Ladies Listen Up

by Darren Coleman

  As the band went into a rendition of R. Kelly’s “Step in the Name of Love,” Lanelle and I moved out to the floor to get our step on. Jacob’s voice was much richer than even the Pied Piper of R&B, so when he hit the riffs, he moved the whole room. The band sounded so good that it almost made you high. I watched Lanelle’s bright smile as she twirled around in front of me. We laughed at ourselves as we danced like two people in love. I moved back, slid my foot in front of me, and hit a quick shuffle as if I was one of the original Chicago steppers. I snapped my fingers as I bopped to the beat and never lost a beat as Lanelle and I grooved like we were the only two people on the dance floor.

  “Step, step, side to side, round and round, take it now, separate, bring it back…” Jacob was singing at the top of his lungs. “If they ask you why we did it, tell ’em we did it for loooooveeeee, ohhh yeahh.”

  At one point Lanelle turned her back to me and gave me a rock and then several grinds. She’d felt me pressed against her on more than a few occasions, but for some reason, she seemed really turned on as we danced. I began singing in her ear while we danced, my song turned into a whisper and then a kiss on the neck. This led to even more grinding. It wasn’t long before I was ready to head home. I was hoping, in my heart of hearts, that this would be the night when I closed the deal.

  After the performance, Lanelle, Jacob, and I were talking near the stage when the promoter came over to tell Jacob the VIP lounge was open for him and his guest. “You guys want to go in?” he asked. He wasn’t big on the VIP scene. Jacob struck me as the type who might even avoid celebrity status. He enjoyed being real and being around real folks.

  Reading the look on Lanelle’s face, I decided that it might be cool to at least investigate. She looked slightly intrigued. “Yeah, we can hit that joint for a minute.”

  “Hold up for a second,” Jacob said as he looked off to his left. He headed over toward a girl who was standing near the soundman. I watched him talk to her for a minute. Then he waved for us to come over. He escorted the young lady and us into the VIP. We moved up a few steps and there were some of the other members of the group along with a few people from the radio station. Some were standing, some lounging on the couches. Jacob led us to an L-shaped couch in the far corner. He spoke to one of the guys sitting down and he jumped up and moved. Lanelle and I huddled closely enough for me to smell her perfume and become aroused by her warmth.

  Finally Jacob turned to the young woman he’d escorted into the lounge with us. He nodded in response to something she said and then she smiled. She took a seat on the couch and crossed her legs. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a peach-colored leather jacket that fit more like a tight shirt. With her hair in a ponytail, accenting her features, she reminded me of a young Lisa Bonet from the old Cosby Show.

  Jacob didn’t bother introducing her, but started in on a conversation. “So, did you like the show?” he asked Lanelle.

  “Oh yeah, you guys did your thing up there. As good as any group I hear on the radio. Diego said you were talented, but I was still surprised,” Lanelle responded.

  “Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

  “Yeah, man, you all sound better each time I hear you. And that’s coming from someone who hears you every single week, damned near.”

  Then the girl chimed in. “I can’t believe you tore it down like that, Mr. Marsh. Unbelievable.”

  Did she say “Mr. Marsh”? “What did she call you?” I leaned in and asked.

  “Oh, this is Elise,” Jacob said. She’s a senior at Johnson—one of my students. She is also a superb singer. She’s going to do background vocals on our CD and I’m looking into helping her put a demo together.”

  I tried to keep my mouth from dropping. I couldn’t believe he’d brought one of his kids to the club. On top of it, he was talking about working with her.

  “Oh, that’s really nice. How long have you been singing?” Lanelle said.

  “For like five years. I can’t wait to get up onstage in front of people in a venue like this.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get the chance before you know it,” Lanelle shot back, waving her hand to let Elise know that it was a feat easily within her grasp.

  “Mmm, I love that bracelet you have on, girl. It is beautiful,” Elise said when she noticed the diamond tennis bracelet Lanelle was wearing. “Let me get a look at it.” Lanelle held her wrist out and Elise simply shook her head. “Gorgeous,” she said without a hint of hateration. “One of these days, one of these days.”

  Jacob and I stood there like two men listening to their wives talk. I watched in amazement as the two women started into a conversation. I nudged him on the arm, and when I had his attention I nodded toward the door. I stepped and he followed me.

  We cleared the door and walked into the stairwell. “Yo, what the fuck is you doin’, man? You fucking this girl?”

  “Hell no. I just told you what’s up. She has some serious talent. It’s no different than any other student I’ve taken an interest in. How many kids have I gotten scholarships for? You didn’t ask me if I was fucking any of them.”

  “Yeah, well, I never saw you hanging out in the effing club with one of them either. I hope you know what the fuck you doing.” I paused for a second and then said, “She is finer than a motherfucker, though.”

  “Alicia Keys?”

  “A cross between Alicia Keys, Mya, and Beyoncé,” I said.

  “I don’t really see Beyoncé.”

  “Her young ass is bootylicious.” Then I did my hands in a motion to show her shapely rear end.

  “True dat,” he said, nodding.

  “But, Jacob, I thought you told me that you were afraid her ass was stalking you,” I barked. “Didn’t she throw a fucking rock through your window with her crazy ass?”

  “No, you got it wrong. That’s not the same girl. That’s Anna, and I didn’t say for sure she did it.”

  “Yeah, well, whatever. That doesn’t explain this shit. What in the world is going through your mind? How old is she?” He started to answer, but I kept on. “It doesn’t even matter. If she’s a student. That shit is against the law.”

  “Look, she’s only seventeen. Just like the Rick James song, but she has a chance to really make it. And to be honest, I need her.”

  “Need her?”

  “Yeah. She is keeping tabs on the girl Anna for me. They talk and it’s really given me peace of mind to find out some things about her.”

  “About who?”

  “Anna.”

  “Such as?”

  Just then a bouncer, who wasn’t all that big but had his chest poked out, walked up and said, “I’m gonna need you fellas to clear the stairs.”

  “We’ll be just a minute,” I said in a dismissive tone. “This is Jacob Marsh, the singer who performed here tonight. We had to step out of VIP so we could hear each other.”

  The bouncer looked us up and down. “I’ll give you a couple minutes, okay?”

  “Yeah, cool,” I said, without even looking him in the eye, then I got back to Jacob. “You said you’ve found out something about the girl Anna.”

  “Yeah, like for one, she’s a dyke.”

  “What?”

  “Right,” he said emphatically. “Which means…” He waited on me to figure it out. When I didn’t he continued. “Which means she doesn’t have a crush on me. She just sees me as some type of father figure.”

  I shook my head. “But what about the e-mails you told me about?”

  “Could have been anyone. I don’t know.”

  “They still coming?”

  “Not as frequent, but yeah, they come from time to time. They’re probably from someone who looked me up at classmates.com. Maybe it’s one of my exes or a former student. I don’t know.”

  “What about the rock through the window?”

  “I’m still confused about that.”

  “Well, you sure seem relaxed. A lot more than you were a few months back.”

&nb
sp; “Well, things are a lot calmer,” he said.

  “Jacob, I don’t know about this. It could be trouble, plus it doesn’t look good. What if someone sees you out with her?”

  “She’ll be out of school in three months anyway.”

  “Well, listen. I’m going to go in here and get Lanelle and hopefully your singing got her worked up enough for me to tap that tonight. Fucking with her, a nigga has gotten backed up.”

  Jacob laughed. I was serious. “All right, Diego. I’ll catch up with you in the morning. You and Lee still going to meet me at the gym, right?”

  “Yeah, but call me. Give me at least an hour’s notice. I might be tired—ya feel me?”

  Another grin and we headed back in. I interrupted Lanelle, who was still talking to Elise, and let her know that it was time for us to head out. As we made our way out the front door Lanelle saw someone she knew and screamed out her name. “Janet. Jannnettttt.”

  Janet turned and a smile slid across her face, and the two ran to hug each other. I walked up on her. “Diego, this is my cousin Janet. Janet Divine. You’ve heard of her show, the Love Divine on 95.” Janet’s show came on every night at eight. She and her DJ played the best in old-school and new-school slow jams and allowed callers to dial in and talk about their love lives.

  “Oh yeah. I love that show. I listen all the time…”

  “When you doing your thing, huh?” She laughed. “I ain’t mad atcha,” she said.

  We both laughed. “I was about to say, while I work on my column.”

  Lanelle covered her mouth as if she could barely contain her excitement. “Janet. You’ve heard of Girl Talk magazine. Well, Jacob is Dr. C. He’s the advice columnist in there. He gives some really good advice. Stuff we sistahs should know, but don’t because we spend too much time trying to figure it out on our own. Now we have a brother to ask who gets paid to tell the truth.” She laughed.

  Janet joined her in laughter and added, “I know that’s right.” She paused and then said, “You know, Diego, I’d love to have you on the show as a guest one night. How about it?”

  I jumped at the offer. “I’d love to. Name the time and I’ll be there.”

  “All right. Here’s my card, and my producer’s number is right below it. You call her tomorrow afternoon and we’ll give you a date. Is one night next week good for you?”

  I couldn’t believe it. I’d imagined that it would take months to put something like this together. “Yeah, that’ll be great. Thanks for even asking.”

  “No problem. Lanelle, I’ll talk to you soon. You know Gi Gi’s baby shower is coming up in, what…?”

  “Saturday after next.”

  “Well, I’ll see you then.”

  “For sure.”

  We headed home and I was on cloud nine. I’d always wanted to be on the radio. Who hadn’t? Now, thanks to Lanelle hooking me up, I was headed for some really good exposure. I couldn’t wait to call Jo and tell her. I looked at my watch and thought about dialing her cell, but at midnight on a Friday, it was a tad late.

  Back at my house, I took a shower, and as the water was beating down on my head I thought about how things were coming together for me. I’d cleaned up the drama from my life and good things were happening. I was really enjoying the whole Dr. C. thing. People were responding even more incredibly than I’d imagined or hoped. The readers were buying into the whole concept of having a man who was finally telling the truth.

  I’d gotten at least fifteen letters from people saying that they’d been reading the magazine in a checkout line and decided to buy it when they stumbled across my column. Jonetta and the people at Girl Talk had gotten these letters as well, so it was obvious that they were seeing my value to the magazine.

  I walked out of the bathroom butt naked, body glistening from the water. When I looked at Lanelle, who was sitting on the edge of the bed in just her panties and bra, my mind began to drift. It was time. She had to know it.

  She reached out for my waist. “You’re still wet.”

  “That I am.” My voice was an octave lower than usual. I pulled her up to me and our lips met. She let out a sigh.

  “You’re cold,” she said as she tried to pull away.

  “Well, warm me up.” I reached for her again. This time I locked my arms around her. My right hand palmed her ass and I squeezed it as if I owned it.

  “Diego, I’m not even gonna front on you.”

  “What?”

  “I want you.”

  “Well, I’m here. You can have me.” My lips went down to her neck and then between her breasts.

  “Mmmmm,” she moaned. Then she huffed out, “Wait. Wait a second.”

  “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “It’s just a bad time.”

  “Come on, Lanelle. How long you want me to wait?” My voice gave away my frustration, though I hid the disgust.

  “It’s not that. I don’t want you to wait anymore, but, baby…I’m on…I’m on my period.”

  Like a hot-air balloon being shot with a harpoon, the wind left my body, taking my good feeling. A brother needed some ass. I wanted Lanelle, but if she had left at that moment, I would have dug out every number in my black book. I realized that we weren’t at the level where I could ask her to give me some head for good measure and at least let me get one off. So instead, I climbed into bed and did my best to drift off to sleep.

  Before I was totally out, she whispered, “Diego…”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “I promise you. As soon as I go off my period, I’ll make it up to you.”

  I smiled at the thought, but was still a little miffed. “All right, It’s okay, though,” I said, then I threw a little extra on. “It’ll happen when it’s meant to.”

  “Exactly.”

  After drinking nearly a whole bottle of Moët in the VIP, Jacob couldn’t find his keys. He couldn’t find them because Elise had taken them out of his pocket. He had been celebrating the great news he’d just gotten. No Question had just been offered a contract. A producer had been in the audience and had come into the lounge to speak to the band’s manager. After he heard the offer and shared it with the band members, they all agreed that it was the chance of a lifetime.

  “I can’t believe this,” Jacob said, stumbling and nearly falling down the steps as he tried to exit the club. “I’m finally about to make it.”

  “You’re not going to make it anywhere if you don’t take it easy. You are drunk, Mr. Marsh. Matter of fact, you’re pissy drunk.”

  “Nooooooooo,” he said. “Um not.” He was trying his best to get his walk together as he headed up the sidewalk toward the direction he assumed his car was in.

  When they stopped in front of Elise’s car, she opened the door for him. Jacob climbed in. They had pulled off before he thought to say, “Wait. My car. I drove here…I think.”

  “Yeah, you did. We’ll come back and get your car tomorrow. I didn’t want you driving home drunk.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t worry. If you want, your friend Diego can bring you down to pick up your car. The promoter asked the club owner about it and he said that your car will be fine where it’s parked.”

  “Okay. So do you remember how to get to my house?”

  “I believe so. If I get stuck I’ll ask.”

  Elise turned on the CD player. As she looked over at Jacob she began to sing Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together.” Jacob drifted off to sleep and never stirred as she cruised down New York Avenue, into Maryland, and onto the BW Parkway. Instead of waking him, she made a stop at a 7-Eleven and then she drove him straight to her apartment.

  Jacob awoke, disoriented. “Where are we?”

  “Come on,” she said, helping him out of the car. She handed him a container of coffee she’d bought at the 7-Eleven. “Careful with that. It’s hot.”

  Jacob followed her up the steps to her door and walked in behind her. He was still t
ipsy but not too much to realize that he was in the apartment of one of his students. She turned on the kitchen light and it was just bright enough for him to make his way to the couch. “Put that on a coaster. I stopped off and got it for you,” she shouted. She walked back into the bedroom and came out a moment later with two aspirin in her hand.

  She handed him a small Dixie cup of water and the two pills. “Take these before you sip the coffee,” she said.

  Then she grabbed a lighter and went to the huge candle in the corner of the room. She lit three candles in all, and in a matter of moments the room had a mixture of smells, cinnamon being the strongest. Then she hit the remote and her stereo came on.

  Jacob sat back and looked at a picture on the table. “Is that you?” he asked.

  “No, that’s my mom when she was a kid. She was only fourteen in that picture, believe it or not.”

  “She looks older than that here. Or I should say she looks more mature, not old at all. She was beautiful.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Well, she grew up fast. Had to. A lot like I did. In that picture, she was wearing her work uniform. I think she was working for the city of Baltimore back then.”

  Jacob sipped his coffee and involuntarily began to bob his head to the music playing in the background. He couldn’t help but sing to any song he knew the words to and he began to sing. “What in the world do you know about Rose Royce, young lady?”

  “I know a little something.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah, you could say I have an old soul.”

  He nodded. “Well, show me what you know.”

  Elise smiled. “You sure you ready for that?”

  Jacob got a little uncomfortable with the comment. Until the flirting had gotten blatant, he’d almost forgotten that he was in the company of one of his students. Over the past couple of months, they’d become something like friends. He’d actually shared huge parts of his life with Elise and she opened up to him about her life. She had her secret—an underage teen, living on her own. And he had his—the cover-up of a sexual assault on a student. They had trusted each other and it had led to this. Elise in the middle of the floor singing for him. Him enjoying it so much he couldn’t keep the semidrunken smile off his face.