A Pimp In Pumps (10 page)

              “That crazy bitch probably won’t even show up. She knows everybody’s gonna be talkin’ about her. Even Amika stopped fuckin’ with that bitch after a while.”

              “Well, I still don’t know if I’m going.”

              Our food finally arrived and we continued to talk as we grubbed.

              “I’m stuffed,” I said finally dropping my fork on the plate.

              “Me too,” Cherie agreed, but finished off her meal though.

              Our server showed up at the table with our checks a few minutes later. We both paid for our meals and waited for the server to bring our debit cards back.

              “So, we’re gonna meet up next week to discuss the party plans for Serg right?” She asked as she checked her phone.

              “Yes, just let me know in advance.”

              Cherie nodded. “Of course.”

              The server came back and the look on his face told me that something was wrong.

              “Uh, ma’am. Your card declined.” His voice was almost a whisper, so I was sure that I didn’t hear him right.

              “Excuse me?”

              He cleared his throat. “Your card declined ma’am.”

              “It must be your machine.” I sighed and took the card before reaching in my dark brown Hermes bag for my wallet to get another one.

              I put the card he’d given me back and passed the other one to him. “There you go.”

              When he walked off Cherie gave me a sympathetic look. “Everything okay?”

              Talking about embarrassed. I knew that something couldn’t be wrong with the machine being that Cherie’s card went through. “Yeah, everything’s good. I’ll call the bank when we leave. It’s closed…so…”

              “Okay…” Her phone started ringing. “Hold up.”

              When she answered my thoughts drifted off. I knew that there was money in the account and it was way more than enough to pay my sixty-dollar tab. What the hell was really going on? The server returned to the table.

              “That one declined too.”

              At that point I was livid. Kamal and I had a joint checking account and we shared an American Express credit card account. The only other card I had was for my personal checking account, which I didn’t want to use.”

              Cherie ended her call and passed the server her card. “I got it.”

              “No…I…” Damn, I felt like a charity case all of a sudden.

              True, Cherie was my friend, but I wasn’t expecting for her to have to pay for my meal.

              “I got it, chill out.”

              I nodded. “Thank you boo. I don’t know what the hell’s going on.”

              “Just make sure you call the bank and get to the bottom of it.”

              Yeah, but the bank couldn’t explain why I couldn’t use my credit card. I made a mental note to call Kamal after I called the bank. Once Cherie had her card back we drained our drinks and left. When we got in the parking lot we hugged and then parted ways.

              “I’ll call you later on girl!” She yelled out on the way to her car.

              “Okay!” I waved and got in behind the wheel.

              My stomach was churning as I pulled out my cell phone to call Wells Fargo’s customer service.

*  *  *

              I could not believe it. Kamal had really taken all of our money out of the account and transferred it to another one that was only in his name. Did he think I was spending too much money? I had a shopping addiction, but damn he could have warned me. I had no access to the new account and I didn’t know why, or how the bank let him do that. Come to find out he had documents that were supposedly signed by me to have the funds moved. I hadn’t signed shit and I was so mad that I could literally kill him. When I called American Express I found out that he had canceled my card, but kept his active. What the fuck was really going on? I dialed his number for the twelfth time and waited for him to answer. He was supposed to be home in two days, but I couldn’t wait that long.

              “You have reached Kamal Montgomery. I am unable to take your call at this time, but if you leave a message I’ll be sure to get back to you.” Beep!

              “I know you see my calls, you black bastard! Don’t make me come to LA. I’ll find you and…”

              Beep!

              I looked down at the phone’s screen and it was Kamal calling me back.

              “Nigga, what the fuck is going on? Why the fuck did you transfer our money and cut off my damn credit card!” I immediately snapped back into my old demeanor.

              It wasn’t like I was at work, so I didn’t have to give a damn about the way I talked or carried myself.

              “Because I left you Sasha. I’m not in love with you anymore,” he stated simply.

              Did I hear that fool right? We had just celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary, so what the hell did he mean?

              “Stop playing games with me Kamal! I’m not in the mood for this. If you’re trying to prove a point, I get it. I know I’ve been difficult lately, but you’re overreacting. We’ll talk about it when you get back and…”             

              “I’m not coming back. I filed for a divorce and I’m staying in LA.”

              My head was spinning and it felt like my legs were about to give out under me.

              “You did what? Without discussing it with me? Why…?”

              “I’ve been telling you for months about how unhappy I am. You just didn’t take that shit seriously. I know that I was wrong for cutting you off financially, but you’ll be okay. I’m sure you’ll get a promotion soon, since your career is more important than your marriage.”

              It was hard to believe that my husband was saying those things to me. If I recalled correctly, he was the one who wanted to get married so bad.

              “I should’ve left your sorry ass a long time ago! How the hell are you just gonna turn your back on me like that? I can’t afford the mortgage and everything else you’ve left me with! I hate you!” The tears fell from my eyes out of control and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

              Kamal had left me.

              “Call your daddy. I’m sure he’ll help you. Maybe you can sell your ass for him, since you won’t give me none.”

              Why was he being so evil toward me? What happened to the man who used to cherish me and dote on me like he was so drunk in love? Was it all a game just to see if he could get me. Once he had me, the fun must’ve been over. The man that I had learned to trust again ended up being a sham. He was a fake and I wanted to put my hands on his trifling ass. Usually I had a lot to say, but at that moment, I didn’t. I was literally speechless.

              Then I heard a woman’s voice in the background. “The food is done baby.”

              “Shhhhhh!” I heard him hiss and then there was nothing for at least a minute.

              “I’m sick of lying to her Mal. Tell her the truth.” The woman’s voice sounded familiar.

              Was that…?

              “I’m with Jordan now. She’s here in LA and we’re getting married once our divorce is final. I’m sorry…”

              The phone fell from my hand and crashed against the hard wood floor. As the screen shattered, so did my life and future. What I’d envisioned for myself was no more. My husband had left me…for my best friend.

Chapter 6

Two weeks had passed since Kamal left me and although I was mad as hell at him and Jordan, I couldn’t help but blame myself. Everything I’d done wrong just kept on coming up in my mind. Drinking and smoking weed all day since then was only making me reflect instead of making me feel better. Although I’d confided in her at first, I was avoiding Cherie, who was the only real friend that I had who still lived close to me. Nadia and Bells had been filled in on the situation, by Cherie of course, and I wasn’t answering their calls either.

              My career had meant so much to me at first, but I was so out of it that I’d been calling off more than usual. I had some paid time off, so I took it. It wasn’t like I was using that time wisely though. All I wanted to do was get high and drunk so that I could forget, but that shit wasn’t doing the trick. It seemed like I was doing more remembering than anything. Lord knows I didn’t want to remember.

              “I’m fine pops. You don’t have to stick around.” I told my dad, who was the only one I had reached out to.

              He wanted to kill Kamal so bad for not keeping his word years ago, but I had talked him out of it.

              “Let him and Jordan be together if that’s what they want. They can sit back and watch me do good as hell without them,” I had told him as my mind roamed with ways to end their lives myself.

              “You’re better than me baby girl. I’m all about revenge in the worst way.”

              That had made me laugh despite how I felt. “I know and I’m all about revenge too. Just a different kind.” My own. I didn’t want my pops involved.

              That conversation was right after the shit was fresh, and I still wanted to make sure that I got payback by doing even better than I was at first. I needed Kamal and Jordan to know that I didn’t need either of them in my life. They’d betrayed me and it didn’t matter if I felt like I deserved it or not. Even if I wasn’t the best wife to Kamal, I was a damn good friend to Jordan. She seemed so adamant about him telling me about them, but she still hadn’t talked to me herself. The two of them couldn’t even look me in the face and tell me that they were leaving together. I’d lost my husband and my best friend all at once. It was devastating and I was in mourning. For some reason I’d always expected that to happen. The two of them had always been too damn close. Still, I didn’t think they would do that to me.

              After making sure that I was okay my father finally left. I was glad because I was ready to pop open another bottle of Patron. The fact that I wasn’t much of a drinker back in the day didn’t matter. It was taking the edge off and the weed was making me not give a fuck about shit. As I sipped my drink and rolled a blunt, my doorbell rang.

“Fuck!” I got up and looked through the peep hole.

Damn, it was Cherie, so instead of opening the door, I walked away and got comfy on the couch. I was sure she’d leave after a while and I wanted to be alone.

“Sasha, I know you’re in there! Open the door before I shoot this mufucka down!”

I shook my head as I got up and walked back to the door, because I knew she’d do it. As I opened it, I felt that maybe talking to her would help me get some shit off my chest. Maybe having a genuine friend over wasn’t a bad idea after all.

“Well, come on in wit’ your crazy ass.” I moved aside as she stepped over the threshold.

Cherie took a good look at my face and shook her head in disgust. “You look a hot ass mess. Get yourself together Sasha. Damn. You’re too fly to be moping around here giving a damn about what Kamal and Jordan are doing. Karma is a bitch and you know that.”

I sighed. Staring into my friend’s eyes, I asked her a question I’d been wanting to ask since I found out the truth.

“Did you know?”

“Hell no. I had no clue. Honestly, if I’d known I would’ve told you.”

I sighed, sat down on the sofa and waited for her to join me.

“I’m glad you didn’t. I don’t want to feel like I can’t trust anybody.”                           

              “You can always trust me. Now, I will admit that I always thought it was something between them. Not so much a physical relationship, but a weird bond. We talked about that before though. I never thought it would come to this.”