My Brother's Wife 2: What The Heart Wants

by Mona

  Arianna reached up and placed her hand on top of his where it was positioned on her face. “I, uuhh… I wasn’t over him. I still thought about him all the time. I would pray every day that he would have reconsidered. I even asked my mom to talk to him when she started to visit him but she wouldn’t. She wanted me to forget about him. She felt it was healthier. On his eighteenth birthday I tried to go visit him only to find out that he really did take me off his visiting list. When you took control, demanding we went to the prom together, I felt happy and turned on. I wasn’t sure why. On prom night, you were so handsome and you were such a gentlemen. I really saw you for the very first time. Later on, in your room, when you kissed me, it felt so good and so familiar.”

  “Familiar?” Andre asked with a confused look on his face.

  “Yes, familiar. When we were ten, when your mom died and I brought you a plate of food. Your rude behind smacked the plate out of my hands.” She explained as she chuckled. Andre chuckled with her as his hand remained on her face. As he slightly caressed her skin, she continued. “After the food spilled all over the floor, I bent down to pick everything up and put it back on the plate. When you bent down to help me, our hands brushed against each other and uuhm…” She lowered her head briefly and slowly lifted it as she gazed in Andre’s eyes.

  “Our hands brushed against each other and what? Tell me,” Andre edged on as he continued to caress her face.

  “I, uuhm felt something when our skin touched. It was like this electricity took place. That’s why I quickly jumped up.” She confessed.

  Andre took another sip of his drink as he looked in her eyes. “And you felt that same feeling when we kissed on prom night?” Andre asked her.

  “Yes.” “Arianna replied.

  “Okay, but once again, was I the next best thing, and tell me what happened tonight.” Andre demanded once again.

  “Andre?”

  “Answer the question, Ri. Was I the next best thing and what the fuck happened tonight?” He asked once again in a harsher tone. Arianna moved his hand from her face and stepped a few feet back, putting some space between them.

  “You want the truth?” She asked him as she now wiped the tears from her eyes. Honestly, she was afraid of telling him the whole truth. However, since he was demanding it, she had no choice but to give it to him. She too had a question of her own in which she wanted the complete truth as well. “You want the truth I will give you the truth but you have to tell me the truth as well.”

  “Aight, go ahead. Tell me what I want to know and I will tell you what you want to know.” Andre said firmly.

  “Okay. Like I told you, I wasn’t over him. Even though it was three years later. Even though I was spending a lot of time around you and your family, I thought about him quite often. I couldn’t get him off my mind, but when I went to go see him on his eighteenth birthday, and like I said, I saw he was serious about taking me off his visiting list, I decided to finally move on. So, from that day on, I buried any feelings I had for him and in my heart and mind I forgot about him. When you kissed me, it felt right and so real. Like it was supposed to be you all along. Me and you felt like it happened so naturally. You became everything I needed and wanted. So, no, you were not the next best thing. I fell in love with you and I fell hard. So hard that I ignored the signs that you were cheating until I eventually caught you.”

  “Oh, here we fucking go,” Andre expressed as he laughed. “I knew that was coming. I knew you were going to flip the script and come to this.”

  “I’m not flipping no script, Dre. The point I’m making is I genuinely fell in love with you. You were not second best. But yeah, since we did get on the topic of you cheating, I now know why you were cheating on me. While I was falling in love with you, you were doing Malachi a favor by being with me. Yeah, you want to ask me what happened. How about I ask you what happened?” Arianna demanded.

  Andre moved closer to her. “What happened was a few weeks before the prom he asked me to look out for you because he wanted to make sure you ended up with someone who would love you and not hurt you. I misunderstood until he specifically asked me to get close to you, be with you and do whatever I could to get you to fall in love with me,” Andre admitted as Arianna stood with her arms crossed.

  “So, you did it because you were honoring your brother’s wish, right?” Arianna asked matter of factly.

  Andre took his last sip of his drink as he looked directly in her eyes. “I did it, because I always wanted you. When I was going to ask you to the school dance when we were entering the eighth grade, he got to you first. After that, I pretended I couldn’t stand you just to mask how I was really feeling. My loyalty to that nigga became more important than my feelings. So yeah, when he asked me to be with you, to make sure that you would be safe… I jumped at the chance. The only thing I’m fucked up on is that I didn’t love you the way you deserved to be loved at first. Like I told you before, I was young and the things you were dealing with were hard for me. But I loved you the best way I knew how at the time. Once we got married, I got my shit together. But I guess now that your boyfriend is back that shit is not good enough now, huh?” Andre looked at her once more as he headed towards the door. “Do you still love him?” He stopped and asked her with his back facing her.

  Arianna unfolded her arms and began playing with her hair, which meant she was nervous. “Old feelings that I buried years ago have resurfaced, but I still love you,” Arianna confessed.

  Andre simply laughed. “Yeah, I saw how much you loved me earlier when that nigga was on top of you. Oh, another thing, you ever heard of the morning after pill?”

  “Uhh, yes.”

  “I’m going to the pharmacy to pick one up. Make sure you take the shit or we going to have a mothafucking problem,” Andre demanded as he exited the bedroom door.

  Chapter Two

  South Plainfield, N.J.

  Rolonda’s Home

  “Come in!”

  “Hey you,” Ava announced as she entered Malachi’s bedroom.

  “Hey, What are you doing here?” Malachi asked as Ava approached and hugged him.

  “I called your phone but you didn’t answer so I called Mama Ro and she told me you were released from the hospital earlier and that you were here. I just wanted to come and see you real quick before I head on to Marlboro,” Ava replied as she sat in a small chair next to his bed.

  Malachi reached over and grabbed his phone off the night stand, “Man, I’m still trying to figure this shit out. You know I’m new to this,” Malachi laughed as Ava laughed with him.

  “Well, I did teach you how to text and how to surf the internet. It’s pretty much basic after that, except this phone can be annoying at times.”

  “Annoying how?” Malachi asked as he examined his blackberry phone.

  “It’s like every two days you literally have to take the battery out because it would just freeze on you out of nowhere. I swear it just works my nerves when it does that. Makes me just want to throw the damn phone against the wall,” Ava expressed as both she and Malachi laughed.

  “Girl, you crazy. But thanks for warning me. So, what brings you here? Are you even allowed around me?” Malachi joked.

  “Haha,” Ava expressed as she laughed.

  “Well, I heard all about what happened yesterday between you, Ari and Dre. I’m here to tell you that I love you as much as I love them and I don’t want to be put in a position where I’m choosing sides and I’m not judging you. I’m also not judging Ari. But I will say this, I love my brother and although he’s not perfect, he has loved Ari and treats her like a queen. He’s head over heals in love with her and I honestly can say that he would never give her up without a fight. I’m not sure what’s really going on between you and her and I don’t want to know because I really want to stay as neutral as possible in all this, but I just want you to know I love you too and as far as I’m concerned, you’re also my brother. So, please keep that in mind when it comes to Dre. Mean
ing, if there are any ill feelings you having towards him, remember that we are all family and that one person’s decision affects us all. Remember the brother hood you and him share and that he really loves you also. Okay?”

  “Damn, look at little bratty Ava all grown up,” Malachi said as he playfully tapped her forehead. Ava laughed as she stood up.

  “Yeah, yeah you got jokes. I feel like I’ve grown fast in the past two weeks after learning I’m about to be a full time mom.” She admitted as she smiled.

  “Man, that’s another thing that has me tripping. The fact that you are a mom. Of course I had to hear about it on my voicemail.” Malachi pointed out as he smiled.

  “Hey, you disappeared on us. We were all calling you after Dre’s birthday party but you disappeared.”

  “Yeah, I know. I had to clear my head. So, when are you getting the baby back from the adoptive parents?” Malachi asked changing the subject. Truth be told, after the blow out between he and Andre, old feelings of inadequacy he suppressed as a kid crept back in. Feeling inadequate, and less than a man developed on that faithful day when he was eight years old and when Andre announced it for all who was around to hear, old wounds resurfaced for Malachi.

  “I’m getting him back today actually. I’m so nervous and ecstatic at the same time.” Ava said excitedly.

  “That’s great, Ava, I’m happy for you.” Malachi said as he grabbed her hand and smiled. “Kiss the baby for me, okay?”

  “Okay. Let me get going. I just wanted to see if you were okay. Hopefully, one day, everything can get back to where we can be a family again, you know where you and Dre can be civil again. I hate to see you two like this,” Ava expressed as she headed towards to the bedroom door.

  “Yeah, maybe,” Malachi replied as he waved at her.

  Once Ava closed the door behind her, Malachi briefly closed his eyes. For a moment, feelings of remorse consumed him as he thought of Andre. They were true brothers in every sense of the word, in which jealousy and sibling rivalry and even wanting the same girl should actually be a form of normalcy. After all, biological siblings fight, argue, compete and even go through periods where they don’t speak, but eventually they find their way back to each other. So it should be no different for these two brothers from another mother. They should be able to dap, hug or do whatever it is men do to make up with each other. Yes, they should be able to do so with no problem. However, the possibility is damn near slim to none when one brother is beyond troubled from a traumatizing experience that has consumed his every thought, his every action and holds a slight resentment towards his brother who saved his life and innocence.

  Malachi’s Apartment

  (A deeper look at Malachi James)

  1983

  “Hold on Dre,” Malachi whispered into the mouthpiece. He placed the living room phone down onto the coffee table as he turned and faced Rolonda’s boyfriend, Donald Jones.

  “Da fuck you doing, lil’ nigga?” Donald slurred his words. To say he was drunk was an under statement. Donald Jones was ten years older than Rolonda at thirty-three years of age. After a three month courtship, which consisted of wining and dining, Rolonda felt she finally met the man of her dreams. He convinced her that living together was the thing to do. So, once the lease was up to his small studio apartment, he moved in with Rolonda, Malachi and Candace. At first glance, Donald Jones seemed like a true dream, however, what lied beneath was a true nightmare.

  “I’m on the phone going over my homework with Dre,” Malachi replied.

  “Where your pretty little sister?” He asked with a disturbing look in his eyes as he scanned down the hallway of the spacious two bedroom apartment.

  “She’s at her friend’s house. Why?” Malachi asked him suspiciously.

  Donald suddenly pulled a .380 automatic from his waist and slowly made his way towards Malachi who’s eyes widened in shock.

  ”What are you doing?” He asked the devil in disguise.

  “Pull your pants down, lil’ nigga. We can make this shit quick and fast,” he demanded as he moved closer to Malachi.

  “Get away from me!” Malachi yelled as he ran down the hallway towards Candace’s bedroom.

  “See, lil nigga, this could’a been simple now you want to make shit difficult. But it’s okay, I’m going to get what I want. I would a love to have your pretty ass sister too but I’ll catch her ass on another day.” Once again slurring his words, Donald placed the gun he was holding on the table and made his way down the hallway. Once he reached the bedroom door he discovered it was locked. “Ohh, you wanna be locking doors and shit, it’s okay, I got something for that,” he whispered as he made his way to the kitchen and retrieved a butter knife. Once he returned to the door and managed to open it, fear took over Malachi as he began to cry.

  “Man, leave me alone!” He yelled. As he tried to run pass Donald he was tackled to the floor where he felt his pants being pulled from underneath him. Unable to scream because his mouth was covered, Malachi felt as if he was close to passing out when Donald was suddenly knocked out with a baseball bat. Feeling beyond relief, he looked up and noticed Andre. He never felt so happy to see his best friend/brother, than at that very moment. Andre moved rather quickly where it became almost a blur to Malachi who stood speechless. It was like a movie scene when eight-year-old Andre grabbed a pillow. Already holding Donald’s gun, he bent down slowly, lowered the pillow over the pedophile’s face, placed the gun which happened to have a silencer on it, over the pillow and pulled the trigger. The pillow prevented an unwanted mess. Malachi stood frozen as Andre took total control of the situation and got rid of the body with the help of two local teenage thugs who were society’s nightmare. They were young, dumb and just didn’t give a fuck. Total secrecy was sworn between Malachi and Andre. The two teen thugs were sworn to secrecy also until their agreement became null and void once they were both killed in a bank robbery gone wrong five months later. Rolonda was led to believe Donald simply left her and life continued on after that.

  ****

  After several knocks on the door and there was no answer, Rolonda entered Malachi’s bedroom only to find him with his back against the head board and his hands covering his forehead. Rolonda quietly sat on the edge of the bed as she looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

  “Mal, honey, are you okay?”Rolonda asked as she reached over and touched his hair.

  Malachi suddenly sighed. “Mom, I need some help,” he admitted. No more words were needed as she reached over and hugged him.

  Chapter Three

  Andre & Arianna’s Home

  Marlboro, N.J

  (Andre’s home office)

  “Effective immediately, Malachi James is no longer an employee of Aeikan Sports and Marketing,” Andre announced as he sat behind his oak wood desk in his home office.

  “Is there anyone who objects?” He asked as he made eye contact with Rolonda, Desmond, Ava and finally Arianna.

  “Okay, see, now that’s a bit extreme Dre, don’t you think?” Ava asked.

  “No, Ava, I don’t fucking think. Matter of fact, why don’t you tell me what the protocol is when a man catches his so called brother who is also an employee, fucking his wife?” Andre angrily questioned.

  Arianna immediately stood up and made her way to the office door. “Everyone, please excuse me, I will be upstairs in my room. Ava, come and get me when the baby gets here, okay?” Arianna said to Ava.

  “Okay, sis. Matter of fact, I’ll be up in a minute to have some girl talk.”

  “Okay,” Arianna agreed as she exited.

  Ava turned and looked at Andre with a scowl as Desmond and Rolonda simply shook their heads. “You dead wrong, Dre,” Ava expressed as she stood up. “We know you’re upset and obviously hurt, but she don’t deserve the humiliation and the little slick comments you keep dishing out.”

  “Oh, I’m dead wrong?” Andre questioned as he stood up as well. “I remember way back when I cheated, all of ya’ll jumped down my fucking
throat and shit. I couldn’t catch a fucking break. On top of that, she put me through hell. She packed her shit and my son’s shit and went and bought a whole new house. Had me begging like Keith Sweat and shit. I kissed her ass for six fucking months. I spent thousands of dollars on gifts, trips and let’s not mention that expensive ass engagement ring and wedding band she has on her damn finger. Oh, and don’t fucking get me started on the wedding on that damn Island and the cost of it, including flying some of her family members over to make the damn wedding. I bent over backwards to show her how much I loved her ass and how damn sorry I was. When we got married, I made a promise to her that I would be faithful and I kept that fucking promise despite what anybody thinks. And on top of everything else; she had me go to couple’s counseling, once again making me prove myself. I did all of that shit to show her she had my heart and now she turns around and does this shit? But I’m fucking wrong?”

  “Dre, I hear what you’re saying but it sounds like you’re not willing to work through it and you won’t forget about it any time soon. So maybe you two need to separate for a while,” Ava suggested.

  “You know what, Ava,” Andre said matter of factly. “Why don’t you concentrate on getting ready for that baby you hid for two years and stay the hell out of my business.”

  “Go to hell, Dre! You can be such an asshole sometimes!” Ava yelled as she exited the office.

  “Nigga, your ass need to calm down, for real,” Desmond expressed as he stretched out in the office chair, texting on his phone.

  “Des is right, Dre. You really need to calm down. Now, you have every right to be hurt and upset. You also have every right to not want to work with Mal anymore. I understand the hurt and betrayal you are feeling. But I really think it would be both beneficial for you and therapeutic for Mal if the two of you sit down and talk,” Rolonda suggested.