by Pat Tucker
“I was just saying that with all that’s going on, me and Bill and Big Mama, I wanted to make sure you and Riley are doing okay.”
Leela found the comment kind of strange, but she didn’t want to talk about her marriage. She wanted to know what life was like for Samantha now that she was living life as a single woman.
“Soooo, people go all the way on a first date now?” Leela asked sheepishly.
Samantha cracked up with laughter.
“Girl, I’m sure I’ve broken every dating rule in the book over the last few weeks. The guy was fine as all get-out. He was packing, and I wanted some.” Samantha shrugged. “So, I got some. Oh. I almost forgot to tell you! Next March, I’m going on the Tom Joyner Cruise,” Samantha squealed.
With her eyebrow raised, Leela put down the warm bread she was about to bite into. “What?”
“Yup! You heard me. I screwed the guy; I hardly remember his name. I felt so free, so liberated, I was like, why stop there with a one-night stand. I guess it was the thrill of doing something so taboo for me, so I figured, why not do something completely uncharacteristic. I know, we’ve joked about it for years, but I finally said, what the hell, why not go on the cruise? I no longer have to answer to a warden anymore, so what the hell?” Samantha shrugged. “Who knows, I may even have another one-night stand while I’m on the ship!”
“I can’t believe it.” Leela’s voice was kind of somber.
Wrinkling her nose, Samantha said, “Girrl, me either! Who knew a one-night stand would be so thrilling! Can you believe I’m nearly forty and I had never had a one-night stand?”
“I’m not talking about that! I’m talking about the cruise!”
“Oh. That. Yeah, I’m real hyped about that too.”
The revelation left Leela feeling peculiar. She couldn’t figure out why, but a small part of her felt envy when she thought about her best friend’s new single status and all the fun and exciting things she was now able to do. She didn’t envy the casual sex, but the thought of going on vacation alone or even with Samantha was quite enticing. It was also something she knew for sure her husband would never agree to.
Soon, two drinks were delivered to their table. Samantha didn’t have to look up at the handsome stranger to know they were compliments of him and his equally gorgeous friend.
• • •
When Riley’s cell phone rang, he didn’t want to look at it, much less answer. He was tired of Bill and his woe-is-me attitude.
Each Friday, he tried to leave work a little early to have a few brews with his boy before he called it a night and went home. Most of those outings ended fine with Riley making it in well before midnight, but after last Friday, he started to wonder whether they should find something else to do.
“It’s about time,” he said when the phone stopped ringing. But a few minutes later, the phone rang again.
“Aey, Dawg. Let’s go to this new spot in Third Ward,” Bill said the second Riley answered.
“I don’t know. I was thinking about sitting it out tonight, Playboy,” Riley said.
“Nah, Dawg! Nah. I’m telling you. You’ll like this spot.”
Riley was reluctant, but Bill sounded so desperate. Riley knew he was probably lonely considering he was divorced and his girlfriend had dumped him.
“C’mon, Man. This place is real chill, I’m telling you. The honeys be in the house, and they even got a live band tonight,” he said.
Riley found it hard to ignore the desperation in his boy’s voice. He didn’t like it, but he knew it was real. Long before the divorce was final, it seemed like Bill was focused on being out and seen as much as possible, and he wanted Riley at his side.
“All right, look. I’ll roll, but I’m not trying to stay out too late,” Riley said.
Hours later, Riley was a little pissed when he pulled up at 3000 Blodgett Street in Houston’s Third Ward. It was where he and Bill had agreed to meet.
The area, in Houston’s historic part of town, was hit and miss, with a combination of lounges and dive bars. Some places were nice, and others were far less so.
Inside, the brisk air-conditioned breeze was a welcomed relief.
Riley walked up to the bar and ordered a beer. He looked around the small interior and took in the sleek ambiance. A DJ was perched near the front door behind a long table that held several large aluminum containers. A small line of people gathered near it, for the complimentary catfish and fries.
“Hey, Dawg, how long you been here?”
Picking up the green bottle, Riley extended it toward Bill and said, “I was about to leave after this if you hadn’t showed up. This is my second.”
“Aw, Man. Well, I’m here now. Sorry about the wait; I was at my lawyer’s office when we talked earlier.”
Bill was still in a battle trying to save his job. He had hired an attorney, and it looked like he might be successful, but it was taking time.
“The next round is on me,” he said to Riley.
“Cool. Bet that,” Riley said.
At first Riley felt bad that he was reluctant to hang out with his boy. They talked about the upcoming game Sunday night and ate some of the fish and fries. He finally felt like he needed to relax and enjoy his time out with his boy.
“Can we get another round?” Bill asked the female bartender.
Once their drinks were refreshed, Riley turned to look out at the growing crowd. Bill didn’t exaggerate when he said the honeys would be out in force. The women outnumbered the men by at least five to one, and any real man could appreciate those odds.
Riley was settling in for a nice evening when the door opened and in walked Kelly. Riley looked over at Bill, then at his friend’s former mistress, and suddenly it hit him that he’d been set up.
CHAPTER
8
Later that night, Leela applied moisturizer to her arms and legs after a hot shower. She sat on her side of the bed while her husband went down to make sure the house was secure.
It was nearly one in the morning, and he had only been home for about thirty minutes.
“Dinner with Samantha was interesting this evening,” she said, once Riley walked into their room and closed the door.
“Oh, yeah? How so?” he asked.
From his tone, Leela could tell he wasn’t really that interested in a conversation about her best friend, but she wanted to make conversation.
“She looked really good. I mean, like I’ve never seen her look so put together,” Leela said.
Her husband’s broad shoulders hunched. “Well, she is back on the market now,” he said. “Guess it makes sense.”
“Yeah. I guess so. She seems so different now.”
“Babe.” Riley turned to face his wife. “They’re both two different people now. To be honest with you, I don’t know what’s going on with Bill. He had me meet him at a place where I think he knew Kelly was gonna be.”
“What?”
“Yeah. The shit was kind of foul. She shows up to meet some dude and the dude was not her husband. It seems like when she told Bill she was gonna stay with her husband, she only meant that she didn’t want to be with him. It was bad. We barely got out of there without a major scene jumping off,” Riley said.
“Wait. So he thought Kelly was gonna leave her husband because he and Samantha got a divorce?”
“I guess so. But from what I saw tonight, ol’ girl ain’t thinking about Bill. She was there with her new man all out in public like she was single.”
“How’d you get Bill to leave?”
“I told him I wasn’t about to get caught up in any kind of drama. He didn’t want to leave, but I told him, we needed to bounce and I was leaving without him if he wanted to stay.”
“So if you guys left, why’d you get home so late?”
“The only way he’d agree to leave was if I promised to swing by Sugar Hill for a drink with him,” Riley said.
“Oh. I see. Well, you know how I feel about you doing all that drinking, th
en getting behind the wheel and driving all the way out here to Katy,” Leela said.
“I was good. You know I’m not getting behind the wheel if I think I’ve had too much,” Riley said.
“But that’s the thing, Ry. You won’t know when you’ve had too much. All I know is, you’ve been going out a lot more now that Bill is single again. I don’t want his new status to become a DWI charge for you; that’s all I’m saying, Babe.”
Riley whipped around and roared at his wife. “Do I say anything when you run off and go hang out with Samantha’s bitter ass?”
“Whoa, Ry!” Leela threw her hands up in mock defense.
“Whoa, my ass! Don’t come for me. It’s not necessary. I just told you dude needed some time. You somehow turn this into something about me. I don’t need you to warn me about the dangers of drinking and driving.” Riley slapped his chest. “I’m a man!”
“What am I missing here?” Leela asked.
“You know what, I don’t need this shit.” Riley snatched a pillow and stormed out of their bedroom.
Leela sat dumbfounded and alone. The last thing she wanted was alone time. Being alone had quickly become her enemy. It didn’t take long for thoughts of her grandfather’s betrayal to seep into her mind. It was so long ago, Leela couldn’t remember how old she and her sister were, but they were arriving at their grandparents’ house when their neighbor, Rhonda’s mother, had called with an emergency.
“Big Mama, what are Miss Sadie’s grandkids doing over here? I told you I needed you to watch Leela and Leslie,” Linda had said as she dropped Leela and her older sister off.
“I know, but Sadie just called and asked if I could keep ’em overnight. Your father went out to try and help find Rhonda.”
“Not again.” Linda had sucked her teeth and put the overnight bag down on the sofa. “Them poor kids. It don’t matter how many times Daddy tracks her down and drags her back to Miss Sadie’s. That crack is way more powerful than Daddy and Miss Sadie put together.”
“Linda, hush now! Not in front of the kids. They can’t help that their Mama is sick.”
“She ain’t sick; she’s a crackhead, Big Mama.”
“Linda! I said hush your mouth!”
“Okay, Big Mama, okay. You ain’t gotta go getting all worked up. But the truth is the truth. We ain’t gotta talk about it, and just because we don’t, that don’t mean Rhonda ain’t a crackhead.”
“Shoo.” Big Mama had waved her arm toward the door. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be? Get on up out of here before you upset these kids.”
“Big Mama, we old enough to be home by ourselves. I don’t know why Mama don’t trust us. Leslie is almost sixteen,” Leela had said.
Rhonda’s son, Darnell, had run into the kitchen. The nipple of his bottle hung between his teeth and he squealed with laughter.
“Get on out of here, Linda. What time you coming by to pick up the girls?”
Linda had shrugged and shuffled out of the front door.
Leela remembered being around Rhonda’s kids throughout her teenage and young adult years. There were times when Rhonda was clean for months on end; then one day, she’d vanish.
Miss Sadie would show up with a sad story and Pah-pah would leave to go help look for her. Leela shook the memory from her thoughts. She adjusted herself on the bed, stabbed at her pillow, and squeezed her eyes shut.
She was determined to get some sleep. No more thoughts of her grandparents, Samantha and Bill, or even Riley.
CHAPTER
9
Leela felt like she was being pulled in several directions and none of them was where she wanted to be. By the time she got up and moving Saturday morning, Riley was gone.
She knew he probably left to go play basketball with his friends like he did most Saturday mornings, but the fact that he left without looking in on her was hurtful.
Her phone rang. Before she reached for it, she knew it would either be her mother or Samantha. After Samantha’s revelation that she’d be going on a cruise they’d both daydreamed of doing for years, Leela wondered whether their friendship would survive Samantha’s new single status.
“Hey, Ma, I’m getting ready to walk out the door now,” she said into the phone, once she realized it was her mother calling.
“Okay. I was just calling to let you know we’ve changed restaurants,” Linda said.
Once she got the updated location, Leela left the house and thought again about her husband. Sadly, she admitted to herself that something wasn’t right with Riley. Leela didn’t know whether she was feeling emotional because of how he left the house or if she was internalizing everyone else’s issues.
She arrived at the restaurant and rushed to greet Big Mama and her mother. Leela placed her purse onto the back of the chair and settled into her seat. “How’s Pah-pah?”
The moment the question left her lips, Leela felt like she had somehow betrayed her grandmother.
“You know you can call him and find out,” Big Mama said.
Leela looked at her grandmother, but her eyes quickly darted to her mother when she spoke.
“I wouldn’t call that filthy dog,” Linda said about her father.
Big Mama looked between the two and focused her attention on her granddaughter. “This is gonna be a challenge for all of us and it’s not gonna be easy, but it’s perfectly okay for you to continue your relationship with your grandfather.”
Linda’s face contorted into a frown. “Oh no the hell it’s not,” she howled.
“Linda. Yes it is. You’re gonna have to find a way to forgive your father. He’s the only father you have, and it’s not fair for you to push your feelings off on your daughter.”
“Big Mama. After all he did to you, to this family? I don’t think any of us should be talking to him ever again.”
“Well, you’re not being realistic. You know your father’s health is failing, and he’s gonna need support from his kids,” Big Mama said.
Linda sucked her teeth. She didn’t give her mother much pushback, but Leela knew for sure that her mother meant it when she said she wanted nothing else to do with her father.
“How have you been? How was it this week?” Leela asked her grandmother.
“It’s hard. You know I left my parents’ house for my husband’s. I still think about him each and every day. I was prepared for until-death-do-us-part. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved,” Big Mama said.
Her words broke Leela’s heart. She reached for her grandmother’s hand and squeezed tightly.
“I keep telling her she needs to get out more. But maybe you just need yourself a little young buck,” Linda joked.
Leela and Big Mama looked at her, but failed to see the humor in her joke.
“Wwwwaaahht?” Linda squealed. “Lots of older women are hooking up with younger men. It’s the in thing now.” Linda shrugged off the awkward glances. “Twist up your faces if you want to, but I’ll take a younger man over one my age any day or night of the week.”
Big Mama’s sudden outburst of laughter caught everyone off guard. “Chile, I’m seventy-two years old. I don’t care what these other women are doing. What would I do with some younger man?”
“Don’t knock it ’til you try it, Big Mama,” Linda joked, then winked.
Leela didn’t say another word. But her mind raced with thoughts of what would become of her grandmother who after fifty-two years of marriage was now divorced and left to fend for herself.
After brunch with her mother and grandmother, Leela left to meet Samantha at a new hair shop they’d been dying to try. Thereafter, the plan was to grab a quick drink and appetizers before Leela headed back home.
“You can go home, but I’m going to see Monique; then I’m going to the after-party,” Samantha announced when they discussed their plans.
Leela wasn’t about to entertain the idea. She knew most of Riley’s day would be consumed by basketball games, but once he got home, cleaned up, and rested, he’d be r
eady for them to do something together.
This new single-lady lifestyle was definitely gonna take some getting used to for Leela.
• • •
Riley hated being in a pissing contest with Bill, but since the divorce, it seemed that was what most of their conversations had turned into. The current one was about to drive him crazy.
“Dawg, you lying,” Bill taunted Riley.
“What I gotta lie to you for?” Riley asked as he took another healthy swig from his beer.
“So you tryin’ to make me believe that you really believe your wife has been completely faithful to you in the whole time y’all been together?” The wonder in Bill’s voice was apparent.
Riley shrugged. “I ain’t tryin’ to make you believe anything. I’m just telling you that I ain’t never had a woman cheat on me.”
When Kelly decided to drop Bill, Riley felt like it sent his boy into a downward spiral of self-doubt. Somehow, that made his friend question just about everything about the opposite sex.
“Bullshit!” Bill yelled. “Bullshit. All women cheat, Dawg,” he insisted.
“Nah, they don’t, just like all men don’t cheat,” Riley said smugly.
Bill tossed Riley a wicked glare as a smirk spread across his face. “Oh, so what about my bachelor party?” he asked.
“What about it?” Riley challenged.
“I remember that stripper, the little chocolate-colored one with the phat ass and massive tits. She was all on your tip. You can’t tell me you didn’t hit that,” Bill said.
“I wasn’t married at the time,” Riley said. “But what’s that got to do with anything? Man, I don’t feel like talking about this shit all the time. I’m about to get you some Midol; lately, all you wanna do is sit around and talk about your damn feelings, and emotions and shit.”
“Why you going there, Dawg?”
