Almost Doesn't Count

by Angela Winters

  Sherise knew that Beth was still talking, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t hear anything else. The pounding in her head was too strong. She felt like she was about to explode. She was heating up, and that itch of panic that she had been feeling since she stepped into the car blossomed into full-blown insanity. Of all the things in the world this could have been, she never suspected this. There was a slight suspicion that this was not a mere coincidence, especially after the note on the napkin, but not once had she thought a forgotten ghost like this might jump up and bite her in the ass. And this bite was big. The ex-wife of her ex-lover was now having an affair with her husband and trying to find out about the baby she’d had nine months after that initial affair with her then husband.

  “Fuck me,” was all Sherise could think of to say.

  She had no plan for this.

  12

  “Hold on!” Sherise yelled as she rushed from the kitchen to the front door of her apartment with her crying baby in her arms.

  She looked through the peephole to see a harried looking Billie and Erica standing at her door. Was she ready for this? She knew that she needed to talk to them, but this talk could change their entire relationship. She was in a panic right now, and as much as she needed her girls, she didn’t want to risk losing them when they found out the truth.

  “It’s do-or-die time,” she said to Cady, who responded by smacking her mother in the chin.

  The second she opened the door, both girls sighed.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Erica asked.

  “I know,” Sherise said as she stepped aside to let them enter. “I know.”

  “You haven’t been returning any of our calls or texts,” Billie said.

  “Come here, sweetie.” Erica held her hands out to Cady, but the baby shook her head and leaned farther into her mama.

  “She’s in an awful mood,” Sherise said, closing the door behind them.

  She knew that was her fault, too. Her baby fed off her mood and emotions and Sherise knew her panic was sending a bad vibe to her baby.

  “You can’t just go chasing after some bitch with your husband and then not return calls,” Billie said.

  After trying to reach Sherise, Billie got worried and contacted Erica. She’d told Erica about her last conversation with Sherise and what she’d been doing. Both women were worried, and after not getting any responses after eight P.M., decided to come over and check on her.

  “Is he here?” Erica asked.

  “No,” Sherise said with a smack of her lips. “He had to work late . . . again.”

  “Sherise,” Billie said, “I want to pop you. You had me worried that you had some kind of confrontation and shit popped off.”

  “She wanted to call the hospital,” Erica said.

  “I wouldn’t be at the hospital,” Sherise said. “That bitch would have been though.”

  “I just can’t believe this.” Erica sat down on the sofa in the living room. “Justin. Are you sure there’s no other explanation?”

  “What happened?” Billie offered to take Cady.

  “Let me put her down first,” Sherise said as she headed for the playpen in the corner.

  “I want proof,” Erica said. “He’s supposed to be one of the good ones.”

  “There is no such man,” Billie said bitterly.

  “Terrell would never cheat on me,” Erica insisted.

  Billie sat down next to her, looking at her with a disbelieving expression. “Didn’t you just say that about Justin? They cheat. They’re assholes.”

  Erica shook her head. “I want proof.”

  “We have it,” Billie said. “And I have a feeling we’re about to learn more.”

  “I can’t stay long,” Erica said loudly to Sherise, who was talking to a very unhappy Cady as she sat her in the pen. “Terrell is moving a lot of his stuff in right now. I can’t leave him alone all night.”

  “He can manage,” Billie said.

  “I need to talk to him about something serious.”

  “What?” Billie asked. “I thought you two were doing well.”

  “Well, you know I told you about Nate’s drug issue.” Erica had poured her heart out to Billie on the drive over to Sherise’s house. “Jonah has offered to help me out with this.”

  She noticed Billie’s expression contort into some form of dread and disappointment.

  “Look,” Erica said. “I know you guys don’t like him, but I’m desperate. I need to know what’s going on.”

  “What’s he gonna do?” Billie asked.

  “He has connections,” she said. “He can find things out about people.”

  Billie didn’t like the sound of this. Whatever favor Jonah was offering, she felt certain some strings would be attached. “I can do that, too.”

  “But you’re busy,” Erica said. “You have work and Robert, and—”

  “There is no Robert anymore,” Billie interrupted.

  She hadn’t returned any of his calls or e-mails since the fund-raiser. He was the last thing on her mind.

  “Okay,” Erica said, “but you have that thing. You know, that thing with the guy that you like. That case.”

  “I don’t like him,” Billie said defensively. “He’s my client.”

  “But you had a dream about him kissing you,” Erica said. She could tell she struck a nerve with her.

  “It was a stupid dream.” Billie was reacting nervously. “Look, it doesn’t matter. We’re talking about you and you’re better off with me than Jonah.”

  “I think he genuinely wants to help me,” Erica said.

  “I don’t doubt it, but . . .”

  “Let me handle it, okay?”

  Billie could see that Erica was conflicted despite the conviction in her tone.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” she said. “Right now, Sherise, what the fuck are you doing? Get over here.”

  Having finally calmed Cady down, Sherise quickly went into the kitchen to retrieve the folder Beth had given her. She was getting more and more nervous with every second.

  “This is her.” She handed the folder to Billie and sat down on the coffee table across from the girls as they looked through the folder. “Jennifer Ross.”

  “The woman LaKeisha mentioned at the fund-raiser?” Billie asked.

  Sherise told them everything that Beth had told her. Everything except Jennifer’s marital history. As her girls looked over the information, she could see the look of dissatisfaction on their faces. This didn’t make sense. Of course it didn’t. She was holding out on them.

  “This is proof?” Erica asked skeptically.

  “Seriously, Sherise,” Billie added. “This is it? Are you sure this is her?”

  “It’s her,” Sherise said flatly.

  “And you can’t think of any way that you know her?” Billie asked. “Not a work project, a social event . . . nothing?”

  “So you got to see her?” Erica asked. “The woman in this picture was the woman you saw with Justin?”

  “I didn’t really . . .” Sherise sighed. “Trust me, it’s her.”

  “Well,” Erica concluded, “if you don’t know her, then we have to assume that the note on the napkin is unrelated to this.”

  “It’s related,” Sherise said, her head tilted somberly to the side.

  Billie really observed Sherise for the first time since coming over. Her eyes were red and had dark circles around them. She looked a mess. She looked . . . afraid.

  “What’s going on?” Billie asked.

  “I just found out the name of the woman who is fucking my husband,” Sherise said.

  “What are you not telling us?” she asked.

  Erica looked up from the photo and realized she had been missing something. Billie wasn’t buying this.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “What comes around goes around,” Billie said. “Why, Sherise?”

  Before she could utter a word, Sherise broke down and began crying. Her fa
ce fell into her hands and she sobbed as both girls hurried to her side and wrapped their arms around her.

  “It’s okay.” Billie ran her fingers through Sherise’s hair with comforting strokes. “We’ll figure this out, sweetie.”

  “Just talk to us,” Erica added. “We’ve gotten through everything together. The three of us together can fix any problem, even this one. You know that, Sherise.”

  It was true and Erica’s words allowed Sherise the strength to lift her head.

  “When Jennifer was living in DC,” she started, feeling sick for having to reveal this, “she was married to . . . She was married to Ryan Hodgkins.”

  “Who’s that?” Erica asked.

  “Oh, no,” Billie said. “Don’t you remember him? The guy that she kissed.”

  “Oh, shit,” Erica said, suddenly recalling. “That was forever ago. She’s coming after you now? He must have just told her he kissed you.”

  “No,” Sherise said with a shaky voice. “He must have told her . . . he slept with me.”

  “What the fuck?” Billie asked. “Why would he say that? Do you think he knew she’d come after you if he lied?”

  Erica found this incredible. “So you think she’s sleeping with Justin to get back at you for thinking you slept with Ryan? How fucking vindictive. We’re gonna get this bitch.”

  “I did,” Sherise said. She looked at Billie and then Erica before turning and facing forward as she added, “He didn’t lie to her. I slept with him.”

  She couldn’t bear to look at them as they took it in.

  “Wait,” Billie said. “What?”

  “I slept with him,” she repeated just above a whisper.

  Erica leaned away, thinking she’d heard wrong. “You just kissed him.”

  “I told you I slept with him!” she yelled this time.

  “You lied to us,” Billie finally said.

  “You cheated on Justin twice?” Erica couldn’t believe this.

  “I was too ashamed to tell you guys,” Sherise said, looking down at her lap. “I was so . . .”

  Billie was fuming. “So when we told you, warned you to stay away from him, you didn’t do it, did you?”

  “I tried,” Sherise said. “I swear to God I tried, but I don’t know. I just . . .”

  “Jesus Christ, Sherise!” Erica shot up from the table and stepped a few feet away. She looked down at Sherise. “How many men have you slept with since you’ve been married?”

  Sherise looked up at her and was stung by the look of disgust on Erica’s face. “I swear it’s just him and Jonah. I promise you.”

  “And what the hell does that promise mean?” Erica asked, shaking her head.

  “I swear,” Sherise repeated a few times as she started crying again.

  “So she has every right to do this,” Erica said.

  “Erica!” Billie looked up at her, expressing her anger. “What the fuck is the matter with you?”

  “How can you think this is okay?” Erica asked. “You were cheated on and she’s a serial cheater.”

  “She’s your best friend,” Billie said. “She’s your sister and she needs us.”

  Sherise turned to Billie. “I need you both, so bad. I want to save my marriage.”

  “You mean you want to keep your marriage together so you can cheat in peace?” Erica asked.

  “Fuck you,” Sherise spat at her. “I’m dying here, Erica. I’m dying. You just don’t understand.”

  Erica felt a pang of compassion and guilt fight through her anger and disappointment. She sat down on the sofa and sighed. “I just can’t believe you thought it was okay for you to do this, but not him.”

  “I’m not judging him,” Sherise said. “I’m not being a hypocrite. I’m just trying to save my marriage. I’m trying to save my daughter’s family.”

  “And we’ll help you,” Billie said. “Won’t we?”

  Erica reached out and placed her hand on Sherise’s knee. “Of course we will. It’s what we do for each other. It’s what we’ve always done and always will. This bitch is history.”

  Sherise placed her hand over Erica’s and squeezed as she leaned her head into Billie’s chest. She was already starting to feel better.

  Erica was physically and emotionally exhausted when she finally got home. By the time she’d left Sherise’s house, they’d agreed to get together Saturday, tomorrow, and figure out how they would confront Jennifer and let her know that she was going to stay away from Justin from that moment on.

  Erica wasn’t happy with the decision. She wasn’t used to being in these situations. While Terrell had hurt her feelings in other ways, she had never been worried about him cheating on her. In the past, if a boyfriend messed around, she’d just dropped him. No questions asked, no apologies accepted.

  She knew that marriage, especially marriage with a child, was different. Erica suggested that Sherise confront Justin first. After all, this woman, whoever she was, had not made a vow to Sherise. And what was the point of telling the woman to stay away if the man wouldn’t do the same?

  It was all very confusing to Erica, but she was the only one who had never been married, so she gave up arguing. As much as she worried for Sherise that her marriage could be ending, Erica was happy to get out of there. Too much heartache and fear and she was already dealing with enough of that with Nate. She wanted to get home to the one good thing in her life now, the one thing that was moving forward. Terrell.

  The second she got home, he grabbed her and kissed her passionately. They sat on the only part of the sofa that wasn’t covered in boxes, with her comfortably on his lap.

  “I’m afraid to ask what happened over there,” he said. “Just from looking at you, I know the drama was off the hook.”

  Erica shook her head. “Boy, you don’t even know.”

  “Wanna talk about it?”

  Erica smiled. She had forgotten how great it felt to come home to a sympathizing ear and a warm body. It hadn’t been that long, but now that she had it again, it seemed like it had been forever.

  “You don’t want to know,” she answered.

  “I see. I see.” He nodded. “You three and your little secrets.”

  “It’s not my business to share,” she said.

  “You tell them all the shit that goes on between us, don’t you?”

  She tilted her head, studying him. “We’re like sisters. But don’t worry. There are certain things that stay just between me and my man.”

  “Your man.” He leaned forward and kissed the exposed part of her chest just above her breast. “I like the sound of that.”

  She ran her hand over his head and looked into his eyes lovingly. “Me, too.”

  He squinted. “You don’t tell them about sex with me, do you?”

  “Um.” She playfully pushed his face back. “Of course not. I would never.”

  “Girl!” He slapped her thigh. “You better tell them I’m hurting that. You better.”

  He grabbed her and started pulling her back as he buried his face in her chest. She was laughing as she grabbed his head. It felt nice to be happy and not think about . . .

  “Is Nate here?” she asked, sitting up.

  Terrell’s shoulders slumped and he sighed. “Can we not talk about him right now?”

  “Have you seen him?” She stood up, heading for his room.

  “Stop,” he said. “Don’t bother. He’s not there. He was here, but he left.”

  She turned back to him. “When?”

  “After you left. He stopped by to pick up some clothes.”

  “Clothes? Is he moving out?”

  He shook his head. “There wasn’t enough for that. Just a shirt and some jeans.”

  “Well,” she said. “What did he say?”

  “He didn’t want to . . .” Terrell motioned for her to return to him. “Don’t worry about it, baby. I told you I got this.”

  Erica suddenly remembered what she had to tell him and it made her sad. She knew she would ruin
the mood, but after spending the last two hours with Sherise, listening to the details of the breakdown of her marriage, Erica didn’t want to keep something this important from Terrell.

  “I know this isn’t gonna make you happy,” she said, standing in front of him. “But I asked Jonah for help. He offered and I—”

  “You what?” Terrell shot up from the sofa. “Help with what?”

  “With Nate.” She held up her hand to calm him down. “Before you get all upset, he’s just going to look into some of his new friends and—”

  “Why did you do that?” Terrell was getting angrier every second. “You don’t want that man’s dirty hands on this.”

  “I wanted help.”

  He slapped his chest. “I’m helping you!”

  “This isn’t a reflection on you,” Erica said.

  “The hell it isn’t,” Terrell said. “That man wants me to look impotent to you. He knows I’m trying to help you, so he’s gonna show how my help ain’t shit compared to what he can do for you.”

  “Don’t look at it that way, baby.”

  She reached out to console him, but he moved away. Erica was consumed with regret after looking at him. He really hated Jonah this much? More than he wanted to help Nate?

  “Terrell, you have to make some peace with the fact that he’s my father and he’s going to be some part of my life.”

  “Not this,” he insisted. “Not this, Erica. Call him off.”

  “I’m not going to hold off on getting to the bottom of what’s wrong with Nate. I’m going to do what I can and I’m going to let you help, Jonah help, and Billie, if—”

  “Billie?” He threw his hands in the air. “You got her involved, too? What does Billie have to do with it?”

  “She offered to help, too.”

  “Help with what?” he asked. “What did you tell her?”

  Erica was completely perplexed by his behavior and attitude. “Everything I told you. Terrell, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you want to help Nate?”

  “I’m trying to!” he yelled. “But I can’t do it if you have everyone in the fucking city interfering. Look, I gotta go.”