“Maybe so. But I know I could’ve. Why not? You were so quick to fuck Adonis after Jasper died. Any bitch that moves that fast is in heat.”
“I don’t like the way this is going, Marcus. I’m leaving.”
“No, you’re not. Not if you know what’s good for you.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. You’re not leaving because we need each other. I need to know something, and I have some information about Adonis that you need to hear. You see? We have a lot of needs.”
“Sorry, Marcus. The last time you told me something about Adonis, it wasn’t exactly true—”
“Was it exactly false?” he asked sarcastically.
As crazy as it sounded, she had to admit that what he’d told her had had some truth to it. Because of Marcus, she’d found out about Christy. But the game he was playing was dangerous.
“I don’t know, and I’m sure I don’t know anything that you need to know.”
Marcus sat down with a sigh. “What I need is simple. I’m willing to save you a bunch of heartache in exchange for peace of mind. Just tell me who Gigi’s been seeing.”
As far as Daisy knew, Gigi wasn’t involved with anyone. And if she was, Daisy wouldn’t tell him. “No one that I know of.”
Marcus shook his head. “Try again.”
“I’m telling you, no one. She hasn’t told me anything about anybody. And if she was seeing someone, she would’ve told me.”
Marcus stood and studied Daisy’s eyes. “As much as I don’t want to believe you, I have to. Take this for what it’s worth. Your so-called man has his other woman from L.A. visiting him.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“You’re incredible.” Marcus laughed. “First, you were mad at me for not telling you about Jasper, and now you don’t want to believe me about Adonis. Trust me on this one. I know for a fact that Christy is here.”
Daisy froze. Marcus had to know what he was talking about. Otherwise, how would he know Christy’s name? He hadn’t when he’d first told her about Adonis’s engagement. She knew for certain that Gigi and Ming Li would never share that information with him. “Are you sure? How do you know?”
“I have my ways. I found you today, didn’t I? I also know that Gigi’s screwing someone. And I know where you live. Do you want me to tell you your address?”
Daisy shook her head. “That’s okay.”
“Why don’t you take a ride to Fourth Avenue and Twelfth Street tonight, say…around eight o’clock? A good game of pool will do you good.”
As irrational as Marcus was acting, Daisy had to believe him. Feelings of anger and foolishness rose up within her. “I just may do that, Marcus. Thanks…I guess.” She turned to walk away.
“One more thing. Tell Gigi that I love her new look, and that that cranberry-colored thong she was wearing the other night is sexy as hell.”
Daisy stared at him. “You haven’t been stalking her?”
“Wanna know why I believe that you really don’t know anything about Gigi’s new man? Because as beautiful and innocent as you are, as smart as you appear, you’re a lot dumber than you look. You’re blind in one eye and can’t see out the other.”
“No, Marcus. I beg to differ. Maybe once upon a time you would’ve been right, but not anymore. I see everything clearly now, including the fact that you don’t stand a chance of getting Gigi back. Blind or not,” she added with a laugh, “even I can see that she’s not in your future.” She walked away, hating that she had let herself stoop to his level.
Daisy sat on Ming Li’s stoop, waiting for her to arrive. She ran one hand through her disheveled hair and hung up her cell phone with the other. She’d been trying to contact Gigi, but had gotten no answer. She checked her incoming calls and saw that she’d missed two of Adonis’s. She had her reasons, she told herself, for deciding not to return them. Although she wasn’t sure if she should believe Marcus, she didn’t want to talk to Adonis right now. If Christy was in town, she was sure that he’d have some excuse, some made-up business appointment he had to attend. Her words to Marcus echoed in her head. I see everything clearly now. “Do I?” she muttered.
“Hey, why are you sitting out here?” Ming Li asked as she walked up. “You could’ve let yourself in. You know where the key is.”
“I just needed to sit outside for a while. I don’t feel as alone with my thoughts that way. The traffic helps.”
Ming Li unlocked the front door. “Come on in and tell me what’s going on.”
Daisy followed her inside, then sat down at the bar and put her head in her hands. She needed to talk to Gigi. She and Ming Li had gotten over their misunderstanding, but Daisy still had reservations about opening up to her. Their trust wasn’t the same, and neither was their friendship. She hated to be so standoffish with someone she’d once thought of as a sister. But sisters didn’t keep secrets like that.
“So, what is it?” Ming Li asked as she pulled up her stool and poured a glass of bottled water.
For the first time, Daisy noticed that all the alcohol had been removed from the once fully stocked bar. All the furniture she’d destroyed was gone as well.
“I…I don’t know—”
“You don’t know what? If you can tell me? If you can trust me?”
Daisy nodded.
“I guess that’s understandable. After what I kept to myself, I don’t know if I’d be able to, either.” Ming Li paused. “Maybe it would help if I told you my truth—the rest of the story.”
“Maybe.”
“Well, you know how I’m always so hard on men—on everyone? It’s been for a reason. I wasn’t born this way. In fact, I started therapy to try to cure it.”
“Therapy? I always thought you needed it, but I never imagined you’d actually go.”
“Ha!” Ming Li laughed. “See, that’s just it. I’ve never been as strong as I appeared to be. It was the cognac—bottled courage.” Her eyes misted. She brushed at them, but she couldn’t hold back the tears. Before Daisy knew it, Ming Li had broken down sobbing.
Daisy shifted uncomfortably. She’d never seen Ming Li in so much pain, never thought her capable of it.
“I started drinking when I was eight. Bet you didn’t know that, hunh? When I was little, my father used to beat my mother. He beat her like she was a child, and she never fought back. She never left him. I couldn’t understand it, and I promised myself that it would never happen to me. And I meant it. When they used to fight—no, when he used to pummel her—I’d go into the liquor cabinet and pour a drink. That’s what I used to see her do. I guess it was her way of coping. Eventually, it became mine.” Ming Li took a sip of water and looked away. “When he was done tormenting her, he used to take her into the bedroom and screw her. It wasn’t makeup sex, either. There was nothing intimate about it. There weren’t any I’m sorrys or I love yous—just sex. And I used to hear her beg him not to.”
“Ming Li, I’m so sorry,” Daisy murmured, rubbing her friend’s back.
“Me too. In fact, I was so sorry that I began to pity myself, and I eventually became depressed. I’ve been on Prozac for as long as I can remember, probably about as long as I fucked nearly every man I found some sort of interest in. I thought sex was the answer, that I could control them with what was in my head and between my legs.” Ming Li laughed bitterly. “I honestly thought that was true, because no matter how many times my dad jumped on my mom, right after they had sex he’d hum her a tune. He beat her outside of the bedroom, and she whipped him in it.”
“Wow!” was all Daisy could say. As long as they’d been friends, she’d never understood Ming Li the way she did now.
“So,” Ming Li went on, wiping her face with a napkin,
“enough boohooing. Tell me what’s up. Anything I can do?”
Daisy felt at ease now, after hearing Ming Li’s story, so she told her about her conversation with Marcus. They both agreed that they needed to find Gigi, but neither one knew where she was. They hadn�
��t heard from her in days. Ming Li suggested that maybe Marcus was right. Maybe Gigi was seeing someone else.
“The panty thing scares me,” Daisy said.
“He’s been stalking her. Maybe all of us. How else would he know where you lived?”
Daisy shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past him, not after the way he was behaving. It was like he was either on drugs or needed to be.”
“Probably so. Well, are we going to shoot a game of pool?”
“Hell, yeah. I’m ready now.”
Ming Li shook her head. “No, you’re not. Not dressed like that.”
Daisy looked down at her work clothes. She was going to bust her man, not put on a fashion show. For all she knew, she might end up tussling, although that wasn’t her intention. “I’m fine.”
“To whom?” Ming Li laughed. “Seriously, you can’t go bust a man like that. Not when he’s with his ex and you don’t know who your competition is. Not only do you have to walk in and own the place, you have to make her feel smaller than you.”
“If she’s sneaking around with a man that doesn’t belong to her, she’s already inferior.”
Ming Li grabbed Daisy’s hand and pulled her into the bedroom. “Okay, let’s see what we have here that you didn’t destroy,” Ming Li joked. “What size do you wear?”
“None of your business,” Daisy smirked. “I’m about two sizes bigger than you.”
Ming Li reached into her closet and grabbed something black. “Here, try this on. It has Lycra in it.”
Daisy held the short dress up in front of her. “Ming Li, I’m not wearing this little thing, it’s too cold. I’ll freeze to death.”
Ming Li lit a cigar. “Honey, now is not the time to get picky, it’s time to get right. Besides, it’s not that cold.” She held her finger to her lips as if lost in thought. “Now, you’re about a size eight shoe, right?”
Daisy nodded. “Yes, you’re exactly right. But after all these years, I guess you should know.”
Ming Li stepped into her closet and came out with a pair of black, calf-length, high-heeled boots. She handed them to Daisy.
Daisy frowned down at them. “Ming Li, do you see how skinny these heels are? I’m going to kill myself in these. How am I supposed to be cute, if I bust my ass? And they’re a size eight and a half. How do you fit into these? You’re too tall.”
Ming Li pushed Daisy toward the bathroom. “My mother has small feet.”
“Oh, that’s right, she’s Asian.”
“No, she’s black. My dad’s Korean. And enough with the stereotypes. Not all Asian women have small feet, just like not all black women are strong. Stuff the boots with cotton balls. Act like you haven’t always had money to buy shoes that fit.”
Daisy and Ming Li circled the block several times without seeing Adonis’s car. After they checked the surrounding area, they found a parking spot around the corner from Corner Billiards and waited patiently. Daisy drummed on the steering wheel.
“Hyping yourself up, or calming yourself down?” Ming Li asked.
“A little of both, I guess.”
“Maybe he’s not here. It’s almost nine, and we haven’t seen his car anywhere.”
“That’s true. But this is New York. He could’ve cabbed it or taken the train. Or the Christy chick could’ve rented a car. We won’t know unless we go inside.”
Daisy opened her door and carefully stepped out into the cold early spring chill. She shivered. The little black dress was cute, but it wasn’t worth a dime when it came to warmth. “Let’s do this. I know he’s here.”
“I thought you said you weren’t sure.”
“Technically, I’m not. But I feel it in my gut. I used to sit around and guess what Jasper was doing. But this time, with this man, I have to see for myself.”
They walked quickly, in silence, their boots clicking in unison against the sidewalk. Daisy wasn’t sure if she was going to battle, but she was definitely going to get her man. Her mother had once told her to choose her battles wisely, and this one was worth fighting. Deep in her heart she knew that she loved Adonis; she wasn’t fighting for him, but for the principle. She’d fight for respect, for the person she’d learned to love the most: herself.
A newfound determination and energy flowed through Daisy’s veins as she opened the door and strode into the billiards hall. She was glad that Ming Li had tagged along, but she realized that she didn’t really need her. She could handle the situation alone. If Adonis was there with another woman, Daisy wanted to see who she was. She wouldn’t embarrass herself. Wouldn’t get into a cat-fight. My interest isn’t in the cat, but the dog. Then she spotted Adonis was with a woman at a back pool table and decided that her dog had definitely gotten off his leash. She pumped her fist, nodding to herself. A choke chain is what he needs. And I’ve got two hands to choke him with.
She held her head high and walked toward Adonis’s table. Ming Li stopped at the front counter. Adonis glanced up, saw Daisy, and froze. Their eyes locked. Her heart thumped, but this time, she wasn’t having an attack. There was no need to panic. She wasn’t in the hot seat, but she would warm a couple of asses if need be.
“You see this bitch?” Ming Li whispered behind her back.
“Now, aren’t you glad that I made you dress up?”
Daisy nodded and gave the woman the once-over. She was clearly in need of a meal or two. Christy had to be a size two, if that. Although she was obviously black, she was a living example that black could come in all different shades, sizes, and proportions. She was just above average height, paler than tinged winter snow, and had an ass flatter than a billiards table. Daisy laughed, and her confidence rose.
Ming Li nudged her. “Am I seeing things, or does she have fake titties that are three sizes too big for her bony body?”
Daisy looked at Christy’s breasts and winced. Her skin, stretched like elastic, begged for relief. “Ouch. They look like they’re going to bust,” Daisy said, then turned her attention back to Christy’s face. She was pretty in her own way, but the rest of her had to go.
Ming Li grabbed a cue stick and rolled it onto the pool table next to Adonis’s. “Straight enough. Rack ’em, Daisy.”
“I didn’t come in here to play games.” She walked over to Adonis and eased between him and the table. She inched her dress down and inhaled his breath. It was minty. He better not have kissed her.
“Adonis?” the woman said from behind Daisy.
“Hey, baby,” he said to Daisy, ignoring the woman.
“That’s all you have to say?” Daisy asked as she poked out her chest.
Adonis smiled seductively and traced her face with his forefinger. “No, I’ve been trying to tell you this all day.” He bent down and kissed her deeply and passionately, as if they were the only two people in the room.
Daisy was still curious, but she succumbed. She wanted to slap sense into him but decided she’d put on a show first and enjoy it. She felt his hands on her back, then under her arms, and then her body rose. He picked her up and sat her on the pool table. They never unlocked lips. Vaguely, Daisy heard the sound of the balls breaking, and then one of them hit her in the butt. She rolled her eyes. I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to toss this heifer. She hopped off the table and saw Ming Li at the other end, holding a pool stick and smiling.
“Well, why should we pay for a table when they’re not using theirs?” Ming Li asked.
“I want you to meet someone,” Adonis said.
The woman walked over to Daisy and extended her hand. “You must be Daisy. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Daisy studied her face. “Hi. Christy, right?”
Christy nodded.
“I didn’t know you knew Christy,” Adonis said.
“I don’t.”
“And neither do I.” Ming Li walked over and introduced herself.
“Christy just got into town this morning,” Adonis explained. “I was trying to call you earlier to tell you, but you didn’t answer.”<
br />
Daisy didn’t care if Christy had only been in town an hour. She didn’t want Adonis around her.
“Hey, Chris,” someone said from behind them in the deepest voice that Daisy had ever heard.
As Daisy turned, a tall, handsome man two shades darker than Christy walked over to her and kissed her on the lips. Daisy watched them carefully, trying to determine if the kiss was real. She noted with relief that it was almost as passionate as the one she and Adonis had just shared.
“Hey, Rock,” Adonis said to the man, “what took you so long?”
Rock held a bag in the air. “Man, I forgot where we parked. If I didn’t need my own stick to shoot with, I would’ve just given up.”
“Oh,” Adonis said with a smile. “This is Daisy and Ming Li.” Adonis turned to Daisy then. “This is Christy’s husband, Rock. We played ball together in college.” Adonis leaned over and whispered in her ear, “He’s been here the whole time. Just forgot his stick in the car.”
Daisy smiled graciously and shook Rock’s hand. She winked at Adonis and gave Ming Li a knowing look. She knew her instincts had been right, just as she knew she could trust her man.
Daisy awoke in Adonis’s arms. She grabbed a peppermint from her bedside table and popped it into her mouth. No way am I going to ruin the moment with morning breath, she thought. Then she shivered. Her upper body was warm from his embrace, but the lower part was cold. She looked down and realized that the covers had toppled to the floor sometime during the night. She smiled. It’s no wonder. She scooted her naked body against his and nibbled on his index finger. Their evening had been eventful, but their night had been magical. She moaned with pleasure, remembering all the things he had done to her, with her, and for her. Adonis had always been attentive in bed, a pleaser. He made her feel as she’d never felt before.
But last night had been different. Although Daisy had never imagined it possible, the sex had been better than ever. His kisses had seemed more delicious, his body more scrumptious. She looked at him while he slept and decided that he was everything she needed in a man.
Pushing Up Daisies Page 20