Naughty No More

by Brenda Hampton

  “Don’t forget to keep in touch,” I said. “And next time you have this desire for me, you’re coming to St. Louis. Hopefully, that’ll be soon.”

  “I hope so too,” he said.

  On that note, I stepped away from him to exit. He reached for my hand, pulling me in for another hug.

  “I’ll never forget you coming all this way to see me, Scorpio. You are truly a special woman, no matter what happens. You know I got love for you, right?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see Jaylin again. I knew how he felt about me, but was it enough love to separate himself from Nokea? No doubt, he’d gotten what he wanted from me, only time would tell if I’d get everything I wanted from him.

  Chapter 16

  Nokea

  This was unbelievable. The other day, Shane called with very bad news. He told me Scorpio had taken a flight out of St. Louis to Florida. We didn’t say much else to each other, but both of us were stunned!

  Since, I hadn’t heard from Jaylin. I knew he was upset with me about disappearing that night, but I purposely did so, just so I could see how far he would go. I definitely knew the man I married and I accepted that. I would never tell anyone that I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into because I’d sound like a fool. No matter who got hurt, Jaylin was always going to be Jaylin. Whenever he was hurt, other people always had to feel his pain right along with him. What I didn’t expect, though, was for him to neglect me and his children for this long. For me, that was a true wake-up call. Even though I knew Scorpio was here, I hadn’t a clue where they were. I definitely wasn’t going to go look for him. I waited for days, until he finally showed up.

  I was helping Nanny B clean up the kitchen, while LJ and Jaylene were down for their naps. Nanny B knew how devastated I was, but I asked that she give me some space and let me deal with this situation as best as I could. All she did was continue to make excuses for Jaylin’s behavior. She talked about all he’d been through and all the changes he’d made. Personally, I didn’t give a care about any of the changes he’d made. The only thing that his changes proved to me is, that with a snap of my finger, he could always resort back to the person he was before.

  As I took the plates out of the dishwasher and put them into the cabinets, I heard the front door alarm sound. It was two o’clock in the afternoon, and when I looked to see who it was, Jaylin walked in the kitchen. He was casually dressed in blue jeans shorts, sandals and a football jersey. He couldn’t look at me for two seconds before his eyes quickly shot in another direction. He picked up the mail and thumbed through it.

  “Is this all the mail we got,” he asked.

  Neither Nanny B or I said a word.

  “Is anybody talking in this muthafucka?” he yelled.

  Nanny B just stared at him and I left the kitchen. I heard her say something to him, but I couldn’t quite make it out. I returned to our bedroom. Minutes later, Jaylin came through the door. I looked in his eyes again, and I still got the same response. Guilt was written all over his face. The thought of what obviously transpired between him and Scorpio made me want to throw up. I rushed to the bathroom, shut the door behind me and did just that. As I hugged my stomach and leaned over the toilet, Jaylin knocked on the door.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  I didn’t say a word. I threw up some more, and then cleaned myself up. I looked in the mirror and wanted to cry so badly. A big part of me wanted to believe that Jaylin would never cheat on me. Even though he’d done so in the past, I truly thought being married to him would be different. I couldn’t stand the sight of him. I took a few more minutes to gather myself, and then left the bathroom. Jaylin was sitting back in the chair next to our bed with his eyes closed.

  “I’m coming back home tonight. I had time to think about some things and we need to talk,” he said.

  “I’m not ready for you to come home yet and there’s not too much more that we can discuss.”

  Jaylin sat up, gripping his hands together. “Nokea, how much longer is this going to go on? I’m not gon’ come in here every day arguing with you. You’ve had your fun by staying out all damn night. It’s about time you got back to being a wife and mother.”

  In disbelief, I stood with my mouth hanging open. “You haven’t even been here every day for us to argue and I’ve always done my best as a wife and mother. It’s not something I have to get back to. You’re the one who has to adjust to the change. Wherever you were, I hope your time away did you some good. I’m sure it did, and without going into any details, you will pay dearly for what you’ve done to me.”

  “Whatever, Nokea. Without all the mumbo jumbo, face it, Daddy’s home. Make sure your boyfriend ain’t ringing my phone and try to keep your feelings for him under control, all right?”

  One good slap across his face would’ve made me feel good, but I wasn’t going to go there. Lord knows I wanted to walk out on him, but that took careful preparation. I never thought I would feel so disgusted by the sight of him. Just knowing . . . thinking about him with Scorpio, sparked a mad rage inside of me. For now, all I could say to him was, “Welcome back, Jaylin.”

  What else could I say, other than living in this house was like living in hell. I couldn’t stand to be around Jaylin. At night, it was so hard to sleep next to him without wanting to choke the mess out of him. The more I ignored him, the angrier he got. He continued with his smart remarks about Shane, but I let him have his little fun. I had no plans of telling him that I knew Scorpio was here, but I had a feeling he’d already known I knew it.

  As for sex, please. Last night, for the first time since he’d been home, he tried to sweet talk me. He wrapped his arm around me, told me he was sorry and that he loved me. At times, I thought Jaylin needed some Prozac. He was on one minute and off the next. Then again, I probably needed some strong medication for putting up with his mess too.

  Jaylene and I were in the playroom painting some pictures. LJ was at the grocery store with Nanny B, and the last time I checked, Jaylin was still asleep. As I was getting ready to clean up the mess we’d made, Jaylin came into the room and sat on the floor with us. He looked at the pictures we painted of our family and told Jaylene how pretty they were. He put her on his back, pretending to be a horse. She was laughing her butt off, and seeing her smile, definitely made me smile. Once Jaylin got tired, he lay flat on his stomach and took deep breaths. She kept telling him more, but he told her later. Of course, that caused her to cry and he picked her up and carried her into another room. I stayed behind, continuing to clean up the mess. Once I was finished, I went into the kitchen where they were, and saw that Jaylin had given her a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream to keep her quiet.

  “Jaylin, she already had breakfast. Ice cream is for lunch or dinner.”

  “But she told me she wanted some ice cream, so I gave her some. It’s no big deal.”

  Since chocolate was all over her face, I wet a paper towel and walked over to her to wipe it off. Jaylin sat close by her. After I wiped her mouth, he reached for my hips and pulled me back to his lap.

  “I gotta tell you something,” he said.

  “What?” I said, feeling uncomfortable.

  “While I was away, I got in on a profitable real estate deal. Once the deal is closed, we stand to make three million dollars. The deal is expected to close sometime next week and I was wondering if you’d like to take a vacation somewhere? Anywhere? We need some time alone. Anywhere you’d like to go, Paris, Hawaii, Africa . . . Wherever, we can go.”

  I wanted to tell him he could go to hell, but instead I stood up and responded, “Let me think about it and I’ll let you know.”

  He grabbed my waist again and put me back on his lap. “I missed you while I was away,” he said. “I know I’ve said and done some hurtful things to you, but I can’t get my anger under control. I just wish that incident with you and Shane would have never taken place. I want you to understand how hard it was for me to swallow. By all means, it doesn
’t justify my behavior, but if you’re willing, I’d love for our healing process to begin. We got some work to do and I’m ready to start whenever you are.”

  I shrugged, really not caring much about our marriage. I was there for my kids and I had been thinking hard about what I needed to do. “That’s fine. Whatever works.”

  I got off his lap and picked up Jaylene. Jaylin stood up, gave her a kiss and then put his lips on mine. I backed up and touched his chest.

  “Not right now, okay? Like you, I have some things I need to sort through.”

  “It’s just a kiss Nokea. I can’t even kiss my wife?”

  I quickly pecked his lips and left the kitchen.

  Nearly an hour later, I started to wonder what was taking Nanny B and LJ so long at the grocery store. When the doorbell rang, I rushed to the door. A florist stood outside with dozens and dozens of red roses.

  “Nokea Rogers?” he asked.

  I nodded and widened the door for him to bring the roses inside. They were very beautiful and I thanked him. Once I closed the door, I picked up the flowers and placed them on the round glass table in the foyer. I reached for the card and read it.

  This is so awkward, as I never thought we’d get to this point in our marriage. I don’t know where to begin in correcting the pain I’ve caused you. I’ve missed your smile and I hope these flowers brighten your day. Love Jaylin.

  I stuck the card back into the envelope, thinking about my failing marriage. My thoughts were interrupted by Nanny B and LJ coming through the door. Immediately, Nanny B noticed the flowers.

  “Oooo, those are pretty. Where did you get them from?”

  “Jaylin had them delivered.”

  She tooted her lips and headed to the kitchen with LJ. When I left the foyer, I saw Jaylin standing by our bedroom doors. He awaited a reaction from me, but all I did was hug and thank him.

  “Did you like them?” he asked.

  “They’re nice,” I said, going into our bedroom. He followed.

  “Look, I don’t like to see you like this. You’re distant, quiet, and I’m willing to do what I can to make things right,” he said.

  I sat on the bed and began to express myself. “I don’t know if you can make things right, and I don’t know if I can either. Yes, I can see that my lies caused major damage, but instead of dealing with them, as I’ve dealt with yours so many times before, why did you allow things to go this far?”

  “I needed space,” he said, walking over to the bed and sitting next to me. “If I had stayed here, things would have been worse.”

  “So, you just run off and do whatever? Then, you think it’s okay to come back here and things are supposed to get back to normal?”

  “This marriage isn’t perfect Nokea. It will never be perfect. We had a disagreement, and now, it’s time to work through it.”

  I wanted to tell him that I knew about Scorpio being here, but it didn’t seem like the appropriate time. More than anything, I wanted him to tell me, but surely he would not.

  “Whether you agree with me or not,” I said. “We had more than a disagreement. It’s been kind of a reality check for me. As angry as you’ve been, I never thought you could stay away from me and the kids for so long.”

  “You act like I was gone for months or something. Didn’t I call here almost every day? I stopped by several nights, and some nights, you didn’t even know I was here.”

  “Well, tomorrow, the kids and I are checking out of here for a few days. I’m taking them to see my parents. I’ve been subpoenaed to be a witness in court against the man who posed as an officer and forced Shane and me—”

  “So, fuck me, right? Do you think I’m going to let you go to St. Louis without me?”

  “What are you so worried about? I’d like to see this man behind bars for a very long time and so would Shane. Whether anyone likes it or not, we have to do what is necessary.”

  “I’m doing what’s necessary too. What time do we leave?”

  “My plane departs at seven o’clock in the morning. There are no more seats available, and the next flight out of Miami isn’t until eleven.”

  “Then, cancel your flight and leave with me at eleven.”

  “I can’t do that. I’m supposed to be in court no later than two. Once you get off the plane, you can meet me there. If you do show up, please do not embarrass me and I do not want you to say anything to Shane. You know I’ll have to speak about what happened that day, so I don’t know why you’d want to come, especially if the situation bothers you so much.”

  “I’ll keep my cool. I just want to be there for you, okay?”

  “I hope so, and, if you get yourself in any legal trouble while you’re in St. Louis, I’m telling you, ahead of time, that the kids and I are coming home.”

  He kissed my cheek. “I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise.”

  Chapter 17

  Shane

  I couldn’t even explain what the hell was going on with me. Inside, I was mad as hell, but my anger didn’t stop me from moving forward. Once I found out Scorpio had booked a flight to Florida, I didn’t have much else to say to anyone. At Nokea’s request, I called and told her about Scorpio’s little trip, just so she wouldn’t be left in the dark about all that was going on. Through a little investigation of my own, I found out Scorpio extended her stay in Florida and that was enough to break my heart.

  I decided not to return the phone call she left the other day, and when she stopped by my house, I couldn’t even open the door. Basically, what in the hell did she have to say to me? I wasn’t about to listen to how many mistakes I’d made, when Scorpio knows damn well she never, ever, shook Jaylin from her heart. I do believe she loved me, but Jaylin has a tight hold on her and vice versa.

  Either way, I was out of this mess. I wasn’t in the mood for Jaylin’s bullshit. I decided to take the high road and focus on Shane and Shane only. I made my business my priority and things have been going well. Last week, I picked up two new accounts and was paid a nice sum of money for my design with the Mayor’s Group. I made sure Jaylin was paid every dime of his money back. Scorpio’s money was transferred back into her account too. In her message, she thanked me for returning the money and sounded as if she really cared.

  Yesterday, I removed her ring from my drawer. I spent hours looking at it and thinking . . . what if? What if I would have married her, without realizing her constant desires for Jaylin? For that, I was grateful things turned out as they had. Instead of keeping the ring in my possession, I went to my mother’s house and gave it to her. She was disappointed things didn’t work out between Scorpio and me. She told me she’d wear it until I found the woman who was right for me.

  For now, though, I wasn’t looking to be in a committed relationship. All I needed was a woman I could have fun with, without all the attachments. For the time being, my standby, Amber, was back in the picture. I could always rely on our companionship to help me get through troubled times. Last night, she and I kicked up a good conversation. If I didn’t have to prepare myself for court, I probably would have gone to see her today. I told her I’d stop by soon. Like always, she made it clear that she was anxious to see me.

  Late last night, Nokea called and told me Jaylin was coming to St. Louis with her. She asked me to keep it cool. I told her that I wasn’t the one she needed to worry about. I made it clear that I wasn’t tripping off Jaylin. As far as I was concerned, everything was everything. As my friend, he knew how I felt about Scorpio, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to put his dick inside of her. Yes, I had feelings for Nokea, but if we had never been forced, I doubt that sex between us would have ever happened. I think I was more upset with Scorpio, simply because she took her ass to Florida to see him. Even if he would have come here to see her, Scorpio didn’t know where to draw the line. Any future drama he brought to her would be well deserved.

  According to Nokea’s latest phone call, she was in St. Louis and the kids were with her parents. When I asked w
here Jaylin was, she said he was coming in on a later flight. Since the courthouse was in a small jurisdiction that neither one of us knew much about, Nokea asked if she could follow me. Just so she didn’t get lost, I agreed. She told me she was on her way to my house. After my shower, I started to get dressed. I couldn’t step in the courtroom with jeans on, so I wore my Kenneth Cole jacket, with a gray vest and white crisp shirt underneath. As soon as I stepped into my pants, I heard a car door shut. I hurried into my black leather shoes, not wanting Nokea to wait long. I straightened my goatee with the tips of my fingers and added some shine to my twisties. As the doorbell rang, I quickly splashed my face with aftershave. I hurried to the door and invited Nokea in. She looked magnificent. She wore a light tan suit with a dark brown silk blouse underneath. Her accessories were gold and her layered haircut was cut to perfection. Normally, the front of her hair was spiked, but this time, bangs covered her forehead and barely covered one eye. I couldn’t help but stare at how pretty she was. When she stepped inside, I shot a glance at her curvaceous hips and butt that were well fitted in her short pencil skirt.

  “You can have a seat in the living room. All I have to do is get my coffee, my wallet and find my keys.”

  I walked off to my bedroom to get my wallet and keys. On my way to get my coffee, I asked Nokea if she wanted some.

  “No thanks, Shane, but before we go, come here and sit down for a minute.”

  Since Nokea was sitting in my chair, I sat on the couch next to it. She turned to me, nervously rubbing her hands together. Obviously, she had something on her mind and I gave her all of my attention.

  Her voice was soft. “I . . . These past several weeks have been very difficult for me. I feel lost and the way Jaylin has reacted to all of this has tremendously damaged me. I wanted you to know that I don’t regret what happened between us. The only reason I’m testifying today is because of what this man did to his other victims. I know for a fact that Jaylin was intimate with Scorpio. I have this dying need inside of me to make things right. I need for you to help me do so.”