The Wrong Husband 2 Page 10

  I didn’t even get to ask him about Vanessa again and how did he know that I’d run into Polo?

  After loading up the boys, and stopping at the bank to deposit the check, I headed to Mama’s to tell her what Micki had said and so we could get in touch and tell him that his wife was on the run.

  What the hell are you up to Micki?

  ~***~

  “Who is she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Who is she Eddie?”

  “Damn it! I don’t know!”

  He screamed in my face but I asked him again.

  “I just want to go to sleep Sassi. Can I do that? Damn!”

  He got so defensive when it came to this subject, which made me believe even more that he was lying.

  “Tell me who she is? Is she someone from your past? Was she your mistress? Did Polo do something to her? Did he kill her? What? And how did Micki know about it?”

  Eddie groaned.

  It had been over a week since anyone had seen or heard from Micki.

  It was safe to say, that she was probably gone.

  And she’d left her kids and her husband behind.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d planned it all exactly the way that it’d happened. I couldn’t help but wonder where she was. But I knew in my heart, I could tell in her voice, that she wasn’t coming back.

  Ever.

  We both were set for the rest of our lives.

  Now I had to figure out whether or not Eddie would be living lavish with me.

  “Who is she?”

  “Ask me that again Sassi. I dare you. Go on, ask me again and I promise that I will walk out that door and never come back. Ask me. I told you. I don’t know who Vanessa is. It was a dream. Maybe Micki was pulling your leg. I don’t know. Maybe she said it to piss you off or drive you crazy. I don’t know! But I don’t know who Vanessa is!”

  Eddie screamed and turned his back to me.

  I guess it could have been a possibility that Micki was just being a bitch, but I was willing to put my bank account on it that she wasn’t.

  I turned over and quietly, mentally, started to form a plan.

  Didn’t Eddie know that if a woman wanted to know something, she could find it?

  A woman was better than the CIA at finding the truth when there was something that she wanted to know and I was in full investigation mode.

  I didn’t have to mention it to him anymore, but that damn sure didn’t mean that I was going to stop looking.

  I was going to find out who Vanessa was or is; even if I had to play dirty to do it. And by playing dirty I was sure that meant that I was going to have to do some playing with Polo.

  Polo would break before Eddie would. I was sure of it. So,

  Eddie could blame himself for what I was about to do next.

  My next actions were his fault and his problem.

  Not mine.

  ****************************

  Chapter 6

  Of course I was forbidden to see Polo and I was sure that if Eddie found out that I was trying to find a way to see him, he was going to go insane. I would say that I didn’t care, but just in case there was a small chance that Micki had been just starting trouble, I didn’t want to completely mess things up with Eddie and I.

  I still wasn’t sure if he’d believed that Polo just happened to ride by and see me at Micki’s, but he had been mad for about a week before he let it go. But he did tell me that he would be watching and that I had better not be trying to play him or hurt him again.

  So though I wanted to get in touch with Polo, I didn’t want to call him because I was sure that Eddie was checking up on things now that he knew that Polo was back in town.

  Maybe Polo felt the same way which he would always call me private. Either way, I had to find a way to see him.

  Eddie loved me, but so did Polo.

  And the difference between Polo and Eddie was that Polo was unstable; which meant after so long it seemed as though he always got tired of lying and pretending and which also meant that I had a better chance and breaking him down and getting the truth out of him, than I had with Eddie.

  We had finally been able to touch the money and with so much of it, we didn’t know what to do with it first.

  And to be honest, I wasn’t exactly focused on spending it.

  I was focused on the truth.

  Nevertheless I was taking Mama a million dollars and I was going to give my brother some money too once I was able to get in touch with him. Mama told me that Micki had come one day and took the kids from school, so they were gone with her, wherever she was. Mama said he’d gone to pick them up, and was told that their mother signed them out, but she hadn't been at home when he’d got there.

  Maybe she never left. Or maybe she did and figured out that she couldn’t live without her little brats and came back for them.

  Either way, Micki and her kids were gone and she’d left my brother, her new husband, in the wind, and he wasn’t taking it too well.

  I pulled up at Mama’s house with the check in my hand.

  Her car was there, but there was also a car that I didn’t recognized. I figured that one of her old, gossiping friends had gotten a new car, so not thinking much of it I used my key to try to get in but I was stopped by the chain on the door.

  “Ma, why is the chain on the door?” I yelled, peeking through the crack.

  And I damn near went blind from what I saw.

  Mama’s bare ass was up in the air and she was on her knees, giving head to some man that was lying on his back on the floor.

  Oh, oh, here it comes!

  I gagged so loud that it damn near scared both of them to death.

  “Ugh!”

  Mama yelled for me to close the door and I did as I was told and had a seat on the porch. That had to be the nasty thing I’d ever seen in my life! And I do mean ever!

  After a while, Mama came out in her robe.

  “Why didn’t you call first?”

  “I never call first. And neither do you remember?”

  How? When?

  I hadn't seen Mama with any other man other than my daddy. Like ever.

  I had no idea that she was dating and she never so much as mentioned seeing another man.

  And she was having sex? And giving head?

  Now that was just plain ole’ nasty!

  I was going to be sick. I focused on sitting still.

  “What is it Sassi?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you were seeing someone?”

  “Because it’s none of your business. What do you want?”

  She was still trying to catch her breath.

  “Who is he?”

  “No one that I want to introduce. He’s just Mama’s little friend. Now. What is it?”

  Still trying to erase the visual of her on her knees from my memory, I stood up and reached her the check.

  “Thanks for being my Mama,” was all I said and she smiled. I left her and her company to finish whatever foolishness they called themselves doing, and I hurried back home to tell Eddie about what I saw.

  “Eddie she was giving head,” I frowned but he was dying laughing.

  “Well, maybe you should get her to give you a lesson or two. Tell her we will pay her for her head…I mean her time,” Eddie burst into laughter as I started to chase him through the house.

  Eww! Just eww!

  ~***~

  I had been trying to conveniently be in a few places that Polo might go.

  I needed to run into him. I couldn’t call him and I couldn’t go by his house. Eddie was keeping his eye on me more than the usual lately and anytime we weren’t in each other’s presence, he was blowing my phone up.

  But if anybody knew something, Polo did. And I could make him tell me.

  Eddie had run out to get a few more things before our big trip the next day. We were taking the kids on their first vacation of many.

  Eddie of course let his job go and was trying
to figure out what kind of company he could start to keep income flowing and coming in for years to come and even something that our kids could one day inherit.

  He was thinking that maybe we could start a chain of laundromats or something like that but he hadn't exactly finished all of the calculations on it.

  Things between us were fine; at least that’s what he thought. I was still trying to find out the truth. I hadn't asked him about Vanessa again. There was no point because he wasn’t going to tell me.

  But I was still looking for answers.

  With Eddie gone and the kids watching a movie, I carried a few things out to put in the truck since we would be driving.

  My second load, I noticed Polo’s car, just passing by.

  Yes!

  “Polo! Polo! Polo!”

  Though it was crazy that he was still riding by, at that moment, I didn’t care.

  He was just the man that I needed to see. Waving my arms, he slammed on brakes.

  I looked at my phone.

  I knew that Eddie would call once he left the store, just like he always did, so just in case, I needed to talk fast.

  “Still riding by I see?”

  “I always watch you.”

  Yeah, yeah, I know.

  “Polo, who is Vanessa?”

  “I don’t know Sassi. Where are y’all going?”

  “Eddie didn’t tell you?”

  “No.”

  I wondered if it was for a reason, but with the entire trunk filled with luggage, it wasn’t like I could lie.

  “Florida. We’re driving there tomorrow.”

  “Oh.”

  “Polo, I really need to know who Vanessa is. I need to know what she has to do with Eddie.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Please Polo. Please,” I tried begging him.

  My phone started to ring and I saw it was Eddie.

  “You have to go.”

  “See you in Florida,” Polo said and drove away.

  What?

  “Hello,” I answered the phone for my husband as I watched Polo’s car until it was out of sight.

  Did Polo just say that he was coming to Florida?

  Just as he said that he would, Polo was in Florida.

  I’d spotted him, keeping a distance from us as we checked in at the hotel.

  Usually, I would be frustrated by his need to always be somewhere lurking, and watching, but this time I was glad that he was close by. I could definitely find some time to get some distance away from Eddie so that I could talk him.

  Eddie seemed to be in a great mood and though I wanted to join him in high spirits and just be happy, I couldn’t focus on much until I knew what it was that he was keeping from me.

  So for now, I was pretending just like everyone in my circle often did so well. I was being the perfect wife, wearing the perfect smile and making sure that my husband thought that everything was perfect.

  But it wasn’t.

  The drive had us all worn out so we took a much needed nap. Hours later, we headed out to sight see. It had been a while since we’d gone anywhere and despite the other things on my mind, I allowed myself to have some fun and make a few family memories.

  “I love you Sassi,” Eddie said.

  “I love you too.” I really did.

  But I knew there was something that he was keeping from me.

  A private call caused my phone to buzz.

  Eddie and the kids were getting settled at the restaurant and I excused myself to the bathroom.

  I waited for the call to call again.

  And as always, it did.

  “Hello?”

  “You look so beautiful today,” Polo said.

  “You really followed us here?”

  “You needed me,” he said.

  “How do you figure that?”

  “It was in your voice. I’m in the penthouse suite at the same hotel you guys are staying at.”

  “I need to talk to you Polo.”

  “Well, come and talk to me,” he said and he hung up the phone.

  I made my way back out to Eddie and enjoyed the rest of our dinner. After another hour or two, we finally made our way back to the hotel. I’d been internally plotting on the perfect excuse to get away from my husband.

  Spotting a lingerie store on the way in, I’d found one.

  “Get the kids bathed and in bed and be waiting for me when I get back. We passed a store and I think I saw something that I might want to wear for you later,” I flirted with Eddie once we were back in our room.

  Of course I wasn’t really going to a store, but Eddie didn’t have to know that. I would simply say that they didn’t have my size when I came back empty handed.

  “I knew there was a reason that you wanted all of this room. I should have known that you had plans to be nasty,” Eddie said, kissed my lips, and handed me the car keys.

  “And don’t go to sleep Eddie. Put the boys to bed. Not yourself,” I teased as he chuckled.

  “You better hurry up then.”

  I headed back out of the room and took the elevator to the top floor. I called the hotel lobby and asked for Polo’s room, just to make sure.

  After getting confirmation, I knocked on the door.

  “It’s about time, I’m starving,” Polo said as he opened the door. “Oh. I thought you were room service,” he said, moving out of the way so that I could come inside.

  His room was amazing!

  Eddie and I had gotten a great room, just because, but it had nothing on Polo’s.

  It was extravagant, and fit for a king.

  We still had to get used to spending like folks did that had a whole lot of money. We hadn't gotten the hang of being wasteful yet.

  “So,” he said.

  “I can’t believe you came all the way here,” I said, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

  “I don’t see why you would be surprised. Even when I’m not around, I’m still around. Besides, I get the feeling that you wanted me here,” Polo walked closer to me.

  My body tensed.

  “Move. I only want to know what you know about Vanessa.”

  “Why are you so obsessed with some woman that you don’t even know?”

  “So you’re admitting that she does exist?”

  “No. I’m just curious.”

  “I wasn’t dreaming was I Polo? Micki told me that I wasn’t dreaming. That Vanessa really does exist. She was telling the truth wasn’t she? What did y’all do to me huh? What you knocked me out and then you guys staged it to look like I was dreaming?”

  A knock on the door came and my heart started to race.

  “Room service,” the lady on the other side of the door said.

  Of course it wasn’t Eddie, but you never know.

  Polo paid for his things and came back to join me.

  “I can’t love him like I should, feeling like there’s something that I don’t know,” I said to Polo.

  “There will always be something that you don’t know Sassi,” he said eating a strawberry.

  “That’s the problem. What do I have to do for you to tell me who she is Polo?”

  “I don’t know who she is Sassi.”

  “But you’re lying.”

  “Prove it.”

  That’s the problem, I couldn’t.

  Polo walked closer to me again and sat beside of me with the bowl of strawberries in his hand.

  “Take a bite baby,” Polo said reaching a strawberry in my direction.

  “I’m not your baby Polo. You got what you wanted. Eddie and I remarried and we’re fine.”

  “Then stop snooping and just be fine then.”

  Polo was right.

  Maybe I should just sweep this Vanessa situation under the rug too. But I just didn’t want to.

  “You sure you don’t want a bite?”

  “I don’t want no damn strawberry Polo!”

  “Fine. You don’t have to be so nasty about it. And you’ve been gone long enough. M
aybe you should get back,” he said to me.

  “He thinks that I went to the store,” I said to him.

  “No. He thinks that you came to find me,” Polo said.

  “What? He doesn’t even know you’re here. Right?”

  “He knows that I’m probably not too far away. He knows me. And I know him. You should get back.”

  Polo stood and so did I.

  There was no doubt in my mind that they had done something to me and I was positive that they were all trying to cover up something. I didn’t know how Micki tied into it all but I was sure that there was something about the truth that I wasn’t going to like.

  Could I live with the truth was the question.

  I sure as hell didn’t feel like I could live without it. Without knowing the truth.

  “Polo just tell me the truth.”

  “The truth is he loves you. I love you. And that’s the truth. Eddie is about to call you,” he said.

  I walked out of the room and just as I reached the elevator, my phone started to ring.

  It was Eddie.

  Well I’ll be damned!

  ~***~

  I watched Mama call, but I didn’t press ignore. She would have known that I’d sent her to the voicemail. She still wouldn’t tell me who her new boo was but in a way I was just glad that she was finally getting her groove back. She hadn't been happy, or in love in such a long time. Patrice had stolen that from her. And now she had a chance to get it back, so I wasn’t going to complain about it.

  Mama left a voicemail, but I didn’t even bother to check it. I was too busy thinking about other things. Translation: I was too busy trying to figure out how to find Vanessa.

  I scanned Eddie’s calls online for the third time that week. None of them were out of the ordinary. Most of them were to me or to Polo. He never so much as mentioned Polo to me again and I dared not say anything about him.

  Mama called a few more times until finally she gave up and I headed to mess in some of Eddie’s things. It wasn’t that I believed he was a bad person or that he and I shouldn’t be married to him or that we shouldn’t be back together. But I did believe that there was something about him and maybe even Polo that was important and that I needed to know.

  I’d gone all of these years without knowing, but maybe that was the problem with our relationship all along. And maybe curiosity kills that cat, but I just needed to know, for my own sanity. And who knows, maybe even for my own safety.