He pulled into the parking lot of a bar on the out skirts of town, a little out of the way bar and restaurant where mostly those from the area frequented. He sighed, she was there already looking for him, standing in the doorway, leaning and watching for him. He knew that her parents lived in the area, in fact, either her mother or her father worked in the bar, he just wasn't sure which one. He knew that her father was black, her mother was white - they were no longer together. He was aware that before college and moving in with friends, Omiyah went from living with one parent to the other depending on when one or the other got on her nerves.
He hadn't stopped fully before she was at the passenger door, climbing in, slamming the door close.
"You know what, I'm gonna tell you now, this bullshit is going to end and soon, like tonight for instance." Victor said immediately.
"Why? This is not bullshit, this is the best that it gets for you, you should be happy to even have me, because I can tell you now, Crystal is history."
Victor stared silent a moment, then dared to ask, "How do you know that?"
"I met that Ben, and talk about fireworks? Talk about chemistry? Rochelle was going on and on about him, wanting Crystal to give her the go ahead on him; that he was free for the taking. No such green light given, what does that tell you? And you giving me a hard time?"
Victor couldn't speak for a moment, his eyes gazing out of the windshield, his chest doing that hurting thing again. "Did she - say that she wants him? Anything like that?" He asked.
"No, of course not - but it was all on her face. And uh, she did divorce you."
"We're not divorced."
"Hello, she filed, took them in, Monday the judge stamped that marriage to you, case closed!"
"She needed my signature to get that done! And anyway, how in the hell could she do that when we have two sons? What about that? Judge never gave custody of them to her or me fully, that has to be done! Bullshit, we're not divorced, I have an appointment, I'm getting it reversed, period."
"WHY? It's done, get on with your life!" Omiyah argued, incredulous.
"You mean get on with you, in my life!"
"What's wrong with me?"
"As a piece of ass, nothing - I want more for me than just a piece of ass."
"Why do you always have to be so nasty with me? I treat you good, I'm here for you when no one else is! Not even Crystal treated you as good as I have, hitting on you, and you would rather have her?! Who leaves you with no respect, no dignity? What's happened to you, you used to be a guy that wouldn't take shit from anyone, but you let her walk all over you, treat you like shit, like you're treating me!"
"She doesn't treat me like shit!"
"Whatever! She ain't shit! She thinks she's better than everyone else, walking around with her nose in the air, like she's the shit! And you dumb enough to fall for it, just because you were her first one! I bet you this, you're not her only one - not now!"
"Shut the fuck up, you don't know! She's not like that, she doesn't sleep around."
"Hello-o-o, two weeks in California, with Ben? And, while I favor you, he is good looking as hell! You gone tell me in all that time nothing happened?"
"She was with family, her mother, his father, around people."
"Okay, fine, you believe that if you want to, I know damn well how it is."
"No, correction, you know how you are! In and out of bed begging to be fucked - like common loose pussy."
"I am not like that! I'm tired of you accusing me of sleeping around with every damn body, I have not! No, I don't claim to be a virgin! I have slept with a few guys, but not the way you make me out!"
"How many guys have you slept with? Don't lie!"
"That is none of your business!"
"Five guys? Eight guys? Ten guys? Fifteen guys?"
"I - have - not!"
"Have not what? Which one? Not fifteen? Not ten? Which?"
"Not fifteen!"
"Ah, so how many? Ten?"
"No!"
"Well how many?"
She sat stubborn, refusing to answer.
He nodded, "Yeah, so many you're ashamed to admit it. You know what, call me old fashion, call me a prick, a pig, whatever! Fact is, I'm not interested in getting serious with any chick who gives pussy to anyone with a hard dick!"
"That's bullshit! How many have you slept with, huh? What about that?!"
"I'm a guy - doesn't count."
"It fuckin' does!"
"If so, why you here? Why do y'want me? I've slept around, yeah, more than ten, more than fifteen, fuckin' did an orgy - so there! Still want me?"
She could only stare at him.
"Yes - you - do! Know why? Because I'm a guy, that's why. We're allowed to do that until we find the one that's sweet, strong, loyal and good. One that has morals and doesn't give it up just because a guys cute - like Ben - unlike you."
Her eyes grew moist, "I'm not like that Victor, I'm not. Just like you're looking for the right one for you, maybe I am too."
"I don't wanna hear it, I didn't come here for this, I came here to tell you to back off. Don't be out there blabbering about us, what happened; because it's not gonna happen again."
"So you expect me to just walk away, pretend like nothing happened?"
"Look, why don't you move out of town? Go to college further East - or California even. Or head South where nobody knows you; you know, that you sleep around. Start new, start fresh. But me? I - love - Crystal! She is my wife - she has my two sons and I'm getting them back."
"Not if I tell her you've been sleeping with me all this time."
"I knew you were gonna say that shit! I just knew it - you know what, I'm not gonna be blackmailed by you. If you tell her, I'm in for one hell of a time getting her back, that's for sure. But you - you - I will fuckin' hate you for as long as you live - as long as I live. If you were laying on the street bleeding to death and I walked up, knowing that all it would take to help you live is to add pressure, you would die! Look me in the eyes when I'm talking to you, because I want you to believe me, I fuckin' mean it! Every - word. So you fuckin' tell her, you go right ahead! But any chance of anything ever between us, will - be - dead! If you can handle that, go for it - tell her. Now get out of my car."
She sat a moment, unable to move, tears rolling down her cheeks; she looked up at him, "I love you. And after she puts you through hell, and you see once and for all, she's not for you - I'll be here, because no one, will love you like I love you. No one, and certainly not, Crystal." She threw open the car door and stepped out, slamming it closed behind her.
Victor blew out an audible sigh of relief, he knew Omiyah, knew that she wouldn't be saying a word, she'd been following up behind him like a love struck puppy since they're first year in school together. He had back then, actually liked her, until he met a few of the guys she'd slept with; since then, nothing but disdain.
"Now, I gotta figure out how to make my wife come home."
* * *
Ben's fathers were grumbling, arguing, and for the most part, he was staying quiet and trying to stay out of it as they made the drive to Madison. It was getting late, and even though Jake came out of the house and joined them, he wasn't happy about the prospect of missing work the next day.
"I can see it now, we're gonna get there, and he'll be sitting up, right as rain, fine as can be, needing time alone, and here we come, charging in to his rescue, looking like idiots." Jake mumbled looking out the window as Shawn drove.
"Wanna call your fiancée, have her jump in the truck, pick you up from where I'll be dropping you off, just say the word; you didn't have to come."
"Bullshit! Somethin's wrong with him, I'm not there, I'll never hear the end, drive on Mr. Gunho-berserker." Jake grumbled, "If he is alright, I want back home, tonight! I'm not staying the whole night!"
"Like I said, call Vivian to get you!"
"Fuck you! You won't have Sylvia up and down the road, you think I'll have Vivian?"
"Ge
t one of your boys to fetch you back."
"One doesn't have a car, one is not speaking to me, and the other one is sitting next to you!"
"Well looks to me little brother, you're hangin' with me for the night. Isn't that what you used to whine about, 'Shawn doesn't spend time with me'." Shawn announced, using a whiny brat voice for the last part.
"Ha-ha-ha! Asshole, I'm a grown man now! Ben, get a hold of Kevin."
Ben sat forward feeling around himself and realized something, "Shit! I don't have my phone on me, must have left it in the studio. Can't you call him?"
"Fuckin' left mine too, rushing to catch shit-head here!!"
Chucking, unfazed, "Aaaah, life's a bitch ain't it? So sit back and shut up." Shawn ordered.
"Yeah, it was your damn turn any fuckin' way! Shit first happened, I was on the scene pronto, you could have did this on your own, fuckin' bully!" Jake carried on.
"You're starting to sound like a goddamn woman - we'll stop and get you some cheese with that whine! Keep it up, I'll be droppin' you off at the next Kwik-trip!" Shawn blasted back.
"Don' fuckin' call me a woman, I'm-..."
"Can you two please, chill!? I think both of you are a bit too old for this. We're already on our way - so let's just wait until we get there! Shawn, if he's alright - I'd be willing to drive us back, dad, if he's not alright, he needs us! Either way, that's where we're heading." Ben fussed at them, silencing the two for the moment.
Shawn looked at Jake in the rear view mirror; Jake flipped him the finger, Shawn flipped him back. Of course all went quiet as Ben sat looking out of his window at the dark scenery whipping past, Crystal on his mind, her boys on his mind, Victor, on his mind. Dread, for some unknown reason was working him over. It was so bad, he almost doubled over from it. He couldn't say why he felt shitty, but he did; his guts were tied in a knot, it very well could be due to the fact that he had a feeling he was losing in this battle to win her. He sat thinking about how crazy life was in all of it's irony. Here he'd been - wanting more than anything in the world, to know his realfather only to find connected to him, someone that would change who and what he was forever more. Funny how, in the face of possibly losing her; of losing the chance to build a life with her; all that he thought, meant the world to him, now - suddenly, didn't mean as much. Having Shawn in his life now, had certainly brought him that extra little bit he'd wanted, however, the feeling of being content, settled in his life and happy, was no where in sight. He honestly thought finding out the truth about his fathers would do that for him.
Not so.
He could only wonder at how it was possible that a mere woman, a slip of a young, fresh, energetic girl could grip so deeply within a man, to end up consuming so much of him? What was it in them, rather, in the one - that could do this? That could make a man feel what he was feeling right now? Nothing about himself, felt the same as what he used to feel, before Crystal. It was as if his actual physical chemistry had altered down to a micro degree with her around. His mind went to the few times that he'd stolen a kiss; immediately her scent rushed in on him from memory, filling his nostrils, his head. He wanted to experience the sensation again, he wanted to have her so close, pressed up against him, beneath his nose, so he could breathe her in deep while holding on tight. He knew that it must be love, it had to be; he'd never been to bed with her, but he knew, that he would give up anything he possessed to have her - to have her boys, all his own. He gave a slight smile, he knew, their lives would be filled with laughter, adventure and travel. He wanted to take them everywhere, to see everything. He thought about when he took Isaac and Darren with him to do the photo shoot. He'd talked to them all the way there, with Isaac asking him question after question and him eagerly answering him. He was so smart, inquisitive and fun, often making him throw his head back in laughter watching the expressions on his face and thought process. They were both eager as he let them know that he had to work, and he needed their help, or else he couldn't do it without them. Isaac had been raring to go, and Darren had been the only one to give a fit now and then., yelling at him, telling him, "No!" Even so, once he met his friends, and introduced them to his little helpers, by including them in on it, they ended up being more of a help than he ever imagined. Especially Isaac, he would tell him what to tell the couple and sure enough, he had walked up to them like a miniature director, telling them how to pose. His friend and girlfriend enjoyed it as well. Darren passed him things as he asked for them, while Isaac gave the nod if a pose looked okay or not. Because he fully included them, they had been no trouble at all. When they finished, he took them to McDonald's for Chicken Mc-Nuggets and then by his moms to meet her. No crying, no fits. All they did was talk to him, and he talked back, praising them, asking them for favors, which they readily gave. They were so much like their mother, smart, eager, and charming. Only problem, their father was Victor Prescott, and if he had his way, he would take them away from him. Now that he'd spent so much time with them, having bonded with them, he didn't want to lose them either. Ben sat wondering if he was nicer to Victor, would he let him go on spending time with the boys? It was one thing having to lose Crystal, but the boys relied on him. They would expect him to come to them if they needed him, he didn't think he could bear it if he was forced to ignore them, they would never understand what was going on. The idea of them thinking that he didn't want to come to them, that he had turned away from them, to never look back, made his stomach hurt right then, his eyes welled up - he knew what that felt like, true or not and he could not do it to them.
Finally, the silence was broken.
"You okay?" Shawn couldn't help but ask him.
"I don't know, gut feels weird - must have eaten something that doesn't like me." Ben answered, sniffed.
"Want me to stop and get you something for it?" Shawn asked.
"No - I'll be all right - I guess - maybe." He went quiet again, and then said out of the blue, "She's gonna go back to him. Maybe not this week, or next week, but - she's gonna go back, I can feel it."
"Is that what's on your mind?"
Ben didn't answer right away, and then, "Yeah, it is."
"Well, she won't, there's no reason to, she knows she's better off without him."
"He's not going to leave her alone. Hell, she were my wife, I wouldn't leave her alone either."
Shawn clinched his jaw muscles, running his hand through his hair. "I'll just have to keep talking to her, find out what she's thinking, feeling. I sure as hell, don't want her going back, he's no good for her, I don't care what he says, what he promises, he's weak."
"Doesn't really matter what we want, does it? How weak you think him, they have history, they have two sons, no, it really doesn't matter what we say, or think." Ben murmured softly, and then, shocking Shawn and Jake, "I wish I'd never met her, never saw - her face. I wish I never - saw - the look in her eyes that day so long ago. She, she was so hurt, so broken. I wish, I'd never spoken those first words to her, or - or seen her smile ... see her, up to mischief, playing, hear her - infectious laugh." He paused thinking about all the little things about her that immediately reeled him in; both men, his fathers, sat stunned, unable to speak, they thought he might be done, because he'd gone quiet, when once more, "I wish I'd never danced with her, we - fit - flow so smooth together - I wish - I wish I didn't know that. I wish I never held her that close to me, watching her move. I wish I'd never seen her, feel so free, move so exotically, so - sensually. I wish, I wish I'd never - held her hand - in mine..." Ben paused, swallowing the growing moisture in his mouth.
"Ben...?" Jake called his name softly, realizing what was happening right before their eyes.
"... and I wish - I wish - I'd never walked with her, talked to her, gotten to know who she really is. I've never met anyone like her, to have gone through what she has, you'd think she'd be feeling sorry for herself. Not my -..." He paused to correct that, "...- not Crysta'Bella, no - not at all. She makes no excuses, no. She just - just gets on with l
ife, determined - to get done what she sets out to do. To be right, to do right. I should have - never - gone there - to L.A. with you ... I shouldn't have - it was a mistake." He reached up feeling the impression of the wedding band they won under his shirt - determined that he would wear it forever.
Shawn felt his face burn from his words, realizing just how deeply he'd fallen for her.
"You know what, If I - know that about her, all those things about her - you better believe he knows. He'll never let her go, I know he won't - he'd be insane to." He went quiet and a few seconds later, they heard him sniff. He reached up, squeezing his eyes to clear away the moisture there, sniffed again.
Jake didn't know what to say, hearing Ben that way. It stunned him to hear just how deep he'd dived in for her, he knew that it was there, from their talks earlier, but this was deeper, raw, fierce - gut deep.
Shawn reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "I know you love her, I know you're afraid - but she won't go back to him, I don't even think she loves him, not really love him, no, it'll be fine, you'll see. She has everything she needs, right there, with us. Right Jake, huh?"
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