BOMAW Vol. 10-12 (195 page)

Even Mundo was forgetting all that he'd done for him suddenly.

Throwing him in a spin of bafflement was that his own sons didn't like him anymore - for the life of him, he didn't understand why? To be fair, thinking back, Darren never really had, he'd always been one to take him or leave him, a mama's boy and hey, he accepted that because he was after all, a baby - babies were for their mother's until they were big enough to hang with their dads. He, after all, took Isaac places with him, only thing with him was that he talked too much, asked a hundred questions. He put up with that easy enough, from the moment it started, he could remember only two times when he'd told him,
"Dude, shush - you talk too much!"Otherwise, he let him rattle on and on - he was much better than his own parents had been. He remembered as a young boy, he hadn't even been allowed to speak unless he was being spoken to - the same for his young brother and sisters. Thinking about his father, he amended that, it had been his mother's doing - even his father hadn't spoken much - even so, he'd turned out just fine.

Now, they were running to another man over him. No way was he letting that continue on with Shawn's son - no way! He should be angry with Crystal about that, but was he? No, he was letting that slide, even though he was left with the problem of how to turn them back in his favor! No one was thinking about that! Besides, he had to figure how to do it; he knew if he didn't, it would lesson things going in his favor to get their mother back. He tried to imagine going from now on without Crystal and he just couldn't see it. He was definitely going to get that judge to reverse their divorce, even if he had to beg. All he had left now was Crystal, and his boys. He thought about his actions of burning his mother's house down, and was starting to feel a bit of a panic over it. He'd been drunk, angry - furious in fact. She had caused all of what was going on in his life, all of it - everything going wrong was found at her door. That's why he'd gone that far - she had to know what it felt like to lose something that meant so much to you. Her home meant to her, what his home, Crystal and his sons, in it, meant to him. If he couldn't get Crystal back, where would he go? What would he do? He didn't want to be alone, he hated being alone - for too much of his life he'd relied on his parents, his mother. She'd always been there. Having gone off to college to get away from his finally, gave him a sense of freedom, a sense of being a man for once in his life - and the freedom had been wonderful. From the start, he'd always had a woman for one reason or another, before Crystal, he'd had more than one. One that did favors for him, like wash his cloths, see about his registrations for classes, make sure he had his books. She'd been cool, had liked him a lot, and had this idea in her head they were dating, or that he would be dating her, when in fact he'd been seeing another one for that. And Omiyah had been the one easiest to get in bed, and so when he felt the urge to screw and couldn't get to the others, she had always been a sure thing for him. Maybe that was the reason he fell back on her when Crystal took off on him. While the others eventually copped an attitude with him, slowly dropping off from doing him favors, she was the standby he could depend on. Crystal, his wife, had become all of them. That was one of the reasons a man took on a wife; where his mother left off, he would find a woman who could properly fill her place. He wasn't about to go through all of that all over again, when Crystal suited him just fine. Once all was repaired between them, he would remain on the straight and narrow; no one would ever have anything against him again, like they knew of Jeanine.

He pulled into the parking lot of a bar on the out skirts of town, a little out of the way bar and restaurant where mostly those from the area frequented. He sighed, she was there already looking for him, standing in the doorway, leaning and watching for him. He knew that her parents lived in the area, in fact, either her mother or her father worked in the bar, he just wasn't sure which one. He knew that her father was black, her mother was white - they were no longer together. He was aware that before college and moving in with friends, Omiyah went from living with one parent to the other depending on when one or the other got on her nerves.

He hadn't stopped fully before she was at the passenger door, climbing in, slamming the door close.

"You know what, I'm gonna tell you now, this bullshit is going to end and soon, like tonight for instance." Victor said immediately.

"Why? This is not bullshit, this is the best that it gets for you, you should be happy to even have me, because I can tell you now, Crystal is history."

Victor stared silent a moment, then dared to ask, "How do you know that?"

"I met that Ben, and talk about fireworks? Talk about chemistry? Rochelle was going on and on about him, wanting Crystal to give her the go ahead on him; that he was free for the taking. No such green light given, what does that tell you? And you giving me a hard time?"

Victor couldn't speak for a moment, his eyes gazing out of the windshield, his chest doing that hurting thing again. "Did she - say that she wants him? Anything like that?" He asked.

"No, of course not - but it was all on her face. And uh, she did divorce you."

"We're not divorced."

"Hello, she filed, took them in, Monday the judge stamped that marriage to you, case closed!"

"She needed my signature to get that done! And anyway, how in the hell could she do that when we have two sons? What about that? Judge never gave custody of them to her or me fully, that has to be done! Bullshit, we're not divorced, I have an appointment, I'm getting it reversed, period."

"WHY? It's done, get on with your life!" Omiyah argued, incredulous.

"You mean get on with you, in my life!"

"What's wrong with me?"

"As a piece of ass, nothing - I want more for me than just a piece of ass."

"Why do you always have to be so nasty with me? I treat you good, I'm here for you when no one else is! Not even Crystal treated you as good as I have, hitting on you, and you would rather have her?! Who leaves you with no respect, no dignity? What's happened to you, you used to be a guy that wouldn't take shit from anyone, but you let her walk all over you, treat you like shit, like you're treating me!"

"She doesn't treat me like shit!"

"Whatever! She ain't shit! She thinks she's better than everyone else, walking around with her nose in the air, like she's the shit! And you dumb enough to fall for it, just because you were her first one! I bet you this, you're not her only one - not now!"

"Shut the fuck up, you don't know! She's not like that, she doesn't sleep around."

"Hello-o-o, two weeks in California, with Ben? And, while I favor you,
he
is good looking as hell! You gone tell me in all that time nothing happened?"

"She was with family, her mother, his father, around people."

"Okay, fine, you believe that if you want to, I know damn well how it is."

"No, correction, you know how you are! In and out of bed begging to be fucked - like common loose pussy."

"I am not like that! I'm tired of you accusing me of sleeping around with every damn body, I have not! No, I don't claim to be a virgin! I have slept with a few guys, but not the way you make me out!"

"How many guys have you slept with? Don't lie!"

"That is none of your business!"

"Five guys? Eight guys? Ten guys? Fifteen guys?"

"I - have - not!"

"Have not what? Which one? Not fifteen? Not ten? Which?"

"Not fifteen!"

"Ah, so how many? Ten?"

"No!"

"Well how many?"

She sat stubborn, refusing to answer.

He nodded, "Yeah, so many you're ashamed to admit it. You know what, call me old fashion, call me a prick, a pig, whatever! Fact is, I'm not interested in getting serious with any chick who gives pussy to anyone with a hard dick!"

"That's bullshit! How many have you slept with, huh? What about that?!"

"I'm a guy - doesn't count."

"It fuckin' does!"

"If so, why you here? Why do y'want me? I've slept around, yeah, more than ten, more than fifteen, fuckin' did an orgy - so there! Still want me?"

She could only stare at him.

"Yes - you - do! Know why? Because I'm a guy, that's why. We're allowed to do that until we find the one that's sweet, strong, loyal and good. One that has morals and doesn't give it up just because a guys cute - like
Ben
- unlike you."

Her eyes grew moist, "I'm not like that Victor, I'm not. Just like you're looking for the right one for you, maybe I am too."

"I don't wanna hear it, I didn't come here for this, I came here to tell you to back off. Don't be out there blabbering about us, what happened; because it's not gonna happen again."

"So you expect me to just walk away, pretend like nothing happened?"

"Look, why don't you move out of town? Go to college further East - or California even. Or head South where nobody knows you; you know, that you sleep around. Start new, start fresh. But me? I - love - Crystal! She is my wife - she has my two sons and I'm getting them back."

"Not if I tell her you've been sleeping with me all this time."

"I knew you were gonna say that shit! I just knew it - you know what, I'm not gonna be blackmailed by you. If you tell her, I'm in for one hell of a time getting her back, that's for sure. But you -
you
- I will fuckin' hate you for as long as you live - as long as I live. If you were laying on the street bleeding to death and I walked up, knowing that all it would take to help you live is to add pressure, you would die! Look me in the eyes when I'm talking to you, because I want you to believe me, I fuckin' mean it! Every - word. So you fuckin' tell her, you go right ahead! But any chance of anything
ever
between us, will - be -
dead!
If you can handle that, go for it - tell her. Now get out of my car."

She sat a moment, unable to move, tears rolling down her cheeks; she looked up at him, "I love you. And after she puts you through hell, and you see once and for all, she's not for you - I'll be here, because no one, will love you like I love you. No one, and certainly not,
Crystal." She threw open the car door and stepped out, slamming it closed behind her.

Victor blew out an audible sigh of relief, he knew Omiyah, knew that she wouldn't be saying a word, she'd been following up behind him like a love struck puppy since they're first year in school together. He had back then, actually liked her, until he met a few of the guys she'd slept with; since then, nothing but disdain.

"Now, I gotta figure out how to make my wife come home."

*

Ben's fathers were grumbling, arguing, and for the most part, he was staying quiet and trying to stay out of it as they made the drive to Madison. It was getting late, and even though Jake came out of the house and joined them, he wasn't happy about the prospect of missing work the next day.

"I can see it now, we're gonna get there, and he'll be sitting up, right as rain, fine as can be, needing time alone, and here we come, charging in to his rescue, looking like idiots." Jake mumbled looking out the window as Shawn drove.

"Wanna call your fiancée, have her jump in the truck, pick you up from where I'll be dropping you off, just say the word; you didn't have to come."

"Bullshit! Somethin's wrong with him, I'm not there, I'll never hear the end, drive on Mr. Gunho-berserker." Jake grumbled, "If he is alright, I want back home, tonight! I'm not staying the whole night!"

"Like I said, call Vivian to get you!"

"Fuck you! You won't have Sylvia up and down the road, you think I'll have Vivian?"

"Get one of your boys to fetch you back."

"One doesn't have a car, one is not speaking to me, and the other one is sitting next to you!"

"Well looks to me little brother, you're hangin' with me for the night. Isn't that what you used to whine about,
'Shawn doesn't spend time with me'." Shawn announced, using a whiny brat voice for the last part.

"Ha-ha-ha! Asshole, I'm a grown man now! Ben, get a hold of Kevin."

Ben sat forward feeling around himself and realized something, "Shit! I don't have my phone on me, must have left it in the studio. Can't you call him?"