Page 19 of Nothing Even Matters
If This World Were Mine
“So, one left but two came back,” Zerrin began as she got comfortable on the bed, “spill it, Faye.”
Faith shrugged as she sat on the bed with her sisters. Yesterday morning, she was ready to battle Eli for a potential custody case. Now, her heart was battling her brain for dominance. “I don’t know what’s going on. I thought everything was said and done, and completely over. Then I saw him last night for the first time in person and it was like, it was like…”
“It was like your legs instantly spread open for him?” Zoe smiled as Tiana shot her a disgusted look. “Don’t give me that look! You know everybody in this room was thinking the exact same thing.”
“It’s like he dick-matized me,” Faith shook her head. Her sex was still sore from the pounding Eli gave it just a few hours prior. Every thrust, every moan, every kiss was just as passionate as the last. It seemed he missed her just as much as she missed him. “I can’t think. I can barely talk right now.”
“Yep, he’s a D’Amato,” Zerrin added as Zoe and Tiana agreed. “It’s like they all went to the same school on how to blow a sista’s back out. I was pissed off at Nick the other day and a couple hours later, I had no idea why I was mad.” She looked pensive for a brief moment. “I still don’t know why I was mad at him.”
“Girl, Kieran sent me a text I can’t even repeat,” Tiana blushed, “I had to cancel every meeting for the rest of the day and get home.”
“Joey and I went to dinner the other night and in front of the servers, he started to play with me. I had a freaking orgasm in front of our server!” Zoe widely smiled. “Hell, that was kinda hot. Maybe we should go out to dinner every night.”
“Sexcapades aside,” Zerrin interrupted, “what’s going on between you and Eli, Faye? Sex is good but it doesn’t solve all.”
“We have a long road ahead of us. He’s willing to work things out so we could co-parent in a healthy way. I’m staying in Harlem, so there’s that.” She nodded as she looked at her sisters’ amused faces. “What?”
“Bitch, you weren’t ever leaving Harlem,” Zoe rolled her eyes.
“I agree,” Zerrin added.
“Yep,” Tiana nodded.
“Excuse all of y’all!” Faith defended her actions. “I was looking at homes, I was looking at schools. I intended to move out there.”
“Faye, you didn’t pack a single box and you were supposed to be out of Harlem by the end of the week?” Zerrin shot her a disbelieving look. “Girl, you were packing nothing but lies, fairytales, and fallacies.”
“You need to just come out and admit you were hoping Eli was going to stop you from moving so you had a reason to stay in Harlem,” Zoe shook her head.
“Eli knew you weren’t going to move,” Tiana added, “the way he acted all week indicated something.”
“Really?” Faith was surprised by the new information. “Like how was he acting?”
“A bit nervous, a bit worried,” Tiana revealed, “when he met Kieran and I for dinner, it was the first time he’d mentioned you in years.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “What did he say?”
“If you must know,” Tiana cleared her voice, “ and I quote, ‘thatputtanais trying to take my babies from me,’ and end quote.”
“Oh,” Faith’s shoulders slumped down. She’d regretted filing for divorce and only did it as a scare tactic. She didn’t realize he would take her up on her offer. “He was really mad at me, huh?”
“Faye, if you want us to get real with you, I don’t think any of this had anything to do with custody to begin with. Faye, you and your people tried to tear down the D’Amato legacy and you almost succeeded at it.” Zerrin began. “There was a lot of anger between the D’Amatos for a long while. If I’m going to be honest with you, you weren’t well-liked by any of us.”
Zerrin told the truth. When Eli cut her off, the sisters also stood in solidarity with their husbands. It was also after Faith individually met with the other couples to resolve tension, did things become better. Faith wondered if the family would ever truly forgive her. She wondered if Eli was sincere with his promise. “Yeah, Eli told me. Tony’s still angry at my best friend for it.”
“But the one thing the D’Amatos are known for is forgiveness. They don’t hold grudges. If they want nothing to do with a person, they’ll let them know. They won’t pester. They won’t stalk.” Tiana added.
“They won’t use their Twitter-Face-Insta fingers,” Zoe chimed in. “They don’t have time for any of that. Why should they engage in pettiness when they’re trying to expand their empire and make money? They believe people deserve a second chance, regardless of how anyone feels about them.”
“Faye, Eli brought you over here; that’s huge.” Tiana encouraged. “A lot of women spent the night with Eli but none of them met the family. And to be honest, the other brothers said Eli only brought home a woman if he was serious about her. That number is less than five.”
Faith already knew who the other women were – Simone and Erica. It was no mistake she was at the family Christmas and they weren’t. “It’s going to take forever to win his trust back in me.”
“Good,” Zerrin nodded, “this is a test for both of you.”
After the Christmas celebration, Eli took Faith and their children back to Faith’s home. As he stepped inside for the first time in two years, he realized nothing had changed. Everything was still in the same position as before.
