Naughty No More

by Brenda Hampton

  “Damn,” he answered in a sleepy voice. “I hadn’t expected you to call me any time soon. I guess I’m forgiven?”

  “Hell, naw, so shut the fuck up. Are you awake, though?”

  “Barely. I just got to bed around five in the morning, what’s up?”

  “I need to ask you a few things.”

  “If it’s about me and Nokea, what did I tell you?”

  “Naw, it’s not about you and Nokea. I got some suspicions about that shit, but maybe it’s just me tripping. I want to know the last time you and Scorpio had sex.”

  “The day I got out of jail, why?”

  “I’m just checking. I know you ain’t trying to hear this, but I rocked the boat without a jimmy on. I’m trying to make sure everything’s cool, that’s all.”

  “No, I’m not trying to hear that Jay, and what you and Scorpio do or did is not my business anymore.”

  “Look, don’t be bitter about this shit, all right? I know how you felt about Scorpio, but you knew how I felt about her too. You once told me that you couldn’t control who’s in your heart and I accepted that. Well, my dick made some choices this time, and even though I’m not delighted about my choices, I can’t change a thing that’s happened.”

  “Believe me, I’m gon’ shake this shit as quickly as I can. Still, I’m a bit shocked by how quickly Scorpio ran back to you. Nobody understands the hold you have on her better than her.”

  “I understand it, and many times, love makes you do some crazy things. I was her first love, Shane, and Scorpio will never forget me. Now, though, I do need a favor from you.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “Just be there—be nice to her. Don’t be hard on her for the choice she made and, uh, keep me posted on things.”

  “You mean, keep you posted if she pops up pregnant?”

  “You’re a smart man, Shane. I knew I could count on you. Would you happen to know when her next period is expected?”

  “How would I know that shit?”

  “Because I keep up with Nokea’s like clockwork. When you’re in a relationship, these things are important.”

  Shane laughed. “She’s expected to come on next week. I’m not sure if we’ll keep in touch that much, but whatever I find out, maybe I’ll let you know.”

  “Thank you. I hope I can count on you to let Scorpio find happiness with another man.”

  “Only if I can count on you to be the man who your wife deserves. I will never touch Scorpio again. What could have been will never be.”

  “I’m putting forth my best efforts to make shit right with my wife. I admit, I fucked up, big time. I hope like hell we recover from this shit. If I lose Nokea, man, I know I will have lost a good thing.”

  “I’m glad you recognize that. Y’all will get through this, only because of the love you share. In a week or two, I’ll be in touch to let you know what’s up.”

  “Cool. You know I appreciate it and if you’re bothered by my accusations about you and Nokea, I apologize for those too. I feel as though she . . . somebody’s not telling me everything. I will not be mad if she found comfort in another man through all of this. I just want to know.”

  “Negro, you must think I’m a fool. You would go crazy if Nokea had been with me or anybody else and you know it. There’s no way you would be able to handle what you dished out to her. Luckily for you, Nokea is not capable of bringing that kind of hurt to you. You can believe whatever it is that you’d like, but instead of looking for an outlet for what you’ve done, you’d better focus on trying to do what you can to make things right. No doubt, she’s been through a lot, Jay. She doesn’t need to hear about your bullshit assumptions about me and her. What happened at that motel was unfortunate, but you have my word, it never went any further than that.”

  “I hope not Shane. I truly hope that you and Nokea didn’t pursue your feelings for one another. I could barely deal with your relationship with Scorpio, but you know Nokea is a lot different. The thought of her being with anyone else just kills me. I’m not making excuses for what I did, but it was the only way for me to escape my harsh feelings. Scorpio put me at ease. Being able to discuss and release my frustrations really helped me. I hate she got disappointed again, but didn’t we all?”

  “Yeah, we did. Now, it’s time to pick up the pieces and see how we can put them back together.”

  “I’m starting with breakfast in bed for my wife. Hopefully, I’ll get lucky by the end of the week and things will start to take a turn. Pray for me, dog, all right?”

  “No doubt.”

  “Good. Now, walk me through how to make French toast. Since Nanny B ain’t here, I’m trying to impress Nokea. I know there’s some seasoning salt around here somewhere.”

  “Seasoning salt? For what?”

  “The French toast, fool.”

  “Ah, I think you might want to ditch the seasoning salt and go with some cinnamon. That will work a lot better.”

  “Cinnamon?” I said while looking through the seasoning rack. I reached for it. “Got it! You damn sure all right with me. Now what?”

  Shane laughed and walked me through preparing the French toast. Once I got things started, I thanked him and hung up. I turned on the radio and kicked up “Made to Love You” by Gerald Levert. I sang and hummed the lyrics, thinking of Nokea.

  Breakfast was finished, so I put everything on a tray, and grabbed a sunflower that was in a vase on the table. Nokea was still asleep so I mumbled her name to wake her. She cracked her eyes and then widened them when she saw me. She sat up in bed and stretched her arms.

  “What’s this?” she said, as I lay the tray in front of her.

  I removed the flower from my mouth and handed it to her. She took the flower. “Thanks, but I can do without a plastic flower. I need a flower with good fragrance to wake me.”

  “I got you,” I said, leaving the room. I went outside through the kitchen and picked a flower from Nanny B’s flower garden. I went back into the bedroom, giving the flower to Nokea.

  “This is the best I can do for right now,” I said.

  She took the flower from my hand and sniffed it. “Thanks,” she said, placing it on the tray with her food.

  “Move your legs up so I can lie sideways on the bed,” I said.

  Nokea sat Yoga style and I lay sideways in front of her so I could feed her. I held the fork and picked up a piece of the cut French toast.

  “Your mouth is going to water so badly for more of this. Open wide.”

  She opened her mouth and once I put the French toast in she chewed. She nodded with approval. “Okay, not bad. But, who told you how to make French toast? Did you get a hold of one of Nanny B’s recipes?”

  “Baby, French toast is simple. Who needs a recipe?”

  “You do. You rarely cook and I—”

  “Okay, I ain’t gon’ lie. I called Shane and he hooked me up.”

  “Are you serious?” she smiled. “Shane told you how to cook French toast?”

  I fell back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. “Thank you, Jesus, she smiled! I can’t believe she smiled. Even though I had to mention Shane in order for her to do it, I feel blessed.”

  I sat back up and Nokea rolled her eyes at me.

  “Sorry,” I said. “But, I had to go there. I was only kidding, though, all right?”

  I reached for the fork again, but Nokea took it from me. “I think I can do this,” she said. “Your efforts are well appreciated. Since you fixed your plate too, why don’t you join me?”

  “I am. But, after I fed you, I wanted you to feed me.”

  Nokea looked at my plate and forked up a piece of the French toast. She put it in my mouth and I chewed. “Damn, that’s delicious. You gon’ owe me big time for slaving in the kitchen like that.”

  Not saying a word, she scooped up some cheese eggs with a spoon and fed those to me too. I took the spoon from my mouth and scooped up some eggs on her plate. She looked at the spoonful of eggs and smi
led again.

  “That spoon was in your mouth, wasn’t it?” she said. “I don’t think I can use that spoon.”

  I put the spoonful of eggs in my mouth and removed the tray from her lap. I put it on the floor, dropping the spoon on the tray. I lay over Nokea and she stretched her legs so I could get comfortable. I looked down at her.

  “So are you implying that my mouth is contagious,” I asked.

  “No,” she whispered. “I was implying that the spoon was.”

  “That’s right, baby, clean up your words. For the record, you are stuck with these lips. They got too much love for you, and like it or not, they’re here to stay.”

  I leaned in and placed my lips on Nokea’s. At first, she was hesitant, but then she went with the flow. Her hands held the sides of my face, and when her fingers teased the back of my hair, I felt slightly relieved. I took things a bit further and pecked down the side of her neck, making my way to her breasts. When I tried to lower the thin strap on her shoulder, she lightly pushed me back.

  “Not now. Give me time, okay?”

  I looked into her still puffy eyes, placing tender kisses on them. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

  She nodded and her petite body remained underneath me. We made such an attractive couple. I was starting to feel as if we were making progress. We kissed again, and as I started to get more into it, Nokea stopped me.

  “I have to go to the bathroom,” she said.

  I rose up and she got out of bed. Still dressed in her lace nightgown, my eyes dropped to her visible ass and sexy body underneath. I wanted to make love to her so badly, but I had to be patient. She closed the bathroom door, but I could hear her coughing. After a few more coughs, I listened to the water run for a while.

  “What was up with that?” I asked as she came out of the bathroom.

  “After using the bathroom, I brushed my teeth.”

  “I’m talking about the coughing. That’s the third time you’ve thrown up. You’re not pregnant, are you?”

  Nokea walked over to the bed and sat on it. “No, I’m not.”

  “How do you know? Have you taken a pregnancy test?”

  “No, but I can’t be. The doctor said the chances of me getting pregnant again were slim, and quite frankly, I don’t want another child.”

  My eyebrows rose. This was breaking news to me. “I can’t believe you just said that. You know how much I . . . We’ve wanted another baby. Why the sudden change?”

  She looked at me with a blank stare. “Because I don’t want another child, Jaylin. Two is enough.”

  “Like hell. You promised me another child and we never gave up hope after what the doctors said. You even said that you were willing to keep trying until it happened.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t feel that way anymore.”

  I was getting angry, so I had to calm myself. “Why and when did this change take place? Does it have anything to do with what has happened between us?”

  “Jaylin, look, I don’t want another child. What more is there left to be said. If I am pregnant, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

  “What!” I yelled. “I know damn well what you’re going to do. You gon’ have our baby, that’s what.”

  “Don’t raise your voice and demand anything from me. You’re in no position to tell me what I should or should not do with my own body. If I don’t want a baby, I don’t have to have it.”

  This was a touchy subject for me and it was hard for me to hold my peace. “Now, you know what? You’re about to piss me off. The only reason you would not want to have this baby is if it were not mine.” I paused and my thoughts made me frown. “Did Shane come inside of you at that motel? You both said he didn’t, but baby, please don’t lie to me. If he did, I need to know.”

  “No he did not,” she spoke with assurance. “I didn’t start throwing up until a week after your midnight drunken visits. I’ve been sick ever since and I would hate to have made a child with you during that time.”

  “Well, you know how potent my mad sperm can be. It gets me every time. Both LJ and Jaylene were conceived that way.”

  “No they were not. LJ was conceived during sex at my house, and I was the one mad because, prior to that, I’d seen you and Scorpio having sex in the shower. Jaylene was conceived the first night I came here and we were both happy about seeing each other that night. So there.”

  “That’s your take on it. When LJ was conceived, I was mad at you for holding back on the pussy and the tightness of it frustrated me. And, the night you came here, I was happy to see you, but I was angry that you’d married Collins and had my ass confined to the bed while soaking in my tears.”

  Nokea sadly looked down and was quiet. “Thinking about things, we have really caused a lot of hurt to each other, haven’t we?” she said. “More so you disappointing me, but I’ve had my share of doing the wrong things to you too.”

  I kneeled in front of her, holding her hands together with mine. “I agree, but by far, our good times outweigh our bad times. Our love for each other continues to prevail and I can’t stress to you enough that if you’re pregnant, there’s no way in hell you’re not having my baby.”

  “Jaylin, I don’t even know if I’m pregnant. You’re getting ahead of yourself and I don’t want you to be disappointed if I’m not.”

  “Of course you are. Why else would you be throwing up?”

  “Because I’ve been sick. The stress I’ve been under can cause my body to react in such a way.”

  “Yeah, well, when are we going to find out? Call your doctor and set up an appointment. Better yet, let’s go get a pregnancy test.”

  “I will do all of that, when the time is right. For now, I need for you to do some things for me.”

  “What?” I asked while still holding her hands.

  Nokea was hesitant to talk, but she sternly looked into my eyes. “I don’t trust you anymore, and the love we have for each other is not good enough for me. I now know that every time things don’t go your way, you’re going to run out of that door and do whatever it is that feels right to you. For your own satisfaction, you will risk losing your family and I never want to feel what I felt while you were away. Your children needed you and I had no answers for them. You did not take into consideration what I was going through here without you, and staying away for that many days made things worse. There has to be some changes in this marriage. Cooking me breakfast and telling me you’re sorry is not enough for me to have another child. I don’t . . .”

  I stood up, pulled Nokea up to me and held my arms around her. “Whatever you want me to do, I will do it. I will do it because I love you and you know my children mean the world to me. If you’re pregnant, don’t deny me my child, Nokea. I can’t explain what took over me, but I’m more than sorry for what happened. Ju . . . just tell me what it is that you want me to do.”

  Nokea touched my eyebrows and straightened them. She then placed her index finger on my lip. “Hear me out and don’t say a word until I’m finished. As soon as possible, I want your name removed from this house and mine put on it. Every savings and checking account that you have separately and jointly with me, I want them put in my name solely. All of your stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate deals and any additional investments that you have, I want to be the overseer, and arrange it where any money made on those accounts belongs to me. As for your children, I want you to agree to, and legally put it in writing, that if we ever divorce for infidelity reasons on your behalf, I get sole custody. For any other reason, of course, we share joint custody. Lastly, the three million dollar deal you just made, if it hasn’t been paid out yet, I want the check written out to me and deposited into my account. You can keep any credit cards that you have and the cars can remain in your name. I’m sorry that it has to be this way, but after all that’s happened, I can’t afford to let you walk out on me and our children and leave us with nothing. Right now, all I have belon
gs to you, and if you pull the rug from underneath me, I’m screwed. I trusted you before, but I can’t trust you now. This is the only way I’ll feel comfortable with this marriage and the only way I will ever consider having another child.”

  I looked at Nokea with a stoned face and didn’t know what to say. I had already released my arms from around her. When I finally opened my mouth, all I could say was, “Are you out of your mind? The money issues can be negotiated, but I’m not about to give up custody of my kids. I can’t believe you stepped to me like that. You know damn well I’m not going to agree to no bullshit like that.”

  Nokea sat back on the bed. “If you love me, and your intentions are to remain faithful to me, then the issue with our children should not be a problem for you at all. However, I can understand your frustrations, if you feel as if Scorpio should be able to walk back into our lives without any repercussions. Even though I understand her way of thinking, I’m not going to stand for her to come back again. Like I said, this should be easy for you and I’m a bit worried about your concerns.”

  “Fine, Nokea. I’ll agree to the issue with our kids, but what about you? What if you commit adultery?”

  “I’m not the one who can’t be trusted, you are.”

  “Oh, I doubt that. You’ve got some skeletons too, but I just haven’t found them out yet.”

  “If I did, I’m sure you would know about them by now. Besides, I have nothing to hide. You’re the one who got caught with your pants down, not me.”

  I walked to the other side of the room and thought about Nokea possibly trying to set me up and leave me broke. “Are you trying to break me? Why would you want all of my money like that? If I agree to your request, don’t you know what that leaves me with?”

  “It makes you a very rich man, like you’ve always been. I’ll never deny you any of your money, Jaylin, because you’ve worked hard to build on what you have. On the other hand, I can’t say that you won’t deny me. You reminding me that you pay the bills here and this is your house was a wake-up call for me. The risk I’ll take, if I don’t do this, is not a risk I’m willing to bear.”