“What? You plan on dying and coming back as Denzel Washington or something? ’Cause that chick’s all about the money.” He finished off what was left of his champagne. “So did you hear the news?”
“What news? My mind has been on nothing but Kerri the last day or two.”
“You ain’t hear? Whoever hit the lotto bought their ticket over at the Quick-Mart across the street. Somebody from around here is walking around with fifty million dollars in their pocket.”
“No shit. Get the fuck outta here.”
“For real.”
I reached in my pocket and pulled out five lottery tickets as casually as I could. “Damn, I ain’t even check my numbers yet.”
“Man, what the fuck you waiting for?” Jordan seemed more excited than I did. “Hey, Kerri,” Jordan shouted. “You got today’s newspaper?”
“Look on the kitchen counter,” she shouted back.
Jordan and I walked over to the kitchen counter and I flipped through the paper until we found the page with lottery results.
The first two tickets didn’t even come close. But the third ticket made me look at Jordan and say, “Look at this ticket and tell me if I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing.”
Jordan looked down at the paper, then at the ticket, and did a triple take. Then he looked up at me with this astonished, glassy-eyed look.
“Nigga, you just won the motherfuckin’ lottery!”
All I could do was smile. I stood frozen and speechless, staring at the ticket. Jordan was jumping up and down, screaming his head off like he’d just won instead of me.
“Paul just won the lottery! Paul just won the motherfuckin’ lottery, y’all!”
By the time he finished screaming, everyone in the room had surrounded me.
“Stop lying. He ain’t hit that shit,” Rodney snapped.
“Yeah, he did. Show him the ticket, Paul.”
I handed Rodney the ticket and he checked it against the newspaper.
Rodney looked up with the same astonished look that Jordan had when he first realized I’d won. “Goddamn, this motherfucker really did hit the lottery,” Rodney exclaimed.
Everyone was congratulating me and shaking my hand. Everyone but Rodney, that is. He was still holding my ticket like it was his.
“Hey, Rodney.” I stuck my hand out.
“What?” Rodney looked like I snapped him out of some serious daydream.
“Can I have my ticket back, please?”
He looked around at all the people staring at him, and then sighed as he handed it over.
9
Kerri
I looked at the clock and decided it was time to make my move. I took a quick shower and made sure I smelled good in all the right places. I applied some gloss to my lips and then slipped on the kimono that Paul was checking me out in the other night. I still couldn’t believe he’d won the lottery. After doing a quick mirror check, I eased my door open and crept across the hall. I gently tapped on the door and posed in the hallway. It took him a few a seconds to answer the door.
“Kerri? What’s up?” he asked.
“Nothing. I couldn’t sleep so I decided to see what you were up to. You weren’t busy, were you?” I asked him innocently.
“No, I was about to watch a movie I rented.”
“Can I watch it with you? I can’t sleep.”
“Sure.”
I walked into the dim apartment. I knew all of the units had the same layout and size, but for some reason Paul’s seemed much bigger. His living room held a black African-print sectional with a coffee table shaped like a panther. The walls were covered with masks and African artwork. The brother had taste. There was a mahogany entertainment center holding a big-screen TV and a stereo, and instead of lamps, he had what looked like lanterns burning candles instead of light-bulbs. I was impressed. Maybe I should have got with this brother a long time ago.
“This is nice. I like it,” I told him.
“Thanks. I’m glad you do. I didn’t think it would impress someone as high maintenance as yourself. I know how you hate to be disappointed.” He smiled smugly.
“Touché. Look, I’m sorry about everything I said earlier. I’m just used to getting my way.” I sat on the sofa and rubbed my hand across the sleek material. “So, what movie were you about to watch?”
“Red Dragon.” He sat near me, but not too close.
“Oooh, scary. I wouldn’t dare watch that by myself,” I said. “I get afraid of the dark.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from the bogey man.”
“I’m sure I’ll be safe with someone like you around.”
He picked up the remote and hit Play on the DVD player. I eased closer to him and put my hand on his leg. He didn’t move. I knew he was playing hard to get but I was about to play even harder. I had one goal and one goal only: get the money! I also had the advantage in knowing how bad he wanted to get with me. There was no way he was gonna miss out on an opportunity like this, and neither was I.
“Have you seen this?” I looked up at him and let my hand linger on his thigh.
“Yeah, I rented it a couple of times,” he answered and let his arm touch my shoulder.
“Is it good?” I touched him a little more firmly.
“That’s why I keep renting it. You always return for more if it’s good. That’s true about everything in this world.” He was no longer looking at the TV, but at me.
“Is that true when it comes to you?”
“I’ve had no complaints. Women always seem to come back for more.” He began to finger my earlobe. The light from the TV cast a sensual aura in the room. For some reason I was getting turned on, and I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he was gonna get all that money or if it was just him.
“So you think if you hit it once you can hit it twice, huh?”
“I got the magic stick! I know if I hit once, I can hit twice.”
“Okay, fifty cents. You talk a good game, but it’s results that matter.” I positioned myself so that he could see my breasts through the thin robe. He responded exactly the way I wanted him to. I could feel him getting harder as I rubbed his crotch. Get him, girl. Get him.
“Yeah, well. I got skills to back it up.” He tugged at my belt and let my robe open. I raised myself up and straddled his lap. I had my moves planned carefully as I looked into his eyes.
“Prove it,” I whispered into his ear, and licked his lobe. I could feel his fingers running across my breasts and my nipples hardened. He kissed along my collarbone and leaned me back slightly. I thought I was about to fall and I reached to brace myself.
“I got you. Chill,” he said, and smiled as he cupped my breast with one hand and braced my back with the other. I put my hands around his head and shivered as he gently sucked one nipple, then the other. I arched my back and a moan escaped from the back of my throat. I looked down and saw him looking up at me, smiling. “See. And I’m just getting started.”
Wait a minute, Ker, you’re supposed to be the seducer here, not the one being seduced. I regained control of the situation and remembered the game plan. I put my hands on his ears and tilted his head toward me. I kissed him with such fullness that it seemed like our mouths were made for each other. I slid out of my robe and his hands began to stroke my back. I was dripping by this time, which surprised me. Not a lot of guys were able to get me this wet this quickly. I knew that if his bedroom skills were anything like the foreplay, I was gonna have to pull out all the tricks. But as desperate as I was, I wouldn’t care if he wanted to tie me up to the bedpost and flick sunflower seeds at me. I was down for whatever.
“Let’s go to your room,” I said and stood up.
He took my hand and led me down the hallway. His bedroom was just as nice as the living room. It had a jungle motif with zebras, tigers, leopards, and such. He had a huge four-poster bed in the middle of the floor. I turned around and faced him as I climbed in. I sat right in the middle and wiggled my finger at him. “Come her
e.”
“No, you are gonna come here.” His arrogance turned me on even more. He stripped his clothes off and my eyes widened at the size of his manhood. The brother was hung, and somehow I knew I was not gonna be left short. Goddamn, I was turned on. Get the money, get the money, don’t forget to get the money.
He climbed onto the bed, and before he could do anything, I was sucking on him like a super-sized bomb pop. He began to groan and tell me how good it felt. So he’s a talker, I thought. I decided to spice things up and see if he was kinky. I stopped what I was doing and crawled in his face.
“Paul, where’s the ticket?”
“Huh?”
“I wanna touch it. I want to rub it on my breasts while you’re doing me.”
“Don’t play, Kerri. You’re blowing my high,” he sat up and told me.
“Come on, Paul. Let me see it,” I begged. He reached in his nightstand and handed me the ticket. I looked at the numbers and smiled.
“Don’t smile at that bullshit. I got something to really make you smile.” He pushed my legs damn near over my head and thrust his dick in, causing me to scream. He was grinding and stroking me like an expert. I was loving every minute of it. And I held the ticket over my chest as he took me on the ride of my life. I couldn’t believe that I was getting dick this good. And to think I could have been getting this shit every night if I had just looked past the money. But now it didn’t matter, ’cause it was a fifty-million-dollar dick and I had the ticket in my hand to prove it. I got the money, I got the money, I got the money!
“Paul, oh Paul. That’s it, baby. Tear that shit up! Tear it up! Please, baby, don’t stop. I love you, Paul. I love you. I’m not lying, Paul, I’m in love with you.” All of the tension I had been building up over the past days released as we both came together.
“Ahhhhhhh!” he moaned as he collapsed on my chest. We were both covered in sweat and breathing like we had just finished a two-hour Tae-Bo class.
“That was…that was the best I’ve ever had,” I huffed honestly when I was finally able to talk.
“So what do you think? Can I hit it again or what?” He smiled.
“You can hit it anytime you want.” I chuckled.
“Good. So what’d you do with that ticket?” He began looking around the bed.
“It’s right there.” I pointed at his chest, where the ticket was sticking to him like a tattoo. I peeled it off his chest then handed it to him. Then I lay on his chest until I fell asleep.
I don’t know what time it was when I woke up, but it was time to seal the deal. I wasn’t about to let Paul go, but I also wasn’t about to forget all my bills and my car, which I needed to retrieve from impound. “Paul.” I shook him until he was fully awake.
“What?” He smiled as he rolled over. “You want some more?”
“Yeah, actually I do, but before we get started, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what’s up?” He started to kiss his way downtown. I hesitated, enjoying his kisses until he hit my spot.
“Oh God, does that feel good,” I moaned.
“Don’t worry about what I’m doing. Ask your question.”
“I’m trying, but it’s hard to concentrate with you licking me like that.”
“Okay, I’ll stop.” He lifted his head and that made me mad.
“No, don’t stop,” I shouted.
He lowered his head and continued to lick me like I’ve never been licked before. After I came a good five or six times, he smiled confidently, kissing his way back up to my face. He kissed me passionately, then rolled me over and mounted me from the back. Goddamn, that shit was even better than what he did last night. And to be honest, I’d completely forgotten about the money. I was concentrating solely on the dick. He was hitting that shit so good the bed was moving across the room, and I didn’t give a damn if it went right through the wall as long as he didn’t stop. When he came, I came with him, and I’m sure everyone in the building knew it by the way he was making me scream.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to ask me something?” He rolled off me and I slid up his chest so we were eye to eye.
“Uh-huh,” I huffed.
“Well, what is it?”
I was so spent I was tempted to just say, “Forget it. I’ll talk to you about it later,” but I had promised myself I wouldn’t forget the money and this was an opportunity to get it.
“Now that you have all this money, do you think you could give me a loan? I mean, with fifty million, you won’t even miss a hundred thousand or two, would you?”
He laughed halfheartedly. “Did you just ask me to loan you a hundred thousand dollars?”
“Paul, if you gonna be my man, I need you to help me get back on my feet.” I reached down and took hold of his dick. To my surprise, it was soft as cotton. I didn’t understand that, because it was just hard a second ago.
“So all this was about was the money?” He sat up and damn near pushed me off him.
“No, I like making love to you. Hell, I love making love to you. I’m just saying now that you got the money, you need to help a sister out. You wanna help me out, don’t you?”
“Yeah, Kerri, I can help you,” he said gently, making me smile. “I can help you get the fuck out of my apartment, that’s what I can do! I should’ve known you were a gold-diggin’ ’ho when you started talking that Legal Seafoods and Moet bullshit. But for some reason I thought you were really digging me for me. Just get the fuck out.”
“Paul, it ain’t even like that and you know it.”
“All I know is that you ain’t no different than any other ’ho on the street, except they ask for their payment up front.”
“Paul, you’ve got this all wrong.”
“No, I don’t. You’re a gold-digger, Kerri. You don’t care about me. All you care about is money. The funny thing is, a woman doesn’t have to ask a real man for money. He makes sure his woman is taken care of no matter what. Now get the fuck out of my apartment.” He pointed at the door.
“You gonna regret this, Paul.”
“I already do, Kerri. Believe me. I already do.”
With that being said, I gathered my dignity and myself and sauntered back across the hall to my own apartment. I still ain’t get the money!
10
Rodney
I left Kerri’s apartment with a nice buzz and headed down the stairs after the get-together she had. I still couldn’t believe that punk Paul hit the lottery! But I’d seen the ticket with my own eyes, so there wasn’t no denying that. I guess that’s just the way shit is. All I needed was fifteen thousand to make me happy and that motherfucker upstairs was sitting on top of fifty million. I was gonna have to talk to him tomorrow and see if he could hit me off with a loan, otherwise I was gonna have to get out of town.
I walked into my apartment and flipped on the light. I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw big-ass Bubba sitting in my recliner.
“Jesus Christ! What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I had ’til Monday night to pay y’all. How’d you get into my apartment, anyway?”
Bubba got up out of the recliner and walked over to me. “You do have till Monday,” Bubba growled. “But Big Red wanted me to make sure you understand how serious we are about our money. We wouldn’t want you to leave town or anything like that.”
“I wouldn’t leave town,” I told him nervously.
“Oh yeah, so why the hell are your bags packed in your bedroom?”
“Ah, ah…”
He grabbed me by the neck and lifted me off the ground, giving me one hard smack across the face. Blood sprayed from my nose.
“Big Red wanted me to ask you a question. Do you know anybody who lives at 365 Chestnut Road?”
“Yeah, my mom. Why?” Oh shit. Not my family!
“What about 78 Wilkens Street?”
“My baby’s mom and my son. Why? What you want with them?” I was trying to sound tough, but I was so scared I was about to piss on myself.
“’Cause if you’re not here on Monday, we gonna see them. And believe me, it’s not gonna be pretty. Understand?” He dropped me on the floor and inspected his shirt. “You got blood on my shirt. Add seven dollars to that fifteen thousand, ’cause you gonna pay for it to be cleaned.”
Bubba walked out of my apartment and I lay on the floor for a few minutes, trying to think of my next move. I knew Bubba wasn’t joking about going to see my mom or my baby’s mom if I wasn’t here on Monday. I got my ass up, went over to the phone, and dialed my mother’s number.
“Hello?”
“Ma, it’s me, Rodney.”
“Rodney? Do you know what time it is?”
“Yeah, Ma. It’s about one o’clock.”
“One o’clock? Why are you calling me at one o’clock in the morning? You not in jail, are you? ’Cause I ain’t got no bail money. You hear me?”
“No, Ma. I’m not in jail. I just called to tell you I love you.”
“Ah, baby, I’m sorry. Mama loves you, too.”
“’Night, Ma.”
“’Night, Rodney.”
I hung up the phone and stared into space. Originally I was gonna ask her to go down South for a few weeks until I could get things straight with Big Red. But once I heard her voice I knew she wouldn’t have listened to me. And my baby’s mama, knowing her, she would be even more stubborn. So I was stuck. Skipping town was out of the question now.
I looked up at the ceiling. Paul had somebody up there and he was getting his groove on. I sat and listened for a while, then I fell asleep.
When I woke up I could hear Paul going at it again. I’m not sure who he was with, but whoever she was, he was putting it on her. It sounded like his bed was going from one end of the room to the other.
11
Katrice
I woke to the sound of someone moaning at the top of their lungs and frowned. That darn Kerri was doing her thing again. No, it couldn’t be Kerri. It sounded like her, but her bedroom was right above mine and this sounded like it was coming from Paul’s apartment. I smiled when the person moaned again. It was Kerri, all right. She was just in Paul’s apartment. I knew she was gonna fuck him when she found out about him winning the lottery.
A Dollar and A Dream Page 5