by Sephiri J
© 2019
Published by Leo Sullivan Presents
www.leolsullivan.com
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.
Contents
1. Bo Washington
2. Dominic “City” Bailey
3. Bo
4. City
5. Bo
6. City
7. Guwop
8. Bo
9. Sade
10. City
11. Bo
12. City
13. Bo
14. Sade
15. City
16. Lucas
17. Bo
18. City
19. Bo
20. Sade
21. Bo
22. City
23. Sade
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1
Bo Washington
I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror in my gorgeous Pnina Tornai wedding gown. The mermaid cut hugged my curves and billowed out at the bottom, making it seem like I was floating on a cloud of white. I looked like I stepped out the pages of a magazine as I studied the intricate beading and lace on this dress that made me look like royalty. My hair fell down my shoulders in loose curls, and my makeup was flawless. I turned to study the back and the plunge the dress made down to my waist, exposing my soft, chocolate skin.
Nervously, I twiddled the massive diamond ring on my ring finger as I thought about this wedding. My wedding to the love of my life, this man who was supposed to make my heart melt. He was supposed to be my protector, my provider, and all the wonderful things I knew my family, especially my mother, said he would be. This wedding that had cost my family over $100,000 that I’d been planning for a year now and was all I had been looking forward to until last weekend.
But I knew I was about to make everyone’s head explode when I walked down that aisle and did what I knew I had to do. This was something I’d been sitting on for a whole week that only my best friend and maid of honor, Sade, knew about. And I had sworn her ass to secrecy.
I turned as the door to my dressing room at the Ritz Carlton opened after a soft knock, and Sade peeked her head around the corner.
“Hey mama,” she said, giving me a small smile.
I smiled back at her and waved her in. “Hey, girl.”
She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She looked gorgeous in her wine red gown with her hair pulled back and away from her face.
“How you feel?” she asked, coming up to me and taking my hand.
I could see the concern on her face, and I knew she was wondering if I would still go through with this.
Nodding, I tried to smile, but my lips started to quiver. I looked up at the ceiling because I didn’t want my make-up to run.
“Oh, honey,” she said, letting go of my hand and pulling me in to her for a hug.
I loved this girl. She’d been my best friend since middle school. The first day of school, this big bitch named Brenda who was fourteen and in the sixth grade tried to get Sade to move to another seat on the bus, and I ended up beating her ass. I may have grown up in a good neighborhood because my parents made good money, but I could throw hands with the best of them. After I busted Brenda’s nose open, she never came at Sade again, and the two of us had been best friends since that day.
“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head, so I could regain my composure.
Sade pushed me back and looked into my eyes. We were exactly the same height, both of us standing at just about 5’6”.
“We don’t have to do all of this. You can address the shit right now and be done with it,” she said to me.
I exhaled and closed my eyes, but I shook my head. “No, Sade. Everyone needs to know.”
She looked at me and sighed in exasperation, but then she nodded. “Okay.”
“Do you have it?” I asked, and she nodded again then reached into her bra and pulled out a folded up piece of paper.
That made me giggle and lightened the whole mood in the room. Sade laughed too.
“I swear, your ass has always been dramatic,” she said and rolled her eyes at me as I sucked my teeth.
“You already know, so why you acting surprised?” I said while looking at the paper she handed me to make sure it was what I’d given her earlier this morning.
Once I confirmed it was, I turned back to the mirror and studied myself from head to toe. All these months I had been planning and waiting for this day. Me and my fiancé, Dontrell Carter, were supposed to be married. Ever since we were teenagers, our parents had been pushing us together like the world would end if we chose other people to marry.
My mother, Larise, was the epitome of a black social climber. Everything she did was for appearances. She had always been caught up with what people thought about her, forever putting out a carefully planned front to the world because she had a certain image that she refused to be tainted. Dontrell’s family came from old money. His mother was my mother’s friend from back in the day when they went to Howard University together. His father’s family was from Virginia, and they had a long family history of hedge fund corporations.
Dontrell’s future was set, paved with trust funds and financial stability, which was why my mother had been so eager for me to join our two families together. Our family was comfortable, but we didn’t have Dontrell Carter money. All of it was irrelevant to me, though, and my mother couldn’t stand that I was looking for more than just money. Yes, that was important, but so was fucking love.
She never saw things my way anyway. I never behaved ‘properly’ like she wanted me to or said the right things that would impress her friends. Not like my older sister, Bianca, who was just like my mother only younger. I didn’t have a filter on my mouth, so my mother and I constantly butt heads. I loved Dontrell, but money wasn’t everything, and I told her that all the time.
“How ever this goes, you know I have your back,” Sade said, bringing my mind back to this little room.
I looked at her, and her hazel eyes were staring at me with concern, so I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.
“I know, best friend. I’m gonna need a drink after this though,” I said.
“I got you,” she said winking at me.
I looked down at my dress and glanced at the small tattoo I had on my wrist that matched the one Dontrell had on his chest. It was a small rose that was supposed to represent the love we had for each other. I shook my head knowing that it was all a lie.
Another knock made me look up toward the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s your father, honey,” I heard my father’s familiar baritone.
“Come in, Daddy,” I said.
My father stepped from behind the door. He looked so handsome in his black suit. When he saw me, his face turned up into a grin, exposing the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth.
“Hi, Mr. Washington,” Sade said and gave him a hug as he stepped toward us.
“Sade,” he said and kissed her cheek.
My parents saw Sade as their own daughter, especially since she had basically been at my house every day when we were growing up.
“Can I get a minute with Bo?” he asked, and she nodded.
“I’ll be outside when you’re ready,” she said to me and then disappeared ou
t the room.
I turned to my father, who was staring at me. I could see that his eyes were bright with tears and that almost set me off.
“Daddy, please,” I said and started to fan my face so the tears wouldn’t come.
“You look beautiful, Bo,” he said, and his voice cracked.
I loved my father so much. He was the opposite of my mother. He was slow to anger, reserved, but still a stoic figure. He never spoke much, and my mother’s overbearing personality sometimes made it frustrating for me because he tended to fall back and let her take the lead. But, I knew he loved me, and I would always be his little girl.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I said.
Seeing him made what I was about to do that much harder. I didn’t want to embarrass my family, especially not my father. But, every time I thought about Dontrell, I knew I didn’t have a choice. Not anymore.
“Are you ready?” he asked me. I exhaled and nodded. More ready than he even knew.
“We need to get moving,” another voice said from the door.
I looked behind my father just as my mother barged into the room disturbing our father-daughter time. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. She looked amazing in a silver-gray dress that she had a designer in Italy make custom for her.
“Bo, your makeup is running,” she said, walking up to me and roughly pulling my chin so she could examine me.
“Mom,” I said, and pulled away from her.
“Where’s Maria?” she said and turned back to the front door. “I know I’m not paying this girl all this money to have you looking like a mess on your wedding day.”
I shook my head as I turned back to the mirror to inspect what the fuck my mother was talking about. I had a slight smudge of mascara on my left eye, but that was it.
“Look at her face,” my mother said as Maria rushed in behind her.
She quickly fixed me up as my mother complained.
“Much better,” she said when Maria stepped away. “Try to keep your stomach in too, Bo. I told you not to eat that sandwich. That dress shows up all your fat.”
I bristled. My mother always had something negative to say about how I looked, what I said, or what I was wearing. I wasn’t fat, I was slim-thick in all the right places, but my mother thought my ass was too big, my thighs were too thick, and she always had something to say about the way my clothes fit.
“She looks beautiful, Latrice,” my father interjected, but my mother waved him off.
“Let’s go, Bo,” she said and reached for my hand. “The room is full. The President of Howard University is here, and the Carters invited the Mayor of Virginia. This will be a wedding to remember.” She looked so excited that my heart dipped for just a second. I knew she was going to hate me in about fifteen minutes.
I walked out of the room into the next room where Sade and my four bridesmaids were waiting, including my sister. When I stepped out, everyone beamed at me.
“You look beautiful, Bo,” they all tittered.
“Let’s get it moving, ladies,” my mother said, snapping her fingers as the wedding planner ran around making sure everyone was lined up.
My heart raced as everyone else left the room. Soon, it was just my father and me.
I turned to him and took his hand. We walked out silently toward the open doors where I knew almost the whole world was waiting for me to make my entrance.
I heard the pianist playing my wedding song, and I felt like I was going to pass out. This was it. It was now or never. I gripped my father's hand tight as we turned the corner.
The room was breathtaking. The florists and the designer did a bang up job, and I was amazed for a minute as I stood at the door. The whole room looked like a fairytale with bursts of flowers along the aisles and all over the room along with fabric draped on the ceilings. I looked around the room as I walked down the aisle. So many familiar faces and even more faces that I didn’t know. My mother had invited everyone who was anyone, it seemed, just so she could show out. At least 500 people were watching me walk down the aisle. I smiled at people taking pictures as I walked with my father.
And then I looked at the end and saw Dontrell. He was so handsome. Tall and muscular with mocha skin and a smile that would make your legs weak. I’d been so happy with this man for years. No, I hadn't felt that passion that made you want to run to the ends of the earth, but we had always been comfortable. And that’s what you needed for love to grow, right? He was standing at the end of the aisle just staring at me with a huge grin on his face. Our eyes met, and I threw him a small smile. He nodded at me like he was happy with what he saw. I knew that smile wouldn’t last for long.
We got to the end of the aisle, and the pastor started his speech. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today….”
I zoned out.
I felt everyone’s eyes on me, but all I kept thinking about was the text messages that I’d read a week ago and the voice message I heard. This whole wedding was a joke, and the fact that Dontrell was standing in front of me and staring at me with all this fake love in his eyes made me sick to my stomach. I exhaled slowly and tried to calm down because I really just wanted to grab the mic from the pastor and say what I had to say.
However, my mother had planned this elaborate ceremony with singers, and readings, and sermons. I had to wait for the right time.
Thirty minutes later, the pastor looked at us both and then out into the crowd.
“If anyone objects to this marriage, let them speak now or forever hold their peace,” he said.
There was a brief silence, but just as the pastor was about to name us ‘husband and wife,’ I stepped back from Dontrell and looked at the pastor.
“I do,” I said, holding my head up.
There was a slight murmur in the audience as everyone looked at me confused.
“We aren’t at that part yet,” the pastor whispered to me, clearly baffled.
But, I wasn’t. I knew my mother's eyes were boring holes into my skull, but I refused to look at her. I stared straight in front of me at Dontrell instead. His handsome face looked at me frowning, and he chuckled nervously.
“Bo, what are you doing?” he whispered and reached out for my hand, but I pulled away from him.
Turning to Sade, who was standing behind me, I held my hand out. Just as we discussed, she pulled the papers from her bra and placed them into my hand. Then, I turned to the confused pastor and pulled the mic from his hand.
“There’s something I have to say to all of you,” I said, turning to the audience. “But, more importantly, there’s something I need to say to, Dontrell.” I turned back to him, and I could see that he was grinding his teeth while watching me and wondering what the fuck this was about.
“It was brought to my attention about a week ago that my dear fiancé, who I loved so much, has been living a whole double life,” I started.
There were a few gasps from the audience, but I didn’t look away from Dontrell’s face.
“Your little friend, Nichole, who you went to school with? She came to my house last week in tears, Dontrell. Showed me everything I needed to see. Let me just read for you some of the text messages that my loving fiancé was sending to his side girlfriend,” I said. I unfolded the papers and started to read. “September second, four months ago, Dontrell says, baby, when am I gonna see you again? You’ve been on my mind all night. Then Nichole says, come see me tonight, baby. I’m ready for you. Dontrell says, okay, I’m on the way. September fourth, Dontrell says, baby, I been thinking about that pussy all day. Can I swing by? Bo is going out with her girls. Nichole says, okay, baby, use your key. I’ll be here.”
There were murmurs as I read, but I didn’t care. Dontrell stepped up to me and tried to say something, but I swatted his hand away.
“September ninth, Dontrell says, I swear I wish I was marrying you instead. I would live inside your pussy if I could. Why you gotta be so fucking sexy? Nichole says, call the wedding off then, baby, I love you,” I said.
&nbs
p; Just reading the words I’d seen a whole week ago felt like I was being stabbed in the chest all over again.
“But, there’s more,” I added as the murmurs got louder.
Out the corner of my eye, I saw my mother getting up and coming up to me. I glared at her, and for the first time ever, she stopped. She looked mortified, though. I couldn’t even look at my father, but I did steal a glance at Dontrell’s father whose light skin had turned beet red. I didn’t care.
I turned to Sade, who was right by my side, and she handed me my phone when I reached out.
“This was two week ago,” I explained.
Putting the microphone to the phone, I pressed play on a voicemail that his little friend, Nichole, had forwarded to me.
Dontrell’s deep, bass voice came over the line. There was no denying it was him.
“Baby, why you not picking up the phone? I know you’re mad at me, and I’m sorry. I can’t call off the wedding, but I promise I’m gonna be here for you and our baby. As soon as you start to show, I’ll let my parents know, and I’ll let Bo know. I love you, I swear. We’ll figure it out,” he said on the voicemail.
“That is enough,” my mother’s outraged voice said, but I refused to look at her.
Everyone was talking now as they watched us, and I looked at Dontrell’s embarrassed face looking out into the crowd as he tried to think of a way out of this.
“Congratulations Dontrell and the Carter family on your new addition. Unfortunately, it’s not with me, but I’m sure Nichole, Dontrell, and their baby when it comes will be very happy together.” I turned to the pastor and pushed the mic into his hands.
He looked at me baffled, obviously unsure of what to do next.
