Get Somebody New

by Lewis, Michael

  “Gloria you have to understand he was a threat and I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.”

  “The fact that I married you should have told you something.”

  Jazz and I went home after that tense meeting with his folks. Another facet to his character was revealed. He was silent on the ride home. Once inside, he still remained silent. I could tell something was on his mind but he wasn’t ready or didn’t know how to let it out. He stood staring out of the living room window. Totally emotionally drained, I went straight to the bedroom, stripped to my underwear, and laid down.

  Jazz appeared at the door and stared at me. Suddenly he emitted a bone-chilling wail and started crying uncontrollably. I sat on the side of the bed not sure what to do. He’d been holding it in for some time so I didn’t know if I should let him get it out or console him. He staggered over to me, fell to his knees, and placed his head in my lap and cried.

  “I just want him to love me Zeke. All I ever wanted was my dad Zeke. He’s never gonna change.”

  “He will come around. I have no doubt in my mind that once he thinks about it; he will have to respect you. Not only have you stood up to him, but also you have stood up to the whole world and defended yourself and us. That’s a BIG step.”

  “Thank you for doing what I needed so bad.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Loving me. Even after I did what I promised I’d never do…. hurt you.”

  “Jazz you never have to thank me for that. Man I live and breathe you. Loving you is what I needed too.”

  I lay back in bed and opened my arms to Jazz. He placed his head on my chest and I put my arms around him. Nothing in the world could top the feeling of holding him at that moment. Exposing his vulnerability to me took our relationship to a new plateau. He trusted me…….completely.

  Nadiah

  Anthony and I agreed that we could not keep going the way we were. We decided to go to marriage counseling. As we deconstructed the issues between us, it made me reflect on how I had been going through life mistreating people. That was a wakeup sign that it needed to stop. I committed to making some changes since it was obvious that Elias was not going to tolerate the way I was acting.

  “Nadiah we have got to do better. If we can’t then we need to just call it quits.” He said to me.

  “I am willing to work on my attitude and temper. You are right we have got to do better. It’s the second marriage for both of us. You would think that we’d have learned enough from past mistakes to make it perfect this time.”

  Anthony seemed to have turned over a new leaf. The new and improved version was one I could definitely deal with. I hadn’t even thought about Ingrid for weeks, which meant something. In an effort to make amends for all of the hurt I’d caused over the years, I decided to reach out to Sheree and my mom. It had been a while since I’d seen them, since the jail visit, which was a disaster. It was imperative that I placed myself in a calm mindset. Both Sheree and Mom have ways of pushing my buttons to make me go off. I had to make sure not to react just in case they decided to try me.

  As I pulled into the driveway, I saw my mom outside in the yard.

  “Hey mom you’re looking good.”

  “Nadiah what are you doing here? Don’t you bring any mess in my house. I ain’t got the patience child, not today.”

  “No I didn’t come to start anything. I want to apologize to you. I know I’ve been a handful over the years. I’ve been looking over my life, the decisions I’ve made, how many people I’ve hurt and I decided no good will come to me if I keep it up. I guess I’ve been unhappy for so long and I just took it out on everyone around me.”

  “I accept your apology. I may not have done everything right, but I did the best I could. We have our clashes but you are still my daughter and I love you.”

  “I love you too mom. Where is Sheree?”

  “Oh she’s in the house with those bad ass kids of hers. That little terror Maynard got in my flowerbed and was pulling my roses off the bush. He only got a chance to get four of them before I caught him. I beat his little ass good too. He gonna hate to see a rose bush from now on.”

  “Good! Somebody needed to beat his butt. Sheree’s delusional behind says she believes in talking to them and using time-out. You can’t raise a little black child like white folks raise theirs. That talking to them crap is the very reason you see them on TV every week complaining that their child is whipping their ass and begging somebody to send them to boot camp. I’ll go in here and talk to her for a while.”

  “Well, well, well, look what the cat drug in.” Sheree said as I walked in.

  “Good to see you too.”

  “So what do you want? I know it can’t be good.”

  “Sheree I didn’t come to trip out on anyone. I came to try to call a truce and salvage my relationship with my family, which includes you. I know you are probably mad at me and I understand that. All I want to say is that I am sorry for everything.”

  “Oh my God, hell has officially frozen over. I’ve never heard an apology from you.”

  “I’ve had a wakeup call. I am looking at my life and trying to change things.”

  “You are my sister so I already forgave you. If your apology is on the up and up then I accept. I apologize too for my part; I know I haven’t always been the nicest person to you either.”

  It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of me. I felt so light and free. Since I was on the introspective trip that day, I decided to swing by Ingrid’s on the way home. When I got there I actually debated whether or not I should knock or turn back around and go home. I tapped softly on the door while making up my mind. Ingrid answered a few seconds later wearing the silk bathrobe I’d given her for Valentine’s Day. At that moment, it dawned on me that it was getting close to that time of year again.

  “Oh um hey umm Nadiah, wh-wha-wha-what are you doing here?”

  “I just left my mom’s and I stopped to say “hello” since I haven’t talked to you in a minute.”

  “This is just kinda bad timing.”

  “Sure, I understand. I will talk to you another time.”

  After pressing through the awkwardness of a short conversation through a door crack, I decided it was time to go home.

  When I turned the key in the ignition, I realized that the revolving door between Ingrid and I was no longer open. She’d moved on. There would be no more going back when I felt like it, or got bored. The chapter called Ingrid was officially closed.

  Jazz

  When I took Zeke to meet my moms it turned into a disaster. I’d planned to be gone before my pops got there. I promised myself if I ever got out of that Marlena dilemma, I was gonna do shit differently. The first step was introducing the most important people in my life to each other. When my pops flipped I was too angry to give a damn. I said to myself “That’s it! I ain’t ever gonna back down again”. After all that bullshit went down, I decided to put everything out in the open and put an end to it for good.

  Once Zeke and I got home, I had Curtis come over. I also assured him I was gonna deal with Tony myself. Although I was just getting to know Curtis, the bond was instant. He and Zeke hit it off great. After we’d all gone to bed, there was a knock at the door about 2 in the morning. When I answered the door my mother was standing in the pouring rain crying. Her eyes were swollen and she had a red mark on the side of her face.

  “Ma, what happened?”

  “Tony and I had an argument about Curtis. He slapped me. Then he said he was going to kill Curtis as soon as he found him. He has lost his mind and I am not going back.”

  “I’m definitely gonna handle him now, I gotta. Nobody is gonna put his hands on my momma and not get dealt with. He just made the mistake of a lifetime.”

  Curtis walked in to see what was going on.

  “Gloria?”

  “Curtis? What are you doing here?”

  “Come here. Did that bastard hit you?”

  “Yes. He als
o threatened your life.”

  “Don’t you worry about that. Jazz and I have been in contact since I visited him in jail. I told him everything Gloria. I thought it was Tony looking for me at first, but when I found out it was Jazz, I went to him. Glo there was no way I could sit there and lie to him. It was haunting to see him sitting there looking at me with my own eyes.”

  Flashback

  Curtis had been on my mind constantly when I was in jail. I kept seeing the image of my dad shooting him over and over. It was eating away at me so bad I couldn’t sleep at night. I gave Randall all the information I knew and asked him to locate Curtis for me because I wanted to send him a letter. Randall had an address for me about 2 days later. I got a visit after a couple of days after sending a letter. When I walked into the room, I saw a man sitting there who looked familiar to me but not like the way I remembered Curtis.

  “You’re here to see me? You look familiar but I’m not sure who you are.”

  “I’m here because I was told that you were looking for me.”

  “Looking for you? Nah, I did ask my lawyer to locate a guy named Curtis for me though.”

  He didn’t respond right away. He looked down at the ground for a long moment and then looked back at me as his eyes filled with tears. He grabbed my hand and placed it to his chest. He didn’t have to say anything. I knew exactly what it meant.

  “When I found out someone was asking questions about me, I was afraid it was Tony.”

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about what my dad did to you. I couldn’t sleep for thinking about it. Something inside me kept telling me to reach out and find you. I can’t explain it, but I had to contact you because I couldn’t concentrate on anything else until I did.”

  “I can explain it. Look at me. Take a good look at my face, it’s the real reason Tony shot me.”

  “I can’t place it but you look like someone I see a….. Wait you look like….you look like….umm.

  “Like who?”

  “Like me. Are you trying to tell me something?”

  “Your mom and I were dating. Actually we were engaged. Tony and I grew up together and were like brothers. My family took him in after his father was murdered. After he gained so much power on the street it went to his head. He had the attitude that if he wanted something he’d take it. At first I would not back down but then he threatened to kill me if I didn’t go away. He went on this power trip and said he was going to take my family to show how powerful he was. I stayed away until I found out that Gloria had a baby.

  Tony found out I was in town visiting my sister. He’d developed an obsession about making sure the truth never came out. That’s how he ended up shooting me in the chest because I refused to leave. He thought he could just claim my son and erase all traces of my existence. I was prepared to die if I had to.

  After I moved to California I still kept up with you. I came to quite a few of your Junior High and High School basketball games. When I looked at you, the truth was obvious.”

  “That explains why I never felt a bond with him. It also explains how he could force me into the dangerous drug trade so easily, because I’m not his so it wouldn’t affect him if something happened to me. He used me!”

  “I’ve kept up with you over the years. I also know you didn’t do what they said you did.”

  “Thanks. I was framed, it’s just a matter of proving it.”

  “Tony has taken enough from me, that’s it. I’m gonna see you through this. Whatever happens I will be secure in the knowledge that I did the right thing this time and I’m giving my fear to God.”

  “Thanks.” I said.

  Tony had an ass-whipping coming to him as soon as I could get to him. What he stole from me could never be replaced, the relationship and bond with my real father. What made it even worse was that it was so clearly evident that this man had been in turmoil all these years and longed to be in my life. There was no way I could be upset with him. He didn’t leave because he wanted to. His life was threatened by a selfish ass egomaniac, for just being a father who wanted to love and be with his son. Tony was gonna be running down the street with my size 14 stuck in the crack of his ass as soon as I got to him.

  “It was after you just dropped off the face of the earth and stopped talking to me that I got involved with Tony. I figured you didn’t want to be with me anymore.” Mom said.

  “Gloria no! That wasn’t it at all. You were the love of my life, my soul mate. I loved you, Gloria I still love you. Tony just decided you should have been with him instead of me. He told me to break up with you and leave town. When I refused he went crazy. He started harassing my family and shooting up their cars and houses. I decided maybe it was best to lay low at least for a little while. When you had the baby, Tony became ruthless in his efforts to make sure I stayed away.”

  “I never knew any of that Curtis. He’s been lying to me all these years. I feel so dumb for trusting him. There is no telling how many other things he has lied to me about.”

  “I want to go over there so bad and handle him!” I fumed.

  “Jazz, I know you’re upset, but I think you should give yourself time to think this through.”

  “You’re right ma. Maybe we should just go to bed and get some sleep.”

  “That sounds good.” Curtis responded.

  I got back in bed and by then Zeke was awake.

  “You okay? I heard what happened.”

  “Zeke you know I’m fighting to keep from going and killing that….that…..I don’t even know what to call him!”

  “Your mom gave you the best advice. Now trust me I do understand your frustration but look at all he has taken from everybody already? Going over there would only result in more loss, especially if you harm him. If you kill him, his death would be his final act of theft…theft of your freedom.”

  “I know, I know. Zeke, I don’t wanna think about it anymore. Take my mind off of it baby.”

  “Huh? But your……”

  “Shut up and come here.”

  “But what about our guests?”

  “What about giving me that loving baby?”

  It was obvious Zeke had reservations about getting busy because of our “company”. So I decided to do a little convincing. I jumped up from the bed and grabbed my jeans and acted like I was getting dressed to go deal with that little situation.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Well since you don’t wanna help me divert my attention, I’m gonna have to go on over to Tony’s and deal with him.”

  “Okay, but I’m going with you.”

  “Huh? Whaaat…ummm.” I said surprised.

  Zeke started laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You didn’t think I was gonna call your bluff.”

  “Why you wanna play with me like that?”

  “That wasn’t playing with you, this is playing with you.”

  Zeke walked over to me and grabbed my dick through my jeans. I never got so hard, so fast in my life. Damn! I love it when Zeke gets aggressive with me and he knows it too. He was still holding on to my hard dick when he started backing up to the bed. He lay back on the bed, put his hand inside his briefs, and started stroking his dick.

  “You wanna kiss me?” he asked.

  “Yeah!” I said as I moved toward him to kiss him. Just as my lips touched his, he turned away, grabbed the back of my head and guided it down between his legs. My hand replaced his and I took over stroking his thick, hard dick.

  “So that’s what you want baby?” I asked seductively.

  “Yeah.” He breathed.

  It was time for me take the wheel. I acted like I was gonna comply but then I lifted my head and grabbed him by the back of his neck gently.”“Say you need it!”

  “I need it.”

  “Tell Jazz exactly what you need baby.”

  “Jazz, I need some of your bomb ass head!”

  Before he finished his sentence, I had already engulfed half of his thick,
throbbing piece in my mouth. As he tried to hold back by taking controlled breaths, I was determined to make it impossible. I quickly snatched off his briefs and zeroed in on my target with my fingers. At that point, I was long past caring about being quiet. My baby moaned quietly while I slobbed him down like a man possessed. Zeke then took the wheel back, pulled my head up forcefully, and shifted back to offer up that booty.

  “Nah, turn yo ass ova cause I’m gonna get all up in that.” I ordered.

  Zeke tried to comply but he was too slow for my insatiable desire! I grabbed his legs and flipped him over. When Zeke’s chest met the bed, my arms were already wrapped tightly around his muscular thighs and his ample bubble was being deeply probed by my long tongue. His moans got louder and more intense.

  “THAT’S what I’m talking about!” I shouted.

  It must have been a delayed response because after being locked up I thought me and Zeke was gonna get down as soon as we saw each other. Instead I had to fuck up and take him to meet the family. Once we got home, I was just emotionally tired. Zeke gave me exactly what I needed though. He gave me him. I ain’t talking about sex, Zeke gave me him….. He gave me his heart; he gave me his soul, his unconditional love, the unbiased, non-judgmental cradle of his arms. I just broke down out of the blue but the strangest thing was, as soon as I was in Zeke’s arms, I didn’t shed another tear. I was calm cause I knew I was back where I was supposed to be and no matter what, things were gonna be alright.

  As I was getting into being with Zeke, my mind did a 180 and first went to Marlena, what she did, what I went through, and I got pissed. Once I got pissed my thoughts naturally went back to all the shit that happened with my family, Curtis, all of it. I refocused on Zeke long enough to switch positions.

  “Zeke, oh baby, please do the thing! You know that thing! Damn, I’m about to lose it just thinking about it!”

  “Jazz!” He said in his excited whisper.

  Zeke reached down and grabbed my dick and my whole body shivered cause I was so anxious to feel him do that “thing”. I took a deep breath when he brought the head to his entrance. The head slipped inside the tight opening causing Zeke to gasp. I kissed him as he tightened his grip on my hard dick. My leg muscles tightened as I pressed my feet against the food board. The muscles in my ass propelled my hips forward.