The Woman from Harvard (4)

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

By 1990, Carmen may have been the closest woman to me aside from my soon-to-be wife. My Mom passed away of cancer that summer. Carmen and Nelson were there at my Mom’s funeral and the burial. Meant a lot to me.

When my wife and I got married in 1991 in Brooklyn, Carmen and Nelson were there in the sweltering Congregational church. I locked eyes with Carmen. She had not changed since I first saw her in Harvard Yard that spring day back in 1983. Non verbal communication is all I can say. After we tied the knot, the ceremony moved to the large reception hall. An ungodly number of people were at the reception. I won’t say how many as the number is a slight embarrassment.

I danced with my new wife and my new mother-in-law. For a moment, I looked across the way and saw Carmen beside Nelson. There were so many people and much noise and gaiety in the air. Carmen looked at me.

I felt alignment.

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My new wife and I moved from Alexandria, Virginia to San Diego in 1992. I began a new career as a law professor and my wife worked for a member of Congress. We settled in and began making this beach town a home. And like clockwork, Nelson followed my path in the law. He interviewed for faculty positions and accepted an offer from a law school somewhere in the universe. I am leaving out identifying details to protect Nelson’s privacy. We are no longer on speaking terms but he is the godfather of my two sons.

One day around 1993, I received a frantic call from Nelson. It was about Carmen. “She cheated on me with not one but two men! I can’t believe it!” It was true. While Carmen was in law school, she had began outside relationships with I believe a law student and a judge. Carmen! I guess Carmen was discovering that she drove black men crazy/triple smile. Nelson went up and down and called Carmen every name in the book. It was distressing to hear. They were a couple. They had dated for, what, eight years? I was sad.

Guess who called me after Nelson hung up the phone?

“I can’t believe Nelson! He burned my Harvard diploma. My Harvard diploma meant the world to me and he destroyed it!” It was true. Nelson lashed out after learning he had been cheated on. Carmen did not deny she engaged in extracurricular activities but she felt nothing justified destroying her Harvard diploma. She then launched into a brutal critique of Nelson’s anatomy. A woman must really trust you if she tears into your best friend’s sex organs. My ears hurt.

I was at a total loss. Carmen and my best friend were breaking up and they were unloading all of their hurt and pain on me. I just listened. It was not my place to play favorites. Carmen and Nelson became lost souls. Nelson chased female students, so stereotypical. Carmen unleased her inner vixen.

It was all a grand mess until Carmen crossed a line.

The Story Continues, Dear Readers, the Story Continues….