Page 44 of No Remedy for Love

“I wanna know what’s up. When were you gonna tell me that you were opening up your own barbershop? I’m your wife but I had to hear it from somebody else.”

“Well, now you know.” Blaze was doing something in the closet, so she couldn’t see his face. She was sure that it held no emotion, just like always. His nonchalant attitude always pissed her off, but she refused to let that conversation be a repeat of all the others. They never resolved their issues and that was one of the problems in their failing marriage.

“Look, I know that shit ain’t been right with us for a minute, but we need to figure this out. We don’t sleep in the same bed, we barely talk, and sex is nonexistent. We haven’t even been married that long to be living like this. You’re makingserious moves without even caring enough to tell me about it. I tried being patient, hoping that things would change, but shit seems to be getting worse. Either we’re gonna get this marriage back on track or go our separate ways.”

Reanna felt instant relief once she said how she felt. She was kicking herself for not saying something sooner. She didn’t want a divorce and, in her heart, she knew that he didn’t either.

Blaze emerged from the closet, probably shocked at her straightforwardness. Reanna was never the shy type but she wasn’t very confrontational either.

“You’re right and I apologize for letting things go on as long as I did. Here, I should have done this a long time ago.” Blaze handed her some papers that were stapled together.

“What is this?” Reanna wasn’t in the mood to read anything, especially in the middle of their much needed discussion.

“Just read and sign and we can both do whatever makes us happy since the marriage doesn’t.”

“You want a divorce!” Reanna read the top of the legal document and almost started hyperventilating.

“Didn’t you just say that we need to get it right or go our separate ways? I don’t see us getting back to where we were so, yeah, I think that’s best.”

Reanna was at a loss for words as tears of hurt and shock rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t get married to divorce, especially since she was still in love with her husband. Ferris was just something to do until Blaze got his mind right, but that didn’t look like that was gonna happen. Blaire’s words rang loudand clear in her ears, and she was right. She really had to stop playing hard to get before she ended up alone.

“I was thinking counseling or something, not divorce. What the fuck Blaze!” Reanna was screaming and crying as she paced the floor. Blaze was her first love, and she didn’t see things between them ending the way they did.

“Can you honestly say that you’re happy Reanna? You just listed all the reasons why we should walk away from this shit.”

“This is not on me. I’m not stupid Blaze. You’re fucking somebody else because you damn sure ain’t fucking me! We used to have sex multiple times a day to going weeks, then months without so much as a kiss.”

“That’s all on you though, Reanna. I’m your husband, but my sister got more say in our marriage than I do.”

“Blaire was my best friend before you were my husband.”

“Okay, well, go marry her ass then.”

“I wasn’t saying it like that. Is there somebody else Blaze? Just be honest.”

“That’s the only way I know how to be. I met somebody, but this is not about her. Shit with us has been fucked up for a while now.”

“Everything is starting to make a lot of sense now. I guess she’s getting the dick now because I damn sure ain’t.”

“I never cheated on you, even before we got married.”

“I just wanna know where we went wrong.”

“Nah, ain’t no we.”

Blaze grabbed his suitcase and duffle bag from the hallway closet. Reanna’s heart broke into puzzle pieces when she saw him start to fill them up with clothes and shoes.

“What does that mean? Are you saying that it’s my fault that our marriage is ending?”

“I ain’t saying shit that you don’t already know. I’m not trying to have no bad blood between us though. You can stay here, and I’ll post up by my Nana until I figure something out. I’ll still pay all the bills until the divorce is final to give you some time to stack your chips.”

“Wow. It sounds like you’ve had this planned for a while.”

“Honestly, I’ve had the papers for a while but I battled with myself on what to do with them.”

“What changed?”

“You did,” Blaze replied honestly.

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