What We Learned Along the Way (23 page)

“What did you say?” she asked.

“I said you must really like the mall. Every
time I see you, it’s at the mall,” he said.

“I guess I could say the same about you,” she
responded with a soft smile. She hadn’t seen Muhammad in about a
year, and thanks to Isaiah, she hadn’t thought about him either. He
still looked good though. It was different seeing him now; she
didn’t feel nervous and scared like she used to.

“I was just picking out a birthday gift for
my sister. Hope she likes these earrings,” he said, holding up a
small bag from a jewelry store.

“Why don’t you have your wife help you pick
something out? She’ll give you a woman’s perspective,” Malikah
suggested.

“My wife… right,” Muhammad said with a big
sigh. “We’re not married anymore.” If she wasn’t with Isaiah, that
would have been music to her ears, but she had moved on, so she
actually felt bad for him.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said.

“Don’t be. We had no business getting married
in the first place. We were pushed into it by our parents. My mom
wanted me married. Her dad wanted her married. They hooked us up
and arranged everything. Before I knew it, I had a wife. It all
happened so fast. We never had any real time to see if we were even
compatible. So, are you married?” he asked as he leaned over the
table to inspect her ring finger.

“Nope, still bare,” she said, waving her hand
for him to see. “But who knows. Hopefully soon.”

“You sound like you already have someone in
mind.”

She smiled to herself. “Yea, his name is
Isaiah. He’s a really nice guy.”

“That’s great. I hope it works out for you.
Well, I have to get this preset home and inspected by my mom.
Knowing her, she’ll probably try to send me back out here to
exchange it. It was nice talking to you. Give your family the
greetings.”

“I will,” Malikah responded as she threw away
her trash and turned to walk out of the food court. She was almost
on the escalator when a man in a green shirt caught her eye. The
only reason he stood out was because the green in his shirt
reminded her of a shirt Isaiah had. It was the oddest shade that
wasn’t easily classified as light or dark. She stopped to take a
closer look and saw that it was Isaiah. He was sitting on the other
side of the food court with a woman she had never seen before. They
were sharing a plate of fries and having what looked like a deep
conversation.

She didn’t want to over react, especially
before she had all the facts. He did have a lot of sisters. Maybe
she was one of them. But if she was, where was the rest of the
family? It seemed unlikely that his whole family would be in town
and he would go out with only one of them. After getting a closer
look, she knew the woman wasn’t one of his sisters. His sisters
were all really thin and this woman looked a little thick, like
her. Plus her hair was longer than his sisters’. Malikah had all
the information she needed. Here she was feeling bad about him and
his family and he was off cheating on her.

She could feel the tears forming. A big one
rolled down her face and plopped on her jacket. She wanted to
confront the two, but didn’t want to march over there with a runny
nose and puffy eyes. She watched them for a few more minutes and
finally left when she couldn’t stand it anymore. She held the tears
in the best she could, but she let it all go once she got in the
car. She drove for a short while, but had to pull over when the
tears began to cloud her vision. As she sat on the side of the road
and tried to calm herself, images of Isaiah and the other woman ran
through her head. Who was she? Where did he meet her? How long had
he known her? And how long had they been sharing baskets of
fries?

Her tears started to dry up as her sadness
gave way to anger. She had half a mind to turn around and drive
back to give them a piece of her mind. She was hot. She could feel
the rage coursing through her body.

This is insane. First Rashad, now Isaiah.
Men are nuts!

What was so hard about being faithful? She
had heard stories from other women about how they had been cheated
on. She always felt bad for them, but in the back of her mind she
secretly felt like those women had probably brought it on
themselves, either by dating losers or running their men away. She
had done neither of those things. Even through his financial woes,
she had been and still was being extremely supportive. Not that she
was perfect, but she really did consider herself a great
girlfriend. So, why was he cheating?

Malikah was still hot with anger, but she had
stopped crying enough to drive again. She drove home to take a nap.
Just thinking about Isaiah and that woman was making her sick. She
figured a nap was the only way to get her mind off of it. She only
hoped she wouldn’t dream about it.

All the planning they had done for the family
reunion was paying off. Everything was going according to plan.
Everyone showed up. The food was good. The music was nice. The
games were fun. Everything was going perfectly.

“Where’s Malikah?” David’s sister asked
Vivian.

“She should be here a little later. I think
she had some errands to run,” her mother said. There was no way she
was telling them the truth.

“I hope she shows up soon, and I hope she
brings that man of hers. I’ve seen her around town a few times with
that cutie. I want to meet him,” Malikah’s aunt said.

“That’s not her man,” her mother said,
placing emphasis on the word “not.” “They’re just friends. That’s
it.”

“Well, they were looking pretty friendly. Are
you sure they’re just friends?” the aunt asked.

Malikah’s father heard his wife’s
conversation and decided t. o have a little fun.

“Are you all talking about my son-in-law
to-be?” he asked as he walked over with a piece of pie in his
hand.

He looked directly at his sister as he spoke.
He didn’t want to see the face he knew his wife was making.

“Son-in-law! That sounds more like it. I knew
something was going on there. I’ve been waiting on another
wedding,” David’s sister said.

“Don’t listen to your brother. He’s being
silly. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but Malikah is not going to marry
him,” Vivian protested.

“Fine, don’t listen to me if you want, but
don’t be surprised if you get a wedding invitation in the mail from
them. Those two are in love,” David said.

Vivian was embarrassed. She hated it when her
husband made her look silly in front of other people. Without
excusing herself, she walked away and went to go check on the
burgers. She flipped the burgers harshly as if they were the ones
that had upset her. David thought it was funny at first, but then
he started to feel bad for his wife. She looked pitiful standing
over there all alone, harassing the meat. He didn’t like making a
fool of her, but sometimes she got out of control. He had to bring
her back down to earth. He went over to the barbecue pit to make
amends.

“Aw, honey, I’m sorry,” he said as he wrapped
his arms around his wife from behind. Her stiffness and continued
attack on the burgers with the spatula showed that she wasn’t ready
to make up just yet. He sensed her rejection and knew he was going
to have to try a little harder.

“Come on, baby. Don’t be like that,” he said
as he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “You know I love you.”

He couldn’t see his wife’s face, but he knew
she was smiling. He could tell by the way her body had softened.
Yep, after 22 years, he still had it.

“Why did you have to embarrass me like that
in front of your sister?” Vivian had turned around to face her
husband.

“I wasn’t trying to embarrass you, but why
are you so against that boy? You have to let Malikah live her own
life and make her own decisions.”

“I just want her to have someone as nice and
accomplished as Adam.”

“Speaking of Adam, how is Kalimah doing?”

“She’s doing as good as every other girl
that’s married a handsome doctor. Why do you ask?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, Adam has proven
himself to be a nice guy, but sometimes Kalimah looks different,”
David said, struggling to find the right word.

“What do you mean ‘different’?”

“I don’t know, just different. She used to
smile so much and seem so bubbly. Now she always seems stressed,
weighed down, something. I just thought maybe…” his voice trailed
off before he finished his sentence.

“You thought maybe what?” Vivian said,
starting to get defensive. “First Malikah is complaining about Adam
and now you’re over here thinking things. Why won’t you all just
leave them alone and let them be happy?”

“Why was Malikah complaining about Adam?” He
sounded confused.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Some nonsense about Adam
being mean to Kalimah and hitting her. Malikah really let her
jealously get the best of her this time.”

“Hitting her!” he yelled.

David quickly lowered his voice when he
remembered where he was. He grabbed his wife’s arm and led her to
an empty picnic table.

“It’s not like Malikah to make things up.
What exactly did she say? I’m not going to stand for either of my
daughters being abused. I don’t care how rich the man is!”

“That’s why I didn’t bother telling you. I
knew you would get all worked up over nothing. Look at them,” she
said, pointing at Kalimah and Adam. “Do they look like a couple
involved in domestic violence?”

He looked across the park and saw the two
playing baseball with some of their cousins. At that moment, they
looked happy, but he wasn’t going to drop this hitting issue until
he got to the bottom of it.

“I want to talk to Kalimah about this,” he
said as he got up and marched over toward the baseball field.

“Kalimah, I need to speak with you,” he said
loudly.

“Okay, daddy, after this. It’s my turn to
bat. I’m going to knock this ball out the park!” she said
excitedly.

“No, we’re going to talk now.” He grabbed her
arm and pulled her over toward the picnic tables before she said
another word. Adam followed behind.

“Hey, dad, what’s the big deal? Let her
finish the game,” Adam said, trying to catch up to them.

David turned around. “Adam, this does not
concern you. Go play your game and let me talk to my daughter!”

“Hold on, now!” Adam said. He wasn’t going to
let anyone take that tone with him, even if it was his
father-in-law. Kalimah could feel the tension and felt the need to
intervene.

“It’s okay, baby, really. You can take my
hit. I’ll be back before my next turn,” she yelled over her
shoulder while her father practically dragged her by her arm. The
table he had been sitting at before was now occupied by a teen girl
on her cell phone. David looked around for a quiet, empty spot, but
didn’t see any. He settled on the parking lot. Vivian saw the whole
thing and ran over to stop him.

“David, this is absurd!” she yelled. “Do you
have to do this now, at the family reunion, in front of all these
people?”

He ignored his wife and stared at his
daughter.

“Daddy, what’s wrong with you? You’re acting
crazy. What was so alarming that you had to drag me out of the
game?” Kalimah asked as she tried to break free from his grasp.

“Is he hitting you?” he roared. Kalimah was
shocked. She couldn’t believe Malikah told after she promised she
wouldn’t.

Kalimah was a good daughter. She had never
lied to her parents before. This time would be the first.

“Is who hitting me? Adam? Why would you think
that?” She tried to look like she really didn’t know what he was
talking about.

“Your sister said he’s hitting you. Now, if
that’s true I need to know, Kalimah. Don’t lie to your father.”
Finally, he had let go of her arm.

Kalimah let out a laugh. “This is a big
misunderstanding. It’s my fault for not explaining myself more
clearly. I told Malikah that we like to play fight. He hits me. I
hit him. It’s all a big game. She must have gotten a little
confused. That’s all.”

David studied his daughters face, hoping to
see truth there.

“See, all a big misunderstanding,” Vivian
repeated. “Now, let’s all get back to having fun. Don’t those
burgers smell yummy?” she said nervously.

“And you’re sure there’s nothing more to
this?” he asked one last time.

“I’m sure, daddy. Come on. It’s me, your baby
girl. You know I’m not going to let somebody beat up on me. You
taught me better than that. I thank you and Malikah for being
concerned, but really, it’s nothing.”

David was at ease after talking to Kalimah.
He felt bad for over reacting, but he had to make sure his girls
were safe. He knew he had to apologize.

“I’m sorry for pulling you out of your game
like that. I was just worried about you. Let me go apologize to
Adam and explain the whole thing.” He started to walk back over
toward the baseball game. Kalimah followed quickly behind.

“Uh, that’s okay, daddy. I’ll tell him. No
need to walk all the way back over there. I know how your leg acts
up sometimes. Just sit down and relax.”

“Okay, but don’t forget to tell him I’m
sorry. I meant no disrespect.” David watched as Kalimah ran back
over to the game and talked to Adam. After listening for about a
minute, Adam looked over at David and waved, showing there were no
hard feelings. David returned the gesture.

It had been a week since the reunion, and
Malikah still hadn’t talked to Isaiah. She knew she couldn’t avoid
him for the rest of her life and she could only spend so many hours
of the day sleeping. She had to face him at some point.

She didn’t know why she was up so early. It
was 7:30 on a Saturday morning. She couldn’t go back to sleep, so
she decided to make some breakfast and get some early morning
studying done. By 9:30, she had done all the studying she was going
to do. She couldn’t concentrate anyway. She hopped in the car and
drove over to Isaiah’s house before she lost her nerve.