Chapter 7 #2
The next day, I didn’t go into the office.
David usually slept until around nine, and he would leave the house every day around noon.
Most days, he was in and out the house and sometimes, he wouldn’t come back until around ten or eleven when he was in for the night.
I kept waiting for the outside cameras to detect motion, so I’d know when he left the house.
David didn’t like the constant alerts every time the cameras detected motion, so he would often silence them until he set the alarm for the night.
I was praying I’d be able to get in the house and grab some of my things without him being alerted.
I wasn’t in the mood for his apologies or him begging me to stay.
And Lord knows if he tried to force himself on me again, I’d be smiling in my mugshot.
I wasn’t his possession to loan to another man or to have sex with whenever he wanted to.
In the past I’d never had issues with David cheating on me or disrespecting me.
I’d never really had a reason to turn up on him, but I wasn’t the quiet, demure person he thought I was.
He’d just never had a reason to see my savage side.
The moment I saw him on the camera getting in his car, I grabbed my keys and ran out of the house.
It was sad that I had to try and sneak into my own home.
I thought of how excited Tesha was to be leaving her cheating boyfriend.
It felt good knowing that even though I practically emptied my savings account to get David out of a jam, that I wouldn’t have to live with my sister long.
I could have a place of my own in the next few weeks.
She didn’t mind me being there, but we were both grown and needed our own space.
I didn’t want to wear out my welcome. Once I made it to the house, I rushed into the bedroom and went straight for the closet.
After unzipping the largest suitcase I had, I started throwing my favorite pieces in it from work clothes to the clothes that I lounged around the house in.
It wasn’t like I had the luxury to be able to go shopping since I was practically broke.
I needed my things. It didn’t take me long to fill that suitcase.
I grabbed another one and began the process all over again.
I’d toss my shoes into a duffel bag, grab some of my purses and jewelry and be out.
I had enough things in those two suitcases to last me a good little while.
After I collected all the things I was going to take, I stopped myself from walking out of the house.
Instead, I went into David’s closet. I didn’t even know what I was looking for.
Maybe a secret stash of a few hundred dollars.
Condoms. I had no clue why I was in his closet, but I was.
I lifted the lid off shoe boxes one after the other.
Nothing. Looking around, I saw his Louis Vuitton luggage.
Holding my breath, I unzipped the suitcase.
Nothing. I put it back where it had been and unzipped the matching duffel bag.
Sticking my hand inside, I felt around in the bag.
My hand hit something, and I grabbed it and pulled it out of the bag.
It was a box with a pair of clippers on the front.
The box felt really light, so I figured the clippers weren’t inside.
I was about to put it back in the bag and leave, but I froze mid-action.
Opening the box, I peered inside. Stacks of money were stuffed inside the box.
My heart galloped in my chest as I pulled them out one by one.
Stacks bundled in $5,000 increments. I counted $15,000.
This muhfucka had $15,000 stashed when he agreed to hand me over to Kastian like I was some sort of possession.
That $15,000 along with the $20,000 came to a total of $35,000.
That was more than half of what he needed to pay Kastian.
He could have asked me for the rest, sold some of his jewelry, anything.
He could have robbed a damn bank. But his go to was to let the next man borrow me.
I was livid. Getting up off the floor as tears rolled down my cheeks, I put everything back the way it was.
Even if he knew I’d been in the house, I didn’t want him to know I’d taken the money.
If he found out fuck him, he owed me anyway.
As I backed out of the driveway, I could finally understand why money was the only thing my mother felt men were good for.
Trusting their asses wasn’t a smart move at all.
It didn’t matter that David wasn’t the most handsome man in the world to me.
It didn’t even matter that I wasn’t head over heels in love with him.
He looked good enough. I loved him and trusted him enough to be loyal to him and to do right by him.
This man actually looked me in the face and said he wanted babies, and he couldn’t even do what it took to make me feel safe.
I could scratch marriage off my bucket list. I had done it once, and that was enough for me.
I’d never do that shit again. It wasn’t even about being bitter.
I just didn’t have the desire to potentially be disappointed again.
I wasn’t even thirty yet, so I wouldn’t count men out all together, but I didn’t have plans to be serious with anyone for a very long time.
Having a man play in my face once was enough for me. I was good on that shit.