Who Do I Run To? Read online

  “Jai, baby—come on don’t, baby, please. Don’t do this tonight. Don’t trip out on me. You know I don’t like to leave when you’re upset,” he said, putting on his socks. It seemed as if he was in a hurry, because before she knew it, he was completely dressed. His shirt was unbuttoned, but he was dressed faster than he had ever dressed before.

  “If you hate it so much, why do you leave me by myself all the time? All I asked is for you to just stay past two for one night, K.P., just one,” she whined.

  “Janiece, stop it, baby. No dramatics tonight,” he said and bent over and kissed her forehead. “Now, go back to sleep and I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ll let you know early if we can get together and maybe rent a movie,” he said.

  “I’m tired of renting movies. Chicago is a big city. Why can’t we go out to a movie? You’re not going to get caught,” she said to him frustrated because they hardly went out anywhere. They spent their time indoors, and if they went out, it was to the local bookstore or park near her condo.

  “Look,” he said raising his voice. Then he looked at her face and changed his tone. “Baby, I promise I’ll try to get over here tomorrow, and if you want to go out, I’ll take you out,” he said softly and caressed her face. “Okay, baby? I promise. Now get some sleep, beautiful, and I’ll work out something special for us tomorrow evening,” he said laying on the charm. Times like this she couldn’t stay mad at him.

  “You promise?” she asked sounding down and penurious.

  “Yes, you know I will. I love you, babe. Now, come on, smile for me,” he said smiling at her. She returned the smile, but still didn’t want him to leave.

  “I gotta go,” he said, backing away.

  “I know, and I love you too,” she told him.

  “That’s my girl.” He turned off the lamp, and then he headed for the door. It didn’t matter if she gave him a smile or not; he still had to go. The tears started to flow as soon as she heard the back door shut. Why on earth did she let him have so much power over her? Why couldn’t she just tell him to get the hell on and find a man of her own? She couldn’t figure it out.

  She knew she was tired of the “2 a.m. got to go home to wife and family” crap. Why did she love someone else’s husband? She didn’t know the answer. Why did she get this deeply involved with K.P.? What she did know was something had to change for her—and soon.

  Chapter Two

  It was Sunday afternoon, and she hadn’t heard a word from Kerry. Janiece text messaged him five or six times, and she didn’t get any response. She was hungry but didn’t want to eat just in case he called and wanted to take her to dinner. She peeped out the kitchen window for the hundredth time, hoping to see his black Escalade in her guest parking stall, because he’d sometimes just show up instead of calling.

  She wasn’t sure why he would do that from time to time. She just figured that made him feel good to be able to walk in unannounced with his key, guaranteeing she wouldn’t have a guy over. She stared at the clock, and it was still ten after four, and it seemed to be stuck on that time she thought to herself. She reached for her cell phone again to text him, but it vibrated in her hand and she immediately got excited, thinking it was him finally calling or returning her text, but it was her sister, Janelle.

  She really didn’t want to talk to her at that time, but she figured she’d kill some time if she chatted with her sister while she waited for Mr. K.P. to call or come by.

  “Hello, Janelle,” she said after finally picking up.

  “Well, hello, little sis, how are you?” Janelle asked being her usual bubbly self. She was always in good spirits. She lived a life that Janiece only dreamt of living. She had a fine-ass husband who made a lot of dough. She lived in a huge six-bedroom home, with a gourmet kitchen to die for. She was self-employed and got to work out of her home. Her husband was a successful banker and worked for one of the largest banks in the city of Chicago.

  Janelle went all the way in school; I mean, all the way. She was in school for so long Janiece thought school was her career choice. When she finally did graduate and so-called started working, it was from her home and Janiece, to this day, didn’t get what her job was, although Janelle had broken it down to her five or six times. Janiece figured it sure was a great paying career that allowed you to work in your pj’s. So she understood why Janelle was always perky and happy.

  “Hey, Nellie, what’s going on?” she asked trying to sound just as cheery as Janelle was.

  “Nothing too much—I was just calling to see what you were up to and to see if you wanted to hang out for a minute. You know, go to the movies, dinner. I want to see that new Sanaa Lathan movie that’s out.”

  “What—you wanna hang out with me? Where’s Gregory?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Greg is out with the fellas at the game, and I finished some work sooner than I thought, and I wanted to get some air. Why do I have to explain why I wanna spend time with you, Janiece?” she asked sounding a little upset.

  “Calm down, Janelle, damn! I was just joking,” she said quickly. Janelle was the oldest, but she was a big sensitive baby. She would cry at the drop of a hat.

  “Oh, okay, so how about it? Are you up for a movie?”

  “Girl, I would, but I’m waiting to see if K.P. is gonna call. He was supposed to have something special planned for us tonight,” she said, but she wished she had not.

  “Again …,” Janelle said and clicked her tongue. “Janiece, when are you gonna stop waiting around for this clown to call or for him to do this or do that? He’s a two-timing loser,” she said with anger in her voice.

  “Come on, Nellie, don’t start. You know how I feel about K.P., and you know we’ve been through this a million times. What I do is my business.”

  “Yeah, I know, and you know how I feel about my baby sister fucking someone’s husband,” she said unsympathetically.

  Janiece really didn’t want to continue the conversation if they were going to go through the same old sermon about her and Kerry.

  “Okay, Janelle, here we go. You wanna reprimand me again, go right ahead. You wanna bash K.P. again, go right ahead. It’s not like you’re gonna say something new,” Janiece said, while rolling her eyes. She wished she hadn’t picked up the damn phone and was about a minute from hanging up.

  “You are so stubborn and thickheaded, just like your daddy was!”

  “Aw, please, Janelle, he was your daddy too, you heifer, and I’ve never disregarded what you’ve said. I just want you to know that I will leave K.P. alone when I’m good and ready. There’s nothing you can say to make me change. I love him, and that’s that, so leave it alone.”

  “And if he loved you, you wouldn’t have to sit around waiting to see if he is or if he isn’t gonna call. If he loved or respected his wife, he wouldn’t be fucking around with you. So if you want to continue to wait for that loser, go right ahead, be my guest. I have nothing more to say about it,” she said and blew out a breath of air.

  “Good,” Janiece said, relieved and hoping she’d leave it alone. She was hoping that would be the end of it, but, of course, it wasn’t.

  “I just can’t understand for the life of me why a beautiful young woman like you would settle for such crap. You can have any guy you want, but you put up with K.P.’s stank behind. I don’t get that, Jai,” she said now sounding like their mother.

  “So stop trying to get it, Mrs. Perfect. We all can’t be like you. Do you feel better now that you’ve told me straight?” Janiece asked irritated.

  “Come on, Jai, don’t, sweetie. I didn’t call you to argue or tell you straight. I just wanted to hang out with you. I want you to be happy, and I just think you deserve way more in a man than being on standby,” she said tenderly.

  Janiece knew her sister meant well, but her life was her life. Janiece couldn’t help that she was in love with K.P.; she never meant for that to happen and since it has, she stayed with him. She didn’t have any intentions or schemes to ruin his marriage. She j
ust accepted things for what they were, and she was going to keep going until she couldn’t go anymore. That’s how much she loved K.P., so all the scolding in the world from Janelle went in one ear and out of the other.

  Her girlfriend Tia didn’t lecture her. Tia stopped badmouthing K.P. two years ago, when she realized Janiece was going to do what Janiece wanted to do, and Janiece wished her sister would have taken the same approach to her life choices.

  “I know where you are coming from. I’ve heard you the last two thousand times you have told me, but please, leave it alone. I wish I could just walk away. I wish I could just stop messing with a married man. I wish I could just turn my feelings for K.P. off, but that is not the case. Shit is just not that simple. Understand that I’m not proud of my relationship with him Nellie. I’m not walking down the streets broadcasting I’m in love with a married man who is two-timing his wife. I just love him, Nellie, and I’m sad without him. I know you think I sound pathetic and stupid, but that’s how I feel,” she said speaking honestly to her older sister.

  No matter what approach she took with Janelle, there was not a common or mutual ground on that situation. Janelle wasn’t going to show her sister any type of approval or support for her lifestyle with K.P. —she totally hated that about her sister, and she wasn’t going to change.

  “So the answer is no? You don’t wanna go? You wanna wait for Mr. Dawg to call you?” she asked, not commenting on the “I’m sad without him,” crap.

  “No, the answer is not— no. Just give me a little while longer to see if he calls, and if he doesn’t, I wanna go, okay? Please, sissy, don’t give me a hard time,” she whined like a little sister would.

  “Okay! Fine you little nutcase. I love you so much, and I just can’t comprehend how we came from the same parents. You are twisted, you little retard,” she said jokingly. But, deep down, she thought her baby sister was crazy to be in love with such a loser. “But you better not take forever. Unlike you, I have a life, and I’m hungry, and K.P. is not gonna put my life on hold too!”

  “Thanks, Nellie, I’ll call you back soon,” Janiece said, smiling. She loved her sister and knew that if K.P. came up in any conversation, it would be the same argument, and it didn’t make her so angry anymore.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever, bye,” she said and hung up before Janiece could say good-bye. Janiece hopped off the couch and ran to the window again, and still there was no sign of him. She dialed his cell phone again, and it went straight to voice mail. She didn’t leave another message this time. She opened the fridge and fought the urge to fix a sandwich or eat a piece of fruit, because she didn’t want to ruin her appetite in case he came by.

  Janiece went back to the sofa and grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. She landed on the Encore channel, and decided to watch Love Jones, one of her favorite movies. It had already been on, but she wanted to finish it anyway. Once the movie was done it was 5:44 p.m., so she reached for the cordless and dialed K.P. once more, but again, the voice mail came on.

  She walked to the kitchen window while she dialed her sister back and looked through the curtains. Her guest parking stall was still empty. When Janelle picked up, she was glad that her sister didn’t wait until seven or eight o’clock for K.P. to call. She was actually surprised that she called back that soon. That was good for Janiece.

  “Hey, girl, you’re getting better,” Janelle teased.

  “What are you talking about?” Janiece asked in confusion.

  “I thought you’d be waiting for the dawg longer than an hour,” she teased.

  “Ha-ha, funny—you always got to go there, don’t you?”

  “I’m just playing. You wanna go? There’s a movie that starts at 8:40. We can go to dinner and make that one.”

  “Yeah, that’s cool. I’ll be ready in about twenty minutes,” Janiece said looking out the window with a sad look on her face. She was disappointed again that he didn’t call like he said he would.

  “Okay, then, I’ll be there shortly.”

  “Okay, bye,” Janiece said, and they hung up. Janiece went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and fix her hair. She unwrapped her hair, looked at her roots, and shook her head. Quickly, she plugged in her flat iron and went to start dressing.

  She put on her jeans, but not her shirt because she had to put some heat on her roots so her hair could look halfway descent. She washed her face, put on some powder and a little gloss. As soon as she put on her shirt, her sister was knocking on the door. She looked at her clock and thought, damn, she must have done ninety, but then she realized flat ironing her hair took some time.

  Chapter Three

  “You’re dressed,” Janelle teased when she opened the door.

  “Yes, I am. Just let me grab my boots and jacket,” Janiece said walking back into the other room and opening her hall closet. The layout in her condo was nice. It’s just the hall closet was near the front door, and she never used the front door unless she checked the mail or wanted quiet with a nice breeze. The parking stalls were in the back, so the back door was used for convenience. She grabbed a pair of tan boots and went into her room to put them on.

  Janelle walked into the living room and looked around and was delighted to see her sister’s place was still perfect and immaculately clean. One thing about her baby sister—she was creative, had taste, and her condo was a beautiful reflection of her creative mind. She just wished she was more creative when it came to relationships. That was the area where she lacked creativity.

  When Janiece came back to the living room, she took another look at her sister thinking how good she looked with her casual clothing, fresh curly hairdo, and French-manicured nails. Her diamond wedding ring was always a conversation piece everywhere she went. She had on name-brand boots, matching handbag, and a nice camel-colored leather jacket. Her makeup, not being the cheap stuff Janiece used, looked like it was done by a professional Janiece thought when she was checking her sister out.

  “Hey, are you ready?” Janiece asked with purse and jacket in hand. She was ready, but after taking a good look at Janelle, she wished she chose a different outfit.

  “Yeah, I’m starving, girl,” she said and started to walk toward the door.

  “Girl, me too,” Janiece said walking a step behind her. As they made their way to the door, they heard keys on the other side. Someone was coming in. It was the one and only K.P., and they both were surprised by his entrance. When he opened the door, he noticed they were leaving and he felt awkward, so he didn’t say anything. He was dressed nice and had flowers in his hand for Janiece.

  “Hey, baby, we were on our way out for dinner,” Janiece said breaking the silence.

  “These are for you,” he said handing her the flowers. “How are you, Janelle?” he asked.

  Janelle hated him so much … she gave him a weak smile and merely replied that she was good. She didn’t bother to ask him how he was doing, but he disclosed the unwanted information to her anyway.

  “I’m doing well myself,” he said volunteering conversation. He knew that he wasn’t one of her favorites, but that never stopped him from trying to be friendly. “Look, I can see that I came at a bad time. I was just trying to surprise you,” he said to Janiece. He was looking at her like he wanted her to forget about her plans with Janelle and allow him to do what he came to do.

  “I know, baby, and I am happy that you came and the flowers are beautiful,” she said admiring them. Janelle sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. She didn’t bother to hide how irritated she was around K.P., but Janiece didn’t pay her any mind. She really wished Janelle wouldn’t be that way toward him, but that was the way it was.

  “Look, baby, you can come with us. We all can go to dinner,” she said like that was a wonderful idea, and Janelle looked at her like she was insane.

  “Look, I’ll be downstairs,” Janelle interrupted and opened the door. “And hurry up, Jai, because I’m hungry!” she barked and shut the door behind her after giving K.P. a
nother evil look.

  “Look K.P., I’m sorry about her,” Jai said apologizing for her sister’s behavior.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize for her. I know and understand why she hates me. I told you in the beginning not to tell her that I was married, Jai.”

  “I had to tell her. I can’t lie to my family. Not my sister. It’s bad enough my father died with that lie. He was crazy about you, and if he had known—”

  K.P. cut her off because he didn’t want her to get emotional and sad. That’s what usually happened when she talked about her deceased parents.

  “Baby, don’t go there okay? Just go to dinner with your sister, and I’ll be here when you get back,” he said and kissed her on the forehead.

  “You’ll wait for me?” she asked surprised. Although she waited for him all the time, she never put any pressure on him to do the same.

  “Of course, I will. Dinner shouldn’t take that long,” he said.

  “Okay, baby, I’ll be back soon. Do you want me to bring you something?” she asked and wished she had not after she heard his response.

  “No thanks. Kimberly cooked today,” he said, not thinking that would bother her.

  “Oh,” she said and headed for the door.

  “Hurry back, baby, I miss you,” he said coming up behind her and touching her waist. He kissed her neck, and Janiece knew what he wanted.

  “I won’t be long,” she said and walked away. She wasn’t smiling anymore, because the name Kimberly thundered in her ears and jabbed into her stomach.

  When she got in the car, Janelle didn’t say anything. They rode to the restaurant in silence. Once they got there, they ordered their drinks, and the conversation started to come alive. Janiece knew not to mention or say anything about K.P., so she refrained from even bringing up his name. Although she wanted to vent about him telling her nonsense about his wife cooking for him, she declined.

  They were on their second glass of wine and the server hadn’t taken their dinner orders yet. Janiece was starting to get a little edgy. She didn’t want to make it obvious, but she didn’t want to keep K.P. waiting too long. She kept looking at her watch and looking around.