The ringing phone startled her from her daydream, and she cranked the car and pulled out into the flowing traffic to head home.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked, answering. To anyone passing, it probably looked like Envy was inside the car talking to herself because her Bluetooth was hidden underneath her auburn weave tresses.
“Where are you?” Layla asked.
“I made a couple of stops after work. I’m on my way home now. Why?”
“I wanted to know if you could stop by here and take me to the store, but forget it since you’re almost at home.
Envy focused on Layla’s eating habits. She’d more than likely eaten all of her junk food and was craving for more.
“Is it something you have to have this evening? I’m exhausted.” She left out the fact that she was also tipsy and horny.
“No, it’s not crucial. I just needed to pick up a couple of items.”
Envy knew Layla all too well. She heard the sound of disappointment in her voice, but going without a box of cookies and a couple of king size chocolate bars certainly was not going to kill her. “Look, I’ll come by there tomorrow and take you unless you get someone else to run you to the store.” Envy placed emphasis on the word someone. The only time Layla seemed to have no problem getting to the store was at the first of the month when her check and EBT card were full. Then her so-called friend, Mike, made sure he found a way to take her wherever she wanted to go. Envy couldn’t be sure that Mike was a broken down wanna be gigolo, but every time Envy happened upon him, he was always between jobs.
“If you’re asking where Mike is on the sly, he went to North Memphis to his brother’s place. He was hired at one of the manufacturing plants out there, so he’ll be staying out there during the week,” Layla explained in a less than friendly tone.
“I didn’t say anything about Mike, but since you brought him up, I’m glad his tail has a job – again. Hopefully he’ll keep this one for more than six weeks. I don’t know why you deal with that bum anyway. The man has no scruples, practically lives with a woman already who he swears is just a friend. But you and I know better than that. Then he never seems to come tipping around your place until the first of the month.” There. Envy had said what was on her mind. The liquor made it easy for the words to drip from her tongue.
“Look, I’m sick of you judging me, and Mike too, for that matter. I’ve told you more than once that we’re friends. So whatever you’re trying to make us out to be is a downright lie, Envy.” Layla took an extra deep breath like she’d just run a marathon. Mike used her like an addict uses drugs every chance he got, but no way was she ready to admit that to Envy or anyone else.
“Whatever, Layla. I don’t have time to get into this with you tonight. You’re a grown woman. Do whatever makes your boat float. Anyway, I’ve gotta go. I just walked in the house, and I’m going to take a shower and hit the sack,” Envy said without another moment’s thought. “I’ll come through there around lunch time tomorrow and take you to the store. But call me if your mother or someone else comes to take you, okay?” Envy added emphasis to someone else.
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Layla sounded like she was glad that the conversation about her relationship with Mike was over. She made it home safely and pulled into her driveway.
The door to her next door neighbor’s apartment opened just as the click clack of Envy’s silver pumps against the concrete steps reached her own door. “Mrs. Rawlings. Dang, it happens every time,” Envy said underneath her liquored breath. She mustered up a half smile. “Good evening, Mrs. Rawlings.”
“Hello, young lady.” Mrs. Rawlings stepped outside. She held her front door open with one hand and rested the other hand on her hip. “You just coming from work, I guess.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m tired too. I had a busy day; at least more than usual.”
Her uneven brows pushed the wrinkles on her forehead up closer to her scathe hairline. “I won’t hold you. I just wanted to speak to you. You had a pretty quiet weekend over there.” Her eyes shifted to Envy’s side of the duplex.
What does she mean by that? Spying again? The nerve of this woman. “Yes, it was rather quiet.” Envy spoke between clenched teeth, holding her composure so as not to sound disrespectful to the old woman. Mrs. Rawlings was a nice lady, but just a little too nosy for Envy’s taste. Mrs. Rawlings watched her like a momma bear.
“Do you need anything?” Envy turned the key in the door and opened it. Glancing back over her shoulder, she waited for Mrs. Rawlings’s response. Fischer raced to the door, jumping up and down, turning round and round like the devil whipping his wife. “Down, Fischer.” Envy patted her golden Labrador on his head. Fischer used his cold, brown, snoozer to open the door wider. Fischer pounded past her onto the porch and raced to Mrs. Rawlings side.
Mrs. Rawlings patted Fischer’s head too. He sat next to the woman; contentment seemed to still his golden haired body. “No, I’m fine. I don’t need a thing. God is right here with me. As long as I got Him, I don’t worry about a thing.” She looked down at Fischer, then added words that made Envy stop dead in her tracks.
“Envy, you’re more than who you act like you are. Mark my words. G’night, child, and lock up. God didn’t raise you to be a fool.” Mrs. Rawlings went back inside, leaving Envy standing in her doorway.
The words were confusing to Envy. “What does she mean by, I’m more than who I act like I am? Just who does she think she is anyway?” Pushing her rectangular-rimmed glasses up on the bridge of her nose, she slammed the door behind her.
Soaking in the hot, soothing water, Envy reflected on her life. She was proud of her managerial position at Nuvatek, her nice salary and bonuses, and the fact that finances, weight, and constant baby daddy drama was not a part of her life like it was for Layla and Kacie. She had men at her beck and call. She was free to do her.
Nestling her head back on her satin bath pillow, Envy heard her mother’s words replaying. “I named you Envy because I was the envy of my neighborhood and in my school. I was pretty, with long, good hair, a fine figure, and skin as smooth and dark as a chocolate bar. Anything I put on made a fashion statement. Girls couldn’t stand me because they said I was vain. I was. It didn’t stop when I got knocked up with you either. And then you, thank God, were born even more beautiful than me. I couldn’t have chosen a better name than Envy. Then about the time you turned eight years old, you started acting like you were somehow better than me, your own mother who brought you into this world. Folks started filling your head with a bunch of garbage. Always talking about you looked like an angel and that you could be a model or a child star. That’s why, when you got to be a teenager, I had to bring you down a couple of notches. I had to remind you that if it wasn’t for your looks, you wouldn’t be nothing.”
The phone lying on top of the closed toilet seat quipped Envy from her deep thoughts.
“Hey, pretty lady. You ready for me to relieve some of your tension?” he asked. “I can be there in…say…twenty minutes.”
The offer sounded enticing. “Not tonight, Cedric. I’ve made other plans.” She stepped out of the bathtub and grabbed the tangerine bath towel from off of the towel warmer.
“Aw, come on, Envy. Can’t I change your mind?” he said in a pleading but sexy manner.
Hesitating, Envy considered calling Tyreek to tell him something had come up, but the thought quickly vanished as she remembered that she was the shot caller, not Cedric or any of the numerous other men she bedded on a weekly basis.
“You know it doesn’t work like that, Cedric. Check with me later in the week and maybe we can hook up. Gotta go.” She ended the call before Cedric could so much as part his lips with a response.
Envy finished preparing herself for her first visitor of the week. She put on revealing lingerie, and afterward, she made herself another drink. The doorbell rang and Fischer barked.
“Quiet, boy. It’s all right.” Fischer followed her to the door and sat next to h
er like he was eager to see who was on the other side.
Tyreek stepped in and leaned over and kissed Envy on the cheek while Fischer’s tail wagged back and forth. “Hi, baby.”
“Hi. Come on in, Tyreek.” She hurried him inside the door just in case her nosy neighbor was over there playing I Spy through her curtains. Tyreek patted Fischer on his head. “You want a drink?” Envy asked and walked toward the kitchen.
Tyreek grabbed her by the elbow. “I don’t want anything. I just want you,” he answered and tried to kiss her passionately. She pulled away and changed directions, heading for her bedroom.
“I’ve missed you.” Tyreek whispered hungrily in Envy’s ear. He lightly bit on her ear lobe and continued with kisses that trailed along her neck, throat, and eyes, but Envy turned her head rapidly when he went for her lips.
“Stop it! You know how I feel about kissing.” Her voice was stern. Kissing was not her forte. Kissing meant commitment, love, and a special closeness, something she refused to feel for any of the almost eighty men she’d slept with since she lost her virginity at the age of fifteen.
Tyreek answered with a groan. He continued to kiss her soft, sweet smelling body while he encased himself in protection. When all was said and done, Tyreek collapsed on the other side of her queen sized bed and immediately closed his eyes to sleep. Envy lay quietly on the other side of the bed until Tyreek turned toward her, grabbed her around the waist, and kissed the back of her hair. Envy moved away from his endearing touch and climbed out of the bed.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she said without emotion. “Lock the door behind you.”
Envy welcomed the soothing jet streams of water enveloping every curve of her body. Underneath the shower, she felt rejuvenated as the water pelted her over and over again. She halted momentarily when she heard Tyreek on the other side of the door getting dressed so he could leave. He knew the routine. She was relieved when she heard her front door close behind his familiar steps and the sound of Fischer’s bark confirming their visitor had indeed departed the scene.
Putting on a melon thigh-length teddy, Envy went to the living room to make sure Tyreek had locked the door. He had. Fischer trailed happily behind her like he was glad the two of them were finally alone. She stopped at the hall linen closet, pulled out a clean lavender sheet set and proceeded to remake her bed. After inhaling the fragrant scent of the fresh sheets, Envy knelt next to the bed and prayed her nightly prayers. There used to be a time when that she would pray and ask God to forgive her for being so promiscuous. She didn’t know why she was the way that she was, but she’d come to terms with it. No need to ask for forgiveness when I’m just going to do it all over again, she surmised a long time ago. Now she opted for asking God the usual; to bless her friends, her loved ones, the sick, the lonely, and the homeless. When she rose from her knees, she climbed in the bed underneath the cozy comforter and started reading a novel she’d started the day before. Sleep came quickly, but not without its consequences.
In the midnight hour, Envy bolted upright in her platform bed like an electric current had ripped through her. Sweat formed quickly along her brow, and her breath was quick. She stared around the darkened bedroom. The nightmare was familiar. It aroused a fear so incomprehensible nothing could make it go away. If only she had some control over it. Why couldn’t she somehow forget the pain of the past? Tears flooded in the palms of her hands. Fischer plopped down at the side of the bed and rested his head next to Envy’s thigh. Envy’s bowed head grew heavy with the weight of her present, sinful acts. But all of her sins piled together couldn’t banish her mind of the one, contemptible sin she had committed. The one only she and God knew about.
Chapter Four
A person is only beautiful, when their own beauty, is reflecting on to others. Tara Grady
A solid week of rain and thunderstorms; now the sky had cleared, and the sun peaked from behind the piercing blue fall cloud. Tenderly, Deacon kissed his wife on her cheek, playfully patted her on the butt, and then departed his ranch-style home. Twenty-three years of marriage. His wife attended her home church, like always. When they initially met, he was a member of Cummings Street Baptist Church. They were innocent, happy-go-lucky teens that quickly fell in love one summer while attending a Bridge Builders retreat. They married when they were barely out of their teens. There was never a disagreement between the two of them about remaining active members at their respective churches. The decision worked out well for Deacon. Less conflict. More freedom. Naïve and captivating wife. No kids. Chick on the side. Another chick on the side. And now a new chick on the side.
En route to an overnight business meeting in Murfreesboro, Deacon thought about Kacie. Cerebral palsy, bay-bay kids and all; the girl was still hot. He couldn’t seem to keep his mind off of her. She would be easy to maintain. The main reason: too many kids to be able to get out and about a lot. Deacon never desired children of his own, and Kacie’s kids running around every Sunday after church reminded him several times over that he’d made the right decision when he had a vasectomy less than a year after he and his wife married.
In a peculiar way, Kacie reminded Deacon of his wife. Needy, lonely, a little bit of low self-esteem. He saw it all in Kacie like he’d seen it in his wife. All the years they’d been married and she was still the same. Since meeting Kacie three months ago at church, he’d been spending every extra, deceitful second he could talking to her on the phone or after church, getting to know as much as he could about Sister Kacie Mayweather.
Pressing the number seven key on his Blackberry, Deacon listened through his Bluetooth for the phone to ring. It was time for him to take their phone conversations to the next level.
“Hello,” answered Kacie.
“Hey, girl. Whatcha doing?” he asked.
“Waiting on you to call.”
Deacon believed her. He seemed to read her like a bestselling novel. He could hear genuineness in her voice through the cell phone.
“I’m on my way out of town to meet a potential client. I’ll be back early tomorrow afternoon. I want to see ya. Alone. Just you and me. Think you can make that happen for me?”
“I think that can be arranged,” Kacie answered, trying to hold back the excitement in her voice.”
“That’s my girl. Let me know how much a babysitter costs and I’ll take care of the tab. I don’t want you to worry about a thing when you’re with me. I owe you some alone time since I haven’t been able to get away to see you.”
“Sounds good. You’re so good to me, Deacon.”
“I try, Kacie. You deserve it. I want you to take the kids to the babysitter tomorrow and when I get there, which should be around eight o’clock, we’ll go out to dinner. I might even take you dancing.” He paused, waiting on her comeback. He didn’t know yet if she could dance or not. The bend in her knees might make it difficult. He felt empathy for her, but only for a moment.
“Sounds good to me. I haven’t been out anywhere without the kids in a long time. Unless you call going through the drive-thru at Mickey D’s,” Kacie laughed out over the phone. “As for dancing, I don’t try to keep up with the latest dances anymore. My kids keep me moving enough. I don’t think I can see myself doing the Soulja Boy or Cupid Shuffle.” Kacie chuckled loudly.
“Well, we’ll see if we can make our own dance moves tomorrow.”
“Momma.” Deacon heard one of Kacie’s children calling her in the background. Then another one sounded like she or he was right inside his Bluetooth.
“Momma, Keith hit me,” the voice cried out.
“No, I didn’t,” another voice countered.
“Yes, you did.”
“Stop it, y’all.” Kacie’s voice rang loudly into Deacon’s ear. “Stop it right now. Don’t let me have to get up and beat the fire out of y’all.”
“Look, you better see about your kids. I’ll try to call you when I make it to my hotel in a few hours.”
Kacie’s shrill and angry tone quickly
reverted to one of calmness. “I wasn’t through talking,” she said pleadingly.
“I know, but you need to take care of your children’s needs. As for me, I need to concentrate on this highway.”
“O...kay. I guess you’re right. Drive safely and call me back. I don’t care what time it is. I want to know you made it there safely.”
“Sure. Talk to ya later, sweetness.” He pressed the end button on his cell phone until he heard the dial tone.
×
Friday afternoon, Kacie packed the kids’ backpacks, stopped off at the grocery, and then drove her kids over to Layla’s house. She was delighted Layla had agreed to babysit. As soon as she pulled up to Layla’s apartment, the kids hopped out one by one.
Kenny carried Keshena in one arm and a bag of groceries in the other. Kali raced past him and knocked on Layla’s door.
“Hello, everybody,” Layla said with a smile plastered on her face as if she were really glad to see the kids. She barely had time to say the words before the children scurried past her.
“Thanks, Layla. I don’t know what I would do without you, girl.” Kacie entered the apartment too.
“You know you’re welcome. Your kids keep me company. When they’re around, there’s never a dull moment.” Layla chuckled, and her breasts jiggled like a bowl of jello.
Kacie reached inside her jeans pocket and pulled out some cash. “Here’s your money.” Kacie counted eighty-five bucks and gave it to Layla.
“I thought you said your date was going to pay me?”
“He is paying you, but I feel better paying you now. I’ll keep the money when he gives it to me tonight. That way you don’t have to wait on your money, just in case you have to buy something. I’m going to put this food in the kitchen.” She picked up the sack of groceries that Kenny had left in the living room. “There are plenty of snacks, juice, and food for them, and I packed some for you too. I know how much you love microwave popcorn, and there’re some chocolate candy bars in there too.”
Beautiful Ugly Page 3
