Page 12 of Pieces of Us

Morgan

“ W hy do I feel wrong about this?” I asked Drue as we sat outside of Prime Steakhouse waiting for Justin to emerge.

“What do you feel wrong about, Mo? It’s clear you’re having doubts about your marriage, and the only way to get answers is to go seek them.”

“Yeah, but…I mean, he told me where he was going. It’s not like he lied.”

I felt foolish as soon as the words left my mouth.

Justin had been lying to me. I could feel it.

After spending years with the same person, it was easy to memorize their patterns.

Work had never interfered in our marriage.

However, I did notice when he started getting bigger clients, his workload superseded his work hours.

I could be tripping, but I knew I wasn’t.

Those hushed phone calls and staying out late were clear signs that something in the milk wasn’t clean.

“Then go home, Morgan. If you believe your husband, then take your ass home, and leave it alone.”

“Nah. I think I’ll stay…just to ease my conscience.”

“Cool.” Drue pulled a pre-roll from her purse as I frowned.

“Since when do you smoke weed?”

“Since my doctor diagnosed me with bipolar disorder.”

I laughed aloud. “Drue, please. I cannot with you. You are not bipolar!”

“Shit, I might be. Your daddy really did a number on me.”

“Speaking of him, did you know that he used to work for Nehemiah’s dad?”

“Yeah. I overheard him talking to Mommy about it a few years ago. The nigga wasn’t a saint then, and he sure isn’t one now…ol’ hypocritical ass. I’m almost sure he’s taking those folks money to fund his lifestyle. He’s one of the reasons why people don’t believe in God now.”

“He also said that if I tell Nehemiah about Megan, he’s going to get his father arrested.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I shook my head.

“Morgan, at this point, I don’t even think this is about you.

Daddy has a personal vendetta against Cole Newson.

Something happened that he’s not telling us, and it’s clear in the way he’s moving.

Why the fuck would he say that shit to you when he’s the sole reason why you’re going through this now? ”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want anything to happen to Mr. Newson, even though the man didn’t like me.”

“So, you’re not going to tell him about his daughter? You’re going to let Dad still take the wheel of your life. His ass is manipulating you—”

“I know, Drue, but maybe I shouldn’t tell him. I’m afraid that Megan won’t accept him, and Nehemiah will resent me. I-I still love him. It never went away, only suppressed. His smile, his kisses, that body, the sex…”

I closed my eyes trying to stop myself from feeling things I shouldn’t.

“God, please forgive me. I should not be lusting after another man when I’m married!” I scolded myself. Drue stared at me as if I had lost my mind. “What?”

“Sometimes, I worry about you, baby sis. In no way am I encouraging you to cheat on your husband, but if this man is deceiving you, then it’s only right that you get your lick back.”

“I’m not like you, Drue. I’m not a cheater.”

“Bih, you just sat there and got wet from memories of him alone. You already damn cheated!”

I slapped my forehead. My sister was a different breed. We may have been brought up in a church but wasn’t anything Christian about my dear sister. She may have followed the rules of saving herself for marriage, but once Ishmael broke her heart, she became a savage.

I may have been the one to break the rules when it came to saving myself, but I learned my lesson and stayed celibate until I married Justin. My sister, however, did not give a damn about the whole religion thing. She was going to do whatever she wanted when she wanted.

“And I doubt Nehemiah was laying it down like that back then for you to still have memories of y’all’s first time.”

My eyebrow raised as a smile crept on my face. “You have no idea, girly. He was way more skilled than me. So, trust me. It’s still imprinted in my memory.”

“Okayyy, Hemi! You better imprint that dick on my sis brain!”

“Drue, please shut up.”

We both laughed as my eyes went to the building seeing Justin walking out of the restaurant.

“There he goes.”

We watched while he shook hands with William Reed, the point guard for the Pillars. They exchanged a few words then went their separate ways.

“See? He didn’t lie.” I observed Justin get inside of his car and pull out of the parking lot.

“Follow him,” she said, lighting her weed.

“I’m not—”

“Morgan, don’t piss me off. It’s only seven. If he’s keeping late hours, then we need to make sure he’s going back to his office. This shit is suspect anyway because he has a whole office that he can do deals in. Why go to strip clubs and restaurants? Follow that nigga.”

She was right. I started the car and made sure to stay a few feet behind him.

It only took me a minute to see that he wasn’t heading in the direction of our home or his office.

We lived in Bloomfield, and his office was in Troy, so when he took the ninety-six freeway heading to Westland, I knew I was about to find out what I desperately didn’t want to discover.

My palms became sweaty as I gripped the wheel tightly. I didn’t want to be right about this. I was a good wife. I did everything that was required of me and made sure I kept myself up. Whatever Justin wanted, I made sure I lived up to it. I never disrespected him and always gave him my attention.

When he wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom, I put my career on hold and became just that. I loved being a stay-at-home mom, but I desired to do what I worked so hard for.

We pulled into a secluded neighborhood. I hit the lights and watched as he pulled into the driveway of a nice, cozy home. When he pulled all the way to the back of the house, my stomach sank, and tears threatened to fall.

Drue took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We kind of get the idea of what it is now. I’ll understand if you don’t want to continue the mission.”

“What did I do to deserve this?”

“You didn’t do anything, Sis. It’s not you. It’s his fucking ego.”

“I need to see this through. I need to know.”

“Then come on. Let’s go see what’s really going on.”

“What if they have cameras?”

“So? At least them motherfuckas gonna know that we’re about to fuck some shit up. Let’s go.” She opened the door as I called out to stop her.

“Drue, wait—”

She shut the door and started toward the house as I got out to follow her. We crept toward the house. Without warning, Drue did a flip and dived onto the ground, doing an army crawl toward the window.

“Drue! What the hell?” I said softly, trying my hardest not to laugh.

No more weed for her!

“Get down, bitch. You want to be seen?”

“Drue Alicia, you are freaking nuts.”

I ducked low and crept toward the front picture window. The drapes were closed, but there was a slight opening in them.

“Can you see anything?” Drue whispered.

“A little,” I replied, eyes scanning the living room.

From what I could see, I saw the open concept of the living room and dining area. The house was plush and looked beautiful. There was dinner on the table with a bottle of wine in the ice bucket.

“Do you see them?”

“Hold on.”

I watched as Jonathan and Jolie entered the dining room, then Justin joined them. I frowned in confusion because he had just left a restaurant, so why was he now dining with the Duprees?

I knew I didn’t trust Jolie’s raggedy ass. That look she gave Justin at my baby’s showcase told me she wanted him. Then Justin’s funky ass tried to clear it up as if he noticed she was giving him the flirty eyes and didn’t approve of it.

I continued to watch, and just when I thought this was just going to be dinner, I was quickly fooled when Jolie began to undress.

“Son of a bitch!” I hissed through my teeth.

“What? What’s happening? Let me see!”

I moved over some to let her see while we both watched this bitch undress in front of them. Jonathan pulled Jolie into his lap, and they kissed.

“What the…fuck?” Drue drawled, mouth agape.

Those tears I tried to suppress resurfaced, watching my husband watch this married couple seduce one another. He undressed while he watched them lustfully until he was down to the Calvin Klein briefs I bought him for Christmas.

A few moments later, Justin abandoned his seat and walked up to Jolie, snatching her mouth away from her husband. He leaned her head back, stuffed his tongue in her mouth, and caressed her breasts as Jonathan looked to be taking off his shirt. I couldn’t watch anymore.

“Oh, hell no!” Drue grabbed a brick that surrounded the flowerbed and was about to hurl it through the window before I stopped her.

“No, don’t! Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“So, you’re going to allow this? You’re not going to raise hell on this motherfucka?”

I shook my head. “Let’s just go…Please?”

I handed her the keys as I backed away and headed back to my car. Drue joined me moments later then pulled away from the house. The entire way to my house was silent. Anger, hurt, and betrayal ripped through me, and the tears began to fall.

How could he do me like this?

I thought we were happy. I thought I was doing everything right. Fourteen years all went flushing down the drain as my heart broke in the passenger seat of my car.

“That bastard! I fucking hate him. What type of sick shit is he on? What have I done to get treated this way?” I asked aloud as we pulled into my driveway.

I didn’t even want to go inside after seeing my husband partaking in a three way with the bitch I couldn’t stand.

“Stop asking yourself that, Sis. You didn’t do anything but be the woman you were supposed to be.

No one deserves to be cheated on and lied to.

We give too much in these relationships and marriages, only to be shitted on and taken for granted.

Just like Daddy chose Justin for you, he chose Ishmael for me.

And guess what? Both of those niggas turned out to be ain’t shit ass bastards. ”

“Our babies…”