Chapter 16 ( Beyonce)
Retail therapy was just what I needed so I was happy when the twins called me to go shopping with them. Micheal had been working a lot lately so I was on my own more than I wanted to be. He and his dad had a lot of newly purchased properties that they were trying to get renovated as well as some new clients that were in the market to purchase property. The long days and short nights were killing me, but I understood that his business came first. Even though doubt tried to creep in at times, I had to put my insecurities to rest and trust the man I loved. Every man was not like Jay, and I had to keep that in mind. I pulled up to the twins’ house and blew my horn to let them know I was outside. They were always driving me around so I figured I could return the favor for once. They both ran out of the house and hopped in the car at the same time. “Let’s roll sissy. I got my ticket for my Jordan’s, but I have to be there by noon or they’re going to sell them,” Adrian said holding up her ticket. She was the queen of Jordon’s. Every pair that came out was added to her collection. I loved gym shoes too, but I would trade them any day for some cute heels. “Girl whatever,” I said waving her off, “It’s not like you don’t already have every pair that came out.” “It doesn’t matter heifer. I need these for the block party Saturday,” she replied, “You coming to the block party right?” Adrian asked me. “I’m thinking about it,” I replied. The twins and Micheal's uncle was a retired DJ who owned a record shop in Uptown New Orleans. I’d only met him once, but he invited me to his annual block party that he threw in front of his record shop to benefit needy kids in the area. Micheal basically told me that I was going, but I was still undecided. “What’s there to think about? It’s for a good cause,” Adrian said. We made small talk as we drove to the mall and prepared to shop until we dropped. My thoughts wandered back to all the drama that took place the last few times I was here and I almost wanted to change my mind and go back home. I would die if I ran into Courtney while I was here with Micheal's sisters. Her husband and I were through, but she still seemed to have a problem with me. She couldn’t pass me by without saying something slick out of her mouth. She’d obviously won. After all, she was the one having another one of his babies, as she so happily reminded me. “Hello?” Adrian said snapping her fingers in my face. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t hear anything she’d said. “What did you say?” I asked her, giving her my attention. “I was asking which store y’all wanted to hit up first,” she replied. “It really doesn’t matter. I’m not looking for anything in particular,” I said. Of course our first stop was to Foot Locker to get Adrian Jordan’s. I was happy that we got that out of the way because we were sick of hearing her mouth. Adrian and I went to Wilson’s leather and took advantage of their seventy percent off sale. I ended up getting three leather bomber jackets with the boots to match. This trip was turning out to be much better than I had anticipated. Most of all, it was drama free and that was something that I could get used to. “I’m done, but I could damn sure use something to eat,” Ardeema announced. We’d been shopping for almost four hours and I was done too. “I’m starving,” Adrian said, agreeing with her sister. “Y’all want to eat here, at the Chinese restaurant, or somewhere else?” I asked both of them. “We can eat here. It’s not too crowded in the food court,” Ardeema said as we made our way over to that area. After a few minutes, we were all sitting at the booth and enjoying the Chinese food that we ordered. “I just noticed that I haven’t talked to Micheal since this morning,” I said aloud to no one in particular. I reached into my purse and grabbed my phone to give him a call. I was trying to be understanding about his work load, but it only took a minute to pick up the phone and say hello. “What’s up Bey?” I heard someone say. I was almost scared to look up to see who it was. I knew it was too good to be true. Every time I came to the mall I was met with some kind of drama. I finally lifted my head and smiled when I saw Trent standing in front of me. “Hey Trent,” I said as I stood up to give him a hug. Trent was my nephew, Tyran’s, father. (We think) Even though he and Tranaé didn’t work out, we were still cool. In the beginning he was very active in my nephew’s life, but he was always in and out of jail so much and Tranaé got tired of the foolishness. Trent was my sister’s first heartbreak and she never seemed to be the same after that. “What’s going on with your sister?” He asked. “Nothing much. She’s just been working like crazy,” I replied. “I’ve been calling her like damn near every day to get my son, but I see she’s on that bullshit,” he said angrily. I was under the impression that Trent was still locked up so I didn’t know anything about that. “I didn’t even know you were home!” I said, shocked by his comment. “Man, I been home for over a year,” he said, “My mama and my sister have been trying to call her so we can see my son. She keep putting us off with all these lame ass excuses. I don’t want to have to go to that strip club and drag her stupid ass off the stage, but I will if I have to. She already knows I’m the wrong one to play with,” he said. I know this nigga did not just say what the hell I thought he said. “Wait, what you mean the strip club?” I asked in surprise. He looked confused for a minute before he answered me. “Honestly, I’m not trying to get into y’all’s family business, I’m just trying to see my son,” Trent said with his hands raised. I decided not to push him for answers because I was gon’ do some investigating on my own. “Look Trent, I really don’t know what’s going on with you and my sister, but I can definitely make arrangements for you to see your son. Me and my mama always have them while she’s at work,” I told him. “I would really appreciate it if you could do that for me Bey,” he said smiling. Trent and I exchanged numbers with a promise of letting him visit my nephew the next time I had to babysit. Once my girls and I were done eating, we made our way to my car and stuffed our bags inside. The sun was setting and I had yet to hear from Micheal. I tried calling him twice, but I only got his voicemail. I was pissed and I could only wonder what his excuse was going to be for being MIA all day. I was so aggravated. After I dropped the twins off at home, I just wanted to take a nice long shower and climb into my bed. I wouldn’t even mind all of the noise that I knew my nieces and nephew were going to make. Any distraction was a good one as far as I was concerned. “Are you coming in for a little while?” Adrian asked me when we were around the corner from their house. “No, I’m going home and relax,” I said feeling down. I wasn’t in the mood to do much of anything right now. When I turned the corner, I had to do a double take when I saw Micheal car parked in his parents’ driveway. I saw a silver Honda Accord backed up behind his car, but I had no idea who the car belonged to. My heart dropped and I almost lost control of my car when I saw Micheal standing next to the Honda talking to Kayla. They were so deep in their conversation that they never even saw us pull up. “What is he doing talking to that crazy bitch,” Adrian said as she and her sister jumped out of my car and started grabbing their bags. “Don’t trip Bey, he don’t want her thirsty ass,” Ardeema said as she retrieved some of her bags from the back seat. “I’m so done with his dog ass,” I said looking straight ahead. I felt the tears building up and I knew if I looked his way they would fall whether I wanted them to or not. For the first time since we met, I looked at Micheal in a different light. He tried so hard to convince me that he was so much better than Jay, but right now he was doing a poor job of it. I guess me being happy was too good to be true. Once he looked over and saw his sisters getting out of my car, he started making his way over to where we were. “Bey, let me talk to you for a minute,” he said while walking over. I saw his movements from the corner of my eye, but I still didn’t turn to face him. The twins got the last of their bags just as Micheal got to the driver’s side of my car. “Baby, it’s not what you think. Her mama is trying to buy a bigger building for her restaurant,” he said almost in a panic. I wasn’t trying to hear nothing he had to say. If it was that simple he could have told me about it in the beginning. Then, to make matters worse, that bitch Kayla had a smirk on her face when I looked in her direction. That really pissed me off. “Fuck you Micheal! I’m done,” I said as I put my car in drive. “Don’t do this Beyonce. Just get out of the car and let’s talk,” he pleaded, “I swear I’m telling the truth. You can ask her.” “No, I’m good. Go finish talking to your future because I‘m officially your past,” I said pulling off slowly. “Beyonce, wait! Beyonce !” Micheals yelled to my departing car. I was so hurt, but it was what it was. That bitch named karma was at it again. I spent years with somebody else’s husband so it was only right for the same thing to happen to me. Even though I knew it was true, it still didn’t take away the pain I was feeling. I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t help it. The tears were coming at a rapid pace and I couldn’t stop them. I pulled my car over because I could barely see since the tears were almost blinding me. I grabbed my phone and called the first person that came to mind. After ringing five times, Kelly's phone went to voicemail. I tried three more times and got the same results so I decide to leave her a message. “Kelly it’s me. I know you’re probably busy, but I really need you right now. Please call me back,” I cried into the receiver. Immediately after I left the message, my phone started ringing and I just knew my friend was calling me back. I frowned when I saw that it was Micheal. I sat on the side of road through five more of his calls before I finally felt good enough to drive away. When Micheal saw that I wasn’t answering, he started with the text messages. I read each one, but I wasn’t about to respond. In just a matter of minutes, all of the hurt I felt before turned into anger. I was angry with Micheal for doing me wrong, I was angry at myself for even falling for him in the first place, but most of all, I was angry with Kelly. She still hadn’t called me back and I was furious. So furious that instead of going home, I decided to pay my best friend a visit. After tonight, best friend was a title that would no longer belong to her. I pulled up to Kelly’s house about fifteen minutes later. There were no lights on, but I knew she was home because her car was in the driveway. It was a little after seven so she couldn’t have gone to bed this early. Whatever the case was, I was ready to get down to the bottom of it. As much as I loved my friend, I hated how weak she had become behind a man. I got out of my car and made my way up the stairs to Kelly's front door. I was about to ring her doorbell, but I decided to use the key that I kept on my key ring. Our friendship was over as far as I was concerned so I didn’t care if she got mad. I pulled the key from my key ring because I would be leaving it here since I had no use for it anymore. I didn’t want to hear any more excuses. I couldn’t remember a time that I wasn’t here for Kelly and she was always here for me. Lately, all of that changed and I was tired of trying to figure out why. I opened the front door and was met by the sweet scent of candles. That was no surprise. Kelly loved to light incense and candles throughout her house. There was a lamp on in the dining room and a small light shining over her stove in the kitchen. The house was fairly quiet with the exception of the soft music that was coming from upstairs. I guess Kelly was entertaining, but I didn’t give a damn. I was hurting in more ways than one and I was about to bust up her little party. As I got closer, I heard Floetry playing, followed by what I knew was Kelly's voice. Here I was in pure misery and she was laughing it up without a care in the world. Some damn friend she was. I saw the flicker of candles coming from underneath the door as my hand rested on the doorknob. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves. It was too late to turn back now, especially since I’ve come this far. I turned the doorknob and walked in not knowing what to expect. “Kelly?” I called out as I walked into the room. I saw two naked figures intertwined on top of the covers, but it wasn’t until they separated that I figured out who it was. “Oh my God!” I yelled while covering my mouth with both of my hands. Suddenly the room was so small that I couldn’t breathe. All of the walls were closing in on me as I backed out of the room in shock. “Oh God! Bey, wait!” Kelly yelled, trying to cover her naked body. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. My sister, Janaé, and my best friend, Kelly, were lovers? I couldn’t believe it, but there was no mistaking what I just saw. Janaé jumped up and grabbed some clothes that were scattered on the floor. “You couldn’t call before just let yourself in someone’s house?” my sister snapped angrily. My voice was caught in my throat so I couldn’t tell her that I did try to call. Four times to be exact. I took the steps two at a time until I was back in the living room. “Bey, wait please!” Kelly cried. She caught up with me just as I made it to the front door. “Can you just listen to me please?” She said while grabbing me by my shoulders. I jerked my body sideways until she was no longer touching me. I reached into my front pocket and pulled out her house key and threw it at her. “You were right! I don’t understand and I do hate you,” I said as I walked out of her house. The look on her face let me know that my words hurt her more than she could say. I really didn’t mean it, but I was hurt and I wanted to hurt her in return. I jumped in my car and sped away from Kelly's house as fast as I could. For the second time that day I was betrayed by someone who was supposed to love me. It was crazy, but I was more hurt by Kelly than I was with Janaé. Over the years I’d learned to expect the unexpected with her so nothing she did surprised me anymore. It was all starting to make sense to me now. That was why my nieces were asking her to spend the night at her house. They’d probably been there several times before. I guess I know whose kids Kelly was babysitting now. I often wondered where they went when they weren’t with me or my mama, but the mystery had been solved. Once again, my phone was ringing off the hook. Kelly and Micheal were taking turns draining my battery, but they were both wasting their time. As bad as I wanted to go home, I decided against it. I didn’t want or need my ex- boyfriend or my ex- best friend to show up apologizing. I needed a drink and I was on the hunt for one. I drove around for thirty minutes before I finally ended up on South Claiborne Ave. at the Jazz Daiquiri Lounge. The place wasn’t in the best part of town, but they sold some of the best drinks that money could buy. I parked my car directly in front of the door and made my way inside. Jazz was famous for their fruit loop daiquiri so I ordered myself one and made my way to an empty table. A few men tried to flirt, but I ignored them all and kept walking. My phone was still going crazy with calls and text messages. Even though I didn’t answer the calls, I read all of the text messages just to see what everybody had to say. Micheal and Kelly were both begging me to call them, but that wasn’t happening any time soon. Janaé was the only one who didn’t reach out and that was fine with me. My head was down and I was so in to my phone, I wasn’t paying attention when someone walked up to my table. “You look like you could use some company.” A male voice said, standing before me. “Aww shit,” I mumbled as I looked up into the smiling face of no other than Shawn Carter.
