Page 5 of Fever: Love In Scrubs
“No, sir.”
“Did she buy you this?”
Jamari was quiet for a moment before shaking her head. “Yes and no.”
“Jamari.”
“Tyanna got the make-up, and Mom bought the bra for me.”
“Then I guess I need to talk to your mother and Tyanna’s parents.”
“Daddy, please! You’re gonna embarrass me. They don’t know she wears makeup.”
I chuckled. “If she has to sneak and do it, she knows she wrong. What’s the issue, Mari? You don’t need this shit. You’re a beautiful little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl, Daddy. I’m a young woman. I want boys to notice me like they do other girls.”
I palmed my face. Jesus be a fence. I wasn’t ready for this.
“Baby… you’re twelve. Boys should be the last thing on your mind. You need to be focused on school and being a good person. First of all, boys won’t bring you anything but trouble. Second, any boy that can’t appreciate you as you are doesn’t deserve you at all. Your self worth is never gonna be tied to a boy or a man.”
“Mom says it’s okay to have a crush?—”
“I don’t wanna hear another word about what your mama said. Go upstairs, wash your face and put on a regular bra. You got two minutes to meet in the car.”
“But Daddy?—”
“Go.”
She huffed and stormed off back upstairs. I rested my palms on the kitchen table and took a deep breath. It was clear I was going to have to have a long talk with my ex-wife about our child. She had me fucked up if she thought our daughter was going to be a damn hot girl at twelve.
I met Amandela the summer I graduated from college. I’d met up with some friends and we went out to celebrate at a club. She was working as a bottle girl and the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew we would end our night together.
What I thought was going to be a one night stand quickly turned into something serious. I mean, the one night standhappened, but it rolled over into the next day. And the next day. And the next. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years, and before I knew it, we were married with Jamari on the way.
Things were good for a while.
Then I started making real money along with finally having access to the trust fund my grandfather left me. Amandela’s true colors began to show. She wanted to be a stay at home wife and I was okay with that because she held it down with me when I was making pennies as an intern while still taking care of me and our daughter.
Then came the horrible spending habits. The elaborate trips with her friends. She wanted to flex and seemed to forget all about being a mother and wife. For months, she kept it a secret that she had Jamari in daycare so she could go do bald headed ho shit with her friends. I wouldn’t have been against it so much if her motives weren’t fucked up.
Daycare would help socialize my kid and teach her different things. That was cool. But there were times when I had to leave work or get my sister Asia or my mother to pick her up because Amandela was late or didn’t pick her up at all. The straw that broke the camel’s back in our marriage was learning that she’d been not only having an affair, but she’d been giving her boyfriend money… my money.
I discovered it by accident.
I’d come home early one day because I was feeling like shit. When I pulled in the driveway, I noticed a car I wasn’t familiar with. I tried to brush it off as it being one of her gold-digging friends, but my spirit never set right with that.
Quickly and quietly, I’d made my way into the house. Immediately, I knew there was another man in my home. I took off my shoes and made my way up the stairs. My office door was cracked open and as I neared it, I could hear Amandelamoaning. When I got close enough to look through the small opening, my heart hurt at what I saw.
There she was, bent over my desk with some man I didn’t know hitting her from behind. Two stacks of bills rested near them, and I knew it came from the stash in my safe. I watched as he pounded into her with no mercy, and she enjoyed that shit. He didn’t even pull out when he finished, and she didn’t try to make him.
He’d released her and adjusted his clothes before grabbing the stacks of money, kissed her lips, and told her thank you. I forgot all about not feeling good when he approached the door. The moment it opened, my fist collided with his face. I didn’t stop until I beat his ass all the way down the stairs and out the front door with Amandela screaming for me to stop.
That was the day my marriage was over.
I filed for divorce and hadn’t looked back. Originally, we had a joint custody agreement, but after seeing that she was going to have to work because she wasn’t getting alimony, Amandela decided it would be best if Jamari stayed with me. I didn’t fight her on that. For four years now, I’d been a full-time single father.
Jamari tried me like no other at times, but I loved my baby.
