“I hate to keep bringing this up, but Chase seems like she be on some slick shit. After what she did, you know I don’t trust her to keep her mouth shut.”
Worry was visible on Roc’s face. He got up from the bed and paced the floor. Since he’d won the tennis game against me and Jada, he promised her that he’d have a cookie bake-off with her, if she’d stop pouting. Cooking was definitely something she thought she’d win at.
“I said this to you before, man, and must I repeat myself again. That is, if you’re so worried, go home. It makes no sense for you to be that uptight and still be here.”
“And like I said before, I’m no quitter. Whatever is waitin’ for me at home will be there when I get there. I wish I could call to make sure everything is all good. I don’t want no surprises, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t bother to reply. Roc wasn’t trying to hear what I was saying. He went into the closet, then came back out with clothes in his hands. “I need to wash some more of my clothes. They startin’ to pile up on me.”
“That’s what happens when you’re lazy.”
He laughed, then headed toward the door. “I know what I meant to ask you,” he said. “You already know that I’m a li’l irritated about this shit with Chase, right? It’s left a bad taste in my mouth, not with you, but with her. But riddle me this. Why it ain’t fuckin’ with you like it is me? What if yo down chick gets word of what happened here?”
“Down chick, my ass. My down chick ain’t down no more, she got fed up with the dumb shit. She hasn’t been down for quite some time. Chase can do no harm to me whatsoever. You, my brotha, need to chill. If you were that worried about this getting back to Desa Rae, why you run up in another pussy?”
“I could ask myself the same question, but you know how we do it. On a for real tip, I talked myself into that shit. Smokin’ all that weed contributed to my actions and the weed had me tryin’ to justify my actions in my head.”
“So, let me get this straight. It was the weed’s fault. If what happened here does get back to Desa Rae, you’d better think of a better excuse than that. That won’t fly. I’m just being real with you.”
“I’m hopeful that it won’t get back to her, but it’s been on my mind more because of a silly-ass dream I had. But after today, I’mma let this go. I don’t want to lose my baby over no bullshit with Chase, and I’m serious when I say I will hurt a bitch for tryin’ to shake up things.”
“Let’s hope you don’t have to. And on a final note, make sure you clean up your mess before you get married. Things from the past can come back to haunt. I’m a man who is telling you this from experience.”
“I feel you. It’s all good. The way I look at that is like this. We’re not married yet, so I’m glad that this happened before I got married, not after. That will be my defense, if I have to use it. Most men have pre-weddin’ day pussy, so you can’t hold a nigga accountable for that.”
Roc said nothing else and left the room. I couldn’t help but to think how fucked he really was. There was no doubt that he had underestimated Chase.
I changed into shorts and a polo shirt. Before going into the kitchen with Jada and Roc, I straightened my side of the closet and sprayed Lysol in it. With three people already gone, the closet wasn’t that crowded anymore. It was still junky, though.
Noticing a pair of Jada’s jeans dropped over her shoes, I picked them up to fold them. I hated for people not to take care of their clothes. If hangers were in the closet, why not use them? Inside of her jeans was a pair of silk, light purple panties. I frowned as soon as I noticed pussy juice stains in the middle of the crotch. Something definitely had her hot and bothered. I shook the panties from her jeans and they fell on the floor. So did a flash drive that I picked up and held in my hand. I kicked the panties aside, and then placed her jeans on a hanger. Afterward, I put the flash drive in my pocket to see what was on it later.
Roc and Jada had the kitchen in one big mess. Bowls, flour, cracked eggs, milk, butter, sugar—you name it, it was there.
“What took you so long?” Roc asked. “I need some help with this. You know anything about makin’ cookies?”
“No doubt. I have one of the best cooks in the world living with me. We call her Nanny B, and she taught me everything that you need to know about cooking.”
Jada already had her lips pursed. “Just so you know, we ain’t interested in fat-free cookies. If you’re goin’ to help, be sure to add sugar, butter, and cookin’ oil to the mix. After that, you can experiment with whatever you’d like to and go from there.”
“It doesn’t take all of that to make cookies. Where are the big bowls at? I need to show you something and then maybe you’ll shut your mouth.”
“FYI,” Roc said. “Find your own bowl, because I like my cookies sweet. Real sweet and smoky.”
Roc reached for his bag of weed and had the nerve to sprinkle his cookie dough with marijuana.
“Yeah, buddy.” Jada happily slapped his back. “Add a li’l bit more of that, baby. It seems like you know what’cha doin’.”
Roc added more. I just shook my head. They couldn’t have been serious about this cookie cook-off. If so, I reminded myself not to sample any of Roc’s cookies.
I put my game face on and gathered a few bananas, some oatmeal, dates and raisins, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. No sugar, no butter. I reached for a bowl and some measuring cups, then took my items over to the kitchen table. As I started to measure my ingredients, Jada came over to mess with me.
“Why you over here tryin’ to look like you know what you doin’?” she asked.
“Because I do know what I’m doing. Now, back up, you’re in my space. You’re too close and you’re breath is hot.”
Jada bumped her hip with mine, almost knocking me aside. “All I gotta say is those cookies better be good or else I’m gon’ drive you nonstop. You need to add some sugar and butter to your batch, because things are already lookin’ mighty dry.”
I ignored Jada, but she kept coming back over to the table, hovering over me and my batter. She couldn’t deny that things were looking up for me, especially when I put the dough on a cookie sheet and got ready to pop them in the oven.
“They do look a lot better than Roc’s cookies do.” She tried to whisper, but he heard her.
“Looks can be deceivin,’ as we all now know. Wait until my cookies are done until you pass any kind of judgment on them.”
Into the oven his cookies went. Jada followed with her third tray of cookies. She thought she was so good that she had to make three different kinds.
We stood around in the kitchen, talking and waiting patiently for the cookies to get done.
“Please tell me why men are so competitive,” Jada said. “I blew the tennis game earlier because I’m so tired of y’all tryin’ to compete against each other. What’s with that?”
I responded before Roc had a chance to. “No, you blew the game earlier because you don’t know how to play. As for men, we have a competitive nature. It is what it will always be and nothing will ever change. We strive to win and don’t like it when we lose.”
“Nope, losin’ ain’t a good feelin’,” Roc said. “But, hey, somebody always has to lose. It won’t be me on this cookie challenge, and no offense, but y’all time here will be cut short.”
Jada rolled her neck around. “I disagree, but keep yo unrealistic hopes alive. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with competin’ with each other, but, uh, do y’all like to compete for women? Mainly, what about this whole thing with Chase? I’m not bein’ nosy, but were y’all competin’ for her?”
I started not to touch this, only because my words would offend Roc. The way I saw it, when it came to women, there was no comparison between us. Therefore, there was no need to compete with a man who wasn’t on my level. I was glad when Roc opened his mouth first.
“Ma, there wasn’t no competition between Jaylin and me. And competin’ with any man over a woman is not somethin’ that I
do. Chase had a motive and she followed her agenda. Her desire was to get some dick and she got it. She had been sweatin’ a nigga from day one. The money was never her priority.”
Jada rubbed her chin. “So, you believe that all Chase wanted out of this was dick? I guess that could’ve been the case, but how do you feel that she not only got yo dick, but Jaylin’s dick too? In the same day, and only hours apart. That has to sting, doesn’t it?”
“First of all,” I said. “If y’all believe the only motive Chase had was dick, you’re fooling yourselves. I can’t put my finger on her motive yet, but believe me when I say there was more to it. Secondly, who gives a damn how much dick she got? It ain’t like me or Roc running around here, trying to take that shit back. No matter how you look at it, I had a good time. My dick was satisfied and she left here with an elated pussy.”
Roc gave me dap, but Jada continued to push.
“But in a sense, you did get Roc’s leftovers. And then he’s left feelin’ like all he did wasn’t enough to satisfy her. That must be fuckin’ with y’all heads, ain’t it?”
“No,” we said in unison. Roc added more. It was obvious that we both felt frustrated by Jada’s view of things. “You talkin’ about leftovers. Really? Truth is, we all bein’ served leftovers. When you go behind the next muthafucka, that’s just how it is. All I’m gon’ say to you is I did my part—well. If Chase was still horny after how I put it out there, that’s on her, not me.”
“I know, ’cause you did go over and above the call of duty.”
I had to ask Jada a question. “How do you know what that man did? Were you watching?”
“No, I wasn’t watchin’. Chase told me some things before she left. Things that neither of you will ever know. It’s our secret.”
See, she was fucking with us, but I wasn’t biting. Neither was Roc. He went over to the stove and removed our cookies from the oven.
“Jada, it looks like your cookies need another minute or two. I’m leavin’ yours in there.”
“Let me see,” she said, rushing over to the oven. “You may be tryin’ to let my cookies burn.”
After looking in the oven, she agreed that a few more minutes were needed. I waited for my cookies to cool before putting them on a plate. Roc did the same. By the time he finished, Jada’s cookies were done.
She was singing and dancing all around the kitchen, knowing that she was the winner, based on looks. Truth be told, Roc’s cookies looked like mountains of shit. Mine weren’t too bad, but the oats had gotten a little browner than I had expected.
Jada carefully placed all of her cookies on a plate and introduced her display.
“These here are my famous sugar cookies, these are my very chocolatey-chocolate cookies, and these are my peanut butter with extra nuts cookies. Roc, you go first, baby. Only because I know Jaylin is goin’ to find somethin’ to complain about. Please enjoy.”
Roc picked up the chocolate cookie, chewed then nodded. He bit into the sugar cookie, then the peanut butter one. Right after he swallowed, he leaned over and kissed Jada on her cheek.
“You have an investor and we sellin’ those cookies as soon as we get back on our turf. The peanut butter ones are the best, but they definitely all good.”
“Thank you, Chef Roc,” Jada said with glee in her eyes. “But I’m the only person who makes money off my skills. Sorry.”
He laughed, then tasted my cookie. I waited for his response with a slight grin on my face. He chewed and chewed some more. Then he opened his mouth and cleared his throat.
“Not bad, but not good either. I needed more flava, so I’m on the fence.”
Jada giggled and all I could say was, “Whatever.”
It was my turn, so I took tiny bites from Jada’s three cookies and washed them down with cold water.
“There is no such word as chocolately-chocolate, and all I tasted was a bunch of sugar and dough. Your investment wouldn’t be worth it, Roc, don’t waste your time.”
Surprisingly, all Jada did was give me the finger. Roc waited for me to taste his cookie, but I wasn’t touching it.
“Nigga, I ate yours, didn’t I?” he said with a frown. “Fair is fair, ain’t it?”
“I don’t always play fair, but since you about to cry about it, I guess a tiny bite won’t hurt.”
He also gave me the finger.
I picked up the cookie, sniffing it. It didn’t smell too bad, so I bit into it and chewed. Awful. But just to mess with Jada, I took another bite. “Now, this right here is pretty good. I got my money on Roc.”
Roc laughed, but Jada got mad. “Get the hell out of here. You know darn well that his cookie ain’t better than mine.”
“Hey, in my opinion it is. You can’t offer your opinion if you haven’t tasted it.”
Jada snatched one of his cookies from the plate. She bit into it, then spat the chewed up cookie in her hand. “Are you kiddin’ me?” she shouted. “That cookie is terrible. It don’t even taste like a cookie.”
“You mad because my cookie tastes better than yours. Stop hatin,’ ma. It’s not a good look.”
Jada threw her hand back and tasted my cookie. This time, she ran to the sink to spit it out and rinsed her mouth. “Yucky,” she said with a twisted face. “What was that?”
“It’s called the best cookie you ever ate. Forget what you talking about, baby. It’s time to choose a winner. Like I said before, I got my money on Roc.”
Roc pointed to his chest. “I got my money on me too, so with two votes out of three, I won.”
Like always, Jada got mad and pouted. “I should’ve known that y’all wouldn’t play fair and would stick together. Don’t ask me to do nothin’ else with y’all. I’m done.”
She stormed off, but all I did was laugh and shrug. Roc and I started to clean the kitchen. By the time we finished, it was almost five o’clock. Roc said that he was going to chill outside and listen to some music by the pool. I told him I’d be out later because I wanted to get some washing done.
I entered the bedroom, and when I entered the closet, I noticed that Jada was in a panic, looking for something.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
For whatever reason, she was fidgeting. “No…nothin’. I’m straightenin’ some of my things.”
The one thing that I could tell was when I was being lied to, especially by a woman. Jada hadn’t straightened anything and her clothes were the exact same way as they were before. It was obvious that she was looking for the flash drive, because she kept checking her jean pockets.
She made me more curious about what was on the drive, but I couldn’t help but to mess with her about the cookies.
“Say, about the cookie thing. Truth is, your cookies were hooked up. They were good, but if you cut the sugar in half, they’d be better.”
All she did was display a fake smile. I was surprised that she didn’t give me any more gripe. Her eyes were still searching through her clothes in the closet. She then stepped out of it.
“Oh, well,” she said with a sigh. “Roc promised that he would show me some swimmin’ techniques, so I’m goin’ outside. What else you gon’ do?”
“I’m gon’ wash some of my clothes. Then I’ll be outside to go for a swim and finish up the book I’m reading. Don’t drown before I get there.”
Jada chuckled, and after tossing her swimming suit over her shoulder, she left the room. I kept my eyes on her. The first place she went was to the computer desk. She looked around, picked up some papers on the desk, then checked the back of the computer. She put her hands on her hips, then sighed again.
Afterward, she went to the bathroom to change. I waited until she left the bathroom and went outside. That was when I went to the computer and stuck the flash drive in it.
The first thing I saw was Chase and Roc having sex in the living room. I wanted to back away from the computer, but couldn’t. How or why in the hell did Jada have this in her possession? I didn’t know. But no matter what, it wa
s very damaging to Roc. He wasn’t playing with the pussy, and the way Chase conducted herself with him was not the way she was with me. Maybe it was done on purpose. I had a feeling that she wanted Roc to be seen as the aggressive one, and her as the passive one. It surely appeared that way, and it was almost like she knew she was being taped. Poor Roc hadn’t a clue. If Desa Rae ever got a hold of this, he would find himself doing serious damage control. I was anxious to tell him about the flash drive. I knew it was going to cause him to lose it. He’d already been uptight, but this would surely send him over the edge.
I hit the fast-forward button to see what else was on the flash drive. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Chase and me in action. We were getting it in. The video showed everything that had transpired into the wee hours of the morning. I wasn’t in the same predicament as Roc was with Desa Rae finding out about this, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t concerned about something like this getting into the wrong hands. Being in Jada’s hands was enough, and to invade my privacy like this wasn’t cool.
No matter what, I had to get at Jada and figure out her purpose for having the flash drive, without her knowing that I’d removed it from her jeans. It was apparent that Chase was in on this shit too, but to what extent? Was she trying to get at Roc, me, or both of us? Jada and Chase had definitely barked up the wrong tree, and what a mess they had made.
As I was in deep thought, I heard someone walking down the hallway. Not knowing who it was, I hurried to remove the flash drive, easing it into my pocket. Right after that, I saw Jeff.
“What’s up, Jaylin?” he asked, as if he already knew what was up. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”
I played clueless. “Not at all. I was checking out a few things on the internet, and decided to reply to some of my fan mail. I tend to get a lot of it and can barely keep up.”
He nodded, then put his hands into his pockets. “That’s because so many people love you or hate to love you. They seem curious about you, and that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Most definitely. Can’t say that you’ll ever hear me complaining.”
The Roof is on Fire Page 17