Moments of Clarity (6 page)

Sexton looked down at her with quizzically. “What makes you think this is a one night stand?”

Sasha tried to explain what she meant. “I just don't want you to think that you have to call me or anything. We're adults and know that sometimes timing is everything. Someone can be at the right place at the right time, and people shouldn't ruin it by trying later to turn nothing into something.”

“Are you trying to tell me that last night meant nothing?” Sexton moved from above Sasha and reached down for the sheet at the foot of the bed. He drew it up over their bodies. Then he moved further away from her to lie on his back.

“I'm saying no such thing.” Sasha leaned over and looked deeply into Sexton's eyes. “You were more than I expected.” She looked at him and saw his brow was still raised in question. “I mean that I have found in the past that fine men like you don't usually have a lot of conversation. Also, they're not that good in bed because they really haven't had to be. But I've been very pleasantly surprised by you.”

Sexton stared at Sasha, digesting the information she had just given him. “So you think that I'm fine?”

“Umm hmm,” she replied. “Believe me, I thoroughly enjoyed myself last night.”

Sexton did not respond. It was obvious he was doing some hard thinking because he lay very still. His next words were enunciated very slowly and deliberately. “The time we shared last night was just the tip of the iceberg, Sasha Diamond, and the fact that you could say that it would be okay if I didn't try to see you again makes me know what I need to do in order to make you count the hours until you change your mind.” He gave her a look of intense sexuality. And with single minded determination, Sexton went about the business of demonstrating to her just what he meant.

Chapter 5

A few hours later, Sexton and Sasha stood on the sidewalk next to his car. “Would you like to go out to dinner on Friday night?” he asked.

Sasha dropped her head in an effort to avoid the spell of Sexton's gaze. In the bright sunlight she felt shy as she thought of how passionate their lovemaking had been. Their bodies had moved in sync as if they had been lovers for a long time, and there had been none of the usual awkwardness that many couples experience their first time together.

She concentrated, thinking hard as she tried to remember what time her shift at work would end. “I don't know what time I will be getting off. Can I call you later and let you know?”

“That sounds like a plan,” he answered, smiling down at her upturned face. Sexton patted the cell phone in his pocket. “If you don't call me then I'm going to call you.” He took his finger and playfully touched the tip of her nose. At that moment, the harsh ringing of Sexton's cellphone broke their mood of intimacy. He looked down at the number and said, “It's Calvin.” He clicked the Bluetooth in his ear and said, “Hey man, what's up?” Then he exclaimed, “You're kidding! When? I wondered what happened to you two last night.” He was silent for a moment and Sasha could tell that he was shocked by whatever Calvin was telling him. “That's a damn shame. Of course, I'll come over.”

“What's going on? What happened?” Sasha asked, worried by the expression on Sexton's face. “Is Tiara okay?”

“Yes, that's Sasha. What do you think? I'll tell her. Goodbye.” Sexton clicked off his Bluetooth and stood looking at Sasha for a minute.

She became afraid when he remained silent. She could tell that he was trying to fathom what he had just been told. “Tiara's husband was caught soliciting a prostitute last night.”

“What? There must be some mistake.” Sasha took a step back, putting some space between herself and Sexton as if hoping that would shield her from the horrible news.

“The mistake was his. The hooker wasn't a hooker after all, but an undercover policewoman.”

She was flabbergasted, and the look on her face showed it. “Is that what people do in Boise?” And then her words got louder when her brain really began to process what she'd heard. “Is that what Peter does when he goes away on business trips?”

Sexton replied sarcastically, “He wasn't still in Boise. Dude was right here in the city. He pretended he was out of town, but he wasn't.”

“How's Tiara?” Tears welled in Sasha's eyes as she felt sympathy for the humiliation her best friend was living. “Why didn't she try to call me?”

Sexton reached over and his fingers were gentle as he wiped her tears off her cheeks. “I don't know. Calvin said that she's just staring into space, not talking,” he responded quietly.

“Then why did he ask you to come over there?” Her tears had died down to sniffles.

“Peter's on his way to the house with his brothers to get his belongings. I think Calvin wants some back-up in case things get ugly.”

“I don't see how things can get any uglier than they already are. I thought what Abdul did to me sucked, but I see there are many levels of disgust in this world.” Sasha was too heated to notice the questioning look that came across Sexton's face at her words. “I'm going with you. Let me go and grab my purse. Tiara is my friend, and I'm going to go and be with her.”

When they arrived at Tiara's house there was a small moving truck parked in the driveway. Sexton chose to park his car directly behind the rental truck, blocking the vehicle's exit. They gave each other a brief look. Sexton observed the scowl on Sasha's face as she got out and stalked towards the front of the house. He followed closely at her heels.

As they entered the foyer, they saw Calvin standing absently rubbing his bald head as he watched Peter and his brother Rufus take a mattress out of the spare bedroom. Peter's usual sallow complexion was red and blotchy from embarrassment, and he kept his head down, avoiding Calvin's angry gaze.

Even if Sasha hadn't recognized Rufus from the wedding, she would have known at once that he was Peter's brother. They each stood about five feet, six inches in height, and they appeared even shorter as they passed Calvin, who towered over them. As they passed by, Sasha tried to will Peter's eyes to meet hers, but they didn't.

Calvin beckoned them to follow him into the kitchen so that their conversation wouldn't be overheard.

“Where's Tiara?” Sasha demanded abruptly.

“She's in the master bedroom. She's almost catatonic. She says she won't come out until Peter and his brother leave,” he added quietly.

“Why is Peter taking stuff out of here? He doesn't deserve anything after what he's done to her.” Sasha whispered her words, but indignation was apparent by her tone and her body language as she stood with hands on her hips.

“He's taking only his clothes, the bedroom furniture out of the spare room and a loveseat out of the den. Everything else stays.”

Sexton shook his head from side to side. “My God! What was he thinking? He's messed up his home life for sex with a hooker.”

“Apparently before he got married that's what he did for his physical gratification, and he hasn't been able to break that habit.”

“How did Tiara find out that Peter had been arrested?” Sasha asked.

“Once he got arrested, Peter called his brother Rufus to bail him out. Rufus came up short on the bail money and called their other brother Mike. Mike said that he had the money and was on the way to the jail to bond him out. He text messaged Peter, but Tiara and Peter had switched cellphones. Peter's phone had so many roaming charges from previous trips that he took Tiara's. She got the text message that Peter was locked up and that's why we left the club like that. When we showed up at the jail, that's when we found out why he was locked up.”

“Damn!” Sasha spoke in a horrified whisper. “Can you imagine showing up at a jail to bail your husband out only to find out that he tried to pick up a hooker? Why didn't Tiara call me?”

“She's too embarrassed.”

“She's not the one to feel ashamed. She doesn't share in the blame for this mess.”

“I don't know if she's thinking straight. She's been hiding in the bedroom ever since she found out last night. When Peter and Rufus came she wouldn't come out of the room. I had to go in and get Peter's clothes and hand them out to him.”

Sasha nodded her head. “I'm going in to talk to her.”

When she entered the darkened bedroom she could barely see the Tiara. She was lying on top of the bed on her side, facing the wall. The drapes were drawn and the only light in the room was seeping in from the nightlight in the adjoining bathroom. Sasha gently sat down on the bed and lightly touched Tiara on the arm.

“Tiara,” she whispered in a soothing voice, “it's Sasha.” Then she hesitated, not quite knowing what to say. “Calvin told us what happened,” she finally said.

Complete silence was Tiara's response.

Sasha cleared her throat. “Sexton and I are here, and we want to know if there's anything that we can do.”

“Why is Sexton here? I don't want anyone to know about this.” Tiara's tone was icy, and she turned over to face Sasha.

Sasha was unnerved by the puffiness of her friend's eyes and blotchiness of her face.

“We were together when he got a call from Calvin. Calvin asked him to come in case he needed some help in dealing with Peter and his brother.”

“And who asked you to come?” Tiara glared at her.

Sasha was taken aback by the hostility of Tiara's words. “I just thought that maybe I could be of some comfort to you.”

“I know that, Sasha. I don't mean to lash out at you. I know that you're just trying to help. It's just that I didn't have a clue that this was going on. I feel so stupid.”

“There's no reason for you to feel that way. Peter said that he was on a business trip, and you had no reason to think otherwise.”

“His brothers are so stupid. They ruined my marriage because they are so damn dumb. All they had to do was to come up with two hundred and fifty dollars to bond Peter out of jail and my marriage wouldn't be over. After the way Mike blew it, he was too much of a coward to come over here and face me.”

Sasha was slow to answer Tiara making sure she chose her next words carefully. “Tiara, I agree that his brothers do seem kind of dumb, but they did not ruin your life. This is all Peter's fault. He's the one who has ruined your marriage; he's the cheat, and you need to acknowledge that. If your husband is going around soliciting prostitutes, that's a danger to you.” She waited for Tiara the full impact of her words to sink in. “I think that you should come into the hospital this week and take an AIDS test.”

There was a long silence in the room. Then Tiara began to talk so quietly Sasha could barely hear what she was saying. “You spend your whole adult life looking for a mate and you think that you've found him only to find out that it's all a sham.”

“I know. That's how I felt when I caught Abdul doing the nasty with his piece on the side.”

“That is nothing like this!” Tiara's voice rose to a high-pitched wail. “How can you equate that insignificant little episode in your life with this? The two of you weren't even married. You didn't stand in front of family and friends and pledge to be together body and soul for the rest of your lives. And you weren't humiliated for the whole world to see. My husband was caught picking up an undercover cop thinking she was a white prostitute. That she was white seems to make it all the worse.”

Sasha couldn't help saying, “Does her color really matter?” Then she added as an afterthought, “Maybe she was the only one out there.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel any better?” Tiara demanded. Animosity showed in the way she moved her head from side to side.

“No, I just want you to keep things in perspective,” Sasha explained, attempting to place a Band-Aid on an open sore. “At least you found out now and not ten years down the road.”

Tiara pointed to the empty side of the closet that had once held Peter's belongings. “Maybe you should keep things in perspective. You haven't been subjected to what I've been through since last night. Right now my husband is getting his things in order to move in with his brother.”

Sasha mentally counted to ten, knowing that Tiara was under a lot of stress and didn't realize that she was venting her anger on the wrong person. “I know that your situation is different from mine, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I was still hurt by Abdul's shenanigans. The fact that we weren't married doesn't change that.”

“I know.” And with those words Tiara began to sob. They were deep, painful sobs that rocked her body and seemed to rise from her very soul. As she cried she mumbled the words, “Why me?” over and over again.

Sasha put her arms around her friend and held her and rocked her as if she were a baby. After what seemed an interminable time, Tiara's tears subsided and Sasha gently pushed her away. She gripped her by her shoulders, shook her slightly and promised, “You're going to get through this. I'm going to make sure of that.”

Twenty minutes later, Calvin and Sasha stood at the top of the driveway as they watched Rufus slowly back the U-haul truck out, while Sexton stood at the bottom of the driveway directing him so that he didn't scrape the other cars.

After Rufus cleared the driveway, Peter inched his Cadillac STS out of the garage. With a look of longing he surveyed the house and all that he had lost. Then he backed out of the driveway and screeched off, the rear end of the car momentarily fishtailing. Sexton slowly walked up the driveway to where Sasha stood, searching her eyes for what she was thinking. Her expression was unfathomable, and he suddenly realized that after she had fixed Tiara a cup of herbal tea and left her alone in the bedroom, her conversation to him had been limited.

There was an uncomfortable silence as he drove her back to her loft. When Sexton heard the rumbling of her stomach he slid her a sidelong look. “Do you want to get something to eat?”

They had not eaten all day, yet she wasn't in the mood for a meal.

“I don't know,” Sasha replied, avoiding his eyes. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really, but I know that I have to get something. I don't have any food at my house.”

“Stop at Subway.” She pointed to the small shop a little ways up the street.

There weren't any parking places in front, and she looked at Sexton. “What kind of sandwich do you want?” she queried.

“I'll have the meatball sub and a soda.”

Sexton reached over to open the glove compartment, where she knew he kept his wallet, but she stilled his hand. “I got it.” Before he could answer she quickly jumped out of the car and went into the shop.

While he waited for Sasha to return, Sexton sat thinking about her mood. He knew that she was upset for her friend, but her behavior towards him was almost hostile. There was more distance now than there had been when they'd met over a year ago at Tiara's party. It seemed as if they'd never made love. He didn't quite know what to make of the change in her.

Sasha returned with two separate bags, and Sexton leaned over to open her door. Once inside she said, “I got you the meal with the baked Lays. They're better for your heart.”

Trying to regain the camaraderie that they had shared the night before he said, “So you're giving me orders already, are you?”

Sasha's voice was sharp. “I'm a nurse. If you don't like them, don't eat them.”

Sexton's brow furrowed and he drew in a deep breath and demanded, “What's up with the attitude?”

“I don't have an attitude,” Sasha denied.

“Yes you do. You've been behaving oddly ever since we got the call from Calvin this morning.”