Layover (28 page)

“Well, it is yours so you are going to have to take care of it. You’re not going to pin this one on Allen. He’s got science one his side. DNA will show that you are the father.”

 “Nya, you know something? You are really naive. You really think Allen cares about you. You really think he loves you. This is not about you. He doesn’t want you. He wants to hurt me. He wants to take the one thing I treasured most. Once you and I get divorced, I doubt if you two stay together a month. He doesn’t want to marry you, he just wants to hurt me. When you and I are all finished, he is going to leave you and go back to Lisa.”

“You are such a jealous liar. Allen does love me. Does this look like he’s playing?” I showed him my ring.

“New Orleans, right?” Kenny asked me.

“How did you know?” I wanted to know.

“Ask him where he bought Lisa’s ring. I bet he proposed when he took you to the airport, right?”

“How did you know that?” I asked, let down.

“Ask him where he proposed to Lisa. If he’s truthful, he will say the airport. Ny, he’s just playing you. My brother doesn’t love you.”

“Get the fuck out, Kenny and don’t ever come back. If you have any more of your things here, I will send them to you. I want you to leave and take your little ugly ring with you.”

I gave him back his ring. I was so angry and hurt. The only problem is that I didn’t know who I was angry at. I didn’t want to believe Kenny, but he had some good points. Still, I was sure Allen was in love with me. I mean, why would he lie? It seems like a lot to go through just to hurt your brother. As he left, he advised me,

“Ny, don’t be stupid. I hate to see you embarrassed,” he warned me.

As soon as he left, I called Allen. I wasn’t sure what to say, but I needed answers. I hated to confront him with information obtained from Kenny, but I had to do it for my sanity.

“Allen, it’s Nya,” I told him, crying.

“What’s wrong, Ny?”

“Kenny just left,” I said, sobbing.

“Ny are you ok, what did he do? Did he do something to you? I’ll kill that motherfucker!”

“No, Allen. He didn’t do anything to me, physically that is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Allen, he said that you don’t love me. He said you just took me from him to hurt him and that you are going to dump me as soon as Kenny’s and my divorce is over.”

“Ny, why are you even listening to that fool? You know he is just trying to hurt you. See, that’s what I was talking about. There you go falling for his game. Ny, don’t get sucked in.”

“Why does everyone keep telling me that? I must be one stupid bitch in that everyone feels I’m going to get played in some way.”

“Ny, I know you are smart, but Kenny is trying to use psychological ploys on you to make you mistrust me. I’m just saying that whatever he said to you is a lie.”

“Oh, yeh? Well, where did you propose to Lisa?”

“That motherfucker! I can’t believe he told you that!”

“So it’s true then? It was the airport?”

“Well, yeh, Ny. But that was different. That’s not why I proposed to you in the airport.”

“Oh, well what was the reason? And what was the reason you bought my ring in New Orleans? Was it because that’s where you bought Lisa’s ring? Do you miss her that much that you had to replicate everything you did for her with me?”

“Ny, it was spur of the moment. I wanted you to have a ring and I knew where to get a nice one in New Orleans. I guarantee, I didn’t spend half of what I spent on yours for Lisa. And about proposing in the airport, I just didn’t want you to go home to that nigga and forget about me. I wanted you to know I was serious. I didn’t want you to leave the ground until you knew how much I cared for you. Ny, you have to know that this is real. This has nothing to do with Kenny. I want to be with you. That fact that it is hurting Kenny is just icing on the cake.”

I wanted to believe Allen. I had every reason to. I had no reason to believe Kenny, but something inside me was telling me that Kenny wasn’t lying about everything. At this point he had nothing to lose. I had already taken the steps to end my marriage with Kenny. Even if Allen and I don’t get together, I still don’t want Kenny and that is what this is really about.

“Allen, just promise me you will never hurt me.”

“Ny, I promise I would never do anything to hurt you and I will do anything to ease any hurt I may ever unintentionally cause.”

“I’m sorry I even came to you like that.”

“It’s ok, Ny. It’s going to takes some months to get that fool and all of his negativity away from you. But, once he’s gone, he’ll be gone for good. He won’t be able to penetrate your world anymore.”

“Thank you for being so wonderful. I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“So, are you going home tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’ll leave in the morning. As soon as I get home, I’m filing my paperwork for divorce from Lisa. Ny, we are well on our way to a life together.”

“I know and I can hardly wait.”

“I’ll call you in the morning,” he told me.

I hung up the phone and dried the tears from my face. Kenny really had me thinking. I know I shouldn’t be listening to him, but I had to give it the attention it deserved. It wasn’t totally without cause. He had some good points. Maybe I should have thought about it more before I called Allen. Or maybe I should have told Kenny to go to hell as soon as he started trying to spread lies, instead of treating him human, the way I have done in the past.

I went downstairs and turned on the television. I was starting to realize for the first time, that I actually did not have a life. I watch an awful lot of television when I’m home. I went to the kitchen to grab a snack and get comfortable. As soon as I stood up, the phone rang. I hurried to the kitchen to get the cordless phone.

“Hello,” I answered politely.

“You little two-faced, back-stabbing bitch, you are going to get what you deserve!”

It was Lisa.

“If that’s true, then Allen and I will be married in no time,” I rebutted.

“Nya, of all the low-down, sneaky shit I always knew you were capable of, this was the last thing I thought you would do.”

“Now what are you talking about Lisa?”

“You told Michael about me being pregnant.”

“Lis, I swear I never did. I don’t even know Michael.”

“Don’t lie, you little bitch!”

“Look Lisa, I’m not going to be too many more bitches up in here. Now if you want to talk to me, you need to pretend to respect me, at least until we hang up. Now, I have no reason to lie to you. As far as I’m concerned, Allen is already mine.”

“Then why is it that he called me today, asking me if there was something I needed to tell him?”

“I don’t know, but it’s not because of anything I said. Maybe he came up with that on his own. I don’t know him or anyone who would plant that in his head.”

As soon as I said the words, I realized who had put those thoughts in Michael’s head. It was Denise. She had indicated that she may do something like that, but I never expected her to be on the case like this. I wanted Lisa to know who did it, but I did not want to be the one to put Denise’s name in it. If I did that, Lisa would think the whole family was plotting to break up her and Allen so Allen and I could be together.

“Lis, think hard. Who knows Michael? Who knows what’s going on? Who would do such a thing? All I know is that it wasn’t me.”

“Are you saying that Allen did it?”

Now, that might not be bad if she thinks Allen did it. That might actually be good. That would make her think that Allen was doing everything he could to take the responsibility off of him. If nothing else, it would certainly indicate to her that Allen is not interested in staying with her just because she’s pregnant.

“I don’t know Lis, if he did, he never said a word to me.”

“Well, the last thing I need is Michael breathing down my neck, asking me about a baby.”

“Lisa, I don’t get it. A few days ago, you were all in love with this guy. Now that you find out someone else is interested in Allen, all of a sudden you are in love with him again.”

“Not someone else, Nya. You are not someone else that is interested in Allen, you are his sister-in-law. That’s just wrong. Don’t you have any shame? I mean, you pretended to be my friend and give me advice, and the whole time you were plotting to make your move. That’s fucked up!”

“First of all, the advice I gave you was from the heart. I told you to be with the one you love. That’s what I’m doing. I gave you advice that I would follow. I don’t see how that’s fucked up.”

“What’s fucked up is that you and Allen have been sneaking around for God knows how long,” she told me.

“That’s a lie. We never sneaked around. When we realized we were truly in love, we told you all.”

“And how is it that you all just happened to fall in love. There had to be something, a kiss, a fuck, something! People don’t just up and fall in love without something happening to ignite it.”

“When the love is true, that’s exactly how it happens.”

“Yeh, and all that shit you said to Akina, that wasn’t for me, that was for you.”

“Lisa, I would have told that bitch off if she had come up in there saying Alex was the father of her child. She just needed to be cursed out. That had nothing to do with my feelings for Allen. I just didn’t like the way that bitch came up in the house.”

“Ny, I just feel so betrayed.”

“Lisa, how can you even say something like that when you left your good husband for another man? How do you think that made him feel? Something tells me this isn’t even about Allen. This is about me.”

“You’re right. This isn’t about Allen. It’s about y’all high yellow bitches running around here thinking you can have any man you want regardless of whether he is married or not. I’m not trying to go out like that. I’m not trying to relinquish my man to one of you.”

“Lisa, I’m not like those light skin girls who used to mentally torture you in school. I’m your friend. If you stop trying to ruin everyone else’s happiness, you might find some of your own.”

Lisa got quiet. I knew my words had penetrated her heart.

“Ny, just tell me that you weren’t scheming the whole time. Just tell me, Ny, were you trying to get Allen away from me the whole time?”

“Lisa, I would never do that. I would never scheme to take Allen away from you. We simply fell for each other,” I tried to convince her.

“I’m sorry Ny. I should have known you wouldn’t do that. And what’s more, I should have trusted Allen. He’s not the kind to creep behind my back either.”

“Lisa, be with Michael and have a happy life. It’s what you want.”

“That is exactly what I want,” she assured me.

“So you’ll grant Allen the divorce?”

“Yeh, I’ll sign the papers.”

“Thanks, Lisa. God will bless you for being a good person.”

“I’ve got to go, Ny. But I do hope you and Allen have a great life. I hope you two find happiness.”

“Thanks, Lis. I hope you and Michael do as well.”

We hung up the phone. I was so relieved that we had one less obstacle to overcome. What’s more is that I was happy that Lisa and I were able to talk. I wanted her to know that I never meant to hurt her. I finally got the chance to tell her. I laid across the bed and watched the ceiling fan spin around until I fell asleep.

The next morning woke up feeling very ill. I didn’t know if I had made myself dizzy the night before by watching the ceiling fan spin, but I felt very queasy. I made it to the bathroom just in time to vomit into the toilet. I laid back in bed and decided quickly that it would be a sick day for me. I called Dee Dee’s voicemail at work and left her a message. I turned on the television and watched the news station. It was the only thing of interest on that early in the morning. After a while, I conjured up enough strength to go downstairs and make some hot tea. I brought it upstairs and got back into bed. After a while, I fell back to sleep. I was awakened by the phone ringing incessantly. It was Dee Dee reminding me that I was supposed to interview new agents today.

“Dee Dee, I’m sorry but I am very sick today,” I tried to convince her.

“I know, Ny. But we’ve got to get someone in here to service these leads, we are losing money.”

“Why don’t you just hire who you like? You are the one who is going to have to work with them anyway.”

“Are you for real? You are going to let me hire who I want?”

I got quiet. I must be really sick. If I let Dee Dee hire who she wants, they will be barbequing up in my office! Still, I had to trust her. If she was to eventually run the whole office, I had to start giving her more responsibility.

“Yeh, I trust you will make the right decision.”

“Well, I hope you feel better.”

“Me too,” I assured her.

“You don’t think you and Mr. Reilly are going to be new parents, do you?”

I heart stopped. I got very quiet.

“Ny, are you alright?”