Full Figured 5

by Brenda Hampton

  I tried to move my hand, but he squeezed it. “Let it go,” I said in a sharp tone. “We’ll discuss this later.”

  “Not on my watch we won’t. And just in case you don’t understand what I’m sayin’, this a done deal.”

  He let go of my hand and shook the salt over his food.

  My brows rose. I was clearly irritated. “I don’t understand, and to hell with your watch. Obviously it doesn’t have the right time, because if it did, you would’ve been here at noon like you said, instead of at eight.”

  Roc ignored me and continued to eat his food. When I turned to walk away, he called my name. I turned and he pointed his fork at me. “If you want respect, you’d better give it. And if you don’t want to get embarrassed, you’d better walk yo’ ass out of here and not say shit else to me. That, I hope you do understand.”

  Now, this was my house and he was in no way calling the shots. As far as I was concerned, he had already embarrassed me with his loud and obnoxious talking. All I asked was for him to hold it down. He acted as if I’d told him to shut the fuck up. I was getting ready to open my mouth, but the doorbell ringing stopped me. I hadn’t invited anyone else to come over, but I wasn’t sure if Latrel or Angelique had. I hoped Latrel hadn’t invited Reggie. I feared opening the door and it would be him. Thank God that wasn’t the case, but when I looked out the peephole, standing on my porch was Tiara. Her face looked a little fatter than the last time I’d seen her, her nose was pug and her eyes were puffy. I could tell she’d been crying. Her hair was now in long braids. She wore a heavy winter coat, but her belly was poking through it. I wasn’t sure if I should open the door, or if I should go get Roc to deal with his woman. But like I said, this was my house and it only made sense that I was the one to open my door. She reached out to knock and I pulled the door open.

  “May I help you?” I asked.

  “Is Roc here?” she asked with a little snap in her voice.

  “Yes, but please do me a favor and call him on his phone to speak to him. I have guests and I really do not want things to get heated around here.”

  Her neck started to roll. “Well, I’m sorry for the intrusion, but as I see it, to hell with your guests. I need to speak to Roc, right now, face to face. Tell him to bring his ass out here!”

  I hated arguing with women over men, truly I did. But this fool was standing on my porch telling me to hell with my guests and ordering me around. Either way, I refused to respond to her, so all I did was shut the door. She rang the doorbell, again, but I was already in the kitchen where Roc was. Everybody in the family room was looking at me to see what was up, and even Roc questioned who was at the door.

  “Tiara,” I said with steam shooting from my ears. “She wants to speak to you. Now.”

  Roc got up from the table and made his way to the door. Latrel asked me if everything was okay and I told him to chill out and take Angelique and the kids to the basement. I wasn’t sure how heated things were going to get, but Latrel hesitated on doing what I’d asked. I had to pull him aside and tell him that Roc’s girlfriend was outside. It was only then that he told everyone to follow him downstairs, with the exception of Monica and Shawn. He remained seated, but Monica was up on her feet like me.

  “No, this heifer didn’t,” Monica whispered while looking out the living room window. She could hear Roc and his girlfriend going at it. “It’s some bold-ass women in this world. How in the hell are you going to come to another woman’s house and clown on her property?”

  I kept quiet, because I had gone to their house too. It wasn’t that I was upset with Tiara, even though she had disrespected me by what she’d said. My issue was with Roc. Period. We could hear almost everything that was being said.

  “Fuck you, Roc,” she yelled. “You told me you were coming over here to see your damn daughter, but Durk told me you’ve been over here fucking this bitch! Then, you got that tramp Vanessa blowing up my damn phone saying the same shit! So I came here to see what the fuck is up. Are you or aren’t you sticking your dick in this bitch? When you claimed that you were out of town for three days, were you with her or not? If you don’t tell me the truth, I’m going to ask her! Come clean, or else!”

  “You need to calm your ass the fuck down! To hell with what Vanessa said! She also said that you told her that baby wasn’t mine! Now what?”

  “Now what my ass! I’ma call Vanessa right now and we can settle all of this shit once and for all! You’s a lying-ass fool, Roc, and . . .”

  Monica looked at me, shook her head, and chuckled. “Sounds like somebody may need to call Maury. You said that as long as this mess didn’t come to your home you could deal with it. It’s here, so what are you going to do now?”

  “Be careful what you say, because you can speak it into existence, right? Please go entertain Shawn. Let me take care of this, okay?”

  Monica cocked her head back, surprised. “Are you going outside?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’m staying right here. Shawn can wait. If this chick starts acting a fool with you, she’ll have you and me to deal with.”

  I opened the front door, but by this time Tiara and Roc were in my driveway arguing. She looked over his shoulder at me since I was heading their way. He turned around.

  “Roc, if you need to leave, please go ahead and do so. It’s getting pretty darn loud out here and the two of you are causing quite a scene.”

  Roc ignored me. He told Tiara to get in her car to go, but she refused to do it. He held her back, as she moved toward me. “So tell me, Desa Rae. What’s up with you and Roc? Is he your man or what? If ain’t nothing going on with the two of you, Roc, confront this bitch in front of me! If it’s all about your motherfucking daughter say so, nigga!”

  This was just sad and sickening at the same time. First Vanessa, now her. No, I had no right messing with a man who was seeing someone else, but why was she coming after me? Why bring my daughter up in this mess and call me out of my name? Hell, we all knew Roc’s ass had told some lies, but I was anxious to hear the lie for myself. I folded my arms and looked at him.

  “Tell me, Roc. I’d love for you to confront me. I’m also surprised to hear that Tiara really doesn’t know what’s up. Should I tell her, or will you?”

  Roc was about to lose it, but ask me if I cared. These were the consequences of wanting to have your cake and eat it, too, and one could always find oneself being put on the spot. “I’m not tellin’ nobody shit!” Roc shouted. “Tiara, I’m gon’ tell you one more damn time to get in your car and go home! If you don’t, I’m gon’ put you in there my damn self and you won’t like it if I have to put my hands on you!”

  She was a feisty chick. Roc’s threat in no way moved her. She continued to shout at him, and only a few minutes later, another car came screeching down the street. Out of the car hopped Vanessa. “Where my muthafuckin’ son at? I don’t know why you got this ho callin’ me about some shit I supposedly had said! That muthafuckin’ baby ain’t yours and you know damn well that you and Desa Rae still fuckin’!” She looked at Tiara. “I’m gettin’ married next week so stop callin’ my phone, ’cause I ain’t got shit to do with this triflin’ nigga no more!”

  “Who you callin’ a ho?” Tiara yelled. “And when in the hell did I tell you this baby wasn’t Roc’s? You’s a lying bitch, and if it wasn’t his baby, why in the fuck would I tell you something like that?”

  By now, Monica had rushed outside to add her two cents. I was trying to hold her back, especially from Vanessa, who had the biggest mouth of all. “Slut, I will stomp your hoodrat tail to the ground,” Monica shouted. “Both of you nappy-head tricks need to take this dumb crap somewhere else and get the hell out of here!”

  As I was pushing Monica away from Vanessa, Tiara reached out and struck her in the back of her head with a tightened fist. Roc grabbed Tiara around her waist, but not before Vanessa took her foot and kicked Tiara dead in her stomach. I felt the pain, but I guess she didn’t. She reached over Ro
c and pulled at Vanessa’s hair. Roc was between the both of them, but they were swinging so wildly that he was getting punched too. I was getting ready to go inside to call the police, but within minutes, they were already flying down the street. The sirens were loud, causing several of my neighbors to come outside. Shawn was standing in the doorway looking too, and I assumed that Angelique and Latrel were still downstairs with the kids. This was embarrassing and downright ridiculous. To find myself dealing with some crap like this was a disappointment.

  The police rushed out of their cars, aiming their guns everywhere. “Down on the ground!” they shouted. “Everybody get down on the ground!”

  Vanessa and Tiara pulled away from each other and slowly kneeled to the ground. So did Roc, and when one of the officers aimed his gun at me and Monica, he yelled for us to do the same. “Down!” he shouted. “Now!”

  I couldn’t believe it. There I was, kneeling to the ground with a gun covering me. The same officer yelled for Shawn to move away from the doorway, and yes, he was ordered to get down too!

  “We didn’t have anything to do with this,” Shawn said in our defense. “Why are you asking for us to get on the ground?”

  The white officer’s eyes cut Shawn like a sharpened knife. “Because I said so! Now down! If I have to say it again, you will be arrested!”

  None of us wanted to get arrested, so all the way down on the ground we went. Handcuffs were immediately placed on Roc, Tiara, and Vanessa. When one officer asked whose house it was, I told him it was mine.

  “Stand up,” he said. When I did, he asked me what had happened. I told him and several other officers the truth. Afterward, they told Monica and Shawn to get up and go back into the house. One of the officers removed the cuffs from Roc, but left them on Vanessa and Tiara, who were sitting on the ground less than a few feet away from each other. A few other officers questioned Roc.

  “If your truck is registered in North County, what are you doing out here?” an officer asked.

  Roc folded his arms and leaned against his truck. “So in other words, if I live in the hood, I don’t have no business out here in O’Fallon, right? Is that what you’re sayin’?”

  “I didn’t say that. I’m just asking why you’re at Ms. Jenkins’s house.”

  “Because she invited me over here for Christmas, that’s why.”

  “Any weapons or drugs in your truck?”

  Roc shrugged. “Don’t know. But you’ll need a search warrant to search my truck, and I will not give you permission to do it unless you have one.”

  The two officers kept at it, while the others were running the license plates on everyone’s cars. The officers were doing their best to irritate Roc. I could tell it was working, so I walked over closer to them to intervene. “Have you ever been arrested before?” the officer asked Roc.

  “Yep. Plenty of times,” he said with a crooked smile.

  “Why is all of this relevant?” I said to the officers. “All I want is these two uninvited young ladies to get off my property. They were asked to leave, but refused to do so.”

  “You didn’t ask me shit, bitch!” Tiara shouted as she remained on the ground. I guessed she was upset because I was standing close to Roc. “This is fucked up. But what’s more fucked up is this baby might not be yours, nigga. See, I can play like you do too. So, now what, sucker?” She laughed. “What yo’ ass got to say about that?”

  Before Roc could say anything, while sitting on the ground Vanessa reached out her foot and karate kicked Tiara right in her face. Her head snapped to the side. I felt that hard kick in my stomach and I cringed from all that was happening.

  Roc smiled, then shouted at Tiara, “What I got to say about that? Nothin’! I didn’t have to say shit! Her foot said it, baby! It said it all.” He laughed.

  Frankly, I didn’t see a darn thing funny. Neither did the police as they grabbed Tiara and threw her in the police car, after she tried to charge Vanessa. Vanessa was put in the police car too, but she had the audacity to shout out for her son. “My son is in that muthafuckin’ house! I want my son!”

  “Yeah, well, you should’ve thought about your son a long time ago. Tonight, you’re going to jail.” The officer lowered Vanessa’s head and put her into the back seat of the police car. I couldn’t have agreed with him more. She didn’t give a care about her son, and if she had, he would’ve been her priority, not Tiara and Roc. I guessed Tiara was now regretting that she’d called Vanessa to come set the record straight. This was pure deep madness and the one in the center of all of this was the man himself . . . Mr. Roc. This was definitely the downside of dating a man who was much younger than I was and who brought a bunch of immature women right along with him.

  Chapter 6

  Just like last Christmas, when I had gone to Roc’s place and saw him having sex with Vanessa, my Christmas was ruined again. After Vanessa and Tiara went to jail that night, Roc came inside apologizing to everyone and trying to explain. I didn’t buy it. While I was aware that he was seeing someone else, never did I think his mess would be placed at my front door. I was as embarrassed as ever. Humiliated, more like it, and the effects of dealing with a man in his late twenties, who seemed to get a kick out of the drama, was wearing on me. After everyone had left that night, the only thing Roc could do was throw up the respect thing. He claimed that I had continued to disrespect him and it started with when he’d come into my house on Christmas. He complained about my attitude and had the nerve to call out Tiara for showing up as well. It was all her fault and she should have never come over, griping. Then there was Vanessa, who he claimed he didn’t give a damn about anymore. She was out of line too, and the both of them were stupid, immature bitches. According to him, he had suspected that Tiara wasn’t pregnant with his child. But he didn’t want to tell me until he was sure. The baby was due the week of my birthday and that’s when he would know for sure.

  Either way, after all that had happened, he was the one bitter. The best he could do was pay the bail money to get Vanessa and Tiara out of jail, and after that, he wanted nothing to do with them. As for me, I bitched too much, complained too loud, belittled him, disrespected him, and made him feel less than a man. I hadn’t “accepted” nothing about him, so he had been keeping his distance from me. While he didn’t exactly say those things, I suspected that’s what he was thinking. But at this point, my main concern was his relationship with Chassidy. That was still going well, and all this other nonsense was placed at Roc’s feet to deal with.

  The New Year was over and it was back to work for me. Not only was I walking around with a bad attitude, but so was Mr. Anderson. He had been clowning all week, and on Friday, he called me in his office to apologize.

  “As you know . . .” he said as he sat behind his desk. I kept my distance by standing near his doorway. “My wife and I are getting a divorce. I’m a bit on edge, because I definitely didn’t see this coming. Our kids are devastated behind this, and I’m pretty darn upset about what this will do to me financially.”

  I really and truly had no sympathy whatsoever for Mr. Anderson. Some men just didn’t realize all that was at stake until it was too late. His pitiful tail sounded like Reggie, and if Mr. Anderson thought he was going to get any comforting words from me, he was sadly mistaken. My mouth was shut. All I did was listen, and kept it short when I responded.

  “I accept your apology. I hope everything works out for you. I’m dealing with some things right now too, and I would appreciate if we would keep our personal business out of the workplace and respect each other.”

  “I agree,” he said, reaching out to give me a piece of paper. “Will you type that up for me before you go to lunch? That’s if you can get around to it. If not, you can e-mail it to me later today.”

  “I should be finished with it before lunch. I don’t really have much else going on, but I am having lunch with Monica. We’re not meeting up until two o’clock, so I’ll be taking a late lunch.”

  Mr. Anderson nod
ded. He asked me to close his door on the way out, so I did. I got busy typing his letter, but was interrupted by a telephone call on my personal line.

  “Desa Rae Jenkins,” I said. “How may I help you?”

  “Desa Rae, this is the nurse, Sandy, at Chassidy’s preschool. She’s running a slight fever and we wondered if you could come pick her up?”

  “Of course,” I said. “I’m on my way.”

  I hurried out of my cubicle and knocked on Mr. Anderson’s door. When I opened it, I saw that he had his head on his desk. He looked to be upset and he quickly blinked away the tears that appeared to be held up in his eyes. Funny, because I never knew he cared that much to cry about his situation. “Yes, Desa Rae,” he said, trying to choke back his emotions.

  “I just got a phone call from my daughter’s school. She’s running a fever and I need to go pick her up. Do you mind if I type your letter from home and e-mail it to you later?”

  “No, I don’t mind. Go ahead and see about your daughter. I’m sure she needs you.”

  “Thanks,” I said before saying good-bye.

  When I arrived at Chassidy’s preschool, I was surprised to see Roc’s truck parked outside. I went inside, and saw him holding her. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her head was slumped on his shoulder. Her eyes were fluttering as he spoke to the nurse, while he rubbed up and down her back. I walked up and reached out for Chassidy. She climbed from Roc’s arms to mine. I could feel how hot her body was.

  “She is awfully warm,” I said. “What’s her temperature?”

  “Close to one hundred,” the nurse said. “There’s some type of bug going around. Some of the other kids have gone home sick with the flu. I’m sure she’ll be okay, but we had to call you to come pick her up.”

  “I appreciate it,” I said. “Thanks for calling and we’ll see you all when she gets better.”

  The teacher and nurse waved at Chassidy as she left. She was too ill to wave back. When we got outside, Roc told me to get in his truck so we could take her to the emergency room. As hot as she was, I agreed.