Married Men (36 page)
Authors: Carl Weber
Yep, that was my routine for the last two weeks and it was pretty damn depressing. So you can imagine how happy I was when I received Diane’s e-mail at work this morning inviting me over to the house for dinner. Finally things looked like they were gonna change, and with any luck I was gonna get my life and my family back.
I showed up at the house around five o‘clock, my arms filled with a dozen roses, a gold ankle bracelet Diane had been asking for, and a bottle of her favorite wine to go with dinner. She’d always made my favorite seafood gumbo on our anniversary so I couldn’t wait to get a whiff of that Cajun aroma when she opened the door. Other than seeing Diane and my kids, that gumbo was all I could think about all day. But my dream of sitting down with my family and eating gumbo was far from reality, ’cause when Diane opened that door, there was no aroma from the kitchen and no sign of my kids. I’d been expecting Teddy to run around the corner and into my arms any second. But nope, nothin’. Just Diane, and she wasn’t even dressed for dinner. She was just standing there in her beat-up old housecoat with some big-ass rollers in her hair like she was about to go to bed.
“What the hell is all this shit for?” She pointed to all my gifts with contempt all over her face.
“These are for you, and this is to go with dinner.” I held up the roses and jewelry box with one hand, and the wine with the other. “Happy anniversary, Di.” I smiled, hoping to lighten the mood.
“Please, ain’t shit happy about it.” She rolled her eyes and took the jewelry box out of my hand. She turned and walked into the house without even a thank-you. I guess I should’ve been grateful that she left the door open for me and I was, but it would have been nice to have been invited in. As I followed her into the house, I was hoping she’d open the jewelry box, but she just slipped it into the pocket of her robe and walked into the living room. She sat on the sofa, and I sat down in a chair across from her, placing the flowers and wine on the table.
“Now what’s this shit about dinner? I didn’t say I was going to dinner with you.” She twisted her lips as she sucked her teeth.
“What do you mean?” I frowned. I couldn’t believe she was acting like this. “Why you playin’ games, Di? You know you invited me to dinner.”
“Y‘know what, Wil? I think all them damn whores you been fuckin’ with done warped your brain, cause the only thing I invited you over here for was to talk about getting a divorce.”
“What?” I sat back in my chair. “You mean to tell me you didn’t send me an e-mail inviting me to dinner?”
“Oh yeah, I sent you an e-mail. But it damn sure wasn’t no invitation to dinner. All I asked you to do was come over here around dinnertime so we could get some things straight. I didn’t say nothin’ about
having
dinner.” She laughed. “Please. I wouldn’t cook you another meal if you was the last man on earth.”
having
dinner.” She laughed. “Please. I wouldn’t cook you another meal if you was the last man on earth.”
Diane smirked, which really irked me, ’cause that’s when I knew she was playin’ games. She knew exactly what she was doing. She’d worded that e-mail the way she did to lure me over to the house so she could spring this divorce crap on me. It was something she’d tried to talk to me about on the phone, but I had refused to discuss it. Just like I wasn’t gonna discuss it now. So I changed the subject.
“Okay, where are the kids? I’ve got some toys in the car for them.”
“The kids are at Lisa’s.” She smirked again.
“You know what, Diane? You’re getting really petty. You knew I was coming over here. The least you could’ve done was make sure my kids were here. I haven’t seen them in two weeks. After the shit you just pulled, you owe me that much.”
“After the shit I just pulled? Don’t go there, Wil.” She was truly angry. “Don’t you dare go there or you won’t see those kids at all.”
Well, there it was. Diane was taking things to another level, threatening me with my kids. Why the hell do women do that? I looked up at her and stood without another word. If I stuck around, I was sure things would get ugly, so I decided to get out fast. I figured if the kids were at Lisa’s, I’d stop by there.
“Where you goin’? Just ’cause we ain’t havin’ dinner don’t mean we ain’t got things to talk about,” she shouted from behind me.
“What’d we have to talk about Di, divorce?” I shook my head. “I don’t think so. You’re my wife and you’re always gonna be my wife. I told you a long time ago I didn’t get married to get divorced. I can understand you not wanting to believe what I told you about those pictures. Hell, when I look at those pictures, I don’t wanna believe me either. But I’ve told you a hundred times that I’m innocent. I did not have anything to do with it. I’m gonna give you some time and space for a while. To be honest, I think we probably both need it. But believe me when I tell you, we are gonna get back together. It’s just gonna take some time and hard work, but it’s gonna happen. So all this talk about divorce is just that, all talk. ’Cause I love you too much to let you go.” Diane stared at me silently for a few seconds and I thought my words had actually touched her. But if they had, it was only momentarily.
“Good speech, Wil.” She clapped weakly. “But you coulda saved that for the judge. It might get your child support and alimony lowered, but I don’t believe a word of it.”
Diane’s words made me snap. I was sick of her calling me a liar, I was sick of her not letting me see my kids, and I was sick of staying in that damn Jet Motel. But more than any of that, I was sick of her telling me she was gonna take me to court. I ran up to her, squeezed her shoulders tightly, and shook her.
“Look, let’s get one thing straight. I don’t need no white man’s court telling me how to take care of my family, okay? If you or the kids need something, you come to me. You don’t go to no damn judge. I’m a man, and I take care of my family because it’s the right thing to do. Do you understand me, Di?” I think I scared her, because for once she didn’t have something smart to say. She just nodded. That is, until I let go of her and she could put a few feet between us. Then she went off on me.
“Ohhh, so you a man, huh? Well, a man doesn’t put his hands on a woman!” she glared at me in a huff.
“I’m sorry,” I told her, still angry myself, “but you know I’m gonna take care of my family. I don’t need no damn judge to tell me how to do that.”
“You gonna take care of your family? Ha!” she laughed. “You can’t take care of yourself with your wrinkled-up pants. Have you ever heard of an iron?” I ignored her jabs.
“That’s right. I’m gonna take care of my family. Now you gonna tell me the courts are gonna award you the whole mortgage? Con Edison? And your car note? Plus give you a hundred dollars a week? I don’t think so.” I tried my best to calm myself. I could feel my blood pressure rising by the second.
Diane stared at me, probably a little surprised that I was willing to do that much. Shit, I wasn’t really sure if I could pay that much and still rent a room without being totally broke, but I meant what I said about taking care of my family.
“You mean that, Wil? You’re willing to pay all those bills?” I couldn’t tell if it was disbelief or admiration in her voice.
“Yeah, I mean it. I might have to ask Kyle for a part-time job to live on, but I don’t want no judge telling me what to do for my own kids or my wife.”
Finally, she softened. “Okay, we won’t go to court.”
I tried to hide a smile as I sighed with relief. Finally things were starting to go my way. Once I started coming around to see the kids, things between Diane and me would slowly but surely work themselves out. Unfortunately Diane must have sensed my hopefulness because it didn’t take long for the attitude to reemerge and for her to throw another dagger.
“Let me tell you something, motherfucker. This don’t mean I still don’t want a divorce!”
“Well, I guess I’m just gonna have to change your mind,” I told her. Diane rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.
“Oh, and another thing—I want two hundred and fifty dollars, not a hundred.”
“Di, be reasonable. I’m gonna have to move in with my mother if I give you a grand a month with all those other bills I’m gonna be paying.”
“Hey, I am being reasonable, I’m not taking you to court. Isn’t that what you want? Besides I’ve gotta pay childcare now that you’re gone.”
“Hold up. You always paid for childcare out of your money before.”
“That was then, this is now. You think I’m gonna leave you enough money to take out your whores?”
“Di, this ain’t fair. You know this ain’t fair.” I was getting angry again.
“You wanna see your kids, don’t you?” Her face was dead serious.
“Come on, Diane, be reasonable. This is blackmail. What does that money have to do with me seeing my kids? I can’t believe you’d keep them from me.”
“I keep tellin’ you, I am being reasonable. Lisa gets four thousand dollars a month plus living expenses from Kyle. I’m just asking for a quarter of that.”
“Who told you that? Kyle’s not giving Lisa that much money.”
“Ya wanna bet?” Diane handed me a stack of stapled papers from the coffee table.
“What’s this?”
“That’s a copy of your boy Kyle’s settlement agreement with Lisa. She gave it to me so I could see how good her lawyer was.” I looked down at the paper and my eyes almost popped out of my head. I never dreamed Kyle could afford to give Lisa so much. If this lawyer could do this to him, what the hell was he gonna do to me? I decided maybe I could afford another fifty dollars a week when Diane said, “She’s probably gonna get more once the divorce is final.”
“Y’know what, Di? I’ll give you one hundred-fifty a week but I wanna see my kids every weekend. How about that?”
“Nah, every other weekend. But I’ll let you take them to church with me some Sundays.”
“Okay, it’s a deal.” I still didn’t know how I would be able to afford it, but I could tell she was serious about keeping the kids away. I stuck out my hand to shake hers, but she never reciprocated.
“I want it written out and notarized when you pick up the kids for church tomorrow. I also want it to say I have full custody.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t concerned about who had custody. We’d done enough bargaining for the moment. I could talk to her about that issue another time, before any official papers were actually drawn up. This arrangement was only going to be temporary anyway. I planned on being home for good within a few weeks.
“Wil, you miss one payment and we’re going to court. I mean that.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“I’m not gonna miss a payment Di. You’ll see.” I walked to the door. “You sure you don’t wanna have dinner? I’ll take you to City Island.”
She thought about it for a second and actually answered in a civil tone. “No, Wil.” I think she wanted to go, but it was going to take a little more time.
“Okay, good night.”
“Good night, Wil.”
30
Jay
“Jay? You awake, baby?” Kenya whispered softly as her hand slid around my waist. She tried to be nonchalant, but the way she was rubbing up against my crotch I knew right away that she wanted some. I opened one eye and glanced at the digital clock on the night table. It was a little past 3 A.M. on a Saturday night, but that didn’t seem to matter to Kenya. By the way she was tugging on me, it was obvious she didn’t have sleep on her agenda. She’d been squirming up next to me for the past half-hour, thinking she could gradually wake me up. Little did she know I was awake the whole time. I just wasn’t in the mood to have sex. But damn, she was determined to get me in the mood. It’s amazing how people change. A year ago she’d run anytime I mentioned sex, but now that she’d had LaShawn, she’d become quite the sex addict. It kinda made me wonder if she somehow sensed that I’d found someone else.
“Jay, you awake, baby?” she whispered again. I didn’t answer. But when she let go of my now erect penis and slid her panties off, I knew my charade couldn’t last much longer. Whenever she acted like this, Kenya was the most determined little vixen. She was gonna get some no matter what. And as much as my penis was telling me to give it to her, I just couldn’t. In less than seven hours I was supposed to meet Tracy. We were going to head over to the Beach Comber Motel again for a nice romantic day on the beach, which I was sure would end up as a wild night of passionate lovemaking. I needed to rest up for my day with Tracy, and Kenya was messin’ me up, crawlin’ all over me at three in the morning.
As soon as Kenya’s panties were off, her hand slid right back to my crotch. This time she tugged on it so hard I would’ve had to wake up. “Stop, I’m trying to get some sleep,” I grumbled, trying my best to pretend I was half-asleep. I swatted her hand from my penis as if she were a nuisance.
“Come on, Jay. All I want is a quickie.” She reached for my manhood again.
“I’ll give you some in the morning,” I told her in a groggy voice. I knew that my daughter Tiffany would be up way before I’d ever have to make good on that promise. I took hold of her hand, removed it from my lap, and rolled onto my stomach so that she couldn’t get ahold of it again. I knew I was gonna have to give in sooner or later, but not tonight if I had any say in the matter. I’d been holding out on her ever since Tracy came back into my life, and that was almost two months ago.
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