Torn Apart (African American Romance) (9 page)

             
The night before New Year’s Eve, David woke Rhonda out of her sleep when he called distraught and needing to vent. David explained how he went by his parents’ home to check on his father earlier that evening to see if he wanted to go out to dinner and discuss some plans he had for renovating the church. David’s mom had been out of town for the past couple of days checking on her extended family in the south, so he knew his dad would most likely be going out to eat dinner. It had been a long time since they had father and son time together. When David pulled up in the driveway he became infuriated—Tina’s car was parked in front of the house. “What is this bitch up to now?” he said to no one in particular. “Lord, please give me the strength.”

             
When they were teenagers, Tina would take it upon herself to always make impromptu visits to David’s parents when things weren’t working out between the young lovebirds. Tina would whine and carry on to the point of where David’s father began to not care too much if his son continued on with her or not; David’s mother, on the other hand, would always talk to her son and help him see things from a woman’s perspective and get a grasp of why Tina was so emotional and reacted the way she did. Eventually, even Mrs. Barnes started believing the young girl was a bit off and that her son was better off without her—this was especially true after Rhonda came into the picture. David could not believe Tina was bringing this mess that had recently went down between them to his parents home. This was unacceptable, David thought, as he stormed to the front door of the house especially considering the nature of their recent fling—it was just that and nothing more. David pulled his key out so he could quietly sneak in and see if he could catch what lies Tina was telling his father before she realized he was there. He opened the door quietly and was in the foyer successfully without being seen or heard. David quickly snuck past the main living room entrance on the right so he wouldn’t be seen by the front door. He heard noises out in the foyer but the sounds weren’t clear until he peeked his head around the corner of the living room entrance and actually saw the source of the noises, putting together what noises he was hearing—Tina was bent over the back of his mom’s anniversary couch with her head being pulled back by the grip of his father’s strong, big hand as he was fucking her doggy style. He was so focused on her ass and Tina’s hysterical moaning that he did not notice his son had entered the room and was staring directly in front of them a few feet away; Tina, on the other hand, was looking at David Jr. straight in his eyes with a smirk on her face. If David Jr. ever had the urge to kill anyone, it was definitely now.

“What the fuck is this?” David Jr. shouted to get his dad’s attention.

David Sr. paused, releasing Tina’s head and allowing her to fall forward on the couch. He stared in shock at his son; he had never seen his son look so enraged before and he finally felt what he had known was wrong in the first place. There was dead silence for what seemed like an eternity, until Tina lifted herself up off the couch leaning back kissing the elder David on the cheek and saying, ”Daddy, can you get your huge dick out of me now? I think you two need to be alone to talk.”

Before Tina could even turn around good enough to look back at David Jr. to smirk again, he had made it over to
the couch and slapped Tina speechless.

“Son, that’s enough! I raised you better than that
!” David Sr. shouted at his son pulling up his pants and then grabbing Tina’s face checking on her out of concern.

David Jr. stared in disbelief and lost his composure even more.

“How dare you say anything to me about how I was raised! Maybe you have a point though—maybe this side of me does come from your upbringing. I can’t believe you are here fucking this bitch! My ex-girlfriend?! How the fuck can you do this? Forget about me, but how can you do this to mom?”

“Watch your language in my house, boy!” David Sr. continued to scold his son instead of dealing with the situation at hand as Tina grabbed her red face scrambling to grab her clothes off the floor and get dressed the best
and as fast as she could.

“Fuck this! You talk to me now about this because you won’t get the chance later. You cannot possibly think this is right what you’ve done I’m fuck
ing pissed. How long has this been going on?”

“I’ve been fucking your father off and on for years you bastard. While you were away at college playing house with that slut, I decided if I couldn’t have you I’d have your father,” Tina shouted.

“That’s enough, Tina!” David Sr. scolded her. “Leave me and my son alone so we can talk.”

“So this is true? You’ve been cheating on my mot
her with this bitch? The same whore who’s been fucking everybody in this town, including me? I just fucked her a couple months back. And then you bring her here to my mom’s home?”

Tina tried to run toward David Jr.
to attack him but his father grabbed her and dragged her out toward the front door as she screamed obscenities at David Jr. A few moments later David Sr. had stepped back inside the living room.

“So how long?”
David Jr. asked.

David Sr. paused for a moment before answering.

“Son, you know I have been doing some things that I should not have been doing for quite some time now. Tina hasn’t been the only one.”

“Yea, I know but how long with her or anyone that I’ve been seeing?”

“There hasn’t been anyone else that you know, son. I just got caught up with Tina. Why do you think I was so against you being involved with her anyway? I knew she was one of those type of girls.”

“Oh, so those are the type of girls that are ok for you to be involved with and cheat on my mother with?” David Jr. asked looking in disbelief.

“Son, you’re better than me. I know I’m shit for the things I’ve done to you and your mom. I never meant to hurt either of you. I’m sorry you had to see this.”

“Again, how long?”
David Jr. continued for an answer.

“I’ve been seeing Tina off and on for years, son. It all started back
when you left for college. She came to me for some counseling saying she was trying to move on past you and get herself together, then all of a sudden she was all over me and I just gave in. It’s been off and on ever since.”

David Jr. could not believe what he was hearing. He felt betrayed, and all this time he had always felt like he was the one that had been betraying Tina. Even if he had initially hurt her, this turn of events and discovery was not deserved.
His ego was even more bruised because of his father’s role in all of this. And what about his mother?

David Jr. walked past his father towards the front door.

“Son, please tell me what’s on your mind. Let’s talk all of this out now.”

“What do you want me to say?” David Jr. asked as he turned around to face his father. “I gave up my life plans to come back here to take over doing what you wanted me to do. I did that, and now I find out how easy it was for you to fuck with someone that I was involved with
—like, it never crossed your mind that you shouldn’t cross that line because she had been with me?”

“Yes, son it did but…”

“”But it still didn’t matter to you,” David Jr. interrupted. “And I don’t even give a fuck about that whore—it’s the fact that you are selfish and you would even do it. And I’m sitting here thinking you had quit cheating and was doing right by mom…it’s too much right now. I can’t look at you. I need to figure out some things. Just leave me alone.”

David Sr. looked back at his son with a tear running down his face. David
Jr. wasn’t the least bit moved as he shook his head, turned back toward the front door, and stormed out of the house.

             
When the younger David called to tell Rhonda about these turn of events, she was about in just as much shock as he had been. She could hear the hurt in his voice as he told her the story of walking in on his dad screwing another woman. David had failed to mention that the woman was Tina; there was no need to bring up her name and rehash all of these memories from the past. He needed Rhonda now more than ever, and it felt good to be able to come to her like in the past and lean on her when he needed to. As she always did when they were still together, Rhonda offered empathy and words of encouragement that helped him feel much better.

“Thank you so
much for being here for me. I’m really sorry for calling you so late with this mess. I didn’t trust anyone else to talk to about this; I didn’t want to talk to anyone but you anyway.”

“I’m glad I could be here for you David. I’m really sorry that you had to witness that. I couldn’t even imagine how you must feel. Are you going to tell your mother?”

“I tried calling her after I had calmed down some. I left that house and drove around for a long time trying to decide what to do. I came home and tried picking up the phone several times to call my mom but then I decided against it. How do you tell your mother that her husband is cheating on her? And would she believe me? Maybe she knows. I just don’t know—I’ll wait for her to come back before I say anything; let her finish enjoying time with the family.”

“Yea, that sounds like a good idea. Again, I’m so sorry,” Rhonda
said really feeling sorry for David.

“So changing the subject, I was wondering if you were free tomorrow for New Year’s Eve. I really need to get away and I could drive the few hours to come
take you out for dinner and maybe a movie? I figured maybe we could bring in the New Year together.”

Rhonda had plans with
Ken during the day, and LaVerne that evening but she felt bad for David and didn’t want him to turn him away. She figured she could still see Ken before David got to town and then get some time in with LaVerne without having to cancel their plans completely. LaVerne would surely understand, Rhonda thought, once she explained the situation to her.

“You sure you don’t mind driving all this way in this weather?”

“Rhonda, I really want to see you—I’d drive through a blizzard to get to you if you say its ok for me to come see you.”

“I would love
to see you for the New Year, David.”

A few hours later on the 31
st
Rhonda called Ken to see if he could get together earlier in the day because she had something come up and couldn’t hook up later before going over to LaVerne’s for the evening.

“Is everything ok, baby?” Ken asked with concern.

“Oh yea, everything’s fine—a friend from back home just had some drama going on with his family and needed to get away. I wanted to be a good friend so I told him that it was ok if he came to hang out with me for the New Year.”

There was silence on Ken’s end of the line.

“Ken, are you there?”

“Yea, I’m sorry Rhonda.
I have to ask though, and it may be out of line but I’m wondering would this friend happen to be an old boyfriend or someone you dated.”

“Well yea, a long time ago but
its not like that, Ken. I’ve known this guy since I was a kid and really he doesn’t need to be alone.”

“Is it the guy who broke your heart
—the guy who left you and became a preacher.”

Rhonda had forgotten how she had opened up to Ken about her past relationship with David, sharing so much about that experience. She was starting to regret having did that now.

“Well yea, that’s right—I told you about David. I had forgotten.”

“
So you two are friends again?”

“We saw each other over the Christmas holiday and he apologized for what happened and I accepted his apology.”

“So now he’s trying to work his way back into your life now that he knows you have other options?” Ken continued questioning getting more irritated and angry by the moment.

“Ken, I don’t understand wher
e this is going. I told you, David and I are just friends. I’m not trying to get back with him, and he knows about you.”

“Which is probably the main reason he’s trying to
get here to you because he feels he has competition. Look Rhonda, its not that I don’t trust you or what you’re saying but I don’t trust him.”

“Ken, you don’t even know him!” Rhonda said as she became angrier with Ken checking her.

“And after all this time apart, you do? You trust him again that easily?”

Rhonda did not say anything.

“I’m just tripping Rhonda because you told me that you wanted to spend time with LaVerne because you two usually brought New Year’s Eve in together and you were concerned about her spending it alone. I don’t want you bringing in New Year’s with your ex-boyfriend or any other man besides me. I would imagine that you would feel the same way if I was to say that I was spending time with any of my exes.”

“I should not have even told you
—I was just trying to be honest with you.” Rhonda said shaking her head.

“Rhonda, I’m glad you did but you have to understand my reaction. Do you get it?”

“To me it feels as if you are not trusting me. I already told you David and I are just friends; there is nothing more going on. You need to trust that I won’t let anything happen. So can you meet up earlier or not?”