This Can't be Life (33 page)

“So it was him, huh?” I asked as he shook his head. He had told me some of the story about her ex-husband before. I remembered as I watched the news earlier. I had a feeling that he was the one that came and turned Deon and Tyson’s life upside down.

“She didn’t deserve this and Tyson doesn’t deserve to grow up without his parents,” I said as I walked up to him and laid my head on his chest.

“This shit hurts more and more every minute. It’s just un-fucking believable, Simone.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him. I was trying to lend him some of my strength as we stood there saying nothing.

 “Do you want me to pick your parents up from the airport?” I asked.

“No, my agent called a car service to pick them up. Thanks.” Tyson came running into the kitchen to ask me what was taking so long when he saw that Deon had returned.

“Hey, D. Wanna get beat in NBA 2K7? Simone isn’t any competition and I kinda feel bad beating her over and over again,” Ty laughed.

“Oh, rub it in, why don’t you,” I laughed.

“It’s okay. You’ll get better,” Tyson replied as he hugged me and reached up to kiss me on the cheek.

“We can play later, lil’ man. Let’s go in the room and talk, okay?”

“Okay,” Tyson said, shrugging his shoulders.

45 minutes had passed before Deon came out of the room by himself. I had been lying on a chaise lounge on the second level sitting area right outside of the master bedroom. I was staring out the window, gazing at the beautiful view. He sat down next to me and covered his face with his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

“How’s he doing?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing his back.

“He cried himself to sleep,” he whispered, shaking his head in his hands.

“This is so wrong. I can’t believe this is happening,” I sighed.

“Me either. We got drunk last night and she stayed over. We stayed up talking and when she left this morning, she told me she’d see me later. I should have made her get bodyguards. I should’ve made her go to the police. I should have hired the damned security myself! I should have gone with my gut feeling. I should have fucking done something, Simone!” he said, with his face still covered.

“Don’t do this, Deon. There is nothing you could have done. If she didn’t want security, you know there is no way she would have let you hire someone. You knew Nichelle better than anyone.” I kept rubbing his back. “Are you hungry? You want some pizza?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him eat a thing since I’d been with him.

“No. Not hungry,” Deon replied with his hands still covering his face. Tyson wailed and Deon jumped up and was in the bedroom in less than two steps. Over an hour had passed before I dozed off on the chaise, watching the sunset.

Talise

Malachi had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off, so we drove to his house in Santa Barbara early Friday morning when he finished his shift at the hospital. We both needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of LA. I thought it would do us some good, going to sleep and waking up to the sounds and smell of the ocean.

He said that he hadn’t had a drink since Wednesday, the night before our talk, and I believed him. He’d been moody, just like an alcoholic who hasn’t had a drink in over a 24-hour period. I wondered if this was what I had to look forward to by staying by his side. I didn’t even know if this was his real personality, or just the effect of getting the toxins out of his system, or the effects of withdrawals. I know alcoholism is a disease and I had to keep reminding myself of that. I kept repeating it to myself over and over again, as I ran my fifth mile in the steep sand on the beach right outside of the house. I prayed for Malachi, for us. I prayed the Lord would give him strength, that He would touch his heart and come into his life. Malachi even bowed his head and let me pray aloud over our breakfast of bagels and coffee this morning. That made me so happy. I knew God was smiling, too.

When I got back to the house, I removed my shoes at the door and went upstairs to the room Malachi and I shared. He was in the shower, so I undressed and joined him.

“Hey, what a pleasant surprise,” he said pulling me close to his wet, naked body. “I know I’ve been moody lately and I’m sorry,” he said before kneeling down and pleasuring me as he always did.

After showering, Malachi went out to buy us lunch. He insisted that I stay and get started on the work that I had brought with me from the office. I was worried that he was going to go have a drink, but knew that if he made that choice, there wasn’t really anything I could do to stop him. I had to trust him and pray that he was stronger than his addiction.

It was a beautiful day out. So I decided that I would take my laptop and my work outside to the upstairs balcony of the master bedroom and try to get some of this crap done. I was so engrossed in my work that I hadn’t noticed that almost two hours had passed and Malachi still hadn’t made it back. I started to worry that he had stopped at a bar or maybe he had gotten into an accident. I dialed his cell phone from the cordless that was lying on the sun chair next to my thigh. The voicemail picked up on the first ring and I didn’t bother to leave a message. I got up and went down stairs and, to my surprise, Malachi was in the kitchen making plates of Thai food.

“Hey, how long you been back? I was starting to worry.” I walked up to him and placed a kiss on his lips to make sure there were no traces of alcohol on his breath. Thank God, there wasn’t.

“About 15 minutes,” he replied, stealing a few more kisses.

“It sure did take you long. I was up there working and didn’t realize that so much time had gone by,” I admitted, popping a piece of barbecue Thai chicken into my mouth.

“Stopped at the grocery store and picked up dinner. Got some king crab legs, potatoes, some veggies for salad, and all that good stuff.”

“Mmm mmm mmm, my favorite! I can’t wait!” I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him the biggest kiss. “You know I love you so much, don’t you?”

“Not more than I love you. Where do you want to eat?” he asked smiling, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Let’s watch a movie in the bedroom and eat on the bed. I haven’t done that in a long time,” I answered, releasing him to grab two trays out of the pantry.

“Sounds good to me. What should we watch?”

“The Notebook or The Count of Monte Cristo?” I suggested.

“Count of Monte Cristo. I’ll pass on the chick flick right now,” he laughed, as I led the way up the stairs to the bedroom.

       I stretched my arms out over my head and yawned.

“7:30?” I whispered aloud. Goodness, I can’t believe I slept that long and missed the sunset! I hate this damned daylight savings time crap. I got up and walked onto the balcony to get some air. I saw Malachi jogging toward the house on the beach below. He waved and blew me a kiss, making my heart skip a beat. I went downstairs and began preparing dinner while Malachi showered. We ate our steamed king crab legs, baked potato, and salad outside where we shared our first meal together almost six months ago. We popped a bottle of Concord Grape Spritzer and drank out of crystal wine glasses.

“Talise, I love you,” Malachi stated out of the blue.

“I love you too, babe,” I replied, blushing. Malachi cleared his throat and got up from his seat. He walked around the table, turned my chair with me still sitting in it, and bent down on one knee!

“Talise Miles,” he began. Tears immediately started to form in my eyes.

“I know that it hasn’t been that long since we’ve known each other, but in my heart, I’ve loved you all my life and I want to spend the rest of it with you. Will you marry me?” He asked, pulling a dark blue, velvet ring box out of his pocket. When he opened it, I couldn’t breathe for a good 20 seconds. It was a beautiful, pear shaped solitaire in a platinum setting with an eternity band of diamonds. It had to at least be five carats, although it could have been from a Cracker Jack box and I wouldn’t have cared one bit. I covered my mouth and tears started to spill out of my eyes. I couldn’t speak. I was so shocked.

“Well?” he asked nervously.

“Yes, Malachi! I would love to spend the rest of my life with you!” I all but yelled. He placed the sparkling diamond on my left ring finger and pulled me out of my seat. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and our lips met as we danced to the sound of the waves with satisfied stomachs and fulfilled hearts.

Stacey

       I can’t believe this asshole had me come all the way out here and ain’t fuckin’ here! I was livid as I got out of my car and walked up to the gate. I called Tyron’s cell again and this time it rang, instead of goin’ straight to voicemail like it had the five times before. As soon as I heard his voice, I tried to calm down. I knew that he wouldn’t appreciate me goin’ off on him.

“Tyron, I’m at the house and you’re not here. Why is that?” I asked as calmly as I could.

“I’ll be there in a minute. I got caught up at the office,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Well, why didn’t you call and tell me that? Now I’m standin’ in front of your house lookin like an idiot,” I told him with much attitude.

“You know my phone doesn’t work most of the time while I’m in the canyon. So, if you got an attitude, take yo’ ass home because if you ain’t smiling and in a better mood when I pull up, I’m gon’ leave yo’ ass right outside that gate,” he replied mater-of-factly, without raisin his voice.

“All I’m sayin', Tyron, is that I’ve been waiting all this time and you could’ve at least called me when you were leaving your office and told me that you were going to be late.”

“Fix your face or leave, Stacey,” he said and hung up the phone.

I was so mad, one hot tear roll down my right cheek. I quickly wiped it away and walked back to my car, tryin' to decide if I should leave or just bow down and stay. I needed to see him like I needed food to survive, air to breathe. It had been 32 days since I’d been with him, and he’d been back for over a week now. I couldn’t see him before now because his bitch of a girlfriend was in town for the stupid ass BET Awards. I plopped down onto the leather seat of my car and slammed the door. More tears forced themselves out of my eyes. I cried because I felt so stupid and humiliated.
He knows, as well as I do, that when he pulls up, I will be sittin’ right here with a smile on my face like an obedient dog
, I thought as I turned up the radio.

“Damn static,” I whispered because KJLH wouldn’t play clearly. I scanned through the music on my iPod and let it stop on Bilal. I knew this album would definitely change my mood. I turned the volume up a few notches and let the bass from the Dr. Dre produced track,
Fast Lane
drown out my sorrows.

When you’re slipping through life,

Seen some people get caught up,

And some charges brought up,

For some people you shot up…heyyy

Living in the…fast lane.

I closed my eyes and let the music take me away. I needed to escape. I had no idea what I was gettin myself into. I’d fallen too hard for a man whose feelin’s I knew weren’t reciprocal. He wouldn’t want to be away from me for so long if he loved me like I love him. He wouldn’t talk to me the way he did and risk me leavin' if he cared for me as much as I cared for him. I pushed those thoughts out of my head because there was no need to address them. I wasn’t goin’ anywhere on my own volition and I would be damned if I let Tyron use me up and try to throw me away. I’ve had enough of that. I opened my eyes just in time to see a school of dolphins swim by, makin their way through the ocean and out of my sight as they swam out to sea.