by Zi'ere
“That may not be enough cash, I’m not really sure. But in the inside pocket of your bag, there is a black American Express card and it’s in your name. It has an unlimited balance of course and it is yours to keep. I hope that you have a nice time with the ladies.”
He leans in to give me a kiss on the lips.
“You know that I have a fake ID for all my business stuff, so what name did you put the card in? When did you have time to get a card in my name?” I step back from him.
“Slow down, Kam.
I gaze up and look deeply into his eyes, and he returns the look. A million thoughts are running through my head. This man is still a puzzle to me. I have a pretty good idea where our relationship is going, yet I still haven’t been able to fit all of the pieces together just yet.
“Babe, when I said that I’ve got you- I mean that. You have an Arizona driver’s license with your real name on it, which is what you are going to need in order to use the card. You need to get used to a man always looking out for your well-being. But in the meantime and between-time, if a problem should ever pop up, then just call me and I will fix it.”
He then plants a heated kiss on my lips, as he separates them with his tongue. I am ready to feel him inside of me, instead of just a passionate kiss. My panties are now on the verge of being soaking wet. I have to break the kiss and quick at that.
“Pain, I can’t accept this- this is all too much!”
“Next order of business- you cannot call me P or Pain, Kamille. Ever. Not even as a joke. I’m not going to be that man with you. You will never know that man.”
“Why?”
“To you, Kamille Foster-Brown, I am Gavin Deandre Brown. Simple as that, no questions or answers needed. Understand?”
“Damn, you just set me straight!” I snap my fingers three times, in emphasis for myself.
“I’m serious about you, Kamille. I don’t want anything that I’ve had in my past traveling inside of my future. I want all the grace, respect, and dedication that I can only get from you. That’s all, Babe.”
“I understand, Gavin.”
“Great! That’s the reason why I chose you. I knew that there was something different about you.”
“But are you really about to send me off with complete strangers now? I told you that I don’t need to shop. There’s no way that I’m going to waste money like this. I can just stay here until everyone is ready to leave.”
“The men and I are about to have a meeting and I’m not about to leave you in this room alone. Besides, you are going to be seeing those ladies a whole lot. You’ll be getting your hair done at the same salons, sharing holiday dinners, kid’s birthday parties and our Friday evening get-together’s. All of that big family stuff is going to be going on.
You are going to be there as my better half and your say-so will equal my say-so. You need to know who you get along with and getting along with my sisters is mandatory.”
The man is very direct.
“How is it mandatory, if I don’t even know if they like me? Yet you are talking about me liking them?” I pout.
Gavin laughs.
“Those lil lips are just too damn cute.”
“I’m serious! I don’t even remember their names, I was introduced to so many people at one time last night.”
“Well, that may be true but they know you and I know that they like you. Problem solved.”
22
Gavin walks me to the door and then he escorts me to the elevator. He isn’t going for my ideas about quiet spa time, so I keep quiet on purpose. Once in the lobby, all of the beautiful women that I’d met the night before, all have new glows in their faces this morning. I only manage to get a quick lip smack from my man, before the women push me into an awaiting stretch Hummer.
We have barely pulled out of the casino’s valet area before I realize that all of the women are well acquainted with each other. No one speaks to me, so I decide to fidget with my phone.
Jai is going to have a field day, when I fill her in on the new goings-on in my life. A few seconds later, Gavin’s sister Christina sparks up a conversation with me, that all the ladies are interested in.
“Kamille you are absolutely beautiful! My big brother sure can pick them. What nationality are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Thank you for the compliment. I am Caucasian, Puerto Rican, and African American. My father is black.” I truthfully admit.
“That’s a rare combination,” one of the non-family member women speaks up.
“Your hair is beautiful by the way. I wish that I could keep body in mines like that,” I address the woman with a head nod because I can’t remember her name.
“I’m bi-racial as well but I can give you the number to my cosmetologist. You live in Chandler right?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Great!” The woman smiles as she writes down the information that I so desperately need on a piece of paper.
I have been neglecting getting my hair professionally done since forever because it is just too expensive to maintain extra, long hair. But if nothing else, I can use the extra money that Gavin has been passing me.
That way, I can keep my mane healthy and beautifully manicured by a professional, for as long as the ride lasts. I feel like I’ve hit the lottery, as soon as she passes the small piece of paper to my hand.
Conversation continues to flow with the women, whom I initially thought had nothing in common with me. A few champagne bottles are popped and the fun has officially turned up, even though it was barely noon.
All of a sudden, the women’s cell phones all start to go off at the same time. Smiles are turned into half frowns and utter quietness. Something is terribly wrong. I look at each of the women’s faces. They all look as if they have been sucking on lemons.
“Dang, I didn’t pass gas! What’s wrong ya’ll? ” I pull my cell phone from out of my bag, to make sure I haven’t missed an emergency text from my man.
My cell is in normal working order, with no missed calls or text messages though.
“As the big sister, you need to know that I’m not a fake person.”
Christina pours herself another glass of champagne as she talks and makes eye contact with me.
“Okay, I can respect that. So, what’ going on.”
“Tiffani- Pain’s baby mama is what’s going on. Even though they broke up almost a year ago, she has still been coming around because she’s our friend too. And because she has been in the family since high school and his baby mama, I have been extremely nicer than I really am.”
I heard a few snickers in the background.
The other women are calling her out on her nice woman spill. After Christina cuts her eyes towards the front of the truck, she now has complete quietness and undivided attention to continue on.
“Pain has never been too happy about her still coming over whenever we do things. He put up a fight from the very beginning. He says that we need to let her find herself and her own friends because she will never be back in the family . . . Not ever.
And at this point, he’s acting like he doesn’t give a damn about who she is or that she carried his kids. In past situations, if she came in the kitchen, then he’d go out into the garage. If she would be in the den when he came in, he would made his way right back out of the door altogether. But back then, he wasn’t dating anyone seriously, so I just figured no harm, no foul.”
“OKAY?”
This heifer is long winded as hell! Get to the damn point already!
“Tell the truth Christina or I’m going to tell it!”
Christina sits back in her spot. Evidently, she doesn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.
“That bitch is losing her mind right now!” One of the other women, who isn’t related by blood, speaks up.
The woman’s name is Sasha. Her man, Stymy is one of the men that I noticed was the closest to Gavin, all throughout the night last night. He is a big man, the same height as my man b
ut much bigger in muscle and mass. He stood over Gavin, as if though he was a protector of some sort, in my eyes. I also noticed that he was the only one that had a room on the same floor as Gavin and I.
“The bitch’s name is Tiffani Matthews. You’re going to need to know that when you fill out your police reports,” the wife issues the information.
“She just sent out a group text to all of us, going off. She’s crying out for attention right now, true enough. But the heifer is crazy as fuck, so stay on your P’s and Q’s, ya digg?” Another one adds.
“She know damn well, that we are not about to give up any information on anything that Pain is doing! Kamille if you don’t remember anything else from this lil field trip, you had best remember that there is a code of order in this family. I’m not just talking about the Brown’s either. I’m talking about all fifteen of those men and us ladies that you met last night,” yet another woman speaks up.
“Pain’s business is just that. Nobody discusses family business with an outsider. That is family code and I don’t even like her like that. Not enough to risk breaking it for her ass! No way . . . So I am clueless as to how she included me in the text!” Sasha speaks.
“Kam, that looney toon might be waiting on your porch for you, when we get back to Chandler!” Christina adds bubbly to my glass.
“She doesn’t know where I live or what I look like. We haven’t been out anywhere in Chandler, so how can she even know anything about me?”
My question is geared towards the big sister, but that isn’t who I get my answer from.
“Tiffani knew about you the same night that Pain walked you out to your black 2013 Nissan Altima to get your number!”
“Well damn!” I am shocked at the accuracy of the information that is being told to me by a complete stranger.
“Damn is right! You also need a damn taser!” Another woman who’s been very quiet, puts her two cents in.
I recognize her as one of the brother’s wives, Dana.
“A taser for what? Gavin has already made his choice and it’s not her. She’s going to have to be a big girl and deal with it.”
I politely sit back in my seat.
Instead of words, I get several lip smacks, clicks of the teeth, and whistles.
“Let me tell you something, Little Miss Sunshine. You have a Brown man. No woman walks away from a man like him, his brothers, or any of the men that he associates with. We have the cream of the crop.
You are new but I strongly suggest that you take a good look around. You’re not going to get another shot at this life. So you need to be about your business at all times!” Dana goes in on me.
“Because just as quick as you got here, you can be gone even quicker. Remember that Newbie.”
I get a cold stare from someone that I assume is one of Tiffani’s allies.
She looks at me as if she is wishing me away with her mind.
“Since ya’ll are giving her so much hell on the behalf of Tif, then ya’ll will be fucking yourselves, if you reply to that text. Now, you can take it as a threat if you want to but that ain’t going to do you no good……so please take it as a promise.”
Christina is now back on the edge of the seat and looking around for opposition.
I take note, Gavin is right. Hell, I do need a team when dealing with these Housewives! I have no idea what I have gotten myself into.
23
I am seriously disturbed by the words that I am hearing. Of course, the women don’t know it, but I am only nineteen years old. Yes, I’ve dated here and there but I’m not the one to deal with any drama . . . Not even from my parents.
So there is no way that I’m going to take it from anyone else. Gavin and his stalker Tiffani will be added to the list, without as much as a second thought. I only have one semester before graduation. I don’t have time for this ‘As the World Turn’s’ soap opera drama.
“The good thing in this whole situation is that we all know that P is done with her for good. He brought you here and has you around his family and that means that he is very serious about you.
Don’t let any woman bump you out your spot. This life is fabulous but where there is money, there will always be hoes. Take care of him and your position, that’s all I’m going to say.”
Short and Asian sits back.
“It takes work to be in this family but I promise you, the rewards are worth it all. I’m Sanye by the way.”
The baby girl of the Brown family takes her chance to school me.
“My brothers aren’t saints. I won’t ever say that they are but they take care of what they treasure. Gavin treasures you already, so I hope that you know that. When you are exiled, all you will think about is how to get it all back.
Take my word for it. I don’t know much about you, but what woman doesn’t want a care-free world? Big Bro says that you are educated, so don’t be a fool. You have the power to keep his past just that. Don’t flake on him, he is ready to settle down with you.
She cheated and now she wants to debo her way back in. The only way that she will win though is if you let her.”
Dana gives me a one arm hug.
“We are toasting to our newest family member: To Kamille!”
I watch as each lady scoots to the edge of her seat in the Hummer.
They all raise their glasses and then wait for me to do the same.
“To me!”
Clinks and clanks are heard throughout the enclosed space. I have a smile on my face but the wheels in my mind are turning a mile a minute.
The truck stops in front of the BeBe store.
“Put a spanking on his card, just for having to listen to this shit on your first day! She doesn’t deserve to be here, you do!” Sanye whispers in my ear.
Inside the first store, I watch the women grab and fight about not ending up with the same outfits. They don’t want to be dressed alike on the same days. They spend as if the country is not in a recession.
I am watching without staring but I’m sure that not one of them checks a price tag, as they point things out that they just have to purchase. I hasn’t planned on being frivolous but I’m pissed because Gavin should have told me about his insane ex, Tiffani the Cheetah.
There is no excuse for me receiving information I’ve never heard about, from a bunch of women that I haven’t even known for twenty four hours. My purchases are going to be for me; to make Kamille feel better about all of the mess that Gavin has pushed me into. And he did it without even asking me if I am okay with it.
24
Sunday evening, Gavin and I travel back to Chandler with a heavy blanket of quietness inside of the truck. I am pissed that during the hours that we’ve been riding, he still hasn’t had the balls to come at me straight about Tiffani yet.
He has no idea that I heard him on the phone with her early that morning. Nor does he know the things we ladies discussed, as we spent our men’s money. I put a dent in his, my bad- I meant my credit card and I’m not feeling bad about it either.
I’ve decided to keep the cash because at the end of the day, I’m nobody’s fool. This man has no concrete connections to me whatsoever. He can be gone the very next day for all I know. Just as quick as things became so glorious with the sun shining, the clouds and a rain storm can always sweep through tomorrow.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know whose trying to reach him, every time that his cell phone rings or he gets a text and ignores it. I look at him out of the corner of my eyes and can see that he is lost deeply in his thoughts.
Even though I can only see desert scenery from the passenger side, it has my full attention. My feelings are so very hurt. My heart is aching and I really do need for my man to talk to me. Just the day before, he talked about us living in the same space. Now he doesn’t have anything to say to me. I can’t take it anymore.
“Babe, is there is something that you need to tell me? Because if so, then I’m all ears.”
“I’m sorry Sweetheart. My m
ind is going over the meeting that I had today. I am just lost in my own thoughts.” He lies.
“Do you want to talk it out, Babe? That’s what I’m here for you know?”
I reach over and gently rub his arm.
He smiles at me for the first time since we’ve been riding.
“When you talk to me, you truly give me a new outlook on my life. Thanks for offering Babe but I have to get things straight on my own. Have you had a chance to think about the living situation anymore?”
“Yes, I’ve thought about it a lot actually.”
My stomach begins to turn.
“Ok……and?”
He tries his best to read my face, while still watching the road.
“I think that it’s a good idea, but under one condition.”
“Whatever you desire is yours.”
“I would like for us to come to a mutual agreement on a separate space for us, instead of you moving into my apartment. We can find a cute affordable house that we can share together. With this move, I assume that we are making things official and going forward with the future of Gavin and Kamille.
That’s means a committed relationship, a monogamous relationship and me heading towards a wedding gown and a groom to my ears. Therefore we will need a room for your daughter as well, whenever she comes to visit. I think that it will be a much better fit than my small apartment.”
I feel as if my heart is about to jump straight through my mouth. Gavin doesn’t respond right away and I take that as a bad sign. Even though we are on the fast track to love, my conditions still stand. I am careful to keep my words direct because I will not be giving up my apartment to shack up with a man that I barely even know.
Sure, the two of us get along very well and I feel totally at ease with him. But what we don’t have is time on our side. I’m not going to allow myself to put all of my eggs in one basket, only wind up homeless in six months when things don’t work out. Of course I hope that things will, however I’d rather be safe than sorry. If he doesn’t like it, he can kick rocks on over to the next.
