by Yoshe
“Man, listen! I ain’t in competition with nobody! Why should I feel threatened by another dude?” Rasheed gave Kane the side eye. “Plus, I don’t have time to be stressing what the next man is doing. I’m too busy trying to meet wifey. As a matter of fact, that fine-ass feline I met last night at the Hive?” Kane said, changing the subject. “I’m trying to get up with that before the weekend is over, homie.”
“I hear that. But, seriously, if you’re looking for a relationship, man, you can start by staying out of the panties. Let the vagina breathe for once and get to know the woman instead of trying to smash that ass before even knowing her last name.”
“See, that’s where all bets are off, man! ’Cause if she’s giving up the pussy, I’m taking them panties off!”
“And that’s the problem right there! You’re just too thirsty for pussy, man. Give yourself a chance to know a chick before you try to lay some dick on her.” Rasheed leaned back to see if Asia was within earshot of their discussion. “Damn, baby, that food smells real good!’ he called out to her from the living room. He couldn’t chance his pregnant girlfriend overhearing any of their conversation. Asia thanked him from the kitchen.
“Well, I like to know what I’m getting myself into before I get serious with a woman! I’m not wifing no broad with some whack pussy and no dick sucking skills! Sex plays a major part in a relationship, don’t you think?”
Rasheed sighed and ignored Kane’s last question. “Anyway, what’s up with this sweet thing you met? What’s her name?”
“Brandi. Brandi Wallace,” Kane said with a big smile on his face. “Yep, she gave me the entire government, too, man. That’s some grown woman shit right there!”
Rasheed stood up. “Wait a minute. Did you just say Brandi? Brandi Wallace?” Kane nodded his head. “Ah, shit! No good!” he exclaimed, holding his hand over his mouth.
“Ah, shit, what?” Kane asked.
“That chick you met last night is Sean’s ex-chick! Brandi was the one who was in Sean’s house the night that female killed herself!”
Kane, who was unmoved by that news, shrugged his shoulders. “And? What the fuck is that supposed to mean to me, man? Sean is a married fucking man now!”
“It doesn’t matter if Sean is married or not! You cannot fuck with that chick Brandi, man! I’m telling you. She’s problems!”
“She’s problems? What the hell are you talking about, Rah?” Kane asked, catching a slight attitude with his best friend. “Sounds like you have more loyalty to your boy Sean than you do to me, man!”
Rasheed tried to explain his point. “Man, this shit ain’t about me or my loyalty to anybody, okay? It’s about a woman Sean had some serious feelings for! You have to understand something; Sean confides in me and I know the real deal when it comes to him. So with that being said, you have to leave that one alone, man. There are some chicks who are just off-limits and Brandi is one of them chicks.”
Kane sighed. “Yo, Rah, I understand that you’re trying to look out for your boy and everything, right, but um, anytime a man let a woman go, unless she was his baby mama or his wife, the bitch is fair game, you feel me? If Sean really wanted to be with the broad, he would have made it his business to marry her, not Milan! And it ain’t my fault that Brandi done met herself a real dude!”
Rasheed threw his hands up in the air. “See, man? That’s what I’m talking about! You’re one hardheaded, stubborn motherfucker! You just got to keep fucking with fire until you get burnt, right?”
Kane rubbed his hands together. “You’ve known me most of my life, son, and you know that I loves me challenge!”
Rasheed laughed too. “Well, you’re about to have one hell of a challenge, slime! And I know that this shit ain’t just about Brandi, neither. This is about how much you don’t like my dude Sean.”
“Why do you keep saying that, man? Sean is cool with me,” Kane lied, with a smirk on his face.
Rasheed was visibly irritated with Kane’s smug attitude. “Come on, man. Keep it official! You’re not a real big fan of Sean’s and he only tolerates you. The only common denominator that y’all have is me! And being that Sean’s my boy, you’re about to put me in the middle of some real bullshit, man! Damn!”
Before Kane could reply, Asia walked into the living room and interrupted their chat. “Breakfast is ready, y’all,” she said, putting her coat on. “I made y’all some pancakes, eggs, and turkey bacon. It’s all on the island in the kitchen.” She walked over and gave Rasheed a kiss on the lips. “I’m out of here, babe. I’ll be back later. See you, Kane. And call my sister, man!”
“I’m gonna give her a shout out!” Kane said, telling another lie.
Once the front door slammed, Rasheed and Kane made their way to the kitchen for breakfast. They took their positions on the counter stools and began to chow down on the food.
Rasheed stuffed some bacon into his mouth. “Let me tell you a few things about this chick Brandi, man. She’s from around the way. She had a son by this cat named Maleek. He was a get money dude from East New York, Killer Miller Avenue, to be exact. And her brothers? I know you know her brothers.”
Rasheed told Kane the names of Brandi’s older brothers and he frowned. He knew exactly who they were but he couldn’t recall ever knowing Maleek or even Brandi.
“Damn! Those wild-ass dudes are her brothers? I know that two of them are locked up on some serious charges and the younger brother is somewhere out here running around like he’s still one of the young’uns!” Kane frowned. “What’s up with that baby daddy of hers? Is he still in the picture?” he asked.
“Hell no!” Rasheed replied, while putting syrup on his pancakes. “Rumor had it that dude was murdered in Virginia by some country cats. After that happened, Brandi disappeared for a little while. Shit, when people didn’t see her around the way for a while, they thought that she was dead too. Come to find out, she stayed away from the hood and got her shit together. She got a college degree. By the time she started showing her face again, she had that degree and a new attitude, too. The last time I saw her was three years ago when she was still with Sean. She looked damn good, too. No one would have ever guessed that she used to be a wretched ass, wild-ass street chick back in the day!”
Kane shrugged. “Okay and you’re telling me all this to say what?” he asked, shoving some pancake into his mouth. “It’s not like this info is gonna stop me from making a move on the broad.”
Rasheed looked at Kane and sighed. “Forget it, man! Do what you do. But when the shit hits the fan? Don’t call me, man! You don’t give a hell about it so why should I, right?”
“Listen, man,” Kane nonchalantly replied. “Sean moved on from this broad. From what you telling me, they ain’t been together in a few years and they weren’t together for that long a time anyway! And I just don’t see Sean giving that much of a fuck about Brandi, especially since he has a wife, nah mean? Bottom line is that in one minute that pussy of hers is about to be Kane Porter’s pussy! That’s guaranteed!”
Rasheed continued to eat his breakfast. “Like I said, when the shit hits the fan, don’t call me, motherfucker, ’cause I’m gonna act like we ain’t never had this conversation.”
It was 12:30 in the afternoon when Kane finally pulled off from Rasheed’s house. He checked his phone to see if he had received any phone calls. Three different women, including Asia’s twin sister, India, had called him and left voice and text messages on his phone. But Kane wasn’t concerned with any of those females. His mind was on Brandi and she was the one who hadn’t even called him yet.
As Kane made his way back to his house, he kept thinking about what he was going to say if Brandi called him. Telling various untruths and playing with women’s feelings were why committed relationships were always a problem for Kane. He was accustomed to dealing with younger women, who were more than honored to be in the company of an older man with money. Brandi was definitely on his level and, judging from what Rasheed told him about the woman
, it didn’t seem as if he could spit his usual game in her ear.
Just as Kane was about to pull into his driveway, his cell phone rang. He smiled when he saw an unknown number pop up on his caller ID. He prayed that it was a call from Brandi.
“Good afternoon. Is this Kane?” the female politely asked.
“This is me,” Kane replied, with a wide smile on his face. “Who wants to know?”
The woman on the other end of the phone giggled. “Hey, Kane, it’s me, Brandi. How you doing, babe?”
The Brandi on the phone sounded nothing like the around the way, former hood rat Rasheed had described earlier.
“I’m a’ight now,” he said. “I’ve been hoping that you called me. What are you getting into today, Miss Lady?” he asked.
“As of now, I don’t have any plans. I was just going to relax today. I’m still kind of tired from last night. Those drinks, though . . .” she said, drifting off.
Kane quickly agreed. “I understand how you feel! I have a hangover myself.”
“You must have had a hell of a night too.”
“I sure did.” Kane walked into his house, took off his jacket, and lay across the couch. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Brandi. “So tell me about yourself, girl,” he said, still feeling elated that she called.
Brandi began telling him about her life, leaving out most of the details that Rasheed told him. Kane raised an eyebrow when she told him that her son’s father died of cancer in 1995.
“Yeah?” Kane said, playing along with Brandi’s lie. “My father died of prostate cancer two years ago. What kind of cancer did your son’s father have?”
Brandi hesitated when Kane asked that question. “I can’t really remember what,” she replied. “We had broken up and weren’t on the best terms when he died so I can’t really say.”
Kane sat up. “Oh, okay. I understand,” he replied, with a smirk on his face. “It’s like that sometimes. So where did you say that you were from again?”
“Well, I’m originally from Bed-Stuy. I didn’t come outside much though. I was one of those girls who just went to school every day and came straight home, you know.”
“I see.” That’s not what I heard. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“I have three brothers and they all live out of state.”
Kane frowned at the lie but just like the others, he didn’t say a word about it. “And your son? How old is he?” Brandi told him her child’s age and volunteered to tell him about her grandson, too. “Oh, so you’re a grandmother! You look so young,” he added.
“Thanks, babe. I try to keep myself looking and feeling good. I’m not getting any younger.”
As they continued with their conversation, Kane discovered that Brandi was very evasive when it came to answering certain questions. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to reveal things to a man she had just met. But there was something about her that made Kane feel as if she was hiding so much more about herself.
When Brandi began inquiring about Kane’s life, he gave her just as much information as she had given him. After getting the obvious out of the way, Kane decided to go in for the kill.
“So when am I going to see you, Brandi?” Kane asked.
Surprisingly, Brandi gave him some positive feedback. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“What about tonight? Do you wanna hang out with a brother tonight?”
She readily agreed to Kane’s request. “Sure! Why not?” she happily replied.
They both decided on the time that they were going to meet for their first date. After hanging up the phone, the exhausted Kane began dozing off on his living room sofa. He didn’t want to be too tired when he met up with Brandi. He definitely had some serious plans for her.
Chapter 7
It was a Saturday afternoon and Sean was still exhausted. He popped his head up from the pillow and took a glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside his bed. He rubbed his eyes, not believing that it was one o’clock p.m. He had slept the entire morning away.
Sean dragged himself out of his bed and prepared to take a shower. He could smell the stench of liquor coming out of his pores.
Before the bathroom got all steamed up, Sean caught a glimpse at his unshaven face in the mirror when a thought came to him, making him stop in his tracks. Brandi’s face appeared in his head and he felt the traumatic events from three years ago were starting to resurface again. Sean ran his fingers across the three-inch-long gash on the left side of his head. He stood there and closed his eyes, thinking back to how that gash got there in the first place.
When Sean snapped out of his daydream, he held his hands together and started praying. “God, please, remove these crazy thoughts from my head,” he said. “Please!”
Suddenly, Sean felt extra dirty. He climbed into the shower and began scrubbing his skin like crazy. And not too long after drying off his skin, Sean heard his phone ring.
“Hello?” he said, answering the phone without looking at the caller ID.
“What’s up, Sean? I’m standing outside of your door. Aren’t you going to invite me inside?”
The voice sounded very familiar and it didn’t take long for him to catch the voice. It was Brandi. What the hell is she doing here?
“Hello?” she said, snapping him out of the daze that he was in.
“Um, I guess so,” Sean replied, unsure of what to do.
“Then what are you waiting for? Open the door,” she demanded.
Sean wrapped a robe around his naked frame and quickly ran downstairs. “What the fuck?” Sean whispered to himself, as he opened the front door.
Brandi walked into his house, looking good as ever. She had a smug expression on her face, looking as if she was up to no good. Sean knew that he was losing his mind by allowing this woman to step foot into his house.
“Hey, Sean!” Brandi said cheerfully, wrapping her arms around his neck. “How are you, babe?”
Sean didn’t know what to say. Brandi had always been a dignified woman, a classy dame. She would have never popped up at his house, even when they were dealing with each other. He had to get to the bottom of what made Brandi appear on his doorstep.
Brandi looked around the house. “I love what you did with your place, Sean,” she said, talking as if they had just spoken to each other the day before. “Hmmph. It looks really cozy in here,” she added, while rolling her eyes at the ten-by-thirteen pictures of him and Milan on their wedding day. “So you are married now,” she said, with an attitude. “Your wife is cute.”
Sean ignored her comment. “Look, Brandi, I was really happy to see you last night. I’m glad that we agreed to exchange numbers and all that but,” he said, “what made you come by my house?”
Brandi sighed. “When I just called you,” she began, in an aggressive tone, “you could have easily told me to leave but you didn’t do that. So I assumed that it was okay for me to stay put.”
Sean rubbed his head. He prayed that this situation wasn’t going to be a replay of what happened with Yadira. The nervous Sean looked out of the glass door to see if anyone saw Brandi walk inside.
“What if my wife were here?”
Brandi laughed at that statement. “That’s funny; when you were giving me your cell phone number last night you never once mentioned that you were fucking married!” She threw her hands up in frustration. “You know what, Sean? I’ll just leave,” she said. “Sorry for the intrusion.”
Sean grabbed her arm. “Yo, Brandi, look, babe, you don’t have to leave. I apologize. It’s just that you surprised the hell out of me with this visit.”
Brandi nodded her head. “I gotta apologize to you too, Sean. I guess that I was a little too anxious to see you and, honestly, I think our wires got crossed. I mistakenly assumed that you were unattached being that you gave me the number. You must think that I’m crazy.”
Sean chuckled. “Um, yeah, just a little.”
Brandi smiled.
“And you’re right. I should have been honest and told you that I was married. But I was so happy to see you.”
Brandi crossed her arms. “So, um, where is your wife now?” she asked, looking around the place.
“Lucky for us, she’s out of town on business. She won’t be back in New York until Monday morning.”
“Hmmph. Monday morning, huh?”
Sean nodded his head.
“So let me ask you another question. Why her and not me?”
Sean sighed. “Brandi, I . . .” He paused. “I don’t know, man. I can’t even begin to answer that question.”
Brandi put her finger to her temple, as if she was thinking about something. “I know what it was,” she said. “It was Yadira who fucked everything up for us!” She shook her head. “Look, Sean, I didn’t come here to cause any problems. It’s just that you’ve been on my mind for the last couple of months and ever since I saw you last night, a simple phone call wasn’t enough for me. I just had to see you in person.”
Sean came closer to Brandi and made her look him in the eye. “After all this time, you’re still upset with me, aren’t you?” he asked, with a look of sincerity on his face.
Brandi threw her arms up in defeat. “Truthfully, I don’t know what I am with you.” She began walking toward the door then rolled her eyes in frustration. “Okay, enough of this. I have to keep it real. I fucking missed you, okay? I’ve been missing you all of these years. I can’t get you off my mind! And I was fucking pissed when you let me go! I was hurt because none of what happened with Yadira was my fault! It wasn’t fair the way you treated me in the end! That wasn’t cool at all!”
Brandi began to cry, making Sean feel bad for her. He grabbed her hand. “Come into the living room. Let’s talk,” he said.
Brandi followed him into the living room and sat on the couch. Sean remained standing and began nervously walking back and forth.