Several nods and murmurs of agreement filled the room, and she had definitely echoed my thoughts about that book.
“So my question is, how did you come up with Bulletproof, and how did you make it feel so real?” Cheryl concluded.
The room was small enough that Lorenzo didn’t have to use the microphone that was provided, plus, when he projected his voice, it boomed within those four walls, commanding everyone’s attention. Well, I’m pretty sure his looks had something to do with that, too.
He was still standing before the room in relaxed-fit jeans and his own Street’s Team t-shirt as he began to speak. “I’m sure some of you familiar faces have heard this story before, but I don’t mind sharing it again. I lost my father when I was young. He was deep in the drug game in my hometown, Romey, Tennessee. Romey isn’t a metropolis, but it does have a population of about sixty thousand people, and it’s surrounded by a lot of smaller communities. There’s a lot of wealth there, but a lot of poverty, too. And poverty-stricken areas are breeding grounds for drug users and drug dealers.
“When I was young, I lived in the projects. My father wasn’t an educated man, and I truly believe he sold drugs as a last resort to take care of me and my mom. He made a lot of money, was able to get us a little house and move us out of the projects. No more food stamps. Nice clothes, nice cars. Shit, we were living so good, my daddy became my hero. We spent a lot of time together, too. I know this is gonna sound strange, but every second my daddy wasn’t out in the streets selling drugs, he spent at home with me and my mom. He was a good man. He really was.
“My father worked for this guy they called Jaywalk. Jaywalk was a legend in the drug game. From what I know, he was ruthless, would do anything to anyone he thought disrespected him. A real asshole.”
“Like Cali in Bulletproof?” someone in the crowd asked. Cali was the villain, the man who’d killed Monty’s mother.
Lorenzo nodded. “Exactly like Cali. So one night, my dad is helping me with my homework and our phone rings. My mom hands him the phone and tells him it’s Jaywalk. My daddy left a few minutes later, and was found dead the next morning.”
From my seat, I could see his face change and the energy in the room shifted, became charged, electrified. At first, I thought this little story was going to be a work of fiction, something he created in his brilliant mind, but at that moment, I knew this story was true, because he was emitting pure rage.
Lorenzo shook his head a little as if shaking something off of him. “Umph, it’s still hard for me to talk about this, but anyway, my hero was gone. I got uprooted, had to move to Chicago, and my mom? She was in shambles without him. In Chicago, she got a job, but we had to move back to the projects. We struggled, and all of that? Losing my dad and the comfort he provided? Watching my mom fall apart and date all these sorry men? Well, that made me an angry little boy who grew into a furious man. I got in a lot of trouble, got in the drug game myself. Back then, all I cared about was money, pussy, and making my way back to Romey so I could kill Jaywalk. I was obsessed with killing him. It pretty much consumed me. It was all I thought about.
“So about eight years ago, I moved back home with a lot of money and the goal of finding him and killing him. The problem was, I didn’t know his real name, had never even seen him. There was one picture of him and my father, but he was wearing shades. And whatever my mother might have known about him, she refused to share. Plus, he was a drug dealer, years had passed, and he most likely was dead anyway, and I didn’t know the real names of any of the folks that were in the game with them back then. Shit, they were probably dead, too, because no one lasts forever in the drug game. That’s why I got out of it. Didn’t want my mom to lose me like she did my dad. So I had to let it go. I could’ve tried harder to find him, but I knew I had to move on. I also had to do something with the rage that was eating me up inside. That’s when I picked up a pen and started writing. Monty’s story is how I wanted my own story to play out. So I kept writing, and with every story, a little more of the rage left, until I was able to become a different person. I wasn’t filled with anger. I stopped thinking about revenge. And then…” He paused and turned to face me. There was this look on his face, a combination of pain, gratitude, and love.
“And then I met this woman over here. And what little anger was left in me, she loved it away.”
I sat there with my hand on my chest, blinking back tears as I mouthed, “I love you.”
He smiled and then returned his attention to the crowd, most of whom were on their feet applauding him.
*****
We were both silent when we entered our room as a heaviness still cloaked Lorenzo, and from the way he collapsed onto the side of the bed and just stared into space, he was totally spent.
Sitting next to him, I rested a hand on his thigh. “You okay?” I asked.
He looked at me, giving me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, just tired.”
I looked him in the eye. “No, that’s not it. That story, your dad. That’s still with you right now, isn’t it? You’re still thinking about it? Feeling it?”
He sighed and dropped his eyes.
“You don’t have to talk about it. Just tell me what I can do to make you feel better. Tell me what you need.”
He lifted his eyes and looked at me, leaning in to press a soft kiss to my lips that very quickly intensified as his tongue grazed my mouth, a request for me to open it. I quickly obliged him, accepting his tongue as it slid into my mouth and found mine. He slipped his arm around my waist, pulling my body to his as he cupped the side of my face with his free hand. I rested my hand on his wrist and he broke away from me, stared at me intently, and as he had done so many times before, murmured, “No touching.”
I nodded between heaving breaths. “Okay.”
His mouth found my neck as he gripped the back of my head with his hand and pulled it closer to him. He suckled on my flesh while groping my breast through my Street’s Team t-shirt, eventually kissing and licking his way from my neck, across my cheek, and back to my mouth, devouring it so passionately that I found it hard to breathe.
He backed away from me again, staring at me as I stared at his mouth, wishing he hadn’t broken our connection. “Take your clothes off,” he said softly.
I pulled the t-shirt over my head without hesitation, then stood and removed my jeans and panties. Last, was my bra. Being accustomed to this game by now, I knew to stand there and wait for him, to wait for whatever he decided to do next. He decided to stare at me, letting his eyes peruse me for several minutes, causing my mind to wander with anticipation. I have to admit, this was my favorite part. Not knowing what he was going to do with—or to—me, set me on fire. Finally, he stood and walked around me, sliding his hand across my ass, then gently smacked my right butt cheek. I jumped a little, but didn’t move otherwise. A few seconds passed before he slid the palm of his hand down my back, and this time, gripped a handful of my ass. Stepping around me, he used a finger to tip my chin up and kissed me again, so deeply that I stumbled a bit and had to grab him to steady myself.
He snatched his mouth away from mine. “No touching, Doc.”
“I know…I was about to fall.”
“You stumble, I’ll catch you, but no touching.”
I nodded again.
He fell to his knees, clamping his mouth to my mound, licking and moaning as I closed my eyes and willed myself to keep my hands off his head. Then he reached up and gripped my hips, stood and backed up, sitting on the bed and pulling me onto his lap so that I was straddling him. Taking his time, he devoured first my right, then my left breast, all while slipping his hands between my open thighs and stroking my treasure. It all felt so good that I almost unconsciously threw my head back and grabbed his head as I moaned loudly.
He instantly stopped everything. “You touched me again.”
I lowered my head and met his searing gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“You know I have to punish you, don
’t you?”
I bit my bottom lip and whined, “Yes.”
“Then lay your ass down so I can punish you.”
I lay on the bed, closed my eyes, and waited for him. Seconds later, he joined me in the bed, now having shed his clothes, and stretched his glorious body over mine, tasting my mouth again as he reached between us and slid his finger over my clit. All I could do was lie there beneath him and try to breathe as his tongue blazed a trail from my mouth to my neck, between the peaks on my chest, to my core, where he buried his face between my legs and glided his tongue over my clit before pulling it into his mouth.
This was my punishment.
I moaned loudly and wriggled beneath him, lifted my hands to touch him then dropped them on the bed as my legs began to tremble. “Zo…”
He feasted on me for so long, he gave me two explosive orgasms before lifting his body and bringing his face back to mine as he reached for my hand and placed it on his erection.
Now, it was okay to touch him.
So I wrapped my hand around him and massaged him as he lay back on the bed and closed his eyes. I leaned in and kissed him as I stroked him, a kiss he eagerly returned as he gently caressed the side of my face. He ended the kiss, looked me in the eye, and said, “Ride it, baby.”
I gladly squatted over him and closed my eyes as I held him and guided him inside me. Released a moan as I placed my hands on his stomach and began sliding up and down him, opening my eyes to find his glued to me. He stretched his arms over his head and smiled before closing his eyes and groaning with pleasure.
“Damn, Doc…damn, baby!”
I rode him for several minutes, eventually straddling him and grinding against his pelvis, leaning forward to take his taut nipples into my mouth, sucking and nipping as he moaned, and when the pressure inside of me built to a point where I was sure I’d lose my mind, I screamed at the top of my lungs and clutched his chest as I exploded. I lay against him, whimpering softly as the final currents of the orgasm passed, and whined when he thrusted upward, reminding me that while I might have been sated more than once, he hadn’t.
Flipping us over so that he was on top, he pressed my thighs against the bed, opening me wide as he buried himself inside of me over and over again, thrusting hard and fast, his eyes on me as he leaned in and kissed my neck, my chest, suckled on my breasts, and when he hit his peak, he shouted, “Shit, baby!!” and rolled over onto his back, his chest rising and falling rapidly. A second or two later, he reached for me, and I rested my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“The only thing I need, the only thing I’ll ever need, is you, Renee. I love you. You’re everything to me, baby.”
“You’re everything to me, too, Zo. I love you so much.”
27
“You didn’t have to come in here with me. It’ll only take me a second to get what I need,” Renee said, as I followed her through the sliding doors of Walgreen’s.
“I ain’t tryna sit in that car with Rell. If I do, I’ma curse him out for being late picking us up from the airport. The only reason I haven’t already is because you asked me not to.”
“Because you need to lighten up. He wasn’t even that late.”
“He was late enough. Shit, traveling is exhausting. I’m ready to get home. More than ready.”
She glanced at me as she stopped in the feminine hygiene aisle and picked up a package of maxi pads. “Stop pouting.”
“You on your period? Shit…”
She rolled her eyes. “No, but I will be. You know, it comes every month, so I like to be prepared.”
“Thank God, because I’ma have to have me some when we get home. I need to relieve some stress.”
Shaking her head, she slowly walked down another aisle, stopping at the soap. “You need to take your grumpy ass to sleep. I’m not giving you any while you have an attitude.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Now you’re sorry, huh?” she said, as she headed to the pharmacy counter.
“What you picking up here?” I asked.
She gave the clerk her name and then turned and looked at me. “Zo, I love you, but you are worrying the hell out of me. Go to the car.”
“I don’t want to,” I said, and watched as the clerk handed her a small bag. “What’s that?”
“Blood pressure medicine. Come on, let me pay for this stuff so we can go.”
She started walking away, and I just stood there. She was at the end of an aisle when she stopped and turned around. “What are you doing? Let’s go.”
“You take blood pressure medicine? Since when?”
“Since during my divorce, during the peak of my ex acting a fool. That plus work was stressing me out. But I’m on a lower dosage now, and my doctor thinks I can probably be off the medicine soon if I keep doing well. I just need to exercise more.”
I stared at her, thinking to myself that I should’ve let Rell seriously fuck her ex up. We were way too easy on his Lilliputian ass. “Doc—we’ve been together for months now. How’d I not know this?”
She shrugged. “I usually take my medicine at work or after breakfast when you’re closed up in your office.”
She extended her hand to me and I took it, letting her lead me toward the front of the store. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
As we got in line, she said, “I don’t know. Didn’t think it was important. Besides, I’m better now that the divorce is over.”
“What about work stress?”
“Work is what it is. But Cass and I have been talking about possibly bringing on another midwife to lighten our loads. Just not sure if the budget can handle it.”
Once her stuff was rung up, she pulled out some money, and I stared at her.
She looked up at me. “What?”
I reached across her and slid my credit card through the card reader. “You know better than that shit.”
*****
As tired as I was and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get to sleep that night. As Renee lay next to me softly snoring, I started to go downstairs and get some work done, but knew my mind was too preoccupied for that. I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind that Bitch-ass had her taking medicine. I was three seconds from going over to his house and surprising him in his sleep. And I wasn’t even thinking about taking Rell with me. I wanted to handle this one on my own, but I also knew I was probably too mad for that. Dude might not come out of it alive this time. I wasn’t trying to go there. Still, I had to do something.
So when she shifted in bed, I said, “Doc, you up?”
“Hmm?” she replied groggily.
“I’ll pay for the third midwife.”
“Hmm, what?”
“I’ll pay for the third midwife.”
She stretched, then scooted up in the bed and turned a bedside lamp on. “Babe, what are you talking about?”
“The midwife. Having a third one will take some of the stress off you, right?”
She yawned. “Yeah…”
“So let me pay her salary. Or his salary. Dudes can be midwives?”
“Yeah, there are a few out there, but Zo…you can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t own Genesis, you’re not on the board, nothing.”
“I’ll make a donation and specify it’s for the salary of another midwife.”
“Zo, why? It’s not that crucial.”
“If you’re taking fucking medicine, it is that crucial. Either let me do this or I’ma have to figure something else out, and it won’t be pretty, Doc, because right now I’m so angry I wanna tear your ex’s head off!”
She jumped a little, and it occurred to me that I was yelling. So I said, “I’m sorry,” and left the bed, pacing the floor. “I’m sorry for raising my voice, but this shit is upsetting. You’re taking blood pressure medicine? That’s serious, Doc.”
“I know, but like I said, I’m better. My dosage is lower, and I’m working toward totally getting
off the medicine. I’m watching my salt, trying to make myself exercise more than just in this bed…”
She was trying to make me smile. It almost worked.
“Zo, I’m fine. I really am.”
“Doc, if something happens to you, I don’t…”
She stood from the bed, naked and looking good enough to eat. “Zo, I’m not going anywhere. I. Am. Fine. Please calm down and stop worrying about losing me in any way. I love you. I’m fine. Stop this. Okay?”
I sighed and closed my eyes as she wrapped her arms around me and leaned against my body. “Okay…but I’m still making that donation. You work too hard. You’re co-owner. You’re supposed to have more days off than you do.”
She shook her head against my chest. “That’s not something that has to happen now. Me and Cass are only considering it. Besides, I’m used to the stress of my job. It was the divorce that had my blood pressure up. That and my love of potato chips. My divorce is over, thanks to some miracle, and I’ve almost, kind of, just about given up chips.”
I chuckled.
“So I’m good.” She lifted her head and rose up on her toes to kiss me.
I smiled down at her. “Okay, but I’m making the donation. I’ll pay for two years’ salary. How much is that?”
She backed away from me. “I’m not telling you. Now let’s go back to bed so I can help you get some sleep.”
I grinned as she took my hand and led me to the bed. “How you gonna do that?”
She pushed me onto the bed and crawled on top of me. “Guess.”
28
“I need you to host girls’ night again.”
I sighed. “First of all, why are you whining into this phone? Second, why can’t you host?”
Believe in Me (Strickland Sisters Book 2) Page 13
