Suspicions (29 page)

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Authors: Sasha Campbell

BOOK: Suspicions
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46
Candace
“Tiffany! Guess what? While you were sleeping, the cops hauled Kimbel's ass off the jail!”
She came racing to the kitchen wearing an oversize T-shirt and fluffy slippers. Her eyes practically bugged outta her head. “What! I just saw that fool last night.” I got ready to tell her the story when she cut me off. “Hold up. Let me run to the bathroom first.”
I laughed as she hurried back down the hall, then sat back in the chair and brought my coffee to my lips. Last night I told Tyree I couldn't marry him. The look on his face said he was crushed, but he was good with it. He broke me off a couple of hundred, promised to scoop up Miasha after church on Sunday so they could go visit his mother, then left. As much as I wanted stability in my daughter's life, I knew Tyree was not at all where my heart was at. I kept telling myself to take things one day at a time.
And all things shall pass.
At least I had a new job at a prestigious law firm with a heck of a salary that I truly loved. I would know by the end of the week if I was going to be offered a permanent spot. My life was slowly shaping up, yet I felt like there was a big hole in my chest.
“Okay, okay!” Tiffany waved her hands, grinning from ear to ear as she hurried into the kitchen. “Now tell me, what happened?”
Laughing, I shook my head. Thank the Lord for small favors. My best friend had come a long way in a few short weeks. “Well, it seems some female came forward with a necklace Kimbel had given her three years ago. I guess they've been slowly building a case against him. The police finally got a search warrant for his house and found all kinds of items he'd been stealing.” I shook my head. “You lived with that man all that time and had no idea what was going on.”
“I know. It's crazy!” Leaning against the counter, Tiffany told me about the exchange the two had outside the bathroom. I almost fell out my seat. Did he really think she would be stupid enough to take him back?
“That man is like a character off one of those soap operas. Thank goodness you weren't still living there, because the police would have gone through all your stuff.” I guess herpes wasn't the only thing Kimbel was giving females. Thank goodness she didn't marry that fool. “Sooooo . . . how was your date with Baughn?”
“Our date was wonderful.” Tiffany took a seat at the kitchen table across from me and gave the intimate details of her evening. I could tell by the smile on her face she really liked this Jamaican dude, and that was definitely a good thing. After that fiasco with Kimbel's STD-carrying ass, my girl deserved to be happy.
“When are you going to see him again?”
“I'm driving to Indianapolis to see him in two weeks.” She was grinning like she had just won the lottery. “It's just hard to believe I flew all the way to Jamaica to meet a good man who lives right here in the States. He has no kids, a job, he's educated, and his family is rich. What more can a girl ask for?”
“I think you covered it all.” I rose to refill my coffee cup. “You want some pancakes? I was gonna make some for me and Miasha.”
She nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
I reached for the box of Aunt Jemima, then looked over and noticed Tiffany was looking at me funny. “What?”
“Are you ever going to forgive Chauncey?”
I frowned. Why did Tiffany have to ruin a wonderful morning by bringing his ass up? “Yeah . . . at the same time you decide to forgive Kimbel.”
She gave me a don't-go-there look. “One doesn't have anything to do with the other and you know it. Kimbel lied to me in a different way. He put my life in his hands.”
“And Chauncey put mine in his.”
She shook her head like I was the one being ridiculous. “I bet you never bothered to even find out what really happened. Did you?”
“I already know what happened. I read the charge. Chauncey raped some teenage girl.” Just thinking about it made me shiver. How could a man take something when there were so many hoochies out there giving it away for free?
“Candace, Chauncey had just turned twenty-one. He was out celebrating with his boys when he met this girl at the club. She told him she was twenty-one. It wasn't until he was arrested that he discovered she was only sixteen.”
“And that's supposed to make it okay?”
Tiffany shook her head. “No, I'm not saying it does. But you know good and damn well how many times we used to sneak in the club with fake IDs and pretend we were legal. I remember that one time we met those college basketball players and they bought us free drinks all night. Yo hot ass even went back to the dorm with one of them. The entire time he thought you were legal.”
I mixed the pancake batter and thought about what she said. Chauncey was starting to sound less like a rapist. If the girl had indeed lied, how was he supposed to have known? Why couldn't he have just told me that? I lowered my eyelids and sighed. I guess I hadn't given him a chance.
“Candy, just think about it, you could have ran home to Papa and told him ole boy raped you, and guess what? He would have been behind bars for sleeping with a minor. C'mon girl, it happens all the time. What's a muthafucka to do . . . ask every woman he meets for ID? And even if he does, how's he supposed to know if it's real?”
Tiffany's words hit me like a ton of brinks. The more I mixed the batter the worse I began to feel. Had I really made a mistake by ending my relationship with Chauncey without first giving him a chance to explain? Damn! He had tried so hard to get me to listen, but I refused to hear a word he had to say. “I guess I messed up.”
Nodding, she agreed with me. “Yep, you did. And you better get it together quick. This light-skinned chick who just started at the salon last week has been on him something tough. I think they went out for drinks last night.”
“What?” My head whipped around.
Tiffany sat back on her chair, the expression on her face serious. “You don't want him and someone else does.”
I rolled my eyes. I knew I was being selfish, but I wasn't ready yet for anyone else to have him. “I thought he was suspended?”
“Noelle let him have his job back. Not that she had much of a choice. Nobody does feet like he does,” she added, with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.
I hated to admit Tiffany had been right all along. I was going to regret letting Chauncey go. Here I was jealous; jealous because everyone was spending time with him but me. Now that I knew the truth, I was all set to track him down and tell him how sorry I was.
“He should be at the salon today.” Tiffany rose. “Make me two pancakes. I'm going to go and start getting ready.”
I watched her leave, then made breakfast. After I fed Miasha, I took a hot shower and got ready myself. Thank goodness it was the weekend, because I was on a mission. I dressed in a short pink Baby Phat dress, then slipped on white sandals and a matching white belt. Around ten, I dropped Miasha off at my parents. They were planning to take her to the zoo today, which was a good thing since I had something important I needed to do.
I stepped into the salon. It was loud in there as usual for a Saturday morning. Tiffany spotted me, smiled, then pointed to the back. It was now or never. I moved toward the break room. Noelle smiled and waved.
“Thanks so much for hooking me up with a babysitter. Your parents are wonderful!” she called over at me.
“No problem. They love doing what they do.” I kept it moving and stepped into the break room. Chauncey was sitting down and some tall chick was standing over him grinning. She had her chest stuck out and was puckering her greasy lips. Anybody could tell she liked what she saw. She might as well back the hell up because I came to claim mine.
Chauncey looked surprised, then disappointed to see me. “Whassup, Candy?”
Ol' girl must have heard of me because her head whipped around and she gave me a you-move-you-lose kinda look. There was no way I was letting her have what was already mine.
“Hey, Chauncey. Can I holler at you for a sec . . . in
private?
” In other words, hussy you need to get to stepping.
“Sure. Heaven, can you give us a minute?”
She looked like she wanted to say no and had straight attitude, but she did the right thing and left us alone. However, once she was gone and we were all alone, I started getting all nervous and shit.
Chauncey rose and leaned back against the weight of the vending machine. “So whassup?” he said all nonchalant, like he no longer had feelings for me. I couldn't blame him. When he needed me most, I had turned my back on him.
I took several deep breaths before finally saying, “I came to apologize.”
“For what?” Chauncey was acting like he had no idea what I was talking about. I guess I deserved that.
I didn't know where to start. “For everything. I should have listened to what you had to say. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you.” My voice was shaky and I hated sounding so weak.
He looked at me without an emotion in sight and folded his arms. “You're right. You shouldn't have. I've been judged all my life. My mother turned her back on me the one time I needed someone the most, and then I try to start over a new life and yet I'm judged again.”
I took a step forward. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But I was scared. I have a little girl and just hearing sex offender with all the crazy stuff going on in the world, I panicked and ran, and I'm sorry for that.” He just stood there looking hurt and there was nothing I could say to fix things. “That's all I wanted to say. In time, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” I was hurting inside and ready to cry because I knew I had lost him forever. I swung around and headed through the door.
“It wasn't all your fault.”
I held my breath, then slowly turned around and waited for him to continue.
“I should have been honest with you from the beginning and explained to you my past. My bad. I was wrong for that. If you're gonna be my wife, I have to learn to keep it real wit you.”
“Your wife?” my voice cracked.
He flashed a gorgeous smile. “C'mere.” He held out his hand to me. I took it and he pulled me against him. “I love you, girl.” It was a long time before I stepped back and wiped my eyes. “I wanna build something solid with you.”
“And I want to—”
Chauncey pressed a finger to my lips. “Wait a minute. Let me say something first. Candy, I was wrong. I should have told you the truth. I was nervous if you knew the truth about me you wouldn't have given a brotha a chance. I just didn't want to lose you.”
I was shaking my head. Tears were rolling down my cheek, but I didn't care. “It's okay, boo. I shouldn't have gone off the way I had. I should have given you a chance to explain in private. But now none of that matters. I love you. I never stopped loving you.”
“I love you, too. And as soon as we both feel we're ready, I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.” He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to mine, and there was no question how he felt. I was never letting him go and as soon as the time was right, you better believe I was marrying him.
“Chauncey, your eleven o'clock is here!” Tiffany called from the doorway.
His eyes never left mine. “I'll be out in a second. Right now, I'm handling my business.”
Ooh! I loved the way that sounded.
47
Noelle
Seven months later
“Wait! I forgot something.”
Grant put the car back in Park. “Baby, hurry up. I hate to miss the big occasion.”
I playfully rolled my eyes. “Yeah . . . right.” I knew good and damn well my husband hated weddings. I climbed out the car and hurried back into the house. I had forgotten Chauncey and Candace's gift.
It had been the buzz in the salon all week long. Candace and her wedding party came in for the royal treatment. I spent the past two days plucking eyebrows and doing body waxing. Tiffany was the maid of honor, so I had the luxury of doing her hair and the three bridesmaids, while she hooked up her best friend's hair and Miasha's for her big day. I had to lock Chauncey out the salon just to keep him away. Those two were so in love. They were the reason why Grant and I were still together.
With Chauncey, I learned something about forgiveness and second chances. Chauncey had it hard. His mother and so many other people turned their back on him because of a mistake he made in his past. I realized that I was doing the same thing to Grant. He made a mistake messing around with Lucy, and yes, it was hard knowing he slept with another woman, but it was during a time when our marriage had fallen apart. However, I was confident that when we got back together and found out I was pregnant with Scott, from that day forward we were totally committed to each other. I would be a fool to condemn him for something he had done in the past. Yes, he should have told me Lucy was pregnant instead of trying to hide her pregnancy by giving her the money for an abortion. It still hurt me to know that she had given him the daughter I would never have; but in the time I have known Amber, she had become everything I could have ever hoped for. She still hasn't forgiven her mother for leaving Sierra on our doorstep. But she has opened up her life to me and Grant. We get to see our granddaughter whenever we want. She is currently stationed at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Indiana, which is about a four-hour commute. And we look forward to the drive. We had invited the two to spend the Christmas holiday with us, and the holiday would have been perfect if my son had been there.
Whitney and Michael had Christmas dinner with us. He was such a beautiful baby with those gorgeous gold-green eyes and that family birthmark. There is no doubt in my mind who his father is. Too bad Scott doesn't feel the same way. He had no intention of being a father to his child. According to him, he had been tricked, and since he hadn't wanted a baby in the first place, then he doesn't feel he should have to take any responsibility. It's so sad. Whitney is heartbroken that Michael may never have a father. Grant couldn't even talk any sense into Scott. Like I said before, the kid was spoiled. We decided since he wanted to be grown and make grown man decisions, then he could learn how to make it on his own. We cut him off financially and haven't spoken to him in over four months.
For the sake of my grandson, Whitney and I had worked on strengthening our relationship. I kept Michael for her whenever she needed a babysitter and she called me when she needed parenting advice. I don't know if our relationship can ever be the way it was, because betrayal is a powerful thing, but I have learned that forgiveness and second chances are important, especially when it involves the people you love most.
I grabbed the beautiful wrapped gift from my bedspread and hurried out the house to my devoted husband, who was patiently waiting in the driveway. “Okay, I'm ready,” I said, and closed the car door.
“You sure you got everything this time?” Grant asked with that gold glitter in his eyes.
“If I forgot anything, I can buy it when we get there.” I put the gift on the back seat beside my tote bag, then leaned over and pressed my lips to his. As soon as we leave the wedding reception, we're heading to the airport. Finally, we were taking that trip to Aruba.

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