by Lena Skye
“Why is this all so funny to you? This is my life.”
Tamika
The girls sat in Tamika’s living room after work. It had been a little too long since their last conversation and they were more than overdue for a catch up. The wine was flowing freely and they were all trying to talk as if they weren’t stressed the hell out. Kalena had just finished telling them about her situation with Tommy.
“Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that man got arrested,” Crystal said, “Tommy is the last man that you would ever expect to see behind bars.”
“Well he was never really behind bars, they just held him,” Kalena said.
“That’s bad enough, I can see why he was pissed off. That shitty Daniel is the one that needed to be locked away.”
“Whatever, Tommy didn’t have any business fighting. He should have did like I asked him to do,” Kalena said.
“And shut the hell up?” Crystal said, “Girl you’re crazy. Tommy is a man, and men have their pride. You should have known that it wasn’t going to end well.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Kalena said.
“Yeah, I bet you don’t,” Crystal said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Kalena asked.
“It means that you need to cut this shit out and give Tommy a real chance. He’s been nothing but good to you and you diss him whenever you get the chance. What are you afraid of?” Crystal asked.
“I’m not afraid of anything; I just have a low tolerance for the craziness. I don’t need a man that’s going to embarrass me in public and cause a scene. That shit is not cute.”
“But you know him better than that; you know that he isn’t the kind of man to act like that regularly.”
“I know him within the realm of a friendship, not a relationship. This is a Tommy that I’ve never seen before.”
Crystal rolled her eyes, “Whatever makes you sleep better at night.”
“Okay, ladies,” Tamika interjected, “Enough about Kalena’s problems. We need to talk about mine.”
“I don’t know if we have enough wine for that,” Crystal laughed.
“We have enough, I just restocked,” Tamika said with a serious expression.
“Well alright then, confess dear sister.”
“I think that Reggie is into some serious shit,” Tamika disclosed.
“The gun didn’t tip you off?” Kalena asked.
Tamika scowled at her, “Of course it did, but after I spoke to him, I know that there is something deeper there. I don’t know if I want to know.”
“Trust me, you want to know,” Crystal insisted.
“I agree,” said Kalena, “You need to find out the truth about everything. This is your life, babe, and you need to know who is in it.”
“Girl, he is bringing guns around you and it’s no telling what else,” Crystal said, “You need to get all in his damned business. He shouldn’t have any privacy when it comes to you. If I was you I would have put a tracker on his car.”
“Now that’s just going too far,” Kalena laughed.
“What? I’m just saying, she needs to know where he’s going.”
“I’m gonna need to get another bottle of wine,” Tamika sighed.
**
It was the next evening and Tamika sat on her bed watching TV. It was something that she rarely did but she didn’t care anymore. Her bed was comfy and her glass of wine fit perfectly on her night stand next to the bottle. She’d had a long day at work and her bed was the only comfort that she had. She watched Bad Girls Club in an effort to feel better about her own life. The chicks on that show needed some serious therapy. She laughed at the fact that they now had a life coach in the house. A life coach wasn’t going to help those girls, they needed Jesus and Xanax.
Her phone buzzed and she looked over at it, it was Reggie again. She didn’t have to do anything because her app was going to automatically send him to her voice-mail. It was tough to admit, but she checked each and every message that he sent. The blinking light just called to her and she was powerless to stop herself. He always sounded so pathetic, well, when he didn’t sound angry. Sometimes he would leave angry messages, it was out of frustration.
Tamika began to think some more. How could she miss all of the signs when it came to her husband? He stayed out at odd hours, he was distant for a large part of their relationship, and some evenings it was as if he didn’t want to touch her at all. She wasn’t an unattractive woman and she loved to have sex, probably more than the average woman did. However, there were days and sometimes weeks when he wouldn’t even touch her. So much of that time was spent blaming herself, when she should have been focusing on what was going on with him.
Did she know him at all? At first she thought that she knew him better than anyone on the planet but it dawned on her that she always took him at face value. Whenever he gave her an explanation about something, she never questioned it. She was trusting, too trusting. A thinking human being asks questions, they don’t just say ‘yes dear’ all of the time. That was something that her friends tried to warn her about but she wrote them off as jealous and eventually all of them backed off.
If she listened then she wouldn’t have had to deal with him bringing guns into her home. How could he have been so deceitful right under her nose? Why didn’t she suspect anything? Those days were over. Never again would she let another man lie to her and get away with it.
She thought more about what Crystal and Kalena had told her the night before and they were right. She needed to stop keeping her head buried in the sand and find out the truth.
After taking the last gulp from her glass she looked over the contents of the room. So much of his stuff was still all over the house. She grabbed some of his things but for the most part, his things were still all over the place. How could she move on with her life when she was surrounded by their stuff all the damned time? Did she even want to move on? That was a decision that needed to be made soon because men didn’t stick around and grovel forever. Could she truly live without Reggie?
Her curiosity got the best of her and so did the alcohol. She rose from her bed and walked over to his side of the bed. She hadn’t gone through his night stand; she absentmindedly went through his drawer. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for but nothing stood out. Then she came across his old phone. It wasn’t charged, so she went to find an old charger that would fit it. After plugging it into the wall she turned it on. Her hands shook a little as she realized what she was doing. It felt stupid to go through his old phone; there probably wasn’t anything on it. She was out of her mind, this was how she knew that she had too much drink and that she was just being paranoid. Confident and secure women didn’t do those kinds of things. She wanted to be a confident woman, but that wasn’t working out too well at the moment.
His phone turned on and she went straight to his text messages. For the most part nothing stood out to her as unusual until she got to see some messages from someone named Mimi. As she read most of their conversation it was clear that Mimi was a woman and that there was some kind of sexual tension going on between the two of them. Who in the hell was this woman?
Before she could think about it she grabbed her phone and dialed the number. As it rang she began to have second thoughts. She was going to look like a complete idiot calling that random woman in his phone. She was about to hang up but it was too late.
“Hello?”
“Umm hi, is this Mimi?”
“Who is this?” the sultry no nonsense voice said on the other end of the line. It took her aback; she wasn’t expecting the woman to sound so mature and so abrasive.
“I’m sorry, you may not know me at all but I was just calling to see if you could answer a few of my questions.”
“Well ask them before I hang up.”
“I was wondering if you know someone named Reggie, and if you do, how do you know him?”
“Is this Tamika?”
“How do you know my nam
e?”
“Oh, your husband talks about you a lot,” she said in amusement.
“Would you mind telling me how you know my husband?”
“I don’t mind at all,” she said, “But I don't talk my business on the phone. We should do this in person, I’ll tell you everything that you want to know.”
“Umm okay, when do you want to meet?”
“Now is fine.”
“Where do you want to meet?”
“Funny enough, I am actually in your part of Brooklyn as we speak. We can meet outside your place.”
Tamika wasn’t sure if she wanted this mysterious woman coming to her house. That was just too weird.
“I don’t know about that.”
“Girl please, it’s not a big deal. Besides, I already know where you live. I’ll see you in a half hour outside of your place. If you ain't there I won't be waitin' around, ya heard?”
“Okay,” Tamika said automatically. What in the hell was she thinking? She should have told the woman no again, but she didn’t seem like the kind of woman that would be denied.
A half hour later Tamika stood outside of her condo and waited. It was cold outside but it didn’t matter. The woman was on time anyway. She was older than Reggie, there was a clear age difference but she was a certified MILF. She had the kind of looks where age didn’t matter; a man was still going to screw her anyway. Tamika immediately feared the worst, although the worst was still to come.
“I assume that you’re Mimi?” Tamika asked her when she was approached.
“You’re right.”
Tamika let out a loud sigh, “Okay, so how do you know my husband?”
“I’ve been knowing him for just as long as you have,” Mimi said lighting up a cigarette, “I’ve also been screwing him for just as long, probably longer.”
“You can’t be serious. Why?”
A devious smile curled on Mimi’s lips, “I saw something that I liked and I wanted it. I didn’t find out about you until much later. He kept you from me, just like he kept me from you. He used me for whatever I could give him and he gave me himself in return.”
“I don’t understand. So, were you buying him things?” Tamika asked. She felt like she needed to walk, so she did, and Mimi kept up with her pace.
“I was and I have.”
“When did the two of you end?”
“Well we ended when I had to send people to kick his little brother’s ass. He owed me money and I needed to make a statement.”
“That was you who did that?” Tamika’s heart raced. What in the hell did she just invite to her home? She was standing with the enemy and didn’t even know it. Was this woman planning on doing something to her too?
“Why would you do that? Did he stop sleeping with you or something?”
“Girl, I don’t care anything about Reggie’s dick. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really good dick as I’m sure that you well know. What I do care about is my money.”
“Why does he owe you money? Can I pay it?”
Mimi smiled, “At this point it’s the principle and he owes me money because he threw my package away.”
“What package?”
“Wow, you really don’t have a clue about anything do you? He wasn’t just sleeping with me; he was pushing drugs for me. How else did you think that he got that car that he drove in college, those clothes, those shoes, and that big ass rock that’s sitting on your finger? His ass didn’t have a job. Did you ever question anything?”
Tamika shook her head, “I didn’t. I just assumed that everything that he did was legitimate.”
“That’s where you went wrong, all that boy does is lie but he’s a product of his environment. He’s a hood nigga that’s trying to make it in the world. I’m surprised that he picked someone like you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Tamika asked with a little more attitude than she intended.
“It just means that you’re really prissy. I always figured that he would go for someone that was a little rougher around the edges. Kind of like the original Vivian from Fresh Prince.”
“Well nope, he chose me.”
“Lucky you, huh?” Mimi laughed.
“Why is this all so funny to you? This is my life.”
She shrugged, “And this is mine. I learned a long time ago to never put my trust into a man. They all lie and will fuck any warm hole that’s available. I’m sorry to have to break it to you, sweetie but he isn’t the man that you think that he is. If I wanted to I could end his career as he knows it, but I’m not a petty bitch.”
Tamika was having a hard time processing everything that she heard, “So you’re telling me that Reggie has sold drugs?”
“Yes he has, a ton.”
“And you were screwing him the whole time that I was with him?”
“Exactly.”
“You even purchased my wedding ring?”
“Oh now she's getting it,” she laughed sarcastically.
Tamika slipped the ring off of her finger and handed it to her, “Well here, I think this belongs to you.”
Mimi shook her head, “I don’t want it. It’s not my style. You keep it in memory of me, and you’re welcome. I hope that you enjoyed looking at it on your pretty little finger.”
“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Tamika said when she slipped the ring back into her pocket, unsure of what to do with it.
“Let’s just end it here. You’ve gotten the answers that you were looking for, now you can’t live in your delusion anymore. I’m sorry that he wasn’t everything that you ever wanted, but most men aren’t.”
“Thanks for answering my questions. Now do I have something to be worried about? Do you plan on coming after me?”
“Bitch please, if I wanted to come after you, you would be dead already.”
“Umm okay, I guess.”
“Bye sweetie, and keep your head up. If any of the people at that lovely office that you work at need product, just give me a call. I could get into a lot of places with a girl of your caliber.”
“No thanks,” Tamika said as she walked away and back towards her condo.
Tamika went back inside, she felt numb, nothing was registering the way that it should have. Her husband was a stranger, she married a stranger. She walked inside of her unit and stood in the hallway. She wanted to call her friends but none of them would be able to make her feel better.
Then the door flew open behind her, “Oh my god, are you okay?” Reggie asked. “She didn’t hurt you did she?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Tamika asked when she turned around.
“I got a text from someone saying that they were going to pay you a visit. I was worried, baby I think that it’s best if I stay here with you. I’m so sorry to get you caught up in my bullshit.”
“What kind of bullshit?”
“I can’t really explain it right now, it’s some shit from my past. If you give me a chance I’ll tell you everything.”
“You sure it’s not one of these little hoes that you’re out here fucking?”
“What?” Reggie said, “Of course not. You’re the only woman that I want. I wouldn’t do anything to mess up what we have.”
The lies made Tamika feel sick to her stomach. He was standing in their house, looking straight into her eyes, and lying.
She laughed maniacally, “The funny thing is that I almost believe you. If I hadn’t of talked to Mimi, I would have believed you.”
“You spoke to her? You can’t believe anything that comes out of that crazy bitch’s mouth.”
“So, you haven’t been sleeping with her?”
Reggie was stunned, “I can explain.”
“Don’t fucking explain, just answer the question. It’s a yes or no question.”
“But there’s more to it than that.”
“Did she buy my wedding ring?”
Reggie ran a hand down his face as panic raced through his body. How in the hell was he going to fix t
his?
His silence told her all that she needed to know. She grabbed the ring from her pocket and threw it at him, “You’re such a liar! You’ve been lying throughout the course of our entire relationship. I don’t even know who you are.”
“Baby, you know who I am. I’m your husband.”
Rage boiled inside of Tamika, it was a rage that she’d never felt before. She pulled the lamp out of the wall and threw it at him. He dodged it and it crashed to the floor at his feet. “Don’t throw stuff at me.”
“Or what? You’re going to shoot me?”
“No, that’s just crazy.”
“You want to talk about crazy? How about the fact that you’ve been selling drugs? What in the hell is wrong with you? Were drugs in our home? Did you put my life in jeopardy?”
“No, of course drugs weren’t in our home,” he lied.
“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything that comes out of your mouth anymore. I’m done. You can expect the divorce papers in the mail. Just let me know where to send them to.”
“No,” Reggie said desperately, “You can't end our marriage over this.”
“Oh, trust me, I can. You’re lucky that I don’t call the police and have you arrested. Now get out.”
“Please let’s just talk.”
The sight of him made her physically ill. All of the features that looked appealing to her, now repulsed her. “Leave,” she demanded again.
“I’m not going to leave; we need to talk this out.”
“Fine, then I’ll go.” Tamika walked down the hall towards the door and past him. He grabbed her in an effort to stop her stride, “Don’t touch me! Don’t you ever fucking touch me again!”
Reggie quickly let her go and watched her grab the keys and exit the condo. There was no coming back from this.
#Chapter7
“Do you have a criminal record, are you a momma’s boy, or do you have a micro penis?”
Crystal
Crystal sat in the small restaurant across from Kai, she’d always wanted to try Battersby, because she’d heard great things but she never got around to going. It was a small and unassuming restaurant in the middle of Brooklyn but the food was divine. Kai was a gentleman for the entire evening, and she couldn’t have asked for a better date. Crystal was wondering when the inevitable twist would happen.
