His Last Name

by Daaimah S. Poole

  * * *

  It was a Tuesday afternoon and I could think of a hundred things I’d rather do than have lunch with the Franklins.

  “Hurry up! I don’t want to be late.”

  I didn’t want to go and was intentionally moving slowly. I was hoping Jabril would leave without me.

  “I’m coming.” I sighed as I slid my green dress over my head and put my heels on. I grabbed my earrings and entered the living room and overheard Jabril on the phone with the bank arguing.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s money missing out of our account.”

  I had forgotten to tell him about the money I gave to the church over the last month or so.

  “Oh! The money isn’t missing. I donated five thousand dollars to the church, they needed a new van. And I wrote a few other checks.”

  “Fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of giving, Zakiya? We don’t know what is going to happen with this team. I’m sitting on the bench right now. What if I get cut and next season I don’t get picked up? Then what? It’s not like you have any money coming in.”

  I didn’t even respond. I was going to let him get his frustration off of his chest.

  “Jabril, so are you going to take everything out on me? If I spent money on clothes, it would be okay. But since I’m helping people it is a problem.”

  “No, there is a difference. One you have something to show for it, the other you don’t. I can’t deal with this dumb shit. This is why my life is out of order.”

  “No, it is out of order because you don’t pray, and you need to stop smoking, then maybe God would bless you. And you would get more time.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said, Jabril, you are probably slow because of all the weed that you smoke.”

  “Worry about yourself, Zakiya, and stop giving out free money. They don’t need our money. That pastor has a lot of donations already and a big congregation.”

  The mood was already wrong, but he insisted upon having a double date with the captain and his wife.

  “I don’t see why I have to go. I don’t like his wife, she’s very messy. You told me not to be too cool with everybody in Oklahoma, now you are pushing that woman on me.”

  “No, her husband is the leader. It’s different. Zakiya, you don’t understand. I can’t be on that bench. He’s in the assistant coach’s ear. Last night we were up by fifteen and still nothing. I’m dying, seriously.”

  “Fine.”

  We met them at Bentley’s on 27, a restaurant in downtown Charlotte. My skyline view was beautiful, until Dawn came and sat next to me. She was wearing designer everything, with an inauthentic personality. She bent over to give me a hug, but I didn’t bother to meet her halfway. I just leaned back and waved. They had a seat and Jabril asked could I walk him to the restroom.

  “That was rude, Zakiya.”

  “Jabril, I told you I don’t know how to be fake.”

  “You have to pretend. You have to do this for us. You want to spend thousands of dollars, but if I don’t have a job, how are we going to survive? Play the game, Kiya.”

  “She was nasty to me, Jabril. She said I should let you fuck other women in our house. And she said she took Thad’s mistress to the abortion clinic. What kind of wife is she? And what kind of husband is he?”

  “Babe, that’s them. We are us. I’m not getting anyone pregnant and I come home. Keep your opinion to yourself and just be nice.”

  “Fine, Jabril.” I pulled away from him and walked back to the table.

  I came back and told Dawn I was a little under the weather and didn’t want to give her my germs. I complimented her on everything from her hair to her boots. She took it all in and by the time our double date was over, she invited us to a couple of events over the next couple of weekends. I told her we would go, but I knew we would never go anywhere with her.

  CHAPTER 43

  Shanice

  I’d known Deuce for a few months, but I wasn’t ready to be exclusive with him. I reasoned with him that I wanted to give him my all, but I just wasn’t ready yet. The truth is I wanted to see what would happen with Jabril. I just kept imagining us being back together and him being mine. And I hoped that what I was about to do would bring me one step closer to realizing my dream.

  I knew Jabril was playing in D.C. and I wanted to meet up with him. I was going to pretend that I had a video shoot and act like we just happened to be in the same city again. I didn’t have anything to lose. And if he asked to see pictures, I already had some old pictures with me from an old photo shoot.

  On my way to D.C. I sent him a text. I knew he kept his phone on before the game.

  I texted:

  Hey, you. What are you doing?

  He responded back, I’m at practice. How about you?

  I replied, I’m in D.C. at a video shoot.

  He texted back, We play the Wizards tonight. What a coincidence. Do you want to come to the game?

  I responded, I can’t I’m working, but maybe we can meet up when I’m done.

  I knew it would be late and I knew he would probably think that I was setting him up, which I was. I wanted him to feel comfortable and not under any pressure. So I quickly texted back:

  Or maybe another time.

  He texted:

  No we can meet up. I’ll text you when I’m back at the hotel.

  I waited to hear from him. He sent me a text with the address where he was staying and said to meet him at a bar down the street.

  I wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a blazer. I pulled my hair up in a sloppy bun and put on a little nude lip gloss. I didn’t want to look like I was coming to seduce him. He was wearing a hat all the way down, a t-shirt, and loose sweatpants. I had a seat and he kept watching to see who was watching us. I could tell he was nervous that someone might see us and send a pic to a blog or his wife. He stood up and gave me a brief hug.

  “You look nice and smell good,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “That’s crazy that we in the same city at the same time.”

  “Yeah, my manager just called me and was like, can you do this video? It was short notice, but I just decided to do it.” I laughed.

  “Who’s the group?”

  “You never heard of them, they are local, but the pay was good.”

  “That’s what’s up. You are always working.”

  “Yeah, my manager has us doing a television show. I was supposed to be filming the night I ran back into you.”

  “Television? That’s good,” he said while staring down at his phone, and then he passed it to me and said, “This is my daughter, Jabrilah.” I took a look at the screen and saw a pretty little girl.

  “She is cute and big.”

  “Yeah, that’s my baby girl. She acts just like me but looks like my wife. She runs after me saying Dada. Yo, I never thought I would be that dude, but my daughter can’t date ever.”

  “That’s so sweet.”

  “So how about you? Did you get your daughter back?”

  “Sort of, and my mom came home. I’m taking care of both of them. I got us all a house.”

  After about an hour of talking, he said he had to go. I wanted to hold him tightly and tell him to stay with me. The meet-up confirmed one simple thing that I already knew. I still loved Jabril. And I would do anything in the world to be with him.

  I got on the highway and drove all the way back home, when I got a text from him saying it was good seeing me. If he only knew what it took to see him.

  I was almost near my exit when Ashley V called.

  “Hey, lady.”

  “Hey, boo, what’s going on?”

  “Girl, I just want to warn you about the camera crew. When they come to your house, make sure you keep your composure. They told me they were coming at two and came at ten. I wasn’t even ready. My hair was in a ponytail and I didn’t have any makeup on. Even though I know how to speak on camera, I was nervous. I was stuttering and repeating myself.
”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, they will try to get you.”

  “Okay. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll make sure I’m already dressed hours before they get there. I’ll call you.”

  “Okay, good luck.”

  * * *

  Two days later I was back in New York and finally met with the film crew. The cameraman was a young, short white guy named Larry with brown curly hair. He was the eyes behind the oversize camera on his shoulder. He was with a young brown-skinned girl named Chamber who wore shoulder-length burgundy dreads and a nose ring. They seemed cool, but they were really business-oriented. They didn’t smile and if they didn’t like what I said or did, they told me to do again. Although I was just supposed to be myself and forget that the camera was following me, it was hard to forget with a microphone pack taped to my back and people staring at me as I walked down the street. A few people actually came over and asked what we were taping.

  They got to film me at an audition for a body wash commercial and having lunch with Ashley V. They, however, weren’t coming to my house because I lived in Philly. I was happy. I wasn’t really trying to put my mom and aunt on television anyway.

  By the time I got back home, I was tired and I fell asleep. I was awakened by my phone ringing. I sleepily answered.

  “Hey, I’m in Philly.”

  I thought I was dreaming. It was Jabril.

  “Are you up?”

  He might as well have said, “Baby, I love you. I miss you, I need you.” I sat up and squinted to see that it was only eleven.

  “Yeah, I’m up.”

  “I called to see what you were doing.”

  “I was relaxing a little. What are you doing here?”

  “I took a drive and next thing I knew I was here.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll probably stay downtown or I might go to my mom’s house. I was seeing if maybe we could get together.”

  We agreed to meet at Silk Nine. It was an upscale lounge. When I entered, he was already seated at the bar with two empty shot glasses in front of him. He stood up and hugged me. I sat down next to him and ordered a vodka and pineapple juice.

  “So what’s up with you? What are you doing in Philly?”

  He appeared to already be feeling his drink. “I don’t know, I just felt like driving.”

  “What’s wrong? You look like something is on your mind.”

  “Nothing, I’m just tired. Been dealing with some team stuff and a situation with my wife. She’s giving all this money away to her church without telling me.”

  “Well that’s not a bad thing.”

  “No, it’s not, but when it’s fifteen thousand dollars in a couple of months.”

  “To the church? Yeah, that’s a lot of money.”

  “And she’s not really getting along with my teammate’s wife. She doesn’t want to be a team player and it is making me so mad. We went out with my teammate and his wife. They are the couple that you want to be cool with. If you’re cool with them off the court, then you’re cool with them on the court. Then when he has the ball, he’ll pass it to me and I can get some numbers on the board. If I get them points, I stay on the team. But that’s not going to happen if my wife is being a bitch.”

  “She probably has her reasons.”

  “Yeah, she said they were materialistic and they trash talked. But you know what, so what? Do this for me. Anyway, enough about my situation. You look nice. You always look nice. What you been up to?”

  “Filming the show I’m a part of, Eye Candy Queens: The Come-up.”

  “Is it like one of them crazy shows where everybody throws drinks on each other?”

  “No, it’s about our work doing videos. Our hustle. That type of thing.”

  “You do be hustling. That’s what I liked about you. We had a good thing. If I wasn’t already in a relationship I would have been with you. I just had a lot going on.”

  With those words, I knew I was not going to be able to hold back anymore.

  “I don’t care what was going on, Jabril. You should have called me. I was there for you, I took a case for you. I was there for you but you just left me. Like I never meant anything to you. I know you had your situation, but what about me?”

  Tears were flowing down my face. I didn’t mean to cry. I didn’t want to scare him, but I was upset. He brought me into him. He kissed my forehead. I didn’t care that people were staring.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I’m real sorry. My uncle was in my ear heavy around that time. He kept saying you need a good girl that would always be in your corner no matter what. Get rid of everything on the side.”

  Becoming more upset, I pushed him off of me and cried. “I rided for you. I didn’t put those drugs in your car.”

  “I know. I never found out how they got there, but it was just a crazy time. But you got the money I sent you, right?”

  “I did, but that’s not what we were about. I wanted to talk to you. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too. I thought about you.”

  He grabbed my face and kissed me passionately. He was drunk. I knew he was having a moment of weakness. Jabril took my hand, kissed it and then looked in my eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I should have called and checked on you. Let me make it up to you.”

  * * *

  We ended up at the Loews hotel. The moment I waited for was finally happening. I couldn’t believe it. My baby was kissing me. We couldn’t get our clothes off fast enough. His strong hands glided underneath my shirt to unhook my bra. I couldn’t wait to feel him inside me. I had already forgiven him and my heart and pussy had been aching for him. He sucked my breasts through my shirt and I pushed him against the door of the room. He pulled down his pants and I turned around and I bounced my pussy up and down onto his long pole. We were finally united. He was moaning, trying to hold back from releasing. It only took a few minutes of pounding for a warm gush to run down my leg.

  “It’s coming out, Bril!” I screamed.

  “I see it. Damn, this is some good pussy. I missed your sexy ass,” he said, biting my neck roughly.

  “Look how that pussy is getting wet for me. You missed me, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, yes, yes, Jabril.” I could barely speak. Tears streamed down my face. I was so happy he was back with me. His dick felt like it was reaching my stomach, but I was overjoyed with pleasure so I didn’t make him stop.

  “I missed you so much,” I screamed.

  “You did? You missed me? Show me.” He stopped midstroke and ordered me on my knees. “Suck it like you missed him.” He shoved all his thickness in my mouth, almost choking me. I managed to breathe and began caressing his balls and sucking, kissing, all over him. He was almost coming, but he stopped himself and told me to get on the bed and get on top. I sat on top of his dick and I rode him slowly then fast. I wanted him to know I was in control. I had to make him remember why he should never leave me again.

  CHAPTER 44

  Adrienne

  “I love you, Mommy.” Her cherubic face smiled from the other side of the phone.

  “I love you too, Asia.” Looking at my baby through a screen made me so angry. FaceTime was okay, but I wanted my daughter with me. I’m glad I lived on the West Coast because I had contemplated killing DeCarious and his wife several times. But then I thought about it: if I killed them, then I would be in jail and Asia wouldn’t have anyone. With all that said, I would just have to let the judicial process run its course.

  “Asia, Mommy is going to talk to you later.” I ended our FaceTime session. At least she was happy. I couldn’t wait to go to court with my lawyer and get my child back. Then I would make the decision if I would stay out in Los Angeles.

  Morgan had been chilling, and Talene had been paying her rent. Everything was falling into place and getting better. I was in a way better position than I had been four months ago.

  Warren and I had been talk
ing and texting on the phone for hours at a time. He seemed real cool and down to earth and our second date was today.

  He didn’t send a car to come get me; instead he pulled up in a blue Ferrari. Morgan watched me from the door. Before I got in the car, she screamed, “You know it is all good in the beginning. They take you out, treat you nice and then they marry you, have babies by you and leave you like you never meant anything to them.”

  I ignored Morgan and left her alone with her misery. That was her story, it wouldn’t be mine. He opened my door and we sped off. I had dated plenty of famous men. I dated athletes before, but the difference between them and Warren was the caliber of man and athlete. Not only was he worth fifty million dollars, he was also well spoken and extremely handsome. He was someone who could walk in a room and everyone would turn their heads and be in awe. He had a good upbringing, was college educated, which made him very marketable for endorsements. I never had the full package before. A man with good looks, intelligence, and wealth.

  We had dinner at a place called Spago in Beverly Hills. We pulled up and the valet took the car and cameras began flashing. I wasn’t prepared to be blinded by the bright flickers of light coming from every direction. There were at least ten men with cameras. Then they started to ask Warren for an impromptu interview.

  “How was it working with Gabrielle? Did Dwyane come to the set and make you nervous?”

  “It was great! She is a talented actress and I was a gentleman, so no, he didn’t come after me. We were only acting.”

  Once inside, we were escorted to a table in the back of the establishment. My eyes were trying to get adjusted to the normal lighting. Warren asked if I was okay.

  “Yeah, that was just unexpected. How do you get used to this?”

  “It comes with the territory. I think my star is rising, because the movie is about to come out. Before, I could walk down the street and no one knew who I was. I have guys who are football fans who would give me a head nod, but now women are running up to me to take pictures.

  “My boy Edwin is the only one who believed in me. Everyone just saw another football player trying to act.”