Interview
I sat back down in my interview chair, about to question my own creations for a second time. This time, with Stacie’s interview having been wrapped up, we decided to give the husbands, with her permission, a chance to speak and tell their side of things. Gain a perspective on what life is like as a male in the community. Yet, the only one to sit down in front of me was Alpha. He was tugging at his fitted t-shirt and slacks while looking around the spacious white room.
There were two empty chairs left beside him, and of course, like his name and nature, he took the first.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“We were all coming from different places so everyone drove separately,” he shrugged.
I didn’t think his voice was that deep. At least, in my head it wasn’t but hearing it for the first time, I was pleasantly shocked, given that I’m the author. Just wished I didn’t give him such a thick beard because all he did was sit and gently pull at it while looking back at me.
“Well I have a few questions just for you while we wait,” I said, looking down at my notes. “First question…would you be able to be a second husband if you had to do it all over again?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It wouldn’t work out and I would probably have a hard time adjusting in the house. I don’t care who the wife is. I would have a hard time adjusting to that, if I wasn’t first. Especially given the way I grew up. I think,” looking down at the floor before looking up in thought, “I think men are born for certain roles in the household. I was meant to be first. O was probably meant to be first too but he chose to be second in order to be with the woman of his choosing. Deuce is just Deuce,” he shrugged with a smile. “As long as he’s in there, he don’t care.”
“How is Stacie doing?” I asked as he immediately smiled at the mention of her. “How far along is she?”
“She’s about 5 months now…she don’t look it but she is… We got the gender reveal next weekend so I’m excited. I think she’s carrying a boy but she’s hoping, like everyone else, for a girl.”
“How is she enjoying being pregnant?”
“She’s…” he dragged before laughing to himself. “She’s…handling it like a boss. Everything is technical with her, you know. Her and O share in that trait. Me, and Deuce just going with the flow.”
“How excited is your dad about being a grandpa?”
“He’s ready. He doesn’t think he’ll get much time with the baby since her family is damn near moving mountains in preparation for their grandchild, but I’m not gonna let that happen.”
“Can I ask…what made you come back to her…or why did you decide to come back once Omega came into the picture? How did you handle being in the house with him after being away for so long?”
He shifted in his seat, getting uncomfortable but I waited because I wanted to know, people wanted to know.
“I came back because there isn’t a woman out here like her…there aren’t women out there like the ones in the community. I know this shit sounds crazy and maybe its the way my brain has been,” swirling his fingers in the air around his head, “programmed. This shit has been beaten into my head since I was a child that women are the closest thing to God. Women are confident. Women are without flaws. Women are perfect. Black women this black woman that. You go out into the real world…or even just around the corner at the nearest Wal-Mart and you see the opposite. You see black women doing shit I couldn’t even imagine my own mom doing…The way they carry themselves…the insecurities, the pressure they put on themselves and project onto others and men are expected to carry all of that and still be a man…where as in here…women are born believing they’re perfect and all men have to do is just cater to that… I lucked up with Stacie and there are a few others like her…but then you have wives that abuse their husbands and break them down mentally, physically, emotionally…and they’re still meant to perform as men…so which do you take? Do you…struggle to get on your feet, get a job, your own spot…deal with girls who come with baggage, kids, insecurities, trauma and unresolved bullshit or do you get the woman who wrapped up in a pretty box, gives you everything you need so you don’t have to worry about shit but them… The wives, the women are designed to be damn near perfect so when they come across a man, all the man has to worry about is making sure they maintain that…”
“Mmmm,” I nodded as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his beard.
“As far as being back in the house with O the first few nights,” he smirked, having circled back to my original question. “I had to listen to them struggle fuck for a while…I would get a laugh out of it until it wasn’t funny anymore. Until he was in her bedroom night after night and she refused to see me. That went on for about two to three months. She wouldn’t even acknowledge me outside of basic shit like clothes and shoes…”
“She shops for you too? I knew about the others, but I assumed you would get your own things.”
“Nah, I can get my own stuff,” he said, puffing his chest out a bit. “But she knows my taste and what I like…my size and preference in everything so she shops for me as well. Sometimes we’ll come home to bags on our bed full of clothes and shoes…Only one she can’t get right is Deuce so she takes him with her,” he laughed. “Like a fucking kid.”
“You seem to be the one that kind of runs the house when she’s not there,” I said. “Do you consider yourself a leader in that sense?”
“Yeah, I am. That’s my role in her life. I am her other half. Not her better half, just an extension of her. I don’t need to fuck as much…I don’t need to constantly be in her face… I am my wife and my wife is me. We’re one and the same. I’m comfortable enough in my position that when I want her attention, I’ll get it. She’ll drop whatever she’s doing, whoever she’s with to come to me. She knows this about me. It’s what we talked about because at the end of the day, these niggas could really choose to just pack up and leave if they wanted. They’re not legally tied to her. Shit like having a car and basic materialistic things can all be transferred back to her if they choose to suddenly dip out but you know who has to stay? You know who is choosing to stay or else he would have to go through the courts, go through this long ass process of divorce…me,” hitting his chest. “At the end of the day, I am her first and will be there until the end. They can leave if they wanted to.”
“But we’re not.”
I turned around seeing Omega walk in with this berry colored suit as he adjusted the blazer while Deuce walked in with ripped jeans, slides with thick black socks and a black shirt with his locs pulled back by a green rubber band.
“My bad, I forgot all about this interview!” He let out as he shoved his hand inside the Burger King bag. “Lemme eat this real quick and then I’ll be ready. I was out hooping with the homies and these were the only clothes I had in the car.”
Omega moved his chair an inch or two away from Alpha while pushing the empty chair away from him, not wanting to be too close before he sat back with a stoic yet model like face.
“We call him the pretty thug,” Alpha said with a laugh. “Deuce, what we call him?!”
“Mr. Nice Nasty!” Deuce hollered as the two laughed but Omega kept his face a blank canvas, unbothered by the jokes.
“Why…pretty thug or Nice Nasty?” I asked.
“Because, that nigga looks like he ain’t about that life but will be the first to swing or keep it on him!” Deuce said with a mouth full of food. Omega simply nodded in agreement. “Nobody would ever see it coming, that’s why out of the three of us? Niggas would probably try him before they try Alpha or me. Shit, they know not to fuck with me off top. I’m a monster… fuck with the wife, and it’s ya life…real shit.”
“Real shit,” Alpha nodded.
“Real shit,” Omega agreed.
Deuce finished up his food as he brushed his hands together before sitting down on the chair like a kid gone off sugar. He was a ball of energy compared to the other two but he eventually settled into their moods, easily blending in with the other husbands and in that moment, I could see why Stacie chose these three as her partners in life. They all fed off each other's energy. The moment Deuce entered their space, suddenly they became a bit more rugged, street, hood, and cool but when Alpha spoke, they were confident and cocky but just being around Omega, it was an entire mood they could emulate without doing the most.
“Alright, let’s start the interview…”
Actual interview will be posted tomorrow on the Brotherhood Series on Kindle Vella...A series I'm doing to pass the time until The Perfect Sister 2 is out.