They laughed and chitchatted the rest of the way home. Although Liana was deep into the conversation, she was deep in thought. Her girlfriends all had their different reasons for wanting to look their best. Efran was flying up from Virginia, Indio was driving up from Brooklyn, and Reese wanted to look good for anyone who may be checking her out. And Liana, even though she would never admit it, was hoping Wayne would show up.
***
Someone once told Nana a long time ago that if she ever ran for any government office in Albany, she would win by a landslide. Everyone, young and old respected and loved her. She was eighty-two years old, but moved with the pep of someone half her age. Nana was everybody’s surrogate mother, whether they liked it or not. For as long as anyone could remember, Nana had been raising kids from her teenage days as a baby sitter, to her days as a social worker, to now as a highly respected elder of the community.
Whenever Nana had a cookout, all she had to do was tell one person, and it would spread like wild fire. So many people would show up that her cookouts looked like block parties. This one was no different. Crowds of people showed up with food and gifts for Jenna. Nana’s basement looked like a warehouse for Kids R Us. Jenna received cases of diapers, toys, and cards filled with cash.
Jenna leaped out of her lawn chair when she saw Efran pulling up. Everybody who knew him congratulated him and shook his hand. Jenna ran into his arms and gave him a big, long kiss.
Reese was sitting on Dexter’s lap on the back porch, talking to Elizabeth, while Dexter was telling Indio that he was interested in starting a business of his own. He asked Indio if he could give him an outline on what he had to do to get started.
Elizabeth beamed with pride as her man broke down the dynamics of getting started, and the intricacies that people didn’t speak about.
Liana chose to help serve the food. Yesterday, she went to Crossgates mall with her crew, but she didn’t’ buy anything. She didn’t want them to think she was trying to look good for Wayne. She decided to keep it simple and just throw on a pair of jeans and a button up shirt.
When she saw Taz gorilla-walking up the driveway, slapping everybody five, she casually looked around for Wayne. When she didn’t see him, she was pissed at herself for looking around.
“Liana, what up?” Taz asked, walking up to her with a plate in his hand.
“I’m fine, what’s up with you?”
“You know my story’s the same. A black man trying to survive in white America the best way he knows how.”
“Umm, hmm,” Liana mumbled, putting two pieces of chicken on his plate.
“Where’s the mother-to-be? I got something for her.” Taz reached into his pocket, and pulled out a wad of cash. He peeled off five twenties.
“That’s so tacky, Taz. You could’ve at least put it in a card.”
“I was going to stop at the store and pick one up, but Wayne wouldn’t pull over.”
Liana came alive when she heard Wayne’s name. “I see you got a plate for yourself, but what about your boy?”
“He’s not crippled. He can get his own.”
He is here. Finally, Liana saw him. He was talking to Efran and Jenna. She looked away when she saw Jenna pointing in her direction.
“What else do you want?” she asked Taz, trying to sound casual.
“Hit me with some of that macaroni salad, and give me another piece of chicken. I works hard, girl.”
“If you got a legit job, you wouldn’t have to work as hard.”
“And I wouldn’t be making as much money,” Taz rebutted.
Liana smiled a little wider when she peeped Wayne walking toward them. She wanted him to think she was really into what Taz was talking about.
Wayne walked up and grabbed a plate. “What do I have to do to get something to eat around here?” he asked Taz.
“Liana will hook you up, but she’s stingy with the chicken, though.”
“Get out of here,” Liana said, raising the thongs at Taz. She looked at Wayne, and waited for him to speak.
“How you doing?” he finally said.
“Been better.”
Wayne nodded, but he didn’t say anything else.
“You got a plate in your hand, so I take it you want something on it.”
“Yeah, a piece of chicken, and some of that potato salad.”
“That’s macaroni salad,” Liana said, giving him a nasty look.
Wayne did a double take. “Who made that?”
“I did.”
“Well... just give me a little bit.”
Liana rolled her eyes and piled the macaroni salad on his plate. Movement over Wayne’s shoulder caught her attention. She put the spoon down and brushed past him.
Wayne turned around and saw Dexter and Green Eyes squaring off. Aw, shit, here we go with this uptown, downtown bullshit. Reese was in the middle, trying to calm them down, but they were only part of the problem. Wayne could see guys from both posses milling around, instigating. Innuendoes were thrown in the air about certain people being pussy. Those who were there just to have a good time quickly separated themselves from the escalating drama.
Wayne put his plate down and followed Liana to the ruckus. Before they could get there, Nana was there, pointing her finger in Green Eye’s face. Then she turned to Dexter and shared a few choice words with him as well. She went back and forth between them. They were both huffing and puffing, and bearing their teeth, but neither of them was going to be the first one to throw a punch with Nana in the way.
Green Eyes turned to Reese and made one last attempt to save face. “Make sure your ass is home tonight. I’m coming over to see my daughter.” He bopped off, acting like he didn’t hear Dexter say that she would be home, but she would be too busy to answer the door.
“That’s enough out of you,” Nana said to Dexter. “It’s time for you and your friends to leave.”
Without a word, Dexter and his crew left.
“Not you,” Nana said to Reese, calling her back. “Go help Liana serve the food.”
“I can’t serve food in this dress, Nana.”
“That’s what aprons are for, and there’s plenty of them in the kitchen. Get going! Don’t let me have to tell you again!”
When Reese stormed off, Nana spoke to Liana. “You better talk to that girl, she’s playing a dangerous game with those two.”
“I’m going to talk to her, Nana.”
“Nana, what’s up, Ol’ school?” Taz stuck his fist out to give her a pound.
“Get your weed smelling behind out of my face, Jamal,” Nana said, as she walked off.
“I smell like weed?” he asked Liana and Wayne. “I only took a couple pulls.”
“Behave yourself, Taz,” Wayne said. “I don’t want to have to pull Nana off you.”
Taz locked onto a shorty wearing a red dress. “You’re going to have to pull somebody off me, but it’s not going be Nana.” He walked over to shorty, and eased into the conversation she was having with her girlfriends.
“So, I heard Jenna’s staying with you and Nana,” Wayne said to Liana.
“Yes, she is.”
“That’s foul the way her parents are treating her.”
“It’s their culture. So I guess certain things are ingrained in them.”
“Then why even come to this country if they cared so much about tradition?” Wayne said rhetorically. “I’ll tell you why. They want the best of both worlds. They want to enjoy the freedom of America, yet not be a part of America. How do they expect Jenna to—”
“I want to come back,” Liana said cutting him off in mid-sentence.
“Come back?” Wayne repeated, not knowing if he heard her correctly.
“I want to move back in with you.”
“I… I don’t know what to say.”
Liana took a step closer to him. “Just say yes.”
“Yes… definitely yes.”
***
That Saturday, Liana and Wayne moved all of her stuff into his
house. The weekend was awkward for them. They slept in the same bed, but they didn’t have sex that whole weekend nor the week that followed.
For Wayne, it felt good to come home after a hard day’s work and have dinner waiting, as opposed to having to stop at the Chinese restaurant for takeout. And for Liana, it felt good to be appreciated.
On a Saturday afternoon, just as Liana was deciding what she was going to cook for dinner, Wayne called and told her they were going to the Standard for dinner.
When he got home, he took a quick shower and then stood in front of the full-length mirror to lotion up. Liana stood by the doorway watching him.
Wayne looked up at her through the mirror. “Don’t you have something to do?”
Liana continued to stare at his naked body. “I’m doing it right now.”
Wayne put on a linen suit, and then pulled his diamond ring and Rolex watch out of his jewelry box. He walked up to Liana, taking the time to notice how her cream-colored dress was fitting snug in all the right places. Liana tilted her head back and welcomed his tongue in her mouth. When their tongues met, they both felt the sparks flying. Wayne smacked her on the butt and pulled back from her.
“Time to go, hot mama.”
Liana brought her hand up to his crotch, and felt him stiffening. “That’s not what he’s saying.”
“I’m listening to the big head tonight.”
They arrived at the Standard at eight o’clock. Wayne talked about his day while they ate. Later on that night as they ate their desert, Liana noticed that Wayne looked lost in thought.
“What are you thinking about?”
He seemed to be debating if he should tell her or not. “I really can’t put my finger on it. From the night I saw you at the R. Kelly concert, I’ve been having mixed feelings.” He put his spoon down and took her hand in his. “Are we really together this time, Liana?”
“Of course we are. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“Yes, and this is what I wanted the last two times.” Wayne took a deep breath and released it slow. “I’m trying to give you my all, Liana, but something inside me is preventing me from doing that.”
Liana caressed his cheek with her free hand, and stared at him for a moment. “I’m never leaving you again Wayne Dupree.”
Wayne was so lost in the sincerity of her eyes and words that he didn’t feel her foot snaking up his leg. He jumped when her big toe landed on his crotch. He cut his eyes around the room to see if anyone peeped what she was doing.
“You trying to get us kicked out of here?” he said, barely moving his lips.
“You want me to stop?” she said, licking her lips.
“No”
Liana couldn’t help but laugh at his sharp reply. She continued running the heel of her foot up and down the stiffening bulge in his pants.
“It’s time for us to go,” Wayne said, panting out his words. He waved the server over for the bill, as Liana slipped her foot back into her shoe.
“We have to sit here for a moment,” Wayne said.
“And why is that?”
“You know why. You don’t want me to stand up like this do you?” He looked down at the bulge in his pants.
“Hurry up, and get yourself together so we can get out of here.”
Wayne could hear the lust in her voice, which made it even harder for him to go soft.
As soon as they got in the truck, Liana popped in the Anthony Hamilton CD. Can’t let go flowed through the Alpine speakers as they drove down Washington Ave.
Wayne moved his hand from the armrest to Liana’s thigh. She took his hand in hers, and guided it to her chest. Her heart was beating a message in Morse code only he could decipher. She raised his hand to her lips and seductively licked his fingers one, by one. When she got to his thumb, she gave him a sample of what was in store for him when they got home.
They stumbled through the front door, lips locked, groping one another. Wayne scooped her off her feet without missing a beat, and carried her upstairs to their bedroom. He put her down and started unbuttoning his shirt and kicking off his shoes when she stopped him.
“Slow down, baby. We got the rest of our lives together.”
“You’re right,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Besides, I don’t want you thinking I’m thirsty.”
“A little too late for that,” she said, lighting the candles, and turning on the CD player. She walked up to him and put her hands on his chest, and made him sit down on the edge of the bed.
She stepped back slowly, and swayed her hips to the rhythm of Floetry’s Imagination. She slipped out of her shoes, and seductively slid the straps of her dress off her shoulders. Wayne bit his bottom lip to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
Liana, pleased with his reaction, turned her back to him and wiggled out of her dress like a snake shedding its skin. She looked over her shoulder at him as she bent at the waist, giving him a better view of her crotch less panties. Wayne had been to strip clubs before, and saw some pretty impressive routines, but none of the females moved as fluid and as entrancing as Liana. From when they were kids, she wanted to be a choreographer. Every curve and every dip on her body communicated with him. Her eyes, her mouth, her facial expressions brought forth an animalistic growl from within his being.
Liana inched closer and closer to him swaying her hips like a belly dancer. She pushed him back on the bed and climbed on top of him as she sucked on his tongue. She tugged at his shirt, popping each button, as she hungrily sucked on his neck and chest. She climbed off him and pulled his pants and briefs down. Wayne closed his eyes when he felt her hot breath on his manhood. He moaned when she licked it and then sucked it like a lollipop. She climbed back on top of him and pressed her dripping hot box along the length of his penis.
Wayne flipped her over onto her back and tugged at the hook on her bra. She stopped him.
“Rip it off,” she whispered in his ear.
With one swipe, he ripped the flimsy lace bra off and sucked on her ripe nipples. He reached down between her legs, ripped off her panties, and threw them.
Liana lifted her legs and placed them on his shoulders. That was her way of telling him she didn’t want him to make love to her tonight. Tonight, it was going to be straight beasting. She dug her nails into his back as he entered her. His rhythm was steady, yet calm. Wayne didn’t want to explode yet, and she knew it.
“Let me get on my hands and knees so you can hit it from the back,” Liana said, talking dirty.
Wayne’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he exploded inside of her. When he opened his eyes, she was grinning innocently.
“You dead wrong,” he said to her. “You know I can’t hold out when you talk to me like that.”
“You had me in another world.” She felt him going soft inside her. She started rotating her hips.
Wayne shook his head. “I need a few minutes.”
“You sure?” Liana moaned. “I need you to spank me from behind. I’ve been a bad girl.” She smiled when she felt him growing inside her.
“You sure know how to get me going, don’t you?” Wayne said, still catching his breath.
She put her finger to his lips. “Shut up, and punish me.”
CHAPTER 9
The next morning, Liana woke up feeling the soreness of last night’s total body workout. She raised her head from Wayne’s chest and kissed him on the corner of his mouth, then looked down at his morning erection and stroked him until he stirred.
“Good morning to you, too,” he said running his hand across her back.
Liana grabbed his other hand and placed it between her legs to show him how moist she had gotten from stroking him. Wayne had the delicate fingers of a pianist, who at the moment, was striking all the right cords.
Liana clamped her thighs down on his hand as she began to shiver. One, two, three orgasms later, she knocked his hand away. “Get away from me.”
“You got a lot of shit with you,” Wayne said, smiling. “You wak
e me up, jam my hand between your legs, and swat it away when you’re done.”
Liana lay on her back, grinning with her eyes closed, basking in the warmth of her juices.
“What are you thinking about?” Wayne murmured.
“My soul’s dancing,” she moaned with a smile.
“Your soul’s dancing?”
“Yeah,” she said, “but that’s too deep for you to understand.”
Wayne chuckled and started to recite. “You are the best thing life has ever given me. If I were to die today, know that I would leave this world with no regrets, because with you my life has been completely fulfilled in more ways than you can ever imagine…”
Liana’s eyes popped open as Wayne finished reciting the words he memorized over ten years ago. “You read my diary!” Liana pinched his arm. “I can’t believe you read my diary!”
“I read it by accident.”
“Accident?”
“One day I came over and you were in the shower, and Nana told me to wait in the kitchen. Your book bag was hanging off the chair, so I figured I should search it, just to make sure you weren’t stashing guys phone numbers. When I unzipped your book bag, your diary popped open.”
“There was a zipper and a Velcro strap on it. How could it just pop open?”
“After I unzipped it and ripped off the Velcro strap, it just popped open.”
“Oooo, I can’t believe you. And you just read my inner most secrets and memorized them?”
“That’s your fault. If you would’ve hurried up, like I told you, I wouldn’t have had all that time to read all that I read.”
“I’m so embarrassed,” Liana said, thinking back to some of the perverted things she had written in her diary back in the days.
“C’mon, baby. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. No, wait, there was that hemorrhoid incident—”
Liana hit him in the face with a pillow and jumped off the bed. “Wayne Dupree, know that we have eternal beef. From now on, the word privacy no longer exists between us.”
“I have nothing to hide,” he said, as he stroked his manhood.
Liana caught herself being mesmerized by his actions. “I hate you right now,” she said walking off to the bathroom. Wayne looked up at the clock on the wall when the house phone rang. Who the hell would be calling at eight in the morning?
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