by N'Tyse
I walked over to the bar, grabbed two filled glasses, and brought them back over to them.
“I’ll be right back,” I told them.
“Okay,” they both said in unison.
What the fuck is he doing here? Everything that Peaches had told me was still fresh in my mind. I hoped this punk muthafucka wasn’t bold enough to step to me in my place of business over no ho shit. I knew he wouldn’t, because he wouldn’t dare get that Stacy Adams suit of his dirtied up. I remained calm and walked over to him.
“This a nice place you got here, Sand,” he said, looking over the club. “What happened to you Wednesday night? You missed the domino game me and the guys had going. They were asking me where my partner was. I ended up partnering with Malik, and you know that nigga can’t play no bones. Shit, I lost two dubs.”
“Man, I been tied up with other shit.”
“Um, I heard that.” He was looking over my shoulder at Nessa, who, I imagined, was still being flirty. “Who that shorty over there in the catsuit?” he asked, referring to Nessa.
“That’s my homegirl. She braids my hair.”
“Damn, she fine. She better be lucky I’m engaged.”
I wanted to make sure I had heard him right. “Engaged?” I repeated.
“Yeah, your boy decided he gon’ settle on down and tie the knot.”
Man, this shit was blowing my mind. I chilled out, trying to maintain my cool. I couldn’t let him know that I had already been hipped to his and Chyna’s little scheme. He wasn’t as slick as he thought he was.
“Engaged, huh?” I said for the second time.
“Yep. I almost can’t believe it my damn self.”
I smiled as I pondered my next move. “And what you say her name was again?” I knew this would get him.
“Hey, hey, hey, can I get another one of these?” He was waving down the waitress who had just passed us by.
“You sure can, Daddy.”
“Damn, they know how to treat a brother up in here, and you ain’t gotta be no damn million-dollar-having nigga, either.” He was smiling. “My nig, I’m gonna go on over here and get on this pool game before these chicks get me in some trouble.” He totally avoided my question all the way around. I knew it. I just knew it. Peaches was telling the truth. I smiled a fake-ass smile.
“A’ight, dog. I’m a holla at you later, then.” I walked away. “Fake-ass nigga,” I mumbled loud enough for the waitress returning with his drink to hear. She looked at me and then went on back to work. I headed back to my guests.
Deja was enticing. She had on a shimmering gold dress with a matching earring and necklace set. She looked extra sexy tonight, and I was sure she knew it.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” I asked. I didn’t want to damn myself by holding eye contact with her for longer than a minute, because then I’d be under the hypnotic spell of her beauty. And that had to be dangerous. I couldn’t help it, though. I stared into her eyes. Goddamn it. I wanted her.
“Yes, I am. Thanks for asking.”
“My pleasure.”
She smiled, and that just made my night.
The night was going real well. I was able to get in a few dances with Nessa and Deja. Deja really knew how to move, but I could tell she was more comfortable with the slow jams. I wanted to see her bounce that ass, like the rapper yelling from the speakers was telling her to do, but I was also pleased with the way she slow wound in front of me, moving her body like a snake and then dropping it like it was hot. She was getting loose, and so was Nessa, except Nessa was across the dance floor, giving it what she had for a pork chop. That damn girl came back sweating, she had danced so hard. Man, the place was so damn crunk. I made a mental note to tell Julia, the chick I had helping me out with all the payroll checks, to give the DJ something extra. He was cutting up.
Hours later I woke up to Deja to the left of me, in the driver’s seat. She was chauffeuring me home, but what the hell for? She looked down at me when she saw me raise the seat up from its comfortable reclined position.
“Too many drinks, huh?” Deja asked.
I wiped my blurry eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. “What’s going on?” I asked. I sat up straighter, relinquishing my slouched position. It took me a second to realize she was pushing my whip. I guessed the look on my face told her what I was thinking.
“Don’t worry. I ain’t gonna bang your rims on the curb.” She smiled.
Was I that damn drunk? I asked myself, because I couldn’t remember shit. I grabbed at my head, which was pounding so hard. Everything was starting to look blurry again. I felt myself dozing off, going right back to sleep.
* * *
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I jumped up, knocking the blanket on the floor. It was cold as hell. I immediately broke out in chills. I looked around, trying to make out where I was. Nothing looked familiar. I stood. I smelled smoke. Something was on fire. The smoke detectors had detected that. They were still going off. I opened what appeared to be a bedroom door, and a cloud of smoke greeted me. Where was I? I followed the smell. It led me into a smoke-filled kitchen. There was Deja, in some pink and white pajamas and white crew socks, with her hair in a black silk scarf. She was removing the oven mitts that she had on. I looked on the stove top. There was a once silver pan, which was now charcoal black, and I assumed that was bacon that was burned inside of it.
What the hell is she trying to do? Burn us both up? How do you burn baked bacon?
“Hey, sleepyhead,” she said when she spotted me.
Even in the morning she was beautiful. She walked over to me and grabbed my hands, then pulled me into the kitchen. She pulled out a bar stool that was sitting in front of the island. She took out a placemat, two plates, and forks. I watched her fill both plates with scrambled eggs and cheese, oatmeal, charred bacon, and some fluffy buttermilk biscuits. “I know the bacon’s a little crispy, but it’s all good.” She smiled. She poured me a glass of orange juice and a glass of skim milk for herself.
“Deja, what am I doing at your place?” I knew she wanted me, but damn, I didn’t know she was willing to kidnap my ass. She looked at me like she was shocked at my question.
“You really don’t remember?”
“No.”
She stared at me in disbelief. “Sand, you passed out.”
“What!”
“You passed out.”
That was impossible. I’d gotten drunk on many occasions, and I ain’t never passed the hell out.
“Me and Nessa were trying to wake you, but you were unresponsive. You wouldn’t say anything.”
I couldn’t believe that shit. That was embarrassing. I had never done no shit like that.
“Did you take anything before you went to the club?”
“No,” I said. I thought back to everything I had done before I went to the club.
“Well, I don’t know what in the hell happened. My guess was that you just had way too much to drink.” She bit into a piece of that blackened bacon.
“So why’d you bring me here?” I asked her. I looked around her place and then back at her. I bit into the biscuit.
“Where else were you gonna go? I’m not that cruel. I wanted to make sure you were okay, and since I had ridden with Nessa to the club, I just thought I should drive your car here so you wouldn’t wake up frantic about your ride. She pointed out her living room window, and I could see my car parked safely in her driveway, next to her red Honda Civic.
“Thanks for looking out,” I said. I stared into her eyes once again, trying to figure out why she even cared at all. Anybody else would have left me there. Rene had done that. My parents had done that. “So, you live alone?” I asked her. The place was so neat and clean that I was sure that she was the only person staying here.
“Yeah, I’m all by my lonesome.”
“So your girlfriend’s not staying here to keep you company?”
She looked up at me in a peculiar way, with her milk mustache and all. “My, aren’t we
nosy?” She licked the film of milk off her upper lip.
“I just don’t want to intrude or anything. I mean, she might pop up and be like, ‘Who this nigga up in my girl shit?’ That’s all I’m saying.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not seeing anyone right now.” She paused. “My ex kinda left me to be with someone else.” She looked away from me. I figured it was probably something she preferred not to discuss. I tried to change the topic of conversation.
“Fuck, I can’t believe I got that damn drunk. I was fucked up, huh?”
She started laughing. “Yeah, you were past tipsy.”
“Damn. So I guess my girl don’t be joking when she calls me an alcoholic.” My eyes once again roamed around her kitchen. I needed a Black. I pulled a single cigar from the box that was still in my back pocket. “Hey, I’ma go step outside and smoke this,” I told her.
“You ain’t gotta go nowhere.” She stood to her feet, walked up beside me, and lit the cigar with her cigarette lighter. “You smoke weed?”
I pretended to be looking around for someone else. “You asking me?”
She nodded her head.
“Shit. Hell, yeah. Where the killa at?”
She pulled out a fat-ass sack that she had stashed in her kitchen drawer. It was early in the morning, but we were about to blaze. I would have never been able to do some shit like this with Rene. She would kill me if I even smoked a cigarette in the house, let alone some killa. Deja rolled the joint like a professional who had been doing it for some time. I took a strong puff, inhaling the smoke. The product tasted familiar, almost like the shit I had sold and smoked with James on occasion. I pursed my lips and let the indo slip from my mouth and into thin air. It was all good. After a few more puffs of the herb, I could feel my eyes starting to get tight and the high beginning to settle in. Deja was hitting the blunt like a muthafucka, cheefing like it was something she practiced on a regular basis.
“What?” she asked after catching me staring at her. “Never seen somebody get high before?”
She looked even hotter to me. She offered me a glass of fruit punch that she had quickly whipped together. That shit was good. I licked the moisture from my top lip.
“Did you like that?”
“Yeah, sure did. Is there more where that came from?”
“It depends on how thirsty you are.”
“Is that right? Well in that case, I feel a little dehydrated.” She smiled. Oh, how I could go on, but I was only teasing myself. Wasn’t no way I was about to get down with this girl, but I saw no harm in a little fun.
I was still thinking about Rene. I wondered where she was at this very moment. I missed her so much. I desperately needed to hear that she was okay. Just then, a vibration from her cell shot through my pocket. I pulled out her phone, which I was still carrying around on me for calling purposes, since I had tossed mine out on the freeway, into moving traffic. I answered it.
“Hello.”
“Hello. Who is this?” The raspy, congested-sounding voice couldn’t have belonged to anyone other than Shun.
“What you want, Shun?” I asked, irritated at the sound of her voice. I tilted the phone away from my ear because she talked loud as hell and she wasn’t about to bust my damn eardrums out. At the mention of a female’s name, Deja stood up and walked away, feeling the need to leave me in privacy.
“Why the hell are you answering Rene’s phone?”
“Man, don’t worry about all that,” I said. “I pay this damn phone bill. I can answer it whenever I get ready.”
She hissed, “You know what? You’re ruining it for Rene. I care about her happiness too much to continue to watch you stand in the way of the perfect life that she is destined to have, if she could just rid herself of your ass. You don’t know how to make her happy. Shit, you can’t even give her the family she wants.” The remarks Shun made were aimed at my heart, like an arrow piercing through human flesh. “Rene deserves to be happy.” It sounded like she was on the verge of breaking down in tears. “I want what’s best for her!” she screamed.
What had given her the idea that I was not concerned about what was best for Rene? Hell, I had made sure Rene had what she wanted and everything that she needed. Where the fuck was she when Rene was looking for a shoulder to cry on? Where the fuck was she on the third of the month, when rent was due? Where in the fuck was she when the transmission needed to be rebuilt? I was the one footing everything.
“Shun, I don’t know what the hell you talking about,” I blurted, sadness building in my voice.
“Tell her you moved on, so her and Vincent can have another baby.” That made me raise up from my seat.
“What!” I yelled into the phone, making Deja flinch a bit.
“You heard me. You’re nothing but the damn devil. Let that girl move on with her life, and quit trying to get in the way.” Click. She had hung the phone up in my face. I was mad as hell, but the tears that were rolling down my cheeks said otherwise.
Deja ran over to me. “What’s wrong, Sand? Are you okay? What happened?”
I jerked away, refusing to let her see me like this. I grabbed my car keys from the end table and walked out the door. I got in my car and backed out of her driveway. I looked in my rearview mirror at the blurry vision of Deja left behind, standing on the front of her doorstep, still wearing her pajamas, clueless as to what was going on. Tears raced down my face even quicker. I was already down the street and two exits away from the apartment. I stopped at the red light, signaling to make a left turn. Come on, light. Within half a second, I looked up in the rearview, and an old white van appeared out of nowhere, coming right at me at full speed.
Rene
Hearing the door shut was what woke me up from my sleep. A wide smile crossed my face because I knew Sand had finally made it home. I glanced over at the clock like usual when I was about to drill her on her whereabouts. It was a quarter till one. Tonight was going to be different. No arguments, no bad-mouthing each other, just the sweet sounds and essence of lovemaking and passionate sex filling the room. I imagined her squeezing my ass so tight and kissing me like she never had before. Tonight I would submit and let her enjoy having her way with me. I would take back all the horrible shit I had said about her, to her, and had thought about her.
It was interesting how someone could just turn you against somebody because they were jealous of your happiness, afraid that they would never find that special someone who loved them as much as they deserved and needed to be loved. Sand was that special someone for me. I had been crazy to think differently. I lay quietly, naked under clean linen sheets, ready to surprise her in my birthday suit. Once she pulled back the covers, my nakedness would be exposed and she would react to how my round, pointy, mahogany brown, juicy tenders screamed out her name. I was getting excited just fantasizing about the premeditated moment. Yes, the moistness that I felt between my legs confirmed my realities—all my realities.
I heard keys rattling and heavy footsteps. I wanted to give her a warning about the mood I was in. If she didn’t feel the steam coming from underneath the door, then once she entered the bedroom, she was destined to get scorched. I was hot as hell. I reached for the remote, cranked the volume up on the radio some more. She should get the idea now. I lay back, pretending not to know she was home. I pulled the covers up to my chin and closed my eyes. I felt her body getting closer and closer. I lay still on my back, knowing the thin sheets showed the impression of my fully aroused breasts.
Don’t peek, I kept telling myself. I used my senses to create an image in my mind of what she had on and how sexy she looked standing over me right now. I couldn’t take it anymore. I opened my eyes. A tall, large body dressed in all black, with a black ski mask covering the face, stood in front of me. I quickly rose up, backed away from the masked intruder. I was terrified.
He lifted one of his index fingers to his lips and slowly shook his head sideways. He was warning me not to scream. Although it did
cross my mind, I knew it would only get me killed. I was frantic. I began shaking all over from just from his frightening presence. I looked down at his glove-covered hands and immediately realized this man was here to hurt me. This was real. I was scared to death. My heart began pounding faster as I tried with all my might to remain calm and not make a peep. A stranger was in my home, and he was dressed to kill. I pulled the covers closer to me, attempting to hide my naked body. The masked man snatched the sheet from my hands and threw it onto the floor.
I quickly balled myself up in the fetal position, knees damn near pushed into my chest, pressing up against my tits, to keep from exposing myself to him. I was so afraid of what he planned to do to me. The only thought running through my mind was that I was going to die. Lord knows I didn’t want to die like this. I wanted to die from natural causes, not murder. I wanted to holler for help, but it would be impossible for anyone to hear me over the loud music. I wasn’t sure what to do. I began worrying more. Finally, I opted to bargain with the masked man and try to negotiate for my young life. I wanted to piss myself the longer I stared into a face that had not been revealed to me.
Before I could open my mouth and offer him every dime I had, he gave me instructions on what not to do. Don’t say anything.”
I became even more nervous. My eyes followed him closely as I tried to predict what was going to happen to me. He looked around my room. Finally, he bent down, picked up the sheet, and tore it straight down the middle. Then he dropped one half of the sheet on the floor and split the other half in two.
“Hold out your arms,” he demanded. He tied one part of the ripped sheet tightly around my arms.
“Please . . . please,” I begged. “I have ten thousand dollars in the bank. You can have it all. Just please don’t hurt me.”
He was silent, which scared me even more. He took the other half of the second part of the sheet he had ripped and tied it around my mouth. Mumbles were all he could hear coming out of my mouth. My watery eyes begged him to let me go. They also said, “I am gonna cooperate and not try any dumb shit, so please just free me.”