Another Man Will (27 page)

C
HAPTER
53

Yvette

“W
hat if he is on Viagra or the other one, Cialis?” Geneva said, giggling on the other end of the phone. I began to picture erectile dysfunction commercials in my mind.

William was my friend, and the man I'd been seeing regularly and whose granddaughter I'd been taking care of, but I had not been having sex with him. He hadn't made a move on me yet, and I hoped what Geneva was saying was incorrect.

“Don't say that. He is only forty-seven. I like him, but if he said, ‘Hold up, honey. Let me take my pill first' that would spoil everything.”

“Are you attracted to him?”

“I am. I really am. He is growing on me.”

“If his man equipment doesn't work, could you be in a sexless relationship if everything else is on point?”

“No, if it doesn't work, then that is a deal breaker.”

“But he has all the other components of a good man.”

“I know, but I still don't think I can be with him. We'll see. It hasn't come to that yet. Let's not talk about that anymore. Well, you know I'm unemployed again. Tina in HR over there said she was trying to get me in, but I haven't heard anything yet. I'm a little uneasy about not having steady income.”

“Something else will come through and your hard times are over, especially now you got William in your life.”

“Yeah, I know.” I looked down at the screen on my phone. “You talked him up. I'll call you back. That's him calling me now.”

“Hey, William,” I said after hanging up with Geneva.

“Hey, love. What are you doing?”

“Nothing. I was talking to Geneva about not hearing anything back from my job. And I don't want to go too many weeks without working again.”

“Don't worry, they will call.”

“Yeah, hopefully. What are you about to do?”

“I'm about to go and ride and see my son in Maryland; how about you go with me. It's only about two hours away.”

“Okay, I'll go.”

“All right. Well, I'm getting dressed now, so I'll be there in a few and, Yvette, wear something simple, not anything too revealing.”

 

 

The Maryland State prison walls reached far into the sky, keeping the inmates inside. I had never stepped inside a prison before, and I thought I wouldn't ever again. The minute you got inside, it felt like your spirit was crushed. William and I entered and had to show identification, put all of our keys, money, and cell phones into a locker, and wait for our visit to begin. There were so many rules concerning what we could or couldn't do. Like no phones, nothing in our pockets, no pictures. They should have just made a big sign that read
NO ANYTHING
. The guards treated us badly, like we had committed a crime. We sat in the waiting room, and a hating female guard came out and said I had too much cleavage showing and needed to go in the restroom and pin my shirt up. I was going to protest, but I really didn't want to mess up William's visits with his son.

“All of this would make someone not want to come,” I said as we waited for his son to come out.

“I know that's what they want you to do, get aggravated and not come back anymore.”

We waited almost an hour for William's son, Tyron, to come out.

“What's up, Pop?” he said as approached, smiling. He gave his father a hug, spoke to me, and then took a seat. He was way smaller in person and didn't look much older than Brandon.

“This is my lady, Yvette.”

“Hi, Yvette. My dad said Jalena been coming over your house a lot. Many thanks. She needs a woman to be around, instead of this old guy.”

“You're welcome. She is such a sweet little girl.”

“So how are you doing, Dad?”

“Same ole same ole. You?”

“I'm good. They have me in this program teaching classes, since I had college credits. It's good. It makes the day go by fast. I'm doing whatever I have to do to make this time pass fast.”

“I know, son. You don't have that much time left. You can come home and let me retire.”

“I will, Dad. When I come home, I'm doing the right thing.”

We left the prison, and as we drove back, I thought about how I had to keep my own son out of there. How William was a real good father and grandfather for taking on his granddaughter. How laws were made for bad people, but usually they missed the big-time drug dealers and the little guys got caught and did all the time, like Tyron. He shouldn't have been selling, but he was good kid and shouldn't be in prison, either.

William interrupted my thoughts. I could tell William had a lot on his mind as we were leaving.

“You okay?”

“Yvette, I was thinking. Don't worry about that job calling you back. How about you come help me out?”

“Doing what?”

“Everything. Managing and putting a woman's touch on the place. You know I need the help.”

“I don't know. I never worked in a restaurant atmosphere before.”

“Well, just try it out. See if you like it. I do pay real money. You get a salary and a paycheck every week.”

“I know, but how do you think your other employees would feel about the boss's girlfriend ordering them around?”

“I don't care. You can go in there and fire everyone. Just make it work.”

C
HAPTER
54

Crystal

I
was on a call, and all of a sudden it hit me that my Rell was gone. I loved him and he did everything for me, and I just wanted to be a bitch, have dumb arguments, and fight for Kenneth to see Kori, when he'd never wanted to be a good dad before. I broke down at work. I needed my husband back. I took a fifteen-minute break. I walked to the restroom and went into a stall and began to silently cry. What was I arguing about? Why was I angry? I didn't know. I couldn't even answer my own questions.

 

 

Rell left that night and hadn't called me since. Rell hadn't called me, and he'd changed his number. I couldn't even call him to say I was sorry. It was so unreal.

I knew I'd made a giant mistake, but I didn't know how to fix it. I wasn't sure if I was married anymore. I didn't know what it took to get a divorce. I didn't know what to tell the children. At first I'd said that Rell had gone back in the army for a few weeks to get the rest of his belongings, but that had only further upset Nasir. I didn't know how long I could keep the charade going. Yesterday my dad called for Rell, and I couldn't be honest with him. I told my dad someone had stolen his phone at the job and he had been pulling doubles and I would have him call him when he got his rest.

I came out of the stall. I got a paper towel. After work I was going to go to his mother's and try to talk to him. My mom agreed to pick up the kids, and I was going to see what I could do to make it right between me and Rell.

When I was finally off work, I was so nervous. I didn't know where Rell was, if he was at his mom's or at work. I was going to try his mother's first. I didn't know if Ms. Cheryl knew that we had broken up. But my plan was to try to siphon as much information out of her as possible. I knocked on her door. She didn't answer, and I didn't see Rell's car. I didn't want to call her. Maybe she was at work. But I tried her, anyway.

“Hey, Ms. Cheryl.”

“Hey, Crystal. I haven't talked to you in a while. How's my Kori?”

“She's good.”

“I'm so happy for you. Rell showed me y'all's new house when he came to get the rest of his stuff the other day. It's nice. When are y'all moving everything in?”

“I don't know yet.”

“Well, I think it is just wonderful that you two have found each other and are living the life you are supposed to be. I really am happy to have you and Angel as my daughters.”

“Thank you, Ms. Cheryl.”

“Yes, and you know, soon as you get in and settled, you have to make us all a big breakfast again.”

“No problem, but I have to go and get the kids, Ms. Cheryl. I just wanted to say hello.”

“Okay, baby. Talk to you soon.”

I had just learned a lot from my brief conversation with Ms. Cheryl. Not only did Rell have a new cell phone number, but he had moved to the house in Springfield without me. It was really over, and I was too late. He had already moved on.

I sat crying in my car in front of my parents' house. Today had been a hard one. However, I didn't need to share it with my nosy parents. I pulled it together and entered the Turner house.

“Dad, where are the kids and Mommy?”

“She went out to the market. I need to talk to you, anyway, Crystal.”

“About what, Dad?”

“I talked to Terell today. He called me to give me his new number. He said you guys are separating. What's going on with you two?”

How ignorant!
I thought.
Give my dad your number and not me, and tell him we are separating?
I was thinking of another excuse or lie I could tell my father, but I just couldn't hold it in anymore.

“I don't know, Daddy. I think I chased him away. He didn't do anything wrong. He wanted us to move, and I didn't. When he asked me if I wanted him to leave, I said, ‘I don't care.' And now he has moved into the house without me and has changed his cell phone number. He started working too much. I don't know why, but I kept pushing him and pushing him some more, seeing how far I could go.”

My dad began comforting me as I broke down. “Crystal, marriage takes work. No two are the same, but the moment they get rough, you cannot say, ‘I quit,' and walk away. If every married person left at the first sign of trouble, the world would be single. Me and your mother had our times, but we knew those were temporary and the marriage was for the long haul. I wasn't sure about him at first, but Terell is a real good guy. You have to go and talk to him. Here's his number. Call him.”

C
HAPTER
55

Dana

W
hy did Marcus Walker keep bothering me? He could walk down any street, go to any club in any major city, and have his choice of women. They would rub his back, cook for him, wash his clothes, and love him unconditionally, but he kept calling me. I wanted to stay away, but I kept feeling this strange pull toward him. But I knew I was in love with Adam, and it was just insane, but I just thought about Marcus all the time.

Marcus left a message and said he had a really big surprise for me and if I could just meet him out once more he would leave me alone. I sat on my white bed, debating whether or not I should go. He was just a temptation that I needed to stay away from.

Against my better judgment, I met him in East Falls, at a private fund-raiser. He looked so good, but I played it cool, like I wasn't impressed and had come just because he kept calling, not because I was really interested in exploring us more.

“Mr. Walker, what is this little event?”

“You'll see in a minute.” He held his arm out for me to hold on to. I placed my arm on his, and we walked to a room with three dozen round tables and chairs.

We had a seat and my heart dropped when the fund-raiser's performer walked onto the stage. I couldn't believe it was Wade Devon. He sat at his white piano and began striking each key. Astonishingly, I was a few feet away from my favorite singer. Wade Devon was singing, and I could hear the tremble in his voice when he hit a high note, and I could almost reach out and touch him. I turned around and I grabbed Marcus's hand and told him thank you.

It was enough just to be so close to the singer I loved and played almost daily. I almost passed out when, in the middle of the third song, Wade Devon said, “Is there a Dana Turner celebrating her birthday tonight?” How did he know my name? It wasn't my birthday but he had just invited me on stage with him and I couldn't move my feet to stand. I looked over at Marcus, and my eyes began to well up. Marcus whispered, “Just go along with it,” and walked me over to the small stage. Wade Devon sat me next to him and began singing two of my favorite songs to me, “Last Night You Left” and “It's Another Day.” I didn't know how I didn't cry. I wanted to scream and tell him how much I loved him and how his songs made me feel, but I didn't. I kept my composure and sang along with him, and then the entire audience sang “Happy Birthday” to me.

After the show was over, I was still in awe. I thanked Marcus several times and joked with him about his lie. He said he had to say something special to make it happen. I didn't think it could get any better, and then he told me to hold up and let the crowd dissipate. A few moments later the drummer came off stage and walked over and shook hands with Marcus.

“Marcus Walker. What's good, brother?”

“Good show, man. Thanks for making that happen.”

“Yes, good, really good show. It was amazing,” I interjected.

“You ready to meet Mr. Wade?” Marcus asked me.

Marcus grabbed my hand, and we followed his friend back stage. I thought I would pass out. People were taking pictures, and when Wade Devon was done with them, he came over to us and said, “Happy birthday, beautiful. You make a beautiful couple. That's what I do, everybody. I promote love.”

“Thanks, but she hasn't even agreed to be my girlfriend yet. You're putting pressure on me.” Marcus laughed as he gave the singer a handshake, told him it was good seeing him.

Wade Devon gave me a hug. He smelled just like I had imagined. And then we took a group picture.

“So okay . . . so what am I supposed to say to all of that, Mr. Walker?” I asked after we left the room.

“Uh, ‘you are the man,' maybe. Or ‘thank you.' Maybe a kiss right here.” He tapped the middle of his cheek. I bypassed his cheek and gave him a long passionate kiss on his lips. He was very surprised. I was too. But I felt like he deserved it; never had anyone done anything so special for me.

“How did you organize this?”

“My brother Micah went to school with Tim, Devon's drummer. I heard they were having a private show and fund-raiser. I knew I had to bring you after that sad story you told me. I had to make sure you saw him again, this time the right way.”

“Thanks. Wow, that was really amazing.”

“So you know we can't disappoint—Mr. Wade said we made a beautiful couple.”

“I'm in a relationship.”

“Exactly, a relationship, not a marriage. You could break up with him in three months and say, ‘Damn I never got to see the potential of what I could have had with Marcus.' ”

“Or I could break up with a great boyfriend, take a chance on you, and you turn out to be the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

“Or you could take a chance on me, and I could be the love of your life, the best husband and father to our children, and you'd be so happy you took a risk. But you never know unless you try.”

I wanted to tell him to leave me alone, thanks for the show. I knew it was wrong to be at Marcus's apartment and to not answer Adam's call. But I wanted to explore Marcus more. His body, his soft hands and tongue. I wasn't supposed to rest in his arms and allow him to pleasure me in every way except for actual access into me. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it.