ICU: THE TRILOGY

11

"Come on Crystal! Take another one."

"No," Crystal responded to Brooke.

Brookes rolled her eyes and took the shot of vodka herself. She'd lured Crystal in by saying they were going to a peaceful girls getaway in Savannah. A private cabin with a spa nearby, so every woman there could relax. But as the trip went on Crystal quickly realized that she'd been fooled.

It wasn't a peaceful girls getaway. Instead, it was a cabin trip with loud music, liquor, and ass shaking. However instead of complaining Crystal sucked it up. She'd figured anything was better than going back home and proving Devale right. She wanted to show her family that she could still have a social life and be a stay at home mom.

"So how long were you a doctor before you retired?" One of Brooke's friends, Evelyn, asked Crystal.

"I didn't retired." Crystal corrected her. "I just left after my baby in Chicago. I want to work but it's hard to do that with the babies." She said to the group of women.

"You know, I love being a businesswoman but I love being a mom and a wife more. It just fulfills me." Evelyn said.

Another woman in the group, Apryl, sipped on her drink and rolled her eyes at the marital talk.

"I use to like being a wife but then somewhere along the lines my tolerance for my husband became very low. I couldn't take the feeling of not feeling equal to him." Apryl said.

Crystal perked up at her comment. Finally, someone who understands what she's feeling.

"Exactly, I know my husband loves me but sometimes I question his respect level for me. He's always keeping secrets from me." Crystal confided sinking into the couch.

"Have you ever told him how you feel?" Evelyn asked

"I feel like I've been talking to him since we got together and I've seen very minimal change." She replied.

"So why'd you stay after that?" Apryl asked Crystal.

She sat back, sunken in her own thoughts. She didn't have an answer for Apryl's question. She knew that she loved Devale and he loved her; but she also knew that love isn't enough.

There are other things she wanted in her marriage. Respect, honor, loyalty, the willingness to change when your partner doesn't like something. Crystal felt like Devale was lacking all of those at times.

"Sometimes I feel like I love him more than he loves me, that I want my marriage to last more than he does." Crystal expressed to them.

They gave her eyes of empathy and understanding. She felt heard and not beat down for having those feelings. Brooke, Evelyn, and Apryl had become Crystal's safe space for the night.

"And then you wanna know what that nigga had the nerve to tell me?" Crystal asked.

"What?" The other three women asked.

"He said, 'be a wife and shut the fuck up'." Crystal mocked Devale.

The girls were in shock about the alleged statement that Devale made. They didn't know Devale personally, so they didn't want to jump to conclusions and tell Crystal to leave him right away. Except for Apryl, she wanted to find Devale and fight for her new friend.

"And you know what you should do?" Evelyn asked Crystal making her look up. "You should shut the fuck up. Every time he asks you for something, every time he wants to touch you or be lovey dovey, shut that shit down." Evelyn told Crystal.

"But then wouldn't that be doing what he wants me to do?" Crystal asked confused.

"Girl he said that cause yall was arguing. He really wants you to be all over him and whatever he does." Brooke told Crystal . "Now you gotta show him that without you, yall home and yall marriage can't function." She added on.