by Mz. Toni
“Oh my God, you aren't gonna believe this shit!” I said as soon as I answered.
“I already know boo, how you holding up?” Camille asked.
“It feels like I'm in a fucking bad dream, but how did you already know?”
“He brought her bowling tonight and she called herself his fiancé. Bitch, I could’ve smacked the taste out her mouth.”
“Why didn't you call me?”
“He begged me to wait. I figured he at least deserved to be the one who told you first.”
“I guess. I was about to tell him how I felt. If Jasmine hadn't run in before him and spilled the beans, I would've embarrassed the shit out of myself,” I said.
“Damn boo, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that.”
“It's cool, but I have the biggest fucking headache, so I’mma call you tomorrow.”
“I love you boo, and everything gonna be alright,” Camille reassured me. Instead of replying to her, I just hung up the phone. Curling up in my bed, I cried until sleep took over my body.
Chapter Eight
Jason
“Damn, so you really told her?” Kaliah asked.
“Yeah, I wanted to be the first person to tell her.”
“How’d she take it?” she asked. I really didn't fucking feel like talking bout Lil Mama right now, but it seemed like Kaliah had twenty-one questions for a nigga.
“She took it well. She told me congratulations and wished me the best,” I said nonchalantly.
“‘And you believed her?” Kaliah asked with a smirk.
“Why wouldn't I believe her?” I asked her, getting pissed.
“I'm just saying. Y'all have been through a lot together, got two kids, and you tell her that you’ve just asked another woman to marry you, and she took it well? It just doesn't sound right to me.”
“What the fuck? It seems like you’re trying to find a fucking issue with everything!”’ I snapped.
“No babe, and I'm sorry if it seems that way.”
“Yeah aight,” I said, shaking my head.
“So do you think your friends liked me?”
“What do you think?” I asked.
“Hell naw!” she screamed before laughing.
“My bad about them. They have a loyalty to Cherish that's like none other,” I said honestly.
“I can understand that I guess.”
“You handled yourself really well.”
“Thanks.”
“I was just thinking, I don't have family for you to meet, but why haven't I met your family?” I questioned.
“Simply because you’ve never asked. I didn't want to rush things and run you away,” she said nervously.
“Is that the only reason?”
“Yup.”
“Aight, well call them. We’re gonna go see them this weekend,” I told her. I didn't know what was going on with her and why she was being so fucking secretive, but she rarely talked about her parents and where she came from, and I thought that was weird.
Saturday came fast as hell and as we drove to meet her parents, Kaliah was silent and she looked scared as hell. Shit, she was making me feel bad for her. As we rode through a nice little suburban town in Jersey, she pulled into the driveway of a nice size yellow house. It was one of those houses from the movies, flowers all around it with a white picket fence. When she parked the car, I waited for her to get out the car, but she didn't. When I went to grab her hand to reassure her that everything was ok, I noticed she was shaking hard.
“Man, we ain't got to do this,” I said, feeling like shit.
“No, I want to. I just pray you still love me after,” she said sadly. Getting out the car, she walked up to the door of her parents’ house and rang the doorbell.
“Kaliah!” a beautiful older woman screamed before pulling her in quickly and slamming the door in my face. Trying to keep my composure, I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.
“I'm so sorry babe,” Kaliah said when she answered.
“Don't worry about it,” I said, walking into the house.
“This is my mother Katherine and this is my father, Keith,” she said with a slight smile.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” I said politely.
“So you the one marrying my baby,” he said, before firmly shaking my hand.
“Yeah, I am!” I said proudly.
“Not without my ok you’re not.”
“I mean, it is already done,” I snapped.
“Hey daddy, ummm Mommy said you’d been working on a new project,” Kaliah interrupted before shit could escalate.
“Yeah, you want to see?”
“I do,” she said, pulling his arm, trying to take him out of the living room.
“Let go of me girl. Don't be rude, you didn't even ask Jason if he wanted to see some of my work.”
“No daddy, I don't think he wants to,” she said with pleading eyes.
“Let the man decide on his own.”
“I don't mind,” I shrugged. Following him down the hall and into a room, he told me to sit at a chair by his desk. I assumed this was his office. When I sat down, he handed me a photo album and when I opened it, I was shocked as hell.
“What is this?” I asked.
“I'm a photographer,” he said with a smile.
“Are these real?” I asked.
“Now what kind of question is that?” he replied with a smirk. That's when I finally looked around his office and saw the pictures of Kaliah he had all over the walls. I saw pictures of Kaliah as a child, bound and gagged. As my eyes wandered onto a picture that literally made me sick to my stomach, all I could see was red as I grabbed him and beat the shit out of him.
“You fucking pervert, these are children!” I screamed, while continuing to pound him. All I could see was that naked picture of my daughter, propped up on some fucking bed.
“What the hell is wrong with you, get off my husband!” Kaliah’s mother screamed as I continued to pound on her perverted husband.
“You know what he does? You know what he did to your child and you just allowed it!” I screamed.
“It's just pictures. He ain't never touched her or any other child!” she tried to argue.
“It ain't just fucking pictures, this shit is illegal and fucking disgusting!”
“What’s going on?”
“This nigga got a naked picture of Jasmine, my fucking daughter on his wall!”
“Oh my God!” Kaliah said, covering her mouth.
“I want y'all out my house before I call the police!” her father screamed.
“Oh yeah, please call the police!”
“Let’s just leave,” Kaliah said, grabbing my arm.
“If you knew what the fuck was going on, why would you still come here?” I said, pulling away.
“I just needed closure. He took those pictures of me for so long, I grew up thinking that they were normal.”
“You’re a grown ass woman. I understand you as a child thinking it was normal, but as an adult, you had to have figured out that this shit wasn't right!” I snapped as we walked to the car. When we got inside the car, I wasted no time calling the police and reporting that nigga, while Kaliah listened with tears in her eyes. It took everything in my body not to kill that nigga and burn all those fucking pictures, but I had children to take care of and I damn sure wasn't trying to do that from a jail cell. When we got home, I didn't know what to say to Kaliah or how to feel. I guess the saying is true most people don't look like what they’ve been through. I never would have thought that she had parents that crazy. Now it made sense why she never really talked about them.
“I'm so sorry about your daughter. I hadn't been at that house since I was seventeen.”
“It's fine Kaliah. I’mma handle the nigga that took them pictures!” I snapped, banging on the steering wheel.
“You know, when I went there, I had this plan. I was going to tell my parents that what my father did and what my mom allowed him to do wasn'
t normal. I wanted to stand up for myself, show them that even though they tried to fuck me up, I came out swinging and I did good by myself. But when I got there and I saw him, I felt like a child all over again. I felt scared, lost and confused. Everything I came there to say got caught in my throat and I just wanted to run away like I did so many years ago,” she said while crying.
“You can talk to me. I you would have told me what happened, I wouldn't have pushed you to go see ya parents,” I said, shaking my head.
“I'm so used to handling things on my own.”
“Well you don't have to do that anymore, you have me,” I said.
“I know that now babe, and I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark,” she said. When we got in the house, she talked and I listened, she cried and I comforted her and dried her tears. I wasn't in love with Kaliah, but after tonight, I knew for certain that I loved her and had strong feelings for her.
Chapter Nine
Cherish
I know that I'm the one to blame for losing you,
I really, really wish that I could be happy for you
There's just one thing I need you to do
Don't you touch her like you used to touch me
Don't you love her like you really needed me
Don't you love her like you used to love me
Baby, what hurts the most is letting go
I just want you to know that I love you so
I know things are different now
You've gone and settled down
I thought for sure you'd always wait me
I’ve been laying in the same spot since finding out that Mega was getting married, replaying the same song on my iPad. I literally feel like my heart has been ripped out of my body. I feel broken and lost. It’s crazy how you replay an event over and over in your head and when it finally happens, it's totally different from what you imagined it to be. I expected me to tell Jason how I felt and for him to let me know that he felt the same way, and boom, we live happily ever after. I couldn't stop the overflow of tears from falling from my eyes, I’d just lost the only man I’ve ever loved. I couldn't have prepared myself for the pain I was feeling right now.
“Cherish!” I heard someone scream. I wasn't sure who it was, but I was a fucking mess and I prayed that it wasn't Mega. As I laid in bed, I saw my bedroom door open and sighed in relief when I saw who it was.
“Look bitch, I know you're hurting right now, but it has been days!”
“How you even get in here?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“What, you forgot you gave me a key?” she asked with a smirk.
“Girl, I gave it to you for emergencies, and this ain't an emergency.”
“This is a fucking emergency. This is like Deja vu, but you wanna know the difference?” she asked.
“Not really, but I'm sure you're gonna tell me,” I said smartly.
“Oh bitch don't get smart, but hell yeah I’mma tell you. What’s different is instead of one child, you have three little fucking kids depending on you. So the fuck what he proposed to that home wrecking bitch, it’s his loss!” she snapped.
“You don't understand Camille because you're in love, married and happy!” I snapped back.
“Girl bye. That damn nigga that makes me so happy ain't always make me happy. He broke my heart time and time again, but I didn't let it break me because I know my worth!”
“I just can't help but feel stupid as hell for even thinking that we could be happy together.”
“That ain't stupid. Shit if you stupid, then so am I, so is Shante and so is every other bitch on the planet,” she said laughing.
“Uh huh bitch, speak for yourself. I ain't stupid, I'm just in love,” Shante said, walking into my bedroom.
“Whatever bitch,” Camille said, rolling her eyes at Shante.
“Ain't nothing wrong with being in love and wanting it to work Cherish. Hell, I saw the bitch, so trust me when I say he might love that hoe, but he ain't in love,” she said, rolling her eyes while going through my closet.
“How you know he ain't in love with her?” I asked.
“I can tell, us women know these things,” she said nonchalantly.
“Whatever,” I said with a wave of my hand. I mean why would he propose to a chick he ain't in love with.
“Ooooo, you got some nice clothes, make me wish I was a size ten for a minute,” Shante said laughing.
“Seriously Cherish, you gotta get it together. You’re too good of a person to be in so much pain. Fuck that nigga if he can't see it,” Camille said.
“Hell yeah and if I were you, I’d invite that white boy on the trip,” Shante said.
“Girl, don't listen to her. This is coming from the bitch that was chilling with Mark’s cousin, knowing damn well Kasan hated that nigga. Don't be petty like her.”
“Oh you tried it. I didn't know they didn't fuck with each other until it was too late. Shit, you gotta admit his rough ass was fine as hell,” she said laughing.
“I’mma tell Kasan on ya ass,” I said with a laugh.
“Kasan know he bae,” she said with a shrug.
“I think I will invite Peter. I mean, since all y'all broke the rules and y'all bringing y'all dudes, I might as well,” I said. Grabbing my phone, I called Peter and waited for him to answer.
“Hey gorgeous,” he said sweetly.
“Hey, I know this is kind of last minute being that we leave tomorrow, so if you can't make it I understand,” I said quickly.
“Can you tell me what you're talking about before you go telling me that I can't make it,” he said with a laugh.
“Yeah sorry, I just wanted to know if you would come with me to the Bahamas,” I said nervously.
“I would love to come,” he said.
“Oh wow, ok, I’ll text you the info,” I said with a big smile.
“Alright, see you tomorrow,” he said before hanging up. After hanging up with him, I was feeling a lot better. I mean don't get me wrong, I was still hurt, but I finally felt like I could get over it. I thought the girls were gonna leave, but instead, they decided to stay the night with me and we would all leave for the airport together. Having friends that genuinely cared about me made my heart smile. It made me feel even better being able to talk to women who actually understood where I was coming from. We spent most of the night talking and drinking, and when we finally tapped out, we were all stretched out on my bed, talk about slumber party.
The next morning came way too fast and me and the girls were hungover and tired. While I finished packing, there was a knock at the door. Rushing to open the door for who I assumed was Mark, I swung it open, only to be face to face with Mega and Peter.
“Ummmmm, come in,” I said, confused. I was expecting Peter to come, but I wasn't too sure why Jason was here.
“It’s nice to meet you, I'm Peter,” he said, before extending his hand for Mega to shake.
“What up, I'm Jason,” he said, while shaking his hand.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Jason.
“I just came to bring you the suitcase you asked for the other day. I was hoping I caught you before you left.”
“Damn, I forgot I asked you for that. Thank you because the one I have is just too small,” I said with a laugh.
“You want me to go transfer your things to this suitcase?” Peter asked.
“Please, that would be awesome,” I said kissing his cheek. When he walked into the other room, Mega’s ass wasted no time with his jokes.
“I see you went on the vanilla side,” Mega whispered to me with a smirk.
“You play so much,” I said, rolling my eyes with a smirk.
“I'm just saying, I didn't know you did the white chocolate,” he said with a shrug.
“I don't care what color they are as long as they treat me the way I deserve,” I said honestly. As Mega stared into my eyes, I couldn't tell if the look on his face was jealously, or something else.
“And does he?”
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