Chapter Eleven
Eleven
Cali was submerged under the fluffy covers when she heard the door open.
Suddenly, her bed shifted, making her peek from under the blanket.
Dallas and Koda jumped on the bed while Bria and Enya stood with their arms folded.
Swiftly, Cali rolled her eyes, not in the mood for whatever they had planned.
“Girl, it’s time to get your life together,” Bria fussed, pulling the covers from her body. “You’ve been wasting away in this room and it’s time to get back up.”
Cali snatched the covers back and pulled them over her head.
No one knew what she had been subjected to.
The darkness, the depression, and mental agony wasn’t easy to shake off.
Cali had sadly succumbed to the demonic spirit she’d cast upon herself.
Getting out of bed was impossible. Some days, Cali barely brushed her teeth because the pain was so great.
While everyone moved on with their perfect, happy lives, she laid in an ocean of sadness ready for God to take her away.
Regrettably, death had been on Cali’s mind more than she cared to admit.
It had to be better than experiencing this.
At least with dying, she would no longer feel the pain, and the reality of fumbling her true love wouldn’t eat away at her like a flesh-eating disease.
How could she eat, knowing Rio would never share a meal with her again?
How could she go to work, knowing Rio wouldn’t be at home waiting for her?
God, she missed every follicle of him. His scent.
His jokes that he’d crack on her and her cooking.
What she wouldn’t do for a plate of smothered chicken and rice.
Or how he used to call and say he wasn’t going to make it home just for him to pop up and scare the shit out of her.
Cali would forever hate herself. How could she move about knowing she had broken a man to pieces?
Life wasn’t fair but Cali’s choices didn’t make it any better.
She’d willingly fucked up her life for a piece of dick that wasn’t worth a stick of bubblegum.
“I can’t get over that hair,” Enya cracked. “It looks a mess.”
Cali peeked her head out. “Why the hell are you here?”
The last person she wanted to converse with was Enya. She wouldn’t add anything positive to the visit, just a bunch of insults and reminders of how lowlife Cali truly was.
Bria kneeled down. “I called her over so she can help me get you out of bed. You're wasting away in here, and I’m worried. Even Lo asked if you were okay and you know he doesn’t give a damn about nobody.”
Cali smirked at that thought. She hadn’t seen Lo in weeks despite her living under his roof.
Cali had locked herself in the room, prohibiting anyone from seeing her.
On occasion, she’d let the twins inside to give them hugs when they wouldn’t stop knocking on the door.
Her mother had stopped by on several occasions as well as Douglas, but Cali couldn’t face them.
She couldn’t look them in the eye as the fuck-up of the family.
A scarlet letter would always be on her chest. What did the city think of her?
Did they know of her sins? Cali hoped not because she had no problem hiding for the rest of her life.
“I’m fine. I just.” She cleared her throat. “I just need time.”
“Girl, it’s been months,” Enya explained. “It’s time to get your life back together.”
Cali’s body bounced since the twins were still jumping in the bed. She wanted to kick them out but hated to be mean to them.
“What life?” she lashed. “My life is gone.”
“No, it’s not,” Bria argued. “You can start a new path. I know you miss Rio, but he wasn’t your complete life. Granted, he was a big part of it, but you had your friends, your career, and—”
“Her side nigga but he’s gone.” Enya chuckled.
Bria cut her eyes at her. “This isn’t the time to be shady. She is severely depressed and you're sitting here cracking jokes like this shit is a game. Nothing about this is funny.”
Enya quickly nodded, tucking her lips between her teeth. “You're right. I need to grow up.”
“TT Enya, yo’ booty stank,” Dallas said.
Enya gawked, splaying her hand against her chest. “What? No, the hell it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does,” Koda added.
“They're in this phase of smelling people’s seat,” Bria inserted with an apologetic tone. “Boys, what did I tell y’all about that?”
“I took a shower this morning,” Enya defended herself. “I am on my cycle, though. Do you think they smell blood?”
“Hell yeah, they smell your funky, period juice ass,” Cali joked. “You bloody whore.”
“TT a bloody whore!” Koda cheered.
Cali laughed so hard, her stomach muscles ached. She hadn’t experienced laughter that genuine in so many months.
Bria quickly stood and pointed toward the door. “Out.”
Begrudgingly, the twins climbed off the bed and marched out of the room.
“You know what?” Enya adjusted her Alyak bag on her shoulder. “I didn’t come here to get insulted by a depressed chicken head and a pack of unruly kids.”
“Girl, don't come for my kids,” Bria snarled, looking her up and down. “They only saying what’s on their minds.”
“No, they’re spreading lies ‘cause I know I don't stank.”
“You and that fish tank smell like something.” Cali chortled. “You know you can never beat the stank allegations. Those twins are going to remind you that you once stank and I’m going to be here for it.”
“You know what? Fuck this. I’ll meet y’all at the spa.” Enya shook her head and stormed out of the room.”
Bria covered her mouth and laughed. “She can come for everybody else, but when it’s her, she be so offended.”
“Sensitive bitch,” Cali mumbled.
“Now, back to you.” Bria pointed at her. “You gotta get out this bed. I made an appointment with Rozalin so you can do something with this dry-ass hair. Then, we’re going to go to a spa so you can get pampered. You do remember what that’s like, right?”
Cali snorted, recalling the days when she got up and did anything because everything was on Rio.
Now that she was unemployed, she was living off her savings.
Even that had gotten low. Cali should've been alarmed but the depression had suppressed all of her feelings. The only emotion she felt was sorrow.
“Then, after the spa, we’re going to dinner. You haven’t eaten and you're losing weight. We gotta fatten you up again.”
“Why do you care, Bria? Just let me wither away in peace,” she complained, turning her back.
“I care because you're my sister, and I love you. I can’t sit here and watch you die.”
“But what if I want to die?”
Bria quickly raced to the other side of the bed so she could face her.
“Don't say things like this! Do you know the power of your words? Don't tell me you're suicidal.”
Cali didn’t have the heart to end her life. Still, death wasn’t such a bad idea.
“I’m not,” she told the truth.
Bria breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, good, ‘cause I didn’t know how I would handle that. Look, get up and get dressed. Your appointment is in an hour.”
When Bria walked out of the room, Cali half-heartedly got out the bed and stepped into the en suite.
While showering, she cried for the third time that day before cleansing her body.
Everything within her didn’t want to face the world.
She wanted to crawl back into her cage of melancholy and deteriorate.
In a way, putting herself through this mental torture chamber was retribution for Rio.
What kind of woman would she be to continue on with life, knowing she’d almost caused him to lose his?
Cali shook her head, praying her gloomy thoughts took a break until her day ended.
After showering, she brushed her teeth and tied a scarf around her head.
Afterward, she looked through the piles of clothes that were sprawled in the closet and found a loose-fitting maxi dress.
The material masked the ten pounds she lost. Cali avoided looking in the mirror.
That way she was oblivious to how hard life had been dragging her.
“Hey, are you dressed?” Bria asked, coming into the room.
Cali stepped out the closet. “Yeah.”
Bria smiled at her. “You look so refreshed.”
Rolling her eyes, she quipped, “Stop lying.”
“I’m not. I know when you get that hair done, you will finally feel normal again. Let’s go.”
Cali followed Bria out the room and downstairs. She noticed Lo was outside, throwing the boys in the pool. That scene made Cali smile because the twins’ laughter was so infectious.
What I wouldn’t give to feel that again…
Her happiness was attached to Rio, which sucked, because he was gone for good. Again, she shook thoughts of him out of her mind and got in Bria’s truck. She drove her to the salon and told her to call once she was done. When Cali entered, the girls’ eyes bloomed in surprise.
“When your sister called and told me you needed an appointment, I was so happy because I haven’t heard from you,” Rozalin gushed, pulling her in for a hug. “We’ve missed you.”
“Cali girl, you’ve been missing all the tea.” Clarice popped her lips. “Ya homegirl, Irish, beat Shay’s ass a while back.”
Shay smacked her lips. “She didn’t do shit.”
“Wait what?” Cali asked, wearing the confusion with pinched brows. “Irish had a fight with Shay?”
“Yeah, and that bitch got dragged, too,” Shay fibbed. “She thought she could talk crazy to me and not get her ass handed to her.”
Irish had tried calling Cali, but she had been so depressed that she couldn’t answer the calls. Now that she had heard this recent development, she had to reach out to her friend.
“But why would y’all fight?” Cali questioned, taking a seat in the chair.
“Because she’s cheating on her husband with my son’s father.”
Cali’s lips pursed. “Who is your son’s father?”
“Noble.”
Although Irish had confessed about her secret affair with Noble, Cali wasn’t going to let them know about it. Her loyalty would always remain with Irish, no matter what.