Chapter 3 Marsha
“Mama, you look so good! I hope I keep my body tight and right like you when I get your age,” Karla said as she stood behind me where I sat at my vanity. She came over to help me get ready for my date. Bruqlyn and Norma were on their wifely duties.
Wifely duties. Something that I wanted more than anything.
There were some women that didn’t want marriage at all, but I was not one of those women.
I wanted to be married since I was a teenager.
I watched my mother go through man after man after glass dick.
I swore that would never be me. I would find my man and stick with him.
I glanced at Karla in the mirror. “Well, if you stay on your semi-healthy eating, some kind of workout plan, and honestly consistent dick, it can happen for you. Oh, and make sure you have a solid hair care and skin care regimen.”
Karla focused on me with a blank stare. “Mama, why would you say that? Ew! Bruqlyn told us that Daddy was over here, and now you’re talking about consistent peen.”
I giggled. “Well, if y’all mind y’all mini adult ass business, then y’all wouldn’t know that ya daddy is my consistent—”
“Hell, no! That is not what we will ever do. You will not put my daddy and your consistent anything in the same sentence,” Karla fussed.
I chortled because my child was so damn dramatic.
I loved my little baby. When Orion told me all those years ago that he’d got Karla’s mother, Kim, pregnant, I was heartbroken and pissed.
Kim was one of the biggest hoes in North Carolina, fuck Charlotte.
The day I found out that he was fucking with her, I stopped messing with him.
Kim was another one that wanted to prove something. What, I wasn’t too sure. She thought that Orion would bend to be with her because she had his only daughter. Everyone told her that was not how it would play out. Her name was not Marsha Turner.
After a while, she realized that was the fact and started to mistreat my precious Karla.
I told Orion that he had better rectify the situation.
It was a matter of months, and Kim signed her rights over to him.
She came around for a little while until she found the next big dick with pockets.
Last I heard, she lived in Florida. That was years ago, though, so who knew what she had going on.
“Mama, I don’t get it.” Karla’s voice brought me out of my daze. She sat on my bed bench after I asked her what she didn’t get. “Everybody, and I do mean everybody knows that you love Daddy, and Daddy loves you. I don’t get why you are still making him suffer.”
I turned in my seat to face her. The time on my bedside clock said seven o’clock. I didn’t have much time to entertain this. “Karla, what me and your father have going on is really between us. Yes, I do love your father, but I don’t know if I can trust him.”
Her eyes bucked. “You don’t trust him with your heart, but you trust him with your body? That’s the exact thing that you’ve told me to never do. I recall you telling me that if I couldn’t trust a nigga with my heart, then I shouldn’t trust him with my pussy.”
Whew! When your kids put you in your place. This was not a ‘do as I say not as I do’ situation, no matter how bad I wished it was.
“Daddy has bent over backward to show you how much he loves you. The man, to my knowledge, has never been in another relationship since you. I’ve overheard him tell my brothers that there would never be anyone else if it wasn’t you.
He’s made himself an example for them on how not to fuck up with their true love,” she said.
“Mama, if you expect him not to mess with anyone in all these years, then that is unrealistic. You’ve been in a full relationship for almost two years before dude dipped because he realized he would never be Orion Westin. ”
I chuckled inwardly because I remembered the demise of that relationship vividly. That man told me that he couldn’t be with a woman whose heart was closed to others while her legs were open to her ex. He shamed the hell out of me.
I waved my hands. “Okay, Karla, I hear you. I have a lot to think about when it comes to your father. Yes, I love him, but love is just not enough sometimes.”
Her face contorted. She stood from the bed, then stretched her arms up. Under her breath, she mumbled, “I guess dick is enough.”
“Lil girl, get the fuck on somewhere. How about you go get you some dick, shit.” I stood to move to my closet to put my shoes on. “Y’all stay worried about me and ya daddy. I’m about to go on a date with a fine ass man. If the night goes right, I’m gonna be bent over somewhere.”
Karla laughed hard. When she quipped that I must have been going on a date with her daddy, I turned around, found the closest thing to me, and threw it at her ass. She continued to laugh as she ran out of the room. These kids get on my fucking nerves.
I felt like money when my car service pulled up to the restaurant.
I was only twenty minutes late, which for me wasn’t bad at all.
When I texted Charles to let him know that I was running late, he said that I was fine.
I texted him again when I was on the way, and he said that he couldn’t wait to see me.
The valet opened the door to get me out of the car. A man who was on the way out with his women held the door for me. Sis didn’t look happy that he did. She could chill. I wasn’t a gluten-free bitch.
“Hi, I’m here for the Jared party,” I told the hostess when I approached.
Her head was down, then it popped up with a goofy ass smile. “Ms. Marsha, how are you tonight? I’m so happy that you could join us.”
“Oh, thank you for having me.” Now, this was customer experience. She smiled, reached down, then lifted what looked like a jewelry box. I was taken aback in the best way when she told me that the instructions were to open the box before I could be seated.
My face tightened for a second as I looked between the box and the girl. What the hell is this? My breath got caught in my throat when I opened the box. “Can I see, please?” the hostess asked excitedly.
I turned around the box to reveal a gorgeous amethyst solitaire stone necklace. I loved these gemstones. It was a big part of the reason that I loved purple. Wait, did I tell him this was my favorite stone? Oh, I did tell him when my birthday was, so he must have just assumed.
The hostess asked if I was ready to be seated. I was still caught up on the beautiful necklace. After I told her that I was, she led the way to the table. His back was to us. I had seen a few pictures of him that he sent me via text. Charles was fine. “Mr. Jared, Marsha has arrived.”
He stood from his seat. Oh, a lot taller than I thought he would be. I like it! He turned around, and my heart dropped to my pussy. I had to discreetly shake my leg to make it go down to my foot. “Orion, what the hell?”
Orion stood there in all his fine ass glory. Fuck! My baby daddy is fine as hell. No, I was supposed to be mad at him. I was here to meet Charles, so how was Orion here?
“Marsha, you look beautiful, love.” He reached his long arm out, wrapped it around my waist, and pulled me into a hug.
His face went into my neck. “You smell so fuckin’ good.
I should beat your ass for wearing the perfume I gave you to see another nigga.
I’ll just beat the pussy up later,” he mumbled against my neck.
When he pulled back, he took me in. He noticed that I still had the jewelry box in my hand. Without a word, he took the box from my hand, then proceeded to take the necklace out to put it around my neck. The hostess’s nosy ass stood there as a spectator like there wasn’t a lobby full of guests.
I turned my back to him and allowed him to place the necklace on me. My hand instinctively touched the stone as I turned to face him. “Thank you.”
We finally sat after he pulled my seat out. There was already a beverage in front of me. I picked it up, took a sip, then closed my eyes. Perfect. He knew everything about me down to my favorite drink.
When he asked me if he got it right, I ignored his question. I asked him one of my own. “Orion, what did you do to Charles? You better not have hurt him.”
“What kind of man do you take me for, Marsha? I simply came here and had a conversation with Mr. Jared. He received a few revelations from that conversation and decided to leave.” He sounded sincere, but I wasn’t too sure.
I pulled my phone out. I needed to do a wellness check because this nigga was crazy. He could say all of that and Charles be in a car in the parking lot with a broken neck.
Me:
Hey Charles, I’m a little confused. I’m at the restaurant.
Charles J.:
Hey Marsha. You may have noticed that I’m not there and Orion is. Me and him talked. I think it’s best that you and him work things out. I am on my way to work things out with my ex-wife. I wish you well.
I had to reread the text a few times. What the entire fuck? Yeah, there was no way this man just said that. I sent him a for real text, but it didn’t go through. Did this nigga block me?
I gawked at Orion, down at my phone, then back at Orion. “He blocked me. Like, he really blocked me.”
“Good man. I knew he was a stand-up gentleman when I met him,” Orion said. “I hope him and his ex-wife works it out.”
I blankly stared at him. I felt I needed to put a note in my calendar to curse Norma’s ass out. “I can’t believe Norma set me up with a nigga that was on the rebound.”
“I can’t believe Norma set him up with a taken woman,” Orion said before he shook his head. “The gall of some people. Got my lady out here trying to embarrass me.”
I laughed at this man. What was I going to do with him? “I should be mad at you for ruining my date. You know you’re wrong, right?”