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Authors: Candice Dow

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BOOK: The Ex-Wife
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T
he three consecutive beeps that let you know the call has been disconnected came through the phone, but by that time I had
made my point. All the women in the salon were laughing as I slapped high five with my girl Casey. She was shaking her head.

“What did she say?” Casey asked.

“She didn’t have a chance to say anything. She really don’t know who she’s playing with.”

“Yas, you are crazy.”

“C’mon, Casey, that chick is bold. She’s on here every day telling people how they need to act and she out here sleeping with
somebody else’s man. That’s crazy.”

Casey just looked at me. I knew what she was thinking, but until the divorce is final, he is my husband and he needs to respect
me as such. Because I’m a hairstylist, nothing happens that I don’t know about. I have eyes and ears in the strangest places.
How bold of them? No, how trifling of them to have sex in a parking garage. I mean, we’re not sixteen. I’ve told Cam a million
times not to disrespect me and I wouldn’t disrespect him.

I walked back to the chemical room. My client’s color was ready to be rinsed. I loved to make Cam and his hussies uncomfortable.
With Ms. Ayana being in the public eye, she was the ideal target. She had no clue what I was capable of and if she knew better
she would just disappear like I’d forced all the rest to.

It was going to be fun to make her life miserable, because I would get instant gratification. As she signed off the show,
the quivering in her voice gave me a feeling of victory.

My client looked at me and said, “You’re happy.”

“I should be.”

“So do you know Ayana Blue or do you just listen to the show?”

I hadn’t thought she was in on that whole discussion so I was caught off guard. My neck snapped back. She said, “You just
called in. Right?”

“How’d you know?”

“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to know you were calling in to the show. We were listening. Then you turned it down.”

I laughed because I’d thought I was being discreet and clearly I wasn’t but I didn’t care. When I get angry, I can feel heat
rising in my diaphragm. At that point I spit fire and I am completely unaware of my surroundings.

“Yeah, she slept with my husband in a car last night.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, they went to dinner and one of my clients waited the table. She recognized Cam and of course she recognized every girl’s
best friend. She didn’t say anything to them because she wanted to spy. When she left work, she noticed they were still in
the car. So she decided to watch them.”

My client’s eyes got big just as mine had when I heard the story for the first time. I continued, “These dummies decide to
bump and grind in the car. I mean, damn.”

“What?”

“And from what my informant says, they were clearly on a first date.”

“What?”

She was as shocked as me. Not to mention that my clients didn’t know it was over between Cam and me. We had been apart for
about eighteen months, but I was still hopeful. See, the breakup was my fault and I figured it was my obligation to get the
relationship back together. I don’t understand why life doesn’t come with a damn rewind button. It hurts my heart when I think
about how I ruined my life.

When the new FedEx guy first walked into the shop, I knew it was trouble because of the thoughts running through my mind as
I watched his sexy ass. He must have read my mind because he came back every day smelling good and looking good and I tried
my best to look cute for him. That was my entire mission each day. Finally I said something to him and he was game. After
I had Caron, I felt like Cam just stopped paying me any attention. He was so caught up in work and making money, I felt invisible.
But this guy brought me back to life.

Six months later, I wanted to leave Cam. I wanted to be with Overnight Express, as I had dubbed him. Overnight Express made
me feel young and special. Once I had my heart set on it, I did everything I could to make Cameron leave me. He would tell
me things like, “Because of Caron, I’m going to ignore that.” Or, “Yasmin, I want to work on this for his sake. He deserves
two parents.”

Overnight Express had me strung out on love and I couldn’t hear a damn thing that Cam was saying. Every time I acted a fool,
Cam would make an excuse for why we should stay together.
How stupid can you be, man? I’m trying to leave you.
It became clear that I couldn’t just merely allude to wanting to break up. I had to be explicit. Even if I had walked in
the door holding a huge poster that had our wedding picture on it with a big strike through it, he still wouldn’t have gotten
the message. Casey warned me not to leave a good man for good sex, but I just couldn’t understand at that time. Cameron was
an obstacle keeping me from my heart’s desire. He became the enemy and I never thought about how hurt he would be. I only
thought about how it hurt me not to see Overnight Express.

I got reckless and began to take Caron around my lover. We’d spend long days together. I hoped that he and Caron could get
to know each other so that when we were a family, everyone would be familiar. Caron actually liked him too. I’d always say,
“Don’t tell Daddy about our special friend.”

Little boys are so loyal, because he never even hinted that we’d spent time with Overnight Express. One day I was at work
and got a call from Cam. He started out slowly and calmly. “Yasmin, someone told me that they saw you and Caron with some
nigga at the zoo.”

“And?”

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“If I had something to tell you, I would have told you.”

“Yasmin, don’t make me hurt you.”

“Cam, you don’t want that kind of trouble.”

“Yasmin, who were you with?”

“My man,” I said without remorse.

My words punched all the testosterone out of him. He was speechless, and the next thing I heard was the operator. I had to
tell Cam what I was feeling now that it was out in the open. These emotions had been bottled up inside me for way too long.
As I began to compose an e-mail to him, the words flowed effortlessly. I told him that I had been unhappy for a long time and had found someone else. I promised
him that we’d split custody of Caron. I told him that I wouldn’t fight for the house, assuming that battle would be too lengthy
because the house was in his name: when we got married I was young and had racked up a bunch of bills from college, so my
credit wasn’t the best. The bad part about it was that I wrote the whole message on my BlackBerry. That’s how pressed I was
to just get the monkey off my back. I hit Send before I could proofread the message. I texted Overnight Express to let him
know I had done it. He responded:
WORD?

Word?
I thought that was a strange response, but we had talked about everything from running off to Vegas to even having more kids
together. Maybe he was just shocked. Cam called moments later. I was hesitant to answer at first, but then I was like, “Hello?”

“Yasmin, I can’t believe that you couldn’t say all that bullshit to my face. You and I both know I realized that we weren’t
compatible a long time ago, but I was willing to work on it for the sake of Caron. So I’m going to ask you this one last time,
is that really what you want?”

Didn’t I tell you I was done?
The more he questioned my feelings and the more he appeared to be fighting for our marriage, the more respect I lost. “Cam,
I’m sure about this. I’m not happy anymore.”

He chuckled. “And neither am I but I’m not selfish either. I know what my son deserves, but obviously you think about Yasmin
before you think about Caron.” He paused. “Have you been taking your meds?”

That angered me. I yelled, “That has nothing to do with me and you.”

“Yas, calm down. So how soon do you want the separation to happen? You can stay in the house. I have a property that is vacant.
I just showed it to potential tenants today. I can move in there until we work this out.”

“I don’t want the house. It’s your house.”

“Don’t act crazy, Yasmin, that’s Caron’s house. He deserves to stay there.”

I had plans to move in with my man and I didn’t know if he’d want to live in Cam’s house or if Cam wanted him living there.
I said, “We can talk when I get off.”

He asked one last time before we hung up if it was really what I wanted. I confirmed. I came home to a moving truck in my
driveway that evening. Cam had spent the evening explaining to then-five-year-old Caron that Mommy and Daddy weren’t going
to be living together anymore. I was livid. No doubt I wanted it to be over, but he was moving out and my son was crying hysterically.
It was too much for me to take. I started yelling and swinging on him. “Where are you going? Why are you leaving tonight?
Why are you grandstanding? I told you we’d talk when I got home.”

Caron cried louder. “Mommy, don’t hit Daddy.”

He was trying to make me look bad so I tried to reverse it. “You’re just going to leave me and Caron so you can go do what
you want, huh? Is that what you want to do?”

He just shook his head like he couldn’t believe me. It was as if he was trying to belittle me and that enraged me. “You must
have another woman,” I shouted.

He laughed. “You one crazy-ass girl.”

“I’m far from crazy.”

“Yeah, I got another woman and yeah, I’m leaving tonight. I will pick Caron up tomorrow like I do normally and drop him off
at the salon when you get off.”

I started to scrape up his car, but instead I ushered Caron into the house. Cam hadn’t taken much furniture, just two flat-screen
TVs, his clothes, and the bedroom set we had in the guest room. My pressure was pumping and Caron was acting like a real brat.
I sat on the couch and took deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves. I couldn’t believe Cam had tried to play me like that.
I was so irritated.

I turned on the TV and Caron climbed onto my lap. “Mommy, why did Daddy leave us?” he asked.

“Daddy’s not nice.”

“Are you sad?”

I said, “Yes, but we’re going to be OK.”

“Why doesn’t Daddy love us anymore?”

“I don’t know, baby.”

After I put Caron to bed, I texted Overnight Express and told him that Cam had left. He responded,
WHEN CAN I SEE U?

I let him come to my house that night. After I changed my sheets, he rocked my world in the bed I had shared with Cameron.
He was so perfect inside me. I knew I had done the right thing. After we made love I lay there, staring at the ceiling in
complete disbelief. Cam was gone and I had never been so happy. I was satisfied, single, and deeply in love with the man lying
beside me. Caron’s loud cry outside my bedroom door disturbed my bliss. I popped up and threw on a large T-shirt and rushed
out of my room to escort him back into his room.

I said, “C’mon, baby. Let’s go.”

“I miss Daddy,” he whined.

I huffed loudly. This had already gotten old. “Caron, Daddy is going to pick you up after school.”

We walked into his room and he begged me to lie with him. I lay in his bed, singing nursery rhymes, trying to make him feel
better. Seconds later he fell asleep and I tiptoed out of his room and back into mine. My man was lying there looking slightly
impatient. After locking my bedroom door, I climbed on him and began to kiss his neck. “Now, back to what we were doing.”

I giggled softly in his ear. His irritation seemed to be subsiding. Just as we were at ease and ready to get it on again,
Caron knocked. “Mommy. Mommy.”

My head fell into my hands. This had been much better when we crept out to a hotel. Caron never woke up at night and I had
obviously underestimated the effect of Cameron leaving. This was certainly becoming an annoying obstacle. It was painfully
obvious that though we’d gotten one monkey off our backs, we instantly had another. My man said, “Shorty will be a’ight.”

Was he really suggesting that I leave my baby in the hall crying and begging for my attention? I wasn’t going to do that and
I was perplexed at his suggestion.

He kept kissing me and pulling me aggressively to him. “Shorty gotta man up.”

Um,
shorty
was the key word. Why the hell was he suggesting that my five-year-old son get over me being hemmed up in the room with some
man? I pulled away. “Baby, let me go.”

He pulled me closer. “I thought you said you missed me?”

“I do, but I have to get my baby.”

He huffed as I jumped out of bed and opened the bedroom door. I went out, closing it behind me as I walked into the hall.
Stooping down to Caron’s height, I looked him in the eyes. “Mommy wants you to go to sleep. You’re tired.”

“Can I sleep with you and Daddy?”

“Daddy’s not here.”

“But I just heard him.”

I was growing agitated. Torn between my lover and my son. It didn’t feel right. Overnight Express and I had spent months skipping
out to hotels for lunch and happy hour. We loved to be in each other’s company. We had talked for hours on end about how this
day would be. The day when he could see me whenever and wherever he wanted. Our first evening was turning out to be a disaster.

BOOK: The Ex-Wife
13.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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