by Love Belvin
For a while, Parker ain’t say shit. She just looked at me with a wrinkle between her eyes. Something was wrong.
“I owe you an apology.” Parker took a deep breath and I could see her hands balled into fists under her crossed arms. And since when did an apology include squinting eyes? I couldn’t front, she looked mad intimidating standing over of me. “I’ve been cold to you these past few weeks.”
She damn sure had, but I pretty much deserved it. Like she said, I was immature.
“You’ve been trying by calling me every day and making up excuses to stop by between your games.” She rolled her eyes. “You even had Fats bring me here, to a place you bought with me in mind before we learned about the pregnancy. And today—” Her eyes squeezed and she began to cry, something I’d been seeing a lot of lately. The very thing that fucked up my soul when I had to watch and couldn’t do anything about. Her body vibrated as she cried silently. “It’s not that I miss him. I just… I started to care for the man while helping him out.”
“It’s okay to miss him, Park.” I couldn’t believe my words, but they made sense to me. “You lived with the man…gave him your all for years. You can miss him, baby.” My hand made its way to her hip.
I gave her some time to calm herself. The tears stopped at one point, and her eyes went to the side of the room. She covered her mouth with her fist.
“My life was flipped upside down in one night it seems.” She snorted. “I think it was shaken up a bit the night of Eli’s party when I went home with a strange guy.” Her face fell into her palms and she half laughed and half cried. “I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn’t been so attracted to a man in years. And God, I thought you were so fine.”
I smiled, wanting to say it wasn’t just her opinion. What she saw was pure fact. But that would’ve probably earned me a slap.
Her head lifted, but Parker wouldn’t look at me. “You were like a magnet. And then you kept coming by. And that’s when I realized how lonely I was. I discovered you were an asshole, but you gave me so much energy…and inspiration.” Another tear dropped while she was looking away. “You gave me so much life, I couldn’t stop inviting you in. You were my ‘me time.’ Something to look forward to after I was done with my obligations for the day. I think I know what single mothers who are lonely experience. They work hard to take care of their children. But once the kids are tucked away, the house is shut down for the day, and the sun is sleeping, they need something for themselves. Companionship.”
Parker turned to me and shook her head softly. “You were my companion. My retreat. My light when the sun went down. Yes, I’ve always wanted to be a mother, but I swear, Rut, I didn’t mean to trap you. I was a taker, though. Just like every other woman you’ve come across in your life; I wanted something from you. But it was just your time, that’s all. Eventually, I got exposure to your heart and learned who the real Rutledge Kadar Amare is. And then when I got that, I wanted more. I wanted your body. And…” Again, her head shook. “I’m sorry for being so mean. I’m sorry for dismissing you.”
When the tears fell again, I stood to hug her. But then Parker pushed me away and I landed back on the bed. Before I could catch myself, she was breathing hard in my face. Her hot lips were on mine and her tears transferred to my face. She kissed me softly, pecking my lips. My eyes closed when her mouth opened. I received her tongue with a pounding chest. I couldn’t tell you how my body got nervous this close to a woman’s, but I knew it never happened before Parker Grayson.
As her tongue moved in my mouth, I felt intimidated. She was emotional and aggressive. That was some boss shit. That was Parker; a grown ass woman. When she leaned more into me, my shaking arm reached up and I grabbed the back of her head. Parker shifted closer and put one knee on the mattress. She pushed into me while twirling her tongue against mine, and before I knew it, she was straddling me.
Her hands were on my head, gripping my cheeks like I was precious to her. I roped her at the ass with my arm and pulled her into me. I could feel she was naked under her robe. That realization made my dick so hard and hot from all the blood rushing to it. I hadn’t had a sniff of ass in over a month. I thought the month and a half I struggled through before her birthday was me growing the hell up. This drought was a bitch.
But is it what she wants?
Parker’s ass twerking on my lap should have been the answer. Then her hands shot from my face and she whispered hard in my ear.
“I swear, I didn’t plan this either,” she panted loudly. “But it’s been over four weeks for me.”
She shimmied over me, making me open my eyes. I peeped her pulling her robe from her shoulders. When her arms were out, it slipped down to my knees. Parker was dead-the-fuck naked on top of me. I was just about to lean back a little to see her body until she pulled me back to her mouth. Then her hands went to my waist and her little ass scooted back on my legs to yank my shorts down. I lifted up enough so she could get them past my ass. The moment I sat back on the bed, Parker was shuffling closer.
Her hand went to my cock, stroking it between her pussy, belly, and hand. My eyes rolled to the back of my head, tongue laid in her mouth paralyzed from her massage. And Parker was fucking wet. My fucking word, her pussy was hot and slimy against me. I wanted in.
Shit…
I had no damn capes. But did pregnant people need one?
I tried talking around her busy lips. “You need a condo—”
“No!”
She lifted, grabbing my shaft from behind her. My arms went behind me to lean back while she handled her business. She danced on the head of me, trying to work me in. Her hands gripped my shoulder and head tossed back. My attention went to her face. It was tight as she bit her lip. Her body trembled, trying to sink down on me. Parker was wet, but fucking tight, too. She wasn’t even halfway down my rod.
But her pussy moved over me, sponging me. I couldn’t touch her, couldn’t help because I didn’t want to hurt her. Then her eyes blinked open and face relaxed. She moved faster, plunged harder. Parker grunted and her eyes rolled back before closing. I couldn’t believe she was coming with just half my dick.
She moaned as she slammed into me, one hand leaving my shoulder and pressed down her chest, between her tits, and down. Her belly.
Oh, shit! Her belly…
It was there. It wasn’t as big as I thought, but that definitely wasn’t here the last time I had been. I started rocking with her, my shocked eyes going back up to her face. But her tits. They were bigger. I could see the veins of them through her skin. Her areoles were bigger…darker around her swollen nipples.
What. The. Fuck…
Her body was different. It even felt different.
My fuckin god…
My head fell back when I realized I was fucking a real ass, whole ass woman and not just a friend. That intimidation shit had heat flash in my sacs, pushing all sensation in that general area, and I bucked into her, taking from her like a damn well of life.
Fuck…
I’d gotten myself in some shit with this one…
“Graaaaar!” I roared, slamming my palms on the small folding table. “This my table! I’m the queen. You ain’t heard about me, have you?”
“I guess I ain’t,” Marques, Rut’s god-brother—his father’s godson—chuckled sheepishly while scratching under his chin, admitted.
Blue Magic’s “Sideshow” floated across the yard, bringing the best memories. My grandfather, a devout church goer, loved his gospel and seventies tunes equally. This was a nostalgic victory. I slapped the tabletop again, feeling the welcomed September breeze through my hair. “Parker G, baby. It’s Parker G.” I turned around in the yard and shouted, “Who’s next?”
A few people around laughed. I was in Paula’s back yard in Ewing, New Jersey. Finally, the day had come for Rut’s college graduation and draft celebration party. It was also Kadar Amare’s welcome home. I finally had the pleasure of meeting Rut’s father, Kadar. He was…completely diffe
rent from Rut. We met almost as soon as Rut and I arrived. He wasn’t as tall as Rut. Neither was he as broad, but on the rare instance when he grinned, I saw “arrogant Rut” who charmed me panty-less. But Kadar didn’t. Kadar pored over me, scrutinizing wordlessly.
Apparently, Kadar went to the Kings vs. Giants game last week, which was the day after his release. It was also the day before Jimmy’s funeral. Kadar was sure to ask me why was I not in attendance. Befuddled, before I could pull a clean response from my head, Rut answered for me saying I was sick. That lie left me half grateful, half angry. I moved past it and gravitated to something familiar: kicking butt in Connect Four.
Today was more packed than it was for B-Rocka’s repass. So many came out to celebrate Kadar’s long-awaited release. There were people here of all ages but more older than younger compared to B-Rocka’s repass. It was clear to me Kadar was a popular and connected man before his incarceration. So many of the older heads looked illicit and tenured on that side of the tracks.
But I was fine. Once I sat down for the first game, my attention narrowed.
“Parker G, huhn?” an older man, clutching a can of Budweiser asked.
I didn’t see him coming but rebounded well. “The one and only!” I winked.
He wore an oversized white T-shirt and a scroungy military green cap. His eyes were yellow and glossy.
“Let’s see what you working with, shawtie.”
“What’s your name and who are you to the gentlemen being celebrated?” I asked as I gathered the black pieces.
“I’m Uncle Tone-Tone.” He chuckled. “Me and Reggie go way back.”
My brows furrowed. “Who?”
He slapped his forehead, nearly knocking the hat from his head. “Damn,” he swore underneath his breath. “Kadar, I meant. I went to school with that muthafucka.”
“Oh…”
So that’s Kadar’s birth name.
I rubbed my hands together devilishly and the game commenced. Uncle Tone-Tone gathered the reds and I let him go first. Not even five minutes into it, I realized he was a great observer, mimicker. Uncle Tone-Tone saw I played the center and tried his hand there, too. The center was a great strategy but another was thinking ahead. I was always two steps ahead, which is how I won. I beat the poor man seconds before he realized the game was over.
I didn’t realize we’d gathered a small crowd until they reacted to it. Even Paula, Rut’s mother, was standing over the table cheering me on.
“That’s right!” she yelled, holding her Corona. “That’s my baby’s special friend. Hahn!” she stuck her tongue wider than what should have been legal for a woman her age.
I was tickled by it and pumped my fists in the air. In my pompous act, I caught Rut’s eyes on me. He, too, was drinking a Corona with a wedge of lime in the bottle. But Rut wasn’t smiling. In fact, to say he was being celebrated, Rut’s disposition was off today. If he hadn’t stayed over at the house last night and rolled over to my back, taking me from the side, I would have been concerned. So, I ignored it.
“Auntie Paula,” some young girl I couldn’t see behind me yelled. “Uncle Kadar said he hungry. It’s time to serve the food.”
“Oh, shit!” Paula chirped over my shoulder. “Lemme go get this shit poppin’.”
“I’ll help,” I offered, standing from my seat. I could feel my lower back stiffening from sitting too long.
“Aw, c’mon! I can’t get a rematch?” Uncle Tone Tone trilled, feigning distraught.
“Sorry, Unc.” I giggled. “Duty calls.”
“You sure?” Paula asked with a low pitch and concerned expression.
I smiled. “Yeah, girl. I need to stand for a while.”
She rolled her eyes. It made me wonder if Paula knew I was expecting. I’d been in touch with her over the months about today. She asked me to make a few things and to have Rut pay for it. Of course, I made what she requested and more without consulting her son on any of it. What I didn’t understand was why didn’t Paula have this event catered or at a hall. What was being celebrated—for Rut—was monumental. Why do a potluck in her back yard? But then I remembered where Paula and her family were from. Having this here in Ewing was likely as high class as some could imagine.
I followed her into the house.
“Ma!” Paula called out the moment we stepped inside the kitchen. “Kadar’s ready to eat. Let’s pull back the foil and serve these people.”
“Can you tell me where the bathroom is?” I asked. “I’ll be ready as soon as I’m done.”
“It’s over there, baby.” Paula pointed to the same small hallway where Rut’s basement bedroom was.
On my way to the door she referenced, I was met with a pair of familiar eyes on a less known face. Kadar was coming up from the basement with a few people following him. He nodded but didn’t smile like I did when I cut past him for the bathroom. The man either saw what he liked or didn’t like me at all. I brushed it off and went into the bathroom to relieve myself.
Over an hour later, we were serving the last of the long line in the dining room. My neck throbbed and back felt no better. When I scooped and dumped the last of the macaroni salad into a young girl’s plate, I tossed the spoon in the empty aluminum pan and rolled my head over my shoulders with closed eyes. I took a few deep breaths as I did it, trying to loosen up.
My eyes opened to Kadar, standing at the opening of the dining room table, gaping at me. That’s when I knew he wasn’t attracted to me. The man just had a bone to pick. I smiled and stole my regard away.
“Rut ain’t eat,” he barked into the room.
“Why he ain’t eat?” his grandmother, Annalise, chirped.
“I guess ain’t nobody fixed the god’s food.” Kadar’s eyes were stapled to me.
“Ain’t hardly none left.” Annalise observed the table.
“I got mad shit in the fridge.” Paula noted. “I’ll fix him something.”
“Actually, I’ll do it,” I asserted.
“You sure? You ain’t eat ya’self.”
That’s because I wasn’t hungry. And I preferred fixing Rut’s plate because he was at the start of the season and on a strict diet. I could spruce up his plate with a carb and fat or two but nothing near what his mother would do.
I went into the kitchen, found the stashed food, and was able to build him a healthy plate. By the time I went outside, it felt hotter than it was earlier. I stopped by the coolers and pulled him out a bottle of water, seeing he’d already had alcohol. Then I located him near the gate, sitting with a gang of people around him. Kadar was there, seeming to be holding court. As I approached, I noted Rut didn’t speak or laugh at all.
“Hungry?” was how I introduced my presence to him.
Rut looked up at me and took the plate and water. With my hands empty, I decided to massage my neck, the cold hand thanks to the water felt amazing.
“You good?” I opened my eyes to find Rut’s on me.
I took a deep breath and nodded, suddenly feeling sleepy.
“You eat something?” he murmured as the group continued in their talks. I shook my head, answering him as his eyes rolled down to my heeled feet. “You bring a sandwich? Chips?”
Again, I shook my head, partially annoyed from Rut thinking I’d do that again after seeing his mother kept a clean home. And partially from Kadar, clearly eavesdropping on our conversation. He didn’t hide his concentration on our exchange though his son was speaking in a low tone for privacy.
He lay his plate on his lap and grabbed the back of my feet resting over a block heel. God, his touch, even in this heat, was heavenly. “You should probably take these shits off. You want me to get you a chair?”
Kadar’s eyes were on me again.
I glanced down to Rut. “No. I’m fine.”
“Aye!” I turned to see Uncle Tone Tone upon me, swaying while holding a small bottle of Remy Martin. “You ready for that rematch, Parker G?”
“She good, Tone!” Rut grated with short pati
ence.
It made me feel uneasy. I could only offer Uncle Tone-Tone an apologetic smile. But his attention was elsewhere, on the opposite side of me. There was rumbling of surprised greetings.
“Aye!” a few people trilled at the incoming guests.
So many unfamiliar faces until my eyes settled on one I’d seen before. As one began a round of handshakes and manly dabs, working his way around the area near the gate, it dawned on me why I didn’t recognize him right away. He wasn’t clothed in an expensive, Italian three-piece suit. His wardrobe was far more relaxed in Jordan sneakers, long cargo shorts, a Notorious B.I.G. T-shirt, and a Kings baseball cap. His posture was much more relaxed than what I’d seen of him in the front office. Azmir Jacobs appeared to be ten years younger than what I’d known of him.
What was a supposed billionaire doing at a backyard party in nowhere, New Jersey?
Azmir stopped and gave special time to Kadar. The two hugged with both arms. Kardar buried his face into the taller man’s shoulder, clearly emotional. Azmir spoke something over his head, much of which I couldn’t make out.
“I told you thirty years ago, if you rocked with me…” Azmir murmured. Kadar nodded. “And you did. Now you’re home to ya own house. Your family’s blessed because of you, king…” I couldn’t make out much more.
It was ceremonious. People all around cheered, awwww’d, recorded, and clicked away from their phones. I glanced down to Rut’s empty chair finding his food and water on the seat. He stood, greeting one of the men flanking behind Azmir.
Paula charged through crying. By the time she made it to the men, they’d broken apart. Kadar’s face wasn’t wet, but his eyes were red. Azmir’s expression was less emotional but light. She greeted Azmir with great reference before she took to Kadar’s side.
Azmir Jacobs peered into the gathered crowd and shouted, “The king’s back home, and we got a King at home. Salute!” he barked the last word.
