CheckMate 4: Winner Takes All (2 page)

“Damn,” he said with a disappointed shake of the head as he lay across his bed. His head was banging and his heart was aching. He didn’t know if it came from the lethal combination of being stung twice by the two women he trusted more or if it was the unpleasant blows that he and his cousin passed back and forth from what he now was hoping was just a misunderstanding. All he knew was that feeling like this wasn’t a good feeling at all.

He took in a deep breath and sighed then looked down at his phone as it buzzed indicating a text message had come through. He shook his head upon seeing who it was.

“I don’t wanna be bothered with you right now,” he said out of pure disgust, but then opened up the message to read it.

Please answer your phone. We need to talk. I don’t know where Chad came from, but I was in just as much of a shock as you were. Call me back or answer your phone. MiKayla

Monty threw his phone over beside him. She had him fucked up if she thought that he would be competing with some dead fiancé or husband of hers. That shit wasn’t going to happen. He looked towards his room door, hearing footsteps coming up the stairs. He already knew who it was and only could brace himself for what he was about to hear.

“Monty,” Catherine called out as she got closer to his room door.

“Do we have to do this right now?” He questioned not really in the mood.

“Boy, don’t you start that shit.” She said as she entered his room.

I knew that I should’ve closed and locked my room door.
He thought while shaking his head.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” She instantly asked. Even though she bailed him out, he chose to catch Mona back to the house since she was driving Brendon back to retrieve his things from the hotel that he’d gotten kicked out of because of the fight. “Brendon told me what happened.”

“Yeah, and what was that?” He anxiously questioned with a befuddled raise of his eyebrows.

“He told me that you came to his room trying to talk about something that happened with MiKayla, but before you could get it all out, Candy came out of the bathroom and you lost it.”

Monty chuckled with sarcasm. “Oh so that’s what he said?”

“Yes, why?” she asked with her arms folded indicating that she didn’t like what had gone down at all. “Didn’t you talk to him yourself?”

“No, but I know what I saw. The look on Candy’s face and him standing there with nothing but some boxer shorts on told me differently.” He said with an unwavering tone.

Catherine could see the hurt in his eyes as she sat down at the foot of his bed. “Son,” she said knowing him better than he knew himself. “Brendon did tell me what happened and I told him that I wouldn’t lie to you about any of it. I love him just as much as I love you. That’s my sister’s child and he means the world to me just like you do. I don’t want y’all bickering and fighting like this. I say that to say this; you can’t get mad when things have gotten out of your control. The truth is that, he and Candy didn’t have sex regardless of how she was looking or what he had on.”

Monty shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know, ma. I think that something did happen.” He disappointedly said.

“I’m not going to say or even try to convince you that nothing at all happened. However, I do believe Bren when he said that he didn’t sleep with her out of respect for her and you.”

Monty hissed under his breath with attitude. “What is that supposed to mean?”  

“Means that if you want to be with Candy then you need to get your shit together or you can’t be mad if she chooses to move on.” She bluntly stated. If nothing else, Catherine would speak the truth whether they liked it or not. She never sugar coated anything unless it was the rim of her glass filled with a mixed drink of strong Margarita.

“But with my cousin? Damn ma, that’s your nephew.” Monty quickly responded like he’d gotten pissed off. “That’s foul as hell. Who does that?”

“Watch your mouth,” Catherine reminded him.

“I’m just saying, ma. How can she do something so nasty? How can she even think about sleeping with my cousin, my own flesh in blood? That shit is unheard of.”

“No son, what should be unheard of is a woman taking unnecessary shit off of a man and continuing to put up with it. Candy is young and she’s going through an emotional time in her life. Have you ever sat back and really thought about how she feels about all of this?” she questioned, but continued. “You practically moved on with MiKayla and left Candy hanging with a baby.”

“I take good care of my son and I spend a lot of time with him.” He shot her way like that was supposed to mean something.

“And I’m very proud of you for that, but that doesn’t mean that it lessens the pain that Candy is carrying around seeing that you’ve moved on. That girl has been through a lot, a whole lot. Her father is dead and gone. Her mother is incarcerated for taking his life all because he was cheating on her. Does that not strike some kind of emotion in you? You can’t possibly think that she’s okay with you moving on and her not attempting to do the same so that she’s not caught up in these unresolved feelings.”

“Well, I don’t care who she moves on with. It just better not be with my cousin.” He bluntly interjected.

“Can you blame her?” Catherine asked. “All she knows is you. Brendon is so much like you. Your demeanors are the same, your smiles are the same, those witty personalities are the same,” she reminded him. “You’re just a darker skin tone and have a little more muscle. Oh and your eyes are tighter.” She grinned to lighten the conversation. “But, that’s really it. It’s no wonder that she’s attracted to him.”

“But we aren’t the same. I’d never look at any of his girlfriends like that; especially a baby mama. Some things are off limits.” He angrily stated.

“Some things are out of your control,” Catherine told him. “You’ve not given Brendon a reason to think that Candy was off limits. He is one man looking at another man messing up a good thing. He sees the good in Candy and he also recognizes her pain. Seems to be something that you’ve not thought about in a long time,” she said.

Monty frowned. “Ma, I’m not saying that some of the things that you are saying aren’t right, but are you listening to yourself? Whose side are you on? You know this is wrong.”

“It’s not about what’s wrong, son. If we were going by what was wrong we wouldn’t be having this conversation, because you’d be somewhere with Candy trying to make it right. You can’t expect a woman to sit around and not get involved with anyone else, cousin or not. I can’t sit here and say that I’m happy about it, because I’d love nothing more than for you to get yourself together and go get your woman. However, you’ve allowed another into your space simply by just not being there yourself. Unfortunately, that person happens to be your cousin.” Catherine straight out told him.

Monty looked up at her. His small, slanted eyes seemed lost and hurt. Being in denial had run its course and the deep feelings of being hurt had started to set in.

“Apparently, Bren and Candy have been spending a little time together and have gotten close. The way they initially met wasn’t what you’d think, because neither of them even knew anything about the other nor did they know that you existed in either of their lives until later.”

“So, what you’re saying is that at first they just met and instantly liked each other?” He curiously asked.

“Yeah, something like that,” she responded.

“Then they should’ve stopped liking each other when they found out that I was in the picture.” He shot back.

“Had you been showing signs that you were a part of the picture then maybe they would have.” Monty just looked at his mother with skepticism of what she was saying. He couldn’t believe it. “Don’t look at me like that. You have made your bed very hard and now you have to lie in it.”

Monty regretfully shook his head. “How can I ever even look at them the same? I don’t even want to go around them right now and that’s kind of hard since Candy is my son’s mother. As long as Bren’s not coming here then we can stay clear of each other, but at some point, I’m gonna have to see Candy just because of our connection to MJ.” He said speaking of their baby boy.

“And, at that point you need to sit down and talk to her.”

“I don’t want to.” He said in a bothered tone.

“Son, there were secrets held behind your back from the people that you loved, but at some point you have to learn to move past it or realize that you can’t change it. For the most part, you can’t put the blame on them without also being real about your actions and what caused it all. You’ll be okay. I know you’re confused and hurt right now, but you’ll be okay.” She patted him on the leg then stood up. “At some point you and Bren need to talk too. He is your cousin and even though you’re in your feelings, you know that he has nothing but love for you.” Monty’s sad eyes glanced her way, and then he dropped his head back down as she continued. “You also have a lot of love for him. The both of you are gonna have to find a way to get past this.” She then switched gears before leaving. “Wanna share with me what happened with MiKayla?”

“Nah, I’m done with that.” He nonchalantly stated.

 “Okay, well I’ll leave you to your thoughts.” She said as she softly smiled at him to let him know that she was there if he needed her, and then she exited his bedroom.

As Monty lay there in a somber daze, his phone buzzed indicating that he’d gotten another text message making him quickly think,
I have nothing to say to you, MiKayla.
No sooner than he could get that out, his phone buzzed again.

“Damn!” he irritably stated then grabbed his phone. He opened it up and seeing the name, Baby Mama, on the unopened envelope caused his heart to ache. Never in a million years did he think that Candy would hurt him the way that she had. He disappointedly shook his head while opening up the envelope to read the message.

I’m sorry about earlier and hope that you’re okay. Mona told me that she was the one that took you home. I just want us to sit down and talk about this. We can be adults about it. It doesn’t have to be this way. Call me when you’re ready to talk. Candy

Reading her message didn’t really give him much closure nor did it make him any closer to what was really going on with her. Had she started falling for his cousin? Had time run out for him to get his act together? Was she finally over putting up with his shit? Those questions and more had him sick to his stomach. There was a time when a young woman named MiKayla had distracted him from his main priorities. However, things had quickly changed, and in his case, not for the better.

Monty stared at his cell phone wanting so badly to call and talk to Candy. Knowing that there was another man in her life hurt him and if he could change things, he would. He dialed her number as he stared at it on the screen of his phone. It was taking everything in him to call, but so much was emotion was holding him back.

“Fuck it.” Monty thought while gently throwing his phone over on the bed beside him. He took in an emotionally painful deep breath then let it out. He was distressed and just wanted to lay there and wallow in his misery. “Fuck it,” he said again, and then buried his head in the pillow feeling defeated.

***

 Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Mona stared at Candy who was clearly in a daze. “Hey,” Mona called out while snapping her fingers. “Yoo-hoo, back to earth, Candy gurl.”

Candy’s bright eyes widened as she snapped out of her clearly disturbed thoughts. She looked over at her best friend with a concerned look on her face. “Yes gurl,” she said feeling out of it after all that had gone down. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

“Well, I was asking what had happened. I took Monty home and dropped him off. He didn’t have shit to say about nothing. I’d never heard him so quiet in my life.” She explained. “All I know is that mama said that he and Brendon had gotten in a fight.” She then frowned as she stared into Candy’s eyes and said, “Apparently over you.”

Candy shook her head. It was already beginning to be too much.

“So, what happened?” Mona asked.

“Nothing happened,” Candy finally said. “I was there visiting Brendon when Monty showed up. I stepped out of the bathroom and there was Monty. One thing led to another and they started fighting, because your brother was upset and couldn’t handle seeing me there with his cousin.”

“Wow, can you blame him?” Mona questioned. “Did you and Bren-

“Nooooo,” Candy quickly said. “No, we didn’t have sex.”

“Thank God,” Mona chimed in.

Candy slightly turned the corner of her lip up, and then added, “But, we almost did.”