A Sister's Survival

by Cydney Rax

  Gamba could only smile. He kissed her forehead. “You’re too cute.”

  “I don’t want to be cute.” Oh, how she ached inside for this man. She was dying for him to notice that she was a woman, and she felt more than ready to receive his love. Her ears ached for him to tell her how he felt for her. Her body ached for him to be inside of her. All she knew was that the US military sounded dangerous and risky. Things happened. What if she never saw him again?

  “Gamba, I don’t want you to leave me.”

  Gamba lovingly patted her hair and pulled it back from her face. He looked into her eyes. “I could never leave you, Elyse.”

  She stared up at him, her eyes big and round with wonder. “Why not?”

  Go ahead, say it.

  Her insides screamed at him. Her heart moaned in agony. Tell me that you love me. But he gave her a blank look, as if the words escaped him.

  Unable to help herself, Elyse grabbed Gamba’s head and pulled him toward her. She pressed her lips against his mouth. She took the initiative and gave him the kiss that she’d always wanted to give. At first his lips felt tight with resistance, but as she poked her tongue gently into his mouth, his lips parted, then softened. His tongue was soft and wet. A grunt escaped her mouth and landed in her throat. Her chest felt hotter and hotter as if she were melting.

  Gamba felt something too, as evidenced by the hardening of his penis. She felt good in his arms. Warm and nurturing. He closed his eyes and allowed Elyse to take control. He kissed her back. Elyse got so excited that she reached inside his shirt. She fumbled around until her fingers touched his nipples. They felt hard and thick. That made her more excited, and she rubbed his erect nipples over and over. She began to feel an erotic wetness between her legs that made her cry out loud.

  At first what Elyse was doing to Gamba did not bother him. But when she unzipped his slacks and reach inside to caress his penis, Gamba surprised himself when he moaned. Her hands felt gentle, yet there was urgency as she rubbed. She flicked her fingers across the tip and tried to stimulate him even more.

  It had been so long. He wanted Elyse. But he thought about it and gently removed her fingers that now clutched his dick, clutched so tight it felt like she was part of him.

  Gamba gave her another gentle kiss that let her know that he cared, but he felt they should stop.

  “Okay,” he said. “That’s enough.” He opened his eyes and wiped his lip. Elyse trembled and was breathing hard.

  “But I want. I want more. I want you.”

  “Elyse, you don’t know—”

  “I do know. I know what I want.”

  His heart was torn. He knew she considered herself mature enough to handle a man like him, like she was on his level. But he cared about this woman; it was amazing to watch her recent transformation. Making love at this point would feel premature. Everything had to be just right. And Gamba had promised himself to never do anything to hamper her growth or ruin her survival.

  “Look, I hear what you’re saying, sweetie, and we’ll talk about this when I get back. Promise!”

  “When will you be back?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think I’ll be gone that long.” Gamba wanted to refocus. He tried his best to let go of the memory of what he had just shared with this very desirable, passionate woman whose pure love he felt each time he was in her presence.

  “There wasn’t extensive damage to the infrastructure and that’s good. But the governor asked the military to deploy a few troops and that’s what we must do. But I’ll be back, Elyse.” He narrowed his eyes, taking in her beauty, from her large eyes, to her hair, upswept and sexy. And he took care to notice her pouty lips that felt soft to the touch, the fiery warrior look in her eyes; eyes that rarely concealed her feelings.

  “You swear?”

  “I swear to you, Elyse.”

  She thought a second. “You going to Florida? I heard they have alligators. You a good swimmer?”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Damn straight I am. I got all kinds of skills.”

  “I don’t know how to swim that well, but I guess I need to learn. I’m about to go back and live with Burgundy.”

  “You are? Be safe. You have what it takes to learn and grow and be that woman that I know you can be.”

  “I can be that woman as long as you teach me everything you know, Gamba. If you do that, I’ll wait for you.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  Before he left, Gamba impulsively backed Elyse against the wall. She looked up at him with expectancy. He spread his legs wide and watched her throw her arms around his neck. He gave Elyse another soulful kiss. As they embraced each other, he ran his fingers through her hair and felt her body press against him. She moaned and sucked on him, and he knew that her tongue was talking to him. It was saying that Elyse adored and respected him. In his mind and through his lips, he told her he loved her too. He moaned again as his body ached for her. His eyes filled with tenderness. Then Gamba ended their kiss. He wanted to stay, but he had to leave. He placed two fingers against his lips then waved them at her.

  He told Elyse he’d see her later.

  Duty beckoned, and Gamba was ready to serve.

  * * *

  Elyse had realized something. She’d been doing all this work to be grown and strong. Maybe going back to Burgundy’s, bravely facing all her demons, would be the thing she needed to really believe in the changes. Alita had packed up all their things so they could move. Good thing it was the mid-summer. Leno was sent to stay with his dad, and he got offered an internship at the car dealership so he could do something decent with his free time. Life was about to change for them all.

  Alita had driven Elyse to the house one Sunday morning in early July. The minute Elyse said goodbye to Alita, she brought her things inside and placed them on the floor of the family room. Burgundy promptly laid out the ground rules.

  “You are to walk around my house fully clothed, meaning no skimpy pajamas, no gym shorts, no wife-beater tanks, no thongs left in any of the bathrooms, no leaving your bras in the laundry room, no miniskirts are to be worn in this house as long as you are living in this house, no wearing of bikinis when you go swimming, and no being in the same room with him for any reason.”

  Elyse stared straight ahead as Burgundy barked orders.

  “Him,” aka Nate, was standing by and resembled a whimpering puppy. Burgundy insisted her husband be there when Elyse arrived so he too could know her rules.

  Feeling insulted for being treated like a child, Nate refused to give either his wife or Elyse any eye contact. In fact, his jaw was rigid with anger. He didn’t want the girl under his roof any more than Elyse wanted to be there. This was all Burgundy’s idea. But he also wanted to prove to his wife that to him, Elyse was a nonfactor. What they used to have was over, and furthermore, he did not think of himself as a pervert or a rapist. One wrong action shouldn’t eternally define a man, and he felt very misjudged.

  Burgundy continued, “When I get up, you get up.”

  “What time do you get up?” Elyse asked.

  “Six, sometimes seven.”

  “That’s too early.”

  “And too early is exactly when you’ll be waking up, so get used to it.”

  She continued. “When you want to eat breakfast or dinner, you and I can eat together in the kitchen. He can have the dining room. All his clothes are in a hall closet, so there is no reason on earth for him to be coming into the master bedroom for anything. You got that, Nate?”

  He stared straight ahead and contemplated all kinds of troublesome thoughts.

  Once Burgundy was done reading aloud her typewritten list of do’s and don’ts, she asked Elyse sign and date at the bottom of the last sheet.

  “Why?”

  “It’s for protection.”

  “What?”

  “It protects both you and him. And me.”

  “Fine,” Elyse said. “But I want a copy.”

  This time Burgund
y was offended. “Why do you need a copy?”

  “Gamba told me never to sign anything I don’t agree with or understand. He said to always get a copy. And I do it every time Lita takes me to see the psychotherapists and family doctor.”

  “Do you always do what Gamba says?”

  “Always.”

  “I see,” Burgundy said, then shrugged. She mulled over the decision for a couple of minutes, then went and made a copy of the signed document and handed it to Elyse.

  With the rules now spoken and understood, from then on, even though it was a typically hot July for Houston, inside that house the forecast turned into a bitter winter storm. Chilly, icy, with forcible winds threatening to tear down everything within sight.

  The first week she lived there, nothing out of the ordinary happened. And by the third week, Elyse was resigned to settle in. She did not want to, but she had to. Gamba completed his Florida duties but immediately got sent on another military assignment, this time in California. She had no idea when she’d see him again. So Elyse adjusted to her new life: riding to work with Burgundy, fulfilling her job duties, working extra hours if she could get them, and going back to survive inside the big house.

  Elyse complied. But she had questions every step of the way.

  Supposedly, rules were designed to protect. But many rules were riddled with confusion . . . their origin always a mystery.

  “Why can’t I go get something to eat after ten o’clock at night? What if I’m hungry late at night?” This was what she asked Burgundy the fourth week that she’d been living there.

  “House rules, Elyse.”

  “But dat don’t answer my question.”

  Every time Elyse said “dat” instead of “that,” Burgundy knew she had the upper hand.

  “Elyse, I don’t care what you say. As long as you stay under my roof, you will comply. If you do not, you’re out the door. And there’s nothing out there for you, so you’re actually better off being right here. I do what I do because I care about you. We’re family. Stop acting so hard.”

  “I’ll stop acting hard when you do.”

  “Elyse, please!” Burgundy noticed how much feistier the girl had become. And she did not like it. “Anyway, haven’t you talked to Alita?”

  “We talk every day, many times a day.”

  “Then you should know that she’s still looking for a job and hasn’t gotten a single callback for any applications that she put in.”

  “Why don’t you hire her to work for you, then? You have a bunch of businesses, and you could have been hired your own sister.”

  Burgundy simply shook her head at Elyse. “I’ve noticed you’ve been feeling yourself lately. Dressing and talking like you’re some type of Beyoncé clone. But let me tell you something, you have a lot to learn, young lady.”

  Elyse cast a sharp look at Burgundy. The sister who always knew what to do had become overbearing with all her insistent demands. It was difficult and unnatural for Elyse to walk around trying to remember what she could and could not do. For the first time in her life, Elyse wanted to be pretty and stylish. But Burgundy was against it.

  With all the rules she had to follow, Elyse did not feel as if she were living. Having a roof over her head and food to eat did not seem worth it.

  The weeks had flown by. And one Sunday in early August, Elyse grew restless. She decided to throw some fun in the mix.

  She waited until Burgundy was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Elyse rummaged through her suitcase and quickly changed clothes. She strolled into the kitchen and waited.

  “Elyse, what’s wrong with you?” Burgundy asked, enraged. “Look at you, dressed like Kim Kardashian or like you’re Lil’ Kim.”

  “What you mean?” Elyse asked. She was wearing a sheer blouse with a matching bra that was the same color as her skin. It looked as if she were naked. And Elyse felt very liberated. She did not want to obtain her sister’s approval for what she could wear around the house or at the workplace either.

  She thought about all the things that Gamba had taught her. The important things Dru had shared with her to keep her strong. And right then Elyse decided fear would not keep her imprisoned.

  “You’re dressed like a whore, Elyse. Now I finally understand. No wonder my husband noticed you and sensual thoughts went through his mind. The way you dress, you were just asking for it.”

  Elyse wanted to slap Burgundy hard across her face.

  “You’re stupid,” she yelled, unable to use eloquent words to express the way she really felt. “You know nothing. You’re not me. And when dat man raped me, I wasn’t even dressing like this.”

  Burgundy’s stoic face crumbled, she was so livid. But at Elyse’s revelation she still couldn’t calm down.

  “If you don’t want that type of attention, then you need to dress differently. Whores dress likes whores. Whores like to get half-naked.”

  “I am not a whore. I’m not. I don’t care how I dress, he had no right to touch me. He forced himself on me, B, don’t you understand.”

  “No, ma’am. I understand that you provoked him. You might not have done it on purpose, Elyse, but you did it.”

  “But I never dressed like this till now.”

  “Elyse, it doesn’t matter. A modestly dressed woman can still seduce a man. Happens all the time. You try to play that innocent, stupid role, but look at you now. You’re nothing like you used to be. That means you were putting on an act all along.”

  “I’m not fake,” Elyse quietly told her. “I have to adjust to my surroundings. I do what I have to do to keep from going nuts.”

  “So you have to dress like a slut? Is that what you call adjusting, Elyse? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “You don’t understand me. And now I know you don’t really value me. And just because you don’t value me don’t mean I don’t have value.”

  Burgundy could only stare at Elyse, pondering the most revealing thing she’d ever said to her. But her pride still could not allow her to accept this new Elyse.

  “Bullshit. It sounds like something Dru would train you to say. We all know that Dru has been taking you to the side and teaching you all kinds of things. I don’t trust any of the sisters. There is no loyalty in this family.”

  “You one to talk? Who you loyal to? A rapist? Why ain’t he in jail?”

  “Hey, I could ask you the same question. If you really felt violated, you could have called 911 and filed a complaint when it supposedly first happened. But you didn’t. And it’s because you enticed my husband. You wanted him to fuck you and that’s why he did it!”

  Feeling vindicated by her own reasoning, Burgundy immediately shut down any further rebuttal from Elyse. She was done. No one in the family would ever believe it, but she felt victimized herself. After she and Nate got married she still couldn’t forget the petty comments they endured as the Taylors grew their businesses into successes. She still remembered the snide remarks she got from Alita about their McMansion, several expensive cars, the way her daughters acted and dressed like little princesses, and the additional petty scrutiny about everything she bought.

  Burgundy felt that all of her sisters were envious of her and her family.

  And jealous people act jealous. And maybe that’s what all of this meant. And this probably was the reason why someone, who she did not know, had recently taken measures to formally file a complaint against Nate on behalf of Elyse.

  Burgundy felt that everything she had was at stake. Her family, home, businesses, marriage. Everything. And she planned on doing something about it.

  Chapter 14

  Side Deals

  The very next day Burgundy decided to take a different course of action. That morning she traveled to downtown Houston. She requested a meeting with Randall Burkett, the district attorney. They knew each other well. She stepped inside of his suite and got comfortable.

  After they chatted for a few minutes, the door opened and an African American woman walked in.

>   Burkett stood up, “Burgundy, like I told you before, ordinarily this scenario wouldn’t happen until the plea hearing, but I’ve asked my good friend to join us.”

  “Hello. I’m Judge Juanita Mallow.” She was petite, confident, and no-nonsense. But she also was a member of Delta Sigma Theta just like Burgundy, and she hoped that would work in her favor.

  “Nice to meet you, Judge. And fellow sorer,” Burgundy said with a smile.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mrs. Taylor. And that latest is that you want to strike a deal with the DA. Why is that?”

  “As you know, Judge Mallow, my husband and I do a lot to support the community. Between all of our businesses, we employ well over fifty-some people, mostly full-time. We support several local charities and give out free food to the hungry every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We’ve reached out and assisted in all types of initiatives and partnered with organizations that are about building the local infrastructure. We’ve helped a lot of citizens get back on their feet after they’ve gone through hard times.” She continued. “Some of our employees used to serve time in your prisons. We took them in, dusted them off, and trained them how to be chefs, taught them how to properly cut hair, schooled them on how to become responsible. We gave them a chance and watched them become productive members of society. I’m very happy to report that none of the people we hired got turned back into the prison system. The DA already knows this. And I could go on and on.”

  “No need. I’m quite impressed. It says that you’re a true risk taker. Not many people would welcome felons to work in their place of business,” Judge Mallow said.

  “Well, everyone deserves a second chance.”

  “And I’m glad you think that. But what’s the true reason why you’re here? What’s going on with this case regarding Mr. Taylor? I recently learned that a sexual assault complaint was filed by a woman named Alita Washington?”

  Burgundy grew silent. It was Alita who betrayed her. And it infuriated her.