A Rich Man's Baby

by Daaimah S. Poole

  Chapter 28

  Dionne

  I crawled into bed alone. I replaced the pink sheets with jade green and flipped the channel. I should have been out celebrating because I had passed the bar and was now an official attorney-at-law. But Terrance was out of town and said he was going to call me when he checked into his hotel.

  “Terrance, you are going to have to get a new job. Because I don’t want to be at home alone when we get married.”

  “They have some positions opening up in New York; no traveling, just a really long commute.”

  “Well, that will be better than this. I’m lonely without you.”

  “I know, baby. Oh, I know what I wanted to tell you. My mom asked if my sisters could be some of your bridesmaids.”

  “Call her back and say no. Your sisters don’t even like me. Why would I let them be my bridesmaids?”

  He knew better than to ask me something so ridiculous. Everything in their sheltered lives was done in Brooklyn. They never crossed the bridge out. When we came and took them to Manhattan for dinner once, you would have thought we asked them to meet us in Russia. I’d be damned if those classless bitches be in my wedding. Plus, everything was already set. We were going to have this big spectacular wedding. We reserved a mansion in New Jersey called the Lucien Manor. It was a beautiful, elegant ballroom that seated five hundred, but I was only having two hundred guests. There was also a gazebo outside and a waterfall. I was having a trumpet player announce us and our wedding party. I even hired a wedding planner, Bethany, so I didn’t become too frazzled.

  This serving the public was not for me. My job was rewarding, but I was really getting tired of all these long hours. I wanted to start looking around for another job at a private firm. I called Claudia to see if she knew anywhere that might be hiring and asked her how she liked her job at Hoffman & Black.

  “Dionne, this job is so boring. All I do is research. I have stayed in the law library and on LexisNexis. Why, what have you been doing?” she asked.

  “Let’s see, I have cases already. Ten, to be exact. I’ve been threatened and yelled at by judges and clients. I rarely leave at five, and I am severely underpaid.”

  “You have cases? Oh, I would love to be actually practicing.” Claudia had selective hearing. She only heard the one good thing I’d said.

  “No, you wouldn’t. These people don’t appreciate anything. They are real disrespectful, and they don’t want to cooperate. One of my juvenile parents tried to assault me,” I said.

  “It doesn’t even matter. I hate this job. You know what I’ve been doing for the last hour?”

  “What?”

  “I’ve been changing my message on my answering machine. I want to be practicing what I learned before I forget. Who do I contact there?” Claudia asked.

  “I don’t think you want to come here,” I said as I gave her the info. I wished I shared her enthusiasm about this job. I just loved for it to turn five o’clock and I turned off all these headaches until tomorrow.

  I got out of court early. I wanted my mother to help me look at some wedding invitations and dresses, so I surprised her at work. She was the principal at an elementary school. Her secretary, Miss Turner, came around the counter and hugged me.

  “Hi, Miss Turner.”

  “Hi, baby. Your mother showed me the pictures from your graduation. I am so proud of you. You were always such a smart girl. Your mother is in a meeting; she should be finishing up soon. I’ll knock on the door and tell her you are out here.”

  I had a seat and looked around the office. It brought back a lot of memories. My mother was a teacher when Camille and I were in the third and the fourth grade. We couldn’t get away with anything. Whenever a teacher had a disagreement with us, my mother would always take the side of the teacher. But I was happy she was hard on us. Look what we turned into.

  My mother came up and gave me a hug, then asked why I was there to see her.

  “I wanted to see you, Mommy. I missed you. Where’s Daddy?” I turned a globe on her desk upside down.

  “Really, why are you really here?”

  “I need help picking out invitations. Terrance said get any kind I want.”

  “So why don’t you do that?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. I just need help with choosing the font and style. I want you to look at dresses with me. I have a bunch of books.”

  “Okay, call your sister and we will make an evening of it. Because if we don’t call her, she will have a fit.”

  Chapter 29

  Adrienne

  I was on my way to Orlando by myself to attend the UBPA Celebrity Golf Tournament. I asked Tanisha to come, but she couldn’t take the time off from work and she said she needed to spend time with her children. And Angelique, I’m done with her. We fell out because she took me to a Knicks game the other night and almost got us beat up NYC style. She was dating a married player and had us sitting in the wives’ section. The women one by one kept saying that this was the wives’ and the girlfriends’ section. So I was like, okay. So then the woman said, “Are you a wife or girlfriend?” and wanted to fight because everyone’s wife and girlfriend were already there. We got up and left and they followed us to the bathroom and surrounded us asking questions. Angelique was just dumb and drama filled, and I didn’t need anyone to help me with my operation. Besides, you get further on your own anyway.

  I found out about this tournament online. I knew it was going to be nice. The weather was warm, and I needed to get the hell away and meet somebody.

  The golf course was very beautiful. There were a lot of former players and their families there, nobody was really hollering, so I left and went back to my hotel room. I was staying at the Wynn, the official hotel of the tournament. I knew the young guys would come out tonight. I took a nap and set out what I was going to wear on the other double bed.

  I went to a nightclub called Blue Martini. I was bound to meet someone. The club was real big and had all these real expensive cars outside. It was a mixed crowd. I was confident walking through the party alone, but I did miss having someone to talk to about everything that was going on around me. I went to the bar and had a seat, and across the bar, I saw Mark, the Cleveland Cavalier I could never get in touch with. I wanted to go up to him and say something, but I didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t traditionally cute, but there was something about him that was so attractive. He and three other men were doing shots. I got the bartender’s attention and sent Mark a drink. Within a minute, he walked over to me and said thank you.

  “You’re welcome, Mark,” I said, smiling.

  “Where you know me from?”

  “We met in D.C. before.”

  He stared at me a little, and said, “Oh yeah, I remember you. What’s your name again?”

  “Adrienne. What you drinking on anyway?” I asked as I picked up his shot glass.

  “I’m going back and forth with the Goose and the Patrón.”

  “You think you are going to be able to walk straight?” I laughed flirtatiously.

  “Yeah, I know what I’m doing.” He ordered another shot.

  “I hope so. I’d hate to see you bent over in the toilet.”

  “That wouldn’t be a good look,” he laughed.

  “Not at all, plus you wouldn’t be any fun,” I said.

  “So, Adrienne, why didn’t you get with me?”

  “Your voice mail was always filled.”

  He started laughing and gave me another number to reach him at. I got him on the dance floor even though he said he wasn’t a dancer. I swayed my hips side to side like a belly dancer. My butt jiggled at every shake to the side. Every man in that club was looking at me. I wanted to make sure Mark saw that. As we danced, he told me I was sexy and asked me where my friends were. I told him they missed their flights; then he said I had to spend the rest of the weekend with him and I did.

  Chapter 30

  Tanisha

  Adrienne was in Orlando, so she gave me her t
ickets to the Sixers game. There were only two tickets, and I was taking Jamil. I needed to spend some time with him and scope at the same time. Jamil was excited, and happy. Mama was on the prowl. There were some cute young guys sitting behind me, but I couldn’t talk with Jamil there.

  “Mom, I have to go the bathroom,” Jamil said.

  I stood up and let him walk past.

  “Excuse me, is that your son?” one of the cute guys asked. One was tall, the other kind of short.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I don’t even know why I asked you that. That’s your little brother, isn’t it? You not old enough to be his mom, are you?” the short guy asked.

  “No,” I lied.

  The tall guy came and sat in Jamil’s seat and said, “Me and my friend are in town tonight. Where is a good place to go?”

  “Let me see. You know, I really don’t know. I was thinking anywhere in Olde City or Delaware Avenue. But it’s Wednesday. I don’t think anything is really good tonight.”

  “Well, won’t you be our tour guide?”

  “No, sorry. I have to work tomorrow,” I said, declining.

  “Really, what kind of work you do?”

  “I work at a hospital. Where y’all from, asking all these questions?”

  “We’re both from Richmond. I live in Italy, and he’s in Connecticut. We are down for the day. You sure you can’t show us around? What’s your name?” he asked.

  “I’m Tanisha. No, sorry, I can’t, but it was nice meeting you.”

  “You too!” he said as Jamil came back to his seat. The tall, cute one looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. I just hoped Jamil didn’t yell “Mom” the rest of the night.

  He was so damn gorgeous. I would have loved to meet up with him. I shouldn’t have brought Jamil out with me. I could’ve had a date.

  The game was almost over and the tall guy passed me a napkin as he left the game. I opened it. It was his phone number, and it said, Nice meeting you. Call me, Kevin.

  Chapter 31

  Adrienne

  I spent the entire weekend with Mark; then he didn’t call. What was up with that? And then I couldn’t even leave a message on his answering machine, because once again, it was completely full. He was the worst, I thought. I was going to try him one more time before I completely wrote him off. I really liked him, and I didn’t know why. It was just that he had this sexy confidence. Like I said, he was not that handsome, but his swagger made him gorgeous and the millions didn’t hurt either.

  After the club that night, he didn’t even attempt to touch me at first. I think he just gets so much pussy he didn’t even want any more. No, that wasn’t true. It wasn’t that he didn’t want any more, it was just he must be tiring himself out. And I knew he didn’t have anything, because he was very strict with his condom use. As soon as he reached for one I yelled, “I’m allergic to latex, baby. It breaks me out. I’m on the pill.” I said everything, and he still didn’t take the bait. When I tried to just swipe his dick against the lips of my girl, he asked me what I was doing and told me to stop. One more time, one more call. That was all he got, and after that I was going to say “fuck him.” The phone rang once, and on the second ring Mark answered.

  I took a deep breath and said, “What’s up, Mr. Owens?”

  “What’s up, gorgeous?”

  “Do you even know who you talking to?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “No, you don’t. It’s Adrienne.” I paused and then said, “Orlando weekend.”

  “I knew who you are. Your name came up in my phone.”

  “Umm, so you got my number and you didn’t use it? I’m about to be through with you,” I said playfully.

  “Don’t be through with me. I just be busy. You know how that can get, right?”

  “I suppose. So, what you been up to?” I asked.

  “Staying busy and out of trouble. When you coming to see me?”

  “As soon as you get me a plane ticket, I’ll be there.”

  “All right, I’m going to call my travel agent. You out of Houston, right?” he said.

  “No, Philly. Damn, that’s a shame you don’t even remember what city I’m in.”

  “It is not like that, I just have a lot on my mind; it is the middle of the season. I have a lot of games.”

  “So as soon as you send for me, I’ll be there,” I said.

  “Give me your info and we are going to make that happen.”

  I sent him my first and last name, and within an hour I had a one-way ticket to Cleveland with no return date. That was interesting. I guess he liked me more than I knew. Mark had some guy pick me up. He was a little, short, older guy, and he didn’t say too much to me the entire ride. He just put my belongings in the car and took them out when we got out of the car. When we stopped, I looked up at his big house. I knew Mark was living good, but not this good.

  “What up, Philly?” he said as I entered. His friend dropped my bags off at the door.

  I walked through the house a little. He came behind me and asked me if I wanted to see the rest of the house.

  “No, I’m okay.”

  “You sure?”

  I nodded. I had taken a tour with my eyes already. He had grand high ceilings and a leather brown, tan, and cream sectional with ottoman footrests. Even though I said I didn’t want a tour, he took my hand and led me around his house anyway. The kitchen was huge. The cabinets were some kind of expensive-looking maple wood, and two islands stood in the middle. In the corner near a big window was a kitchen table with six chairs. Right through the window I saw tall trees and a big pool and hot tub. After showing me the kitchen, Mark took me downstairs into the basement. He had a wine cellar with no wine and a bar set up with gigantic bottles of liquor. In the back of the basement he had a big futuristic-looking black pool table and a cinema room. In the cinema room was a large movie screen and eight big black leather reclining chairs. It was nice, real nice. I was impressed, but he did not know.

  When we came back upstairs, he introduced me to his three friends. They were coming into the house with four girls. I guess the extra one was for Mark, and when she saw me, she was like damn. We all went down to the pool room and he turned on some T.I. Mark’s friend Carlos went behind the bar and began mixing and serving drinks, and his other friend Darrell starting rolling a blunt and passing it around the room. The mood began to change once everyone had drinks and weed in their system.

  The girlfriends were all coupled up except for Lonely Girl. And she kept trying to make conversation with Mark. And my presence didn’t deter her. It was okay. She was a mess, and Mark knew it. She had this gigantic fake Louis Vuitton bag, a tight purple dress with three fat roll creases, and Ugg boots. She was breaking too many dress code violations for me. Anyway, Lonely Girl kept leaning over to talk to Mark, letting her breasts bubble out. Then she complimented him on all his success and did a few hair flips off her shoulder and tongue twists. She was so obvious. But Mark just kept ignoring her. I smiled at her, letting her know I knew what she was up to. After a while I got tired of her, so I pulled him away to the cinema room to talk. I started kissing on him and hugging him, placing his hands on my butt and hips.

  “I came to spend time with you. Not them. Finish taking me on the tour. I want to see the rest of the house.”

  He said, “Good night, y’all,” as I yanked him up the steps. Lonely Girl and her crew were heated. I waved good-bye to them and shot them a wink. We got upstairs and didn’t turn any lights on. We didn’t need to see to touch. I heard him fumble around in his nightstand drawer for a condom. I stopped him and unzipped his pants. I bent down and began licking and kissing his perfect body. He had almost no body fat. I traced the dip in his side with my tongue and trailed over to his midsection that was tight and cut like the casing of an army grenade. Then I placed all his erectness in my warm, salivating mouth. I let my tongue go up and down every inch. My mouth was making a slurping sound each time I reached th
e top and came back down to the shaft. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed the moment. He would occasionally bite his lip and say, “Damn.” I was trying my best to turn him out, and it looked like it was working. All he kept saying was, “Damn, you a beast.” I wobbled my neck back and forth as he started to moan, I tucked my teeth under my lips so I wouldn’t bite him. I circled the mushroom part of his dick with my tongue as the Jennifer Hudson song sang in my head, “You’re going to love me.” That’s what I wanted him to do, love me. When he reached his peak, he grabbed the condom and rolled it down his shaft. I got back on my knees and sucked him some more, ensuring his readiness. In the moment I managed to bite a hole at the tip. I heard the condom rip, but he didn’t. Then I got on top of him and rode his pelvis up against mine. When it was all over I snatched the condom off him and flushed the evidence down the toilet.

  I stared up at him, my eyes about to roll back, and didn’t come up for air for hours.

  Chapter 32