Things Forbidden

by Maryam Diaab

  “Damn!” Dakari exclaimed jealously.

  “I’ll give her your number. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to do whatever you want.”

  “And what are you going to do about Yvette?”

  “I’m going to give her all the space she wants, but it won’t last very long. We have a connection; there’s no denying that.”

  Wendy

  17

  I rolled over and grabbed my cellphone from the nightstand and pushed the silent button before it could ring again. “Hello?” I said, grogginess in my normally smooth and silky voice.

  “Wendy, I think I just made a huge mistake,” Yvette whined into the phone. My alarm clock showed I only had forty minutes to sleep before I had to start getting ready for work. Yvette’s little crisis would have to wait.

  “I’m sure whatever you’ve done isn’t that bad. Call me tomorrow. I get off at noon,” I whispered, feeling the figure next to me stirring.

  “I have to talk to someone, and calling Terrence is out of the question. Wendy, my life is falling apart.”

  “Is this about him?” I asked, referring to her little boy toy back in Nashville. This conversation may prove to be worth losing a few minutes of sleep.

  “Yes, and…”

  “What happened? Did you go over there?”

  “I couldn’t. I had planned to but the closer I got to Nashville, the more the guilt began to eat away at me. I couldn’t stop thinking about Terrence and what he would do if he ever found out about Ajani. I mean, if I had sex with someone other than Terrence, I wouldn’t be any better than he is.”

  “But what about the lunch at Floods? Did you ask him about that?” I got out of the bed and tiptoed into the bathroom. I was hoping Yvette wasn’t losing interest in her college guy. All I needed was for her to come to her senses and move back to Detroit. My hard work in and out of the bedroom would be wasted. Terrence and I had been practically living together since our laundry-room romp, sex day in and day out, but I needed more time and I needed Yvette to continue seeing Ajani.

  “I don’t want to ask him until I have more proof. Nothing makes Terrence angrier than being accused of something that he’s not doing. But I didn’t call to talk about him. I called to talk about Ajani. Wendy, this is serious. I’m falling for him, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

  “You need to follow your heart. If it makes you happy, then go for it.”

  “Well, you’ve had a change of heart since last night. When we were at my apartment, you were totally against me seeing Ajani without breaking things off with Terrence first.”

  “I’ve had the chance to think about it, and I’ve decided that you only live once and true happiness doesn’t come around often. I want you to live the life you want, but I still think you should break things off with Terrence before things get out of hand,” I urged, not only for Yvette’s benefit but my own as well.

  “What can a twenty-one year old do for me? I want to live well, have kids, a house. Ajani is still a child; he can’t give me an adult life.”

  “He can vote and buy liquor, so that makes him an adult. Stop stressing over everything; get over there and let that young man fuck your brains out. It sounds to me like you need some, anyway.”

  “Wendy, stop being so crass. I told Ajani that I needed to put some space between the two of us, but after I said it, I immediately wanted to take it back. I’m talking about my life here, my future! I want to know what I should do.”

  “Yvette, I can’t make your decisions for you. I gave you my honest opinion, but that’s the best I can do. Everything else is up to you.” We hung up a few minutes later.

  “Was that your boy Alonzo on the phone?” Terrence asked as I climbed back into bed and snuggled up next to his warm body. “Trying to get in a little phone bone before dawn?”

  “As a matter of fact, it was Yvette, and why do you keep bringing up Alonzo? I told you he’s just a friend. I had to bring a decoy to dinner so Yvette wouldn’t get suspicious. It would be totally out of character for me to come to a party without an escort. I am Wendy Web, after all,” I joked, allowing my hand to rest comfortably on his manhood.

  “Why is Yvette calling you this early in the morning? Is she okay?” his voice turned from quiet with sleep to loud, worried and frantic in the blink of an eye.

  “She’s fine, Terrence. Would you calm down? She’s having some job issues, and we always discuss things with each other, no matter what time of day it is.” I removed my hand from his body and rolled over, my back to him. It seemed no matter how hard I tried there was no breaking the bond that Yvette and Terrence shared.

  “Don’t be mad, baby,” Terrence said, drawing my body closer to his. He grabbed me around the waist and thrust his midsection against me. I felt him stiffen and hot, sticky moisture seeped from my body immediately.

  “I just wish that when we’re together, it was really just us. It feels like Yvette is always here, watching, listening, and you like it that way.”

  “Wendy, you always have my undivided attention. You know that. I can’t worry about Yvette. She’s hundreds of miles away all alone and…”

  “Well, you’d be surprised how much company she has down in Nashville,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Who’s keeping Yvette company? She doesn’t have any friends or family down there.”

  “Nobody, Terrence. Forget it! I was just trying to make you mad,” I said, hoping that dismissing my comment as one as coming from a bitter, jealous woman would be enough to get him to forget what I’d just said.

  “Is she cheating on me?” his voice was quiet, not loud and angry as it had been moments before. “She’s seeing someone, isn’t she?” Pain filled his eyes and sickened me.

  “Terrence, don’t you think I would tell you if she was seeing some other guy? The last thing I would do is keep something like that from you,” I lied, guiding his hands up and down my body. I needed to get his mind off Yvette, and an early-morning quickie always did the trick.

  * * *

  Terrence

  I didn’t believe Wendy when she told me that Yvette wasn’t seeing anyone. Something in her voice told me that Yvette was down in Nashville being just as “faithful” as I was in Detroit, and that was a problem, considering I’ve been having mind-blowing sex with her best friend night after night.

  Every morning I woke up with Wendy lying naked next to me, I would promise myself that it would be the last time. I didn’t want to hurt Yvette, but I just couldn’t let Wendy go. In the few weeks that we’d been seeing each other, she’d made me feel like more of a man than Yvette ever had. When we weren’t together I felt myself thinking about her, wishing that she was around, wishing that I was inside her. Things were getting crazy, and I needed a way out.

  After that stressful conversation with Wendy, I booked myself a plane ticket and planned a little surprise visit to Nashville. I needed to see for myself what was going on with my fiancée. I wanted to catch her before she caught me.

  “Hi, my name is Dr. Terrence Hall, and I’m here to see Yvette Brooks,” I told the sexy little thing behind the desk at Nashville Prep. She was tiny, and as she smiled at me, I imagined throwing her on top of the office counter and having my way with her.

  It’s official, I have a serious problem. Maybe I should look up that doctor who treated Eric Benet for his sex addiction, I thought to myself as cutie pie leaned over, giving me a nice full helping of supple brown breast down her shirt.

  “Oh, you must be Ms. Brooks’ fiancé. My name is Jordan; it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Ms. Brooks talks about you all the time.”

  “It’s very nice to meet you as well, Jordan. Is Yvette here?”

  “Um…” Jordan began, a nervous look replacing her bright smile. “She is here but she’s in a meeting right now. You see, an honor student from Tennessee State observes her as apart of his course work. He’s in there with her right now—”

&
nbsp; “He?” I asked, my eyebrows rising involuntarily.

  “Yes, it’s part of his pre-teaching requirement. I’m sure she’ll be finishing up shortly. I’ll go in and tell her that you’re here.”

  I watched as Jordan hurried from behind the tall counter to an office door. “Jordan, I would love to surprise her,” I said, rushing to the door, my hand reaching the knob before hers. “I’m sure she won’t mind.” I knocked once and pushed open the door before Jordan had another opportunity to object. I wanted to see what was going on for myself.

  Yvette

  18

  “I need you to fill this out for my class,” Ajani said, standing in my office after his final observation. It was a week and a half after our good-bye at Starbucks and we hadn’t spoken since that night. Ajani and I had succeeded in maintaining our professionalism for the entire time he’d been at the school. But as he followed me into my office and the door snapped shut behind us, I became nervous.

  “What is it?” I asked. He handed me the green form and our fingers touched. I felt a familiar tingle.

  “You have to score me. Did I come on time, was I dressed appropriately. Things like that.” His tone was dry and unfamiliar, as if we were strangers.

  “You did an excellent job and I enjoyed having you here,” I said in a low voice. Looking into his eyes, I searched for some sign that he was still interested in me. I didn’t want him to stay, but I didn’t want him to leave, either.

  “You can just sign right there, Ms. Brooks,” Ajani said, pointing to the signature line, “and I’ll be on my way.”

  He stood before me, his arms crossed over his chest and his face expressionless. The smile I had come to expect was missing.

  “Ajani, what are you doing?” I asked, pushing the form to the side and giving him a slight smile.

  “I’m giving you space. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  “I did. I mean, I do but I didn’t think it would be like this. You barely spoke to me the entire time you were here.”

  “And what did you want me to say, Ms. Brooks? I’ve said and done all I can; the rest is up to you.”

  “Stop calling me Ms. Brooks, Ajani, it sounds ridiculous.”

  “Okay, what would you prefer I call you?” he asked sarcastically.

  “Yvette. I want you to call me Yvette, and I don’t want to argue.”

  “We’re not arguing.”

  “How have you been?” I sat down behind my desk and motioned for Ajani to sit opposite me.

  “Okay. Busy with school, and the frat, mentoring at the Boys and Girls Club. I visited my family in Memphis a couple of days ago,” Ajani answered, softening a little, although he remained standing by the door.

  I took a deep breath and folded my hands in my lap. “I’ve missed you Ajani. I didn’t think that I would but I do…”

  “Yvette, you already know that I don’t want things to end. Besides telling you that, I have nothing else to say.”

  “This is crazy, I can’t stop thinking about you and—” I was cut off mid-confession by a knock at the door and a commotion outside.

  “Surprise!” Terrence said, walking into my office and slamming the door in Jordan’s face. I stared at my fiancé in total shock. I looked from Terrence to Ajani and back again. My heart began beating fast and my palms practically dripped sweat. My fiancé and Ajani in the same room, face to face. This was not going to turn out well.

  “Terrence, what are you doing here?” I asked trying to appear cool and collected while I prayed silently that my face didn’t betray the guilt I was feeling.

  “I wanted to see you. I missed you, baby.”

  Ajani stared at Terrence with loathing, disgust and jealousy written all over his handsome face.

  “I’m working, Terrence.”

  “I know, I know. And your secretary made that perfectly clear, but I just couldn’t wait. I had to see you,” Terrence explained and then turned to look at Ajani. “I’m Dr. Terrence Hall, Yvette’s fiancé. And you are?” He spoke in a condescending tone I barely recognized.

  Ajani looked at me before he spoke, as if trying to read me. His eyes bore into mine, and I knew he would do everything in his power to make me feel as comfortable as possible in this very uncomfortable situation.

  “My name is Ajani Riley, and I was just leaving.”

  “Ajani has been assigned to this school for one of his teaching methods courses. He’s been following me around for about a month, and I’ve been trying to keep him entertained,” I said, a nervous laugh escaping my lips.

  “Not too entertained, I hope,” Terrence responded, looking Ajani up and down as if readying for a fight.

  “Terrence! What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing, nothing. Just making a little joke, that’s all. It was nice to meet you, young man.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Ajani said, looking at Terrence with hatred before turning back to me. “Thank you, Ms. Brooks, for everything,” he emphasized seductively, obviously intending to rile Terrence. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.” Ajani winked before turning the knob and walking out.

  “What the hell was that about?” Terrence demanded after the door closed and the office grew quiet.

  It took a tremendous effort to hold back the smile that tugged at the corners of my mouth after Ajani’s departure. His subtle wink let me know that he knew I was about to tell him something important before Terrence interrupted.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, walking behind my desk and slopping down in my chair.

  “That asshole winked at you!”

  “He did not. Stop being ridiculous.”

  “Oh, yes, he did. ‘Thanks for everything. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon,’ ” Terrence mocked, making a sad attempt to match the bass in Ajani’s voice.

  “What’s the matter? Are you jealous of a twenty-one-year-old?” I asked, eyeing him.

  “I don’t know what you’re down here in Nashville doing, and with the icy reception you’ve given me so far, I can’t help but wonder.”

  “Look, Terrence, I just don’t like being interrupted at work. You barging in here makes me look unprofessional. Suppose I had been meeting with the principal, or even worse, a parent? Are you trying to cause me to lose my job?”

  “Lucky for both of us you were only meeting with a college student then,” Terrence said, coming over to me and pulling me into a standing position.

  His lips met mine and I felt nothing. Not a spark, not even a flicker. As Terrence’s hands moved up and down my back, my mind wandered to all the work still piled high on my desk, what I would be eating for dinner and finally, predictably, to Ajani.

  Ajani

  19

  Two days after I ran into Yvette’s fiancé, I sat across from my father and said, “I need a favor.”

  He folded his newspaper and looked at me. Asking my father for a favor of any kind was like pulling teeth, and I was certain that this time would be no different.

  “What do you need this time, Ajani? A kidney? A million dollars? What can I help you with today?” my father said sarcastically, giving me his undivided attention.

  “I’m looking to get away next weekend, and I was wondering if you had any plans for the Gorham’s Bluff house?”

  Three years ago, my father came home with a brochure and a huge smile on his face. He showed my brothers and me a beautiful, three-story yellow-and-white house that was situated on the bluff of the Tennessee River Valley in Alabama. It had three bedrooms, three bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs and a gorgeous view. My father bought the house from an older couple, expecting to use it to entertain clients and the occasional overnight female guest. Instead, the place had become more of a love shack for Dakari and Jabari. I had never invited a woman there; I always considered it too romantic to take someone for just a quick bone. No woman I’d ever known had been special enough—until now.

  “No, can’t say that I do, but that doesn’t mean that I’m giving you t
he keys, especially without knowing why you want to go down there.” My father opened the newspaper again and hid his face from view. It was as if he got a high from making my life difficult.

  “I don’t know if you know, but I met someone—”

  “Of course I know, Ajani. I know everything that happens with my sons, even if they refuse to confide in me themselves. I’m just wondering why I haven’t met this young woman yet. Dakari and Jabari tell me that you consider her to be very special.”

  “What else have they told you?” I asked, wanting to know if Yvette’s age or engagement had been discussed as well.

  “Not much. It seems that no one has met her. Why are you hiding her, Ajani?”

  “I’m not hiding anyone. Things between Yvette and me are complicated. She asked for some space, but…”

  “So your idea of space is inviting her to the most romantic spot in the South? Are you really respecting her wishes, son?”

  “As I just said, it’s complicated. I want her and she wants me, but there are issues in the way,” I attempted to explain without going into too much detail.

  “Issues such as?” my father prodded. He had a way of pulling all kinds of information out of a person; it must be the lawyer in him.

  I sighed loudly, knowing that I would never be able to leave his office without telling him everything he wanted to know. “She’s a little older than me.”

  “How much older?” He placed his newspaper back on the desk, finally seeming interested.

  “Thirteen years.”

  My father’s eyes widened, but his demeanor remained cool as a cucumber. “Is that all?”

  “She’s engaged to a doctor. She’s supposed to be getting married in a few months.”

  “Ajani, what’s wrong with you?”

  I looked at him as if there was something wrong with him. “What?”

  “Is there something I did wrong when you were growing up? Why do you insist on doing things ass-backward? Getting involved with a woman like that will cause you nothing but trouble.”

  “I didn’t come in here for a lecture. I’m a grown man and I can decide whom I become involved with.” I could feel my anger rising.