Kiss From A Stranger

by Denetria

  Egypt heard her name being called and looked up to see the doctor motioning to her. Well, let’s get this over with, she thought to herself as she walked into the room.

  Egypt mastered the routine. She took her normal seat on the couch and watched Krystal retrieve her file and take her place in the chair.

  “I’m sorry about the wait, but I felt my last patient needed a little extra time. Let’s get down to business. I would first like to say congratulations! You’ve made it to a point that I never thought you’d get to. This is your last session with me. I can say truthfully that out of all of my clients—and there have been a lot of them—you have been the most challenging. So as always, I have to ask what has taken place since we last spoke.”

  “I thought about what you said, and I decided it was time for a change. I was lying in bed, and all of a sudden what everyone had been telling me finally hit home. So, I got up the following morning and went job hunting. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I am employed now. I’ll be saving up to get my own place and take back my life.”

  “That is a huge accomplishment. And yes, you are on your way to regaining your life. So, now we’re about to start reflecting on those demons. I hope you’re ready, because I’m going to let you know right now that it is not going to be easy. You may want to give up. If you want to leave, I can’t make you stay. But if you do stay, you’ll be one step closer at getting where you need to be. Okay, we’re not going to go through the long, drawn out process of your past, but I do want to hit on some major details before this session ends. Once you step out of this office today, I want you to go purchase a journal. In that journal I want you to continue writing everything you went through, and what you are trying to accomplish in the future. The reason I want you to do this is whenever life throws something in your way, look back on what you’ve been through and know that you’re trying not to be in that place anymore. Okay, now let’s begin with your senior year.”

  Egypt nodded her head and began talking. “I made it through my senior year with ease. I mean, I wasn’t worried about any no good ass niggas, and I wasn’t about to look stupid fighting over them. I didn’t want to be in a clique, so I wasn’t involved in one. I just wanted to get the hell out of Augusta. The only thing on my mind was my full scholarship and obtaining a doctoral degree.”

  “What happened? I mean, what changed your mind?”

  “I met a guy named Jaheem Banks. At first it was just us being friends, but we decided to try a relationship. We enjoyed the time we had together, and we knew that he would be leaving soon. He had acquired a football scholarship to Texas A&M, and I would be going to LSU. We called it off before going to college because we knew it wasn’t going to work. “

  “In my junior year of college my father became ill and I returned home to help my mother. I ran into Jaheem and was shocked that he was there around the same time I was.”

  “From there, it was just like old times; like nothing had changed between us. But, I learned so much from him in the days and nights we spent together. The life he claimed to live and his friends seemed to be made up by him. You could say that it was a mask that he wore to cover his pain. Jaheem’s mother and father had been killed when a drunk driver hit them, and at a young age he was then sent to stay with his mother’s sister and her six children, so he basically had to find his own way to survive. I wanted to press the issue because I felt that there was more to the story, but I saw the pain in his eyes and left it alone.”

  “That scholarship was his meal ticket, but as a precaution he decided to pursue a law degree, and when the time was right, open his own office.”

  “I knew that I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted this… whatever it was we had between us to continue. If it didn’t last, it would be okay, but I knew I didn’t want to let him go and wonder.”

  “His last night in Augusta, we went to dinner, and afterwards walked through the park. We sat on the bench enjoying the sights. Suddenly he turned, and out of nowhere he said that he could not go back to Texas unless I was with him. Without hesitation I agreed. We were happy, in love, and nothing was going to stop us. Little did I know how wrong I was.”

  Egypt took a breath and closed her eyes, letting her mind go back to when they were in love.

  “We moved into an apartment off campus and set up our own cozy little lifestyle. I took care of home as I waited for my transcripts to be sent while he went to school, working on achieving his degree and juggling football. I had no problem doing this. I was his, and we were going to be together forever. His dreams were my dreams, and vice versa. You just don’t understand. My entire world changed when Jaheem and I moved in together. The way that man treated me was unlike anything I’d ever known. And when it came to ‘love-making’ (I say it that way because he told me that there was a difference between having sex, fucking, and making love) I didn’t know what he meant, but I would soon find out.”

  “I don’t know what it was, but from something as simple as a touch, he sent chills up and down my body, and the way he looked at me, made me want him. I wasn’t a virgin when I met Jaheem, but there were things that I hadn’t experienced. Oral sex was one of them. I remember the first time I got head from him. We had just finished having amazing sex. I had never had oral sex in my life, and I was scared. I didn’t know what to expect coming from him. This was about to be the biggest decision I was going to make. I was about to become a woman.”

  “I was lying on his chest when he began kissing and touching me in all the right places. My body began to quiver as his lips moved over my breasts. He bit my hardened nipples. It wasn’t a hurting pain, but an exhilarating pleasure. I moaned. Hell, I had to admit that the shit was driving me crazy. He then disappeared under the covers, kissed the inside of my thighs and gave me the warmth of his breath on my clit. I moaned with pleasure. I wanted to give him all of me. He stuck his tongue deep inside of me, all the while sucking on the lips of my pussy as if he was a baby nursing from its mother. As he licked on me, he slid two fingers inside and began finger-fucking me. I had never in my life felt anything like that in my life. He sucked me faster and fucked me harder. It was then that I couldn’t take it anymore and exploded in his mouth. He continued sucking until he had all of me, and when he finished he lay down beside me.”

  “I tried to turn away from him. I didn’t want him to see the tears rolling down my face. I remember him asking me what was wrong and if he had hurt me. Of course he hadn’t. He had given me something that I had never felt in my life before. I didn’t understand those feelings. I could remember the aftermath and the way I felt. I mean, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would feel anything like that in my lifetime. He knew he had me, and if he didn’t have me before, he had just solidified it.”

  “I knew that I should have been on some type of birth control, but I wasn’t, and I knew he wasn’t using anything either. Let him tell it, it didn’t feel right when he used a condom. But that shouldn’t have stopped me from taking care of it myself. We both knew that we didn’t have any room for children in our lives at that time, but that didn’t stop us. When it came to sex between us, it was anytime, anyplace, anywhere, and however he wanted it. And again, it was alright because we were together.”

  “Here’s the thing; back then, in my mind I figured that if I gave my man whatever he wanted, he wouldn’t have to go looking for anyone else. There’s a difference in how a woman thinks and how a woman with the mind of a little girl thinks is that the only thing little girls want is money to get their hair and nails done, go shopping, and they are happy with being the side chick. With a grown woman, she’s looking to be the main person in her man’s life, and will make sure there is no way another bitch can slide through and take what she has. Actually, it worked out great.”

  “As I said, I was waiting for my transcripts to arrive. When they finally came, I had to wait to enroll for the following semester, which gave us more time together. I mean we were ‘that’ couple.”

 
; “Everything was great between Jaheem and me. It seemed as if nothing was going to ruin what we had together. Through his friends I made friends with their girlfriends. Every game, home or away, we were there supporting them.”

  “Then things took a turn that neither one of us were ready for. Homecoming week was one of the biggest turnouts for everyone. Cars were getting egged and/or Silly Stringed, and of course the biggest game of the year was played. It was even more special for Jaheem because this would be his last day as a senior. We knew that scouts would be in the crowd, and he hoped that they liked him enough to pick him up.”

  “I was excited, but I didn’t want to become overly excited. I guess because I didn’t want him to think that I was just there for the ride. But I was looking forward to becoming an NFL wife, even if it meant that he was going to a shitty team or as a rookie. We might be going to the pros. I said ‘we’ because that’s what it was. He was mine and I was his, and in my naïve mind we were going to be together ‘til the end of time.”

  “We had also discussed what would happen if he didn’t make it. The idea was for him to find a job, build his career, and when I graduated, we’d open an office for us. We were going to be the next Jay-Z and Beyoncé… well not really, but that was my dream, and I wanted to live it.”

  “As I said, it was game day, and for the fifth day in a row I was sick to my stomach. And even though I wanted to, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to make the game that meant the most to him. I kissed him and watched him walk out the door. I had that sinking feeling that something just wasn’t right, but I tried to ignore it and somehow drifted off to sleep.”

  “I woke up to see that two hours had passed. I called a cab and began to get dressed, hoping to be finished before it arrived. It was close to three years now since I’d been in Texas, and I still hadn’t built up the nerve to drive there. If Jaheem wasn’t driving me, I was taking a cab. I always laughed when he asked me if there was an emergency, what I would do. And I always blew him off.”

  “I heard the cab blow for me and literally had my hand on the doorknob when the phone rang. I opened the door and yelled for him to wait, and ran to answer the phone. I picked up the phone, and on the other end, my life ended.”

  “Hello, is this Egypt?”

  “Yes it is. May I ask who’s calling?”

  “Do you know Jaheem Banks?”

  “This is Egypt, and Jaheem is my fiancé. What’s going on? Is something wrong? What happened?”

  “Umm, yes, ma’am. He was injured. We can’t go into details right now, but how soon can you get to A&M Medical?”

  “I was so scared. I mean, how are you supposed to feel when you get a call telling you that one of your loved ones is in the hospital? I didn’t wait to put the phone back on the receiver. I tossed it across the room and headed out the door.”

  “Even though it was only a couple of minutes, it felt like hours. I didn’t take time to count the fare as I tossed the driver the money and ran inside the hospital. My heart was beating out of my chest as I ran up to the nurse’s station where I was told to take a seat and the doctor would be right out to answer my questions soon. I felt as if my legs couldn’t hold me, but I couldn’t sit down. I just needed him.”

  “Hours later the doctor came through the door pulling down a surgical mask that covered his face. My heart sank as he walked over to me. ‘Is Jaheem okay?’ I asked him.”

  “‘He will be, but…’ he said, letting the words linger in the air.”

  “But what? What’s going on?”

  “‘He tore his ACL, which means that he will never be able to play again. An injury like that is one that you rarely come back from.’”

  “I felt as if I were punched in the stomach. The only thing I could think about was Jaheem and how much having an NFL career meant to him. I asked the doctor if Jaheem knew this.”

  “‘He does know, and of course he’s not taking it well, which is to be expected. But the main thing is getting him back on the road to recovery,’ he said.”

  “I asked to go see him, and the doctor said it wouldn’t be a problem, but he still may be a little groggy. He led me down a long hallway with tan walls and brown tiles, stopping at Room 329. I hesitated before I walked into the room where he was laying in the bed. His head was slightly raised and his knee was wrapped in gauze. Blood had begun leaking through. I kissed him softly on the lips and he opened his eyes and looked at me. ‘Did they tell you?’ he asked me.”

  “He told me. But we’re not going to worry about that right now. All I want is for you to get through this. And trust me, I’m going to be right here beside you.”

  “When I said that, I meant it. I never gave up on him. I was there. When he hurt, I hurt. If he felt as if he couldn’t go on, I pushed him. So, when he came to me and told me to put my college education on hold, I did. You may think I’m crazy, but he told me that I needed to be home to help him, and I agreed.”

  “The day came that I had been waiting for all my life. He asked me to marry him during a sunset picnic on the beach. I mean, nothing could stop the way I was feeling at that time. He said that we couldn’t afford a big wedding, so none of my family was invited and we ended up getting married at the courthouse. I think that’s when I noticed the change, but I didn’t want to believe it. I just continued to go along with his changes.”

  “I held his ass down, all the while listening to, ‘You’ll be going back to school soon. Just get a job until you go back,’ until I realized that if I got a job, I’d always find a reason to put off going back to school.”

  “I guess you could ask me why I continued to stay if he did me so wrong. It’s because he was my husband and I loved him, and I really and truly believed he loved me. The look he gave me when we made love, how he made my body quiver with just a touch, how he made me wet just by looking at me, I was hooked on him, believing that no one had my best interest at heart but him. So, I pushed everyone else away and out of my life completely.”

  “We… well he decided that we would wait on having children until he had his own practice, and six years later Banks OB/GYN Clinic was opened. It wasn’t his alone because he shared it with another doctor. I didn’t care about anything at that moment. He had done what he had set out to do and that was all that mattered.”

  “One Saturday morning I awakened to him not lying beside me. I grabbed one of his shirts and walked through the apartment looking for him. I blew it off thinking that maybe he had gotten a call, but hours later he walked through the front door with the biggest smile on his face.”

  “‘You are looking so fucking sexy right now!’ he said as he ran to me, lifted me in the air and kissed me.”

  “Okay, see, I know you’re lying, but I’ll take it!”

  “‘You will never have a problem with not being beautiful in my mind. But I need you to do something for me. Find some clothes to put on. It doesn’t matter what it is. You don’t have to get all pretty. I have something to show you.’”

  “The way he looked at me had my mind racing. I didn’t know what was going on, but apparently it was important enough that he didn’t care how I walked out of the house. I ran up the stairs and found some sweats and a T-shirt, brushed my teeth and washed my face, and headed back downstairs.”

  “We drove in silence for a while, but as we got closer to whatever he wanted me to see, he pulled over and placed a blindfold over my eyes. We drove a little further and eventually the car stopped. He opened his door and ran over to my side of the car to open my door. When he pulled the blindfold off, there in front of me was the biggest house I’d ever seen in my life. ‘Welcome home, Mrs. Banks!’ he said, and kissed me.”

  “Let me stop you right there. Are you telling me that you guys were moving out of an apartment and into your own home in six years?” the doctor asked Egypt. She had sat there in silence letting her talk, only writing in her book. But by the look on her face, she found it hard to believe.

  “I mean it does sound crazy,
but Jaheem felt that we were financially stable enough to become homeowners. He then told me that he had another surprise for me. We jumped in the car and headed across town to Roanoke. I asked him what we were doing over here. I watched as we passed houses in the upper suburbs before finally pulling into the driveway of a red brick home.”

  “‘Get out,’ he said as he walked around to open the passenger’s side door.”

  “As we walked up the drive, I looked at the yard filled with shrubbery and was in awe of the quaint and quiet neighborhood. Jaheem rang the doorbell, and as we stood there waiting I was still trying to figure out what was going on. As far as I knew, we didn’t know anyone located on that side of town. After a while of standing there with no one coming to the door, I turned to him and said, ‘Maybe they aren’t home. Right now, I want to go and break in our own home.’”

  “Jaheem opened the screen door, withdrew a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. I just stood there looking at him in awe. Could this home be ours also? I thought. I walked inside the house which had unpacked boxes on the floor. What in the hell is going on? I wondered, until I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I looked up to see my mom and dad standing there smiling at me, and I broke drown crying. Jaheem knew how much my family meant to me, and had moved my mom and dad closer to me.”

  “He was good about those types of things like when he fucked up and thought that he could buy me. But I’m sorry; I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll get to all of that later. Maybe then you’ll understand it better.”

  “When Jaheem got his office, I began working in the other doctor’s office. I thought that it was a good idea. I would be working in the same location as my husband. We would be spending more time together since he worked long hours doing paperwork.”