8. Emerald #2
“Thanks, Six.” I put on a smile and tried to compose myself. “I think I’m just going to use the bathroom, get Sapphire, and head home. These hormones are not doing me any good right now, and I don’t want to snap on this woman in her house,” I tittered.
“Girllll, ’cause had it been me . . . I mean, I respect her and everything, but . . . wow! Bathroom is down there on the right though.”
I relieved myself, washed my hands, and checked my appearance in the mirror before cracking the door open to leave.
I didn’t fully emerge because the sound of Jordan and Ivo’s raised whispers stopped me.
Deciding I didn’t want to interrupt, I remained in the bathroom eavesdropping.
It was one thing to have an affair with him, but it was another to be a fly on the wall in conversations with his wife.
The way Ivo interacted with Jordan was in no way the same as how he handled me.
“The fuck are you talking about, Jay! I buy property and shit all the time. It’s a fucking investment! The fuck you snooping around my shit for anyway!”
“Because I know you, Ivo. I know you better than you fucking think, and you are lying or hiding something.” Jordan stood facing him with her arms tucked across her chest. “You purchased a condo and not one but two vehicles. So where the fuck are they? I want to know.”
Immediately, my heart tanked. Oh shit!
“None of your fucking business, aight? How about you worry about fixing up the nursery and leave all the other shit to me.”
Both of Jordan’s eyes lowered into tiny slits, suspicion creeping behind her gaze as it swept over him.
“You’re awfully protective and defensive, especially when it comes to Emerald,” she observed.
“The fuck you talking about? You think that shit was right what Rossi did in there?”
“I think your mother has valid concerns. Now so do I, but we’ve come this far, can’t really go back.
I don’t want to start over with someone else.
We chose Emerald, so we’re going to use her for what she’s good for, then send her on her fucking way.
I don’t want you talking to her or being around her unless I’m also present. ”
“You’re fucking losing it!” Ivo scoffed and shook his head.
“I don’t think I am.” Jordan was calm, a little too calm as the crazy sparked behind her eyes.
“My gut has been screaming at me that something wasn’t right, and now I know it ain’t.
I don’t care what you say. Do you know everything I’ve gone through to make sure that we ended up together? Do you even care?”
“Everything like what, Jay, hmm? The fuck have you gone through?”
“I’ve loved you for a long time, Ivo. Longer than you even know.
I sat back and let you have your little sneaky links with Emerald.
I knew all about your special spot at the creek before you even took me there.
I knew it meant something to you and her.
I also knew that I could make you resent her when she left.
She would write me and send letters to you too.
She didn’t want to send them to your house because she was afraid Rossi would never give them to you.
I had no intention of ever letting you see them either,” Jordan simpered and lowered her arms at her side.
A low gasp slipped through my lips. Ivo was floored. For a moment, he just stared into Jordan’s face like she was a stranger before tilting his head.
“You did that? You kept that from me all these years?”
“Of course I did! She was in the fucking way! You were still pining over her even though she’d already left. You think I was going to let her suck you back in with a few love letters? Fuck that! I put in the work, I got you to fall for me, and I wasn’t going to let Emerald fuck that up!”
Wow! Talk about a fake bitch. I had been bamboozled.
All this time, I’d been sitting here feeling guilty for this bitch for what was going on behind her back, when she had been lying and manipulating longer than any of us knew.
I did write Ivo when I first left, but like Jordan said, I sent the letters to her.
When she would write me back, it would be all about Ivo to the point where I was sharing information, apparently a little too much.
She’d been using that against me this entire time.
When he never responded, I just stopped writing altogether.
Swiping his beard, Ivo shook his head and brought his face closer to Jordan’s. She didn’t cower as their eyes synced.
“She never loved you, Ivo! If she did, she wouldn’t have allowed anybody to dictate that for her. Not even her daddy!”
“I can’t even look at you right now.” He waved a hand in front of her and turned to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Jordan grabbed his arm, and he snatched away from her.
“Leave me the fuck alone right now, Jay!”
She stood there a minute alone, and I didn’t want to step out to give any kind of indicator that I’d been listening.
There was too much emotional baggage tied to this entire situation.
I couldn’t think straight, and all I wanted to do was get the hell out of this house.
By the time I got back to the table, Sapphire was leaning back in his chair, talking basketball stats with Staten.
“You ready to go?”
“Yeah.” My baby brother nodded. “You good?”
“I will be as soon as we get out of here,” I grumbled, grabbing my purse off the back of the chair I’d been sitting in.
Cambrie mouthed ‘call me,’ and I nodded before turning to Ivo’s grandmother. I had no problems with Marcella. She damn sure seemed a lot more open minded than Rossi.
“Thank you all for having us. Have a good night.” I waved to everyone else, and my brother did the same.
Together we strolled to the front of the house as Jordan emerged from the living room with a freshly poured glass of wine. Irritation was etched all in her face and I knew exactly why but I wasn’t going to let her know it.
“You’re leaving?”
“I think it’s for the best.” I dug around my purse until I came across the fob for the SUV.
She was standing here like she hadn’t just admitted to plotting against me and Ivo while pretending to be my friend. From the way all the evidence was displayed to me, Jordan had her eye on Ivo from jump and probably only stuck so close to me so she could get all the tea on him.
“Listen, Rossi is just protective of the family and letting people in. Don’t pay her any mind. As far as I’m concerned, the past is the past and doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, we can keep it like that,” I agreed, nodding.
I was no longer under the illusion that she was my friend and that we could rebuild anything.
To Jordan, I was simply a vessel in getting her what she wanted.
It was clear she had her eye on the prize, and now so did I.
She walked us out, and my brother and I quickly got in the car and drove off.
I didn’t have it in me to deal with Ivo or anyone else for the rest of this night.
With the radio playing late ’90s slow jams, I hummed along with Sapphire scrolling through his phone.
Every now and then, I would hear him chuckle and shake his head at something.
When we finally came to a stop at a red light, I leaned forward to try and peep his screen before glancing his way.
“What you looking at?”
“I started following Brick.” Sapphire rested his sponge top against the headrest. “That dude funny.”
“He’s an asshole,” I muttered with an eyeroll as the light turned.
“Still funny though,” Sapphire added. “His girl is a baddie too.”
“Six is real cool. She’s humble and down to earth. We been talking a lot lately.”
“I get it now.”
“Get what?” I queried with a quick glance his way before turning onto the expressway for the shortcut to the condo.
“The whole situation with you, Ivo, and his wife,” Sapphire elaborated.
“So what is it you think you get?”
“Em, I ain’t slow or stupid.” He cut his eyes my way.
“Ivo doing way too much to just be supporting you as their surrogate. The nigga doing pop-ups gave you somewhere to live, something to drive, and cashing out on clothes. I might be young, but all that shit is adding up to you and him on some sneak shit.”
Immediately, I was flushed with embarrassment. Was it that damn obvious? If my sixteen-year-old brother could add that shit up, I know Jordan’s alarms were going off. Gripping the steering wheel, I didn’t bother looking his way as my heart thudded in my ears.
“I ain’t mad at him though. His wife ain’t shit.”
“Sapphire!”
“Just calling it how I see it.” Sapphire shrugged. “Jordan used to come around all the time, soaking up all your game, stealing your style, and now look at her. I remember when she was asking for your hand-me-downs.”
“It’s not like that?—”
“Tell me what it’s like then, sis. I might be young, but shit clear as day to me.
Ivo standing on business behind you. Way more than that wife of his.
Jordan just wants you around so she can have a baby, and it ain’t nothing but a trophy to her.
She be talking like this baby gon’ be the next coming of Jesus or some shit. ”
“Okay, first of all, watch your mouth,” I warned him. “I let it go?—”
“Em, I’m your brother, not your son. I’m almost grown now. A little profanity here and there ain’t never hurt nobody. It’s actually a theory that people who cuss a lot are smart as hell.” Sapphire snickered, gaining a smirk from me before shaking my head.
Not only was he growing up, but he was becoming one of my best damn friends, and I loved it.
Nobody could tell me my brother wasn’t going to be one of the greatest NBA players of all time.
He had the heart and mind for it. I loved that he wasn’t hanging everything on that anymore.
He had other goals and interests that he could fall back on.
I always emphasized that he needed to make sure he had other things going on outside of basketball, just in case.