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“You only wanted to hang out with those hoodlums you used to run with.” She sniffled.
“Those hoodlums were my friends. They were people who got me.”
“Even your dad didn’t care for the crowd that you ran around with. He always said that you didn’t come from that.”
“Maybe I didn’t, but they were the people who I chose to be around. They were the ones who understood me. For my father’s dream, for your father’s beliefs, and your persistence, I turned my back on all that shit. I’ve regretted it every day since.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way, Cas.”
“Go to sleep, Beth,” I replied and headed to my suite.
Before I cleared the doorway, Beth threw her shoes at me, and I ducked, but one of them hit me in the head. I rushed down the hallway after her as she ran to her room. I caught up with her moments after she cleared the French doors.
Beth grabbed the fire poker from the fireplace and swung it at me.
“The fuck is wrong with you?” I growled.
“I will not grant you a divorce. I will have your ass tied up in court so long that your nuts will shrivel, and your semen will beso dried out you will never have kids. And I’ll have that bitch’s job!” Beth shrieked as she thrust the fire poker out at me.
“And I will destroy you,” I growled.
“You don’t have the power to!” she shouted, thrusting the fire poker again.
I timed my movement perfectly and grabbed her around the waist. I threw her on the bed, grabbed both her hands, and held them above her head. I refused to let her go but squeezed her wrist until she released the fire poker, and it clattered to the hardwood floor.
“Watch me,” I snarled.
Giselle
TWO MONTHS LATER
Piling into my Infiniti, our laughter filled the air. We enjoyed an afternoon of rock climbing and checking out the latest exhibit at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. We returned to my townhouse to shower and change before heading to dinner at Soldier’s. Now that our bellies were full of African cuisine, we were ready to dance off the pounds we gained.
“That ass is gonna spread. You know that, right?” Raegan piped up from the back seat.
“Who, me?” I asked, pointing at myself as I looked into the rearview mirror, pulling out of the parking spot.
“Mm-hmm,” Raegan muttered.
“Why?”
“All that food you just wolfed down, and then you got a plate of Senegalese Chicken Yassa to go.”
“I can afford to eat like this because I hit the gym or jog, and I play tennis every week. See, unlike my friend Raegan, I’m not lazy and don’t mind working off what I gain because I knowI love to eat,” I stated, smacking my lips and then twisting my neck. I smirked at Raegan’s reflection in the rearview mirror.
“Okay, children. That’s enough,” Eriss chided from the passenger seat, where she had reclined her seat all the way back.
“I’m just saying. And look at you, Riss. You can barely stay up. All that food has made you tired. How much dancing do you really think you’re gonna do?” Raegan teased.
“Uh-uh, I know what this is,” I stated.
“What’re you talking about?” Raegan drawled in her Texas accent.
“Yeah, what are you talking about, Giselle?” Eriss joined in.
“Raegan’s trying to convince us not to go out dancing tonight. But she doesn’t want it to be her fault. Instead, she wants one of us to renege.”
“Okay, why don’t I want to go out dancing, Doctor Mind Reader?” Raegan asked in an aggravated tone.