He was hard.
"Let's go to bed." He invited.
Sylvia was the first to stand, feeling her husband's hand smooth over the cheek of her butt, she looked down at him as he shaped her bottom with his hand adoringly, looked up at her with promise in his eyes. Sylvia flooded with heat and moisture, throbbing she picked up her mother's remote and turned the TV off. Her husband's hand moving between her thighs from behind, touching her so intimately it took her breath away. He stood tall over her, behind nudging her along. Earlier he'd been hanging loose and free, soft and unnoticeable to the left, now clear evidence of his arousal stuck out boldly in front stretching his loose pants. The two of them went into the front bedroom closing the door soundly, hearts clamoring in anticipation to climb in bed and make sweet, slow, exquisite love, nice and quiet.
* * *
Jake was glad that he had a habit of carrying around a nice sum of money, had he not, he wouldn't have been able to pay Crystal's bail. By the time he arrived, they'd set up a right racket at the station. While he was standing and waiting for them to bring her out, he turned and noticed three other people waiting. They were staring at him. A young woman, an older woman, and an older man as well, who looked uncomfortable there. Jake pulled his eyes from him back to the older woman who stared at him.
"Is there something I can do for you?" Jake asked her.
Natalie Prescott stalled for a moment and then asked, "Who are you to Crystal?"
"Her Uncle!"
The two women, the younger one and the older one looked at each other, the message that passed between them was nasty enough for him to read it loud and clear. The older one turned back, "Her uncle - hmm?"
"Yes, just as I said, and what business is that of yours?"
"Unfortunately, she's married to my son ... un-fortunately. Reason we're all here."
"Unfortunately huh?" Jake spared her only a moment more of his time before he looked away shaking his head. He needed somewhere to sit down, however the only other place, was on the bench beside the whimp that no doubt was her husband. He had a look of being dragged about, forced to be present, forced - was the ultimate word as far as Jake could detect from his body language. He decided to walk to the far side of the counter and lean against the wall there. They had been waiting for twenty minutes and when Jake arrived, the wait was twenty minutes more before one of the officers came forward with them. Crystal was the first to come through the door, the first persons she saw was Victor's family and Jeanine.
Crystal had been crying, her face was mottled and blotchy, her eyes red.
"Crystal... over here." Jake called to her.
The familiar voice pulled her eyes to him, giving her a bit of relief to have a family member there for her, not knowing who had paid her bail. She made her way towards him, a sad appreciative smile on her face when the officer halted her saying, "Just a minute, you have to sign for the things we took off of you."
Jake pushed off from the wall with his foot, as he'd been leaning back with it against the wall and joined her at the counter. "You okay?" He asked her gently. She nodded yes, that she was, when in fact, she was anything but.
Victor came from the back behind the officer. Looking towards Crystal and then towards his parents and Jeanine.
"Finally, we've been waiting here for almost an hour. I can tell you now, there's not going to be too much more of this going on. Time for you to get your life in order young man. Look at your face! One would think you'd be tired of showing up everywhere like that, but you've probably grown use to it after being with her so long."
Crystal snapped around to glare at his mother, who ignored her presence. Jake looked over at her as well, he did not like her one bit.
Victor was trying to think of what to do? The last people he wanted to deal with right now was his parents. He was humiliated that Jeanine was there, and his wife seeing her there. In the midst of his mad confusion surrounding his life and his inability to decide what he was doing with it, he hadn't meant to hurt Crystal the way he had that night.
He knew her.
Knew that when she want out on that dance floor, it wasn't to draw the guys to her that she inadvertently had. She had been fighting off what he'd done to hurt her. Embarrassing her in front of her friends by being there with another woman. He hadn't bargained on her being out that night. Hadn't even known that Mundo would be playing there. A lot had changed in the short time they'd all parted. Mundo had always wanted to do the club scene for mixing, but he'd never had the equipment and means to. So it was a double shock for him to see Mundo there and Crystal as well. He'd been able to keep himself hidden from Mundo, but then Crystal had shown up with her friends. Omyiah ... he hated that bitch! She was always in his face trying to tell him what he should be doing, as if she had any right to say anything to him when they both knew she resented him for choosing Crystal over her. Especially after he'd slept with her in the very beginning when he and Crystal were first starting out. Omyiah had been so certain that he'd wanted her, and true - he'd been a bit interested, but then Crystal had come on the scene. She'd taken his breath away, ever since then, any little mishap he committed, she, Omyiah was on him about it. While at the same time, 'tsk tsking' him for the things he let slide with Crystal. Granted, his wife was impulsive and violent at times, but she wasn't a whore. She'd been a virgin when he'd taken her for the first time, Omyiah couldn't say the same.
He stood waiting his turn, tasting the blood on his lip, working his tender jaw, there was satisfaction for him in that the other guy looked ten times worse. Victor could feel his family standing along the counter behind him. He wished they would go away. All he wanted to do was talk to his wife. She stood staring straight ahead at the bailiff, fighting back tears. She was breathing hard, and trying to maintain control.
He felt like an asshole.
"How much longer is this going to take?!" His mother snapped, asking the black bailiff, who looked up at her with a droll expression on his face.
"As long as it takes me to get it done." He answered.
Victor turned to them. "Why don't you all wait in the car. Matter of fact, take her home, I can get to my car from here. Just a fifteen minute walk."
Crystal turned looking at him, 'So he's got his own car now.' She thought, he'd been using his mom's car up until then, and before that, using her car. What did she care, she turned back to the counter as the bailiff handed her her purse and its contents. "How much will it cost to get my girlfriends out?" She asked, while having to check over everything and check it off of the list before her, hating the tremble in her voice. She'd never felt such humiliation, made suddenly worse to hear his "girlfriend" ask.
"I don't mind how long it takes, want me to wait here with you? You don't need to be left alone here with her."
It was too much.
"Excuse me - BITCH! Don't have me waste my uncle's goddamn bail money for kicking your ass up in here! He happens to be my fucking husband - BITCH! I'm not gone take too much more of this shit tonight! You 'bout-..."
"HEY HEY HEY!!! Pipe that mess down girl! You just got your butt bailed, don't end up back in there over no nonsense. Ignore everyone, but my man that come here to get'cha."
"I can't - I can't deal with this! This is too much! This is all too far beneath me. I'm going." Victor's mother announced heading for the door, his father looked up at Crystal, shook his head and followed his wife. She wasn't sure what that shake was about, but she was beyond caring now.
Jake stood in attendance, staring at her husband and the chick still standing behind him. "You should probably go with them to keep things from escalating again." Jake advised her. She looked from him to Victor. "What do you want me to do?"
Irritated, red in the face he snapped, "Go with them!"
"No... she ain't got to go. Let her stand there by your side." Crystal's voice was getting hoarse from the crying and screaming. "Can you please hurry, I'll come back for my friends when they're gone." She asserted, sniffing.
"I'm almost done... need you to sign one more thing." The bailiff returned.
"Thank you. As for you..." She turned to Victor, "...I'll be filing for a divorce the first opportunity I get. That way you can make mommy and daddy happy ... and - and hook up with the little girl next door there." She was breathing hard, trying to keep control. "Hurry up please." She was on the verge of sobbing.
"Crystal..." Victor called out to her.
"Don't say shit to me! I didn't say shit to you - did I?! Standing in that goddamn bar with her! I may not be perfect - but I never dissed you! I never fucked over you! I know I did shit wrong to you - but I would have never fucked you like this! So you know what you bastard!..." She couldn't help it, she punched him hard in the upper muscle of his arm twice, "... YOU FUCKIN' - FREE!!" Each hard pound of her fist punctuated the last two shouted words. Victor braced and took it, not that it really hurt him. Jake grabbed her back, "Com'on com'on com'on - let's go."
"Yeah man, take her up out'ah here for she end up back in jail." The bailiff was done with her. Jake grabbed her purse, holding on to her and pulled her towards the door. She was eying Jeanine, daring her to say one thing so she could run up on her. Of course she said nothing as she stood next to Victor, barely keeping the smile from her face.
Jake held onto Crystal all the way to his truck. "Just take a few deep breaths and calm down." He coaxed next to the truck, opening the door and handing her up inside, passing over her purse. She took it, sniffing back as he closed the door. Jake trotted around to the drivers side and hopped in. Slamming the door closed, he started the truck up. "Wait - I need to get my friends out, I can't just leave - leave them. Can we go to a Tyme machine, I need to get some money." She pleaded, wiping at her flowing tears. Jake had to be up early. It was almost one o'clock in the morning.
At his hesitation, she said, "Okay can you just take me by the club, I can get the money from Mundo."
"They're not going to let you back in there now, that you've been tossed out."
"Please... I don't wanna just leave them in jail that way."
"Alright alright. I'll take you by a Tyme machine, okay? So calm down." He checked his mirrors and backed out of his parking spot to head for a Tyme machine. By the time she got there, she only had enough in there to draw out a hundred dollars. Unable to say no, he went by the club, parked and made her stay in the truck and went in himself. The place was crowded, so it took a bit to work his way through all the heated sweaty bodies to the platform where Mundo played.
Mundo spotted him five feet away. He knew why he was there, because of Crystal, obviously someone had called him. Jake waved an impatient hand at him to come to him so they could talk. Mundo grabbed his money jar, he'd sold all of his CD's. He was letting the arrangement on his Laptop play now, so he could afford the time to speak with Jake.
They had to speak close to one another because the music was so loud, Jake started right off on him, "I cannot believe you stayed in this place, playing when your sister is on her way to jail!"
"Ah man, come on!"
"No you come on! Anything could have happened to her out there while you were in here playing and mixing."
"Police was here, she was okay!" Mundo returned respectfully. While he wasn't as close to Jake as he was Shawn, he was still an adult, to be respectful was instilled deep, so he had to deal with it.
"Your responsibility is to your sister first! Fuck this club!"
"Man they paying me to play it, I can't just dive into shit! I'on even know what happened!"
"No matter, I came! She's out and in the truck, but her two friends are in jail still. I've spent all I have to bail her out, she has only a hundred from the machine, she wants you to loan her money to bail them out."
"WHAT! Aaaah man!"
"Come on, you'll get it back! She's waiting in the truck! I don't like leaving her out there, give me some of that."
Mundo's face slid so long it made Jake laugh, but he passed him three hundred of it. Jake winked at him, turned and headed back out of the club around to the truck getting in. She'd been crying while he was gone and trying to reign it in now that he was back.
"Heeey, come on - he's not worth this."
"I st - st - st - still love him - though." She squealed out, bending forward, her sobbing commenced.
He reached into the back seat on the floor and passed her a box of Kleenex, "Here, come on now - stop that crying, blow your nose. To hell with him, he had the best, obviously he wasn't man enough to handle it."
"Please don - don - don't tell my mother. Sh - sh - sh she hates it - when I - act - act common. But I hate them! L - looking down their noses at - at me!"
"Fuck'em! Fuck'em all! Who the hell do they think they are?"
"His - his mother hate - hates me, because I'm bl - black. She - she's always putting me d - down. She - she doesn't even know - know me, hasn't even tri - tried to."
"Horse face bitch! Who the hell is she to look down her nose at you!?"
"His - his mother." She sniffed as he drove back towards the jail house.
"Look, I'm not one to give advice. In fact, I'm the last person to put anyone down, I haven't been a saint myself! But when those vows are said, that's serious business! Reason I've never done it. Because it is serious - and you're worth ten times that piece that was standing next to him."
"That's what they - they want. Obviously, that's what he - he wants too - or else he wouldn't be - be with her." Crystal took a really deep breath to calm herself.
"Just because a man is with a woman, is in her company, doesn't mean he really wants her. I can tell you that now. I was with Doris for years, and while I never wanted it to end as it did, I wasn't really in love with her."
"If you didn't want her, why'd you stay with her?"
"Because some women are no stress, no bother. They'll pretty much let you get away with anything if you just make them feel good in the make up. I'm one helluva make up artist - I know how to make it all right. It was always easy 'cause I really didn't give a shit. Didn't cost me any emotion, just a bit of acting. I stayed because I didn't feel like starting it all over again with another one. I mean, if you don't give a shit, excuse what I'm about to say sweety, but one piece of ass is just as good as another, so why sweat moving around, know what I mean? Stick with one, and lay a few on the side - easy."
"Jake! You're a dawg! I can't believe you're sitting here admitting this to me." She laughed despite her crying.
"Yeah - I know - it's true - I am. But my point is this - just because she's in his company, doesn't mean he gives two shits about her. I saw the look on his face, he was more concerned about what he'd done to you. How he'd hurt you."
"I don't care."
"Bullshit!"
"I DON'T CARE!!"
"BULL - SHIT! Damn do care! Sitting here crying until you're dehydrated - 'cause you don't care?! Come on - tell somebody else that shit."
"You'll see when I divorce his ass!"
"I don't give a shit - divorce'im! But you better have a hell of a lotta water around to drink, else you'll be dry as a leaf and blowing in the wind."
"Men are assholes!"
"True - some more than others."
"Should I divorce him?" She asked.
"Hell yeah. Isn't that what I was suppose to see? When you divorce him how you don't care?"
"I've never been with anyone else, just him."
"You're a good girl. That's to be proud of."
"Doesn't mean anything to him."
"Yes it does. I don't care how far ahead in time we go, and how much modern crap is invented, one thing will always be - men - all men, want to be the one and only one to bed their wife. Problem is, it's so rare to get such a gift now days, many have given up that expectation. Now, we just want to know that when a woman does become ours, that she's ours and ours alone from that day forward. Believe me, Victor is not taking the possibility of losing you lightly, regardless of what you've done... kicking his ass all the time
." Jake started laughing.
"Not all the time!" Crystal denied pitifully.
"Yeah right, slugged the man right there in the jail house." Jake laughed.
"That didn't hurt him."
"You something else Crystal. Something special - you hear me? Learn to ignore his mother and all those silly ass white people like her. Shawn loves you, I happen to think you're pretty awesome, and you have two fantastic little boys."
"Oh I bet they drove you crazy?"
"Actually, they didn't, all except I had to change Darren's shitty diaper! Holy crap, there was more shit out than in."
Crystal started laughing.
"I don't think that's funny, you see I don't make a habit of touching shit! But I touched shit tonight, and shit touched me! And I don't like it. His little ass wouldn't hold still either, kept flipping over spreading the shit around. There's Isaac yelling at me, he's getting it everywhere - grandma's gonna be mad!"
Crystal was rolling.
"What the hell are you feeding that kid!? That shit smelled as bad as my own and I smoke and drink. Good God, please don't make me have to change another shitty diaper! And your Isaac, looked at me like I was a total idiot, you know what he said to me? 'You don't know what you doin' do you?'" Jake informed her laughing himself along with her. He was happy to see that she'd gone from crying to uncontrollable giggles. "God that kid is smart! He went on to tell me how to diaper him as he helped hold him down, this with Darren trying to bite him, and kick me. Needless to say, I had to scrub shit stains out of your mother's carpet."
"I'm sorry, I put you through all that, and now - look how it turned out."
"Crystal, this is life. In fact, I'm glad I did it. Let's just get your friends out and get home."
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