“The kids are at my sister’s house for the night. Me and Jeb,” I took a moment to clear my throat. “…were enjoying a night alone while they visit with their little cousin.”
“Oh…” Rodney began to slow his pace down and ease into thoughts that we all became uneasy watching him think. “So, I guess I’ll just come back over in the morning to see my baby girl and lil man.”
“Well, remember,” I felt I should’ve pointed out, “Kevin is seven now…and Eva would say she ain’t no baby girl. She’s eleven.”
Rodney looked as if he was about to lose his mind. “What?! So I really missed five years of their lives? How could this be? I don’t believe it.” He rubbed his head over and over, as if that act alone would bring his memories back.
“Come on, Son,” Sylvia said in the usual coddling tone she used for Rodney. Then, she walked over and took him by the hand.
Rodney took a few steps towards the door with his mother then paused and turned back towards me.
“I know our love isn’t lost, Meka. It can’t be. I’ll be back for the kids…and for you,” the puzzled man muttered as he brushed my chin with his fingernails, I guess in an attempt of persistence.
It almost made my heart ache to see my ex try to reciprocate the love I once poured into him. “Rodney, don’t make this more complicated than it already is. The kids haven’t seen you in almost a year, since you’ve been recovering from the accident, so they will need time to adjust,” I replied.
“What accident? Why does everyone keep talking about an accident, and why can’t I remember it?”
“Rodney, let’s go. The doctors don’t want you to stress out like this,” Sylvia pleaded with him. “You’ve seen and heard enough for one night.”
Rodney looked back at me and Jeb who’s arm was wrapped securely around my waist. He let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumped, and he shuffled toward the door looking defeated. He opened the door for his mother, and she walked out without saying goodbye.
The only reason Sylvia had come by was to satisfy her son…not to see her grandchildren, and she surely didn’t consider how this visit might have affected them if they had been home. After Sylvia walked out, Rodney turned and looked at me once again.
“Like I said, I’ll be back for my kids…and my wife,” he said glaring at Jeb before walking out the door.
Jeb looked just as stumped as I was about Rodney’s strange visit. Without saying a word, he pulled me into his arms and held me close. I never imagined Rodney’s return would be peaceful, but his lapse in memory could make things even worse. Jeb wrapped his arms around me, and I pushed the nightmare that had been Rodney out of my mind, at least for tonight.
“Let’s just try to enjoy the rest of our night,” Jeb said as he took my hand and walked toward the kitchen. When we got close to the stairwell, he bypassed the turn to the kitchen and started up the steps, pulling me along behind him to the bedroom.
Chapter 2
Jeb
I walked onto the court and started shooting some baskets while I waited for my late cousin. I’d almost joined a game with a couple of other guys, when Channing ran clumsily into the gym with his duffle bag bobbing close behind on his shoulder. I gave Channing a look he didn’t even have to decipher.
“Man, what the hell is going on?” he asked.
I thought Kemara would already have some insight on the problem since Tameka and her sister discussed everything. I passed Channing the ball and let out a grand sigh.
“What isn’t going on?” I rolled my eyes. “Last night was supposed to conclude in climaxes, scratches on my back, and pu—”
Channing quickly cut me off from spilling the unnecessary details of my love life with his sister-in-law.
“Okay, okay, I get it!” He laughed a little, and I knew he understood perfectly well how great the sex was post-proposal. He’d had a smile on his face since he proposed to Kemara. “What I don’t get is how a Casanova like you let something get in the way of your special night with your lady. Your smooth talk and moves couldn’t dodge whatever it was that cock-blocked you?” Channing paused a minute and continued, “Wait…was it your pops?”
I threw the ball at the goal as hard as I could, and Channing quickly got serious. “Don’t let him maneuver his way in between you and Tameka. You did right the other day when you left his house. Sometimes, we have to let go. Hopefully, he will come around. That’s why I go over there sometimes, to talk to him about the way what he is doing is making you feel.”
“Oh yeah? Well, how are those talks coming along?” I asked sarcastically.
“About as good as talking to a brick wall, but I do it anyway because your father has always been a reasonable man, and I keep thinking he’ll come around.”
“Yeah, well, what he’s doing right now isn’t reasonable, and I’m not going to kiss his ass to appease him. I love Tameka, and nothing he says will change that.”
“I know, man. It’s just sad to see another part of our family broken because of people hating on love. It’s a fucked up way to be.” Channing started to pace, as if memories came flooding back in from when his father attempted to wedge his way in between him and Kemara. He knew all too well what it was like when family voiced such strong opinions about who you chose to love all because of the color of their skin.
“It is sad, but I’ll have to learn to live without him around. I mean...you were there. You saw how heated things were just because I told him I was going to marry Tameka. He just flat out denied me. All the fucking name-calling, the hate in his heart!” I shook my head. “I won’t tolerate that in my life. I can’t anymore. Tameka and the kids are my family now. I can’t have my father berating me like I’m a child, when he’s the one that has an immature mentality about race.”
Channing stopped taking shots into the hoop and bounced the ball a while. He walked over and patted me on the back.
“Man, if anyone knows how you feel, you know damn well that it’s me. Me and Kemara got your back. Don’t forget, we’re your family too,” Channing expressed while noting simultaneously that things were starting to feel too sentimental. “Uh, we’re getting a little too in our feelings though man, so I’m going to give you some space,” he added.
Channing took another shot and slapped his chest when the ball went into the hoop. “Your big cuz is here for you though, man,” Channing said.
I could imagine how my concerned face transitioned promptly to a smile. Channing cracked a smile too. Then, I remembered that wasn’t the end of my troubles.
“But see, that’s not even the half of it, Channing. Last night, I had planned this great big dinner for Tameka, and I had a surprise for her…”
Channing was bouncing the ball, waiting for me to reveal what the surprise was, but quickly became inpatient. “Um...okay, aaaand…?”
I was a little hesitant to reveal to my cousin what I wanted to ask Tameka. I was nervous that everyone was going to take this the wrong way.
“What? Were you going to present her with the Tinder profile of some chick who agreed to that threesome you’ve been fantasizing about since we were ten?” Channing began cackling, amused at his joke and also at the thought of me asking my new fiancée what she thought about us bringing in a third wheel into our bedroom.
I squinted my eyes at Channing, annoyed that he probably would never drop that story. I cleared my throat and said, “What I was going to present Tameka with were four tickets to Hawaii this summer. I was planning on asking her if she wanted to just go with me, her, and the kids, on an island…to say our vows to each other on one of those white, sandy beaches.”
Channing stopped bouncing and pacing and stared at me in amusement. “You were going to ask her to elope?”
I looked at my cousin and shrugged my shoulders.
“Yeah, so what?”
“Dude. You know how many times I’ve already had to cut my game of NBA 2K short because your fiancée and my wife consumed our living room with wedding plans? And
now you want to elope? I’m not so sure how she’s going to feel about that, Jeb,” Channing said, shaking his head in disagreement. “Matter of fact, I know it’s not going to go over well.”
“I know she’s really excited and into planning this wedding, but I just don’t want anything to go wrong, Channing. I mean, I can’t have anyone trying to sabotage her special day. That would hurt her more, and I’m supposed to guard her from that,” I said.
Channing took a step closer to me. I was well-intentioned, and he knew it. “So this is because of your dad? You want to elope because of your pops?”
I tried to stare him in the face as a show of strength and a level of manhood that proved my father had nothing to do with this decision, but I quickly backed down.
“It’s not just because of him, Channing. It’s…it’s everyone. I’m not really dealing well with everyone’s input, you know. Dirty Neil and the rest of the boys have been talking shit when I run into them in town. My pops and my relationship has gone to the tank. And to be honest, I’m terrified of what I may do if someone, who’s heart is full of hate, comes to our wedding and ruins the day. That wouldn’t only break Tameka. It would break me.”
Channing had to know very well what I was feeling. He couldn’t really blame me for trying to maneuver my way around all the people in our town who couldn’t handle seeing two people from different sides of the tracks fall in love, especially one who came from a family with a heritage of hate. I couldn’t chance that. Not when I’d painted a picture for my lovely fiancée that showed images of us rising above it all.
“Regardless if you and Tameka elope or get married here in our small little town, you’re going to have to face these people who don’t want to see y’all together. Shit, what do you think me and Kemara deal with on a daily basis?” Channing asked, and the intense look in his eyes rattled something inside of me. He told the brutal truth that I’d been avoiding, while I spent every spare minute of every day loving Tameka. “People stare at us, say inappropriate things to us, and are plain out rude sometimes.”
I looked at my cousin and best friend. I had witnessed all that went on because I was there when Channing had to vent about the nurses in the hospital who shrugged off his wife’s concerns because she was black. I was also there as an ear when my uncle denounced Channing, and I could never forget when Channing had to beat his own brother into shreds because he disrespected Kemara. And those things were just a drop in the barrel of the disrespect they’d experienced.
I had a front seat to the hate they faced, but things were about to get a little different. Tameka and I would now be the ones to face it head on, and I wasn’t too sure that I was ready for that.
I snapped out of the haze of thinking about what was all to come when Channing spoke up again. “So what act of divine intervention stopped you from revealing your escape plan to Tameka?” Channing chuckled, as he rolled his eyes.
“Her douchebag of an ex-husband showed up with his mommy,” I said mockingly. “Dude has completely lost his mind. He has literally time hopped back to the past and actually believes he is still in love with Tameka. He thinks they are still happily married.”
“That’s madness, Jeb,” Channing said with a shocked expression on his face. “How did you handle it?”
“It’s not how I expected my night to go so we were caught off guard, man. He’s on some crazy shit, like really! As he was leaving, he told Tameka he would be back for the kids and her, and I was a few seconds from coming undone on him, sick or not,” I said.
“He has done a complete one-eighty,” Channing muttered as he shook his head.
“I’m not going to let anyone get in the way of me and Tameka’s happiness. It took a lot for her to feel safe with me, and I’m not allowing anyone to mess that up.”
Channing swatted his hand at me. “I know you’re not worried about that scrub, Rodney. Kemara confirmed that Tameka literally hates his guts. You don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to him.”
“You weren’t there last night, Channing. His eyes revealed that he wasn’t the same jerk that cheated on her and left her for another woman. He looked at her as if he has an aching love for Tameka, like he’s ready to battle for her.”
“After all he has done, it’s going to take more than a look in his eyes. Tameka knows what she wants, and she wants to marry you. Stay focused on what matters,” Channing said and threw the ball to me.
I quickly turned to the goal and hooped it. “You’re right, man. I have to stay focused on the prize, and that’s getting my woman to Hawaii.”
Channing shook his head as he hustled for the ball and threw up a shot of his own.
* * *
Tameka
“Girl!” I flopped down on my chair and grabbed a menu. I was meeting Kemara for brunch with a couple of our girlfriends, Alise and Jayne. “I needed this sooo bad. You won’t believe the week I had!”
They had all been updated on my nightmare with Rodney’s memory loss, and I had already unloaded the juicy details, but it still remained the talking point since it was so strange and not at all like my ex. It was like he was a new person, or better yet, he had returned to being the person I fell in love with so many years ago.
Jayne waved the busy waitress over, but she instantly put her index finger up as if to tell her to hold on for a few. Jayne rolled her eyes and pivoted back towards the girls. “I mean, if you ask me, this sounds like a gateway into taking the perfect revenge for that monster of an ex that you’ve had to deal with for the last four years.” Jayne took a sip of her mimosa and raised her eyebrows as if she had made the point of the century.
I gave her a look that needed no words, but Kemara and Alise gave their approving Amen’s by the chorus of “Umm hmm’s” they seemed to harmonize over.
“Now, y’all know that is not my style. My life is amazing right now! I have Jeb, and we’re about to get married!” I looked down at my ring with a smile. “And the kids have been so happy lately. They actually love Jeb, and I don’t have the energy to throw our happiness back in Rodney’s face. I just want to live my stress free life with my family.” I took a swig from my champagne glass. “But you know what?”
They all leaned in to listen closely as if their hopes were up that I had at least one act of vengeance up my sleeve. “What?” Alise asked.
“It sure is nice to not have to worry about Rodney doing something crazy these days. Now that he’s lost his memory, he’s much more pleasant,” I said.
My girlfriends and sister let out sighs and groans, unsatisfied that I hadn’t hopped on the retribution train.
“I guess you’re right about that,” Kemara said and let out a laugh from her gut. We all soon joined her in laughter, realizing that, if anything, we were relieved things hadn’t been so tense in the last few months.
We all had our own lives to lead but had seemed to finally find the silver lining. Jayne had finished law school and gotten hired by a local law firm. Alise was having the time of her life getting booked by clubs to sing her heart out; she had even recently become a sensation at Jeb’s club. And we all knew Kemara was so in love with Channing that a permanent smile sparkled on her face.
“Let’s just take a moment to toast to happy and fulfilling lives filled with love and good sex for the rest of our days!” Jayne exclaimed after her stint of laughter.
“Now, that I can toast to,” I said as I raised my glass in unison with my circle of friends.
“I hope to be toasting to that soon,” Alise said, and Jayne echoed her sentiment by clinking her glass to Alise’s.
“Well, that’s something I can get behind too,” a familiar yet chilling voice spoke from behind me as a frail hand reached over my head and towards our glasses.
Kemara’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the silhouette behind me.
“Hey bitches,” cackled a thin and brittle-looking Melody, Rodney’s ex who obviously couldn’t handle him through sickness and in health as she once was rea
dy to vow to.
“What the hell are you doing over here?” I snapped. “You should really think twice before you say another word. You aren’t welcome anywhere near me.”
Melody had this conniving smirk on her face as she watched me get up from the table to confront her. Kemara grabbed my hand, encouraging me to sit back down, while Alise and Jayne stood up to back me up if needed.
“I just saw you and your little crew over here, and I just had to come over and express my gratitude that your presence has become more satisfying to Rodney since his accident. I couldn’t deal with his little situation because he can hardly do anything for himself now.” Her face transitioned into a very phony sad face. “I don’t take care of people; they take care of me,” she said in the most annoying, squeakiest voice I had ever heard.
This is what he left me for? I shook my head and wondered just how much of a relationship my kids were going to have with their little sibling who was only a few months old.
“If you don’t take care of people, I don’t know how the whole “motherhood-thing” is going to work for you,” Kemara interjected.
Melody turned towards Kemara and nonchalantly announced, “Oh, I’m giving that baby up for adoption, so it will be well taken care of. Furthermore, my child is not your problem!” And just like that, the Wicked Witch of the East flipped her hair and bounced out of the restaurant.
“God, I can’t stand her,” I snarled as I watched Rodney’s new ex slither away. “Can you believe her? The nerve of that selfish bitch!” I said as my fist tightened. “Eva and Kevin have a little brother or sister that they won’t know because Rodney couldn’t even pick out a good mistress!”
I couldn’t explain why my heart ached so badly at the thought of what Melody was about to do. Kemara was my sister and best friend, and I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. Now my own kids would have to experience knowing their own flesh and blood was out there somewhere in the world with complete strangers.
Safe Place Series Page 15
