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ONE
TATIYONNA COLE-MCGHEE
“What you gon’ do?” My best friend, Casi asked, looking over at me.
The rain was beating on my windshield as I watched my husband carry a baby carrier in the house and run back to the car with the same umbrella to help a bitch out of the truck. Casi wasn’t going to let me sit and sulk. I should’ve listened to my first mind and done this alone. I waited for him to walk into the house before I unfastened my seatbelt and just sat there for a few minutes getting my thoughts together.
“Do you have a plan?” Casi asked.
“Do I ever have a plan, bitch? No! Now get in the driver’s seat. If I don’t come back, call my daddy.”
“Oh Lord! If I got to call him, then that means your ass is in trouble.”
I exited the car, and the rain instantly made my hair stick to my face. I made my way up to his truck just to confirm my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. The same truck I surprised him with a few months ago for his promotion. He talked about the truck for months, saying he needed more room, and his other car had gotten too small to lug all his blueprints with him. Not knowing he was making room for his new family.
It’s been seventy days since he last had sex with me. Now I knew why. Patting my pockets, I made sure I had his spare key. My first thought was to just get in, pull off, and make him think someone stole it. That was too damn easy. I wanted him to know he was caught. I was wrong. I knew deep down I was wrong for walking my ass up to this woman’s door, but fuck it.
I raised my finger to hit the doorbell. I’m sure he had this ring camera set up for a reason. I made sure to turn my back to the camera. This time of night, I was certain he was going to answer the door. I could hear a woman’s voice coming down the stairs. To my surprise, there was no Kileen at the door. Instead, it was a woman that reminded me of my younger self. She wore her hair like me. Same piercings, same skin complexion, same almond eyes. She even dressed like me.
Everything was running through my mind. I could see my hands wrapped around her neck and her life slipping from her as I watched. Then a thought of just beating her ass crossed my mind. Then my mature side pushed through, reminding me that this shit wasn’t her fault and I had too much to lose. This was all on him. I pushed her to the side and stepped inside the house. Not only did she look like me, but he had her house decorated the same way as ours, except for a different color scheme. I didn’t know who was obsessed, him or her.
“Excuse me, who are you?” She asked in a soft-spoken voice.
Poor thing was young and had no idea the shit she got herself into. Kileen was very protective, so it shocked me that he hadn’t made it downstairs yet.
“My name is Tatiyanna. What’s yours?” I asked as I walked around the house, making my way into their kitchen.
“Siya.”
The sonogram and maternity pictures on the refrigerator let me know this nigga was in love.
“Can you please stop roaming around my home and tell me who you are?” She begged.
I stopped before placing my foot on the first step. “I’m Kileen’s wife,” I said before walking up the steps to find his trifling ass.
I didn’t even want to cause a scene and call his name out. I wanted to see his fucking face when he saw me. Siya was now on my heels. My first stop was the nursery, but he wasn’t there with the baby. Siya stopped me before I could make it to the crib. I would never stoop that low and harm their baby. I just wanted to lay my eyes on the baby. You know, look at what my husband made. My next stop was where a light was on, which was the master bedroom.
“Baby, I forgot to tell you I needed to run off real quick. I meant to do it while we were out, but it slipped my mind. I won’t be—” Kileen stopped talking as we entered the room.
“So, you showered and was going to head home to me?” I asked, looking at the color drain from his face.
His bottom half was wrapped in a towel. His gold rope chain with his old football number on it hung right between his breastplate. His caramel skin was wet, and I could smell his body wash throughout the room. My eyes roamed to his finger that was missing his wedding ring.
“Tati, ba…baby, what are you doing here?”
“Nah, why are you standing half naked in another bitch house? Whose baby is that, Kileen?”
“That’s our baby. And please refrain from calling me a bitch,” Siya chimed in.
“Siya, stay out of this,” Kileen warned, but it was too late.
Before I knew it, I was in her face. “Bitch, I was trying to keep you out of this shit, but don’t open your fucking mouth again. I’m trying to be somewhat of a lady in this situation. So, in themeantime, let me get my aggression out, which may result in you being a few bitches.”
“Tati, let’s talk about this in private,” Kileen pleaded.
