“No!” Melvin said trying to keep the bombshell that Rickey had just dropped on him from exploding. Amanda had never breathed a word to him, but then again, he hadn’t given her a chance since he’d walked out on her.
“We’ll, it’s true.” Rickey continued, unable to read Melvin’s reaction one way or the other. Rickey’s hands began to sweat. He looked around to see if there was anything he could grab in case Melvin decided to lose his mind again and come after him like he did before. The closest thing near to him was a metal beam. Unless he was Thor, he couldn’t lift it to protect himself. Rickey paused for a moment, and prayed silently, then decided to continue. “But even though my mother had a big hand in this, I should have dug deeper to find out what was going on with my girl and my baby back then.”
Melvin was silent as though his mind was spinning like a whirlpool. Why was he telling him all of this? Did he want Amanda back? Did she want him back? And where did he fall into the triangle?
“What about you and her now?” Melvin said, looking down below still trying to resist the urge to see him free falling into midair. “I…I heard her tell you over the phone that she still loves you.”
Rickey smiled a bit, feeling his heart sinking low in his chest. Somewhere beneath the surface, his pride was trying to find its way to the top, but it too, like the look on Melvin’s face, was in limbo. Rickey looked up at him more serious than he’d ever thought possible. “Yeah, she does love me, man, but not enough to leave you.” Rickey sighed heavily and looked down below at his potential fate. The words he was about to say would either be his last, or Melvin would take it like a man and forgive Amanda.
“It was a seventeen-year disconnect that we made up for just that one night. I don’t regret it, but she does.” Melvin lunged toward him. “Because she loves you, man!” Rickey yelled before Melvin could seal his fate. “You are the one she wants to spend the rest of her life with—not me!”
Rickey’s eyes pleaded for Melvin’s pardon. “Listen, man, I let you get away with hitting me the other day. I felt like I deserved it, and I didn’t want to create any more of a scene in front of Amanda. You were only looking out for Amanda and Tracey’s best interests, and I can appreciate that. That’s what real men do, that’s what real fathers do. But today, I gotta say, you are looking at me more and more like you want to kill me. And I ain’t interested in going out like that. I’ll fight you, Melvin, if that’s what you want. But I gotta say that I’d like to go down the same way I came up here, if that’s all right with you.”
Melvin gave him a cold stare and watched him back down the scaffold like a tortoise in high heels. That man sho’got a lot of balls, he thought as he shook his head and looked down at his crew staring up at him protectively.
“C’mon, now, let’s get back to work! Show’s over!”
Please Return to the Upright and Locked Position
When Pam heard the key jingle inside the lock, she ran from Dee’s room to meet her. “Dee, we need to talk,” she said, rushing toward Dee as she walked in.
Dee had lost the confidence she’d gained from speaking with Sedrick and could not bring herself to look at Pam, let alone have a conversation with her.
“I’m beat. I had to unexpectedly run back out to the airport after already leaving because I forgot my wallet. So not right now, okay? I’m going to bed.” The truth was that after leaving Sedrick’s, she’d been driving around all night in hopes that Pam would be gone by the time she got home.
“Yes, now!” Pam insisted as she grabbed her arm.
Dee jerked away. “I’m not able to talk right now.”
Pam’s words spewed out like foam from a fire extinguisher. “Well, I can understand why, especially since you’ve found out that I’ve been in a relationship with your psychiatrist!” Dee looked at her with shock and resentment. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” Pam said remorsefully.
“But, how’d you…I don’t understand…”
“I was in your room to put your mail away and answered your phone. I thought it odd that Marc’s number was coming up on your Caller ID, so I answered it and his assistant assumed I was you.”
“Well, did you tell her you weren’t me?”
“No, I didn’t get a chance to.”
Dee felt her head pounding and began massaging her temples. “Well, do I need to call her and get the message or do you have that also?”
“Marc will be calling you. It seems that you have canceled all of your appointments with him.” Pam’s voice sounded concerned and Dee’s head was pounding even more.
Dee flopped down on the couch, opened her purse, and popped two aspirin into her mouth. She walked to the kitchen and rinsed them down with a glass of water. She knew this was going to be a long, drawn-out discussion with Pam. “I have,” she said as she sat down at the kitchen table.
“So you were at the restaurant,” Pam said walking toward her.
“Yes, when I got there, I saw the two of you there together in a lip-lock and, well, I just couldn’t believe it…”
Pam sat down next to her. “Dee, why didn’t you tell me you were seeing a psychiatrist?”
“Why would I tell you that?”
“Because I’m your best friend, that’s why! Or at least I thought I was.”
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to know.”
“But why? What is going on with you where you feel like you need a psychiatrist? How long have you been seeing him?”
Dee’s tears brimmed as she shook her head in frustration. “It’s just too much to have to relive, Pam. I just don’t have the energy to go into it with you.” She felt the pressure in her head subside. “I’ve been working with him for about six months. How long have you been seeing him?”
“I’ve known him for about that long, I guess. But we really haven’t been dating until recently.”
“Recently, as in Vegas?”
Pam paused. “This is just too fucking bizarre,” she mumbled.
Dee rolled her eyes. “No kidding.”
“Does Marc even know?”
“No. Like I said, I have canceled all of my appointments so I haven’t spoken with him.”
They were both silent and Dee had the worst sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Pam went to pick up the phone. “Well, I think we both need to sit down and talk with him.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to call him and ask him to come to Atlanta so we can tell him what is going on.”
“Oh, no you’re not!” Dee demanded.
“Dee, you’re being ridiculous!” Pam quickly picked up the phone and began dialing.
Dee raced toward Pam and placed her hand over the phone. “Listen, Pam. He’s my doctor, okay. And believe me you don’t want to do that!”
Pam put the phone down and stared at Dee. “Now I get it. You don’t want me to talk to him with you, because I’m part of the reason why you’ve been seeing him.”
Dee couldn’t look at her. This was exactly why she didn’t want to get into this with Pam.
“Well, are you going to say something?”
“Okay. You’re right. Now, are you satisfied?”
“No! What exactly did you tell him about me?”
Dee turned her head away from Pam. Her reaction said it all.
“Dee, you didn’t…how could you discuss my personal issues with him?”
“Listen, Pam. What I said to him was confidential, okay? I even flew to Utah every week just to keep things as private as possible.”
“I know, but I’m dating him.”
“Well, how was I supposed to know that? I never see you. You go to work early and come back late. You’ve kept your personal life a secret since Greg.”
“I know, Dee. I had too. You know why. But what I don’t understand is what that has to do with you talking to Marc about me.”
“Everything! I never even really knew how it all added up. But after my first few
months of therapy, I’ve realized that deep down inside I’ve been miserable about who I am. I look at you every day and see that you’ve accomplished all the things that I was supposed to.”
“What? Where is all of this coming from? I never knew. I mean I had plans for all three of us opening up our own law firm together. All of us were supposed to take the bar, but—”
Dee interrupted before Pam could get her thoughts together. “Pam! Just shut up! It’s not about you, and it’s not about Amanda, okay! For once, it’s about me!”
Pam was shocked and hurt by Dee’s outburst.
“I’m sorry,” Dee said. “I don’t mean to go off on you like this, really. But I’ve been fooling myself and others for a long time, and I need to let you know how I’m feeling. Some of the stuff I’ve done…well, you just wouldn’t believe it,” she said, as her voice trailed off. “Doc, I mean, Dr. Grimaldi, has been helping me work through this. Sometimes I wonder if I’m ever going to get better. And now, I find out that the one person that I’ve been sharing all of my intimate thoughts with is dating one of the people closest to me. It’s a hard pill to swallow and I need some time to digest it.”
Pam was still reeling from the large blow that had struck her and was now putting a deep wedge between them. Now, to make matters worse, Marc knew something about her that she should have been the one to tell him—not Dee.
“You know, Dee, you’re right.”
“Right? About what?”
“This is about you. And I think you need some time to work things out without me being around you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I was wondering how I was going to tell you this, but now it seems as good a time as any. I’ve accepted a job offer to become a partner at Richmond and Lieberman in New York.”
Dee looked at her with eyes opened wide. “Well, congratulations,” she said dryly. “So this is what it comes to, huh? You find out you’re dating my psychiatrist, I won’t go into the specifics of why I’m seeing him, and now you plan on just leaving me high and dry?”
“No, that wasn’t my plan at all,” Pam answered coolly.
“Pam, you haven’t grown since your breakup. You are still running away from your problems.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m taking a better job!”
“What? They wouldn’t cave in to you at SMS, so instead of working out your problems, you bail and then just go to another firm?”
“Dee, you wouldn’t understand—even if I tried to tell you.”
“No, you’re right. I don’t understand you at all!”
Pam fumed at her insinuations. She knew what Dee was trying to say, but she didn’t like how she was saying it. “Well, now you don’t have to worry about trying to understand me, right? Especially since I seem to be the root of your problems! I’ll talk to Marc on my own time,” she said as she took her purse off of the kitchen table. “Here,” she said, pulling out her checkbook and scribbling on the front of the check. So you won’t think I’m leaving you high and dry, I’m giving you my four months’ rent. This should give you more than enough time to work things out, find another roommate, and work out your personal problems without me getting in the way!” She handed her the check and headed back to her room.
Once Pam got to her room, she sat on the bed and opened up her nightstand to look for some aspirin—Dee had just given her a headache. “Okay, I know I have some in here, somewhere,” she said, as she continued to rummage through the drawer. She suddenly stopped as her fingers ran across something that she had long forgotten. “Oh no, this couldn’t be!” She looked at the faded cloth that sat underneath her pillbox and removed it slowly from the drawer—the cloth that had covered a long forgotten keepsake. She sat the cloth on the bed and stared at the memento as tears slowly traveled down her face and her headache disappeared. She thoughtfully wrapped it back up again and solemnly shook her head. Things were so simple back then. She wished they were that easy now. She lay down and placed the memento close to her heart and drifted off to sleep.
Overpriced Ticket
C’mon, Dee. I know she didn’t do that. That doesn’t even sound like Pam.”
“I thought the same thing, but she is, and she did.”
“Well, when I spoke with her she said she was just considering taking the offer.”
“Well, she considered it and now she’s taking it! And I’m stuck with trying to find a roommate within the next two weeks.”
Sedrick kept shaking his head as he thought about how Pam left Dee in the lurch. “Man, I just came by to see how the two of you were doing. I had no idea it had come to this. I just can’t believe she would leave you hanging like that.”
“I know, and I can’t afford this place by myself. The lease on this condo is two grand a month! Where am I going to find someone who wants to pay that kind of rent in two weeks?” She was lying again and to Sedrick of all people. Dee knew it was wrong, but she was hurt and angry and wanted Pam to look bad in Sedrick’s eyes.
Sedrick scratched his head, trying to come up with some type of solution. He knew that making Dee an offer to move in with him would not be a smart move. Besides, even if she wanted to, he didn’t really have the space for two people. Then there was Miranda.
“Hey, take it easy. I’m sure we can come up with something.” Sedrick searched through his briefcase and pulled out his checkbook ledger.
“What are you doing?”
“Let’s see here. I’ve got some money saved up and I was just trying to see…”
“No, Sedrick, I can’t.”
“Okay, if you won’t let me give it to you, what about your folks?”
Dee immediately shook her head. “No way! My father is still pouting that I’m a flight attendant. I could hear him now, ‘If you hadn’t wasted my money on going to law school to become a flight attendant then maybe I would have some left to help you!’”
Sedrick started writing out the check. “Look, take this…”
“Sedrick! This will cover Pam’s half for two months,” she said, wishing she had the backbone to take back the lie about the rent.
“Listen, I’m not going to need that money for a while.” Now he was lying. He knew he was tapping into the money he had put aside to pay his contractors for his building.
“Oh, Sedrick, I don’t know what to say.”
“Hey, just pay me back when your new roommate gets here. In the meantime, I’ll post some flyers up around the breakroom at the hospital. Something will turn up, you’ll see.” He hugged her and wished he could hold her in his arms a little longer. Dee grabbed him and held him close while her heart raced and the curves of her body melded into him.
“Hey, you wanna grab some lunch?” Sedrick asked.
“Sure, let’s go over to that little bistro around the corner.”
“There are 500 bistros around the corner in Buckhead,” Sed laughed. “Which one are you talking about?
“How about the French one called Francais Élégant. They have the best food. I had it when I was in Miami. You know the one next to the W Hotel?”
“Oh, yeah, that one. You wanna walk?”
“Sure, I’m up for the exercise.”
“Ah right, then. After you,” he said, as he opened the door. She locked the door behind them and they went on their way.
“Hey, isn’t that Chris Dickerson?” Sedrick said as they got closer to the restaurant.
Dee felt her stomach do a backward cartwheel. “Where?”
“He just went into Francais Élégant.”
No, it can’t be, Dee thought.
“Hey, I know this sounds crazy, but I’m a Chris Dickerson fan.”
Great. Dee’s face went flush as she watched Chris walk out to a table on the patio. Shortly after he sat down, a beautiful petite woman with long dark hair came up from behind him and started nibbling his ear. She firmly planted herself on his knee and planted a kiss on him that was so seductive that it should have been sa
ved for a room at the hotel next door.
“Well, I can see that he hasn’t wasted any time letting the grass grow under his feet!” Dee mumbled.
“Do you know this guy, Dee?”
“Yeah. Unfortunately.”
“All right then, introduce a brotha.”
“Listen, Sed. It’s very complicated. I used to go out with Chris and we just recently had a bad breakup.”
“Get outta here! Are you serious? You and Dickerson?”
“Is that an insult?”
“No, wow! I mean, the guy’s a playa. I mean look at him. Everybody knows about Dickerson. How long had you two been seeing each other?”
“Long enough to know that he was not Mr. Right.”
“Gee, don’t get mad at me. Look at him and that girl. He’s going at it with that tongue!” Sed said, as he took a closer look at the woman. Her hair was covering the side of her face until she pulled it behind her ear and gave Sed a clear view.
“What the fu—?”
“What’s wrong?” Before Dee could get a response from Sed, he had stormed over to the patio. Dee moved from the sidewalk to hide behind a nearby tree.
“Hey, Miranda,” Sed said coolly. “How ya doing?”
Miranda’s face looked like she had just seen a ghost.
Dee watched in disbelief. It was like a scene straight out of a soap opera. She couldn’t believe this was the girl Sed had been seeing, and she hoped Sedrick would not make an embarrassing scene.
“So, you two know each other?” Chris motioned to the two of them.
“You can say that,” Sedrick spoke up first. “Hey man, I’m Sedrick Henderson. And I know who you are,” he said, giving him a firm handshake. “The question I have is how do you two know each other?”
“Miranda, who is he to you?” Chris queried.
“Yeah, Miranda, why don’t you tell him who I am,” Sedrick answered sarcastically.
“Sedrick is my b-b-boyfriend.”
“Oh my God! I’m not believing this,” Dee said, totally stunned. She didn’t know if she should walk away to totally avoid Chris, or be a good friend to Sed and stay put for moral support.
Chris backed up his chair immediately and surrendered his hands up in the air as if he were being held at gunpoint. “No disrespect, man. I didn’t know. One of my teammates introduced us. She’s a doctor at Crawford Long Hospital and he was in the emergency room. They exchanged phone numbers and that’s how we met.”
Destination D Page 35
