Shay's House-Personal Narrative

Before I entered the housing development that Shay's house was located in, I checked my rearview mirror to see an Audi tailing me. It looked exactly like the one that Trevor used to have, only it was a different color. This one was midnight blue. I was startled and slowed down to see if whoever was driving the car would pass me. After intentionally driving twenty miles under the speed limit, the driver of the vehicle eventually went around me. A young black lady gave me a hard look when she passed by. The look on her face was a mix of disgust and anger. That woman would have looked me right in the eyes if the tent on my window wasn't so dark. Little did she know, I stared right back at her and hoped she knew that she didn't put any fear in my
heart.
Now that the car was in front of me, I sped up and followed the car for six miles or so. I wondered where she could be going as I approached my turn. To my surprise, the ill lady switched her signal on the same moment that I did. Both of us were going into the same neighborhood. I continued to follow her as she made a left turn onto Cypress Court and pulled into a driveway that had a furniture truck backed up to the door. I wanted to get a better look at the lady because the look that she gave me felt personal. “Could this woman know me?” I thought as I drove for a few more minutes and pulled into Shay's driveway.
When I got out of the car, I could smell food coming from the house. I wasn't hungry, but I intended on eating if Shay had cooked. After opening the door, I was going to tell her about the lady in the Audi, but it slipped my mind when I saw Imani sitting on the couch.
“Imani, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, but you weren't here. Shay let me in.”
“Hey babe,” Shay yelled from the kitchen.
I greeted her and told her that I couldn't wait to eat whatever it was that she was preparing. Then I flopped down on the couch beside Imani.
“Does your dad know you're here?”
“Yes. He brought me here. He said that he would be back to get me before it got dark.”
“Did he have to work on some things at the office or something?”
“I don't know. He didn't say.”
“Was my mother home?”
“Nope. She's been gone since early this morning.”
“Oh, well. It's good to have you. Do you want to play UNO or something?”
“Nah. I only want to watch television. I'm tired.”
“Tired of what?”
“I cleaned my room today, and I raked the back yard.”
“That's good. Lester's finally getting some work out of you,” I chuckled.
“I raked so many leaves that my arms are sore. I can't lift them up over my head. I don't know how I'm going to take my shirt off tonight.”
“You'll figure it out. Not unless you want to bath with your shirt on.”
We both laughed until Shay interrupted and yelled, “The food is ready.”
Imani and I both got up off the couch at the same moment, and my phone rang. Before I answered it, I saw that it was Lester calling and made a beeline for the bathroom. I answered the call as soon as I shut the door.
“What's up Lester. Is everything okay?”
“No, everything is not okay.Your mother is cheating on me.”
“She is?”
“Yes.
Can you believe that she's stepping out on all that I have to offer? I'm handsome, I've got a good job, and you know how I put it down in the bedroom.”
I thought for a second before I answered him. He was right. God knows he could deliver in the bedroom. The other stuff was true too, but I didn't dare agree with him. I replied by saying, “If you think that you're such a good catch. Why would she be cheating on you?”
“That's what boggles me. I have no clue. Do you think that this guy could have a bigger package than me?”
“Lester, I don't know. Can we not talk about your package right now, please.”
“I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do. That's why I need your help.”
“With Imani?”
“Yes. You know I don't trust her fast ass being at home by herself.”
“I understand that. It's not a problem. I'm just glad that Shay was home when you dropped her off.”
“Great. Now that I have a babysitter, I need your help in another way.”
“My help in another way? What do you want?”
“It's not want. It's need.”
“Well, what the hell do you need?”
“I need you to talk to your mother.”
“About the cheating?”
“Yeah. See if you can get her to confess that she's into someone
else.”
“And then what?” “Tell her that it's wrong. Tell her how perfect I am for her.”
“Wait a minute. What makes you think that she's going to open up to me?”
“She will. She adores you. I know that you can get it out of her.”
“You are bugging something serious right now. I'm not getting in the middle of this. Do you remember how you ratted me out to Imani? I can't help you. You're on your own.”
“Summer, don't do me like this. I won't tell her that you said anything. I swear.”
As much as I didn't want to fall into his pit of despair, I fell for it and agreed to help him get to the bottom of this, but I gave him a fair warning first.
“If you tell her that I know anything about this I will kill you. You got that?”
“Yes. I got it.”
“I'm only doing this because I care about what happens to Imani in the middle of all this. Don't get me wrong, I care about you and my mother's relationship, but I will not allow this to consume me. I want you to know that I have a lot going on too.”
“I understand, Summer. Thank you so much.”
“Don't thank me yet. I haven't done anything.”
After a brief moment of silence, I spoke up, “So what are you going to do if she doesn't want to stop seeing this guy?”
“I don't know. I don't want to leave her, but I won't tolerate cheating. I'm not willing to share my woman with anybody.”
“You shouldn't have to.”
“I'm totally clueless. I've never been in this situation before. Something inside of me is telling me to confront her.”
“If you confront her you'll need evidence. Do you have any?”
“Well, I overheard her on the phone with the guy. She thought that I was asleep. She was on the phone with him in the bathroom.”
“Are you sure that she was talking to him? She could've been talking to anyone in there.”
“Yes, I'm sure. Our cell phones are in my name. One of the young guys at work showed me how to access my account online.”
“I didn't know that you were computer savvy.”
“I didn't know either. You'd be surprised at what lengths you'll go through when you're trying to save your marriage or relationship.” “You're right about that,” I replied as I thought about some of the things that Trevor had done to keep me in his life. I hope that Lester wasn't crazy like him before I asked, “So, what are you going to do now that you have the number?”
“Oh, I already called him.”
“Damn. What did Y'all talk about?”
“Nothing. I hung up the phone when he answered.”
“Aw man, I thought that you had this all figured out.”
“No. I don't have anything figured out. I just confirmed the fact that she is cheating.”
“Well, don't call back. He'll get suspicious.”
“I'm not. I started to go over to his house. He lives near the bingo hall.”