Behind Closed Doors (17 page)

“S
HIT, WHEN WAS
the last time we went out?” Regina asked Karen while entering I-90, heading east. It was half past ten o’clock, the traffic was fairly moderate, and they were still a few miles away from Le Club, which was located down in the Loop on Michigan Avenue.

“I don’t know,” Karen said. “But it had to have been at least a year ago. And even then, we were out with those no-good men we’re married to. I’m so glad you called and said you wanted to go out. Shit, why should we sit at home all alone just because John and Larry are fucking up?”

“Damn,” Regina said, laughing. “You’ve used that word more in the last couple of months than during the whole time I’ve known you. This gambling thing has brought the worst out in you, hasn’t it?”

“Shit, you know how I am when it comes to money, and this thing with John is too much. I’m not having it, and he knows it. Just thinking about him makes me angry.”

“I know I bring this up almost every time we talk, but I still say you should give him one more chance. I know you’re upset about those withdrawals he made, but maybe he’ll finally go to one of those meetings.”

“But even if he does go, I still won’t trust him. Whenever he’s gone, I’ll think he’s at the track, and whenever he gets paid, I’ll always want to know where every dime of his money goes. I’d be giving him the third degree whenever he’s only a few minutes late coming home. What kind of life is that for me or him? Shit, that would be no different than suspecting that he was screwing around with some other woman.”

“Girl, don’t even go there, because I can tell you from personal experience that gambling and adultery are far from being the same. Shoot, the way I see it, you should be counting your blessings, because at least John isn’t screwing around and having a baby by someone you once believed was your friend. If you ask me, that’s the type of shit you divorce somebody over.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I do love John, but we can’t make it without money. Before you know it, bill collectors will be calling the house, and I’m not about to have that. If I wanted to struggle to pay bills all by myself, I would have stayed single. Shit, I already divorced one irresponsible Negro, so you know it wouldn’t be but a thing for me to do it again, if I had to.”

“Please. You’re just upset about what happened earlier. Tomorrow will be a different day, and I guarantee you’ll think twice about divorcing him,” Regina said, pulling out her Capri cigarettes and pressing down the lighter on the dashboard of the Mercedes. Shit, Karen was going to find out sooner or later, anyway.

Karen looked at her. “When did you start that back up?” she asked, already cracking her window.

“Girl, I’ve been smoking my ass off ever since I came back from Atlanta. I just didn’t want you to know it. I thought I was going to die when we were at the mall yesterday. I didn’t have one the whole time.”

“As hard as it was for you to give it up, I can’t believe you did that.”

“Shoot, I just couldn’t help it. My nerves were shot, and smoking a cigarette was the only thing that kind of calmed me down. It’s a shame, I know, but there’s nothing I can do about it now,” Regina said, lighting her cigarette. As soon as she took the first puff, it dawned on her. The doctor had run tests for anemia earlier today, but that probably wasn’t why she’d been dizzy at all. More than likely it was these cigarettes.

“You know, you sure are taking this pregnancy thing awfully well. If it were me, I think I’d be somewhere blowing somebody’s head off,” Karen said, thinking back on what Regina had told her when she’d phoned earlier in the evening.

“I just don’t feel like that for some reason. I wanted to kill both of them when we were over at Marilyn’s this
week, but now I really don’t care about either one of them. All I want to do is get on with my life. One month ago, I would have died to be with Larry and would have done anything for him, but now, I really couldn’t care less. I still love him, but it’s not the same as it used to be. Atlanta was one thing, moving in with her was another, but getting her pregnant was the icing on the cake. They can have each other, because I’m through with the whole thing.”

“What are you going to do about the house?”

“Shit, I’m not hauling my butt anywhere until the divorce is final. Hell, why should I have to worry about finding somewhere to stay when he’s the one that moved his ass out in the first place?”

“Yeah, but what about after the divorce is over?”

“Who knows? I’ll probably rent a condo or something. But, I will say this, if he wants to keep the house, he’s going to have to pay me a huge settlement, because I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him move Marilyn’s ass in there just like that. And the divorce isn’t going to be as simple as he thinks, either. He’s been so caught up with Marilyn that he never stopped one time to think about what the consequences would be if he moved out on me the way he did. That motherfucker thinks he’s going to strut into some courtroom, divorce my ass, and live happily ever after, but when I counter his motion on the grounds of desertion, he’s going to wake up real fast. He even had the nerve to forward his mail over to Marilyn’s address. Any fool knows that the post office keeps a
record of information like that. I mean, how stupid can one man be?”

Karen laughed. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack,” Regina said, taking a drag from her Capri. “Men are so naive sometimes.”

“It’s either that, or they think we are. Shit, what they need to realize is that when they’re sleeping, we’re thinking. I used to do that all the time. When John was still at the house, he’d be snoring, and I’d be thinking a thousand thoughts.”

“Something’s wrong with them, and if you ask me, Eve should have been put on this earth first. She might’ve made the mistake of eating that apple, but I’m willing to bet she had more common sense in her baby finger than Adam had in his whole head.”

They both laughed. Regina drove past the club and parked down the street. They checked their lipstick and powder to make sure everything was intact and stepped out of the car. It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t as warm as it should be either, given that it was almost the end of May. Regina wore a sleeveless, closely fitted, brownish-colored dress, matching heels, and off-white panty hose. Karen wore a black sleeveless sweater and a black crepe skirt.

They walked up to the line that consisted of nine or ten people, mostly women, and looked at each other. Not much had changed since when they’d been single. There always seemed to be more women out than men. Of course, that didn’t faze Karen, since she wasn’t looking
for a man to take home anyway, but Regina was having different thoughts. She was on a mission and wasn’t planning to leave this place until she’d found the perfect one-night stand. She wasn’t about to go one more evening without having an orgasm, and that was that. Karen would have thought she was crazy, with AIDS floating around the way it was, and that was the main reason she’d decided to keep her plans to herself. It was just better that way. No sense in upsetting the girl about something she’d already made her mind up about anyway.

They paid the ten-dollar cover charge and entered the club. It wasn’t all that packed yet, but most people never seemed to come out until after eleven or so. They walked over to the first table they saw and took a seat.

“Everything still looks the same,” Regina said, casing the place.

“Yeah, it sure does.” Karen set her purse on the table. “It’s still a nice place to go, though, when you want to get out of the house.”

Shoot, Regina thought, that wasn’t why she was there at all. It was true that she’d wanted to get out of the house, but her main reason for coming here was to find someone who wanted to have sex and who wasn’t going to expect anything after the little escapade was over. “But where are all the men? I mean, I was expecting way more than this,” Regina said without even thinking. Damn. Just that quickly she’d told off on herself. She couldn’t keep shit from Karen no matter how hard she tried.

“I know you’re not thinking about hooking up with
some brother that you don’t know anything about, are you?”

Regina batted her eyes and grinned slyly. “I’m not saying anything.”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking about….” Karen paused and gazed down at Regina’s left ring finger. That rock Larry had given her for their engagement was missing, and so was her diamond-encrusted wedding band. “That’s exactly what you’re thinking about, aren’t you? I don’t believe you.”

“What?” Regina said, still grinning.

Karen shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but I’m sick of being by myself. And anyway, wouldn’t you rather see me trying to have a good time instead of sitting around the house moping like some stray puppy?”

“You know I would, but I just want you to be careful. There’s too many diseases out here. All I’m saying is, if you do anything, please make sure the guy has a condom. Things have gotten worse since before we were married, and finding a safe sex partner is like playing Russian roulette.”

“Girl, don’t even worry about that. I would never do anything without protection.”

“All right now. Just make sure you don’t,” Karen said, scanning the room. “Hey, isn’t that the guy you purchased that tennis bracelet from yesterday?”

“Where?” Regina said, quickly turning her head in the same direction that Karen was looking in.

“Over there.” Karen pointed as discreetly as possible. “The guy with the double-breasted suit on.”

“That’s definitely him,” Regina said. “And looking finer than he did yesterday. Shit.”

“You kind of like him, don’t you?”

“It’s been so long since I had to look at any guy in that way, I don’t know if I do or not. And, although it probably sounds petty, I don’t know if I even want to think about getting mixed up with someone who works as a salesclerk in some jewelry store.”

“If the man is nice and will treat you right, you’d better get that out of your head. That asshole you’re married to now makes a ton of money, and look how he turned out.”

“You’ve definitely got a point there.”

“Oh shit,” Karen said, laughing under her voice. “Here he comes.”

By then, there wasn’t any time for Regina to respond.

“How’s it going, ladies?” he asked, smiling, a drink in his hand.

“Fine,” they both answered.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen either one of you in here before. Is this your first time?”

“No,” Regina said. “We’ve been in here before, but not in a long time. You come here often?”

“Actually, I come quite a bit. At least a couple times a month.”

Regina didn’t know what else to say and felt as nervous as some schoolgirl talking for the first time to a boy she liked.

Karen picked up on it and spoke up. “You can have a seat if you want to. We’re not expecting anyone else.”

Regina looked at her in disbelief.

“If that’s okay with both of you, I will,” he said, directing the comment to Regina.

“It’s okay with me,” Regina said.

He sat down. “I guess the least I could do is introduce myself. I’m Malcolm Taylor.” He shook Regina’s hand and then Karen’s.

“I’m Karen Jackson.”

“I’m Regina Moore.”

“Nice to meet both of you, although I guess we sort of already met indirectly at the jewelry store,” he said, looking at Regina’s wrist. “I see you’ve got the bracelet on, huh?”

“Sure do. It’s really nice, and I’m glad I bought it.”

Regina felt uncomfortable and couldn’t understand it at first, but then it dawned on her. She was seriously attracted to the man. And he must have felt the same way about her, because he hadn’t taken his eyes off her for more than two seconds ever since he’d approached the table. The chemistry between them was so thick that it was almost visible. This just couldn’t be. She’d only been separated from her husband for two weeks, and here she was already attracted to another man. And to top it off, she could hardly see Malcolm as being the one-night stand she’d come there to look for. Gosh. She wasn’t ready for anything like this. At least not yet.

“Can I buy you ladies a drink?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Karen said. “But thanks for asking.”

“I’m fine for now, too,” Regina added.

“I’m going to the ladies’ room,” Karen said. “I’ll be right back, though.” She rose and walked away from the table.

Damn. The last thing Regina wanted was to be left alone with this gorgeous man. Oh, she wasn’t the slightest bit worried about what he might do; it was herself she didn’t trust. She couldn’t believe Karen had left and not asked her to go with her the way she usually did whenever they were out somewhere, and it was obvious that she’d done it on purpose. She’d have to deal with Karen later.

Malcolm swallowed the last of his drink. “You wanna dance?”

“Sure.”

By the time they made their way across the dance floor, some fast song Regina didn’t recognize had finished playing, and the beginning notes of “Before I Let You Go” by Blackstreet had already started. Of course, it had to be a slow one, she thought.

Malcolm pulled her as close to him as was publicly appropriate, wrapped his arms around her waist, and waited for her to position her hands on his shoulders. They started two-stepping. She couldn’t believe how wonderful it felt to lean against this man she’d hardly known for less than an hour. It felt like she’d known him for years. She’d been attracted to Larry from the very beginning when she’d first met him, too, but it hadn’t been
anything like this. The sensations pulsating through her body were almost too much for her to handle. Her heart was pounding hard, and it felt like it was going to explode.

He looked down at her. “So, tell me. What man in his right mind would allow his beautiful wife to go out on a Saturday night to a club filled with a bunch of single men?”

Shoot. She’d left her wedding rings at home in her jewelry case, and she wondered how he could possibly know she was married. “How did you know I had a husband?”

“Because yesterday you had on a set of wedding rings and the credit card you used had the name Larry Moore on it. That was a dead giveaway.”