Chapter 7 Hestia
Be Mad at Your Man, Not Me . . .
This situation was crazy, to say the least. How the hell are you mad at me for something I had nothing to do with?
When I told my girls that Melanie was cool with my relationship with Eloise’s father, they all called bullshit.
I disagreed with them because I saw baby mamas who were cool.
She fell into that category until she let her true emotions come up a moment ago.
“Your fuck ass husband can’t keep his hands off you, and you think I’m going to give him a chance to put his hands on my baby girl?
You got me fucked up in a third way if you think that shit.
The only way my daughter is coming down there is if I’m with her.
” Alexander’s tone was stern. He meant what the fuck he said.
Melanie shifted in her seat. It was clear that she wasn’t prepared for the words that came out of his mouth.
It was one thing to think that someone was in all your business, but completely another thing when you knew they were in all your business.
“What the hell are you talking about? Lawrence and I are having our issues, but—”
“Cut the bullshit, Melanie! I don’t have time to play these games when it’s my daughter’s safety. You had enough sense to get your sons out of harm’s way, by sending them to live with your mama, but you want my daughter to be subjected to the bullshit,” Alexander spat.
Melanie’s eyes ping ponged between me and Alexander. “Wow! I see y’all have found a way to make me the villain. I guess now that you can replace me, it doesn’t matter.”
Alexander’s jaw flexed. I put my hand on his shoulder from where I still stood beside him. “Baby, can Melanie and I talk alone?”
“Yeah, you can talk to her. Maybe if she sees how a mature woman should act, she can govern herself accordingly.” He stood from his seat. Yeah, he was upset.
One thing that I could say was that he never spoke negatively about Melanie.
We rarely spoke about her. The few times that we did, he was always respectful.
After a quick kiss on my lips and a disgusted look at Melanie, Alexander left us.
I wouldn’t say that I felt bad for her, but I could imagine how hard this situation was for her.
I clasped my hands in front of me. “I’m going to try this again. Melanie, would you like some coffee?”
Her sigh was deep as if her spirit was tired. “Yes, I’ll take a cup. Thank you.”
The coffee was already brewed. When Melanie arrived, I told Alexa to start the brew. Thank God for smart home appliances. I pulled out a serving tray for the sweetener and creams that we had. Once that was on the table, I went back into the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee. “Here you go.”
Neither of us said anything while we prepared our coffee. I knew that I needed to drink at least half of the cup before I would be able to have a logical conversation at this time of the morning on my day off. Melanie seemed like she needed the quiet herself.
Once I was ready, I shifted in my seat, ready to start this uncomfortable but necessary conversation.
“Melanie, first, I want it to be clear to you that it is not my desire to replace you. That is something that I could never do, so there’s no need for us to even entertain a conversation that speaks on the matter.
” I paused and allowed my words to hang in the air for a moment before I continued.
“I want you to know that your daughter did not tell your business out of malice or trying to be messy. Eloise loves you and is worried about you. I love Eloise, so off the strength of my love for her, and just as a woman, I want you to be good. I know Alexander feels the same way,” I assured her.
She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. With a small twinge of attitude, she responded. “Well, I appreciate your concern, Dr. Basil, but I am fine. Marriages have issues, which had you been married, you would know. If Alexander marries you, you’ll see that he’s not perfect.”
One thing that I noticed in this morning’s interaction was that she was great in her attempts to divert a topic. I wasn’t sure if it was because she truly had a lack of accountability or if it was because of embarrassment. It was hard to tell.
“When Alexander marries me, I won’t need to see that he isn’t perfect.
I already know that because I’m not perfect.
I don’t need to be married to know that marriages have issues.
One issue that I can know will never be accepted is a nigga putting his hands on me.
Even if for a moment I thought I wanted to accept it, I have too many brothers that will make death a reality for whoever the man is,” I told her with a raised brow.
“Melanie, we can play the game, but I know that man put his hands on you as recently as within a day or two.”
See, I watched her body ever since the moment she’d walked into Alexander’s house. Her movements were stiff and slow. When she sat down, she lowly winced but tried to cover it with a cough.
Her face tightened. She stared at me for a moment before she rolled her eyes. “I guess Dr. Hestia Basil knows everything, huh.”
“I don’t know everything, but what I do specialize in is trauma. Your body movements told on you. Also, you didn’t do a very good job covering up that black eye. You should have went one shade darker on the concealer,” I told her.
Melanie’s eyes bucked a little, and her hand instinctively went to the black eye that she covered with makeup.
The first crack in her dam showed itself with the single drop of a tear from that same eye.
I allowed her to have her moment before I told her that I wasn’t judging her.
I simply wanted to help in any way that I could.
She dapped her eyes with the tissue that I gave her.
“I don’t know what happened. We used to be so good together.
He lost his job, and it was like he lost his mind.
The staying out at ungodly hours started, then the arguing, then the cheating.
It’s like he doesn’t want to be a man anymore when we have four fuckin’ sons. ”
I sat there and allowed her to vent. It made me wonder if she had any friends. The way she vented to me was like she had never let this out with anyone else. “Do you have anyone that can help you outside of your mom? Do you have friends?”
I took a sip from my coffee mug too soon because the warm coffee came out of my mouth when she told me that she found out recently that her best friend was fucking her husband.
There is no fucking way! “That’s why I look forward to my baby girl coming to see me.
I feel so alone until I see her. I want to leave, but I need more time. ”
My head shook side to side. “Wow! I hope you beat that bitch’s ass.
I can understand the lonely part, but you have to understand where Alexander is coming from.
Regardless of how lonely you are, that is not a valid reason to put your daughter in danger.
The same way you drove your ass up here on some rah-rah, you can come to spend the weekend. ”
We locked eyes with each other for a beat before we both tittered. “Look, I apologize. I swear I’m not this girl, but I miss my baby. I just needed her this weekend.”
“I get it. Would you really have wanted her there in that environment after he did whatever he did to have you stiff walking today? Again, I’m not judging you,” I reminded her.
Melanie huffed. “I know you’re right. I know that Alexander has every right to say that Eloise is not coming back down there.”
My hand extended to cover one of Melanie’s. “How about you stay at Ma and Pa’s house for the weekend so you can spend time with Eloise? I know she would love to spend time with you and introduce you to her bestie.”
She was hesitant because she didn’t bring clothes with her, but I told her that wasn’t a problem.
One of the Mt. O ladies owned a boutique, and we could get her other weekend necessities from Walmart.
After she reluctantly agreed to this weekend and the ones to follow until she changed her situation, I called Alexander back out to the dining room.
I told him what the plan was for the weekend, and he stood there with squinted eyes.
“Wait, what? I’m befuddled, so I need one of you to un-fuddle me please. What kind of conversation did you two have that ended in Melanie spending the weekend at my parents’?”
I giggled because he looked more concerned than befuddled. “That doesn’t matter. Just know that until some changes are made, she will come here on her weekends. I’ll talk to Ma and Pa about her staying there in the guesthouse.”
Yeah, I was an understanding person, but I wasn’t foolish.
Her ass wasn’t staying in Alexander’s house.
I wouldn’t imply that Melanie was shady, but I knew like she did that we both knew what a good man Alexander was.
He was walking temptation, even when he did nothing.
A lesson that I learned a long time ago was that you don’t sit a crackhead in a room of crack and not expect them to want to partake.
A Short Time Later
I Need You . . .
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I couldn’t find any other words that could better explain how I felt with my man’s dick in me.
We were already almost thirty minutes late for the couples’ ride event.
This event was also a newer event that was established by the new official ladies of KOK.
A while back when Sour Thang said that the Mt.
O ladies were taking their men, she had a slight point.
Since Mt. O and KOK had gotten closer, there had been a lot of crossover relationships.
There were a lot of the men of KOK that dated our women as well.