by A'zayler
Taryn squinted her eyes at him and got into the car. She situated herself as he made his way around the car and got in. The car silently started as he shifted gears and followed the line of cars out of the parking lot. On the drive over to the club, Taryn proceeded to tell him about the confrontation at the daycare even though he hadn’t asked. He wasn’t the least bit surprised. That was something he knew would happen eventually.
“You can’t uphold Ayo in his wrong, Taryn-Lee.”
“I didn’t. That other little boy was wrong too. Both of them should have gotten punished not just him.”
“He shouldn’t have pushed that child, Tee. He was wrong for that.”
“Oh whatever. You’re always so hard on him.”
Demoto looked over at Taryn. The attitude in her voice was loud and clear. “I’m not hard on him. I’m just teaching him, Taryn. You can’t baby him. He’s a big boy, he can’t manhandle other people’s kids. That wasn’t right.”
Taryn blew out a frustrated breath and turned to look out of the window. She got like that whenever he talked about disciplining Ayo. They bumped heads on that topic every time it came up. Versus going back and forth with her, he just turned his music up and kept on driving. “Beautiful Lady” by Gyptian had him bobbing his head slowly as he drove.
Taryn didn’t say much else as he drove and he didn’t care. She could pout if she wanted to, but that didn’t mean he had to pat her up. Ayo was a growing boy and she couldn’t continue to treat him like a baby. His Audi crept slowly into the parking lot of the roof top club and into a parking space before the engine turned off.
“You ready?”
“I guess.”
“Listen, you can either lose the attitude or we can go home. I don’t give a fuck. The choice is yours.”
Demoto hated to be so stern with her but he wasn’t about to do this with her tonight. He watched her relax some before snatching her purse from the floor and opening her door. Much attitude was still visible as they walked into the building, but she was trying her hardest to lose it. He fought the smile threatening to spread across his face as he watched her practically throw a tantrum all the way up the stairs.
Once they got upstairs and found a small table in the corner, a waitress came over to let them know the drink specials of the night. Demoto thanked her and sent her on her way. He liked the ambiance of the place because it was calm. A place they could sit and enjoy music and food without being trampled over by other patrons and partygoers. There were people dancing on the small dancefloor while others occupied tables and the bar.
“You know what you want to eat?”
Taryn flipped the menu over. “I think I’ma get some hot wings.”
Demoto nodded and waved the waitress over. He ordered him and Taryn both some wings and a side order of chili flavored calamari. Taryn wasn’t big on drinking, but he ordered himself a beer and a top shelf long island iced tea. Demoto leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs out in front of him and relaxed. His hands were woven together and draped across his stomach.
“You still got that lil attitude?” Demoto looked at her across the table.
“I’m straight.” Taryn looked off and around the club at the other people.
“What you looking at then?”
“Trying to see which one of these men I’ma leave your mean ass for.”
Demoto laughed to himself, but only for a second. The only funny thing about her remark was that she’d said it out of anger. It was clear that she was still mad about the car incident. It never got old to him how she got mad with him about Ayo. Like he wasn’t his son too. Like he would purposely do something to hurt him. He’d tried explaining to her that Ayo was a going to be a man one day and needed to be taught, but all she saw was her baby.
Though her love for Ayo reassured him that she was a great mother, he still didn’t like it when she babied him because Ayo played on that. If Taryn was around he would cry a little louder, pout a little more, and fake a lot more than he would when she wasn’t. Demoto hated it because he couldn’t stand a soft little boy. There was no way in hell his son would ever act as a punk. His father didn’t take it from him and Adisa and he wouldn’t take it from Ayo.
“You gon’ leave me, bae?”
Taryn was quiet as she looked over her shoulder at him.
“Taryn, baby? You gon’ leave me?” Demoto said it as nice as he could.
“Don’t ask me that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you know I could never could do that.”
Demoto leaned over the table and tapped her hand. When she didn’t turn around he scooted around so that he was sitting behind her. He pulled her hair over so that all of it was resting on one of her shoulders and her neck was open. The tip of his tongue slid around in small circles, releasing every ounce of attitude that she was harboring. He could feel her body loosening as he opened his mouth wider so that he could suck on her neck. She wouldn’t stay mad long, not at this rate.
“Your calamari, sir.” The waitress placed the food on the table along with his drink and left.
“Get your mouth off of me, boy. That poor girl didn’t know where to look.”
Demoto sat back and pushed a few locs out of his face. He laughed and grabbed a piece of the Calamari from the table. Taryn’s face frowned as he pushed it toward her mouth. She kept it closed until he began rubbing the sauce on her lips. Taryn slapped at his hands as he licked her lips.
“Just try it. Your sheltered ass.”
“I don’t want no octopus.” Taryn shook her head. “No thank you.”
“Baby, you have to expand your horizons. Try the finer things in life. You’re fucking with a real BOSS nigga. You have to let go of all that foster home cooking. I ain’t with that shit. You gon’ eat good with me.”
“Nigga, I know you ain’t throwing shade? Talking about some damn foster home food?”
Demoto cracked up laughing. He couldn’t even hold it in as he laughed at her. Before long, she was joining in with him. She slapped his arm a few times, drawing a few stares. People looked on, smiling at their lovers play. When their laughter finally subsided, Demoto sat back up straight and grabbed some more calamari. He put it to her lips and this time she opened her mouth.
“Let me try to get my taste buds up to par with that of a BOSS’ wife,” She spoke with a mouth full of food.
“Damn straight.” Demoto ate a fork full before feeding her some more.
“Ummm,” Taryn rolled her eyes. “This is so good.”
“I knew you would like it.”
“Well I didn’t,” Taryn looked down into her lap.
Demoto watched her for a minute because her mood seemed to have shifted. Her body moved around in her chair as her head looked everywhere but at the door. She appeared nervous. She even held her head to the side so that her hair would shield her face. The clearing of her throat for no apparent reason, the rapid blinking of her eye that hadn’t been there before. All would have gotten past someone who wasn’t Demoto.
Someone that hadn’t been trained to watch people. Their body language, change in demeanor, anything that could be used as a weakness. All of these things alerted Demoto’s senses because whatever it was had her off her square. He didn’t know what it was, but he was sure he’d find out in a second. It happened so fast that it almost confused him.
“I’ve never had this before,” She offered information that he’d already known. Another sign of nervousness.
“I know, bae, you told me that already.”
Demoto looked around the club for anything that looked out of place but he saw nothing. He sat back in his chair with his hands in his lap focusing on her. She would give herself away soon enough.
“So how long you want to stay here?”
“No set time for real. I just figured we could chill for a minute.”
Taryn looked up at him before trying to turn her head toward the bar. Had he not already been watching her he would have mis
sed her terrible attempt at trying to be discreet. He followed her eyes without moving his head. His eyes circulated around the room until they stopped on an older gentleman with a young girl. They were leaned against the bar talking.
Nothing about them stood out which was why he didn’t understand why Taryn was shying away. Had they not been the only new faces in the club then he would have never noticed them. The light breeze from the open roof had Taryn shivering. She turned back around slowly and took a sip from her water.
“I wonder is Ayo running my daddy crazy.”
“He probably ain’t. Buck know how to raise children.”
“I know. I’m just saying.” Taryn leaned forward on the table just as the waitress brought their food.
She grabbed her plate the moment it hit the table and bowed her head. Demoto focused on her intently as she fidgeted around the table. She looked up at him and seemed as if she was about to say something but stopped. Her eyebrows creased and her eyes squinted.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Demoto shrugged. “Nothing. What’s supposed to be wrong?”
“Nothing. You just look like something’s on your mind. You alright?”
Demoto nodded his head. “I’m straight.”
“Well bow your head so I can say grace.”
Demoto shook his head. She knew he wasn’t about to bow his head or close his eyes in a room full of people he didn’t know. After waiting a few seconds for what wasn’t about to happen, Taryn sucked her teeth and said her grace alone. When she looked back up, she dipped her chicken in the ranch and stuck it in her mouth.
Ranch dripped down the corner of her mouth just as she reached for the napkin on the table. Demoto watched her for a few seconds before he began eating his own. Although his order had been a lot larger than hers, he was halfway finished and she was still slow poking. He’d eaten over half of his wings and she was only on her fourth one. Demoto stilled himself momentarily to see if his phone was vibrating in his pocket.
He’d thought it was his personal phone, but when he pulled it out, it was his red one. Normally the Double O phone was the only one that stayed on vibrate, but due to the concert his personal cell was as well. He looked at Taryn before answering it. She was looking over his shoulder with the same nervousness from a few moments ago. This disturbed Demoto because she should have known him well enough by now to know that nothing she was doing would get by him.
“I’ll be right back. Work is calling and I can’t hear.” Demoto pushed away from the table and walked to the entrance of the club. He stood in the corner but made sure he was still able to see Taryn.
The club wasn’t loud enough for him to have to leave out he just wanted to see what had gotten Taryn’s attention again. From where he was standing he had a view of the entire club.
“Yeah,” he spoke into his phone, still watching Taryn.
His eyes followed hers as he listened to his new assignment. The details were being locked into his brain as his breathing began to increase. Just like he’d assumed, she was looking at the man. Demoto counted to ten in his head, trying to calm himself down before he got out of control without knowing the situation.
“Confirmed.” He spoke and ended his call.
“Excuse me.” A smaller framed Latina girl stepped around him.
Demoto sidestepped without even looking at her. He moved so that she could pass and continued to hold his phone to his ear. He wanted to watch the strange interaction between Taryn and this man for a moment. If she looked over at him she would assume he was still on his call. He had one hand stuck in his pocket as he leaned against the wall.
The woman the man was with was so busy talking that she couldn’t even see that his attention was no longer on her. Demoto was almost certain this his blood was pumping at a faster speed now. The back of his neck was hot and he could feel sweat dripping down his spine.
“Hey sexy, you want to dance?” The same Latina from earlier asked.
He looked down at her but said nothing. He was almost certain that she could see the fire burning in his eyes because she walked away before he could even tell her no. With murder on his mind, Demoto walked back to his table. He sat down smoothly and went back to eating his food, not bothering to say anything to Taryn. She ate quietly along with him.
“I need to use the restroom.” She excused herself with no further explanation and sashayed her way to the bathroom.
Demoto watched the way her hips moved to their own beat, and the way her ass followed suit. Tight ass fucking dress. Demoto sucked his teeth as he got mad just looking at her. If his dick was getting this hard, and he was mad, he knew like hell that the nigga she’d been eyeing all night along with every other man in the rooftop club was liking the shit too.
“She wants me to break her fucking neck. Switching around this damn club like she ain’t got no fucking man,” Demoto mumbled to himself.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost missed the man leave his table and head for the restrooms as well. Had he been any other random nigga and not Taryn’s baby daddy, and her fucking man, he might have missed it. That shit wasn’t happening though. The beast in him wasn’t letting shit slide by. He watched everything at all times. Never allowing his emotions to get the best of him. Well not that emotion anyway.
Demoto tried to sit patiently in his chair trying to see how long they would stay gone together but he couldn’t do it. Not even one whole minute had passed before he was up out of his seat and rounding the corner. A professional at hiding his movements, and securing his next action, Demoto moved through the club. All six foot seven of him inconspicuously blended with the others, swaying and rushing from one place to another.
Being that the club was a rooftop, the sky was open. For that reason, the bathrooms were at the end of a long hallway that eventually led into a building. The hallway was just as packed as the roof top was so it wasn’t hard for him to get to where he was going unnoticed. True enough, at his size he would never be completely able to hide, but he was a master at his craft. He’d learned long ago it wasn’t your size that got you caught, but your energy.
Though his anger was boiling over and his heart was beating faster than he was breathing, he moved with ease. A calm movement that blended him with the other partiers. Demoto held his head down until he reached the corner where the bathrooms were. He was about to go further until he noticed a small dip in the wall where he could stand. He slid in it quickly and waited. He had the perfect view of both bathrooms so he could see Taryn and her little friend when the time came.
He fought with his mind to keep a cool head, but that shit went out of the window the moment the man emerged from the restroom. He looked as if he was about to keep walking but changed his mind and leaned on the wall near the door. Demoto surveyed his attire and would have admired it had the situation been different. He looked like he might have had a little bit of money, maybe a tad bit of clout, but as far as Demoto was concerned he could get put to sleep just like the rest of them.
He had just finished cracking his fingers when Taryn finally showed her pretty face. She walked out the restroom rubbing her hands together as if smoothing lotion into them or something. When she saw the man she stepped backward before standing in place. He walked over to her leaving hardly any space between the two of them. He was smiling when he stuck both of his hands in his pocket.
Taryn’s face was straight as he spoke to her. She had her arms folded across her chest listening to whatever it was he was telling her. Demoto felt a little crazy as he watched her. He wanted to run over there and slam the man’s head into the wall until his skull crumbled in his hands but he couldn’t. Not right then anyway. He placed his hand over his chest, doing nothing for his beating heart. The only reason he was able to fully catch his breath was because Taryn was walking away.
He watched the man grab her hand and say something to her before releasing it again, allowing her to walk away. The man’s eyes said everything his mo
uth probably didn’t. In his mind Demoto could hear everything he was thinking just by the dirty look on his face. After taking a few deep breaths, Demoto walked back to his table. When he got there Taryn was seated and eating again.
He leaned down quickly and kissed her forehead before taking his seat across from her. She caught his hand in hers and held it. Her eyes searched his as he looked at her. He gave away nothing because he had nothing to give. His anger was still trying to find its way out, and though he wanted to believe she had nothing going on with that man, his heart was on a totally different page.
“Moto, what’s wrong?” She got up and came around to the side he was sitting on.
She sat as close as she could get to him without sitting on his lap. Her bottom was on the edge of the seat so that she was able to turn around and look at him.
“What’s the matter, baby?”
Demoto took a deep breath. “Nothing. I’m just a little crazed at the moment.”
Her face displayed her confusion. “What does that mean?”
Demoto wanted to finish his drink from earlier, but he didn’t drink things he’d left unattended. That’s how people poisoned your ass.
“Nothing. You ready to bounce?” He looked at her.
She still looked a bit confused, but she said yes anyway. Demoto tossed a hundred-dollar bill on the table and stood up. His hand waiting in the air for Taryn’s to latch on to. When she grabbed it he led them through the club and back down the stairs. When they got outside he looked down both sides of the street before looking back at her.
“You want to walk around for a little while before we go?”
“Yes, that’s fine. It’s still early.” She wrapped both of her arms around one of his and snuggled close to his arm as they walked.
Demoto watched their surroundings as always while she basked in the serenity she had when she was with him.
“Demoto, sometimes I wonder do you know how much I love you. Sometimes I wonder is it even healthy to feel so strongly for another person. The way I feel about you is stronger than anything I ever felt before. It’s like my love is magnified because of the way that you love me. I just,” Taryn looked off into the distance trying to gather her thoughts. “I’m trying to think of what I want to say.”
