Scandalous (13 page)

Okay, so at least he had thought about something.
First I pulled out a gorgeous purple oversized top with major Dynasty-style shoulder pads and an acid-washed denim mini-skirt.
I loved it.
With each new top, and pair of jeans, and Members Only jackets I pulled out of the suitcase, another tear was wiped away.
I couldn't believe Kyla and her buddies had done right by me.

He said,
“
Do you see anything you like?
”

Was he kidding me?
I loved every single thing in this suitcase, but I wasn't about to admit that because fabulous clothes did not make up for the fact that I'd still be spending my honeymoon in L.A.

“
There are a few things that are okay,
”
I said, trying hard to be nonchalant.
I mean, don't get me wrong: I'd been given much nicer, much more expensive things by any number of my
dates.
But this all did feel really special coming from Kenny.
I just didn't want him to know that yet.

“
I have a suggestion.
”
His arms were still wrapped around me, his lips were still close to my ear.
I prayed that he wasn't going to say anything about making love right now because he wasn't getting any.
He could believe that!

He said,
“
Although all I wanted to do was spend the next seven days in bed with my wife, let's go out for a while, hang out, maybe get something to eat.
”

I didn't think it was possible, but his words took me into further depression.
What were we going to do?
Where were we going to eat?
Maybe he planned to take me to Yee's, the around-the-way Chinese restaurant where we (and everyone else) always got our take-out.
Or were we going to venture to M&M's, which is where we ate when we were in a soul-food state of mind.

This was ridiculous.

But maybe going out was the best thing.
It wasn't like I really wanted to stay in this room and sit and stare into the face of the new husband who had disappointed me.
I grabbed the purple top and mini-skirt.
With a scowl on my face, I looked the outfit over, as if I wasn't pleased.
This was gonna look so cute on me.

Without a word to Kenny, I tossed the two pieces over my arm, grabbed a pair of panties and marched right back into the bathroom because like I said before, Kenny didn't deserve to see me naked.

I heard his deep sigh right before I slammed the bathroom door and locked it behind me.

***

I was bored.
No.
“
Bored
”
was too nice a word, too soft for what I was feeling.
The word for my emotion hadn't been invented yet. They also hadn't invented the word for what I wanted to do to my new husband, because
“
killing,
”
“
murder
”
--
again, too soft, too nice.

We had spent the afternoon riding through Los Angeles as if we were tourists.
The only thing missing were those big ole cameras hanging from our necks as Kenny dragged me from the LaBrea Tar Pits and then onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
My husband did this with the excitement of a first time visitor to the city, rather than the natives we both were.

With each new destination, my disgust grew.

“
Come on, Jasmine. We never had a chance to do any of these things before.
”

“
There was a reason for that.
”

“
My thought was that we could do this together, have fun without any other relatives around, see all of these sights without the pressure of having to be somewhere else in an hour.
”

“
Whooohooo!
”

The look on Kenny's face was one of pure pain as if his feelings were so deeply hurt.
But there was nothing I could do about that, no way I could help him because while his feelings were hurt, my heart was broken.

As the minutes moved into hours, my depression deepened.

Which was why I was sitting now in our car with my head back and my eyes closed.
I figured as long as my eyes stayed shut, my mouth would too.
And me staying silent was a major benefit to my husband
--
he just didn't know that.

I felt the car come to a stop, but I didn't even bother to open my eyes.
Based on what we'd already been through, I figured why waste my time trying to see nothing?

Kenny said,
“
I thought we'd get something to eat down here.
”

With a sigh, I slowly opened my eyes and my heart started thumping.
No, again, I was using the wrong word.
Because, thumping was clearly too soft for a heart that was trying to escape from one's chest.

“
What are we doing here?
”
I asked, taking in the horizon over the Pacific Ocean.

“
I wanted to go someplace we've never gone before.
”

“
Venice Beach?
We've been here a million times.
”

“
But we've never been to that restaurant, the one of the edge of the boardwalk where we can just sit and people watch.
”

“
Oh
…
kay,
”
was all I said, though I wanted to grumble some more. I wanted to fuss and pick a fight so that Kenny would want to leave this place and take me back to the Ritz.

“
Come on, Jasmine.
I'm trying to do something right here.
How many times have we passed that place, but it was always so crowded?
I thought you would've love to have lunch on the beach.
”

“
I'll just sit in the car.
”

Kenny looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.
“
You're that mad at me?
That you'd rather not eat.
”

“
It's not that.
”

“
Then what is it?
”

I'
d
already been to that restaurant
--
with the man I slept with the night before our wedding.

But of course I didn't say that aloud.
So when he looked at me with eyes full of sorrow, I released a big sigh so that he would know how much of a chore this was for me.
I opened the door, slid out of the car and as Kenny came around to the passenger side, I tried to imagine all the scenarios that could possibly happen and come up with a ready solution for each one.

When Kenny reached for my hand, I held onto him this time.
Not because my attitude had changed, but because I needed to hold him to maneuver us through the masses more easily
--
and to pull him quickly past the cage of Muscle Beach.

My greatest hope was that Roman wasn't at the beach at all.
I mean, today was Sunday; most likely he had the day off.
And even if he was working, the boardwalk was thick with the typical Sunday-in-August crowd.
With any luck, he wouldn't see us if he was here.

With each step we took, I kept my eyes straight ahead, my focus on our destination
…
or at least
my
destination, which was to get through this and get past Roman.
On our left were the paddle tennis courts with, as always, bikini and Speedo-clad players.
To the right were the T-shirt shops and tattoo parlors.

Our pace was slow enough for Kenny not to feel like we were in some kind of race, but brisk enough for me to feel like I was making progress.
Not that getting by the cage was going to be good enough; it was clear that Roman frequented that beach-side restaurant often, so he could show up there too.
But I kept my focus on what could happen first.
I'd worry about the restaurant once we got there.

As we edged closer to Muscle Beach, I kept my head down and stayed to the right.
Covered by the crowd, I felt like a Bond girl trying to escape from a gang of international killers.

And then through the summer sounds of Venice Beach
--
the chatter of the pedestrians, the music from the boom boxes, the cries of victory from the paddle tennis players
--
I heard,
“
Jasmine!
”

I tucked my chin down into my chest even further and picked up the pace as if I heard nothing.

“
Jasmine!
”

My prayer was that all that Kenny heard was the chatter, and the music, and the competitive shouts.
But then he added his own call.

“
Jasmine,
”
Kenny said,
“
I think someone is calling you.
”

I stopped and did a half-turn, not daring to look behind me.
“
I didn't hear anything.
”
I tried to keep it moving, but then the shout came again.

“
Jasmine!
”

This time, Kenny stopped completely.
“
Okay, you can't tell me that you didn't hear that.
”
He looked behind us.
“
Yeah, it's that guy.
The one waving his arms.
He's calling you.
”

It was only because I didn't have any choice that my glance followed where my husband pointed.
And two seconds later, my indiscretion was standing right in front of me.

“
Hey,
”
Roman said.
Sweat poured off his bald head, though he wasn't out of breath.
“
I thought that was you.
”

“
Hey,
”
was all I said, hoping that would be enough for him and that he'd have the good sense to turn around and leave me alone.

“
So,
”
Roman looked from me to Kenny and then back again,
“
what's up?
”

I couldn't believe this.
I couldn't believe that Roman would run up on me like this, like we were friends.
And now, he wanted to stay and chat like we were
old
friends.
Was he kidding me?
Was this cat that crazy?

Kenny looked from me to Roman, back to me, then to Roman before he frowned and held out his hand.
“
Hey, bro.
I'm Kenny, Jasmine's husband.
”

“
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Nice to meet you, man.
”
Turning to me, he said,
“
I heard you got married.
”

Kenny answered for me.
“
Yes, we did.
Just yesterday, in fact.
”

“
Well, congratulations,
”
Roman said.

Kenny thanked him, but I just stood there, numb and dumb.

“
So, what are you guys up to?
Not going on a honeymoon?
”

“
Oh yeah, you know it, bro.
”
And the two men laughed like they were really brothers.
Kenny wrapped his arms all around me.
“
We just decided to hang here in L.A.
You know, kinda do all the things you never get to do when you're home.
”

“
Oh yeah?
”

I couldn't tell if Roman's grin was for me or for Kenny.

Roman said,
“
That is really cool.
Just hanging out at home?
”

“
Nah, we're in the marina.
We got married over there, and it's a beautiful place to spend a week.
”

Now, I wanted to slap Kenny upside his head.
Why was he acting like a girl?
Telling all of our business to this nutcase!

But then, Kenny turned the tables.
“
So,
”
he looked at me,
“
how do you two know each other?
”

I may have been acting dumb, but I couldn't stay mute
--
especially since I didn't know what crazy Roman would say.
So I found my voice right away.
“
Kyla introduced us,
”
I said.
Now, that wasn't totally a lie.
If Kyla hadn't dragged me to a bachelorette party that I didn't want to go to, I wouldn't be standing here next to a man I didn't want to be around.
It was her fault that I even knew Roman.