Cutting Loose (18 page)

Speaking to the mirror, Jasmine said,
“Yes, he is. And that’s why I’m in here and not out there.”

“What are you saying exactly?”

“Well, you know the term, ‘Mama’s baby,
and daddy’s maybe’?”

 “Yeah.”

 She turned to face Sabrina and said, “I
can’t believe I’m actually telling you this, but you’ve probably already heard
it from someone else. I’m twelve weeks pregnant with another man’s baby and
Carl doesn’t know. I feel bad and can’t go through with it.”

“After all the hard work you put into
stealing him from me?” Sabrina said sarcastically. “Not that I give a damn
about his sorry, good-for-nothing ass.”

A smile crept cross Jasmine’s face and
quickly vanished.

Jasmine said, “Look, I know you and I
have never seen eye to eye or anything, but I think I owe you an apology.”

“That’s mighty big of you.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry for taking Carl from
you and disrespecting your home all those times we slept in your bed, in your
car and in the—”

“Okay, I get it,” Sabrina said, cutting
her off abruptly.

“When Carl and I first got engaged a
long time ago I was madly in love with him and when he dumped me for you, I got
jealous. I told him to break it off with you because I thought things would be
different. They were until he cheated. So to get back at him I cheated as well
with his best friend and now I’m pregnant with his baby, which we decided to
keep.”

“And by ‘we’ you mean yourself and the
baby daddy?”

“Correct.”

“And Carl has no idea that you are three
months pregnant? How the hell is that possible?”

“It’s simple really. I told him I didn’t
want to have sex again until after we were married and I started wearing baggy
clothes when I started showing.”

“Oh. So why are you hiding in here
crying up a river instead of telling Carl?”

“Because I-I can’t tell him. He’ll be
crushed.”

Sabrina paused and said, “In that case,
do it for me. You don’t think my heart was crushed when he bailed out on me
after all the shit he put me through? I wanted to track him down and rip his
heart out.”

Jasmine exploded with laughter and said,
“Damn, Sabrina. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Just a little bit.”

Jasmine looked her over and said, “I see
you’ve had a mini-makeover since I last saw you a few months ago. You look
good.”

“Thanks. You don’t look bad
yourself—except you’re wearing a white dress and I know you probably haven’t
been a virgin since middle school.”

They both erupted with laughter for the
first time in a very long time. It was hard to look at them and be able to tell
that they once were good friends at one time ago.

After Jasmine fixed her makeup, she
said, “Well, I guess it’s time to get it over with. Not only is Carl’s heart going
to be broken, but so is his wallet after all the cash he put into this wedding
and this gown. Oh, well. He’ll get over it.”

“True. Well, good luck with the baby and
everything.”

“Thanks, and you too.” She paused and
added, “Maybe we can hang out sometime after this mess blows over?”

Sabrina pondered her words and said,
“Sure. We’ll see.”

Just then a bridesmaid barged into the
bathroom and spotted Jasmine. “Girl, where have you been? The ceremony was
supposed to start damn near twenty minutes ago and everybody is looking for
you.”

“Chill out, Mercedes. There won’t be a
wedding today. It’s off.”

The bridesmaid looked relieved and
shocked. “Oh my God! You finally came to your senses?”

 “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” said the bridesmaid coolly.
“Since you not marrying him, can I tell you something? But first you have to
promise me that you won’t get mad.”

Jasmine’s facial expression changed.
“Whatever. I promise I won’t get mad.”

The bridesmaid took a step closer to the
door and said, “I accidentally slept with Carl at his bachelor party.”

The atmosphere was thick, quiet.

Jasmine killed the silence with her
hysterical laughter.

“Wait, hold up,” said the bridesmaid.
“You’re not mad?”

Jasmine ignored the question, turned to
Sabrina and said, “And just to think, I was about to marry that son of bitch.
Got me feeling sorry for his cheating ass. Fuck Carl!” She gathered up her
dress and said, “Sabrina, I’ll see you around. I’ve been riding this roller coaster
with Carl too damn long and it’s time to get off the ride.”

Sabrina chuckled and said, “Go handle
business.”

Moments later she made her way back
outside and took her seat beside Brett.

She said, “You will not believe what
went down in the bathroom.”

“I can only imagine what happened. I
thought you might’ve fallen into the toilet bowl or something.”

She lightly nudged him in the ribs. “Not
funny. You’ll see in a minute I’ll tell you all about it on the way to your
place.”

He arched an eyebrow. “My place?”

“I didn’t stutter,” Sabrina said coolly.
“Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, not at all.” He smiled and wrapped
his arm around her. “I thought you’d never come to my place.”

She chuckled and said, “Me either.”

Moments later, the groomsmen and
bridesmaids stood at the altar, waiting for a wedding that was never going to
take place. Then Carl came strolling down the aisle all smiles as if he had
just won the lotto and took his place next to the best man. Little did he know
his world was about to be shattered.

Jasmine came out without her veil, no
bouquet, just a pissed look on her face that told everyone something was wrong.
She didn’t walk with grace, something more of a brisk pace until she stopped at
the altar.

“Jazzy, what’s wrong?” Carl asked, his
smile fading away from his face.

“There’s something I have to tell you,”
she said.

“What is it, baby?”

She looked at the best man, and back to
Carl and said, “I’m sorry Carl, but I can’t marry you.”

The sea of guests gasped in unison and
exchanged empty looks.

Carl looked shocked as his eyes danced
from Jasmine to the crowd and back to her.

 “W-what are you talking about? I—”

“Damn it, Carl, I’m not in love with
you. Never have been. In fact, I’m in love with someone else and I am carrying
his child.”

Carl’s jaw dropped. No words came out.

Jasmine turned to the best man and said,
“Kenny, I should be marrying you. And someday soon, I hope I do.” She walked
over to him and began kissing him passionately, not giving a damn about Carl
and his silent tears. She slipped off her engagement ring and threw it at Carl.

“How could you do this to me?”

“You know what, Carl? I don’t have to
explain shit to you. I’m done with all the bullshit. Have a nice life.” She
grabbed the best man and pranced off down the aisle and disappeared.

“You bitch!” screamed Carl. “You fucking
bitch!”

The crowd began to break away, some
laughed in Carl’s face and swore at him as they passed by.

Sabrina was heading down the aisle when
Carl caught up to her and said, “Sabrina, wait. Is that really you? What the
hell did you do to your hair?”

Sabrina ignored his comment and said,
“Carl, I think you better take a few steps back and walk away while you still
have what’s left of your dignity.”

“Come on. Can we talk? I know I messed
up but can’t I get another chance? You saw what just happened to me.”

“Yeah, I did see what happened. You
deserved it. For two years you caused me nothing but hell. Why would I be dumb
and go back to that?”

“Because you still love me. Right?”

 Sabrina exploded with laughter. “Come
on, Carl. Let’s be real. There was no love in that relationship. I moved on and
it’s about time you do the same.”

He tried to grab her wrist but Brett
stepped between them and said, “What part of ‘move on’ don’t you get?”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just know that
I’m her man and you’re not.”

He laughed like something was funny.

“Damn, Sabrina. So it’s like that now,
huh? You rather get busy with a white guy than your own kind?”

“See that just shows how immature you
are!” Sabrina snapped and stepped in front of Brett. “What the hell did I ever
see in your sorry ass?”

Carl laughed again and said, “You know
exactly why you stayed with me—can’t nobody put it down like me. Not even your
punk ass white boy!”

That did it. Brett tried to keep his
cool until Carl threw a punch at Brett, and missed. Brett took it to his
advantage and punched Carl right in the jaw. Immediately, blood began to
trickle from him lips as he staggered backwards. Carl threw another punch, this
time it landed on Sabrina’s face and she immediately felt the impact as it set
her jaw on fire.

“Bastard!” Brett raged hotly before
going after Carl as he tried to escape, but Brett caught him by the back of his
jacket and knocked him to the floor with one blow to the stomach and another to
his jaw.

Brett ran back over to Sabrina and examined
her jaw; no major damage was inflicted.

“Sorry, baby. Are you alright?”

She rubbed her throbbing jaw. “Yeah. My
jaw hurts like hell.”

He draped her arm around his neck and
said, “C’mon, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Chapter Fifteen:

Aftershock

Sabrina’s jaw was throbbing like a
bitch. It felt like a million, maybe a billion, tiny stars of pain had exploded
inside her jaw a half an hour later as she sat in the living room of Brett’s
large and grand bachelor pad apartment that he shared with his pet beagle. It
was a nice place tucked away in a quiet neighborhood in Miami Lakes.

In the last few moments where she had
gotten sucker punched replayed over and over in her mind as a simple reminder
that she should have went with her woman’s intuition that told her to avoid the
wedding to begin with. When it was all said and done, she had Brett to thank
for being her knight in shining armor, so to speak. Even with that being so,
she didn’t want to look weak or like she couldn’t hold her own and couldn’t
fight her own battles, which was totally not the case. She was caught off
guard.

Thank God it was all over now and she no
longer had to worry if she was in the wrong for feeling sorry for someone who
didn’t deserve her pity.

Brett returned from the kitchen with a
Ziploc bag of ice and held it to Sabrina’s jaw. “This should help with the
swelling.”

“Thanks, babe,” Sabrina said, holding
the ice to her jaw and praying like hell that she wasn’t going to work with a
swollen face for people to buzz about.

“No problem.” Brett stood up and said,
“If you need me I’ll be in the kitchen working on dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah. Remember I told you I was going
to do it a few days ago? Did you forget?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sabrina said as she
rubbed her forehead feverishly with her free hand. “What are you making?”

“Uh, nothing fancy really. Just
something quick and simple.” A grin curved his mouth and he headed back to the
kitchen.

Sabrina went back to nursing her jaw and
looked around his place, taking in the calm and neutral colors decorating the
living room; the walls were a warm red that went well with the plush black sofa
sectional Sabrina was seated on the matching love seat. The flat screen TV was
squashed in the middle of the wood grain home entertainment system that was
divided by the glass coffee table that had a bunch of magazines tucked away in
a neat stack just below it.

She stood up and walked over to the wall
next to the home entertainment center to get a better look at the surfeit
number of photos of what appeared to be Brett and his family.

She moved closer to look at what looked
like a family photo resembling the Brady Bunch. She spotted Brett standing in
the middle of two guys that looked to be about twenty-something, it was clear
that all the boys were handsome like the father sitting next to a woman with long
platinum-blond hair and ice-cold blue eyes. Beside her stood three pretty
looking females who appeared just about the same age as the three boys, all the
girls also had platinum-blond hair except one, who looked like she was the
oldest of the bunch.

Just below that picture was yet another
family photo, all of the family members were smiling, as they stood dressed in
winter gear outside of what looked like a cottage somewhere in the mountains
covered with snow. Next to that photo was Brett standing in a white-and-pale
blue tuxedo, a crown on his head, a sash with the words “Prom King” across his
tux and the number 97 off to the side. It was obvious that it was Brett’s prom
and he didn’t have a date.

“Manhattan Preparatory School’s class of
’97 prom king,” Brett said, sneaking up behind Sabrina with a huge grin on his
face. “That was a lifetime ago.”

“Are you trying to give me a heart
attack?” snapped Sabrina hotly.

“Oh, sorry.” Brett laughed.

“That’s not funny.” She paused and
added, “At least I had a prom date back in high school.”

Brett chuckled and retorted, “I did
too…until she decided to go with someone else at the last minute.”

Sabrina exploded with laughter and said,
“Now that is funny.”

“Hey, at least I won prom king.”

“I can just imagine the type of kid you
were back in high school. Yeah, you were probably the cocky all-star
quarterback who slept with half of the cheerleading squad, who you conned into
doing all your homework for you.”

“Wow. I didn’t think you were into
stereotyping people.”

She took the ice from her face and said,
“Isn’t that what high school is about? I know for a fact that’s how I remember
it.”

“Oh, and let me guess, you were the geek
with braces, big glasses and agreed to do guys like me a favor and do their
homework on the side?”

 “Hey, I rocked the hell out of those
braces. I was a cheerleader with straight A’s and all the boys were lining up
to taste my chocolate-y goodness.”

That got a smile out of him. “Really? So
let me guess again, and say that you only held on to your virginity because you
were a good girl?”

“You’re sick.” Sabrina sneered at him.
“And your guess was wrong
again
. Just because I was a cheerleader didn’t
mean I was a slut running around giving it up to guys like you.” High school
seemed like it was yesterday and it wasn’t all nice and easy—especially when it
came to losing her virginity so early to a guy who she thought she trusted.

Brett erupted her thoughts with his
laugh. “Guys like me? What’s wrong with a guy being a chick magnet because you
were blessed with good looks?”

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it—it’s
disgusting. It’s just like being a gigolo without getting paid for it.”

“True. But in my defense, I wasn’t
running around sleeping with every female—just the ones who were pretty and
well, easy.”

“Whatever, dumb jock,” Sabrina laughed.

“Dumb jock?” repeated Brett coolly. “I
know you did not just call me a dumb jock.”

“Well, I didn’t stutter,” Sabrina said,
placing her hands on her hips. “Must’ve struck a nerve.”

“Actually, you didn’t. And for your info,
I was nowhere near being a ‘dumb jock.’ Hell, if anything I was an undercover
nerd. Prep school was not a walk in the park. I not only had to prove to the
school that I was worthy of going there, but I also had to prove to my family
that I could.”

Sabrina was taken aback, surprised even.
Just a little.

“I guess that comes along with the
territory of being the proud son of a socialite who expects nothing but the
best for their family, right?” She knew first had how treacherous that was
growing up.

“Something like that. But nothing was
ever given to me. I had to take it. While my other brothers and sisters were so
quick to slide through high school, I wanted to be known and taking seriously.
I had to learn to step out of the shadows of my brother and sisters.”

“How touching,” Sabrina said
sarcastically. “I think I might cry.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “So
tell me, since you know it all, what was your family like growing up?”

She waited a beat. “It wasn’t too bad. I
grew up in mostly nice neighborhoods when my stepfather joined the picture and
decided he wanted to be my ‘father figure’ since my real father bailed out on
my mom when I was six. I never really liked rules and in high school I got into
a lot of fights because girls were jealous of my good grades. I had to fight
for a lot of things.”

“Well you know how the saying goes,
‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ Sound like you live by the code.”

“Pretty much so.”

He paused. “So, what happened to your
father? You never found out why he split?”

“No, I didn’t. My mother never really
got into it. Every time I brought him up she always told me I was too young to
understand and that I was better off not knowing until I was older. And to this
day I still don’t know.”

He leaned his head to the side. “So she
never told you anything? Like his name, how he looked?”

“Uh, not really. All she said was how
they met in high school and accidentally got pregnant so they got married out
of high school and they were young and didn’t know anything about raising a
kid. She also said he was going to college to be a social worker or something.”

“Oh. Well, have you ever tried to find
him on your own?”

“No.”

“Why not? Don’t you want to know his
side of the story and at least know that you met him?”

Sabrina sighed. “A part of me does and
another part of me doesn’t. He’s been absent from my life for the past
twenty-four years. I’ve come this far without him. I don’t need him.”

That was a partial lie.

But she didn’t want to start crying.

Brett said, “That’s a little harsh isn’t
it?”

“I don’t think so.”

“C’mon, Sabrina. I’m sure you’re just
saying that because you’re pissed at him—and possibly your mother.”

“What are you, my psychologist?”

Brett smiled. “No, but I’ve known a few
people who grew up without their biological fathers and not all of them turned
out so great.”

“Cute,” said Sabrina. “I guess I’m
living proof that not everybody who grows up without a father turns out to be
not so great, as you put it. I’m fine.”

“If you say so.” He turned to the
entrainment center and opened a drawer. He took out a photo album and tossed it
to Sabrina. “Time for me to go check on the food. In the meantime, you can take
a look at my earlier years. I know you’re just anxious to see more of me.”

“You’re so full of yourself.”

He smiled. “Yes, I know.” He turned and
waked back to the kitchen.

Sabrina went back to her spot on the
sofa and went back to icing her jaw, which still hurt like hell. She flipped
through the photo album full of pictures of Brett and his family going all the
way back to when he was a little rascal running around in diapers.

Seeing the photos triggered memories of
her own and she drifted back to when she was a toddler, not knowing what was
going on in the world and not knowing how she would turn out years later.

The pictures of Brett and his father
doing things like going fishing, camping, hanging out in the yard or playing
football in the yard. It all made Sabrina wonder that much if she meant what
she said and how she really did sometimes wonder about her father and if things
would have been with him around.