Monique had arrived home after picking her daughter up on time from after-school care, to find a puffy eyed Robin with her gleeful baby girl, Justine, sitting on her front porch complete with her overnight bag. She was quickly reminded of the scene that had played out in the salon that morning. She grabbed the baby from Robin’s arm and opened her front door. She had been here with Robin time and time again. She even knew what would happen. She would put the girls to bed and then she would listen as Robin told her whatever heartbreaking thing Jay had done and she’d console her while she cried. Then in the morning Robin would pick up her unpacked bag and go back home to forgive Jay, like she always did.
Robin sat in the living room quietly thinking, while Monique feed the girls and got them ready for bed. Monique read her daughter Bree’s favorite bedtime story to the girls before tucking Bree snuggly into her bed then taking Justine with her so that she could finish getting her to sleep. She went to the quiet of her room and sat down on her bed and hummed as she stroked Justine’s hair while rocking her softly to sleep. It took longer than Monique had planned but eventually Justine fell off to sleep. She pulled back her comforter and placed her securely under the covers close to the side of the bed that flanked the wall. She dimmed the lights in her room and left her door opened just enough to ensure that she’d be able to hear any sounds or cries coming from her bedroom while in the living room. She walked into her daughter’s room to find her fast asleep. She kissed her cheek and partially closed her door. She then rolled her eyes and asked God for the strength to listen to the whining she was about to hear from Robin.
She walked in the living room, having changed into a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt in preparation for bed and braced herself to hear about Jay’s new suspected lady on the side. She grabbed a pillow from the sofa that Robin was sitting on and sat down beside her. She sat there looking at Robin trying to gauge her mood before saying anything. Finally she asked, “Wanna talk about it?”
Robin was staring off in to nowhere when she said, “He really has another baby.” Unlike Robin, Monique wasn’t the least bit surprised. With all the dirt Jay had done to Robin over the years, him having an outside child was something Monique had long expected hear.
She didn’t even try to mask her level of non-surprise as she casually replied, “Oh.”
“Oh?” Robin repeated somewhat upset by Monique’s response, “Did you hear what I said? I said he has another baby.”
“Yeah, I heard you.” Monique replied again, her level of surprise floating between non-existent and minimal at best.
“And all you can say is oh? Like you aren’t even shocked or anything.” A stunned Robin responded. She couldn’t believe how nonchalant her cousin was being about this situation. Monique had been there when this woman set off the bomb that had blown her marriage straight to Hell and the only words she could muster were those of non-concern.
“I’m not! Hell, you shouldn’t be.” Monique replied giving her cousin a look that portrayed her every emotion clearly. She couldn’t believe that Robin was actually going to sit there and pretend that this news was in anyway shocking.
“And why not?” Robin questioned quickly reverting back to her marriage defensive state of mind. She shuttered to think that her cousin wouldn’t be surprise that the man she was married to was anything other that faithful to her.
“Because he ain’t shit, Robin and he ain’t never been shit. This ain’t the first time he’s step out on you.” Monique said remaining as calm as she possible could. She wanted to grab Robin and slap her, telling her to wake up and read the writing on the wall. How many times did she have to play with fire to know that she was getting burned…and in many cases literally?
“It’s the first time since we been married!” Robin exclaimed. Still ready to defend a marriage that she’d packed her bags to get away from. She still wasn’t ready to let go of the life she’d worked so hard to create for herself.
“Oh and that makes a difference!” Monique shot back somewhat disgusted by Robin’s attempt to still defend this man but then she thought about where Robin was coming from with her line of defense. No one wants to be played for the fool but to realize and accept it is an even harder fate. She lowered her tone and let go of her judgmental thoughts and continued saying, “I thought you said he was messing with some girl while you were pregnant.”
“I just thought he was then.” Robin said and then the tears started. She sobbed as she continued saying, “Now…now I know he was…cause she got the baby to prove it.” Monique wrapped her arms around Robin as she began to cry uncontrollably for a few minutes before she managed to add, “they have the same birthday.”
“What!” Monique exclaimed her words sounding more like a statement than an actual question. She knew Jay was a dirty man but she didn’t think that he’d be dirty enough to have slept with both of them on probably the same day.
“Yeah…they look like twins.” Robin responded as if she just now believed what was happening to her.
“What…how…well how long he been seeing this girl?” Monique managed to get a few words together to form a question…any question. She was stunned that Robin wasn’t in jail instead of there talking to her. A few years ago Robin would have put both Jay and his mistress in the hospital.
“The whole time we been married, girl. The whole damn time! I thought all that stuff was in the past. You know? Like he got all of that out in college…but no! He out getting buck wild with some ho…with no protection! Supposed she would have had some disease. Hell, suppose she has a disease because I know he’s still sleeping with her.” Robin paused before telling Monique what she considered the worst part, “And girl…he asked her to marry him.”
“What? How’s he gonna marry somebody else? He’s already married to you!” Monique questioned. She didn’t know just how much more of the story she could take without getting in the car and going over to take a bat to Jay’s head.
“Exactly.” Robin said and grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table continuing, “What? Was he gonna leave me for her? Was he just leading her on? What? Girl, you should have heard him in there telling her he loved her and how his whole world revolved around her and her baby. Like me and Justine didn’t even dammit exist!”
“That sorry bastard.” Were the only words Monique could manage to get in before her cousin continued what was quickly turning into the rant of a woman scorned.
“Oh girl,” Robin said as if it had come to her in an afterthought, “she asked him did he know a Robin Harrison and he said ‘no, should I?’ ” I wanted to punch his ass in the face.”
“He said that with you standing right there!” Monique gasped in shock.
“Hell naw! Girl I would’ve punched him in the mouth for real. I was hiding in the bedroom and then I came out. He was all like baby she lying and I love you. But I had already heard his lying ass by then.” Robin paused for a moment and her mind began to wander. Her silence afforded Monique the time she needed to really think about what had happened to her cousin and assess how she, herself may have felt in that same situation. Monique was somewhere lost in her own thoughts when she heard her cousin make a startling revelation. Robin was still lost somewhere between earlier events and the present when she mumbled, “I was about to tell him just who Justine really belongs to…see how his ass like that!”
