Disclaimer: photos are used for artistic purposes only. They represent what the author believe the physical character looks like. This story in no way reflects the person in photo life. Any parallels are purely coincidental. If you are the own of the photo used and would like it removed, please email the other at lafreddieb@yahoo.com with the link and your photo will be removed.
2
Daniel
"Oh my God," Tiffany screamed as she entered the formal living room. "Baby, what are you doing sitting in the dark."
"Where you been," I responded as my eyes adjusted to the light.
"Well, hello to you too, husband" she spat back sarcastically. "How was your day?"
"Quit trying to be cute and answer the question."
"I told you I was going out with my girlfriends after work," she replied as she removed her shoes and placed her purse on the chair nearby. "It doesn't matter now. I'm home now."
Leaning forward, I placed my elbows on my knees before I responded to what I knew to be a lie.
"I'm gonna ask you one more time and I want you to tell me the truth for a change."
"Danny, what is all this? So, I'm a liar now?"
"No," I screamed as I jumped from my seat. "I'm asking the questions here. You've been running around here for months feeding me crap, pushing our problems off on me, and I've been bustin' my butt to take care of this family and dealing with the mess you been dishing and I'm sick of it. Now, answer the question."
"I don't know who you think you yelling at," she shot back. "You better lower your voice before you wake my kids."
"My kids are at my parent's house. Now tell me! Where were you all night?"
"I keep telling you I was hanging out with my friends," she screamed as you shook yourself violently as if to drive her point home.
Calmly, I sat back in the big arm leather chair normally reserved for special guest in my home prepared to show my partner – or opponent in this case – my hand. Before I laid out all of my cards on the table, I casually raised my left foot and rested it on my right knee as I glanced out the front window and sipped on the bourbon in my glass. Just as she turned to head up the stairs I made my move.
"Was that the same girlfriend that you were walking hand and hand with on State Street this afternoon?"
Just as I suspected, I grabbed her full attention causing her to abort her mission to escape the room.
"What are you talking, Danny?"
"Or were you hanging with the girlfriend that my business partner witnessed you playing footsie with at the Chop House downtown?"
With each passing moment I could see that I was hitting a nerve.
"When was I supposed to be at the Chop House?"
Revealing the best part of my royal flush, I laid down my ace. "Or how about the girlfriend that I witnessed you kissing in these pictures," I stated as I pointed towards the stack of images next to my Nikon D3200.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she responded as she marched across the foyer into the kitchen. "You don't have pictures of me kissing anyone."
"Really," I replied as I snatched the images from the table and pursued chase following her into the kitchen. "Take a look for yourself. Tell me how my eyes are playing tricks on me. Tell me it's not my wife locking lips with another man in those pictures."
As she took a seat at the center island, I placed the stack in front of her. With just the sight of the first snap shot, all of the blood drained from her caramel colored face. I guess that's to be expected when the truth that you've been sweeping under the carpet for months – years even – has just been uncovered. Momma always said whatever is done in the dark will always come to the light. The lights in Tiffany's closet has just been turned on revealing her secrets.
I let her flip through a few of them before I went on. I wanted her to know that there was no room for her to wiggle out of this situation.
"So, are you gonna continue to tell me that you were out with your girlfriends or can I finally get the truth? Look at the date in the bottom right hand corner. Oh my sweet molasses, that's today's date."
"You followed me," she said just above a whisper. I wasn't sure if it was a question or a comment.
"So you still want me to believe that you were hanging out with your girlfriends? Or are you telling me that the guy in that picture is actually a girl and you were helping him work out his vagina monologue? Tell me something that I can work with. Because I'm having a really hard time comprehending what you want me to believe."
She seemed to be fixated on the one image. I wanted her to understand just how busted she was.
"Look at this. Check this one out. Don't stop there, keep going," I continued to push her. "And check this stack out," I continued as I pulled a small envelop from my back pocket.
"What are those," she finally spoke.
"You tell me," I exclaimed. "Imagine my surprise when a stranger walks into my office on one of the best days of my career and places these in my hands. I'm expecting it to be the permits my partner and I had been waiting months for from the Mayor's office for the grand opening celebrations of our office when it was actually more pictures from a private investigator showing me that my wife has been cheating on me."
Looking at the new evidence, she gasp and nearly fell off the stool.
"No, look at them," I demanded as she attempted to push them away. "Don't you remember this day, better yet, the week? Take a trip down memory lane with me. The was the day that apparently you ran off to throw our marriage away instead of staying home and working through our issues that night."
Tiffany continued to look through the photos with confusion and disbelief in her eyes. I expected her to fight. But I don't see how someone can fight when the writing is on the wall. I was in the ring and ready to go round for round; blow for blow; tic for tac if need be. But the odds had already been shown to be in my favor for the win. So, I can see why she decided not to take that challenge.
"So, I guess you wanted to eat your cake and have it too? You can't have both."
"Daniel, baby," she finally spoke. "Can we talk about this, please? If you give me a chance I know that we can work this out."
"How about we look at this picture right here," I replied as I removed a close up of her lover from the pile now all over the countertop. "Let's compare the guy in this shot to the guy in this one I found in a shoe box under my bed today."
"How long have you known?"
"This guy looks just like the college sweetheart you claimed to have broken up weeks before we met. So, the question that I have for you is how long has this been going on?"
I was furious. I'm sure my angry was evident by the fumes of heat radiating off my skin as I yelled and screamed.
The look on her face told me all I needed to know. The worse part of it all for me was that the two children I believe in my heart are mines may have another man's blood coursing through their veins.
"How could you," I asked as the tears mixed with sweat began streamed down my face.
"Wh...where...where did you get these," she finally managed to get out.
"Does it really matter," I said trying my best to choke back the tears.
"I can..."
"You can what...explain," I interrupted her. "Tiffany how can you explain being caught lying on your back with another man in the backseat of his car? Please tell me! Because I need to know how my wife is in these pictures in a position that she know she's not supposed to be in except maybe with her husband? You had too much pride when I wanted to do that to you. But you let another out you in that position? What is there to explain?"
To say that the mood in the house was dark was an understatement. It was no way that I could stay in this house. While my wife continued to look at all of the pictures, I slowly made my way up to my room to retrieve the suite case that I'd packed while waiting for her to come home. Tears slowly streamed down my face as I moved towards the front door.
It was like a scene straight out of a movie. The closer I got to the door, the more I yelled about the state of our marriage. As I neared the last step, Tiffany began to approach me.
"Baby, please," she begged. "Please, let's talk about this. You don't have to leave."
"Tiffany, get off of me," I scolded. "When I wanted to talk, you was busy with him," I yelled as I tried to push past my petite wife without causing her injury.
"Baby, I need for you to hear me out," she cried. "We can work this out."
She continued to push as my six foot three frame moved around her towards the garage.
"Daniel, please," she yelled pulling and tugging at my shirt. "Honey, I sorry. You will never have to worry about Jackson again. Please just stay so we can talk. I'm begging you."
To say that her cries were falling on deaf ears was a lie. I wanted to believe everything that she was saying. I needed to believe it for the sake of our family; our kids, our marriage. But what I needed more was time to think all of this through. And there was no way that I could do that in this house.
"I'll bring the kids home tomorrow to spend a few days with you," I said as I closed the trunk of my car and moved towards the driver side door. "Until then, don't waste your time trying to contact me unless it has to do with my kids."
"Daniel, don't go," she yelled as the she tried to stop me from closing the door.
As the garage door opened, I put the car in gear.
"Daniel," she yelled as I began to drive off.
It took a lot for me to not look in the rear view mirror as I drove away from the house I built for my growing family. I knew what I would see and I couldn't bear to see my kid's mother heartbroken and down on her knees sobbing waiting for me to change my mind and drive back into the garage.
****
It's been two weeks since I showed Tiffany those pictures. I've been living in this hotel room since I couldn't find the strength to face her and her betrayal. I'm not sure what I want to do at this point. I've invested nearly ten years into this marriage and all of the love one person can give a child into two kids that may not be mine.
Standing in the window watching the rain pour outside, I could hear my phone indicate that I have a new message. It was either from Tiffany or my mom. Either way, I didn't feel like talking to them or anyone else. I'm grateful for the business partners that I do have. If it wasn't for him I would've had to go into work and risk either of them showing up since I refuse to answer the phone.
My mind keeps flashing back to that night those original pictures were taken. We'd been fight like cats and dogs all week because Tiffany wanted me home more to be with her and the kids. But my best friend and partner, Calvin, and I had just opened our own public relations firm after spending the better part of our post college years building an empire for someone else. And business was booming.
We must have been going at it for hours that night. Finally, in the mist of the yelling, our son woke up and I went to comfort him. When I came back, Tiffany was gone. I tried calling her all night to no avail. That just added kerosene to my fire.
I didn't know where she could have gone. It was storming out side. I was calling her while comforting my little man only to have the lighting crack and thunder roll shaking the entire block. What I feared next, came true. My baby girl was upstairs screaming her lungs out.
In true Superman form, I lifted my son over my shoulder and raced up the stairs. Now with both of my children scared out of their minds, I sat in the middle of the hallway outside of our bedrooms. It was the only place in the house without a window. I rocked them and held them close. Suddenly the rain started to die down. The thunder was at a light rumble and the lighting was only a flicker.
"Where is mommy," my four-year-old daughter Allison asked.
"I'm not sure, Baby," I replied. Tyson, my three-year-old was snuggled into my chest breathing heavy. "You ok, kiddo," I asked as I lifted his innocent little head.
"Yeah," he replied snuggling his little head back into my chest. "Dad," he called a moment later.
"Wassup little man."
"Can you sing to me, please?"
I couldn't deny the kid's request.
"Of course, I can," I replied lifting him up to his feet. "Have a seat next to your sister."
As my little angels repositioned themselves in front of me, I prepared to sing one of my favorite gospel songs, Moving Forward by Hezekiah Walked and LFC featuring Ricardo Sanchez.
Skipping the intro and chorus, I belted the first line as the peace of God overcame me.
What a moment
You have brought me to.
Such a freedom,
Lord, I have found in You.
You're the Healer who makes all things new. Yeah, yeah, yeah!
I'm not going back,
I'm moving ahead.
I'm here to declare to
You my past is over.
In You
all things are made new.
Surrendered my life to Christ,
I'm moving,
moving forward.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You have risen
with all power in Your hands.
You have given me a second chance. Hallelujah, yes!
Hallelujah. Yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm not going back, moving ahead.
I'm here to declare to You
my past is over.
In You all things are made new.
Surrendered my life to Christ, I'm moving...
Not going back, moving ahead.
I'm here to declare to
You my past is over.
In You all things are made new.
Surrendered my life to Christ,
I'm moving, moving forward.
Yeah! Forward, yeah
Missing the support of a choir or choral, I transitioned to the Israel Houghton version of the same song.
You make all things new.
Yes, You make all things new.
And I will follow You forward.
You make all things new.
Yes, You make all things new
And I will follow You forward.
You make all things new.
Yes, You make all things new.
And I will follow You forward.
You make all things new.
Yes, You make all things new.
And I will follow You forward.
Before, I could finish the song, both of them was back in my arms, fast asleep. I choose to sit there a little longer to make sure that they were in a deep sleep before I returned them to their beds.