father’s dirty drawers. He’s always treated her like trash, but becoming senior pastor at that church that Karmen’s father left to him gave his ass the big head, making him treat my mother even worse than he already was.
My mother didn’t really have anybody she socialized with because my father was afraid if she got close to anyone they might brainwash her into leaving his sorry behind. So, it left me as her listening ear. I didn’t work nor have kids, so she called me often crying on the phone about the problems with my father and like most times, I shrugged it off, until she mentioned that damn Karmen. There was no way I would let her run over my mother like that. She needed to sit her hoe ass down and leave these married men alone. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard about her going outside her marriage, but I never had any proof about it.
Adonis Nash was the guy everyone wanted and gawked over but somehow, he chose the stuck-up Karmen Howard to marry. Adonis was always easy on the eyes and his bad boy demeanor was what drew most of us girls in. I didn’t think he finished high school, but from what I heard, he was holding down a great job as a financial advisor, so
he had to finish. Not planning to stay in town long, I had to do some digging to see if that hoe had any skeletons in her closet. I refused to let her make an ass out of my mother.
“I’m not mad Ma. I just don’t get it. Why are you staying with him?” I pulled away from the vacant building, easing onto the highway heading back in the direction of my parents’ mini-mansion.
“He is my husband Marlene.” She sniffed and I reached inside my console handing her a tissue, noticing she was shedding tears. I never meant to be harsh on my mother but it sickened me that she was so weak.
Ugggggg!
“And he is my father, but if I thought I could kick his ass and you not disown me, I would.” She busted out in laughter.
I was glad to hear her laugh. She had been so sad lately and I hated it.
“I appreciate you coming to see me about me honey, but this is my battle now.” She blew her nose.
“I’ll always come see about you Mama.” I patted her knee.
“Have you heard from M.J.?”
Just the mention of his name made my mama sad. M.J. was Maddox Wells Jr., my brother. He was the eldest of us two, but he left right after his eighteenth birthday. He said there was no way he could sit around and keep watching what Dad was doing to our mother without murdering his perverted ass. His words, not mine. I couldn’t imagine how hard it had to be on my brother as a boy to watch someone and not just anyone, but our father mistreat his mother. He couldn’t take it. My brother packed up all those years ago and never returned.
At first he’d accept our mom’s calls, but when she called and was crying he told her to lose his number until she left our father. He thought he was making a good choice, but I told him she still needed him.
“We texted before I got here yesterday and he sends his love,” I lied, keeping my attention on the road.
“Quit lying Marlene.” She chuckled.
My mother could read me like a book.
