"MUNDO! STOP'EM MUNDO!" Crystal screamed at her brother.
"How I'm supposed to stop'em? I ain't gettin' in the middle o'that shit! Hell wit'that!" He stood by shaking his head, "Ben! Victor! Ya'll need to stop - fo' somebody get kilt! Aaah hell!" It was obvious, he was more interested in the battle.
"MUNDO YOU WRONG! SORRY ASS!!!" Crystal screamed, punching her brother on the shoulder, trying to move in to grab one of them, but didn't want to get knocked down. "Girl you bes' move yo'ass out the way!" Mundo yelled at her.
Shawn and the guys in the basement ran out the front door and down the steps, "OUT OF THE WAY CRYSTAL! GET AWAY FROM THEM!!" Shawn shouted out her.
"MAKE'EM STOP!!" She cried out.
"BREAK IT UP, BREAK IT UP, BREAK IT UP!" Shawn shouted down at them, then pushed one of the men's arms away who was grabbing at Ben's arm, in an effort to break them up.
"NEVER GRAB SOMEONE IN A FIGHT!" He yelled at him, he wouldn't allow it, having been in enough fights, he knew doing that disabled the person you held, giving the other an advantage to hurt them, not to mention getting turned on as well. Turning back to them, his used his deepest, most authoritative voice, shouting down at them, "BEN! VICTOR! BACK OFF NOW! Fighting like fuckin' pussies, break it up! Get to your feet, fight like men! To your feet!" He got close to make sure they heard.
"NOOO, I don't want them fighting! Stop it now!" Crystal cried out at Shawn.
Making a face at her, Shawn yelled at her for the first time, "GET'IN THE HOUSE, NOW!"
"NO!" She shouted right back, "BREAK THEM UP!"
Ignoring her for the moment, "HEY! You hear me! Which one of you man enough to fight on your feet?!"
Breathing hard and deep, locked tightly on to the other, his words penetrated, neither willing to be the punk, turned loose at the same time and sprung to their feet, which is exactly what Shawn wanted them to do, that's when he got between them, a couple of the men, instantly catching on, did the same. Ben's nose ran blood, his face red in places from grip burns, which was also leading to a shiner below his left eye. Victor fought to breathe from Ben hitting his ribs hard, he also had a catch in his side, his bottom lip swollen, split and bleeding, he'd bitten his tongue and also had a shiner on the rise.
"Let us finish!" Ben blasted at Shawn, trying to get around him to Victor.
"You are finished!" Shawn returned, keeping him back.
"Ben, leave it alone!" Crystal shouted at him.
"Hey! I'm ready for round two, come on!" Victor shouted.
"Any time dude! You can't understand it, I'll beat it into you, she's not - your fuckin' wife - anymore!" Ben raged.
"LIES! She's lied to you! You lie to him!? Huh?" He turned to Crystal, breathing hard.
"What are you talking about Victor?! We - are - divorced! You signed the papers yourself! I have a copy, I know your signature!"
"YOU'RE INSANE! I NEVER DIVORCED YOU! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? THAT'S BULLSHIT!!!"
"You are not going to stress me out! I can't believe you came here like this! Starting a fight, for whatever reason!"
"CRYSTAL! Godalmighty!!" Victor thought he would pull his hair out, at the height of frustration, "Where the hell is this coming from!? I never sighed any papers! Especially not any papers, divorcing you! I swear to God! Crystal, I love you - why in the world would I divorce you!? All I want, is you! I came here, to get you Crystal, my boys, to take you home! Our home, I don't know what this divorce shit is about!"
Crystal stood stunned, staring at him, everyone's eyes were on them, "Your mother, told me - she said - she gave them to you - and you signed them-..."
"Sighed what?!"
"THE DIVORCE - PAPERS!!!" She screamed shaking. "I thought, maybe - just maybe - filing for divorce would shake you! Wake you up! Make you see what was happening to us! I called your mother, told her, asked her to give them to you. I thought - it would make you come to me - but instead - you signed them, took them in. Said you wanted it over. Well, now it is - it's over. I only called you - to work out visitations with your boys, that's all. All of this - you could have saved us this! Now, seems we can't even work that out! So, I'm going to leave it to Mundo to bring you the boys. As for me, stay out of my life - I am not - your wife - anymore!" She was breathing hard, no idea tears rolled from her eyes. Inside, she felt conflicting emotions going riot - mainly because - of the look on his face.
"You - you - ah come on Crystal? I never saw - I never knew Crystal! Crystal I swear, I never knew it! I never saw them Crystal, I swear to you, I never saw them! Why didn't you come to me with them Crystal? Why not me?"
"So you can hurt me some more? Make me feel like it was all my fault? Like I'm the crazy one who needs help? Yeah, well maybe I do - but, I'm not the only one! You didn't even love me Victor! Admit it! You never once - not one time - fought for me Victor!"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING NOW?!"
"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT LIKE THIS! THIS - is you - playing Tarzan! Caveman! My woman! You get back! This is all macho, ownership, my possession bullshit! You're only willing - to fight the people, the guys, who don't matter!"
Ben felt kicked in the stomach and stormed past everyone and into the house. She never saw him, her eyes intent on Victor.
"You only fight guys Victor because it's all about you! How you look! Not once, have you ever, fought anyone about ME!" She felt as if she would cry, and stopped to get her emotions in check.
"Crystal, please ... that's not true!"
"It is true! It is! You let your mother, treat me like shit! Not once, have you ever stood up to her for me! You act like a man - ashamed of his black wife!"
The other men moved away as well now, leaving them alone, they headed across the road.
"I'm not ashamed Crystal - my mother wanted me to divorce you in the beginning, but I wouldn't! I told her, I love you."
"And that's where it ended Victor! How many family reunions with your family, have you taken me to? Who, on your side of the family, besides your parents, brother and sisters, know me? Have met me? Hm? How many vacations, with your side of the family, have we attended, gone on together? Hm? How many? How many dinners? Barbecues? Any kind of get together with them, have you taken me to, Victor? How many?"
"I - I just - didn't want you to - feel uncomfortable, that's all."
"No! You didn't want to feel uncomfortable! You didn't want to make your mother, feel uncomfortable! You didn't want to embarrass your family with me! That's why! But you took our sons, you took them! Because they look the part!" She wiped at her tears, "You left me out of your life, made me feel like you were doing me a favor. At no time Victor, have you ever listened to me, encouraged me, believed in me. But you love to fuck me, and even that, was tainted, because - you cheated on me with that Jeanine - whom your mother told me, you were happy with - moving in with! You call that love? I tried with all I could to love you - but my reward was to feel more and more, like shit!" She moved away from him then, backing towards the house.
"Wait Crystal, wait!"
"Go away Victor, go away! We should have never married, been together. Mundo will bring your boys to you." She turned from him rushing toward the house.
"Crystal no! Wait! I'm sorry Crystal! I'm sorry, for whatever I did! I didn't mean it! Crystal, God - I'm not divorcing you! You hear me?! I'm not letting it end here!" He rushed to close the distance between them, "CRYSTAL!!" He bellowed her name about to step on the porch.
Shawn grabbed his arm, "I think it's time for you to go."
Victor snatched his arm away, "You did this! I fuckin' know you did! I called, you wouldn't let me talk to her!" He accused Shawn.
"Look - might I suggest you go wash your face? Calm down and then, go talk to your mother. She's the one who did this - and you young man - let her. Now go."
Breathing hard, Victor stood looking at the door his "wife" disappeared through, and looking around him, he saw Mundo, "Mundo, please man, talk to your sister for me. I didn't divorce her, I didn't! I swear to God I di
dn't! You gotta do this for me, come on man, I've been there for you man, you owe me this!"
Shawn snatched him back around, "He doesn't fuckin' owe you, anything! Get the fuck out of here - now!"
"Let go of me man! That's my wife in there! She's my wife! You got no right to keep me from my wife!"
"You want some of me next? Hm pretty boy, that what you want?" Shawn growled at him, refusing to let him continue on there.
"Victor go'on man - let it go for now man." Mundo didn't want Shawn on him. His problem was, that he liked Victor, and he liked Ben. The time with Ben in L.A. he'd gotten to know him a great deal. The fact that his nephews loved him so much, told him a lot about the man. Even so, he didn't want to see Victor put through it by Shawn, that would be too harsh - Shawn would hurt him, of that, he was sure.
Victor felt his eyes fill with tears, hating that he couldn't get to Crystal, to make her listen to him, he had no other choice than to back off. He looked around for Sylvia, wondering where she was - regardless of her displeasure with him, she had always been fair with him, she would stand up for him.
"I'm not gonna say it again, if I grab you, I swear, no holding back, it's me and you." Shawn warned low.
Victor started backing up, "I'll be back!" He promised Shawn.
"Don't come back here, I'm telling you that now!"
"Long as my wife, is in that house - my sons, in that house, I'll be back! You keep your son, Ben - away from my wife!"
Shawn started moving towards him, "Get in your fuckin' car, get the fuck out of here, now! Right fuckin' now!"
"Man - this is bullshit!" Victor's tone changed, almost whining, not wishing to fight with Shawn, "That's my wife in there! That's my wife!"
"TELL YOUR - FUCKIN' MOTHER - THAT - LITTLE BOY!" Shawn shouted at him, "If you had any balls, you might - still have a wife! As things stand, that's over. Now for the last time, go!"
Victor stood at his car door, looking from Shawn, to the house, the window, where he could see, Crystal standing there, looking out at him. The window was open, he knew she could hear them, "CRYSTAL!! I'LL BE BACK! YOU'RE MY WIFE! I DIDN'T SIGN ANYTHING! I'LL BE BACK!" He slammed into his car, started it, and gunned it taking off.
Shawn turned back towards the yard, to look at Mundo, who gave him a half hearted smile, "In the words of that someone from long ago who knew, 'Oh shit!'"
"You can say that again." Shawn mumbled, falling into step behind Mundo who turned heading for the front door, going into the house. What they met was the sound of Crystal having a go at Ben.
"I can't believe you did that! Why'd you have to provoke him Ben? I wish you'd just ignored it all and come into the house."
"You think I'd stand by, and let him snatch on you, pull on you? Yelling at you?"
"I can take care of myself with him, Ben."
"You feel sorry for him, I can see you do!"
"It's not that! He said, he didn't know, that he didn't sign the papers."
"Tough! Don't you forget what led you to getting the papers drawn up in the first place!"
"Ben, I don't wanna fight with you too, all I'm saying is - that I thought he wanted the divorce." She defended gently.
"Oh my god, you're back sliding, aren't you?" He stood shaking his head, he'd splashed his face, cleaned the blood from his nose that had now stopped bleeding.
"No! No I'm not! But this is not easy for me, this is not that simple to deal with."
"Yes it is, it's over, you're divorced, that's that!"
"But he didn't know."
"Don't - fall for it Crystal!"
"I'm not falling for anything, you think this is easy for me, Ben? You think I want this to be happening?"
"I can't believe this! I can't..." Angry, Ben turned heading for the front door, past Shawn and Mundo - who stood quiet staring at each other.
"Ben! Don't be angry! Where're you going?! Why are you leaving?!"
He turned in the door, "Why do you think? I'm not blind! I can see very clearly, whether you can or not!" And slammed the door behind him.
Chapter 278
Crystal stood a moment gazing at the door, and then watched through the window to outside, Ben making his way to his car, soon, he too burned rubber off down the road. Looking from there she turned to see Angela standing in the door of their bedroom, Isaac standing beside her, glaring at her; no sight of Darren, she figured he must have fallen asleep, but how, was a mystery to her with all the yelling and fighting going on; and last, her eyes went to Shawn and Mundo.
"I can't believe, this is happening to me." Crystal grieved, confused, frustrated and once more, scared.
"Sweetheart, just - don't forget our talk, remember?" Shawn brought up right away.
"Our talk?"
"The talk - you cut my hair - then picked up the laptop?" He urged as a reminder.
Crystal stared at him a few seconds letting the talk play through her mind, "You knew! Didn't you? That's why the talk? You knew!" She accused.
Shawn sighed, "Pumkin' I only knew, what you knew - what you told me. That's what I knew."
"I heard him say that he called me, is that true?"
"Yes - twice. Once before we left, and once more last week there."
"Why didn't you tell me!" She stomped.
"For the same reason, you didn't go to him with the divorce papers - just like you'd had enough, I thought the same. You needed to be away from here, away from him! For not telling you, I will not apologize! If I could think of a way to keep him away from you, Lord knows, I'd do it!"
Mundo started backing out of the room, once more, staying neutral and out of it.
"Why?!"
"Why?! Because - he's no damn good for you!" Shawn walked up to her, to look her in the eyes, "He will never, make you happy! It's not in him, he's all - piss and wind!"
"You don't know that! Maybe he's changed!" She argued.
"So Ben's right, you're back sliding."
Crystal threw her hands in the air, "Nooo! I'm not - I'm - I hate this! Why does it have to be this way!" She shouted.
"Crystal! You keep your head clear - you're forgetting all the shit he's done to you! I blocked him from you because I knew, you hadn't hardened your heart to him yet, the wound is still too fresh. Now, that worthless prick is back here, poking at it some more, starting the game up all over again."
Crystal stood covering her face in despair, "Oh I don't know what to do!" She fretted. "I'm afraid of not doing the right thing. I wanna do the right thing."
"The right thing for you? Or the right thing for him? Because I can tell you right now, if you do the right thing for him, you're gonna regret it! Do - the right thing for you! Do - the right thing for your boys! Don't let your thinking get clouded up with feeling sorry for him! He's facing the consequences of his actions, and he should! What he's going through right now, is exactly what he deserves! That's how people learn, when their stupid actions, hurt - makes them suffer! It forces them to think! Sometimes it works Crystal, sometimes it doesn't. But one thing, I can tell you - relieve his suffering prematurely, and he'll not have learned a thing! If he's going to learn anything, he needs to suffer through it. You have time, do you hear me?! Look at me!" Shawn grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from her face, and grew more angry at the moisture once more, back in her eyes, because of him.
"Don't look at the floor, look up at me!" He ordered, brisk with her.
She looked up at him, about to cry.
"Don't you hurry into anything! There's no clock ticking over your head. There's no rush to settle this one way, or the other! You're safe, you have everything you need, right here. Your boys have everything they need, right here - take a deep breath, calm down, and use the time you have. Come here." He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.
She clung to him, still feeling the stress, despite his words, "I don't wanna go through this Papah-Shawn, I just want some peace. I want things to be easy in my life for once, I don't need this drama - and I don't want
it!"
"You sound like your mother darlin' and unfortunately, in life where there's sunshine, there too, must be rain."
She pulled out of his arms, "I can handle the occasional rain, but in our life, all we get are storms!" She charged off to her room, where Angela sat with Isaac on the bed, Darren was sleeping in the other room, in his crib where she'd laid him. Crystal landed on the bed behind Angela, her hands on her forehand, fingers in her hair, hating her life at that moment.
"Mama." Isaac softly called to her. "You okay mama?"
She sniffed, turning her head to look at him, "Yes, mama's okay."
Angela moved back against the headboard, letting Isaac sit at his mother's side. "Everything is gonna be okay Crystal, just think about where you are when you're the most happy. That's what I do when I'm upset, I think about the last time I was the happiest ever, and - that's where I like to be. Where are you more happy?"
Crystal looked up at her, hearing her words, and immediately, without any warning or effort, Ben came to mind. When her soul was lifted, and joy infused her entire being, she had been with Ben. Seeing that, realizing that, only made the moment worse. Because while Ben made her feel good to her very soul, Victor still had strings tied onto her heart, and to see him as he was today, tugged and pulled on them in a major way. At that moment, she'd never been more confused.
"Oh Angela, may you never end up in a mess anything like mine! Stay away from guys, dreaming about them, caring about them, giving them your heart, for as long as you possible can, because once you do - it's hell! The wrong guy will break your heart."
"Crystal, Ben doesn't hurt your heart, does he?"
She didn't want to answer that question, because it was just too much right now.
"Mama, we going home?" Isaac asked.
Crystal's moist gaze went to her son, looking so much like his father, an almost complete duplication of him in features and coloring, only he had her eyes. "You wanna go home, to be with your daddy?"
Isaac stared at her for all of fifteen seconds, thinking about it and then, "No - wanna stay here! Can Ben, be my daddy?"
Shocked by his words, Crystal's eyes got big; she pushed herself up to lean against the headboard, "Isaac, don't say that, Victor is your daddy."
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