Satin Nights

by Karen E. Quinones Miller

  “Um, were you?”

  “Yeah, I was the laundryman, but they ain’t know that shit,” Little Joe snapped. “Didn’t you just hear me say they ain’t know me?”

  “Sorry.” Regina turned her head away.

  “And you know, for real fucking real, the only reason the feds involved me in that shit was because they wanted me to roll on Natty. That was my man, but he didn’t know how to keep a low profile, being on the cover of Time and shit. That’s when they really decided they had to get his ass. I heard the word came down from the fucking White House that he had to be made an example of. It wasn’t like they didn’t have enough on him to send him up for life, but those muthafuckas wanted to get him sent up for triple life or some shit,” Little Joe said as he lit up another cigarette. “I told them to kiss my ass.”

  Regina nodded. “I remember reading it in the paper. The headline said ‘Little Joe says he ain’t no rat.’ Page three in the Daily News.”

  “Of course, the ironic shit is Natty rolled on damn near everybody else after he did twelve years. Not to get a reduced sentence, but ’cause he was fucked-up about one of his so-called friends sleeping with his wife. He rolled on the people who were already doing time on shit, and almost everyone still on the outside. He was out his fucking mind with anger and just started ratting everybody out. Everybody but me.” Little Joe gave a little chuckle. “Me and Natty go way back. Grew up in the river projects together. Started stealing cars together when we like eight or nine. And it was me and him that put the organization together and headed the council. If he wanted, he coulda made sure I never got out. But he ain’t roll on me. He ratted everyone else out, but he never gave ’em shit on me.”

  “Why do you think that was?”

  “I think it was because we go so far back,” Little Joe said slowly. “Me and him used to always look out for each other. And he knew that if there was no one else he coulda trusted with anything, even his woman, it was me. So he was showing me the same loyalty. He knew I loved him like a fucking brother, and he showed me he loved me the same way.”

  Little Joe went silent again. Regina hugged her arms, hoping to signal to Little Joe that she was cold and wanted to get back to the car, but if he noticed, he ignored her as he continued staring into the air. Minutes passed before he let out a wistful sigh. “I missed watching the sun rise over St. Nicholas Park, too. It’s beautiful.” He sat down next to Regina, though he was still watching the sunrise. “Almost as beautiful as you.”

  “Aw, thanks,” Regina said lightly.

  Little Joe went silent again for a few minutes, and Regina had to resist the temptation to look at her watch. It would be nice to get home before Ray-Ray woke Camille up for breakfast.

  Little Joe stood up and put his foot on the concrete barrier again, staring off into space. “Regina,” he said slowly, “I need you to believe me on something else.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I ain’t know you was fifteen when we first started fucking around. I swear I didn’t. I knew you was young but not that goddamned young.” Little Joe closed his eyes and shook his head as he talked. “And I know what you mean when you said I shoulda known, but I gotta tell you I never even gave it a thought.”

  Regina stood up and touched him on the arm. “Little Joe, it doesn’t matter.”

  “You made me feel like a fucking pedophile when you said that shit the other day,” he said, jerking his arm away. “Like a child molester or some shit.”

  Regina shifted her feet. “I really didn’t mean to. I was just making a bad joke.”

  Little Joe suddenly swung toward her. “Regina, you know you was the person I missed most while I was away?”

  “What?” Regina jerked her head back at the urgency in his voice.

  Little Joe grabbed her by the shoulders. “I need you to believe me on that, too. I shoulda told you before I left that I was falling in love with you, but I ain’t know until I was gone and you was all I could think about. I know I was married, and I ain’t saying I ain’t love my wife, but I had fallen in fucking love with you. You was so sweet, and so funny and so pretty. You were so tough and so innocent at the same time. I had never met anyone like that. You had my nose wide open, and you ain’t even know it.”

  “Little Joe, I—”

  “But you never even sent me a fucking postcard,” Little Joe said, abruptly letting her go. “It hurt the shit outta me the other day when you told me you knew my birthday, ya know. ’Cause how come then you never bothered to send me a birthday card? I thought about you for sixteen years constantly. And that whole time I know I ain’t never even crossed your mind.”

  Regina turned her head away so that Little Joe wouldn’t see the tears that had sprung to her eyes. “Little Joe, that’s not true. I did think about you. A whole lot. But like you said, I was a kid when you left, and you were married.”

  “You wanna know some funny shit?” Little Joe asked, ignoring her apology. “When I ran into you and your daughter that day on Eighth Avenue, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. And then when you told me you was divorced, well, I tried to play it off, but that shit kinda hurt.”

  Regina’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

  “Because even though I wasn’t the first man you was with, it woulda been nice if I was the first man you married. The only man, shit.” Little Joe shrugged. “It was one of the things that kept me going while I was away. Thinking about finding you, sweeping you off your feet, and carrying you over the doorstep.” He chuckled. “That’s old hat for you now, huh?”

  “Uh-huh, for both of us,” Regina gently reminded him.

  “That night you let me stay in your house, then wouldn’t let me make love to you, you know what? If it had been anyone else, I never woulda standed for that shit. I either woulda taken me some pussy or gotten my ass out there after fifteen minutes.” Little Joe cocked his head and smiled. “But with you it different. It was like, well, I waited sixteen years already ’cause the feds made me, I wanted to prove you I could wait a few days just ’cause you want me to.”

  There he goes again, being thug romantic. I should be mad at some of this shit he’s saying, like about taking it and stuff, but I know he doesn’t even realize what he’s saying is crazy. He’s just pouring out his heart. And damn if I’m not touched. Really, really touched.

  Little Joe took a deep breath. “Bottom line, Regina, is that after I fell in love with you, I never fell out. So I’m telling you straight out, Regina, I love you, okay?”

  Regina hesitated. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, too, and always had in her own way, but something told her that would be a bad move. So instead, she simply said, “Okay.”

  Little Joe looked at her, as if waiting for her to say more. Unable to meet his eyes, she turned away again.

  “Well, okay,” Little Joe said, flicking his cigarette down the sidewalk. “Let me get you home.”

  They walked silently back to the car. After driving two blocks Little Joe turned and looked at her. “Regina, just so you know. It wasn’t no big deal for me to come and help you and Puddin’ out tonight, and if some shit had went down, you know I woulda been down with it. And you make sure if you need me, you let me know, ’cause I don’t ever want to find out you’re in a position to be hurt. I ain’t got no problem saying I’d kill a mug over you, girl. And as long as Yvonne, Puddin’, and Tamika are your aces, I got their shit backed up, too. I know how important it is to keep your friends safe. So if anyone fucks with y’all, you do just what you did tonight. Come get my ass.”

  He looked straight ahead again, but when he pulled in front of Regina’s brownstone, he turned back to her. “Girl,” he said after he turned off the car, “you may not know it now, but you’re mines. And you’re always gonna be mines.” He reached over and brushed her hair out of her eyes. “You don’t have to tell me you love me right now, but I know you do. And I’m going to tell you again that I love you, and I always will. You’re always gonna be my Satin Dol
l.”

  Regina leaned across the seat and kissed Little Joe gently on the lips. “Little Joe, let’s go to your place. I’ll call Renee a little later and ask her to tell Camille that I had to do overnight research or something. But right now there’s nothing I would rather do than see if I can try to make up for these sixteen years we’ve been apart.”

  “Umph,” Little Joe said as he started the car again. “That’s what the fuck I’m talking about. Let’s go before your little crazy ass changes your mind.”

  It took them only a few minutes to reach the huge building complex on 116th and Lenox called Graham Court, where Little Joe lived. Once inside the apartment, they moved straight to the bedroom, which hosted a huge king-size bed with champagne-colored satin bedding and a matching chaise lounge and drapes. A gold area rug lay on the hardwood floor in front of a huge unlit fireplace, and like all the other rooms in the house, a small chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Little Joe used a remote to turn on an expensive-looking stereo system that included a tuner, CD player, reel-to-reel tape recorder, and six-foot speakers that took up almost a whole wall. The sounds of Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” filled the room.

  “I’ve always liked this song,” Little Joe said as he walked back to Regina and pulled her into his arms. “But I didn’t start loving it until I met you.”

  Regina closed her eyes and smiled dreamily as she took in the moment. It was like old times, and it felt good. Better than she had even remembered. His arms were so strong, and the hands that slid beneath her blouse and caressed her braless breasts were so soft. The lips that kissed her neck were so tender. And the man was so confident and experienced.

  “You know what I’d like you to do?” Little Joe whispered in her ear.

  “What?” Regina asked in a husky voice.

  “I want you to dance for me, Gina,” he said, nibbling her earlobe. “Dance for your daddy.” He stepped back slightly and smiled at her.

  Regina smiled back through half-closed eyes, and she began to sway to the music.

  “Go ahead, Regina,” Little Joe said in a hoarse voice as he sat down on the bed. “You know how to dance for me.”

  Licking her lips, Regina rubbed her breast with one hand while unbuttoning her blouse with the other, all the time seductively swaying and taking tiny steps back and forth to the music. Once her blouse was undone, she rolled her shoulders back and slid out of one sleeve, then the other, while still on tempo. She took the blouse in one hand and lifted it high in the air before letting it fall to the floor, all the time massaging her bare breasts with one hand until her nipples were hard and erect.

  She then raised her arms and raked her hands through her hair, fluffing it out like a lion’s mane as she parted her lips and let her head slightly loll to one side. Her hands slid down into the waistband of her skirt, and she did a slow cha-cha back and forth in front of Little Joe, who was letting out little grunts and groans.

  She turned her back to him, reached behind, and was slowly unzipping her skirt when he suddenly reached out and grabbed her. He threw her facedown on the bed, pinning her hands above her head. Before she could even catch her breath, he was literally ripping her skirt and panties off. He was then on her, biting and nibbling the side of her neck and down her shoulder blades as he undid his pants.

  It was so fast that it was furious, and Regina moaned in ecstasy as she felt his naked body lower onto hers, his hardness pressing into the small of her back. He used his legs to pry hers open, then while one hand still pinned her arms, he took his other hand and slid it between her buttocks down past her rectum to her vagina, which was overflowing with moisture. They both moaned as he felt her wetness. He used his knees to push her legs even farther apart, and without seeming to take aim, he thrust himself so deep inside her she screamed in both pain and pleasure. She struggled to catch her breath while he pumped inside her furiously, and she valiantly tried to match her movements to his, but she was so close to climax she could barely control herself. He was the one in control, and she knew that was the way he liked it. Always had. She let out another scream as she felt herself climaxing, but just when she reached her peak, he suddenly withdrew.

  “No,” Regina screamed. “Please! No!”

  “Tell me who this pussy belongs to,” Little Joe growled in her ear.

  “It’s yours, Daddy,” Regina yelled at the top of her lungs.

  “Whose?” he growled again.

  “Yours, it’s all yours,” Regina pleaded.

  “Goddamn right it’s mine.” Little Joe reached under her stomach and flipped her on her back. “This shit belongs to me!” He thrust himself inside her once again, but this time she was ready and her hips flew up to meet him. Regina’s nails clawed into his back and his clawed into hers as they furiously climaxed together.

  It was a good five minutes before either of them could once again move or catch their breath. Finally, Little Joe lifted himself off her, then reached over and pushed her sweaty hair away from her face.

  “I can’t believe I had to wait sixteen years for that,” he said with a sigh. “And damn if it wasn’t worth it.”

  chapter eleven

  You seen the Post today? Puddin’ made it to Page Six.”

  “Get out of here!” Regina grabbed the newspaper Yvonne handed her and quickly flipped through. Sure enough, there was a smiling Puddin’ posing over an unconscious Rob-Cee and holding a bottle of champagne and flashing a victory sign. The caption read “Unidentified woman knocks out gangsta rapper Rob-Cee at listening party. Sources say the unnamed woman, who was Rob-Cee’s date for the evening, conked the rapper over the head with a bottle of champagne after he insulted her and her friends.”

  “Damn,” Regina said. She closed the paper and put it down on the table next to her food. “Puddin’ just found her fifteen minutes of fame, huh?”

  “I wonder why it ran a day late.”

  “Don’t know.” Regina shrugged. “The photographer probably got it to the paper late.”

  “She’d better be glad you came up with the idea of bringing Little Joe to the listening party. Otherwise she’d be six feet under right now,” Yvonne said with a little laugh. “Hey, I know I’m a little late, but you could have waited for me before you ordered.”

  “You’re almost twenty minutes late, and I have an appointment in a half hour,” Regina said, slicing into her broiled chicken breast.

  “Hello, Regina. Long time no see.”

  Regina looked up at a tall light-skinned man wearing an ill-fitting blue suit. “Robert?” She shot Yvonne a “what the fuck” look before she could stop herself, and immediately hoped Robert hadn’t noticed. If he did, he chose to ignore it as he sat down next to Yvonne.

  “I came to take Yvonne out to lunch, and she told me she was meeting you, so I asked if I could tag along,” he said laconically. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” Regina said quickly. “It’s good to see you again.” Boy, does he look bad. Robert was always thin, but now he looked almost skeletal. His hazel eyes were dull and sunken, his cheeks hollowed, and his skin, which used to have a reddish tint, was now a dull yellow. Even his short wavy hair seemed dreary and dry. He still had a hint of his once good looks, but he was a far cry from the dashingly handsome law student they had all met six years before. Time and drugs had not been kind to Robert.

  “It’s good to see you, too.” Robert reached over and patted Regina’s hand. “How long has it been? About three years now? How’s little Camille?”

  “She’s doing fine, thanks. And how are your kids?”

  “They’re fine, I suppose. My ex won’t let me have any contact with them, but that’s another story,” Robert said with an inappropriate laugh. “Let’s just say divorce can be hell.”

  Regina nodded but said nothing, since she could think of nothing to say. After all, she didn’t blame Robert’s ex; she wouldn’t want a dusthead anywhere near her child, either. And Yvonne was crazy for letting him around her twel
ve-year-old son, Johnny. “Well, um, how’s the job? I heard you’re with the Bronx D.A.’s Office.”

  “It’s going fine, thanks,” Robert said with a smile as he took Yvonne’s hand. “It’s different, going from defense attorney to being on a prosecutorial team, but I’m adjusting.”

  “Good,” Regina said, feigning interest. “Do you have any cases yet?”

  “He’s only been there a week, so he’s kind of familiarizing himself with the office,” Yvonne responded for him. “But I’m sure he’ll be arguing cases soon.”

  “Well, let me know when you do. I’d love to come to court to show you my support,” Regina lied.

  “Well, right now I’m assigned to family court. And those are closed hearings,” Robert said in an almost embarrassed tone. “But I’m sure I’ll work up to Homicide in no time at all. After all, I do have three years’ litigation experience.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Regina said, and took another bite of her chicken. “Hey, are you guys going to order or what? I have to split soon.”

  Yvonne picked up one of the menus the waiter had placed on the table while they were talking. “I think I might just have a salad. Maybe a large Caesar salad. What about you, Robert?”

  “I’m starved,” Robert said, flipping through the menu. “I’m thinking a steak. Do they have prime rib?”

  “I’m sure they do. Maybe I’ll have the same,” Yvonne said, then closed her menu.

  “Okay, babe. Why don’t you order for me while I go to the little boys’ room.” Robert leaned over and kissed Yvonne on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Why don’t you let this be my treat?” Yvonne said after Robert left. “You got the last one, didn’t you?”

  “No, Puddin’ did,” Regina said simply.

  “Well, whatever, it’s on me this time.”