The Cost To Play (Slivers of Love)

by Gaines, Oliva

  She looked down at his card. He was an associate professor at Georgia Regents University. Maybe, if their paths crossed again, she would ante up, and possibly play along. Right now, she was still uncertain, but he was starting to grow on her.

  Chapter 6

  November sped by as she set the dinner table, sharing Thanksgiving dinner with her grandparents and mother. Her uncle Sydney and his daughter had made it just in time for the cutting of the bird. Her cousin, who was always late, arrived just after the prayer had been said. Prayer.

  Had Toshi been praying before he ate the meal? She wasn’t sure if Buddhists said a blessing over their food. A modicum of shame coursed through her as she thought about how little she knew of other cultures. Her girlfriend Shannon had dated a Chinese guy once. She at least knew that you poured the tea for the men.

  She had done that for Toshi…after she reached into his jacket pocket to get his tea. If there was a light bulb over her head, it would be shining brightly right now. That was why Ai believed that something had transpired between them.

  Her grandmother was speaking to her and Jayne was in her own head, so much so that Toshi’s words, “who said I lied?”, hit her like a blow to the chest. Had he broken up with Ai after he met her? Wait that would be ridiculous. There was no way to know that he worked in Augusta, let alone that he lived here as well. Running into him in Joann’s was weird. She shuddered.

  “Chile, don’t make me throw this turkey leg at you! You hear me talking to you?” Grandma yelled, staggering Jayne back to reality. Reality was where she needed to be. Toshi Yamaguchi, Associate Professor was the last thing she needed to be thinking about.

  Hirishito Yamaguchi was furious. “What do you mean you broke up with Ai?” His mother had broken into tears, while his sister sat there staring at the really dry turkey his mother had yet again, ruined on Thanksgiving. Why the woman continued to try was beyond him. It was also beyond his comprehension that his father should be so upset.

  “I don’t love her,” was his first tactic.

  “A good wife is about more than love Toshi,” he exhaled, trying his best to not strangle his oldest child. “Marriage is about building a life together, based on common goals and understanding.”

  “Otousan,” he added before going to the second tactic. “That is just it… she doesn’t understand me and she never planned to try.”

  “Toshi,” he said with a combination of exasperation, frustration, and disappointment. “Did you try? That is what is important.”

  This conversation needed to end faster than his mother’s futile attempt to cook American cuisine. He had saved his ace in the hole for last. “Father. She did not want to leave her job so that we would start our family.”

  With those words his mother stopped crying and his father looked pensive. Hirishito Yamaguchi owned a chain of Japanese restaurants throughout the southeast. To his credit as a father, neither Toshi nor his sister Kunio had been made to work in a single one of them. His plans for his children were to be well educated and marry other well educated Japanese Americans. Toshi had become a thorn in his side. It was uncertain if his son would ever settle down, but he wanted grandchildren.

  Eri Yamaguchi, with tears dried, sniffled and looked to her husband with pleading eyes. After a deep breath, his father continued with the inquiry. “Ai said you broke up with her to be with a black woman.”

  His mother burst into tears again and Kunio began to choke. Toshi would have preferred to grade mid-terms than sit through this painful dinner. If he had to undergo this pain, he was not going to be the only one to suffer.

  “Father,” he said slowly. “Mother,” he said even slower. “I did. I am in love with a woman who understands me and I am going to marry her. She just happens to be black.”

  His mother collapsed onto the plate of cranberry sauce. His father began to curse like a drunken Asian sailor, as his sister broke out into uproarious laughter. Of course, none of it was true, but at least if the door was opened, he could maybe ask Jayne on a date without feeling as if he was ending the continuation of his race. Something inside of him was gravitated toward Jayne. He hoped she would at least call. He wanted to see her again. It was so nice to have a meal with a woman that had something to talk about other than where they were going to build their house, money, or what new outfit she just purchased. Even more so, the third beauty to Jayne was that she was an artist and a good one. Her ass was her first and those luscious lips were second and last.

  For the first time in his life, he found himself waiting and hoping for a woman to call him. The other woman who was unrelenting on him mentally, in the same instance, was his mother, who was still pressing her face into the cranberry sauce. His parents would be fine, in time. Jayne may not be the woman for him, but he at least deserved an opportunity to find out. His journey into the play arena of happiness was costly, but he had to start somewhere.

  Chapter 7

  December waltzed in with little flourish. Bringing only a few cold breezes as it kicked off the winter season. Jayne had thought of Toshi several times, but had misplaced the business card he had given her. Oh well, it probably was for the best anyway.

  The past three weeks she had spent working on her Misty Knight costume for the Atlanta Comic Convention. When she looked on the website and found out that people who attended in costume got in free, she was all for it. With the new design on her comic book and using the techniques she had learned from Toshi, the book looked good. This was her opportunity to rub elbows with some really great comic artists and hopefully move her comic book series forward.

  Her Grammy was still upset that she was running off, unchaperoned again to a convention that was rife with horny men looking to take advantage of a respectable young woman. Again, she was given the watch what you drink speech, and the keep an eye on your food lecture, because her grandmother was convinced that at conferences, men slipped women mickeys, and would then have their way with their unconscious body. She had never heard of such a thing, but nonetheless, she kept her eyes peeled.

  The Comic Convention was not an all-day event, which made it easy for Jayne to leave Augusta, take I-20 into Atlanta and head up 1-85 to the Marriott on Century. She wore the second skin red catsuit, that had open sides and her favorite smoothed out push up bra. When she stepped out of the car, she donned the red ankle boots, strapped on the gun holster, and slid her toy Berretta into the slot. The afro wig went on last, right before the red leather gloves and the Velcro Bionic pieces. There was no contest to be judged here, but Jayne was a firm believer that if you were going to be a bad ass, go full throttle.

  She entered the hotel to be greeted by her people. Other women were also dressed as powerful agents of change. Men, armored to defend our way of life. Artists who created new worlds to inspire imagination and thousands of fans who appreciated the hard work. Conventions were a place that Jayne felt she could be herself.

  The white leather satchel which held her sketch book was slung across her shoulder, with the strap falling between her breasts. Several men showed an appreciation of her assets and attempted to make conversation. What they wanted to talk about was not her costume, but what was in it. Pigs. One eager nerd actually had the nerve to reach his hand out and try and touch her body. Jayne drew her Berretta, stayed in character, while using what she thought would be the perfect Misty Knight voice. “Don’t make me shoot you sucka!”

  As the afternoon waned, disappointment crept in that she had driven two hours to Atlanta and had not made a single connection. The artists were self-centered, the attendees were more collectors who wanted an item for the value, or to say that they owned it, and no one seemed to be very appreciative of anything. It was a busted trip.

  Timmy had started to growl at her, but all she wanted was to hit the road and go home. It was a few minutes after five as she headed toward the parking garage to find her car. The sound of a familiar voice brought an unwilling smile to her face. She peered around the corner to see Tos
hi talking to three men. In the middle of them both was a very “out of it” blond woman dressed as Rogue.

  The guys were telling Toshi to mind his own business, but dressed as a young Master Izo, in traditional Japanese garb, he was not backing down. Jayne strained her ear to hear more. “Gentlemen, the lady is in no shape to make any decisions.”

  “We are just going to take her to her room. She is a friend of ours.” The small one in the back with the shifty eyes told Toshi.

  Toshi did not accuse them of anything, but only added, “I have a sister and I would hate to think if she was in this state that someone would not look out for her.”

  The guys were not about to give up their easy prize. The big one on the right made a move toward Toshi who did not flinch, but remained firm. “Are you seriously going to attempt to fight me, so that you can take this woman?”

  It was said with such incredulity that the second guy in the group, turned and left, telling his two friends, “I’m outta here.” The others were still standing there. The bigger of the two obviously had something to prove, but so did Toshi.

  “If you make a move, I am going to hurt you.” He slightly adjusted his feet like she had seen so many times in Kung Fu movies. “If by chance you two do over power me, you realize what that would make you.”

  The smaller man, with his jaw still agape as if to catch wayward flies, answered with, “what?”

  Toshi still did not flinch as the woman collapsed in front of him and hurled up chunks of whatever she had eaten. “It would make you a rapist.” The second man scrunched his face and without saying a word to his friend, turned and left.

  “Which leaves just you big guy,” Toshi told him. “Seriously. Is it worth it when there are so many willing women here, just waiting for a big strapping fellow like you to come and please them?” Jayne watched the guy’s shoulder’s drop along with his defenses. Eventually, he conceded. “Help me get her up and to the front desk.”

  Jayne backed up around the corner, as the two men carried the very lucky woman to the main lobby reception area. The clerk, along with two other women helped her up to her room.

  Toshi shook the big guy’s hand and thanked him for his assistance. Jayne walked up. “Way to go Master Izo.”

  Toshi’s face lit up when he saw her standing there. Instead of greeting her with warm and fuzzy feelings he said, “give me your phone.”

  “Good to see you too, Toshi.”

  “Yeah, yeah, give me your phone.” Reluctantly she reached into the bag and removed her iPhone, giving it to him. He unlocked the phone, went to contacts and added his name, number and snapped a photo of himself before giving it back to her. Inside the inner pocket of his gi and removed his phone, handing it to her. “Put your number in there.”

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  He paused for a minute, lowered his defenses, and took a different approach with her. “Then I would be devastated Jayne Wright.” He flashed a set of teeth that were well maintained. She knew she was being given a line, but he had delivered it so perfectly.

  She unlocked his phone, went to contacts and added her name and number. “A cool chick like me wouldn’t want something like that on her conscious.”

  Toshi stood there watching her in the tight red pants, silly afro wig, fake gun and ridiculous boots. He never thought he had seen a more stunning woman. It bothered him how much he wanted her. It felt disturbing that it was taking every bit of his resolve to not pull her into his arms and whisper sweet words of eroticism into her ear until she surrendered to him. He made eye contact with her as she typed in her number, forcing himself to not gaze at the sexy thighs that he wanted to feel wrapped tightly around his waist. She smiled at him when she handed him back his phone. Those beautiful full lips beckoning him for a kiss.

  “Dude, you okay? You got this strange look on your face.”

  The phone was slipped back into his gi. “I was just debating on getting a room or making the drive back tonight.” He wanted to ask if he got the room, would she stay with him, but he had tried the direct approach with her and it had not worked before.

  “Oh, okay. I am driving back tonight.” She looked at her watch. “Speaking of which, I need to get going.” On cue, Timmy started to growl.

  “Will you have dinner with me before you go Jayne,” he asked nearly breaking into a sweat as he held his tongue.

  “Naw. I’ll grab something quick on the way.” She was about to leave, but thought about him stepping in to save that woman from a very bad evening. “You have the number, so call me sometime.”

  Blood raced through his veins and coursed up to his ears, as he mentally willed the red liquid of life to not head toward his nether regions. Again, he found himself losing the battle with his will, as he watched that perfect ass walk away from him for the third time. She must have known he was watching, as she looked at him over her shoulder. “Stop watching my ass Toshi Yamaguchi!” Jayne added a little extra sashay as she made her way to the elevator.

  Toshi broke into a wide grin. Jayne Wright had managed to get under his skin. She had walked up to the counter, threw down some bills, and said she was ready to play. This was going to be a problem.

  Chapter 8

  It was a cool, crisp December wind that blew across Toshi’s face as he exited his car to enter the Kroger on Washington Road. The sky was as grey as his mood leaving him with riddled with melancholy. This would be the first Christmas that he would be single. Based on his current mindset, it would be the last. He had never considered himself a man that constantly needed the company of a woman to feel as if his life had meaning or purpose, but cooking dinner for one on Christmas Eve took him to a new low.

  Earlier in the day, he had gone to his parent’s to spend some time, but the disappointment on both of their faces was too much to process. It only exacerbated the totality of his failure when his sister, Kunio showed up with her new boyfriend. The fat headed doctor. Toshi hated him already.

  The other thing he was hating was the start of the rain. The large droplets pelted his head, as he made his way through the main doors and grabbed a hand cart to purchase a few food items. Christmas dinner would be at his parents, but he opted not to stay the night. He lied to them about having plans. His mother began to cry again, as his father patted her on the back to console her. Irony was a mean mistress. His mother was devastated that her son was involved with a woman, who in actuality, wouldn’t even give him the time of day. Maybe this was his penance for being a scoundrel in college.

  As he made his way to the meat department, he first stopped in the produce section to pick up some leeks, Chinese cabbage, carrots, and an eggplant. In the meat department he looked closely at the salmon. Not many of the packages looked very fresh. He reached for the one in the back, but a hand slapped his and snatched it out of the way. Toshi turned to see Jayne standing there. “This is my dinner.”

  Her smile was so warm and inviting, that Toshi swore he heard music playing in the background. “Well, since we were thinking of having the same thing for dinner, will you allow me to cook it for you?”

  A man offering to cook dinner? For her? That was a first. “Sure,” she said and put the salmon in his basket.

  “Oh, I have to buy it as well?”

  Jayne touched the upper portion of her teeth with her tongue. “You were going to buy it anyway. How about I buy the wine?”

  “Deal,” he told her as she eyed his basket, asking if they needed anything else.

  Toshi wondered if she lived close by. “Jayne. My place or yours?”

  The look she gave him was one of concern that Toshi staved off by adding, “At my place, I have rice, seasonings, and everything else to go with the meal. I am not sure what you have.” He watched her relax.

  Her hand flew to her face. “Wait! I can’t have dinner with you tonight!” It felt like a blow to his chest. “I rode my bike to the store, so I can’t follow you to your place.”

  “Jayne, I will take you home
after dinner.” Toshi was obviously not understanding why she felt this was some form of a dilemma.

  “I need my own car, in case I have to leave in a hurry, or you get fresh.” Her hand was on her hip. His father had taught his sister the same rule, so he understood.

  “If you are on your bike, you must live close by. So do I.” he thought about the weather. “Besides, it has started to rain, so I will need to give you a ride anyway. You can put away your groceries and follow me to my place, or I can just cook at yours.” He was not going to let her get away from him again. The thought of being alone tonight also hung in the recesses of his mind.

  “Jayne.” He said her name softly. “It’s Christmas Eve and I would rather not eat alone.” The words had rolled out of his mouth so easily that he looked around the store to make sure he was the one who had actually said it.

  “Neither do I,” she told him as she touched his hand. “Come on doc. Timmy will be waking up soon, so let’s get this dinner thing started.”

  The checkout was quick. Toshi had her wait under the covering while he retrieved his car. He lowered the back seat and slid her bike into the hatchback alongside the groceries. Jayne was impressed Toshi used his umbrella to escort her around the car. He even opened the door, closing it once she was inside.

  He slid into the driver seat and put the car into gear. “Which way?”

  “I live pretty close by, hence the bike.” She gave him directions out of the parking lot. Making a left on Alexander Drive and then driving less than a mile down the hill. “These apartment homes on the left is me,” she told him as she gave him instructions on how to access the security gate.

  Instead of pulling into the visitor’s lane, he pulled into the resident side. Jayne felt silly. “Oh, you are right. I do have my access card.”