When He Cheatin' and You Still Love Him 2 (13 page)

Lying in my bed, I elect not to take a bubble bath like I had planned earlier. My body is tired, and I’m exhausted from today’s events. All I want to do is close my eyes and go to bed. Sluggishly I climb out of bed and walk down the hall to Kendrick’s bedroom. He, Shad and Terrance Jr. are passed out on the floor in their sleeping bags while Terrionna is wrapped up in a sheet asleep on the edge of the bed. Usually, I would pick up Terrance Jr., and Shad and take them to the guest room, but the way my stomach is set up, I allow them to sleep right where they are. I step into the room and power off the television before going back into my bedroom, where I cut off the lights. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light.

*****

The sound of glass breaking wakes me out of my sleep.

“Ow!” I cry out when I feel a muscle pull in my stomach from sitting up too fast.

My eyes quickly scan my dark room. When they land on the illuminating clock on the cable box, I see that it’s a little after three in the morning. Reaching over, I click the light on the nightstand, and toss the cover off. When my feet hit the floor, I shuffle over to the window and peep out. Nothing is out of the ordinary, so I close the curtains and make my way over to my bedroom door. The hallway is pitch black, and I silently curse at the kids for not leaving the light on in the bathroom like I’ve told them time and time again. It’s so dark that I can barely see in front of myself.

Slowly I tiptoe down the hallway, all the while I’m straining my ears trying to see if I can hear anything else. The sound of someone moving around in the living room stops me dead in my tracks. Fear grips me, and I almost scream out in a panic before I remind myself that it’s best for me to stay quiet.
Oh my, God,
somebody is in my house?
My first thought is to get to my son’s room and protect the kids. I’m almost at Kendrick’s door when I hear the toilet in the hallway flush. When I hear that I damn near pee on myself. Moments later I hear water running before the hallway brightens up when the bathroom door is opened. I’m relieved when Terrionna appears rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She gives me a sleepy smile as she makes her way back toward the room.

Maybe it was her I heard.
I rationalize.

This relief is short-lived. Both Terrionna and I turn our heads in the direction of the stairs when we hear someone running up them quickly. I watch in horror as a big ass white pit bull rounds the corner.
How in the fuck?
It stares at the two of us for a second before it bares its teeth and starts to growl. My motherly instincts kick in, and I grab Terrionna by the back of her shirt and toss her into the room. When I do this, the pit bull crouches down and charges at me. Before he gets a chance to bite, I step inside the door quickly and begin to push it closed behind me. Right before it closes all the way, the head and shoulders of the pit bull pop through. It barks and attempts to squeeze its way completely inside the door while I’m trying like hell to keep my weight against it because I know if it comes into this room he’s going to attack us. It’s hard because this dog is strong as hell.

“Ahhhh!” Kendrick screams when he wakes up to find a dog lunging just inches from where he’s sleeping.  

He and Shad hop on the bed and out of harm’s way. Terrance Jr., on the other hand, runs over and assists me in trying to close the door.

“Terrionna!” I yell. “Grab Kendrick’s bat from the closet and hit the dog in the nose.” I instruct her. She continues to sit in the same spot I threw her just moments before. Fear is etched on her face. “Go ahead baby, you can do it. He can’t get to you. I just need him to move his head, so I can close the door, that’s all.” I coach her.

Terrionna walks over to the closet and opens it. When she locates the bat, she slowly makes her way over to the door. She looks up at me, and I nod my head letting her know to do it. She raises the bat up and brings it down against the dogs head. It shakes off the hit as if it’s nothing before going right back to barking and trying to push his way inside. Terrance Jr. stops helping me with the door and rushes over to his sister. He snatches the bat from her hand and begins to hit the dog in the face over and over again. His hits must have worked because before long the dog is whimpering and scoots backward out of the door. Once he’s back far enough, I slam the door shut and lock it.

Immediately I grab the cordless phone in Kendrick’s room and dial 911. The dog begins to scratch on the door from the other side before finally walking away. Once the operator answers, I explain what had just happened. Since I’m not sure if someone is in the house or not, she keeps me on the line while she sends the police over. While I wait I thank God that neither of us was harmed. I’m so glad that I didn’t take the kids into the guest room to sleep because if I did, it would have been impossible for me to protect everyone and things would have not turned out in our favor. The sound of the dog tearing up something in my room gets my attention. For a minute, I wonder what it’s gotten into, but then I realize that I really don’t care. As long as it’s not me or the kids, everything else can be replaced.

As I slide down the wall out of breath, I can’t help but to ask myself,
how in the fuck did a dog get in my house in the first goddamn place?

Terry

I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but shit has been crazy this last past week. I’m over here going through it trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and who is responsible for all the fucked up shit that’s been happening lately. If it ain’t been one thing, it’s another because it seems as if every time I turn around something foul is happening to my baby mommas and I’m getting tired of the shit.

First Katrina called me from the jail talking about the police done locked up her after finding drugs in her place. The shit is crazy to me because even though Katrina can be a pain in my ass sometimes with her hardheaded ways, she wouldn’t risk her freedom for no bullshit like that. At first, she thought that it was maybe the guy Junior that she’s been seeing, but after speaking to him, even he claims that it wasn’t his. So either dude is lying like a mutha’fucka to cover his ass, or those cops were the ones who planted that shit in her room. Either way I wanna know who supposedly made the phone call to the police in the first place and why. Since then I’ve had Shad, who constantly asks where his mommy is, and I’m stuck making up lies about her being on vacation. I’ve already hired her a lawyer to look into it, and I’m hoping that he can give me some good news because I would hate to see Katrina go down for something like this.

Then the other day somebody cut Toya’s break line. Greg, who just happened to be driving her car that day, ran into a fucking tree and almost broke his damn neck. The doctors finally allowed him to go home yesterday, but even though he’s alright Toya is losing her mind. She hasn’t driven anything since the accident because she’s scared that whoever cut her breaks will try to do it again. She even went as far as to call a cab to take her to the hospital when she went to see how Greg was. Things have gotten so bad that she won’t allow the kids out of her sight. Her fear of something happening to them is the part that’s real fucked up because she has a right to be scared. It could have easily been her and my kids in that car. I hate to think about what could have happened, because even though I’m a fuck up at times, I love the shit outta my babies and would do anything for them. So trust me when I say that I would lose it if anything happened to either of them.

If that’s not fucked up enough, I get a call in the middle of the night from Shanair. I was at a party I was throwing, and it was loud as hell. I was going to finish checking on the door and then call her back. I don’t know what it was, but something told me to answer the phone, and I’m glad as hell I did. I couldn’t hear her real clear at first because of the music. All I knew was that she was screaming, and it sounded like she was crying. My heart dropped. I didn’t know if she was calling to flip out on me about some shit she had found out, or if something was seriously wrong. I moved through the crowd as quickly as I could trying to get outside. Once I was there, I was finally able to hear what she was crying about. 

Shanair was hysterical as she explained to me what had happened. She said she was sleeping, and awoke to the sound of glass breaking. At first she thought someone was in the house, so she rushed to the room to check on the kids. Turns out someone had broken out the living room window and stuck a huge pit bull through it. The dog made its way up the stairs and tried to attack Shanair and the kids, but she was able to get inside the room before he could come in. I’m proud of my son for stepping up like a big boy and helping her close the door because ain’t no telling what would have happened if the dog had gotten inside the room. Once the police finally arrived with animal control, they cautiously made their way into the house. As soon as the dog heard them, he ran down the stairs and lunged at one of the officers, biting him on the leg. The other officer drew his weapon and shot him once in the head, killing him instantly. 

That night I went over to Shanair’s house and picked her and the kids up. With what happened, she didn’t want to stay in the house alone, and I didn’t blame her because I didn’t want them there either. Whoever did that sick shit could have been waiting to try it again, and I’ll be damned if they succeeded the second time. I offered to pay for a hotel room for them, as well as get the window fixed and the blood cleaned up from the carpet. I was surprised when she didn’t fight and tell me she could do it herself like she had done so many times before. I guess she was more shook up than I thought.

After I checked them into the double bedroom suite, Shanair asked me if I could stay with them. You already know I didn’t have a problem with it since I had been trying to get next to her for weeks. Even though it took damn near a tragedy, I was happy as hell just to be around her. That night while the kids slept in the other room, I held the woman I love in my arms as she cried. It hurt to see the tears streaming down her face because I felt powerless. I didn’t know what I could do to make her feel better. I knew she was scared. She was alone with four kids afraid for her life, all while some sick son of a bitch thought it was funny to let a violent animal go inside her home. When Shanair finally dozed off, I laid awake trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

*****

The line at McDonald’s is long as hell. So long it makes me wonder why all of these damn people aren’t at work. When it’s finally my turn, I place the order for my food and stand to the side while I wait for them to call my number. Since there are quite a few people ahead of me waiting, I lean back against the wall. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and when I pull it out and look at it, I see that it’s from Shanair.

NAIR:
Hey, is everything alright??

ME:
Yeah the line was long as hell. Y is something wrong?

NAIR:
No, I was just wondering what was taking you so long.

ME:
Oh OK  I’ll see you in a few.

NAIR:
OK

I prepare to slide my phone back into my pocket, but stop when another message comes through.

NAIR:
Don’t forget my grape jelly!!

ME:
Lol I won’t

When I’m sure that she’s finished texting, I slip my phone into my pocket and smile because that girl is crazy. She should already know that I know her like the back of my hand. I know everything she likes, and I never make a mistake when it comes to her food, so there was no need to ask about the jelly because I was already on it. When I hear the cashier call out a number, I look at my receipt and see that I still have three numbers ahead of me. While I continue to wait, I think about how things have changed this last week.

After staying at the hotel for a couple of days, Shanair was finally ready to go home. Her only stipulation was I came there with her. I didn’t have a problem with it at all. In fact, I was happy to come home. Living in the hotel these last few weeks have killed me. Having Shad there with me didn’t make it any better because other than swimming, there is nothing for a three-year-old to do there. So when Shanair offered I jumped at the chance just to come back home. Once we checked out of the hotel, we stopped by the one I had been staying in, picked up my stuff and took it home. I was disappointed as hell when I found out that I would be sleeping in the guest room, but hey, what could I do about it.

Since then everything has transitioned smoothly. Shanair is sill adamant about us not being together, but I’m working on changing that.

“Hey, I knew you looked familiar. I remember you. You were the guy that was with Brittany that day.” I hear. When I turn to the voice, I see that it’s Brittany’s ex, Daniel. “How you doing my brother?” He asks putting his hand out.

Just seeing dude again has me feeling some kind of way. I know I don’t fuck with Brittany no more, but I still can’t help but think that something was going on between the two of them while she was dealing with me. I glance down at his hand, before bringing my eyes back up and just stare at him. I’m trying to figure out what the fuck dude wants.

“Can I help you with something Daniel?” I inquire, wondering why the hell dude is all up in my face.

Seeing as though I’m not going to shake his hand, he drops it to his side.

“I ain’t got no issues with you brother. I just came over here to put a bug in your ear.”

“Is that right?”

“Just listen to what I have to say my brother, and I will be out of your hair. When I broke up with Brittany, she made my life a living hell.” Daniel pauses and looks around. “I’m telling you, she just wouldn’t let go. It got so bad I had to transfer schools because she was popping up everywhere I went.”

I snort and look at him like he’s crazy.

“I know this sounds crazy as hell, but the last time I saw you guys, my mother’s house was burned down.”

“Okay, what’s that got to do with me?” I ask, wishing he’d get to the point.

“It doesn’t. It has something to do with Brittany. I believe she is the one who started the fire.”

I laugh because this dude can’t be serious.

“You may laugh now, but it won’t be funny later,” Daniel tells me seriously. “I’m only trying to look out for you brother because I wish someone would have looked out for me. That beauty and sweet shit are only on the outside. Brittany is sick and the fact that her daddy is a fucking judge and can sweep all of the shit she does under the rug just makes her worse because she can get away with whatever she wants. If or when you decide to leave her, she will show her that ugly side.” Daniel pauses and laughs before he goes on to say, “I know you probably don’t believe me. Shit, if I were you, I wouldn’t believe me either. But for your sake, you need to listen to me brother…or at least be prepared to get the hell out of dodge when she doesn’t get her way.” 

“I hear ya, but this shit seems bogus as hell my nigga.” I snort, still not believing how shook this cat looks. 

“I know it does, but it’s the truth. Look, if you really don’t believe me Google a chick named Ashley Hooks, and you will get a glimpse into just how crazy Brittany can get.”

“Ashley?”

“Yeah, she was my fiancée before Brittany decided to step in and put an end to it.” Daniel tells me with a far-out look in his eyes. He shakes his head. I guess he was attempting to clear his mind before he spoke again. “Look, I don’t know you man, but I know Brittany. I also know that she doesn’t like to lose, so if you don’t plan on marrying her and being with her forever, you’re already in trouble.”

I lightly chuckle before responding, “I think I can handle her.”

“Alright, you remember you said that.” He nods his head in my direction. “Well, I gotta get out of here. They are finally releasing my mom from the hospital, and we’re hitting the road.” Daniel reaches his hand out to shake mine. This time I accept the gesture. “You be careful my brother, and keep your eyes open.” And with that he quickly walked away with a McDonald’s bag clutched in his hand.

“Number one-sixty-four!” Glancing down at my receipt again, I see that it’s my number the cashier is calling.

Walking up to the counter, I check the bag to make sure that my order is right. When I see that it is, I turn to walk to away. Right before I exit the door, I walk back up to the counter and ask for Shanair’s jelly. I was too caught up in what Daniel said that I almost forgot. With the food and jelly in my hand, I make my way to my car. Placing the food on in the passenger seat, I slide behind the wheel and just sit. Immediately I begin to wonder if there is some truth to what Daniel told me, especially now that all this crazy shit has been going on.

Could Brittany be behind all this shit?
I wonder.
Nah, it can’t be
, I rationalize. It’s crazy because at first when Daniel rolled up on me I thought he was on some bullshit. I’d be lying if I said that his allegations weren't really making some sort of sense now. I never did find out how she knew Toya and Katrina’s names without me telling her. I mean she did follow me home that one day, she could have easily done the same thing when I went to visit them. As soon as the thought comes to mind I start to laugh.
Ain’t no way in hell Brittany has done all the shit that has happened these last few weeks.
I, for one, don’t believe she’s smart enough to pull those things off. I immediately come to my senses, because it would make sense now that I think about it, though. Everything didn’t start until I cut her off completely, and he did say that when he broke up with her she made his life a living hell.

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I click on the web browser. When google loads, I type in the chick’s name that Daniel told me to look up. A few links pop up, but one in particular, catches my eye. It reads:
Ashley Hooks Face Melted in Hideous Attack.
I click on the link and read the story.

Ashley Hooks, a 21-year-old law student, was doused with sulfuric acid on her way home from class one evening by an unknown attacker. The victim told officers that she was walking to her car when someone rushed up to her and threw the deadly liquid into her face. Due to the pain she was unable to see who her attacker was as they ran away, leaving her screaming and begging for help. The attack left Ashley scarred for life after suffering serious burns to her face, neck, and chest.

Ashley told Channel 6, “Before my attack I was confident and felt beautiful. Now everything has changed. My life has been turned upside down, and what hurts even more is the fact that my attacker hasn’t been caught yet.” She goes on to add, “I’m going to have these scars as a reminder forever.”