Page 1 of Inadmissible

Taj

“ Y ou ever seen Fences ?” Rey’s mother, Viola, asked.

“With Denzel Washington and Viola Davis?”

“Mhm.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it.”

“I used to say Viola was telling my life. The first twenty years of my marriage were horrible. They were toxic. Hard.” Her face twisted and head shook from the memories.

“Why was that?” Taj asked carefully, unsure if her boyfriend’s mother would be willing to go into detail.

They were at his parents’ home for a barbecue, and as always, Taj found herself stuck to Viola’s hip most of the time. It wasn’t by choice. Not always. When RJ got to his parents’ home, he often spent his time there catching up with his brothers and father or sleeping.

Taj had established a relationship with his mother to keep herself from being bored while there.

It didn’t hurt that they were born in the same month and had some of the same interests.

In the beginning, Taj wondered if that was what attracted RJ to her—the similarities she shared with his mother—but the more she witnessed Viola and Rey Senior’s marriage, the less certain she was if that was a good thing.

“Senior is pathological,” Viola confessed before finishing the last of her wine. Together, the pair of women had consumed two bottles of Port, and Taj wondered if the alcohol was the reason Viola was being more vocal about the woes of her marriage than she’d ever been before.

Pathological .

Taj knew what the word meant: habitual, obsessive—but how did that apply to her husband?

She remained silent, and Viola continued.

“Pathological cheater, pathological liar, pathologically selfish. We fought a lot, and he always packed his bags and left in front of the kids.” She chuckled and shook her head as it hung.

“They’d cry, which would make me cry and beg him to come back.

He’d have this smug look on his face when he returned.

I think that made him believe he could cheat, and I’d always take him back.

” Viola refilled her wine glass. When she lifted the bottle over Taj’s glass, Taj shook her head.

Intuitively, she felt the need to sober up.

“What I didn’t realize was I’d given him permission to treat me so poorly. ”

“How can you say that?” Taj almost whispered, cupping Viola’s knee.

“When we first started dating, I told him cheating and abuse were my non-negotiables. Back in that day, a man could get away with cheating and even having a second family as long as he paid the bills. I didn’t want that for myself.

I wanted to marry for love, not for financial security.

” Viola scoffed. “Look what that got me.”

She released a shaky breath. “The first time Senior cheated, I should’ve left him.

” With a grimace, she ran her hand up and down her thigh.

“I couldn’t even force him to leave so I’d have time to heal and see if I wanted to stay with him or go.

My oldest son was only two years old, and I needed the help.

So . . . He realized I’d stay. The moment I showed him that my non- negotiables and my self-respect weren’t real non-negotiables, he started cheating more and treating me worse.

” She pointed her finger toward Taj as she said, “I showed him the biggest betrayal wasn’t enough to make me leave, and by default, I showed him no matter what he did, I would always stay. ”

When Viola wiped away a quickly fallen tear, Taj licked the corner of her mouth and swallowed down her own emotions.

“You said the first twenty years were horrible, so obviously something changed right? Y’all have been married for what . . . forty years?”

Viola nodded with a chuckle. “Forty years. What happened was, the kids got old enough for me to feel comfortable leaving. I’d settled for Senior’s bullshit for so long that I finally reached my limit.

The man I once loved, I started to hate.

I left him, and losing me made him change.

Now we’ve still had our issues over the years, but he hasn’t cheated since we separated for a year.

I fell in love with him all over again, and he respects me now and won’t cheat because he knows I’ll leave. ”

“Mrs. Viola . . . why are you sharing this with me?”

Viola’s eyes darted over to the dining room where her sons and husband were sitting, drinking, and talking.

“Because I vowed to keep women from experiencing what I experienced with my husband because of my sons. Vincent is just like his father, and he cheats on every woman he gets with. Reymond is the opposite. He’s like me.

He saw my hurt and unhappiness and vowed to never put a woman through that.

While he won’t cheat, he also doesn’t get attached to a woman because he doesn’t want to be hurt.

He does damage in a different way . . . by being emotionally unavailable and downright crass when he wants to be, just to make a woman leave him. ”

“And RJ?” Taj asked, hopeful that somehow their youngest son, Rey’s namesake, was the perfect balance of them—loving and loyal, yet faithful.

“RJ is . . . a mix of us. Like me, he doesn’t want to stay where he’s unsatisfied or unhappy. But instead of him leaving, he goes to seek that satisfaction and happiness with other women—like his father.”

“So he cheats?” Taj asked quietly, eyes locking with RJ’s. He shot her a wink with his cocky smile that normally would have made her melt. That time, it made her heart skip a beat.

“He cheats,” Viola confirmed just above a whisper.

“You’ve been dating my boy for almost six months.

He’s pathological like his father. He will propose to you on your six month anniversary, and I can promise you, before your wedding, you will find out that he’s cheating on you.

” Viola covered Taj’s hand with hers. “Leave him, or you will end up just like me.”

As RJ walked over to them, Taj was frozen. Her heartbeat slowed down and mouth hung open as he kneeled in front of her.

“You ready to go, bae? That Hen got me ready to fu—ow!”

“Mind your mouth, boy,” Viola scolded. “You see me sitting right here.”

“My bad, Ma,” RJ said through his chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. “You ready?” he asked, putting his eyes back on Taj.

“Um, yeah. Uh . . . Can I use your phone real quick? My battery died and I wanna let my brother know you’re coming over.”

“Yeah, sure.”

After putting in his passcode, RJ handed her his phone.

She excused herself and stepped on the porch.

As quickly as she could, she went through his messages, finding nothing suspicious.

She went to his contacts, and though a few names had emojis, nothing looked out of place, until she got to her name.

Her actual name. Last they discussed it, RJ told her that her name in his phone was Bae.

When Taj went to the contact named Bae and noticed it wasn’t her number, her heart dropped.

She went to his call log, and there were several calls to and from Bae. When she went back to the text thread, she noticed her name and Bae were two separate text threads, and that was when the truth was confirmed through their conversations. RJ was, in fact, cheating on her.

Leaning weakly against the front door, Taj pulled in what she needed to be calming breaths.

“Not again,” she whined.

Taj waited until her tears had dried up to go back inside. After telling RJ that she was ready to go, she gave Viola a tight, lingering hug. After whispered thanks, Taj released her and told her goodbye instead of see you later like she usually did.

The entire twenty minute drive to her home, RJ’s words went in one ear and out of the other.

She didn’t even bother trying to pay attention.

All she did was stare out of the window willing her tears not to fall.

When he finally parked in front of the apartment she shared with her brother, she told him not to bother cutting the car off because he wouldn’t be joining her that night, or ever.

“Why not? What’s wrong?”

“Ask bae,” was all she said as she opened the door.

“I’m trying to,” RJ replied, gripping her arm and pulling her back into her seat. “The fuck is wrong with you, Taj?”

“I know you’re cheating on me, and please, don’t lie. I saw the shit in your phone.”

His body deflated into his seat like a balloon. “Taj,” he called softly. “I can explain.”

“There’s literally nothing you can say, RJ.”

“It was a mistake.”

“A mistake?” She laughed. “Cheating is never a mistake. It’s a choice.

And seeing as your last message to her was that you loved her and couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow, you’ve obviously been fucking with her for a while.

You make a mistake every day you’ve been talking to her? That’s what you expect me to believe?”

Sucking his teeth, he avoided her eyes. “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Scoffing, Taj hopped out of his car and slammed the door.

Each step she took away from him became shakier and shakier.

By the time she made it inside of her apartment, she was a blubbering mess.

At the sight of Taj sliding down the front door as she sobbed, Tyler hopped from his seat and jogged over to her.

He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and pulled her into his arms.

“What’s wrong? Who did it? Who I need to fuck up?”

“H-he cheated on me,” she cried, holding her brother tightly.

“RJ? Maaan, fuck that nigga, Sis. He was never worth you. I’ma let you cry tonight to get that shit off your chest but that’s it. Matter fact—” Tyler released her and headed outside as he said, “I’ma beat his ass for making you cry, and then I’ma let you beat his ass too.”

“Tyler, wait!” Taj yelled, running after her brother.

She knew Tyler would make good on his words because he’d always been a man of action.

Quite frankly, RJ wouldn’t be the first man Tyler beat up for hurting his sister.

RJ was so caught up in his phone that he didn’t notice Tyler running toward him until Tyler yanked his door open.

Had RJ not been wearing a seat belt, Tyler would have pulled him out of the car.

Instead, he punched him twice on the side of his face as RJ feverishly threw his car in reverse.

Taj watched as he swerved out of the parking lot.

Tyler pulled his sweats up and took his time walking back over to her with a frown, and as hurt as Taj was, she burst into a fit of giggles.

Tyler’s expression softened by the time he made his way back over to her.

“Nigga lucky he had that seat belt on,” Tyler grumbled, making her laugh even harder.

“I’m convinced our parents should’ve had you tested for some kind of mental or social disorder when we were kids.”

“They ain’t have to have me tested for shit to know I’on play about my little sister. Anybody can get it when it comes to you, and that’s on me.”

Her eyes watered again, that time for a different reason.

If she had no one else in her corner, Taj knew she could always count on her brother.

Wrapping her arms around him, she allowed Tyler to hold her close as she released more tears.

Once she was all cried out, they went back into their apartment, where they made her favorite comfort meal before watching comedies until they both passed out on the couch.