Naughty 2: My Way or the Highway

by Brenda Hampton

  He walked out, and Angela gave me a puzzled look. She couldn’t wait to question me, but I was in no mood to talk. She told me Scorpio stopped by to see me, but left after being told I was in an important meeting.

  I slammed my office door and checked the messages Angela had transferred to my voicemail while I’d been in with McDaniels. Stephon had called to say that Shane would meet us at Freddy’s Bar & Grill that night. We had all been friends in the past, and it had been he and I who fell out over Felicia, not Stephon and Shane. Scorpio had called, too, to say she would be back to see me around three. Nokea had called, thanking me for talking to her about the Pat situation. Two of my clients had called, and Heather had left a message about me coming to see her later. I took a deep breath and hung up the phone. Feeling a bit under pressure, I rested my elbows on my desk and massaged my temples. I hated feeling this way, but there was no way I was going to let anything get to me.

  I picked up the phone, and punched in Heather’s number to tell her about her stupid-ass husband. There was a knock, then Scorpio cracked the door open. “Angela’s not out here, so is it okay to come in?”

  I put the receiver back in its cradle. “Sure. I’ve been waiting for you to come. Shut the door behind you.” My eyes were all over Scorpio. She looked magnificent. She’d parted her hair down the middle, and both sides were full of long, fluffy curls that hung on her shoulders. Her rosy pantsuit had a long jacket that buttoned down the middle and squeezed her perfect waistline. The cuffs of her pants slightly flared out over her red three-inch heels. She sat down in front of my desk, and when she removed her dark DKNY glasses, her puffy eyes gave her away.

  “I guess you know I’m here to talk about this second alternative you mentioned last night,” she said, putting her keys on my desk.

  “You know, it’s really simple. And don’t go trying to make me feel sorry for you by letting me see you’ve been crying. I have no sympathy for you.”

  “Good,” she said, sharply. “Now, what’s the alternative?”

  “Are you rushing me?”

  “Yes. So what’s the other alternative?”

  “I’m one minute from throwing you out of here with this bad-ass attitude you got, and when I tell you that today is not the day to fuck with me, you’d better believe it. So, let’s start this conversation over . . . Are you rushing me?” I yelled.

  “Yes, but that’s because I can’t stand the sight of you, and you can’t stand the sight of me. The faster we get this over with, the better. I’m here to do whatever I have to do to keep a roof over my head, food in my mouth, and clothes on my back, until I can do better. So, for the last time, what’s the alternative?”

  “I never said I couldn’t stand the sight of you.

  You actually just made my day when you walked your pretty self through the door. What I don’t understand is why do you feel that way about me?”

  “Jaylin, look, I don’t feel that way. But who cares about how I feel? You don’t. Besides, that’s not the point. The point is that I need to know what to do to make this better between us?”

  “That’s simple. Question is, do you love me?”

  She dropped her head and looked down at the floor. She swallowed hard, then lifted her head back up as a tear rolled down her face. She swatted at it. “What does that have to—”

  “Do you love me!” I spat each word at her. “If you do, then let me hear you say it!”

  A few more tears fell and she nodded. “Yes, yes I love you, but what the hell does that have—”

  “Good! And I love you too!” I picked up the phone and slammed it down in front of her. “Call this motherfucker Shane and tell him it’s over! Tell him who you love and tell him you never want to see his ass again!”

  She shook her head. “Jaylin, that is so petty. Shane knows who I love.”

  “Then he won’t have a problem with you telling him again.” I picked up the receiver. “What’s his number?” I asked, ready to dial it myself. She turned the phone toward her and dialed. I hit the button for speakerphone to make sure she wasn’t playing no games with me. And just my luck, the bastard answered.

  “Hello?” he said.

  “Shane, hi. It’s Scorpio.”

  “I know. Recognize your sexy voice anywhere.”

  I looked at Scorpio with disgust.

  “Hey, I need to talk to you about something,” she said.

  “I hope about when, where, and how we’re going to finish up what we started last night. I’ve been thinking . . .”

  Scorpio hesitated and I whispered for her to get to the point. “Shane,” she interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about last night too, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to say that you were right.”

  “Right about what? Hopefully about us being together?”

  “No. About me possibly hurting you because I’m in love with Jaylin. It was wrong for me to let things go as far as they did last night when I still have strong feelings for him. I was just calling to say I’m sorry about the whole thing, and if you don’t hear from me anymore it’s because—”

  “Because you’re afraid to let a real man love you. I felt a connection with you last night. And no matter what you say, I know you felt it too. If you’re telling me that you’re moving on, fine. I’ll accept that and I truly wish you well.” He hung up.

  I turned off the speakerphone. “Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it? And since you really love me, that made it a whole lot easier, didn’t it?”

  Scorpio stood and removed her keys from my desk. She put her glasses back on and headed to the door. “Sex tonight?” I asked. “I think we got a little something to celebrate.”

  “And what might that be?” she said dryly. “Never mind, surprise me, Jaylin. You seem to be full of surprises lately, so wait until later to tell me. I’m sure whatever it is, I’ll enjoy it.”

  “You always do, don’t you? And put on something sexy. Red is your color, but black makes me rise a bit faster.”

  “Black, blue, purple, green, whatever,” she said, still with attitude. “Your shit will rise no matter who or what color it is. I don’t have anything sexy to put on, so don’t count on it.”

  I reached in my pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. I balled it up and threw it in her direction. It landed at her feet. “Go buy yourself something sexy. Thanks to me, Saks Fifth Avenue probably knows you by name, don’t they? And since you’re so good at spending my money, I’m sure it won’t take long for you to find something black that arouses me. I’ll be there by nine, so don’t disappoint me.” Scorpio looked down at the money, rolled her eyes, and walked out. A little while later, I gathered a few of my belongings and left for the day. I noticed that Mr. McDaniels hadn’t taken his tape with him, so I tossed it into my briefcase in case I wanted to watch it later.

  As I was driving, I called Heather’s cell phone number. She didn’t answer, so I left a message for her to call me. Sure her hubby would hear it, I spiced it up a bit and told her I was dying to fuck.

  When I got home, Mackenzie and Nanny B were in the bonus room watching Monsters, Inc. I showered, changed clothes, and told them I would be back later. Mackenzie put up a fuss, but I promised her we would do something together on the weekend when LJ came over.

  I got to Freddy’s Bar & Grill around seven o’clock. Stephon was already sitting at a booth, and waved at me when I came through the door. I didn’t see Shane yet.

  Stephon must have had the same idea as I, because his outfit was banging. We both had on our leather pants and lizard-skin boots. He wore a multi-colored sweater with zigzags on it and a hat to match. I wore a black-ribbed, long-sleeved v-neck sweater that hugged my muscles and matched my black leather boppy hat. My gold diamond Rolex glistened on one wrist; my thick nugget gold bracelet on the other.

  “I know you didn’t try and go all out for this brotha, did you?” I said, grinning and bumping knuckles with him.

  “I didn’t try, I did. And looks like you did too.” We both l
aughed and sat the booth.

  “So, where this ol’ wishy-washy nigga at? Probably at home soaking cause I made Scorpio call him today and diss his ass.”

  “Whaaat? And she did it?”

  “Come on, you don’t have to ask, do you?”

  Stephon shook his head. “Jay, you know you be playing with fire.”

  “Who gives a damn? I’m so mad at her ass that I could just kill her. Tonight, though, I’m gonna put a hurting on that ass.”

  “You need some help?”

  I laughed. “Naw, man, I got it all taken care of. I’m gonna set that ass out so good tonight, that when another brotha walk by she’ll be afraid to even look at him.”

  “Well, damn. Just don’t make it where she don’t want to look at my black ass.”

  “You silly, man, but, uh, I kind of got a bigger fish to fry.”

  “Bigger fish like what?”

  “Mr. Robert McDaniels. Heather’s husband. Son of a bitch came on my job today and disrespected me. He threatened me and offered me seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars to disappear.”

  “And? What did you tell him? You better not have taken the money, Jay.”

  “Fool, don’t you know anything about me? I told him to get the fuck out of my office and damn near put my foot in his ass. Thing is, he’s been watching me. Trying to find out shit about me and I don’t like that. I’m a private man, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “So, do you want to do away with this motherfucker or what?”

  I looked out the window. “Naw, I ain’t trying to go out like that, ’cause I hope after today he realizes I ain’t no poot-butt Negro he can order around.”

  “Well, if I were you, I wouldn’t even sweat it. If he dig a little further into our family’s history, and find out how many relatives we got locked up for murder, he’ll back off. If not, all you have to do is say the word. His ass will be the one disappearing. Just like—”

  “Man, I know. Don’t be talking that stuff up in here. Ain’t no telling who might be listening. Besides, that punk-ass fool Shane is on his way in. I just saw him park his car.”

  “What’s he driving?”

  “A Lexus. An older one.”

  Stephon and I pretended to hold a heavy conversation when Shane came in. When he got to the booth, Stephon stood and displayed a wide grin. I didn’t say shit and checked out Shane from head to toe.

  “Whaz up, man? Ain’t seen yo ass in a long time.” Stephon said, then moved aside so Shane could slide into the booth next to him.

  “Nothing, nothing much,” he said. “Just been chillin’, that’s all. Teaching, tutoring, designing, and painting my life away.”

  “You forgot something,” I said.

  “Excuse me. Forgot what?”

  “You forgot to mention that you’ve been placing your mouth where it doesn’t belong.”

  “Ahh... So, that’s what this is about. Scorpio? Well, I’ve been doing that, too, but if that’s what you two gentlemen want to talk with me about, I don’t have time.”

  “Jay,” Stephon said. “Why don’t you hold it down?” He looked at Shane who was getting ready to leave. I knew Stephon was trying to calm things down and remind us that we had been good friends once. But he didn’t understand the level of animosity that stirred between us.

  Stephon continued. “Shane, listen, we didn’t call you here to scold you or anything. We just wanted to find out the down-low on a couple of females. Since we’re boys and everythang, I thought we might be able to sit down and talk about this like brothas who got each other’s backs. So, hang around for a while. Order yourself a drink and let’s talk.”

  “Yeah, man,” I said. “I apologize for coming off like that, but I’m having a bad-ass day today. My lady came home last night, late, and told me that she just got off in your mouth. Now, I don’t know how upset you would be if it was your woman, but I ain’t too damn thrilled about it.”

  “Trust me,” Shane said. “I understand your pain. But a few years ago, my woman came into my bedroom and told me my dick wasn’t big enough. Said she found a brotha with a mega thang who liked to work it from behind, and do it in the shower. And the killer part about it was when she said it was one of my closet friends. Can you even imagine how pissed I was?”

  “Of course, but why you be out for revenge? Especially over a bitch like Felicia. If anything, I did you a favor.”

  “I know, Jay. And believe it or not, I’m not out for revenge. I think you have a beautiful woman, and if she wasn’t yours, she’d definitely be mine.”

  “I’m feeling you on that one,” Stephon said, pounding his chest. “I’ve been saying the same damn thing for months.”

  “Well, I don’t care what neither one of you fellas say. She’s my woman, she’s going to be with me and only me.” I paused and gave both of them a serious look. “And even though I have a funny way of loving her, I do.”

  “What? Shane, did you just hear what he said?” Stephon asked.

  “Naw, I didn’t. I must have something clogged in my ears. Did he just say he was in love with someone?”

  “Naw, not Jay. This is definitely some new shit to me,” Stephon said.

  “Shut up. Y’all playas need to be quiet. Stephon, you know I’ve been in love before,” I said, thinking about Nokea. I was still somewhat bitter about what had happened between her and Stephon, but I was doing my best to move on.

  “In love? With who?” Shane asked.

  “My nanny, nigga, that’s who.”

  We all laughed.

  After a few minutes of talking, Shane got up and went to the restroom. Stephon and I checked him out; he looked spiffy his damn self with his red Ralph Lauren shirt and blue jeans. He always was a bit more muscular than Stephon and me, and by the looks of things, his workout plan was not failing him at all. I now knew why Scorpio was interested.

  When Shane came back to the table he had three drinks in his hands. He set them on the table. “Let me see if I remember this correctly.” He gave me my drink. “Remy is your drink.” He handed Stephon his. “Remy is your drink, and Remy is also mine. With that in mind, fellas, what does that say about us?”

  I answered. “It says that we like the same drink and the same lovely-ass women.” We clinked our glasses together in agreement.

  Shane scooted back into the booth. “So, straight up, Jay. I’m out of the picture. Now, that doesn’t mean if I see Scorpio a year or two from now and she tells me y’all aren’t together. I’m letting you know right now that she’s fair game.”

  “What about Felicia?” Stephon asked.

  Shane’s forehead wrinkled. “Felicia? What about Felicia?”

  “Negro, don’t lie. I saw your number on her caller ID.”

  “Stephon, you might have seen it because I finally called her back after she blew up my damn cell phone. I am not the least bit interested in her and I will never forget how she played me. But, what in the hell are you doing at her place? I thought she was with Jay?”

  “Man, it’s a long story. I’ve been trying to tell this knucklehead she’s bad business,” I said, looking at Stephon.

  “Stephon, man, please listen to your cousin. She is nothing but trouble.”

  “Shane, Jay, mind y’all damn business. Y’all didn’t say that shit when she was shaking a nigga down, so I don’t want to hear it.”

  “He got a point now, Jay. I must admit, the brotha’s got a point.”

  Shane and me bumped knuckles and cracked up. We sat at Freddy’s drinking and updating him for nearly two hours on what had been happening since he’d moved. Numerous calls from Heather tried to interrupt me, but I didn’t answer because I was having too much fun.

  By nine-thirty, I was ready to call it a night. I told Scorpio I would be there by nine and didn’t want to be that late since she was already mad.

  “Well, fellas, I’m outtie. I’m getting ready to stop by a flower shop, buy my woman some roses, apologize for being an asshole, and make her p
ay for opening up her legs to Shane.”

  Shane laughed. “Man, if I could change what happened last night I would. She bad, though, Jay. Baby-Girl is bad!”

  “I know. That’s why she’s with me.” I stood, and tossed two dollars on the table for my four drinks, a huge plate of hot wings, onion rings, and a piece of cherry cheesecake.

  Stephon cleared his throat. “We are truly jealous about you leaving us, and going home to put it on Scorpio. But bro, what in the hell is two dollars supposed to pay for?”

  “I changed my mind, and now, I think my dick might be in the mood for Nokea. Either way, you did get that money I wired to your account, didn’t you?”

  “Fasho. And thanks for the extra.”

  “Good. Then I’m sure it will cover the cost of my food and then some. Shane,” I said, grabbing his hand. “It’s been a pleasure, and keep in touch, man, all right?” He agreed and I jetted.

  Even though I might have been thinking about Nokea for a moment, I was on my way to see Scorpio. I was feeling kind of bad by the way I treated her, thinking about how hurt she looked in my office today.

  I swerved down Olive Blvd. feeling the true effects of the alcohol. When I parked in front of Scorpio’s condo, her car was outside, but there were no lights on. I placed the roses in my mouth and unlocked the door. I slid my boots off and walked back to her bedroom, but when I turned on the lights, she wasn’t there. I looked at the bed and saw a folded letter with a set of keys lying on the top. I sat down and read the letter:

  I’m sure the bedroom is the first place you would look for me, so there’s no doubt in my mind that you would find this letter. Today was a wake-up call for me. You left me with little respect for myself, and I’m going as far away from you as possible to get it back. Never in my wildest dream did I think I would fall this hard for you. But my problem occurred when I started loving you more than I loved myself. You are a cruel man, Jaylin. Maybe because when your mother was killed you had to live in an orphanage, but nobody’s life is perfect. I lost both of my parents at an early age and had to do without, but it never gave me the right to mistreat the people who were replacements in my life for me to love. Your watch is in the dresser drawer, your clothes are in the closet, your keys to the condo and Corvette are on the key ring, and, yes, your pussy is gone.