Sandra wasn’t totally sold on Jelisa and Shamar getting married in the first place, let alone her moving away with him. Even if he was her husband, Sandra didn’t trust any of her girls in the care of any man. One could only imagine how anxious she was, knowing that Jelisa would be away from her with her grandkids without her supervision. She did not think she was ready to be on her own. Jelisa never informed Sandra that she was going to sign the lease for the apartment, so she never saw it coming.
Jelisa got up early Saturday morning and went down to the leasing office at the complex she was moving into. When she returned to Sandra’s, she walked through the front door with the keys and paperwork still in her hand. She was met by Sandra as soon as she shut the door. The amount of arguing and yelling that followed would put you in mind of an intense spades game being played by a bunch of high-strung, heavily inebriated middle-aged men.
“So when were you going to tell me that you were moving, Jelisa? Was I just supposed to come home one day and find all of your stuff gone or what?” Sandra laid into Jelisa, making sure she experienced every bit of displeasure she was feeling.
“Mama, you got a lot of nerve getting mad at me for wanting to move out,” Jelisa responded while stuffing the keys and papers in her coat pocket and then throwing it on the living room couch next to her. She further defended herself, saying, “Mama, you moved out of Granny’s house when you were seventeen. I’ll be twenty in December. I have my own family to worry about and I’m not going to let you, or anybody else, come before that.”
Sandra took a couple steps back and sized Jelisa up, still in disbelief that her child had spoken to her that way. But she knew something Jelisa didn’t think she knew and it was finally time for her to throw it back in her face. “Please, child, don’t you dare stand there and act like you’re all innocent when you know good and well you weren’t thinking about that when you lied to Shamar about Mya being his.”
Jelisa’s mouth dropped, and her eyes got big. She couldn’t believe it. This was an all-time low, even for Sandra. But Jelisa wasn’t about to be bullied any longer. It had been going on for too long. This wasn’t the kind of treatment she’d expect from the woman who gave birth to her. Not willing to let Sandra have the last laugh, Jelisa stood her ground and proclaimed, “You know what, Mama? I would have thought, out of all people, you would be the one I could trust. But for you to throw something like that in my face, especially while I’m dealing with Shamar being gone, is just messed up. I’m glad I’m getting up out of here.” Jelisa stormed toward Sandra, heading down the hallway to her room. She looked right past her mother as she got closer.
Sandra stood with her head down, knee-deep in a pity party with only herself in attendance. Jelisa bumped shoulders with her, not wanting to redirect her route to avoid her. The tension in the house was thick.
As Jelisa began packing her things and Mya’s, she began to cry. Mya had been the one thing that held the relationship between her and Shamar together. She dropped to her knees next to the bed and sobbed as her mind took her back to the previous year when the rumor had begun to spread around the city that Shamar wasn’t Mya’s father. It was a terrible experience for her, not only because she was afraid Shamar would find out or believe the rumors, but because she would have to explain what had really happened. She had a secret that no one knew about and she was willing to take it to her grave.
Sandra, who was still standing in the hallway, now overcome with guilt, listened in anguish to her daughter cry her eyes out. She turned and headed back to Jelisa’s room and stood in the doorway. She walked over and bent down, grabbing Jelisa by the hand and helping her to her feet. As they stood toe to toe, the sound of small footsteps echoed down the hallway. They both looked attentively toward the door as Mya emerged, rubbing her eyes and grasping her favorite Winnie-the-Pooh blanket. Mya walked in and headed straight to Jelisa with her arms reaching out, begging to be picked up. Jelisa tried to smile and stop the tears from falling, but they wouldn’t stop.
Sandra motioned for Jelisa to sit down on the bed. They both sat. Jelisa sat Mya down on the floor as she turned toward Sandra, wiping her face. “Mama, why do you hate me so much?”
Sandra’s heart sank as she considered the thought that Jelisa may actually be right; maybe she did hate her.
“Daddy was the one who left, not me; and it wasn’t my fault, either. So why out of the four of us do you take him leaving out on me? You’ve always treated me different. I just don’t understand, Mama,” she pleaded with Sandra, still crying, and hoping for an explanation.
Sandra looked at Jelisa and hesitated before answering. “Well, honey, I don’t think that there’s anything that can be said nor done that will change things. Whatever happened between me and Pete had nothing to do with you. I treat you the way I do because I see so much of myself in you and I don’t want you to repeat the mistakes I made. I know I haven’t been the easiest to get along with lately, but I’ve made a lot of sacrifices for you girls. I just don’t think you appreciate it.”
Just when Jelisa thought she was finally getting some closure, Sandra flipped the script on her and went back into her manipulative state. “See, you think you’re better than me because you’re married now, and you’re moving away. I gave up everything for you and you walk around my house with your nose turned up like I’m some bum on the street.”
The tears coming from Jelisa’s eyes suddenly dried up, and her sadness turned to rage. It took everything in her not to haul off and swing on Sandra.
Jelisa stood up, looking her mother in the face. She turned around and resumed packing, now furiously. She didn’t want to waste another minute being in her mother’s presence. The woman standing next to her was a complete stranger, and Jelisa wasn’t comfortable around people she didn’t know.
Sandra stood by helplessly as Jelisa continued to gather her things. After five minutes, she finally gave up and left the room, going back into the living room. She plopped down on the couch in front of the TV, trying to act like she didn’t care and attempting to elicit a reaction from Jelisa as she walked out.
Once Jelisa was done packing the two suitcases she had, she was determined to get out of Dodge as soon as possible. She left everything else behind as Shamar had given her the freedom to get whatever she wanted for her new place. Without even looking in Sandra’s direction, Jelisa stormed through the living room and out the front door with Mya on her hip. As she juggled the two suitcases and Mya, struggling to get to her car, her sisters looked on from the upstairs window. Meanwhile, Sandra stood in the living room smoking a cigarette, peeking through the curtains. The whole house was in suspense as they watched Jelisa drive away.
While she was on her way to the new place, the Ashley Furniture delivery guy called and said he was down the street from the complex. This was a welcomed phone call. She needed something to cheer her up, and having an apartment full of brand new furniture would definitely do the trick.
* * *
Hours later, after the delivery company had unloaded and assembled her new furniture, Jelisa and Mya were set and glad to finally have their own place. After a fun-filled evening of Chinese food and Princess Tiana, Jelisa and Mya were getting ready for bed when her cell phone rang. She hoped it was Shamar calling to check on them before they went to bed. Mya’s eyes lit up as she heard her mother’s favorite Mary J. Blige ringtone. Mya ran over to the coffee table and grabbed Jelisa’s phone and, with the most determined look on her face, she ran back to her mother with her phone in her hand, reaching out to give it to her.
“Hello?”
“Hey, what’s going on?” a voice said on the other end of the phone.
Jelisa tried to catch the voice, but she couldn’t quite figure out who it was. There was a lot of noise in the background, music playing, and people talking. It sounded like there was a party going on.
“Who is this?” Jelisa inquired with her eyebrows frowned up, wishing the secret caller would reveal himself. She removed t
he phone from her ear and looked to see if she recognized the number, but it said Private. She must have been distracted by the fact that Mya had the phone because she normally didn’t answer calls from blocked numbers. “Look, whoever this is, I’m not in the mood to be playing on this phone. Who is this?”
The deep baritone voice on the other end chuckled as if he found it amusing that she was starting to catch an attitude. Toying with her further, he said, “So you mean to tell me you don’t recognize my voice? Has it been that long?”
Jelisa had no clue who she was talking to. There was no telling who he was and how he got her number.
Having had enough, Jelisa hung up and turned her phone off. She wasn’t going to entertain anybody calling and trying to be funny all night. She and Mya finished up for the night and, after a nice, warm bath, she changed into her PJs, which consisted of Shamar’s basic training PT shirt and a pair of boy shorts. After putting Mya to sleep, Jelisa turned her phone back on to check her messages just in case Shamar did, in fact, try to call while she was ignoring her unwanted caller.
Chapter Five
The next morning was a busy one for Jelisa. Not only was Saturday a busy day for the shop, but she was also without a babysitter due to what went down with Sandra. By the time they got to the shop, it was jumping. Donny had a line of people in the waiting room, and Jelisa had a full day’s worth of clients scheduled. An orchestra of hair clippers and blow dryers filled the shop and set the mood for the day. Jelisa, on the other hand, was not looking forward to the day that awaited her. Missing Shamar and having to be in the shop all day with Mya was the worst combination.
As she took Mya over to the waiting area, Donny greeted her and watched her as she walked past, eyeballing her short, petite frame. “Hey, baby girl, what’s up? How you liking the new place?”
Jelisa walked over to her chair, which was now right next Donny’s, and set her bag down underneath the counter. She had originally been located on the other side of the shop with the stylists, but she felt more comfortable being in the midst of all the guys. Females who usually frequented the shop were just too messy. In most cases, she felt at least the guys were honest about what they wanted. “I’m good,” she said as she turned and set up her workstation. “I love the new place, just trying to get used to being on my own and not having a babysitter.”
Donny really had no interest in her new apartment. He was really trying to test the waters to see if she was in the right state of mind for him to make his move. He stared at her slim waist and thick thighs as she turned toward the mirror and adjusted her smock string around her waist. The devilish look in his eyes suggested that he had nothing but bad intentions. “So what you getting into this weekend? I’m thinking about having little kickback at my crib. You want to come?” he asked. He grinned, hoping that she would say yes. He figured with her husband being gone, all he had to do was get her to let her guard down, and from there it was only a matter of time until he had her right where he wanted her.
“See, there you go, Donny. You know I’m married. I don’t even get down like that. You ain’t about to have me over your house drunk and looking stupid.” She looked at him, halfway smiling but dead serious. Shamar might be in Iraq, but he still had enough friends in the city. So many that it wouldn’t take long for him to find out about anything she did.
Donny, not easily discouraged, looked back at her with all determination and said, “Naw, baby girl, you know it ain’t even like that. Everybody from the hood is going to be there, so you’ll be safe.”
She wasn’t buying it. She waved him off and called for her first customer to come take a seat. Being surrounded by men at the shop all the time gave her a different perspective when it came to them. However, Donny was a different type, one unlike any she had ever dealt with on this level. Jelisa had only been at the shop for a little over eight months before she left the first time and the only thing she had concluded concerning Donny was that he was a man whore.
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. We’ll see,” she said, blowing him off. Jelisa was not very trusting of men, especially in Michigan City. Everybody knew each other and their business, and it never took more than a day for rumors to spread like wildfire if they were started by the right person. That was exactly how things had gotten blown out of proportion when rumor had it that Shamar wasn’t Mya’s father.
Jelisa was working at a salon in Eastport, a section of town on the east side, not far from the interstate. While she was in the back room getting ready to start her day, she overheard two females talking about Shamar. Not wanting to let on that she heard what was being said, she stayed in the cut and continued to listen to see what all they had to say about her man.
“Girl, he is fine, though; and I heard that he got that D. I don’t know why he still messing with Jelisa,” one lady said to the other. It was common for females to display just how thirsty they were.
The other responded in agreement, “Yeah, girl, I know. I heard that too. I wish he would come my way. It would be a wrap. But, girl, I heard he just married her ’cause he didn’t want her messing with anybody else. You know these dudes out here are hella dirty. They don’t have no problems messing with their homeboy’s baby mama.” They both turned their lips up and nodded their heads in agreement with each other.
“You right, girl, ’cause I heard that ain’t even his baby. My cousin told me she used to mess with this dude from Gary and he supposed to be her baby’s daddy. See, that’s what I be talking about; these ratchets be out doing they dudes hella bad, and then they get mad when they come running to me.” The first lady declared this with such sincerity that you would have thought that she actually believed the nonsense that was coming out of her mouth.
Jelisa fought the urge to say anything because she wanted to see what else they had to say. She hated when people gossiped, especially when it involved her.
The second lady, feeling justified in her remarks, echoed her feelings. “I’m telling you, girl, she don’t know what to do with a man like him. Now he done went into the military, so she got his butt stuck taking care of her and that nappy-headed little girl. I don’t get it.”
That last statement struck a nerve with Jelisa. The craziest part of the whole situation was that she didn’t even know these women. The hatred they shared for her seemed genuine as they carelessly discussed her personal life. Jelisa grabbed the closest thing she could find, which happened to be a handheld blow dryer sitting on a storage shelf. She grasped it by the handle and came from behind the wall with her hand cocked back. She walked over to the left side of the chair that the second lady was sitting in and, without breaking stride, Jelisa cracked the first lady across the face.
“Trick, do you even know me?” she shouted.
The lady fell forward out of her seat onto the floor and, right before her friend could stand up to assist her, Jelisa swung back and clocked her in her mouth with the blow dryer as well. They wrestled and punched and kicked each other until some of the guy customers stepped in and broke them up. The two ladies cussed Jelisa up and down, threatening to call someone to come handle her. They weren’t expecting this little five foot four inch woman to be able to throw hands like she did. She handled both of them like she was a dude.
Fixing her hair and her clothes, Jelisa, with the now broken blow dryer still in her hand, composed herself and checked both of them, saying, “You sluts better keep my name out of your mouths before I slice both of y’all ugly faces up. You don’t know me or my man and don’t you ever let me hear you had anything to say about my child. Try me if you want to!”
Jelisa stood her ground that day, but that was typically how she handled situations like that. Growing up with all sisters and being the smallest, she had to learn real quick how to defend herself. Her “pop off” mentality was another reason Shamar was attracted to her. The fight in the salon cost Jelisa her chair, and she was forced to find somewhere else to set up. After a couple trial runs at other shops, she ended u
p at Platinum Designs.
Donny knew that eventually Jelisa would start feeling the effects of being alone and he was determined to be there to comfort her. He left it alone for the time being; he didn’t want to completely turn her off. As the day came and went, it was business as usual at the shop. As she was packing up her things and getting Mya ready, her phone rang. With one hand slightly grasping Mya’s little fingers and the other with two bags dangling from it, Jelisa managed to get to her phone. She saw it was another out-of-town number. Thankfully, it wasn’t a private number her mystery man might have called from.
“Hello?” she said with the phone pinned between her ear and her shoulder. She opened the car door, dropped her bags on the floor behind the passenger’s seat, and waited for Mya to navigate her way into her car seat.
“Hey, baby girl, what’s up?” It was Shamar on the other end. It was a much-needed phone call as the day had taken a toll on her.
“Hey, baby. I’m so glad you called. I was hoping to hear from you yesterday.”
“Yeah, we had a couple missions going on and I couldn’t get away. How you doing? Did you get settled into your new place yet? I wish I could have been there to help.” Shamar’s concern was comforting. His being there would have made all the difference.
“I know. Me too. I’m all moved in, but things with Mama got crazy yesterday.”
Shamar shook his head and started massaging his temple as he prepared for the details of the dramatic event that went down. “What happened?” he inquired.
“So, you know Mama’s been acting real extra lately? Well, she went off when I told her I had already found us a place to stay and I didn’t need her help with it. She started trying to make me feel guilty about leaving and made it seem like I owed her so much I should be willing to stay and help her out. It pissed me the hell off.” Jelisa was glad to have somebody to vent to even though she knew there was nothing he could do about it.
Army of One Page 5
