Man Swappers (50 page)

“You fucking bitch!” Porsha snaps, jolting me from my reverie as she swings open my bedroom door. I turn from the window and face Persia. “You see what you’ve done?! Because of you, Paris is moving out of this house. Because of you, there’s a wedge between us now. That shit you did to Paris brings up old wounds for me, too. Like when you fucked Brandon, and fucked God knows how many other boyfriends of mine over the years. How many of them did you fuck, pretending to be me?”

I sit down. “Only him,” I lie. Truth is I’ve fucked three of her boyfriends. But, I’ll never tell her that.

She shakes her head. “I wish I could believe you, Persia.”

“It’s the truth.”

Her intense stare tells me she isn’t buying it one bit. “Whatever.” She storms back out the room. My cell rings. I sigh. It’s Mother. I press
IGNORE
. I call our father. He picks up on the third ring.

“Hey, baby girl,” he says, his voice gentle and full of love. “I was wondering when I was going to hear from you.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard the mess between Paris and me.”

“Yeah, I got an earful the night of the reception. And you’re mother has been beside herself; nonstop on the phone with your aunts.”

“Ugh. I’m sure they’re having a field day with this.”

He chuckles. “It’ll all die down soon.

“Daddy, I really messed up. Paris hates me. Porsha can’t stand me right now. And Mother…well, she and I will never see eye to eye.”

“Your sisters love you. Trust me. Paris’ll come around. I’ve always tried to stay out of you and your sisters’ squabbles. Y’all will work this through. I love you, Porsha, and Paris, equally the same. No, I don’t agree with what happened. And I don’t want to know why you did it. All I want is for you, the three of you, to get along. Hopefully, at some point, you and your mother as well.” His tone is even and nonjudgmental.

Wiping my tear-streaked face with the back of my hand, I tell him how much I love him. Tell him how badly I want to make things right between my sisters and me; especially with Paris. I’m afraid I may have lost my sister this time. “I don’t even know where she’s staying,” I say, sobbing into the phone. I’m relieved when he says she’s temporarily staying with them.

“Your mother is enjoying every minute of it,” he says with a laugh.
Yeah, that’s because she’s her favorite,
I hear myself saying in my head. There’s a tinge of jealousy that sweeps through me from hearing this. Paris has always been the perfect one; the good girl. She was the triplet who always did everything right in our mother’s eyes when we were growing up, followed by Porsha. And I’m the one who did everything wrong. Obviously, not much’s changed.

“I’m sure she is,” I push out, feeling myself getting emotional. I’ve caused this mess, and I have to fix it. I just don’t know how. “Daddy, I have to go. I’ll call you in a few days.”

“Alright, baby girl. Your old man loves you; don’t ever forget that.”

I force a smile. “I love you, too, Daddy.” I disconnect the call, then crawl up under my covers and cry myself to sleep.

Porsha
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

“
B
itch, you need to fix this mess between you and Paris,” I hiss, glaring at Persia over my menu. We’re sitting at the Mall at Short Hills getting ready to have lunch at the new Cheesecake Factory that opened back in July. I had wanted to spend the day shopping with
both
of my sisters, but thanks to this shit with Persia, that wasn’t possible. It’s been three months, and Paris is still not speaking to Persia. And everytime I think about it, it pisses me off; especially now that I’m planning her baby shower, alone. Persia may not be there to celebrate with us. I feel like slapping her face my damn self. “And you need to do it soon.”

“I’ve tried,” she offers, solemnly. For once, I see remorse in her eyes. “I’ve gone down to the shop three times, and she’s told me to get out. She won’t even take my calls.”

“Well, this whole mess is a crock of bullshit, thanks to
you.
”

She cringes. “Porsha, please. How many times are you going to keep reminding me?”

“Until
you
fix it. I don’t give a damn what you have to do or say to make it right.”

“There’s nothing I can do. I’ve tried to apologize. I’ve left numerous messages. I’ve sent her cards. I’ve even asked Daddy to talk to her. She still won’t have anything to do with me.”

“Can you blame her?”

She shakes her head. “No. I wouldn’t want anything to do with me, either.”

“Mmmph. Well, you need to figure out something
before
she has her baby. And before this shower next month.”

She sits back in her seat. “I can’t believe she’s almost eight months’ pregnant. And I’ve missed out on most of her pregnancy.”

“You’ll miss out on a whole lot more if you don’t make up with her.”

Paris and I talk every day, and we’ve double-dated a few times. Desmond seems like a really nice guy. He seems like he’s really into Paris. More than what I can say about any other man she’s ever dated. He and Em even hit it off. Paris is still staying with our parents. And she’s as miserable as ever; thanks to Mother constantly in her face, meddling and doting over her at the same time. Plus, she’s ready to move back home with her sisters where she belongs.

So much has been going on since Pasha’s wedding. Emerson and I have talked about moving in together, but I told him it’s not going to happen until
after
we’re married. I refuse to become a convenience. I give him all the pussy he wants. I stay over as often as he wants. But, a live-in girlfriend I will
not
be. I told him if he wants this woman in his life full-time, then he needs to put a ring on it
and
meet me down the aisle.

“So what you saying, you wanna get married?” he asked, rising up on his forearms, giving me a sideways glance.

I shifted my body so that I could face him on my side. “No, what I’m saying is, I’m not going to invest a lot of time and energy into being someone’s girlfriend. At some point, we’re going to have to know exactly where we’re going with this. As a man, you should know what you want.”

“I already know where I wanna go with it. And I know what I want. That’s why I want you to move in with me. I want you.”

I pulled him into me by the back of his neck, kissed him on the lips, then looked him in his eyes. “When you marry me,
then
I move in. Until then, we keep doing what we’re doing.”

He grinned, pulling me into his arms. “Say no more, baby. I hear you loud and clear.” And three weeks later, he surprised me with an engagement ring. We haven’t set a date, but I am officially engaged to the man of my dreams.

The waitress comes over to see if we’re ready to order. I glance at my watch, tell her to give us ten more minutes, then change my mind when I see who I’m waiting for. “On second thought, we’re ready.”

I look over at Persia. “If you want to make it right, now’s your chance.”

She gives me a puzzled look. I get up from my seat to give Paris a hug before she gets to our table. “Hooker, what is
she
doing here?” she hisses in my ear. “I don’t want to be anywhere around her.”

“Paris, please,” I whisper, helping her take off her coat. “Listen to what she has to say, for me.”

She grunts, reluctantly walking back over to the table with me. I squeeze her hand. Persia gets up from her seat, bursting into tears as she wraps her arms around Paris. Paris and I look at each other, shocked. There are very few times either of us have ever seen her cry. Paris stiffens, keeps her arms down at her side while Persia tells her how much she’s missed her; how sorry she is. Patrons in earshot are glancing over at us. I have to practically peel Persia away from Paris.

We take our seats while Persia continues sobbing. She goes to the bathroom to pull herself together. The waitress takes our drink orders. I order a cosmo for Persia and me. Paris orders a pineapple smoothie. For appetizers, I order the stuffed mushrooms.

“Paris, please work on putting this behind you and Persia. We both know she can be a bitch at times, but she’s our sister. The
holidays are coming up and I want to spend them with both of my sisters, together.”

She waves her hand, dismissively. “You sound like Desmond. Trust me. I want nothing more than to put this behind me. But, it’s not that easy.”

“I know.”

Persia returns to the table with her eyes swollen and red. “Paris, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done to you. I didn’t think for one minute that you’d really care if I slept with him or not.”

Paris tilts her head. “Exactly. You didn’t think. Because, once again, the only person you were thinking about was yourself.”

“You’re right. Truth is, I did think about it. But I didn’t care. I wanted him, too. I needed to see what it was about him that you wanted to keep to yourself.”

Paris cringes as the waitress returns with our drinks. “And were you able to figure that all out?”

“Desmond seems like a really nice guy. And I knew how much he cared about you. I feel horrible for tricking him like that.”

Paris raises her brow. “Do you really?”

Persia nods. “Yes, I do. Paris, the more I slept with him, the harder it was for me to tell him the truth. And it tore me up, knowing that the person he was falling for really wasn’t you.”

“You do realize you’ve made it very awkward for me to ever bring you around him.”

“I understand that.”

“The crazy thing is he wants me to have a relationship with you. Even after what you did to him, he’s been encouraging me to talk to you.”

Paris rubs her round belly. She looks beautiful pregnant. She has her thick, long hair pulled back into a ponytail. I glance at her hand and blink.

“Is that what I think it is?” I ask, gasping.

She flashes her hand. “Yes, Desmond proposed to me over the weekend at his parents’ home.”

“Congratulations,” I squeal, digging into my bag, fishing out my own surprise “I didn’t know how lunch was going to go, but I wanted both of you here. I have an announcement to make myself.” I slip the ring over my finger, then flash them my hand. “Emerson asked me to marry him.”

“Ohmygod,” Paris says. Her voice filled with excitement. She takes my hand and inspects my ring. “Oooh, it’s beautiful.”

Persia looks stunned. “Wow, it is gorgeous. Both of you have beautiful rings. I’m happy for the both of you. Congratulations.” She looks at Paris, then me. “So things between you and Desmond are really working out?”

Paris nods. “Yeah, things are great. If anything, this entire ordeal has brought us closer together. He wants a family, and he wants me.”

“I’m happy for you.” She looks over at me. “And you’re happy with Emerson?”

“Yes, I am. I love him. And I would like to spend my life with him.”

Tears well in her eyes. “I’ve missed so much over the last few months. I feel so empty not being a part of your lives. I feel so disconnected from the two of you. For anything that I’ve ever done to wrong either of you, I want you both to know how deeply sorry I am. Paris, things with us won’t be the same, but I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Paris gives her a faint smile, then reaches over and squeezes her hand. “I miss my sister. I’m working on forgiveness. Not for you, but for me. I’m having a baby, and want my child to have both of his or her aunts in its life.”

“And I’m getting married,” I interject. “And I want both of my sisters in my wedding.”

“Have you set a date?” Paris asks.

“No. Not exactly, but it’ll be sometime in the fall of two-thousand-and-twelve. That’ll give
you
—” I point to Persia—“enough time to fix what you broke. And you”—I point at Paris—“enough time to lose all that baby fat. I will not have a chunky bridesmaid in my wedding.”

She laughs. “Oh, whatever, hooker.”

“Have you and Desmond set a date yet?” Persia asks Paris.

“No. Not yet. We’re not going to rush into getting married. We’re still getting to know one another. He wants us to live together once the baby is born. But I told him, no. I told him the next man I live with—”

“Is going to be my husband,” I finish for her.

She laughs. “Exactly. Sounds like someone else got that speech, too.”

“Girl, please. How you think I got this engagement ring? I fuck Em good and suck him better, but I’ll be damned if he’s gonna get anymore than that until after we’re married.”

I lift my glass. “To new beginnings.”

“And forgiveness,” Paris adds, eyeing Persia.

“To new beginnings and forgiveness,” the three of us say, clinking our glasses.

“Persia,” Paris says, setting her drink back down on the table. She narrows her eyes. “You really hurt me. But the three of us have a home together, and we’re partners in a business, so I’m going to have to get over what you did to me. Will I forget? Hell no. Will I ever trust you around my man? Hell fucking no! And even though Des isn’t interested in being with you, I’m still going to watch you like a fucking hawk around him. If I ever catch you
trying to flirt with him, or if I even think you’re somewhere playing in your hot-ass pussy thinking about him, I’m going beat your ass, then cut you out of my life for good. Are we clear?”

“I promise you. That’s something neither of you will ever have to worry about. I’m never going to let anything else come between us.”

I gulp my drink. “Good. Now when the hell are you moving back home?”

“Not soon enough,” Paris says, shaking her head. “Mother has been driving me crazy. I can’t wait to get the hell up out of there. Love her dearly, but my welcome has worn thin.”

The three of us share a laugh. Something we haven’t done in a long time. I smile, feeling like there’s hope for the three of us after all. I eye Persia. That’s my sister, and I love her dearly. But, I’m with Paris. I’m going to be watching her ass, too.

Persia looks at me and smiles.

I smile back.
If she even sneezes wrong, I’m gonna beat her ass for the old and for the new.