by Lolah Lace
Serena wasn’t in the lower level of the Stadium. I looked up in the skyboxes and she wasn’t there. She sometimes sat courtside but she wasn’t there either. I yearned to see her. That one overnight visit we shared would stay with me for a while. We fit together perfectly. Our sex was spicy and seasoned. It was like we had been together many times before. We didn’t stumble over each other’s bodies the way new lovers do.
The sex, it wasn’t awkward. It was seamless. We had an undeniable chemistry. Our bodies danced in a rhythm that I have never encountered before. It’s no fault of mine that I want to relive it, to feel it, to bask in it again. If only for one night.
I know the risk involved and the consequences but that didn’t stop the burning need. I hungered for that harmony, that intimate connection. I had been alone since my breakup with Shelley. Being with Serena made me feel less lonely. This is going to be harder than I thought. Letting go is tough.
After the game, some of my teammates were going out to celebrate, steak and lobster. Dee told me he was going to stay in the city with Vanessa. I’m sure that meant overnight. Dee had kept Vanessa around for a long time. They were two years strong. I don’t think it was because she was special. I assumed it was because she was hard to shake. She refused to stay in the background. She was the reason there were pictures of Dee and her floating around in cyberspace.
I didn’t want to go anywhere but home. I got in my Lambo and left the stadium. I arrived at home. I stepped into the foyer and dropped my gym bag on the floor. I disarmed my home alarm system. I hoped I could fall sleep without the endless daydreaming. It was happening so frequently as of late.
I made it upstairs. I walked into my bedroom and stopped in the doorway. There she was, lying in my bed under the sheet. Her hair was up in a high ponytail. It made her look ten years younger. I believed she was nude under the bed sheet. Or at least I hoped so.
My lips curled into a smile. She used my access codes. BUFFY. SPIKE. ANGEL. The greatest passwords in the history of passwords if you ask me.
“Surprise.”
“This is really a surprise.” I removed my Cavalier baseball cap. I tried to contain my elation.
“You look like a winner. I watched the game on TV.”
“I am a winner.” I walked over to her and placed my baseball cap on her head. “You can make me the MVP.”
“I can do that, if you give me what I need.” She flirted.
I pulled my t-shirt over my head and let it drift to the floor. Her eyes roamed my torso and kind of rested on my abs.
“I will give you exactly what you need.” I bent to pull my sweat pants off. Serena sat up in the bed to watch me. The bed sheet dropped exposing one of her breasts.
“Is it okay that I’m here?” She asked.
“You’re always welcome here. You have free reign.” I couldn’t believe I had just said that. I never said anything remotely close to that to any other woman. Why? Maybe I knew she had a life and wouldn’t be here all the time. I didn’t know what I was thinking but I sincerely meant it. She was allowed to come and go as much as she wanted. We fit together. That meant something to me.
I had rid myself of everything but my boxer briefs. I stood inches from her. I bent over the bed to plant a kiss on her waiting lips.
“Noah, did you miss me?”
She had no idea how much. Serena had been woven in and out my thoughts the entire weekend. I searched for her at the stadium tonight. She was missed the minute I was home in bed alone and I turned to drape my arm over her body and realized she was no longer there.
“Yes, I missed you. I’m glad you’re here now in this sexy state of undress.”
“I dreamt about you.”
“What did you dream?”
“I dreamt about your facial hair rubbing against my clit when you had your face in between my thighs.”
“I’ve had similar dreams since you left,” I smirked. She had no idea how I longed to hear something like that hail from her lips.
“No need to dream. I’m here. Do whatever you like.” She spread her legs under the bedsheet.
“Don’t say that?”
“I mean it. Do to me whatever you like.” She licked her lips and sent a telepathic surge right to my testicles.
I decided to throw caution to the wind and throw a few things out in the air.
“Bondage?”
“Tie me up.”
Okay, that was easy. “Spanking?”
“I have been a bad girl. I’m that nasty slut that is coming in between you and your best friend.”
Yes you are, nasty, slut, bad, yes. “Anal?”
“Yes please.”
“You like it?”
“My husband won’t do that with me. I want you to force your way inside. I’m ready to try it with a person instead of a sex toy.” She was being honest. I could tell.
How the hell did I luck up on a virgin ass? Sex toys don’t count. Not in my book.
“What kind of sex toys?”
“Butt plug. It was really small.”
That was a great answer and an invitation to fill the backdoor with all my Hart. I can do that.
CHAPTER 8
She was gone when I woke up at five in the morning. I was sure she knew what time her husband would come home from his exploits. I wasn’t living in a fantasy world. I knew these hookups were wrong for so many reasons. I think I want to believe that it’s because I’m alone. If I had a girlfriend I wouldn’t be doing this. I mean, I’m a man and I have needs. If there’s a beautiful naked woman in my bed, I have to sleep with her no matter who she is. Right?
I wasn’t in the mood to act responsible and mature. I was always Mr. Nice Guy. I was that boy next door turned into the man next door. I basked in my new bad boy status. How many guys on the team wanted to fuck Serena? How many times had they made little comments about her behind Deshawn’s back? Everybody thinks she’s hot. She is the sexiest wife and she wasn’t even a model, singer or dancer. She was just a regular person. She went to high school with Dee and then to college. She got pregnant and they got married before she was even twenty-one.
I had been a role model for so long I forgot how to be me. I was always doing the right and responsible thing. This was the first time I could go wild off the basketball court.
Maybe I was just being a spoiled, greedy, overgrown man. I accomplished all my professional goals. I did almost everything I set out to. Was Serena some hidden goal I had deep down inside? I don’t know. I don’t care. I just wish I didn’t think about her so much.
None of it mattered. I had another hour before I had to get up and run on the treadmill and weight train. I closed my eyes and lay there in perpetual thought.
I remembered the time I saved Dee’s Black Ferrari from taking a dirt nap. It was about one year ago. My cheek smiled at the memory of Serena behaving badly. It’s so funny thinking about it. She was like a docile Beyoncé turned into a raging Solange.
ONE YEAR AGO
I had just gotten off the elevator that led to the underground parking garage connected the stadium. I nodded at the burly security guard that stood at the entrance tunnel. He nodded back. I was always one of the first players to show up and one of the last to leave. I put in so much work because I needed to always improve my game. I had something to prove. I think a lot of the non-Black players felt that way. Black players dominated basketball. Your hoop skills had to be on point to get a fragment of respect in this industry.
There were a few cars left in the parking garage but it was mostly just vacant parking spaces. Suddenly I saw the figure move from behind a pillar. I was just a few feet away. I didn’t fear things. I was too big and much too strong to exhibit that useless emotion.
I could finally see that it was a woman. She had what appeared to be a red aluminum baseball bat in her hands. Still, I wasn’t afraid. I was confused. There aren’t any baseball bats at the basketball stadium. Why would there be? I kept walking trying to make sense of what I was see
ing. It was clear she hadn’t noticed me.
“Hey!” I yelled out to her. She really didn’t take notice until I shouted. Her honey-colored eyes were unique and I recognized her right away.
“Serena!” She glared at me like an evil cat. She moved swiftly toward the Black Ferrari, Dee’s prized ride. My reflexes were still crisp from my performance out on the court tonight. I tipped my duffel bag off my shoulder and let it hit the ground. I sprinted into action. It only took a few long strides to catch up to her. She raised the bat high above her head. She was in the midst of sending an epic swing high into the driver’s side front window.
I caught the bat mid-air just as slugger took her swing back pass her shoulders. With force and a quick tilt of my wrist, I was able to remove the aluminum club from her blazing hands.
My quick snatch and grab happened with lightning speed. It occurred without her permission. Serena lingered in disbelief for a moment while she turned her anger toward me.
“NOAH!!!” She screamed my name so loud it echoed through the garage. “Give it to me!”
“No way.” I tried to sound authoritative.
Serena lunged toward me. She tried to grab the baseball bat from my firm grip. This was utterly impossible. She was about five-seven or eight and I was six feet six inches. She hopped up and down and tried to climb up my extended arm.
I tossed the bat across the pavement. It skidded across the concrete making an annoying sound. I cradled Serena in my arms when she tried to go after it. She was kicking and screaming obscenities at me. I lifted her off her feet. I hoped she wouldn’t kick me in my legs. I need my legs to run up and down the court.
“Noah, take your fucking hands off me.”
“Serena calm down!” I placed her back on her feet but held her close.
“No! No!”
“Stop it Serena. Enough!” I boxed her up against the concrete wall. “There are video cameras down here.”
“I don’t care!”
“Yes you do.”
“No I don’t!”
“Whatever is going on, don’t take it out on the poor car.”
“Fuck you! Let me go!”
“We are both on these cameras.”
“I hate him and this car.”
“This car is not why you’re upset. Please don’t do this. Security will come if you don’t stop this.”
Serena looked at my hands. I had her shoulders pinned to the wall. Her fierce eyes willed me to let her go. I wasn’t quite sure that was the best idea. Her chestnut eyes were like daggers.
“Noah.” She was out of breath. “Let me go.”
“Are you calm?” I asked the question knowing she was far from calm.
“Yes.”
I removed my hands and took a step back. There was no way she could beat me to the discarded baseball bat.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked.
“Like what?
“Like I’m some crazy black woman.”
“You’re black and a woman. That’s true but I think you’re perfectly sane.”
She rolled her eyes. Her long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings. She pressed her thick lips into a fine line. Sweet Mrs. Jones is a firecracker waiting to spit dragon fire. It was wildly hilarious but as a gentleman, I would never laugh.
“I’m so tired of him treating me like shit. I don’t deserve this shit.”
The tears started flowing. I was completely out of my element. I didn’t know what to do. I did know I was pissed at Deshawn. Sure he wasn’t around but I felt like he put me in a terribly unfamiliar situation.
“Serena talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I’ve been here forever. I came with Deshawn in that car.” She pointed at the custom Ferrari. “He left me here.”
“Where did he go?”
“Do I look like I know?” Oh she had a mouth on her.
“Are you going to wait for him? Or are you going to drive yourself home?”
“With what car?” She placed her hands on her hips.
“You can drive his Ferrari home if you promise to keep the bat far away from the windows.” My remark warranted another eye roll from Mrs. Jones.
“With what key? I don’t have a goddamn key to his precious car?”
“He didn’t leave the key?” A question that sounded stupid as soon as it left my lips.
“No he didn’t leave the damn key.” Her neck nearly rolled off her shoulders.
I knew of Dee’s whereabouts. I wasn’t a snitch. Deshawn was really taking his escapades too far. He drove here with his wife and he left with one of his side-chicks. He didn’t even leave the damn car key for Serena to drive herself home. His behavior boggles me. I can’t begin to understand why he welcomes the drama. He basks in the theatrics.
I swear to God I’m never getting married. Is this what marriage to an NBA player looks like? Will I one day be Deshawn and so many of my other teammates? Will I have a wife, kids and a mistress with my kids? I don’t want to be in this hopeless position. This is just a lot of unnecessary drama. This wasn’t how I was raised but I’m afraid this is exactly what I will become.
“Serena, have you been drinking?” I could mildly smell it on her. I wonder if that’s the reason Deshawn left her without the keys.
“Yes I was drinking but I’m not drunk. I’m pissed the fuck off.”
“I understand.”
“Do you really understand? You have a dick so I doubt it.”
“I do.” Have a dick. “Understand.”
She tossed me another eye roll like she was handing me a basketball for a layup. Maybe I should start to tally them eye rolls up.
“Being a fucking basketball wife is more trouble than it’s worth. I want out. I’m tired of this shit.”
Okay. “Serena I can drive you home.”
“I can get a taxi.”
“No, not when you’ve been drinking.”
“Stop acting like I’m helpless!”
“Stop yelling at me. If something happens to you out here at night, by yourself then I’m responsible.”
“No you’re not responsible.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Serena get in my fucking truck.” I pointed across the garage at my Black Range Rover.
She didn’t budge. I grabbed the baseball bat off the pavement. “Come on, get in,” I ordered instead of asked. Serena was something else.
If something happened to her I would feel terrible. Deshawn would murder me. I scooped up my duffel bag and headed to my truck. I refused to look back at her. I unlocked my truck doors with two clicks. I tossed my duffel and the bat in the rear seat. I closed the back door and got into the driver’s seat.
I only had to wait a few seconds before she opened the passenger door and got her little defiant ass in. We both buckled up. I pulled out my assigned space and exited the underground garage and made my way to the highway.
I drove as she silently cried. I thought about turning the radio on but decided against it. It bothered me that she was hurt but I had seen this scene too many times with these wives. I wasn’t blaming them but they put up with so much bullshit. I can say that I am fairly numb to it. Or at least, I try to be.
Serena wiped her endless stream of tears. I could see her doing it but I refused to look over at her or acknowledge that she was hurting. I swear Deshawn is going to owe me big time. It seems like I have to wrangle all his women at some time or another.
Seeing her like this was not on my to-do list. She was the same person that got the sellers to knock 2 million off my house in South Barrington. Seeing her like this wasn’t ideal but we all had our issues. Can’t he just show her some attention and fuck her regularly so she can stop acting out?
I glanced over at her when I thought it was safe. The seatbelt was fastened in between her breasts. Her shirt hung open just a bit. It was enough to give me a glimpse of her black lace bra. She didn’t notice my eyes catching a glimpse of her ample breasts. They were there. I saw them
. End of story.
She cried her eyes out until I pulled into her Barrington Hills circular driveway. I hoped she wouldn’t be home alone. I just felt bad for her. I didn’t think she was suicidal or anything. Basketball wives are resilient. I just hoped she had someone in that huge house she could talk to.
Serena snatched her purse off the floor and she got out of my truck. Not a word, she just hopped out. Is this what marriage looks like? It looks painful and ugly. I’m cool with my relationship with Shelley. I’m not going to be this kind of spouse. I hope I won’t be this kind of husband.
I drove home and was happy to have that out the way. Dee better chill. This time Serena was gunning for his ride. Next time she might be cracking skulls. I arrived home in minutes. I climbed into bed next to my girlfriend.
The next morning Shelley was up before me. I reached over and she had left the bed. I went downstairs and found her in the kitchen. She was making breakfast. I took a seat at the kitchen island. It was fun to watch her try to cook. She wasn’t great at it but her food was edible.
“I thought you would be asleep a little longer.” She turned to me with a bottle of water in her hands. She slid it over to me.
“Thanks. My cell phone buzzed. It woke me up.”
“Oh is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, it was Serena. She apologized about her behavior last night.” It was a long apology for her erratic behavior. She thanked me for returning her home safe and sound. It wasn’t necessary. Serena is family. I would do anything for Deshawn and his family. He would do it for me. I didn’t have to share all my thoughts with Shelley.
“Oh well that’s good.” There was something in her tone that I couldn’t quite make out.
“Good for Dee’s car.” I had given my girlfriend a brief play by play of last night’s events.
“She’s a bit hot-headed.”
“She’s been through a lot. Deshawn Jones is a strong force.”
“He’s your friend.”
“Yeah he is.” What did she mean? I’m not an idiot. I can tell when people are withholding commentary. “What are you trying to say?”
