Naughty 2: My Way or the Highway

by Brenda Hampton

  “Girl, you’re getting too big for me to be picking you up.” I tickled her and picked her up anyway. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. “Thanks for bringing her by, Leslie. And if you talk to Scorpio, tell her to call me.”

  “I’ll tell her, but she won’t call. And I’ll be back to pick up Mackenzie on Sunday night.”

  I looked at the station wagon parked in front of my house with her seven kids jumping around in it acting like fools. “Leslie, please just let her stay. It looks like you already got your hands full, so let her stay with me until Scorpio comes back. If Scorpio calls for her, tell her to call me. Tell her I won’t question her about her whereabouts; I’ll just pass the phone to Mackenzie.”

  “I don’t know, Jaylin. Let me talk to Scorpio first. I’ll call you Sunday and let you know then.”

  She kissed Mackenzie and left.

  I didn’t care what she or anybody else said; Mackenzie was not going back to Leslie’s house to save her soul.

  I carried Mackenzie up the steps on my back. She laughed loudly, so I told her LJ was sleeping, and asked her to be quiet. She changed into her nightgown and climbed into bed with us. In less than five minutes, she was out like a light.

  I couldn’t sleep a wink. I had been downstairs about fifty times nibbling on the pot roast Nanny B had cooked earlier, and cutting slices of her pineapple upside-down cake. When I passed her in the hallway, we laughed. I bent down and picked up some crumbs I had dropped on the floor.

  “You should be ashamed of yourself,” she whispered. “Is there any left for me?”

  “Yeah, there’s plenty. But save some for tomorrow, all right?”

  “Please. If it’s not enough, I’ll make another one. Now, get your greedy butt back in bed before the children wake up.”

  In my room, LJ was lying on his stomach with his thumb in his mouth and his butt in the air. Mackenzie was lying on her back, her long, curly black hair spread out on my pillows, looking beautiful like Scorpio. I kissed both of them and tried to take LJ’s thumb out of his mouth. When he squirmed, I left him alone.

  I grabbed a pillow off my bed and laid it on the floor. Then I slid Mr. McDaniels’ tape into the VCR. I propped my head with the pillow and started to watch it.

  About five minutes into it, I had a smile on my face. It was straight-up wild. No wonder her husband wanted me to disappear. And Heather, she was all into it, and looked as if she was enjoying every inch of my thang inside of her.

  I continued to watch the tape and my dick started to climb. Having no woman in sight, I paused it and stared at the ceiling. Nokea had to have been devastated after seeing something like that. I knew it wasn’t in my best interest to lie to her again, so I hoped she’d call back tomorrow. If not, I was determined to see her and make things right between us. As for Scorpio, I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with her. I was already missing her, but was fighting every ounce of feeling I had for her. If time away was what she needed, then that’s what I was going to give her. Eventually, she’d realize what she’s missing, and come back begging for forgiveness.

  I slowly cracked my eyes, and saw LJ and Mackenzie hanging off the edge of the bed, staring at me on the floor. I knew LJ wasn’t going to keep his balance for long, so I hurried to grab him. Morning had come that fast. I made my way to the bathroom with LJ, Mackenzie tagging close behind.

  “Mackenzie, can your daddy have some privacy? Take LJ to Nanny B’s room to see if she’s awake yet.”

  She took LJ by the hand. “Come on, LJ. Let’s go downstairs. I think Nanna’s in the kitchen.”

  “Be careful, baby. He’s not good with steps yet, okay? Ask Nanny B to help you.”

  “Okay,” she said, walking slowly with LJ and holding his hand. Nanny B must have heard me, because just then she came down the hallway. I looked at all of them and realized just how blessed I was. All my tedious problems on the outside couldn’t overtake the love I had always dreamed of having in my home.

  I was on my way out of the shower when the phone rang. I wrapped a towel around my waist. It was Nokea.

  “Hey, where are you?” I asked.

  “I’m at the Sheraton,” she said, dryly. “We need to talk.”

  “Yes, we do. How long are you going to be there?”

  “I’m on my way home. Meet me there in about an hour. And don’t bring LJ with you.”

  “Okay. An hour it is. But, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am—”

  “Jaylin, no need to apologize. Meet me in an hour.” She hung up.

  I slid into a pair of jeans and a thick brown cashmere sweater. Since I’d planned to spend the entire weekend with my kids, I told Nanny B I’d be right back.

  Nokea was already at home when I got there. After I knocked, I rubbed my hands together and tried to keep them warm. She opened the door to let me in, but immediately turned away. I followed her to her bedroom. She was wrapping up a call with her mother.

  As I waited, I took a seat in a chair that was caddy-corner to her bed. She told her mother that she loved her, and hung up, sitting across from me.

  “Aren’t you going to take off your coat and hat?” she said. “I do have heat, you know.”

  I edged up from the chair and removed my coat. I left my hat on because I didn’t plan on staying long. “I know you saw the tape yesterday,” I said. “Question is, why must you go through my things all the time, Nokea?”

  “Jaylin, I didn’t go through your things. Your briefcase fell open and the tape came out. I put it in the VCR, wondering why the words son of a bitch was on it.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat. So now you know that I screw white women too. What’s the big deal?”

  “Who said it’s a big deal? It doesn’t matter to me if the women in your life are African American, Caucasian, Italian, Puerto Rican, Irish . . . who cares? It’s not about them anymore; it’s about you. For as long as I can remember, it’s always been about you. You go through life constantly hurting people, and the thing is, you don’t even care. Is it ever going to be about someone else other than just you?”

  “It is about other people in my life, Nokea. My children, that’s who. You had your chance and you fucked up. What in the hell do you want me to do about it?” I rubbed my hands together and told her how I really felt. “You know, the more and more I think about everything that’s happened lately, I blame you for creating this monster in me. I was trying to get myself on the right track, and then you played me with the Stephon bullshit.”

  “Wait a minute,” she yelled. “How dare you sit there and blame me for your obsession with women? You need to man up and ’fess up to this mess you’ve got all of us in. But, somehow or someway, I knew you’d come here and blame me for your ignorance.” She stomped over to her nightstand and pulled out a small black pistol. She aimed it at me and demanded that I get on my knees.

  “Woman, you’re crazy. I ain’t—”

  “Damn it, Jaylin!” she yelled. “I’m in control now! Don’t argue with me, just do it! And don’t think I wouldn’t shoot you right now because I’m truly feeling as if I have nothing to lose.”

  I thought about rushing Nokea and taking the gun from her, but under the circumstances, decided that wasn’t the best thing to do. After seeing the tape and meeting with Pat, her mind could be anywhere. I wasn’t taking any chances, so I did as she asked and eased down on one knee. “Okay, so now that you have my attention, now what?” I asked.

  “How does it feel letting a woman have control? For once in your life, how does it feel?” She moved in closer with the gun and aimed it directly at my face.

  “Nokea, look. I’m not going to fuck around with you like this—”

  “Shut up and listen! Can you do that for one time in your life?” I nodded and saw her hands shaking. “This bullshit between us is over! I don’t need any more apologies, no more of your lies, nor do I need anymore of your hand-me-down-ass dick! We have a son together and that’s it. Don’t call me unless it concern
s him, don’t touch me unless I ask you to, and don’t even think about grabbing this gun because I will blow your damn brains out!”

  “Fine. But can’t we talk about this without the gun?” I asked, getting ready to get up.

  “Stay there! I didn’t tell you to get up yet. And no, we can’t talk without the gun because you won’t listen to me without it.”

  “I promise you that if you put the gun down I’ll listen. You’ve made your point, all right?”

  The phone rang, startling Nokea. She turned her head, and I dove forward and grabbed her waist. We fell back on the bed and the gun hit the floor. She screamed and kicked, as I pressed my body weight down on her so she couldn’t move.

  “Calm your ass down!” I yelled. “Do you want to know the truth?” We continued to struggle, and once she realized that she couldn’t overpower me, she chilled. I looked her in the eyes and held her hands tightly above her head. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m sorry. I understand how upset you must be, but I can’t change anything that’s happened in the past. I love you, Nokea, but I’m not in love with you anymore. My heart is moving in a different direction. Every time I see you now, I think of you making love to Stephon. Every time I touch you, I think of him touching you. I thought if you and I got married it would take away my hurt, but I now know that our marriage would have been a mistake.” I let go of her hands and seemed to have her attention. I stood up and pulled her into my arms. “Aside of that, I can’t stop being who I am. I love women too much to settle down, and I’m satisfied with the way things are in my life.”

  “But what about all these years we’ve shared together? Don’t they account for anything? Why do they feel like such a waste?”

  “Our years together weren’t a waste. We got a beautiful son, Nokea, and we’ve always had each other to depend on. I knew making love to you on my birthday was a bad idea, but I just couldn’t help myself. You will always be in my heart, but I’m having a difficult time accepting your past relationship with Stephon. I know he had his way with you, and I can’t deny the change I saw in the way you made love to me. I have to start looking at you in a different way.”

  “I can’t stress how my being with Stephon was a big mistake, but like you said, I can’t change the past. After all the hurt we’ve caused each other, maybe we should consider just being friends.” She laid her head against my chest and cried. “I . . . I don’t want to hurt anymore, Jaylin. I’m tired of pointing the finger at each other. Do you think we can get on with our lives in a sensible way without being together?”

  “Of course I do. But if you ever put a gun on me again, I’ll hurt you, Nokea. I don’t take shit like that too lightly. You hear me?” I moved her away from my chest to confirm what I’d said.

  “The gun wasn’t loaded, silly. I just wanted you to listen to me.”

  I stepped away from her and retrieved the gun from the floor. Once I removed the clip, I saw that it was empty. “You’re a dangerous-ass lil’ something. Where did you get this gun from and where are the bullets?”

  “Jaylin, LJ and I live in this big house alone. If an intruder comes in here, I’m going to be ready. My father gave it to me and I keep the bullets in the drawer.”

  I opened the drawer and pretended to place a few bullets in the clip. “If an intruder comes in, you can’t do anything with an empty clip.”

  “I took the bullets out before you came because I didn’t know if you would try and take the gun away from me.”

  “Well, don’t mess around like that. One of us could have gotten seriously hurt.” I walked over to Nokea and put my arm around her waist. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us, but you know everything happens for a reason.”

  “I know. I’m a true believer in that as well, but I will never understand why they couldn’t work out for us.”

  “But in the meantime,” I shoved her back on the bed and placed the gun directly on her temple. “This is not a good feeling, is it?” She shook her head. “I don’t care how damn upset you are with me, don’t ever think about doing this to me again.” I pulled the trigger and she screamed loudly while holding her face in her hands.

  She snatched the gun away from me. “Jaylin! There were bullets in there. You could have killed me!”

  “I didn’t feel like it this time. Maybe next time I will.” I snatched the gun and put it at the top of her closet. “Keep this damn thing up here. I would hate for my son to get a hold of it. Then I’d really have to kill you.”

  “Whatever,” she said, still a bit shaken up.

  Just so she didn’t have to be alone tonight, Nokea packed a few things at her house and drove back to my place with me. While in the car, she told me how things went down with Pat. I really felt sorry for Nokea. Pat was the only true friend she had, and to lose her friendship and our relationship all in one day proved to me that she was a stronger woman than I thought.

  When we got back to my house, Nanny B cooked a scrumptious dinner for us all, and made another one of her pineapple upside-down cakes. Since Heather had been calling me all week, I excused myself while they cleaned up the kitchen and went into my office to call her back.

  “Yes,” I said, moodily. “What’s up, Heather?”

  “What’s up is why haven’t you called me? My husband has been making all kinds of threats and I thought—”

  “Well, you thought wrong. Your husband doesn’t have enough courage to follow through with his threats, Heather. And I find it quite odd that you didn’t know there were cameras throughout your house.”

  “I didn’t know. Really, you have to believe me,” she whined. “If I had known, I never would have asked you to come inside.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it. All I can say is if you love him, you’d better warn him. If he pays me another one of his unexpected visits, shit is going to start happening to his ass.”

  “If he wasn’t away all the time, and sleeping around with other women, maybe sex between us wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Good to know that you used me. And I’ll be happy to say that I used you too, so the game is over, Heather. Have a nice life and holla at me some other time.”

  “Jaylin, wait! This was never a game for me. I’m feeling something for you. I haven’t been happy for a long time, and being with you just makes me feel so wanted. I was thinking about having another rendezvous in your office again.”

  “Don’t think so, baby. I’ll pass this time, but whenever you see your husband, don’t forget to tell him what I said. Again, if you love him, you’d better stop him from coming around me. Goodbye,

  I had hoped to hear from Scorpio before the day was over, but she hadn’t called. Leslie was supposed to pick Mackenzie up tomorrow, but she left a message that something had come up, and asked if Mackenzie could stay the week with me. It didn’t matter to me because Mackenzie wasn’t going anywhere. I did call Leslie back to thank her, and reminded her to tell Scorpio to call me.

  By eleven o’clock, I was ready to shut down. Nanny B and Nokea cleaned up the kitchen, and LJ and Mackenzie were knocked out in Mackenzie’s room. LJ had his own room but it was truly a waste. Either he was in with Mackenzie, or bundled up with Nanny B or me.

  I grabbed some extra blankets and pillows from the linen closet, and led Nokea to one of the guest-rooms.

  “Sorry, but this is the only bedroom that doesn’t have a TV. If you want to, you can come in my room and watch TV with me. I’ll be up for a while.”

  “Okay. I just might do that. But before I do anything, I would love to take a relaxing bath, if you don’t mind.”

  “Well, there are six bathrooms around here. Feel free to use any of them.”

  “But yours is the only one with a Jacuzzi. Would it be okay if I relaxed in your tub?”

  “Hey, not a problem. I’ll go run some water for you now.”

  I went into the bathroom and started Nokea’s water. I dropped in a few flower-scented fragrance balls that dissolved in t
he water. They were Scorpio’s, but I was sure Nokea wouldn’t mind. As I sat on the bed and pulled off my shoes, Nokea stood in the doorway with a towel wrapped around her.

  “Is it ready?” she asked.

  I looked at her silky-smooth brown legs and thought dirty things. “Yeah, it’s ready. Go see if the temperature is cool. I like it hot, but maybe you don’t.”

  She went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Then she poked her head out of the door. “I like it hot too, but this is scorching hot. Are you trying to burn me or something?”

  “No. It’s not that hot,” I said, getting off the bed and heading toward the bathroom to turn on the cold water.

  “No need. I can handle the water, and thanks. Just find something for me to put on when I get out. And, look through your DVDs for a good movie to watch.”

  “Yes ma’am,” I said, saluting her. “Anything you want.”

  She laughed and closed the door.

  I removed one of my long white shirts from the closet and laid it on the chaise. I still had the negligee I bought from Victoria’s Secret, but I thought giving it to her would be inappropriate, since we’d agreed to keep our relationship strictly platonic. The last thing I needed was for her to get the wrong idea, even though I knew getting over Nokea wasn’t going to be that easy for me to do.

  I had already changed into my pajama pants by the time Nokea came out of the bathroom. I was forty-five minutes into watching John Q and wasn’t tired at all. Nokea walked past the television with a towel wrapped around her dripping wet body. I pointed to the shirt on my chaise, and when she removed the towel, my eyes focused back to the television.

  “So, you couldn’t wait until I finished before you started the movie?”

  I sucked my teeth and gave her naked body a quick glimpse. “You took too long. I thought you drowned up in there or something.”