“Shit, I didn’t either. That’s why I kicked her ass out of here. She lied, man, flat-out lied about her occupation. I didn’t want to tell you the details because I didn’t want your ass to tell me how badly I fucked up.”
“Well, you did. But we all fuck up sometimes. I hope you learned from your mistakes.
“I feel you, though, about a woman who lies. Ain’t nothing worse than a lying-ass woman. It’s all right for us to lie, but women are supposed to be better than that.”
“I agree. And it sure in the hell hurts when they do,” I said, thinking about Nokea. I wanted to ask Stephon many questions about their relationship, but I didn’t want him to think that I was interested in getting Nokea back. I knew if I said the wrong thing, that would spark an argument between us. I definitely wasn’t trying to go there.
“So, my brotha, how are things going with you and Nokea? She’s just about ready to pop that baby out, ain’t she?”
“Yeah, just about. She’s getting pretty big, but she looks good, though. Cutest little pregnant woman I’ve ever seen,” Stephon said, smiling.
I chewed my food and tapped my fork on the table. “Tell me something... when was the first time you had sex with her?”
Stephon was silent for a while and then cleared his throat. “About two weeks after you did. Remember when you went over to her house—had sex with her after you had been with Felicia in your office?”
“Yeah, I remember. Remember well.”
“Well, she found out about that. She was upset and came to me crying. After that, one thing led to another, and then she told me she was pregnant.”
I thought about our conversation at the funeral. “So, you had sex with her before Aunt Betty’s funeral? Don’t you remember our conversation at the funeral? Just to jog your memory, I told you then that Nokea was the exception. You knew I didn’t want the two of you getting involved. I made that quite clear.”
“Yes, I remember what you said, but she was already pregnant by then.”
I thought about how thick Nokea’s breasts looked at the funeral, and my comments about her thickening up a bit. Stephon wasn’t lying. “Okay, but if we had sex with her only a few weeks apart, how do you know it’s your baby and not mine? After all, she did tell me it was my baby too.”
“First of all, she lied. She told you it was yours because she didn’t want you to punch her stomach. How I know it’s mine is she had her period after she had sex with you. And when she went to the doctor, he pinpointed her delivery date nine months after the last time we had sex.”
Stephon was unable to look me in the eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was because he felt guilty or if he was bullshitting me.
I took a bite of my egg roll, folded my arms, and looked at him. “So, do you love her?”
“Yeah, I can pretty much say I do. Nokea’s been in my heart for a long time, Jay. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but she has. Problem was she could never get over you. But when she did, I saw an opportunity and took it.”
“But the door wasn’t open for you yet. She was still with me and still in love with me when you took it upon yourself to fuck her.”
“I know, but she was tired of all the bullshit. After that incident with you and Scorpio in the shower, that did it. She might have slept with you after that, but her feelings were fading.”
“Man, you know better than I do a nine-year feeling don’t go away just like that. If I had to place a bet on it, I’d say you were the one who approached her and went after her vulnerability.”
Stephon wiped his mouth with a napkin and rubbed his hands together. “Actually, it worked both ways. She came to me, and I was willing to comfort her.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how often do you comfort her now? I mean, since you out kicking it with other women and everything. Is she shaking a brotha down like she supposed to?”
Now, Stephon looked me straight in the eyes. “Not a day goes by that I don’t make love to her. Lately, it’s been here and there, but that’s because of the baby. But I do enjoy every moment I spend with her.”
My throat ached, but Stephon would never know it. Hurt me like hell that I’d waited nine years to make love to this woman, and now she was giving it to my cuz every time he wanted it. I wanted to stop torturing myself with the questions, but I had a few more for Stephon.
“So, if you say you love her so much, why you cheating on her?”
“Because I’m a man and that’s what I do. These other bitches out here don’t mean nothing to me. They just something to play with.”
“Then why can’t you be honest with Nokea and tell her you got other people in your life? I think she’s going to be more hurt by you lying to her than she was by me being honest.”
“And I disagree. I think what she don’t know won’t hurt. Eventually, I’m going to cut the shit anyway; and when I do, I’m going to be with her and only her. So why mess that up by bringing all this drama to the relationship?”
“Okay, man, your call. I just hope you can live by your words.”
“You know I’ll do my best,” Stephon said. He reached out and slammed his hand against mine.
Stephon chilled at my place for a while. We played several games of pool and hooked up my video game to my theater-sized TV in the bonus room. He left the room a couple times and called Nokea. I don’t think he told her he was at my house, but when I heard him tell her he loved her, his words stung like hell. Maybe asking him all those questions wasn’t the right thing to do. I’d never felt jealous before when it came to him, but realistically, he had my woman.
As I thought about Nokea, my heart went out to her. Stephon and I were damaging her. Now, it was all up to him to make things right. At the rate he was going, I didn’t think he was capable of doing that. I’d definitely have to sit back and watch him try.
When Stephon left, I hurried to the bathroom and almost fell to the floor, trying to stop the pain as I urinated. I couldn’t wait to go see my doctor the next day. I truly had nobody to blame but myself for settling for any kind of woman and not fully protecting myself.
I finished up in the bathroom and the doorbell rang again. Damn, can a brotha get some peace around here? I thought. But when I saw who it was through the window, I jetted downstairs to open the door. It was Mackenzie and Scorpio.
When I opened the door, Mackenzie jumped right into my arms.
“Daddy!” she yelled as I hugged her and swung her around in my arms. She gave me a big wet kiss on the cheek, and then wiped the spit off with her hand. “Why did you make me leave?” she pouted.
“Mackenzie, I didn’t make you leave. I had no idea your aunt was coming to get you that night.”
“Mommy said you made us leave, and when I asked why, she said because you were mad at us.”
I put Mackenzie down and cut my eyes at Scorpio. She shut the door and tooted her lips.
“You were mad at us, weren’t you?”
“I was mad at you, not her.” I dropped to one knee and looked into Mackenzie’s eyes. “I’ll tell you the truth one day when you’re old enough to understand. But for now, please know I would never do anything to hurt you.”
She smiled. “Can I go up to my room? When I left, I forgot to get something.”
“Sure, baby. It’s just like you left it. And you don’t have to ask if you can go up to your room because it’s yours. Okay?”
She ran up the steps to her room. I looked at Scorpio, wanting to kill her for lying to Mackenzie.
“Why did you tell her I put her out?”
“Because you did. When you kicked me out, you kicked her out. You didn’t think I would let her stay here, did you?”
“I don’t know, but I’m glad you brought her over here to see me. Has she missed me?”
“Jaylin, I don’t know what you’ve done to my baby. She’s been crying almost every day, talking about how much she misses her daddy. Why did you tell her that you were her father? You’re gonna confuse her, and she don’t need that r
ight now.”
“Scorpio, look, I explained to Mackenzie what type of daddy I was. She knows I’m not her biological father.”
“No, she doesn’t. She really thinks you’re her daddy.”
“Well, I’ll have a talk with her later so she’ll understand.”
Scorpio walked further into the house and her eyes scanned the rooms. “Have you had company lately?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know who’s been getting what I’ve been thinking about every day since I left. Excuse me; I mean since you kicked me out.”
“Get over it, would you? You know damn well that I had a good reason. Now, I was wrong for putting my hands on you, but I apologized for that.”
“Naw, baby, you apologized with your mouth. I was hoping you would apologize with something else.” She stepped up to me and placed her hand on my goods. Burning and all, my thang had the nerve to get hard. Since she had come over looking very good, I had to make sure I kept my distance and focused my mind elsewhere.
She placed her arms on my shoulders. “You know what I want?” she said, kissing me on the lips.
I eased my arms around her waist. “What do you want, baby?”
“I—you don’t mind if I’m blunt, do you?”
“Be as blunt as you’d like.”
“I want to have sex—fuck you, right now. I’m in no mood for those five-minute, I’m-too-tired fucks, but one of those all-nighters you give me when you’re at your best.”
My dick throbbed. I wanted to strip her ass naked and wear her out right then and there. But how was I going to get myself out of this one tonight?
I kissed her forehead and massaged her butt. She backed away and led me up the steps. When we got to my room, I was able to come up with an excuse to save me for a while.
“Scorpio, you know I can’t make love to you with Mackenzie still wide awake.”
“Oh, I know. But I kept her up all day so she’d go to bed early tonight.”
“You just knew you could bring your little sexy self over here and use a brotha for his thang when you wanted to, huh?”
“Yeah, pretty much; especially when he be using a sista for hers when he wants to.”
I hopped off the bed and got me a shot of Remy. I almost didn’t care about my little problem. All I wanted was to feel her insides. I tried to talk about something else, but no matter how hard I tried, she kept bringing me back to having sex with her tonight.
I was glad to see Mackenzie come through the doors. But when she came in and rubbed her eyes, I knew what time it was. She yawned and walked over to the chaise to sit next to me.
“Daddy, I’m sleepy. Can I stay the night with you?”
“Of course, Mackenzie. You can spend as many nights as you want with me.”
“So, what about Mommy? Can she stay the night too?”
Scorpio interrupted. “Just one night, Mackenzie. After that, we’re going back home. I’ll bring you over next weekend to see Jaylin.”
Mackenzie leaned on me and started to cry. “Daddy, why can’t I live with you? I don’t want to go to Aunt Leslie’s house anymore.”
I held her in my arms and wiped her tears. I knew how she felt; it was the same way I felt when I had to go live with my Aunt Betty. I carried Mackenzie to her room and told Scorpio we’d have to talk when I came back.
I read a bedtime story, and Mackenzie was asleep in less than ten minutes. I was so glad she was back in my life. There was no way she was leaving me again.
Scorpio had already taken off her clothes and was under the covers. She had the blankets up to her neck and a wide smile across her face. I sat on the bed and pulled the covers off her, just to get a good look at what I couldn’t have. I rubbed my hand on her breasts and wiggled my hand down to her belly button. I lowered my hand again and cupped her pussy. My fingers slowly entered her wetness, and she widened her legs so I could dig deeper. Touching her excited the hell out of me, but I could go no further.
“Baby, I can’t ...I can’t make love to you tonight,” I said, removing my fingers.
She squeezed her legs together. “And why not, Jaylin?”
I thought about telling her the truth, but I couldn’t.
She picked up Sexy Chocolate’s business card on my nightstand and tossed it to me. “Is this why you can’t make love to me? Did you have sex with her last night?”
I crumbled the card in my hand and massaged my goatee. “Yeah, baby. I did. I, uh, brought her here last night and things happened.”
“Do you want to tell me about it, or should I call her so she can tell me like she told me this morning after she left?”
Damn, I was busted. Didn’t even dawn on me that she knew Scorpio. She used what Sexy Chocolate told her to attack me even more.
“Yeah, that’s right, Jaylin. I knew she wasn’t lying to me because she described your ‘million-dollar mansion’ to a T. She told me how you fucked her so good and made her come six times. Said you banged her on the floor and in the shower. And then told me how good your dick tasted. When she gave me the exact measurements, I had to hang up on her. But the killing part about it was she said another bitch was waiting for you when you got here. When she described her, it didn’t sound like anybody I’d ever seen you with, so I guess she’s a new bitch, huh?”
I couldn’t do nothing but sit there and listen. Seemed like if I tried to open my mouth, she already had the answer.
“You really don’t waste no time, do you?” she said. “Kicked my ass out just to let somebody else in. I offered my body to you tonight because I wanted to see if you’d allow me to go behind her. I guess I should pat you on your back for backing out of it, huh?”
“Hey, it was the least I could do,” I said in a sarcastic tone.
“You’re pathetic, Jaylin, and you seriously need to cut the bullshit before it’s too late.” Scorpio pulled the covers back over her and turned away from me.
That was fine with me. I went downstairs and lay on the couch so I didn’t have to hear any more of the drama. I knew I wasn’t right, but I was my own man. I didn’t have any ties anywhere and was free to do whatever I wanted.
But when I thought about it more, I realized Scorpio was probably hurting the same way I was when I found out about Stephon sleeping with Nokea. I went to sleep thinking of a way to make it up to her.
I sat on the examination table and waited for my doctor to come back in with the results. She was a beautiful and classy forty-seven-year-old woman, and if she wasn’t married, I would have tried years ago to knock her. When she walked in, she lowered her glasses and peered over them.
“Jaylin Rogers, you know better. How many times have I told you to use a condom? You’re a grown man and you shouldn’t be naive when it comes to sex.”
“Doc, I’m still a young man,” I joked. “I’m only thirty-one.”
“Well, you’ll be thirty-two soon. You need to start being responsible for your actions. So, how many girlfriends do you have now?” she asked.
“None.”
She chuckled. “You wouldn’t be all messed up down there if you didn’t have any.”
“Doc, I’ve been waiting on you. Waiting for you to tell your husband you’re marrying a young man like me.”
“Jaylin, please. I wouldn’t trade my monogamous husband in for something like you to save my soul. You need to get your mind out of the gutter and start putting it to work like you did when you landed your job. Leave all these fast-tail women alone and start taking care of yourself. This time, your test shows positive for gonorrhea. Next time, it might be something else. And you know what I mean.”
“I got you, Doc. But you act like a brotha forever coming up in here with these kinds of issues. This was my first time, and as many—” I paused.
“Go ahead, say it. As many women as you’ve slept with, you could have had something a long time ago, right? But having unprotected sex one time is too many, Jaylin. And who says you don’t have anything else? Gonorrhea
is just the first sign. If you’ve been messing around for a long time without using protection, I suggest you get an AIDS test done. Today.”
“Are you serious? You know I ain’t got no damn AIDS.”
“I’m just trying to be on the safe side. Go get yourself tested, and when your results come back, we’ll talk about it then. Before I forget, make sure you contact your recent sex partners and tell them to get checked out. I know that might be a difficult task, but they need to be tested too.”
“Trust me; I am not out there as bad as I could be. I’ve made some mistakes, and I promise you I’m going to correct them.”
My doctor tooted her lips then gave me a shot and a prescription. When she said I couldn’t have sex for two weeks, I placed my hand on my chest.
“Damn, you’re breaking my heart. Two whole weeks? Why two weeks?”
“Because I said so. And you should be ashamed of yourself. Get your butt out of here and go take that test like I told you to,” she said, hitting me on the butt with a towel.
“Now, you know that turns me on,” I said, holding my behind.
“Jaylin, go! Get out of here before I have you arrested for statutory rape.”
I was laughing as I left. I went down the hall and took the AIDS test. They told me my doctor would be in touch.
By the time I got home, Nanny B was there cleaning up the place—with the help of Scorpio and Mackenzie. Just to make sure the cleaning was to my liking, I helped too. I was delighted to have Mackenzie back in my life, and seeing Scorpio again was a good thing too. I just wasn’t sure if we’d work on our relationship again, and I didn’t know if I had what it took to give it another try.
31
FELICIA
Jaylin didn’t have to worry about me calling him anytime soon. After he choked and damn near killed me, I’d had enough. I hadn’t called him since then, nor did I intend to.
My ex-boyfriend, Damion, was back in my life. No matter how hard I tried to pretend Paul had set it out for me, I couldn’t. Dick just couldn’t do the job I wanted it to do. And after I made it perfectly clear to Damion that I wasn’t going to put up with his baby mama’s drama, he promised me there would be no more confrontations.
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