by Pynk
Rachel Cummings was dressed in khaki pants and a loose blazer. She said, “Thank you all for coming. I hope you got something out of it. I don’t like to preach at our bi-weekly meetings, though I do think our faith is what’s most important. Like I said, we can’t do it alone.”
“I agree. I appreciate the invite. He is good. Very inspiring,” said Teela.
“And by the way, this is my wife, Trish. Trish, this is Miki, Teela, Valencia, and Brandi.”
“Hello. It’s very nice to meet you all,” Trish said.
Valencia said, “Nice to meet you, too. You’ve got quite a woman here.”
“I know that. We’ve been together for a long time. She’s my rock.”
“That’s a beautiful thing.” Teela gave them a look of admiration.
“Yes. It is,” said Brandi.
Miki suggested, “How about if we all go and grab some breakfast? There’s a great diner near here, and the food is pretty good.”
“I’m game,” said Valencia.
“Me, too.”
“Sounds good to me. What about you two?” Teela asked Rachel Cummings and Trish.
Trish replied, holding on to her wife’s arm, “We’ve got a meeting that we facilitate that starts in a few minutes and goes most of the afternoon. But you ladies enjoy yourselves.”
“Oh, okay. Well, thanks for telling us about the church. I know I’ll make a point to come back,” said Miki.
Rachel Cummings told them, “Good. See you all on Tuesday.”
“Have a good one. Adios,” said Valencia.
About thirty minutes later, all four ladies were seated at Dinah’s restaurant near Fox Hills. The high-school-aged water girl served them coffee, juice, and water. They placed their breakfast orders and reminisced about the sermon.
Teela spoke calmly yet sounded moved. “That whole thing about going through it again until you get it right brought me goose bumps. I mean, I’ve thought that so many times. That every time I say I’m going to do something differently, it gets the same results. And then it happens again. It’s like, okay, God, enough.”
Valencia said, “I’m telling you, it’s been awhile since I’ve been to church. Hearing what he had to say does get you to thinking. It’s like a pattern we fall into that’s sometimes like a comfort zone. Even when it’s a bad pattern, it ends up feeling comfortable because we get so used to it. I don’t wanna stay in my comfort zone anymore.”
Teela added, “Well, if it’s true that God hears tears, then he should hear me loud and clear. Austin and I broke up. Austin’s my boyfriend who lived with me, but I caught him with a girl we both got with who lives in our complex.”
Brandi looked caught off guard. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, sitting next to Teela.
Teela shrugged her shoulder. “No, it’s cool. I spoiled him rotten anyway, and with me trying to detox when he stayed so freaky, we just didn’t work well together. I found myself always trying to find strange women for him to get with. I mean, it fed my fetish, but it wasn’t gonna help me get past it any sooner.”
Miki asked, holding on to her coffee mug with both hands, “So he’s just as lustful as you are?”
“More so. He just doesn’t see a problem with it.” Teela sipped her ice water.
“Well if he’s seeing someone who lives in the same place behind your back, that sounds like he’s a little out of control to me,” Valencia said, looking at Miki.
“Don’t look at me. I am no judge on control,” Miki said, shaking her head.
“Me neither,” said Brandi. She glanced at the clock on the wall, then tapped her fingers along the table.
Miki asked Teela, “You don’t think you two will get back together? I mean, where’s he gonna live?”
“He lives with her. I kicked him out that night.”
Brandi looked sad for her. “Wow. Have you heard from him?”
“I have. He calls and I don’t pick up. He sent me a text, apologizing, saying she can’t compare to me. And he said he’ll always have love for me. Whatever the hell that means.”
Valencia explained, “That means let’s be friends for now while I see what else is out there, since I’m free, but don’t move on with anyone else until you take me back when I’m done. Funny how they never learn until it’s too late.”
Miki shook her head. “See. That’s how men are. Valencia will tell you, I’ve learned to dish it right back out. I mean, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Girl, please. If you were busy doing your thing on the side like he was, then he would’ve been hit right back with a taste of his own medicine and you all would’ve been even-steven.”
Teela replied, “Well even or not, I’m sorry, but I don’t wanna share my man any longer unless I’m there.”
“What’s the difference? There or not, if you’re not the only one he’s fucking, then you’re not the only one, period.” Miki took a cautious sip of her brew.
Teela leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “True. But fucking behind my back is cheating. Fucking with me is not.”
Miki placed her coffee mug down on the table. “I don’t get it. I watch Tariq with someone else and I’m cool if I’m there. But I also know if he was with someone and I didn’t know, as long as I’m doing the same, no problem.”
Brandi asked, “So you’d have no problem with him if he had a life aside from you where he did things you never knew about?”
“No. I really wouldn’t have a problem.”
Brandi looked at Teela, who gave her a don’t tell look, then back at Miki. “Wow. See, that’s why I just don’t have anybody. That keeps things a whole lot cleaner.”
Valencia took a small sip of juice and told the ladies, “Well, I wanna get married. I want kids soon. That’s all I know. I want my fiancé Greg to be my husband because I want the life, the dog, the picket fence, and all that goes along with a good life. I want all of it.”
“And he wants you to stop fucking, right?” asked Teela.
“He does.”
Miki admitted, “See, I think I’m safe in telling you this.” Miki looked at Valencia, who nodded. “I mean, it’s no big deal to us. See, Val and I have been lovers for a while now. Her fiancé knew it before and he was cool, but now he’s not. My man is very cool with it. I mean very, very cool.”
Brandi asked, “Really? So you guys are gay?”
“We’re not gay,” said Miki quickly.
Valencia corrected her. “We are.”
Miki leaned back and crossed her legs under the table. “I’m not. Speak for your damn self.”
Teela said, “Funny, if a man slept with a man we’d call him gay. But when we do it, we just say we’re what, curious?”
Miki replied, “No. Not curious. I sure as hell know my way around a pussy by now to be way past curious. Call it what you want. I just want a woman every now and then. I know what I do and do it very well, thank you.”
“Oh yes, she surely does,” said Valencia, making a move like she was squirming in her seat.
Brandi said, “Well, that’s not me. I mean, I just don’t wanna work that hard. And that looks like a whole lotta work. Eating pussy. I’ll stick to sucking the dick.”
“Like anything else, you’ve gotta like it. Put on your knee pads and stay a while, hell.” Miki looked around for the waitress.
“You ever thought about trying it, Brandi?” asked Valencia.
She turned up her nose like she smelled sour cheeks and smooched her mouth to the side. “Oh hell no. I just like the way a man reacts to me. That’s it. I could care less about a woman.”
Teela exhaled loudly and readjusted her hips. “Well, I see we got all that out on the table. How about we eat?” she asked, winking at Miki.
Miki winked back at her as the waitress approached with plates piled high. “There she is,” she said smiling from ear to ear. She inhaled the smell of the sweet pancakes and licked her lips. While the waitress stood there passing out the orders, Miki asked, “Who out of all of us is the freakiest?�
��
Teela pointed to Brandi. “She is.”
Valencia pointed to Miki. “She is.”
The waitress grinned and blushed and shook her head and walked away.
They all laughed while grabbing their forks to begin eating their meals. But not before Miki and Teela and Valencia closed their eyes and looked down for a silent prayer. Brandi watched them and then did the same.
The four ladies enjoyed their meals and shared stories of life, love, and what it would be like to one day live normal sex lives.
After about an hour and a half, as they all pulled off in their rides, Miki sent Valencia a text.
R u still comin by 2nite?
U know it. Can’t stay long. But hell yeah I’m there.
Good. We’ll c u then. U looked hot 2day.
Thanx. U 2.
22
“You Sure Love to Ball”
Valencia
Intensely, Gregory’s voice rang from Valencia’s wireless earpiece while she hurried from Inglewood to Brentwood as fast as she could.
“Where the hell were you this time?”
It was that same Sunday, almost midnight. Valencia had spent another late, freak-filled evening with Tariq and Miki. It was one hour past the time she’d agreed to come to Gregory’s house and spend the night.
“I’m just running late. I’m on my way.”
“From where? Okay, of course. Don’t tell me. You were with the love of your life, Miki, right?”
Valencia tried to hide the sound of an exhaustive sigh. “Yes, I was at Miki’s. She was helping me with wedding plans. Time just slipped away.”
“She was helping you with wedding plans? With our wedding plans or yours and hers?” His cynicism was thick.
“Greg, please don’t start that. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Bye.” She sped up the 405, way past the speed limit, racing to get her fast ass to her future home.
By the time she arrived, Gregory was sitting at his desk as usual. “Are you always on that computer?” she asked, as she put her purse beside the bed.
He kept his back to her. “Are you always with Miki?”
Valencia took her overnight bag and unzipped it, taking out her black silk PJ’s. “Do you want to talk or can we go to sleep?”
“You look pretty tired. Maybe you’d prefer sleep.”
“Tired? You haven’t even looked at me. But, yes. I guess I should.”
He spun around and spoke with an edge. “Well, I’d prefer talking.”
“Greg.” She shook her head and took her toothbrush and pajamas in hand, heading to the bathroom where she closed the door.
Twenty minutes later, she exited showered and dressed for bed.
He asked, still sitting in the same position, “Tell me, cause I wanna make sure I get this right. You and Miki went over what, exactly?”
She stood at the bathroom door, looking over at him. “We just went over different options for reception locations. And we looked at some dresses online.”
“And what else?”
“That’s it.” She walked to the bed and pulled back the checkered satin covers.
“And it took all that time?”
“Yeah. It did. Any more questions?” she asked, fluffing up the foam pillow.
“Yes. So, what’s this about you and Miki being together with her man?”
She paused. “What do you mean?”
He blurted, “What I mean is this exactly. Quote, unquote. ‘Val, baby, Tariq and I had a sexy-ass time again. Let’s not let it be the last time. And just so you know, we went at it again after you left. All in your name.’ ”
Silence swelled. Valencia’s eyes rose and her mouth dropped and she swallowed a gasp. She looked over at her purse, which was wide open. He held up her BlackBerry. “You went through my phone?”
“Tariq went through my pussy?”
She stepped to him fast. “Greg, you have no right.” She snatched her phone from his hand. “Jerk.” She dismissed him with her angry eyes.
“No, you are not gonna turn this one around on me. My fiancé’s cell vibrated and I picked it up and read it. I’ll gladly trade that with you as far as who has to deal with what.”
Valencia scrolled through her phone and began yelling, “You know what? We did. We fucked. All three of us fucked and it was damn good.”
“Why?”
“Because.” She stared at him with a look like she could beat his ass like he stole something.
“Oh, I see. Just because.” Now he yelled. He also stood. “Why the fuck did you have a threesome with your best friend and her man when you have a man? A fiancé. We agreed that if anything, it would only be women. Damn, Valencia. I agreed to you getting with Miki at times, but not fucking her and her man while I sit here waiting on you as usual. What the hell is that? I thought you could show me you were ready for marriage. But I guess I was wrong. I guess you can’t turn a ho into a housewife after all.” He flashed a scowl.
She did not even blink. “Maybe not.”
“Just tell me fucking why.”
“It’s complicated.” She sat on the bed, still looking at her phone.
He walked to her. “I guess it is. So complicated that you can’t even explain cheating on me when we’re supposed to be married early next year.”
She put one hand up. Her eyes were flat. “Greg. Please.”
“Please what? Are we gonna have to go back to bringing people into our bed like we’d been doing since college, just so I can have you in my life? Will it ever be you and me? I was even willing to do the ‘you, me, and she’ sometimes. Damn, Valencia. What the fuck?”
Her voice lowered a notch and grew soft. She spoke without looking at him. “I don’t sleep with men alone. You know that.” She played with the long, curly ringlet that hung over the right side of her face.
He got louder. “And you have the nerve to think that matters? Like that makes a difference. Like I should be happy you don’t let dick inside of you unless there’s another person in the room. Valencia, you’re not supposed to sleep with men period, other than me. I don’t give a fuck how it was before.”
She looked up at him and cut her eyes. “Greg, don’t you go and get all saintly on me. Your ass was so fucking into men I thought you were a damn fag. You sucked dick with me in the room and I didn’t go flippin the fuck out. We were freaking. That’s what we did.”
He stepped even closer. “Right, that’s what we did. Past tense. And as far as the man, it was one time and it lasted three seconds and you were the one who begged me to put my mouth on it. But that’s not what we do now. I stuck to my end of the deal to stop the sex-crazed, swinging, risky lifestyle we had together for years. I wanted us to get on the straight and narrow and be husband and wife and raise a family. You broke your end of the deal. You will never be straight or narrow.”
She stood up, six inches from him, towering over him. A sneer darkened her oval face. “And you can just pass judgment on me when your ass sits here logging on to porn websites, chatting with folks while you jerk off your dick like it’s a damn squeeze toy, up all night ’cause you can’t get enough of a cheap thrill.” She pointed to the computer and then to his dick. “You choke your little shit so damn much you barely even have skin tough enough to fuck me. Shit, who’d wanna fuck when they’ve cum six times already in one day? You stopped fucking me cold turkey and you expect me, a woman who’s trying so hard to fight her cravings for sex that I just joined a sex rehab group, to go cold turkey just like that?” She headed to her bag and began taking off her pajamas. “You’ve been so busy masturbating and getting on me for being with Miki, that you won’t even try to deal with your own sex addiction. You cut back in your own way and I don’t sweat you, and so now, I’m trying to do it in my own way.”
“Your way won’t work. It is not acceptable. Besides, when I wanted to be with you, you didn’t make time. Like the other night. But I let that slide. Not anymore.”
“Then just fuck it.” She went into
the bathroom and her voice screamed from the other side of the door. “You are not my damn father. Take this damn ring and stick it up your faggot ass.” She threw it into the bedroom where he stood. “But, I’m sure you’d like that. And I hope you’re not logging on to Down-Low Blowjobs while you’re molesting that poor keyboard. Fucking freak.” She exited the bathroom fully dressed, took her bag and purse, and stormed out of the bedroom door.
He yelled behind her. “Fuck you. Go run to your woman, Miki. You’re fucking in love with that bitch and can’t even admit it. I can’t compete with that shit. I won’t compete with that shit. Maybe I can compete with her man, but not with a pussy.”
“You will never compete with him. Your beat-up dick is just as short as you are. You haven’t grown an inch since I’ve known you.”
Her loud footsteps headed toward the front door and he ran the many square feet to catch up with her. “Get the fuck out. But gimme my damn key back first.”
Her hand was on the quartz doorknob that led to the garage. “With pleasure.” She made a quarter turn in his direction. Her face was pissed off. “And I’m the reason you have that good-paying job of yours. I got you that job by fucking that recruiter years ago because you wanted me to, after your dreams of an NFL career crumbled. You’ve been with UPS since you graduated from college because of me. You owe me some money, Gregory. This is not the last of me. And you know what? Maybe I just wasn’t good enough for you anymore. Maybe you need a square girl who probably wouldn’t want your weird ass anyway, money or not. But you’re far from square and neither is your family. So don’t go calling this kettle black when your pot is black, too.” She jammed her hand into the purse and ripped the single gold key out of her wallet, pitching it at his chest. She exited abruptly and slammed the door so hard the house shook like an L.A. earthquake had hit the scene. “Fuck you, shawty,” she yelled while inside the garage.
Valencia jumped into her truck and pressed the remote that rested on the visor, rolled down the window, and tossed the tiny clicker out along the lawn as she yanked the car into reverse. The song on the radio that blasted extra loud was “How You Gonna Act Like That” by Tyrese.