Page 44 of Happy Is On Hiatus
Rita shrugged. “Maybe she lives down here.”
“She’s a child,” Jemel said. “Did you see her? She’s maybe twenty-two, twenty-five tops. What the hell is he thinking?”
“That he wanted someone younger to fuck,” Rita said.
Jemel met and mimicked Sharae’s shocked stare.
“Did you just cuss?” Sharae asked when she turned her gaze to Rita.
Rita rolled over and flopped onto her back. She brought her hands up to cross over her stomach and thought for an eerie moment that she must look like she was lying in a casket instead of on the bed in a mundane hotel. “I’m so tired, y’all,” she admitted.
Sharae leaned over to rest her elbows on her knees. “We know. But you can let go now. It’s just us, the way it’s always been. You don’t have to be strong tonight.”
Jemel’s voice was low and surprisingly steady. “He never deserved you.”
“She’s right,” Sharae added. “He wanted a trophy wife, and you gave him so much more. You’re so smart and organized. You built that business. You gave him two beautiful daughters, kept an immaculate house, sat in church beside him when you knew he was disrespecting you and your vows.”
Sharae stopped abruptly as if she thought she’d said too much. Rita had known all this time that they didn’t like Nate, and now she hated that she’d made them feel they couldn’t talk to her about their feelings for him. It’d been the only way she thought to keep the people she loved most in the world from killing each other, and from making the hardest decision of her life.
“I did everything I was supposed to,” she said, staring up at the ceiling now. She used the inside of her arm to wipe at the tears. “Don’t give away the milk before he buys the cow.” She gave a wry chuckle. “That’s what the Aunts always said. And Mama insisted I learn to cook and take care of a house. Benny didn’t have to do anything but go to school and get good grades. I did all the cleaning. I was washing my own clothes when I was ten. Sunday school, Bible study, choir, ushering—I did it all so I’d learn what it meant to be a godly wife.” She slammed her hands down on the bed. “I did everything right, dammit! And he still betrayed me! He still treated me like crap!”
Jemel got up from the bed and walked over to the other one. She sat beside where Rita lay and took her hand. Sharae did the same, going to the other side of Rita to sit there.
“It’s his loss, not yours,” Jemel said. “I wish I had better words. Something that would take your pain away, but it’s just that simple, Rita. You’re better off without him.”
Through her own hurt, Rita could hear the commiseration in Jemel’s tone. Her cousin knew how it felt to have her heart broken; her first breakup with Marc had been devastating. But Jemel had been quick to pick up the pieces. Rita was struggling with that right now. While one minute she felt like she was bold and confident, making decisions for her new life, ten minutes later she could be curled into a fetal position on her bed praying for the pain to subside.
“There were things he was supposed to do too, Rita. Having a great marriage wasn’t all on you,” Sharae said.
Nodding, Jemel added, “She’s right. He took the same vows you did, sat in church, and read those same scriptures. He owed you so much more than he gave you.”
Rita gave a wry chuckle. “Well, at least he didn’t give me something I needed to be treated for.” When she noticed Sharae and Jemel’s quizzical silence, she continued. “I went to the doc to get checked for STDs. Got my negative results this morning.” A heavy sigh followed. “What am I gonna do now? This is what I was taught to do—be a wife, a partner, a mother.”
“You already know what you’re going to do. You’re gonna open that catering business and be the real you. The one who’s a fuckin’ boss!” Jemel said, and Rita loved her just a little bit more.
“She’s right. The girls are grown—at least they like to think they are. Let them be adults, Rita. Stop entertaining Taryn’s tantrums about her father and focus on what will make you happy. This business you’re building is your happy. Grasp it and hold on tight. You deserve it,” Sharae said.
Rita shook her head. “I don’t even think I know what happy is anymore.” And that was the truth. While the business sparked a new energy in her, she hadn’t ventured to say she was happy. Not just yet.
“Chocolate-chip ice cream andGrease 2,” Jemel said. “That’s what used to make you happy when we were young.”
Rita turned her head to look up at Jemel, who broke into a goofy smile.
“That did make me happy,” she admitted. “Remember we used to act like we were part of the cast?”
Sharae groaned. “I remember the two of you actin’ like that old-ass corny movie was a new release. We watched it so many times when there were plenty of other movies to watch.”
“It’s the best worst musical ever.” That was always Rita’s defense.
“Because you’re the perfect alto,” Sharae said and nodded. “You never let us forget that.”
Rita sat up then, dropping their hands and belting the first lines of “Cool Rider,” one of the songs from the movie.
“Nooooooo,” Sharae said, echoing Rita’s word from the parking lot, but with a hint of laughter in her tone.
Jemel was game. She ran to the dresser and grabbed one of the brushes she’d unpacked from her bag. Picking up the next line of the song, she joined in with Rita. Climbing off the bed, Rita went to the dresser to grab a brush too. They sang until Sharae couldn’t resist. Shaking her head in dismay, she crawled off the bed last and added the little rap verse she’d made up to go with the song.
Now, if ever there was something corny, it was Sharae tryin’ to rap. But they kept the song going, even bustin’ into the dance moves they’d made up for the song. By the time the song ended, they were all laughing and clapping like they’d just recorded a hit single.
