by Skyy
They all laughed.
Denise and Cooley packed up the bags. They all said goodbye to Lena and headed back to school after a holiday they would never forget. The car ride started off silent, until Cooley quickly broke it.
“Nigga, you ain’t slick either,” she said to Denise, who was driving.
“What are you talking about?” Denise said.
“You think I didn’t notice how close you and Lena were. Did you finally hit it?” Cooley said.
Carmen and Cooley laughed at the statement.
“Hell, no, man. You know it’s not like that.”
“Stop lying.” Carmen added, “Love is in the muthafuckin’ air!”
They laughed again.
“Whatever, man.” Denise did not like where the conversation was headed.
“Dude, look me in my eye and tell me that you are not falling for that girl,”
Cooley said. Denise looked at Cooley. She tried to say it, but it wouldn’t come out. “Nigga, I told you, you want Lena!”
“Shut up, y’all!” Denise yelled. “Okay, okay. I do want her okay. I wanted her so bad last night, but come on. She’s taken. I am not going through that again, no way. No more curious or straight girls in my life.”
“Good, Denise,” Carmen added. “That would be bad, real bad.”
“Why?” Cooley asked.
“Because, that girl’s life is planned. She has a whole future to think about. Don’t go confusing her anymore than she already is.”
“So, you’re saying she’s confused. She’s curious, huh?” Cooley smiled at her question.
“I am not saying anything, but all that she talked about the whole first day was that damn bracelet you gave her. You know that goo-goo facial expression Denise gets; I see Lena get it too sometimes.”
“Get the fuck out of here. Little Lena is feeling my boy.”
Cooley hit Denise, who was absorbing everything that Carmen said.
“Are you for real? Naw, you’re playing right?” Denise asked in a serious tone.
Cooley continued to laugh.
“Denise, I can’t lie to you. I think that if you did try, it would totally happen.” Carmen lay back in her seat. “But I still don’t think you should try it at all.”
“Fuck that, Dee. You need to fuck the hell out of that girl and let her know which side of the rainbow she really belongs on!” Even Denise had to laugh at that comment.
“Naw, man, I am not going to do it. I care about her a lot, a whole lot, but I am not going to be the one to ruin her future.”
“So, what if she comes to you with it? What you gon’ do then?”
Cooley had a good point. Denise never thought about what she would do if Lena propositioned her.
“I honestly don’t know, and I am not going to think about it unless she does bring it to me.”
“Good girl, Denise,” Carmen added.
“Whatever. You better be glad you’re my dawg, ’cause I would put so much game in that girl she would be like ‘Brandon who’?”
They all laughed again.
“Oh, what happened to the Cooley who wants a relationship?” Carmen asked.
“I still want one and I am still going to look for one, but hell, Lena is fine as hell. Buddy, if you don’t want her, I can make her my last loose piece of pussy.”
“You better stay the fuck away from her,” Denise snapped, causing Cooley to break out laughing.
“Chill out, homey. I don’t really want her; I’m just testing you. I knew your ass was in love.”
Carmen and Cooley laughed at Denise’s expense for the majority of the ride home.
Chapter 20
Lena opened the door to her dorm. She hoped Denise would be there, but she wasn’t. She took a seat on her bed. She missed her crew when they left her house. She was at home alone for the rest of the week and wished she had taken them up on their offer to ride back to school with them. She had to make sure the house was completely proper for when her family got home. She hired a service to clean the entire house and double-checked the whole house to make sure nothing was left behind.
She held her wrist up and looked at her Tiffany charm bracelet. Lena owned many Tiffany items, but this one had quickly become her favorite. The charms dangled down. She thought about Denise every time she looked at it.
She heard a knock at the door, and she opened it to find Brandon standing with a bunch of bags in his hands.
“Hey, baby,” Brandon said as he hugged her. “God, I have missed you so much.” He picked her up and kissed her.
“I have missed you too, asshole,” Lena said as she caught a quick attitude with him.
“I’m sorry. What was that for?” Brandon said, confused by the attitude Lena was showing.
“How was your little romp in sin city?” Lena said as she pouted her lips and crossed her arms.
Brandon laughed. “It was fine, and how was your gay pride holiday?” he said catching an attitude right back with her.
She quickly lost the attitude. “It was fine-ass, and it wasn’t a gay pride event. We’re going to that in June.” She smiled at Brandon, who didn’t find the comment funny. She got up and sat in his lap. “I did miss you, baby.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Take these damn presents before you really make me mad.”
She opened present after present. She was very excited about the gifts she received. “Baby, they’re all wonderful!” She squealed with excitement as she kissed him.
“Wait, there is one more, you know,” Brandon said as he stood up. “Baby, there were so many agents all trying to get me. Once we won the tournament, it was all over. They rode my dick, catering to my every need for the rest of the weekend. They kept telling me about all the millions I’m going to make in the NBA. I had to admit, I was feeling what they were saying, especially this one dude. He was for real, the way he came to me.”
“That’s wonderful. I am so happy for you.” Lena was very excited about the news.
“No, be happy for us, because wherever I end up, I am taking you with me.”
Lena blushed at Brandon’s statement. She realized that he really loved her a lot. She realized that she was feeling a little guilty, but she didn’t know why. She hadn’t done anything.
Brandon pulled a bag out of his gym bag and handed it to Lena.
She pulled out a blue box with a white ribbon. It was Tiffany. She began to smile when she saw the box, but when she opened it, her smile faded. It was a Return to Tiffany’s toggle bracelet with a heart, a bracelet that she already had.
“Brandon, baby, I love it, but you know I already have this one, right?” she said to him. Brandon laughed and got on his knees in front of her. “Baby, look at it closely.”
Lena turned it over to see the initials L.M.R. engraved on the back of it.
“It has the last name that you are going to have soon.”
Lena’s eyes started to tear up as Brandon began to explain.
“I think that you should start getting used to saying, “Lena Redding” because whenever I go pro, the first thing that I am going to do is marry you.” He grabbed her to put the bracelet on it, revealing the charm bracelet that Denise gave her. “Damn, that’s nice. Expensive, too. Your dad always gotta upstage me.” He laughed as he removed the charm bracelet.
“Actually, Daddy didn’t give me that. Um, Denise did.” Brandon stopped what he was doing when she made that comment. Lena knew he was upset.
“Hold up, you mean your roommate gave you a four-hundred-dollar bracelet? What the fuck is she doing buying you a damn Tiffany bracelet?” Brandon stood up. Anger was all over his face.
“Baby, calm down. It was a gift to thank me for all I did for her grandmother’s funeral. It’s not that serious.” Brandon quickly cut her off.
“No, Lena, a gift certificate, or a card would show appreciation. This is not something you give to a friend!”
“Why? I bought Carmen a Tiffany bracelet for Christmas.”
“That�
�s different.”
“How?”
“Carmen doesn’t want you!” Brandon yelled.
Lena suddenly felt uneasy. She hadn’t seen Brandon that upset in a very long time. The room got silent. Lena stared at Brandon, who was turning red with anger.
“Baby, please calm down,” Lena pleaded with Brandon. She walked up to him and put her arms around him. “It was just a gift. Denise has never tried anything with me. Believe me, it’s nothing between us.”
“I want you to prove it. I want you to get a new room-mate,” Brandon said.
Lena quickly became upset. “You’re not serious,” Lena said as she let go of Brandon.
“I am very serious. Now, you go to your R.A. and ask her to move Denise to a new room.”
“Brandon Taylor Redding, you must have left your brain in Miami, ’cause it certainly is not here.”
“Baby, do this for me. I don’t want my girl staying with some dyke! Now Steve’s girl’s roommate left. You can let her move in here, and Denise can take her room.”
“No, I do not like Steve’s stuck up-ass girlfriend.”
“Baby, she’s going to be your sorority sister. You need to get to know her.”
“Fuck that. I am not moving, and I am not making Denise move either. You just need to get over this bullshit insecurity you have.”
“So, you telling me you are picking her over me.”
“I’m not picking anyone over anyone else, but you are not going to tell me what I better do. Brandon, I am your woman, the woman you just said you want to marry. If you don’t trust me, then I don’t need a bracelet with your last name on it, do I?” Lena held the bracelet out toward Brandon.
His angry look quickly became sad. “Baby, you are not serious, are you? You’re breaking up with me?” He sounded like a little boy who lost his dog.
“No. I’m not breaking up with you. I love you, Brandon, but if you can’t trust me, there is no relationship.” Lena looked at Brandon. She had tears in her eyes, and she could tell that he was minutes away from crying as well.
“I trust you, Lena. I don’t trust her.”
“She can’t do anything to me that I don’t let her do. I am strictly dickly and don’t want nothing from her like that. She, Carmen and Cooley are my only friends on this campus, and I am not going to give them up because you have a crazy male insecurity.”
The room became silent again. Brandon slowly calmed down.
“Look, Bae, I apologize. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know you are my girl completely.” Brandon grabbed Lena and hugged her tight.
“Good. Now kiss me.”
Brandon gave Lena a long passionate kiss.
They got in her bed and began to make passionate love.
Afterward, Brandon held her in his arms and fell asleep.
Lena turned over. She didn’t want him to see her face. She was not satisfied by their lovemaking. It felt like something was missing.
Chapter 21
School had been back in for two weeks and she still hadn’t heard from her secret love. She finally realized that she shouldn’t have let her ex back into her life again. Carmen had been keeping her romance with Tameka a secret, because she knew that Cooley and Denise would disapprove of it.
Carmen knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t resist. After all, she loved Tameka. She’d decided she could at least take the time to have lunch with her. Tameka had been trying to get back with her ever since she saw her at the first party of the year.
Every day Carmen ran into Tameka. It was like Tameka purposely stood in front of the old oak tree just to wait for her. For weeks Carmen protested, refusing to hear what Tameka had to say.
After class one day, there she was again, but this time Tameka was holding a dozen orchids. She reached her hand out to hand them to Carmen. “Orchids, your favorite,” Tameka said.
Carmen hesitated, but took them. “Yeah, you know I love them.” She looked down at the flowers, unaware that her wall was being broken down.
“Look, I know you have every reason to hate me, but I really just want the chance. I fucked up, Carmen, and I know it. Can’t you at least give me one chance to make it right?”
“One chance? I gave you chance after chance every time I took you back after catching you with some tramp. So don’t come talking to me about chance.”
“Okay. Damn, Carmen, I know I was wrong for it, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I was young and dumb. I didn’t realize how special you were.”
“Young and dumb. Tameka, it was last year. And what makes you know that I’m special now, the fact that I am a size nine?”
“No, baby, it’s not like that.”
Carmen glared at Tameka to warn her not to call her baby again.
“Carmen, look, I don’t care about the size, it was simply that I wasn’t ready for you then, but I am now. I don’t want to trick off no more. I just want my Carmen back.”
Carmen looked into Tameka’s eyes. Something told her that she was telling the truth. She decided to have lunch with her.
Ever since then she had been secretly seeing Tameka. They mainly would meet off campus, at hotels and restaurants. She had forgotten how good Tameka was in bed; the girl could make her cum multiple times just with her tongue alone. She let Tameka sex her all the time. They were doing things they never did before, mainly because there were some positions she couldn’t get in when she was overweight. Tameka gave her the best oral sex. Now that Carmen finally could ride her, she loved it. When she was big she couldn’t ride her because of it being so uncomfortable, but now she rode her like she was trying to win a rodeo.
Carmen was happy. She had her Tameka back. Tameka decided that on campus they shouldn’t let on about their relationship. Carmen agreed simply because of Cooley and Denise. They would be so upset if they found out she was messing with her again.
Now she was regretting her decision to take Tameka back into her life. The holiday passed and she heard nothing from Tameka.
Carmen took a sip of her drink when she saw Lena walking up to her.
“Hey, chick. How are you doing?” Lena asked. She saw that Carmen was having a hard time. Lena was the only person that Carmen told about Tameka. She had to confide in someone, and Lena had become one of her best friends.
“I’m doing okay. Still haven’t heard anything, but it’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Carmen had mastered hiding her true feelings. She didn’t want to come off as being sad, so that Lena would want to tell Cooley and Denise. “I am concentrating on the Intake meeting.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I should start on my packet, huh.” Lena had no desire to be a Chi Theta, but decided to go ahead and do it for her mother and Carmen.
“Lena, you are tripping. I finished my packet before school let out. Hell, I rewrote my essay too many times.” Carmen could tell by the look on Lena’s face that she really did not care. “I need you to get on your shit. I can’t do this without you.”
“Okay, okay. I will finish it tonight. Brandon has a scrimmage anyway, so I can get it done.”
“Speak of the devil.” Carmen pointed at Brandon, who was walking into the University Center.
The girls in the U.C. quickly started to perk up, fixing their hair and checking their makeup when they noticed the basketball players walking into the cafeteria.
“Oh shit!” Lena started fumbling to take off the charm bracelet Denise had given her and put on the bracelet from Brandon. She got the charm bracelet in her bag just before Brandon walked up.
“Hey, baby,” she said as he kissed her on her forehead. “What are you doing slumming in the cafeteria?”
“Well, we got a break and the fellas wanted to come check out the new semester girls, and I knew you were meeting Carmen here, so I came too. Hey, Carmen,” Brandon said as he pulled up a seat next to Lena.
Carmen spoke, trying not to laugh at the switch job Lena pulled a few minutes before.
Brandon sat and talked with them for a few minutes befo
re one of his basketball teammates told him it was time to get back to practice. He kissed Lena and headed out of the U.C.
Carmen gave Lena a stern look. Lena rolled her eyes.
“Girl, are you crazy? That was a close call. What if he had caught you?”
Lena had told Carmen all about the blowup with Brandon. She told Brandon that she wouldn’t wear the bracelet, but every time Carmen saw her she had it on.
“Look, I don’t understand why I shouldn’t be able to wear it, okay. I love this bracelet,” she said as she put the charm bracelet back on.
“Maybe because your boyfriend is going to be pissed if he sees it on you, instead of his bracelet. You are playing with fire, girl.”
“Whatever.”
Carmen noticed that something caught Lena’s eye.
“Girl, don’t look now, but there is a very attractive stud looking at you.”
“What?” Carmen slightly turned her head to see a very attractive stud sitting at a table. She was staring at Lena and Carmen. “Oh, wow. Who is she, and why is she staring over here?”
“I don’t know, but she’s headed this way.”
The stud greeted them. She was very tall and slender. She had very long wavy hair that she wore in a ponytail that came down her back. Carmen instantly noticed her eyes, light brown with no sign of them being contacts. She had a fourleaf clover tattooed on her neck.
“Hello, um, I hate to bother you all, but I noticed that rainbow on your bag. Am I wrong for thinking that you’re family?”
“No, you’re not wrong. I am. My name is Carmen.”
The stud shook Carmen’s hand. She had very soft hands.
“My name is Nicole, but most people call me Nic.”
“Hello, Nic. This is my friend Lena.” Carmen introduced Nic to Lena.
“Well, Miss Carmen. I am from L.A. and I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful you are. I wanted to know if you are attached. I hope that’s not being too forward.”
Carmen couldn’t help but smile. Lena giggled a little.
“No, it’s not too forward. It’s very refreshing, actually, and no, I am not attached to anyone at the moment.”
“Now, that’s refreshing. So, I have to get to class, but I would love to get your number. Maybe I can take you out and you can show me around your town.”