“Preach on it,” Aunt Addie chimed in.
A few more heads bobbed in agreement.
“So you just married her and then stashed her away here on the island?” Wilbur asked.
“Daddy,” Nikki said, smiling. “It was nothing like that.”
“Hush, baby,” her father said. “I’m talking to your husband, man-to-man.”
“Wilbur,” Ella cooed. “Drop it. You’re causing a scene.”
“What? I’m just trying to get to the bottom of some things. Our daughter disappears for two years. I think we have a right to know what’s been going on with her. Lord knows we’re not going to get a straight answer from her. Every time we called here, she just said that he was out—not gone.”
“Wilbur,” Ella hissed.
“At first I thought the rushed marriage meant that she’d gotten knocked up or something but that wasn’t the case.”
The party had fallen silent as everyone watched Nikki’s father grow more heated by the second.
“For the last time, Wilbur, you are embarrassing everyone.”
“Oh okay. So I’m not supposed to say what everyone else is thinking? C’mon. We both know that Nikki doesn’t exactly make the best decisions. That includes everything from career choices to…to men.” He turned his attention back to his daughter. “Now I love you, but this whole thing has me mad as hell and I want some damn answers.”
Nikki dropped her head, but not before Hylan witnessed tears shining in her eyes. Hylan walked over to his wife and draped an arm around her drooping shoulders. “Mr. Jamison, I truly understand your concern and you’re entitled to your opinions. I know that you love your daughter, but I’m now going to ask, respectfully, for you to shut the hell up.”
Everyone gasped.
“What?” Wilbur thundered. His fists balled against his hips and his eyes turned a murderous hue.
“I think you heard me.” Hylan thrust up his chin and chest and refused to back down.
Wilbur took a step forward.
Ella grabbed him by the waist. “Wilbur, calm down.”
Hylan took a step forward.
Nikki grabbed him by the waist. “Don’t, Hylan. Please.”
“Look, Mr. Jamison. Whether you want to believe it or not, I love your daughter. And I’m not about to stand here and let you berate her like you usually do. Not here. Not in our home.”
Wilbur’s chin came up. “Is that what she said? That I berate her?”
“You’ve been doing it since you walked through that door and I have had enough.”
“I only want what’s best for my daughters,” Wilbur gritted out through his clenched teeth. “And I’m not sure that you fit that bill just yet.”
“And I—”
“Hylan, let’s just tell—”
“No, baby. Let me finish,” Hylan insisted. His arm remained locked around her shoulder. “Sure. Nikki has made some mistakes in her life. We all have. But I happen to think that it takes guts to follow your passion—and like it or not, writing is her passion. And frankly, I’m proud that she’s sticking with it.”
“Is that what’s she’s been doing out here—writing?” His sharp eyes swung toward Nikki. “I thought you would’ve gotten that out of your system after that last disaster that wiped out our bank account.”
Ella groaned in disbelief. “Wilbur.” She sniffed and shook her head.
“Do you need me to write you a check?” Hylan asked, coldly.
“What?”
Hylan reached into his back pocket and withdrew his checkbook. “Should I toss in her college expenses, too?” He glanced over at Mahina. “Get me a pen.”
Nikki’s head jerked up. “Hylan, don’t—”
“It’s all right, baby. I want to.”
“Baby, I can’t let you—”
“I don’t want your damn money,” Wilbur snapped. “It’s not about the money. It’s never been about the money.”
“Really? Have you ever told her that?” Hylan challenged.
Wilbur’s mouth flapped wordlessly. Then there was a dawning light in his eyes as he looked back at his daughter. “I-I didn’t think I needed to.”
“Yeah, you did.” Hylan said, and then pressed a kiss on top of Nikki’s head.
Ella and Barbara beamed at Hylan.
“You really do love her, don’t you?” Ella asked as tears gathered in her eyes.
He looked down at the woman in his arms. His heart tugged as he confessed, “I do.”
“Then that’s a good thing,” Wilbur said. “Or I would’ve had to punch your lights out for talking to me like that.”
Hylan shifted his gaze back and saw the man smile for the first time.
“As it turns out, you might have made a good point.” Wilbur tried to take another step, but then had to look down and said, “You can release me now, Ella. I’m not going to hurt the young man.”
“I was more worried that he was going to hurt you,” she mumbled, releasing him.
A few people snickered.
Nikki also released Hylan so he could cross the room and enfold her father in a bear hug. The room exploded into applause.
Nikki smiled, but she needed to sit down. As heartwarming as this scene was, she knew that she was just moments away from cracking under the weight of her lies. However, just the thought of blurting the truth made her feel equally sick. Everyone would hate her—no, loathe her.
“You know, she really is a good writer,” Hylan boasted to the group surrounding him and her father.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Barbara asked, settling down next to Nikki on the sofa. “Dad and Hylan getting along? I can’t believe it. I’ve been engaged to Clifford for over two years and I’ve yet to see those two hug.”
Nikki frowned. “Why haven’t you married your little neurosurgeon?”
“Why?” Barbara echoed and then shifted uncomfortably under her sister’s gaze. “Yeah, why?”
Barbara rolled her eyes across the room. “Because Clifford is no Hylan Dawson.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t get me wrong.” Barbara hastily added. “I’m not trying to…you know go after your man or anything like that. It’s just that. Well, look at him. He’s tall and muscular—not to mention charming. I bet life with him has got to be exciting, huh?”
Nikki shrugged and thought about the past three months that she and Hylan had been playing house and had to admit that there hadn’t been a dull moment. She helped him get reconnected with family and introduced him to neighbors that he didn’t know he had. He helped rebuild her confidence and inspired her to finally complete a new play. And they had fun, laughing and playing—both in and out of the bedroom.
“It has been exciting,” she admitted.
“See. I don’t get that with Clifford.” Barbara suddenly looked sad. “And he probably doesn’t get it from me either.”
“Are you all right?” Nikki swung an arm around her baby sister.
Barbara shook her head before bursting out with, “We’re boring!” She sniffed. “I mean—our lives are just so structured. Up by five and in bed by nine thirty. Sure, we make good money and live in a nice house but we never do anything. And the sex,” she said, grabbing Nikki’s hand. “It’s awful.”
Sympathetic, Nikki knew exactly what her sister was going through. After all, she’d been there herself. “Oh, Barbara. I had no idea.”
Her sister swiped at her tears. “You have no idea how much I envy you.”
“Envy me?” Nikki couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“You’ve never been afraid to take risks,” Barbara said. “When you set your mind on doing something, you just do it. By hook or by crook. If you didn’t like something, you’d just change up and pursue something else. I wish I was as brave as you are.”
Nikki nearly laughed aloud. “Believe me. I’m not all that brave.”
“Please. One day you decide to leave New York and the next day you’re gone. That’s brave. And look what ha
ppened? You now live in a Caribbean paradise with a man that could be a centerfold in Playgirl.”
Nikki dropped her head. “Look, Barbara. About that. I think that there’s something you should know.”
“What? You’re a Kappa Psi Kappa?” Wilbur roared above the crowd. “Nikki, how come you didn’t tell me you married a Kappa man?”
Nikki’s jerked up. “Um…I guess it sort of slipped my mind.”
“I’m a Kappa Psi Kappa, too,” Wilbur announced and then immediately launched into some old fraternity moves from his old stepping days.
Nikki and Barbara were just seconds away from dying in embarrassment when Hylan busted out a few of his own moves.
“Oh my God,” Nikki and Barbara said, laughing along with the crowd.
The men gave each other dabs and another bear hug. “Well all right!” Wilbur boasted. “Another Kappa man in the family.”
“I think Daddy is going to steal your husband,” Barbara whispered.
I wish he was mine to steal.
“And here I was giving you a hard time.”
Ding-dong!
“I’ll get it,” Momma Mahina said, threading through the crowd, grinning.
Nikki couldn’t imagine who it could be. It seemed that everyone in the quarter was already there. Ding-dong!
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” Mahina said, rushing. But when she snatched back the door, her joyous mood disappeared when she recognized the woman on the other side of the door.
“Hi, Mahina. How are you?” the woman said, throwing her arms around the stout maid. “I can’t believe that you’re still working here.”
Mahina just blinked and stared.
“Is Hylan home?”
“He’s…in the living room.”
“Great.” She sashayed off before Mahina thought to stop her.
“Hylan,” the woman sing-songed as she rounded the corner. “Guess who—” She froze when she noticed the packed house. “Oh, you’re throwing a party?”
Nikki’s gaze also zeroed in on the stunningly beautiful woman dressed in a bikini and sarong. Jealousy delivered a high karate chop right in the center of her gut. She knew without being told exactly who this woman was to Hylan.
Once again, everything stopped as Hylan slowly turned toward what was about to turn into a nightmare. “Shonda.”
Chapter 16
“Hylan, honey?” Shonda said. “Why is everybody looking at me?”
Hylan tried to stomp down his panic as he carefully eased away from Mr. Jamison. “Um, excuse me.” However, he hadn’t made more than a few steps when Wilbur barked out to him.
“Are you going to introduce us to your friend?”
Nikki jumped up, fully intending to smooth things over with an “Everything is all right, she’s a friend of the family” lie, but her emotions choked off her words and all that she could manage was a mix between a sob and a whimper. In her defense, it wasn’t every day a woman had to defend her husband’s lover—or rather defend her fake husband’s lover. Either way, this Shonda chick was someone he’d gotten lost in at some other time.
Hylan was stumped by the question. “Shonda is…a friend.” He cut a look over to Nikki and watched as raw pain etched into her beautiful face. “An old friend,” he added, thinking the added adjective would help but it only seemed to shove his foot farther down his throat.
Shonda, on the other hand, looked pissed. “Oh, I’m just a friend now?” she asked, rocking her neck and jamming her hands onto her hips.
Hylan gritted his teeth. “Can we please take this outside?”
Finding her stubborn streak, Shonda folded her arms and made it clear that she was comfortable just where she was standing. “I just came in from outside.”
The first wave of nausea caught Nikki off guard. She’d just barely slapped a hand across her mouth to stop herself from tossing up all the green figs and salt fish she’d been nibbling on throughout the party.
“Are you all right?” Barbara asked, jumping to her feet and wrapping an arm around her sister’s waist.
Nikki closed her eyes and waited for her stomach to settle down a bit.
Momma Mahina stepped in. “Now where did all the music go? Rafiq?”
Her nephew frowned. Clearly he didn’t want to turn the music back on because that would mean he and his cousins could potentially miss out on some key elements of this unfolding drama.
“Rafiq!” Momma Mahina snapped.
“Yes, ma’am,” He reached over and turned the music up.
But no one tore their eyes away from Shonda and Hylan.
“Don’t start anything, I can explain everything later,” Hylan hissed, reaching for her arm.
Shonda jerked back as if she could already see the writing on the wall. “Filming wrapped up in L.A. I heard that you were still out here at your vacation home so I figured I’d cash in on that invitation.”
“This isn’t a good time,” he said.
“Nonsense, son,” Wilbur smacked him hard on the back. “It’s a party. The more the merrier.” His hard gaze shifted to Shonda.
Nikki saw what was about to happen but was unable to stop it.
“I’m Wilbur Jamison,” her father said extending a hand. “I’m Hylan’s father-in-law?”
“FATHER-IN-LAW?” Shonda’s neck swiveled like a cobra. “YOU’RE MARRIED?”
And the music went back off.
“Shonda—”
“When the fuck did you get married?”
“Shonda—”
“Almost two years ago,” Wilbur supplied, folding his arms. “Isn’t that right, son?”
All cheeriness and brotherhood unity had evaporated from the man’s black gaze and in its place raged an anger so intense that Hylan suspected that he was just seconds away from getting his ass whipped. “Now, Wilbur, I can explain—”
“TWO YEARS!” Shonda screeched.
Nikki was dizzy.
“WHERE THE HELL YOU GET OFF BEING MARRIED FOR TWO YEARS?”
“It’s Mister Jamison. And I would really love to hear your explanation.” He looked up at the surrounding crowd and barked. “EVERYBODY OUT!”
It was a command that made it clear there was no room for argument. There were a few grumblings and a large number of disappointed faces cast at Hylan, while Nikki got her fair share of sympathetic glances and hugs.
“You hang in there,” a few of the women whispered. But there were also comments like, “I told you that something was up with him being gone so long,” whispered by others.
On the way out, Rafiq stopped by Hylan and shook his head. “I’m so disappointed, man.”
Hylan just took a deep breath and hung his head.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS, YOU SORRY SON OF A BITCH!”
“Wait!” Nikki said, finally rushing over to the fray. “I can—”
“Nikki, let me handle this,” her father barked.
“YOU WERE MARRIED ALL THIS TIME WE WERE TOGETHER?”
“Not exactly,” Hylan tried to explain.
“Not exactly?” Wilbur thundered. “Either you’re married or you’re not.”
“Exactly.”
Hylan finally glanced over to Nikki for some help.
“Daddy, there’s something that I need to tell you. Hylan and I—”
“Will be getting a divorce,” her father finished for her.
“No need for a divorce,” Shonda sneered. “Your daughter can have his ass.” She pivoted with the flair of a fierce supermodel rocking a catwalk and finally stormed out of the house.
This can’t be happening, Hylan thought to himself. Everything was spiraling at a crazy pace. He turned toward Mr. Jamison, ready to finally come clean when Wilbur delivered a punch to his jaw that damn near lifted him off the ground.
“Daddy!” Nikki shrieked and raced over to Hylan, who’d hit the wall behind him and was sinking down to the floor.
Momma Mahina and Aunt Addie rushed back through the door. “Oh, Hylan!”
Wilbur
shook out the pain in his hand and went over and pulled his daughter away from Hylan. “Trust me, sweetheart. You’ll thank me later.”
“Daddy, you didn’t have to hurt him!” Nikki struggled and squirmed, trying to get out of his embrace.
Mahina pried open Hylan’s eyes. “Are you all right?”
Hylan groaned, mainly because it felt like his jaw was broken.
“Rafiq!” Mahina shouted. “Someone get Rafiq.”
“Yeah. Somebody come and get this jerk out of here,” Wilbur thundered. “Nobody treats my daughter this way.”
That woke Hylan up. “W-what? B-but this is my house.”
Wilbur took a threatening step forward.
“Daddy!” Nikki clutched at her father just as the room started spinning around her.
Hylan forgot about the pain in his jaw as he watched Nikki swoon forward. “Nikki!”
Being the closest to her, Wilbur spun around and caught his daughter before she hit the floor. “Nicole, darling. Are you all right?” He gave her a small pat on the face. She stirred a bit but not much.
Hylan wobbled to his feet and tried to reach her.
“No!” Wilbur barked. “You get out.”
“Mr. Jamison, there’s something you should know.”
“NOW!”
Ella and Barbara rushed around Nikki and Wilbur.
Helpless, Hylan’s hands fell to his sides. No way was this man going to believe anything he was going to say right now. But he stood there until he saw Nikki’s eyes flutter open. She was disoriented for a second, but then her eyes immediately searched for him in the room. The combination of pain and tears were enough to do him in.
“All right. I’ll go.”
Chapter 17
On a typical Atlanta Saturday morning, Taariq strolled through the doors of Herman’s Barbershop. Lately, it was the only place that he and the Kappa brothers got in any male bonding time. With Derrick and Charlie wrapped in harmonious marital bliss and Hylan still M.I.A. in Saint Lucia, Taariq was left hanging with Stanley—which was not a good look.
“Yo, Taariq!” the entire crowd in the shop shouted.
“Mornin’,” he gave everyone a short salute.
“You’re late,” Herman Keillor, the shop’s owner, said, peeking over a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.
Body Heat Page 13
