Lickin' License

by Intelligent Allah

  Another customer stepped up to the table. He was about Vanessa's s age and dressed in a preppy outfit with loafers and a cardigan. “How are you?” he asked.

  “So far, so good.”

  “I read the book review in The Village Voice.” He nodded. “Sounded interesting, so here I am.”

  “What was it in particular that interested you?”

  “There was something about trust, and how when trust is broken it can't be restored.”

  “Only if there is genuine love. That's one of the major themes in my book.”

  “Exactly. That's what it was. One of your characters grapples with being betrayed by his first love.”

  “You'll see. It's a very touching story.”

  The man paid for his book. “Thanks.” He walked away, then doubled back. “What inspired you to write this book?”

  “Life and love.”

  “Interesting.”

  As the man strolled off, Vera walked up from behind Vanessa. Vanessa immediately thought of the nasty look Vera had given her in the doorway of Candy's office. It was the last time Vanessa had seen Vera.

  “Vanessa,” Vera said. “I'll take one.” She paid for the book and Vanessa remained silent. “I'd appreciate it if you signed it 'To Vera.' And for the record, I'm not your enemy. I actually came down here to warn you about Candy.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Come on, Vanessa. I'm far from stupid and my vision is twenty-twenty.”

  “What's that supposed to mean?”

  Vera looked around, then pulled her phone from her handbag. She flashed the screen at Vanessa.

  Fuck! Vanessa's eyes expanded at the sight of a video of Candy eating her out. She knew immediately that it was their first tryst.

  “There's a lot you need to know about who you're dealing with,” Vera said. “It's much deeper than her making videos.” Vera pulled a card from her pocket and handed it to Vanessa. “When you're ready to talk, you can find me here.”

  Vanessa was in shock. Visions of the video flooded her mind. She didn't even see Vera walk off. Everything about her relationship with Candy was spinning through her head so fast that she felt dizzy. Betrayal, mistrust, hurt were just a few of the emotions that were too many to number or name completely. It made no sense to Vanessa. Why would a person who loved and protected her undermine her? Vanessa realized the video was old—before her infatuation with Candy elevated to love. Still, that meant their love was rooted in a lie. There was no telling what else may be in play. How many other videos existed and who had them? But Vanessa knew who could tell her.

  * * *

  After the book signing, Vanessa drove straight to Red Hook. She walked into Vera's apartment. It was a small, nicely furnished home, scented by candles.

  “I'm glad you came.” Vera grabbed Vanessa's hand and pulled her inside. She locked the door and led Vanessa over to a sectional couch in front of a 50-inch flat screen television. “I take it you wasn't too comfortable seeing that video.”

  “I didn't know it existed. Did she give that to you?”

  “Watch it first, then we'll talk.” Vera turned on the television. In seconds, a wide screen display of Vanessa and Candy was playing. Vera stepped out of the room.

  Vanessa was in awe. Her face was clearly visible on the video. Then Candy kissed her. She remembered the unusually good feeling of her first kiss from a woman. It was like Vanessa was experiencing her first time with a woman all over again. Candy went lower, stimulating Vanessa's breasts, navel, pussy and ass. Vanessa shifted her legs on Vera's couch, becoming aroused. She never knew what her own ecstasy-fueled face looked like. She had never seen a tape of herself doing anything. Now she was watching herself cum on camera.

  The tape paused.

  Vanessa looked up, spotting Vera's luscious naked body waltzing toward her with a remote in her hand. Vanessa leaned back. She didn't know what to say or do as Vera sat beside her and set down the remote. Vera pulled Vanessa's hand on her soft bare breasts. Vanessa jumped up and stepped away. She was fighting the lust running through her overheating body. “This is not gonna happen.”

  “You sure?” asked Vera.

  “Yeah.”

  Vera sucked her teeth. “Candy got you open like a research monkey.” Vera stood and approached Vanessa, backing her into a corner. “She forced her tongue into Vanessa's mouth.”

  She tastes so good. Vanessa shook her face free, breathing heavy.

  Vera said, “If you don't want that video on floating around on the internet, I suggest you be a good girl. Let me please you.”

  Vanessa felt her world crumbling. All she had done with Rich and Candy to keep their relationship quiet could be compromised by one video of her and Candy.

  Vera began unbuttoning Vanessa's blouse. “I wanted you ever since I first saw you on that video.”

  Fuck, Vanessa thought. She wanted to cry. But that changed when she felt Vera sucking her nipples and slipping her hand between her legs. Vanessa instinctively pulled down her pants. “Ahh,” she purred, as her insides were fingered.

  Vera came up, easing her tongue back into Vanessa's mouth. They kissed passionately like old lovers. Vanessa felt Vera push her downward. Soon Vanessa's tongue was inside Vera. Her body was sweaty. The taste soaked into Vanessa's tongue each time she licked Vera's clit. She could feel one of Vera's thick calves wrapped around her neck, followed by Vera's hand cupping her head. Vera's grip was forceful, yet delicate, a comfort Vanessa enjoyed. Fingers roamed through her 'fro.

  “I'm cumming,” Vera yelled, as her body shook into submission.

  As Vera loosened her grip on Vanessa, the reality of Vanessa's bittersweet predicament set in. She felt used. Used by Candy. Used by Vera. She felt dirty and cheap. And she still felt guilty for cheating on Rich. She realized that if she had been faithful to him in the first place, she wouldn’t be in her current situation.

  Vera licked her lips. “I see why Candy fuckin' you.”

  “Can I have that video now?”

  “Not yet. You still owe me a few more sessions.” Vera laughed.

  “What? You trying to blackmail me?”

  “I'm trying to show you a good time. Besides, I got copies of that video everywhere. If you really want one, I'll e-mail it to you,” Vera snapped.

  I'm fucked. Vanessa was trying to think of some strategy to solve her problem. But she felt helpless, stuck under Vera's control. Perhaps once Vera grew tired of her, she would free Vanessa from the shackles of the video.

  “I suggest you keep this between us,” Vera said.

  “Is that the only video that you have of me and Candy?”

  “Yup, but I can't speak for Candy. There's no telling how many times she got you on tape.”

  Vanessa wondered if there were other videos of her and Candy? Were there videos of their threesomes with Rich? She could hardly believe that Candy had actually recorded their most intimate moments. She decided the best way to find out about Candy’s secretive actions was through Vera. “Why do you think she taped us?” Vanessa asked.

  “She's a freak and she's slick. Take your pick.”

  “What else can you tell me about Candy that I don't know?”

  RICH

  Hours later, Rich was lying on the couch on his balcony. He was reading the business plan Candy had given him for her proposed hair care company. From the corner of his eye he noticed Vanessa walk onto the balcony. “What's up, baby?”

  Vanessa bent down and kissed him, then laid down on the couch beside him. She rested her head on his chest.

  “It's kind of late,” Rich asked. “How’d the book signing turn out?”

  “Not too good. I went by Mimi's afterwards. How 'bout you? What are you reading?”

  “Just going over Candy's business plan.” Rich tossed it on the end table.

  “Exactly how long have you known Candy?” Vanessa asked.

  “I think I was about fourteen when I met her, so we talking almost twenty-one years.”

&nbs
p; “Long time.”

  “Yeah. Candy was always a thinker, calculated. She had a lot of hustlers throwing money at her over the years.”

  “You love her?”

  “I'm fallin'.”

  “Sometimes I question how much I can take from her or you.”

  “Example.”

  “You cheating on me. Candy betraying me somehow. How much could you take?”

  “I would give y'all a second chance. You can get over once, but twice is a wrap. Rich was mouthing what he felt made sense. It was a good theory, but he didn't know how practical it was. Certain violations could not be tolerated even once. But that was in a normal relationship. Rich had something unique going with Candy and Vanessa—a blessing that was hard to come by. There was really no telling how much he would tolerate to keep two beautiful women who cared about him under his roof.

  Rich and Vanessa talked for about an hour, discussing issues of trust and love. Rich was still finding his way through experience. Trust and love were new concepts he had never anticipated having to deal with before he met Vanessa.

  “Rich,” Vanessa said, gazing into his eyes. “You know I trust you like I trust myself, right?”

  “I wanna hope so.”

  “Promise me that you won't ever break that trust.”

  “You got my word. But where is all this coming from?”

  “My book signing. I had a conversation with a guy who bought the book.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “He was moved that my book deals with issues of trust and love and stuff.”

  “I got you.” Rich held Vanessa tighter, realizing how fragile she was. He would never do anything that would crush her. Vanessa and Candy were all he needed and all he wanted.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CANDY

  A couple of weeks after Candy met with Domingo, she was watching him step out of a Lexus GS400 in the same place he had exited the Acura truck on the corner of Fulton Street and Flatbush Extension. Once again, he looked around like an awestruck tourist in Times Square. Then he walked inside the McDonald's.

  “Hey, Mamita.” He leaned down to kiss Candy.

  She quickly flipped up her hand between their faces as his lips almost met hers. “I see you're horny and persistent.”

  “You really want something that's hard to get, you gotta go harder.” He adjusted his gold-framed Gucci specs.

  Candy snickered. “I meant to ask you something last time.”

  “You don't have to ask me. Of course, you can have my baby.” Domingo smiled.

  “For real. Why when you get out a car, you always look around like you lost or something?”

  “Same reason I never leave home without a gun and a condom.”

  Candy shrugged her shoulders. “What's that supposed to mean?”

  “Dudes is grimey and you can't trust hos. This ain't Harlem, Mamita. They respect the hustle up there. In Brooklyn, every ten steps you take, you gotta look over your shoulder. There's always some grimey bastard tryin’ to rob you, or some ho trying to set you up.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  “It's gonna cost you an extra kiss.” Domingo grinned.

  “I'm gonna do your horny little ass a favor and hook you up with one of the young girls that come in my shop.”

  Domingo's eyes squinted. “Shop?”

  “I own a beauty salon.”

  “Say it ain't so, Mamita.”

  “On Lennox. Right in the middle of Harlem.”

  Domingo gasped, shaking his head. “You work in a room full of pussy all day and you just telling me about it? Instead of sharing, you want all the chocha for yourself.”

  Candy laughed. “I got you. Now let's handle this business.” She looked at her watch. It's ten to eight. Vera should be gone from eight to nine, right?”

  “Si, Mamita.”

  “You ready to do this?”

  “What's that? A joke? Ya boy always ready.”

  Candy smiled. “That's what I want to hear.”

  “But I told you, we gotta be careful. Vera crazy-ass brothers be ridin’ around the PJs in this old Taurus. I don't wanna have to gun nobody down 'cause you got us spotted.”

  “Just come on,” Candy said, grabbing Domingo's hand and standing. They exited McDonald's and hopped into Candy's BMW. Domingo couldn't take his eye off the car since he first got a glance of it. “I see you like this M-Three,” Candy said.

  “The first time I saw you in it in front of my PJs, I was gonna jack you.”

  “Oh yeah?” Candy sucked her teeth. “What stopped you?”

  “You stepped out in those high heels with them tig old bitties with that big old ass. I been in love ever since.”

  Candy shook her head, grinning. “You got a smart mouth.”

  “Better that than a stupid one, right?”

  Candy laughed to herself. She enjoyed Domingo's charisma. She parked at the end of his block and he told her to stay put. He was going to make sure Vera was not home. If she wasn't, he would break in, then call Candy. She nodded as he spoke. The plan sounded logical.

  “I'm a have a hot bath and some scented candles waiting for you with a little R. Kelly in the background, okay?” Domingo licked his lips and smiled.

  “Get your horny ass out my car.” Candy watched Domingo bop up the block and go inside Vera's building. Five minutes later, he called her and told her it was safe to come. Minutes later, she was lugging her Louis Vuitton knapsack into Vera's apartment as Domingo opened the door.

  “Welcome to the Plaza Hotel.” He waved his arm with a smile, like a proud doorman. Domingo closed the door when Candy stepped past him. “Don't touch shit,” he barked.

  Candy froze. “What?”

  “I don't know if a pretty thing like you can last behind bars.” He tossed her some rubber gloves. “Plus, you can't have my baby if you playing Spades in a cell on Rikers Island. You might like pussy, but them butches in them cellblocks is vicious.”

  “Thanks.” Candy realized how her eagerness had almost jeopardized her freedom.

  “What we looking for?”

  “Anything that can play a video. Computer, disks, flash drive, phone, iPod, whatever,” Candy said.”

  They began invading every crevice of the apartment. Candy started with the living room. Domingo searched the bedroom. Candy picked up a stack of DVDs and dumped them into her knapsack. They all had movie labels, but she wanted to make sure she didn’t leave behind the video because it was disguised.

  Domingo stepped back into the living room and handed Candy a laptop and some flash drives. “Hold on.” He raced back into the bedroom and returned with a hard drive and some CD ROMs. He stuffed them into the knapsack.

  Candy went into the bedroom to make sure Domingo didn’t leave anything behind. She trekked through piles of strewn clothes and scattered papers. Domingo had hit the room like a tornado. She scanned the area for a few seconds. What the hell? She picked up a copy of Vanessa's book. “To Vera, From Vanessa Denay” was signed on the first page. Next to the book was one of Venessa's beaded bracelets.

  Candy was convinced that Vanessa was having an affair with Vera. Why else would she autograph a book and leave her bracelets here? She only takes her bracelets off before we make love. Candy rationalized that they probably had been involved since shortly after Vera saw the video then broke up with her. She recalled the time that Vanessa had asked about Vera's sexual performance. She probably wanted both me and Vera from the day she saw us together.

  Candy finished searching the bedroom, then she ransacked the bathroom and kitchen. The thought of Vanessa and Vera having sex pushed Candy to focus more on destroying the apartment than finding videos.

  Candy was huffing and puffing when she walked back into the living room with Domingo. She pulled out ten crisp $100 bills from her pocket and handed them to him.

  “I like your style, Mamita.” Domingo nodded. “We can do business anytime.”

  Candy hurled the knapsack over her shoulder. Th
en she handed Domingo a card. “Come by my shop so I can hook you up with a PYT like I promised.”

  “She gotta look like you or this ain't gonna work, Mamita.” Domingo grabbed his dick through his True Religion jeans. “I'm a tits and ass man.”

  Candy blushed. “I like your little horny ass.”

  VANESSA

  Vanessa and Mimi were sitting on a bench in Central Park after eating lunch at Tavern on the Green. For nearly the entire lunch break, Vanessa had been explaining everything that happened between her and Vera. She mentioned that Vera said she broke up with Candy because of her infidelity and she was physically abusive. Vera swore that Candy had manipulated her into becoming a lesbian after she became Candy's client. Vera claimed to have been young and naive.Vanessa told Mimi that she was careful not to show any signs to Candy that she was aware of the video. She mentioned probing Rich indirectly about Candy's background, but not finding anything. But, she thought it was interesting that Rich said Candy had always been a “calculated” person. That word seemed to fit with Vera's depiction of Candy being a predator that used her shop to hunt new prey. It also explained how she made sure that she had a camera set up during the first time they had sex.

  “You wanna know what I think?” Mimi asked.

  “Of course.”

  “You're caught up. Out of your league.”

  “What? You don't understand.”

  “And you do?” Mimi chuckled. “You came to me with this.”

  “I know, but—”

  Mimi cut her off in mid-sentence. “You're in a relationship with a guy who had half of Harlem on lock and a chick who turned you out on tape. Now you gettin' blackmailed into eating pussy by some other chick who fell victim.”

  Vanessa wanted to admit that she was in love, but Mimi wouldn’t understand. She would need to have experienced the harmony that existed within Vanessa's household. She needed to know that Rich cried on her shoulder and chose Vanessa as the person to confess that he was repeatedly molested as a child. She needed to see the light that resonated from Candy's eyes when they gazed at each other before kissing. Vanessa knew that Mimi could not comprehend the language that vibrated from three hearts so in-tune that their beats were synchronized. It was all of these things that kept Vanessa focused on making her relationship work, in spite of the video. But she needed to understand the circumstances that preceded the video.