Every Woman Needs a Wife (46 page)

The Perfect Match team wore black and pearls once again—soon to become a standard. Those old women were giving the young men in the place a run for their money on the dance floor. They could step their asses off—smooth turns, two short moves forward, then two long strides, the cradle and matador turns—almost like ballroom dancing with a bit of R&B style. Tanya’s relatives were right by her side. Brandi and Michelle could have been twins! And Mama Diane and Grandma Belle were absolute delights. They’d planned and coordinated the menu for the evening. Brandi was too nervous to eat, but she had threatened everyone that if she didn’t end up with a plate to take home, someone was gonna catch the wrath.

The music scratched to a halt as Vernon took the cordless mic and strolled across the room to Brandi. They had seen each other in passing, but never made mention of that rainy night of passion. And when he woke up that next morning and she wasn’t next to him, an emptiness filled him that he hadn’t been able to shake. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

He dropped to one knee and looked up at her. “For better or worse? I’ve done the worst thing a man could possibly do to his wife. I committed my one and only unforgivable lifetime infraction.” Then he took her hand.
“But if you find it in your heart to forgive me, I would be eternally grateful and forever in your debt for redeeming my lonely heart and healing our marriage.”

Murmurs erupted around them as people came closer and stared at the couple.

“I am not the same man you married fresh out of college; that man is long gone. So divorce him. Let’s bury him. And will you please marry the new and improved me?

Brandi paused, feeling an overwhelming sense of happiness engulf her.

Disappointment flashed into his eyes. “If you can’t answer now, that’s all right. Here are the divorce papers,” he said, passing the court documents to her. “Sign them and let’s put that time behind us and start from here. I’ll even…” He swallowed hard. “You know…um—wash dishes and stuff.”

Brandi laughed through her tears.

“It’s against my religion to cook and all that, but I can take a stab at it once a week, but it’s gonna be take-out the other two days. I don’t want you to lose a pound.”

She chuckled.

“I’ll even do—” he placed a single hand over his chest and choked—“laundry.”

This time Brandi roared with laughter. “Okay, okay, okaaay!”

“Is that close to yes or just a maybe?” he asked with a wide grin.

She waited, searching her heart and knew without a doubt. “It’s a yes!”

“Whooo hooo, hoooo!” He picked her up and hugged her to him.

The entire nightclub applauded and cheered for the: divorced? soon-to-be remarried? never-got-divorced? couple. Who knew what to call them these days?

“On one condition,” Brandi said into the mic and the cheers halted.

Vernon didn’t lose his smile as he looked up at her.

“We renew our vows. This time I want you to repeat them three times so you don’t forget.”

Laughter and applause filled the room.

“Done,” he said quickly, “as long as Avie’s not springing for the food.”
They both looked over to the lawyer. “I am not having the Corner Bakery for my reception.”

Avie’s middle finger popped up on its journey to brush over her eyebrow. Carlton popped her on the rear and she turned and kissed his cheek.

“Hey, if the results are that good, sign me up right away!” said a tall, leggy woman with long black hair.

William Spencer stood near the doorway and lifted his glass in the direction of the reunited couple. Vernon nodded once before turning to kiss Brandi with a passion that made their night together a few days ago seem like foreplay.

A stampede followed as a crowd formed in front of the registration tables.

In a matter of an hour, they signed up more people for TPM than they expected—even women who were already married wanted to check out their current husbands. Hmph!

♥♥♥

Michael waited for the crowd to die down some before approaching Brandi. “You’re going back to him?”

She turned to face him. “Michael, I’ve never left him.” Wearing a black suit with a red, white, and black print tie, he looked more like a man who had stepped out of the pages of
GQ
than a man holding out for the woman who got away. She waited a few seconds, but he didn’t respond.

“He’s learned his lesson.”

“But he could do it again. And now this Tanya person’s vice president of The Perfect Match. That’s just like dangling the mouse in front of the cat. He could cheat on you again,” Michael pointed out.

“And so could you. Can you promise me that you’d never, never, never do what he did? Some men are better at hiding their indiscretions than others. As secretive as you are, you could pull it off. And there’s no guarantee, no matter how many vows are said and promises are made. You don’t think I see how you watch Tanya?”

Michael lowered his gaze a little. “That’s just appreciation for the female
form. Hell, I’m amazed that a white woman has a shape that I’ve only seen on Black women.”

Brandi laughed. “Yeah, kind of shocked me, too.” She looked across the room to Tanya who stood next to Michelle. “With that much backfield, I still swear up and down, she’s got a drop of Black blood in her family.”

“She’s a good person,” Brandi said softly, elbowing him in the ribs. “And she’s single and she likes good men.”

Michael linked Brandi’s hand in his. “No you’re not trying to pimp me off.”

“Only if she pays me. I think you’re quality stock.” Then she turned to him so their eyes locked. “Since we’re not going to be together, I’d like to at least make sure you’re in good hands and where I can keep an eye on you.”

Michael’s eyes held a glint of sadness. He stroked a thumb across her open palm.

“Plus as my friend she’ll drop all the juicy details so I’ll know exactly how jealous I should be.”

He grinned at the thought. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider?”

Brandi cast a glance at her husband, who waved to her from across the room, then strolled confidently in her direction. She looked up at Michael, kissed his cheek, and said, “Not ever.”

B
randi cuddled next to her husband on the sofa, watching
The Long Kiss Goodnight
, one of their favorite movies. That Geena Davis could really kick some serious bad boy butt! “Are you sure about me moving back in this weekend?” Vernon asked, tearing his eyes away from the screen.

“I told you, I’ve never had a problem with you being right where you belong—with me.”

“And we’ll share the same bed?”

Her lips twitched in an effort not to smile. “I think first we’ll have a probation period…”

“Very funny,” he said dryly. “You know that judge sent us an Anniversary card?”

“That’s sweet.”

“With his crazy ass.”

Brandi roared with laughter. “But if he hadn’t cared enough to send us to counseling, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“True, true,” he said, kissing her fingertips. “I still think we need to commit him to the Rubber Room Hilton.”

“Get over it, Vernon. You were wrong and he helped bring that point home. End of discussion.”

Vernon sighed wearily, conceding her point. “I’m glad the new buyers closed yesterday. It’ll take a week for me to wrap things up. Mama wanted to make sure I was on the right track, so she took my key and I had to move everything into storage. I can’t wait to move back home.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Snuggling up to his wife, he said, “I’ve missed you, woman.”

“I’ve missed you…sometimes,” she replied with a sly grin.

Her peered at her. “That’s cold.”

“That’s the truth.” She lifted her glass, taking a long sip. “Thank God for Doc Johnson.”

Vernon stiffened as he looked over to her. “You slept with someone named Doc?”

She laughed so hard a single tear streamed down. “I’ve been sleeping with him off and on since last year.”

“What—what! Woman, I—what!”

“And he’s actually here right now.”

Vernon paused to take that in, and sighed wearily. “That damn vibrator?”

“A dildo,” she corrected with a wide grin.

“I’m getting rid of that thing the moment I—”

“You do and I
will
divorce you. No if, ands, or buts about it. Just like Tanya, he’s part of the family now.”

Somehow that statement didn’t sound too good. “Well, Doc or Johnson or whoever the hell he is better recognize authority,” he said, guiding her hands to his erection.

She laughed. “That might be tough, he’s been sleeping on your side of the bed since you’ve been gone.” Brandi stroked his face. “It took being away from you to discover how much I like myself. I think we did get married too soon.”

“You
think we got married too soon. I’ve always wanted the stability of marriage.” He kissed her gently, exploring the moist depths of her mouth with an expert tongue. “I’m going to make it up to you.”

She smiled, her sexy lips parting in a wide smile. “You damn sure will. I’ll take mine in ass coupon.”

Vernon laughed as he curled his wife into his arms, relishing the soft, lush feel of her. “Are you sure you’ve forgiven me?”

“Of course I forgive you, honey,” she said, kissing him softly. “I still love you.”

“And there’ll be no hard feelings when I come back home?”

“Absolutely, it’ll be business as usual.” She kissed him again. “Personally, I think you should’ve taken my advice and kept the house on Wabash. We could just date.”

Grimacing at the thought of being separated from his wife any more than he had to, Vernon looked down at her and said, “That defeats the purpose of being married.”

“Okay,” she said after a moment. “I guess I can see the logic in that.”

“And I—”

Tanya strolled in, wearing a bright blue miniskirt and white halter top. She had pulled her hair back into a youthful ponytail; her face glowed with a healthy tan. Vernon watched as she exchanged Brandi’s glass of Spumanti for another.

“Anything I can get for you, Mr. Spencer?” she asked, looking Vernon square in the eyes.

“Uhhhh, Martell would be nice,” he answered, and realized she had changed…a lot. Had being around Brandi rubbed off on her?

Vernon looked from Tanya to Brandi and back to Tanya. Had the women actually…No! Never! Shifting his attention to something more certain he wondered why Tanya was still in the house. Didn’t she just get a large inheritance? Hadn’t the Pitchford family practically ordered her to come home?

Vernon looked his wife square in the eye. “Um, when are you going to tell Tanya?”

“Right away,” she said sweetly. “We don’t have secrets.”

Realization slowly dawned on Vernon. “When will she be leaving?”

Brandi’s lips lengthened into a small smile. “There’s still one year left on our contract. Who said I was giving up my wife?”

T
his story started as a late-night conversation with my best friend, Yosha. When comparing notes on what women bring into a marriage and how after sacrificing so much, sometimes it’s
still
not enough, we came to the conclusion that: Every woman needs a wife. We’re doing our part and then some.

That conversation turned into a seven-page short story. The title alone resonated with so many women—women of varied ethnic backgrounds as they responded with: “I’ve always said that,” “My mother told me that one time,” “You’re right about that!” and “I was just discussing that with my friends last week.”

In 2005, I decided to turn the seven pages into a full novel. The two-month undertaking was a labor of love and one of the most humorous, heart-wrenching, and fantastic experiences I’ve had in a while. Healing, forgiveness, humor, and tolerance are main themes woven into the literary fabric of this novel. It is my hope that while women read the story they may, in fact, see themselves in one or more of their characters. Maybe some will also come to the realization that we have more in common than previously believed.

It is also my hope that men who read this (if they’re brave enough), will gain an understanding that there has to be balance in relationships—women should not have to do it all. Bringing home the bacon, frying it, cleaning up after it, keeping the keep AND working a 9-to-5 and paying the bills, too? Help us out, men.

Our mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and grandmothers were superwomen of noteworthy accomplishment, but some worked themselves into poor health and possibly an early grave trying to pull it off. They gave up their hopes and dreams and put themselves on the backburner so often that they forgot the “pot of dreams and desires” still existed. Do women of today have to do it quite the same way? No, that’s where balance comes in. Stop holding us up to standards that may have worked centuries and decades ago. Respect us for the superwomen we are, and we’ll love you for the wonderfully intelligent, purpose-driven and sexy supermen we’ve always desired.

Naleighna Kai

Naleighna Kai, a Chicago native, is the coauthor of
Speak it into Existence
and
How to Win the Publishing Game
and now writes fiction, romance, erotica, new age, and science fiction. Her next novel,
She Touched My Soul
, will be released in January. She works for a major law firm in Chicago and is currently working on her next projects:
Open Door Marriage, Was It Good for You, Too?
and
Right Place, Right Time
. She also is marketing director for the Jones Dishman Foundation, a privately held family foundation which raises funds for college scholarships and literary endeavors. Please be sure to visit
www.naleighnakai.com
.

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Baptiste, Michael