by Blue Saffire
“Yo, son, we need to go. Get up and get dressed,” a male voice chuckled.
“Alright, give me a minute. Go wait outside, let my girl get dressed, B,” Victor said sounding annoyed.
“Get dressed,” he ordered and kissed the top of my head once the person left.
He stood up and started to get dressed himself. I picked up my things and went into the bathroom. As I was getting dressed, I could hear the other voice in the room again. My head was spinning, I knew the voice was familiar, I just wasn’t able to place it.
“You in here passed out with that girl, Victor. You better watch that man,” I heard the voice say.
“Whatever, B,” Victor laughed, “I like this one.”
“I hope you not in here going raw, B.”
“Yo, I ain’t got no seeds, I think it’s time I start,” Victor laughed.
“You’re crazy.”
“No B, I like her, I think I’ma wife this one, let her call me poppy,” he chuckled.
“She got a nice body though.”
“Naw B, we not sharing this one.” His voice was tight and definite with his words. I wasn’t trying to be shared with anyone in the first place. I was happy he was letting them know this was not an open party.
I fixed my hair in the mirror and stepped out of the bathroom. Victor turned to face me and motioned for me to come to him. I couldn’t see the face of the other person from by the bathroom. I walked over to Victor and he wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Give me your phone,” Victor demanded as he looked down at me.
I did as he said and turned to see who he was talking to. My heart sank in my chest. Alex was looking back at me with his mouth hanging open and a hurt look on his face. I felt so embarrassed and sad; I wanted him to be the one I had just lost my virginity to. I had come here for him. I didn’t understand the hurt look he was wearing though. I was the one that was really hurting.
“Ma-me, when I call you, you answer,” Victor ordered as he handed the phone back to me.
I quickly stopped staring at Alex and took the phone back. “Okay,” I replied.
“Go home and take care of that for me,” he ordered as he kissed me and squeezed at my butt.
“Okay,” I whispered really embarrassed and stunned. I turned to peek at Alex quickly. He looked like someone had punched him in the gut.
I rushed out of the room before I started to cry. When I got to the other room it was empty, only Juan and Sisqo were there. I walked over to Sisqo to ask about Queeny. He was grinning at me as his eyes flickered between the room Victor and I had been in.
“Where’s Queeny?” I asked again.
“She thought you left,” he replied.
“She left me,” I murmured. I was furious and hurt. I needed someone to console me right now. I was in disbelief about what had taken place here a few hours ago. I must have slept off the alcohol, because things were starting to make sense to me now as the truth of what happened started to push its way around my throbbing head.
“I’m sorry, Tali. Yo, let me pay for your cab, Mama.” Sisqo looked like he really felt bad for me. It was that or the fact that he wasn’t sure if I was a girl Victor would want to just send home alone.
Sisqo walked me outside and hailed me a cab. He gave me a hundred dollars in twenties as I got in. I text messaged Queeny right away. I was so upset about the whole night. It didn’t take long for me to get home and I was grateful for that. I was not sure how much longer I could hold the tears.
I ran into the building and was in my apartment as fast as I could get there. I went straight for the shower. Queeny was finally calling me back as I undressed and stepped in the tub. I answered the phone as I pulled the shower curtain and turned on the water.
“Hello.”
“Hey, I thought you left?” Queeny quizzed through the phone. I was thinking to myself, you would have known whether I left or not if you would have called.
“No,” I hissed at the phone.
“Oh, well, you’re going to want to know what I found out. Belinda and Janice are liars. Alex was not at the party yet and he is done with Yesenia, she is with that guy, Omar, from Taft.”
“No, Queeny, No,” I cried into the phone. “Please, No.”
“Mama, what’s the matter. That’s good, right? I’ll get Sisqo to hook you two up.”
“No Queeny,” I sobbed, “I had sex with Victor.”
“What? Tali, how did that happen?” She was sounding both shocked and disgusted.
“I don’t know, but he wants me now. I heard him tell Alex. Queeny he’s not gonna just let me go. I’m so stupid.” My heart was breaking with the realization of my words.
“No, Taliyah, we’ll figure this out, it’ll be okay.”
“No, it’s not,” I sobbed and hung up the phone.
Tossing my phone onto the bath mat, I slid down onto the tub floor. I let the shower run over me as I cried. I don’t think I ever cried that hard before. I had just missed what I wanted by inches.
Now what was I going to do. It was becoming very real to me what Victor said to Alex. Not only was I now off limits to Alex, Victor wanted me for himself. He had no intentions of giving up on me in a week or two.
I climbed in my bed when I finished crying in the shower and trying to scrub the truth away. I was really happy my mother worked nights. I had grabbed a huge stuffed bear from the corner of my room and was wrapped tight around it. I never thought I would lose my virginity this way and to someone like Victor. I didn’t understand how this even happened.
As I tried to cry myself to sleep, my cell phone started ringing. I looked to see it was Victor. I did not want to talk to him. I pressed the ignore button and closed my eyes to go to sleep. I would deal with this all in the morning.
Chapter Three
Morning After
I woke up the next morning feeling really sore and cranky. I felt like I had spent the week horseback riding. I was mad because I had lost something I couldn’t get back. I wanted someone to pay for that.
Queeny text message me the real story from last night. Janice and Belinda looked like the ones that I was going to make pay. They distracted Layla while Belinda sent me the text about Alex.
Queeny and Layla were coming to meet me this morning, so we could go to the park and confront them. I was getting dressed, trying not to break everything I touched. I was so mad. I had just finished putting on my t-shirt and jeans when Queeny walked in my room.
“Your moms said stop breaking up her crib. She wants me to get you out of here,” Queeny laughed.
“Whatever, let’s go.” I grabbed my cell phone and led the way out of the apartment.
When we got to the lobby, Layla was there with Pricilla, her cousin. Pricilla never liked Belinda so I was sure she was there to fight. Layla had already walked through the park and Belinda and Janice were not out yet. We decided to go to the store because it was really hot out. I for one, could use some water or something to cool off both my body and my temper.
Queeny was doing her best to try to cheer me up. “You know things could be worse, Tali,” she teased, “remember Calvin? He used to follow you around trying to be your boyfriend.”
“Shut up, Queeny. That was your boyfriend. That nasty pimple face and them yellow teeth,” I said and laughed just a little.
“Tali, can I get your number?” Queeny teased as she got in my face showing me her teeth as she mimicked an overbite. “Tali, please, can I get your number?”
I couldn’t help but to break out into a loud laugh. We were all laughing hysterically as we walked. We decided to walk to Johnson Houses to find Janice and Belinda. That was the hood they were from.
Queeny was keeping the laughter alive as we walked. Suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around me stopping me from moving forward. I stiffened at the sudden touch.
“I told you to answer when I call,” Victor growled in my ear.
“I was sleeping,” I responded quickly.
“So w
hat, I told you to answer.”
“It was the middle of the night. I didn’t hear it.” I turned to face him. I knew I was lying, but I was hoping he did not pick up on it.
“So, you need to turn up your volume or put the phone closer to you. I wanted to see you.”
“I was just with you and I wasn’t getting out of my house that time of night,” I snorted.
“Yeah, you would have, for me,” he said through tight lips.
I looked at his face and he was really upset. I couldn’t believe he was that mad that I didn’t answer when we were just with each other. I stepped closer to him and reached for his face.
“You’re really mad?” I quizzed.
He just looked down at me narrowing his eyes. He reached for the waistband of my jeans and pulled me to him by the top of my pants. I looked at his face, searching to see if he would answer me.
There was something cute about the look he was wearing. I pecked him on the cheek to see if that would relax his face. It made him smile a little as he leaned in to kiss me. He wasn’t shy about kissing me at all. He placed his hands on the small of my back to pull me into the kiss.
I remembered how soft his kiss had been the night before and it was just as soft now. I could taste the flavor of mint in his mouth as my tongue met his. He had his hand in the back of my hair, holding my face to his.
Queeny made a sigh of disgust behind us. Victor pulled away to look at her. His face just twisted up all over again. His eyes flickered between her and me a couple of times before he sucked his teeth.
“I don’t like your friends. Get in the car,” he ordered.
“Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe my ears. The look on his face was telling me he was very serious.
“Stop asking me questions. Get in the car.”
I folded my arms across my chest, but I walked over to the car like he told me to. He opened the door and got in and I slid inside after him. I was hurt all over again as I got in the car and saw Alex sitting in the front seat across from Juan who was driving.
It was like I had stepped out of the bathroom in the warehouse all over again. I tried to hold my face together. Juan pulled off the minute I closed the door.
“Why didn’t you come back to tell me your friends left you?” Victor asked.
“Sisqo put me in a cab.”
“I would have taken you home.” I shrugged not really having an answer.
Victor looked over at me as if he was thinking something over. I watched as he reached down and unzipped his pants. I looked at him like he was nuts, wondering what he was doing. He reached over and grabbed the back of my head and started to push me down toward his lap. I grabbed his hand and twisted it away from the back of my head.
“Are you crazy? Get off of me,” I yelled.
“Damn, Ma-me, let go of my hand,” he bellowed in pain. I could tell he wasn’t expecting that. “Come here.” He was still being persistent.
“No! I’m not doing that.” I was putting up my best fight. I wasn’t drunk or upset about a lie today. He wasn’t about to force me to do anything I didn’t want and I was not about to be foolish and give in to what he wanted.
“Stop acting like that, come here.” This time he reached for my hand and pulled me toward him.
“No, let me go. Pull this car over, I’m getting out.” I was shouting and pushing him away from me.
“Yo, Victor, chill man, we ain’t trying to catch no case with you, B,” Alex called into the back seat with a mixture of bitterness and anxiety.
Victor laughed and zipped his pants back up. “Nobody is catching a case. I just wanted to see what she would do. I like you, Tali,” he responded and leaned to kiss me on the cheek. “Sorry, Baby.”
“I don’t think you’re funny,” I grumbled. I was convinced the rumors were true, this guy is crazy.
“I’ll make it up to you.” He was looking at me with a grin on his face as I glared at him. I wanted to lunge at him and scratch his eyes out.
“Whatever.” I had my arms folded across my chest as I turned to look out of the window.
He slid closer to me and kissed my neck, pushing my hair out of his way so he could suck on it. I wanted to ignore him, but he did know how to make me feel good. I probably would have moaned if Alex was not in the car. As much as I liked what Victor was doing, I still wanted it to be Alex.
Juan pulled the car over and I looked to see that we were in front of my building. I was puzzled. He made me get in the car to take me home. I pulled away from him so I could see his face.
“Go upstairs and wait for me to call,” he ordered.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“You need to learn to listen. Go in the house.”
“You brought me home. I don’t want to sit in that hot apartment,” I whined.
“Taliyah, go in the house, I’ll call you later and take you out.”
I sucked my teeth and pushed open the door. I made sure to slam it behind me. I heard the automatic window come down as I went to walk away.
“Come here,” Victor bellowed from the window.
I turned to look at him and started to ignore him. He had a smirk on his face as he beckoned me with his finger. I slowly walked back to the car. He tugged at my t-shirt as I reached him, motioning for me to bend and kiss him. I bent my head to meet his and kissed him as he wanted.
“Don’t be slamming my door,” he grumbled and patted my thigh for me to leave.
I frowned at him and turned to leave. I couldn’t believe he was making me go in the house. I couldn’t believe I was listening. I was really mad now. I had unfinished business today.
When I got in the house, my mother was in the living room resting on the couch. I knew she was not going to miss me being back so soon. I had done all my homework for the week. I had a test to study for, but she knows I do better when I cram last minute. There was no need for me to be home.
“Hey Liyah, what you doing back so soon?” she called as I tried to rush pass.
“We’re going out tonight. I wanted to get in a nap and I need time to get ready.”
I was up the hall before she could ask any more questions. When I got in my room, I kicked off my shoes to lay down on the bed. I was tired anyway. It didn’t take long to fall asleep.
I woke up to my phone ringing next to me. I looked at the caller ID to see it was Victor. I looked up at the clock to see that it was one in the morning. I had slept all day. I didn’t even remember how many hours had passed.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Hey Ma-me, I want to see you,” he said in more of a demanding voice than an asking one.
“Victor, it is one in the morning. I was waiting for you to call all day,” I grumbled.
“I had things to do. I want to see you now.” I wanted to hang up and go back to sleep. Victor was out of his mind if he thought I was going anywhere now.
“No, maybe some other time.”
“Stop playing with me,” he said after sucking his teeth. “Come downstairs.”
“No,” I said. I was already wiggling out of my jeans and climbing under the covers. “Victor, maybe tomorrow.”
“Yo, Ma-me, I’m not asking. I’m telling you to come downstairs.” He was raising his voice. I had enough.
“Good night, Victor,” I sang into the phone and hung up.
I dropped the phone by my pillow and got comfortable in the bed. I could not fall asleep. I got up to brush my teeth, get some water and see if we had something to eat.
It only took ten minutes for him to start text messaging me. I thought he was going to call me sooner than that. As I climbed back in the bed with my apple, I looked at the phone to read the message. Open the door.
I moved to sit back at the edge of the bed, I was sure he was not talking about the door to my apartment. I climbed out of the bed and ran up the hallway. I knew my mother was at work, her open bedroom door confirmed that. I got to the door and looked out the peephole into the hallway. There was
a figure outside with a black hoodie on. I quickly opened the door before someone saw him and decided to tell my mom.
He stepped into the apartment quickly, as if he wanted out of the hallway as fast as I wanted him out of it. Once inside, he pulled off the hood and grabbed me by the waist. His face was tight just like earlier.
“Why you don’t listen?” he whispered. “Who’s here?” He was looking up the hallway of the apartment to see if anyone would come to the front.
I sat pondering if I wanted to answer that question. I didn’t know if I wanted him to know I was home alone. “Just me, my mom is at work,” I decided to reply.
With my answer, he pulled me closer and kissed me. “Go get dressed,” he breathed in my face.
“Victor, why are you here? I’m not going out.”
“Aye, Ma-me, you don’t listen,” he groaned and reached down to lift me over his shoulder. I was surprised by the motion and doubly surprised when he started up the hallway supporting my weight.
“Victor, put me down, what are you doing?” I yelled.
“Which room is yours?” he grumbled.
I refused to answer. He peeked up the hall at my mother’s open door and the darkened room, before turning into my room where I had just turned the light on, before going to the kitchen. He tossed me down onto my bed and smiled as he looked me over. I could tell he was debating on something. He quickly shook his head in response to his mental debate.
“Tali, I need to get out of this building, Mama. Get dressed,” he ordered.
“Ugh,” I sighed as I got off the bed and went to get a fresh pair of jeans from the closet. I pulled on the black jeans and could feel Victor staring the whole time as I got dressed. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me as I fastened my jeans shut.
“Get a jacket, it’s cool out,” he ordered in my ear and kissed the side of my face.
I took out my black jacket and started for my keys and my phone. I snatched my wallet off the dresser as he pulled me out of the room and up the hall to leave the apartment. I was happy my room is always neat. He was the first guy I ever had in there. I didn’t want him going around telling people I have a nasty room. I chuckled to myself, maybe if it was nasty he would leave me alone.
