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I went to see if Taye was home and to get another brew, maybe something a little stronger to go with it. I definitely could use it. I went into the kitchen and got a bottle of beer, and headed for the bar in the living room to get a drink. I poured a drink.
"You wanna tell me about it?" Taye said, sitting quietly on the couch. The tears rolling down her cheeks let me know that she had heard the incriminating parts of my conversation. I shot my drink and poured another one, before I turned to face her again. She looked at me. The pain she must have been feeling shot through me faster than the drink.
"I know it sounds bad," I said, and thought that I should have ended that call when I first thought I’d heard something. Y’all just stupid that way. "But it’s not what you think."
I sat down on the couch next to her and reached for her hand. Taye jerked it back quickly. "Don’t touch me, Devin!" she yelled. "You’re messin’ around on me!" She started to cry. "How could you?"
"Don’t cry, Taye, please. I didn’t do anything," I lied quickly and reached out for her. I wanted to wipe away her tears, hold her, and tell that I loved her. But she turned away.
She wiped away her own tears. "How can you sit there and tell me you didn’t do anything? I heard you." Taye looked into my eyes. "I heard you say, ‘It shouldn’t have happened’." Her expression and tone had changed from hurt to anger.
"I know what I said, but just let me explain."
"What’s there to explain, Devin? Huh? Tell me, what you got to explain. What could you possibly say? I heard you!"
Taye got up and so did I. "Let me tell you what happened."
She looked at me and rolled her eyes.
"Let me tell you what happened, and you’ll see that I didn’t do anything," I said, working on the lie I was about to tell her.
"Okay, Devin, I’m listening."
Taye sat down, folded her arms, and gave me a look that let me know that no matter what I said, she wouldn’t believe me.
But I went for it anyway.
As calmly as I could, I told her the story of me and Sandra. How I gave her a massage that went too far, but I swore that was all that happened. I knew I should have come up with something better than the near truth, but it was all I could think of.
"Bullshit!" was Taye’s response.
"Believe me, baby, that’s exactly how it happened."
"I should have known something was going on!" Taye yelled. "All those late nights you’ve been having lately."
"I’ve been at work," I got up and walked over to the bar. I definitely needed another drink.
"Stop lying to me!" Taye yelled, and the tears began again. "I called your office—more than once; and never got an answer. Then you come home at ridiculous hours of the morning, do what you want to me, and then run to the shower."
"What are you talkin’ about?"
"You forced yourself on me!"
"What are you talking about?" I never forced myself on her. Taye was really losing her mind.
"I know you thought that I was sleeping, but I know when you come in! You dirty fucking bastard! How could you?"
She was right about that. I thought that with the amount of sleeping pills she was taking, she couldn’t have been awake to catch me. And if she was awake, why didn’t she say anything? "Taye, please, calm down. Nothing happened."
"Stop lying to me!" Taye screamed, and threw a lamp at me. I ducked before it hit me.
"You know you’re fucking that woman. The least you could do is to be man enough to admit it."
I’ve always wondered why at times like this, women always wanna question your manhood?
"There’s nothing to admit. Nothing happened for me to admit to. I did not have sex with Sandra."
Taye didn’t say anything for a second. Then her eyes narrowed. "Ain’t Sandra that country-ass bony woman you work with?"