Slick (13 page)

She snatched away. “How in the hell do you want me to respect a man who doesn't even respect himself?”

“Britney,” Dana yelled as she came into the kitchen with a frown on her face. “Why are you over here yelling at my husband like that? I know you're not thrilled about me being here but—”

“Dana,” I shouted. “Let me handle this!”

“No, no, no, no,” Britney smirked with a devilish look in her eyes. “Since you want to put your fucking hands on me, I got something for you.” She looked at Dana. “I'm not mad that my father is a sucker for you, bitch! I'm just furious that he's not man enough to tell you he's fucking your best friend. That's right. Sylvia's been getting a piece of the action too, so don't think for one minute that you got yo' shit under control.”

Dana's eyes shifted to me and began to fill with water. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. I grabbed Britney by her arm again, and held her with gritted teeth. “Either go downstairs and cool the fuck off or get the hell out of my house. One or the other, Britney!” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and slammed the back door behind her.

I walked past Dana who was still standing in shock. She walked slowly and calmly into the living room where I had taken a seat on the couch.

“Take your best shot, Dana,” I said, holding out my hands. “Everybody else has today so go for it.”

She eased down on the coffee table in front of me, and moved her head from side to side. “Ple . . . please tell me she just lied to me. It can't be, Jonathan, there's no way.”

I sat silent for a while and then opened my mouth. “I was hurt—”

“Noooooo,” she yelled and fell to her knees. “Not Sylvia! You did not have sex with my friend, did you?”

I stared at Dana, and when I didn't say anything, she screamed and punched my chest. She smacked my face about five times, and when I'd had enough, I tightly grabbed her wrist. “Stop it, please. If you're that angry then leave,” I said casually.

“You're damn right I'm getting the fuck out of here!” She stood up and smacked my face again. “I knew you were fucking around with her all this time. I knew it!” She stormed into the bedroom and continued to talk her shit. When I heard the sound of broken glass, I quickly got up and went into the bedroom. Dana had thrown something into the glass shower and glass was shattered everywhere. She was kneeled down on the bathroom floor, screaming “why” at the top of her lungs. Did she really have to ask why? She was shaking so badly that I kneeled down and put my arms around her.

“Don't you touch me!” she yelled.

“Look, I know this hurts but you have got to calm down.”

“Fuck you, Jonathan!” She got off the floor, and then grabbed her purse from the nightstand. After she pulled out her keys, she gave me an evil stare and jetted.

After she was gone, I picked up the broken glass in the bathroom then lay across my bed. I was exhausted from all that had happened today, but couldn't even close my eyes to rest. By one o'clock in the morning, I looked at the phone, wanting to call Sylvia and apologize, but I couldn't. I knew she was upset with me, and thinking about how much she was hurting, I tried to make some sense out of what I had done. I felt terrible for slapping Britney, but when I called her cell phone she didn't answer. I left her a message and told her we needed to talk.

 

After seeing Jonathan making love to Dana, I cried the entire way home. Yes, she was his wife, but since I finally realized that he used me, lied to me, and persuaded me to do everything in the world for him, I was devastated. All I needed was a gun so I could shoot myself for being so stupid. I praised his ass; I gave him so much credit, and didn't even realize that he was just like any other man who wanted to get laid.

The visualization I had of him fucking Dana and her squeezing his black ass stayed in my mind. I couldn't wait to get home. When I got inside, I slammed the door and fell hard on my couch. The phone rang off the hook. Knowing that it was probably Jonathan, I picked it up and threw it against the wall. It broke off into tiny pieces before hitting the floor. That didn't solve my problem because the other phone started to ring. When I got up to throw that one as well, I looked at the caller ID and Dana's number appeared. Not wanting to talk to her either, still, like a fool, I answered.

“What?” I said.

“Don't what me, you whore! Who do you think you are sleeping with my damn husband? What kind of friend are you, bitch?” she yelled.

“One you should have never trusted! Now, don't call here disrespecting me! When you want to talk to me like you got some sense, call back!” I hung up, but Dana called right back. Foolishly, I answered again.

“You have got some nerve hanging up on me. I am on my way to come kick your trifling ass!”

“Listen, bony bitch, if you want to keep that child, you'd better stay as far away from me as possible. I mean it.”

Dana hung up, and ten minutes later, she had the nerve to be banging on my door. Now, this heifer knew for a fact that I had always had a li'l hood in me, so I didn't know why she was tripping. I wanted so badly to snatch her up in here, but I couldn't. I let her bang on the door, scream and holler for me to open it, and allowed her to make a damn fool of herself. Moments later, somebody called the police, and she finally got in her car and left.

I was drained from all the bullshit, and when Britney called and told me what she had said to Dana, I could have killed her.

“Why in the hell would you tell her that, Britney?”

“Because I hate her, Sylvia. I'm sorry. I didn't want to be the one to tell her, but she worked my nerves. Please don't be mad at me. I . . . I just don't want her and my daddy to get back together.”

“Britney, you know better. Do you have any idea what you've done?”

“Yeah. If anything, I opened the door for you and Daddy to be together.”

“No, baby, it's not that simple. Jonathan doesn't love me. He loves his wife. I should have never interfered but I was too busy trying to satisfy my own needs.”

“Well, I'm sorry. After he smacked me, I was so mad that I couldn't hold back on telling her.”

“Smacked you?”

“Yes. And even though I'm furious with him, I'm kind of worried about him. He had an open cut on his face and I noticed scratches on his hands. I think he had a fight with somebody.”

“He didn't tell you how he got the cut?”

“Nope. But he not too long ago called and apologized for hitting me. When I called him back, I asked him and he confirmed that he had a fight.”

“Really? Did he say with who?”

“No. He wouldn't tell me but I think it was with the guy Dana was tripping with.”

I took a deep breath and sighed from my mounting frustrations. “Thanks for calling, Britney, I have to go. Get some rest so you can get up for school tomorrow.”

“Don't worry, I am. Would you do me a favor, though?”

“What?”

“I know you're upset with my daddy, but please call him. He—”

“Britney, no. I am not going to call your father right now, but he and I need to figure out a way to put closure to this. You're his daughter. You be the one to spend time with him and comfort him when need be. Me, I'm done. I've hurt myself too much by getting involved.”

There was silence before Britney spoke again. “Bye, Sylvia.”

“Good-bye.”

Since I had no intentions of going to work, I stayed up until four o'clock watching TV. Lorenzo called and wanted to come over, but I wasn't in the mood. Jonathan was still heavy on my mind but I knew there wasn't a chance in hell I could face him this morning. Before I went to sleep, I called the office and left a message on his voicemail, saying I was sick and wasn't coming in.

Around seven in the morning, I got up and called a temp agency to have someone replace me for the rest of the week. Realizing that I needed more time away than I anticipated, I called my sister, Debra, in Chicago and asked if I could drive down and spend some time with her. We never really got along, but she insisted it would be good to see me.

After my shower, I looked in my closet for a few pieces to take with me. When the phone rang I knew, without a doubt, it was Jonathan. Anxious to give him a piece of my mind, I snatched up the phone.

“Hello,” I said sharply.

“Sylvia, why aren't you here?”

“Because I'm taking a vacation.”

“No. Vacations are supposed to be planned out and approved by me. Never are they to be spare of the moment like this.”

“Look, I'm not feeling well today, so I'm not coming in. I'll come in when I get better. Besides, I called a temp for you this morning. She'll work out fine until I get back.”

“No, she won't. You should see this chick they sent over here. I need you now. I have three meetings today, a slew of phone calls to return, and I have to be in court by three.”

“That's not my problem. Handle your business because I'm for surely going to handle mines.”

“I thought we agreed to keep our personal lives aside from our business relationship.”

“We did and I am. Can't you understand I'm not feeling well?”

“And can't you understand that I need you?”

“For what, Jonathan? To fuck every time your wife gets you down? I'm not going to play the fool for you any longer. After what I witnessed yesterday, we're done.”

“I have never considered you or wanted you to be a fuck thang for me. Yesterday was a big mistake. I had a fight with Lewis and Dana just caught me—”

“Stop there because I don't even want to hear it. You seemed to be the aggressor in that bed yesterday, not her.”

Jonathan's tone was calm. “So, maybe I was. That still doesn't change what I've been feeling for you.”

Feeling myself giving in to him, I sat on the couch and started biting my nails. “When are you going to stop this? You have no feelings for me, remember? All you have feelings for is for what's between my legs. I can't do this with you anymore. It hurts too much.” My voice started to crack and I swallowed to clear the lump in my throat.

“Okay, then fine. If you say it's over, it's over. At least come to work so you can help me with all this stuff I have to do.”

“No!”

“Please!”

“I said no!”

“Then you're fired!”

“You can't fire me, because I quit!” I slammed down the phone.

In a rage, I sat my behind down at my desk and quickly typed up a resignation letter. After I finished, I put on some clothes and hurried to the office. I stormed off the elevator, and when I entered Jonathan's office, he wasn't there. I glanced at his calendar and it showed he was in a meeting in Boardroom A. I laughed to myself when I saw the jacked-up, ghettofied secretary the temp agency sent and headed to the boardroom.

Not even giving a care about Jonathan being in a meeting, I quickly opened the door, excused myself, and slammed my typed resignation down in front of him as he spoke.

“There you go, Mr. Boss Man! And don't even think about asking me to come back because I won't!”

Shocked, more so embarrassed, Jonathan stood up and unbuttoned his suit jacket. He excused himself from his meeting with Mr. Bradford, Crissy, three other executives, and a secretary who took notes. I rolled my eyes at all of them and headed for the door.

By the time I reached the elevators, Jonathan pushed the entryway doors open and stepped up to me with a frown on his face. He grabbed my arm and swung me around. “Why in the hell would you do that to me?”

I snatched away. “Because you can use me all you want to, but firing me was the worst damn thing you could have done to me, especially after all I've done for you.” The elevator opened and I got inside of it. Jonathan followed.

“I have never used you! Making love to you was always in the back of my mind. This doesn't have anything to do with me trying to chase after some pussy, woman, don't you get it!” The elevator opened and a lady stepped inside, looking at us. “We're getting ready to go somewhere private and talk about this,” he whispered.

The elevator opened to the lobby, where we exited. “Please go make things right with your wife. With the baby, I'm sure she's demanding a lot of attention. You're so good at comforting her and I'm sure she needs you more than I do.”

“Sylvia,” Jonathan said, calmly. “I will handle my situation with Dana but you need to understand my position.”

“I thought I did,” I said, continuing to walk ahead of him. “But what could have possessed you to have sex with her after what she did to you?”

Jonathan took my hand and pulled me into the stairwell. He sat on the steps, and as usual, had my attention, as he looked out of sight in his brown silk suit. He covered his face with his hands and rubbed it. When he removed his hands, he looked at me with my back against the wall in front of him.

“I never ever wanted to hurt you, Sylvia. Yesterday, after meeting with Lewis, he made me feel so unworthy of my wife. I just felt like if I had sex with her I could somehow compete and show her what she'd been missing out on. Then, when he told me that he had sex with you, I couldn't get the thought out of my mind.”

“What? He told you he had sex with me and you believed him?”

“Come on, Sylvia, he knew what color panties you had on the same day you pretended to be so sick. Then you lied about being on your period and you wasn't.”

I folded my arms and pursed my lips. “So, you believed him?”

“Shit, I don't know what to believe anymore. It's not like you would tell me if you did have sex with him, especially since you know how I feel about his ass.”

My whole face was scrunched. He acted like I was some kind of whore or something. I didn't appreciate what he'd said. “Damn you, Jonathan. What kind of woman do you think I am? Just because I'm having sex with my friend's man, it doesn't make me a crazed-ass woman who wants sex from everybody. The only thing I'm guilty of is loving you so damn much that I can hardly think straight.” I started to get choked up.

Jonathan stood up and embraced me. He planted a soft kiss on my forehead and apologized. “Forgive me. I'm just so fucked up right now, and believe me when I say you are the last person that I want to hurt.”

I wiped a tear and nodded. “I know. But the other day, Lewis tried to rape me. He and I tussled on the staircase and he lifted my skirt and touched me. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid of what you might do. I didn't want you getting into any trouble, and you already had a lot on your plate.”

Jonathan backed away from me with a puzzled look on his face. “Why . . . why didn't you call the police? Damn, Sylvia, you should have called the police! I swear I'm sick of this motherfucker! He has been nothing but a pain in my gotdamn side!”

“Baby, just calm down.” I saw the fury in Jonathan's eyes. “I promise you Lewis will be dealt with.”

“You damn right he will.” Jonathan opened the door. “Are you coming back to work?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, and then walked out.

Allowing Jonathan time to cool off, I walked down the street to get something to eat at Taco Bell. My mind was on overload. I wasn't sure if I was still going to Chicago. If anything, I needed to somehow make as much peace as I could with Dana, and I needed to put closure to my relationship with Jonathan. Loving him so much was more than I could seriously handle.