She hadn’t seen Lamar in almost two days and was wondering where he had been. In fact, that was the first question she asked.
“Where you been at?” she snapped, walking up to Lamar while he got his thing out of the trunk.
When he turned to look at her the first thing he noticed was the scratches and bruises on her face. They were starting to heal but they were still noticeable.
“What happened to your face?” he asked, looking at the scratch running down the side of her face.
Falisha shook her head.
“Fighting with these ratchet ass bitches around Fox’s way,” she responded.
Lamar chuckled, then shook his head back at her.
“That’s what you get,” he said, turning back around to grab his duffle bag out of the trunk.
“I didn’t lose,” she shot back. “I whooped they’re ass.”
“Well you should have lost,” Lamar said, slamming his trunk. “You like dat shit, don’t you?”
“Like what? What are you talking about Lamar?”
She could tell that Lamar had copped an attitude by the way he looked.
“You like being treated like shit don’t you,” he answered.
“He don’t’ treat me like shit.”
“Oh yeah, so what da fuck is dis,” he said, pointing to the bruises on her face.
“He didn’t do this to me. I told you…
“Yo, you crazy as hell,” he said cutting her off. “But you know what; it’s not even none of my business. Do you,” he said then turned around and walked off.
“Oh you gonna walk away now,” she yelled as he crossed the street.
”Grow da fuck up Falisha,” he turned around and yelled back before walking up his steps and disappearing into the house.
__________
Tammy got to work about 20 minutes late today. Ms. D. had a dialysis appointment and got back home late. Tammy thought that she was going to get an earful from her boss because she didn’t call to let him know that she was going to be late, but when she passed by him on her way to customer service, he just smiled and kept it moving.
”I see your back from your OBGYN appointment,” Darious said, coming out from the back.
“What?” Tammy asked, confused.
”I told Tim you called in and said that you was going to be a little late cause you was at a doctors appointment,” he said, walking over and taking a seat next to her.
”Thanks for covering for me. I know he was going to be tripping as soon as I walked through the door,” Tammy said.
”Well, you just better hope your next co-worker is as nice as I am,” Darious chuckled. ”You know I’m outta here soon.”
”What! I thought you didn’t graduate until next month,” Tammy said, shocked that he was leaving.
”Yeah, I do graduate next month but I already got a job, I’ll be working at the hospital in the pharmacy department,” he told Tammy.
”Wow, that’s a good look for you. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. You know I’m going to miss you right,” Darious said in a sincere manner.
Tammy had to stop and look over at him to see if his facial expression matched the way he sounded and looked serious when he said it.
“Boy you better stop playin’. You ain’t gone miss nobody,” Tammy said, waving him off before turning back to the computer screen.
“I’m dead serious Tammy,” he shot back. “Can I be honest with you about something without you taking offense?”
She didn’t know whether or not to answer that, but she really didn’t have time to because Darious just kept going.
“Yo I think your beautiful Tammy. I been wanting to get with you from the moment you started working here. Truth is, I be kicking myself in the ass if I didn’t tell you this before I left. I like you a lot Tammy.”
Tammy was blown back by his confession. She always thought that he use to flirt with her, but never did she know that he liked her to this magnitude. It was flattering in a sense, enough to have her blushing like a teenage girl with her first cousin.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get this chance again so I was wondering if I could call you sometimes,” Darious asked.
Tammy’s defense went straight up. It was the same block she put up on all the other men who tried to hit on her. It was something that came automatically because of her feelings for Chris.
“I can’t dooo that,” she said with the sorry face.
”Tammy, I just wanna be ya friend. I wanna be the person you can call on when you need to talk,” he said turning his chair around to face her.
Darious wasn’t giving up that easy. He was trying his best to break down that wall Tammy had put up and from what he had said; it looked like it was starting to work. Tammy sat there in silence thinking about it. The thing was, she couldn’t deny the fact that she could use a friend right now in her life. Times was hard and just to have someone to talk to about life’s struggles was exactly what she needed. The fifteen minute phone calls with Chris wasn’t enough nor could he call all the time.
‘Its no harm in just talking”, she thought to herself looking over at Darious.
“I guess you can call me,” Tammy said, writing her number down on a sticky pad and passing it to him.
Darious whipped out his phone immediately and put the number into his phone book. This wasn’t just a big step for Tammy; it was also one for Darious. He waited patiently for months to get to this point. Now that he was here, it was only one more thing for him to do, and that was to keep pushing forward.
__________
“Good afternoon Mr. Windsor,” the bank manager, Larry, greeted when Ralphy entered the office.
Ralphy greeted him back then took a seat in the chair in front of his desk. He looked around the office at all the plaques’ hanging up and pictures of Larry standing next to a couple celebrities, such as Usher, Bow-Wow and Kelly Rowland.
“Damn he sure know a lot of black artist,” Ralphy thought to himself.
“I had opened up an account here a couple of months ago and I just wanted to transfer some money into it from out of a joint account I have with my wife, also at this bank,” Ralphy explained.
“That shouldn’t be a problem, just let me see you I.D.,” Larry said, adjusting his computer screen.
Ralphy gave him his I.D. then watched as Larry began pulling up his file. Now that he was actually sitting in the bank, Ralphy starting to question whether or not he should go this far. Saying it and doing it was two totally different things. He wasn’t even sure if Lisa had slept with Dre, nor did he even attempt to try and rectify the situation. He didn’t even give Lisa a chance to fix what she had done. After all, she was his wife and most of the times when married couples have serious issues in their relationships, and they love each other deeply, they try to work things out, either with a marriage counselor or by themselves. Ralphy didn’t attempt to do neither one and it was starting to weigh on his conscience.
“Okay Mr. Windsor, here’s a look at what’s’ in the joint account with you and your wife, and here’s what you have in your separate account,” Larry said, passing Ralphy the paper from out of the printing station.
Ralphy held up both papers in each hand, scanning over them carefully. The numbers on the paper with his and Lisa’s joint account caught his attention immediately. He put his separate account paper down and focused in on the other.
“Is this what’s left in this account?” Ralphy asked, pointing to the bottom of the page.
“Yup, you have $8,422.00 in this account,” Larry confirmed. “Is something wrong?”
Damn right something was wrong. It should have been at least 13,000.00 in their account. Ralphy wasn’t spending any money so if it was missing, it was because of Lisa. Ralphy normally kept tabs on the account transactions, mainly for budgeting purposes but as of late, he had been slacking in keeping up with it, but it was obvious Lisa wasn’t.
&nb
sp; “Is it possible I can see the last transactions within the last couple of months,” Ralphy asked with a suspicious look on his face.
”Yeah sure I can do that,” Larry said, tapping away at the keys. “Here you go.”
He passed Ralphy the two pieces of paper as soon as they came out of the printer. Larry was well experienced in the field of banking and knew that Ralphy may have had some marital problems. It was pretty much confirmed by the way Ralphy looked strongly at the two pieces of paper.
“Look Mr. Windsor. I know this isn’t any of my business but you seem like a nice guy,” Larry said, sympathizing for Ralphy. “I know it’s not professional for me to do this but us men gotta stick together,” he said, looking back on the computer. “I don’t know if you know this or not but your wife also has an open, separate account at this bank.”
“Oh is that right,” Ralphy said raising one eyebrow.
He had no idea Lisa had another account open and from what Larry was telling him, she had it open for about a year now. Larry even told him how much she had in the account which was double what they had in their joint accounts.
Ralphy was hot as hell. The extra money she had in her separate account was one thing but the list of transactions made in the past two months was a whole other situation in itself. The credit card transactions showed purchases from Nordstrom, Neman’s, Footlocker and several other clothing stores, none of which Ralphy was at in the past six months. A million and one thoughts ran through his head at once, so much so he didn’t even hear Larry talking to him.
“How much would you like to put into your account Mr. Windsor?,” Larry ask again this time snapping his fingers to bring him out of his daze.
Words couldn’t explain how Ralphy felt at that moment. All he wanted to do was leave, but before he did, he answered Larry’s question.
“All of it,” he said, grabbed his I.D. and walked out of the office.
Chapter 3
Tammy got off the bus and walked the rest of the way to Chris’s mom house. With Siniyyah in the stroller and Anthony walking up front, Tammy pulled out her phone to check her text messages. Darious had sent her a text, basically checking up on her to make sure she was alright. She smiled at the text then hit him back to let him know that she was good.
“Anthony, slow down!” she yelled out to him.
“But grandma house right there,” he pointed, then began running towards the house once Tammy got closer.
By the time she got to Ms. Elaine house, Anthony was on the porch knocking on the door. It was a pop-up visit so Ms. Elian’s didn’t even know they were coming. Hell, Tammy didn’t even know if she was home, but Ms. Elian’s was there standing behind the door with her head in her hands.
“Grandma!” Anthony yelled out again as he continued to bang on the door.
Ms. Elian’s couldn’t ignore Anthony any longer, even in she wanted to. She just wanted to avoid the drama that was about to unfold. She swung the door open with a big smile on her face, reaching down and giving Anthony a big hug along with a few grand mom kisses.
“Hi Ms. Elian’s,” Tammy greeted, carrying the stroller up the steps. “What, were you asleep?” she asked, pulling Siniyyah out of the stroller and grabbing the diaper bag.
“No I wasn’t sleep. But I wish I was,” she answered, mumbling the last part to herself.
When Tammy got into the house she headed back towards the kitchen to make up a few bottles. When she got there a young, white female was sitting at the kitchen table standing a baby up on her lap. Tammy slowly walked by the girl and her baby, speaking to her before opening up the refrigerator.
Tammy couldn’t see it at first because of the angle the girl was sitting in when she entered the kitchen, but on the side of the white girl’s neck, big as day was the name Chris. Not that she had to, but Tammy looked a little closer at the fancy cursive writing.
“Excuse me but what’s ya name?” Tammy asked, closing the refrigerator door and walking over to the female.
“Oh my name is Amy. I’m Chris’s baby mother,” she said, tilting her head to the side so that Tammy could see Chris name on her neck, not that she had to.
Tammy looked down at the little girl and it was no denying the fact that Chris fathered that child. Her hair was long, thick and curly just like Siniyyah and she had his golden eye color along with his flat nose. The little girl and Siniyyah looked almost like twins.
“Ms. Elian’s!” Tammy yelled out.
She was so focused on Amy and the little girl, she didn’t even notice Ms. Elian’s standing at the entrance of the kitchen.
“Now that you two finally met, I think its best we sit down and talk,” Ms. Elian’s suggested.
“Talk about what Ms. Elian’s,” Tammy shot back with an attitude. “You knew about this and didn’t tell me.”
“It wasn’t my place to tell you. It was Chris’s and he promised me that he would so I left it alone,” Ms. Elian’s explained. “I’m sorry you found out like this.”
“Do she know,” Tammy asked, cutting her eyes over at Amy. “Do she know that me and Chris are…let me rephrase that. Do she know me and Chris was together,” Tammy asked.
Ms. Elian’s just put her head down. Amy knew as much about Tammy as Tammy knew about her. In both of their eyes, they both was Chris’s girl. Tammy obviously had more time in being with Chris than Amy and it was shown by the way Tammy took over the floor, and how Ms. Elian’s was more sympathetic towards her. Amy on the other hand was so green to what was going on she didn’t seem to care at all.
“You know what, you can keep his ass,” Tammy told Amy, then stormed out of the kitchen.
Just as fast as she unpacked Siniyyah’s things, she packed them back up. Ms. Elian’s was trying to talk to her but Tammy wasn’t trying to her shit right now. She left without saying another word, leaving Amy and Ms. Elian’s sitting looking stupidly at each other.
__________
“A chair is still a chair…Even when there’s no one sitting there…But a chair is not a house…And a house is not a home when there’s no one there to hold you tight…And no one there you can kiss…goodnight.”
Ralphy sat at the kitchen table listening to Luther Vandross sing, “A House Is Not A Home” on the radio. He had been drinking all evening, sitting there, waiting for Lisa to come walking through the door, but she never did, even hours after he knew she had got off of work. The only thing he could think was that she was with Dre, probably getting her back blown out. the more he thought about it, the more he drank and the more he drank, the more Luther made sense.
“A room is still a room…Even when there’s nothing there…but gloom. But a rooooom is not a house and a house is not a home, when the two of use are far apart and one of us…Have a broken heart.”
Right while Ralphy was taking another swig of the bottle of Jack Daniels, Lisa came walking through the door. At this point, Ralphy was so drunk he couldn’t even talk, nor could he find the strength to reach in his back pocket and pull out the paperwork he had got from the bank. He was tore-up.
“Baby what’s going on,” Lisa asked putting her bag down and walking into the kitchen. “What’s the matter?,” she asked with a concerned look on her face as she pulled out a chair and sat next to him.
Everything he wanted to say was in his brain, but the words just wouldn’t come out. He sat there with a look on his face like he was taking a crap, looking her right in the eyes. He couldn’t talk, but his tears was working just fine cause the more he thought about it, the more he would cry.
“Baby please talk to me,” Lisa plead, now wiping the tears falling from her eyes.
She knew that she had hurt Ralphy and to see him sitting there drunk, and crying, was heart wrenching. She never seen him cry before ever.
For a moment, it looked like Ralphy was going to say something but he didn’t. All he managed to do was crack a smile through the stream of tears falling down his face. He also found eno
ugh strength to get up from the table, knocking the bottle of whiskey over in the process. He stumbled towards the steps in an attempt to go upstairs and when Lisa tried to help him, he turned around and raised his fist up. He only wished that he had enough power to punch her square in the jaw, but he didn’t. He barely had enough strength to make it up the steps but after two or three stumbles, a pause here and a pause there, he finally make it to the bedroom. That journey took everything he had left in him, cause once he hit the bed it was lights out.
__________
In federal prison system, emailing was a feature everybody used in order to communicate aside from the phone calls and what many people now call snail mail, via the postal service. Any time Tammy needed Chris to call home she would email him then get the phone call within an hour or so. She emailed Chris as soon as she left his mom’s house so by the time she had got home Chris was calling. Tammy heard her phone ring the moment she stepped through the door. She hurried up and dug into her bag and pulled out the phone, leaving Siniyyah still sitting in her stroller.
“You have a prepaid call. You will not be charged for this call,” the automated system announced.
Tammy pushed five to accept the call, taking a seat on the couch with Siniyyah in front of her.
“Wassup babe,” Chris spoke, unbeknown to what was going on at home.
“I just left ya mom house like an hour ago and guess who was there? Ya white baby mom and ya daughter,” Tammy said as she unstrapped Siniyyah.
It got real quiet on the phone. Chris was stuck. He didn’t know what to say. It was pointless for him to even try and lie because he knew Tammy wasn’t trying to hear any of it.
“So you don’t have anything to say?,” Tammy asked breaking the dead silence on the phone.
“I mean, what you want me to say,” Chris answered feeling the agony of defeat around the corner.
“I was faithful to you this whole time and this is what I get in returned. I stood by you when you didn’t have a damn dime in ya pocket. None of these bitches was around then. And you gone sit here and have a fuckin’ baby on me,” Tammy yelled.
Single Ladies 3&4 Page 2
