Careful of the Company You Keep (27 page)

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Authors: Angie Daniels

BOOK: Careful of the Company You Keep
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I nodded. Her feelings were quite understandable. “I'm gonna give her a call tomorrow.”
Asia looked like she was anxious to get home, and I was ready to get out of the store myself. I said good-bye and moved to the register to pay for my stuff. I saw Reese once more. She waved and headed to the door. I stood there trying to figure it out. If it wasn't Reese and it wasn't Leslie, then who could it be?
It wasn't until that night after I had given up expecting a call from Kenny and had climbed under the covers that my cell phone vibrated. I grabbed it hoping it was him. It was a text message.
B
ITCH THIS IS UR LAST WARNING
.
46
Danielle
As soon as I spotted Renee pulling into the parking lot, I grabbed my purse, hopped out of my SUV, and climbed in on the passenger's side. Rhianna was coming through the speakers, and while listening to the song “Umbrella” I started to relax.
“Why am I picking you up in Walgreens parking lot?”
I dropped my eyes and pretended that I was looking for something in my purse. “Because I told Chance I was going over to my mother's house.”
Renee gave me that look and I knew she was about to start running her damn mouth. Why can't she just shut up sometimes?
“Danny, you're a grown-ass woman messing with some jealous mothafucka. Girl, tell that fool you got a daddy at home.”
I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes. I don't know what's worse, Chance's jealousy or Renee's mouth. “Girl, sometimes it's easier just to not even go there with him. Chance went through a lot with his last girlfriend. He was crazy about Jaclyn. She messed around on him so much he said he almost went crazy when he found out. Now it takes a lot for him to trust women.”
“Sounds like too much work to me.”
“I'll admit that I'm starting to get tired of his insecurities, but I'm hoping that he'll start trusting me more and more.”
“Whatever,” Renee mumbled, obviously unconvinced.
I can see why it's hard for her to understand. Renee has never had patience for anybody. With her you get one chance, and once you fuck that up there's no turning back. I, on the other hand, know that we all make mistakes, some more than others, and I'll have to admit that what I thought was cute has started to wear my damn nerves.
A couple of days after that incident at the restaurant, I met Kayla to look at flower arrangements. Chance called my phone every five minutes wanting to know what I was doing and who I was with, then he wanted to know when I was planning to be home. When I got home, I hopped in the shower and came back into the room in time to catch his crazy ass smelling my damn panties. When I asked, he said he wanted to make sure I hadn't been fucking nobody. What the hell?
My friends seldom called anymore because he always answered the phone, and when they did he asked them too many damn questions. Anytime I went anywhere he wanted to go or insisted I take his SUV. I know the only reason was that he has
OnStar
and wants to be able to know my whereabouts. My friends think I'm crazy and I'm starting to agree. Yet every time I was ready to put his ass out of my house, Chance knew exactly what to do to make me forgive him. I couldn't stay mad at him. He's just too damn sexy, and the sex is something I don't know if I can go without. Like I said before, I guess I'm a slave to his dick.
When Renee insisted that I ride down to Jefferson City with her to a get-together her cousin was having, I was tempted to say no just to keep from hearing his mouth. But since Chance had to work at the hospital tonight, I decided to go ahead and sneak out and be back before he returned.
“That bitch called me again last night.”
I swung around on the seat and stared at her pissed-off expression.
“What did Kenny have to say about it?”
Renee pursed her lips with displeasure. “He said it wasn't Reese. That if she knew about me, he would know about it by now because she would be going off.”
“Whatever, I heard that she ain't doing anything to jeopardize her wedding. She's probably trying to wait until after they get married.”
“That's what I told him, but he insists she would still say something.”
“Reese's messing around her damn self, so there is no telling. Shit, she might not care that she's sharing her
hot dog,
” I teased and we started laughing.
“Shit, if it ain't Reese calling me then I don't know who else it could be.”
“Who else are you screwing?”
She took her eyes off the road long enough to roll them at me. “Fuck you, Danny. I'm not messing with nobody else.”
Whatever, I love Renee, but her ass can be a straight ho when she wants to.
“Did I tell you I met Reese a couple of days ago?”
“You did?”
Renee nodded. “Kayla was at Wal-Mart and she told me Reese was there.”
“I can't believe Kayla told you that.”
“Right, but she did, and you know I hurried over there so I could see her. That bitch is homely as hell.”
“I told you. Did she know who you were?”
Renee shook her head. “Nope. I wanted to see if she knew who I was. If she did she definitely played it off well. But I doubt she could do that much acting. She was asking me about my books and shit. I don't think she's the one who's been calling me.”
“Damn, then who's calling you?”
She pulled onto the interstate and shrugged one shoulder. “Shit, for all I know it might be yo ass calling me for letting Calvin lick my damn pussy,” she teased.
“Bitch, whatever.” I couldn't help but laugh at that one even though that shit was still a sore subject with me. I'd been thinking about him a lot lately. “It might be Shemar's gay ass.”
Renee suddenly looked over at me. “Girl, you might be right. John is still blowing up my phone. Shemar might be afraid he's losing his man.”
I exploded with laughter and it felt good. The last few days I haven't had a lot to laugh about.
“Why don't you just see what it is that John wants?”
“I e-mailed him yesterday and told him not to bother trying to contact me again, any further contact should be through his lawyer, and that he needed to be getting one so we can get this divorce on the road. He never e-mailed me back.”
John was really a nice guy. Too bad he liked booty. “John's hoping the two of you can work things out.”
“What-the-fuck-ever.”
The rest of the ride we talked about her son Quinton and Kenny's daughter screwing in her house. Hell nah! But what does she expect? Quinton is a teenage boy and that's just what they do. “Now think about it, Renee. When we were in high school, how many times did you sneak over to a brotha's house while his mama was still at work?”
She thought about it for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Too many damn times!”
“Okay then.” We laughed and talked about the shit we used to do back in the day while we drove to her cousin's house.
When we got there, cars lined both sides of the street.
“What did you say was going on today?”
“My cousin Clarice, her daughter just passed her bar exam so she's having a celebration.”
I nodded. I knew mostly all of her family. Most of them were crazy so I was surprised to hear that someone had actually gone to law school.
We got out and moved up the driveway. We walked through the door and the house was filled with people. Music was pounding from the back of the house. Cigarette smoke flooded the air. All the way, I stopped and said hello to quite a few people that I knew from the neighborhood.
“Danielle, this is my cousin Clarice.”
I smiled over at the beautiful tall woman. “Wow! You don't look old enough to have a daughter in law school.”
“Ooh, Nae-Nae! I like your friend already,” she said, completely flattered by my compliment. “The food's in the back. Danielle, make yourself at home.”
I nodded and Renee grabbed two wine coolers from the refrigerator and we headed to the back where everyone was dancing. She introduced me to her cousin Jasmine, who looked barely out of high school, let alone law school. I congratulated her and she hugged me like we've been friends for years.
Two of Renee's cousins were doing the soldier boy and I stood back and watched. Three drinks and two hours later, Renee and I were out there trying to do it our damn selves. I was having so much fun hanging out with her crazy-ass family.
Jasmine came over and whispered something in Renee's ear. She nodded, then turned to me.
“Come on, I want you to meet someone.”
I hoped she wasn't trying to hook me up with another one of her cousins. They had been sweating me since I arrived. Some of them were fine as hell, but I already had one man driving me crazy.
Renee moved through the large house and climbed the stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“Just follow me.”
I couldn't help but be suspicious as I followed her down the hall to the last room on the left. Two of her teenage cousins were sitting on the floor watching television. One had a little boy on their lap. There was several little kids sleeping on a large king-size bed. They must be the designated babysitters while the grown folks partied.
Renee held out her hands. “Come here, Trenton.”
The little boy looked up and raised his hands in the air, and Renee lifted him off the floor and turned to face me. “This is Chance's son.”
I gazed down at his darling little face and gasped. He looked just like Chance. I had no idea what his baby pictures looked like, but I had a strong feeling they looked just like Trenton. He had the same hazel eyes and curly good hair, and that small protruding nose was unmistakable. Renee was right. Trenton was Chance's son.
A tall redbone woman stepped into the room and Trenton held out his arms. She took him in her arms, kissed his forehead, then turned to Renee.
“Whassup, Renee?”
“Hey Charlise. This is my girl Danielle.”
She looked my way and nodded an acknowledgment. “You the girl messing with Chance?”
“Yes.”
“You need to tell that bitch-ass nigga he needs to send me some money before I tell the courts where he works. I'm tired of playing games,” she said rather frankly, then rolled her eyes and moved out the room.
I looked over at Renee, ready to kill her. “I'm ready to go.” I turned down the hall and took the stairs two at a time. It was another few minutes before Renee came out. As soon as she opened the doors to her Lexus, I climbed in and waited until we were back on the highway before I spoke.
“Why the hell you didn't tell me that before you took me all the way out there and embarrassed me?”
“I didn't find out until yesterday. I was talking to my cousin Clarice and she was babysitting Trenton while her daughter and Charlise went to the mall. It wasn't until then that I suddenly remembered why Chance looked so familiar to me. I had met him over at my aunt's once back when he and Charlise was kicking it.”
“I can't believe that shit.”
“I'm sorry but I knew if I told you, you wouldn't believe it until you saw Trenton with your own eyes.” For once, Renee sounded sincere.
She was right. I wouldn't have believed it. I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes and thought about all the lies he'd been telling me. Was I that desperate for a man that I would believe anything he said? I was starting to think so. There was no telling how many other secrets he was hiding.
“Someone's been leaving me notes.”
Renee took her eyes off the road. “What kind of notes?”
“Be careful of the company you keep.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I shrugged. “I don't know.”
“Why didn't you mention this before?”
“Because I was hoping that it would stop, but it hasn't,” I replied with feelings of despair.
“When was the last time you received one?”
“Last week. Someone came to the nurses' station and left an envelope with the unit secretary. I ran to the elevator and tried to see who it was, but I missed them. But Janice said it was a black female wearing dark shades.”
“Damn, you got drama like I do. Someone's calling my phone and you got messages. Maybe it's the same person and we can both whup her ass.”
I had to laugh. Renee does have a way of cheering you up when you need it.
“When did the notes start?”
“After I started dating Chance.”
“Then there is your connection.”
I inhaled deeply. She was probably right. Somebody was trying to tell me something.
“You sure you don't want me to follow you home?” Renee asked when we pulled into the Walgreens parking lot.
I shook my head. “Nah, I can handle it.” I hopped into my Durango and drove home, ready to confront Chance.
I made it home around midnight to find him in the living room waiting for me.
He rose. “Com'ere.”
I moved over to him thinking he was about to give me a kiss and instead he slid his finger inside the crotch of my underwear and rubbed my pussy. He pulled it out, then sniffed his fingers and released me.

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