Free Fridays (5 page)

“Man. I'm glad she found out. I hate marriage, and so does Kelly.”

“Whoa! Hold up a sec.” Riley raised his hand. “Hold up, Bruh. Ain't she married, too?”

Bill's face broke into a sly grin. “That was the beauty of it, Man. When both people have a lot to lose, things don't get out of hand.
Well, unless one somebody's wife starts investigating and puts both on blast. Now, not only is my job in jeopardy, but chances are, Kelly's shit is jacked up, too.”

“Dawg, I told you, Man, you need to handle your business better. You gotta let these chicks know who's in charge.” It was all too much for Riley to digest.

•  •  •

“So you and Bill are just throwing in the towel?” Leela asked.

She knew the answer to her question, but there was something so incredibly unbelievable about the entire situation, both, with Big Mama, and her best friend, Samantha.

Leela had been holed up inside the master suite with Samantha for more than an hour.

“Why does it have to be over? Divorce is so final,” Leela said.

Samantha shrugged. “It's time. Honestly, I'm tired. I'm tired of lying next to someone whom I know is screwing anything with a hole. I get it. I really, really get it. There's a shortage of good black men. You give that man a seven-figure, or hell, even six-figure salary, and these women don't know how to act. I'm tired of the rat race. They can have my man because it's exhausting trying to stay two steps ahead of these thirsty heifers.”

“You don't want to fight for your marriage?” Leela asked. The wonderment in her voice was difficult to mask. She was bewildered by Samantha's nonchalant approach to ending her ten-year marriage. Sure, there were things about Riley that Leela didn't like. His macho approach to everything worked her last nerve at times. And the fact that everything had to be his way or no way at all wasn't ideal, but nobody was perfect. Leela felt like one mistake shouldn't end a marriage.

Sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes, Samantha looked at Leela side-eyed, and asked, “Aren't you tired?”

“Tired of what?” Leela asked.

She thought she'd come over and offer a comforting ear to Samantha, maybe convince her to go to counseling with Bill. But after nearly two hours with Samantha, Leela knew her efforts would be useless.

Samantha's mind was completely made up.

“Leela, do you really think your husband is faithful? Bill, Riley, think about their circle; they all run together. You know good and well, if thirsty females are throwing it at Bill, they're definitely throwing it at Riley too. Girl, I'm just tired. I can't take it anymore, so he can go be with Kelly, Susan, Keisha, and anybody else he wants. As long as I get my half, I don't give a damn what he does.”

Leela said very little.

“The only reason I stayed in as long as I did is because of the way I knew people would react.”

Leela's eyebrows elevated.

“Don't tell me you've never shamed anyone who wanted to end a relationship,” Samantha quipped. “When you're married, people expect you to do everything to fight for your marriage. My question is, how do you guys know I haven't fought? Maybe I'm tired and ready to take off the gloves. Why should I stay with my husband even if I'm not happy? I've been unhappy for several years and even though we shared more happy years than bad years, why not cut our losses and move on. Everyone deserves to be happy. I'm not a bad person, or a loser, just because I want out of this marriage.”

Leela listened as Samantha went on about how married life was no longer for her, and how she'd finally seen the light.

But as she listened, she also thought about the fact that Samantha seemed determined to end the marriage. While Leela didn't agree with Samantha, she told herself it was time to respect her friend's position.

T
he evening with the Thomases was like nothing Leela or Riley had ever experienced. By the time they left, both were equally depressed. Tension in the car was thick and heavy. The ride back to their house was unusually quiet.

“It's probably best that those two go their separate ways,” Riley finally blurted out.

He spoke cautiously, but his words sounded like he had clearly staked his alliance.

“You can say that again. Samantha's got this warped idea that because there's such a shortage of men, expecting you guys to be faithful is like believing in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy.”

Leela told herself to ignore the slight flinch she thought she saw at the corner of her husband's right eye. There was no reason she should let Samantha's insecurities become her problem. Their marriages had always been different, and there was no reason to start looking for similarities now.

“She's bitter,” Riley finally said. He kept his focus straight ahead as he drove. “I hate that Bill fell for someone else, 'cause that's gonna make things worse for her, but he feels like she's about to take him to the cleaners.”

“You're not blaming her, are you?” Leela asked.

Riley shrugged. At first, he didn't respond to his wife's comment.

“I mean, she has every right to be bitter,” Leela added.

“Does she really?” Riley looked at her. “Let's look at the facts. She invaded his privacy, had him followed, shamed him in front of everyone we know, then embarrassed him further by putting everything she found on social media sites for everyone in America to see. Now, my man could lose his job, all because of some shit she pulled.”

“What's his job got to do with this?” Leela asked. She was confused by the connection, but more concerned that Riley didn't point at the affair which led to Samantha's so-called bitterness.

“You know what we do. We work for a private brokerage firm. There's a morality clause in the contract, and now he's been put on leave. A bunch of his clients started calling and complaining almost immediately.”

“Wow!” Leela said.

Samantha mentioned the status of Bill's job over the phone, but in person, her main focus was on plans to sell their house and the amount of assets she would get.

“I'm sure she didn't think that move through all the way,” Leela added.

“Ya' think! Then on top of that, Bill says she refuses to take that crap down. So not only are his dirty deeds out there for everyone to see, but she won't take it down. I told him from jump, he didn't need to have her doing his social media campaign,” Riley said.

“I think she should take it down too, but I could see why he trusted her to handle that. It's what she does. But still, despite the details of how it all went down, I don't think we should be taking sides,” said Leela.

“If you ask me, there are no sides here; it's obvious she was wrong for dragging my man's name through the mud like that. But it's gonna backfire on her anyway. He's gonna lose a lot behind her little stunt, and if he loses, so does she.”

“You act like he wasn't wrong for screwing around on his wife!” Leela snarled. “Let's not forget. He screwed another woman, lied about it continuously, and tried to make his wife think she was crazy for even suggesting that there might be something going on with him and Kelly,” Leela said. “You do see where he was at fault, right?”

She noticed her husband flinch, and silently, she dared him to defend his friend's actions as it related to the affair.

“
Y
eah, Dawg. What's up?”

Riley knew the call was from Bill because his number popped up on the cell phone screen. But there was no sound on the other end of the phone.

“Bill? What's up?” Riley called out again. He was on his way to the parking garage after work, when his cell phone rang, but he waited to get on the elevator for fear the call would drop.

As he was about to hang up, he heard a faint voice.

“Bill? That you, Dawg?”

“Yeah. Uh, can you come scoop me? I'm downtown 'bout to leave the DoubleTree. You know where it is?”

Bill's voice had dropped a few octaves, but the more he talked, the clearer he became. Riley had lots of questions, but felt they could wait since he'd see him soon.

“Yeah. You just caught me. I'll be there in ten; lemme grab my ride,” Riley said.

“Bet that.”

Behind the wheel of his Cadillac Escalade, Riley tried to coach himself on how to handle his friend's constant ups and downs. He wanted to be supportive, but Bill made it challenging at times. He needed him to man-up!

Bill was waiting curbside, so it was easy for Riley to slow down and allow him to hop into the passenger's side of the truck.

Bill looked disheveled, needed a trim, and his clothes were wrinkled.
For a man who prided himself on his meticulous appearance at all times, Riley could hardly believe the change in his friend. Riley made a mental note to talk to him about it at a later time.

“What's up, Man?” Riley asked.

He maneuvered the truck into traffic and waited for the predictable sob-story from Bill. He'd become accustomed to it ever since the divorce proceedings had started.

“Bruh, this crap with Kelly is about to kill me. She ain't leaving, Man.”

Riley's eyebrows rose. He clutched the steering wheel tighter and focused on the road.

“Can you believe that shit? For more than a year, we've been hot and heavy. Now that I'm single, she's talking about maybe we should chill!”

“Don't you think it kinda makes sense?” Riley asked. “I mean, the investigation is still underway, right?”

“Dude. She's talking about staying with her husband! After my shit was blown all out the water, I thought we had an understanding. I thought, given the opportunity, we'd be together,” Bill said.

Riley turned to look at him. “Man. You sounding real suspect right now. You weren't trying to jump right into something else before the divorce is final, were you?” Riley shook his head. “That's probably not a good move.”

“What difference does it make? As soon as Sam agrees to the terms, we'll be divorced. She's getting what she wants, so she's not tripping. When Kelly told me to meet her at the hotel, I didn't think it was so she could dump me!” Bill sighed.

“So it's over between you two then?” Riley asked. “Kelly, I mean?”

“Yeah. Seems I'm not all that irresistible after all, since I'm single now. Go figure.”

The entire situation was a mess. Riley couldn't believe how
emotional Bill was being. So Kelly didn't want him; he could simply find another chick that did. Riley didn't see the problem, but the way his boy was looking, Riley kept his thoughts to himself.

“She should've said she wouldn't leave dude no matter what,” Bill muttered.

Riley's eyebrows went up, but he didn't say anything else about it. He silently wished Bill would do the same.

•  •  •

For Leela, alone time became time to reflect. She had a lot to reflect on. All she could think about was that last lunch with her mother and grandmother.

Lunch with her mother and grandmother was usually a good time over colorful cocktails and an array of scrumptious appetizers. In the past, Big Mama was the center of attention. But everything was different at their last lunch meeting. And different was not good in this instance. Leela couldn't shake the memory that took her right back to that restaurant.

Gloom hung over their table like a dark cloud on a bright summer day. From the moment Beverly rose to hug her, Leela noticed her grandmother's features were clouded with concern.

There was no sign of her usual vibrant smile, and her weary face wore a sad expression. It was as if her grandmother had aged more than a decade since the last time she'd seen her, two weeks prior. Leela felt so bad for her.

“I'm gonna need a drink before you start, Big Mama,” Linda said. She looked at her daughter and said, “You should get one too.”

Leela looked at her mother and dismissed the suggestion. She wanted a clear head so she could decipher what was about to be said. It was usually Linda who broke any family-related news—good, bad, or devastating.

But this time, all Linda did was carry on about how life was about to change.

Leela had been haunted by the revelation for days, that something major was about to happen. She only backed off from talking about it because her mother had all but begged her not to ask any questions or say anything. Linda explained it would hurt her grandmother and that was all it took for Leela to leave it alone.

“Leela. You remember Miss Sadie down the street, right?” her grandmother Beverly began.

“Of course. You two have been friends for years; we practically grew up with her daughter, and Rhonda's kids,” Leela said. “Rhonda. She's like your age, right, Mom? You guys went to school together?”

Linda's lips were pursed together before she brought the glass up to her mouth. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Big Mama.

“Well, apparently your grandfather is the father of Rhonda's kids,” Beverly said.

Leela heard what was said, but she needed the words not to be true. They didn't make sense.

“What?”

Leela looked back and forth between her mother and grandmother; confusion was all over her face. Suddenly, she regretted not getting that drink.

“Rhonda? How…” Leela's voice trailed off. Suddenly, a thumping headache came out of nowhere. Leela felt lost.

“Now you know how I felt,” said Linda. “All the times she and her illiterate, illegitimate kids came around like we were all just good neighbors and the trick was secretly screwing my daddy!” Linda smirked. “You better than me, Big Mama, 'cause I woulda cut 'em all!”

“Wait. When was all of this going on? Big Mama, didn't Rhonda
used to bring her kids over to the house? You babysat them, and all along she knew your husband was their father?” Leela asked. Words scraped the back of Leela's throat as she struggled to grasp the situation. She swallowed back tears.