It was time for my love spell to do the damn thing.
My body felt like satin, pussy was sweet as cotton candy. Closing my eyes, I’d channeled my thoughts toward Darius. I massaged my breasts, spread my thighs, craved and visualized his body on top of me. His dick head stroked my lips. He put his head inside me. I could feel it growing bigger and bigger.
I moaned, “Say you love me. Say my name. If you can hear me, I’m waiting for you at…in Long Beach.” I repeated my address three times. I concentrated all my energy on connecting with Darius. The house was quiet. I had no distractions, no Rita, no whining babies.
Surrounded by Darius’s pictures and posters, I hugged his body pillow. I wrapped my legs around the pillow imagining what I’d do when I had the real thing. I prayed Fancy wasn’t keeping Darius from me. With Darius’s bad press, that bitch Fancy should be on my team. I tried to patiently await my lover, my future husband, and my friend.
Two hours later I heard a humming sound in my driveway. I sprung from my parents’ bed. “He’s here! He’s here! I did it! It worked!”
I ran to the front door, opened it. There was my Darius getting out of his car…police car?
I slammed, then locked my front door. If the cops come up in here, I might have to do a Kathy Bates, except I didn’t have a basement. I’d have to toss my dad’s remains in the ocean, squeeze the police officers’ dead bodies in the coffin. I was not going to jail.
I went to my closet, got my semiautomatic, stood in my living room. If they entered my home, I was prepared to kill them.
CHAPTER 61
Darius
I heard a voice in my head. “Darius, you need to take care of that bitch, Bambi.” That fucked me up. No one was in the hospital room but my wife and I. But that sound interrupted my thoughts. It was as though a person spoke directly into my ears. That voice was crystal clear. I jammed my pointing fingers in my ears deep as I could, rattled my head, then yanked my fingers out. I admitted to myself I wanted revenge.
My wife narrowed her eyes, stared at me, then said, “Don’t try to play crazy with me. I’m not falling for it, Darius.”
I slid a chair next to her bed. “Our love is stronger than this. I don’t know what mistress you’re talking about.” I hadn’t tried to find or thank the woman I’d picked up at My House but I was grateful she still hadn’t spoken to the press. Maybe it was best to let that situation slide and pray it didn’t haunt me later.
With the twins being found, the charges being dropped against my mom, my situation should slowly dissipate and return to normal. Maybe someone would be a bigger fuck-up and the media would focus on them.
The voice returned. I scratched the back of my head, frowned. “Darius, you need to go take care of that bitch.”
I told Fancy, “Baby, I gotta go.”
“You’re not going anywhere.”
First she demanded I leave, now I couldn’t go. I didn’t want to go. I had to. Something was summoning me and I couldn’t control myself. “Darius, what are you tripping about?”
I whispered, “I’m on my way.” Aw, man. Was this shit for real? I scratched the back of my head again. Okay, settle down. You want revenge on this chick so bad it’s driving you nuts.
“Darius, you’re on your way where?” Fancy asked.
I shook my hands in front my chest. “I said that because I know who’s responsible for the accident, all right.” What the fuck was going on inside my head?
“What has gotten into you? So the media is printing lies about you?” Fancy asked, stuffing her pillow behind her back. “You’re not going to sit here and play crazy with me. You are going to answer my questions.”
I heard, “If you don’t go now, she’s going to get away.” I frowned. This shit was weird. Rattling my arms, I shook it off, then said, “I don’t need Bambi.”
Fancy said, “Bambi? Who in the hell is Bambi? Forget I asked. Don’t answer that.”
Fancy opened the drawer facing her bed, pulled out a business card, handed it to me, then yelled, “Who in the fuck is Bambi and why was her card on my stand?”
I took the card, tore it in half, threw it in the trash. I’d put a card on my wife’s stand after that nurse’s assistant…Fuck! What the hell was happening here? “I don’t know that bitch!”
“Darius Henry Jones, why did you call her by her name?”
“What are you talking about? I was telling you about DJ.”
“You never mentioned DJ, Darius. Stop lying! Just stop it.”
Wow, this was my way out. “I didn’t tell you? I lost custody of DJ today.”
“Today? You’re telling me you lost custody of our son today? Oh, so now you’re trying to drive me crazy. First, Bambi. And now…How the hell did you lose custody of DJ?” Fancy stared into my eyes. Her eyes shifted side to side, scanning mine.
“My mom asked Ashlee to watch DJ for a while. Ashlee took him back to D.C. and filed a petition for custody. With all the bad press on my back, she won. That would’ve never happened if the accident hadn’t happened. The good news is we know who’s responsible.” I’d hoped to take the focus off me.
“Who, Darius? Who’s responsible?”
Suddenly, the name hit me and I couldn’t tell Ladycat. “I don’t remember. I have to double-check with mom.” I checked my iPhone. Mom hadn’t texted me Bambi’s address.
Fuck, this shit was getting creepier by the minute. The same person who tried to kill my wife was my mom’s assistant? And she’d tried to kill my wife twice. And she’s been around us the entire time and we were clueless. Damn.
Fancy snapped her fingers. “Earth to Darius. I’m over here. You lost our baby to her? I’m getting my baby back. Ashlee is unfit.”
“How you gon’ take care of my son and not be with me?”
“You should’ve thought about that when you were getting your dick sucked.”
True. But no woman wanted to hear a man’s truth. At that time I was thinking with the wrong head. Getting my dick sucked felt incredible. I wish I could trade places with my wife for one blow job so she could understand.
CHAPTER 62
Bambi
The police officers backed away, stood outside my front door. “We know you’re in there. Bambi Bartholomew, come out with your hands up.”
I thought that kind of shit only happened on television. I’d wait them out. I kept standing in the middle of my living room floor. They weren’t going to catch me off guard.
This is the thanks I got for helping Jada and paying Rita to keep her damn mouth shut. That was okay. I had a plan for them.
I couldn’t have a healthy marriage with Darius if I had to keep the police off our backs all the time. Maybe when the love spell took over, Darius would fall in love with me, and I could relax. How long would that take? I had too many unanswered questions.
The police messed up my fantasy. After I finished making love to Darius, I had to text that two-headed lady.
I sat in a chair facing the door. It was quiet outside my home. Too quiet. I pictured Darius undressing me. I came instantly when he bit my nipple. I wanted so much from this man. I imagined his dick deep inside me. Prayer wasn’t a part of the spell but I prayed to conceive his baby tonight. How, I didn’t know and I didn’t care. As long as I had Darius’s baby growing inside me, I’d be happy.
My eyes rolled to the top of my head. My entire body tingled. I came again. Trying to speed things up, thoughts of Ashlee ran interference. She crept into my mind. Darius withdrew from me. Redirecting my thoughts to Darius, I relaxed as I held him in my arms. We’d make love again and again. I lay my head on his strong chest, held him tight, dozed off. If he moved, I’d feel him.
I awakened, still sitting in the chair in my living room. I peeped outside. It was still nighttime. The police were gone.
“She lied to me!” I texted the two-headed lady, What happened here? When is my love spell going to work?
She texted, You forgot something.
I texted her
, You’re lying to me and you stole my engagement ring. I want it back.
This trick was playing games.
She texted, Bambi, you create your own illusions. Let’s see if what’s going to happen to you next is a game. Don’t contact me again.
She wasn’t the boss of me. What if I do?
She texted, Try me.
I put on my sweat suit, tennis shoes, and stuffed my Ho-on-the-Go bag with lots of cash. I peeped outside. All was quiet. Shit was complicated. This was the last time I’d be in my parents’ house. I gripped my semiautomatic in one hand, tote in the other.
Something told me not to open my front door.
CHAPTER 63
Darius
“I’ll tell you everything, if you promise not to leave me. I know we can work this out.” I’d tell almost everything. That part about Ashlee sucking my dick, no way would Fancy forgive me for that one.
“I was sad the last time I left the hospital. Ashlee came in your room, in here, acting a fool. I got dumb with her. Then the nurse told me I couldn’t come back. That night I went to the Playhouse.”
Fancy interrupted. “First off, you’ve got your days mixed up so I know you’re lying. Second of all, the Playhouse, Darius? For real you went to the Playhouse without me, knowing how those scantily dressed women are?”
“Baby, listen. Things happened so fast it’s a blur. My days are overlapping in my head. I do know that there was this one woman. She followed me all night. She offered me every part of her body but I refused. I got out of there and went to My House.”
Sarcastically, Fancy said, “My House. I can see where that was a better choice of scantily dressed women. Get me my book.”
“You!” I didn’t mean to raise my voice at my wife. I took a deep breath, lowered my voice. I ground my back teeth, tightened my jaw, then picked up Ladycat’s book off the floor, placed it at the foot of her bed. She wiggled her fingers. Reluctantly, I put the book in her hand hoping that was where the book would remain.
“You act as though I’m not human. I am. Do you follow me every place I go on the road to keep watch over me? Is that what you’re doing? Or are you traveling with me because you love me?” Again, I had to shift the conversation to avoid telling her the truth.
She opened her book. “You don’t have to worry about my following you any place else ever again.” Tears fell between the pages.
“I don’t mean I don’t want you with me. I love having you with me but if it’s for the wrong reasons…I thought you trusted me.”
“I’ve heard the scandalous stories about groupies. I don’t want that for us. I want to be available to sex you, to keep you satisfied. As your wife, Darius, that’s my job. I know it’s hard for you. Me too.” Calmly, she continued, “Tell you what. You go back to being with the team, I’ll work on getting DJ back, and we’ll revisit whether we should stay married after the season is over.”
How did we go from my wife planning a second wedding after the season to contemplating divorce? I wasn’t debating that proposal. That was a good package deal. Before the end of the season, I know I’d convince my wife not to leave me. Sometimes all a man needed was a chance to make things right. MaDear was in heaven watching out for me.
I heard the voice again. “Darius, get over there and take care of that bitch Bambi right now!”
I reached into the trash can, got both halves of Bambi’s business card, kissed Fancy, then said, “Baby, I gotta go.”
CHAPTER 64
Fancy
I had a lot on my mind.
I sat on my bed at ten in the morning waiting for Darius. I almost lost my life and he cheated on me. Why? Wasn’t I his everything? I was the best wife I knew how to be. Traveling with Darius was fun. Not being Darius’s wife, what would I do? He was my soul mate, my everything.
“Hey, Ladycat,” he said, handing me a black tote with long straps. “I left your cell at home. It’s on the nightstand.” He handed me a hanger with slacks and a nice button-up blouse. He was short on words and I didn’t know what to say to my husband.
Inside the bag was a pair of flat shoes. I was ready to leave but not excited that I was going home with him. Had to sort out my situation. Didn’t want to talk to my mom, told her to meet me at the house later. Venting would help me feel better emotionally but I didn’t want my mom judging my husband or giving me advice I knew she wouldn’t accept if she were in my position. Resolving my marital problems was my responsibility. I handed Darius the bag.
I wasn’t asking my husband where he’d gone last night. Didn’t want to know. Hoped I didn’t turn on the news at home only to hear more bad news. Had enough of that. But I did want to know, “Where are my wedding and engagement rings?”
“At the house, in the bag with your other belongings,” he said. “I’m leaving today to join my teammates in Miami. I’ll be back in two days to check on you. I think you should stay in LA and not go to Atlanta right away.”
Why? Did he have a mistress in Atlanta too? Did he have unfinished or unresolved business in Atlanta? Was he really going to Miami?
“No problem. Go be with your team. That’s your obligation. I’m staying in LA until after the season,” I told him. “I have things to do.”
Darius frowned. “Things to do? All right. Cool. So you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive you for. Right?”
He shrugged his shoulders, quietly escorted me from the hospital to the limo out front.
I hated the tension between us. It was like Darius was someone I knew but had no real feelings for. He didn’t seem like my friend, my lover, and definitely not my husband. He’d hurt me so much, my feelings for him had dissipated.
Was this our future? Was this how happily married people ended up miserable or in divorce court? I wanted to scream, to cry, to pound on his chest…I wanted to disappear, for a moment.
He held my hand. “Ladycat, I love you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He should’ve thought about that before he’d had sex with another woman. “I love you too.” I did love my husband.
The limo arrived at our LA home in the valley. I didn’t wait for the driver to open my door. I got out. Went inside. Never realized how much I missed DJ until now. I smiled thinking of him. There was innocence in a child’s spirit. The sound of DJ’s feet running through the house, his laughter, and his unpredictable words, I missed that already. His birthday was coming up in a few days. I wanted him here with me.
The limo left our house with Darius in it. He texted me, Seems like you need some alone time. Going to check on my mom. Be back in a few hours.
I didn’t respond. Darius was grown. If I had to make him be with me, he could stay gone long as he’d like. Avoiding confrontation that he’d created was my husband’s way of escaping reality. I knew Darius. He figured if he stayed gone long enough, I’d forgive him or forget about it. When he returned home, he’d act like the scandals never happened.
Walking to the mantel, I picked up our wedding picture, let it slip from my hands. I left it on the floor. Had more important things to do. I went to the bedroom, got my cell, called Ashlee’s mother Ashley.
She answered, “Hello?”
I inhaled. Quietly exhaled. “Hi, Ms. Anderson. This is Fancy, Darius’s wife.”
Coyly, she said, “I know who you are. Guess you’re calling to speak with DJ.”
I had to contain my excitement. “Yes, I am.”
“DJ, Fancy’s on the phone.”
“Hey, Fancy. Where you at? You coming to get me? Where my daddy at?”
Softly, I said, “Hey, baby. You want me to come get you?”
“Yep.” That was his last word.
The next voice I heard was Ms. Anderson. “Please, come and get him so he can see his daddy.”
“I’ll be there tomorrow.” I knew Ashlee. I knew she didn’t have him with her.
When my mom got here, she could stay here until I got back. I packed my bag and made a copy of
our Dallas custody order. If Ashlee wanted custody of DJ, she’d have to go through me.
CHAPTER 65
Ashlee
“Mama, what the hell you mean you let Fancy have DJ? You give away shoes and clothes, not my child. Why didn’t you call me? If you didn’t want to keep him, all you had to do was say so. I would’ve come and got him. You could’ve left him here with me.”
Dang. My mother created a battle of the custody orders. I could handle Darius in the courtroom but that bitch Fancy would make me act a damn fool in front of any judge. Why, oh, why had Darius made me swallow his cum? His second child could be growing inside me. If Fancy wanted a child so bad, she should have her own.
“Ashlee, baby. You asked me to come get DJ because of your mental instability. Remember? Like it or not, Fancy is doing you a favor that I’m not willing to do permanently. I raised you. I am forty-five-years young. This is my time to shine in the sun.”
I wanted to hang up in my mother’s face. “When, Mother? When did she come? Sound like I hear him in the background.” I tried listening to what my mother wasn’t saying. I swore I heard DJ’s voice while my mother was talking.
“They just left about fifteen minutes ago. I’m not having this conversation with you. You’re hearing things. Take your meds like you’re supposed to, Ashlee, and let DJ stay with Fancy and Darius.”
“What airline are they on?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. Ashlee, you had better not. You hear me? I know what you’re thinking.”
I hung up on my mother, before she’d hang up on me. I went online, Googled a list of phone numbers for all the airlines. I started with United reservations.
Darius Jones Page 20
