Now You Wanna Come Back 2

by Anna Black

  When he got to the front door, he asked God to help him out of this one. He went inside. Leila wasn’t on the main floor. He went upstairs, and she wasn’t there, either. From the scent of Pine-Sol, bleach, and burning candles, he knew she was furious. Every room he looked into was spotless, even little Ray’s room, and his room was always a mess. Leila only cleaned like this when she was heated. He knew the only other place she could be was in the basement. When he went down, there she was at the laundry table folding clothes while Rayven slept in her swing.

  “Leila, I can explain,” he said.

  “No need. I’m good,” she said.

  He wasn’t sure, so he opted for the truth. “I was drunk and fell asleep.”

  “Rayshon, it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine. I talked to Walter this morning. You know, my lawyer, the one who handled my divorce with Devon. In a little while, you will be free to be with Karen or whoever. Who cares,” she hissed.

  “Divorce? You called Walter without discussing this with me? Without giving me a chance to explain?”

  “There’s nothing to explain. Your whore said it all last night before she hung up in my face.”

  “Baby, listen,” he said nervously. Now that she was talking divorce, no way could he confess to sleeping with Karen. “I went by because she invited me to dinner during our session. I had a few drinks, maybe more than I should have had, and this morning when I woke up, she told me you called. She said she tried to wake me, and when she couldn’t, she answered, thinking that something could have been wrong with you or the kids.”

  “Oh, that’s Karen’s version? The version she gave you because she didn’t want to come off as psycho, crazy, bitch-ass Karen,” Leila yelled, and Rayven jumped in her swing.

  “Listen, baby, please hear me out, and if you want me to leave after I’ve said what I have to say, I’ll go.” Leila stopped what she was doing and leaned back against the laundry table. “I knew that Karen had feelings for me,” he said, “and I can be an idiot sometimes, Lei. I always try to be the good guy, and that’s what I did with her. After I thought I caught you with Devon, I was angry, and I was hurt, and I really felt that you played me right in my face. I used Karen because she was there. When I talked to her, she listened, and I foolishly played on that. I was wrong.

  “After you explained what happened the other night, I believed you, and I told her that. During our session, she asked me to come by for dinner with her and some of her friends. At the time, I thought that it was harmless, and I agreed.

  “Then you showed up, saw her with me, and told me not to be her trainer anymore. I didn’t realize until after you left how that must have made you feel, and I knew I had to shut it down. I had already made my decision to come home before I went to Karen’s. I knew that I had to kill everything with her, because I want you, Leila.

  “So I went there, and I intended to tell her after dinner that she and I couldn’t hang anymore, and I couldn’t be her trainer anymore, and that I wanted my marriage. But I had a few drinks and . . . I don’t know. I woke up this morning, and I didn’t remember anything. That’s it. I told her that we couldn’t be friends, and I can’t be her trainer.

  “I told her that I was going to make my marriage work. She was pissed, and I don’t blame her, but I never wanted her, Leila. I was upset and mad and angry at you, and I didn’t think. What I did with Karen wasn’t smart at all, and I am sorry. I love you, and I wanna come back home and do whatever it takes to make this work.” He moved toward her and touched her. “Lei.” He lifted her trembling chin. “Can I ask you one thing?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Do you still love me?”

  “Yes, Rayshon. Yes, I do.”

  He kissed her. He was so relieved that he wanted to sing. “Can I come back home?”

  “Did you fuck her?” she asked.

  If he said yes, she’d send him packing. “No. Baby, no. I . . . Nothing happened,” he insisted.

  “Please, Rayshon—”

  “No, Lei, baby. No, okay?” He pulled her to him and held her tightly. “Can I please come home?”

  “Yes,” she said and cried in his arms. “I refuse to let pride and anger keep us apart. And Karen had better be history.”

  “I promise.”

  He kissed her deeply and told her he needed to go to Mario’s to get his things. As soon as he got in his truck, he called the gym and asked Catrice, one of his clerks, to look up an old doctor client of his named Dr. Vernon. He had been one of Ray’s clients for years, but when Ray started opening new locations, he began working with someone else. But he still had a membership with Johnson’s Physicals, and Ray knew he would help him out. He called the doctor’s office and told him his situation, and Dr. Vernon agreed to see him.

  “Look, Charles,” he said when he was in the exam room, “I know it was stupid, and I know I should be ashamed of myself, but you know how much I love Leila. Last night was not planned.” Ray rubbed his head. “I don’t know what took over me. It’s like I wasn’t myself, you know? Like I saw what was happening, but I didn’t have any control. I felt like I wasn’t myself, like I was watching myself and couldn’t stop myself.”

  “Well, how many drinks did you have?”

  “Shit, Charles, I don’t know. She said we had way more than I remember, and I can’t understand it. I woke up, and it’s like last night was a dream. I can only remember bits and pieces. Shit, Charles, I have never felt that way.”

  “Well, what did you have besides a few Long Islands?”

  “Dinner. She made ummm . . . ummm . . . Damn. Ummm, lasagna. Yeah, lasagna and salad.”

  “Well, Ray, I feel for you, and I know you wish you could turn back the hands of time, but what’s done is done. I’ll have Celeste draw some blood and run some tests for STDs. Now, it can be too early to detect, so you should come back in seven days to retest. However, I will give you something just in case, and it won’t hurt you. I suggest that you wait about three days before you think about touching Leila and come back in seven so I can make sure you’re clear.”

  Ray didn’t know how he was going to pull that off. “Charles, how the hell am I going to do that? Leila and I just got back together today, man. She isn’t going to go for that.”

  “Well, Rayshon, the only other option is to tell Leila the truth. Now, to be honest, the injections will shut down anything, and you should be fine, but I want to make absolutely sure. So, either hold her off or tell her the truth.”

  “Charles, you know I can’t do that. She just told me this morning that she called a lawyer. If I go home with this, my marriage is as good as over. I just looked Leila in her eyes and told her nothing happened.”

  “Well, you need to come up with something, Ray, because I don’t recommend you sleeping with her until the shots kick in.”

  Ray’s eyes burned. He had to go home and face the music. He had to tell Leila the truth. “Okay, I feel you,” he said.

  “Look, I’ll run your tests right away for you as a favor. Your results will be mailed to you, and I will call you only if something shows up. But you still need to come back in seven days for another screening. Those results will be mailed to you as well. If nothing shows up, you won’t hear from me.”

  Ray nodded. “Hey, Charles, can you mail the results to the gym? I don’t want this going to the house.”

  “Sure. Just give Celeste the address where you want them to be mailed. This one is on the house.”

  “Thanks, Charles,” Ray said.

  “No problem, man. You’ve been more than my trainer over the years, and you have given me sound advice to help me keep my marriage, so it’s my pleasure. If you have any questions about your test results, holla at me. I wish you and Leila the best,” he said and exited the room.

  Shortly after, Celeste, his nurse, came in and drew blood, then gave him two injections. He gave her the gym address to send the results to and left the doctor’s office. He felt like he was headed to the electric
chair.

  When he made it home that evening, the house was clean as a whistle, and he smelled food cooking. The kids were happy to see him, and so was Leila. They ate dinner together and put the kids to bed.

  Ray was scared to death to tell Leila the truth. Maybe he could just avoid sex for three days. He yawned like he was tired.

  “You’re tired, baby?” Leila asked. He nodded and yawned again. “Too tired to—” He held his breath. How was he going to get out of this?—“massage my feet?” she asked. He laughed. “What, why are you laughing?” she asked.

  “Because I thought you wanted The Big D,” he said.

  She smiled. “I do, but the curse came today, so she’ll be on lock for a few days.” Ray almost fell out of his chair. He was so relieved he wanted to leap to the ceiling. Leila winked at him. “But if you want me to hook you up wit’ a li’l sumthin’ sumthin,’ I can.”

  “Naw, baby. I’ll be happy to wait until you’re all clear, so we both can feel good,” he said, praising God in the inside. He stood and grabbed Leila by the hand and escorted her to the family room, where she sat on the couch. “Don’t move,” he said and ran upstairs. He double-checked on the kids and then went back down and grabbed two glasses. Next, he went for the bubbly instead of the wine.

  “Wow, champagne. You opened our good bottle. What’s the occasion?”

  “Us. That’s the occasion. I want to celebrate us and our family and our marriage. I know it was hard on you earlier this year when you lost your store, then you had Rave, and then our marriage took a turn for the worse. I am sorry for all the heartache and the damn drama and the disappointment I caused you.”

  Leila smiled. “I’m sorry too, Rayshon. I didn’t see what I was doing to you with the entire Devon situation, and I’m truly sorry.” She lifted her glass.

  Ray lifted his too. “To our marriage,” he said.

  “To our family,” she said, and they clanked their glasses together.

  “And one more thing,” he said.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Divorce will never be an option in this marriage, Leila. I don’t ever want to hear it again. Whatever it is or whatever it may be, we are staying together, and we are going to work it out. I love you that much, and I will never walk out on you and my kids again. I love you that much. Do you love me that much?”

  “Yes, I love you that much, baby.”

  “Then promise right now that divorce is not an option, no matter what.”

  “I promise,” she said and then smiled. “Unless Denzel asks me out,” she joked.

  He laughed. “Denzel? Leila, you’d leave me for Denzel?” he teased, laughing.

  “No, baby. You are my Denzel, Morris, Idris, and Boris all wrapped into one,” she said and kissed him.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he said.

  They sat on the sofa all night and polished off the entire bottle of champagne.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “It’s party time, ladies!” Christa yelled. She was ready to get it in.

  All the women cheered and howled. They were at Jay’s for her bachelorette party. She had live music and a naughty cake that looked like a penis. Everyone that passed the table wanted to take a picture with it. The ladies were having a good time impatiently waiting for erotic entertainment.

  Cher walked in with Katrina, and Christa did a double-take. “Oh my God, look what the cat dragged in,” she said.

  Leila turned toward the door. “Cherae. And is that who I think it is? I thought you said they hated each other?”

  “Well, that’s what I thought,” Christa said and downed the rest of her drink. She hoped that things wouldn’t get crazy because she was sure that Leila still wanted to beat the hell out of Katrina.

  “Let me go talk to Cherae and see what the hell is going on,” Leila said. She walked over to them. “Katrina,” she spat.

  “Leila, how are things?” Katrina asked.

  Leila glared at her. “Things are fine. Cherae, can I have a word?”

  “Kat, go get a drink, and I’ll be back in a minute,” Cherae said.

  Katrina looked at Leila before walking away, and Leila rolled her eyes.

  “Cherae, why is she here?” Leila asked, furious. “I told you months ago what went down with her, me, and my husband.”

  “I know, Leila, I didn’t bring her to make waves. Katrina and I are working on our relationship, and I thought it would be nice if you could kinda let go of the past and forgive her.”

  “She never even apologized.”

  “Would you have forgiven her if she did?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. But that’s not the point. Katrina damn near ruined everything for Ray and me, and just seeing her . . . I wanna punch her in the throat.”

  “Listen, a good friend of mine—you know her—taught me the meaning of forgiveness. It was a gift that God knows I didn’t deserve, but she gave it to me anyway. And that’s what Katrina gave to me and what I gave back to her. Whether or not I like it, she is my sister, and my life is so much better with her than without her. Trust, we had a lot of family issues and craziness behind my mom, but we are working every day to get past the past.

  “Now, I’m not defending what Kat did to you and Ray. That was foul, but I have done some foul shit in my day, and I am happy that the people I love gave me another chance.”

  “Wow, Cherae. You make it sound so easy.”

  “It is. Follow me.” She took Leila by the hand and led her over to Katrina. Cherae nodded at Katrina.

  “Look, Leila,” Katrina said. “I didn’t want to come to this party, but Cher convinced me to come. And even though I fought it, I have to be a woman and say that I’m sorry to your face. I was selfish and mean, and what I did to you and Rayshon was wrong. I am so sorry. I know we will never be friends, and that’s not even close to what I want, but I just wanted to look you in the eye and say I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you, Katrina,” Leila said. “I accept your apology. This by no means makes us cool, but from this day forward, I will no longer wanna whip yo’ ass,” she said, and they laughed. “Now that the apologies are out of the way, there are free shots of tequila, all on my ex-husband’s dime, and I ain’t scared to put his ass in the poorhouse.”

  When the party was over, Cher and Katrina stayed behind to help Kennedy and Leila clean up. Christa was wasted, so Devon had picked her up.

  “So, how is your new job coming along?” Kennedy asked Katrina.

  Katrina smiled. “Oh, it’s great. I never knew a job as a PT would land me into physical therapy.”

  “That’s great, Kat,” Kennedy said.

  “Oh, and tell Kennedy about your new man,” Cher said.

  “A new man? Do tell,” Kennedy said.

  Leila shook her head. Women loved to gossip. She was just relieved that Katrina wasn’t checking her man anymore.

  “Well, his name is Cordell. He’s a lab tech, and he is fine as hell. He’s smart, sorta on the nerdy side, but he is definitely not a nerd between the sheets.” She slapped five with Cherae.

  “And, Kennedy, he is fine but nerdy fine. He wears these glasses like Clark Kent,” Cher said, laughing a little.

  “And when we’re alone, he is my Superman,” Katrina said. The three of them laughed.

  “You are too fast,” Kennedy said.

  “Leila, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Cher asked.

  “Nothing, chile. I’m just trying to finish up so I can get home to my Superman.” They laughed again.

  “I heard that,” Cher said.

  “I feel you, Leila, because Julian and I still act like we’re Lois and Clark. Umm, correction, Lois and Superman, because Julian is still lifting all this against the wall,” Kennedy said and dropped it like it’s hot.

  “Ooh, girl, I didn’t know you can still drop it that low,” Cher teased. “And all that about what you and Julian be doing is TMI.”

  “That’s how she got them twins,” Leila
joked, and they all laughed.

  “You damn right,” Kennedy said, and they all slapped five.

  The ladies finished up and headed home. Leila was glad to see Rayshon up waiting on her. She told him about her run-in with Katrina, and he didn’t believe her when she said that she and Katrina were cool now. It had been years since, and finally, all was forgiven.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Christa and Devon’s wedding was lovely. Rayshon was happier to see Devon finally married to Christa than anyone. They were at the reception when his cell phone went off. He looked at it and saw that it was Karen, so he hit ignore. Two minutes later, she called again, and he hit ignore again. After five attempts, she sent him a text message saying she needed to talk to him urgently. He deleted it.

  “Who is that, baby?” Leila asked.

  “I didn’t recognize the number,” he lied.

  “Maybe it’s someone who got a business card or something from the gym.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” He nodded and put the phone back in his pocket.

  “Maybe you should take the call,” she suggested.

  “Naw,” he said, reaching in his pocket again when his phone vibrated. When he read it, he almost passed out. “Maybe I should take this, babe.” He got up. “I’ll be back in a sec.” He rushed to the door.

  He looked at the text again.

  I’m pregnant, and we need to talk.

  Ray thought he would have a heart attack right there on the street. His mind raced, and he couldn’t focus. It had been a month since he last saw her, and he could not believe his eyes. He paced, wondering if he should call or text. He began to sweat, although he was outside in the dead of winter with no coat.

  “What in the fuck am I gonna do?” he said out loud.

  He was scared to go back inside. How was he going to play it cool when Karen had just dropped this on him in a damn text message?

  His phone went off again. He thought it was her, but it was Leila asking him if everything was okay. He hurried back inside.