Jason watched her as she closed her eyes for a minute, not speaking or moving. After finishing off his glass of water, he set the glass down on the floor before joining her on the sofa. He picked up her outstretched legs from his side, and placed them gently onto his knee, before he started to rub her left foot. The touch made her open her eyes, looking at him with surprise before she closed them again and relaxed.
“You my best friend now for rubbing my feet” she said through closed eyes.
Jason smiled, and listened to her sighs and moans as he massaged her feet one by one. He couldn’t lie that the noises were turning him on a little bit; after all, he was only a man, but he tried to ignore it as he saw how relaxed she was. Suddenly, in the midst of the foot rub, in their silence, there was a shooting noise from outside, the sound of a gun being discharged from far away. The noise echoed before it was heard again. While Jason stopped mid-rub and listened to the noise slightly concerned, Dee didn’t move from her position. She opened her eyes when she realised he had stopped rubbing, and noticed his face.
“Oh. That’s pretty normal round here, you’ll get used to it.”
“You don’t even react anymore?”
“Nah. It’s like most nights you hear it, so you learn to ignore it.”
“That’s crazy”
“That’s the hood”
Once the two of them had gone upstairs to bed, they lay cuddled up talking quietly before they slept. Jason still couldn’t get over the sound of the gun, and how relaxed Dee had been about it. He knew for her to be so relaxed, she couldn’t be exaggerating about it happening ‘most nights.’ The thought frightened him, when he thought about how often she seemed to be walking the streets at night, and the fact she had a small child made the thought even more harrowing.
“Does Tushaun notice the gunshots?” Jason asked, a random thought turning to an out of context question.
“Yeah. He’s asked before but I just tell him not to worry and he gets on with whatever he’s doing.”
“ I just can’t get over that.”
Dee scoffed, almost laughing slightly. “Trust me, that’s nothing.”
“So what is something?”
Dee shrugged. He thought she probably did have an answer, but maybe she didn’t want to go into it.
The both of them were silent for a minute before Jason piped up again.
“How are you doing for money now you’re not working?” he asked. It was something that had been playing on his mind, knowing she couldn’t continue to work in a strip club while she was pregnant, and now the two of them were together, it was a thought that upset him a little bit. He thought she was worth so much more than dancing for men, and he didn’t even like the thought that she might go back to it in the future. Still, with no income from her only job, he wondered how she was getting by, and had never broached the subject with her before. He often felt awkward talking about money since he became wealthy. It was something that was hard to broach with people on a lower income because people didn’t take well to charity, or you discussing financial hardship when they know you don’t have any of that.
Dee pondered the question for a moment, knowing there was no way to sugar coat her answer, so she just came out with it.
“I get money from my other job.”
“You have another job?”
“It’s not exactly legal”
“Elaborate...”
“Just weed. I been doing it for years.”
Jason let out an exhale of breath. He didn’t quite know how to respond to that.
“Dee. I’m not telling you what to do but, you gotta be careful now, you know? People are gonna know about us, you’re gonna be watched and followed, you can’t be getting yourself into trouble.”
“Well what the fuck else am I supposed to do?” Dee asked, her voice defensive. “I got bills to pay, a house to keep and a kid to feed. I can’t just sit and do nothing.”
“Let me help you.” Jason responded, bracing himself for her reply.
At that moment, Dee flipped around in the bed to face him.
“Help me? What, like give me money? I’m not a charity case.”
“I know you’re not, but you’re my girlfriend, you’re the mother of my child, I can’t just see you struggle.”
While the both of them were aware that the word ‘girlfriend’ had just been used for the first time, the conversation had suddenly turned dark, and from Dee’s perspective, there was more important issues to talk about.
“Struggle? Bitch what do you know about struggle?” Dee spat, suddenly looking at Jason like he had committed a crime.
“You don’t know nothing about what it means to struggle, so don’t come up in here thinking you can throw some money at me to keep me sweet. I’m not this perfect bitch you probably used to, I’m not gonna let you change me or tell me what I can and can’t do.”
“Dee, I’m not trying to do that.”
“You not? So you didn’t just offer to give me money to stop me selling dope?”
“Well yeah, but...”
“But yeah, you did. So get off your high horse, we can’t all be rich and famous you know. I do what I gotta do to look after my family.”
“I know that. Dee, I’m not telling you what to do, I just want to help.”
Suddenly, the conversation turned to red for Dee, and she jumped up out of the bed with energy, pacing up and down the room, not able to keep still. Jason watched her pace as she spoke, and as he listened to her next sentence, he jumped up out of the bed himself, ready to bring her back down, realising her anger had gotten to another level.
“I’m not some broke ass bitch you can use as your next project, why the fuck do you want to help?” Dee shouted. At that moment, Jason stood in front of her, causing her to stop in her tracks. He took her by the arms, his blue eyes staring into hers in the darkness of the room; still, he could see her features perfectly. He saw her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowing on her brow, her thick lips which he had always loved were pursed into what he now called her ‘angry face’ and her body was almost quivering with anger, still, he stood his ground, and looking into her eyes, he told her exactly why he wanted to help.
“Because I’m falling in love with you.”
They looked at each other in the darkness, and suddenly Dee was quiet, before she managed a ‘what?’
“I’m falling in love with you.” Jason repeated, not moving from his position in front of her.
All of a sudden, Dee had regained her fight.
“Shut up” she said, as she tried to move away from him, blowing off what he had just said. However, despite her movement, Jason held on to her arms, making it so she stayed exactly where she was. “Deleisha Thompson, I am falling in love with you, whether you believe it or not. Shut up isn’t exactly the answer that I was hoping for.”
Dee was dumbfounded once again, surprised that he used her full name, and surprised because she realised he was serious. It hit her the same way his words hit her at his hotel. Suddenly, even without the use of her arms, she had leaned up on her tip toes to kiss him, though he met her halfway. He let her arms go, and she used them to wrap them around his shoulders, her fingers entwining around his hair as she kissed him with the same sense of urgency she had used previously.
As they kissed, Jason took hold of her legs and picked her up, her legs wrapping around his waist. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down, before he undressed her and kissed down her body, starting at her neck. He was starting to think the fiery arguments he had with her may not always be bad, as the passion they shared could often be manipulated into better things. Though she may not have said it back to him, he couldn’t deny she felt something for him, as her passion was clear to see. He just hoped she would come to her senses about him helping her. He wanted to take her away from everything bad in her life, but for some reason, she was too proud to accept.
Chapter 20 – Lucky Charms
The next morning, the two of t
hem woke to a phone ringing loudly beside them. As Dee felt around blindly next to her bed for the phone she knew was hers, she eventually had to open her eyes to discover it. “Hello?” she answered, seeing her sisters name flash up on the caller ID.
“Dee, I got some bad news,” Kiki said on the other end of the phone. “Jason’s cars been broke into.”
“What?” Dee asked, still struggling to adjust to the brightness in the room, and still trying to wake herself up fully.
“They smashed that shit up, took whatever was inside it.”
“Shit.” Dee said, as the words registered in her mind. “I shoulda tol’ him to move it”
“Mom ain’t phoning the cops, I don’t know what he wanna do.”
It wasn’t unusual for people in their area not to phone the police when something happened. If nothing else, people just simply didn’t trust them. They didn’t want to get police involved when it wasn’t necessary, people preferred to sort things out between themselves. Officers could be corrupt in many areas, and there was certainly still an element of institutionalised racism. The Thompson family didn’t have the best track record with police, as Jarell could probably tell you from his cell.
“I’ll let him know. Thanks Keek.”
As Dee ended the call, she lay back down and sighed. She thought about the events of last night, and the argument they were having before the incredible make up sex. She thought about what he said to her, that he was falling in...she could barely even say it in her own head. Everything had happened so quickly between them but maybe it wasn’t a bad thing. Things had happened over time with Trey and it still ended up a huge shit storm so maybe quick wasn’t always bad. As she looked at the man lay next to her, she watched him sleep for a second before deciding she’d better wake him up. According to her phone it was already 9:30am and Tushaun was due home later in the afternoon.
As she shook him gently and called his name, she watched his eyes flutter open and a look of blankness appeared on his face before the recognition kicked in. He smiled.
“Morning” he said, rubbing his eyes.
“I got some bad news” Dee said, jumping straight to business. There was no point pussy footing around it.
“What bad news?” Jason asked, sitting up quickly, a serious look burrowed on his forehead.
“Someone broke into your car last night, it’s smashed up.”
“Oh” Jason said, a sigh of relief exhaling through him. Dee looked at him in disbelief wondering why he didn’t seem more pissed.
“Oh? Is that it?”
“No, I mean, that’s shit but, you scared the shit out of me saying bad news like that.”
“I shoulda told you to move it last night.”
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault” he told her, putting a hand on the small of her back and rubbing it gently.
“My fault for living in this shitty area” Dee murmured, moving to the edge of the bed and getting out. Jason watched her move to the other side of the room, her naked body illuminated by the light peeking through the drapes. She opened the doors to her wardrobe and stood looking in it for while deciding on clothes.
“Dee, it’s not your fault, don’t worry. I didn’t have anything important in there. Worst case, I just get a new one.”
“ ‘Cuz it’s so easy for you to just get a new one, just like that” Dee spat. She sounded mad at him, just like she had last night. Once again, she was getting mad about money. He wasn’t sure what he’d said to deserve it, but he decided to just try his best not to piss her off any further. After all, maybe it was just pregnancy hormones, she was entitled to them.
Once Dee had picked her outfit for the day, she announced she was going for a shower. As she left the room, Jason thought about his car. He probably should get the situation sorted. Luckily, he was privileged enough to have a best friend as a PA, so he knew he would help him out. As he sat up in the bed, propping his back against the headboard, he gave Tom a call. When Jason told Tom exactly where he had left it parked, Tom laughed. He wasn’t surprised it got broken into, and in hindsight, neither was Jason. At the time however, he’d put all his concentration into thinking about the night ahead. ‘Typical man’ his mother would say, ‘can’t think about two things at once.’
Once Tom had all the information, he said he would sort it, so Jason relaxed. Sitting comfortably in the bed, he waited until Dee returned from the shower. She had already gotten dressed in there, and she was wearing a floaty maxi dress and sandals. The dress covered her bump well, and he wondered whether it was intentional. He knew her ex would be dropping her son off soon, had she not mentioned the pregnancy to him? As she came into the room, she smiled at him, and he could see already that she was in a better mood than the one she’d woken up in. He returned her smile, and she told him he was welcome to a shower, though she didn’t have any non-girly smelling scents, unless he used the kid body wash. He took her up on the offer, deciding that smelling a tad feminine would still be better than smelling bad.
By the time he had showered and changed his clothes it was getting on to 10:15, and as he opened the bathroom door he heard voices coming from downstairs. He certainly heard Dee’s voice, and at first he decided the other noise was just coming from the television, though he wondered why she would be talking to it. Then, he heard a little boy’s voice, and he stopped in his tracks. Dee had told him Tushaun wasn’t getting dropped off until dinner time, and she’d certainly not mentioned Jason meeting him today. He wasn’t sure whether to go downstairs or whether to hide up there, after all, maybe she wasn’t ready for them to meet, and she could get mad if he just showed up uninvited. While he thought about it, he took his old clothes into the bedroom to pack them away and sprayed himself with some deodorant. Just as he sat down on the bed, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Seconds later, Dee had walked into the bedroom, but she didn’t sit down next to him, instead, she stood at the wall opposite him.
“So, apparently having his son for a whole afternoon is too much, so he’s brought Tushaun home unannounced” Dee told him, her head bobbing and her hands moving enthusiastically.
“That’s bad” Jason agreed, not wanting to say too much.
“Mmhmm, so it looks like you meeting him has come early”
“Really?”
“If you want to”
“No, yeah, of course. Only if that’s ok with you though.”
“Guess it’s gotta happen sometime. You’re mommy’s ‘friend’ though.”
“Sure thing.”
As the two of them made their way down the stairs, Jason saw Tushaun sat on the floor in front of the TV, eating cereal from a bowl. He was oblivious to the noise of the footsteps on the stairs; instead, he was wrapped up in whatever kid’s show was playing on the TV. While Jason sat down on the sofa opposite him, Dee sat on the armchair to the side of her son, and took his arm gently to get his attention.
“Tushaun, look at me a minute baby.”
The little boy turned to face his mother, still eating his cereal from his spoon. He was dressed in jeans and a hooded top, the hood left up. Underneath, he sported a snapback on his head. Looking at him, his mother sighed and put his hood down. “Why your daddy gotta dress you like a thug?”
It was a rhetorical question, but the little boy shrugged.
“Anyway, mommy’s got a friend over, you gonna say hi?”
“Where?” Tushaun asked, in between crunches of his cereal.
“Behind you, turn around.”
Tushaun swivelled around on his bum to face the sofa, and saw Jason looking back at him. Jason smiled, and while some kids might face away shy, Tushaun showed no sign of that, and instead, he simply said “Hi.”
“Hey Buddy, what you got there?” Jason asked, gesturing to his cereal.
“Froot Loops”
“Nice. Is that your favourite?”
“No” he said, shaking his head.
“What’s your favourite?”
“Mmmm....” Tushaun hum
med as he thought about the question. He scooped up the last mouthful onto his spoon and crunched away on it until he swallowed, then answered “Mallows.”
Jason looked to Dee for confirmation, and she explained.
“Lucky Charms. He likes the marshmallows in them, don’t you?”
Tushaun nodded at this question and started to tip his bowl up to drink the remainder of the milk.
“That’s why we have mallows in our cocoa every night too, right?”
Tushaun nodded once more, and Jason smiled.
To his surprise, the little boy then gathered a collection of colouring books and crayons from the floor beside him and brought them to the sofa. He put one onto Jason’s lap, and put the rest onto the sofa while he hauled himself onto the seat. After making himself comfortable, he took one from the pile and emptied the box of crayons in the middle of them.
“Are we colouring?” Jason asked.
“Yeah” Tushaun drawled, picking up a crayon and starting to colour a tiger in orange. As Dee and Jason looked at each other with a smile on their faces, Tushaun spoke between colouring.
“What your fav-wit?” he asked in his baby-speak, and that’s when Jason remembered this little boy was only two years old. He thought he was very grown up for his age, and he was surprised how comfortable he was around a stranger.
“My favourite cereal? I like apple jacks. You ever had apple jacks?”
Tushaun thought for a moment again, and then shrugged. Looking up from his colouring book, the little boy turned to his mother and asked “we had them?” in the most inquisitive tone a young boy could ask. It caused Dee and Jason to laugh slightly. Dee told him they had had them, but mommy gets what’s on offer when she goes shopping. This answer seemed to satisfy Tushaun, and he nodded in understanding and carried on colouring his tiger.
Dee always knew her son was something special, after all, she was bias, but she loved how accepting he was of everybody. He wasn’t a shy kid that would hide behind her legs at the sight of anybody new, he would ask them who they are, and wait confidently for an answer. She hoped he never lost that sense of confidence when he got older, because to her, it was so endearing. She felt proud watching her son with Jason, and she loved watching the interaction between the two of them. She knew some men could be a little awkward around kids, especially men that didn’t have kids of their own, but watching Jason with him showed her that he was fine around kids. As the two boys chatted away, she took the opportunity to go to the kitchen and make her and Jason a coffee, after all, they hadn’t eaten or drank anything since they’d woke up this morning.
Synergy Page 15