Trouble Loves Company

by Angie Daniels

  “Ron, get out of my got-damn car!”

  He rolled down the window, stuck up his middle finger, and peeled out of the lot with 6Lack blaring from the rear speakers.

  Calvin came out on the porch, fully dressed. “What the hell!”

  I followed the direction of his eyes. Damn! Ron had broken out the front windshield of Danielle’s Durango and had carved the word bitch on the passenger’s side door, in big letters.

  “Hell, nah," I mumbled under my breath.

  Danielle started screaming and going off. “That no good nigga done stole my car and fucked up my truck! Call the got-damn police!”

  Calvin tried to calm her down while I went inside and contacted the police. I was tempted to laugh and say, “That’s what yo’ ass get,” but I changed my mind. Danny’s my girl, and although she was wrong for fucking Calvin, she can have his ass. With all the dogs she’d had, maybe she just might get it right for a change.

  The police arrived and took their report. Danielle was pissed off and had every reason to be. She was talking to the police and trying to report her car stolen when I heard her say the Impala was in both their names.

  There was no way I could shut up. “Why the hell you put his name on your car?”

  Danielle looked over at me with a long, stupid look. “Because I thought we were going to be together.”

  “Did he help pay for it?”

  She hesitated. “No.”

  I shook my head. “You do some stupid stuff.” Angrily, she brushed tears away from her eyes. “Nae-Nae, I ain’t in the mood for yo’ shit.”

  “Whatever.” I finally rose. “I’m out.”

  Chapter 13

  Kayla

  “You’re quiet tonight.”

  Kayla glanced over at Jermaine and smiled. It felt so good having a man hold her hand that all she could do was sit back and enjoy that wonderful feeling.

  Ever since Wednesday when she had caught Leroy with that slut, she had been feeling the lowest of the low. All she could do was sit at her desk and think about what she had done wrong. But tonight, after spending the evening with Jermaine, he made her realize that she deserved so much better.

  For over four years, she had been meeting Leroy at seedy hotels on the outskirts of town for a quick romp in the hay and him leaving only seconds after ejaculating inside her mouth, vagina, or behind. He never took her anywhere, yet he swore that as soon as the time was right, he was asking his wife for a divorce and they were running off together. She laughed inside.

  She had been stupid enough to believe all of his lies and promises. Well, no more. She and Leroy were over. It was time for her to be loved and appreciated for once.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded, touched by his concern. “I’m the best I’ve been in days.”

  “I hope I have something to do with that smile on your face.”

  “You do.”

  “Good.” He pulled up to the house, then climbed out and walked her to the door. “I really enjoyed spending time with you this evening. How about I take you out to dinner after church tomorrow?”

  Kayla nodded. “That would be nice.”

  Jermaine then leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She sucked it up, enjoying every moment. When he finally pulled away, she stood back and stared as he walked back to his car. Jermaine started the engine and told her he wasn’t leaving until she was safely in the house. With a nervous wave, she turned and stepped inside. The girls were asleep, and she was glad because it gave her a chance to think about her evening. She turned the lamp on in the living room and jumped when she discovered she wasn’t alone.

  “Leroy, you scared the mess out of me. What are you doing in my house?”

  “You gave me a key. Remember?”

  He stepped from out of the corner near the window toward her and for some reason her pulse raced with fear. When they had first started dating four years ago, he had insisted on a key so that he could slip in sometimes while she was asleep and make love to her. He never did. So why now? Nervously, she took a step back. “Why are you here?”

  Leroy gave her a sickly smile that made her stomach churn. “Do I need permission to come see you?”

  “N-no. It’s just a surprise. That’s all.”

  “Who was that man?”

  “Uh ... someone I work with.”

  “You’ve been messing around on me all this time.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “No, I’ve never-—”

  Whop! Before she could finish, Leroy had knocked her to the floor with one hard punch. For a few seconds, Kayla was dazed and totally in shock. She felt wetness on her upper lip, so she gently touched her nose, then looked down at her fingers. She was bleeding.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” she said, holding her nose.

  “Baby, I’m so sorry,” he said and leaned down to help her off the floor.

  “Get away from me!” she screamed, then backed out of his reach until she reached the sofa. While hugging her knees to her chest, tears filled her eyes.

  “Come on, Kayla. I didn’t mean to hit you. Just seeing you with that man, I lost it. You have to believe me,” he pleaded.

  Using the back of her arm, she wiped her nose again. “I can’t go on like this. I’m tired of waiting around for you to leave your wife—meeting you for quickies and being second-best. I want to be loved.”

  “I do love you.”

  “No, you don’t. The only person you love is yourself.” She paused and brushed the tears away from her eyes. “It’s over. I’m ready to move on and you need to get home to your wife and five kids.”

  “What, you replaced me with someone else?”

  His eyes bored down at her and immense fear snaked down her spine. “No.”

  “You’re lying!” he barked.

  Leroy was standing over her with his fist balled and his legs parted in a fighting stance, casting an angry shadow over her. Kayla tried to crawl away, but he fisted her hair and flung her onto her back. She screamed before his fist landed at her mouth. Terrified, Kayla tried to roll away, but he kicked her hard, knocking the air from her lungs. She was holding her chest and gasping for air when Leroy grabbed her by the neck and dragged her across the floor. Kicking and screaming, Kayla tried to pry his fingers from around her neck, but he held on firmly.

  “Quit screaming before you wake the girls. I’d hate for them to come down and see what I’m about to do to you.”

  Panic filled her eyes. The last thing she wanted was for her girls to witness this madness. She stopped screaming and lay still and eventually he removed his hand.

  “Good girl.”

  “What do you want?” Kayla asked as she gasped for air. Tears were falling down her face.

  “What do you think I want, Jezebel? You should be ashamed of yourself, fornicating with a man you barely know.”

  She couldn’t believe how crazy he sounded. “You are such a hypocrite. It’s no different than when I’m committing adultery with you.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I told you once. I told you twice. You belong to me and only me.” He lowered his head and left a trail of kisses down her neck. For the first time she felt disgusted by his touch.

  “Leroy, please don’t.”

  When he raised his head, anger burned in the depths of his eyes. “I bet you let him touch you. Didn’t you?” She shook her head and his fist came down and landed a blow to the side of her head. “Liar!” He hit her again. “Tell me the truth.”

  “I’m not lying, I swear!” she shouted.

  “I saw his lips on you. Tasting and seeking with his tongue.”

  Leroy had a crazed look in his eyes, and she was suddenly very, very frightened.

  “Did he consummate the relationship?”

  She shook her head.

  “Liar!” He reached down and ripped the blouse from her body, then slid her pants and underwear down over her hips. She pleaded for him to stop but he refused. “Never! Y
ou’re mine. This is mine.”

  Kayla tried to fight him, but she couldn’t match his strength. He tossed her onto the couch and despite her protest, he started kissing her across the belly and thighs. He then flipped her onto her stomach and parted her butt cheeks.

  “No, please!” she cried.

  “Shut up and take this punishment,” he said, and he plunged inside. She muffled her screams in the cushions of the couch. “Please, no!” Kayla wept.

  “You want to act like a whore, I’m going to treat you like one,” he said as he brutalized her from behind. She cupped her mouth and screamed. “Whore!” he managed between breaths. “Take your punishment!” She closed her eyes and tried to forget what was happening as he huffed and puffed and moaned in her ear and he moved in and out of her butt. After what felt like forever, Leroy finally pulled out and grunted like a pig as he ejaculated down her back, hair, and the side of her face. Crying softly, she watched out of the corner of her eyes while he pulled up his pants.

  “Now I want you to get down on your knees and ask the Lord for forgiveness,” he commanded between breaths.

  She slowly slid off the couch and down onto the carpet, but she was crying and shaking too hard to pray.

  Leroy quickly grew impatient. “I don’t have all night. Pray and ask the Lord to forgive you for being a whore!”

  “Dear Lord, father in heaven, p-p-please have mercy on my soul and forgive me for straying from your teachings.” Unable to say anything further, she collapsed in tears.

  “Good, now come over here and give your man a kiss.”

  Shaken and terrified, Kayla slowly rose. Before she reached him, Leroy grabbed her hair and yanked her over against him. He pressed his lips firmly to hers, then licked her lips with his tongue before releasing her. He looked pleased. “Good girl. Hopefully we won’t ever have this problem again.” He released her, turned, and walked out the door, whistling “Amazing Grace.”

  Once he was gone, Kayla collapsed onto the floor and rolled into a ball.

  Chapter 14

  Renee

  I swung by Kayla’s the next morning to scoop her up for breakfast. I drove down the road, still pissed off from the night before. I couldn’t believe Danielle had put that mothafucka’s name on the title of her car. Dang, was the dick that good? I’m gonna have to ask her if Ron’s name was on the title of her house as well, because if it was, his dick was fire and I definitely need to get me one just like that. Ha-ha! I sound like a fool. I think I’m just jealous and pissed off today. Danny got her some, Kayla’s got her somebody new, and I still haven’t found any. Six months was a long time to go without the real deal. Something had to give fast.

  Speaking of dick, my phone vibrated, and I glanced down at the number. Hell nah! It’s David’s punk ass. “Yeah?”

  “My bad about last night.”

  “I thought y’all weren’t together no more.”

  “We weren’t, but when one of her friends spotted us together at the club and called her, she realized that she still loved her big daddy and wanted him to come home.”

  “Uh-huh. I’m glad I could be of service.”

  “Thanks. Um... you think maybe I can still get some of that before you leave?”

  Click.

  See what I’m talking about? I don’t do married men. There are a lot of women who could care less. I’m just not one of them. Men are dogs. That’s a given. But all I can give a married dog is a bone.

  I pulled into Kayla’s driveway and blew my horn. As soon as I climbed out of the car, I heard her yell from her bedroom window, “You and Danny go without me. I’m not hungry.”

  Not hungry? Since when had Kayla skipped a meal? Never. More than likely, her ass was broke. “Bitch, I didn’t drive all the way over here for nothing. Let’s go. My treat.”

  “Really, I don’t feel like eating.”

  Something was up. I could sense it. I tilted my head back and used my hand to block the June sun from my eyes. “If you don’t come down and let me in so I can pee, I’m gonna climb up there and snatch them braids out yo’ head.” I really did have to pee.

  She huffed and acted like she was surprised by my response. I don’t know why. I’ve been this way for as long as she’s known me. Finally, she stepped away from the window. I counted backwards from ten because if she wasn’t down by the time, I reached one, I was going to start banging on the door and act ghetto and shit. Kayla knows how I do. Luckily, by the time I had reached two, the lock turned. She stood there in her usual black pants and white blouse, wearing dark shades in the house. What’s up with that? Before she could react, I snatched them away from her face.

  “Hey, quit playing!” she cried as she tried to retrieve the glasses out of my hand, but I held them out of her reach as I took in every bruise on her.

  I don’t know how she thought she could hide them. Kayla is vanilla. If it wasn’t for her nappy head, she could have passed for white. The longer I looked at her, the more pissed off I got and could have kicked someone’s ass. And that person was Reverend Brown. He had beaten the shit out of her.

  “What the hell happened to you?” I asked, like I didn’t already know.

  Kayla refused to make eye contact and kept staring down at the floor. “I fell,” she mumbled.

  “Yeah, it looks like you fell into someone’s fist.” I pushed past her and entered her house and glanced around. “Where’s Kenya and Asia?”

  “I took them to my mom’s this morning,” she replied as she took a seat on the brown leather couch.

  She looked so pitiful and shit. I moved over to the couch beside her and cupped her chin with my hand so I could get a better look. She looked fucked up. Lip busted. Eye blackened. “Did Jermaine do this to you?”

  Her eyes grew wide with alarm. “Of course, not.”

  I didn’t think so, but I just had to ask. “Then I guess it’s safe to assume that Reverend Brown paid you a visit last night.”

  She pulled away from me and lowered her head. The answer was obvious. Damn! You know, I’ve tried being nice to his ass. I even asked Reverend Brown nicely to leave my girl the hell alone because I was sick of watching him fuck with her head. Now it’s on!

  Kayla held her face in her hands and started crying. I’m not the most compassionate person, but I’ve been trying to get better. I began rubbing Kayla on her back with a comforting hand. “Hey, girl. It’s gonna be okay.” I tried to smile and reassure her but inside I was so mad I was crying as well.

  “This is so unreal. Gosh, why do things always happen to me? Why can’t I be so lucky to have a man in my life like John?”

  Be careful what you wish for, I thought but didn’t bother to comment because no one would ever believe that what I got ain’t nothing to envy. Shit, she could have him, for all I care. Now, you know my ass is lying. Although John’s draws are empty, his pockets are too fat to give up just yet.

  “Girl, looking like you’ve just gone nine rounds with Mike Tyson, the last thing in the world you need to be thinking about is another man.” I rose and retrieved a box of Kleenex from the coffee table and handed it to her. She blew her nose. I couldn’t begin to explain the anger raging inside of me as I watched her sit there on the couch looking so helpless. No matter how much I talk about Kayla, calling her stupid and fat, she is still one of my best friends and has always been there for me even when I haven’t been there for her. “Has Reverend Brown ever touched you before?”

  She lowered the tissue and slowly gazed up at me. I shook my head. She didn’t have to say a word. The answer was obvious.

  “What happened?”

  “He saw me with Jermaine and got mad,” she replied, then blew her nose.

  “Now, how the hell is he gonna trip about you being with someone else when his ass is married?” Can you believe that shit? I wrapped my arms around her and let her slobber all over my shoulder. I can buy another shirt, but I’ll never find another friend like Kayla.

  Her shoulders deflated. “He raped
me.”

  “What!” I was shaking now because this was like a television show. I hugged her tighter and the next thing I knew tears were running down my face. It took a while but she somehow managed to tell me everything that happened the previous night. I could almost feel her pain. But what bothered me the most was that Kenya had found her mother lying on the floor bruised, abused, and naked. I was so mad, I wanted to hop in my car and drive over to Reverend Brown’s house and beat his ass in front of his knock-kneed wife and ugly kids. But I knew doing that would nowhere near equal the pain and humiliation Kayla had endured. It would have to be something far worse than an ass-whooping. Suddenly, I remembered one question I hadn’t even thought to ask.

  “Have you called the police?”

  Kayla shook her head. “I don’t want to call the police. I would be too embarrassed.”

  “But you can’t press charges against him if you don’t.”

  She closed her eyes, probably pretending she was invisible. “I don’t need to press charges. I prayed about it.”

  “Prayed! Girl you should have knocked him upside his head, then called the cops.”

  “The Bible says, ‘Vengeance will be mine.’”

  “And the Lord also helps those who help themselves.” She gave me a long, sad look. “I can’t press charges.” I knew exactly what she was afraid of. Pressing charges against one of Columbia’s most prominent members of the community would be a scandal that would affect the lives of her and her children. Leroy had so many people backing him that she would be fighting a tough and difficult battle. As committed as his wife was, she would probably provide him with an alibi. Nope. We would have to handle Reverend Brown ghetto-style. I reached into my purse for my cell phone.

  “Danny, put some clothes on your naked ass and get over here. Leroy busted Kayla in her eyes, lips, and put a couple of lumps upside her head.”