All About Him

by Pat Tucker

  As I walked to another part of the lobby, I noticed a sign that advertised the hotel’s spa services. Instantly, I had a plan.

  Once I made my way up to the floor that housed the spa, I passed by the office, put my bag into the stairwell, and stormed back to the office’s smoky glass doors. I pulled the door open, listened to the peaceful chime, and broke the silence of the atmosphere.

  “I need to talk to somebody who’s in charge,” I yelled.

  One woman’s eyes grew wide with fear, and the other who stood next to her looked just as concerned.

  “Ma’am, can you lower your voice, please?” one of the women asked.

  “Who did the massages for my husband yesterday evening? Whatever oil you guys used has caused a major allergic reaction. That cheap shit got on our sheets, he’s all welted up, and now I think I’m about to have a reaction myself.”

  “Ma’am, let me check and see what’s going on,” the woman, who was standing as I walked in, said. “Look up the records from yesterday,” she instructed the seated woman.

  The woman moved closer to me, but when the brunette rattled off a name and room number, I had everything I needed.

  “Cicely is one of our most experienced masseuses. I can’t imagine her using anything that might create that type of reaction. Where’s your husband now?” She spoke to me in a tone that said she was really concerned.

  “You know what, now that I’m thinking about it, you’re right. His friend rushed him to an emergency room, but I have a feeling I know exactly what happened. I’m sorry; I was just so crazy thinking about what happened to his skin.”

  “Here, let me get you some water. Are you experiencing any difficulties?”

  “No, but I couldn’t be sure. I just wanted to come and talk with you guys to see if we could figure something out.”

  “Well, the fact that you didn’t have any problems leaves me encouraged. We use the same oils during our couple’s massage. Can you call and check up on your husband?”

  I started getting flustered. Now that I had the room number, I didn’t want them to make any calls or try to verify my story. I now knew that Evelyn had booked a couple’s massage; what kind of business trip requires a couple’s anything?

  “Yes, I’m going to call him, but I’m just glad to know it wasn’t anything you guys did. Let me go back up to the room, and as soon as I hear from him, I’ll call and let you guys know what’s going on.”

  “Okay,” the woman said.

  She walked over to the desk and looked over the woman’s shoulder. “Missus Spears, we will be waiting to hear back from you.”

  “Okay,” I said as I walked out of their office.

  Once I made my way up to the floor, I saw a cleaning cart between the two rooms but couldn’t tell which one was being cleaned. It was just my luck it was the room next door being cleaned.

  It was late morning, and I hoped the couple would be out. The moment I saw the lady knock at the door and wait, I kept an eye on her.

  At first, I thought my luck had finally run its course—until she pulled her key out and opened the room door. I waited for ten minutes, then I rushed down the hall.

  “Ah, no need to clean,” I said as I rushed into the room. She was in the bathroom.

  I kicked off my shoes, tossed my bag in the corner, and grabbed the ice bucket. The little woman walked out of the bathroom and looked at me over her glasses.

  “You don’t want housekeeping?”

  “No. I had an awful headache, so I went to grab some ice. I meant to put the sign on the door, but I guess I forgot. You were working on the room next door, so I thought I’d be able to catch you before you started.”

  She looked confused, then I saw her eyes drop to a chart that hung from the side of her cleaning cart. “Says here, to clean.”

  “It’s okay.” I grabbed a twenty-dollar bill and slid it to her. She looked at me oddly, but made her way out of the room. Once she was gone, I closed the door and decided to start my wait.

  I wasn’t sure how long they’d been gone or when they’d return, but like Cooper had told me, they didn’t do business during the day, so I figured they were out getting food, or sightseeing.

  There was one king-sized bed, which was definitely reason for concern. There were champagne flutes with two empty bottles, and a plate had what was left of the strawberries. Three scented candles were in the room, and that made it clear that the evening was about a whole lot more than business.

  In the closet, dresses and blouses hung among the men’s blazers, slacks, and neckties. I swallowed back tears. All of the evidence told me that Evelyn and Cooper were quite comfortable in the affair that was going on.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Nearly two hours had passed since I’d made my way into the hotel room, and I was still alone. My mind raced with thoughts about what the two had been doing their first night in Los Angeles together. For all I knew, there was probably never a business meeting. More than likely, Evelyn had created the entire cover about the meeting, so she could come and screw my husband.

  I had been walking around the room inspecting everything from the paperwork to the toiletries. It was very clear that the couple was exactly that, a couple. In her toiletries bag, she had massage oils, several sex toys, and nipple clips. Who needs those items on a business trip?

  “Fucking home-wrecking bitch!”

  My eyes were tired of the tears, and I went in and out of rage as I found something else that indicated my sister was sleeping with my husband. She had slutty lingerie and fur-covered house slippers. The bitch knew what she was coming here to do.

  “They probably fucked all day, eating strawberries, and drinking champagne, then got dressed up and went out at night looking like the perfect little couple.”

  Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I took out the very expensive-looking iron and turned it on. I pulled out the ironing board and turned the iron up as high as it would go. I removed all Evelyn’s dresses, laid them on the board one by one, and placed the iron down on it. Why should that bitch be able to walk around dressed up and holding on to my husband like he is hers?

  It took seconds for the fabric to melt beneath the hot iron. By the time I got to the third dress, the room started to smell of smoke and burned plastic, so I walked over and lowered the temperature to sixty degrees.

  On some pieces I burned two spots to make sure there was no way anything could be salvaged. It took less than thirty minutes to brand each piece of hers and Cooper’s clothing with a large black iron spot.

  “That should teach their asses,” I said as I stood back and looked over my work. If there was more I could have done, I would have. I just wanted the two of them to come back.

  “Maybe I should trash the room?” I looked around and tried to think about the most damage I could do.

  I unplugged the iron and put everything back into the closet. While I wanted to see the look on their faces when they discovered what I had done, I knew that wasn’t possible, but it gave me pleasure when I conjured up in my mind the ways in which I knew Evelyn would be pissed.

  It didn’t take long for someone to come fumbling at the door. I got excited as I heard them. I didn’t know whether I should sit on the bed, go hide in the closet, or open the door to let them in.

  There was so much giggling and sweet-talking going on, I wondered whether they would actually come into the room.

  But a little while later, the door swung open, and Evelyn stepped in loaded down with shopping bags. She dropped them at the sight of me. By the time Cooper whipped around, he nearly bumped into her.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Evelyn spat. Her eyes quickly darted around the room. “How the hell did you get in here?”

  I never said a word to her. My eyes stayed glued to my husband. I quietly searched his expression for any signs of guilt or even
remorse, but there was none.

  Evelyn turned to him. “I thought you were gonna do it this afternoon.”

  “Yeah, it’s being done, or was supposed to be,” Cooper said.

  As I watched them whisper to each other, I wondered how long it would take for Cooper to say something to me.

  “If I took out a gun and fucking killed you both right now, do you think I could get away with it?” The sinister laugh I released wasn’t planned, but it was a nice added touch.

  Instantly, Evelyn’s eyes grew wide. “Whoa, that’s a threat!” she said as she backed up and moved closer to Cooper. “You think she has a gun?”

  I stepped up. “You don’t know what I have,” I said and mimicked like I was about to swing on her. Evelyn flinched and moved completely behind my husband.

  “See, if you had done it before we left like I told you, she wouldn’t have followed us all the way across the country to act like some lovesick puppy.”

  “What is it? What the hell should he have done, Evelyn? Go ahead, tell me; what is it that you told him to do?”

  “Serve your ass with divorce papers,” she snapped from behind Cooper’s back.

  Sure, I had come to L.A., swindled my way into the hotel room, and found hard evidence that my husband and my sister were having an affair. But hearing her say that Cooper was serving me with divorce papers, literally made me snap.

  Before I could think about it, I grabbed a tall lamp and hurled it across the room at them. Cooper ducked and it sideswiped Evelyn. She screamed, opened the hotel room door, and took off running down the hall and screaming for security.

  Knowing I didn’t have much time, I snatched the clock and several other items I could move, and plummeted Cooper with them all.

  “You stinking low-life bastard!” I screamed as I swung on him.

  He cowered toward a corner and used his arms to try and protect his face.

  I spat on him, and kicked him as hard as I could in the ribs before I rushed out of the room. Once outside, I looked up and down the halls in both directions. When I didn’t see Evelyn, I ran into the stairwell where I had left my bag. Instead of going back into the hall, I took the stairs up a few floors in hopes of giving myself some time to get away.

  That was how my lousy marriage ended, in a hotel room on the other side of the country where I’d followed my husband and his mistress to confront them about my suspicion. But obviously, I had been too late.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Three hours later, the truth serum that was in the bottle of vodka near Cooper’s leg was nearly gone. It started when I watched him pick up the bottle, take it to his lips, and pull in a long swig.

  I watched with interest as his Adam’s apple danced when the liquid flowed down his throat.

  There was no point in being mad about him being inside my place, because he looked like he was comfortable. I figured he either flashed a smile or came up with something fabulous like an autograph for my landlord. There was no damage to the door or any of the windows, so I knew it wasn’t a break-in.

  Before Cooper put the bottle back down, he extended it in my direction and nodded slightly.

  I hesitated, but declined.

  Cooper shrugged.

  Before he gestured to take the bottle back to his lips, I grabbed his arm and stopped him. I held the bottle for a second before I pulled it to my lips. The liquid burned the moment it touched my tongue and felt like fire as it slid down my throat. But it was good.

  “Aeey, don’t be greedy,” Cooper said, as he jokingly grabbed the bottle from me. He took another swig, then passed it back to me.

  We did this in silence for a while, until my throat wouldn’t accept any more. After the initial burn from my first few sips, I felt good. I didn’t feel as good as I would have if I had one of my cocktails, but I felt good.

  When Cooper tried to pass me the bottle again, I gestured with my hand to let him know I couldn’t handle another taste. My head felt light, and I was scared I might lose control over my ability to keep it all together. There was no way in hell I wanted to break down in front of him.

  After a bit more silence, my mouth seemed to take over. “You really fucked everything up with us.” I felt the unsteady words as they wobbled from my lips, but I had no power to stop myself. He had messed it all up.

  But most of it was my fault for being so dumb and blind. All of the signs were there as far as Cooper was concerned. He wasn’t even smart enough to try and cover his selfishness. He put it out there and gave me the option to deal with it, if I wanted. It seemed the more I accepted, the more bullshit and antics he pushed.

  I had lived in a car with Cooper when we were homeless. We had been in the struggle together. We stayed with my mother longer than we should have because he’d blow most of his paycheck on fancy clothes and shoes. His excuse was always the same: “The good stuff don’t go on sale, and I need to look the part ’cause I’m gonna be a star one day.”

  Again, I was the fool because I’d bite my tongue and found a way to clean up the financial messes he created.

  “I wasn’t trying to, but I could see the big picture, and I felt like it was hard for you to see my vision.”

  Could he be any more stupid? Everything I did, was for the vision, our vision, or what I thought was ours, but he knew all along was his own.

  “See your vision? I worked to help create the vision, then adjusted it so you could see and appreciate it.”

  I felt some kind of way about him thinking he was the one who had orchestrated the plan we’d still be on had he not veered off course.

  “The way you talking, sounds like you think I only got a taste for the good life because you hipped me to it.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. I watched as he took another drink.

  “I was born to be a star, destined from birth. It just wasn’t happening as fast as I wanted. I knew from the day I stepped out my mama’s womb that I had that fiyah, but when it didn’t happen the way I wanted, I took a few detours.”

  Cooper extended his arms and leaned back onto my bed. “Everybody knew I’d make it one day; that was never a question. The only thing that was uncertain was the path I’d take.”

  “Is that what we were to you, a detour?”

  He sat up. “Licia, I didn’t dream of being a husband and a father when I was a kid. I dreamed about being on stage, filling stadiums and thrilling crowds. Just like little girls want to be brides, I wanted to be a star.”

  He had me fooled. For years while we were together, I thought Cooper was content in his roles as husband, father, and employee. If I had known we were just weights that kept him anchored, maybe I would not have agreed to manage his career.

  “Don’t get me wrong; I don’t regret my son. Shiiiid, my legacy is solidified with that lil’ mofo, but if I had to do it again, I would have moved around differently.”

  To me, that translated into he would not have married me. Again, even under the influence, Coop didn’t have enough common sense needed to filter his words.

  I was pissed.

  “So you don’t regret our son, but you regret us,” I said.

  “We should have never mixed the two, that’s all.”

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? Fury began to brew in the pit of my stomach. I grabbed the bottle in hopes that another swallow could help suppress the mounting rage.

  “You could’ve been my manager early on, but on a team,” he said. “I think you bit off more than any one person could chew.”

  Cooper chuckled a bit as if he savored a private joke.

  “Hell, I know I’ma handful.”

  The way he spoke was as if I should’ve been happy with the consolation prize he had graciously offered. After all I had done for him, he could still sit back and point out areas where I was ineffective.

  “The difference between you and Eve
lyn,” he pointed to the side of his head, “She’s gonna use her smarts. That woman knows what she’s doing, and she’s gonna get the job done at any cost.”

  My eyes narrowed.

  Was he serious? Could he have been that stupid all along? How had this turned into yet another opportunity to sing Evelyn’s praises?

  “You’re really clueless, huh?”

  Although I said the words, and I laughed at the thought, on the inside, I was pissed by his ignorance and his constant need to bring up Evelyn.

  The taunting was too much.

  “Whaaat? All I’m saying is where you was giving it up out both sides of the panties, Evelyn would never get down like that.”

  I froze at his statement.

  Words escaped me; I had no idea he knew. Imagine I’d done and given everything in an attempt to help his career, and still he’d left me the moment he thought a better opportunity had come along.

  “So all I did for you didn’t mean a thing?”

  I walked away from him and toward my closet. I stooped down and pulled in a breath. I tried to shake crazy thoughts from my head, but he wouldn’t shut up. It didn’t matter that he knew the extent of all I had done for him; now it was clear he didn’t even give a damn.

  “I mean, I ain’t saying it didn’t mean anything, but I also wasn’t trying to be fucked up over it, either.” He shrugged. “Men not like women. Y’all can forgive us when we step out, but this the type of cat I am. Once I know you out there like that, I just chill back.”

  When a man knew his woman was sleeping with someone else, and he couldn’t care less, that said a lot about the man. I was all messed up for what I had done, but I’d done it for him, thinking it eventually would have been for us.

  Cooper shrugged. “Shiiid, I figured you was just trying to get your body count up.”

  My head whipped in his direction. Get my body count up? I was doing what I had to do to keep him busy and singing, and he thought I was trying to see how many men I could sleep with? Who does that?