Unfaithful Ties (44 page)

Layla
looks back at John before she answers me.

“We’re going to celebrate” Her eyes are getting teary, she’s happy.

“Celebrate what?”

She glances over at John “Go ahead…tell her” He says.

Gaily she screams, “Sis I’m getting married. John just proposed.”

She’s showing me her ring. It’s beautiful.
Lord when is it going to be my time to have this moment?

“Congratulations you two”

“Thanks” They both say.

She and I shed light tears as we hug.

“Sis” Layla says as we pull away. “I just want to say thanks for being there for me during the times I didn’t have anybody else and just because I’m moving out that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to talk every day. I’m going to call you every day.” She squeezes me again. “I love you” She says.

“
Awww…you’re going to make John think that I’m a big baby.”

“He probably already thinks that we both are”

We both laugh.

CHAPTER 37

Kenneth & Lena...Atlanta Georgia

Lena was waiting patiently for the inmates to be released for visitation. She was happy that the officer gave her the opportunity to be able to see Kenneth in the first place, since he’d refused to list her on his visitation list. He was a good friend of her and Kenneth’s and didn’t see any harm in letting her walk through the glass doors. Kenneth had been loc
ked up for two months and he hadn’t called Lena even once. Hopefully he’d receive a bond on his next court date because the young woman had been released from the hospital.

Lena could tell by the look on his face when he approached the glass that separated them, that he didn’t care to see her.

“Hey baby” She smiled.

“How did you get back here? I didn’t include you on my visitation list for a reason”

“I needed to see you. We haven’t talked since you’ve been here. I just wanted to make sure that you are okay”

“I’m fine and I don’t want to see you
” He said getting to his feet. “Guard, I’m done here”

“Wait” She begged him.

He listened.

“What if you make bond tomorrow? Do you want me to bond you out?”

“No I’ve already taken care of that. Storm is going to bond me out”

“Kenneth I’m sorry for all of this. I wish I could-“

“Change things? It’s a little to late for that. Let’s just be honest with one another. This marriage has been over with for years. For some reason we’ve just been hanging onto the years. It’s time for us to let go.”

“Are you going to move in with Storm?”

Kenneth ignored her question. “When I get out, I’ll have the divorce papers to you as soon as I can”

She sobbed heavily as she watched him walk away.

****

Lena slumped down into the comfort of her vehicle and fled to Atlanta’s Police Department. She was there in no time.

“If you think that I’m just going to sit around and let you steal my husband away for me you’re a goddamn fool” Lena mumbled through clinched teeth as she shut off her engine. She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat, slid the straps over her shoulders and marched right up to the double glass doors. Phones rang and keyboards clicked when she entered the building. She brisked right by the receptionist desk. Although the young lady was informing her that what she was doing wasn’t allowed, she continued walking towards Storm’s office anyway.

Storm was sitting at her desk talking on the phone when Lena walked in.

“That wouldn’t happen to be my husband that you’re talking to now is it?”

“I have something to take care of, I’ll call you back” Storm said and then hung up the phone. She pulled up from the chair. “This visit is a surprise”

“I’m sure it is. It’s also long overdue”

“So what do you want?”

“I’m curious to know, why is it so hard for you to stay out of me and my husband’s business”

“Kenneth and I are friends. I can’t help it if he confides in me.”

“You can keep the act. You may be fooling Kenneth. But you’re not fooling me. I know exactly what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to ruin our marriage because you want him for yourself.”

“I don’t have to ruin your marriage. You did that on your own. He’s told me all about what you were doing behind his back. How nothing he does is ever good enough for you. How could you treat him like that? How could you do those things to him? He damn near drove himself insane trying to honor a marriage that you took advantage of. He told me he was miserable.”

“I didn’t come here to get a lecture from you. I came here to tell you to back off. He’s my husband and I’m the woman that needs to be there for him right now.”

“I hate to tell you this Lena” Storm smirked. “But I can’t stay away from your husband because your husband won’t stay away from me.”

“You bitch” Lena quarreled, lashing her arm up to slap Storm.

Storm grabbed Lena by her wrist.  “If you ever raise your hand to hit me again. I’ll have your trifling
ass thrown in jail. Now get the hell out of my office.”

“I’ll leave but you stay the fuck away from husband” Lena demanded and stormed out of Storm’s office
.

CHAPTER 38

Stacy...Chicago, Illinois

My least favorite month of the year is here and the thick summer heat is blazing. It feels like the sun is smothering me.  I’m walking through the doors of the high-rise building that I live in.
Layla and John are moving to New York today and I’m trying to hurry so that I can see them before they leave. I hope I’m not too late. I would have been here but my hair stylist was taking forever tightening my extensions.

I’m going to miss
Layla but I know that she’s in good hands with John. He makes her happy. And seeing her happy makes me happy.

I still haven’t met Mr. Right yet. I’ve pretty much given up. Hell, a man has a better chance of finding a m
an than I do. My personal life is pretty much stagnate. I’m still in the same boat I’ve been in since breaking up with Malik in college. I think I’m going to venture away from dating for a while. If
Mr. Right
comes along, great, but if he doesn’t that’s fine too. African American women are the least likely in our society to get married. Statistics show that 41.9 percent of black women will never get married. I’ve finally accepted the fact that there is a possibility that I may end up being another black woman that never gets to walk down the aisle. Just this year alone I’ve been a serial dater, fell head over heels for a man that screws other men and held at gun point because I’d tried to go rescue a man that broke my heart years ago. And to top that off, two months ago I left a job doing something that I loved because I wasn’t being treated equally. I’d say that’s too much bullshit to go through for an entire decade. Wouldn’t you?

I push the number 22 once I get in the elevator. It starts elevating.

As soon as the doors open I see a trail of red rose pedals trailing down the hallway.
Some man is going to make some lucky woman gleeful tonight.

The rose pedals are trailing down the hall and
their leading to my front door.  I call the onsite security and wait for them. When the man gets here he twists the knob. The door is unlocked which is rather strange. He tells me to wait outside and he goes in. It isn’t long before he tells me that everything seems okay. I’m perplexed.

There are white candles everywhere.
Tiny candles and huge candles. They smell like French Vanilla. Otis Redding is playing. I smell food. The atmosphere feels romantic and I don’t know why. I walk into my bedroom. My bedroom floor is covered with rose pedals. My bed is too. Malik is sitting on top of my mattress holding a rose.

God I can just eat him up

He’s wearing a nice black dress shirt and black slacks.

“I saved this one for you
” He says handing me the rose.

“How did you get in here?”

“Your sister let me in”

“What are you doing here?”

“Stacy I don’t want to live without you anymore. You’re the perfect puzzle piece to my life. And I want you Stace” He says. “I want you”

“Malik look at what happened the last time we tried to rekindle our past. It ended with me having a gun pointed at my head. What kind of women are you involved with?”

“She meant nothing to me Stace, none of the women did. That’s why I’m here.  I’ll beg you if I have too”

“Malik why is letting us go so hard for you to do?”

“I’ve tried to let us go for years. I can’t! And deep down I know that you don’t want me to. I know that I messed things up with us before. But I was young and dumb. I got caught up in the fame and the women, when I should have been doing right by the woman I had. The woman that loved me long before there was a possibility for me to draft in the NFL.”

“When I was young I could picture myself sharing a future with you and I would feel thrilled about it but now I think about a future with you and I get scared.”

“Stacey that’s because of the way that I hurt you. But I promise you I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I love you Stace.” His voice lowered. “Stace I will sit in the same spot and watch the sun rise and fall with you without complaining, if you ask me to. I will watch wood burn with you.” He chuckled.  “As long as you’re by my side I’ll do anything. I want you to marry me Stace”

“Y-o-u...w-ant...me to marry you” I ask. My voice is cracking and my eyes are filling with tears.

“Yes” He says, getting down on his knees. He pulls out a small velvet box. “Stacy Mooreland, will you marry me?”

His proposal has really caught be off guard.

“Forget about the past and I promise you’ll have the sweetest future you could have ever imagined.”

“
Yes !” I say “Yes Malik I’ll marry you.”

He slides the two-carat diamond ring on my finger, picks me up, and carries me to the bathroom. The Jacuzzi is filled with fluffy bubbles. Candles are wrapped all around it. He undresses me “Malik I don’t want to jump into sex”

“Relax” He says. “I’m not trying to have sex with you”

As he admires my naked body I feel like I can float to the ceiling. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I say.

“Your body is so sexy” He says. “I’ve missed it so much”

He kisses me. Slowly my eyes close and I moan disorderly.

He stops and I want to scream for him not to. 

He grabs some oil and I get in the Jacuzzi.  Seconds later he climbs in and starts massaging my neck and shoulders. It feels like I’m at a spa getting a four-hand massage for hours. He doesn’t even attempt to have sex with me. I’m flattered.

Later as we sit down at a candlelight dinner prepared by him I realize that he may not be perfect but he’s certainly my
Mr. Right.

chapter 39

Brandi and Trae...San Antonio Texas

It was a Thursday afternoon and Brandi was sitting on the vanity bench in her bedroom. While most people were excited about the Miami Heat NBA basketball team closing out game five and winning the championship Brandi was excited about life and how great it was now. She was applying a bronzer to her face when her phone rang. With the powder sponge between her fingers she pulled her cellular to her ear and continued powdering her cheeks.

“Hey mama”

“Hey Baby
Whatcha’ doing? And how ya’ll enjoying your new place?”

“I’m getting ready to go on a date. And we’re enjoying our new place just fine. It feels good to be standing on my own two feet and not have to depend on
Trae. My job may not pay all that well but it pays my bills and puts gas in my car”

“I’m proud of you
chile’. The last time I talked to you, you said that it was going to be a long time before you stepped back into the dating world.”

“You’ve always said that everything happens in God’s time, a lot has changed since we last talked.”

“Well I can see that. Other than dating how have you been? I watched your grandmother struggle with breast cancer for two years and I know firsthand that it ain’t easy”

Now Brandi was glossing her lips. “Some days it’s a struggle and some days are better than others but I don’t complain because I’m still breathing and I thank God for that”

“I still wish you woulda’ came home are at least let me come to Texas and see bout’ cha. You shouldn’t be battling this disease alone”

“You and dad don’t need to waste any money coming to see about me. I’m not alone; I have three lovely boys that make every day worth living.”

“Speaking of my grandchildren, what have they been up too?”

“
Trevon received a full academic scholarship to attend Stanford so he’s super excited about that. Tremaine is doing well too, he’s planning on enlisting in the Navy”

“That’s great. I’m proud of them both. I meant to ask you the last time that we talked, whatever happened with that whole pregnancy situation?”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you the baby was born too early and the little girl died at birth.”

“Well I didn’t want
Tremaine to be a father at such a young age but I didn’t want that to happen either. However God knows best. A baby would have really slowed both of their lives down. I guess we’ll never know if whether or not the baby was his.”

“I guess not”

“So tell me more about this man you’ve been seeing”

“He’s been there for me since the day I was diagnosed with cancer. And he hasn’t left my side even on those days that I gave him a reason to.”
             

“Where are you two going?”

“Church”

“Church on a Thursday?”

“They have some type of function going on at the church and he’s invited us”

Baby looks like a good Christian man don’ found you. I
ain gotta’ worry bout’ cha no more. He got any kids?”

“No mam. But he treats my boys better than their father has ever treated them”

“Well that’s good baby. I’ve always told ya’ good thangs’ happen to good people. Have you told your girlfriends about him. I’m sure they’ll want to know. That way they can stop worrying so much about you. I still can’t believe that you haven’t told them about the cancer”

“I haven’t talked to them yet but I’ll definitely call them soon. I’ll talk to you when I get back mama, I
gotta’ go now”

Since the day
Trae’d been diagnosed he’d spent his days drinking heavily. A bad habit that he’d promised Cassy he would change. She couldn’t stand the new Trae. The insensitive Trae.  They no longer talked, made love, or did anything fun. So she’d decided that it was time for him to go. She’d stopped planning their wedding long before things got to this point. When he got home all of his belongings were in a couple of suitcases on the front porch. He stuck his key in the lock and when it didn’t turn he pounded on the door. He was drunk.

“
Cassy open the door I’m going to quit drinking I promise. Give me one more chance babe”

“I’m done
Trae. It’s over”

“Come on baby let me in. We can talk about this inside. It’s hot out here
” He slurred.

“I’m done talking
Trae you promised that you’d quit drinking. I can tell by your slurred speech that you’re drunk now”

“I’m not drunk”

“Go away Trae. Go back to Brandi”

“
Qu-it-tttt pla-pl-a-ying and open the goddamn door before I-...I kick it down” He threatened.

“If you don’t leave I’m going to call the police”

“Yo-u-uuu gon’ ca-call the police? Alright it’s like that! I get sick and shit gets hard for me, and you give up on me? That’s cool. I see how you are.” He said.

He staggered back to the car.

His breath smelled like a winery.  His alcohol level was passed the legal driving limit in Texas but he was driving anyway.

He’d found out where Brandi and his kids had moved a short while ago after he’d gone to the bank to withdraw money from his account. He didn’t want her to see that
he now had three legs, his right leg, his left leg and his cane, so, he left. Whenever he was drunk he’d ride over to her house. He’d never get out of the car he’d just drive up and down the street looking at the house thinking about all the hell he’d put Brandi through. Pain she didn’t deserve.

He claimed the liquor kept him from thinking about how horrible his life was now. It didn’t matter if he’d stopped drinking or not anyhow, he no longer cared whether or not he lived or died. There was no reason to want to live he’d ruined his relationships with everyone he’d ever cared about, Brandy, his children, Jason and now
Cassy.

Brandi had always said, “When you think that you’re bigger than God, God will put something on you to let you know that he’s in control” And she was right.
Trae definitely didn’t see any of this coming and he’d rather die than live his life taking blood pressure pills and getting his blood cleansed three times a week.

Brandi and the boys walked through the church doors and rushed to where Raymond was sitting.

“Hey beautiful “ He said as she sat down.

“Sorry I’m late” She whispered. “I was on the phone with mama”

“It’s okay you’re just in time”

The choir members that were sitting on the benches behind the pulpit dressed in Burgundy colored robes stood and prepared
themselves to sing. The leading organist started off the song with a beautiful tune.

“Why is it so packed in here today?” Brandi whispered.

“You’ll see”

I give myself away
a young man sang over the microphone. The entire church started clapping.

“This is my song” Brandi smiled and started singing along with the choir.

Raymond just smiled.

****

Raymond, Tremaine, Trevon, and even Trent walked over to the pulpit. Raymond grabbed the microphone from the Bishop of the church. “Hello everyone” He spoke.

The congregation said hello.

“I just want to thank you all for being a part of this beautiful occasion. A few months ago God put a wonderful woman and three wonderful kids into my life. This is Tremaine, Trevon, and little Trent” He said “And that beautiful lady sitting on the first row wearing the lovely green dress is Brandi. She’s the woman that God sent to me. Now I have already asked these three young men to grant me their mother’s hand and marriage and they have a question for you Brandi”

She smiled.

“Mom will you marry Raymond?” They all said over the microphone like they’d practiced it a million times.

The church rejoiced in unison and Brandi headed to the pulpit.

“The bible says a man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the lord” Raymond said. “And I know that I found a great woman. Let the church say amen.”

Amen, the church shouted.

“Brandi I promise that I will love you, honor you, cherish you, and respect you in the way that God expects me too. Brandi Hardnett will you marry me?”

“Yes” Brandi sniffed and then they hugged. “Thank you for teaching me the true meaning of love.” She told him.

For the first time in her life she was crying tears of happiness. She’d gone from feeling like she couldn’t keep going, being a single parent, diagnosed with cancer and feeling like her days would never get better. And now she was a living testimony, God’s testimony.

“Anything you want to say to the congregation Sweetie?” Raymond asked.

“Sure” She smiled gracefully grabbing the microphone “God is good isn’t he?” She asked the church. “He works in mysterious ways. Even when you don’t understand why he’s taking you through so much and you want to give up always remember that God has a plan for you. So keep fighting. Don’t quit. That’s what the devil wants you to do.  Ya’ know, several months ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer I thought I was going to die but God had a plan for me. Being diagnosed with Cancer gave me a new love for life. Where the devil meant to tear me down the battles that I’ve gone through only built my faith in God and now I have this wonderful story to share with the world. I have this wonderful man standing right here beside me, and I have my kids. Most importantly I have God. And I think him for every bad day because without the bad days I wouldn’t appreciate the good days.” She could hear the congregation mumbling
thank you Jesus
. “So I say to everyone, and there is someone sitting in this congregation that’s going through exactly what I’ve gone through. Believe in God and his will because he won’t let you down.”

****

On the drive home Brandi and all her girlfriends were on a four-way call.

“Hey Girls”

“Hey B” Vanessa said.

“I’m so happy to hear your voice.” Stacy said.

“If you ever go that long without contacting us again I’m going to fly to San Antonio and stick my size seven shoe in your tail.” Lena joked.

“I’m
sorry girls. I’ve just gone through a lot this year and I needed to figure out how to get through it on my own. I’ve been battling cancer, raising the boys and I even had to deal with the possibility of becoming a grandmother”

“Wow, that’s a lot B. You should have called me” Stacy whined. “Where are my godchildren right now?”

“They’re at the bowling alley”

“How are you now? And I mean, how are you doing?
nobody else” Lena asks.

“Life is great. I’m getting married”

Neither of Brandi’s friends said congratulations.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you the good part.”

“Which is what?” Vanessa asked, snarky

“I’m not getting married to
Trae”

They all exhaled.

“Thank God” Stacy said.

“
Ain’ that the truth!” Lena cosigned.

“So who is it?” Vanessa asked.

“This guy named Raymond”

“Where did the two of you meet?” Lena asked.

“He’s Trent’s Karate instructor”

“So tell us. How is he?” Stacy asks.

“Raymond is sweet. He’s good to the boys. He’s good to me. He rubs my feet. Takes me out on picnics. And writes me letters. Makes me feel desired. The other day I was trying to remember when was the last time that I felt this happy, and it dawned on me I’ve never been this happy before. I could just go on and on”

“I’m jealous” Vanessa joked

Brandi laughed. “Vanessa how you’ve been girl?”

“I’m doing okay. I still don’t remember much since the accident and this baby I’m carrying has my hormones all over the place. That’s probably why I’m jealous of your new beau” She
laughed “Being pregnant is definitely not fun.”

“I remember those days and I don’t ever want to experience it again. One child is enough for me
” Lena laughed.

“You still haven’t talked to Jason?” Stacy asked Vanessa.

“Unfortunately I haven’t”

“He’ll come around once the baby gets here
” Stacy said.

“What happened?” Brandi wanted to know.

“Girl I’ll fill you in later” Vanessa promised her.

“Well my love life is horrible. Kenneth wasn’t bluffing. He really does want a divorce. I got my divorce papers last week.”

“I hate that” Vanessa said sincerely.

“I do too but what I hate more is the fact that he’s with that bitch Storm now. She’s had feelings for him our entire marriage. I really can’t be mad at her though. When it boils down to it I fucked up my marriage messing around with Christine.”

“I hate to say it but I warned you” Vanessa reminded Lena.

“So did I” Stacy said.

“I should have listened but there is no need to cry over spoiled milk now. So Stacy I hear that life has been treating you extra good”