by Love Belvin
I sat back and chuckled. “Once again, I’m the bad guy. Mind you, I’m not engaged. Ain’t in no relationship, but I’m the wrong party. You should’ve heard them today, raving about how good of a girl she is, how she’s not that type to get involved with a dude like me…she’s upstanding.” I shrugged. “They say she even works in the front office. But again, I’m the bad guy.”
Her mouth twisted as she mentally chewed on something. “Another public showing of your bedroom tryst, but now, you’re a professional football player. You won’t be considered a ‘kid, being a kid.’ You have a voice in this. How can you turn this situation around?”
I took a deep breath, over the topic already. All day it had been running through my mind. It was only a matter of hours before Eli would run back to Divine about this. I was surprised my phone hadn’t been blowing up already.
I dropped my face into my palms with my elbows digging into my knees. “I could go straight to her and her ol’ man and try to clear the air.”
“Apologizing?”
My head shot up. “Hell no! I ain’t apologizing for shit. I’ll leave that to her. She gotta apologize to that man. I don’t owe them shit.”
“Then what will you say?”
“I don’t know. Just something to clear up the fact I didn’t know her and it ain’t gonna happen again.”
She stood from the chair and took a deep breath. My session had come to a close.
“Getting ahead of a quagmire like this would only speak to your wisdom and maturity. If that’s something you decide to do, I just hope you remember etiquette. Your intent isn’t always delivered in just the words you say; it’s also in the manner of your presentation.”
I stood to leave, pulling out my phone to turn on the ringer and check my notifications. Making nice was not my thing but winning was. I had to do something to get out of this shit I found myself in.
When I made it to the door, I mumbled goodbye, mind already on the email my business partner, Jeremy, sent.
“Amare…” I turned to her with my hand on the knob. She was at her desk, leaning back in her chair but her forehead was wrinkled and mouth pouted. This lady thinks too much. “If you had company at your place…in your bed, where was your other guest, who was awaiting you while you were at the party?”
“Where I always entertain chicks: in Sharkie’s room.”
She blinked. “Who’s Sharkie?”
I smiled, not necessarily embarrassed. “My Tosa.”
Her eyeballs swung right to left. “A dog?”
“My best friend.” I closed the office door behind me.
~Five
I looked at the house, mildly lit and no movements inside the windows. Then my eyes shot down to my cell in my hand to confirm.
60609…
Those were numbers on one of the posts on the porch of the white colonial with black trim.
This’ where Jimmy Wright live?
Neighborhood wasn’t bad. It was quiet, no one hanging out after dark. Far better than the slums I’d seen back home in Trenton. But the way they talked about Wright’s legend, I was expecting to see it in his crib.
The hell he do with his bank from back in the day?
Taking a deep breath, I backed up to pull into the driveway. I parked behind an old body Benz then walked to the front door. The moment my thumb raised to ring the doorbell, I wanted to leave. I shouldn’t have come down here. Who gave a fuck about making nice with a chick I fucked? Who gave a damn about an old head baller?
I took a deep breath, pushing myself to get this out of the way. The problem was, I never pushed myself to do shit like this. The only thing I talked myself into was eating clean and working out harder, but this was related to ball, too. I needed to make this good. I had to squash any expectations my actions the other night may have caused…him or her.
That’s when I finally pushed the damn button. After a few seconds, I saw the silhouette of a petite body moving hesitantly toward the door through the thin curtain to the left of it. Slowly, she unlocked and pulled the knob back cautiously.
“Hi,” she seemed to have breathed out.
I didn’t speak at first, taking her all in. Heather gray tights covered her short, toned legs and a tight, braless tank top clung to her breasts. She was barefoot and wore a loose ponytail at the top of her head. And…no makeup.
I felt my eyes blink. That’s when it hit me: I forgot what she looked like since she left my damn bed. This chick was faceless after I slayed, just like the rest. But standing here, staring down at her—even without the makeup and thick dark lashes she wore at the party—her features reminded me why she broke the dark mood I was in that night. Shit… The dark space I’d been in for weeks. It was that lost look in her eyes. The nakedness in them, telling me everything she didn’t want me to know.
“Uh…”
Damn!
I couldn’t remember her name and my dumb ass had the nerve to fucking blink again!
My hand went into the air as I tried to resuscitate my damn brain.
“I…uh…”
“You want to come in?” her soft, girlie voice rushed out. She pointed behind her. “I have something on the stove.”
She backed up, widening the doorway. That forced my decision and I walked inside. She closed the door behind me and waved me on to follow her. Of course, my eyes went to her ass that jiggled but I curbed my excitement. Tonight wouldn’t be that type of party. Never again would it be that type of party with her.
The house smelled good and was nicely decorated. It was hella quiet, too. I wondered where Wright was. It would be odd running into him here, but I’d deal with that if I had to. I just wanted to squash this and get on with my life.
“Have a seat.” She pointed to the kitchen table when she breezed through.
I didn’t want to sit but declining would have been rude. And being rude would have been counterproductive. I pulled out the closest chair to the door and sat with my legs out from under the table. She went straight to the stove and lifted a smoking lid.
“My name is Parker. Parker Grayson,” she spoke with her back to me.
I was happy as hell she couldn’t see the relief on my face. It would have been hard making good with someone whose name you couldn’t remember.
“I know your name.”
“No, you didn’t.” She turned her head to look at me over her shoulder.
“I did,” I continued to lie. “I just… It’s just been a long day.”
“Oh, yeah?” She grabbed a mitt then bent to open the oven door. “How so?”
“Lots I don’t wanna get into. But one of the biggest was finding out about you.”
“What about me?” She pulled a pan from the oven and placed it on the stove.
“You know…” My eyes swept the room for incomers or lurkers. “You.”
“That’s not saying much. Remember, you didn’t even know my name when you rang the doorbell. So how much did you”—she used rabbit ears for quotations—“find out about me?”
“A lot more than your name. I’m sure you know who I am by now. Know I’m connected.”
“I don’t know about connected, but I did find out our little rendezvous Saturday night made it all the way to my boss—our boss. By Monday afternoon, clock out time, his executive assistant pulled me aside and shared what our boss had learned about my activities once I left his home.” She gave me a long side-eye.
“That ain’t saying much about what info you heard about me and if you know about my connections.”
“Well, let’s unpack this one item at a time. Good information about a person should at least start with a name. Your ‘connections’ can’t be that good if they didn’t give you that.”
She was being a smart ass but her voice was deceptively soft, girlie…smooth while her small back was to me as she worked over the stove. It wasn’t as husky, anxious, and velvet as it was the other night when she was curious about my cock. About me.
“I was told
you gotta man you ain’t bring to the party the other night. Or should I say, you went to his boy’s house party and left with another nigga. That’s how you do ya fiancé?”
She paused, elbows in the air from her working on her dinner. Parker’s head rotated to look at me over her shoulder again at first. Then she dropped the utensils, switched off the eye of the stove, and turned to face me fully.
Yeah…
I’d gotten to her. I had to pull that information out of one of the assistant coaches this afternoon. I was able to get a lot of information on her, including Wright’s address. It still blew my mind that she lived with dude. And not because I hadn’t seen or experienced this myself before but because everybody was so uptight about it—about Wright. Why would she be so reckless?
She leaned against the stove and crossed her arms. “Is that what you were told?”
“That and more.”
“And you believe everything you’re told—just like that?” Her forehead lifted.
I shrugged and stretched my arms. “Why wouldn’t I? Why would anybody lie on you?” I looked her up and down, not really knowing why.
Parker’s eyes mocked my own as she glanced down at herself. Her head came up, face folded, and mouth twisted.
“What about my appearance makes everything you heard believable?” I was stuck on that one. “Okay. We’re unpacking. Right?” She sensed my confusion and pushed her palms in the air. “Let’s start with what you’ve been told.”
My eyes danced around the kitchen. I didn’t come here for this. To keep it a buck, I thought I’d be out of here by now. I was shocked as hell when Parker turned for the cabinet and began to unload dishes. This chick was really waiting for me to answer.
I didn’t have time for the bullshit, so I got straight to it.
“I heard you’re engaged to dude. You a lot younger than him. Y’all been together a minute.” I was stalling. This all seemed stupid now. “He been a little sick and you stay with him.”
When I glanced up, she was looking at me with small eyes and one brow in the air. She thought I was bullshitting her. Then she turned back for the stove.
“I’ve heard things about you, too.”
I was checking out her ass when I asked, “Word?”
“Yup. Like how much of a loose cannon you are. That you’re in love with an Erceg.” Whatever. “How you sexually assaulted that girl in college.” What? “And how violent you are. You knocked that Russian kid out cold for no reason.”
“That’s some bullshit!” I found myself yelling. Parker leaped in the air, facing me. “I ain’t never have to assault no girl to get no ass in my life. That’s on god, yo!” I was ready for her to come with the shits so I could set her little ass straight, but she kept quiet and that confused me. “Yo, you can go get Wright or what the fuck ever you want, but I ain’t about to have nobody accusing me of shit I wasn’t charged with. Matter of fact, go get him. ‘Cause if you think you gonna stand here and bring up shit you ‘on’t know nothing about, I rather take it up with ya man.”
Calmly, she began walking over to me. “Oh, you’ll see him soon.”
Huhn?
Her voice wasn’t raised, neither did she appear offended. That wasn’t the worst tone I’d ever taken with a female, but it was supposed to sting. For Parker, it didn’t seem to faze her one bit. I was so wound up I didn’t realize she was holding two plates until she sat one down in front of me.
“Eat first. I would offer a Snickers bar, but I don’t have any around.”
Eat? I didn’t come to eat. Was this a set up? My instincts kicked in and I began to think about the worst outcome.
I came here unannounced. What would Wright’s reaction be if he found me in here, eating from his girl? The nigga was old—older than my pops, maybe. I could beat his ass.
Damn!
I mentally kicked myself. I should have brought Fats. I didn’t because this was supposed to be a quick, in and out mission. She invited me in and was now serving me her man’s food, but I’d be damned if my stomach didn’t growl the moment my eyes dropped and saw the glazed salmon, sautéed spinach, and quinoa. The quinoa had something green and leafy in it with cranberries. What the hell did she know about clean eating?
Then it dawned on me.
“Ya man eat?” My tone laced with sarcasm.
Her head came up from praying and she looked across the table at me. “He eats first. Every day.”
She started digging in her plate. It wasn’t enough food for me but after I let go of the quick thought of her poisoning me, I thought, “fuck it” and started eating my damn self.
“So what else did you hear about me?” she asked, eyes on her plate.
I waited until I swallowed the food in my mouth. “You was a league cheerleader. That’s how Wright scooped you up.”
“Ahhh.” She nodded. “That’s true.”
“And what I say so far ain’t?”
“You haven’t said much to explain why you’re here.”
Again, I had no words.
Why was I here now?
Then I decided to do what I did best: keep it one hundred.
“I came to make sure we was cool and, if I needed, to make sure you was good with Wright. But now…” I stuffed my mouth with fish that melted in my damn mouth.
“But now you want to judge me the way I refused to judge you when I heard about your undergraduate indiscretions.”
Undergraduate…
I only heard that word in college. It was one of those terms educated snobs used to distinguish their accomplishments. What she know about it?
“Look, I ‘on’t know what you done read online, but you shouldn’t waste your time with that. I’mma good dude, making an honest living, acting my age. I’m actually considered exotic where I come from…a damn prodigy considering the statistics of my success. I’m sure you didn’t hear that.”
Even though her face was down, her mouth balled as though she didn’t believe me.
“I ain’t even gonna go there.” I scoffed. “No need to explain an environment you ‘on’t know shit about.”
Parker’s head finally lifted, her face was blank. It was a “nigga, please” expression; I knew it. “I’m from Waterbury, Connecticut. I wouldn’t need a community briefing to understand your hood.”
“Word?”
She gave a single nod. “Plus, the growing up in poor, urban USA sob story doesn’t justify your recent actions. I heard about your declaration on the practice field earlier today about…” She tapped her chin, pretending to think about her next words. “Running through lots of ‘bitches’ in a week. That doesn’t sound like the works of a prodigy to me. Maybe a hood one, but hey… You don’t deny your roots. Right?”
She’d heard about that slip up in front of Eli. Damn, this team really is small!
She was trying to play me, so I had to switch it up on her. I took a few seconds to work on my plate while I considered my next words. I peeped an open laptop at the far end of the table against the wall. A data spreadsheet was up, fields filled with numbers.
Excel…
“Look…” I took a deep breath. “A few days ago I saw a beautiful female at a party—a party I didn’t really go to for social reasons; I went for political ones. My young, ripe eyes saw something that appealed to them and I reacted instead of thinking. And now I’m here to own up to my hasty decision.”
“Hasty?”
“Yeah.” I licked my fingers then used my other hand to push the empty plate away. “I’m guilty. I’m coppin’ to it.” I shrugged again.
Wish the good doctor could hear that.
Parker swallowed hard and too fast with strained eyes, impatiently ready to speak. “Guilty of what?” she spat.
“It’s obvious I didn’t ask the proper questions. That led to me baggin’ an old player’s jawn. He’s a fellow King. It goes against the code of ethics.”
“You view me as someone’s jawn? And is that what you think of this? That’s what
you’re guilty of?”
I ain’t say bitch! What the fuck?
This etiquette thing was getting old and real fast. I dropped my face and pinched the bone between my eyes. “You’re that man’s fiancée. You live with him. He takes care of you. What did I say wrong?”
“A lot because you don’t know me.”
My head flew up. “I know you showed to his boy’s crib for a social and slipped out on the low for a private after party.”
“Just like I know you knocked that kid out after a game in college, broke his jaw, and walked off with his girl.”
My face went tight as my head dropped again. The visual she just gave was crazy false. That wasn’t what happened. I didn’t leave with that broad. After the ambulance picked him up, she stayed behind while I gave my side of the story to the cops. Then she crept in the theater me and my boys ended up in that night and gave me neck for the first quarter of the movie. I had no idea that was his girl until the next day.
“Look,” I shook my head, stretching my lids. “I ain’t come here for all this. I just wanted to make sure everything is good between us. Me, you, and Wright.”
She stood from the table, grabbing our plates. “Time for you to see the man of the house,” she hummed sarcastically. “Come on.”
She lay the plates on the counter next to the sink and headed for the hall. Confused, again, I followed her. We walked toward the front of the house, passing the entrance. The small sitting room we marched past was dark and empty.
Where the fuck we going?
When I decided I wouldn’t go up or down any stairs because I drove here tonight without Fats like an idiot, we stopped at a set of double French interior, glass panel doors. She opened both wide then turned to me. Then she waved to gesture behind her. I stepped closer and it wasn’t long before I heard him, then I smelled him. Finally, I saw him.
