The Genesis Group

by Mike Dagons

  “Yes, we will,” she purred.

  Her mouth was still so invitingly close to his, he had to resist the urge to ravish it. “Then let’s go,” he laced his fingers with hers.

  Kenyah still had her eyes on his when she was blinded by the shock of pain that set her jaw on fire.

  The force of the blow had her spinning out of Desmond’s grip. Losing the battle to stay on her feet, she went down hard, her hip bouncing off a concrete step that caused another kind of pain.

  The intense burning sensation numbed the left side of her face, but it was the ache in her hip that brought tears to her eyes. “Good Lord, please!” she screamed in pain.

  “Hey, man, what the hell you doing?!” Desmond’s voice was loud and distressed.

  “Mind yo business, nigga!” the warning was roared in a baritone voice, and although she hadn’t heard it in weeks, she recognized it immediately.

  Realization of what was happening cut through her fogginess like a hot knife through butter. “Trent,” she bit back a sob. “It’s not what you think,” she tried to push herself up off the ground, and failed.

  “Oh no?!” he exhaled a mocking snorting sound, and then reached for her again.

  Desmond reached for him, and a few of the men that worked on his floor got between them and stopped them from going at each other.

  “Hitting her make you feel like a fucking man?!” Desmond shouted over the men holding him back.

  “Nah, but killing you would,” Trent shouted back, and tried to push through the men.

  Kenyah’s head was spinning, but with some assistance from a spectator, she managed to get to her feet. “Trent, please stop it,” she cried.

  Her husband pulled his 9mm Beretta and pointed it at her. Instantly, most of the bystanders scattered like frightened mice. “How long y’all been fucking, baby?!”

  Desmond exchanged stunned looks with Kenyah. He had no idea how her husband found out about them, but now was not the time for confession. “Put the gun down, and let’s handle it like men,” he challenged. “I’ll beat your bitch ass!”

  “Trent, please,” she pleaded. “You got it all wrong!”

  The truth was, Trent wanted nothing more than to go at him with his bare hands, but everybody there had a cellphone, and he’d be lucky if somebody hadn’t already recorded him.

  It was definitely not a good time for his face to be playing on the evening news, so he holstered the Beretta, and hoped that everybody was too shocked to have recorded him brandishing it.

  “What’s it going to be, man?”

  Trent studied him for a beat, and then he looked at his wife. The pleading look of terror on her face made him back down. “Nah, y’all ain’t worth it. I’m sorry I interrupted, please carry on,” he turned to walk away.

  “You got your facts mixed up, brotha,” Desmond lied for her sake.

  “Muthafucka, please don’t lie,” he shouted, his temper making him turn back to Desmond. “I read that text message you sent her.”

  “Trent, please…give me a chance to explain. Let’s go home so I can explain,” she pleaded.

  “Go home wit’ him, bitch! Oh, but you can’t, can you? This trifling muthafucka got a wife and kids at home waiting for his sorry ass,” he answered sourly.

  Kenyah was a private person, and not at all comfortable with airing her dirty laundry in public. Being aware of the large number of her co-workers standing around watching them, and knowing she was going to be the topic of their conversations tomorrow, made her stomach sick. She wished she could just disappear.

  Trent had hit her hard, but the burning stinging of his slap didn’t compare to the sting of his words. She had never seen him so angry, and the fact that he was licensed to carry that gun he pulled on her, made him even scarier.

  “You wrong for disrespecting her like this,” Desmond said.

  “Desmond don’t, let me handle it,” she pleaded.

  “That’s right, Desmond, let her handle it. You worry about handling your own fucking business!”

  Desmond wanted to ask him how he knew about Vectra and his boys, but it was irrelevant. He had been cold busted, and worst, he had put Kenyah’s safety in jeopardy.

  “Trent, you have it wrong. It’s not like that between us,” Kenyah tried to touch his arm.

  Once again, he lost the battle with his temper. He whirled on her, snatching her up in her collar. Men’s hands latched onto him from every direction, pulling his hands free of her shirt. “You can have this bitch!” he knocked their hands off him angrily.

  He stalked off, and Kenyah didn’t try to stop him again. She watched him get in his big black Hummer, and pull out the parking lane slowly like his rage had robbed him of the energy to drive.

  Kenyah composed herself and tried to regain some of her dignity by smiling at the glaring eyes looking on her with pity.

  Desmond walked over to where she was standing. “Are you alright?” he reached out to touch her, but pulled his hand back quickly when she flinched.

  “I’m fine. I need to go home,” she answered softly.

  The crowd was dispersing, but she felt like she was still in the spotlight, and wearing a big ass scarlet letter ‘A’ on her forehead labeling her as an adulteress.

  “Maybe you should give your husband time to cool off. Let me take you someplace…”

  “No!” she practically shouted. “I can’t leave with you now. I have to try to fix things between me and Trent, and what about your wife? Surely, somebody is going to tell her about this.”

  “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you. Your husband just pointed a gun in your face. And judging from his actions tonight, I’d say he’s angry enough to use it. Does he hit you often?”

  “No, he’s never hit me before. He’s not himself tonight, and that’s my fault.”

  “It’s not your fault. Real men don’t beat women. Your face is bruised,” he cupped her cheek gently, and her brave facade crumbled like dried leaves. She broke down and sobbed uncontrolled tears.

  Desmond pulled her into his arms and held her while she cried into his chest. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispered soothingly. “I never meant for anything like this to happen.”

  “It’s alright,” she stepped back out of his embrace, and dried her face with her fingertips. “I’ll just go home and explain that it’s all a horrible misunderstanding. Once I talk to him, it’ll be okay.”

  Desmond stared at her in disbelief. “Baby, the man said he read my text, and he undoubtedly saw us kissing.”

  “I never got the text. What did it say?”

  “I asked you to meet me at the Holiday Inn after shift. What you think you can tell him to make him believe what’s going on between us is innocent?”

  “I have to try, Desmond!” she exploded in frustration. She could not accept that her marriage was over.

  “Okay, I get that. All I’m saying is give it some time. Call him first and talk to him. It may not be safe to be alone with him.”

  “He’s angry, but he’d never intentionally hurt me.”

  “The man just knocked you on your ass, and he didn’t do it accidentally.”

  “I told you, Trent has never done anything like that before, and I’m not afraid of him. I’ll talk to you later,” she strutted off.

  “Call me if you need anything at all!” he yelled at her back.

  Desmond stood there feeling helpless and guilty about the problem he’d caused her. He hoped she was going to take his advice and give her husband time to cool his temper, but there was nothing he could do about it if she didn’t, so he got in his truck and drove home.

  Chapter 3

  Desmond didn’t put Kenyah out of his mind until he pulled into his driveway. For a minute, he actually tried to think of a lie to tell Vectra, just in case some big mouthed friend of hers had already called and told her about the shit that went down in the parking lot.

  “Why the fuck you worried about that?” he asked himself, and then got o
ut the car.

  His ten year marriage had been a struggle at best, but he’d never done anything to disrespect it. Vectra had been refusing him sex for months, but he didn’t want to be the kind of husband who acted like it was her duty to service him. Sure he was unhappy and sexually frustrated, but if she didn’t feel like it, then he would respect it because his marriage meant more to him than just being able to fuck when he wanted.

  But when she refused the idea of a family vacation, it made him suspicious, and he only had to follow her a few days before he saw her going into a room at Motel 6.

  He was devastated by what he saw, but he never mentioned it to her. He stayed because of his boys, and he would always put their happiness first, but he declared in his heart that the period of celibacy she had inflicted on him was over.

  At first, his confidence was a little shaky. He had been out of the game for a long time, but then he saw Kenyah, and instantly knew that she was someone he’d like to get to know better.

  He felt bad about what had happened to her tonight, but he didn’t regret his decision to talk to her. She made his heart sing, and for the first time in years, he hadn’t felt inadequate after making love. He never seemed to please Vectra, no matter what he did, and he believed he had tried everything humanly possible to pull some passion for him out of her.

  His sons, Devon and Devin, meant everything to him, and he would continue to try to make his life with Vectra amiable for their sakes, but he wasn’t going to even pretend that he gave a damn about her role as his wife. As far as he was concerned, he was single.

  His house was a split level, so his bedroom window wasn’t that high up off the ground. He stood in the driveway, and looked up at it, and saw that the lights were out. So he was hopeful that Vectra was already asleep because he really didn’t feel like talking to her tonight. He wanted to take a hot shower and go to bed.

  Desmond didn’t turn on any lights, and he tried not to make a sound as he walked down the stairs to the guestroom in the basement.

  He opened the door and cursed his bad luck when he saw Vectra sitting on the bed wearing a scowl and a night gown sheer enough to make sure he got a good look at the body she took pleasure in denying him.

  Vectra had been his high school sweetheart, and there was a time when he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She had flawless caramel skin, and had always worn her hair cut short in silky locks of ringlet curls that lay close to her head and shaped her pretty oval face.

  “So, you finally decided to come home,” she snapped before he was through the door good.

  “Vectra, I’m tired and I’d like a good night’s sleep. If you’re sleeping down here, then I’ll just go upstairs.”

  “Did your girlfriend’s husband catch y’all? Is that why you sneaking in here like a thief?” she held her cell up so he could see it. “Your dumb ass sent that, ‘meet me at the hotel’, text to my number instead of hers!”

  Desmond closed the door, because although he didn’t give a fuck about what she said to him, he was conscientious about the things his boys heard.

  “Did you call him?” he asked, already knowing that she had. It was how Trent knew so much about his family life.

  “Yeah, I called him. I thought he should know he was married to a cheating whore.”

  “You got the nerve to call somebody a whore? You know nothing about Kenyah, or our friendship. You had no right to call her husband with that shit!”

  “I had every right!” she was off the bed and in his face in a flash. “You were inviting her to meet you at a fucking hotel,” she shouted, and then commenced with her usual verbal assault on his manhood.

  Suddenly, he was angrier with himself than he was with her or Trent. For years he had accepted her verbal abuse and sometimes physical attacks, but he wasn’t in the mood for it tonight.

  She had knowingly put him and Kenyah in danger by contacting the woman’s husband before she had all the facts. “Get the fuck outtá my face,” he growled, surprising her.

  While Vectra stood staring at him in shock, he stripped out of his shirt, and then walked around her to the closet.

  It shouldn’t have come as any big surprise when she slammed her fist into his back, because she’d done it so many times before, but this time he didn’t respond by pleading with her to control her temper. Desmond grabbed her by her throat, shoved her into the wall, and started choking her. She clawed at his arms trying to make him release her.

  Her scratches burned his skin, but it didn’t make him let go. He looked her in her eyes while he squeezed her neck, and he took pleasure in the fear he saw in them when she realized he may actually kill her.

  She struggled as long as she could, every breath a shallow wheeze. When she succumbed to the lack of oxygen, and her body went limp, Desmond let her drop, not too gently, to the floor.

  He grabbed up his shirt and pulled it back on as he headed for the door. Vectra gulped air, and coughed violently. “You come back here!” she gasped between coughs.

  Desmond ignored her and walked out the room while she was trying to get to her feet. “I’m your wife, the mother of your sons! How dare you expose them to domestic violence!” she ran behind him.

  Desmond didn’t bother with answering her. They both knew that his boys had seen lots of domestic violence, and he was always on the receiving end of it.

  Vectra caught him at the front door. “I’ve been on that job for twelve years. Everybody knows me. You didn’t think I was going to find out everything there is to know about that hoe?”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you found out.” He kept walking, and she continued to follow on his heels.

  “I heard her husband would have kicked your ass if Pete and Ernest hadn’t stopped him,” she taunted. “Where you going?” she shouted when he ignored her and got in his truck.

  She was still screaming at him when he backed out the driveway. He drove to the nearest Motel 6, and got himself a room, and took a long hot shower.

  The drab room with the full size bed didn’t have the appeal of the queen size bed dressed up in white Egyptian sheets at home, but it was comfortable.

  Desmond lay in the darkness thinking about his boys. He had converted a section of his basement into a romper room for them. He’d even had it soundproofed so they could play freely without having to worry about disturbing their mother.

  He paid for maid service twice a week, so Vectra didn’t have to worry about coming home to housework after punching a clock. He was the perfect husband and father, but she never appreciated him.

  He reminded himself that he should forget about her ungrateful ass, and fill his mind with more pleasant thoughts, like Kenyah’s smile. But that made him wonder what she was going through right now. He could only imagine it was nothing good, and that made his heart feel heavy in his chest.

  It was selfish, but he sincerely hoped that whatever her husband was saying or doing to her wasn’t going to make her want to stop seeing him. No matter the difficulties, she was what he wanted, and he was going to do whatever it took to have her.

  Chapter 4

  Trent’s latest vice case had been over for a few days, but he was still tying up loose ends and prepping for trial, so he hadn’t been home.

  This case had been unusually difficult because it had required him to play the role of a devoted boyfriend. So he had to spend a lot of time with another woman, which meant spending extended periods away from his wife.

  It was not a job for a married man, and he’d wanted to close the case before he got married, but circumstances prevented him from delaying the nuptials.

  He was the primary investigator, and the Department had invested a lot of time and resources in making a case that would stick. Once he was in, the very nature of the job made it impossible to replace him. He had no choice, but to see it through, and because dropping out was not doable; he put his marriage on hold, and did the job.

  Kenyah had been great, and he made a promise
to himself that he would transfer to homicide when it was over, so he could devote more time to her and their marriage.

  Now that it was over, and his transfer had been approved, everything should have been great, but it wasn’t. He had been planning to surprise Kenyah with a romantic dinner, and some hot sex, and then he was going to tell her about his transfer.

  He’d imagined her face lighting up in a smile when she got the news. She wanted a baby, and finally he could get about the business of giving her one.

  Then he got the call that changed everything, and he replayed it in his mind.

  He remembered answering his cell absentmindedly with a rushed, “hello,” because the call was taking him away from stirring the marinara sauce.

  “Is this Trent, Kenyah Real’s husband?” the caller had asked in a cryptic voice.

  “Yes it is.”

  “Do you know where your wife is right now?”

  The question was alarming because he’d just closed a high profile case that could comeback on him if he didn’t keep a low profile. He had inherited a lot of enemies on that particular job. Enemies he feared would discover his true identity.

  “Who is this?” he’d asked.

  “Is this her husband?”

  “Yes, has something happened to her?” He tried to keep the panic out of his voice.

  “She’s fucking my husband, so yes something is ABOUT to happen to her.”

  It was odd feeling relieved that the caller was just some woman accusing his wife of having an affair with her husband. Because as horrible as the idea of Kenyah cheating was, it did not compare to the kind of trouble he initially thought she was calling about.

  “Who is calling?” he’d repeated, feeling just a little more relaxed now that he knew the call wasn’t related to his case.

  “I’m sorry for the way I’m bringing it to you. I don’t mean to be disrespectful or anything, but I’m hurt,” she sniffled.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Vectra Fox. My husband, Desmond, works with Kenyah, and I believe they’re having an affair.”