“I’m going home.”
“Nah, you’re not going alone. I’ll go with you. You never know what that nigga over there doing or if he’s gone.”
“Well, from all the text messages he sent, I’m sure he’s gone.”
“I’m still going. We can stop by the hardware store so I can change your locks and set up some cameras. I really don’t want you over there, but I understand it’s your house.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
We stopped for him to get new locks and then stopped to get a few cameras. I hadn't told him that I planned to stay with him for a few days. All I was doing was going to deal with Kileen head-on if he was still there. He sent several messages last night about how I was the biggest hoe he had ever met. How he was going to make sure the public knew I wasn’t who I portrayed to be. That I wasn’t worried about. I was a grown ass woman and I could stand on whatever I got caught doing. It was crazy how he was ready to blast me, while I covered his mess with his side baby.
I was not expecting my house to be empty when I walked in. Kileen emptied the damn house all the way to the appliances. He left nothing. I rushed into my closet and he emptied that as well. It was left the way it was after it was built. He stripped all the light fixtures out and all. My home office was empty besides the few client files I had.
“Baby, let me change the locks on all the doors real quick, and I’ll get you out of here and get you whatever you need.”
I was broken, and Jah had been here since the beginning of my brokenness. Not once had he thrown in my face that I made the wrong decision.
“Hey,” he turned me around. “I got you. I’ll have the house back like you had it, or if you want something different, we can do that too. Don’t let this break your spirit. I told you last night, trust me.” He kissed me and went to work.
I walked up to my room and closed the door. He took my jewelry box and all. Half the jewelry in it, he didn’t pay for. Pulling out my phone, I dialed Kileen’s number.
“Hello,” Siya answered.
I wasn’t surprised he had her stupid ass answer his phone. He made it clear that night, she was his choice. It was me believing his ass that he was changing.
“Where is Kileen? Tell him get his weak ass on the phone.”
“He can’t talk right now. He’s tending to his daughter.”
“Look, I know he’s standing next to you. He’s coaching you and throwing you in the middle of shit that you don’t want to be in.”
“He’s not telling me anything.”
“Kil, I know your ass can hear me, so listen clearly. You walked out of my house with shit that belongs to me. I’m not even mad because my man is going to replace everything you took and more. What I am mad about is that you were too weak to walk away with what you came with. And for that, you will pay. Oh, and little Ms. Siya, since you want to be in that nigga ass crack all the time, I’ll make sure you’re left with nothing too.” I hung up the phone in her face.
I was fuming that I wanted punch a hole in the damn wall. Nigga had my floors scratched up and all. I blocked Kileen’s number and sent my lawyer a text. I wanted to get this divorce going as soon as possible. Kileen has his own money, and I knew he was going to fight. I had one up on him, though, my daddy and all his connections.
Two hours later, Jah had changed all the locks. We reset the garage door and were now pulling away from the house that I built, hoping to one day have a big family in it. Jah reached over, grabbed my hand, and kissed it as he pulled off.
“Where do you want to go first? You want furniture or you want to start with the appliances? It’s whatever.”
“I just want to go back to your place.”
“We can do that too. You need to eat something, though.”
“I’m not hungry,” I said, looking at the window so he wouldn’t see me crying.
I didn’t want him to think I was crying over Kileen. My tears were from embarrassment. Had I picked Jah months ago, I wouldn’t be here. A part of me felt like Jah would throw this in my face later on in our relationship. Jah pulled over and shut the car off.
“Tatiyonna,” he pulled my face towards him. “Talk to me. I know you’re going through a lot, and I’m willing to give you the space to cry and do all you need to do. My heart is telling me it’s something else, though. What is it?”
“Are you going to use this against me? Like later on in this…whatever this is we got.”
“Don’t play with me right now, Tatiyonna. Have I ever played about you? This shit that happened today is dead. It’s you and me if that’s what you want. I’ll never mention that bitch ass nigga as long as you don’t. There’s nothing you need from him. If I’m your man now, I supply what you need. And that means everything. What you do with your money is your business. Don’t get me confused with him, ever.”
He wiped my tears and leaned over to kiss me before he started the car back up. Jah gave me space when we got back to his spot. All I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, so when I woke up, I could think clearly. He had some emails to answer, so he was down in his office. As I closed my eyes, my thoughts went back to when I first met Kileen. He was wearing a mask the entire time. He came off sweet and innocent. A kid who was good at sports and had to get it out of the mud. Nigga sold me a dream that I was the only woman for him. I saw the potential in him, now I was starting to think that once we built our life and his money started rolling in, he was no longer in need of me. The women came to him easily. Then it came to me the day that he met Siya. I brushed it off that day, but it was very vivid now.
I rolled over and grabbed my phone. Tapping at my photos, I flipped through them until I reached the picture of the condomI found in his clothes before I took them to the dry cleaners. He told me his co-worker dropped it in his work truck, and he picked it up and didn’t think anything of it. That was two years ago. Now I knew why Siya was so established, shit, they had a long-term relationship. I didn’t think this photo would help me seal the fate on my marriage. There was no longer an amicable divorce. I wanted their ass broke when I got done.
