Dave #4
“You can’t think that flowers are going to fix this. And it’s not one mistake, Dave. It’s a lot. You seem to forget that you left your tablet here. I have more than enough information to get an easy divorce from you based on the shit I’ve found.”
I felt like I was going to throw up the breakfast my mama made for me at her words. I’d slipped up because I normally kept my tablet with me. I’d put it in my work bag but I hadn’t thought to take the bag with me when I left yesterday.
“Sylvie—”
“Nigga, you heard her. Get out of the way so that we can get your shit out of here.” Royce’s voice was closer than I expected but I was too busy glaring at the camera like it would intimidate Sylvia into doing what I wanted.
Footsteps on the porch forced me to turn back to my in-laws. I was ready to dig my heels in so that I could challenge everything they were trying to do.
“Y’all should know the law well enough to know that ain’t happening. You have to give me notice and put in notice for evictions and all that shit. I haven’t been served anything and I’m not willingly getting out here. I’ve lived her for almost eleven years and I’m not leaving without a fight.”
“You think we don’t know how this shit works?
The last time your bum ass acted up, Sylvie started the process for divorce proceedings.
That was way back in the fall, nigga. At the same time, a notice of eviction for you specifically was put in and filed at the courthouse.
She gave them to you yesterday at the school. ”
I hadn’t bothered to look at any of the papers Sylvie had thrown at me because I wasn’t worried about whatever tantrum she was throwing. “I never got that shit.”
“That doesn’t matter. It was sent by certified mail and we have the receipt of it being delivered here.”
I stood there shocked at the way her family had maneuvered me out of her life without me even knowing. I turned back to the door angrily trying the door yet again. When I still couldn’t get the keypad to work I started to bam on the door yet again.
“SYLVIA! OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR! Did you really do this, bitch? You think you can just kick me out of my shit?”
“I know you’re not talking to my sister like that, fuck nigga.” Royce was up on the porch now and walking toward me like he was ready to do damage.
I dropped the flowers that I’d wasted my time getting and squared up.
“Fuck you and her! Y’all doing this devious shit for what reason?
Because I’m getting some pussy on the side?
This shit ain’t that fucking deep. But to put a man out of his home?
” I was pissed thinking that they were going to get the upper hand in this situation.
For them to roll up over here like I wasn’t the man of my house had me seeing red.
Royce leaned down since he had me by a few inches and I waited for us to go at it.
“You ain’t paid a fucking bill here in months.
Everything in this house has her name on it because you ain’t have shit without her.
But you think you gone disrespect the woman that’s the only reason you got a roof over your head?
You crazy as cat shit if you will ever step foot in this house again. ”
He struck a nerve talking about what I did with my fucking money. Sylvia had obviously been speaking on our personal business to her people in order to make me look bad. The smug look on his face was the final straw and I reared back and swung on his ass.
His laughter as he moved out of the way of my fist made me angrier.
I swung again grazing the side of his face before I felt my jaw shift.
I hadn’t even seen the fist coming and I wondered if one of his brothers had snuck me.
There was no time to look around because I got hit in the stomach.
I swung blindly because my eyes had closed when I got hit in the stomach.
My fist landed true and Royce grunted. When my eyes opened again he was already coming back at me tackling me to the wooden porch.
His heavy ass almost crushed me and I kicked out at him.
“Get off me, nigga!”
He swung and hit me in the mouth ignoring what I had to say. More footsteps came up the steps and Royce was pulled off me by his brothers. Sylvia’s father leaned over with his hand outstretched and I watched her grandfather key in a code that they apparently knew but I didn’t.
“Keep my sister’s name out your fucking mouth! Disrespect her again and see what the fuck happens!” Royce’s veins were bulging out of his neck and I could tell he had just been getting started. My body hurt and I was starting to feel the effects of his blows.
All three of his brothers were holding him back but it didn’t look like they really wanted to. Ignoring the hand that was stretched out for me I eased myself up off the porch and started to walk toward the open door.
Vic laughed as Royce tried to get at me again. “This boy must’ve hit his head because I swear he trying to die today.”
Before her brothers made a line in front of the door just as Sylvia walked out of it.
“Sylvia, tell your people to go so we can talk this shit out. You doing too much!” I knew raising my voice at her was going to piss them off but I didn’t care. I could feel my face swelling from the blows I took from Royce and I needed to get inside and lay down.
“I’m not telling them to do anything. You need to leave, Dave. You don’t live here anymore.”
She looked so calm, like she’d been waiting on me to fuck up yet again so that she could be rid of me.
It wasn’t fair that she wouldn’t even give me a chance to try and do better.
She was selfish as hell to break up our family like she was.
Something was different about her. Her hair was pulled back off her face in those fucking twists I hated but she looked younger.
Like a weight had been lifted. The cropped hoodie showed off her toned stomach and her leggings had her ass sitting right.
My dick decided to remember that it had been a minute since I’d been inside my wife.
The fuck is that about?
I wasn’t about to give up because I had too much time invested and had taken too many L’s in the last few days. Having lost my job I needed Sylvia now more than before. “You doing all this and you not even fighting for our marriage?”
She scoffed and furrowed her nose like my words held a stench.
“I did that. By myself for the last five years. And then I realized that if I have to fight for it, it’s not meant for me.
Loving you shouldn’t feel like a job I dread going to everyday.
It shouldn’t drain me. It shouldn’t make me wish that you finally find the person you actually want to be with so that you can leave me alone. ”
No matter how much dirt I’d done Sylvia’s words were fucking with me. She was acting like being married to me was awful.
“Why you talking like this? I don’t put my hands on you and I’m here for the kids.”
“Are you? You spend so much time with your side bitches you can’t even tell me who our daughter’s teachers are and you work AT THE SAME FUCKING SCHOOL!
You’re not around to take her to appointments but you get off of work the same time she’s released for the day.
Our son has it better because you care about the sports he’s into but even that is few and far between.
Be honest with yourself, Dave. You need time to work on who you are and what you want.
Now you have as much of it as you need.” She flickered her fingers like she was shooing me away and that shit made me want to lash out.
“So you’d rather be a statistic than stay with a man who can try to work on himself?”
“Those threats don’t work on me any longer. I’ve been carrying the financial, mental and physical load of this family for years. You’re more of a dependent than a partner. At least with you gone I don’t have to worry about my health and what you might bring back home.”
She was embarrassing me again and I felt like every blow was emasculating me more and more. “You can’t talk about shit like that. It’s a violation.”
“When you give her some shit she can talk about it to whoever she wants to, dumb ass. And she never said that you had given her something. Your guilty conscience is just whopping your ass.” Aiken was laughing at me and I was happy his team hadn’t made it to the fucking Super Bowl.
“I don’t want any trouble with you, Dave, but you need to leave.
You know everything we’ve done has been by the book and there’s nothing you can do about it.
You shouldn’t want to. All these years you’ve had to sneak around with other women.
Now you can be the free single man you’ve always been.
” Sylvia had the nerve to look gracious like she was truly doing me a favor setting me free when I was at my lowest.
“You’re going to be sorry. All of y’all are. Just like you said you’ve been paying for everything and I got fired yesterday. So it looks like you’re going to be paying me alimony and child support since I’ll be getting joint custody.” I stood up slowly hating how weak I looked in front of them.
“Spoken just like a bitch nigga.” Royce’s voice mirrored the disgust on the faces of my soon to be former in-laws.
“Son, did you read the pre-nup that you signed?” Her father was at the base of the steps and I noticed he’d moved the cars that had once been blocking mine in. It was like as soon as Sylvia confirmed she wanted me gone, they were following her orders.
“Yeah. I know what I’m entitled to.”
“I find that hard to believe. In the case of infidelity on either party’s part, alimony is forfeited, as are all rights to property, funds and investments accrued during the marriage.”