by Candice Dow
I nodded. He laughed. “Dude made the right decision. Y’all were destined for failure.”
“I agree.”
“So, now can you answer my question?”
I raised one eyebrow. “What question?”
“Did you feel it?”
When he asked, the invisible wire connecting us electrocuted me. I nodded. “I think so.”
“I never thought I’d feel it twice.”
Why was he giving it an identity? “What do you mean?”
“I guess I’ve always been more of a romantic than most men. I believe in chemistry, connection, soul mates or whatever you want to call it. That was the way it was when I fell in love with my ol’ girl from Hampton.”
I nodded. He could have said her name because I sure hadn’t forgotten it. I took the privilege. “Clark, right?”
He smiled. “You’re so funny. Anyway, after going on countless dates, meeting so many women and never having that instant attraction”—he squinted—“I started to believe I was crazy. That was until I met you.”
“Really?”
“Really. I wanted to call you but I didn’t want to call you. God knows I wasn’t trying to be a part of another love triangle.”
I smiled. “I understand.”
“When you said that you and your man broke up, I felt like it was a sign.”
“A sign for what?”
“A sign to let you know I’m interested in spending time with you and seeing if this goes somewhere.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You down?”
I nodded. He held his glass up. We toasted.
45
TAYLOR
Courtney and I arrived in New York hours before Devin’s birthday party. When we walked up to his building, the doorman opened the door for us. Devin stepped off of the elevator and kidded. “Hey, Courtney-without-the-ring.”
He stretched his arm to hug me. He kissed my forehead. “Taylor Jabowski.”
Courtney shook his hand. We hopped on the elevator. Devin said, “Y’all look nice.”
“We’re wearing this to the party.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
Courtney smirked. “Nah, we don’t get down like that.”
We stepped off of the elevator into this full-floor apartment. I looked at Courtney. She looked at me. We stood speechless with our bags.
He gave us a verbal tour. “The guest room is down there.” Looking at Courtney, he said, “You have your own bathroom in there.” Continuing to point in the same direction, he said, “My little girl’s room adjoins that one through the bathroom.”
He nodded in the opposite side of the apartment. “My room is this way.” He smiled at me. “There’s a bathroom in there, too.”
I pointed to the guestroom. “I’ll get dressed in here with my girl.”
“Some of my boys are staying the night, too. They might try to get you.”
Courtney laughed. “Ooh. That sounds fun.”
Devin shook his head. “You’re a trip.”
“She’s all bark and no bite,” I said.
“I believe you.”
He walked towards his stainless steel and granite kitchen. “Do you guys want something to drink?”
We nodded. He said, “What do you guys want?”
Courtney asked, “What do you have?”
“None of that fruity stuff. I have Grey Goose, Crown Royal, and any wine of your choice.”
We looked at each other and said. “Wine.”
“What kind?”
Our eyes consulted, I said, “Cabernet.”
“You guys can take your stuff in the guestroom and get comfortable.”
Courtney followed me to the living room. “He is paid and he’s fine. He must be DL or something.”
I laughed. “I think he’s just a little bitter.”
“He doesn’t seem bitter to me.”
“I think he masks it well.”
“They all have issues. If you don’t think he’s DL, you better holla.”
I gestured that it was time to go to our room. She grunted. “If I were single . . .”
I nodded and put my index finger over my lips. We laughed. Devin came in, asking, “What are you guys laughing at?”
We laughed harder. “Nothing.”
He handed us our glasses and went back to get his. He held it up. “To getting older.”
I laughed. “You’re the only one getting older.” His expression dimmed. “Psyche. I’m just joking.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
When we finished drinking, Courtney decided to get ready, leaving Devin and me in the living room alone. He poured a little more wine for me.
“Why don’t you get your things and get ready in my room?”
“Why are you trying to get me in your room?”
“I know how long it takes for women to get ready. I’m just trying to help you out. I’m leaving here no later than eleven.”
I laughed. “All right.”
When I walked into his massive bedroom, I looked at him. He stood at the door with a cocky grin. Yeah, I know my place is tight. A king-sized bed. A 55-inch, flat-screen Plasma television hung over the fireplace. I smiled. Okay, you got me. I’m staying in here with you.
He kissed me. The wine conquered my balance as I fell on his bed. He climbed on top of me. I rubbed his back to condone his aggression. He painted paisley prints on my neck. I moaned and touched his arms. Ooh. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. I lifted his shirt. My fingers raked the ripples in his stomach. He lay in between my legs as we dry humped.
He mumbled, “Lemme close the door.”
Instead, he continued to roll around his bed with me. I held him closely. His warmth was inviting. If he stood up, it would interrupt our moment. Then, I’d have time to think. He whispered, “Wrap your legs around me.”
Clamped together, we stood and he kicked the bedroom door closed. We fell back on the bed. He pulled my shirt over my head and made love to my breast with his mouth. I whispered, “Do you have condoms?”
He nodded. He jumped out of his sweatpants and peeled my jeans off. Trojan Man opened the wrapper and slid the condom on faster than I could say, “Get one.”
He climbed on top of me. The tip tickled my rim, as he stared into my eyes. I whined, “Devin . . .”
He rubbed my hair from my face. He kissed me. Still his stiffness teased me. I squirmed. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Not now, Devin. Put it in. Finally, I said, “Please.”
He plunged inside of me. Was it that moment of anticipation that made me feel that this was the best first-time sex I’d ever had in my life? He thrust his tongue in my mouth. Ooh. He was so passionate. He stroked gently, then vigorously. It felt too good to hold back. I couldn’t stop myself. He sent sparks through me and I released. After a few seconds, he collapsed on top of me. The sheets were soaked and we momentarily lay motionless, absorbing each other.
I’d never considered myself to be sprung after the first time, but he definitely had me twisted.
As if we’d known one another for years, we showered together and I got glamorous in front of him. When I put on my jeans, he chuckled. I looked at him. “What?”
“Your body is like ‘whoa’.”
We giggled. He pulled his T-shirt over his head. I read the chocolate writing on the crème shirt and smirked. RESPECT THE D.
Hell, I more than respected it. I would honor it. He smiled. “You like my shirt?”
My eyes lowered as I imagined the D inside of me. “And I like the D.”
He hugged me. “You are so funny. D stands for Devin.”
“Oh my head was in the wrong place,” I said laughing.
He pulled me tighter. “Mine was in the right place.”
We laughed. He slipped on his chocolate blazer and brown Gucci shoes. Damn. Why did I wait so long to entertain him?
When we walked into the 40/40 club, Devin held my hand and Courtney lagged
behind. We’d parked Devin’s BMW 645 in valet and I felt like I could claim him. One of his friends was already sitting in the designated area for his birthday. Devin shook his hand and said, “What’s up man? This is my girl, Taylor. That’s her girl, Courtney. This is my man, Lamont.”
We smiled and spoke. Courtney whispered in my ear. “Does he mean girl like girlfriend or girl like home girl?”
I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders. Between clenched teeth, she said. “You better find out. So, you know if you should or shouldn’t get numbers tonight.”
“I know.”
We laughed. I said, “I think I’m straight, though.”
Around eleven-thirty, Devin’s friends began to pour in. He whispered in my ear as a biracial chick and white guy approached. “That’s my ex-wife.”
“You didn’t tell me you guys were that cool.”
“We’re working on it.”
He reached out to hug her. He shook her fiancé’s hand. Then he said, “Jennifer, this is a very special friend of mine, Taylor.”
Jennifer shook my hand and appeared ecstatic to meet me. “Oh, what a pleasure to meet you Taylor.”
I smiled. “Good to meet you, too.”
She put her hand on my back. “Taylor, this is my fiancé, Aaron.”
We shook hands. She chatted for a few minutes longer. Then, they found a cozy corner near the party. Devin and his friends indulged in cigars. He walked up and kissed me. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“You probably hate cigars.”
I chuckled. “No, I actually like them. I was wondering why you hadn’t offered me any.”
He handed a cigar to me. “You’re all right with me.”
I took a puff and handed it to Courtney. Devin smiled in amazement. “I knew you were cool when I first met you.”
I danced in front of him. “How did you know?”
He chuckled. “Cause you was backing that thing up.”
I turned around and wiggled my butt on him. “Like this.”
With his arm wrapped around my waist, he nodded. “Yeah, like that.”
I twirled on him until I felt his nature rise. Watching him from my peripheral, I smirked seductively. Finally, he handed the cigar to Courtney who was flirting her ass off with his friends. We danced harder than the first night we met. As I worked my Soul Train moves on him, he grabbed my waist. “Wait, Taylor. My nigga is in the house.”
He backed away from me. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. He exclaimed, “J Dawg!”
I turned to see who had stolen his attention from me. He was embracing Scooter. I looked at Courtney. Her mouth moved a mile a minute. I stood stunned. If I were smart, I would have run to the bathroom. Scooter glared at me. His girl scrutinized the familiarity in his stance. The moments leading up to Devin’s introduction left me baffled. The cigar smoke suffocated me. My eyes refocused. Maybe this wasn’t who I thought it was?
Devin said, “This is my best friend Jason.”
Ain’t this some shit! Where the hell do they know each other from? Why hadn’t Scooter ever spoken of Devin? Hell, why hadn’t Devin said anything about Jason aka Scooter?
Devin bent down to kiss Akua. They rocked side to side. He said, “Ku, baby. What’s going on girl?”
She whined, “Hey, honey.”
Scooter and I stared at each other like we’d seen a ghost. We both tried to decide how to proceed. I looked at Courtney. She was shooting herself in the head with her index finger. Damn right! Just shoot me. Devin turned around, “Jason, this is my girl . . .”
46
SCOOTER
His girl? How did she get to be his girl without me knowing they even knew each other? Did they just meet at the club? Even my pride refused to let me front as I completed his attempt to introduce us. I said, “Taylor?”
Obviously noticing the tension, Devin yanked his neck back. “Y’all know each other?”
Akua rolled her neck and pointed. “Who is that?”
I ignored her and answered Devin, “Yeah, we went to high school together.”
Taylor’s eyes shifted from my mouth to his. She blinked hard and rapidly like somehow she wished she could disappear. Finally, she closed them and took a deep breath. “How do y’all know each other?”
Devin smiled. “This is my back, this is my line brother.”
She covered her face. Thankfully Akua stood a foot below because she couldn’t hear the entire conversation. Devin was so into my lady on his arm that he didn’t fully understand what was occurring between us, either. This was the first we’d spoken since my dreadful phone call. She mouthed. “Line brother?”
I nodded. Devin kissed her cheek and wrapped his arm around her waist and bent down. “Akua, this is my girlfriend, Taylor.”
They shook hands. I thought, girlfriend? Akua tugged my arm. I bent down. “Is that your Taylor?”
I shook my head. She squeezed my hand. “She sure looks like the girl on that prom picture.” She glanced at her again. “Jason, that is her.” She frowned. “What the fuck is going on here?”
I bent down. “Baby, I’m trying to figure this out now. I didn’t know they even knew each other.”
She gasped like she didn’t believe me. Devin wrapped one arm around my shoulder and the other around Taylor. “My favorite people.”
Devin is pretty much a private guy, but damn! His favorite people? Was she dealing with him when she was coaxing me to leave my girl? She whispered something in his ear and wiggled away. I still couldn’t internalize what was going on.
Akua yanked my arm. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Shit. Hell if I know.”
“You mean to tell me that that is the Taylor you were leaving me for and she is now Devin’s girlfriend and you don’t know what’s going on?”
I snapped, “No, I’m just as shocked as you.”
She grunted. “Why does Devin always end up with the sneaky bitches?”
I looked at Akua. She’d figured it out. This was Taylor’s attempt to make me jealous. How did she find Devin, though? I thought it was ironic that I never heard from her after we broke up. She had this in store. Rage boiled in me. Why my man? He didn’t deserve to be involved in this. He watched her walk over to Courtney. I knew him well enough to know he was digging her.
He chuckled. “Small world, huh?”
“Tell me about it. When did you meet Taylor?”
“Last September.”
“September!” I shouted.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah somewhere around that time.”
She was playing me all along. Anger and jealously rushed to my head, giving me a splitting headache. I huffed. “Why didn’t you tell me anything about her?”
“It wasn’t anything to tell. We just started hooking up on the regular a few weeks ago.” He tapped my shoulder. “Have some drinks. We have Grey Goose, Moët . . .”
As he ran down the bar list, my fury convinced me this was a personal attack. “Did Taylor tell you she knew me?”
“Nah, man. Damn. Have some drinks and relax.”
How did he not see the friction between us? Was he naïve or just caught up? I wanted to smack him in the back of his head. I turned to find Akua sitting in Devin’s designated area sipping a drink. I smiled. She rolled her eyes. C’mon, baby, not now.
While Akua greeted my other friends, in sign language, I gestured to Taylor, “Meet me in the bathroom in ten minutes.”
She stormed over to me. “I don’t remember that shit anymore.” She tilted her head. “What are you trying to say?”
I huffed. “Meet me in the bathroom.”
“I’m not meeting you anywhere. We don’t have anything to talk about.”
Her neck rolled. My shoulders bucked. Anyone with a brain knew we were in a lover’s quarrel. I grabbed her shoulders. “You’re with my line brother and you think we don’t need to talk?”
“Scooter, get out of my face. You never told me about your damn line
brother. And damn if I plan to leave him alone because you know him,” she growled.
“You know he’s a Que. You know I’m a Que. You know we both went to Hampton. It don’t take a rocket scientist to ask if we know each other.”
47
TAYLOR
I shouted. “Hampton?”
His head bobbed. “Yeah, Hampton.”
“You went to Prince . . .”
Oh my God! He flunked out of Princeton after we broke up and transferred to Hampton. I hung my head. I tried to suppress that it was me who robbed him of his dream of being an Ivy League Alumni. I’d convinced myself that he graduated from Princeton. How will anyone believe that I just have selective memory and that I’m not some vengeful witch?
Akua interrupted us, “Baby, what’s going on?”
I glared at her. She rolled her eyes and looked up at Scooter. I sympathized with Devin, because he was enjoying his party and had no clue this altercation was occurring.
Courtney came to join me. I assume to provide some added protection. After looking at Scooter and his cute little chocolate drop up and down, she smirked. “Hey.”
Akua scrunched her face. “Hello.”
Courtney tugged my arm. “Let’s go to the bathroom,” she said.
When we walked to the bathroom, I screamed. Courtney yelled, “Taylor! What is going on?”
I huffed. “It’s a small fucking world.”
“You didn’t know that they knew each other?”
With one hand on my hip and the other leaning on the sink, my eyes questioned her. “What do you think?”
“Devin said Scooter was his best friend.”
“Well, obviously Devin is not Scooter’s best friend, because in the five months we dealt with each other, he didn’t mention Devin.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” I paused to recollect. “I mean, he used the terms like my boy or my line brother, but it didn’t seem like he had a lot of friends to me.” I used my fingers as quotations. “Especially, ‘best friends.’”
As my best friend cross-examined me, it appeared that even she doubted the validity of my story. How could I expect anyone else to understand?
