Single Ladies (6 page)

The silence in the room was broken by Lamar wanting to put his cards on the table. “So, what are we gonna do?” he asked, nudging her arm with his leg. “You hear me?” he asked, looking down at her to see if she had fallen asleep.

“I hear you, Lamar. I just don't know what to say right now,” Falisha responded. “I know what you want, and sometimes I think I want the same thing, but you already know that I'm with somebody else right now. I feel bad cheating on him as it is.”

“But you know that's not a real relationship you're in. All you are to him is a piece of ass, just like the rest of the bitches he messes around with,” Lamar stated.

Falisha knew that what he was saying had truth to it, but she had one thing on her mind, and that was her financial security. Big Fox was one of the biggest dope boys in North Carolina, and his money was as long as the West Nile River. He was an old head, too, in his mid-forties, but he ran around the city like he was twenty-one. “I wanna be honest with you, but I don't want you to look at me different,” she said, looking up at him.

“Come on, shawty. That's the best part of our relationship. We always keep it one hundred with each other no matter what,” Lamar shot back.

“I'm not a whore like everybody thinks I am, Lamar.”

“You think if I thought you were a whore I would want to be wit' you? Tell me something that I don't know!”

“I'm only with dat nigga Fox because he takes care of me. I can pretty much get whatever I want from him, and for me that's important when I'm with somebody. Shit, he's supposed to be buying me a house next month. Not too many of his bitches get houses.” She smiled.

“So it's all about the money with you?” Lamar asked.

“See, I knew you wouldn't understand!” she said with an attitude and attempted to get up.

Lamar wrapped his arms around her before she could. He could see that her feelings were hurt by what he said. “Come 'ere, yo. Cool out,” he said playfully, trying to kiss her on the neck. “I understand what you're sayin'.”

“No, you don't, Lamar!” Falisha said, breaking away from him and standing up on the bed. “Look at me, Lamar,” she said, striking a pose in front of him. “Don't you think I deserve to be taken care of?”

Lamar looked up at her and couldn't deny that she was a dime piece. She definitely was wife material, and if given the opportunity he would be doing the same thing as Big Fox. Maybe not on the same level as Big Fox, but he would provide for her the best way he could.

“Come back down here,” he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back down to him. “Listen, Falisha. I don't have millions of dollars like ya man Fox, nor can I buy you a house next month. But let me tell you this: I'm far from broke, and for the most part I can provide for you. I make close to seven grand a week, and my money is all legal. I'm not out on da block, nor am I running around sticking guns in people's faces and robbing them. That means you will never have to worry about me going to jail or getting murdered out here in the streets. Can you say the same thing about Big Fox? What's going to happen when his old ass gets locked up or killed by one of these young thugs out here? Then what?”

Falisha never really thought about it that way. She was so caught up with all the glamour and gold that she forgot about the downside of messing with Fox. It was something that she definitely was going to take into consideration. “I just need a little bit of time, Lamar. I need to think about some stuff. Can you at least give me that? I swear you won't have to wait long for your answer,” she promised, looking up at him with the most innocent look on her face.

Lamar didn't want to give up on her, and ultimately he respected the fact that she had to take some time out to get her mind right. One thing was for sure, and that was a guaranteed fact that he wasn't gonna sit around and wait forever. If she didn't make a decision in a week or two, he was going to make the choice for her.

Tammy had a few hours before she had to get to work. Anthony was in his room watching TV, and Sinniyyah was asleep, so this was a good time for her to catch up on some much-needed sleep herself.

As soon as she lay down in the bed her cell phone start ringing. She reached over and grabbed it off the nightstand quickly so that it wouldn't wake up the baby. She looked at the screen and saw that the call was coming from an unavailable number, which only meant that it was Chris calling. It had been a few days since the visit, and out of his many attempts to call her, she didn't answer one of his calls. She was still hot about him lying about the time he had gotten. It was a tough pill to swallow.

Many females say that they can do time with their men when shit hits the fan and those handcuffs get slapped on, but Tammy wasn't one of them. A little bit of time—like months or maybe even a year or two—was doable, but seven years was a very long time, and she wasn't even trying to fake it like she was strong enough to do it.

After the phone stopped ringing, less than ten seconds later it began ringing again. She looked down at the screen and saw that it was him again. She was going to send it straight to voicemail, but instead she decided to answer it this time. “What!” she said after pushing 5 to accept the call.

“Yo, what da fuck is wrong wit' you not answering this phone? Anything could be goin' on wit' me, yo!”

“What do you want, Chris?” Tammy asked as if she was irritated by him already.

“Damn, can we talk?” Chris responded in a more humble tone.

“There ain't nothing to talk about, Chris. You're in there and I'm out here. You do ya time, and I'ma do me.”

“So what da fuck is that supposed to mean? You out dere fuckin' around on me, Tammy? That's how you wanna play?” he said, finding himself getting mad all over again.

“Well, I don't consider it cheating since we broke up. Don't call my phone no more. Ya kids will be taken care of,” Tammy said, and then hung up the phone.

This time she turned the phone off, placed it back on the nightstand, and lay down in the bed.

* * *

The law firm that Kim worked at was one of the top firms in North Carolina. They dealt mostly with criminal cases, but also took on lawsuits if the money was right. Timothy Duncannon was an animal when it came to the law, and that's why he was the boss. Every lawyer who just passed the bar wanted to work for him, but his elite team was already built, consisting of four criminal lawyers, two accident lawyers, and six paralegals: one for each attorney.

Kim was a paralegal for Tina Rosedale, a Jewish woman who specialized in murder cases. She was one of the best coming out of North Charlotte, and had high expectations for anybody who worked under her.

“Kim, I need that brief on my desk by one o'clock,” Tina said, walking past Kim's cubical.

Kim didn't hear a word she said. She sat there in a trance, appearing to be looking into her computer screen.

“Kim! Kim! Did you hear me?” Tina said, seeing that she didn't get a response the first time.

“Huh! Oh, I'm sorry, Tina! What were you saying?” Kim asked, snapping out of it.

“The illegal search and seizure brief. I need that on my desk by one,” Tina repeated.

Kim was on point when it came to her work. She reached over and grabbed the brown legal folder from her desk and passed it to her. “The cases I cited are all from within the past year. Judge Castle even presided over a case where he suppressed evidence in a case almost identical to ours,” Kim explained. “I also cited two federal cases to close the deal. I tell you, Judge Castle doesn't have any other choice but to suppress the murder weapon and the drugs the cops found in the house.”

Tina smiled, tapping Kim on the shoulder with the folder before walking off. Her work ethics were the main reason why Tina liked Kim so much; that, along with the fact that 90 percent of Kim's briefs got granted once Tina filed them. Kim was hands down the best paralegal in the firm.

When Tina walked off, Kim looked around the room to see if anybody was watching her. The coast was clear, so she reached down under her skirt and removed the bullet from inside her vagina. She gasped a little from the previous orgasm it gave her right before Tina walked up on her. “Damn! You're gonna get me in trouble!” she mumbled to the bullet as she wrapped it up and put it back in her bag.

She got up, bag in hand, and headed straight for the bathroom to change her panties. She always kept a fresh pair with her every day for exactly this reason. The bullet had become addictive, so much so that she took it with her just about everywhere she went.

The lack of dick in her life was the cause. It wasn't that she couldn't find any, but rather she just didn't have time for it. She was chasing money and trying to pass the bar so that she could move up in the ranks of Duncannon and Associates. She put her career first. A relationship was the last thing on her mind, but she had to admit that the road she was heading down was getting lonely, and eventually something was going to have to give.

* * *

Lisa couldn't focus at work to save her life. She mixed up patients' names and appointments all day and, at one point, she almost caused an accident in the operating room while Dr. Crosby was pulling out a tooth. Her mind was somewhere else.

Ever since the weekend at the Forrest Tree Cabins, things had changed between her and Ralphy. They hardly said two words to one another, and it was like their sex life had a funeral and was buried twelve feet under the ground. Ralphy wouldn't touch her no matter how many times she tried to initiate contact. It wasn't looking good at all.

Lisa went into one of the rooms that wasn't occupied and pulled out her phone. She needed to talk to somebody about what was going on and possibly get some advice on the matter. She dialed the first number that came to mind: Kim's. In a situation like this, she felt more comfortable talking with Kim instead of Falisha or Tammy.

“Hey, bitch! What do you want?” Kim playfully answered her phone as she hiked a fresh pair of panties up under her skirt.

“Kim, I fucked up big time!” Lisa said, wiping the tears from her face. “I'm about to lose my husband!” she cried.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What's goin' on, girl?” Kim asked in a concerned manner.

Lisa paused, and all Kim could hear was her friend crying. She thought something had happened to Ralphy. “It's gonna be all right, Lisa. Just tell me what happened,” Kim said, trying to comfort her.

“I called out Dre's name while me and Ralphy were having sex!” Lisa spoke through her cries.

“Ooooh shit, girl!” Kim said, and leaned against the sink. “What did he say?” she asked while looking around the bathroom to make sure that she was alone.

“That's the thing. He didn't say anything about it, but I can tell he's upset. We don't say much to each other in the house. And if I ask him something, he gives me short answers.”

Kim just stood there and listened to all the problems Lisa was having behind her blunder. She was very sympathetic, but even she thought that calling out another man's name was a rookie move. “Did you have sex with that boy yet?” she asked, not sure if Lisa had made the mistake of running back to her ex.

“I've been fucking Dre since the day he came home,” Lisa admitted, looking at herself in the mirror across the room.

“Noooo, Lisa! You weren't supposed to sleep with him!” Now Kim was starting to feel bad, because she was the one who cited the cases in his appeal brief that got him a new trial. Her office took the case after the witness came forward with a new story, and Dre came up with the forty grand that Tina charged him. When Kim had told Lisa the good news of the appeal, she didn't do it so that they could hook up again. She just wanted Lisa to be aware that he was coming home. “Look, girl. You're gonna have to sit down and talk to Ralphy.”

“I know. I tried that already, but he's not giving me the chance to say anything. He just leaves the room, and sometimes even the house,” Lisa responded.

“You can't give him an option, girl. I don't care what you have to do. Y'all both need to air this shit out. But no matter what you do, don't tell Ralphy that you slept with Dre. You do that, you can kiss ya marriage good-bye!”

* * *

“Yo, every time you come to work you be looking mean as hell,” Darious, one of Tammy's coworkers, said when she walked in and took a seat behind the customer service desk.

“There ain't nothing to be happy about coming in here for four hours every day and only making $8.50 an hour!” Tammy shot back.

“You gotta try and see the good in this job. It can be worse than this,” Darious replied.

“Yeah, well, what good do you see? 'Cause I don't see shit that makes me happy by working here,” Tammy said as she wiped down her working station with a Clorox wipe.

Darious turned around in his chair to face her and pointed at her with his ink pen. “You know there are two things I enjoy about working here. One: I finish school next month to be a pharmaceutical technician, and this job helped pay the bills while I was taking those courses. If it weren't for this job, I'd be broke as hell!” He laughed.

“Oh, yeah? And what's the other reason?” Tammy asked.

Darious smiled shyly, feeling a little embarrassed about what he was about to say. “To be honest wit' you, I look forward to you walking through that door every day at four o'clock,” he told her, and then got up and walked off to go retrieve some items from the back.

For the first time in a long time, Tammy smiled at another man's compliments, outside of Chris's. Darious was handsome. He was tall, and had light brown skin and a thin frame. He always kept a positive attitude, and he always dressed nice when he came to work. Secretly, Tammy thought that he was kind of cute. She would never tell him that, though. That was going to stay her little secret . . . at least for now.

* * *

The entire drive home, Lisa thought about what she was going to say. She didn't even know how to begin this type of conversation. Ralphy was going to have a lot of questions, and she knew that. She was also expecting to be called names, and the possibility of getting smacked wasn't too far off either, even though Ralphy wasn't the abusive type. Hell, in this kind of situation, anything was liable to happen.

As Lisa was pulling up to the house her phone began to ring. Her gut instinct told her that it was Dre calling. She hadn't spoken to him since the vacation, and he had been calling every day, all day, only to be sent to voicemail.

When she grabbed her phone out of her bag, she looked at the screen and exhaled deeply at the sight of his number flashing. She looked up at the house, and then up and down the street for any sign of Ralphy. She wasn't going to answer it, but she had to. She had to tell Dre that it was over. “Hello,” she answered, only to get an earful.

“Yo, why da fuck did you leave me out there wit' no way to get home?” Dre snapped into the phone. “And why ain't you answering my calls?”

“Oh, shit!” Lisa said after moving the phone away from her mouth so that he wouldn't hear her. She totally forgot that she was the one who drove him up to the cabin. She was so messed up about what had happened between her and Ralphy that the only thing she wanted to do was go home. That's the reason why Dre was calling her so crazy. “I'm so sorry, Dre. I had to leave because—”

“Man, fuck dat! Look, I need to holla at you about something. When can we meet up?”

“That's cool, 'cause I need to talk to you about something as well,” Lisa said. “I can't see you right now because I got some shit I need to take care of. Just give me a couple of days and I'll call you so we can meet up.” She was about to hang up when she heard Dre's voice change into a softer tone when he started singing “I Miss You” by Aaron Hall.

Lisa found herself sinking back into her seat, listening to him blow. Hearing him sing brought back so many good memories. For a hardcore thug, Dre could sing his ass off, especially when he used to sing to her. Those were the good old days, times both Lisa and Dre missed but knew that it was almost impossible for them to get back to. So much had changed since then; and, now, somebody else's heart was involved. It was a heart that Lisa didn't want to break, and it belonged to Ralphy.

Lisa sat there for a few more minutes listening to Dre before she finally hung up the phone and went into the house. When she walked in, she was shocked to see Ms. D sitting on her couch with Naomi, watching TV.

“Mommy!” Naomi yelled when she saw Lisa walk through the door.

“Now you know I don't do house calls, but yo' crazy-ass husband insisted on it,” Ms. D said while rubbing the top of Naomi's head. “We was about to eat dinner. Are you hungry?”

“Wait! Hold up! Where did Ralphy go?” Lisa asked, and whipped out her cell phone to call him.

“I don't think calling him is a good idea. He left his phone here,” Ms. D said, nodding toward Ralphy's phone sitting on the table in front of her.

Lisa took a deep breath, then exhaled, shaking her head as she walked over and grabbed his phone. This was the first time that he ever did something like this. “A'ight, Ms. D. Thanks for watching her. How much do I owe you?” she said, digging into her bag for her wallet.

“Little girl, didn't you just hear what I said? We're about to eat dinner. I cooked an hour ago,” Ms. D told her. “Besides, yo' husband already paid me.” She then got up off the couch and headed to the kitchen with Naomi in tow. “Now, I don't know what you did to that boy, but he left out of here wit' an attitude!”