Page 23 of Terrez and Shalene
“Oh, I’m Mrs. McGregor now?”
“I’m just trying to be respectful,” I stated.
“I’ve never felt disrespected by you, Shalene. But I can see how this is all going to turn out.”
My intentions weren’t to be petty, but I also wasn’t about to come into this lady’s house referring to her as “mom”. As far as I was concerned, she’d probably already met Brevin’s new piece of ass. As a mother, I knew Aretha would always be on her son’s side and rightfully so. All I knew was I wasn’t dealing with shit I no longer had to.
“It’s not gonna turn out any kind of way. Everything is good,” I half lied.
When I stepped into the house, Brevin and his father were on the couch watching ESPN. The house smelled just like Sunday dinner. Knowing Aretha, I was sure she made one hell of a spread. She may have raised a bitch of a son, but the woman could cook.
“Hello, everyone,” I said as I looked around for my baby.
“Amayah! Come here, princess,” Brevin shouted.
Moments later, footsteps could be heard from Amayah followed by their family dog, Lucky. When Amayah saw me, she ran and jumped into my arms. It had been a long few days and I was happy that she was happy to see me. Lord knows it would’ve hurt my feelings had her reaction been anything different.
“Hey, baby. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Mommy.”
“You ready?”
“Yes!”
With a smile on my face, I looked over to Brevin, hoping he’d get up to retrieve her things.
“Her bag is upstairs. I’ll go get it.”
“Okay. I’ll start putting her in the car.”
After helping Amayah say goodbye to her grandparents, I picked her up and carried her to my car. By the time I had her strapped into her seat, Brevin was approaching us with Amayah’s pink bag in hand.
“Thank you. I’ll have her call you sometime tomorrow.”
“Damn, Shalene, can you hold the hell up? You come in and leave right back out, like these aren’t the same people you used to spend time with.”
“I’m not trying to argue with you. Like I said, I’ll have her call you tomorrow, and if that’s not gonna work, then she’ll call another time,” I said as I closed the back door.
“So, it’s true, huh? You really out here with another man?”
“Brevin, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“My cousin told me he saw you at the steakhouse the other day. When I asked him what the man looked like, he described the same nigga you had come to the house to move your stuff.”
“Oh, okay.”
Before I could open the driver’s door, Brevin grabbed my arm and pinned me against the car.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shouted as I yanked out of his grip.
“No, what the fuck is wrong with you? I give you years of my damn life and you just move on with the next man?”
“Move on with the next man? Brevin, you have some damn audacity to be in my face talking about another man when you had a new piece of pussy before I was even moved out. You couldn’t wait for me to move out so you could move her in?—”
“I didn’t move that girl in. She wasn’t even supposed to be there because I knew you were coming for your things. She showed up when I was in the middle of a shower. By the time I was finished, she’d taken it upon herself to move the boxes outside. The only reason I didn’t speak up that day was because you brought some nigga to my house. It’s just crazy to me that you think you deserve to be happy after everything you put me through.”
“You have to be smoking the purest shit in Diamond Falls if you think I’m the one that put you through anything. My mother is gone, Brevin! That shit hurts and still hurts every day. You see how you’re over here spending time and having Sunday dinner with both of your parents? Well, I can no longer do that. So again, I’m sorry that my grief became a burden to you. Instead of doing all you could to be there for me, you ran to another woman to fulfill your needs.”
