Valencia
It’s 6:45 a.m. and my alarm clock just woke me up out of a deep sleep. I’m dead tired but I’ve got to get up and make sure I double check the playlist and artist background for the show tonight. I parked Eric’s car in the garage last night, but it took me another twenty minutes to get Pascha calmed down about leaving her dad in the car. Then another four hours to get her to fall asleep after getting her in the house, bathed and in the bed.
The way this morning is starting I would love to take a drive over to Starbucks for a caramel frappuccino, but I left my truck with LaShawn and I’ll be damned if I take a chance on waking Eric’s ignorant ass up. So, I’m here dealing with sleep deprivation dying for a fresh cup of joe.
Around 9 o’clock LaShawn text to tell me my truck was parked in front of Mr. Townsend’s house. She conveniently threw in that she would be showing a house down the hill in Apple Valley, but Kelly could either take me up to Barstow to get my truck or pick Mark up and they could bring my truck down to me. Either way I’d have to run into Mark and I got a feeling this is no coincidence. Her sneaky ass thinks she’s slick.
I heard Pascha come down the stairs just as I finished the call with Kelly. I told him about the text from LaShawn. He laughed and added his two cents on my current situation with Eric. I’m a married woman who’s very unhappy and anybody that knows me would be able to clearly see that. If last night wasn’t a sign for me to get out of it I don’t know what would be.
“Mom! Is dad okay?”
“I don’t know Sweet Pea.”
“You didn’t go see?”
“No baby. I didn’t.”
“Why, Mom?”
“I didn’t want to wake him up, baby”
Pascha ran to the door leading to the garage, opened it and disappeared behind the wall between the living room and the garage. I heard her tapping on Eric’s car and Eric’s voice telling her to give him a minute to get up and he’ll be inside in a minute.
When Pascha came back in, I told her to go upstairs, get dressed and I will be upstairs in a minute to comb her hair. We needed to be ready because Uncle Kelly was going to be here to pick us up in about thirty minutes. She ran upstairs excited and everything was back to being calm in the house until Eric opened the door coming in from the garage holding the big lump on the corner of his left eye.
“So, you just gon leave me out there in the garage all night?”
“Yep!”
“What you mean, Yep?”
“Just what I said. I wasn’t gon try and drag yo drunk ass in from the garage.”
“Oh, it’s like that? That’s how you treatin yo husband now?”
“If he actin like an ass and embarrassing me around my family I am.”
“That ain’t yo family. I am.”
“Only at your convenience.”
“Whatever Val. Where’s Sweet Pea?”
“Upstairs getting dressed. Kelly coming over to take us to get my truck.”
“What you mean Kelly coming over to take you somewhere?”
“I mean. He’s on his way.”
“You better call his ass and tell him not to come. How you gon have another man come to my house and pick you up?”
“Oh, it’s yo house now?”
“Hell yeah, it’s my house. I’m paying the mortgage ain’t I?”
“You only paying half the mortgage.”
“Same difference. And that fool ain’t coming to my house. I’ll take you to pick up yo truck.”
“Too late and he’ll be here any minute.
“Yo ass out of pocket. How would like if I had a chick pick me up at the house.”
“You know what Eric? At this point I really don’t care! If LaShawn’s fiancé intimidate you, I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Don’t no man intimidate me. And where is he supposed to be taken you anyway?”
“Over to Mr. Townsend’s house.”
“Wait a minute. Ain’t that fool Mark staying over there right now? Is this the excuse y’all gon use to meet up? I guess I’m supposed to be Boo Boo the fool huh?
“You Know what? Nevermind…”
“Gon and say what you gon say.”
I got up to walk past Eric standing by the stairs on my way up to check on Pascha and he grabbed me by my left arm.
“Gon and say what you go say, Val.”
I snatched my arm back and it flew up and hit him in the chin. In the split second between me accidentally hitting him in the chin and me about to apologize I felt a sharp pain on my left temple as it seemed like the daylight went out.
“You hit me. You really hit me. Mutha Fucka, you hit me. I can’t believe you hit me.
“You hit me first.”
“You know that was an accident, but yo ass hit me on purpose. You feel like a man now?”
As I stood there in shock, I heard a knock at the door.
“Shut yo whining ass up. You hit me, and I hit you back.”
Another knock came from the door and I knew it was Kelly.