A tear rolled from Chasity’s eye. How could she have gotten herself caught up in a situation like the one she was in? Like word vomit, she started talking. “Derrick and I have been together for over four years. I didn’t find out that he was in a relationship with you until a year after our son, Derrick Junior, was born. He’s three now, and our second son, Dorian, is nine months.”
The air around Pril felt frozen. What was she supposed to say? Instead of speaking, she walked completely out of her front door, closed it, then moved to the chair on her front porch. If she didn’t sit, she felt that she might faint. In addition to her crampsthat threatened to take her out, her headache decided it wanted to compete in the challenge.
Chasity felt bad, but it had to be done. She moved to the seat that was next to Pril. “I’m so sorry. When I found out about you, I left him for almost a year. He came back and swore that you two had broken up. He said that he wanted his family and that you weren’t able to have children. He wanted to be with a woman that wasn’t broken.”
When Pril’s head slowly lifted, Chasity lifted both hands in surrender. She made sure to tell Pril that those were Derrick’s words not hers. They were harsh words that tore at Pril’s soul. How could this man that she loved say that about her? The words hurt almost more than the outside children. “Why are you here now? What do you want?”
“I want Derrick to decide. He continues to say that he’s leaving you so that he can be a family with me and our children. It doesn’t seem like that is what is happening. My children need their father,” Chasity said in a soft tone.
She wants him to decide.That sounded crazy to Pril. This man lied to the woman for years, but she needed him to make the decision. “How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Um, I turned thirty a few weeks ago. That’s why I’m here as well. At my birthday party, um, Derrick asked me to marry him.”
That was when she saw it. The ring!I know this nigga did not!Pril looked down at her finger, then back at the ring on Chasity’s finger. The laughter that filled her was not meant to come out, but she couldn’t help it. The gall of this man! “Well, I guess he wanted us to have matching rings, twin. Must have been a buy one, get one free special when he got my ring three years ago.”
Chasity hadn’t noticed Pril’s ring until that very moment. Her heart broke in more pieces than she ever thought it could. She knew it was foolish to still want to be with Derrick after allof this, but she did. Unfortunately, she fought against what her family would think if she ended up as a single mother like most of them said she would be. She fought not only for her man, but for the respect of her family. “Wow.”
Little did Chasity know, she was not about to get any push back from Pril. Cheating was already a deal breaker for her. On top of the cheating, he procreated twice with the woman and asked her to marry him when he was already engaged.
“Well, Chasity, I know you want Derrick to decide, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll make the decision for him.” Pril’s body turned toward Chasity. She looked at her with an air of pity because it seemed as if Derrick took advantage of her young mind. “I agree that Derrick should be with his children and their mother. I know that he’s wanted children for a very long time.”
That was never a secret. Derrick made it clear that he wanted children from his first date with Pril. He came from a big family. The thought of his family pulled Pril’s mind to one question. “Does his family know about you and the children?”
With a nod she responded. “Yes, they do. The kids are with his mother now. I didn’t tell her that I was coming over here.”
That was crazy! Mrs. Verna called Pril earlier that night. It just went to show that family was loyal to family. Derrick’s family loved Pril and reprimanded him often about his situation. They had nothing against Chasity, but she was immature and a fling that went too far in their eyes. Once they found out about this little visit, it wouldn’t bode well for her.
“Well, that’s good to know. Well, I’m sure you know that Derrick has been out of town since last Thursday. He’s supposed to return at the end of the week,” Pril informed her.
Chasity moved around uncomfortably in her seat. “Um, he actually left Monday. He spent Thursday through Sunday with his family.”
There went the silence again. Pril couldn’t be sure if this woman who interrupted her night was intentionally being snippy or whether she just spoke to her ignorantly, innocent truth. When she said something about dropping Derrick off at the airport, Chasity countered it when she told her that Derrick had her waiting to pick him up. A complete double life was what Derrick Williams lived. That ended tonight.
“Well, that’s neither here nor there at this point. Here is what I will do to help Derrick in his decision to pick you. I will remove myself,” Pril said with certainty. “I need this week until he gets back to get some things together, so it’s best that this conversation stays between me and you for now. When he returns, your house is where he will go.”
Pack ’Em Up & Move ’Em Out . . .
“Bitch, you need to let me tell Vince. You know my husband has always thought Derrick was a fuck boy anyway. He would jump at the chance to put fist to face,” Lacie, one of Pril’s best friends, said as she threw a pair of shoes into the packing bin.
Nicole, her other best friend, laughed. “Shit, Jordan can’t stand his ass either. You know they went to Stall High School together.”
Lacie, Nicole, and Pril were college best friends that met their second semester, freshman year at South Carolina State University (SCSU). They were assigned to be suite mates. They were stuck like glue after the first week. Years later, they all settled in Charleston, South Carolina. Lacie’s husband, Vince, and Nicole’s boyfriend, Jordan, were best friends. A night out started those relationships.
Derrick was from North Charleston. Pril met him when she moved to the area and needed her internet installed in her home. At the time, he worked for the company that provided the service. He was on her ass from the moment he walked through her door for the installation. He wanted her and wouldn’t stop at anything to have her. He got what he wanted, but it looked like today would be the last day that he would have it.
Pril waved off her best friends. “He’s not even worth all of that. Me walking out of his life is going to be enough pain for his ass.”
Her words came out confident, but her heart wasn’t so sure of them. Would he be affected by her abrupt removal from his life? Hell, he had an entire family, something that he always wanted. In a moment of uncertainty, she voiced her heart. “Well, maybe not. Chasity had the babies for him that I couldn’t have.”
Nicole looked up from the shirt that she’d just finished shredding. She placed it in the packing bin that was labeled shirts. When Pril called them to come over and help her, neither of them would have ever imagined that she needed help putting Derrick out. Where Lacie was more logical, Nicole had no couth when it came to the protection of the people she loved.
“Bitch, I will slap the fuck out of you then come back tomorrow to do it again. You know I understand the pain of difficult pregnancies and pregnancy lost. What I won’t let you do is think that you are any less because of it. The way I see it, God knew exactly what He was doing. When the right man comes along, he’s gonna pop so many babies in you, we’re going to have to pull him up off you,” Nicole said with a tight face.
She shrugged her shoulders, picked up the next collar shirt, then started the shredding process. When Pril asked them to help her pack Derrick up, nowhere in the instructions were to mess up his property. Nicole didn’t give a damn. Every bin that Nicole packed had damaged property in it.
Pril hired a company that supplied packing bins for their customers to use instead of cardboard boxes. They delivered the number of bins that you ordered to your current residence, then picked them up at a later date at the new residence. For this particular situation, Pril had the bins dropped off at her house. Later today, Vince and Jordan would be there with a moving truck to load all of Derrick’s things to have them delivered to Chasity’s house. Derrick and his family would have a week to unpack before the company came to pick up the bins. Chasity paid for the service as her way to help.
Pril told Lacie and Nicole that she paid for the move, and they made several jokes of pity at Chasity’s expense. Pril didn’t know if she wanted to pity her or give her a damn hug. What she did know was that Derrick was officially Chasity’s problem.
