(For full story: KONvert Karey)

It had been nearly two weeks since I had seen or heard from Amir. To be honest, I felt bad about our last encounter, and was avoiding him at all cost. He was hounding a sister too. It seemed like fate was on my side because every time he would come knocking on my door, Derrick wouldn’t be there. I mean this brother worked evenings but was steady calling me all the time. You would’ve thought he had lost his job. He was texting and calling so much, I had to block his number.

Things between myself, and Derrick were getting better. I was feeling so drawn to him lately. He seemed as if he was making an effort towards bringing me into the circle on a public level. He had discussed with his wives about having a family meeting. He said the look on their faces was like, “Oh boy, here we go”. Derrick had just got a job offer paying the most he’d ever made, and maybe they knew the first thing he was going to do was remarry. He started helping out his wives more financially, and was putting in a lot of work taking time with the kids. He deserved to be married again. Deep down, I think they knew it too.

Derrick had been married to both of his wives for 16 years. The first wife had 7 children by him, and the second wife had 5 children by Derrick. He married them 3 months apart. They knew about one another immediately. I’m not sure why it was different with me. They seemed like they all got along pretty well from what he explained. HIs wives usually sold their homemade goods through vending events. They even attended Quran classes at the Masjid. I really hoped that info would have given me a clue to who they were. It seemed like all the sisters at the Masjid were always in groups, and no one ever talked about their husbands. No one! I could never make a clear distinguishment.

I was excited to meet them. Excited to be a part of the family. I had just one issue. Amir. I needed to tell him I was no longer interested. It’s never difficult to tell people how I feel. I’m a strong woman, and I never back down to no one. However, I believe I was being selfish. I was kind of holding onto Amir in distance just in case things didn’t work out with Derrick. Seeing as though Derrick was ready to introduce me to his family, it was really time for me to let Amir go. I’m not really sure why he was clingy to me. I mean, niggas get that work all the time from females. Why would one episode phase him? Maybe it was just that good! Or, his wife was pregnant, and you know what people say: Father’s can feel symptoms as well. I guess! Maybe he was extra emotional, and touchy like a pregnant broad. He could’ve just found another sister, and moved on because I was ready to be a part of one big happy family with Derrick.

It was the day of the big meet. I was feeling so elated. Derrick had told me that he couldn’t wait until the meet to tell his wives so he had already told them. They were just fine with it, and very anxious to meet me. They were going to all pick me up, and we would go out for an evening outing in the city. I was prepared to give a speech to my new sister wives. I had it all planned out. I was going to tell them how honored I was to be a part of the family. I was ready to learn the religion with them. Even though I wasn’t as much of a homemaker as them, I did want my own real estate company, and was working towards getting that together. I was thinking we all could run the business as sister entrepreneurs. I had big plans, big dreams for me, and my sisters.

I told Derrick I was running a little late but would leave the side door open for him. I was getting dressed when I started to feel faint. I could barely put on my pants. The room started spinning, and my head felt like it was going to explode. Before I knew it, I was on the floor. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move. There was a sense of fear. Then I just lost all consciousness. Once I began to wake up, I could feel that I was still lying on the bathroom floor. It was cold, hard, and my arms wrapped around the toilet. As I was trying to focus my sight, I could hear voices. There were four blurry images standing over me. I reached out my hand, and someone grabbed it. I knew it was Derrick’s hand because he has the most softest hands and I could smell his Oudh oil. Still trying to regain my sight, I could hear voices continuously asking me if I was okay. I couldn’t make out the voices though as my head was still ringing. Finally, I regained my eyesight. And hell! I was asking why the Lord didn’t just take me as I laid unconscious on that bathroom floor. Standing above me were Derrick, two of my sister friends Kinza and Hiba, and Amir.

Kinza, was looking at me with tears in her eyes with an expression of disbelief while Hiba was looking like she was ready for me to wake up to tell me what was on her mind. Derrick, well, he was just Derrick. You never could get a proper read on that nigga. However, Amir, my gosh. His expression made me feel the worst, and he wasn’t even my husband. He looked glassy-eyed, and confused. My guess was that Amir showed up as Derrick, and my sister wives showed up, and they all rolled in Karey’s Kingdom together. All I kept thinking was why? Why me? Why this? And why the hell did I faint?