Don't Ask My Neighbor (9 page)

             
“I do remember.”

             
“Well, yesterday they called a few of us into the conference room, those who worked closely with her—though most of us can’t stand her—and announced her big victory. Now they are planning this big celebration in her honor where she will receive the award. But, here’s the kicker.”

             
I sat back in the chair. This time I sat at the table alone. Cody and Alexis were back upstairs getting ready to start their day.

             
“I’m listening.”

             
As far as Parker knew, this was news, gossip I needed to hear. I could have saved him the trouble of giving me the details, but, hearing his excitement, I allowed him to continue.

             
“Guess who has to oversee this bash?”

             
“You?” I asked, jokingly.

             
“Hell, not if they want it to be a success. No, my dear, that honor went to Felicia Hailey.”

             
“You don’t say,” I said in my best pretend-shock voice.

             
“Oh, I do say. This is going to be one interesting event. I know you’re still plotting your revenge. Let me know what I need to do.”

             
“Don’t worry. Everything is already going according to plan,” I assured him.

             
“If you say so. Anyway, I can’t entertain you all day long. Don’t you have errands to run? I’ll talk to you soon”

             
“Bye, Parks.”

             
I made my way upstairs and into the bedroom and readied myself to begin my morning duties. Both Cody and Alexis were just about ready, which meant I had to hurry. Just like their mother, they hated to wait after they were dressed and ready, but until they were able to operate their vehicle, they either had to learn to dress slowly, or complain without words or a frown on their faces.

Fourteen

_________

Congratulations, baby!

Samantha

ALTHOUGH HE LOOKED DELICIOUS IN THE slim fitted suits he sported daily, he looked even better standing at his bedroom door, shirtless. His Calvin Klein brief hung just below his waist. He leaned against the door, staring at me with lustful brown eyes. His skin looked as smooth as honey. I lay in bed, on my back, with my knees bent, anticipating my hands and tongue tracing every bulge on his body, including his package that looked perfect in the pouch. He could have saved us both some time and appeared naked, because we both knew how this night was going to end; the same way every night with him always ended, whether or not it was planned or we were prepared.

              Jelani was an explorer in bed, always trying to outdo his performance from our previous encounter. I was always left overly satisfied, and with an undying
yearn to feel him again. He knew how to stimulate me without even touching me, something few men have been able to do.

             
“Samantha,” he whispered, breaking the attention his projection received.

             
He carried a wine bottle in one hand, red, his favorite, and wine glasses in another.

             
“This was supposed to happen last night,” he said, walking toward me, blaming my late day in court on Friday.

             
I smiled. He always made me smile.

             
In the courtroom, I was still on a high cloud from the announcement in the conference room. There were some jealous faces among those who were supposed to have been there to congratulate me, and then there was the face of the man I had fallen in love with.  The encounter that occurred between Felicia and me earlier that morning fought for my attention, but I was too busy getting moist from Jelani’s stare and his smile. Hell, I don’t know who was smiling harder, him or me. He stood in that room as if his name was being announced for that prestigious award. I guess that’s what love is. Wait, that man was in love with me.

             
Now he sat on the floor with his legs apart, and his back against the bed. I positioned on my stomach, buried my face in his neck, and threw my arms around him. He smelled of mandarin and lavender. I loved his scent. He placed the two glasses between his legs, popped open the bottle, and filled the glasses to the top.

             
“Don’t act like you love me now,” he said, leaning his body forward.

             
“Oh, trust me, baby. This isn’t an act.”

             
I pulled him back against the bed and ran my fingers down his stomach. I ran my tongue up the side of his neck and then kissed it when I reached closer to his ear. I smiled, watching his manhood rise, closed my eyes, and then continued to overwhelm him with my kisses. I lifted my body from the bed, leaned over him and began to kiss his lips.

             
“Do you know what you’re doing to me?” he asked.

             
He placed the bottle to his right, handed one of the wine glasses to me, and then adjusted himself.

             
“Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea.”

             
“No, not that,” he laughed, feeling my stare toward his swelling. “Samantha,” he said in a serious tone. “What if I tell you loving you is the first thing on my mind? What if I tell you I fall asleep some nights hoping to see you in my dreams?”

             
There he goes, again, with his damn hypotheticals.
I decided not to respond. I wanted to see where this was going.

             
“You’ve never asked me why I was still single.”

             
“I figured choice had a lot to do with it. I mean, you’re young, not a bad looking guy,” I said, nudging him in his head.  “No hurry to fall for just anyone, so you waited until the right woman, me, came along. Am I right?”

             
Truthfully, I wasn’t interested in the particulars that contributed to Jelani’s bachelorhood. The way he asked that question, I was certain he had memorized a short version of his story. Still, I readied myself to listen to his sordid breakup, the typical boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl eventually gives boy her ass to kiss story I was given the honor of listening to again, except that time, it was information I sought.

             
“I thought the right woman came along eight years ago. I dove into a relationship with her without really ever getting to know her. Her name was Peyton Ashmore. I worshiped the ground she walked on. She turned out to be a figment of her own imagination, an epitome of perfection, even though I made it clear imperfection wasn’t a deal breaker, because of the love I had for her. She had a walk-in closet full of skeletons, a security door to keep them from falling out, and a number of people that were willing to keep her secrets, as if keeping her secrets was beneficial to them. I gave her my all, but I wasn’t the only person giving her their all. I found that out the night I decided to propose to her. I pulled out her engagement ring; she pulled out a one-way ticket to her fiancé in Arkansas. I thought I knew her well.”

             
“I’m sorry to hear that.”

             
Of course, that wasn’t my first time hearing about Peyton Ashmore, and how she ripped Jelani’s heart out like one of those characters on Mortal Kombat. Parker Chandler was my informant, giving up the business the moment I asked him about Jelani’s story. He was more than ready to tell everything. I doubt Jelani’s breakup was classified information, but when I tell you, some men can’t hold water.

             
“No need to be sorry. I took the break I needed, and purposely avoided getting close to anyone. And then came you.”

             
“I didn’t do anything special.”

             
“You didn’t have to. I love you, Samantha
Wells.”

             
I didn’t hesitate in my response to his disclosure.  He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know or feel, but I appreciated the confirmation.

             
“I did want to ask you one thing.”

             
Jelani got up from the floor and sat in the middle of the bed next to me. I turned my head and looked up at him from the corners of my eyes as he began stroking my hair. A moment of fear crept in, and my heart doubled in the rhythm it was beating earlier.

             
Oh, shit,
I thought.
I thought I was done with his questions for the night.

             
“What is it, babe?”

             
“What was the discussion I walked into between you and Felicia? It seemed heated.”

             
“Office gossip,” I responded in a hurry. “Nothing that won’t take care of itself. You know how petty some women can be.”

             
“If you say so,” he said, bringing the glass of red liquid to his lips.

             
I thought a proposal would follow his admission of love earlier, but all I got was a few more glasses of wine, and the best sex ever. Like the other nights, he was satisfied with the pleasure he got from pleasing me. I swear, if these ladies knew of his performance in bed, and how his eyes danced every time he saw me, they would be coming to work with pitchforks and fire sticks, just for me. Jelani fell asleep with my head in the center of his chest. I fell asleep, eventually, but not before thoughts of my discussion with Felicia snuck into my mind. I needed to find out what Felicia knew, ‘cause, dammit, she knew something. I fell asleep with her last question replaying in my mind.
How did you do it?

Fifteen

_________

My Favorite Mother

Kennalyn   

I WAITED UNTIL AFTER THE DIVORCE was final before I told my mother the real cause. Some mothers, when you’re married, love their son-in-law and treat them as if they were the best things that could have happened to their daughters. I said some mothers. Well, Angelique didn’t fall into that group of mothers. She hated that I birthed his child while I was still in undergrad and despised him even more for making me a divorcé. She didn’t even pretend to like him after he asked me to marry him. Angelique didn’t think it was possible to hate Gage any more, but his actions made it doable. I would say my mother at least liked that he gave her two beautiful grandchildren, but she took credit for that, too. For my sake, and for the sake of the children, Angelique tolerated Gage. She figured, no matter how she felt about him, it wasn’t going to
change the fact that he was my husband and the father to my children. She left it up to Gage to change at least one of those titles, just as she predicted he would.  You know what they say: Mother knows best.

             
I would tell you what Angelique said about Samantha when she found out Samantha was the other woman, but it’s not something a lady would repeat. Since I don’t want to keep you in suspense or paint an ugly picture of my mother, I’ll just give you the clean Christian version of what she asked:  The whore couldn’t find a bed that wasn’t already slept in, or a man that wasn’t already slept on?  I’m sorry, that’s the best I could do. I didn’t think whores cared where or with whom they lay. Samantha became “the whore” in any conversation that included what she and Gage did. It pained her to speak her name, and of all the things she would do to Gage, forgiving him wasn’t one of them.

             
I spent a few hours, after preparing breakfast for Cody and Alexis, talking to my mother. My father was out on his early morning run, which usually ended with a stop at the local deli for Porchetta, green salad, and an iced tea. Our conversation provided a temporary reprieve from my Sunday morning chores. She hadn’t seen her grandchildren since their summer break from school, and was excited about seeing them for Thanksgiving. She wouldn’t say it, but it bothered her that Gage’s mother, Leandra, had such easy access to the children, but she would only move to D.C. if her life depended on it.

             
I sat in the living room, in the sage colored sofa, with my right foot resting on the dark merlot coffee table. I folded my other leg beneath me, leaned my head back, and listened to my mother’s pacifying voice. She had the voice to quiet storms. Angelique should have made it a career, sitting in her chair, listening to children talk about how they blamed their behaviors on their parents’ divorce—listening was what she did best—instead she’s spent the last thirty-five years as a neonatal nurse at the Memorial Hospital. 

             
“And what is this good-for-nothing ex-husband of yours doing with himself these days?”

             
“You know, Mother, if I tell you I’d be lying,” I said, reaching for the tall glass of Semillon that I set on the small table next to the couch. I am my mother’s daughter. “We keep bumping heads. He seems to think bringing his bedmates around my kids is the best way to raise them.”

             
I took a sip and returned the glass to the table.

             
“He has more than one?”

             
“Mother, I don’t know, and frankly I don’t have two fucks to give if he has. I just don’t want them playing mother to my children. They have a mother.”

             
“Is that the reason why?”

             
“I know what you’re going to ask,” I interrupted. “No, that’s not the reason Campbell isn’t around. I didn’t walk out on my family, Gage did. He doesn’t get the luxury to freely infuse his pieces into my children’s lives. You know what I’ve been trying to do. That’s where my focus is right now.”

             
“Speaking of Samantha, how’s that coming together?”

             
I had to consume a second glass of wine before I could talk about Samantha without my blood reaching its boiling point. She’s walked around as if there were no repercussions for her actions, and rightfully so. Samantha had been able to escape Karma, going all these years not reaping what she sows. She had her nose held high because, let her tell it, she had J.B. Graybourne ready to drop to one knee and ornament her finger. I walked to the kitchen and removed the bottle of wine from the built-in wine cooler. Gage purchased many of the bottles, but during the divorce he didn’t stake a claim to them—or anything else—when he realized I would devote myself to making sure he wasn’t going to walk away with anything in my house. His unfaithfulness had automatically positioned him to just walk away. I could have had a Waiting to Exhale moment and watch his shit go up in flames, but I figured him losing his family would be painful enough. Let’s be honest, most men don’t cheat with the intention of getting caught. And Gage didn’t get caught per se. He put his dick in a worn out hole on one malicious bitch. For whatever reason, she was hell-bent on hurting me, though according to her, she did it because of naïveté. Where the hell did she get that memo? I pulled the stool from under the counter and sat. This time I poured the glass to the very top. I drank wine halfway to empty before I spat Samantha’s name from my mouth.

             
“I don’t know how she pulled this off, but she’s being recognized as Trial Lawyer of the Year.”

             
“My guess is she probably opened her legs to the right man with some clout. Isn’t that how she’s gotten her success, if you want to call it that?”

             
Angelique didn’t hide her disdain for the woman that had been my best friend for years. Unfortunately, I was the only one who believed in that title. Samantha had other titles she was willing to wear with pride.

             
“Well, let her enjoy her success for now and this fantasy world she’s created. She seems to think she’s untouchable and continues to treat people like they are beneath her. I’m sure she still has a few more tricks up her sleeve. I don’t think she’s done all this or come this far to lose it all,” I said.

             
“I’m sure she hasn’t played all her hands yet.”

             
“Oh trust me, I know.”

             
Angelique and I enjoyed a moment of silence. Cody walked into the kitchen and headed to the refrigerator. He grabbed a bottle of water and the jug of milk. He removed a tall glass from the cabinet and poured it halfway. Alexis probably sent him on another beverage run. I swear that boy does not mind being his sister’s errand boy. I’m telling you, boys who will eventually come into her life have a lot to measure up to in her brother.

             
“Are you still talking to Grandma Angie?” Cody asked, racing back up the stairs to his room where he and Alexis had been since finishing breakfast.

             
“So how are you holding up?” Angelique broke in.

             
I heard her acknowledge my father, who had apparently just returned from his diner run. He was stacking up the calories just as fast as he was burning them.

             
“I’m just fine, Mother. Samantha’s fall from this pedestal she’s placed herself on isn’t too far off.”

             
“And Felicia, how are things on her end.”

             
I smiled.

             
“Samantha seems to think she’s giving her more than she can handle, but that simple-looking broad is definitely holding her own. Samantha doesn’t know whom she’s dealing with yet. Felicia has been keeping her cool, trying not to let Samantha rattle her feathers, but she was ready to open a can of ass whooping. I don’t know how much longer she can keep from breaking.”

             
“If she wants this to work, she’s going to have to bend without breaking. And like you said, Samantha’s fall is close enough for you to reach out and grab.”

             
“You’re right.”

             
“Well, sweetheart, I’ve already missed early morning service fooling with you. I’ve got to make it to the 11:00 a.m. service. Yup, this morning, you’ll have to share me with the man above.”

             
“No problem, Mother,” I said, smiling.

             
“And it wouldn’t hurt your bottom to go sit in those pews, you know.”

             
“My relationship with God is between me and him. I have my own way of getting to the king.”

             
“Bye, baby. Give your siblings a call.”

             
I removed the cell phone from my ear and stared at my mother’s flashing numbers, still smiling. I wished she could see this smile on my face. It was not unlike the many smiles I’ve worn after my conversations with Angelique. She wasn’t my favorite mother for no reason.

             
I took my mother’s advice and called
Macie, the eldest of my twin sisters, the one I knew could fill me in on everyone’s business. It amazes me that I could still get a quick rundown of how everyone was doing just by making a phone call to just one person. She was better than I was reaching out to our siblings, so she would know everything. Hell, she was the nosey one in the family, and just as much as she was willing to listen to everyone tell their business, she was eager to divulge her own. I, on the other hand, was a lot more private.

             
I wished the time went by as fast during the week as it did on the weekend, but I can’t have everything my way. After about an hour on the phone with Macie, I spent the rest of the day preparing Cody’s favorite Sunday dish: Garlic Prime Ribs and Butter Potatoes. Alexis would have her favorite prepared the next week. I enjoyed dinner with the loves of my life, and then a Lifetime movie, before it was time for them to get ready for bed.