“Okay. I may be on my second joint in an hour. When I'm high, I feel the presence of the supernatural even more.”
“You’re going to feel the presence of my foot going into the crevices of your behind if you don’t hang up.”
“Well, my little sweet tongued siren, I bid you ado.”
“A-fucking-do,” I mumbled.
That had been three weeks ago, the last time I’d talked to him on the phone. Since then, he hadn't answered any of my calls.
What are you doing now, Pipe? You better not have performed an exorcism in my mom’s house!
On the phone with my mother, Jay’s face fell into a hard mask. I could see every detail of his earlier relaxed look shift into stone—his eyes squinted, lips clamped together, and the line of his jaw twitched. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. Anything that made Jay lose his cool was never a good thing, especially when my mom was on the other line telling him something.
“Okay. What’s going on?” I asked, unable to deal with any more silence.
Jay covered the bottom of his phone with a shaking hand. “Pipe is in the hospital.”
Chapter Two
Evie
“They called your mom because Pipe put Mrs. Elaine’s name down as his emergency contact for the hotel. She’s sending me the details to the hospital now.” Jay returned to talking to Mom on the phone.
Shock hit me. “What?”
He held up his hand as if to say stop.
“But what happened?” I asked.
“Wait a minute.” Jay ignored me and returned to the phone. “What do you mean the hospital is in Miami? I thought he was in California with you. Oh, really? He left your house? Who did he leave with? What man? Did you get his name? No. That’s okay.”
I tried to get his attention. “So, he left Mom’s house?”
Jay directed his eyes to me. “No, Mrs. Elaine. Don’t worry. I’ll find out who the guy was and what happened to Pipe. I know. I know. Yes, Evie’s here. Yes, I know. She doesn’t answer when I call either. Yeah. We both should.” He chuckled. “That would teach her.”
What the hell?
“Okay. I will. I won’t forget. Yes. I know, I'm sorry. You're right. Good. I love you too.” Jay shut off his phone, dropped it in his pocket, and walked back toward his dress, heels, and gym bag. “Come on, Evie.”
“What do you mean come on? What happened to Pipe?”
“The doctors wouldn’t tell your mom. He was put in the hospital last night. The nurse checked on him this morning, and he’d left.”
“Left?”
“Yes, left. They have him sneaking out of the hospital on camera. Apparently, he stole his roommate’s black hooded jacket and sped out of there like fucking Batman on the run.” Jay marched on with both of his hands formed into fists.
“Is he injured?”
“Yes.”
“But how bad?”
“Bad enough for the hospital to be worried for his health.” Jay picked up his things and continued off. “Come on, my car is over there.”
Anxiety rattled at my bones. “What the fuck?”
“I know. First, I can’t believe he got himself hurt and didn’t say anything to us. Second, why the hell would he leave like that?”
“Third, who did it?”
“Your mother said he left with some rich guy. The man pulled up her house in a limo and grabbed Pipe.”
“Malcolm,” I whispered.
“Is that the guy’s name? Sometimes Pipe says, ‘Shawn or Frederick.’”
“He wanted to keep his identity a secret.”
Jay frowned. “But he told you?”
“I made him.”
“Still.”
“Jay, this guy is a big name.”
“Either way, we are heading down to Miami to clear this up. We have to hurry.”
“Hurry?” I asked. “First of all, stop walking so you can—”
“No time.”
“Just—”
“I’ll tell you on the way to the airport.”
“Excuse me? Airport? I have exams and—”
“We’re heading to Miami, Evie. It can’t be helped.”
“I-I just can’t go back there in the middle of the semester after already missing time due to Cynthia's thing and then—”
Jay paused and turned to me. “It’s Pipe. We have to go.”
I stood there in shock, not really ready to deal with whatever would be coming our way. Pipe getting in trouble was one thing. Pipe being hospitalized and then escaping like some injured comic book criminal in Gotham was another thing.
Jay rubbed his whole face with those big hands. “It’s Pipe, and no matter what is going on with us, we have to, at least, check up on him.”
I remained silent. There was no statement I could use to counter that.
“Pipe would do it for you and me,” Jay said. “Besides, your mom knows you’re going down there. That’s the only person you should worry about.”
“Okay, but I can’t leave the field now. I have admin things to finish up for the charity. I’ll be done in an hour.” I slumped my shoulders forward. “When do you think we can get a flight?”
“Probably one leaving tonight.” Jay turned his gaze to the track and crowded with football players in drag. “Don’t worry about the cost for the trip. I’ve got you. I already told your mom I would pay—”
“I don’t need you to pay.”
“I'm paying. It's already decided.”
I rolled my eyes.
Jay received social security from his parents’ death in a car accident. Additionally, his father left him a small trust fund that provided for his grandparents and him. Recently, there’d been rumors about a popular deodorant brand hoping to get Jay to be the face of their product once he went pro.
“Jay, I don’t want you to pay for everything. I can—”
“Leave it alone. And another thing,” he said.
“Oh, there's more?”
“Yes, there’s more. Cynthia doesn’t come this time.”
I hadn’t even thought of inviting her, but now I wondered why he the set limit. “Because?”
“Because Cynthia is a constant reminder of why I don’t have you anymore. It’s not anything she did, but still, I can’t deal with her being around you. And she’s fucking annoying now.” I had no response, so he continued, “And with whatever Pipe has gotten himself into, I need to focus. I can’t when she’s involved.”
“Fine.”
Especially since I’ll have to deal with her stalking me. What’s that even about?
He stormed off. “I'll call you with the flight details.”
“Jay, wait,” I yelled to his muscled back.
He looked over his shoulder. “Yes, Evie.”
“This trip is just about Pipe. Nothing else. I’m not staying in the same hotel room with you or anything like that. I can get my own.”
“I’ve got it.”
“I’m just saying, that I can pay.”
“I don’t need you to.”
“So two rooms?”
“Yes.”
“And no sex.”
“Of course. We need to keep your virginity intact.”
But an odd electric sensation charged through the air, as he drank in my body one last time and then headed away.
“See you in a few hours, Evie.”
Chapter Three
Jay
“Jason, some guy came to pick Pipe up in a limo.” Mrs. Elaine said on the phone. “At first, I thought it was Pipe’s father, but you know Wilbur never drives over to my house in a limo. He knows better than to try and high-class around me.”
“Yeah.”
“I don't know who this man was who picked up Pipe, but as soon as Pipe spotted the limo, he hurried out of that door, got in, and never came back.”
“What?”
“I've been trying to get in touch with Evie all week and not once has she answered the phone. Then last night, I get a call from the hospit
al. They tell me that Pipe was admitted for injuries. They didn’t say anything else. I gave them his father's information because, if it was my child, I would want to know.”
Pipe’s dad was going to go ballistic.
Mrs. Elaine talked some more. “Wilbur is off in France somewhere. At least, that's what his secretary said. She didn't seem too rushed to give the message, as if there's always something going on with Pipe.”
What Mrs. Elaine didn't know was that Pipe and his father's secretary didn't get along. She thought homosexuals shouldn't be able to get married or have the same rights as heterosexuals. Pipe thought the woman should perish and die.
He sent her death wishes constantly with bouquets of rainbow condom flowers.
“I'll check on it, Mrs. Elaine.”
Once I left Evie, I sped to my dorm. Too much littered my head. I had interviews and stupid things like photo shoots to do this week. Who would've known that becoming a professional football player required giving up most of my free time to things outside of the game?
At least I get some time alone with Evie.
I would have to call my agent and publicist, and then tell the coach about this unexpected absence. Everyone acted like they depended on me when really, they just herded me off in directions they figured could get them the best results for their own goals. My agent, publicist, and head coach trucked me around the most. If it wasn't those three crowding my time, then it was the other vultures—teammates who had once been trusted friends but were now envious entourage hopefuls, and tons of sex-crazed chicks who hoped to get a ring on their finger from throwing pussy at me.
Evie thinks I'm living some boss life when really, I'm just being dragged down by everyone and scared shitless that I'm going to drown.
No one could be trusted anymore, and my life sped into popularity too fast. I needed Evie by my side more than anyone. But out of everyone, she was the only one racing off in the other direction.
“This trip is about Pipe, nothing else. No sex.”
I finished packing, slung the bag over my shoulder, and rushed out the door. “No, baby. This trip is about more than Pipe. We'll make sure he's safe, but we're not leaving Miami until you're mine.”
This was game time in the most serious form. Pro-life scared me—the parties, women, money, the fame. It made my stomach turn over and over into itself. I could now see why some players and stars took drugs. The media seduced us. The fans elevated our egos. The money gave us the power to take a ride in life that no other could.
So many people who everyone thought would be a legend ended up crashing and falling.
Players failed from poor performance, bad business decisions, news scandals, and drugs. The only thing I could truly control was my athletic performance. And even then, I had to stress over injuries.
I could lose myself in the fame and money. I stayed disciplined at times, but not enough to fend off my stress for the future. In the past weeks, I’d partied with a couple professional athletes. Everyone had claimed the same thing.
Keep your friends close, only the ones who will curse you out, no matter how much money and fame you have.
Outside of football, I needed a strong team around me, people who really cared. Those who had been there from the very beginning.
I need Pipe and Evie more than I've ever needed them before. I’ll need to keep them close, so I don’t drown.
I thought about the feel of Evie's smooth skin against mine, the perfume on her flesh, how her nipple would harden on my tongue as I sucked and fucked her into orgasm.
And those hips and ass. She turned me from a tit man to a hard-core, drooling booty dude.
Evie claimed her curves came from the motherland, and that was why all the sisters tended to have them. If not for my success getting several football scholarship offers, I might’ve moved to a country in Africa after high school.
I really need Evie.
I didn't know how I would do it, but I'd get her back.
It was a simple motto: Never give up. Keep trying.
That was all I needed to do, every moment we were together.
I’m just never going to give up.
Chapter Four
Evie
Pipe, you better be okay!
Maybe I should’ve talked to him more. He’d been so bored at Mom’s. When he was in Miami, we talked all the time. I thought about a past text.
Pipe: Did u get the black roses?
Me: OMG! Yes.
Me: You’re awesome. Those were the real deal too. Not the tinted roses I usually get.
Pipe: I got them delivered from Turkey.
Me: You’re spoiling me!
I should’ve kept up communication. He’d been shaken up after Malcolm cut him.
Why wasn’t I more patient with Pipe? And fuck, what did Malcolm do? And should I have told Jay his real name.
Cynthia disrupted my thoughts and brought me back to my dorm room. “Do you have any idea what's wrong with Pipe?”
“What?” I held folded shirts in my hand as I stood over the white and black polka dot suitcase on my bed. Pipe had bought the luggage. That was his way. He made up any excuse to click his mouse on an item and have it delivered to me.
“I said, do you have any idea what’s wrong with Pipe?” Cynthia picked my favorite sandals from under the bed—a sort of bohemian number done in chocolate brown leather and earth green beads. “I mean, you said that he was at hospital, but it sounds like Pipe was able to walk out. But why would he rush away like that? And who would hurt him? I just don't get it.”
Since I’d been back in the room, she’d been glued to my side. Annoyance itched at my skin. Our place wasn’t that big, just a dorm space for two people.
Looking at both sides of Cynthia’s and my room, it wasn’t difficult to guess which side was mine. I had an “Alice in Wonderland” comforter on my bed. It was all black with two glowing yellow eyes and a mouth formed by white words that said, “We’re all mad here.”
A pink, ruffled spread lay on Cynthia’s bed. The Muppets collections adorned her space—posters hung on the walls and Muppet stuffed animals flooded the shelves, the floor on the other side of her bed, and even some of the night stand. Books lined my shelf and nightstand.
Two images hung above my bed. Mom had bought me one of them. It was a framed black and white image of the 1968 Olympics where two African American sprinters, Tommy Smith and John Carlos, received the gold and bronze medals. Right as the picture snapped, they each raised a fist in the air to represent black power. The other picture was the poem, The Mouse’s Tale, by Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland.
Months ago, Cynthia had kept her wall bare. Now, photos of us covered the wall. My girl, Melanie, found it scary. She’d warned me several times to get my behind out of the room.
As I packed, I realized Cynthia had added several more pics of us. By the end of the month, there would be no space to put anything else on her wall.
What the fuck am I going to do with Cynthia? Why is she being so weird? I can’t right now. Once I come back from Pipe, I’ll have to just set her straight. I’ve let this go on for too long.
I focused on packing.
“Wasn't Pipe with your mom?” Cynthia asked.
“No, he left my mom’s house, apparently. I have no idea what the answer is for all the other questions. That's why we're running down there.” I grabbed the sandals from her and tossed them in my bag.
Jeans, shorts, and t-shirts filled up my luggage, but knowing Pipe, if we found him with no need for worry, he'd want to cruise the night scene. I would need some flirty sundresses made for the purpose of being twirled around over and over by an outrageous man.
Pipe, you better be okay.
For all of my course attendance, I didn’t tell the professors I had another family emergency. Instead, I decided to cheat. I gave my girl Melanie my clicker. The device was a white rectangle that we had to purchase at the beginning of the semester. The campus bookstore
cashiers encoded all of our student ids. For the classes that had more than seventy or so students, it was hard to keep track of their attendance.
Coventon fixed it with the clickers. Before the teacher began, we pressed a button. If the red light came on, then it meant that nothing was sent. If the light turned green, then the administrative office received the message that I was present in class. It allowed the professors to not even try to remember our faces or names. The only thing was, I had to be in each specific room to make it count. So, I dropped my clicker off with Melanie. She promised to run to each course it was for, press the button, and then go on with her own schedule. It was huge favor, and I hoped I could pay her back one day.
“Why don't you want me to come?” Cynthia folded a towel and offered it to me.
“I don't think I'll need towels.”
“Why can't I come?” The question more seemed like a whine than a compassionate plea for Pipe's sake.
I’m too stressed for this shit. She better not keep that whining up.
Jay's confession of her stalking me was doing something to my mind. Every time she came near me, my skin itched. What type of person followed another around? Sure, I'd figured out Jay's reason. Well...I didn't have time to ponder on Jay's reasoning. The man made me crazy in every instance. No logic came to my thoughts with him. Too bad Cynthia didn't have that same sway when it came to my mind. For her, I found it weird.
“Why can't I come?” she asked again.
“Really, Cynthia?” I rolled my eyes as I had my back to her. “It was a rush to plan it, and it would just be easier.”
“For what? Jay doesn't want me to come, right?”
“What?”
“He's probably trying to put the moves on you.”
“It's funny how you both were all madly in love months ago and now instant enemies all of a sudden.”
“So, he didn't want me to come?” she asked.
“I didn't say that.”
“How do you feel about him trying to keep us away from each other?” She walked around me.
The COMPLETE Coventon Campus Series: Books I, II, & III Page 33