His Last Name (29 page)

C
HAPTER
73

Tiffany

A
plastic cup of water and a bandage to my left arm was all the medical treatment I received. I couldn't call my mother. She would bail me out of jail, drive me to a dirt country road, and strangle me herself. I held my head on my palms. I had a massive headache. I should have stayed in Charlotte. I should have known better. The truth is I didn't know what he was doing, but all the evidence told another story.

They brought me into a small dark green room with no windows and sat me down at a table with two older black detectives. One asked if I wanted coffee, the other offered me a cigarette.

“How many banks did you and your husband rob?”

“I didn't rob any banks. And I didn't know he was robbing banks.”

“Are you sure about that? Your husband was penniless and broke and then out of nowhere he had hundreds of thousands of dollars. That didn't seem a little strange to you?”

“No, because he said he had investments and people owed him money and he was flipping houses. He took me to one.”

“Where were the houses he took you to?”

“In Brooklyn, somewhere near the high school he went to.”

“You were about to skip town with all the money you stole.”

“No, I said we were on our way on vacation. I didn't rob any banks.”

“I'm going to ask you again. You don't know anything about the bank robberies? Have you ever gone to the bank with him?”

“No, I haven't.”

“Are you sure? We have someone driving a getaway car that looks a lot like you.”

He held a blurry gray picture of me and Damien coming out of the bank parking lot. “Is this you?”

I took a look at the picture. It was me driving. “That's me but—”

“But you said you never went to the bank with him.”

“This is when I first came back. I didn't know what was going on. He stopped at the bank after he picked me up from the airport.” The detectives were having a hard time believing me; I knew the truth and I still thought it sounded unbelievable.

“I didn't rob any banks. Ask my husband. He will tell you. I'm innocent.”

“We did ask him. He's not talking. So right now you are looking at about ten to fifteen years for armed robbery.”

“I didn't do it. I need a lawyer. A phone call, something,” I shouted angrily as I became more and more frustrated.

“If you testify against him, we can give you less time. But if you don't, you will face the same amount of time as he does. So what's it going to be? We will give you some time to think it over.”

With my one phone call I called the only person who could get me out.

“Warren, I need your help. I've been arrested. I'm in the Bergen County jail. You know you owe me this. And you know why you must come through for me.”

“I'll get you out.”

C
HAPTER
74

Adrienne

“C
hike, how should I wear my hair? These engagement pictures are going to be on every blog and entertainment website.”

He looked at me in the mirror, holding my hair and then bringing it back up.

“That's true, but I don't want you to just have curls. I want to give you an old Hollywood glamorous look.”

Chike's shampoo girl came into the studio reading her phone.

“Chike, these football players are out here losing their mind.”

Chike and I asked at the same time, “Why are you saying that?”

“Look at this. Some football player was robbing banks!”

I looked down and read that it was Tiffany and her husband. I wondered if Warren knew about all of this. I stood up out of the chair and went to call Warren. His phone just rang and rang,

Chike came over to me with his phone and said, “I think your fiancé already knows. Look who bailed little Ms. Bank Robber out of jail. Your fiancé.”

It was on all the websites. I Googled her name and I saw it for myself: Warren walking out of the police station with her.

“Let me see.” I couldn't believe Warren would help her. He said she was a horrible spoiled gold digger, but yet he bailed her out of jail. I was furious.

“Girl, I know you are upset. But I wouldn't even bother your man about that bullshit. He probably is just being a good friend. You know he don't want a felon for a woman, and you have a wedding to plan. And engagement pictures to be worried about.”

Everything Chike was saying was accurate, but I still needed to tell Warren off. How dare he rescue this chick again? He was supposed to be in New York on business, not bailing out his ex.

“I'll be back.” I stormed out of the salon. Warren finally decided to answer his phone and I didn't allow him to get a full hello out before I screamed, “Why did you bail that bitch out of jail?”

“That Tiffany situation is nothing. I'm on my way to do a radio interview. I'll be home in a few days.”

* * *

I called his phone for an hour straight and he never answered. He ignored my twenty text messages, too! I was fuming mad. A few days! Did he really think I would be here waiting to have a conversation with him? I looked through my e-mails to see his schedule. He would be doing
The Today Show
and
The Breakfast Club
tomorrow in New York City and I would be right there when he was done with his interviews.

He said there wasn't anything to their relationship, that she was an old flame that he felt bad for. And I was dumb enough to believe him. He thinks that I'm stupid since he's still dealing with that bitch.

One part of me said forget him, go shopping, but the other part was not about to marry a man who was publicly being seen with another woman. I booked an overnight flight to New York.

My flight left at twelve a.m. Instead of sleeping my five hours, I thought about how I was going to confront him and beat her ass.

I entered the Marker Hotel and all I could think about was if he stupid enough to have this bitch in his room. Could he be that dumb? I didn't know who I was going to hit first, him or her. One way or the other, I would know the truth.

I started to knock on the door, because who was I fooling; I wasn't going to leave him. I needed his money and I wanted to marry him. More than anything, I wanted to prove more to him that I wasn't crazy. The voices or the other side of the door belonged to a male and a female. I turned around and walked back to the elevator. Then something came over me. I just had to know the truth. I pounded on the door.

“Who is it?” a voice asked.

“Housekeeping,” I said in my best Mexican accent.

Tiffany opened the door naked just like I expected and I screamed, “You no good motherfucker. You bailed this bitch out of jail and now you are getting your money's worth out of her. Warren, I'm going to kick this bitch's ass and then you are next.”

I dragged her by her hair through the suite and into the bedroom. More shocking than seeing her naked was seeing Edwin naked sleeping next to Warren, who was knocked out. They looked like drunken lovers who must've fallen asleep during the middle of an act. Even though I was seeing it with my own eyes, I still couldn't believe it. Tears rolled down my face. I was speechless. What the hell was I supposed to do? Run, scream, or fight? I stood in place completely in shock. I still had Tiffany by her hair. I stood quiet for a moment and then I started screaming and hitting everyone—that bitch, Edwin, and Warren. Punches awoke them both.

“How could you do this to me? You are not only fucking her, you are fucking him, too. What the hell is wrong with you? You disgusting pervert.”

His eyes met mine. He spoke and either he couldn't get words out or I couldn't hear him. I didn't move. I began to hyperventilate. He grabbed my arm. Edwin jumped up and threw on his clothes. My scream was so loud the hotel security came up to the floor and was in the room.

“Does she have asthma?” I heard one of them ask.

“Yes, she is having an attack.”

I couldn't correct him, and he ought to have been happy because I would have told the security guards what type of man he was.

“Adrienne. Adrienne.” I heard him call my name and then I blacked out.

* * *

When I came to, Edwin and Tiffany were gone and I went right back into beast mode. “You wanted me to be your beard, huh? That was what the rush to get married was all about? To protect your secret? If you are with me on red carpets, no one will ask if you are gay? How could you do this to me? Are you fucking crazy? I don't want to marry you. Now it all makes sense. That's why your dick don't stay hard for me, because I don't have the right equipment. Sorry, I don't have a dick. And all the pill-popping you do. Your Cialis. Yeah, I knew about it.”

“Adrienne, you don't have to be nasty. I still love you and care about you. It's just a few things I didn't tell you about myself. I apologize.”

“So you can say sorry and that is just going to make everything okay?”

“Listen, once you are calm I would like to talk to you about everything. I do love you, and being my wife will guarantee you a great life for the rest of your life. I will be discreet in the future. I can't help it. Sometimes I want to be with a man and other times with a woman. It's something I've known since I was a child. I always liked girls, but there's a part of me that also likes boys. I never understood it.”

“If you don't understand it, how the hell would I? What? Do you think I am some desperate, needy bitch? I don't need you. What would make you think I would be okay with this?”

I ran out of his hotel. Who was I going to tell that the man I was about to marry, the very rich man who wanted to marry me without a prenup, likes to have sex with other men? I wanted to go home to L.A., but three thousand miles was too far of a drive. I had to stay somewhere. I went to my real home in Philly. My phone was flooded with missed calls and texts from Warren. I answered his calls and he said, “Come back, I need to talk to you.”

“No, stop calling me. What do you want?”

“I need to make sure—”

“Make sure what? That I won't say anything? Please, me outing you is the least of your worries.”

Damn, I thought I had it all figured out. I was about to marry a successful retired NFL player who was also on his way to becoming an A-list actor. Now I was back at square one again. Maybe my mom was right. She said you can't run from one dream to the next. Everything was catching up to me. Every lie, every scheme, and every person I hurt. It came down on me all at once.

C
HAPTER
75

Adrienne

I
was back in Los Angeles to get all of my belongings. While I was in town, I agreed to meet Warren in a public place. He didn't even know I was thinking about his safety when I chose to meet him at Mr. Chow's. He sat down and took off his sunglasses.

“You begged me to talk to you. So now that I'm here, talk!” I demanded.

“There is so much I want to say to you right now.” He went to grab my arm.

“Please don't touch me.”

“All right, what do you want to know?”

“What the fuck do you mean? I want to know why. Did you really call me here for this shit? What is there to talk about? You are gay. Everything has been a lie. The end.”

“I'm not gay.”

“Oh, I'm sorry you like men, which means you don't want me. I should have listened to Morgan. She told me to watch all you Hollyweird men, that all of you were dick suckers. And I thought she was crazy. She was right.”

He grabbed my arm. “Don't be disrespectful. I'm still the same man. Nothing has changed. I didn't know how to tell you any of this.”

“You didn't tell me this. I had to catch you.”

“I really hoped you could forgive me and we could move forward.”

“There is nothing you can say that will make me forgive you.”

“I understand that. But hear me out. There is a lot more to all of this.”

“Look, you lied to me and pretended I was the one you needed. When the reality is you don't even like women. I don't see why you went through with all of this in the first place. It's a new day and time, you don't have to hide anymore. People won't condemn you.” I stood up and told him to enjoy his day. “I'll give you your car back and move all my belongings out by the end of the week.”

“Don't leave.” He snatched my arm and forcefully made me sit. Now I was upset. I'd chosen a table in the back. No one was paying attention; no one could see that I was being held against my will.

“You wanted to know. I'll tell you. I was molested, okay. I was molested as a little boy. My dad's friend used to come and get me and he touched me. So you would think that would make me not want to be with a man because he stole my innocence. I hated him. I was so mad and angry. That's why I don't get along with my dad, because I couldn't understand why he didn't know what was going on. He was too busy fucking all of his women and preaching that he wasn't aware that his only son was getting abused by his best friend.

“To make up for it I made myself busy. If I had something to do at school I didn't have to go with my dad and I wouldn't see Mr. Gregory. I went to school and did the best I could. I wanted to be the best at everything. I didn't want anyone to see that I might be a little different. So not only did I play football as a star running back, I was also on the debate team. I wanted to be an attorney. I wanted to be everything except gay. And now that I'm an adult, I don't know what happened. I just want someone to love me.” The tears that shot down his cheeks were real. He was crying and in so much pain.

“Warren, you don't have to marry me. Be who you are. I'm upset because I think you should have told me.”

“But I don't only like men. I like women, too! I'm attracted to both. I know it can be confusing.”

“But it is a different world now.”

“That's true for white boys and lesbians. All that happy-to-be-gay, coming-out-the-closet waving-a-rainbow flag doesn't apply to a black football player from the south. It's not worth it. My dad is a pastor at one of the biggest churches in Memphis. So how do you think his son coming out as gay would affect his life? Huh?

“I'm sorry you had to find out all of this this way. It's not fair and I know it's hard for you to accept. But know I want you. Not only do I want you, I need you. I can't have any of this come out. I just can't. I just signed a multi-movie contract with Parx Pictures. They have signed me as an all-American guy, a football player. I know people choose to come out and live their truth, but that's not what I want to do. And besides all of that, my mother and father can never know about his. I don't want to disappoint them. I can't disappoint them.”

“So instead of coming out, your solution is to try to hide behind a relationship with me. What exactly are you asking? You want me to enter into a sexless marriage?”

“No, I'm not asking you that at all.”

“Well, I'm not having sex with you anymore.”

“I'm not asking for sex. Everything else can be worked out. But I will make it worth your while. I'll still make your movie, make you a producer, and give you one million dollars at our wedding and an additional million for every year we stay married.”

“I can't do it. I don't know what to tell you. You want me to be your fake wife.”

“No, I want you to be my real wife. You will marry me and you and your daughter will be well taken care of. I can give you whatever you want.”

“Two million dollars and you are going to make me the co-executive producer on the movie.”

“Fine. I'm going to give it to the VP at Parx. Just please do this.”

“How can I be sure of all of this?”

“I'll put it writing. You'll sign a confidentiality agreement and I'll have the money transferred into your account. I will take care of you. My feelings for you have not changed. I need you, Adrienne. I have too much invested.”

Two million dollars to live a lie. I needed the money, but I wasn't sure I could do it.