The Roof is on Fire

by Brenda Hampton

  Thanks to Prince leaving his blow behind, Roc was around here getting high as the sky. Then again, so was I. Every time I saw him hemmed up somewhere, I joined right in with him.

  I guess I couldn’t help myself. Being in this house was starting to work my nerves. Everybody had issues, and I was doing my best to watch my back. That was how I managed to see Chase creeping that night. She thought I had gone to bed, but I saw her go into the bathroom and change clothes. Then I saw her tiptoeing outside, so I followed her. When I saw her standing beside the workout room, I squinted and saw Jeff out there too. Something didn’t add up to me. I wasn’t up for no trickery shit between the two of them, and it was apparent that something fishy was going on.

  The day after that one, I caught up with Chase outside, where I teased her about having jungle fever. Her eyes widened like saucers. She damn near choked, but I gave her a hint that I knew what was up.

  Since then, she’d been extremely nice to me. She kept asking questions, trying to see if I was going to tell her what I saw. I planned on telling her, but not until I was ready.

  After a few more hits from a joint, I was ready to confront Chase. Roc and I was in the closet laughing and acting silly. When I pushed him backward, he fell into one of the shelves, knocking it down.

  “Damn, girl,” he said, giggling. “Stop ruffin’ me up. You don’t need to smoke no more of dis’ shit if it got you wantin’ to throw punches.”

  “Stop bein’ such a wimp and pick that shelf up. You got my stuff on the floor, and you know Jaylin gon’ come in here clownin’ when he see his stuff scattered.”

  “Buck that nigga. I’m not pickin’ that shelf up, ’cause yo ass the one who made me do it.”

  “Hold that thought, baby. I’ll be right back.”

  Roc laughed as I left the closet, knowing damn well that I wasn’t coming back anytime soon. I left the bedroom and caught up with Chase as she was sitting at the kitchen table with Jaylin, putting together a puzzle.

  “Hey, Jaylin,” I said. “Roc said that he needed some help with a shelf in the closet that fell down. Go in there and help that brotha. Please.”

  “You look messed up, Jada,” he said. “Y’all need to chill with smoking weed every day.”

  “Daddy, the bag is almost gone, so don’t worry your fine li’l self about me. Just gon’ in there and help Roc, before he breaks somethin’ else.”

  Jaylin left the kitchen in a hurry. Probably because he didn’t want nobody to damage his stuff. I sat at the table across from Chase and picked up a puzzle piece.

  “This looks like a hard-ass puzzle to put together. How many pieces is it?”

  “Twenty-five-hundred pieces. Jaylin seems to think that we can have this put together by the end of the day. But as you can see, that’s not going to happen.”

  “I can bet you some money that it ain’t goin’ to happen. I will also bet you that you won’t be the last person in this house, especially if I go tell Jaylin and Roc about what I saw the other night.”

  Chase’s brows shot up. She swallowed and slowly laid her puzzle piece on the table. She then turned her head, looking toward the bedroom. “Wha…what did you exactly see the other night?”

  “You know what I saw. Or do you prefer that I spell it out for you?”

  “You’re going to have to spell it out for me. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Chase, don’t play stupid with me. You cool and everything, but I hate for people to play me like I’m stupid. Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what’s really goin’ on with you and Jeff? Is this some kind of game, and are you tryin’ to set us up so that you’ll win, no matter what? I need some answers or else I’mma blow this whole thing wide open.”

  Chase looked over her shoulder again at the bedroom door. She stood up from the table. “Come on and go outside with me. I don’t want to talk in here.”

  I shook my head from side to side. “No, no ma’am. Unfortunately, I’m not goin’ anywhere but right here. You may try to push me into the water and drown me, especially since I know what I know.”

  “I’m not a killer, nor am I here to hurt anyone. You need to lay off that weed. It has you very paranoid. Just trust me on this. Come outside for a few minutes. Please.”

  I hesitated, but then I got up from the table. If Chase tried some slick shit, I was going to knock her clean up side her head. Before I went outside with her, I snatched a broom from the closet and grabbed some chips to help with my munchies.

  Chase laughed and threw her hand back at me.

  “Bitch, I don’t see nothin’ funny. I really don’t trust you, and I’mma always do what I got to do to protect myself.”

  She put her hand on her hip. “With a broom, Jada? What in the hell is a broom supposed to do?”

  We went outside and sat close by the door. “You must ain’t never been a disobedient child growin’ up. ‘Cause if you were, you would know exactly how much damage a broom can do. Don’t underestimate the power of it.”

  “Okay, I won’t, especially since you got a tight grip on it. When it comes to being a disobedient child, trust me when I say I was one. I had every reason to be one, because my mother betrayed me and my father sexually abused me. I hated the both of them, but that was then and this is now.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with what’s goin’ on right now?”

  “Not much. Then again, I just learned that there may be something very fascinating about my past that’s going to help me win this challenge.”

  There was something real wicked in Chase’s eyes. Almost scary, in a sense, so I had to see what was up. “We already know that you ain’t got it all upstairs, Chase, but you need to seriously let go of the bitterness inside of you. I don’t really care about your troubles as a kid. I came out here to find out what was up with you and that white boy.”

  Chase appeared irritated by my comment. She crossed her legs and clamped her hands together. “Okay, Jada. I was going to spill the truth to you at a later date, but since you’re forcing this out of me now, I guess I have no choice but to spill the beans. But please understand that I can’t tell you everything right now, because I need to get the facts. Some secrets have to wait until later.”

  “Girl, you are startin’ to work my nerves. Would you please get to the point?”

  Chase paused, then released a deep sigh. “I found a way to get Jaylin and Roc out of this house. In order for me to do it, I had to get to know more about their personal lives and backgrounds. So what I did was I started to make a connection with Jeff through email. I flirted with him and told him I was interested in us hooking up. He fell for it. On three occasions, he came to see me while everyone was asleep. During his visits, yes, sometimes we had sex, but I also asked him for information about Roc and Jaylin. Jeff gave it to me. Just by having their personal information, I’m in a position to share some things with their loved ones that may cause harm. I’m hoping that the information that I share will send them packing.”

  “Oooo, you are so darn sneaky. But if you got information on them, I know you got some stuff on me.”

  “Just a little stuff, but none of that matters.”

  My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe that she had found out some stuff about me. “If it don’t matter to you, it surely matters to me. Tell me what you found out or else I start talkin’ right now.”

  Chase exhaled. “Okay, Jada. I said none of this matters, but I do know that you were locked up for thirty days for shoplifting. I also know that you have several assault charges on your police record and that you live in a Section 8 apartment complex. You don’t have a great relationship with your mother, father abandoned you, and you don’t have any children. Your husband has a long criminal record, but it appears that many of the other men you’ve dated have criminal records too. You haven’t had a stable job since the 90s, and you currently have a warrant out for your arrest for two unpaid traffic tickets. You didn’t graduate from high scho
ol and when you lived in Los Angeles—”

  “Okay, stop right there,” I said with my mouth hanging wide open. I couldn’t even express how I felt, but I was damn sure mad about this bitch digging into my background. There was no doubt that she was right on the money. “I didn’t hear you mention my social security number, blood type, or what size drawers I wear. You also didn’t mention how many times I go to the library or what grocery store I normally shop at. You have violated my privacy. I’m gon’ have to check the hell out of you and Jeff for oversteppin’ y’all’s bounties.”

  “Jada, please listen to what I’m saying to you. The word is boundaries, not bounties. But none of that matters. When we win this challenge, you can take the money to clear those warrants. You can move out of your Section 8 apartment and go live happily ever after. We’ve all got ugly things in our past, but this is about your future. Don’t blow it, okay?”

  I thought about what she’d said. Maybe I was overreacting. “Just so you know, that Section 8 apartment costs me $225 a month and my friend’s name is on it, not mine. And those traffic tickets were because I let a no-good fool use my car. He was the one who got those tickets. We all shoplift from time to time, but I happened to get caught up that day. And as for my associates’ criminal records, that’s on them, not me.”

  “Thanks for telling me, but I don’t care. What I care about is winning this thing so we can have some money.”

  “Let’s be real here. A hundred thousand, divided by two, that ain’t really what I consider my ticket out of the ghetto. It will help, though, but what exactly do you need me to do? Just so you know, I’m not fuckin’ nobody unless I want to. And I’m not killin’ nobody either.”

  “I’m not asking you to do anything of the such. All I may need, right now, is for you to get some explicit pictures for me. Good pictures of me and Roc, and of me and Jaylin. I’m going to start turning up the heat on both of them. I need for you to catch the action.”

  “This startin’ to sound like some Inspector Gadget or James Bond bullshit. How am I supposed to get photos when we don’t have cameras, phones, or nothin’?”

  “Oh, yes, we do. Jeff provided those things for me, but you can’t let Jaylin or Roc see them. I really need to know that I can trust you on this, Jada. I can’t afford to have none of that backstabbing mess that Sylvia was doing going on. If you truly want this money, all I’m saying is that I can hand half of it over to you on a silver platter, guaranteed. All you have to do is follow my lead.”

  Chase looked over my shoulder and whispered that Jaylin and Roc were coming.

  “We’ll continue our talk later,” she whispered.

  I nodded and couldn’t help but to think more about the money. I could almost taste it. If she had a way to make us winners, I was all for it. Plus, I would get the money that Jaylin had promised me. I wasn’t going to tell Chase about that money. It was none of her business. She seemed to have this all planned out. Either she was clever or awfully stupid, especially with trusting Jeff to stay quiet. I was going with the flow, in hopes that trusting her wouldn’t get me tossed out of Hell House on my ass.

  Now that the cat was out of the bag, I had some serious planning to do. I felt as if Jada would have my back; after all, it was all about the money for her. For me, it was about that too, but it was also about being able to leave this house with my head held up high. I wasn’t going out like Pooky and them. Or should I say like Sylvia, who left here dissed. No way would I let the men have that kind of bragging rights.

  For the next several days, I did everything in my power to get closer to Roc and Jaylin. After my oral performance the other night, Jaylin had been riding me too. I must say that the feel of his dick in my mouth felt good. I thoroughly enjoyed the taste of his semen, but it was time for me to get mine too.

  Until then, I cooked healthy meals for Jaylin and made sure the house was spotless. Roc didn’t have many gripes, but when he complained about his back one night, I massaged it for him. They were always looking for competitive things to do, so I apologized to Roc for my lack of effort on the tennis court and teamed up with him during another game of volleyball in the pool. Needless to say, we won. I played video games with them, and Jaylin and I finished the puzzle.

  There was no doubt that the house had become drama free, even though Jada had something smart to say every once in a while. Roc seemed more relaxed, but more than anything, I think the weed he’d been smoking was helping him cope with what was bugging him. Jaylin’s source of comfort for whatever he was dealing with was alcohol and conversation. I noticed him picking up the bottle more often, but I guess everybody had their way of coping with being here.

  As for me, I didn’t need any source of drugs or alcohol to get me through. That kind of stuff made people lose focus and take their eyes off the prize. So while all of them had been getting it in with their drugs and alcohol, I was watching and paying attention. I eavesdropped on a conversation that I heard Jaylin and Roc having while in the workout room. Jaylin was holding the punching bag for Roc while he let out his frustrations. They didn’t know I was right outside the door, but it was apparent that Roc had some trust issues with Desa Rae.

  “I don’t like the way this shit got me feelin’,” Roc grunted while punching the bag. “I find it odd that the nigga hadn’t shown up once while I was there. Now all of a sudden, he over there lolly gaggin’ with Desa Rae. Somethin’ don’t add up for me.”

  “You’re going back and forth. One minute, you say you trust her. The next minute, you’re saying something else. In order for you to be at ease about the situation, you gotta go with what you firmly believe. Do you honestly believe that she over there fucking her ex-husband?”

  Roc hesitated to answer, then punched the bag again. “On a for real tip, I don’t know what to believe. I have a hard time trusting women, only because I know how sneaky their asses can be. They’ll have you believin’ things are all good, and then you find out another story when the next brotha shows up.”

  “I must say that I agree with you on that. I stopped trusting women a long time ago. There were way too many of them playing games and keeping secrets. That’s what gets me. They are so good at keeping secrets. You can lay your shit on the line and they’ll still keep those skeletons locked up in the closet. So, I definitely understand how you’re feeling about Desa Rae. If you’re that concerned about the situation at home, why don’t you wrap this up and check out of here?”

  Roc stopped punching the bag and took deep breaths. “You couldn’t be serious. Leave so you can jet with the cash and braggin’ rights? It ain’t goin’ down like that, so my issues with Desa Rae will be left for another day. When all is said and done, I’m goin’ to be the last person in this house.”

  Jaylin didn’t respond. He squinted while looking at the door. I suspected that he saw me. I quickly widened the door as if I hadn’t been standing there all along.

  “Hello, fellas,” I said, making my way over to the elliptical machine.

  They spoke. Lust filled their eyes, as I put in a little something extra today to get their attention. My hair was in a sleek ponytail, showing the true beauty of my makeup-free face.

  The spandex that I wore was all black. It hugged every curve in my well-defined body. The zipper in the front stopped right at my firm breasts that sat up high. My ass appeared more plump than usual, and the way they stared at me, I knew it looked good. I had on no panties whatsoever. The spandex slipped right between my coochie lips, showing a lip-licking camel toe that I was sure they appreciated.

  Before I got on the elliptical machine, I stretched on a floor mat, showing how flexible I was. I noticed Jaylin and Roc taking peeks at me and then at each other. When I bent over to touch my toes, I heard Roc clear his throat. I then lifted my leg ballerina style, and that was when I caught Jaylin licking his lips. This was very much turning out as I had planned.

  I was done stretching, so I stepped on the elliptical machine and got to work. The one thing
that I knew for a fact was that men loved to see, and or watch, a woman sweat. I also knew that when you backed off from showing them attention, they’d surely give it to you in return.

  I put the machine on the highest level, and within five to ten minutes, sweat started to trickle down my body. The faster I went, the more I sweated. The more I sweated, the louder my grunts became.

  “Uhhh, umm, ahhh.” I sounded as if I were having an orgasm.

  “Don’t hurt yourself over there, baby,” Jaylin advised.

  “Right. Damn sure sounds like you gettin’ it in, ma.”

  “A girl’s gotta do what she must to stay in shape,” I said. “Especially when she’s preparing herself to get into shape for all of the right reasons.”

  They didn’t dare touch that comment, so I kept it moving. I didn’t even stop when Jada came into the room complaining.

  “Bitch, you makin’ me look real bad,” she shouted to me. “I may as well get the hell out of here before I embarrass myself.”

  Jada headed for the door, but Roc and Jaylin teased her, encouraging her to stay.

  “Don’t be walking out of here because Chase looking sexier than a mutha on that elliptical,” Jaylin said. “Even though you can’t pull that off, you still need to stay and try something.”

  Roc laughed and cosigned. “Right, ma, stay. But don’t get on the treadmill today. Please. Why not lift some weights instead?”

  Jada slapped her leg and fake laughed with them. “Hee-haw. I see you fools got jokes today, right? We’ll soon see who gon’ have the last laugh. All I can say is it won’t be you two crooked-dick niggas.”

  Jada rolled her eyes. She looked real upset when she left, but they shrugged it off.

  “That’s the second time she’s gone there with that crooked dick shit.” Jaylin shook his head. “What in the hell is she talking about?”