everything she wanted. For example, the time Renee casually mentioned that she wanted a diamond ring, one that she and Joel both refused to label an engagement ring. Renee automatically referred to it as a friendship ring. To Joel calling it a friendship ring was a weak but appropriate title. He temporarily lost his mind and bought that ring, but he swore that he had no intention of marrying Renee. Buying that ring was more or less about going through the motions in a strained relationship and trying to keep his girl happy. In reality, Joel viewed that one-and-a-half-carat diamond friendship ring as a small price to pay to keep Reneeâs big mouth shut.
Fortunately there was never any talk of kids or accidental pregnancies. They were always extra careful when it came to involving a new and innocent life in their messy relationship. More proof that they didnât intend on anything too serious or long-term.
Things between Joel and Renee werenât always bad. When they first hooked up he knew that she was a high maintenance type. She told him that it took lots of effort to keep up her Beyoncé appearance. What guy wouldnât want a beautiful celebrity-lookinâ chick on his arm? If it meant kicking out a little cash to get Reneeâs hair and nails done, then Joel was fine with that because she made him happy and happiness meant everything to him.
Renee had her own cash flow. She worked as a disability claims processor for the Social Security Administration. Joelâs first impression of Renee was that she was a glamorous well-educated sista with a decent career. He was incredibly impressed. Here was this Howard University graduate, no kids, career-oriented, low debt-to-income ratio and a slamminâ body that any man would love to have. When Joel seriously thought about it he knew that some serious drama had to come along with this one: Renee was too good to be true.
Like most beautiful overconfident women, Getting Over was the name of Reneeâs game. The thing that bothered Joel most was that she used her looks to get whatever she wanted from him and her body to get whatever else was left. In the beginning Joel was just plain ole pussy whipped. Renee had the whip appeal for real. She had him wrapped around her little finger and eating out of the palm of her hand from the moment they first laid eyes on each other.
After dating for six months, Renee asked if she could move into Joelâs cozy little one bedroom apartment located in the Owings Mills section of Baltimore County. Renee was in Joelâs life, in his heart, so he thought why not his apartment. Being the accommodating type of man that he was, Joel welcomed Renee with open arms.
Joel was a graduate of Morgan State University and now a fifth grade social studies teacher with a pretty decent income. He automatically assumed that with their combined incomes, he and Renee were about to be elevated to a new socioeconomic level. He thought their relationship was moving in the right directionâhe was delusional. The excitement and initial steady flow of great sex often has that effect.
He felt that the best way he could get to know Renee was if they tried living together. He assumed from her personality and general appearance that Renee would be an absolute pleasure to live withâeven though he never had the opportunity to see Reneeâs old apartment on a real functional level. When they met she had most of her belongings boxed up or lying in huge piles all over her apartment. Renee blamed the clutter and confusion on the fact that she was in the process of moving. Joel believed her because he thought there was no way a fine-ass woman like Renee could purposely be living in a junk pile.
Joelâs apartment was full of art and imported furniture. His place could have easily been featured in a magazine. When Renee moved in, it slowly began to resemble an obstacle course. Organization was important to Joel, but he eventually got
Lynsay Sands, Hannah Howell