Never again no more 6, p.23
Never Again, No More 6, page 23
She stood up. “Because . . . because . . .”
I walked up to her and pulled her into my arms. “Because deep down inside, no matter how happy Mike made you feel, no matter how much you thought you loved him, it’s always been me who had your heart. I captured your heart the first time we ever ate lunch at the Varsity, and I’ve had it ever since. I know because no matter how many lies I told myself, I’ve loved you since that same moment, and I have never, ever stopped.”
Without warning, I kissed her passionately for a few minutes before we pulled back from each other. For the first time in months, my heart sang. This was where my happiness was, and it was as if that kiss had unlocked a hidden treasure that had been buried for centuries.
“Lucinda, I love you. Fuck what I’ve done and you’ve done. We’re meant to be. Me and you. If you just trust me one last time, I promise to God above that I’ll never take it for granted again. I’ll give you the lifetime of love and commitment that you deserve,” I begged, holding her face in my hands.
She shook her head. “But we’ve done so many things to each other. Bad things. And there’s Jennifer and Mike.”
My eyebrows knitted and my mouth grew into a grimace. “Are you saying that you’re going to stay with Mike after this?”
Shaking her head vehemently, she clarified, “Hell no. I would never. We both need time to rectify our situations with Jennifer and Mike. We have to figure out so many things between us.”
I shook my head and kissed her to shut her up. “Do you love me?” I stared into her eyes.
“Aldris—”
“Lucinda, I’m begging you to be honest with yourself. For the first time in forever, I am being honest with myself. I love you. I love you, and I don’t give a damn about the technicalities. We’ll make it work. Me and you. I just need you. All I need is you. I love you. Do you love me?”
She searched my eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Her face contorted as if she were going through a gamut of emotions. Then her face relaxed into what looked like a realization before she spoke.
“Oh my God. You really mean that. I can see it in your eyes. You really do love me,” she said, accepting my words for the first time.
I put her hand on my chest. “Feel it with my heart. Only you have my heart. I’ve been trying to breathe for so long. Let me exhale. I can only exhale with you. I love you, Lu. Tell me you love me. Please.” I kissed her about the forehead, nose, and mouth.
She looked me in the eyes as a single tear fell from her face. She looked as if she were in deep contemplation, then she exhaled and smiled slightly with a nod. “Yes. Yes, I do love you. I was just so scared. When you chose Jennifer, I was so hurt. I just want to know that I’m the only one with your heart.”
I hugged her close to me. “You are. I’m sorry, Lu. I’m sorry I took you for granted. I’m sorry I let you down, but I swear on my life, I will never do it again. You are my heart, and I need you in my life as my lady. We’ll take as much time as we need to nurture our love into healing. Just as long as you’re with me and you’re willing to give it a real try.”
Minutes seemed like hours before she agreed. “I want to try. I want to take our time and do this right.”
Pulling her into an embrace, I sealed our deal. “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”
After a few minutes of holding each other in a cleansing embrace, she gently pulled away, and there was fire in her eyes. “But first, before we move forward, we’ve got some exes to bury. This time, when we get rid of them, it’s for fucking good. I’m not playing with their asses anymore. They’ve fucked with the wrong bitch this time.”
“Hurricane Lucinda is back,” I sang.
“And with a muthafucking vengeance.”
“Well, Holyfield, before you go throwing punches and blows, get some rest tonight. We’ll figure out how to deal with Batman and Robin after some sleep,” I said as I gently leaned my forehead against hers.
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll try to rest.”
Realizing the hour, I leaned forward and delivered a soft peck to her lips. “I better get going. It’s after four in the morning, and we both need some sleep.”
Stepping back, I gave her one last smile and headed toward the door, so that I could rest and figure out how we would address our two Judases.
“Aldris,” Lucinda called out just as I turned the doorknob. “It’s late. Why don’t you stay here?”
I turned around, my eyes questioning and longing at the same time. “You sure?”
Offering a mischievous smile, she turned to walk to her bedroom. “It is four in the morning, after all.”
I put my hands together to thank God and hauled ass to the bedroom behind her. If I had anything to do with it, I wouldn’t be getting any sleep. I had some making up and rekindling to do. Me and Mandingo. And fuck it, if she let me, I was diving in raw because I knew exactly who I was going down the aisle with. I finally had my Lucinda back, and she wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was I.
Chapter 23
Gavin
It was the day after Meka was supposed to send my seed to Heaven. She wouldn’t answer her phone. No one would answer her door or house phone. Lucinda wouldn’t give up any information, and Tony was unreachable. I was out there on my own without my woman and without my first child. So there I sat, drinking myself into a drunken stupor.
I called into work and took off a full week, stating personal reasons. I was going to head out of town to my father and brother’s company, Randall Enterprises. I’d plead for leniency on the life of my child, but if they refused, they’d suffer dire consequences. If my child had to go to Heaven, then I was gonna send their racist, home-wrecking asses straight to Hell. I’d been plotting how I could take them out for a couple of days. At first, I came up with an elaborate scheme so I wouldn’t get caught, and then I realized I didn’t give a fuck if I got caught. The people I loved most in life had been ripped away from me. I didn’t have my mom, LaMeka was gone, and she’d aborted my baby, so what the fuck did I have to live for? So what if I had to spend a lifetime behind bars? Losing Meka already felt like a death sentence.
I finished off my beer. It was time to either win my family back, go to prison, or go straight to Hell trying. I had nothing to lose. Before I left, I decided to go to God in prayer. I owed Him a conversation about my intentions. Hopefully, He’d have mercy on me. I got down on my knees and put my hands together.
“Lord, I’ma make it short and sweet. I’ve tried to wait on you, and I’m sorry. I’m taking vengeance into my own hands. Please forgive me, for I know exactly what I’m about to do. Amen.” I got up, heading to my back bedroom.
I went into the closet and pulled out my gun from the gun safe and reached up to grab the box of bullets to load it. When I grabbed the box, another small black lockbox fell and clattered on the floor. The top sprang open, and some of the contents slipped out of the box. I cursed myself for my clumsiness. I knew exactly what was in that box. Special mementos from my mother that she’d willed to me, which were given to me after her death. I’d never gone through it because it either didn’t seem like the right time, or when the right times had come, it was too hard to deal with.
Placing the gun and bullets down, I squatted to retrieve the items to place them back in the box. The last thing I needed was my mother’s spirit thwarting my intended plans. As I picked them up, pictures of the past caught my eye, and my chest tightened at the memories. Just like that, my heartstrings had been tugged into relishing the memories of yesteryear. As much as I wanted to place this rabbit hole of mementos back in the box, I felt an energy forcing me to indulge. I slid down against the wall onto the floor and began sifting through the fallen items.
There were a bunch of pictures of me as a kid with my mother and brother, some memories that I’d long since forgotten. I couldn’t help but laugh at some of them. It felt good to remember the good days back when my mom was our hero and my brother was, well, my brother. There was her favorite locket, my grandma’s engagement ring, photos of her and my dad, and a picture of my grandma and some man.
Who in the hell is the man in the photo? I flipped the picture over. Jerry and Lois Jennings. My grandfather? I’d never known who my grandfather was. He’d died long before Gary and I were born, and my grandmother died when Gary and I were very young. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something looked odd about the photo. I kept digging until I found what I hoped was in the box, my mom’s birth certificate.
Child: Diana Laurie Jennings Mother: Lois Zimmer Jennings. Race: White. Father: Jerry Lee Jennings. Race: Negro.
What the fuck? Hell no! It couldn’t be. I looked back at the photo, and sure enough, my grandfather was a light complexion, but he wasn’t white.
Hot damn! My mom was fucking biracial. That meant Gary and I were one quarter black.
My mom had inherited all my grandmother’s features, from her blue eyes to her strawberry blond hair. You would’ve never been able to tell in a million fucking years that she was the product of an interracial couple, a black man and a white woman. This gave me a whole new meaning to the movie Imitation of Life. At the bottom of the box, I found an envelope addressed to me. I opened it.
My dearest Gavin,
If you are reading this, I assume that you saw the birth certificate and the only picture I have of my father. I know you may find it hard to believe, but I want to confirm it for you that yes, I am a bi-racial child. I know this comes as a complete shock to you.
I wasn’t ashamed of my heritage and never intended on hiding it from you all, but after I met your father and became pregnant with Gary, I learned of his asinine views of interracial dating. There was no way I could ever tell you all or him the truth about who I was. I loved him, and I didn’t want him to hate me or take it out on you boys because of something that none of us could control. But as we got deeper into our relationship, I realized I’d never known the true Gerald Randall. When his viewpoints went beyond mixing races to all out racism against minorities, it all became too much. I’d procreated with one of the vilest men I’d ever known
You should probably know that his viewpoints forced me into the arms of another man. I began a relationship with a black man named Robert. He was the true love of my life, and I had plans to leave your father, but he found out before I could leave him. He not only ran Robert away, but completely destroyed his life. I can’t and won’t tell you the hell that your father put that man through. That’s how bad it truly was. Robert was so far broken that he couldn’t see me again because it hurt too badly. After that, I knew I had to leave your father. We weren’t married, and there was no use staying around and exposing you all to that foolishness. So, I took you boys and left without the money or the support. I was determined to never look back, and I didn’t.
After your father expressed interest in wanting to raise you all, I hid you for as many years as I could, moving from residence to residence just to keep him from pinpointing exactly where we were. But he finally caught up with us, and you know the rest of the story. He got to Gary, and it was downhill from there.
Gary still doesn’t know my true identity. After he sided with your father, I couldn’t trust him. I never told you because I know you allow your temper to overcome you at times, and I didn’t want you to reveal anything that could hurt you or Gary out of anger.
I apologize for just now telling you my true identity and, in essence, yours. I hope that you forgive me for keeping it from you. Please know that everything I did, I did for the best interests of you and your brother. I love you, Gavin. And even though Gary doesn’t think so, I love him, too.
Love, Mom
The paper slipped from my hands as I processed the news that I’d just learned. Floored. I was absolutely floored. My father was so concerned about us marrying into other races, and he didn’t even realize that his own kids, his own flesh and blood, were part black.
This changed everything. I knew exactly how to get him now. If he didn’t want this information leaked to his country club buddies or business associates, he would leave LaMeka and her family alone and stand out of my way as I fought to get my wifey back.
I looked toward the heavens. “Lord, I’m so sorry. Please find it in your heart to forgive me for my thoughts and the acts I was ready to commit. I should’ve trusted you. You are always on time, and from now on out, I promise to keep my faith in you.”
Instead of driving, I booked a flight to leave that day. Just as I finished packing so that I could make my scheduled flight to Virginia, I heard my doorbell. When I got to the door, to my surprise, I saw Misha standing there.
“Misha?” I let her in.
“Surprised, right?” she asked.
“Yeah. Everybody has been following Meka’s strict orders to avoid me at all costs.”
“Yeah, well, if she knew I were here, she’d probably kick me out and ban me from her will.”
I folded my arms. “So, why are you here?”
She released a pregnant sigh. “To tell you that Meka needs you. She’s driving us insane with her depression over you,” Misha said. “And I know what she says, but my sister is in love with you. There’s no two ways about that. All I want is for her to be happy. That’s it. And I know that deep down, that happiness is only with you. I’m begging you to find a way to make this work despite your family issues.”
“What if I told you I have a way to ensure I can keep my family away from you all and out of my relationship with Meka?”
“I’d probably drive you to Meka’s house myself and take the full blame for it.”
I smiled at her. “I have a way to do just that.”
Misha jumped up and down. “Are you for real this time? Are you serious?”
I nodded. “As a heart attack.”
“Oh my God! Gavin!” she shrieked, hugging me.
After we disengaged from the hug, I said somberly, “Even though Meka got rid of my seed, I can forgive her. I just need her in my life. We can work on another baby after we get down the aisle.”
Misha cringed. “Well, she’s gonna kill me anyway once she finds out I talked to you, so I may as well tell you the truth.”
I frowned. “The truth?”
Misha nodded. “Yep. The truth is she’s still pregnant.”
“What? But she said—”
“When she got to the appointment, she couldn’t go through with it. Your seed isn’t dead. There is a living, growing baby inside of her belly, just waiting to meet his or her father.” She smiled at me.
Instantly, my eyes watered. I’d done more crying over Meka than I had my entire life, and now that I had a baby on the way, I was sure I was just at the beginning of discovering my inner emotions. But I wasn’t sad. I was abundantly happy. LaMeka hadn’t killed our baby, and that was all the encouragement I needed to make my family whole again. Whether she knew it or not, she was gonna be Mrs. Gavin Randall, and that I meant.
Misha hugged me. “I know you’re happy. You’re still gonna be a daddy. So, let’s get over to Meka’s house and tell her the good news so you two can get back to being a couple.”
“Actually, I have to catch a flight. I have to settle this thing with my family once and for all. I’d love to go with you to Meka’s, but unless I have some concrete proof that I can deliver on my word this time, Meka ain’t gonna hear nothing I have to say. I’ll only make it worse for myself if she believes that I’m just giving her false promises. I let her down once. I refuse to do that again. More importantly, she refuses to let me. Just keep our conversation to yourself. I want to be the one to give her the good news.”
Misha nodded. “Fair enough. What is this foolproof plan? You never told me.”
“If I told you, there’s no way you’d keep it to yourself. Let’s just say we have more in common than you know.”
Misha shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell that means, but I’m sure I’ll find out whenever you get back. You be safe and stay out of trouble. My new niece or nephew needs you, and so does my sister.”
“I promise, and that is one promise I know I can keep,” I said, walking her out.
I watched her get in her car and then ran into the house to make sure I’d packed everything. I only needed one carry-on. This was going to be one very nice and very short meeting with Gerald and Gary Randall. Armed with the letter, birth certificate, and the picture of my grandparents all in my inside jacket pocket, I made my way to the airport and boarded the plane.
I was so wired that I couldn’t even take a nap. I was on edge, and I wanted to make sure that nothing mysteriously happened to my proof while I was on the plane. Call me cautious, paranoid, hell even crazy, but I would be all those things to get back to LaMeka.
* * *
I jumped out of the cab and walked into Randall Enterprises, and an amazing sense of calm and happiness washed over me. I knew in that very instant that everything was going to be all right. Better than all right. It was time to set the record straight. In the words of my favorite comedian, Kevin Hart, it was about to go down.
The receptionist looked at me and smiled as I got off the elevator on the tenth floor, the executives’ floor. “Why, hello. How may I help you today?” she said in a voice that was a little overly friendly.
Although highly inappropriate, I saw it as a definite advantage. I showed her my pearly whites and put on the best fake smile I could muster.
“Hi,” I said, looking down at her nameplate. “Lindsey, how are you?”
She blushed and pushed her hair behind her ear on one side. “I am doing very well, and yourself?”
“I’ve never felt better. Thank you for asking,” I said sweetly.
“You’re welcome.” She gazed up at me starry eyed. Suddenly, she remembered that she was at work, so she did her job. “How may I assist you, Mr. . . . Uh?”
