On the Other Side (16 page)

Damita knew what would happen once Neal was too exhausted to beat her anymore. He would go back to his lines of coke and then she would really be in trouble. As soon as he walked away, she grabbed her pocketbook and briefcase from the sofa and ran out the front door.

A
fter escaping from her apartment, Damita flagged down a taxi and went straight to Carmella's apartment. She didn't have the energy to talk and Carmella knew her friend well enough and long enough to know exactly what she needed.

“I'll make up the futon,” was all Carmella said.

Damita was the first up in the morning. She tried to be quiet, so as not to wake Carmella. Within a few minutes Carmella was awake as well.

“You want coffee?” Carmella asked.

“Yeah. I could use some coffee.”

Damita and Carmella sat at the dining room table off from the living room.

“Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?” Carmella asked.

“Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be okay.”

“When you got here last night, or should I say this morning, I considered calling the police whether you liked it or not. That motherfucker has gone too far. You can't let him get away with this.”

“It's not about revenge, Carmella. I want to get through all of this as unscathed as possible.”

Carmella motioned to Damita's face. “Is this what you call unscathed?”

“You're a beautiful, well-educated, professional woman and a good person. You don't deserve this. Damita, you need to know that this is not your life. This doesn't have to be your life. I was shocked when you decided to stay with him the first time he hit you, but now, it's too much. You have to leave. I spoke to Derrick and Neal didn't have a damn thing to do with Brandon's death. It was some crackhead looking for a quick fix. Neal told you all that shit to scare you. He's a coward. You put him in a room with a man and he would curl up like the pussy he is. Men like him only hit women.”

Damita looked worried. “That's all I have in my life, Carmella, is women. Can you see my dilemma?”

“Of course I can, but if you're worried about your mother and me, I wouldn't. I'm not scared of him and I can bet your mother isn't either.”

“It's not about being scared. Neal's problems run far deeper than drugs. Something is not connecting right in his head. You read these stories in the news all the time about some scorned ex killing his wife or girlfriend, then killing whoever she's with, before killing himself. I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that. He's not stable.”

Carmella smirked. “I could have told you that. In fact, didn't I already tell you that?”

“I hope this is not going to be an
I told you so.”

“No, it's not. I'm pissed off that this bastard has got my girl running scared. You've always been so strong.”

“Did I thank you last night for letting me stay here?”

“You're my best friend in the world. You don't need to thank me. It's a given. I'm here for whatever you need.”

“You realize that I have no clue how long I'm going to need to stay, right?”

“Yeah, I know. Did you hear me? I'm not worried about how long it takes. You can stay as long as you like. Your ass ain't never home anyway. It'll be like living with a flight attendant. You're always working.”

“The longer I stay, the greater the chance Neal will come by here looking for me?”

“Oh, he's already been here. You were sleeping, so I called my detective friend, Derrick. He drove by with his partner and had a little talk with him. I've never seen a Negro move so fast in my life. Like I told you, men like him aren't so tough when they're dealing with another man. I know that's your husband and all, but he's a straight up punk. I watched him from the window, trying to charm his way out of the situation.”

“Tell Derrick I said thank you.”

“No problem. He's only looking out for me and mine.”

Damita smiled knowingly. “So it's like that, huh?”

“Yeah, this might be the one.”

“No way! I wish Brandon was here to see this!”

“That fool would be making all kinds of fun of me.”

“Yes, he would. I can imagine what he would have to say about you dating a cop.”

“I'll make sure I tell Derrick you said thank you. I have to go to work. Are you going to be okay here, by yourself? I could ask Derrick to check on you.”

“No need. I'm leaving with you. I should have been at work two hours ago.”

“What are you going to do about that?” Carmella said, pointing at Damita's face.

Damita glanced in the accent mirror hanging behind Carmella's purple leather futon, which now doubled as Damita's bed, and breathed a sigh of relief. She was happy to see that despite the
numerous blows delivered to her face, the worst she had suffered was a split lip and a bruise on her forehead and cheek.

“That's nothing a little makeup can't cover.”

“Damita, I heard that line in a movie once. The character died.”

“Thanks a lot for scaring me even more, Carmella.”

“If scaring you is what it takes to make you leave that asshole for once and for all, then that's what I'll have to do. I'm going to jump in the shower real quick. Think about what I said, okay? You don't want to go to the police, but think about it before the evidence is gone.”

Damita looked in the mirror again and realized that Carmella was right. She wasn't sure if she was prepared for the drama that would most definitely unfold. She also didn't think her career would be able to survive the turmoil.

Mr. Underhill was waiting for Damita in her office as soon as she arrived at work.

“Damita, where have you been? You had an eight o'clock conference call.”

Damita completely forgot she had rescheduled the conference call she was supposed to have the day before, when she met Carmella for lunch.

“Wendy took over for you. Neither of us could reach you on your cell and it would have been career suicide to reschedule that call.”

Carmella looked at her boss pleadingly. “I'm sorry, Mr. Underhill. I've been putting in such long hours for the last month. I was a little burned out. I worked last night until one and this morning I don't know what happened. I didn't hear the alarm.”

“Damita, you and I both know that's what this business is all about. Long hours are a given.”

“Yes, I know. It won't happen again.”

Mr. Underhill looked at Damita sternly. “Make sure it doesn't.
You've got a lot riding on this. Hell, this company has got a lot riding on this.”

“I know.”

As soon as Mr. Underhill left, Damita stopped by Wendy's office.

“Do you mind if I come in?” she asked.

“Since when did you start asking to come in? Are you upset with me because I took the conference call this morning? You know you can trust me, right? The vultures were circling and I didn't want them to take advantage of your absence.”

Damita's tone softened. “Thanks, Wendy. I know that's what you were doing. I've been under so much pressure lately. I'm not thinking clearly.”

“No worries. If you weren't so thorough, I wouldn't have been able to step in so easily. It's your hard work that's going to make this deal happen. I know it and Underhill knows it. But, there's something more important we need to discuss. I didn't want to overstep my boundaries, when I first noticed. But, I have to say something today. Damita, what happened to your face? I don't mean the story you told Underhill and everybody else. What really happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Damita, if you don't want to tell me, that's okay, but don't bullshit me.”

“Okay. I'm not really ready to talk about it yet, but I promise I will. Well, it's time to get back to work, huh?”

“Yeah, back to work. Are you burning the midnight oil again tonight?” Wendy asked.

“No. I'm going to skip lunch today and work straight through and go home and get some rest tonight. By the time I leave here, I'll probably need a drink, though. Do you want to come with?”

“I absolutely do!”

After multiple calls from Neal, Damita finally instructed the receptionist to inform him that she had left for the day.

“We still on for a drink?” Wendy asked, at the end of the day.

“We sure are. Should we go to our usual place?”

“Sure, why not. Good ole Fitzpatrick's; our home away from home.”

Their favorite bar was more crowded than usual, so instead of a table, Damita and Wendy sat at the bar.

“Your boy Kevin was hot when I took over your conference call this morning,” Wendy said.

“Are you serious? You have got to be kidding me.”

“He actually tried to pull rank on me until Underhill stepped in.”

“That boy has been trying to take over my clients since I got there,” Damita said.

“He's pathetic. I used to feel sorry for his socially awkward ass but after the way he performed today, all bets are off.”

They both laughed.

The bartender set a drink down in front of Damita.

“Oh no, this is going to be it for me,” she said.

“The gentleman sent this,” the bartender said, motioning to the end of the bar.

Damita wanted to at least say thank you, but she couldn't figure out who the bartender was talking about. There was no one there. Within minutes, she knew exactly where the drink came from.

“Hello, Damita.”

She turned to find Neal standing behind her.

“Neal, I don't want to talk here. This is not the place.”

“I agree with you. We should go home.”

“I'm not coming home with you.”

He started grabbing Damita's arm roughly.

Damita looked at Neal defiantly and tried to wrestle her arm from his grasp. “Let go!” she yelled.

“Are you okay?” the bartender asked.

“Yes, I'm okay. I'm fine.”

Damita could see the bartender motioning to the bouncer anyway.

“Damita, why don't we get out of here? I can give you a lift,” Wendy said.

“She doesn't need a lift,” Neal stated sarcastically.

Wendy glared at him. “Neal, I don't think she wants to talk to you right now. Maybe you should wait for another time.”

“Oh you think so, huh? Can I ask you a question?”

Wendy looked at Neal fearlessly. “Shoot!”

“Why do you think this is any of your fucking business?”

“Neal, come on, don't talk to her like that,” Damita said.

“Let's go home now!”

“Neal, I'm not going home with you, so you might as well leave.”

As he was about to grab Damita again, the bouncer showed up. “Is everything okay over here?”

Neal's face changed from raging mad to a nervous smle. “Everything is fine. My wife and I are having a discussion.”

“It looks to me like she's not interested in having a discussion with you right now, so why don't you save it for later.”

“Don't tell me what to do with my own wife.”

Neal pulled at Damita's arm. “Let's go!”

Damita stood her ground. “Neal, I said I'm not leaving with you. Now, stop it!”

The bouncer grabbed Neal's arm and he snatched away. The bouncer then grabbed Neal and pushed him, forcibly, toward the door and threw him out. “Don't come back in here!”

Wendy could see the fear in Damita's eyes. “Don't worry. We'll make sure you're safe. You can stay with me if you'd like.”

“That's okay. I left late last night and went to Carmella's. I would love a ride, though. I don't want to get you involved in all this craziness. Maybe we should wait a while.”

“Damita, you should have told me what was going on between you and Neal. You can't keep all this stuff to yourself. If you had told me, I could have helped out; even if it was only to cover for you at work.”

“I was so ashamed and embarrassed.”

“That's what men like him count on. He's the one that should be ashamed, not you.”

D
amita was happy she had let Wendy in on her secret. She was right. She was a great help until Damita learned she had enlisted Tina's aid with a project they were working on together.

“Wendy, can I talk to you for a second?”

Damita stood in the doorway of Wendy's office.

“Sure, come on in.”

Damita closed the door.

“You know I appreciate all the help you've given me during this craziness with Neal and the Kushner deal, but I can't work with Tina and I definitely don't want her hands anywhere near the Kushner deal. I can't trust her.”

Wendy looked confused. “Damita, weren't you the one that told me
we girls should learn how to work together?”

“I did and I meant it until I found out she was sleeping with my husband.”

“No fucking way. Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am. The messed-up thing about it is I feel more betrayed by her than I do by him. Is that crazy or what?”

“No, it's not crazy, especially given the way things have been going between you and Neal. I still can't believe she would do that.”

“That's the same way I felt when I found out. All of this; Neal, Tina, it's made me question my instincts. There was a time when I thought Neal was the best thing that ever happened to me. When
I came back, after I got married, my whole life felt like nothing but secrets. That's when I realized that I had no right to judge Tina. Now, I'm back to questioning myself again. I did my best to keep an open mind about her and then I find out she's sleeping with my husband. I would have thought that, given the fact that I treated her with kindness and respect, would have been enough for her to say hands off, but no. She fucked him anyway. I'm not really angry with her. I don't trust her. After all, if she would screw my husband, how can I trust her with one of my accounts?”