In the Life (6 page)

Oh, niggas getting caught doing dirt can be a funny thing. I knew the exact moment in which Morris realized that his shit was out there. How? All of a sudden, my phone was ringing off the hook. He was leaving me message after message on my voicemail. The nigga even tried to be slick and call from numbers that I didn't know. I kept ignoring all calls. If it wasn't Curtis, I didn't answer my phone. Even when Jay and Brent called I didn't pick up. Morris is resourceful. He could always call one of them and ask them to three-way the call.

A couple of days went by and he called like thirty times a day. My voice mailbox was past full. I hadn't listened to any of the messages that he had left. I refused. I knew if I did, I would lose it. I probably would be a weeping mess. It was already bad that Morris had sent me five dozen flowers, a bunch of balloons, and a big white teddy bear to me through FTD. Five deliveries to my doorstep in three days. He must have FTD on speed dial by now.

"Hey wassup," Curtis said over the phone. I was fixing myself something to eat when he called.

"Nada mas. Just hooking up some chicken."

"Wait a minute. You are frying chicken and you aint let me know? I might have to come over there."

"Yeah, got some collards cooking too."

"And this is all just for you? Damn, nigga."

"Hell, I just had a taste for it so I said fuck it. Plus, I knew your greedy ass would eat some." As we talked some more, I got a beep. I looked at the phone and it was Morris. I ignored the call but, of course, he tried to call again… and again.

"Just answer the man's calls, please," Curtis said. "How much longer are you gonna keep this up? You are going to have to talk to him sometime."

"I know, but who said that that sometime has to be soon?" Oh, why did I have to say that? As soon as I uttered those words, I heard someone at the door trying to get in. My first instinct was to panic. Second impulse was to grab the butcher knife in the drawer next to me.

"Tre, it's me." I heard being called out from up front. It was Morris. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nigga, let me call you back." I hung up the phone as I saw Morris come into the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Morris didn't get too close to me. I still had that butcher knife in my hand and was waving it in his general direction as I spoke.

"Baby, you didn't answer any of my calls. I wanted to know if you are okay."

"Why should I have answered? I knew what you were going to say so why even bother?"

"But baby, if you could just give me a minute to explain…"

"Oh, what?
Let me guess." I dropped my voice and started to mimic what was sure to come out of his lying, cheating mouth. "Baby, I am sorry. I love you. You know it wasn't what it looked like. She doesn’t mean anything to me. You are overreacting." I reverted to my natural tone. "And I dare you to tell me that I am overreacting. Come on!" The knife was pointed right at him. I didn't plan on using it, but damn it was it a great prop. It was very Vanessa Williams in Soul Food, don't you think?

"Baby, please. Just calm down, baby."

"And would you stop calling me baby!" I screamed. I put down the knife and turned my attention away from him and to the chicken behind me.

"Why you gotta be like this?" He started to yell emotionally. "I love you. I fucking love you. You are my whole world. I would die for you." I turned right back to him.

"Then how about you do us both a favor and drop dead now." That comment stung him. I could see him trying to calm down and figure out what to say next.

"Look, I flew all the way back here because I wanted to talk to you. I want to make things right between us."

"Why, Morris? Tell me why you did this to me." He took a deep breath and started explaining… or lying. You know how niggas in trouble do.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. It’s not like I went out and purposely tried to cheat on you. I would never want to do that."

"Well, you did. And what is so bad about it is that I had to find out about it through a fucking tabloid. So that makes my humiliation about the whole thing even worse. Now, everyone knows you cheated on me. Everyone who I introduced you to as my man and everyone who knows how much I care about you also know that you can't keep your fucking dick in your pants. They all are probably talking and laughing about it saying how I wasn't enough for you."

"But, you are enough for me. I love you, you know that."

"Well obviously I am not what you want and I don't know shit anymore. I thought you wouldn't ever cheat on me, but whoop, I couldn't have been more wrong. So tell me… do you think about me when you are fucking her?"

"She means nothing to me. Baby, I…"

"Answer my fucking question! When you are fucking her, do you think of me? Or am I just some after thought when you go take a shower when you are done?" Morris started shaking his head. He was looking at me like I had gone off the deep end. And I can't lie… I had.

I was full of rage. All of my insecurities were feasting off of this shit and I was asking all these questions that I really didn't want answered. We all pretend like we want to know the complete truth, but can we handle it? I had just uttered a question which was a double edged sword. If he said yes, that he did think about me that would make me go off. Despite the love that we had for each other and all that we shared, he chose to sleep with someone else. And not just that, he had an outside relationship with her. He was getting something from Lailiana which I could not give him. Plus, she is a fucking superstar! How am I supposed to compete with that? And then on the other hand, if he said that he didn't think about me, I would be so hurt. I didn't even mean enough for him to even give me a thought. He probably acted on a clear conscience. So why am I pressuring him to answer this question that would break me no matter the answer? Why am I doing this to myself?

"Come here." Morris moved towards me trying to hug me. I wanted to give into his touch, but I didn't"

"Get off me." I pushed him off. He looked at me with this unreadable glare. Tears started to run down his cheeks. My own eyes started to water. I felt myself about to give into him. I saw it in his eyes how much he wanted me and how hurt he was. I knew that our love was strong and that nothing could change that. I just knew that this was just something that was a test to our relationship. All of these things were making me want to forgive him… until his phone started ringing. I heard Lailiana's song "Finally in Love" come from his phone. Of course her ring tone would be one of her own songs. Morris had this look on his face. I know he was thinking "uh oh".

"Go ahead and answer her. But you can leave while you are doing it." He ignored the ringing and tried to hug me again. A quick hand blocked him from coming any closer. With a look of defeat on his face, he left.

Chapter 10

Of all the names that I could call Morris, persistent was what came to mind first. He had called me every day like twelve times. At first, I wasn't answering his calls. However, after like day three, I caved. Truth be told, I still loved him and missed him. Hell, here I was living in his/our place and everything around me reminded me of good and happy times. So I am sorry to say that after all my efforts to stand up and be tough, I once again became putty in his strong yet sensual hands.

I had to learn to regain the trust that I once had in Morris. He had told me the complete truth about him and Lailiana. It all started when one of their love scenes became a little too hot and heavy. From there, it just barreled out of control. But now it was all over. He broke things off with her for me. He had even invited me and the gang out to California to see him on set. Jay and Brent couldn't make the trip, but Curtis went with me to see him.

The set was so chaotic. I couldn't believe all of the stars that I was seeing walk around. Curtis had to rip the camera and autograph book out of my hands before we left the hotel room. He was adamant that I was not going to embarrass him on the set. Meanwhile, when Terrence Howard walked past us, Curtis' ass was about to break out into a gallop to get to him… well, I almost did too, but that's beside the point.

The outdoors scene that was going on was something about Lailiana's character having been kidnapped and Morris was meeting with Terrence about a ransom. I couldn't believe that Morris was acting alongside of Academy Award nominees. It was so surreal. But my baby was holding his own. He was all up in Terrence's face with a gun. I don't know why, but I was getting a little turned on. I don't think that was supposed to be happening, but seeing Morris all aggressive and gangsta…. Woooooo. He was going to get it tonight.

"Hi, you all must be Morris' friends," a voice came from behind us. We both turned around to see Lailiana standing there. She was so beautiful. Her makeup was minimal, but enough to accentuate her facial features. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail. Large gold hoops dangling from her ears gleamed in the sunlight. She seemed to glow as well.

"Yes, how are you doing? We are big fans of yours. My name is Curtis and this is Tre." Curtis obviously had to be the one to speak. I was too stuck on stupid at the moment. Lailiana sweetly smiled as she responded.

"Thank you. I feel like I know you two. I mean Morris talks about you all so much. He is always talking about his boys back in Philly. He really misses you guys. You all are like his family."

"We feel the same way," Curtis added. He was doing a good job playing it cool. However, I knew that in his head he was thinking "oh my God!"

"Well, I hope you two get to come to the gathering we have tonight. It's the director's birthday and we are planning to have a little dinner for him at Dulce. It would be so wonderful of you both could drag Morris there. He hasn't wanted to hang out lately, but maybe with your urging he will change his mind."

"I will see what I can do," Curtis said. Lailiana leaned in to give us both a quick hug before leaving.

"It was nice to meet you. I hope to see you tonight." I relaxed enough to hug her and finally I was able to speak.

"Yeah, we will see you there." Lailiana smiled and walked away. I looked over at Curtis. He was cheesing hard. I was too. "Wow, she was really nice just like they always be saying on television."

"What? Did you expect her to act like a bitch?"

"No, but… I mean, even though I am a big fan of hers, I wanted to kinda not like her after the whole thing with Morris, you know. She was almost like a villain in this whole thing; the trick who was seducing my man."

"It’s not like she knows about you and Morris' relationship."

"I know, but still. It would help me sleep at night if I could picture Morris being innocent in this whole thing. Him being manipulated by a crafty, sneaky diva." Curtis nodded to say that he understood what I was saying. I thought back to the conversation that had just taken place. Lailiana had just mentioned that Morris didn't hang out like he did before. Could that mean that Morris was telling me the truth when it came to him breaking up with her? If that was true, then I could fully trust Morris again. I mean, I doubt that he set this whole thing up for Lailiana just to come over and tell us that. It had to be the truth. He was only mine again. We turned our attention back to the set. After another 45 minutes, Morris was done with that particular scene.

"My niggas," he exclaimed as he walked over to us and pulled us both into a brother hug. He embraced Curtis first and then me. When he had me close to him he whispered in my ear. "I am gonna blaze that ass later on." I don't know if that was the prop gun he had tucked into his pants or what, but I felt something hard pressing against me. Either way, I was turned on. From the look on Curtis' face, he had heard the comment too.

"So Morris, we heard about the dinner at Dulce tonight and I know that you are going to take us, right?" Morris looked over at Curtis with a puzzled look.

"How yall hear about that?"

"Oh, a little birdie told us," I teased. "But you are going, aren't you." Morris thought for a second before answering. He had an unsure look on his face.