Page 5 of Inadmissible
She paused, and I was glad because my eyes were starting to water, and this conversation was beginning to be too much for me. “You know that saying how you get them is how you lose them?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I agreed sadly, regretting telling her Destin was in a relationship when we met. He told me he’d called it off before we started dating, but now, I wondered if he’d cheated on his ex with me.
“Well, how you get them is also how you can keep them. What I say instead is you should study a person’s habits and behavior. If he cheated with you, he will cheat on you. Not because that’s what you deserve, but because that’s his pattern of behavior. If Destin has already cheated on his ex with you and on you and you forgave him, he will do it again, baby. That is his habit. His pattern of behavior. Please don’t marry that man. Your brother was right. You deserve better than a marriage like mine.”
Sniffling, I wiped my tears from my cheeks. “If it was so bad, why’d you stay? You staying is what made this seem normal to me. It wasn’t always. I felt it was wrong for a while. But so many men cheat these days I’ve started to question if I’ll have to settle for it just because no one is faithful anymore.”
“That’s not true, baby. There are plenty of faithful men out there. If all you see is unfaithfulness, you need to change what you’re watching. Who you’re with. And I stayed because my mother stayed. Hers did too. I made this choice, and I have to deal with it, but I want better for you. I want you to break the cycle, Taj. You can love and be loved by a man who worships God simply for making you.
“There are faithful men who willneverdo anything to intentionally hurt you. They may not be the typical type you go for, and that’s actually a good thing. I want you to stop being with the man you want and be with a man who wantsyou. If he wants you, he’ll never do anything to lose you, and that includes intentionally doing something that will hurt you.”
We talked for a little while longer before saying our goodbyes. Since my phone was on Do Not Disturb, I didn’t know someone had sent me three FaceTime requests. I didn’t recognize the number, so instead of calling it back, I texted.
901-773-2112: Who is this?
901-550-9588: *two attachments* I wanted you to see ya man laying up with me the night before your wedding. Yes, I’m eight months pregnant. Yes, it’s his child. He told me he would tell you before the wedding which is why I haven’t said anything. Tonight he said he wanted you to marry him before he told you so you wouldn’t leave. If I can’t have him to myself, you need to know the truth!
My heart raced as she sent another FaceTime request. I answered it, and sure enough, Destin was in bed with her, snoring, with his arm tossed around her huge belly.
“Destin,” she called sweetly, rubbing his arm.
“Hmm?”
“Look.”
His eyes fluttered open, and his voice was thick with sleep as he said, “What, Trenae?”
It took a few seconds of looking for him to realize what she was showing him on the phone, but when his brain finally processed the sight of me, he snatched the phone and ended thecall. Tossing my phone against the wall, I roared. Not in sadness but in rage.
Yet again, this man had cheated on me.
Wasagainthe operative word here?
Did he ever really stop?
In less than twenty-four hours, I was supposed to marry this man.
In two minutes, with two pictures and one FaceTime call, yet another relationship of mine was over.
Taj
The Next Day
All I could do was stare at my brother as he drove my car. He insisted on driving after I picked him up because he said I drove too slow. When I called and told him he could stop ignoring me because Destin and I were over, he asked why, and I told him. Since Destin and I shared our locations, Tyler came over to my place, took my cracked phone, and went to where he was. He beat Destin up and Destin’s baby mama, Trenae, called the police.
The only reason I was able to pick him up without paying a bond or having to wait for him to see a judge was because Destin didn’t want to press charges. I felt like he did that because he wanted to stay in my good graces, but not pressing charges against my brother wasn’t going to make me get back with him. I hadn’t even bothered to tell Destin we were over. I blocked him on everything and put his clothes and personal items outside of my apartment, including the ring he’d gotten me. He'd popped up at my apartment three times, and I refused to let him in. I honestly didn’t think there was anything he could say that would change the way I felt about him.
I hated him.
He wasdisgustingto me.
And there was no way inhellI’d be able to marry him.
It was crazy how quickly my perspective had changed. When I foolishly believed the cheating was a onetime thing, I was still blinded by love. Now that I knew the relationship had been ongoing, I wanted nothing to do with his ass. Cheating had officially become my top non-negotiable. It was inadmissible in my relationships, though if I was to be honest, I was so tired of being hurt chasing love that I didn’t think I wanted to be in another relationship again.
Tyler looked over at me and chuckled before asking, “What? Why you staring at me?”
“Why did you go over there and beat that man up? You think I want to be the kind of lawyer who has to defend her own people?”
