We Take this Man (25 page)

I took him back to work and decided I would call Tracey and let her know that I’d pick up DJ, because I was leaving work early. Maybe she received subliminal messages when Dwight and I crept off, because I sensed some irritation in her voice. When I got off the phone with her, I called Dwight and told him how she sounded. He said he’d noticed she’d been tense over the past couple of days.

I suggested, “Maybe we need a vacation.”

He asked me to research a trip to Jamaica. There were couple resorts and family resorts, but where does a threesome go? I decided to call Half Moon, a resort that I used to frequent with another married man, and asked if they could offer me a package for three. The Imperial Suite would be ideal because there was a bedroom and a plush living room. And the additional adult was only eighty dollars extra per night. I asked my mother if she’d be willing to keep DJ if we booked the trip. She agreed and I clicked book it.

CHAPTER 40

Tracey

W
hen Dwight first mentioned that we were going away to Jamaica, I was so excited about me and him having alone time. That was until he mentioned that Alicia was coming, too! I should have known better. All this sharing is becoming old. She is starting to annoy, irritate, and all the above. But at least on this trip I would be sharing him with only one person and not four. There would be no children and seven days of adult conversation and half of it will be spent alone with the man I love.

The day before the trip I flew with the girls to Jacksonville. I spent an extra three hundred eighty-nine dollars just to take them to Jacksonville. Dwight told me to let the girls fly alone, but I just couldn’t imagine it, although the airline guaranteed they would be safe. After getting them there securely, I just wanted to hurry home to finish packing. Mama Dee was at the airport gates waiting for them. I gave them hugs and kisses and went to go catch my next plane.

I traveled fourteen hundred plus miles by plane in less than ten hours and I was tired and had a bad case of jet lag. Dwight was supposed to meet me when I returned, but he wasn’t there so I took a cab home. His and Alicia’s cars were parked outside. I walked in the house and saw DJ sitting alone downstairs. I didn’t know what was going on. But I knew they better have a good excuse for not picking me up from the airport.

“Where’s everybody at, huh?” I asked as I picked DJ out of his high chair. I jogged up the steps and saw Alicia sitting on the floor crying.

“What’s wrong with you, girl?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said between sniffles as she held her knees.

“You sure?” I asked as I looked over at Dwight, who was standing over her.

“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s nothing . . . I just wish that DJ could know the other side of his family. I wanted him to go to Jacksonville, too! I don’t know my dad’s family. It’s just I feel like I’m repeating the cycle. You know.”

I gave Dwight another look like
you got to be kidding me
. There was no nice way to tell her she was overreacting. Dwight backed away from her and stood against the opposite wall of the hallway with his arms folded. I walked over to her and sat down next to her with DJ still in my arms.

“Um, I understand how ya feel. But come on, nobody is going to understand this. You know that, right?”

“We need to make them understand,” she cried.

“Alicia, listen. DJ will meet the rest of the family, but not right now. We are about to go on this vacation. Let’s have fun and discuss this when we get back.” I pulled her slouched body up off the ground.

“Come on, let’s go pack for the trip. We all need this vacation, alright?”

“You’re right,” she said as she wiped away her tears with her fingers.

“Now go pack.”

By the next morning Alicia was still playing the I-am-so-upset card. I was through with it and her. This was her idea to go on vacation and now she was about to ruin it. Her mother came and picked up DJ and gave us all a judgmental look.
Whatever
, I thought. The only thing that mattered was my husband right now.

The bright sun was absent from the beautiful Jamaican skyline. It wasn’t exactly dreary outside but the sky was grayish with trails of white in between. The shuttle pulled up in front of our hotel. The hotel was peach and white with gold trimming going up the woodwork. Palm trees and tropical pink and yellow flowers were on both sides of the entrance. Dwight got out of the van first. He helped me and then Alicia. The driver handed our luggage to the bellhop, who was wearing all white with gold buttons running straight down the center of his coat. His dark brown skin had deep dark cherry tones.

“Welcome to Jamaica,” he said with a heavy accent as he began pushing our luggage to the lobby. We stood in the lobby, and there was beautiful artwork on the ceiling.

Another woman welcomed us again. Alicia checked us in as Dwight held my hand and walked to get a better look at the ocean. The infinity pool was right by the beach. It was very breezy and it definitely was going to rain. Alicia came and tapped us to let us know our room was ready. We entered our adjoining rooms. They were mostly white with island colorful decor.

“This was a great idea, Miss Alicia,” I said.

“You’re welcome, Miss Tracey.”

“So what do you want to do first?”

“I’m going to get in the pool,” she said as she pulled her indigo blue bikini out of her bag. As soon as she went into the bathroom Dwight kissed me on my neck and pulled me into my room.

“Go to the beach, Alicia; we will be up here getting some rest,” I said as I giggled and shut the door.

“Dwight, I miss us spending time together,” I said as he slowly kissed the back of my calves and thighs. He carefully took my panties off with his mouth.

“I know. I’m so glad Alicia planned this trip for us. She is so considerate.” Why did Alicia’s name have to come up when we were spending time alone and he was kissing on me? I wasn’t going to worry about that right now. Because my man was about to pleasure me. I could feel the heat from his breath approaching my spot. And then he was there—his tongue began to dip up and down between the opening of my legs. I moaned loudly. I moaned because it felt so good and I moaned because I wanted Alicia to hear me. And me screaming made his tongue enter deeper and penetrate harder. I was screaming and saying, “Oh my God, Dwight.” I wanted her to know that he made me feel like this and she would never ever be able to replace me. Our trip was seven days long. I was going to enjoy every minute of it.

First thing in the morning, Alicia came and knocked on the door. I answered. I had that all-night-sex glow that I wanted to show her.

“I was seeing if Dwight was ready to go snorkeling.”

“He is not up yet, Alicia. Give him a little bit. When he wakes up I will tell him to knock on the door.” At least I had thought Dwight was asleep. But he came up from behind me, wiping his eyes and yawning, and told Alicia to give him a minute.

I knew I was being selfish, but I wanted to have breakfast with Dwight. I wasn’t ready to turn him over just yet. But it was her turn to do an activity with him. I sulked in the bathroom as Dwight showered and dressed quickly, leaving to go snorkeling with her.

I had nothing planned for the day. I wanted to get a good look at the island and maybe pick up my souvenirs. I dialed Mama Dee and checked on my girls.

“They are fine. You’re not going to call here every day are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Good, well, we just came in from getting some groceries. How is Jamaica?” Mama Dee asked, out of breath.

“Beautiful.”

“Where is my son?”

“He is at the pool.”

“Don’t leave him alone with those island women.” She laughed.

“I’m not. I just came up to change my clothes.”

“Where are you going today?”

“Sightseeing and snorkeling.” I said the first thing that came to mind.

“Well, have fun.”

“I will.” Truth be told, I didn’t know what I was going to do with my day. I was in this beautiful place and all alone. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow when it would be my turn again. I came downstairs and sat by the pool in a yellow lounge chair all day. The rays of the sun put me to sleep. I felt so relaxed. A waiter came up in white shorts and a white shirt, and asked me if there was anything he could get me from the bar.

“What do you suggest?” I asked the Caribbean man with long locks flowing down his muscular shoulders.

“Our special is the Islander. It has a splash of pineapple juice, coconut, and rum.”

“Okay, I’ll take that.”

After a few drinks I was ready to party, but there was no one to party with. I went back up to the room to see if they had returned. I wrote them a note telling them to come down to the pool area. After a few hours of making small talk with other guests and drinking by myself, I walked down to the beach. The sun was setting and there were white gazebos on the beach. Couples and wedding parties were everywhere. They all looked so happy and excited. I smiled as one bride in an ivory dress kissed her husband after he dipped her back over his arm. They appeared to be so in love, like me and Dwight used to be. I then began to wonder where and what Alicia was doing with my husband.

Eleven in the evening and I was still by myself. They didn’t call or come back to the room. I know last night me and Dwight stayed in without her, but it wasn’t the whole day. I didn’t want to call their cell phones, but I did anyway, only to hear them ring in the room. I was getting upset thinking about how much fun they were having.

I attempted to watch television, but there was nothing on but old movies I had already seen. And then I heard the door opening. It was Dwight. I jumped up and said, “Hey, baby.” As soon as he came in my entire mood changed.

“Hey.”

“What y’all do all day?”

“We went to the other side of the island. This place is beautiful,” he said as he undressed and turned the shower on. I undressed and followed him. As I stepped in, he turned the shower off.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he reached for a towel to dry off.

“I’m getting in with you,” I said, looking up at him and wondering why he was showering so quickly.

“I was just coming up to change my clothes. Me and Alicia are going on the beach to talk. I’ll be right back. I just have to calm her down. She is having a rough time still about DJ not meeting Mama Dee. Then from there we’ll probably hang out at the bar. You can come if you like.”

“No, I’m okay. I’m tired. I’ll get ready for our day tomorrow.”

Dwight didn’t come right back. I waited up and listened out. Then at four-fifteen I heard them enter the room. I turned the volume down on my remote. There was all this groaning and thumping. I could envision what they were doing by the way the bed was moving and the sound of Dwight panting. What I was hearing was making my body sick. I turned the volume up and placed the pillows over my head to silence their noise.

One day with me, the next with her, and it should have been my turn again. But those two decided it was group date day. We went Jet Skiing and sightseeing. It was an okay day. Dwight was showing me a lot of attention and I didn’t feel left out. We took so many pictures of all the scenery.

At night we all got dressed up and went to a club. An island man approached us and asked if we wanted any weed. I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. But Alicia did. He looked kind of scary to me. His dreads were all the way down his back. And he wasn’t wearing a shirt. The white part of his eyes were yellow, surrounded with red lines. She walked over to him unafraid, even though he could have been a cop or anything. She said yes and gave him money, and he gave her a little bag of marijuana. I thought for sure Dwight would look at her like she was crazy. But he asked him if he had any paper. Dwight hadn’t smoked weed since college and now he was with it. I was speechless. Alicia grabbed Dwight’s hand and said, “Let’s smoke this on the beach.”

The waves came crashing in, giving us a gentle breeze each time. It was so dark you couldn’t even see the water, but you could hear it. Alicia rolled and lit up the weed like a professional. She inhaled it long and hard until the tip turned a bright orange with traces of black. Silly Alicia even had Dwight take a picture of her smoking. I laughed at her dumb ass. Then she passed it to Dwight. He took a couple of tokes and he placed it in my mouth. I inhaled and began to cough. My chest was burning a little.

“What is in this?” I said, coughing again and turning the joint sideways.

“That is only the best weed in the world.” Alicia chuckled as she patted my back a few times. Dwight lay on his back, blowing rings of smoke out of his mouth. Alicia scooted over to him and took the joint and did something I told her not to ever do. She kissed my husband in front of my face. I just sat there with my knees up, looking into the ocean, thinking. I wasn’t supposed to but I was becoming jealous. They kissed for a few moments and then she passed the weed back to me. I took a few tokes and inhaled it all in. It began mellowing me out. I turned my head, ignoring them both and thought about all that was going on.

Dwight tapped me,
Come on, babe
. I stood up and held his hand. His other hand was locked with Alicia’s. He stopped, turned to me and then to her, and said, “I don’t care what the world says about us. I have everything I need. I’ll never need another woman. Our children, our family is what matters to me. I am so lucky to have y’all in my life.” He kissed me then he kissed her again.

“I am committed to us, to our life. Dwight, I love you, and I love your family, and I will do whatever it takes to keep our family together,” Alicia said.

It was my turn. I couldn’t say anything. They both looked at me.

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t know what to say. We are a family and I am committed to my family. No matter what anyone thinks.”

“You okay?” Dwight asked as he noticed I wasn’t into this little declaration-of-love commitment ceremony.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

CHAPTER 41

Tracey

T
hey were so into each other, even on the ride home on the plane. They didn’t notice that I hadn’t opened my mouth the entire flight. This was the first vacation in my life that I couldn’t wait to get home. The days Dwight spent with Alicia I was mad. And the days he spent with me I was thinking about why he couldn’t be satisfied with just me. As soon as our plane touched the tarmac I immediately opened my phone to dial Mama Dee to tell her I would be there tomorrow to pick up the girls.