by Pat Tucker
“Where is it, and what time?” Riley asked.
“Oh, it’s out there in my old neighborhood. A nice place over there, trust me, Dude. You’re gonna like this,” Bill said.
Against his better judgment, Riley told himself there couldn’t be much harm in going to a little house party. It had been ages since he’d attended one.
“So what’s up, Dawg?” Bill asked.
“I’ll let you know.”
He had already decided to go, but he wanted to let Bill sweat it out a bit.
“C’mon, Dawg. What, you need me to talk to Leela for you?” Bill asked.
“Oh, I see you got jokes, huh? You know I’m good when it comes to that.”
“Oh, no jokes, but if she’s riding you hard, just say so and I’ll back off. I ain’t trying to cause problems over there in paradise. I just wanna hang for a few hours with my dawg. That ain’t against the law, is it?”
“Where’s this house?” Riley asked.
“So, you coming?”
“Yeah, Man. Give me the address.”
“Hell. I’ll do one better. I’ma come scoop you. You can’t beat that, hmm?”
“You ain’t gotta do that,” Riley protested.
“Nah. I want to. C’mon. We got some catching up to do. Anyway, I wanna hear all about that plan we discussed, so I’ll be by around nine.”
CHAPTER
12
The no-spouse party was going down in a home two blocks away from Bill and Samantha’s old house. Bill maneuvered his car through the winding, tree-lined streets and multimillion-dollar homes.
“You been back here since ya’ll sold the house?” Riley asked.
“I came back a couple weeks ago. Actually it was to one of these parties. Man, I’m telling you, when I was there, I was, like, how come nobody ever told me about this before now?” Bill said.
Riley ignored the wicked smirk on his friend’s face. He gazed out the window at the spectacular homes that were brightly lit with what looked like spotlights.
Minutes later, after they parked, Riley followed Bill into a side door that led into a spectacular kitchen. Red and blue hues rained down over the appliances that blended into dark cherrywood cabinetry. Several half-naked women assembled near snacks spread across a large granite slab that served as an island. Several men hovered nearby.
“Tight, huh?” Bill leaned in to whisper to Riley.
As Riley strolled in and took in the scene, soft suggestive reggae sounds filled the air.
“Wanna go out there?” Bill asked. He motioned ahead toward the backyard.
Riley turned to see a DJ who was spinning on two turntables set up next to the pool. On the wooden deck, several couples were in the bubbling Jacuzzi. The scene was close to paradise.
“Yeah. That’s what’s up,” Riley said as he looked around. The setting was laid-back and everyone seemed to be having a great time.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, Dawg,” Bill said.
Riley was hyped over the scene that played out before him, but despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t help but wonder what he would do if Kelly walked in or was outside. He hoped his friend had gotten over a woman who had clearly moved on.
As they stepped out onto the deck, Riley suddenly stopped at the sight of a shapely woman who cradled a beer bottle between her hands. The seductive smile that stretched across her face was familiar.
Her smile was once the equivalent to kryptonite. Riley grinned hard. Every man had one of those, that one woman who threatened to send him back to his boyhood days because he’d follow her like he had no mind of his own.
“OhmyGod! You came,” she squealed.
“Natasha? What you doing here?” Riley asked. His voice shook a bit as he spoke. It wasn’t that he was nervous or weak; those days were long gone. He was pleasantly surprised.
Natasha wore a fitted crop top with a matching pencil skirt that looked like she was made to wear it. The top had a large key hole that showed off her ample breasts. Her short, jet-black, feathered haircut framed her caramel-colored, oval-shaped face perfectly.
Although she looked like the typical almond brown-eyed beauty, the power she once held over Riley was like a rare form of voodoo. She was the master at seduction and mind games, with a knack for making men do what she wanted. Riley was glad to be away from her. Leela was a safer and less threatening alternative and he was happy he had survived Natasha. He had searched high and low for a woman with less sex appeal and one whom he controlled versus the other way around. Leela was that woman, and after what Riley considered the right amount of time, he married her to make sure he’d always maintain the upper hand.
Bill stood off to the side and abruptly went quiet.
Natasha released a soft sigh. “Bill didn’t tell you?” she asked.
Riley looked around in confusion. Bill smiled wickedly.
“Dawg. If I woulda told you everything, you know you would’ve found a way to back out,” he said.
“You mean you didn’t tell him why he’s here?” Natasha asked.
Riley didn’t know whether he should sock Bill or hug Natasha. It was a struggle, but he fought the urge.
“It was me.” Natasha smiled. “I’m the one who requested your presence at this no-spouse party,” she said sweetly.
• • •
Leela held her breath for as long as she could. The stench that filled the space around her, burned her nostrils and made her eyes water. She pinched her nose and stepped cautiously.
“I thought they had maid service in here,” she said.
“They do, but I don’t need no strangers going through all my personal stuff,” her grandfather said.
“Pah-pah. It smells rank in here. Nobody is gonna be going through your stuff…”
Leela’s voice trailed off when she thought she heard shuffling sounds coming from the back. Her eyes caught at the sight of the sofa turned into a makeshift bed. The place was a mess. Food containers and empty beer bottles and cans were strewn all over.
“So, you won’t let the maids in, but you don’t clean up, either, Pah-pah?”
“Aw, Leela. Your grandmother used to handle all of that.”
“Yes. But she’s not here. You’re by yourself now; you can’t live like this. It’s a pigsty in here,” Leela complained.
Suddenly, the bedroom door creaked open and a half-dressed boy-man strolled out scratching his stomach beneath a dingy wife-beater undershirt.
“What up out here, old man?” the boy said.
He seemed surprised when his eyes focused on Leela, but just as quickly, he boldly scanned her up and down. “Oh. S’up, Leela?”
Unable to control her emotions, Leela’s face contorted into a nasty frown.
“Darnell?” She hadn’t laid eyes on Rhonda’s oldest child in years.
“Oh. Pops. You ain’t told Leela I’m crashing here witchu for a minute?”
Leela looked at her grandfather and noticed something she’d never seen before. Her grandfather cowered.
Sudden alarm fanned through Leela as she reevaluated the scene. When had her grandfather ever drunk alcohol? The food containers were Chinese food boxes and bags from Jack in the Box and McDonald’s. She couldn’t remember a time when her grandfather ate fast-food like that.
“So you sitting up in here mooching off my grandfather, sleeping on his couch and drinking beer all damn day long?!” Leela yelled at Darnell. She couldn’t contain her anger.
“Yo. I ain’t never liked you or your mama. Y’all always thought y’all was better than my moms and us. I’m glad he finally man-upped and told y’all what was what.”
“Get the hell out! Get your trifling, wannabe gangbanging, loser ass up outta here before I call the police!” Leela shouted.
Darnell rubbed his belly some more and chuckled like he was mocking her.
“Yo. This here ain’t none of your business. You don’t even know what the hell you talking about. You can’t call the cops on me! For what? I ain�
�t trespassing. I live here. Like I told you, my pops let me and Danisha chill here for a minute! So, call the cops all you want. What they gon’ do?” He shrugged.
Leela turned her rage to her grandfather.
“Don’t you see they’re using you? You’re worried about the maids going through your stuff? We’ve been gone all day and half the night. We come back here and where is he? He’s all up in your bedroom, Pah-pah. How come you’re not worried about what he was doing back there?”
“His bedroom?” Darnell laughed. “See. I told you. You don’t know shit. Pops sleeps right there on the couch. Me and Danisha share the room,” he boasted.
“Wow! And you’re proud of that.” Leela shook her head. “It’s too much!” Leela was so mad, she shook visibly. “You ain’t got no shame, that you let an old man sleep on the friggin’ couch while you take his bed?”
Darnell belched loudly. He didn’t cover his mouth, nor did he excuse his behavior.
“Yo, he used to roughin’ it. Me? Not so much. I ain’t made to sleep on a couch and shit like that. What they say? These old cats can handle all of that and then some. Ain’t that right, Pops?!”
Leela was so enraged! She struggled to keep her hands to herself.
CHAPTER
13
Natasha looked better than Riley remembered and her divine scent was just as intoxicating as it had always been. He had a thing for the scent of a woman. He appreciated women who went the extra mile in that department. He suspected that was something Natasha had never forgotten.
Despite all of her faults, she made sure she appealed to all of his senses. And her efforts didn’t go unnoticed.
“Damn you, Bill!” She shook her head in exasperation.
Riley closed his eyes and pulled in a deep breath. Her voice—Natasha was passionate and was never afraid to express herself. She sauntered in Bill’s direction, and Riley’s eyes followed her every move. There was something alluring and sexy about her, even after all these years.
“I told you to talk to him about it and if he didn’t want to come, not to bring him,” she said to Bill.
Bill shifted his weight from one side to the next as he kept a nervous eye on the five-foot-five bombshell in front of him.
“Look, I know my boy. I knew what I had to do to get him here. So either you gonna stand over here and fuss at me, or you gonna go over there and make the best of the limited time you got with him,” he said.
Natasha quickly masked her disdain before she shifted her gaze back to Riley. Reluctantly, she moved away from Bill and closer to Riley. The smile that made its way to her face was genuine. But it was clear that her focus had switched and moved to Riley.
“I know your situation. But that’s what makes a no-spouse party so unique.” She looked downward momentarily. “You see, this is where people gather and invite the one that got away.”
“Oooh. Hence the no-spouse meaning,” Riley said with a slight chuckle.
Riley thought it was simply a party where married people attended without their spouse. He looked at the people in the Jacuzzi and had a different impression now that he knew a few could be married and were simply taking a break from their spouse.
“Soooo. It’s by invitation only, and how it’s supposed to work is, an ex reaches out and invites you to come. It’s sort of an understanding where just about anything goes, and the beauty of it is, nothing leaves this house. You don’t have to worry about your business getting back to your spouse.”
Riley’s eyes grew wide in surprise. For the first time, the smile seemed to slip from Natasha’s face.
“I mean, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” she quickly added.
Natasha looked around and moved a bit closer to Riley. “Actually, do you want to go somewhere a little more private? Just so we can talk. I mean, there are a few things I want to share with you,” she said. “I’m sure discretion is important to you.”
Bill was gone. It was all on Riley, and he knew that his next move would be that, his alone. It wasn’t like Natasha asked to screw him; she just wanted to go somewhere quiet and talk. But the outfit she wore screamed, “Anything goes!”
“I’m sorry Bill didn’t tell you what was up. But I hope that doesn’t mean you’re not happy to see me.”
With each step Riley took down the dark, carpeted hallway, he knew he was wrong. But it was as if he had lost all sense of right and wrong.
They arrived at a bedroom door and Natasha eased up against it. After she listened for a second, she knocked softly. When no one answered, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open.
“C’mon.” She beckoned Riley with a single crooked finger. “Sssh. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul. It’s our little secret, okay?”
He couldn’t not follow her. She had gone through so much to bring him to the party; the least he could do was go and hear her out.
Inside the master bedroom, Riley released a massive sigh of relief when Natasha continued past the custom-made bed, mirrored walls, and stopped at a set of balcony doors. He told himself maybe she really only wanted to talk. After all, it had been years, so it was only right that they needed time to catch up.
They walked out into the starry night, and Riley once again told himself she only wanted to talk. The setting was perfect. The balcony was in a secluded part of the house, so it overlooked bushes and a lake. They were close enough to the action to hear what was going on, and enjoy the music, but not so close that anyone would notice them. It was all good since they were only going to talk; besides, he wore the pants any damn way. There was no reason for him to fear Natasha, Leela, or any other woman; he was the man.
• • •
“I told your ass to stay away from him! If you would listen, you would’ve known he had them illegitimate bastards living up in there with him. I don’t care what they do to his old simple behind,” Linda complained.
“But they’ve got him sleeping on the couch! And you should smell the place. It’s awful. It’s a mess and I felt so bad for him.”
“I don’t know why. Look at what that bastard did to Big Mama. I don’t feel the least bit of sympathy for his ass. Let him suffer over there with them.”
Leela suddenly regretted calling her mother. She wondered whether her mother’s heart would ever soften when it came to her grandfather.
Usually, Linda had the answer or solution to most problems. She was the family member who never hesitated to act, and her action always garnered results.
Leela listened as her mother went on and on about her grandfather and what a loser he was. By the time Leela pulled up to her subdivision, she was glad she was finally close to home.
“Mama, I need to go,” Leela said.
“Okay. But don’t say nothing to Big Mama. I don’t want her getting all worked up over this or anything else dealing with him.”
Leela thought she felt bad as she left her grandfather’s house, but by the time she’d finally gotten off the phone with her mother, she felt worse.
• • •
She called for Riley when she got in, but couldn’t find him anywhere. They’d agreed that neither would go out without the other, so she wasn’t concerned that he may be out with Bill. Maybe he’d just taken a late run.
Thoughts about her husband’s whereabouts made Leela think about Samantha. If she was honest with herself, she missed being with her. It didn’t matter who Samantha had become, Leela still enjoyed the time they’d spent together. There was something about Samantha’s new-found freedom that left Leela yearning.
It didn’t matter that the difference between married Samantha and single Samantha was incredible. Leela knew she could get used to it. She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind and stripped naked to take a shower.
She figured Riley should be back by the time she was done.
An hour and a half after a hot shower and several glasses of wine later, Leela considered calling area hospitals. She had tried Riley’s cell phone sever
al times, but got his voicemail. She contemplated calling the police. What if he had been mugged?
Finally, she went to bed, but at 2:45 a.m. when Leela rolled over and realized the space next to her was crisp and cold, she began to panic.
“Something must be wrong,” she said aloud.
Pulling herself upright, she looked around the room and decided he must be downstairs in his man-room. That had to be it. There was no way Riley would be out so late after they had reached an agreement about what needed to be done to keep their marriage intact.
Drowsily, Leela pulled herself up from the bed and padded down the hall and down the stairs. She passed the front door, and walked down the long hallway that led to the rear and lower part of their house.
From a distance, she could tell her husband wasn’t in his man-cave.
Now Leela was pissed for sure. He had to be out with Bill; she felt it. There was nothing she could do at that hour, but she was pissed.
CHAPTER
14
Two weeks after Leela was certain Riley had backtracked on his word, she was still a bit salty. But she had held her tongue and fought the urge to complain because she had plans of her own. First, she needed to convince her mother that both Big Mama and Pah-pah needed help. She knew Linda didn’t want to help her father, but there was no way they could abandon him; it wouldn’t be right.
Normally, she’d discuss her plans with Riley and try to figure out what to do, but lately, she felt like he was slipping once again.
Next, she needed to reach out to her girl and make some plans. It made no sense that she was the only person who honored the rules. Riley had the nerve to come home like nothing had happened. Leela didn’t ride him over it, but mentally she told herself, one good turn deserved another. Why should she avoid Samantha if he was still running around with Bill?
