Single Ladies

by Blake Karrington

  They sat and talked for the rest of the time about the kids, school, and work. Kim sat across from her at the table, smiling while Tammy glowed. She hadn’t seen her friend smiling and laughing that hard in a long time. Even though she was with Darious physically, and may have even loved him, a part of her heart would always belong to Chris.

  * * *

  Falisha yelled up to her mom to see if she wanted something from the store while she was going. Hunger had set in, and for some odd reason she wanted a large breakfast this morning, including eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, home fries, toast with jelly, and some orange juice. After the morning sickness phase of her pregnancy had passed, the cravings hit her full blast.

  “Oh, shit! Boy, you scared the hell out of me,” Falisha said when she stepped out on the porch and Lamar was standing off to the side. “What do you want and why da fuck is you out here on my porch?” Falisha snapped.

  Lamar had been sitting out there just about all morning, hoping to catch Falisha either coming in or going out. He had more than enough time to think last night, and he really felt bad about how he handled the news of the baby. “Can we talk?” Lamar asked, lowering his head in humility. “I really need to talk to you.”

  “About what, Lamar? You said what you said and that’s it.”

  “I know, I know, and I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean for it to come out that way, and I should have let you punch me,” he said.

  Falisha unbuttoned her shorts and adjusted them so they wouldn’t feel so tight. Lamar couldn’t help but to notice that she was picking up a few pounds around her waist. Her thighs were also looking a little thicker. Lamar thought it was cute.

  “Look, I’m hungry, so unless you plan on taking me to get some breakfast, I’ll talk to you later,” Falisha said, turning around to lock the front door.

  Lamar smiled. “Yeah, I’m kinda hungry myself. I’ve been out all night,” he said, leading the way down the steps. The closest spot was Grandma’s Diner, which happened to be Falisha’s favorite breakfast spot. It was only about five minutes away by car, so there really wasn’t much conversation during the ride. Falisha used that time to check her missed call log and her text messages, most of which were from Lamar.

  “Damn I can’t believe Grandma’s is still da shit,” Lamar said when they walked into the diner and saw that it was a full house.

  Falisha didn’t need a menu. As soon as she got into the booth, she called the waitress over and began ordering. It was everything she had a taste for when she left the house. Lamar kept it simple and got some egg whites, toast, and some orange juice.

  “So can I ask you something without you getting an attitude?” Lamar asked, not wanting this conversation to turn into an argument. “Are you really keeping it?”

  “You think I’m buying all this food for nothing? Of course I’m keeping my baby, and if you don’t want to be a part of our lives, then that’s fine, Lamar. The only reason I told you is because I wanted to give you chance to step up and be a man. You and I both know that I can take care of her by myself.”

  “Her?” Lamar asked, excited about the gender.

  Falisha chuckled. “I’m hoping it’s a girl. I don’t know what I’d do if I had another you running around here.”

  Lamar got up and sat in the booth next to Falisha. He reached over and placed his hand over her stomach. Falisha put her hand over his. His touch was gentle, and the little tummy ache she had earlier went away the moment he touched her.

  “Damn, that’s really my baby in there?” Lamar asked with a huge smile on his face.

  “Yeah, you’re gonna be a daddy,” she answered, also smiling at the thought of motherhood.

  Hearing those words made Lamar happy. So happy he leaned over and kissed Falisha on the cheek. She turned and could see the joy in his eyes. They sat there staring at each other for a moment, and then inevitable happened. Lamar leaned back in, but this time he kissed Falisha’s soft, full lips. In her mind, she wanted to resist, but her lips were calling the shots right now, and they were begging him not to stop.

  A guilty shock raced through his body, causing him to pull back. “Damn, I’m out of pocket,” he said, scratching the top of his head.

  Falisha was about to respond, but stopped when the waitress brought the food to the table. His guilt was a reminder to Falisha that he still belonged to someone else. It was so embarrassing and humiliating that Falisha lost her appetite. It was ugly, but it was a reality check both of them needed at the time.

  * * *

  Tammy and Kim pulled up to the block to see several cop cars sitting in front of Lisa’s house. At first, Tammy thought that they were there for her, and she was about to back up and take her chances running. Lisa’s loud screams made Tammy and Kim abandon the car and race down the street toward her.

  “Nooooo! Nooooo! Oh, God, nooooo!” Lisa cried out, falling to the ground in tears.

  “What happened! What happened!” Kim and Tammy yelled, pushing their way through the crowd of police officers and homicide detectives.

  “He’s gone. Oh, my God, Ralphy’s gone!” Lisa yelled, kicking and punching the air.

  “What? What do you mean gone? What happened, Lisa?” Tammy questioned her.

  Kim kneeled down next to her and wrapped Lisa in her arms where she cried like a baby. Tammy couldn’t hold back the tears as she kneeled down and began rubbing Lisa’s arm. They all sat there for a while until finally they had to help Lisa up. Her legs were totally gone and the girls had to drag her limp body toward the house.

  “They killed my babe, my husband. My Ralphy is gone,” Lisa kept repeating.

  “We would like to ask you a few questions about your husband, ma’am,” the detective said, as Kim and Tammy led Lisa up her steps.

  “Can’t you see that now is not a good time?” Kim responded. “Damn, have some fucking decency.”

  The women disappeared into the house and slammed the door behind them. None of them, especially Lisa, had anything to say anyway. Right now, Lisa really needed to be around some people who loved her and not be questioned about her husband’s death.

  Chapter 41

  It had been a week since Ralphy’s death, and Lisa still hadn’t left the house. His funeral was tomorrow and Lisa wasn’t even sure if she was strong enough to make it. Ralphy’s mom had to go down to the morgue and identify his body, because Lisa didn’t want to see him lying on a cold metal table. She didn’t want that image to be stuck in her head.

  “Mommy, Mommy!” Naomi said, coming into the bedroom where Lisa was. “Is Daddy coming home today?” she asked so innocently.

  Lisa had already explained to Naomi that her daddy wasn’t coming back, but Naomi still didn’t fully understand it. She didn’t know any better, and every time Lisa tried to explain she felt her heart break all over again

  “Baby, come here for a minute,” Lisa said, patting the bed. “I wanna talk to you about your daddy.”

  Naomi got up on the bed and sat between Lisa’s legs with her teddy bear. Lisa began taking out Naomi’s barrettes so that she could redo her hair. “Remember, I told you that you weren’t going to see him again for a while, because he went to heaven,” Lisa told her.

  “But I don’t want my daddy to go to heaven. I want him to come home,” she said in a sad voice.

  Lisa fought back the urge to cry. She knew that she had to be strong for Naomi and help her understand. As her mother, Lisa was all she had left as a parent.

  “I don’t want Daddy to go to heaven either, baby, but guess what?” Lisa said, trying to sound excited. “He’s gonna be watching over us from heaven every day.” Lisa smiled, kissing Naomi’s head.

  The road ahead was going to be rough, but Lisa had no other choice but to prepare for it. First and foremost making it through Ralphy’s funeral was the top priority, which was going to be a task in itself. Physically, her body was able to do it, but mentally Lisa was out of it. It was going to take a near act of God for her to bury her husband to
morrow or, at the bare minimum, some type of medication to help relax her.

  * * *

  Tammy walked up and got into the back seat of Agent Grant’s car on Market Street. She had more than enough information for Grant to go to the grand jury with an order to get an indictment. She had video and audio recordings of her and Darious talking in detail about his drug operation. She also brought names of clients and people she was to deliver the pills to every week, along with receipts from all the prescriptions she went to the pharmacy and did herself.

  “You know you’re doing the right thing,” Agent Grant said as he looked over the evidence.

  “But why does it feel so wrong?”

  Grant put the Gucci bag down and turned to face Tammy, who was on the passenger side. He went through this on a regular basis with females cooperating against their boyfriends or fiancés and, in some cases, their husbands. He could see something in Tammy that he had seen in every woman he’d ever dealt with.

  “It feels wrong because you love him. He treats you good, gives you money, and probably makes you feel like the only person who matters,” Grant spoke.

  “Yeah, he does.” Tammy smiled, thinking about how much of her life Darious changed.

  “But don’t be fooled, Tammy. Darious doesn’t love you. If he did love you, he wouldn’t be out there selling drugs and putting you and your kids’ lives in danger. Do you know how many home invasion cases I worked where nobody in the house survived? Too many. When the stick-up boys come, they don’t care who’s in the house. If somebody holds you and your kids for ransom, do you think he’s coming for you, or when these indictments start getting tossed around, do you think for one second that he won’t sacrifice you in order to get a lesser sentence?” Agent Grant spoke. “Trust me.” He chuckled.

  Tammy sat there listening to him, wondering if he was right about Darious. She began to question whether Darious did in fact love her.

  “Next week, I’m going to need you to testify in front of a grand jury,” Grant said, interrupting her thoughts. “After that, it’s pretty much over.”

  “Just call me, and I’ll be there,” Tammy said, then got out of the agent’s car.

  * * *

  “Now, I’m going to apply some gel,” the nurse said, rubbing the green goo on Falisha’s stomach.

  Lamar opted to go with her to this doctor’s appointment to show his support, since it was established that Falisha was keeping the baby. He stood on the other side of the bed looking into the monitor at pretty much nothing. The baby wasn’t formed yet, but after adjusting the device against Falisha’s stomach, the faint sound of a heartbeat could be heard.

  “That’s your baby,” the nurse said, turning the volume up on the monitor.

  She explained to Falisha and Lamar that over the course of the next few weeks, the baby would start to take its form, and by the fifth month she would be able to tell them what the sex was. This was the experience of a lifetime for the both of them, and something that they would be able to share for the rest of their lives.

  Looking down at Falisha lying there with her shirt up over her stomach did something to him. It was a reality check that he needed, and a reminder that there was more to life than what he knew. He also had a newfound respect for Falisha, and standing there in that room, listening to his baby’s heartbeat, he also had a newfound love for her.

  * * *

  Tammy pulled up in the driveway, put the car in park, and just sat there. The conversation she had with Agent Grant was weighing on her. Some of what he said did hold some truth to it, but she also was well aware that Agent Grant was trying to manipulate her into doing what he needed her to do.

  Darious tapped on the window. He was right on time, because there were some questions that she needed to ask him, questions that might change the way she felt about him. She got out of the car, closed the door, then leaned against it with her Louis Vuitton bag in her hand. Darious could see that something was bothering her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching out for her waist.

  She pushed his hand away then gave him a stern look to let him know that she was serious right now. Darious didn’t like the rejection at all, but he stood there to see what was really on Tammy’s mind.

  “Let me ask you something, Darious,” Tammy spoke. “Do you love me?” she asked, but continued before he could answer her. “And don’t say yes because you think that is the right thing to say. Be real with me,” she said, looking into his eyes.

  “You buggin’ out right now. Let’s go in the house to talk,” he said, reaching out again to grab her arm.

  Tammy didn’t budge. She wasn’t trying to go in the house or do anything else but stand there and wait for Darious to answer her questions. Seeing that she wasn’t moving, Darious stood there too.

  “I guess you don’t listen to anything I say,” he began. “I really don’t know what else there is for me to say or do to prove to you that my heart belongs to you, Tammy.”

  “So why do you sell drugs, knowing the dangers it brings? I told you this before: I got kids who live here with us. Anything can happen,” she snapped.

  “It’s funny you said that, because I just told the doc that I was about to fall back. I made more than enough money, and now that I have someone like you to spend the rest of my life with, I’m good,” Darious told her.

  “So you’re saying that I’m the reason why you’re getting out of the game?” Tammy asked.

  “Look, Tammy, I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, and I really don’t care. Just don’t let anybody else try to tell you what’s in my heart. I give you my word that sometime in the near future, you’re gon’ come to know that my love for you is that of nothing you could ever imagine. When that time comes, I just hope that the love you say you have for me is half as strong as the love I have for you,” Darious told her.

  He really didn’t feel like talking about it anymore, because to continue to question his love would only irritate him. Tammy couldn’t see it right now, but he was making a crazy sacrifice as well.

  * * *

  Lamar followed Falisha into the house, reading the label on the prenatal pill bottle aloud. He was excited the entire ride home. “I hope you feel this way when I’m going through my mood swings,” Falisha said, flopping down on the couch.

  “I’m not worried about ya little mood swings,” Lamar shot back, sitting on the arm of the couch. “I think I can handle you.” He laughed.

  “I’m hungry,” Falisha said, jumping up from the couch. “You hungry?” she asked, walking off to the kitchen.

  Being in the hospital all day did have him a little hungry. He followed Falisha, shaking the bottle of pills. “Come on, you might as well start taking these now,” he said, walking up behind Falisha at the refrigerator. When she bent over to grab some leftover spaghetti from the bottom shelf, Lamar looked down and pictured himself inside of her. His hands must’ve been feeling the same way, because they wrapped around her waist and pulled her ass up against his dick. Falisha looking back at him didn’t make things any better.

  “You wish,” Falisha said, standing upright.

  She tried to step around him, but Lamar stood in front of her. She tried again, but Lamar cut her off.

  “Come ’ere” he said, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her body close to his.

  She resisted a little, but Lamar wasn’t letting up. He pressed her body up against his some more then kissed her forehead. The kiss sent chills down her spine, and before she could drop the plate of spaghetti, she reached over and put it on the table.

  “Look at me,” Lamar said, reaching up and grabbing a handful of her hair from the back and yanking it down so that she looked up at him. “You still love me?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

  Falisha closed her eyes and tried to put her head down, but Lamar yanked at her hair to stop her. The pulling of her hair actually turned Falisha on, but the question he asked did something else to her. At that very moment, she fel
t submissive and unable to deny him in any way, shape, or form. She didn’t want to tell him, but she did love him and probably even more now than ever.

  “Do you still love me?” he asked again, demanding to know how she felt about him.

  Falisha still didn’t say anything, so Lamar leaned in and kissed her. She pulled back, but he went in for another, and this time Falisha felt the need to indulge. She kissed him back passionately. It got hot and heavy within seconds, and before she knew it Lamar was unbuttoning her jeans.

  “Yes. Yes, I do still love you,” Falisha whined through his kisses. “Take me upstairs,” she commanded, wrapping both of her arms around his neck.

  Lamar lifted her up, wrapped her legs around his waist, and began walking toward the steps. He kissed Falisha the whole way up to her bedroom and, once inside the room, he closed the door behind him and slammed Falisha on the bed. She pulled his shirt over his head while he yanked her pants off, and never once did they take their eyes off each other.

  “I missed dis pussy,” Lamar said, pulling her to the edge of the bed as he stood over her. He dropped to his knees, grabbed her thighs, and pushed them back, spreading her soft pink pussy apart. He slowly French kissed her clit, licking and nibbling on it before taking it into his mouth and sucking on it. Falisha was going crazy, biting down on her bottom lip and rubbing on her breast.

  “Oh, my God, Lamar. Don’t stop, baby,” she told him.

  Lamar didn’t have any plans to stop anyway. He licked the inside of her pussy lips, and then the outside, and then back to the inside before twirling his tongue around the whole of it. He could see her fluid seeping out every time her vaginal muscles tightened up.

  “I’m about to cum,” Falisha moaned, pushing her titty up and putting her nipple in her mouth.

  Lamar stuffed his tongue inside of her and started flicking it up and down at a fast pace. He looked up at Falisha, who was moaning in pleasure as she sucked on her nipple. Her whole body began to jerk.