Talk a Good Game (40 page)

I looked at the defeated look on
his face and all I wanted to do was believe him, but I just wasn’t
sure yet.

“
You embarrassed me in front of
your family. Not to mention you have lied to me so many times
before that I just don’t know what to believe anymore.” Tears
started to stream down my face. Nothing made any sense.

Jeremy turned on the seat and
reached for my hand. “Nyree, I have lied. I have mistreated you,
and taken your love for granted and for that I am so sorry.” He
took a deep breath. “All my life I desired to meet a woman like you
and then when I find you I let my insecurities get in the way. But
I swear to you that from this day forward I’m going to treat you
like a queen.” He waited calmly, even smiling ever so often. There
were tears in his eyes and I could see he was trying to hold it
together yet a voice in my head kept reminding me that this wasn’t
the first time he had lied.

And I had a sinking feeling it
also wouldn’t be the last.

JANELLE

“
Janelle, did I tell you what
happened to Crystal?”

I looked up from the
Essence
magazine I was
browsing through to look over at Veronica. “No, what
happened?”

She shifted on the chair and
smacked her lips. She did that whenever she was about to say
something juicy. “Her man wiped out her bank account.”

“
What?”

While she went into details about
this trifling chick we had gone to school with, I leaned back in
the massage chair. We were at Lucky Nails doing some female
pampering. Lord knows I needed an hour of relaxation. Because my
man was enough to make you think you were losing your mind. And
then there was that situation with my mother and Uncle Todd that I
refused to think about. Mama had been blowing up my phone but I
just wasn’t ready yet to talk to either of them. Fucking in my
daddy
’s
bed was wrong on so many
levels. I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even call my brother and
tell him what I had seen.

With all the unnecessary stress in
my life, I had decided to schedule a pamper day with my girls.
Nyree needed it. She had been going through some bullshit with that
lame-ass fiancé of her. I hadn’t seen her in three days and when I
texted and asked her if she was still planning to get married. She
had texted back,
I don’t
know
.

“
I thought Nyree was coming?”
Veronica asked.

I looked down at my cellphone. It
was after seven. “She was, but I guess she got tied up. She and her
mom were supposed to meet with the caterer this evening.” Although,
I think she wasn’t planning on being there. I hated seeing her
going through all the drama. I could handle shit like that but for
Nyree it was just too much. She did everything she could to try and
please everybody else all the time. That why I hoped for once she
would do what she wanted to do.

Veronica beamed. “Isn’t it
exciting she’s getting married?”

It took everything I had to keep a
straight face. “Yeah, it
’s
great.
I
’
m happy for her.”

Really, I
’
m not a
hater. I was happy for her. I just felt she was rushing things.
Marrying Jeremy was like me being stupid enough to marry Kaleb when
I knew we couldn’t go a day without arguing over something as silly
as dripping water on the floor after a shower. Don’t get me wrong.
I loved him and the drama, but I’ll admit at times, it could be a
bit too much.

The nail technician was painting French tips on my
toes when I spotted Nyree coming through the door.

“
Heifer, where you
been?”

She gave me a look like I didn’t
want to know. Wrong. I wanna know.

“
I need a pedicure—bad!” she
mumbled and took a seat in the chair beside me. “Hey
Ronnie!”

“
Hey girl! One week until your big
day!” Veronica looked more excited than we did.

“
Yep…
it
’s
right around the corner.”
Her words didn’t
quite meet her eyes.

I waited until Nyree put her feet
in the water and relaxed in the chair before I said, “You
okay?”

She didn’t even bother opening her
eyes. “Yeah, I
’
m
good.
”

“
How was the catering appointment
with your mother?”

“
I didn’t go.” She turned to look
at me.

“
What?”

Nyree shook her head. “I told my
mother I was having second thoughts and then blocked her number so
she couldn’t call me.”

“
Are you serious?” I gave her a
weird look. Where was Nyree? And who was this imposter because my
best friend never stood up to her parents.

I had been around the Dawsons for
years and although they tried to act like a Huxtable family they
had issues just like everyone else. Well, not like mine but what
I
’
m trying to say is they weren’t
perfect. One thing I immediately noticed was how her parents always
tried to control her. Nothing Nyree decided on her own was good
enough. She wanted to be an engineer but her father insisted she
join the military. When she married Shane without their approval
they stopped speaking to her for over a year. After that Nyree
tried to do everything she could to make them happy and I found it
so sickening the way her mother would turn her nose up at her. Ms.
Mabeline needed to look at herself with that hairy double chin she
was sporting. That chick was no better than anyone else. Okay, let
me quit.

“
What did your mother
say?”

She didn’t even look over at me.
“I didn’t even give her a chance to speak. I just hung the phone up
before she could get a word in.”

“
Gurrrl! Mabeline was probably so
pissed she threw that tired wig of hers across the room!” I
joked.

Her eyes widened. “Oooh, you know
you
’
re wrong for that!”

I started laughing and despite the way Nyree was
feeling, she joined right in.

“
What
’s
so funny?” Veronica asked. She
had been on her phone gossiping.

I shook my head.
“It
’s
an inside joke.”

As soon as our pedicures were
done, Veronica had to hurry home to her boo. For once I didn’t have
anywhere I needed to be. As usual Kaleb was blowing me up with text
messages, but I just didn’t rush to respond anymore. He was
supposed to be working on getting himself together. And I’ll admit
he seemed to be acting a lot better on the phone but as many
problems as that man had, I knew it would be weeks before I saw any
significant changes. In the meantime, I was keeping my hotel
suite.

“
You got time to
run to Starbuck
’s
?” There was something on
Nyree
’s
face that said she needed to
talk.

I nodded. “Sure girl.
I
’
m not doing anything but going
back to my hotel.”

Nyree shook her head.
“
I
don’t
know why you won’t just come and
stay with me.”

“
Because I like my privacy and you
get up too damn early for me.”

She gave me one of those playful eye-rolls.

I hopped in my BMW and headed toward the coffee shop
and noticed I had a missed call that I needed to return.

“
Hey CJ, whassup?”

“
Hi Ms. Jae. Can
I stay at my friend Jordan
’s
house?” he
asked

Why the hell was he calling me?
“What did your dad say?”

“
He
’s
got a game and he’s in Kansas
City until tomorrow. I tried to reach him but he isn’t
answering.
”

My eyebrow flew up. “Gone until
tomorrow?”
What the
fuck
? The mothafucka had been texting me
all afternoon but not once had he mentioned anything about being in
Kansas City. I made a right at the light and asked,
“Who
’s
watching you?”

“
Nobody.”

See…, niggas ain
’t shit
. Who leaves their
thirteen-year-old home alone without letting another adult know
they were leaving town? I could feel my blood pressure rising.
Those two were definitely stressing me the fuck out.

“
Yeah, go ahead and make sure you
come back in the morning and let Midnight out.”

“
Okay,” he replied in that
irritating voice.

“
Oh CJ!” I yelled before he hung
up. “Make sure you leave your phone on. Matter of fact, text me
when you get there so I’ll know you made it.” Jordan only lived
around the block but in this crazy world anything could
happen.

I ended the call and was prepared
to call Kaleb and cuss his ass out for leaving his son alone. Sure,
CJ was responsible and used to taking care of himself, but that
didn’t make it right. Besides, I already knew he wanted me to call
him and that shit wasn’t
happening. I’d just drop by in the morning and
check on CJ and Midnight.

By the time I made it to
Starbuck
’s,
Nyree was sitting at a table
in the corner of the shop. “Let me order me something,” I said and
put my purse down on the table. “You want anything?” She quickly
shook her head.

Whatever was bothering my girl had her looking
worried as hell. Nyree was probably afraid her mother was going to
show up at her house tonight.

I ordered a hazelnut macchiato, then walked back
over and took a seat.

“
Ree, you look
like you just lost your best friend and I know that isn’t the case
because I
’
m right here.”

“
No…,
it
’s
worse.
” She had poured herself a
glass of ice water and brought it to her lips.

“
Worse? What in the world did you
do?” I asked and then leaned forward, elbows on the table and
waited to hear what she had to say.

“
I had sex with Timmy,” she
confessed.

“
What? Whoa!,” I
held up my hands. “
Time out.
” I needed a moment to
clear my head and make sure I had heard her right. “You fucked
Timmy again?”

“
Damn, why you gotta say it like
that?” Nyree had the nerve to suck her teeth and try to look
disgusted.

“
It is what it is,” I said with a
dismissive wave. “And when did this shit happen?”

She took a moment to form her
words. “Yesterday.” She then shook her head. “I told you I would be
down at Knob Noster for a few days doing some training, right?
Well, I was working with Timmy and his team. Anyway he and I had
dinner yesterday and one thing led to another, and we were sexing
it up at his place.”

“
Hell nah!
” This was just
too juicy.

Nyree shook her head and looked
like she as on the verge of tears. “I’ve been feeling guilty ever
since.”

Her comment threw me. “Guilty for
what? You ain’t married.”

“
But
I
’
m engaged to be married! Engaged
people don’t sleep with other people.” Panic was written all over
her face.

“
You do when you
know something ain’t right about the person you
’
re
engaged to.”

Nyree looked like she was ready to defend that
lame-ass fiancé of hers. Thank goodness the barista called out my
order. I walked over and retrieved my drink, then grabbed a few
napkins before I lowered back on my seat. I decided I needed to
wear kid gloves with her.

I took a sip then asked, “So
what
’s
Timmy saying?”

She blew out a long breath. “He
wants a relationship. He
’s
made that clear from
day one he wants to be with me.”

I wanted her to be with Timmy too.
I’ve never met him but Nyree’s talked about him so much, over the
years, I liked everything I’d heard. But I had to remind myself it
wasn’t about me. “And what do you want?”

“
I just want to be happy.” There
were the tears and I quickly passed her a napkin so she could wipe
her eyes. “Thanks girl.” She managed between sniffles. “I have
never loved a man like I love him.”

“
Who Timmy?” I knew who she was
talking about but I love to play dumb.

She swallowed hard. “No,
Jeremy.”

That was the last thing I wanted
to hear but like I said, it wasn’t about me. “Then what are you
doing to do?” I asked between sips.

She paused, glancing up at the
ceiling as if the answer was written on the tiles above.
“
I
don’t
know. Part of me feels that once
we’re married everything is going to be a
’
ight. That
all Jeremy needs is the love of a good woman. But, then there is
that part of me that keeps saying he
’s
still hiding
something.”