All That Drama

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  I still kept in contact with Tyson. Kendall was too shy to call but I saw her around. Tyson told me that Sammie spent most of her days sleeping and the others just barely getting out of bed. If he had told me this to get me to forgive his mother, it did not work. Sammie had created the rift, not me.

  Chapter 26

  Norman and I began speaking on a regular basis. I told him what Sammie had done and how it was affecting me. He listened to me as if he really cared about what I was going through. He seemed truly sincere and I liked the words of comfort that he whispered to me when I broke down into tears while recanting what had transpired.

  “Marie, I know it doesn’t feel that way but things are going to be okay,” Norman said.

  “I know but it’s still a touchy situation as far as I am concerned. I am afraid for Kendall and Tyson ’cause I know Sammie. She will just hide from the world and the only ones that will suffer are Kendall and Tyson,” I said.

  “If you feel this strongly, why don’t you do an intervention?” he asked.

  “Two reasons, really; I hope that this will wake her ass up and two, her children need to learn to rely on her, not me. I have my own that I am responsible for,” I said.

  “True, you do but if it is going to worry the hell out of you, then you just can’t push it under the rug.”

  Norman had a good point. I was making myself sick worrying about what was going on behind their closed doors.

  Norman was different from the average guy. He proclaimed that he was not just interested in getting into my panties, and he was showing it by taking an active interest in the things that concerned me. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Although I had not seen him since the night we’d met, he called me every morning to wake me up, and he was the last person I spoke to every night.

  That was unusual because most guys didn’t like to talk on the phone unless they absolutely had to and they kept it quick and to the point. Not to mention, I was not much of a phone person either.

  Norman would ask me about my kids and even remembered their names. This was a good sign to me ’cause most men talking to a woman with kids tried to ignore the children or pretend they did not exist.

  “I would like to see you this weekend. Do you think we could get together and maybe watch a movie?” he asked. I was open to that suggestion and offered to cook for him but he said that he would pick up something on the way. I gave him directions and we set a time that would have him at my front door by eight o’clock Friday evening.

  I was nervous about seeing him in my home without the club gear that he was used to seeing me in but if this “friendship” were going to grow into anything else, we would have to pass this moment. I was also taller at the club due to the high heels that I always wore. When I went out, I usually wore very short, form-fitting dresses showing off my sexy legs with four-inch heels. But that night I was toned way down in some Tommy jeans and a V-neck sweater. I had chosen the sweater ’cause it molded my upper body showing off my big breasts. My hair and makeup were tight so in all I thought that I looked fly and if the brother didn’t like it, shame on him.

  To add to my anxiety about seeing Norman again, my mother was tripping about watching the kids and she waited until the last minute to tell me. She started to clown when I told her I might have a date and then began to complain about all the things that she had to do that evening. Any other time I would have had to fight with her just to take the kids home with me, but all of a sudden, she had things to do. She had their bags packed and waiting when I pulled up to her door and was ushering them out to the car as if the house were on fire. Imagine that, my own mother hating and blocking on me. In a way I couldn’t blame her. In the long run I thought that it would be okay for the kids to meet Norman since he acted like he was going to be around for more than a minute. But that called for plan two, to make the kids so tired that they would be anxious to go to bed on time.

  I was not sure how my kids were going to react to a man in the house since I never entertained men in the house. I never wanted to confuse them by seeing a lot of different men, but I felt like Norman would be an exception. Since my move to Atlanta, I had only dated two other guys and they never made it to my house nor did I to theirs. Plus, the kids’ bedtime was 9:00 so if things didn’t go that well, it would only be an hour before they would be heading off to sleep.

  Norman arrived promptly at 8:00 with two big bags. Since he had not asked me what I had wanted, I was surprised to see that they were from one of my favorite restaurants, the Olive Garden, and he had ordered my usual dish of seafood alfredo. The restaurant was near my house so the food was still hot.

  “Are you psychic?” I inquired as I emptied the contents of the bags he’d brought in.

  “What do you mean?” he replied.

  “I’m just saying, how did you know that this was my favorite dish? Plus Olive Garden has the best salad in the world and the breadsticks aren’t bad either.” He gave me the sweetest smile that heated up my insides.

  “Baby, I wish I could take credit for pulling a rabbit out of a hat on this but I can’t. I just got my favorite dish and hoped that you would like it. I should have called to confirm but I really did want to surprise you,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I’m glad it pleased you, though. I didn’t know what you wanted to drink so I got some beer for me, some grape soda for the kids, and a bottle of the house wine for you. Will that be all right?”

  I kissed him right on the tip of his nose. “Yes, that was very sweet of you.” He blushed and I found that refreshing. It had been too long since I had spent time alone with a man and I found myself having that woman-to-pussy conversation again. I told Norman to go into the living room and make himself comfortable.

  After I had a chance to put the food away I peeped in and was stunned. Norman was on the floor with my son playing with his PlayStation 2. My daughter was curled up right next to him and for a minute I thought I had peeked in someone else’s living room. To my surprise, they appeared extremely comfortable with each other. I wanted them to get along but damn, I was not ready for this. My son did not take to strangers well at all. He would have to know someone for at least a month in order to speak to them and he never let anyone play on his Play Station, not even his sister. Hell, he got an attitude when I tried to play with him and I bought the damn thing! Normally I would wait until he went to sleep so I could play as long as I liked and he would not be the wiser. He was nine and the concept of sharing had not entered into his brain yet. Everything was his and you had better know it.

  My daughter, on the other hand, was more affectionate so I was not too surprised by her closeness to Norman but oh my goodness, she was snuggled up to him like she had known him all of her life. I tried to keep the astonishment off my face as I came in and sat down on the sofa to join them.

  “I see you’ve met Keira and Kevin,” I said.

  “Yeah, great kids.”

  “Are you ready to eat yet?”

  “Aw, Mom, we’re playing here. Do you want me to mess up?” Kevin said with a touch of attitude.

  “Give me a chance to catch up. Kevin is kicking my butt,” Norman replied.

  “Ok, I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine. Are you ready for a beer?” I asked.

  “In a minute, I’ll take one with dinner.” He did not even look up from his game and I had to suppress a chuckle. I got caught up in the games, too, on the rare times I had a chance to play. I would get to fussing at the television, like it could hear me, when I lost or it did something that I did not like. I was so engrossed in my musing I forgot to get up until I looked over at Norman and caught him looking over at me. Our eyes locked making my knees weak. If I had read his gaze correctly, it said, It could be like this all of the time, baby, that is, if you want it to be. Damn, this brother was deep and my antenna went up. I was going to have to be very careful how I handled him.

  My, my, my, I thought. I got up and headed to the kitchen to get myself together. My thoughts went stra
ight from the Hallmark moment in the living room to a raunchy bedroom fantasy straight out of Penthouse magazine that I should not have been thinking about at all. He’d just arrived and all I really wanted to do was run my fingers through his chest hairs that I peeped poking up through his partially unbuttoned shirt. I could see myself doing a series of tongue dances with him.

  I could hear Kevin and Norman yelling at the television in the living room, acting like they had been friends for years. I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down at the kitchen table to gain some composure. I didn’t know whether to get horny or misty-eyed. Talk about confused! I wished at that moment that I could call Sammie to tell her how well things were going. I’d had a little bit of time to heal since the incident with Dickweed but I still ached over it. And during moments when I should have been happy, I was saddened because I couldn’t share my life with her. It ain’t like I would have asked her advice regarding whether I should sleep with him or not but I still would have liked to share my observations of him. Sure, I had other friends like Leah and Angie, but Sammie and I had recent history. She knew my dirt and I knew hers. The only difference was that the last time Sammie had thrown her dirt on me, and I was unwilling to forget that shit.

  Even though Sammie wasn’t around to share the news of my good fortune, I was still happy that I had found Norman. Truth be told, I needed a good man in my life. I had endured all the bullshit and drama that one woman could stand in a lifetime and I was ready for the real deal. I felt that if God was finally sending me one good man, I needed to take a few moments to thank him.

  Two glasses of wine later, I was still alone in the kitchen, and Norman and the kids were still involved in the game. I looked at the clock and realized it was 9:30 and that I was going to have to be the bad guy and put an end to their fun for the night, if I wanted to spend any time with Norman.

  When I walked into the living room, I found Keira asleep. I woke her up and pushed her to her room. I tucked her in and gave her a kiss but she did not even feel it ’cause she was down for the count. Next came the hard part—getting Kevin to turn off the game. I dragged my feet getting back to the living room ’cause I could just hear Kevin’s mouth.

  But when I returned, the television was off and the room was empty. I looked around but did not see Norman or Kevin anywhere. I backtracked upstairs and found that Norman was tucking Kevin into bed. I almost hit the floor. There were no temper tantrums nor any crying, yelling or slamming of objects. He simply had climbed into bed, and was waiting patiently for his kiss goodnight. When I leaned down to kiss him, he whispered in my ear, “I like him. Can he come play with me again tomorrow?” He said it so quietly, I had to strain to hear him but I shook my head yes and fought to keep the tears from falling down my face.

  “Go to sleep, my little man. Have pleasant dreams,” I said, quickly kissing him and turning out his lights. Norman had already left the room so I did not immediately have to face him. I knew that he did not hear what my son had said ’cause I had to strain to hear it, but it opened another floodgate of emotions that I was not ready to deal with. Did my son know something that I did not know? Were my children telling me that Norman was the one? I felt so confused.

  Going down the stairs, my heart was racing and I was not sure why. I was plagued with questions and no answers. Was my son so starved for male companionship or was his radar better than mine? I really didn’t have an answer to that one. Both of my children behaved like model children that night and that’s something that rarely happened when I wanted to make a good impression on someone. Up until that moment, I did not realize how much I had wanted Norman to like my kids and me. I shot God another thank you and went to find Norman.

  He was back in the living room but this time, he had a beer in his hand. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down to the sofa with him.

  “I like your kids,” he said. “Especially your son; that little man is a trip. Do you know that he asked me to come back and play with him tomorrow?” he quietly said. Damn, so much for him not knowing what my son said. He was in like Flynn and he knew it and there was nothing for me to say!

  “Are you ready to chow down or what,” I asked, trying to change the subject and put a little distance between us. As it was, I had settled next to him shoulder to shoulder on the sofa and the close contact was not helping my befuddled brain. I was feeling way too comfortable and I was glad to have somewhere to go when I jumped up to see about the food. I was in the kitchen before I even heard his reply.

  “I’m ready when you are. You have a nice place, too, and did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” he said. Stunned and at a loss for words, I managed to tell him thanks and asked him to turn on the radio. He opted for the local jazz station for some sultry dinner music. I liked his choice.

  “The food should be ready in about half an hour. You can’t rush pasta or it won’t be any good at all. We can start with the salad,” I said. Since it was a pasta dish, I put the tins into the oven and turned the temperature on low.

  He came into the kitchen quietly, scaring me.

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that. I watch too many scary movies.” Not to mention the multi-media entertainment center I called a brain was working overtime, causing me to be more antsy than usual. My body was on fire and the wine that I had consumed was helping to fuel it. Norman wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me gently back against his chest. We stayed that way for several minutes and I could feel the swell of his dick against my butt. It was all I could do not to push back on it to let him know that I was just as eager as he appeared to be.

  He turned me around and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and said, “Relax baby, I want this as much as you do.” Was I that transparent? I was having such a hard time thinking with him so close to me. He brought his lips down to mine and gave me yet another gentle kiss. He did not seek my tongue and I did not offer it. It felt so good to be held that I just wanted to savor the moment. He gently rubbed my back and my neck muscles. We stayed that way for at least ten minutes. He pulled me closer and after a few seconds, firmly pushed me away. I immediately regretted the distance but I tried to recover. He was rock hard and my nipples were standing at attention. He rubbed his hands along the side of his pants legs to ease the electric pulsations that had filled the room, and I bowed out to get plates for the salad.

  Neither of us spoke while we enjoyed the meal. It was not a strained silence; it was a silence born of comfort. Remarkably he was at ease and so was I. After we ate, he helped me clean up the dishes and we went together into the living room to watch the movies he had brought. Although it was getting late and the wine was making me a little sleepy, I did not want the night to end. He had a long drive ahead of him and I would have understood if he had chosen to leave, but he did not seem to be in any hurry to get going. I got the bag of movies to see what he had brought and was pleased to see that we had some similar tastes in movies as well as food.

  I liked to be scared and I liked to laugh. He had brought The Ring, a movie that I had not seen before but wanted to; and Barbershop, a comedy that had caused a lot of controversy in the black community.

  “Can we watch the scary one first? I love scary movies but hate to watch them alone.”

  “Sure, it’s your night; do what makes you happy,” he replied. Was that an invitation to jump his bones ’cause that shit would sure make me happy, I thought. I shook my head to clear the sexual fantasies. I put in the movie and adjusted the sound. I had the serious hook-up with my big-screen television and surround-sound speakers. I lowered the lights and took a seat next to him on the sofa. I was not yet comfortable enough to just slip into his arms but before the opening credits were finished, he had me snuggled up next to him. We fit like we had been together for years. We wound up lying down on the sofa with him in the back and me in the front. He kept his hands on my shoulders or my waist. He never attempted to touch my nipples, which were screaming out to be held, nor did his hands wander down to my
forbidden triangle. Don’t ask me what happened during the movie ’cause it wasn’t long before we both fell asleep. He went to sleep first, snoring softly in my ear, which was as soothing as a lullaby to me. I wasn’t far behind. Sometime after two o’clock he woke up, turned me over and we had our first serious kiss. He got aroused and since I was already there, I became more aroused. We kissed passionately for the next fifteen minutes or so complete with all the bumping and grinding, and it felt so good but at the same time, it was torture.

  “I need to go,” he whispered into my ear while gently nibbling on my earlobe. I was so hot that I was not thinking straight. Part of me wanted to beg him to stay and the practical part of my brain said, Bitch, don’t blow it by sleeping with him on the first date.

  He removed me from his chest and we sat side by side. I got up to take the DVD from the player.

  “Don’t,” he said, halting my movements. “I’d like to come back tomorrow if it is all right with you. We can get an earlier start and maybe get to actually see both movies.”

  “Sure, that’s fine ’cause I really want to see both of them. But I kind of promised the kids to take them to the zoo tomorrow. I can call you when we get back,” I said.

  “Oh, can I come along, too?” he asked, waving his arms around like a kid waiting to be picked at school.

  Laughing, I said, “Yes. I’m sure Kevin would like that, too,” as I walked him to the door. We shared another magical kiss and he was gone.