“Is that so?”
“Absolutely and of course I don’t want to be involved in any of this. I want to just fade out and let things fix themselves so that everyone is happy.”
“So what do I need to do to ensure that you can keep all of this quiet?”
“I’ll need four million and for you to have a talk with your client.”
He looked as if he wanted to spit his drink out. “Four million dollars?”
“All things considered I think that’s cheap. This type of assistance will enable you to make that ten times over at least.”
“I’m not sure if I can get you that much for the assistance that you are offering. In fact, we may have to consider letting Mr. Alexander go in light of these circumstances.”
“Please, and walk away from a client in a contract year, when you’ve already secured a sneaker deal and the kind of fast-food deal that will put his face on a billboard in Times Square as big as the one of Diddy. Let me be frank with you, Mr. Persons. I don’t much care for Priest. If there was ever a less deserving person…I mean truly, he doesn’t deserve the admiration showered on him. I think he’s a clown, but kids love him and so do most of the people who buy jerseys, sneakers, and tickets. I wouldn’t be upset if you tell me to go screw myself and don’t offer a dime for my assistance. I’ll gladly give these photos to the press for a fraction of what I’m requesting from you.” I took a sip of the water with lemon, rinsed my mouth, and swallowed. I pulled out a card and put it on the table. “When I leave New York tomorrow afternoon, this business will be settled one way or the other. Thanks for your time and for lunch. The crab cakes were scrumptious. Call me early if you want to stop the ball from rolling.” I stood up and headed for the door.
Before I could hail a cab he was on the curb next to me. “I can give you two-point-five. When we get back to the office I can cut you a check, but that’s as high as I can go and still have it make sense for me to do business with Priest.”
I looked down at the curb to hide my smile. Once I’d suppressed it and was able to keep a straight face I looked up. “I think I can live with that.”
“One thing, Ms. Height.” His face had turned to stone. “Some of the people who invested in this company to begin with are a little…how should I phrase this? Some of them have a propensity to behave in a less than savory manner when a situation calls for it. You taking his money and reneging on the deal would be one of those situations, meaning that you have now gone as deep as the well will go, which means I shouldn’t see a copy or any other version of these photos come across my desk at your hand or anyone else’s. Digging any further, now or in the future, could create a dangerous situation. One where you would wind up on the short end of a very tough stick. You do understand what I’m saying of course.”
“I do.”
What he was saying was that he’d have me killed, or locked up at best, if I ever showed my face looking for more money. This of course I knew ahead of time, but what could I say. I needed the money. I’d blown through most of what I’d gotten from Priest in the past couple of months.
“Let’s go,” he said when the cab pulled up. As we drove back down to his office he made a couple of calls and didn’t seem angry at all. I’m sure I wasn’t the first to play this game with him. Inside I was beaming. I’d have settled for one million.
I returned home to an empty house. Khalil had sent me a text message letting me know that he was going over to his house to pack up the rest of his belongings. He had found a renter on Craigslist and agreed to have the house ready for them in two days.
I walked out the back door and took in the view. I was amazed at what I saw. Boats out in the middle of the Severn River, a clear September night sky, all the perks of the small mansion that I now owned free and clear. I took a seat on one of the stone benches near the Jacuzzi and began to reflect on all that I’d done and endured to get here. I wondered if it had all been worth it. I was happy now, finally. Money had always given me joy, as had being able to afford nice things. I loved the security of a fat account, the glitter of diamonds, and the smell of a new Louis Vuitton handbag. I didn’t understand people who didn’t believe that money could buy happiness. That was a lie. What it couldn’t buy was peace or salvation, but happiness it bought by the truckload.
I stood up and headed back into the house to get a bottle of water. I thought I heard Khalil’s truck pulling up, so I looked out the window. That’s when I saw a car parked out in front of the gate. I headed to the front door and decided to go investigate. No sooner than I reached the driveway did I hear tires spitting gravel and spinning out as the car began to disappear at warp speed up my street and out of sight.
Completely weirded out, I dialed Khalil’s phone but got no answer. He said he’d be painting so I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t pick up but I was a little scared. I shook my head trying to convince myself that it was nothing more than the price of the business I’d conducted. I’d be watching my back for the next few years probably, but so was every hustler, politician, and entertainer in America. Getting a little freaked out every now and again was a small price to pay to live well, I reasoned as I walked into the wine cellar. Forty-five minutes and three glasses of Merlot later I’d calmed completely. So much so that I’d drifted off on the couch with nothing but dreams of my future with Khalil dancing around in my head.
24
KHALIL
When she walked through the door and saw the house completely empty except for the last two boxes and a bag of trash that were sitting by the window I saw the look on her face. It was the first time that she had to face the finality of what was going on.
“How did this happen, Khalil?” I was sitting on a stepladder, my body positioned like the statue The Thinker while I tried to come up with an answer that might make some sense. “How did we get here? Two months ago we were going to be married. Now you’ve given up the house that we were going to raise a family in to be with her.”
I knew she needed this, to vent. I had no idea what would be safe to say. “Rorrie, I don’t really know how it happened.”
“Did you ever love me?”
“Of course I did.”
“What did I do wrong? Did I dream too big? Was it my career, the time I had to spend away?”
I shook my head no. “I did love you.”
“So you don’t anymore?” Giving me no time to answer she asked, “Do you love her?”
It slipped off of my lips like a song: “Yes.”
The tears burst from her like a sudden volcanic eruption. She fell to her knees and began to whimper like a baby. Over her cries her words were almost completely inaudible. “Why?”
I moved to her. “I’m sorry.” I put my hand on her back.
“I…loved you. I did all of this for you. I wanted to be a success for you.”
“No, you did that because it’s your calling to be a doctor.”
“What is it about her? What can she do for you? She doesn’t have anything.”
I felt her pain as the images of the house we lived in now flashed through my mind as well as the Bentley. It would have crushed her to know that. “It’s not about that.”
“Well what’s it about? Is it about the pussy? Are you leaving me because of how she fucks? Because I can tell you all about that, about how she got a man killed over her and how her mother died because she was selling her pussy.”
I shook my head in disgust. “I know you’re hurt but…”
“But nothing. Hailey is a whore. You’ve left me for a whore.”
Growing angry, I said, “I agreed to see you so that we could talk, not to hear you go on about her.”
“We are talking. We’re talking about you leaving me, the girl who loved you when your raggedy ass was striving to hold a camera at a fucking Bison game for free. When you were waking up trembling like a bitch at night, I was right there chasing those demons away. You were a week away from St. Elizabeth’s, Khalil. Do you remember that? Does she k
now that I nearly had to get your ass committed?”
“Rorrie, leave. Fuck this. I tried to talk to you. I wanted you to feel better, but you came to be nasty.”
“What did you expect?” She stood up. “A motherfucker I’m engaged to starts creeping while I’m working my residency, trying to build my career for our future and you expect me to come in here and talk all nice. You’re leaving me for Hailey, Honey…whatever you call her. She’s always been a selfish bitch, a liar, and a whore. I hope you get exactly what you deserve.” With that she stood up and kicked over one of the boxes, sending the contents out onto the floor.
We both watched as the can of paint that was inside poured out onto the floors. I looked at her with eyes that showed my patience had vacated. “What you gonna do?”
“Just leave, Rorrie.”
“Fuck you. I’ll burn this motherfucker to the ground.”
“Leave.”
She stood in my face and her scowl conveyed that her love for me had now disappeared. “Fuck you.”
I looked at the paint and imagined another day’s work, trying to clean the floor. My anger got the best of me and I grabbed her by her neck. “Get out of here.”
“Before what?” she gargled out.
“Rorrie, don’t push me.”
She approached me and took a swing at me, slapping me. I laughed to keep from exploding. She tried it a second time and I grabbed her hand. With her free hand she reached for my crotch. “What’s this? You want to say good-bye to me. A proper good-bye?”
I jerked away feeling violated and oddly attracted to her. We’d always had adequate sex but maybe what we’d always missed was the natural sexual connection. Rorrie had always been willing to try anything, but usually it felt forced or too much like she was trying to be more sexual than she really was. Right now though, she was different. No love, just anger and pain. I couldn’t figure it out then but perhaps all that I knew about love and attraction was that together or separate, they brought anger and pain.
“Leave, all right?”
“Fuck you,” she said again. “I’ll leave, after you fuck me one last time.”
“You’ll leave now.” I grabbed her and pushed her toward the door. She began to struggle.
I had her in the foyer and reached for the door when she blurted out, “I’m pregnant.”
“You’re lying.” I stopped in my tracks.
She grabbed her purse and pulled out a package. “These are prenatal vitamins.”
“Rorrie, you work in a hospital. This means nothing.”
“You think I’d go through all of this to deceive you.”
“I do.”
She stepped back and as we locked eyes she lifted the black dress that looked more like a shirt up over her breasts. The first thing I noticed was that her belly-button ring was gone. I was shocked when I actually noticed a bulge. Then she rubbed her belly. “I have a small hump, but it’s coming and look at these.” The dress was now up on her neck. She wasn’t wearing a bra and her nipples did look a little puffy as they stood at attention. She had a pair of white cotton-and-lace panties on. She leaned back on the wall. “I know you don’t want me though. I know you’ll want me to have an abortion. Two kids at one time…”
“She’s…” I cut myself short. She hadn’t paid me any attention. Instead her hand had slipped down inside of her underwear.
“Just let me feel you this last time and I’ll leave you alone. You won’t have to worry about anything.”
I stood there as she began to masturbate in front of me. I didn’t realize that I had begun to watch her intently. In my mind I was merely looking for a clear sign that she was lying about being with child, but my eyes were locked on her fingers as she began to moan.
As quickly as she’d kicked the paint over I found myself behind Rorrie, thrusting into her as I bent her over the steps. “That’s it Daddy, fuck me hard.”
I couldn’t deny that as good as Honey’s pussy was I was still enjoying the familiar wetness and feel of Rorrie’s womanhood. As I pounded her I thought about our first date, a play at the Warner Theatre and how we ended up tearing each other apart in her apartment that night. I thought about the plans we’d made to be together. “Yes, yes, yeahhhhhh,” she screamed.
I pounded harder, knocking her head into the steps. I continued to ravage her as if I were a man possessed. “Ohhh, shit,” she yelled. I lost all track of time and space intent on doing one thing, tattooing her ass as if she’d stolen from me.
I grabbed her by her hair and yanked her head back as I bulldozed into her hard enough to knock a building down. Her knees buckled and she cried out, “Uhhhhhhhhh, I’mmmm coming.”
I fucked her hard through her orgasm until I felt her go dry and I continued to pound her like a piece of meat. “It’s starting to hurt, Khalil,” she said softly. This only caused me to increase the ferocity of my assault.
A few minutes later she realized that her plan had backfired as she began to cry. “My hair, you’re hurting me.”
I continued. Nothing but heat and friction. My loins banging against her ass. “Stop.”
Finally I let go of her hair and gripped only her hips as I reached my peak. With no care or affection, I pulled out of her. “Ouch,” she yelped. I stepped back and yanked my underwear up.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she said as she took a seat on the steps looking as if she’d been beaten-down. She was holding herself. “Shit, my pussy hurts.”
We stared at each other again.
“Are you sure you’re pregnant?”
“Positive.”
I had a smirk on my face. “So, I guess you’ll be leaving me the hell alone for good.”
“What are you talking about? I know you don’t want a baby with me.”
“Rorrie, shut the hell up,” I yelled, sounding like I’d gone mad. She recoiled. “I told you a lot about me over the years and some real shit that happened to me. But there are some things that I didn’t tell you.”
I had her full attention.
“Like what?”
“Like, there’s a pretty good chance that I’m fucking sterile. The disease that I caught from Tenille in middle school might’ve ruined me. All this time we’ve been together there has to be a reason why I’ve never gotten you pregnant. I know this is just a lie you’re telling to keep me. Have some dignity.”
I didn’t believe in ghosts but you’d have thought that from the look on her face, she’d seen one. “Now, Rorrie, just leave and never try to contact me again.”
“Please, Khalil. Let me explain.”
“Nothing to explain. It looks like you shouldn’t be calling anyone a whore.”
“Please.”
This time my strength scared her as I yanked her from the steps and pushed her out of the door. “What about her? She said she was pregnant.”
One final push and the door slammed in her face in more ways than one.
25
HONEY
I was learning a little bit about relationships. Having a man wasn’t as easy as I imagined it would be, but still worth it. Khalil would have to deal with my moods the same way I dealt with his and so far he had. So when he seemed distant the day after moving the last couple of boxes out of his house I didn’t worry about it too much.
He sat around the house and decided to watch college football instead of riding out to the mall with me. A little pissed, I decided to keep the disappointment to myself. I reasoned that he was dealing with some type of feelings behind the move.
“I may not be here when you get back,” he said as I gathered my belongings to head out the door. “I spilled a can of paint on the floor last night and I need to go get it cleaned up. The tenants are coming to get the keys tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ll see you when you get back. I hope you’re in a better mood.” He didn’t say a word but I noticed that he was nursing a glass of Hennessy.
I headed for Annapolis Mall and decided to ignore his funky attitude. I
was going to kill him with kindness. As superficial as it may have been, I believed that a new watch and a bag full of gifts would cure anyone’s crankiness. I stopped off at Pier One first and then headed over to the mall. I was thrilled to find a spot near the door outside of Nordstrom.
I waved to one of the managers, who knew my face, which was a sure sign that I shopped too much. I couldn’t resist scanning through the latest pairs of True Religion and Seven jeans. I ended up buying a couple pairs of each.
As I made my way out into the mall my cell rang. The ring-tone belonged to Cheron. “Hey, girl you ready for tonight?” I asked. Tonight was the night that Cheron was going to meet the client who I hadn’t canceled with. In fact, he’d wired the money to me two weeks prior.
“That’s what I was calling you for. I’m not going to be able to make it.”
“What do you mean? Why would you want to cancel?”
“I don’t want to cancel but my period came on. I’m cramping and I have a migraine that is kicking so bad that I’ve already thrown up twice. There’s no way I can make it.”
“And why the hell are you calling me with this now? You’re supposed to meet this man in a few hours.”
“You can’t call someone else?”
“Like who?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. Believe me, I would have dragged myself out if it was just the cramps, but when my period came flowing like crazy a couple hours ago, I knew it was a wrap.” She paused for a second.
“Well he had the money sent over via wire last week, cash. It was twelve grand.”
“Shit,” she screamed out through the line. “Well why can’t you just do it since it’s your last time anyway.”
“Because the last time was my last time. I’m in a relationship.”
“Wow.”
“What’s all that?” I asked.
“I mean this sudden blast of morality is mind-boggling. You’ve fucked married men for years and now you don’t want to cheat on your boyfriend because it’s wrong.” She laughed.
A Taste of Honey Page 17
