[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Deanna walks up to the door, putting the key in its slot. Upon opening the door, she stood face to face with Nick...an angry Nick. "Where the fuck have you been?" "Hello to you, too..." "Don't play smart...where the fuck where you?!" "Why are you yelling at me?" "You didn't call...you didn't tell me where you were...you had me worried sick..." Deanna just looked at him. "Alright, fine...I was at Brian's house, alright? I wanted to get away from you, so I went to his place, and I--" "Fucked him?" "What? No! I spent the night at his place, nothing happened! I'm not some whore that you picked up off the street, Nickolas..." "I'm starting to think that." "And another thing, if I---what did you just say?" Nick walks up to her slowly, and grabs her arms. "You fucked my best friend, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?!" His grip on her arms was tight...excruciatingly tight. "Let me go..."

"Not unless you tell me the Goddamn truth...did you have sex with him?" "I told you, no!" Suddenly, he strikes her hard in the face. "You're a fucking liar!" Deanna slid down against a wall, looking up at him in shock. "You hit me...you fuckin' hit me..." "That's what you deserve..." The noise of their arguing woke up little Cassie. "Mommy...?" Deanna looked up, and got up, walking to Cassie, picking her up.

"Hey, baby...you wanna go somewhere with Mommy? Huh?" Cassie nods sleepily. Deanna looked back at him. "That will be the first, and only time you ever put your hands on me..." She takes Cassie upstairs, and puts some clothes in a suitcase, along with her own. "Where we going?" "Away for a while, honey. Get dressed." Cassie puts her shoes on, and ties them up, then walking to her mother. "See? All done!" "Yeah…that’s great, baby…" she said, wiping away her tears. "Are you ok, Mommy?" Deanna turns to her daughter, who has no knowledge of what her father had done. "I’m fine, sweetheart…are you ready to go?" "YES!" she said, holding her arms out. Deanna picks her up, dragging her suitcase along with her. As she goes downstairs, she sees Nick against the door. "Where the hell are you going?" "Away from you…now move." "You’re not going anywhere…you are my property…" "I am NOBODY’S property, and you know that! Now MOVE!" she roughly pushes him out the way, quickly opening the door, running out with her daughter and suitcase in hand.

Meanwhile, Christiana now resides in AJ’s apartment complex. She lays on the couch, watching TV, her hands behind her head. AJ walks in with a glass of grape juice and a sandwich. He sits it in front of her, and smiles. "I hope you’ll enjoy Uncle AJ’s Snack Attack. " "I’m not hungry." She simply said. "Come on, C…you haven’t eaten in days. You’re wearing yourself down about this whole Howie/Kevin business." "Howie is my life…I can’t live without him." "If he’s willing to kick you to the curb, then you don’t need him. Hands down."

She didn’t want to be preached about her lack of a love life, but deep down she knew that AJ was right. "It’s Howie that can’t live without me. It’s me that needs to guide him when times get rough on his end," she thought, sitting up, picking up the sandwich. "Atta girl! Now, tell me…" AJ sits next to her, rubbing his knees. "How did this three year thing with Kevin begin?" After taking a bite of her sandwich, she coughed a little, then turns to him, sighing. "Remember when I found out that she was pregnant with Cassie?" "Yeah…" "Well, Kevin wanted me to find out what was wrong with her, and when I did, he came over to my apartment. I broke the news to him, and he wasn’t pleased one bit. He got so pissed, he punched a hole in my wall…I then calmed him down, telling him that she had feelings for him from the start." "Go on…" AJ began to get really interested in what she’s telling him. To him, this was gossip in all its glory.

"He was about to leave…but then I got lost in his gaze…then one thing led to another, and we…" "Made cookies?" She gives him a serious gaze. "Be serious, Alex. And from there on in, we kept seeing each other secretly. He said he was having the time of his life, and that there was no one else he’d rather do this with." "Wow." Christiana laughed at his response. "Is that all you can say? ‘Wow’?" "Well…yeah. It’s hot!" Christiana playfully hits him, and gets up, walking to the window. "Now, I don’t know what to do…I mean, Howie doesn’t want to be with me…he thinks I’m a whore…I want to go back to Kevin, but—" "You still love Howie." She turns to him, smiling weakly. "Exactly. What am I going to do?" "Talk to him." "What if he’s not going to listen to me?" "Trust me, C. He will." Christiana smiled at him, and gives him a hug, and a kiss on his cheek. "You’re such a great listener, AJ. Thank you so much for taking me in…" "Anytime, C…want me to drive you there?" "Yeah…thank you."

"He did what?!" Deanna shows him the near red welt on her face. "His ass is mine!" Deanna grabs the sides of his arms to stop him. "Brian, that won’t be necessary. Violence only begets violence, and I don’t want anything else to erupt on my account." "You didn’t do anything wrong, Deanna…he has no right to lay a finger on you!" "Calm down…please…" Brian holds her face in his hands. "I can’t calm down, not after what he’s done to you…I care for you too much for anything to—" Deanna looked into his eyes. "What did you say?" "Dee, I care for you…I always have. I don’t want anyone, not even Nick to harm you…I hate to see you get hurt…"

"And I don’t want you worrying about me, Bri…I’ll be ok." Brian just looked at her. He couldn’t believe what she was saying to him. His ears didn’t want to believe that she still loves him after all he’s done to her. "You still love him…don’t you?" Deanna looks up at him again. "Right now, Brian, I’m not sure if I exist to him anymore." "I don’t understand what you’re saying." "I’m saying…" she then takes a deep breath. "I’m saying I’m divorcing Nick. This whole marriage was a huge mistake, but I wouldn’t take back one thing…" "What’s that?" "She’s right there…"

Deanna and Brian turn to Cassie, taking out her Barbie dolls, starting to play with them on the couch. "I love her with all of my heart. I don’t want her anywhere near that man." Brian couldn’t believe what he just heard. All this time, she thought that Nick was the world to her, that he was her everything. Those thoughts were then squashed by her announcing divorce. "So, what are you going to do?" "I was thinking of staying here for a while, if it’s not too much trouble." "You’re always welcome here, Deanna, you know that…" "Thank you, so much…" She walks up to him, and holds him close, giving him a light kiss. Bewildered, Brian looks at her, not knowing what to do. "I...I…you’re welcome, Dee…" After acknowledging him with a smile, she takes her belongings and goes into the vacant room, calling Cassie to come with her.

After hearing the wise man talk to her, she decided to go talk to Howie. Not knowing what good it’ll do, but she wanted to give it a shot. "It’s worth a try," she thought to herself. Parking the car in front of his house, she exits the car, and runs to the front door. As she was about to knock, she stops herself, her fist in mid-air. "Maybe this is a mistake coming back here…" she said to herself. "This is wrong…"

As she was about to turn around, the door opened. To her surprise, Howie stood before her, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Hello…" "Hey…listen, can we talk?" "What about?" "You know exactly what…about us, Howard…" "As far as I’m concerned, there is no ‘us’. Please don’t waste your breath on something that’s dead." As he was about to turn around and go back in the house, she quickly grabs his arm. "Don’t you dare say that…you know all too well that this marriage isn’t over…you need me." Howie just stood there for a few seconds, and began to laugh. "Me? Needing you? Chris, you’re not my sole provider! I have a life outside of you, and you know that! I have my club to keep me company…" "Is that right?" Howie nods. "Well, tell me this? Does your precious club keep you warm during the cold, winter nights? Does your club tell you that you look so handsome in the clothes I pick out for you? Or rather…does your club give you excellent love making each and every night?" "Can you please leave?" "Answer me. Because I am not leaving without an answer…"

"Howie, who are you talking to out there?" Just then, a woman walks out of the room, standing behind Howie. Christiana’s eyes shifted to the mystery woman. "Who’s this?" "I’m his girlfriend…who the hell are you?" Chrissie’s eyes then switched gears towards Howie. "Girlfriend? We’re NOT even divorced, and you have a girlfriend?!" She hauls off and slaps him hard in the face; a red welt quickly develops upon his cheek. She storms off toward her car, getting in, starting it up. "Why you…!" "No….let her go…"