14
It was my turn to host our girls’ night, and I was sitting on my bed watching Nicky rifle through my collection of essential oils, praying she didn’t swipe my lavender oil while I wasn’t looking.
“What man’s been sleeping in your bed?” Nicky asked from her seat at my vanity, the same vanity that matched the same bed and dresser I’d had when my family first moved into this house decades earlier. I marveled at how it all still looked brand new, but realized my father had paid a pretty penny for it. He may have been an inattentive father and a womanizer, but he was not cheap.
Angie chimed in, “Yeah, I was going to ask you about that when I first stepped in here. It definitely smells like a man’s been in here. At first I thought you’d been sneaking Robert in here, but you truly hate him at this point with the way he’s dragging this divorce out.”
I’d lost my mind when I first got back from Atlanta, spraying that cologne on my sheets and in the air like a freaking air freshener. Then we had that little run-in at Genesis, and I promptly trashed the bottle and washed my linens, but I was sure it was in the carpets.
I shook my head. “Y’all are probably just smelling a sample from some magazine over on my nightstand. I haven’t had any male company whatsoever anywhere.”
“Still upset about how Lorenzo acted at Genesis the other week?” Angie asked.
I shrugged.
“Well, from what you told me about the whole Lorenzo thing, you played yourself, big sis,” Nicky said. “I mean, you did basically tell the man to back off. How’d you expect a man who wants you so bad he’s willing to lick your kitty on the third date to react to being rejected?”
I glared at Angie, since I’d only told her about the whole oral sex in his kitchen thing and not Nicky.
Angie stared back at me, wide-eyed. “What?”
I sighed. “You just had to tell her.”
Angie grinned. “I knew if anyone would appreciate hearing about that, Nicky would.”
“Mm-hmm, and if it was me, his face would still be between my legs!” Nicky declared.
“Can we talk about something else?” I groaned.
“Why? Because you’re getting all hot and bothered over there?” Nicky asked.
I scooted further up in my bed, careful to leave my feet hanging over the side so my wet toenails didn’t touch the comforter. “No—shit…yeah. You’re right. I played myself, and now I’m stuck in divorce purgatory with Robert with no relief. At least Lorenzo gave me something to look forward to, and I had to go and snatch that away from myself. I’m so damn stupid.”
“No argument here,” Nicky said.
“Damn, Nicky. Kick her while she’s down, why don’t you?” Angie said.
Nicky sucked her teeth. “Look, you two are cut from the same cloth, the Lisa Boston-Strickland cloth. Y’all are just like Mama used to be—dutiful, upstanding, boring. Sitting around clinging to men unworthy of you, missing out on good, nasty sex. No fun or spontaneity in either one of you.”
“Excuse me? I think you need to remove me from that category. I mean, did you forget I’m Mrs. Boyé now? Ain’t shit boring about my life in or out of the bedroom. Best believe that,” Angie shot back.
“Girl, my bad. I know you getting it good now. I was talking about your pre-Ryan era. Anyway, back to you, Renee. You get ahold of what you describe as a fine nigga with exceptional cunnilingus skills, and what do you do? Kick him to the curb to remain true to Lord Voldemort’s ass! You better learn to let loose.”
I threw my hands up. “I’m trying! But…I can’t do anything right now but will myself not to kill Robert. I despise his lying ass!”
“Well, I guess he’s living up to his threat to make you regret filing for divorce,” Angie pointed out.
“The only thing I regret is ever even looking in his direction all those years ago. The best decision I ever made was filing for divorce, and if he keeps messing with me, he’s going to be the one with regrets.”
*****
I sat in Danielle’s office and shook my head. She had been in contact with Robert’s lawyer as we attempted to reach a settlement that would keep us out of court. As it stood, the courts were backed up, and we weren’t scheduled to go before a judge for another couple of months. I wasn’t going to be able to spend another couple of months married to Robert if I was to retain my sanity, so I told Danielle to offer him the house, his car, half the money in our joint savings account even though he’d made no deposits, and all the proceeds from the sale of a plot of land we’d bought on the outskirts of town with plans to eventually build a home there.
This meeting was scheduled so that I could read Robert’s answer to my amended petition for divorce.
And this fool had gone from bad to worse.
He was fine with everything I proposed, even dropped the request for spousal support. But now he wanted me to sell my portion of Genesis Birthing Center and give him that money, too.
I slumped back in my chair, listening as Danielle explained how a judge might actually rule in his favor because Cass and I had opened the center six years ago, after I married Robert. My interest in the center was essentially community property, and even though Tennessee wasn’t a community property state, Robert’s lawyer could make a compelling argument and just might sway the right—or wrong, depending on how you looked at it—judge.
I closed my eyes as cold, hard rage filled me. I had worked my ass off, me and Cass both, to build that place into what it was—a thriving, successful, black-owned medical facility. The only one of its kind in the county and for several miles. Genesis was our baby, our legacy, and he knew that. He knew how much it meant to me.
But the worst part was the fact that I had always supported him in his career at Garner Technologics. He was in sales and had earned a huge commission when I persuaded Cass that we should purchase our copier, fax, and phone system from him. I always, always wanted him to win. Even after we split, after he devastated me with his countless infidelities, I never wished him any ill will. But it seemed he was trying to destroy me, and I just didn’t understand why.
I left Danielle’s office feeling defeated. Wished I could go back in time and erase ever having met Robert Mattison. I sat in my car on the parking deck and closed my eyes, trying to will the throbbing headache that was nearly blinding me to cease when my cell rang. A quick check of the screen informed me the call was from my husband.
With a scowl on my face, I snatched the phone up from the console and answered it by yelling, “What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why are you doing this?!”
“So you read my answer to your new petition, huh? Look, why don’t we go have some drinks tonight, talk about reconciling. You are ready to reconcile now, aren’t you?”
I held the phone, then took it from my ear and stared at it. Then I ended the call. I was upset, hurt, angry, but I wasn’t going to sit there and let him gain satisfaction from playing with me. He thought I was still the old Renee. The one who begged him to stop cheating and go to counseling. The one who actually sat and babysat his baby for a few hours until Angie talked some sense into me. The one who turned her head night after night, pretending not to know he was cheating. I might not have been perfect or the strongest woman in the world, but I wasn’t her anymore. I hadn’t been her in a long time.
I kept my mind off our upcoming court date and the possibility of losing my business by recommitting my time to the organizations I’d abandoned during my marriage. It felt good to be amongst old friends again, and they quickly embraced me, got me plugged into some committees. For Mahogany Women in Motion, I was given the duty of trying to sell the last three tables for the annual benefit, a casino-themed affair complete with fake money and roulette tables. Chaka Khan was to provide the night’s entertainment, so I hoped that would be a good selling point. I bought one of the tables myself, convinced Nicky to get her lawyer boyfriend to buy another, and unloaded the last one on an old college friend who owned a local day spa. In the three weeks leading up to the event, I’d have to find appropriate attire and convince Mama to come. Invitations to join me at my table had already been accepted by Angie and Ryan, Janine, and Cass and her husband. I was going to have a good time that night. I was determined to. This was the very event where I’d met Robert all those years ago, and I was going to do everything in my power to attach new, better memories to it.