A Scandalous Philly Love Story (Part 1) (4 page)

“Looks like you bought out the mall with all these damn bags you got.” I laughed a little and said, “You should have seen my girls.”

“How was your day with your girls?”

“They enjoyed their day out, we drove over to Cherry Hill Mall instead of Christina Mall. I wanted a new scene.” I couldn’t help but catch his facial expression when I mentioned Cherry Hill Mall. He started acting all fidgety and antsy.

“So, what did you do today?” I asked.

“Oh, not too much of nothing.” I looked at him sideways because I didn’t want to just come out and accuse him of anything, but he was making it hard, acting all suspicious. I started to say more, but his phone rang, and he walked out on the porch to answer his call. It was unusual for him to do that since he was in a relationship. I went to pour me a glass of wine because I had a suspicion, and I was going to get to the bottom of this. When he came back in, he looked very irritated.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Not really, something came up and I have to leave.”

“What happened? I thought we were going to spend some time together?”

“Look, Marcy, I just said something came up. I will try to come back later on.”

“Don’t bother even with coming back, I’m too tired.” He turned around and looked at me funny.

“Marcy, I promise to make this up to you somehow,” he stated. “It’s just that something real important came up, and it needs my undivided attention.

“Don’t you mean someone needs your undivided attention?”

“Why is that I have to sit here and argue with you? And who the hell are you to question me? I’m a grown ass man.”

“Well, just take your grown ass on, and don’t worry about making anything up to me or about coming back, period.” I turned to walk away and he grabbed my arm. I snatched my arm away.

“Whoa! Marcy, look, I apologize for getting snappy, but I’ve had just about enough of people questioning my whereabouts or what I’m doing. Now, I said I would make it up to you.” He went to hug me and kissed me on the forehead and left.

Chapter 7

Eric

“I’m on my way now. I don’t appreciate you giving me any ultimatums. We have been over this before. We spent the whole day together shopping, and I even spent the night with you. We’re not a couple. You can’t go getting attached or upset when I spend time with Marcy. I’m going to tell you like I told her and Cyn; I’m a grown ass man, and I come and go as I pleased. I’m not committed to anyone. Plus, you know my work schedule is very demanding.”

“Eric, all I’m asking for is a little more of your time.”

“Well, Dre, if what I’m giving isn’t enough, then maybe you should find someone else. What more do you expect of me?”

“Just open the damn door, I’m outside.”

“Look, I can’t keep running over here every time you want company. You’re starting to act like a damn female, always wanting my attention. I suggest you get a damn pet if you need companionship,” he growled, as he handed me a glass of cognac. He leaned in to take off my jacket.

“Why don’t you just relax, Eric? I prepared a wonderful dinner for the two of us. I made your favorite: pot roast, potatoes, carrots, mac and cheese, and some greens. I just wanted to spend quality time with you before I leave for a conference in Dallas.”

“That’s all fine and good, but you were sounding too demanding over the phone. I was just acting that way because I couldn’t think of any other way to get you back over here, especially since we spent the day together, plus, I knew you were with Marcy.”

“That’s it; you were feeling some type of way because I was with Marcy.”

“Dre, did you happen to see Marcy or anyone who remotely looked like her in the mall?

“No, why do you ask?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like we were the only ones there.”

“Damn, just when you think you’re the only one seeking out a new scene.”

“Well, I’m sure if she saw us, she would have made a scene or something.”

“You don’t know Marcy.” I started laughing because Marcy could be a real bitch at times.

“Come on, let’s go eat this dinner before it gets cold. Did I mention I made an apple pie for dessert?”

“Well, when did you have the time to prepare all of this?”

“My little secret, but it’s delicious, so eat up.” He walked away and got our plates.

*****

“Well, Dre, everything looks scrumptious.”

“Anything to make you happy. You know what they say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

“That was very delicious, Dre. Are you ready for some dessert?” he asked, with a wink of the eye. He started clearing the table to make room for the pie.

“Dre, I can’t eat another bite right now.” I got up to go in living room to relax. He brought me another glass of cognac and sat next to me.

“Dre, are you feeling okay?” I asked. “I noticed you hardly ate all of your food.”

“Yeah, my stomach has been upset. I took some Imodium; it should subside soon. So, how long will you be in Dallas?”

“I’ll be gone for a week.” Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Dre looked startled, “I wonder who the hell that could be,” he questioned, walking towards the door. When he walked back in, behind him stood a beautiful dark skin woman with long, flowing hair.

“Well, Dre, who is this handsome person here?” she asked. I didn’t know you had company.”

“Tanya, this is my friend, Eric.”

“Hey, Eric,” she said, looking me up and down as if I were a fresh piece of meat. I stood to greet her as she took a seat on the couch.

“So, Tanya, what brings you by?”

“I was at a friend’s not too far from here and thought I would stop by. Sorry I didn’t call first, but I’m kind of glad I dropped by.”

After drinking the last of the cognac and sitting around talking bullshit for a couple of more hours, we ended up butt-naked in Dre’s room. All of us were buzzed and feeling horny. Tanya came onto me by rubbing, kissing and massaging all over a brother, while Dre was licking and sucking on her breasts. Somehow, she knew how Dre got down, and it was on from there. Tanya didn’t even seem bothered by Dre’s lifestyle; they had been friends for several years. This wasn’t her first time performing a threesome with Dre, so she was very comfortable around him. While Dre was pleasing Tanya, I was busy handling Dre. See, I was the giver, never the receiver, which was probably why Dre was so hooked on me because I had that ass whipped.

Dre and I had gotten together after our encounter at the club with Marcy. It was something about him and the way he sucked me off. He sucked my dick better than some of the women I dealt with in the past. He was the first guy I had been with sexually, but I knew I wasn’t a blade. I would never let another nigga stick shit in my ass. I was starting to enjoy my time with Dre, but he wanted too much of my time. Every now and then, we frequented the club to add a little flavor to our sexual escapade. That particular evening turned into an all-night fuck feast. Tanya couldn’t wait to get a hold of me; she had a mouth on her and she worked it like a porn star. She had my toes curling, and my eyes were rolling to the back of my head. She was right up there with Dre when it came to pleasing me orally. I felt a little tension coming from Dre because he didn’t like the attention that I was getting from Tanya. It wasn’t my fault that she had nice, round, and juicy ass.

After she sucked me off, I had to have a taste of that ass. Dre got mad and stormed off to the bathroom. Tanya was throwing that ass back at me, as she looked over her shoulders moaning and groaning, “Yeah, daddy give it to me!” After fifteen more minutes of digging Tanya’s back out, I was exhausted. Dre finally reappeared in the room with a look on his face that could kill. I didn’t pay him any attention because he was pissing me off, acting all moody. I went into the bathroom to clean up and put my clothes back on to leave. I guess Dre had been under the impression that I was  staying the night. When I came back out, Tanya had gotten cleaned up, and she came over to put a piece of paper in my hand.

“Call me if you ever want to have fun,” she offered, and she kissed me on the lips softly. She approached Dre to give him a hug, but he pulled away.

“Okay, now!” She looked at him with a smirk on her face and walked out of the room. “Have a good night!” she called out, as she was going down the steps.

It was safe to say before I left that Dre was very angry with me. He felt as though we had disrespected him in his own house.

“How could you do that to me, Eric?” he asked.

“Look, Dre, I don’t know what your fucking problem is, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself. You’re the one who got upset for no apparent reason. Look, I don’t really care to stand here and argue with you, I’m tired.

“I saw her give you something. What was it, Eric? I’m sure it was her number!” He stood there, acting more and more like a bitch, and it was starting to irk me.

“Look, you have a good trip. Call me when you return,” and I walked out of the door. On my drive home, I couldn’t believe how bitchy he was acting. You would have thought we were in a committed relationship or something. Maybe breaking him off with my ten-inch monster was sending the wrong signals. Hopefully, his week away would help him get his mind right. There was a buzz of my phone, alerting me to a text message.

Marcy:
So I guess you’re still busy?

Me:
I thought you were tired? Look I don’t have time to be playing your mind games Marcy.

Marcy:
I just thought you would have still come back after you were finish handling your business.

Me:
Good night Marcy talk to you later.

See, I had to ignore that bitch, too. All of them were starting to piss me off. They were becoming too needy and clingy. As if my life didn’t consist of stress enough already defending people. When I reached the house, all I wanted to do was take a shower and jump into bed. Putting my phone on silent, I tuned out the outside world.

Chapter 8

Dawn

I was up bright and early this morning to take my grandma to church. When I walked into the house, she had it smelling like heaven up in here.

“Good morning, grandma,” I whispered because she was on the phone. It looked as though she were having her morning prayer session for the sick and shut-in members like she did every Sunday. When she finally got off of the phone, she walked over and smacked my hands because I was looking through all of the pots.

“Grandma, you got it smelling all good in here. Can I taste some of those greens, please?”

“Chile, you going to have to wait until after church, you so greedy. You going to be big as a house the way you eat!” We both started laughing.

“Grandma, why you cook all that food? It’s just us.”

“Well, Dawn, I’ve invited your sisters over after church—and your mother.” When she turned around, I had this look of disgust on my face. I hadn’t seen my mother in almost ten years. The last I had heard, she was in rehab.

“Girl, you’re going to have to learn to forgive your mother. She was sick at the time and not in her right mind. Now, we both know the situation she put you in, and she has paid for it dearly, but if you ever want to receive any blessings, then it’s time to let go and let God. Now, you know grandma would never steer you wrong, and I love you, but it’s time to let go.” I began to cry because I couldn’t understand why my mother hated me so much that she let someone else violate me. She never showed any remorse for it, either.

“Grandma, I don’t think I can do this.”

“Yes, you can, you know why? Because I raised you to be a forgiving, understanding, loving, and respectable person. Do you think I serve an angry God? No, I serve a God who gave his only begotten son for each and every one of our sins, and he continues to bless us each and every day. If he can forgive us, then you can forgive Julia.” She came over to me and hugged me, wiping away my tears. “I love you, baby, and don’t you ever forget that,” she said.

The service was beautiful; Pastor Albright preached about blessings. My sisters were sitting a few rows behind my grandmother and I. After church, I spoke with a couple of the church mothers and Sister Albright. She wanted to make an appointment for a luncheon she was having and asked if I would cater it. I gave her my information and said we could meet sometime this week. I was surprised when I looked over and saw Cyn. She walked over and hugged everyone.

“Hey, girl. Fancy meeting you here,” she said. We both laughed. “It’s been since forever for me in the Lord’s house.”

“Well, Cynthia, you’re always welcome here,” my grandma stated.

“Let me move over this way because Cyn coming to church may burn it down,” I teased.

“Shut up, girl. You crazy, don’t pay her any mind,” Deja offered. We all busted out laughing. “How you been, Deja and Camille? It’s been a while since I saw you both.”

“I’m doing great,” said Camille.

“Wow, Deja! When are you due?”

“Girl, I have a couple of more months to go. I feel like I’m ready to bust now; this baby is tearing my body up!” As we were standing there, you could see the baby stretching either its hand or leg.

“Do you know what you’re having?”

“I told the doctor I didn’t want to know, but you know Mike had to be extra. He just had to know, so the doctor told him in the hallway.”

“Some things never change,” said Dawn, “he always had to be in the know.”

“You know it,” said Cammie.

“Well, I’m just glad to see you both, and you, too, Momma Lynn.”

“Well, baby, you know you’re always welcome over to the house. You should come with Dawn’s greedy butt when she comes over.”

“You know she’s secretive when it comes to good food!” I started mean mugging them for talking trash about me as if I weren’t standing right there. As we walked outside of the church, I saw a woman who could have passed for my twin, but an older version. She came over to where we stood and started hugging everybody. I turned to walk away, but both her and my grannie called my name. I only stopped because I didn’t want to seem disrespectful after just coming from church.

“Hi, Dawn. You sure look beautiful, sweetie. I know it’s been a long time, but I was hoping to talk with you. Is there anywhere we can go to talk?”

“Well, I did fix dinner, so maybe you all can talk at the house?” suggested my Grannie. “Would that be okay with you?”

“I guess I have no other choice; I will meet you back at the house. I have an errand to run, but I should be there within the hour.” Cammie had given Grannie a ride back home while I went to take care of my so-called “errand”. I really just needed to get away because I felt overwhelmed and I wasn’t ready to face my mother. Ever since that incident, I hated my mother for pimping me out to pay Carter off for her drugs. She was so strung out that she never had time for me. I didn’t understand why she even had me. The neglect and abuse I endured at such a young age made me feel unwanted. If it hadn’t been for my grannie and my sisters, I don’t know what would have become of me.

After leaving church, I drove around, trying to get my thoughts together. I found myself crying and screaming in my head, wondering why all of this was happening. Getting myself together, I drove over to my grannie’s. As I parked my car, Cammie came off of the porch to talk with me.

“Listen, sis, I know it’s been some time for you and mom, but she really has changed. Now, you know I wasn’t a big fan of hers, and I hated what she put you through. You know I’m the last one to be on her cheering squad, but she has done a whole 180. I can’t tell you what to think or how to feel, but I’m just asking you to give her chance and hear her out. It’s for your own good to have some closure, so you can move on with your life. You know I love you, Dawn, and I want the best for you. Now, wipe those tears, and give me hug.” I hadn’t even notice that I was crying again. Before walking into the house, my phone had rang. When I looked at the screen, a smile came across my face. It was Ant.

Me:
Hey babe!

Ant:
Hey there yourself gorgeous. How was church? Did you say a prayer for me?

Me:
It was wonderful and of course I did. I missed you this morning when I got up.

Ant:
I didn’t want to wake you when I left out. You know I had to hit the gym early. So are you at your grandmother’s?

Me:
Yeah you know I had to come get my Sunday fix. What are you doing?

Ant:
I’m going to try and get some of this work done. Don’t forget to bring me home a platter and give your grandma my love.

Me:
My sisters are here also. My grannie decided to have a surprise for me and invited my mother over.

Ant:
Wow! I know that was a big surprise being as though you haven’t seen her in almost thirteen years. Are you ok? Let your sisters know I said hello.

Me:
Yeah I’m going to be fine. I just can’t wait to get home to my adorable and handsome husband.

Ant:
Well, just go enjoy yourself and when you get here I’ll be waiting. Love you babe.

Me:
Okay love you more.

Ant had yet to meet my mother. And at this point, I wasn’t in any rush to introduce them. Let’s just say, I was embarrassed. She wasn’t invited to my wedding because she was, for one was MIA, and second, I just didn’t want his side of the family to know that I had crackhead for a mother, but I must admit, she looked very pretty and healthy. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her look so beautiful before because the drugs had taken over her life back when I knew her. She lost a tremendous amount of weight, and her face was sunken-in. She no longer kept up her appearance and just let herself go. Maybe I could get to know the mother that Cammie and Deja were used to having in their lives. When I finally walked into the house, everyone was in the kitchen, helping Grannie put the finishing touches on dinner and setting the table.

“Well, there she is,” said Grannie. “You hungry, baby? Because dinner is almost done. I’m just warming up the food and making some corn bread.”

“Girl, I don’t know where you put all that food you be eating,” said Deja, “but wherever it goes, you look awesome, baby sis. As you can see, I’m getting bigger.” My mother chimed in, “Yes, Dawnie, you look amazing.” I couldn’t remember the last time I heard someone call me that. It put a smile on my face to know she remembered that name.

“Come on, let’s all gather around the table and give thanks before we sit down and eat.” My grannie blessed the food, and we all sat down to eat. We sat down, talking and laughing about old times, which kind of made my mom feel left out somewhat. “I can’t believe I missed out on so much of my babies’ lives,” she finally spoke.

“Well, Julia, don’t you worry; you’re here now and can make new memories with them,” said Grannie.

The kitchen was cleaned, the dishes were put away, and plates were prepared to take home. It wasn’t too long before Cammie and Deja were packing up their stuff to leave. I started getting antsy because that meant that it would be just me, Grannie, and mother left. Deja waddled by and whispered in my ear to lighten up, that it was going to get better. I hugged her and rubbed her stomach. We kissed one another as she headed towards the front door. I went to use the bathroom while everybody else walked out front to say their goodbyes. When I came back down, my mother was sitting on the couch. Here goes nothing, I thought to myself.

“So, you wanted to talk?” I asked.

“Yes! Would you please join me on the couch?” I walked over and sat down as she moved in some. “First, let me apologize for not being there for you, for placing you in so many uncompromising positions. I truly was sick, baby, for letting anybody—including myself—bring harm to you. I cried every day and every night, knowing how much of a horrible mother I had been to you, but, I want you to know that I was the one who called the police that evening when they locked up Carter. I wasn’t expecting your sisters to come home when they did, but I was thankful. I had set Carter up after seeing what he did to you before. I saw the look of fear on your face, and I felt helpless. I wasn’t ready for one of us to die that day. I was scared to move, and I didn’t know what else I could have done.”

“You could have done more than what you done that day,” I said.

“But that’s why I had him come back. I knew I had to put an end to this before it got out of hand. So, I called him first, then I called the cops. I told them that my baby girl was being violated by one of the neighborhood drug dealers. I just prayed he didn’t make it too far with you before they arrived. I was glad when they locked his ass up.” I looked at her, not sure how to feel because had it not been for her addiction, I wouldn’t had been placed in that predicament in the first place.

“Dawnie, can you please forgive me? I would really like to start over and be in your life.”

“You know, you left me to fend for myself. You just left me in the house at times with no food or money. You were gone for hours, and Cammie and Deja were out and about. I felt as if you hated me for being born. You took your attitude and your anger out on me. All I ever wanted was your love, but you stayed high or drunk and had people coming in and out of house at all times of the night.” I thought I had cried all I could earlier, but here I was, bawling like a newborn baby. I was screaming and panting for breath because I was so overwhelmed. I held on to all of this hurt and pain for so many years. It just felt so damn good to let it out. I never knew she did all she confessed to having done, but it made feel as if she really did care about me—in her own way. She leaned over and hugged me for dear life. This was all I ever wanted, to feel loved by her. My grannie walked in and said, “Thank you, Jesus!” She walked over to join us in a group hug. I stayed another hour or so, catching my mother up on some of things she missed out on, like the fact that I was married, and that I owned my own catering and event planning company. She was so proud of me. She even wanted to meet Ant. She also inquired about my services for her upcoming nuptials.

My mother informed us that she was getting married to a guy who she had been dating for three years now. After glancing down at her finger, I couldn’t help but notice the big rock that sat on her finger. I must have really been blind because it was huge, and I only just now noticed it. I hugged her and congratulated her because she had truly found happiness. She spoke of her fiancé, Gerald, who was a big time radio producer. She met him not too long after getting out of rehab. I gave her my address, and we exchanged phone numbers, so we could get together. The wedding wasn’t until Dec 31st, so I had a little over seven months to plan a beautiful wedding for my mother.

I finally left my grannie’s, feeling overjoyed and ecstatic because I finally had the much-needed talk with my mother. We still had some things to work on, but in due time, we would be good. I was happy to see that Ant was still at home when I pulled up. I damn near ran in the house, calling his name. He came running up the stairs out of his man cave, all out of breath and looking crazy.

“Damn, babe, what’s wrong? You making it sound like someone chasing your ass!” he asked. He had a look of concern on his face.

“No, I’m good, just happy to be home. I missed you.”