Married Men (11 page)

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Authors: Carl Weber

BOOK: Married Men
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I couldn’t believe how fast her statement got me aroused. The thought of her giving me some was almost foreign to me. We hadn’t made love in over five months, since she got pregnant. I led my wife into the catering hall with a wide grin plastered on my face. Maybe this wasn’t gonna be such a bad night after all.
Thomasina’s was a small catering hall, but there was enough room to comfortably hold the hundred or so people Rose and Allen had invited. When we walked in, the DJ was playing Barry White and the dance floor was crowded with couples slow dancing. I spotted Rose’s cousin Debra, a cute, dark chocolate sister I’d been sexing a few months back. She stared me down as I walked by. Her husband was sitting next to her, and I gave him a nod as I winked at his wife. You shoulda seen the way she blushed.
Kenya spotted Kyle and Lisa and dragged me over to their table. I hugged and kissed Lisa, hoping that the truce we had come to at the courthouse a few weeks ago was still on. She hugged me tightly, letting me know it was.
“Hey, Kyle!” Kenya opened her arms for a hug.
“What’s up, sister-in-law?” Kyle smiled. “Damn, I thought they said you was pregnant. You look like you should be on the cover of Essence.”
“Let me tell you something, flattery will get you everywhere.” She turned to Lisa. “Hey, Lisa, you wanna switch husbands? I could use this kinda ego boost every day.” She laughed.
“Sorry, Kenya, I found him first.” Grabbing at Kyle’s arm, Lisa pretended like she was jealous.
I watched Kyle and Kenya hug, and I shook my head. They were both so full of shit it made me sick to my stomach. Kenya couldn’t stand Kyle. She didn’t like him ’cause he married a white woman and moved her into Jamaica Estates, something I hadn’t been able to afford as a social worker. Kenya wasn’t prejudiced; she actually liked Lisa. She just couldn’t stand Kyle because he was a brother with money who had sold out. It didn’t matter that he didn’t have a dime when he met Lisa or that I dated more white women than Kyle ever had. Nope, none of that was important. Once Kyle had made his money, she said he had an obligation to share it with his black sisters.
Kyle was fronting just as bad ’cause he knew Kenya didn’t like him and still played this nicey-nice game with her every time we got together. If she was any other sistah passing judgment on his life and his woman, he’d be all up in her face. I know he only tried to keep the peace because Kenya was my wife. But that polite shit was for the birds. When Lisa and I didn’t get along, everyone knew it.
After a few minutes of pleasantries about whose child had a cold and which private school we were going to send our kids to, the girls excused themselves to find Rose and check out her new engagement ring.
“Y’know, Kyle, I still can’t believe he’s gonna marry her.” I shook my head in disgust as we headed to the bar.
“I know,” Kyle agreed. “But what you gonna do? The boy’s in love.”
“Yeah, but is she in love with him? If I wanted to, I bet could still bone her, man. You should see the way she looks at me.” As sad as it was, I was serious. Rose had always had a thing for me. On more than one occasion in the last few months, I’d gotten the impression that she wanted to give me some of what I’d already sampled. The only reason I hadn’t hit it was ’cause Al’s my boy.
“Don’t even go there, Jay. Last time you decided that you knew what was best for one of our relationships, it nearly cost me my marriage.” Kyle glared at me, probably still mad at the day Lisa found the panties in his car.
“We’re not gonna go there, are we? You know I’m sorry about that shit,” I told him for the millionth time.
“Nah, I’m not gonna go there, but you stay away from Rose.” He pointed his finger at me. “Al can handle himself, Jay. Trust me on that.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself.” I gave him an inquisitive look.
He smiled at the bartender. “Let me have a Dewars on the rocks, and give him a Heineken.”
“What do you know, Kyle?”
He smiled and laughed. His laughter was kinda contagious and I started to laugh myself, even though I didn’t know what was so funny.
“Come on, man, tell me what’s up,” I asked him.
“Aw’ight, but don’t tell anyone about this. Not even Wil.” He leaned in close and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Okay, man. Tell me what’s up?”
“First off, Rose ain’t as slick as she thinks. Remember that first ring Allen gave her, the one that belonged to his grandma?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. Well, that ring’s worth at least twenty grand.”
“Twenty grand?” My jaw dropped. If anyone should have known about the value of diamonds, it would be Rose and her materialistic ass. But it served that stupid gold digger right, passing up a family heirloom like she did.
“Ssssshhh!
Why don’t you just go over there and tell Rose? Damn!”
“Oh, sorry.” I started laughing.
“That’s not all.” He gestured in the direction where Rose was still displaying her ring for our wives. “See that rock she’s flashing?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Allen couldn’t afford the ring she wanted. So he had the jeweler substitute the real stone for a fake. That shit’s a cubic zirconia.” Kyle busted out laughing.
So did I. I couldn’t help myself. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt.
“I couldn’t believe it when he told me that shit,” Kyle said when he finally stopped laughing. “He’s sure got some balls on him lately, don’t he?”
“Yep. And here’s to ’em.” I raised up my Heineken and handed Kyle his drink for a toast. We headed back to our table.
“Ahem!” We both turned to see the bartender glaring at us.
“Oh, shit. We forgot to leave a tip. Sorry, chief.” Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out two dollars, placing them on the bar.
“Excuse me, sir. This is a cash bar,” the bartender informed us with much attitude.
I almost spit out my beer when I heard that.
“Are you serious?” Kyle asked.
The bartender nodded and folded his arms across his chest, waiting for his cash. Kyle reached in his pocket angrily and put a ten on the bar.
“Come on, Jay. I don’t believe these cheap-ass people.” We walked back to the table where Wil was sitting with Diane.
“Did you know they had a cash bar?” Kyle asked before he even took a seat.
“Get the fuck outta here,” Wil replied.
“Who gives themselves an engagement party and then can’t even buy their guests a few drinks?” Diane asked, even though I could tell she wasn’t trying to judge.
“Cheap-ass Rose, that’s who. The same woman who wrote
We would prefer cash for gifts
on the engagement party invitation,” I said in disbelief.
“How cheesy can you get?” Kyle put down his drink. “I hope Lisa didn’t give Rose that envelope yet. I need to take out a couple of bucks for these drinks.”
“I wonder if we’re gonna get a bill for dinner at the end of the night?” I asked sarcastically as we all had a good laugh at the expense of the happy couple.
“Ya know, Rose and Allen are gonna get paid,” Wil added.
“No, Rose’s gonna get paid. I bet stupid-ass Allen doesn’t even know what’s going on.” That woman was pissing me off more and more every day.
“Shit, somebody’s gettin’ paid. They’re gonna get presents from the engagement party, the wedding shower, and the wedding. That bitch ain’t getting’ married for love, she’s in it for the loot.” Kyle looked sick. “Man, I’m going outside to smoke a cigarette.”
“Hold up, Kyle, I’ll come with you.” I followed him outside.
In front of the catering hall, Kyle lit a cigarette and took a long drag. I hadn’t seen him with a cigarette in almost ten years.
“When did you start smoking again?”
“When I got arrested. There wasn’t shit to do in that cell but smoke.” He exhaled the smoke.
“Damn, that’s fucked up.”
“Tell me about it. These things cost four-fifty a pack now,” he chuckled, then got kinda quiet all of a sudden. His tone turned real serious. “Jay, can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure, man, what’s up?”
“You ever have any problem getting it up?” He couldn’t look me in the eye when he asked.
“Hell, no!” I said loudly, so he’d know how much I meant it. “Have you?”
“Come on now. I got three kids. Do I look like I have a problem getting it up?”
“No, but you never can tell.” He had me going. I knew if he was asking, then somebody we knew was having a problem, and I wanted to know who it was.
“If it’s not you, who is it?” I faced him.
“I can’t tell you that.” He still wouldn’t look me in the eye.
“Come on, man. Who’m I gonna tell?”
Kyle looked at the doors to the catering hall as if he was looking through them at someone inside. I peeked through them myself and saw Allen addressing the crowd.
“Ohhh shit. You mean Allen can’t get it up?” My eyes got wide.
“Will you keep quiet? And no it’s not Allen. You think Rose would be marryin’ his ass if they were havin’ that problem?”
“Depends. She might if the money situation was still tight.” I tried to lighten Kyle’s mood, but he didn’t even smile. “Seriously, Kyle. If it ain’t Allen, then who?” In the silence that followed, my mind went through every friend that we both knew. Kyle was so serious about this, I knew it had to be someone he was close to. “Nawww,” I said slowly. “You mean ta tell me it’s Wil?”
Kyle looked around. “You didn’t get it from me.”
“What happened?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“He woke up one morning and the elevator wouldn’t go to the top floor.”
“Damn.” The two of us were silent. I tried to imagine what it would be like not being able to have sex. A fate worse than death. Even so, I think Kyle was taking it harder than me. He looked like he was gonna cry.
Wil startled us. “You guys gonna join us? Allen wants us all to make a toast.”
“Yeah, we’re comin,” Kyle answered.
“What’s wrong with y’all? You look as if you lost your best friend.”
“You would know,” I said, about to spill the beans, until Kyle smacked me in the back of my neck.
 
On the drive home from the party, Kenya actually took her seat belt off and snuggled up against me. I wrapped my right arm around her as I drove. For the first time in recent memory, I didn’t think about anyone but her. I glanced over at her smooth, cocoa brown face and smiled. It was just like old times when we were dating, me and her against the world.
“Have I told you I love you lately?” I was almost a little surprised I had actually said it. It had been a long time since I’d felt like saying anything romantic to my wife.
“No, you haven’t.” She snuggled a little closer.
“Well, I do, and I wish every night could be like this.” I pulled her a little closer.
“I love you too, Jay.” She looked up at me, her eyes all misty, then turned her face toward the window.
“Jay?” She spoke quietly.
“Yeah, babe.”
“I’m sorry.” She had real sincerity in her voice, and a tear slid down her cheek.
“Sorry about what?” I prayed she wasn’t going to tell me about an affair. I’d cheated on Kenya hundreds of times, but I don’t think I could deal with it if she’d been cheating on me too. Call me selfish and self-serving all you want, but I would kill the guy who slept with my wife. I braced myself for my wife’s bad news.
“You’re a good man and I haven’t done right by you,” she told me.
“What?” I turned, glaring at her as the car swerved into another lane, just missing a tractor-trailer. “What the hell do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?” I was pissed the fuck off.
“Oh my God, Jay. Watch where you’re going!” Her eyes were wide with terror, and her hands went instinctively to her belly, protecting our unborn child.
I almost hit another car before I calmed down and got the car under control. “You been cheatin’ on me Kenya? Who the fuck is he?”
“I haven’t cheated on you!” She looked offended.
“Then what are you sorry about?” I relaxed my grip on the steering wheel slightly.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been taking care of you in the bedroom the way I should.” She was apologizing, but her voice told me she was hurt by what I had just accused her of.
“Oh.” To say I felt stupid is an understatement.
“From now on, I’m gonna take care of you at least two times a week.” It sounded like she was giving a pledge. One I could happily accept. “And remember all the freaky stuff we did when we first met?”
I smiled and nodded.
“I wanna do that too.” She reached over and rested her hand between my legs. Slowly and gently she undid my pants and released my johnson, which had wasted no time standing at attention. In the blink of an eye, her head was in my lap.

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