“Oh, no, you didn’t!” I yelled.
“Oh, yes, he did!” Shane said, sitting at the table next to Stephon. “And did it straight up behind our backs.”
“Y’all brothas know how I feel about Mona. So, don’t pretend that y’all didn’t see the shit happening,” Stephon said.
“Honestly, I didn’t. You’ve only known her for a few months.” I peeked out of the kitchen door to make sure Mona couldn’t hear me. She and Daisha were talking, and opening up their gifts from each other. “Man, you just told me you were with Rachelle the other night,” I whispered. “Come on, dog, what’s up with that?”
“I know,” Shane said. “Brotha just told me he went and knocked out Felicia for one last time. Man, you seriously should have thought about this, before making such a commitment.”
“Shane! Jay! Get out my business. I know what I’m doing. Mona is the kind of woman who understands me. She knows what I want, and she knows what I need. Most of all, she ain’t tripping off no other females. So, prepare yourselves, she’s going to be my wife whether you fellas like it or not.”
Shane and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. “Stephon,” Shane said. “I’m happy for you, but—”
“Shane, please don’t start with all that theoretical bullshit.” Stephon walked over to the kitchen counter and leaned against it. “Life ain’t about that all the time. Y’all brothas both know that the chances of anyone having a monogamous relationship these days are slim. If the woman ain’t cheating, the man for damn sure is. All I’m saying is enjoy what you have for as long as you can have it.”
I held my hands open and gave Stephon a hug. “This time, I hope it’s right. I support you because I love ya. However, I do not agree with any of that bullshit you just said. Marriage is supposed to be a sacred thing between two people and two people only. I can’t seem to get to that point yet, but if you insist that maybe one day you will, congrats, and I wish you well.”
“Get your ass over here and give me a hug, fool,” Stephon yelled at Shane. Shane stood up and gave his congrats too.
We all stood around talking. “You know what’s funny?” Shane said. “Why every time a man announces he’s getting married it feels like he’s planning a funeral, looking at it from his boys’ point of view. It’s just so hard for us to be happy no matter how hard we try. I can recall all the fellas who stepped to me and said they’re getting married. I was hesitant to simply say congratulations.”
“I know man, it’s scary,” I said. “Things are just not what they used to be.”
“But you can’t let statistics scare you out of it,” Stephon said. “See, Mona understands that you have your Good Dogs and your Bad Dogs. A Good Dog will take care of his woman, take care of the kids, and take care of the finances. However, he will stray every once in a while, truly meaning no harm, and wouldn’t give up his wife for nothing in the world. But a Bad Dog, he’s dissing his woman, not taking care of the kids, barely hanging onto a job, and fucking everything in sight. He will trample from one woman to the next and get married about three, fo’, five times, just to uplift he’s ego. Problem is, too many women be liking these Bad Dogs. Why? I haven’t a clue.”
“So,” Shane said. “Do you really consider yourself a Good Dog?”
“Mona thinks I am, or if not, she thinks I can be. Honestly, though, I’m just a Good Dog who loves a woman with some bad-ass pussy, that’s all.”
We all laughed and gave each other five.
“Mr. Shane?” I said. “Whatever happened with you and Jeanette? Daisha told me you decided to kick it with Amber. What’s up with that?”
“Well, if you would answer your damn phone, or call a brotha back sometimes, you would know. I just felt a better connection with Amber. And yes, I did get down with both of them that night, but I talked it out with Amber, asked her if we could still kick it and she’s cool. It’s nothing serious, we just hang out every once in a while. What about you? I see you’re hanging pretty tight with Daisha. Does that mean Scorpio’s history? If so, let a brotha know so he can make his move, please.”
Stephon had the nerve to give Shane five. I looked at both of them and smiled. “Never, ever, ever will I let her go. You brothas need to hang it up. Daisha’s cool, digging her like a motherfucker, so who knows. But Scorpio’s right here.” I placed my hand on my heart and winked. “And Nokea’s right there too.”
“Fuck you, man,” Stephon said. “I’m giving up on your ass. You don’t know what the hell you want.”
“Uh, I know what I want. Thing is, though, I don’t have to choose. You’re the one getting married, remember, not me.”
“Jay, let me put it to you this way,” Shane said, getting ready with some more of his theoretical bullshit. “If the world were ending and God said you can choose one woman to live the rest of your life with in heaven, and Scorpio, Nokea, and Daisha were standing right in front of you, who would you take with you?”
Stephon moved in closer so he could hear. “You brothas all up in my bit-ness, ain’t y’all? But, uh, to answer your question, I’d quickly take Scorpio’s beauty, her sexy-ass body, and good-ass pussy, then I’d take Nokea’s charming, loving, and so thoughtful and caring ways, then Daisha’s sexy, intelligent, smart, creative, spiritual mind and wrap them all up in one. After that, I’d make my way on up the elevator.”
“You are so full of shit,” Shane said. “But if it ever comes down to it, and you have to decide which one of them you want to be with, what you just said about them might help you find your answer. What is the most important thing to you? Scorpio’s good-ass loving, Nokea’s thoughtful caring ways, or Daisha’s spirituality?”
“It’s called variety, Negro,” I said. “I like variety, so I’ll never choose. The truth is, if I did choose, I believe I’d eventually get whatever additional things I needed from just one of them. That’s just the type of women all three of them are.”
Our conversation was getting pretty deep, so Daisha and Mona came into the kitchen to shut us up. We sat around until five o’clock, and then Daisha said she was ready to go. Shane left and said he was going to spend some time with his exgirlfriend’s family, and Mona and Stephon were anxious to spend their first night together as an engaged couple.
On the drive to my house, Daisha talked about how happy she was for Mona and prayed that Stephon would treat her right. I didn’t say a word because I knew deep down he wouldn’t be right. He just didn’t have it in him, but I was starting to wonder if I did. I enjoyed being with Daisha, but I was missing Scorpio more and more each day. I couldn’t help how I felt. Maybe this was a time for me to consider making some changes. I had messed up with Nokea, and I couldn’t figure out if I was going about this thing with Scorpio the wrong way or not. Some days I felt so much love for her, but there were other days that I felt as if my love could be considered lust. I often struggled with this love business, and my past issues with how I felt about women in general made this extremely difficult for me. I was determined not to lose out again, but for now, my day belonged to Daisha.
There was a small package in the doorway and I picked it up. When we entered the house the phone was ringing, so I set down the package on the bottom step.
I rushed to the phone, but when I saw Scorpio’s number on the caller ID, I let it go into voicemail. I had listened to her message last night, and she’d thanked me for the gifts, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to her.
Ready to get our grub on, Daisha and I took from the fridge the turkey, dressing, ham, scalloped potatoes, greens, yams, and cornbread that Nanny B had cooked, and warmed it up. We piled our plates high, and went upstairs to my bedroom to get comfortable. I lit the fireplace and turned on the TV. Before we sat down in bed to eat, Daisha reached for my hand and blessed our food. Our shoes hit the floor and we rested our backs against the headboard.
“This is really delicious,” Daisha said with her mouth full. “Did you say your nanny cooked this for you?”
“Yes. She is an awesome cook. That’s why I have to faithfully work out, because if I don’t, my ass will be in trouble.”
“You do have a nice body, Jaylin. How often do you work out anyway?”
“I used to work out every day. I’ve been kind of getting lazy, so now, I’m down to about three or four times a week.”
“And how often do you get a work out from having sex?” She batted her eyelids and bit down on her fork.
“Are you asking me if I’ve had sex since I was last with you?”
“Yes.”
“No, I haven’t. But I do like to work it out at least—”
“Be honest, Jaylin.”
“Okay, honestly, I like to work it out about seven days a week. Five days would suffice, but seven days would be perfect.” I reached over and fed Daisha some potatoes, since she didn’t have any on her plate. “So, what about you?” I asked. “How often do you like to ‘work out’?”
She swallowed the potatoes. “Those are delicious, I should have taken some myself. I could probably work out seven days a week too, depending on who I’m with. However, with my busy schedule, I’d say I could probably get around to it . . . maybe, once or twice a week.” She reached over and put some collard greens in my mouth. “Now, did I just blow my chances with you?”
I smiled and chewed. “No, you didn’t. The key words you said were ‘depending on who you’re with.’ And depending on who you’re with, your busy schedule isn’t going to stop you from making love to a brotha if he’s good.” I reached over and put another spoonful of potatoes in her mouth. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
She chewed. “I guess, but he has to be awfully darn good.”
I took her plate and put it on top of mine. Then I laid both plates on my nightstand. I scooted over and Daisha raised her skirt and straddled me. She removed her scarf from around her neck and wrapped it around mine. I started to undo her blouse. “Damn good, huh? What if he was extremely damn good?” I asked.
She leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “Then I’d sex his sexy-ass up seven days a week, or until he had enough of me.”
The phone rang. Daisha rose up, and when I looked at the caller ID, I saw it was Stephon. I picked it up.
“What, fool, what is it?” I yelled.
“Damn! That’s how I get treated?”
“I’m in the middle of something, man.”
“I’m sure you are, but I was just calling to tell you that you left your Rolex over here. Now, if you want me to take this motherfucker to Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry and pretend that I didn’t see it, I will.”
“I’ll pick it up tomorrow. So good-bye.” I hung up on him and the phone rang again. I quickly answered. “Now what, Nigga?”
“Hello, Jaylin.” It was Scorpio.
Daisha quickly grabbed the phone. “Look, Stephon, you and Mona really—” she paused and I snatched the phone from her.
I placed it against my forehead for a second, took a deep breath, then put it against my ear. “Yeah,” I said.
She hesitated. I could imagine her pain on the other end. “Uh . . . do you have company?”
“Yes.”
She hung up.
I put the phone down and looked up at Daisha still straddling me.
“That wasn’t Stephon, was it?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, but don’t worry—”
“I’m sorry. Had I known I never would have grabbed the phone.”
“I know, and as I was getting ready to say, don’t worry about it.” I started to undo her blouse again. “Anyway, where were we?”
“You were just about ready to show me how extremely damn good you are.”
“That’s right, I was, wasn’t I?”
I sexed up Daisha and showed her just that. She whispered to me several times during sex that it couldn’t get any better than this, and I agreed.
Daisha had fallen asleep, so I took our plates downstairs to the kitchen and washed them. On my way back upstairs, I noticed the package that I had earlier laid on the steps. Curious to find out what it was, I sat on the couch and opened it. Enclosed was a pen set with my initials engraved on them, and an ornament with a picture of Scorpio and Mackenzie cheek to cheek, smiling. The words ‘we love you’ were underneath. I placed the ornament on my lips and kissed it, then put it back into the box.
In deep thought about Scorpio, I leaned back on the couch and looked at the blinking lights on the Christmas tree. It was time to leave the past in the past. How I was ever going to be able to move on, I wasn’t sure. But one thing I knew, and that was I couldn’t stand to hurt Scorpio any more than I had already.
I closed my eyes, and suddenly Aliayah’s “I Care For You” played loudly throughout the house. I smiled as Daisha sang and slowly came down the steps, heading toward me. She straddled my lap and continued to sing along with the music. When she finished, I clapped my hands and held her hips.
“You’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?”
“No, I just want you to forget about where you’ve been and think about where you’re going.”
“Is that with you?”
“I hope so. But you tell me, is it?” Daisha leaned forward and kissed me.
“Wait a minute.” I backed up and looked at her. “I thought church women are supposed to be nice.”
“We are nice, very nice I might say, but we also know how to get down when we have to.”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”
I kissed Daisha and laid her naked body back on the couch. Sex was being served again, and although I tried hard not to think about Scorpio, I couldn’t shake her from my mind for shit. Nearly ten minutes into it, my rhythm got faster and faster. I was sweating and breathing hard, trying to catch my breath. Daisha held me tightly around my neck, and we both looked down and watched me slide in and out of her. Excited about how wet my thang was, and at the peak of us coming together, she yelled my name and I yelled out, “Scorpio!” Damn! I thought. I fucked up! I dropped my sweaty forehead onto Daisha’s chest.
She lifted my head and gave me a blank stare. “What did you just call me? Did you just say what I think you said?”
I was embarrassed, and shamefully lowered my head. “Daisha, I’m sorry. I just—”
“You just need to get up off me.”
“Look, I understand how you feel, but I just got caught up in the moment.”
“With her or with me? So, please, get up,” she said, calmly.
There wasn’t anything else I could say to Daisha to make this uncomfortable situation any better, so I got up. She didn’t waste any time going upstairs, putting her clothes on, and leaving. Since I stayed downstairs on the couch the whole time, all I heard was the front door slam behind her.
Feeling so badly about what had happened, I rushed to the door to catch her, but her car had already gone down the street. I slammed the front door and sat on the steps. What hurt me the most was that I knew I had just blown it with a very special woman. I had never in my entire life called a woman by another woman’s name, especially during sex.
I went into my office, called Daisha’s voicemail, and left her a lengthy apology. I then called Scorpio and tried to clear up my situation with her. When she picked up on the first ring, I could tell she was wide awake. There was no doubt that she had been waiting on my call.
“Say, are you busy?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said in a shaky voice. I could tell she’d been crying.
“I just ...I just called to apologize for earlier. A friend of mine—”
“Jaylin, please don’t. There’s no need to explain. I’m tired, baby, and I can’t do this anymore,” she cried. “Mackenzie’s unhappy, and I’m unhappy because I can’t make it without you. All I ever wanted was for you to love me, but your way of loving me has hurt me more than anything in my entire life has. After tonight this will all be over with. You will never have to worry about me again.”
“Wait a minute. You’re not thinking about
killing yourself, are you?”
“I don’t know what I’m thinking, but just know whatever I decide to do it’s for the best.”
“Scorpio, don’t be talking like—” She hung up.
I called back, but the line was busy. I called back again, and again, but still couldn’t get anything except a busy signal. I started to panic. I feared for the worst, and ran upstairs to get dressed. I called the airport to see when the next non-stop flight was to Denver, but there was nothing until four-thirty the next afternoon. I called Enterprise and had them bring me a car.
If Scorpio killed herself, I would never be able to live with myself. And Mackenzie, I thought, what about my baby Mackenzie? Thinking about her, I started rushing even more. I could be in
I reached downtown Denver at twelve-fifteen that afternoon. When I pulled in front of Jackson’s house, I hopped out and left the car door open. No one was inside. I looked around and didn’t see anything unusual at first, but in the bathroom was an empty Tylenol bottle by the sink. I stood for a minute, then I remembered Scorpio telling me about her working at a café not too far from there. I rushed back outside and got into the car.
I hated myself for putting her through so much. As I sped down the street the car slid on the ice, so I finally slowed down. I drove down street after street, and that’s when I saw her walking with her hands in her pockets. Her face was turned away from the gusty cold wind. I pulled over to the opposite side of the street in front of her. She looked up, shocked as hell to see me.
“Get in the car,” I demanded. She rolled her eyes and kept on walking. I ran up behind her and grabbed her arm. “It’s too damn cold out here to be bullshitting, Scorpio, so get in the fucking car!”
She snatched her arm away. “Fuck you, bastard, let go of my arm!” She tried to pull it away, but my grip was tight. I pulled her to the car, opened the door and shoved her inside. I rushed to the driver’s side, but she managed to open the door, and started to get out. I ran back over to the passenger’s side and stood in front of her, the door between us.
“Get back in the car so we can go talk about this, please,” I said.
Naughty 2: My Way or the Highway Page 28