He had gone too far, so I quickly stood to cut him off. “That’s right. Speak for one of your sons and not the other. One may very well be a man, but the other one comes off as a spoiled rotten bitch with no morals or values. I didn’t come here to hurt your feelings, but insulting me was the wrong thing to do. I am way more than a side ho or a trick, and if you had taken the opportunity to get to know me better, you would know that. But thanks for letting me know how much you love your wife and how would never betray her. That’s a beautiful thing. I applaud your dedication to her, and kudos to you and all your success. Keep up the good work, Charles. I’m sure I’ll see you again, and maybe next time you’ll be singing a new tune.”
“There won’t be a next time. Get the hell out of my office, and don’t ever come back here again.”
His nastiness was totally uncalled for. No wonder Bryson acted a fool as he did. He had got it all from ole dad. That was how I knew Charles wasn’t the so-called loving husband he claimed to be.
With my feelings slightly bruised, I walked out of his office and headed to my car. I was less than two blocks away when I heard my phone vibrating inside my purse. I reached for it, then looked to see who it was. The caller came across as unknown, but I answered, anyway.
“Hello,” I said with a sharp tone.
“Evelyn,” the woman said. “If you thought my son beat your ass, I assure you that what I will do to you is a whole lot worse. Stay away from my damn husband or else.”
I laughed at him for telling her about my visit, and at her for being so insecure as to call me. Without replying, I hung up on her. What she was unware of was the fact that I loved a challenge. And had she not called, I might have left well enough alone. It was time to carry on, and I was now in hot pursuit of Charles.
5
Trina
I was wrong, and I knew it this time. For the past two nights, while Keith was asleep, I had been on the phone with Sasha. At first, our conversations had been all about business. But then things had taken a turn when she told me about her girlfriend and her having problems. Tonight I shot her some encouraging words, and before I knew it, we began to click. She thanked me for listening to her, and she said she wished that I was there to help take away some of her pain.
“Whether I’m there or not,” I whispered to her, “please keep your head up. I get how frustrating relationships can be, and nobody’s relationship is perfect.”
She sniffled, then said, “Not even your and Keith’s? The two of you seem so happy together. I watched the two of you while you were here. I could sense the love. I can only wish for a relationship like that, but it’s been real hectic around here. Diamond is never home anymore. When she is here, all we do is argue. She speaks real ill to me, and I think she’s cheating on me with a man.”
I thought I heard someone on the steps, but when I got up to see if someone was there, I didn’t see anyone. I returned to the sofa and tucked my legs underneath me, sitting on them.
“If it’s that bad, Sasha, then end it. Life is too short to be unhappy. I never would have thought that a woman as beautiful as you are would be in a relationship like that. You came across as having it all together. If your woman is preventing you from being all that you can be, then you know what you have to do.”
“You’re right. And again, thanks for listening to me. It’s been one of those days, but I’ll get through this. In the meantime, you really should come to New York. We can have ourselves a lot of fun, and I want to introduce you to some people who can really help you. I showed them some of the paintings you did while you were here. They were floored.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I haven’t decided when I’ll be coming back that way, but it may be soon. I’ll let you know for sure. Meanwhile, keep your head up and do you.”
“Okay, my sista. Stay pretty and we’ll talk soon.”
“You too.”
After we ended the call, I sat on the sofa, in deep thought. I needed to take that trip to New York just to see if Sasha and her friends would really be able to help me like she claimed they would. It would be foolish of me not to go and see what was up—too foolish—even though Keith wouldn’t approve.
I went into the kitchen to get some water. While guzzling it down, I glanced at the clock on the wall, which showed that it was almost one o’clock in the morning. I hadn’t realized that I’d been talking to Sasha for that long, and I was sure that by now Keith was in a deep sleep. I climbed the stairs in my sweatpants and tank top, which was cut above my midriff. Keith and I had gone and worked out earlier, and I still hadn’t taken a shower. My muscles were a little sore, so instead of jumping into the bed with him, I tiptoed by the bed and made my way to the bathroom.
Before entering the bathroom, I stood near the doorway and looked at him in bed as he snored. A thin white sheet covered his bottom half, and I could see a sizable hump where the good stuff was. His colorful tattoos showed on his arms and chest, and I had a serious desire to kiss those thick lips. I hurriedly showered, and dripping wet and without any clothes on, I quietly climbed on top of him. As I massaged his chest, his eyes began to open. A slight smile appeared on his face as his eyes scanned my body, and his hands began to roam my curves. He traced my hourglass figure, then sucked in a deep breath.
“Sexy, sexy, sexy,” he said while now massaging my breasts.
I could feel his dick rising to the occasion, and I was eager to remove the sheet that stood in our way. I pulled it away from him, then comfortably straddled his lap again. He flexed his neck from side to side and closed his eyes as he started to tickle my pearl. Within seconds, my juices started to flow, causing me to put a slow grind in motion.
“Your pussy is so sweet, juicy looking, and perfect for me. And did you know that I love to watch your fluids drip and ooze right into the crack of your ass? That’s why I can’t keep my mouth off of it.”
I laughed, then lean forward to finally kiss his thick lips. “Yeah, well, then maybe you should take action and do something about those juices. Better off in your mouth than on the sheets.”
“I concur. So I suggest that you lie on your stomach and let me enter as I please.”
“Of course.”
I removed myself from his lap, then lay on my stomach. Keith lay beside me, with one of his legs crossed over mine. His cold fingertips ran up and down my spine and through the crack of my ass, giving my whole body a tickle.
“That feels sooo good,” I said, with my head on the pillow and my eyes closed. “There is something about your touch that sets me on fire.”
Keith was a gentle lovemaker. On very few occasions was he rough with me, and that was normally when he was upset with me or mad about something else. His soft lips touched my shoulders, then my back. From my back, they traveled to my ass. That was when he moved from beside me and kneeled between my legs. He then buried his face in my ass and sucked my juices that flowed near my anal hole. I hiked my butt up high just so he could have as much access as he needed. From one hole to the other, he set my entire body on fire. I shivered all over and cried out his name when he turned on his back and carefully placed my pussy lips over his mouth. His tongue traveled deeper. He brought it out to toy with my belly ring, and then he locked my pussy in place and tore it up. I was out of breath as I ground on top of him. My legs quickly got weak, and my curled toes were squeezed tight.
“I lovvve you,” I cried out. “Damn, I love you, and I don’t ever want you to stop loving meee.”
He couldn’t respond, as he had a mouthful, but it wasn’t long before he fired back at me. By then his dick was as far in me as it could go. I was on my back, with my legs poured over his broad shoulders.
“I love you too,” he said while looking down at me with so much passion in his eyes. “And I will never stop loving you.”
I was so emotional. Tears seeped from the corners of my eyes as we rocked our sexy bodies together. Keith and I were perfect for each other. I couldn’t ask for more, and I made a
silent vow in that moment never to converse with Sasha again.
* * *
The bright sun rays came through the window, letting me know that morning had arrived. With a slight headache, I turned in bed, only to see that Keith was gone. On the nightstand was a beautiful red rose, along with a note. I reached out to see what it said. It read: Had some errands to run this morning. Didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep. See you around noon. Love you.
I smiled, then pulled the sheets back to get out of bed. My whole body was sore from the workout we’d gotten in last night. I needed a long, hot shower, so I staggered into the bathroom to handle my business. I must’ve stayed in there for about thirty minutes, and when I turned off the cold water, I heard my cell phone ringing. I wrapped my body with a towel, then walked over to the nightstand to answer my phone. It had stopped ringing, but I could see that I had seven missed calls. They all were from Kayla’s phone. I hurried to call her back, praying that everything was okay. When Jacoby answered, I held my breath.
“Can you come over here, please?” he said, with frustration in his voice. “My mother is passed out on the kitchen floor. I’ve been trying to get her up, but she keeps going in and out. I’ve never seen her like this, and I’m starting to get worried.”
“Does she need an ambulance? I’m on my way, but maybe you need to call an ambulance.”
“She’s drunk as shit,” he said. “I don’t think she needs an ambulance. She needs to talk to someone who can help her. I tried talking to her, but she won’t listen to me.”
“Okay. I’m on my way. Thanks for calling me.”
I rushed to put on some clothes, then made my way to Kayla’s place. On the way there, I called Evelyn to see if she could meet me.
“What’s going on with her?” she asked.
“I don’t know. But she’s putting a lot of stress on Jacoby. I can sense it in his voice. I think it’s time for us to step in.”
“I was on my way to the nail shop, but I’ll meet you there within the hour.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
Right after I ended my call with her, my phone rang again. I thought it was Jacoby calling me back, but instead, it was Sasha. I didn’t bother to answer. Eventually, I would tell her that I wasn’t interested in her help, and that I wouldn’t be coming to New York. I just didn’t need anything or anyone to interfere with my relationship with Keith. Even though I could surely use some additional money, a visit to New York just didn’t make sense right now.
Financially, I had to do something, though. I hadn’t been to the studio to get any work done in about three months. Keith was holding down most of the bills, and we both understood that if we didn’t sell our artwork, we basically didn’t have money. It had been a long time since I’d had any interior-decorating gigs too. I thought about putting out an ad to spread the word about my services.
When I got to Kayla’s condo, I saw Evelyn’s car parked in the lot. She must’ve rushed to get here. When I got inside, I saw that she and Jacoby had put Kayla on the sofa. They were trying to get her to snap out of it by shaking her. Her arms flopped around, and she kept slurring a bunch of nonsense about the sky not being blue.
“It’s actually purple, if you look hard enough, and no . . . no one can deny that it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, isn’t it?” she said, smiling at me.
Her eyes were bugged out, and if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that Kayla was on drugs. The flimsy dress she wore hung off her shoulders, and we could all tell that she had lost a lot of weight. She squinted, then threw her hand back at me.
“Trina, girl, is that you? I almost couldn’t tell with that ugly ole frown on your face.”
She laughed, but my frown deepened. I hated to see my best friend like this. It tore me to pieces, and I would do whatever I could to help her get back on track. But first, she needed to come clean and tell us what was really going on with her.
We all helped her off the sofa and escorted her to the bedroom. Evelyn headed toward the bathroom to run her some bathwater, but I told her that I didn’t think a bath was a good idea.
“She’s too weak. Maybe a shower would be better. She can sit on the seat and wash herself.”
Jacoby went to get us some towels, as well as some clean clothes that she could change into. I hated for him to see his mother like this, so when he returned to the bedroom, I suggested that he leave the house.
“We can handle her from here,” I said. “Go hang out with your friends or something. I’ll call to let you know if we need anything else.”
“Are you sure?” he said, looking at his watch. “I’m supposed to be at band camp right now. But I didn’t want to leave her like this.”
“She’ll be fine. All she needs is a shower and some rest. Maybe a little counseling too.”
“I agree. I’m leaving, but don’t forget to call me if you guys need anything.”
Jacoby left. Evelyn and I lifted Kayla from the bed—she had fallen asleep that fast. We carried her into the bathroom, and after sitting her on the seat in the shower, with her clothes on, Evelyn turned on the cold water. The water sprayed all over Kayla, causing her to snap out of it and cover her face with her hands.
“Wha . . . what are y’all doing? Turn that cold water off!” she shouted, then stuck out her hand to touch the faucet. She couldn’t reach it. I turned the water to warm so she would sit still.
“Relax,” I said. “When you feel that you can stand, take your clothes off and wash yourself. Evelyn and I will be in your bedroom, waiting for you, when you come out.”
“Waiting on me?” she spat. “Ugh! That’s nasty. I don’t do women, and you already know that I’m only interested in men. There is no reason for y’all to be waiting for me in the bedroom.”
I ignored her comment. After all, she didn’t know what she was saying. We left the bathroom, but from a short distance, we could see Kayla struggling to take off her clothes. She kept cussing and fussing about something. And when she finally got her clothes off, she fell back on the seat and started to cry. Seeing her cry brought tears to my eyes. I looked at Evelyn, whose eyes were filled with tears too, but she hurried to blink them away.
“Do we allow her to get it all out or go in there with her?” Evelyn said. “I feel horrible for her. She really needs to get some help.”
I agreed, then went into the bathroom with Kayla. Evelyn followed me. I kneeled beside the shower door, while Evelyn stood close behind me.
“What is it?” I asked Kayla. “Why are you doing this to yourself? If you’re going through something, please tell us and stop trying to act as if everything is okay. We’re your friends. We’re only here to help.”
Still seated, Kayla wiped her flowing tears, and then she wiped snot from her nose. She squeezed her eyes together, then lightly banged the back of her head against the glass.
“Please leave,” she said. “I don’t want nobody to see me like this. I want to be alone.”
“We’re not going to leave you like this,” Evelyn said. “Take your shower, and when you’re done, we’re going to be right here waiting for you.”
“Right,” I added. “Say what you want and get mad if you wish. We’re not going anywhere.”
Kayla didn’t even look our way. She just sat there, releasing her emotions. We went back into her bedroom, and as I kept my eyes on her, I could see her starting to wash up. Within an hour, she came out of the bathroom with a pink robe covering her. The first thing she did was walk over to a small cabinet that had liquor inside of it.
“Where’s Jacoby?” she said in a soft tone. She lifted an almost empty bottle of Hennessy, then twirled it around.
“Please put that down.” I stood to go remove the bottle from her hand. She snatched it away as I reached for it, and held on tight to it.
“Don’t come into my home, trying to tell me what to do. If I want to have a little drink, I will do it.”
“She’s not trying to tell you what
to do,” Evelyn said from her perch on the bed. “She’s just trying to prevent you from making a big mistake.”
Kayla snapped her head to the side and gave Evelyn a look that could kill. She narrowed her eyes, then gritted her teeth. “Don’t you dare talk to me about mistakes, especially when you’ve made plenty of them, missy.”
Evelyn hopped up from the bed, then snatched up her purse. “I figured all of this had something to do with your feelings about me. And there is no need for you to pretend that you’ve forgiven me, when you haven’t. If being around me is causing you this much pain, then I’ll leave and never come back here again. I know what I did was wrong, but damn. How many times am I going to have to apologize? How many times will I be attacked for doing what I did with Cedric?” Evelyn’s voice started to crack. “I’m tired of this crap, and forgive me for thinking that we had left what had happened in the past.” Now Evelyn was crying.
I wasn’t as emotional as the two of them were, and like always, I was caught in the middle. “Calm down, Evelyn. We came here to see about Kayla and find out what, exactly, is troubling her. I’m sure you want to know too, so let’s not make this all about you.”
“All about me?” Evelyn said, pointing to her chest. “It’s never been about me, Trina. Ever since the day I was born, it hasn’t been about me. As I sit here watching Kayla, all I can think about is my drunk-ass mother. How she ignored me and gave all her attention to my father. How all I was to him was a punching bag and a sex toy. I’m not trying to make anything all about me, and I’m not going to stand here and take the blame for everybody’s damn problems. My mother blamed me for hers, you blamed me for yours, and now Kayla is standing there, once again blaming me for hers. This is just . . . just too much.”
Evelyn charged toward the door, but Kayla reached out to stop her. She grabbed her arm real tight but spoke with a calm voice. “I’m not blaming you as much as I blame myself. You will never understand what it feels like to lose everything that you had and have to start all over. While I’m glad that my divorce from Cedric is final, this shit still hurts. We spent many years together, and it’s hard on me to wake up every morning alone. It feels funny doing everything by myself, and I hate that Jacoby doesn’t have a father figure around.”
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