Player Haters

by Carl Weber

  “How you doing, Deaconess?” Dante raised his hand as he smiled meekly. He turned back toward Blue, who’d stopped laughing and was back to rocking his head to the music.

  “Blue, turn the radio down,” Dante said through gritted teeth.

  “What?” Blue shouted, wondering why Dante was whispering.

  “I said turn the motherfuckin’ radio down!” Dante yelled this time. He reached for the volume knob, doing it himself. He turned back to Deaconess Wright, who was already punching buttons on her cell phone. Dante knew that could only mean trouble. Especially when he heard her speaking into the phone about something that sounded suspiciously like, “Oh yes, he’s drunk. I’m sure of it.”

  The light turned green but before Blue could hit the accelerator, Deaconess Wright swerved out of the right turn lane and into his, speeding down Merrick Boulevard.

  “Aw, shit.” Dante slammed his hand on the dashboard. “Man, I bet that bitch is headed straight to the church to see my momma.”

  “So what?” Blue shrugged.

  “So what? Do you realize how much trouble I’m gonna get into?” Dante’s face showed his concern.

  “Trouble for what?” Blue sighed, rolling his eyes at his friend. “How old are you, Dante?”

  “Man, you know how old I am.” Dante snapped with attitude. “Twenty-one. Same age as you.”

  “Okay, so you’re old enough to drink in this state and buy cigarettes, right?” Blue asked sarcastically.

  “Yeah, what’s the point, Blue?”

  “The point is…” Blue took his eyes off the road and glared at Dante. “Why the fuck are you so worried about some old church biddy with droopy titties calling your mother? You a grown man. What your moms gonna do, give you a beatin’?”

  “Look, Blue, I been trying to explain this to you for years. Everything that my sister and I do is a reflection on my parents, and a reflection on the church. My pops is Bishop T.K. Wilson, for crying out loud. He’s one of the most powerful pastors in the city, possibly even the state.”

  “And? What’s that supposed to mean? You know I like the Bishop, Dante, but he ain’t God. He’s just a man. He likes pussy just like the rest of us heathens, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

  Dante couldn’t help it. He let out a frustrated laugh. Blue had a way with words that was always colorful if not true.

  “You don’t understand how hard it is being the Bishop’s son, Blue. That old bitch, Deaconess Wright, has had it in for me ever since her homely ass daughter Mary married Reverend Reynolds. She seems to think I’m the only thing standing in the way of her son-in-law becoming the next pastor when the Bishop retires.”

  “Yeah, and she’s right. You are the only one in his way.”

  “But I don’t wanna be—”

  Blue cut him off. “Don’t even start that shit, Dante. Not unless you’re willing to tell your peoples the truth.”

  “I can’t tell them the truth. Not yet anyway. My momma wants me to be the pastor one day, and so does the Bishop. I can’t let them down.”

  “Let them down! What about letting yourself down, Dante? You got a chance to intern at Aggressive Records under Black Barron himself.” Blue’s face looked pained at the thought of Dante passing up that opportunity. “Man, you need to stand up to your parents. Shit, man, you don’t even wanna be a minister. How you gonna be a pastor?”

  Dante shrugged his shoulders but remained silent. They’d had this conversation a hundred times before, and the result was always the same. Dante agreed with Blue, but he never actually had the nerve to confront his parents about his true aspirations. Blue turned his attention back to the road, but not before he turned up the volume again.

  A few minutes later Blue pulled his truck in front of the church and smiled at Dante as he stuck out his fist. Dante tapped Blue’s fist, stepped out of the truck and stretched. At an even six-feet, three-inches tall, Dante was a well-built man with a basketball player’s body and smooth, handsome, almond-colored features. His friend Blue, not an inch over five-eight, was also well built, and considerably darker. His real name was Neal, but Dante couldn’t remember anyone other than a few teachers calling him anything but Blue since they’d met. He and Dante had been best friends since the sixth grade, and against Dante’s mother’s better wishes, they had just gone apartment hunting together.

  “I’ll check you later. You gonna be up there by Manhattan Proper tonight?”

  “Probably. Yo, you sure you don’t wanna come in? The women’s choir rehearsal’s about to get out and you know they gonna have some food and some good-looking honeys downstairs.”

  Blue glanced over at Deaconess Wright’s Lincoln Continental and Dante’s mother’s champagne Mercedes-Benz parked in the church’s parking lot. Dante’s offer was tempting. Not only was Blue hungry, he loved messing with them church girls. Still, he really wasn’t up for any drama. And with First Lady Wilson around and Deaconess Wright there, there was sure to be some drama. If things went as they usually did, Blue would be the one who ended up getting blamed for it, too.

  Blue pointed at the two cars. “I think I’ll pass, bro. It looks like you about to have some drama with your momma. Ain’t no need for me to stick around. I’ll just make things worse for you.”

  “Chicken. What, are you scared of my mother?” Dante teased.

  “Pretty much,” Blue replied.

  “I thought you said I should stand up to her.”

  “I said you should stand up to her. You’re her son. Me, I’m gonna carry my ass on home where it’s safe. Only time your moms wants to see me is on Sunday and that’s only if I’m putting something into the collection plate.”

  Dante chuckled. “You know she loves you, Blue.”

  “Yeah, like a snake likes a rat. Did you forget what she did last Saturday? She got on the mike at the church bazaar and told everyone who’d listen to hold on to their daughters ’cause Satan just walked in. Them people started staring at me like I had horns and shit. Now, I’ve been called a lot of things, Dante, but to have the first lady of the church call you the Devil has got to be the worst.”

  Dante lowered his head. He had to laugh at his mother’s antics. Despite her actions, she really didn’t dislike his friend. She just loved her son and didn’t wanna admit that he was human and could make mistakes. It was easier for her to make Blue the scapegoat for any of Dante’s missteps. “She didn’t mean anything by it, Blue.”

  Blue rolled his eyes. “Dante, face it, man. Your mom doesn’t like me. She never has. She thinks I’m a bad influence on you.”

  “Yeah. Little does she know I’m probably a worse influence on you than you are on me.” They both laughed as Dante closed the Jeep’s door and headed for the side entrance to the church. When he entered the building he was greeted by the loud cackling of women gossiping, then a sudden silence. Dante smiled as he approached the thirty or so women of the First Jamaica Baptist’s award-winning women’s choir standing in the church recreation area.

  “Hi, Dante.” One woman smiled.

  “What’s up, Latrice?” he replied with a nod. That started a chain reaction of hi’s, hellos, shy waves and blushing if he happened to make eye contact. The women seemed to part like the Red Sea to allow Dante to pass through and enter the hallway to his office. He could feel their eyes still on him as he passed. He thought he even heard a few sighs.

  Dante had been given this type of attention from the young women of the church for years, and it seemed like most of their mothers encouraged it. As the son of the Bishop, he was treated like royalty, the crown prince of the church. Like all princes, every young woman in the village wanted to be his princess. For years Dante had taken advantage of that, fooling around with half of the women in the congregation who were younger than twenty-five.

  Dante walked into his office and closed the door. He sat behind his desk and listened to the women of the choir leaving. He checked over the schedule for the youth basketball league, which he ran as director of t
he church’s children’s activities. Not long after he sat down, there was a knock on the door. A knock he’d been expecting ever since he and Blue pulled in front of the building. He got up and walked toward the door, but there was no need. The door opened before he could get there.

  Dante stopped dead in his tracks when he realized it was not his mother, as he had expected. It was the vibrant and sexy Anita Bell, the only woman he’d ever loved, or at least thought he loved.

  “Anita,” he gasped as his eyes quickly roamed her body. Anita was dressed in a very conservative white church dress with white heels, but her voluptuous body made anything she wore look provocative. One of the things Dante had loved about her was that she knew how to use that body like no one he’d ever met.

  “Dante,” she said, smiling. “I guess some things never change.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Dante was truly confused until Anita pointed at his crotch. Dante looked down and blushed. When it came to Anita, it was obvious which one of his heads was in control. Dante took the folder he was holding and tried to hide his swollen manhood.

  “Don’t hide it now. I’ve already seen it.” She smirked, reaching behind her and locking the door then stepping closer to him. She kissed his full lips. “I missed you, Dante,” she whispered.

  She kissed him again before he could respond. This time she wrapped her arms around him and he did the same. Their kiss was so passionate it took his breath away. When it was finally over, they stayed wrapped in each other’s arms and stared lustfully into each other’s eyes.

  “God, I missed you, Dante,” she whispered as her right hand moved from his backside to his crotch.

  “I missed you, too,” he said as he gently pushed her away. “Just not enough to commit adultery. Where’s your husband?”

  Anita took a step forward and looked up at him with a frown. “Why’d you have to mention him?”

  “I don’t know,” he said sarcastically. “It seemed kind of important when I realized you were unzipping my fly.” Anita sighed. “So where is he, Anita? Where’s your husband?”

  “He’s at our new house in Hollis, unpacking our things. But you don’t have to worry about that. Only thing you need to be worried about is what’s in front of you. I want you, Dante. And I’ve missed you. I’ve been thinking about you every day since I left.”

  He glanced at her and his mind went down memory lane. He and Anita had been going together since he was nineteen, although very few people other than Blue and his sister knew about it. They’d kept things on the low because Anita was his father’s secretary and ten years his senior. The age difference didn’t bother Dante, though. As far as he was concerned, he was going to marry Anita. But she knew better. She knew that his mother and father were never gonna go for that. That’s why she started secretly dating Deacon Robert Emerson. Deacon Emerson was an arm amputee in his early forties. He was well known around the church and had considerable assets. He’d been trying to get Anita to date him since she’d started working at the church. For almost four years she’d told him no, but one day she smiled and agreed to go out with him. Three months later, much to Dante’s chagrin, they were married and moved to Florida at Anita’s request. She knew she needed to get as far away from the temptation of Dante as possible. She may have denied it, but she was in love with him. Now after eight months Anita and the Deacon were back, and since she had mentioned a new house, it appeared they were back to stay.

  “I’m back, Dante. And once I ask your father to give me my old job back we can get right back to doing everything the way we did before. And I mean everything.” She posed flirtatiously and gave him this sexy look that made his rock hard penis even harder.

  “What about your husband?”

  “What about him? We kept your parents in the dark for almost three years. What makes you think we can’t keep him in the dark too?” She stepped closer to him, rubbing his chest the way she knew he liked it. “I need you, Dante. He can’t satisfy me. I haven’t had an orgasm since I was with you.” She frowned pitifully, like a child who was being punished.

  Dante thought about how easy it was for him to make her climax. He knew her body better than he knew his own. He ran his finger down her spine, and she shuddered with excitement. He lowered his head and blew in her ear. Anita moaned out loud. How could the Deacon not be able to do that? he wondered, then smiled at his own ego. Anita was his pussy. She had always been his pussy. He looked at her. He looked at her in the manner a man reserves only for his woman. Oh, those feelings were starting to come back. But instead of making him want her, they made him angry. He pushed her away.

  “Well, I don’t want you. Not if you’re married. Not if you’re his wife instead of mine. What are you doing back here anyway, Anita?”

  “I hated Florida. I hate him. I needed to get back to you. I love you, Dante. Please, baby, let me show you how much I love you,” she pleaded.

  Dante didn’t say a word. He just silently watched Anita unbutton her dress until she was no longer wearing a conservative church dress. But she was still wearing all white—a white push-up bra, white panties, white garter belt with white stockings and of course, those sexy white stiletto heels. The contrast against her mahogany skin was stunning.

  “Please, baby. Let me show you how much I love you.” Anita rubbed her hands on his chest again then kissed him gently before she started to slowly kneel. Dante knew what she was about to do and was virtually powerless to stop her. Oral sex was his weakness and Anita was an expert.

  “I can’t do this, Anita,” he whispered repeatedly, but that didn’t stop her. Finally he just decided to give in. When it came to Anita, Dante’s big head went on autopilot and his little head took over. He placed his hand gently on her hair and stared blankly at the wall as he waited eagerly for the pleasure she would soon give him. Anita licked her lips as she stared at his pulsating manhood and prepared to swallow it whole. Unfortunately, that would not happen today because Dante spotted the picture of Jesus hanging on the wall. Anita may have been the master of his penis, but she was not the master of his conscience or faith, neither of which would allow him to commit adultery.

  “Oh, dear Lord, forgive me,” he said, his eyes focused. He jerked her head up. “I can’t do this. This is wrong. You’re married.”

  Before she could reply, there was a knock on the door and a jiggling of the doorknob.

  “Dante, are you in here, son?” his mother called through the door.

  Dante instinctively answered, “Yes,” as both he and Anita stared at each other with panicked looks on their faces. They knew if they didn’t open that door quickly his mother, a suspicious woman by nature, would put two and two together the second she saw Anita in his office. And Lord help them both if his mother had Deaconess Wright with her as he suspected. Anita reached down and picked up her dress then turned back to Dante, hoping to get some direction.

  “Hide?” Dante was as panic stricken as Anita.

  Anita glared at him. “Where?”

  Dante’s eyes searched the room for a hiding place. He jumped when his mother knocked on the door again. He pointed toward his desk.

  “Dante, open this door,” his mother said sternly.

  “Under my desk,” he whispered to Anita. She scrambled over there as he approached the door. He waited till she was out of sight then opened the door. His mother and his father, Bishop T.K. Wilson, greeted him.

  “Have you been drinking?”

  “No, Ma,” he replied, opening his arms to give his mother a hug. In his mind, he was cursing the woman in the black Continental. Damn, that bitch Deaconess Wright lied on me again.

  His mother sniffed him as she kissed his cheek then smiled with satisfaction. If he knew his mother, she’d been defending him tooth and nail and now felt vindicated in her actions. “Why was this door locked?”

  “Huh? Oh, uh,” Dante searched his mind for an excuse as his mother stared into his eyes. “Because I was changing my clothes and I didn’
t want any of the women’s choir walking in and seeing my private parts. I just came from the gym and wanted to get out of those sweaty clothes.” He casually turned his back and zipped up his pants as his mother walked by. She was surveying his office, as if she knew he was lying.

  “Hey, Bishop.” Dante offered his father his hand, still keeping his eyes on his mother and his desk. “So what brings you two down here?” His mother’s suspicious look instantly became a jubilated smile, and she spoke before her husband had a chance to get out a word.

  “Oh, Dante. We have the best news. Come sit down so we can tell you.” Dante moved over to his desk quickly and sat down. His father had a habit of sitting at his desk and that wasn’t something he could risk right now. As his parents sat down on the other side, Dante glanced under his desk. Anita, still half-naked, smiled at him. Dante pushed his chair back about a foot when she stroked the inside of his leg. He knew Anita too well. She was a freak and he wouldn’t put it past her to try something crazy like pulling out his manhood to finish what she’d tried to start earlier.

  “So, what’s this great news?” Dante asked, slapping Anita’s hand as she tried to unzip his pants.

  “Well, Dante.” His mother turned to his father with a huge smile. She looked like she was gonna bust a gasket she was so excited. “I’m gonna let the Bishop tell you.”

  Dante turned his attention to his father, who leaned forward with a paternal smile. “Well, son. Your mother and I just found out you’ve been accepted into Howard University’s seminary school.”