The idea hit me as I sat doing nothing to call Jo and Bridgette, so I did.
“Hey, loud ass!” Bridgette answered.
“Hey, hooker! Call Jo and add her to this call,” I replied.
“Okay, hold on.”
Seconds later, Jo chirped, “Hey, wench!” into the phone.
After Bridgette informed her that I was on the line, I said, “I know we haven’t talked much lately—”
“Yeah, we haven’t, but Bridge and I know how it is being a newlywed. It’s like these men wanna have sex nonstop once they put a ring on your finger. Not that I’m complaining, but that honeymoon UTI I got was a bitch,” Jo said.
“Oh, I remember that! Shit, the way Neil be on me, I’ve been scared I’m gonna get one, too,” I replied.
“So…y’all are still good, huh? He still giving you that good post-recovery, new year-new me dick?” Bridgette said.
“Girl, it’s so good, I be wondering if I’m really me!”
“I know you do!” Bridgette shouted. “Same here!”
“Y’all, I love him so much, and I believe he loves me more.”
“Sage, I am so happy for you two! I think you needed each other and didn’t know it. Neil is so different since you two got together. I could see a difference in him just from when you moved in with him. It’s like you’re medicine for him. He’s so happy,” Jo said.
“And I’ve never seen you so happy and calm, with your wild ass,” Bridgette observed.
“Girl, Neil got my ass on a leash. He’s overprotective as hell!”
“Naw, it’s been past time for you to stop that reckless shit you were doing. Ain’t nothing wrong with hustling, but you take it to a new level. Ain’t that much money to make in the world to be up in them smoky, musty-nut-smelling clubs,” Bridgette said.
“Girl, and you remember that time I went with you to that one house to do that girl’s makeup for her man’s birthday party and that fight broke out? All those dudes pulled out guns and I was a half a second from peeing on myself!” Jo said.
I sighed. “I know, I know, and Neil is right. To be honest, it makes me feel special that he’s so protective of me. It makes me love him even more.”
“Aw, man! This worked out so well! Who knew you two would be made for each other?” Bridgette gushed.
“Neil did. He said he knew we were soul mates after Big South and Nolan asked him to marry me. And I’ve always liked him.” I heard the door open and looked up to see a man entering my salon. “Hey, I just wanted to thank y’all for…shit, for everything. If it wasn’t for you guys, we probably would’ve never gotten together. I gotta go. Duty calls.”
After they said their goodbyes, I ended the call, hopped down from the chair, and approached the man who looked vaguely familiar to me.
“Hi! Welcome to The Beatdown! How can I help you?” I greeted him.
He smiled down at me. “Hi, you don’t remember me? I was at your wedding.”
“I thought you looked familiar! You’re one of Neil’s friends!”
His eyes were locked with mine in a way that made me feel, I don’t know, dirty, as he nodded, and said, “Yeah. We go waaaaay back.”
“Cool! So, what can I do for you? You want to schedule a session for your wife or girlfriend?”
Another nod as his eyes raked over my body. “Uh-huh…”
“Okay, great! Will this be a surprise for her? Maybe a gift?”
“Uh-huh.”
Before I could say another word, my phone rang. “Can you give me a sec?” I asked, and then turning my back to him, I answered my phone. I swear I could feel him looking at my booty. “Hey, baby. Guess who just walked in here? It’s—hey, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Jeremy,” the guy said, lifting his eyes from where they had, indeed, been glued to my ass to my face as I turned to look at him.
“Oh, right. Jeremy is here—”
The call dropped, and I kind of just stared at the phone for a second. As I started to resume my conversation with Jeremy, Neil burst through the front door.
“Neil?!” I shrieked. What the hell was going on? Was he right outside the door when he called?
“Yo, Jeremy! Get the fuck out of here!” Neil thundered.
“Damn, I was just talking to her. You still on that shit from back in the day?” Jeremy said, his hands raised. “You petty as hell, man!”
“What I’m on is the fact that if you don’t get the fuck away from my wife, I’ma punch your ass into a coma. Get the fuck outta here, and do not speak to my wife again!”
“Damn! Okay! I’m gone! I’m gone! Hey, Mrs. McClain…ask your husband about the little secret he’s got with Emery, and when you’re ready, I’m here for you, baby,” Jeremy said, and then licked his lips, and added, “With your fine ass,” as he backed out the door, and as I watched my husband chase after him, I wondered what the hell Jeremy was talking about.
26
“What the hell was that?” I asked, as Neil backed me into my salon. I’d been standing outside trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
He didn’t answer me as he locked the door.
With my hands on my hips, I said, “Neil, why did you just chase your friend down the damn street?”
This time, he did answer me by grabbing my neck and pulling me into a savage-ass kiss that came close to making me forget what had just happened, but I made myself end the kiss, and with his hand still on my neck, I demanded, “Tell me what’s going on!”
He yanked me to him, held me tightly, and uttered, “I just want my past to leave me the fuck alone and I…I don’t want you to leave me,” into my ear.
“Where the hell I’ma go? I gotta stay married to you and you know it.”
“I mean…I don’t want you to stop loving me.”
“I won’t. I can’t. What is it? Did you cheat on me? You-you cheated on me with Emery?” My heart was racing in my chest. It wouldn’t be the first time I got cheated on, but I knew this would feel different. This would devastate me.
“No! I’d never do that. I wouldn’t cheat on you with anybody!”
“Then what is it, Neil?” I said into his chest.
He sighed, released me, and fell into the makeup chair. “I don’t want you around him. I don’t trust his ass.”
“Okay, why?”
“Because he wants you, and he thinks I’m the same nigga I was back in the day.”
“What does that mean? Wait, did y’all do a threesome with him or something? You had sex with him?!”
He stared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Well, I had to ask…”
“Sage, baby…I love the hell outta you, but don’t ask me no shit like that again.”
“What is it, then? What’s going on?”
He fixed his eyes on the floor. “There was this one time when me and Emery were hanging with Jeremy and his girl at the time, and we all decided to start fucking in the same room, and Jeremy asked if we could swap women, and of course I was down, so we did. But that shit didn’t feel right.”
“This was before or after the lesbian threesome thing?”
“Before.”
“Damn, you were nasty.”
“I know, but like I said, it didn’t feel right. I don’t care about someone watching me get busy, so doing it in the same room was cool, but seeing her with another man fucked with my head, and afterwards, his ass kept asking to do it again, was always bringing it up. He enjoyed that shit too much. Hell, when Emery first told me she was leaving me, I thought it was for him. And now he’s sniffing in behind you, but he can’t have you!”
“I don’t even want him! I thought he was hiring me to do someone’s makeup or his makeup. Don’t matter to me.”
“You do dudes’ makeup?”
I shrugged. “I have in the past. Money is money.”
“Can’t argue with that…”
“Look, Neil…it takes two to c
heat, and I don’t like light-skinned dudes or bald dudes, so if I was gonna cheat, it wouldn’t be with him.”
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“No, but this will. Why would I cheat on you when you make me come like I got a damn tsunami inside me? Who got a penis like yours with the skills you got? You think I scream in my daddy’s voice like I do with you for every man? And last but not least, who besides you can love me like you do?”
“No-damn-body.”
“Exactly. I love you, Neil Jason McClain. Forever. And I mean that.”
He stood and hugged me again. “I love you even longer, and I mean that.”
“Neil?”
“Yeah?”
“Why’re you not freakier with me since that’s what you’re into? I mean, not the group stuff, but didn’t you say you tied ole girl up? You gonna tie me up?”
His eyes got huge. “I thought me pulling your hair and eating your ass was freaky enough. You want me to tie you up?”
I shrugged. “Why not?”
“Damn, I love you.”
“You good? You need anything else?” I asked her. Damn, she was beautiful.
“I’m good, too full, but good. Thank you for bringing me here!” she answered, sipping on her water.
I shrugged. “No problem. I’m just tryna date you since you said I got off easy.”
“You did! Didn’t even have to work for the coochie.”
I laughed. “Okay, I hear you, but I’m a hell of a husband, if I do say so myself.”
“Yeah, you are. The best husband, and that’s why I love you. I’ma give you so many babies.”
I leaned forward, my eyes glued to her. “When?”
“When you want me to?”
“Six months ago.”
“You’re for real?”
“Yeah, baby. Once I truly knew you were my other half, I was ready. I told you my intentions.”
“Yeah, but…my mama is gone. I don’t think I can have a baby without her. Not yet.”
“Well, when you’re ready, I’ll be more than ready. Until then, we’ll just keep practicing.”
She grinned. “Okay. Hey, you know what I wanna do?”
“What?”
“I want us to read a book together. Like our own little book club.”
“You serious?”
“Yeah, but not none of that heavy shit. A novel, maybe. How about Their Eyes Were Watching God?”
“That is heavy, baby.”
“But not as heavy as that stuff you read, and it’s a love story.”
“You’ve read it?”
“No, but it’s Chocolate Shaker’s favorite book. She was telling me about it the other day.”
“Chocolate Shaker has good taste. Okay, let’s do it. I know there’s a copy at our store.”
“Yay!” she squeaked, loud as ever. Sage was full of life, almost always happy, and that made me happy. She was like my own personal sunshine.
We stopped by my bookstore on the way home and picked up the book, and when we went to bed that night, I laid my head on her stomach and listened to her read chapter one until I fell asleep.
27
Everett’s eyes were glued to the mixing board as he nodded his head to the instrumental I’d created for On-One, a rapper signed to his label. My eyes were fastened to my brother as I awaited his verdict.
As the music ended, Everett looked up at me and grinned. “Damn, Neil! You clowned with this one! And you wrote lyrics for it, too? I mean, this shit right here is lit:
‘Girl, you’re my all; fuck the money, fuck the fame.
If I’m standing in the picture, you’re the film and the frame.
Shit feels so good, it brings tears to my eyes.
Fuck R. Kelly; when I’m between your thighs, I know I can fly.’”
After he recited that portion of the lyrics, he said, “That’s crazy, man!”
I shrugged. “I’m a poet, man. It’s just poetry.”
“You been writing a lot of poetry lately?”
“Yeah, I have. Got me a new muse.”
He raised his eyebrows. “The wife.”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Good muse.”
“The best muse.”
“So, look…you must want a full-time job here at Due South Records or something, making music like this.”
“Shit, the way you paying me? I definitely wouldn’t mind.”
He looked at me for a moment, then pulled out his phone. “I’ma shoot Wiggins an email, get him to contact my lawyer about drawing up a contract for you to be a staff writer.”
“You serious, Ev? You’re really bringing me onto your staff full time?” I asked, as I leaned forward.
“Yeah. You think you can handle that? I know you got the store to think about.”
“I got a good manager, good employees. I just go there because I like working there sometimes, but I like making music more. And shit, the pay is much better.”
“Good. I gotta rope your ass in before another label tries to get you.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, right.”
“Naw, man…that’s what I never understood about you. You never realized just how talented you are. I can rap my ass off, got bars for days, but I can’t make music. That’s some real talent, Neil, and you got enough of it for ten men.”
I lifted my hands, palms up. “It comes easy for me. This really ain’t even work as far as I’m concerned.”
“Because natural talent generally doesn’t take much effort, but just like diamonds, it’s valuable as hell. People can’t buy that kind of talent, man. It’s a blessing.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Shit, I know I’m right.”
I laughed. “So how is Wiggins working out?” Wiggins Westbrook was Everett’s new assistant, an older black guy from England, I think. He was not the friendliest person in the world, but he was efficient as hell.
“Great. Shiiiidd, I think dude can read my mind half the time, and Jo ain’t attracted to him at all, so it’s a win.”
“Ain’t he gay anyway?”
“Exactly.”
“Man, you know your wife ain’t got eyes for nobody but you.”
“And I’m tryna keep it that way. You and Sage still doing good, huh? Since she’s musing you and shit.”
I smiled. “Yeah. I can’t thank you enough for that hook-up. I love that woman so much it drives me crazy.”
“I know what that’s like. It’s the best feeling in the world, but it scares the shit outta you at first. It’s like, you want to hold on to that feeling so bad you can’t think of anything else.”
“Yeah, man. For real, though. She’s the main part of what I’m trying to keep together. Don’t wanna go down that old road again…”
“Nah, you got this, man. You got it. You did the work, straightened yourself out, and you got you a good woman by your side. A good woman can keep you straight even when you wanna go left. I’m not worried about you fucking anything up. You see I ain’t been on you or in your business.”
“Thank God.”
This time, Everett laughed. “Yeah, I know I was driving your ass.”
“You were, but I get it. You were just tryna take care of me like you always have. I appreciate you, big brother. I really do.”
“Hey, that’s what I do.”
“Yeah, it is. Like the wedding. I wanna pay you back.”
“No, consider it a gift. But if you offer to pay Nole back for the pre-wedding stuff the women did, his ass ain’t gonna turn you down.”
“I already offered, and he already accepted it. Nole don’t play about money.”
Everett chuckled. “He ain’t never played about money. So, you and Sage going to the premiere of Leland’s company’s first film? It’s coming up soon.”
“Yeah. Sage’ll kill me if we miss it. She done already bought her dress and everything. She’s hype than a mug.”
“Good, good. I can’t wait to see this
movie.”
“Me, either. Um, you heard the rumors about Esther and Bugz? I guess she and Dunn are…done?”
Everett shrugged. “Who knows? But I do know if that mess is true, Bugz don’t really want her, so I’m sure she’s just something for him to do, and Esther? I guess she thinks she’s hurting me by fucking people connected to me and Jo, but whatever. I got Ella out of that damn fuck fest, so I’m good. She can screw an orangutan for all I care.”
“So, Esther didn’t fight you on taking custody?”
He shook his head. “She ain’t got a dog in that fight with the shit she’s done that’s public knowledge, and I honestly don’t think she cares. Bugz has got money and he’s probably spending it on her, so she won’t miss the child support. Money is the bottom line with Esther, always has been. I wouldn’t be surprised if her old ass pops up pregnant by Bugz.”
“Man, I never understood why you ever fucked with her.”
“Young and dumb. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, I do.”
*****
With my eyes closed and my head on my woman’s stomach, I listened to her read from Devil in a Blue Dress, the second Sage and Neil McClain Book Club selection. I loved hearing her read and the way she’d do different voices and accents and shit. It was cute, and she really got into it. Hell, I really got into it.
She reached down and rubbed my head as she continued to read, and I closed my eyes, was almost asleep when she stopped, and said, “That’s enough for tonight, I guess.”
“Mmm,” I replied. “That was good, baby. You want me to read next time? I know I ain’t been pulling my weight with the reading.”
“No, I like reading to you, and anyway, it’s the least I can do with me grilling you about black consciousness stuff all the time.”
“I like sharing my knowledge with you.”
“And I like absorbing it.”
“Good.”
“Neil?”
“Yeah, baby?”
Let Me Free You (McClain Brothers Book 4) Page 14
