The Countdown to Thirty

by Nefertiti Faraj

  Saundra gasped and I noticed her eyes grow a glassy look. I never told her or my mother that part of the story. I didn’t want to seem like more of an idiot than I was. “The smart one, the one with the promising future disappointed us all,” is all I could imagine they’d feel at the time.

  If she was disappointed in me she did a great job of hiding it. She embraced me in a deep and powerful hug and it reminded me of the many hugs exchanged after our father’s death. I embraced her back tightly and let the love from my sister comfort me.

  “You’re safe Sonya, he can’t hurt you. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I wish you would have said something to me. I would have supported you.” She whispered in my ear. “You need to let this go.”

  “I know. I just feel like there was something I could have done.”

  “There was nothing more you could have done. You left and came back home where you belong and where you needed to be. He’s sick, there’s nothing you could have done about that, do you hear me?” She said looking me square in the eye now.

  Deep down I knew that but coming from someone else who I loved and respected made me actually believe it.

  “I hear you, thank you.” I said wiping my nose.

  “Sissy if you’re not up to this today we can go. I’m pretty sure this will be the first of many more trips to the bridal factory…you know Ms. Thing in there.” She motioned her head towards the private dressing room where Corrine was.

  I laughed a little, “No its fine, I feel better.”

  When we finally made our way into the private dressing room we were all smiles and had pumped up our excitement level to match the rest of the ladies. We were greeted with cheers and lifted wine glasses.

  “Well it’s about time, Corrine’s back there trying on the first one.” Shanice said.

  “Is she being a Bridezilla yet?” Saundra asked sarcastically as we sat down in the plush lavender chairs that formed a half circle around the bridal platform.

  Trina responded while filling our glasses with wine, “No not yet, but don’t worry there’s still enough time.”

  While laughing I listened as they swapped stories about Corrine’s eccentric dating life and how they never thought she’d settle down. Breaking up the laughter and jokes, Corrine walked in and cleared her throat to get our attention.

  “Uh hmm,” She said standing there in a white dress with a tube top that struggled to conceal her rather large breast. Other than that, it looked beautiful on her shapely size fourteen frame. She walked past us and up the platform and gave a little twirl in the mirrors.

  “Woo, look at you Corrine I like, I like.” Shanice said.

  Trina leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I can’t believe it’s white.”

  “I heard that bitch.” Corrine said laughing while she checked herself from behind.

  We all burst out laughing again then told her how pretty she looked in the dress.

  “What I meant to say was put that dress in your keep pile, its lovely.” Trina corrected while giving a dramatic actress twirl of her wrist.

  “Thank you, I think I will. So,” She said turning from the mirrors to face us as she still stood on the platform, “The colors for the Bridesmaids dresses are going to be burnt orange.”

  “That sounds pretty Corrine. Did you and David come up with that color?” Saundra asked.

  “Oh please honey, he could care less about the wedding planning part. He’s leaving it all up to me and the coordinator. He said to just tell him where to be, what time and how much.”

  “You’re perfect man.” Saundra and Shanice said in unison.

  Laughter filled the dressing room once again as Corrine escaped the pits of scrutiny to go try on another gown.

  We stayed there for another three hours trying on dresses, eating complimentary pastries and sipping wine.

  By the time Saundra dropped me back off at my apartment the weather had morphed from blue skies streaked with warm rays of sunshine to uneven shades of gray and thick blotchy clouds. They covered the entire valley, leaving no trace of the earlier radiant sun. The storm that was approaching from the east had taken over the skies so quickly I would have thought it was the end of the world had the weatherman not predicted it last night. I entered my apartment then walked into my room where I slipped into my cushy purple slippers and large T. That’s when I missed a phone call but not before my phone began ringing off-the-hook again.

  “Who could this be?” I asked myself as I walked towards my bed to retrieve my phone. The number was an unfamiliar local number.

  Figuring it was a bill collector I answered anyway just for the hell of it. I told them once and I’ll tell them again if I need to; I don’t have the money because I don’t have a job…now write a letter to your congressman, he can do more about that situation than me.

  I answered calmly but armed with my well-rehearsed spiel, “Hello?”

  “Why hello, I was beginning to think you’ve forgotten about me?” An unfamiliar male voice responded on the other end of the line. Kind of young, but no younger than twenty-three or twenty-four, educated and very proper but something told me this person was no gentleman.

  Not in the mood for games or surprises I responded with, “Who the hell is this?”

  “Why Sonya, that’s no way to speak to your future gynecologist of America.”

  “Eew, Bobby!”

  “Bingo. How are you my love?”

  “I was fine until you called, how did you get my number?”

  “That shouldn’t be too hard to guess. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to keep you occupied for long dear. I’m studying for my mid-terms. This semester is a critical one for me, not to mention my last.” He chuckled, “You know, I was one of the first in my class to gain early admissions into medical school…you do know that don’t you?”

  “How would I know that? What do you want?” I seethed through the phone ready to kill either Corrine or Saundra.

  “Let’s just call it a courtesy amongst friends. You’ll definitely need help getting a date to my sister’s wedding, that I already know, and I didn’t want to disappoint you. I think if we coordinate our outfits –“

  I hung up.

  “The audacity of that little punk! I’m going to kill Saundra, I know she’s the one who gave it out. Does she really think he’ll be the one to cheer me up? Please!”

  I was so annoyed that I made my way to the kitchen, grabbed a wine glass and didn’t stop pouring until it was filled to capacity.

  After about an hour of TV and fooling around at my workstation (which was really a vintage restored desk that turned out to be an amazing thrift store find that I’d setup in Natasha’s old room) I stood in my bedroom and aimlessly stared out the window. I was focusing my attention on the courtyard and the drops of rain that fell below when I was hit with a strong sensation of déjà vu. It left me with a powerful impression that I’d been here and done this exact same thing at the exact same time in my life. But that was impossible.

  I sat down at the edge of my bed with the strange supernatural feeling as I tried to predict the next series of acts in my sudden sense of déjà vu, but I couldn’t. Out of boredom I stretched out on top of my comforter and contently watched light raindrops tap against my window pane until the stillness of the room forced my mind to meander to a similar time, a time seven years ago when the weather was stormy and cloudy and I had made up my mind to play hooky from school. I worked part-time as an assistant manager of a retail store and fed my manager some bogus lie so I could spend the day with Lamont at his place.

  That day was the first time we had sex while raindrops accumulated against his patio door, thunder struck and flashes of lightning disappeared then reappeared among the dark grey sky. I came over that morning prepared and ready for anything that might happen between us. I’d been fascinating long enough about what it would be like to have him ravage my body and take possession of my hips, my thighs, my breasts while I fell into a spell of submiss
ion. After one month of dating, kissing, conversations and dinners I had fallen in love with him. I felt special when he pulled me in close when other men were around or made it his priority to know where I was at all times. Back then, I thought it was cute that he wanted to protect me, but I soon learned that that wasn’t it at all.

  I closed my eyes and let my mind and body succumb to the fantasy and hunger of his first touch on that stormy day:

  “Come here, lay down.” He commanded as soon as I walked through his bedroom door that morning.

  I did as he said feeling a mixture of eroticism and fear. I knew the moment I’d been waiting for was about to come true but I didn’t know what to expect from a man of his immense size and dominating presence.

  I effortlessly slipped off my boots and attempted to get in the bed before he prevented me.

  “Stop,” he commanded in a powerful tone, “Take your clothes off first.” My fear and excitement grew at the same time and seemed to form one equal emotion. His eyes told me what he wanted and what he wanted was to watch. This wasn’t my first time having sex, by eighteen I’d already had a handful of lovers, decent lovers, but none that took control of me or demanded respect and obedience the way Lamont did. None that ever shamelessly made me undress for them while they watched.

  I started with my top trying hard not to project the nervousness I was feeling. I slid it over my head and pulled my arms from the confinement of the long sleeves leaving me in my black lace bra. I let my shirt drop to the floor. He was sitting upright in the bed shirtless with his back against the headboard looking seductive while his muscles bulged and his approving silence told me to continue. I unbuttoned then unzipped my jeans and slid them down my smooth brown legs leaving me in my matching black lace panties that I’d bought and wore especially for this special moment with him. I reached behind my back and unhooked my bra while giving brief glances at him because at this vulnerable moment I couldn’t look him directly in the eye. At this moment I realized just how naive I was about exploring the depths of my sexuality and I knew that this man, this much more matured and experienced man was planning to be the tour guide. I exhaled and reconfirmed with myself that I was madly in love with him as I began to glide the bra straps around the curve of my shoulders, then down my slender arms and finally off my wrist letting it drop to its resting place with my shirt and pants.

  He stared at me while he licked his perfect pink lips and said, “Damn.” The most he’d ever seen and kissed before was my cleavage because I didn’t want to move too fast with him. He was a lot older than me and his presence was so powerful to everyone he came into contact with that I needed to make sure I could handle him, make sure I wasn’t just one of the many women who would gladly fuck his pretty ass simply for bragging rights.

  With my long black hair cascading down the sides of my face I tucked it behind my ears out of nervousness and waited for further instructions.

  He spoke with a thirst for sexual pleasure, “Yea, I like that. Turn around, let me see that ass.”

  I complied and turned around slowly gathering my hair up and letting him take full advantage of the view in front of him, the view I believed he earned. Feeling a little more confident and risky and trying to prove to him that I was the woman for him no matter how young, I bent over putting it in the air as I began to slide my panties over my hips.

  I heard him exhale pleasure and I smiled to myself. Before I could get my lace panties beyond my thighs he stopped me again.

  “Come here…now.”

  I walked over, panties still resting beyond my chocolate cookie and ass and slid in the bed next to him as he held the blanket up and watched me intensely with obsessively lustful eyes. Without saying a word he skillfully finished removing my panties from my thighs then ankles in one fluid movement. Then he eased his chiseled and massive body on top of mine spreading my legs wide to accommodate his powerful frame. My heart beat wildly as he initiated and controlled our deep tongue sucking kiss while my hands caressed the back of his head and neck. My clitoris screamed for pleasure as he slowly grind his package against my cookie teasing me with the sensation of his big bulge and getting me slippery wet in the process.

  After spending time on my neck and suckling on my stimulated nipples until they were glistening like they’d been soaked in baby oil he moved down further caressing my tiny waist line with his enormous hands as he kissed my stomach then my belly button then lower…to my cookie. He pride fully watched me squirm, scream and arch my back in sinful pleasure as he used his cunning tongue to suck, stroke, and penetrate my cookie.

  Twenty minutes later with my pelvis in the air and my legs and thighs wrapped around his head while his hands were joisted under my ass keeping a firm grip on me I begged him for mercy. He ignored my plea and instead gripped me harder as he forcefully pulled my pelvis in even deeper.

  Moaning with ecstasy I cried out, “Oh baby please, I can’t take it anymore!”

  His head rose and he gave me an arrogant smirk that told me he had me right where he wanted me, begging him to stop the pleasure before I passed out. His athletic abilities allowed him to move so quickly that I didn’t even feel him enter me, one second he was releasing his oral grip from my cookie and the next he was immersed inside me ferociously deep stroking every wall with all two-hundred and fifty pounds of pressure and carnality hitting my g-spot over and over and over again.

  The memory of that day felt like it was only yesterday and with my legs spread, index finger in my mouth and my other fingers moving back and forth against my clit, I temporarily blocked out all the pain he’d caused in my life, I shielded my memory from the news story and his monstrous acts and pretended he was once again in between my thighs.

  Blindly reaching for my nightstand drawer handle while still using my left hand to pleasure myself, I pulled open the drawer and felt around for my vibrator. Once I had it in hand I flicked the tiny switch to on….but it did nothing. Forced to momentarily interrupt my fantasy for a good cause, I propped up and opened my eyes to inspect the hot pink toy studying it intensely like it was a research project on the cure for cancer.

  Flicking the switch off then on again my vibrator still gave no signs of life, “Dammit!” I whispered to myself.

  I flopped back down on the bed tossing the vibrator to the side in defeat. Laying there bored I listened to the rain transition from subtle drops to firm pounding before deciding to make a store run for batteries.

  How was I to know I was biting off more than I could chew?

  Fourteen

  Kaia

  After arriving at Celeste’s Mediterranean designed condominium complex I parked underground and hoped the few hours we had to spend together alone weren’t as exasperating as I expected. She currently lived alone in her newly developed condo that she rented which I guessed had to run her at least twenty-five hundred a month. Since she was good at her job and frequently dated rappers or football players I assumed it was in her price range.

  My Avalon came to a halt once I pulled alongside her black Mercedes. She had it parked in one of her two private parking spaces. After admiring the shiny paint job and black leather interior I made my way to the Mezzanine area of the lobby. Since her home was three floors up from Mezzanine level I opted for the elevator over the stairwell while wishing Chateau Oasis had one of these every time I came home with a carload full of groceries.

  “It’s unlocked.” She answered from inside the house after I rang her doorbell.

  I paced through the front door and immediately detected the intermingled smell of spices and something sweet baking in the oven. Celeste was standing in the kitchen in a pair of blue jean shorts and a simple white tank top while chopping onions on her chef style cutting board.

  She turned to welcome me, “Hey girl.” She put her onion dicing on pause and reached to embrace me in a hug.

  “Hey Ce Ce, how you been?”

  “I’ve been good. Can’t you tell?” She said looking around at her condo imp
lying that she was doing well financially.

  “Yes I can tell, but how are you doing?” I asked further implying that I cared about her and not the stuff she thinks makes her.

  “I’m doing just fine. Derrick’s dropping Ri Ri off in a minute so don’t be mad at her about this morning.” She directed as she resumed cubing her onion.

  “Well their Pitt Bull did try to eat me up like I was a Scooby snack. I’m not as mad as I was before but c’mon, she should have answered the door,” I complained, “We had plans for today.”

  She giggled at that, “I know but you know that girl can be dumb. Plus she already heard it from you and me. Please just let it go for now.” She said taking a rare moment to be the big sister peacemaker.

  I took a seat on one of her metallic barstools and watched her as she prepped and continued to cook. Normally, I would have asked if I could help but growing up with this woman taught me that she was super controlling, especially in the kitchen. She was an amazing cook, but annoying to work side by side with.

  “So what’d you tell her to get her over here?”

  “Nothing really, she feels bad and when I told her you and Mama were coming over she said she wanted to come to. Be easy on her. ”

  “I’m cool,” I exhaled.

  “Good. So what did you think?” She asked while scraping the onions to the side and picking up a bright red tomato to begin chopping away at.

  “Huh?” I questioned with a look of confusion

  “My new Mercedes, don’t act like you didn’t see it out there shinin’ and sittin’ pretty.” She joked…I think.

  With the eventful day I’ve had with almost being mauled and all, remembering to compliment her on her new car seemed to have just slipped my mind. But I must have forgotten who I was talking to. After all, in Ce Ce’s world nothing could be more important and money and cars took precedence over everything, why should this situation be any different.