She fixed Devin’s plate and then hers. She didn’t notice that Clara had given an approving grin to that move, but Devin did. Once Lisa was finished serving her man she sat down to dig into the food and to converse with Devin’s mother since she knew questions were coming and they did.
Clara asked about Lisa’s job. She was surprised because Shay had told her to be prepared to answer questions about her parents. That most men’s mothers wanted to know about a woman’s upbringing, but Devin had taken care of all of that. He didn’t want Lisa to feel embarrassed, so he had told his mother all about Lisa’s father not being around and her mother being killed by a jealous boyfriend. Devin’s mother was a sweet woman and very understanding, and she wanted to make sure that her son’s friend didn’t feel uneasy. She wanted her to feel welcomed seeing as how her son had told her that he was in love.
* * *
Carlos pressed the end button on his cell then set it on the nightstand. LaTanza came walking in the bedroom wearing nothing but a pair of sexy panties. She smelled of lavender, and her body had a glow from the expensive crème she’d rubbed all over to keep her skin tone even and smooth. Carlos had just received a message that another one of his lieutenant’s spots were hit, this time without a fatality unlike the other night at Chavez’s spot, but it was with the loss of several kilos. Even though he felt like spending quality time with his wife, they hadn’t made love since his father was killed last month and he figured that it was time to indulge in his wife’s sweet loving. He assumed that she was hurt by the loss of her father-in-law; just as he was, so he figured that’s why she hadn’t been intimate with him. Little did he know that she was holding back from him. The pain she felt ever since she eavesdropped on him and his father talking about a woman named Angelica who might have his child was too much for her to handle. She vowed not to give Carlos anymore of herself, especially now that she knew that he’d betrayed her in the most damaging way—shared his seed with another woman—a woman who she had been trying her best to find.
LaTanza sat on the silk sheets and fluffed up her pillow as Carlos watched her beautiful breasts bounce as she did so. He assumed that she wanted to make love seeing as how her breasts were swollen and nipples erect. Little did he know that she had just gotten herself off in the bathroom and if a nut was what he wanted he’d better get it by himself or get up and head out to that bitch’s crib. That’s what she was hoping for. That way the private detective Styles set her up with could find out where the woman lived.
Carlos leaned toward her and caressed her breasts as she lay still. He gazed into her eyes as he felt himself stiffening. “Baby I want to make love to you,” he whispered softly.
She sounded so convincing when she said, “After your father’s death it’s been hard for me and Carlita. She’s been asking a lot of questions, some I don’t know how to answer. It’s taking a toll on me and I keep having dreams.” Her entire statement was a lie, but she knew how to deceive. When her daughter did ask the question about her Grandfather, LaTanza knew how to comfort her daughter without a problem. Her dreams weren’t as frequent as they used to be because that evilness that was inside her was on the outside now, hiding the good wife, friend and mother. Carlos and his father had brought the evil LaTanza out when she overheard them talking about Carlos having a baby with his mistress and taking what was to be their daughter’s inheritance and giving it to a bastard child and its whore mother.
The hair on the back of LaTanza’s neck rose like a porcupine going into defense mode and she got goosebumps from her chemical imbalance that was kicking in. She didn’t like the feel of Carlos’ touch anymore. She felt as if that woman’s DNA was being rubbed onto her skin. She had to stop his touch. She rolled over telling him, “I just don’t feel like it. Can you let me go to sleep, maybe another night?”
Carlos rolled to his side of the bed and turned his light out. LaTanza did the same.
After about five minutes, Carlos got out of bed and left the bedroom. LaTanza lay there hoping that he was fed up and was going to leave to see his whore. She waited several minutes hoping to hear the roar of Carlos’ V12 engine to his Mercedes. She heard nothing. After waiting another fifteen minutes she decided to take a stroll down the hallway. When she saw the light coming from under the door to Carlos’ office she crept closer and listened as he talked on the phone. She just knew it was that bitch. But with further listening she found out that her husband had planned on meeting with Lucky to put together a deal to possibly work together to push the loose cannon, Bone, out of the way. Carlos was explaining that he had nothing to do with Lucky’s spots that were being hit and that they needed to do something about the confusion and problems that were being caused by none other than Bone who Lucky received word had made a pact with a few of the dealers that were large but nowhere near as big as Lucky and Carlos. Noonie had also given Lucky information that he’d received from Boogie, the man in Bone’s camp who Noonie had talked to at the club the night Cat was grinding all up on Bone. He told Noonie that Bone was about to start getting his drugs from the Giadanos who were the same mob outfit that Slim used to get some of his drugs from before a problem had come about. The Giadanos were still looking to settle a score with Slim and things looked a little fucked up with Bone now dealing with them. He was getting stronger by the day and Lucky figured it was time to cripple his ass.
LaTanza knew she had to make a move. She thought that her husband was getting weak. He was starting to make truces and pacts with people his father would have never dealt with. She knew that this could be the downfall of their moneymaking and she wasn’t about to let that happen. She and her daughter’s future of never having a want or need were in jeopardy—at least in her mind that is.
* * *
Early morning service at the First Baptist Church was like any other Sunday. Reverend Daniel Brown put on a show. Lisa hadn’t seen a show like this one in awhile. The Reverend really had the spirit in him on this day. When it was over, she was really feeling good. She sat in between Devin and Clara and it felt as if they were a happy family as they took in the Word. At the end of the service, Clara insisted on Lisa meeting and Devin saying hi to the reverend. They met the Reverend who gave Lisa a firm handshake and invited her back for evening service. Devin told the Reverend that they would have if it wasn’t for them going to the Colts football game at the RCA dome. The game started at four fifteen and it was one thirty so they had to get moving so they could get changed and make it to their seats. Clara had driven her own car so the two could make their way, and she could go have dinner buffet style at the Golden Coral with some of the sisters from the church.
Payton Manning was his usual self, and running back Joseph Addia was coming into his own. The Colts beat down their opponents by over twenty points. Devin had cheered his ass off while wearing a Dwight Freeney jersey. Lisa had purchased a pink cap with the NFL logo on it and wore a Colts t-shirt to please Devin. She bargained with him that he’d have to get some Bears tickets and wear a Bears shirt to their game. Being a die-hard Bears fan, Lisa felt as if she was cheating on her favorite team with the Colts t-shirt she was wearing, so she felt Devin had to do the same.
After the game they went back to his mother’s home. They had eaten pizza, nachos and a lot of other junk while at the game so they weren’t that hungry, but his mother had made a homemade apple pie and Lisa’s stomach wasn’t going to let her miss out on tasting what had the house smelling so good. They sat in the family room and ate the warm pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top. The hot and cold treat was too good. Clara had the scented candles going and the gas fireplace was burning. The temperature had dropped to a chilly thirty-four degrees and was unseasonably cold for the last week of October but made for a comfortable night to be indoors relaxing by a fire.
“So who is that in the picture? Is that your sister you told me about?” Lisa asked Devin. The picture that was above the fireplace in the five by seven frame was India—Devin’s older sister.
She looked so beautiful in the picture that had to be old seeing as she was wearing Damaged jeans. Devin had told Lisa that his sister had died in nineteen-ninety from a crack overdose. She felt bad for him when he told her because she could see the pain in his eyes when he discussed her while they laid in bed one night when they were pillow talking, getting to know each other.
“Yeah, that’s her.” He managed a smile as he reminisced about his older sister. He didn’t go any further and moved away from the picture, and Lisa took the hint.
Clara was talking as she was heading back to the family room. It was a hard subject to talk about for Devin’s mother. Her oldest and only daughter had gone away to Los Angeles when she was only eighteen. She had always wanted to be an actress, and against her mother's wishes she took every dime she’d saved from working at the grocery store her last two years of high school to move to L.A. after graduating. Needless to say, she met a wanna be director who told her that he’d pay her a grand to star in an independent film. He told the young and eager, yet naïve, teenager all she had to do was show up and the job was hers. She did and come to find out it was just a rented mansion where porn movies were being made. She almost walked away, but when a thousand dollars and something to calm her nerves was placed in her hands, she tried the drug and the rest was history. She went from smoking the cocaine-laced marijuana, better known as primos, to smoking crack in a matter of weeks. Her days of smoking were the cause of no one hearing from her for weeks at a time. Then those weeks turned to months. Then one dark day the L.A. County sheriff’s department called. When Clara answered the phone and the man on the other end acknowledged who he was, Clara broke down because she knew it was only a matter of time before the Lord came for her child who’d gotten lost in the unforgiving world of drugs—Devin was only twelve at the time.
Devin and Lisa stayed up with his mother and watched a movie, then it was time to get some rest. They were leaving early even though Mr. Goldstein had given Lisa Monday off since she was going to the Colts game. Lisa went to the bedroom that she’d slept in the night before, Devin’s room. It was a fairly new house that was built after Devin went off to college, but his mother had decorated it with all of his awards, trophies and pictures from when he was in school—football, baseball and basketball. Lisa read all the articles that were hung up and looked over all the trophies. He was all-city in every sport and had gone to the famous U, the University of Miami and played alongside some of the greats that went on to the NFL. Lisa wondered why hadn’t he, since he had a lot of awards from college also. All Big East first team defense his junior and senior years, and if she was correct the years he played, Ray Lewis and some of the other notable stars were playing there at the same time. She figured he must have gotten injured or something. She selfishly thought that it was for the best because if he’d gone pro, she would have missed out on meeting him and becoming his woman.
The sun beamed through the window and with the smell of Clara’s country cooking, it was hard for Lisa to stay asleep. She looked over at the alarm clock and it would have been going off in a couple of minutes anyway so she got up and got her things packed. There was a knock on the door and then it opened slowly. Lisa thought that it might be Clara, but it was Devin sneaking in.
“Boy, get out of here before you mother catches you in here!” she scolded with a low whisper.
He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. “Damn, I haven’t had any from you all weekend. I got it bad, woman.”
She felt his erection rubbing against her and knew she had to get him off her before she got as weak as he was and did it under Mrs. Anderson’s roof. She pushed him away. “You know we can’t be up in here doing it. I’m trying to make a good impression with your mom and you’re in here with nothing on but a pair of grandpa pajamas,” she laughed.
He took a step back and looked down at his attire. “Aw you got jokes, huh?”
“Get out,” she forcefully whispered as she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him out of the bedroom.
Devin couldn’t help but to smile seeing as how she had the biggest grin on her face when she forced him out of the room.
The three had eaten, and it was time to go. Clara gave Lisa a big hug and told her that she was welcome to visit anytime she wanted even if it was by herself. She even gave Lisa her phone number and told her to call if her son didn’t treat her right. That put a smile on Lisa’s face and it spoke volumes. It convinced her know that Devin’s mother had taken a liking to her just as she had to her. Clara made her think of her mother, and that brought an even bigger smile to her face. Devin hugged his mother and she whispered in his ear that Lisa was a keeper. He put the last luggage in the trunk, and before slamming it shut, he told her that she couldn’t have been more right.
* * *
LaTanza awoke and was in a cold sweat. She looked over at Carlos’ side of their king sized bed only to see that he wasn’t there. His pillows were in the same position they were in when she had crawled into bed leaving him in his office chatting on the phone. He was back at it talking with Lucky brokering a deal. She went into the office and asked Carlos to come to bed, that she was lonely. She didn’t want to sleep with him, but her mind was telling her to get him off the phone, that maybe the lack of her loving was making her man loose his mind. He wasn’t the same suave confident man who swept her off her feet ten years ago. Maybe it was the death of his father that had made him this way, which would in turn cast the blame on her seeing as how she was behind the head of the family’s death. But self-preservation was a motherfucker and an instinct she possessed.
LaTanza had dreamed that Carlos had stepped out to be with the Angelina woman, and here it was two in the morning and he was gone. Hadn’t even laid his head on his pillow. She stepped onto the plush carpet and grabbed her silk robe from the foot of the bed. She tied it and headed off barefooted for Carlos’ office hoping that he was there. When she got to the door she noticed the light was off. She trotted down the spiral staircase hoping that her husband was in the kitchen eating a snack or in the media room looking at a movie. After searching the various rooms without success of finding him, she went to the garage. When she flicked the switch the light blinked quickly then came to life. Mercedes, Navigator, Corvette and GMC Sierra were all parked in their spaces, but the Harley Davidson Soft Tail wasn’t. The hair on her neck rose and she could feel the bumps rising on her body. She ran to Carlita’s room to make sure her daughter was sound asleep. She pulled the cover that was down to her daughter’s ankles up to cover her torso. She then went to Consuela’s room. She woke the housekeeper and thought how it was convenient to have her living in the house especially for times like this. LaTanza told her that Carlos was gone and that she had to run out for a couple of hours. Consuela got out of bed and headed for the kitchen to fix a pot of coffee so she could stay awake.
LaTanza was getting dressed in an expensive warm up suit. She tied her hair into a ponytail. She took her .380 auto out of her drawer and was ready to head who knows where. When she reached the garage, she heard the sound of Carlos’ hog thundering up the street. She thought about hurrying back to bed, but Consuela was already awake fixing coffee so she had to think up an excuse. The door to the garage raised and Carlos was shocked to see LaTanza. He was dressed in his leather biker’s outfit and when he stepped off the hog he looked surprised to see LaTanza then asked, “Where are you headed at this time of night?”
Innocently she answered, “I had a dream that something happened to you. That you had crashed. I was worried.”
“So you were going to drive all over the city to look for me? Why not call my cell?”
“I did and it went straight to voice mail,” she lied. She just used that as an excuse knowing that Sprint had a few dead zones in their area where a signal was sometimes hard to get.
“I’m fine, I just needed to get out and let the wind hit my face. Soon it will be too damn cold to ride. I just had a lot on my mind. Let’s go upstairs.”
When Carlos passed by LaTanza she could smell another woman and she wanted to take out her .380 and end Carlos’ life. Men were so stupid that they, for some dumb reason, didn’t understand that a woman’s sense of smell is far more sensitive than theirs. Especially when it came to women’s fragrances and another woman could detect the slightest bit.
Once upstairs Carlos made advances toward his wife and to his surprise she was in the mood. She fucked him like she missed his loving like crazy. Maybe since it had been so long it just seemed better. But no, LaTanza was fucking like a woman possessed and that was because she wanted her husband to know what he would be missing since this was going to be the last time he got some ass—at least from a woman that is.
Sister, Sister
Last night LaTanza looked into Carlos’s eyes as she sat on top of him and rode, and for some reason all she saw gazing at her was love. But how could that be when he was fathering a child with another woman? A child that was to take over the family years from now. Maybe her pussy was that good that it could make his facial expression lie. But regardless she had to do what she had to do. She was sitting in the parking lot of Jewel’s grocery store. She was on the phone with Styles who was feeding her some information about Slim possibly being in the country. She took the info in then got the detective off the line so she could have a little chat with his boss—her sister.
The Corner II Page 18