My Woman His Wife Saga (51 page)

I was pretty quiet for the days remaining after I came out of surgery to have my jaw wire removed. James ran it all down on how he found out that the kids weren't his because Jordan needed a blood transfusion for his injuries from the car accident. When they ran his blood for a match it came about that he wasn't the dad, and wasn't even the same blood type to be able to donate. I felt like shit when he revealed that information to me. A lot of stuff happened in our past, but that type of secret was unforgivable. I couldn't blame him for being upset, and I allowed him to get his feelings off his chest without interruption. He deserved at least that much.

I was shocked when he told me that my mom knew everything. I mean everything! She was there when the doctor revealed that the kids weren't his, and he even told her Monica's role in all of it. They both knew about the twins, and came to find out my dad was the one who called the twins up to the hospital to talk to James. They had been trying to be included in the kids' lives for years, but I never allowed it. James didn't know that when we moved from our old house I was not only running from Monica, but from them as well. I didn't need them just popping up one random day, especially considering I cheated right in our very bed that James and I shared every night. Everything was a mess, and I deserved whatever happened to us and this marriage.

None of that took away from the fact that the accident happened, and because he wasn't holding up his end of the responsibilities I had to come out of work that day and almost killed all of us. Just thinking about it pissed me off, but I knew arguing the point was pointless.
The main thing is both me and the kids made it through, and hopefully we can pick up the pieces and move on with our lives.

I was released a few days later from the hospital in a whole lot of pain. It felt like every inch of my body was falling apart, but I was alive at the end of the day, and that was all that mattered. I got a prescription for some painkillers, and was also set up with appointments to manage my back pain because I had developed herniated disks from the accident, and it was hard for me to bend. I would be in therapy a few days a week to get my body back in working order.

On the day that I arrived home I was surprised with a welcome home party. People from my and James's jobs, as well as family and a few friends were there to greet me. I stayed downstairs with them for a while, but the level of pain that I was experiencing made me turn in early, and once James was done with assisting me up the steps and helping me get ready for bed he went back down to the party. I was out quickly, and didn't even realize James was in the room until a sharp pain woke me up. I tapped James, and he jumped up immediately to help me. I wanted to smile but it hurt too bad. Even after all of the mess that had come out and gone on, he still loved me enough to take care of me.

It didn't take long for me to start slowly moving around the house by myself, and I had to tell James to let me be sometimes so that I could do things myself. We had yet to talk, but I knew we had to clear the air. Things were different around the house. I could still feel the tension between us. When, during dinner one night, the kids asked him when their Aunt Monica was coming back to visit, I was surprisingly able to keep my cool. She was here to see her son I was sure. We did just up and move out of the blue, and she had no way to contact us. I wasn't sure what she did to find us, but any mother who loved her child would have gone through the same measures that she did. It was just sad that I didn't get a chance to talk to her about her son, and I wondered how much she knew.

Junior got on my nerves, but lately he seemed like a different child. He was a lot calmer, and got along better with the kids. James even said that the people at his afterschool program said that he was doing a lot better. I was happy to hear that, and I knew my behavior toward him had to change. That was probably the biggest part of the reason why he was acting the way he was in the first place.

“So, the twins want visitation rights. I think it's only right. They are willing to be in the kids' lives under the guise that they are their uncles so as not to mess up the flow of how we have things going. Monica did the same thing when I introduced her to the kids, and I think it's the best thing for everyone,” James said to me before bed about a week after I got home.

“I don't have a problem with that. What's up with Monica anyway? Why hasn't she been back?”

“I'm not sure. Her phone has been going straight to voice mail for the last week or so. Maybe she lost the phone, or got caught up in something. I don't think she will just go back home without at least seeing her son one more time. She'll pop up. I'm sure of it.”

I didn't say anything more about the twins or Monica, and decided to cuddle up with my husband and enjoy right now. We had so much damage to get through and undo, and work through. Years and years of damage and dumb shit that almost crumbled us. I would have never thought that years down the line this was where we would be.
I'm just glad that we are at a point where we are willing to make it work.

As I snaked my arm around his back in the bed, my hand got caught a little between the headboard and the mattress. I felt something silky on my fingertips, and yanked at it to see what it was. The looks on both of our faces were of pure shock as I revealed a hot pink thong with a gold “M” monogram sewn into the top part of the thong right where it would sit at the top of her ass if she had them on.

“What the fuck is this? James, was Monica in my room?”

“Babe, let me explain . . .”

I didn't know where I got the energy from, but before I knew it I was up out of the bed and pounding on his chest. This bitch was still causing havoc in my household, and James's simple ass had fallen for her again. He got me back down on the bed, and was trying to restrain me without reinjuring me, and all I saw was red through the tears. I knew I hated her for a reason, and I was so pissed that she was able to sneak back in again. I couldn't do this with her, and she had to go. She could never show her face around here again.

“Jasmine, it's not what you think. She came up here to use the bathroom while she was here with the kids. Your mom was here with us, and so were the kids. She must have snuck them in here then. Baby, I love you. You have to believe me.”

The look on his face was one of desperation, and I wanted to believe him so bad. He held me in his arms and we just cried. Every time we thought we had gotten away, Monica found a way to throw a monkey wrench in the program. I knew we had to stay strong, and we had to keep moving forward.

Turning the television up a little louder so that the kids wouldn't hear us, we both were silenced by what flashed across the screen. A split screen with pictures of Monica, one with a made-up face and one of her badly beaten, was shown before the newscaster started her story.

“Early this morning, the woman that was just shown was found badly beaten and raped in Fairmount Park along the joggers' trail. A female jogger saw her crawling from the side of the hill near Lemon Hill, barely able to move her left side. She was naked from the waist down and there was blood everywhere. It is said that when she got to the hospital she could not tell the cops who beat her, and that she was from out of town visiting a family friend.

“It wasn't until this woman, famous erotica writer Jaydah B from right here in Philadelphia, came up to the hospital and identified the guys to the police. Apparently, just over a week ago, the very men she identified were pulled over for supposedly having a body in their trunk, but the cops only found guns and drugs. What was even more interesting is the writer's sister was involved with the beating as well, and all of them are in custody of the police and are being charged with rape and attempted murder. More of the story to come after this commercial break. . . .”

Both James and I were sitting with our mouths wide open.
What the hell is going on in the world?
No wonder James hadn't heard from her in over a week, and she was lucky even to be alive after all this time. I felt horrible about what happened to her, and I wondered how I could find out what hospital she was in.
She must have fucked up someone else's life for that to have happened to her, but damn. Was it that serious?
They flashed the photos of the guys who beat and raped Monica, and of the girl who set her up. This was some crazy shit, and I knew at that moment that we had to get our household and our lives right for these kids. We weren't perfect, but we were all they had. When they say what goes around comes around, it definitely does. Karma is a bitch who isn't playing any games. I was content with not running into her anytime soon.

Later that night after we checked on the kids, James and I decided that we had to make this work. We had a lot of pain and secrets in our lives, but we had to start living for today. We were starting from scratch. As I lay in his arms and inhaled his scent I knew this was where I belonged and there was no looking back. We would get things straight to find out which twin fathered our twins, and we would deal with Monica when the time came. All of this was scary for both of us, but we had to make it work. We just had to.

Raped and beaten to damn near nothing. Is this what my life is going to be like from here on out? It's like, I know I've done some shit, but why couldn't I have just died?
Why did God allow me to live through all of that, and what was I supposed to do now? I wanted to get out of here on the first thing smoking back to the ATL. I had plans to see my son once more before I went, but I just needed to get gone. Philly was not the place for me.

I really thought my time was up though. Those guys raped me for what felt like hours, and the beatings that took place in between were unbearable. My eyes were swollen up to mere slits, and I was missing at least ten teeth. There were patches ripped out of my hair, and everything was so sore. I had cracked ribs, and my clavicle bone was fractured on the left side. Both of my arms were broken, and several of my fingers. My wrist was fractured on my left hand, and my right ankle was sprained something horrible. The doctor said that I was lucky to even have been able to crawl out of the space I was in and up the hill with all of the broken bones I had. I was surprised at the amount of damage as well.

What I did know was that I didn't want to spend any more time here than I had to, and I didn't even get into who did what when the cops came. I told them I was kidnapped and didn't know who did it. Jaydah was the one who ran everything down to the cops, and luckily the guys were already in custody from being caught up earlier in the week. Sheneka was found in a crack house out of her mind, and on the brink of overdosing. Everything was a mess, and I was just glad that they would be served.

I denied all visits to Jaydah, and when she came up here the nurse had to call hospital security to have her escorted out because she went off in the hallway. As far as I was concerned we didn't have anything to talk about. I was grateful that she told the cops what happened, and even more glad that she turned in my pocketbook with all of my stuff in it, but I still didn't have any rap for that simple bitch. She was just as crazy as her sister, and I could do without the drama.

My sister would be cut off as well. The nurse was kind enough to charge my phone for me once I was able to talk, and she even put my earpiece in so that I could make calls. I loved that all I had to do was say a name, and my phone would call it without me having to dial. I spoke with the judge first, and he was hysterical on the phone.

“Why didn't you stay in the house, Monica? They could have killed you! What hospital are you in? I'll have security outside of the door twenty-four/seven. Are you trying to give me another heart attack? What the fuck where you thinking?”

I let him ramble on for a while before cutting him off to give him the information he needed. He was coming up here regardless of the bed rest restriction that he was on. There was no use in trying to stop him. Once he made up his mind there was no changing it. I called the Cinques next, and spoke with James. I wasn't ready to talk with Jasmine yet, and I simply thanked him for the opportunity to meet my son, and I apologized for everything else. I had their address, so I informed him that I would resume the payments as scheduled, and that I would only keep in contact when he reached out to me. I knew that he and Jazz were probably trying to pick up the pieces and put their lives back together, and I didn't want to be a distraction. He offered to escort me to the airport when I was ready to go, but I declined. The judge had me covered.

As I settled into my bed and got as comfortable as I could, I thought about the direction my life was going in, and I knew that it was time for a change. I needed to settle down, and maybe find someone of my own. I thought I was on my way out of here, but since I was given another chance at life I decided to do things right. No more messing with other people's wives or husbands. No more blackmail and conniving situations, and no more holding grudges and lying. I wasn't getting any younger, and it was time for me to start living my life . . . whatever that was.

The doctor told me that I would be here for a while, and he wouldn't recommend me flying back home right away. I decided that I would stay at a hotel even though I was certain the judge would insist that I stay with him. I just wanted to be by myself so that I could put my life in order. A new Monica was emerging, and it was better late than never. My new life was starting now, and as soon as I could I would start by clearing out my phone of numbers that I wouldn't need anymore, and my sister was at the top of the list. She was poison, and I just couldn't do it with her anymore.

I also decided that I needed to move, and I would contact my Realtor in the morning to start looking. I didn't want anyone I didn't want in my life anymore to know where I was. It was time for a new beginning, and I was taking my life back.
Maybe I'll move out of Atlanta, and go to Cali. I always wanted to live among the stars.
The more I thought about it the more I loved the idea. Smiling, I imagined my new life, and the new potential businesses that I could open up out there. Oh, yeah, I was ready to go.
Good-bye, Philly and Atlanta . . . Hollywood, here I come!