A Thug's Wife (Full Length Novel) (22 page)

“What the fuck?” she said to herself. She couldn’t believe her eyes and what she was reading. This was devastating her, but it all made sense. This was
why she hadn’t been able to get pregnant. All this time she thought that something was wrong with her and that she was failing as a woman. All this time and the stress she had gone through was all because Devon just didn’t want to have kids with her.
Why would he lie to me like this? Why couldn’t just tell me the truth?
Yessenia thought as Devon’s phone vibrated in her hand.

She looked down at the name that popped up and shook her head as confusion took over her. The message that came through was from Lat
ifah asking Devon where he was at and letting him know that she was waiting.

Yessenia’s hand shook as she slammed the phone down on the dresser and walked to have a seat on the edge of the bed. She released a heavy breath and wiped her face with the back
of her hand. She didn’t know what she had done wrong to Devon to deserve being treated this way. Where had she failed as a wife?
Is it my weight? Am I nagging him too much? Is it the sex? I just don’t understand.
Yessenia sighed.

She was sick of Devon lyi
ng to her and only wanted the truth. If he no longer wanted to be in this marriage with her then, all he had to do was say so. It would be hard, but she would move on. She was young, beautiful with a great head on her shoulders. She could get another man even though she didn’t want another one. She wanted Devon and for them to be happy, but it obvious that he wasn’t feeling the same way.
Why Lord, what have I done wrong to this man? I cook and clean every damn day even though I’m tired as hell some days. I put my all into our sex life. I know I’m a big girl, but I do my best. What is it?

Yessenia got up from the bed and grabbed her cell phone from her purse and quickly went to pull up the internet to search for a phone number to UPS. She wanted answers, but
knew that she would have to get them herself. No more playing games with Devon. She had to find out what was really going on although it was clearly evident.

If a bitch was texting him talking about she was ready and waiting for him then it was obvious t
hat Devon’s ass wasn’t going to work. She wouldn’t even waste her time asking him because all he would do is lie.

“Yes I need to speak with Devon Butler, this is his wife Yessenia. Is he working tonight?” she asked quietly as she quickly left their bedroo
m.

“What’s the name?” the person on the other end asked.

“It’s the Devon Butler. He’s the night manager.”

“Devon Butler? I’m the night manager ma’am. Did you call the right
location?”

“This the UPS facility in Mesquite right?”

“Yes it is, but I am the night manager and the other managers are not named Devon. You might have the wrong location.”

Yessenia huffed, “Okay.” She hung the phone up and quickly pulled the internet up to search for the other UPS locations located in the Dallas vicinity. Devon told
her that he worked for the location in Mesquite, but maybe she had been mistaken. After calling several other locations and being told that not only did a Devon Butler not manage any of them, but they didn’t have any employees by that name either, Yessenia was stumped.

“What the hell is this man up to?” Yessenia said aloud as she walked back into their bedroom. Devon was pulling his jeans on, and he looked up at her. “Hey I’m about to run to the store. I wanna grab a couple of things from Walmart that I n
eed to take to the salon tomorrow.”

“Why you wait so late to go?” Devon asked her as he took a sip of the Ginger Ale and let out a burp.

“I just remembered that I needed to get some scissors and some wrapping tape. I’m a just grab something right quick for my first couple of appointments, and then I’m a go to the beauty supply store on break tomorrow.”

“Alright. Be careful.”

Devon pulled Yessenia toward him and kissed her lips. He pulled a strand of her hair from her face and looked into her eyes. She looked as if she had been crying to him, and he wrinkled his forehead in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, something got caught in my throat and had my throat a little itchy.”

“A’ight, I’ll see you in the morning when I get off work.”

“Okay, have a good n
ight.”

“No doubt. Love you babe,” Devon took another sip of the Ginger Ale and watched as Yessenia walked out of the room.

***

Yessenia sat parked across the street from Latifah’s house. She stared back and forth between the clock in her car and the house waiting for Devon to come out. After pretending to be going to Wal-Mart, she’d parked her car a few houses down from theirs and
followed behind the rental car that Devon was driving. She couldn’t believe she had been so stupid to believe that Devon had actually been working all these hours like he claimed. She felt so damn dumb.

She didn’t know how she allowed him to manipulate h
er into believing all of his lies. She only wanted to believe that he was actually making some progress in his life by getting off the streets because it meant if he was doing better, then they could finally have a baby. The high she felt knowing that he’d finally gotten a good paying job was just a feeling she didn’t want to lose, so she forced herself to believe something that she knew in the back of her mind was just too good to be true. That’s how bad she had wanted that baby.

Yessenia perked up in her
seat as she watched Devon finally emerge from the small-dilapidated house. He threw his arms in the air and stretched and then placed his hand on his stomach as he looked around. The moment he walked down the few steps in front of the house, a small petite woman came following behind him. She knew it. She knew all along that he’d been cheating on her. She felt it in her heart that he was doing her wrong, and she was right.

“Lying about where the fuck he works at and he fucking around on me. What the fuck e
lse is this nigga doing? I gave this man everything. Put my life on the line for his ass, and this is how he do me.” Yessenia shook her head as the pain she felt slid down her face.

She thought back to when she and Devon had first gotten together, and he
was still heavy in the streets, hustling heavy to make ends meet. She loved his ambition at the time and dealt with the lifestyle because she’d gotten to know him as a person and began to truly care for him. She never complained or once knocked him for what he was doing. As long as he didn’t allow the streets to interfere with what they had going, she was cool with it. Yessenia wasn’t the type to judge anyone, and that was why Devon was able to easily fall in love and later marry her.

“I put my life on the
line and he does this to me. How could he?” Yessenia heaved. She stared on in disbelief as Devon carried on a conversation with the chick that walked outside of the home with him. She was angry and upset because she’d done the unthinkable for Devon. Only a year into their marriage, Devon became frustrated with working low paying jobs that he decided to give the dope game another try. He had only been back at it for three weeks, when a dude named Larry that he was working side by side with stole some work from him. It was almost like déjà vu all over again. Before Devon was robbed by some random dude, but that time it was someone he thought he didn’t have to look out for.

Devon confronted Larry and in return was disrespected. Feeling as if he had no other c
hoice, Devon pulled out his pistol and shot him. Two times in the chest and this time, it wasn’t attempted murder he was facing, it was murder.

Devon knew being that he was already on probation that if he was caught and charged with the murder of Larry th
at he would most likely be facing life. He stared at Larry’s body for what seemed like hours before he called up the one person he knew he could trust-Yessenia. He only wanted to inform her that he wasn’t coming home and that he would be going on the run, but he’d gotten a response from Yessenia that he wasn’t expecting.

She told him that whatever he needed from her, she would give it to him, and whatever he needed her to do she would do it. She begged Devon to tell her what was going on and when he did, Y
essenia showed up ready to work. She helped Devon get rid of Larry’s body, clean up the mess that was made, and got rid of Larry’s car.

To this day, the murder of Larry is still an ongoing investigation. The police have no leads or any suspects. Devon had
gotten away with murder with the help of Yessenia. Bitches always hollered how they were ride or die for theirs, but Yessenia was for real about it. If she could go back, she would do it again. That’s just who she was.

She talked Devon into leaving the st
reets for good and doing something better with his life. She convinced him that God didn’t give anyone too many chances to get it right. It was either now or never, and Devon chose to do right. He chose to leave the game behind for good, marry Yessenia, and walk down a straight path.

Yessenia believed that they were happy. She knew that he’d been struggling with getting a good job, but she never faulted him for that or made him feel bad about it. She stared on at Devon wondering if maybe she’d put too much
pressure on him about having a baby and if that was what caused him to seek another woman. Not one legitimate reason came to her though.

“Wait a minute, did this bitch just hand him some money?” Yessenia eyes were bucked wide open as she watched the hand
off between Devon and the woman. “That’s where his ass is getting all this extra money from. Lying about having a good job while collecting money from another bitch. I bet this ain’t the only bitch he fucking either. What the fuck is he supposed to be some kind of pimp or something?”

Yessenia pulled out her cell phone and quickly pulled up her camera, snapping a few pictures of Devon and the woman. She wanted to have proof when she confronted him with it, knowing that he would only lie to her if she asked
him about it. She watched as the girl stepped closer to Devon and wrapped her small arms around Devon’s huge build. That instantly made a flush of tears pour from her eyes. The hurt she felt was indescribable.

“Wait a minute. That’s the same bitch that wa
s at the gas station just the other day. The nigga claimed he didn’t know the hoe, talking about she was selling somethin’. Ughhh!” Yessenia huffed.

She was getting angrier by the minute. She reached for the door handle ready to open it, but thought bette
r of it. Instead, she looked up toward the small house and noted the number that was painted next to the door. It was hard to make out, but she was able to see the numbers 9-5-1.

Cranking up her car, she placed it in drive and drove off. She would come ba
ck and holler at ol’ girl tomorrow. No need to ask Devon about his infidelities when she just could ask the chick herself.

“One thing is for certain, Devon got me fucked up. I’m a get all the answers I need before I say anything to that muthafucka though.
He fuckin’ with the right one.”

Yessenia reached into her glove department and pulled out her handy little CD case. She flipped through the book and then planted her eyes on the road before flipping through the book again. She quickly pulled out her K. M
ichelle Rebellious Soul CD and slid it into the player. She went to song that she’d been playing every time she was feeling some type of way about Devon.

She turned the knob on the stereo and allowed the music to blast through her ears and the car.
You got the right one. You got the right one. I just really hate you. All that game you’ve been running. Now it’s time I played you. And why I let you do me. Like a door wide open you ran right through me. But you done find the right one nigga. 
She sang along to
The Right One
and drove down the street with her mind on ten. She needed someone to talk to, but didn’t want to go to Zaria. Zaria had just gotten home from the hospital, pregnant, and the last time she told her about her feeling that Devon was cheating-Zaria blew her off. She wanted someone to talk to that would listen to her, and she knew just the person.

***

“Damn, girl I haven’t seen you in years and I’m surprised that you still have my number. What’s up?”

“Hey, Rashad, how are you?” Yessenia said meekly. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging her ex-boyfriend tightly.

“And damn, I see you haven’t changed one bit. Still looking good as ever,” Rashad eyed her up and down, but fixated his stare on her voluptuous hips in the lavender skin tight jeans she was wearing.

Rashad and Yessenia dated on and off for two and a half years before they finally called it quits. Neither of them had done anything wrong to one another, but the relationship just didn’t work. They didn’t mesh the way a couple should, and they each agreed to just be friends.

“And you still crazy as ever. How
are you?” Yessenia asked as she looked around. They were standing outside of Rashad’s apartment, and Yessenia began to wonder if she had made a mistake by calling Rashad.

She just needed someone to get her mind off of Devon and the foul shit that he was d
oing to her. When she’d called up her old boyfriend, the only thing that had been on her mind was
Two Can Play that Game.
She had the intentions of getting back at Devon, but now she didn’t know if that was what she really wanted to do. She thought about her grandmother and wondered what she would have done had she been in the same situation.
Grandma would never cheat on PaPa just to get back at him. What am I doing here?