Sirena blinked hard. “Can you take a message?”
“Well, yes I can, but you fa-siphically said to bring you the phone so you could take this call personally.”
“Take the call, darling. It’s fine.” Earl took the phone from Leshawn. He looked briefly at the screen but showed no acknowledgment of her pet name, J-Baby. She’d renamed everyone. Even Earl’s name came up as DaddyWarbucks.
“Thank you.” Sirena took the phone and wondered how she was going to answer questions about her “ill father.” How she was going to feign distress when she was wearing a three-million-dollar choker around her neck.
“Hello, Jay. I’m glad you called, but I’m kind of busy right now.”
“Can I get you anything, Mr. Benning?” Leshawn asked far too loudly. Jake probably heard. Certainly her intention.
“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for checking. Exhaustion. Long day. You’re too sweet.” She glanced over her shoulder. Both Earl and Leshawn were staring dead in her face. “Kiss Mya for me. Tell Venus I said hello. Thank you, again. Yes. Yes. Okay, bye now.” She hung up.
“Jake’s nervous about the worldwide release of True Beauty. He thought I was too.” Her face felt hot, moisture popping up on her newly slimmed nose. The surgery was the last, she’d promised herself. No more going under the knife even if Dr. Bailey was a brilliant surgeon and had done a wondrous job. Surely her luck would run out like the rest of the cut-and-paste faces gone wrong.
“What’s he worried about, not like he’s got anywhere to go but up.” Earl chuckled. “I mean seriously, he’s lucky he got the role in the first place. Trust me, this was a one-time thing. He will disappear into obscurity where we found him.”
“A one time thing?”
“If not for me being the executive producer on the project, he’d remain on the D-list. Come on, sweetie, surely you’re not banking on the two of you becoming the next Bogart and Bacall, or Spencer Tracy and Kate Hepburn.”
Sirena shook her head. “Who? I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I know is JP played the hell out of that role. I think he’d be good for this too.” Sirena dug in the Prada bag she’d traded Gayle for. It was worth less than half the price of the Jean Paul Gaultier she’d given up, but Gayle needed a high-profile bag, now that her star was about to shine. She couldn’t let her friend go out with frayed edges and peeled snakeskin.
She handed the script about Sarah Diamond and Max Vondrell to Earl.
“Please,” he scoffed before even reading the title.
Leshawn already saw the direction this was going. “If either one of you need anything, I’ll be right down the hall.” She backed out and closed the door.
“I finished reading it on the long-ass plane ride home. Thanks to you I had plenty of time on my hands.”
He cocked his head. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Read it. I’d get involved if I were you. You just said you thought I could win an Oscar. Well, that one right there might be the one.”
One of Earl’s many faults was his inability to keep his mouth shut. Crassness came with his checkbook. “I’m not going to produce this movie so you can spend more time with your washed-up rapper.”
Sirena snatched the script from his hand. “Nice.”
He caught her by the wrist, pulled her down, and planted a sizable kiss on her always-wanting mouth.
“I don’t want to talk about work,” he said. “I came here to make love to my fiancée. You know how much I hate Atlanta and all these wannabe celebrities in this town. Come home with me.”
“I’m not moving in with you until we’re married. Don’t start with me.”
He kissed the blue diamond on her neck. “I would think this was a large enough deposit. And this …” He held up her ring finger to indicate the eight-karat princess cut. “And this …” He slipped his fingers inside her with ease. “Now we’re speaking the same language.” She was juicy wet, but not because of him. The choker around her neck had almost given her an orgasm the minute she saw it. He went in for a second helping of her full moist lips.
She put up her hands. “I’m going to pop in the shower, then you’re going to take me to lunch.”
He hesitated, thinking what he’d rather eat was right in front of him. “Hurry.” His penetrating eyes scanned her body up and down.
“Be out in a minute.”
The minute turned into half an hour. She came out of her bathroom, hardly remembering she had a headache, until she saw Earl holding her phone.
“Quite a little photo album.” He held up the screen to face her. “And here I thought it was all good harmless promotion. Nothing like rumor and innuendo to get people’s attention. But this … this looks a bit too real.”
“Give me that.” Sirena snatched at the phone but came up empty. “Do I go through your shit? Then don’t go through mine.”
“So where are the others? His phone holding pics of you naked as well?”
“There are no others.”
“So it was only you, the enamored photographer?” He tossed it to her. She tapped the close button. She should’ve hit delete, but couldn’t bear the thought of removing the pictures of Jake from her phone. She’d taken them while he was sleeping, his bare perfect torso with the sheet hung low covering the edges of his pubic line. He didn’t know she had snapped all night. No one knew, except now Earl.
Sirena shook off his question. “Really, this is so third grade. You got a question, ask it.”
“You two fucking?”
“Not lately. Anything else?”
“Do I need to destroy him now, or later, because he’s about to disappear.”
“What’s there to destroy? Remember? He’s a washed-up rapper. Why in the world would you be jealous of him?”
“Jealousy and envy are for the weak and powerless. I don’t have that problem.”
“Good. Conversation over and out.” Yet she knew it was hardly over. Earl had power. He had friends in high places and in low dark corners that you wouldn’t want to be caught dead in. When and if Jake finally did come around, she didn’t want Earl’s interference.
Her thick thighs straddled him. “Baby, I was just having a little fun. We were stranded in the hotel together, but nothing happened.” She raised her right hand. “Give me a stack of Bibles and I’ll swear. Nothing, nothing happened. He’s married and I’m one hundred and fifty percent committed to you.”
Lunch would have to wait. She pulled the strap of his belt, then his zipper. She reached inside and decided to take matters into her own hands. Put his mind at ease. “Let’s eat in.”
Keep It Rolling
The park was nearly empty. Shaded tree benches were open and available for Jake’s choosing.
“Right there,” he said, pointing. “That one’s perfect.” He dragged his wife by the hand. She had fought tooth and nail, not wanting to picnic on a Wednesday. She had work to do, a business to run. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. He had his life back and wasn’t about to sit on the bench as it passed him by.
She held the blanket. They spread it out together. The shade would last for hours under the full tree. That’s what he wanted, a few hours alone, no phones, no hotel rooms, no Sirena.
He dropped the deli bag, and the skates they’d bought when they lived in California and had yet to use since their move to Atlanta. If he thought about it, they never really skated there either. Both always so busy chasing their careers. “Let’s skate first, eat later. Work up an appetite.” He was already peeling off his shoes.
“Whatever happened to good old-fashioned wheels? I’m scared of Rollerblades.”
“Technically, they’re still wheels, it’s just four of them.”
He stood up and helped her on her feet, or wheels. The sight of her cut-off jean shorts and light zip-up jacket were enough to make him want to take her back home and throw her into the sack, but she’d probably try to escape. Ivy Park was nice and empty while all the kids were in school and parents
hadn’t yet made time for the younger children to hit the playgrounds. He would know, he’d spent a good amount of time here with Mya before all this movie business.
“I am so out of shape,” she huffed, taking short glides.
“Just relax, we got all day.”
“No, we don’t have all day. Honey, I told you, I have a new contract with the Monarch Hotel. The deliveries start tomorrow. This place is huge, twenty floors. I thought you would be proud of me—this business is finally paying for itself, and you got me out here skating.” She finally took a breath. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Jake had stopped and she was gliding by herself. When she realized he wasn’t at her side she began to stumble. “Oh …”
He rushed to catch up, but she was already down on her butt. “What happened to you, you were doing so good?”
She poked him in the chest. “You knew I was going to fall the minute you left my side.”
Jake nodded. “Let that be a lesson to you, Miss Independence. You need me … by your side. Everything else is an illusion.” He opened his hands like the Grand Swami. She always accused him of trying to hypnotize or brainwash her; he may as well take advantage. “The only thing you need to do is be my wife.”
She squealed. “Sprinklers.” The water shot out from every angle. He scooped her up and they raced like Roller Derby pros. Suddenly she could move pretty good.
The shade spot with their blanket was still dry. The water hadn’t come on in their picnic area yet. Jake dived first, then she landed nearly on top of him. Both working hard to catch their breath, he turned her face toward him and kissed her deep but gentle. The exhilaration must’ve made her forget she was angry. “Having fun yet?”
“I am.” Her smile, he loved her smile. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen her relax. The last time, yes … he remembered. When she held Mya in her arms right after she was born. He walked into the hospital room and saw the tears pooling in her eyes and knew what love was supposed to look and feel like. Though they hadn’t even discussed marriage at the time, he knew right then and there he was going to make her his wife, and Mya would be his child, regardless of what the biological facts held.
“I’m glad you made me come.”
“Finally, an admission.”
“You always make everything look easy. It’s not like that for me.” She rose up on her elbows. Her high cheekbones glistened from the quick sweat they’d worked up. “I’m always on guard because I’m so used to everything falling apart. The floral shop is going well, really well. But in the back of my mind I’m anticipating the wheels, or at least one of them, falling off.” She finished with a sneeze, then brushed a flying bug off the blanket.
“You have me, so you don’t ever have to worry about the wheel, ’cause I’ll fix it.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t want you to always feel like you have to fix everything. Don’t you sometimes feel burdened, a little, having to pick up all the pieces all the time?”
“No, I don’t. I want you to need me.” He went to kiss her again. She sprayed him with a sneeze.
“Oh God, allergies.”
He dropped his head on his forearms. “Guess we better leave.”
“I’m sorry, baby. It was fun. I mean, even for a little while, right?”
“Yeah, fun. But I wanted to ask you something first, before we go.”
She braced herself. “What?”
“Why have you been so cautious around me? Seems like you’re holding back. And we both know that’s not you. I depend on you to tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I … I’ve been cautious? That might be a good word for it. Just mostly trying not to get in your way. I haven’t wanted my insecurities to stop you from going all the way … that’s probably what you’re seeing.”
“What insecurities?”
“You and Sirena, being together.” She took a deep breath. “I already told you all of this and you already answered my questions, so that’s the end of it.”
“There’s nothing else, nothing you want to tell me.”
She dropped her head, as if she’d been found out. A breakthrough, he was thinking. Finally.
The sprinklers gave a warning spurt before she could carefully organize her words. Again, the cautiousness. They moved fast, gathering up the blanket and picnic basket. This wasn’t the end of it. He could sense there was something eating away at her. Treading lightly, afraid to leave a footprint everywhere she went, instead letting others walk all over her. This was not the Venus he knew. In the old days she would’ve busted him out hard … the whole Sirena thing, finding out about their past. She’d let it go too easy, and it m ade him nervous.
While he drove them back home he reached out and took ahold of her hand.
“There is one thing, I guess, I was afraid to ask.”
“Okay,” he anticipated. “Go ahead, baby, you know you can ask me anything.”
“Well … the manager at the Monarch Hotel wanted to have you and Sirena as guests for the grand opening. More like, demanded. I hate to ask, but I think my floral contract may depend on it.”
Jake shook his head, frustrated. “That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I told him I wasn’t in charge of your schedule, or Sirena’s, but he pretty much made it clear, no show, no contract.”
“Fine. When is it?”
“Sunday.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell Sirena. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” His annoyance was hard to mask.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop that … just stop it. You see? That’s what I’m talking about.”
“What?”
“What’re you sorry about? You don’t need to be sorry about anything.”
“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t,” she said coolly.
“We’re a family. Me and you, I got your back, you got mine. I’m the same person I always was. I’m your husband.” He squeezed her hand. “You got me?”
She nodded but he could tell she was on the verge of tears. He wouldn’t press any further. He’d already made his assumption. After those men had snatched her at the gas station last year, she’d spent a good amount of time talking about karma, ordering books on the subject. Wondering if somehow she’d deserved what happened, though the attack had not been centered on her in the first place.
The loss of their baby, the custody battle they’d had to fight to keep Mya, and now Sirena showing up with the threat of reclaiming lost love. Tragedy seemed to strike even if it was aimed in the opposite direction. She still managed to get hit. He could see it all from her point of view, and he had to admit, it didn’t look good. But he couldn’t keep telling her everything was going to be all right. He had to prove it.
“We’re a team, baby,” he said and left it at that. Everything is going to be all right.
Breathing Underwater
The bathwater was lukewarm. Mya didn’t seem to mind. She’d been playing in the tub for nearly an hour while I sat beside her with my hands patiently clasped on the towel draped over my knees, ready to close the party out. Jake left around six in the evening. He promised to be back in time to read Mya a bedtime story.
“Okay, sweetie, time to get out.”
Mya rose dripping wet and shivering, knowing there was no use in arguing for a few minutes more. Her little fingers and toes were shriveled and pale. I wrapped the towel around her body and kissed her nose. Water trailed the center of her face from dunking her head even after I’d warned her there was no way I was spending an hour combing out the twists and tangles. She’d simply have a matted mess to contend with.
I slathered her up, not giving the lotion a chance to settle into her skin before pushing the nightgown over her head. It stuck to parts of her body. I pulled the wet hair trapped underneath the collar and squeezed her spongy tresses to get the rest of the water.
“You have the most beautiful hair in the world.” I repeated this truth at least once a week. I already knew the
angst she inevitably faced when she started to believe her textured hair was a curse, not a gift.
I grabbed the comb, brush, and more of the same lotion I’d used on her little body. “Come on,” I said in the middle of an exhausted yawn. “To the bat cave.”
“Can I stay up till Daddy comes?”
“No, sweetie. I’m not sure what time that will be. You have school tomorrow. When you wake up, we’ll make sure he fixes banana pancakes, your favorite.”
“No, they’re your favorite,” she retorted. “I like apple.”
“Oh, right.”
The bedroom door pushed open slowly. Mya and I both stared, wondering if we should scream, run, or just sit still.
“A puppy,” Mya announced. “Daddy, you got me a puppy.” She jumped up and greeted the tiny powder puff. It stuck its tongue out and gave her a quick lick on the nose.
“What in the world?”
“Actually, it’s for Mommy, sweetie. But I’m sure she’ll need help taking care of …” He put the dog in my lap. “It’s a boy. You have to name him.”
“Why in the world did you buy a dog? As if I don’t have enough to do.” It was a fluffy bichon frise with dark inquisitive eyes staring up at me.
“Mommy, name him Toby.”
I still held the comb in one hand; the other I used to keep Toby from jumping into my face for a doggy kiss. He was cute and cuddly. I could see it was too late. The puppy had curled up in my lap while Mya gently stroked. Jake stood, proud of his plan.
I finally conceded. “You’re paper-training him, and cleaning up all little black lumps of coal for at least the first thirty days.”
“Will do,” Jake said, giving me a salute.
I picked up Toby and held him close. “You are such a cutie.” His raspy bark in return sounded like, “Thank you. I promise to be no trouble at all.”
I heard my mother coming before she entered the room. “Did I just hear a dog bark?”
Un-Nappily in Love Page 14