The Ghost of Blue Ivy

by Parker Paige

  “That’s not what I heard,” Blue Ivy said to Camina.

  “Well, someone told you wrong.”

  “Besides, I’m everyone’s type,” Blue Ivy said calmly. “And for the record, your opinion of me means absolutely nothing.”

  Camina rolled her eyes at Blue Ivy, grabbed her purse, threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table and headed for the door;

  Blue Ivy’s mission was accomplished.

  She said what she wanted to say and planted the seed of worry in Camina’s brain. But Blue Ivy was not done just yet.

  There was more to come. Much, much more.

  En route to her appointment with Dr. Kern, Blue Ivy felt the time had come when she no longer needed to meet with him. But she wasn’t sure just how to convey that message to him without sounding pompous or ungrateful.

  She sat on the sofa in his office, absorbing the silence as she so often did. She no longer felt the need to lie back on his sofa as she had successfully graduated past that stage. She was feeling much better, and her life was changing, hopefully for the better.

  Dr. Kern was famous for allowing her to start the sessions, something she reluctantly grew accustomed to. Though she didn’t expect him to make reference to her new look, she hoped that he would.

  In order for Dr. Kern to take her seriously and actually believe that she no longer needed his help, she would have to clear up this business with her sister. If he thought that she was really having conversations with her dead sister, he would want her to continue with him indefinitely. Not that he could force her to do anything she didn’t want to do, still she wanted to leave on the best of terms and with his approval.

  Before Blue Ivy could share with him how well she had been doing, Dr. Kern surprised her by speaking first. “You’re looking well. I take it things are going pretty good for you.”

  “Wonderful, couldn’t be better.”

  “Any more visits from your sister?”

  Blue Ivy smiled, then laughed, glad that he mentioned her sister.

  “Did I say something funny?” he asked.

  She crossed her legs. “I made up that story about my sister.”

  “Did you now?”

  “Of course. How could she visit me when she’s in her grave?”

  “So there was no image of her in the mirror?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Are you sure you’re not making this up?”

  Blue Ivy didn’t answer his question right away. Instead, she uncrossed her legs. “I have been feeling a lot better, and I’m wondering if I need to continue my visits with you.”

  “When did you come up with this idea?”

  “Just recently.”

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “You know Blue Ivy, there are still a lot of other topics for us to discuss.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well. A couple of weeks ago, you mentioned that your life lacked excitement and that you missed dating, even alluded to sex.”

  Blue Ivy couldn’t believe her ears. Did he not really want her to end their sessions because he would miss her, or did he just think she was a troubled case in need of extensive therapy?

  It really didn’t matter because she knew what she wanted, and she knew what she needed. And she didn’t need to continue her sessions with him any longer. Not sure how to answer his question, she paused for thought, then said, “Yes, I did mention wanting excitement and wanting to date and that is certainly something I’m looking forward to.”

  “Are there any prospects?” he asked.

  “Not really.”

  If she didn’t know better, she might think Dr. Kern harbored special feelings for her.

  “Well, Blue Ivy, ultimately, you will make the decision as to whether to continue with me or not. I just want you to think about it before you make a final decision. Will you do that? Will you think about it?”

  “Yes, Dr. Kern, I will give it some serious thought.

  She agreed to think about it only to appease him even though the final decision was made, and she anticipated her next session would be her last.

  Episode 8

  FOR A BELATED BIRTHDAY DINNER, Lee treated Blue Ivy to a fabulous meal at Houston’s Restaurant. As they strolled down Rush Street in the crisp wind, towards his Jeep, Lee seemed eager to speak. “So, this is the big change you were talking about? I like it, but you don’t look like yourself.”

  “Well, who do I look like?” she asked him.

  “You look like those two women you work with.”

  “Yeah, we do look alike.”

  “But there’s something else. You’re different. It’s like you don’t care as much.”

  “Care about what?”

  “I don’t know. People.”

  “Thank God for that.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “I don’t know.” Blue Ivy paused. “I guess I just got tired of the person I was, so bored with everything, saying the right things, being so nice to everyone.”

  “Being nice is a good thing.”

  “For whom? Not for me.”

  “Why? Why do you want to be so different?” Lee asked. “What’s wrong with the old Blue Ivy?”

  “I think of myself now as Blue.”

  “Blue?”

  “Yeah, Blue.”

  “So, it’s Blue now?”

  “Yeah. I kind of like it. It has a nice naughty feel to it,” she said as she twirled her hair around her finger.

  Lee shook his head in disbelief. “Did you talk to your doctor about this? What does he think about this major change of yours?”

  Blue Ivy stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Who cares what he thinks? He’s not my keeper, and besides I’m not planning to see him much longer anyway.”

  “Just like that you’re quitting?”

  “That was Blue Ivy in therapy, sitting on his sofa, boo-hooing, complaining about her life, depressed. I’m Blue now, and Blue doesn’t need him.”

  “And what is it with this Blue stuff? What’s that all about?”

  “I happen to like the sound of it.”

  “So that’s what I have to call you even if I don’t want to?”

  “Not if you don’t want to, but that is how I refer to myself.”

  “I don’t know, Blue Ivy. I think you’re getting carried away with all of this.”

  “Are you kidding me? I just got started.”

  Blue Ivy knew that the people around her might have a problem with her new persona, but that was not her problem.

  Lee was silent a moment, then. “What’s next? What’s going to be next?”

  “Now the real fun begins.”

  As they came upon Excalibur nightclub, Blue Ivy rocked her head to the beat of the music which trailed from inside.

  Lee stopped abruptly. “Is the old Blue Ivy ever going to come back?”

  “Not if I can help it.” Blue Ivy paused. “Let’s stop in here for a drink.”

  Lee shook his head. “It’s not my kind of crowd.”

  “Well, it’s definitely mine.”

  “No, it’s not,” he said to her.

  “It is now.” She eagerly approached the men working the door of Excalibur, then turned around and said goodbye to Lee right before she disappeared inside. So much she hoped to run into Mr. Rod Bigg, the guy she met days ago who left an impression on her that she would never forget. Ever since that night when he disgusted her with no shame, she knew that she would have to see him again, if only once more.

  Hundreds of people crowded the dark nightclub as the music blasted. Blue Ivy unbuttoned her coat as she strutted towards the bar, wearing the I-can-get-anyone-I-want attitude. Feeling extremely empowered, she made eye contact with every man in her path. Looks were always welcome.

  At the bar, before she ordered her first drink, a handsome gentleman approached her. Before he said a word to her, Blue Ivy caught a glimpse of Rod on the other side of the club, and imme
diately made a beeline in his direction.

  How could she ever forget Rod Bigg?

  Tonight would prove to be his lucky night. She would have the pleasure of teaching him a thing or two about respect. And she was the only person qualified for the daunting task. It was a lesson he would remember for many days to come.

  Rod stood against the wall, wearing a faded blue-jean shirt and a navy blue tie. He held a beer in his hand and his eyes were bloodshot.

  Blue Ivy approached him, standing in front of him as if she were his mirror. She smiled, but she didn’t say a word. He seemed to recognize her immediately.

  “Blue Ivy, right?”

  “Blue,” she said, correcting him, even though Blue Ivy was the name she had given him before.

  “Right.”

  “And you are Mr. Bigg.”

  “The one and only.” He gulped down his beer. “Can I get you a drink?”

  “No, but you can dance with me.”

  She gently grasped his hand and led him to the packed dance floor as she was in complete control. She had thought about this moment, having visualized the whole evening ahead, and it would begin with a not-so-innocent dance. After two minutes, Blue Ivy altered his movement by casually grabbing his buttocks. She pulled him close to her so that they danced slower than the music. Rod was definitely playing along as she knew that he would. He placed his hands over her hips, then snaked his hands up her back, then around to the front of her dress.

  When their eyes locked in to each other, Blue Ivy smiled and swallowed hard. Gently, Blue Ivy maneuvered his hand across her chest. She stared at him and brushed her face up against his, and their lips almost touched. Just as Rod tried to kiss her, she turned away. She could smell the wet liquor on his breath as she listened to his accelerated breathing against her ear.

  Soon they weren’t dancing at all as they stood clinched together like two statues. He moved his hand up her waist and caressed her breast from the outside of her dress, and she didn’t mind. She allowed him to have his way. For now anyway. She pretended not to be affected by his actions, but she was. The more he touched her, the more she wanted to spit in his face. But she was patient as his time would surely come.

  Again Rod tried to kiss her, and again she turned away. She enjoyed teasing him as much as he probably liked being teased. Seemingly, as he became more and more turned on, Blue Ivy moved her hand towards the center of his pants and found his manhood rigid and wide awake.

  Abruptly, he clutched Blue Ivy’s hand and hauled her off the dance floor, towards a dark corner. He pressed her up against the wall, his hands on her face, their bodies almost molded together. He tried to force his tongue between her lips, but Blue Ivy turned her head and resisted him, over and over.

  She placed her finger over his lips and stared at him. “So, Mr. Bigg, is that name pretty accurate?”

  “You want to find out?”

  Blue Ivy smiled, paused for a second, then yanked on his tie. “Yes. I want to find out.”

  As he licked his tongue across her bottom lip, she consumed the lustful fire in his eyes.

  “Not yet,” she uttered. She was in control, and he couldn’t have his way unless she said so.

  With no warning, she grabbed the back of his head and kissed him to no end. Rough and hard. His tongue made its way between her lips and she savored the taste, again and again. She wanted him to know with no doubt that he wonderfully excited her, and that she wanted him.

  Deep breaths escaped from her mouth and abruptly she stopped and pulled away. As she wiped her lipstick from his lips, she very gently nudged his crotch with her knee and said, “Say something dirty.”

  He didn’t hesitate as if awaiting the chance to speak his mind. “I want to fuck you.”

  He so predictably proved once again how little respect he held for women.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Rod said, as he grabbed her ass.

  “Where’s out of here?”

  Instead of answering her question, he led her through the crowd, and, at that moment, he was exactly where she wanted him─in her complete power, and he didn’t even know it.

  On the corner of Dearborn and Ontario, Rod and Blue Ivy waited for a taxi. Wrapped snugly in each other’s arms, there was no mistaking them as anything other than a serious romantic pair. Milking the moment for everything it was worth, Blue Ivy pretended to possess a true interest in the jerk that stood next to her.

  Inside the taxi, Rod rested his hand on Blue Ivy’s knee, and she wondered if she foolishly made a mistake. After all, she didn’t know this man. He could be a psychopath for all she knew. In her attempt to teach him a lesson, she could be the one who learned a lesson.

  “I like this look of yours,” he said, as he slid his fingers through her looping red hair. “You look nothing like you did the night I first saw you.”

  She said nothing in response to his comment, as she was not flattered the least.

  Rod slid his hand up her thigh and at the same time, tried to kiss her, but she stopped him. “Where are we going?”

  “Back to my place. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  With a solemn look on her face, and a hint of ambivalence, she said. “Yeah, that’s what I want.”

  Not sure she wanted to carry this through, she glanced out the window, twisted, turned, fidgeted.

  Was she making a mistake?

  Wanting to ease some of her anxiety, she asked, “What are we going to do at your place?”

  “We’re going to do whatever you think we’re going to do.”

  When he kissed her, she no longer felt the same excitement as before and was very close to telling the taxi driver to stop the car. Then a positive thought sprang to mind. She was in complete control of this situation, and nothing would happen that was not to her liking.

  Seventeen minutes later, the taxi driver pulled up to a courtway building in Hyde Park, and Blue Ivy and Rod leaped out. They headed through the courtyard, holding hands. If Blue Ivy didn’t know any better, she might think she really liked this guy. She was risking an awful lot to teach him a lesson. But it needed to be done, and not just because he needed to be taught a lesson, but because of something much more important. It was definitely something that her sister would have done. And for Blue Ivy, that meant everything.

  Rod’s barely furnished large apartment was dark and cold. It was filled with empty boxes spread across the carpeted floor as if he had just moved in. Rod stood behind her, pressing his body against her back and buried his face in her hair. As he helped her off with her coat, the fun and excitement of it all returned to her. Not ever having experienced this much adventure, and possible danger, she enjoyed the ride in its totality though still skeptical of where it might lead. This is what was missing from her life. Excitement and adventure.

  Rod clicked off the hall light near the door. “Would you like a drink?” he asked her.

  “I already had a drink. I want something else.”

  Rod led her into the bedroom and neatly planted her on the edge of the bed.

  “Take off my boots,” she said authoritatively.

  Just a dim light came from the lamp on his night table. He bent down, unzipped one boot, and slowly slid it off her long leg, then the other one. As he glanced up towards her, she witnessed the eagerness in his eyes.

  Delicately, she rose to a standing position and stood up on his bed, and began to undress right in front of him. She unzipped her dress, then pulled it over her head and tossed it to the carpeted floors. Wearing only her lace bra, panties and black tights, she kneeled down on the bed and unbuckled his pants, then placed his belt around her waist. She would have use for it later. Rod was quick to lose the rest of his clothes as Blue Ivy absorbed the view. He moved back on the bed and Blue Ivy soon joined him and straddled her body over his. They stared at each other, as if reading each other’s mind.

  Blue Ivy released the belt from her waist and placed the shiny buckle against his cheek. Her eyes perused over the
dagger-shaped tattoo on his right arm and she considered purchasing a tattoo herself. It would be something that symbolized the true essence of her personality, something like a lion or a cougar or maybe even a tiger.

  She listened to the deep breaths coming from his mouth as she moved her body further upon his chest. She wrapped the belt around his neck and buckled it. But before she could finish, he grabbed her hand and stopped her. But his resistance did not deter her.

  To dispel with his reluctance, Blue Ivy persisted while at the same time moving her face nice and snug to his. She kissed him and kissed him, sucking on his tongue. Soon, as she expected, he released her hand, allowing her to finish buckling the belt around his neck. The belt around his neck held a significant purpose─to forewarn him of her control and to send a pinch of fear through him as well. When her lips parted from his, he tried to keep their lips together, but abruptly, she broke lose. She grinded her body against his chest, listening to the short, erratic breaths coming from his mouth, her eyes never leaving his.

  He fiddled with the back of her bra, trying desperately to undo it. Finally, he unsnapped her bra and grasped her breast into his hands, fondling them like a prized gift. He sensuously circled her nipples with his tongue. First one, then the other. She lowered her face to his and kissed him, again and again and again, slightly nibbling on his bottom lip, cheek and neck. Just when he seemed ready and willing to do anything and everything, she stopped cold and in a faded whisper asked “Why did you bring me here?”

  Her words seemed to have no effect on him, and he didn’t answer. She had wonderfully excited him, thrilled him as she planned and now it was time to reveal the true purpose of this exercise of power.

  “Did you bring me here to fuck me?” she asked in a whisper. She did not blink an eye as she waited for an answer to her question.

  Rod ignored her question and instead continued to grope at her breasts.

  “Answer my question,” she insisted. Although the answer was more than obvious, she needed to hear him say it.