Chapter 15 Chanel
“They still don’t have any leads, baby?” Mama asked as we sat down in the living room to watch TV.
She had prepared a potato and broccoli soup that I loved as a child. She knew that I needed comfort food, so she had started cooking it early this morning when I told her I would be in town. She also made her homemade bread and lemon cake.
Ashton had practice today, and I asked him to drop me off at my parents’ place while he practiced.
He was hesitant to let me leave his side, if I was leaving the cabin.
He had said, at least at the cabin, no one knew my whereabouts.
But I promised him that I would be safe with my parents, and I wouldn’t leave their side.
“No. Tommi said that they were following up on a new lead, but I haven’t heard anything since last night. She told me not to call her, she’ll call me,” I declared in a sour tone.
“Baby,” Mama stated, patting my leg. “You know she just needs space to do her job. When she gets like that it’s because she’s super focused, and she’s taking this seriously. Because it’s you, she’s not playing no games. She sees you as the little sister she never had.”
“Mama, Tommi is only four months older than me.”
She laughed. “She’s always taken those four months seriously though.”
“I know.”
“Be patient, baby. I believe—”
“Shhh.” My father shushed us, waving his hand wildly, while he turned up the TV volume with the remote in his other hand.
“Baby,” Mama started.
“Shhhh!” he shushed louder.
It was then that I saw what was going on. Zoe “Muffin” Santoro was on TV, and she was wiping her eyes. She looked to have been crying, and he was trying to hear what she was saying. She was on a talk show called The Couch.
“Did you ever suspect anything?” Whitney Barrows, the host, asked.
“I kind of knew he was having affairs throughout our marriage, but I had no proof other than gut instincts, hang ups, panties in his truck, text messages, and things like that.”
“Sweetheart, when a woman’s instincts tell her something, they’re generally true. You should have listened a long time ago.”
“I know, but I loved him, you know? I wanted to prove that we wouldn’t be that couple. He wouldn’t be the athlete to exchange his high school sweetheart for something better along the way. I wanted us to prove that black love was real.” Muffin cried.
“I wanted to believe that he would change as he neared retirement, but I started suspecting that things with him and her might be serious because they seemed to have a lot in common. They had more in common than we did. I recently logged onto our online credit card account that he had forgotten to change the password on.”
“Was this after the divorce?” Whitney asked.
“Yes, but the charges that I saw weren’t.”
“What did you find?” Whitney asked, leaning forward on the couch. The camera panned the audience, and they leaned forward too.
“He had sent a box of $500 chocolates, $300 flowers, a $500 bottle of wine, and a thank you card to this woman.”
“Muffin, are you serious?”
“Yes. I cannot imagine what he was thanking her for that cost him thirteen-hundred-dollars.”
“So, you believe that she’s been around for longer than you suspected, and that is what pushed him to file for divorce?”
“Absolutely. My husband and I had a long, happy marriage for years before she came along. We’ve been married eleven years, and he all of a sudden wants to end it for irreconcilable differences. Make it make sense. No sooner than I got the divorce papers than she popped up.”
Pictures of me flashed on the TV and then pictures of Ashton and me at the bar, talking courtside at games, and at the hotel in California.
“This heffa!” I shouted, popping up off the couch like a piece of popcorn in a pot.
“Nelli, baby calm down,” Mama warned.
“No, Mama. She cannot get away with this. I’m tired of the lies and the allegations. She has to be stopped now, before it ruins my reputation and career. She’s already damaged Ashton’s reputation by lying and dragging him through the mud. When will it stop?”
“Baby, it will all blow over in time when the next scandal comes along,” Mama promised.
“No, baby. Nelli needs to come out swinging and tell the public why she was meeting that man in a hotel.”
“I might need to come out swinging, but I cannot tell what Ashton and I were meeting about. That would ruin my credibility and future athletes’ trust in me.”
“I know, but you’re my baby girl, and I just want to kick somebody’s ass. I don’t give a damn who it is.”
“I know, Daddy.”
“Baby, is there anything going on between you and that young man?”
“Mama, no! Why would you ask that?”
“I just saw how protective he was over you when he dropped you off this morning, and how you looked at him. Then there was how he looked at you.”
“How did he look at my baby? MVP winner or not, that’s still my baby,” Daddy fussed.
“He didn’t look at me in any way, Daddy. Mama’s doing too much,” I complained, rolling my eyes.
“We’ll see,” she replied knowingly.
My belly twisted in knots because I didn’t make a habit of lying to my parents. While nothing was going on, there were definitely feelings being stirred between Ashton and me.
“I’m so tired,” I declared through a yawn as we pulled up to the cabin.
“I know your parents must have been excited to have you for an entire day.”
“They were. I told you Mama started cooking the minute that I told her I was coming.”
“Can’t wait to dig into that soup. It smelled so good. I get tired of eating at restaurants all the time.”
“Mama definitely can throw down in the kitchen,” I declared as I climbed out of the truck with Titan at my side.
“Smells like it,” he stated, walking up behind me and unlocking the door. “Did you want something else to eat? I know you’ve already eaten the soup and bread earlier.”
“No, I’m good with leftovers. I love my mama’s cooking.”
“I can tell.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, sir?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow as he held the door open for me to step inside.
Chuckling, he replied, “The way you made sure she gave you an extra serving and how you pawed two slices of cake and had the nerve to tell me to get my own.”
I laughed. “Sorry. I love her cakes. They’re so moist and buttery. Wait until you taste it.”
“Shit, I was gonna wait until I finished showering, but I don’t think I can. The way you’ve been talking about it on the drive back and how good it smelled when I stepped into your parents’ house, there’s no way I can wait.”
He made his way to the kitchen, and I followed him. I washed my hands and placed the container in the microwave to warm up, while he fixed Titan’s food and water.
“You didn’t talk about practice much on the way back. When I asked you, you grumbled something. Wanna talk about it?” I asked, pulling two glasses from the cabinet to fill with coconut water.
“It was okay.”
“Why just okay?”
“It’s hard focusing with all that’s going on.”
“Everything will all settle down in time.” I tried to encourage him, despite my frustration, as I filled our bowls with soup.
Ashton glanced at me and laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because you don’t sound like you believe that any more than I do.”
“Well, after today, it’s kind of hard to feel very upbeat about it.”
He turned to look at me with his hands on his hips. “I’m guessing you saw it then, huh?”
“If you’re referring to Muffin’s interview on that trash show, then yes, I did.”
He sighed and dragged his hand down his face. “I was hoping that you didn’t.”
“Well, my father made sure I did.”
“Shit. They didn’t say anything about it.”
“Because I begged them to let me handle it with you and for them not to get involved.”
“I’m sure they’re not too fond of me.”
I handed him his bowl and plate and shook my head as I led the way to the living room.
“No, my parents are more adult than that. Me, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling very adultish.
Or maybe I should say my mama was the only adult.
She wanted me to trust that it would all pass in time, and my daddy wanted to beat the shit out of someone.
To quote him, he didn’t give a damn who it was. ”
“Dayumm!”
“Right. I want to deal with it, but I’m not sure what the right way would be. No matter what I think about, it seems that it will create more problems than it would solve. It just hurt that she flat out lied on you like that.”
“Hurt?” he asked, staring at me as though he thought he misheard me.
“Yes, Ashton. It hurt, because I do care about you. You’re genuinely a good guy.”
“Chanel, I’m not completely innocent,” he stated after we sat down.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He pushed his food aside and leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees.
“I did cheat on Muffin before. She never forgave me.
But I understand why it was hard for her to forgive me.
When we were still in our teens, I got Muffin pregnant.
My mama thought we were too young to have kids, so she and my dad took me to visit Muffin and her mom.
“My mama thought it was best for her to have an abortion, and when she got Muffin’s mom’s blessing, it was a wrap.
Neither one of us put up a fuss about it until the day she went to get the procedure.
Muffin didn’t want to, and when I brought it up, they let me know that we were too young to know what was in our best interest. In the end, we went along with it.
“Then she learned I had gotten another girl pregnant who I was cheating on her with around the same time. My mama did the same thing with her, but the girl wasn’t trying to have a kid anyway.”
“Wow.”
He looked down and closed his eyes briefly. I could tell there was more. I rested my hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at me.
“Ash, what is it, honey?”
“Nothing,” he replied gruffly.
“I know you’re probably worrying about keeping secrets and being loyal, but I’m your friend.
I promise that you can trust me. Whatever you say will remain between us and not in some damn article or anything.
You need someone who can help carry the load sometimes.
Right now, like it or not, it’s you and me against the world. ”
He turned his head sideways and looked me up and down.
I could tell that he was trying to determine how much he could trust me with.
His shoulders sagged, and he turned away from me.
I watched as he struggled with himself until he dropped his face in his hands.
A minute later, he lifted his head again.
“We tried to have kids a few years later, and we couldn’t.
I learned recently that she found out a few years ago that she couldn’t have kids because of the scar tissue from the abortion.
She never trusted me with the truth. Instead, she resented me, my mama, and the entire situation.
She held that against me, and that’s why she started cheating. ”
I felt sick. My stomach lurched, and my head swirled.
I dropped my head in my hands as I thought about my own situation.
The only thing I wanted to do was run and bury my head in the sand.
But I chose to remain by his side, because he needed a friend.
Although this wasn’t about me, it felt like it was.
Stretching my hand forward, I whispered, “I’m sorry that you both went through that.”
“Yeah. Doesn’t give her a reason to be the way she was or do what she’s doing now, especially dragging your name. But I’m not worried about that, because that shit’s about to be dead.”
“Don’t, Ash.”
His jaw clenched, and we sat in silence for a while. He eventually resumed eating, and when I finished my food, I stared at my feet. I had removed my boots upon coming into the house and my socks after we sat down to eat.
“I need a damn pedicure. I should’ve been doing that while I was in Cherokee. Guess I’ll have to give myself one. Thank God I brought my equipment with me.”
He glanced at my feet, and a smirk lit his face up. “I gotcha, ma.”
“What?”
“I can do it.”
“Hell no. Ashton, you’re not getting near my feet.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“No.”
“Trust me. I got you. Go get your stuff. Let me do one toe, and if I fuck up, I’ll owe you six months’ worth of pedicures.”
Smirking, I thought that might just be worth the risk. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” I raced upstairs and left him laughing behind me. When I returned with my equipment, I set everything out and did a dance while he filled the foot basin with water and essential oils.
I sat down and soaked my feet while he talked about practice. When I finished soaking my feet, Ashton massaged them. I relaxed in my chair and closed my eyes. I wiggled my toes in his hands as I moaned.
“You’d better stop that shit, li’l bit.”
“Stop what?” I asked, blinking my eyes open and propping myself up on my elbows.
“That moaning and shit. I know we agreed to be friends, but I am a man, . . . a recently divorced one at that.”
“Oop!” I declared, slapping my hand over my mouth.
He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a damn mess, ma.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect it to feel so good.”
“Hooping ain’t my only skills.”
“No doubt.”
He lifted his eyebrow, and a slow smile slid over his lips as he revealed even rows of beautiful teeth. Ashton licked his lips and stated, “I think I’m ’bout to call your ass trouble. They warned me about you.”
“Whatever they said couldn’t hold a candle to the reality of me.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to realize that. Let me find out your li’l ass been the one who’s been stalking me for this dick, Chanel.”
“I wouldn’t stalk you. I’m like TLC. I ain’t too proud to beg for what I want.”
“I see what you’re trying to do.”
“What?”
“Trying to get me to fuck up this pedicure so you can get six months’ worth of free ones.”
“And you’re trying to talk me out of where this conversation was going.”
“Not trying to talk you out of shit, ma. Not even them panties. When I get ready to get in them, there will be no doubt about what I’m doing.”
“I think you’d better get to work on this pedicure, sir. Because if you’re not trying to talk me out of my panties, you’re about to be in a world of trouble. They’re more soaked than my feet right now.”
“Nasty ass,” he replied.