His Woman, His Wife, His Widow Read online

  I really hated when Shaun talked to me like I was a child with comprehension issues. I understood the demands on his time when he was working toward us getting this place, but I didn’t see the need for him to continue the crazy hours now that we had moved.

  “Shaun, I thought you could cut back now that we have our place. I see you so rarely, I’m forgetting what you look like.”

  “Lindsay, hustling is what I do for a living. It is not some part-time job at Mickey D’s where I can ask the supervisor to change my schedule to accommodate my whining woman. What makes you think I can cut back now anyway? I have only paid the first month’s rent and a deposit on the townhouse. We still have to pay rent, utilities, buy food, and other necessities. Do you think we can afford to do that with your cookie store paycheck?”

  I couldn’t believe he was snapping at me. All I tried to do was tell him that I missed him. Fine! Let him stay gone. And while he is out, I’ll just go and spend some more of the hard earned money he is so fond of making.

  “Sorry to be a whining woman, Shaun. I’ll talk to you whenever you get here.” I hung up the phone before he could say anything else. And before Shyanne had a chance to question me, I said, “Let’s go shopping. I just thought of a few more things this place could use.”

  The last three days have been strange. Shaun, as usual, has hardly been home. Even when he is here, we have barely spoken to each other. He was really upset that I hung up on him the other day, and I am still upset about the way he spoke to me. This was the first time in our seventeen-month relationship that we have been angry with each other. I have been upset and disappointed with his work schedule, but never angry.

  However, today is my eighteenth birthday. Despite the fact that he is a little pissed with me, and he left this morning without wishing me happy birthday, I know my boo is going to do something special for me. That’s just the kind of man I have.

  I said a special prayer this morning when I woke up. I’m sure God is none too pleased with me right now; especially since Shaun and I are continuing to live and sleep together without being married. Even still, I prayed intensely, asking God to forgive my indiscretion. I asked Him to have patience with me.

  “Dear God, I come this morning giving you thanks for allowing me to live to see my eighteenth birthday. I realize that I am now an adult and responsible for my own actions. I also know that you are not pleased with my living arrangement. But God, I know that you love me and I ask that you forgive me. I know my church attendance has not been great, but I’m still attending Bible Study regularly. And I’ll get back in church and I’ll even try to get Shaun to come with me. I pray for your patience, God. This is my prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.” My prayer had made me feel better as always.

  This morning I did the breakfast thing with Mama, Granny, K.J. and the Kennedys. We had a blast. We ate, we talked, and I received great presents as usual. Granny presented me with a pair of small gold and diamond earrings and a matching necklace. K.J. gave me a cute pair of pink and white Nike gym shoes. The Kennedys gave me a gorgeous black leather jacket, and Mama gave me an application to a local bank for a checking account along with a check for $350 as my opening deposit. The money replaced what she might have spent on a birthday party she would have thrown me if I were still living at home.

  “I thought it would be wrong for me to give you a birthday party and not allow your boyfriend to attend,” she said. Shaun was no longer allowed in my mother’s home. “I want you to make sure you always keep some mad money stashed, Nay-Nay, just in case you find yourself in a position to have to strike out on your own. And remember that my door is always open to you,” Mama said. Both Granny and Mama had been saying that to me since my high school graduation. Think they were trying to tell me something?

  After breakfast, I went back to Mama’s to spend some time with her, Granny and K.J. before going home. When I did arrive at our house, Shaun was also just getting there from wherever he spent his morning. We approached the front door at the same time, and Shaun used his key to open the door. Once we were inside, Shaun began apologizing and explaining his behavior of late.

  “Happy birthday, Lindsay,” he said as he kissed my cheek. I thanked him and he continued. “I want to apologize for the way things have been between us lately. I know I haven’t been around a lot, but you have to know that I have missed you as much as you have missed me.”

  Shaun took me by the hand and led me to our sofa. “I’ve been putting in work with my uncle for over two years now, and he is finally starting to trust me with bigger things. I know you would prefer if I didn’t go into detail, so I won’t, but just know I am not some petty hustler who sits and sells dope out of a drug house or on a street corner. I’m working very closely with my uncle to make big things happen.”

  Shaun and I have had this conversation before. I was aggravated that he felt the need to even repeat it. All I wanted to hear was that his new position in Uncle Bobby’s organization had allotted him the opportunity for us to spend more time together. However, that is not what he said next.

  “Lindsay, once I have accomplished the goal of being Uncle Bobby’s partner and not just his employee, there will be plenty of time and money for us to do everything we want to. See, baby, I’m doing this for us and our future. I want you to live like a queen because that’s what you deserve. I love you. Being in a position to give you anything you want will make me the happiest man alive. All I am asking of you is a little patience.”

  Didn’t I just have a similar conversation with God this morning?

  How could I be mad at him for wanting us to have the best of everything? I already had more than any of my friends. My own house, my own car, and money always at my disposal. All I had to do was ask. Here it is that Shaun was working very hard to put things together for our future, and I was complaining about the here and now like always.

  “Shaun, I’m the one who should apologize. I have a hard time focusing on the future sometimes, but I’m an adult now, and you are right. We should make plans for the future. But I still miss you.”

  “Well, in honor of your birthday, I told my uncle I was taking the whole day off and devoting it to you. I spent the morning making plans and picking out your present. I have a wonderful evening planned for you.”

  I was so excited, I threw myself across the sofa kissing and hugging him like it was the last time I was ever going to see him. Next thing I knew we were on our way upstairs to our bedroom to get the celebration started a little early.

  Shaun and I ate dinner at TGI Friday’s in Southfield. He thought it would be special since this is where we had our first date. I would have preferred to go to Edmonds, the upscale soul food restaurant downtown, but I was impressed with his thoughtfulness.

  Before we left home for the restaurant, he gave me one of my birthday presents: a Marshall Field’s department store credit card with a $2,500 limit. I was ecstatic. Shaun knew that Marshall Field’s was my favorite store. If he didn’t give me anything else, it would have been all right with me.

  When we arrived at the restaurant, Shaun removed a large, beautifully wrapped package from the trunk of his car, but he insisted that I not open it until after we ate dinner. I asked for hints several times, but he wouldn’t even give me a clue. It was only after we finished our meals and the waiters came to present me with a dozen white roses while singing “Happy Birthday,” did he give me the box.

  The box was so big and heavy that I had trouble maneuvering it around the table, but once I did, it was on. I tore at the wrapping paper like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. When I finally got all the paper off and the lid removed, I stared bug-eyed at the contents of the box. For a moment I thought I was dreaming. I stood up from the table and continued to stare at it for several moments before I had the nerve to remove it from the box. When I finally took it out, the full-length blue fox fur was even more beautiful than I initially perceived.

  The people sitting near our table looked as surprise
d as I was. I overheard an elderly lady say, “Isn’t she too young for such an expensive coat?” I looked at the old bat and rolled my eyes, but I didn’t say anything to her. My mother always taught me to respect my elders; otherwise I would have told her to mind her own business.

  “Shaun, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen fur coats in magazines and on television, but I have never been this close to one so pretty. Thank you so much. I love you.” I think I was speaking to Shaun when I said the last part, but I could have very well been talking to my new coat.

  “I love you too, Lindsay. This time next year, I’ll be able to afford mink instead of fox.”

  For the first time in my life, I wished I was born in the winter months instead of the summer. I wanted to put my coat on so badly, but I would have looked really dumb considering it was seventy-nine degrees, even at nine-thirty in the evening.

  When we left the restaurant, we headed downtown to Club Nile to go dancing; something Shaun and I had never done together. In Detroit, you have to be at least twenty-one to be admitted into the nightclubs. Shaun wouldn’t be twenty-one until November, but he assured me he had it covered. When we approached the door, a tall bulking figure asked for our identification. Shaun whispered something in his ear, and the gentleman let us enter with a smile.

  I had never been inside a nightclub before. I was surprised at how dark it was inside. After being there for a few moments, my eyes began to adjust, and I was able to see through all the smoke and haze. The music blared loudly, and there were wall-to-wall people.

  Shaun and I made our way past the dance floor to a roped-off area where the signs on the tables said V.I.P. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Shyanne, Antonio, Sharay, and three of Shaun’s male friends were already there. They all yelled surprise as we approached the table.

  “Do you like your surprise party, boo?” Shaun asked.

  “I love it, Shaun, but how did you get my friends in here? None of them are twenty-one.”

  “Don’t worry about it, baby. Just set your mind on having a wonderful eighteenth birthday party.”

  Before I could get seated, Shyanne attacked me with questions about my birthday present. She and Sharay were speechless when I told them about the coat, but only for a second. Shyanne is never speechless for too much longer than that.

  “Girl, are you serious? He gave you a fur coat? That is so cool, Nay,” Shyanne said.

  “That is cool, but where are you going to wear a fur coat? It ain’t like you still go to church. That’s the only place I know folks to wear fur coats,” Sharay added. She always had something negative to say, which explained why I didn’t hang out with her all that much.

  “Well, for your information, I promised God just this morning that I would start going back to church regularly. But even if I didn’t go to church, I would wear that puppy to bed if I couldn’t figure out anywhere else to where it. Trust me when I tell you, it will be worn.” The three of us cracked up laughing.

  Shaun left the table for a moment to go to the bar. He returned with two bottles of Moet champagne. He and his friend, Leonard, popped the corks on both bottles and filled everyone’s glass. Shaun then stood up and gave a very romantic speech.

  “I’d like to make a toast to my one and only, Lindsay. Today you are officially a woman in the eyes of the law, but you have never been anything less to me, baby. You are the most intelligent, mature, and definitely the finest lady I have ever met. As long as I have you by my side, there is nothing we can’t accomplish together. To you ... to us ... forever, baby. Happy birthday.”

  “Happy birthday, Nay-Nay!” everyone else said in unison, and then we all took a drink of our champagne. That was my first taste of alcohol. I didn’t particularly like it. So after the first sip, I didn’t bother to have any more. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying theirs, including Shyanne. To my knowledge, this was her first time too.

  When Shaun finished his first glass of champagne, we went to the dance floor. Soon everyone else followed suit. We were having a ball dancing and hustling to all the latest jams. Everyone in our crowd was chanting, “Go, Nay-Nay. It’s your birthday,” and before I knew it, the whole club knew it was my birthday, and they were chanting too. The DJ even announced it on the microphone. I was so excited.

  Shaun was ready to leave the dance floor before me, but I followed him back to our table anyway. I was still so pumped and full of energy, I could have danced all night. Everyone else stayed on the floor. When we got back to the table, there was a pretty birthday cake decorated with pink and white icing. It read: Happy Birthday Lindsay a.k.a. Nay-Nay.

  While I admired my cake, Shaun went to the bathroom. I guess his bladder was a little full from all the champagne he drank. Soon after he walked away, someone tapped me on my shoulder from behind. When I turned to see who it was, she was standing so close we nearly kissed. I had to take a step sideways to bring her face into focus.

  “Happy birthday, tramp!”

  It had been nearly a year since I last saw her, but I still remembered her jacked up mug. Rhonda stood there with her hand on her fat hip wearing a red dress at least three sizes too small.

  “Thank you very much. And by the way, it’s your mother that’s the tramp,” I said and turned back to admire my cake.

  Rhonda pushed my shoulder this time more so than tapped it, yelling, “No, yo’ mama’s a tramp and a slut. I’m about to whip your ugly ...”

  WHAM! Before she could utter another word, I turned and hit her right in the face with my whole cake. She stumbled backward, and I started swinging. She was so caught off guard that she couldn’t even raise her arms to defend herself. She couldn’t even see me. I beat that cow all the way back toward the restrooms. Before I realized what was happening, someone snatched me into mid-air.

  Without taking the time to find out who held me, I turned and began swinging and kicking at them without missing a beat. I assumed it was one of Rhonda’s friends coming to her rescue, but it turned out to be Shaun.

  “Lindsay! Lindsay, stop kicking me,” he yelled.

  By now security had gotten in on the act. One guard held onto the screaming, cake-splattered Rhonda, and another one pulled me out of Shaun’s arms. It seemed he believed that Shaun and I were fighting each other.

  “Let me go! Let me go! I’m gonna kill her!” Rhonda screamed at the top of her lungs. The music had now stopped because of all the commotion, so she could be heard all over the club.

  Shyanne forced her way through the large crowd that gathered to get a glimpse of the fight. She immediately went into action, swinging on the guard who held me when she realized I was one of the participants.

  “Let her go, punk.” She started punching the big security guard in the back, but I doubted he even felt her blows. He was as big as a tree, and soon another one of them appeared and grabbed Shyanne.

  Shaun explained to the security guard that I was his girlfriend and that Robert Taylor was his uncle. He then went on to explain that his ex-girlfriend had more than likely attacked me. Security let me and Shyanne go, and we went to sit with the rest of our crowd. Rhonda was still being held by one of the guards, spitting piercing daggers at me with her eyes. She looked a ridiculous mess with cake all over her hair and clothes. Blood dripped from her nose and mouth. She took one of my better beat-downs, if I do say so myself.

  When Shaun returned to our table, they were escorting Rhonda to a room in the back to let her get cleaned up. He said security was giving us fifteen minutes to leave the club or they were going to call the police.

  “Why do we have to leave, Shaun? She’s the one who started it,” I moaned.

  “I know, baby, but remember, we’re not supposed to be in here in the first place. They only let us come in because my uncle arranged it with the promise of no trouble. They just want us all to leave. Once we have left the premises, they will let Rhonda go. They don’t want any more fighting. Are you okay?”

  Without realizing, I was
limply holding onto my right wrist with my left hand, and my knuckles were all scraped and swollen. I was still so angry at the Hungry Hippo for confronting me I didn’t even notice the pain.

  “My wrist hurts a little, but she never laid a hand on me. So I’m fine otherwise,” I reassured Shaun.

  “I wish I were here when that fat pig came over. I can’t believe I missed out on another opportunity to kick her butt,” Shyanne said. She was just as furious as I was.

  “I wish I were here too,” Sharay said. “That way I might have been able to stop you from hitting her with your cake. I’m hungry as a hostage.”

  We all cracked up laughing and made ready to leave the club. This was the best birthday party I’d ever had. Kicking Rhonda’s butt was the icing on the cake.

  Chapter Ten

  March 1996

  “Ms. Westbrook, would you like a pillow for your desk in an effort to make you more comfortable?” My math professor squatted by my desk, patting my back trying to wake me during class. When I came fully awake, he was staring me straight in the eyeballs and his ugly mug startled me.

  I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe I fell asleep in class. Whatever he was lecturing about must have been boring as heck, because it knocked me right out. I apologized, pulled myself together, and tried to get back into what he was saying.

  I must have slept for quite some time because there were only ten minutes left before class dismissed for the day. Professor Waters is the only instructor I have that holds class every session for the entire ninety minutes. Most of my instructors would dismiss class about ten minutes early, at least some of the time.