I put the ticket carefully inside the inner zippered pocket of my purse, picked up Jabari, and said, “Come on, baby. We’re going to see Daddy. Mommy has the biggest surprise in the world.”
He giggled and wrapped his arms around my neck.
I ran outside and flagged an Uber with my heart pounding so fast it almost hurt. The whole ride into Midtown felt lit from inside. Atlanta looked brighter than I had ever seen it. The traffic on Peachtree didn’t even bother me. I squeezed Jabari’s little hand and whispered, “Our life just changed, sweetheart.”
The car stopped in front of the small office building where Zolani’s firm rented space. I had been there a dozen times over the years. I had helped him sort paperwork when the company was just starting. I had sat up late beside him at our dining table while he ran numbers and muttered over bids and contracts. That office had once felt like both of our dream.
I walked in carrying Jabari, my pulse skipping with excitement.
The receptionist, a young woman who knew me well enough to smile when she saw me, looked up from her desk.
“Morning, Kemet. You here to see Mr. Jones?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to sound calm and failing. “I have amazing news for him.”
“He’s in his office. I think he may have someone with him, though.” She hesitated. “Want me to buzz him?”
I waved my hand and grinned. “No, don’t. I want to surprise him.”
That felt important. I wanted that first expression to be real. I wanted to see with my own eyes what joy looked like on his face before the rest of the world got involved.
So I went down the hall by myself, moving quietly.
The door to his office was cracked open.
I had just lifted my hand to knock when I heard it.
A woman’s laugh.
Not a professional laugh. Not the laugh of a client or a vendor or someone making polite office conversation. It was low and sweet and intimate.
“Oh, come on, baby,” she said. “Did you really mean that?”
I went completely still.
Jabari made a small sound in my arms, and I instinctively covered his mouth gently with my hand, holding him closer.
Then I heard my husband’s voice.
Soft. Persuasive. Familiar in the worst possible way.
“Why are you in such a hurry, my love? Let me straighten things out with that country bumpkin I have at home. Once that’s handled, I’m filing for divorce.”
Something inside me split clean in two.
Country bumpkin.
He was talking about me.
I took one step back and pressed myself into the corner of the wall, out of sight. My hands were shaking so hard I thought I might drop my child. Jabari, sensing something was wrong, buried his face against my shoulder and went quiet.
The woman spoke again, and this time I recognized her.
Zahara.
Zahara—the one Zolani had introduced to me as his sister’s friend. The pretty young woman who had sometimes come over for dinner. The one I had welcomed into my house, poured sweet tea for, laughed with, and liked.
“And your plan?” she asked. “Do you really think it’ll work? I heard your wife has some savings.”
Zolani laughed.
I had never heard that laugh before. It was dismissive, ugly, full of a contempt that made my skin go cold.
“She doesn’t understand anything about life. She stays home all day and believes whatever I tell her. I already checked on those savings. She said she used them for a life insurance policy for Jabari. Smart, actually. She cut off her own escape route.”
There was a rustle of movement inside. The soft thud of clothing. Kissing. Sounds so intimate and so unmistakable that even in my shock I understood exactly what I was hearing.
The lottery ticket in my purse suddenly felt like a live coal against my side.
A few minutes earlier, I had been on top of the world. Now it was as though all the joy had drained out of it, leaving only something bitter and metallic behind.
My husband was not just cheating on me.
He was planning to ruin me.
I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. Tears ran down my face in silence. Jabari lifted his little hand and touched my cheek, trying in his sleepy toddler way to wipe the tears away, and that hurt worse than anything else.
What was I supposed to do?
Burst in there and scream?
Throw the ticket in his face?
Collapse?
