Free Going Down by Roy Glenn Page A

could have included her in my life.”
    “I know. She probably said that you were ashamed to bring her around your friends.” I throw in between bites.
    “Yeah! How did you know? She been talkin’ to you?”
    “Angelique used to go through the same trip before we got married.”
    “Not Angelique, say it ain’t so.”
    “Yes, Angelique.”
    “Really, Angelique says the same thing, huh?”
    “It’s a girl thing.”
    “I feel better now,” Tavarus said sarcastically. “I was starting to think it was me. I was beginning to think that maybe I was doin’ something wrong. ’Cause Cynthia and Gerri used to tell me the same thing, too.”
    “Come on now, Tavarus, those are standard lines. They all read the same self-help books,” I said, and flagged the waitress down to get another round. “But you were doin’ something wrong.”
    “What’s that?”
    “You weren’t spending all your time with her.”
    Tavarus laughed at me. He stood up, shook his head, and hit the buffet again. When he got back to the table, he said, “So Angelique goes through them changes too.”
    “What, do you think she just lets me run wild? Any time I get too far off the chain, and you know I can get out there sometimes, she knows how to put me back in check. She’s just protecting her interest.”
    “That’s different; Angelique’s put in the time. Carmen came through the door trying to call some shots.”
    “See, it’s different with Angelique. I enjoy spending time with Angelique. We have a lot of fun together. So to me, it ain’t like an obligation to be with her. That’s where I wanna be. You’ll meet somebody that you wanna spend your time with. Until then, don’t let them sweat you about that shit, Tee,” I said and felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I took out my phone and saw that I had a missed call. I looked at the number, it was Angelique calling from work. “I missed a call from Angelique.”
    “Yeah, reception in this joint is suspect.”
    “Let me go see what my baby’s talking about.”
    “Let me ask you a question, Zack.”
    “What’s that, Tee?”
    “You’re supposed to be with Lana now, right?” Tee asked.
    “Walking through Piedmont Park.”
    “Now Angelique just called you.”
    “I know where you’re going with this.” And I did.
    “So what do you do?”
    “I call Angelique.” No questions asked. Angelique rules.
    “So what do you say when she starts with, where are you? What are you doing? When are you coming home?”
    “I tell her where I am and what I’m doing. I’ll talk to her for a while. We got tickets for a play tomorrow, we’ll talk about that. And I’ll tell her that I’ll see her when I get home.”
    “And that’s that?” Tavarus said, in a tone that highlighted his disbelief.   
    “Like I said, it’s different with Angelique. I can get by with that because I put in the time with her. I was with her yesterday, we’re going out tomorrow. She understands that a marriage needs space sometimes.”
    “And if she did?”
    “I’d go home.”
    “What about Lana?”
    “What about her? Hey, man, Lana knows Angelique always comes first.”
    I got up and went outside to call Angelique, but my mind was on Lana. I was actually looking forward to doing something, other than have sex, with Lana. I asked myself, What if Lana had time, could she? The fact that I had to think about it said something in and of itself. I didn’t want to think about it, so I shook it off and dialed Angelique’s number at work, but there was no hiding from the fact that I really liked Lana. Angelique answered.
    “This is Angelique.”
    “Hey, baby.”
    “I was just getting ready to leave. I didn’t think you were going to call. Where are you?” Angelique asked.
    “At the Double Tree, talking to Tee. You know him and Carmen are talking about breaking up.”
    “Oh, that’s why you didn’t answer. Tavarus venting?”
    “Like it’s going out of style. That and the fact that the