Read The Ties That Bind Online
Authors: Electa Rome Parks
The Ties That Bind (21 page)
“Listen, baby, we can go to a hotel or somewhere next time.”
I actually stopped and looked at him in utter amazement.
“Are you crazy? You know Brice and what he is capable of. Believe me, there won’t be a next time.”
Malcolm grabbed my elbow and led me over near the wall away from the hall traffic.
“Oh, so you are going to dis me now? It’s like that? Is that the little game you play, Mia? You weren’t screaming all that bullshit the other night.You were too busy moaning and groaning while I went down on you.”
I pulled away from him with no response. The look I gave him said it all. Malcolm pushed me back against the wall. “Is that how you like to be handled, Mia? Maybe you get off on being manhandled. Is that what makes you come, Mia? You know I almost fell for your little innocent, wronged wife act, but you are nothing more than a tease who likes some dick on the side. I can’t believe I told you all that stuff about my family and my uncle.”
“Let go of me, Malcolm. Leave me alone,” I said as I pulled away from him. “I thought that you were my friend. I thought that we had something in common. I thought you understood. I thought you knew me. If you were a friend, you’d leave me alone.”
Malcolm ran to catch up with me. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean those things I said. I like you, Mia, and I just wanted the chance to finish what we started. Don’t close me out like this.You’re just afraid that he’s going to find out. He won’t. You said yourself that you trust Christian,” he said as he pulled me to him once again.
“Malcolm, stop before someone sees us.”
“You felt and tasted so good the other night. I can’t wait to be with you again. Don’t worry. He won’t find out.”
“I told you that there isn’t going to be a next time. What do I have to do to make you understand?”
By now we had made it to a corner where the long hallway intercepted a narrow hallway where the professors’ offices were. Malcolm pulled me into a private corner.
“Baby, don’t play me like this. I need you. I want you. I don’t know what games you’re playing . . .”
I managed to free myself when a professor walked out of his office. As I ran down the hallway and looked back at Malcolm, I knew that I hadn’t heard or seen the last of him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was so stupid. I ran from Brice and straight into the arms of another man who was just like him. One who didn’t respect women and thought of them only as sex objects. I told him all my secrets . . . I was so wrong, as usual.
33
Christian
B
rice returned from his trip, none the wiser, and he was willing to continue the counseling with Mia and take it seriously. He told me that he didn’t know what happened, but he realized that life is too short and it isn’t every day that you meet the lady that you want to spend the rest of your life with. He felt like Mia was his true soul mate regardless of the problems that they had had in the past, and he wanted to save what was left of their marriage. Mia was elated from what he told me. Yeah, things were taking a turn in their marriage . . . for the better. But shit always has a way of catching up with you. Usually when you least expect it. What’s done in the dark will come to light sooner or later.
rice returned from his trip, none the wiser, and he was willing to continue the counseling with Mia and take it seriously. He told me that he didn’t know what happened, but he realized that life is too short and it isn’t every day that you meet the lady that you want to spend the rest of your life with. He felt like Mia was his true soul mate regardless of the problems that they had had in the past, and he wanted to save what was left of their marriage. Mia was elated from what he told me. Yeah, things were taking a turn in their marriage . . . for the better. But shit always has a way of catching up with you. Usually when you least expect it. What’s done in the dark will come to light sooner or later.
Mia graduated with her bachelor’s degree in education. We all attended the graduation and screamed and cheered for our girl. We were probably as excited as she was, and believe me, she was ecstatic. Mia strutted across that stage in her black cap and gown and shook hands with the president of the college with such grace and a smile that could light up the night. It was a thousand-watt smile. Her mother shed tears of joy, saying how proud her father would have been. If only she knew what her daughter had to go through to get that piece of paper. Mia stayed focused, somehow, through all that drama over the years with Brice.
Afterwards, we all went out to this trendy seafood restaurant, the Fayetteville Fish Market, and had a leisurely lunch, and later that evening, we danced the night away. My date was a lady named Vicki, whom I had met weeks earlier. Yeah, I was still trying to ease back into the dating arena. The truth would have to stay buried. In the earlier part of the evening I could have sworn that Mia was treating her cold, and I could sense some jealousy, but maybe it was my imagination. You can never tell about women. Mia was no different.
It was Mia’s day and she was in true form. She and Brice reminded me of how they had acted when they were first married. They were feeding each other and all over each other. They couldn’t get enough of each other, and I actually saw love reflected in Mia’s eyes. In the past it had been fear that I saw. It is a day and time that I will never forget for as long as I live because it was the last time that we were together as a unit. We were happy, smiling and full of laughter and joy. If someone could have snapped a photo of us and froze that place in time, they would have never imagined what would go down a few weeks later. I know I didn’t.
Malcolm had a reputation as being a hell-raiser for good reason. I guess his image and reputation were more important than his military career, because he started bragging and telling anyone who would listen what he had done to Sergeant Matthew’s wife. He was telling everyone how she was love starved, how she was a freak, how he took her in her own house and how she was ready and willing to open wide. I also learned much later that Malcolm had been harassing Mia at the university. He would approach her between classes, telling her how he couldn’t wait to taste her again. He was obsessed and wouldn’t leave her alone or take no for an answer.
Anyway, it didn’t take long for word to spread, especially on a military base. So before I could do damage control, Brice got wind of it around the same time that I did. Something told me to get over to their apartment as soon as I could. I had this feeling, this intuition, that all hell was about to break loose. How right I was. Hell had busted wide open!
When I arrived at their apartment, I heard Brice before I saw him. I’m sure everyone in the building heard him. As I quickly made my way up the stairway, two steps at a time, I could hear him screaming at Mia and calling her every name in the book and some names that weren’t.
I made it halfway through the doorway.
“Hey, man, take it easy,” I said to a very angry Brice, who had Mia cornered near the half-open door. Her lip was swollen and bleeding, her button-down shirt was torn at the sleeve and there was a hand-print on her left cheek. He had hit her hard enough to leave his print, his stamp.
“Christian, you stay the hell out of this, man. I’m going to kill this bitch. She has fucked some punk on base. She let him fuck her; she actually let him go up in her.”
Mia was crying, “Brice, I didn’t screw him. He’s lying. You have to believe me. I love you, baby.” He responded by slapping her again. Brice was so mad that his facial features were distorted. He wasn’t holding back, either. It was obvious that he wanted to do some serious damage to Mia. Brice wasn’t taking any prisoners. He wanted to draw blood and teach her a lesson. A lesson she would not soon forget. I wasn’t going to let him hit her again.
“You love me . . . you don’t love me!” he screamed into her bruised face. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have betrayed me like this!”
“Listen, man, I heard, but let’s discuss this like civilized people. It’s not going to solve anything to beat her ass again.” By now he had grabbed Mia’s arm and was twisting it behind her back.
“I don’t have anything to say to this . . . this . . . whore.”
Mia was screaming now like he was killing her, or soon would, and her screaming was only making him angrier.
I had inched my way a little closer. Brice had Mia up against the wall with his hand enclosed halfway around her neck.
“Why, Mia. Why?” he asked as he caressed her face, then suddenly banged her head against the wall. “I love you. I’d give up my life for you. Why? Just tell me why.”
I was thinking that he was going to choke her to death or beat her brains out, so I tackled him to the floor and gave Mia a chance to get out of his reach.
“Man, get the fuck off me! Let me handle my business.”
“Get your ass back over here, Mia,” and he lunged for her as he attempted to break away from my grip.
Mia was scared as hell. She turned to run, and he grabbed her shirttail, and she was screaming and crying, and Brice was screaming and cursing, and a crowd had started to gather, and then . . . the shirt tore . . . I can still hear the sound of her white cotton shirt ripping . . . and Mia fell headfirst down the flight of stairs. I didn’t even realize it was me screaming, “No! My God, no!” until I reached the bottom of the stairs and lifted her head up onto my lap. Mia was unconscious, limp, and blood was quickly spreading from a wound on the back of her head.
Brice made his way slowly down the stairs as if he were in a drunken daze. The man was crying and disoriented. He tried to get to Mia when he saw what he had done.
“Muthafucka, is this what you wanted? Are you happy now? Stay the fuck away from her! You made her run into the arms of another man. You cold-blooded son of a bitch. You don’t even deserve her, man.You don’t even deserve her,” I screamed as I laid my head down on top of Mia and cried.
“Mia, wake up, baby. You’re going to be okay. You are safe with me now. I love you.You can’t leave me now. I promise he won’t hurt you again. Just wake up, baby. Wake up.”
My emotional outburst stopped Brice dead in his tracks for a few seconds, and he reeled back in complete shock and surprise before recovering and fully understanding the implications of what I had said.
“Get away from my wife. I trusted you, man. I can’t believe this shit. You goddamn muthafucka, I trusted you,” he screamed as he lunged for me.
I don’t remember much more except for someone in the crowd restraining him before he tried to beat me to death. At that point, he could have done anything to me because I didn’t have the strength to move, much less defend myself. I vaguely remember hearing the siren from the ambulance in the distance, as it got closer and closer. I can barely recall them prying me away from Mia so that they could take her limp body away. I remember looking up and seeing shadows of people huddled together, whispering, with solemn looks on their faces. The last thing I remember was looking up and seeing the cold, heartless stare that Brice gave me and hearing his last words echoing over and over as I walked slowly out of that apartment for the last time.
I trusted you, man.
I trusted you, man.
34
Mia
I
guess my black knight in shining armor turned into a frog, huh? Don’t let anyone tell you that fairy tales do come true because that would be a lie. I was so stupid, so naive, but never again. Never again! I guess you say I got what I deserved. Hell, no, I didn’t. I deserved so much more. What fool marries someone after only knowing that person for a month? The answer to that question is a fool in love. A person who found true love for the first time in her life and wanted to hold on to it and never lose it.
guess my black knight in shining armor turned into a frog, huh? Don’t let anyone tell you that fairy tales do come true because that would be a lie. I was so stupid, so naive, but never again. Never again! I guess you say I got what I deserved. Hell, no, I didn’t. I deserved so much more. What fool marries someone after only knowing that person for a month? The answer to that question is a fool in love. A person who found true love for the first time in her life and wanted to hold on to it and never lose it.
You know, I’ve been thinking a lot. I’ve been in this hospital bed for two days now with nothing but time on my hands. I’m going to stop blaming myself. I didn’t do anything wrong. For the longest time, I blamed myself. I kept trying to break down and analyze everything in our relationship to determine what went wrong, to see what I did wrong. Maybe I could have done things differently, maybe I could have been more understanding, maybe I should have had the baby that he wanted so badly . . . The reality is that my husband, or soon-to-be ex-husband, has some serious problems that he needs to deal with. I can’t help him with those issues. He has to resolve them himself. That is something that he has to do alone. All I can do is take pleasure in the fact that I did everything that I could do, and I loved, loved him with all my heart and soul from beginning to the bitter end. That’s a fact. That will never change. But I’m not about to stay in a relationship and die for love. I know that much.
Christian, what can I say about my dear, darling Christian? He has been heaven sent as usual. That man is too good to be true. I would trust him with my life. He has been here for me every day and every night, trying to cheer me up and provide some form of comfort. I always feel safe and secure in his presence. I took a pretty bad fall. They thought that I had a concussion. But I am mending physically, at least. I am in here for observational purposes only. Christian has been the only person besides the doctors and nurses that I have seen. I asked them not to let Brice into my room under any circumstances. He has sent flowers and apologies every day. That’s too little too late. I didn’t press charges because I want to go on with my life and forget the past, and Brice is the past. But it will be so hard to forget Brice.
Anyway, back to Christian. I woke up last night to find him sitting in the recliner in my room. He had a blanket wrapped around him and he was sitting there watching me sleep. It looked like he had been there for a while. Christian is so tired and mentally stressed out that it is written all over his face. The man loves me and I know that I feel something, strong emotions, for him. Yeah, he finally told me what I knew all along but didn’t want to admit to myself. Christian told me that he loved me and had loved me for a long time, but he knew that nothing could ever come of it because of Brice. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say or what to feel. I don’t feel anything anymore. I am numb both physically and emotionally. What can I say? Brice broke my heart. Broke my heart into tiny little pieces and then stomped all over them.
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