The Awakening by Shakir Rashaan Page A

time, and probably should have never been. I know the guys you got with that night, and they both told me you came at them, desperate as hell to get back at your husband because you thought he was cheating on you and using Kane to cover for him. So, the way I see it, you’re gonna have to damn near kiss his ass and hope he wants to work things out.”
    â€œOkay. Okay,” was all Jasmine could say. She slumped on the couch, letting the words that I’d just said to her sink in completely. She’d been busted. Like I tried to tell her, the alternative community was a very small, very close-knit one because there are so few of us who do WIITWD, or what it is that we do . I guess the prospect of actually losing her husband was enough to actually humble her for a change.
    Jasmine walked out on the patio to try and compose herself, and I needed to cool down as well. I sat down at the bar and put my head in my hands, in a desperate attempt to relax my mind, trying to find a peaceful place. Candy placed her hand on my back, checking on me with the hope of finding out what happened to her best friend.
    â€œWhat got into you, baby? You would have thought Jay was blood or something?” Candy asked.
    He wasn’t blood, but he is my husband’s best friend, which makes him family. Right now, he needed someone in his corner, and for the first time since they were married, I was concerned that that person was no longer Jasmine.

8NEFERTERRI
    It’s been a few weeks since that crazy night, but thankfully things settled down to a crawl. Jay still hadn’t gone back to Jasmine, although he did manage to spend a few nights at home for a while.
    It wasn’t going to be easy, but I had faith things would work themselves out. Blame it on the optimist in me.
    But with school around the corner, it was going to be a little more difficult to actually get some “play time” in. Parties happened in waves when it came to this lifestyle. Very rarely was it hot all year, every year.
    Candy decided she needed to take a break from hosting at her house, which was fine because no one was planning on doing anything major between now and Amenhotep’s party on Halloween. Since the holiday fell on the weekend this year, it’s gonna make for one “hell” of a good time. Well, once the kids were done with trick-or-treating of course. Besides, it gave us girls some down time from the summer madness and to do some early costume shopping for the kids. As far as the adults were concerned, the type of shopping for costumes that we wanted to wear couldn’t be done in the “regular” stores.
    I think we were all stunned when word got out Jay and Jasmine had separated. We still saw them online, and Jay still came over on Poker nights, but no one had really figured out where he hadbeen staying. Even as tight as he and Kane were, not even he knew where he was. Rumors were rampant he was at an ex’s house, but nothing was confirmed until I made an unexpected visit over to Candy’s house after leaving work early today.
    We usually had long lapses where Candy and I kept in touch, but we didn’t physically see each other. I had a key to her place, and vice-versa, so, it was nothing to pop up and hang out, and my excuse this time was the aforementioned costume shopping for the kids. But instead of surprising her, imagine my surprise in seeing Jay’s bike covered in the garage.
    â€œWell, I’ll be damned.” I shook my head. I didn’t know that those two were even that close to begin with. But then again, there were probably things that even best friends don’t always share.
    Candy opened the door and acted like she’d seen a ghost. She knew I’d caught her, but the question in her mind was how much did she think I knew?
    â€œDamn, is it five already? So, what are you gonna be for Halloween this year?” Candy asked nonchalantly.
    There was no sense in beating