Can't Be That Other Woman (2 page)

"Actually I called to tell you that I won't be able to hang out with you guys today."

"Damn, Delaney, why you can't come now?" she asked, sounding a bit sad. "You know we were really looking forward to spending some time with you. Shit, we haven't seen you outside of school in forever."

"I know and I'm sorry, Tracy, but my manager just called, asking if I could come in today. You know how hard things are right now, I just couldn't turn down extra money to hang out."

          "I know and I feel you on that. Which is why I'm not mad this time, but you know Kaleb is going to be disappointed right? He was really looking forward to seeing you."

"Girl whatever. He will just have to wait until next time," I said, not even worrying my nerves about Kaleb. "But umm, can you come take me to work. I have to be there at eleven, and it's almost ten o’clock. By the time I take a fifteen-minute shower, do whatever I had to do, and try to make it to work by the bus, I'll be past late. I can't wait until I can buy me a car."

"Delaney, I'm still in bed," she began whining. I feel for her if times were ever to get hard on her. She was so spoiled that she barely knew the word struggle.

"Please! I promise, I'll let you use my employee discount on a pair of sneakers next time you stop by the store," I said, practically begging. She sat there for a few seconds in silence. I knew she was going to say yeah, her being silent was only to make me sweat.

"Okay, but you better be ready by the time I get there, or else you won't have a ride to work," she said, hanging up the phone.

Jumping off the bed, I grabbed my work clothes and made a dash for the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I waited for the water to warm up and got in. I didn't have time to do the things I'd normally do, so I grabbed the washcloth and soap, and immediately got down to business. Once I made sure that I had washed every inch of my body, I rinsed off and repeated the process. When I was done, I turned the shower off and got out. Moving fast, I dried off, applied a little bit of lotion to my body and got dressed. Once I was finished, I headed to my room. After putting my shoes on, I brushed my hair into a ponytail, just as Tracy started blowing outside. Grabbing my purse and phone, I headed into the living room, making sure to lock my door behind me. Before leaving, I gave Dedrick, Derrick, and Dallas each five dollars for something to eat, gave them a kiss and left. I was going to miss my babies, but we needed the money, so I guess I would just have to see them when I get back home.

* * *

Chapter 2

Delaney

When I arrived at work, the place was already packed with people. I noticed the minute I walked through the door how much Christina's face had relaxed. I guess she thought I wasn't going to make it. I couldn't blame her though, the way the store was packed, I couldn't imagine being here alone either. I only had about ten minutes to get myself together, so I headed to the back to clock in.

"Thank God you made it here. I really thought I was going to have to be here by myself today," she said, the minute I came back to the front of the store.

"I told you I was coming. I don't know why you would worry yourself. When I say that I'm going to do something, I always do it," I said, placing my nametag on. I didn't wait for her to reply, before I walked on the floor and started helping the many people that were in there. I just prayed that I didn't get grumpy today, being that I didn't get enough sleep.

* * *

It was about two o'clock that afternoon when I finally realized that I hadn’t had a break or lunch for that matter. The store was super busy, and time just seemed to fly on by. I was on my way to look for Christina, when Tracy texted me, saying that they were waiting on me at the food court. Lord knows I wasn't trying to mess with their asses. I was almost to the register, when someone stopped me.

"Excuse me, miss, but can I get some help please?" a voice said from behind me.             

"I'm sorry, but I'm about to head to lunch. Let me grab the manager, and she will help you. Don't go anywhere," I said, without even taking a glance at whoever it was. By now, my stomach was talking to me and all I could think about was putting food in it.

"Come on, pretty lady, I promise it won't be long," he replied in this sexy voice that I finally noticed. When I looked up, I almost fainted. Never in all my seventeen years of being on earth have I ever seen a man this fine. I mean dude was so fine, he made my stomach do flip-flops. This man was a stallion and all I wanted was a ride.

Standing at what looked to be 6'2”, this man was definitely that nigga. His skin was a smooth caramel in color, his body was covered in tattoos, and he had these pair of big brown eyes that would make any woman drool at the sight of him. As I watched his mouth move, I stood there staring at him. I didn't hear a word he was saying, because he had me in a trance. I had never been with a man physically, but I surely wanted to change all of that with him.

"You okay, ma?" he asked, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Umm, y-yeah. I'm good," I replied, practically embarrassed. I couldn't believe I got caught staring. "What can I help you with?"

"I was wondering if you had this in a size thirteen?" he asked, holding up a pair of black leather Air Max 90’s.

"Uh, I don't know, but I can go check in the back for you," I said, grabbing the shoes out of his hand. For a brief, second our hands touched, sending this shockwave through my body. I looked up, trying to see if he felt it. I could tell from the surprised way he was looking, that he felt it too. I quickly pulled my hand back, before forcefully swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat  

"Umm, l-let me go look for those shoes for you," I replied, stuttering. I damn near knocked over a barrel of socks, trying to get my ass up out of there. I was moving like my ass was on fire. I don't know what it was, but this man really had knocked me off my square.

The moment I got to the back where all of the shoes were, I released the breath that I had no idea I was holding. I took a moment to calm down the beat of my heart. I don't know what this man was doing to me, but I was glad this would be my first and last time seeing him. After getting myself together, I prepared to look for the shoes. I was happy when I did find the pair of shoes he was looking for, which meant that he really didn't have to come back looking for them. The shoes were high on the shelf and my little ass barely could reach them, so I had to fish the ladder out of the utility closet. After getting the shoes from their spot, I grabbed them, along with the display ones and went back to the front of the store.

"I'm sorry it took me so long. I had to get the shoes from a high spot and as you can see, I'm really short," I said, once I reached him. I really hoped he wasn't mad that I took a minute.

"It's okay, ma. You should've came and got me and I would've helped you out." He smiled. The minute he showed his perfectly white teeth, I felt myself getting moist.
I got to get the hell away from him
, I thought.

"Would that be all you need today, sir?" I asked, trying to hurry his ass out of there.

"Yes, that would be all," he said, flashing that smile again.

"Okay, follow me and I'll check you out," I said, heading straight to the register.

"Oh Delaney, I've been looking for you, my dear. It's time for you to take your lunch," Christina said, walking over to me.

“I know, I'm going as soon as I finish ringing this gentleman up," I told her. Once she noticed whom I was talking about, she damn near showed all thirty-two of her teeth.

"You know, I can do it if you want me to," she offered. I knew the bitch really was doing that, because she wanted him. She never did shit like that any other time.

"No, I got it," I said, with a little attitude. I couldn’t believe I was getting jealous over a man who actually wasn't mine. Hell, I did not know him at all. The only thing I knew was that he was fine as wine, and I had a crush on him.

"Okay," she said, before she took one last look at him and left.

"So your name is Delaney, huh?" he asked, as I rang up his shoes.

"Yeah, that's my name," I replied, just as I got through with his shoes. I placed them in a bag and proceeded to tell him his total. “That will be $84.65"

"My name is Onijae," he said, before he handed me a hundred-dollar bill. When I reached back to give him his change, he stopped me.

"Nah ma, you can keep it," he said, grabbing his bag off the counter.

"I can't do that Onijae," I responded. I was trying my best not to let Christina hear or see this. "I could get fired for this. I can't take your money."

"You're not taking it. I'm giving it to you. Now go take your lunch, pretty woman. I'll see you later, Ms. Delaney," he said, turning around and leaving the store. I made sure that Christina was nowhere around, before I placed the money in my pocket and went on my lunch break. I missed Onijae already. I know I was wishfully thinking, but I wished that I could run into Onijae again. I knew nine times out of ten, I wouldn't, but that didn't stop me from wanting it to happen. Whom am I kidding? I know for sure that this man was older than I was. So what would he want to do with me? He probably had a woman and kids at home, while my little hot ass was lusting over something that could never be.
Just forget about him, girl
.

As I made my way to the food court, I pulled my phone out to text Tracy. I wanted her to know I was on my way; in case she was still looking for me. Immediately she texted back, and said that they were still there, which I was happy for. I told her I would be there in a minute and placed my phone in my pocket, when I bumped into someone from behind.

"I'm so sorry. I was totally not paying attention to where I was going," I said, as I scrabbled to help them big up their bags.

"It's okay, ma," the voice said, causing me to freeze in place. Even though I'd just met him, I knew his voice. When I looked up into those big brown eyes, I wasn't surprised when I noticed that it was Onijae. "So we meet again."

"It seems so," I said, handing him the bags that I picked up from the floor.

"Thank you. So where are you so in a rush to go to?" he asked, as he gestured for me to start walking.

"To the food court. In case you've forgotten I haven't had any lunch and my stomach is talking in tongues now," I said, rubbing my stomach. Just the thought of food had my stomach crying and begging for food.

"Can I join you?" he asked, shocking me. I could feel my heart rate speeding up. I wanted so badly for him to join me, but I remembered that I was meeting my friends.

"I'm actually about to meet my friends," I said, a little disappointed, wishing like hell that wasn't the case right now.

"It's okay, ma. Maybe we can do it some other time. It was nice meeting you pretty, later."

"You too," I said, before we parted ways.

As I continued to walk to the food court, I couldn't help but look back. When I spotted him staring at me, I waved, before turning back around. I damn near ran off. I don't know if or when I was going to see him again, but I surely hoped, it was going to be sometime soon.

* * *

Chapter 3

Onijae

I had no intentions on coming in here and flirting. Hell, I really had no intentions on coming here at all today actually. Once I got to the shop and finished the few heads that I did have today, I didn't have anything else to do, so I decided to come to the mall. I was only coming to pick up a pair of tennis shoes to wear to our annual barbecue, which my company was throwing for the community next week. Not only will there be free food, we will be giving free haircuts, raffling off gifts and a few other things. There will also be a bouncy house, and a water slide, since it was kind of hot outside.

The moment I saw shorty; I couldn't help but to step to her. I mean, I've never in my life, seen someone so perfect and sweet. I couldn't leave the store without at least, speaking to her. The minute she opened her mouth to speak, my heart melted. She had this innocence about herself that I absolutely just loved. I know I was wrong for even thinking about another woman, while I was with Bianca, but I couldn't help it. Besides, lately something has been up with her and I just couldn't put my finger on it. I still love my girl, but it’s just that things have been different lately.

As I stood there watching shorty walk away, my mind was telling me to go after her. I've never felt this way about another female since the day that I first met Bianca back in high school, and that was a long time ago. I knew nothing could possibly come out of this and yet I still wanted to get her number.
Fuck it
, I thought, as I began walking back towards the food court.

I was halfway there when my phone began to ring. Looking at the screen, I noticed that it was Bianca calling. I wanted to ignore her and get at shorty, but I didn't. Something was telling me not to. I noticed there was a bench to the left of me, so I took a seat on it.

"Hello," I answered on the third ring.

"Hey baby, what are you up to?" she asked, sounding rather jolly today.

"I'm actually in the mall right now. What's up?"

"Oh nothing, I was just calling to see what you were doing," she responded confusing me. Bianca never calls to check up on me. Sure, we would send a text here and there, but never a call, unless it was important.

"Oh. How's your day going?" I asked.

"It's going. I'm about to go shopping with my sister. Then I'm going to grab a late lunch. You want to join?"

"Nah baby, I can’t, I'm swamped. I have to go to back to the shop and to the car wash.”

"Okay, well, I'll see you later," she said, sounding a little upset.

"See you soon, bae," I said, and hung up.

I continued sitting on the bench for a few more minutes. I really don't know what's going on between Bianca and me. I have no idea why things are so strained, and I have no desire to figure it out. I mean, I love her and I still want to be with her, but shit wasn't the same anymore for us. I hope that we can get it together, before things fall all the way apart.

* * *

Instead of going back to the shop as I had planned to, I decided to drop through on my parents. I hadn’t seen my mother in a few days and I was missing the shit out of her. I knew for sure that she was going to curse me out the minute I strolled through the door, but I was prepared for that. I hoped my little sister was there to soften the blow though.

              Pulling up to my parents’ house, I shut the engine off and sat there. I mentally prepared myself for the backlashing that I knew I was going to get. If it was one thing that I knew for sure, my mother was going to chew me a new asshole. She hated when we went numerous days without talking to her. Hell, she hated when we went one day without talking to her, so I knew for sure that this wasn’t going to ride.

Pulling out my phone, I decided to call my brother, Omari. I knew for sure that if I hadn’t been here, his ass hadn’t been here either. He was worse than I was and that is why my mother and father stayed getting on him about it.

“Sup lil nigga? To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” he said, once he answered the phone.

“Shut up, nigga! I’m over here at our parents’ house and I was wondering if you wanted to spin through?” I asked him.

“Nah nigga, you mean you want me to come through, so they could fuss at both of us, instead of getting you by yourself?” he said, already knowing the deal.

“Nigga, you know just like I know that you haven’t been here in a minute, just like my ass,” I said, cutting straight to the chase. He knew just as well as I knew, how our parents were. He could act as if he wasn’t worrying about it, but he and I both knew that this shit was getting to his ass too.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I’ll be there in a few minutes. See you later,” he said, hanging up the phone in my face.

After sitting there for a few more minutes, I opened the door and got out.
Time to face the music
, I thought as I straightened out my clothes. I took my time as I walked up the driveway to the house. I hadn’t even made it to the door, before it came swinging open. I paused immediately and began laughing. Standing there with a broom in her hand and her hair in some rollers was my mother.

I should’ve known better than this. I didn’t expect her to come at me like this, but I should’ve expected her to do something. Lillian Love was a woman who didn’t play or take shit from anyone. At forty-six years old, my mother didn’t even look her age. She could’ve easily passed for a woman being in her early thirties. She’s been married to our father, Omari Love, Sr. for twenty-five years, but they’ve been together for a total of thirty years. Together, they produced three kids. Omari was the oldest of the three, I was the middle child, and then, there’s my little sister, Tracy. Back in the day, my father worked at a local warehouse. He worked hard, day and night, to provide for his family. He later became a lead man. Being one to think beyond the point, he invested his money in a couple of local businesses. That later made him more money than we could spend and life for us was kind of peachy.

Since he was the man of the house and could easily provide for his family, he wanted my mother to be a stay-at-home wife and mother to his kids. She told him hell no and cursed his ass out for even bringing that shit up to her. In her words, “She wasn’t going to be like them other women.” She had my brother when she was nineteen years old and me when she turned twenty-two, and still managed to get through school. She became a schoolteacher, and then she later had my Tracy at twenty-nine. By the time she turned forty-two, she was retired and enjoying her money. My pops later retired and handed his businesses down to my brother and me. He was waiting until my little sister turned twenty-one, so she could get what was rightfully hers. Our parents were hard working and they made sure that all three of their kids assumed their roles and had their work ethics.

“I should beat your ass with this damn broom, Onijae,” was the first thing she said out of her mouth.

“Now why would you want to do that to your baby boy?” I asked, laughing at how serious she was.

“Hell yeah, I would,” she said, standing firm. She stood in the door, with the broom clutched in her hand, refusing to let me inside. “What the hell do you want? You weren’t worrying about coming up to see me all of those other days, so why the hell are you coming up here now?”

“Ma, I’m sorry. I’ve just been busy with the shops and shit,” I said, defending myself.

“Watch your damn mouth when you talk to me, boy. Now bring your ass in here, before I whack your ass upside the head with this damn broomstick,” she said, moving to the side so that I could walk inside.

              “I love you too, Ma,” I said, walking straight to the kitchen. I went to the refrigerator, grabbed a beer, and took a seat on one of the bar stools. I could hear her saying some shit behind me, but I didn’t pay her ass any mind. For her ass to be only 4’8”, she had a mouthpiece on her. I see where Tracy got that shit from.

“Where’s your dumb ass brother?” she asked, walking into the kitchen.

“I don’t know, when I called him he said that he was on his way over here,” I said, taking a sip from my beer.

“I should’ve known that y’all asses would’ve appeared together. I got a good mind to beat both of y’all asses with my belt, when he gets here,” she fussed. “You hungry?”

“Nah, I’m straight. I had some McDonald’s earlier when I left the mall,” I told her. The minute I saw her face, I knew I shouldn’t have told her that.

“That little girl still has you eating fast food, I see,” she said, as she started to fix me a plate of food anyway.

“Ma, I really don’t have time for this right now,” I said, turning the bottle up. My mother wasn’t a fan of Bianca, she never was. To her, Bianca was a gold digger, a leech. She thought that she only wanted me for what I had, but I knew different. Bianca’s been there for me through everything and in return, I give her whatever she wants. She was only working because she wanted to, because I already made it clear that she did not have to.

“I’m didn’t say anything, Jae,” she said, placing the plate in front of me.

              “Where’s Dad?” I asked, changing the subject.

“He was in the bathtub, last time I checked. I’ll go upstairs and get him for you,” she said, disappearing out of the kitchen.

I sat there thinking about what had just happened. I didn’t expect my mother to be a fan of Bianca and I didn’t blame her. My brother and sister weren’t fans of hers neither. The only one who showed her a little respect was my father.

About two and a half years ago, I caught Bianca cheating on me with a dude she worked with. The fucked up thing about it was that it happened in our house. She didn’t even have the decency to get a fucking hotel room or anything. She brought him in the home that we both shared and the shit fucked me up pretty bad. Had I not gone home that day, I probably wouldn’t have never found out about it. Of course, I kicked her ass to the curb, but that didn’t last long, because I really loved her. She was my heart, my soul and my life, so I took her back. Of course, my family thought that was a bad idea, but I didn’t care. It was my decision, my life and my choice. Unfortunately, things haven’t been the same since then, but we were working on it. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

“Is it safe for me to come in here?” my brother asked, peeking his head into the kitchen.

“Hell no, it’s not. Now bring your ass on so I can beat you with this broomstick,” my mother said, walking over to him, with the broom in her hand like before. I hadn’t even noticed when she got back in the kitchen.

“Come on, Ma, you know I’m too old to be getting beat with a broom,” he said with his hands up.

“Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that. As long as you’re on this earth and I’m your mother, you’ll never be too old for an ass whooping,” she said, popping him upside his head. “Now take a seat next to your brother, while I fix you a plate.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ma, where is Tracy?” I asked her. I hadn’t seen or heard her anywhere in the house.

“Child, she’s at the mall with her friends. You know that child is never home.”

“Her ass better not be up to no good out there,” Omari said, with a sour expression on his face.

“Unlike you and your brother, my daughter knows the home training I taught her. She especially knows not to go too long without talking to her mother,” she said, giving both Omari and myself the evil eye.

“That’s because she still lives in the same house as you.”

“Nah, that’s because she loves her mother,” she said, pretending to be offended. She placed Omari’s plate in front of him and took a seat at the table with us.

“Ma, you know we love you, we just be busy, that’s all.”

“I know, but you know y’all are my babies. I worry when I don’t hear from y’all in a few hours. So y’all should know better than ignoring me for more than twenty-four hours.” She started chastising us as if we were little boys.

“We’re sorry, Ma, and we promised not to do it again,” I said, trying to make her stop talking about it.

“Uh huh, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

For the next hour, my brother, my mother, and I sat around the table, chatting about what was going on in our lives. It was mostly about our business and a few other things. When my little sister showed up, it was like our little reunion. We pulled out a deck of cards and a few board games and got everything rolling. Once my farther heard all of the noise, he came down as well, and the party was in full swing.

* * *