Damita was speechless. She had married a Neanderthal. “Neal, despite what you may think, this marriage is over. This is not what I signed up for.”
As she headed for the door, Neal blocked her way.
“Neal, move!”
“No. You’re not going anywhere.”
“You really are insane, aren’t you?”
Neal chuckled. “I want you to see something.”
“I don’t need to see anything.”
“I think you do. Look in the coffee table.”
Damita knew she should probably leave but curiosity got the best of her. She figured she would simply leave after seeing whatever it was he was talking about. She opened the coffee table drawer and saw nothing but the usual miscellaneous items they kept there.
“Look under the lining.”
She pulled up the lining in the table and there was a manila folder.
“Open it.”
There was a picture of Neal with another woman. She could have been Damita’s sister. The cocoa brown complexion, the slim build; even the long wavy hair was styled eerily similar to hers.
“Who is this?” Damita asked.
“Everything you need to know is there. Keep looking.”
Under the picture there was a newspaper article. As she read, she wondered what it all meant. “Okay, so I give up. Who is this and why did you want me to read this article? Why did you feel you needed to hide it?”
“You know what it means, Damita. I keep it as a reminder. She was my wife. Her name was Claire and she was even more willful than you. She pushed and pushed and never stopped pushing. She was infuriating and, like you, she eventually wanted to leave. I told her I would never let her go, but she didn’t believe me.”
Damita was stunned. “Neal, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I take the words until death do us part very seriously.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Damita couldn’t get a bit of sleep all night. She considered running in the middle of the night, but remembered the newspaper article. A woman named Claire Westman and her sister, Ny Cooper, had apparently been mowed down by a hit-and-run driver. She wondered if Neal was trying to scare her or if he was really capable of something so heinous.
She sat in the living room in the dark, gazing out the window. She picked up her cell phone several times, considering whether she should call her mother or Carmella. She was sure Neal was watching her and almost jumped out her skin every time she thought she heard him move or even breathe. Sometime around two a.m. she had finally convinced herself that the only thing she could do was to call her mother. As if reading her thoughts, Neal was standing in front of her as she picked up the phone.
“Who are you calling at this hour?” he asked.
“I’m not calling anyone. I was checking to make sure my office hadn’t tried to reach me during the day. I’m due back in the office in two days. I’m surprised no one has called yet.”
“Why would anyone call? We’re on our honeymoon.”
Damita shrugged and went back to bed.
• • •
The cell phone awakened Damita the next morning. It was her mother.
“Hi, baby girl. How was Jamaica?”
“It was. . . It was okay, Mom.”
“Baby, are you okay?”
“Of course, I am. I’m fine. I’m a little tired, that’s all.” She paused. “How are you, Mom? Did you miss me?”
“You know I did. I should’ve been on that beach sunning myself right along with you.”
“I know that’s right. It’s been a long time since we’ve been on a vacation together. Remember all those trips we used to take; Jamaica, Bahamas, Bermuda, Vegas. Those were some good times.”
“Okay, now you will tell me the truth. What’s going on? All of a sudden you’re getting nostalgic. What happened? I swear, if that fool did anything to my baby, I’ll—”
“Listen to you sounding all tough.” Damita was so happy her mother had called. “What are you doing right now, Mom?”
“I’m not doing a doggone thing. What’s up?”
“Do you feel like shopping?”
“Baby girl, when have I ever said no to shopping?”
“I’ll meet you at Macy’s in an hour then,” said Damita.
“An hour it is.”
While Neal slept, Damita quietly busied herself with preparing to meet her mother. She breathed a sigh of relief as she shut the door to the apartment. She was looking forward to seeing her and feeling normal.
Damita saw her mother standing in front of the department store as soon as she arrived. She ran toward her and hugged her. “Somebody missed their mama,” said Karen.
“Yes, I did.”