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Mario was a single bastard, living life on the edge. He cruised the clubs at night just to tell single, horny females he was a big shot lawyer so they’d sleep with him. None of them ever saw his place or knew where he lived. He would always suggest going back to their place. It kept down confusion and if one of them ever got clingy, they had no way of contacting him. It made me wonder if he was ever going to find a wife. So he always automatically assumed someone was supposed to fuck a chick in the first thirty seconds of speaking to her. But, this was not Saturday night at some rinky-dink ass club and Ashley was not simply any chick.

“Bro, if you hit that shit and don’t give me the play by play, I swear our friendship ends here.” Mario slapped my shoulder.

“Dude, what are you sixteen?”

“No…seventeen.” He stared blankly into my face. “Chino, just don’t forget to call me and tell me what happened. Hell, you owe me that much since I’m the one who set you two up.”

“I will man. But, don’t expect any hot hardcore steamy sex ’cause I told you how I felt about that.”

“Yeah, you told me. But, what you need to do is take that chick to a hotel room and get your dick wet for like, um, twelve hours. Then call me and let me know you hit that. I’ll even help you pack that devil girl’s shit and move it out of your house so your true girl can move in.”

“Dude! Aren’t we moving just a little bit too fast here?”

“Never too fast when it comes to the dick, bro. Now go get her.” He patted me on the back as I confusingly walked out the door. "Go get your dick painted with Ashley's saliva, bro."

“Something is seriously wrong with you, Mario.” I couldn't do shit but laugh.

Starla

Because of my insurance, the doctor told me she could squeeze me in whenever I decided to come and talk to her. Thank God for Blue Cross Blue Shield. She said that my situation proved critical and she needed to see me right away. Said the sooner we began working the better. Her busy season was about to start and I would have had to wait weeks or months just to get a spot. I told her I would come in today. The doctor made it seem like it was a life or death situation, once I finished the description of my tribulations.

She wouldn’t even allow me to spill the whole “I’m feeling sorry for myself” routine. She was adamant that she could help me fix my marriage with no problems and have us back in love within weeks. Weeks. It seemed too good to be true as does all things that sound like quick fix scams. Nevertheless, I hung up from her quickly. Thumbing over her website again, I jotted down her address on a yellow Post-It and stuck it on my black Gucci tote. Without even thinking about showering from the previous night’s activities, I grabbed my purse to head for her office.

“Hello?”

“Don’t hello me like you don’t know who this is girl. Where you at?”

“Brian, I can’t talk right now. I’ve got some things that I need to do today. I can’t see you.” Panic began to set into my soul.

“Huh? You telling me no?”

“Listen, I have to get back to my job and start getting myself together. I need to get back on track. You don’t want a broke chick who can’t do anything for you right?” I prepared that lie in my head as fast as the words spat from my mouth.

“No, you know I don’t. But, it’s the weekend and you ain’t shit but a damn secretary. Besides ain’t your job closed on the weekends?” He asked suspiciously.

“Not necessarily. Sometimes when they have big cases, they stay open twenty four seven. Lawyers never sleep.”

“Hm. Well that may sound good and all but I need you to come and cater to your man. I need some of that good good girl and Trina need that ass too.”

“Brian…ugh. I can’t okay. I just can’t right now.”

Confidence radiated through my blood. If someone stood too close they would probably get smacked with it. I was bigger and better. Simply taking control of the conversation made me feel ten feet tall if I was a foot. There was a long pause on the phone. It was uncanny like a murder’s prank call. Without a doubt, it sent chills up and down my spine. I could not tell whether he was stark raging mad or if he was calm, cool, and collected simply processing the information I had given him.

The background was filled with the sounds of his trunk, beating bass louder than the lyrics along with the chatting voices of some people. People whom were probably his friends listening in while he had me on speakerphone. I hated that and was not impressed. It was his way of trying to embarrass me. It seemed the more I gave into Brian’s advances, the more he treated me like shit and I was dog-tired of it.

“I need you to come and meet me at the spot, Starla. I’m not gonna tell you again.”

“Brian, you’re some sort of sex addict who needs hel—“

“Now, Starla! Get your ass in that car and drive your pretty little light skinned ass the fuck over here. Don’t make me tell you again. Are you trying to embarrass me or something? Huh?”

“Embarrass you? Embarrass you in front of whom? How am I embarrassing you?”

“By being defiant. You know I don’t like an old disrespectful bitch.”

“Fine, Brian, fine. I’ll give you want you want and just put my business on hold for you. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Now that’s what the fuck I’m talking about and you can keep the attitude where the hell it’s at. Leave that shit at home ’cause we ain’t got no room for it here.” He hung up the phone.

The aura after the call told me that he was snarling as he finished his sentence. He was the epitome of an asshole and it bothered me that I was only seeing it now. People should come with a warning label attached to their asses. One that says, “Hey, I might be defective later on down the line”. He used to be sweet and kind. He used to talk to me with the highest level of dignity and respect. Now, the only word I could think to describe him was, asshole. I was tired of jumping to his every beck and call and was ready to get back to whom I used to be, the old me.

I grabbed my purse and keys before trotting out to my Benz. Angrily, I tossed my purse in the back seat. Something inside of me told me that the first step in the right direction was to come clean to my husband. If I was going to salvage this marriage I was going to need to air out my dirty laundry. I started the car and pulled off with only one thing in mind.

I needed to talk to Chino about my faults, in order to get him to want to try to work on his as well. I should have told him what I was thinking, this morning before he left, but his kiss threw me off. It seemed desperate and so not like him. My reaction was not ideal but I wasn’t expecting him to catch me off guard that way.

“What the fuck could you be doing that’s so important that you can’t answer the phone?” Rage filled my thoughts.

His phone kept going to voicemail. He was clearly upset when he left so rightfully I was being punished. Anger filled my face, nearly churning a red shade on my face. He was purposely ignoring my calls, which made me not even want to reconcile with him if I had to continue to put up with his childishness. Okay, maybe it wasn’t childish since I probably deserved every bit of shade he was throwing my way.

It was just annoying that he didn’t want to speak to me. I don’t usually call his phone so he had to know this call was of some importance. I tried his phone one last time and got nothing yet again. It was time to take action. I had to get Chino to listen one way or the other. Therefore, the doctor and Brian would just have to wait. Besides, Brian was about to get some funky day old pussy that he had just had no less than a few hours ago. He was nasty like that anyway so he probably did not even care.

Rather than wait on him to answer his phone, I made my way up to the gym where Mario worked out. Luckily it was one that was associated with the firm so it was easy for me to find and locate. Women’s intuition told me that if he were to do anything, it would be at the aid of his friend. Mario frequented the company gym and Chino would never go to a place he detested alone. They had to be together. I started thinking about how I would get him out of there. In case the conversation escalated to new heights, I couldn’t very well speak to him with everyone watching. The entire firm did not need to know what was going on in our household.

I turned into the Planet Fitness parking lot, parking as close to the door as I could without being noticed. My thinking was off from the drugs I had indulged in the night before. I was trying to pull it together as I watched people exit the gym, seemingly refreshed from a great workout. Time went by slowly, as every tick tocked on the clock in my dashboard. The muscles in my ass were falling asleep so badly, that I thought I might get out of the car and frighteningly ask someone to discreetly go in and get him.

A marching band was going to work in my head and I was the damn base drum. Oh wait, that was the damn headache that plagued me for the last three hours. My chest was like lava and the eruption was my heart palpitations going nuts. It was then that I realized that it wasn’t nervousness that had gotten me itching like crazy. It was that I needed to go see Brian about some smokes really badly.

Anxiety showed me that I was no match for a drug so powerful. The side affects that my body was experiencing were of another world, something extraterrestrial. My mouth watered, not even alerting me to the drool forming puddles in the crevices of my mouth. There was a craving something awful in the pit of my stomach and I could not shake it to save my life. Splitting my brain as to what to do for a few minutes, I squinted catching a glimpse Mario exiting the building headed towards his car.

My eyesight appeared to be diminishing as well and even still, there was no sign of my husband. My hands scoured my hair as if I was some sort of pet cleaning himself, checking my rearview mirror, making sure I looked presentable. My confidence returned as I exited the car and strolled straight up to him. His eyes immediately sealed with mine. They read of judgment and confusion. Albeit, I had not cleaned myself in a day, however, he was looking at me like I was a old homeless crack head begging for change. He looked as if I was the scum of the fucking Earth, diseased, and if I touched him he would contract whatever it was he thought I had.

“Starla?”

“Yeah, where’s Chino? Where’s my husband?” I breathed heavily dancing around in one spot like I needed to check into a bathroom to relieve my bladder.

“I don’t know but damn girl! What the hell happened to you? Are you okay? Do you need me to call somebody…or something?”

“No! No. I just need for you to tell me where my husband is dammit.”

“Um, like I said before, I don’t know but if I see him I will definitely tell him that you’re looking for him.” Mario walked around from the trunk to the driver’s side of his car and it was only then that I noticed that I hadn’t seen Chino’s car anywhere in the lot. “You might wanna go home though and do something about…well, you just might wanna go home girl.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. Alright? I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. I just haven’t been home all night and I haven’t showered or nothing okay.” My neck itched like something out of this world was irritating it. I had to scratch it.

“You haven’t been home huh? Well the best advice I can give you is to simply go home then, Starla. You might want to start spending more time there before you lose your family. You know?” He crossed his arms.

“What? You know what’s been going on, don’t you? He’s been talking to you. I can see it all in your eyes. Of course he’s been talking to you, you’re his best friend. Must be nice to have that one person you can go and talk to about anything. I, on the other hand, have no one. No parents, no siblings, just me. I don’t even have any so-called friends. All those cackling bitch wannabes, trying to take what I got and fuck my man.” Tears flowed from my eyes irrepressibly as I rambled.

“Okay, slow down for a second. Geez. Since I’ve known you for a number of years, I’m gonna give you some real advice. Get your life together and get back on the straight and narrow. I understand your daughter died but people die. That’s apart of life. You can’t let it rip your life out of socket. You just gotta get up and move on. It’s what Kenya would’ve wanted and just remember you’re not the only one hurting in all of this, Starla.” Mario touched my shoulder gently.

“Please just tell me where my husband is so I can fix it, so I can fix us.” I cried.

“Honestly, Starla, even if I knew where he was, I wouldn’t tell you. That man needs a chance to breathe. You’ve been hurting him really bad this past year and some months and I’ve allowed him a shoulder to lean on. Where was your shoulder for him, for your husband?” He paused seemingly waiting on a response. “I can’t, in good faith, betray him for the person who has been doing him wrong. Sorry.” He opened his car door. “And, go home and fix yourself up a bit. You look like hell, girl.”

“Mario! Mario!”

He got into his black BMW and revved it up, as if to let me know that he was backing out of the parking space whether I moved away from his car or not. The man was treating me like shit and I could not even deny that I deserved it. It took for him to put me in my place for me to see the actual damage I had caused in my marriage. Was it too late for us? Had I fucked Chino up so badly that he would never forgive me? I had been treating my husband like shit, even though all he wanted to do was love me and help me get over the loss of my Kenya.

What have I done? Oh Lord, what have I done? And, the fact that Mario said he would not betray Chino, only furthered the fact that he was out with some young hood rat getting the fix that he deserved. He was out receiving the very fix that I had been depriving him of. Chino has had plenty of bitches in the past. It was hard for me to believe that he hadn’t cashed in on any of those checks yet. Visions of him with someone else broke my heart in tiny unfixable pieces. Some bitch had to be riding the fixes out of him.

Speaking of fixes, I needed to go find one of my own before I threw up all over the concrete. As I entered the Benz, my phone blew up like it was about to explode from all the damn ringing. It had been more than two hours since I last spoke to Brian. I blankly stared at the screen figuring he was obviously losing his mind from my absence. It was rather cute in a way.