Page 14 of Cutthroat

The thought of what she planned to do to her husband had her giddy with delight. Her cheeks felt inflamed from smiling, she didn’t mind because it was the first genuine smile she had in weeks.

“Ummm, are you ok? I’ve never seen you look like that.”

“Yeah, you look a little psychotic Edy. What are you planning?” Marie asked as she stared at the maniacal look on her daughter’s face.

Eve cringed. This new version of her sister terrified her. She didn’t know what Eden had in mind, but she knew it’d be out of character.

As Eden stared at the curious looks on both her mother and sister’s face, she couldn’t keep them in suspense any longer.

“Ma, thank you for sharing the past with us. I hate that you had to reopen old wounds because of me. Being loyal to a man that has given you their ass to kiss is stupidity. I think you handled daddy the right way.

I plan to take a page from your Book of Revenge. To answer your question Eve, I’m going back to my husband. Hand me your phone, I need to give him a call and let him know that I’m coming home,” Eden said deviously.

Eve could practically see the devil horns growing from her sister’s head. Eden was proof that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Eve looked worried, but Marie smiled. She knew her baby girl had the skills to turn a man’s world into rubble.

As Marie listened to Eden’s plan, she knew that Jermaine would buy into the veil of deception. He’d never recover from what Eden had in store for him, and it was no one’s fault but his.

“Bring him into the Garden of Eden, baby girl,” Marie said proudly as she bit into her apple.

CHAPTER 7

The sound of the phone ringing under the empty beer cans threatened to make Jermaine’s head explode. The vibration of the phone against the cans seemed to make the entire house shake.

Any sound other than silence was just too much for his spinning head. The hangover he was nursing was not a fan of loud noises. He prayed that when his phone rang it’d be his wife, but he knew her, so he knew better.

“God, if you bring Eden back, I’ll never drink or cheat again,” Jermaine said as he felt around the cluttered table to find the ringing phone.

He tried to locate the phone by feeling around on the coffee table. Getting up, even opening his eyes, seemed impossible. Bright lights were as much his enemy as sound. For the past two weeks, drinking had been his only companion.

Trying to drink his depression away had taken a toll on him. While in college he could drink all day and night and be up for his 8am class with no problem. He was a kid then, now he was a mess of a man, and he knew it.

Jermaine hoped his companionship with Heineken, Hennessy, and Casamigos would help him forget his stupidity; it hadn’t. His choice of friends only highlighted why he was alone.

“Why did I fuck my life up like this?”Jermaine thought as he ignored his ringing phone and scratched the side of his face.

The sound and feel of coarse hair under his fingertips didn’t surprise him. Personal grooming had taken a backseat to his misery. His normally well-groomed face was covered with dry patchy facial hair. So many nights he prayed for a do-over or a lie he could use to save himself.

“When you tell one lie, you have to tell several others to keep up with the first lie. It’s best to just tell the truth,”His mother’s wise words rang in his ear.

He missed her, and addition to that, the excessive lying and manipulating reminded him of the one person he hated: his father Jerry Shelton. In his opinion, Jerry had been the worst type of man. As a child, Jermaine made a promise to himself to treat women, especially the woman he made his wife, with the utmost respect. The hell he was in was proof that he hadn’t lived up to the rules he set for himself.

“This was the worst thing I could’ve done.” Jermaine said to himself.

He frowned in disgust when the foul scent of unbrushed teeth, alcohol and regret slapped him in the face.

“Goddamn, is that my breath?” Jermaine asked as he cupped his hand over his mouth and blew into it. He gagged.

“I’m falling apart without you. This wasn’t supposed to happen to us,” Jermaine said as he stared at his and Eden’s wedding photo. With a heavy heart, Jermaine smiled as he thought back to his and Eden’s first encounter.

“Eve, I need your notes for the-”

Jermaine’s mouth dropped to the floor at the sight of the woman talking to his friend. The sight of her, light brown eyes, afro puff ponytail, and wide hips made him stumble. As cliché as it sounded, Jermaine couldn’t remember ever seeing a woman more attractive than the woman standing with Eve.

“Close your mouth. You act like you ain’t never seen a bad bitch before,” Eve joked.

“My mouth wasn’t open,” Jermaine lied.

“You know we can see you, right?” The woman joked making Eve burst into laughter. Jermaine joined in with the laughter because he knew the lie was pointless.

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