READY OR NOT, HERE I COME...

I kiss her forehead and lay her back down on the ground, and as I stand to my feet, I'm only thinking of one thing. I slowly walk up the road in the direction of the wrecked car not even thinking about my own safety. I don’t see or hear anything, I’m just walking until eventually I find what (who) I'm looking for. In the distance to my far left I see a man sitting against a tree in what looks like some serious pain. With arms fully extended and gun raised I very slowly and cautiously walk over to where he is sitting. In what normally would have taken less than 2 minutes, takes me roughly 15 minutes to safely make my way over to him. I come up from his blind side and yell for him to throw his weapon – he doesn't move. In a more forceful voice I yell, “DID YOU HEAR ME, I SAID TOSS YOUR WEAPON...OR I WILL SHOOT YOU!” In a weak attempt he tries to toss his gun but it does not go far at all. I don't waste any time, run over and kick the gun in the brush, then turn and face him. I take one look at him and he is hurt pretty bad, honestly it looks like he could die at any moment. In almost a whisper he says, “Don't trust her, she isn't who she appears to be...” I shake my head and point the gun at him and say, “Thanks to you, I don't need to worry about any of that now do I?” I feel my hand shaking as I now raise the gun to his head, he looks up at me half-laughs and says, “Reach in my jacket pocket and grab my keys (now struggling to speak)...go to the car and look in the trunk...” I look over at the car lower my eyebrows and ask, “Look in the trunk for what?” He says nothing. I turn toward him and begin to ask again but see there is no need...but just to be sure I check his pulse and (yes) he's dead. I reach in his jacket pocket as he advised, grab the keys and instead of going to the car I make my way back to the SUV to grab a few things I may need later. As I walk back, I think to myself, I still don't have any answers to the questions in my head - the only thing I know is I'm lost, literally and figuratively. Although I don’t really know her, I feel compelled to properly bury her body. However the more I think about it, it's probably best I take her body with me to a hospital or something – I mean its the least I could do,she did spare my life, I guess. I make my way to the back of the SUV, and once I get there I stop, close my eyes and shake my head...because she's not there...

WE'VE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD BEFORE...

I get up from the floor of the SUV, and for the first time since I have been around her, I see her actually losing her composure. She is still frantically turning the key in the ignition and pumping the gas in hopes of getting the car to start. She is crying so hard I don’t think she hears me as I tell her to, “Calm down.” She just looks up, stares out beyond the steering wheel and abruptly stops everything. I follow her eyes up the road and see a black Charger smashed against a tree and out of the shadows a man struggling to make his way up the road. At this point she has totally lost her cool. She ducks down, slides over to the passenger-side seat, opens the door, gathers herself and fires another round in his direction, then immediately runs toward the back of the SUV. I turn and look back up the road and no longer see him, I look again and still don't see him, I reach over the front seat to grab her phone and see blood everywhere – OK now I start to panic. I open the door, get out and run towards the back of the SUV. When I get there, she is laying face down, gun still in hand with the bottom of her shirt drenched in blood. I bend down, take the gun from her hand, and as I turn her over and hold her close to me - I take a deep breath, slowly close my eyes and as tears begin to fall - I can't help but think, this feels like deja vu...

A CHANGE OF PLANS...

I have to give credit when credit is due, this woman is strong, in shape, smart and knows what she is doing. However this time when she hits me, she didn't knock me out. As I lay motionless on the floor of the SUV, I can feel my heartbeat right where she hit me with the gun and my head is throbbing. She gets out as the other vehicle approaches and comes to a stop. For a moment I hear nothing, then I hear voices coming closer to the SUV. The door swings open and I try my best to remain still and act as if I'm unconscious. I hear Veronica's voice, “See look he is right here like I told you, I just had to pull of the main road to get some rest, I have been driving almost 36 hours you know!” I feel someone walk up close to where I'm laying stand there for a second and then walk away. I don't hear another voice, I just hear Veronica say, “Why are you trippin', everything is still going as planned (a car door slams)...oh so you just gonna leave?” The car starts and a man's voice yells, “HE'S NOT EVEN BLINDFOLDED OR CUFFED, WHAT WERE YOU DOING V...YOU KNOW WHAT, DON'T EVEN ANSWER, I'M COOL ON YOU AND THIS!” She qiuckly fires back, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU COOL ON ME, I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING IS FINE!” I hear the car start and Veronica calmly yet sternly say, “Oh you think you leavin', you either in or out!?” The car peels out and begins to drives away, when I hear *POP, POP, POP* – *POP, POP*...and then a loud *CRASH*. She comes back to the SUV slams the back door, hops back in the driver seat all-the-while crying, tries to start the car, but the battery is still dead...

HERE WE GO AGAIN...

I try to look around for my boxers, pants and shirt but don't see them anywhere. I can't really look around like I want too, partly because of a crook I have in my neck and she is still laying on me sleeping peacefully. I put my hand over my eyes and I begin to think about what just happened, need-less-to-say I am very disappointed in myself...I thought I had more self control. I continue to lay in total silence and the only thing I hear is her breathing on my chest. About an hour passes and her phone rings (it stops) and it continues to ring again, still half-sleep she manages to say, “Get the phone Baby...(pause) Robert get the phone.” I nudge her a couple of times before she finally gets up and realizes where she is and who she is with. She attempts to fix herself up before she looks for her phone, and as she gets up I see she is still fully clothed – and that's when I remember the only thing I had on WAS this coat - maybe we didn't do anything. I try to sit up but a sharp pain swiftly runs up and down my spine and I quickly lay back down. She leans over the seat and grabs her purse, fumbles through it for a second and takes out her phone. She looks at the missed call and a few texts and her whole demeanor changes. She quickly looks at me and says, “WE HAVE TO GO, NOW!” She flips over the front seat tries to start the car but it wont do a thing, probably because we had the car on all night. I frantically ask, "What's wrong?!" Her phone rings again this time she quickly answers, "No, I'm fine...(attempting to whisper now) baby,I'm fine...How? I don't even know where I am...Robert,Robert,Robert!" She hangs up, throws the phone on the passenger-side seat and puts her head in her hands. I slowly sit up with concern in my eyes and see a car approaching up the road. She wastes no time to reach under the seat, turns to look at me and says, "I'm sorry." and *BAM* everything goes black...

GOODNIGHT...

Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach LITERALLY, I quickly open the door and begin to vomit. Veronica leans over rubs my back and asks, “What in the world is wrong with you, did the Doritos upset your stomach?” I shake my head no as I continue to hold my head out of the door while thinking about this new found revelation. The more I think about it, the more upset it makes me and I can feel myself getting angrier and angrier. This man had the audacity to sit in the delivery room with me and on three separate occasions congratulate me on having three healthy, beautiful, baby girls. I laugh to myself thinking two out of the three times I was there, I should have been telling that to him. I snap out of my trip down memory lane as I calmly hear Veronica say, “It's getting pretty dark, I think we should get going.” I think to myself, *Get going where, I still don't know where we are or whats going on.* I close the door, sit back in the seat and close my eyes - because as crazy as it sounds, I still don't know what to say to this woman. I hear her let out a soft yet seductive *sigh* as she starts the SUV. I can feel her looking at me so I open my eyes and sure enough she is. I look at this woman, I mean really look at this woman who is so emotionally hurt and exhausted and for the first time see how beautiful she truly is. I am so uncomfortable because for the first time since I have been married, I find myself looking at another woman - in that way. I'm not gonna lie, I get nervous, my palms start sweating and my heart rate speeds up as she extends her hand reaches out and slowly turns on the radio. I take a deep breath and thank God that was the ONLY thing she was reaching for - because no matter what my wife has done I am a married man and will continue to act as such. I'm sitting here thinking of something to say or do to break-up this awkward moment when I hear the on-air personality say, “..we have been getting request for this one all day, here's Robin Thicke's, 'It's in the Morning'...'I'm in the mood for lovin', we'll be touchin', we'll be huggin', I'm in the mood for lovin', we'll get into...It's in the morning I wanna touch, it's in the morning I wanna love you...” I look at her, she looks at me, (I don't like the way this feels) so I shake my head and close my eyes, when I open them, the song is off, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping and she is laying on my chest in the back seat of the SUV and "It's in the morning"...

THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW...

She continued to talk but I didn’t hear a word she said all I saw was her mouth moving. I closed my eyes and the only thing I could see was her husband and my wife together. I didn’t know this man or what he looked like but I pictured them together, just like in the movie, “The Best Man.” I couldn’t get a hold of my emotions and before I knew it I found my eyes watering and my lips quivering. She took one look at me and started crying all over again. She laid her head on my chest and started 'balling' – I mean snot, slobber, she held nothing back. This went on for about 20 minutes before I was finally able to regain composure. It took me a little while before I was able to calm her down, but eventually I did. She stopped straddling me and got back into the driver’s seat – we both were silent. I opened the Doritos and ate the entire bag and washed it down with the warm can of Dr. Pepper, all the while thinking. Then I repeated her name in my head, Veronica Chambers, why does that name sound so familiar? Then I ended the silence and asked in a very disturbed yet anxious voice, “Is your husband…” she finishes my sentence, “State Attorney, Charles Chambers…no, he is my father-in-law…everyone always asks that, my husband is Dr…” this time I finished her sentence, “…Eric Chambers!” It turns out I did know her husband, he was my wife's OBGYN…

KISS AND TELL...

She puts the car back in park, takes off her seatbelt and gets out of the SUV. She opens the back door slides behind me reclines my seat and begins to massage and kiss the back of my neck. Then in one quick motion she is on top of me, opens my coat and is caressing my chest. She grabs the back of my head leans in and gives me another kiss, this time much more passionate and intense then the last. She stops sits up and doesn’t really look at me but more of in my direction. After about a minute she starts to slowly shake her head and in a soft voice that seemed directed more at herself then toward me she says, “What are you doing to me?” I look up and see tears forming in her eyes and her lips beginning to quiver, and then she says, “I know you don’t know me, but I know all about you…” She takes a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes and continues, “My name is Veronica Chambers and the reason why I know you is because my husband and your wife have been having an affair…”

DO I KNOW YOU...

What does she mean, “This changes everything?” When I say I have no clue what she is talking about, I mean absolutely no clue. This woman knows who I am, has been in my house, has taken the package which was once in my possession, has me out in the middle of nowhere, she HAS the upper hand. The one thing I do know is I need to do something before she does. My mind is telling me to run, but my body is not responding. The funny thing is beside all the 'unknowns', I’m starting to actually feel like I can trust this woman, I mean if she really wanted to kill me, wouldn’t she have already done it? My thoughts are suddenly interrupted, “Soooooo, are you just going to stand there all night or are you going to get in…we need to go NOW!” I walk around the back of the SUV to the passenger-side where I see the front door is already open, I get in adjust the seat and close the door. She hands me a bag of Doritos and a Dr. Pepper and says, “I know you hungry.” I nod my head in agreement then tell her, “Look, we need to talk.” Thats when she takes her index finger places it on the bottom of my chin and with it slowly turns my head toward hers, looks me in the eye then leans forward and kisses my lips. She pulls back clears her throat and seductively says, “We need to do more than that.”…

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON...

Let’s just say as I stand here looking at this woman who once laid on my living room floor, lifeless - I lost the urge to pee and now had to change my clothes. I’m straining to see what she is doing and what is going on around me, when I finally see her walk up to me, look me up and down and in a very disgusted voice says, “Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me.” She hurries past me toward the trunk, opens it, rumbles through a few things then takes out something and begins to walk toward me. The you’ve closer she got I could see she was holding a knife of some sort and as I stand there contemplating my next move she quickly turns me around, pushes me hard against the SUV and cuts the blind fold [moving quickly] she bends down and rumbles through a box filled with styrofoam balls and pulls out an envelope, an iPHONE, and a key, she puts everything but the key back in the box. She takes the key, stands up and unlocks my handcuffs, goes back to the trunk pulls out some soap, a towel and a gallon of bottled water and says, “Clean yourself up”. I do as I’m told - and as I strip I look around and see NOTHING [we are in the middle of nowhere on some back road and the sun is slowly disappearing over the horizon] – she puts the box in the front seat and takes out the coat she once wore when she fell into my arms, puts it on top of the SUV [chuckles] and says, “looks like you’re gonna need this.” I say nothing because right now I’m just going through the motions, wondering what’s going on, how much time has passed and who exactly is this woman. I finish washing up and put on the coat when she looks at me and says, “Curtis, Curtis, Curtis [uncomfortable pause] you know this changes everything.”…

SHE HATE ME...

Those words replayed over and over and over in my head until I finally hear someone say, “Did you hear me, I said sit up…I see why you almost got caught up you don’t follow directions.” – The more I heard this person speak the more I realized I had no idea who she was. I however did as she asked and sat up, that’s when she proceeded to reach across my face and in one quick motion pulled the tape [and all of the facial hair] off my face, I wanted to scream in pain but didn’t have the energy. I was so nervous and I couldn’t get a feel for her – she just seemed so cool, calm and collective - giving me the impression she knew what she was doing, which in a way gave me a wierd sense of security. The ride continued in silence until her phone rang, “there goes my baby (ooo girl look at you) you don't know how good it feels to call you my girl there goes my baby loving everything you do (ooo girl look at you).” She quickly answered and a moment later hung up, that’s when I told her, “Thanks for getting me out of that mess…” she said nothing, kept driving and a couple of minutes later answered “trust me you are still knee deep in it, and how do you know I’m HELPING you?” This time I was the one who said nothing. At this point I was planning my get-a-way, I didn’t know when or more importantly how, but I did know it had to happen soon. In a half whisper I finally asked, “Well are you?” she laughed, [actually it was more of a chuckle] and kept driving. I couldn’t tell if it was day or night, but I did know I was starving and needed to get away from this woman. That’s’ when I blurted out the first thing that popped in my head, “I GOTTA PEE!” what felt like 15 minutes pass and we still continued to drive, “um did you hear me, I SAID I GOTTA PEE!”, she slams on the breaks, and she does it so hard I end up on the floor of the back seat [which causes my blindfold to move just enough to see]. She puts the car in park, gets out, opens the back door, helps me to my feet and when she stands me up I see, she is the ‘dead woman’…

EMERGENCY EXIT...

”WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘WHAT BODY’!?” – But before he could answer there is a hard knock on the door. I look at Nick and he looks at me and says “If that’s who I think it is, I gotta go, just holla at me when they leave.” He gives me a quick dap and then leaves out the way he came in. There is another knock at the door, this time much harder than the last. I think to myself, “Man I don’t have time to be messin’ wit no cops.” However I am curious to find out what’s going on, I get up from my crouching position take the gloves off and start to make my way toward the door, when *BAM* someone hits me from behind and I hit the floor hard – I’m laying face down in serious pain, I can feel someone standing over me, they are saying something but I have no clue what, I can just feel myself going in and out of consciousness. Finally everything goes black. I don’t remember what happened next, all I know is everything that I once thought was real somehow turned out to be a façade of the life I once knew. Many hours pass before I slowly regain consciousness and I am feeling very nauseas and my head is spinning. It takes me a while to realize it, but my eyes are covered with some type of blindfold, my mouth is taped shut and my hands are tied behind my back. Part of the reason I am feeling nauseas is because I’m in the back of some type of moving vehicle face-down - I instantly start to panic. This may sound stupid but what really has me bothered is the total silence, I mean I can hear the tires on the road but there are no other sounds inside or outside of the vehicle – no radio, nothing. I’m not going to lie I’m scared but I knew at that moment I had to take control of my life and there was only one person who could help me – [sigh] I block all other thoughts out of my head, close my eyes and the tears just flowed. We slow down and the car stops, the driver opens the door and gets out - at this point I have absolutely no clue where I was, how I got there, or what was going on – I would say roughly 5 minutes passed and a phone rang, “there goes my baby (ooo girl look at you) you don't know how good it feels to call you my girl there goes my baby loving everything you do (ooo girl look at you).” – The door opened someone got in, answered & hung up, then I felt them turn toward me [pause] and say “I told you to get out the house!”…

THIS IS GONNA SOUND CRAZY...

As I lay her lifeless body on the living room floor, so many thoughts begin to race through my mind [I close my eyes] – What was MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III looking for? Did I really “faint”? Then thoughts begin to jumble together, THE 1ST PACKAGE I TRIPPED OVER, THE MYSTERIOUS CAR, THE BOX WITH NO ADDRESS, THE iPHONE WARNING, THE NOTE, THE KEY AND THIS WOMAN – I open my eyes and go into the kitchen grab the note and begin to read…"I’m sure you are wondering where the package is, don’t worry you’ll get it when we want you to have it. Our only suggestion for you is to make sure you answer this (i)PHONE, EVERY TIME we call. Oh yeah if you haven’t noticed by now, there has been a slight change in plans. The pictures don’t even begin to show ALL that we have on YOU. Like we told you before, if you run to the police its gonna be some problems. If you think we are all talk, it would be wise of you to pick up the iPHONE dial #313 then press the (*) key [my heart rate speeds up] I pick up the iPHONE and dial #313 then press the (*) key. A distorted voice begins talking “Glad you decided to call, but i’m sure your friend will appreciate it a little more than we do...” then I hear a very distraught man’s voice, “Baby please do whatever they say, I l...” and the message ends. [*bang, bang, bang*] I drop the phone, look up and see Nick banging at the back door [I open it, and go back to pick up the phone], “Man, I would have been here sooner but I guess something happened and they have your street blocked with cruisers, fire trucks and everything...and by the looks of it the police are going door to door. Shoot, I had to park a street over and sneak through the back because you know I got a warrant, *he laughs*". He stops when I quickly and abruptly get to my feet, he pauses looks me over and very seriously asks, "why is there blood on your shirt…?” I don’t hear anything else he says and interject, “They doin’ WHAT!? Ok this is gonna sound crazy but I need you to do everything I tell you, exactly the way I tell you.” he shakes his head and says,“Ok, what’s up?” I tell him,“Go upstairs grab the comforter off my bed, in the hallway closet there should be a roll of duct tape, grab that and meet me in the living room.” [He looks confused but runs upstairs to do what I have asked] – I quickly gather up everything in the kitchen place it back in the box and hurry back to the living room – the body has already been moved *I think aloud* "Mann, Nick don’t play”, but there is still some smeared blood stains on the floor…I run in the basement grab a bucket & some cleaning supplies, run some hot water in the bucket then pour in the entire bottle of ammonia, I put on some gloves grab a couple of towels & head back into the empty living room – As I begin to clean up the blood Nick is on his way down the steps with the comforter & duct tape – “My bad, took me a minute to find the tape” I ask “So what did you do with the body?” he replies, “What body?”…

DEAD AIR...

I start to look through the pictures and am shocked, stunned & confused at what I see, I begin to read the note to try to make sense of it when the box begins to vibrate and my phone begins to ring almost simultaneously, I pick up the iPHONE out of the box and hesitate to answer it – but I do - on the other end a woman’s voice calmly says, “Get out of the house now.”, “Who is this?” I ask – but she is already off the line. I try to call the number back, but the call came through as ‘private’ number. I throw the phone in the box and notice my phone has still been ringing. I run upstairs to grab it hoping somehow it’s the woman from the iPHONE, I pick up my phone look at the ID *smack my lips* its my bestfriend Nick – I reluctantly answer, knowing... this could easily turn into a 2 hour conversation about him and his girl or how much he hates his job. I answer, “Hello.”, “Hey man, I’m on my way…me and my girl, long story, be there in a few.” and before I could get a word in he hangs up – hmmmmm that was weird – anyway I head back downstairs to the kitchen but before I could get there, there is a knock [more of a *thump*] at the front door – I think to myself, man that was fast – I open the door expecting to see Nick but a beautiful yet bloodied young woman whom I have never seen before falls into my arms. My first instinct is to drop her because I have no idea whats going on, but I dont – However from the looks of things, this woman was clearly placed here because nothing about her says ‘I walked to your door'. I cautiously peek outside and see no one there, I look her up and down, and as I continue to hold her in my arms a few things jump out at me 1. She doesn’t have on any clothes under her coat 2. There is flashing light coming from her coat pocket and 3. I’m pretty certain this beautiful woman is dead…

CHANGE OF HEART...

I step back (take a deep breath) and I look into her eyes and see the woman who I fell in love with, the woman who I shed tears for as she walked down the aisle to become (my wife), MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III, the woman who I knew I would spend the rest of my life with. I begin to feel my eyes water as I form the words ”I love you baby and no matter what the outcome, I’m willing to…” I stop and look up because I hear noises *the type of noises the floor makes when bodies shift weight* coming from the master bedroom upstairs, when I hear it again my eyes dart at her and she quickly looks away – MANN, that’s when it hits me, that wasn’t a “passionate kiss”, that was a kiss to divert my attention away from what truly was going on in the house. I start for the stairs, when she yells, “He’s coming!” I get halfway up and immediately stop when two crucial thoughts pop into my head, 1. I don’t know who is up there and why they are in my house and 2. What they may be looking for is probably on the kitchen table. By the time I finish the thought, she is frantically running up the stairs behind me, so I act like I trip & let her run past me, I wait a second then hurry back into the kitchen, pick up the box & swoop the key, envelope, iPHONE & most of the styrofoam into it in one motion, then proceed to hide the box in the oven, without thinking I quickly turn it on then head to the base of the stairwell where I hear multiple quivering voices barely above a whisper, but the only voice I recognize is my wife’s. Voice 1: ”Girl, I thought you said he wasn’t going to be here!” MRS: “Well obviously he is so something must have happened” voice 2: “Well we didn’t find none of the stuff you was talking about…” voice 1: “Forget all that how are we going to get out of here, and what are we going to do when he comes up here?” [SILENCE] From what I can make out, there are 3 shook females upstairs in my bedroom. Now I’m feeling confident so I’m on my way upstairs when I stop dead in my tracks and ask myself, "DID I TURN THE OVEN ON!?" Naaah, I couldn't have been that stupid to turn on the oven but just to be safe I rush back in the kitchen and the closer I got to the oven I could see that little red ‘on’ light – so yeah I guess I am stupid. Anyway I turn it off, open the oven and luckily the box and its contents were still intact (it had only been in there 3 minutes tops) - I put the box down when, *BAM*BAM*BAM* 3 car doors slam, [screech *BOOM* screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech] I run to the living room window and see they have backed out the driveway hit my car and dipped. From what I can gather, they apparently jumped out the 2nd story bedroom window – I can’t help but laugh out loud at the mental picture that keeps replaying in my head – but forget them for now. I go back into the kitchen so I can finally find out what's in this box, but most importantly the envelope with the BIG red letters that reads “OPEN IMMEDIATELY”, so without wasting any more time I open the envelope and inside is a note and about 20 photos…

I CAN'T LET GO...

MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III & I are standing awkwardly close when she leans forward & gives me an unexpected yet very passionate kiss and for some reason I can’t pull away, I close my eyes - and it feels like I’m in Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You” video [everything is so perfect] I hear the words, “I’m lost without you, can’t help myself, how does it feel? To know that I love ya baby, I’m lost without you, can’t help myself, how does it feel? To know that I love ya baby. Tell me how you love me more and how you think I’m sexy baby…but you don’t want nobody else, you don’t want this guy, you don’t want that guy…” my mind starts wandering to thoughts of better times, our first kiss, our first 5 hour phone conversation (when neither one of us wanted to hang up), our wedding night, the first time we…(pause) - I open my eyes, then I slowly and gently take my hands from around her waist, ease them up past her breast to her shoulder blades and very politely but abruptly push her back, she gives me the ‘what are you doing’ look, and that’s the problem, I don’t know...

THIS IS A PACKAGE DEAL...

As I stand here holding this package, so many thoughts begin to run through my head, I close my eyes and repeat the message I read from MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III’s phone aloud, “…Are you really gonna use it?” Mann, is she trying to kill me? [naaaah I’m trippin’] - I’m starting to feel real light-headed and dizzy, I definitely need something to drink – I open my eyes, turn around toward the kitchen to get some water and *BAM* everything goes black…I wake up after what feels like 3 hours but was more like 30 minutes with a cut on my head and a throbbing headache, the house is silent and totally dark - I begin to make my way to a nearby light - when I see a set of headlights race up the driveway, stop, back up and speed away, I turn the lights on and see the front door is still open, MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III’s phone is still on the table and the package is where I once lay. Ok, what just happened, did I faint? I lock the door, pick up the package & take it into the kitchen – I get some water and grab a knife out the drawer to open the package – I look at the box & notice there is no delivery or return address anywhere, I promise I remember seeing one before I ‘fainted’…But at this point I don’t care, I pick up the box and look for a easy way to open it, but immediately drop it when I feel it vibrate. My first thought is to run, but I pause, take a deep breath and begin to finish what I started. I slowly & very carefully begin to cut open the box [lifting one flap at a time]. Inside the package is filled with white styrofoam balls, I take another deep breath & reluctantly pour its contents on the kitchen table…there amongst the styrofoam is a KEY, an iPHONE, and a SEALED MANILA ENVELOPE marked in BIG red letters, “OPEN IMMEDIATELY”. This is beginning to be a bit much, at this point I’m not sure if I even want to know what’s in this envelope or why there’s an iPHONE and key on my kitchen table - I pace back & forth for a while - I find myself constantly picking up the envelope and iPHONE then putting them down, I stop, gain composure, take a step back turn & push open the kitchen door & am standing face to face with MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III…

IS THIS A TEST...

Sorry it took me so long, but after looking behind the night stand myself, I had to speed this process up. I call MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III, and tell her that I’m going to take the test (TODAY!!!), but she doesn’t answer, so I just leave her a brief message, “Um I'm just calling to let you know I was able to make an appointment today to take the test at The Medical Center, so I guess you can take the girls down there whenever. And uh, I do want to see them…thanks.” I get there and the wait is about 2 hours, but the actual test takes less than 10 minutes. Anyway I just got back from taking the paternity test & by the looks of things MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III has been by again [is she here?] I call her name, [no answer], I look out the window, [no car] - on the table by the door I see she brought in the mail [something she NEVER does] - she had to be in a rush because as I sort through it, I see she left her blackberry under the bills…I pick it up and the doorbell rings…] who could this be? [MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III still has a key], as I put the phone down she receives a text, I go to the door but there is no one there - I step out on the porch & trip over a package the size of a small shoe box - as I get up I see a USPS truck driving away, this had to be what she was looking for, I go back in and read the text on her phone “It should be there, are you really gonna use it?”…

NOW THAT'S TRIFLING...

It’s now Tuesday morning and I still haven’t left the house and I find myself getting up later and later each day, and now that I think about it haven’t eaten anything since Saturday night – yeah I definitely need to get something in my system ASAP. I probably should brush my teeth and take a shower as well but at this point I don’t care, I don’t plan on seeing anyone for a while…(but I think out loud) “you know what that’s trifling.” I go in the bathroom stare at the mirror for a second and turn on the water. I close the door so it can steam, put that new Rick Ross, “Super High” on repeat, take off my clothes and get into a much needed hot shower. By the time I get out of the shower the water is luke warm at best, I’ve heard “Super High” like 15 times and now want a motorcycle with Stacey Dash on the back. I half dry myself, put a towel on and go down stairs to grab something to eat – I’m actually in a pretty decent mood, considering - I almost forgot how good a hot shower can make you feel. However, my mood quickly changes when I see MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III and some of her sorors have come by to get a few of her things. No one says a word they just continue as they were. I look at her in disgust, shake my head, and then go into the kitchen to make a bowl of Captain Crunch. I stay in the kitchen for the remainder of the time they are there, but as they are leaving one of her sorors comes in and whispers, "Get at me, I like your style" as she jokingly flashes a gold magnum wrapper - she laughs & adds, "ya'll nasty it’s a couple more used ones on the side of the night stand"...I gave her the 'my-bad’ look, but as they pulled off, I thought to myself, my wife and I haven’t used condoms since we moved to this house 3 years ago…

IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD...

I’ve pretty much been laying around all day not doing much since I got up, started listening to “There goes my baby” – but I had to turn that off after a few verses. Right Now Tye Tribbett & G.A.’s “Victory” & Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It” are on rotation. Anyway I get up to check my phone and there is a missed call from my job and an ‘email’ icon…I check them and see there are 3 emails from my job, about 13 spam messages and one from, MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III. There is no subject heading – I look at it for a minute - then I hesitantly open it and begin to read, “I know you probably are wondering what is going on, and honestly I don’t even know. I just know that I can’t continue living a lie. Curtis, I want you to know that you are a great husband and father to our…anyway I’m going to be completely honest and not beat around the bush…I have been having an affair for over 5 years now, I’m sorry. I know that Curtiyana is yours but I’m NOT sure about Courtney & Shayla, well honestly I’m probably 90% sure they aren’t yours. Just know when the time is right I’ll tell you who their father may be, until then just give me time to get my head together…I’m sorry this is the only way I could tell you, please don’t hate me, The Mrs.”...

IN A DAZE...

The night is gone and after what feels like about 3 minutes of sleep I get up look out the window and see the start of a new day. Its now 6:23, Monday morning and I still have not seen nor talked to MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III, and at this point I have no choice but to believe what I’ve have been told. My head is throbbing, my heart is heavy, I can’t focus (I feel like I'm in a daze) and I don’t know where to begin, but after about an hour I get up make a call to the office and tell them that I won’t be in for a couple of days and to have any IMPORTANT calls forwarded to my cell phone - even though I know I won't answer. I go online to Google and type in ‘paternity test’, I scroll down to the 3rd link (click on it) and begin to read, after I finish reality starts to set in and I ask myself, “Is this really happening to ME!?!” I can’t believe I’m sitting at home looking up information on paternity testing - needless to say I scheduled a test for later this week. No matter what the outcome (deep sigh) I know I will never be TRULY happy in this marriage, but can I truly divorce this woman or seperate from her? She is my joy, the woman who I changed my life for, the mother of my children*, and the woman with whom I stood before my family & friends and made a vow before God to be with “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part…" I MEAN I KNOW PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES, BUT AM I A FOOL IF I TRY TO MAKE IT WORK AND STAY WITH HER? I LOVE HER...

FOUR WORDS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE

I never knew 4 words could affect me like this, but after reading the note MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III left on the mirror, I never did take that hot shower, I pretty much stayed in the room the entire day reading the note over and over... “BUT IT’S NOT YOURS...” This had to be some type of joke – right? She probably wasn’t even pregnant. The house was completely silent – minutes passed, which felt like hours - and I was losing my mind. I got up, grabbed my cell phone and walked into the kitchen, I sat at the dining room table looked up at the clock and it was a little past 3 pm – this would have given her enough time to leave church, go pick up the girls from her parents and run a few errands if needed. My calls and texts continued to go unanswered, so I call her parents and her mom tells me she just left less than 30 minutes ago and hopes I feel better (“Hopes I feel better?”) What is she talking about? Anyway I hang up confused yet feeling a little better about the situation and decide to start on dinner - hours pass and she finally texts me, "I'M SURE YOU HAD TO SEE THIS COMING...THE GIRLS & I WON'T BE COMING HOME TONIGHT, AND JUST TO BE SAFE WE SHOULD GET A PATERNITY TEST…ON THE GIRLS, IM SORRY CURTIS… "

THANK YOU BABY...

So this morning MRS. CURTIS L. MANN III brings me breakfast in bed, turns the tv on to ESPN so I can watch SportsCenter and before she leaves for church she kisses me and tells me she is PREGNANT [I AM SO EXCITED…I GET ON MY KNEES & THANK GOD AT THE SAME TIME PRAYING THAT IT IS A BOY!!!]...so I get up to take a hot shower and there is a note on the bathroom mirror that reads, “BUT IT’S NOT YOURS…”