AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You look like you’ve lost some weight and you know you can’t afford that,” she said in a hushed tone.
She and Larenz had always teased me about my weight. I had always been tall and thin. No matter what I did, weight didn’t stick to me.
“It’s been hard,” I confessed. “I miss Key.”
“I know. It’s a difficult situation, but she told me about the flowers that you sent,” Bird smiled.
I was surprised that Bird was treating me nice. I expected her to wear a scowl the whole evening since she and Keeva were such good friends. She hadn’t so far. I guess we’d all grown up more than I’d realized.
“I’m trying to show Keeva that she is always on my mind because she really is.”
“It’s a step in the right direction, Kerem. I know that messing up doesn’t change the love you both have for each other, but she is hurting.”
“I know,” I shook my head. “It’s not something that I ever wanted to put her through.”
“Well finish fixing your plate and come join us. These guys may be able to help,” Bird said and left me in the kitchen.
I finished fixing my plate and joined everyone at the table. Clyde and Gloria, Max and Ella, and Elijah and Unika were the couples in attendance. Each couple had been married for at least seven years and got together monthly to discuss relationships and keep each other accountable. Key and I had friends who were married, but we’d never participated in any group discussions about our relationship. We’d been okay up to this point and didn’t need any outside help.
“The last time we were together, we discussed the importance of setting boundaries with our parents,” Clyde began.
Clyde looked to be around my age. Earlier, when he stood from the table, I noticed that his sweater was tucked in his dad jeans. The sweater tucking led me to believe that he had to be older than me. Good black don’t crack, so it’s always hard to guess black people’s ages.
“When we were first married, my mother nor I understood the meaning of the scripture that says a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. I was taking time away from my wife to take care of my mother because I was the only man in her life. I thought it was my responsibility to be there for her. I didn’t understand why Glo had such a problem with it. Then one day, I learned that scripture about leaving my mother, and a man of God broke it down for me. He said that when I asked Glo to become my wife, she became my number one priority. Yes, I should still respect my mother and do what I can for her, but my responsibility to my mother should never come before my responsibility to my wife. If my wife had a problem with how much time I spent with my mother, then I was probably spending some of my wife’s quality time with my mother, which is not right,” Clyde finished.
I would never take time away from Keeva to spend with my mother. Keeva became number one when she became my wife.
“After last time, I had to have a serious conversation with Ella,” Max started.
Max reminded me of Bokeem Woodbine. He spoke with the same serious cadence and had the gap between his teeth and everything. He was a lighter complexion than Bokeem, but they could be cousins if not brothers.
“I didn’t know that she had some animosity in her heart towards me and my mother’s relationship. I know early in our marriage; I went to my mother about arguments and things that happened between me and Ella. I learned that while I might forgive and move on, sometimes, family does not. It’s best to keep that type of stuff to yourself.”
“His mom would say things to me like, ‘you shouldn’t call people names while you are arguing. Bringing family into your problems is not the way to handle things.’ I was like, no, this clown didn’t go back and tell his momma what I said while we were arguing! It caused so much stress and tension between his mother and me,” Ella said. “Some of which, both she and I have held on to, to this very day.”
I had never understood men who ran and told their mothers their business. It wasn’t a mother’s place to know what was going on in your marriage, duh. Coming here may not have been the best idea. I’d started formulating my exit strategy when I heard someone say my name.
“So, Kerem, where is your wife?” Unika asked.
Unika was a tall, chocolate woman with a completely shaved head. Not all women could pull off a shaved head, but it looked good on her.
It felt as if the room paused, waiting for my answer.
“She and I are living separately at the moment,” I responded honestly.
I hadn’t said that to anyone who didn’t already know the situation. It felt strange when it came out of my mouth.
“Why?” Unika continued to probe.
“Because,” I paused, not knowing if I really wanted to talk about my business in front of these strangers. It’s what I came here to do so I continued, “I cheated on her. She found out and now we are living separately.”
“Whose idea was it to live separately?” Elijah asked.
Elijah didn’t say a whole lot when everyone was having conversations during dinner. I could respect a man who watched and listened more than he spoke. He spoke up when he needed to, but he stayed quiet for the most part.
“When she first found out, I left because things got to the point of violence, and I didn’t want either of us to be hurt…”
“You’re a cheater and an abuser?” Unika asked.
