by Carlos King
“Your face.”
Growing scared, he says, “What?! What is it?!”
“Maybe you should go look in the mirror,” she suggested.
Jovon hesitantly gets up and goes over to the nearest mirror. The reflection he casts nearly causes him to pass out.
“I’M BACK!” he shouted out, laughing profoundly. “I’m motherfucking back!”
Jovon runs his fingers across his restored face. Then he begins patting on his re-chiseled abs. He quickly rushes back toward Shanti and begins hugging her.
“Wait,” she said, bring a hold to the celebration. “I thought your last chance to break the curse passed last night at midnight.”
“It was supposed to,” said Jovon, trying his best to restrain his excitement.
“Then what happened? We didn’t confess our love for each other until after midnight.”
“Maybe we didn’t have to say the words. Maybe all I had to do is fall in love with someone and that same person had to fall in love with me. I think I loved you for a long time now, Shanti. I just didn’t make it official until last night.”
Shanti shines that million dollar smile of hers. “Oh, is that right?”
“That’s right,” Jovon came back. “You know what else is right? What I’m planning on doing to you right now.”
Jovon lunges toward Shanti, burying his face in her neck as she lay back on the bed.
Jovon and Shanti’s antics are interrupted when they hear a knock at the front door.
“You expecting company?” Jovon asked her, pulling his head from her neck.
“No. I don’t know who that could be.”
Shanti gets up and heads for the front door. When she opens the door she finds Vinny, Mike, and Lewis standing outside. She yells back to Jovon. “It’s your crazy friends!” She then turns back to the guys. “What y’all doing here so early?”
Vinny, Mike, and Lewis are all temporarily mesmerized at how good she looks in her silk bathrobe.
Vinny is the first to break from his hypnotized daze. “We got some big news for, J. Is he woke?”
“Yeah, he’s in the back. I’ll go get him. Y’all come on in.” Shanti steps aside and lets the three men enter.
“I think I know what you two were doing last night,” Lewis childishly joked, walking in last.
“Shut up, fool,” Shanti laughed.
As Shanti heads toward the backroom, the guys make themselves comfortable in the living room. Suddenly, a shirtless, chiseled bodied Jovon enters. The guys are stunned to see their friend back to his old self again.
“Whoa, look at this guy!” Vinny shouted.
“J!” Lewis called out.
Supported by crutches under each of his arms, Mike jokingly says, “Go put a shirt on. Hey wait, how come all his bruises from last are gone and we all still look like Craig Mack?”
Taking time to shake the hands of each of his friends, Jovon finally gets around to asking, “So what brings y’all over here?”
“Oh,” Vinny started, “I came to tell you that Mr. Winsor called me today.
“Oh yeah? What he have to say? I’m fired, right?”
“No,” Vinny answered, holding back a smile. “He called to say you got the promotion.”
“You bullshitting?” Jovon initially said in disbelief.
“Nope,” Vinny said shaking his head. “And your insurance company called as soon as I got off the phone with him. They said the remodeling of your house will get underway by the middle of this month.”
Suddenly, Jovon’s cell phone blares out from the bedroom. Shanti brings it to him. “Hello,” said Jovon. “Yes…Okay…Okay, thank you very much.” He hangs up. “That was a detective at the police station. He told me I can come and pick up my car today.” Jovon starts to get emotional. “It’s all starting to come back to me.”
The guys all give Jovon a congratulatory hug. After a short interlude of male bonding, the four men separate.
“So you did it, huh?” Vinny asked Jovon. “You’re back to normal again. You know what this means, right? We got to storm the clubs tonight, baby. With you back in the lineup, we’re guaranteed some girly action.”
Jovon looks back at Shanti, who is standing in the bedroom doorway. He then turns back to Vinny and says, “I think my club hopping days are over.” Jovon glances at Shanti and smiles. “I got everything I need right here.” Shanti returns his smile with one of her own. “Besides, you better not do too much dirt stuff behind Natasha’s back yourself. You don’t want her to call her UFC ex on yo’ ass.”
“Hey forget about it, huh?” Vinny smirked arrogantly. “Me and that broad are done. I broke up with her this morning. With everything you taught me embedded in my memory, I think I’m finally ready to go out on my own. I’m gonna be a beast in this town.”
“That’s just typical,” Lewis remarked. “The student thinks he knows more than the teacher. You hear how he talking, J?”
“Well in this case, the teacher is retiring. I’m done with the pretty boy life.”
Lewis’ eyes widen. “What? You retiring?” Lewis swiftly turns to Vinny. “A, you think you’ll be able to teach me then?”
Shanti calls out to Jovon from the bedroom in a very seductive voice.
Knowing exactly what’s own her mind, Jovon turns to his friends. “A, look, y’all my boys and all, but y’all gone have to get the hell up outta here…Right now.”
Jovon begins ushering his best friends toward the front door.
As they’re being herded out, Vinny says, “Come on, J, forget about her. Come out with us tonight. Me and you can be the dynamic duo.”
“I already got a partner in crime and she’s waiting for me in the bedroom.”
Once Jovon gets his friends out of the house, he locks the door and makes a hasty dash towards the bedroom.
Chapter 22
2 DAYS LATER
Shanti enters a coffee shop located on the outskirts of town. She walks over to a table where the person who is seated there is reading a newspaper. When Shanti announces herself, the reader lowers the paper, revealing their face. It’s Ebony Brooks Paris, the young woman who placed Jovon under the curse.
“Hey, girl!” Ebony greeted.
Shanti releases a brilliant smile. “Hey, Ebony!”
“Ooh, look at that smile on your face. I take it my thirty-day plan worked out just fine, huh?” Ebony asked, as Shanti took a seat.
“And you know it,” Shanti laughed. “We’re actually talking about moving in with each other, girl.”
“I told you it would work. Sometimes all you need to do is give a man a little bit of incentive to get him thinking straight. And what better incentive is there than to take away everything material that he holds dear?”
“You’re absolutely right, girl. Your thirty-day plan was well worth the thousand dollar charge.”
“And remember now, you purchased the two-year-warranty, so if he starts acting up, all you have to do is call me. I’ll put his ass under another curse at absolutely no charge to you.”
“I’ll remember, but he’s really doing better than I ever would’ve thought. I don’t think I’m going to need it. Well, let me get up outta here. I’m supposed to meet Jovon for lunch in an hour. What do you have planned today?” Shanti asked Ebony.
“I’m supposed to be meeting a potential client. She should be here any minute now.”
“Okay, girl,” Shanti grinned as she stood up. “Well, here’s the other half of your money.” She handed Ebony a white envelope. “Thanks again, Ebony…For everything.”
“No problem, girl.”
As Shanti makes her way toward the exit, she passes by a mysterious woman who is wearing big frame sunglasses, a black dress and a large hat that covers the majority of her face. The mysterious lady makes her way towards Ebony’s table and takes a seat. As Ebony begins talking to her, the lady begins to remove her disguise.
“Hello, Ms. Patterson,” Ebony stated in a highly professional manner. �
�Now, what can I do for you today?”
Once the mystery woman removes her hat, her face becomes visible. The mysterious lady is Natasha. The woman Vinny was dating.
Natasha begins, “I’ve heard great things about your business and I was wondering if you could help me?”
“Why don’t you tell me about the person you have in mind,” Ebony said, folding her arms across the top of the table.
“His name is Vincent Valentino,” Natasha stated, “but everyone calls him Vinny. I’m crazy about him, but he’s going through a “playboy” phase.
“Say no more,” Ebony said, sitting back in her chair, smiling. “I already know the type. Now there are several things we can do here, but before we go any further, I’d like to recommend my thirty-day program to you,” Ebony told her, a bright smile on her full face.
THE END