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Kayla
She lowered her body into the hot bubble bath and closed her eyes.
Leroy beating her up was definitely an eye-opener. She had wasted four years of her life loving that man and trying to be everything she could possibly be for him. She brushed a tear from her eye and thought of all the times she had put her kids second to cater to his needs and it made her sick. All she had ever wanted was to be loved because she never got it as a child.
Kayla had been raised by Delores Sparks, an overweight woman with low self-esteem who was a dummy when it came to men. For years, her three girls watched her jump into one relationship after another that lowered her feelings of self-worth even more. After years of repeating the cycle, her kids never understood why she just didn’t have a clue.
Delores had a knack for attracting losers. Convicts, drug dealers, men without jobs, all of them wanted one thing, her money and a chance to lay between her jiggly thighs. As a registered nurse, one would have thought she had common sense. Instead, she allowed one after the other to move in. She’d come home to find her television missing, and still didn’t have a clue. It was no wonder her daughters had no idea how they should be treated by men. The countless men she had seen in and out of her mother’s life were no better than her alcoholic father. He showed up at their house whenever he needed money, banged their mother, then robbed her wallet. To this day, Kayla didn’t even think he knew her real name because all he had ever called her was Ms. Piggy.
She met Anthony, Kenya’s father, at nineteen, and their relationship moved no further than the bedroom. He never took her anywhere and refused to be seen with her “big ass” in public. When she found out she was pregnant with Kenya, he questioned if he was the father, even though she had been a virgin when they met. Asia’s father was no better. Eric was a law student she had supported thinking he would marry her as soon as he passed the bar exam. Instead, a month after passing the exam, he joined a law firm in San Francisco and left Kayla behind because she wouldn’t look good on his arm. After that there were countless others who treated her like crap, and she had come to believe love just wasn’t meant for her. Then Reverend Leroy Brown came to lead their church and she fell in love. She tried to fight her feelings. Even got down on her knees and prayed to God, but it was no use, she loved him regardless of how wrong she knew it was. And then he admitted his feelings to her, and they tried to deny the attraction but eventually lost the battle. They started meeting at hotels outside of town for a few stolen moments together. She knew it was wrong and she would potentially burn in hell, but Leroy told her he wasn’t happy and that he was leaving his wife and she believed him. No matter how many years passed, and even when his wife “accidentally” got pregnant, she believed in her man and took his word. She still didn’t understand why. Her friends told her she was stupid and even a little voice in her head agreed, but she just couldn’t bring herself to accept that she had wasted all those years for nothing, because as far as she was concerned, what difference did it make that she was waiting? It wasn’t like she had any other prospects. But now things were different After seeing Leroy with Tracy, she knew it was over between them, their relationship had run its course, and it was time for her to move on. And that was what she thought she had done with Jermaine. She was ready to make a new beginning that didn’t include Leroy, or his stuck-up wife. She had even thought that being the Christian he claimed to be, Leroy would just accept she was through waiting around for him. But that was before he had come to her house and acted a fool.
Kayla took a deep breath. Maybe she should have gone to the police and reported the incident She had never been a fighter. That was one thing she admired about her friends. They stood up for what they believed in and didn’t let anything, or anyone stand in their way. But not her. She had always been afraid of confrontation or of bringing unwanted attention to herself. And an incident like this would definitely bring a lot of attention. What she worried about most were her girls.
Another tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered that shortly after Leroy had left, Kenya had come down the stairs. She had been balled up beside the coffee table, too weak and humiliated to move. The last thing she had wanted was for her daughter to see her that way. The room had been destroyed. The table overturned. Her shirt ripped. Her panties gone. At the sight of her mother’s bruised face, Kenya screamed. All Kayla could do was hold out her arms to her daughter. She’d sat on the floor holding her for almost an hour before she had finally found the strength to pull herself together long enough to get her girls away from that madness. Kayla drove to her mother’s house and didn’t even bother to get out. As soon as she answered the door, Kayla peeled off. She was certain Kenya had already revealed all the horrid details. As soon as her cell phone started ringing, Kayla answered long enough to assure her mother she was okay. The minute she got home, she had called a locksmith to come and change all the locks, adding two additional ones, and paid the ridiculous weekend rate.
The phone rang, startling Kayla from her thoughts. She took a deep breath, leaned out of the tub, and reached down for the cordless phone on the rug. She looked down at the Caller ID and paused. Private. She pressed Talk and brought the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Kayla? Kayla, honey... I’m so sorry.” Her stomach churned. It was Leroy. He was crying loudly into the receiver. “I’m so sorry. The devil made me do it. The devil made me. Please forgive me, for I have sinned.”
Lips quivering, she couldn’t bear to hear any more and ended the call. Immediately, the phone started ringing again. She turned the volume down and sank lower into the water. Somehow, she had to find a way to make Leroy understand it was over.
