Married Men (16 page)
Authors: Carl Weber
At that minute, I wanted to kill Wil for having such a big mouth.
“I always thought it would end up being some glamorous black woman who’d take you away from me. I never thought it would be my skin.”
“Lisa . . .” I tried to explain, but she stopped me.
“When, Kyle? When did all this happen? When did you decide that I wasn’t good enough for you? I thought we were happy together.”
“We were, but—”
“But what? You woke up and realized I was white?” Now she was getting angry. “You know what? This is ridiculous. Just forget it. I can’t apologize for who I am. So if you’re not happy with the choice you made seven years ago, then maybe we do need to end this marriage.”
Lisa stood up, wiped her eyes, and looked down at me. She wasn’t crying anymore, and her voice was more serious now than it had been during the entire conversation.
“Do you love your children?”
“Yes, I do love them. More than life itself.”
“Then go in the kitchen and spend some time with them. Before I kill you,” she said flatly. “They need you Kyle, especially Jewel.”
“I know.” I stood up and looked at Lisa. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”
“Save it, okay.” She turned her back on me, so I headed for the kitchen. She stopped me before I left the room.
“Kyle.”
“Yeah?”
“I was a good wife to you.”
“I know that, Lisa.”
“How could you hurt me like this?”
I didn’t have any answer, so I walked to the kitchen without another word.
12
Jay
It was a warm Saturday afternoon when I strolled up the steps to Allen AME Church on Merrick Boulevard. I was holding the hands of my daughter Tiffany and my wife as I entered. The three of us really looked like a family in our matching navy blue and white. Kenya had bought some fabric that coordinated with my Sunday suit and made dresses for her and Tiffany. For me she made a tie. I wasn’t really a churchgoing guy, but this was Wil’s daughter’s christening, and there was no way I was gonna miss that. Wil and Diane had been Tiffany’s godparents. Besides, I was really into anything that had to do with our kids.
Speaking of kids, our second child was practically due. Things had been going really well between Kenya and me, and I hadn’t fooled around in over three months. She’d really busted her ass to keep me satisfied after the pledge she made. But now that she was almost due, she’d cut me off again. Don’t get me wrong, I understood why. Shit, she was gonna have the baby soon. But that didn’t stop me from being horny as hell. I wished I had as much self-control as Kyle or Wil, ’cause I was going damn near crazy. I really didn’t want to have to resort to my old ways to get some satisfaction, but she was leaving me no choice.
When we entered the building, Kyle greeted us. He was handing out programs as he kept an eye on his three girls playing in the back row. As soon as Tiffany saw them, she let go of my hand and ran to the girls. Our kids loved each other like cousins. I looked at Kyle, and his smile was as wide as mine. We were both thinking the same thing. We’d always envisioned our kids would be this close.
I looked around to see if Lisa had come. It was Kyle’s weekend with the girls, but Diane had made it clear that Lisa was her friend, and as far as she was concerned, Lisa was more welcomed than Kyle. I have to admit it was still weird seeing Kyle without Lisa. I’d become so used to seeing them together he looked like an unfinished painting without her.
“Hey, Kyle!” Kenya opened her arms for a hug.
“What’s up, sister-in-law?” Kyle smiled. “Now look, I don’t want you havin’ that baby in here, aw’ight?”
“If I do, you gonna deliver it,” she joked.
“Now I
really
don’t want you ta have that baby in here.” Kyle gave her a bug-eyed look.
really
don’t want you ta have that baby in here.” Kyle gave her a bug-eyed look.
“What’s up there, bro?” He hugged me.
“Nothin’ much, dawg.”
“Jay, keep an eye on Tiffany. I’m gonna go say hello to everyone,” Kenya told me.
“Aw’ight, baby.” I grabbed her by the hand and kissed her passionately. “I love you, Kenya.”
“I love you, too.” She walked away smiling.
“Damn, I haven’t seen you two like this since before you were married.” Kyle looked happy.
“I know, but I’m not gonna lie. I’ve been fiendin’ for some booty. Kenya ain’t gave me none in two weeks.”
“You need to stop. The girl’s gonna have a baby in a few weeks. Give her a break.” Kyle looked disappointed. “Two weeks. You know how long it’s been for me?”
“No, and I don’t really care. If you really wanted some ass, you’d go home to your wife and stop actin’ like a little bitch.” Kyle looked at me with disbelief. He probably was trying to figure out how I could be such a hypocrite. So was I.
“Who the fuck are you to be givin’ me advice on marriage?” I had definitely hit a nerve. “You been faithful for three months, and now you’re a fucking expert?”
“Nope, I’m no expert, but I am your best friend. I was there when you got married. I tried to talk you out of it, remember? But you were in love, and you still are.”
“That’s what you think.”
“No, that’s what I know. You might be fooling everyone else, Kyle, but you’re not fooling me. You’re hurting inside, man. You’re hurting real bad. I just haven’t figured out why.”
“Oh, so you’re a psychic now? You can read my mind?” He was real sarcastic.
“Nope, I can read your face. You might be smiling, but your face tells it all. You’ve got the same look you had when you got cut from the basketball team in eighth grade. The same look you had when Kelly Wright dumped you for Bubba Richardson in college. So don’t be bullshitting with me. I know you too well for that.” I could see his eyes starting to water.
“Jay, man, this whole thing’s a lot more complicated than you think.”
“Yeah, well, I got some time.” I folded my arms and stared into Kyle’s face.
Kyle started a story that I never would have expected to hear. This was no ordinary I-left-my-wife-’cause-I-was-bored scenario. He explained everything about his impotence, his shrink’s evaluation, and the dreams he’d been having. I was pretty much blown away. I had some serious problems in my marriage, but nothing compared to his. He was honestly scared of Lisa.
“Look, Kyle, I don’t know what to say, man. If there’s anything I can do ...”
“I know you wanna help, Jay, but this is something I have to work out myself.”
I nodded. I understood what he was saying, but I felt helpless. Here was my best friend who really needed me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to help him.
“Yo, Jay, don’t sweat it, man,” Kyle reassured me. “I made an appointment to go see my shrink on Tuesday. I’ve been away from my family for three months. It’s about time I got myself together and went back home.”
“I’m glad to hear it, man,” I told him as I turned to watch our daughters playing. “Those kids really need you at home and so does Lisa.”
After the baptism we all went over to Wil and Diane’s place. Al’s mom had cooked most of the food, and Mama Jackson could cook her ass off. There were over thirty-five people in Wil’s little house, and five minutes after they served the food, you couldn’t hear a sound other than black folks sucking ribs and shoving collard greens in their mouths. I’d gotten up to get Kenya another plate of ribs when Allen’s cousin Malcolm bumped into me. That fool spilled his whole plate of ribs all over my suit.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I screamed. Every head in the room turned. I could see Wil, Allen, and Kyle all heading toward us from different directions in the room. They must have thought I was gonna knock Malcolm’s sorry ass out. And if my daughter hadn’t been in that room, I probably would have.
“Jay, man, what’s the problem?” Wil stepped between Malcolm and me.
“This fool’s the problem. He threw a plate of food on me.” I pointed at the floor. “And look what he did to your carpet.”
Wil turned to Malcolm angrily.
“I’m sorry, Wil. It was an accident. I’ll pay for your carpet to be cleaned.” Malcolm reached into his pocket and handed Wil a hundred-dollar bill.
“It’s aw’ight, man,” Wil replied.
“What about my suit?” I asked.
“I’ll get it cleaned. But I’m buyin’ you a new tie. Where the hell did you get that thing from, Kmart?”
I looked across the room and saw the embarrassed expression on Kenya’s face. I couldn’t help myself. I broke free from Wil’s grasp and slapped the shit outta Malcolm. “My wife made this tie!”
Malcolm charged at me, but before he could swing, I hit him right between the eyes, knocking his dumb ass out. The next thing I knew they were dragging me outta the house.
“Jay, man, calm the fuck down. It’s us.” Kyle tried to snap me out of my rage.
“Where’s Kenya and Tiffany, Kyle?” I didn’t want Malcolm’s family going after my pregnant wife.
“I’m right here, Jay.” Her tone was full of attitude.
I turned around. Both Kenya and Tiffany were standing behind me.
“What is wrong with you, Jay?” Kenya shoved me.
“What’re you talkin’ ’about?”
“I’m talking about this macho man shit. Why did you hit that man?”
“I was protecting you. Didn’t you hear what he said?”
“You weren’t protecting me. You were embarrassing me. I don’t even know that man. Why would I care what he had to say?”
I looked around at all the people standing there. If she wasn’t pregnant, I might have slapped her for embarrassing me like that in front of my boys.
“Is it all right if she spends the weekend here, Wil? ’Cause I’m sick of her shit.” I cut my eyes at my wife.
“If she wants to,” Wil replied, obviously uncomfortable with the whole scene.
“That all right with you?” I asked Kenya, though I really didn’t care if it was.
“Just pick me up tomorrow night.” She grabbed Tiffany’s hand and walked back in the house.
“I’m outta here,” I told my boys as I headed to my car.
“Jay!” Wil called.
When I turned, he was standing between Allen and Kyle.
“Stay outta trouble.”
“I don’t think so, Wil.”
When I got home from the baptism, I stayed in my house for about two hours before I headed for the New Jersey Transit train station. On the way to the station, my cell phone was ringing, but I didn’t have to check the Caller ID. I knew it would be Tracy. She’d taken two buses and two trains from Brookville, Long Island, to come see me in Jersey. She was waiting for me at the train station.
“Hello?”
“Jay, I’m here.” Tracy’s voice was sweet and sexy and I couldn’t wait to get in her pants.
“Okay, baby, I’ll be right there. I’m about two blocks away.”
I’d broken down to temptation. When I got home and checked my cell phone messages, I had two messages from the nineteen-year-old college coed. Her first message was the usual just-checking-in message. She wanted to know if I was interested in hanging out since she had just finished finals and hadn’t seen me for a while. Of course she didn’t know the real reason we hadn’t hooked up was that I’d decided to be faithful to my very pregnant wife. When she didn’t get a call after her first message, I guess she decided to turn up the heat a little, ’cause her second message was off the hook.
“Hi, this is Tracy. I fell asleep waiting for your call and had the wildest dream. The two of us were together, and I was your personal sex slave. I did everything and anything you wanted without question. You had me wear a thick black dog collar with a chain, and anytime I misbehaved, you would spank my bare bottom with your hand. God, Jay, that dream was so hot.” She sighed heavily into the phone. “If I told you I wanted you to make my dream come true, would you do it? Just the thought of calling you master as I sit naked at your feet, ready to do whatever you ask, is getting me moist. I bet I can make it the kinkiest time you’ve ever had. Gimme a call tonight. I’m leaving to go back home to DC for the Christmas break tomorrow night.”
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