"RO-O-OF!" Kadipiti sounded off again, thrusting his head and body forward in a challenging fashion.
This brought Shawn to his senses.
Jesse held his palm out, in a gesture to try and calm him, saying - "Shawn stop laughing man, dippity dog over there trippin'. Okay dippity - calm down." Jesse's words seemed to only antagonize the dog further, causing him to inch menacingly forward, his claws clicking on the marble hallway floor. The low rumbling growl coming from the dogs throat convinced the pair, that Kadipiti was about to chew some ass.
Shawn turned his head while keeping his eyes on the dog, through the side of his mouth he whispered to Jesse, "Stand still, don't - move. I've heard about this, never turn your back, on a threatening dog." No reply coming, Shawn's eyes flicked quickly sideways suddenly aware that not only had Jesse turned his back, but the sound of a closing door a few feet behind him loudly stated that Jesse was not interested in his words of wisdom. Jesse - was - gone!
"Jesse?" Shawn gulped, standing alone now, he knew his only chance of escape was to distract Kadipiti some how. "That's a good boy, good boy Kadipiti - lets just - stay calm boy." He tried softly coaxing, reaching carefully into his pocket, causing another, "ROOF!"
Shawn began to back away slowly, carefully extracting a pack of gum from his shirt pocket and tossed it gently at the dogs feet, who instinctively lowered his head to sniff at it. Shawn took that opportunity to hot foot it down the hall almost passing the slightly ajar door Jesse was peaking out of. Seeing Shawn, Jesse reached out and snatched him in, quickly closing the door, just in time to feel the impact of Kadipiti slamming against it, scratching at it and barking. Slumping against the door, Jesse looked up at him shaking his head, he said, "Man, ain't you learn nothing since you been with me! You don't stand there and shit yo'self! You shit and run! Hell! Yo'ass like t'got chewed up! Diggity dog wuldn't playin'!"
"I can't believe you left me out there Jesse!" Shawn gasped, red, sweating, breathing hard, he dropped the cooler. Not about to leave that behind.
"I can't believe yo' ass was stanin' there, talking 'bout - don't turn yo' back - hell with that! I can't get up no speed runnin' backward! I was leadin' the way, next time yo'ass bes' be payin' attention and follow!"
"Whatever happened to all for one, one for all!"
"Do I look like a goddamn Musketeer to you? Wasn't no black Musketeers! Shit! Hell with that! Gimme' a beer, I need to calm my nerves! Goddamn dog got me all upset, heart beatin' all fast, I could feel his hot funky breath on my ass!"
"I thought you said we was watchin' a Yorkshire Terrier!?"
"I said, he sound like a goddamn Yorkshire Terrier or some shit! Who the hell names a big ugly motha'fucka like that Kagitti!"
"Kadipiti!" Shawn corrected.
"Shi-ditty - Kadippi - whatever the hell his name is! Goddamn doorman need his ass kicked! No wonder his ass was snickerin' when he left! His ass knew that shit! Wait till I see him again - I'mo tell his ass somethin'!"
"Don't worry about him, worry about how we gonna get out o'here? I thought you knew dogs?!" Shawn asked.
"That ain't no goddamn dog! That's Godzilla out there! Hell! And you can forget that, "How we gonna get out'a'here?" We at work. We gotta take care of that dog. Diggity dog got to get his afternoon snack, which like t'been, yo'ass!" Jesse laughed.
"Jesse come on, who's gonna feed that dog?! I'm not feeding that dog! No way! Don't even try it!" Shawn declared, then stood his ground as they consulted each other between the barks of Kadipiti outside the door. "I'm telling you now, I'm not going back out there!"
"Ah'ight bwoy - Shitty smitty gotta be fed, and then walked." Jesse informed him grinning.
Shawn leaned against one of the shelves of the linen closet that Jesse ran into, a stubborn set to his features as he stared at his grinning mentor, Jesse. Not seeing anything funny, especially now that his bladder felt full. There were no windows in the small nook for towels and sheets. "Jesse, come on man! What are we gonna do? I gotta piss!"
"You got to piss? Bwoy - you best pinch yo'dick! We gone be hear 'till I figure something out! Pass me a beer!"
"Hell with a beer, I gotta take a leak!"
"See, yo' ass don't think! I drink a beer - you can piss in the can! I got to think of everything!"
Shawn was quick to pass him one, Jesse drank it straight. "Now see what I go through for you? Piss in that can!"
"Jesse... I really got to piss man! You gone have to drink more than that!"
"Dammit! I can't take yo'ass no where! Pass me another can!" Shawn did, starting to squirm. "Hurry up Jesse!"
"I'm drinking as fast as I can bwoy - shit! Pinch yo' dick and cross yo'legs!" He ordered drinking another beer, belching upon finishing it, and then kicked his foot back into the door three times, "SHET YO'ASS UP - Shadicky!"
Shawn was squirming and laughing at the same time, "Kadipiti man! Kadipiti! That's why he trying to attack our ass, you keep calling him everything but his name!"
"Never mind that shit - two cans enough?" Jesse asked.
"One more Jesse!"
"Damn yo'ass - you better fill'em up too! Pass me another one goddammit! SHET UP Kadizzy!"
Shawn passed him another and took the first can, opening his pants. "Hold on dammit! Don't start, less you can stop that shit mid-stream! Bes' wait to see if I can down this third one!"
"It don't matter, 'cause I gotta piss now!" Shawn warned.
Jesse popped the tab and chugged the third beer as fast as he could, finished it, belched and tossed it to Shawn as he lined up the first can and started peeing. Jesse was feeling a buzz and turned to the door and opened it a crack to look out and see where Kadipiti was. He was right there at the door watching for it to open, and sure enough, he was ready and tried to charge into the room on them.
"WHOA - SHIT - DAMN - HOLD'UP - SHADITTY! SHIT! HELP ME SHAWN!!!"
"I'm pissing! What the hell you open the door for, I'm pissing!!"
Shawn shoved himself backward against the door to add his weight to it to keep the massive animal out. The door slammed back. Shawn peed on the floor, his jeans, his hand and was trying to get it back in the can.
"Keep that shit away from me man! Pissin' all over the goddamn place!!"
"Its your fault! Why you open the door!?" Shawn argued back.
"Get one of them towels, wipe all that shit up. Ah hell - I got to pee now. We got to get out'ah here!"
Shawn was cleaning up when Jesse said, "We need something to distract him, long enough to run out'ah here."
"Than what?"
"We gone have to feed his ass and walk'em!"
"We?"
"Damn skippy! This the future of our big business... we'll look back on this and laugh one day. But right now, we got to work it out."
Shawn could only stare at Jesse and groan, the look on his face making the other man laugh. "Don't be looking at me like that bwoy! You my apprentice - consider this basic training."
"Jesse, why is my bullshit alarm going off!?"
Jesse laughed even deeper, banged on the door, "Shi-dippity! Shet yo' ass up now! Don't make me come out there on yo'ass!" Jesse opened the door again, just a crack and looked at Kadipiti. Who did a succession of rapid barks, growling and pushing at the door.
"Just let him in so he can eat our asses up! We the goddamn snack... and that doorman knew it!" Shawn complained pushing the door back again, helping Jesse to close it. Jesse turned to Shawn, "You know this is fucked up don't you? How we gone get that dog off this door?"
"It's your business idea!"
"After this, first rule of business! We don't watch nothing bigger than a cocker spaniel! Hell with this!"
"Oh that's good for later on, but what about now?"
"Gimme me another beer, and you better pray, that Cujo like him a little barley, or we - are - screwed." Jesse instructed.
Shawn went to the cooler, took out a can and passed it to Jesse, he popped the cap and explained, "We had a dog name ol'Rufus, and ol'Rufus, l
oved him some beer, now lets pray the same for Shitty jiggy."
Shawn slapped his face, shaking his head, "His name is Kadipiti, Jesse - Kadipiti!"
"Kabitchie?"
Shawn shook his head, "Kadipiti!"
"Fuck that dogs name! I'mo dip my foot in his ass he don't drink this beer! We gone get his ass drunk! Now brace against this door, don't let his ass in here - we just gone open it enough to toss the can out and down the hall - we gotta do this shit quick!"
Back to the present...
Shawn was laughing with Sylvia laying over him doing the same, "Ya'll butt was crazy Shawn! So did it work?"
"Yep, it worked, he must have smelled it was beer. Ran down there and lapped it up and we came out of the room and ran into another room. Then hopped outside to the front door, called him outside tossing another can of beer, he went straight for it, and we ran back in the house. We just kept him outside and dropped his food out the window. He barked the whole time, wantin' to get in, we just tossed him more beer."
"Oh my goodness Shawn! All that beer... poor dog!"
"He loved it. I think that's what he was barking for. Every time we threw him a beer, he would catch it and go lay down and drink it all out and then chew up the can."
"Em hm, and that Jesse sounds like he was a trip. You sure he wasn't taking advantage of you?"
"No. With stuff like that, he would bullshit me, but whenever it came down to anything serious, he was totally different. We always got into it because he wanted me to go back to school. I would always say, 'why don't you go back to school?' And his reply would always be, 'I'm the oldest here, I'm the big brother, you the little brother, yo'ass going back to school, quit fuckin' around!'" Shawn exploded into laughter and looked at Sylvia, who was not laughing. "You get it?" He asked coming down from his chuckle.
"Em hm, I get it." She replied with droll sarcasm.
"Aaah baby, don't be like that. It was funny. We always busted out laughing when he said that. Anyway, there are many instances where he tried putting my best interest first. That day, the day he was killed, that was going to be our last. For him, it literally was." Shawn slipped off into silence, once again thinking about it.
"Shawn ... don't think about that day."
"I can't help it. With him, for the first time in my life, I could rely on someone else. There was someone, standing up for me. Running to my rescue. Guarding my back. Teaching me, talking to me, being my older brother. And it felt fantastic. I would have followed him anywhere. We were a team." Shawn lapsed into silence as Sylvia lay listening, caressing his cheek, his hair line, loving him, waiting for him to go on, and he did. "Because of him, I can walk into Crenshaw and they know me. They know who I am and that I'm down, because all bullshit aside, we understood each other. I understood them and they, understood me - more than anyone. There were evenings, when we would just hang out, down a few malt liquors, 80oz Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull!" Shawn laughed. "Two of those, and Jesse would shake his head, "Bwoy - take your ass to bed!'"
Sylvia smiled.
"They use to laugh at me. Saying, "Aaah white boy! When you gone you ride that bull! Go'in take yo'ass somewhere an' sleep it off!" Shawn laughed again shaking his head. "King Louie - ah babe - when we go to L.A. - I'm taking you to meet him. He's incredible."
"King Louie?" Sylvia repeated his name with a smile.
"Yeah, when I went to check on Deidre, I went by his place, the pool hall, showed him your picture. He couldn't believe it, I was so proud." He admitted reaching up to stroke her hair back from her face, placing a lock behind her ear. "You'll like him, he's funny as hell - and worth his weight in gold."
"He black?"
"Yep. He is. You have to meet mama JoJo as well, I need to call her, check on her. Make sure she's all right."
Sylvia leaned forward and kissed her husband's lips, just a short, nice loving caress. "I love you Shawn. Do you know that? Even though, you scare me sometimes-..."
"Why do I scare you? I don't mean to. There's nothing about me, you need to be afraid of - ever, nothing. You and my children, you're my heart and soul. I'm nothing without you, without them. I came back to Wisconsin - without a clue of what the future held for me. To be honest, I was afraid to come back. I kind of dreaded it, because I just didn't want to face being back and - well - everything." He tapered off, shaking his head, thinking about the past.
"What? You can tell me honey, you can tell me anything." She whispered, cozy in their intimate time together.
"I just - I don't know. In LA - I wasn't the me - that my father raised me to be. I was someone else. I was different. I was - in a way - free. I don't know if you'll ever understand that. And now that I'm back - it doesn't matter that - I'm still free - because everything - that I was raised to be, just - swooped back in on me - you know. I mean, I don't know what I mean. No big deal."
Sylvia silently stared at him. His eyes were off staring into a place she would love to see into as well. His arms tightened about her, one large hand rubbing her back as he turned to focus back on her face again. "I wish Jesse were here." He murmured softly.
"I know." She caressed his skin, he needed a shave.
"You know, I look at you, and saying that I wish he were here - but - I wonder though - if he might have gone for you. I have a feeling, that he would have."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because - you were the type of woman he always said that he wanted. Almost everything about you, is what he wanted to settle down with one day. You - or - someone like you, was the dream."
Sylvia lay staring at him listening as something occurred to her.
Shawn could see her cogs turning, the contemplative reflections in her dark eyes, her manner a bit braced, not so relaxed anymore. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Oh my God." She murmured stunned.
"What?" He asked as she started pushing back off of his chest, he held on, "What Sylvia?"
"That's why you want me? That's your attraction to me! That's it!"
"What?"
"Jesse! You - you feel responsible for his death! You feel that his life ended because of you! So you - you - are living out his life - his dream! I - am the "Type" of woman he wanted, so - so you - you're living out what you think would be his life! For him! Just with your body! Aren't you?!" She tried again to push off of him so he would release her. "Sylvia! Don't be ridiculous!" He tried to hang onto her, she wiggled down and out of his grasp to stand by the bed.
"Its true! You're living his life for him! Through me! Don't you see it? You would have never been attracted to someone like me!" She argued with a pounding heart.
Shawn came to his knees on the bed, staring at her as if she'd grown four new arms instantly.
"Sylvia - I love you. I do - me! Not Jesse!"
"But you said that maybe he would have been attracted to me! That I was the dream!" She announced looking for her gown, found it and pulled it over her head. She'd come in her night clothes and robe the night before. Shawn climbed off of the bed to stand before her, "Sylvia McPherson - I fell in love with you-..."
"Because of Jesse!" She accused.
"NO! Not because of Jesse! You've met my mother, she raised us to think alternatively towards a marriage mate!"
"Which made you living out Jesse's dream even easier to fall into!" She argued, feeling hurt, emotional and a bit betrayed. Her mind was racing in scattered thoughts and fears, one that accused even herself of being crazy! Hormones were a bitch and being married to this man sent her emotions often on a rollercoaster ride. She didn't know if she was coming or going with him. She loved him. Wanted to love him heart and soul but there was always something that made her question her own sanity.
"Sylvia! Baby stop this!"
"Let me ask you this! What if Jesse were alive?! What if you - let's say, talked him into coming back here with you! To - start - your lives over! And you both saw me! Would you have gone after me then!? Or would you have nudged him, -he whom you just admitted would follow him a
nywhere- would you have nudged him and said, there you go Jesse! YOUR DREAM! You would have! You know you would have! You wouldn't have given me a second thought! You would have stepped back and presented me to him!" She huffed almost in tears.
"You're wrong." Shawn tried to reason with her.
"No! I'm right! I know I'm right! You know - I'm - I'm right!" She was crying, and pissed because of it, and swiped at her tears.
"Sylvia! Baby you're working yourself up over nothing honey! Nothing! You're going into what if's! Jesse's not even here!"
"But if he were, you would not be in love with me! And maybe - just maybe - you're not!"
"Sylvia - come - on! I can't believe this!" Shawn threw his arms into the air spinning in disbelief. Trying to reason with her, he walked up to her, hands out in supplication, "Baby, I'm in love with you -..."
"Put your pants on, dangling in front of me!" She snapped, tired of looking at his limp phallus. Grinding his teeth, Shawn found his lounging pants at the end of the bed and put them on, saying as he did, "... honey I need you to calm down and think about what you're saying?!"
"I'm too busy thinking about what you said!" She fired out. Looking for her purse only to realize she came without it.
"Sylvia I didn't fall in love with you because of Jesse! If Jesse had returned with me; and we'd both spotted you - it would have turned out to be the biggest test of our friendship. Honestly honey."
Sylvia was standing in the middle of the floor, holding her robe to her breasts, staring at him with large injured eyes, so unsure - again worried. Shawn gently, carefully took her by the shoulders and led her to the bed, and sat her on the edge so he could kneel before her, to look up into her eyes.
"Believe me, Sylvia. You and only you, would have been the one and only person, that could have come between us. We - he and I, would have been like two bulls in a pen. I'm sorry, that would have been one occasion, that he and I would have come up against each other."
"No you wouldn't have Shawn, because you loved him. You still love him! You're naming our child after him! You would have stepped back for him. I know you would have. You can say all of this now, but if he were here, you would have stepped aside. Probably never given me a second look."
BOMAW 7-9 Page 85
