On the Other Side

by Michelle Janine Robinson

  “Besides, you know I’ve never been able to resist a Brazilian man. They’re so damn sexy. I mean, look at that beautiful tanned skin,” Carmella said, as he returned with their drinks.

  “Shhh,” Damita cautioned.

  “I hope he does hear me. That’ll remove some of the footwork. Then he’ll know how hot I think he is.”

  Damita shook her head in mock disgust.

  Carmella began to pout. “That job is killing your spirit. You’re no fun anymore.”

  “I’m sorry. I promise, as soon as work lets up, we’ll do something fun.”

  “How fun?” Carmella asked.

  “How does a week in Cabo sound?”

  Carmella grinned and clapped her hands. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  “So, now that Brazil is gone, what’s going on?”

  “Well, I was at a club downtown last week and who should I see in a bright red dress with boobs and ass hanging out all over the place, but your colleague Tina.”

  “Carmella, surely you didn’t talk me into rescheduling my conference call so you could talk gossip?”

  “No, honey, this isn’t gossip. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “So, she’s grown. I’m too busy to worry about what Tina’s been up to.”

  Carmella raised her eyebrows. “It’s not what she’s been up to. It’s who she’s been up to that concerns you.”

  “Did you see her with Underhill? That’s old news.”

  “No, it wasn’t Underhill she was with.”

  “Are we going to keep playing Twenty Questions? Who was she with then?”

  “It was your husband.”

  Damita looked at Carmella with shock. “You must be mistaken.”

  Carmella shook her head. “Nope, I saw the two of them as clear as day.”

  “Maybe they bumped into one another. I’ve been so busy lately that quite frankly I’ve been happy that he’s staying out of my hair and doing his own thing.”

  “That, he is. Trust me; they were clearly more than two people who bumped into one another.”

  Damita waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll admit that I’m surprised, but to tell you the truth, I was biding my time until this deal was over and I was planning on leaving him anyway.”

  “Really? It has been a long time. The last time we spoke it seemed like you guys were doing okay.”

  “I thought we were, too, until I found out he was as controlling and manipulative as ever.”

  “What happened?”

  “Do you believe that fool was replacing my birth control pills?”

  Carmella’s eyes widened. “Wow! Are you serious?”

  “Unfortunately, I am quite serious.”

  “How did you find out?”

  “I caught him in the act, but only after I got pregnant.”

  “You’re pregnant!”

  “Not anymore.”

  “No way! You had an abortion?”

  Damita shook her finger at Carmella, cautioning her. “Yes. And, don’t you dare mention any of this to my mother. Everybody is waiting for me to have a baby and I don’t even know if I ever want to have children. It’s way too much pressure.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t say a word. And, as far as waiting for you to get pregnant, that’s a huge personal decision that you have to make on your own. You won’t catch me interfering where I don’t belong.”

  “Thank you. That’s nice to know.”

  “What did Neal have to say about sabotaging your birth control?”

  “I saw him doing it, but he doesn’t know I saw him. I didn’t say a thing. I backed out of the room and quickly made my appointment at the clinic to end what would have been a huge mistake. Do you believe I was actually considering going through with it for him? I have been such a fool. I don’t plan on continuing that trend.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Was he okay with you having an abortion?”

  “He doesn’t know and I have no intention of telling him. He doesn’t deserve to know.”

  Carmella pursed her lips and nodded her head in agreement. “That is so true.”

  Damita looked at her watch. “I hate to cut this short, but I have to go.”

  “I knew that was coming. Aren’t you even going to finish your martini?”

  Damita quickly downed her drink. Damita was already on her feet and waving goodbye. “I’ll call you when things let up a bit.”

  “Yeah, sure you will. I won’t hold my breath.”

  “You know I love you,” Damita said.

  “Yeah, yeah, so you say.”

  Damita blew Carmella a kiss just before exiting the bar.

  Damita returned to the office and worked until sometime around one a.m. When she got home, Neal was enraged and their bedroom appeared as though the place had been ransacked. There were papers thrown about and there was furniture turned over. On top of the coffee table in the living room was a huge quantity of what Damita assumed was cocaine.

  Damita’s face was a mixture of anger and confusion. “Neal, what is going on in here? Anyone could look in the window and see that. Or, what if I had come home with someone?”

  “Don’t worry about that. You don’t have the right to ask me any questions. I’m asking the questions now. What the fuck is this?”

  He was waving a piece of paper in her face and he was so angry the veins were popping out on the side of his head. He started pacing around the living room.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

  Neal took the piece of paper and shoved it in her face and held it there.

  “Neal! Stop it!”

  Damita tried pulling the piece of paper away from her face, but Neal just kept shoving it at her.

  “I will stop when you tell me what this is?”

  Damita finally grabbed the piece of paper and read it. It was a cancelled check from her bank, made out to ParkMed NYC. Her face dropped.

  “Judging from your expression, I assume this is not a mix-up. Since you have your own gynecologist, I can also assume that you didn’t go there for a checkup.”

  “Let me explain.”

  “What is there to explain? You were either there for some sort of STD treatment or for an abortion. Judging from the hefty price tag, I’m going to assume it was for the latter.”

  Her expression suddenly shifted from fear and confusion to anger. Damita remembered not only her conversation with Carmella but also the fact that the only reason she had gotten pregnant in the first place was because he had sabotaged her birth control.

  She tossed the cancelled check angrily to the floor. “You know, you’ve got some nerve. I don’t have to explain anything to you! I saw you replacing my pills! And Tina! How could you? You’ve been fucking my colleague!”

  Neal waved his hand dismissively. “Tina is nothing. What did you expect me to do? You stopped sleeping with me. As usual, your job was more important than your marriage. I have needs and Tina took care of those needs when you wouldn’t.”

  One look at Damita’s face demonstrated that she was hurt by the betrayal. “You couldn’t have picked someone other than a woman I work with every day?”

  “That’s all you’re concerned about isn’t it; your sparkling reputation? What about what you did? You killed my baby and you didn’t even give me a chance to have a say in the matter.”

  “You didn’t deserve a say.”

  Damita could see Neal gritting his teeth and knew those final words were a mistake. She backed up, but not in enough time to prevent the inevitable. He hit her hard enough to knock her out of her shoes. She quickly recovered and attempted to fight back.

  “Oh, so you think because you might have broken the glass ceiling, that you’re one of the boys now? Bitch! You want to act like a man. I’m going to treat you like a man.”

  He punched Damita in the face, the stomach, even the side of her head; and anywhere else his fists connected. Each time Damita tried to get off the floor and at least p
rotect herself, he knocked her back down again. He pummeled her again and again, so much so that she couldn’t even run.

  Damita knew what would happen once Neal was too exhausted to beat her anymore. He would go back to his lines of coke and then she would really be in trouble. As soon as he walked away, she grabbed her pocketbook and briefcase from the sofa and ran out the front door.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  After escaping from her apartment, Damita flagged down a taxi and went straight to Carmella’s apartment. She didn’t have the energy to talk and Carmella knew her friend well enough and long enough to know exactly what she needed.

  “I’ll make up the futon,” was all Carmella said.

  Damita was the first up in the morning. She tried to be quiet, so as not to wake Carmella. Within a few minutes Carmella was awake as well.

  “You want coffee?” Carmella asked.

  “Yeah. I could use some coffee.”

  Damita and Carmella sat at the dining room table off from the living room.

  “Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” Carmella asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be okay.”

  “When you got here last night, or should I say this morning, I considered calling the police whether you liked it or not. That motherfucker has gone too far. You can’t let him get away with this.”

  “It’s not about revenge, Carmella. I want to get through all of this as unscathed as possible.”

  Carmella motioned to Damita’s face. “Is this what you call unscathed?”

  “You’re a beautiful, well-educated, professional woman and a good person. You don’t deserve this. Damita, you need to know that this is not your life. This doesn’t have to be your life. I was shocked when you decided to stay with him the first time he hit you, but now, it’s too much. You have to leave. I spoke to Derrick and Neal didn’t have a damn thing to do with Brandon’s death. It was some crackhead looking for a quick fix. Neal told you all that shit to scare you. He’s a coward. You put him in a room with a man and he would curl up like the pussy he is. Men like him only hit women.”

  Damita looked worried. “That’s all I have in my life, Carmella, is women. Can you see my dilemma?”

  “Of course I can, but if you’re worried about your mother and me, I wouldn’t. I’m not scared of him and I can bet your mother isn’t either.”

  “It’s not about being scared. Neal’s problems run far deeper than drugs. Something is not connecting right in his head. You read these stories in the news all the time about some scorned ex killing his wife or girlfriend, then killing whoever she’s with, before killing himself. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something like that. He’s not stable.”

  Carmella smirked. “I could have told you that. In fact, didn’t I already tell you that?”

  “I hope this is not going to be an I told you so.”

  “No, it’s not. I’m pissed off that this bastard has got my girl running scared. You’ve always been so strong.”

  “Did I thank you last night for letting me stay here?”

  “You’re my best friend in the world. You don’t need to thank me. It’s a given. I’m here for whatever you need.”

  “You realize that I have no clue how long I’m going to need to stay, right?”

  “Yeah, I know. Did you hear me? I’m not worried about how long it takes. You can stay as long as you like. Your ass ain’t never home anyway. It’ll be like living with a flight attendant. You’re always working.”

  “The longer I stay, the greater the chance Neal will come by here looking for me?”

  “Oh, he’s already been here. You were sleeping, so I called my detective friend, Derrick. He drove by with his partner and had a little talk with him. I’ve never seen a Negro move so fast in my life. Like I told you, men like him aren’t so tough when they’re dealing with another man. I know that’s your husband and all, but he’s a straight up punk. I watched him from the window, trying to charm his way out of the situation.”

  “Tell Derrick I said thank you.”

  “No problem. He’s only looking out for me and mine.”

  Damita smiled knowingly. “So it’s like that, huh?”

  “Yeah, this might be the one.”

  “No way! I wish Brandon was here to see this!”

  “That fool would be making all kinds of fun of me.”

  “Yes, he would. I can imagine what he would have to say about you dating a cop.”

  “I’ll make sure I tell Derrick you said thank you. I have to go to work. Are you going to be okay here, by yourself? I could ask Derrick to check on you.”

  “No need. I’m leaving with you. I should have been at work two hours ago.”

  “What are you going to do about that?” Carmella said, pointing at Damita’s face.

  Damita glanced in the accent mirror hanging behind Carmella’s purple leather futon, which now doubled as Damita’s bed, and breathed a sigh of relief. She was happy to see that despite the numerous blows delivered to her face, the worst she had suffered was a split lip and a bruise on her forehead and cheek.

  “That’s nothing a little makeup can’t cover.”

  “Damita, I heard that line in a movie once. The character died.”

  “Thanks a lot for scaring me even more, Carmella.”

  “If scaring you is what it takes to make you leave that asshole for once and for all, then that’s what I’ll have to do. I’m going to jump in the shower real quick. Think about what I said, okay? You don’t want to go to the police, but think about it before the evidence is gone.”

  Damita looked in the mirror again and realized that Carmella was right. She wasn’t sure if she was prepared for the drama that would most definitely unfold. She also didn’t think her career would be able to survive the turmoil.

  Mr. Underhill was waiting for Damita in her office as soon as she arrived at work.

  “Damita, where have you been? You had an eight o’clock conference call.”

  Damita completely forgot she had rescheduled the conference call she was supposed to have the day before, when she met Carmella for lunch.

  “Wendy took over for you. Neither of us could reach you on your cell and it would have been career suicide to reschedule that call.”

  Carmella looked at her boss pleadingly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Underhill. I’ve been putting in such long hours for the last month. I was a little burned out. I worked last night until one and this morning I don’t know what happened. I didn’t hear the alarm.”

  “Damita, you and I both know that’s what this business is all about. Long hours are a given.”

  “Yes, I know. It won’t happen again.”

  Mr. Underhill looked at Damita sternly. “Make sure it doesn’t. You’ve got a lot riding on this. Hell, this company has got a lot riding on this.”

  “I know.”

  As soon as Mr. Underhill left, Damita stopped by Wendy’s office.

  “Do you mind if I come in?” she asked.

  “Since when did you start asking to come in? Are you upset with me because I took the conference call this morning? You know you can trust me, right? The vultures were circling and I didn’t want them to take advantage of your absence.”

  Damita’s tone softened. “Thanks, Wendy. I know that’s what you were doing. I’ve been under so much pressure lately. I’m not thinking clearly.”

  “No worries. If you weren’t so thorough, I wouldn’t have been able to step in so easily. It’s your hard work that’s going to make this deal happen. I know it and Underhill knows it. But, there’s something more important we need to discuss. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries, when I first noticed. But, I have to say something today. Damita, what happened to your face? I don’t mean the story you told Underhill and everybody else. What really happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Damita, if you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay, but don’t bullshit me.”

  “Okay. I’m not really ready to t
alk about it yet, but I promise I will. Well, it’s time to get back to work, huh?”

  “Yeah, back to work. Are you burning the midnight oil again tonight?” Wendy asked.

  “No. I’m going to skip lunch today and work straight through and go home and get some rest tonight. By the time I leave here, I’ll probably need a drink, though. Do you want to come with?”

  “I absolutely do!”

  After multiple calls from Neal, Damita finally instructed the receptionist to inform him that she had left for the day.

  “We still on for a drink?” Wendy asked, at the end of the day.

  “We sure are. Should we go to our usual place?”

  “Sure, why not. Good ole Fitzpatrick’s; our home away from home.”

  Their favorite bar was more crowded than usual, so instead of a table, Damita and Wendy sat at the bar.

  “Your boy Kevin was hot when I took over your conference call this morning,” Wendy said.

  “Are you serious? You have got to be kidding me.”

  “He actually tried to pull rank on me until Underhill stepped in.”

  “That boy has been trying to take over my clients since I got there,” Damita said.

  “He’s pathetic. I used to feel sorry for his socially awkward ass but after the way he performed today, all bets are off.”

  They both laughed.

  The bartender set a drink down in front of Damita.

  “Oh no, this is going to be it for me,” she said.

  “The gentleman sent this,” the bartender said, motioning to the end of the bar.

  Damita wanted to at least say thank you, but she couldn’t figure out who the bartender was talking about. There was no one there. Within minutes, she knew exactly where the drink came from.

  “Hello, Damita.”

  She turned to find Neal standing behind her.

  “Neal, I don’t want to talk here. This is not the place.”

  “I agree with you. We should go home.”

  “I’m not coming home with you.”

  He started grabbing Damita’s arm roughly.

  Damita looked at Neal defiantly and tried to wrestle her arm from his grasp. “Let go!” she yelled.

  “Are you okay?” the bartender asked.

  “Yes, I’m okay. I’m fine.”