by Tiana Laveen
She would never in a million years express to him how afraid she’d been when he revealed the true nature of the mail that had arrived at her address, how the stranger who’d driven up her pebbled driveway the previous week stating he was lost on the road may not have been lost at all. Little things had happened, yet all seemed innocent at the time. Now, she was becoming like her soulmate – paranoid, but rightly so.
No matter what, she refused to buck and fall the hell apart! She rebuffed the impulse to go running to the man, moaning and complaining and chasing him around with her delirium. He needed her, and she’d known once she’d fallen in love with the man what may lie in store for them, and little of it was predictable. Their love was an uphill battle, deeply unconventional and built on the shiny things of life that lie right beneath sharp-sided enigmas. Their love was unpretentious, and created from the beautiful, jaded jewels that exoneration dreams were made of.
“Mmmmm! Mia! Shit, baby!!! My precious angel! Fuck!” His back arched off the bed as he fucked her mouth a bit harder, his face intense, strained with pleasure and imminent release. “Ouuuuu, baby, suck that dick! You knew just what I needed! Uhhh!”
She looked at him keenly, certain her eyes were gleaming as she wrapped her lips tighter around his rod, hand around the base, and set a wilder pace sucking up and down the shaft. Her honey pot fattened and dripped down her inner thighs, needing him so badly.
“Ohhh…” he moaned breathlessly as he slowed to a crawl and slid his cock carefully out of her mouth.
Startled, she screamed to the rafters when the man suddenly grabbed her around the upper thighs and slammed her down onto the middle of the bed. Pushing her legs wide open, he dove headfirst into her drenched zone.
“Ahhhh… Ahhhh…” Her fingers pressed into his scalp as his long tongue licked up and down her pussy in hard and heavy wet strokes. She could hear his labored breathing as he forced his face into her love, sucking, licking, and swallowing everything in sight.
“I love your fuckin’ pussy! Taste soooo good! You’re so wet! Is all of this for me, precious? Mmmmm!”
“Yes… it’s all for you, baby!”
Wrapping his lips delicately around her clit, he drew it inside his mouth, suckling it, causing her to completely lose her mind.
“Ahhhh, shit shit SHIT!” Her body stiffened as the first wave of orgasm arrived, and then yet another and another. “Ahhhh… Oh God! Oh…God!” She shook violently, but he never let up; he kept right on. She managed to gather the strength to look at the man – a small, fleeting glance. His eyes met hers, his gaze intense, as he swallowed her essence, lapped her juices, sucked her sensitive nub, his arms wrapped so tightly around her thighs.
“Ahhh…” And yet another tremor wracked her body.
“I love you so much, baby!” He quickly landed a chain of hasty brushes of his lower lip on her languid body as he climbed higher and higher, savoring her curves. Their eyes summoned each other’s souls. His forehead creased with concentration, he let his arm drop between them to guide himself inside of her.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Uhhhhhh….goddamn it, pussy so good!” His thrusts began innocent enough… long, deep and slow, but within mere moments morphed into hard, deep, and fast relentless lunges. “You ain’t goin’ no damn where!” His eyes grew darker. “Everything I got is yours. Always.”
“I don’t care about your money, Aaron.” She draped her arms around his shoulders.
“I ain’t talkin’ about just my possessions, damn it. That don’t mean jack shit. You got my heart and my goddamn soul! Uhhh!” He landed a thrust that stole her damn breath…then paused when his dick reached deep inside of her as if to ask, ‘How does it feel?’
“Shiiiiit….” She strained through clenched teeth as her sugar walls wrapped tight around the massive width, still not quite used to him.
“You made a goddamn fool of me, and now I’m a fool in love.”
“Love you so much, baby!”
“Best lesson I ever had! Uhhh!” Several more unyielding pumps made her shudder. Her back arched, coming off the bed as he took her closer to another climax. Her limbs, bones, and blood melted into the essence of a rainbow… colorful, bursting with renewed light and beauty, while the heels of her feet scrambled about as he worked her over like an assignment.
So deep inside me…
“You drove me crazy, made me lose my mind, Mia. I thought about you all the time… wanted to find you, look at you… feel you… Uhhh!”
“Oh God!” She gritted her teeth as the man scooped his hands around her ass, bringing her body impossibly closer to his own, forcing her to feel every damn thing he delivered with maximum impact. “You feel so good in my pussy!”
The right side of his mouth teetered in a mischievous grin…
“Keep talkin’ like that… you’ll end up strapped to this bed all night! Uhhh… Feel good in your pussy, huh?” The bed springs sighed as he made love to her with all his might.
“Yes!”
“You have no idea how bad I wanted to break out of that goddamn prison, go grab you and fuck the shit outta you!”
“Ahhhh!” She held on to him, hands around his neck and thighs wrapped around his waist.
“Wanted to get against your skin!” he whispered in her ear, his warm breath slightly tickling her with each syllable uttered. “Wanted to put my hands in your hair, feel it! Feel the frizzy, soft curls against my fingertips… Wanted to know if you smelled as good as your letters…wanted to taste your pussy, suck your cookies and give it to you nice ’nd hard!”
“Ahhhh… Aaron, I’m gonna… Ahhh!”
Another firm thrust, and another… Back to back to back…
“I wanted what you had, Mia. All that love, that kindness… that damn purity and goodness! The cunningness, the lessons your heart taught mine.”
“And I’m your student, too.” she cooed before posting a delicate kiss on the side of his face.
“You were created for me…”
She fell deeper into his words, for they made love to her just as wonderfully as the man’s body.
“You were born to be my rib and my teacher. What type of good woman could love me? I mean, really love me, Mia?” He paused, his face etched with insurmountable pain.
“Me! I love you, always will!”
“Yes, ’cause you are a damn angel!” Tears streamed down his face, alarming her as his gruff voice echoed in the room. He began again then, his plunges within her becoming hopelessly more demanding as the bed whined and sighed from his maximum thrusts. She wasn’t sure it would be able to stand up to her lover’s maneuvers. The sheets slid half way to the ground, threatening to fall off completely.
“Aaron, I love you so much, baby. You’re a gift to me, too.”
“I wanted what God gave you but left me out of. I wanted you to give it to me!” And then, he paused, his entire demeanor changed as if she were the sole person in the world…and he wanted a piece of her.
“…Finish it. Tell me, Aaron!” Her nails dug deep into his upper back as she pulled him closer.
“I wanted you to give me what you got! But you wouldn’t… so I took it! Uhhh!” He grabbed a fistful of hair and gently yanked, forcing her head back and her eyes to gleam up towards the ceiling. “Through you, I found me… and I found unbreakable, unmistakable forgiveness!”
“Ahhhh!” She sobbed as they came together, their bodies gliding and sliding down one another’s. He burst free within her; his liquid warmth filled her to the brim. Her climax made her burst with uncharted emotion she’d never treaded upon in her entire existence. “Ahhhh, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron!!!” Gleeful tears streamed down the sides of her face, pooling in her ears and onto the pillow while she looked up at that ceiling, that overwhelming, humungous confederate flag in full view…
She’d seen that flag her entire life; it never struck her as racist until she grew older. She’d see it on the back and front of vehicles with drivers screaming, ‘Nigger!’ ou
t the window in her direction. She’d see it on websites built upon racist ideologies. She’d see it on books about the ‘Good ol’ South’ when blacks knew their place.
And now, here it was again…
The big cobalt X covered in thirteen bright white stars were surrounded by a sea of rubicund pain. The redness screamed out in the thing, wails of her West African ancestors, painful protests of her loved ones in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 2015’s, ‘Black Lives Matter’. To Mia, the blue represented the water the ships carried her forefathers and foremothers through. The white was the flesh of the oppressors – their arrogance represented in the stars. The ‘X’ was a vow to deny her ancestors freedom and yet once again, she’d arrived at the bloodshed.
Red…
Blood. Blood is life…
Life is passion…
Passion is love…
She wrapped Aaron up in the love of her entire being, cocooned him close as the man balled a tight handful of sheet in his damn fist. His body vibrated against hers and silent, pain-filled tears fell from his closed eyes. His flesh stiffened, then relaxed over and over as he bucked a time or two, then rested inside of her… his nature pulsating within her constricting walls. She gently stroked the back of his head, damp with sweat, all the while keeping her eye upon that damn flag.
He’d fallen apart silently, right then and there. She could barely hear a whisper or gasp escape his mouth; he offered no words, no explanations, yet his body… the blood that pulsed within his veins—his red… his life… his passion… his love for her—told on him.
Pushing on his shoulder ever so gently, she forced him to move his face from the cradle of her neck. Wetness covered her skin from his silent tears, but she no longer wanted him to hide. So she pushed a bit harder, and a bit harder yet. He struggled against her, nestled back in the crevice close to her earlobe, refusing to let her discover more evidence of his current state of imperfection and shortcomings.
Muffled cries warmed the pillow, and broke her heart.
“It’s okay, baby.” She stroked his hair slow and gentle. “You don’t have to say it to me. I know what’s happening.” She kissed the top of his head and continued to stroke him. “I know what’s going on, honey. You alright… we alright… it’s okay.”
Yes, she knew why he shed those tears. He was her soulmate. There was no need for him to articulate it; she’d already heard his story through his letters, their phone calls, the way he looked at her as she peered at him through the cage he’d been enclosed in during a prison basketball game…
Aaron cried because when he looked around that sanctuary, and at his own body, and then at her, he saw himself, once and for all, for who he truly was…
A tormented man, who’d spent the majority of his waking hours wishing that others, unlike him, could draw their last breath so that he may feel a bit more secure about his placement in the world. The nasty, festering, contagious disease had been completely exposed for the puss-filled, disgusting open wound that it was… sitting there ugly, heinous, and shrouding its yellow, cowardly eyes from the light of the new day. The disease was racism, and the racism no longer had a heart to be a house for him, let alone a house to call home. The plague had lost its host; through his tears, he helped it pack its things and made room for a brighter, better day. Aaron meant what he said, and said what he meant. His new truth was his bond, and his word, he would honor…
Chapter Fifteen
…Three weeks later
AARON SET ANOTHER empty box down upon his desk in his home. In the distance, he could hear Mia on her phone, probably speaking to her cousin, Trudy. She’d stated earlier that she needed to give her a call, a check in of sorts, and to catch up. Every now and again he’d hear her burst out laughing, and that sound warmed his soul and heart. The music she played came out smooth and mellow throughout the house speakers. He was getting accustomed to her eclectic tastes, and since he’d heard the song now a time or two before, he recognized it as one of her favorites – Musiq’s ‘Just Friends’.
He stood from his seat and peeked up the hall into the open area. There she was, a tiny swaying angel in the kitchen, her cell phone in one hand and a spatula in the other. The house smelled like warm cinnamon and soft, buttery bread. He crossed his ankles and arms and leaned his head upon the door, unable to break his smile or his gaze from her – from the way the woman moved, made him feel. Everywhere she went, she brought sunshine. His life had been so dark, he had no idea how bright the light of a new day really was until the first time her lips had touched his…
And then, as if some invisible entity came and tapped her damn shoulder, she paused and caught his eye. It seemed like they were a football field away from each other but they were close, so close, and no distance would keep them away from one another. He waved at her and she returned the gesture in kind before he made his way back inside of his office, closing the door.
Sitting down in the rich burgundy chair, he grabbed his phone and dialed. Clearing his throat, he waited as the damn thing rang a few times.
“Hello?”
“Hey… Marcus? Um, this is…”
“I know who it is.” The man’s voice cut through and sliced him off at the knee. “Hold on a sec. There are people around me.”
Aaron waited. A few moments later, Marcus returned, appearing to be in quieter surroundings.
“Marcus, I—”
“Aaron, why did you do what you did?”
“Do what?”
“I knew you had given me some money, okay? I figured it would be enough to take care of a few bills so I wasn’t goin’ to worry too much about it, regardless of me bein’ tired of handouts. But my job don’t pay a whole lot so I didn’t keep pushin’ the issue with you. But then, I get home and find out it ain’t three or four hundred dolluhs, it’s thousands!”
“Why is that a problem?”
“’Cause my wife wanted to know where I got the shit! I deposited that money in my bank account and I ain’t know she got some app or some shit on her phone where she can see the bank account balance. I taught her too many of my tech savvy secrets. Now she think I’m dealin’ drugs!”
Aaron burst out laughing.
“This shit ain’t funny, man.”
“Look.” He sighed as he leisurely rested in his chair. “Why don’t you just tell her the truth?”
“What? Man, I aint no drug dealer but yo ass must be smokin’ crack. Like I could say, ‘Oh baby, by the way, you know them fools ’round here that said I took Terrence’s phone and helped that white trash Nazi man get outta prison after he beat up Clarence and then he died? Well, guess what? It’s true! I been sellin’ out, baby, I’m a proud ass Uncle Tom, shuckin’ and jivin’ and that nice Aryan man been helpin’ me, gave me all this here money.’ Yeah! That’ll go over well, Aaron!”
Aaron burst out laughing once again. “I know it sounds bad, but I honestly think you should tell her. Besides, if you take me up on my offer, you’ll have to.”
“Offer? What offer?”
“I moved. I live in West Virginia now. It wasn’t safe for me there anymore, and based on what I heard and what you are confirming, it ain’t safe for you there, either.”
Marcus drew quieter.
“I know you may not want to leave Alabama, Marcus. I know you’ve got roots there, a wife and a daughter, but you said you were struggling and that your job didn’t pay much, but you can’t find anything else. You have a degree and can’t even use it. I don’t think you should have to look over your shoulder anymore.”
“What? You need a butler?” Marcus joked, though Aaron could hear a tinge of hostility in his tone still. He understood it, nevertheless.
“No, Marcus, I don’t need a motherfuckin’ butler. I need a friend. I need someone I can trust. I’ve moved my company here in West Virginia but still allow the employees I already have to stay where they are. Here is the thing: I need to hire some new people now though. I’m not rich, but I’m doing pretty dam
n well. I need an I.T. guy, someone to take care of my website, the computers, protect it from hacking, keep the accounts payables and receivables together via good, updated software…things like that.”
“There are plenty of I.T. specialists and computer techs in West Virginia, Aaron.”
“I don’t want plenty of I.T. techs, Marcus. I want you.”
The man drew quiet once again on the phone; this time, his heavy, slow breathing was audible.
“Aaron, I ain’t no charity case, okay? I think you tryna feel better for all the fucked up shit you’ve done. Go on somewhere else with that mess.”
“Oh, really? That’s what you think?”
“Yeah! That’s what I think. I’m a man, I can take care of my own damn family! I got a right mind to send you this money you gave me back, too. I already spent a bit of it, but I can pay you back over time.”
“I don’t want the money back.”
“I didn’t ask you… I’m tellin’ you. My life is all fucked ’cause of you. But I don’t blame you; it ain’t your fault. I’m just sayin’.”
“I know… I know…”
“And it’s fucked up ’cause of me, too. I got a criminal record now, tryna get something for nothin’ and tryna be accepted. I’m tired of doin’ what other people expect me to do all the time!”
“THEN STOP DOIN’ IT!”
“Then QUIT askin’ me, you rotten mothafucka!”
“I didn’t ask you for me, because I think I need to do good by you so I can get into Heaven, Marcus! You got this all wrong. I did it because I really do need an I.T. expert and I need someone I can trust and not only that – whether you like it or not, you’re my friend!”
“I ain’t your friend, man…” he said in almost a whisper.
“Yes you are, and you like me, and you hate that you do. You wanted to hate me, but you found out we had a lot in common. We both have a strong work ethic, we both made bad decisions that landed us in trouble, we both have daughters, and we both want to run our own shit and be in control of our lives.”