I'd Rather Be Single Page 7

  I didn’t understand; it was like Rosslyn was Dr. Jeckyll and Ms. Hyde. This bitch was certified crazy! Her scream startled me to the point where I didn’t put up a fuss; I sped to the front door and bounced.

  On the way home, I tried to dissect memories our friendship. I remembered wondering why no one from Brooklyn such as her friends or family ever called her. Every time her phone rung it was from a baller or rich man she was using. The bitch probably didn’t have any friends because they knew her ass was crazy. Then I thought back on her childhood situation and it all made sense. Since Rosslyn blamed her father for taking her mom away from her, she was very territorial over people and things in this world that she felt was hers. And money was one of those things, and in my case one of those people were Michael.

  When I arrived at Michael’s house, I noticed that he had cooked up a meal that the whole neighborhood could probably smell. He made fresh collard greens, sweet smelling yams, roasted honeynut chicken and baked macaroni and cheese.

  “Hey, baby, just relax. I cooked us dinner, we are going to have a candlelit dinner and then we are going to hop in the Jacuzzi,” he said in an upbeat mood as he prepared the table.

  The table settings were beautiful, the plates were fourteen carat gold, as were the spoon and fork that lay beside it and somehow Michael managed to find tall gold candles that he lit and stood in the center of the table.

  I took a seat at the table and dropped my Dior bag beside me.

  Michael dropped what he was doing and came to give me a warm peck on the lips.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked noticing that I was out of it.

  “I think I just lost a friend,” I said staring into the floor.

  He seated himself at the table. Both of our plates were laid out in front of us and he told me to leave every negative issue outside the door and that he was going to leave all of his basketball business out the door and just focus on us. I appreciated his gesture as he blessed the table and we dug in.

  After that day, I hadn’t heard from Rosslyn. I would sit in my apartment at times stressed over losing her friendship. Every time my phone rung I thought it was her calling and I was hoping that we would mend things. After about a week or so, the only phone calls that I received other than Michael’s was the call from Rodney telling me that he was moving on and having a baby with his new girlfriend. Like I said before, I was already over Rodney but his baby news had touched me. I fought hard not to let Rodney’s news or Rosslyn affect me. I decided that I was completely devoting my life to Michael. I had someone immediate who loved me and he deserved all of my attention.

  Finally one day, out of the clear blue, Rosslyn called me to express herself once again. I was on my way to the airport to fly out to one of Michael’s games. Rosslyn’s attitude was stank and all of the disrespect almost made her sound unrecognizable.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  She didn’t greet me with a hello or anything, she got right into it. “You knew I wanted Michael Slinks, I told your ass he’s like the next Lebron James of the NBA.”

  “Rosslyn, you can’t still be on this dumb shit. I didn’t know that we were competing for men now.”

  “Whatever, Tyra! You are acting like you are me, you are not me, leave the heavyweights to me, you stick to the minor league niggas!”

  “Oh word it’s like that? You are coming at me like this over a dude Rosslyn? I thought that men were only dollar signs to you; there are more niggas out here on Michael’s level. Why are you so sprung up on him?”

  “Because I wanted him and you knew it!” she shot back at me.

  “No I didn’t know it, Rosslyn, you are acting really crazy,” I said becoming annoyed.

  “Shut up, bitch! I taught you everything you know! You are my protégé and now you are out here running with what I taught you! Taking my man!” she screamed.

  “Stop disrespecting me, Rosslyn, you are acting like a fuckin’ lunatic. How the fuck did I take your man? Michael is not your man. You have Terry Lamont in your corner but yet you want to come after my fiancé? What are you doing? Enough is enough, we were out here being grown groupies, it’s time for us to settle down and be happy. Game over.”

  “Fuck you! I told you never to let me down, Tyra. You fucked up. The game is over for you bitch!” she threatened and hung up.

  Rosslyn was beginning to get on my nerves and I told myself that I was fine with letting our friendship go. I had Michael in my corner and his mom. I didn’t need a friend in Rosslyn if she could easily turn her back on me over a man that I had no clue she wanted in the first place. And I couldn’t believe she threatened me and was raising her tone on the phone with me like I was her enemy.

  Michael’s mom and I had become close after Michael and I got engaged. We attended some of his games together and we were beginning to bond. She was utterly excited about the wedding and was eager to help me plan it. I decided to no longer try patching up my relationship with Rosslyn. Our last phone call was the last straw. I drove to the airport promising myself that I had to get over our friendship. I was heading to Chicago to Michael’s game against the Bulls so I flew with a clear mind and one less friend.

  It saddened me that I lost a friend but I was still appreciative of everything she taught me. After all, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have ever met Michael.

  Michael was everything that any woman could ever want; he was dreamy, romantic, focused on his career and sooo into me. Finally, I was feeling the love that I wanted and needed.

  Michael had a home game and was finally back in Boston for a few days. I was excited to spend time with him at his house. Plus I couldn’t hold in what I wanted to tell him any longer.

  “Baby, when are you going to move the rest of your stuff out of your apartment?” he asked me as I brought over more of my clothes and placed them on his suede sofa. I was slowly moving in.

  “Sooner than you think,” I said taking a seat.

  “Baby, we need to talk,” I said as I motioned for him to sit beside me.

  His handsome face showed concern as he took a seat and grabbed both of my hands. He tucked in his lips revealing the dimple in his cheek and waited for me to speak.

  “I’m pregnant,” I said, my heart pounding.

  Michael’s facial expression didn’t change. I was afraid that he would be upset and that he wasn’t ready since his basketball career was at an all time high. I had told him numerous times about how Rodney and I used to try hard for a baby but it never happened so it was no question that he knew how psyched I was about being pregnant.

  Michael’s blank face was instantly traded for the largest smile that I’ve ever saw him flash.

  “Baby, come here,” he said pulling me in for a hug.

  “God is a miracle worker. I knew you could bear children.” He wiped the tears from my eyes.

  “Michael we are going to have a family,” I said as tears kept rushing down my cheeks, I couldn’t stop crying, I was so happy.

  “Okay listen, baby, I’m going to call my mom and tell her the good news; we should probably push the wedding up too. Damn, this just made my day,” he said with excitement as he got up to call his mom.

  I was on Cloud 9, I was engaged to the man of my dreams, and we were about to start our family. I put my hand over my belly and cried, there was nothing more that I wanted than to have a real family and I was finally about to get what I yearned for.

  *********

  The Celtics had a charity event that Michael was slated to attend. Excitement overcame me; this was the first event that I would be attending as Michael’s fiancé. I paraded around the Copley mall until I found the perfect dress in Saks. I felt like I was shopping to go to the prom and since I was going to be Michael Slink’s arm candy, I knew that he wanted me to look like a Princess strolling down the red carpet with him.

  The blue silk sleeveless dress I wore looked phenomenal. Not to mention the matching blue peek toe Christian Loubitin shoes I purchased to complement it. My stomach was still flat; you couldn’t tell that I was six weeks pregnant so I was able to purchase a dress size to complement my shape.

  Michael surprised me with huge oval Princess cut earrings and a diamond cut bracelet and necklace set. Michael doted on me; he loved to show me off and spoil me. That night I was a sight for sore eyes.

  “You look beautiful,” Michael said kissing on the back of my neck as I got ready in front of the bureau.

  “The future Mrs. Slinks has to represent her man right. Right?” I asked turning to steal some kisses.

  “Mmm,” he said, kissing me back. “That’s right, Mrs. Slinks,” he agreed.

  Michael wore a dark blue tailor maid suit. The fit catered to his swag making him look like he was about to pose on the runway in Paris for Versace. He had rented a Bentley for the occasion, I told him that we could’ve just taken his Maserati but as usual, my baby wanted to show boat.

  Michael was on the phone in the master bedroom while I was in the bathroom making sure my long black tresses sprawled down my back without frizzing when suddenly the doorbell rang.

  "Baby, get the door, I'm on the phone with my agent," Michael yelled.

  "Okay babe!" I shouted back as I made my way downstairs tightening my left earring.

  I couldn't see a silhouette through the stained glass on the front door so I couldn't tell who it was. I wondered who was visiting us knowing that we had the charity event to prepare for.

  "Hello!" I hollered.

  No one answered back.

  I opened the door to peek out at the front stoop before I stepped outside. I peered around; the street was dark besides the dim light from the front porch hitting the fresh cut front lawn. Not a soul was in sight.

  Out of nowhere I heard a window shatte
r! My car alarm began to sound off and I ran to the side of the house to check on my car. My passenger window was busted out and the brick landed in the passenger seat with what seemed to be Polaroids underneath it. I hysterically turned to scope the street to see who could have done such a thing. Who was out to get me! My heart was beating hard and fast.

  Lights suddenly brightened in a white Mercedes Benz that was parked on the curb a little ways down the street. The car then screeched down the street leaving rubber marks in the middle of the road. The person in the familiar vehicle obviously had a vendetta out for me. Then I recognized that it was the same rental that Terry Lamont rented for Rosslyn. That bitch hadn't let the situation go and was doing everything in her power to make my life with Michael hard. I opened my passenger door, little pieces of glass continued to fall off the shattered window onto the driveway. I picked up the Polaroids and it appeared to be pictures of me naked. I scoped the second picture closely and noticed that Jamal, Jerome and Cedric, the same guys that ran a train on me in the projects were posing next to me while I was sleeping and they had their dicks pointing at my young naked sleeping body. I dropped the pictures on the ground and held my mouth as tears poured out of my eyes and butterflies rumbled inside my stomach. I didn't even know those pictures existed. I was completely humiliated and couldn't believe the level that Rosslyn had stooped to in trying to ruin my life.

  Michael ran outside. "Tyra, you okay, what happened, who was that at the door?" he asked displaying major concern.

  I quickly kicked the pictures underneath my car as Michael approached me and embraced me.

  "Baby come here, you are shaking," he said as he held me tight. I clutched him with all my might thinking about how I could lose him if he ever found out about my past.

  He peered at my broken window. "Who the fuck would come here and bust out your window? I ain't out here messing with no groupie bitches, something ain't right about this shit," he said.

  "I don't know, baby, but I'm okay,” I said trying to collect myself.

  “ Let's go inside, we have to finish getting ready, we can't be late for the charity event," I said

  trying to rush him back in.

  "You okay?" he asked again.

  “I'm fine," I said as he held my face.

  He looked around on the street again. "Fuck that, I'm getting video cameras on the porch from now on; can't have this shit happening again scaring my baby like this."

  "I agree," I said as we made our way back in the house.

  Michael was so protective of me, especially now that I was pregnant. The fact that someone had broken my window really concerned him. He went into the kitchen to get a trash bag to tape to my car window so that it wouldn't be open while we were gone. I discretely ran back outside to get the pictures from underneath my car. I turned them face down because I couldn't look at them, I was too ashamed and I planned to burn them once I got a chance. I noticed in the back of one of the pictures it had Rosslyn's famous words when we took pictures, "Smile, Bitch!" And it gave me further confirmation that it was she who had it out for me.

  Michael rubbed my leg the entire car ride to the charity event because I was still shook up about what happened. It was obvious that concern from the drama dangled on his mind but he kept it together for me.

  As we approached the hotel, I noticed the girls from my projects standing next to the red carpet looking into our car as if they had a plan devised. I was so nervous to step out that I almost lost footing as Michael opened the door to help me out.

  The girls waited for the valet to drive the Bentley off and then they began yelling out harsh comments that made me feel small.

  “You can’t turn a hoe into a housewife,” they said, snickering from the crowd.

  “Tyra was a hoe in the hood and always will be!” they shouted.

  I knew exactly what was going on. Rosslyn was using my past against me. I knew for sure that she was the one behind this because she knew about the charity event because Terry Lamont was slated to attend too but was most likely not going to partake in the event due to his injury. Who knows how much money she must’ve paid the girls who hated me from my projects to sabotage me and reveal my past to Michael that night. She was determined to make my life a living hell because she couldn’t have Michael.

  “Mr. Slinks, Mr. Slinks; that dunk you did in the fourth quarter against the Lakers will go down in history,” one of the photographers said as he snapped a shot of us.

  “Thank you,” he said revealing the smile that I loved.

  “Tyra is a hoe! She fucked everybody in the hood,” one of the girls yelled out again as I tried to maintain a smile as the cameras continued to click.

  “Michael Slinks is with Boston’s jumpoff. He’s going to marry a slut!” they continued to yell.

  Michael also tried to maintain a smile for the cameras and I was hoping that he couldn’t hear exactly what the girls were saying over all the screaming paparazzi.

  It seemed as though this walk on the red carpet was lasting forever.

  “What the fuck are they talking about?” he whispered through his teeth while we stopped to pose for one of the cameras.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered back almost trading my smile for a frown.

  During the charity dinner, I felt unworthy sitting amongst Michael’s teammates and coaches. A few tears actually left my eyes when Michael spoke at the event because I was so proud of him. I felt that I had no choice but to come clean and tell Michael about my past once we got back home. I figured I owed him that much after everything he had done for me. And since Rosslyn was determined to ruin my life, I figured that if I told him first, maybe he would accept my honesty and stay with me since we were already in love and I was already carrying his child.

  After the event, we headed home in silence. I didn’t know what to say to Michael but I was definitely trying to build up the courage to explain my past.

  I kicked off my shoes once we got inside. “The event turned out nice,” I said in a nervous tone.

  “Yeah it was okay,” Michael said taking off his suit jacket and placing it on the arm of the couch.

  I nervously approached him as he took a seat on the sofa.

  “Michael, there is something I need to talk to you about.”

  “What? Is it about the girls that were at the event earlier?” he asked.

  My heart skipped a beat and I took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “Sort of,” I said. I was shitting bricks.

  “What the fuck were they talking about? That shit was embarrassing. They kept saying your name. What, you knew them or something?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I know who they are,” I said hoping that Michael would understand.

  I began to explain. “I made mistakes in my past Michael. Mistakes that I probably would never be able to undo.”

  “Okay?” he asked curious to what I was leading to.

  “Well I always tell you how my foster parents had never gravitated toward my feelings as a young kid, so I sought attention elsewhere,” I continued to explain.

  “Elsewhere like where?” he asked sitting up on the couch giving me full eye contact. I had never saw Michael act so serious, he was always loving on me, but he wanted answers and his eyes demanded them.

  “I sought attention from guys. They tricked me into sleeping with them by making me think that they cared about me and I didn’t know until I reached maturity that I was selling my soul.”

  Michael brushed both hands over his waves and stared down into the wood floors and paused.

  “So people out here think my girl is a hoe?” he asked almost yelling.

  Tears fell from my face. “It’s the past, Michael, I was a kid; I didn’t know how sacred my body was. The only thing my foster parents taught me was to wake up for school on time, do my homework and how to cook. The deepest conversation my foster mom had with me was about keeping my room clean. My heart was screaming for genuine attention Michael and the boys in my projects were the only ones who catered to my feelings. At least I thought that’s what they were doing,” I cried.