Chapter 4
SAMUEL
Samuel Owens stood in the middle of his spacious chef-style kitchen staring at the refrigerator. It was ten o’clock at night, and he was tired and hungry. He didn’t want to eat this late because he knew what kind of damage it could do to his waistline. But long meetings and a demanding schedule had caused him to skip lunch and dinner, and now his body was letting him know that it needed to be fueled. His stomach growled as he looked down at his pudgy midsection that had once been svelte. He shook his head and sighed. “I really need to do better.”
A few minutes later Samuel found himself sitting at the solid mahogany table in his breakfast nook. His mouth went dry at the sight of his unappetizing plate of carrots and celery, accompanied by a tall glass of water to wash it down. “I’ll be hungry as soon as I finish this rabbit food,” he said with a frown.
He rose from the table and went back to the refrigerator, scouring the shelves and even the bottom drawer freezer, in search of something a bit tastier and more filling. But there wasn’t a single thing that looked remotely appealing to his eyes or stomach. It was times like this that he longed for his mother’s home-cooked food. His wife, Vivana, detested cooking; she didn’t even like putting frozen dinners in the microwave. Even though he loved to dabble in the kitchen, his hectic workdays left little time for culinary pursuits. He sighed again, then picked up the phone and dialed Valentino’s Pizza. “The usual,” he said to the person taking his order.
Samuel knew it was a shame that nearly every restaurant within a ten-mile radius of his home was on speed dial, programmed alphabetically into his phone. “Take-out is better than nothing,” he mouthed as he thought about how much he was going to enjoy the buffalo wings and supreme pizza he’d ordered. He walked over to the family room, pulled out a tray table, and sat it beside the couch where he planned to dine tonight.
Samuel hated eating alone. When he and Vivana were dating, they ate together, whether at a restaurant or at his luxury condo downtown, nearly every night. But once they got married, as with many other things, that all changed. These days Vivana seemed to always be gone. Her late-night meetings and out-of-town travel had increased over the last few months. Samuel was happy that his wife had gained newfound passion for her career, but he didn’t like that it was coming at a cost to their relationship, putting more strain on their already shaky marriage.
The large rift that had widened between him and Vivana weighed heavily on his mind, and he knew it was something that needed to be addressed and corrected if their one-and-a-half-year marriage was to make it to two. After he placed his delivery order, he put the remainder of his uneaten carrots and celery in a plastic container and set them back in the refrigerator. “This’ll be my mid-morning snack tomorrow.” He loosened his tie and his belt, taking a long, deep breath as he thought about his long day.
Samuel looked at the clock, noting he had another twenty-five minutes before the delivery guy would be ringing the doorbell with his food. He climbed the large staircase leading up to the second floor, and walked toward his bedroom at the end of the hall. He stood under the crystal-beaded ceiling fan, enjoying the cool breeze it provided. He took another deep breath, closed his eyes, and then opened them as he looked around the luxurious master suite. The rich earth-tone jacquard comforter was the only thing about the entire room that reflected his taste. Everything else was his wife’s choice of décor, which dominated not only their bedroom but the entire house.
He’d never felt comfortable or relaxed in his own home, and that was ironic considering the fact that he was a homebody, and spent more time there than Vivana, and that he’d actually been the one who’d picked out their house and put a contract on it the month before they’d gotten married. But even that choice hadn’t truly been his.
The only reason Samuel had purchased the large, custom-built brick home in the neighborhood where they lived was because he knew it was what Vivana had wanted.
“You’re giving that woman too much control,” his brother, Joe, had told him when he’d visited right before the wedding and got a tour of the new house Samuel had just purchased.
“It’s what she wants,” Samuel countered. “Dad always says if your wife is happy, you’ll be happy.”
Joe hunched his shoulders and shook his head. “See, that’s the problem, li’l bro. I think it’s going to take a lot to make her happy. I know you love her, and I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but I’ve got to call it like I see it. I think you’re moving too soon. Give this relationship a little more time before you jump straight into marriage.”
Samuel raised his brow. “Sounds like you’re telling me to call it off.”
“I am.”
“But the wedding is in a few days.”
“I don’t care if it’s in a few minutes. It’s never too late to change your mind. But once you say ‘I do,’ it’s hard as hell to get out of it. Especially if you’re the one with all the assets. The more you have, the more you can lose.”
Samuel knew that his brother didn’t care for Vivana, and that his dislike for her clouded his words. Vivana had been living in a cramped apartment when Samuel met her. And while she wore designer clothes and drove a late-model Lexus, she could barely afford her rent and other monthly bills. She had no appreciable assets, and credit card companies constantly rang her phone demanding payment. Living this way wasn’t new for Vivana because it was how she’d been raised by her grandmother, who’d robbed Peter to pay Paul each month a bill was due.
Conversely, Samuel hailed from a privileged background. His parents, Herbert and Sarah Owens, worked hard to give their two children a life they’d never had. His father owned three car dealerships and his mother was his right hand, helping him run the auto empire they’d built. The house where they’d raised Samuel and Joe—located in Prince George’s County, Maryland, one of the wealthiest counties of African Americans per capita—was grand by any measure. Samuel was the benefactor of a stellar education by way of Sidwell Friends, one of Washington, DC’s most elite private schools. He’d wanted for nothing and lived in the comfort his parents provided.
Prestige, wealth, and material trappings weren’t new for him, but they were an unknown world for Vivana, whose rough, hardscrabble neighborhood in Mobile, had shaped her into the gutsy, often brash woman she was today. Samuel knew this, and that was part of the reason he tried so hard to give Vivana everything she wanted and needed.
“Just be careful,” Joe had cautioned. “Keep your eyes open and watch her because I have a feeling she’s going to put you through some serious changes.”
Samuel knew his brother loved him and that he wanted the best for him, but a part of him also felt that Joe was jaded. His brother had suffered two failed marriages and, as it stood, was in a dating slump. “Can’t you just be happy for me?” Samuel said. “I love Vivana.”
“Why?” Joe asked.
Samuel had to think for a moment before he finally answered. “Because she’s fun, and exciting, and she balances me out. She’s good for me.”
“Do you think she loves you?”
“She wouldn’t be marrying me if she didn’t.”
Joe gave him the side-eye. “People marry for all sorts of reasons. Just like you’re doing.”
Samuel wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t mention love as a reason for marrying her.”
“Because that’s a given.” Samuel could see that he wasn’t going to make any headway with his brother so he ended the conversation and the house tour. Now, as he thought back on that brotherly exchange and many others they’d had in recent months, he had to admit that Joe had been right.
“I should’ve listened to my brother,” Samuel mumbled to himself.
Samuel looked at the digital alarm clock on Vivana’s nightstand, noting he had only ten minutes before his food would arrive. He quickly undressed and showered, glad to wash away his worries. He emerged smelli
ng good from the expensive bath products he’d used, feeling more relaxed. He walked back downstairs to the spacious family room wearing baggy gym shorts and a Sandhill t-shirt. A stack of documents lay beside him in a neat pile on the couch. Normally, he didn’t mind the extra work his job required, but tonight was different. And just as he didn’t want to eat late, he didn’t want to work late, either. But since he was all alone, with no one to share his evening, the tedious paperwork suddenly turned into a welcome distraction until his food arrived.
Samuel’s career was one of the bright spots in his life, and he felt blessed to be able to do what he loved. This month made seven years that he’d been the principal at Sandhill Elementary School. When he’d first started, the morale of the teachers, students, and staff had been low, the result of years of sub-par test scores, underperforming students, and a mismanaged administration.
A county investigation revealed corruption in the front office. The principal was fired, amidst scandalous charges of sexual misconduct, bribes, and kickbacks. Samuel happened to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right credentials and the right connections. He was the assistant principal at a large public school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and was looking for a change from the grind of city living to a slower pace of life. His fraternity brother, who happened to be a member of the Amber school board, phoned Samuel one night and told him to apply for the position. The rest was history.
It only took Samuel three years to turn Sandhill around from the lowest performing elementary school in the county, to the second highest. Thanks to his steady leadership, the school that had once been marred in scandal now boasted a full enrollment with a waiting list of children whose parents were willing to pay money to get them in.
As Samuel thought about his accomplishments at Sandhill and the new projects he had planned for the upcoming academic year, he felt disappointed and frustrated that Vivana wasn’t going to be with him tomorrow night for the staff and volunteer open-house meeting. If it hadn’t been for his wedding band, he knew that most people wouldn’t even know he was married. And because he’d stopped wearing it several months ago, due to the strain of his and Vivana’s lackluster relationship, he knew people would be even more in doubt about his marital status.
Once they said, “I do,” things between them had changed. Vivana stopped going out with him. They argued over simple things they used to do, like going out to eat, watching a movie, going to concerts, and any other type of leisure activity he wanted to do. She didn’t have many friends and she’d never bothered to introduce him to the few she had. And what made things even more strained was that she didn’t involve herself in anything related to his career. She had long stopped attending events at Sandhill and she never showed her face at any of the community meetings or festivals that the school routinely hosted. It was a stark contrast to the kind of relationship he’d watched his parents build since he was a child.
If ever there was a blueprint to follow as an example of true teamwork, Samuel knew that his parents were it. They’d been each other’s study partner in college, and after graduating in the top ten percent of their class, they’d both worked long hours, side by side, in training programs to gain business and leadership experience. They scored their biggest accomplishment when they walked down the aisle and became husband and wife. And while their marriage was more a partnership than a love connection, Herbert and Sarah’s union was still going strong after forty years, and they remained each other’s biggest supporter. Samuel smiled at the thought of his parents and wished he had the same kind of support in his relationship that they had in theirs.
He put his papers to the side when the doorbell rang. The delivery guy, who appeared to be in his mid-fifties, greeted Samuel with a smile and sweat dripping down his round face. “Good to see you, Dr. Owens,” the man said.
Samuel smiled back. “Likewise, Paul. How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain. Just hot as hell out here tonight, especially without the AC working in my car. But fall is around the corner and I’m looking forward to the cooler weather because I don’t do well with this kind of heat.”
“I know what you mean, man.” Samuel was getting damp just standing in the doorway. A few minutes later he returned to the couch, hunched his body over the tray table, and began devouring the wings and pizza as if it were lobster and steak.
As Samuel finished his third slice of pizza, he again thought about his marriage, and how he was growing tired of it all. He was fed up with trying to please someone who acted as though they couldn’t care less about him. “Why am I living a loveless existence?” he asked himself out loud.
He’d suggested many times that they seek marriage counseling to improve their relationship. But each time he brought up the subject, Vivana looked at him as if he’d lost his mind before telling him no. Then another argument would ensue before she stomped downstairs where she would sleep for the night.
Samuel was a man of logic and reason, and he knew he had to take the same advice he gave to his teachers and their students: if he wanted different results he was going to have to start changing things up. He’d been passive for far too long, which was contradictory to the bold entrepreneur he’d once been. His logical mind, along with his common sense, gave him the answer about what he needed to do.
“I deserve more. I deserve better,” he said, “and if Vivana can’t give me what I need, I’m prepared to call it quits.”
Chapter 5
GENEVA
“I think he’s cheating on me,” Geneva said to Donetta as she stood in front of the oval mirror, styling her pixie-cut hair with a generous amount of mousse.
“Of course he is,” Donetta said, not holding back. “He’s a damn dog who’s sneaky as a fuckin’ snake.”
“I didn’t want to believe it, but now I have no other choice.”
It was seven thirty in the morning, and Geneva and Donetta were the only two stylists in Hair Heaven, the chic salon where they worked. Rachel Miller, the owner and manager who was a retired stylist in her late sixties, only came by the salon once every other week, which gave the stylists free rein that most salon employees didn’t experience. The shop didn’t open until eight, which gave the two friends a half hour to talk before the listening ears and gossiping tongues of coworkers and clients interrupted them.
Donetta sighed. “Honey, I’m just glad you’ve finally come to your senses about that triflin’, no-good excuse for a man that you call your husband.”
“Me too.”
“I hate to say I told you so, but . . .”
“You’re going to do it anyway.”
Donetta nodded, fingering her long, razor-cut brown hair as she spoke. “Yes I am, ’cause the man’s a pussy hound and can’t possibly be trusted. I don’t know why it’s taken you so long to finally realize what I’ve been saying.”
Geneva fluffed her bangs and nodded in agreement as she spoke. “Because of how you are,” she said. “That’s why it took a while for me to understand.”
“Oh, and how am I?”
“I love you, you know that I do. But you’re very negative and you’ve never said a kind word or positive thing about Johnny, or hardly any man, for that matter, since I’ve known you. You’re just bitter.”
Donetta blinked her long lashes and paused, as if in deep thought. “That may be true, but it doesn’t stop me from being right. And let’s face it, I’m right most of the time.”
“Yes, I have to admit, you are.” Geneva continued to style her bangs, giving them a tousled look before lightly spritzing them with a mist of hair sheen. She took a deep breath and then sat in her chair, facing Donetta. She slumped her shoulders and shook her head. “I’ve been such a fool. How could I have been so stupid?”
“You’re not stupid. What you are is trusting. You loved him.”
“Love makes you do some crazy, out-of-your-mind things. I tried giving Johnny the benefit of the doubt. I looked past things that I knew in my heart weren
’t right. But I wanted my marriage to work. I wanted him to change, and I thought if I tried a little harder, maybe he would. I’ve supported him and encouraged him. I’ve taken care of him, and I’ve tried to satisfy his needs so he wouldn’t have to look outside our marriage for fulfillment. But none of that mattered to him. I feel horrible and I wish I could go back home, pull the covers over my head, and cry.”
Donetta walked over to Geneva, reached for her hand, and held it tightly. “You might feel like shit right now, but honey, trust me, you’ll get over it.”
Geneva looked down at the floor. “I don’t know, Donetta.”
“You’re saying that now because everything’s still fresh. Give it some time, you’ll be singing a different song before you know it.”
“I feel unattractive and unwanted.”
“That bastard really did a number on you,” Donetta said with a hint of sadness. “Don’t let him break your spirit or question your worth. Your pretty ass looks like a million bucks. Your hair is fly, your makeup is flawless, and you’re working the hell outa those jeans. So hold your head up high, kick that sorry-ass, chicken eatin’ Negro to the curb, and start enjoying your life.”
Geneva couldn’t help but smile. She was thankful for Donetta, and as she looked into her friend’s piercing hazel-colored eyes—compliments of Bausch and Lomb contacts—she knew she couldn’t ask for a better person to stand by her side during times of trouble. From the day they met in cosmetology school ten years ago when Geneva had relocated, they’d hit it off and been best friends ever since.
Geneva was disappointed that Johnny had never cared for Donetta, which she’d initially thought was because of her friend’s alternative lifestyle. But slowly she’d come to realize that his dislike for Donetta had stemmed from the fact that Donetta had sized him up and called him out for being no good. “Watch that sneaky bastard,” she’d said from the moment she’d laid eyes on Johnny.
Secret Indiscretions Page 4
