Open Door Marriage (31 page)

Chapter 32

New Year
’
s Eve

7:32 p.m.

Dallas stood in the doorway in shock, watching Alicia gently place her things into the suitcase. She looked at the clock beside her bed and hurried back to the closet.

“
You were going to leave without saying anything,
”
he whispered.
“
Again.
”

She jumped, and the garment in her hands slipped to the floor.
“
I would have said something eventually.
”
Alicia bent down to pick up the clothing, then waggled a finger in his direction.
“
I am not spending another night in this place.
”

“
Come here,
”
he said softly.

“
No! No more of that,
”
she snapped, waving him off.
“
I overstayed my welcome the day I walked through the door, and you know it.
”
She reached for her toiletries and situated them in compartments along the sides of her case.
“
And I
’
m telling you, that I
’
m this close,
”
she snapped her fingers,
“
to slapping the cow-walking bullshit of that girl.
”

Dallas had never seen Alicia this angry. And as much as he wanted to talk with her, she needed to let off every bit of steam she had.

“
There
’
s a lot you don
’
t know about me.
”
Alicia folded a floral blouse neatly and placed it on the top layer of garments.
“
And I try, I really try to do right.
”

“
I know,
”
he said in a patient tone.

“
Dallas, I love you. And, I thought I could wait until after the holidays for you to do this, but I
’
m beginning to feel like …
”
She grimaced, pausing to come up with the words. When she looked up at him, his heart constricted.
“
I don
’
t feel safe. I don
’
t feel safe outside of my home with the paparazzi and the public.
And, I don
’
t even feel safe in my own home.
I never know when Tori is going to go off.
”
She struggled to hold back her tears.
“
Dallas … loving you is costing me more than I
’
m willing to pay.
”

Dallas cracked his neck right then left, forcing his mouth to stay closed behind that hurtful admission.

“
You can
’
t be with me all the time. And I
’
ll tell you one thing.
”
She stopped and looked at him, her eyes flashing with something he couldn
’
t name.
“
When people push me too far, I might do something that they
won
’
t
live to regret.
”

Dallas thought back to when she told him how she had done some damage to a couple of family members who were trying to hurt her. He had no misconceptions that she couldn
’
t back up her threat, especially since she had been only too ready to give Bernice a
“
Sicilian smile
”
last year.

“
Living in this house, Dallas … in her space … it
’
s opened up a place in me that wants to fight, and I don
’
t mean fight fair either. I don
’
t like what I
’
m becoming. And if I stay here, she
’
s going to say the wrong thing, and I
’
m going to do the wrong thing, and we
’
ll all end up someplace we don
’
t want to be.
”

Dallas went to her, curling her into his arms.
“
I have someplace else you can go.
”

“
I
’
m go
i
ng home,
”
she answered simply.
“
Back to Chicago and I
’
m kicking Bernice out of my house for the last time. James forgave her for Tori
’
s sake. But I
’
m not married to her, so I don
’
t have to be that considerate. She has to go, and James can go with her.
”

Dallas shrugged, nodding as if her talk of leaving him didn
’
t matter.
“
Okay, I
’
ll go with you, but if you don
’
t mind, we
’
ll need to make one little stop on the way,
”
he said.
“
Besides, you
’
re in no condition to drive.
”

Her head whipped to him.
“
How do you figure that?
”

Dallas gestured to the empty bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and the glass sitting right next to it on the nightstand.
“
I didn
’
t know you drank like that.
”

One hand slid up on her hip as she glared at him.
“
I don
’
t. But with what that little heifer
’
s been putting me through? You
’
d better be glad I haven
’
t polished off the whole damn bottle!
”

Dallas extracted his hand from her waist, dove into her bed and lifted the bottle. A tiny bit of liquid pooled on one side. He raised an eyebrow.

“
Well, corners count,
”
she shot back, grimacing.
“
I didn
’
t finish the
whole
thing.
”
She looked at the painting she had done of him. He smiled at the fact that her gaze lingered where the towel covered his prized package.

“
That house on Pernell that you loved so much?
”
he said, and she turned to look at him.
“
I put a solid offer on it today.
”
He opened his hand.
“
I paid a little more so we could live there while the paperwork
’
s getting done.
”

Alicia looked down at the keys sitting in the center of his palm, then smiled up at him.
“
When did you get these?
”

“
Four hours ago.
”
Dallas grinned.
“
And then I went shopping. A Heavenly Bed is waiting in your master bedroom and a Sleep Number bed is in the guest room. Your choice on where we spend tonight. We
’
ll bring in the New Year the right way.
”

Alicia practically did a little skip and snatched the keys.
“
Now you
’
re talking
my
language!
”

He grabbed her suitcase and began to wheel it out of the room. She paused in the hallway, then ran back into the room and reached up to take her painting from the wall.

Dallas returned to the room.
“
Baby, we can get this next time.
”

“
I don
’
t want anything to happen to it. I can always get new clothes, but I can
’
t get another
—
”

“
Me?
”
Dallas cut in.
“
Don
’
t you forget it.
”
He winked and shifted so he could lift the artwork from its anchors.

“
I meant painting,
”
she added, giving him a playful punch.
“
You
’
re so arrogant.
”

“
But you love me, right?
”

She looked up at him and whispered,
“
Yes, I love you.
”

Dallas leaned down and puckered up. Alicia smiled before she obliged him with a kiss.

He shifted the canvas in his hands.
“
You might have to do another one of these. This time, I
’
ll take your advice and … drop the towel.
”

“
You are so, so bad.
”

Dallas grinned, taking that as a compliment, but then he was serious again as he told her,
“
I
’
m ending things with Tori for good tonight.
I decided I just can
’
t wait until May.
”

“
What made you decide to do it now?
”
she asked softly.

“
My father.
My real father.
After talking to him, I realize that I want a real life, a traditional relationship.
What I
’
ve been doing is not right and not good for Tori
...
or for you.
”
He set the painting down on the bed and signaled for her to come closer, which she did.
“
Tori
’
s marrying me out of some misguided sense of ownership. And I was marrying her out of obligation. I shouldn
’
t function like that.
”

“
That
’
s why I was going to leave.
Because no one should function that way.
And, I was done playing her game.
”
Alicia cupped his face in her hands.
“
You say you
’
re done with her, then be done for real. Or you
’
ll need to be finished with me. You can
’
t keep playing both ends against the middle.
”

Dallas extended his hand to her, and she clasped it.
“
I hear you, baby. Let
’
s go break in our new house.
”

Chapter 33

January 3
—
4:02 p.m.

Dallas walked into the Maverick
’
s locker room and was greeted with a round of curious looks and stares. He trekked across the royal blue carpet, ignoring his teammates until he reached his personal space. Each locker was decked out with a stereo system, a 20-inch flat screen television, a bench and private storage and shelving space.

The team robe hung on a hook in his locker, and he undressed and slipped into it so that he could take a few minutes to meditate before going into warm up.

Dallas had been blessed to have two years with the Lakers, where he racked up a couple of championship rings. But the egos on that team made playing the game a chore. The moment he had a chance to trade out, he signed with the fourth wealthiest team in the franchise, but it was also one that had a lot to prove. His plan was to accumulate as much wealth as quickly as possible, then retire at thirty-two, while his body was still in prime condition, so he could spend the rest of his life doing whatever he wanted, including going back to get his degree and raising a family.

Dallas closed his eyes and took a long, slow breath. Clearing his mind, he envisioned the members of the opposing team. He let a few details from the pre-game prep tapes that Coach Kimbrough showed them earlier in the day run through his memory.

“
Yo, man, what
’
s up?
”

Dallas opened his eyes to find that Steve, the team
’
s forward, was leaning on the partition that separated their spaces.

“
Nothing much,
”
he answered and closed his eyes.

“
So um, how was your weekend, big man?
”
Steve asked with a mild chuckle.

Dallas opened his eyes again to find Roberts standing next to Steve and grinning widely before he cut a look across the locker room at a freckled-faced Collins, who had an eyebrow raised.

Dallas answered,
“
All right.
”

“
You sure man? Nothing … special?
”
he asked, and his tone was taunting.

Dallas looked around. Most of the team was tuned in to the conversation in his corner of the locker room. Even pigeon-toed McGushin had stepped out of the wet room and stood at the door. Only the whirring sounds of the hot tub broke the eerie silence.

Dallas peered at the men standing before him.
“
Man, what
’
s your major malfunction? You know what I like to do before a game.
”

“
So you
’
re really sticking it to that …
”
Morrison swept a sly glance across the rest of the team,
“
hot piece of cougar ass?
”

Guffaws and peals of laughter echoed, and Dallas felt his temperature spike. He remained silent to get his anger in check. Locker room disputes could carry them into a losing game. Dallas closed his eyes and tried to tune them out.

“
Come on, tell us man,
”
Roberts said, waving a glossy magazine page in front of Dallas
’
eyes. It was a side-by-side image of Tori and Alicia.
“
What
’
s it like rocking two fine ass women like that?
”

“
Shit, the Vet looks better than the young chick,
”
Morrison said, laughing.

“
And they live in the same house?
”
Smith shook his pointy head.
“
Damn, even I couldn
’
t be that bold.
”

“
Peep this, they
’
re in the same family, too!
”
Thompson chuckled.

“
You doing them at the same time, man?
”
Morrison teased.
“
Now that
’
s some kinky shit right there.
”

“
Listen up,
”
Dallas growled, standing so he was toe-to-toe with Morrison.
“
My personal life is not up for discussion with anybody. That
’
s my private business.
”

Eaves held up the latest edition of
Us Weekly
.
“
Not anymore. Lots of good stuff here, man,
”
he said, flipping the pages, then reaching underneath the mag he held and passing a copy of Maxim to Roberts.
“
That right there must
’
ve been an inside job.
”

Actually, Dallas had thought the same thing when he saw it this morning before practice. The article his teammates were referring to had information that was so personal, so invasive, it could only have come from someone close to them. Alicia would never have done it. His family didn
’
t know his business like that, so it couldn
’
t have been them either. But Tori and Bernice were another matter altogether.

* * *

Dallas had arrived at the condo on New
Year
’
s
Day after he moved Alicia in to her new home the night before.
He paused at the end of the hallway when he noticed several black garbage bags lining the wall. Though a sinking feeling hit him, he bypassed them on the way to the door.

He shifted his gear into his left arm, inserted his key, but the lock wouldn
’
t turn.
He took the key out, tried it again, same results.
It didn
’
t take him longer than a moment to figure it out
—
she had changed the locks.

Dallas banged on the door.
“
Tori!
”

He pounded until she answered, though she didn
’
t bother to open the door.
“
Dallas,
her
things are outside. Take them with you.
”

“
Tori, this is childish.
”

“
Childish?
”
she yelled.
“
I
’
m
being childish.
”

“
Okay, I get it,
”
he conceded and put his back against the wall.
“
You
’
re pissed, but I need to get my things.
”

“
You should
’
ve thought about that when you strolled your ass out of here last night,
”
she said.
“
You were only thinking of her and thinking of yourself. You expect me to be fair about things, when you haven
’
t been fair to me.
”

Dallas lay his forehead against the door, taking a few moments to think his way around this.
“
Tori, all this time, I thought you
’
d actually
see
the truth since you weren
’
t
hearing
it.
”
He moved a few inches from the door.
“
So last night, I made the final choice and it
’
s as fair as I can make it
—
I want to be with Alicia.
And since you wouldn
’
t walk away, I had to be the one to do it.
This is what I should
’
ve done in the beginning.
”

“
Fine. Then go,
”
she snapped.

“
My clothes are in there. My gear is in there. My championship rings are in there. I
’
m not leaving without my shit.
”

She was silent. Then a few minutes later her footsteps echoed across the hardwood floor as she moved away from the door.

And because he didn
’
t want law enforcement involved, he had to let it ride until she cooled down.

This morning on his way to training he tuned in to the Tom Joyner Morning Show and Tori was on the air, saying that their relationship wasn
’
t over, just on a
“
rough patch.
”

Dallas totally agreed with Alicia … what brand of Crazy Kool-Aid were they serving up at the hospital? Because this woman had went in for seconds and thirds!

Dallas turned his back to his nosy teammates and dismissed them in a gesture that said he was done with the conversation.
“
Gotta get my head in the game.
”

“
Yeah,
‘
specially since the
other
one
’
s been playing a whole different game lately,
”
Roberts taunted, elbowing Smith, who raised his hand for a high five.

“
I know, right?
”
Smith laughed.

Dallas tuned out the heckling galloping his way
—
most of them from teammates who had committed their own publicly-aired mistakes. He showered, toweled off and slipped on his uniform.

Back on his personal bench space, he closed his eyes and focused on stilling his anger. Maybe he should have hired a lawyer and paid Bernice off because this new wave of negative publicity that hit the stands over the last two weeks concerned him. Women were taking shots at him on talk shows like
The View
and
The Talk
, and they were ripping into him on his social network page.
Several had even asked if he wanted a third or fourth wife to go along with the two women he already had!

For the last three days since Alicia had moved in, she hadn
’
t left the house.
She
’
d had groceries delivered and she
’
d even stopped watching TV since even the reputable news stations had started covering the story. Even as secluded as she tried to remain, she was bound to find out about these new articles. Now, Dallas wondered if their relationship could handle this kind of pressure.

“
Hey, kid. Surf
’
s up,
”
Coach Kimbrough said in his signature raspy voice, snapping Dallas out of his reverie.

Dallas lifted his head and looked into a pair of eyes that were the deep grey-blue of a cloudy sky.
“
Yeah. I know.
”

“
You
’
re catching it right now,
”
Coach Kimbrough said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
“
But you can
’
t let this throw you off your game.
”

“
Right.
”
Dallas walked out to the corridor, making his way to the floor for warm-up. They were playing against the team who
’
d hit dead last in the standings. The game should net them an easy win.

* * *

Two-and-a half-hours later, only three points had separated the teams at the win. The cameras hit Dallas the moment he sank the game-winning shot and his team converged for a victory huddle. Congratulating his tormentors wasn
’
t something Dallas was feeling right now. The fact that a team so out of contention could nearly best them was a sign that Dallas wasn
’
t on point. And that was dangerous if they were going to make it anywhere near the playoffs. The team only had one NBA championship win in the years since it originated. Dallas wanted to change all that.

To please the public, Dallas obliged Smith with a pound, tapping his fist to the man
’
s tattooed one. Then, he followed Collins and Eaves off the floor.

He was approached by Kim Askew, a brunette with a red suit that hugged what she probably thought were curves, but her body had more straight lines than a train track.
“
Tough game,
”
she said, giving him a pearly white smile.
“
But it seems like you have the winning formula on and,
”
she winked at the camera,
“
off the court.
”

Dallas saw where this leading and quickly came back with,
“
My comments will be all about the game.
”

“
Come on, now,
”
she teased, looking into the camera at the viewers.
“
We
—
”

Dallas felt her staring after him as he headed toward the tunnel.

“
He can talk until the cows come home when it
’
s all about the game,
”
she taunted.
“
But when the pressure
’
s on somewhere else, he retreats to his
—
”

Dallas turned back and bore down on her.
“
As many times as I
’
ve given you first crack on an exclusive, and this is how you play me?
”

She gestured in a slicing motion for the camera to stop rolling as Dallas stormed toward the locker rooms and walked straight into a scowling Coach Kimbrough.
“
This is not a good time,
”
Dallas grumbled.

“
Okay,
”
Coach said with a pointed look at the reporter, then back to Dallas as he fell in step trying to match Dallas
’
long strides.
“
Keep it together. Do not show your anger. Do you hear me?
”

Dallas nodded.

“
Let your teammates handle the after-game interviews for a while.
‘
No comment
’
should be your mantra from here on out.
”

Dallas glowered angrily.

“
Do you understand me?
”

“
Yes, sir,
”
Dallas growled.

Everyone filed into the locker room shooting icy looks at Dallas. The ivory skinned man gestured for Dallas to follow him to his office.

They entered a spacious spot, which utilized the team
’
s colors in its decor. Bookcases filled with binders and playbooks were angled in two corners. An executive desk with a brown leather chair awaited the coach
’
s burly frame. Images that summed up his years of coaching were lined along one wall. All but one showed the team in varying poses of defeat after a particularly hard loss kept them out of the playoffs. Only one frame showed the team cheering in a victory after clinching the only championship they had under their belts.

“
What you do behind closed doors is your business,
”
Coach Kimbrough said,
“
but what you do on the court is mine.
”

Dallas took a seat across from the older man, settling in for the dressing down he expected, and probably deserved.

“
Have your agent and publicist get on top of things.
”

“
I don
’
t even know how
Katie or
Liz can spin this.
”

Coach nodded, but the frown didn
’
t leave his round face.
“
You know the franchise is run by those Evangelical types who don
’
t take to that type of thing
—
at least not openly.
”

“
Nothing I
’
ve done goes against the moral turpitude clause in my contract.
”

“
True, but you know the good ol
’
boys.
”

Dallas lifted the snow globe from the coach
’
s desk and twirled it in his hands, contemplating the reference to the white men who ran the franchise. They were the ones to make the rules governing a majority black roster.

“
The minute you cross the line,
”
Coach added,
“
and someone takes you to task about sleeping with two women who are related, you
’
re going to encounter some problems in other areas.
”

Coach removed his property from Dallas
’
hand and put it back in place, peering at him a moment.
“
So it
’
s true. Two women? An aunt and her niece?
”

Dallas slowly nodded.
“
Yeah. But it
’
s not what they
’
re making it out to be. I had individual relationships with each woman before I even knew they were related. Nothing kinky. And I
’
m not even with Tori anymore. But people are having a hard time understanding that I
’
m actually in love with Alicia, the older one.
”
He rubbed his head.
“
At one time she even felt that I should marry Tori and have a family just to avoid the drama.
”

Coach leaned in a little.
“
What do you feel?
”

“
I feel that I don
’
t want to look back on my life and realize that I let the best thing that ever happened to me slip through my fingers. I want to marry her, but she feels like she
’
s too old to do the marriage thing all over.
”

“
Personally, I understand it.
”
Coach glanced at his wedding band.
“
My wife is five years older than me.
”

Dallas smirked.

“
It
’
s still older,
”
Coach protested with a grin.
“
I understand that it
’
s about the experience.
”

“
No, it
’
s not just that,
”
Dallas countered.

“
Well, whatever it is, you have to be willing to go the distance with this. It
’
ll shut everyone up.
”

Dallas remained silent. Going the distance had always been his thing.

“
Give it some time, Dallas. Maybe she
’
ll change her mind. You just have to become as important to her as she is to you.
”

“
That
’
s the plan.
”
Dallas stood and extended a hand to his mentor. It felt good to talk to someone and not be judged.
“
Thanks, Coach.
”