Naughty 3: It's Juicy, No Matter How You Slice It

by Brenda Hampton

  My heart dropped to my stomach. Collins released me from his arms. I fell back in the chair and covered my face with my hands. Collins pulled one of my hands away from my face so he could look at me.

  “You . . . you aren’t, are you?” he asked.

  I could see the hurt in his eyes. I shook my head. “No, I’m—”

  “You’re a damn liar,” Jaylin yelled. “I can tell you when, where, and how, if you want details. And I will, if my damn son don’t show up soon.”

  The police asked everybody to calm down. After they got Jaylin to chill with the yelling, Collins grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the chair. He placed the back of his hand against my cheek and rubbed it.

  “I hope everything works out for you,” he said in a calm voice.

  I held his hand. “Don’t go. Please don’t leave me,” I cried.

  “You’ll be okay. Trust me, you will.” He lowered his hand, ignoring Jaylin, who stood by the doorway, and walked out.

  “Get out!” I yelled at Jaylin. “Get the hell out of my house!”

  He looked around as if I were talking to someone else, then pointed to his chest. “Are you talking to me?” he asked.

  “You’re damn right I’m talking to you. Get out!”

  “Woman, you got me all fucked up. I’m not leaving this house until my son gets here. After that, you will never have to worry about seeing me again. I’m sorry your man is gone, but that’s what you get for dealing with a chump. I’m not about to walk out that easily.”

  I asked the officer if he would make Jaylin leave, and he did. Jaylin got in his car and parked it right across the street from my house. The police stayed outside and talked to him for a while, and before they left, they came back inside to talk to me again.

  “We’re gonna keep an eye on things for a while, but we’re really not supposed to do much until the child is missing for more than twenty-four hours. We can issue an Amber Alert, but with the child being with his sick grandfather, who knows what could have gone wrong? Hopefully your son will return home safely and we can all put this behind us.”

  “Thank you, officer. It’s almost eleven o’clock now, so if he’s—” I was choked up and couldn’t stop crying.

  “We’re gonna check with you throughout the night. If you hear anything, let us know. By morning, we’ll start a search for him.”

  “Okay, and thanks again.”

  “Ms. Brooks, I do have to ask you this before I leave: Do you think this might have anything to do with money? Your ex-boyfriend seems to be a wealthy young fella, so you just never know people’s motives.”

  “I hope it doesn’t. If that was the case, he would have called by now, don’t you think?”

  “I don’t want to scare you, but sometimes the longer people wait to contact you, the more anxious they know you’ll get. Let’s hope that’s not the case.”

  “I hope not,” I said, walking him to the door. I looked at Jaylin. He had his head leaned against the driver’s side window. I couldn’t see his face, but I could only imagine.

  About one-thirty in the morning, Jaylin knocked at the door. I was on the couch slowly drifting into another world. Not having the strength to argue with him, I opened the door and walked away.

  “Put on some shoes and let’s go,” he ordered.

  “I don’t want to go anywhere. Not until my baby comes home.”

  “Fine, stay here then. Nanny B just called and gave me Stanley’s address.”

  After hearing that, I put on my shoes and grabbed my purse. Jaylin and I drove quietly in the car to where Stanley lived. When he pulled in front of a two-family flat on the south side of St. Louis, he looked at the paper and verified the address with the numbers on the house.

  “That’s the car he was in,” I said, pointing to a Ford Focus.

  When we got out of the car, we looked in the back seat of Stanley’s car. LJ’s car seat was still there.

  My stomach was rumbling and I could barely walk up the steps. Jaylin rang the doorbell, and when I stepped onto the porch, he gave me a peculiar look, as if he knew something wasn’t right. We stood outside for a while, and after a few more knocks, Jaylin kicked the door. It was loud. Every time he kicked it, my heart jumped.

  Finally, the door cracked off the hinges and we both cautiously stepped inside. We looked up the dark staircase, and unable to see where we were going, Jaylin pulled out a pistol and took my hand. I was shaking like a leaf, following closely behind him. The steps loudly creaked, and when we made it to the top, Jaylin turned on the light switch. He let go of my hand. When we heard LJ’s cries, we ran to where he was. He was on the kitchen floor in a pile of mess. I hurried to pick him up and cradled him tightly in my arms.

  Jaylin kissed the top of his forehead. “Damn, I’m so happy to see you.” He looked at me. “Stay right here. I’m going to check the other rooms.”

  I stood embracing LJ and rocking him in my arms. I heard Jaylin yell something, and I rushed to where he was. I stood in the doorway and saw him kneeled down next to a bed. I could see Stanley’s legs and knew what time it was.

  “Don’t come over here,” Jaylin said in a low voice. “Go call nine-one-one.”

  I rushed in the other room to call 911, and when I heard Jaylin cry, I sat on the couch and lost it.

  “Why did you do this?” I heard him yell. “I was coming to tell you how much I didn’t need you, and how much I hated you for leaving me. But you had to punk out, didn’t you?” He continued to yell. “Didn’t you! You always punking out on me, man. What did I ever do to you? Huh?”

  I felt every bit of his pain and went to his side. He held Stanley by the collar, but it was too late for him to hear anything Jaylin had to say. I took Jaylin by his arm and tried to lift him.

  “Come on, baby. Please don’t do this to yourself. Let him go . . . please,” I begged.

  I had seen Jaylin cry before, but never this hard. He looked up at me with tears pouring down his face. “Why me?” he said. “I’m on a roll, ain’t I?”

  “It be like this sometimes. It’ll get better, though. Trust me, it will.”

  Jaylin slowly got up and stumbled away from Stanley. We all went into the living room, and while I changed LJ’s diaper, Jaylin sat stone-faced on the couch. I was so worried about him. As soon as I finished with LJ, I sat next to him, clenching his hand with mine. “I love you, and I’m so sorry about this,” were the only words that came from my mouth. He didn’t respond.

  While the paramedics were there, Jaylin still sat motionless on the couch and didn’t say a word. Knowing very little about Stanley, I answered as many questions as I could for the police. The paramedics said by the looks of things he died from a heart attack. They took his body away. This day, without a doubt, was one of the saddest days of my life. I prayed for things to get better for Jaylin, and as he cried on my shoulder, I was willing to do anything in my power to make sure his life was peaceful.

  17

  SCORPIO

  I felt extremely bad for my baby. He tried to be his usual self, but he couldn’t. Several times, I noticed him looking spaced out, and when I asked what was on his mind, he refused to talk about it.

  At first, I was so angry with Nokea when he told me what she’d done, but I guess it all worked out for the best. I guess a part of her must have known Stanley wouldn’t be around for long, and allowing him time with his grandson was the best thing she could have done. I didn’t know if Jaylin was still mad at her, but they hadn’t talked much after going through such a big ordeal.

  Nanny B heard about the news, and she got back from wherever she was in a flash. She talked to Jaylin in her room with the door closed, and it seemed as if he found more comfort in her than he did with me. By all means, I wasn’t mad. I was glad he had someone else to lean on as well.

  What we all found out about Stanley was that he liked to keep to himself. He didn’t have many friends, but he did have a daughter and another son. Jaylin knew nothing about them, and when
he found out they were all close in age, and that they’d had a relationship with Stanley, he seemed so disappointed.

  The day of Stanley’s funeral, Jaylin refused to go. He stayed in his bed and watched TV all day long. Nanny B, Mackenzie and I went to pay our last respects, and we were surprised to see Nokea and LJ there as well. Even Stephon showed up, but Jaylin stood his ground.

  On the drive back home, Nanny B and I had an interesting conversation. She said that she was tired of what was going on, and it was time to do something about it. When I asked what she meant, she didn’t elaborate, but I could tell she had something up her sleeves. Her attachment to Jaylin puzzled the hell out of me. For someone who had only known him for a few years, she was overly protective, kind of like a mother to him. When I asked Jaylin if he had any connection to her, he insisted she was only the nanny. Nothing more, nothing less.

  We returned from the funeral, and Jaylin didn’t say much to anybody. He didn’t ask anything about the funeral, and I knew that talking about it would only make matters worse. If he wanted to know, I was sure he’d ask. Until then, I kept quiet. I got in bed with him, and he laid his head on my chest and fell asleep.

  Loud music and a thumping noise were coming from the basement. I squinted at the alarm clock. It was six o’clock in the morning. Jaylin was out of bed, so I grabbed my purple silk robe, and then headed for the basement. The music came from his workout room, so I leaned against the doorway and watched him pound the hell out of a punching bag. Sam Cooke’s “Change Is Gonna Come” was playing. When Jaylin saw me, he turned down the music and sat on his weight bench. I had the pleasure of watching his six-pack go to work while he was doing his sit-ups. His body dripped with sweat, and the black Nike stretch shorts he wore nicely hugged his ass.

  I walked further into the room to turn off the radio. Jaylin successfully continued with his sit-ups, and once he reached two hundred and fifty, he called it quits. He took deeps breaths, lying flat on his back.

  “Now, I know you can give me more than that,” I said.

  “Not today,” he said as he continued to breathe hard. “This is what happens when I stop working out.”

  He dropped to the floor and I squatted on top of him, straddling his midsection. He then sat up and wrapped his arms around me.

  “Are you gonna be okay?” I asked. “I’m worried about you.”

  “Yep. I’m going to be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. So go upstairs and put on some clothes so we can go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I’m going to finish my workout. After that, I want to go look for another car.”

  “What’s wrong with the ones you got?”

  “It’s time for something new.”

  “Okay, but first, I’m going upstairs to change so I can work out with you.”

  “You do that.”

  I went upstairs to change. I slid into my pink-and-gray stretch workout suit and tennis shoes. My hair was in a sleek ponytail, and I added a little gloss to shine my lips. Jaylin worked the punching bag again, and when he saw me, he stopped.

  “Don’t you look all cute and everythang,” he said.

  “Don’t I always?”

  “I don’t know now. Lately . . .”

  “Whatever,” I said, punching his arm.

  “You know, you really need to learn how to fight. Those punches you be throwing be pretty damn weak.”

  “That one I gave you at Daisha’s house wasn’t weak.”

  “Okay, with the exception of that one, the rest sucked.”

  He stood behind the punching bag and held it steady. “Come on, give it your best shot.”

  I put up my fists, and when I threw a punch, I missed the bag and hit Jaylin right in his eye.

  “Damn!” he said, squeezing his eye together.

  I covered my mouth and laughed. “I’m sorry, I—”

  “You think that shit funny, don’t you?”

  I was still laughing. “It was an accident.”

  He rushed me, and we fell back on the mat. He sat on top of me and held my hands together. I could barely breathe with his weight on top of me. Just for the fun of it, we playfully wrestled.

  Our workout allowed us to spend quality time together that our relationship had been missing. I thought we’d get through our workout without having sex, but that didn’t happen. He was back in action, and I was one sista who was eagerly waiting.

  By noon, we got dressed to go look for a new car. Mackenzie and I dressed alike in our purple linen sundresses and satin sandals. She carried a white purse filled with Barbies, and wore sunglasses trimmed in white. My purse was white too, but I decided to do without the glasses. I put her hair in a ponytail like mine, and we patiently waited downstairs for Jaylin to get ready.

  It seemed like it took all day for Jaylin to get dressed, and when he finally came downstairs, he was casually dressed in some black linen pants and a crisp royal blue button-down shirt. His Rolex was visible on his wrist, and he had shaved his goatee to perfection. By the looks of him, you could tell he had money. He slid his sunglasses over his eyes, and we were ready to go and enjoy our day.

  At the first car dealership, which sold Lamborghinis, Jaylin didn’t seem interested. We then checked out the Bentley dealership and six other places, but he still wasn’t satisfied. I suggested going home to search for a car on the Internet, but he wasn’t going home until he found what he wanted.

  We finally made it to the Jaguar dealer, and I’m happy to say that we stayed for a while. Not for him, though, but for Nanny B. He called and asked if she wanted a new car. He tried to coax her into getting one, and after she turned him down, we left again.

  “Baby, what is it that you’re looking for?” I asked while he drove to the next place.

  “I don’t know. I like Escalades, but too many people have them. Besides, that punk Collins got one, and I don’t want to be like him.”

  “I thought you and Collins were cool. Why he a punk all of a sudden?”

  “Because he is, that’s why.”

  “Well, why don’t you just go look at the Escalades? They’re really nice, and if you load it up with options, you can make it quite different from everybody else’s.”

  Jaylin drove to the Cadillac dealership, and surprisingly, he had a smile on his face. We must have looked at every Escalade on display before he decided anything. And just when the salesman got all hyped up about Jaylin buying the truck, Jaylin changed his mind and we left again.

  “Where are you going to now?” I pouted.

  “I’m getting tired, Daddy,” Mackenzie complained.

  “Just be patient, all right? These kinds of things take time.”

  We drove to the Lincoln dealership, and after being toured around the whole lot full of Navigators, Jaylin was about to cut another deal. We skipped right over the finance manager and sat in the “Big Man’s” office. Jaylin told him he was paying cash.

  Before he heard the grand total, Jaylin looked over at Mackenzie. “Which one do you like the best? The Escalade or Navigator?” Jaylin asked.

  The owner compared the two, but Jaylin ignored him. He continued to wait for Mackenzie to answer.

  “I think they’re both nice, Daddy. Really, I can’t decide.”

  Jaylin sat silently for a while, and then looked at the owner behind his desk. “I don’t like those rims,” Jaylin said arrogantly. “I need twenty-four-inch chrome rims, heated seats, televisions in the front and back, a CD player and DVD integrated navigation, satellite radio, a digital map, sun roof, front and back seat airbags, power everything, and a nicer grill for the front.” He went on and on, trying to make this Navigator different from everybody else’s. The owner pulled out books and more books, showing Jaylin how he could accessorize his Navigator. When it was all said and done, he agreed to have Jaylin’s silver Navigator delivered in less than a week.

  “That was torture,” I said, walking back to his car. “Are yo
u happy now?”

  “Not quite,” he said, getting into the car.

  We drove back to the Cadillac dealer and pretty much the same thing went down. He added so much mess to the truck, and the grand total blew me away. I sat with my mouth wide open.

  “Baby, what are you trying to prove?” I asked.

  “Nothing. I needed a new car. You know how I am when I can’t decide.”

  “I know how you are with your women when you can’t decide, but I didn’t think you would be the same way about a car.”

  “Well, sorry, I am. Had Mackenzie decided for me, we wouldn’t even be here.”

  I looked at Mackenzie in the chair next to him with her hands pressed against her face like she was bored. I rolled my eyes and asked Jaylin to hurry it up.

  “Please don’t rush me.” He smiled. “We got one more stop to make and then we’ll go home.”

  I huffed. “You are not going back to the Jaguar dealer, are you? Take me home if you do, please.”

  He laughed. “Don’t go giving me no ideas. I was talking about dinner. I want to take you and Mackenzie to an extravagant restaurant.”

  I was so relieved that we weren’t going to another dealership. Jaylin ordered the final touches for his SUV and was promised delivery in one week. The whole place sucked up to him like he was God almighty, and I was so sure that pumped up his ego even more.

  We went to his favorite restaurant, Morton’s of Chicago. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner together, stopped by the mall to do some shopping, then we headed home. I had fallen asleep in the car and so had Mackenzie. It had been a long day and we were exhausted.

  I felt as if I couldn’t even make it up the stairs. After Mackenzie ran up them, Jaylin tossed me over his shoulder and ran up the steps with me.

  “Your ass is getting heavy,” he said, laying me down on the bed. He lay on top of me. “You ain’t pregnant, are you? Please tell me that you are. That would just make my day.”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. But we can work on our baby whenever you’d like.”