29. Desire
Listeningto my husband address his supporters gave me so much pride. Mentally, I’d minimized his role as the mayor, but I was wrong. It was a big deal, and I needed to give credit where it was deserved.
He returned to the table as we gave him a standing ovation. Our eyes were connected from the moment after he thanked his guests until he made it back to me. When we were within arm’s length of each other, he wrapped me in his arms.
“How’d I do, baby?” he whispered after kissing my neck.
“You were amazing, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
We managed to sneak a kiss before we were interrupted by two very tall, handsome men with two equally beautiful ladies on their arms.
“Sorry to interrupt. We just wanted to come over and say hello before leaving,” one of them said.
“Hey, what’s up? Thank you all for coming. Baby, this is Dakari and Bronx, and they play for the Blazers. These are their wives, Jahzara and Yazmeen. This is my wife, Desire.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I said, offering her hand to each of them.
“You too,” they all chimed as they exchanged handshakes.
“Dakari and Jahzara, my sister Dream works as your virtual assistant.”
“Dream’s your sister?” Jahzara asked, and I nodded. “Wow, small world. I just talked to her a few minutes ago and didn’t realize the connection.”
“You’re leaving already? The party is just getting started,” Aziel inquired.
“You know how it is when we’re in season,” he said.
“We’ll have to connect after you win another championship. I appreciate you stopping through. Baby, let me walk them out. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” I said before we kissed, and he walked away.
“I can’t lie, y’all are cute as hell. I’m loving this for you, sis,” Dream said when she and Destinee approached.
“Me, too. I’ve never seen you smile so much,” Destinee added.
“That means a lot. Even though we had our first major disagreement last weekend and I locked him out of our bedroom, this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“What? You didn’t tell us that. What’s the tea, sis?”
“I don’t want to get into it right now, and I definitely didn’t want to give all these details in front of his sister and sister-in-law. We resolved it, but he let me know if I ever locked him out of our marital bedroom, he’d kick the door down.”
They reared their heads back and raised their brows.
“That’s what I’m talking about, brother-in-law!” Destinee exclaimed.
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, girl. I’m going to the bathroom before the party really gets started.”
“Okay, meet us on the dance floor,” Dream said.
I picked up my handbag and headed for the exit. When I entered the vestibule, I found the bathroom and headed in that direction. I exited the stall and ran into the back of someone.
“Oh, I’m sor?—”
Before I could finish, the woman turned around and tried to push me back into the stall. Fortunately, my reflexes were quicker than she’d anticipated, and I extended my arms, shoving her against the sink a few feet away. My purse crashed to the floor, causing the contents to fall out and scatter in different directions.
“What the fuck is your problem!” I shouted.
The petite woman of average height was dressed in a cleaning uniform, a baseball hat sitting low on her head, and one of the masks we wore during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“You bitch!” she spat.
Her hand disappeared behind her, and she held a knife when it reappeared. I had no idea who this woman was or what her beef was with me. My adrenaline had skyrocketed, and when she swiped the knife in my direction, I moved to the side. Unfortunately, I moved toward the wall instead of the door, becoming trapped.
“What do you want from me?”
“Your life!”
What?
She charged toward me with the knife in the air, and I grabbed her forearm, stopping her from stabbing me in the shoulder. I pushed her toward the other wall, closer to the door.
“You won’t get my life without a fight!”
I was taller, thicker, and apparently stronger than her. When her back hit the wall, I slammed her arm against it, causing her to drop the knife. Before she could react, I kneed her in the stomach.
She groaned, but my knee to her stomach did nothing but piss her off. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was ready to rumble. I was nobody’s punk, but I wasn’t dressed for the occasion, and this wasn’t what I came here to do tonight.
This time, when she charged toward me, we both fell. My back hit the floor with a heavy thud, and she was on top of me, but not for long. I rolled over, straddling her before she could get the best of me, snatched the mask off her face, and punched her so hard that her nose began to leak immediately.
“Iris?”
Last week, I didn’t see Iris close up, but her face had been plastered on the local news because of her rants on social media. I couldn’t believe this bitch attacked me.
“You stole my life! You stole my life! You stole my life!” she ranted over and over again, her arms swinging and landing a few punches to my chest.
Somehow, I caught her arms and pinned them above her head. In the corner of my eye, I spotted my phone and had to think fast.
“Hey, Siri. Call ‘My King.’”
“Calling, ‘My King.’”
The phone rang once before he picked up, and I didn’t give him a chance to speak.
“Help! I’m in the bathroom. I need help!”
“Baby?”
When Iris heard Aziel’s voice, she began shouting, “Why couldn’t you love me?” repeatedly.
“Baby, where are you? What’s going on?”
“I’m in the bathroom!” I shouted again.
“I’m coming, baby. Keep talking to me.”
I could tell he was on the move as he spoke. Seconds later, I heard a loud bump against the door.
“The door is locked! Desire, can you open the door?”
Between him throwing his body against the door and the incoherent nonsense Iris continued to spew, I could hardly hear myself think let alone hear Aziel clearly on the phone.
I was straddling Iris’s torso, so she kicked her legs wildly behind me while flinging her head from side to side. All the moving was causing me to lose my grip on her arms. It was then that I decided I had to knock this bitch out… and I did.
When she stopped moving, I got up as quickly as possible, ran to the door, and unlocked it. When I pulled it open, I fell into Aziel’s arms. A crowd had gathered around the bathroom door, and I was certain we were being recorded, but none of that mattered.
“What the hell happened in there?”
Now that I was safe, the reality of what happened hit me, and the tears started. I buried my face in his chest, and he held me tighter.
“Baby, talk to me.”
“Iris,” was all I could say.
He gripped my shoulders, moving me away from his chest to see my face.
“Iris is in there?” I nodded. “Get the police!”
He shouted so loud my body shook against his. When he tried to release me, I held onto him tighter.
“I’m going inside, baby.”
For the foreseeable future, where he went, I went. Iris remained precisely where I left her. Two officers arrived seconds later and were confused by the scene.
“Tell them what happened, baby,” Aziel urged.
“I came to use the bathroom, and when I left the stall, she attacked me.”
I’d have to give them more details later, but that was all I could give them now. Iris began to come to, and when her eyes landed on Aziel, she jumped up like a ninja and charged him while calling him everything but a child of God. Fortunately, before she could lay hands on him, the police grabbed her.
We left them to do their jobs, and as soon as we returned to the vestibule, I saw my family pushing through the crowd with Aziel’s family not far behind.
“Oh my God!”
“Desire, what the hell?”
“Sweetheart, are you okay?”
“What happened?”
My parents and sisters questioned me all at once, but Aziel answered for me.
“Let’s find a private place so we can talk. Baby, do you need an ambulance?” he asked, taking his suit jacket off and putting it around me because I’d begun shivering.
“No, I just need to sit down and gather myself.”
With his arm around me, he guided me down a hallway and to a private room while our families followed. After taking a few deep breaths and calming my nerves, I shared what happened. I wouldn’t believe it if it hadn’t happened to me. An evening that began so beautifully ended so horribly.