Lookin' For Luv

by Carl Weber

  Tyrone’s words hit Kevin hard. He knew he was right. “It is easy to sleep with an ex. You already know exactly what you’re getting. God, this woman’s going to give me a nervous breakdown,” he moaned.

  “Kevin, don’t listen to Tyrone,. You need to keep an open mind and sit down with Alicia. Communication is what makes a relationship work.”

  “This from a man whose woman won’t admit she’s a stripper!” Throne laughed as Antoine shot him a dirty look. “Okay, that’s enough!” Kevin glanced at each of them seriously “I feel as if I’ve got the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other.”

  “Who you calling the devil?” Tyrone said quickly.

  “If the shoe fits,” Antoine retorted.

  “Will you two stop it? Damn!” Kevin blasted them. “Antoine’s right, Ty. If Alicia and I are truly in love, we have to talk about our problems”

  Tyrone placed his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Hey, Kev. If it means anything, I hope I’m wrong. You’re like a brother to me, and the last thing I want to see is you getting hurt.” Kevin wrapped his arm around Throne in a brotherly hug.

  “I love both of you like brothers.” He pulled Antoine in with his other arm. “Now let’s finish this workout, because I could use a beer.”

  15

  KEVIN AND ALICIA

  Kevin was glad he had put the previous day’s events behind him. After a long talk with his mother, he decided not to confront Alicia. Mama’s advice was very similar to Antoine’s.

  “You know, your nephew is only eight, and he’s already had his birds-and-bees talk with his mama. They’re learning younger and younger now,” she told her son.

  “So you think Michael could actually know enough to make up those kinds of details?” Kevin asked hopefully.

  “Sure I do. And I also think kids will lie about anything these days. He wanted the ice cream, so he did what he had to do. And once he started, he probably couldn’t see a way out even if he wanted to stop lyin’ to you.”

  “I hope you’re right, Mama. Antoine saw me with her that night, and he said he could tell how much she loves me.”

  “I know, son. I know how much you want this to work.”

  “I do. I just can’t believe she would leave the restaurant and go up to her apartment to be with him.” The thought made him shudder.

  “Well, Kevin. She probably didn’t. But it’s up to you what you wanna do about it. Do you think you’ll talk to her about it?”

  “I don’t think so, Mama. It is the holidays, after all. No need to start something major with her, especially since the kid probably made it up. Things are just starting to get good. I don’t want her to think I don’t trust her now,” Kevin concluded.

  Later that evening Kevin sat with Alicia in her apartment. He had apologized to her for his behavior the previous evening, although he did not tell her about Michael’s involvement. Alicia just chalked it up to a rare display of jealousy on Kevin’s part, thinking maybe he was just stressed after a full day with her child. Both of them were grateful just to put the incident behind them and enjoy their first Christmas together.

  They had finished a wonderful candlelit dinner Alicia had lovingly prepared. Michael had been sent to his grandmother’s house for the night. Sipping on his glass of wine, Kevin motioned for Alicia to move from the kitchen table to the couch. He kissed her lightly as they sat down.

  “That was the most incredible meal any woman has ever made for me,” he whispered.

  “Does that include your mother?” she teased.

  “No fair. That’s a trick question.” He tried to change the subject by nibbling on her neck. She wasn’t having it.

  “Yup” She laughed, moving him back gently. “Now answer the question.”

  “Your honor, I plead the fifth. But I would like to plea-bargain my case.” He reached into his sport coat pocket and handed her a small box. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

  “Oh, my God, Kevin! This must have cost you a fortune.” Alicia opened the box and tears welled in her eyes.

  “Well, let’s just say it didn’t come from one of the Asian brothers selling watches on Parsons Boulevard for ten dollars.” He flashed a grin, helping her to put on the elegant quartz watch he had bought

  “Oh, Kevin, thank you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. “Are you sure you can afford this?”

  “MasterCard, baby. Fifty dollars a month for the rest of my life, and it’s paid for.” Kevin chuckled. “My mother told me not to buy you this watch.”

  “Why? I thought your mother liked me.”

  “Old superstition,” he explained. “Buy a woman a watch and your time is up. But I like to think of it as my time’s just started.”

  “Oh, Kevin.” She sighed happily.

  “You know, Alicia, when I lost my spot in the NBA, I didn’t think I could ever truly be happy again. But you restored some joy to my life, and I want to thank you for being so special”

  Overwhelmed with emotion, Alicia couldn’t say a word. She just wrapped her arms around the man she loved and kissed him passionately. Kevin, feeling a little daring, began to massage Alicia’s breasts over her silk blouse as they kissed. Her breathing became more rapid, and it boosted Kevin’s confidence. He began to slowly unbutton her blouse as he kissed her neck.

  Alicia purred as she felt Kevin placing warm, soft kisses over her neck and shoulders. She moaned as her breathing became even heavier. She helped him unhook her bra from the front and he caressed her breasts with his soft hands. As his kisses traveled down to her breasts, Alicia let out a long, low moan. She massaged his head and neck to let him know how much she loved what he was doing. Chills ran up her body, emanating from the pleasure she was feeling between her thighs. Suddenly the shrill ringing of the phone interrupted their pleasure.

  Ignore it. Please ignore it, Kevin begged silently.

  “Phew! Getting a little hot in here.” Alicia gently pushed Kevin off her. She fanned herself with one hand and closed her blouse with the other. Don’t get ahead of yourself, girl, she thought as she stood up to answer the phone.

  “Don’t think I forgot about your present, sweetheart.” She winked at Kevin. “This is probably my mom calling about Michael. It will take only a minute.” She pushed the button on the cordless.

  At midnight? Kevin thought, looking at his watch and listensing to Alicia’s side of the call.

  “Oh, hello” Alicia was frowning. “Look, Trevor, I appreciate what you did for me the other day. But now is not a good time. I have company.”

  As soon as Kevin heard Trevor’s name, he shot Alicia an evil look. “What’s he calling about?” he asked, folding his arms.

  Alicia shrugged her shoulders as she listened to her ex. Kevin was getting angry. What the hell was he calling about at midnight? And why didn’t she just hang up on him? He was beginning to think maybe Michael had told the truth.

  After listening to Trevor briefly, Alicia knew the conversation could get ugly. She placed her hand over the phone and asked Kevin to excuse her for a minute. Without waiting for his answer, she walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. In reality she didn’t want Kevin to hear her arguing, because she knew Trevor usually made her mad enough to curse. She was unaware of what Kevin was thinking as he sat fuming in the living room.

  No, she didn’t! No, she didn’t walk out of this room to talk to her baby’s father! All the anger from the day before resumed. She’s sleeping with that guy. I know she’s sleeping with that guy.

  In the other room Alicia was well aware she shouldn’t keep Kevin waiting long. But before she could return to him, she had to straighten out Trevor.

  “Motherfucker. Just because you finally caught up with your child support and gave me a few dollars toward a bike don’t mean you can call my house at midnight. How the hell did you get my number anyway? I don’t need this shit, Trevor. I got a man. Repeat, I got a man!” Alicia could have lots of attitude when she needed it. This was exactly what she
had not wanted Kevin to hear.

  Trevor waited for Alicia to finish patiently. Then, in the sinister, soft voice he used right before he used to beat the hell out of her, he said, “Listen to me. Listen to me real good, because I’m not going to repeat myself. If you ever talk to me that way again, I’m gonna come over there and kick your ass and that nigga’s ass. You got the nerve to take my loot and think I’m not going to call? You think you can play me or something? I own you, Alicia. Ever since I popped that cherry of yours, I’ve owned you. That nigga might rent the pussy, but both of you remember who owns it. Oh, by the way, it was your drunk-ass daddy who gave me your number. For a can of beer.”

  Alicia slipped out of her clothes as she listened to Trevor rant. Her mind was on getting back to Kevin to finish what they had just started. Admiring the picture of Kevin on her dresser while she listened to Trevor shout, she realized that he no longer had any power over her.

  “You don’t own anything, not even the shirt on your back,” she calmly told him when he finished his tirade. “Trevor, the only reason I got your money is because Child Support was gonna lock your ass up. What you need to do, Trevor Raymond Hill, is grow up and be a father. Oh, yeah, and about my man. He’s built like a brick shithouse. So if you’re gonna bring your coward ass over here, bring it now, because we plan on making love for the next few hours. That’s hours, not minutes, like you.” Alicia waited a few seconds for a response, then hung up when there was none.

  Aware that her man was still waiting in the other room and probably upset by then, Alicia slipped quickly into her teddy and a pair of red high-heeled shoes. She checked herself in the mirror. “You look good girl.” She laughed.

  Slipping into a robe, she frantically began looking through her dresser drawers for the condoms she bought. Giving up, she finally went to an old goody bag from a bachelorette party and found one. She placed it in a small jewelry box and smiled broadly, whispering, “Merry Christmas, Kevin.”

  Kevin was still sitting on the couch, steaming, when Alicia yelled from her bedroom, “I’m going to turn out the lights so I can bring out your present.”

  “This is not a time for presents, we need to talk!” he shouted from the living room.

  “We can talk all night after I give you my present.” She turned out the lights and walked into the living room, stopping about three feet in front of him. “You can see, can’t you?” she teased.

  “No, I can’t,” he said honestly, “but I really need to say something to you.”

  “Kevin, your eyes are going to adjust to the light in a minute. Will you just relax and let me give you your present?” She handed him the box and slipped out of the robe, trying to strike a sexy pose before the lights came on. “There are two parts to your present. One is in the box, the other’s over here. There’s a light on the coffee table to your right Why don’t you turn it on so you can see?”

  “Alicia, I can’t accept any present,” Kevin said sadly

  “Why not?” Alicia was getting tired of posing and wished he would just stop it and turn the light on.

  “Because I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

  Alicia’s arms dropped to her sides. “Look, Kevin, I’m sorry about Trevor calling so late. I’ll even change my number if it’ll make you feel better. Just turn on the light, sweetheart, so that I can give you your present.” Alicia was frustrated and really pissed at Trevor. With one phone call he had turned what should have been a perfect evening with Kevin into a fiasco.

  “I don’t want your fucking present, Alicia! And this is not about that phone call. This is about you fucking that motherfucker Trevor! How the fuck could you do this to me?” He slammed his hand down on the coffee table, breaking the glass.

  Alicia was so shocked that she couldn’t speak. Kevin had never acted like this, and she really didn’t like this side of him.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, reaching over to turn on the light.

  Kevin looked up and saw Alicia’s half-exposed body. For a brief second he let go of his anger and admired what he had lusted over for so long. The thought entered his mind to have sex with Alicia one time, then dump her. But he dismissed that thought knowing that if he slept with her once, he would want to do it again.

  “Oh, my God, Kevin, you’re bleeding!” She reached over to help him. But Kevin, not wanting to be touched, accidentally pushed her to the ground.

  “Now see what you made me do,” he apologized, offering her a hand up.

  “That’s the same shit Trevor used to say right after he beat the shit out of me.”

  Alicia looked with tear-stained eyes at the broken table and then at the blood on her cut hand. It was starting to seem like she’d gotten herself involved in another violent relationship. This time she was determined not to let it go on the way she had in the past. Alicia was crying as she walked to the kitchen phone.

  “Now who the fuck are you calling?” Kevin took a paper napkin to stop his hand from bleeding.

  “The police!” she shouted, trembling.

  “Alicia, there’s no reason to call the police. Look, I’m sorry I pushed you. I just can’t believe you would cheat on me like this.” Kevin looked down at the broken coffee table. He was in trouble if she called the police, and the last thing he wanted was to go to jail on Christmas Eve.

  “Please, Kevin! Didn’t nobody cheat on you. Why the fuck would I mess with Trevor when I love your stupid ass?”

  “I love you too.” Kevin followed her and was now crying himself. He was starting to think he had made a big mistake. “You have a funny way of showing it.” She placed the phone by her ear. “Now get out of my fucking house or I’m really calling the police.”

  Kevin eyes pleaded with Alicia as he walked past her to the door. “Alicia, please. Let’s sit down and talk like adults. We can work this out.”

  “Save it for someone who cares, Kevin. You’re the one who wanted to break up.” She held the door open to let him know she wasn’t changing her mind. “Oh, and, Kevin, your mother was wrong.”

  “Wrong about what?”

  “This watch.” She threw it at him. “Your time isn’t up. It never really got started. Stupid ass!”

  He looked at her in the red teddy as she closed the door. “Goddammit. I think I just made the biggest mistake since I smoked that joint in North Carolina.”

  16

  TYRONE AND SYLVIA

  Sylvia gave her most seductive pose in front of the mirror as she admired her new Victoria’s Secret thong. Across her bed were strewn several other pieces of lingerie she had also purchased. She planned to try on each and every one, enjoying how the soft fabrics felt against her skin.

  She looked good, and she knew it, as she admired her womanly curves. While she had always known she was an attractive woman, she had a newfound confidence about her desirability. Tyrone’s sweet flattery had convinced her that the sexual problems in her marriage were not hers but her husband’s. He made her feel more desirable with his words than Maurice had done in bed in all their years of marriage. In past years especially, Maurice was a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’ am kind of lover, and it made Sylvia feel like it didn’t matter who she was or how she looked. If she was a piece of meat, Maurice would have been just as interested. But Tyrone seemed more interested in making her feel good than in getting her in bed. In fact, Sylvia had been the one trying to seduce him. Tyrone seemed more concerned with boosting her self-image, and she was falling for him quickly because of it.

  She’d indeed come a long way in a short time. With Tyrone’s encouragement she threw away all her old briefs and cumbersome bras and spent a fortune at Frederick’s of Hollywood and Victoria’s Secret. She now sported a sexy, short hairstyle and made a habit of borrowing from her daughter’s closet. It was incredible the kind influence that Throne had on her, and it had loosened the grip Maurice had held on her emotions. As she drifted away from him, she felt herself more capable of loving, and her feelings for Tyrone grew
stronger. She often thought of taking their relationship beyond friendship.

  Unfortunately Tyrone didn’t seem to be interested in taking things a step further, so they had met in person only two times. Both times. Sylvia had tried to get him to make love to her, and both times Tyrone had declined. He would leave her with a lustful kiss and a promise that when the time was right, they would make love beyond her wildest imagination. Sylvia couldn’t understand a man who didn’t take it as soon as it was offered, and she hoped he wasn’t just stringing her along.

  In the meantime she had to be satisfied with the occasional phone sex they were having. As she modeled her lingerie in front of the mirror, she found her thoughts drifting to sex, so she picked up the phone to call Tyrone.

  Tyrone. smiled as he flicked on his cell phone. “Hey, baby, what’s up?” It was 3:15, so he knew it would be Sylvia making her daily call.

  “I’ll tell you what I want to be up,” Sylvia purred into the phone.

  “Is that all you ever think about?” he teased.

  “When it comes to you, yes!” she said, only half joking.

  “Damn, woman! Can’t you appreciate me for anything more than my body?”

  “Sure I can. How about your tongue?”

  “You’re a trip. You know that?”

  “Only because you make me this way. Oh, by the way, tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and my family’s left me home alone. My husband went skiing in Vermont, and my daughter’s in the Bahamas. I was hoping we could spend some time together before you leave for Virginia. Maybe have dinner and exchange gifts?”

  “Aw’ight, Sylvia, that sounds like a plan. Why don’t you pick me up at the comer of Hillside and Parsons tomorrow at four?”

  Sylvia could barely hold back her excitement. “I’ll be there at four o’clock sharp. Bye, Tyrone.”

  “God, I want to make love to you,” he told her in a sultry voice, sensing her anticipation.

  He hung up the phone before he heard Sylvia reply, “Promises, promises.”