“My God. Is she still with him?”
“No.”
“How did she get away from him?”
“The hard way. He hit her in the face with an iron because she wouldn’t have sex with him. She ran out the house screaming and just by chance, the police were driving by. They took him to jail. She was so afraid of him. We had to beg her to press charges. They gave him ten years and I moved her out to LA with me.”
“That’s good.”
“Not really, Marcus. She was pretty shot out when she got out there. Fell in with the wrong people, started smoking crack. Let some nigga turn her out. He made her turn tricks to support their habit.”
“Where is she now? Is she all right?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in years. I hope she’s all right. I used to go looking for her when I hadn’t heard from her in a while. The last time she disappeared I never did find her.”
“I’m sorry, Yvonne.”
“Don’t sweat it, Marcus. I’ve come to grips with all that. But we’re supposed to be talking about you, not my dysfunctional family. Tell me about your wife.”
“My wife.” Marcus stood up and walked around the room. He picked up his jacket. “You mind if I smoke?” he asked, pulling the pack of Kool’s from the pocket.
“I am so glad you said that.” Yvonne replied, digging in her purse for her pack of Benson and Hedges 100’s. “I’ve been dying for a cigarette all night.” They both lit up, inhaled deeply and exhaled, like a common sigh of relief. “Now I need a drink.”
“Are you sure that you don’t want to go somewhere and have a drink?”
“No!” Yvonne said quickly and firmly. “I’m sorry, Marcus.” She laughed. “Now tell me about your wife.”
“My wife Randa. What can I say about my wife Randa?” Marcus returned to the chair and sat down. “She was a wonderful woman. She was beautiful, intelligent and she had so much energy. She was always doing something for somebody. She volunteered at a retirement home a couple of days a week. She had a teenage girl she was mentoring. We were very happy together. She was my best friend. We had so much in common and we would spend hours together just talking. That’s the hardest part of dealing with this. I loved her, sure, but we were so close. I feel like I lost the best part of myself. We did just about everything together. People called us the poster children for the perfect relationship.”
“Sounds like you guys had a good thing going. I mean, you do make her sound like she was just the perfect little woman.” Yvonne rolled her eyes and took a drag.
“And like a fool, I bought into it, hook, line, and sinker. But she wasn’t right. I was such a fool. I was so blind. How could I have been so blind?” Marcus leaned forward quickly in his chair. “I saw so much in her, but I guess I saw what I wanted to see. I put her on that pedestal; she was bound to fall off.”
“What happened, Marcus?”
“What happened? You really want to know what happened to make this the worst day of my life?”
“I’ll try not to take that personally.”
“Please don’t. Seeing you has been the only high point in an otherwise fucked up day. Excuse my language.”
“That’s all right, Marcus, I’m a big girl now. All grown up. I’ve heard people curse before. I’ve been known to say a curse word or two, myself. But you stop trying to change the subject. Tell me what happened.”
“The day started out like any other. The alarm went off, we made love to each other, just like we did every morning.”
Yvonne smiled. “I like it in the morning too. Makes the day go so much better,” she said, seeming to purr like a kitten as she stretched. “I’m sorry, Marcus, go on.”
“We showered together, and she cooked breakfast while I got ready to go to the office. Randa mentioned that she might go shopping with her girlfriend, Deloris. I asked her to
pick me up a new tie.”
“What color?”
“Black. Anyway, we ate breakfast and I left for the office, just like we do every morning. I had been working at home the night before, getting ready for a meeting with a client that I had this afternoon, and I left the papers at home. I called Randa to see if she could bring me the papers and we could have lunch together, but there was no answer. I needed those papers, so I went home to get them. When I got home her Benz was in the driveway. I figured that Deloris came and picked her up, and she had gone shopping.
“I went inside and called her name a few times, she didn’t answer. I went into the den and I couldn’t find the papers, so I turned on the computer so I could print them. I had just picked up the papers off the printer when I thought I heard a noise. I stood still for a second, but I didn’t hear anything. So, I turned off the computer and headed for the door.
“I was out the house, Yvonne, and I was just about to close the door when I heard the noise again. I turned around and walked up the steps straight to the bedroom and opened the door. There she was. My wife. Pulling her hair out, riding some man’s dick. I stood there. I couldn’t move. I stood there … I guess it couldn’t have been too long before I went back downstairs. I just walked outside, and I sat down on the steps. I don’t know how long I’d been sitting there when I heard the door open and close and open again. When I looked up Randa was standing in front of me.” Marcus lit another cigarette from the one he was smoking.