Brothers and Wives (17 page)

Neil is seated at a small table across from LaNecia at Pappadeaux restaurant. She just got off work and earlier contacted Neil and asked if he could come see her since they work in the medical center area. She had some interesting news for him.

“So you’re saying that Scottie is messing around on Dani with another woman?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“How do you know?”

“Look at this.” LaNecia logs in to her MySpace account and shows him her cell phone.

“Scottie has been on my friend list for a long time. And I’ve noticed that every time I click on his page, strange women appear on his friend list. Gorgeous women who live in the Houston area.” She purses her lips. “How does he meet these chicks? And if he’s so faithful to her, why he talking to women online?”

“But how do you know that?”

“I just
do
. So I think you should tell her what’s going on. Because so far she is blinded by him and can’t see his true nature.”

“I dunno, LaNecia.”

“What don’t you know? The evidence is right in front of your face. He’s cold busted.”

“But why do you care so much that she knows?”

“I don’t want her to get hurt like I did.”

“LaNecia, please. You can’t stand Dani.”

“Look, nerd. I mean, listen to me, Neil. I don’t know what else to tell you. Scottie is a sneaky little something.”

“Well, I may have a little talk with him. Regardless if you’ve discovered he has a ton of new female MySpace friends, he and her need to slow it down. I don’t like her spending the night in his room in my house like they’re broke teenagers. She has a place. Go over there.”

She leans over the table. “That lady still likes you, Neil. She does. I see how she’s always smiling at you when Scottie leaves the room.”

“That’s because she thinks it’s funny that she’s ended up with my brother.”

“Well, she may be laughing now, but I know the bitch will be crying hard later on. Scottie is the type who draws you in with his personality, good looks, and charm. Then once he knows he totally has your heart, something happens and he’ll break it in two. The way he did me, I never saw it coming, I swear.” She winces as she recalls painful memories.

“LaNecia, you may mean well, but I don’t think you have enough proof. I doubt that Dani will break up with him over some MySpace junk.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to get more proof.”

Two days later, Neil calls LaNecia during his lunch break. She is also on her job but ducks inside the ladies room to take his call. She stands in front of the mirror, toying with her braids and holding the phone to her ear.

“Hey, what’s up cousin?”

“Have you heard from Scottie?” he asks.

“No, why?”

“I’d stay away from him at this point. When I told him that you brought up the women he’s friending on MySpace, he sounded upset and wondered why you were still prying in his business. He claims those females are work colleagues that he’s met in the construction industry. That’s all.”

“I don’t believe it. Men will say anything to save their asses. You know how y’all do. You claim ‘she’s just a friend’ until the girlfriend catches you in bed with the so-called friend. You just can’t believe him.”

“I’m just relaying to you what he said.”

LaNecia hangs up and thinks hard about what she can do to prove that Scottie isn’t as perfect as Dani might believe. She’s miffed at him because he broke his promise about getting back with her after she unsuccessfully tried to seduce him a whole month ago.

Since that trick didn’t work, maybe a different plan will
.

She logs on to MySpace on her phone and types in Scottie’s e-mail address. She types in “yssup,” a password she knows he used in the past and feels relieved it’s the correct password.

“This is crazy fun.” She clicks a couple of links and checks his friend requests. She sees that he’s asked to friend three different women last week. “They sure don’t look like construction industry workers to me.”

She glances at his profile and turns blind with rage
when she reads that his latest update reads, “I’m singing in ecstasy with my new lady.”

She changes his status from “In a relationship” to “single.” And she recalls all his new friend requests and deletes his five latest female friends.

LaNecia logs off and sends Neil a text that she’s coming over for dinner “but don’t tell anybody.”

Later that evening, she arrives at Neil’s front door. Instead of ringing the doorbell, she stands on the front porch and texts Neil she’s waiting outside.

“He’s in his room,” Neil tells LaNecia as he widely opens the door for her. “You better make it quick because my baby’s mama is about to come over.”

“I’m not afraid of her.” LaNecia runs to the second floor two steps at a time.

She quietly settles in front of Scottie’s closed door and leans in. The only sounds she hears are pelts of water splashing in the bathroom down the hall.

The lyrics “You are everything, and everything is you, Ohhhh” wail throughout the hallway.

She walks a few doors down and wants to laugh out loud when she discovers the bathroom door is unlocked. She steps inside, turns down the toilet seat, and sits on top of it.

Her clothes start to feel damp right away. LaNecia strips until she’s only wearing thong underwear, then slowly walks toward the shower. Scottie continues singing behind a black plastic curtain decorated with tan umbrellas.

She stands at the end of the shower, then slightly draws the curtain aside and peeks inside. Scottie squirts a handful of green apple shampoo on top of his hair and starts massaging his scalp.

Perfect
.

She takes a deep breath and steps inside the shower behind Scottie. She stares at his bare bottom then hugs his waist. His wet soapy skin feels good in her hands. She lays her head against his back and squeezes.

“Mariah?”

“Ummm,” LaNecia groans, savoring how it feels to hold Scottie in her arms once again. She presses her nipples against his back and starts rubbing her hands up and down his slippery belly.

“Hey, babe,” he says, but his voice is filled with uncertainty.

“Ummm,” LaNecia says again and mashes her lips on his back and lightly kisses his skin.

“Hold on a sec, I want to see you. I gotta rinse off my hair and dry my face.”

“Mmmmmm,” she moans helplessly and caresses his shoulders.

“That feels good. Hold on, babe.”

Scottie tries to turn around and face her, but she forces her feet to stay in place. He struggles again until he overpowers her and finally opens his eyes.

“W–what the hell you doing? Get outta here,” he hisses, lowering his hands over his penis.

“C’mon, baby, I’ll give you some right here, right now, like we used to do.”

Scottie hurriedly steps out of the shower. He snatches a huge body towel off the rack and twists it around his hips.

LaNecia counts to three then shyly steps out of the shower.

“Do you have another towel?” she meekly asks.

“No!” he snaps. “Here, use mine, hurry up, then get out of here. My gal will be here any minute. What if she …? I
don’t want anybody to see you in here with me. Especially my gal.”

“So you honestly care what she thinks?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What did you mean when you told me you loved me? Tell me. You owe that to me.”

“Cousin, please.”

She prays he sees the earnestness in her eyes, her body. Long ago, she was told men are weak, that every woman possesses the power to bring down any man. From U.S. presidents, politicians, and popular preachers, woman can use her sultry voice to utter the right words, her thick and luscious lips to engage his imagination, her sexy curves, or ample cleavage.

If I’m so powerful, why can’t I get what I want?

LaNecia stares at Scottie and sees pain and confusion in his eyes. She wonders what it all means.
Is he feeling regretful because he knows he’s hurting me?

She finishes patting herself dry, tosses the damp towel at him, stares at her clothes that are scattered on the floor, and decides to get dressed.

“You know what I think? You are playing games, Scottie.”

“There’s something I want and crave so much, and you can’t give it to me.”

“But
she
can?”

“I’m trying to do with Dani what I couldn’t do with you. I
couldn’t
do it with you.”

“And you’re changing your true nature to try and capture this, this …” She sputters, unable to come up with an appropriate word to summarize her feelings.

“No, see, that’s where you’re wrong. By being with her, I am learning that I can be the man I was destined to be.”

“What type of man is that?”

“Honest, faithful, trustworthy.”

“Ha, yeah right. Does she know about all those women on your MySpace?”

“Yes, she does. And by the way, I know you’ve hacked into my account. I’ve changed my password so you can’t snoop around anymore.”

LaNecia bares her teeth and quickly recovers. “I don’t care. I was just messing around.”

“You overstepped your lines, cousin.”

A loud knock on the bathroom door interrupts them. Scottie holds his hands together as if he’s praying. He looks at LaNecia and whispers, “Please.”

She folds her arms over her chest and waits.

“Scottie, are you in there?”

After a while, the knocking ends. Several other minutes pass before Scottie releases the breath he was desperately holding.

“Cousin, I hope you understand.”

“Well, I don’t, but what difference does it make? Anyway, I need some cash,” she lies. “Can you help me out? I got another job but don’t start until next week. Then I won’t be paid for another couple of weeks….” She knows he can’t give her time, but he’ll part with money, probably out of guilt.

“Sure, I’ll help you.”

“Thanks.”

“No, wait. I can’t.”

“What?”

“I have a goal, and I need to save every dollar I can. Been saving ever since I got the construction gig.”

“You can’t even lend me …?”

“No, cousin, no.”

“I think someone would be very shocked to know that you didn’t answer her when she was at the door.”

“Um, thanks for not saying anything.”

“Scottie, the fact that you hid from her tells me you aren’t honest, faithful, or trustworthy.”

LaNecia gives him a hateful look, then slams the bathroom door behind her.

Minutes later, LaNecia pumps herself up to give herself the strength she needs to stick around for dinner. She rushes downstairs straight for the kitchen, where she knows she’ll find Anya.

“Hi, there.” She waves at Anya, who’s using two pot holders to carry a glass container of sweet potato casserole to the breakfast bar.

“Need any help?” LaNecia asks.

“Huh? You’re asking to help me with dinner? I think I’ve got it covered. If you want to do something, you can slice that pork roast. You know where the knives are.”

“Sure, I gotta do something, anything.” LaNecia opens the knife drawer, picks out the one with the sharpest blade, and presses the knife against the rack of meat and starts cutting.

“Whoa, watch it, girl. You sound like you chopping off someone’s head.”

“Oh, I guess my attitude is showing. I don’t want to chop off his head. I mean, I am not trying to chop off anybody’s
anything
. I just want to understand men.”

“Let me guess, you aren’t getting what you want and now you’re pissed off … again.”

“Well, I don’t see how you’ve lasted so long with Neil. Doesn’t he get on your nerves?”

“Girl, all the time!”

“But he still stays with you. Y’all still love each other.”

“We have to work at it, LaNecia. Any relationship worth having requires tons of work.”

“That’s what I thought. But what if the other partner isn’t willing to work at it, to try to make things better?”

“You know what, I just think you’re way too young to be so concerned about perfecting a relationship with a man. You ought to concentrate on yourself.”

“Please, Anya. No lectures.”

“I can’t help it. If young people would only do half of what adults tell them …”

“I
am
an adult!”

“Based on what? A number? The fact you drive a car that someone else paid for? The fact that you don’t live under your parents’ roof?”

“Well, yeah,” she says indignantly.

“Young people these days are living in a dream world.” Anya laughs and shakes her head. “Dang, when I say stuff like this, it just proves I’m old, huh? But as much as I wish I were younger and could have the knowledge and strength that are inside me right now, I wouldn’t want to be twenty-one again for anything in the world. That’s when people think they know everything, when in reality they don’t know anything. You think older people are stupid. But the opposite is true.”

“Why you ragging on me?”

“Don’t ever say you’re grown and you can do what you want to do, because, guess what? You really can’t! I’m twice your age and I can’t do what I please, so what makes you think you can?”

“’Cause I know how to play the game. I just gotta be willing to play. It’s just like playing Monopoly. At first you’re kidding around. But after a while, when the stakes are high,
you know you can’t be merciful anymore. You gotta snatch up those properties, bankrupt a Negro, if you want to go all the way and win the fucking game.”

“But some things that seem like just a game aren’t.” LaNecia notices the biting stare that Anya gives her. She feels like telling her to be quiet. There are times when LaNecia is willing to listen, but today isn’t one of them. She feels too frustrated by Scottie’s wishy-washy attitude to totally consider what any person over thirty-five advises her to do.

“Well, jeez, no need to get loud, Anya.”

“Huh? Oh, LaNecia, you’re right. I apologize. I–I there’s just a lot going on right now.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Well, for one, we’re having a ton of people over next month for the holidays….”

“I didn’t mean tell me literally.”

“Oh!”

“I gotta go. Going to say my good-byes, then I’m outta here.”

“You’re not staying for dinner?”