Some Wounds Never Heal

by Rhonda M. Lawson

Genres: African American; African American Urban

Synopsis

Alexis White spent much of her youth going after what she wanted and not caring who she hurt. She didn't care about Christopher's wife when she pursued an affair with him, but years later, she can admit that she was also wounded in the process. She's still dealing with the anguish of having aborted Christopher's baby and then losing the one man she believes ever loved her fully. In spite of her pain, Alexis realizes life must go on. More than a decade later, she has a successful pediatrics practice and is engaged to Jamar Duplessis. They have survived Hurricane Katrina, but with Hurricane Gustav threatening to strike, Alexis and Jamar must pack up and flee New Orleans. Unfortunately, Alexis finds herself right in the eye of another storm when she and Jamar decide to wait out the hurricane in Virginia Beach. Christopher and his wife Andrea live there, and are still nursing the wounds that Alexis helped to cause. Although Jamar is determined not to let this potential drama stress out his fiancée, an unexpected glitch in his finances demands his attention and nearly drives a wedge between him and Alexis. Someone is definitely out for revenge, but who? Is it Andrea? Christopher? Or maybe it's Alexis's former archrival, Nikki, who also makes a surprise appearance in Virginia Beach. Will Alexis be able to face the demons she thought she'd slayed years ago? This is a story of family, friendship, and forgiveness that proves that while time passes, some wounds never heal.

Release date: August 15, 2012

Publisher: Urban Renaissance

Print pages: 288

Sample

“Déjà damn vu,” Alexis mumbled, laying her head against the car window.

She and Jamar, her fiancé, had been traveling up Interstate 85 for the past hour, and the trip had grown old quickly. Her head hurt, she was tired of hearing the music on her iPod, and the constant view of the passing scenery would soon make her sick to her stomach, but not from being carsick. She just couldn’t bear the thought of fleeing yet another hurricane.

“Why couldn’t we have just stopped in Atlanta?” she mumbled.

Jamar cut his eyes at her, not knowing whether to laugh or get angry. She’d been in this mood ever since they left New Orleans seven hours ago. With more than twelve hours left in the trip, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could put up with it.

“Woman, how long are you going to pout?”

“Until you explain to me why we have to drive all the way to Virginia Beach, when we would be perfectly safe in Atlanta or even South Carolina,” she snapped without looking his way.

Jamar held back a laugh. “How many people do you know in South Carolina?”

“Nobody, but it would be a hell of a lot better than going to fuckin’ Virginia Beach.”

“I thought you said you were going to stop cursing?”

“Shut up!” she snapped, staring angrily out the window.

Jamar sighed and ran his fingers through Alexis’s long black hair. “I know you have some bad memories there, but that was back when you were in college. I told you I’m not gonna let you dwell on that. We’re going because my boy is letting us use his time-share so we can make this a vacation. On top of that, your cousin will be there. So, you won’t be on your own.”

Alexis continued staring out the window, digesting everything her fiancé said. They’d been through all of this before. She understood why they were going, but she couldn’t bear facing the memory of her affair with Christopher fifteen years ago. She hadn’t laid eyes on him or his wife, Andrea, since she left Virginia Beach, and she wasn’t looking forward to seeing them again. What if they took one look at her and tried to go to war?

The fact that her cousin Brenda was also headed to Virginia Beach didn’t lend her much solace. After all, Brenda was still Andrea’s best friend. Even though Brenda had vowed not to let the past rule their present, the drama would be there no matter what. She’d try hard to keep them from fighting, but even Saint Brenda couldn’t rule everyone’s thoughts.

Alexis really hoped everyone had gotten over the affair. She certainly had. Although she’d had her own losses due to the affair, she’d grown in many other ways. Her private practice was booming, she was well known throughout the city, and her fiancé was a successful attorney. A couple weeks of sex when she was in college couldn’t outweigh any of that, could it? It shouldn’t, but who was to say that Christopher and Andrea felt that way?

She wasn’t so worried about Christopher. After all, it takes two to tango, and he made the choice to sleep with her behind his wife’s back. He’d be a fool to try to blame everything on Alexis. However, Andrea was a different story. She wisely blamed them both for the affair, but she’d never had the opportunity to give Alexis a piece of her mind. Brenda wouldn’t allow it. Now that Alexis was coming back, would Andrea take that opportunity? There was little chance that she wasn’t thinking about it. Andrea was from New Orleans, and Alexis knew better than most that a New Orleanian woman never forgets.

She watched a luxury car with Louisiana license plates coast past them. It was filled with boxes and suitcases, yet the driver was the only passenger. She guessed he didn’t plan on returning to her beloved city.

It just didn’t seem fair. Just when she thought she had gotten her life together, it had taken an ugly turn. Only three years earlier, she’d fled New Orleans with Tony, whom she was supposed to marry, before Hurricane Katrina killed that dream. Instead of living the American dream, the man she loved decided to stay in Houston and unceremoniously ended the relationship.

Now here she was, engaged to Jamar and fleeing the city again, because Hurricane Gustav decided to show its face. She knew Jamar loved the ground she walked on, but she couldn’t help wondering if this would be the beginning of the end. The similarities were too coincidental. Was history doomed to repeat itself?

“Off in outer space again, huh?”

“What?” Alexis asked, shaken from her thoughts. She finally turned her head to face her fiancé. “Oh, yeah. Still thinkin’ about this drama you’re driving me into.”

“You want me to turn around?” Jamar asked. “We can always go to Houston with your mom and them.”

She made a face and tapped him on the back of the head. As much as she loved her mother, stepfather, and twenty-year-old stepbrother, there was no way she would return to Houston after what she had gone through with Tony. She would take her chances in Virginia.

“Very funny.”

“I told you that you have nothing to worry about,” he assured her while taking the exit for I-285. “We’re going straight to the hotel when we get there. Then, after we get some rest, you’re going to put your fine self into your bikini and walk down the boardwalk with me. I bet you didn’t do that when you were there last.”

Alexis smiled for the first time. “No, it was too damn—I mean darn—cold then.”

“All right, then. Just relax. We don’t even need to see old boy and his wife.”

“I hope not.”

“I don’t know what you’re worried about. You’re not the same woman you were back then. You’re older and smarter now, and I would hope they are, too. People do grow up.”

Alexis shrugged. “If you say so, but I’ll do what you said. I’m not going to worry about it.”

“Good, because what you need to concentrate on is our wedding in March.”

“That’s if the city makes it to March,” she mumbled, looking down. She kicked off her sandals and placed her right foot on the dashboard.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because as much as I love New Orleans, this will be the third major hurricane in three years,” she explained. “Let’s be real. Do you really think the city can handle that? The levees aren’t even done yet. People aren’t finished rebuilding their houses. Some of the businesses haven’t even returned to the city. And the ones that did, many closed up way before Gustav came on the scene.”

“Baby, New Orleans has come a long way since Katrina,” Jamar said. “Besides, Gustav is only supposed to be a Category Three, and the levees can handle that. Mayor Nagin has the city ready for this one. We’re not gonna get caught out there like we did last time.”

“You always think you have the answers, don’t you?” Alexis asked, shooting him a sideways smile.

“I know I do,” he replied, popping the top of his T-shirt. “I didn’t get to where I am today by playing patty-cake.”

Their laughter lifted Alexis’s spirits a little. A bit of worry still took residence in the back of her mind, but she did feel better knowing Jamar was with her. Any man who could put up with her attitude had to be strong.

“You can also look at it this way,” he continued. “You and Brenda can go shopping for your wedding dress. I’m sure Virginia Beach has some different stuff than New Orleans.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” she agreed, “but what are you going to do? Your boy Kevin’s not coming up, is he?”

“No, he and his wife went to Arizona.”

“Are they coming back to New Orleans?”

“Yeah, they’re coming back. Just about everybody I talked to said they were coming back.”

“Well, that’s good,” Alexis said, leaning over and laying her head on Jamar’s shoulder. “Maybe we will have a city to come back to.”

“Of course we will,” he replied, wrapping his arm around her. “Just have some faith.” He glanced down at his fiancée and smiled. “And just so you know . . .”

She looked up. “What?”

“I don’t care what New Orleans looks like when we get back. I’m marrying you there, even if it’s in a rowboat floating down the middle of Canal Street.”

Alexis smiled, closed her eyes, then buried her head deeper into Jamar’s shoulder. Thinking of how she’d almost blown this relationship off, she could kick herself. When she had met him nearly two years ago, she was still struggling with her residual feelings for Tony and her rising feelings for her ex-boyfriend Reggie, whom she’d dated back in college. Neither of those relationships had ended well. So, in her eyes, agape love didn’t lie in her future.

For the life of her, she didn’t know why Jamar had hung in there. If she were him, she would have run for the hills long ago. How could a man who could have any woman he wanted put up with an attitude like hers? She wasn’t sure, but she was glad he did.

“Now that’s just nasty!” Jamar exclaimed.

“What?” Alexis asked, jumping from her position.

He looked at her and shook his head, his face still wearing a grimace. “I just looked out the window and saw a fat, hairy foot starin’ at me.”

Alexis looked past him at the car pulling ahead of them and caught a glimpse of the foot resting on the dashboard. She was disgusted but couldn’t help laughing.

“At least she’s comfortable.”

“Yeah, but I’m not,” Jamar responded, shaking his head.

She laughed again. “Now, don’t act like you always look perfect. I’ve seen you in the morning.”

“Yeah, and I’ve seen you when you sleep, but I would never let you go out in public like that.”

“Excuse me? I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. I always look good.”

Jamar sucked his teeth and pursed his lips. “Let you tell it.”

Before Alexis could reply, her cell phone rang. She picked it up from the armrest on the door and checked the number.

“That’s Roman,” she said, then pressed TALK. “What’s goin’ on, li’l bro?”

“Nothin’,” he replied. “Momma told me to call and see how y’all were doin’.”

“We’re good. We should be hittin’ South Carolina in about an hour or so. Y’all in Houston yet?”

“Shit, the way this traffic is, we won’t be there for another couple hours,” Roman replied. “Seems like everybody and their damn daddy is headin’ into Houston.”

“I done told you ’bout your mouth, boy,” Alexis heard her mother, Mary, snap.

Roman sighed. “One of these days I’ma be a grown man.”

Alexis laughed. “Hang in there. Tell Momma and Frank we’re all right and we’ll call them when we get to Virginia Beach.”

“A’ight, cool,” Roman said. “Y’all be careful.”

“How they doin’?” Jamar asked as Alexis ended the call.

“Still truckin’. Traffic’s heavy.”

“We’ll check on them again in a few.”

Alexis nodded and laid her head back on Jamar’s shoulder. In turn, he wrapped his right arm around her while keeping his eyes on the road. He knew this wouldn’t be an easy trip for his fiancée, but he was determined to make the best of it. He had worked too hard to get this woman to let her down now.

Brenda and Darnell swayed back and forth in unison to Zapp and Roger’s classic “Doo Wa Ditty.” The fast beat and the funky sounds of the harmonica had the car rocking, while poor nine-year-old Elizabeth sat in the back, shaking her head and cringing in embarrassment.

“Do I . . . let me know . . . do I did it!” Brenda sang loudly, getting caught up in the music.

The sound of his wife being loud, wrong, and excited all at the same time nearly made Darnell swerve off the road in laughter.

“All these years and you still don’t know the song,” he said, tears filling his eyes.

“What?” Brenda asked, looking at her husband in confusion. “That’s how the song goes.”

“Baby, the words are ‘Said I wanna blow . . . doo wa . . . just let me blow . . . doo wa ditty,’” he sang slowly, moving his finger like a conductor’s staff. “‘Blow my thing, baby.... Blow my thing . . . doo wa ditty.’”

“Blow my thing?” Brenda asked, in shock, eliciting screams of laughter from Elizabeth. “That’s nasty. Stop lying!”

Darnell laughed again and shrugged his shoulders. “That’s the words of the song. You know Roger was never known for being shy. Besides, I think he was talking about his harmonica.”

“I would hope so,” Brenda said, turning the radio down. “But I will say I love my old-school music. There’s just nothing like real live instruments making music.”

“You ain’t lying about that,” Darnell agreed. “I’ll bet most people think Snoop Dogg’s sample from that is the original.”

“I thought it was,” Elizabeth chimed in.

Brenda snapped around and stared at her daughter. “What do you know about Snoop Dogg?”

“I heard it on Q Ninety-three,” the child explained.

“You did, huh?” Brenda said, squinting at her. “Just make sure you’re learning those books like you’re learning those songs.”

“Aw, Mommy, you know I make good grades.”

“Yeah, and I’ma make sure it stays that way.”

“Brenda, get off that girl,” Darnell said with a chuckle. “You know she’s nine going on twenty.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Brenda replied, turning her attention to her husband.

“You don’t have anything to be afraid of, because she knows I’ma get in that tail if she even thinks of gettin’ in some kinda trouble,” Darnell said, while glancing at Elizabeth through the rearview mirror.

“Mom! Dad!” the poor child protested. “It was just a song on the radio. You know I’m not getting in no trouble.”

Darnell and Brenda looked back, then looked at each other and laughed.

“We know, baby,” Brenda said. “We just gotta keep the fear of God in you, that’s all.”

“Huh?”

“It means we’re watching you,” Darnell clarified.

Knowing she would never win, Elizabeth sighed, folded her arms, and looked out the window.

“I wonder how Jamar and Alexis are doing on the road,” Brenda said as Darnell pulled into Christopher and Andrea’s driveway.

“When is the last time you heard from them?” he asked.

“Not since earlier this afternoon. She was all depressed.”

“I don’t blame her, but I’m not going back down that road with you,” Darnell said, stepping out of their black SUV.

Brenda followed suit as Elizabeth jumped out and ran up to the town house. “I don’t wanna hear it, Darnell. Everything’s going to work out.”

“I didn’t say anything,” he replied, holding his hands up in resignation. “I just don’t want you to start fixing things again. Don’t you think life is much easier when you worry about yourself from time to time?”

“I’m not fixing anything. I just want my sister-cousin to be here with me while we wait this hurricane out. We just started hanging out again, and I was hoping to keep it that way for a while.”

“I feel you. Just keep your girl out of it.”

“I’m not even trying to go there,” Brenda stated as she rang the doorbell. “Andrea and Alexis will probably never get along. I accept and understand that.”

“Good,” Darnell said.

The door opened, unveiling a tall, muscular man with a mocha complexion. He wore a wife beater and jeans adorned with an oversize belt buckle, but his mustache and haircut were neatly shaven. Some might have grown nervous, thinking a gangster had broken into the Lees’ home, but Darnell and Brenda knew better.

“What’s up, son?” Byron greeted, running out the door. He shook his old friend’s hand and then pulled him into a bear hug. “It’s been too long!”

“You ain’t never lied,” Darnell agreed. “You look good!”

“I know, huh?” Byron said, showing all his teeth with a bright smile. “You ain’t too bad yourself. Married life must be treatin’ you right.”

“Speaking of married life, you two remember us?” Brenda asked as she and Elizabeth leaned impatiently against the side of the house.

“Oh, my fault, Bren,” Byron said with a laugh. He moved away from Darnell and gave her a hug. “You know it’s all love with you.”

“Can’t tell,” she replied with a smile.

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he pleaded. “Y’all come on in. Chris and Dee will be here soon. They went to pick up Latrise from some birthday party.”

“They left you here by yourself?” Brenda asked.

“Girl, this is my brother’s house,” Byron proclaimed, tapping his chest lightly with his fist. “I practically live here.”

The group entered the house and headed straight for the living room. Darnell, Brenda, and Elizabeth sat on the sofa, while Byron took a seat on the love seat across from them.

“And who is this queen?” Byron asked.

“Elizabeth,” the little girl replied with a giggle. Bashful, she hid her face in her mother’s side.

“Nice to meet you, Elizabeth,” he replied. “I’m Uncle Byron, but I shoulda been your daddy.”

“Boy, don’t be tellin’ my child no mess like that!” Brenda exclaimed as the men howled in laughter.

“Yeah, you’d rather tongue kiss a rattlesnake than try to live that fantasy,” Darnell said once his laughter subsided.

“Boy, please,” Byron replied. “I love Brenda like my sister. You lucky you came correct, or you woulda never came close to having her.”

“Is that right?” Brenda asked with a smile. “If I remember correctly, when Darnell and I met, you were too busy running after those little chickenhead girls to be worried about what we were doing.”

“Mommy, what’s a chickenhead?” Elizabeth asked.

“On that note,” Brenda said, nearly shocked that she’d forgotten her daughter was in the room, “on to the next subject.”

The adults laughed, while Elizabeth looked at them in confusion, seeming to wonder what was so funny.

“Hey, Elizabeth,” Byron said, clapping his hands together. “I think Latrise has some toys in her room you can play with. Want me to take you up there?”

“Okay,” Elizabeth replied, jumping from the sofa. She grabbed Byron’s hand and let him lead her upstairs.

“Looks like he’s about ready for kids,” Brenda whispered to Darnell once Byron was out of earshot.

“Don’t even start,” he warned. “The boy ain’t even got married yet, and you’re already tryin’ to make him a daddy.”

She smiled, trying to hold back a laugh. “No, I’m not! Why would you say that?”

He cut his eyes at her and shook his head before jumping up and heading to the door. “Anyway, you wanna go ahead and bring in the luggage?”

“So, you’re just gonna change the subject, huh?” she called after him.

“I leave y’all for five minutes and you’re already fightin’?” Byron asked, trotting down the steps.

“Boy, shut up,” Brenda said, walking toward the door. “Ain’t nobody fightin’.”

“If you say so,” Byron replied as he followed her outside. “What y’all doing?”

“He decided to bring in the luggage.”

“Anything to get Miss Fix-It to be quiet for a little while,” Darnell explained. He pulled a large suitcase from the back of the truck and glared at his wife.

“Aw, Lord, what’s she tryin’a fix now?”

“Nothing!” Brenda snapped, folding her arms. She leaned against the house, refusing to help either of them. How dare they try to gang up on me? If it weren’t for me, they’d all be lost! she thought to herself.

“It’s nothing,” Darnell said. He pulled out another suitcase and shut the hatch. “She just saw how you were with Elizabeth, and all of a sudden, she thinks you’re ready to be a daddy.”

“A daddy?” Byron asked, scrunching his face. He grabbed the suitcase from Darnell and walked slowly into the house.

“A daddy,” Darnell confirmed, following close behind him.

Brenda rolled her eyes and trudged into the house, closing the door behind her. She loved her husband dearly, but she hated when he made fun of her. “It wasn’t like that, Byron.”

“Then how was it?” Darnell asked, leading the group upstairs.

“All I meant was that you were good with kids,” she tried to explain. “I figured you’d be ready when you had them.”

Byron nodded. “Uh-huh. Sounds like you said I’m ready to be a daddy.”

“What I tell you, son?” Darnell said with a laugh.

“Shut up, Darnell!” she snapped. She turned back to Byron. “So you plan on having kids one day?”

He shot her a sheepish smile. “Actually, ole girl is pregnant now.”

“What!” Darnell and Brenda exclaimed in a chorus.

Byron laughed. “Yeah, we just found out last week.”

“She’s not going to have a big stomach for the wedding, is she?” Brenda asked.

“Naw, we moved the wedding date up to next month.”

“You sure you’re ready for all that?” Darnell asked, taking a seat on the bed.

“Hell, yeah,” Byron replied. “I’ve been with this girl for the last year and a half, and you know that’s saying something right there.”

Darnell and Brenda looked at each other and nodded. The Byron they knew when they left Virginia Beach ten years ago was anything but virtuous. Three or four dates in one weekend was the norm. And, most times, sex accompanied each of them. Girlfriends just weren’t in Byron’s vocabulary. However, Brenda could respect him because he was honest. All the women in his life knew where they stood, and those who thought they could go further were let down so smoothly, they wound up sleeping with him again without expecting a phone call later.

Only one woman had ever had the potential of making Byron walk the straight and narrow. Andrea. Her Southern charm and beauty, along with her Halle Berry–esque body, had him at hello. At first, his attraction to her was nothing more than a small crush and a fantasy on how he would get her into bed. But, when Christopher began dating her, he stepped back and relegated his crush to a “what-if.” When they were married, however, Byron did his best to turn his “what-if” into a “never could have been.”

Truthfully, it was Christopher’s affair with Alexis that awakened Byron’s love for Andrea. He saw the way she nearly fell apart when she found out her husband had strayed. She found out about the affair and Alexis’s aborted pregnancy all at once, and it tore her apart. It hurt her even more to know that he had risked their marriage for a few rounds of meaningless sex. When she learned of the abortion, she began questioning herself, because up to that point, she’d never had a child. Christopher would always say they weren’t ready, but since they never used protection, Andrea wondered if she could get pregnant. The fact that a two-week fling accomplished what she couldn’t do in three years nearly did her in.

“So when do we get to meet this superwoman?” Brenda asked, taking a seat on the bed, next to her husband.

“She’s coming by tonight to meet y’all,” Byron replied. “You’re gonna like her. The girl is bad.”

“What’s her name?” Brenda inquired.

“Rayna.”

“Interesting name,” Darnell said, nodding his head. “She from around here?”

“No. Actually, she’s from the Midwest.”

“Midwest?” Darnell and Brenda replied in unison.

“Is she black?” Brenda asked.

Byron doubled over in laughter, barely noticing that Darnell and Brenda sat erect on the edge of the bed, awaiting his answer.

“Yes, she’s black,” he finally responded, wiping the tears from his eyes. “There really are black people who live in the Midwest. She’s from Detroit.”

“Oh,” Darnell said, relaxing a bit. “Just wondering.”

“Hey!” a feminine-sounding voice called out from downstairs. “Where’s everybody at?”

Brenda jumped up in excitement and ran to the top of the steps. “Dee!”

“Aw, here we go,” Darnell told Byron as more screams filled the hallway.

The noise drew Elizabeth to the doorway, but when she saw her mother standing at the top of the steps, hugging her friend, she simply shrugged. “Where’s Latrise?”

“Lizzy!” Latrise exclaimed from the bottom of the steps.

Seconds later, the two girls raced into the bedroom and closed the door.

“When did you get in?” Andrea asked.

“About an hour ago,” Brenda replied. “What took you so long?”

“Him,” Andrea replied, pointing at Christopher.

While passing the stairwell, Christopher looked up and smiled as he carried two plastic bags of groceries into the kitchen. “Can you please tell my boy and my brother to come down here so I can have some company while y’all talk about me?”

“On the way, Chris,” Byron said as the two of them passed the women on the steps.

“We’re not talking about you,” Andrea told Christopher with a smile. “I was just telling Brenda how you insisted on stopping to buy groceries, even though you knew she and Darnell would be pulling up soon. We coulda done that later.”

“You two ain’t changed,” Brenda said with a laugh.

“You’re right. No miracles,” Andrea agreed, leading her friend to the living room. “Come on and sit down.”

“Girl, I done had enough of sitting down,” Brenda replied. “Between that long trip and waiting on you two to come back, my butt’s gettin’ tired.”

“You’re not tired?”

“I’m sure I will be later, but right now I’m too spun up to sleep.”

“If that’s the case, you can help me cook dinner.”

With that, they kicked the men out of the kitchen so they could prepare the meal.

“So whatcha want me to do?” Brenda asked, leaning against the counter.

“There are some steaks thawing in the refrigerator,” Andrea said while pulling a large baking pan and a pot from the bottom cabinet and placing them on the stove.

“Steaks, huh? I feel honored.”

“Well, I haven’t cooked for my best friend in a long time. I think it counts as a special occasion.”

“Awww, you’re so sweet,” Brenda said, flashing her friend a dimple-adorned grin.

The two women hugged each other once more and then got to work. Andrea began cleaning the collard greens, while Brenda seasoned the steaks. To add to the festivities, Andrea poured them each a glass of Riesling.

“So, um, is Alexis coming over tonight?” Andrea asked quickly before taking a sip of her wine.

Brenda’s eyes bugged. She wondered if she’d heard her friend correctly. Temporarily turning from the steaks, she replied, “No. Do you want her to?”

Andrea swallowed and diverted her eyes to the wall. “Not really. I, uh, just figured she might be coming since she’s in town.”

“Now, Dee, you know I wouldn’t do that to you,” Brenda replied, turning back to her task. “I accepted a long time ago that you and Alexis will never get along, so I don’t know why you think I would invite her here without talking to you first.”

“I know, but I just had to be sure,” Andrea said, relaxing a bit and turning back to the pot. “I know how close you two are, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you the thought of seeing her makes me want to smack her.”

Brenda placed the steaks into a marinade and then turned to her friend. “You mean to tell me after all these years, you still haven’t gotten over that?”

“Okay, Bren, let’s see how f. . .