All That Drama

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  “Well, you sure haven’t been lonely ’cause every time I’ve seen you, you’ve been with a different female,” I said.

  “Only ’cause I could not get with you.”

  “Touché,” I said, laughing. “But there have been times when I was alone.”

  “Tell the truth, those times were few and far between I didn’t notice. Plus, you never gave me any indication that you knew I existed. You seem so above all of this. When you enter the room, you look around and take inventory and if a brother does not have it together, you dismiss him. I’ve been watching you,” he said while waving his hand around the club.

  I was busted and I could not even fake the funk. His comments made me take a good, hard look at myself. People often said that I appeared uppity and snobbish.

  “That’s a club persona. I’m not like that once you get to know me.”

  “Is that an invitation?” he slyly asked. He was so damn good-looking I had a hard time concentrating on what I was trying to say. I kept looking at his thick lips and wondering how they would feel against my body. That is what prolonged celibacy will do to a person. Make you equate everything that a man says to sex.

  I ignored his question and continued to babble about nothing.

  “The way my face is structured, if I’m not smiling I’m often told I look mean. But people couldn’t very well expect me to go around smiling all the time. I would look silly.” I tried explaining that to Norman but I don’t know if he really bought my story.

  “You still did not answer my question. Is that an invitation?” he restated.

  “If you want it to be,” I answered.

  “So, are you going to give me your phone number if I ask for it?”

  “Well, that depends on if you’re asking for it to use it or just to say you got the digits and then add them to your black book collection.”

  “If you give it to me, I assure you, I will use it,” he quickly replied, showing all of his teeth in the process. I gave him my number and told him I would speak with him later. Under his gaze, I felt as though I was wrapped in a blanket of euphoria. Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t been paying attention to Sammie. I felt compelled to return to her side, fearing the worst.

  Sammie was on the same stool I had left her on but my seat was taken. She was scanning the crowd looking for someone, I assumed Dickweed. I regained my seat just before her song, the Electric Slide, came on. This was the fat-girl-anonymous call to dance and she damn near knocked me over trying to get to the floor. She made a beeline to where Dickweed and his date were standing and stood right behind him. Every time she dipped down to the beat, she would grind her hips into his ass. I was embarrassed for Sammie and the girl he was with was livid. Dickweed did not even stumble while Sammie was grinding him and he was grinding the other girl. The shit would have been funny if I hadn’t known the principals. Sammie was oblivious to this girl’s attitude and did not miss a step in her moves. She acted like she was there with Dickweed, and the other girl had just magically appeared.

  Sammie was in her element, what she lived for—chaos, conflict and confusion. The three C’s.

  From where I was sitting, I went through a whole range of emotions. I looked around to see who was watching this spectacle and noticed with great dismay that Sammie’s second husband, Stanley, finally had noticed that she was in the club. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the girl Dickweed was with was seething. Obviously she was not used to sharing a man. She looked Sammie up and down as if to size her up and judging from the look on her face, she had decided she did not want any part of her. Sammie outweighed her 10 to 1 so she quickly stepped off. Instead of directing her anger toward Sammie she took it out on Dickweed. I was glad, too, ’cause I really was not in the fighting mood. I was not much of a fighter, but I would not let my girl get trashed if I could help it. That was just the code among friends the way I saw it. I would have jumped in throwing something other than punches if the situation got too ugly. Fortunately, girlfriend cussed out Dickweed and left the club leaving only Sammie and Dickweed on the floor.

  I looked to my right and saw that Norman was standing right beside me. I didn’t even remember leaving my bar stool. He did not tap my arm or do anything to let me know that he was there but I appreciated his valor. Meanwhile, Dickweed was losing his fucking mind.

  “Bitch, are you crazy?” he yelled at Sammie while getting all close up on her as if she was one of his boys on the basketball court and they were about to fight over a missed shot. I glanced to the right and saw that her ex-husband was nudging his way to the front of the crowd that was gathering around Sammie and Dickweed. Those words, “Bitch, are you crazy,” ignited a fire in me. I felt as though I had just been electrocuted. I did not even wait for Sammie to respond; I jumped right in.

  “Who the fuck is you calling crazy bitch? She’s been Your Bitch for the past year so what does that make you, motherfucker? You slimy sack of shit!” I could feel pressure on my arm and looked down and saw that Norman was trying to restrain me because I was about to get straight-up ghetto on Dickweed. Sammie’s eyes were so big and round, I could tell just by the expression on her face that I was totally out of control and steadily losing ground. I was so far out there I was jumping around as if I was in the boxing ring about to knock a motherfucker out. I did not even notice the crowd as it swelled, anxious for the first punch or shot to be fired.

  Acknowledging yet another squeeze on my arm, my sanity returned. Public outbursts were so not like me that I had to take a virtual step back from my own damn self. I asked myself why in the hell was I concerned; that motherfucker didn’t disrespect me. I loved Sammie but was it worth publicly embarrassing myself over her shit? I thought not.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” I said to Dickweed. “This isn’t my fight. If Sammie wants to put up with your sorry broke ass, that’s on her.” I turned to Sammie and said, “I’m out, see you at the house.”

  I turned and walked away. Norman was right beside me. The crowd that had gathered around us made it difficult to leave the area, but I just kept elbowing my way out of the circle and out of the club. Norman pulled me aside.

  “Could you hold up for a minute? I really would like to see you again, all bullshit aside. I like what I see,” he said.

  “After the way I just behaved?” I exclaimed already feeling deeply ashamed of myself.

  “Now more so than ever,” he simply stated. “I was always attracted to you on a physical level but tonight you showed a fire in you that I have been looking for in a woman. I don’t like the kind of women that allow men to walk all over them. I want a woman that will stand up for what she believes. Marie, I definitely want to see where this leads.” He grabbed my hand and kissed my palm. Now I had had guys kiss my hand before but never my palm. It sent goose bumps up my spine and started my pussy to twitching. I sent my pussy an instant message and told it to chill the fuck out. There would be no playing tonight! It had been a while since my pussy had a good workout so I could relate to it acting that way, but I did not want to make a mistake with a club junkie that I would regret.

  Men thought that they were the only ones who thought about sex. They would be surprised to know that we thought about it just as much or more as they did.

  Norman was in for a challenge ’cause I didn’t go for the okie-doke like some of my female counterparts. If he wanted to get to know me, he was going to have to be prepared to deal with me. When it came to men, I was strictly on the up and up and I demanded the same thing that I gave out and then some.

  He walked me to my car and we slid inside out of the cold night air and we talked for the next thirty minutes. The conversation was so nice, and he applied no pressure. He acted like he really wanted to get to know me. I started the car to take the chill off.

  Eventually Sammie came out of the club with Dickweed in tow. I rolled my eyes at him and tried to stare Sammie down to make her come to her senses.

  She stopped by my car before leaving the parking lot. “Mar
ie, I’m taking him to my house. I’ll see you later,” she said as if nothing had happened inside of the club.

  “In the dark?” I questioned, surprised again at the lengths Sammie would go to get that dick. It was down-right disgusting.

  “We don’t need any lights for what we are going to do.” She giggled.

  The fact that this whole conversation had taken place in front of Norman really had pissed me off. It was bad enough that I almost had gotten into an all-out brawl with Dickweed ’cause he was disrespecting her trifling ass, but to have had it take place in front of a strange man had added insult to injury.

  “Well, I’ll just be damned!” I said in complete awe. Norman gently squeezed my hand, cutting off the low blow that I was about to throw at her departing figure.

  “Whatever, heifer, holler at you later.” I watched her drive away with tears pricking the corners of my eyes. She was a grown-ass woman and there was nothing I could do about her behavior, but it still hurt me. She was not only disrespecting herself, damn it; she disrespected me and I did not play that shit.

  I turned to Norman with tears brimming in my eyes. They did not fall but they were there. He kissed his fingers and put them up close to my eye. It was so sweet of him not to try to take advantage of the moment.

  I cleared my throat and said, “You know what, she’s my friend and I love her dearly but sometimes I really don’t like her! You don’t know that man. He really treats her like warmed-over shit but her dumb ass keeps coming back for more. I just can’t understand it and for some reason that causes me a great amount of pain.” I tried to get the words out in between sniffles.

  “That’s what makes you so special to me,” Norman said. “You have compassion for other people. You are not just out there thinking of yourself. I could see it in the way you defended your friend even though she’s acting like a fucking idiot, excuse my French. And you’re right, I don’t know the guy that she left with but I have seen him before plenty of times and this does not surprise me. The only thing that I’m thinking about is that if you can love her with all her flaws, imagine how we could learn to love each other.” Norman surprised me with his insight and I was touched.

  Norman and I spoke for another fifteen minutes but my heart wasn’t really in it. I think he sensed it, too, ’cause he gently kissed me on the cheek and said goodnight. I drove home in deep thought about the events of the night and others in the recent past. In the end, I made a firm resolve to never go out with Sammie again. That shit was just too dangerous for me and if I wasn’t careful, I could wind up getting hurt.

  Chapter 25

  Sammie’s car was in the driveway blocking my entrance. I started to get mad all over again. She knew not to park there unless she was behind me ’cause when I pulled behind her big-ass car, the back of my car stuck out into the street and I hated that shit. She was just a non-rent-paying visitor so she should not have been in my space. I parked on the street with every intention of waking Sammie up and making her move her damn car out of my spot.

  I assumed that the two-minute brother had come and gone since she was there so early. It was late but the kids were still up playing Nintendo when I opened the door. Tyson and Kendall were draped over the sofa as if it were the afternoon instead of three o’clock in the fucking morning. I was pissed that Tyson had allowed my kids to stay up that late. I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I heard moaning sounds coming from Kevin’s room.

  Although the sound registered as those made while fucking, I could not get a clear picture of what was going on. Slowly it dawned on me. Someone was getting busy and that someone was Sammie. I raced down the hallway like a woman on fire. I pounded on the door like a demented bitch. I contemplated knocking down the damn door but I knew that she could not afford to replace it. Kevin and Keira, scared by the wild look on my face, were clinging to my legs and crying. I was so hurt that Sammie would deliberately disregard my feelings for Dickweed and bring him into my home. My kids were too young to know what was really going on but her kids knew what time it was. Obviously they had been down this road before ’cause all they did was snicker.

  With tears streaming down my face, I continued to beat on the door. At first, they stopped making noise as if I hadn’t heard them in the first place. As I continued to pound on the door, I could hear them whispering but I could not make out all of their words. What I could hear was Dickweed urging Sammie to finish what she had started since he was almost there. This incited me even more and I began to pound the door with both my feet and hands. I did not stop banging on the door until it was opened and a half-naked Sammie peeped her head out.

  If I had thought to grab a weapon, I would have cold cocked her ass and snatched the weave off her head.

  “You low-down dirty bitch! How could you bring that piece of trash into my house!” I screamed. “What the fuck have I ever done to you to make you treat me like this? All I ever wanted to do was to help your sorry ass, and this is the thanks that I get! I want you and that slimy motherfucker to get the fuck out of my house!” I screeched.

  For a moment, Sammie did not move and she looked as if she were truly afraid of me.

  “Now, bitch, or I’m calling the fucking police. If you don’t believe me, then keep your fat ass right there and see what happens! You’ve got ten seconds to get out!” I was screaming and spitting in her face.

  From behind the door, I could hear Dickweed asking her if I had a gun.

  “I don’t want to get shot in the back by this simple-ass bitch,” Dickweed continued. Sammie shut the door and there was further rustling as they continued to get dressed. I put my ear up against the door so I could hear what was being said.

  “She does not have a gun; I would know that shit. Just get dressed so she will stop yelling,” she hissed at him. Unfortunately, I did not detect any remorse in her voice.

  Sammie came out first with Dickweed super-glued to her backside, using her as a shield. I would not look at Sammie but I did steal a look at Dickweed. He had a shit-eating grin on his face that just made me want to go Mike Tyson on his ass! I was so upset that I was shaking. Twice in one night they had pushed me beyond my limits. I ordered my kids to go to their rooms and get into bed. They did not want to, but they could tell from the tone of my voice that they had better not challenge me.

  I took a deep breath and in the most normal voice that I could muster, I spoke to Sammie and Dickweed. She was looking at the floor, and Tyson and Kendall’s eyes kept darting back and forth between their mother and me. Dickweed was still grinning like that shit didn’t mean anything to him and in reality it probably didn’t ’cause he had gotten what he had come for.

  “Sammie, tell your fucking friend to get out of my house now before I have to hurt him!” I said this through clenched teeth and she knew that I meant business. My fingers were curled around the neck of a beer bottle that I had grabbed out of the refrigerator and I was ready to launch it at his head.

  “Wait by the car,” she said to Dickweed under her breath. He sauntered out of the door, leaving it open, but not before he instructed her not to keep him waiting too long. He had the nerve to blow a kiss in my direction and I threw the bottle barely missing his head. The bottle exploded, splattering beer and glass all over the walls and carpet.

  Sammie did not flinch. I stood there staring at her for a full five minutes willing her to say something to me to make the situation better. With a heavy sigh, I told Tyson and Kendall to get their stuff ’cause they were leaving along with their trifling mother. They went into the kids’ rooms to gather the stuff that they had managed to move in during the course of their stay. I stopped them both out of hearing range of their mother. “Tyson and Kendall, if you ever need me, I’m just a phone call away. I am not abandoning you two; I just can’t be a friend to your mother. Do you understand that?” They both nodded. “I love you both; please remember that,” I added.

  “Then why are you kicking us out, too?” Tyson said, always the bold on
e.

  “’Cause I can’t legally keep you. I could get in more trouble if I did that. Your mother’s responsible for you, not me.” Watching their faces as they prepared to leave was tearing my heart to pieces but I could not help it. Sammie had caused all the drama.

  Back at the front door Sammie waited while she shifted her weight from foot to foot as if she had to go to the bathroom. She did not say anything and for a while, I was tempted to just leave it at that.

  “You need to get your stuff, too. You crossed the line today and you are no longer welcome in my home—ever.” I was still crying but I was not yelling anymore. I was too drained and hurt. She turned to go get her stuff but I stopped her. From the look on her face, I believed she thought that I was changing my mind.

  “Sammie, just tell me one thing. Why? What did I ever do to you that would make you hurt me this way? Make me understand, please, so that one day, I can look back on our friendship and say something good about it.” I was pleading with her to try to salvage some part of our friendship. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She looked at me briefly but lowered her eyes and turned to go get her things. I heard a horn blow from outside and assumed that it was Dickweed. It just didn’t make any sense to me. She got her things and after several trips to the car, they were ready to go. I stopped her from shutting the door with my foot and requested my keys back. She looked as if I had slapped her but she gave them to me. She walked out the door without answering my question or bothering to offer any explanation for her actions. Even after witnessing my hurt and anger, and watching the tears fall from my eyes, she never even said that she was sorry.

  I spent the entire day cleansing Sammie out of my life. I didn’t want any visible evidence of her stay. I found several items that they had left behind, and I packed them up and dropped them off at Sammie’s apartment on our way to the grocery store. I did not want to knock so I just left the package outside her door. When we got back, I crawled into bed with Kevin and Keira and we took a long nap. Sammie and I did not speak for one year. She would call, but when I saw her name on the caller ID, I refused to answer the phone. Sammie had hurt me too bad. It was as though she had created an open wound and now it was infected.