Authors: Carl Weber
Married Men (38 page)
“I don’t care! You promised!” Tracy turned to me and burst into tears. Two seconds later she was running to the rest room. I stood up to follow her, but her mother patted my hand and told me to sit.
“I’ll get her. This is something we need to hash out between us. I hope you understand.”
I nodded, but I didn’t understand shit. My head was still reeling from the news I had just heard. How the hell could Tracy be pregnant? We’d been so careful to use condoms every time. And now Tracy’s mother was insisting I stay at the table with her husband, who was probably ready to murder me now that his daughter was in tears. I didn’t want to, but I was just gonna have to sit at the table with him and take it like a man until Tracy and her mom returned.
“Hey, you? Look at me.” Tracy’s father leaned over the table. He’d been staring at me for over five minutes without a word before breaking our silence. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t go out to my car, get my gun, and blow your fucking brains out.”
“Look, Mr. Williams, I know you’re probably upset right now. I don’t blame you. But I’m a man, so don’t threaten me like I’m some kid.” I know I sounded like a smartass, but I was getting tired of this guy’s attitude.
“Ohhh, so you feel like a man now that you knocked my daughter up, huh?”
“No, Mr. Williams, that’s not how I feel at all. I didn’t even know Tracy was pregnant until you said it.”
“Yeah, well, you know she’s pregnant now, so what you gonna do about it?” He sat back in his chair and folded his arms.
“What do you mean what am I gonna do?”
“Are you gonna marry her or what?” His eyes never left mine and I’m sure he wasn’t going to move until I gave him an answer.
I stared at him, trying to figure out what he wanted from me. He couldn’t really want me to marry his daughter, could he? I loved Tracy. There was no question about that. Hell, I’d leave Kenya in a New York minute if that’s what she wanted, but marriage? I wasn’t sure about that one. I’d already married one woman because she was pregnant. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
“What’s wrong?” her father pressed. “It’s not that hard. It’s just a straight-up yes-or-no question. Are you going to marry my daughter? That’s not too hard for you to answer, is it?”
He was right. It would have been a simple yes-or-no question had I been younger and single. But for me it was more complicated than doing brain surgery. I didn’t give a damn who he was. I wasn’t gonna answer a question like that without giving it a lot of thought.
“I don’t think I can make that decision until I talk to Tracy, Mr. Williams. I’m not even sure she wants to get married.”
He smirked, then laughed.
“You’re full o‘ shit, you know that, nigger?” My eyes went wide as I sat back in my chair. He continued. “You think I don’t know what you’re up to? With your pretty-boy looks and your fancy truck. Yeah, you got my wife fooled. And Tracy, she’s just a kid. She can’t see past your good looks and charm. But me, I know what you’re up to. ’Cause I used to be you, motherfucker. I used to be just like you.”
“Mr. Williams, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He laughed again, “You know exactly what I’m talking about. And don’t call me Mr. Williams like you have some respect for my age. You’re damn near as old as I am.” He sat back in his chair and glared at me while I tried to figure out how the hell he knew how old I was. “I’m not gonna let you dog my daughter. Do you understand me? I’m not gonna let you dog her. I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison for murder before I let that happen.” He was dead serious, and about to continue his threats when I interrupted.
“Look, Mr. Williams ... I mean Jim. I love Tracy and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. I swear to God.” He laughed again.
“You know what? I really don’t give a shit if you love her or not. You fucked my daughter and now you’re gonna take care of her and her baby. You got that?” I didn’t reply. I figured it was best to let him think he was making the rules. If Tracy was really pregnant with my kid, I’d do whatever it took to take care of her anyway. He reached in his pocket and slammed a badge on the table. “Did Tracy tell you what I do for a living?”
I shook my head.
“I’m a detective for the DC police department.” He leaned in closer. “A very well connected detective, I might add. I have quite a few friends on the NYPD and Nassau County Police Department. You fuck over my daughter and I’ll find you. I promise you that. Matter of fact, I’ll have your address from your license plate before the evening is over.” I swallowed hard. In the fifteen minutes we had been sitting there, this was the first time he said anything that actually put fear in my heart. That’s all I needed was for some of his cop buddies to knock on my door and have a little chat with Kenya. You can imagine how relieved I was when Tracy’s mother returned to the table. I couldn’t take much more of this man.
“Is Tracy okay?” I asked her as she sat down.
“Yeah, she’s okay. She’s just embarrassed. Tracy wanted to tell you about the baby herself.” She shot her husband an evil glance, then patted my hand. “Go talk to her, Jay. She’s out by your truck.”
When I stood up to walk outside, Tracy’s father reached across the table and grabbed hold of my wrist. I tried to pull away, but his grip was a lot stronger than I expected. Staring me in the eyes, he stood and whispered, “You better be prepared to take care of my daughter.”
“I’m gonna take care of her. I swear to you,” I whispered back, finally able to pull away and walk toward the door. I took a deep breath, trying to gather my composure. My nerves were shot and I hadn’t even talked to Tracy about her being pregnant. I spotted her sitting on the hood smoking a cigarette.
“You okay?” I climbed up on the hood next to her.
“No.” She turned toward me, her eyes bloodshot and her face lifeless.
“You know you shouldn’t be smoking this if you’re pregnant,” I told her as I removed the cigarette from her fingers and threw it to the ground.
“Yeah,” she nodded, her eyes filling with tears. I wanted to ask her if the baby was mine, but that always seemed to be the question that got brothers into trouble.
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in close. “How far along are you?”
“I’m five and a half months, but I swear I didn’t miss my period until two weeks ago. I haven’t even gained five pounds.”
“Well, I guess that explains a few things.”
“Like what?”
“I couldn’t figure out how you got pregnant when we were so careful to use condoms. But now I know it must have happened that night at my house.”
“It did,” she nodded, looking sadder.
“Damn, what was I thinking about? I knew we should’ve used condoms.”
“It’s not your fault. I wanted to feel you inside of me. I’m the one who wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, Jay.”
“I can’t blame this on you. It’s just as much my fault.”
“What are we gonna do? I’m too far along for an abortion.”
“We handle our business. You wanna get married?” I asked more out of respect than anything else.
“No.” she shook her head. “I know how you feel about marriage. Plus you’d have to get divorced. I’m not gonna put you through that. All I want is for you to be there for me and the baby. I’m not trying to trap you, Jay.”
“I know that, Tracy. That’s why I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I love you too much for that.” I smiled at her as I wrapped my arms around her. I had no idea what the future would hold for us, but somehow I would make it work. I was gonna have to get the money to get Tracy an apartment. She was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and that meant I was gonna have to ask Kyle for a loan. I just hated that I was gonna have to lie to him to get it.
31
Kyle
I’d heard stories about things like this happening, but the way life had been going, I never dreamed that Lisa and I would be tonguing each other down only days before we were due in court to finalize our divorce. I know. You’re confused, right? Well, you’re not half as confused as I was when Lisa pushed me against a wall and parted my lips with her tongue. I was still savoring the taste of her spearmint gum when she kissed me again, this time sliding her hand between my legs.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” she whispered, grabbing hold of my fully erect penis. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you like this.” She kissed me again.
We both jumped back a step when my youngest daughter Willow busted us with a shout.
“Ooooo!
Mommy and Daddy are kissin’.”
“Ooooo!
Mommy and Daddy are kissin’.”
My oldest daughter Jewel ran into the bedroom with a huge smile, but frowned when she saw that we weren’t as close as her sister had claimed.
“They’re not kissing, Willow.” Jewel gave her sister a withering look, probably mad that she had wasted her time. “They can’t kiss. They’re getting a divorce.” Then she stomped back into the living room to watch TV
“Yes, they were kissing!” Willow looked up at us, waiting for us to back her up. When neither one of us said a word, she followed behind her sister, looking confused.
“So what brought that on?” I was a little confused about that kiss myself.
“I don’t know. I just wanted to thank you for taking me and the girls out today.” She smiled and took two steps closer. Her lips were less than eight inches from mine, and I have to admit I was expecting her to kiss me at any moment. Hell, I
wanted
her to kiss me again. “The girls and I had a great time, Kyle. Thanks.” She brought her lips closer.
wanted
her to kiss me again. “The girls and I had a great time, Kyle. Thanks.” She brought her lips closer.
“I had a great time too, but I can’t take the credit for inviting you. The girls were the ones who wanted you to come,” I admitted.
“Yeah, but you could have said no.”
I smiled. She was right. I could have said no, but I didn’t. I’d promised the girls I would take them to Sesame Place this weekend, but our plans were nearly canceled when Jay begged me to watch Tiffany again. I neglected to remind him that Tiffany needed a bathing suit to go to the park. So I called Lisa and asked if Tiffany could use one of Jade’s swimsuits. She told me to come on over and pick it up, ’cuz she wanted to talk to me about something anyway. So we drove over to the house. The second the girls saw their mom, they wanted her to go to Sesame Place too. Thinking it would be a nice gesture, I asked Lisa if she’d like to go, and to my surprise she agreed. I’m really glad she did, too, because we had a terrific time. To be honest, it made me realize what a great marriage we used to have. But of course, that just made the fact that our divorce would be final in five days a little more painful. I cared about Val, but deep down I’ll always love my wife.
“Look, Lisa, just because we’re getting divorced doesn’t mean we can’t do family things together. It’s good for the girls to see us working together. So why don’t we plan some more things to do as a family? What do you think?”
She smiled. “I think that’s a great idea. Matter of fact, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Our family.”
“What about our family?”
She smiled at me again, then pressed her lips against mine. We kissed for a few seconds then she spoke.
“Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and well, I’m not sure if we should get div—” She never had a chance to finish her sentence because the deadbolt on the front door of my apartment was being unlocked and the sound made me step away from her in a panic. I checked my watch.
“Ahhh, shit,” I mumbled under my breath when I realized how late it was. A meeting I’d been trying to avoid for almost six months was about to happen. Usually on Sunday nights I’d take the girls home by nine then come back to the apartment and watch TV until Val would come over around ten. But today was different. Jay had fucked me over again and was late picking up Tiffany. He was supposed to pick her up at seven o’clock so that I could take Lisa and the girls home at a reasonable hour, but now thanks to him, it was 10: 10 and there was no doubt that it was Val coming through the door. Damn, why does this kinda shit always seem to happen to me?
My daughter Jewel confirmed my suspicions when she yelled. “Hey, Aunt Val, Mommy and Daddy are in the bedroom kissing.” If she wasn’t a kid, I’d swear she did that shit on purpose.
“Aunt Val?” Lisa glared at me with an attitude, taking a step back herself. “She has a key to your place?”
I didn’t say a word. I just nodded. Lisa was about to say something, but Val’s entrance interrupted her.
“Kyle!” When I turned toward her voice, Val was standing at the bedroom door with a hand on her hip. She didn’t look pleased at all. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt something? I didn’t realize you had unexpected company. Or maybe I’m the one who’s unexpected.”
Yeah, right. She didn’t act like she was sorry. Matter of fact, by her tone she had probably been expecting to catch us doing the nasty. Thank God we weren’t, ’cause with the look she was giving us, she mighta tried to kill us. To her credit, she just walked in, took hold of my arm, and kissed my cheek. I breathed a sigh of relief, happy she was taking the high road in this awkward situation. I think she was waiting for an introduction, but I must not’ve been moving fast enough for her, ’cause she took matters into her own hands, and I guess she decided not to be as nice as I thought.
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