I began to moan as theatrical as he had earlier. “Shit!”
He increased the pace of his thrusting, using my hip and sides as leverage. My breathing started to come in gasps in concert with his thrusts. He was panting for air. I could feel him pulsated inside of me. He was hurtling towards the edge.
He started thrusting at an unhurried pace, slow and long. Soon, we were both moaning and grunting in unison. He kept speeding up and slowing down, as if he was slowing down to keep from cumming, making sure that it lasts.
My body started to thrash and whimper under him. I could feel my skin glowing with perspiration. He was dripping with sweat. My moaning was drowning out his grunts by now. I was close too. Soon, I tensed up. Then I yelped out sharply before burying my face in one of the couch pillows.
But he yanked it out of my hands. “Unt uh. Let me hear you cum, baby.”
His dominance caused my oncoming orgasm to explode. “Oh! Shiiiiiiit!”
My pussy went into spasms around his dick. At the sight of my quivering body and the feeling of the wet heat of my sex, he couldn't hold on much longer. He collapsed on top of me as he came hard, groaning into my neck. His dick twitched and pulsated inside of me.
I breathed in his scent as we shared our climax. I felt electric, long after our breaths slowed down.
He fell to the side, snaked an arm around, me and brought me as close to him as I could be. I turned my head towards him, and we kissed long and passionately. We lay spooning, reveling in the feel of each other's flesh and sweat.
I pulled away from his kiss and wrapped my arm and leg around him. “Hold me please,” I begged.
I needed to feel his love.
17
Remi
After Banks left that night, I cried for thirty minutes straight. By the time my anger toward myself had subsided, and I had moped back into the house, True’s door was closed. I figured I wouldn’t bother her and Coop. Besides, I wasn’t hungry anymore anyway. I went into the guest bedroom and thought about Banks between the times I had to administer care to True.
Like a fool, I checked my phone all night for a text or call from Banks. I wasn’t sure what I expected because nothing would have made me feel better. He could have sent me text messages with a thousand sweet nothings or called me and professed his love. Either way, it wouldn’t have made me feel like anything other than a second choice or a plan B and not good enough.
Every time I eased into True’s room and saw Coop holding her, I got emotional. I wanted that, a man who would love me so much that he would never leave my side.
I had felt the tension between Coop and me on the porch that night. There was no denying our attraction to one another. But there was also no denying his love for True and my respect for her. And the more he ignored his attraction to me, the more I admired him. He was a man’s man, and True was so lucky to have him. And every time I felt that twinge of jealousy, every time I felt like True was lucky even though she was dying, I felt like a fool.
During the night, Keyes would cry, and as usual, Coop’s figure would lumber sleepily past the bedroom where I slept. I admired his dedication to Keyes and True as well as the attention he gave Joy and Angel. I wondered if that was the same dedication Banks gave Vanessa and their child. And, all night, I wondered why he’d never felt that way toward me. I didn’t want Coop, but I damn sure wanted a man just like him.
My last time going into True’s room before my shift ended, I found her and Coop wide awake. Coop looked as if he had just finished getting dressed.
“I’m going to check on the rec center. Then I’ll be right back,” he told True.
“Good morning,” I greeted them.
Coop only looked at me briefly and replied, “Morning.”
True smiled up at me as she lay in bed. I felt a pang of regret looking at her. I could see that her breathing was more abnormal than the night before. Her eyes were sunken in deeply. Her cheeks had caved in too. She was looking more and more like a skeleton each day.
“Good…morning…Remi,” she replied through gasps of breath. She turned her attention to Coop while I got her meds ready. “Is…the rec center…ready?”
It obviously pained Coop to watch her struggle to breathe. “Not quite ready. And if I want it to be ready in two weeks for the opening, then I need to go up there and show my face to put some fire under those contractors’ asses.”
“My mother…should…be here any minute,” she told Coop as he walked towards the bed.
“Cool.” He bent over and kissed her forehead. “Let me go check on Keyes.”
“It sounded like he and Joy were still asleep when I walked by their rooms,” I offered
Before anyone could reply, we heard Angel rushing into the house. “I’m here!”
True giggled. “She sounds guilty as…” She gasped for air yet again. “hell.”
Coop and I laughed as he left the room.
True took a deep breath before saying, “I know she got some dick last night.”
I giggled again. “If she did, that’s good for her.”
She chuckled and ended up coughing a few times before catching her breath. “You’re damn right. Have you seen Russell?”
I gave her a side eye. “Hell yeah, I’ve seen him with his fine ass.”
Just then, Angel popped her head into the room, looking like she was about to take the walk of shame. She had on the same jogging suit she’d worn the night before, and her usually perfect hair was all over her head.
“Hey, boos!” she greeted. “I’m going to get breakfast started for Joy.” With that announcement, she rushed away.
“Yeah, she definitely got cracked last night,” I mumbled.
True started cracking up, causing her to cough terribly due to shortness of breath.
Regretfully, I told her, “It’s time for you to be on oxygen, True.”
“I know.” She looked up at me. Her tiny hand reached for mine. Holding it, I felt nothing but skin and bones. “Will you go to the rec center with Coop?” She instantly saw the reluctance in my face and continued, “I know you just got off…and you’re probably tired, but I really…want to see how it looks. Coop….doesn’t know how to take pictures and videos to show…me everything.”
I didn’t want to go. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why True kept putting Coop and me in the same space. There was nothing between Coop and me, except an attraction that neither one of us would ever disrespect True by acting on. But, because of that, I really didn’t want to be around Coop more than I had to be.
But she begged, “Please?” as she smiled up into my eyes.
I couldn’t say “no” to her, so I sucked my teeth. “Fine.”
“Wow, this is really nice.” As I stared up at the building, Coop met me at the curb. I had trailed him so that I could go home after the tour.
“It’s dope, right?” he asked with a smile.
I was impressed. The outside of the building was landscaped with beautiful greenery. The front of the building was completely made up of tinted glass. A bike rack lined the entryway. It was modern, clean, and a great additional to the Chatham neighborhood.
I smiled up at him as he stood next to me. “It’s really dope.”
“C’mon.” As he led me up the entryway, he explained, “It’s not fully finished yet, but you’ll be able to see its potential.”
As Coop pushed open the big glass doors, I was overwhelmed. For a street hustla, he had truly done his thing and had done good for the community.
I followed him with eyes full of admiration as he gave me the tour. There was an Olympic-size swimming pool, fully equipped gym, basketball court, game room, a hall available for party rental, a kitchen-cafeteria area, and classrooms for training and educational programs. Behind the rec center were football field and bleachers. It reminded me of the recreational center on the campus of my college. For it to be in the middle of the hood was breathtaking.
Along the tour, I had been taking pict
ures and recording videos of everything and sending them to True’s cell.
At the football field, Coop sat on the bleachers with such a look of pride. I had the same pride in my eyes for him as I stared down on him. “This is really nice, Coop.”
It was a state-of-the-art facility that would provide boys under the age of eighteen with a productive and safe recreational environment. It would also stay open until midnight to keep teens entertained in a secure atmosphere.
“Thanks. I got a couple of homeboys who know a few NFL and NBA players who are willing to do camps in the summer. I’ve also got the hookup with a few music artists and entrepreneurs who’re gonna slide by and give speeches and lend their support.”
“That’s dope,” I gushed.
“Thanks.” He smiled proudly.
“Seriously,” I insisted. “Most hustlas put their money into clubs or car lots. But this will help so many young boys in this community.”
He exhaled deeply. “It’s all because of True, so I can’t front. She talked me into being a better person, straight up. Now, everything she told me makes sense, and I just want to make her proud, ya know?”
I only nodded, because watching this man’s admiration for True left me amazed. The thought had left him speechless too. He stared out into the field with a blank expression, but his eyes were saying so much.
“You will most definitely save so many lives,” I finally said.
“That’s what I’m hoping for. When I was a shorty, I would’ve loved to have had a place like this to escape to.” With a deep breath, he continued to admire the field. “Back then, all I wanted was for somebody to give a fuck about me and teach me something I could use to help me survive. I wanted a place where I could eat decent food and enough of it so I wouldn’t have to steal.” My heart went out to him as he went on. “There’s no telling how I would have turned out if I’d had just a little help.”
“I don’t think you turned out bad at all.”
When Coop looked up at me, I felt that usual nervous tension instantly appear between us. I anxiously stuffed my hands into the pockets of my leather blazer and tore my eyes away from his magnetic orbs.
“Well…” I sighed. “I should get out of here so I can get some sleep.”
“Yeah, I need to go in here and curse these motherfuckers out anyway.”
I chuckled. “Cool. See you tonight.”
I turned to quickly walk away. I shook my head at the tension between us. Even though there was nothing physically to feel bad for, I still felt so guilty for even being attracted to him.
Just then, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I reached inside and pulled the phone out, expecting to see responses from True, but instead, it was a text from Banks, which stopped me dead in my tracks.
“You good?”
I jumped out of my skin, not realizing Coop was behind me.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I rushed to assure him.
“A’ight. Be careful.” He strolled through the side entrance of the rec center.
I unlocked my phone with shaky hands and read Banks’ text message: Let’s have breakfast together.
“Arrrghhh!”
I hoped Banks was cumming. No sooner than he had stuck his dick in me, I felt stupid.
He had come over with takeout from Chicago Chicken and Waffles. Funny how he’d always had comments about my weight, but he was constantly feeding my fat ass. I ate quietly as he talked about everything that had been going on in his life since we’d last spoken, everything, except Brandi and the baby.
He was still manipulative and keeping the full truth from me. I sat there eating my emotions and wondering why I couldn’t be blessed with a love like True and Coop’s, but I reminded myself to be grateful for a life that True wouldn’t have much longer. I tried to hype myself up to think that there must be some love in Banks’ heart for me that kept him coming back. So, when he hugged and kissed me goodbye, I kissed him back hungrily, needing him to want me, love me, and need me.
Plus, I wanted to get that bitch, Brandi, back. I wanted to fuck her man like she had fucked mine.
But as soon as he stripped me from my clothes and thrust inside of me as I bent over the couch, I became ashamed. Most likely, after laying up with his woman all night, he’d left that morning as soon as his exit time was reasonable to his wife so that she wouldn’t suspect him of being with another woman. He still wasn’t shit. He hadn’t changed. He was still a dog. And I was rewarding him with me? Still? I was still giving him my love and my body? Why?
“Damn, this pussy is making me cuuuuum. Fuuuuck,” he growled as he pushed off of me.
I sat back on the couch as he hunched over, holding his dick as he ejaculated into the condom. He had on a condom and had still pulled out. He had been fucking that bitch for only a year, and it was okay that she got his last name and his baby. But he’d be damned if I got either.
I shook my head as I went to redress quickly, covering my body shamefully. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes as he plopped down on the couch out of breath.
“I… Um… I have some errands to run,” I lied smoothly. “I need to take a shower. You can let yourself out.”
I turned just as misunderstanding showered over his expression. “Oh… Okay,” he said slowly.
I couldn’t look at him as I left the couch, but I could feel his questionable eyes on me. With my head down, I shuffled into my room and closed the door. I then hurried into the master bathroom and closed that door too. I ran the shower so that he wouldn’t hear me sobbing and prayed that he would leave without question.
A man who truly loved me would have kicked down that door to be with me, to question my mood. He would be able to feel my sadness.
Yet, over my tears, I soon heard my front door close shut.
COOP
♫Came through drippin' (drip drip)
Came through drippin' (drip drip)
Came through drippin' (drip drip)
Diamonds on my wrist, they drippin' (ice)
Give me little something to remember (Cardi!)
Tryna make love in a Sprinter (yeah)
Quick to drop a nigga like Kemba (go)
Lookin' like a right swipe on Tinder (woo)
Shit on these hoes (shit)
Light up my wrist on these hoes (wrist)
Now I look down on these bitches (down)
I feel like I'm on stilts on these hoes (woo)♫
“Naaah! Unt uh,” I snapped at Remi playfully. “You said you didn’t have any more hearts! You reneged!”
Her mouth dropped as she danced to the beat of Cardi B in her seat at the foot of True’s bed. “Who played a heart?”
Remi looked at her partner, Angel, and Angel shrugged with an amusing smirk.
True’s head tilted to the side. Her smirk was hard to take seriously, with the oxygen tubes coming from her nostrils and wrapping around her head. “I led with a heart. Stop playing, ya’ll.”
“When?” Remi asked.
I overturned the books that True and I had won in Spades and found the heart. “Right here! True played the ace of hearts. Angel and I dropped hearts, and you played a spade,” I told Remi.
“Mmm humph…” True smirked.
With a guilty expression, Remi laughed. “Okay, okay. My bad.”
“Nah! Unt uh, I wanna trade partners,” Angel expressed, and we all laughed. “True, you know you always my partner. You traded me in for Coop.”
True simply shrugged with a smile as stared at her hand, squinting. My heart filled with remorse every time she fought to simply see or speak clearly. It was another sign that she was passing, and each sign broke my heart. True was a trooper, though. She was a soldier. She never complained. There was no fear in her eyes. The only time I saw sadness was when she looked at her children. She didn’t even look at me and her mother with regret. In her eyes, her passing would be relief to her mother and me. She wanted us to finally continue on with our lives without having to worry about her.
That night, she wanted to have a party. So, we were playing Spades and listening to some music. We had promised that we wouldn’t say a word to the agency if Remi had a drink. Remi accepted that with no problem. As soon as she had walked in for her shift that night, it looked like she needed it. And, ever since, Remi had been throwing back shots. She and I were drinking some 1738 together, which wasn’t Angel’s thing. She had some Jack.
Just then, True’s phone started to ring. She paused from playing her hand and picked it up. Visibly agitated, she ignored the call and tossed her phone on the bed.
“Who was that?” Angel asked.
True sneered. “Who else? Jameel.”
Angel groaned.
“Mama, please don’t let him get custody of my baby.”
Angel shook her head and looked at True as if she were speaking another language. She insisted, “I would never allow that to happen.”
“He hates me and will fill my baby with so many evil lies about me.” True’s voice was filled with sadness as she finally played her hand.
I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll kill that nigga before he takes Joy anywhere.” True had told me how verbally abusive Jameel had been since she’d been diagnosed. Luckily for him, Jameel was so fucking insensitive that he hadn’t shown his face since she’d gone into Hospice care. If he had, that motherfucker would be dead right now. I wanted to pull him apart with my bare hands. Fuck a gun.
We played a few more games before True got tired and we called it a night. I turned off the radio while Angel went to check on the kids. Remi administered True’s meds before she was fast asleep.
In the kitchen, I found some leftovers. After a fifth of Jack, a nigga was ready for some food. There was still Italian fiesta pizza from the night before, so I was on that.
When My Soul Met A Thug Page 18