by Zetta Brown
“They got two chairs ready. Who wants to go first?”
“Lovebirds first,” Talley decrees, pushing us in the direction.
“You’re full of chicken shit, aren’t you, Talley?”
She turns her nose up at him. “I’m just helping create a bonding experience between you two.” She winks at me. “To keep you from getting jealous.”
The chairs are in a small room with a curtain sliding on a rod to cover the entrance. Jared takes my hand and sits me in the second chair farthest from the curtain.
“Where do you want it, sugar?” he asks suggestively.
I slide back into the chair and sigh. “Unlike you artistic free sprits, I can’t afford to have it anywhere conspicuous. The hip worked for me last time, it’ll have to do again.”
“Why not on your back?” asks Talley.
“Because I want to be able to reach it so I can treat it.”
Jared opts to have his done on his bicep and stoically takes the jibes from Talley and me for being unoriginal.
“I guess it’s up to us girls to be the kinky ones,” she says and I put my arm around her waist in support. We look at Jared who arches an eyebrow.
“Fuck you, Talley. Eva, I’ll get you later.”
The curtain is pulled aside and a big barrel of a man with long, frizzy red hair and a beard to match comes in. His skin, if it isn’t covered in clothes, is covered in tattoos.
“Alrighty, folks. Are we ready?” His soft, delicate voice totally contradicts his biker image. “My name’s Boscoe, and this here is Arnie.”
Boscoe indicates a tall willowy youth, who can’t be more than twenty, and dressed in faded fatigues with the top dyed red. He has piercings in his eyebrow and nose and wears several silver rings on both hands, one of them being the head of a howling wolf.
“Howdy,” Arnie greets in a voice lower than his testicles.
“Arnie, you take care of Sweet Miss, and I’ll handle mister.” Boscoe puts a hand on Jared’s shoulder and it’s my opinion that, if given the chance, Boscoe would rather Jared handle him.
Arnie grins. “OK, miss, show me where it hurts.”
As I begin to raise my thin summer dress, I suddenly realize I’m about to flash my wherewithal to the crowd. The fact that we are behind a partition with Talley’s giant frame blocking the entry barely comforts me. Thank God for bikini waxes.
Nevertheless, I reveal my G-string, stockings, garter belt, and a plump, fleshy hip. I look at Jared, who grins at me and my embarrassment.
“Stop it,” I pout. When I push down the top of my garter belt Jared whistles. Even Arnie’s eyes light up a little as his thin, pink lips turn up in a smile. “If you don’t quit it . . .” I growl but they all laugh.
Boscoe continues to prep Jared’s arm, unperturbed.
Arnie pats my shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’re in safe hands.”
“Yeah, well you watch where you put those hands, buddy,” Jared teases.
I close my eyes and try to relax as Arnie traces in pen, but my ears burn from the acid rock seeping out of the stereo speakers. Finally, I feel the cold damp of cotton drenched in alcohol. The bitter, antiseptic smell is reassuring. Soon I hear the high-pitched whirl of electric needles coming to life.
Boscoe and Arnie start at the same time. With the first touch of the pen onto my ample flesh, my breath catches in my throat as the needles etch away to permanently embed the image Jared and I created together. We are being branded.
I open my eyes and level a gaze on Jared. He’s watching Boscoe, but soon enough, he turns to see me. The acid rock has melted away everything else and there is only us. Any discomfort on Jared’s part he expresses only by flaring his nostrils. I, on the other hand, am not above biting my lip and whimpering. After holding my breath for what seems an eternity, I exhale, but it could be mistaken for a groan of pleasure.
“Arnie, what did I say about those hands?” Jared smiles but never takes his eyes off mine.
His stare is getting me drowsy, relaxed, and I smile. His eyes seem glazed too. Suddenly, he focuses on me sharply, just as Arnie adjusts his grip on my hip, giving me a slight squeeze. I’m so caught up in Jared’s gaze, a sigh that is rarely heard outside of the bedroom escapes my lips. I’m two seconds away from an orgasm by way of an eye fuck.
“Goddamn, Eva, that boy must be good.” Talley chuckles. “Hang in there, baby girl.”
Her soft hand strokes a tendril of my hair behind my ear. I nod and my hands slide up the front of my dress to clasp the shoulder straps. She continues stroking my hair, comforting me. A lazy grin spreads across Jared’s mouth and he blows me a kiss, but when he blinks, it breaks our connection and I gasp.
“Hurt much, babe?” His words are barely above a whisper but are like a soothing balm when they reach me.
“I’m use to pain, Jared. You should know.”
His grin tells me he gets my point. In an effort to control myself, I thought it better to concentrate on the pain, rather than get caught up in the rapture of Jared’s eyes. Talley’s long, cool fingers caress my temple, taking the sting of the needles away along with a few drops of perspiration.
“Ooh, Eva,” Talley murmurs. “This is looking gorgeous.”
“Good, because you’re next,” I say and focus, once again, on Jared. He’s looking at Talley with a soft smile on his lips making me wonder if he’s remembering their brief affair.
A half-hour later, Jared and I are finished.
“There you go, Sweet Miss.” Arnie smiles “It’s been a pleasure.”
“I’ll say.” Talley grins. “The way he had you moaning, Eva, are you sure you don’t want a cigarette?”
“Quit stalling, Talley,” Jared says. “It’s your turn.”
Arnie gives me a hand mirror to examine his work before applying ointment and a bandage. Despite the red irritation of my skin, our little mascot, full of bad-manners attitude, peeks just above my garter belt.
Jared gently maneuvers me out of the way. He leans against the wall and I lean back against him. Meanwhile, Talley, true to her word, is getting her tattoo placed on her inner thigh.
When she drops her pants, she puts all my modesty to shame.
“It doesn’t take much for her to get out of her clothes,” Jared says with a snicker.
Talley wears only the slightest suggestion of a thong which matches her complexion so well, for a moment, we all think she’s nude.
Young Arnie is visibly taken aback then smiles appreciatively. Boscoe, in all his masculinity, is totally uninterested.
“Arnie, I’m going back into the shop.”
Talley hops onto the chair as if hopping onto a saddle. Her athlete’s body and outdoor tan has turned her legs into twin pillars of sculpted beauty.
“Tell me, Arnie,” she says and spreads her legs wide. “Which thigh? Left or right?”
My jaw drops. From where Jared and I stand, the presentation she makes is like looking up Heaven’s Highway for the Terminally Horny. I wonder how many men Talley has sent to their blissful final reward by way of her loins. I look up at Jared to gauge his reaction. After all, this is his former lover; she’s beautiful, and still single. He is nonchalant, in fact, he nuzzles my neck. I look back at Talley.
“My God!” She laughs. “Eva, are you blushing? Shit, now I’ve seen everything.”
“Is she really?” Jared cranes his neck to look at me. “I do believe you’re right.”
; I jab him in the bandage and anyone would’ve thought I kneed him in the groin. Talley, totally casual in her pose, continues.
“Apparently Arnie’s never seen a woman’s crotch before, because he hasn’t answered my question. So I’ll leave it to you, Eva.” Her mouth curves in a lopsided smile. “Left or right?
It doesn’t matter to me. It’s a shame to mar such a lovely sight. Finally, I reply. “Right.”
“OK, Arnie. You heard the little lady. Right thigh, chop chop!”
I don’t know if it’s because of her commandeering tone or her dig at Arnie’s sexual experience, but either way, Arnie’s excitement wanes until Talley takes her right hand, and with one long, elegant finger points to a spot just inches away from going inside.
As Arnie works, Jared cradles me in his arms and we sway. Not to the music, that’s far from danceable, but in our little world.
He whispers in my ear, “Let’s make it an early night.”
Before I can answer, Arnie is lifting his head and wiping the sweat from his brow as a result of his toil. Talley whistles as she gazes at her crotch reflected in the mirror she holds.
“Aw- right ,” she growls, swinging her body until both feet hit the floor. Not the slightest sign of discomfort suggested in her movements. Within seconds, she’s dressed and mussing Arnie’s mop-topped head like he’s some rascally schoolboy, much to his chagrin. She turns to us.
“OK, you two. Let’s go rip it up!”
* * * *
We get to a bar and it’s packed with bodies dressed in sweat but the music jams. We don’t bother stopping for drinks but push our way onto the dance floor.
I’m surprised to find the group of people we met cruising down Elm Street: three guys and five ladies, all in their twenties. They look the same age as my students back home, but this “small” gathering of new friends doesn’t stay small for long. Other people gravitate to us, well, Talley and Jared really, getting caught up in their orbit.
As to be expected, the women outnumber the men and soon the women attaching to Jared’s sphere threaten to turn me into a far distant satellite. A pair of buxom blondes work their way on either side of him on the dance floor.
OK, fine. I switch into “Dance Ho” mode and make myself available to what’s left, dancing with several men. I’m not bothered. Actually, I prefer going to clubs with a group of girlfriends and then breaking off to circulate on my own. The fact that Jared’s only a foot away is no problem.
I’m having a good time and on the verge of forgetting that I’m in a foreign state, in a foreign setting, and with complete strangers, when an arm goes around my waist and drags me off the floor. I’m about to do a roundhouse upside the person’s head until I realize it’s Jared. He’s built up a sweat and his face is pale and flushed. He looks hot, and not just in temperature.
“I’ve been missing you, sugar.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” I say with a smirk.
“Jealous?” He grins, pulling me close, and his breath on my neck thrills me as he exhales onto my damp skin. His hands slide down my sweat-slicked back to clutch proprietarily at my ass. A drop of perspiration trails from behind my ear to meet his tongue and his lips suction it away. I gyrate, groove, and freak my body against his until I feel the telltale jutting of his arousal.
He takes my left leg, hooks it around his waist, and I am up against a part of his body swollen plump from the heat. He grinds against me and I cup his face in my hands to cover his mouth with mine. Other bodies brush and bump against us, keeping us vertical.
He breaks away from our soul kiss and when he raises his head, the strobe lighting makes his features alternate between hard and soft, light and dark. Jared looks like a god waiting to take possession of his virgin sacrifice. He’s had enough playacting.
“Let’s say good night, Eva.”
Who am I to argue? When we find Talley at the bar with her new acquaintances she tries to argue, but Jared’s having none of it.
“Forget it, Talley. Eva and I only have a few hours left and those hours are mine.”
I notice some of the ladies around Talley are the same ones who got between Jared and me earlier when we arrived. I smile at them, they throw daggers with their eyes back at me.
While the guys I met start saying and kissing me goodbye, out of the corner of my eye I catch a lady with long red hair dressed in a leather halter top and matching hot pants and sitting next to Talley, slip something into Jared’s hand. I turn my attention to them just as he looks at it.
He smiles at the note and at the woman, then leans against the bar, putting his arm between her and Talley. I see the lady’s face light up. Time for me to close in. I tap his arm firmly, on his sore spot.
“Ouch!” He turns around with a murderous scowl on his face, ready to smear the bastard who touched him, but when he sees me, he grins.
“Ready to go?”
Smiling, I nod. I also smile at the woman, who smiles back but can’t work up the sincerity. Jared moves his arm to put it around my shoulder and that’s when I notice the slip of paper on the bar.
“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to it.
When he, and she, sees what I’m referring to, he pulls me away. “It’s nothing.”
He turns away and doesn’t see the redhead stand up, murder me with her eyes, and then move away from the bar. Her outfit gives away too much information from the way her ass cheeks spill out of her hot pants. Meanwhile, Talley breaks away from the conversation with her neighbor.
“Let me finish this drink and I’ll take ya’ll to the hotel.”
Jared shakes his head. “We’re getting a cab. And I suggest you get one too.”
Talley and I look at each other. Her eyes are sad, as if she’s losing her best friend.
“I guess this is it, Eva.” She puts down her drink and gives me a big hug before planting a vodka-soaked kiss on my lips.
Despite my recent wild behavior, I’ve never been big on public displays of affection, even between women, but I allow it this time even though it’s a bit much. Besides, I’m going to miss her.
“Don’t forget about me now that you know where I am.”
“As if I could.”
“And if J. D. gets on your nerves and needs sorting out, let me know.”
I grin at Jared, but he rolls his eyes and pulls us apart. We slowly make our way out of the bar. Stepping outside, even the air of lower downtown Dallas smells crisp and clean after being inside a funk-filled bar. He drags me to the nearest cab.
Luckily, the cab’s air conditioning is on full blast. We ride with the windows up and cruise out of Deep Ellum in relative quiet.
“Did you have a good time?”
I look at him; his face is half obscured by the darkness of the cab and the streetlights.
“Jared,” I say with a smile, “you have no idea.”
He takes my hand in both of his and kisses each of my knuckles. With his head bent down, it’s impossible for me to resist running my fingers through his hair.
“You kids callin’ it a night so early?”
What the fuck? Oh, it’s the cab driver talking. I haven’t noticed him or anyone else since my arrival in Dallas, but it’s easy for the world to be eclipsed with Jared or Talley around.
Jared says something back to the cabbie, but damned if I know what it is. When he told Talley these are our last few hours together, the word “last” had more than a
ring of finality to it. A vise clutches around my throat and threatens to squeeze the life out of me. I look at his silhouette as he leans close to talk to the cabbie and it’s hazy and blurred as if I’m looking at him from underwater. I can touch him, but soon he’ll be leagues away, miles apart.
A lump rises in my throat. I force myself to swallow and it hurts. When I try to take a deep breath, it sounds more like a sniffle. I can’t believe I’m about to cry over this man. Why am I being affected this way? Is it because this amazing weekend is ending and Jared has treated me better than any man has in my entire life? Or maybe I pity myself as an incredible idiot for being seduced? I know nothing about him. He could have a fat fetish or a subconscious superiority complex, and making love to a black woman is a subliminal power play. Maybe he’s emotionally scarred from being in foster care and has stalker tendencies? He has issues —then again, who doesn’t? But none of these reasons jibe with a man who’s shown me nothing but kindness, generosity, and romance at a level I never thought possible and I’m ashamed of my cynicism.
Jared turns his head to me and I see his lips move, but can’t hear. He moves again and this time the shadow cuts his face down the middle, much like the shadow he drew across my face at the theater. His face holds no expression but his eyes say it all. He’s not playing, he’s not being coy. His gaze locks me in place.
He pulls me in for a kiss and the tip of his tongue gently taps on the barrier of my teeth, unassuming, asking to be let in. I allow him complete access and he moans. Our kiss lasts the distance from Deep Ellum to the hotel, but it feels like seconds because soon the cabbie tells us our journey is at an end.
We make out all the way back to the suite, holding hands like young lovers, which is appropriate, I guess, but this feels different. We’re not pawing and clawing each other in a frenzy to get our clothes off. We don’t speak at all. In the elevator, I steal a glance at him. He’s looking at the floor.
“Jared?”
“Hmm?”
“Tired?”
His embrace tells me he has enough energy to do what he wants to do. I inhale his scent of cologne, smoke, sweat, bodies, and heat that records our evening out and as I exhale, his arms constrict around me, molding my body to his. The elevator doors open and he quickly kisses my forehead before stepping out.
