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A COUPLE HOURS EARLIER…

M y eyes rolled for the umpteenth time as I listened to my mother speak.

She wasn’t talking about anything important, and her visit was unannounced.

I had way too much on my mind to be worried about whatever she had going on.

I picked up my glass of wine and took a sip.

The buzz I previously had was beginning to fade.

“Mama, what are you asking me to do exactly? I’m not her mother, I’m her cousin.

She’s also eighteen. If she wants to run the streets, why are y’all trying to stop her?

Aunt Stacy didn’t do a damn thing when she was showing out in school so why she trying to discipline her now?

Look, I got things to take care of and worrying about anyone other than my husband isn’t it. ”

I stood from the stool and went over to the crockpot to give my stew meat a good stir.

When it came to making sure my husband came home to a hot meal, I took no days off.

I retired as a professor as soon as he told me to.

I pride myself on being a good wife, so I obeyed.

Now all I did was make our house a home and a place of peace for him. My life was quite easy thanks to him.

“ Tuh! A husband that you allow to cheat on you every year isn’t something to brag about, Naomi. You should be quite ashamed to even claim him out loud.”

“Oh, we’re talking about me now? Okay, let’s do it. What else don’t you like about Tristan, Mama? I’m dying to know.” I stretched my hands along the islands edge and gripped it. The glares I delivered were deadly.

One thing I didn’t tolerate was Tristan being talked about in ways that wasn’t praise.

I loved that nigga, and I do mean loved the fuck out of him.

It wasn’t nothing he could do that would make me turn away from him.

When everybody else pushed me to the side, including my mother, he made me a priority.

When I was trying to find my footing in this world, he helped me.

Trashing his name meant you trashed mine and that could result in you getting yo’ ass whooped ‘round these parts.

The only reason my mother knew what was going on was because her nosy ass couldn’t stop asking questions about our anniversary.

She was trying to live through me before she found out what we’d done.

My mother wasn’t someone I had to lie to, so I flat out told her.

Me and Tristan didn’t care who had anything to say about it, either.

“I don’t like that he makes you do those trashy things, Naomi. It’s not like you, and you weren’t raised to be a whore.”

“What things am I doing, Mama?” I inquired as I cocked my head to the side with dipped brows. I knew exactly what she was hinting at but since she wanted to speak on it, I needed her to say that shit.

“Letting him pimp you out to God knows who all so he could cheat in peace. When you get married, your body belongs to him and no one else. No man outside of him is supposed to experience you.”

I laughed before grabbing my glass again.

I gulped the remaining contents before tearing into her.

Some things you just needed to shut the fuck up about, especially if yours didn’t work.

My father walked right out the door from how unhappy he was with her.

Maybe telling me about mine wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

“Pimp me out? Ha . It’s me that proposed our annual anniversary gift, not him.

It’s me that introduced him to the swinger’s life, not him.

If you want to call me a hoe, so be it, just don’t forget to add a happily married one…

oh, and paid. You don’t like him but always asking him for money. Explain to me how that work?”

I shook my head at the bullshit my mother spewed.

She was so envious of me and Tristan’s marriage and there was no one who could convince me otherwise.

She had no one giving her the treatment she deserved so instead of trying to understand us, she bad mouthed us, then turned around with her hand out weeks later.

She was a joke to me which was why I gave her every excuse in the world not to spend time with her. However, today was unavoidable.

“You’re in a swinger’s club, Naomi. If you were just going to let any and everybody disrespect your body, why would you get married?” she yelled.

“Because that nigga loves everything about me. And for the record, I didn’t become a swinger until our tenth anniversary.

See your way up out of here, though. I’m trying to provide my husband with a peaceful space and in order to do that, I need to be relaxed.

You bothering the fuck out of me right now. ”

“I don’t know where you got such a disrespectful mouth from. It’s very distasteful,” she said snatching up her purse.

“I am my mother’s daughter,” I chimed glaring her down.

Not once did I ask her to be here. Whenever she came around, our conversations always steered toward my marriage. I was the only woman carrying the Malore name. Whatever she had to say was her opinion. It never really mattered to begin with.

She scoffed as she headed for the front door. I truly didn’t give a flying fuck when it came to Diane White. She was never a real mother to me anyway. When I needed her, she was never there. I figured life out on my own and still made my way to a college degree. Her raising me was comical.

Also, she had a lot to say about everything except why my father left her. She could point out everybody else’s flaws but wouldn’t acknowledge hers pushed my father away. I’d rather take a man who understood me over a man who tried to mold me to fit him.

My time and marriage with Tristan was a great one.

We didn’t argue as much and when we did, communication was the key.

We were a very transparent couple, and our marriage reflected that.

If that man was unhappy with me, he would’ve left a long time ago.

I’d had him clipped to my hip for eighteen years.

It was safe to say I was everything that man looked for in a wife.

I stirred the stew meat once more before I cut up some cabbage.

He asked for something hearty, so I went with stew meat over white rice, cabbage, a baked mac and cheese, and yeast rolls.

I wouldn’t have the pleasure of feeding him until after our anniversary, so the last meal had to be one of satisfaction.

Twenty minutes later, I had the cabbage boiling, rice covered on the back eye, and the macaroni in the oven.

I washed the dishes I dirtied up, wiped the counters down, then swept the floors.

A clean house was provided every day. I took my wifely duties seriously.

He would never have to come home to anything less than a meal, a ran bath, and good sex.

Once I finished up, I headed upstairs to the bathroom to get myself ready for my man.

He would be coming through the door within the next hour or so.

I was hopeful he didn’t get tangled up with a client.

That would push him back for an additional half hour.

I loved his work ethic but also hated the moments I missed him, and he wasn’t here.

The water was started before I stood at the sink to wash off the day's makeup. As soon as I wet my cloth, a text from Tristan came through stating he would be running a little late from stopping through to see Keem first. That would take no more than thirty minutes. I knew my husband, and he didn’t leave me waiting for too long.

I scrubbed for the next ten minutes then entered the shower. Standing directly underneath the warm water, it drenched my canvas. I released a heavy sigh seconds later. Normally after washing, my body would be consumed by my husband.

However, the red zone began this morning at eight and every slutty thing that crossed my mind had to be postponed for the next forty-eight hours.

Everything sexual stopped the second we entered it.

Once we got to our destination, and keys were handed over, I was no longer the woman he claimed.

It was bittersweet, but it was something I could handle because it was something I inserted into our marriage.

Our anniversary was less than eight hours away, which meant our gifts would be exchanged in less than twenty-four.

One pass, one lover, one day. That gave us another year of happiness and unapologetic gratitude for our marriage.

I was a Malore because he wanted me to be and unlike the regret everyone swore would come, I loved being the only woman with his name.

A colleague from Graceland Heights University introduced me to this swinger’s club called The Melting Pot.

We checked it out and figured it would be something fun and different from a traditional marriage.

Many people spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars on outrageous gifts for their spouse.

All I wanted was for him to enjoy a life with no regrets.

I saw too many unions fail because of it.

I was well aware of how it might’ve been frowned upon from others, but I lucked up getting a man who loved the ground I walked on.

He was hesitant at first because he truly thought I was setting him up or covering up my unhappiness but that wasn’t the case at all.

It took a minute for him to agree but I understood why.

We tried it one year with a random couple and never turned back. So, once a year I let him roam free before returning to me and fulfilling his vows. It didn’t change how he loved me and that made my love for him grow stronger.