Читать книгу Careful of the Company You Keep - Angie Daniels - Страница 11

5

Danielle

I spent Friday evening arguing on the phone with Mama. It’s been five months and nothing has changed. I still can’t understand how she could take sides with Portia when it was clear who was in the wrong. Is Mama not understanding what she did? My daughter had lied about sleeping with my boyfriend and had pretty much ruined my life. No, she can’t come back and live with me. Is she crazy? That would be like Portia getting her way. As far as I’m concerned, she can just keep on staying with her daddy.

As promised, Alvin filed rape charges, and just as I had been trying to tell his dumb ass all along, Portia waited until the day before the case was to go to trial to admit she had been lying. Told you so!

Ron was released, which was a good thing. I was all prepared to testify on his behalf even though he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.

My friends think I’m stupid for turning my back on my daughter, but I don’t agree. Portia’s lies caused me to lose my soul mate. I would do anything to have him back. Really. If Ron called and told me he’d take me back, I would have him. I know he isn’t perfect, but Ron is everything I love in a man. A thug to his heart. He knows the streets, and let’s not forget the brotha is no joke in bed. Sure, he had a bunch of kids, and bitches be calling me at all hours of the night. I dealt with the BS because I believed my man was worth it. The only reason we weren’t still together was because my daughter had described my man’s dick. Not too many brothas running around uncircumcised, but Ron was one of the few. Not that it affected his performance in any way.

The last five months have been miserable. I feel lost without him. Even though I have a new man in my life, all I think about is getting back with him. I’ve left him messages. Dropped by his mother’s house, but he never responds to any of my advances. I know after five months it’s time for me to try and move on, but it’s hard.

I reached in the back of my closet looking for something to wear. I hadn’t been out in months and it was definitely time for me to get out of the house. With Ron and Portia both gone, unless I was spending time with Calvin, I was usually bored and lonely. Yep, I was definitely ready to get a drink. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet someone new tonight to take Ron off my mind.

Yeah, right.

In a small town like Columbia, Missouri, there wasn’t anyone worth meeting because chances were they had already gone through half the skanks in town. And after my breakup with Ron, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to handle another thug just yet. Right now I needed a dependable, no-stress relationship, and that was Calvin.

Speaking of Calvin . . . I glanced over at the clock. He was prompt and should be calling just about . . . now. I reached over and grabbed the phone before the second ring.

“Hello, may I please speak to Danielle?”

I rolled my eyes. He knew good and damn well I was the only one living in the house. I didn’t know why he always tried to act all professional and shit. Sometimes it pissed me off so much.

“Hey, Calvin. How’s the conference?”

“Long and boring.” He’s a university police officer and was in California attending a CSI training seminar. “I can’t wait to get back and hold you.”

I smiled. “Me either.”

“What do you have planned this weekend?”

“Me and the girls are going out tonight.”

“Don’t have too much fun,” he warned with laughter in his voice.

“I won’t. Are you doing anything fun tonight?”

“Me and a couple of the boys are going out and Regina’s tagging along.”

I chuckled. Regina was the new administrative assistant in the department and had a mad crush on Calvin. “Maybe I need to be worried about you being in Cali with another woman,” I teased.

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to worry. There’s only one woman for me.” His voice sounded sexy as hell. “I can’t wait to get back on Sunday. I hope you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” I asked as if I didn’t already know.

“You know what.”

I chuckled. “I’ll be ready.”

“Good. I’ll call you tomorrow, love.”

“Okay.”

Calvin was such a nice guy. And so faithful that I never had to worry about him messing around. Regina didn’t have a chance in hell of taking my man from me. Damn, if only I could love him the way he deserved. We’ve been together over six months and I’m crazy about him and the sex is good, but my feelings for him are nothing like what I felt for Ron. If I could feel like that with Calvin, I would have the perfect man. I wanted that heart-stopping, can’t-be-without-my-man feeling that I used to have. I like a man who knows the streets and doesn’t have a problem telling me what he wants in and out of bed. I’m not sure if anything other than a thug would ever do. Some people saw it as a problem. I saw it as simply having a preference.