Big Girls Drama (23 page)

All I could do was clean up the mess that was made in the struggle as I went over everything in my mind. The only sound being made was me sweeping up the shattered lamp. Kegan was kneeling with the dustpan as I pushed the pieces into it. Damon repositioned my table back to its original spot. Corbin and Meena returned to their place on the sofa, this time sitting apart from each other. Meena was hugging herself while Corbin was biting his nails. This was not how I pictured this evening going.

After Kegan went to the kitchen to dump the dustpan, he returned to the living room asking, “Sonya, do you think I can have a moment to speak to Meena privately?”

“If it's okay with Meena, I don't mind.”

We both looked at her waiting to see how she was going to respond.

“Can we talk, Meena?” Kegan asked.

She nodded, standing to her feet and walking over to him.

“You can go in my room. I don't think you want to go into hers. Not until we change those sheets.”

The two of them disappeared, leaving me with Damon and his son. Damon was standing, still looking a little upset about everything.

“Damon, I'm sorry all of this happened,” I apologized.

“What did you do wrong?”

“I should have been here. Then none of this mess would have happened.”

“These kids know right from wrong. They thought they could get away with it and got caught. I still can't believe my son had the audacity to do something like this,” he said giving his son a stern look. Corbin lowered his head and said nothing as someone knocked at the door.

My stomach fell because each time I opened my door tonight, chaos ensued, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with any more drama. I didn't want to answer. I didn't know who it could be. What if that crazy ass Imani was returning? I swear I couldn't deal with her. The person knocked again, and Damon looked at me to see if I was going to get it.

“Do you want me to answer it?” he asked.

Sighing, I said, “No, I'll get it.”

Opening the door, I saw it was Corbin's mom, Leann. I forgot I called her. I wasn't sure if I was happy to see her or afraid it was going to be a repeat of how this night went so far.

“Damon, what are you doing here?” she asked when she saw him.

“I was called by Ms. Gordon.”

“Oh my goodness, is everything okay?” she asked frantically.

“He's not hurt, if that's what you're wondering. Not yet anyway,” Damon said cutting his eye at his son.

“Please, tell me what's going on.”

Damon took it upon himself to tell her everything, which I was grateful for because I was tired of talking about it. Leann look appalled as she gaped at her son with disappointment in her eyes.

“Corbin, honey, what were you thinking?” she asked.

“That's just it. He wasn't,” Damon said.

Clearing my throat, both parents turned to look at me as I struggled to tell them the one thing that wasn't said tonight. I didn't want to say anything but felt it was something they needed to know.

“I failed to tell you Corbin did not use protection.”

“Corbin, no,” his mother cried.

Damon went over to his son and snatched him up yelling, “How many times have I told you to strap it up.”

“Dad—”

“I've bought you enough condoms to last years, and you still too stupid enough to use them?”

“I'm sorry.”

“Your mother and I are not the ones you need to be apologizing to. You need to apologize to Ms. Gordon and her daughter.”

Damon let him go, and Corbin backed away from him. Corbin did as his father suggested and apologized to me. I nodded as Damon began to speak again.

“Turn around and face me, Corbin.”

His son did as he was told, looking deflated and afraid at the same time.

Pointing his finger, Damon said, “Do you think because your mother married John and you got some money in your life now, you can act a damn fool?”

“No, sir.”

“That's what you're showing us. Yes, you have a nicer house, nicer clothes, and a nicer car, but that doesn't give you the right to become this arrogant, defiant person.”

Corbin dropped his head in shame.

“I didn't raise you like this, and you know it.”

“Neither did I,” Leann added.

The scowl Damon gave her spoke a thousand words. With his forehead creased and eyes narrowed in anger, he looked at her with so much disdain that she nervously recoiled. She took that as her cue to be quiet.

Turning back to Corbin he said, “I'm going to deal with you when we get home. Now, apologize to Ms. Gordon again.”

“I'm sorry—” he started to murmur before Damon reprimanded him.

“Speak up, boy. Hold your head up and address her like a man.”

Corbin did as his father demanded and apologized, looking at me with the first signs of sincerity I'd seen from this young man.

“I accept your apology,” I said, not sure if I wanted to, but right now, Damon scared me, and I felt I had no choice but to accept.

“Now, go to the Jeep and wait for me.”

Corbin scurried past everyone, leaving the parents alone to talk. Once his son was out of earshot, Leann began to speak.

“Why are you not allowing me to take my son home?”

“What, so you can baby him and tell him it's going to be okay?”

“Damon, you know I'm going to punish him for this.”

“How? By taking away his car and video games, Leann? That's not punishment for that boy. Ever since you married John, you've spoiled him by giving him everything he wants. What is that teaching him?”

“He's a good boy, Damon.”

“So, you think having unprotected sex with Ms. Gordon's daughter is being a good boy?”

“Kids make mistakes,” she defended.

“He's not a kid anymore. He's a grown-ass man sleeping with an underage girl. And if you expect me to believe this is his first time doing this, you crazy.”

I thought the same thing but dared not put my two cents in.

“Damon, I've talked to him about being safe. You know I have because of what happened to us. We did the same thing they did, which is why we have Corbin in the first place.”

Damon shifted uneasily.

“You know I'm a good mother to him.”

“I know, Leann, but you need to pull back some. Corbin should be working and getting ready to go to college. Not sleeping around and partying like he's been doing.”

“You're right. I'll do better with that. But please understand I'm not happy about this either. Nor am I placing blame. We all need to help our children and figure out where we go from here since the act has been done now.”

I nodded, agreeing with Leann and liking this woman even more. Honestly, I thought since she was rich, she would be acting like Abigail and pointing the finger at me.

“Ms. Gordon?”

“Leann, please, call me Sonya.”

Smiling weakly, she said, “Sonya, I'm so sorry for this. I didn't raise my son to act this way.”

“Please believe me, I get it. I didn't raise my daughter to act like this either.”

“Whatever you need from me, please don't hesitate to call me,” Leann said, walking to the door.

“Leann,” Damon called. “I'll bring Corbin home in the morning, okay? Just let me have a man-to-man talk with him tonight.”

Smiling, she nodded saying, “Don't hurt him, Damon.”

Both chuckled.

“I know you. Try to keep your foot out of that boy's ass.”

“I'll try, Leann. Go kiss our son and I'll see you in the morning.”

Leann said good night and exited my home.

It was just me and Damon now. This was the first time we'd been alone.

“You really must think I'm a bad parent,” I said feeling responsible for all of this.

“Not at all.”

“Between the shoplifting, the destruction of property, and now this, you have to look at me with some skepticism.”

“Well, now that you've reminded me, I do thing . . .” He trailed off before chuckling.

“I didn't think our next encounter was going to be like this,” I said.

“Neither did I. I'm starting to get scared because we keep meeting under bad circumstances. Maybe we need to do something about that to break this bad-luck streak.”

“What do you mean, Officer Ward?”

Smirking, he said, “Let me take you out to dinner next weekend.”

“You want to go with me after all you've seen?” I asked suspiciously.

“I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to be with you.”

Well, damn,
I thought.
He wants to be with me.

“I would love to go to dinner with you, Damon.”

“Great. I'll call you with further details, if that's okay with you?”

“I look forward to hearing from you.”

Damon reached out to shake my hand, and I gripped it. The sexual attraction between us was undeniable. Saying good night, I was happy I finally was getting with someone I was interested in. That was . . . until I turned to see Kegan standing there. From the expression on his face, I knew he'd heard everything.

Today was the first day of my job, and to say I enjoyed it was an understatement. I think I found my calling in fashion. Don't get me wrong, when I arrived, the staff, or should I say Julia's aunt Meredith, wasn't happy about me joining the team. But after having meetings with Julia and seeing her plan and location for the new store she was opening she wanted me to run, I was ecstatic and could care less what Meredith thought. What would have made this day better would have been if my husband wished me luck or even kissed me good-bye this morning. Sheldon didn't do either. After he had his breakdown, he must've thought about it because he seemed mad at me. Sheldon had very little to say to me, and it bothered me. It wasn't often we were mad at each other, but I knew I was wrong . . . well, partially, and I would do what it took for us to get back in a good place.

The table was set. The lighting was low. Smooth music played in the background as the candles flickered, illuminating the dinner I'd prepared for us this evening. I was showered, moisturized, and sitting on the sofa in a sexy number waiting patiently for Sheldon to come home.

As soon as Sheldon laid his eyes on me, he smiled lovingly. To my surprise, he was holding a dozen long-stemmed yellow roses. We both laughed, realizing each of us was working hard to get back in a better place.

He walked over and handed me the flowers.

“Thank you, babe. They are beautiful.”

“Beautiful like you,” he said, sitting next to me.

He leaned in and kissed me passionately.

As we disconnected, Sheldon said, “I don't like when we don't get along.”

“Me either. I'm so sorry for jumping on you like I did. I shouldn't have overreacted and provoked you the way I did.”

“I'm sorry also. I thought about it, and if I found you in a restaurant with another man without me knowing about it, I think I wouldn't have waited until we got home to act a fool.”

“I know you wouldn't have waited. I know you crazy.”

“I should have told you what was up,” he said.

“Babe, I want you to feel like you can come to me anytime,” I reassured.

“Viv, I can on most things. But what I'm going through right now, I feel like only a psychiatrist can help me with.”

I lowered my head wondering if it was something I did to trigger his issue.

“Don't do that,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Stop blaming yourself. Sometimes, Viv, it's not about you,” he smirked.

I nodded, agreeing with him.

“You have to understand, concerning emotions and deep suffering, men move at a slower pace. We think we can get over any tragedy, not knowing things that have happened to us affects the man we become.”

I didn't know if I should respond or continue to listen. What I wanted to ask was what happen to him, but I was afraid I would push him away again. So I decided to stay quiet.

“I want to tell you why I've been seeing a psychiatrist.”

He paused like he was trying to get his courage up to tell me, which scared me a bit. I grabbed his hand and held it tightly, smiling at him to let him know it was going to be okay.

Clearing this throat he said, “When I was sixteen, my family had a party which consisted of a lot of drinking. Really, they had many parties that consisted of drinking. Yes, I was underage, but I got twisted also, to the point of passing out in my room. When I woke up . . .”

He hesitated, biting his lower lip as he squeezed my hand.

“When I woke up, I found someone performing oral sex on me.”

I sat and listened, not saying a word.

“That someone was my cousin.”

With his forehead knitted, he went from biting his lips to tapping his foot anxiously.

“My cousin is a male.”

I didn't move. I don't know if I even breathed. What I tried to do was keep the same loving expression on my face and not looked shocked by what he was telling me.

“I didn't get him off me soon enough,” he eyed me, and I understood. “I damn near beat him to death. Family members broke it up, but the damage was done. It caused major friction in my family. People looked at me differently because my cousin bragged about how I enjoyed it. He could care less at how it looked on his end, but I guess that's how demented his mind was. He had everybody thinking I was some kind of man on the down low.”

I let go of his hand and began rubbing his shoulders.

“It took awhile for everybody to forget about what happened. Unfortunately for me, I never forgot about it. If anything, the incident made me an angrier man.”

“It's okay,” I consoled him.

“How did he think it was okay to do something like that to me? I wondered if I gave off something that made him think I would be okay with it. And the fact I actually climaxed, did that make me like what he was doing to me, or even like men for that matter?”

“You didn't know, Sheldon.”

“I climaxed, Viv,” he said in a raised tone, clinching his hands into fists. “The fact I did that has fucked me up. I thought I was having a wet dream, but to find my cousin giving me head fucked me up on the real.”

“This's why you jump when I touch you in the middle of the night?” I asked.

“Yes, because I'm afraid someone else is going to violate me like that again.”

“You do understand it's not your fault.”

“That's what my psychiatrist said. She told me my body reacted to its natural urges which I had no control over. But the fact I was hard and enjoyed it, and then finished, made me question my manhood.”

“You're human. You are a handsome, heterosexual male. And your cousin is a rapist.”

Sheldon held his head lower, shaking it as his fisted hands returned to a relaxed position.

“If you don't mind me asking, whatever happened with your cousin?”

“He's okay, far as I know. I heard he married his partner and was living somewhere in Florida.”

We sat for a long moment without saying anything until Sheldon spoke again.

“Viv, what I've been going through has been difficult for me. I was afraid if I told you, you would stop loving me or look at me differently as a man.”

I frowned saying, “Nothing will change the way I see you, babe. You are my man, and I love you.”

“A part of me doesn't know that, like a part of you wonders why I love you so much. Maybe we are more alike than we think.”

“Look at you, Sheldon. What's not to love?”

“Looks aren't everything, Viv, and you know this.”

“I do but—”

“Stop with the buts already. You are an intelligent, beautiful woman. I feel like you try to push me away because you're afraid I will eventually leave you for something better. I'm here to put your negative thoughts to rest and tell you no one will ever be better than you.” Looking squarely in my eyes, Sheldon said, “I love you more than myself.”

“I love you too, babe,” I replied, cupping his face.

We kissed each other deeply.

“Make love to me,” I moaned, and my husband didn't hesitate as he stood, took my hand into his, and led me to our bedroom.