Page 14 of I Heard It All Before

Chapter 5

Demi walked into her house and paused at the front door. The smell of old food and weed, among other things, assaulted her nostrils before she even had a chance to close the door. Her husband, Kamari, was on their plush leather sofa, playing his video game like he didn’t have a care in the world. The empty plates and cups that once contained food and drinks were scattered all over the floor and table beside him. The ashtray with smoked blunts was at his side, along with the lighter that he used to fire up. When he looked up and saw the look on Demi’s face, Kamari paused his game and hurriedly stood up to greet her.

“What’s up baby? How was your day?” Kamari asked while attempting to give his wife a kiss.

“Too damn stressful for me to have to come home and deal with this bullshit,” Demi said while turning her head, avoiding his lips.

“I’m about to clean up,” Kamari said as he started grabbing plates and cups, bringing them into the kitchen.He wasn’t in the mood to argue, but that was all that he and his wife seemed to do lately.

“I’ve asked you a million times not to smoke that shit in here. We have a huge yard and patio for you to use. The entire house reeks of weed,” Demi argued.

“Man, it’s too damn hot out there. It ain’t nothing that a lil air freshener won’t kill,” Kamari replied.

“Air freshener only hides it for so long. The smell gets into the curtains and our clothes too. I can’t go to court smelling like the same people who I’m trying to defend or convict,” Demi fussed.

At only twenty-six years old, Demi was the youngest attorney at her firm. None of the other attorneys took her seriously because of her age, so she had to work extra hard at proving herself to them, as well as her employers. The firm was made up of mostly men, so Demi was like a goldfish in a tank full of sharks. Graduating high school early, at the age of sixteen, meant nothing to them. Being in the top ten percentile of her graduating class from law school was an accomplishment that was overlooked because of her age and sex. It also didn’t help that everyone thought that she was only hired because of the influence of her mother, who had been a courtroom stenographer since Demi was just a baby. She had to work earlier days and even longer nights, just to show everyone that she deserved her small corner office that was right next to the women’s bathroom. The office that all new hires were cursed with until something better came along. Almost a year had passed before Demi finally started to get the respect that she demanded and deserved. Her work life had improved tremendously, but the same couldn’t be said for her personal one. Her home was in shambles and she wasn’t sure what she could do to fix it.

“How can your clothes smell like weed, when I only smoke in the front room?” Kamari asked, shaking Demi away from her thoughts.

“Maybe it’s because smoke travels Kamari,” Demi said while sitting her briefcase down and walking away. She took off her jacket, rolled up her shirt sleeves, and started some warm, soapy dish water. Kamari dropped the dirty dishes in the sink, and Demi began to wash them.

“Sorry baby. I’ll go out back to smoke from now on,” Kamari promised while kissing his wife on the neck.

“What about the job interview? How did it go?I wanted to call you earlier, but it was crazy in the courtroom today,” Demi replied.

“Crazy how? What happened?” Kamari asked. He loved to hear Demi’s stories about court cases and the outcome of the trials.

“Later, baby. I wanna know about your interview. How was it?” Demi asked again.When Kamari broke eye contact and turned his head, she already knew the outcome.

“You didn’t go,” Demi said, as more of a statement than a question.

“Man, I’m just not feeling that nine to five shit. The fuck I look like working at the courthouse when I know most of the niggas that come through there? My wife is a lawyer and I’ll be doing transport like a fucking flunky. That shit is embarrassing,” Kamari argued.

“This shit is getting old Kamari. I’m really losing my patience,” Demi noted.

“There just ain’t no pleasing you, man. I’m doing what you wanted me to do. You wanted me to get my GED and I got that shit. You begged me to stopped selling dope and I did that too. Never mind the money that I made from selling dope is what put your ass through law school. You weren’t complaining then, were you?” Kamari asked.

“That’s a damn lie. I never asked you for a dime when I got accepted into law school. You didn’t want me to get student loans, so you took it upon yourself to pay for it. And, yes, I did beg you to stop selling drugs and for a good reason. I’m an attorney Kamari. How would it look for my husband to be a drug dealer? The shit doesn’t even make sense.”

“You don’t want me to help, so stop complaining about being the sole provider,” Kamari said.

“I’ve never complained about anything. I already told you that I don’t have a problem holding us down if you want to go back to school. You did it for me and I’ll gladly do it for you,” Demi replied.

“School ain’t for me and I told you that.”

“Now, that’s what I have a problem with. School ain’t for you. A job ain’t for you. Exactly what is for you, Kamari? I said I’ll hold us down, but what I won’t do is take care of a lazy, grown ass man for the rest of my life!” Demi yelled.

Her husband wasn’t lazy at all, but she was upset and saying things out of anger.

“Ain’t a damn thing lazy about me and you know that. I’ve been out here grinding since I was sixteen years old, but this is what you wanted. You wanted me to stop selling dope, so deal with it.” Kamari shrugged

“How long did you think that was gonna last Kamari? Jail or the grave were your only two ways out of that situation.”

“I’ve never been to jail a day in my life. And I’m not your daddy, so stop putting me in the same category with him,” Kamari said, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.

“Fuck you!” Demi spat as she dried her hands on a towel and stormed off to their bedroom.

“Shit,” Kamari hissed as soon as his wife walked away.

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