Miasha - Secret Society

“You mad?” Tina asked. She must have sensed it.

“No,” I lied. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Tina knew I was bullshittin’. She started explaining herself.

“I’m just tired of playing the game, you know?” she said. “Derrek is perfect for me. He knows everything about me already and he’s cool with it. Plus he got plenty dough and I know I’m safe with him. I can just chill. My worries are over with him-all of them, you know?”

As much as I hated to admit it, Tina was right. Derrek was her best bet. I was just jealous and lonely at that time. I was feeling left out. I mean, Tina introduced to me this game of dressing up and having dudes thinking I’m a chick, taking care of me. And now it would be like I was out here alone playing by myself.

“Well?” Tina asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Well, what?”

“Are you still mad?”

I thought about her question and I realized that if the shoe was on the other foot, if somebody who knew all about me, who could take care of me, and who I was attracted to offered to take me away from all the stress and bullshit of going from man to man, I would take him up on it.

“No, girl, I’m not still mad,” I said sincerely. “I just can’t believe it. Tina getting married?” I pondered aloud.

“I know, right. It sounds crazy, but it’s the best thing to do. I would be a damn fool to say no.”

“You’re right and I’m happy for you, for real,” I said with tears in my eyes.

The clock said eight twenty-five. I turned over in my bed and reached for my ringing phone, wondering who could be calling me this early on a Monday.

“Hello,” I said, sounding like I had swallowed a mouthful of sand.

“Hello, may I speak with Celess?”

I sat up, trying to figure out who the voice on the other end of the phone belonged to.

“Who’s calling?” I asked, praying it wasn’t any bill collectors.

“This is Rachel Greene, Darrell’s wife,” she answered.

I took a breath. “What can I do for you?”

“I am so sorry to wake you. Darrell just left for work. Listen, I want you to come over to the house this evening so when he comes in from work, you’ll be here and we can get to the bottom of this,” she began.

“Rachel, listen, my part is done. I don’t think I want to get any more involved in you and your husband’s personal problems than I already have.”

Rachel cut in quick. “I understand that completely, but when I confront him about you, he’ll just deny it, and if I don’t have solid proof, he’ll just wind up getting away with cheating on me like he always does. You know how men are.”

“I don’t know…” I said.

“I need your help. I mean, us women have to stick together. You didn’t know he was married. It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but…”

“He was obviously going to try to play you too,” Rachel said.

She sold me with that one.

“What’s your address?”

I promised to be at Rachel’s house by four-thirty. I figured, fuck it, I didn’t have anything to lose. Plus, I couldn’t wait to see what Darrell was going to do when he walked in from work and saw me in his house with his wife.

I made sure I looked sexy. I put on some Dolce & Gabbana jean booty shorts, a white wife beater, and a pair of gold BCBG stilettos. I wore my gold Chanel jewelry and my white and gold Chanel bag. I pulled my hair back in a slick ponytail held together with a gold Chanel clip. I threw on my gold Chanel belt, put on my gold Chanel glasses, and left. I was fly.

It was four-thirty when I arrived at Rachel’s. I parked the Range Rover on the corner of the block as planned, then walked down the street, passing three single homes to reach Rachel’s. It was a brick single two-story home with vinyl sides. The grass was freshly cut and a small garden was maintained along the walkway. I rang the doorbell.

“Hiii,” Rachel sang as she let me in her house.

I gave a slight smile and said hello.

“Celess, it is nice to meet you,” she said, looking me over. “Have a seat.”

I sat down on a red fabric sofa neatly decorated with multicolored pillows. In front of me was a wooden coffee table with a glass top. There were issues of Essence and Sports Illustrated spread across it.

“Can I get you anything to drink-a glass of water, perhaps?”

“Yes, thank you.”

I looked around the house. The walls were covered with family photos. From the looks of it, Darrell and his wife had three kids, two boys and an infant girl. I was disgusted that he never mentioned any of them. One thing I couldn’t stand was a man who denied his kids. Did he think I wouldn’t have dealt with him if he told me he had children? And if so, it’s not that much good pussy in the world (even if I did have one).

“Here you are,” Rachel said as she set the tall glass of ice water down on the table.

She sat down in a reclining chair to my right and crossed her legs. Rachel seemed very sophisticated and somewhat posh. She had pale light skin with big brown eyes and a big smile. She wore her hair down on her shoulders. It was bouncy and curled. She had on a dark blue jean skirt that came to her ankles with a slit up the side to her knee. Her yellow short-sleeve cotton shirt was tucked in neatly, revealing a brown leather belt. She had on some brown flip-flops to match her belt. A pretty face, but she was so simple. She was a plain Jane. She had nothing on me.

“You have a beautiful home,” I said, trying to break the awkward silence.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling, staring at me strangely. “We just did some remodeling right before the baby was born,” she explained.

“How old is she?” I asked, referring to the baby girl in the pictures.

“She’s going on three months. I had her on April twenty-first, the day Darrell had to close an urgent business deal, or so he said. But I’m sure he was at the beach house with you,” she said, still smiling.

I almost spit out my water.

“We’ve been married for eight years, since we were twenty-four. We have two boys, Darrell, Jr., or D.J., he’s seven, and Andrew, he’s four, and now a girl, Danielle,” Rachel volunteered.

“I always suspected that he was cheating on me, even before you, but I just couldn’t prove it,” she continued. “But he never slipped up like this before, giving out our home number. He must have felt comfortable with you calling here while I was in the hospital with Danielle. But that was still stupid of him,” she said, thinking aloud.

I just sat there and listened, occasionally getting lost in my own thoughts, trying to figure out why the hell I was there in the first place.

We heard a car pull up in the driveway. Rachel stood up and walked toward the door. I sat up straight and became alert.

“It’s him,” she said.

“Hey, honey,” Darrell said as he entered the opened door. Darrell kissed his wife on the cheek and gave her his laptop bag. She placed the bag in the closet by the front door as Darrell walked toward the living room.

“Who-who is this young lady, sweetheart?” Darrell stuttered, with a puzzled look on his face.

Rachel entered the living room behind him. “Don’t you recognize your friend Celess? She phoned the house on Friday and we got to talking and I invited her here today so that we can get to the bottom of your infidelity issues,” Rachel told her husband.

Darrell looked pissed off. “What did I tell you about snooping around in my business?”

“Honey, you’re the one who gave her this number. It’s not like I went looking for her.”

“Where are the kids?” Darrell asked, as if they’d just popped in his head.

“They’re over my mom’s.”