Unresolved Issues (16 page)

Read Unresolved Issues Online

Authors: Wanda B. Campbell

BOOK: Unresolved Issues
8.54Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
That confused him. “Is this ‘space' your idea or your husband's, because if you're adjusting your life for him, he's only going to hurt you again. He's proven once that he doesn't want you.”
Staci's thoughts went back to Shannon's comment that any legitimate brother would encourage her to work things out with Derrick and not avoid him. Like Marcus had done earlier.
“Malcolm, this is my decision. It's what I want to do, what I need to do to decide what I'm going to do about my life.”
What she was saying didn't make sense to him. This didn't sound like his Staci.
“Did you sleep with him last night?”
Staci almost rolled her eyes. “What goes on with me and my husband is none of your business, but I will answer you this one time. No, I didn't spend the night with him.” She paused. “I asked him for a divorce last night.”
Malcolm didn't try to hide his pleasure with that announcement. This was major progress from her stance three months ago.
“Don't get too happy; my feelings for you haven't changed. I'm not interested in a relationship with you either.”
If Malcolm wasn't so happy about her divorce, he would have been offended.
“Malcolm, I hope you understand what I'm saying. I won't be seeing you or talking to you anymore.”
“I understand,” he answered, sounding as if he didn't believe any of it for a second. Like she'd be calling him within twenty-four hours.
They finished their meal with small talk; then Staci left without having touched the frozen drink.
That night she had the strangest dream. In the dream, she was seated in what appeared to be True Worship, but it wasn't a regular church service. She couldn't tell what type of service it was. Miss Cora was there, but she wasn't sick. She was healthy and dancing around the sanctuary yelling, “I told you so. His light is shining bright.”
Keisha was there along with the rest of Derrick's family on the front row in the center section. She looked around. Derrick was nowhere to be found. Staci's family was there too. Everyone was smiling and singing; some were even dancing in the spirit, so it couldn't be a funeral. Or could it? Pentecostals do dance at funerals.
Pastor Reggie stood on the dais in his white cassock. Lifting his hands in the air, he prayed for the person below him. From her seat, Staci couldn't see who the person was. The person appeared to be lying down with their face concealed.
As Pastor Reggie prayed, Miss Cora continued dancing and yelling, “I told you so. His light is shining bright.” No one but Staci seemed to have noticed her. Staci started to stand up so she could see better, but a little boy with a strong resemblance to Derrick stopped her. The little boy didn't say anything, just held unto her arm and giggled. Staci looked into the child's eyes. There was something familiar about them, but she didn't have time to figure it out. She wanted to know why Derrick wasn't anywhere to be found. And who was Pastor Reggie looking down at?
She tried to remove her arm from the little boy, but he wouldn't let go of her. “I'm yours, I'm yours,” the little boy kept repeating. Staci was reciting those same words when she awakened the next morning.
Chapter 27
Derrick spent his last hour on Friday reviewing his new appointment schedule with Phyllis. He'd reorganized his work schedule so he would be able to stop working every day at 5:30 and have his evenings free with Staci. It was still premature, but he was making preparations for his return to his wife. There wasn't any doubt in his mind he and Staci would reconcile. He'd prayed about it, and the Lord had shown him it would happen. Derrick just didn't know how and when.
It was hard, but Derrick played by Staci's rules. He admitted his jealously of Malcolm and was mad at himself for creating the opening that allowed that man entry into his world. However, Derrick refused to sit back and give Malcolm full access to his wife. Derrick's presence in Staci's life would be visible. Like tonight, he'd planned on stopping by the house just to see if Staci needed anything—and to make sure Malcolm wasn't there.
On his way out, Rhonda caught up with Derrick and invited him to dinner with her, again. As always, he declined.
“You're consistent, but no thank you, Rhonda,” he said, then added, “Do you know of anyone who would like to rent the studio? I'm moving back home soon.”
Rhonda's fake smile failed to hide her disappointment. “That's wonderful. Staci's a lucky woman. I would say I'm happy for you, but that would be a lie.”
“I don't want you to lie. You've been upfront about your feelings, and I appreciate that. I hope you'll eventually appreciate how much I love my wife.”
Rhonda opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She glared at him, then finally said, “I'll ask around about the studio.”
“Thank you,” Derrick said, walking away, knowing Rhonda was watching his back.
 
 
Staci was upstairs getting dressed to go out when he arrived at the house. The sound of Derrick's voice calling her from downstairs startled her. She rushed from her room to the staircase to find Derrick standing in the living room with a carton of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey in his hand.
He's good
, she thought.
He knows I won't throw that away.
“Derrick, what are you doing here?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
Derrick stared at her but didn't answer. She asked again, and when he didn't answer the second time, she followed his eyes. In her rush, she'd forgotten she wasn't wearing anything but a black lace bra with matching underwear. She turned and quickly walked back into her room. When she came downstairs, Derrick was in the kitchen drinking ice water. His bright skin had turned a shade of red.
“Derrick, what do you want? It's not Wednesday,” she asked, while inserting silver hoop earrings.
“I just wanted to stop by and see how you're doing.” His eyes focused on how well the black A-line dress with the side split that came up to her thigh accented her figure.
“Next time call first. I have plans for this evening, and like I said, it's not Wednesday. You know, the day I deal with foolishness.”
“Okay,” he said, still silently admiring the dress. “Who are you going out with?” He was not about to let her go out with Malcolm in that dress and have him undressing her with his eyes in the same manner he was now doing.
“Derrick, that's none of your business. You gave up the right to know my plans the day you left me.”
Derrick swallowed hard trying to control his anger. He was willing to play by her rules, but not when it came to her looking sexy for another man. He set the glass down on the counter.
“Staci, I don't want you going out with Malcolm in that dress.”
Staci rolled her eyes at him. “I don't care what you want. I will go out with whomever I please, and I will wear whatever I please.”
“No, you won't,” he said calmly, but firmly.
“Maybe if I'd worn this dress six months ago, you would have kept your behind at home.” The contempt on her face antagonized him even more.
“Staci, I am still your husband, and I am telling you, you're not going to spend the evening with another man in that dress!” he restated. “And that's final.”
“Derrick, shut up. You can't tell me what to do. I'm a grown woman.”
“Staci, I'm warning you. You're not wearing that dress.”
“Yes, I am.” She turned her back to him and slipped her feet into her pumps.
“Don't say I didn't warn you,” he said, then flung her over his shoulder and carried her upstairs.
“Put me down!” she screamed and beat him on his back all the way into their bathroom.
He finally set her down inside the shower stall and turned on the cold water. With one hand he held the shower head and sprayed her. With the other, he held the door so she couldn't get out. Staci was so angry she almost screamed profanities at him.
When he was sure he had soaked her enough to ruin the dress, he turned the water off and opened the door to let her out. Staci used her hand and covered her mouth to keep from cursing at him. “Get out!” she screamed.
Ignoring her, he helped her remove the drenched dress that now clung to her body, causing her to shiver. He then handed her a towel.
“Get out! Get out!” This time she punched his hard pectoral muscles. She was soaking wet and not about to give him the pleasure of seeing her stripped down to her birthday suit, not after what he had done.
“I'm leaving, but I don't want to have this conversation again. You're my wife, and your body is for my eyes only. Period.”
“I hope your eyes had fun, because your hands will never touch this body again!”
Derrick shook his head and left.
When Shannon and Lashay showed up five minutes later and asked why she wasn't dressed, Staci huffed and puffed and recapped the shower episode.
“Why didn't you just tell the man you're riding out to my mother's house with us to help plan our joint baby shower?” Lashay asked once she stopped laughing.
“He doesn't need to know my business,” Staci snapped.
Shannon dismissed that explanation. “That's not the reason, and you know it.”
“What are talking about?” Staci's attempt at innocence didn't even fool her own self.
“Girl, please, you know you wanted to make him jealous,” Shannon said after smacking her lips. “Why else would you have worn a dress that sexy in the first place?”
Staci laughed. Her girls knew her well. “I couldn't help it after the way he gawked at me in my underwear, like he wanted to sop me up with a biscuit. I wanted to remind him of what he gave up.”
“Your little plan backfired,” Lashay said. “Dr. Garrison reminded you that he hasn't and will not give up anything. You're his woman whether you like it or not.”
“And girl, you know you like it,” Shannon added.
Once again, Staci suppressed the spark of hope which flared deep inside her. Taunting him with her body was one thing, but she refused to let Derrick back into her heart. “I don't care what Derrick Garrison says. He doesn't own me. I will dress however I want,” Staci proclaimed and stomped up the stairs.
“Uh-huh,” her girls said. Neither one was surprised when Staci returned wearing jeans and an oversized sweatshirt.
 
 
Malcolm paced around his loft trying to figure out why Staci hadn't called him in two days. “Where are you?” he asked the picture of her that he kept on the wall. He'd heard her say she was going to stop seeing him, but he didn't believe her. She couldn't stop seeing him. She wanted him. He dialed her number again; still no answer. “Why didn't I make her give me her home number?” he said out loud. “Why didn't I get her home address?
“She's not getting rid of me that easy,” he grumbled. “The good doctor had better watch his back.”
Chapter 28
When Staci saw Derrick's SUV parked in the driveway, she started to keep right on driving and take up residence wherever she ran out of gas. She was still furious about the shower incident three days ago. If Dr. Garrison wanted an argument, he wasn't going to get one. He'd be lucky to get a hello.
Staci entered her home and found him sitting on the stairs in the dark with his head down. Because it was dark and she really didn't care what was bothering him, she stomped right past him and into her bedroom.
“Derrick, I don't feel like arguing with you today, and I don't need a shower,” she barked when she heard him enter what was once their bedroom. To her surprise, he didn't respond and that caught her attention and made her turn and take a good look at him. “What's wrong?” she asked, noticing his sullen and damp face.
He didn't answer with his mouth, but his shoulders started to heave and the look in his wet eyes told her that something was very wrong. Derrick never cried. In that moment, all of the animosity she had toward him didn't matter. She had to find out what was wrong with her husband.
She walked over to him and placed her arm around him. “Baby, what's wrong? Is it your mother?”
He looked down at her, and his voice quivered as he said, “My mother died this afternoon.”
“Oh, honey, I'm so sorry.” She fought to keep herself from crying and failed. “I really loved your mother,” she said between sobs. “Why didn't you call me?”
“I wanted to, but . . .” he let the answer hang and yielded to his pain.
They stood there crying side by side until Staci guided him over to the bed they once shared. As though it was a natural reaction, when Staci leaned back against the pillows, Derrick leaned his head against her and she held him tightly against her bosom and stroked his dark curls. By looking at them, no one would know the turmoil that ruled their marriage. It was impossible to tell that he had walked out on her, and she was counting down the days before she would be single again.
Maybe this is what the dream was about,
Staci thought.
It was about Miss Cora's passing, but that wouldn't explain why Derrick wasn't there or the little boy in the dream.
She pushed it to the back of her mind and concentrated on Derrick.
After he calmed down, they rested back against the headboard and talked well into the night. She listened as Derrick told her how Miss Cora died peacefully with a smile on her face.
“I held her hand until she took her last breath,” he said, sniffling. Staci grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and gently wiped his face for him.
“You're a good son,” she whispered.
She couldn't recall the last time they had talked this long without it ending in an argument. Or the last time she'd been this close to him without wanting to wring his neck. All she wanted to do was comfort him, to make his pain go away. As she lay there, Marcus's words rang in her head.
You don't want a divorce.
She pushed that thought out of her mind and continued stroking Derrick's head and back.
Derrick asked her if she would accompany him to the funeral home and assist him with the arrangements. She quickly agreed and offered to help him make the necessary phone calls to his relatives as well.
“Keisha will be here in the morning. I hope you don't mind her staying here at the house. She's afraid to stay in Mama's house since that's where she died.”
“That's fine, Derrick. We are family; for now anyway.”
“I also plan to stay here.” His statement was more of a question.
“Derrick, we don't have to put up a front. Everyone knows we're not together anymore,” Staci answered. Then the thought occurred to her that he just didn't want to be alone and she really didn't want him to be alone. “But if that's what you want, you can stay in the guest room.”
“Thank you for allowing me to stay.”
“It's late,” she announced, after looking at the clock alongside her bed. It was after midnight.
He watched her walk into the bathroom. Derrick took that as his cue and stood to leave.
“If you wake up in the middle of the night and want to talk, I'm here,” Staci said after she returned from the bathroom with a robe in hand.
Derrick observed her carefully as she prepared for bed, making sure she didn't reveal any side of herself to him. His heart ached. There was once a time when she would have freely shown him every inch of her. She would have given him free access to everything. Now she kept everything hidden from him, like he was a stranger instead of her husband.
“Good night,” she said after sliding between the sheets and bringing the covers just underneath her chin.
Derrick watched his wife lying there and fought the urge to risk climbing into bed with her. He wanted—no—he needed—to be next to her. He needed to feel the warm softness of Staci's body next to him, to reassure him that he wasn't alone in the world. Derrick needed her sweet voice to tell him that he would make it through this trying time. Due to his own actions, he wasn't going to get any of that.
Staci opened her eyes after she heard the door close. If Derrick had stayed one minute longer, she was sure she would have invited him into her bed. She didn't want to admit it, but it hurt her to see him in so much pain. As much as he had let her down and as angry as she was with him, she couldn't stand to see her teddy bear so wounded. When he cried, she literally wanted to kiss his tears away.

Other books

Hiding Pandora by Mercy Amare
Blazed by Jason Myers
The Tail of the Tip-Off by Rita Mae Brown
Here Be Monsters [2] by Phaedra Weldon
Angel Stations by Gary Gibson
The Doomed Oasis by Innes, Hammond;