“Women. Damn,” he griped as he sat down. “It ain’t like Stephon ain’t never seen her naked ass before. She wasn’t too worried about brothas seeing it when she was stripping.”
“Whoo-wee. You are something else, aren’t you?” I said. “For her being a woman you claim to love, that was very disrespectful.”
He waved off my comment. “Whatever, Nokea. Why are you over here anyway?”
“I’m here to get my son, remember? Or have you forgotten, since you can’t keep up with all these crumb snatchers I hear you’re expecting.”
Jaylin and Stephon looked at each other. Stephon grinned, shrugged his shoulders, and handed Jaylin a piece of paper.
“I’m outtie, my brotha. Don’t forget to take care of that tomorrow.”
“I’m taking care of this tonight.” Jaylin winked. “If I have time.”
Stephon said good-bye and gave me another hug before he left. I stayed in Jaylin’s office so we could talk.
“So, what’s on that piece of paper? And why didn’t you tell me about the babies?”
He looked at the paper, folded it, and put it in his pocket. “If you must know, Miss Nosey, the paper is the phone number of a nice young lady I met today. As for the babies, I can’t wait to be a father again.”
“Are you serious?”
“About the phone number, or the babies?”
“Both.”
“Yes, I’m very serious.”
I shook my head, disgusted by his actions. He wasn’t my man anymore, so I tried not to be so discouraged. “Jaylin, when are you going to stop hurting people? I was just talking to Scorpio and she seemed so upset about your encounters with other women. Can’t you even imagine what she’s going through, especially being pregnant with your child?”
“Look, don’t worry about Scorpio. I got her all taken care of. Besides, she wasn’t worried about you when I was sticking it to her, was she?”
“That’s not the point. As your friend, I’m encouraging you to stop bringing about so much drama. One of these days, your mess is going to backfire on you and you’re going to find yourself in a heap of trouble.”
“As my friend, you need only to offer your opinion or advice when I ask for it. I offer mine only when you ask.”
“But—” My phone rang and I reached into my purse to answer. It was Collins. “Hello,” I said.
“Hey, baby, it’s me.”
“I know who you are, and I’m sorry I’m running a little late. LJ and I will be there shortly.”
“Okay. Just checking.”
“What did you cook for us?”
“You’ll have to see when you get here. Trust me, it’s going to be good.”
A huge smile came across my face and my voice softened. “It always is good, isn’t it?”
Referring to sex, we laughed, gave our good-byes and hung up. I put my phone back in my purse. Jaylin was glaring at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked.
“It always is good, isn’t it?” he said, mocking me. “I hope you were talking about the food.”
I grinned. “Don’t tell me you’re still jealous of my relationship with Collins.”
“I have never been jealous of anybody in my entire life. I told you before I’m happy for you. You’re the one who’s jealous. That’s why you can’t stay out of my business.”
“Please. If anything, I’m just concerned about you.” As I walked toward the office door, Jaylin smacked my butt hard. “Hold up! This is not your booty anymore, so stop playing like that.”
“Who says I’m playing? Besides, I couldn’t help myself. Your petite body always turns me on, and I am digging the hell out of your short spiked haircut. You’re looking more and more like Nia Long, and you know how I feel about her.”
“Well, thank God she doesn’t have to put up with you. And in the meantime, keep your hands to yourself, please.”
“Whatever. My hands will go wherever they choose to, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it. Besides, you know you miss me. I’ll put some money on it that you still love—”
“You’re so right, Jaylin,” I said sarcastically. “I dream about you every night. I wake up in a sweat thinking about how good you used to be to me.”
“Okay, you’re laughing now, but I bet you that shit is true. Not only that, but I’ll put some money on it that says I can have my booty back any time I want it.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. Collins is handling his business extremely well.”
I couldn’t believe Jaylin’s arrogance. On our way out of his office, he pressed his thang against my butt.
I turned to face him. “Stop, Jaylin.”
He innocently held out his hands. “I couldn’t help it. You shouldn’t have come over here looking as good as you do.”
“And you should have just a tiny bit more respect for your woman, especially if she’s in the house.”
Jaylin shrugged off my comment. Once I gathered LJ’s things, Jaylin walked us to my car.
As I drove to Collins’ house, Jaylin was on my mind. Indeed, I had dreamt about us being together, but I knew a future relationship with him would never be. No doubt, it was hard moving on without him, but my relationship with Collins had turned into something I never thought was possible. I wasn’t about to give that up for no one.
4
JAYLIN
After Nokea left with LJ, I didn’t have much to do. Scorpio and Mackenzie went to visit her sister, Leslie, and when she asked if I wanted to go, I looked at her like she was crazy. Leslie had too many out of control kids, her house was nasty, and her smart-ass mouth was liable to get her hurt. I passed on the invitation and decided to stay home.
Earlier, I’d hung out with Stephon and a few fellas at the shop. I was trying to clear my head from all the bullshit that had been going on. And yes, I did meet myself a new lady friend, but I had no intentions of calling her any time soon. As for flirting with Nokea, I liked joking around with her because I loved to see her smile. We had an undeniable connection, and I couldn’t even imagine her not being a part of my life.
I was still deeply in love with Scorpio, but something didn’t seem right with her. She was too forgiving about Daisha being pregnant, and whenever she’d have sex with me on demand, I knew she was trying to whip that thang on me to fuck up my mind. Pussy was spectacular, though, and with her being pregnant, it felt even better. Whatever her motive was, I was definitely buying into it.
I lay across the bed, thinking about Daisha for a while. She was so forgiving, and I couldn’t get the vision of her beautiful, teary eyes out of my mind either. I dozed off thinking about how she’d thickened up a bit and her hips seemed to have more curve to them. Her breasts, damn; being pregnant had them swollen. I remembered holding them in my hands and sucking them deeply into my mouth. Her lovely, one in a million face that my baby would have made me smile. Since we could easily pass for brother and sister, I knew my son would be off the chain.
I realized I hadn’t called Daisha since I left her place, so I reached for the phone to call her. Daisha picked up the phone sounding somewhat disappointed when she heard my voice.
“If you want me to call you back, I will,” I suggested.
“That won’t be neccessary. I was taking a nap and need to get up anyway.”
“Are you working today?”
“Jaylin, I work every day. Everybody don’t have the benefits of staying at home like you do.” Her tone was dry, and I could tell she was still mad.
“But what about the baby? Standing on your feet all day can’t be good for you.”
“I do okay. Trust me, I take plenty of breaks.”
“Make sure you do. I know you said we needed to talk, but I’ve been busy trying to work out things with Scorpio.”
“That doesn’t sound too hard to do. I’m sure she’s already forgiven you.”
“It wasn’t as easy as you think, but, uh, do you need anything? I told you I want to be there for you, and I intend
to.”
“No, I’m fine. I would, however, like to discuss a few things with you. Can you come by?”
“How about tomorrow? I’ll pick you up around lunch and we can talk then.”
“That’s cool, Jaylin. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
We hung up, and shortly after, Mackenzie and Scorpio came home. I wasn’t sure where Nanny B was, and as it got later, I asked Scorpio if she knew. Scorpio said Nanny B told her she had a date.
“A date? And you believed her?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t I? She probably needed a break from all the chaos that’s been stirring around here.”
“There’s no doubt about that.” I looked over at Mackenzie, lying in my bed asleep, cuddled up with Barbie. She looked too adorable, a spitting image of Scorpio: butter-soft light skin, you’ll-give-me-anything-I-want light brown eyes, coal black wavy long hair, rosy cheeks, and high cheekbones.
I smiled. “I guess those rug rats at your sister’s house wore her out, huh?”
Scorpio pushed my shoulder, defending her family. “Don’t be calling my nieces and nephews rug rats. I just happen to love them a lot.”
“Love them or not, they still some rug rats.” I picked up Barbie and put her on the floor. “Why do y’all keep putting this dog in my bed? All these other beds around here, and she’s got her own bed, but y’all insist on having her in mine.”
Barbie looked at me, wagging her tail. She had pink bows on her ears and had worked her charm on me as well. Feeling bad, I picked her up and carried her to her doggy bed. When Scorpio came in carrying Mackenzie, I put Barbie in bed with her so they could sleep together.
Scorpio insisted that she was tired, so she headed for the bedroom, and I went downstairs to watch a movie. Al Pacino was my man, so I stayed up for several hours watching Scarface. As the movie neared the end, I realized I’d dozed off a few times. I turned down the lights and headed back upstairs to go to bed.
When I entered the bedroom, I saw Scorpio lying sideways on the California king bed. She was wearing a white fishnet shirt and she was bare underneath. Thinking that she was asleep, I laid my body on top of hers and pulled the white satin sheets over both of us.
When she turned her head to the side, I noticed dried tears on her face. I eased over next to her.
“Are you still upset with me?” I asked with a puzzled expression.
“No.”
“Then why do you keep crying?”
“Because something is telling me this isn’t going to work out. As much as I want it to, and as much as I do believe you want it to as well, I don’t think this relationship—”
“You’re saying that because you’re giving up on us. I know I fucked up, baby, but there is no such thing as a perfect relationship. I enjoy being with you, and I still would love for you to be my wife, so stop stressing yourself. You’re not going anywhere, and neither am I.”
Scorpio leaned forward and gave me a kiss. When I rubbed her pussy, she grabbed my hand. “Baby, please, not tonight. I’m tired, okay? Don’t you ever get tired of having sex?”
“With you, no, I don’t. I thought you felt the same way.”
“I do, but just not tonight.”
I pecked Scorpio on the forehead and fell asleep while holding her in my arms.
By morning, I rolled over and Scorpio was gone. I was still tired from staying up late, so I went back to sleep.
Mackenzie and Barbie jumped in my bed and woke me. When I looked at my alarm clock, it was already 11:00. I told Daisha I would meet her for lunch, so I rushed out of bed to shower and change clothes.
“Mackenzie,” I yelled from the bathroom, “get Barbie off my bed and ask Nanna to fix you some lunch.”
“She’s already fixing it!” she yelled.
“Where’s your mother at?”
“I don’t know. She was gone when I woke up.”
I finished shaving my goatee, and after I put on my clothes, I went downstairs to the kitchen.
“So, where were you at last night, Miss Lady?” I asked Nanny B.
“Now, you know better than to try to keep tabs on me. If you must know, I was on a date.”
My eyes widened. “A date? And I haven’t had a chance to meet him yet?”
“You will. Sooner than you think. Now, where are you going?”
“I have a lunch engagement. After I leave there, I’m gonna stop by the shop and holla at Stephon for a minute. Did you see Scorpio before she left this morning?”
“Yes, I did. I’m a little worried about her, Jaylin. She hasn’t been looking too good lately. She—” Nanny B paused when Scorpio and Mackenzie came into the kitchen. I could see the stress on Scorpio’s face.
“Baby, are you feeling okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I forgot to tell you I had a short computer class this morning.” She looked me up and down. “Where are you going? I’d like to go with you, if you don’t mind.”
“I’m, uh . . .” I looked at Mackenzie and Nanny B staring down my throat. Then I took Scorpio’s hand and walked her into the living room. “Baby, I told Daisha I’d meet her for lunch so we could talk about the baby. I hope you don’t mind.” Scorpio stood stonefaced and I felt defeated. “Come on now, baby. I hope being pregnant don’t have anything to do with how evil you are. You’re making me feel guilty, and this is getting ridiculous, don’t you think?”
She threw up her hands. “Look, just go. At this point, there’s not much I can say or do.”
“Listen, if you don’t want me to go, then I won’t. All you have to say is no, and just to show you how important your happiness is to me, I’ll stay right here.”
Scorpio paused before saying a word. “I . . . I don’t want you to go. I am so uncomfortable with you being around her, and I’m so afraid of losing you.”
“Enough said. I told you I wouldn’t go if you didn’t want me to, so forget it.” I removed my jogging suit jacket and tossed it in the chair.
A huge part of me felt frustrated. Her insecurities were really starting to bother me. Scorpio had always been a confident woman, but this thing with Daisha really seemed to throw her off her game. I walked into my office and closed the door.
It was already way after one o’clock, so I called Daisha and cancelled. “Something came up. I’ll call you next week, okay?”
“Don’t bother, Jaylin. I knew you would make up an excuse so you wouldn’t have to see me.”
“Trust me, I do want to see you, but I promised Stephon I would take care of something for him today.”
“Well, what’s more important: our child, or what you promised Stephon?”
“Please don’t go there. You know damn well how important this baby is to me.”
“So important that you haven’t asked to go to one darn doctor’s appointment with me. You haven’t talked to me about what to name him, or about his expenses. I refuse to deal with a man who’s a pretender. Either you’re going to be there, or you’re not. You make the call.”
Daisha hung up.
I was getting sick and tired of these grumpy-ass women in my life. I knew Daisha was right, but I was in a no-win situation: damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Feeling horrible about reneging on my promise to her that I’d be there if she needed me, I put my jacket back on so I could go to Stephon’s shop. I went upstairs to tell Scorpio I was leaving.
“What time are you coming back?” she questioned.
“Shit, I don’t know. It won’t be late, though.”
“What I consider late is totally different from what you consider late.”
“Damn, baby, I’m just going to his shop. Do you think that’s going to take all night? If so, come on, you can go with me. Since you don’t trust me, get your purse and go with me.”
Not thinking that she would take me up on my offer, I was surprised when Scorpio grabbed her purse and said she was ready to go. When she saw how frustrated I looked, she laid her purse on the nightstand and sat on the bed.
“
Go ahead. Have fun. And call if you’re going to be late,” she said.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
“I’m positive. And I’m sorry for sweating you like that.”
“No problem. I’m just not used to all of this.”
I gave Scorpio a kiss and jetted. I wanted to stop by Daisha’s place to talk, but I didn’t want to complicate shit between Scorpio and me even more. She was becoming a pain in the ass, and I didn’t like this side of her one bit. If her intentions were to keep me away from my child, that wasn’t going to happen. We’d have to come to an agreement soon, because I knew Daisha was in need of some serious support from me.
5
SCORPIO
I felt like I was losing my mind. Jaylin didn’t get home from Stephon’s shop until almost two o’clock in the morning. He called a few times, but with all the noise that was going on in the background, it wasn’t no telling what they were into.
There was no doubt that the minimal trust I had for him was gone. Every time he left the house, I was in a frenzy. He’d get mad at me for feeling the way I did, but I was reacting this way because of his cheating. When I reminded him of that, he apologized and hit me with his famous questions: Do you want to go with me, or do you prefer that I not go at all? Nine out of ten times I would say don’t go, and he’d either go into his office and slam the door, or go downstairs to watch a movie.
As for sex, well, the other day when I told him I had a computer class to attend, I actually did what I thought was best for me and terminated my pregnancy. I had no other choice, because I didn’t want Jaylin to be responsible for raising another man’s child. Hell, he was already doing everything for Mackenzie, and if I had to throw another baby on him, I knew it would be over. I was so mad at myself for having sex with Rick. Doing so had cost me more hurt than I could handle.
All week long Jaylin wanted to have sex, but I couldn’t. I bled like crazy, and I wasn’t prepared to tell him about the baby yet. I knew I couldn’t keep it a secret for long, because he was always doing investigative shit behind my back to find out things. More so, he knew my doctor’s appointment was tomorrow, and he talked about going with me.
Naughty 3: It's Juicy, No Matter How You Slice It Page 3
