by J. D. Mason
Sounded an awful lot like Victor, Victoria.
“She’ll be hosting the burlesque show, which will feature several different performers and their tortured behind the scenes stories.”
“Two women, one black, one white, daring to love each other despite the fact that one is married to a man,” Mavis explained.
“A transgender woman, who identifies as a man, falling in love with another man, who is in love with the woman that she was.” Lucy gleefully clasped her hands together. “There’ll be dancing and singing, and even a comedian performing on Tanya Boy’s stage.”
“That’s a lot,” Terri offered.
Luther chuckled, but the women didn’t seem to notice.
“Thank you,” Mavis shot back, elated. “We’re thrill with the premise. Been working on it for more than a year.”
Did she say it sounded good? Terri said that it was a lot. Not that it was good.
“Would you…” Lucy exchanged a look with Mavis. “Do you think you could take a look at it and tell us what you think?”
“What?” Terri asked, trepidation creeping up her spine like a vine.
“We’d be honored,” Mavis added. “Maybe tell us how we need to do to make it better?”
“Well, I—”
“I’ve got a copy in my car,” Luther said, staring at Terri. “I’d be happy to let you borrow it.”
Terri wanted to punch him in the jaw because, obviously, at least to her, he thought this shit was funny.
“That’d be wonderful,” Mavis said, clasping her hands together, tears glistening in her eyes. “Oh, you have no idea how much it’d mean to us for someone like you, a professional and experienced actress, to give us feedback.”
Terri smiled.
Half an hour later, Terri walked out carrying four scripts and followed Luther to his car where he handed her the fifth. She held it and stared at it like it was that possessed book in that old horror movie Evil Dead.
“Have you read it?” she asked, raising her eyes to meet his.
He took a deep breath, drove his hands into his pockets, and sort of shrugged. Moments later, he laughed.
“Seriously?” she asked, not needing to hear what he had to say because it came through loud and clear from what he didn’t say.
“No,” he said, trying to compose himself. “It’s—interesting. But their plays are always interesting, which is why people pack this theater every year.”
She gave him the side eye. “What are you saying? Is it good or not?”
“Read it.”
“Can’t you just tell me?”
Luther hesitated, sighed again, and shook his head. “It’s something I cannot put into words. Just, read it.”
She rolled her eyes and groaned, “I’m retired. The last thing I want to do is read another bad script.”
“Nah, you’re not retired,” he, for some reason, felt the need to say it. “People like us can’t retire.”
“People like us?”
He shrugged. “Artists.”
“You’re retired and you own a bar.”
He nodded introspectively. “And I jump at the opportunity to play music every chance I get.”
Luther walked Terri around to the driver’s side of her car, parked next to his, opened the door for her and closed it after she got inside. The man was dangerously magnetic. Terri concluded, in the short time she’d spent sitting next to him in that theater, that her attraction to Luther had more to do with physics than how fine he was. Nick was fine. She’d been around fine plenty of times. This thing with Luther had more to do with neutrons, protons, atoms, and electricity. He couldn’t help it and he wasn’t doing it on purpose. Knowing that it was science drawing her to him, helped settle her down as she waved goodbye.
Terri’s phone suddenly rang. “Hey Roxy,” she answered, absently.
“It’s been a while, sis. How are you?”
“Oh, I’m coming down from a high from being in the presence of the most mesmerizing man I’ve ever known.”
Goodness, gracious! Why’d she say that?
“You mean the doctor?” Roxy probed, laughing.
“No,” Terri murmured and reluctantly admitted. “His father.”
“Wait. What?”
“How are you?”
“Don’t you dare,” Roxy fussed. “Don’t you drop a bomb like that and then change the subject. You’re seeing your man’s father?”
“Nick is not my man, Rox,” Terri explained. “We’re just dating. And no. Yes. I mean, no.”
“Terri…
Terri glanced at the pile of scripts on the passenger seat. “Know how I always told you I’d never do theater?”
“Yeah.”
“Well…”
“Wait. You’re acting in a play?”
“No,” she said with emphasis. “I’m reading play submissions for the local theater company. Which is hilarious.”
“Why are you reading plays?”
“Because these really nice, weird ladies asked me to, and I need to keep busy.”
“Way to get immersed in the local culture, T.”
“It’s either this or volunteer with the local 4H Club,” she quipped.
“Okay. Local theater is a better fit. Look at you, having a life,” she teased.
“I know, right?”
“Back to your boyfriend’s dad…”
“Nope. Not back to that, and I’m sorry I even mentioned it. Pretend I didn’t.”
“Too late. Sounds juicy.”
“It’s not. It’s a harmless crush. Everybody crushes on Luther.”
“Well, you know you’re at that age.”
“What age?”
“Haven’t you ever seen that meme? I’m at the age where I can date you or your daddy?”
Terri laughed. “Girl, hang up. I gotta drive.”
Talking Old Soldiers
“It’s actually not bad,” Terri said, taking a sip of wine.
Luther sat across the table from her, laughing. “No, it’s not,” he agreed. “It is a little bizarre, though.”
“I mean, there’s a lot going on but,” she said, glancing down at the script sitting on the table between them. “It’s not terrible. The other four I’ve read, however…” Terri furrowed her brows.
“Only what?” he asked. “Seventy more to read?”
In the last several weeks since meeting with Mavis and Lucy, Terri had gone from reading a handful of scripts, to MCing the event, to being dubbed an honorary member of the Devastation Community Theater Board of Directors. Luther Hunt was the other honorary member along with the Director of Music. Terri had come to Luther’s restaurant to grab something to eat and finish reading The Devil’s Run when he joined her.
“I am not reading anymore,” she said, emphatically. “My brain is swollen from all that bad writing.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“I’m serious. I can’t.” Terri raised her hands in surrender.
Yolanda sat a beer on the table in front of him, then sat down across from Terri. “I’m auditioning for the Broken Hearted Cabaret Dancer.”
Terri shook her head.
“And you’ll be great at it,” Luther said, sounding like he meant it.
“How’s the score coming along?” Terri asked.
“Great. Doing a fusion of old rag time and jazz, maybe throw in a little Andre 3000 type hip-hop.” He shrugged.
Terri grimaced. “I don’t understand.”
“You will,” he said with a smirk. “Trust me. It’ll work.”
Yolanda stared at him, impressed. “You think you’ll out-do last year?”
“By far,” he boasted.
“Last year the sisters wrote a space opera called, “We Outta Here”. It was awesome. I played a Martian spirit who took possession of Marie Antoinette,” Yolanda said with a smirk.
Terri wasn’t sure she heard her right. “A Martian —”
“Spirit.” Yolanda beamed. “With abandonment issues. It was so deep.”
“The music was along the lines of a Madame Butterfly / Aida kinda thing,” Luther explained if he were absolutely serious. “With a Phantom of the Opera vibe mixed in. I put some old school hip-hop in that one. Worked great.”
“I remember.” Yolanda said, with a forlorn look in her eyes. “It was dope.”
Yolanda’s phone rang. “Hey. You here already?” she asked, getting up to leave. “I’ll be out in a minute. See you in a few days, boss. Bye, Terri.”
“Bye, Yolanda,” Terri said.
While getting to know Luther this past month, Terri had worked through her crush issues and could now sit comfortably next to the man without melting into a gooey puddle. He wasn’t as immediately personable as his son. Luther was more aloof, and it only appeared that he was hard to get to know. His sense of humor, though dry and harder to gauge, was rich, but low key.
“I can’t tell if you’re really serious about all this theater stuff or if you think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” she mentioned, studying him.
“Why can’t it be both?” he offered. “I’ve traveled the world, Terri. Met people from all over, but none, not one, as fascinating as the people from Devastation, Louisiana.”
This time, she laughed. “Yeah, I get that. The people here are unlike any I’ve ever come across.”
“And it’s genuine. Theater season is a big deal here, as big as any production on Broadway. Mavis and Lucy may seem crazy, but they’re crazy like foxes. They know how to put on a good show, even to the naysayers.”
“I’m not a naysayer,” she argued.
“No, but you don’t expect much,” he clarified. “I’m just saying, don’t judge too harshly or too soon. You might just be more impressed than you’ve been about anything in a long time.”
Terri gave some thought to what he said. “Noted.”
“They appreciate you coming onboard,” he told her. “And they really do want your honest feedback.”
“They told you this?”
“They didn’t have to. It comes through loud and clear whenever you show up at a meeting.”
Surprisingly, Terri was actually enjoying being a part of something outside of her own, selfish, self.
“Come on,” he said, pushing away from the table. “I want show you something.”
Terri packed up her things and followed Luther up the winding, wrought iron staircase in the back of the room. It opened to the most beautifully decorated and elegant apartment she’d ever seen.
“Wow,” she said, her eyes widening to take in all the exceptional artwork and dramatic, international décor. “You live here?”
Sunlight flooded the whole place through dramatic cathedral windows.
“This is home,” he said, picking up the remote and turning on a television bigger than her whole living room.
Luther punched a few buttons and sat down on the sofa, motioning for Terri to sit next to him.
“You’re going to get a kick out of this.”
Two hours later, it was over. The two sat silently next to each other for several beats before she finally spoke up.
“A Martian space opera?”
He nodded, introspectively. “That’s how it’s done.”
They looked at each other and without warning, burst out laughing.
“It was actually pretty—unusually—phenomenal,” she blurted out.
“I told you,” he leaned back and sighed.
“You scored that?”
“The whole damn thing,” he admitted. “I’ve never been so challenged in my whole career. I wanted to put that shit on iTunes or Spotify or something and sell it.”
“You could,” she exclaimed. “It’s that Rocky Horror Picture Show kind of iconic.”
His gorgeous eyes lit up. “Exactly.”
Terri sipped more wine while Luther talked through his ideas for scoring the new play and even sampled some chords for her on the guitar and the piano, which he played flawlessly.
“The thing is not to take the damn play too seriously, but to respect it,” he explained.
She leaned against the piano. “How can you take it seriously? It’s not going to win any Tony awards but for what it is, or can be, it’s got elements of brilliance in it.”
Luther stared at her long enough to make her feel exposed and transparent.
“What are you really doing here, Ms. Dawson?” he asked, his fingers gliding across piano keys, building on a hypnotic melody. “How come you’re not over in Hollywood rubbing shoulders with Viola Davis and Brad Pitt? Big star like you?”
Terri shrank a little inside herself. “Is that what you think I am? A big star?”
“That’s what everybody in town thinks you are, Terri.”
“That’s hilarious,” she said, not finding it funny at all.
“Why? You’re a big deal.” Luther knitted thick brows.
“I haven’t had a real role in years, Luther,” she eventually admitted, fighting back tears. “Lately, it’s all I can do to land a halfway decent commercial or voiceover if I’m lucky.”
Luther focused his gaze on the keys and his playing. “So, you came here?”
Terri paused before responding. “I got tired of wanting what I couldn’t have,” she admitted. “I’ve been chasing that dream for half my life, and yeah. Landing here is what came of it.”
Luther continued playing. “You were on your way to someplace else, though.” He looked up at her. “Am I right? Nobody like you, finds a place like this on purpose.”
“I was on my way to Houston to hide out at my best friend’s house. Stopped to get gas and decided to stay.”
“Running from something. Running to something.” He smiled. “Or, just running.”
“Why are you here?” she asked, refusing to let him off the hook. Luther was a big man, with a big presence and talent as wide as the ocean. “And don’t tell me it’s because it’s your hometown. There’s more to it than that.”
“I was married,” he began. “I got married when I was nineteen. She was seventeen. We had Nick, and not long after, I got my first big gig. I took it to make us some money.”
He glanced up at her with dark regret filling his eyes.
“You stayed gone?” she asked.
“Until it was obvious that Lupus wasn’t letting up,” he admitted.
Luther shrugged. “I came home, but by then it was too late. Five months later, her heart gave out. I stayed.”
“You miss it, though,” Terri noted, recalling watching him play in New Orleans. “Performing.”
Luther looked up at her and smiled. “Don’t you miss it? Performing?”
Terri shrugged. “When it was good, yeah. But the longer I’m away from it, the harder it’s becoming to even think of going back to that life.”
“I get it.”
She shook her head. “No, you don’t,” she said, calling him out. “I saw you on that stage, Luther.”
He stopped playing.
“You were a bright and shining star, and you were loving it.”
He started back playing but stopped again. “You’re right. It felt like I’d never left.”
“So, why don’t you go back?”
“Why don’t you?”
“I didn’t give up my dream,” she responded. “It gave up on me. Yours would welcome you back with open arms. I know it.”
“I don’t deserve it,” he admitted. “When Ava and Nick needed me the most, I was on the road, living my dream. I’ve had my time.”
“I get it,” she said. “I’m a failure and you’re riddled with guilt.”
He looked at her and smiled. “Ain’t we a pair?”
Sugar Honey
Terri couldn’t blame it on the alcohol. She wasn’t drunk. She wasn’t grappling with confusion or despair. The conversation between them flowed easily. Their vibrations synced. Luther’s deep laugh resonated to her soul, striking a chord to something she’d never experienced, but had always wanted to... connection. Not in a friendly, ‘w
e cool’ kind of way. Not in a ‘we have a lot in common and can make this work’ kind of way.
The warmth of his hand touching hers awakened her from a slumber at the soul level. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her to his chest, lowered his mouth to hers, and the flavor of Luther Hunt, the heat from him, pulled Terri out of the recesses of that emotionless abyss she’d fallen into long ago.
His.
His pussy. His woman. His… Terri.
Surrender.
It was never her thing. Not when it came to men. A man could share her time, her space, maybe even her life, but he could never possess her, not until this moment.
Sex. Fucking. Making love.
This wasn’t any of those things, but something else that defied reason, right or wrong, common sense.
No space between them.
No space to let in air or light.
Terri spread her thighs wide, straddling him. Her chin kneaded into his broad shoulder, her arms wrapped tight enough around him to choke the life out of him, but he didn’t protest. Muscled arms circled her waist, calloused hands caressed her skin.
He was deep, his stroke steady and filling. The scent and sounds of their lovemaking permeated the room. Time. How long had they…
It didn’t matter. Time didn’t matter. Nothing did. Except him. Except this.
A gentle tug from him coaxed her back far enough to lock onto the penetrating gaze of his dark eyes. The conviction in them drilled to her core. His lips, slightly parted, inviting her mouth to his. Terri moaned, groaned, and stilled her hips, forcing his movements to stop.
His thick dick filled all of her, and if she wasn’t patient or careful, she’d come too soon, she’d make him come too soon and she wasn’t ready for this to end.
“You feel so damn good,” his deep, soul-stirring voice, melted away what was left of any inhibitions.
This beautiful man kissed her neck, lowered his hands, palmed her ass, pushed into her again, commanding the moment.
Terri cried out, submitting to his rhythm.
“Hold on,” he demanded. “Don’t let me go, sugah.”
She did as she was told, willing time and the rest of the world to stop. Terri trusted Luther with her… trusted him to know what she needed and wanted without instruction or guidance. And he did. His patience transcended to her. His strength, confidence, and steadiness grounded Terri until she felt absolutely, unshakeable.