My Man's Best Friend II Page 15

  “I appreciate you listening. And I appreciate all you have done for me. You are a good woman and I don’t want you to get hurt by my problems. I don’t want you to think I’m one of those brothers who only come over to hit it and quit it because that’s not me.”

  “Derrick, I knew that the first night I met you. You didn’t come across as a playa and I liked that about you. That’s what drew me to you. That and the fact that you are so damn cute.”

  I smiled.

  “I also saw your pain and I was more than happy to make you forget about it for just a little while,” she said, gripping my hand again.

  “You know I usually don’t get down like that.”

  “Really?” she said, asking in a joking way.

  “I don’t. I’m a one-woman kind of man. I don’t do one-night stands. I’m still trying to figure out where you came from.”

  “Well I was born . . .” she started explaining jokingly, but she knew what I meant.

  “You are a phenomenal woman.”

  “I know,” she said, causing both of us to laugh again.

  “And you can let your brother know I’m not out to hurt you. I’m coming correct because I have that much respect for you.”

  “My brother doesn’t have anything to do with me. If being with you is what I want, he can’t stop that.”

  “I wish I met you before all of this happened,” I said, looking at her earnestly.

  “It would be a lot easier wouldn’t it?” she said, leaning on the back of the sofa with her head leaned against her hand.

  I nodded, saying, “I don’t want you to get your hopes up about us. I can’t turn my feelings for Kea off just like that,” realizing I didn’t say it quite the way I wanted.

  “I understand, Derrick. You don’t have to keep explaining. Maybe in another lifetime fate will guide us to one another.”

  “I hope so,” I said.

  “But until then I’m still here for you. The cards have been laid out for the both of us. And I tell you what,” she said, reaching into the drawer of her coffee table, pulling out a deck of cards. “Let’s take it back to the old school,” she said, pulling a box of Uno cards out.

  I smiled, saying, “Do you know I’m the champion at this?”

  “Well I guess I’m getting ready to take your title,” she said, shuffling the cards as I scooted back to give us room to play on the sofa.

  “Bring it on then,” I said, looking into the eyes of an angel. I did wish I met her months before my world got turned upside down. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about going through the drama that would fill my days to come.

  Chapter 25

  Zacariah

  The ride back from Savannah, Georgia was a quiet one. I was happy I didn’t have to drive as I dozed in and out of sleep. Jaquon was speeding down the highway, heading for home, as I took in the scenery, thinking about Essence and how her funeral was the last time I would ever see her face again. I could still hear Essence’s mother break down when they closed the casket, symbolizing the last time anyone would ever see her again. Yes, we had pictures and memories to remember her by but it wasn’t the same as having her here with us.

  Then my thoughts led me to think about Fabian. Suddenly I found myself smiling a bit at the thought of him and how he took care of me during my time of grief. When he came back that night of our dinner date, he brought back so many different dishes for me to choose from that if I didn’t come out the house for a week, I still would have had enough food to last me for a while. He even thought to pick up some champagne, which helped alleviate some pain behind Essence’s death. We sat and watched TV and talked and ate. We had such a good time. I never thought I would have a good time with no other man besides Derrick. Hell, Derrick didn’t even cross my mind when I was with Fabian and I found that to be good for a change.

  “Are you okay?” Jaquon asked, looking over at me and then back at the road.

  “Not really. I knew this was going to be hard but not this hard, you know.”

  “I understand. I don’t do funerals. I didn’t go to see my uncle who passed away years ago so that should tell you something.”

  “It tells me you are a punk.”

  “I’m not a punk,” Jaquon blurted.

  I giggled, saying, “I’m just playing, boy. I appreciate you going with me. It meant a lot. I know we don’t get along but for once we made a weekend work.”

  “We did, didn’t we?” he asked.

  “Is the truce over once we get back home?” I asked.

  “You know it is. You can’t ever let things go,” he said.

  “Me,” I shrieked.

  “Yeah, you. You are always causing drama with people,” he said, passing this big rig.

  “People should learn to mind their own damn business and leave me the hell alone.”

  “Zacariah, this world does not revolve around you.”

  “Yes, it does, and I’m going to make sure it does.”

  “How’s that working for you? You couldn’t control Essence dying. You couldn’t control getting beat down by Kea. And you couldn’t control Derrick not leaving you,” Jaquon said.

  I turned to Jaquon and wanted to smack him but I didn’t since he was merging in front of the massive truck. I wasn’t trying to cause a wreck.

  “You want to hit me now don’t you?” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “The truth hurts, huh.”

  “Jaquon, can you please shut up the rest of the way home? Because I don’t feel like hearing anything from somebody who can’t keep his dick in his pants.”

  “You didn’t mind when my dick was in you,” he retorted.

  I reached over and smacked him in the face anyway. The car swerved a bit but Jaquon managed to keep it in the lane. To my surprise he reached over and punched me in the arm.

  “Keep your hands to yourself, Zacariah. I will pull this car over, push you out, and leave you to walk back to Virginia.”

  I stopped. Only because I was tired and wanted to get in my bed and get a good night’s sleep.

  About twenty minutes later I asked, “Would you have left me on the side of the road?”

  “Yes.”

  “You would have left a defenseless woman—”

  “Defenseless,” Jaquon said, cutting me off. “Nobody would mess with you. The way your mouth runs would make the assailant run for his life.”

  “Funny.”

  “I’m serious. You are a beast.”

  “Why you got to be calling me a beast?” I asked.

  “I mean that to say whoever messes with you is going to catch hell.”

  I paused again before asking, “Do you think Derrick will ever take me back?”

  Jaquon sighed, saying, “Honestly I don’t think he will. You’ve done your dirt way too many times for Derrick to look past that. I mean come on, would you take him back if he did all the things you did to him?”

  “I may,” I said, unsure.

  “No is more like it. Then on top of that, Zacariah, you turned around and put his life on blast in front of a crowd of people. That has pretty much severed your ties to him forever, along with sleeping with me.”

  I heard what Jaquon was saying but I didn’t want to believe that to be the case. Derrick loved me once and I knew he would love me again. It may take some time for us to get back to where our love was but I believed we could love again. After meeting Fabian I had to wonder if I wanted Derrick’s love anymore.

  “Zacariah,” Jaquon said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You need to start being nice to people and learn how to tell the truth. Stop all that conniving you be doing because it’s only going to come back and bite you in the long run.”

  “So right now you are being completely honest with Kea. You are not lying and scheming.”

  “My lies only hurt her and I don’t want to do that to her anymore.”

  “So you told her you were going out of town with me to attend the funeral of the girl you cheated on her with?”
I questioned, knowing I was sitting beside the same trifling Jaquon.

  “I didn’t lie when I told her I was going out of town.”

  “You just avoided what would make her mad by telling her parts.”

  “You can say that.”

  “Sounds like scheming to me. What makes you think she won’t find out about our trip?” I asked.

  “The only person who could tell her is you,” he said, glancing over at me.

  I smiled devilishly.

  “And you wouldn’t do that, would you?” he asked.

  “Not conniving Zacariah,” I said lightheartedly.

  “Why would you even want to? What has Kea ever done to you?”

  “Have you been paying attention? Duh, she slept with my man, your best friend, and had the nerve to put her hands on me,” I said, getting heated.

  “Still, it didn’t start with them, Zacariah. We did our dirt first. We got it back. What come around goes around,” he explained.

  “True but that’s not helping me get over her ruining my life. I promise you she will never have Derrick again.”

  Jaquon looked at me and back at the road and then at me again. “Zacariah, what have you done?”

  “Nothing,” I said, never looking in his direction.

  “You’ve done something.”

  “So what if I have? Do you want Kea to be with Derrick?”

  Jaquon didn’t say anything, letting the silence be his answer.

  “We want the same thing. Neither of us want to see them two together because we want them back. You do still want Kea don’t you?” I asked.

  “Yes, but at what cost?”

  “We’ve changed but we haven’t fully embraced the honest way of life. Let me do what I’m doing and you do you,” I suggested.

  “I’m going to say this and then I’m going to be quiet. Your scheming is not going to work. Whatever you have done will come back to bite you. Take it from me. Life is too short for games. Look at where games got Essence.”

  My attention was drawn back to looking at the trees and miles of highway moving us closer to home as I absorbed his words. Not wanting to hear anymore I turned the volume up on the radio, which was playing “Thin Line Between Love and Hate.” How ironic, I thought. There was that thin line and I had been standing on both sides of it. So was Derrick. I needed to erase the line so we could reconnect again. I hoped my plan worked, but where would that leave me and Fabian?

  Chapter 26

  Zacariah

  The phone was ringing off the hook and I was ticked off because I was trying to get some sleep after a seven-hour ride from Savannah. Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was my cousin calling. I wondered what she wanted and at this point I didn’t care. I was tired. My eyes were not ready to open and my body screamed “stay put” as stiff muscles screamed for relaxation. I turned to my back and placed the pillow over my face to fall back to sleep.

  Once I willed myself up after sleeping for another four hours, I searched for my cell, finding it on the kitchen table. I saw I had seven missed calls and my voice mail box was up. Debating, I put the cell down. I was going to check it later. First, I had to get me something to eat before gathering up Essence’s clothing to send to her mother. If I didn’t do this now, I was never going to do it. I told her mother I would send all her personal items like pictures, jewelry, and some childhood things Essence had. There was also the issue with her clothes, furniture, and house I had been staying in rent free for weeks now. Her parents decided to sell the house but they were giving me two months to find my own place, which I thought was nice of them because they could have kicked me out on my behind. Hopefully by then, I would be living back under the same roof with Derrick.

  They told me I could have Essence’s furniture, which shocked me. Most families fought over things like this but they said they didn’t have the room for it since they had just remodeled their own home. They told me I was more family to Essence than some who were actually blood related so I could have it. They also told me I could have her clothes. The only thing about that was Essence was a lot smaller than me. I could wear a couple of her jogging outfits but that was it. I had more tits and ass than she did. We did wear the same size shoes so I decided to keep them but all the other things had to be shipped to her family. I told them I would get the house ready to be sold. When I left this place would be empty, and the memories Essence and I had here would be gone, too.

  Packing up about twelve boxes, most of which were items I would be taking with me, I set them in the living room. Exhausted, I decided to go back to sleep since I hadn’t fully recouped yet from the long trip. Then I remembered to check my voice mail messages. Dialing, I heard I had four messages.

  First message: “Hey, Zacariah. This is Fabian. Just calling to check and see how you were doing. I had a good time with you the other night and I hope there are more of those to come. Give me a call when you get a chance. I left my number on your fridge. Hope to hear from you soon. Later.”

  Hearing his voice soothed me and I found a part of me liking Fabian more and more. I didn’t know if this was a good thing since I was still trying to get Derrick to take me back. I guessed time would tell.

  Second message: “Zacariah, this is Susan. I think we have a problem. Call me when you get this.”

  Third message: “Zacariah, it’s me again. Where are you? Call me back.”

  The other voice mail messages were the click of a phone hanging up, not leaving anything.

  I called Susan and, like I thought, she wanted to come over. Whatever she had to tell me could have been done by phone but, no, she had to disturb my day with her presence.

  It took Susan only fifteen minutes to get to where I was staying. As soon as I opened the door she started in with the mouth.

  “Girl, it’s about time I got you,” she said, walking past in a white jogging suit that was actually cute on her. Susan wasn’t one who knew how to dress but today she looked good.

  “Hello to you too. Damn. You just come busting up in my place.

  “A simple hello your damn self would have eliminated me leaving those messages. Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been blowing up your phone.”

  “I was out of town,” I said, yawning.

  “You should have told me you were leaving,” she said.

  “I didn’t think I had to check in with you before making moves,” I said with an attitude.

  “Well you are going to wish you would’ve called me.”

  “What’s so urgent anyway?” I asked, sounding perturbed.

  “It’s about Derrick and Kea.”

  “What about them?” I asked, all of a sudden feeling my heart race a bit.

  “They are getting the test done again,” she said.

  I yawned again, wishing I could close my eyes. Walking into my kitchen to get something to drink, Susan followed. I said, “Just alter the test again.”

  “I can’t. They are going somewhere else.”

  That halted me. Susan got my attention then. Any sleepiness I had was replaced with nervousness. “What?”

  “You see why I’ve been trying to contact you.”

  “When did they let you know this?” I questioned.

  “A few days ago.”

  “And you just telling me now,” I blurted.

  “Don’t go there with me, Zacariah. I am not in the mood for this. You left town without telling anyone so don’t get mad with me,” she retorted irritably.

  “Don’t come at me like that, Susan. I’m the one who’s been on the road for hours.”

  “Whoopty-freaking-do. Do you want me to hand you a trophy for being the most tired? Damn. At least your job is not on the line.”

  “Shut up and tell me where they are going.”

  “Which is it? Shut up or tell you—”

  “Susan,” I screamed, interrupting her. She was plucking my last nerve.

  “Zacariah, I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know? Yo
u didn’t bother to ask them or try to persuade them to have it done at your facility again?”

  “I tried but Kea wanted a second opinion from somewhere else,” she said.

  “Kea?” I questioned.

  “Yes. She came by with Derrick.”

  “I should have known. It was probably her idea. She’s always trying to mess things up. I can’t believe this. Why can’t they just take the results for what they are and deal with it?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is I don’t want to lose my job behind this.”

  “How would that happen?” I asked.

  “I was the one who administered the test. I swabbed their cheeks and sent the swabs to be tested and I was the one who altered the file to make it look like they were brother and sister. What if my job finds out? And what if they find out I’m your cousin? Derrick was looking at me like he knew me.”

  “Enough with the what-ifs. I don’t feel like hearing all that right now.”

  “We might go to jail behind this, Zacariah.”

  “Ain’t nobody going to jail. Technical things happen all the time, and who knows we are kin? You are not going to get into any trouble so relax.”

  “Easy for you to say, Ms. Living Off Men.”

  “I haven’t gamed in a while now. And there is nothing stopping you from scheming if you want to.”

  “I love myself too much to pimp myself out like a common whore.”

  “First of all, I’m not a whore.”

  “The proof is in the pudding,” Susan shot back.

  “Just shut up for a minute and let me think.”

  “Why, so you can come up with something that’s going to get us into a deeper mess than we are already in?”

  “First of all, no one knows we are cousins. Did he recognize you in the office?”

  “No. I don’t think so. He did keep staring at me.”

  “I don’t think he knows who you are. The one time he saw you, it was a quick glance, so relax.”

  “I knew I shouldn’t have done this. My gut told me to leave things alone but I didn’t listen. Tampering with medical records is grounds for dismissal and possible criminal charges, especially if Derrick or Kea finds out and wants to prosecute me. And what if they want to sue the facility? Then they could come after me, too, for the money. I never should have helped you.”