His Work Wife (11 page)

Chapter Twenty: Presley

“Bitch, whatchu do?” Jani hugged me. She met me downtown at Harris County Jail.

I knew she was going to be full of questions when she finally saw me. I had already prepared myself for that. We walked in silence as we made our way to the pay parking lot around the corner from the jailhouse.

Once inside of her black 2008 Ford Explorer, I began to explain in detail. Now that I was recapping the story, it was actually kind of funny. All Kadeema had to do was shut up and leave me the hell alone, but she wanted it with me and she got it.

“Sis, where do I begin?” I laughed. “All I remember is she said some shit and I told her my problem wasn’t with her. Ty walked away from me and before I knew it, he was trying to get me off her ass! I don’t know. It all happened so fast.”

“Woooow!” Jani chuckled. “You know Cora’s going have a field day with this, right?”

“Yeah, yeah…I know. I just want to get to my babies. I’m glad you kept them for me while I handled my shit. Thanks a bunch.”

“How you feel about all of this though? Isn’t it all becoming too much? I mean, you riding out to the other side of town and beating hoes down and Ty ass standing there like he’s big man on campus! That shit ain’t right. What if you had gotten hurt? You can’t just be showing up where people live, sis!” she reprimanded. “Why the hell did you go out there anyway?”

“Jani, I don’t expect you to understand because you and Mark ain’t been through no shit like this, but I couldn’t help it. I called Ty several times and he wasn’t answering my calls,” I admitted. “Yes, I know I put him out, but before he left, he told me he was going to stay with his homeboy Tim. So if he was at his friend’s house, why couldn’t he answer the damn phone…unless he was at her house? So I drove out there, beat that ass and the rest is history.”

No sooner than we drove up to my mama’s house, we saw Ty waiting for us. Jani got out of the truck and pretended not to see him. She made sure I was okay with her facial expression and I nodded my head yes. Jani proceeded to go inside of Mom’s when he called her name.

“Jani?”

“What do you want?” she scowled.

“I just want to pay you the bail money back and thank you for doing that for me.”

“Umm, it was five hundred dollars and make no mistake; I didn’t do that for you! I did it for my sister! If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be going through any of this shit. But you know what? I’m going to refrain from saying anything else. So just give me my money so I can go inside, thank you.”

I sat on my mama’s front steps and rested my arms on my knees. Curiosity was getting the best of me. What did he have to say? How could he possibly explain being over there when him being with her is the whole damn problem? Ty stood at the foot of the stairs rubbing his head. He didn’t know where to start and I knew it, so I initiated the conversation.

“So where’s your bitch? Why aren’t you with her? At this point, she needs you more than I do. I’m good.”

“Presley, I’m sorry. I know you probably hate me, but I was actually getting ready to come home when you showed up,” he cried. “Do you still love me?”

He was pathetic! Was he serious right now? He picked this moment to ask if I still loved him? He was trying to bait me and I was not falling for that shit this time. I decided to ignore his question. He didn’t deserve an answer to that just yet.

“Ty, look, I don’t have time for this shit. I’m tired and all I want to do is get the boys home and rid myself of this funky jail cell’s odor. I’m ‘bout to go inside. Either you coming in or you leaving. Which one is it?”

“I’m coming in,” he replied, holding the screen door for me.

I took a deep breath before greeting my mama. I was ready for her to pick me apart. She was sitting at the table drinking her morning cup of coffee and eating a slice of toast. Just plain old toast. I thought that was so damn nasty. The toast needed some plum preserves or something on it. But that was her thang and she was too set in her ways to change.

“Hey, mama; thanks for watching the boys for me. Did Harper keep you up?” I inquired.

“Child, naw. He was too tired. His little but tried to stay up and play, but I gave him a bottle and put him to sleep,” she grinned. “So, what you got going on? What trouble you done got into? This is out of character for you.”

My heart wanted to pour out every sordid detail of Ty’s affair, but I just didn’t have it in me. Besides, he was sitting right there, and as much as I disliked him, it wouldn’t have been right for me to have that conversation with him sitting right there. I guess Ms. Cora read my mind because she asked to speak to me privately.

“Ty and Jani, make sure the boys get something to eat. I need to show Presley something upstairs. We’ll be a few minutes.”

As I followed my mom to her room, I admired how pretty she was for fifty years old. She had beautiful waist length hair, an incredible smile, and a cute shape. I laughed to myself because Jani and I were the spitting images of her!

“Close the door and sit down,” she instructed.

“Mama, what is this about? I’m exhausted and I just want to go home and pretend last night never happened.”

“Listen, little girl, do you still love your husband?” she asked.

“Yeah, but…”

“No buts. If you still love him, then fight for him. No one ever said marriage was easy. Yes, he made a stupid mistake, but that man loves you and those boys. I can see it all over his face. You DO realize he didn’t have to come over here this morning. That says a lot. He dropped that bitch off at the hospital and came right over here.”

“Mom, I’m tired of dealing with this. It’s been over a year. He loves her. I mean how can I compete with a woman he spent so much time with?” I wept.

“Girl, SO! You don’t realize you have the upper hand in this situation. YOU have those babies and you know he is never going to leave you assed out while you have those babies. You know better. Listen and listen to me good. A man is a man all day, but if he really wanted to leave he would be gone already,” she pointed out. “It doesn’t matter how many kids you have and how long you have been married; if he wanted to leave he could have done it way before you kicked him out.”

              My mom was very wise and the knowledge she was spitting made sense, but my heart couldn’t take any more heartbreak. And the recent events have been way too much to bear. See, mom wasn’t aware that he had hit me.

              “Mama, we got into it and he hit me,” I revealed.

              “Uhn uh, tell the entire story, Presley. I know he is doing some less than satisfactory shit, but that man would never hit you. If you want to save your marriage, you have to start by telling the truth.”

             
Ugh! She gets on my nerves with that shit
, I thought. My mom was the one person who could see right through me.

              “Okay, okay. I hit him first and it very well could have been a reaction. I’m not sure.”

              “Girl, stop! That is something else you need to work on. Keep your hands to yourself! Hell, I’m surprised he ain’t knocked fire from your ass way before this because you always hitting that man. You need to control that.”

              “Damn! Whose side are you on?” I frowned.

              “Watch ya mouth,” she snipped. “I’m on your side. But, you love that man and I damn sure wouldn’t hand him over to the next bitch. Shit, you making it easy for him to be with her. Baby, every time he steps out that door I would be right on his damn heels, showing him I’m in for the long haul.”

              We had been talking for a good twenty minutes before I realized my mom was cussing. She must have been serious about this talk because she never used profanity.

              “Mama, I’m just so hurt behind all of this. Ty had nothing when I met him and I loved him anyway. That was the one time I decided NOT to be shallow and follow my heart. What did it get me? A world of fucking heartache!” Oops! I didn’t mean to cuss, but I was very emotional and mama would have to understand.

              “Guurl, Ty ain’t going nowhere… trust me on that,” she assured me. “All men get into shit. What? You think ya daddy was faithful one hundred percent of the time? Hell no!”

As I hugged a turquoise pillow from her bed, I sat confused. My heart was telling me to fight for what I wanted and that pissed me off because I felt stupid. After all of the hurt and tears he had caused me, I should've wanted to get as far away from him as I possibly could, but that wasn’t the case. I wanted my husband. I wanted my family that I had worked so hard to create and it was just not in me to give up. Besides, I didn’t give a damn who he ended up with if this didn’t work. There would never be another woman to love him the way I did!

              “Mama, you are right as usual. I do love him and I need to know that I gave it my all before I just throw in the towel. I just gotta figure out what my next move is. This situation is so perplexing I can’t think straight. He has me all topsy-turvy.”

              “Well, y’all need to go home and discuss it.”

              “Okay.”

              I went back downstairs where Ty was rocking Harper to sleep and Jani was keeping the boys occupied. It melted my heart to see him with Harper in his arms.

              “Ty, can you take us home? I’m too tired to drive back,” I admitted. “We also need to talk.”

              “Sure,” he smiled. “Let me get Harper’s car seat while you get Darren and Tyler ready and we can be on our way.”

              The drive home was inaudible. Neither of us knew the words to say nor did we want to have this conversation while the kids were in the car. The thirty-minute drive seemed to take forever. I was desperate for a Calgon moment.

              When we pulled into the driveway, Ty got out and unlocked the front door for me. I made a mad dash to start my bath water while he got the boys out of the car. Aromatic scents of brown sugar and vanilla took me to a place of serenity. The hot water felt wonderful as it pelted my body, but I had to hurry because Ty was still waiting for our talk about what had taken place last night.

              After drying off and applying my brown sugar vanilla lotion, I put on a floral print maxi dress and threw my hair in a messy bun. Ty walked into the bedroom just as I was finishing.

              “Hey.”

              “Uhh… hey,” I replied.

              “Presley, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I keep doing things to hurt you. I should be home loving you and telling you just how beautiful you are to me every damn day.”

              “How am I supposed to respond to that?” I sighed. “No, really, what do you want me to say to that? I just got home from a night in jail because I had a physical altercation with your mistress at her house! So please tell me how am I supposed to feel?”

              Ty backed me into a wall and cupped my face. “I love you, Presley. You have to believe that. You have every right to feel the way you do, but baby, I love you.”

              A beautiful smile appeared on his face, one that I’d not seen in a very long time. Honestly, I forgot how handsome he was when he smiled, especially since we had spent the last year arguing every day.

              “Why are you smiling at me?”

              “I’m smiling because you look so fucking sexy in that dress. It is taking everything in me to keep from lifting it up over my head,” he flirted. “Tell me, what color is your G-string? Or do you have one on at all?”

              Oh my God. I was too vulnerable for this and Ty knew it. My juice-box was ready for him to take a sip. After all of the shit he had put me through, he still had this effect on me. My breathing became shallow and my voice became throaty as Ty’s hand traveled the length of my body.

              “Ty…” I moaned. “Stop.”

              Ignoring my request, he slipped his tongue deep inside of my mouth, causing me to reciprocate his actions. Our tongues embraced each other as my body gave into him. I was lost in the moment. The room quickly filled with unrequited passion as Ty eased down slowly, lifting my dress over his head. He licked my creamy center as if I was a caramel-filled Hershey’s Kiss.

              “Can I taste you, Presley?” He licked, not waiting for my answer.

              “You’re… already… tasting me,” I managed to respond with each breath.

              “I know, baby, and this pussy taste so fucking good to me!”

              My body was on the brink of explosion. My knees buckled and guttural noises escaped from within me. Ty circled his fingers inside me as he held my orgasm in his very hand. He sucked my clit and tongue fucked me into uncontrollable submission. By the time he was done, his shirt was soaked, his arms were doused with droplets of my honey-flavored nectar and his goatee and chin were dripping with glaze.

              Yeah, we would have to talk another day. He had worn me out and after last night, I was going to sleep like a baby. Ty would have to watch the boys while I caught up on my sleep.

Chapter Twenty-One: Chase

I’d been keeping to myself since my nephew was born. Kadeema’s mentally unstable ass had been blowing my phone up every day for the last month. She needed to understand that I handled shit in my own damn time, not hers.

Evidently, Kadeema had left so many messages that my mailbox was full to capacity. I decided to check them to make room for my many women I often ignored. Most of the voicemails were of her asking me where I’d been and why hadn’t she heard from me. I didn’t have to listen to that shit, so I was getting ready to delete the remainder of her voicemails. However, the very last message I listened to was music to my ears.

“Chase, I haven’t been able to reach you, but I just wanted to let you know Ty has been staying with me for a week now. I don’t know what happened with him and Presley. I figured you would want to know that information.”

              Since I hadn’t met my new nephew yet, I decided today would be a great day for a meet and greet. I could go over and spend time with Presley and the boys and not have to worry about Ty being there. He would be somewhere digging in Kadeema’s nasty ass, which would work in my favor.

              After taking my shower, I put on my Aqua Di Gio cologne and deodorant for men. I already had a fresh haircut from this past weekend, so I was good on that end. I decided to wear my Jordan Grapes with my purple Nike t-shirt and the matching Jordan basketball shorts. Yeah, I stayed fresh to death at all times. Well, with the help of my ladies. Hell, I was slangin’ that dick. So if all they had to do was buy a few pairs of J’s and some outfits, then they were ecstatic to do so.

              I rolled down 59 freeway, bumping my old school Run DMC. It was a hot and beautiful day in H-Town. Tricks were out and about with hardly nothing on because of the heat. Any other time, I would be patrolling the strip, but I hadn’t seen or spoken to Presley since she went into labor. I needed to make sure she was okay. Mama had told me she and the baby were doing well, but I needed to lay eyes on her.

              I had one of my chicks purchase a lil’ sum’n for Harper. My lil’ man was going to be Jordan down just like his uncle. My chick purchased a Jordan onesie set with matching booties and knit cap. It was nice as hell. If I had a child, this is what he would be wearing.

              I stopped at the local florist around the corner from Ty and Presley’s spot. Once when they first began to date, Ty ordered purple peonies for Presley and had them delivered to her. I bought a bouquet of purple and blue. Purple because that was her favorite color and blue because she had a baby boy. After all, I had a gift for Harper, so it was only right that I bring something for Presley, especially since I was sure I was the reason she went into preterm labor.

              As I parked my Cadillac CTS, I couldn’t help but frown at how mediocre these apartment shacks they considered townhomes were. This alone should make her want to be with me. I’d just moved into a multilevel condo on 610 and Richmond. She and the boys would love it there. Besides, she would be moments from the Galleria. Hell, truth be told, that was the main reason I bought that place, so I would have access to the ultimate shopping experience.

              I approached Presley’s unit with the gift and flowers in my hand when I noticed Ty coming out of the townhouse to take the trash out. He was wearing a wife beater and his sleep pants, so it was obvious he had spent the night. Shit! What was he doing here? He was supposed to be with Kadeema! My brother was the last person I wanted to see.

              “Wassup, bro?” I put my hand out to dap him up.

              He left me hanging with an irritated look on his face.

              “What you doing here?”

              “Oh, I was just stopping by to check on Presley and finally meet Harper,” I answered.

              “The fuck you mean you were just stopping by to check on Presley and the baby?” He gritted his teeth. “Since when do you check on
my
damn wife? Especially since you didn’t call first!”

              “Well, after last night I honestly didn’t think you would be here,” I smirked.

              “What the hell does that mean? Where else would I be?”

              “Man, c’mon; don’t act like we not family. You called mama and told her what happened last night and then she called me.”

              “What she call
you
for? What are
you
supposed to do?”

              “Aye mane, mama just thought you might need someone to talk to, that’s all.”

              Why couldn’t he just go on back to Kadeema’s nasty ass? I was really looking forward to spending quality time with Presley and my baby, I mean nephew!

              I could sense Ty knew what was up. He’d always suspected my feelings for Presley from the very beginning. At every family get-together, I tried diligently to engage her in conversation with me, but she would keep it short and move around.

              Right now, I knew I was coming off as transparent, but I couldn’t help it. Ty was doing his own thing and I needed to do mine.

              Ty approached me, invading my personal space and warning me to take him seriously.

              “Listen, I could give two fucks about what you think you know. Chase, I see you and I know whatchu up to, but let’s not forget, Presley is
my
wife! She tolerates you because you’re my brother, but you know she can’t stand your whorish ways.”

              “Humph,” I cracked a smile. “Aren’t you the pot calling the kettle a hoe? Let me tell you something, little brother. I don’t know what you are implying, but as usual, you are dead wrong!”

              “Really, Chase? Well, why show up here unannounced knowing we don’t rock like that?”

              Still holding Harper’s gift and Presley’s flowers, I looked over his shoulders, hoping Presley would come to the door.

              “You’re funny.” Ty laughed, looking behind him. “You looking for Presley? She had a long night. You see, after I had picked her up from her mom’s house, I stayed the night. Yeah, I ate that pussy the entire time. She glazed my face so good I need to go by Shipley’s and see if they needed some extra glaze! So, I am sure she will be sleep for most of the day. I’ll tell her you stopped by though. Are those flowers for her?” he pointed.

              “Yeah,” I handed him the flowers. “It’s just a lil’ sum’n I picked up for her and my nephew.”

              “Peonies. These are her favorite flower, but I’m sure you knew that already.” He glared at me.

              I was trying to keep my cool, but I won’t lie, the information he just fed me struck a nerve. I wanted to smash on his ass like I used to back when we were younger. However, Ty was no longer the short, skinny kid I bullied when mom and dad were gone. He was actually a bit taller than me and had more muscles. Ty was a gym freak since high school. I left things the way they were because I couldn’t guarantee that I would be the champ of the fight if I took it there. Hell, he might have beat the shit out me to vindicate all of the shit I put him through when we were tykes. I would never be able to live that down if that happened.

              “Yeah, I remembered you said she liked those. I just wanted to do something nice for her since I was bringing Harper’s gift. No big deal.”

              “A’ight. Well, I’ll let her know they were from you. See you later.”

              Unfortunately, that was my cue to leave. This wasn’t how today was supposed to go down. I was tempted to drive around the block until Ty left. I knew he couldn’t stay with Presley and the boys all day since he was staying with Kadeema now. He would have to leave eventually, but I knew my brother. There was no way he would go anywhere now that I had showed up out of the blue like this. It was all good. There was always next time!