Page 4 of Fraudulent Beauty

“Nah, that’s your hoe ass,” Nook spat.

Sheniah stepped around the wasted food and tried to run up on Nook, but Marvin stopped her.

“I’m about to leave,” Nook chuckled. “Khalif, can you give me a ride to my mom’s house?”

“Yeah man.”

“You probably going to a bitch’s house, and if you do you better not let me find out!” Sheniah yelled.

“I’m not thinking about what yo’ goofy ass talking about,” Nook waved her off and walked over to the stove. He snatched a piece of chicken out of the pan and took a large bite. Nook walked outside, and Marvin followed him. Fred left, and Sheniah stormed toward the living room.

I watched as Tahli finished cleaning the mess. “I’m going to go ahead and get Nook out of here. It was nice meeting you. Can I have your number?” Contrary to Tahli’s biased opinion, I hadn’t had much luck with dating. Finding a pretty woman was easy. Finding one that wasn’t a superficial, shallow, lazy, gold digger was the hard part.

“Sure.” Tahli rattled off her number, and I stored it in my phone.

After promising to call, I tucked my phone back in my pocket and went outside to get Nook. In the car, he started going in as soon as he closed the door.

“I’m sick of this shit, man. I swear to God, I want to be single.”

I didn’t respond because the statement wasn’t one that I hadn’t heard before. In fact, he said it at least once a month. I grew up with Nook. Our mothers were best friends. I had been around for the ups and downs of his relationship with Sheniah.

“You think I’m playing. Watch,” Nook nodded his head. “Clint is about to sign the lease on a place, and he’s looking for a roommate. I told him I want in.”

Drawing back just a bit from shock, I glanced over at him. “What you mean you told him you want in? When?”

“I told him yesterday. I’m telling you, I been feeling this shit coming. All we do lately is argue. I’m tired of this shit. I’ve spent almost all my twenties in a relationship. I want to be free.”

“Man,” I shook my head. “This life isn’t what you want.”

“Yes it is,” he stated with conviction. “The only people that say that shit is people that have been single for a long time and they’re trying to settle down. I don’t want to leave Sheniah and find another woman. I’m just tired of the arguing. I’m not ready for marriage. I’m not ready for a lot of shit. She’s talking about us buying a house and shit. I’m not ready for all that.”

“It took you ten years to figure that out?”

“Yes, because I’m not trying to be stuck for another ten years. I love Sheniah. We just moved too soon too fast. We moved in together at nineteen.”

I sighed. I had never been with a woman for ten years, so I didn’t know how he felt. Nook had a right to feel however he wanted to feel, but I just felt it was sudden and messed up. But maybe it wasn’t sudden. If he really didn’t want to be with Sheniah anymore, what could I say?

“What were you and Sheniah arguing about?”

“Her DM’s constantly going off with thirsty ass niggas shooting their shot, and she lets them do that bullshit. Let it be females in my DM’s, and she’ll have a damn fit. Maybe she wants to be single too, and she damn sure can be.”

Thankfully, I arrived at Nook’s mother’s house. I wasn’t trying to be in the middle of anyone’s relationship problems. My last one had gone to shit, so I didn’t have advice to give. Shit, if Nook and Sheniah did part ways, at least they didn’t have kids. My relationship ended when my daughter was two. I spent a year trying to make it work for her, and I just couldn’t do it anymore. It killed me knowing that I had brought a child into this world that was the product of a broken home, but I couldn’t do that shit anymore. If Nook felt anywhere near close to how I felt when I left Gina, then leaving Sheniah was the best thing for him to do.

“Moses,” my colleague, Tony nodded his head as I walked by. It had been a long day, and I was tired and ready to go home.

“What’s up, man?” I bumped his fist and kept walking, ignoring the person that he was talking to.

“Fucking asshole,” Davis muttered under his breath making me stop in my tracks.

“What was that?” I asked as I back pedaled. “Repeat that,” I crossed my hands in front of my crotch and waited for the pale bastard in front of me to call me out of my name to my face.

“You’re barking up the wrong tree,” he chuckled briefly pinching his nose. “I suggest you keep it moving.”

“Who the fuck are you talking to?” I invaded his personal space.

“Come on, brother,” Tony urged as he grabbed my arm.

“Yeah, listen to your brother,” Davis smirked.