Breathless 4: Loving Montie

by Shani Greene-Dowdell

  In a few days, another man would make her his. She would vow to spend the rest of her life as another man’s wife, and, for some twisted reason, they wanted to do it with me as a witness. I’d been lured into sitting there and watching another man claim my woman, a fact I had a hard time reconciling. I’d been a good sport so far, but how much can a brother take before he breaks?

  Whenever I pled my case to Destiny, she would shut me down. Lover boy came in and sewed her heart up so that it’s seemingly impenetrable. When his friend attacked her earlier this year, she let me back in and I had the time of my life. That night of being one with my heart, dancing with her soul and ravishing her succulent body taunted me to this day…

  "Damn, baby," I had grunted against her lips. She was tight…and hot…and tight. Fuck! I missed the feel of her like hell. I had slowly thrusted my full length inside her, slamming against her tight walls. I wanted to take it slow, appreciate every moment we had together, but when her hips began to move and meet my thrusts I rocked her core with untamed pounding. The urgency was my trying to show her that we needed this…needed us. She moaned salaciously against my lips, as our hips picked up speed and rocked against each other causing more pleasure with each heated thrust that night. What I wouldn’t give to be inside of her right now?

  As I relived that night, my soldier stood high in my pants. A vanilla arm intertwined with mine contrasted that reverie. I sucked in a deep breath to try to tamp back my desire for Destiny.

  I smiled at my date. She really was a beautiful woman that would find someone to love her, if she could let go of the pain inside. But who was I kidding? I knew first hand that life after pain was easier said than done. Letting go of my family was the hardest thing I ever had to do. In all the days of my life, I would never forget the day Destiny asked me to leave our old home. It was symbolic of her removing me from her life and choosing Jacob.

  “So, it’s just like that? You want me to leave so you can talk to him, Destiny?” I had said as I stared Jacob down.

  “Yes, Montie, I do.” It only took four words to wipe out all the years of blood, sweat and tears I put into building the very home we were standing in.

  “Excuse me?” Tracye asked, bringing my attention back to the present.

  “Huh?”

  “What did you say?”

  “Oh, I was just going to say let’s enjoy each other tonight. We’re all we got right now,” I joked outright, but the sentiment was dead on.

  “Deal,” she said and laughed. “Right now, we’re all we got.”

  Jacob and Destiny practiced their entire ceremony, including their first dance. The perfectionist wedding coordinator covered every minute move they would make several times, until he was satisfied the event would be worthy of being called a royal affair. Tracye and I stood idly by in the immaculately decorated hall that had a mixture of cream and gold color schemes. After the stress of watching the woman I loved perfect her union to another man, I was glad when Jacob left her side. He walked over to the hors d’oeuvre table to get something to drink, giving me a moment with the most beautiful woman in the room.

  “You look lovely, Destiny.”

  “Thanks, Montie.”

  I knew she didn’t want me to, but I couldn’t help but ask one last time. “So, you’re really going to tie the knot again?”

  “I am and it means a lot to have you here. Thanks for coming, Montie,” she said while holding an ambiguous smile. “I want you to be happy for me,” she added.

  I took in a deep breath and scanned the room to gather the renegade thoughts running through my mind. I saw Tracye standing beside Jacob talking to him. They were engaged in an energetic back and forth. Knowing her, she was keeping him busy with bubbly small talk. Ms. Clara and John were in the middle of the floor dancing to Made for Love. Hundreds of guests mingled, ate or danced to their heart’s content.

  “You look beautiful, Destiny,” I said, my eyes roaming over the cream pant suit that hugged her curves for dear life. “Do you mind if I get one last hug before you tie the knot?” I asked.

  “I’ll do you one better.” Destiny’s hips jiggled as she walked toward the door. She peered over her shoulder to make sure I was following.

  Damn right, I was. I shadowed her out of the reception hall into the dimly lit hallway where she wrapped her arms around my neck as soon as I stepped over the threshold. I leaned down to pull her close and accept all the love she was willing to give. She hugged me tightly, allowing her body to connect with mine. Why couldn’t she see that she fit so perfectly? We were made to be in this love.

  “I love you, Montie,” she said as she stared nostalgically into my eyes. I might’ve been wrong, but I saw her realize the sacrifices I made for our family. I saw her appreciate them. Most importantly, I saw her love for me. “Always will love you, no matter what. I just want you to know that.”

  “I love you too, Destiny. Why do we have to be apart?” I asked.

  She touched my lips. “Don’t question where we are. We may not have worked out, but you are a good man. I pray every day that God sends a great woman to you.”

  “But, you are gr…” I started to say, but was cut off by her fingers leaving and a loving graze from her lips against mine. It wasn’t an erotic kiss, but it was mind blowing just the same. My eyes closed and I took in her essence as her lips slid across mine. Our hug broke and the heart-bonding contact was gone as fast as it came. The look in her eyes revealed that she still cared deeply for me. It just wasn’t strong enough to bring her back to me.

  “Thanks for showing me what love is and what it isn’t, Montie. I promise to be the best mother to our kids and to keep you involved,” she said as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

  “Destiny,” I began, but she held up a hand and backed away from me, walking towards the ladies’ bathroom.

  “I have to go,” she said as she fanned her face. “My makeup is going to be messed up if I start crying.”

  Following her into the ladies’ room and reminding her why I was the best man for her crossed my mind, but only temporarily. I touched my lips, remembering the softest and sweetest lips I ever had the privilege of tasting had been there. I stepped back into the reception hall to find Tracye. I was leaving Miami and Destiny behind me. I couldn’t keep this tug of war with my heart going any longer.

  “Stop it! I said I’m here with a date, Jacob! I’m Montie’s plus one,” a woman’s voice yelled out bringing my attention to a screaming Tracye.

  What the… “Is everything alright out here?” I asked, curious as to why Tracye was standing near the exit door yelling at Jacob.

  “Everything is just fine, Montie,” she said with quick smile. “Thank God you found me out here. Where were you when I was calling for you earlier?”

  “I would introduce you, but I see you two have met,” I said looking between Tracye and Jacob suspiciously. “How do you two know each other and why are you yelling, Tracye?”

  She didn’t answer.

  Jacob remained silent, also.

  “Jacob Turner is the big cheese here in Miami. You obviously know each other already,” I said, patting a man whose shoes I’d give anything to be in on the shoulder. He would have a front row seat watching my son grow into a man and my daughter grow into a lady with the finest woman by his side.

  “So, you told him your name was Tracye?” Jacob asked in a dry tone.

  “Yeah, that’s what it is, right?” I asked as confusion crept up on me.

  “Unfortunately, this is the woman that attacked Destiny. This is Justine, my old friend.”

  “Ex-girlfriend,” Justine corrected.

  Every ounce of cool left me. No. She couldn’t be. “The one who put Destiny in the hospital?” I asked and turned to face Justine.

  “Yes, this is Justine.”

  “What kind of game have you been playing with me?” I yelled.

  “Montie, I haven’t been playing with you. This was never about you.” She looked at Ja
cob, but reached for me.

  “To hell, you haven’t been playing? You told me your name was Tracye and I was stupid enough to believe you!” I pushed her arm away and shoved her when she tried to touch me. I didn’t have a record of hitting women, but she deserved a special kind of beat down for hurting Destiny.

  “I didn’t tell you my real name because I was afraid you would judge me before you got to know me. What happened between us, as oddly as it sounds, was real as far as our connection.”

  “You know what; I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. I would never knowingly bring anyone around the mother of my kids who tried to hurt her,” I said and turned to Jacob. “Jacob, I meant no disrespect bringing her here. She’s crazy,” I said somberly.

  “Montie, man, I know you didn’t mean any harm. Justine is a cold piece of work. Now, get out of here, right now, Justine!” Jacob said, looking her icily in the eye.

  “You would know better than anyone, Jacob,” Justine insinuated more than she said.

  “What I know is that you better get out of this reception hall.” Jacob wringed his anxious hands together.

  “Montie, are you going to let him talk to me like that? I’m still your invited guest.”

  “You should call a cab and get out of here, Justine.” I waved my hand and walked off leaving Justine standing with Jacob. “I’m done with this!” I stormed away from the rehearsal dinner having had a moment of affection with Destiny that I would forever treasure and a hate-filled revelation about Tracye, well Justine’s, deception.

  “Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!” I flung my car in reverse and skidded backwards into the dark parking lot. I yanked the car into drive and sped through the neighborhood. “I’m done with it all!” I yelled to the empty compartment of my car.

  Justine had caught me up in her trap. Jacob’s ex girl had seduced me and came along as my guest to their rehearsal dinner. Was she still trying to hurt Destiny?

  I rode a few more blocks, my mind reeling through the whole Miami trip: my plane touching down. Me arriving at Jacob’s house. Us having a beer. Me going to Lapidus. Sleeping with Justine. Inviting her to the rehearsal diner. The birthday party. And then tonight. That’s when it hit me. Justine said she slept with her ex who was rich and who was having his rehearsal dinner tonight. She made sure to tell me before we entered the building that she had slept with him recently.

  My stomach fell into my groin. Jacob had taken Destiny from me and was still banging the woman who damn near killed her. Justine couldn’t be trusted, especially since she tricked the hell out of me, but what gives? What if she was telling the truth about sleeping with Jacob?

  “No wonder he wanted to move my family to Miami. It’s a threefold win for him. He’s close to his business, close to his mistress, and Destiny is far away from me,” my thoughts flowed through my lips as I drove down the highway going ninety to nothing.

  I headed back to my hotel room. I got all my things jam packed into my suitcase, checked out and sped off to the airport. I was hopping on the first thing smoking back to Atlanta. Forget the wedding and reception and double dog fuck Miami. I needed distance between me and all the foolishness going on there. After checking my rental in, I boarded my plane.

  When we finally started rolling down the tarmac and the engine roared and lifted us into the sky, I felt my first moment of peace. I laid my head back on the head rest and blew out a long gush of air from my lungs. No more Jacob, Destiny or Tracye—or Justine—whatever her name is, at least for a while. I desired to clear my head, and clear my head I did as I drank one bottle, two bottles, three…of the miniature vodkas provided on the plane. Once I was nicely zooted out of reality, I kicked back and put on some music. What kind of person did Justine think I was? What kind of person was she? How did I get caught up? I bet she sought me out…

  Justine sat at the edge of that bar begging for attention. I offered it to her to receive the much-needed affection I needed in return. We had a damn good time. When I invited her to the rehearsal dinner the next morning, she nearly flipped over to the piece of paper to write down her name and number. Now that I played that back a second time, I realized just how cold the setup was. When we pulled up to the banquet hall, she didn’t have to mention sleeping with her ex, but she wanted to make sure I knew about her and Jacob.

  “Wow! I believe her. She screwed Jacob since he’s been engaged to Destiny,” I stated, convinced.

  “Who screwed Jacob?” the 40-something man sitting next to me asked, with a sincerely alarmed look on his face, alerting me that I was talking aloud.

  “My bad. I didn’t mean to talk out like that,” I said as I sat back in my seat.

  The man humped his shoulders and went back to reading his newspaper.

  I rode the rest of the ride home quietly.

  When I got home, I immediately called up my closest homeboy to run the events of the past twenty-four hours by someone outside of the situation. Mario would keep it one hundred with me.

  “Mario man. What’s up?”

  “Shoot, man you got it. I’m just sitting around here thinking of something to get into. What’s up with you, Mont?”

  “Man, you wouldn’t be able to figure out what’s up with me, if you had stood right beside me the whole time I was in Miami. That's how crazy the past few days have been.”

  “Whoa. Sounds heavy. What happened, bro?”

  “Well..." I sighed and sat back in my recliner. "It started out with me having to watch dude walk around his fancy house with my wife on his arm.” I decided to start from the beginning and break down the entire weekend, play by play.

  Mario cut in. "She's technically not your wife anymore. When are you going to stop calling her that?"

  "I know what we are technically, smart ass. But you also know how I feel about that woman. She’ll always hold that title to me."

  "Yeah, that’ll change, when the right one comes along and takes it from her." He was always talking sensible, trying to get me to move on.

  I was dead set on the facts as I wanted to see them. "There is no other right one,” I said before Mario could say anything else. “But that's not what I called to talk about.”

  “Okay, bro, what happened?” he asked.

  “After dealing with their displays of affection and their larger than life lifestyle, I had enough and went out to enjoy the festivities of Miami alone, if you know what I mean?"

  "That’s what I’m talking about. What you get into?" Mario perked up.

  “You will never guess.”

  “No, that’s why your bonehead is gonna tell me.” He laughed.

  "I got your bonehead the next time I see you,” I joined him in laughter. “No, but in all seriousness. The woman I met and took back to my hotel room turned out to be that white girl, Justine...Jacob's friend."

  "The one that attacked Destiny?"

  "The one and only."

  “You’ve got to be shitting me. Bro—”

  "Here's the kicker. We hung out my first night there and hit it off pretty good. I hooked up with her again as my date to the rehearsal dinner…”

  “Not knowing who she was at the time,” Mario finished my sentence with me. “Awe man, that’s jacked up.”

  “But check this out. Right before we went into the dinner, she made a point to tell me she had just slept with her engaged ex a little over a week ago in his mansion.”

  “Wait, so she’s saying she slept with Jacob?” Mario asked puzzled.

  “There’s no other way to put her story together, but to conclude that she slept with Jacob. If you had seen the way he argued with her out in the hallway at the rehearsal dinner, you would have automatically known that they had something going on, still. Putting it all together, tell me what you think."

  “This is like some Young and the Restless meets Housewives of Atlanta meets Love and Hip Hop. Wait a minute, I know you answered this, but it’s a lot to unpack. Did you say ole girl was the same girl that held Destiny down at gunpoi
nt? The same one that also said she has been sleeping with Jacob? The dude that’s marrying Destiny?” Mario asked, seemingly unwilling or unable to believe the bizarre story.

  “Yes, yes, and yes."

  “This is a lot.”

  “You’re telling me that it’s a lot? I’m the one who has to deal with it.”

  “It looks like Karma is making visits, and she’s not forgetting anyone,” Mario said in a low, pensive tone.

  “Yeah, since Jacob is a scum bucket parading around like a saint, he’s going to get his Karma soon. He’s about to marry Destiny, but he’s been cheating on her. When she finds out about their affair, which I’m almost certain she will with Justine walking around free to wreak havoc, it’s going to destroy my family again. Too bad his bad Karma is indirectly good and bad for me."

  "I don't know about this Justine chick. She has an agenda of her own. You might want to figure out what it is before you get too optimistic about your future with Destiny,” Mario said sarcastically.

  “I hear you talking. What’re you saying, though?”

  “Well, first, she hooked up with you on a humbug. Then, she made it a point that you knew she'd slept with Jacob. If she wanted, she could have already blown up the city with her secret, but instead she coincidentally ends up in your sack and tells it to you. I call foul. I just don’t know on who.”

  “Justine’s foul and Jacob is too.”

  “Yeah, but Justine is up to something else with all of this sneaking around and passive-aggressiveness. I’ve had my share of unstable women. It just doesn’t seem like it’s her MO to be subtle. She’s already physically attacked Destiny.”

  “I can’t even start to think about the hidden agenda, Mario. I’m still decoding the obvious.”

  “Yeah, well, women can be catty but very meticulous too. Her mess may take months to decode."