by Yoshe
India’s eyes lit up. “For real? Oh, my God, Tuki! You’re here? In Brooklyn? Oh, my God! I have to see you! When are you leaving?”
Tuki sighed. “Well, I’m going to be here until Wednesday, maybe a little longer, depending how things turn out here. But I have to get back to Atlanta by the weekend to take care of some business.”
“What brought you to New York?”
“Hmmph,” Tuki began. “Girl, I had to hop on me a quick flight to New York to come and serve this bitch with some act right. As a matter of fact, she lives right here in Brooklyn.”
“Oh, damn!” India exclaimed. “How did y’all meet? How long you been dealing with her?”
“Well, I met this woman last year in Atlanta. She’s a marketing executive for Universal Music Group and she’s so beautiful. Like, I really love this girl, India. But why it took me to come all the way to New York to find out that this woman was married?”
India got on the entrance ramp to the Belt Parkway. “She’s married! Get the hell out of here!” she said.
“Married, cuz!” Tuki continued her story. “I came to her house and when she opened the door, she looked real surprised to see me standing there. But I’m happy as all get-out to see her. So she lets me in and as soon as I walked in the house, there’s a big-ass picture of her and got damn husband on their wedding day!”
“What the hell?”
“Exactly!” Tuki paused. “I cannot tell you how hurt I was, cuz! Like I said, I really love this girl. I mean, not only is she gorgeous, she’s ambitious, she’s everything I want and need in a lover! But this husband shit got me messed up, especially since I thought I had her to myself.”
As India listened to Tuki’s dilemma, she realized that her and her cousin had similar problems.
Tuki went on to tell her story. “India, I was so mad at this damn girl.” India shook her head. “I beat her ass then made her pack herself an overnight bag and come back with me to my hotel for these next couple of days. What made this shit so crazy is that we ended up having ourselves a good old time after that. Sometimes, it takes a good ass whipping to set these hoes straight!”
India chuckled. “You gotta do what you got to do, boo! But what did you tell her? Did you give her some kind of ultimatum?”
“Yes, I did. I told her that if she doesn’t tell her husband the truth about us, I’m gonna do it for her. I let her ass leave early this morning to go home and get ready for work. But I told her that she got until tomorrow evening to straighten this mess out.”
“That’s right, cuz!” India said, cheering her on. “You know how us Charleses do! Anyway, what’s up with Uncle Rodney and Auntie?”
“They are fine, boo! And you need to bring your ass down there more often, help me spend some of Daddy’s money. The family reunion only comes around every three years and that ain’t enough!”
India switched lanes on the parkway. “I know, I know! I would have loved to come down there this past year but with Asia having this baby—”
“Asia’s pregnant?” Tuki yelled into the phone. “Oh, hell no! I gots to see her! Did she have a shower yet?”
India felt bad. “Oh, damn, Tuki, the shower was this past Saturday! You missed it. But let’s do this, you stay put at the hotel for the rest of the day. I’m gonna come through after work and pick you up and you can stay at my place for as long as you’re here in Brooklyn. Before we head to my house, though, we can stop by Asia’s crib. She will be so surprised to see you!”
“Oh, yes, I would love that! But I don’t want to put you out of the way.”
India cut Tuki off. “Girl, stop! You are my family, my first cousin, my blood! You’re staying with me!”
“Awww!Iloveyou, India! I swear, I miss you and Asia so much. Can’t wait to see y’all!”
India exited off the Belt Parkway and onto the Van Wyck. She looked at the clock in her car. The time was 6:30 a.m. Roll call was at seven o’clock a.m. on the nose. She had less than thirty minutes to get to Rikers Island, take the route bus to her facility, and get into her uniform. She didn’t want to be late.
“I’m going to lock your number in, Tuki, and when I get off work, I’m going to call you. By the way, what’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Milan. Her name is Milan Daniels. She lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, on Halsey Street. Do you know where that is?”
Milan? That’s Sean’s wife! A shocked India swerved her car into the other lane.
Chapter 21
It was six o’clock a.m. Monday morning when Milan crept into the house. After spending the night out, she knew that Sean would be upset with her. She had to come up with something and quick before he started jumping down her throat.
Milan tiptoed into the foyer and slid her overnight bag into the front coat closet. She took her shoes off at the door and then slowly walked up the steps, praying that Sean would not be in that bed when she got up there. But she wasn’t that lucky. At the top of the stairs was Sean’s shadowy figure. He was standing there, with his arms crossed.
“Where were you, Milan?” he asked, in a voice that was eerily calm. “I was worried about you.”
Milan swallowed and looked up at him with her doe eyes. “Well, after our spat, I went . . . went to my girlfriend Ginger’s house to clear my head,” she lied. “I just needed to . . . to think about some things, about us and the direction that we’re going in our marriage.”
Sean let her walk past him and into their bedroom. She looked around, sort of half expecting to get a surprise from him, like roses or a gift, as an apology for walking out on her the previous morning. But there weren’t any surprises and that was a surefire sign that Sean was pissed the hell off with her.
Sean stood in the doorway of the bedroom. “Ginger’s house, huh?” he repeated. “Why didn’t you call me?”
Milan went to take her shades off. Then she remembered that her face was bruised. She prayed that the M•A•C foundation she was wearing covered the bruising.
“Because we had an argument, Sean, and I was angry at you! Anyway, are you really going to do this with me right now? I would think that you would have been happy to fucking see me!”
Sean let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Happy to see you? I was about to file a missing persons report on your ass!”
Milan spun around. “A missing persons report? Are you serious?”
Sean walked up to Milan. “Yeah, I’m dead serious! And you got the nerve to walk up in my house, acting like I’m not supposed to be mad at you. Bitch, you musta lost your damn mind!”
Milan cut him off. “Bitch? Who are you calling a bitch?”
“You, bitch!”
Milan reached up and slapped Sean in the face. He threw her on the bed in an attempt to restrain her from hitting him again. The shades that Milan was wearing came off in the process.
“Let me go!” she screamed. “Get the hell off me!”
Sean looked at her face and immediately let her go. “What happened to you?” he asked, with a bewildered look on his face. “Who did that to you?”
Milan sat up. Her hand went to her bruised face. She tried to catch her breath. “What . . . what are you talking about?” she replied.
Sean snatched Milan by the arm and pulled her into the master bathroom. He flicked on the light, forcing her to look in the mirror at herself. “What the hell happened to you, Milan? Who did this to you? I want the truth because I’m ready to kill me somebody!”
Milan looked in the mirror. Although the swelling had gone down, her eye and face was still black and blue. She thought that the heavy makeup would cover it but it didn’t do a great job. Once she realized that she didn’t have a story for the bruising, she began to cry.
Sean was unmoved by her tears. “I’m waiting,” he said, shaking her by the arm.
Milan turned around to face him. “Sean, I . . . I . . .”
He let go of her. There was a look of disappointment and anger on his face. “I’m listening to you.”
Milan walked back to the bed and sat down. “Me and Ginger hung out the other night and I got into a fist fight with someone at the lounge bar we went to and—”
“Come on, Milan! Do you really expect me to believe that? You’re too bougie to be fighting in someone’s lounge bar! And do you even know how to fight?” he asked with an amused look on his face. “I know that that ain’t your style. Now come again.”
“It’s the truth, Sean! Damn! Why don’t you believe me?”
“Okay, so call Ginger right now,” he ordered. “Let me ask her!”
Milan hesitated. “Call Ginger? It’s too early in the morning for that!”
“No, it’s too early in the morning for your lies and your bullshit! Get that phone right the fuck now and call Ginger. I wanna talk to her.”
Milan began crying again. “Sean, don’t do this to Ginger! She had nothing to do with me leaving you and staying at her place. She was just being a good friend, really, that’s all she was doing!”
All of a sudden, Milan’s phone began ringing. She cussed under her breath for not remembering to put her phone her on silent before she walked into the house.
Sean stared at her in disbelief. “Aren’t you gonna answer the phone?”
Milan took a deep breath. “For what? I’m talking to you!”
Sean grabbed Milan’s pocket book and empties the contents out on the bed. Her cell phone fell onto the bed. When she tried to dive for it, Sean snatched it from her grasp. He looked at her caller ID and frowned. Then he answered the phone.
“Who is this?” he asked. The phone clicked off.
Milan began wringing her hands with worry. For her sake, she hoped that Tuki hadn’t revealed her number and called. The image of their bodies writhing in the bed with each other for the night had Milan feeling guilty as hell. But what was done was done.
“They’re calling you private, huh?” Sean asked, with a smirk on his face. “I guess you done told that nigga you’re coming back home to your husband, huh?”
“Sean, it’s no . . . no man, I promise you that,” Milan pleaded with Sean not realizing that she was being very truthful about that.
Sean walked into her closet and came back with her robe. Milan was confused as to why he had her robe in his hands and what was about to happen. He began digging in the pockets, right in front of her. What he pulled out of the right pocket, Milan was not prepared for. He threw a half-empty vial of coke on the bed.
“What is that?” he asked, pointing at the evidence. “You got this all up in my fucking house. When did you start doing this?”
Milan held her head down. I can’t win for losing! “I have no words, Sean.”
Sean grabbed her face, making her look him in the eye. “Well, you better find some! Call your job ’cause you ain’t going nowhere until I hear the truth!”
Back at the Aloft hotel, a bored Tuki paced back and forth. She looked out of the window at the dismal view of brick buildings and construction and began thinking about Milan. She smiled, as she thought about how intense their lovemaking was the night before. Tuki couldn’t wait to taste her again.
“I’m so scared,” Milan whispered to Tuki, while lying in her arms. “My family, my friends, and my husband don’t know this side of me, Tuki. I don’t even know how to tell them that I’m seeing a woman.”
Tuki kissed Milan on her forehead. “Don’t worry about none of that, babe. I got you. We will tell your people together, is that what you want?” she asked.
Milan kissed her on the lips. “No, no, baby, I want to do it on my own. I have to do this alone.”
Tuki sighed. “Okay, baby. But just remember, if you need me, I’m there for you.”
They ended that conversation with a kiss and some mind-blowing sex. Tuki gushed as she kept replaying their candid talks in her head.
Missing Milan, Tuki picked up the phone and dialed her number. She closed her eyes, waiting to hear the sweet sound of her girlfriend’s voice on the other end. Unfortunately, when she called, the voice that answered the phone wasn’t what she had expected to hear.
“Hello? Hello?” boomed the male baritone on the other line. “Who is this?”
Tuki looked at the phone and held on for a few seconds before the line went dead. She walked over to the desk and pushed the lamp to the floor, watching it break into a thousand pieces.
“Her husband is answering her phone now?” Tuki said, through clenched teeth. “I fucking hate him!”
Tuki took a seat and managed to calm herself down. She retrieved her phone and looked through her contacts, looking for anyone that she could talk to, in order to take her mind off her present situation. She smiled when she came across the number of India, her first cousin and her father’s niece. Tuki figured it was right time to call India. They hadn’t spoken to each other in months.
Naturally, India was happy to hear from Tuki and that made her feel a lot better. But their conversation took a turn for the worse when she learned that her cousin knew Milan very well.
“Tuki, I know Milan and her husband, Sean,” India said.
Tuki stood up. “Are you freaking serious?”
“Yes. I’m serious! Me and her never hung out or anything but we crossed each other’s paths a few times. She’s been married to Sean for the last year and some change. They’re basically newlyweds.”
Tuki paced back and forth. “Newlyweds? What’s up with her husband?”
“Sean is all right. That’s Asia’s fiancé’s best friend. They’re like brothers. But that Sean is off the hook, I tell you.”
“What do you mean?” the curious Tuki asked.
“Some years ago, Sean was dating these two women, Brandi and Yadira. He had these bitches fighting over his ass and everything. To my understanding, Yadira was living with him and Brandi was allegedly his side piece. Needless to say, Yadira got wind of it. She was so upset that she killed herself right in front of him! She shot herself in the head!”
“Oh, Lord!” Tuki said, shaking her head. “What possessed that woman to kill herself?”
“I have no idea. But truthfully, you never know what Sean was putting her through. Men ain’t shit.”
Tuki sucked her teeth. “Um, yeah! That’s why I don’t fuck with ’em!”
“You might have a point there! But between me and you, Tuki, Sean is still messing around with Brandi.”
Tuki’s eyes widened. “Really? Do tell!”
India chuckled. “Let me just start by saying that Brandi is a home wrecking whore. Not only is she fucking with Sean, I heard that she’s been lying up with my man, too!”
“Whaaaat? That bitch is wretched!”
“Ain’t she? So scandalous! But it’s all good. She is about to learn not to fuck with India Charles. As a matter of fact, don’t fuck with a Charles, period!”
They both agreed on that. “I wonder does Milan know who she done went and married, India.”
“Hmmph,” India huffed. “That goes for the both of them!” Tuki burst out laughing. “Sounds like Milan needs to get put on blast, though.”
Tuki shrugged her shoulders. “Well, not exactly. I was giving her the opportunity to tell her husband herself.”
“Wait a minute, do you trust this chick? Fuck that. The Charleses always takes what they want!”
Tuki nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s no need to wait around for her to bullshit me.”
“Exactly! Or how about you and I give Miss Milan the little push that she needs to pack her shit up and leave that trifling-ass husband of hers.”
“Are you suggesting that I tell her about Brandi?”
“Or how about I tell her about Brandi? Being that she is messing with my man, me telling Milan will make it sound a lot more believable.”
Tuki clapped her hands. “That is genius, cuz! I love it!”
India smiled. “Yeeeess, boo! Anyway, I’m at the plantation right now. I’m going to give you call when I’m on my way to the hotel.”
�
��Okay, see you then!”
Tuki disconnected the call and lay down on the bed. She felt so much better after speaking to India; she had shed so much light on Milan’s situation. Now Tuki couldn’t wait to pry Milan from the clutches of her husband.
Chapter 22
Dollar preferred to take care of all of his business during the morning time, right after rush hour, and Monday was the busiest day of the week for him. He would spend the first half of the day in different banks, where he deposited money into various personal and business accounts. Then Dollar would spend the other half of the day paying assorted bills and stocking up on supplies, such as paper and ink for his printers. With all of these things on Dollar’s to-do list he still had one person on his mind. That person was Brandi Wallace.
But on this Monday morning, Dollar was slightly annoyed with Brandi. He thought about how he had gone to bat for Brandi when he picked up her up from the baby shower. She called him and he came running; he even had a physical confrontation with the guy she come to the shower with. Dollar never asked for any explanation as to why she wanted to leave and thankfully, no one got seriously hurt. But Dollar hadn’t heard from Brandi since that night, which he found to be very odd.
Most men would have given up on pursuing this woman, Dollar thought. Not only was she extremely attractive but she was independent, outspoken, and definitely had a life of her own; she didn’t need a man. But Dollar was so hell bent on getting close to her, he was unsure of what he had to do to get through to her. And it just didn’t seem like he was going to ever get over that hump.
It was around twelve o’clock in the afternoon when Dollar finished taking care of his business. It was the first week of November and the streets of Manhattan were filled with tourists doing some early holiday shopping. Dollar headed toward the parking garage to get his truck when he got an idea. He would call Brandi at work to see if she wanted to meet up with him for lunch. It was worth a try.
Brandi picked up her desk phone right away, much to his delight. “Brandi Wallace speaking, how may I help you?”
