|
Episode
#8
"What?"
Sharay exclaimed as she picked up pace on the Stairmaster.
For the past three years, every Saturday morning was
spent in the gym for Sharay and Destiny, each doing a half hour
on the stair master, half hour of weights and a jog on the
inside track. This
morning, with all her pent up energy, Destiny opted for an hour
on the Stairmaster, and a half-hour in, she was already soaked,
her white tee-shirt clinging against her upper body.
"Girl," Destiny huffed, as her hands and knees
pumped in sync, "I don't even know what to do about that
situation."
"So you and
Devon
aren't gonna see each other any more?"
"I don't think it's gonna go that far, Ray,
but…" Destiny stopped to catch her breath, "we'll
see." They
pumped and sweated the last half hour in silence, both
concentrating in moving faster.
When their Stairmasters beeped to conclude their hour,
both stepped down from the their machine and wiped them down
before doing some stretches.
Making their way over to the free weights, Destiny took a
swig from her bottled water before speaking, "I really like
Devon
."
"I know you do," Sharay responded.
"I wish, I wish so badly that I could just open
myself up to him, you know?
Just like tell him exactly what I'm feeling and what I
want from him, but it's just so hard.
"Last night, he was kissing me and making me feel so
just in need for him and instead of being totally there with
him, my mind began wondering back to Frank and what he did to
me, and I felt so awkward, so unsure of my femininity that when
Devon asked me to tell him what I wanted, I fell silent."
"Damn Girl."
Destiny picked up two five-pound weights and began
raising her arms parallel to her shoulders and back down,
repeating the process. "Damn
ain't the word. I
had to be honest with him. Well
somewhat honest. I
didn't go into detail about Frank, but I told him that my
insecurities are just running rampant, and I really don't know
what I want or what I can give right now."
"If he's a real man, he won't pressure you to do
anything you don't want to do." Sharay huffed, following
Destiny's lead with the weights.
"He's a real man." Destiny sighed.
"That I know, but anyway, enough about me and my
pitiful existence, what's going on with you, Miss Thang?"
Smiling, Sharay answered, "We hanging out tonight,
Miss Destiny. He
dropped by this week and brought me lunch at my office.
You know this week has been mad hectic on a sistah."
"Yeah, I know about that minor conflict you had with
the big star deciding not to do the interview or cover of your
magazine."
"It took a helluva lot of self control to not snap.
We had a deal, we advertised and everything for it and
then she pulled out, out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
I didn't want to be a bitch about it, so I just said
fine, cool, whatever. We
found an equally awesome person for the cover…"
"You sure did because Miss Jacquelin Davies is one
of the hottest young black authors in the publishing world
today. Every
literate brotha and sistah out there is picking up her book left
and right."
"And consequently," Sharay smiled, "they
are picking up my magazine left and right, too.
Believe me, this sistah is da bomb and I think a better
interview than the sistah who dissed me.
"All in all, the magazine is slamming, just that I
didn't get much sleep this week having to work miracles.
Alexander was considerate enough to recognize that and
come feed a sistah in distress."
Destiny laughed. "I
told him that I'm not up to dancing or anything wild or public
tonight, so he's gonna stop at Blockbusters after his classes
and we're gonna cook dinner and watch movies."
"Mmm hmm." Destiny smiled, sitting down the
weights before stretching her arms out. "Aren't we getting
all nice and cozy?"
"Girl, as cozy as I can get!" Sharay laughed.
"The man is fine, he educated, we already know he
got moves.." They
both laughed. "..and
so I'm just going to ride this to wherever it's gonna go."
"I wish I had half of your tenacity, Ray.
You see something you want and you go for it, risk be
damned."
"It's the only way to go.
If you don't go for what you want, someone else will and
then you'll be sitting on the sidelines looking all down and
out."
"You need to be my power coach, help me on the road
to discovery."
"I'm sure I can hook you up with the perfect
deal." They
laughed.
"One day,"
Destiny said, still laughing, "I'm going to look back at my
past and laugh out loud, surprised that I even tripped off of
any of this."
Destiny turned to face Sharay, noticing the dry look that
fell over her face. "Ray,
what's wrong?"
"I guess God wants to put your laughter of the past
to the test," Sharay answered.
"Why?" Sharay
nodded to the right, and as Destiny followed Sharay's glare, it
became apparent who her eyes were focused on.
Standing tall, svelte in a hot pink leotard, was Teri
Gibson, Frank's wife.
Destiny felt her heart drop as her eyes
continued to stare at the woman who had managed to take her man
from her. Teri was a
high school friend of Destiny's and had been a bridesmaid in
Destiny's upcoming wedding, that was until Frank came to the
realization that he loved Teri more than he loved Destiny.
Destiny took in Teri's flawless creamy skin and her long
blond hair, pulled into a French braid down her back, the way
her pink leotard meld against the thin curves of her body.
Teri threw her head back and laughed as one of the gym
assistants obviously engaged her in comedic banter.
"You wanna leave?" Sharay asked,
snapping Destiny's attention away from Teri.
Destiny's mind took her back to when she initially found
out about Teri and Frank. She
never got into an uproar over the fact that Frank cheated on her
with a white woman, she didn't have to.
Sharay made enough ruckus for the both of them.
"I can't believe that ho had the nerve to show up
here. She knows that you and I frequent this gym."
Sharay sucked her teeth as Destiny took in a
deep breath. "No,
I don't want to leave." Destiny sighed.
"I'm not going to runaway every time I see her or
Frank." Destiny
turned away from Teri, walking towards the track that surrounded
the fitness equipment. "I
still have to do my jog, come on."
"You need to go over there and slap her
ass." Sharay seethed. "Tell
her off."
"Wouldn't accomplish anything."
"Yeah, it would.
Once and for all you could let out all that negativity
and redirect it to the people to blame for it instead of
torturing yourself."
Ignoring Sharay, Destiny glanced at her watch
before beginning a steady jog around the track.
"Don't try to ignore me, Girl," Sharay
continued. "I'm
just looking out for you."
Before Destiny could respond, someone who came running
into the gym and across the track knocked her back and off her
feet. Destiny let
out a yelp as she fell hard onto the track, landing on her
bottom.
Every eye in the gym was focused on Destiny
as Sharay helped her up. Rubbing
the lower part of her spine, Destiny gingerly walked a couple of
steps to work out some of the pain.
When she turned around, she came face-to-face with Frank.
Neither said a word as their eyes fixated on the other.
It wasn't until Sharay stepped between them
that their connection was broken.
"Don't know how to look where you're going,
Frank?" Sharay asked, as she glared at him.
Never leaving Destiny's face, Frank answered,
"I'm sorry, Destiny, I didn't even see you."
"Too busy looking at your wife no doubt," Sharay said.
Destiny gave Frank a quick once over, noticing how little
had changed about him in the last six months.
He still had that chocolate stocky frame and ebony eyes
that seemed to hold too many truths in them.
Clearing her throat, Destiny wiped at the sweat that
began to form on her brow and took several steps back to
distance herself from Frank.
Out the corner of her eye, Destiny could see
Teri making her way slowly over to where they stood and she
mentally braced herself from the weakened state that was sure to
come from seeing them here together.
The few times Destiny had seen Teri after the break up,
Teri was pensive, almost scared, as if any second she was going
to be jumped on by Destiny and beaten senseless.
Those days were long gone, as Teri sidled up beside her
husband, slipping her arm through his and smiling brightly up
into everyone's faces.
"Hi Destiny," Teri cooed in her
girlish voice. "Long
time no see."
The brightness from Teri's face paled
slightly as Sharay stepped beside Destiny, her arms folded
tightly and a scowl on her face.
"Yeah," Destiny said, joining the fake smile
club with one of her own, "it has been a while."
Frank remained silent the entire time.
The only movement from him was his eyes roaming over
Destiny's ample physique clad in a drenched, clingy tee-shirt
and black spandex tights. Destiny
felt repulsed with the knowledge that Frank was even staring at
her.
"I almost didn't recognize you,"
Teri continued. "The
last time I saw you, you were what?
Like 25, 30 pounds bigger?"
Instantly, Destiny's hand went up to keep Sharay from
charging at Teri.
"Well," Destiny smiled, pulling her
hair tighter into its ponytail, "I guess relieving myself
of dead weight kinda relieved my body of the same dead
weight."
"Isn't that the other way around?"
Teri clucked. "Wasn't
it Frank who let you
go?"
"Just one, Des," Sharay groaned,
begging to be unleashed on Teri.
"Is everything going well for you
two?" Destiny asked, her eyes moving from Frank to Teri.
"I mean why are you coming at me so nastily, Teri?
Last I remembered the score card, you fucked my man, and
so what, you giving me
grief?"
Sharay smiled smugly as Teri face reddened
like a beet. "Frank,
are you going to let her talk to me like this?" Teri asked,
pulling at Frank's arm, bringing him out of his daze.
"What?" he asked, his eyes still
glued on Destiny. Sighing,
Teri answered, "Nothing, oh and just so you know Destiny,
Frank and I are expecting."
The smile returned to Teri's face as it
slowly slipped from Destiny's.
If it wasn't for the small piece of pride she had left,
Destiny would have bawled right there, crumpled up and cried
like a baby, but with Sharay standing beside her she kept up the
pretenses.
"Really?" she asked.
"That's great, how far along are you?"
"Only about four weeks.
We haven't really told anyone, but I thought you being a friend
and all, we could at least tell you…and Sharay."
"Well I'm really happy for you two, and
I would stay and congratulate you some more, but I have some
errands to run before my date this evening."
"Date?" Frank asked, as if shocked
Destiny would even have someone interested in her.
"Date," Destiny said, nodding,
turning on her heels and leaving Teri and Frank without a
goodbye. Sharay
trotted up alongside Destiny and bent down to pick up her
bottled water and towel.
"You okay, Girl?" Sharay asked,
softly rubbing Destiny's back.
"My butt is a little sore," she
answered, "and I'm starting to stiffen up already."
"That's not even
what I meant."
"I know."
Destiny sipped from her bottle, her back at Frank and
Teri. With that
barrier, Destiny let her bravado fall a bit as a tear trickled
down her cheek. "So
Frank's having a baby."
"Yeah, the bastard," Sharay said.
"I can only hope it's a girl so it doesn't grow up
to be a man, but then again, Teri ain't so hot of a woman
either, so I would say that baby is doomed from the start."
"I wanted a baby."
Without a glance back, Destiny and Sharay walked across
the gym to the doors leading to the locker room.
"And you can still have a baby,
Des."
"Yeah."
In slow motion, Destiny slipped out of her clothes,
snatched up a towel and headed to the showers.
"Hey," Sharay yelled in to her.
"You wanna come over tonight and hang out with me
and Alexander?" Destiny
let out a laugh as the hot water mingled with the salty tears
that tracked her cheeks.
"Now how would that look?" Destiny
asked. "Don't
worry about me."
"I love you, I can't help but worry
about you."
"I'll be okay…this…this was just a
minor set back." Destiny
rolled her head back, allowing the scalding water to burn the
pain right out of her.
Sharay was tense.
Here she was, sitting at her dining room table having
dinner with Alexander and her mind was focused on her girl,
Destiny. When she
parted with her at the gym, she noticed that Destiny's eyes were
red and her cheeks were puffy.
She hugged her, insisted that she come over tonight to
hang with her and Alexander, but Destiny laughed again, letting
her know that she wouldn't be a third wheel.
Reluctantly, Sharay let it drop and ran her
errands so that she had enough time to clean her apartment
before her date. Comfortable
in a blue cable knit sweater and faded blue jeans, she was happy
to finally have Alexander come through her door with groceries
and videos. The
sight of his figure clad in denim and cotton made Sharay smile,
but nothing compared to when he dropped the bags to scoop her up
in his arms for a long, hard hug.
The warmth of his body helped to release some
of the concern she was feeling for her cousin, but now, sitting
and eating, all of her concerns resurfaced, creating a frown
upon her face. Alexander
looked up from his plate of linguini and noticed the frown.
"What's wrong, Baby?" he asked, placing his
fork alongside his plate.
"Huh?" Sharay asked, looking across
the table at Alexander.
"What's wrong?
You look really down about something."
Sighing, she answered, "You remember the night at
The Hitz, the girl who was beside me…the girl you shook your
groove thang on?"
Smirking, Alexander nodded.
"Well, that's my cousin, Destiny, and I'm just a
little worried about her tonight."
"Come on over to the couch and tell me
about it." Alexander
rose from the table, taking Sharay's hand and guiding her over
to her sofa, where they sat.
Alexander maneuvered Sharay between his legs, her back
resting against his hard chest.
Letting out a sigh, Sharay began, "Today at the gym
my cousin and I ran into her ex and his wife."
"Her ex?" Alexander asked.
"How long they been separated?"
"About six months, but to make a long
story short, Frank and Destiny were engaged to be married and
Teri was an old friend of Destiny's…also a bridesmaid in the
wedding. Just before
the wedding, not even a month before, he dumps her for Teri and
married her."
"Dang," Alexander said.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Destiny hasn't been right since.
She holds so much pain in that it won't let her be happy.
She continues to think about what could have been,
instead of seeing just how lucky she is to be rid of an ass like
Frank Gibson.
"She
could barely keep from jumping into his arms today, but then his
wife got all shitty and bitter at Des, like Des cheated or
something. When Des
found the strength to keep from crying, Teri hit her where it
hurt the most."
"What
she do?"
"She told Des that she's pregnant…her
and Frank are having a baby."
"Whoo!
What did Des do? No,
more importantly, what did you
do?"
"I was damn near begging Destiny to let
me say something, do something, this was before I knew homegirl
was pregnant, but Destiny said no, wanted to handle everything
civilized. She
managed to walk away with her pride intact, but afterwards, I
know she was upset…crying."
"I'm sorry, Baby," Alexander
whispered, slinking his arms around Sharay's waist.
"Do you want to call her, see if she's okay?"
"She'd just rip my head off.
She hates to be babied and would wring my neck through
the phone if I called wanting to know how she was feeling."
"Hmm, I wish there was something I could
do." Sharay
turned to face Alexander, a soft smile crinkling the corners of
her mouth.
"Just letting me vent means a lot to me,
Alex." She smiled, kissing his lips softly.
"I'm glad I could be here to let you
vent," he smiled back.
"I wouldn't want you going on a rampage and
everything. Might
hurt that girl and that punk Frank."
Sharay leaned atop Alexander and laughed.
"No, I try not to be a violent girl, even though today I was extremely
close to pulling out a can a whoop ass on those two.
But I wouldn't do that to my girl Destiny.
She's a very laid back sistah and violence is not her
style."
"You're a very good cousin, you know
that?"
"I
dunno about that. A
very good cousin would be there with Destiny right now, making
sure she's okay. I
just hope she's not dwelling on Frank, because she's too good
for him and the drama he caused her."
|
