This Could Be Us But You Playin'

by Cachet

  “Thanks Nicy, I’ll call you back,” she said in a panic.

  “Wait Nikki—” Shanice started to say, but she was cut off when the phone disconnected.

  Immediately, Dominique snatched the receiver back up and started to dial Kaleb’s number. She was at the very last digit when Franny was rolled back into the room by the nurse, followed by NiChia.

  “They said grandma will definitely be released tomorrow,” NiChia said happily. Her expression quickly changed when she noticed the look on Dominique’s face. “What’s wrong with you, Nikki?”

  “Nothing,” Dominique lied as she hung up the phone. “I just don’t feel good.”

  “Are you sure baby?” Franny asked. While the nurse helped her back into her bed, she looked over at her granddaughter with worry.

  “Yeah, grandma, I’m okay. I’m just going to go outside and get some fresh air because my head is killing me,” Dominique told her as she stood up from the chair and walked out of the room.

  Chapter Six

  In the hallway, Dominique headed to the elevator quickly so that NiChia wouldn’t follow behind her. She needed to be alone. Once the elevator doors opened, she pushed the button for the lobby and headed downstairs. On the ground floor, Dominique stepped outside and immediately broke down crying. A few people looked her way before they went back about their business. They all figured that the young girl had gotten some bad news, and each of them decided to leave her with her own thoughts. It took a few minutes before Dominique was able to compose herself. Once she did, she dug into her pocket, pulled out a few quarters, and stormed over to where two payphones sat on the side of the building. Shoving her change into the coin slot, Dominique dialed Kaleb’s number. As she waited for it to ring, she hoped that he would tell her that people were mistaken and it hadn’t been him with another girl. The phone rang a few times before a male’s voice answered.

  “Tell me that it isn’t true,” Dominique cried.

  “Who is this?”

  “I’m sorry Des, is Kaleb home?” Dominique asked feeling embarrassed. Desmond was Kaleb’s best friend, who also lived with them.

  “Yeah, hold on a minute. Kaleb!” Desmond yelled.

  “Hello?” Kaleb spoke a minute later when he came to the phone.

  “I hear you showed yo’ ass at the party the other day.”

  “Nikki listen—”

  “No, just tell me that it isn’t true.”

  Kaleb was silent a few seconds before he replied, “I’m sorry.”

  “Really? That’s all you have to say to me?” Dominique wept.

  “It wasn’t like that Nikki, I swear. Shit just got outta hand. I was drinking and—” he tried to explain.

  “You know what, save it!” she yelled. “The last time we talked, you told me that there were mad chicks trying to fuck with you. I guess you finally decided to take them up on their offer, huh? I hope it was worth it, Kaleb. I’m so done right now; you don’t even have a fucking clue!”

  “Nikki!” he called out to her. “Just let me explain plea—”

  “There ain’t shit left for you to explain. I’m done. You can now do what the fuck you’ve probably been doing all along,” Dominique told him with her voice shaking. She hated to think about the possibility that maybe Kaleb had been cheating on her the entire time, and this was the first time that he’d gotten caught. All kinds of thoughts were running through her head. “You know what, fuck you Kaleb! I hope that I never see yo’ bitch ass again! I now officially hate you!”

  “Nikki—”

  Dominique slammed the phone down against the cradle a few times, before dropping it all together. She felt defeated and her heart hurt. She couldn’t believe that Kaleb would do something like that to her. With shaky hands, she picked the phone up and hung it back on its cradle before taking a seat on a nearby bench. With her head inside her hands, she thought about their last conversation. It was the day that they had the fight. Even though she already knew that Kaleb had grown tired of her holding out sex, she never thought in a million years that he would actually go out and get it from someone else. Her thoughts shifted to the fact that she was probably the last to get the memo because everyone at school apparently knew already, especially if there were pictures floating around. This made Kaleb’s betrayal even worse because she knew that she had to see those same people day in and day out. Not only that, but she also had to see the bitch that he cheated with. Somehow knowing that he cheated with some random girl made her feel even more like shit because that meant that he didn’t even care who he fucked, as long as he got some pussy.

  “Now, do you want to tell me whose ass I have to beat?” Dominique heard. When she looked up, she saw NiChia standing over her with her hands propped up on her hips and an angry scowl on her face.

  Dominique sighed before she said, “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  Dominique went on to explain everything that had happed the other day when Kaleb and her got into the argument. She then shared what Shanice had told her, as well as the telephone call that she made a few minutes prior to her coming outside. NiChia was pissed and ready to fuck somebody up. She offered to go over to Kaleb’s house and kick his ass for breaking her sister’s heart, and although she didn’t know who the chick was that he’d cheated with, she was planning on whipping her ass as well. Dominique cried a little longer, while NiChia comforted her, letting her know that everything was going to be alright. Dominique wanted to believe her sister, but at that moment, it hurt way too much. Kaleb had broken her heart, and she knew that she would never be able to forgive him.

  Both girls continued to sit outside for a while longer talking. While out there, Dominique came up with the idea of asking Monique if she could live with her grandmother and NiChia. She knew that it was a longshot, but figured if she threatened to tell the police about her mother’s assault on her grandmother, Monique would allow her to just go. Dominique knew that her mother was afraid of going to jail, so she was going to use it to her advantage. She didn’t know what the future held, but she knew for a fact that she didn’t want to go back to the old neighborhood, or her old school. She didn’t want the drama and heartache that came along with seeing both Kaleb and his new bitch in the hallway daily. Dominique was through with her now ex-boyfriend and wanted to just be over it, and if that meant moving to another city, she was down. Thoughts of her brothers and sisters clouded her mind. Dominique knew that they would miss her dearly; especially Tiffany. She felt bad for leaving them, but knew that it was something that she had to do for herself.

  Not only did she want to get away from Kaleb, but her mother as well. After the fight they’d had in the kitchen the day of Franny’s heart attack, Dominique was sure that Monique was still holding onto the grudge she had and couldn’t wait until her daughter came back home, so that she could make good on her threat to fuck her up. Even though Monique knew that Dominique could and would whip her ass, that wouldn’t stop her from putting her hands on her eldest daughter. This was something that Dominique wasn’t looking forward to, not because she was afraid of her mother, but for the fact that she was afraid of what she might do if Monique tried to hit her again. That shit was dead, and if Monique thought for a moment that Dominique was going to sit back and let her smack her around, she had another thing coming.

  Thirty minutes later, Dominique was calm enough to go back up to her grandmother’s room. Neither of the girls wanted Franny to know what was going on, so they agreed to play along with the lie that Dominique had of not feeling well. It was going to take some acting, but Dominique was up for the challenge. Her grandmother had enough on her plate, and she didn’t want to add her problems to the list of things that stressed her out. As Dominique walked side by side with NiChia to the elevator, she promised herself that she wasn’t going to shed another tear over Kaleb. He had fucked up by cheating, and losing her was going to be a loss that he was going to have to live with for the rest of his life. Sh
e only had a year and a half of school before she was due to graduate and leave Atlanta behind. If she had it her way, she would never see his low down cheating ass ever again.

  Chapter Seven

  Four and a half years later…

  “So, you ain’t gone tell me where you were last night, huh Dre?” Dominique asked with her face twisted in disgust.

  She stood beside their bed with her arms folded across her chest, staring a hole into the back of her boyfriend’s head, as she waited for him to answer her. Even though she knew that she wasn’t going to get it, all she wanted was the truth. Dominique’s jaws clenched and she rolled her eyes. Her right leg rocked back and forth as she tried her best to calm down, but it was proving harder to do. Deondre was going to make her go there. Annoyed that he was not responding right away, she cocked her head to the side and huffed. She was tired of playing games. She and Deondre ‘Dre’ Godby had been together for almost three years, and up until about a few months ago, everything seemed to be fine.

  After she swallowed the lump in her throat, Dominique blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She refused to cry. There was no way in hell that she would allow him to see her hurt behind the dumb shit that he was doing. Dominique hated to consider the fact that Deondre was creeping with another woman, but lately that was all she could think about. It literally made her sick to her stomach when she pictured him touching another female the way he had touched her. It was nauseating to say the least. The numerous unanswered calls that she made to his cellphone and late hours that he had been keeping were taking a toll on her. Although she didn’t have any solid proof, Dominique’s gut was telling her that her boyfriend was doing her wrong and she was ready to get to the bottom of it.

  She watched Deondre from across the room while he acted as if she was tripping about him coming in only a few hours ago. This made her angrier with each passing moment; so angry that she almost acted out her feelings. What Dominique really wanted to do was chuck the glass lamp that sat on top of her nightstand at his head, but she knew better. She had always been taught that if you put your hands on someone, you should be prepared to be hit back. Although Dre had never struck her before, she had seen her fair share of abuse when she was younger between her parents and because of that, she didn’t want to open that door between her and her man. Not only that, but she knew that she was no match for the much bigger and stronger male.

  “I did tell you where I was. It ain’t my fault that you don’t believe me,” Deondre replied, never once turning around to face her. He couldn’t because he was afraid that his deceit would be written all over his face.

  “That’s because you’re a fucking liar!” Dominique screamed. “Why lie though, Dre? If you doing wrong, be a man about it and say that shit. I don’t have the time nor the patience to play games with you.”

  Not bothering to feed into her anger, Deondre walked over to the dresser and pulled out something to wear, hoping that Dominique would just drop the subject, even though he knew that she wouldn’t. He didn’t feel like arguing with her this early in the morning. What he really wanted to do was sit down and eat breakfast with his family before he had to head to football practice, but by the look of things, he would have to stop somewhere to grab a meal because he knew that Dominique wasn’t going to fix him a damn thing.

  “Are you ignoring me?” Dominique asked, now standing with her hands on her hips.

  “No Nikki, I’m not ignoring you,” he answered. “I just don’t want to fight. I haven’t done anything wrong, but apparently you don’t believe me.” Deondre turned to face her, while he pulled a pair of jogging pants up around his waist. “What else do you want me to say?”

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me right?” Dominique scoffed. “What I want you to tell me is the fucking truth, that’s what! Tell me where you were last night that kept yo’ black ass out until the wee hours of the morning.”

  “I told you I was with the guys. After practice, we went to a bar and had a few drinks. I got fucked up and ended up crashing on Pierre’s coach,” Deondre lied.

  There was no way in hell he could tell her what he was really doing. After practice the day before, Deondre headed over to one of his side chick’s house. She cooked him dinner before things got hot and heavy, and he ended up falling asleep. He didn’t plan on spending the night over there, but that’s how it ended up happening. Deondre had never stayed out all night before, so he was hoping that Dominique would believe his lie and chalk it up to an honest mistake. The lie still made her mad, but much less upset than what would happen if the truth was revealed. It was no secret that his girlfriend was a firecracker who didn’t take shit from anyone; him included. Had Dominique known the truth, shit would have gotten real and he couldn’t take that chance. Deondre felt a little better knowing that his Pierre would back his story.

  “So, you mean to tell me that the entire time you were out drinking with the guys,” Dominique used her fingers to make air quotes, “you didn’t notice that I was calling? Or better yet, you could not once pick up your fucking phone and call me back because you ain’t finna tell me that you didn’t see all of those missed called.”

  Deondre stood there for a second before he answered her question. She had called his phone quite a few times but because he was preoccupied, he didn’t even bother to answer. He also knew that if he had, the person he was with would have caught an attitude and that would have ruined the mood. Snatching up his jeans off of the floor, Deondre rummaged through the pockets. He pulled out his wallet and a few crumbled up bills, but no cellphone. Unbeknownst to Dominique, Deondre knew that his phone was in the glove apartment of his truck. He put it there right before he came into the house a few hours ago because he knew that she would bring up calling him.

  “Damn, baby,” he sighed. “I must have either left it in the locker or in my gym bag that’s in the trunk after I left practice,” he lied. “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re so full of shit Dre, I swear.” Dominique shook her head and took a seat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t believe that bullshit you’re feeding me, but I’m gone let you have it this time. Just know that the truth will come to light one day, and if you’ve been doing me dirty like I suspect, then I’ll find out sooner or later. I’m not going to play the fool, Dre. I’ll leave yo’ mutha’fucking ass high and dry before I do,” she promised. “And that’s something that you betta believe.”

  “See, why do you always gotta say shit like that?” Deondre asked, as he made his way over to where she was sitting. Once he was close enough, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her up toward him. “Don’t you know I love you, girl?”

  “Uh huh.” She swatted his hands away and returned to her seat on the bed. “That’s always your favorite line when you know you’ve fucked up. Apparently, you don’t love me enough because yo’ ass ain’t never home. You always got somewhere to be, leaving me at home. I’m really getting tired of this shit, Dre. If I want to lie in bed alone, I can be by my damn self,” Dominique told him. “Yo’ ass think you slick though, but you not. I know that you’ve been up to no good.”

  “I promise, I ain’t doing shit baby,” Deondre assured her. “It’s me and you until the end of time. You know that, right?”

  “Whatever Dre,” Dominique mumbled. Her heart wanted to believe everything that he was saying, but her gut was telling her that he was full of shit.

  “I’m serious. I can’t really tell you just yet, but shit is about to get real for your man. I know I’ve been M.I.A for a little while and out of touch, but it’ll all make sense in a few. I promise. When it does, I don’t want anyone else in the world by my side other than you.” Deondre reached out and grabbed her once again. When he pulled her close, he was glad to see that she did resist this time. “We’re heading straight to the top. Just bear with me, baby.”

  Dominique allowed herself to fall into his embrace. She sighed as her small frame was completely engulfed by his large arms. Stan
ding at a mere five-foot-two and a hundred and twenty-five pounds, she looked like a child compared to Deondre’s much larger stature. Her man was six-feet-two inches tall, and well over two hundred pounds of solid muscle that she absolutely loved. Not only was he built, but Deondre was also a very handsome man. His skin tone was the perfect shade of mocha, and his deep dark brown eyes were so intoxicating, she found herself lost in them at times. Dominique loved Deondre, and even though she had a feeling that he was up to no good, she prayed for the best and wanted nothing more than for her family to stay together.

  “I gotta go to practice but soon, I’ll be able to explain everything. You’re going to love it,” Deondre told her before he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  “See what I mean. You just got here, and you’re already about to leave back out,” Dominique pouted.

  “You know I gotta go to practice baby.”

  “I know, but damn,” she groaned. “You know what, never mind. Just go do your thing.”

  “Come on, don’t act like that.”

  Although Deondre towered over her, he was nothing but a big teddy bear when it came to Dominique. He may have strayed, but anyone who knew him knew that there wasn’t a woman alive that could make him leave Dominique. What he’d said to her was the absolute truth. There was no one else in the world that he wanted by his side when he made it to the top, other than her. That was why he was looking forward to everything he worked so hard for to pay off. Deondre hadn’t told Dominique yet, but he had gotten some wonderful news and planned to share the information with her as soon as he got word that everything was a go. He also planned to ask her to marry him, once everything was official. Deondre wanted to show Dominique just how much he appreciated her for being down with him from the very start.

  Dominique met Deondre through Shanice the summer of her freshmen year in high school. They were at a barbeque for Shanice’s cousin, Pierre, when she introduced Deondre as a close family friend. After a quick exchange of hellos, they both went about their business, not running into each other again until Dominique’s first week of college, when she walked into her biology class. At first, she didn’t know where she knew Deondre from, but after he introduced himself to her again, she recalled them meeting. She even remembered Shanice saying how sexy he was; which was true. While Dominique was glad to see a familiar face at her new school, she and Deondre didn’t say much to one another, even though she sat directly in front of him.