by Linda Verji
“Damn! Did you rob the airline?” She protested at the weight of the bag, her right shoulder automatically angling downwards. “And I ain’t going nowhere.”
“So you’re just going to stand there looking like the tower of Pisa?” Michael asked.
“Give us a minute,” Eli said. She didn’t move. The way the two were looking at each other was enough to give her the hives. She didn’t want any blood on her carpet. Eli ordered, “Chrys , , leave.”
Maybe it was the authoritative note in his voice, but she found herself doing the one thing she ’d had never thought herself capable of; giving way to a man.
“Okay okay. I’m going,” she grumbled hiking the heavy bag further up her arm. Just for good measure and for her ego’s sake she warned, “You two better not break my coffee table.”
She had no idea what happened between her leaving the living room and coming back. But when she reentered the room it was to find them dapping each other and saying ‘Cool’. None of them would say what they ’d had talked about which irritated her to no end because she hated being out of the loop on anything. By the time Eli left later in the day, the two were practically best of friends.
“So Eli?” Mickey said. He was laying lying on the bed on his side staring at her as she unpacked his bag.
“So Eli,” Chryssa mimicked as she shook out one of his shirts then pressed it to her nose. Wrinkling her nose she threw it at him, “I told you I’m not gon be doing your laundry anymore.”
“But Mummy,” he whined as he caught the shirt. She would probably end up doing it for him anyway then charging him a fee , but she had to put her foot down. Throwing the t-shirt to the floor, he returned to the conversation, “So Eli?”
“You’re gon wear out his name.” Knowing that he wasn’t going to stop till until she threw him a bone, Chryssa said, “I told you we were just friends.”
“No you’re not,” Mickey insisted watching her shake out a pair of jeans, fold then tuck them into a drawer. “I seen the way you look at him.”
“I don’t look at him any type of way.”
“You see it going anywhere?” he insisted. Was that a hopeful note in his voice? Chryssa stopped unpacking to look at him.
“Why are you so eager to hand me off?” she asked, “Are you tired?”
Whenever she was sick, Mickey was the one who had to deal with her. She knew the constant phone checkins and periodic flights back when she was having mild episodes had to have an effect on his personal life. It wasn’t a hard stretch to imagine that he was tired and though she understood, it still hurt.
“Chrys.” He shook his head as he sat up on the bed swinging his feet to the side. He pulled her by the wrist urging her to sit beside him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “I’m never going to get tired of taking care of you. I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” she insisted.
She could see doubt written all over his face , but he didn’t pursue the conversation. Instead he said, “In any case I can take care of you better now that I’m coming back.”
“Coming back?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”Mickey’s eyes widened in shock.
“Tell me what?”
“Come on,” he hedged, a smile on his face because he knew he was irritating Chryssa by delaying the breaking of his news. “I didn’t tell you?”
“Stop playing with me,” she said trying to muff him but he ducked.
“The Firebacks want me back.” He smiled. “We’ve been negotiating since last month.”
“No my God. Why didn’t you tell me?” Chryssa hugged him. She released him to immediately start counting down on her fingers all the tasks they had to do. “I gotta tell everyone. We gotta get you an apartment in the city…”
“I thought I was staying with you.”
“Nigga , ; , you know you and I can’t live in the same house,” she dismissed, “I don’t want you up in my business all the time. You just landed and I already want to throw you out.”
“Ooh! That’s cold.” He threw a pillow at her so fast she had no time to duck before it smacked her on the face. Almost as fast, Mickey sprung from the bed and ran for the door.
“It’s on bitch.” Chryssa yelled as she pursued him.
***
In not so many words the Eli and Michael had come to an agreement the other day that Michael reserved the right to kick Eli’s ass if thought he wasn’t treating Chryssa right. Eli didn’t mind. Being an over-protective brother was nothing new to him. Plus it ’d had finally given him a chance to crack another wall on Chryssa ’s other side – the family side.
Eli continued his assault on Chryssa in the following days. Though she was tight-lipped, he managed to get her to drop a few tidbits about her past. He learnt that she was New York born and that her father had been to prison. She didn’t say it , but he inferred that her mother wasn’t really there for them and that she’d taken care of Michael for most of her life.
He was in awe of her.
As a first born, Eli had thought he had tough luck, always having to be the one to keep his younger siblings in check while meeting his father’s academic and professional expectations. But after listening to Chryssa , he realized that he didn’t know anything about responsibility. She had jokingly called his problems ‘first-world problems’ , but he had seen the little glint of envy in her eyes.
The more he spent time and got to know her the more he began to appreciate that even though she tended to r u a n away from her problems, when push came to shove she was a boot-strapper. It only made him want her more.
Was he getting in too deep without reciprocation from her?
Eli wanted to test it out.
Tuesday just past noon, he was at the nurses’ desk signing his patient charts for the morning when he saw Chryssa turn the corner at the hallway. Even if he didn’t see her face, he would know the purposeful sway of her hips anywhere.
Pretending he hadn’t seen her, he turned to the nurse who was watching him from across the counter and smiled, “You look very pretty today, Kayla.”
“Thank you. Dr. Stone.” Kayla giggled. “Do you like my new hair-band? I got it from Macy’s last week…”
Eli wasn’t even listening to her. He was watching Chryssa from the corner of his eye to see if she’d react the way he expected. She did. The moment she saw the two of them her eyes narrowed and she screwed her face. All over sudden she turned on her heels and started back the way she’d come without even waiting for an explanation.
Eli couldn’t resist grinning as he chased her down the hallways in long strides his doctor’s coat flying behind him. He caught up to her just as she exited the building, grabbing her wrist. “Hey.”
“Don’t touch me.” She swatted his hand away.
“What’s wrong?” Eli asked not letting her go. She didn’t answer only stared him down like he was supposed to psychically infer what the problem was. He knew very well that she couldn’t say she didn’t like him flirting with other women because that would imply an emotional connection, something she wasn’t ready to admit yet. Taking pity on her, he pulled her closer till they were toe to toe. He asked, “Did you come to see me?”
“I just came to tell you that our bootleg copy of Some Like It Hot came in,” she said grudgingly. Her breath caught when he rubbed her wrist with his thumb but she didn’t pull away.
“You want to watch it today?”
“But I’m leaving work at five,” she protested. “It will probably be late by the time we finish the movie.”
He wanted to tell her she could just invite him to sleep over or better yet they could watch the movie in the big screening room in the basement of his house. Maybe end up sleeping in the same bed and catching up on all the nookie-time they’d lost because of her stubbornness.
Remembering his oath not to push too hard, he said, “I don’t mind. I like driving him home late at night. All those street lights, the quiet solitude…”
“Y
eah! Yeah! Shakespeare. We get it.” She said getting on tip toes to give him a hug –all on her own before patting his butt. “Go save some lives.”
By the time Eli got to her apartment, she’d changed into her night wear, a pair of booty shorts and a tank top. Eli wanted to howl in both frustration and desire. She was taking this being friends thing too far but flaunting her body yet denying him at the same time.
He was only a man.
Midway through the movie, he drew her to lie on his chest. Needing to touch her but not get sexy, he ran his fingers through her curly hair, inhaling the soft flowery scent of her shampoo.
“I like being your friend,” he whispered against her forehead.
“I like being your friend too.” She craned her neck as his fingers glanced on the nape of her neck. Of her own volition, she swung her legs over his lap.
“We should do this more often.” His fingertips danced over the silky smooth chocolate skin of her legs from calf to knee. His touch was innocent enough but Eli could see her reacting to it. Though her eyes remained glued to the movie, her nipples had pebbled into hard points against her tank top.
He was just a man.
Eli hauled her up so that she was completely over his lap now.
“I’m not the one with the wack schedule.” She said. There was no chance she couldn’t feel his dick hard beneath her but she didn’t move off him. Instead she looped an arm around his shoulder, a whisper of her breath grazing his neck as she asked, “Did you have surgery today?”
“Three back to back,” he explained as he linked their fingers and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “That hospital is really milking their money’s worth out of me.”
“Doctor is overworked.” She rubbed her palm in circles on the nape of his neck, making the hairs there rise in awareness. “Need a hug from Nurse Chryssa?”
Eli knew it was a bad idea. A very bad idea! He was already in a bad place right now; hard from having her on his lap, but the little devil on his shoulder insisted what was so bad about a hug? He found himself acceding. “I wouldn’t mind.”
She turned on his lap to straddle him completely. The scent of her lotion mixed in with the lingering flavor of the spicy pizza they ’d had ordered assailed his senses as she wrapped both arms around his shoulders.
“Better?” she whispered against his ear.
“Much.” Careful not to do anything overtly sexual, Eli smoothed his hands over her back and kept them there. If anything happened it had to be all her. He didn’t cup her ass like he wanted to or pull her closer. She did that all on her own. He almost groaned when she shifted to sit directly on his length, the soft pillows of her breasts pressing against his chest.
The first grind seemed innocent enough, like she was just getting comfortable but the next one wasn’t, nor the next slow twist, nor the firm wind that brought the head of him right between her pussy lips. She wasn’t wearing anything under those tiny shorts and when she rubbed herself just that way he could feel all of her heat.
This time Eli couldn’t hold back his low growl.
He knew exactly what she was doing. She was stimulating her clit on his hard dick. If her harsh breathing was anything to go by it was working. Neither of them said a word as she continued to play on him. Hard as it was, he kept his hands on her waist gripping her t-shirt tightly and his face buried in the crook of her neck as she continued to rock on him.
Abruptly she stopped.
He could see a small spot of wetness on her crotch as she stood up then without a word hurried towards her bedroom. Giving her some time, Eli sat on the couch taking deep breaths to calm himself. It didn’t work. He was hard as a rock and jutting against his pants like a horny teenager when he stood to follow behind her.
He could hear a faint buzzing as well as moaning coming from her bedroom. He pushed the door slightly. Chryssa was lying on the bed, her eyes closed and naked from the waist down as she pressed a dildo in and out of her pussy.
He wanted to come in and show her that the real thing was much better but the fact that she’d chosen to come and do this instead of just asking him meant she wasn’t ready yet. So he didn’t come in. He just watched her as he stroked himself over his shorts to her rhythm.
“Eli.” His name was a keening cry on her lips as finally she came.
Before she could notice him, he softly closed the door heading to the guest bathroom. By the time he came out having gotten his own release, she was back in the living room on the couch with the TV on mute and her cell-phone to her ear, looking far from satisfied. Instead there was confusion on the lines of her face.
“What?” Her shocked question reverberated through the silent room. She paused for a minute listening to whoever it is who was on the other end of the line before nodding, “Okay just give twenty minutes I’ll be there.”
“What’s wrong?” Eli asked.
“I have to go.” She stood up. “My dad was just arrested.”
CHAPTER 19
“You didn’t have to come with me,” Chryssa said as Eli parked in front of the precinct.
“Yes I did.” Eli didn’t look at her as he brought the car to a standstill. “You really think I was going to let you go out alone at this time of the night?”
“No but…”
“Just say thank you, Chrys.”
“Thank you, Chrys,” she muttered mutinously as she unbuckled the seatbelt that was digging into her bomber jacket.
Eli’s chuckle could be heard over the click of the car doors automatically unlocking. Before she could come out of the car, he’d already hopped out of the car, come to her side and opened the door for her.
In broad daylight the high-rise building was intimidating but in the darkness it loomed like a large shadowy pendulum of justice. Leaving her father to get his dues hadn’t even crossed her mind. No matter how mad Chryssa was at Carter, family was family.
“I brought my credit card if we need to post bail,” Eli said as he led her up the steps that led to the precinct, his hand on her lower back.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah!” Eli’s hand tightened around her waist possessively. “I do.”
“No you don’t.” She stopped walking and turned to face him. “You’re not my man and you shouldn’t be giving me money to bail my dad out of jail.”
“This isn’t the place to do this,” Eli said. However, when Chryssa wouldn’t budge from her place on the top step, he explained. “I’m only giving you money because we’re friends. Wouldn’t you let Zain help you out? Didn’t you give Tasha money for Asia’s dialysis? And you took my money to play poker with last week. What’s the difference?”
“Yeah but…” She let her words trail off because she didn’t have a rebuttal to that argument. He was right. Technically there was no difference, but somehow it felt different – like she was giving up a part of herself by letting him help her out with Carter.
“We’re just friends. Don’t read too much into it.” He kissed her on the forehead before gently nudging her to start walking again.
Her emotions were so all over the place when it came to her relationship with Eli. One minute she was comfortable enough to share harmless tidbits of her family with him, the next minute she wanted to just tear off his clothes. One moment she wanted to back away from him because she could feel him getting closer, the next she wanted to curl up against him and let nature take its course. It was all so confusing.
Pushing aside her uncertainty, she led the way into the precinct. The instant they stepped into the lobby they were hit by a wave of hot air and loud chatter. Convicts, cops and worried families alike milled around the station; triumphant faces, stoic faces, mutinous faces, sneaky faces, worried faces – the scene was a plethora of emotions.
There was a long line of people by one of the counters that was labeled {ENQUIRIES}. Figuring that was where they should start, she went and stood in line behind a large hulk like man. Eli took a spot behind her.
&n
bsp; Chryssa could feel a drop of sweat gather in her spine from all the heat swirling around them as they waited. As if he could read her mind, Eli helped her out of her coat draping it over his arm.
Finally they got to the front of the line. A female uniformed cop with her inky black hair tied into a knot so tight her eyes were stretched at the side, stood behind the counter, “How may I help you?”
“Hi,” Chryssa said. “My client Carter Williams was arrested earlier.”
“Just a minute.” The cop’s attention shifted to her computer. She scrolled through the long list of names on the screen before she lifted her eyes again to look at them. “Well I doubt he’ll need a lawyer.”
Confused, Chryssa asked, “What did he do?”
“Loitering,” the cop explained. “He was picked up at Hessington Park. He only needs to pay the fine and then-”
“Are you kidding me?” Chryssa exploded. She was paying rent for the guy and he was sleeping in a park? He’d better not have used last month’s rent on something stupid like booze. “Where the h-”
“What do we need to do to get him out?” Eli cut in before Chryssa could finish the sentence.
“You just need to pay the fine and he’ll be released…” The woman was unaffected by Chryssa explosion of emotion. “…unless your client would like to contest the charges?”
“No.” Chryssa shook her head.
“How much is the fine?” Eli asked already reaching for his wallet.
Chryssa let him handle it from there because she was too mad right now. She tapped her feet and sucked on her tongue not saying a word as they were pointed to another counter to make the payments.
Sitting on one of the hard benches, they waited for Carter’s release. Eli tried to pull her closer to him, but she shrugged his arm off her shoulder. With a mutinous expression she folded her arms over her chest and swung her leg in an impatient rhythm.
The moment Carter walked out Chryssa was up on her feet and heading towards him. He looked even gaunter then he was when she had last seen him and the great coat he’d tucked his hands into wasn’t helping matters much. She felt a spark of worry, but quelled it with her anger as she reached him.