My Bestfriend's Man (15 page)

Brian

I ain’t going to lie I’ve been in
my feelings all day. It kind of messed me up a little when I told Savannah I loved
her after we had just made love and she didn’t return the favor,
again
. She had me all in my feelings
like I’m some bitch. I wanted to talk more about it at breakfast, but somehow
she managed to skip over the subject.

Karma was being a bitch right now.
I thought about all the women I did dirty in my past and I could only shake my
head. I was a dog back in the day. I can’t lie. I changed bitches like I
changed socks, every damn day. It was nothing for me to have a different bitch
for each day of the week.

That all changed when I met Macy
though. Savannah reminded me of her. She was beautiful, smart, fun, and
independent. Her face still haunts my dreams sometimes. I wished like hell we
could have made things work, but she tried to leave me and I couldn’t imagine
her being with anyone other than me.

“What are you thinking about?”
Savannah asked me as she pulled down her
sun visor
.
She observed her reflection in the mirror.

“You look fine and if you must
know I was thinking about us.” I could tell the topic made her uncomfortable. I
gripped the wheel as I returned my attention back towards the road. I don’t
know if I’m prepared for the answer, but I had to ask. “Savannah do you love
me?”

I heard her sigh and I knew that
wasn’t good. I could have sworn tears glossed over my damn eyes, but I
immediately sucked that shit up. This emotional shit is not a good look for me,
but I can’t help it. Savannah is like a rare piece of jewelry. Something you
want to hold onto and cherish and I was willing to do just that if she would
only let me.

“Can we talk about this later?” She
asked without giving me the
courtesy
of
looking my way. She continued to look in the mirror and play in her hair.

“Fine,” I said through gritted
teeth.

Silence became the third wheel as
we drove to my mother’s house. I could feel the animosity in my chest. I
breathed deep to keep the demon that wanted to escape under wraps. Rejection is
something that a man of my stature just doesn’t handle well.

I can count on my hands how many
times I’ve been turned down for pussy. Well, that’s because I never had to ask,
with the exception of Macy and Savannah. I’ve been good to her ass from the
start. I’ve treated her with nothing, but the up most respect and she can’t
show me the same in return.

All I want is someone I can grow
old with, settle down and have a family. That’s all I want is a family. I see a
future with Savannah. I couldn’t begin to imagine one without her.

  
“She doesn’t love you.”

 
I ignored the voice in my head and kept it
moving. This was a side of me that I
had
n’t
let Savannah in on yet. I’m not so sure she can handle it. I mean I don’t think
I’m crazy or anything, but I just have a condition that needs a little extra
attention.

“She’s going to leave you just
like Macy.”

“No, she’s not like that,” I
said, just a little too loud.

“You okay?” Savannah asked me.

I looked over at her and almost
lost control of the car. I had to shake my head twice. I looked back at the
road. My heartbeat in my chest pounded like a drum.

“Brian,” Savannah screeched as
she held on for dear life. “What’s wrong with you?”

I looked at her again and could
only stare in shock. It was Savannah’s body, Savannah’s voice with Macy’s face.

*
  
*
  
*

My mother could tell something
was wrong with me as soon as I stepped into the house. I guess it’s a mother’s
intuition.

“What’s wrong?” She asked me as
she cupped my face in her hands.

“Nothing ma,” I said, kissing her
on the forehead.

“I know when something is wrong
with my baby,” she said smiling up at me.

I swear I love this woman to
death. She is the only other
woman besides
Savannah that has my heart. She was perfect with beautiful caramel skin, bright
doe eyes, and an oval shaped face. At the age of
forty-nine,
she could still give any
twenty-year-old
a run for their money.

“We can talk about it later.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “And how
are you Savannah?” She asked directing her attention towards Savannah.

“I’m fine Ms. Joan, how about
you?”

“Oh, I’m better now that my
handsome son has arrived. Have you been taking good care of my baby?”

“Of course,” Savannah replied
with a half-smile as she looked at my mother before looking back at me.

“I bet you have,” she said in a
condescending tone, before spinning on her heels.

Savannah looked at me with her
mouth formed in an O. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and kissed her on
the cheek.

“She just playing. Stop being so
sensitive,” I whispered in her ear.

“Yeah, okay,” she said rolling
her eyes.

We followed my mother into the
living room where George sat watching the discovery channel. That’s all he ever
wanted to watch when I was growing up. He was fascinated with
wildlife
. I shook my head at how George had let
himself go. I ain’t gay, but George wasn’t hard on the eyes. He is light-skinned,
light brown eyes with Al B Sure’s
hair
.
Back in the day he stayed in the gym, but I guess age must have caught up with
him. His six pack has been replaced with a beer belly, and the rest of his body
followed suit.

“What’s up George?” I asked
giving him a handshake.

“How you doing son?” He said
looking up at me before glancing over at Savannah.

“I’m good,” I responded.

“And you?” He asked Savannah.

“I’m fine thanks,” she smiled.

“Go ahead and have a seat. Dinner
should be ready shortly,” mom said to us.

“Aight,” I said kissing her on
the forehead before plopping down on the love seat.

“Do you need any help?” Savannah
offered. That’s why I love that girl. She can’t cook to save her life, but she
was still willing to lend a helping hand.

“No, you’d just be in the way, but
thank you,” my mother said as she spun around on her heels and sauntered back
towards the kitchen.

I didn’t even look Savannah’s
way. I could hear her sigh of frustration. My mother was tripping. I don’t
think she was this bad with Macy. I had to have a talk with her about that.
I felt in my heart that Savannah was the one and I
didn’t need her messing shit up for me.
My mother’s attitude would be
the perfect excuse for Savannah if I wanted to push things a little further in
our relationship.

The
doorbell
rang while I was in deep thought. I looked over at George.
He glanced up at the clock on the wall.

“That must be your brother.”

I groaned and shook my head. I
haven’t spoken to Prince since that little confrontation we had down at the
club. We were in my mother’s house and the last thing I wanted to do was
disrespect her or George. If Prince was finally over himself and ready to
squash that shit that went down between us then so was I. I looked over at
Savannah and smiled while waiting for my brother to be escorted into the living
room.

“What’s good pops?” I heard
Prince say.

I noticed Savannah’s facial
expression change. “You okay baby?” I asked. She nodded her head yes.

“Pops I want you to meet my new
girlfriend, Roxie.”

As soon as I heard her name I
whipped my head around so damn fast, I’m surprised I didn’t get
whiplash
. I watched with disgust as she shook
George’s hand. I swear this nigga is so damn dumb. Everything about her ass
screamed gold digger. I tried to school his ass, but this is one lesson he is
just going to have to learn on his own.

Roxie and I locked eyes and this
bitch smirked at me like she knew something I didn’t. I simply nodded my head
and directed my attention back towards the television. It was something about
that girl I couldn’t stand.

“Hey, Vee,” Roxie said walking
over to the love seat, practically forcing Savannah to scoot over so she could
sit down.

“Hi Roxie. How have you been?”
Savannah asked.

“Do you really want to know or
are we making general conversation?”

“General conversation,” Savannah
responded. That was a low blow and I could tell by Roxie’s facial expression
she felt it.

“What’s up big bro?” Prince asked
tapping me on the shoulder.

I turned and looked up at him. I
stood up and
dapped
him up followed by a
man hug. “Ain’t
sh-
,” I glanced over at
George. He was too preoccupied with something else to be paying us any
attention, but I decided I should still choose my words carefully. “Ain’t
much,” I said.

“Right. Same here,” he said as he
stood back and sized me up.

“So, it’s official?” I asked
nodding my head towards Roxie.

“Yep,” he said nodding his head
with this cheesy ass grin on his face.

“Well, as long as you’re happy I
am too.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,”
Prince said, slightly tapping me on the arm.

“Dinner’s ready,” my mother
yelled.

We all trudged into the kitchen.
My mother can cook her ass off. A nigga was in need of a home cooked meal.
That’s one area where Savannah fell short. She wasn’t much of a cook and I had
the feeling
she wasn’t interested in learning
either.

“Dang ma,” Prince said as he
walked hand and hand with Roxie up to the table.

I had to do a
double-take
my damn self. Mom went all out. She
had Turkey and Ham along with chicken, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes,
pies, cakes, whatever your heart desired I believe my mom made it.

“Before y’all
sit down
at my table make sure to wash your
hands. Brian and Prince
y’all
know I
don’t play that.”

We all washed our hands before
sitting down to eat. Surprisingly everything was going good, even Roxie and
Savannah were having a good time together. I’m not sure how I felt about that
though. One thing I wasn’t feeling was George sitting up there drooling over
Roxie like my mother wasn’t there. I definitely would check him about that
shit. Other than that shit was kosher.

“I’ll be right back. I forgot
something,” my mother announced as she stood up. A few seconds flew by and she
came back with a bottle of champagne. “I forgot we need to celebrate.”

“What we celebrating mom?” Prince
asked while stuffing his mouth.

“On your new promotion,” she
said.

“Huh,” Prince stopped and looked
up at her. “Mom what are you talking about?”

Oh, shit I thought to myself. I
forgot to tell mom that I decided not to make
Prince,
a partner. It was too late now, any minute the cat was going to slip out of the
damn bag.

“You know you and your brother
going into business together,” she said looking from me to him. “Brian, I
thought you were going to give Prince part ownership of the club.”

“This is news to me,” George said
finally taking a moment to let his food digest.

Prince looked at me and I could
tell he was hurt, but his actions that day caused a reaction and unfortunately
he came up with the short end of the stick. Maybe in time if he got his act
together I would change my mind, but until then he ain’t getting shit from me.
Especially if he’s still fucking with that gold digging bitch he came prancing
in here with on his arm.

The silence around us was
suffocating and the tension was even thicker. My mother continued to look at me
like I was supposed to say something, but I really didn’t have anything to say.

“Brian, can you tell me what’s going
on?” She asked still holding the bottle of champagne in her hands.

“Mom, not right now,” I sighed.

“Well, somebody needs to tell me
something,” she said
setting
the bottle
down on the table and she didn’t do it lightly either so I knew she meant
business.

“I agree,” George added. While my
mother was all for me making Prince a partner, George was against it. I knew he
thought my career was a joke and Prince could do so much better.

“It’s complicated,” I mumbled.

“Well, make it uncomplicated,”
she said sitting down folding her arms across her chest.

“Don’t even worry about it ma,”
Prince chimed in. “It’s all good. If he reneged he reneged. It’s his club, we
can’t make him do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

“Prince-,” I started.

“It’s all good,” Prince stated as
he stood up. He grabbed Roxie’s hand. He walked over to my mother and kissed
her on the forehead. “Thanks for
dinner
ma, call me later. See ya pops. Brian, no hard feelings,” he said giving me
dap.