The Fight Within

by Laveen, Tiana

  “I know.” Brian laughed lightly. “You send me those text jokes every now and again.

  “That’s right,” Sean grinned when the boy reminded him. The texting had become second nature to him. “It’s my way of sayin’ I’m thinking about you, and that you’re important to me. Look,” he sighed, released the boy, and ran his hand down his face, “I know I’m not your father. I know I’m just your mom’s boyfriend, but I want you to know that you can come and talk to me like this anytime you want. You can tell me things and know that unless your life is in danger, I would never in a million years repeat anything you share with me with anyone. Do you understand me?”

  The boy paused for a moment, then nodded.

  “Okay.”

  “I don’t care what it is, Brian…this is a no-judgment zone. If you’re having some sort of problem, and you think you can’t talk to Treasure or one of your friends about it, I ask, no…I encourage and just about beg you to come to me. I’m a lot of shit that ain’t so great,” they both laughed, “but one thing I am good at is listening. I hear what people say, and what people don’t say. I’m good at it because for me, it’s the key to really understanding people that need to be heard, especially children.”

  “Okay, I hear you.”

  “Do you promise to consider me should you need to vent, shoot the shit, or just get an opinion?”

  “Yeah, I promise.” The boy offered a lopsided smile.

  “Good, now get your lying ass back in school.”

  Brian burst out laughing. “I was tellin’ the truth! We really did get out early today, man!”

  “Okay, well, just making sure.” He reached for him once again and ran his hand over his shoulder. “Look, next week, I will make an appointment for you at my friend’s studio. This time, it will be just you and him.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Of course I am. I know that’s what you like. You need to express that creativity, use it. Your mother put one of your CDs in my car a long time ago…you’re good, very good! I knew that before I took you to the studio. The only problem is, you don’t have quality equipment.”

  “I know.” Brian rolled his eyes. “I got cheap shit, like my Mirko MK2 and other stuff. I mean,” he shrugged, “it does the trick, but I refused to ask my mom and dad for the money. This is something I wanted to do for myself, you know?”

  “I get that, and it is really admirable of you, actually. But in the meantime, you need to be in an environment that can really help you hone your skills and produce a more quality sound. Once you start selling beats, you can initially use that money to buy better stuff, but you have to have better sounding stuff first before you can do that. You’re really talented, and it needs to shine.”

  “I’m surprised you know about this stuff, man!” Brian giggled. “You just don’t look like the type.”

  Sean smirked and pointed at him. “That’s exactly why you should never be like how I used to be.”

  “…And what was that?”

  “Judging a book, or in this case, a person, by their cover…their appearance. Everything that glitters isn’t gold and everything that looks broken and torn apart isn’t worthless. Sometimes it’s a treasure in disguise…”

  ‡

  Chapter Nineteen

  “No, Mama, actually you don’t.” Sean sat across from Treasure on the bed, which was littered with stacks of paper, paint sample booklets and pricing binders. Treasure held the cell phone tight to her ear, damn near squeezing the life out of it. “Because it is my private life, that’s why…” she snapped, placing her hand over her forehead in frustration.

  “Hang up…” he whispered. He must have been tired of watching her suffer for twenty full minutes. So was she—utterly exhausted.

  Yet, she forged on, even with the certainty that talking any sense into her mother would be futile. She shook her head and placed her finger to her lips.

  “So Jackson called you tonight and told you that I’m not being responsible and then you take it upon yourself to call me and talk to me about parenting! The same woman who couldn’t raise a damn puppy, let alone a child!” Her voice trembled as she got to her feet. They sank into the carpet as if she were falling in quicksand. Her body temperature soared and she became slightly lightheaded. She shot a glance at Sean. The man had bunched her cream and violet paisley sheets in the grip of his hand, so tightly it looked as if he were having a hand spasm.

  “No, that’s not how it is…you know what, Mama? I’m getting off this phone. Please don’t call me back about this craziness. You rarely call me and the time that you do, it is in defense of Jackson, of all people.”

  “That’s enough. I’m sick of this!” Sean leapt from the bed despite her protests and grabbed the phone out of her tight grasp. “Look, Ms. Foster, this is Sean…the man that you’ve been talking about…yeah, I broke up a happy home.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m your daughter’s boyfriend and…Uh, no,” he smirked and held his hand up. Just like her mother to talk over him. “You’ve said quite enough.” She couldn’t but grin a bit at the way he spoke. It pleased her that he was trying to sound all diplomatic, but knowing her mother as she did, it wouldn’t last long.

  “Uh huh, I see…and when did you prove that I wasn’t worth a red cent? Is there some special machine you can put people in and it decides their worth? … Right, I see…I’m being real nice here…how much do I make? I don’t see how my salary is anyone’s business but my own. Really? I see. How much money do you make, Ms. Foster? Is that social security check getting you to the Hamptons each year? Uh huh, no, I’m not being a smart ass, Ms. Foster, because I don’t believe you are capable of understanding anything smart that would come out of anyone’s mouth so I wouldn’t even waste my time with that…Yes… Treasure may feel that she owes you something, but I certainly do not. What you are doing is abusive. Oh really? What would you call it then?!”

  Treasure made her way back over to the bed and took a seat. She simply couldn’t take anymore. Her ex-husband was calling her mother, who in turn called her and cursed her out, and now the woman was talking to her boyfriend, spewing her hate-filled venom. And, he was trying to resist ripping the old woman apart with mere words.

  “She’s asked you…she’s asked you to…uh huh, I don’t care what names you want to call me, Ms. Foster, it doesn’t change the fact that you are out of line and quite frankly, sick! Now look, don’t call her again about her ex-husband!” He pointed down at the rug. “He can call you fifteen hundred times, making up things, whining, complaining and moaning, but it won’t change anything because his concern is not about his children, it’s about me!”

  “Sean,” Treasure said his name wearily, so tired… “Just hang up.” She waved her hand at him. “I’ve had to do it, and now she is going to make you do it, too. I’m through, done. Just let her go.”

  “Really?” He ignored her, kept on talking to the horrid woman. “Yeah…I’m a pink toe peckerwood? Okay, fine. Goodbye, Ms. Foster, I have to go to the dry cleaners and pick up my Ku Klux Klan robe now, raise my arm and salute Hitler then rally down in Birmingham in favor of segregation and you are delaying me from my racist buffet.” He slammed the phone down.

  The two said nothing for several minutes and time did nothing but make her muscles tighten beneath her flesh, twist and knot with anxiety. She’d made peace with the notion of keeping her distance from the woman… but then out of the blue, Mama reappeared, carrying a torch, lit especially for her estranged son-in-law.

  “One day I’ll find this funny, but it won’t be today,” she uttered.

  Sean paced her bedroom like a caged tiger, then stopped right across from her in the doorway of her bedroom. It took all of her will to not ask him to leave, to simply turn around and walk out the door from whence he came. She hated that she was still upset, moved by the woman’s callous words. Why couldn’t she just let the shit roll off her like water against oil? As Sean had said in a joking manner as she made up her face in th
e gym, who was she trying to impress?

  What was the purpose of this?

  I don’t really want him to leave. I’m just embarrassed is all.

  She lowered her head and wrung her hands together.

  At least the kids were asleep, didn’t have to bear witness to any of this.

  He casually moved away from the door and approached her, sat down beside her. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he drew her closer.

  “Your mother has some problems and they aren’t a reflection of you. I’m telling you what you already know, though.”

  “Yeah, I know.” She continued to look down into her lap.

  “Your ex-husband is a big time manipulator and so is she. Treasure, you’re better than this. You’ve set your standards to a certain level regarding how you conduct your business, the type of mother you are, and the type of romantic relationship you wanted to have. You gave all of us rules to play by.” He began to count off his fingers. “Your clients are important. You make them feel important, but not at the detriment of time with your children. You are professional with them and go the extra mile for them, doing all that you can to ensure that their vision materializes. Secondly, you are trying to foster a loving environment for your children. You encourage them in school and extracurricular activities and you are very protective of them. Thirdly, you didn’t want to deal with a guy that was going to make your life harder, ’cause you didn’t need more stress.

  “You let me know that, though you loved me, there would some things you wouldn’t accept, despite how you felt about me—and together, we worked on some things. But when it comes to your mother, it is a free for all!” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “You’re like an entirely different person with her. Enough is enough. I sat here for a long ass time watching you on the phone with this woman, arguing back and forth, repeating yourself over and over, and nothing you said registered or went through to her. Baby, just because someone brought us into this world doesn’t mean they are good for our world…”

  Slowly she lifted her head and met his gaze, and couldn’t help but crack a smile. Tracing his face ever so leisurely, she leaned in close and kissed him. “Why do you have to be so damn smart?”

  “Because I must be an old soul like the psychic said,” he teased with a half grin. “Shit, I don’t know but I what I do know is that I can’t let this happen. I don’t give a shit who it is, I won’t let anyone hurt you, Treasure.”

  “Funny thing is, I already decided to leave her alone some weeks ago. I haven’t spoken to her in a long time. I felt guilty because I was okay with that… I didn’t miss her, it didn’t hurt. Matter of fact, it felt good. But then, I got silly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I saw she was calling, I thought she was doing so to tell me she was sorry or something, since we hadn’t spoken in so long. She rarely makes contact, so I just assumed maybe she’d finally seen how she was acting. She didn’t. I wasn’t surprised, but I’m disappointed in myself for even thinking she was going to give a damn, to care about someone else for a change.”

  “That’s because you expect her to be somewhat like you. You think, deep down, she cares, or at least wants to. Treasure, some people are just born soulless. They don’t give a shit, simple as that. In this case, that person is your mother. Sorry, but it’s true and you know it.” He huffed.

  She nodded in agreement, then scooted as close as she could to him, virtually sitting atop his lap.

  “Jackson started this shit.” She gritted her teeth. “He knew it would upset me. He knows the problems I’ve had with her.”

  “Fuck him and if he calls here again like he did last week with some bullshit, he can get some, too.”

  She burst out laughing.

  “Sean, you can’t go around beating everyone up!” She cackled.

  “I’m not, trust me. If I did, you’d have no one to complain about, and that includes some of your clients who think that you should be at their beck and call.”

  She nodded in agreement and kept right on laughing…

  Boy, it felt good to laugh even in the midst of it all. She imagined Sean punching Jackson in the face, a thought that gave her great pleasure. On a sigh, she wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, brought him closer, and placed a heated kiss against his soft lips. His protection of her very life encompassed her with internal warmth. His love and concern for her embraced her like a soft blanket, sensuous to the touch. There was no doubt that she was closer to him, not just in body, but in spirit…and most certainly her mind, which was the greatest aphrodisiac of all…

  “Mmmm.” He moaned in her embrace and held her tighter, tracing her lips with his moist tongue, then slicking his way inside. “Mmmm!” He roamed her back with eager hands, pulling and tugging at her light orange silk gown.

  “Come on,” she urged after tearing away from him. Rising from the bed, she dragged him with her across the room and tore her en suite bathroom door nearly off the hinges. “I’ve got too much shit all over the bed! Let’s do it in here.” She pulled and yanked at his sweater and thick black leather belt. Shoving her hands away, he did the honors. In no time flat, her gown was tossed beside the tub and he stood before her bare naked, scarred and bruised from his training, and sexy as the fucking day he had walked into her life. He cracked his knuckles, craned his neck and rotated his left shoulder just so, causing his Celtic cross tattoo to glisten under the blazing lights.

  Lights…

  She reached to turn the bright things off, but he grabbed her fingers and pulled her down onto the jade colored floor. The smooth, cool squares pushed into her back, awakening her senses as she shivered a time or two. Her back muscles constricted against them, her flesh screamed and delighted all at once. Her eyes widened from the unexpected sensation, the tiles reminiscent of ice that refused to melt against her flesh.

  “Leave that shit on.” Covering her like a blanket, he draped her body, giving her instant heat. He competed with the coolness of the floor, beating it at a game of sensual opposites.

  “Mmmm!” She ran her fingers through his hair, messing the shit up. It felt so good against her fingers. Compelled to touch him, kiss him, she layered his forehead with quick, urgent pecks until she couldn’t anymore. For he’d disappeared, his face between her breasts, his mouth sucking and kissing her exposed flesh. Curling his big hand over her right breast, he squeezed, and she groaned when he engulfed the thing in his hot, wet mouth.

  “Mmmmm!” He kept right on, sucking harder and harder, latching to her nipple like a newborn baby.

  “Ahhh,” she sighed. The man’s cock poked and prodded her garden, the waterfall dripping, and he hadn’t even ventured there yet. As if on cue, he knocked her thighs apart, rose up on one arm and guided himself inside of her with the other.

  “Uhhhh!”

  “Ahhhh…Ahhhh…” She closed her eyes at the delicious and overdue intrusion. His big dick drove in and out of her, sliding her up and down against the floor with expert precision. Sean flicked the tip of his tongue over her left breast, showering it with sweet affection while he thrust deep and hard within her.

  “Uhhh!” Pausing, his body shaking, he groaned, then continued.

  She looked between their bodies, wanting to see the shit he was doing for the feeling was so damn good, it should’ve been outlawed.

  “Let me see! Let me see it going in and out!” She pushed up on his chest, demanding a front row seat to her own show. He immediately did as told, a mischievous grin on his face.

  “Uhhhh! You like that? You like to watch my big cock going in and out of you? Such a fuckin’ freak!”

  “Yes! Yes, I like it!”

  “Uhhh!” He pushed all the way in and stopped to look deep into her eyes, forcing her to feel his maximum impact.

  “Shit! Ahhhh! Feels so good!”

  He kept right on, thrusting and moving, grinding and shoving. His hips dipped and withdrew as his pace increased. Wrapping her legs around his waist,
she grinded into him, wanting to feel the man erupt inside of her. He slid up and down, lying a bit at an angle, which caused her clit to swell further from his maneuvers.

  “Cum on this dick!” he ordered, wrapping his hand around her neck. “Cum on it! Let me feel all that wetness between your legs running all over my cock!”

  Starry eyed, she looked up at him. His rugged, handsome face drew her in, and his dick sealed her fate.

  “Ahhhh…Ahhhh!”

  She was rendered speechless when her body convulsed and rained down on the man. He looked away from her, watched her pour her appreciation upon him, and his lips kinked in a satisfied smile. Before she was finished, the man lay back down atop her, holding her down by the shoulders and pounding hard and steady for dear life.

  “Uh!Uh!Uh!” She could feel the warm breath from his mouth as he moved his ass up and down, tearing her up and putting her back together stronger and better than before. “Uhhhh!”

  …He poured inside of her.

  Filled her with liquid warmth, over and over again. She latched tight to his slick frame, her body covered in perspiration, and ran her lips up and down the side of his face as he simply lay there with his eyes closed. His weight, his hold of her, comforted her. He looked so damn peaceful, she almost didn’t want to move, lest she disturb the beautiful sleeping brute. After a few moments, Sean’s eyes fluttered open and he lifted himself slightly from her body. Grabbing the base of his cock, he slowly slid out of her, then took her hand to help her off the floor. Without another word, he was on his feet, starting the shower.

  They said nothing to one another, but her pussy was talking a mile a minute. The damn thing throbbed and pulsated, as if the man were still inside of her. She loved it, the way he’d push her open with his girth and length, leave his mark, have her walking a bit slower for the first hour or two after he was done with her, turned her loose…

  He stepped inside the shower. When the water hit his hair, the strands darkened, fell over his face. He swiped the rich, luscious locks away with his hands.