P R E S E N T
TERENY
Everything had grown silent while he placed his bags onto the ground. I took a deep breath, trying to brace myself. Part of me believed that I would never see him again. Part of me also believed that my family and I would be long gone out of Palatka before he was even released from prison. This was just crazy.
I watched him as he walked over towards my car, looking around as if he was expecting someone. I looked at Antoinette who had looked away from me without another word spoken. When I looked back out of the driver's side window, Tray had already come up, making me wind my window down.
He looked a lot more different than what I last remembered. He'd cut off his dreads and he looked much more older. His hands were in his sweatpants as he looked from his left and then his right before kneeling down to look inside of my car. I took a deep breath and then let it all out about to speak, but he beat me to it.
"Your husband know you here?" He asked me, sounding unfazed but curious at the same time.
"Nnnn- no." I stutter.
"What you doing around here? You ain't supposed to be on my side of town no way. You ain't scared you gon get busted round here?" He asked me, trying to sound intimidating. He was doing a good job too. This wasn't the Tray that I remember. This one is much colder.
"I...I- I was just...I just was wanting to know a few things that has been bothering me. And I- I heard some things from Bruce but he won't tell me all of it. I overheard him on the phone talking and I just wanna know what he's talking about." I was getting frustrated at how bad I was stuttering.
This man has seen me naked plenty of times. I've seen him naked plenty of times. And now, it's almost as if I didn't know this man from a can of paint. It just felt weird and the atmosphere was awkward. I came to get information, but now, I just wanted to get away from this man.
"Sss- sorry.." I put my car in drive, but before I could get my foot off the break, I felt Tray touch my hand and it shocked me.
I pulled my hand back and stared at him for a moment, trying to read him. But he was making it so hard for me. It was as if this man that I had all of these feelings for looked disgusting to me. I couldn't stand the sight of him and it bothered me to be here, staring at him.
This was a mistake.
"This was a mistake. I'm sorry." I say.
"Ask your husband about the skeletons in his closet. He should clean them out tonight before they come out on their own." Tray says to me mysteriously.
And this is my daughter's father? This man isn't anything like my daughter's father. I don't know this man.
"Excuse us, but we've really got to be going?" Antoinette interrupted.
"Fucking with you was part of the plan. Ask Cheri. She knows more than me." He smirked. And his smirk scared the hell out of me because he almost looked possessed.
"What do you mean?" I asked, curious to know.
"Look, as much as I wanna see you leave his ass, now just ain't the time, a'ight. Just go home." I looked at Tray, surprised. I thought he would've been ready to tell me something to ruin my marriage.
I was stuck in place and it seemed as if Tray was aggravated with me and didn't want me around and it kind of hurt my feelings. Looking down, I just shook my head and swallowed hard.
"Get the fuck outta here." I yanked my head back, a little taken back. I couldn't believe he was being like this towards me.
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"Bye." Tray waved at me as he hopped up and turned away from my car. I looked at Antoinette in shock. "Get the fuck outta the hood!" He shouted, startling me.
I took my foot off the break and drove off in full speed.
My heart was beating too fast and it felt like I'd broke a sweat. When I made it to a stop sign, I looked at Antoinette and shook my head. Antoinette cleared her throat.
"I told you we shouldn't have done this." Antoinette said to me. I agreed in unison and just looked down at my thighs, trying to pull myself together.
"Just don't tell Chavez." I tell her.
"Don't worry, I won't. He's not gonna kick my ass." She said and to me as she shook her head, probably trying to pull herself together too.
"Seriously, I wonder what prison's done to him?" I ask, wondering really hard. Antoinette took a deep breath before speaking.
"Made him even more crazier, you think?" She asked me. I shook my head.
"I don't know. But he's not the Tray that I once loved. He's someone else."
"You gotta think about it, T. He did attempt to kill someone. You gotta think about it. He's not gonna be the same." She said to me as she touched my arm. "You okay?"
"I don't know..." I say as a tear fell from my left eye. I just don't know.
Past-
I stalled for about two hours and thirty minutes before I made an effort to text Tereny and have her text me the address. And when I made it to the hotel where she was, she was already outside with a suitcase, sitting on the bench.
Putting my car to a stop, I get out the car and meet her halfway, taking her suitcase and putting it in the trunk. She stood there and watched as I opened the door for her and waited for her to get inside before shutting it close.
I got inside of my car and shut the door, not bothering her for a few moments until we stopped at a red light. She was in her own world and looked as if her world was coming an end. It made me feel bad for her because I already knew that she may have found out why Martray had brought her. Not to mention, I've been trying to call Cheri nonstop and she hasn't been answering. She was probably fooled up with him for all I know. The shit irritated me just a little bit. But, that's Cheri and her husband.
We made it back to town quick enough and it was crazy how late it was. I tried texting Cheri whenever I was at a stop, but I didn't get a response. But I expected that.
"You wanna talk about it?" I asked her, hoping to get her to open up to me.
"Well, what started off as a good ride, it ended in disaster and I honestly wanted to escape it. It's the worst day of my life." Her voice got shaky as if she was about to cry and I felt bad for her.
"You didn't go up to Orlando with friends, did you?" I asked her, already knowing the truth. The guilt was all in her grill and it took every bit of me not to laugh in her face. "I told you leave them lames alone, didn't I?" I chuckled. "Don't worry. It's gonna be a'ight."
"I'm not sure everything is gonna be a'ight, but at least he told me the truth to everything and the real reason he asked me to come."
I can understand her pain. But I knew that she needed to hear nothing but the blood raw truth. She might like it, but this was the truth.
"Man, fuck him. Any man that would hurt a woman isn't a man at all. They're little boys. And you're too beautiful to be hurt. That's why I don't have a problem doing these types of things for you. I just wish you'd open your eyes and see that I really do like you, Tereny. I really want to try and pursue something with you."
With all that being said, she sighed and crossed her arms. I wasn't sure how she was feeling about my words, but I meant all of what I said. So, I just touched her. My hand roamed from her arm and I gently pulled her arms from a fold and took her hand and intertwined her hand with mine.
Her hand was soft and it felt as if a wave of electricity had shot through my body. Holding her hand as I drove made me feel as if things were official between us two. I was actually surprised that I was making the moves on her like this, honestly. I've done something like this before, but there was a difference with her. I didn't actually want anything in return. And that actually gave me the feeling that I actually wanted more than just sex from Tereny. I wanted her attention and that's all.
"Aw shit, who am I kidding?" She blurted out, catching me off guard and took her hand back, which I didn't expect.
"What's wrong?" I asked her as I looked straight ahead to keep a close eye on the pathway to the East Palatka river side so that I could pull my car in to a park.
"Bruce, I'm just getting out of something. And us doing this, it just proves how vulnerable I am. And I don't want to base my feelings off of a broken heart. I'm sorry and I'll make sure to pay you back for the gas you wasted coming to get me."
Damn...and I actually thought we were making a love connection. Was I wrong?
"Oh no, Tereny, it wasn't a waste of time." I said as I cut the light on in the inside of my car to get a better look at her soft features. She was pouting and looked as if she wanted to breakdown. And I just couldn't help but want her. "Tereny, I want you. And I'm not going to stop trying to pursue you until I have you. I want to be the one to show you what I'm capable of."
She was staring into my soul almost. But I could see in her eyes that she wanted me too. Things just seemed too high and I didn't want to come down. She was bringing out a side of me that not even Keira has ever seen before. Tereny just had this thing about her that I didn't want to let go of. She won me over and I didn't want her to stop.
Regardless of what Cheri and I had going, I just couldn't push her away. Tereny and I... It felt like, at that exact moment, it was supposed to be me and her against all odds. And if I had to go behind Cheri's wishes, I was ready. I wanted Tereny. I just had to have her.
Realizing just how deep I fell in, I leaned into her, pushing my lips against hers. And just like last time we kissed, she kissed me back. I started to rub on her thigh and instantly grabbed onto her, wanting her on top of me, straddling me.
She took heed to what I was doing and straddled my lap. Feeling good about my moves, I leaned my seat back and she followed suit.
The temperature inside of my car was heating up and it started getting toastier with each touch. And as bad as I wanted to get down with her sexually, I didn't want her to think that's all I wanted from the jump especially when I didn't. I wanted her for her. My mans was trying to stand at attention through my jeans and I knew she could feel it. I wanted her to stop, but then again, I couldn't pull myself to asking her to.
And instantly, she pulled away from me as if a lightbulb had then clicked on on her head. Honestly, I was relieved she stopped.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Bruce, I can't have sex with you." She explained. My mind had then exploded at what she was thinking.
"Who said anything about sex?" I couldn't help but laugh at her when I saw the embarrassment that had then flushed over her face. "Damn, girl. You trying to rush into shit already?" I laughed and she playfully rolled her eyes. "Can we take it slow?" I laughed even harder at her.
"I'm so sorry." She said, embarrassed.
"Damn, can I take you out to dinner before giving you the dick first?" I joked, really wanting to give her the dick right now. She burst out laughing and I couldn't help but continue to fuck with her just for the fun of it. "Get off me, I feel used!" I joked, playfully pushing her into the passenger seat, making her laugh even harder.
Something was tell me that this was going to be the start of my marriage. I knew I wanted to marry her. And you may say how would you know when you're only seventeen? And I'm here to tell you, a man knows when he's in love and when he wants to marry someone. He just knows. And I know. Tereny may have done some dirt and fucked up a marriage and all that shit, but she was deserving of much more than what she's been getting and what she's used to. She deserves happiness. And I want to be the one to give it to her.
P R E S E N T
BRUCE
Britney looked up at me, smiling as she took the tiny basketball from my hands and shot it in her little basketball goal, listening to the animated crowd cheers going wild. Shoot, I just knew in the back of my mind that my daughter was going to make something of herself. She loved herself some sports and paid more attention to the tv whenever a basketball game was on.
She wasn't like your average toddler. She didn't go crazy for cartoons. For her, ball is life.
I chuckled and grabbed the ball from her hands, making her giggle all loud, running into me to grab the ball. This time, I held onto the ball tighter so that she couldn't get it and that only made her laugh out loud, showing her baby teeth. I laughed at how happy just being with her made me. There's no moment in the world that could top the moments that I share with my daughter. She's everything to me. Thanks to her, she made life easier for me to live without regrets.
I finally loosened my grip around the basketball and watched as she took the ball to the goal, laughing at the cheers again. She picked up the ball and rushed back over to me, seated onto the floor with my legs open for her to run into and dive into my arms. I held onto her and kissed her forehead. She smiled at me and grabbed my head with her tiny hands and stood on her tip toes to kiss my forehead back. When she did, my forehead was wet with her slobber, but I appreciated that. It's better to get a slobbery kiss than a diaper full of shit and piss.
Standing up from the floor, I watched as Britney walked back over to her goal with the ball and put the ball into the basket to listen more to the addicting cheers. Shaking my head with love in my eyes for this beautiful little girl, I walk into the kitchen to try and find something for us to snack on while Britten is enjoying his rest.
As I checked the pantry for some chips and cookies, I heard the front door open and close shut with a bit of force. Looking around into the front room, finding Tereny walking through the door as if she lost her best friend, I closed the pantry door and walked out to her as she dropped the keys onto the high table and walked passed me without a word.
I followed behind her up the stairs and into our bedroom. When we made it inside, Tereny dropped down onto the bed to remove her shoes from her feet and looked up at me. The look on her face expressed disappointment, but I didn't know what for. But I was about to find out.
"What's wrong, bae?" I questioned.
"Nothing...just tired." She said with a bit of an attitude. "Um...is your sister home?" She asked me in a matter of factly tone, catching me off guard.
"I don't know. Why, what's up?" I ask.
"I need to call her. There's something on my mind and I just need to run it by her." She said to me with this look that I just couldn't figure out in her eye. The look was suspicious to me and had me feeling uneasy about this conversation.
"I think she at work or something, baby. You seem like something wrong with you. You straight?" I asked her. She gave me this blank expression that spoke many confusing volumes.
"Oh, I'm fine." She smiled and cleared her throat. "I love you." She said to me. I said it back but with hesitation but I wasn't worried about getting deep into it because I sure was just in one of her little moods. She and Antoinette might've had an argument or something. They've been arguing a lot lately and it I had been meaning to talk to her about that.
"I'm about to get food started. Join me if you want." I tell her, hoping she would so that I could get her to talk.
"I'm gonna call Cheri. I need to talk to her about something. I'll be downstairs afterwards." She explained to me.
I took what she said and went with it and just walked out of the room, walking to Britten's room to check on him. Britten was still resting in his crib. I figured if he hadn't woken up in about fifteen, I'll wake him up myself. I always fucked with him like that. Tereny hated it, but shit, I hated the fact that my son slept all day.
Britney was crawling up the steps by the time I made it down and I grabbed her up, making her gasp and start to scream out in laughter. I tossed her up in the air, making her laugh even harder. I tickled her and she started fighting, trying to get loose as she laughed, trying to control her laughter.
Putting her down, I look up the stairs at Tereny who was looking down at us, still wearing her blank expression. I don't know what it's all about, but I hope she start talking soon because this was getting ridiculous. It almost felt as if she knew something and that thought alone knocked the taste out my mouth.
What if she did know something? What if Martray reached out to her through her family and said something? This nigga had a habit of reaching out to her through her parents and shit.
Coughing a little bit as I walk into the kitchen, I grab my phone out of my pocket and searched my call log for Gabby's number. I don't know why, but I just needed to call her for some assistance. I needed a plan.