Gets No Love

by Eric Pete

  “What about here? I’ll bet it hurts really bad here.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Turn around and I’ll kiss it and see if I can make it all better.” By now, I had lost all thought or concern of what was real and what wasn’t. I turned around into the rush of water and looked down hoping to see that my fantasy was reality. Nothing, but my own cramped hand. The water was cold and needed to be turned off, as did I.

  I toweled off and went to check on Val. Scratching my head, I stopped to glance at myself in the mirror. Just as I thought, I was in need of another haircut, but would cut it later. As she lay motionless, I stood over Val, watching her beautiful face. The sudden deep snore that came from somewhere within her little body made me laugh. I decided to leave her alone since I was just as tired and didn’t know how she would react to me. Grabbing one of the free pillows, I went back to the couch and promptly fell asleep.

  38

  The sound of a wailing car alarm startled me. If I had been in my bed, I probably wouldn’t have heard it. My head ached for more sleep, but burglars had hit several cars lately. It wasn’t until I was peeking through the blinds that I remembered my car was still at the tow yard. The only thing going on was my neighbor across the street leaving for work.

  Since I was awake and thirsty, I quietly walked to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. While pouring, I thought I heard something. I stopped filling the cup and listened. There it was again.

  Hearing a moan from my bedroom, I went to check on Val. We still had a few hours before the sun would come up so I was hoping to exchange the hard couch for a piece of my mattress. She seemed to be restless—one of her legs lay atop the covers. I remembered our good days when my lying beside her would comfort her.

  As I began to slide the covers back, Val changed positions onto her back. The free leg was now bent exposing her foot. I curiously eyed her, debating whether to get into the bed and disturb her or do something else. I placed the sheet back down and walked around to the foot of the bed.

  Val rocked her head back and forth on the pillow as the pressure from my thumbs sent waves of pleasure up through the arch of her foot.

  “Mmmmm.”

  “Feels good, baby?”

  “Mmmm hmmm,” she replied. I don’t think she realized I was there. I wondered if she was having secret yearnings like the one I had about her while in the shower.

  I began gently kissing the tips of her toes while continuing the foot massage. On the big toe, I heard her breathe in deeply as she instinctively drew her foot up. I smiled and gently pulled it back down toward my waiting mouth. I continued kissing it, then began slowly engulfing it as gentle sucks brought on a “damn” from her mouth. From toe to pretty toe, I began to play them like a pan flute.

  “Lance,” she said, coming to. “Mmm . . . What are you doing?”

  “Shhhh,” was my only reply before sucking deeply on her manicured toes as if they were tiny popsicles.

  “Mmmm, stop that,” she pleaded. “You know what that does to me.”

  Her protests drove me on, making me want to bring pleasure to her even more. I began rubbing on her legs through the slick material, latching onto her thigh to steady her. I moved on past her foot and draped kisses over her ankle.

  “Lance . . . no. Stop.”

  Sliding my hand from her thigh to her satin-covered mound, I began gently nudging my index finger against her clit. “Do you really want me to stop?” I asked.

  “No . . . no.”

  With her other leg, she moved the covers aside. The invitation had been extended and I didn’t hesitate to accept it. I slid up from the foot of the bed and in between her legs where my stiff tongue probed through her bottoms at her treasure. As I munched through the fabric, moisture from my mouth as well as her own wetness from deep within began soaking through. I had now reached around to her waistband just above her ass and was using it to pull her down onto my face. As her bottoms began to slide off, I felt only bare flesh beneath.

  “What?” she asked with embarrassment as I broke from my task to look up at her. She continued, “I . . . I left them off. Just in case. I’ve wanted you to come to bed in here. God, I’ve missed you . . . this.”

  With a quick yank, I pulled her bottoms down to her ankles and dove in to taste her.

  “Rrrrrrrrrr . . . rrrrrr,” she droned like a dishwasher as the involuntary spasms came more and more frequently. “Lance, oooh Lance.”

  Cupping her ass in both hands, I placed my elbows into the mattress and elevated her midsection up in the air. Her delicate legs dangled over my shoulders as I had my fill of her gushing sweetness. “Yes,” she gasped as she bit into the pillowcase.

  Lowering her back down, I let my tongue lead me up to her belly button where I began kissing her stomach with reckless abandon. Grasping at her top, I undid one button at a time as my mouth moved further and further up her body. Reaching the last button, I moved my hands apart and slid her top open. My hands stopped on her bare breasts to gently squeeze them. I savored the moment. This was no shower fantasy brought on by a tired mind and yearning body.

  I teased her nipples before placing a breast in my mouth. Val’s hands began caressing me as deeply to show her approval. One of them grabbed on to my boxers.

  “What’s this? Modest all of a sudden?”

  “Please,” I answered as I paused from feasting on her flesh. “Don’t get it twisted.” I reached back and placed my hand on hers. Slowly, I guided her hand down as my boxers were pulled off. The sight of my hardened dick in the bedroom shadows excited her.

  Pulling me against her, Val kissed me long and hard, as if time were running out. I moved over to her ear and licked across her earlobe. My warm breath sent her into one of her mini-orgasms as her legs suddenly sprang shut around me. I was trapped and there would be no escape, even if I wanted to. I moved to her neck and began nibbling.

  “I want you, baby,” she said, filled with lustful intentions. Val grabbed my dick and guided it inside her. As I slid in, she purred, “See. It misses you.”

  “Yeah . . . but do you miss me?”

  “Always, baby. Always.”

  Deeper I went and deeper she took until the sun came up.

  39

  After shaving my head bald again, the morning game plan was for me to fix a big-ass omelet for Val, but I had to check on something first. I left her asleep and quickly jogged down to the front office. I had just enough change to get a copy of the Times-Picayune from the machine. I didn’t even have to turn to the City section. Akhet had made the big time. The front page had a picture showing what was left of the Napoleon Room with the words BIRTHDAY BRAWL in boldface above it.

  I was walking, trying to read what spin was being put on things when a car pulled up to the apartment office. Much to my dismay, Vaughn’s cruiser was blocking my path. He jumped out with key in hand to check their mailbox. I looked up from my paper, then began walking around the car.

  “Can’t speak, neighbor?”

  Cutting a look in his direction, I saw the broad smile that adorned Vaughn’s face. He fed off people’s pain. From the crisp look of his blue uniform I could tell he was just going on duty. “Yeah,” I answered. “I could’ve spoke, but I had more important things to do.”

  “Heard about last night,” he laughed even as I continued to ignore him. “Been coming up on the wrong end of beat-downs a lot lately, huh?”

  “A lot?” I repeated. “Something on your mind? Something you want to get off your chest? Like face to face this time?”

  “I don’t have no reason to fight ya, but you lucky it wasn’t me at the club,” he continued. “I’da put you six feet under if you were to throw bones with me.”

  I kept walking. “Hit any women lately, Vaughn?” I nonchalantly asked, already knowing the answer.

  I expected to hear footsteps as he ran up on me, but he never came. Instead, he screamed, “Hey, Lance!”

  Curiosity getting the best of me, I looked back. />
  He continued, “Don’t even think about driving across the river, man! If I catch ya in my district, I’m pulling ya over!”

  Big words from a little man, was what I thought. Shaking my head, I went up the stairs.

  At my place, Val was already awake and trying to fix breakfast. Putting the newspaper out of sight, I joined her in front of the stove where she was scrambling eggs in the nude.

  “Careful. I don’t want you burning anything,” I said.

  With a slight blush, she smiled, freckles dancing about. “Where’d you go?”

  “I went to pick up the newspaper.”

  “Oh. Did you cut your hair?”

  “Yeah. I did alright?” I asked, turning around to give her a look.

  “Looks fine to me,” she answered. “Are you hungry? I thought you might want to get your strength back before we get your car.”

  Grabbing her ass, I joked, “I knew you missed me.”

  “Boy, you’re going to make me burn these eggs,” she gasped as she knocked my hand away. “Yeah. I missed you. Bobby too. He’s been horrible lately. He still doesn’t know why he can’t see you. And I can’t tell him that it was you who beat up his daddy.”

  I had a question I was burning to ask her just then, but put it aside. My mind was clouded. I was hungry and the smell of food combined with Val’s natural beauty was appealing to both appetites.

  At my dinner table, I ate until I was stuffed on scrambled eggs and crescent rolls stuffed with sausage and cheese. I could’ve easily satisfied my hunger for Val at the moment, but I needed to get some clarity and clarification. I couldn’t hold it back any longer.

  I passed the napkin over my mouth to remove the crumbs, then dove off that cliff.

  “I gotta ask you something.”

  “If it’s about sex, can it wait? Let’s focus on picking up your car.” She had retrieved her pajamas from the bedroom and was trying to put them on.

  “It’s about sex, but not what you’re thinking. When we were engaged, did you ever cheat on me?”

  Val eyed me strangely. “That’s an unusual question.”

  “So . . . what’s your answer?”

  “Lance, we’re no longer engaged. Why drag up the past?”

  “It’s not in the past. It’s here right now. It’s all around us. Just answer me.”

  “Why are you doing this? I thought after last night that maybe things—”

  “Things,” I interrupted her, “always get fucked up. I think it all stems from dishonesty. Just answer me. Did you ever cheat on me?”

  She finished buttoning her top. “No. Now let’s go get your car. I’ll wait on you while you go in. I’m not letting them see me like this.”

  I banged on my plate, sending the fork flying over my head. It took all of my control to stay seated. “You lied. You just lied to me,” I said as I put my head down. “You slept with Robert and you lied to me. Do you know how crazy you drove me . . . thinking I had done something wrong the entire time?”

  “Who told you? Wait. Don’t answer that,” she said, figuring it out. “I should’ve known,” she said with a half-laugh.

  “You lied to me,” I repeated.

  “You lied to me about Renika,” she weakly countered.

  “I did not lie. I just didn’t tell you. Besides, I didn’t sleep with her while we were together, unlike what you did then . . . or recently.”

  “Recently?”

  “Yeah . . . when I beat Robert’s ass. I didn’t know it at the time, but I owed him that.”

  Val stuck her hand up to stop me. “I don’t know what kind of shit Renika is telling you, but I did not sleep with Robert that day!”

  I got up from my chair and jumped in her face. As was her personality, she stood her ground. “Again with the lies. How many other things have you lied to me about? Val, I saw you in your robe. Hell, he was zipping his pants up! Why you wanna play me like that?”

  Val’s hard exterior crumbled as she broke down before my eyes. “Look . . . I was trying to tell you that night why I was calling the wedding off, but you wouldn’t let me speak. I should’ve been woman enough to tell you and didn’t. It was just one time with him. I don’t know what I was thinking when it happened either. I just let it go . . . and let you go. I was so sorry. And I still am.”

  “What about you and Robert at your house?”

  “Nothing happened that day at the house. Nothing. I was home because I was sick. Robert was leaving town and just came by to say goodbye. He used the bathroom and left. I don’t know anything about a damn zipper.” She sobbed, “I feel like I’m being interrogated.”

  “You don’t think I have reason to? Huh? You slept with him when we were supposed to be married. Married! Then you’ve let me go on all this time carrying guilt over Renika. Renika? I didn’t even know you at the time! I’ve been apologizing and apologizing and kicking myself. . . . And you never thought to tell me the truth? It was late, but at least Renika had the decency to tell me. Maybe she’s been the better friend all along.”

  “Maybe she still wants you.”

  “Shit, it didn’t matter, Val! I loved you! Not her! You!”

  There was a curious silence as Val mulled over my outburst. “You said it as past tense.”

  “Huh?”

  “You said you loved me. Past tense,” she gasped as she put her hands to her face and tried to breathe.

  I folded my arms so she wouldn’t see my hands trembling with rage. “Everything else took place in the past. Maybe that’s where that should be left too.”

  Right after it was said, I wanted to take it back. I had wanted to lash out ever since finding out and I had finally done it. It didn’t give me the satisfaction or freedom I thought it would. Val said nothing. Her throat trembled as she picked up her robe. With her keys and purse in her hand, she slowly went to the door.

  “I’m sorry for hurting you.”

  “I’m sorry I let you,” I replied. I left for my bedroom and stopped in the doorway. “Y’know, I was going by your house that day to propose to you . . . again.”

  “Lance . . .”

  “Looks like I won’t be needing that ride after all.”

  Val tried to come toward me to say something.

  “See you around,” I said sullenly, which broadcast to her not to come any further. She stopped in her tracks and retreated.

  “Bye,” she whispered as she took one last look at me.

  Long after she was gone, I continued to stare at the front door. I thought of how many times it had allowed her into my life and just as easily let her slip away. Saturdays were supposed to be some of my better days, but this certainly wasn’t one of them.

  My mother named me for a knight, but maybe Val was my Holy Grail, a hopeless quest that I was destined to fail at.

  40

  “What do you mean, ‘It was like this’?”

  “That’s how it was when we picked it up. Hope you got insurance,” the tow yard manager replied.

  I groaned at the sight of my car, beaten in with baseball bats. I guess that was the price I paid for jumping to Akhet’s defense.

  I trudged back across the dusty gravel to the little red Civic that was patiently waiting on me at the gate. On a field of black, the license plate on the front bore the crimson Greek letters of her sorority.

  “Did you get it? Are they releasing it?” Renika asked as she rolled her window down. She lowered the volume to her Nelly CD just enough to hear my response.

  “No,” I said. “I can’t drive it the way it is. Thanks for driving me out here though. I’ll just catch a cab from here. I don’t want to inconvenience you any more.”

  “Boy, get in. Where do you need to go?”

  “Eastover.”

  I saw her plotting things out in her head. “I can do that,” she said after a short deliberation.

  “I don’t want you getting in any trouble over helping me out.”

  “There you go again with that foolishness,” she
laughed. “I’m not leaving you out here. Besides, Eastover’s not far away.”

  Driving up Bullard Avenue, Renika lowered the volume again. “I thought Val would be doing this. She seemed pretty concerned about you when I called her.”

  “Trying to play matchmaker?”

  “Yeah . . . something like that. She did pick you up from jail, right?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Sooo, y’all on speaking terms now?”

  “No. And the two of you might not be either. I confronted her about Robert. Everything got put out in the open. It’s definitely over.”

  “I’ve heard that one before.”

  “Let’s just say things were said that can’t be taken back.”

  “Oh. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

  “Nope. You were straight with me. I appreciate it.”

  We were greeted by a long line of cars at the guardhouse to Akhet’s neighborhood. I thought it was for a party or something, but we found out that security procedures had been made stricter. A lot of media attention had brought out the nosies trying to get a peek at AK, so things were being made hard on them. After the license plate to Renika’s car didn’t check out, I had to pull out my license and wait for a call to be placed. I had called ahead earlier, but at the time thought I would be driving.

  “Akhet’s acting like he’s somebody special now, huh?” she blurted out. The delay had her ticked off. I wondered if her nerves were on edge because Vaughn might call her and wonder where she was . . . or whom she was with.

  “He’s just being careful.”

  “Is it true he started that riot last night?”

  “There’s a lot more behind it.”

  “And you’re not going to tell me? You’ve gotten moody in your old age.” She scowled.

  The call came back and the guard signaled us through. The line behind us had only grown larger. I directed Renika to Akhet’s street, but it wasn’t hard for her to find his place. A fleet of white vans was parked in the driveway behind a rental car and a Maybach luxury car was driving away deeper into the neighborhood.