“Sit down,” Tyree told me, and I did. Standing behind me, he leaned over and moved the mouse around. He began clicking on some things. He brought up the video player, and instantly the images of an African American woman popped up on the screen. She was lying on the bed, playing with herself.
“It’s not bad enough you cheated on me. Now I find out you have a porn addiction too.”
“Serena, I don’t have a porn addiction,” he countered.
“So what is this?” I said, pointing at the screen.
“Please watch.”
“I don’t feel like watching porn right now, Tyree.”
“Serena, will you be quiet and watch this,” he said, raising his voice. He clicked on the button, and all of a sudden a bedroom showed up on the screen. In this bedroom were the bodies and faces of Dawn and her soon-to-be husband, Corey.
“What is this?” I asked, trying to figure out what was going on.
“One of my boys called me and told me he had something for me to check out, that I wouldn’t believe who was performing in this new video he just burned. He dropped it by today and told me to watch it. When I put the CD in, this is what came up,” he said, pointing at the computer screen.
“This looks like their bedroom,” I said, figuring out the space was my sister’s private sanctum.
“I figured that.”
“I can’t believe this. Why would Dawn do something like this?”
“I don’t know. And it gets worse,” Tyree said.
As much as I wanted to turn away, my nosiness got the best of me. I had to see how far this would go, but I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
“What the . . . ?” I said in shock as my hand covered my mouth.
“I know. Can you believe it?”
“When did this happen?”
“My boy didn’t go into details. He just recorded it to this disc and brought it to me,” Tyree explained.
“Who else has seen this?” I asked angrily. “Has he been showing all your friends?”
“Serena, I don’t know. I guess he brought me a copy to let us know what was going on, since he knew Dawn was basically like a sister-in-law to me.”
“He could have just told you. He didn’t have to record it,” I yelled.
“Do you think you would have believed him, or me for that matter, if I told you without proof?” Tyree said.
He was right. I wouldn’t have believed him. Not after he lied to me about sleeping with Juanita. Plus, it was something degrading regarding my sister. This couldn’t be the Dawn who fell out with us over her no-good man. Not Ms. Goody Two-shoes. Seeing this made me question her sanity.
“I can’t believe this,” was all I kept saying. “She’s having sex with someone else and posting it on the Internet.”
“But that’s not it,” he said, reaching over me to eject the disc of my sister and her sexual escapades. He placed another one in, and I watched as the disc booted up. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see anything else, not after seeing my sister butt-ass naked getting screwed by some strange guy, while good-for-nothing Corey watched in the background with some floozy sucking on his manhood.
An image came up on the screen, and it appeared to be someone else’s bedroom that I was not familiar with. A woman walking backward to the bed came into view as she gave the come-here finger to someone else in the room. Then a man appeared, walking up to her and holding the woman in his arms. They kissed deeply.
“What is this, Tyree? This doesn’t look like Dawn,” I said.
“But pay attention to who the man is.”
At first I didn’t pay attention because the man’s back was to the camera. The woman crawled up on the bed, again backward, scooting to the middle, and the man climbed on top of her. He kissed her again before making his way down her body until his face rested between her thighs. And then he looked at the camera with a smirk.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said.
“This CD has several different women on it, with Corey being the main actor on this disc.”
“So Corey is a porn star. I don’t even want to call him a star or actor, because this man isn’t acting. He’s doing what he loves.”
“And it’s one more thing, babe.”
“You know I’m getting tired of you saying that,” I said, not wanting to see another thing, but if Tyree was telling me this, then it had to be important.
He reached over me and clicked the mouse, going from chapter to chapter through the different women Corey was playing hide-the-salami with, until Tyree came to chapter eight.
“Prepare yourself,” Tyree said, but what came up on the screen was nothing I could prepare myself for.
“What?” was all I could say as water filled my eyes. I turned to Tyree, who looked at me lovingly. “Is this real?”
“It has to be, babe,” he said sincerely.
“Why would my sister do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Turn it off,” I spat. “Please turn it off,” I said, getting up from the chair and walking to the other side of our bedroom to catch my breath. Tyree did as I asked, closing the video player down.
He then turned to me and asked, “Babe, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. Would you be okay if you saw that?”
Tyree didn’t say anything. He sat down in the office chair and ejected the disc from the computer tower. “I’m sorry, Serena,” Tyree said genuinely. “I didn’t want you to find out this way, but I felt like you needed to know.”
“What is happening in my life?” I said, sitting down on the bed and beginning to cry. “What is she thinking?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but you really need to talk to your sister. Something is definitely up with her.”
“I appreciate you telling me this, or should I say showing me this,” I said with a nervous giggle, even though nothing about this situation was funny.
“You know I love your sisters like they are my own. I have three sisters myself, and I hope if you heard or saw something like this you would tell me,” he said honestly.
“You know I would,” I said, loving this man even more, despite him betraying me.
Tyree put both discs in a plastic case and set them on the desk. He then came over to the bed and sat down beside me. “You sure you are okay?” he asked with concern, rubbing my back.
“It’s too much going on. First it was Juanita threatening me and Nevaeh. Then it was my sisters falling out. Now you’ve told me you cheated on me and could have a child on the way, and now this. The problems keep stacking up.”
“But our relationship does not have to be one of those problems.”
“Your cheating on me is a problem,” I yelled.
“I know I was wrong, but I swear I was only with her one time,” he pleaded.
“How do I know that? Far as I knew, you weren’t with her or anybody else. I trusted that you were faithful to me, and you broke that trust.”
He nodded, saying, “Serena, on everything I love, my mother, my sisters, and my own daughter, I only cheated on you that one time. It was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life.”
“No, your biggest was ever getting involved with that woman.”
“I can say that, but then I wouldn’t have my son,” he retorted, and I understood. “I hope this mistake doesn’t cause me to lose you,” he said compassionately. He got up and kneeled down in front of me, positioning himself between my thighs so we were face to face.
“Serena, I love you with everything in me. Baby, I don’t want you to leave me. I promise as long as I live, I will never cheat on you again.”
His words were gentle, loving, and felt genuine. Tears ran down my cheeks as I looked down, fiddling around with the hem of my orange sundress. As much as I wanted to believe him, I was afraid to. Tyree reached up and wiped my tears away, but more tears replaced them when he touched me. His hands were so warm.
“You really hurt me, Tyree,” I said through
tears.
“I know, baby, and I’m so sorry.”
“I’m worried you will do this again.”
“Look at me, Serena,” he said with a comforting voice.
I looked into his sincere eyes.
“Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. Give us another chance. I’ll do anything you want me to do to make this work.”
“I wish you didn’t have to deal with Juanita,” I said. “But I know that will never happen since you two have a child together, and you may be having another one with her,” I said overwhelmed by this realization.
Tyree dropped his head in defeat. He said, “I would never wish any ill will toward Juanita and this unborn child, but I do wish she weren’t pregnant.”
“Me too.”
“This child didn’t ask for the turmoil it will be born into. And you know if it is my child . . .”
“You have to take care of it,” I said, finishing his sentence.
“And you best believe I’m going to find out whether this child is mine.”
“Well, I hope it’s not. It’s bad enough you had one with that crazy woman,” I said.
“True, but it did give me my beautiful son, who’s my world along with Nevaeh.”
“They are beautiful children, aren’t they?” I said, smiling. “Despite the unstableness of Juanita, Zamir is a good boy.”
Tyree nodded. There was a silence between us as we stared at one another.
I broke the silence by saying, “As much as I would love to leave you, I love you too much to do so.”
Tyree leaned in and kissed me tenderly on the lips. Nothing lustful, just a kiss of admiration.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Don’t thank me yet, because I still haven’t forgiven you.”
“I understand.”
“It’s going to take some time for me to get over this, Tyree.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less,” he said. “I’m glad we had this talk.”
“And it was all due to my sister’s sex acts,” I said, giggling.
“Make sure you thank her for me,” he said jokingly.
“I’m not sure I like the way you said that. I mean, you did just see my sister naked,” I said, smiling.
“And it sickened me,” he said, smirking.
“Sure,” I said.
“I’m serious. I told you your sisters are my sisters. Who wants to see their sisters getting it on with any dude?”
“I get that,” I said, looking down at my hands in his.
“I love you, Serena.”
I looked into his loving eyes and leaned forward, wrapping my arms around Tyree, who returned the embrace. It felt good to have one problem resolved somewhat. Now I had to figure out how I was going to handle Dawn’s situation. Would this be something else that would drive another wedge between us?
Chapter 34
Vivian
An emergency sister-meeting had been called by Serena, who rang my phone off the hook last night until I picked up to talk with her. She wanted to use my house as the location, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was about. By the tone of her voice, I knew whatever she had to tell us couldn’t have been good.
I really didn’t need this right now after the night I had. I’d finished my bottle of wine after Sheldon dragged me from the bar and left me standing on my stoop to wallow in the grief of losing him. As soon as I entered my home, I called him, but he wouldn’t answer his phone. He was sending me to his voicemail, which was something Sheldon never did. I was feeling so low about this situation.
The strength needed to maintain this demeanor of mine was wearing thin. And who could I tell, Dawn? No, because she was planning her wedding. Serena? She had her problems with Tyree cheating. Phoenix was dealing with a squatter, and then there was Shauna, who would probably tell me to get a drink and let things roll off my back. The only one who would have been here regardless of anything going on in my life was my sister Renee, and she was no longer among us. The thought of her caused water to well up in my eyes. A tear ran down my right cheek.
“I miss you so much,” I whispered, hoping her spirit heard me. I wished she could answer me.
“Why did you have to die?” I questioned. “Why, God? Why did you have to take her from me?” I asked, knowing God wasn’t going to answer me. I hadn’t had that moment yet where God spoke to me. I didn’t know what that felt like. I always wanted it to happen to me, but I’d never experienced it. I knew there was a higher power, but I wondered why He never talked to me. What was wrong with me? What was the reason God didn’t answer?
I dropped my head in sorrow, sitting on the side of my bed. It was close to eleven. That was the time my sisters were supposed to get here, and here I was still in my pajamas. I wasn’t going to change. For what? I was at home. It was Saturday, my day to concentrate on me. If it were really up to me, I wouldn’t have any of them over here. I would close the blinds, unplug the phone, and watch TV in darkness.
I knew I had to get it together before any of them arrived, even if it was just washing my face. I willed myself to get up, and when I did, my cell phone rang. I looked over at my nightstand, watching my cell phone ringing and buzzing as it moved around the wooden top. To my surprise, it was Sheldon’s face smiling back at me. I quickly picked it up.
“Hello,” I said with eagerness.
“Viv.”
“Yeah, Sheldon, it’s me.”
“You okay?” he asked questionably. “You sound funny.”
“I’m okay,” I lied.
“No, you are not,” he said, causing more tears to form.
“Sheldon, I never could lie to you. I’m not okay. I got a lot going on right now.”
“I know some of what you are going through has to do with me,” he said.
I paused for a moment before saying, “Yes. I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“So what’s going on with us? Things have been different ever since that night we . . . we . . . you know.”
“Slept together,” he finished.
“Yes.”
“Look, Viv. This is not anything I want to talk to you about over the phone. Can I come over so we can talk?”
“Me and my sisters are having an emergency meeting this morning, and they should be arriving any minute, but you can come over after that.”
“What’s going on now?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Serena called the meeting, so I will find out when she gets here.”
“Okay. Hit me up when your sisters leave, and I will swing through then. Is that okay?”
“That sounds good. You never know; depending on what Serena has to tell me, I might need your shoulder. You know how things go once all of us get together.”
“I know, right.”
There was a slight pause before either of us spoke again.
“Sheldon, thank you,” I told him.
“For what?” he asked.
“For not giving up on me. I know I’ve overreacted and treated you bad after our episode, but I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.”
“I’m serious. You calling me today has made me so happy, and I can’t wait to see you,” I admitted.
“I can’t wait to see you either. So don’t forget; call me when they leave, a’ight?”
“I will.”
I hung up the phone.
Hearing Sheldon’s voice was the boost I needed to get ready for whatever my sister Serena had to reveal to us. Now that I had a little bit of pep in my step, I went to my bathroom to at least wash my face. As I made my way, a small voice said, I got you. I halted and looked around to see who said it, and then this warm feeling came over me. I smiled, thinking God had heard me—and now He’d spoken to me.
Chapter 35
Shauna
With his black jacket tossed over his shoulder, Grayson caressed the side of my face as he kissed me. I hated to see this man go. Our night together was amazing, and I wished I could rewind time
to do it all over again. I was still left pondering what it would be like to sleep with this man. Well, we slept together in the sense of lying beside one another all night long, but that was as far as things went with us. There was kissing. Boy, was there kissing. That man’s tongue in my mouth only piqued my curiosity, wondering how it would be to have his manhood inside me. We touched and caressed and felt each other up through our clothes to the point that I wanted to rip his off and tell him to take me right then and there, but I didn’t want to come off like a common whore. We’d gone out a few times, but not enough to warrant me giving up the goodies so quickly. That was a mistake I’d made with Cal.
I knew it was wrong to start any type of relationship with my boss, but I would quit my job to keep this man in my life. So far no one knew we had anything going on. We both kept the employer-employee relationship just that at work, not wanting to give anyone any reason to get all up in our business, which we’d done a great job at so far.
“I had a wonderful time with you, Grayson.”
“I hope we can do this again real soon,” he suggested.
“How about tonight?” I asked with a smile.
“Tonight sounds good to me,” he said, smirking. He leaned in and kissed me again. “I’ll see you later.”
Grayson left my apartment and left me with a smile that would last until we saw each other again—that’s if whatever Serena had to tell us didn’t rip the smile off my face.
I started to go to my room to get ready to go to Vivian’s house when there was a knock at the door.
I jogged over, opening it with a smile, saying, “Did you forget something?”
As those words slipped from my lips, my eyes landed on an angry Cal standing before me. I quickly tried to shut the door in his face, but he placed his foot in the door, prohibiting me from closing it. As hard as I struggled to shut the door, it was no use. Cal was too strong for me. Using his shoulder, he rammed the door, causing it to knock me backward, giving him just enough time to come into my home and slam the door shut. I quickly ran across the room to get away from him.
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