Player Haters (14 page)

I’d been sitting in my car about two blocks from my house for the past couple hours, waiting for the mailman. I’d spent the night at my boy Kyle’s house at his insistence. We’d stayed up talking about Mimi and Diane most of the night. He thought I needed to cool off, then go home and talk to my wife. I think he was afraid that if I left his house last night I was going to go back to Mimi’s and sleep with her. After the way she kissed me, and the resentment I was feeling toward Diane, he was probably right. So I left my friend’s house this morning determined to confront both my wife and her lover about their affair.

I finally spotted the mailman in my rearview mirror, pushing his little cart down the block. The first thing that came to my mind was, Why the hell was Diane fucking with him? He wasn’t all that. Yeah, he had a handsome face and curly hair like he was from Trinidad or something, but he was short and skinny. Nothing like I expected. I’d always been under the impression Diane liked tall men, like me. If she was going to cheat, I’d think her dream man would be a mixture of Denzel Washington, Billy Dee Williams and Michael Jordan all in the same body, not this little nothing of a man I was looking at.

My cell phone rang and I lifted it up off my seat, never letting my eyes leave the rearview mirror and the postman.

“Hello?”

“Wil.” It figured it was Diane.

“What, Di?”

“Where are you? I called your office and your
secretary
said you hadn’t come in yet. And Kyle said you left his house three hours ago.” How the hell did she know I was at Kyle’s?

“What’s wrong, Diane? Worried that I’m going to double back on you and catch you in the act with your little boyfriend?”

“Wil, he’s not my boyfriend. I barely know the man.”

“Yeah, right. Whatever. Now all of a sudden you don’t know him. Did you forget you admitted it last night? Did you forget he sent you flowers?”

“No, I didn’t. Look, we gotta talk. Can you come home?”

“I’m about to do something, Diane.”

“Well, when you finish whatever you’re doing, can you come home so we can talk? It’s important, Wil.”

“Sure, Diane. When I finish what I’m doing I’ll definitely be home to talk to you.”

I hung up the phone and placed it back on the seat just as the mailman passed my truck. I started it up and pulled up next to him. I was driving the same speed he was walking, and when he headed up a walkway to deliver the mail I stopped the truck and waited for him to continue down the block. After we repeated this for about four or five houses his nervousness was all over his face. Not that I cared. That was his problem. You don’t fuck with a man’s wife and let him find out about it.

“Hey,” I yelled, rolling down my truck window when he stopped at the sixth house. “You know who I am?”

“Did you say something to me, sir?” That motherfucker had the nerve to be polite.

“Yeah, I said something to you! Do you know who I am?” I pulled the truck over to the side of the road. He walked up nervously to the car and looked in.

“No, sir. I don’t know who you are.”

“Oh, you don’t? Well let me introduce myself.” I jumped out the car and sprinted around to the sidewalk where he was standing. “I’m the motherfucker whose wife you’re fucking!”

“Oh, shit!” He no longer looked nervous, he looked scared as he took two steps backward. He reached for the can of Mace he had attached to his belt. But he was so scared I easily knocked it out of his hand. My next move was a right hand to his face that knocked him to the ground, spurting blood all over both of us.

“Please, mister, don’t hurt me. Your wife was coming on to me. I didn’t even know you were still together until last week. She told me you were separated.”

“Separated, my ass! I’ma separate your head from your neck if I find out you been fucking with my wife again! Do you hear me?” I kicked him in his ribs. “I said, do you hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you, Mr. Reynolds!” He was curled into the fetal position. “I’m sorry. I won’t mess with her no more.”

“Mr. Reynolds? My name ain’t Reynolds.” I pulled my foot back again.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t kick me again,” he pleaded as he tried to squirm away from me. “I thought you had the same last name as Ruth.”

I was about to say, “I do,” when a very frightening thought hit me. He’d just called Diane, Ruth and me, Mr. Reynolds. I had a neighbor who lived five houses down whose name was John Reynolds and his wife’s name was Ruth. This motherfucker might not be talking about my wife at all. Then again, maybe he thought he was a playboy and was screwing all the wives in the neighborhood.

“Who else’s wife are you fucking around here? You know, I gotta lot of friends in this neighborhood. You could get your ass kicked every day.”

I pretended like I was gonna kick him again and he screamed his answer in anticipation of the blow. “Nobody! I’m not fucking with nobody else’s wife. Just Ruth. I’m sorry, man! I’m sorry!”

“You liar! I bet you fucking with half the wives in the neighborhood.” I kicked him again, but not as hard as before.

“I’m not lying. I swear!” he cried out.

“What about my friend’s wife, Diane Duncan over on 234th Street? Do you know her?”

“Yeah, that’s the lady with the two kids. She’s always planting flowers in her yard.”

“What about her? You fucking her?”

“Hell, no! She’s too big for me.” I kicked him again for calling my wife fat.

“So why did you send her flowers last night?”

“I ain’t send her no flowers. I swear to God. Tell your friend, I ain’t send her no flowers. I got enough trouble dealing with your wife.” The desperation in his voice made me believe him. But if he didn’t send the flowers, who the fuck did?

“Stay away from my wife,” I told him with very little enthusiasm. “You hear me?”

“Man, I’m not fucking with that lady no more. I’m gonna change my route and everything. I don’t care what she says.”

“You do that!” I jumped back in my truck, praying he didn’t write down my plate number or something.

“Damn it!” I slammed the phone down on my desk in frustration. I’d been trying to get in touch with Wil ever since Diane called this morning, but every time I called his cell it went straight to voice mail, which meant he’d turned it off. But why? Was it his wife he didn’t wanna speak to or was it me?

It had to be Diane. She’d probably been blowing up his phone. His voice mailbox was full and Wil’s the type who always checked his messages. I bet he didn’t even go home last night after he went to see his friend. Why else would she be interrogating me on the phone? She was trying to find out if he’d been to work or if I’d heard from him. Well, she wasn’t getting any info outta me even if I had some. I bet she was pulling her hair out, trying to figure out where the hell those flowers came from, too.
Lord, Mimi girl, sending those flowers to her house was a stroke of genius.

It’s too bad Diane didn’t know who she was fuckin’ with. If she did, I’m sure she woulda packed up her shit and headed for the hills a long time ago. People who get in my way always seem to have accidents. And that stupid-ass, fast-healing Marge was one who could testify to that. She wouldn’t be healing for quite some time from that broken arm I gave her when I pushed her down those steps. Serves her ass right. She should have stayed home and collected disability like she was supposed to.

Wil finally showed up at work about two hours later and went straight into his office. When he walked by my desk he didn’t smile, smirk or anything like he usually did. It was obvious there was something wrong with him. I was sure it had something to do with his wife. That was okay, though. It was time to make him feel better, Mimi style. I grabbed a pad and pen for appearances and slipped into his office, locking the door behind me.

“Hey, handsome, I was expecting you to come back last night.”

He had his back turned to me as he hung his coat in the small office closet behind his desk. “I never said I was coming back to your place last night.”

“You said you’d think about it.” I walked up behind him and rubbed his back tenderly. He didn’t shrug me off or anything, but he didn’t turn around and kiss me, either.

“Is everything all right?”

“Sure. If you call making a fool outta yourself all right, then I’m fine.” When he turned around I became a stuttering fool, keeping him at arm’s length. His shirt was spotted in dried blood.

“Wh-what happened?”

I swallowed hard, praying he hadn’t killed or assaulted his wife. The last thing I wanted was for him to go to jail right when it looked like we might get together. If he really wanted her dead, I could have always arranged an accident.

“How’d that blood get on your shirt?”

He looked down, then shook his head as if he were angry at himself. “Shit, I forgot that was even there.”

I stared at him in amazement. “Forgot it was there? Where’d it come from? Wil, please tell me you didn’t do anything stupid.”

“If you call beating up the mailman stupid, then yeah, I did something stupid.”

“Beat him up? Oh, God. Why?” I closed my eyes briefly.

“Why do you think, Mimi?” he spat, reaching into the closet and taking out a spare shirt. “Because I thought he was fucking my wife.”

“Thought,” I repeated. “You don’t sound so convinced anymore.”

“That’s because I’m not. That man ain’t fucking my wife.”

“He isn’t? But you said she admitted she was fooling around.” This was not going according to plan and I was afraid the truth might come out.

“She did. But I can assure you she’s not fucking the mailman.”

“Then who? Who?” He stared at me and for a brief second I thought he knew the truth.

“I don’t know, but I’m gonna find out.” I took a step forward and placed my hands around his waist, no longer caring about the blood.

“Wil, why are you stirring things up? Sometimes it’s better not to know.” I gave him a concerned look. “I’m worried about you. Do you know you could go to jail for attacking that man?”

“Yeah, I know. And I know you’re right. But I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to this story. There’s gotta be.” He frowned.

“Hey, cheer up. Why don’t we go back to my place after work? We can figure this out together. Besides, you could use a home cooked meal. I make a mean teriyaki steak. And my sister just made me a pan of those brownies that you and Jeanie Brown like so much.”

“Keisha made brownies, huh?” He smiled for the first time just as the phone rang. “Can you get that please? I wanna change my shirt.”

I nodded my head, releasing his waist before I picked up the phone. “Sales department, Wil Duncan’s line. How can I help you?”

I smiled as I watched him remove his shirt. Tonight he was gonna remove a hell of a lot more than that shirt.

“This is Mrs. Duncan. Is Wil in yet? It’s an emergency.” I was tempted to say no and hang up the phone. ’Cause I knew the only emergency she had was that she thought she was going to lose Wil to me. And she was right.

“Please hold.” I hit the hold button. “It’s your wife. She’s been calling every half hour since nine. She says it’s an emergency. You want me to tell her you’re not here?”

“Nah, give me the phone.” I handed it to him right after he slipped into his new shirt. He sighed like she was nothing more than an annoyance before he said, “What, Di?”

Whatever Diane said next must not have been good news because his grim face became grimmer. He shouted, “Is he okay?” Then he mumbled, “Thank God.” He listened for a while longer, then said, “Tell him Daddy’s gonna be right there. I’ll meet you in the emergency room.” He listened again. “I know. I know this is not your fault.” He hesitated, taking a deep breath, then releasing it. “Yeah, I love you, too.”

Hearing him say those words was like taking a punch in the stomach from Mike Tyson. How could he say that? She didn’t love him and he didn’t love her. We were the ones in love. God, I hated the way he patronized her. Why didn’t he just tell her the truth, that he wanted to be with me?

“I gotta go,” he said sadly after hanging up the phone.

“What happened?”

He got up from his chair. “My little boy Teddy fell off the swing set. He’s hurt pretty badly. The paramedics said his leg might be broken and he may have a concussion.”

“Oh, no, Wil. I’m so sorry. Is he all right? Is he gonna be okay?” I tried to sound as overly concerned as possible. Even though I wanted to wring that little brat’s neck for ruining my plans for tonight.

“I don’t know. It sounds pretty serious.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No,” he said without hesitation. “His mother and I can handle this.”

Wil grabbed his coat from the closet and disappeared out the door without another word. I sat down in his chair glaring at all his family photos that I should have been in. This hospital thing was not good. Things like this brought families together, and I could not afford to have Wil and Diane get back together. So I was gonna have to come up with something that would keep them apart. Something just short of an accident.

“Have a seat, Trent.” Big Mike gestured, but his voice sounded more like a command than a suggestion. I felt like I’d been summoned by the Mafia the way Mike, Beverly and Jasper were staring at me when I walked into the office. Mike was chewing on the end of his cigar like it was a piece of gum instead of holding it gently on the side of his mouth, savoring it like he usually does.

“What’s up? Why y’all looking at me like this?”

Big Mike glanced at Beverly and Jasper and both of them walked out of the office without saying a word. When they were gone Mike stood up, staring at me like I’d just committed murder.

“You know, Trent, today I got some of the best news of my life. A friend of mine over at Aggressive Records offered us a high six-figure deal for Indigo. We’re supposed to bring her over there tomorrow to see him.”

“What? That’s great!” I pumped my hand in the air but Mike raised his hand, quickly ending my celebration. “Yeah, I thought so, too. But then I got some bad news.” He cut his eyes at me. “Some news that fucked up my whole day.”

Uh-oh. What did I do now?
was the first thought I had before I said, “Like what?”

“I called Indigo to tell her the good news, only she answered the phone crying. You know why she’d been crying, Trent?” He pointed an accusatory finger at me. “Because your stupid ass broke off your engagement!” He slammed his hand down on the desk and I sat back in my chair abruptly. “She says she’s too upset to go to the meeting. Too upset because of you, Trent!” He said my name like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I didn’t exactly break it off, Mike. I just didn’t give her a ring like I promised. I mean, I haven’t had a chance to tell you, but…”

He raised his hand, again with a frown. “I know. You gave Indigo’s ring to Michelle. You stupid ass.”

I sat up in my chair, astonished. “How the fuck did you know that? I just asked her to marry me yesterday.”

“Man, this is South Queens. Don’t nothin’ go down without me finding out about it. Besides, your boy Ray is so pissed off he’s telling the world, hoping it will get back to Indigo and blow up your spot.”

“Damn. That nigga is really out to get me.”

“Why the fuck did you ask Michelle to marry you? I thought we agreed you were gonna marry Indigo,” he shouted. “Do you realize you’re fucking up millions of dollars for us all?”

I let out a long exhale. “I hate the thought of losing all that money, Mike, but I did it because I love Michelle. You were right. Marcus is my son. You were also right when you said I love Michelle. I can’t live without her, Mike.” I tried to sound convincing but he laughed at me.

“Oh, you can’t, huh?” He laughed again. “Well let me ask you a few questions, Mr. I Can’t. How you gonna live
with
her? You ain’t got no job, Trent. What you gonna do to support her and the baby? Have you ever thought of that? How you gonna live with no money?”

He was right. I never thought about the fact that I would have to support Michelle. She’d never asked me for anything until the baby was born. She’d always supported herself, or at least her momma did. Maybe Mike was right.

“I can get a job,” I replied with much less conviction than I would have liked.

Mike laughed. “Doing what? McDonald’s, Burger King? Shit, I hear Sears is hiring.”

“I know this chick whose husband runs the Honda dealership on Hillside. She can get me a job as a salesman anytime I want.”

“But you gotta fuck her, don’t you?” He gave me a sinister smile when I didn’t answer. “And how long you gonna keep that job when her husband finds out you fucking her ass? ’Cause you know he’s gonna find out. They always do. Face it, Trent. The only job you’re good at is running women. You’re a gigolo, kid. Not a family man. And you’re about to fuck up millions trying to be something you’re not.”

“But I love her, Mike. And money can’t buy you love.”

Mike’s sinister smile widened.

“Can’t it? Show me a woman who doesn’t want a rich man, and I’ll show you a lying ass bitch.” Mike stared at me long and hard. It felt like he was trying to analyze me before he continued. “Besides, you’re already in love, Trent.”

“I am? With who?”

“With your lifestyle. You love the life you live, the Mercedes, the house on the water, the different women fawning over you every night. You love that shit, don’t you?”

I didn’t answer and he prodded me more.

“Come on, Trent. You can lie to me but you can’t lie to yourself. You love the life you live. Admit it.”

“Yeah, I love it,” I finally admitted. “But it’s not real love. If you take it away, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Oh, yeah? Tell me it didn’t hurt when you had your car repossessed. How did you feel when you didn’t think you was gonna get it back?” I didn’t reply, I just listened to what he had to say. “I bet it didn’t hurt that much the night you left Michelle in the delivery room, did it? What’d you do when you left the hospital that night, Trent? Go out and get some ass?” I looked away from him and smirked because that’s exactly what I did. “I bet when your car got repossessed that you didn’t go look for another car, did you? You just wanted the old one back. That’s ’cause you love your car. Are you sure you love Michelle?”

Ouch. Now that hurt. Because as much as I wanted to think I loved Michelle, I did love my car. And Mike’s words made more sense than I wanted to admit.

“I never thought of it that way before.”

“There’s all kinds of love, Trent. You just have to decide which one is more important.” He walked around his desk and patted my back before sitting on his desk. “Now you gotta make a decision. Either you’re gonna marry Indigo and be rich, or you’re gonna marry Michelle and pump gas at Exxon. What’s it gonna be?”

A smile came across my face for the very first time since I walked in that office. “Why can’t I have them both?”

“Because we have polygamy laws in this country.” He laughed. “If you could have two wives, I woulda done it a long time ago.”

“Yeah, but who says I have to be married to both of them at the same time?”

Mike stared at me as he puffed his cigar. He must have seen the light go on in my brain. “What are you getting at, Trent?”

“You still got that ring your ex-wife gave you back after the divorce?”

“Yeah.” Mike nodded. “I still got it. Why?”

“Because I need it. It’s worth a million dollars to us.”

“It is?”

“It sure is. Right after I give it to Indigo.”

“But I thought you said you’re not gonna marry them both.”

“I said I’m gonna marry them both. I am. I just never said anything about marrying them at the same time.” A smile came across Mike’s face as he started to understand where I was coming from. “You see, right now Michelle is content just to have a ring. I can probably string an engagement out two, maybe three years.”

Mike’s eyes lit up. “Right! I get it. You marry Indigo now, stay married to her at least a year or two. Then you’re entitled to half of everything she’s made, plus a share of her future earnings.” Mike’s smile widened. “Now you’re acting like the Trent I know. Only one problem. How you gonna keep Michelle from finding out about Indigo and vice versa?”

“Simple. I’m gonna move Indigo to Atlanta. I’m gonna give her some bull about how all the top singers are moving there and how you can get a house cheap. Trust me, she won’t be hard to convince.”

“What about Michelle? Is she gonna give you a hard time about being in Atlanta?”

“Nah. Michelle’s used to me being in and out. I’ll just tell her I’m in Atlanta a lot on business. If I hit her off with some money each month and tell her it’s to go toward a down payment on a house she’ll be cool. Women always go for that security shit.”

“I gotta tell you, Trent. I was worried about you there for a minute. I thought you were getting soft on me. But this plan, this plan is brilliant.”