Flag On The Play (10 page)

“No, I didn’t know that. I haven’t seen him.”

“He’s been over here. He was looking for you in the daylight with a flashlight. I think Jack thought I was lying to him when I told him I hadn’t heard from you.”

“Seriously?”

“I let him come in and look around. I wanted him to stop blowing my cell up.”

“He was tripping like that?”

Toya rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses up on her nose. “Gurlllll!”

“Damn.”

“He took it hard. He got a beard. He looks a lukewarm mess. But let’s push that there over yonder ways. What the hell happened to you on your wedding day Miss Unger, excuse me Fenderson?”

“You got jokes.”

“You got some explaining to do.”

“Okay
, well, you know I was still seeing Mason on a friendship level.”

“Uh-hum
, breaking bread with the enemy.”

“I went to
Mena’s to get my hair done. I left the shop to meet him so he could give me my wedding gift. I thought it would be a gift card or something.”

“Okay.”
She nodded.

“No
, no, chick, Mason kidnapped me.”

“Oh hell naw!
” Toya threw her hands up in the air.

“Oh hell
to the yes! He took me. He picked my ass up and took my ass. He said he couldn’t let me get married to Jack.”

“Get the
‘F’ out outta here. He got a lot of nerve. He’s married and you can’t get married.”

“He’s n
ot married anymore. He got a divorce for real this time. I peeped the divorce papers.”

“Dayum!
”

“That’s what I said. All this time he’s been playing me and then once he knows I’m getting married he has the nerve to go get a di
vorce. He should have left that raggedy ass bitch a long time ago.”

“
Girl that is straight crazy.”

“Right,
I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried.”

“So what
did he do? He kidnapped you and then let you go.”

“Pretty much, w
ell actually I snuck out his house. He doesn’t know I’m gone.”

“He’s going to F-ing freak
out when he sees you’re gone.”

“I’m going to go back before he gets home from work.”

“Why?”

“I
said I would. Do I really want crazy ass Mason out looking for me?”

“
Hell no. Be careful, as long as you got a plan.”

“
You know I do.”

“You not afraid of your personal Dexter Morgan?”

“You know I ‘aint afraid of nobody but God. Mason is harmless.”

“Just make sure you check his trunk for duct tape, plastic rip-ties, garbage bags, a chainsaw and a shovel.”
She laughed out loud at her joke. I couldn’t help but join in when she put imaginary tape on her mouth and started pretending to dig a hole.

Oh shit, Mason put tape on my mouth once and it was so unbelievably
intense, hot and passionate. 

“V
ery funny, Mason would never hurt me.”

“You love making excuses for him.”

“Do I?”

“
Chick please, you ride or die when it comes to Mason.”

“I am?”

“Yeah but it’s okay Kari because he is ride or die for you too.”

“Yeah he is.”
  I thought about her astute assessment of us.

“You know I loved Jack.”

“Yeah but
not like you love Mason.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s true and you just said you loved Jack, like it the past. Not that you love him currently.”

“I just said it wrong.”

“Uh-huh.” Toya smirked and raised both her eyebrows. “Jack is going to flip the ‘F’ out when he finds out you been shacking up with his arch nemesis.”

“
Shacking up.”

“Chick please, he had you with him since Saturday. I know that thuggish ass Mason done got it in. You ‘aint gotta lie to me.”

I closed my eyes. “Yes lord. I couldn’t resist him. He’s like chocolate cake. I see it and I got to have a piece.”

“So what
are you with Mason now?”

“I’m single I guess. Jack will never
ever take me back.”

“Even if Jack did take you back, he’s not who you want. Mason is single now so maybe you can finally be together.”

“I’m scared and I’m confused.”

“I get that.”

“Do I listen to my heart or do I try to get my old life back?”

“I know you ‘aint asking me.”

“Shit girl I need all the help I can get.”

“I’m trying to get rid of my little boyfriend
. I can’t really give you any advice until I start dating men my own age.” We both giggled.

“I wish I could stay longer but I want to pick Trey up from school. I haven’t seen him since Saturday.”

“Cool.”

“Was everybody mad that I didn’t show up
to the wedding?”

“I wouldn’t say mad, mostly worried. Jack
, I don’t know how he was that day. You know he’s hard to read. He was with his fine friend Robert. The next day is when he started blowing up my phone.”

“I had no idea.”

“Your girl Karen was upset. She pulled me to the side and asked me if you were still dealing with her brother. I didn’t give anything away. I told her, not that I know of.”

“You are the only one that knew
I still talk to him.”

“I know so I just played dumb.”

“Thanks girl. This is a mess.” I sighed. My mind was a computer that was about to crash.

“It’ll be okay.”

“I hope so. I will get back with you later.”

“Call me if you need me.
You know if it’s okay with thuggish ruggish bone.”

“I will be calling.” I tried to smile with confidence but there was something missing.

I left Toya’s house and I was more confused than ever. I desperately wanted to call Jack. It was never my purpose to hurt him. I was feeling some type of way about it. Leaving someone at the altar is awful. I thought I reached my ultimate low when I had an affair with a married man but this was worse. It surely felt that way to me.

Just because I didn’t kidnap myself doesn’t mean I’m not culpable. I blame myself. I should have never continued to see Mason. I couldn’t really let him go. Mason is my first true love in so many ways.
I feel like he was that real love Mary J. Blige was signing about way back in the day.

My next stop was over to my Mama’s place. She was at work but I had a key
on the same ring as my spare key car. I was going to just chill in familiar territory until she got home. I only had a few minutes with her until I went to the school to pick up Trey. He was happy to see me. He showered me with kisses. I had a flash of what it was like when it was just him and me. There was no Lamar, no Mason and no Jack. It was just me and my little man. Damn, those days were so peaceful and so uncomplicated.

Trey asked me why I didn’t get married. I told him I changed my mind. The explanation must have been good enough because he started talking about the field trip
his class was taking next month.

When we arrived back at my Mama’s house I had to fil
l my mother in on the details of my disappearance. I omitted some of the more upsetting details, like being lured, drugged, and kidnapped. I guess I just flat out lied.

I told her that I wasn’t sure Jack was the man for me. I told her we had been having some problems
in our relationship. I told her although he never hit me he had said things to me I found to be disturbing. I told her he was a bit controlling and I started having second thoughts so I went with my gut feeling.

She mos
tly shook her head and listened. Jack was a really nice guy. He was somewhat illusive so what I was saying wasn’t too off the mark. She believed it and I was happy she wasn’t pissed at me.

I told my Mama that I needed a few more days to get myself together. Surprising
ly she didn’t ask me a whole bunch of questions. She wanted to know where I was staying. I told her I was staying in a hotel. I told her I wasn’t able to face Jack just yet. She was very understanding and it shocked me. I told her I would be back for Trey on the weekend and she told me to take as long as I needed.

My mama was really considerate
and supportive. I don’t know why I thought she would be mad or disappointed with me. She made me feel better about the chaotic situation I had created.

I stayed over my mama’s house
as long as I could. I had a little time before I had to report back to base camp. I wanted to go pick up some clothes from my house but I couldn’t go home. I was afraid I would run into Jack. I would rather pull my toenails off with rusty pliers than run into Jack.

Mason
didn’t want me to communicate with Jack. Mason wasn’t the boss of me. I could talk to Jack if I wanted to. The problem was I knew that it would really hurt Mason. He made that clear to me. The truth is hurting Mason hurts me. My heart literally hurts when I know he’s hurting. I just can’t hurt Mason. Plus I hadn’t figured out what I was going to say to Jack. I couldn’t lie to him like I did with my Mama. He’s much too clever for my lies.

CHAPTER 7

MASON

I was at my wits end. Being here at work was not where I wanted to be. I was bored out of my skull and I couldn’t keep Kari out of my psyche. I wanted to call her. I wanted to text her but I didn’t want to run her off or overwhelm her. I sat at my desk and just stared down at my cell phone.

Did I scare her with the divorce papers? Ma
ybe I played that card too fast. I needed her to know where I stand. I needed a grand gesture to make up for the deception.

I wonder why she hasn’t called me. I know she’s seen the divorce papers. I know she has
her cell phone. I left the papers and the cell right by the bed. Did she call Malibu Ken? Does she love him more than me? I hate this, self-doubt. Is this what being in love is?

Fuck it!
I can do what I want to do. I’m going to text her. She better respond. I grabbed my phone and started making my convert move. [Hey how’s it going?] I pressed send. Christ. That sounds stupid. Why did I text that, how’s it going? That sounds lame as fuck.

I placed my cell on the desk. I just sat there thinking of something else I could have texted, something that was more
appropriate.

My
cell phone vibrated and I held in my impending smile. I checked the text message. [It’s going. Bring food for dinner. You have no food in this big ASS castle at Winterfell.]

My inner smile crept o
ut to my lips. She’s still at the house. That’s a good sign. That’s fucking great. Kari obviously took a look around. I knew she would explore the house. She called it a castle at Winterfell. That’s funny because she has called me the King of the North a few times. I remember how we would cuddle and watch
Game of Thrones
together. I remember how she would yell at the TV every time someone got beheaded.

I was feeling completely
satisfied and really arrogant inside. Suddenly I heard my name being called from the front office. What the fuck is it now?

“Uncle
Mason!” RJ’s yell penetrated the walls. I could hear him loud and clear. What the fuck is the problem now? I walked from the back room into the reception area.

Fuck me. Malibu Ken
was standing out there in my lobby. The urge to connect my fist with his face was overwhelming.

Jack
was planted near the front door. He had a guy with him. I had never seen the guy before but I knew he had to be Jack’s business partner. Kari had described him to me in one of our past friendly lunch conversation. She told me so many things that I used to my advantage. I had been very good at deceiving her. I feel bad about it now but I would do it again in a heartbeat. The end justifies the means and in the end I will be victorious.

It took Jackass
four days to come prancing down here like he was on the runway at a Calvin Klien fashion show. Somehow I thought he would come to see me but I’m still a little surprised to see him. The douche bag is not as lame as I thought.

I walked up to jilted Jack
but I kept a decent amount of space between us. There was always something about this snug bastard that I never liked. There was something about his jawbone that made me want to punch him in it.

RJ was standing
idle when I approached. He knew who Jack was and he probably knew this was a hostile situation.

“Jack Unger, what do you want?”
I don’t know why I addressed him by his full name. I sound like a superhero.