He kissed me, then rose up and went into the closet to change clothes. I got Mackenzie ready for bed and then went back into our bedroom. Jaylin had gone downstairs to get something.
The phone rang, I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was that tramp Mercedes. I wasn’t going to answer because it was just like the devil to try to ruin a good day, but I couldn’t help myself.
“What?” I said in a nasty tone.
“This doesn’t sound like Jaylin. Is he there?”
“He’s busy. And why do you keep calling here?”
“Because he hasn’t asked me to stop. The question is, what are you still doing at his house?”
My eyes connected with Jaylin’s as he came through the door. He whispered, asking who it was. By the tone of my voice and discouraged look on my face, he could instantly tell it was a female.
“Hang up,” he said. Mercedes and I continued to have our dispute over the phone. “I said hang up!” he yelled.
I held the phone in my hand. “Do you want to talk to her?” I asked.
He snatched the phone and hung up on Mercedes. “When I tell you to do something, just do it, all right!”
The phone rang again.
“No, it’s not all right. But this is your house, and you pay the bills, right?”
“You learn something new every day, don’t you?”
I threw my hands in the air. I didn’t even feel like arguing with him. How a nice day like this one turned out to be so shitty, I didn’t know. One minute he was cool, and just that fast, the bastard had an attitude. Not because of anything I did, but because his bitch wouldn’t stop calling the house. I promised myself, if this mess didn’t stop, I would soon show him that two could play his game.
18
JAYLIN
My trucks were right, tight, and on time. I felt like a new man as I sat in my black set-the-fuck-out Escalade. And when I hopped in my silver Navigator, I knew I was in a class all by myself. Only a few of us could go there, and I was glad to be one of them.
There was no doubt about it; it was simply time to make some changes. Life was too short, and I was tired of all the let-downs and lies from those around me.
For whatever reason, my stepbrother and sister had been on my mind. I wanted to find out more about them and put closure to my feelings about Stanley. Thing is, I just wasn’t ready yet; but from what Nanny B had said, they were anxious to meet me.
Also, I decided to let Stephon do whatever the hell he was going to do, and made him agree not to ask me for nothing until he got some help. To this day, he still insisted everything was cool, but when I talked to Shane the other night, he said the brotha was tripping again. He told me about a fight they’d almost gotten into at Stephon’s house. Shane said he wasn’t going to his place anymore until Stephon got himself together. I couldn’t blame Shane, and encouraged him not to have any regrets.
As for Nokea, I guess she was still upset with me about Collins. I kind of felt bad about their relationship, but when I told her how angry I was, she just didn’t understand. There wasn’t nothing I could say or do to fix her problem with Collins, so I left well enough alone. She’d been kind of tripping with me seeing LJ, and when I confronted her about it, she apologized and said it was hard for her to let him out of her sight after what happened. I knew how protective she’d gotten, so I tried to allow her some space.
That was hard for me to do because I’d been thinking about her a whole lot. Through my difficult times, she’d always been there for me. I felt so connected to her at Stanley’s place, the way she held me in her arms and cried with me just . . . did something to me.
Scorpio, well, she was being her usual self. I know she wanted to be there for a brotha, but she still hadn’t put her ring back on, which left me kind of skeptical about her. That was a tiny problem for me, and if I felt as if I couldn’t trust my woman, who knows what would happen? Several times, I commented about her putting it back on, but she made excuses about still not being able to trust me. Honestly, for now, I was cool on the pussy thang. She was backing it up correctly, so I didn’t have no reason to trip. I know she thought there was still something going on with Mercedes and me, but really, there wasn’t. I mean, she’d called several times, but I told her how I felt about losing my father and she backed off. And when I saw a letter addressed to Scorpio about the charges being dropped, I knew my mission had been accomplished.
Now, though, I had to work on getting her phone calls to stop. Scorpio was having a fit. It was causing a bit of turmoil in my relationship, so I decided to go to Mercedes’ place and end it.
As usual, it was hard going to see her because she was one sexy woman. Her naked body instantly stiffened me, but there was a purpose for my visit. I called it off as we stood in her kitchen.
“I just need to back off this relationship for a while,” I said.
“Fine. What do you want me to say? If that’s how you feel, then I can’t do anything about it.”
“No, you can’t,” I said, backing away. “And, uh, good luck with your modeling.”
“Yeah, whatever.” She followed me to the door, and when I stopped for a hug, she stepped back. “Don’t bother.”
I shrugged my shoulders and then went on my way to Nokea’s house to get LJ. As soon as I hit Highway 270, Mercedes’ number flashed across my cell phone.
“Yes,” I said, feeling as if that breakup was too easy.
“You used me, didn’t you?”
“What? Baby, I didn’t use you. I told you I’m just going through something right now.”
“Something like trying to work out things with Scorpio?”
“Yeah, that too, but don’t take it too personal.”
“I’m not going to sweat you like these other sistas probably do, but there’s a cost for going around and stepping on people’s hearts. You’ll pay for what you done to me.”
“I guess I should consider that a threat and watch my back, huh?”
“More than a threat.”
“Good,” I said, having no fear. I didn’t know Mercedes that well, but I had been threatened by many women in the past. Just like the others, I let her comment roll off my back. “Stand in line, Mercedes, and remember, there are plenty of women waiting before you.” I hung up on Mercedes and turned up my booming-ass system.
When I got to Nokea’s house, she was outside washing her car. She looked delightful with her li’l blue jean shorts and white half T-shirt, which revealed her nicely cut midriff. She displayed one of the prettiest smiles I’d ever seen on her face, and it made me feel good that she was happy to see me. I walked up to her as she squeezed water from a towel and moved her bangs aside to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
“Your son is not here,” she said.
“What? You let him out of your sight?”
“Yeah, after my daddy yelled at me about not seeing him.” She looked at my truck. “Is that new?”
“Yep. You wanna go for a ride?”
“Sure.” She grinned. “Let me turn off the water and lock my door.”
Nokea went inside to get her purse. I couldn’t help but take a good glimpse at her butt when she got in my truck. Trying hard to keep my comments to myself, I got in without saying a word.
We drove around, talking and laughing about everything and everyone. I wanted to apologize for breaking up her and Collins, so I parked at a nearby park. She followed me to an old wooden bench under a willow tree and we both took a seat.
“Are you still mad at me?” I asked, clenching her hand with mine.
“A tiny bit. I know you were angry that day, but I never expected you to put my business out there like you did.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t either. How are things with you and Collins, though? Have you talked to him?”
“I’ve called him, but he told me he needs time. I feel so bad, and I hate he found out about us sleeping together the way he did.”
I rubbed Nokea’s leg. “I’m sorry, but I lost it
when I found out about LJ. There are many times that I don’t think about shit before I do it. I wasn’t trying to mess up your relationship, but Collins was working me with that ‘my woman’ bullshit.”
“Well, there isn’t much I can do about it now. I’m allowing him time to cool off, and we’ll talk soon.”
“I know you don’t believe this, but if there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“You’ve already done enough. Besides, I don’t think Collins ever wants to see your face again. If there’s anything you can do, you can tell him you lied.”
“Now, that I won’t do. That would make me look stupid, and I’m not going there. If you have any other suggestions, let me know. In the meantime, you might consider telling the truth. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to put this behind you.”
“Maybe so. I hope he’ll forgive me.”
“Please. How is he going to forgive you for still loving me?”
Nokea smiled and cut her eyes at me. “What makes you think I still love you?”
“Because the feeling is mutual.” I hopped down off the bench. Nokea looked shocked and appeared to be tongue-tied. I kept quiet too and picked up some rocks, throwing them into the lake. Just as I was about to throw another one, Nokea took my hand, holding it with hers.
“What about Scorpio?” she asked.
I moved my hand from hers, tossed the rock, and spoke the truth. “I love her too. Both of you complete me, and as selfish as I am, I want you both. I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but you don’t know or understand what I’m feeling inside. It’s like one minute I want you, LJ, and me to be a family so badly, and the next minute, I see Scorpio as my wife and having my children.”
Nokea reached up and touched my face. “It’s tough being torn between two, isn’t it? I’m in the same predicament. After all these years, I can’t believe how much I still love you. When I met Collins, I thought my love for you was well behind me. The day we made love confirmed that I’d been fooling myself all along. Thing is, baby, I don’t know what to do. I love Collins dearly, but there are times I can’t stop thinking about being with you.”
Nokea’s eyes filled with water and I held her in my arms. I knew what she was going through, as I’d been fighting the same battle for a very long time. I wanted to be with her, but I wasn’t ready to let go of my relationship with Scorpio either. Trying to have both of them would mean nothing but trouble, but if I could have my cake and eat it too, I would. Nokea being with Collins made it easier for me to get along without her. I kept telling myself that she was with another man and I had to move on. Now, with knowing how she truly felt about me, I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to do it.
“What are we gonna do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Seriously, I don’t know which way to turn.”
I placed her head against my chest and held her for as long as I could.
Before leaving the park, Nokea hopped on my back for a horseback ride. She was light as a feather, and I had no problem carrying her. As we got to my truck, Leslie got out of her station wagon with her kids. Nokea, not knowing who Leslie was, slid off my back while Leslie looked at us like we were crazy. I opened the door for Nokea to get inside the truck and quickly closed it.
“You out playing house again, Jaylin?” Leslie said with her hand on her hip.
“It ain’t none of your business what I’m doing, so tend to your kids and mind your own business.”
Her neck started to roll. “Uh-huh. I got my cell phone right here, and we’ll see whose business it is.”
“Whew, I’m shaking like a leaf,” I said, laughing as I got inside of my truck.
I grinned at her and sped off. Nokea tooted her lips and folded her ams in front of her.
“Who was that?”
“Scorpio’s ole whack-ass sister.”
“Sister? They don’t even look alike. I mean, she’s a pretty girl, but—”
“They half sisters. Same mama, different daddy.”
“Oh. But what if she calls Scorpio?”
“And?”
“And I was all on your back, laughing and hugging on you like you were my man.”
“Everything will be cool. I don’t have problems like you have.”
“So in other words, you don’t think she’s going to trip?”
“Yeah, she gon’ trip. But she knows I got her all taken care of.”
“Jaylin, you’re a mess. You need to stop using your goodies to get you out of trouble.”
I winked. “It works all the time, doesn’t it?”
“Not with me. When we get back toget—” She paused.
“Go ahead. Finish what you were about to say.”
“I said when . . . when we get back to my house, I need to finish washing my car.”
“No. You were about to say when we get back together, throwing my dick on you ain’t gonna work. So when we gon’ hook up again?”
“We’re not.”
“But I thought someday we might.”
“Well, you thought wrong.”
“Maybe I did, but . . .” My phone vibrated. The number was coming from my house. I knew it was Scorpio, so I answered.
“What’s up, baby?” I said.
“Who are you with?”
“Nokea.”
“What are you doing at the park with Nokea?”
“Talking.”
“Talking about what?”
“I’ll tell you when I get home.”
“Well, what’s this I hear about her on your back?”
“I gave her a horseback ride. It was totally innocent. Would you like to ask her how innocent it was? She’s right here.”
“No, I do not want to talk to Nokea. Just hurry it up home.”
“Why, ’cause you got something good waiting for me?”
“How about a good ass-kicking?”
“Can’t wait.”
I hung up. Nokea sat shaking her head.
“I have to give it to you, my brotha. You got the game and g’on with it. That’s exactly how you used to do me. That’s the kind of stuff that every time I think I want to be with you again, something slaps me back to reality and says I’d better not.”
I laughed. “It’s not a game. I can spend time with the mother of my child if I want to. It’s important for my son to stay in a happy environment, and if you’re happy, he’s happy. If I want to take a day out of my busy schedule to make you happy, then I can.”
“Save it. You don’t have to convince me; you have to convince her.”
I drove Nokea back to her house, and when I got out of my truck to go inside with her, she pushed me away from the door.
“Please, go home and make sure your woman is cool.”
“I am. Can I at least get a glass of water, lemonade…or something before I go?”
She rolled her eyes and let me inside. I followed her into the kitchen, and as she reached inside of the refrigerator for a pitcher of Kool-aid, I stood closely from behind and whispered in her ear, “I’m dying to make love to you.”
She breathed in, then closed her eyes without turning around to look at me. Speechless, she reached up and rubbed the back of my head. I pecked down the side of her neck and reached down to unbutton her shorts. I reached my hand inside of them and separated her lips to feel her wetness. My finger inched further in and Nokea took a deep breath. I quickly released my finger from her grip, zipped her shorts and backed away from her. She turned around.
“Don’t play games with me, Jaylin.”
“I’m not. But, I’m going home. Tonight, though, meet me at the park around ten o’clock.”
“And what makes you think I’ll be there?”
“Because you don’t want to deprive your pussy like that, do you?”
I kissed Nokea on the forehead and jetted.
Making love to Nokea was heavy on my mind. I knew Scorpio would be mad, and it was obvious that one of us would wind up in the guestroom tonight. My intentions
were not to hurt her, but after what Nokea revealed to me today, I couldn’t hold back my feelings for her. I wanted her relationship with Collins to end, and I would do my best to shake up things between them. If I was forced to choose between her and Scorpio, so be it. Whenever the time came, I’d weigh my options and be willing to take my loss. Since Stanley’s death, I realized that tomorrow was never promised to any of us. I was living for today, and if I wanted to make love to Nokea, then without any hesitation, I was going to do it.
Scorpio was in the kitchen, running her mouth on the phone. When I walked in, she told whoever it was she’d call them back. Her snappy tone led me to belive that it was her sister she’d been talking to. I didn’t say a word until Scorpio yelled about me carrying Nokea on my back.
“I can’t believe you’re tripping over something as simple as a horseback ride.”
“Really? Well, let me go cock my legs open on Shane or Stephon’s back and let’s see how you feel.”
I conceded to her point and took a seat next to her in the kitchen chair. “Okay, so I’d be mad. I didn’t look at it that way. We were just playing around and she hopped on my back. I carried her to my truck because we joked about how light she was.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, whatever was going on, I don’t like it.”
“You never do. You act like I can’t have any female friends at all. You can’t keep me in this house forever, baby.”
“I’m not trying to. I’m just tired of all these other women, Jaylin. Once you get rid of one, here comes another. And Nokea? She will never go away. I’m sure Collins would be upset if he knew she had her legs straddled on your damn back.”
I knew that continuing this argument with Scorpio was going to last way into the night. That’s just how she was; she wasn’t satisfied until she got me upset and made me go off on her. I wasn’t about to do either, especially since I was so excited about meeting Nokea. “Look, this is petty. I’m going to bed. I’ve had enough headache for one day.”
“And so have I, but you bring it on your damn self. You act as if no explanation is needed for your actions, and I really get tired of this nonchalant attitude of yours.”
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