Chapter 40
Mina
“Where are my keys?” Sam yelled from the foyer. I was coming up from the basement with laundry.
“Why are you yelling?” His attitude lately was unnerving.
“Because I’m looking for my keys, and you were the last one with them,” he lashed out. “You took my car to show a house yesterday, remember? I told you to leave the keys right here at the front door, but you don’t listen.”
“Sam, don’t speak to me like I’m a fucking kid!”
“Anyway, where the hell are my keys?” His stare mimicked mine.
“When I came home yesterday, I placed the keys right where you told me to. Then you made a run after that, remember? I found the keys in a pair of your jeans I just took to wash.” I retrieved the keys from the laundry hamper, tossing them at him. The look on his face was priceless.
“My bad.” His apology lacked emotion. “I’m going to holla at Mario. I’ll be back in a few.”
“I thought you said we were gonna lie in bed and watch movies.” All week long we were constantly on the go, ripping, and running. We were barely able to spend time together.
“Not today. I got business to handle.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange, and I don’t like it at all.” It was time to put my foot down. The tension between us was too thick.
“Ain’t nothing up, Mina,” he sighed. “I’m going to handle some business. I’ll try to make it fast.”
“Since when did you rejoin the drug game?” The more time he spent with Mario, the less time he spent with me. I knew he was back in the game but hadn’t said anything.
“Some shit came up,” was all he said on his way out the door.
I stood there in shock long enough to hear the engine on his car crank up then pull out of the driveway. “Ain’t this a bitch!” Resisting the urge to grab the cordless and blow his phone up wasn’t easy. However, I did call Gucci.
“Mina, you won’t believe this!” she squealed. “Cartier just bought me a mansion!”
“Oh, my God, are you serious?”
“Girl, yes. You have to come and check it out.” She went on and on. I didn’t want to put a damper on her day. For that reason, I chose not to tell her why I had called.
“Okay, girl, I will. You go ahead and celebrate. I’ll get with you later.” I ended the call and headed up to my bedroom. I remembered when Sam purchased this home for us and the family we wanted to have. Seemingly, my fairy tale was taking a turn for the worse. I loved Sam and wanted to fight for us. In contrast, it was hard to fight when I didn’t know why we were fighting in the first place.
Once upstairs, I dropped the laundry basket onto the bed. I began folding the clothes, stopping midway. Suddenly, I had the urge to go out and listen to music. It was still early. I wanted to be in the company of people in good spirits. Grabbing a pink scoop-neck dress with the back out and a pair of wedges, I quickly slipped them on. My hair was already done. I wasn’t into makeup. Therefore, a little dab of Chanel No. 5 behind the ears and I was ready. When I reached the main floor, I gave myself the once-over in the mirror, then grabbed my purse. I armed the alarm and stepped onto the porch.
“Where are you going?” Sam stood there with a smirk.
“I thought you were gone. What happened?” Although startled by his presence, I was happy to see him.
“I came back to apologize for my behavior. There’s just been a lot of shit on my mind, and I’m stressed.”
“What’s wrong, baby? Can I help?” I stepped into his space, embracing him in a hug.
“There are a few things I have to tell you, but not today.” He shook his head. “Since you’re all dressed up, I’m gonna take you out and make up for lost time.”
“Sam, I would much rather know what’s going on with you.”
“Not right now, ma. Let’s just enjoy the moment.” He leaned down and kissed the side of my neck, sending shivers down my body.
An hour later, we were seated inside the VIP area in Club Plush. It was the hottest club in Novi that catered to the after-work crowd. All the drinks and food were half off. Party hours were from four to nine. It turned into a regular club after that. Demographics for the average partygoer were a mixture of African Americans and Caucasians, ranging between 25 and 35 in age. Sam wasn’t much of a club dude, but he obliged my request to hear some good music.
Currently, they were playing the new Miley Cyrus joint, and all the white girls were twerking, or so they thought. “You want a drink?” He leaned in close to my ear.
“Yeah, I’ll take a Sex on the Beach.”
“Girl, we can head to the beach right now.” He winked then waved the waiter over.
While they conversed, the DJ switched gears, playing hip-hop. Drake and 2 Chainz were now blaring throughout the room. I was up on my feet, headed to the dance floor. It felt good to move and be free. I hadn’t been out in a while and was having so much fun. A few younger men even tried to dance with me, which boosted my ego. It was good to know a girl still had it.
On my way back to the table, a woman wearing a fierce Donna Karan minidress bumped into me, causing her drink to spill down the front of my outfit. I would’ve brushed the shit off, but homegirl didn’t even attempt to apologize. She kept walking with her friend like nothing happened. Oh, hell no! I followed them, then tapped her on the shoulder.
“What?” She turned around with major attitude.
“You spilled your drink on my dress. The least you could’ve done was apologize.” This young girl was going to learn the importance of manners if I had anything to say about it.
“Bitch, don’t nobody give a fuck about that dress you found on the Walmart clearance rack,” she laughed. It was my desire to inform her this was no Walmart special, but it wasn’t important.
“Mina, what’s going on?” Sam approached me with a bottle of Heineken in one hand and my Sex on the Beach in another.
“Not now, baby.” Without hesitation, I grabbed the bottle from him and doused her with the beer.
“You bitch!” she screamed as she lunged at me. Quickly stepping aside, I watched her fly into a couple dancing behind me. Now I was the one laughing, until her friend began to speak.
“Sam? What are you doing here?”
“Tynika?” He looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
“How do you two know each other?” I crossed my arms, waiting for Sam to form a sentence.
“I’m his baby’s mama.” She extended a manicured hand.
“What?” I shrieked.
“Mina, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he attempted to clarify.
“You must be the woman he left me and his son for,” she said over the music.
“His son?” I was stunned and hurt beyond belief.
* * *
Most of the ride home was silent. I couldn’t believe this nigga had a son and didn’t think enough of me to share that information.
“Mina, I know you’re mad, but I can explain.”
“I’m listening.”
“I met Tynika while I was dating Chloe. We messed around, and I got her pregnant. I didn’t even know about the baby until after I proposed to you. I was going to tell you, but the timing was off. You were already being a good sport about baby Samantha.”
“How old is the kid?”
“He’s one.”
“What’s his name?” I sighed, relaxing my shoulders. There was no reason to be mad for real. The baby was conceived before he and I were an item. Despite that, my spirit was broken. I wanted desperately to have a baby with him, but now he had two.
“Solomon.” His voice was low like he was ashamed that he had brought two babies into this relationship.
“You should’ve told me, Sam.” I shook my head.
“I know, but I also realized the news would hurt you.”
“Well, it hurts more to find out from some random bitch in the club.”
“Baby, I’m sorry.” He pulled into the driveway, turning the engine off. “You’ve been asking what’s wrong with me, and now you have it. I was just so afraid of losing you.”
“Sam, for several months I’ve been feeling pushed away. If you’re trying to keep me, you have a mighty funny way of showing it.”
“I know. I know.” He grasped my face. “I promise on my life I’ll do everything I can to make it up to you.”
“No more secrets, right?” My heart couldn’t take anything else.
“No more secrets.” Sam smiled.