I parked my car in the motel parking lot and waited. It had taken me a while to get rid of Dylan. He wanted to hang around and help once I saw my sister’s car at the motel, but I finally convinced him this matter was best left to the family. You see, I wasn’t sure what I was gonna say when I saw Stephanie, but I was sure I didn’t want Dylan to hear it. Especially since I was probably gonna use a lot of profanity. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t want to create a scene, but sometimes my little sister could be a bit stubborn, and a few choice words were needed to straighten her out. I was really hoping that just the embarrassment of being busted would make her realize how big a mistake she’d made by cheating on Travis. Although I doubted it would be enough.
Of course, it was possible that it was Travis with her. I had seen an Expedition parked out front, too. Maybe, just maybe, they were trying to spice things up. Then again, that was pretty unlikely once I saw her ex, Malek, walk out of one of the rooms, buttoning his shirt. I was praying it was just a coincidence, but in my heart I knew what was going on. Malek had always had some type of controlling power over Stephanie. As far as she was concerned, he could do no wrong. Even after the bastard left her with a two-month-old baby and no choice but to move into the projects and go on welfare, she still rarely talked bad about him. Shit, she wouldn’t even let us talk bad about him. “Don’t be talkin’ ’bout my baby’s daddy,” she used to always say. Thank God she met Travis. If it weren’t for him, who knows where my baby sister and my niece would be right now?
I watched Malek go to the motel office; then I headed straight to the room he’d come out of. I stood outside the door for a minute, wondering if I should knock. But I had to know if it was my sister in there. And it was little surprise when she opened the door, ’cept for the fact that she was butt-ass naked.
“Oh, my God, Jasmine! What the fuck are you doin’ here?”
She had the nerve to be actin’ all indignant as she stood in the doorway, butt-ass naked, steppin’ out on a good man with that lowlife she call her baby’s daddy. I know I was the last person she expected to find at the door. She just stood there and stared like I was some kinda space alien. Shoot, I know she musta been in shock, ’cause she didn’t even attempt to cover herself.
“Bitch, I know you ain’t the one who need to be askin’ that question.” I sucked my teeth. “What the hell are you doin’ here with Malek? You oughta be ashamed of yourself.”
Stephanie lowered her eyes and stepped back to finally get something to cover herself. I shouldered past her and sat down on the bed. The funk in the room made my stomach turn, but I had to stay and straighten this girl out. I never did understand the hold that Malek had over her. That’s why I had such a bad feeling after Big Momma told me Malek came by on Christmas Day. Sure, Stephanie probably put on a good show for Travis, all up in Malek’s face, tellin’ him to get lost. But I knew my sister well enough to know how hard that was for her. Part of her probably wanted to jump in the car and ride away with that no-good nigga. Something told me it was just a matter of time before there would be trouble. And now I was staring at trouble in the form of my naked sister in a sleazy motel. I just hoped I could stop her before she lost the best man she could ever hope to have.
“Jesus, Stephanie.” I shook my head in disgust as she stood before me wrapped in a sheet. “What were you thinking? You’re supposed to be getting married in a few months.”
“You’re not gonna tell Big Momma, are you?” was her nervous reply.
I had to give Big Momma her due. Even when she wasn’t around, she was around. Here was Stephanie, busted in a motel room with her ex-boyfriend, with not a stitch of clothing on, and all she could think about was if I’m gonna tell Big Momma.
“Big Momma is the least of your worries, Stephanie. You had better pray I don’t tell Travis. How could you do this to him after all he’s done for you? Do you know how many sisters would trade places with you right this minute? And you over here with that no-good nigga Malek. Please!” I frowned. “Will you stop starin’ at me and put some clothes on? Don’t nobody wanna see your naked ass.”
She turned her back to me and started to pick up the clothes that had been scattered across the room. The air in there was thick and musty like they’d been going at it all day. I couldn’t wait to get the hell outta there.
“Jasmine, please don’t tell no one ’bout this. Please,” she was pleading as she hurried to get dressed.
“You know, Steph, you’ve done some stupid shit over the years, but this is the stupidest.” I turned to face her, hands on my hips. “How in the hell could you cheat on Travis for Malek? That’s like choosing a Ford Escort over a Mercedes Benz.”
She didn’t answer me. She just sat on the bed and cried. I swear that was the first time I’d ever seen my sister speechless.
A minute or so later there was a knock on the door. Her body language made it obvious she was dying to answer the door, but she looked at me sheepishly to see what my next move would be.
“Don’t you even think about it!” I pointed at her as I stood and marched to the door.
The expression on Malek’s face was priceless when he saw me. His mouth ‘bout dropped to the scuzzy motel floor, and his knees buckled. For a second I thought I might have to catch this fool if he passed out. Either that or I was gonna have to go get him some paper, ’cause he sure looked like he was gonna shit on himself.
“So the criminal returns to the scene of the crime.” I place my hand on my hip. Malek looked past me, searching the room for Stephanie. She was fully dressed now, sitting on the bed with tears streaming down her face. He figured out real fast he wasn’t gonna get no support from her, so he took an attitude with me.
“I ain’t no criminal,” he snapped. “Yo, Short-I mean, Stephanie. What’s up? What’s she doing here?” Stephanie couldn’t answer him, so I did.
“I came to get my little sister and take her home to her fiancé. You got a problem with that?”
Malek was definitely not happy that I’d screwed up his little booty call, but it wasn’t like I cared. Wasn’t shit he could do to me. He knew damn well that if he tried anything stupid, I just had to make one call to one of Derrick’s friends and his ass would be pushing up daisies at Bland’s Cemetery.
“Let’s go, Stephanie,” I ordered.
She stood up and walked to the door, her head hanging low. When she passed Malek she whispered, “I’ll call you later.”
“No, she won’t,” I assured him as I closed the door behind us. When we got to the parking lot, Stephanie turned around and watched Malek walk to his car. There was longing in her eyes, and that scared me. She was so much better off with Travis, and I did not want her to mess that up.
“You are taking your ass home, aren’t you?” I used my most parental tone.
“Yes.” She answered absentmindedly still staring at Malek. As she opened the door to her van, she asked one more time, “Please, don’t tell no one about this, Jasmine. I ain’t gonna mess with him again, I swear. You’re always talkin’ about how we’re sisters and we should look out for each other. Please don’t say nothin’.”
I looked at her but didn’t answer. Let her sweat it out for a while. Truth is, I had no intention of telling Travis. She was right Even though we didn’t get along all the time, we were still sisters, and she had to live with Travis, not with me. But I did want to tell Momma and Big Momma. At least they could help me keep an eye on Stephanie so she didn’t mess things up with Travis. Her kids needed someone like him in their lives, and if she wasn’t gonna protect their interests, then we would.
“I thought you and Travis were happy, Steph.”
“We are.”
“Then why mess with Malek?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly. “Haven’t you ever done something with a man that felt so right at the time but was so wrong when you were done?”
I nodded my head slowly. That was exactly how I felt the night Dylan and I spent at Joe’s.
“Yeah, I guess I have, but not with anyone as low-life as Malek. Haven’t you learned yet that he’s bad news?”
“He’s not a lowlife, Jasmine,” she tried to convince me. “He’s just misunderstood. Isn’t that what you tell everyone about Derrick? ”
Damn, she was killing me with my own words. When she put it that way, I guess I did understand what she meant. My entire family hated Derrick even more than they hated Malek. I had spent plenty of energy trying to convince everyone of the good that I saw in him, and I guess Stephanie felt the same way about Malek.
“You still love him, don’t you?” She didn’t answer. She was too busy watching Malek’s car leave the motel parking lot. “Stephanie?”
“Hmm?” She finally turned to me.
“I asked you a question. You still love Malek, don’t you?”
She hesitated before speaking. “I still care about him, Jasmine. I can’t lie about that. But I’m not in love with him. Not anymore.”
I wasn’t able to tell if she was truthful.
“You for real?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “That’s why I need you to keep this between us. I made a mistake today, Jasmine. I realize that now, but it was a mistake I had to make if I was gonna marry Travis. I had to be sure I wasn’t still in love with Malek.”
“And you’re not?”
“I would’ve never left that room if I was in love with Malek, and you know it. I would’ve told you to kiss my ass.”
I couldn’t argue with her logic. From the start, everyone was busy telling her how perfect Travis was for her. Including me. Why shouldn’t we? He’s a good man. But the only one who needed to be more than sure was Stephanie. If you’re gonna get married, you gotta make sure the love is real.
“So are you in love with Travis?”
“More than you can ever know,” she responded with sad eyes. “I can’t believe I did this to him. It all started out so innocent. I was just supposed to be hanging out with Malek and next thing you know, we ended up here.” I stopped her. I really didn’t wanna hear any more.
“All right, little sister. I’ll keep your secret. But you’ve gotta promise me you’re gonna stay away from Malek.”
“I promise, Jasmine.”
“Hold on.” My cell phone was ringing. “Hello?”
“Jasmine?” I recognized my mother’s agitated voice right away.
“Yeah, Momma. What’s up?”
“Have you seen your sister? I been looking everywhere for her.”
“She’s right here. What’s the matter, Momma?”
“Nothin’,” she snapped. “Just put your sister on the phone.”
“All right, Momma. You don’t have to get indignant with me.” I shoved the phone at Stephanie. “Here, Momma wants to talk to you.”
“Hey, Momma. Whatzup?” It seemed like a full five minutes Stephanie just stood and listened to Momma, who was yelling so loud I could hear bits and pieces of her tirade as I stood next to my sister. Stephanie finally interrupted. “I know I need a new cell phone, Momma. But I ain’t paid the bill on the last one I had, so you know they ain’t gonna give me a new one. Is that why you called looking for me?”
Stephanie looked agitated, but whatever Momma told her after that had her worried, ’cause she just stood there babbling things like, “What?… Oh, shit!… What did he say?… Damn, Momma!… Why didn’t you?… Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Stephanie clicked the phone off and handed it to me. She looked even worse than she did when I busted her.
“What happened?”
“Travis dropped the kids off at Momma’s.”
“So?”
“She said he left them there so he could go lookin’ for me. He talked to someone at my job and found out I wasn’t doin’ overtime.”
My sister was in a whole heap of trouble, and I hoped for her sake she could think fast enough to get herself out of it.