“It wasn’t even like that, Sugar. I had to be there for my son.”
“You could have still been there for your son and not be with her. You lied to me, and I made a decision that could have messed up my future because of it!”
“That’s not true. That decision was a good one. I know you didn’t want to keep escorting, and my suggestion helped you get away from that.”
“By lying to me!”
“I didn’t lie to you. I meant everything that I said. My feelings for you are real.”
“Whatever Marlo, I have to get back to work!”
“Look, is it OK if I take you out later so we can talk to clear some things up?”
“I don’t think so!”
“Please, Sugar, let me make it up to you. I’m not with Mya. I told you I had to be there for the baby, and that’s it,” he begged.
“Make it up to me? I don’t know if that’s even possible at this point. All I see is a liar, and again, you didn’t have to be with her to be there for the baby. Now, I really have to get back to work.”
“Please. I promise I’ll make it all good,” he said as he moved close to me, letting the aroma of his cologne tickle my nose.
“Marlo, I can’t take any more pain.”
“It will be great. I’ll pick you up at eight, OK?”
“OK, I’ll give you a chance to explain. That’s it, and the minute it appears to be a lie, the conversation will be over.”
“I’ll see you at eight then,” he said before kissing me on the forehead and exiting the store.
I watched him leave and prayed that he was being honest with me. I didn’t think I could stand any more disappointment. I wanted to be in love for once and with someone who was genuinely in love with me. So, I decided to give him one more chance.
I was excited when I left work that day, and I rushed home to figure out what I was going to wear on my date with Marlo. I tried on about ten different ensembles before deciding on one—a black dress with a low plunge in the front that showed my cleavage. I put on lotion that glittered and shoes that extended the length of my legs. I fixed my hair and make-up, put on my accessories, and waited for him to arrive. At about five after eight I heard him beep the horn. I put on a slow, sexy walk as I made my way to his new 760 BMW. I entered the car and found a comfortable place in the seat.
“You look good,” he said as he licked his lips.
“Thanks,” I said. “So, where are we going?”
“Somewhere special. It’s a surprise.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, so just sit back and relax.”
I did as he instructed, and we drove for what seemed like an hour. We pulled up to a large home in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. There was a two-car garage in front and beautiful landscaping that filled the entire front lawn. I was puzzled because when he told me that he was taking me out, I thought we would go to a restaurant or something similar.
“So whose house is this?” I asked.
“Ours.”
“Ours? What do you mean ours as if there is an us?”
“I brought you here to our new house. I told you I was seriously going to make everything better. Now I’ve taken steps to do just that, it’s time to show and prove.”
“Are you serious, Marlo?” I said in shock.
“Come on, let’s go in,” he said as he motioned with his hand.
As we entered the house, I couldn’t believe how perfect everything was. I stood there for a minute, just taking in the surroundings. Marlo noticed the look on my face and began laughing hysterically.
“Are you OK?”
“I can’t believe all of this, Marlo, Did you just buy this house?”
“Yeah, I did, just for you and me,” he said, passing me a set of keys.
“I love it!” I said, hugging him and kissing him, sensuously hinting that I wanted to make love to him right at that moment.
“Wait, baby, we have plenty of time for that. I have one more surprise for you.”
“What else could you possibly have for me?”
“Check your keys,” he said, smiling and pointing to the key ring that he had given me.
I looked down, noticing a car key I looked back up at him shocked, “You didn’t?” I said, looking back down at the keys.
“I did; it’s in the garage.”
I ran back outside and waited for him to push the button to open the garage. I began to jump up and down when I saw a brand new red BMW exactly the same as his. I turned back to him and smiled. I couldn’t believe that he would do all of that for me. A few weeks ago I thought he was gone forever, and now he was all mine. I pulled Marlo into the garage and kissed him. I pulled the garage opener from his hand and pushed the button.
As the door closed, I backed away from him and began taking off my dress. He stared at me and licked his lips as his hardened pole began to show through his jeans. I sat on the hood of the car and motioned for him to come closer to me. I placed two fingers in my mouth and then placed them inside of my wet mound as he unzipped his pants and let them drop to the ground. He lifted my legs up and pulled me closer so that my butt was right on the edge of the hood. He quickly rammed his stick inside of me, and I moaned in delight.
“You feel so good,” I moaned as I sucked on his left ear.
He continued to move in and out as I continued to moan loudly. I knew from that moment that I was going to love him, and from the way that he moved, I believed that he would love me too.
After we both reached our sexual peaks, we went up to the master bedroom and showered together, and shortly after that we both fell asleep. I woke up the next morning to a ringing phone. I decided not to answer it because I wasn’t ready for Mya to know about our relationship. Instead I went downstairs to hear the message that the person had left on the answering machine. I pressed the red flashing button and sat down on the arm of the sofa. There was a beep first, then the woman spoke.
“Hey, baby, it’s me Julissa. I waited on you last night. I thought that you were coming over. I had it wet and hot just the way you like it too. Anyway, hit me up when you get this. Love ya!” Click.
I sat there stunned, but I didn’t flip out. I Instead, I erased the message. I listened to the rest of the messages on the machine and there were more messages from her, Mya, and a few other females. I couldn’t really be pissed about people that were there before me, but I would let him know that I knew about them. I went upstairs and noticed that he had gotten up and was in the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to come out.
“Good morning,” I said, smiling.
“Good morning. Who was that on the phone?” he asked.
“Julissa. I guess I ruined your plans with her last night, huh?”
“No, that girl is crazy. I never told her that I was coming over.”
“Well, I’m not mad, but if you could change the number so all of your old flings can stop calling, I would appreciate it.”
“I can do that,” he said before kissing me. “So what were your plans for today?” he asked, sitting down on the bed next to me.
“I didn’t have any plans. I’m off work today. Why?”
“Take this, and go get you some new stuff,” he said, passing me two MasterCard gift cards.
“How much is here to spend?” I asked.
“It’s five Gs. Twenty-five hundred apiece. So have fun on me!”
“Thank you so much!” I said, hugging him.
“So, what are you doing today?”
“The usual work—watching my blocks. But I’m going to go get my little shorty this morning first and hang out with him for a couple hours.”
“Oh, OK. Well, I’m going to get dressed now so I can go spend this money,” I said, laughing.
It didn’t take me long to get dressed and rush out of the house. Marlo had left a little while before I did. I was on my way to Jenna’s to show her my new car when my cell phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID and recognized the num
ber as Mya’s.
“Hello,” I said, uneasy.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing, on my way to the mall!”
“For real? I was looking for something to do since Marlo just came and got the baby. I’m broke, but come pick me up and I’ll go with you.”
“OK.”
I hung up and made the detour to pick her up. I was nervous about the meeting, and I hoped she wouldn’t be able to tell from my actions. I pulled up in front of the building and beeped the horn. Noticing the look on her face when she came outside and saw the new car, I quickly began to think of what story I was going to tell. Mya was aware of the fact that I had quit working for Dyna, and she also knew I had been working at Bloomingdale’s since then. Bloomingdale’s was definitely not enough money to buy a BMW. She stood outside the car staring as I rolled down the window.
“When did you get this?” she asked, pointing at the car in shock.
“Yesterday.”
“How the hell can you afford this?”
“I had a little money saved for a down payment. My credit is pretty cool, so the car payment isn’t that high. Come on, get in,” I said, motioning with my hand for her to get in.
“Girl, Marlo has a car just like this, but his is black.”
“For real?” I said, playing dumb.
“Yeah, but that’s what’s up. You deserve it. So what mall are we going to?”
“King of Prussia. Is that cool?”
“I ain’t buying anything anyway, so any mall is cool.”
I decided to question her about Marlo again to see if anything had changed since the last time I asked. I hoped that I would find out what happened when they broke up the first time since I had been unsuccessful thus far.
“So, what’s up with you and Marlo anyway?”
“Not a damn thing! I think he has a new girlfriend now. I doubt if we’ll ever get back together.”
“Well, what happened?”
“I don’t like to talk about it. It’s a messed up situation that could ruin a lot of lives.”
“Damn, well what’s that bad that you can’t tell me?”
“One day I’ll tell you, but right now I’m not ready.”
“I understand, but do you want him back?”
“I love him with all of my heart, but I know I hurt him and things would never be the same, so I’ve come to terms with that.”
“I didn’t know it was that bad.”
“It’s OK. It was my fault, so I had to let him go. Hopefully the one he’s with will do a better job at making him happy than I did.”
I knew then that I would probably never find out what happened between the two of them, so I decided to let it go. After we reached the mall, I went crazy spending the money that Marlo had given me along with a little of my own. Mya noticed the gift cards and commented that Marlo used to give her gift cards all the time to go shopping. I think that she got suspicious, but I tried to brush it off, hoping that the list of clues wouldn’t put up a red flag about Marlo and me. I tried to move off the subject by suggesting that we go to the food court to eat, and she agreed. After ordering our food and finding a table to sit down at, we continued our small talk until we were interrupted by my ringing cell phone.
“Hello,” I said without checking the caller ID.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?” Marlo spoke gently.
“Having fun spending your money, I can really get used to this,” I said, laughing.
“You will get used to it, because that’s one of the things that I like doing for my woman.”
“Good. Well, I’m out at the mall with my sister, so I’ll call you when I’m done, OK? Don’t miss me too much!”
“Damn, she’s with you?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“All right, just call me when you’re done.”
“Cool!” I said before hanging up.
“A new man?” Mya asked.
“Yeah, well I just got with him.”
“Oh, OK. That’s nice,” she replied blandly.
I assumed that his phone call would have been another hint to her, but it didn’t appear to be. The rest of the shopping trip went off without a hitch, and I dropped Mya back off at home before I went back to my new house to put away my things. While hanging all of my new clothing up in the closet, my cell phone rang again and it was Dyna. I was a little hesitant about answering it, but I knew that she would probably just keep calling back if I didn’t.
“Hello!” I yelled into the phone after I pressed talk.
“What’s up, stranger? How are things going?” she said sarcastically.
“Great, as a matter of fact!” I responded.
“Well, I wonder how great things will be when Mya finds out that you are fucking her baby’s father?”
“What?”
“Yeah, you know you owe me some work, and unless you come back to work for me, I’ll make sure she finds out.”
“Is that supposed to scare me?”
“Don’t think I won’t do it,” she warned.
“Do whatever you want to, Dyna. I’m not coming to work for you, and if you tell her I’ll just deal with it. Have a nice life!” I said, before ending the call.
“Fuck!” I yelled as I sat down on the bed. I knew Dyna would keep trying to ruin my life. I knew she was serious about telling Mya, and though I wasn’t ready for her to find out, it would be a relief. It would mean that everyone could know about our relationship, and we wouldn’t have to hide it. I called Marlo and told him what Dyna said, and he wasn’t worried. He wanted Mya to know about it from day one. I, on the other hand, wasn’t sure how she would react, and I didn’t want to go to war with my flesh and blood. My mother was enough!
Chapter 9
Ruins . . .
The next couple of months were great. Marlo and I were happy, and Mya hadn’t found out about the relationship as of yet. I was beginning to get bored with being a hustler’s girl. I wanted to have my own business, and I laid out my plan to Marlo, who happily agreed to giving me the money. My business would be a gentleman’s club, and I would have one of the best interior decorators to design the look. I began looking for buildings in my spare time and was unable to find one that suited my taste. I was looking for an upscale area; I didn’t want it to be the average club that all of the regular around the way dudes hung out at. I also didn’t want to jump on the first thing I saw, so I took my time and continued to search.
I was out looking at one property when I received a frantic call from Mya. At first I couldn’t understand exactly what she was saying, but soon I heard it loud and clear. My parents had both been killed in a fire at their apartment complex and Mya needed me to meet her at the hospital. She said that my father was pronounced dead at the scene, but my mother died shortly after arriving at the hospital. I would never wish dying on anyone, and though my mother was never really good to me, I cried and was saddened by her death. I called Marlo and told him the unsettling news, and he told me that he would meet me at the hospital as well. I didn’t know what to say to Mya as I arrived and noticed her sitting in tears. I sat down next to her and put my arms around her shoulder. She quickly pushed me away.
“It’s all your fault,” she yelled.
“What’s all my fault?”
“He did it because he thought you knew!”
“Who thought I knew what?”
“He set the apartment on fire because he thought you knew about us,” she cried.
“Mya, I don’t know what you are talking about. What do you mean he did it because of me? “
“I know about you and Marlo, and I can’t believe that you would do that to me.”
“Who told you about that?”
“I saw all of the clues, the car, the gift cards, the phone calls! I’m not stupid. I told Daddy about it because I was upset, and he thought that Marlo had told you about us.”
“About you and Dad? Mya, I don’t understand,” I asked, confused.
“I
loved him so much and he killed his self because of you. I never want to see you again, Sugar! You are nothing but a lying backstabber. I hope you rot in hell!” she screamed as she rose from the bench.
“Mya, I’m sorry about Marlo, but I don’t know what you mean about Dad. How could I have made him kill himself?”
“Fuck your apologies, Sugar. It won’t bring them back! Why don’t you ask Marlo about it? Just stay away from me, Sugar. I never want to see your face again!” she yelled as she walked away.
I got up from the bench still confused. I began to leave the hospital and noticed Marlo walking in. As he got closer to me, he put his arms out to hug me.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“She knows,” I said as I hugged him back.
“She knows what?”
“About us. She said she knows. She blames me for their deaths.”
“How can she blame you for that, and what does that have to do with you and me?”
“She kept saying something about her and my father. Do you know what she could have been talking about?”
“I do, Sugar, but . . .”
“Marlo, I wish someone would just be honest with me,” I said as the tears flowed from my eyes. Though I hadn’t been that close to my family, they were still my family, and I had lost them all in one day.
“Look, let’s go out to the car, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“OK,” I agreed.
After entering his car, I took a deep breath. I was still trying to take in the fact that both of my parents were dead. Marlo looked at me with an unsure look on his face. I was afraid of what he was about to say, and at that moment I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know.
“First I’m going to tell you what brought Mya and me to an end. When Jessica was born with all of the defects I thought damn, how am I going to deal with a sickly child? There were so many things wrong with her that the doctors were skeptical from day one if she would live past three months. They tried to correct as many things as they could before doing surgery, but once everything didn’t work, surgery was the next best thing. Before the surgery they tested Mya and I both for blood type so we could donate blood just in case she needed it during surgery. After we were tested, the doctor told us that I wasn’t a match, and that because of my blood type, there was no way that I could be Jessica’s father. I flipped, and I wanted some answers. I could have never imagined what she told me next,” he said, taking a pause.
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