The Other Side Of the Game (21 page)

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Authors: Anita Doreen Diggs

BOOK: The Other Side Of the Game
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I respected him even less. “So you never loved her?”
He got up. “I just liked how she looked on my arm but I never stopped loving the sisters.”
I folded my arms. “No, you mean you never stopped
fucking
the sisters.”
Brent smiled and slipped on his coat. “You are one tough nut to crack, girl, you know that?”
“Yup.”
Brent snapped the ring box shut. “I got someone else anyway who'll appreciate this ring a whole lot more.”
“Lula? Good. You and that psycho bitch deserve each other.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Lula is a private investigator. Amanda hired her to keep tabs on you and then she fell in love.”
His eyes were practically popping out of his head. “What?”
“Yup! She fell in love with you and refunded Amanda's money.”
He just sat there, frozen with shock.
“Get out, Brent, and please make sure you tell Lula that we broke up tonight. I don't want her harassing me.”
He looked like he was going to say something else but then he just smiled. “Good-bye, Asha Mitchell.”
“Good-bye, Brent.”
He stood in front of me with his arms outstretched. “Aren't you gonna give me a hug?”
I shook my head. “Nah, that's all right.”
His smile faded and I walked him to the door.
As soon as Brent was gone, it hit me. I was now responsible for my own rent and other basic bills. On top of that, I was feeding and housing my sister.
Something had to give.
Chapter 42
SAUNDRA
I
'm going to pieces. My fiancée doesn't try to contact me anymore. My father is a closet homosexual. Evelyn will never be my stepmother. Asha and I are going to be murdered one of these days by one of the men or women that she is playing games with. I can't go back to Queens and I have no money of my own to escape Asha's dangerous crazy house. I feel like I have no foundation, no anchor. I'm just free floating from day to day and it will be at least another month before school starts again. What do I do in the meantime?
I felt like calling Yero. Maybe he could help me figure out what my next step should be.
But I can't talk to Yero because he will only have one thing on his mind: Getting back together. And I'm in no shape to be in a relationship.
I'm on my own. A solitary figure walking the streets of downtown Manhattan in the frigid weather with my hat pulled low on my forehead, my gloved hands shoved deep into my coat pockets.
I ambled on. Up one street and down another.
I peered from beneath the hat and saw homeless men and women shivering on the sidewalk, a piece of cardboard their only defense against the icy wind. I saw the drug dealers, their eyes shifting from side to side because they had to make on-the-spot decisions—a prospective buyer was either a junkie or a cop. The wrong decision could cost them twenty years of freedom under New York State's stiff drug laws.
I saw fear in the eyes of the working poor and anger in the pupils of the unemployed.
In the beginning I believed that walking would release some precious endorphins that would act as a balm on my wounds but that didn't happen.
Who was this new Saundra and what were her new goals now that Yero was gone?
Chapter 43
ASHA
T
he shower was running and I heard Nick singing that old song “Give It To Me Baby” by Rick James. It was funny hearing him imitate Rick's voice and the bass line a capella, but then it hit me. Someone he called Baby Girl was in love with him back in Houston and he was here with me without guilt or shame. She was probably somewhere in her bedroom thinking about him with little hearts dancing around her head.
Between Saundra and Yero and Brent and Amanda and Lula, my deceit cup had runneth over.
“Give It To Me Baby” morphed into “Ghetto Life” in Nick's shower medley.
I opened the bathroom door. A cloud of hot steam was the only air. Nick peeked out of the shower curtain and smiled when he saw me.
“You wanna lather me up?” He began moving his body from side to side so his dick slapped both thighs. It was hilarious.
“No.”
He frowned. “So why did you let that cold air in?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“It couldn't wait until I finished washing?”
I watched him lather up with just a bar of soap and wondered why he didn't use a washcloth.
“No, it can't wait.”
“Well?”
I was about to change my mind because Baby Girl was an adult and should handle her own business but I was emotionally exhausted. “Tell Baby Girl that you date other people.”
Nick stopped washing. “Say what?”
“You heard me.”
“Why?”
“Because it's the right thing to do.”
“Whoa. Don't tell me that you have grown a conscience?”
I laughed and went to the kitchen to order some coconut rice and basil shrimp from the Thai restaurant.
Nick came out with my white Ralph Lauren towel wrapped around his waist. He looked damn good. “Now, what's this nonsense all about?”
“Do you want Thai food?”
“I don't want no Chinese food.”
“It's Thai not Chinese, Nick.”
He sucked his teeth. “All of it is the same. I'd rather have a tortilla.” He started snapping his fingers and saying, “Olé!”
I cancelled the Thai food and ordered Mexican takeout for both of us.
He kissed me on the cheek. “I'm gonna go get dressed.”
Gonzalez and Gonzalez came fast.
“Nick your food is here.”
“I'll be done in a second.”
He took longer to get dressed than any woman I know. Everything had to be perfect.
But he sure looked good when he stepped out of that room. It made me want to go back to bed but Saundra had discreetly left us alone to go to the movies. That meant two hours. She would be home any second.
“If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were gay,” I teased him.
“Watch it, Asha. Just 'cause a man likes to take care of himself and wear nice clothes doesn't mean he has sugar in his tank.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Besides, gay men are cool.”
“Why are gay men cool, Nick?”
“Don't you get it? In the jungle the key to survival is less competition among predators. Gay men are cool because there's more pussy for me. That's why I don't understand cats that be hatin' on them, dumb muthafuckas don't know that gays make it easier for us!”
I couldn't believe I was in some kind of zone and actually listening to his ridiculous little ghetto philosophy. “Are you still mentoring that kid?”
“No. He dropped out of the program. I'm getting another one in the spring, though.”
“Well, could you please stop the thug talk? It is truly tired.”
He looked down in the Mexican food bag. “You're absolutely right, Asha. Do you believe they didn't send any sour cream?”
I opened the greasy bag and emptied its contents on the coffee table. “Nope, all they put in here is salt, pepper, and ketchup.”
“I can't eat a tortilla without sour cream.”
“I think there might be some in the fridge.”
Nick dumped almost the whole cup of sour cream on that tortilla.
“That's disgusting.”
“Don't worry about my food.”
I put my food on my black Crate and Barrel plate and sat down next to Nick.
“So why you want me to take a bullet from Baby Girl?” he asked.
“I just don't feel comfortable knowing she is pinning her hopes on an illusion. If she still wants to roll with you after the talk, then that's on her.”
He shook his head. “Saundra's rubbing off on you, girl. Meditation isn't far behind.”
“It's not like that.”
“Yes it is, and that's a good thing.”
“Stop it.”
“I'll drop Baby Girl and all the rest of my women if you'll give me a real chance.”
I resisted the smile tugging at my lips. “What is a real chance?”
Nick stopped moving around and his expression became very serious. He spoke slowly and distinctly. “We both stop seeing other people.”
“Maybe.”
“Wow! Are you serious?”
“Maybe.”
“Then maybe I'll talk to Baby Girl and maybe I won't.”
“I really need to think about it, Nick.”
“We've known each other for four years and been hitting the sheets for the past twelve months and you still need more thinking time?” He stopped eating and pushed the food away. “I don't want any more of this.”
He was getting mad and I needed to chill him out. “Just twenty-four more hours.”
Nick's eyes were cold. “Why?”
The truth was I'm just plain commitment phobic but he was in no mood to hear anything like that so I shifted the blame to my sister. “I need to give you 100 percent, Nick. After all this time you don't deserve any less, but most of the time I'm wondering what really happened to Saundra or how to get her back with Yero or should I give up the apartment. Stuff like that.”
“And how are you going to solve all that in twenty-four hours?”
I massaged his shoulders and kissed his neck. “I don't want to lose you. I just said that to buy some time.”
He started kissing me back. “Just say you're my woman and we'll solve your problems together.”
It was the moment of truth and I knew that if he walked out that door, we were over.
“I'm your woman,” I whispered softly.
Nick grinned like he'd hit the Lotto and it made me feel better than I had in weeks.
Chapter 44
SAUNDRA
A
sha had been humming and singing to herself for the past two days and that could only mean one thing. She had a new man in her life. Ever since the situation with Brent and his wife, I had been living in fear that Asha's lifestyle was going to get me killed. The fear made me realize that I wanted to live and worked to give me new energy. Who was this new guy? Was he married? Did he make a living doing something legal? I had to know. So, one morning after Asha left for work, I violated her right to privacy.
There was nothing noteworthy in her bathroom cabinet—cold cream, Midol, aspirin, diet pills, rubbing alcohol and throat lozenges.
In the bedroom, I sorted through her desk drawers. The cancelled checks told me that Asha paid her rent, cable, electricity and phone bills on time, which was surprising. Her bank statements showed electronic deposits of her paycheck plus a regular sum of money that made me gasp. Where on earth did Asha get $10,000 on the first of every month to put in her bank account? I riffled through those papers, my heart beating fast. Was she a mule for some drug dealer? I learned that she had started receiving the money exactly twelve months before which meant that she had somehow gotten her hands on $120,000 and it wasn't through her work as an accessories buyer. Why? How? I would just have to confront her about it and take my punishment for snooping. If I could somehow stop Asha from doing whatever it was and possibly save her life, the anger that she would unleash on me for snooping would be a small price to pay.
I shut the drawer and shifted my attention to the boxes on the top shelf of her closet.
The smallest one was the size of a shoebox. It was crammed with naked pictures of Nick Seabrook. Standing. Sitting. Lying on one side. Lying on another side. Up against the kitchen wall. In the shower. Standing on the edge of the tub. On a beach. In a car. On a car. Jesus!
My fingers shook as I flipped the latch on a large, floral decorated container. There were dozens and dozens of letters. The outside envelopes were addressed from Roger Mitchell to Lola Smith and the postmarks told me that Mama had received them from Asha's father when they were both just teenagers. I was tempted to read them but were the young thoughts of Roger Mitchell any of my business? Asha obviously didn't think so because she'd never mentioned this treasure to me.
It was all so unfair, I thought as I left Asha's bedroom. It was wrong that Roger had been either unable or unwilling to fight whatever demons that had led him to the crack pipe. It was terrible that Mama's weakness for Roger had led her to stay in that relationship until it damaged her spirit. It was despicable of Philip to use Mama's body to try to figure out whether he liked men or women and then leave her with another baby to take care of. It was unfair to both me and Asha that Mama worried so much, ate so much, drank so much that she finally keeled over from a stroke before we had a chance to figure out a path for our own lives.

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