Loved The Right Way (My Husbands Best Friend)

Chapter Fourteen

It was Thanksgiving, and the crying was not yet over. I put so many cold rags on my face to try and reduce the swelling around my eyes. I got in my car to head over to my parents' house, I just knew that they were going to see that something was wrong with me. When I pulled up to my parent's house, I didn't want to get out. Everything about this holiday was depressing. When I walked into the house, everyone was there laughing and joking. My mother, father, sister, my mother's sister, and her three children, my aunt's husband, my father's two brothers, their wives and children, and my father's sister.

"Hello, everyone. Happy Thanksgiving." I said as I entered the house.

"Hey, Adriana." everyone said at the same time.

"Hey, baby, I just asked your mom what was taking you so long." My auntie said as she hugged and kissed me on my cheek.

"I'm feeling a little sick, and it just took me a long time to get here. That's all."

"Well, let's go and eat since everyone is here now. What's the holdup?" My Uncle Eddie asked. My Uncle Eddie always thought about eating. I don't think there was a time that he didn't think about eating.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't fast enough for your stomach Uncle E," I said as I hugged him. Then I went around and hugged my other aunt and my uncles, and my cousins, and we went into the dining room to eat. My mom had turkey, beef, ham, greens, macaroni, yams, dressing, sauerkraut, potato salad, cakes, pies, and plenty of drinks. All that food that was there and the highlight of the conversation had to be about me.

My mother's sister asked, "So, sweetie, I hear that that fine ass husband of yours pulled a Houdini on you?"

I looked at my aunt with a look of shock. Everyone else at the table did the same.

"I cannot believe you just said that to her. What is wrong with you?" my sister asked as she dropped her fork onto her plate. "Do you not have any kind of compassion at all? She's your niece, who you claim to love." My sister always took up for me. She didn't care who she was defending me from.

"I do love her. That is why I am asking her because I am concerned about her."

"There are better ways of asking a question. How about, so how have things been going? Or how have you been? That always seems to work."

Everyone at the table was quiet until my mother said, "Okay, okay. Niecey calm down. I raised you better than that."

"Well, you need to tell your sister to stop asking dumb questions then."

"Niecey, I said enough!" my mother said.

My mom knew how Niecey was she also knew how to shut her down. Even though Niecey was about to turn 32, she knew how far to push my mother.

"Okay, it's stopped," Niecey replied.

"Well, I wouldn't say that he pulled a Houdini on me," I said as I cleared my throat. "I still see him, and he still takes care of home." I made my self-sick taking up for his lying ass. "Ummm..."

"You don't have to explain anything to anyone, A." My sister said.

I have to agree that I didn't feel like discussing anything to anyone. "I would just like to have a nice dinner with my family." I cleared my throat and placed the napkin over my leg.

"Okay, I'm sorry," she said as she grabbed a roll and put some butter on it. Then she said, "I hear that he took Little L with him this year."

"When is enough ever enough." my father said in is subtle but not so subtle voice. "My daughter is here to have a nice time on this holiday. She's not here to talk about anything that has been going on with her family. I'm sorry, but I also have to agree with Niecey, it's no one's business. If she wanted to talk about her life, then she would have put it on the menu for tonight. It's done!"

Everyone was quiet, and you could have heard a pin drop in there. I was shocked because my father rarely said anything when my aunt did her unnecessary babbling.

About fifteen minutes later, my mother said, "I'm going to start clearing the table." I think that she just wanted to lighten the mood a little. "Then we can start charades." she got up from the table and went into the kitchen. I followed her.

"Hey, mom?"
"Yes, baby?"

"I think that I am going to head home. I am still not feeling too well." I said as I balled my face up.

"You're going to miss charades."

Charades were the favorite part of Thanksgiving. Lamar and I always won; we were undefeated. "I really don't feel up to charades right now."

"Oh baby, please don't let your aunt run you away. You know how she is. She didn't mean anything by it."

"I know, it's not that. It's everything." I said as I started to tear up.

"Okay, baby. I understand." She said as she grabbed me and hugged me. "I guess it can get a little hard not being with your family." she wiped up under my eye. "I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too, Mom." I walked out of the kitchen into the living room where everyone had gathered and said, "Hey all, it was wonderful as always. I'm going to get going now. I'm really not feeling too well."

"I know you are not leaving because of what I said?" My aunt asked.

"No, it has nothing to do with what you said." I lied it had everything to do with what she said. It embarrassed me. It wasn't like I wasn't already down. "I'm just not feeling well, really." I gave everyone a hug and a kiss goodbye and left.

My sister walked me to the car and told me she would call me later. After she left, I sat in my car for a bit. I wished that I could have talked to my sister, I just wanted to talk to my best friend, and it was killing me that I couldn't. I did what I didn't want to and called Lamar's parents. I wanted to talk to my baby. Hearing his voice always made me feel better. Talking to him was bittersweet, I loved hearing his voice, and he was having a great time at his grandparents, but I missed him like crazy. When I got home, I went upstairs to my bed. I put my phone on silent and fell asleep.