Can't Stand The Rain (5 page)

Chapter 7

Azylae was sitting in the living room of her home rolling up a fat blunt and talking on the phone with her mother and her younger sister. They were irking her nerves and she was ready to strangle them both.

              “I mean for real though you have been with that man for four years, and if he ain’t asked you to marry him yet then something wrong,” Azylae’s mother stated matter of factly.

              “Ain’t shit wrong. I’m the one who doesn’t want to be married right now and I’m tired of ya’ll always bringing that bullshit up like it’s a must we get married. Kent and I are fine just the way we are. We don’t have to get married to prove anything to anybody.” Especially you dry hoes, Azylae wanted to add, but thought against it.

              “It is wrong and you know it, Azylae. The bible say ‘he who findeth a good wife’, not he who findeth a baby mama to shack up with. All the two of you are doing is shacking and you cannot be blessed going against God’s word. You really need to start going to church,” Azylae’s sister, Jasmine, stated.

              “Oh, and what, should I start going to your church? The same church where the married preacher is fucking his wife’s sister and also Mama’s best friend? I’ll pass. Besides, every time I go, that man is making a pass at me and wants to pray for and ‘lay hands on me.’ And Jas, I don’t hear you saying anything when you are bent over or your legs are to the moon and Baby C is ramming his dick all in your insides. Just because he don’t technically live with you because every time he get to beating yo ass you put him out, doesn’t mean you living right and I’m living wrong. A sin is a sin. No sin is greater than the other, so ya’ll both can miss me that bull. At least my man don’t put his hands on me and he’s a provider and faithful.”

Azylae spat her venom and hoped that it was as poisonous as a tiger snake. She was so fed up with her family and their bull. They stayed in her business like they had a right or permission to do so and she was sick of it. She lit up her blunt and went to take a puff to try and ease her mind.

“Fuck you, bitch. You always trying to judge somebody like you better than them. You ain’t better than nobody and Kent ain’t either. You may have a man who provides for you now, but don’t no man want a sorry, lazy bitch like you. You probably didn’t even cook for him today and he been at work making a living for yo trifling ass. And I saw his Cadillac parked in a driveway where it didn’t belong the other night so you better check that shit before your house no longer be a home, bitch!”

Jasmine did not mean to let those words come out the way that she did, but she was hurt by her sister’s words and wanted to hurt her just as much. She was tired of Azylae mistreating her just because she was prettier and had a man who had a good job and was able to provide for her and their son.

Azylae started to choke from the smoke as well as from the shock of her sister’s words. If she was face to face with her she would have definitely slapped her in that moment.

“What the fuck did you just say? I know you not trying to say that Kent is cheating on me? My man wouldn’t dog me out like that sorry ass loser you keep having babies for.”

“That is enough!!” Azylae’s mother, Donna, finally was able to get another word in. “You two are fighting like two dogs in the streets. You should be building each other up rather than tearing each other down.”

Just then, Kent opened the front door and strolled into the house. Azylae was heated and was glad to have an excuse to get off of the phone.

“Fuck both of ya’ll. I don’t want to hear anymore. My man just walked into the home that we will be shacking up in, possibly for life. Now, I need to feed him this meal that I have prepared for him. Don’t call my phone no mo’. Bye!”              

She hung up her phone and threw it across the couch.

              Azylae was on fire and all she could do to keep from losing her cool was to take another long drag of what she was smoking. She just stared at Kent as he walked over to her to give her a hug and a kiss.

“What’s wrong, babe? What was that all about?”

              “That was mom and Jas with that same ol’ bullshit that they come at me with every now and then. Asking me when you and I are going to get married, and that I must not be taking care of my business and cooking for you if you haven’t asked me to marry you yet. Jas saying that you must be cheating if you not trying to marry me.”

She took another hit of her blunt before she passed it to Kent. She could feel all of her anger slowly leaving.

              “Ahh, babe. They bugging. You know not to listen to them clowns. I don’t know why they so worried about us. As long as I am treating you right, shouldn’t nothing be said about when or if we get married. She need to be worried about what goes down in her household and why her nigga stay cheating and whooping up on her.”

              Azylae nodded her head and took the blunt that Kent was passing over to her.

“That’s exactly what I said. I ain’t worried about neither one of them though. I’m good where I’m at.”

She passed the blunt back to Kent and reached for her bag and cigars so that she could roll them up another one.

“I’m starved, babe. What you cook?”

Kent inhaled as he hoped for a good hot meal.

“Nothing, I was hoping we could go to that new Chinese place up the way and see what they buffet looking like.”

“Dang, I thought you said that you had cooked something?”

“Yeah, I was lying. That lil bitch was trying to do me so I had to make something up.”

Kent shook his head and thought, typical Azylae.

“Where’s Daniel?”

Kent realized that their son had not come in at all to speak to him.

“Oh, your dad came and got him earlier. He wanted to spend the day with him. He said he would let him stay all night with him too. After we smoke this, we can head on out to get us something to eat.”

Azylae lit the second blunt and took a puff.

“Okay, then. So how did you spend your day?” Kent asked, already predicting her response.

“Same way I spend every day. I just basically chilled all day.”

What Azylae did not tell him was that she spent most of her day searching for clues and evidence that would help her be able to convict him of his cheating. If she was not so upset with her sister she would ask her just whose driveway was Kent’s car parked in. She had a feeling that Kent had been creeping and was just waiting for the right slip up from him to bust his ass. She just hoped and prayed it was not with who she had a feeling it was with. If he was cheating with his ex, that would hurt her too much and she might wind up hurting him and her. She also did not reveal to Kent that she had spent the earlier part of her day riding her friend, Mac’s face.

*********************************************************

Meanwhile, Pit and Kale were lying in their bed together when Pit brought up the weird conversation he had the day before with his homeboy Noc.

“Hey babe, guess who I ran into today? Came from outta nowhere.”

              “Who babe?”

              “Noc.”

              “You mean your old friend Noc? When did he get out?”

              “Well, he actually been out for almost two years. He say he been staying with a family member way out in Utah.”

              “Utah? Who the hell he kin to out there?”

              “He say he got an aunt that moved out there a few years back with her husband.”

              “Oh.”

“But check this out, he was trying to get back in the game with me and asking me if he could come stay with me and everything.”

              “Does he know you have your family living with you?”

Kale got out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom. Pit had to raise his voice just a bit, but Kale left the door open so that she could hear him.

“Well yeah, I told him I’m not about to allow him to come stay where my family and I lay our heads at.”

              “Well, what do you think? If it’s okay with you, it’s okay with me.”

“Thank you babe but I won’t be bringing him nowhere near ya’ll. He staying over at the Elegante. I gave him a few bucks and Imma pay for his stay for a little while, but that’s about it. I spent a little time with him yesterday evening while you and your friends went out and most of today. Something just don’t seem all the way right. The way he was acting and the questions he was asking, it’s not sitting too well with me.”

He also apologized in advance for any disappearance that Noc’s visit was sure to cause on his part.

“I know that I will have to keep a close eye on Noc while he’s visiting to make sure that he does indeed stay out of trouble. This means, I will have to spend plenty of time with him. I’m sorry if I won’t be able to spend all of my free time with you like we have been, but this is something I feel I must do. I just don’t quite trust this guy for some reason. I got a bad feeling and it’s a must I find out what’s going on with him. So please forgive me?”

“Of course, babe. Go ahead and do what you need to do. Just please promise me that you will be safe and not get yourself involved in any trouble in the midst of you trying to keep him out of it. You know how I feel about him. You know I love you more when you’re away from him and the others. But, I also know that you know how to handle yourself. Just please be safe.”

“I will babe. I will definitely do all that I can to stay out of trouble myself. Look at it this way, you can use this time to spend with your friends more. I know I’ve been keeping you away from them lately and now is a good time for ya’ll to hang out. Besides, in a couple of weeks I have something planned for us all that you are going to love.”

“Something planned like what?” Kale asked full of excitement.

“It’s a surprise. You gone have to wait for that reveal.”

Pit smiled.

He loved being able to do things for Kale and he knew that she was going to love what he had in store for her. He had already put his plan in motion and had a few things to finalize before he told Kale exactly what it was.

Kale returned from the restroom and climbed back into the bed.

“How you gone tell me some of it and not all? You know you’re wrong for that. That’s okay though, I’ll wait for it. I know it’s gonna be something awesome and memorable. With the Noc situation, don’t worry too much about that. How about you just sleep on it and then make a decision tomorrow without letting it worry you tonight.”

“Now that sounds like a good idea. Babe, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Pit and Noc had been friends for seventeen long years. Even though Noc was a few years younger than Pit, he started Pit doing a lot of the bad things that Pit worked so hard to give up, including selling drugs. Noc has also been in a whole lot more trouble than Pit and Pit wanted to make sure everything stayed that way. After talking with his mother, grandmother, and sister, he knew exactly what he needed to do. Of course his mother’s and sister’s responses were very similar to Kale’s. They trusted him to make the right decision. On the other hand, Grandma Harris doubtlessly objected. She made it simple and quick. As soon as Pit spoke Noc’s name she said no. Pit understood why. Pit’s grandmother, Ms. Harris, knew Pit better than anyone else and she always seemed to know what was best for him. He knew that. She did not want him spending any time with him. Pit wanted to handle whatever situation brought Noc to his presence and be done with it.

“How about a goodnight kiss?” Pit asked.

As a response, Kale went under the covers and gave her man the goodnight kiss that he was asking for. She did not like to see him worried or stressed and she knew exactly what to do to take his mind off of the situation for the night.

Chapter 8

Saturday morning October received a phone call from Sanayah. Sanayah let October know that she would be in Beaumont for a few hours and would be coming to pick up her and her son, Quentin, in about two hours to go and do some shopping with her. Since it was only a few minutes after nine and she did not have to be at work until four that evening, she gladly accepted the offer. Now it was not strange that Sanayah called at what was normally early for October or that she called wanted to go shopping with only October. Even though October and Sanayah do not spend as much time with each other as October and Kale, they share a closer bond because they have much more in common. They would often hang out together whenever Sanayah would come home from law school to visit. These are the times they let each other know what is going on in each other’s lives. It always tends to be early in the morning, because Sanayah was an early bird; so none of that was strange to October at all. What she did consider strange though, was Sanayah’s tone. For one thing, she was speaking rather low on the phone and her voice seemed to be somewhat cracked, as if she was crying or had been crying. Now she did not say too much, but the worry October heard in Sanayah’s voice let her know that they would be discussing something serious that had been bothering Sanayah.

Not wanting to think too much of it because she was still half asleep, October pulls herself up out of the bed and into the shower to help wake herself up. After the shower she gets dressed, does her hair, and wakes Quentin up to get him dressed and ready to go. Around ten thirty, there was a knock at the door.

              “Who is it?!” October screams from her bedroom door on her way out of the room towards the door. Of course she remembered that Sanayah was coming over, but she was a little early so she wanted to make sure.

              “It’s me, San!” Sanayah answered.

              October unlocks and opens the door.

“Hey girl, you got here fast.”

“I know. I just had to get away. I hit IH-10 by seven thirty this morning. The traffic was fairly clear so I made it here within three hours, instead of my normal four. If you guys are not ready, I can just sit here until you are. Or I can help you with lil’ man.”

              “Actually, all I have to do is put on Que’s shoes and socks and get his bag ready and we are done.”

October paused and studied Sanayah’s face which was just as beautiful as ever, yet also looked a little worried.

“Are you okay? You sounded like you had been crying over the phone and you don’t look too happy.”

              “I am fine. Well, not really but I will be. We will talk about all of that later. And I am happy, happy to be here and see you and my nephew. Hand him here and I can hold him while you put those on.”

              “Okay, all done.”

              “Ready?”

              “Yep,” October answers as she grabs Que and his diaper bag and they all head out the door.

“Let me grab his car seat out of my car.”

“Okay, hand me his bag. I will put it in the back.

Sanayah decided to bring October and Quentin to the mall in Lake Charles, Louisiana instead since it was only an hour away. She had not informed anyone besides October of her visit and she did not want to risk the chance of anyone seeing her. A bit of shopping and mostly browsing is what the trio did when they got to the mall. Before returning back to Texas they stopped and sat down for some lunch. Sanayah finally explained to October her reason for the visit.

Both ladies sat in tears after Sanayah’s confession and explanation for her visit. Sanayah felt so lost and worried. It helped her tremendously to be able to talk to someone and let someone into her world so that she would not have to hold everything in by herself. But, on the other hand, having spoken the words out loud to someone made her realize just how real the situation was. It opened her eyes to reality which made way for her tears to flow through like a stream. October knew exactly what Sanayah was going through and could not do anything at the moment except hold her friend and try her best to reassure her that everything would work its way out just fine. Because she could not stand to see her friend crying without feeling the same pain and emotion as she was feeling, October’s tears started to run as well.

Once they made it back to October’s apartment, October shared with Sanayah a few more words of encouragement and reassurance. Sanayah asked her not to speak a word of it to anyone. She wanted to wait a little longer before telling her family anything, including Kale. October promised to keep her word.  They shared another long hug and just like that, Sanayah was back on the road and back to her reality.