by Glenn, Roy
In the meantime, me and CJ have been having the best time. Other than the fact that we worked in different places, we are inseparable. We’ve done every museum and art gallery we could find. Now we’ve started cruising Black art stores. We’ve been bowling, to the comedy club, we even went to hear Tee play a couple times. We sat in the back to be sure he wouldn’t see us.
We’ve just been having fun together. Like one day we were out riding and I challenged her to do something she’s never done before. She agreed, but only after I agreed to do it with her. So despite the fact that neither of us has ever played, we tried our hand at tennis. We drove to the nearest Wal-Mart, brought two rackets and a couple of cans of balls. It was the funniest thing you ever wanted to see.
We cook together, eat together, and clean up together. We do everything but sleep together. And we talk. We talk all the time.
“What’s up, CJ?” I asked, and followed her to her car. CJ walked toward me.
“Chris, I wasn’t trying to listen to your conversation earlier, but I heard what Zack said. How come you never told me that you were in love with me?”
“Because you’re married, CJ. I never wanted to get in the way of that.”
“Try again. What I heard him say was ‘Kind of convenient her living here since you’ve been in love with her since the first time you saw her.’ That is what I heard him say, wasn’t it?”
“Okay, CJ, I’m guilty. That’s what he said and he said it because it’s true. I have been in love with you since the first time I saw you.”
“How come this is the first time I’m hearing about this? Usually when you love somebody, you tell them.”
“I was arrogant and stupid.” I hated admitting it out loud. Being stupid I mean. “I—I—” I shifted my weight from side to side. I was nervous and I didn’t know why. Here I was telling CJ what I always wanted to say to her, and the words weren’t coming. I took a deep breath. “CJ, I was—you see, when I met you, I could feel something between us. I thought you felt it, too. But instead of pursuing you I waited, like a fool, for you to come at me.”
“I did feel like there was something between us, too.” CJ smiled. “Boy did I feel it.” She looked at me with those beautiful eyes. “But I didn’t think you were interested in me. You said you just wanted us it be friends.”
“That was only after you started going out with Manny.”
“We went out one time before you told me that.”
“I don’t like competing. And now, I didn’t think that with all you’d gone through, that you needed me bum-rushin’ you with how I felt about you. I want to be with you, CJ; I always have wanted us to be together. I knew you were kind of vulnerable right now and I thought that you needed me to be your friend. If it was gonna be, it would come in time. I waited this long to be with you, a few months, a year, whatever, wouldn’t make that much more of a difference. But I wasn’t going to let you get away again. I love you, CJ.”
CJ hugged and kissed me on the cheek. “Go talk to your friends. We’ll talk about this some more when I get back.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. You waited this long to have this conversation, you can wait a little longer.” CJ got in her car. I stood there while she started her car and then rolled down the window. “I will tell you this.”
“What’s that?” I asked, hoping that she would say that she loved me, too.
“I guess I’ve always known how you felt about me. And I’ve always known that I felt it, too.” CJ put the car in reverse and backed out. It wasn’t I love you, too, but I would take it.
I went back in the house and found Zack and Tee in the kitchen. Tee was pouring drinks and Zack was rolling a blunt. They were both laughing. “I see you found the weed,” I said, and leaned against the counter.
“Yeah,” Zack said. “In the cabinet over the refrigerator. Does the lady of the house know you smoke weed?”
“Yes, and she smokes, too.”
“Not CJ,” Tee said, and put a drink in front of Zack. “Sure you won’t have one?”
“I’m sure. Like I said, I’m giving that oil a rest for a while.”
“I can’t understand that. The lady of the house probably was in no mood to go from one drunk to another,” Zack said.
“Right. Now, what’s so funny?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Tavarus said, and sat down. “Me and Zack was just trippin’ on how we were both fucked by the same woman.”
“Anybody I know?”
“You know somebody named Tyhedra Crawford?” Zack asked, and lit the blunt.
“I’m gonna need that drink now.” I sat down at the table and Zack handed me the blunt.
The three of us sat around that table, and each of us told the others about our Tyhedra experience. Not about the sex we’d all had with her, but about how our Tyhedra experience had changed each of our lives for the better.
Tavarus found his music and was back together with Carmen. I didn’t see that happening. Zack worked out some issue none of us ever knew he had with Angelique. They both said that us getting together and forming a business, something that I always thought would be good for all of us, would be like a dream come true.
“What she do for you, Chris?” Zack asked.
“Don’t tell me she got you and CJ together,” Tavarus said.
“No, nothing like that. Tyhedra made me a better businessman. She taught me a lot about how to present myself to prospective clients. She was the one who helped me stabilize one of my big accounts and turned me on to some new ones. That made it possible for CJ to come on board full time, and for us to be in a position to make the offers we just made to the two of you.”
“Sounds like she dropped CJ in your lap to me. And having CJ always was your dream,” Tavarus said.
“I guess you’re right,” I reluctantly agreed, even though I didn’t want to admit it. Tyhedra had, in her own way, given me an opportunity to have to two things I wanted most in life.
“Hey, Chris. You think she knew that we were all friends?” Zack asked.
“I can’t remember calling y’all by name.” I didn’t even want to think about that. Even though the three of us had sexed the same woman in the past, I didn’t even want to entertain the idea of them having sex with Tyhedra. I had begun to develop real feelings for her, and she for me. At least it felt like that. If she didn’t abruptly put the brakes on it, maybe things might have turned out different.
Maybe the fact that she was having sex with two of my friends, and who knows who else, was the reason she ended us the way she did. I would never know, and maybe it was better that way.
“I think we need to find out,” Tavarus said.
“I think so, too,” Zack added.
“Why?” I want to know.
“I just wanna know,” Tavarus said.
“I wanna thank her,” Zack said.
“So how you gonna do that?” I asked. “You just gonna call her and say, ‘Hi, Tyhedra, are you fuckin’ all my boys?’ ”
“Something like that,” Tavarus said, and pulled out his cell.
“No.”
“Don’t worry, Chris. I’ll be a little more diplomatic than that,” Tavarus said, and dialed the phone. “Hey, Tyhedra, it’s Tee. How you doing?”
I was surprised that she answered, since she didn’t take my calls anymore. I literally held my breath while the two of them made small talk. Then the question came.
“Hey, Tyhedra, I need to ask you something.” Tyhedra said something and then Tee said, “Oh, okay, well why don’t you stop by the club tonight before the show.” Tavarus listened for another second or two. “See you there.” Tavarus ended the call. “That was easy.”
“So she’s gonna meet us there?” Zack asked.
“Before the show,” Tavarus said, and turned to me. “You don’t have to go if it’s gonna be too painful a reunion for you.”
“That’s all right, I’ll be there,” I said, because there was a part of me tha
t needed to know, too.
Later that night, the three of us were seated at the club when Tyhedra came in. As she always does, Tyhedra looked fantastic. Tavarus stood up and waved her over to the table. Both Zack and I had our backs turned so she couldn’t see our faces when she walked up.
“Hey, Tyhedra,” Tavarus began. “I want you to meet some friends of mine.”
“Any friend of yours—” It was obvious from the shocked expression on her face that she had no idea that we were friends. That made me feel a little better.
“Hello, Tyhedra,” Zack said, and got up to hug her. I said nothing and she avoided making eye contact with me.
“I was about to say that any friend of yours, is a friend of mine, but I didn’t know how true that was,” Tyhedra laughed a little and sat down between Zack and Tavarus. “I’m gonna need a drink.” She flagged down a nearby waitress and told her what she was drinking. “So—you guys are friends, huh?”
“Best friends,” I offered.
“I was telling a friend, Maritza,” she turned to Zack, “you remember her, don’t you?”
Zack smiled, practically blushed and I wondered why. “Yeah, I remember her.”
“I was just telling her last night that Atlanta is really a big/small town. I can’t believe you guys are friends,” Tyhedra said, as the waitress returned with her drink. She took a sip and then a deep breath. “So, how uncomfortable a situation is this gonna be, guys?”
“I can’t speak for them, but I just wanted to say thank you,” Zack said.
“Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Me, too. I wouldn’t be getting ready to go onstage if it wasn’t for you. I owe whatever success I have with my music to you.”
“No, Tee. It was your hard work that got you here. All I did was give you a little push in the right direction,” Tyhedra said graciously.
“A big push and a lot of help and encouragement.”
“Now, Zack, what are you thanking me for?”
Zack looked at me and Tavarus, then whispered something in her ear.
“Wow. See, I knew there was more to it. Do you want Maritza’s number?”
“No, but thank you, I got that covered for the time being.”
“I’m just glad I was wrong and that you decided to pursue it, and especially that I could help.” Tyhedra finally made eye contact with me. “Look, guys, that’s all I was trying to do is help. That’s just who I am. I like helping people see their dreams. I’m sort of a Muse.”
“A what?” I asked.
“A Muse,” Tavarus said. “In Greek mythology, the Muses are a sisterhood of goddesses who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music, and dance.”
“Very good, Tee,” Tyhedra said and patted his hand.
“I can see how that applies to me. You truly inspired me and my music, but what about them? They are not musical at all.”
“To you, Tee, I was Euterpe, the well-pleasing Muse of music and lyric poetry. For Zack, I was Erato, the Muse of love or erotic poetry, lyrics, and marriage songs.”
“What about me? How do I fit into this Muse thing?”
“To you, Chris, I was Polyhymnia, the singer of many hymns. The Muse of oratory and rhetoric.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Do you remember the day we met, Chris?”
“I do.”
“You were looking for solution to your problems with business, so I helped you with that.”
“I get it,” Tavarus said.
“That’s good. Maybe you could tell me then.”
“You said it yourself: She taught you how to present yourself to prospective clients. She helped you stabilize your big accounts, and got you new business. That made it possible for you and CJ to bring in me and Zack,” Tavarus said.
“What’s this? You two are joining his business?”
“Made us an offer today,” Zack said.
“Good, ’cause you really needed to be doing something with your talent.”
By that time, the band came on the stage and began turning up. “Look, I gotta get ready; you all stay and enjoy the show.” Tavarus kissed Tyhedra on the cheek and headed for the stage.
I looked at Tyhedra and she looked into my eyes. She turned to Zack. “You’ll excuse me and Chris for a minute,” she said and stood up.
“No problem.”
“Chris, can I talk to you for a minute?”
I got up and followed Tyhedra out of the club. We walked in silence for a little ways. “I want you to know that I meant what I said in there. I really was just trying to be helpful. It’s just that sometimes my own passions get in the way. But with you it was different. I got weak for you. Weaker for you than any man ever had me.”
“Is that why you ran away from me?”
“Now you know why I felt that I had to. If I hurt you, and I can tell from that look that I did, I never meant for it to happen and I definitely never meant to cause you any pain. So I ran. I tried to get as far from you as I could, so this wouldn’t happen. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
I stood there and looked at her for a minute. “I do owe you a lot.”
“There was something between you and CJ, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“I could tell every time I talked to her. She gave me the feeling that I was invading on something that she considered to be hers. But neither of you were willing to admit to what you both made so obvious.”
“Right again.”
“The truth was I was just standing in her place, and to you, I began to feel like you could get from me what you really wanted from her. I would have just been in the way of what you really wanted.”
“I guess I could be thanking you, too?”
“Only if you think you have something to thank me for.”
“Come on, let’s go watch the show,” I said, and started walking.
“No, Chris. I’m gonna go. You say good night to Zack and Tee for me, but I really meant what I said about you, and being weak. It’s better I go.”
“Will I see you again?”
“Maybe.”
Tyhedra walked away, and I stood and watched her until she was out of sight. When I went back in the club, Tee was already onstage, playing his heart out. I sat down at the table with Zack.
He looked around. “Where’s Tyhedra?”
“She said to tell you good night.”
“I can understand that.”
Zack and I sat and enjoyed the rest of the show. I don’t know about him, but while I listened, my mind was on Tyhedra, marveling at how one woman was able to change all of our lives.
Chapter Thirty-two
Tyhedra
I had just gotten finished packing my things to leave, when I got the call from Tavarus about meeting him at the club. I started not to go, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking about going to the well one more time, before I left. Knowing that would be a bad idea, I put my stuff in the car and figured I’d stop by, hear Tavarus play one last time, say good-bye and head north.
I wasn’t expecting to meet three men that I’d had sex with. But all in all, it went well, and it gave me a chance to say good-bye to Chris. I meant what I said to him, but I knew it was CJ that he really wanted and I was just standing in her spot, keeping it warm until she was ready for it. That wasn’t a spot for me.
I had to laugh at myself and that Muse analogy I went with, and I was glad that Tavarus knew what I was talking about. But in a way, if you really sit and think about it, that’s what I did. In my own way, I helped each of them make their dreams a reality. I guess—no I’m sure—it was better than killing them.
So what now? I always wanted to go to New York.
If you enjoyed Going Down; An Erotic Tale of Murder, please check out Killing Them Softly: An Erotic Tale of Murder. It is a wild ride from cover to cover. The story centers around Devin James, Avonte Petrocell
i and Qianna Patterson and the events that draw these three very different people together. After Devin and his wife Taye lose their second baby, Taye slips into a deep depression. At that point Devin realizes that nights that were once filled with great sexual experiences shared by two people who were desperately in love with each other, were now a distant memory. During a trip to Puerto Rico with Taye, Devin meets Avonte Petrocelli. She’s a married woman with issues of her own. Her rich husband has a new blonde mistress and wants a divorce. It doesn’t take long before the two begin a very steamy affair. Devin and Avonte become sexually involved with Qianna Patterson; a very beautiful, but unstable woman, fresh out of prison with a history of violence.
When Taye makes Devin’s life a living hell, they plan to murder her for the insurance money. Once the deadly deed is done, their real intentions come to the forefront, and the drama and murders begin.
Discover other titles by Roy Glenn
Beneath The Surface
The Cost of Vengeance
Commit To Violence
Bury Me Deep
Private Deceptions
The Mike Black Saga: Book One
The Mike Black Saga: MOB
The Mike Black Saga: Outlaw
The Mike Black Saga: Payback
The Mike Black Saga: No More Tears In The End
An Urban Drama
The Playa Chronicles
All About The Money
On Sale Now from Kingstown Publishing
The Request by LaVonda Kennedy
Southern Comfort By La Jill Hunt
Whatever It Takes by Angela Jones
Somebody’s Somebody by La Jill Hunt
Don’t be a Dumb Bitch by Ayana Ellis
Coming Soon from Kingstown Publishing
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing by La Jill Hunt
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Visit www.kingstownpublishing.com
