by Phenomenon
“I know you didn’t touch her but she wants to see you. She’s in the car. But I was hoping we could talk first.” Corey’s voice became a bit softer. It was less intimidating. Taurus listened for the spirit to tell her if it was safe. She told Corey to step back so that she could see his face from the window. When he did, she examined his hands, his demeanor and the spirit surrounding him. It was safe. She opened the door with a red face. Corey was no fool. He knew that she was trying to be aggressive but her eyes were giving the tell signs of a woman that had been crying.
Taurus stepped out of the house. Before she could speak a long time neighbor who had overheard the exchanged yelled from across the street. “You leave that girl alone boy. She’s a good woman. She ain’t no woman beater. She go to work every day. She good people. Take your butt on away from around here with that nonsense.”
Another neighbor yelled from her upstairs bathroom window. “That’s right. We WILL call the police on yo ass. You leave that girl alone. She got the right to defend herself. Don’t come over here talking about some stuff that happened years ago. Taurus, go in the house and stop entertaining that foolishness.”
Taurus smiled at her neighbors taking up for her. They must have thought that Corey was coming to talk about Billie. When she yelled through the door that she “hadn’t touched his sister” the neighbors must have thought that he was there to avenge Billie. Honestly, Taurus felt good to hear her neighbors say what she had been thinking for so long, even if they were nosey as all outdoors.
Corey answered the first older lady that provided her opinion from across the street. “No ma’am I don’t want no trouble.” Corey yelled. “She just started dating my sister and I heard some things and I just wanted to make sure she was gonna treat her right. That’s all.”
Another veteran neighbor who was out watering his grass responded. “Of course Taurus’ gonna treat her right. She’s a stand up fella. The real question is how is your sister going to treat her? Cause that’s been the real problem around here.” The man ended with fragment.
“That’s right.” Said an invisible neighbor.
“Sho’ you right!” Said the older man in the window. “Yeah!” Said many others who happened to be listening.
A number of Taurus’ neighbors chimed in with their opinions. By this time Corey, Taurus, and even Kenisha were laughing breathlessly. This was why her block was nicknamed the cul-de-sac of gossip. “She’s a good girl, my sister is.” Corey began moving to the center of the side walk in front of the house so that the neighbors could receive a good view of him and hear him addressing them all with a yelling voice to the neighbors. “She works everyday too. She treats people nice. She takes showers all the time.”
The neighbors all laughed in unison. The mood had been lightened. Taurus would have never thought that her night would have taken this turn. It seemed that she wasn’t alone at all.
“Well I’m glad she takes baths.” Said the woman from the window. “But does she cheat?” “No I don’t cheat! I’m a one woman girl! I promise!” Kenisha yelled from the car window. The neighbors laughed and began clapping.
One of the neighbors shouted. “Alright then, but we gonna be watching you missy.” “That’s right!” The man watering his grass confirmed with a strong fist in the air borrowing from his questionable Black Panther days.
After the crows had calmed down, Corey returned to the steps where Taurus stood. Instead of coming to grill Taurus, Corey had ended up on the charcoal. “I did want to see what your intentions were with my sister but it’s obvious that you’re a nice person.” Corey said. “It’s hard for us to let go of things in the past but I won’t be one of those people. I just finished telling my sister about how we need to move forward. So just answer one question for me.”
Taurus stood tall and nodded.
Corey asked. “Will you treat her like God is always watching?”
Taurus responded with a smile. “I’ll treat her better than she’s ever been treated before. You have my word.” Corey stuck out his hand and pulled Taurus into a tight embrace. Corey felt better knowing that his sister was in good hands, contrary to the gossip. Corey walked over to his sister’s car and opened the passenger side door for Kenisha to exit.
Taurus
When Taurus saw Kenisha step out of the car it was like watching Santa leave gifts on Christmas Eve. Her heart started beating fast and she said a low thank you to God. Although he hadn’t responded when she wanted Him to, He definitely did it right on time. Kenisha ran toward Taurus and wrapped her arms around her.
“I’m so sorry!” Kenisha exclaimed.
“No blame.” Taurus exhaled. “No blame at all.”
Corey placed the keys to the car into his sister’s hand, exchanged phone numbers with Taurus for emergency purposes and left in the car with his friends. Taurus and Kenisha walked hand in hand into Taurus’ house locking the door behind them.
Kenisha
Kenisha was ecstatic to begin talking and working things out. “There’s so much I have to tell you…” Before Kenisha could finish her sentence Taurus kissed her passionately while climbing on top of her as she then laid back on the couch. Kenisha was still trying to hold a conversation but Taurus was behaving like an animal. She placed kisses all over Kenisha’s body. She fondled her clothes and kissed her neck. Taurus whispered into her ear, “I’m so glad you’re here.” Kenisha couldn’t get a word in. Every time she tried to speak Taurus would kiss her in the mouth and pull her closer.
Kenisha finally put her hands firmly on Taurus’ chest pausing the heated moment. “Wait.” Kenisha interrupted in a giggly tone. “Don’t you think we should talk babe?” Taurus had very little blood flowing to her brain at that moment as it all seemed to be throbbing below her waist. She laughed a bit out of breath with a stutter. “Y-Y-You wanna talk right now?” Kenisha laughed at how badly Taurus wanted her. “I know we both want to make up all hot and heavy but we need to talk first.”
Taurus spoke while kissing Kenisha’s beautifully imperfect stomach. “Yea I’m listening baby. I…am…listening.” Taurus pulled Kenisha up from the couch and placed Kenisha in a straddling position on top of her. Taurus kissed her chest while removing Kenisha’s buttoned dress blouse. “I’m listening to everything you’re saying. Go ahead. Keep talking.”
Kenisha began speaking. “Back whe…”
Taurus interrupted through kissing and groping Kenisha’s breast through her bra. “Oh you smell so good.” Taurus moaned. It was obvious what was on Taurus’ mind and she was not paying attention to Kenisha’s words at all. But Kenisha knew that if she didn’t confess this now she may not have the heart to do it again and it was a very vital part of who she had grown to be. So Kenisha continued anyway while Taurus squeezed her back side and breathed in her feminine scents.
“I shot my daddy in front of my brother when I was 16 years old.” Kenisha blurted out.
Chapter 7: Glass Houses Fall Down, Princess
Taurus
What does a person say to that? Regardless to how anointed a person is, that statement would cause a pause. Taurus tucked her dangling tongue back into her mouth and pulled Kenisha’s body back so that she could look at her face.
“You did what?” Taurus asked as her female arousal fell to nonexistent. “He used to beat us; me and my brother and my mom for no reason.” Kenisha continued.
“Sweetheart there’s never a reason to beat your family.” Taurus responded with correction. “Well he did. I was 16 and Corey was 6 and he put my mom out of the apartment completely naked in the winter after he had been on a drinking binge. We were trying to get him to let her back in. We were reaching for the door and he punched Corey in the face. Corey didn’t even scream. I just saw blood and tears fall from his eyes. I grabbed him and ran to my bedroom and locked the door. I was just trying to clean Corey up and make sure he was ok but Corey wouldn’t talk. I had a boyfriend that was 23 years old. He gave me a gun just in case I might need it. He said
that the gun had bodies on it and if I used it on my dad, when the cops got there, that I should just say that the gun belonged to my dad. So when my dad started kicking the door in, I pulled the gun from my book bag on the shelf in the closet and I aimed it. When he finally kicked the door in, he started rushing toward me and Corey so I pulled the trigger twice.”
Taurus saw the weight being lifted off of her shoulders as she spoke. She had never told anyone this story. It explained why her brother and she were so close and the spiritual conflicts that her momma had.
“So what happened after the police got there?” Taurus probed. “Well I froze with the gun in my hand. Daddy wasn’t dead. He was just lying on the floor bleeding a lot. He kept repeating that he was gonna kill me. He was still gonna kill me and I was gonna die like my momma. I was too afraid to walk past him to let momma back into the apartment so when the neighbors called the police they kicked down the door and found him there on the floor still hollering about how he was gonna kill me. I told them what my boyfriend told me to. I told the police that it was dad’s gun. I saw him wipe his prints off and put it away. Then I stole it from the bedroom and ran in my room with it to protect my brother. Dad lived but he went to prison. He died in jail on my 21st birthday.”
Kenisha finished her story. Taurus was still. She was gaining more understanding about why God made her call Kenisha out earlier that day. She didn’t have a reaction at that moment. So Taurus responded with “Is there more?”
Kenisha emptied. “Corey remembers everything but I think my mom has resented me over the years for doing it. We don’t discuss it though. But yes, that’s it.”
“I’m glad that you finally had a chance to share that with me. No one should have to experience that from either end but I thank God for you. I don’t judge you.” Taurus said.
“Neither should I have judged you. But you said it’s all forgotten right?” Kenisha asked as she gave Taurus an adorable look.
“Yes. It’s all forgotten.” Taurus smiled.
“We should go to my place. Are your bags packed for tomorrow? If we go to my place then we can leave from there in the morning and still make our flights.” Kenisha suggested. Taurus jumped up from the couch and darted up the stairs. She took a private moment to say a prayer of thanksgiving for all that had happened. She then came rolling down the stairs with a Willy Wonka smile. “Let’s go girl! Put on ya shirt and let’s move!” Taurus slapped Kenisha in the face with her shirt as she couldn’t contain her excitement.
At 11:30pm Taurus and Kenisha headed to Kenisha’s apartment to prepare for their much deserved trip to Niagara Falls.
Chapter 8: Grown Folks & Room Service
Kenisha
The next morning bright and early the two love birds were chirping toward the airport. Kenisha had never ridden on a plane and Taurus had never been to Niagara Falls. There were reasons why Taurus hadn’t gone but she had always wanted to go. Needless to say the spirits were very high driving to the airport. Kenisha was known for making up songs when she was happy. Taurus had seen the happy chicken dance a few days prior but the song making was about to blow her mind.
“We going to Niaaagara. Yep Yep Niaaagara! Yep Yep Niaaagara!” Kenisha began to sing. “Really? Really? Are you singing right now?!” Taurus almost laughed past her exit to the airport parking lot.
The joy that they felt together was a first for the both of them. Kenisha being with someone that she felt safe with and Taurus being in the presence of someone that appreciated her presence was the best feeling that either of them had ever experienced in their adult lives. They began to learn each other.
As they were passing the baggage check section Taurus became lost in Kenisha. She was so childlike in her new atmosphere. She didn’t know what to put in the scanner bin and what to take off to go through the metal detector. She was taking it all in. Taurus didn’t take one moment for granted. The look on Kenisha’s face continued to renew her faith in what God had in store for her life.
“Ooh you know we could combine our names like Br-angelina, Brad and Angelina. We would be Taurisha.” Kenisha said with her creative mind.
“Um, no! I have a better combination.” Said Taurus. “It’s K-aurus!”
They both stopped in the middle of the walk way, looked at each other and said. “Yeah! That’s it!”
So the two now calling themselves “K-aurus” or better yet “Chorus” boarded their plane to their first of many trips together.
Taurus
They could see the waterfall as they flew into the city. Taurus had fallen asleep on the plane but not Kenisha. She was wide awake taking in every moment, every free beverage offered and every cloud covered visual. Taurus’ head leaned on Kenisha’s shoulder as the descent began. The turbulence awakened Taurus and caused her to sit up. “Chew this bubble gum. It’ll stop your ears from hurting from the pressure. I read it on the internet.” Kenisha said to Taurus. It was adorable. Of course Taurus knew that already because she was well traveled but it was awesome to see Kenisha expanding her knowledge of the world.
Taurus knew a lot about the city although she had never been there. She had always wanted to come but her anger about a previous situation in her life had stopped her. She’d told herself that she wouldn’t be able to do it alone and at that moment Taurus didn’t have to. Kenisha was there to support Taurus in the circumstances that she would soon find out would reveal more about Taurus’ mysterious life and personality.
The Hilton shuttle escorted the women to the hotel suite. The room was a vision out of a romance novel. Their suite was facing the very edge of the water fall with a slight view of the city. There was a balcony with an amazing breeze and complimentary champagne and fruit. Taurus joined Kenisha on the balcony as she viewed every frame with wide eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist and asked, “Is this what you had in mind when you asked to be taken away?”
Kenisha turned to face Taurus with tears of joy in her eyes. With the breeze of water droplets caressing their cheeks, they kissed passionately. They embraced each other. “Thank you.” Kenisha spoken between kisses with sobs of happiness. “Thank you so much.” That night they made love on a bed in view of a waterfall with the balcony doors wide. The sounds of rushing water weighed heavy on their eardrums. Beads of sweat danced their bodies with no shame. They were uncovered. Their limbs intertwined like perfectly fitted puzzle pieces. Long lasting sprints of powerful thrusting toward the goal of eruption stole the darkness of the sky from them. Just before daybreak, as the stars began to disappear they gripped the sheets, gritted their teeth, arched their backs, howled like banshee’s and together they reached their peak.
Kenisha
Kenisha slept later than she ever had that day. She didn’t wake up until 1:00pm. In her defense they didn’t really go to sleep until about 6:00am. Kenisha rolled over to see Taurus still sleeping and snoring. She deserved to snore, Kenisha thought. She’d worked it out that night all the way until that morning so her snoring was well earned. Kenisha eased from the bed to find the menu. She walked to the other room. She wanted Taurus to wake up to a nice brunch so she called room service and began ordering a wide variety of breakfast and lunch items. She wanted it to be a gift since Taurus had paid for everything else.
“I’d like to pay for this myself instead of charging it to the room. How much is my total?” Kenisha asked at the end of her order.
“With the family discount that has been applied to your stay here with us, your reduced total will be $88.45 with taxes included. Would you like to pay with your credit or debit card by phone ma’am.” The kitchen phone staff asked.
Kenisha was confused. She hated that feeling. It seemed to come with the territory of dealing with Taurus. Where did a family discount come from and why did they have it? Kenisha paid for the food as she had intended too and waited patiently for Taurus to awake from her slumber because when she did, there was some explaining that needed to be done.
Taurus
Taur
us awoke to the smell of pancakes, bacon and sweet syrup. She sat up in the bed and saw Kenisha sitting on the balcony in her pink silk robe. The wind was blowing just enough to expose her upper thigh which turned Taurus on like a bull in heat. She looked to her left to see a host of food set properly on trays. The aroma was tantalizing. Kenisha saw that Taurus was awake and quickly shuffled into the room and began setting up the breakfast in bed tray. Taurus picked what she wanted from the wonderful array of foods and Kenisha sat next to her in the bed and ate like a newly wedded couple. Every now and then one would turn to look at the other person while they were eating and just smile.
Kenisha wanted to bring up the family discount question but didn’t know how to so she opted to remain quiet until she could think of a way to slip it into the conversation. Soon after she had the initial thought, she realized that she didn’t have to ask a thing.
“Hey I have something to tell you.” Taurus said in between chews. “I’m really glad that you’re here with me ya know. I feel like I can be myself and you won’t judge me. You don’t look for stuff to fuss about for no reason. I like how you just enjoy the moment.”
Kenisha felt horrible. She WAS that girl that was about to find something to fuss about in that beautiful place. Although the compliment wasn’t deserved, Kenisha politely said “Thank you.” “No seriously babe. You could be the one for me.” Taurus confessed. “I knew it from the day you walked passed me in the warehouse and the more time we spend together. We’re learning each other. I met your mother with her crazy self. So I thought maybe you should meet mine.”
