I could hardly comprehend how nervous I felt as I began walking down to the first floor of the condo building. The greater part of me wanted to know how the other 11 white husbands still living here felt, and why I had not seen them more than a few times in weeks. Another part of me was truly afraid to know.
My purpose was unclear to me at the time. I suppose that I just needed to be "consoled" at the same time I wanted to share my discovery of "The Black Jacques Club" with them.
I wanted them to know more about the place we all "seemed to know" our beautiful white wives were going to hang out all the time.
When I tapped on the door to David's condo unit he was completely shocked by my unexpected visit. He was also quite apprehensive to talk and said that I shouldn't be here. In turn, I was also quite shocked by his attempt to shut the door on me while he was asking me to leave.
"David? Wh-Why? What's wrong? Please?" I pleaded, putting my foot inside and preventing him from closing the door.
David suddenly gave up trying to shut his front door. He then broke down in tears. I couldn't believe the look of fear I was seeing on his face as he tried to explain. Unbelievably, he told me that Tra'mon had ordered him not to discuss anything about what was going on. He explained that the young black stud was very adament about keeping things personal and quiet, and that was the reason for him keeping to himself.
David admitted that he was scared to talk to anyone else, and didn't have any desire to do so either. The 6'5" tall white man confessed to me that he was terribly afraid of Tra'mon, just as I was.
"Why? What do you mean? Wh-What?!" I gasped.
"W-What's happened? David, please?" I cried.
I stood there shocked beyond belief as he further broke down and continued to explain. David told me that his wife, Tammy, had "an affair" with Tra'mon and he was almost certain that she was now pregnant with the black stud's child.
"Oh my gawd, David. Are y-you serious?" I asked, meekly.
"H-How? W-What happened?" I asked, almost not wanting to know.
"Sh-She told you th-this?" I asked, pleading.
The tall white man had a much sadder look on his face now. I sympathized with his embarrassment and the intimidation he so obviously felt from this strong black man's blatant invasion into his once peaceful life.
David wouldn't describe how or when it happened, or even how he found out. He only admitted that he knew for sure that it was Tra'mon's baby and that his wife was now seeing "someone else" from the workout center where she worked.
"David, how could that be? You do know Julie left me and is seeing Tra'mon, don't you?" I asked.
"H-How could he have b-been with Tammy?" I mumbled passively.
"I guess so. I know he is with Julie. I heard that. We all did. I-I'm sorry for that but I really d-don't know how he g-got with Tammy." he cried.
"H-He just did." David sobbed.
"P-Please, Richard. Just go. I-I really need you to go, okay?" he said, his eyes pleading for mercy.
It looked like David was about to break down into a deeper level of tears. He seemed embarrassed by the whole situation, and the knowledge of his pretty white wife carrying a black man's baby. Furthermore, she was seeing another black man from the fitness center, and it was too much for him to bear.
He confessed that Tra'mon was still coming by on occasion and "picking on" him, and he didn't know what to do about it.
"I-I'm sorry, D-David. I d-didn't know." I returned, consoling him just as much as I felt I needed consoling.
As I began to leave I suddenly stopped at the front door and turned back. David's face was more than embarrassed and worried. I felt as if I needed to say something. He was feeling just as defeated by the masculinity of black men as I was, and for some reason I spoke out.
"D-Do you th-think that maybe if w-we talked to him together h-he would stop bullying us?" I asked David.
David's eyes widened in horror.
"Are you kidding? N-No. No w-way. I-I'm not going to do th-that. I'm not getting my ass kicked, again!" he shouted.
"Uh, Again?" I replied.
"Wh-what do y-you mean, David?" I asked, fearful of his response.
But, David "clammed" up. He wouldn't speak. With the embarrassment written all over his face he asked me to leave. His pleading eyes begged for me to leave him alone in his own degradation, and I understood exactly how he was feeling.
I was shocked and embarrassed as I left David's apartment. Yet, I finally knew the reason for not seeing him in all these weeks. It occurred to me that all the other 11 white husbands in the condo may have felt the same way as I did. I reasoned this may have been the reason for Mark's curious and sudden departure weeks ago.
That suspicion was confirmed after I defeatedly and deperately knocked on the doors of the remaining ten white husbands in the building. In every case, the white husbands were home alone and their attractive wives were out. It was passed midnight and it appeared that all of our wives were out partying at "The Black Jacques Club" after working all day at the gym.
One by one, each of the other husbands practically shut the door in my face after a few carefully chosen words or quick statements. All of them seemed afraid and embarrassed to talk to me, and each and every one of them merely provided nothing more than a small "blurb" of what "may have" been going on these past weeks.
In my mind, I unwillingly gathered all the information that I could. I had "pieced" together all the little pieces of informationto discover the ultra-humiliating truth - the truth that all 13 of us taller white professional and moderately wealthy husbands were intimidated by this one young athletic black stud.