“Aww! Girl, it ain't that serious.” I told her.
“You may think so, but I'll just feel better if you didn't.”
“Fine, I'll be there in a minute.”
I sat for a moment trying to wrap my head around Shanice words. She said she was ready to go to rehab and clean up her life; which meant she was no longer stripping. Oh, I was so glad for her. Sober, she probably wouldn't be a bad person.
She was worried that Gabe would actually kill her. Chuckling, I shook my head as I put my phone and wallet in my pants pocket. Gabe was not this monster that everybody thought him to be.
His bark was so much worse than his bite.
Or...
So, I thought.
Chapter 17
Don’t Forget What I Am
Yasmin
When I got to the coffee shop, I saw Shanice sitting by herself at a table with two cups of coffee in front of her. She waved me over when she saw me.
“Hey Yas, it's so good to see you again.” She said as we embraced. “Here, have a seat. I went on and ordered drinks for us.”
I sat down in the chair across from hers, and she slid my coffee to me.
“Thanks.” I told her, lifting it to my lips taking a sip.
She held her hand out toward me. “Look at you! You look good, even though you still wearing those raggedy overalls!”
We both laughed at that. I thanked her, wanting to return the compliment but I couldn't. She didn't look good. In fact, she was a bit disheveled. Reminding me of how she used to look when she came in from being out all night with some guy. Her miniskirt and halter-top looked as if she had it on since yesterday.
Even her hair that was always immaculate was all over head as if she had just gotten out of somebody's bed. But for the first time since I've known her, she was not high.
“I see you've adapted well to married life!”
I nodded. “If you’re asking if I'm getting along better with Gabriel these days, the answer is yes. He's not as bad as I originally thought.”
She smiled, although it didn't reach her eyes. “Well, I'm glad everything is going well for you. Meanwhile my world has fallen apart.” Okay, so this must have been what sparked her sudden need to change her life. I was curious.
I took a sip of my coffee. “What happened?”
“First off, I got fired from Shugga's Place!”
“What?” I asked shocked.
She nodded, lifting her hand to scratch her head. I had never seen Shanice looking this bad. She was so jerky and jittery. I was really beginning to be concerned about her. I took another sip of coffee.
“Your husband has been making trouble for Shugga. It looks like she's getting ready to lose the place!” Her words nearly made me spit out my coffee.
“Oh my God!” I cried when I swallowed a mouth full.
A few weeks ago, I had told Gabriel what had happened that led up to my attempt robbery. I told him about Shugga making me dance and then firing me. Told him how I pretended to be a waitress, and how I had been there at his party the whole night.
Like he did often, he just listened as I spoke, nodding his head every now and again. He showed absolutely no signs that he was going to do something about it.
“He paid Shugga a little visit. Told her he didn't appreciate how she had treated his wife. Then went on to tell her he was going to make sure she lost everything, so that she could know how you felt that day.” She shook her head.
“And I guess Shugga must have thought he was bluffing. She had laughed and joked with us after he left; about how out of all the women he could have married, his stupid self went and chose a country bumpkin.” She reached over the table and put her hand on mine.
“She, like the rest of us, didn't know what that country bumpkin was hiding up underneath that ugly wig and contacts.” Laughing a little at her statement she continued.
“But she should have taken his words serious, because the next day city inspectors started showing up, one after another. And they found all the little dirty deeds your girl Shugga was hiding.”
“She had to pay out a lot of money to get them off her back. But then after she got them off her back, her high paying clients started canceling their memberships.”
With hands that shook she brought her coffee cup to her lips taking a sip.
“She came into the job day before yesterday looking worn out. Said she got put out of her house and the city came and towed her cars. Then the bi*** called me in her office and fired me, like it was my damn fault!”
Oh man! I felt so bad. But not for the reason you think… I felt bad for feeling good, because it was at that very moment that something dawned on me.
My husband loved me!
He was now protecting me like he protected his friends. And not only that, he was also keeping the side of him that people called beastly hidden from me.
“Shanice I'm so sorry!” I told her, really meaning that. I didn’t want anybody to lose their job, especially her.
Yeah! She was a bit of a bad friend, but she helped me out when I had nothing. And it was for that very reason I didn't want to see her down and out.
She shook her head again before looking up at me with a grin on her face. I frowned confused.
And that's when I felt it.
Something was wrong with me. I put my hand to my head. The room was spinning. The grin left her face and a look of concern replaced it.
“Yas? What's the matter? You don't look too good.”
“Something is wrong, I feel strange!” I
