Behind Closed Doors (19 page)

R
EGINA SET DOWN
the bowl of potato salad that she’d made early this morning and hugged Karen. It was Sunday, two days before Independence Day, and Karen had invited her over for a pre-Fourth of July cook-out. Since they both usually spent all of the holidays with their own families, it had always been a tradition for the four of them to get together a day or two before—Karen, Regina, John, and Larry. Except this time, Larry wasn’t part of the get-together, Malcolm was.

“How’s it going, girl?” Regina asked, smiling.

“Fine. I would ask how things are with you, but from that huge smile on your face, it’s obvious. You’re glowing like a lightbulb.”

They both laughed.

“Girl, Malcolm and I have only been seeing each other for about six weeks, but we’ve grown so close to each
other. Shoot, I think I’m in love with the man,” Regina said, setting her miniature red purse on the kitchen counter. She was wearing an ankle-length, solid-red knit dress.

“I kind of thought you were. I’m really happy for you, because you deserve someone like Malcolm. Where is he, anyway?”

“He’s bringing in the pop that you wanted me to pick up. I think John’s out there helping him.”

“Thanks for picking that up for me. I can’t believe I remembered to get everything except something to drink. Especially since it seems like we do more drinking than eating,” Karen said, fixing the collar of her white, sleeveless, mock turtleneck shirt. She wore black, cuffed shorts to go with it.

“No problem. The store was right on the way over here. Do you need me to help you with anything?”

“I think I’ve got everything under control. John cooked the spaghetti, and he’s grilling the meat now. The only thing I did was arrange the items that don’t require any cooking.”

Regina laughed. “You are so crazy. What kind of meat is John grilling?”

“Cornish hens, ribs, pork chops, and brats. He’s just about done, though.”

“Shoot, who did he think was coming over, the entire suburb? Who’s going to eat all of that?”

“John. He won’t eat a whole lot when we sit down for dinner, but he’ll trace back and forth from the TV to the kitchen all night long. And since he doesn’t have to work
tomorrow, he probably won’t go to bed until around two or three in the morning, after he finishes watching those pay channels. He never gains any weight, but he can really put away a lot of food.”

“I guess so,” Regina said, pulling the refrigerator door open. “What else did you get?”

Karen took a half dozen dinner rolls out of a plastic bag and placed them single file on a baking sheet, laced each of them with margarine, and stuck them in the oven. “Macaroni salad, Italian salad, fruit salad, and chocolate ice cream for dessert.”

“Hey, Karen,” Malcolm said, walking into the room wearing a taupe pullover and a pair of matching shorts. As usual he was dressed sharp.

Both Karen and Regina turned to look at him.

“I’m good. How are you, Malcolm?” Karen reached out to hug him.

“I’m doing fine, as long as I’m with my baby,” he said, kissing Regina.

“I heard that,” Karen said, smiling.

Regina blushed from ear to ear.

John entered next, dressed in a pair of tan linen shorts and a white polo shirt. Like Malcolm, he was looking casually sharp, but then for John, that was commonplace. “What’s going on, Regina?” he said, hugging her.

“Not much, John. What’s up with you?”

“What do you mean not much,” John asked raising his eyebrows. “From the look on your face, it seems to me like a whole lot is going on.”

“Shut up, John.” Regina punched him in his shoulder.

They all laughed.

Karen looked around the kitchen. “I thought you guys were bringing in the pop?”

“We put them on the patio, so we could throw them in the cooler,” John said, opening the top half of the refrigerator. He pulled out two large plastic bags of ice and passed one of them to Malcolm.

“The meat should be done in about twenty minutes or so,” John said, brushing past Karen and stealing a feel from her butt. “You can go ahead and start bringing out the rest of the food, if you want to.”

“You think you’re slick, don’t you?” Karen asked him.

“Shit. I am,” he said, winking and grinning at Karen.

Regina and Malcolm laughed.

After the men went back onto the patio, Regina grabbed the left side of her chest and pretended she could physically feel her heart. “Oooh, girl. I get a chill every time Malcolm comes anywhere near me.”

“I can tell. I don’t think you were this caught up when you met Larry. At least it doesn’t seem like you were,” Karen said, removing the rolls from the oven.

“I wasn’t. Malcolm is so gentle with me. He’s polite, and he knows how to treat me. I’ve never met a man who was so concerned with what I want and how I feel. Larry was a good provider, but when it came to feelings, all he cared about was himself. I almost can’t believe I was ever in love with him. And worse than that, I can’t believe I’m falling for someone else so quickly. I mean, Larry and I
have only been split up for about two and a half months. I sometimes wonder if we ever had real love in the first place, and I’m starting to think that maybe it was his looks and paychecks that I was so attracted to, and not him as a person at all.”

“Well, whatever the reason, at least you won’t have to deal with him much longer. When is the divorce going to be finalized, anyway?”

“Probably in a few months,” Regina said and took a seat at the table. “I wish it could be a lot sooner, but when property is involved, the process takes a lot longer than usual.”

“Just be thankful you don’t have any children that you have to worry about. Have you heard from him?” Karen asked while removing plastic silverware, paper plates, and matching napkins from the cupboard above the sink.

“As a matter of fact, I heard from him last night. He called me saying he needed to discuss something with me and that it had to do with the divorce. He wanted to come over this morning, but when I told him I had plans, he said he was going to drop by Wednesday evening after I get home from work.”

“What do you think he wants to talk about?”

“Who knows. We haven’t spoken more than a couple times since he had me served with the divorce papers, so I don’t know what’s up. Knowing Larry, though, it has something to do with the settlement.”

“I wouldn’t budge on anything if I were you. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know if I would let him come over.”

“I know, but since things have been pretty civil between us, I don’t see how it could hurt anything.”

“Does he know that you’re seeing someone?”

“No. And that’s how I plan on keeping it until the judge signs that divorce decree. The last thing I want to do is give him any ammunition to use against me in court. And I sure as hell don’t want him to know that I’ve been thinking about moving in with Malcolm.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” Karen said in amazement.

“I wasn’t sure how you were going to react. You know how conservative you are.”

“Well, I don’t have a problem with it, and neither should Larry, if you ask me. Shit, he’s living with a woman who’s carrying his baby, and that’s ten times worse than what you’re planning to do. At least you’re going to wait until the divorce is final before you make your move. Hell. He couldn’t even do that.”

“I know. But I’m not taking any chances. Plus, I don’t want any conflicts between the two of them. Larry has who he wants, but I doubt very seriously if he’d be jumping up and down at the fact that I’m in love with someone else. You know how men are. They might not want you, but they sure as hell don’t want anyone else to have you either.”

“Does Malcolm know you’re letting him come over?”

“I told him all about it on the way over here, and he says he understands.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry about that. Hey, can you grab those salads out of the fridge?” Karen asked
Regina. “That way we can start taking them out to the patio.”

“Sure.” Regina rose from the chair she was sitting in. “So enough about me. What about you and John?”

“Things couldn’t be better. If anything, our marriage is better now than it was before. It’s almost like our souls are closer. Like we understand each other a lot more. It’s so easy to become self-satisfied when everything is going your way, and that’s exactly what I was doing with John. I was happy with him so long as things were going the way I wanted them to, and not once did I ever consider how he might be feeling. For me, everything was great. We loved each other, trusted each other, had fun together, and for the most part, we were financially sound. But for John the picture was totally different. He was starting to feel down and out, and to make a long story short, it has a lot to do with his childhood. His father was a tyrant and was very violent. He pretty much ruined all of John’s self-esteem, and that’s why he has such an obsessive personality. That’s why he always buys the best of everything, regardless of how much it costs. It makes him feel good, even though he knows the feeling is only temporary. And whenever his horses came in at the track, it made him feel like he’d really won big, and like he’d really accomplished something.”

“Now, that’s deep.”

“Yeah, I know. All I can say is, thank God for Gamblers Anonymous, because without it, I don’t know if our relationship would have survived. I mean, it’s even helped
me the couple of times I’ve gone with him. But also, I should be thanking you a thousand more times for asking him to come to the club that night. There’s no telling if we would have ever gotten things back on track if you hadn’t,” Karen said, heading toward the patio with two pans in her hand.

“I owe you too,” Regina said, following behind her. “I was feeling mighty low that Friday you came and picked me up to go shopping, and it was only after that did I start to see that I could make it without Larry if I had to. And Lord knows, I probably wouldn’t have met Malcolm, since he rarely visits his stores on Fridays. Not to mention the fact that we usually go shopping on Saturdays. And the other thing is that I guess I sort of know how John feels because now that I’m happy with Malcolm, I don’t feel the same need to shop as much as I used to.”

“Girl, what would we do without each other?” Karen asked with tears in her eyes.

“That’s just it,” Regina said, smiling. “We wouldn’t.”

R
EGINA HEARD
the doorbell ringing, and went down the stairs. Larry had phoned earlier to say that he’d be over to talk to her around seven o’clock. All day, she’d felt sort of uneasy about this mystery meeting and couldn’t wait for it to be over with.

He rang the doorbell again.

“Coming,” she yelled as she approached the front door and pulled it open.

He walked in, proceeded through to the family room, and fell back on the love seat like he still lived there. She followed behind him and leaned her butt against the arm of the sofa. Two months ago, when she’d let him in to talk, he’d dropped that pregnancy news flash on her. She couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say this time.

“So how’s everything been going?” he asked without taking one eye off her.

Regina wondered why he was staring at her the way he was. “Just fine,” she said in a confident manner. “And you?”

He took a deep breath. “Actually, I’m not doing too well.”

“Why is that? I’m giving you a divorce like you wanted, and you’ve got a baby on the way. So, I don’t know how anything could possibly be wrong,” she said sarcastically.

“I know you’re going to be pissed off, but I have to say this.”

“You have to say what?” Her curiosity was starting to get the best of her.

“I think we’re making a big mistake by getting a divorce.”

Regina cracked up laughing. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m not kidding at all. We need to rethink this before it’s too late. This whole thing is all wrong.”

“Larry. Let’s cut the bull, okay. What is this all about?”

“I want you back. I don’t want a divorce. I don’t know how I could have been so stupid,” he said, pressing both his palms across the front of his face.

Was he crazy? Must’ve been, if he thought he could waltz his cheating ass in there and pick up where they’d left off before he’d started screwing around with Marilyn. “You told me that you were in love with Marilyn, that you were having a baby by her, and that you wanted a divorce. And if my memory serves me right, you told me that I was going to have to accept it,
and that I was going to have to get over you. Remember?”

“I know what I said, but it was all a mistake. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t love Marilyn, and we’re not having any baby.”

Damn. This fool was just full of surprises. “What do you mean you’re not having a baby?”

“Just what I said. We’re not having a baby.”

The conversation was becoming more and more interesting by the minute, and she wished Karen was here to witness every bit of it. That way they could both laugh at his ass together. “So, what happened?”

Larry paused. “She had an abortion.”

“She what?”

“She had an abortion a couple of weeks ago.”

Now it all added up. Marilyn had ended her pregnancy and was dumping his two-timing ass. Regina couldn’t believe any of what she was hearing. “So, what does having an abortion have to do with anything? If you love her the way you’ve been claiming, I don’t see what the problem is.”

“I’m not in love with her. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know if I ever was.”

“Then why in the hell did you keep saying you were? You kept throwing that shit in my face every single time I tried to talk to you.”

“I guess I thought that I really did love her. But now I’m starting to see that it was nothing more than infatuation. Things weren’t right between you and me, and I
sort of lost it. If I had it to do all over again, I would never mess around on you. Not with Marilyn or anyone else. You’ve got to believe that, baby,” he said, easing over to the sofa.

“Shit. I do believe you. No asshole ever misses his water until his well runs dry. That’s been proven time and time again. You must think I’m just as loony as you are, though, because I know you don’t expect me to believe that you’re telling me the whole story. So, come on, Larry. Tell me what really happened between you and Marilyn? No. Don’t even waste your breath answering that question. I’ll do it for you. Marilyn saw you for the bastard that you really are, thought about it, went behind your back and had an abortion, and then dumped your sorry ass. And now, you think there’s still time to get back with me. Am I right?”

He kneeled down directly in front of her and grabbed both of her hands in his. This was ridiculous, but at the same time, it was funny as hell. She’d told him how he was going to get down on his knees and beg her to take him back, and here he was, plain as day. Shit, maybe she should’ve become a psychic instead of an HR manager.

“No,” he said. “It’s not even like that. I’m here because I love you. Can’t you see that?”

“Get your ass from in front of me,” she said, shoving him and walking away. “You make me sick. When you brought your ass over here the last time, I would have gladly taken you back. It would have taken me a long time to get over what you did to me, but still, I would
have taken you back. But like they say. That was then, and this is now. And now, it’s too damn late for you. So, you might as well saddle up that horse you came in here on and ride your stupid ass on out of here, because ain’t shit going on with you and me ever again.”

Larry looked at her in a deranged way. Like he didn’t know whether he was coming or going. “Why are you doing this, Regina? I told you I was sorry, and that I would make it up to you.”

He was making her awfully tired, and her patience was drawing thinner by the second. “It’s over between us, Larry. It took me a while, but I finally took your advice: I got over your ass. Now, you’re the one who’s going to have to accept it and get on with your life.”

“Please, baby. Please don’t do this,” he said. Tears were rushing down his face.

Regina walked over to the front door, opened it, placed her left hand on her hip, and pursed her lips together. “Get out.”

Larry kneeled on the floor for a few more minutes and then finally stood up. He dragged both his feet over to where Regina was standing and reached both of his hands out to her like he expected her to hug him. “Regina, I’m begging you. Don’t do this.”

Maybe he hadn’t understood her when she’d told him to leave, but this time she was going to make sure that he did. She spoke slow and clear, but in a loud manner. “Get…the…hell…out!”

He left in silence, and she slammed the door as hard as
she could behind him. She leaned her back against the door, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She felt proud. Proud of the fact that she’d gone on with her life, gotten over Larry, and fallen in love with a wonderful man named Malcolm.

Just as she opened her eyes, the phone rang. She walked over to it and smiled when she saw Malcolm’s number flash across the Caller ID screen. “Hello?” she said.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said.

“Hi, baby.”

“So, is your company gone yet?”

“Actually, he just left.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“So, tell me,” he said, sounding as if he was worried and unsure about something. “Is it just you and me now?”

Regina smiled and said, “Yes. It’s definitely just you and me.”