Brothers and Wives (33 page)

I casually walk upstairs
to find out what’s taking Scottie so long. As I approach the bedroom, his door is closed shut. I hear voices.

“What’s wrong, Scottie? You scared? Are you now ready to take me serious?”

“LaNecia …” He raises his voice in a weird sounding way. “Please.”

“You son of a bitch. You said you love me, but you lied. You act like you want to fuck me, yet you end up teasing me. All you gotta do to release me is tell me the truth.”

“I
have
told the truth.”

“No, you haven’t,” she wails.

Feeling tense, I lean in closer, not yet ready to knock.

“LaNecia, nooo!”

“You scared of this gun, huh?” She laughs. Then I hear an animal-like howl.

“If I can’t have you,
nobody
can.”

The air fills with yelling, a loud gunshot, then complete silence.

I rattle the doorknob and bang my fist against the door, pounding on it till my skin begins to sting. “Scottie! Scottie! Are you all right? Talk to me, Scottie!”

The door squeaks opens. LaNecia stumbles back away from the door. She lowers herself to a sitting position on the edge of the bed. She dumps her face in her hands, rocks back and forth, and wails at the top of her lungs, “I can’t make this man love me. I can’t make
any
man love me. I have to learn how to love myself. That’s the only love I know I can get.”

“Where’s my husband?”

She points. Scottie’s standing in the doorway of the walk-in closet. His eyes are bloodshot. His face is ashen. He begins removing bullets from the gun and drops them in his pocket. I smell gunpowder and look up. A bullet hole punctures the ceiling. I take one look at Scottie and collapse in my husband’s arms. I thank God he spared Scottie’s (and LaNecia’s) lives.

They tried to warn me. “Marriage isn’t always what it seems. Every married woman I know is miserable and wishes she were single.” Blah, blah, blah. I wish they’d have told me this before I said “I do.” But wait. They
did
tell me. When did I ever listen? Well, I’m all ears now. It’s funny how young folks reject good advice until they have no other choice but to listen because all the sharp warnings finally come true. Your life brings you to a cold, lonely cell. Door shut. Locked. In jail. Believe me when I tell you. Scottie wasn’t the only person behind bars. Don’t get me started.

Thankfully, Neil and Anya heard the gunshot that day and escorted LaNecia out of the room. Once Scottie and I were alone, I saw him differently than ever before. When I realized how close I came to losing the one man who proved his love to me in every imaginable way, I had to make a
drastic change. I had to do things that made life better for Brax, Scottie, Anya, Neil, and especially myself.

And two weeks after our ordeal I adopted what I refer to as the Neil Braxton Meadows rules.

I’m a happily married woman. And because of this, I told myself, and my baby daddy, no more being alone in a room or house with Neil. No more wearing skimpy clothes around him. No more reminiscing about a past that should have been long buried.

Because Mrs. Danielle Meadows promises to be an excellent wife who’s always on her best behavior. After what Neil and I went through, and seeing how LaNecia almost lost her mind over a man, I can never put myself in those tempting situations again. Thank God LaNecia finally agreed to go to a therapist. Maybe a professional will prescribe a permanent cure for her unhealthy fixation.

And now that the drama has subsided, thank God Scottie doesn’t pester me anymore about Neil, or any other guy these days.

Besides, what Scottie doesn’t know can never hurt him.

Or can it?