I put my arms on his shoulders, pressing myself against him. “Is that all you want me to do? I definitely thought you’d want more.”
“I do. I wanna make you mine and also put a major hurtin’ on that pussy when we get back to yo’ house.”
“I give up,” I said, tossing my hands in the air.
“But, I must admit that the way the word pussy flows from your mouth, it just turns me on.”
“And every single thing ’bout you, Dez, turns me on. I’m steppin’ in new territory and I’m workin’ this as best as I can. Be patient with me, a’ight?”
I nodded.
Roc went for one of his juicilicious kisses, and like always, we were interrupted by his phone.
“Do me a favor,” I asked. “Please turn that off. I want to enjoy every second,” I said kissing his lips, “every minute,” I pecked his lips again, “and every hour that I spend with you, without any interruptions.”
Roc didn’t put up a fight and went along with my request by turning off his phone. We changed into our robes and that day would be remembered as one of the best days of my life. You learn a lot about a man when you spend time with him, and thus far Roc had impressed me more than I ever would’ve expected.
Just as I thought the day couldn’t get any more interesting, it did. Roc and I finished up around 4:00 P.M. that afternoon and he took me to a clothing store at Frontenac Plaza. My body felt amazing and my makeup was flawless. I believed in a man taking care of his woman, but even so I was somewhat uncomfortable with Roc spending money on me. He dropped almost a grand for our spa treatment and we were now standing in a clothing store where the cheapest thing was a belt for $300. The salesclerk had an off-white dress in her hand and twirled it around in front of us.
“Is this the one?” she asked Roc, but he looked at me. “Yes. Now go try it on so I can see how you look in it.”
Only the Lord knew how uncomfortable I was with this, but in an effort not to disappoint Roc, I took the dress to go try it on. When I got into the fitting room, I looked in the mirror and asked myself, Girl, what are you doing? If Roc was shaking and moving drug money, then how could I allow him to pay for the spa treatment and for this dress? I looked at the hefty price tag of $1,060 and shook my head. I swallowed the huge lump in my throat and did my best to go with the flow.
The size fourteen to sixteen dress looked amazing on me and was high enough to show my thighs that Roc admired so much. It left one shoulder bare and had a long bell swinging sleeve. It stretched around my curves, giving my body a silhouette look. It was so very classy and made me feel sexy as ever. I put on the two-toned off-white and gold sexy heels the lady had given me and was ready to walk the red carpet. To see myself in the mirror look so glamorous; it helped ease the uncomfortable feeling I had inside.
I left the fitting room and stood close by Roc as he sat slumped down in one of the soft black leather chairs. By the blank expression on his face, I couldn’t tell if he was pleased or not. He rubbed his chin and asked me to turn around.
“So, what do you think?” I asked, modeling the dress for him.
“I think you got it goin’ on, that’s what I think. How do you feel ’bout it?”
I shrugged. “I think it looks nice, but the price is—”
He quickly shot me down. “Don’t go there, a’ight? You look damn good and this is what I want you in tonight.”
I turned my eyes away from the oval mirror that was nearby. “Tonight? What’s going on tonight?”
“Fun,” he said. “Now, go take off the dress and let’s go. We’re already runnin’ behind schedule.”
Since I’d given Roc the opportunity to plan our day, I kept quiet. I started to make my way back to the dressing room, only to hear him call my name. I turned without a smile on my face. He walked up to me and lifted my chin. He pecked my lips and looked into my eyes.
“I feel like the luckiest man in the world,” he said. “But you gotta trust me, a’ight?”
I nodded.
“Then, put a smile on yo’ face. Show me how happy you are to be with me. I need love and compassion too. If that only consists of a smile, don’t make it so hard to do.”
“I am happy with you, Roc. It’s just that all of this is new to me. I have concerns and you make me uneasy when you don’t want to talk about them.”
“There’s a time and a place for everything. Now ain’t neither. We’ll talk, but like I said earlier, just enjoy yourself. Don’t knock me for tryin’ to—”
I placed my fingers on his lips and smiled. “Let me go change so we can go wherever you want to and have fun. And before I forget, thank you for everything. I’ve had an interesting and unforgettable day.”
I kissed Roc, and for now nothing else needed to be said. The dress was in the bag and he’d dropped me off at home, insisting that I be ready at 9:00 P.M.
Like before, the club was packed as ever. Roc had a limousine pick me up and the driver escorted me inside to find him. He could be spotted a mile away, dressed in off-white from head to toe. His suit jacket was open, and with the silk shirt underneath being unbuttoned, it showed his nicely cut chest and abs. A silver diamond necklace hung low and laid against his shiny black skin. The waves in his hair flowed, his lining was cut to perfection, and so was his mustache. I honestly had never witnessed anything like him, and with all of the women hanging around him, they obviously hadn’t either. Roc sat with his arms stretched out, resting on top of a circular booth for at least ten people. Bottles of champagne were in buckets on the table and white and black balloons were all over. A huge cake sat on another table, which was filled with a bunch of women and men. One man sat to Roc’s left and a female sat to his right. She had whispered something in his ear, but since the music was loud, I didn’t make much of it. I stepped up to the table and Roc’s dimples went into action. Before I could say anything, a man walked up from behind and eased his arm around my waist. His aggressive touch caught me off guard.
“Baby, you wanna dance?” he asked with an alcoholic’s breath.
“No, not right now,” I said, trying to remove his arm.
He tugged at my waist, pulling me in his direction. “Come on, girl. Let’s go set this shit off!”
Roc told the female next to him to move and rushed up to intervene. Even the man who was sitting next to him got up, and they both approached the man.
“Get yo’ muthafuckin’ hands from around my woman’s waist. Nigga, are you crazy?”
The man took one look into Roc’s furious eyes and then glanced at his friend, who stood with his hands behind his back. He quickly let go of my waist, defensively holding up his hands. “Damn, all I was tryin’ to do was dance. Is that gon’ cost me my life or somethin’?”
I put my hand on Roc’s chest and our connected eyes got his attention. “He’s right . . . he just wanted to dance. Is all of this even necessary?” I asked.
The man shook his head and walked away. Roc eyeballed him, then turned his attention to me. “He shouldn’t have been touchin’ and pullin’ on you like that. Muthafuckas up in here know when somethin’ belongs to me and a nigga like that should’ve known better.”
“For the record, there’s no ownership between us. Now, I’m here to have a good time and it would be nice of you to tell me the occasion.”
He pecked my cheek and looked as if my comment bothered him. “It’s my birthday,” he said, before moving back into the booth. “Are you gon’ stand there or sit down and join me?”
My mouth hung open. Why wouldn’t he tell me it was his birthday? We’d been together all day and he hadn’t said one word. I slid into the booth and sat next to him. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about your birthday. I could’ve gotten you something and I feel so bad allowing you to splurge as you did on your special day.”
“Thus far, I’ve had a good day. And I plan on havin’ an even better night, as long as you chillin’ with me.”
“I’m with you all the way, but what ha
ppens tonight depends on you. From what I can see, it looks as if you have an array of choices up in here tonight. Who’s going to be the lucky lady?”
“Her pretty self sittin’ right next to me and she’s the only woman I can see bein’ worthy enough of my time. Besides, I like her ass and ain’t nobody up in here I’m feelin’ mo than I’m feelin’ her.”
Roc picked up a glass of champagne and handed me one. He turned sideways and focused on me and me only. “I’m drinkin’ to more excitin’ days to come, how ’bout you?”
“I’ll drink to that, as well as wishing you the happiest and best birthday ever. May God bless you with many more.”
We clinked our glasses together and followed up with a lengthy kiss. No doubt, all eyes were on us and the setting had become a bit uncomfortable. Roc knew nearly everybody in the club and they knew him. The booth we sat at and the ones nearby were crammed with people there for his celebration. He was “nigga this” and “nigga that,” “what’s up muthafucka” to “I’ll kick that muthafucka’s ass.” This was the immature side of him that I didn’t like, but Roc was being himself. There was no way that a woman like me could change him, and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.
Roc was tipsy and so was I. His attention had been on me all night and when he excused himself to go to the restroom, I was able to stretch out a bit. Before making it to the bathroom, I watched him being stopped a million and one times. Either it was to get hugs from females hanging all over him or it was to slap hands with some of his friends. There were two moments, however, that caused me to focus in. The club already had a dark setting, but I was so sure that I’d seen a female kiss Roc on his lips. She wiped off her lipstick and walked away. Another time was very noticeable, and that was when another woman slapped the living daylights out of him. His head jerked to the side, but before he could make a move, a man dressed in a black suit grabbed the woman by her arm. He dragged her through the club and she shouted words to Roc that I couldn’t hear. The music was too loud to hear anything, but the action I had witnessed said enough. Roc avoided the restroom and opened another door, disappearing for a while.
After seeing what I had, I was ready to go. It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected Roc to be seeing other women, but this setting wasn’t the one for me. I couldn’t wait for him to return so I could tell him I was ready to go. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I looked up and saw a man who resembled Roc in many ways. He was just as dark, had a shiny bald head, diamond earrings in his ears, and was dressed to impress in white. Two females were connected to his sides and everybody treated him as if Denzel Washington had just walked into the club. Taking a guess, I assumed he was the uncle who owned the club and the one who was responsible for raising Roc since he was a child. He stepped over to the booths, slamming handshakes with everyone in sight, including the young lady I’d been sitting next to and conversing with all night.
“Where baby boy at?” he asked the young lady.
“He went to the bathroom.”
The man’s eyes shifted to me. His head slightly turned and he cleared his throat. “I don’t know you, do I?”
Before I could say a word, the woman next to me spoke up. “That’s Roc’s woman. She here with him.”
“Say it ain’t so,” he said. He motioned his hand for the other two women to back off and they did. I couldn’t believe how controlled some of these women were, or how this man and Roc seemed to have women in control. It was obvious where Roc had gotten his personality from.
Roc’s uncle plucked the collar on his suit jacket and slid in the booth next to me. He held out his hand for me to shake it. “I’m Roc’s uncle, Ronnie. He ain’t tell me he was doin’ it like this, and I would be ungrateful if I didn’t tell you what a gorgeous-ass young woman you are.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” I said, returning the handshake. I swiped the feathery bang away from my forehead, feeling uneasy about Ronnie’s closeness and stares. The whole time, he didn’t take one eye off me, and when Roc came back to the booth, he looked high as ever. His eyes were low and redder than a cardinal. He smiled at his uncle and I could see just how much he admired him. They slapped hands, gripping them tightly together.
“Baby boy,” his uncle said. “Happy Birthday, mane.”
Roc nodded and couldn’t stop displaying his whites.
“You enjoying yourself,” his uncle asked.
“You better know it.” He looked over at me. “So, I see you met the love of my life, right?”
His uncle took another opportunity to look me over. “I’m damn sholl impressed. You must’ve handpicked this one from Hollywood or somethin’. Red bone . . . thick and gorgeous as ever. She ain’t from ’round here, is she?”
“Ask her,” Roc said, making the woman next to me move. I sat between him and his uncle. His uncle put his hand on top of mine and squeezed it.
“You from here?” he asked.
“Born and raised,” I said, immediately turning to Roc. “If you don’t mind, I’m really ready to go.”
He looked taken aback by my request. “We’ll leave in another hour or two.”
My voice went up to a higher pitch. “I’d like to leave now. I’m getting tired and . . . and have you been smoking something?”
His uncle made a move out of the booth. He looked Roc directly in his eyes, giving him an order. “Take care of that. Pretty women always mean trouble and she doesn’t seem to be the exception.” He looked at me and winked. “Nice meetin’ you. Take care.”
Roc downed another glass of champagne and ignored me. He laughed and joked with more of his friends, talked to more females and even suggested cutting his cake.
Cake or not, I was leaving. I scooted over to get out of the booth and he grabbed my wrist. His face scrunched up and his forehead lined with wrinkles.
“Where in the hell are you going?”
I snatched my wrist away and hated like hell to rain on his parade. I had definitely seen and heard enough that completely turned me off.
“I’m going home.”
Roc released my wrist and tossed his hand back. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get home, but I saw the limo driver who had taken me to the club earlier. I asked if he would take me home, and as soon as we made it to the limo, Roc came after me.
“Why you gotta ruin my birthday like this? I asked you to give me one more hour and you couldn’t even chill and do that.”
I pointed my finger at him. “You didn’t ask me, you told me. I’ve really, really been trying to go along with this, but my patience is running thin. You’re high as hell, you got females in there kissing all over you and what about the one who slapped you? Who the hell was she? I must thank her because she did exactly what I felt like doing tonight.”
No sooner had I opened the door, loud gunshots rang out in the background. Roc covered me and we both fell hard into the limo. I scrambled backward and Roc hurried inside to close the door. I could hear people screaming and heard cars skidding off the parking lot. Roc covered me again, and when one of the glass windows to the limo shattered, he tightened his body over mine.
“Shit,” he hollered at the driver. “Hurry up and drive the fuck off!”
The limo’s tires screeched and it sped off. My body was trembling all over and Roc looked down as I was still underneath him, shielding my ears from the constant sounds of gunfire.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I couldn’t utter one word and had never, ever experienced anything like this. I had only seen scenes like this in the movies, and never thought I’d witness a real-life situation like this one. I was so done with this mess and for those who chose to live this kind of life, they could have it! Roc kissed my cheek and rubbed his hand through my hair. He rose up and reached for my hand so I could sit on the seat with him. I shook my head from side to side, implying no. All I wanted was to be left alone and he knew it.
He immediately dialed out on his cell phone. “Ronnie,” he said. “You a’ight?”
He paused. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m in the limo taking Desa Rae home.” He paused for a longer time and I could hear his uncle’s loud voice coming through the phone. “So, you know who it was?” He paused. “Aw, just some drunk fools with a beef shootin’ at each other? Niggas know they be trippin’.”
He continued to talk to his uncle, and as I said before, you never really get to know a man until you spend quality time with him. I had a whole new impression of Roc and it really didn’t matter if he knew how I truly felt. As far as I was concerned, this was over!
Chapter Six
Monica had been out of town for almost two weeks, so I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about what happened at the club that night with Roc. I was back to cooling out at home, watching movies and reading books. I didn’t mind doing so one bit, and after what had happened, I appreciated my boring life even more. I expressed my feelings to Monica over the phone, and she couldn’t believe it.
“Girl, I can’t believe those fools were clowning like that. I’d been to that club several times and nothing like that went down,” Monica said.
“Well, it did and it was so, so scary. I saw my life flash before me and I was worried about Roc getting shot. I can tell he’s used to that kind of mess and he calmed down like nothing really happened. After he dropped me off, I ran my butt into this house, tore that dress off me, and thanked God for sparing my life.”
“Now, you overreacted. I never would have torn that dress, but I can honestly say that Roc would be history. The way you told me he carried on, I don’t know what to say about him now.”
“I don’t either. He’s really a nice young man, but we don’t have much in common. I suspected that being with a twenty-four . . . five-year-old would be difficult, but that was quite the experience.”
“Have you heard from him at all?”
“Nope. And I don’t intend to either. He was more than upset with me, and for a man who’s used to telling women when, where, and how, I think he got the picture that I’m not the one. People treated him like he was black Jesus or something and his bodyguards jumped at the sight of anybody looking at him too hard. I saw this one chick slap him and she was the same woman I’d seen at the car wash that day. I can smell the drama a mile away with that chick. The whole night was crazy and I couldn’t believe I was sitting in the middle of all that mess.”
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