Single Ladies by Blake Karrington Page A

somebody stepped up and knocked her off her throne, she was going to continue to be his main and number one chick.
    * * *
    A couple of nights ago Kim had called Lisa and warned her that Ralphy had come to her office and found out about Dre being home. Lisa stayed home and waited for the confrontation, but when Ralphy got home he didn’t have much to say. Lisa tried to talk to him, but he insisted on not talking. Lisa, not really being in the mood either, just left it alone.
    Today was a different day. Lisa had been walking around the house on eggshells long enough and the silent treatment Ralphy was giving out was killing her. As soon as Lisa came back from dropping Naomi off at day camp, she went right at Ralphy.
    â€œYo, we need to talk,” Lisa said in a demanding way when she walked into the bedroom where he was at.
    Ralphy stood in front of the mirror fixing his tie and ignored her request. Lisa wasn’t taking no for an answer. Ralphy tried to walk out of the room but Lisa ran over and slammed the door, pressing her back up against it so he couldn’t leave.
    â€œMove from in front of the door, Lisa,” Ralphy said in a calm voice, patting her on the arm.
    â€œNo! I’m not moving until we talk,” she said.
    â€œWhat do you wanna talk about?” he asked, stepping back and taking a seat on the edge of their bed. “Make it fast ’cause we both gotta go to work.”
    His calm and relaxed demeanor was throwing Lisa off. She expected Ralphy to have snapped out by now about what had happened, but he didn’t. “Baby, I fucked up and I’m sorry,” Lisa began to plead, walking over and kneeling in between his legs.
    Ralphy gave her a confused look like he didn’t know what she was talking about, but in that same look, it showed that he knew exactly what she was talking about. Lisa sat there stuck for a minute. She couldn’t believe he was going to make her say what she had done. He wanted to hear it from her own mouth and for Lisa it was like being tortured. She looked up at him and could see the hurt in his eyes. She just put her head down, unable to fix her mouth to say the words.
    â€œWhy you ain’t tell me dis nigga was home?” Ralphy asked, breaking the silence.
    â€œI don’t know, babe. I really didn’t think it was something you wanted to know. He came—”
    â€œDid you fuck dat nigga?” he asked in an angry tone, just thinking about it. “Don’t fuckin’ lie to me.”
    Hearing him ask the question in the manner that he did kinda scared Lisa. It wasn’t the fear of him possibly putting his hands on her, but it was the fear of losing him that made her lie.
    â€œNo!” she answered quickly. “I did not have sex with that boy,” she lied flat out with a straight face.
    â€œSo why da fuck is you callin’ his name out? And you did it while I’m in the middle of—”
    â€œI know, I know, babe. I’m sorry,” Lisa cried out.
    Lisa cried like a baby, but Ralphy wasn’t impressed. He had a gut instinct it was deeper than what Lisa was telling him. “Look, I gotta get to work,” he said, getting up from the bed. “I need some time to—”
    â€œNo, babe, wait!” Lisa whined, getting up from her knees and following him. “Ralphy. Please!”
    Ralphy stopped at the door and turned around. He never heard Lisa cry like this and, naturally, he became sympathetic toward his wife. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, trying his best to suppress his anger so that he could comfort her.
    â€œI don’t wanna lose you. I love you so much,” Lisa cried out as she held on to him tightly.
    â€œShhhh! It’s cool, babe. You not gon’ lose me. We’ll get through this together,” he said in a soft voice.
    What he said was comforting, but how he felt in his heart was uneasy. He didn’t want to show it but he was hurting