For Better or For Worse

For better or For
worse

By Desirae
Williams

Published by Desirae
Williams at Amazon

Copyright 2015 Desirae
Williams

Prologue

Lucy/1995

I was coming home late from
work at the local mall and was pissed as usual having to work a
dead end job. I never thought I would have to work a day in my life
until after college, due to the fact that my daddy had always paid
for everything ever since I was a little girl. I’m talking French
manicured nails, latest hairstyles, designer clothes, and just
money to blow…Yeah I had it like that. I was the first teenager at
my high school rocking a Louis Vuitton bag and believe me hefas was
hating then and still are now. Now all of a sudden daddy didn’t
want to run me no more dollars, talking about its time I learn to
earn my own money…what kind of shit is that. Now daddy had been
adamant about me getting a job but never really enforced it, just
complained a lot… until six months ago. “C’mon dad seriously, why
do I need to work?” I whined. My young mind just couldn’t grasp the
fact that I needed to stand on my own two feet and get some work
experience in before college. I didn’t want to hear any of that; I
just wanted the Benjamin’s to keep coming my way. My dad looked at
me with his old eyes and shook his head disappointedly as if I were
a spending machine he had created.

“
Baby girl you need to
learn the value of a dollar. Aint nothing wrong with a woman that’s
got her own, I can’t take care of you all my life.” I smirked at
him and finished applying the powder blue nail polish on my toes…to
me he was talking crazy. “You have been doing it so far so why stop
now…” I shrugged. “And besides there isn’t any value to a dollar….
unless it has a whole lot of zeros behind it you know what I’m
saying?” I laughed at my own joke but my dad was about to flip out.
He stood up from the kitchen table and peered over me. “Lucy
enough! You have until the end of the month to find a job or I’m
taking you to work with me.” As soon as he said that I started
scanning every newspaper in the house looking for work…hell I would
set up a personal car wash service my damn self before I worked
with him.

My dad owned a construction
business, it wasn’t a huge company but he was making plenty of
money, also providing jobs for most black men and women who
couldn’t get hired. But I couldn’t work there. One thing Lucy
doesn’t do is hard labor; all that sweating, lifting and operating
heavy machinery I just couldn’t do it…it was so unwomanly. So I
managed to find a little something at the mall. I figured it
wouldn’t hurt to get paid to be around clothes and shoes all
day…until I had to actually work. The mall wasn’t any easier than
construction. I had to work the cash register, fold clothes, attend
to the customers, stock items and etc….from how hard I was working
you would think I would be able to afford my own place, sadly that
was not the case. The pay of a sales clerk wasn’t much but it got
my dad off my back, so to me that alone was enough to keep working
there. Today wasn’t any more annoying than usual, that was until I
decided to take a shortcut home and managed to get a flat tire on
some busted glass in the street. Knowing nothing about cars I was
in a hell of a lot of trouble, especially being on the rough side
of Lake City. I looked at all the run down houses, chicken heads
walking up and down the streets and scrunched up my face in
disgust.

What in the hell possessed
me to take short cut home was beside me. I noticed a few guys on
the corner eyeballing my direction; they looked like typical dope
dealers just hanging around the block with nothing better to do. I
had a nice ruby red Mercedes that my dad brought for my sixtieth
birthday; even though it was a little old I was not trying to get
my car jacked. I stepped outside of the car onto the street careful
not to get my pumps messed up.

When I looked down at the
tire and saw there was nothing I could do…especially in this cute
outfit, I promptly removed my cell phone from my Chanel bag and
began to call home. “Give me a minute precious and I’ll have you in
tip top shape in no time…I hope” I sweet talked my car. I failed to
notice that there was a tall dark figure watching from the corner
and was now making his way over to me. Initially like any woman
would I reached into my bag and held on to my pepper spray in fear
of some hoodlum trying to attack me, but from this guy I didn’t get
the vibe that he meant me any harm. This man had a striking
appearance about him but it was not too scary, a rugged face but
not too harsh, and a sexiness to him that seemed almost natural.
“Need a hand miss?” I can remember that deep smooth voice like it
was yesterday and it had my whole body trembling. My eyes couldn’t
help but wonder him, I tried to not seem too obvious but it wasn’t
working.

He had dark eyes, a
bridged nose, and full kissable lips. I was in the mist of
wondering how his lips would feel against mine until his deep voice
pulled me out of the trance. “Excuse me… miss?” he repeated. “Yes…
uh… I guess I do.” I finally answered. He chuckled at me and
extended his large hand. “Grant smith.” I reached for it and my
hand seemed so small in comparison. “Natalia...but everyone calls
me Lucy.”
Oh my God he caught me
staring
, I thought. He strolled over to
the trunk of my car and knocked on it. “You got a spare in here?”
“Yes.” I walked over to open the trunk; I don’t know why I did that
when I could have easily opened it with the click of a button on my
keys from where I was standing.

I guess I liked the thought
of knowing that he was watching me from behind. I found it quite
erotic. “Is that everything you need?” I asked him opening the
trunk. Grant placed one hand on the hood of the trunk and leaned
over me to peer inside. He was so close I could feel his chest on
my back and I don’t know if I imagined it but I think he smelled my
hair…different but still stimulating. With all this heat and
friction going on I could have died but I did my best to hold it
together. He placed his lips close to my ear. “Well you seem to
have everything but I need a jack.” He backed up and suddenly I
could breathe again. “I guess I could run down to the shop and get
it.” I turned to face him realizing I didn’t want him to go through
all the trouble and also leave me here on the street in the middle
of the night. “Oh you don’t have to go. I just need to make a call
so I can get home.”

Grant shook his head. “No
need, the shop is just up the street, that’s how I saw you pull
over…I’ll be back in a minute.” A panicked look shot across my face
but I couldn’t make it go away fast enough before he noticed. He
chuckled. “Don’t worry baby, nobody is going to mess with you. Not
while I’m here.”
But you’re leaving and
now I may come up missing on the ten o clock news;
I wanted to say but I kept my mouth shut and
nodded. I watched him walk up the street to get the jack. I felt
uneasy at first, until I noticed all the guys on the corner had
seemed to disappear. I didn’t know whether or not that was a good
thing or bad one. After barely five minutes Grant returned, walking
up the street exuding such a strong confidence about him, it
reminded me of
John
Shaft
or
Tommy Gibbs
in
Hell up in Harlem
. He carefully
removed the spare tire from the trunk of my car.

I watched him slowly
bending and straining as he worked, taking his time with every
maneuver… damn it was sexy. Grant finished the final touches on my
car and wiped the dirty grim on his white T-shirt. “Alright
woman…You’re good to go.” I nodded and reached in my purse, I’d
didn’t feel right just using his services and not compensating
him…financially. “Here’s a fifty for your help. Unless you want
more I’ll have to…” “I’m well taken care of baby. I don’t need
that…” He cut me off. “But I could use your phone number.” He said
penetrating me with those dark chocolate brown eyes again; they
were very hypnotic almost like a snake charmer. I was hesitant, he
wasn’t the scholarly type my father had always dreamed, but a part
of me didn’t mind seeing him again.

Grant picked up on my
hesitance and switched up his tactics a little. “I just want to
make sure you get home safe you know…it’s kind of late for a lady
to be out this time of night.” He said through that sexy smile of
his, I could see he clearly was lying. I eyed him curiously and
stepped closer to him hearing the echoing of my pumps on the
street. “My phone number huh? I don’t know that’s a pretty
exclusive number…Can’t just give it to anybody.” I stopped directly
in front of him eye to eye and toe to toe. “What makes you think
your worthy of it?” He accepted my challenge by sticking out his
firm chest and leaning in closer to me. “You seem to me like a very
straight forward woman, I doubt you like your time wasted.” “No I
don’t.” I agreed. I felt his lips brush against my cheek to my ear,
we were so close I could feel the heat from his body…and I do
believe I smelled a hint of Burberry. “So I doubt you would even
have asked me that question if you felt I wasn’t
worthy.”

I damn near melted to the
floor I was trembling so badly, I stepped away from him to shake it
off; after I finally regrouped I turned back around. He quickly
wiped a toothy grin off of his face; he knew what he was doing to
me. I cleared my throat, “I can’t give you my number.” He looked
confused for a moment not understanding my answer. “But I can take
yours.” The grin eased back on his face and he quickly typed in his
digits into my phone. “Better to call sooner than later.” He said
helping me back into the car. I smiled at him.
Hell it might be tonight,
I thought.
As I drove off I saw him staring through my rearview.
Grant Smith huh? Let’s see what you have in store
for me.

***

Chapter
1

Moving on up

Lucy

I chuckled to myself
thinking back on the day my husband and I met; it all seemed so
long ago judging from where we are now, even sitting in this huge
lavish home filled with unpacked moving boxes and no help…damn. “Oh
God this is so much work.” I complained. I sat in living area of my
new home, hands sore from unpacking over six boxes already and more
to come. I never saw so many boxes in my life until Grant and I
moved into our first house.

After I graduated high
school, Grant and I decided to relocate to the big apple when he
was offered a job at Good and Weldness Corporation. I was hesitant
to make such a drastic move all the way from the only home I had
ever known but I believed in my heart that my man was worth it and
thank God he did not disappoint. After finishing college and
landing a good job working for a magazine agency my new hubby and I
upgraded from our Bronx apartment to the Carroll Garden suburbs
into a lovely brick house with multiple rooms and a spacious living
area. The décor of this house was incredible, with tile floors,
cedar furniture and the best damn periwinkle colored bathroom I had
ever seen. Of course my man fussed about the price but I saw this
place on the market and I knew I just had to have it and if Grant
wanted to live the rest of his life as happily married man he would
gladly pay for it.