Naughty No More

by Brenda Hampton

  Chapter 30

  Jaylin

  We had a change of plans because of my dream. There was no way in hell Nokea was going to St. Louis alone. Our plane had touched down in St. Louis about an hour ago. Once Nokea and I had gotten a room and rental cars, we headed to her parents’ house first. They were upset about us not staying with them, and even more upset that we hadn’t brought the kids. Nokea promised she’d bring the kids for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That somewhat put her parents at ease.

  After sitting and talking with them for hours, I told Nokea I was heading to Shane’s place to see him. She was leaving shortly to go see Pat. Before I departed, I gave her a kiss and told her parents I’d see them soon.

  On my drive to Shane’s place, I felt real uneasy. I’d been feeling that way all day starting at the airport. Nokea and I didn’t get down in the bathroom stall, but it sure would have been nice to. I could tell that many of the women’s stares made her uncomfortable. She kept looking at me for a reaction. I showed no interests in the women, and that confirmed how important my marriage was to me.

  As for Shane, we hadn’t talked much at all, but my dream encouraged me to work on our friendship. I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing or not by going to see him, but maybe my bitterness toward him caused my dream to surface.

  I pulled in his driveway, and saw his new pearly white Lexus truck he’d told me he’d gotten. Another car was parked beside it, but I wasn’t sure whose car it was. I’d thought about calling to make sure the coast was clear, but since I was already there, what the hell?

  Dressed in a white and black striped Kenneth Cole woven shirt and black jeans, I knocked on the door. A chick, Amber, that Shane had been seeing on and off again for years, opened the door.

  “Hi, Jaylin,” she said with a surprised look on her face. “Come in.”

  With my hands in my pockets, I stepped inside and looked at Amber’s slim and tall figure covered in one of Shane’s long white T-shirts. “Is Shane here?”

  “Yes, he’s in his office. You can go on back. I’m sure he’ll be pleased to see you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, as Amber checked me out from head to toe.

  “Those are some nice black leather shoes, Jaylin. And that watch on your wrist about to blind me. Can I see it?”

  I lifted my wrist, which displayed a new diamond faced Rolex with a white gold band I’d just purchased. Amber observed the watch and smiled. “Everybody ain’t able. That’s nice—really nice. I would like to get Shane something nice like that for his birthday, but that might be way out of my budget.”

  “If you know Shane like I do, a watch like this wouldn’t even excite him. Get him some jockey shorts, cologne and some good pus . . . good loving and the brotha will be just fine.”

  Amber smiled and agreed. I made my way back to Shane’s office and got a whiff of the seasoned fried chicken that lit up the kitchen. When I got to his office, his back was turned and his face was aimed at the flat screen monitor in front of him. He was shirtless and had on some white and yellow basketball shorts. I lightly knocked on the door, but he didn’t turn around.

  “I’m busy right, now, baby. In a minute, okay?”

  “What if I don’t have a minute?” I said. He quickly turned, cracking a tiny smile.

  “What’s up, Jay?” Shane stood up and adjusted his shorts. I walked up to him and slammed my hand against his.

  “Nothing, fool. What’s been up with you?”

  “Doing what I do best . . . working,” he laughed. “Have a seat.”

  I took a seat in a chair that was next to his weight bench.

  “Man, I didn’t know you were coming to St. Louis. What made you want to stop by and visit li’l ole me?”

  “Nokea’s friend Pat is having a baby and she came for the shower. I came too, just to get away and see what you’ve been up to.”

  Shane leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head. He looked down, and then looked up at me. “Well, as you can see, me and ole girl ain’t together anymore.”

  “Yes, Amber answering your door kind of validated that for me. What happened between you and Scorpio?”

  “Nothing,” Shane chuckled. “After she lost the baby, things went downhill. I did tell you she lost the baby, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, but we didn’t talk much after that.”

  “Yeah, well, she lost the baby. She got mad at me when I confronted her about my suspicions. Honestly, I don’t think there ever was a baby. I think Scorpio lied to me so I wouldn’t move to Florida. I got tired of the games, and just like Felicia, she’s been playing games too. She sent me a picture of her baby, but she did admit to it being Stephon’s, not mine. The baby looks just like him. I hate he got killed. Maybe him having a baby could have saved his life and gotten him off crack.”

  I thought about the good times Stephon, Shane and I had, doing my best not to comment on the fucked up times while he was on crack. Before then, he was my right hand man, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. “You knew Felicia’s baby wasn’t yours,” I said. “We all had a piece of that, and ain’t no telling who the father is.”

  Shane opened his desk drawer and pulled out a picture. He tossed it over to me so I could look at it. Felicia’s baby looked just like Stephon, when he was a baby. “Damn,” I reminisced. “Stephon spit this baby out,” I paused and continued to look at the picture. “Before I leave, make sure you give me Felicia’s contact information. This li’l dude and LJ need to know each other. Besides, Felicia don’t need no damn baby. I’m sure she’s still whack and that bitch owes me some favors. As for Scorpio, I’d bet every dime in my bank accounts that she lied, but that’s just how some women are.”

  “Yeah, but to lie to me about something like that was crazy. We kept arguing, and honestly, our relationship was starting to revolve around nothing but sex. Now, I ain’t complaining, but it was hard to focus on other things when all I could think about was making love to her.”

  “I definitely understand what you’re talking about. She’s got that snapdragon pussy and once it snatches you up, it’s hard to let go.”

  “Right,” Shane nodded and laughed. “Anyway, like I said, we couldn’t get along and the next thing I knew, Mackenzie’s father, Bruce, was back on the scene. I didn’t trip ’cause I’d started seeing Amber again.”

  “Bruce? So, she’s seeing that fool again, huh?”

  “From what I hear, yes. And a little birdie told me that wedding bells are in the plans.”

  “Is that right,” I said, rubbing my goatee. I was surprised. “So, uh, is this thing serious with you and Amber?”

  “Not at all,” he whispered. “I’m not feeling another relationship right now, Jay. Ending my relationship with Scorpio kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve been working hard at building my book of business and seeing where it takes me. That’s all I can do for now.”

  “Well, what if I make you the same offer I made you a while back? Would you still move to Florida and consider going into business with me?”

  Shane took a deep breath and clinched his hands together in front of him. “I . . . I would like that more than anything in the world. I wanted to call and talk to you about doing something together, but I knew you were upset with me about Scorpio. At the time, I saw nothing wrong with me loving her. My feelings were beyond my control. Now, I see things differently. I apologize for the damage I cost our friendship. My being with her should have never happened or been a priority over my career.”

  “No comment from me. You already knew how I felt. I’m pleased that you’re accepting my offer. How soon can you make this transition?”

  “A month, maybe two. I’ll need to clear up things here and work on a place to stay in Florida.”

  “You work on clearing up things a.s.a.p., and as for a place to stay, you can stay with us until you find a place of your own. Until you do,” I said smiling. “if you even look at my wife like you wanna get with her, I’ll kill you.”r />
  “What?” he laughed. “Why would you say . . .”

  “Man, I had this crazy-ass dream that you were fucking Nokea behind my back.”

  Shane laughed, but I didn’t understand his humor.

  “What in the hell is so funny?” I asked.

  “Nothing. I can’t believe you’d dream something like that, but I guess you might have some trust issues with me, huh? Because of my relationship with Scorpio, I understand, but I assure you that Nokea and I will never be secret lovers.”

  I lightly rubbed my goatee. “Shane, all jokes aside. If I’m making a big mistake inviting you into my home, then you need to stay right here. If you have any feelings, whatsoever for Nokea, I don’t think this is a good idea. After all, you did kiss her . . . .”

  “Jay, relax. I don’t know the details of your dream, but it ain’t that serious. Kiss or no kiss, Nokea loves you and only you. I know it might be hard for you to believe, but I respect our friendship more than you will ever know. It ain’t going down like that, trust me.”

  “Yeah, that’s the same mess you said in my dream. But, Negro, you were all up on my shit.”

  “Straight?” he smirked and folded his arms. “Okay, so tell me about this dream. Maybe I can analyze some things for you.”

  I told Shane about my dream and he seriously thought the shit was funny. I didn’t leave out one detail, as I’d left out a few things when I told Nokea.

  “Now, as soon as that muthafucka put a gun to my head, you should’ve woken up from that dream. Ain’t no way in hell it would’ve gone down like that, and you and Scorpio added big flames to a burning fire, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, buddy. That shit was wild and I was insane! No offense, but I couldn’t stop fucking her ass, man, and enjoyed every damn bit of it too. Then my money . . . I gave away all of my money to Nokea and she was still screwing you.”

  “Yeah, the money thing was messed up too. That was another time you should’ve snapped out of it. You know damn well you wouldn’t turn over your life savings like that.”

  “Never,” I laughed. “I love my wife and she can have anything she wants, but the bulk of my money stays with me.”

  “I hear you. If I had nearly as much money as you do, I would feel the same way.”

  For the next few hours, I ate dinner with Shane and Amber and we chatted about his move to Florida. Amber seemed disturbed by the conversation. The news about Shane leaving in a few months made her upset. She left immediately after dinner and told Shane she’d call him later. I asked him if Amber would be okay without him. He assured me that he wasn’t going to allow another woman to interfere with his plans for the future. According to him, he was moving and that’s all there was to it. This time, I believed him. As I got ready to leave, he walked outside with me.

  “So, are you headed back to the hotel?” he asked.

  “Yeah, it’s almost 8:00 P.M. so I’m gon’ call it a night. Why don’t you hook up with Nokea and me for breakfast, and maybe, we can go shoot some hoops tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me. Thanks for stopping by, Jay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Shane patted the roof of my car and I drove off. Wanting to know how Nokea’s day was going, I reached for my cell phone to call her. She answered the phone laughing.

  “So, I see you’re having a good time,” I said.

  “Baby, Pat is so crazy. I wouldn’t dare tell you what she just said.”

  “Keep your little secrets, all right? I wanted to let you know that I’m headed back to the hotel. I just left Shane’s place and we had a good talk. He’s going to move to Florida in a few months.”

  “I’m so glad to hear that the two of you reconciled your differences. I probably won’t get to the hotel until two or three o’clock in the morning so don’t wait up for me.”

  “Be careful and I hope you haven’t been drinking. You sound like you have.”

  “I’ve only had one . . . two glasses of wine. Besides, drinking affects you, not me.”

  “You’re so right about that. I don’t want to see another drink for the rest of the week.”

  Nokea laughed. Allowing her to get back to her friend, I told her I loved her and said good-bye.

  For whatever reason, instead of going back to the hotel, I took a detour. It led me to Scorpio’s place. Before going to the door, I sat in the car thinking hard about the past. Why was I even there? My dream was heavy on my mind. When Shane mentioned Bruce being back in the picture, I had a queasy feeling in my stomach. I had to see what was up. That’s what prompted me to go to the door. I rang the doorbell. When no one answered, I rang it again. Soon, I heard Scorpio’s voice, as she asked who I was.

  I cleared my throat. “Jaylin.”

  “Who?” she repeated.

  “I said Jaylin.”

  She slowly pulled open the door and stood in her soft yellow sheer nightgown. Her long thick hair was full of wavy curls. She looked to be in a trance. My eyes couldn’t help but wander to her visible almost bare breasts and her yellow panties that covered her goods down below.

  “What a surprise,” she said. “I was expecting someone else.”

  “I don’t mean to intrude, but is it okay for me to come in?”

  “Sure,” she said, widening the door. “If you’re looking for Mackenzie, she’s at my sister’s house. My fiancé, Bruce, will be here soon.”

  I looked around at the cozy dim living room and the several lit candles around it. Ironically, “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” by Alicia Keys was playing and the aroma of soul food was in the air. Scorpio invited me to have a seat, so I did. She sat on one end of the couch, and I sat far away on the other end. I looked at my watch. “I came here to talk to you,” I said. “How long do I have before your man gets here? I’m not up to fighting . . . .”

  “How much time do you need? I have no problem calling and telling him to push our plans back for a few hours.”

  “That’s fine. Just give me about an hour.”

  Scorpio stood up and walked into the other room. I couldn’t help but feel guilty about the way her sexiness still turned me on. To see her go all out for another man kind of made me jealous. I looked around the room, thinking about the many times we’d had sex in this type of atmosphere. My dream was still fresh in my memory and damn did she look good. She came back into the room and returned to her position on the couch.

  “Done deal,” she said. “He won’t be here until later. I’m glad you’re here. I’d been meaning to contact you about a big problem that we seem to have. Mackenzie’s father, Bruce, and I are getting married. He’s anxious to get back custody of his daughter. Since you’ve moved on without her, I think it’s only fair that we do the right thing.”

  I surely hated that Scorpio had already struck a nerve. “For the record, I have not moved on without her. I think about her every single day. When she turns eighteen, because of me, she will be a millionaire. Now, I’m happy for you and Bruce, but giving custody back to a man who walked out of his child’s life years ago, and signed away his parental rights, is not going to jive with me.”

  “That was a long time ago. He’s a different person now. We’ve all made mistakes. Mackenzie is his child and—”

  “Look, we can sit here and debate about this all damn night. Like I said, I wish you and Bruce all the best, but things will have to be left as they are. I’ve been talking to Nokea about my situation with Mackenzie and she’s coming around. Mackenzie will know her brother and sisters. She’s old enough to understand that things just didn’t work out between you and me.”

  Scorpio’s mouth hung open. “So, let me get this straight. When Nokea decides that it’s okay for Mackenzie to visit you all, then she can? It’s been years, Jaylin; I’m the one who’s had to explain why she can’t see you. Mackenzie doesn’t give a damn about your money—all she wanted was to be with you. You left, and I watched my child hurt and behave badly because you wouldn’t come for her. Now, she’s over that sta
ge and I will not allow her to go through that again. So, how dare you come in here and tell me what’s not going to happen. You need to get with your lawyer and do what’s best for Mackenzie.”

  “I don’t need to do shit!” I yelled then lowered my voice. “Sorry, but my mind is made up. I will tear Bruce’s past up in court and you know it. You get so caught up in these fucking relationships. By next year, that sucker will be history. My daughter needs a stable father figure in her life and she will have one. I mean that shit, Scorpio. That’s just how it’s going to be.”

  Scorpio shook her head in disgust. “After all this time, you still haven’t changed one bit. It’s gotta be your way or no way and there’s nothing I can do. I’ve told you about all of the setbacks we’d endured since you left, but you won’t listen. You expected for me to accept things for what they were and go live happily ever after. Well, that didn’t happen for me, up until recently. Bruce and I—”

  “I don’t give a damn about you and Bruce, Scorpio. You said the same mess about you and Shane and look at how that turned out. You’re starting to sound like a broken record. Your reputation is getting awfully ugly.”

  “Fine,” she said, standing up. “If you don’t want to listen to me, then why are you here? I don’t understand the purpose of your visit.”

  “Let’s just say that I had a feeling something wasn’t right.”

  She folded her arms. “Something like what? Like I have an opportunity to be happy and you’re here to steal my joy? You do it to me every time, Jaylin. From Shane to Bruce, or anyone else I might date, you’ll continue to cause problems for me. After playing me how you did, I hoped you’d want me to find happiness. For years, I’ve struggled with being without you. Even while with Shane, I could never get you out of my system.” Scorpio swallowed and plopped down on the couch. She dropped her face into her hands and rubbed her hair back. “I never told you this, but I wanted to die. After you went off and married Nokea, I wanted to roll over and die because of your decision. Since then, yes, I’ve made many mistakes with men. I wanted all of them to be like you. Who could blame me? Even with Shane, I felt as if being with him would keep me close to you. Once the two of you stopped speaking, it was as if I had no need for him.” She turned to me and displayed true honesty in her eyes. “God help me for loving you so much. I . . . I just want to move on with my child and be with a man who truly loves me.”