I Loved Them All: Part 1

By Dee Martinez

Tara is a hot mess.  She meets these guys and falls head over heals in love with them and none of them are worth sh*t.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TDUB Publishing
• Release date: Dec 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386208785

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

I RECENTLY MOVED BACK in with my parents after leaving my husband, Casey.  I had been sulking around the house because I was depressed about how things had turned out with my husband.  I’m not sure why I was surprised that things hadn’t gone well considering how we met and everything else that had transpired.  I met my husband while attending college.  I was a little more prepared for college life than most of the other freshman because I had already been away from home in a boarding school for four years.  I had worked since I was 14 years old over the summers and I saved my money.  I was one of the only freshmen with a telephone in their room.  This was back in the early eighties before everyone had cell phones. This was a blessing and a curse.  The small group of friends that I had made all used my number when they met young men.  My phone rang all hours of the day and night which drove my roommate who was the most prim and proper young black girl I’d ever met.  Now I wasn’t wild and crazy by any means, but she was just all the way straight.  There wasn’t anything but purity in that girl.  Anyway, one of the wildest ones in my group, Bel, which was short for Bella had given my number out to one of the dishwashers in the dining hall named Casey.  I was in my room one night being lectured by my roommate Ellen about all the sins of college life when the phone rang.  I got up from my bed and walked over to answer the phone,

Hello.

Uh Hello, Bel?  I rolled my eyes because I swear this was the fifth guy who had called for her in the past few hours.  I was really going to have to have a talk with her and cut her phone privileges off.

No this isn’t Bel.  Whom may I say is calling?

Uh this is Casey, but who is this?

This is Tara.

Well Hello Tara and why are you answering Bel’s phone?  I laughed and said,

Actually, this is my phone.

Oh, I see, so do you even know Bel?  I laughed again and said,

Yes, I know her, she’s one of my girls here in the dorm.

Oh, okay I was wondering if she gave me a bogus number or something.

No, she didn’t but this is my phone in my room.  I can go see if she’s around for you.

Actually, no I’d like to talk to you a little more if you don’t mind.

I don’t know you.

Exactly why I’d like to keep talking to you so that I can get to know you.

I mean that’s kind of foul to do that to my girl.

Nah it’s cool because we really haven’t talked or anything yet.  She was just passing through the line and my boy was talking about her.  She turned our way and I smiled.  She smiled back and before she left the dining hall she came back over with her name and number on a napkin.  That was it.

Oh, okay well, I mean I guess there’s no harm in us talking for a little bit.  I’m not doing anything right now.  As soon as I said that I heard Ellen let out a heavy sigh and she jumped up off the bed and gathered her shower supplies and headed out the door and slammed it on her way out.  He heard the door and asked,

Who was that?  I walked over to sit back on my bed with the phone and said,

That was just my dramatic roommate.  I guess she’s upset because I’m talking to you on the phone now instead of listening to her lecture me about the sins of college.  I laughed and so did he then he said,

Wow the sins of college really? 

"Yeah, she’s a real piece of work but her heart is in the right place.

That’s cool but I’m sure it’s also a little annoying at times.

Oh, it’s annoying all the time.  I said laughing.  He laughed also, and I smiled.  I had no idea who I was talking to, but I liked his voice, his northern accent was sort of sexy.  We stayed on the phone and talked for a couple of hours before I started to get sleepy and told him that I needed to get some sleep. 

Well Casey it’s been nice talking to you, but I really need to get some sleep.

Yes, we both do. Ellen screamed from across the room.  Casey heard her and laughed,

Yeah okay I need to get some rest also, so I can get to work on time tomorrow.  Am I going to meet the lady behind this beautiful voice tomorrow?  Again, I smiled and said,

I don’t know, maybe I might see you if I get hungry or something.  He chuckled and said,

Oh, alright it’s cool, I see you’re going to play hard to get. 

Nah I’m not into games for real but yeah I’ll stop by to see you at some point tomorrow.

Alright bet.  See you tomorrow.  Nice talking to you Tara.

Goodnight.  I hung up the phone and when I turned around, I was met by a very unapproving gaze from Ellen.  I said,

What?  I’m off the phone now.  She started shaking her head and said,

Yeah but you sure did talk to him for a long time for him not to be calling for you.  I gathered my things to head to the shower and said,

Well you sure are all up in my college business for someone who is so anti college because of all the sin.  She didn’t respond she just turned her back to me and acted like she was going to sleep.

When I returned to my room after my shower I noticed that the phone had been taken off the hook.  I just shook my head and put it back on the hook, but I unplugged it from the wall.  Like Ellen I wasn’t interested in hearing the phone ringing all night.  I got into bed and quickly fell off to sleep.

The following morning, I saw Bel when I was on my way to my first class.  She was slightly ahead of me walking with a few other girls from our dorm. I called out to her,

Hey Bel.  She turned and said,

Hey Tara, what’s up?  I picked up my pace to catch up with her and she stopped but the other girls kept walking.

So, my phone was ringing off the hook last night.  She smiled and said,

Oh yeah so which one of my pimps called me last night?  I laughed and said I think all of them did.  Now she laughed and said,

Well I was out with my main one until two am this morning so the rest of them have to wait in line.  I shook my head and said,

Girl you need to stop.  She gave me a strange look and said,

Why?  With a serious look on her face.

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