Unfaithful Ties Read Online Free PDF Page A

she heard the door shut. “Maybe you won’t ”
    ****
    Brandi was lying in the bed halfway asleep when she heard the phone rang. She eased up against the four-poster upholstered headboard, shook the covers off of her legs, and answered the phone.
    “Hello my name is Ms. Hancock.” She heard a soft but stern voice say. “I’m the assistant principal at North Madison high school and I’m calling to speak to Brandi Hardnett please”
    Steam shot straight to Brandi’s heart. She was upset and didn’t want to be bothered that early in the morning with her son’s nonsense. “You’re speaking to her!” She said, in a raspy tone. “What has Tremaine done this time?” Tremaine had been suspended from school so many times that she’d lost count. Punishment? Why bother? Nothing she said or did meant a hill of beans to him. He was out of control and she’d disciplined him every way humanly possible. The only thing that was left for her to do was send him to the juvenile home, and she just didn’t have the willpower to go to that extent. And telling his father to talk too him proved to be a waste of her time, because he never did. She was at wits end with that son of hers and she just didn’t know what else to do.
    The early morning sun was gleaming through the drapes, heightening her sudden headache, so she squinted her eyes and turned over to her side. For the second morning in a row she’d awakened to a stinging headache, pouring perspiration, and displeasing information about her son’s actions at school. It’d become a ritual, someone from the school called her at least once, twice, and sometimes even three times a week. The sardonic smile that etched his face every time that she chastised him made her feel foolish, and at times she just wanted to give up. Where did I go wrong with that child of mines?  She constantly questioned herself.
    She felt her blood boiling over . Just the week before, he’d been suspended from school because the campus police found two loose cigarettes in his backpack during a random locker inspection. “Those weren’t my cigarettes” He’d promised Brandi. “I don’t know who put those in my backpack.” Like any other mother she wanted to believe him, but because he’d violated her trust so many times before she was not the least bit convinced that he was telling her the truth. Just like his father, Tremaine Jr. was a compulsive liar and if he didn’t change his demeanor he was going to end up in one of the two places. Jail or the cemetery. To Brandi, he was still her baby and it was difficult for her to imagine him ending up in either of those places. The thought of it scared the living shit out of her.
    “He was caught skipping class today by Coach Drummett. Whom he called names such as faggot and homo. I’m going to assign him to in school suspension and he won’t be able to return to regular class until the three of us sit down and have a conference. Is next Tuesday morning at ten okay with you?” The voice on the other end of the phone asked.
    “That’ll be fine” Brandi said and hung up without letting Ms. Hancock finish her sentence.”
    She blamed herself. The boy had transferred schools so many times that she couldn’t keep up. Long before her companion Tremaine Sr. had decided not to dedicate another four years of his life to the United States Air Force she’d begged him to resign for years, so that their children could have a shot at a normal life, a life where they didn’t have to move from city to city at the drop of a dime and didn’t have a choice because it was ordered. She wanted them to have a stable home. One that was permanent. And then reality hit her, and she became cognizant of the naked truth, when in fact even if they had a stable home, their lives still won’t be stable because nothing is stable about her and Trae. He no longer desired to be with her. Hardly ever said anything to her. And when he did, it wasn’t nice, or sweet, or even