Curly Q Read online

  Curly Q

  Jamallah Bergman

  Curly Q

  Copyright © 2017 Jamallah Bergman

  Cover Design by Cover Creators

  Edited by Leanore Elliott

  Book Design by Wicked Muse

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  Chapter One

  The blaring of the headlights in the other lane seemed to be the only thing keeping Madison Wilson awake. It had been a long day at work for being a partner of a law firm. She’d been going over cases, dealing with crazy clients and even crazier coworkers. All she’d wanted to do was get home, take a long hot shower, and relax in her bed with her husband.

  Pulling around the corner into the driveway of their home, Madison saw the garage was already open with Paul’s car inside, which seemed odd because usually when Paul parked his car in the garage he would close it. Walking inside to the kitchen, she went in the fridge, grabbing a bottle water. She could feel her cat Mr. Puff crossing in and around her ankles. “Her there baby, you want some food?” she asked as she went to the cabinet and got a can of food to put into his bowl. Once she put it in, she set it on the floor.

  A sudden knock from upstairs startled her as she looked up towards the ceiling. It was probably Paul knocking something over as usual.

  While she made her way up the darkened stairway, she felt something at her feet when she got to the hallway. Reaching to turn on the light, she saw a pair of pantyhose. An inch away from that, she saw her husband’s clothes. It seemed like a trail of miscellaneous clothing led towards her bedroom.

  What she saw next when she opened the door would be planted in her brain for the rest of her life.

  There in her bed was a young woman, probably in her late twenties, long brown hair, and a butt that would put Jennifer Lopez to shame. Even in the low light, it was easy to see her bouncing up and down while her husband’s hands gripped her hips. This girl was riding her husband like a pro bull rider while shouting out his name over and over again.

  Her moans were enough to cause bile to rise up in Madison’s throat as his grunts got louder. That was when she slammed open the door and turned on the light. “What the fuck is going on in here Paul!”

  The woman scrambled to the side of him as he sat up, sweaty and panting. “Madison, I didn’t expect you in till later on tonight hon.”

  “Well I see that you got the chance to have some fun before I came home. Who are you anyways?” she asked the girl who was scrambling out of bed to grab her clothes.

  “I’m Vanessa, Paul and I work together. Who are you?”

  Madison scoffed at the girl as her blood pressure soared higher and higher by the moment. “I’m his fucking wife you idiot, you were in my bed, fucking my husband. And if you don’t get your shit and get out of here I swear to God, you’ll wish you had never been fucking born!”

  As quickly as she said it, Vanessa leaped down the hall.

  “I want you out of here, take your shit and go!” she said to Paul as she went into his closet and started throwing the first thing she could see out.

  “Baby no, I can explain!” he said grabbing her from around her waist.

  Never in her life had Madison been so upset as tears continued to stream down her face.

  He then went back over to the bed once more to sit down. He put his head in his hands as he told her, “I didn’t mean for all of this to happen this way Madison but when you’re not around as much as you were, I get lonesome, and I need for you to be here.”

  “So you decided to get with the first skank at your office and bring her to our home and sleep in our bed? You want me to give up my career, the career that I’ve worked so hard for. You know what I’ve been through and what I’ve accomplished with the firm Paul, you were there with me through thick and thin. Do you know how long it took me to get a partnership at that law firm? Being the only black woman partner of a law firm? I don’t understand you Paul. This is no excuse to ruin ten years of our marriage like this.” She found herself crumbling to the floor in a heaving sobs.

  Grabbing some his clothes off the floor, Paul got up and stared at her as he put on some shorts and a shirt. “I’m sorry Madison but I can’t live like this anymore.” He walked out of the room.

  Madison continued crying.

  * * * *

  Madison never thought that she of all people would be the one who would be in need of a lawyer, better yet one for her impending divorce. It had slowly taken its toll on her causing her to leave the firm for what she had quoted to one of her partner’s as a, “well deserved and long awaited vacation.”

  Paul walked back into the house gathering up another stack of boxes as Madison sat on the couch, menacingly watching him while eating on a pint of butter pecan ice cream.

  It became obvious he knew she watched him as he got what was left of his things. Mr. Puff jumped next to her, curling up next to her stomach as Paul stopped to catch his breath. “Are you done yet?” she asked.

  He sighed as he made his way to the foyer table where he’d left his water. Taking a few gulps, he wiped his mouth, “I’ll be out of here in a minute. I have about four more boxes and whatever is left you can either send to the Salvation Army or Goodwill.”

  Rolling her eyes, Madison got up from the couch to put the pint container in the garbage as he took out two more boxes. She wanted him out of her house, as she couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore.

  When he came in to get the last two boxes, he looked at her with a halfhearted smile. “Well, I guess this is it, huh?”

  She didn’t have to say a word as the look she gave him should have been enough for him to know just how hurt she’d been.

  “Goodbye Madison.” He grabbed the boxes and left her house for the last and final time.

  * * * *

  The bed had become Madison’s only comfort while junk food became her best friend as depression and doubt flooded her mind for nearly two months. She hadn’t changed her clothes since Paul had left and she knew that even though she was starting to stink, she really didn’t care to take a shower.

  …Until the phone rang.

  Fumbling through the comforter to find the phone, she finally was able to grab the cordless. “Hello?”

  “Madison, hey girl, how are you?” her sister asked.

  She slowly started to smile when she heard her chipper voice on the other end. It’d been months since she heard from her and she realized it was something she needed to hear. Breathing a heavy sigh, Madison ended up breaking down crying again, over the receiver.

  “Madison sweetheart don’t cry. If you don’t stop crying, you’re going to make me cry too.”

  “Oh Candy, I’ve been so damn miserable here. I’ve went through three pints of ice cream already.”

  She heard her sister start to chuckle a little but then stop. “Why don’t you come and stay with us for a while? We’ve got plenty of room here and the kids miss you so much.”

  Madison thought for a moment, even though she didn’t want to leave the comforts of her bed, she really needed her sister.

  “You’ve been in that house for two months now, plus the divorce has been final and done with. Hell, even Patrick told me how you honestly needed to take a shower and open up some windows. He told me you threw a bag of M&M’s towards his head.”

  Even she had to laugh at that remark, she felt so sorry for their brother Patrick because he was only trying to be helpful. At the time he came over, Madison didn’t want anyone
to be helpful to her and she did end up throwing her big bag of peanut M&M’s at him. Luckily, he caught then before they actually hit his head. “I do need to get the hell out of here and I’ll be there tomorrow morning.”

  “That’s my girl, get yourself some air, get your place cleaned up, pack your bags and get your ass over here.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” After they talked for a few minutes more, Madison slowly but surely got out of bed and started to clean up her room.

  * * * *

  “Make sure you take good care of my baby, Patrick.” She told her brother as she kissed Mr. Puff before putting him in the crate. She grabbed her purse from the couch as they made their way outside to her car.

  “I promise to take care of your baby, you just have some fun and relax while you’re over at Candace’s place and tell them all I said hello.”

  After giving her brother a hug, she got in her car, put on her shades before pulling out of the driveway onto the street.

  Even though she was her older sister by only two years, Madison always looked up to Candace. She’d been her role model as far as being a strong black woman in today’s world. Whatever advice she needed, the first and only person she would call on was her. She had always had the knack for cooking, it was her only love, and she was probably one of the best besides their mom. She ended up going to the prestige’s Le Cordon Bleu in France and learned from the best of the best. When she came back, she had asked her family for money to help start her own catering business. Now she was one of the best caterers in New York.

  The air from the AC started to move some of the tendrils of curly brown hair into her face.

  When she was growing up, she was always the envy of some of the black girls and often got into fights because of the fact she had ‘good’ hair. Candace was always there to help her when she got into a scruff with them. But it wasn’t just the memories of the fights that brought a smile to her face, it was the memory of when she’d met Candace’s husband.

  “Oh, my God Madison, I can’t tell you how happy I am with him.” Candace had told her that spring afternoon while they sat at a local café about ten years back.

  At that time, she’d never seen her sister so happy in her entire life and she was finally going to meet the man who put that pretty smile on her face. “Well, tell me where did you meet?”

  “He goes to the farmer’s market where I go and get most of my food at. So one day, I was picking up some salmon and we were standing next to each other. I kept seeing him from the corner of my eye looking at me. Well, he was ahead of me and he got the last of the salmon they had. I told him, ‘You know that’s the last of the salmon they have until tomorrow.’ Then when he looked at me with those big eyes of his—oh my God, Madison I swear, I melted.”

  They both giggled like giddy little school girls, “The only reason I asked for you to meet him was because I can trust you. Plus, I don’t know what mom and dad will think when they first meet him.”

  Madison started to get nervous when she said this. Whoever this person was, he must have something wrong with him.

  “Oh, my God, there he is.” Candace had whispered as she waved her hand towards the entrance.

  When Madison looked up and saw whom she was waving at, she could understand why she’d melted.

  One of the finest white men she’d ever seen in a very long time, walked over. Wearing a nice dark blue business suit that seemed to match his eyes to a ‘T’, and a smile that would put Colgate out of business along with his ‘movie star’ like blonde hair.

  Bending down to kiss Candace on the lips, he looked over at Madison with a curious yet intrigued smile. “This must be the sister you’ve been telling me about. You were right, she is adorable.”

  Madison had to smile at his comment.

  Then, he took her sister’s hand, kissing it as he sat down.

  “Let me introduce you two. Madison, this is Jonathan Collins. He also works for a law firm as well.”

  “Can I ask you a question, Madison? Do you mind if I give you a nickname since we’re going to be family soon anyways?”

  “Family? What do you mean by that?” Madison asked looking over at a snickering Candace.

  Soon, she got her answer when her sister pulled out her hand to show her the big sparkler of a diamond on her finger.

  Madison’s jaw went so far down that it would have hit the table if she hadn’t got it back up. “Oh, my God, I can’t believe you. You always were a good one with surprises.” She laughed as she got up to her hug her sister and her soon to be brother in law.

  “Curly Q!” he said after he hugged her.

  “What?” Candace wondered.

  “That’s what I’m going to call you from now on. With all those curls you’ve got, they look like mounds and mounds of curly Q fries.”

  Madison couldn’t stop laughing even while she hugged him again.

  Within a year, Jonathan and Candace got married and within five years, they had two new additions to their family, twins Jonathan Junior and Janessa Marie.

  They were just like her children and she spoiled them both like any aunt would do for their nieces and nephews.

  Turning right onto Walsh Avenue, she saw the sign on the mailbox that said, ‘The Collins’ and pulled right into the driveway. Getting out with a big sigh of relief, after such a long drive, she stretched her arms out towards the sky.

  “Hey there Curly Q,” a voice called out.

  When she looked towards the open garage, she saw Jonathan emerging from inside. Smiling, she ran up to him and hugged him tight as Candace came from a door into the garage as well. Looking at her sister, she grabbed hold of her and didn’t want to let her go as tears streamed down her face.

  Candace held her tight. “I only have one rule while you’re here, no more tears.”

  Laughing, she nodded as they both walked inside while Jonathan got her things from her car.

  “Auntie Madison!” shouted the cheerful voices of the children as they came in to greet her in the hallway.

  “Oh my babies now come here, so I can take a good look at you both.” Making their way over to the guest room as she sat down on the couch, Madison couldn’t believe just how much they’d grown. This would be the first time since their ninth birthday that she gotten the chance to see them. “Look at you both, my goodness did you lose a tooth?” She looked at Jon Jr. who’d been grinning from ear to ear while running her fingers through his soft curly brownish blonde hair.

  “Look Auntie,” Janessa said as she handed her a piece of blue construction paper with what looked like a drawing of a butterfly decorated with glitter. “I made it just for you.”

  Madison kissed her niece’s forehead and hugged her tight as she admired the picture. “I have missed you both so very much and I will treasure this always.” She saw a twinkle in her hazel green eyes.

  “Will you come out with us to go swimming? Mom said we couldn’t go until you came?” Jon Jr. asked.

  “Let me rest a while sweetie, it was a long drive coming here to see you and I need my rest.”

  His father came into the room. “Why don’t you guys go on and let your Aunt rest a while before lunch.”

  The sounds of their little awes made Madison’s heart grow heavy all they had wanted was her attention. “Why don’t I go and get my swimsuit and you guys can show me what new dives you learned while I was away.” She smiled as they ran out of the room screaming with glee.

  “You truly amaze me, Curly Q. I’ll meet you out by the pool,” Jonathan said as she got up, giving him a pat on the head before heading back to her room.

  That afternoon, Madison and the kids played in the pool and she had to admit this had been what she truly needed, to be around family who loved and cared for her. It was also fun listening to Candace telling her about the parties for the stars who she had to cater for and just how insane some of their requests were.

  “You can’t be serious. They really gave you that budget and wanted pate foie gras
and caviar. I hope you told them they had to fork over more money?”

  “Yeah, I did and that’s when we went back and forth on the phone about if they wanted a high priced party, they were going to have to put up more money for it.” Candace laughed while brushing Madison’s hair in her room later on that evening. “Oh speaking of parties, I’m having a bunch of friends who are bringing over some potential clients to the house tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Oh really, well I will be out of the way,” Madison said.

  “What do you mean out of the way? I want you in the damn way and find you someone else. That idiot Paul really screwed up by messing around with someone else. I know for a fact that there are going to be a lot of available men here tomorrow.” She giggled.

  Madison laughed with her. “I don’t know if I am ready to be looking for someone else right away sis. It’s too soon.”

  “Excuse me! You are too damn good looking to say that it’s too soon. Besides, it’s been like what over a month now since the divorce had been final and it’s been three weeks since you’ve been out. So yeah, it’s time for you to find someone new or make some new friends with major benefits.”

  Chapter Two

  The day of the party was hectic around the Collins household. Some of Candace’s staff had come to help out with serving food as well as setting up tables and decorations. It all looked really good.

  Madison had been debating about what to wear for the party but with the help of Janessa whose exact words were ‘this one is really pretty Auntie’, she decided to wear the black spaghetti strap dress with tropical lilies along the front.

  Her sister was speaking to Johnathan in the main room, “You know I’m a perfectionist with these things. Even if I am having it here at home, everything has to be just right before I can be…” Her words halted as she got a look at Madison.

  “Damn!” Jonathan exclaimed.