The Ex-Wife (23 page)

Caron sniffed back his cry. I said, “I understand why you’re upset, Margo, but it’s not his fault. Let him go. If you want
to take it out on someone, hurt me.”

She pointed the gun at me and I instantly wanted to swallow my words. I said, “Margo, you know me and Aaliyah didn’t know.
We would have loved you anyway.”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Yes, we would have.”

“When I first starting seeing you, I believed you were a good person. Then you left me to rot just like your sorry father.”

“I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can to do make it better?”

“It’s too late. You’ve forced me to do this.”

“I wish you would have told me before,” I said, still very confused and shocked by what she had told me.

I heard footsteps over my head and Margo smiled. “She made it.”

My eyes questioned and she said, “Yasmin, we’re down here.”

There was no way Yasmin had been working alone, and this explained it all as I heard her anxiously approaching. Her neck snapped
back. “Margie?”

Margo pointed the gun at her. “No, bitch. It’s Margo. I fucking tried to tell you my name a million times and you keep calling
me Margie. My fucking name is Margo!”

Yasmin said, “OK, I got it, Margo.”

Yasmin was even more confused than me. I realized that Margo had been working solo, but how did she know Yasmin?

“Why are you making them pay for my mistakes?” I asked.

“Number one, this bitch talks too damn much. Tells all her business in the salon. I got my hair done to snoop and she told
me everything. I knew every move you made because she couldn’t stop talking about you. And I couldn’t stand the thought of
you just storming in and doing the same thing to someone else that your mother did to my mother. I hated it!” she yelled.

She looked at Yasmin. Tears welled in her eyes. “I was trying to help you. And you looked right through me like I was invisible
every time I came into the salon.”

Yasmin shook her head. “I’m sorry. We went skating together a few times. I thought we were cool. Whatever I did to offend
you, please forgive me.”

“Fuck you. You dumb bitch. You’re so self-centered you didn’t even know I was trying to reach out to you.”

I said, “Let’s start over. Let’s be sisters. Now that I know you’re my sister, I will never leave you. I’m sorry that my father
abandoned you. I’m sorry that my mother did what she did. No one will hurt you again.”

She looked to be softening and turned the gun to Yasmin. “Do you want me to get rid of this insensitive bitch?”

My eyes shot at Yasmin. As much of a pain in the ass as she’d been, I didn’t want anyone to hurt her, especially not in front
of Caron. Yasmin was confused. Margo was bitter and she didn’t care who it was, she wanted to kill someone, anyone, so they
could feel her pain. Yasmin said, “Please, Margo.”

“Now you know my name?”

“I’m sorry, I have a bunch of clients. I just…”

“You just care about your own stupid problems. You spend all day talking about this bitch instead of getting to know the people
who pay you.”

Nervously I watched as Yasmin approached her and Margo cocked the gun. Yasmin didn’t seem to be afraid at all, probably because
she was equally crazy. She said, “You’re right. I hate her. I hate that bitch so much that I want her dead. And Margo, you
hate her too. She doesn’t care about you. She only cares about herself. She’s a selfish, self-centered bitch and she’ll abandon
you like everyone in your life.”

Margo nodded and tears rolled down her cheeks. I couldn’t believe it. Yasmin was connecting with her with some bullshit. Were
they in this together?

Yasmin continued, “She has a sister. She can’t be your sister, but I can. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

She stepped closer to Margo, whose hands shook. She looked almost as if she no longer had control of the gun. I closed my
eyes and shifted to the right, thinking that if she inadvertently fired I didn’t want to be in her path. She aimed at me.
Yasmin kept getting closer to Margo. My eyes shifted back and forth. I wasn’t sure how this would end. In a flash, there was
a struggle. Yasmin tackled Margo and started beating her.

“Get the gun, Ayana!” Yasmin yelled.

I was frozen and afraid. I didn’t want to touch the gun but I knew I had to in order to save everybody. Suddenly the Atlanta
Police Department busted in and took control of the situation. Yasmin hugged Caron, and I just stood there as Margo was arrested.
I was still stunned by everything she had told me.

Yasmin hugged me, and I said, “How did you know we were here?”

“She called me and pretended to be you, saying you were about to kill Caron. I knew that was a lie. I just knew.”

To my surprise, I reached out to hug Yasmin. She had saved my life. When we walked out of the house to all the police cars,
I asked Yasmin, “Did you call Cam?”

“No, I just called the cops and came straight here.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“And I think I owe you an apology because I’ve blamed you for a lot of things that I now believe Margo was doing.”

“No big deal. I’m not totally innocent.”

“I guess we should start over,” I said.

A
year had passed since that fateful day and a lot had changed. Caron and I had gotten extremely close. Yasmin and I had built
a respectable relationship and Cameron and I were finally at peace. We joked that our relationship was the opposite of most:
it had started out hard and now we were enjoying the fruits of our labor. I closed my practice and focused on writing and
the talk show. Ethan was running around the house like a big boy. It was a good thing I had gotten so many extensions on my
book, because I changed the entire second half to discuss the blended family. It was tougher living through the situation,
but it made me a better psychologist. Instead of just understanding the theory behind it, I now had my own real-world experiences.

My father felt horrible about the Margo experience and admitted that it had been the wrong thing to do. He’d felt that he
had to deny her because he didn’t want to hurt my mother. He said my mother didn’t know anything about Margo or her mother
and he thought it was best to keep it that way. He claimed his love for my mother blinded his judgment. He had been my hero,
and to say that knowing he had a child that he never claimed didn’t taint my image of him would be a lie. I didn’t understand,
and the illusion that we were a perfect family was shattered. Aaliyah blamed Margo, but I knew better. I blamed my father.
So in the blended family section of my book, I discussed conceiving a child with someone other than your spouse. It was important
for people to know how to approach it. Most people are more afraid of hurting their spouse than they are of hurting the child.
They don’t realize that kids carry the burden of rejection longer and feel it more deeply than adults.

To promote my book, Quentin suggested we have Yasmin on to discuss how far we’d come. Cameron was nervous, because a part
of him always felt that Yasmin could revert at any time. Based on conversations we’d had, I thought her therapist had really
helped her change her behavior.

I started the show by saying, “
Love and Marriage
hits bookstores today and I expect to see all my listeners at my mega book release party tonight. And I want to thank you
all for your support and encouragement.” I paused. “Today I have a special guest, my husband’s ex-wife, Ms. Yasmin Small.
You all may be familiar with her as ShearGenius08 on Twitter.” Yasmin smiled and shook her head. I said, “Thanks for being
on the show.”

She said, “You’re welcome.”

“I think everyone wants to know how we can be in the same room together. I will let you answer and then I will answer that
question myself.”

Yasmin shifted her body sassily and curled her lips. “Well, it’s hard to accept that someone you love is in love with someone
else. For me, it was hard and I just didn’t want to accept it. I figured that if I could make your life miserable, I could
win him back. I was committed to it. But it took a lot of therapy to accept that life doesn’t always work out the way you
plan. So for me, I’m here because I finally accepted that Cameron moved on.”

I was slightly stunned by her rendition of how we’d arrived at this cordial point. I didn’t speak immediately, and Quentin
waved his hand as if to say, “Hurry up and respond.” I said, “And I guess for me, forgiveness is a crucial part of life, and
holding grudges and anger is no good for anyone. I’ve seen the growth in you right before my eyes. And who am I to judge by
past mistakes? I can sit here because, as a human and more importantly as a therapist, I believe that people can and do change.”

Yasmin said, “Wow.”

“Can you tell me your thoughts on raising kids in a blended family? Especially from the perspective of being the first wife
and having your biological child integrated into another family without you?”

After a deep breath, she admitted, “It’s hard to hear your child talk about family bonding activities and you’re not included.
Or when I may miss one of his basketball games and he says, ‘Well, Dad and Ayana were there so I’m cool.’ That hurts. It makes
me sad sometimes.”

I felt her pain and I knew that it would probably hurt if I had to be on the outside looking in with Ethan. I asked, “So,
as far as you see it, are there any benefits to having a blended family?”

“Well, I never thought I’d say this, but I think Caron likes having two mothers. You give him something that I don’t and I
give him what you don’t. I mean, now that we get along, I think he gets the best of both worlds. But when we were fighting,
I think he felt like he had to pick sides and he seemed to be very insecure and uncertain of himself.”

“Yes, I definitely notice that he’s a lot more confident and happy. And we often don’t realize how our issues are evident
in the child’s personality. The lines are open for questions.”

I answered a call: “
Girlfriend Confidential
.”

The caller said, “Yasmin, are you seeing anyone, because I can’t imagine how you could be completely at peace with everything.
It’s almost unbelievable.”

Yasmin said, “Yeah, I see what you’re saying. I am seeing someone, but I think I started working on myself first, because
I wanted to get my son back. And I think that’s why someone came into my life, because I was at peace. So it wasn’t like I
came to peace after I met someone, it was the other way around. But to be honest, having someone definitely makes it better.”

The caller said, “Did you get your son back?”

Smiling, Yasmin said, “I certainly did. We have joint custody and I have him four days and they have him three.”

She seemed so happy to say that. The caller thanked Yasmin and hung up. The next caller directed her question at me. “Ayana,
do you harbor any negative feeling toward Yasmin? I mean, she trashed you on Twitter, like, every day. That was crazy.”

Yasmin looked at me and said, “You can say, ‘Yeah.’ I would understand.”

“No, I don’t have any negative feelings toward Yasmin. She saved my life. I have never discussed this on air, but I was being
stalked by one of my patients last year and the patient had lured me to a location,” I said, suddenly getting choked up.

Yasmin looked at me sympathetically, knowing that was the situation that had really bonded us forever. Her eyes encouraged
me to continue.

“And this person had me at gunpoint and Yasmin wrestled her down. I will forever be grateful to her for that. Nothing she
did to me prior to that point even matters. When I look at her, I see a good person.”

Yasmin looked as if she wanted to cry too, as a tear fell from my eye. I was happy, but also sad about Margo. I felt I had
failed her. I felt my father had failed her. Yasmin reached out for my hand and spoke for me because I was lost for words.
“Thank you, Ayana. You’re a good person too.”

We took several more calls before closing the show. I finished by saying, “Things aren’t perfect between us, but we are a
work in progress. Life is a work in progress. And as long as you are progressing, you are living. Thank you for tuning in
to another segment of
Girlfriend Confidential
. I am your host, Ayana Blue Small. Until next time…”

1. What was your initial impression of Ayana? How did you feel about her actions on the first date with Cameron? 
   
2. Should Ayana have found a new Realtor after Yasmin called in to the show? 
   
3. Do you think Cameron was worth the drama? Why or why not? 
   
4. What do you think he could have done to mitigate the situation with Ayana and Yasmin? 
   
5. Do you feel that Cameron had a bit of sympathy for Yasmin? Why or why not? 
   
6. Do you think Yasmin really loved Cameron? 
   
7. Did you ever feel sorry for Yasmin? 
   
8. Do you think Ayana should have tried to reach out to Yasmin, considering she was a psychologist? 
   
9. Would you have married Cameron, believing that his ex-wife was crazy? 
   
10. Did you believe that Yasmin was acting all alone? 
    
11. What did you think when you discovered the truth at the end?