by Cydney Rax
In that moment, as she compared her life to her sister’s, Alita resented Burgundy. She felt envious of her decent life and her decent husband, the two adorable kids who had two solid parents raising them; the well-to-do family who owned a house that was practically an estate with its four acres, four-car garage, two staircases, and sixteen televisions. She hated how Burgundy Reeves had enough money rolling in that her kids would never know the pang of hunger causing a growl to rumble inside their little bellies. The kids wouldn’t know how it felt to use the same raggedy toothbrush for a couple of years. They would never wear the same clothes over and over again, clothes that had been machine washed so often that the bright colors began to fade. Alita knew it was unfair, but she resented her nieces, who couldn’t help that they had been born to responsible, hardworking parents. But in that moment of hate, Alita mostly hated herself.
Could she really blame all of her problems on her ex-husband? On the fact that she did not pursue a college degree and thereby limited the amount of money she could make? Or that she was in the habit of making bad decisions, and the result of her judgment was what had really caused her life to plunge into the depths of despair.
I can’t blame the white man, the government, stupid-ass men, or anybody except myself for the choices I’ve made, everything I’ve done.
It hurt to admit that perhaps Burgundy was right. Once her divorce was final, Alita knew she had scared away men who never even got a chance to ask her for a date. If she were honest with herself, she knew she was fortunate that Shade Wilkins even allowed her a couple of hours of his time.
“Well, if I’m a fuck-up, I better make the most of it. I guess he’ll never call my negative ass again. See if I care.”
Alita turned around and walked away; she hoped that Burgundy felt regretful for speaking to her like she was nothing. Even if it was the truth, no one on earth wanted to be treated like they were nobody.
CHAPTER 10
New Lovers
It was a Sunday in October. And the day before, Leonard Washington had called Alita to see if it was all right for Leno to spend the night. Even though Alita had full custody, she would have thought that Leonard would have been eager to get their child every two weeks, per the custody agreement. But most times he didn’t, or couldn’t. Alita was baffled.
“All these years, and now you want him to sleep over?” she said to her ex. “Isn’t he kind of old for that type of thing?”
“He’s never too old to hang out with his dad. I happen to have some tickets to the Texans game. And if he sleeps over, we’ll get up early in the morning and go tailgate. It’ll be fun.”
“Hmm,” she said, sounding suspicious. But isn’t Leno bonding with his dad, the thing she’d been wanting? Trying to be nice, she told him, “How thoughtful of you. I guess it’ll be okay. Have fun.”
Leonard had picked up his son from Alita’s the night before without incident. And now it was Sunday evening. Time was steadily passing. Alita thought her son would’ve returned home by now. But she hadn’t heard from him or his dad.
After trying to get in touch with Leonard four times with no response, Alita was itching to do something. She cranked up her car and went to over to the big house to see Coco.
“Please go with me over to Leonard’s,” she begged. “I don’t feel right going over there by myself.”
“Girl, don’t drag me into your mess. I got my own messes to deal with,” Coco protested.
They were both standing in Coco’s doorway. Alita could hear all three of her kids screaming their heads off like they were out of control.
“See what I’m talking about, Lita?” Coco said as she glanced into the house at Cadee, Chloe, and Chance. They were all running around barefoot.
“I made a chocolate cake for Calhoun’s mama, but they talked me into giving them a big slice, and now they’re losing their minds.”
Alita shook her head. “You’ll learn one of these days. Don’t let them badass kids control you, Sis. But forget about them for now. I need to borrow you for about an hour. Is your baby daddy at home right now?”
“Yeah, my husband is home. What about him?”
“Ask him if he can watch the kids. They are always up under you, and he needs to do his part when it comes to letting you out the house.”
“I can’t argue with that. Wait a second. Be right back.”
Within minutes Coco was bursting through the front door. “If we gonna do this, let’s roll like right now. Calhoun is on the toilet, and he wasn’t too happy to know I was leaving without giving him a heads-up. But he’ll be all right.”
Alita noticed, though, that little Chance was attached to Coco’s hip.
“Why is he going with us?”
“I just want him with us, that’s all. Let’s go. Hurry.”
They hurried outside and got into Alita’s dented-up Impala. The scratches and dents were due to years of neglect. But it got Alita from point A to B.
“Ohh, I will be so glad when you get you a man. I can’t believe that you let Leonard take the newer, nicer car when y’all got divorced.”
“Who you telling?” Alita replied. “I ended up taking that cash payout instead of keeping the nicer. And I should have took both. I definitely got the short end of the stick in my divorce settlement. I think I was being too nice.”
“You? Too nice?”
“Yes! Me! It happens.”
Coco laughed.
“Plus, my attorney wasn’t the best. And had the nerve to charge me all that money just so I still ended up being screwed.”
“You’re just an inexperienced whore, that’s all.” Coco laughed.
“I guess I am.”
With Coco living in Third Ward and Leonard staying on the Southwest Side of Houston, it took the ladies thirty minutes to reach his house. He lived in a small gated community that consisted of fifteen houses spread out on two residential blocks. Fortunately for Alita, another vehicle happened to be entering the complex, which allowed Alita to speed up before the gate could close.
“Girl,” Coco said. “You know you supposed to punch in the code, or call first.”
“I know. I don’t care. He never answered my calls, so that’s why I gotta do it this way.”
“This definitely ain’t the nice Alita.”
“Shut up, Coco.”
Within minutes Alita located the house, a lovely tan two-story stucco. As they came to a stop and parked, Coco gasped. “I’ve never been here before, but damn, he look like he’s rolling in the dough.” Leonard’s house looked stunning from the curb.
“Ain’t that a bitch?” Alita said as they got out of her car. “Look at how well he keeps up his property. The bushes are all neatly trimmed. They just flowers, yet he won’t give me extra money to buy Leno decent clothes. I want to shop at Macy’s but the money I get keeps me at Target.”
“Well, that’s who you picked, Lita. You wanted to marry him.” Coco enjoyed echoing the advice that her sister often gave to her. “What did you see in him anyway?”
Alita rolled her eyes. “None of it matters anymore. C’mon. The sooner I get my kid, the better. I can’t stand being forced to see how good my ex is living when he knows we’re struggling.”
As they walked up short the pathway leading to the front door, Alita noticed a late-model Mercedes in the driveway. She thought it couldn’t be Leonard’s car, since he was loyal to Nissan and had been driving his Maxima for years.
Alita rang the doorbell and heard its shrill sound from outside. At first she maintained her patience. But after five long minutes of standing around, she had to open her mouth.
“What’s taking him so long?” she asked. “Now I’m getting nervous, and it’s not good when I feel nervous.”
Alita hesitated, then banged her fist against the door. Seconds later, the door squeaked open. A woman answered. Petite, short hair, well dressed, quite attractive. Her makeup was impeccable; her large doe-like eyes lit up when she smiled.
Up
on seeing the woman, Alita involuntarily opened and closed her fists. She felt Coco’s hand attempt to soothingly rub her back.
“Hi,” the woman said. “May I help you?”
Feeling facetious, Alita asked. “I know I have the right house, but I sure didn’t expect a strange woman to answer. Who are you?”
The woman looked at her questioningly. “I’m Desiree.”
“Desiree what?” Alita demanded.
“Who wants to know?” The woman gazed Alita up and down, and the friendly smile disappeared from her face.
“I’m Alita Washington. I’ve here to pick up my son, Leno. Is he here?”
“Oh, the baby moms. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She snickered but quickly stopped.
Alita raised an eyebrow. “Hold on. Did you laugh?”
“No!”
“Yeah, you did. What’s so funny?”
Desiree said, “Nothing.” She twirled around and abandoned Alita and Coco; the glass storm door was closed, but the interior door was still ajar. They had a clear look inside the house, and Desiree was nowhere in sight.
“Can you believe that? What’s up with her?” Alita opened the storm door and motioned at Coco to follow her.
Alita eye’s widened as she stepped foot inside Leonard’s new house. The few times that he did hang out with his son, he’d been the one to come to her apartment to pick up Leno.
As she ventured farther down the vast hallway, it was immediately obvious that Leonard had moved up in the world. The home that she had shared with him was a typical house: one story, three large bedrooms, living and dining areas, a den. Nice but nothing extravagant. But his new dwelling had impressive craftsmanship.
Alita took in everything, and she nearly gasped at the upscale, carefully arranged contemporary art. Artwork lined the walls of the foyer, living room, dining area, and even the kitchen. Alita felt herself growing smaller and smaller as she walked from room to room. The house felt like a museum with its exhibition lighting, beige walls, and pristine high white ceilings. The more she saw, the more she felt like she never knew the father of her child.
“Hmmm,” Coco said. She also perceived that this setup was drastically different than when Alita had been married.
“This is just unbelievable, sickening in a way,” Coco mumbled to herself as she eyeballed the paintings. “No wonder he can’t afford to buy my nephew new clothes. He has to put all his money into useless expensive shit that’s supposed to impress people, but all it’s doing is collecting a whole lot of dust.”
Alita came to a stop at the corner of the living room. She finally found something that she could tolerate seeing: black-and-white photos in picture frames. A few were of Leno when he was ten years old. and some were from when he was an infant and a toddler. A couple photos were of Leonard and Leno during an elementary school field trip when they traveled by bus to San Antonio.
There were no photographs that featured Alita. It felt as if she had never existed.
Her throat swelled up. “Hell, I guess he created Leno all by himself.” She picked up one photo and set it face-down.
“Girl,” Coco said. “I know you ain’t tripping because your mug shot ain’t up here in your ex-husband’s house. Remember, the ex whose guts you can’t stand? Why would you want your picture—”
“I know, Coco. It sounds silly, but—”
“But nothing. Forget him. You about to date a much classier man than Leonard. Shade Wilkins,” Coco whispered in Alita’s ear. “Shade. Shade,” she kept repeating.
“Will you shut up, please?” Alita wanted to tune out her idiot sister. She longingly glanced at the photo of her son and his dad smiling into the camera as they stood outside a famous building: the Alamo. Alita remembered the time father and son went on the trip. She too was supposed to join them and go as a chaperone, but she had contracted the flu and couldn’t join them.
“Why you all down in the mouth over some photos?”
“Because seeing that picture reminds me of something. When Leonard and I broke up, I begged him to let me have some of the baby pictures. He was like a maniac photographer back when we were married. He should have bought stock in Nikon. And yep, his camera took the photos, but I didn’t see why he wouldn’t be nice and just let me make some duplicates. But he refused. It was like he was trying to hurt me for filing for divorce. So that’s why I’m a bit pissed right now.”
“Oh, chile, you better get over that real quick. Leno has just turned sixteen. You may never see those photos ever again in your life; and don’t worry about it, because the main thing is you have your son, you can remember when he was a baby, and that fool definitely can’t stop you from having good memories.”
Alita saw that Coco was trying to help, but she really wished her sister would be quiet. She started to regret that she had begged her to tag along. “Come with me,” she said. Although it hurt her to see how well Leonard was living, they continued their tour. All the kitchen and laundry room appliances were top of the line. The family room had the biggest TV Alita had ever seen.
Something inside her whispered, If you hadn’t up and filed on this man, he’d still be your husband, and you would have this new house and everything that comes with it.
Those thoughts made Alita feel even worse. She tried hard to block the nagging voices from invading her mind.
“Where is everybody?” Coco finally asked. “Where’d that maid go?”
“Let’s go upstairs,” Alita suggested. She walked to the rear of the house and began to climb the stairs until she reached the second floor. The first thing she saw was a game room decked out with TVs, laptops, and lounging furniture. There were hallways and a bunch of closed doors everywhere. Soon she heard noises. Joyous laughter. Happy voices. Alita followed the sounds. She stood outside one of the closed doors. She leaned and pressed her nose against the wood. She heard Leno talking. Alita knocked. The sounds inside the room were so loud it seemed no one could hear her. She turned the knob and allowed herself entrance.
Sitting comfortably on a king-size bed was Leno. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of gym shorts. He held a game controller; his other hand was clutched by the slender fingers of an unfamiliar female. From what Alita could tell, the girl’s hair was dark brown mixed with blond highlights. She had sensuous lips, and she was wearing shorts.
A new thotsicle.
“Leno?” Alita said.
Her son looked up. He jumped out of bed. “Mama, we weren’t doing anything, I swear to God. We were just playing the game.”
“Baby, you don’t have to explain. It’s not like you were caught in the act.”
Alita stared boldly at the young woman. The female had dark brown eyes, dimples in her round fleshy cheeks. She remained calm and smiled at Alita.
Alita noticed that the girls Leno came across were all kinds of beautiful. This one had long wavy hair that hung down her back; she had thick, pretty eyelashes, and, of course, the biggest boobs a horny man could ever want.
The sight of this girl with her son made Alita sick to her stomach.
“Um, what’s going on, Leno? I called you like ten times, and you didn’t pick up.”
“Five times, Mama. Five times.”
“Oh, so since you counting how many times I called, that means you ignored me on purpose. What if it would have been an emergency?”
“But I was all right, Mom. I was safe with my dad.”
“I am not talking about you—” She wanted to add “dummy” but decided to hold her tongue for once. She could easily embarrass her child but no, not this time.
“I’m just saying something could have been going on at our house, Leno.” She tried to calm down. “Anyway, I am here to pick you up. You do know that this is a school night, and you need to do that homework of yours that you haven’t touched in days. You’re lucky I let you go to the Texans game. Who won?”
“Our team won by ten points in OT,” the young lady said with an excited smile. “It was so much fun.”
“Um, who are you? My son is so rude; he should have been introduced you,” Alita said, agitated.
Leno was quick to respond. “This is, uh, her name is Zaida. Like Za-ee-da.”
“Does she have a last name?” Alita demanded.
“Rojo.”
“What?” Alita scowled.
“It’s R-O-J-O. The J is silent. So it sounds like Ro-ho.”
“Hmm, I thought it would be something like that,” Alita said.
“Mom!” Leno threw down his game controller and was keen enough to pick up on her veiled meaning. “Zaida is a nice girl. She moved here from Florida just last summer.”
“Oh, so you’ve only known Rojo for a few months, and you think you know everything about her, son?”
Zaida’s dark eyes looked puzzled. Then she said very sweetly, “We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well, ma’am. You have a smart, charming, and talented son. He’s a true gentleman. I’m lucky to know him.”
“You are lucky that you got to meet my son. But you aren’t the only girl out here trying to know him,” Alita said. She sized up Zaida. Besides a body and face to die for, this chick possessed a quiet confidence, almost smug, but it was cloaked in that sweetness that seemed to ooze from her pores.
“Leno, it’s cool that you have a little friend, but please don’t ignore my calls. I don’t care if you spend the night with your dad, you will still show me respect, you hear me? Now come on, get your things so we can go.”
“Yes ma’am. I’m sorry to worry you, Mama.”
Alita’s heart warmed. “It’s okay, son, as long as you’re all right. That’s what matters.”
Leno turned to the girl. “Our fun times with Daddy are done. Come on, Zaida.”
Coco said, “It’s good to see you, nephew. We’ll leave you two alone so you can say goodbye.” Coco grabbed her sister’s arm and forced her to leave the room. She shut the door behind her. And they proceeded to wait outside the door. Everything grew eerily quiet. Alita shut her eyes tight and could only imagine what type of kissing was going on.
