The Countdown to Thirty (23 page)

“Let me go Christian!”

“Christian do you want me to call the police?” The woman
asked with her phone in hand as she stood safely in the kitchen.

“Kaia calm down! No, Candace don’t call the cops, it’s cool
I got this.”

“Oh Candace is her name huh?” I said as I uselessly
struggled in his arms. Candace still with that smug look on her face got ready
to respond with something ratchet I’m sure until he silenced her.

“Candace! Don’t!” He commanded, “Look I need you to leave so
I can I deal with this. I’ll catch up with you and Jakes next time alright.”

He now had one hand covering my mouth restricting me from
saying anything more and it was a good thing to. I was filled with nasty
remarks ready to break lose across my lips. Candace kept her mouth shut and
obliged. She grabbed her keys from the table and exited the apartment without
another peep.

Christian was angry. As he continued to hold me in his grasp
I could feel his chest rising and falling against my back. I’ve seen him angry
before. I’ve even seen him in fist fights in my Mama’s front yard but I never
thought I’d live to see the day he was this angry at me.

“Let me go!” I tried to say but with his heavy hand still
clasped around my mouth it sounded like a high pitched muffle or maybe
something like a chipmunk. I knew he’d heard me though.

He ignored my plea and stridently carried me down the
hallway and into his room like I was ten pound luggage. He plopped me down on
his Cal King mattress and immediately wasted no time in going off on me.

He shouted when he explained Candace is only his friend’s
wife. He shouted when he told me they lived on the second floor. And he shouted
when he called me crazy as hell for going upside his head the way I did.

Okay, so this was supposed to be the part where I make him
feel guilty now for ignoring me and ruining the friendship and trust we’ve had
all these years. This was when I was going to tell him he was just as lousy as
the rest and even worse because we had history. I was supposed to tell him how
he needed to stay away from my family from here on out. This was supposed to be
the part where I shout from the top of my lungs and make my exit as a strong
and independent black woman who grew a backbone before it’s too late!

Yea that was until he hit me with a cannonball.

“Save it Kaia – I saw that nigga leaving your house bright
and early Sunday morning. You fucked him didn’t you?”

Oh shit, I so didn’t see that coming.

He stared me in the face and I was positive I looked like
nothing short of a deer in headlights. But what he said wasn’t true! Well, not
all of it. But the most important part wasn’t true! I didn’t have sex with him.
I didn’t even want him touching me like that! But I could understand how it
looked that way.

I had to respond. Judging by the tightening clench in his
jaw he’d already accepted my silence as guilt.

Placing his hands to his temples, a classic indicator of
stress, he paced the bedroom back and forth, “I can’t believe you slept with
him. Did you think I was stupid and I wouldn’t find out?”

“Christian, please.” I said standing to explain my point.
But how could I even begin to explain this. Even though we didn’t sleep
together ultimately I was guilty by association.

“It’s not what you think. I didn’t sleep with him, I swear.”

“You’re lying.” He said continuing to pace, “I should have just
kept my mouth shut about my feelings for you. To think…you played me. Wow. I
never saw it going down like this.” He grunted in anger.

“Christian, listen to me!” I shouted. I was definitely
learning to find my voice through this entire boyfriend crisis thing.

I stood in his path and blocked his pacing.

“He popped up at my house in the middle of the night when I
was trying get in my apartment. He snuck up on me so fast I thought he was a
damn burglar.” I paused, “I didn’t just let him in. He took matters into his
own hands and forced himself in. He was begging me saying he wanted me back and
he was sorry but I didn’t believe him, I couldn’t believe him. I just let him
spend the night –“

“In your bed?” Christian interjected with skepticism written
all over his face.

I felt ashamed to admit it and afraid this would be it if I
told him the truth. Had I really drove this relationship down Dead End Blvd
before it even had a chance to get started? God I wanted to lie but I couldn’t.
He deserved nothing but the truth.

Now with sudden sweaty palms from nervousness I responded,
“Yes in my bed, but!” I said quickly throwing in the ‘but’ for some form of
cushion, “I was fully clothed and we didn’t do a thing. I promise you. I swear
to you we didn’t do a thing.”

“So I’m just supposed to believe your ex spent the night in
your bed and he didn’t try to touch you.”

“Nothing happened Christian I promise. I didn’t invite him
over. I didn’t want anything from him. He Bo guarded his way in my house when
he snuck up on me. And in fact,” I said struggling to get my point across to
him, “I kicked him out. That must have been when you saw him leaving that
morning. When I woke up I knew I made a stupid, stupid decision and I threw him
out first thing. It’s done, for good. I can see everything so clearly now.”

He studied my face. I prayed that I’d see some softness in
their but his features were still icy cold. This whole scene was surreal,
having a lovers quarrel with the only man I’ve known my entire life.

“Say something, please.” I said stroking his arms.

His glare turned to softness as he leaned in closely placing
a single gentle kiss on my lips. The feeling of his lips pressed against mine
was missed and a feeling of relief came over my body.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and massaged them
gently. When he opened his mouth to speak the words that came out were
different than what I had imagined, “You can let yourself out.”

v
 
 

When I left his apartment I felt as brain dead as a zombie.
Now walking into my apartment with a tear stained face I collapsed on my bed
feeling horrible. I was so upset I’d lost my appetite.

“0 and two Kaia, you’re on a roll.” I said curling up in my
blanket wishing I was never born. “I can manage my career and manage my
finances but I can’t seem to manage my men.” I said to myself releasing a
disgusted grunt.

“You’re so pathetic.”

Before closing my eyes to shut out the misery I confirmed my
house hunting appointment with Joanna for tomorrow at ten then sent Sonya a
text.

Me:
Love is a war I’ve officially lost. I quit.

Me:
#epicfail

I powered off my phone blocking all contact from the outside
world. The migraine I was experiencing at work began to gently pound against my
forehead again. I closed my eyes and tried to forget how much of a mess I’ve
made of things. I didn’t even bother taking off my work clothes.

Sonya

I woke up next to Kyle with a smile on my face. The feeling
of love and appreciation overwhelmed me as I lay wrapped in his arms and
embraced this once familiar action, a man’s love.

With time and patience he’d manage to break down my damaged
yet penetrable emotional walls and gain a spot in my heart. As we lay here
peacefully in my bed (and yes he’d earned the right to know where I live), I
thought about the past few weeks spent with him and smiled again. From the joys
of holiday shopping together to confidently introducing him to Nina and Kaia
only a few nights ago, I was pleased with my decision to call him boyfriend (Or
the spell breaker as Nina nicknamed him.) To say the least, they were both
speechless when I sat them down with a delectable meat and cheese platter from
Sam’s Club over a glass of chardonnay at my place then served them with the
latest tea. Then they were tickled pink when he arrived an hour later –
crashing our girl’s night in at my request – and smoothly won them over with
his charm.

My big secret was finally out in the open – at least to my
friends it was - and I was floating on cloud nine. It was a nice change after
all these years. Nina was nearly shocked into speechlessness and Kaia admitted
that she was skeptical due to all of my sudden late night errands.

As much as I enjoy an afternoon nap with Kyle after sweet
lovemaking, tonight was a big night for me. Corrine’s bachelorette party was
five hours away and I’d be making the official debut of the jewelry pieces from
“The Sonya Kemp Collection”.

I’d taken my mother up on an offer she made and accepted
seven-thousand dollars to get my line started. I made sure she knew this was an
investment, not a freebie. With that, I purchased a business license,
equipment, and supplies and was in the process of having Kaia design my logo.
The company name I decided to go with: “Eskay Unlimited.” (Eskay sounds like my
initials S.K.…get it?)

After opening my big mouth and confiding in Gwen about my
ideas she said once I get up and running she’d be happy to have the store buyer
take a look at my pieces.

“Due to Madison’s being a local chain and the fact that I’m
pretty chummy with the owner, you’ll have certain kinds of…advantages with me.”
Gwen insinuated.

Those words were all the motivation I needed to go home and
sketch and create until the wee hours of the morning.

I pranced to my closet and retrieved the red hot lace dress
I was wearing for the night. I spotted it at work during an inventory audit
then set it aside to purchase at lunch using my much appreciated discount. With
tax my $80 dress magically became my $60 dress. Then that night at my
workstation I spent an hour and a half creating my dramatic red drop earrings trimmed
in Swarovski diamonds with a matching ring.

I stood in front my full length mirror and posed with the
dress against my body. I was going to look bad tonight when I walked into the
Palms and strutted my stuff straight to the Penthouse suite. Tonight was going
to be such an exciting night.

“Be good tonight beautiful.”

I turned to see Kyle awake and propped up in bed watching
me. That was becoming a habit of is, but he fessed it was more of an incurable
addiction.

“Did I wake you?” I asked hanging the dress against the
mirror and jumping back in bed with him.

“No.” he replied pulling me in closely. “You know if you
want I can stop by the party. I can do a little DJ cameo on the turn tables
then top it off with a strip tease for you guys. I’ll throw on my work boots
and my tool belt and do a little…” He teased as his words trailed off.

I laughed non-stop because the thought of him gyrating in
his beige construction boots and matching tool belt was hilarious. But when I
pictured his abs oiled up as his dreads swung in unison with his movements I
started to think it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“We’ll keep you on stand-by just in case one of the
strippers doesn’t come through.” I kidded before planting a succulent kiss on
his lips then one on each of his dark chocolate abs.

“Hmmm, that feels good.”

I fully submerged myself back under the covers with him and
enjoyed the rest of our peaceful moment. We only had about an hour left to
spend together before I needed to get up and prepare for the party. I care for
Kyle but I’d learned my lesson before about putting someone else above my
priorities. The best thing however is that with him being an entrepreneur
himself he respects me for that not condemn me.

An hour later, after getting dressed then loading the backseat
of my Mitsubishi with the box that contained the perfectly packaged jewelry, he
wished me good luck, kissed me good-bye and drove off towards home.

v
 
 

Less than an hour before the party started, caterers were
setting up the burners for the trays of food, the decorator was running about
putting finishing touches on the bachelorette party décor, the DJ was setting
up her equipment and the Sorority Housewives were in the penthouse bathroom
applying more make-up and gossiping as I set up my display table. I decided to
go with a pyramid style design that ended up with ten rows of my elegantly
manufactured jewelry boxes and Corrine’s exclusive design which was packaged in
a glittery white box and gold lettering that sat at the top of the pyramid.

When it was all said and done, I took a step back admiring
my creative work and gave myself a pat on the back…literally.

“You did good girl.” I said congratulating myself.

As I continued to admire my work I whipped out my phone and
began taking pictures of the display. Saundra managed to break away from the
chit chat and met me at my side.

“It looks amazing little sis.” She said putting an arm
around my shoulder.

“Thank you. You didn’t do too bad yourself.” I said looking
around the penthouse.

“I know, Corrine’s going to love it.”

“Definitely, it’s just her style. Do me a favor?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. What is it?”

“Take a few pictures of me in front of the display? I want
to send them to mom and some of my friends.”

“Of course.”

I took my place as Saundra began snapping away while I posed
like a true professional showing off her work. Then she had me transition to
the giant wall sized windows of the penthouse and I posed like a fashion model
in the latest issue of Vogue magazine with the Las Vegas strip as my backdrop.

By the time Corrine’s guest started arriving in small groups
of three-to-four women at a time the DJ was blasting the latest by T.I.,
Beyonce & Jay-Z, Usher and Nicki Minaj. The sexy brown bartender dressed
like a Chippendale smiled and flirted with us all as he mixed the drinks and
made a point not to skim on the liquor.

When Saundra and her friends escorted the bride-to-be into
the penthouse everyone screamed and the party really took off. As for male
entertainment for the night, it was complete with a firefighter, police
officer…and coincidentally a construction worker with the matching wheat
colored boots and tool belt.

I couldn’t withhold my laughter as I snapped a picture and
sent it to Kyle.

His reply: “Aah hell no!”

v
 
 

“So how are you holding up?”

“I’m upset but with time I think I’ll be okay. For the
record I feel like an idiot though.”

It was the morning after the bachelorette party and Kaia and
I were having a ham and cheese omelet and toast breakfast on her patio. When I
came a knocking at seven-thirty this morning with hopes of finding ingredients
for a Bloody Mary she insisted I eat and tell her about the party. So I sat
there in my black shades shielding my pupils from the inviting fall sunshine as
I took a forkful of omelet into my mouth.

“God I screwed up.” She said running her fingers through her
hair neglecting her plate of food.

“Take a bite of your omelet. It’s good.” I said not wanting
to address the mistake she made by letting Malcolm in. She’d clearly taken
responsibility and I was sorry it cost her a relationship with Christian. I
didn’t want her to dwell on it this morning. The weather was too beautiful and
there were other things to celebrate.

She took a bite of the yellow omelet garnished with bright
red squares of tomato and green onion but didn’t come to life until she shared
her good news.

“So…I finally made an offer on a house.”

“You did!” I exclaimed excitedly, “Which one?”

She giggled, “Yep the one on Mountain Glitter. It’s
sooo
me. It’s big, it’s inviting, it’s open and the view is exactly what I wanted.”

Standing up I walked around to her side of the table and
gave her a tight congratulatory hug followed with a high five.

“Oh my God that’s so exciting. I can’t wait to buy a house.
Ooh you should let me help you decorate! Can I help you decorate?” I begged
like a kid in a candy store.

“Well hold on, hold on.” She said putting her hands up,
“They haven’t accepted the offer yet. Joanna says they may be trying to hold
out for a higher offer, so much for wrapping up their divorce.”

“Oh,” I moaned, “Well don’t worry I know you’ll get it. And
if for some reason you don’t, remember God has already prepared the right home
for you.”

“Look at you getting all spiritual on me.”

“Hey, I’m a spiritual person. I’m just not a perfect person.
That’s my disclaimer.” I joked as I devoured my omelet and sipped on my Bloody
Mary…the perfect cure for a mini hangover.

After breakfast we took our plates inside. I volunteered to
take care of the breakfast dishes since she cooked but she insisted I go back
to bed and catch up on my beauty sleep for the wedding.

She’s so thoughtful.

“Well what do you have planned for the day?” I asked before
heading across the porch to my apartment, “I don’t want to picture you sitting
in this little apartment all day with an upside down smile.”

“Well, since you’re ditching me for some silly little
wedding I’ll just sit here and stare at the wall until you come back home.” She
teased.

“Stop you’re making me feel bad! Promise me you’ll get out
and do something today. Go take a long drive or go get a massage, Lord knows
you deserve it. Catch up on some z’s from your crazy job.”

“But I’m not tired.”

“Well if you’re restless just call up Nina, she can talk for
hours without taking a breath, she’ll be sure to put you to sleep.”

We both laughed, “I’m going to tell her you said that to.”

I laughed again, “She knows it’s true. All jokes aside
though Kaia try not to think about you know who. And if you find yourself
thinking about you know who, then maybe you should give him a call. I still
have faith in you two.”

A faint smile appeared across her face. I couldn’t tell if
it meant she was hopeful or perhaps just daydreaming the thought but I left her
alone to have her moment.

v
 
 

The bride and groom’s quickly organized black tie wedding
came together cohesively as if it had been in the planning stages for the last
twelve months.

It takes a lot for me to cry and admittedly I despise when I
do it, but as they finalized their nuptials there wasn’t a dry eye in the place
including mine. Corrine was a spectacular bride and the groom, who I found out,
was a successful businessman from California couldn’t be more proud.

I stood in the bathroom of the reception hall as I studied
my face in the mirror.

“I look happy. I am happy.” I thought as I admired myself in
my soft pink formal gown that fit snuggly around my body. It was a long
off-the-shoulder piece that split at the knee and provided a short and elegant
train.

“I think I’d be a beautiful bride one day.” I said
confirming my beliefs as I marveled at my wedding attire. My eye shadow
tastefully matched the shade of my dress and the gentle strokes of gold that
lined my lower eyelid brought out the glowing bronzer on my cheekbones and gold
drop earrings.

My mother who was washing her hands at the sink dried them
then stood over my shoulder as she gazed up on my reflection in the mirror.

“That, you would be.” She said kissing my cheek then heading
for the door to join the rest of the party, “Are you coming?”

I thought it over for a second longer and decided I’d wait
until Kaia and Nina jumped the broom before I decided to take that leap.

“I’m coming.” I said doing a little twirl in the mirror then
heading towards the door.

We walked through the vibrant reception hall which was
filled to capacity with at least two-hundred guests. There was a mix of all
nationality types – Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Indian – a lot of whom were
the business associates and partners of the groom. But the bulk of the guests,
myself included, were African American family and friends of the bride and
groom themselves.

“Baby you should mingle with some of these prominent people
while we’re here. Maybe you can spark up a business connection…maybe even a
love connection.” She pressed while nudging me in the arm.

“Hmm…maybe,” I shrugged knowing very well I wasn’t going to
take her up on either option. Not that I’m opposed to business connections but
I’m still working out the details of mine, I’m not quite ready to throw a sales
pitch at anyone yet. However, my jewelry was a big hit at the party last night
and I handed out dozens of business cards and answered a million questions at
least. And as for the love connection, little did my mother know I had a
surprise up my sleeve.

We rejoined our table where the sorority housewives and
their families were seated. Imani, Xavier and Shanice and Trina’s children were
on the dance floor shamelessly breaking down the latest dance moves and could
care less if they were being watched or not. All except Corrine were laughing
and enjoying the wine and conversation at our table. She and the new hubby were
busy mingling with guests. We noticed her wander over to her table full of
gifts several times keeping a tight inventory.